Zambia's Stop-And-Go Revolution: The Impact of Policies and Organizations on the Development and Spread of Hybrid Maize

Crop Production/Industries, Downloads July 2008-July 2009: 17,

Balancing financial growth and social aims in a third sector mental health charity

The charitable sector in the UK has grown significantly the last 20 years it is now worth billions of pounds per annum. Those charities that are funded by public sector finance are those that have seen the biggest growth. Public sector funders, such as local authorities and the National Health Service have increasingly seen the financial benefits of sub-contracting key elements of their services. They are able to sub-contract to specialist providers, measure and manage the impact of these organisations and control costs. Mental Health Care and Support is worth an estimated £7 Billion per year and 80% of this funding is sub-contracted to specialist providers, many of whom are charities or third sector organisations. Inevitably as funding opportunities became available, entrepreneurial third sector organisations grew and developed to maximise their chances of securing funding. These charities, also known as not-for-profit organisations have increasingly been expected to become more professional, applying traditional business techniques in order to be accepted as a sub-contractor. They have had to adapt and change their services to secure business in a competitive environment. This study examines how this need to grow, to come professional, creates new and innovative services is balanced with the desire to stay organisations that have a set of core social aims at their heart. It will consider how possible it is to grow into a multi-million pound organisation while still staying true to the desire to offer care and support. The study focuses on mental health charity Making Space

EVERY PARENT MATTERS: REFLECTIONS FROM ENGLAND UPON NEW LABOUR’S PARENT POLICY

In England, until May 2010, the New Labour party had been in power for thirteen years. This paper is a reflection back upon its period in office and its strident policies on parents and families. It questions its stance on parental voice and choice, looks at issues of trust and contract, and considers the idea of parent empowerment in the context of a preference for the middle class that underpinned much of its policy

CUMU Annual Conference

The VCU Division of Community Engagement mobilizes university-community partnerships that generate innovative solutions to societal challenges and prepares the engaged citizens of tomorrow; they host the CUMU Conference (Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities) annually. Students, faculty, and community partners collaborate to effect positive change in social, organizational, and economic impact. Value Propositions are created to clearly summarize the value that students add to an organization, and the relevance and distinction. This information is complied through assessment, development, and communication

The Effects of Bicycle Geometry on Sprint Triathlon Running Performance

Previous research has shown that riding with a steeper (81°) than normal (73°) bicycle seat tube angle (STA) can improve subsequent run performance during Olympic distance triathlon that involve a 1500 m swim, 40 km cycle and 10 km run. However, such races often utilise pacing strategies during the run phase that may have influenced previous findings. Conversely, Sprint distance triathlons (750 m swim, 20 km cycle and 5 km run) are generally performed at a higher intensity, both during the cycle and run legs. Few studies have focused on Sprint triathlons, therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect cycling with different STA’s had on subsequent sprint triathlon running performance. Ten trained amateur male triathletes (34.8 ± 10.9 years), completed two 20 km time trials on a cycle ergometer, one with a STA of 73° and one with a STA of 81°. Both conditions were followed immediately by a 5 km treadmill based running time trial and were completed as fast as possible. Time (min:s), heart rate (Beats.min-1), oxygen consumption (ml.kg.min-1) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded for both run and cycle legs. Additionally, during the cycle leg, mean power output (W), mean cadence (rpm) and mean velocity (km.h-1) were recorded. For the run leg, velocity (m.s-1), stride length (SL, in m) and stride frequency (SF, in Hz) were additionally recorded. Running time improved significantly following cycling with the 81° STA compared to 73° STA (27:10 ± 3:09 vs. 27:59 ± 3:18 min:s respectively; p=.006; ES=0.25), along with running velocity (3.13 ± 0.37 vs. 3.04 ± 0.37 m.s-1 for 81° and 73° respectively; p=.007; ES=0.24). Stride length also increased significantly following the cycle with the 81° STA (2.20 ± 0.26 vs. 2.12 ± 0.27 m for 81° and 73° respectively; p=.007; ES=0.30). Overall cycle+run time was also significantly reduced in the 81° condition (63:31 ± 6:08 vs. 64:23 ± 5:10 min:s for 81° and 73° respectively; p=.042; ES=0.15). These results suggest that cycling on a bicycle with a steeper STA improves subsequent running and overall performance during a simulated sprint triathlon, possibly due to changes in lower limb biomechanics

Faculty Development for Service-Learning: One Size Does Not Fit All

This conference presentation describes the development of the professional development continuum currently being used at Virginia Commonwealth University to build the faculty’s capacity for teaching high-quality service-learning courses. Our professional development continuum was developed over the past 5 years by the staff of the VCU Service-Learning Office and was informed by program evaluation data, the principles of adult learning theory, and an “exposure-experience-expertise” developmental framework. The continuum targets instructors at varying levels of service-learning knowledge and experience so that faculty instructors with more service-learning experience participate in different professional development opportunities than do instructors who are new to the pedagogy

Reflections from Kōtare

Members of the core crew of Kōtare Research and Education for Social Change in Aotearoa have attended each of the five conferences in the Social Movements, Resistance, and Social Change series. We have always been excited by the possibilities these conferences have offered for engendering deeper connections and new opportunities for group formation and action across different sectors in the left-activist and academic worlds. We offered three workshops in the conference, seeing this as an opportunity both to contribute usefully to the overall goal of ‘activating collectivity’ and as a way of demonstrating a small sample of Kōtare’s pedagogical methods. In this article, we have taken up the invitation from the conference organisers to contribute a few reflections on our overall experience of the fifth SMRSC conference

Amphibian Use of Constructed Ponds on Maryland\u27s Eastern Shore

Amphibian assemblages were sampled at nine constructed ponds (three in each age category: new ponds-age \u3c1 yr, young ponds-age 4-5 yr, old ponds-age \u3e30 yr) on Maryland\u27s eastern shore (May-October 1994, March-August 1995) using a total of 27 drift fence and funnel trap arrays. The importance of habitat and landscape variables including pond age was considered in explaining amphibian use and distribution across ponds. Specifically, amphibian (1) abundance; (2) composition; (3) diversity; (4) richness; and (5) reproductive success were studied. During both years, we captured 1904 individuals comprising ten species. The most frequently collected species (species found in all treatments) were Bufo fowleri, Rana sphenocephala utricularius, and Rana catesbeiana. Bufo fow/eri comprised the majority of the collections in 1994 and 1995, 60.6% and 49.4% respectively. Some species were only collected at new ponds (Hy/a chrysoscelis, H. cinerea), some only at young and old ponds (Acris crepitans, Rana clamitans), and some only at old ponds (Scaphiopus holbrookii, Ambystoma opacum). Despite these differences in composition, no statistically significant differences in reproductive success or numbers collected were found across treatments. Brillouin diversity indices indicated amphibian diversity was greatest at young ponds in both years. Results suggest that, in the ponds studied, pond age affects amphibian composition, richness, and diversity but is not particularly useful in predicting reproductive success or the sizes of amphibian collections. However, because canonical correspondence analysis showed age to be a relatively important variable, it should not be discounted. Species-specific habitat requirements, regional abundance, and pond placement in the landscape (e.g., next to agriculture) appear to be more important in explaining amphibian use of constructed ponds