Effects of Mass and Interpersonal Communication on Breast Cancer Screening: Advancing Agenda-Setting Theory in Health Contexts

Drawing on components of agenda-setting theory and the two-step flow of information from mass media to news audiences, this study examines the effects of mass and interpersonal communication on breast cancer screening practices among college- and middle-aged women (n = 284). We theorized that screening behaviors among younger women would be influenced more by interpersonal sources of information while screening among middle-aged women would be more influenced by exposure to mass-mediated information. Findings supported anticipated patterns, revealing important and varying roles for both mass and interpersonal communication in the health behaviors of women. Implications for health practitioners and campaign planners, as well as recommendations for future research, are discussed.     

Masculinity(s), the agrarian frontier myth, and cooperative ways of organizing: contradictions and tensions in the experience and enactment of democracy

This study explores how members of the Nebraska Cooperative Council and its constituent producer-owned cooperatives understand and enact democratic ideologies, drawing particular attention to how emergent contradictions and tensions are experienced and managed. The Council serves as a particularly rich context in which to explore traditionally feminine ways of organizing (i.e., cooperative enactment) in a historically male-dominated arena (i.e., agriculture). The dialectic of independence and solidarity became a revealing prism through which to make sense of how members enact cooperative life. This dialectic manifests itself in the discourse of cooperative life as members struggle to manage tensions between efficiency and participation, equality and equity, and the paradox of agency. Communication theorizing about gendered organizing and the history of American agrarianism is used to explore intersections between the social construction of masculinity(s), the agrarian frontier myth, and tensions embedded in the discourse of cooperative organizing.     

Mandatory Student Fees and the Academic Library

As academic libraries' budgets remain flat while their expenditures rise, library leaders must seek out alternative sources of funding. One option is a mandatory student fee dedicated to the library. This article presents the results of a survey of 152 deans and directors of public R1 and R2 research universities that were asked whether their libraries benefit from mandatory student fees. While a library-specific fee is unusual, nearly half of responding libraries are eligible to receive some portion of another mandatory student fee. Study results can serve as evidence for libraries preparing to make a case for the significant, positive impact possible through even a modest library fee.     

Bringing the Law to the Library: The Importance of Librarian Mediation in Access to Justice Services

Library access to justice programs and services help people who need legal information and who cannot afford an attorney. Librarian mediation is a critical component in the provision of access to justice services. However, the value of library mediation, or assistance with using library resources, is often unrecognized, particularly where members of the public are trying to access electronic legal information sources, online legal forms, and other law technologies. This article will explore the role of librarians in providing access to justice services from the perspective of the work of Richard Susskind, which emphasizes technological approaches to providing legal services. While there is a place for technology in access to justice services, there is also a valuable role that librarians play in contributing to access to justice.     

The elimination of hypo from photographic images

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to remove the last traces of hypo from photographic papers by any known procedure of washing. The sulfur in the residual hypo ultimately, and especially under abnormal conditions of temperature and humidity, combines with the silver image to form yellowish brown silver sulfide. This phenomenon is known as sulfiding or “fading” of the image. The various factors which affect the rate of fading of images and the washing out of hypo from films and papers are outlined.Chemical methods of hypo elimination have been proposed from time to time but the majority of these have not been satisfactory because they tend to leave substances such as thionates in the photographic material, which are equally as difficult to wash out as hypo and which also tend to sulfide or fade the silver image. A new hypo eliminator is recommended consisting of two volatile chemicals, hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. This eliminator oxidizes the hypo to sodium sulfate, which is inert and soluble in water, while any excess eliminator evaporates on drying.Two formulas and treatments are proposed: (1) Complete elimination of hypo for use by the professional, advanced amateur, and photofinisher who demand the highest standard of photographic quality in their prints.(2) Almost complete elimination of hypo (less than o.oi milligram per square inch).Since the conditions to which prints will be subjected are rarely known in advance, use of the “complete elimination treatment” is advised in all cases.