Mediators of Inequity: Online Literate Activity in Two Eighth Grade English Language Arts Classes

This comparative case study, framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory and sociocultural understandings of literacy, investigated students’ online literate activity in two eighth grade English Language Arts classes taught by the same teacher - one with a scripted literacy curriculum and the other without. During a year-long research project, we used ethnographic methods to explore the nature of middle school students’ literate activity in each of these classes, with particular attention to the mediators evident as students engaged in online literate activity. Specifically, this article addresses the following research question: What mediators were evident within and across each of the classes and how did these mediators influence students’ online literate activity? In addressing this question, we illustrate how particular configurations of mediators – even those operating within the context of the same school and same teacher – significantly influenced the nature of students’ online literate activity and the literate identities available to students. This study reinforces the importance of attending to the influence of offline mediators in school settings. Without such attention, students’ formal education is likely to be transferred online rather than transformed online

Defectors cannot be detected during"small talk" with strangers.

To account for the widespread human tendency to cooperate in one-shot social dilemmas, some theorists have proposed that cooperators can be reliably detected based on ethological displays that are difficult to fake. Experimental findings have supported the view that cooperators can be distinguished from defectors based on "thin slices" of behavior, but the relevant cues have remained elusive, and the role of the judge's perspective remains unclear. In this study, we followed triadic conversations among unacquainted same-sex college students with unannounced dyadic one-shot prisoner's dilemmas, and asked participants to guess the PD decisions made toward them and among the other two participants. Two other sets of participants guessed the PD decisions after viewing videotape of the conversations, either with foreknowledge (informed), or without foreknowledge (naïve), of the post-conversation PD. Only naïve video viewers approached better-than-chance prediction accuracy, and they were significantly accurate at predicting the PD decisions of only opposite-sexed conversation participants. Four ethological displays recently proposed to cue defection in one-shot social dilemmas (arms crossed, lean back, hand touch, and face touch) failed to predict either actual defection or guesses of defection by any category of observer. Our results cast doubt on the role of "greenbeard" signals in the evolution of human prosociality, although they suggest that eavesdropping may be more informative about others' cooperative propensities than direct interaction

The Effect of Fathers Upon Direct Nursing Care of Labor Patients

The purpose of this thesis was to observe, time, and compare direct nursing care given to primiparous patients in the labor rooms when the fathers were present or absent, to determine if the father\u27s presence had any significant effect upon the amount of direct nursing care given. An observation guide and recording sheet were devised to collect data regarding the amount of nursing time consumed in five areas of direct intrapartum nursing care. The observations were done in the labor corridors of two private hospitals. Sixteen patients were observed for nursing care, eight with the father present, eight without. Analysis of the data obtained revealed a decrease of 33 per cent in the amount of direct nursing care when the father was present. There was a decrease in all five areas of direct nursing care. Evidence obtained also indicated a possible relationship between the presence of the father and the length of labor. The hypothesis that there would be no significant difference in the total amount of direct nursing care whether the father was present in or absent from the labor room was nullified. Recommendations were made that parents be permitted to be together during labor when they wish, that hospitals reexamine policies concerning fathers in the labor rooms, that students be assigned to labor patients when the father is present, and that studies be done concerning the quality of nursing care and the effect upon the length of labor when the father is present in the labor room

The Fallacy of Free Will in Prostitution: Encouraging Prostitution Reform to Prevent the Repeated Victimization of Vulnerable Persons

Article published in the Michigan State International Law Review

Pecking The Hands That Feed Them: How Society And Government Have Allowed The Poultry Industry To Exploit Labor and The Environment In The American South

Americans eat an average of ninety pounds of chicken in one year, but where does that chicken come from? Immigrants and African Americans are the majority of the labor population in poultry processing plants located in the American South. In an effort to highlight the racism, sexism, insecurity, and environmental degradation in the poultry industry, I analyze a variety of ethnographies, articles, and science journals as well as U.S Supreme Court decisions and policies enacted by the U.S federal government in this thesis. Upon examination, I answer why society is pecking the hands that feed them. The analysis concludes that American consumers are unaware that they are pecking the hands that feed them. The exploitation of labor in agricultural industries has been an open secret for hundreds of years, allowing an exploitative culture to be accepted amongst consumers; therefore, the suffering of the poultry industry is allowed to continue undisturbed

Rodent Control at Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards in Creston, California

Just over the grade, east of Atascadero in Creston, California, there are 160-acres belonging to the Kelsey See Canyon’s estate. Of those 160-acres, roughly five are the home to Syrah, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon grape vines. Due to the arid climate in Creston, these vines thrive. The growing conditions on this estate are ideal, except for one issue: pests. Laurie Kelsey, owner of this vineyard, has been battling a rodent infestation that is devastating this vineyard. These squirrels, voles, and pocket gophers are causing problems with irrigation in the field, burrowing through the root systems of vines, eating fruit, and stripping young vines of their bark. The author will be researching ways to effectively kill these rodents