A Study of the Perceptions of Students, Staff, and Parents Regarding Conflict at Mary Miller Junior High School, Georgetown-Ridge Farm Community Unit School District # 4, Georgetown, Illinois

Too often in schools across the country students and teachers have felt unsafe. Students and teachers have been threatened physically, verbally, and have experienced violence. Besides creating fears, violence in schools has diverted energy and resources from instruction. The researcher believed that based on recent national happenings regarding school violence, it was important to assess the school environment at Mary Miller Junior High School to identify if any problems existed regarding safety at school. It is not surprising that one of the National Education Goals for the year 2000 was to establish safe, disciplined, and drug-free schools that offer an environment conducive to learning. This field study, conducted during the spring of 1998, gathered data concerning perceptions of students, staff, and parents of Mary Miller Junior High School in Georgetown-Ridge Farm Community Unit School District # 4 in Georgetown, Illinois. The research questions were: 1. What are the perceptions of the students, staff, and parents regarding conflict and school climate at Mary Miller Junior High School? 2. What are the perceptions of the students, staff, and parents regarding the motives for conflicts (disagreements) at Mary Miller Junior High School? 3. What are the perceptions of the students, staff, and parents regarding various levels of conflict at Mary Miller Junior High School? A survey, based on a review of national issues from literature pertaining to school climate and conflicts within schools, was designed by the researcher to determine perceptions regarding conflict and school climate, the motives for conflict (disagreements), and the frequency of various levels of conflict. The researcher administered the survey instrument to staff members at their monthly meeting. Staff members were given instructions and then monitored the students as they completed their survey instruments during their home room period. Survey instruments were given to the students to take home to their parents. The students returned the parent survey instruments to their home room teachers. The responses of the survey instrument were entered into a computer data file. Filters were generated from the gathered data, and results were displayed. Descriptive analysis using frequencies and percentages were used to present the results. An analysis of the data was presented through the use of tables and was accompanied by narratives. Results indicated the students felt safe from violence but expressed a concern relating to verbal abuse. Although fights sometimes occurred, weapons were of little concern. Students, parents, and staff could not agree on whether students could handle conflicts peacefully. The leading cause for conflict was rumors or gossip. The perceptions of students, staff, and parents differed regarding the various levels of conflict. It was recommended that peer mediation and conflict resolution programs be strengthened. A monthly Discipline Committee meeting was suggested for staff and administration. It was further recommended that a district-wide Ownership in Education Committee be organized with student, staff, administration, and parents to meet several times each year to evaluate the policies and expectations of student behavior

A Study of the Perceptions of Students, Staff, and Parents Regarding Conflict at Mary Miller Junior High School, Georgetown-Ridge Farm Community Unit School District # 4, Georgetown, Illinois

Too often in schools across the country students and teachers have felt unsafe. Students and teachers have been threatened physically, verbally, and have experienced violence. Besides creating fears, violence in schools has diverted energy and resources from instruction. The researcher believed that based on recent national happenings regarding school violence, it was important to assess the school environment at Mary Miller Junior High School to identify if any problems existed regarding safety at school. It is not surprising that one of the National Education Goals for the year 2000 was to establish safe, disciplined, and drug-free schools that offer an environment conducive to learning. This field study, conducted during the spring of 1998, gathered data concerning perceptions of students, staff, and parents of Mary Miller Junior High School in Georgetown-Ridge Farm Community Unit School District # 4 in Georgetown, Illinois. The research questions were: 1. What are the perceptions of the students, staff, and parents regarding conflict and school climate at Mary Miller Junior High School? 2. What are the perceptions of the students, staff, and parents regarding the motives for conflicts (disagreements) at Mary Miller Junior High School? 3. What are the perceptions of the students, staff, and parents regarding various levels of conflict at Mary Miller Junior High School? A survey, based on a review of national issues from literature pertaining to school climate and conflicts within schools, was designed by the researcher to determine perceptions regarding conflict and school climate, the motives for conflict (disagreements), and the frequency of various levels of conflict. The researcher administered the survey instrument to staff members at their monthly meeting. Staff members were given instructions and then monitored the students as they completed their survey instruments during their home room period. Survey instruments were given to the students to take home to their parents. The students returned the parent survey instruments to their home room teachers. The responses of the survey instrument were entered into a computer data file. Filters were generated from the gathered data, and results were displayed. Descriptive analysis using frequencies and percentages were used to present the results. An analysis of the data was presented through the use of tables and was accompanied by narratives. Results indicated the students felt safe from violence but expressed a concern relating to verbal abuse. Although fights sometimes occurred, weapons were of little concern. Students, parents, and staff could not agree on whether students could handle conflicts peacefully. The leading cause for conflict was rumors or gossip. The perceptions of students, staff, and parents differed regarding the various levels of conflict. It was recommended that peer mediation and conflict resolution programs be strengthened. A monthly Discipline Committee meeting was suggested for staff and administration. It was further recommended that a district-wide Ownership in Education Committee be organized with student, staff, administration, and parents to meet several times each year to evaluate the policies and expectations of student behavior

Engineering an all-optical route to ultracold molecules in their vibronic ground state

We propose an improved photoassociation scheme to produce ultracold molecules in their vibronic ground state for the generic case where non-adiabatic effects facilitating transfer to deeply bound levels are absent. Formation of molecules is achieved by short laser pulses in a Raman-like pump-dump process where an additional near-infrared laser field couples the excited state to an auxiliary state. The coupling due to the additional field effectively changes the shape of the excited state potential and allows for efficient population transfer to low-lying vibrational levels of the electronic ground state. Repetition of many pump-dump sequences together with collisional relaxation allows for accumulation of molecules in v=0.Comment: Phys. Rev. A, in pres

Evolutionary origin and diversification of epidermal barrier proteins in amniotes.

The evolution of amniotes has involved major molecular innovations in the epidermis. In particular, distinct structural proteins that undergo covalent cross-linking during cornification of keratinocytes facilitate the formation of mechanically resilient superficial cell layers and help to limit water loss to the environment. Special modes of cornification generate amniote-specific skin appendages such as claws, feathers, and hair. In mammals, many protein substrates of cornification are encoded by a cluster of genes, termed the epidermal differentiation complex (EDC). To provide a basis for hypotheses about the evolution of cornification proteins, we screened for homologs of the EDC in non-mammalian vertebrates. By comparative genomics, de novo gene prediction and gene expression analyses, we show that, in contrast to fish and amphibians, the chicken and the green anole lizard have EDC homologs comprising genes that are specifically expressed in the epidermis and in skin appendages. Our data suggest that an important component of the cornified protein envelope of mammalian keratinocytes, that is, loricrin, has originated in a common ancestor of modern amniotes, perhaps during the acquisition of a fully terrestrial lifestyle. Moreover, we provide evidence that the sauropsid-specific beta-keratins have evolved as a subclass of EDC genes. Based on the comprehensive characterization of the arrangement, exon-intron structures and conserved sequence elements of EDC genes, we propose new scenarios for the evolutionary origin of epidermal barrier proteins via fusion of neighboring S100A and peptidoglycan recognition protein genes, subsequent loss of exons and highly divergent sequence evolution

Deducing signaling pathways from parallel actions of arsenite and antimonite in human epidermal keratinocytes.

Inorganic arsenic oxides have been identified as carcinogens in several human tissues, including epidermis. Due to the chemical similarity between trivalent inorganic arsenic (arsenite) and antimony (antimonite), we hypothesized that common intracellular targets lead to similarities in cellular responses. Indeed, transcriptional and proteomic profiling revealed remarkable similarities in differentially expressed genes and proteins resulting from exposure of cultured human epidermal keratinocytes to arsenite and antimonite in contrast to comparisons of arsenite with other metal compounds. These data were analyzed to predict upstream regulators and affected signaling pathways following arsenite and antimonite treatments. A majority of the top findings in each category were identical after treatment with either compound. Inspection of the predicted upstream regulators led to previously unsuspected roles for oncostatin M, corticosteroids and ephrins in mediating cellular response. The influence of these predicted mediators was then experimentally verified. Together with predictions of transcription factor effects more generally, the analysis has led to model signaling networks largely accounting for arsenite and antimonite action. The striking parallels between responses to arsenite and antimonite indicate the skin carcinogenic risk of exposure to antimonite merits close scrutiny

A model for orientation effects in electron‐transfer reactions

A method for solving the single‐particle Schrödinger equation with an oblate spheroidal potential of finite depth is presented. The wave functions are then used to calculate the matrix element T_BA which appears in theories of nonadiabatic electron transfer. The results illustrate the effects of mutual orientation and separation of the two centers on TBA. Trends in these results are discussed in terms of geometrical and nodal structure effects. Analytical expressions related to T_BA for states of spherical wells are presented and used to analyze the nodal structure effects for T_BA for the spheroidal wells

Appearance Wood Products and Psychological Well-Being

The study of how people's psychological health and well-being can be connected to wood used in appearance applications is a new and relatively unexplored area of inquiry, despite strong theoretical support, intuitive reasoning, and a growing recognition of the importance of healthful living. This research attempted to better understand this phenomenon by mapping out people's perceptions of wood used in interior applications. Specifically, the aim of this exploratory study was to determine what types of environments appearance wood products can create and to gauge whether or not the use of these types of products could have positive impacts on people's emotional states. To that end, a total of 119 respondents from the Greater Vancouver Regional Area were asked to partake in a three-part experimental study, consisting of a q-sort exercise, personal interviews, and a self-administered survey. The findings suggest that people's response to wood is, for the most part, extremely positive, with subjects generally showing a strong preference for rooms containing many wood details. There also appears to be a strong belief that the use of wood can help to create healthful environments, and commonly evoked descriptors for wood rooms include "warm," "comfortable," "relaxing," "natural," and "inviting." The reasons underlying these findings are complex and further exploration rooted in the field of environmental psychology is warranted. However, the results of this study could have potentially far-reaching implications for manufacturers of appearance wood products seeking to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Specifically, these findings point to an opportunity to market wood in an entirely new and innovative manner with the inclusion of potential psychological benefits into the total product concept