Political Engagement During a Presidential Election Year: A Case Study of Media Literacy Students

This exploratory, mixed-methods study uses data gathered during the previous U.S. presidential election in 2012 to evaluate student political engagement and digital culture. Survey results and media diary entries revealed that college students enrolled in a media literacy course during Super Tuesday or Election Day gravitated toward low-barrier political actions and expressive modes of citizenship, and they were most engaged when there was a social component to following election news. These results, coupled with recent data on political engagement and media consumption, present an opportunity to consider the role of digital platforms and online communities in the 2016 election

Media Coverage of Weapons of Mass Destruction

CISSM MonographThe public relies on the media to separate facts and tangible realities from assumptions and spin. Media Coverage of Weapons of Mass Destruction evaluates how well the media has performed this task in regards to the issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The study assesses how the coverage of WMD has changed over time and across geographies " especially since the launch of the "War on Terror" and the positioning of Iraq as the "big" international story. The events of the last year and a half in Iraq " the build-up to the war, the shock-and-awe campaign, the ground combat, the "post-victory" insurgency, the capture of Saddam Hussein, and the ongoing hunt for banned weapons " have dramatically demonstrated the need for greater public understanding of the role that WMD plays in the formulation of and rhetorical justifications for US security policy. With that goal in mind, this study examines three time periods, each lasting three weeks, during which at least two major WMD-related stories were being covered. The specific beginning and ending dates were chosen to include coverage one week before and two weeks after the dates on which a major nuclear proliferation story appeared in the media: India"s nuclear weapons tests in May 1998, the US announcement of evidence of a North Korean nuclear weapons program in October 2002, and revelations about Iran"s nuclear program in May 2003. Iraq was purposely not chosen as one of these reference points because it was already overrepresented in the study relative to other significant countries. The three periods chosen cover major WMD issues during both the Clinton and Bush administrations and include important developments in Iraq and elsewhere. Dr. Susan D. Moeller is Associate Professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park

Calculating The Beta Coefficient And Required Rate Of Return For Coca-Cola

In this paper, we demonstrate how to compute the required rate of return for Coca-Cola using modern portfolio theory with data downloaded from the internet.  We demonstrate how to calculate monthly returns for the index and Coca-Cola and how to use the returns to compute the beta coefficient and the required rate of return using the downloaded data.  We show how to validate the data for the market index and the company and how to compute the returns using the dividend and stock split adjusted prices.  We demonstrate how to graph the characteristic line for Coca-Cola and use the graph to check that the regression was run correctly.  We use Coca-Cola and the S&P 500 Index in this paper, but any company listed on Yahoo! Finance can be used as the example.  This paper can be used as the basis of a lecture on intermediate corporate finance or investments to demonstrate the process using a real company

Applying The Teacher Scholar Model In The School Of Business

The teacher-scholar model was proposed in Boyer (1990) and defines four dimensions of scholarship:  1) discovery, 2) integration, 3) application, and 4) teaching. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of scholarship, the theory of the scholarship of teaching, the excellent teacher, and undergraduate research and scholarship.  We then show how the teacher-scholar model is applied at one University for annual faculty evaluations.&nbsp

Valuing Coca-Cola Using The Free Cash Flow To Equity Valuation Model

In this paper, we provide a detailed example of applying the free cash flow to equity valuation model proposed in Damodaran (2006). Damodaran (2006) argues that the value of a stock is the discounted present value of the future free cash flow to equity discounted at the cost of equity. We combine the free cash flow to equity model with the super-normal growth model to determine the current value of Coca-Cola. At the time of this paper, we determined a value of Coca-Cola at $161 billion using the free cash flow to equity model, and the actual market value of Coca-Cola was$150 billion

Will nature work with us? Erosion and flooding impacts on a UK barrier

‘Barrier island’ refers to a diverse collection of coastal landforms that often support substantial human populations, critical infrastructures, and ecosystems. Globally, many coastal barriers are experiencing climatically altered environmental forcing coupled with increasing anthropogenic pressures. This paper undertakes high resolution shoreline change analysis to reveal how Blakeney Point, a mixed sandy-gravel barrier located on the UK’s East Coast, has evolved over centennial, decadal and event timescales. We seek to establish the implications of barrier evolution, under contrasting management regimes, for present erosion and flooding hazards. Interrogating a series of alternative shoreline proxies reveals a series of interdependent behaviors. Over the 130-year period of study, Blakeney Point is shown to be rolling landward at a mean rate of 0.60 m a-1. Assuming continued landward retreat over the coming decades, future flood-generating storm events will encounter more landward shoreline positions than today. Superimposed on this trend, we observe the presence of alongshore migrating erosional hotspots which give rise to unpredictable morphologies at any given location on the spit. Finally, we find that instances of barrier setback are driven by individual storm events, which makes barrier retreat both highly variable and discontinuous in time and space. This is illustrated by the presence of overwash, particularly along stretches of the barrier that have experienced a recent shift in management regime towards a non-interventionist approach.This work was funded by the NERC/ESRC Data, Risk and Environmental Analytical Methods (DREAM) Centre, Grant/Award Number: NE/M009009/1. It is also a contribution to the NERC-funded project “Physical and Biological dynamic coastal processes and their role in coastal recovery” (BLUEcoast), Grant Award Number: NE/N015924/1

«The world unplugged» and «24 Hours without Media» : media literacy to develop self-awareness regarding media

La mayoría de los jóvenes del mundo se conecta habitualmente a los medios de comunicación; sin embargo, en pocas ocasiones reciben formación respecto a los impactos que este consumo mediático tiene en ellos mismos. Este artículo expone la experiencia llevada a cabo en el marco del Currículum UNESCO, denominada «24 horas sin medios». En otoño de 2010, cerca de 1.000 estudiantes de 12 universidades de cuatro continentes participaron en el estudio «El mundo desconectado». Investigadores de la Universidad de Maryland (Estados Unidos) recogieron rigurosamente las reflexiones de los alumnos que participaron y las analizaron a través del programa estadístico IBM’s ManyEyes. Los resultados muestran que los jóvenes, a raíz del ejercicio, fueron más conscientes de sus hábitos mediáticos, y muchos de ellos indagaron sobre su propia «adicción» a los medios, mientras que otros no consiguieron siquiera concluir estas 24 horas sin medios. También se pone en evidencia que el acceso cotidiano a la tecnología digital forma parte ya de su identidad juvenil y son básicas para entender su forma de trabajar y sus relaciones sociales. También se demuestra que los alumnos aumentaron su autoconciencia sobre el papel de los medios en sus vidas, y el profesorado comenzó a comprender mejor los intereses de sus alumnos, así como sus parámetros de consumo de Internet, mejorando sus habilidades para ayudar a los jóvenes a estar más alfabetizados mediáticamente.Across the globe, many students have easy and constant access to media, yet they often receive little or no instruction about the impact of their media consumption. This article outlines a «24 hours without media» exercise in accordance with the guidelines set in Module 7, Unit 1 of the UNESCO curriculum. In the fall of 2010, nearly 1,000 students from a dozen universities across five continents took part in «The World Unplugged» study. Researchers at the University of Maryland gathered students’ narrative responses to the going without media assignment and analyzed them by using grounded theory and analytic abduction, assisted by IBM’s ManyEyes computer analysis software. Results showed that going without media made students dramatically more cognizant of their own media habits –with many self-reporting an «addiction» to media– a finding further supported by a clear majority in every country admitting outright failure of their efforts to go unplugged. Students also reported that having constant access to digital technology is integral to their personal identities; it is essential to the way they construct and manage their work and social lives. «The World Unplugged» exercise enabled experiential learning; students gained increased self-awareness about the role of media in their lives and faculty came to better understand the Internet usage patterns of their students, enhancing their ability to help young people become more media literate

Anthropogenic movement results in hybridisation in impala in southern Africa

Hybridisation caused by anthropogenic movements of animals is a conservation concern. Black-faced impala (Aepyceros melampus petersi) are endemic to north-western Namibia and south-western Angola and are geographically isolated from common impala (A. m. melampus). Common impala have been translocated into the black-faced impala range creating a hybridisation risk. We validated 13 microsatellite markers for the detection of recent hybridisation events. We used these markers to assess the genetic variation and differentiation among impala within Etosha National Park (NP), Southern Cross Private Game Reserve (SCPGR), Namibia, and private game ranches across South Africa. We confirmed that “black-nosed” impala in South Africa were A. m. melampus, thus providing more evidence that the black blaze on the face cannot be used to distinguish between the two subspecies. We detected four hybrids and one common impala on SCPGR. These five individuals were removed from SCPGR at time of sampling. We found two potential hybrids in southern Etosha NP. Further sampling of animals within Etosha NP is recommended to determine the extent of hybridisation within the park. The Namibian Ministry of the Environment & Tourism is developing a management plan for black-faced impala across Namibia that includes genetic testing for hybrids.A Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences of the University of Pretoria and a Clancey Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship.http://link.springer.com/journal/105922021-04-28hj2020BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog