Utilizing the Kirkpatrick Model to Evaluate a Collegiate High-Impact Leadership Development Program

The Dr. Joe Townsend ’67 Leadership Fellows is a high impact leadership development program offered through the Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications department of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. The goals and objectives of the program are to create better-equipped college graduates with enhanced leadership skills and abilities. The program focuses on helping its members further develop in five specific areas, developing self, developing others, organizational management skills, vision, and values. Although the Fellows program has be an active program since its creation in the spring of 2009, there have not been any formal evaluations performed on the program. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Fellows program through the use of Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation Model, Bloom’s Taxonomy, and Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior. A summative evaluation was used to assess whether or not the program had been meeting its stated objectives. The entire group of students who once participated in the Fellows program was sent a survey through Qualtrics to determine the success rate of the Fellows program through the four sections of Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation model, Reaction, Learning, Behavior, and Results. The data collected was then analyzed to determine if the objectives of the study were met. As a quantitative study, the results found were very clear. The participants scored statistically significant scores on all four portions of Kirkpatrick’s model. The overall effectiveness of the Fellows program, per the data collected, was deemed successful, and the results from the participants were both positive and promising for the program. Recommendations for future practitioners and researchers, as well as other leadership programs, were made based on the study’s conclusions

Debating the Ideal Soviet Woman: Public Discussions of Gender and Morality in Khrushchev\u27s Russia

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union\u27s 1961 Third Party Program and its Moral Code of the Builder of Communism dictated that Soviet society would be transformed into a Communist utopia over the course of twenty years. As part of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev\u27s larger reform program, the Moral Code detailed the ideal characteristics of future Communists while also outlining their relationships with each other, the collective, and the state. Recently, scholars such as Deborah Field and Susan E. Reid have begun to address the tensions between public and private life that characterized this period. Both find that the state actively sought to intervene in the lives of Soviet citizens. Additionally, Miriam Dobson and Brian LaPierre have stressed the presence of illiberal currents in the Khrushchev era, finding that this period featured greater repression and state control, as opposed to the traditional interpretation of the era as a time of liberal reform and greater freedom of expression. Utilizing the drafts of the Party program, suggestions submitted to the Party, contemporary articles and editorials, and the relevant secondary literature, this thesis argues that the ambiguity surrounding the Moral Code of the Builder of Communism created an opportunity for public participation and debate, which Soviet men and women used to forward their own gender ideals, even those which ran counter to the liberal ideas of the Thaw era and called for greater intervention in the family and the workplace

Food insecurity in veteran households: findings from nationally representative data

OBJECTIVE: The present study is the first to use nationally representative data to compare rates of food insecurity among households with veterans of the US Armed Forces and non-veteran households. DESIGN: We used data from the 2005-2013 waves of the Current Population Survey - Food Security Supplement to identify rates of food insecurity and very low food security in veteran and non-veteran households. We estimated the odds and probability of food insecurity in veteran and non-veteran households in uncontrolled and controlled models. We replicated these results after separating veteran households by their most recent period of service. We weighted models to create nationally representative estimates. SETTING: Nationally representative data from the 2005-2013 waves of the Current Population Survey - Food Security Supplement. SUBJECTS: US households (n 388 680). RESULTS: Uncontrolled models found much lower rates of food insecurity (8·4 %) and very low food security (3·3 %) among veteran households than in non-veteran households (14·4 % and 5·4 %, respectively), with particularly low rates among households with older veterans. After adjustment, average rates of food insecurity and very low food security were not significantly different for veteran households. However, the probability of food insecurity was significantly higher among some recent veterans and significantly lower for those who served during the Vietnam War. CONCLUSIONS: Although adjusting eliminated many differences between veteran and non-veteran households, veterans who served from 1975 and onwards may be at higher risk for food insecurity and should be the recipients of targeted outreach to improve nutritional outcomes

The physiological expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the human colon

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is expressed in the colonic epithelium in both inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Nitric oxide (NO), the product of this enzyme, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of both conditions. However, there are conflicting data on whether iNOS is expressed in the normal, uninflamed human colon. To evaluate the expression of iNOS in histologically normal, non-inflamed human colonic mucosa. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry were used to investigate the expression of iNOS in 17 histologically normal specimens obtained at colectomy performed for colorectal neoplasia. In addition, 16 endoscopic mucosal biopsies, taken from normal individuals, were also evaluated. Eleven surgical specimens and 16 endoscopic biopsies from patients with refractory ulcerative colitis were used as inflammatory controls. All types of specimens expressed iNOS mRNA. Immunoblotting revealed a protein of approximately 130 kDa consistent with iNOS in mucosal extracts of 77% of normal individuals, and 85% of diseased controls. Immunolabelling localised this protein to the surface epithelium in most of the normal specimens and also to the crypt epithelium and inflammatory cells in the diseased controls. These findings provide evidence that iNOS is often expressed in the surface epithelium of non-inflamed human colon, suggesting that it is induced by local luminal factors, such as bacterial lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin). The resultant NO produced at this site might act as an oxidative barrier, reducing bacterial translocation and providing a means of defence against pathogenic microorganisms

Treehoppers (Hemiptera: Aetalionidae and Membracidae) from Madre de Dios region, Peru

A list of treehoppers (Aetalionidae and Membracidae) is presented from Madre de Dios region at the southeastern Amazon basin in Peru. The treehopper specimens were collected as by-catch in a survey of the beetles in the Villa Carmen Biological Station and Los Amigos Biological Station. The list comprises 44 species, 31 genera, 16 tribes and 9 subfamilies. Ten genera are new records to Peru. The images of representative specimens of each identified species and genera are provided to facilitate the identification of the local treehopper fauna. Resumen: Se presenta una lista de los membrácidos (Aetalionidae y Membracidae) de la región Madre de Dios, en el sureste de la cuenca Amazónica, en Perú. La lista está basada en especímenes recolectados como captura fortuita en un inventario de escarabajos en las estaciones biológicas Villa Carmen y Los Amigos. La lista incluye 44 especies, 31 géneros, 16 tribus y 9 subfamilias. Diez géneros son nuevos registros para Perú. Se presentan las imágenes de especímenes representativos de cada especie y género para facilitar la identifición de la fauna local de los membrácidos

Propellant-Free Control of Tethered Formation Flight, Part 1: Linear Control and Experimentation

We introduce a decentralized attitude control strategy that can dramatically reduce the usage of propellant, by taking full advantage of the physical coupling of the tether. Motivated by a controllability analysis, indicating that both array resizing and spin-up are fully controllable by the reaction wheels and the tether motor, we report the first propellant-free underactuated control results for tethered formation flying spacecraft. This paper also describes the hardware development and experimental validation of the proposed method using the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, and Reorient Experimental Satellites test bed. In particular, a new relative sensing mechanism that uses sixderee-of-freedom force-torque sensors and rate gyroscopes is introduced and validated in the closed-loop control experiments

Design, Implementation and Operation of a Sparse Aperture Imaging Satellite Testbed

In order to better understand the technological difficulties involved in designing and building a sparse aperture array, the challenge of building a white light Golay-3 telescope was undertaken. The MIT Adaptive Reconnaissance Golay-3 Optical Satellite (ARGOS) project exploits wide-angle Fizeau interferometer technology with an emphasis on modularity in the optics and spacecraft subsystems. Unique design procedures encompassing the nature of coherent wavefront sensing, control and combining as well as various system engineering aspects to achieve cost effectiveness, are developed. To demonstrate a complete spacecraft in a 1-g environment, the ARGOS system is mounted on a frictionless air-bearing, and has the ability to track fast orbiting satellites like the ISS or the planets. Wavefront sensing techniques are explored to mitigate initial misalignment and to feed back real-time aberrations into the optical control loop. This paper presents the results and the lessons learned from the conceive, design, implement and operate phases of ARGOS. A preliminary assessment shows that the beam combining problem is the most challenging aspect of sparse optical arrays. The need for optical control is paramount due to tight beam combining tolerances. The wavefront sensing/control requirements appear to be a major technology and cost driver

Intensive Cultural Resources Survey of the Proposed Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project from Blanco Road to Wetmore Road, Bexar County, Texas

SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), of the proposed Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project in San Antonio, Texas. TxDOT proposes to extend the existing Wurzbach Parkway approximately 5.3 miles between Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 2696 (Blanco Road) and Wetmore Road. The undertaking involves the new construction of a four-lane divided roadway within an approximately 250-foot right-of-way (ROW) that is state-owned property. Overall, the Area of Potential Effects (APE) is 27,984 feet long, 250 feet wide, and maximally 10 feet deep. Additionally, the APE covers roughly 51.77 acres of permanent and temporary easements. SWCA’s investigations of the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE included a background review, and an intensive pedestrian survey with shovel testing and backhoe trenching of selected areas within the APE. The background literature review determined that 21 surveys of varying magnitude have been conducted within or adjacent to the APE. These surveys are related to roadway construction or expansion, as well as park development. Fourteen archaeological sites have been documented within or adjacent to the APE and 44 additional archaeological sites have been previously recorded within 1 mile of it. The APE traverses a portion of the Walker Ranch National Register District, but the undertaking does not affect any contributing resources besides those that were previously mitigated by TxDOT in the 1990s. SWCA archaeologists conducted field investigations within the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE between May 1 and June 21, 2007. The pedestrian survey established that the majority of the APE has been disturbed by previous residential, commercial, and dam construction. Of the 14 previously recorded sites within or immediately adjacent to the APE, seven were determined during the current survey not to extend into the APE (41BX181, 41BX183, 41BX194, 41BX203, 41BX209, 41BX222, and 41BX223). Two of the seven sites within the APE had been successfully mitigated through prior data recovery efforts (41BX184 and 41BX228), while landforms associated with site 41BX202 were found to have been completely destroyed. Current investigations included a reconnaissance survey of site 41BX949, shovel testing at site 41BX948, and backhoe trenching at site 41BX947. Right of entry was denied at two properties, including the Coker United Methodist Church, which precluded a revisit to 41BX1062. The portions of sites 41BX184, 4BX202, 41BX228, and 41BX949 that remain in the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE are not considered eligible for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or for designation as a State Archeological Landmark (SAL); therefore, SWCA recommends no further work at these sites. Survey-level excavations at 41BX947 and 41BX948 revealed no cultural materials, temporally diagnostic artifacts, features, or intact buried deposits. Thus, 41BX947 and 41BX948 have little to no research value. As such, neither 41BX947 nor 41BX948 is considered significant or eligible for inclusion in the NRHP or for designation as an SAL. Based on the extent of previous investigations and the results of the current survey, SWCA recommends no additional archaeological investigations for 41BX184, 4BX202, 41BX228, 41BX947, 41BX948, 41BX949, and 41BX1062. Subsequent to the SWCA survey, TxDOT conducted an impact evaluation of the additional 51.77 acres of easements associated with the project. No cultural resources were documented as part of this effort. This TxDOT work was submitted with the SWCA draft report to the Texas Historical Commission (THC) who concurred with the findings in both reports. This report combines the results of both investigations into a final report to satisfy the Texas Antiquities Code (TAC) permit requirements. In accordance with Section 106, 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 800.4, SWCA and TxDOT have made a reasonable and good faith effort to identify archaeological historic properties within the APE. As no properties were identified that meet the criteria for listing on the NRHP according to 36 CFR 60.4 or for designation as an SAL according to 13 TAC 26.12, no archeological historic properties are affected and SWCA recommends no further work for the 5.3-mile Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE. Artifacts were collected as part of the undertaking and will be curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory

Tensions between EU and UK Law are having a negative effect on the free movement of EU citizens

European law guarantees the free movement of citizens across EU member states. Using the UK as a case study, Jo Shaw, Nina Miller Westoby and Maria Fletcher write that in practice there nevertheless remain a number of difficulties in ensuring that EU citizens can exercise their rights. These include inconsistencies between European and national law, and cultural obstacles. To overcome these difficulties they propose the creation of an EU ‘citizenship champion’ to promote the effective implementation of a common citizenship area across Europe