What do Facts Have to Do with It? Exploring Instructional Emphasis in the Stony Brook News Literacy Curriculum

An analytic matrix comprised of multiple media literacy teaching and learning principles is conceptualized to examine a model of news literacy developed by journalism educators at Stony Brook University. The multidimensional analysis indicates that news literacy instructors focus on teaching students how to question and assess the veracity of news texts, and their approach favors cognitive skill development over other ways people make meaning of media messages. Based on these findings, a cognitive theory of news literacy is proposed as a means to situate the journalistic methods and mindsets that informed the Stony Brook curriculum within the parameters of established media literacy education theories and practices

Amphetamine users and crime in Western Australia, 1999–2009

This current study aims to examine the relationship between amphetamine use and crime among police detainees in Western Australia. Further, the study provides a brief profile of detainee amphetamine users and compares this with the profile of a non-user. Amphetamines have been increasingly available on Australian drug markets since the early 1990s (National Drug Research Institute 2007). Clandestine laboratory detections increased from 50 in 1996 to 250 in 2002 (Ministerial Council on Drugs Strategy 2004), although use decreased slightly in the general population between 2004 (3.2%) and 2007 (2.3%) (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2008). There has also been an increase in the amount of high-grade amphetamine detected by Customs and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Amphetamine use has been associated with psychological, physical and social harm, criminal behaviour and violence (Dyer & Cruickshank 2005; Lynch, Kemp, Krenske, Conroy & Webster 2003; Wickes 1993). The Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) project has collected data since 1999. This current study aims to examine the relationship between amphetamine use and crime among police detainees in Western Australia. Further, the study provides a brief profile of detainee amphetamine users and compares this with the profile of a non-user

The ‘oldest tricks in the book’ don’t work! Reports of burglary by DUMA detainees in Western Australia

Explores the methods and motivations of those actively involved in committing burglaries. Foreword Research investigating the methods and motivations of burglars has typically focused on incarcerated offenders. The Australian Institute of Criminology’s Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program provided an opportunity for the authors to explore the methods and motivations of those actively involved in committing burglaries, whether or not they had actually been caught or detained for that offence. The findings support Routine Activity Theory, indicating that offenders consider a number of factors in determining whether a property will be targeted for a break and enter offence. As might be expected, opportunistic burglars choose easy to access properties, stay a minimum length of time and take goods that can be disposed of easily. It was concluded that simple prevention strategies could minimise the risk of becoming a victim of opportunistic burglary, which also has implications for law enforcement, the security industry and insurance agencies

On protection of Freedom's solar dynamic radiator from the orbital debris environment. Part 1: Preliminary analyses and testing

A great deal of experimentation and analysis was performed to quantify penetration thresholds of components which will experience orbital debris impacts. Penetration was found to depend upon mission specific parameters such as orbital altitude, inclination, and orientation of the component; and upon component specific parameters such as material, density and the geometry particular to its shielding. Experimental results are highly dependent upon shield configuration and cannot be extrapolated with confidence to alternate shield configurations. Also, current experimental capabilities are limited to velocities which only approach the lower limit of predicted orbital debris velocities. Therefore, prediction of the penetrating particle size for a particular component having a complex geometry remains highly uncertain. An approach is described which was developed to assess on-orbit survivability of the solar dynamic radiator due to micrometeoroid and space debris impacts. Preliminary analyses are presented to quantify the solar dynamic radiator survivability, and include the type of particle and particle population expected to defeat the radiator bumpering (i.e., penetrate a fluid flow tube). Results of preliminary hypervelocity impact testing performed on radiator panel samples (in the 6 to 7 km/sec velocity range) are also presented. Plans for further analyses and testing are discussed. These efforts are expected to lead to a radiator design which will perform to requirements over the expected lifetime

On protection of Freedom's solar dynamic radiator from the orbital debris environment. Part 2: Further testing and analyses

Presented here are results of a test program undertaken to further define the response of the solar dynamic radiator to hypervelocity impact (HVI). Tests were conducted on representative radiator panels (under ambient, nonoperating conditions) over a range of velocity. Target parameters are also varied. Data indicate that analytical penetration predictions are conservative (i.e., pessimistic) for the specific configuration of the solar dynamic radiator. Test results are used to define the solar dynamic radiator reliability with respect to HVI more rigorously than previous studies. Test data, reliability, and survivability results are presented

Exploration of individual and work-related impacts on police officers and police staff working in support or front-line roles during the UK’s first COVID lockdown

An online survey ( N = 2063) of women working either as police officers or non-sworn/warranted police staff addressed personal well-being and work-related factors during the first COVID lockdown in the United Kingdom from March to August 2020. Overall, 59% of all respondents reported being more stressed during the lockdown than they had been previously. A key factor in stress levels was the respondents’ organisational support measured by a computed index of trust, communication, and support (TCS). Those respondents having a positive orientation towards TCS were less stressed than those whose orientation was more negative. Findings differentiated the experience of respondents typed as front-line police officers, front-line police staff, police officers serving in support functions and police staff in support functions. Innovative COVID-19 working arrangements are highlighted as beneficial new practices worth retaining

Staffing the force: police staff in England and Wales’ experiences of working through a COVID-19 lockdown

This online survey (N = 2365) examined the experiences of (non-sworn/non-warranted) staff serving in police forces in England and Wales during the March to July COVID-19 virus lockdown in the UK. Particular attention was paid to staff working from home, those able to partially work from home and those who remained at work in their usual police location. Home working staff were generally less stressed than those remaining partially or totally at their work location. Public interacting staff were particularly stressed. Regression analyses found that for all staff, irrespective of location, tiredness and finding work more difficult were implicated in increased stress. For those remaining at their place of work homeschooling and lacking preparedness for another lockdown were additional stressors. The importance of feeling valued is discussed. Some recommendations are offered in the light of these findings including the concept of moral injury repair