Queer Intimacies: A New Paradigm for the Study of Relationship Diversity

Recognition of sexual and gender diversity in the 21st century challenges normative assumptions of intimacy that privilege heterosexual monogamy and the biological family unit, presume binary cisgender identities, essentialize binary sexual identities, and view sexual or romantic desire as necessary. We propose a queer paradigm to study relationship diversity grounded in seven axioms: intimacy may occur (1) within relationships featuring any combination of cisgender, transgender, or nonbinary identities; (2) with people of multiple gender identities across the life course; (3) in multiple relationships simultaneously with consent; (4) within relationships characterized by consensual asymmetry, power exchange, or role-play; (5) in the absence or limited experience of sexual or romantic desire; (6) in the context of a chosen rather than biological family; and (7) in other possible forms yet unknown. We review research on queer relational forms, including same-sex relationships; relationships in which one or more partners identify as transgender, gender nonbinary, bisexual, pansexual, sexually fluid, “mostly” straight, asexual, or aromantic; polyamory and other forms of consensual nonmonogamy; kink/fetish relationships; and chosen families. We argue that a queer paradigm shifts the dominant scientific conception of relationships away from the confines of normativity toward an embrace of diversity, fluidity, and possibility.     

Venues and Filters in Managed Migration Policy: The Case of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom, like many developed world economies, has witnessed unprecedented immigration since the early 1990s. Also in line with other developed world economies, the United Kingdom has adopted a “managed migration” policy paradigm. The paper argues that the operation of this paradigm is best understood with reference to two key concepts: migration policy “venues” and migration policy “filters.” In terms of the former, the paper argues that managed migration policy is associated with outward, upward, and downward rescaling and commensurate venue growth and diversification. In terms of the latter, the paper argues that six policy filters (legal, geographical, credential, transfer‐based, monetary, and humanitarian) are commonly used to determine legitimate forms of migration but that one (the geographical filter) has been particularly prominent within the United Kingdom's managed migration policy paradigm.     

The Functions and Dysfunctions of Preparations for Fighting Nuclear War

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a survey of the functions and dysfunctions of the nuclear arms race on American society. The analysis of the positive functions does not serve as a justification for the status quo, but is undertaken to point out the numerous constraints mitigating against change. The dysfunctions of U.S. nuclear war preparations are explicitly considered here to point out the direct, indirect and opportunity costs of adhering to a policy of extended deterrence. The juxtaposition of both functions and dysfunctions provides insights concerning potential sources of change and policy alternatives that may decrease the negative consequences without weakening U.S. national security.     

Screening and brief intervention for alcohol problems in a university student health clinic

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine whether a university student health center (SHC) is a feasible location to introduce a campus-based screening and brief intervention (SBI) program for alcohol and (2) to determine whether the patients seen in the SHC differ in terms of the prevalence and severity of alcohol-related problems compared with students reported by emergency department programs. The authors used motivational interview techniques to counsel subjects from a convenience sample of patients waiting for medical treatment in the SHC who had screened positive with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). The authors interviewed patients again after 3 months. Seventy-five percent of eligible students participated. Sixty percent screened positive and received an intervention. The authors contacted 66 students (51.2%) again after 3 months. Seventy-five percent of students interviewed again after 3 months reported that SBI was helpful, 92% found the information clear, and 90% thought that the SHC was a good place to learn this information.     

Survey and Analysis of Electronic Journal Licenses for Long-Term Access Provisions in Tertiary New Zealand Academic Libraries

A survey of New Zealand university and polytechnic libraries indicates what proportions of library e-journal holdings have archival rights or perpetual access clauses. The author then analyzes licenses from three universities for terms, permissions, and other details. The research indicates that less than 20% of the online holdings for most New Zealand educational libraries had a print duplicate, archive, or perpetual access right. Licenses failed to address these access and rights issues in 70% of the cases surveyed. The issues of long-term access to licensed materials are addressed in less than 30% of licenses and only by providers that are offering them.     

Missing Class: Strengthening Social Movement Groups by Seeing Class Cultures

No abstract available for this article.     

Theorizing New Media: Reflexivity,Knowledge, and the Web 2.0*

A recent wave of popular and scholarly discourse has hailed the arrival of the Web 2.0, marking a new generation of Internet users who share and collaborate on popular social networking sites such as MySpace and user‐generated communities such as YouTube and Wikipedia. Social and cultural critics have attempted to take stock of the implications of these various technological changes with specific emphasis on the state of knowledge in contemporary society. This article aims to theoretically examine knowledge in the context of new media technologies with particular attention paid to the notion of “reflexivity.” Focusing on the work of Scott Lash, whose theory of reflexivity radically differs from various other interpretations, I suggest that knowledge, in its modern formulation—as reasoned, stable, and linear—must be rethought for the information age, critiquing some of the predominant scholarly and popular media criticisms that suggests media to be mere enhancements of human forms of communication, knowledge, and sense‐making. I conclude by considering some of the ontological dimensions of the transformations in the dynamics of knowledge in new media technologies.     

The relationship between social media use and sleep quality among undergraduate students

Insufficient sleep is a growing health problem among university students, especially for freshmen during their first quarter/semester of college. Little research has studied how social media technologies impact sleep quality among college students. This study aims to determine the relationship between social media use and sleep quality among freshman undergraduates during their first quarter in college. Specifically, we explored whether variations in Twitter use across the time of day and day of the week would be associated with self-reported sleep quality. We conducted a study of freshman Twitter-using students (N?=?197) over their first quarter of college, between October and December of 2015. We collected students’ tweets, labeled the content of the tweets according to different emotional states, and gave theme weekly surveys on sleep quality. Tweeting more frequently on weekday late nights was associated with lower sleep quality (β?=??0.937, SE?=?0.352); tweeting more frequently on weekday evenings was associated with better quality sleep (β?=?0.189, SE?=?0.097). Tweets during the weekday that were labeled related to the emotion of fear were associated with lower sleep quality (β?=??0.302, SE?=?0.131). Results suggest that social media use is associated with sleep quality among students. Results provided can be used to inform future interventions to improve sleep quality among college students.