CHANGING IDENTITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE FAMILY

Public Economics,

A Follow-Up Study of the Master Degree Graduates (1969-1972) From the New School of Behavioral Studies in Education

The Problem: The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived value of the Master\u27s Degree Internship Program of the New School of Behavioral Studies in Education at the University of North Dakota^/in relation to the present occupation, attitudes about education and instructional practices of the Master\u27s Degree Graduates. Another purpose of this study was to determine the mobility and permanency of the Master\u27s Degree Graduates as professional educators. The Procedure: This study was conducted in three phases with two samples and one subsample. The sample for Phase I consisted of those Graduates of the Master Degree Internship Program who completed their internship year in the New School during the period 1968-1972 and who were able to be contacted by mail (N=275). The sample for Phase II was comprised of a 25 per cent random sample of Administrators who had Graduate Interns presently teaching in their school districts who had returned completed Phase I questionnaires (N=54). The subsample for Phase II was comprised of a 25 per cent random sample of the Phase I sample whose present Administrators had returned completed Phase II questionnaires (N=12). The instruments used in this study were: the Graduate Intern Questionnaire—designed by the researcher; the Administrator Questionnaire—designed by the researcher; and the Observation Checklist—designed and implemented by the researcher. The Phase II and Phase III instruments and results were used to validate the Phase I instrument and results. The analysis of the data involved use of a tally program, and a one-way analysis of variance. The tally was used to obtain item means and the one-way analysis of variance was employed to compare the mean values of various rating scales and groupings for the eight research questions. Conclusions: This study has provided evidence which supports the following conclusions, subject to the limitations of the study: 1. The Master\u27s Degree Internship Program of the New School of Behavioral Studies in Education at the University of North Dakota, provided the Graduate Interns with a specialized training that has been of considerable value and influence to them in relation to their present occupation, attitudes about education, and instructional practices. 2. There were no significant differences between the four Intern groups thus indicating the uniformity of the New School influence over the four years it functioned as the experimental college component to the University of. North Dakota. 3. The mobility of the Graduate Interns from the teaching profession is less than those reported in studies cited in the review of literature; and the permanency of the Graduate Interns in the teaching profession is high in comparison with the results of other internship programs reported in the review of literature

Is the responsibilization of the cyber security risk reasonable and judicious?

Cyber criminals appear to be plying their trade without much hindrance. Home computer users are particularly vulnerable to attack by an increasingly sophisticated and globally dispersed hacker group. The smartphone era has exacerbated the situation, offering hackers even more attack surfaces to exploit. It might not be entirely coincidental that cyber crime has mushroomed in parallel with governments pursuing a neoliberalist agenda. This agenda has a strong drive towards individualizing risk i.e. advising citizens how to take care of themselves, and then leaving them to face the consequences if they choose not to follow the advice. In effect, citizens are “responsibilized .” Whereas responsibilization is effective for some risks, the responsibilization of cyber security is, we believe, contributing to the global success of cyber attacks. There is, consequently, a case to be made for governments taking a more active role than the mere provision of advice, which is the case in many countries. We conclude with a concrete proposal for a risk regulation regime that would more effectively mitigate and ameliorate cyber risk

Liquidity in the 144A Debt Market

This dissertation presents my research analyzing the liquidity component of corporate bond spreads for bonds issued privately under Rule 144A during the period 2003 – 2011. Rule 144A bonds are limited to trading among qualified institutional investors and therefore are inherently less liquid than registered corporate bonds. I assess an amendment to Rule 144 modifying the restrictions on public resale of Rule 144A bonds intended to increase the liquidity of 144A bonds and decrease the cost of capital to firms issuing these securities. This amendment provides an ideal exogenous shock to evaluate 144A bonds. Assessing the liquidity premiums and yield spreads on the bonds before and after the amendment, I provide evidence of the 2008 amendment’s impact on bond liquidity and cost of debt. Specifically, I find that the liquidity premium for Rule 144A bonds has increased since the amendment and the yield spreads have increased accordingly. This indicates the amendment did not have the desired regulatory impact of lowering the liquidity premium. I also assess a unique aspect of the 144A bond market. Specifically, that certain 144A bonds are accompanied by registration rights agreements resulting in the 144A issue being exchanged for registered debt. I analyze the impact of the 2008 amendment on registration rights finding that the probability of a bond having a registration rights agreement has decreased since the 2008 amendment. These new insights on 144A liquidity facilitate improved understanding of the yield premiums paid on 144A bonds and helps contribute to a distinct sector of the debt market by evaluating a market which is highly illiquid

Impact Evaluation Based on Buddhist Principles

 Background:  This is one in a series of articles in which the authors attempt to relate Eastern philosophy to contemporary programme planning and evaluation. Setting: Not applicable. Purpose: The authors examine impact evaluation through the lens of Eastern Philosophy. Subjects: Not applicable. Research Design: Not applicable. Data Collection and Analysis:  The authors examine the basic causal statements from the approach to impact evaluation commonly used by The World Bank and from Buddhist philosophy.  Second, they examine the econometric assumptions on which impact evaluation is often based and propose alternative Buddhist principles. Lastly, they speculate what impact evaluation might look like using the alternative principles that were identified. Findings: Not applicable. Conclusions:  There is no such thing as impact in and of itself.  Rather, a combination of conditions comes together in a certain way, at a certain time, and we call it an impact. Impact is, therefore, the result of conditionality (Salzberg, & Goldstein, 2001). Evaluation that examined the conditionality of impact would be in a position to make statements about patterns of relationships.  Instead of experimental and quasi-experimental approaches, the Insight Evaluation approach (Russon and Russon, 2011) might be more appropriate.

How the I Ching or Book of Changes can Inform Western Notions of Theory of Change

Background: This article is the third part of a trilogy. The Eastern paradigm article (Russon, 2008) dealt with ontological issues (the nature of reality). The insight evaluation article (Russon & Russon, 2009) dealt with epistemological issues (how we can know reality). Purpose: This article deals with a methodological issue—specifically it explores how ancient Chinese philosophy might influence the way in which modern day evaluators think about theories of change.  Setting: Not applicable. Subjects: Not applicable. Research Design: Not applicable. Data Collection and Analysis: The paper is the result of a desk review that compared and contrasted modern theory of change literature with the writings contained in the I Ching or Book of Changes.Findings: The authors believe that the theories of change expressed in the systems diagrams of the I Ching would be considered to be conducive to recurrent change that occurs due to cycles in the natural world. They further believe that the change which harnesses the power of naturally occurring cycles offers the best hope for long-term sustainability. This is because such change takes advantage of an intuitive cooperation with the natural order. Conclusions: The authors believe that using the diagrams of the I Ching as a theory of change template offers modern day evaluators a number of advantages. The advantage of greater sustainability has already mentioned. The authors believe that organic theories of change also encourage evaluators to think about the contribution from many factors instead of attribution of a few factors. Keywords: program evaluation, theory of change, I Ching, Book of Changes, Tao, yin, yang, systems diagram

High-Density Use of Septic Systems, Avon Lake, Iowa

Avon Lake, a rural-residential subdivision located southeast of Des Moines, has mostly summer cabins around a remnant gravel quarry. Surface material in the area is sand. Each of the homes has a shallow sand-point well for a water supply and a septic system for sewage treatment. Septic systems were examined for evidence of failure, house-to-house surveys were performed, and well water samples were taken. Fifty percent of the septic systems have been operating satisfactorily for more than 20 years. Only one of 68 well water samples contained fecal coliform bacteria. Thirty-six samples exceeded the nitrate standard, the highest being 25.6mg/1 N. Nitrate concentration seemed to change in space but not with well age. Nitrogen loadings from cropland, septic systems, and animals were also estimated; they ranged from 40-120 lb/acre (45-135 kg/ha) for cropland, 35 lb/acre (39 kg/ha) for septic systems, and 13 lb/acre (15 kg/ha) for dogs. All three of these could be important sources of nitrogen to the groundwater

The Insight Evaluation Approach

Projects and programmes that are often the objects of our inquiry are actually no more than mental constructs. They are the result of numerous conditions that happen to come together for one brief moment. Their funding, activities, and results arise, dwell in a state of constant flux for a period of time, and then pass away. Insight Evaluation provides an approach to see projects and programmes clearly, without false impression.   The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy of the International Labour Organization, the United Nations, or the Evaluation Capacity Development Grou

The Use of Kōans for Insight Evaluation Approach Training

Background: Since publishing a trilogy of articles relating Eastern mysticism to evaluation, the authors have received many inquiries about training.   Purpose: The article explains one promising new method under development—adapting the Zen practice of kōans for evaluation training.   Setting: Not applicable.   Subjects: Not applicable.   Research Design: Not applicable. Data Collection and Analysis: Not applicable.   Findings: Not applicable.   Conclusions: The authors believe that kōans can be used as a poetic technology for recalibrating evaluation practioners’ attitudes and actions about evaluation.   Keywords: Insight evaluation approach, Eastern mysticism, kōans, training, Zen, enlightenmen