Solutions and Suggestions from across the Pond: An Interview with Hazel Woodward

In August 2009 Margaret Dull interviewed Hazel Woodward, university librarian and director of the University Press at Cranfield University (Cranfield, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom). Woodward shares her views on the challenges facing librarians regarding e-resources, their licensing, and management. She also shares how the collaborative work of libraries in the UK can offer solutions to similar challenges faced in America and abroad.     

Medcamp's Effect on Junior High School Students' Medical Career Self-Efficacy

Medcamp, a 3-day problem-based career intervention for students entering the 9th grade, implemented each of the 4 antecedents for self-efficacy. Ten boys and 35 girls participated in Medcamp; of these, 35 completed and returned the Medical Career Self-Efficacy Scales (developed by the authors for their study) both at the beginning and at the end of the program. Three scales measured specific self-efficacy (tasks students had performed during Medcamp), related self-efficacy (other tasks students would complete by the second year of medical school), and general self-efficacy (included lifestyle variables and study habits). Results demonstrated significant increases in self-efficacy on all 3 scales.     

INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY INFLUENCE STRUCTURE

This study examines the continuity of organizational and leader networks and community elite structure by replicating a study carried out 12 years earlier. Continuity of structure in the organizational bases of in fluence, in the leaders identified as influentials, and in the organizational and leader networks in the community is looked for. It is concluded that there is continuity in the bases and structure of influence and that the ability to exercise influence is related to access to organizational resources. A contrast of organization and leader networks suggests a shift from narrow organizational interests to business class interests.     

ECLECTIC STRATEGIC PRACTICE: A PROCESS CONSTRUCTIVE PERSPECTIVE

The development of an integrative individual and family therapy approach has been hampered by fundamental differences in philosophy and theoretical conceptualization among approaches. Given these largely irreconcilable differences systemic framework for a technical eclecticism may represent a logical step toward a more flexible consideration of both individual and family approaches. This article will describe an extension of the strategic therapy model that enables and encourages the selective application of content and techniques from individual and family approaches. Three case examples will illustrate a process-oriented, constructivist rationale for eclectic strategic practice as well as a more collaborative and relationship-oriented perspective of strategic therapy.     

Parenthood or nonparenthood: A comparison of intentional families

A sample of the intentionally childless was compared with a sample of parents who exerted an equal amount of control over their family size by planning the number, timing, and spacing of their children. While both the childless and the parents expressed high levels of marital and life satisfaction, the intentionally childless were significantly more satisfied with their marital relationships. The childless were less conforming, had higher self-esteem, and were equally as empathic as the parents. The childless and the parents were markedly similar with regard to background factors and in their perceptions of their childhood and of their parents' relationship.The authors wish to thank Linda Gorin Sibner for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.Bonnie Burman received a B.A. and a M.S.W. from UCLA. She is currently a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Southern California. Diane de Anda is associate professor, School of Social Welfare, UCLA. Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr. de Anda, UCLA, School of Social Welfare, 405 N. Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. 90024.     

Social Order through a Prism: Color as Collective Representation

Although color has rarely been examined as a sociological topic, the meaning of color is linked to numerous social domains and serves as a collective representation. Color contributes to social meanings in institutional orders, stratification systems, and identity. While color has some meaning separate from its linkage to particular objects, in most cases colors are situated. We perceive not color, but colored objects. Any given color has multiple meanings that are understood in context. Through our examination of a range of domains in which color has social significance, we suggest that the examination of this field has considerable promise. We conclude by linking the analysis of color to the model of cultural formation suggested by Schudson (1989), focusing on retrievability, rhetorical force, resonance, institutional retention, and resolution.     

Risk Characterization of Methyl tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) in Tap Water

Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) can enter surface water and groundwater through wet atmospheric deposition or as a result of fuel leaks and spills. About 30% of the U.S. population lives in areas where MTBE is in regular use. Ninety-five percent of this population is unlikely to be exposed to MTBE in tap water at concentrations exceeding 2 ppb, and most will be exposed to concentrations that are much lower and may be zero. About 5% of this population may be exposed to higher levels of MTBE in tap water, resulting from fuel tank leaks and spills into surface or groundwater used for potable water supplies. This paper describes the concentration ranges found and anticipated in surface and groundwater, and estimates the distribution of doses experienced by humans using water containing MTBE to drink, prepare food, and shower/bathe. The toxic properties (including potency) of MTBE when ingested, inhaled, and in contact with the skin are summarized. Using a range of human toxic potency values derived from animal studies, margins of exposure (MOE) associated with alternative chronic exposure scenarios are estimated to range from 1700 to 140,000. Maximum concentrations of MTBE in tap water anticipated not to cause adverse health effects are determined to range from 700 to 14,000 ppb. The results of this analysis demonstrate that no health risks are likely to be associated with chronic and subchronic human exposures to MTBE in tap water. Although some individuals may be exposed to very high concentrations of MTBE in tap water immediately following a localized spill, these exposures are likely to be brief in duration due to large-scale dilution and rapid volatilization of MTBE, the institution of emergency response and remediation measures to minimize human exposures, and the low taste and odor thresholds of MTBE which ensure that its presence in tap water is readily detected at concentrations well below the threshold for human injury.