Disability in a Technology-Driven Workplace

New Internet and Web-based technology applications have meant significant cost and time efficiencies to many American businesses. However, many employers have not yet fully grasped the impact of these new information and communication technologies on applicants and employees with certain disabilities such as vision impairments, hearing problems or limited dexterity. Although not all applicants and employees who have a disability may experience IT-access problems, to select groups it can pose a needless barrier. The increasing dominance of IT in the workplace presents both a challenge and an opportunity for workers with disabilities and their employers. It will be up to HR professionals to ensure that Web-based HR processes and workplace technologies are accessible to their employees with disabilities.

The gap between policy and practice in EU arms exports limits the normative power of the EU

The issue of arms exports has caused significant controversy in a number of European countries. Jennifer L. Erickson looks at EU arms transfers and the human rights status of arms recipients between 1990 and 2010, finding that there is often a disconnect between arms trade policy and practice. She argues that in cases where EU foreign policy relies on member state implementation, existing national priorities or individual material interests may prevail over EU norms. This has the potential to undermine the normative power of the European Union

Normative power and EU arms transfer policy: a theoretical critique and empirical test

"Arms transfers are both an economic necessity for the European arms industry and a potential obstacle for the emerging normative power role of the European Union (EU) in world affairs. Indeed, the biggest markets for arms exports in the post-Cold War era are often in states engaged in conflict or high levels of internal repression - precisely where the EU's normative policy agenda seeks to promote peace, stability, and respect for human rights. Despite these glaring contradictions, however, research on how well the EU's arms transfer behavior mirrors its normative power rhetoric has been largely absent. This article attempts to fill this theoretical and empirical void. I use regression analysis to examine the relationship between EU arms exports and the human rights, conflict, and democracy records of recipient states from 1990 to 2004. A case study of the debate to lift the arms embargo to China provides a more in-depth assessment of the politics behind EU arms transfers. Both analyses highlight the need to consider material interests and normative concerns in tandem in order to understand EU foreign policy. The findings also suggest that low levels of EU socialization and the predominance of domestic interests and values may hinder the creation of a single European external identity." (author's abstract)"Waffenexporte sind sowohl eine ökonomische Notwendigkeit für die europäische Waffenindustrie als auch ein potenzielles Hindernis für die entstehende normative Macht der Europäischen Union (EU) im Weltgeschehen. Tatsächlich gibt es in der Ära nach dem Kalten Krieg die größten Waffenmärkte oft in Staaten, die entweder miteinander in Konflikt stehen oder in hohem Maß interne Repression aufweisen - also genau in jenen Ländern, in denen die EU auf der normativen Ebene ihrer politischen Agenda danach strebt, Frieden zu stiften, für Stabilität zu sorgen und die Einhaltung der Menschenrechte voranzutreiben. Trotz dieser eklatanten Widersprüche gibt es sehr wenig wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen darüber, inwieweit Waffenlieferungen der EU deren moralischnormativen Rhetoriken reflektieren. Dieser Beitrag versucht, die vorhandene theoretische und empirische Lücke zu füllen. Anhand einer Regressionsanalyse untersucht die Autorin das Verhältnis von EU-Waffenexporten und Menschenrechten, Konflikten und demokratischer Entwicklung in den Empfängerländern zwischen 1990 und 2004. Eine Fallstudie über die Debatte zur Aufhebung des Waffenembargos gegen China dient einer tiefer gehenden Analyse der Politik hinter den europäischen Waffenlieferungen. Die Ergebnisse beider Analysen machen klar, dass es für ein Verständnis der EU-Außenpolitik notwendig ist, materielle Interessen und normative Bedenken gemeinsam zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse legen außerdem die Vermutung nahe, dass der geringe Grad einer EU-Sozialisation und die Dominanz nationaler Interessen und Wertvorstellungen die Herausbildung einer homogenen europäischen Identität im Außenverhältnis erschweren dürften." (Autorenreferat

International Law and the Great War

Reviewing Isabel V. Hull, A Scrap of Paper: Breaking and Making International Law During the Great War (Cornell University Press 2014)

International Law and the Great War

Reviewing Isabel V. Hull, A Scrap of Paper: Breaking and Making International Law During the Great War (Cornell University Press 2014)

The Effects of Consensual Pain: A Look at Psychological and Physiological Changes of Giving and Receiving Tattoos

Past research has observed that extreme rituals and BDSM activities have the ability to produce altered states of consciousness. Currently it is unknown what role inducing or receiving painful stimuli may have in eliciting these responses. 22 participants (5 tattoo artists, 11 clients, and 6 observers) were recruited at a local tattoo parlor. Tattoo artists were expected to enter into a state of flow (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988) as measured by the SHORT Flow State Scale while any altered state of consciousness found in clients was expected to be accounted for by Dietrich’s (2003) transient hypofrontality hypothesis (measured with a Stroop task via tablet). No evidence was found that participants entered into a state of flow or transient hypofrontality. Participants did show a reduction in positive affect as well as a trending reduction in negative affect. Tattoo artists and clients reported feeling closer to each other; other groups (e.g. artists and observers) had no significant changes in closeness. Ego depletion, as measured by a handgrip task, may have occurred although the small sample size, as well as hand fatigue in the tattoo artists after the tattoo procedure, may better account for this finding.B.A. (Bachelor of Arts

Public Service Announcements to Promote Physical Activity

The World Health Organization promotes physical activity (PA) as important for successful maintenance of health, but many individuals are inactive. Despite the potential for public service announcements (PSAs) to communicate health information and promote behavior change, no previous research on developing video PSAs to promote PA was found. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine how video PSAs designed for public health campaigns affect future levels of intention to engage in PA. The PSAs assessed perceived effectiveness of message foci and the impact of stage of change readiness. They were developed specifically for this study using the model of goal directed behavior as the foundation. Participants were recruited via SurveyMonkey, an Internet-based survey research platform that included an option for referral sampling to view PSAs with the message foci of empathy, fear, information, and combination to determine which focus area was perceived as most persuasive for promoting PA. The present study examined moderating effects of current PA habits, stage of change readiness, and affect at time of viewing PSA. Differences in perceived effectiveness between the different message foci were found with participants perceiving the empathy video as most effective, followed by combination videos, with fear and information being perceived least effective. For participants who met the World Health Organization recommendations for PA, the PSA based on fear was most effective. Many participants (61%) had a positive affect while watching the four PSA videos. Stages of change indicated over 28% of participants were in precontemplation and 11% were in action. Social implications are based on improving public health communication to promote healthy behavior and physical exercis

Political Ambition: Where Are All the Women?

Why do so few women hold elected office on local government bodies? The answer to this question encompasses a combination of barriers to running for office. The research discussed in this article involved two surveys conducted in Wisconsin. The findings indicate that in addition to systemic barriers, such as time away from work, many women are hesitant to serve on local governing bodies for other reasons, including concerns related to confidence and potentially inaccurate perceptions. This cautiousness was not as evident in male potential candidates. Understanding the barriers women face may inform how Extension educators work to address skewed compositions of local governing bodies as part of capacity-building efforts

Decentering resources: A phenomenological study of interpretive pedagogies in patient education

The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to document an innovative approach to teaching patient education where RN–Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, through an online course, learned and applied the interpretive pedagogies in patient education. The online course was the educational intervention which laid the groundwork of the study. Data were then collected from 9 of 18 students who took the course and agreed to participate. Interviews were audiotaped face to face or by telephone and transcribed and interpreted for meanings. Two themes that emerged for teaching patient education included “Decentering Resources: Listening Through Questioning” and “Decentering Resources: Empowering Through Questioning.” This study revealed that, as students learned the interpretive pedagogies, resources (brochures, handouts, videos, etc.) took on less importance in their patient education practice. They recognized how resources frequently impeded patient–nurse interactions in teaching and learning encounters. Once students understood that they were perhaps depending too much on resources, they began engaging in questioning practices where significant meanings of listening and empowering in patient education unfolded. This study encourages nurse educators to teach students interpretive pedagogies in patient education to promote pedagogical literacy, which preserves the time-honored tradition of working together with patients during teaching and learning encounters