Sifting Through the Cultural Dust: A Pre-Transformational Activity

Technologically mediated communication which has flooded the worlds of North American people with information brings with it an increasing uncertainty about the reliability of this information. This flood of information delivers worldview and culture, completely unsorted, in very small increments to the hearts and minds of young people who are students in Christian schools. These small increments we call cultural dust. This study identifies technology, and specifically mass media and computer mediated communication, as a factor that has contributed to accelerated cultural change in the lives of students who attend Christian schools. Data collected through this action research project provides evidence that 16 media and technology enhanced “spirits of the age” identified by Hielema (2001) operate in the lives of middle school students at a Christian school in Alberta Canada. A unifying theme found in responses throughout the project is that of deficiency of a well-defined Christian identity in the lives of students. This dearth of Christian identity coincides with an accumulation of cultural dust in the Information Age

Do antibiotics improve outcomes in chronic rhinosinusitis?

For children, antibiotics do not appear to improve short-term (3-6 weeks) or long-term (3 months) outcomes of chronic rhinosinusitis (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, randomized controlled trials). No adequate placebo-controlled trials have been performed in adults. Two consensus statements report that 10 to 21 days of antibiotics active against organisms producing beta-lactamase might be beneficial in some cases (SOR: C)

A Locational Analysis of Low Income Housing in Seattle and King County

This article will analyze the racial locational strategies which are either explicit or implicit in government-assisted housing programs in Seattle and King County, Washington

Het Nederlandse beleid ten aanzien van de ontwikkelingssamenwerking

Should the aid to developing countries be seen as a social-economic problem or as a political question? Changes did occur in the major objectives and means of the Dutch aid policy. In this case policy as well as politics will be influenced by the interstate relationships. Development aid may be seen as a two-sided relation, symbolized by the word; co-operation. It can be shown that development co-operation has not yet been developed as an independent policy within the over-all Dutch government activities. Some undesired consequences of taxes and of agreements on primary products may demonstrate the influence of the social-economic outlook on aid goals. Development co-operation is a question of government policy. Every government must define the most important goals, including those qualified as social economic, cultural etc., — as well as choose the means to achieve that situation for the country. Once those choices have been made, it will perhaps be possible for developed and developing countries to look for a basis for co-operation to realize their own futures. Development policy may thus develop from being an instrument of foreign policy to an independent policy of co-operation

An analysis of the selection criteria and processes into basic nursing diploma programme in the Gauteng Province, South Africa

Background: This study derived from the concerns raised by nurse educators, clinical preceptors, and some nursing students in public nursing colleges in Gauteng following the implementation of the provincial selection criteria and processes. While these criteria could be seen as a means of standardising the admission into the Basic Nursing Diploma Programme at public nursing colleges, anecdotal reports from nurses in education institutions and clinical practices indicated a lack of professionalism, high attrition rates among these cohorts of students. The researcher believed that any meaningful selection criteria and processes should be on the views expressed by people who have been through the process as students or educators. Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse the selection criteria and processes followed by nursing colleges in the Gauteng Province to admit students into Basic Nursing Diploma Programme with the view of proposing selection criteria and processes that would secure the admission of the best candidates to this programme in public nursing colleges in Gauteng Province. Design: Quantitative descriptive survey design with self-completion questionnaire was used to generate data for this study. Out of 571 questionnaires distributed, 492 were returned and considered for analysis. Summary descriptive statistics were performed using SPSS version 21. Results: Four of the 13 items analysed were viewed by more than 70% of the respondents as less important and irrelevant to the selection of best candidates for nursing professional education. Proposal for changes supported by the rational for these changes were made by the respondents. Conclusion and Recommendation: The study proposed a framework that could guide the provincial authority in developing admission criteria that will ensure the selection of best candidates for Basic Diploma Nursing Programme in the province.Health StudiesM.A. (Nursing Science

“It’s just like a waiting room”: The experiences of psychology Honours students who are not accepted into any professional training programme for psychology in South Africa

Objective: This study explored the lived experiences of currently enrolled psychology Honours students, who are not in a professional training programme for psychology in South Africa. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight psychology Honours students at a South African university and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings: Findings revealed that participants perceived an Honours in psychology qualification as significant in personal capacity and insignificant in professional capacity. Additionally, findings showed that participants perceive the difficulty gaining entrance into a professional training programme and lack of employment in the field for Honours psychology graduates, as a contributing factor to several graduates being placed in a state of uncertainty, lacking professional progression in the field of psychology. Furthermore, findings revealed that several Honours psychology students battled to find employment in the field. Conclusions: I critically reflect on the implications of the findings in relation to psychology as a profession in South Africa.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 202