THE DEPICTION OF SEX ROLES IN AMERICAN AND GERMAN MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS*

This study provides a quantitative content analysis of the depictionsof sex roles in the American news magazine Time and the WestGerman news magazine Stern from 1969 to 1988. The underlyingassumption of the study is that advertisements reflect changesin social reality. While most studies focus on explicit aspectsof gender role depictions such as jobs, activities, interactionsand situations, this content analysis also covers implicit aspectsof role depictions such as posture, gestures, and facial expression.Some authors have claimed that these are powerful means of transmittingtraditional sex role stereotypes of women as being submissiveand of men as being dominant. Results indicate that while therehave been considerable changes in the explicit presentationof male and female roles, the implicit presentation remainedquite consistent over the 20-year period. According to thesefindings, sex roles may have changed primarily on the surface,while nonverbal sex role stereotypes still linger on. Differencesbetween the developments in Germany and the US are outlined.     

French language instruction as a national issue

Conclusion In this brief look at French-language instruction in Canada, I have tried to consider a number of possible approaches to the problem. My emphasis has been on the pragmatic and the practical because I believe that Canadians need to look at the matter in this way and not in overblown emotional terms.Providing solid French language programs throughout our school system is not a frill. It is the basic option that we must offer our children if we want them to have the fullest opportunity to participate in Canadian life.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on INEX

This special issue contains articles describing XML retrieval approaches developed and evaluated during the second year of INEX, the evaluation initiative for XML retrieval.     

Hand-powered microfluidics: A membrane pump with a patient-to-chip syringe interface

In this paper, we present an on-chip hand-powered membrane pump using a robust patient-to-chip syringe interface. This approach enables safe sample collection, sample containment, integrated sharps disposal, high sample volume capacity, and controlled downstream flow with no electrical power requirements. Sample is manually injected into the device via a syringe and needle. The membrane pump inflates upon injection and subsequently deflates, delivering fluid to downstream components in a controlled manner. The device is fabricated from poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and silicone, using CO₂ laser micromachining, with a total material cost of ∼0.20 USD/device. We experimentally demonstrate pump performance for both deionized (DI) water and undiluted, anticoagulated mouse whole blood, and characterize the behavior with reference to a resistor-capacitor electrical circuit analogy. Downstream output of the membrane pump is regulated, and scaled, by connecting multiple pumps in parallel. In contrast to existing on-chip pumping mechanisms that typically have low volume capacity (∼5 μL) and sample volume throughput (∼1–10 μl/min), the membrane pump offers high volume capacity (up to 240 μl) and sample volume throughput (up to 125 μl/min).     

The danger of subverting students’ views in schools

This paper is firmly grounded in the position that engaging with students’ voices in schools is central to the development of inclusive practices. It explores the tensions that can be created when efforts are made to engage with students’ voices in relation to their experiences of learning and teaching. An example from a three-year research and development project, which worked alongside teachers to use students’ voices as a way of developing inclusive practices, is used to illustrate these tensions. This project, though showing that students’ voices can be a powerful means for understanding learning and teaching in schools, also encountered challenges with these processes. This paper focuses on the experiences of one secondary school which (possibly inadvertently) subverted and undermined students’ voice initiatives and explores the potential negative impacts of this on individual students, on students as a whole, and on teacher development. By doing this, suggestions as to how such tensions can be avoided in schools are offered, with the aim being to allow a genuine engagement with the views of students.