Using Film as a Tool for Teaching and Discussing Genocide

In this book review, I examine John J. Michalczyk and Raymond G. Helmick’s edited volume entitled Through a Lens Darkly:  Films of Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, and Atrocities.  I assess the text as a tool for secondary educators who cover topics of genocide and mass atrocities in their classrooms, particularly the usefulness of the film essays and their ability to generate ideas for classroom discussion.  While many resources and films exist for teaching the Holocaust, far fewer materials exist for educators who cover other genocides.  Michalczyk and Helmick provide those teachers a place to begin resource building.

The Pacific War Crimes Trials: The Importance of the Small Fry vs. the Big Fish

In the post-World War II era, the Allied nations faced multiple issues, from occupying the Axis countries and rebuilding Europe and Japan to trying war criminals for atrocities committed prior to and during the war. War crimes trials were an important part of the occupation process and by conducting the trials, the Allied nations hoped not only to punish war criminals, but to provide examples of democratic principles to the former Axis powers and deter future wartime atrocities. When considering war crimes trials, it is most often Nuremberg that comes to mind, and it is Nuremberg that has dominated much of written history since the trials took place. However, the Pacific saw over 2,000 war crimes trials and over 5,000 defendants, divided into Class A and Class BC categories, with trials conducted by several Allied nations. In the Pacific arena, the Class BC suspects were considered small fry compared to the big fish suspects such as Hideki Tojo who were tried as Class A criminals in Tokyo

Gender Differences in Gross and Fine Motor Abilities in Preschool Aged Children in West Virginia

The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in gross and fine motor abilities in preschool aged children in West Virginia. Subjects consisted of 21 males and 16 females. Data was collected via the West Virginia Educare Initiative using the Carolina Curriculum for Preschoolers with Special Needs. Results of this study indicate that there are no significant gender differences in either gross motor or fine motor abilities in preschool aged children

Lower-Limb Amputees in Olympic Weightlifting

The coach serves an integral role in shaping the youth sport experience. For athletes with disabilities, participation in sports may be a negative experience because their coach may misperceive or misunderstand their behaviors. More educational material about coaching adaptive athletes would help bridge the information gap between weightlifting coaches and the adaptive community. Because the number of adaptive athletes in the sport of weightlifting is steadily rising, it is becoming increasingly important that coaches of these athletes understand how they can facilitate the athlete’s lifelong enjoyment of the sport. Coaches should not be intimidated by adaptive athletes. Due to the unique nature of individual circumstances, it can be difficult to generalize about the most effective ways to train adaptive athletes. In recent years, USA Weightlifting (USAW) has introduced measures designed to increase accessibility of the sport for disabled athletes. These measures are summarized, analyzed, and presented in this article in a way that the authors are able to make training recommendations for athletes with lower-lib amputations. In addition, the psychological aspects of adapted weightlifting are briefed and analyzed culminating in recommendations for athletes engaging in weight training and coaches who work with athletes with amputation

Lessons Learnt from the Westgate Shopping Mall Terrorist Attack in Nairobi, Kenya: Involving the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions Sector in Crisis Communications

The terrorist attacks in Nairobi Kenya have been widely disseminated by the world media, thus, affecting the long-term interests of stakeholders. The tourism industry is made up of a vast number of these stakeholders, with the operating sector alone including the accommodation, tourism services, transportation, entertainment, food services, adventure and outdoor recreation, attractions, meetings, incentive, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE), and travel trade sectors. Within each operating sector, there is also a variety of different stakeholders in various segments and organisations. The purpose of this manuscript is to examine tourism crisis communications surrounding the Westgate Shopping Mall attacks in Kenya. The main research question which guided this study was: did tourism communications surrounding the Westgate Shopping Mall attacks follow best practices for tourism crisis communications? Accordingly, this paper used participant observation to highlight communications surrounding the attacks from the perspective of a conference planner and a conference attendee

Promoting Literacy in a Virtual World: Success Stories of Two University Student Clubs

The Student Education Association and Kappa Delta Pi at Governors State University has a main goal this semester, which is to promote literacy in a virtual world. The purpose of this is to help all young individuals become strong readers. Our organization was fortunate enough to receive a grant from the National Education Association (NEA) that allowed us to purchase children’s books, invite guest speakers, and create workshops about varying social issues. This was in collaboration with a local library. Some of the social issues that were highlighted in our workshops are community and activism, women’s rights, and identity. We will also be hosting workshops about animals and the environment in April. Each library workshop had a guest speaker that read the book to all the students and their families. In addition to that, our SEA leaders facilitated activities that helped engage the students with the content of the book. Along with the library workshops, SEA and KDP leaders as well as faculty advisors have been hosting virtual read alouds live on our Facebook page each month. Each month had a selection of 9- 11 books about a specific topic. Starting in February and in honor of Black History Month, leaders and advisors read books about African- American figures. In March, two sets of virtual read alouds were read to the students. Throughout the whole month, leaders and advisors have been reading books about women leaders in honor of Women\u27s History Month. In addition to that, 11 read alouds were hosted on March 2nd in honor of National Read Across America Day. In April, our read- alouds theme will be about animals and the environment

Mortality, fertility, and the OY ratio in a model hunter–gatherer system

An agent‐based model (ABM) is used to explore how the ratio of old to young adults (the OY ratio) in a sample of dead individuals is related to aspects of mortality, fertility, and longevity experienced by the living population from which the sample was drawn. The ABM features representations of rules, behaviors, and constraints that affect person‐ and household‐level decisions about marriage, reproduction, and infant mortality in hunter–gatherer systems. The demographic characteristics of the larger model system emerge through human‐level interactions playing out in the context of “global” parameters that can be adjusted to produce a range of mortality and fertility conditions. Model data show a relationship between the OY ratios of living populations (the living OY ratio) and assemblages of dead individuals drawn from those populations (the dead OY ratio) that is consistent with that from empirically known ethnographic hunter–gatherer cases. The dead OY ratio is clearly related to the mean ages, mean adult mortality rates, and mean total fertility rates experienced by living populations in the model. Sample size exerts a strong effect on the accuracy with which the calculated dead OY ratio reflects the actual dead OY ratio of the complete assemblage. These results demonstrate that the dead OY ratio is a potentially useful metric for paleodemographic analysis of changes in mortality and mean age, and suggest that, in general, hunter–gatherer populations with higher mortality, higher fertility, and lower mean ages are characterized by lower dead OY ratios. Am J Phys Anthropol 154:222–231, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106895/1/ajpa22495.pd

Improving outcomes in adults with epilepsy and intellectual disability (EpAID) using a nurse-led intervention: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: In adults with intellectual disability (ID) and epilepsy there are suggestions that improvements in management may follow introduction of epilepsy nurse-led care. However, this has not been tested in a definitive clinical trial and results cannot be generalised from general population studies as epilepsy tends to be more severe and to involve additional clinical comorbidities in adults with ID. This trial investigates whether nurses with expertise in epilepsy and ID, working proactively to a clinically defined role, can improve clinical and quality of life outcomes in the management of epilepsy within this population, compared to treatment as usual. The trial also aims to establish whether any perceived benefits represent good value for money. METHODS/DESIGN: The EpAID clinical trial is a two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial of nurse-led epilepsy management versus treatment as usual. This trial aims to obtain follow-up data from 320 participants with ID and drug-resistant epilepsy. Participants are randomly assigned either to a 'treatment as usual' control or a 'defined epilepsy nurse role' active arm, according to the cluster site at which they are treated. The active intervention utilises the recently developed Learning Disability Epilepsy Specialist Nurse Competency Framework for adults with ID. Participants undergo 4 weeks of baseline data collection, followed by a minimum of 20 weeks intervention (novel treatment or treatment as usual), followed by 4 weeks of follow-up data collection. The primary outcome is seizure severity, including associated injuries and the level of distress manifest by the patient in the preceding 4 weeks. Secondary outcomes include cost-utility analysis, carer strain, seizure frequency and side effects. Descriptive measures include demographic and clinical descriptors of participants and clinical services in which they receive their epilepsy management. Qualitative study of clinical interactions and semi-structured interviews with clinicians and participants' carers are also undertaken. DISCUSSION: The EpAID clinical trial is the first cluster randomised controlled trial to test possible benefits of a nurse-led intervention in adults with epilepsy and ID. This research will have important implications for ID and epilepsy services. The challenges of undertaking such a trial in this population, and the approaches to meeting these are discussed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number: ISRCTN96895428 version 1.1. Registered on 26 March 2013.Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation TrustThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from BioMed Central via https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-016-1429-