Undergraduates in transition: a new wave of activism on American college campus

US student attitudes are surveyed and attention drawn to evidence of recent changes displayed in a study of five colleges/universities undertaken by the authors in 1989/90. Collective optimism appeared, heroes reappeared and what moved students most was the Challenger explosion rather than the political events which had been emphasised by their predecessors. Attitudes were less selfish and there was greater participation in social action. Examples are given of colleges which have responded by increasing opportunities for community service. The authors suggest that an analysis of past trends indicates that a rise in volunteerism leads to a period of student activism. The inverviews with students carried out by the authors provide evidence of such a development. The article concludes with a suggestion of points which colleges/universities should face in the light of these changes in student attitudes.     

The effects of the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) on Children's school performance at the end of the program and one year later

The effectiveness of the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)—a two-year, free, home-based, family-oriented, early childhood education intervention-was assessed in a longitudinal, two cohort, randomized experimental evaluation. One hundred and eighty-two low-income families (84 in HIPPY and 98 in the control group) were assessed at baseline, at the end of the program, and one year later. Outcomes included assessments of children's cognitive skills, adaptation to the classroom, and standardized achievement at the end of the two-year program, and classroom adaptation and standardized achievement one year later. Data were collected from objective measures, teacher ratings, and school records. Analyses of covariance were conducted controlling for baseline scores on child and family background variables. Results revealed that for Cohort I there were significant and educationally meaningful differences in children's school performance both at the end of the program and one year later. These results were not replicated in Cohort II. Attrition analyses did not reveal differences between groups and cohorts which would account for the lack of replication. Findings are interpreted as mixed support for the effectiveness of the HIPPY program to improve the chances that poor children will succeed in school.     

High-voltage electron microscopy in the UK

This paper contains a brief account of the recent history of the development of High-Voltage Electron Microscopy in the United Kingdom. In particular the basis on which the Science Research Council decided to set up a number of High-Voltage Electron Microscope facilities in universities is described, and the functions and management of these facilities are outlined. The various steps in the decision-making process are discussed. The motivation for High-Voltage Electron Microscopy, the extent to which expectations have been fulfilled, the achievements so far, and future promise are considered. The paper attempts to fill some of the gaps, and to remove some misconceptions in a recent paper in Research Policy by Leach (1973).     

Teaching Linked Lists: Influence of Language on Instruction

Basic to any data structures course is the introduction of linked lists, their applications and implementations. In this paper we trace the evolution of the exposition of linked lists, as influenced by the language of instruction. We found that while the node pool implementation of linked lists was originally prominently discussed, the current trend is to present only the pointer-based implementation. We feel that the shift toward object-oriented programming should not preclude a presentation of various implementations. We present our own approach to introducing linked list implementations, in which the pointer-based implementation is used to motivate the node pool approach, using pointers to implement the node pool.     

Personal Grooming and Outward Appearance in Early Muslim Societies

Past Muslim Societies have placed much importance on the outward appearance and personal grooming of both men and women based on the assumption that both physical attributes and clothing and adornment are benevolence God showers upon the believers. This is reflected in Medieval Muslim legal texts which provide much information regarding clothing, adornment and grooming. Along with shaping legal norms, those sources also contain discussion and response to a changing reality. This is a demonstration of the desirable and the existing alike and a reflection of a relationship of dependency and influence between reality and the written legal texts. The discussion of these sources shows that past Muslim societies, like many others, used the importance of the outward appearance as a means to determining social relationship in general and hierarchical gender-based relations specifically. For themselves men have decided that fostering their outward appearance and keeping the rules of hygiene are fulfilment of God's wishes, but women are ordered to do so for two different reasons integrating belief in God and a patriarchal world view: becoming attractive to men and fulfilling their sexual destiny as this is the patriarch wish. At the same time it is important to mention that both men and women attend to their outward appearance for additional reasons, such as the wish to show their socio-economic status and power.