A Worker Dialogue: Improving Health Safety and Security at DOE

During the summer of 2010, the Department of Energy Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS) partnered with the National Academy of Public Administration to host an online dialogue to solicit ideas from front line union workers at DOE sites on how to improve worker safety across the DOE complex. Based on the results of the Dialogue, an expert Panel of the National Academy identified several themes that emerged from workers' suggestions and offered recommendations for HSS in following up on the issues raised as well as continuing to build its capacity for employee engagement.Key FindingsBased specifically on the Dialogue results, the Panel recommended HSS further investigate several issues and claims discussed by workers as well as assess the current state of reporting processes in DOE to determine if changes are necessary. In addition, the Dialogue revealed many knowledge gaps among workers regarding the substance of worker health and safety regulations in DOE, which should prompt HSS to consider expanding efforts to educate workers about these regulations.The Panel also issued several recommendations for HSS to build its capacity to engage union workers. These recommendations included considering alternate channels of reaching front-line workers and continuing engagement with workers by articulating and undertaking concrete next steps with the input received

Measuring income related inequality in health and health care: the partial concentration index with direct and indirect standardisation.

The partial concentration index measures income related inequality in health (or health care) after removing the effects of standardising variables which affect health (or health care), are correlated with income but not amenable to policy. When the marginal effects of income are independent of the standardising variables, direct standardisation yields consistent estimates of the partial concentration index. Indirect standardisation underestimates the partial concentration index whenever the standardising variables are correlated with income, irrespective of the signs of the correlation of standardising variables and income with each other and with health. A generalised version of the partial concentration index is proposed for cases where the marginal effect of income depends on the standardising variables. Direct standardisation again yields a consistent estimate but indirect standardisation does not. It is also shown that the direct standardisation procedure can be applied to individual or grouped data and that the conclusions about the merits of direct and indirect standardisation hold for grouped data.Concentration index, inequality, direct standardisation.

Connecting Residents of Subsidized Housing With Mainstream Supportive Services: Challenges and Recommendations

Outlines challenges in expanding access to supportive services for older adults and families, including housing providers' lack of capacity or space to deliver services, limited direct funding, and restrictive eligibility rules. Lists HUD policy options

Did Implementing Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990 Improve Diet?

Nutrition labeling, in the words of the then FDA commissioner, David Kessler, was to “help millions of Americans make more informed, healthier choices.” Although the NLEA primarily focused on standardizing the nutrition facts label, its implementation also involved an informational and educational campaign on how to use the new nutrition facts label and the benefits of using it. Evidently label use more than doubled between 1989-91 and 1994-96. Most of the studies provide evidence of the effects of nutrition label use by comparing label users against non-users using data after NLEA was in effect. Using pseudo-panel data method, we find that implementing NLEA did not improve diet quality but use of labels did. Further, label usage showed no improvement in diet quality within a cohort but it did reveal significant differences among or between cohorts. We also test for differences in diet quality between the two periods by comparing individuals of similar characteristics using a non-parametric approach, the Mahalnobis distance matching technique. Differences across the two periods would be tested at different quantiles of the diet quality with an emphasis on label use and education levels.Nutrition, diet, nutrition facts label, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

ENGLISH TEACHING ACTIVITIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH COMPETENCY BASED CURRICULUM IN THE FIRST GRADE OF SMP N 1 TAWANGSARI SUKOHARJO

Evy Yunianti. 2008. English Teaching Activities in Accordance with Competency Based Curriculum In the First Grade of SMP N 1 Tawangsari Sukoharjo. English Diploma Program, Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, UNS. The Final Project is about the description of the teaching-learning method used by the English teacher in the first grade of SMP N 1 Tawangsari Sukoharjo and the activities done in accordance with competency based curriculum. The Local Government has had the autonomy to organize the education curriculum independently. Therefore, every school in a region should arrange their own education curriculum and competence. SMP N 1 Tawangsari Sukoharjo has been practicing this new regulation by holding an English teaching-learning process with Competency based Curriculum in the newest form KTSP (Educational Unit Level Curriculum). The writer did a Job Training to compose the final project in SMP N 1 Tawangsari. The purpose is to report the method used and the English activities done in SMP N 1 Tawangsari. There are many methods which can be used by the teacher. The teacher in this school has been already using the newest method, Competency Based Curriculum. This final project describes the new method used and how the teacher practiced it. The data was taken from the observation and interview in the school of SMP N 1 Tawangsari. Firstly, she observed the class and the activity there. Then, at the second day, the writer was positioned as the teacher for class VII D, she must come there twice a week to teach the student. She continued the topic in that semester and taught the student by practicing the theory given in Diploma Program. The Job Training held from 6th of February until 15th of March 2007. During the Job Training, the writer did also some interview with the English teacher there and some librarians, and also the head of SMP N 1 Tawangsari. She also got the data from the information of an administration staff. The Discussion of the data leads to the teaching-learning process held in SMP N 1 Tawangsari is starting to use the newest competency based curriculum based on UU No. 20 tahun 2003 about National Education System and Government Rule that instruct in National standardizing. Then, in teaching a second language to the students, the teacher should understand some points about the student’s characteristic generally; a teacher in this competence is hoped as a controller and a facilitator who let the students explore themselves maximally Some problems related to the students were the lack of more modern facilities and English daily community. Therefore, the solutions may be the school should obtain more modern facilities such as some latest CDs, video, and native speaker. Then it will be better when the teacher build an English atmosphere in and around the class by writing or drawing everything related with English. Many trials can develop the student ability

McDonaldization: an American menace to the Dutch labor market? : research report

The paper considers a (static) portfolio system that satisfies adding-up contraints and the gross substitution theorem. The paper shows the relationship of the two conditions to the weak dominant diagonal property of the matrix of interest rate elasticities. This enables to investigate the impact of simultaneous changes in interest rates on the asset demands.

Subjective Well-Being, Income, Economic Development and Growth

We explore the relationships between subjective well-being and income, as seen across individuals within a given country, between countries in a given year, and as a country grows through time. We show that richer individuals in a given country are more satisfied with their lives than are poorer individuals, and establish that this relationship is similar in most countries around the world. Turning to the relationship between countries, we show that average life satisfaction is higher in countries with greater GDP per capita. The magnitude of the satisfaction-income gradient is roughly the same whether we compare individuals or countries, suggesting that absolute income plays an important role in influencing well-being. Finally, studying changes in satisfaction over time, we find that as countries experience economic growth, their citizens’ life satisfaction typically grows, and that those countries experiencing more rapid economic growth also tend to experience more rapid growth in life satisfaction. These results together suggest that measured subjective well-being grows hand in hand with material living standards.subjective well-being, life satisfaction, quality of life, economic growth, development, Easterlin Paradox, well-being-income gradient, hedonic treadmill

Visionary leadership in the administrative staff of the Guapan educational unit

The purpose of the present study lies in determining the visionary leadership manifest in the administrative staff of the Guapan Educational Unit, with the research taking the form of a positivist descriptive research study that will deepen the knowledge of the variable that concerns us: visionary leadership. Through the application of field designs, the information was obtained directly from interaction with the subjects, who made up a population of (62) subjects, among whom were (07) administrators and (55) educational professionals, with the sample consisting of 38 instructors. The instrument used was an 18-item multiple-choice questionnaire (Almost always, Sometimes and Almost never), which was validated by three experts, with a reliability of 0.97, which demonstrates that it is highly reliable. The consolidation of this research showed with its results that the administrative staff engages in visionary leadership in the Guapan Educational Unit. The opinion of the instructional staff, however, shows just the opposite, judging that the administrators show weakness in visionary leadership. For this reason, guidelines are offered to the administrators of the state-funded private school located in the Cañar province, Azogues district, Guapan parishPeer Reviewe

Building sustainable learning environments that are ‘fit for the future’ with reference to Egypt

Perhaps there is no building type that has a more significant impact on our lives than the Kindergarten to high School (K-12). We continue to carry the memories of our early learning environments through the residue of our lives. It is the quality of those learning environments that play a crucial role in enhancing or hampering our learning experience. Learning spaces are complex spaces where the collective skills, knowledge, and practices of a culture are taught, shaped, encouraged, and transmitted. Comfortable/safe and creative learning spaces can inspire and motivate users, while ugly/unsafe spaces can oppress. Based on these two attitudes, the aims of this paper are to; firstly, developing Sustainable learning environments (SLE) in the Middle-East countries with reference to Egypt. Secondly, to reviewing and extending the planning and design of the internal, external and landscaping features of a proposed eco-class to collectively pass to the learners for enhancing the quality of learning space and thus education. After the Egyptian Revolution on the 25th of January, 2011 and the hopes and dreams this brings with it, for a major transformation in all life sectors, the Egyptian government needs to recognise the right of children and young people to learn in an environment which is safe, healthy and achieves the highest quality possible. We must all be committed to improving the quality, attractiveness and health of the learning and communal spaces in our schools. Environmental factors have significant effects on pupil and teacher wellbeing. In contrast, poor school and classroom design can affect concentration, creativity and general well-being; in addition, poor quality lighting, ventilation, acoustics and furniture all have a negative effect on student achievement and health. Nowadays, Egypt endure deterioration of education quality as a result of deficient learning spaces, high number of pupils in class, insufficient governmental expenditure and funding, and lack of proper research in education developmental strategies. Therefore, new learning spaces should be able to increase flexibility in order to support hands-on and outside-class learning activities. Furthermore, they intend to encourage extra-curricula activities beyond conventional learning times. Currently, these integral learning-components are crucial for socio-cultural sustainability and positive initiatives towards minimizing recent educational underachievement. Undoubtedly, comfortable, safe and creative learning spaces can inspire and motivate users, while ugly/unsafe spaces can depress. Therefore, well-designed learning spaces are able to support creative, productive and efficient learning processes on one hand. On the other hand, ecological design measures became increasingly major keystone for modern sustainable learning-spaces. Thus, learning-spaces’ design process, form, components, materials, features, and energy-saving technologies can generate well-educated, environmental-literate, energy-conscious, and innovative future-generations. (Continued