The Intersection Between Deep Moral Frames and Rhetorical Style in the Struggle over U.S. Immigration Reform

This essay highlights and explores a point of tension between theoretical writings on style and moral frames. Past political communication scholarship points to the importance of the feminine style in today's televisual era of politics. In this same political era, the conservative strict parent moral frame has dominated most policy debates. Surprisingly, this highly successful moral frame appears squarely at odds with the feminine style so closely connected with political success. This essay attempts to unravel this tension between styles and frames by examining discourse drawn from the 2007 debate over comprehensive immigration reform. To account for the success of conservative messages within this debate, this essay both (a) calls into question the nature of the relationship between the television medium and the feminine style and (b) expands our understanding of the discursive operation of deep moral frames by drawing a distinction between intra-familial and extra-familial policy discourse.     

Profiles of Classroom Practices in U.S. Public Schools

In this research, we consider how the instructional strategies of public school teachers interact with the achievement levels of their students. Slightly more than 1,000 teachers in schools broadly representative of public schools in the USA responded to a school climate survey. Of this number, data from 426 teachers were subjected to Rasch scaling analysis, resulting in profiles of classroom instructional activities interrelated to the skill levels of students. Analyses revealed interesting "uncommonalities" in instructional emphasis, in number as well as kind. Instruction in low achieving classrooms generally was less coordinated than in classes of average achieving students. Instructional strategies and lesson focus in classes of high achieving students were linked in ways that resulted in more continuity and greater productivity.     

Hurdle-jump responding in the rat as a function of conspecific odor of reward and nonreward

A hurdle-jump escape response was employed to assess the laboratory rat’s aversion or attraction to different types of conspecific odor. Odorant donor subjects received 112 runway acquisition trials on a continuous reward schedule followed by 32 extinction trials, 112 acquisition trials on a 50% schedule of reward and nonreward followed by 32 extinction trials, or 144 “neutral” trials with no reward in the alley. Different groups of test subjects escaped from odor excreted by odorant subjects on (a) nonrewarded acquisition and extinction trials, (b) rewarded trials during continuous reinforcement, (c) rewarded trials during partial reinforcement, or (d) neutral trials; others escaped from a clean box. The principal findings were: (1) significant aversion to “odor of nonreward” appeared after the donor odorants had received 12 exposures to reward; (2) production of odor of nonreward by odorant subjects changed as a function of training experience with reward; (3) after repeated exposure to odor of nonreward, the escape response habituated; (4) greater or different odor excretion in extinction resulted from subjects trained on a continuous reward schedule than on a partial reward schedule. Relationships of the data to frustration theory were discussed, assuming that inferred differences in production of odor reflect differences in frustration reaction.     

Interaction of wrestling shoe and competition surface: effects on coefficient of friction with implications for injury

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a significant difference in the co-efficient of friction (Fc) between old versus new wrestling shoes and mats and to investigate the effect of perspiration. Fc was measured by dragging a weighted shoe over a wrestling mat surface and measuring the vertical and horizontal forces produced. Three different shoe conditions were assessed over two mat types for both wet and dry conditions for a total of 12 conditions. To simulate the wet condition, saline solution was smeared over the surface of the mat. There was a significant effect of shoe, mat, and wet/dry conditions. In addition, significant interactions of shoe by mat, shoe by dry/wet, and mat by dry/wet were observed. Overall, Fc was 36% higher for the new wrestling mat compared to the old wrestling mat. Application of the saline solution reduced Fc by 14% compared to the dry condition. Comparison of the mean Fc for all three shoe types revealed the Fc for the older design shoe was 23% to 28% lower than the brand new shoe and the worn newer design, respectively. A high Fc, such as in the new mat/new shoe combination, has the potential to increase the risk of knee and ankle injuries by fixing the foot more securely to the ground.     

Combining a human performance model and a Six Sigma model to assess performance in a military environment

Military officials continually search for improvements in processes that focus on high‐performance outcomes. This qualitative study investigated process improvements of two departments within the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center (the Security Department and the Testing Department) by assessing performance levels of the two departments using a combinatorial model from human performance theory and Six Sigma theory. Study findings produced strong empirical evidence with specific recommendations for initiating cost‐effective interventions for improvements. The Behavior Engineering Model was used to identify possible solutions to post‐training performance gaps identified during the evaluation.     

Postural stability,clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archery

Recurve archery is an Olympic sport that requires extreme precision, upper body strength and endurance. The purpose of this research was to quantify how postural stability variables both pre- and post-arrow release, draw force, flight time, arrow length and clicker reaction time, collectively, impacted on the performance or scoring outcomes in elite recurve archery athletes. Thirty-nine elite-level recurve archers (23 male and 16 female; mean age?=?24.7?±?7.3 years) from four different countries volunteered to participate in this study prior to competing at a World Cup event. An AMTI force platform (1000Hz) was used to obtain centre of pressure (COP) measurements 1s prior to arrow release and 0.5s post-arrow release. High-speed footage (200Hz) allowed for calculation of arrow flight time and score. Results identified clicker reaction time, draw force and maximum sway speed as the variables that best predicted shot performance. Specifically, reduced clicker reaction time, greater bow draw force and reduced postural sway speed post-arrow release were predictors of higher scoring shots. It is suggested that future research should focus on investigating shoulder muscle tremors at full draw in relation to clicker reaction time, and the effect of upper body strength interventions (specifically targeting the musculature around the shoulder girdle) on performance in recurve archers.     

Characteristics of male and female science teachers

The characteristics of 273 male science teachers were compared with 72 female science teachers randomly selected from a fourteen-state region in the USA. A multivariate analysis of variance found differences between the two groups significant at the p ? 0.0005 level. Female teachers were higher on measures of interest in science and receptivity to change. Males scored higher on science knowledge indicators and on their perceptions of the teaching support they received. No differences were noted on measures of professional development or their perceptions of teaching effectiveness, curriculum, workload, or facilities. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of science career selection by women.     

Pennsylvania's transition to enterprise computing as a study in strategic alignment

We theorize about the strategic alignment of computing with organizational mission, using the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's efforts to pursue digital government initiatives as evidence. To do this we draw on a decade (1995–2004) of changes in Pennsylvania to characterize how a state government shifts from an organizational to an enterprise perspective regarding computing. We document and analyze the strategic and operational aspects of a series of information and communications technology (ICT) planning efforts to highlight the nature and roles of strategic alignment used to achieve this transition. Findings from this analysis mark the importance of combining several approaches to strategic planning regarding the adoption and application of ICT.     

Area Health Education as the foundation for a statewide biomedical communications network

In 1972, the Medical University of South Carolina was awarded a contract to establish four Area Health Education Centers in South Carolina. These centers, based in community hospitals, provide residency programs and clinical instruction for medical, dental, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health students and continuing educational programs for health professionals. A plan for delivering library and other information services to the designated Area Health Education Centers is described.