What is Unique About Extension Personnel in the City?

Extension’s pursuit to better attract, develop, retain, and structure competent personnel in the city requires new strategies to build on the knowledge base established through previous research and practice. With the support of numerous national organizations, this study utilized a Competency Framework Development (CFD) process to systematically tap into the knowledge of County Extension Directors serving in large urban communities. Findings indicated these local leaders need specific knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs that are both similar and unique when compared with results from other Extension competency studies. Competencies identified included building social and financial capital, strategic planning and organizing, resource attraction and management, advocacy and impact accountability with multiple stakeholders, and others. A primary difference was that diversity, complexity, and scale in urban communities influenced the extent to which competencies are demonstrated. Research results can be applied to a competency model that incorporates intentional recruiting and hiring practices that reflect the diversity and priorities of the community, competency-based professional development, competitive compensation and retention tactics, and staffing structure and strategies. Further research can include CFD with various types of Extension personnel and perspectives. Extension leaders can continue learning alongside others who can help inform administrators about human capital policies

Voluntary Simplicity and its effects on personal identity, family life, and relationships

With the seemingly endless advance of technology and the resulting cheaper material goods, consumption levels have risen to record highs. Over-consumption is having devastating effects on the environment, as well as on families and societies. We are encouraged by the advertising industry to consume at every turn, and buying things has become a substitute source of self-worth for many people. But an abundance of material items has not brought personal fulfillment for most Americans. A growing number of people have begun to question the hollow promises of consumerism, searching instead for alternative ways to find contentment, meaning, and purpose in their lives. One current incarnation of this search comes in the form of Voluntary Simplicity (VS). VS is a lifestyle choice, and is a relative term, depending on the climate, customs, and culture in which an individual lives. VS does not refer to a concrete set of rules that one must obey in order to practice simple living. Instead, the individual, within the context of his or her own life, culture, and desires, must decide upon particular VS strategies. VS involves both an inner and an outer condition. Internally, VS includes sincerity and honesty within and a deliberate organization of one\u27s life for a purpose. It also includes guiding one\u27s energy and desires, with partial restraint in some directions in order to secure greater abundance of life in other directions. Outwardly, VS often includes an avoidance of material clutter, and a freeing of one\u27s self from the complexities of modern life, in order to focus on one\u27s own purpose. VS is an understanding that our lives are enriched by the simple and elementary things in life, and not the complexities. Currently, people who practice voluntary simplicity are often called VSers. These people are frequently going against the pressure from the advertising industry and mainstream society, and are creating a life that is meaningful to them, and environmentally friendly. Guided by symbolic interactionism (SI), I administered questionnaires to 22 VSers and then conducted 13 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with respondents to explore the effects this lifestyle has on family life and relationships. Does it affect the relationship between married couples, especially when one partner chooses VS and the other does not? Does a VS lifestyle of one partner influence the other partner to make the same choices? Does simple living affect the way VS parents raise their children? Does a VS lifestyle affect the type and depth of relationships between family members? These are some of the questions I sought to answer with this research. I also sought to understand how participating in VS affects how one\u27s personal identity is continually shaped and reshaped by this lifestyle choice. Using symbolic interactionism, a perspective where people are seen as actors who are constantly defining and redefining themselves, does a VS lifestyle contribute to the way one sees one\u27s self? Does it affect the way one presents one\u27s self to society? This research was conducted, in part, to understand how simple living affects personal identity

The First Battle for Scottish Independence: The Battle of Dunnichen, A.D. 685.

This study is an examination of the historiography of the ancient-medieval texts that record events related to the Northumbrian and the Pictish royal houses in the seventh century. The Picts, the Scots and the Celtic Britons fell into subjugation under the control of the expansionist Northumbrian kings and remained there for most of the seventh century. Northumbrian expansion was halted by Bridei, king of the picts, when he put down the advancing Northumbrian forces of king Ecgfrith at the Battle of Dunnichen, also known as Nechtansmere, in the year A.D. 685. The outcome of the battle not only stopped Northumbrian expansion to the north, but began its reversal. The battle also allowed the Picts to gain back the lands they had lost to their Northumbrian enemy. For the Northumbrians, the battle had political and ecclesiastical implications that may have contributed to the later decline of their kingdom

Effects of Labeling Bias on Prognostic Outlook for Children with Behavior Problems

Labeling bias refers to biases that might occur toward a person who has a particular label. This study investigated the effects of labeling bias on prognostic outlook for children as a function of diagnostic labels. School psychologists, regular and special education teachers, and introductory psychology students read a vignette that described a child with behavior problems. The vignette was held constant for all participants, but one of four labels (conduct disordered, socially maladjusted, serious emotionally disturbed, no exceptionality) was varied at the end of the vignette. Respondents then estimated the child\u27s likelihood of future success in interpersonal relationships, the likelihood of further behavioral difficulties, and overall adjustment of the child. There was a significant effect noted for diagnostic label across all professionals; the serious emotionally disturbed label resulted in judgements of significantly poorer outlook for interpersonal relationships than any other diagnostic label. There were no other significant mean differences noted, but a main effect for diagnostic label on judgement of overall adjustment did approach significance. Complete discussion of the results will be presented with implications for practice and research

SACRED, SUSPECT, FORBIDDEN: THE USE OF SPACE IN EARLY MODERN VENICE

This dissertation argues that Venetian space in the sixteenth century was embedded with various boundaries that individuals challenged and that communities and Venetian secular and ecclesiastical authorities reinforced. The development of Venetian urban space played an essential role in the formation of Venetian civic identity, which in turn was predicated upon the myth of Venice. The time period examined includes the re-establishment of the Roman Inquisition, and the early period of the Inquisition in Venice, which were concomitant with a time of religious and social disruption. Documents of the Venetian government and contemporary diarists offer contextual evidence; however, trials before the Holy Office in Venice, particularly cases involving those accused of witchcraft, inform the greatest portion of this study. Drawing on such evidence, this dissertation challenges the argument that “Venetian” society was cohesive and well balanced. By repurposing common and sacred items to invoke supernatural entities and perform heterodox practices, those accused of witchcraft challenged the Venetian secular and ecclesiastical authorities as they created a competing vision regarding the definition of domestic sacred space. Examination of the neighborhood as a social space reveals boundaries, both real and imagined, and the challenges to the boundaries that those living on the margins of society displayed through the creation of their own communities. Finally, inhabitants’ use of public space and their movement throughout these spaces offers evidence of challenges to boundaries as well as the measures authorities took in re-establishing these boundaries. Ultimately, competing desires for belonging and legitimacy, as well as disagreements over physical, ideological, and social boundaries set Venetian inhabitants and authorities in opposition