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Although people across the globe embrace a plethora of different anxiety buffering techniques in order to cope with the knowledge of their inevitable death, self-esteem and bolstering of one’s cultural worldview have been shown to be two key components of this anxiety buffering mechanism. This study investigated both parts of terror management theory’s posited death-anxiety buffer—self-esteem and worldview defense—to ascertain whether one or both would influence decisions regarding United States immigration policies. We predicted that people with higher self-esteem would be more tolerant than those with lower self-esteem toward immigrants overall, and that death (mortality salience; MS) would moderate these effects. Results indicated this trend in the control group, but those with high self-esteem were actually less tolerant than their low self-esteem counterparts under MS. This finding supports past research that claims self-esteem must be looked at in greater depth, differentiating between explicit and implicit conceptualizations. Other noteworthy results include that self-declared psychology majors and Democrats are more tolerant than self-declared non-psychology majors and Conservatives overall. Implications of these results and future directions are discussed.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of one of the most common types of eating disorders among women in the United States (U.S.), anorexia nervosa (AN). This disorder is discussed in terms of the behavioral features, sociological and psychological characteristics, and the health risks and consequences involved. Initially, as a way to manage stress and to feel in control of one’s life, individuals with AN perform behaviors of dieting, binging, and purging; however, these actions will ultimately damage a person’s physical and emotional health, self-esteem, and sense of competence and control. Anorexia Nervosa involves a complexity of influences that are all interconnected between social, familial, and personal factors. Furthermore, AN contributes to a wide variety of physical consequences that can ultimately lead to premature death. In addition, prevention, treatment, and the recovery process associated with AN is addressed. Prevention methods are primarily family-oriented and are centered upon positive body image development and do not establish food as a form of reward or punishment. The treatment regimen of an anorexic individual is a difficult process involving psychotherapies and medical treatments. However, with the proper treatment and support to AN patients, recovery is possible.
The topic of domination in graphs has a rich history, beginning with chess enthusiasts in the 1850s determining how many queens are necessary to dominate an entire chessboard and continuing to current problems involving computer communication networks, social network theory, and other similar problems. We define a dominating set of a graph G to be a set of vertices of G such that every vertex of G is either in the set or adjacent to a vertex in the set. The domination number for a graph G is the size of a minimum dominating set. Determining the domination number of graphs can prove
highly useful in solving many types of problems, and recent studies of dominating sets reflect this.
We focus on describing various families of graphs in terms of bounds on the domination number. Although the computation of dominating sets for arbitrary graphs is an NP-complete problem, it is possible to compute certain bounds on the domination number for certain families of graphs. We examine families of graphs, specifically the family of grids, and determine the bounds on domination number for these families. We compare the domination numbers for the various classes of grids with other common families of graphs.
This paper has two main goals: to examine “cultural turn” in recent literature on nationalism and examine the development of nationalism in late 19th and early 20th-century Hungary. The initial section of the paper discusses the development of the historiography of nationalism and the internal divisions within the contemporary scholarship on the so-called “cultural turn”. Additionally, examples in Finland and Hungarian history do not ultimately connect with most of the theories proposed by the turn-era scholars. The ultimate conclusion is that it is not possible to construct a single, unified narrative of this “cultural turn.” The development of a Finnish scholarship of nationalism and the role of personally involved authors is discussed, and two major aspects of Finnish nationalism are discussed: the ways in which the circumstances in which Finland was created and its people defined the nation ex nihilo and the alternatively combative and friendly relationship Finland had with the Russian power. The examination of the scholarship on Hungarian nationalism revealed a similar preponderance of personally-involved figures as historians, and other dominant themes within the (a pronounced Hungarian sense of historicity, somewhat in contrast to the Finns, and a relative ambivalence about the role of religion in Hungarian history). The resulting conclusion is that the study of the development of nationalism in Finland and Hungary bears some lessons for future studies of nationalism in smaller polities located between larger powers, but that certain aspects of Finnish and Hungarian history are not applicable to other states.
Aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands in southwestern Colorado have recently experienced sudden aspen decline (SAD), which is the rapid mortality of aspen forest on a landscape scale. Studies on bird populations indicate higher avian biodiversity associated with aspen habitat; yet, no research has been published on avian community changes associated with SAD. Therefore, from early June to early July 2009 and 2010, we conducted avian surveys and evaluated SAD intensity in aspen stands located in the Dolores Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest. We classified different SAD levels that included: 1) Low SAD (0-30%), 2) moderate SAD (30.1-70%), and 3) high SAD (70.1-100%). We evaluated avian species richness and diversity among different SAD levels, performed an indicator species analysis, and analyzed use of SAD habitat by foraging guilds. Avian species richness and diversity was significantly greater in stands with high SAD than in stands with low SAD. Similarly, the greatest number of indicator species, species that are particularly faithful to a SAD level, was associated with high SAD in 2009 and 2010. Also, obligate insectivores and species with diets composed of > 75% invertebrates were more abundant in high SAD than in low SAD. Our data suggests that the initial changes in avian community structure associated with SAD are distinct between low and high SAD stands, and that stands experiencing high SAD support greater avian biodiversity during the early stages of this disturbance due to forest structure changes in aspen overstory and potential new food sources.
This sociology research, conducted from June 2010 to August 2010, approached the research utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data from literature reviews. The research examines rates for women and children in Viet Nam on these indicators: percentage of vaccines being administered, infant mortality rate, malnutrition, incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis. The literature review findings were that global health organizations (CDC, USAID, WHO, UN, and UNICEF) have provided enough vaccines to help eliminate some childhood and maternal diseases. Infant mortality continues to be elevated above desired international standards. Viet Nam has an underprivileged population, lacking access to health education that would inform the populous about nutritional needs, causing a high frequency of malnutrition in mothers and children. The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been established in Viet Nam to combat HIV/AIDS. Due to the high prevalence of tuberculosis in children and young adults, PEPFAR has recently begun to work with Viet Nam’s National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) to develop health programs to fight tuberculosis. Overall, the indicators show that maternal and child health in Viet Nam is improving.
As a member of Georgia College & State University’s field-based middle grades teacher preparation program for the past two years, one that intentionally sets out to develop leadership skills, I was curious to examine the phenomenon of leadership development within the program. Using a standardized instrument to measure leadership attributes, an organizer of typicality in leadership behaviors, informal interviews, and a self-study approach, I sought to discover: 1) when key aspects of leadership development begin in teacher candidates, 2) which experiences in the program contribute to such development, and 3) how the teacher candidates’ perception of a leader evolve during participation in the program. Indeed leadership qualities are fostered through the program; however, no specific experiences that promote such were revealed through the methods of data collection employed in this study. The participants who were identified as leaders practiced self-reflection, among other leadership habits, and exhibited “heartfelt” qualities as perceived by peers. From this, I suggest that a culture of leadership exists while the participants’ interpretation of leadership evolves within the program. These findings may be used to suggest a more defined role of a teacher candidate in preparation and into in-service teaching in terms of leadership development.
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictée recounts the strained cultural encounters of several Korean women as they are faced with changing political and cultural atmospheres. The book uses frustrated and often fragmented language to address the destabilizing effects of political oppression and cultural displacement, and takes an experimental approach to life writing in order to illustrate the difficulty of translating lived experience into text. Cha draws on a multitude of extra-textual media including photographs, historical documents, and journals to explore the different sources authors use to authenticate their stories, while showing how the construction of the text hangs on the author’s variously mediated access to the events of the past. Her avant-garde techniques challenge passive consumption of nonfiction texts by appropriating and subverting genre conventions in order to prompt readers to more critical engagement with text.
For this educational study from June 2010 to mid-August 2010, interviews and literature reviews were conducted to gain knowledge regarding the history of education and cultural impacts on the Micronesian Islands of Palau. Before the concept of formal education was introduced to Palau, the natives used a traditional system of education. Palauan children were taught eight specific fundamental principles at home and in clubs. These principles gave them the necessary skills needed to properly conduct themselves in and outside their homes, be accepted by society, and shed “good light on their family (blai), clan (kebliil), and village (beluu)” (Palau Society of Historians, 2006, p.4). The traditional practices were influenced by four major foreign influences: Spain, Germany, Japan, and the United States of America. While some traditional practices are no longer performed, others have been adapted, or modernized.
This article examines Mary Condé‟s work, “Passing in the Fiction of Jessie Redmon Fauset and Nella Larsen,” and the validity of its claim that Fauset and Larsen supported African American females‟ decisions to pass in order to gain the rights they were entitled to as citizens of the United States (with “passing” being a term for the conscious decision by a non-white individual to pretend to be white because their skin is light enough that this is believable). Though Condé focuses on multiple works by both Fauset and Larsen, the present article focuses only on those claims in relation to Fauset‟s Comedy: American Style. Condé‟s claims are compared with another theory regarding Fauset‟s view on passing, namely that Comedy: American Style condemns passing in general, only finding it pardonable for brief periods of time and only when it is done for the right reasons (with the right reasons being related to the individual‟s economic status). Both theories are compared through extensive textual evidence found in Comedy: American Style that relate to passing, specifically focusing on the portrayal of passing in terms of the characters Janet, Phebe Grant, Marise Davies, Nicholas Campbell, Dr. Cary Sr., and Olivia Cary. Finally, it is argued that Fauset‟s view can be explained by the theory that passing should be supported only as long as it is economically necessary.
In 2004, the Air Force Academy was accused of violating the First Amendment by favoring evangelical Christians; however, in responding to the problems, the Academy risked limiting the religions freedom and free speech of Christian students. This conflict illustrated the fine line the military often walks between allowing free exercise of religion and avoiding the establishment of religion. Analyzing military and legal documents from the controversy and secondary sources on the nature of religion in the military, this paper seeks to find where the balance ought to fall between the First Amendment concerns of avoiding establishment of religion and not limiting free exercise. The unique nature of a military university posed a problem both due to the hierarchical structure, which could lead to religious coercion, and due to the need to accommodate religious students. While some accommodation was indeed required, and proselytization may be allowable in some circumstances, the Air Force's allowances for religious speech failed to address concerns about coercion in a military setting. With evangelical Christians becoming a more prominent part of the military, strongly delineating the difference between appropriate religious expression and inappropriate endorsement of religion will be an important task for the military to protect the First Amendment rights of all of its members.
Filipinos have long been denied reliable access to clean water. Mismanagement of the water supply wastes what would otherwise be a relatively abundant natural resource. The sprawling, densely populated capital of Metropolitan Manila exemplifies the critical situation: demand is high and distribution inefficient. The World Bank insisted that privatization was the solution to the incompetent, government-owned water sector, and in 1997, Manila Water Company and Maynilad Water Services purchased the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewage System of Manila. Sadly, commodification results in increased water prices rather than water security. Political and social conditions allowed privatization a brief moment of popularity, but this neoliberal approach decreased affordability for impoverished communities and lacked any economic incentive for companies to conserve water. This study finds that neither public nor private schemes effectively provide water security. What—or rather, who—is the solution to this issue of inefficiency? Filipinos have taken initiative against these corporations to construct their own systems of water distribution, and individual communities are united across the country by movements like the Water for the People Network. Resistance on local, national, and even global scales has blossomed in the face of manmade drought, contending that the water sector is best organized by the consumers: the local people who understand the needs of the community and their environment.
In both the United States and England, Spiritualism flourished during the nineteenth-century. The importance of women’s roles as mediums within the Spiritualist movement provided new possibilities for women in terms of power and social mobility. Female authors during this period, aware of these possibilities, began using elements of Spiritualism within their stories to write resistance into their social context. In Josephine Daskam Bacon’s short story “The Children,” a maid gains power within her new household and over her new mistress by conjuring the spirits of two children. In “The Shadow in the Corner,” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, a young girl who acts as a medium resists power by herself becoming a revenant and haunting those who were determined to put her in her place. In these and other ghost stories by Mary Elizabeth Wilkins Freeman, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Ellen Glasgow, either the medium or the spirit acts against those that oppress them. Using the writings of Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, this essay analyzes the places in these stories where the social hegemony is challenged or even overturned. I argue that through their ghost stories, transatlantic female authors of the nineteenth-century were able to manipulate traditional structures of power.
Gabriel García Márquez’s masterpiece, One Hundred Years of Solitude, details the tumultuous lineage of the fictional Buendía family. However, García Márquez masterly wove reality into his fictitious world, reflecting a Colombia that has been forgotten by many. Through a careful examination of some of the key moments in the story, it becomes clear to the reader that García Márquez intentionally detailed real events. And, although most of these events have been long forgotten, they live on in what is now one of the most treasured and successful pieces of literature ever written.
This study, drawing on oral history research, illustrates the journey of a particular Greek immigrant group and explains how Kefalos aided in their transition to America. In these interviews, participants have discussed the challenges of their arrival in the United States, the personal meaning of Kefalos membership, and their distinct national identity as Kefalonian-Greek Americans. Members of Kefalos are bound by collective memories that are created through the community’s social activities and are sustained and transformed. Ultimately, these collective memories contribute to how individual members identify themselves within their society. Identifying the collective memory of an organization reveals the meaning behind the formation of the group and what holds it together and contributes to its success. Oral histories capture the importance of family and identity while also revealing the strength of memory that has contributed to the success of the organization. Without the transmission of memory across four generations, it is doubtful that the Kefalonian tradition would be as intact as it is today within Kefalos. Further, the juxtaposition of the interviews reveals a consensus among the members on the meaning of Kefalos to the Greek-American community and its primary role in uniting their community, preserving their distinct identity, and paving the way for future generations to embrace the Kefalonian culture without having direct first-hand knowledge of the island.