Concurrent Air Quality Analysis Under the National Environmental Policy Act and Transportation/Air Quality Conformity

This paper addresses the direct and indirect relationships between the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the new conformity requirements. This paper concludes that NEPA and transportation/air quality conformity processes should be concurrent. The need for concurrent determinations is supported by five arguments: 1) the legislative history of conformity indicates that project conformity determinations be made during the NEPA process; 2) general NEPA requirements specify coordination between environmental processes; 3) the level of technical detail required for conformity analyses meets or exceeds the level already required for NEPA; 4) unless conformity is taken into account, alternatives and mitigation measures generated during the NEPA analytical process may later result in a negative conformity determination; and 5) public comment periods, unless coordinated, would run consecutively rather than concurrently, potentially delaying project implementation

Report on the Workshop on Refugee and Asylum Policy in Practice in Europe and North America

Western nations have struggled to accomplish the dual goals of refugee and asylum policies: (1) identifying and protecting Convention refugees as well as those fleeing civil conflict; and (2) controlling for abuse. The Workshop on Refugee and Asylum Policy in Practice in Europe and North America was organized to facilitate a transatlantic dialogue to explore just how well these asylum systems are balancing the dual goals. The workshop exa!llined key elements of the U.S. and European asylum systems: decision making on claims, deterrence of abuse, independent review, return of rejected asylum seekers, scope of the refugee concept, social rights and employment, international cooperation, and data and evaluation. The Workshop was convened by the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) of Georgetown University and the Center for the Study of Immigration, Integration and Citizenship Policies (CEPIC) of the Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique, with the support of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. It was held on July 1-3, 1999, at Oxford University. Workshop participants included government officials, scholars, and representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) actively involved in analyzing and implementing refugee and asylum policies. This report outlines the major points of discussion and the areas of consensus at the Workshop, and emphasizes the issues in need of further analysis and agreement. Through this report, the Workshop seeks to encourage further discussion on refugee and asylum policies in practice in order to clarify, develop, and improve the existing mechanisms for protection

A Validation study of the sense of coherence scale using two South African samples

Student Number : 8609483Y - MA Dissertation - School of Human and Community Development - Faculty of HumantiesThis study undertook to investigate the validity of the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC Scale) for use in South Africa. The scale was developed by Antonovsky (1987) and is widely used in stress and health research. It measures three components: meaningfulness, comprehensibility, and manageability, which Antonovsky posited as being central to a person’s sense of coherence (SOC), which in turn facilitates coping and personal resilience. The current research utilised two samples, namely a group of disabled individuals and a group of undergraduate psychology students. It found that while the SOC Scale is indeed a useful psychometric instrument within a South African context, it would be advisable to develop a modified version of the scale for local use. Factor analysis suggested that a three-factor solution is more appropriate than a one-factor solution, a finding which is congruent with Antonovsky’s theory. Suggestions are made for modifications to some of the original 29 items, as well as the subscales, of the SOC Scale

An Approach to Metalsmithing and Its Correlation to Specific Drawings

The paper is concerned with my approach to metalsmithing which is directly correlated to my drawings; developing the two-dimensional plane and evolving into three-dimensional metal pieces. The lines of my drawings have become stimulus for my metal work; resolving into strong, linear, textural elements. I discuss three pieces which I have created and some drawings relating the transitions from paper to metal and metal to paper. My references for these creatures are usually drawn from specific areas which have captured my interest. I have been considerably influenced by Early Irish, Celtic art and the Medieval French Grotesque art. The Celtic art suggested to me a certain primitive, yet curiously elaborate design quality in the creatures and symbols found throughout its books and metal pieces. The metal work is highly developed and assiduously crafted, The biblical drawings and paintings in the Celtic literature also reflect well crafted, aesthetically pleasing work. The Medieval French Grotesque art was exhibited mainly in the sculpture of the period. Great gargoyles and dragons were exquisitely and beautifully sculpted and were very horrid and grotesque creatures. The Celtic and French art are similar to my work with the marionettes which are two of the three pieces discussed in the paper. My marionettes described in the paper are whimsical and beautiful yet rather grotesque in nature. They are not a common art object. The marionettes have a fantasy style and have their roots in ancient artifacts. All the pieces that are discussed in the paper; the Dragon, Necklace III, and the Unicorn have been fabricated from original, scale drawings. They are taken from the plane of the paper and placed in three-dimensional space. In the paper other drawings are also discussed which have evolved simultaneously with my metal work. I have developed surface treatments on the drawings which are of similar textural surfaces, if not the same in some areas, as those executed on metal pieces. These drawings have taken full circle. They return to the two-dimensional area with a new three-dimensional viewpoint where I attack the surface of the paper and establish a new texture. Scale drawings of each piece, the actual piece, and the texturally embellished drawings are the three areas developed in the paper on my work. A detailed description of each drawing and piece, also a discussion on the progression of the work to establish a finished piece is dealt with. This allows a more knowledgable viewpoint of the immediate correlation between my drawings and metal work

Age differences in prospective memory: Laboratory versus naturalistic settings

Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember and perform intended actions at the appropriate point in the future. PM is a cognitive ability that is vital to many aspects of daily functioning, and it is particularly important for older adults who wish to maintain functional independence. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate factors that potentially contribute to the age-PM paradox. The age-PM paradox refers to the contrasting age effects on PM performance with age-related deficits observed on laboratory tasks, but no age differences or even age-related benefits observed on naturalistic tasks. Several proposed factors that possibly contribute to the age-PM paradox were examined in two tangential studies. Firstly, a descriptive study of self-directed PM tasks in daily life was conducted. The study examined how the context of PM task completion in the real world might vary between young and older adults, as such differences may contribute to age differences in naturalistic PM performance. To improve upon previous naturalistic studies, the study employed an experience-sampling method to capture PM successes and failures throughout the day. Contrary to popular belief, the findings suggest that dissimilarities in the demands of everyday life and the usage of external reminders, such as diaries, cannot explain the improved naturalistic PM performance of older adults. However, older adults were found to regard their PM tasks as important more often than young adults. Older adults also rehearsed their PM intentions more frequently than young adults. Thus, it is possible that the age benefit observed in naturalistic settings is related to older adults’ motivation and their ability to plan and rehearse their PM tasks within their own environment. Relatively few instances of PM failures were reported by both age groups. Further evidence suggests that participants retrieved their PM intentions through both spontaneous retrieval and strategic monitoring processes, which provides support for the multiprocess framework of PM. The second study rigorously examined whether the comparison of inherently dissimilar tasks could be contributing to the age-PM paradox. Laboratory PM tasks are predominantly event-based tasks, while naturalistic PM tasks are typically time-based, occurring at a set time of day. To address the lack of task comparability across settings, novel naturalistic PM measures were developed to objectively assess PM performance on three types of tasks: event-based, scheduled time-based (typical of prior naturalistic studies), and time-check tasks (typical of prior laboratory studies). The study is the first investigation of age differences in laboratory and naturalistic settings on all three types of PM tasks using the same participant sample in both settings. Laboratory PM performance was assessed using a computerised version of Virtual Week, which simulates activities of daily life in a board game format. Naturalistic PM performance was assessed using smartphones and an application developed specifically for this thesis. In the laboratory, age-related deficits were observed on all three task types. However, in the naturalistic setting, older adults performed better than young adults on scheduled time-based tasks, performed just as well as the young adults on event-based tasks, and performed equally poorly on time-check tasks. The findings suggest that older adults demonstrate improved PM performance in everyday life when the PM tasks possess an event-like quality, which allows for further environmental support for successful task completion. Regardless of the setting, older adults consistently exhibited poor performance on time-check tasks. This finding suggests that older adults’ PM performance suffers when the PM tasks are particularly demanding and rely heavily on effortful monitoring processes for intention retrieval. Overall, the current research suggests that the age-PM paradox cannot be completely explained by contextual differences surrounding naturalistic PM performance or by the lack of task comparability across settings in the existing literature. However, given the substantial improvement in older adults’ naturalistic performance on scheduled time-based tasks, but not on time-check tasks, this thesis highlights the importance of this relatively rare time-based task distinction when considering the age-PM paradox. Taken together, the studies indicate that older adults’ naturalistic PM performance benefits from explicit cues, environmental support, and the ability to plan and rehearse PM intentions

Concerns of southeastern Massachusetts elementary school principals regarding implementation of participative decision making in their schools.

Participative decision making has been identified as a crucial aspect of current American public school restructure efforts. The calls for school improvement through collective decision making by the educational team (i.e., principals and teachers) have been frequently referred to as an effort toward teacher professionalization through empowerment. Given central office support, principals have been cited as playing a major role as potential change facilitators who can enable or sabotage meaningful participative decision making in their schools. Subsequent to being identified by their school superintendents as having initiated participative decision making in their schools, this study investigated a stratified random sample (based on the Massachusetts Department of Education kind of community descriptors) of seventy-three (73) southeastern Massachusetts elementary school principals. Their feelings (concerns) regarding participative decision making in their schools were examined using the central instrument from the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (C-BAM): Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ). It also contained a comment section to allow for further clarification of feelings or concerns. Additionally, a customized demographic survey was included as two basic research questions were asked: (1) What are the perceived stages of concerns of a stratified random sample of southeastern Massachusetts elementary school principals who have initiated participative decision making within their schools? and (2) What are the relationships among these elementary school principals\u27 selected demographic variables and intensity of concerns toward participative decision making in their schools? The SoCQ data analysis, noting relative intensity of concern, indicated the participants\u27 highest intensity of concerns as follows: 53% in the Awareness stage; 16% in the Personal stage; 12% in the Informational stage; 8% in the Management stage; 11% in the Consequence, Collaboration, and Refocusing stages. Among conclusions from the data analysis, indications were that the majority of (mostly male) principals are non-users, or in a very early developmental stage. Further, number of years as principal at a school showed correlational significance. The theoretical underpinnings of change, concerns theory, and the practice of participative decision making are included in the review of the literature. Concluding chapters provide a review of methodology, data analysis presentation, summary, recommendations and conclusions, and further research ideas