Does knowledge predict fear: prior knowledge of mass school shootings and students fear of crime on a college campus

On April 16, 2007, 32 students and faculty were killed on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus, making this incident the deadliest mass school shooting in United States history. Other school shootings, such as the infamous Columbine High School shootings and the more recent Northern Illinois State shootings, have become popular topics in today\u27s social media (Kaminski et al, 2010; Reese 2009). Due to these events, schools and universities have become interested in the safety of their students as well as the students overall feelings towards crime while on their campus. New research studies have taken an interest in students\u27 overall fear of crime and how this fear is impacted by variables including sex of the student and the time of day (Kaminski et al. 2010; Murray 2001). Though these studies have found who is more fearful of crime and which types of crime are feared most among their samples, these studies and others do not take into account whether the student is aware of shooting incidents that have occurred on college campuses around the country. The current study addresses this gap. The purpose of this study is to measure whether a University of Central Florida student\u27s knowledge of mass school shootings influences their own levels of fear regarding crime and criminal victimization. Using an anonymous online survey, data from students at the University of Central Florida was collected and analyzed. The survey used quiz style questioning to gauge a students\u27 overall knowledge on mass school shootings. Other questions such as demographics fear of various types of crime, and fear of different locations on campus were also asked.; This research addresses which areas of the University of Central Florida that students fear most (such as the Parking Garages), whether a student who lives in off campus housing is more fearful then a student who lives on campus, and whether having more knowledge of mass school shootings cause more fear of crime in students then those with less knowledge, and do students with more knowledge feel that they will be victimized more. This research hopes to help the University of Central Florida\u27s Counseling center and well as the UCF Police Department to help understand students fears and needs to help create a safer learning environment and help those students in need in addition to adding to the overall literature on fear of crime

Yeah I\u27m A Girl. I Play Video Games. : Identity Work of Collegiate Women Gamers

Despite accounting for almost half of the game playing population, women gamers are an underrepresented and excluded group within the gaming culture, both in regards to the advertising and production of video games. Prior research suggests that male gamers exclude women from gaming activities, question their legitimacy within the community, and create hostile environments for women both virtually in-game and in physical gaming spaces. As such, women gamers can be understood to hold a marginalized status with the gaming community. The current study looks to examine how women define themselves as gamers while negotiating this marginalized status. By adopting an identity work perspective, this research examines if and how women gamers perform identity work strategies, and more specifically the generic social processes defined by Schwalbe et al (2000) and expanded upon by Ezzell (2009). Drawing from interviews with 12 collegiate women gamers, this study explores how women define themselves as gamers through the identity codes of the gaming community, specifically through forms of commitment such as their time or honing their expertise. The data additionally explore how women negotiate a gendered gamer identity, as the identity codes they use to define themselves as gamers are often associated with gendered stereotypes, such as the girl gamer stereotypes, causing the women to utilize identity work processes, such as othering and subordinate adaptation, in order to maintain their gamer identity. As little research has looked to explore women gamers and their gamer identity construction, the present study addresses this gap in the literature through the unique theoretical lens of the identity work perspective

Medicare Competitive Acquisition: Implications for Persons with Diabetes

Nearly one in five Medicare beneficiaries has diabetes and these patients face major challenges in managing their health. The high diabetes rate among beneficiaries also means that the Medicare program itself is highly vulnerable to the high costs of uncontrolled diabetes. As a result, great care must be taken when implementing any new cost containment strategy that has the potential to disrupt access to preventive health care. This is particularly in the case of the Medicare Competitive Acquisition Program for Durable Medical Equipment and Supplies (DMEPOS), because of its potential impact on access to products needed for a basic preventive service, diabetes testing supplies. Yet despite these concerns over both beneficiary health and program costs, the DMEPOS program, as it is now being implemented, lacks the types of basic patient safeguards considered standard in competitive bidding arrangements such as Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D

Monitoring and Alert System for the Mabee Organic Waste Solution Final Project Repory

Mabee Dining Hall at Trinity University has tasked the Mabee Organic Waste Solution team with the design and implementation of an in-vessel monitoring and alert device to monitor and report on the status of compost. This device is intended to provide running updates on important parameters - temperature, relative humidity, and oxygen concentration - in order to ensure production of successful, aerobic compost. If action must be taken by Mabee employees as a result of the values of these parameters falling out of an acceptable range, our device is capable of alerting the user and providing instruction to keep the compost viable. The project requirements state that our device must be able to monitor up to 100 pounds of food waste while mitigating additional labor and unnecessary contact with the compost. It must be durable and reliable enough to withstand a full composting cycle, and intuitive enough that a user with minimal knowledge of compost care will be able to follow the given instructions with the help of a training manual provided by the team. Design constraints include the given $1200 budget, portability, ease of use, and the versatility to be implemented in any in-vessel composting unit supplied with ~100 lbs. of food waste daily. The design constraints are detailed in Sections 3.1-3.4. The full design requirements can be found in Sections 3.5-3.9. Our final design consists of three main subsystems: the sensor capsule, which rests inside the compost to house and protect the sensor, the communications system which interprets sensor readings and transmits instructions via Bluetooth to the interface, and the interface which displays any necessary corrective actions that must be taken. Our team was able to complete preliminary testing to ensure that each subsystem is functional within the constraints of our project. In the future, we recommend fully testing the system by placing it within a compost vessel for a complete compost cycle. Additionally, as conditions across the compost are generally not homogenous, use of multiple sensor capsules throughout the vessel to provide a more comprehensive observation of the state of the compost may be beneficial. The central microcontroller of the partially working prototype failed to display the data from its peripheral counterpart, but the devices were still able to communicate with each other and send the sensor data. Due to a short in the wiring, the working prototype’s sensors were damaged and the microcontroller in the peripheral likely to be replaced. We are mostly confident that our current prototype meets the power requirements to last a full composting cycle with our chosen battery. The corrective actions written by our team to be prescribed by measurements of the compost conditions have demonstrably improved the state of the compost in our test environment. At the time of the presentation we intend to have resolved the hardware issues with the interface subsystem, and have a fully functional working prototype ready for delivery to our sponsor

Highlights: Analysis of the Proposed Rule on Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas

For decades, the federal government has targeted health care funding, resources and staff to meet the health care needs of areas designated as medically underserved areas and health professional shortage areas. Areas that qualify may, for example, receive federal funding to support the establishment and operation of community health centers, or receive National Health Service Corps (NHSC) physicians and clinicians. In addition, physicians who practice in these health shortage areas may receive higher payments under Medicare. These designations thus affect the availability of health care in thousands of urban and rural areas all across the United States. Community health centers provide care for more than 16 million patients

Analysis of the Proposed Rule on Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas

Numerous safety net programs and health care providers depend on Medically Underserved Area and Population (MUA/P) and Health Professional Shortage (HPSA) designations to qualify for federal funding, physician subsidies and placement, and health-related investments to improve access to care for communities and populations at high risk of poor health. These resources are particularly critical for federally-qualified health centers at a time when the number of uninsured is growing and the capacity of the safety net shrinking. On February 29, 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a proposed regulation to alter the way these designations are made. This report provides the first up-to-date analysis of the effects of the new regulations; the impact analysis contained in the Federal Register notice was based on 1999 data, while this one uses data from 2005

Medicaid and Case Management to Promote Healthy Child Development

This policy brief presents options for financing and delivering case management services to low-income and special-needs children in Medicaid. The analysis builds on a literature review of case management, a review of the legal underpinnings of Medicaid case management, and consultation with experts in the fields of health care finance and program operations. It aims to inform the policy community about the importance of case management for assuring the health and development of our youngest and most vulnerable children

How is the Primary Care Safety Net Faring in Massachusetts? Community Health Centers in the Midst of Health Reform

Massachusetts\u27 landmark 2006 health reform legislation sets an important precedent for national reform. Initial evaluations have demonstrated the law\u27s success in dramatically expanding health insurance coverage and health care access, but less is known about its effects on community health centers, which serve one of every 13 residents and one in four low-income residents. This analysis evaluates the experiences of health centers with the Massachusetts reforms, using administrative data to examine finances and patient enrollment in addition to the qualitative results of in-depth interviews conducted during site visits in August 2008 and the results of a short survey of health centers. The reforms sought to achieve near universal health insurance coverage for state residents, based on the tenet of shared responsibility for health insurance coverage among the government, individuals, employers, health care providers, and insurers. While the individual mandate that became effective in July 2007 is the best-known dimension of the plan, its success also hinges on a pay or play requirement for larger businesses and the establishment of a Connector to expand individual and small group health insurance coverage options. The state Medicaid program was expanded in July 2006, and over the next year, a new subsidized insurance program, Commonwealth Care, became available to persons with family incomes below 300 percent of the federal poverty level ($52,800 for a family of three in 2008). The reforms have been widely credited as successful in expanding insurance coverage in Massachusetts; estimates vary, but the number of uninsured fell by about half in the year following implementation of the reforms. Some individuals are still unable to afford insurance, however. In addition, the experience in Massachusetts indicates that insurance does not guarantee access to care; a shortage of physicians has made it difficult for many to access primary care

Financing Community Health Centers as Patient- and Community-Centered Medical Homes: A Primer

This policy brief is part of a Commonwealth Fund-supported project that examines community health centers in the context of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) movement. Community health centers—non-profit primary care facilities that provide care to patients regardless of their ability to pay—are widely lauded as critical components of the health care safety net, providing comprehensive primary care for lowincome, high-risk populations in both urban and rural areas. Since their inception, health centers have directed their activities at improving patient care—through comprehensive primary health care, coordination with specialty care, and the provision of enabling services—as well as improving population-level health status and access to care. Health centers are models for the organization and delivery of health care based on the principles of community-oriented primary care, which focuses on the health of both patients and communities. National discussions of health reform often consider the potential for the patient-centered medical home model to strengthen primary care, prevent or alleviate the long-term consequences of chronic health conditions and disease, and bring greater efficiency to the health care system. A 2008 report released by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus describes an emphasis on primary care as a common element of high-performing health systems and recommends further testing and implementation of the PCMH model. The report notes that community health centers represent a critical component of the health care safety net, and have already implemented many elements of the PCMH model. An April 2009 bipartisan policy options report released by the Senate Finance Committee also cites patient-centered medical homes as a possible way to improve care for chronic health conditions. This brief provides a summary of the patient-centered medical home concept, followed by an overview of health centers and an in-depth look at health center financing. Because further evolution toward a PCMH model depends on the realignment of health center payment incentives, it is critical to understand how financing arrangements currently operate, what types of conduct and practices may be incentivized or deterred, and the types of challenges that lie ahead as health care payment policies are reformulated over time. Some of these challenges are faced by all providers as they attempt to reconcile multiple—and potentially competing or inconsistent—incentives created by insurers. Other challenges are associated with the unique mission of health centers and their ability to align quality improvement efforts with their fundamental duty to serve all community residents, regardless of their uninsured or underinsured status