The effects of eliminating alcohol in a college stadium: the Folsom Field beer ban

In fall 1996, the University of Colorado at Boulder instituted a ban on beer sales at football games. To evaluate the effects of the ban, the authors collected two types of data: first, they examined the effects of the ban on game-day security incidents; second, they looked at survey data from season ticket holders and students. They administered the surveys after the first two postban seasons to assess ticket holders' attitudes about the new policy. The incident data they found indicated dramatic decreases in arrests, assaults, ejections from the stadium, and student referrals to the judicial affairs office following the ban. Survey data also indicated moderately negative attitudes about the ban among students and some season ticket holders. However, all fans were likely to renew their tickets regardless of their attitudes toward the policy. The study illustrates what can be achieved when alcohol is eliminated from a setting that frequently fosters disorderly and aggressive behaviors.     

Midlife Women in College Sexuality Classes

Abstract

In fall 1996, the University of Colorado at Boulder instituted a ban on beer sales at football games. To evaluate the effects of the ban, the authors collected two types of data: first, they examined the effects of the ban on game-day security incidents; second, they looked at survey data from season ticket holders and students. They administered the surveys after the first two postban seasons to assess ticket holders' attitudes about the new policy. The incident data they found indicated dramatic decreases in arrests, assaults, ejections from the stadium, and student referrals to the judicial affairs office following the ban. Survey data also indicated moderately negative attitudes about the ban among students and some season ticket holders. However, all fans were likely to renew their tickets regardless of their attitudes toward the policy. The study illustrates what can be achieved when alcohol is eliminated from a setting that frequently fosters disorderly and aggressive behaviors.     

(Unintended) Consequences of initiating an alcohol sales policy at college football stadiums: A case study

University officials are increasingly considering selling alcoholic beverages at campus football stadiums. To inform this decision, we report on offenses occurring at a campus football stadium and surrounding community on game day weekends between 2009 and 2013. Campus police log data for 35 home football weekends were examined, accounting for 1,940 distinct incidents. There was a general upward trend in crime incidents. On average, 330 total crime incidents occurred when alcohol was not sold (2009–2011) compared to 475 annually when alcohol was sold (2012–2013). Liquor law violations and alcohol consumption by a minor were the two most frequently cited offenses. Liquor law violations (317) was highest after alcohol sales initiated. Police incidents were markedly higher when playing a traditional football rival at home. College administrators, health officials, athletic departments, and local law enforcement must work together to weigh the potential benefit of enhanced financial profit against the risk of increased alcohol-related crime.     

A five year retrospective analysis of occupational injuries and incidence reported at a research intensive Canadian university

Limited information of occupational injury statistics within academic settings exists. Universities and colleges are an important and insightful work environment due to the varied nature of the work performed by employee groups. The objective of this study was to describe occupational injuries for all work groups in a large research intensive university. A retrospective database analysis was conducted on 2029 employee incident reports over a five year period (2000-2004) to determine general and departmental prevalence of injury types, locations, and mechanisms. Demographic analysis revealed an average age of 42 years and 9 years of work experience. Overall, the most frequent injuries were to the hand (40%), were musculoskeletal in nature (42%), and resulted from being "struck or contacted by" (33%). The greatest number of incidents occurred in food services, followed by physical plant and staff services. Closer examination of incidents reported by food services indicated 53% of injuries occurred to the hand and 72% required first aid. Notable too was that 19% of physical plant injuries occurred to the back, but these reports accounted for 40% of total back injuries and 50% of all lost time claims in the total database. Further epidemiological research in academic institutions is needed to better understand the inherent injury risk in this work sector.     

Implementing a smoking ban in an acute psychiatric admissions unit

In contrast to general medical hospitals, psychiatric hospitals often allow patients to smoke cigarettes. In addition to obvious health concerns, smoking can also interfere with clinical assessments and therapeutic activities, Implementation of a smoking ban on an acute male admissions unit did not result in any increase in aggressive behaviors. In addition, staff attitudes following the ban improved, and most staff members believed the ban was both ethical and beneficial to patients. Our research indicates that banning smoking on an acute admissions unit is feasible and well tolerated by patients and staff, although it may require extra vigilance for smoking-related contraband.     

Sociodemographic correlates of public perceptions regarding a smoking ban in bars and restaurants

As the health threat of environmental tobacco smoke is widely recognized, more state and local governments join the passage of ordinances that ban smoking in public establishments. This study investigated public perceptions regarding banning smoking in bars and restaurants among Indiana residents. A representative sample of 529 adult Indiana residents ages 18 or older was interviewed using random-digit dialing after two waves of pilot tests. Of the total respondents, 65% favored the smoking ban in bars and restaurants. Logistic regression analyses indicated that gender, education, and spouse's education were significant predictors for attitudes toward the smoking ban in bars and restaurants.     

Challenges for the school in a migration society – a critical incidents analysis

The large number of newly arrived people from other countries, particularly children and youth, represents a major challenge for schools and school systems in the EU-28. The present study, conducted in Germany, investigated this situation using the critical incident technique. Critical incidents were collected in group discussions with teachers and principals about challenging events in the context of growing migration. The incidents, including their perceived causes and consequences, were categorised using qualitative content analysis. Events that were frequently present in teachers’ everyday work included various types of conflicts concerning pupils, difficult cooperation between teachers and parents and parents banning their children from taking part in particular school activities. The identified causes for such events were diverse, including misunderstandings, diverging cultural and religious concepts, language barriers, structural constraints and some pupils’ traumatic experiences influencing the school community. The described incidents had far-reaching consequences, especially for parent–school cooperation and for pupils’ integration in the classroom community and academic and personal development. The final part of this article discusses and illustrates how the results can contribute to developing ideas and measures to deal with the identified challenges.     

Diversification and win rate in NLRB certification elections

This research examined industrial diversification patterns and win rates within the 1977–1979, 1983–1985 and 1992–1994 periods for all NLRB certification elections of the 30 most active unions in 1977–1979. We found significant change in diversification and little change in average win rates over the study period. The general trend was less total diversification and more unrelated diversification in 1992–1994 relative to 1983–1985 and 1977–1979. Total diversification and election frequency had no impact on win rates. However, related diversification had a significant positive influence on union win rates for elections recorded outside unions’ core organizing industries.     

Responding in Times of Crisis— An Exploratory Study of Employer Requests for Critical Incident Response Services

Summary

Increasingly, employers play an active role in assisting their employees in dealing with crisis. This exploratory study conducted analyses using a large national database to examine how companies representing various industry types differed in the frequency of requests for critical incident response services, the types of incidents that evoked the requests, the types of interventions utilized, and the delay time between the request and provision of services. Results demonstrated substantial variability in the types of incidents and frequency of service utilization. However, some consistent patterns were noted. For example, over half of all critical incident response services across industry types were delivered in response to a death impacting the workforce. A different pattern was evident for the Finance/Insurance/Real Estate industry, where robberies were most prevalent and the delay time between the incident and the critical incident response delivery date was shortest. There appeared to be an inverse relationship between the size of the company and the use of critical incident response services. This study has implications for further research regarding the training of practitioners administering critical incident response services and determining themost effective crisis interventions for the situation and recipient population.     

Occupational Safety and English Language Proficiency

Recent occupational injury data shows a rising trend, which happens to coincide with both increases in the foreign-born population in the U.S. and changes in its composition. This study aims to explore the presence of a statistical relationship between occupational injuries and the level of English proficiency of foreign-born using cross-sectional data on the rate of injury and count of injury incidents. A cultural gap hypothesis is also examined as an alternative explanation for the rise in work injuries. While there is some support for the adverse effect of inadequate English language proficiency of foreign-born, the results for the cultural gap hypothesis are more robust.     

Reduced admissions for acute myocardial infarction associated with a public smoking ban: matched controlled study

There has been no research linking implementation of a public smoking ban and reduced incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) among nonsmoking patients. An ex post facto matched control group study was conducted to determine whether there was a change in hospital admissions for AMI among nonsmoking patients after a public smoking ban was implemented in Monroe County compared with Delaware County, Indiana without such a ban. Poisson analysis was conducted for 44 months of hospital admissions. A significant drop occurred in the number of admissions among nonsmoking patients in Monroe County after the ban whereas a nonsignificant decrease in the number of admissions occurred in Delaware County. The changes in the number of smoking-patient admissions before and after the ban were not significant.     

Sexual Assault Risks Among Gay and Bisexual Men

The goal of this study was to examine lifetime patterns of sexual assault and associated risks among a purposive sample of gay and bisexual men (N = 183; 18 to 35 years old, M = 24.3). Cross-sectional data were collected via written, self-administered questionnaires and face-to-face, event-based qualitative interviews. Alcohol severity scores indicated high rates of hazardous drinking (53.0%) and possible dependence (14.2%) among participants. One-half of men (50.8%) reported childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and 67.2% reported adult sexual assault (ASA). Average age at most recent ASA was 21 years. Most perpetrators (83.9%) of recent ASA incidents were male; 67.0% of participants reported consuming alcohol and/or drugs prior to the most recent incident. Regression findings indicated more severe CSA experiences and past alcohol-related problems predicted recent severe ASA. Although we found similarities between gay and bisexual men in lifetime sexual assault history, we found some distinct differences in ASA risk factors. Bisexual men reported higher alcohol severity scores, more female ASA perpetrators, higher internalized homophobia scores, and fewer male sexual partners than gay men. Findings suggest the need for interventions that reduce ASA risk among sexual minority men—and the potential benefits of focusing on alcohol consumption in risk reduction efforts.     

Job matching and return to work: Occupational rehabilitation as the link

Return to work after injury or illness is important for the worker and the employer. Medical providers manage and treat the worker with the illness or injury. Except in cases of focused specialists, the medical professional's role is to take care of a patient, rather than empower a worker. As much as there is promotion of the workers compensation health care system to be similar to sports medicine, there are significant dissimilarities. One major barrier is that the medical caregivers do not know the demands of jobs as they would know the details of sports. Thus, there is a gap in returning a worker to function as the medical professional cannot accurately match the worker to specific jobs. A new model of job function matching, based on research and skills of occupational rehabilitation professionals, is proposed to bridge the gap between the medical community, the employers and the workers.     

Injuries to Swedish school pupils: Distribution and patterns by type of school and type of municipality

The study examines the distribution of injuries and their patterns among Swedish school pupils. Data were gathered from an injury register created during the school year 1996/97, with the help of 79 schools and using a standardized registration form. Injury ratios (IRs) by gender, type of municipality, and type of school were measured all injuries aggregated and for five injury patterns. IRs did not vary much by gender, but showed considerable variation by type of school and type of municipality. A strong association was found between injury pattern and gender. Taken as a whole, the findings shed light on the circumstances under which school injuries are incurred. They suggest that targets for prevention may vary by gender, school level and, to some extent, by type of municipality. The extent to which the findings are generalizable is uncertain.     

Industrial injuries in British manufacturing industry and cyclical effects: continuities and discontinuities in industrial injury research

An article appeared in The Sociological Review for May 1990 by Steve Tombs that bore the same title as an earlier one by me (‘Industrial injuries in British manufacturing industry’ May 1986) and which took as its starting point my ‘The business cycle and industrial injuries’ which appeared in August 1989. It is argued here that Tombs's analysis does not represent the step forward that might have been hoped. It is for example extremely important in the analysis of industrial injury rates to pay careful attention to what injury rates of different degrees of severity might measure. Tombs's article is shown to be technically deficient in that he makes mistakes both of fact and interpretation in his treatment of the all reported (or minor) injury rate. Moreover, Tombs advances the claim — in the context of reference to ‘a pure “business cycle” argument à la Nicholsw’ — that ‘a generalised discussion of [business] cycles obscures important aspects of the political economy within individual cycles. In particular, the strength of the labour movement is related to the incidence of accidents at work’. For the record, it is also spelt out below that this represents an unwarranted interpretation of my own position.     

Does drought increase migration? A study of migration from rural Mali during the 1983-1985 drought

"Using data from a longitudinal panel study conducted in 1982 and 1989 in...Mali, this article demonstrates that the level of migration did not rise during the drought of 1983-1985. However, there was a dramatic increase in the migration of women and children during the severe 1983-1985 drought. Along with this increase in migration by women and children, there was a shift to short-cycle circulation, with 64 percent of the migrants adopting circular patterns. The study describes the characteristics of these migrants and recommends changes to development and migration policies that will facilitate such migrations in subsequent droughts."     

The role of alcohol use in intimate partner violence and non-intimate partner violence

Alcohol use is a risk factor for violent victimization in general, and intimate partner violence in particular. However, there has been limited empirical attention on whether alcohol use is more often associated with IPV or non-IPV offenses. Further, few studies on the association between alcohol use and victimization have assessed for incident-specific alcohol use, or examined both victim and perpetrator alcohol use. We used data from the National Violence Against Women Survey to determine if incident-specific alcohol use is more prevalent in IPV or non-IPV physical assaults, and to determine if the association varied by gender. Results indicated that among women, perpetrator alcohol use was twice as likely in IPV incidents than in non-IPV incidents, but among men, perpetrator alcohol use was four times less likely in IPV incidents than in non-IPV incidents. Our results highlight the important role of gender in understanding the association between alcohol use and victimization risk.     

Unintentional injury: A major health problem for young children and youth

This article reviews data on childhood injury and explains how unintentional injuries have become the leading health problem for young children in the United States and a major health problem in teenage years. The article discusses the major types of childhood injuries, trends over time, and variations by location and social, behavioral, and familial risk factors. Results of epidemiological and sociobehavioral research on injury are followed by a discussion of policy considerations in the attempts to deal with childhood injury and its consequences. This includes a discussion of major ways to prevent injuries, a review of government activities, and recommendations for future efforts. Her research interests include child safety, preventive health behaviors, access to health care services, and health policy. She received her Ph.D. from Brown University in sociology in 1976. Her research interests include child safety, preventive health behavior, international health, and alternative health care models. She received her D.Sc. from Johns Hopkins University in 1985.     

Risk factors and physical signs of child abuse in hospitalized children in Taiwan

PurposeThis study used the Criteria for Distinguishing Abuse from Accidents Chinese version (CDAA-C) to determine cases of child abuse, undetermined intent, and unintentional injury, and compared risk factors and injury profiles among hospitalized children in Taiwan.DesignA retrospective chart review study.MethodsWe selected children aged 0–3 who were hospitalized with a discharge diagnosis of injury or child maltreatment in a medical center in southern Taiwan between 2007 and 2009. The CDAA-C was used to collect children's demographics and injury types and to determine the intent of injury. Children's charts with records and notes of admission, surgery and emergency care were reviewed and analyzed.ResultsAmong 157 eligible cases, the CDAA-C identified 13 child abuse cases including additional 8 victims who were not previously coded in ICD-9-CM. Most abused children suffered from brain injuries, had ≥ 2 in jury incidents, and had a misdiagnosis in the previous visit. Abused children were younger and more likely to be born premature.ConclusionsThis study highlighted the under-diagnosis of child abuse in Taiwan. An easy-to-use standardized screening tool for child abuse in Taiwan is needed.     

Fall incidence in a state psychiatric hospital in Singapore

The results of a retrospective study of fall incidence during a 1-year period in a psychiatric hospital in Singapore are reported, involving 309 patients who fell one or more times during their stay. The profile of inpatients involved in falls was identified. Data were derived from standard incident forms completed whenever patients had a fall. A total of 348 falls were identified for the 1-year period. Results revealed higher fall rates in younger male epileptic patients; elderly female patients, age 70 and older with depression or dementia; individuals with concomitant medical conditions; and patients taking three types of medication. The majority of falls occurred when the activity level was high in the ward. Young epileptic patients and elderly depressed patients were prone to repeated falls. These results have the potential to assist in identifying patients at high risk and in designing and implementing strategies to prevent such incidents.