bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Computer-Based Self-Diagnosis Program for Distance Learners
Authors: Ingram Albert L.
Published: May 2005

This article describes a computer-based study aid designed to assist students learning at a distance prepare for examinations. The package provides a variety of study aids that allowed students to pinpoint their learning problems with a specific course of study and possibly to overcome them. When we tried out the package, students rated it very highly. However, we noted no increase in test scores or pass rates. This was probably due to the self-selected nature of the learner population. Such a set of study aids could be refined and extended to become a central part of self-study and distance education.
Job Satisfaction: How Do Social Workers Fare with Other Interdisciplinary Team Members in Hospice Settings?
Authors: Monroe Jacquelyn , DeLoach Roenia Jittaun
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to investigate job satisfaction among hospice interdisciplinary team members, which included social workers, nurses, and other professionals (i.e., home health aides and spiritual care providers.) Interdisciplinary team members ( N = 76) from four hospices in the midwest participated in the study. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that significant differences in satisfaction resulted in the areas of distributive justice, autonomy, and opportunity between social workers, nurses, and other interdisciplinary team members.
Chlorosis and Chronic Disease in 19th-Century Britain: The Social Constitution of Somatic Illness in a Capitalist Society
Authors: Figlio Karl
Published: May 2005

This paper is informed by the recent attempts to construct Marxist views of nature, by the lively historical work on 19th-century British class structure, and by the dedicated work of feminist historians of medicine. Using the common disease of adolescent girls, chlorosis, as an example of a real “physical” illness, I shall argue that disease is, in part, socially constructed. Not only is the social class of both doctor and patient an important determinant in the perception of illness, but so too is the relationship between the disease and the mode of production. Both the “existence” of chlorosis and the way it was understood served ideologically to conceal the growing importance of adolescent labor and the recognition of the social genesis of illness. In doing so, chlorosis was similar to other forms of chronic illness. In a time when the conditions of work were strikingly insalubrious, the etiological emphasis was on individual failure, not on physical or social conditions of work. I argue that notions of health and disease partake of the struggles and social relations of the society that sustains them, but in a way which hides that very social nature. In this sense, they are like Marx's concept of a commodity—and in being a commodity, diseases appear not to embody social relations, but rather to be part of nature. I suggest that we see this “nature” in part as a commodity fetish-something we construct as “other” for a reason-and that we rediscover the social in the natural.
Australian Students' Preferences for School-Based Smoking Cessation Programs
Authors: Gillespie Amaya M. , Fisher K. John , Stanton Warren R. , Lowe John B.
Published: May 2005

Estimates of daily smoking as high as 15 percent by Year 10 students (average age 15) suggest there is an urgent need to focus attention on the formulation of school-based cessation programs for young smokers, as an adjunct to existing prevention focused programs which serve the majority of young non-smokers. The purpose of this study was to gather recommendations from student smokers (in the middle high school years, about 15 years of age) which may be used in the design of school-based smoking cessation programs. This study investigated the opinions of 2865 smoking and nonsmoking Year 10 students drawn from twenty-one metropolitan high schools in Brisbane, Australia. The majority of students, including smokers, were supportive of school-based smoking cessation programs. Smokers reported a preference for the program to be voluntary, to be accessible during school time, and facilitated by other students or non-teaching personnel. A clear preference for individualized attempts to quit over more structured or group programs was evident. The majority of smokers reported that they preferred to quit on their own. They, however, also recognized the value of assistance from a supportive friend or being in a group of students who helped one other. In general, male and female students expressed the same preferences regarding methods of quitting. Males, however, appeared more difficult to motivate and more skeptical of quitting programs. Specific ideas for identifying students who may have higher support needs when quitting are provided.
Approach and Selection of Popular Narrative Genre
Authors: Dixon Peter , Bortolussi Marisa
Published: May 2005

In the present article, we propose a framework for understanding a variety of genre-reception phenomena that we term a “search-for-features” model. The essence of this approach is that many characteristics of genre and genre structure are determined by readers' expectations concerning whether they will enjoy a work. The model provides a framework for accounting for the rich structure of genre categories, the variable consistency of that structure, the existence of an authorial “star” system, and aspects of the historical dynamics of genre. As an initial evaluation of the model, we provide some evidence on how readily readers can identify genre from a book's cover. The results demonstrate that readers are reasonably accurate in making such judgments about most genres, but they perform relatively poorly with science fiction book covers.
Death Anxiety: An Empirical Test of a Blended Self Report and Projective Measurement Model
Authors: Hayslip Bert , Guarnaccia Charles A. , Radika Lisa M. , Servaty Heather L.
Published: May 2005

Data from a sample of 392 adults ( M age=34.3) were used to empirically establish a blended psychometric and projective measurement model of overt and covert death anxiety. Two equally plausible measurement models were derived. Based on a randomly selected sample of 196, both a two-factor model, Overt Death Anxiety-Self and Covert Death Anxiety, and a three-factor, Overt Death Anxiety-Self, Overt Death Anxiety-Other, and Covert Death Anxiety, fit the data. Data from a second randomly selected subsample of 196 adults was also consistent with a two-factor measurement model, as well as a three-factor model. On the basis of parsimony, the two-factor model of death anxiety was retained for both the development and cross validation samples. Those data substantiate a view of death anxiety which suggests that is best defined in terms of its conscious (overt) and unconscious (covert) components. These components are in varying degrees interrelated and reflect the dynamic nature of death anxiety in adulthood.
The Misplaced Trowel
Authors: Moore Lawrence E.
Published: May 2005

American archaeology has many social problems. The main one is that practitioners are unclear about the goals and purpose of the profession because it has become a tool of historic preservation. Interrelated with this problem are two others. First, historical archaeology is adrift and without direction, and second, the two sub-fields of prehistoric and historical archaeology are engaged in a class conflict that is demeaning or corrupting to everyone involved. Change is necessary and a vision of a unified archaeology with purpose and clarity of intent is outlined.
Impacts of Microprocessors on Vocational Education
Authors: Francis Larry
Published: May 2005

Intelligent devices (that is, those containing microprocessors) are becoming ubiquitous in parts of our society which have never before encountered this technology. In order to develop systems for installing and maintaining these devices, vocational trainers and trainees will face unusual demands. The U.S. is expected to adapt and meet these demands more quickly than most industrial and third world nations.
Using a Logic Model to Plan and Evaluate a Community Intervention Program: A Case Study
Authors: Chen W. William , Cato Bertha M. , Rainford Neil
Published: May 2005

This case study uses a logic model to plan and evaluate an intervention project targeted to high-risk, middle-school, African-American youth for drug and crime prevention. Project WISE-UP is a comprehensive and innovative program designed to reduce the risk of using drugs and alcohol and becoming involved in criminal activities for thirty-seven high-risk middle-school students in Florida. The project comprises a continuum of integrated, interactive activities which were dominant components of the students' environment, community, school, peer group, and family. The WISE-UP educational module consists of five sub-modules: crime prevention, drug education, leisure education, life skills building (decision making, problem solving, and conflict resolution), and a tutorial program. The logic model is used to provide explanation, justifications for selecting various programmatic components and evaluation measures. It consists of five components: assumptions, program activities, immediate outcomes/evaluative activities, intermediate outcomes/objectives, and final outcomes/goals. Results of preliminary data demonstrated the logical progression of the project's effects and supported the usefulness of the logic model in planning and evaluating a prevention program.
Galantamine in the Treatment of Adult Autism: A Report of Three Clinical Cases
Authors: Hertzman Marc
Published: May 2005

Objective:

To study the usefulness of galantamine, a competitive, reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI), in adults diagnosed with autism (in accordance with DSM-IV-TR Axis I clinical criteria) before age three years.

Methods:

To promote verbalization and meaningful speech sound production through biochemical enhancement of the serotonergic subsystem of the central nervous system (CNS), galantamine 4 mg qhs was administered, with indicated dose increases.

Results:

Verbal fluency increased in all patients, according to their caregivers. One patient developed a macular rash that abated when the medication was discontinued. After one month on donepezil 5 mg qhs, verbal and behavioral regression again led to discontinuation. Doses for the other patients have been escalated by 4 mg daily each month to a maximum of 12 mg, with improvement following each increase.

Conclusions:

Cholinergic stimulation of the CNS serotonergic subsystem with galantamine may enhance expressive language and communication in autistic adults. Clinical trials are needed to study adjuvant therapy with galantamine in such patients.
Death Educator as Deacon
Authors: Kalish Richard A.
Published: May 2005

By viewing the physician as priest, i.e. the individual who provides access to the values of health and long life, the death educator can be seen as deacon, the person who serves the priest as a helper. Physicians and death counselors are primarily healers; clergy and death educators are primarily preachers. The power relationship between physician and death counselor is well-established, with the former maintaining the most significant power; the power relationship between the clergy and the death educator is more egalitarian. Death educators and counselors need to be aware of their role relationships with other relevant professionals, and a theological model can be useful in understanding these relationships.
Ravaging the Poor: The International Monetary Fund Indicted by its Own Data
Authors: Kolko Gabriel
Published: May 2005

Recent International Monetary Fund studies on the impact of its structural adjustment programs on the poorest nations reveal that most have stagnated or declined economically. The IMF's requirement that these countries increase exports despite falling world commodity prices has been a principal cause of their economic malaise. Meanwhile, IMF loan conditions demanding lower government expenditures have led to sharp reductions in general social spending, from which the wealthiest quintile of the population receives a disproportionately larger share of outlays for health and education.
Epidemiological Studies of Life Change and Illness
Authors: Rahe Richard H.
Published: May 2005

Currently popular methodologies in life changes and illness research are presented in some detail. Selected examples of epidemiological studies utilizing these methodologies are briefly reviewed. Examples of both retrospective and prospective investigations of life change and illness are given. Discussed in the chapter are the author's views as to limitations of the epidemiologic method and probable directions of future research in efforts to clarify etiologic mechanisms along the pathway between subjects' recent life changes and their subsequent susceptibility to illness.
The Politics of Stress: The Case of Air Traffic Control
Authors: Tesh Sylvia
Published: May 2005

Analysis of the 1981 Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization strike suggests that workers who employ the concept of stress to describe undesirable job conditions risk unexpected negative consequences. In deciding not to make subjective claims that can only be addressed in political terms, workers necessarily appeal to outside experts to provide scientific, objective descriptions of job conditions. Unfortunately, different experts define stress in strikingly different ways, allowing for a kind of shell game in which the very existence of stress can become problematical. In addition, the stress experts have been unable to offer more than weak data to support the theories that link difficult working conditions to pathological outcomes. Thus workers are likely to lose labor disputes that depend on the stress discourse. A major reason for such an outcome is that job conditions, as part of the social world, lend themselves poorly to a form of inquiry designed to investigate the physical world.
Television for Changing Teacher Behavior
Authors: Sharan Shlomo , Hertz-Lazarowitz Rachel , Reiner Tamar
Published: May 2005

This paper reports on the use of closed circuit television as a critical component in the process of in-service teacher training for implementing alternative teaching methods. A five-step problem solving scheme is used to describe the specifics of this project. First, the problem is identified. Then, alternative strategies are considered. The third step, selection of implementation strategies, is followed by the actual implementation itself. The final section describes the evaluation plan which is used throughout the development of the project.
Risky Business: Observations on the Nature of Death in Hazardous Sports
Authors: Doka Kenneth J. , Schwarz Eric E. , Schwarz Catherine
Published: May 2005

The little existing research on risky sports tends to concentrate on the demographic and psychological characteristics of individuals who participate in high-risk sports such as scuba diving, parachuting, spelunking, auto racing, mountain climbing, and hang gliding. This study considers another dimension: most risky sports are group sports. They involve other people as partners or members of support groups. A death, then, affects others. The study asks two questions: How do participants involved in the death itself handle such an event? In what ways does the death impact upon other members of the sporting community? Through interviews and official reports, the authors studied scuba divers' responses to four fatal accidents and found that accounts of deaths frequently blame the victim for the fatality, emphasizing and centering on perceived errors of judgment and skill. These accounts serve as mortality tales and as disclaimers of personal responsibility that mitigate grief and support continued participation in the sport.
Taking Care of Business: HMOs That Spend More on Administration Deliver Lower-Quality Care
Authors: Himmelstein David U. , Woolhandler Steffie
Published: May 2005

The authors analyzed health maintenance organizations' administrative costs and quality measures from the National Committee for Quality Assurance's Quality Compass database for the years 1997–2000. HMOs with higher administrative overhead had consistently worse quality scores in univariate analysis. Multivariate analyses controlling for geographic region (all years) and HMO model type (1997 and 1998 analyses only) confirmed that higher administrative costs were associated with lower quality. Excess HMO bureaucracy is not only wasteful but harmful.
Captioned Television and the Vocabulary Acquisition of Adult Second Language Correlational Facility Residents
Authors: Koskinen Patricia S. , Knable James E. , Markham Paul L. , Jensema Carl J. , Kane Kathryn W.
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of captioned television on the incidental vocabulary acquisition of seventy-two inmates of a Pennsylvania correctional facility. Participants viewed nine science information segments over a period of nine weeks. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group of inmates was exposed to the science video segments with captions and the other group viewed the same science video material without captions. No definitions or explanations of the target science words were given during the brief science orientation sessions that took place on a weekly basis. Three posttests were administered to assess the participants' acquisition of the targeted vocabulary words. The tests consisted of word recognition, sentence anomaly, and word meaning measures. A brief television viewing questionnaire was also developed to assess the participants' perception of knowledge gained via the science videos and their opinion of the use of captions with such material. The results revealed no significant differences between the two groups on the word recognition and sentence anomaly posttests. However, the word meaning test yielded significant differences ( p < .05) favoring the captioned television condition. In addition, the questionnaire data indicated that the participants responded very positively to the science videos and to the use of captions with science material. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the potential contributions of captions in the second language context.
Education for Proposal Writers
Authors: Smith Frank R.
Published: May 2005

This article describes the kind of work done by the proposal writer in the aerospace industry and then offers suggestions on how educational institutions can better prepare their students for this work.
Systems of Safety and Active Worker-Participation Strategies for a Safe Workplace: The Philosophical and Structural Underpinnings of the Labor Institute, and the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union, Accident Prevention Programs
Authors: Renner Paul
Published: May 2005

For the last ten years, The Labor Institute, in cooperation with the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE) and several other international unions, has been training workers and managers to prevent accidents in the workplace using what we call a Systems of Safety (SOS) approach. We teach workers to identify major categories of safety systems and sub-systems in the workplace and to assign a hierarchical prevention value to each category. The SOS approach enables workers to look beyond the simplest explanations for an accident to identify the full range of factors that contributed to the event. As a result, Systems of Safety training provides workers with an unparalleled opportunity to reduce the frequency and severity of in-plant accidents.

Unfortunately, the full benefits of an SOS system cannot be realized in most workplaces as they are now organized. Our decades of experience—and a review of relevant literature—tell us that worker participation is the key to preventing accidents. Maximum accident prevention is only achievable through maximum worker participation. In most workplaces, hierarchical structures—and workers' internalization of that hierarchy—prevent full worker participation.

This article will explore barriers to achieving maximum worker participation, and strategies for providing workers with some measure of control over the systems of safety that determine the level of safety at their work sites.
Women and Health in Europe: The Scope and Limits of Epidemiology
Authors: MacLean Una
Published: May 2005

Epidemiology is one tool for assessing women's health, at least in terms of the main diseases which cause morbidity and mortality. When employed for international comparisons across Europe, its value, even at this level, is diminished by the shortage of reliable data. Examples are chosen from the fields of cancer and cardiovascular disease. The latter part of the article draws attention to the inadequacies and limits of clinical epidemiology when applied to women's broader experience in respect to health.
The Pattern of Mass Disease in the U.S.S.R.: A Product of Socialist or Capitalist Development?
Authors: Cooper Richard , Schatzkin Arthur
Published: May 2005

The mortality structure of a society is determined primarily by the nature of the social organization. Although this general principle, which forms the basis of the Marxist approach to public health, has been well demonstrated in the classical model of capitalist society, there has been little attempt to apply this theory to countries that have experienced socialist revolutions. This paper examines the mortality structure of the U.S.S.R. Given the high degree of similarity between mass disease in the U.S.S.R. and Western capitalist countries, fundamental questions must be raised about the political and economic system currently operating in the U.S.S.R. It is suggested that the health experience in the Soviet Union over the last two decades has been determined primarily by the nature of the antagonistic class relations that have resulted from the restoration of capitalism.
Competition and Containment in Health Care
Authors: Griffith Ben
Published: May 2005

In the United Kingdom and elsewhere, the preconditions for well-functioning internal markets (in relation to market structure, transaction costs, and information) may not exist in health care. Similar doubts exist about the impact of internal markets on cost-effectiveness. While the quantity of health care has increased, the effects on quality are ambiguous and costs have not been successfully restrained. With respect to equity of health care, fears have been raised that sections of the population may be discriminated against. In the United Kingdom, resources have been shifted away from deprived areas and toward the more affluent. Health care services are once again being reformed, by New Labour in the United Kingdom and similar administrations elsewhere. The rhetoric of competition has given way to talk of partnership. The imposition of new forms of rationing has been reshaped, not abandoned. Additional funding is required, along with an effective commitment to the pursuit of equity and quality in health care.
Malpractice in the United Kingdom
Authors: Taylor J. Leahy
Published: May 2005

The end of the last century saw the development in the United Kingdom of medical protection and defense societies. Their history, objects, growth, and scope are outlined. Reference is made to leading cases of medical malpractice and to the relevant statutes. The relationship between the protection societies and the National Health Service authorities is dealt with and a comparison made of the relative situations in the United States and United Kingdom. Finally, recent trends are examined and views expressed about possible future developments in this field which will be the subject of recommendations by a Royal Commission on Civil Liability and Compensation for Personal Injury which is now sitting.
Word-Processing “Efficiency”—By Means of Personalized Word-Frequency Lists
Authors: Coniam David
Published: May 2005

This article examines the concept of the efficiency with which text is entered into a word processor—from the perspective of effective use of keyboard shortcuts (sometimes called “hot keys” or “accelerator keys”). The article makes reference to the Autotext facility which is available in Microsoft Word. The article illustrates how the possibility for productiveness offered by shortcuts, available through the use of features such as Autotext, are often under-utilized by many word processor users, academics being no exception. The method involves constructing a word list from a corpus of one's own writing. This word list can then be taken as the basis for a personalized set of shortcuts of the most frequent words in an individual's writing.
The Strategic Weapon System Training Program
Authors: Cantor Jeffrey A.
Published: May 2005

The Strategic Weapon System Training Program was designed and developed in order to serve the constant training needs of the U.S. Navy's Polaris, Poseidon and Trident submarine force. This training program possesses unique characteristics in that it follows an instructional systems approach for program design from the identifying of training needs, through the designing and developing of instruction, followed by the evaluation of both training effectiveness and trainee readiness. The model constructed for this training program involves the active participation of both Navy activities and a family of hardware and engineering services support contractors. This program has been in operation for over twenty years, and has become recognized by the Navy as a most effective and desirable training program model.
Coping: Effects of Death Education
Authors: Bugen Larry A.
Published: May 2005

The present investigation utilized coping capacities as desired outcomes and sought to evaluate the effects of one death education seminar. An experimental group (N = 24) experienced the entire seminar while a control group (N = 30) participated in only two class sessions. All completed the “Coping with Death Scale” at the beginning of the semester and again three weeks later. Results indicated significant changes in coping capacity on twenty-three out of thirty items for the experimental group. The control group revealed significance on only one item. Implications for students and death educators were discussed.
Experience and Time Investment Factors in Public School Teacher Evaluation of Educational Microcomputer Software
Authors: Callison Daniel
Published: May 2005

Over 200 teachers were involved in evaluation of educational microcomputer software in a statewide project involving nine Indiana school corporations from 1983–85. Analysis of the completed evaluation forms through the use of the sign test and the Spearman rank order correlation helped to identify differences and similarities between groups of teachers based on factors of either experience with software prior to the evaluation, or the amount of time invested in the evaluation process. Conclusions indicate that formal evaluation processes in the public schools should include considerations of various factors which may influence the evaluator's final recommendation including prior experience with the instructional format, prior experience with a program similar to the one being evaluated, and allowances for time to fully examine the program being evaluated.
Childhood Hospitalization and Chronic Intractable Pain in Adults: A Controlled Retrospective Study
Authors: Pilowsky I. , Bassett D. L. , Begg M. W. , Thomas P. G.
Published: May 2005

Three groups of patients have been studied in order to elucidate the relationship between childhood hospitalization and chronic intractable pain in adults. The groups were: patients referred to a pain clinic, psychiatric patients with a depressive illness, and patients attending a rheumatology clinic. The findings suggest that early hospitalization is related to the genesis of both depressive illness and intractable pain: in the former occurring in the preschool years and in the latter, during school age. The significance of these relationships is discussed.
Enhancing Resources for Smoking Cessation through Community Intervention: COMMIT as a Prototype
Authors: Pomrehn Paul , Sciandra Russell , Shipley Robert , Lynn William , Lando Harry ,   For the COMMIT Research Group
Published: May 2005

Of the 17 million smokers in North America who attempt to quit smoking each year, fewer than one in ten succeed [1, 2]. How can communities improve smokers' chances of quitting? The National Cancer Institute addresses this question through COMMIT, the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation. COMMIT is the largest smoking intervention trial in the world, involving over 2 million people in twenty-two North American communities. The study protocol requires that the implementation of mandated interventions in each community be managed by a Community Board and at least four task forces (Health Care, Worksites and Organizations, Cessation Resources, and Public Education, including Media and Youth). Three required and three optional interventions in the COMMIT protocol relate to the availability of cessation resources and services. The Cessation Resources Task Force, composed of community volunteers, supervises implementation of these interventions at each site. The activities of each task force are integrated with the others in a community action plan. How COMMIT activities enhance the utilization of cessation resources and services and how these services fit into a community intervention is the subject of this article. Descriptions of the study design and evaluation plan, and of the community mobilization process are presented elsewhere [3, 4].
The Subjective Response to Life-Threatening Danger
Authors: Noyes Russell , Slymen Donald J.
Published: May 2005

A factor analysis of questionnaire responses from 189 victims of life-threatening accidents yielded three factors of subjective effects. These factors, which included depersonalization, hyperalertness and mystical consciousness, appeared meaningful in terms of the endangered personality's effort to cope with a threat to life. Perception of a serious threat, loss of consciousness, and rescue efforts influenced the frequency with which certain effects were reported. Age likewise influenced the reporting of a number of effects.
A Comparison of the Effects of Logo and a CAI Learning Environment on Skills Acquisition
Authors: Gallini Joan K.
Published: May 2005

The present study investigated the impact of computer-based environments in enhancing a particular set of cognitive outcomes. Of specific focus was a comparison between a Logo and a more traditional CAI context in promoting one's ability to follow directions and construct directions in the process of solving problems. Forty-four fourth-grade students were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups. Subjects engaged in group discussions and hands-on computer activities over a five-week period. In the Logo group subjects essentially tested programming techniques in constructing a variety of structures. The CAI group worked with similar stimuli, but in a “program-directed” format. Results demonstrated higher posttest achievement in the Logo group's ability to formulate directions in different instances. However, the following direction performances were essentially the same for both groups. The study raises important theoretical issues regarding the role of specific types of features of computer-based environments in effecting different types of cognitive as well as affective outcomes. Of particular note are the merits of such research to generate new hypotheses about CBI contexts adapted to meet individual differences in learning.
The Adult Child's Acceptance of Parent Death
Authors: Bower Anne R.
Published: May 2005

In the grief and bereavement literature, the discussion of acceptance often regards it as an end-point of the process and utilizes a definition that is linked to duration and intensity of grief. The study of parent death is no exception. Adult children are rarely asked whether or why they have or have not accepted the death of an elderly parent, or even what acceptance means to them. The extent to which such studies accurately report on the experience of parent death acceptance is questionable. Using ethnographic and linguistic techniques, this study approaches acceptance through a qualitative examination of adult children's verbatim responses to direct inquiries about their acceptance of an elderly parent's death. Findings indicate that while the majority of adult children readily assert acceptance of their parent's death, these assertions are contingent upon important beliefs and values relating to the death, the power of feelings, and the strength of memory. Further, and most important, acceptance appears to be a phenomenon adult children feel compelled to explain.
Field Conditions for Agricultural Workers in the El Paso, Texas Region
Authors: Robson Mark , Schneider Dona , Marentes Carlos , Villanueva Elba
Published: May 2005

Agricultural workers labor long hours under difficult conditions in many of the nations' fields and orchards. Agricultural workers are primarily minority populations, the most dominant group being Hispanic/Latino. The Rural Coalition and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute were funded under the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Environmental Justice Program, to investigate health and environmental issues that impact agricultural workers along the Texas-Mexican border area. A Spanish-language field conditions survey was developed and distributed to the workers entering the Sin Fronteras Organizing Project in El Paso, Texas. There were 841 valid surveys collected and analyzed for the calendar year 1998. Workers' age mean was 51, with 18.6 years of work experience in agriculture. In the time period surveyed, workers labored for 7.2 hours per day. The primary crop in which they worked were chilies.
Attendance Problems and Disciplinary Procedures in Nebraska Schools
Authors: Scott David M. , Friedli David
Published: May 2005

Study Purpose:

School principals were surveyed in rural and urban Nebraska schools to compare policies and procedures on school attendance, and to contrast the use of disciplinary procedures for attendance, violence and substance abuse.

Methods:

A survey was sent to a 50 percent random sample of Nebraska schools. Respondent school addresses in metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) areas were categorized as urban, and non-MSA respondents were classified as rural area schools.

Results:

Of the 680 surveys mailed, 464 (68.2 percent) completed surveys were returned. Overall, 86.2 percent of respondents were from rural schools and 13.8 percent from urban schools. A list of disciplinary problems and procedures was reported for a first-time offense by rural and urban schools. Both an “occasional attendance problem” and a “chronic attendance problem” were most frequently addressed through parent contact in both urban and rural areas. For “fighting with another student,” rural schools most commonly reported discipline by teacher, followed by discipline by principal and parent contact. In urban schools, discipline by principal was most common. For “using drugs other than alcohol or tobacco at school” in both areas, disciplinary procedures included parent contact and short-term suspension. A list of disciplinary problems and procedures was also reported for a second-time offense and third-time offense. For “fighting with another student,” the most commonly reported procedure was discipline by principal and parent contact for a second-time offense, followed by short-term suspension and long-term suspension for a third-time offense. For “using drugs other than alcohol or tobacco at school,” for a second time offense was long-term suspension and semester expulsion for a third-time offense. Principals were also asked in an open-response format, what program or procedures were currently in place to prevent violence in their school. Common responses were “conflict resolution training,” followed by “the Boys Town social skills and behaviors model” and “a zero tolerance policy.”

Conclusions:

School principals generally reported similar disciplinary actions for most disciplinary problems. For recurrent offenses and for serious problems, principals generally used tougher disciplinary procedures. Some of the discrepancies in disciplinary actions, however, suggest the need for consistent enforcement and communication of policies for both urban and rural schools.
Cigarette Smoking and Fear of Death: Explaining Conflicting Results in Death Anxiety Research
Authors: Kain Kristen , Nelson Lori J.
Published: May 2005

The purpose of these studies was to examine the relationship between death anxiety and smoking, and to explain the conflicting results of previous studies on this topic. In Study 1, students at a rural university were given a death anxiety scale and a measure of smoking behavior, counterbalanced for order. The same questionnaires were given to urban adolescents in Study 2. When college student smokers thought about their smoking behavior first, those who had smoked more recently showed higher death anxiety. Among high school students who had smoked, those with higher death anxiety reported smoking fewer cigarettes. In addition, mortality salience, induced by completing the death anxiety scale first, caused these high school students to report smoking less frequently. An integration of the results of the two studies with earlier research suggests that order effects and urban-rural differences can explain inconsistencies in the link between death anxiety and smoking.
Why Do We Live So Long?
Authors: Smith David W. E.
Published: May 2005

The maximum human life span is presently recorded at about 120 years. Maximum life spans are inherited species characteristics and are consequences of evolution. The Human Genome Project will ultimately identify and characterize genes that are determinants of longevity, which may be both genes for resistance to causes of death and genes for biological characteristics consistent with long life. Human reproductive senescence occurs midway through the maximum life span, but human features can be recognized that are supportive of both reproductive success and longevity after reproductive senescence, which could have been the basis for the evolution of longevity. Although more humans can be expected to reach old ages in the future, it is doubtful that the maximum human life span as it is known today will be exceeded significantly. The human life span has important societal implications, and larger numbers of frail elderly people can be anticipated.
Beyond the Theoretical Rhetoric: A Proposal to Study the Consequences of Drug Legalization
Authors: Yacoubian George S.
Published: May 2005

Drug legalization is a frequently-debated drug control policy alternative. It should come as little surprise, therefore, that the arguments in favor of both legalization and prohibition have resulted in a conceptual stalemate. While theoretical deliberations are unquestionably valuable, they seem to have propelled this particular issue to its limit. To date, no works have suggested any empirical studies that might test the framework and potential consequences of drug legalization. In the current study, the arguments surrounding the drug legalization debate are synthesized into a proposal for future research. Such a proposal illustrates that the core elements surrounding drug legalization are not only testable, but that the time may be right to consider such an empirical effort.
The Ethics of False Implicature in Technical and Professional Writing Courses
Authors: Walzer Arthur E.
Published: May 2005

In taking “existing practice” in the workplace as their standard, technical and professional writing courses risk leaving students with the impression that whatever is done and is rhetorically effective is right. One way of countering the sophistry of this tendency is to raise questions about the ethics of common but suspect rhetorical practices. This article examines the ethics of one such practice: fostering false inference. Out of H. Paul Grice's analysis of how participants in a conversation correctly interpret what is only implied, it evolves a framework for judging the fostering of false inference. The article presents and discusses a hypothetical case in which a firm's proposal seems intended to mislead, while actually stating nothing that is not literally true.
Technical Writing: Effective Communication
Authors: Wilkins Keith A.
Published: May 2005

Technical writing involves more than simply the “nuts and bolts” of preparing a good report. Good technical writing must be an effective communication, and in order for the writer (source) to obtain the desired response from the reader (receiver), he must have a clear conceptualization of the communication process. He must realize that the source, the message, the channel, and the receiver are important variables that influence the success of technical communication. The technical writer must be aware of the “filter” stages the receiver moves through before ultimately making a response to the message. The technical writer who creates a proper meld of the basics of good technical writing with an understanding of the communication process can produce an effective technical communication.
Using Computer Printouts to Teach Analysis and Graphics
Authors: Tebeaux Elizabeth
Published: May 2005

Effective use of graphics and skills in analyzing information are two topics that need to be covered in depth in the basic technical writing course. Many kinds of computer printouts can be understood by students from various disciplines. From these printouts, problems, like the ones described here, can be developed to teach graphics skills and analysis concomitantly. Using computer printouts to teach these two important topics has four specific advantages: 1. students become familiar with reading and interpreting computer printouts and learn to separate essential from nonessential data in defining a problem; 2. they learn to write analytic or information reports using computer data only; 3. they gain practice in determining what kind of graphic is best for a specific kind of information; and 4. they gain practice in correlating verbal discussion with visual presentation.
Phenomenological Differences among Self Hypnosis, Mindfulness Meditation, and Imaging
Authors: Brown Daniel , Forte Michael , Rich Philip , Epstein Gerald
Published: May 2005

A survey of 122 subjects was conducted to investigate the differences in the phenomenological quality of the experiences engendered by three types of awareness discipline: self-hypnosis (21 subjects), waking dreaming (49 subjects) and mindfulness meditation (25 subjects from a 2-week retreat, and another group of twenty-seven subjects from a 2-day weekend retreat). A questionnaire, the Profile of Trance, Imaging, and Meditation Experience (TIME) was used in the survey Discriminant analyses were used to construct models of the differences in the phenomenological quality of the experiences among the three groups. A number of phenomenological dimensions, in the major areas of attention, thinking, memory, imagery, body sensations, emotions, time sense, reality sense, and sense of self, were found which could accurately distinguish among the experiences of practitioners of the three types of awareness training. Results show that while self hypnosis involves self-referential thinking, memory changes, and intense emotions, waking dreaming emphasizes the immediate impact of emerging images, which unfold in a thematic manner and have a sense of their own reality. Mindfulness meditators have difficulty managing distractions, but with experience learn greater awareness of bodily processes, and experience changes in the perception of time and self; mental processes seem to slow down, and awareness assumes an impersonal quality. No attributions as to the causes or sources of these phenomenological differences are made, as the survey was not large enough to provide comparison groups, subject matching, or other statistical controls necessary for causal analyses.
The Capitalist World-System and International Health
Authors: Elling Ray H.
Published: May 2005

A number of world health problems which have been discretely considered in the past are viewed in this paper as interwoven with each other and with the functioning of the capitalist political-economic world-system. Thus, climactic explanations (“tropical medicine”), and even poverty when conceived in cultural terms or as a structural problem resident entirely within a single nation, are seen as inadequate for understanding any or all of the problems discussed briefly here: poor general health levels in peripheral and semi-peripheral nations, especially rising infant mortality rates in countries such as Brazil; comerciogenic malnutrition; dumping and exploitative sale of drugs, pesticides and other products banned or restricted in core nations; genocidal and other threatening approaches to population control; export of hazardous and polluting industry to peripheral and semi-peripheral nations; similar export of human experimentation; the sale of irrelevant, high medical technology to countries lacking basic public health measures; the “brain drain”; and medical imperialism.

Also discounted are moralistic inveighing, complaints about inadequate information and its transfer, discussions of bureaucratic bumbling or inter-agency politics and professional rivalries, various forms of victim-blaming, and other explanations and corrective approaches which ignore class structures and the control, distribution, and expropriation of resources in nations and the world-system.

The framework suggests the importance of a worldwide cultural hegemony, including a medical cultural hegemony, established by and in the service of the ruling classes. Socialist-oriented nations which are quasi-independent of the capitalist world-system are seen as suffering less from its effects. This suggests that we should conceive of world socialist health and world capitalist health, rather than any kind of unified phenomenon called “international health.”
“No Man is Allowed to Spell Ill”: Modern Communication Advice from an Eighteenth Century Expert
Authors: Broughton Bradford B.
Published: May 2005

Lord Chesterfield wrote hundreds of letters to his natural son during the young man's thirty-six years of life (1732–1768) in his earnest attempts to instill in the lad the qualities of a gentleman. He wrote on wide-ranging subjects, including oral and written communication: writing well and speaking effectively. His advice is valid and current even today, almost 250 years after he wrote it.
Mothers Now Childless: Structures of the Life-World
Authors: Talbot Kay
Published: May 2005

Prior research has highlighted the fact that bereaved parents are confronted with a severe crisis of meaning in their lives (Braun & Berg, 1994; Craig, 1977; Miles & Crandall, 1986; Rando, 1986; Wheeler, 1990). The author conducted a study (Talbot, 1996–97) which combined both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand what it means for mothers to survive the death of their only child. This article focuses on the findings from ten in-depth interviews which delineate the life-world of participant bereaved mothers. Implications for counselors and other professionals assisting bereaved mothers of only children are included.