From Peer Tutors to Writing Center Colleagues: The Potential of Writing Center Internships

The current conversation surrounding peer writing tutor professional development frequently includes discussions of authority, autonomy, and oversight. At the University of Michigan's Sweetland Writing Center, our conversations have followed similar trends with the added complication of an unusual setup when it comes to one-to-one writing consultations. Because Sweetland is staffed entirely by what the field calls "professional consultants" (university writing faculty with MFA or Ph.D. degrees), "professional development" has meant simply carrying out the work of the Academy, that is, attending conferences, publishing books and articles, conducting research, and revising curriculum. Yet in the Peer Tutoring Center – a space populated by upper-level undergraduates who have completed two semesters of intensive training taught by Sweetland faculty in the theory and practice of tutoring their peers – "professional development" has raised many issues of power and authority, at least for the faculty and staff supervising them. When the "professional consultants" seek to "professionalize" the student peer tutors, the emphasis shifts from self-improvement and self-interest (in the economic sense) to quality control and consciousness-raising. The question becomes one of how to help undergraduates transition from self-interest (in the psychological sense) to community- or organizational-interest, that is, how to help them identify with the body that oversees themUniversity Writing Cente

\u3csup\u3e13\u3c/sup\u3eC NMR Analysis of Biologically Produced Pyrene Residues by \u3cem\u3eMycobacterium\u3c/em\u3e sp. KMS in the Presence of Humic Acid

Cultures of the pyrene degrading Mycobacterium sp. KMS were incubated with [4-13C]pyrene or [4,5,9,10-14C]pyrene with and without a soil humic acid standard to characterize the chemical nature of the produced residues and evaluate the potential for bonding reactions with humic acid. Cultures were subjected to a “humic acid/humin” separation at acidic pH, a duplicate separation followed by solvent extraction of the humic acid/humin fraction, and a high pH separation. 13C NMR analysis was conducted on the resulting solid extracts. Results indicated that the activity associated with solid extracts did not depend on pH and that approximately 10% of the added activity was not removed from the solid humic acid/humin fraction by solvent extraction. 13C NMR analysis supported the conclusion that the majority of pyrene metabolites were incorporated into cellular material. Some evidence was found for metabolite reaction with the added humic material, but this did not appear to be a primary fate mechanism

Using payment innovations to improve transportation networks: a conference summary

On June 12, 2007, Chicago Metropolis 2020 and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago jointly hosted a conference to discuss road pricing strategies, as well as other issues related to reducing transportation congestion and improving economic efficiency in the Chicago region and around the world. On June 12, 2007, Chicago Metropolis 2020 and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago jointly hosted a conference to discuss road pricing strategies, as well as other issues related to reducing transportation congestion and improving economic efficiency in the Chicago region and around the world.Toll roads ; Payment systems

The Reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to the Renaissance and its Influence on the Lutheran Reformation

After this introductory discussion the purpose will be to show the influence of the Renaissance on the Roman Church and the reaction of the Church to this movement, especially the feelings of the Papacy, which was in those days the Church

Investigation of cloud/water vapor motion winds from geostationary satellite

Work has been primarily focussed on three tasks: (1) comparison of wind fields produced at MSFC with the CO2 autowind/autoeditor system newly installed in NESDIS operations; (2) evaluation of techniques for improved tracer selection through use of cloud classification predictors; and (3) development of height assignment algorithm with water vapor channel radiances. The contract goal is to improve the CIMSS wind system by developing new techniques and assimilating better existing techniques. The work reported here was done in collaboration with the NESDIS scientists working on the operational winds software, so that NASA funded research can benefit NESDIS operational algorithms

The Effect of Breathy and Strained Vocal Quality on Vowel Perception

INTRODUCTION: Research into speech intelligibility in dysarthria historically focuses on articulation deficits. However, voice quality deficits associated with motor speech disorders may also impact speech perception. This study investigates how breathy and strained vocal quality affects vowel identification and ratings of vowel goodness. METHODS: A healthy speaker recorded vowels with normal, simulated breathy and simulated strained voice quality. Acoustic, physiologic, and perceptual measures confirmed the presence of the desired voice deficits. 16 volunteer listeners participated in three perceptual tasks: vowel identification, vowel goodness ratings, and voice quality ratings. RESULTS: In the voice quality rating task, listeners detected voice quality deficits with ease. Breathy and strained stimuli were rated as significantly poorer in voice quality than normal stimuli. The voice quality deficits did not appear to impact vowel identification: identification accuracy for all three sets was high (95% and above) and scores did not differ significantly across the three sets of vowels. Listener judgments of vowel goodness, however, were affected by voice quality. Breathy and strained vowels were rated as significantly poorer than normal vowels. In addition, listeners needed more time to rate the articulatory goodness of the disordered stimuli and replayed them more often while making their goodness judgments. CONCLUSION: Simulation of voice quality deficits appears to be a valid way of assessing the impact of speech factors beyond articulation on the perception of disordered speech. Stimuli with simulated breathiness and strain were rated as poorer in voice quality than normally voiced vowels, indicating that voice quality is salient to listeners. Although identification accuracy was not affected by voice quality deficits, breathy and strained vowels were judged as poorer in articulatory goodness than normally voiced vowels. Abnormal voice quality appeared to interfere with listener judgments of the articulatory goodness of vowels. Voice quality deficits associated with dysarthria may affect speech perception by causing increased listener effort even if speech intelligibility is not directly affected. Further study of the effect of voice quality in more realistic listening conditions (e.g., in noise) with more complex speech stimuli (e.g., sentences or conversation) will help determine the need for phonatory treatment of dysarthric speech

Using ipads to self-monitor aggressive behavior of juvenile delinquents

The purposes of this study were to: a) examine the effects on self-monitoring using iPads for juvenile delinquents, b) increase appropriate behaviors and reduce verbal and physical aggression, and c) evaluate student satisfaction with the self-monitoring approach using iPads in behavior management. The participants included five African-American adjudicated males, aged 13, in a day treatment facility. They were instructed to self-monitor their behaviors using an iPad app to learn three appropriate behaviors including: 1) using appropriate language, 2) keeping hands to self, and 3) calming down when upset. A single subject design with ABAB phases was used for six weeks. A survey was given at the end to evaluate their satisfaction. Results showed that the use of iPads for self-monitoring yielded an increase in positive, non-aggressive behaviors. Students\u27 responses in the survey revealed a 100% of satisfaction