Weighing in on NBC’s The Biggest Loser

Previous analyses (i.e., Bernstein & St. John, 2006; Sender & Sullivan, 2008) of the television show The Biggest Loser have detailed its negative presentation of the obese body, potential consequences for viewers, and its role as a technology of governmentality. However, there has been little exploration of how audience members conceptualize and enact the messages communicated in the show within these intricate frameworks. The current research used information from semistructured interviews with 40 dedicated viewers to capture the salient meanings they ascribed to The Biggest Loser within the themes of governmentality and self-concept. Overall, the group experienced the program as a transformative, entertaining, and inspirational event that produced little change in their exercise behavior. Thus, the role of reality television in creating healthy behavior change is potentially limited.     

Exploring the relationship between school discipline referrals and delinquency

There is a growing concern about violent and destructive behaviors of youth that require intervention by juvenile justice and youth‐serving agencies. This concern has led many to conclude that schools and community agencies must increase efforts to prevent juvenile delinquency and to provide programs that will facilitate rehabilitation, education, and vocational training for youth already involved. A clear understanding of the nature and range of behaviors that result in juvenile crime is needed in order to develop programs and interventions that can be expected to lead to beneficial changes for youth and for society as a whole. The purpose of this article is to describe the relationship between school behaviors and youth characteristics in school (e.g., discipline referrals, teacher nominations, nomothetic ratings) and referrals to juvenile authorities (e.g., illegal behaviors). We describe a strategy of using teacher nominations, school discipline referrals, and community arrest data to predict delinquent and violent behavior in youth. We outline data from a group of socially maladjusted middle school youth to illustrate the relationship between the two data sources and recommendations for identification and treatment of youth at risk for delinquency and antisocial behavior. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Planning for the Internationalization of a Postgraduate Professional Degree Programme in Library and Information Science

The School of Library and Information Science of the University of South Florida, that has been a pioneer in distance education, has decided to internationalize its offerings with Ibero-America in mind. This article describes some of the steps the School has taken in order to prepare itself for the challenges, particularly cultural and linguistic ones, posed by international students. Given that the level of performance of both traditional and distance students seems to be about identical, the School of Library and Information Service is looking forward to a successful and culturally enriching experience.     

Professional storytelling in clinical dental anatomy teaching

The aim of the present work was to see if storytelling in a clinical dental anatomy course would increase student satisfaction. We enhanced teaching by spontaneous storytelling in problem‐based learning, in half of the third‐year dentistry class. At the end of the course, we administered an anonymous questionnaire to the students in the class, consisting of 12 questions that students had to answer on a Likert scale of 1–5. An overall satisfaction score was obtained and we used a linear mixed model to compare differences in satisfaction between the two groups, with “group” as the fixed effect. We also conducted an exploratory factor analysis of the responses to investigate whether there were distinct constructs within the data. Overall satisfaction is high, with students “with stories” having higher satisfaction than those “without stories.” The former group consistently gives higher satisfaction scores, regardless of which question is being asked. Factor analysis provides evidence that storytelling nurtures reflective learning, while students work on their clinical anatomy problems. Anat Sci Ed 1:84–89, 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.     

Assessment matters: Moving beyond surveys

Do our students have survey burnout? Vicki L. Wise and Mary Ann Barham share their suggestions for encouraging student engagement in the assessment process and increasing the validity of the data collected as we do so.     

A comparative analysis of moral principles and behavioral norms in eight ethical codes relevant to health sciences librarianship,medical informatics,and the health professions

Objective:

Based on the authors'' shared interest in the interprofessional challenges surrounding health information management, this study explores the degree to which librarians, informatics professionals, and core health professionals in medicine, nursing, and public health share common ethical behavior norms grounded in moral principles.

Methods:

Using the “Principlism” framework from a widely cited textbook of biomedical ethics, the authors analyze the statements in the ethical codes for associations of librarians (Medical Library Association [MLA], American Library Association, and Special Libraries Association), informatics professionals (American Medical Informatics Association [AMIA] and American Health Information Management Association), and core health professionals (American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, and American Public Health Association). This analysis focuses on whether and how the statements in these eight codes specify core moral norms (Autonomy, Beneficence, Non-Maleficence, and Justice), core behavioral norms (Veracity, Privacy, Confidentiality, and Fidelity), and other norms that are empirically derived from the code statements.

Results:

These eight ethical codes share a large number of common behavioral norms based most frequently on the principle of Beneficence, then on Autonomy and Justice, but rarely on Non-Maleficence. The MLA and AMIA codes share the largest number of common behavioral norms, and these two associations also share many norms with the other six associations.

Implications:

The shared core of behavioral norms among these professions, all grounded in core moral principles, point to many opportunities for building effective interprofessional communication and collaboration regarding the development, management, and use of health information resources and technologies.     

Factors affecting the adoption of social network sites: examining four adopter categories of Singapore's working adults

Adapted from Chang et al.'s (2006) models, this study examines factors that influence adoption and non-adoption of social network sites (SNS) in adopters (Continuers, Discontinuers) and non-adopters (Potentials, Resistors). Chi-square and t-test were used to analyze the survey data of Singapore's working adults and Internet users (N =222). The findings reveal innovation characteristics (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity) and perceived popularity differ significantly in three pairs of adopter categories. Results show Continuers and Potentials are concerned more about image than Discontinuers and Resistors, while technology cluster differs between adopter vs. non-adopter and Continuers vs. Discontinuers. Moreover, the study suggests younger people tend to adopt SNSs, females continue to use SNSs more, and potential SNS users are more innovative. Lastly, a regression model to forecast the adoption of SNSs is proposed in which age, compatibility, technology cluster, and perceived popularity are predictors.     

Notes on contributors

The author participated in the Border Studies Program in the fall semester of 1999. He carried out his field study as a volunteer at Casa Vides in El Paso, Texas. Grounded in the same philosophical principles as the Catholic Worker movement, Casa Vides serves as a shelter for immigrants who are involved in political asylum proceedings in the United States. Because all of the residents of the intentional community of Casa Vides experienced militarization in their home countries and on the Mexico-U.S. border, this ethnography examines the themes of ''community'' and ''militarization'' and the dynamics between the two.