RFID: The Next Serious Threat to Privacy

Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, is a technology which has been receiving considerable attention as of late. It is a fairly simple technology involving radio wave communication between a microchip and an electronic reader, in which an identification number stored on the chip is transmitted and processed; it can frequently be found in inventory tracking and access control systems. In this paper, we examine the current uses of RFID, as well as identifying potential future uses of the technology, including item-level tagging, human implants and RFID-chipped passports, while discussing the impacts that each of these uses could potentially have on personal privacy. Possible guidelines for RFID’s use, including Fair Information Principles and the RFID Bill of Rights are then presented, as well as technological solutions to personal privacy problems, such as tag killing and blocker tags, as well as simple aluminum foil shields for passports. It is then claimed, though, that guidelines and technological solutions will be ineffective for privacy protection, and that legislation will be necessary to guard against the threats posed by the RFID. Finally, we present what we believe to be the most important legislative points that must be addressed. Vance Lockton has recently completed the M.Sc. program at the University of British Columbia, majoring in Computer Science. Richard S. Rosenberg is a professor emeritus in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia; the third edition of his book, “The Social Impact of Computers”, was published by Elsevier Academic Press in 2004.     

Isolationism,exceptionalism, and acculturation: the internationalisation of Mormon education in Mexico

Faiths have long used education as a means to preserve and transmit cultural values from one generation to the next. However, they have also employed education to unite people of different cultures and proselytise others to their worldview. Over the last two centuries, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Latter-day Saint, LDS, or Mormon) has exercised these same patterns in its educational programmes, especially internationally, as it has sought to expand around the world. Using Mormonism's Juárez Academy in northern Mexico as a historical case study, our paper demonstrates how transnationally governed religion-led school systems can confront the challenge of exceptionalism by embracing local culture and customs while maintaining the heritage of their faith tradition. The study advances the field of international education, highlighting the issues of globalisation, cultural transfer, and transnational educational governance.     

EVALUATION OF THE CLASS PASS INTERVENTION FOR TYPICALLY DEVELOPING STUDENTS WITH HYPOTHESIZED ESCAPE‐MOTIVATED DISRUPTIVE CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Class Pass Intervention (CPI) as a secondary intervention for typically developing students with escape‐motivated disruptive classroom behavior. The CPI consists of providing students with passes that they can use to appropriately request a break from an academic task to engage in a preferred activity for preset amount of time. In addition, students are incentivized to not use the class passes by continuing to engage in the academic task and instead exchanging them for a preferred item or activity. Using an experimental single‐case withdrawal design with replication through a concurrent multiple‐baseline across‐participants design, the CPI was shown to reduce disruptive behavior and increase academic engagement in three students who engaged in hypothesized escape‐motivated behavior. Results also revealed that the effects of the CPI were maintained at a two‐week follow‐up probe and consumers found it to be acceptable. The limitations and implications of the findings for future research on effective classroom‐based interventions are discussed.     

Counselling disadvantaged clients: A status dynamics orientation

Counselling is usually conceptualized as a psychological activity closely resembling psychotherapy. This paper presents an alternate orientation, showing how counselling can be viewed as a social practice organized around the social concept of status. Thirteen counselling policies are described.Paper presented at the IRTAC International Consultation on Counselling for the Integration of the Handicapped in Society, Florence, Montecatini-Terme, Italy, April 1981.     

Understanding and predicting the yield in the MBA admissions process

This paper examines the factors influencing theyield — the proportion of accepted applicants that confirm their intention to attend — in the admissions process for the MBA program of the school of management at a large metropolitan university. A stochastic model of a student's MBA program choice decision is presented. Using the resulting logistic probability model, the authors examine the impact of student traits (both aptitude-related and non-aptitude-related) and program characteristics, known to admissions officials, on the probability of confirmation. The results of the analysis provide a basis for measuring the dimensions of the market for educational services this MBA program provides, suggest a strategic response to this market, and offer a way to measure the profitability of various strategic response options. In particular, the results demonstrate that financial aid awards can increase dramatically the probability of confirmation and that confirmation probabilities are affected significantly by non-aptitude-related student characteristics.     

A comparative study on the use of humor in the design of instruction

This study examined the effects of three integrated and contiguous instructional designs using incongruity humor on the recognition and recall of information measured by immediate learning and retention tests. First graders in three classes (N=58) were randomly assigned to one of three humor design treatment groups and a control group. On two successive days prior to receiving a humor treatment, each group received a taped reading of a familiar story, which succeeded in the intended manipulation of subjects to low levels of arousal and interest across all groups. The three humor designs included a humor experience which was immediately followed by a serious presentation of new information (contiguous-immediate design), the same humor experience with a one week postponed presentation of the new information (contiguous-postponed design), and a presentation of the new information with humor interspersed within (integrated design). Results indicated that the two contiguous humor treatment groups had higher immediate memory and retention scores than the control group, particularly with regard to recall of the new information. The integrated humor treatment failed to have its intended humor reaction. Limitations of previous research, which generally does not support the instructional value of humor, are discussed in terms of basic theory and research in humor, motivation, and learning.