National Identity in Higher Education: The Guardianship of a Kingdom

Changes in the structure of higher education in Saudi Arabia and through advanced scholarship programs abroad have resulted in an educational reformation within the country. Though the Saudi Monarchy desires to create a knowledge-based society through higher education (Al-Sultan & Alzaharnah, 2012; Romani, 2009), there is also the desire to use education as an instrument of political and social control (Moughrabi, 2009). As more Saudi students’ participate in higher education abroad, a greater likelihood exist that they will gain a heightened awareness of the world around them, participate in political discourse and begin to scrutinize their ruling body (Khalaf & Luciani, 2006). Therefore the purpose of this research was to explore how, if at all, Saudi students talked about making meaning of their national identity since participating in a study abroad opportunity in higher education in the United States. This was accomplished through critical discourse analysis using the lens of a new collective identity model that was structured through a borderlands approach. The findings from the study revealed that Saudi students make meaning of their national identity by examining and reflecting on their perceptions of self in relation to their environments both in Saudi Arabia and the United States, as well as by recognizing and coming to terms with their preconceived perceptions, both real and non-existent, of others based on their commitment to their own individual constructs of identity and that of their collective. Recommendations for future research and program development are included. Keywords: identity development, collective identity, social constructs of identity, Saudi Arabia, higher education, women’s rights, Saudi educational system

Understanding teacher perceptions of school safety drills: Risk mitigation, preparedness, and response.

There is a dearth in the research on perceptions of school safety drills (severe weather, fire, and active shooter) from the teachers’ perception. Classroom teachers hold the responsibility of not only educating young minds, but also ensuring their safety during crisis. Little is known about their perceptions of the influence or voice they have on the processes and policies that they are required to implement when crisis present. Our study presents teachers perspectives from one urban school district located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Utilizing case study as our qualitative methodology, semi-structured interview questions for data collection, and Braun and Clarke’s (2015) thematic analysis to attain our findings, we present to our audience the support needs of these teachers as well as an instrument that they can utilize to assess their own roles and responsibilities during safety drills. The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model and Social Ecological Model were both utilized to assess teachers’ perceptions of school safety drills and needed actions for altering school and district policy for improvement. Attendees will take away strategies for classroom management, communication with students, parents, administrators, school counselors, and their districts concerning safety drills, and practical suggestions derived from the teacher experience that are important for shaping the administration of future safety drills. It is our hope that the results of our research can help to better inform teachers, administrators, school counselors, and community members of ways to support each other in times of crisis and give voice to teachers needs and perspectives

LGBTQIA+ International Students and Socioemotional Well-Being: Impact of Intersectionality on Perceived Experiences and Campus Engagement

International students are more likely to experience mental health issues and increased stress. Mental health is often surrounded by negative societal stigmas that act as barriers to seeking support and tend to lead to greater mental health concerns. International students tend to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers rather than seeking out counseling services. However, this study shows that LGBTQIA+ international students were less likely to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers due to fear of their sexual orientation being discovered and their families finding out about their identity. This study examines how LGBTQIA+ international students talk about their experiences on and off campus in relations to their socioemotional well-being. Specifically, this study sought to better understand the complexities of LGBTQIA+ students’ identities, and the challenges they faced in terms of their socioemotional well-being. Implications for practice and future research are discussed

Preliminary Evaluation of the Mars 2020 Rover's SuperCam Development Unit: Co-Aligned Chemical and Mineralogical Analyses

Scheduled to be launched in July/August 2020, the next Mars rover will continue the geological and astrobiological exploration of the martian surface. One of the selected instrument suites on its science payload is called SuperCam. SuperCam will have five science techniques that it will deploy remotely to study the chemistry, mineralogy, and small scale morphology of Mars. These techniques include laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for chemistry, Raman/time resolved fluorescence (TRF) and visible-near infrared (VISIR) spectroscopy for mineralogy, a microphone to support the LIBS analyses, and a color remote micro imager (RMI) for context imagery and textural analyses [1]

Management of Bacteriuria in Veterans Affairs Hospitals.

BackgroundBacteriuria contributes to antibiotic overuse through treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) and long durations of therapy for symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTIs), yet large-scale evaluations of bacteriuria management among inpatients are lacking.MethodsInpatients with bacteriuria were classified as asymptomatic or symptomatic based on established criteria applied to data collected by manual chart review. We examined frequency of treatment of ASB, factors associated with treatment of ASB, durations of therapy, and frequency of complications including Clostridium difficile infection, readmission, and all-cause mortality within 28 days of discharge.ResultsAmong 2225 episodes of bacteriuria, 64% were classified as ASB. After excluding patients with non-UTI indications for antibiotics, 72% of patients with ASB received antibiotics. When evaluating only patients not meeting SIRS criteria, 68% of patients with ASB received antibiotics. The mean (±SD) days of antibiotic therapy for ASB, cystitis, CA-UTI and pyelonephritis were 10.0 (4.5), 11.4 (4.7), 12.0 (6.1), and 13.6 (5.3), respectively. In sum, 14% of patients with ASB were treated for greater than 14 days, and fluoroquinolones were the most commonly used empiric antibiotic for ASB [245/691 (35%)]. Complications were rare but more common among patients with ASB treated with antibiotics.ConclusionsThe majority of bacteriuria among inpatient veterans is due to ASB with high rates of treatment of ASB and prolonged durations of therapy for ASB and symptomatic UTIs