Work accommodation for people with multiple chemical sensitivity

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a term used to describe allergic-like reactions to chemicals that represent everyday exposures in industrialized countries. It is sometimes associated with electromagnetic sensitivity, and both conditions are most likely engendered by environmental exposures. Prevalence studies suggest that chemical sensitivity affects 12-15% of the US population and that it crosses age, socio-economic status and racial lines. Electromagnetic sensitivity is less understood, but affects a portion of those with chemical sensitivity. Persons with these environmental sensitivities often experience difficulties with health care, housing and work. Workplace barriers result in significant disability, with ensuing financial loss and isolation for the worker. We examined work accommodations for 100 persons with self-reported MCS and its relation to life satisfaction. Results are discussed in terms of accommodating invisible disabilities that challenge industrial capitalism.     

College and university compliance with a required meningococcal vaccination law

OBJECTIVE: Maryland became the first state to pass a vaccination law requiring college and university students living on campus to obtain a meningococcal vaccination or to sign a waiver refusing vaccination because college students are at increased risk for disease. The authors sought to identify how Maryland colleges addressed the law and determine whether schools were in full compliance. PARTICIPANTS: The authors surveyed 32 college/university administrators via a self-administered questionnaire. METHODS: The authors calculated vaccination and waiver rates and assessed compliance with the law overall and with specific law components. RESULTS: Among 28 participating schools, annual vaccination rates and waiver rates among students during 2000-2004 ranged from 66%-76% and 12%-17%, respectively. Two (7%) schools were compliant with all components of the law. CONCLUSIONS: Mandatory vaccination laws do not ensure compliance at the college and university level. Mandatory reporting, increased education, and collaboration between colleges and universities and public health agencies are needed.     

Community-managed water supplies in Africa: sustainable or dispensable?

Over the past two decades, community management has become theprevalent model for management of rural water supplies throughoutsub-Saharan Africa. Despite its widespread popularity amongdonors and implementing agencies, low water supply sustainabilitylevels throughout the sub-continent indicate that it is notthe panacea it is often presented to be. There is a strong needto distinguish between ‘community participation’which is a prerequisite for sustainability and ‘communitymanagement’ which is not. If community management systemsare to be sustainable, they require ongoing support from anoverseeing institution to provide encouragement and motivation,monitoring, participatory planning, capacity building, and specialisttechnical assistance. If such support is not available, alternativessuch as household water supplies and private sector servicedelivery should be considered.     

Processes of adjustment in organized out-of-school activities: opportunities and risks

Participation in organized out-of-school activities leads to long-term psychosocial and educational benefits for young people. Now we're learning which features of these activities best support individual children.     

Profiles of union organizers from manufacturing and service unions

This study uses data on 229 organizers from eight unions to assess differences in characteristics of organizers employed by manufacturing and service unions. The results suggest that a new breed of organizer is entering the labor movement through service unions-organizers who are younger, more highly educated, more socially mobile, and have less experience in the union movement than organizers from manufacturing unions. This article is based on data collected for a dissertation written at the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University. I gratefully acknowledge the support of committee members David Lewin, James Kuhn, Casey Ichniowski, and Seymour Spilerman of Columbia and Charles A. O’Reilly III of the University of California at Berkeley. I thank John Delaney for his many helpful insights and suggestions during the course of my research and Shannon Ratcliff and Rick Fuentes for comments on an earlier draft of this paper. This research was financially supported by the Industrial Relations Research Center and the Management Institute at Columbia University and the Department of Management at Texas A&M University.     

Embracing Indeterminacy: On Being a Liminal Professional

The rise of the corporate profession has contributed to a more varied and ambiguous professional terrain that is increasingly seen to be indeterminate and fluid. This paper advances the current debate around the development of corporate professions, exploring how practitioners respond to this environment. Drawing on research with public relations practitioners, the paper shows how the idea of being a liminar facilitates the formation of a professional identity in conditions of high indeterminacy. In taking an individual level of analysis of professions, the paper suggests that indeterminacy is a more resonant feature for corporate professionals than previously suggested in the research, but that this indeterminacy is navigated in professional identity construction through ‘being a liminar’, and thus greater nuance may need to be recognized in the conceptualization of both corporate professions and corporate professionalization. It also demonstrates the use of liminality as a discursive resource in identity construction and with it, challenges the common association of liminality with self‐doubt and existential anxiety. In turn, the paper considers the implications of the liminal professional identity for the future of contemporary professions, and for understanding the liminal experience.     

Union attainment of first contracts: Do service unions possess a competitive advantage?

This study examines differences between service and manufacturing unions with respect to first contract attainment and organizing efficiency. Service unions were found to have a higher first-contract attainment rate, larger election units, and longer campaigns. For cases where the union attained a first contract, there was no difference in efficiency between service and manufacturing unions. However, service unions enjoyed an advantage over manufacturing unions when overall organizing efficiency was examined. This paper is based on data collected for a dissertation written at the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University. I gratefully acknowledge the support of committee members David Lewin, James Kuhn, Casey Ichniowski, and Seymour Spilerman of Columbia and Charles A. O’Reilly III of the University of California at Berkeley. I also thank John Delaney for his many helpful insights and suggestions during the course of my research and Gerald Ferris, Shannon Ratcliff, and Rick Fuentes for comments on an earlier draft of this paper. This research was supported by the Industrial Relations Research Center and the Management Institute at Columbia University, and the Department of Management at Texas A&M University.