Then and now: across ten years of Arkansas women in agriculture

The United States Agricultural Census show that between 2002 and 2012, the number of women farm operators in Arkansas grew 14% (from 19,856 to 22,637). These women operators have made up an increasingly larger percentage of all farm operators in the state (from almost 29% to nearly 33%). There is little published information regarding changes over time in the role of women in agriculture, their challenges, and factors important to their success. While some surveys of farm women have been conducted, these surveys are generally insufficient because data exist only for one point in time. This research uses the first, middle and last years of survey data collected across ten years (2005-2014) at Arkansas Women in Agriculture (ARWIA) conferences to compare women’s perceptions regarding: 1) factors important to their choice of business activity, 2) challenges women face in their agriculture-related business, and 3) the decision-making roles they hold in that business. Results suggest that women in Arkansas agriculture engage in important decision-making on the farm. These women consistently identified across all three years, three attributes—applying talents and skills directly, being involved in the community and being excited about the work—as important factors in their decision to choose an agricultural career. They also identified two problems—keeping good employees and finding/affording a good lawyer—within the top five of the largest challenges faced. It is hoped that this set of baseline information can be useful not only to researchers and educators interested in addressing needs of local women but also in illustrating the continuing changes in women’s roles and their needs, and thus the need for extended research over time to address these changes

Identity Placement In Social Justice Issues Through A Creative Writing Curriculum

In our current society, there is a growing need for educators to approach curriculum with the knowledge and awareness of the inequities that affect our students based on how they identify. The exploration of student identity in the classroom not only encourages reflection on how students are placed in the context of social justice issues but also promotes the reflection of educators who teach through a social justice lens. This capstone project focuses on the research question: How can curriculum be designed to place student identity in the context of social justice issues through creative writing and reading in an English Language Arts classroom? This project examines the current approaches and resources for social justice pedagogy and how using creative writing in an English Language Arts classroom can promote identity exploration and critical thinking of social justice issues. The result of the research concludes with a project that is a 12 week curriculum design of a creative writing unit for an ELA classroom. The unit focuses on reading, discussing and writing about social justice issues and identity and is broken into mini units based on three genres of creative writing: poetry, nonfiction and fiction. It can be concluded through this project that integrating identity exploration through writing and analyzing texts with a social justice focus has the potential for enhancing student growth in communication skills and their understanding of their voice in conversations surrounding social justice

Using Music in Teaching Social Skills to Mentally Retarded Subjects

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Melodies to Assist Social Interaction (MASI) would affect the social skills performance of the educable mentally retarded. The study employed a pretest-posttest control group design with an N of 27 mentally-retarded subjects. It also employed a one-group pretest-posttest design with an N of 8 non-mentally retarded subjects. All of the subjects received a pre- and post-score for their social skills performance level. Nineteen of the mentally-retarded subjects and all eight non-mentally retarded subjects received the MASI social skills teaching program as part of their regular curriculum. The pre- and post-treatment performance was analyzed by a correlated means t-test. An analysis of covariance was used in which the posttest means were compared using the pretest means as a covariate. It was concluded that MASI did not have an impact, positive or negative, on the social skills performance level of the subjects

Risky Sexual Behavior: A Race-specific Social Consequence of Obesity

Scant attention has been given to the consequence of actual weight status for adolescents\u27 sexual wellbeing. In this article, we investigate the race-specific connection between obesity and risky sexual behavior among adolescent girls. Propensity scores and radius matching are used to analyze a sample of 340 adolescents aged 16-17 who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Young Adult Survey in 2000 or 2002. Nearly even numbers of these participants identified as white and black (183 and 157, respectively). We find that compared to their non-obese white peers, obese white adolescent girls exhibit higher rates of multiple sex partners and sex with older partners, and are also less likely to use condoms. None of these factors are significantly related to high BMI within the black sample. These findings indicate that the negative social consequences of obesity extend beyond future economic and marriage outcomes to adolescent white women\u27s sexual outcomes. They also highlight the importance of context: the implications of being obese during adolescence depend on the cultural meanings of obesity

Interannual variation of the toxic raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo in Departure Bay (Nanaimo): data from the harmful algae monitoring program 2001-2017

Heterosigma akashiwo is the most significant fish-killing algae species in British Columbia, and the Salish Sea historically has the most intense and prolonged H. akashiwo blooms in BC. There is strong interannual variation of H. akashiwo blooms in the Salish Sea that has been linked to decreased salinity from the Fraser River plume. Here we present data from weekly phytoplankton and environmental monitoring at Departure Bay by the Harmful Algae Monitoring Program (HAMP) from 2001 to 2017. Concentrations of H. akashiwo in Departure Bay are compared with Fraser River discharge, salinity, and temperature. Densest H. akashiwo blooms typically appear in mid-late June, with lesser blooms in July and late-August to mid-September in some years

Promoting language and literacy in early childhood care and education settings: Analytical table

A table accompanying a literature review, summarizing research questions, methods and findings of studies assessing the impact of language and literacy programs for young childre

A University-Community Partnership to Combat Food Insecurity among College Students

This paper describes a university-community partnership focused on alleviating food insecurity among college students. The on-campus food pantry served over 800 student clients during its first academic year. The pantry is run by a large group of student, faculty, and staff volunteers, and receives food and volunteer support from community partners and student organizations. Results of an analysis of pantry intake data revealed that during its first year of operation, the pantry served a student population that is majority graduate and international, who live with two or fewer persons per household, and whose food insecurity was reported as occasional. The discussion describes how the results of the study are guiding efforts to better serve students facing food insecurity and to strengthen internal and external partnerships necessary for the long-term success and sustainability of the pantry.  Directions for future research are also discussed