The It Factor

Gaining the Competitive Edge by Boosting Your Executive Presence Have you ever known a leader or top executive who has got “it?” Well “it” is executive presence, and having “it” is the difference between moving up the ladder to leadership and being stuck on the middle rung. So have you got “it?”https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/leadhour/1011/thumbnail.jp

Mainstreaming: an alternative

How is the exceptional child best served by a school system? Should this child be segregated into a special class with others like himself, only to be released for physical education, and music? Will the teacher of the regular classroom accept a handicapped child in his/her room? How much supportive help will be available if he/she does? These are all questions which face educators, parents and children when the placement of a handicapped child is discussed. The major thrust of this paper was to discern whether or not mainstreaming the exceptional child is a viable, humanistic, and educationally sound alternative to the self-contained special class. In reviewing current research the writer has included articles from 1964-1974

Practical Problems and Moral Discourses: an Ethnography of Breastfeeding

Universal and bioactive, breastfeeding is a burgeoning biocultural topic because it incorporates biological and social determinants of human behavior. The topic has amassed media attention framed as part of a bigger imagining of motherhood as an idealized state directed at the female body’s performance. This paper questions media and public policy’s role in the dissemination of culture and the symbolic value of breastmilk. This study examines breastfeeding discourses through the lens of an American, mostly white, Midwestern middle-class social structure. Using participant observation data of two postpartum support groups and semi-structured interviews with six primiparous mothers, my data suggests that women encounter an emotionally embodied process of learning when the biological demands and self- or socially- constructed ideals come in conflict with the practical realities of breastfeeding. Women will navigate a moral landscape when talking about breastfeeding, but do so through pedagogical and social strategies to ‘survive the newborn’. Shame and guilt, therefore, a product of the politicized media and social marketing policy rhetoric that positions infant feeding as a matter of individual choice and responsibility rather than addressing the practical barriers women encounter

Fluid Extraction of Metals from Coal Fly Ash: Geochemical Simulation of Natural leaching

The objective of this study was to develop data that are broadly applicable to the release of trace metals from fly ash, and to quantify the rate of release as a function of the composition of the ash. Thirty-two samples of Class F fly ash from pulverized coal combustion boilers were leached with seven leaching solutions simulating natural fluids. The leachate was analyzed for 21 cations that were major, minor, or trace constituents of the ash. The rate at which metal ions are released from fly ash is a complex function of the alkalinity of the ash, the distribution of elements in various chemical compounds or minerals, and characteristics of the leachant solution, particularly its pH. In this experiment, the release of cations is defined as a solubility function with respect to the volume of leachant solution. During the first leaching interval, the ashes alkalinity is neutralized, and the release of metal ions, except for Ca, is relatively low. At some point, the release of metal ions increases by one or more orders of magnitude, and remains at that level, until the readily soluble ions are released. Then the elemental release decreases, again by one or more orders of magnitude. The solubility of an element is defined by the three volumetric functions and the median volumes for those functions. The N LF (neutralization leaching function) is describes the release of cations until the sample is neutralized (dMN/dVN, meq/L). The RLF (rapid leaching function) rate is the average slope of cumulative curve between inflection points (dML/dVL, meq/L). The TLF (terminal leaching function) is the average slope of cumulative curve after 2nd inflection point (dMT/dVT, meq/L). In a natural setting, if the infiltration rate is known (L/d), the time dependent release of the elements can be estimated. The results of this study show that most cations in fly ash are only slightly soluble, that elements, other than arsenic, tend to be most soluble in acid solutions, and that non-silicates tend to be more soluble than silicates

Using social science in National Park Service climate communications: A case study in the National Capital Region

Since 2012, the National Park Service’s (NPS’s) Urban Ecology Research Learning Alliance (UERLA) and George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication have partnered on a collaborative “research-to-practice” internship program that employs undergraduate and graduate-level students to produce interdisciplinary, science-based climate change communication products for parks in the NPS National Capital Region (NCR). Materials created through this program are rooted in social science insights (e.g., trusted sources, social norms, place-based learning), climate science, and the communication needs of participating regional parks. As a result, the end products (e.g. websites, videos, ranger toolkits) produced by this program fulfill many functions: increasing public awareness of climate impacts on park resources, nurturing the connection between people and places, meeting evolving interpretation demands by developing material for a variety of channels, effectively engaging visitors in climate dialogue, and helping parks lead by example by addressing how a changing climate can alter cultural, natural, historical, and recreational resources. The success, adaptability, and longevity of this program have provided NCR parks with a wealth of innovative products that support the park stewardship mission to preserve resources for future generations. Five examples will demonstrate the breadth of work undertaken by interns

The Commerce Clause and its Effect on Federalism

The issue of federalism has been one that has plagued our nation since its inception. There are many things that affect the state, federal government relationship and this paper focuses on the Commerce Clause. Looking at a series of cases and discussing the judicial opinions and rulings that came out of them it is concluded that there is a negative correlation between the Commerce Clause and federalism. In other words when the Commerce Clause is utilized powers are taken away from the states. From the time of Gibbons v. Ogden all the way to 2012 with National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius the Commerce Clause has evolved with our nation and proved an instrumental tool in the belt of the federal government. The intention of the founders could never have known that the country would grow and industrialize the way it has

Catherine Josephine Seton and the New York Mercy Experience

The life of Elizabeth Seton’s daughter Catherine is recounted. Catherine studied and taught at Emmitsburg, nursed her mother through her final illness, and traveled throughout the eastern United States as well as Europe. She knew many important people, especially members of the American Catholic hierarchy. As the first New York Sister of Mercy with a career that spanned forty-five years, she was vital to that community’s American establishment. She engaged in a wide variety of important work, especially extensive ministry in the prisons of New York. Bishop John Hughes said of her, “If ever [a] daughter rivaled the sanctity of such a mother as hers, she is the one.

Caring for the Caregiver: Incentivizing Medical Providers to Include Caregivers as Part of the Treatment Team

More than 1 in 5 people in the United States care for a family member, friend, or neighbor with a health care need or functional disability. More family caregivers find themselves caring for multiple people (24 percent) and working while caregiving (61 percent). Family caregivers face increasing complexity meeting the medical and support needs of their care recipients; 7 in 10 do so with no paid help. Without adequate and affordable services and supports, the escalating demands on family caregivers contribute to their physical, emotional, financial strain, and decline in self-reported health.In this white paper, published by The National Alliance for Caregiving, experts discuss incentives in the existing Medicare program that could motivate health systems and providers to offer more robust support to family caregivers.Click "Download" to access this resource