Women Owned Businesses and Bank Switching: The Role of Customer Service

The number of businesses owned and operated by women is increasing rapidly, and women owned businesses are becoming a powerful economic force. It is estimated that half of the businesses in this country will be owned and operated by women by the year 2,000. This article describes research conducted on women owned small businesses and the nature of their banking relationships. Findings revealed that over 90% of those surveyed used banking products. A surprisingly high percentage of the women surveyed had switched banks. Major reasons for switching included poor customer service, an arrogant and condescending attitude on the part of bank personnel, and errors and mistakes. These results suggest opportunities for bank managers to improve the quality of their interactions with women business owners, a growing segment of the market

Study into Postpartum Stress

Introduction: Postpartum depression is a major public health issue. Married or partnered women with ongoing low spousal support from partners are more likely to suffer from postpartum depression (Yaksi & Save 2021). Lack of emotional support from a spouse, verbal or physical abuse, and unintended pregnancies may further increase the risk of PPD (Kızılırmak, Calpbinici, Tabakan, & Kartal, 2021). This lack of support from the home adds to the stress and hormonal effects a woman may experience during and after her pregnancy. The purpose of this two phase study is to identify the impact of stress arousal on postpartum women and to identify areas to explore within postpartum depression and spousal support. The current project will be discussed and the importance of understanding the impact of cognitive load on patients and support partners, how arousal and stress can impact discharge education, and innovate ways to reimage the discharge process. Major themes from the literature review will also be presented

Intonation of Greek–Turkish contact: a real-time diachronic study

In multilingual communities, contact varieties are characterized by a combination of linguistic features from the source languages. Speakers of Asia Minor Greek (AMG) cohabited with Turkish speakers for 800 years until the 1923 Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations which forced a two-way mass migration between Turkey and Greece. This severed AMG speakers’ everyday contact with Turkish. Many second- and third-generation heritage speakers of AMG now live in villages in Greece. In this diachronic study we examine the intonation of the continuation rise tune in the speech of two generations of AMG speakers: first-generation speakers born in the Anatolian peninsula and second-generation speakers born and raised in Greece. We examine whether contact effects in intonation persist after contact has ceased, through comparison of the f0 patterns in the speech of the two AMG generations with those of Athenian Greek and Turkish speakers. Our findings show two patterns in the f0 curve shape and pitch alignment of the continuation rises, one similar to the Athenian and one similar to the Turkish, indicating code-mixing. In addition, our results reveal that this dual patterning diminishes in the speech of second-generation AMG speakers, indicating intergenerational change towards a more Athenian-like pattern

Educators\u27 Perceptions of Mobile Students and the Interventions that Assist Them

In the educational climate of no Child Left Behind (NCLB), school personnel are searching for any means available to help all children succeed academically and meet state standards. School teachers and administrators in Virginia are no different. All schools and school districts, in Virginia and across the country, must demonstrate through adequate yearly progress (AYP) that children are achieving state standards of education. AYP requires that schools no only show that all students are achieving state standards but also that disaggregated groups of students (e.g. black students, speakers of English as a second language, special education students) are meeting standards at acceptable levels. In Virginia, AYP is demonstrated through students’ pass rates on the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests among other benchmarks (e.g. graduation rate). Unfortunately, there are many subgroups of school children that have difficulty passing the test. While there are specific subgroups of students about which the state must report progress, Virginia educators are concerned with the academic success of all. Though transient, or highly mobile, children are not one of the disaggregated groups about which the state must report, and because research indicates that highly mobile students do no perform well on standardized tests, there still is a concern that these students, as a group, are not as successful in passing the SOL tests as other students (Mehana & Reynolds, 1995). Further, because some schools have larger proportions of highly mobile populations than others, there is a concern that highly mobile students may negatively impact a school’s accreditation. In order to seek out the best research-based practices to help transient students pass the SOL tests and achieve academic success, research targeted at addressing the needs of these students must be conducted

Boldly Sustainable: Hope and Opportunity for Higher Education in the Age of Climate Change (Book Review)

Peter Bardaglio and Andrea Putman’s groundbreaking book, Boldly Sustainable, provides a powerful strategy for colleges and universities to achieve renewal and relevance in the 21st century through innovation, academic rigor, and pragmatism. The book combines a refreshingly optimistic message of hope and opportunity with an honest critique of higher education, highlighting the need for transformative change. Case study examples throughout the book show how sustainability initiatives can stimulate excellence in teaching and learning while also encouraging improvements in physical operations. With a broad range of cases from public and private institutions of various sizes and rankings, the authors convincingly demonstrate how the creation of a campuswide culture of sustainabilitybrings many benefits in addition to positive ecological impacts. With forethought and effective planning, sustainability efforts can save money and increase efficiency while helping a university carve out a unique niche in order to recruit the best students, attract and retain top faculty and staff, and encourage alumni and donor support. The authors argue that designing a path to sustainability can provide any campus with an overarching framework to clarify and focus institutional identity. The strategies put forth provide a foundation to reinvigorate and unite faculty, staff, and students through collaboration on a shared goal