Leadership development of community college students: Does participation in the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies course have an effect on the development of leadership behaviors?

This study assessed whether participation in the Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies course had an effect on the leadership behaviors of students at four community colleges from urban and rural geographic locations within the tri-state area of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The researcher visited the four community colleges and distributed the Kouzes and Posner (1998a) Student Leadership Practices Inventory-Self and a demographic questionnaire to a total population of 92 students. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and an analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data according to the research questions guiding this study. The major findings indicated that the community college students ( N = 92) made impressive gains from pre- to post-tests in all five leadership practices. Significant differences between genders were revealed in only one practice. However, within each gender group, significant gains were demonstrated on all five leadership practices. Similarly, significant differences between age groups were shown in only one leadership practice. Within each age group, however, significant gains were demonstrated on four of the five leadership practices. Rural community college students out gained the urban students on the post-test on four of the five practices. Examination of the post-test scores within the rural and urban populations revealed that only the group of rural community college students made significant gains on all five practices. However, caution should be taken with the conclusion because the n of urban students was considerably smaller than the n of rural students. The specific gains in learning may suggest an increase in the general transformational skills of community college students who participated in the Phi Theta kappa Leadership Development Studies course and, thus, substantiates the efficacy of the course

The Iowa Homemaker vol.32, no.7

Meet Miss Engineer, Beverly Gould, page 7 Home Economics Editor, Dorothy Will, page 8 Collegiate Toyland, Jane Steele, page 9 Your Valentine Mail Box, Salli Hearst and Mary Jean Stoddard, page 10 Farm Electricity Use, Mary Odegard, page 12 College Ties Continue, Eleanore Chase, page 13 Vitamin 607, Virginia Wilcox, page 14 Head First, Jean Goul, page 16 Trends, Ruth Anderson, page 1

The heart healthy lenoir project-an intervention to reduce disparities in hypertension control: study protocol

Background Racial disparities in blood pressure control are well established; however the impact of low health literacy (LHL) on blood pressure has garnered less attention. Office based interventions that are created with iterative patient, practice and community stakeholder input and are rolled out incrementally, may help address these disparities in hypertension control. This paper describes our study protocol. Methods/design Using a community based participatory research (CBPR) approach, we designed and implemented a cohort study that includes both a practice level and patient level intervention to enhance the care and support of patients with hypertension in primary care practices in a rural region of eastern North Carolina. The study is divided into a formative phase and an ongoing 2.5 year implementation phase. Our main care enhancement activities include the integration of a community health coach, using home blood pressure monitoring in clinical decision making, standardizing care delivery processes, and working to improve medication adherence. Main outcomes include overall blood pressure change, the differential change in blood pressure by race (African American vs. White) and health literacy level (low vs. higher health literacy). Discussion Using a community based participatory approach in primary care practice settings has helped to engage patients and practice staff and providers in the research effort and in making practice changes to support hypertension care. Practices have engaged at varying levels, but progress has been made in implementing and iteratively improving upon the interventions to date

Environmentalism, pre-environmentalism, and public policy

In the last decade, thousands of new grassroots groups have formed to oppose environmental pollution on the basis that it endangers their health. These groups have revitalized the environmental movement and enlarged its membership well beyond the middle class. Scientists, however, have been unable to corroborate these groups' claims that exposure to pollutants has caused their diseases. For policy analysts this situation appears to pose a choice between democracy and science. It needn't. Instead of evaluating the grassroots groups from the perspective of science, it is possible to evaluate science from the perspective of environmentalism. This paper argues that environmental epidemiology reflects ‘pre-environmentalist’ assumptions about nature and that new ideas about nature advanced by the environmental movement could change the way scientists collect and interpret data.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45449/1/11077_2005_Article_BF01006494.pd

The Iowa Homemaker vol.32, no.7

Meet Miss Engineer, Beverly Gould, page 7 Home Economics Editor, Dorothy Will, page 8 Collegiate Toyland, Jane Steele, page 9 Your Valentine Mail Box, Salli Hearst and Mary Jean Stoddard, page 10 Farm Electricity Use, Mary Odegard, page 12 College Ties Continue, Eleanore Chase, page 13 Vitamin 607, Virginia Wilcox, page 14 Head First, Jean Goul, page 16 Trends, Ruth Anderson, page 18</p

Struggling to Maintain Occupation While Dealing With Risk: The Experiences of Older Adults With Low Vision

The primary aim of this descriptive phenomenological study was to describe the core aspects of living with low vision in later life among older adults (aged 70 years and older) who had not accessed rehabilitation services for low vision. Thirty-four older adults from urban and rural areas participated in a semi-structured qualitative interview and a telephone follow-up. Drawing on an occupational science perspective and using Giorgi and Giorgi’s (2003) method of analysis, the essence of the experience of living with low vision was identified as struggling to maintain valued and necessary occupations while dealing with risk. Additional themes included enhanced sense of risk, striving for independence, and shrinking physical and social life spaces. Findings are interpreted in relation to occupational adaptation and environmental influences on occupation, and implications for the role of occupational therapists are discussed

The Intersection of Race and Gender: An Examination of Black Feminist Consciousness, Race Consciousness, and Policy Attitudes

In this article, we investigate black feminist consciousness, its relationship to race consciousness, and its impact on policy attitudes. Unlike scholars and activists who argue that black feminist consciousness detracts from race consciousness, we argue that the two go hand in hand. Copyright (c) 2004 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.