IDENTIFYING SCHOOLS AS CARING COMMUNITIES: TEACHER PERCEPTIONS ABOUT CHARACTER EDUCATION

This study quantified teacher perceptions and their observations of school community interactive attachments. Observed attachments through teacher perceptions classified school communities as caring. Elementary school teachers in the southern United States districts volunteered, in order to determine the significance of school-based taught or learned character education principles in comparison with caring attachments. Data were collected using the Caring Community Profile – II questionnaire, which measures the participants’ attitudes by the extent to which they agree or disagree with a statement. The results clarified the significance of character education programs that identify school communities as caring. Additionally, the findings answered the study’s research questions and hypotheses. The major findings determined that not only can teacher observations label their school environments but teachers in general connect school stakeholders, and teacher influence has a significant impact on positive community character education growth. Ultimately, the study concludes the significance of character education programs or the lack thereof and the potential ethical impact character education curriculums can have in society

Gang Databases: Race and the Constitutional Failures of Contemporary Gang Policing in New York City

(Excerpt) Similar to many jurisdictions throughout the United States, the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) has a gang database—a criminal intelligence system utilized by the NYPD to keep track of alleged “gang members” in New York City. And similar to many jurisdictions throughout the United States, the NYPD’s gang database has been severely criticized. Opponents of the gang database accuse the NYPD of using it as a tool for racial profiling, mass incarceration, and mass criminalization of Black and Brown young men in New York City. Opponents of the database also take issue with the NYPD’s lack of transparency regarding the gang database. It is challenging to identify whether a person is within this database and even more difficult to be removed from it because individuals do not receive any notification when they are added. The NYPD’s use of a gang database isn’t the first time it has been accused of racial profiling. Beginning as early as the 19th Century, the NYPD has been criticized for the correlation between its policing tactics and race. Most notably, in the early 2000s there was an increase in the use of stop and frisk tactics by the NYPD. However, Judge Shira Scheindlin, in Floyd v. City of New York, found that the NYPD had a “policy of indirect racial profiling” of Black and Latinx people through stop and frisk and that the NYPD had been “deliberately indifferent to the intentionally discriminatory application of stop and frisk . . . .” Floyd led to a change in the NYPD’s stop and frisk tactics. Following the Floyd decision, the number of stops and frisks conducted by the NYPD decreased significantly. By contrast, the NYPD simultaneously expanded its Gang Division during this time, even though gangs were not a significant issue in New York City. A gang database poses detrimental risks to those added because inclusion can lead to being falsely labeled as a “gang member,” “inexplicably harsh charges or excessive bond,” and deportation by ICE. For these reasons, it is important that “the right people” are placed in a gang database. Part I of this Note begins with a discussion of Floyd v. City of New York and the history of stop and frisk in New York City. The discussion then shifts to the NYPD’s focus on gang-oriented policing through “Operation Crew Cut” and its gang database. Part I explains what it means to be in a “gang” in New York City, the criteria for being placed in the NYPD\u27s gang database, how its gang database functions in practice, and the racial makeup of those in its gang database. Part II argues that the NYPD’s gang database violates the 14th Amendment\u27s Equal Protection Clause. The correlation between the gang database\u27s disparate racial impact and the historical background of racial profiling in the NYPD helps prove discriminatory intent on the part of the NYPD. Part III argues that the NYPD’s gang database also violates the 14th Amendment\u27s Due Process Clause. Since the NYPD provides neither notice nor an opportunity to be heard, the gang database infringes on the liberty of New Yorkers without due process of law. Part IV suggests reforms that can be made to the NYPD’s gang database, largely based on California’s CalGang legislation, that would fix the constitutional issues pointed out in this Note

Paleodontology key from the past to the future: Indian perspective

Paleodontology key from the past to the future: Indian perspectiv

What predicts the actions taken toward observed child neglect?:the influence of community context and bystander characteristics

Objective: Using data from a sample of 3,679 respondents in 50 rural and urban communities in a midwestern state, the authors explore the relationship between individual and community characteristics and the provision of helping behavior when child neglect is observed. Method: Telephone surveys of community residents were analyzed in a series of logistic regression models. Results: At the individual level, age, gender, place of residence, and sentinel status were all found to have a significant effect. The level of role overlap, cohesion, comfort, and belongingness perceived to exist in the community were found to be important community-level predictors. Conclusion: Individual and contextual characteristics affected observation of a case of child neglect and the action taken

Impaired fertility and perceived difficulties conceiving in Ghana:measurement problems and prospects

What is the most appropriate measure of impaired fertility for understanding its social consequences in sub-Saharan Africa? The dearth of subjective measures in surveys in the region has prevented comparisons of subjective and objective measures. Perceived difficulties conceiving may have a greater impact than objective measures for social outcomes such as divorce, stigmatization and distress. This study compares 12- (clinical) and 24- (epidemiological) month measures from biomedicine and 5- and 7-year measures from demography with a subjective measure of impaired fertility using correlations, random effects models and test-retest models to assess relationships between measures, their association with sociodemographic characteristics and the stability of measures across time. Secondary panel data (1998-2004) from 1350 Ghanaian women aged 15-49 of all marital statuses are used. Longer waiting times to identification of impaired fertility required by demographic measures result in more stable measures, but perceived difficulties conceiving are most closely aligned with clinical infertility (r=0.61; p<0.05). Epidemiological infertility is also closely aligned with the subjective measure. A large proportion of those identified as having impaired fertility based purely on waiting times are successful contraceptors. Where subjective measures are not available, epidemiological (24-month) measures may be most appropriate for studies of the social consequences of impaired fertility. Accounting for contraceptive use is important in order to avoid false positives. Future research should consider a variety of measures of perceived difficulties conceiving and self-identified infertility to assess which is most valid; in order to accomplish this, it is imperative that subjective measures of infertility be included in social surveys in sub-Saharan Africa

Game of Loans: The Relationship Between Education Debt, Social Responsibility Concerns, and Making a Career Choice in the Public, Private, and Nonprofit Sectors

The public and nonprofit sectors generally pay less than the private sector, and individuals are willing to forgo higher salaries in exchange for greater intrinsic satisfaction derived from making a contribution to society. However, personal financial considerations, such as education debt, may discourage individuals from pursuing careers in lower paying sectors even if they are predisposed to public service motivation (PSM). We surveyed a sample of graduating students to investigate if (a) education debt discourages students from pursuing lower paying public or nonprofit careers and (b) whether PSM overrides the considerations students might make about entering lower paying sectors as their education debt rises. First, we find that education debt has a marginal effect on initially selecting private over public and nonprofit careers. Rising education debt may discourage students from public sector careers after controlling for PSM. We also find that rising education debt may discourage students from nonprofit careers even with high levels of PSM. The present study enhances our understanding of how financial considerations, in the form of education debt, may influence a student’s initial choice in pursuing public, private, and nonprofit careers

Education debt and making a career choice in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors

We surveyed a sample of Millennial college seniors who are job seekers to investigate if: (1) education debt discourages students from pursuing (lower paying) public or nonprofit careers, and (2) whether PSM overrides the considerations students might make about entering lower paying sectors (i.e., public and nonprofit sectors) as their education debt rises. To our surprise, we find that education debt is related to a greater propensity to select lower paying public sector careers but not lower paying nonprofit jobs (except for those with high debt loads). Moderate levels of PSM are required for students to select public sector careers and high levels of PSM are required for students to select nonprofit careers with rising education debt. We conclude that individuals with a high debt load may be attracted to public policy setting and select public sector careers, while those who display empathy and compassion are attracted to nonprofit work in service to others

Investigation of Chlorinated Silicon Nanoparticles and In situ Analysis of the Size Distribution of Plasma Produced Particles

University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. October 2017. Major: Mechanical Engineering. Advisor: Uwe Kortshagen. 1 computer file (PDF); vi, 38 pages.Chlorine terminated silicon nanoparticles are produced from a non equilibrium plasma setup. The reactive chlorinated surface is exploited to functionalize the particles using Grignard chemistry and to stabilize the particles in solvent. By functionalizing the particles using Grignard chemistry, the particles form an optically clear solution in diethyl ether that is stable for four months. Chlorine surface coverage was successfully modulated by changing the precursor flowrate during synthesis. The solubility of as produced particles in methyl ethyl ketone was found to be related to the amount of precursor used during synthesis. A low pressure differential mobility analyzer (LPDMA) was installed downstream of a silicon nanocrystal plasma reactor in order to take in situ measurements of particle size distributions. Roughly equal amounts of positive and negative particles are observed. Size distributions of particles measured by the LPDMA are found to be much broader than those observed in TEM. This broadening is believed to be due to in flight coagulation. Inserting a mesh downstream of the plasma reduced the broadness of the distributions

Perceptions of HIV Risk Among African American Women in Eastern North Carolina

This project involved the collection and analysis of data from pre-and post-tests and five focus groups with 54 community-dwelling, middle-aged African American women in Eastern North Carolina, in order to explore the reasons why these women underestimated their level of risk for contracting HIV. This research was conducted under the auspices of the SISTER Talk Project, a part of the REACH Out Program administered through the Brody School of Medicine. Analysis involved determining African American women's perceptions of HIV risk, reported partnership behavior, and the influence of traditional gender roles on risk-related behaviors. Partner concurrency was found to be a common behavior in the groups studied and increased risk of contracting HIV. Homosexual behavior was also found to be heavily stigmatized and often carried out in secret, causing women to be unaware that their male partners might also be engaging in sexual relations with other men, thereby increasing the risk of contracting HIV. A key finding of this study was that traditional gender role expectations inhibit women from confronting men about partner concurrency and from requesting condom use for protection. The data collected in this study indicate that although educating women about HIV does help raise awareness about risk-related behaviors, education alone is not sufficient to solve issues of powerlessness in relationships due to perceived male dominance, poverty, and lack of communication. Women who are in these situations need further intervention, which would require involving their partners in education sessions and in discussions about HIV risk. This necessary step could help reduce the risk of HIV for both men and women, as well as reduce risk due to traditional gender role expectations among partners.  M.A

Smart Planning for Stormwater Management Systems

After learning about Dr. Jejal Bathi\u27s research, teachers from Hamilton County created a project-based lesson (PBL) designed to provide high school students hands-on experience with real-world connections. The project aims at smart planning of urban development that would have a minimum environmental impact (traditional gray infrastructure minimized with the green infrastructure approach). In this effort, teachers with diverse teaching backgrounds in secondary education participated in urban designs and green infrastructure (GI) research and PBL design training at the University of TN-Chattanooga