Sports consumption behaviour among generation Y in mainland China

The Chinese Government has relaxed its tight control over sport (Stensholt 2004), the country is set to host the 2008 Olympic Games and every major sport franchise in the world is making plans for a full assault on the Chinese market. The game is on in mainland China, however despite the excitement about the market there is little understanding of sport consumption in China or the attitudes and behaviours of potential sport consumers. The bulk of the literature in consumer behaviour within sports relates specifically to developed industrialised nations, specifically USA, Canada, Europe and Australia. Of particular interest to academics and practitioners alike should be the potential of the huge generation Y market in China. Generation Y (those born after 1978) represent not only a current lucrative market but also represent the future development of sport and sport consumption in China. This exploratory study has revealed that generation Y consumers in China exhibit sports consumption behaviours which differ in numerous respects from their counterparts in the USA and deserve deeper study

Understanding consumer responses to special event entertainment (SEE) in shopping centres

This paper reviews the literature on the use of entertainment in shopping centres and outlines the constructs believed to impact upon consumer’s responses to special event entertainment. Special event entertainment (SEE) refers to entertainment events or activities that are offered on an occasional, temporary or discontinued basis in shopping centres. Examples of SEE include school holiday entertainment and fashion shows (Parsons, 2003; Sit, Merrilees, & Birch, 2003). Using SEE, shopping centre management seeks to entice consumer patronage, increase patron traffic or promote the shopping centre brand. Despite the popularity of SEE in shopping centres, very little academic research (e.g. Parsons, 2003; Sit, Merrilees, & Birch, 2003) has either conceptually or empirically examined how consumers perceive or respond to SEE. This research presents a conceptual model that examines the determinants and outcomes of consumer responses to SEE, In particular, consumer responses to SEE are represented by SEE proneness and overall appreciation of SEE. These SEE responses are proposed to be determined by sensation-seeking tendencies and perceived value of SEE. Eight propositions are presented to explain the relationships of SEE responses with their determinants and outcomes. These relationships will be empirically tested in future research. Research implications of the conceptual model are also presented

Publicly Funded Jobs: An Essential Strategy for Reducing Poverty and Economic Distress Throughout the Business Cycle

The need for direct public job creation efforts is greater today than at any time during the past seven decades. With a national unemployment rate that recently exceeded 10 percent and severe economic distress in hard-hit communities and population groups, a new federal initiative that puts jobless individuals immediately to work must be a central element of any strategy for restoring economic growth and responding to pressing human needs in 2010 and beyond. Public service employment (PSE) and transitional jobs (TJ) programs that use time-limited, paid work as the centerpiece of efforts to assist the unemployed offer tested and urgently needed models for combating the current recession and advancing longer-term workforce development goals

Public Perceptions of the Food System: Differences across the generations

1st place in Economics and Social Sciences division at the 2010 College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Research ForumPublic perceptions of the food supply are increasingly viewed as impacting the organization of the food and farming system. This study looks at various public attitudes of the food and farming system and evaluates how attitudes and food choices differ between generations. Age, organized into categories (34 and younger, 35 to 49, 50 to 64 and 65 and older) is related to several dependent variables including knowledge of food supply, number of farmers known, health concerns, factors that influence food choice and trust of sources of agricultural information. Data for this study are from the 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 Ohio Survey of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Issues, a statewide survey of Ohioans (N=~1,750 per year). Bivariate analysis was conducted, including one-way ANOVA and cross tabulations, using the SPSS statistical analysis program. It was found that older adults are more knowledgeable of the food supply and have closer physical and social proximity to agriculture than the younger generations. Older respondents also report increased health concern, which may account for several of the food choice factors more commonly reported by them than younger consumers. There were differences in trust of various sources of agricultural information, with the older generation tending to have higher trust of farmers and the extension service and the younger expressing greater trust in World Wide Web. These findings have implications for how producers and retailers market their product, with obvious needs to account for these differences in views. Future research should further explore the generational differences in trust of information and be attendant to which electronic/internet resources are viewed most favorably by young and old. Also, an interesting question for further consideration is how views of the food system might evolve across the life cycle.No embarg

The Role of Peer Leaders in an Honors Freshman Experience Course

The purpose of this paper is to describe the role peer leaders play in Introduction to Honors Professional Development, a 1-credit, graded, honors course for first-year students at the University of Florida. Peer leaders are experienced undergraduate students who co-instruct the course along with an honors advisor. While the specific roles of peer leaders may vary from section to section, in general all peer leaders are expected to be advisors, resources, and role models to first-year students

Reversing the Evils of Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Is Clemency the Only Answer?

(Excerpt) Thirty-five years ago, Alice Marie Johnson lived a full life. She was a wife, a mother of five children, and a manager at FedEx. Then divorce, the death of one of her children, and job loss shattered her world. Ms. Johnson was able to find employment as a factory worker, a role which paid only a fraction of her former salary and was insufficient to support her children. Desperate and burdened, she became a telephone mule for drug dealers. She was instructed to “pass phone messages [and] [w]hen people came to town . . . [to tell] them what number to call for drug transactions.” Alice Marie Johnson’s role as a telephone mule can be likened to some drug couriers in smuggling operations. Drug trafficking rings often recruit women as drug couriers. These female drug couriers are often disconnected from the intricate workings of the drug conspiracy and are only expected to transport the drugs. Their minuscule role in the drug ring means they are at a disadvantage during the prosecutorial process because they have little information to trade in exchange for a lesser charge. Such was Ms. Johnson’s story. She had never been charged with or convicted of a crime. Nor was she a drug kingpin or ringleader. Yet she was convicted of “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and deliver, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and structuring a monetary transaction” after her codefendants testified against her. In the end, Alice Marie Johnson was sentenced to life in prison as a first-time nonviolent drug offender under the mandatory minimum sentencing laws. In Ms. Johnson’s words, she “was given a death sentence without sitting on death row” when she was convicted on October 31, 1996

Teacher Support: A Study About Teacher Emotional Support and Engagement Among Middle School Boys

Engagement in school has been recognized as important for achievement in multiple ways, and yet adolescent boys have been observed to be less engaged in school than their female peers. Boys are less motivated than girls, spend less time on homework, and have lower expectations of themselves (Barber, 1996). Boys experience the following school and personal events at rates higher than girls: discipline referrals, suspensions, failing and near-failing grades, and also suicide. This study examined the differential responses between boys and girls in terms of perceived teacher support and student engagement. The study began with an initial survey distributed to all seventh and eighth grade students. The school closure due to COVID-19 resulted in a lower participation rate in the initial survey. Of 55 boys in seventh and eighth grade, 20 boys (35%) responded to the survey. Of 58 girls in seventh and eighth grade, 45 girls (78%) responded to the survey. Seven of the female respondents (16%) and 4 of the male respondents (25%) reported that teachers do not support them. Male students were then interviewed about their engagement in school. Of the 16 students who reported teacher support, 15 of them (94%) reported engagement in school. Of the 4 students who reported no teacher support, 2 of them (50%) reported engagement in school. In the follow-up interview, students were also asked to identify specific teacher practices that made them feel supported in school. Students identified the following teacher practices as supportive: answering questions and offering help, caring about students as individuals, maintaining high expectations and providing challenging work, and asking students for their opinions and thoughts about the work. These support practices will continue to be identified, implemented, and evaluated in middle school classrooms at Lolo School during upcoming school years

Wilde About Weeding: An Earnest Effort in Collection Development

In an effort to create more student space, provide ease of access to resources, and strengthen their collection, a medium sized academic library at a recently consolidated university undertook a major weeding project in 2014. A weeding plan was developed for both the monographs and the serials. Since it was important to get immediate results in removing items from the collection, the print serials section was the first area selected for weeding. Through a step‐by‐step process that involved all members of the library staff, items were evaluated on electronic availability, availability at the other university libraries, the content, the condition, and the length of run