Search results

Research indicates that those participating in sport consume alcohol more frequently and at higher quantities than their non-sporting peers. The highest levels of alcohol consumption have been found in university student sportspeople; however, the reasons for such elevated alcohol use are unclear and there has been little research in this area outside US institutions. Moreover, research seems to be predominantly problem-focused and may therefore be unlikely to afford a wider understanding of the role alcohol plays in the lives of many sportspeople. There is a particular paucity of research examining the positive social and psychological outcomes of alcohol consumption in sport participants. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by exploring the relationship between social cohesion, identity, self-reported happiness and student sportspeople's drinking. Questionnaires containing validated measures for alcohol consumption, happiness, importance of sporting identity and drinking for team cohesion were used to collect data from 243 university sportspeople (females =145, 60%). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that age, happiness and team cohesion were significant predictors of alcohol consumption, whereas sporting identity did not contribute significantly to the regression model. Further mediation analyses found that the relationship between happiness and alcohol consumption was mediated by team cohesion.

Objective: In the present study, we explored the state versus trait aspects of measures of task and team workload in a disaster simulation. Background: There is often a need to assess workload in both individual and collaborative settings. Researchers in this field often use the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) as a global measure of workload by aggregating the NASA-TLX's component items. Using this practice, one may overlook the distinction between traits and states. Method: Fifteen dyadic teams (11 inexperienced, 4 experienced) completed five sessions of a tsunami disaster simulator. After every session, individuals completed a modified version of the NASA-TLX that included team workload measures. We then examined the workload items by using a between-subjects and within-subjects perspective. Results: Between-subjects and within-subjects correlations among the items indicated the workload items are more independent within subjects (as states) than between subjects (as traits). Correlations between the workload items and simulation performance were also different at the trait and state levels. Conclusion: Workload may behave differently at trait (between-subjects) and state (within-subjects) levels. Application: Researchers interested in workload measurement as a state should take a within-subjects perspective in their analyses.

BackgroundSolution‐focused coaching (SFC) helps individuals or groups to achieve their preferred outcomes by evoking and co‐constructing solutions. SFC has been shown to be helpful for persons with ID as well as for teams coaching people with ID. Nominal Group Technique (NGT) helps to organize people's thoughts with regard to a single question. This study examines the perceived strengths of and recommendations for SFC for teams coaching people with ID via NGT, as well as the extent to which the NGT results reflect the results of an SFC questionnaire.MethodsIn total, 54 staff members participated in SFC. Of these, 18 participated in NGT, while 36 completed the SFC questionnaire. The strengths of and recommendations for SFC were obtained via NGT. Interrater agreement was calculated via Cohen's kappa.ResultsThe strengths of SFC include 'exploring hidden successes' and 'focusing on solutions'. It was recommended that 'the results be consolidated in follow‐up meetings'. The participants agreed on the content of the strengths and recommendations, but differed in terms of priorities (κ ≤ 0.1).Conclusions
NGT is a valuable tool in exploring people's opinions and priorities, but further research is needed to elucidate the perceived priorities of SFC for teams coaching persons with ID.

The Melbourne Diabetes Prevention Study sits within an evolving larger scale implementation project, the Life! program. Changes that occurred during the roll-out of that program had a direct impact on the process of conducting this trial. The issues and methods of recovery the study team encountered were conceptualised using an implementation salvage strategies framework. The specific issues the study team came across included continuity of the state funding for Life! program and structural changes to the Life! program which consisted of adjustments to eligibility criteria, referral processes, structure and content, as well as alternative program delivery for different population groups. Staff turnover, recruitment problems, setting and venue concerns, availability of potential participants and participant characteristics were also identified as evaluation roadblocks. Each issue and corresponding salvage strategy is presented. ; This study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, grant number: 533819. We would like to acknowledge the Victorian Government Department of Health Victoria who funded Life! program and Diabetes Australia Victoria for implementing Life!, as well as MDPS project team members: Hayley Hellinger, Bridie Murphy, Prof Prasuna Reddy, Dr Deb Rankins, study nurses and recruiters.

Abstract
Recent literature in economics has highlighted that competition and symbolic awards can provide non-monetary incentives. In this paper, we report on a step contest that we carried out at a large Swedish workplace in order to test whether competition for symbolic awards can be used to promote physical exercise. Each individual was equipped with a pedometer and registered the number of steps daily during a four week period. Participants competed both in teams and individually and the winning team and individual received symbolic prizes. To evaluate the effect of the competition, we randomized teams into a control group and two treatment groups. We found that the step contest significantly increased both the fraction of subjects that completed the step contest and the number of steps. The number of steps was about 1,000 steps higher in the main treatment group than in the control group (an increase by about 10 percent). This is a conservative estimate as the dropouts on average walked fewer steps than individuals completing the study. In an additional treatment, we also included a daily step goal in the contest. The step goal had no additional significant effect on the number of steps, which may be due to the relatively low step goal used (7,000 steps per day).

Abstract

Cover Story


Create a comprehensive retention plan to protect your revenue stream


Protect revenue with a comprehensive retention plan


Understand 6 factors that foster student persistence


Idea File


Encourage entering students to visit your Web site


Review College Board report advocating for DREAM Act


Form partnerships with industries to train workers they need


Provide various credential levels to help students achieve goals sooner


Strategies For Success


Are you ready to tweet?


Take 5 to get started using Twitter


Financial Aid


Financial aid officials propose overhaul of federal aid system


NASFAA proposes comprehensive overhaul of aid delivery


Strategic Planning


Improve services by learning from data in your system


Define problems so that you can solve them


Managing Your Office


Avoid common problems to improve team effectiveness


Establish team guidelines up front


Build your team with these steps


Lawsuits & Rulings


GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES


Inadequate grievance procedures spell trouble for health institute


FERPA


Student cannot force college to recalculate GPA


POLICIES


University must provide certified transcript to student debtor


Leaders & Innovators


JOHN BARNHILL, ASSISTANT VP FOR ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY


Intentional messages help boost access, success


Consistent communication helps control fear about budget cuts

This report is based on information collected within the context of the study concerning Community Land Rights in Niassa Province in Mozambique, with special attention paid to the programme implemented by the Malonda Foundation. This programme is supported and financed by the Swedish Government and aims to promote private investment in the province while seeking, during the course of the process, to ensure equitable and beneficial social impact as an explicit objective, in particular for the local population. The study was commissioned by Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) and the Swedish Embassy in Mozambique, as a contribution to the preparation of continued Swedish support to private sector development in Niassa Province. Provincial and local work was carried out during the period April 29th to may 22nd 2008. The team consisted of Gunilla Åkesson, team leader, from Sida's Helpdesk for Environmental Assessment, Sweden, and André Calengo, legal consultant, Mozambique. Christopher Tanner, FAO's advisor in Mozambique and specialist in the Mozambique Land Law participated as a technical advisor. During the field work the team was accompanied by staff from the Malonda programme: Célia Enusse and Francisco Pangaya, both from the Community Work Unit, Alexandre Chomar, Communications Officer and Belindo Manhiça, official from the Environment Programme.

The University of Calgary Library Special Collections holds an anonymous, untitled seventeenth-century dramatic manuscript, purchased in 1972 from antiquarian bookseller Edgar Osborne. In 2005 a U of C interdisciplinary research team began to investigate its provenance and learned that an earlier version of the same play, also in manuscript, untitled and anonymous is extant at Arbury Hall Warwickshire (though it had been given the title The Humorous Magistrate by a scholar investigating the drama-rich Arbury archives). An international collaborative research team, funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, is now investigating the provenance of this body of drama, with special attention to the satirical 'country comedy' The Humorous Magistrate. In this article, team members Mary Polito and Jean-Sébastien Windle argue that internal evidence in the manuscripts supports a date of composition after 1632 for the Arbury version and after 1640 for the revised version of the play represented in the Osborne document. They argue that the play is responding to tensions between the crown and country during the Personal Rule of Charles I and that the play is linked through setting, themes, and strikingly similar dialogue to the last play performed before the closing of the theatres in September 1642: Richard Brome's A Jovial Crew.

ABSTRACTIn this article we present a game that can be used as a tool to educate students and managers on the issues in supply chain (SC), inventory management. The game has a bilevel demand with one level during regular times and another during sale times. The game could be played in two modes (independence and cooperation) and has been field tested in engineering and business classes. Players developed an appreciation for fluctuating demand and its impact on the costs and performance of a SC. They also learned the benefits and a monetary evaluation approach for cooperation. Our statistical analysis revealed that, as the game progressed, the performance of the teams improved. We present an integer linear programming (ILP) model to evaluate the performance of the teams. Because it is a post facto analysis, while the game is played without knowing the materialized retailer demand for the period, the ILP solution is not a tight lower bound on the total cost of the SC. However, it could be used to compare performance across teams. As an alternative, we also present a possible distribution of total SC costs that could be used as another reference without actually solving an ILP.

The UIS RUSSIA (University Information System RUSSIA), www.cir.ru, operates since 2000 as a freely-accessible Internet-based collective digital library for research and education in social sciences. The system maintains holdings of social domain data and documents obtained from primary sources: government, non-governmental organizations and private holders. Currently the system integrates 1.5+ million documents from 60+ collections. Users' increasing demand for additional holdings and the numerous high-quality resources maintained inside the research community have led the UIS RUSSIA team to develop a distributed network of high-quality holdings among participating organizations. The team is sharing the technology created with other participants ready to adopt the software to process their holdings and make the metadata available for the UIS RUSSIA search engine. Cooperation has started with several journals, online sites and other resources. A user may search across these virtually integrated collections and download full text documents from a holder's server. This approach is particularly appropriate for some partners whose information cannot be held on remote servers due to its status or commercial interests. Support and trouble-shooting is provided by the UIS RUSSIA team. The presentation will discuss the progress of this project.

The 2002 Soccer World Cup in Japan took place during the finalphase of the national election campaign for the German Bundestagand managed to temporarily unite Chancellor Gerhard Schröder(SPD) and his conservative challenger, Edmund Stoiber1. Both werekeen to demonstrate repeatedly that they were so interested in theprogress of the German team that they simultaneously interrupted orleft meetings to follow televised matches. Domestically, they supportvery different soccer clubs. Stoiber is on the board of directors of therichest German club, Bayern Munich, whose past successes, wealthand arrogance, numerous scandals, and boardroom policies of hireand-fire have divided the German soccer nation: they either hate oradore the team. Schröder is a keen fan and honorary member ofBorussia Dortmund, which is closely associated with the industrialworking class in the Ruhr area. It is the only team on par withMunich; despite its wealth, the management policies of the clubappear modest and considerate; the club continuously celebrates itsproletarian traditions and emphasizes its obligations to the localcommunity. Stoiber's election manifesto did not even mention sport,whereas the SPD's political agenda for sport focused upon a widevariety of issues ranging from welfare, leisure, physical education,and health to doping, television coverage, facilities, and hostinginternational events.

Ameri Steel's experience with gainsharing demon-strates the effectiveness of using incentives to improve productivity within an organization. The advantages of gainsharing over profit sharing are two-fold: first, gainsharing distributes operating gains (as opposed to bottom-line profits), and, because it is easier to measure, can be paid out with a greater frequency than profit-sharing awards. The frequency of payouts is vital to the effectiveness of the plan, since there is a more immediate incentive with which to motivate employees. A further advantage of gainsharing is that, rather than basing rewards on total company profits, payouts can be based on the performance of plants, teams, or small work units. This struc-ture encourages employees to work together cohesively in a team environment. Companies with gainsharing programs are thus able to attract team-oriented risk-takers who are not afraid to bet the farm on their performance, while ensuring that excellence is rewarded with frequent and substantial payouts. Indeed, the Ameri Steel gain-sharing plan has helped the company generate an average of 8% annual improvements in productivity in the four years since management adopted this program, while employees have enjoyed average payouts equal to 46% of their base pay.

Prior research on the effects of being kept in suspense about the outcome of a sports contest on spectators' enjoyment of the sporting event has yielded ambiguous findings, which the present investigation was designed to clarify. A high school football game was videotaped professionally. The tapes were edited, and play-by-play and color commentary was added, so as to create a suspenseful version and a nonsuspenseful version of the game. In addition to suspense, outcome of the game (favorable, unfavorable) and gender of the viewer (female, male) were predicted to affect enjoyment of the sportscast. Enjoyment of watching the sportscast was assessed in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Viewing a more suspenseful version of the sportscast made the game more enjoyable, less boring, more exciting, and less dull. Moreover, under conditions of high suspense, viewers were more anxious about the outcome, cared more whether the liked team won, and liked the victorious team more than did viewers in the nonsuspenseful versions of the sportscast. In line with disposition theory and prior research, a favorable outcome for the desired team was more enjoyable than an unfavorable outcome, and men generally reported liking the sportscast more than did women.

AIAA/McDonnell Douglas Graduate Team Aircraft Design Competition HUGO Global Range/Mobility Transport Aircraft Global Transport, Inc. Design Team ; With the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the emergence of the United Nations actively pursuing a peace keeping role in world affairs, the United States has been forced into a position as the world's leading peace enforcer. It is still a very dangerous world with seemingly never ending ideological, territorial and economic disputes requiring the U.S. to maintain a credible deterrent posture in this uncertain environment. This has created an urgent need to rapidly transport large numbers of troops and equipment from the Continental United States (CONUS) to any potential world trouble spot by means of a global range/mobility transport aircraft. The most recent examples being Operation Desert Shield/Storm and Operation Restore Hope. To meet this challenge head-on, a Request for Proposal (RFP) was developed and incorporated into the 1992/1993 AIAA/McDonnell Douglas Corporation Graduate Team Aircraft Design Competition. The RFP calls for the conceptual design and justification of a large aircraft capable of power projecting a significant military force without surface transportation reliance. ; Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. ; Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

A replacement for, rather than an addition to, the bibliographies of the former National Organization for Public Health Nursing, the National League of Nursing Education, 1952, and the National League for Nursing, 1954-55. ; v.13. Administration of hospital nursing services. Curriculum development. Educational administration. Evaluation and guidance. Inservice education. Research.--v.14. Practical nursing. ; v.1. Anatomy and physiology. Chemistry. Microbiology. Physics.--v.2. Nutrition and diet. Pharmacology.--v.3. Psychology and mental health. Sociology and anthropology.--v.4. Economic and general welfare. Ethics. History and developments in nursing. Legislation. Professional adjustments.--v.5. Fundamental principles and techniques in nursing. Nursing in long-term illness. Posture and body mechanics. Rehabilitation. Team relationships: the health team, the nursing team.--v.6. Medical nursing. Nursing in diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. Tropical disease nursing. Tuberculosis nursing.--v.7. Gynecologic nursing. Nursing during disaster. Orthopedic nursing. Urologic nursing.--v.8. Surgical nursing. Cancer nursing. Communicable disease nursing. Geriatric nursing.--v.8 A. Neurologic and neurosurgical nursing.--v.9. Maternal and child care nursing. 4 pts.--v.10. Psychiatric nursing.--v.11. Public health nursing.--v.12. Occupational health nursing. ; Mode of access: Internet.