Censorship in the south and beyond

Although many Americans believe that censorship is mainly a southern problem, in fact the situation in the South is neither worse nor better than in the rest of the country. This article reviews instances of censorship in the South, recent court cases, and federal and state legislation. Oren J. Teicher is president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and director of government affairs for the American Booksellers Association     

Framing the Flotilla: Newsmaking,Image Crises and the Kishon Dives Investigative Report

The article explores the journalistic coverage of the public crisis that developed following the publication of Yediot Aharonot's investigative report about the diving practices of Israel's sea commandos in the polluted Kishon River. The coverage of the Kishon diving crisis is probed via two complementing research trajectories. The first trajectory looks at the construction of the newsworthiness of the Kishon diving crisis in comparison to two similar crises while addressing the interpretations provided by various involved factors. The second trajectory explores the various frames through which the Kishon diving crises were narrated. The article's concluding section discusses the complex interrelations between newsworthiness and framing.     

Detecting bias in selection for higher education: three different methods

This study examined selection bias in Israeli university admissions with respect to test language and gender, using three approaches for the detection of such bias: Cleary’s model of differential prediction, boundary conditions for differential prediction and difference between d’s (the Constant Ratio Model). The university admissions process in Israel, like those in many countries, is based on a combination of school-related achievement and a general scholastic aptitude test. The selection process was found to be biased in favour of Arabic speakers and not biased with respect to gender. The three approaches for detecting selection bias were similar in the pattern of the results they produced, but differed, as expected, in the magnitude of the bias they detected. The discussion focuses on the results both with respect to the specific groups studied (first research question) and with respect to the three approaches for detecting selection bias (second research question).     

Reevaluating “The End of Mass Communication?”

It is hard to imagine a more challenging arena for communication research than that presented by new media and their impact on our society. We have witnessed the fastest evolution in communication technology in human history and, along with it, the evolution of communication conceptions and theories used to assess its impact. More than a decade has passed since Chaffee and Metzger first published their intriguing article “The End of Mass Communication?” and suggested that the new media will change the notions of mass communication and, as a result, the theories used in communication research. Today, we know more about new media and its effect on communication, society, and communication theories. The present article, therefore, sets out to reassess Chaffee and Metzger's claim by describing the development of several core theories of communication research, namely the agenda-setting theory and the notions of media audiences and the Digital Divide, in light of the new media. Our review shows that the role played by communication technologies in social, cultural, political, and economic processes is as central and influential in the new media era as it was in traditional media environment and that, although theories may change to accommodate the changes of the new media environment, researchers are still dealing with the “old” issues of power and resistance, and structure and ownership.     

Discursive Legitimation of a Controversial Technology: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women in Israel and the Internet

The introduction of the internet to ultra-Orthodox Jewish society has presented an acute dilemma. While seen as a potential carrier of secular values and officially banned, the internet also presents significant socio-economic opportunities for a community in which women are often the sole providers. This research focuses on the discursive strategies ultra-Orthodox women internet users employ to legitimate their use of this controversial technology. A glaring disparity was observed between these women's actual, subversive technology-related practices and the rhetorical construction of the same practices, which attempted to portray them as congruent with community values. We suggest that when investigating the domestication of new technologies, examining technology-related discourse may be no less important than the more common to date focus on practice.     

Bunny Hill or Black Diamond: Differences in Advanced Course‐Taking in College as a Function of Cognitive Ability and High School GPA

College students commonly have considerable course choice, and they can differ substantially in the proportion of their coursework taken at an advanced level. While advanced coursework is generally viewed as a desirable component of a student's education, research has rarely explored differences in student course‐taking patterns as a measure of academic success in college. We examined the relationship between the SAT, high school grade point average (HSGPA), and the amount of advanced coursework taken in a sample of 62 colleges and 188,985 students. We found that both the SAT and HSGPA predict enrollment in advanced courses, even after controlling for advanced placement (AP) credits and demographic variables. The SAT subtests of Critical Reading, Writing, and Math displayed differential relationships with advanced course‐taking dependent on student major. Gender and race/ethnicity were also related to advanced course‐taking, with women taking more advanced courses in all major categories except for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) where they took fewer, even after controlling for other variables. Socioeconomic status had a negligible relationship with advanced course‐taking. This research broadens our understanding of academic achievement in college and the goals of admissions in higher education.     

Darlington and the 'invention' of the chromosome

Cyril Dean Darlington (1903-1981) has been forgotten by historians, but was in his day, the leading cytologist of the premolecular era. Of humble and inconspicuous beginnings, Darlington started his career as an unpaid volunteer worker under the aging William Bateson. Working in almost total isolation and with no scientific guidance, he boldly deduced the laws of chromosome behaviour, making cytology relevant once again both to genetics and to evolutionary theory. This process did not proceed smoothly, for both Darlington's method, and cross-disciplinary approach made the reception of his novel ideas difficult. This article examines Darlington's contribution to the premolecular understanding of Life, and the reasons why it was so difficult to accept.     

The Self‐Generative Mind in Education: Review and Future Directions

Since the turn of the millennium, there has been a surge of interest in diverse forms of spontaneous thinking, such as mind‐wandering, and their associated brain networks. Studies demonstrate the pervasiveness of these phenomena as well as their effects on education‐relevant domains such as academic skills, well‐being, creativity, executive functions, and socioemotional competencies. Based on a neurophenomenological approach and drawing on cognitive and neuroscience research, this article reviews this field and develops a framework for understanding deliberate and nondeliberate states of students' minds in the classroom and their associated brain circuitry. Different approaches to these states are examined from an educational perspective and ways in which this discourse can further be developed are suggested.