Small Businesses, Public Health, and Scientific Integrity

This report examines the activities of an independent office within the Small Business Administration: the Office of Advocacy. The Office of Advocacy has responsibility for ensuring that federal agencies evaluate the small business impacts of the rules they adopt. Scientific assessments are not "rules" and do not regulate small business, yet the Office of Advocacy decided to comment on technical, scientific assessments of the cancer risks of formaldehyde, styrene, and chromium. By its own admission, Advocacy lacks the scientific expertise to evaluate the merits of such assessments.The report analyzes correspondence and materials received through a Freedom of Information Act request made by staff at the Center for Effective Government. Our inquiry was driven by two questions: Why did the Office of Advocacy get involved in the debate over scientific assessments that do not regulate small business? Whose interests does the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration actually serve?We found that the Office of Advocacy's comments on these assessments raised no issues of specific concern to small business and relied almost exclusively on talking points provided by trade associations dominated by big chemical companies. Between 2005 and 2012, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and its members spent over $333 million lobbying Congress and federal agencies on, among other things, a protracted campaign to prevent government agencies from designating formaldehyde, styrene, and chromium as carcinogens. The Formaldehyde Council, Styrene Industry Research Council, and Chrome Coalition spent millions more. These groups asked the Office of Advocacy for assistance, and the Office became their willing partner.We conclude that the Office of Advocacy's decision to comment on scientific assessments of the cancer risks of certain chemicals constitutes a significant and unwarranted expansion of its role and reach beyond its statutory responsibilities. We recommend that Congress ask the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the Office of Advocacy and exert morerigorous oversight of its activities to ensure its work does not undermine the efforts of other federal agencies to fulfill the goals Congress has assigned them

Service-Learning Faculty Assessment: Report of Results, 2018

In Spring 2018, the VCU Service-Learning Office sponsored an evaluation process that gathered feedback from faculty members who teach service-learning classes. The goal was to deepen understanding of the barriers faced by VCU’s service-learning faculty instructors and to solicit feedback about key strategies for overcoming these barriers. An independent research consultant conducted the evaluation in two phases: an online anonymous survey and a 30-minute phone interview. Eighty service-learning instructors completed the online survey, and a stratified sample of 18 instructors completed the telephone interviews. Findings indicated that both the online survey respondents and phone interview participants experienced similar supports and barriers to teaching their service-learning classes. Key findings and recommendations are outlined in the full report

Interview with Katie McGready

An oral history interview with Mary Catherine Bussey Boice (Katie) McGready, the first medical librarian in the Texas Medical Center, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Mary Catherine Bussey Boice “Katie” McGready became the first medical librarian in the Texas Medical Center when Dr. Ernst W. Bertner asked to her to begin the medical library at what was then the fledgling MD Anderson Cancer Center. She was among the first employees at the Cancer Center, then located at “The Oaks,” the estate of the late Colonel James A. Baker at 2310 Baldwin Street in Houston. Born in rural Timpson, Texas, she was the only daughter with four brothers – two older and one younger. Her journey from running the soda fountain in her father’s drugstore to several jobs in the nascent Texas Medical Center reflects not only the early days there but also the lives of young women in Texas in the early 20th century. She married twice – first to Dr. Edward Henry “Ned” Boice, whom she met when she was learning medical librarian duties at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. They had five children – Betsy McPhaden of Seattle, Bill Boice of Atlanta, Peggy Boice of Houston, Cathy Bacon of Houston and Jim Boice of Austin. Later, as a widow, she married Frances Cornelius “Mac” McGready, which whom she lived many happy years before his death in 2009

A Reflection on Psalm 31

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. The Book of Psalms encompasses a variety of themes and perspectives that reflect as well as transcend historical and cultural contexts. These writings are categorized by scholars with multiple labels, ranging from Psalms of Lament to Psalms of Praise. One such category, similar in some ways to Psalms of Lament, are Penitential Psalms. With its appeal to repentance and forgiveness, Psalm 31 falls under this category

Early Head Start Participants, Programs, Families, and Staff in 2005

This fact sheet reviews the 2005 Program Information Reports (PIR) data for the Early Head Start program, which serves children under age 3 and pregnant women. In 2005, Early Head Start continued to provide vital services to a diverse group of low-income children and families, most of which included at least one working parent. Most children received medical, dental, and disability screenings and follow-up services when necessary. Families also accessed services at high rates; 80 percent of families accessed at least one social service. However, just 2.5 percent of eligible children receive Early Head Start services

Whose Turf? Public Relations and Marketing in Social Media

Organizations have found Twitter and Facebook to be the most effective way to converse with audiences. Current positions now require new skills to understand, shape, and engage with social networks and online communities. This study examines how organizations structure the management of social media. As the field develops, it is crucial to understand the current trends. By surveying the perception of social media management, one can better understand how organizations will handle digital communication in the future. Professionals were categorized into six professional specialties: Public Relations Agency, Marketing Agency, Corporate Public Relations, Corporate Marketing, Non-Profit Public Relations, and Non-Profit Marketing. In the survey, participants were asked how social media is used in marketing and/or public relations. By bringing the co-orientation model of communication into the research analysis (a comparison of perceptions vs. actual usage to determine gap), the study compared responses from public relations and marketing professionals to represent their specialty. The results indicate there is a division of labor in social media usage for each profession. Public relations professionals utilize social media as a dialogic approach (two-way communication) and marketing professionals do less environmental monitoring and utilize primarily an asymmetrical approach (one-way communication)

Crying Over the Cache: Why Technology Has Compromised the Uniform Application of Child Pornography Laws

As thousands of individuals surf the internet daily, every image on every web page is saved automatically to their computer’s cache, absent user direction. Sections 2252(a)(2) and 2252(a)(4)(B) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code criminalize knowing possession and knowing receipt of child pornography images. For the defendant who intentionally saves illicit images to his computer, the cache simply verifies already-proven knowing possession or receipt. However, for the defendant who only views child pornography online, the presence of images in the cache may not be enough to prove knowledge beyond a reasonable doubt. How can the prosecution prove a defendant knowingly received an image he has potentially never seen? How can a prosecutor prove a defendant knowingly possessed an image that may have been a pop-up? Questions like these have split circuit courts over the application of § 2252(a)(2). Several circuit courts have confronted cases with defendants who undoubtedly viewed child pornography images online, but who only left one clue as to their “knowing” receipt—the presence of images in the cache. The Tenth Circuit found that absent direct proof that a defendant viewed the image, the presence of a file in the cache is not enough to meet the “knowing receipt” standard. The Eleventh and Fifth Circuits disagreed, holding that a pattern of seeking out images satisfies the knowledge requirement. This Note analyzes the split and concludes that the presence of images in the cache proves a defendant’s knowing receipt. The Tenth Circuit’s demand of “direct proof of viewership of the image in question” imposes impossible evidentiary requirements. Defendants who view child pornography online have satisfied § 2252(a)(2)’s mens rea requirement even without direct proof of viewership of the image in question

Raising a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder : the experience of stigma by association, its impact on caregiver wellbeing, the influence of signature strengths, and the experience of growth : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

The life of a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is known to include many difficulties, not only due to social, behavioural and communication difficulties, but also as the child does not fit society’s specifications of ‘normal.’ Stressors encountered by caregivers raising a child with an ASD are well documented; however one often overlooked stressor for caregivers is stigma by association. Research to date has begun to explore the impact of stigma by association on the wellbeing of caregivers raising children with an ASD. However research is scarce, and has not yet addressed how some caregivers who experience stigma by association manage to resist this negative influence. Through two studies this thesis explored the experience of caregivers of children with ASDs New Zealand, looking in particular at stigma by association and whether personal signature strengths (particularly hope, gratitude and curiosity) may decrease its impact on caregiver wellbeing. It also examined whether, in spite of documented negative outcomes for caregivers, there is in fact room for a caregiver to experience growth as a byproduct of raising a child with an ASD. Participants took part in interviews (Study One, six participants), or completed an online questionnaire (Study Two, 100 participants). All caregivers spoke of difficulties associated with raising their child which on the whole reflected previous research. Difficulties included practical restrictions, personal costs and social stigma. Every caregiver was found to have experienced stigma by association. Study Two participants had all encountered both enacted and internalised stigma by association in the previous six months, and stigma by association had a significant negative relationship with caregiver wellbeing. Positively, if a caregiver possessed higher levels of hope or gratitude, mediation analysis found the presence of these strengths decreased the influence of stigma by association on wellbeing. Promisingly, all caregivers were also able to identify many ways in which they had grown as a byproduct of the experience of raising their child, whether it was through increased positive emotions, experiences, or personal development. Findings suggest that in spite of caregiver’s challenges they may not only survive, but thrive