EXPLORING THE DECLINE IN THE MALE SHARE OF COLLEGE ENROLLMENT: WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT MASCULINITY

This paper explores the declining male share of enrollment in higher education and the implications for the economy, society, and gender relations. The United States, like many other developed nations, places high emphasis on producing college-educated individuals. The hope is that an investment in a college education will increase a person’s human capital and in turn, yield higher salary returns in the labor market. In the early 20th century, women were excluded from college, and thus male college enrollment exceeded female enrollment. Since the 1980s, however, the college gender gap has declined and is now reversed with men a minority of college enrollees (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). The gender gap in higher education has occurred simultaneously with rising labor market and education incentives, suggesting that men are not responding to these increased returns, as seen by the recent slowdown in men’s enrollment (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). This paper explores the factors that have contributed to this shift in enrollments. To do so, I present an economic regression analysis using panel data from national higher education institutions as well as macro-level data and sociological variables to explore the determinants of the declining share of male enrollment. The results may be useful in addressing the causes of this trend, and in identifying policies to remedy the problem

Truth, Lies, and Stolen Valor: A Case For Protecting False Statements of Fact Under the First Amendment

The Stolen Valor Act of 2005 (the Act) makes it a crime to lie about having received a medal authorized by Congress for the military. In 2010, in United States v. Alvarez, the Ninth Circuit found the Act unconstitutional under the First Amendment, holding that false statements of fact, like other content-based restrictions on speech, are subject to strict scrutiny. The Act failed this test because, according to the court, it was not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest. The decision highlights the uncertainty of First Amendment protections for false speech. Though the Supreme Court has held that certain categories of false speech— such as fraud and defamation—are proscribable, it has not ruled directly on a case in which false speech had been barred without respect to context, intent, or harm. This Note argues that false speech should be presumptively protected by the First Amendment, with exceptions for certain classes of speech that result in concrete harm to individuals. Such protection would limit government control of speech, avoid chilling worthy speech, promote privacy and autonomy, and result in easier administration for courts

The natural vegetation of the Robertson Karoo : an evaluation of its conservation status

Bibliography: leaves 164-179.The natural vegetation of the Robertson Karoo contains many taxa and vegetation communities worthy of conservation. This thesis is concerned with aiding the future conservation of natural vegetation of the Robertson Karoo by assessing the threats to its survival and identifying priority conservation areas

Semantic and Structural Processing of Visual Narratives in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Understanding a story (“narrative comprehension”) is often difficult for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), regardless of whether stories are told through language (“linguistic narratives”) or pictures (“visual narratives”). Narrative comprehension across modalities requires understanding meaning (“semantics”) and understanding grammar (“structure”). While it is well-established that individuals with ASD have difficulties with semantic processing, little is known about whether difficulties with structural processing contribute to impaired narrative comprehension. This study tested, via measurements of neural activity, our prediction of whether structural processing is impaired during visual narrative comprehension in individuals with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) individuals. Our results on semantic processing in ASD replicated what has been found in prior language studies, with the TD group showing an increased sensitivity to semantic relatedness in early time windows and the ASD group showing an increased sensitivity at later time windows. Importantly, we also observed differences in structural processing for ASD groups compared to TD groups, such that individuals with ASD showed reduced sensitivity to the presence of narrative grammar. These novel results indicate potential narrative comprehension difficulties in individuals with ASD

Bilinguals and Their Perceptions of Both Languages in Their Brains

This descriptive research examines the perception of bilingual students on the status of the mother tongue (L1) and the second language (L2) in their brains. The question of the influence or non-influence of L1 in using L2 has been studied under different theoretical frameworks. The issue of the representation of the languages in the brain has also been considered from a neurological perspective. However, no study has been undertaken on how bilinguals themselves perceive both languages in their minds. Do students see L1 and L2 as being together in one system, separate and independent of each other, or independent but sharing an intersection? The sample available to the researcher was 54 high school bilingual students. The research instruments are a questionnaire and a semi-structured face-to-face interview. The results of this study show that the highest percentage of students believe that both languages are independent of each other but share an intersection. All students have compared both languages, and have established differences and similarities between L1 and L2 through mental translations

Politics and War in the Cannes International Film Festival: An Analysis of the Festival’s Unifying Agenda

Since its inception, the Cannes International Film Festival was envisioned as a means of using film as a method of diplomacy. In fact, the first two decades of the two-week long festival on the banks of the French Riviera sought to unify politically divided nations in the years following World War II and into the Cold War. My research seeks to identify the political agenda of the festival in the early years and how the Cannes International Film Festival promoted transnationalism and unity between divided nations. I argue that the festival was able to accomplish its unifying agenda through the invitation for all nations to participate and the apportionment of grand-prize winning films among many attending nations in the early years. Additionally, through a series of film analyses I conclude that many of the movies awarded the grand prize at the festival emphasized anti-war and pacifist-minded sentiments. The Cannes International Film Festival awarded the grand prizes to many films that showed the horrors of war, thus, providing spectators a message that the festival does not tolerate violence and divisiveness rather it seeks unity and peace

Exploring motivation to notify and barriers to partner notification of sexually transmitted infections in South Africa

Objectives: This article will review qualitative data from intervention-based counselling sessions to explore barriers to partner notification for men and women who have contracted sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in a township community in South Africa. It will further assess the intervention's impact on participants' motivation and skills to notify their partners about their STI status. Methods: Relying on recorded counselling sessions from an intervention run by a parent study, this substudy reviewed 30 transcripts from enhanced counselling sessions with 15 men and 15 women. Participants were adults between the ages of 19-41 (mean age = 28.4) who live within the catchment area of a South African township. Recordings were chosen based on verbal responsiveness of the participant and were manually coded for analysis. In addition, two programme counsellors were interviewed to enhance rigour and to reduce potential bias. Results: By the conclusion of the intervention session, both male and female participants were motivated to notify their partners face-to-face about their positive STI status. Despite this, misperceptions about the etiology and transmission of STIs, as well as inadequate support from the clinical level and power imbalances amongst men and women emerged as major barriers for the prevention of future STIs. Conclusions: While the intervention appears to be successful in facilitating partners' intentions to notify, the data shows significant social and structural barriers that will create difficulties for the prevention of future STIs. Participants' persistent concerns about acquiring HIV or their current positive status affect decision-making and therefore, could be a window of opportunity for health-care providers or lay counsellors to discuss STIs in high prevalence areas

An exploration into gender role conflict, attitudes toward females, and relationship beliefs

Gender role conflict and negative attitudes toward females have been areas of increasing concern since the early 1970s. Research has shown that both gender role conflict and negative attitudes toward females cause complications for the person with such perspectives. Relationships are an area that has been impacted by gender role conflict and attitudes toward females. Determining the impact that gender role conflict and attitudes toward females have upon each other and upon relationship beliefs will increase awareness of the seriousness of these complications allowing clinicians to focus therapeutic interventions on methods that will increase relationship quality. Using the Gender Role Conflict Scale (O\u27Neil, Helmes, David, Gable, & Wrightsman, 1986), Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Spence & Helmreich, 1972), and Relationship Beliefs Inventory (Eidelson & Epstein, 1982), the relationship between gender role conflict, attitudes toward females, and relationship beliefs was investigated. Participants included 244 male undergraduate students enrolled in a mid-sized southern university. Results showed that there was a significant relationship between gender role conflict and attitudes toward women, gender role conflict and relationship beliefs, and attitudes toward women and relationship beliefs. Additionally, it was found that attitudes toward women significantly moderated the relationship between gender role conflict and relationship beliefs

Gerald M. Phillips\u27 Devotion to Basic Communication Skills

The passing of Gerald M. Phillips in April 1995 left a void only partially filled by his students and communication scholars familiar with his work. His commitment to basic communication instruction spanned a lifetime of research and service (including Jerry\u27s serving on the editorial board of the Annual over the last two years.) Julia Wood, long-time colleague, co-author, student and friend, remembers Jerry for his substantial contributions to basic communication instruction and the speech communication field