Conflict and Paradox in the New American Mediation Movement: Status Quo and Social Transformation

This essay will focus on some of the disharmony in the field of mediation in the United States, particularly from the perspective of those who try to utilize mediation\u27s potential as an instrument of socio-political transformation. The work of these individuals remains a relatively well-kept secret in a time of much publicity about the numerous virtues of mediation as an alternative to the legal system. Among the reasons for this secrecy is that, for the time being, the American conflict resolution movement has been substantially overwhelmed by the force and forces of the legal system, professionalization, bureaucracy, and interest-group politics

Using Transactional Practice Competitions to Introduce Students to Key Deal-Making Skills

Law school moot court competitions are everywhere. That is a bit of an exaggeration, to be sure, but not by much. At last count, students with an interest in litigation had more than 60 interschool appellate advocacy competitions to choose from, ranging in topics from admiralty to space law to veterans law. Toss in trial advocacy competitions, and the number of opportunities to hone litigation skills increases significantly. And seemingly every law school has its own intraschool litigation competitions, ranging from part of a 1L legal writing program to school-wide appellate advocacy competitions whose final rounds attract prominent judges or litigators and which are a résumé highlight for the winning students

Electronic Commerce and Rapid Delivery: The Missing Logistical Link

In the span of just a few short years, the World Wide Web (WWW) has emerged from the laboratories of computer scientists into the homes of millions of ordinary people. A recent CommerceNet/Nielsen Media Research Survey (http://www. commerce.net/news/press/121197.html 12/11/97), estimated that 58 million adults now use the Internet in the U.S. and Canada and an estimated 48 million people use the Web. However, it is estimated that only 10 million people (16 years of age or older) have actually made a purchase on the WWW. While there appears to be a significant trend in the growth of electronic commerce (or simply, EC), the lack of transaction and personal security, consumer uncertainty about quality of goods of services bought over the Internet, consumer inertia in general, lack of knowledge, and the often poor performance of the WWW are frequently cited as reasons why people do not shop on the Web. The authors believe that for the present and for some time into the future, a major source of customer dissatisfaction will stem from EC’s inability to deliver tangible products and services quickly and inexpensively. Consumers will come to expect not just “Next Day” deliveries, but also “Same Day” deliveries for a wide array of products in the same way that they expect to be able to make real time airline, hotel and automobile reservations today

Uncovering Teaching Faculty Personas to Understand Comfort Levels in Using Technology in Their Online Classes

Faculty’s knowledge about, and comfort with, the use of technology tools are key components in online teaching. Faculty are not only expected to be adept with basic computer functionality, like creating and editing documents and managing files, but also in navigating their institutions Learning Management System (LMS) and utilizing course teaching technologies and tools. Together these areas comprise a significant portion of design and facilitation of an online course and are related to learning outcomes. When engaging with the online learning environment, it is thus critical for each instructor to consider their personal level of comfort utilizing various online technology tools and resources. For faculty to be successful in the online classroom space, identification of individual needs and skills associated with teaching online must be determined, and resources curated. Over the spring and summer of 2022, 40 UNLV faculty across 10 colleges were interviewed about their experiences in online teaching with the aim to uncover prevailing themes that will serve to inform future interactions and professional development offerings. Growth through professional development, combined with use of online tools and targeted teaching resources by instructors can result in more robust course creation and preparation, elevated student support and learning outcomes, and enhanced student engagement and success.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/btp_expo/1194/thumbnail.jp

Does an Interactive Health Promotion Website Facilitate Workplace Peer-to-Peer Substance Abuse Prevention?

Operation RedBlock, a substance abuse prevention and early intervention program at Amtrak, implemented an interactive health promotion website (On The Right Track, OTRT) for its volunteers, other employees and their families. OTRT was customized from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) -sponsored [email protected] website and implemented with the purpose of facilitating the peer-to-peer substance abuse prevention efforts of Operation RedBlock volunteers. SAMHSA’s GetFit website combines broad health and wellness messages with current substance abuse prevention resources. The OTRT customization adds Amtrak relevant and specific content concerning substance abuse prevention resources and treatment options, drug and alcohol use policies, health care coverage, support group meeting locations and dates, and local Operation RedBlock and Employee Assistance Program contact information. Using a retrospective pretest-posttest design this study evaluates whether and how OTRT facilitated peer-to-peer efforts in substance abuse prevention and early intervention. The evaluation revealed that the website significantly improved access to information and resources that helped Operation RedBlock volunteers’ in their peer-to-peer efforts. Volunteers valued the ready availability of reliable information, the confidential nature, and the ease of use of OTRT. Facilitated access to information and resources may help reduce substance abuse among employees at high risk

Readiness to Change as a Mediator of the Effect of a Brief Motivational Intervention on Posttreatment Alcohol-Related Consequences of Injured Emergency Department Hazardous Drinkers

Evaluated impact of motivational enhancement (ME) of substance abuse treatment compared to relaxation training (RT) on sex without condoms (overall and involving substance use) 3 months following release among incarcerated adolescents. This randomized clinical trial involved 114 incarcerated adolescents from the Northeast. Regression analyses determined if treatment condition, baseline levels of depressive symptoms, and their interaction predicted condom non-use 3 months post-release, controlling for baseline condom non-use. Among those who reported fewer baseline depressive symptoms, those in ME condition reported significantly less condom non-use, in general and involving marijuana use compared with those in RT condition. Periods of incarceration represent opportunities to help juvenile detainees reduce behaviors that impact their health and the health of those with whom they interact in the community

The Discovery of Fullerenes in the 1.85 Billion-Year-Old Sudbury Meteorite Crater

Fullerenes (C{sub 60}, C{sub 70}) have been identified by laser time-of-flight and electron-ionization mass spectroscopy in rock samples (black tuff in the Onaping formation) from the crater. They were likely synthesized within the impact plume from carbon contained in the meteorite. The isotopic ratios suggest {sup 13}C enrichment. They are associated with sulfur which may have protected them. This is the largest known deposit of naturally occurring fullerenes

Future scenarios to inspire innovation

In recent years and accelerated by the economic and financial crisis, complex global issues have moved to the forefront of policy making. These grand challenges require policy makers to address a variety of interrelated issues, which are built upon yet uncoordinated and dispersed bodies of knowledge. Due to the social dynamics of innovation, new socio-technical subsystems are emerging, however there is lack of exploitation of innovative solutions. In this paper we argue that issues of how knowledge is represented can have a part in this lack of exploitation. For example, when drivers of change are not only multiple but also mutable, it is not sensible to extrapolate the future from data and relationships of the past. This paper investigates ways in which futures thinking can be used as a tool for inspiring actions and structures that address the grand challenges. By analysing several scenario cases, elements of good practice and principles on how to strengthen innovation systems through future scenarios are identified. This is needed because innovation itself needs to be oriented along more sustainable pathways enabling transformations of socio-technical systems