Elemental Relations

A rumination on object agency and material ecocriticis

How is chaplaincy marginalised-by our faith communities and by our institutions and can we change it?

This paper reviews the issues confronting chaplaincy/spiritual care in the 21st century. It looks at how faith communities are changing their view of chaplaincy as well how institutions respond. The paper looks at two qualitative studies and what can be learned from them in confronting the questions raised at the beginning. It concludes with the question of how the evidence base can be expanded to make chaplaincy/spiritual care more relevant over the next few years

Building Summit Basecamp: Year 1

This case study shares what's been learned in the first year of Summit Basecamp, an ambitious effort to support public schools across the United States in implementing personalized learning. While recognizing that Summit Basecamp is one approach to personalized learning, we believe the lessons from the 2015-16 school year can inform the work of others in the field.Summit Basecamp is now called the Summit Learning Program. This publication is the fourth case study that FSG has written with Summit Public Schools

It's Not Just About the Model: Blended Learning, Innovation, and Year 2 at Summit Public Schools

In 2012, FSG and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation published five in-depth case studies on leading blended learning practitioners across the country called "Blended Learning in Practice: Case Studies from Leading Schools". A key question that emerged from this work was how schools can manage the rapid pace of change inherent in blended learning. This case study, a Year 2 follow up in the 2012-13 school year, examines how a rigorous, intentional process for innovation has enabled Summit Public Schools San Jose to continuously improve its blended and whole school learning model

Factors Influencing HPV Vaccine Use among Racially Diverse Female College Students

Abstract Objective. This study describes Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates and possible factors influencing vaccination utilization rates in a diverse population of college women 18-26 years old. Methods. The National College Health Assessment survey provided a large diverse sample size (N=67,762) in which to perform descriptive and binary logistic regression analysis. Demographic characteristics were analyzed as potential barriers to HPV vaccination. Additionally, lack of certain health behaviors were explored as potential barriers to HPV vaccination. Results. In this study, White/non-Hispanic women had a higher HPV vaccination rate when compared to minority women. Binary regression analysis demonstrated that minority women were less likely to receive the HPV vaccine. Women who received a gynecological exam were more likely to receive the vaccine, as were women who had health insurance coverage. Health indicators predictive of receiving the HPV vaccine included receiving the influenza vaccine and not reporting obesity. Furthermore, as the age of the respondents increased, the likelihood of receiving the vaccine decreased. Similarly as the number of reported sexual partners increased the likelihood of receiving the HPV vaccine increased. Conclusion. Advocacy for increased provider visits (i.e., gynecological exams) and other preventive health services (such as influenza vaccine drives) in the female student population could be an opportunity for increased HPV education and vaccination. Realization that minority women in higher education may have lower HPV vaccination rates may be a catalyst for student health departments to explore health promotion activities to benefit these women

Growth and External Debt Under Risk of Debt Repudiation

We analyze the pattern of growth of a nation which borrows abroad and which has the option of repudiating its foreign debt. We show that the equilibrium strategy of competitive lenders is to make the growth of the foreign debt contingent on the growth of the borrowing country. We give a closed-form solution to a linear version of our model. The economy, in that case, follows a two-stage pattern of growth. During the first stage, the debt grows more rapidly than the economy. During the second stage, both the debt and the economy grow at the same rate, and more slowly than in the first stage. During this second stage, the total interest falling due on the debt is never entirely repaid; only an amount proportional to the difference of the rate of interest and the rate of growth of the economy is repaid each period.

LDC Borrowing with Default Risk

This paper presents a theoretical model to describe the effects of default risk on international lending to LDC sovereign borrowers. The threat of defaults in international lending is shown to give rise to many characteristics of the syndicated loan market: (1) quantity rationing of loans; (2) LDC policies designed to enhance creditworthiness; (3) prevalence of short maturities on international loans; and (4) a prevalence of bank lending relative to bond-market lending

Airport-related noise, proximity, and housing prices in Atlanta

Using hedonic models, we analyze the effects of noise and proximity on housing prices in neighborhoods near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport during 1995-2002. We address complications caused by changes over time in the levels and geographic distribution of noise and by the fact that noise levels are measured only at the beginning and after the end of the sample period. Generally speaking, housing prices were affected positively by declining noise levels. After accounting for proximity, house characteristics, and demographic variables, houses in noisier areas sold for less than houses subjected to less noise. Comparing prices in 1995-1999 with 2000-2002, the noise discount is larger during the latter period. Proximity to the airport is related positively to housing prices.Housing - Prices ; Airports

Spatial heterogeneity and the geographic distribution of airport noise

One might expect that houses closer to an airport and those in higher minority population neighborhoods experience more airport noise. We find evidence supporting these conjectures when estimating a standard ordered probit model for houses sold near the Atlanta airport. However, because the various neighborhood demographics surrounding the airport can be heterogeneous, and the noise contours are not necessarily correlated with distance in certain neighborhoods, we hypothesize that the impacts of explanatory variables on the probability of greater noise vary across space. We explore spatial heterogeneity by estimating ordered probit locally weighted regressions (OPLWR). These results differ from those using a standard ordered probit model. Moreover, we find notable differences in parameter estimates for different observations (i.e., houses). Even in relatively small areas, our results imply that the standard ordered probit model can generate biased estimates.Airports ; Regional economics

Congestion at airports: the economics of airport expansions

Congestion and subsequent delays have been prevalent in many U.S. airports in recent years. A common response to congestion, championed by many community leaders, is to expand capacity by constructing new runways and terminals. Airport expansions are costly, complex, and controversial. We begin by using basic economic theory to analyze congestion at those airports that are part of an air transportation system. Next, we describe how benefit-cost analysis is used to assess the desirability of airport expansions. Many of the key points are illustrated in the context of Lambert–St. Louis International Airport. We also examine two especially controversial aspects of expansions—the displacement of people and businesses and the effects of airport noise. Finally, we discuss congestion-based pricing of landing fees as an alternative to airport expansions.Airports ; Economic development