Telephone support for parenting: an evaluation of Parentline Plus

Recent Government policy has advocated universal support services for parents, including a national telephone helpline (for example, Department for Education and Skills, 2003). The Home Office funded just such a helpline—Parentline Plus—as part of the Supporting Families initiative. The efficiency and effectiveness of this service in supporting parents were evaluated through secondary analysis of call data, assessment of taped calls, and interviews with callers. The helpline offers anonymous non‐stigmatising support to a growing number of callers, and most callers interviewed valued highly the service they received. Many had significant support needs that were not met by other forms of service provision.     

Forming an institutional culture with multinational administrators and teachers at Effat College,Saudi Arabia

This article describes the teaching and learning culture of a newly established women’s college in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The academic culture at Effat College in 2002 included administrators and teachers from many nations, which created unique challenges in cross‐cultural communication. These challenges, in turn, affected the development and organization of the institutional culture at Effat. Using a cultural lens, archival data were used to analyze the expectations and relations between the multicultural faculty and administration at the college. Our research revealed that the faculty related to one another through their own cultural perspectives. Faculty from the western nations promoted more reflective and constructivist classrooms, while those from eastern nations were more authoritarian. With a diverse faculty from multiple nations holding significant differences in cultural expectations, it is important to acknowledge that all beliefs hold value and deserve respect. Whether or not people accept one another’s views, just having a more clear understanding of the differences may allow them to seek out commonalities and explain varying perspectives and actions. Therefore, we need to be conscious of the cultural assumptions faculty and administrators bring with them into higher education.     

Thai Adolescents' Normative Beliefs of the Popularity of Smoking Among Peers,Adults, the Successful and Elite,and Parents

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of Thailand adolescents regarding the prevalence of smoking, the popularity of smoking among successful/elite elements of society, and disapproval of smoking by friends and parents. These perceptions were analyzed in conjunction with actual smoking and smoking susceptibility rates among the subjects to determine whether beliefs and behaviors were associated with each other. This study was conducted among a school‐based sample of 2516 Chiang Mai, Thailand upper secondary and vocational students. Although perceived prevalence of smoking was not associated with smoking outcomes, perceived popularity of smoking among the successful and elite was associated with higher risk, and perceived disapproval by friends/parents was associated with lower risk. Youth smoking programs should consider assessing and taking these social normative factors into account when considering educational intervention strategies that aim to lower adolescent smoking rates.     

In Order to Form a More Perfect Union … List of Serials: A Report of the Workshop

Abstract

Reports from the 18th North American Serials Interest Group Conference held in June 2003 and the annual meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology held in October 2003.

The two reports in this column describe the experience of a conference student grant winner at the 2003 North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) Conference at Portland State University (PSU) and six plenary sessions from the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) held in Long Beach, CA. NASIG has not been held in the Northwest since the group was in Vancouver in 1996. Many attendees enjoyed spending time in Powell's bookshop. I'm sure the Portland economy was booming with so many librarians in town. Because there were no residence halls at PSU, delegates stayed in local hotels—quite a change for long-time NASIG members. Lisa Bowman focuses on this theme of change. Rafal Kasprowski presents a very thorough and fascinating report on ASIST sessions dealing with the humanizing of technology. While not specifically aimed at serialists, we can all appreciate how this topic fits into our daily routines where technology seems to rule, or maybe it only rules as much as we let it. Nonetheless, Kasprowski covers a lot of excellent research on new directions in system design as well as several theoretical and methodological approaches for more effective information service. Social and cultural analysis is important, and emotion can even play a key role in user interaction with systems. There is a lot yet to learn and understand about user behavior, and the ASIST conference has really put together an excellent series of presentations.     

The evolution of fetal protection policies

This article examines the evolution of fetal protection policies (FPPs) by detailing their historical legacy and a range of contemporary social forces that have contributed to their maintenance. It is based on a case study of the 1977 U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hearings to revise the industrial lead standard, the 1991 U.S. Supreme Court decision that such policies are unconstitutional (United Auto Workers v. Johnson Controls, 1991), and the case law preceding that decision. A primary issue is the notion that women and fetuses are disproportionately susceptible to lead. This study reveals the ways in which this belief is framed, disputed, and appropriated by various parties to the fetal protection policy debate. Implications of this case study for family health policy are also discussed. Her research interests include work-family linkages, intergenerational relations, and caregiving across the life course. She received her Ph.D. from The University of Pennsylvania. She gratefully acknowledges Tadlock Cowan and Beth Anne Shelton for helpful comments and Marc Hallee for research assistance.     

The two ANSI standards for serial holdings statements: A comparison

The ANSI Standard on Serial Holdings Statements at the Summary Level is being withdrawn and a new holdings standard developed by NISO, entitled Serial Holdings Statements, is being approved in its place. This article compares the two standards, and describes the changes users will need to make when adopting the new standard.     

The influence of aircraft size on airline operating costs

Many previous studies have shown that there are probably no economies of scale in the airline industry directly attributable to firm size. Scale effects within the firm, however, have often been suggested, particularly for example with regard to such firm-size independent factors as market density, route length, or aircraft size. The focus of this paper is the effect of aircraft size on an airline's unit cost. Though much of the previous evidence appears to be at variance with a priori expectations, the empirical results presented here suggest that most of the divergence is probably due to a conceptually inadequate basis of comparison. Appropriately compared, actual unit costs were generally found to decrease at a decreasing rate with aircraft size, though as the route length parameter is reduced some mild diseconomies appeared. Of further interest, the behavior with size of the underlying cost components was found to be quite diverse, the (far from uniform) decreases with size in unit crew, fuel, and maintenance costs being offset somewhat by increases in unit capital costs, insurance plus other costs, and landing fees.     

Sighs,smiles, and worried glances: How the body reveals women caregivers' lived experiences of care to older adults

This article reports on findings from microethnographic research that examined the lived reality of women caregivers through detailed observation of their everyday, embodied experiences. The research, which was rooted in the trend in social gerontology to emphasize subjective experience, focused on five women who were providing care to an older adult with a chronic illness or impairment. Four of the five women were caring for a spouse; one was caring for a parent. Observing the women's daily realities revealed tensions and contradictions between their subjective lived experiences and the pressures of the system in which they were functioning. The data revealed a caregiver habitus characterized by the performance of emotional labor. Performance was visible through dissonance between the caregivers' verbal and nonverbal expressions, and pointed to a high degree of emotion and body management. The women consistently put aside their own needs, in what can be considered a divestment in health capital. There was also evidence of merging between the caregiver and care receiver, made visible through tandem movements. The findings lead to implications for practice and for future aging research, including the benefits of observation for enhancing understanding of clients' experiences.