The Normative Protection of Women from Violence

The literature on the relationship between violence against women and a norm protecting women (NPW) is reviewed. I suggest that the effects of the NPW are suppressed because violence against women tends to occur in intimate relations and such disputes tend to be kept private. The offsetting effects of NPW and intimacy (or relational distance) are demonstrated in a study of 384 self-reported violent disputes. In support of an NPW effect, I find that disputes are more likely to be reported to the police if an attack on a woman is witnessed by third parties. This gender effect is offset by the fact that disputes between intimates tend to be concealed from the police and from witnesses.     

Ports of Entry and Obstacles: Teenagers' Access to Volunteer Activities

The recruitment of young people into volunteering activities is the primary focus of this article. We examine which teenagers volunteer, the ways that teenagers become involved in volunteer activities, and why teenagers do not volunteer. Teenagers who volunteer tend to have dominant status, that is, access to social power, high personal competency, and socialization into volunteer experiences through family, church, and school. Personal contact with family, friends, and teachers who are involved with service, prior participation in school‐ and church‐based service, and personal initiative lead teenagers to learn about and engage in volunteering activities. Teenagers who do not volunteer often do not have sufficient time or interest. Differences exist among teenagers as to which factors prompt volunteering. For example, teenagers who are white, have parents who volunteer, and attend religious services are more likely than others to learn about volunteer activities through organizations, and teenagers with higher personal competency (grade point averages) are more likely than others to learn about volunteering activities at school. The article includes suggestions for recruitment policy and management of teenage volunteers.     

Ultraviolet radiation in urban ecosystems with consideration of effects on human health

Excess exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the sun, particularly the ultraviolet B (UVB), is cited as a cause or contributing factor for deleterious effects on human health, including skin cancers and cataracts. Rates of skin cancer have increased greatly in recent years, and increased UVB caused by reductions in stratospheric ozone may be responsible for some of the increase in rates, though quantified estimates of the effect of the UVB changes on health have low certainty. UVB exposure also affects the function of the immune system, and the potential resulting effects on infectious diseases and immunizations are a concern. Epidemiological considerations suggest that peoples' routine exposure to UV in urban areas can be significant in adverse health effects, particularly for young children. Projected trends of ozone indicate that agreements to limit ozone-depleting substances are slowing the UVB increase, but high levels will continue and apparently impact health to the middle of the current century. Urban trees greatly reduce ultraviolet irradiance in their shade when they obscure both the sun and sky. Where trees or other structures obscure only the sun, leaving much of the sky in view, UVB irradiance will be greater than suggested by the visible shade. Since air pollutants influence the UVB above the canopy, and the overlying atmosphere is usually more polluted in urban than rural areas, additional above-canopy monitoring of UV in urban areas is needed for comparison to existing rural monitoring sites. Such monitoring would facilitate the development of computer models of urban effects on UV, which are needed for epidemiological investigations, public education, and urban planning.     

The Limits of Flexibility: the Case of UK Television

The organization of the UK television industry has undergone radical change in the last ten years in response to a concerted programme of regulatory change and rapid technological development. It has been seen by some commentators as an exemplar of flexible specialization and of further evidence that mass production methods have become increasingly obsolescent. Vertically disintegrated, flexibly specialized forms of organization are, on this view, best placed to cope with increasing product diversity, competition and uncertainty. This paper argues that the experience of television in the UK bears little resemblance to the model of flexible specialization. Indeed, the response of firms to changing product market conditions has not been to embrace vertical disintegration but to re-establish traditional organizational structures. Transaction-costs analysis, while providing a number of useful insights into the development of organizational structures within television, also fails to take account of the complex web of forces determining the degree of horizontal and vertical integration in the sector.     

Power and Pay: The Politics of CEO Compensation

This paper examines CEO compensation, with an emphasis on the power of CEOs to influence their own compensation by managing the compensation process. It analyzes the CEO's power over the board of directors and the political tactics used by the CEO to manage the board and its compensation decisions. An empirical examination of CEO compensation in 203 large American manufacturing firms in 1985 illustrates the effect of CEO power on compensation and the flexibility available to the CEO in establishing the legitimacy of compensation. The implications of this perspective for management control of corporations and for CEO compensation research are considered.     

Rapid Reregulation,Agricultural Restructuring,and the Reimaging of Agriculture in New Zealand1

Abstract As a member of the Cairns Group, New Zealand is an excellent case for investigation of the impacts of market-based restructuring and the emergence of new mechanisms for regulation. The paper examines how agriculture in New Zealand has been impacted by economic reforms that have fundamentally changed the nature and interrelations of regulatory arrangements and economic processes. The paper sketches the origins of New Zealand's agricultural crisis and the main features of the reforms, outlines developments in several global commodity chains (meat, dairy, apples) that since the mid 1980s have shaped regulatory and governance adjustments, and explores dimensions of a reimaging of agriculture in new conditions. The paper concludes that agri-food restructuring in New Zealand is implicated in the wider integrative project of globalization. Agriculture's reconstruction reopens the scope and terms under which New Zealand labor and households might be able to participate in the agri-food sector.     

Work Opportunities in a Non-Traditional Setting for Women Exiting Welfare: A Case Study

The purpose of this research is to explore key issues regarding the need to provide jobs for women who are making the transition from welfare to wage work. A traditionally male-dominated industry, the secondary wood products industry, in a ten-parish rural region in northern Louisiana is used as a case study. One goal of the project is to explore barriers to expanding job opportunities for women in this industry, which is located in an economically disadvantaged region of the state. In-depth personal interviews were conducted with employers and business owners in this industry, and focus group discussions were conducted among employees at selected sites. Potential barriers to employing women in this industry are discussed, and recommendations for reducing barriers are made.     

Development of a carpal tunnel syndrome screening method using structured interviews and vibrotactile testing

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a debilitating and expensive health problem. An inexpensive screening method that would differentiate between people who do not have CTS and those that may have CTS would be useful. The screening methodology investigated here had two phases: a structured interview and provocative vibrotactile testing (VT). The control group (n = 36) was composed of asymptomatic college students and faculty, the case group was composed of patients currently visiting an occupational medicine clinic for symptoms consistent with CTS. The case group was subdivided into positive and negative for nerve conduction latency, NCL+ (n = 21) and NCL- (n = 13), respectively. Using a scored, structured interview, 33 of the controls and none of the symptomatic cases were identified as non-CTS. The results from the provocative flexion VT indicated that if the difference between the age corrected baseline and the threshold at 15 minutes is 15 microm or more, the subject was likely to be NCL+ (odds ratio 12.6, 95% CI 3.8 to 41.8). Further research may improve this screening methodology to not only determine whether or not a person has CTS, but also to determine the level of median nerve impingement or damage.     

Real Limits in the Virtual World: Self-Limiting Behavior of Internet Gamblers

The recent expansion of Internet gambling has stimulated debate, policy, and research on this relatively new phenomenon and its potential consequences. The current study focuses on bettors experiencing problems by sampling Internet gamblers who imposed limits on the amount they were allowed to deposit to a betting site. We analyzed the betting transactions over 18 months of all gamblers who subscribed to an online betting site in February, 2005 (N = 47,134), 567 of whom utilized the site’s self-limit feature. Self-limiting gamblers played a wider variety of games and placed more bets than others prior to imposing limits. After imposing limits, self-limiters reduced their activity, but did not reduce the amount they wagered per bet. Time spent gambling, not just money spent, appears to be an important indicator of gambling problems. Self-limit programs appear to be promising options for Internet gamblers at-risk for gambling problems.