Beyond High Stakes Testing: Rural High School Students and Their Yearbooks

I conducted surveys, focus group interviews, and analyzed the yearbooks of fifty four yearbook students from five rural high schools to investigate students process of yearbook construction and to determine what was meaningful and memorable to them throughout their high school experience. Changs (1992) construct of an adolescent ethos, including the elements of getting along with everyone, being involved, and being independent, provided a conceptual framework, and was affirmed by students responses. References to rites of passage and intensification embedded in the high school program as described by Burnett (1969) confirmed these students perceptions of high school as a four year passage experience

IMPACT OF RISK PREFERENCES ON CROP ROTATION CHOICE

Stochastic dominance analysis of five crop rotations using twenty-one years of experimental yield data returned results consistent with Pennsylvania cropping practices. The analysis incorporated yield risk, output price risk, and rotational yield effects. A rotation of two years corn and three years alfalfa hay dominated for approximately risk neutral and risk averse preferences, as did participation in government programs under the 1990 Farm Bill. Crop rotation selection appeared to impact net revenues more than the decision to participate in government programs.Crop Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty,

Portfolios and pedagogy : an examination of ideology and use

Portfolio use in writing studies contexts is becoming ubiquitous and, as such, portfolios are in danger of being rendered meaningless and thus require that we more fully theorize and historicize portfolios. To this end, I examine portfolios: both the standardized portfolio used for assessment purposes and the personalized portfolio used for entering the job market. I take a critical look at portfolios as a form of technology and acknowledge some of the dangers of blindly using portfolios for gaining employment in the current economic structure of fast capitalism. As educators in the writing studies fields, it is paramount that instructors have a critical awareness of the consequences of portfolio creation on students as designers, lifelong learners, and citizens of a larger society. I argue that a better understanding of the pedagogical implications for portfolio use is imperative before implementing them in the classroom, and that a social-epistemic approach provides a valuable rethinking of portfolio use for assessment purposes. Further, I argue for the notions of meditation and transformation to be added alongside collection, selection, and reflection because they enable portfolio designers and evaluators alike to thoughtfully consider new ways of meaning-making and innovation. Also important and included with meditation and transformation is the understanding that students are ideologically positioned in the educational system. For them to begin recognizing their situatedness is a step toward becoming designers of change. The portfolio can be a site for that change, and a way for them to document their own learning and ways of making meaning over a lifetime

HIV/AIDS Employees, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Their Impact on Small Business

This article examines the AIDS  epidemic and the Americans  with Disabilities  Act  (ADA) as they impact on small businesses. A recent Supreme Court ruling provides extensive ADA protection for employees with HIV/AIDS. New therapies now allow HIV/AIDS  victims to live longer and many want to work. Because some stereotypes about the disease exist, many small businesses are unaware that the ADA protects these employees and may violate their civil rights. The article examines this ADA protection and provides a sample policy for small businesses

The Benefits of the SBI Program: Perceptions of Former Students

This study focuses on an evaluation of former students' perceptions of the skills gained when serving as a consultant on an SBI case.  The SBI course was compared to the capstone (Policy) course in an effort to determine the effectiveness of  the SBI course in enhancing specific skills in the students.By comparison, students found the Policy course to be more effective in developing analytical skills and to be more useful in their careers than the SBI course. On the other hand, the SBI course was perceived to be more effective in developing  interpersonal skills and  operational skills than the Policy course. The SBI course was found to be effective in developing analytical skills, operational skills, and interpersonal skills. Students also recommended the SBI course for other business students and found the course to be useful to them in their careers.

Small Business Survival in a Resort Town and Their Views on Location, Marketing, and Challenges of Doing Business

This research was an exploratory survey of small businesses in Breckenridge Colorado to determine how important location was to their businesses, their use of traditional marketing, and their challenges surviving in a resort town. The survey covered a variety of businesses and found that the group of retail, entertainment, and food services was very reliant on tourism and therefore very concerned about their location. This group’s mean reliance on tourism was higher than the sample mean. The results are not surprising, but they do emphasize this group’s focus on location. The results need to be verified with a larger sample size or the use of small sample methods. What was surprising was this group’s use of not just location but a mix of traditional marketing and advertising techniques to gain customer recognition. Also surprising were their comments that survival in a resort town was challenging given internet competition, the difficulty of finding and retaining motivated employees, and the myriad of government regulations they faced

Is Lululemon Athletica’s Turnabournd Sustainable?

lululemon athletica, Inc. was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson with a focus on comfortable, innovative athletic wear for women dedicated to a healthy, fit lifestyle. The company went public in 2007 and has been plagued with product and management issues ever since. Expected revenues for the future have been revised downward and growth in the women’s apparel industry is predicted to be -0.4% in the next five years. Can lululemon athletica, Inc. survive? While it has increased its gross revenue in the last two fiscal years, has it turned the corner on past mistakes

EFFECT OF SIGNAGE AND SUGGESTIVE SELLING ON SALES OF HEALTHY FOOD OPTIONS IN A UNIVERSITY SETTING

Making healthy eating choices as a college student can be challenging and the transition from adolescence to adulthood can be associated with an increased likelihood of obesity. Studies have shown that college students have poor eating habits and frequent consumption of fast food meals. Studies have reported menu labeling to be effective in influencing college students\u27 purchasing decisions. During the fall 2009 semester, the Saluki Select Healthy Eating Program was implemented in the Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) Student Center to aid college students and the public in general to make healthier menu choices. The purpose of this research study was to compare and analyze marketing techniques for promoting and selling these healthy menu options at the SIUC Student Center. Results showed that signage and suggestive selling increased awareness of Saluki Select foods. Signage and suggestive selling, however, were not found statistically significant for increasing sales of Saluki Select foods. These findings are important in the planning and implementation of marketing strategies on healthy food options in university dining centers, foodservice operations, and restaurants. This study can add to the current research on menu labeling by indicating that social marketing does, in fact, increase awareness of healthier food items

Adriaen van Ostade's Images of Idyllic Rural Life

Seventeenth-century Dutch artist Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685) created paintings of rural life that exude life and vitality. The artist devoted hundreds of canvases and panels to depicting rural folk enjoying a dance or a drink, singing songs, and enjoying the pleasures of the pipe. Though he inherited many aspects of the peasant genre tradition from predecessors such as Pieter Bruegel (c.1525-1569), Ostade, a lifelong resident of Haarlem, developed his own type of peasant image by depicting leisure activities in small inns and taverns that presented a sympathetic view of rural inhabitants. Ostade's mature paintings of festive country folk relied on preconceived notions about the peace and beauty of Haarlem's rural environs and were meant to enhance the idea of a peaceful rural escape for urban viewers. Through a critical examination of Ostade's oeuvre, I will compile a coherent and detailed look at the images of rural festivity that Ostade created throughout his long career. Ostade transformed traditional rollicking kermis scenes into subdued, leisurely celebrations focused on simple interactions along with singing and dancing. He changed the traditional stereotype of the festive peasant from a brutish, crude figure into a rustic, yet idyllic, rural fixture. The content people Ostade depicted in his mature work reflect the desires of an urban bourgeois class in Haarlem that prized their city's rural environs, which had long been extolled in literature and art. A thorough study of the works and the market for which they were produced illuminates the meaning and function of his animated pictures of rural life. &#8195