Law-Based Arguments and Messages to Advocate for Later School Start Time Policies in the United States

The increasing scientific evidence that early school start times are harmful to the health and safety of teenagers has generated much recent debate about changing school start times policies for adolescent students. Although efforts to promote and implement such changes have proliferated in the United States in recent years, they have rarely been supported by law-based arguments and messages that leverage the existing legal infrastructure regulating public education and child welfare in the United States. Furthermore, the legal bases to support or resist such changes have not been explored in detail to date. This article provides an overview of how law-based arguments and messages can be constructed and applied to advocate for later school start time policies in U.S. public secondary schools. The legal infrastructure impacting school start time policies in the United States is briefly reviewed, including descriptions of how government regulates education, what legal obligations school officials have concerning their students\u27 welfare, and what laws and public policies currently exist that address adolescent sleep health and safety. On the basis of this legal infrastructure, some hypothetical examples of law-based arguments and messages that could be applied to various types of advocacy activities (e.g., litigation, legislative and administrative advocacy, media and public outreach) to promote later school start times are discussed. Particular consideration is given to hypothetical arguments and messages aimed at emphasizing the consistency of later school start time policies with existing child welfare law and practices, legal responsibilities of school officials and governmental authorities, and societal values and norms

Contemporary Personnel Practices in Canadian Firms. An Empirical Evaluation

Les conclusions suivantes découlent du rôle que jouent d'une façon générale les services du personnel dans les entreprises canadiennes.1. Bien que l'autorité et l'influence des services du personnel au Canada puissent sembler considérables, il faut noter que cette autorité et cette influence varient d'un secteur de décisions à l'autre. En fait, on peut conclure qu'elles s'étendent d'un degré élevé de participation à une participation minime ou nulle suivant le secteur de décisions que l'on considère.2. Il est important d'observer que des différences notables existent entre les divers types de décisions au sein des cinq domaines majeurs de décisions. Ici encore, l'influence des services du personnel s'étendent d'une participation considérable à une participation minime ou nulle dans chaque domaine de décisions, à l'exception de celui de la formation et du développement.3. Les services du personnel, qu'on retrouve dans les grandes entreprises, exercent plus d'influence et d'autorité que ceux des sociétés plus petites. Cette observation est conforme à la thèse selon laquelle plus les entreprises deviennent grandes et complexes, plus il y a tendance à utiliser le personnel de cadre. Aussi faut-il noter que dans les grandes entreprises, on retrouvera généralement au sein du service du personnel un directeur ou un vice-président assigné au personnel qui occupe un rang élevé à l'intérieur de la structure administrative. Au contraire, dans les sociétés de moindre importance, le service du personnel se trouvera à un échelon plus bas dans la structure administrative et il ne sera pas dirigé par un cadre supérieur de l'organisation. Résultat: dans ces petites entreprises, les fonctions dévolues à la direction du personnel peuvent être déléguées à des cadres ou gérants de rang moins élevé parce que le service du personnel n'est que peu identifié ou occupe un rang peu important au sein de l'organisation. De pareilles caractéristiques permettent d'expliquer les résultats d'ensemble qui ressortent de la présente étude.4. Lorsqu'on considère les différences relatives à la possession et au contrôle de l'entreprise, on constate que les services du personnel qui relèvent de sociétés américaines ont plus d'autorité et d'influence que ceux des entreprises canadiennes. Il est possible que la délégation de pouvoir de l'entreprise-mère américaine à sa filiale canadienne puisse expliquer les différences dans les politiques concrètes touchant le personnel.5. Les services du personnel ont tendance à être moins engagés dans les décisions d'importance même dans les cas où ces décisions relèvent de la compétence du service du personnel. Les décisions principales sont celles qui touchent aux politiques de base et aux changements en profondeur dans le fonctionnement de l'organisation ou qui peuvent avoir des conséquences graves sur les individus ou sur les unités administratives. Par exemple, si les services du personnel fonctionnant au sein de grandes sociétés peuvent participer activement à la détermination des stratégies de négociations, ils participent rarement à la fixation des concessions majeures au cours de ces négociations. De même, si les services du personnel participent activement aux décisions relatives au regroupement des emplois en vue de l'établissement des classes de salaires, ils ne participeront que rarement aux décisions qui déterminent les types de salaire au rendement qu'on veut implanter, à l'étendue de ces systèmes ou aux écarts en matière de politiques de salaires.Finalement, l'étude conclut que le rôle des services du personnel dans les entreprises canadiennes en est un de nature complexe. En outre, un rôle d'une pareille complexité semble convenir, compte tenu du dynamisme et de la complication du milieu dans lequel les entreprises canadiennes fonctionnent. Par conséquent, la clef de la réussite consiste à reconnaître cette complexité et à l'accepter là où elle est appropriée. Toutefois, il faut aussi reconnaître que cette étude n'a pas tenté d'établir exactement la complexité des services du personnel au Canada, non plus que l'utilisation qui en est faite. C'est cependant ce qu'il faudrait entreprendre si l'on veut tirer le maximum d'efficacité d'un organe qui devient de plus en plus important au sein des entreprises.This study empirically evaluates current personnel practices in 216 Canadian firms. Specifically, 33 decision areas are considered in an attempt to determine the role of Canadian personnel departments in the organization's decision making process. Also evaluated is the possible impact of size, ownership and geographic differences on the level of involvement by personnel departments

Hispanic maternal and children's perceptions of neighborhood safety related to walking and cycling

AbstractThis study examined neighborhood safety as perceived by children (mean age=10 years) and their mothers, and its association with children's physical activity. For all eight safety items examined, children perceived their environment as less dangerous than mothers (p<0.05). None of the multiple regression models predicting children's physical activity by safety perceptions were significant (p>0.10). The maternal perception model explained the highest percentage of variance (R2=0.26), compared to the children's perception model (R2=0.22). Findings suggest that future studies should explore relations between self-reported and objectively measured safety barriers to Hispanic youth walking and cycling

Hispanic Maternal and Children\u27s Perceptions of Neighborhood Safety Related to Walking and Cycling

This study examined neighborhood safety as perceived by children (mean age=10 years) and their mothers, and its association with children\u27s physical activity. For all eight safety items examined, children perceived their environment as less dangerous than mothers (p\u3c0.05). None of the multiple regression models predicting children\u27s physical activity by safety perceptions were significant (p\u3e0.10). The maternal perception model explained the highest percentage of variance (R2=0.26), compared to the children\u27s perception model (R2=0.22). Findings suggest that future studies should explore relations between self-reported and objectively measured safety barriers to Hispanic youth walking and cycling

Physical Activity in Latino Children: Research and Its Implications

Childhood obesity affects children across all ages and genders. However, Latino children and adolescents are at an increased risk, with one out of three Latino children (ages 2-19) being classified as overweight. Physical inactivity is deemed a major factor contributing to the energy imbalance that leads to excess adiposity. The aims of this study are twofold: 1) to present relevant research regarding Latino children’s physical patterns, influences on their physical activity, and interventions designed to promote physical activity and fitness in this population; and 2) to discuss implications derived from this research to help health educators, practitioners, and policy makers increase awareness, and to motivate and enable Latino children to adopt an active lifestyle. Research reveals that Latino children and adolescents are consistently less active than their white counterparts. Latino girls are, in particular, at an increased risk for inactivity. Few studies have investigated the factors that contribute to low levels of physical activity among Latino children. Moreover, few physical activity interventions have involved Latino children. Some of our recent research studies have filled some gaps, including providing information on what physical activities Latino children like, what they intend to do, what they are actually doing, and where and when they do physical activity. Based on our research and review of related literature, we made specific physical activity recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. These individual points should be applied and integrated within a broad framework and used in combinations to develop multi-component, coordinated approaches to enhancing physical activity among Latino youth

Science for a wilder Anthropocene: synthesis and future directions for trophic rewilding research

Trophic rewilding is an ecological restoration strategy that uses species introductions to restore top-down trophic interactions and associated trophic cascades to promote self-regulating biodiverse ecosystems. Given the importance of large animals in trophic cascades and their widespread losses and resulting trophic downgrading, it often focuses on restoring functional megafaunas. Trophic rewilding is increasingly being implemented for conservation, but remains controversial. Here, we provide a synthesis of its current scientific basis, highlighting trophic cascades as the key conceptual framework, discussing the main lessons learned from ongoing rewilding projects, systematically reviewing the current literature, and highlighting unintentional rewilding and spontaneous wildlife comebacks as underused sources of information. Together, these lines of evidence show that trophic cascades may be restored via species reintroductions and ecological replacements. It is clear, however, that megafauna effects may be affected by poorly understood trophic complexity effects and interactions with landscape settings, human activities, and other factors. Unfortunately, empirical research on trophic rewilding is still rare, fragmented, and geographically biased, with the literature dominated by essays and opinion pieces. We highlight the need for applied programs to include hypothesis testing and science-based monitoring, and outline priorities for future research, notably assessing the role of trophic complexity, interplay with landscape settings, land use, and climate change, as well as developing the global scope for rewilding and tools to optimize benefits and reduce human–wildlife conflicts. Finally, we recommend developing a decision framework for species selection, building on functional and phylogenetic information and with attention to the potential contribution from synthetic biology

Validity, Identification, and Distribution of the Roundscale Spearfish, Tetrapturus georgii (Teleostei: Istiophoridae): Morphological and Molecular Evidence

The roundscale spearfish, Tetrapturus georgii Lowe, 1840, is known only from four specimens from the Mediterranean and eastern North Atlantic. Additional specimens have not been identified since 1961, making the validity and distribution of this species unclear. Analysis of 16 billfish specimens from the western North Atlantic on the basis of scale morphology, anus position, and mitochondrial DNA confirms the validity of this species and extends its distribution. Mid-lateral scales are soft, notably rounded anteriorly, and bear 2–3 points distinct from those of the sympatric longbill spearfish (Tetrapturus pfluegeri Robins and de Sylva, 1963) and white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus Poey, 1860). Position of anus relative to first anal fin and a related morphometric ratio (distance from anus to first anal fin origin: height of first anal fin) are intermediate between T. pfluegeri and T. albidus. These characteristics match those described by Robins (1974) from the four eastern North Atlantic specimens of T. georgii. The mitochondrial ND4L, ND4, and cyt b gene sequences strongly support reciprocal monophyly of the western North Atlantic specimens relative to other Atlantic istiophorids. The difficulty in distinguishing between morphologically similar T. georgii and T. albidus in the field and the previously unrecognized presence of T. georgii in the western North Atlantic has implications for stock assessments of T. albidus, a species that is severely overfished

Geothermal Play Fairway Analysis, Part 1: Example from the Snake River Plain, Idaho

The Snake River Plain (SRP) volcanic province overlies the track of the Yellowstone hotspot, a thermal anomaly that extends deep into the mantle. Most of the area is underlain by a basaltic volcanic province that overlies a mid-crustal intrusive complex, which in turn provides the long-term heat flux needed to sustain geothermal systems. Previous studies have identified several known geothermal resource areas within the SRP. For the geothermal study presented herein, our goals were to: (1) adapt the methodology of Play Fairway Analysis (PFA) for geothermal exploration to create a formal basis for its application to geothermal systems, (2) assemble relevant data for the SRP from publicly available and private sources, and (3) build a geothermal PFA model for the SRP and identify the most promising plays, using GIS-based software tools that are standard in the petroleum industry. The study focused on identifying three critical resource parameters for exploitable hydrothermal systems in the SRP: heat source, reservoir and recharge permeability, and cap or seal. Data included in the compilation for heat source were heat flow, distribution and ages of volcanic vents, groundwater temperatures, thermal springs and wells, helium isotope anomalies, and reservoir temperatures estimated using geothermometry. Reservoir and recharge permeability was inferred from the analysis of stress orientations and magnitudes, post-Miocene faults, and subsurface structural lineaments based on magnetics and gravity data. Data for cap or seal included the distribution of impermeable lake sediments and clay-seal associated with hydrothermal alteration below the regional aquifer. These data were used to compile Common Risk Segment maps for heat, permeability, and seal, which were combined to create a Composite Common Risk Segment map for all southern Idaho that reflects the risk associated with geothermal resource exploration and identifies favorable resource tracks. Our regional assessment indicated that undiscovered geothermal resources may be located in several areas of the SRP. Two of these areas, the western SRP and Camas Prairie, were selected for more detailed assessment, during which heat, permeability, and seal were evaluated using newly collected field data and smaller grid parameters to refine the location of potential resources. These higher resolution assessments illustrate the flexibility of our approach over a range of scales