The use of multiple scenarios by U.S. industrial companies

A growing number of firms have responded to the ‘unpredictable future’ by developing ways to measure their proposed strategies against several plausible alternative futures. Probably the most widely used of these techniques is multiple (or alternative) scenario analysis (MSA).Survey results indicate that approximately 150 of the Fortune ‘1000’ industrials now use MSA in their formal planning processes. Most have begun using MSA within the last 3 or 4 years. Furthermore, a number of other companies are considering its use. Survey results also show that firms do not follow the relatively rigorous procedures as suggested in the literature. Also, MSA seems to be most successful when management is both knowledgable and involved with scenarios from the beginning.     

The slave trade in the western Sudan during the nineteenth century

The traditional historical narrative has tended to interpret colonization during the Civil War by simultaneously discounting African-American support for the policy and Abraham Lincoln's sincerity in offering it. Challenging these views, this paper examines new evidence of the U.S. government's efforts to enlist the pro-emigration minority of the free black community for a proposed settlement in British Honduras. For a brief period in 1863, black emigrationists including Henry Highland Garnet and John Willis Menard seriously entertained the Lincoln administration's colonization offers, spurred largely by their experiences with racial violence in the USA and the prospect of stronger political rights abroad.     

Problem Gambling and its Impact on Families: A Literature Review

This paper offers an overview of the existing literature concerning problem gambling and families and identifies gaps in current research knowledge on this topic. Relevant theoretical perspectives are outlined and the role of familial factors in the development of problem gambling is discussed. This is followed by a focused review of the effects of problem gambling on family members, specifically the spouse, children and parents. Available treatments and therapies for family members are also reviewed. The paper concludes by identifying the limitations of existing knowledge and some directions for future research on this topic.     

Cigarette Use Among Young Adults: Comparisons Between 2-Year College Students, 4-Year College Students,and Those Not in College

Abstract

Objective: To examine cigarette smoking among young adults based on education status. Participants: Community-based sample of 2,694 young adults in the United States Methods: The authors compared 3 groups—those not in college with no college degree, 2-year college students/graduates, 4-year college students/graduates—on various smoking measures: ever smoked, smoked in past month, smoked in past week, consider self a smoker, began smoking before age 15, smoked over 100 cigarettes in lifetime, ever tried to quit, and plan to quit in next year. Results: The authors found that for nearly all the smoking measures, the 4-year college group was at lowest risk, the noncollege group was at highest risk, and the 2-year college group represented a midpoint. Differences between groups remain after adjusting for parents’ education and other potential confounding factors. Conclusions: Smoking behaviors clearly differ between the 2-year, 4-year, and no college groups. Interventions should be tailored for each group.     

Association of Sexual Abstinence in Adolescence with Mental Health in Adulthood

We examined whether adolescent sexual abstinence predicts better adult mental health. A total of 1,917 adolescents, recruited from middle schools at age 13, were surveyed at ages 13, 18, 23, and 29. In bivariate analyses, adolescent sexual abstinence was associated with better mental health at age 29 for females, but not for males; three adolescent factors, educational prospects, family bonding, and unconventionality, were investigated as explanatory variables of this relationship. The abstinence–mental health relationship was nonsignificant when educational prospects were included in multivariate models, and was marginally significant when family bonding and unconventionality were included; all three explanatory factors accounted for significant proportions of the variance in adult mental health. Girls who are uninvolved in school, have weak family backgrounds, and exhibit unconventionality may have poor adult mental health, whether or not they abstain from sex in adolescence. Interventions that strengthen adolescents' connections to families and schools may reduce risk for long-term mental health problems.     

Toleranz versus Vorurteil?

Is tolerance the opposite of prejudice? The widely shared belief that tolerance implies low levels of prejudice is put to the test. Four conceptions of tolerant attitudes are differentiated, as the basis for an empirical scale for measuring tolerant attitudes, which was tested in a representative survey in 2009. Analysis of the data supports the differentiation into four conceptions of tolerance, but the structural equation model shows a significant negative relationship with prejudice only for social esteem. It is questionable whether this conception can still be called tolerance, since it lacks the component of rejection which is inherent to tolerance.     

Earning While Learning: When and How Student Employment is Beneficial

Although studies of student employment (‘earning while learning’) mostly find positive wage effects, they do not adequately consider the relation of the employment to the field of study. We investigate how different types of student employment during tertiary education affect short‐ and long‐term labour market returns. Beyond examining differences between non‐working and part‐time working students, we distinguish between student employment related and unrelated to the field of study. Our results show significant positive labour market returns of ‘earning while learning’ only for student employment related to the field of study. These returns consist of a lower unemployment risk, shorter job‐search duration, higher wage effects, and greater job responsibility.