The public service aspect of William and Mary\u27s mission: 1906-1972

Teaching, research, and service constitute the three commonly articulated missions of American colleges and universities. The purpose of this study was (1) to examine whether public service is a viable element of the college mission or a marginal activity and (2) to analyze the forces that shape the public service responsibility of a given institution. The specific aspect of public service addressed is the college\u27s role in providing continuing educational opportunities for adults in the surrounding community.;The College of William and Mary in Virginia was selected as a case study because of the wide variations it has undergone in character, purpose, and leadership. It was hypothesized that the interpretation of William and Mary\u27s public service responsibility changed significantly with the shifting emphases in institutional mission. Also investigated was the possibility of a relationship between increased prestige and selectivity and diminished provision for continuing education. The scope of the study was from 1906, when the College became state-supported, to 1972, when credit-bearing extension courses were discontinued.;External forces that were found to influence the public service aspect of mission were political, military, economic, and demographic. Internal forces included changes in presidential leadership and disputes over the college\u27s primary identity. The competing images of William and Mary were those of the prestigious liberal arts college renowned for its colonial heritage and the state-supported, service-oriented institution with a legacy of teacher education and broadly-based educational opportunity.;It was concluded that the public service mission is not constant but changes over time as an institution evolves; that public service is not a static list of obligations but a dynamic response to the circumstances that shape the identity of a college; and that the key to the type and extent of public service is the perception of the constituencies to be served. More study is needed on individual faculty initiatives in public service, the role of the student in public service, and the development of partnerships between colleges and corporations in addressing public needs

Hypercube technology

The JPL designed MARKIII hypercube supercomputer has been in application service since June 1988 and has had successful application to a broad problem set including electromagnetic scattering, discrete event simulation, plasma transport, matrix algorithms, neural network simulation, image processing, and graphics. Currently, problems that are not homogeneous are being attempted, and, through this involvement with real world applications, the software is evolving to handle the heterogeneous class problems efficiently

One step closer to a cook book method for dioxin analysis part 1: The procedure

peer reviewe

WZ Sagittae as a DQ Herculis star

We argue that quiescent WZ Sge is a rapidly spinning magnetic rotator in which most of the matter transfered from the secondary is ejected from the system. Assuming that the observed 27.87 s oscillation period is due to the spinning white dwarf we propose that the other observed principal period of 28.96 s is a beat due to reprocessing of the rotating white dwarf beam on plasma blobs in Keplerian rotation at the outer disc rim. The weaker, transient, 29.69 s period is identified as a beat with the Keplerian period of the magnetosphere. WZ Sge evolves through a cycle of spin-up and spin-down phases. During the spin-down phase it is a DQ Her star, during the spin-up phase it should be a ER UMa star.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA

Unusual evolution of a non-hacek Gram-negative endocarditis in a patient with Turner syndrome

Non-HACEK Gram-negative endocarditis is a rare but severe illness, and the diagnosis can be difficult to establish. Here, we report the case of a 72-year-old woman with Turner syndrome suffering from non-typhoid Salmonella endocarditis of the triscupid valve, who benefited from prompt antibiotic treatment allowing a quick and complete recover

Community services in higher education

When most people hear the words community service, they tend to think of privileged individuals going out and serving the less privileged . Many people in society today think that only wealthy people need to perform community service as a way to deepen their sense of social responsibility (Bojar, 1989). Society needs to realize that community service participation can be of great value to everyone, not just the wealthy. The words public and duty are often considered synonyms for the terms community and service , respectively. In other words, one could say that it is the public\u27s duty to help one another. Race, ethnic background, and socio-economic status do not affect one\u27s ability to participate in community service programs. Community service is an act of citizenship and every American is responsible for serving his or her community in some way (Barber & Battistoni, 1993). Basically, community service participation should be viewed as one\u27s civic responsibility, not as an act of charity

Off the Beaten Track: a Postmodern Feminist Analysis of Rural Midwifery and Rural Media Health Discourses

Change was a constant companion for New Zealand midwives during the 1990's. The Nurses Amendment Act 1990, that restored midwifery autonomy was only one of a constellation of changes that saw significant restructuring of the health services in small communities. The purpose of this study was to look at the issues for a group of midwives in rural South Otago who took the opportunity to work independently and offer local women a choice of maternity care during this time. In this study, five rural midwives were interviewed and met subsequently in a focus group. The transcripts were analyzed using discourse analysis informed by a postmodern/feminist theoretical framework. In addition the local newspapers covering the years 1990-1999 were read with a particular focus on the reports of health changes. These texts were also subjected to a discourse analysis using Lyotard's (1997) notion of language games, and bell hook's (1990) ideas around strategic positioning for the marginalised. To practise autonomously, the midwives in this study perform an intricate dance, balancing the contradictions of competing discourses. Their positioning and place of difference is tensioned primarily by a deep sense of community commitment and entanglement, and also by a feeling of physical and perceptual distance from their urban midwifery colleagues. This is underpinned by a staunch belief in women's ability to birth safely in their local area. The findings of this study suggest that the continuation of a comprehensive rural midwifery service is challenged by changes in the arrangement and funding of rural health, plus the increasing use of medical and technological intervention in childbirth. For rural midwifery to survive, this study shows that midwives need to remain flexible and alert while continuing to align themselves with women who are their primary source of support and inspiration. At the same time, they need to forge strategic linkages and alliances, both local and national that will allow them to move and reposition in order to continue their work and provide a realistic childbirth choice for rural women

The Economics of Being Young and Poor: How Homeless Youth Survive in Neo-liberal Times

Based upon in-depth interviews with 34 youth in Halifax and seven service providers in St. John\u27s, Montreal, Hamilton, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Calgary, the findings of this study suggest that labor occurs within a particular street context and street culture. Formal and informal work can be inter-related, and despite the hardships they experience, young people who are homeless or who are at-risk of homelessness can respond to their circumstances with ingenuity, resilience and hope. Often street-involved and homeless young people are straddling formal and informal work economies while mediating layers of external and internal motivations and tensions. The reality is that the participants in this study cannot very easily engage in formal work. There is a dearth of meaningful formal work available, and when living homeless there are many challenges to overcome to maintain this work. In addition, there are few employers willing to risk hiring an individual who is without stable housing, previous employment experiences and, most likely, limited formal education. Therefore, street youth are left with informal work that provides them with survival money, basic needs, and a sense of citizenship, but which also invites belittlement, harassment, and mockery