Examining the Applicability of the Concepts of Apology, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation to Multi-Stakeholder, Collaborative Problem-Solving Processes

In 2004, Meridian Institute, an organization with expertise in designing, facilitating, and mediating collaborative problem-solving processes, was asked to assess the feasibility of forming collaborative, community-based-watershed groups in northern New Mexico to develop plans to address water-quality problems and--if determined to be feasible--to facilitate the formation of those groups and plans. Early in the assessment process it became clear that the historical context was critically important and was one of the factors that had to be addressed. Here, Miles explores the applicability of apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation to a collaborative group process that can be examined through the example of community-based watershed groups working to identify mutually acceptable water-quality-improvement strategies

What College Presidents Need to Know about College Students and Student Affairs

The college presidency is filled with challenges and opportunities, ranging from maintaining communication with on-campus and off-campus stakeholders, coordinating work being done across campus, to simply keeping all of the institution’s operations up and running in an efficient manner. These activities are all designed around a specific purpose: providing opportunities for students to learn

Discipleship in a Digital Age: Leveraging Multimodality and Digital Networks

Advancements in communication technology, particularly since the Internet Age, have impacted culture in several fundamental ways. Cognitive and psychological changes have changed how people seek and understand knowledge. The development of horizontal networks made of both space of places, physical locations, and space of flows, Internet locations,1 has reshaped academic, social, and political spheres. The rise in entertainment to transfer information has shifted society’s focus to one of experience and service in everyday life. These changes have impacted the institutional church through a reduction of individuals self-identifying as Christian and in behaviors traditionally considered Christian. In response, the church has the opportunity to redefine how the church builds daily community through horizontal networks informed by an understanding of missional ecclesiology. By applying the lessons learned from multimodality and higher education, decentralized social movements, and habit-forming software development, a collaborative extension of the church can be developed. An outward focused extension shifts from a top down, organized structure to a bottom up, decentralized movement. Leveraging story and multiple modes to develop content becomes critical for the church as a method for sharing the story of the bible with Christians and equip them to share the story of their faith naturally in everyday life. Section one evaluates the history of communication and its impact on cognition, literacy, and the decline of biblical literacy. Section two reviews several categories of solutions, including smaller alternative communities, scripture-focused discipleship movements, bible mobile applications, and multimodal methods found across social networks. Section three builds a framework for creating a partnership with Church Online pastors working to fill a recognized discipleship void. Section four provides an overview of Spoken.Bible (https://spoken.bible), a platform to facilitate discipleship leveraging the strengths of horizontal networks. Section five outlines a time frame and specifications for this platform

Structure of the Human FANCL RING-Ube2T Complex Reveals Determinants of Cognate E3-E2 Selection

The combination of an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme with an E3 ubiquitin-ligase is essential for ubiquitin modification of a substrate. Moreover, the pairing dictates both the substrate choice and the modification type. The molecular details of generic E3-E2 interactions are well established. Nevertheless, the determinants of selective, specific E3-E2 recognition are not understood. There are ~40 E2s and ~600 E3s giving rise to a possible ~24,000 E3-E2 pairs. Using the Fanconi Anemia pathway exclusive E3-E2 pair, FANCL-Ube2T, we report the atomic structure of the FANCL RING-Ube2T complex, revealing a specific and extensive network of additional electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. Furthermore, we show that these specific interactions are required for selection of Ube2T over other E2s by FANCL

Microbiota Metabolism of Soluble Fiber Protects Against Low Grade Inflammation and Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a group of obesity-related metabolic abnormalities that predisposes to type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease. The dramatic increase in incidence of obesity and MetS over the last 25 years amidst relatively constant host genetics supports the role for non-genetic factors such as gut microbiota composition as an important contributor to the development of these disorders. Microbiota can interact with the host, in a manner influenced by genetics and diet that result in low-grade chronic inflammation. A critical risk factor for the pathogenesis of obesity and its related MetS involves alteration of gut microbiota composition with increased innate immune system activation in the intestine increasing risk. Diet-induced obesity is often modeled by comparing mice fed high-fat diet (HFD), which is made from purified ingredients, vs. normal chow diet (NCD), which is a low-fat assemblage of relatively unrefined plant and animal products. The mechanism by which HFD promotes adiposity is complex but thought to involve low-grade inflammation and altered gutmicrobiota. Here, I investigated the extent to which physiological effects to which HFD-induced adiposity is driven by fat content per se vs. other factors that differentiate HFD vs. NCD or other compositionally-defined diets (CDD) and, moreover sought to define the mechanisms that drove such effects. Relative to NCD, HFD, and to a lesser but nonetheless significant extent, CDD induced increased adiposity in addition to a rapid and marked loss of cecal and colonic mass, indicating that both lipid content and other aspects of HFD are obesogenic.CDD-induced effects were not affected by adjusting dietary protein levels/types but could be largely eliminated by exchanging insoluble fiber (cellulose) for soluble fiber (inulin). Moreover, replacing cellulose with inulin in HFD protected mice against decreased intestinal mass, hyperphagia and increased adiposity. Such protective effects of inulin correlated with increased levels of short-chain fatty acids, which are the products of bacterial fermentation of inulin. Lack of a microbiota, achieved by use of germ-free mice prevented generation of SCFA and eliminated the beneficial effects of inulin. Together, these results indicate that HFD-induced obesity is promoted by its lack of soluble fiber, which, when present, supports microbiota-mediated intestinal epithelia homeostasis that prevents inflammation driving obesity and MetS

Types Of Social Support In Distance Education And Academic Performance At A Southwestern Historically Black College And University

As a result of rapid growth in distance education, increasingly more students are enrolling in online courses. Nearly 81% of all U.S. postsecondary institutions offered “at least one fully online or blended course” in 2003 (Jones & Davenport, 2018). Previous research has demonstrated African American students site “convenience” as an influence in enrolling in an online course (Kwun et al., 2012). While online learning offers benefits to both institutions and students (Anderson, 2008), research has also found students may exhibit stress and anxiety as a result of isolation and loneliness caused by distance learning (Duranton & Mason, 2012; Heinman, 2008; Kim, 2011; Muirhead & Blum, 2006). Additional research found online students at HBCUs preferred face-to-face, traditional courses over online delivery and hybrid modalities due to teaching quality and communication difficulty between the teacher and student (Kwun et al., 2012). These tensions are eased when instructors practice social support through the building of community. This explanation, referred to in the literature as Community of Inquiry, or CoI (Garrett et al., 2010), attributes online student success through Social Support Theory (Albrecht & Adelman, 1987). The theory is defined as the verbal and non-verbal communication between recipients and providers that reduces uncertainty about the situation, the self, the other, or the relationship, and functions to enhance a perception of personal control in one’s life experience (Albrecht & Adelman, 1987). There is a lack of research focused on instructor social support and its effect on online student academic success at HBCUs. The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental study is to ascertain if online instructor social support is significantly related to online student academic performance at a Southwestern HBCU. A construct of CoI and grounded in Social Support Theory was used to interpret the results. This study examined three instructor social support predictor variables of the dependent variable, student expected grade. Using a sample taken from the site location, frequency analyses, descriptive statistics, Pearson bivariate analysis, and multiple regression analysis, the research questions posited by this study were answered. Findings provide further evidence of the impact of instructor emotional and informational social support on online student perceived expected grade. Results also indicate instructor instrumental social support was not significant as a determinate of student academic performance. These findings have practical implications and recommendations for higher education distance learning policies and professional development strategies for HBCUs that offer online courses and degrees

The Art of Social Justice

As this HJSR special issue on social justice unfolded, it became clear to the editorial team that this publication would be incomplete without addressing the well-documented role of art in social justice movements. We asked two of our managing editors, Jennifer Miles and Laura Dawson, to research and write about this area of social action. They interviewed two artists, a spoken word performer and a visual artist, both of whom understand their art as part of larger social justice projects. These artists raise awareness, highlight obstacles and avenues for change, and create space for solidarity and sanctuary. The following montage situates their artistry within their own biographies and a rich history of social change through art. Mary Virnoche and Jennifer Eichstedt, Editors

Running in Place: Where the Middle Class and the Poor Meet

Today, it is not only poor families but many middle class families who are furiously running in place. Millions are working hard to move forward, or just to make ends meet, and getting nowhere. Anyone who wishes to address poverty and strengthen economic opportunity needs to connect the dots between the needs of the working poor and those of the middle class

Improved Limits on Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter using Full-Sky Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor Data

A sterile neutrino of ~keV mass is a well motivated dark matter candidate. Its decay generates an X-ray line that offers a unique target for X-ray telescopes. For the first time, we use the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) onboard the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope to search for sterile neutrino decay lines; our analysis covers the energy range 10-25 keV (sterile neutrino mass 20-50 keV), which is inaccessible to X-ray and gamma-ray satellites such as Chandra, Suzaku, XMM-Newton, and INTEGRAL. The extremely wide field of view of the GBM enables a large fraction of the Milky Way dark matter halo to be probed. After implementing careful data cuts, we obtain ~53 days of full sky observational data. We observe an excess of photons towards the Galactic Center, as expected from astrophysical emission. We search for sterile neutrino decay lines in the energy spectrum, and find no significant signal. From this, we obtain upper limits on the sterile neutrino mixing angle as a function of mass. In the sterile neutrino mass range 25-40 keV, we improve upon previous upper limits by approximately an order of magnitude. Better understanding of detector and astrophysical backgrounds, as well as detector response, will further improve the sensitivity of a search with the GBM.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, references added, discussion expanded, some typos fixed, matches the published versio