Job Stability in the United States

Two key attributes of a job are its wage and its duration. Much has been made of changes in the wage distribution in the 1980s, but little attention has been given to job durations since Hall (1982). We fill this void by examining the temporal evolution of job retention rates in U.S. labor markets, using data assembled from the sequence of Current Population Survey job tenure supplements. In contrast to the distribution of wages, which clearly changed in the 1980s, we find that job retention rates have remained stable.

The Drinking Patterns and Problems of a National Sample of College Students, 1994

This is a pre-print published in final form in the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Education. DOI/link to publishers version not available.Other research PUBLICATIONS and PAPERS on university students drinking, drug use and health concerns and behaviors can be found at: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17130/browse?type=title; https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17127/browse?type=title and https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17124/browse?type=title. Further information about the questionnaire, calculations, and the original data base used can be found in the following item records within IUScholarworks repository. Details about the reliability and validity of the SAQ are found at: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17337; http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17154; http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17181. The classic 1975 copy of the SAQ is found at http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17153. The Health Concern Questionnaire is found at: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17250. Reliability and validity of this instrument are found at: http://hdl.handle.net/2022/17251. ALL QUESTIONNAIRES developed by Engs are found in the repository at: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/17141/browse?type=dateissuedOver 12,000 university students from every state were administered the Student Alcohol Questionnaire during the 1993-1994 academic year. Of all students 72.0% consumed alcohol at least once a year and 20.6% were heavy drinkers (consuming 5 or more drinks per occasion once a week or more). A mean of 9.6 drinks per week was consumed by all students in the sample, 31% of males consumed over 21 drinks per week and 19.2% of females consumed over 14 drinks a week. Of the drinkers, 28.4% were heavy and 71.6% were light to moderate drinkers and they consumed a mean of 10.9 drinks per week. A significantly higher proportion of men, whites, under 21 years old, Roman Catholics, individuals to whom religion was not important, individuals with low grade point averages, fraternity/sorority members, students attending college in the North East part of the United States, in small communities, private schools and colleges under 10,000 students exhibited heavier drinking and a higher incidence of problems related to drinking. These results are similar to other studies which have been accomplished over the past two decades. The results do not support dramatic changes in the demography of heavier drinkers within most demographic categories. It was concluded that demographic variables need to be taken into consideration when planning campus educational and prevention programs. In times of limited budgets, the primary target needs to be these high risk students

High-Speed, Compact, Adaptive Lenses Using In-Line Transparent Dielectric Elastomer Actuator Membranes

Electrically tunable adaptive lenses provide several advantages over traditional lens assemblies in terms of compactness, speed, efficiency, and flexibility. We present an elastomer-liquid lens system which makes use of an in-line, transparent electroactive polymer actuator. The lens has two liquid-filled cavities enclosed within two frames, with two passive outer elastomer membranes and an internal transparent electroactive membrane. Advantages of the lens design over existing systems include large apertures, flexibility in choosing the starting lens curvature, and electrode encapsulation with a dielectric liquid. A lens power change up to 40 diopters, corresponding to focal length variation up to 300%, was recorded during actuation, with a response time on the order of tens of milliseconds.Engineering and Applied Science

Tunable Lenses Using Transparent Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Focus tunable, adaptive lenses provide several advantages over traditional lens assemblies in terms of compactness, cost, efficiency, and flexibility. To further improve the simplicity and compact nature of adaptive lenses, we present an elastomer-liquid lens system which makes use of an inline, transparent electroactive polymer actuator. The lens requires only a minimal number of components: a frame, a passive membrane, a dielectric elastomer actuator membrane, and a clear liquid. The focal length variation was recorded to be greater than 100% with this system, responding in less than one second. Through the analysis of membrane deformation within geometrical constraints, it is shown that by selecting appropriate lens dimensions, even larger focusing dynamic ranges can be achieved.Engineering and Applied Science

Effect of Silane Coupling Agent Chemistry on Electrical Breakdown across Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Insulating Films

Dielectric breakdown measurements were conducted on self-assembled monolayer (SAM)/native silicon oxide hybrid dielectrics using conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM). By depositing silane coupling agents (SCAs) through a diffusional barrier layer, SAM roughness was decoupled from chemistry to compare the chemical effects of exposed R-group functionality on dielectric breakdown. Using Weibull and current–voltage (I–V) analysis, the breakdown strength was observed to be independent of SCA R-group length, and the addition of a SAM was seen to improve the breakdown strength relative to native silicon oxide by up to 158%. Fluorinated SCAs were observed to suppress tunneling leakage and exhibited increased breakdown strength relative to their hydrocarbon analogs. Electron trapping, scattering, or attachment processes inherent to the fluorinated moieties are thought to be the origin of the improved breakdown properties.Engineering and Applied Science

The Thickness and Stretch Dependence of the Electrical Breakdown Strength of an Acrylic Dielectric Elastomer

The performance of dielectric elastomer actuators is limited by electrical breakdown. Attempts to measure this are confounded by the voltage-induced thinning of the elastomer. A test configuration is introduced that avoids this problem: A thin sheet of elastomer is stretched, crossed-wire electrodes are attached, and then embedded in a stiff polymer. The applied electric field at breakdown, $E_{B}$, is found to depend on both the deformed thickness, h, and the stretch applied, $\lambda$. For the acrylic elastomer investigated, the breakdown field scales as $E_{B}$  =  51  h$^{ − 0.25 }$ $\lambda$$^{0.63}$. The test configuration allows multiple individual tests to be made on the same sheet of elastomer.Engineering and Applied Science

Regionalizing Government in Maine: Opportunities for the Future

In keeping with his promise to make government work better for the people of Maine, Governor Angus King commissioned the Task Force on Regional Options for Better Government. The Governor charged the task force with recommending some alternative regional arrangements for the delivery of government services currently provided by state or local government. The task force evaluated three services in which regionalism offered some advantages: economic development; demand response transportation; and municipal management information systems