What Works for Adolescent Reproductive Health: Lessons from Experimental Evaluations of Programs and Interventions

This Child Trends fact sheet reviews evaluated programs that focus on adolescent reproductive health. Among the findings: Many different types of programs have been shown to positively affect reproductive health outcomes. Not only school- and community-based sex education programs, but also clinic-based programs, youth development programs, service-learning programs, early childhood programs, and programs for young mothers have been found to be effective. Comprehensive sex education can improve adolescent reproductive health. Of the 21 comprehensive sex education programs that have been experimentally evaluated, 11 had a significant positive impact on the behavior of the youth studied or important subgroups of the sample. No abstinence-only interventions have yet been shown to positively affect any behavioral outcomes. Six abstinence-only interventions have had their impacts on behavioral outcomes experimentally evaluated. None has had an impact on initiation of sexual intercourse, frequency of sexual activity, number of sexual partners, use of condoms, use of contraceptives, pregnancies, births, or STD contraction. None of these six abstinence-only interventions have been shown to negatively affect any behavioral outcomes, either. In particular, in spite of their exclusive focus on abstinence, none have served to significantly decrease condom or contraceptive use. The fact sheet includes a table that shows whether the evaluated programs were found to work, not proven to work, or had mixed findings

Contemplating the Horrific: How Poe’s Gothic Reveals Our Fears

It is very clear to see from Edgar Allen Poe’s works of prose that the Gothic explores the dark and uncanny part of the human mind, and the fears Poe had are not very different from our own (“Gothic Creativity” 22). This uncanny side of the mind is strangely fascinated with monstrosity, decay, and violence. People’s fascination with things like violence comes from fear. The exploration of the Gothic reveals contemporary fears of serial killers, death, guns, apocalypse, and the war in Iraq and Syria. The fear of terrorism has resurfaced after the recent bombings in Paris. There are countless popular movies, books, television shows, and video games that explore all of these different fears and elements of the Gothic. For example, the TV show “Jericho” deals with war and apocalypse and the book series The Hunger Games focuses largely on death. In her article, “Poe and Gothic Creativity,” Maria Lima writes that Gothic works like Poe’s and contemporary horror stories produce an awareness of the presence of terror. These works show disturbing, yet fascinating, imagery but nothing as disturbing as contemporary reality (“Gothic Creativity” 28). Botting’s statement that “horror appears when fears come a little too close to home,” agrees (124). An exploration of the gothic elements found in Poe’s works reveal fears of past and present, as well as universal fears such as darkness and death. With this in mind, we will be able to understand why we are drawn to the Gothic even though it shows us our fears

Notes from Kilroy: A Collection of Stories Inspired by the Lives of Arkansas WWII Veterans

No history is far from static, not even mine. Some people may think history is stuck in the past, along with the lives that have come before, but if that were the case, there would be no point in studying or even recording history. If it is truly something that dwells only in the past, unmoving, then it would not affect anyone--but it does. As William Faulkner said, The past isn\u27t dead. It isn\u27t even past. It is the same with God. God is not confined to a certain time or place. He surrounds his sons and daughters and guides them throughout their lives. A relationship with God is neither static or passive. When I have my quiet time, I think about who He is, listen for His voice, and follow His commands. And I strive to serve Him in all aspects of my life because that is what He has called me to do. Even my academics are a way for me to respond to God, to worship him. He has put a desire to learn and write in me, so when I pursue these in order to bring Him glory, it pleases Him. For me, everything I do points back to God, and writing is how I relate to God. I think of it as my theology of writing--I listen to God, and then I write down my thoughts and prayers. I am dwelling, which means I am always listening and always responding. A way to respond to God involves responding to histories outside of my own to see how He works in His creation. Take political and personal history, for example. Political history informs one that America was founded in 1776. My personal history tells one that I was born in 1996. Is one of these more truthful and influential than the other? No. They are equally true. These two histories, political and personal, also coexist with each other. The major events that occur in the world affect the personal experiences of the people living at that moment in time. And those personal experiences give one a glimpse into the reality of that time and place. I would not know very much about what my hometown of Blytheville, Arkansas, was like in the 1950s if it were not for my mom\u27s parents, Clarence and Patsy Crosskno. They were both teenagers at this time, and Nana likes to talk about how they first met at the Kream Kastle drive-in. The restaurant is still there and open for business, but whenever I look at it now, I see it through my nana\u27s eyes. I see the cheerful lights, the red and baby blue convertibles shiny from the rain. I see a young lady, eyes bright as she laughs the evening away with a tall, handsome man with reddish-brown hair. But this is not all I see. My grandparents\u27 experiences did not end in the 50s; history moved and so did they. The effects of the Vietnam War stretched all the way to their little town in Arkansas, and God called them to serve. From 1959 until the late 1960s, Nana worked as a clerk typist. During the 1970s, she cross-trained to the accounting field and worked in the finance department, where she did payroll for all the civilians employed on the Blytheville Air Force Base (about 350). Then she was promoted to the military pay section and was the first woman to be chief of that section. From 1959-1961, Papa was in the army. He got early out and served in the national guard for six months. He was stationed at the army post in Fort Meade, Maryland. When it was time for him to come home, he hitchhiked for a while until he could afford a used car

Whale Watching in Early Childhood

Whale watching (WW) is a growing business in the ecotourism industry. Two main goals of this industry is to support local conservation efforts and increase pro-environmental behaviors by altering participant environmental attitudes and beliefs. This capstone answers the research question: How can whale watching experiences contribute to the conservation efforts of ecotourism, educate youth on the importance of whales, and enhance the human-nature connection during early childhood? Research concludes that education plays a vital role in affecting participant environmental attitudes and beliefs. In addition to providing unique experiences to observe whales in their natural habitat, whale watching companies also have the opportunity to increase pro-environmental behaviors among participants through education. This project involved working with an ecotourism whale watching company, Eco Migrations, to create an activity book aimed to educate youth on the importance of whales: in balancing marine health, their role in climate change mitigation and how humans impact population levels

Birdwatching: A Closer Look at the Imagery of Chopin and Lee

All birds tweet or chirp, but a mockingbird collects over 200 unique songs throughout its life and beautifully sings them for everyone to enjoy (Oldham). Not surprisingly, this can inspire some interesting symbolism. Kate Chopin is known for her use of bird imagery in The Awakening. The main character, Edna Pontellier, as well as a few other characters, are associated with several different birds throughout the novel. These associations are important in conveying the novel’s theme of flying against society’s ideals. I think another author to note who uses the image of a bird to convey a significant idea is Harper Lee. In Lee’s work, To Kill a Mockingbird, the title itself gives readers a picture of a bird. I believe that looking at the birds in The Awakening is a way to read important ideas in To Kill a Mockingbird

Jamaica Study Abroad: Cost-Benefit Analysis and Curriculum Design

This Capstone proposes the design of a service-learning study abroad program between universities and PRM with the objective of increasing the monetary resources of the organization. To create a new flow of monetary revenue into PRM, Great Huts and PRM would form a cooperation, one in which the two entities would remain independent forprofit and nonprofit organizations respectively, but would have a mutual agreement in favor of the public interest of the communityhttps://orb.binghamton.edu/mpa_capstone/1000/thumbnail.jp

The Impact on Midwives of Undertaking Screening for Domestic Violence: Focus Group Findings

Objective: To investigate the impact mandatory screening for domestic violence has had upon registered midwives. Design: Three phase study – Phase one involved focus group interviews. Setting: Hospitals in South-East Queensland undertaking mandatory domestic violence screening. Participants: Registered midwives undertaking screening for domestic violence. Results: Several barriers were identified that directly impacted upon the midwives' potential to screen effectively. Barriers identified were classified as intrinsic (intrapersonal and perception) and extrinsic (interpersonal, environmental and organisational infrastructure). Principle, conclusions and implications for practice: Although midwives have strong beliefs about the value of domestic violence screening, there is a negative perception about it's efficacy and an assumption of failure due to the barriers identified by the registered midwives

Static Palatography for Language Fieldwork

This article describes how to do static palatography, a way to collect articulatory records about speech sounds that can be used either in the field or in the laboratory. Palatography creates records of the contact pattern of the tongue on the roof of the mouth during an utterance, and when the actual dimensions of the palate are known, can be a rich source of data about articulatory strategies. This paper (1) instructs the reader about the tools and methods needed to collect palatograms (records of contact on the roof of the mouth) and linguograms (records of contact on the tongue); (2) shows how to collect three-dimensional information about the size and shape of a speaker’s hard palate; (3) illustrates how to incorporate these three types of records into life-size, anatomically accurate midsagittal diagrams of speakers’ articulations; and (4) demonstrates how palatograms can be measured (and how linguograms can be categorized) in order to statistically compare articulatory strategies across speech sounds and/or across speakers.National Foreign Language Resource Cente