Tennessee Promise and Two-Year Community College Retention and Graduation in Rural Appalachia

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental study was to explore the relationship between the implementation of the Tennessee Promise scholarship program and the two-year Tennessee community college retention rates and graduation rates of first-time, full-time Tennessee students from rural Appalachian counties. Results from this study may help higher education stake-holders better understand the features of Tennessee Promise that are influencing an increase in community college retention and graduation rates for Tennessee students from rural Appalachian counties. The theoretical framework that guided this research was the social capital framework. Data including use of Tennessee Promise, county of origin, retention, and graduation was collected via secure email from seven Tennessee community colleges. The null hypotheses of twelve research questions were tested through SPSS via two-way contingency table analyses using crosstabs. The results revealed that retention and graduation rates of first-time, full-time Tennessee students from rural Appalachian counties attending the participating Tennessee community colleges were significantly higher with the use of Tennessee Promise

Chris Ware\u27s Jimmy Corrigan: Honing the Hybridity of the Graphic Novel

The genre of comics has had a tumultuous career throughout the twentieth century: it has careened from wildly popular to being perceived as the source of society’s ills. Despite having been relegated to the lowest rung of the artistic ladder for the better part of the twentieth century, comics has been gaining in quality and respectability over the last couple of decades. My introductory chapter provides a broad, basic introduction to the genre of comics––its historical development, its different forms, and a survey of comics criticism over the last thirty years. In chapter two I clarify the nature of comics by comparing it to literature, film, and pictorial art, thereby highlighting its hybrid nature. It has elements in common with all of these, and yet it is a distinct genre. My primary focus is on Chris Ware, whom I introduce in chapter three, a brilliant creator who has garnered widespread recognition and respect. His magnum opus is Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, the story of four generations of Corrigan men, most of whom have been negligent in raising their children. Jimmy Corrigan, as a result, is an introverted, insecure thirty–something–year–old man. Among comics creators Ware is unusual in that his story does not address socio–political issues, like most of his peers, which I discuss in chapter four. Jimmy Corrigan is an isolated tale with a very specific focus. Ware’s narrative is somewhat like those of William Faulkner, whose stories have a narrow focus, revolving around the lives of the inhabitants of Yoknapatawpha county, rather than encompassing the vast landscape of national socio–political concerns. Also, in chapter five I explore the intriguing combination of realist and Gothic elements––normally at opposite ends of the generic continuum––that Ware merges in Jimmy Corrigan. This feature is especially interesting because it is another way that his work explores aspects of hybridity. Finally, in my conclusion I examine the current state of comics in American culture and its future prospects for development and success, as well as the potential for future comics criticism

Through the Trance of Silence: Hill Walking the History of Glen Coe

The author recounts long, rainy, foggy walks in Glencoe, Scotland, revisiting its history and some of its writers, including Robert Burns, Robert Macfarlane, and Nan Shepherd

The best bookshops in Madrid, Spain

In this bookshop guide, Katy Dycus takes us on a tour of some of the best bookshops in Madrid, Spain. If there’s a bookshop that you think others should visit in a particular city, further information about contributing follows this article

Leadership Practices of School Nutrition Professionals.

School-aged children\u27s nutritional needs have changed from a 1946 underweight and undernourished population to rapidly increasing numbers of overweight and obese children with associated health complications. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore leadership practices of state and system school nutrition professionals. By obtaining information regarding the past and present practices of school nutrition professionals, this researcher strove to provide insight into best practices for future leaders. Electronic mail messages linked to Kouzes and Posner\u27s (1995) self-reporting leadership practices survey were sent to 194 Tennessee school nutrition professionals (53 state directors and 141 system supervisors). The survey had a response rate of 40.7%. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyze responses from the survey\u27s participants. Findings of the study provided a reflection of current school nutrition professionals\u27 leadership practices and a demographic profile of school nutrition professionals. School nutrition professionals tend to have exemplary leadership skills as measured by the LPI compared to Kouzes-Posner mean scores. Of the nutrition professionals, 68% reported plans to retire in 10 or fewer years. Current school nutrition professionals primarily come from the ranks of existing school instructional personnel. A majority of the school supervisors held associate or bachelor degrees. State directors tended to have degrees at masters or doctorate level. A small number had postsecondary professional training in nutrition and disease. Over half had some type of training in nutrition. The findings of the study resulted in several suggestions for the school nutrition professional of the future including creation of specialized degree programs and internships at the post secondary level to train future candidates for the job as school nutrition professionals. Today\u27s school nutrition professionals\u27 postsecondary curriculum content could be lacking essential nutrition content area and might not be reflective of the current school population\u27s nutritional risks, needs, and best practices of preventions and/or treatments

Legislative Clarification of the Correlative Rights of Surface and Mineral Owners

This Article examines the development of the judge-made doctrine of the dominant mineral owner, then considers the various legislative efforts to restrict or clarify the application of that doctrine. With this background it then proposes a new, more comprehensive statutory solution, which requires a clear expression of understanding about the effect of any mining activity upon the surface of the land. Constitutional implications of the different statutory schemes are identified and briefly discussed at the end of the Article