The Gatekeepers

The Gatekeepers describes the reaction of a handful of well established Israel Studies scholars to a special issue of the journal Israel Studies called Word Crimes Reclaining the Language of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict These professors preferred to denounce rather than engage with the arguments and analyses presented in the special issue deploying their authority to try to silence this challenge to the conventional discourse on the Middle East Conflic

Developing a Congregational Care Model: Mount Olive Baptist Church

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a layperson based Congregational Care Ministry Model to assist the pastor of large congregations. The topic was chosen as a means of addressing the need for the pastor of the Mount Olive Baptist Church to have assistance with meeting the needs of the congregation. As the congregation increases in size, it has become increasingly more difficult for him to visit the sick, counsel, minister to the bereaved, preach, and teach. While there are other ministries that assist in various ways with these tasks, this ministry will enhance the efforts that are already being made by these ministries and provide a formalized plan that assures that every member receives the assistance needed at the time that it is needed. The model will include training selected leadership to serve as caregiver leaders for the congregation. Under the leadership of the Minister of Congregational Care these individuals will be responsible for leading teams of volunteers to minister to the sick and shut in, for hospital visitations, bereavement visits and following up with those who may be recovering from an illness

HIV/STI Risk Factors Among African-American Students Attending Predominantly White Universities

Introduction: The majority of African American college students in the U.S. attend predominantly white institutions (PWIs). However, there is minimal research examining this population’s HIV/STI risk behaviors. The purpose of this investigation was to assess HIV/STI behavioral risk factors among African American college students (aged 18 – 24years) attending PWIs. (n = 2,568) Methods: Backwards step-wise logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine factors associated with a positive HIV/STI diagnosis (past year) among sexually active African American college students who participated in the Spring, 2006 National College Health Assessment. Findings: Nine factors were significantly associated with an HIV/STI diagnosis among African American college students attending PWIs. Different risk factors were associated with having a HIV/STI diagnosis among African American male and female college students. These results may be useful to HIV/STIs prevention programs targeting African American college students attending PWIs

Intentional STEM Infusion (ISI) Approach for 4-H Non-STEM Project Volunteers: Finding STEM in Plain Sight

STEM literacy is identified as a necessary skill for participation in the future workforce. 4-H has responded to this need to develop STEM-ready youth by expanding access to project areas like Robotics. It has been acknowledged that recruiting and training STEM competent staff and volunteers is a limitation in expanding these types of programs. At the same time, 4-H youth are enrolled in many traditional non-STEM projects that are imbued with STEM concepts. 4-H volunteers with increased awareness of their role in fostering STEM education and STEM literacy can be a valuable resource in preparing 4-H youth with STEM-ready professional skills. 4-H professionals can train front-line volunteers to use an intentional STEM infusion approach within the experiential learning process. It is posited that volunteers will be better able to facilitate STEM learning in real-world contexts for a wide-range of 4-H youth by using this approach. The use of the ISI approach provides an opportunity for 4-H to develop more STEM-ready youth than by only serving those youths who are attracted to STEM-focused projects alone

Remarkable transmission of microwaves through a wall of long metallic bricks

Copyright © 2001 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Applied Physics Letters 79 (2001) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/79/2844/1The transmitted intensity of a microwave beam through a thick continuous metal wall will be effectively zero due to the almost complete exclusion of the electric field from the metal. However, it is shown here that by removing less than 20% of the wall material to produce a regular array of bricks, up to 90% of the radiation is transmitted, despite the gaps between the bricks being less than 5% of the incident wavelength. This result is attributed to the excitation of a set of resonant waves along the cavity length through the coupling together of surface–plasmon modes across its width

Group Approach to Narrative Therapy: A Review of the Literature

This article is a review of the current literature on the application of Narrative Therapy (NT) to a group setting. Sixteen peer-reviewed articles were found using the search terms narrative, group, and therapy. Databases used include Science Direct, Social Sciences Citation Index, PsychINFO, CINAHL Plus, ERIC, SocINDEX, and EBSCOhost. The articles describe the composition and efficacy of various groups that utilized NT to treat children, adults, and older adults. Narrative Group Therapy (NGT) was utilized for substance abuse, body image concerns, social phobia, grief associated with acquired brain injury, physical and sexual abuse and neglect, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, intimacy within couples, transition out of homelessness, depression, anxiety, trauma, and severe mental illnesses. This review of the literature highlights the benefits and limitations of using NGT and offers a suggested direction for continued study

Structural barriers to health care access and IPV disclosure in first-generation Latina immigrants

Background: This study aimed to describe the unique structural barriers faced by Latina women in rural areas of Virginia as they attempt to access the health care system, and, once they have gained access, to identify barriers to intimate partner violence (IPV) disclosure. Methods: Semi-structured in-depth individual interviews with first-generation Latina immigrants were conducted after initial purposeful convenience sampling and concomitant snowball recruiting. A thematic content analysis using a phenomenological approach was employed to interpret participants\u27 experiences. Initial findings were validated through additional interviews. Results: The overarching theme expressed by these women was their search for dignity. Emergent sub-themes related to health care barriers and reluctance to disclose IPV included: no confianza, having a voice, being marginalized, and navigating a dysfunctional system. Discussion: Initial encounters with the health care system that led participants to feel disrespected interfered with care access and a sense of safety in answering intimate questions, especially concerning safety. The dysfunctional and disjointed health care system also creates unintended barriers to access and continuity of care. Conclusion and Recommendations: The experiences of barriers encountered by the women in our study suggests that reported discrepancies in IPV disclosure rates may be related to their level of perceived safety when being screened. In an effort to provide more accessible, safe and relevant care, an equity-informed approach such as trauma and violence informed care should be implemented within health care organizations to help provide more satisfying, safe and comprehensive care to immigrant populations