Retirement and Medical Benefits: Who Has Both?

[Excerpt] Employee compensation packages commonly include both wages and benefits. For decades, employee benefits have been used as part of the total compensation package to attract and retain highly qualified workers. Just as workers in various occupations receive different levels of pay, they also receive access to different types and combinations of employee benefits. This article uses March 2012 National Compensation Survey (NCS) data to examine private industry workers’ access to medical benefits, retirement benefits, and combinations of the two benefits, by major occupation group, wage category, part-time and full-time status, union and nonunion status, and establishment size. The study finds notable differences in the patterns of access to medical and retirement benefits—separately, and in combination—among the various worker groups

A Qualitative Study on Elementary School Principals’ Perspectives on How Leadership Practices Influence the Academic Achievement of African American Male Students

School leaders are responsible for implementing effective strategies that improve African American male students’ academic and social performance. Hence, this study focused on the elementary African American male population and the influence school principals’ leadership practices have on African American male students’ academic achievement. This qualitative case study examined the perceived impact of 10 elementary school principals’ leadership practices on African American male students in the Southeastern United States. This study identified several key leadership practices and strategies that school leaders implemented towards African American male students to improve their ability to meet academic and behavioral expectations

He’s Just a Man: Power Imbalance Between Female and Male Characters in American Sitcoms

This paper describes the occurrence and context of dismissive, condescending, and infantilizing linguistic behavior as used by female characters toward male characters in stable heterosexual partnerships portrayed in American entertainment television. This study is based on grounded theory, in that the initial interpretive framework for the analysis stemmed from preliminary data gathered in the study; this working framework directed the analytical approach during subsequent data processing, and was then further developed in response to the overall findings. The methodology used in this study is discourse analysis, an applied linguistic method of studying small units of spoken and written language, such as sentences or individual words, within the larger context of a conversation. In the sample examined in this study, a conversation comprises an exchange of pre-written conversational dialogue in a televised scene. This study examines sitcom interactions between fictional spouses to determine how frequently and in what contexts power imbalanced exchanges occur. For the purpose of exploring possible ways in which relational power imbalances have been absorbed into American popular culture, the discourse data is drawn from three American sitcoms broadcast during prime time from open-access channels: Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, and Rules of Engagement. Such interactions within this data sample are individually coded, and discussion of the findings focuses on the extent to which they reinforce gender stereotypes which rely on power imbalance. Faculty Mentor: Kimberley Brow

LawSync: navigating the ‘blue oceans’ within the ‘emerging’ legal services markets

Change, it is said, is the only constant. Whilst it cannot be avoided, the worlds of legal education and legal services have arguably enjoyed an extended period where the impact of change has been comparatively minimal. Today, these worlds face significant changes due to a combination of market and regulatory forces. True, such changes are likely to be accompanied by challenges but with these challenges come opportunities. There is no reason why Law Schools and Law students cannot help to shape these changes and benefit from them. LawSync™ is a project that seeks to enable such influence and attract such benefits at Sheffield Hallam University. See http://www.lawsync.com and http://twitter.com/lawsync for more details

Beyond the Gap: Interdisciplinary Design Thinking

The purpose of this project is to integrate marketing, public relations, design, and visual techniques in support of university experiential learning. The result of this project will be an effective brand for The Cortex Center at Marshall University – a public organization that seeks to connect academia with local non-profits, public entities, and businesses to address glaring needs in the Appalachian region. This study paves the way for future interdisciplinary collaboration between business, public relations, liberal arts, design, and computer science departments. The study is divided into three major components: marketing research, content creation, and advertising initiatives. The marketing section of the study employs multiple surveys, personal interviews, and focus groups to understand the needs and preferences of Cortex’s target markets. These marketing tactics will reveal student interaction with on-campus opportunities at Marshall University and investment in research internships. Based on these results, construction of Cortex’s creative content will include logo, website, and document design, along with a comprehensive branding guide. Finally, the two previous components will assimilate through original advertising materials to reach Marshall’s community and the local public. By putting the mission and former work of Cortex into video, graphic, and photographic format, potential participants can easily engage with the organization’s presence

Development Of Energy Absorbing Laminated Fiberglass Composites Using Electrospun Glass Nanofibers

The ability to predict failure of composite laminates due to delaminations is critical because of its subsurface nature. Traditional strengthening methods such as stitching and Z-pinning, while improving interlaminar properties in woven composites, lead to a reduction of the in-plane properties. Electrospun non-woven sheets of nanofibrous mat applied at interfacial regions offer an option to traditional treatments. Applications where protrusion energy must be dissipated completely would benefit the most from the use of the electrospinning treatment. Examples are bullet proof vests and vehicle armor. Penetration of a projectile through a composite material may be avoided by creating more energy absorbent crack surfaces. The objective of the present study was to increase the energy absorption capability of a composite laminate subjected to an impact of a projectile. The use of Tetra Ethyl Orthosilicate (TEOS) chemically engineered glass nanofibers manufactured with the electrospinning technique in woven glass fiber resin pre-impregnated composite laminates was investigated for their potential to improve the interlaminar properties. Electrospun glass fiber mats were produced using a computer controlled collector plate in conjunction with a high voltage power supply and a syringe injection pump. Electrospun glass nanofibers pre-impregnated woven mats were manufactured using a vacuum bag method and cured in a computer controlled oven. The interlaminar properties of the nano engineered hybrid composites were obtained using low velocity impact tests and were compared with those without the presence of electrospun nanofiber layers. Impacted specimens were examined using C-scan analysis to determine impact damage dimensions. Compression-After-Impact (CAI) coupons were obtained from the impact tested specimen and were further tested for residual strength. Microscopic examinations were performed to study the progressive failure mechanism. A decrease of 27% residual compression strength was observed when electrospinning nanofibers were added to the lamina interfaces. The study indicated that the electrospun fiber embedded coupons had higher damage areas compared to those without electrospun fiber layers, indicating more impact energy absorption capability in the electrospun fiber-embedded coupons

Neighborhood Context, Poverty, and Urban Children’s Outdoor Play

Although research consistently demonstrates a link between neighborhood conditions and physical activity for adults and adolescents, less is known about residential context and young children’s physical activity. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=2,210), we explore whether outdoor play and television watching are associated with children’s body mass indexes (BMIs) at age five; and whether subjective and objective neighborhood measures are associated with children’s outdoor play and television watching. Hours of outdoor play and television viewing are associated with BMI. Higher maternal perceptions of neighborhood collective efficacy are associated with more hours of outdoor play, fewer hours of television viewing, and more trips to a park or playground. In addition, we find that neighborhood physical disorder is associated with more outdoor play and more television watching. Finally, we find that children living in public housing have one-third more outdoor play time than other children.residential context, physical activity, young children, body mass indexes, Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, television viewing