Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Assessment Of Scales Measuring Constructs In Tests Of Criminological Theory Based On National Youth Survey Data, Todd A. Armstrong, Daniel R. Lee, Gaylene Armstrong

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Researchers have utilized the National Youth Survey (NYS) data to test a variety of theoretical explanations of criminal behavior. Here, the authors offer an assessment of scales used in tests of criminological theory based on NYS data. The authors conducted this assessment to provide results informing future tests of theory. Their analyses focus on understanding the extent to which scales representative of different theories are actually based on the same item content. They test for two distinct processes that may explain this phenomenon. In the first process, scales measuring a given construct are attributed to different theories. In the second …

Bringing Semantic Diversity To The Online Catalog With Librarything, Rachel A. Erb, Melissa Cast-Brede

Criss Library Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

While controlled vocabularies, such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings, are an essential component of bibliographic classification, a controlled vocabulary excludes all possibilities of semantic variance by design. Also, a controlled vocabulary tends to lag behind the organic nature of language and does not account for the introduction of new or discipline specific vocabularies. These limitations present unique challenges for our users searching the OP AC. Can importing social tags in the online catalog effectively address the lack of semantic variance?

As part of the Web OPAC redesign project at UNO, LibraryThing tags were added to matching bibliographic records …

The Challenge Of Implementing Gender Budgets, John R. Bartle, Marilyn Marks Rubin, Sikarn Issarachaiyos

Public Administration Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Over the last three decades, countries all over the world, supported by the international community of nations, have been moving toward more equitable treatment of women. In 1979, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), often referred to as the international bill of rights for women. CEDAW has been ratified by more than 90 percent of the nations in the world, with the United States the only industrialized nation in the world that has yet to ratify it.

Delegates to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in …

Telling Stories Of Libraries And Leadership, Audrey Defrank

Criss Library Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

A presentation outlining the four frames of leadership and storytelling as they relate to libraries. Leadership Orientation Questionnaire; Overview; Inspiration; Leadership; Reframing Leadership; Structural Frame; Human Resources Frame; Political Frame; Symbolic Frame; Where do you fit in the frame?; Native American Storytelling; Organizations as Cultures; Story Narrative; Telling the Story.

Wikifying Your Workplace, Audrey Defrank, Karen K. Hein

Criss Library Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

A presentation on adding an organizational wiki to your workplace drawing upon gardening analogies. What's a Wiki?; Wiki your Work; Sowing the Seeds; Why Wiki?; Your Monitor?; Your Inbox?; Your Shared Drive?; Your Intranet?; Your People?; Choosing a Wiki; Planting; Growing; Weeding; Future Harvests; Criss Library Wiki; Criss Library Wiki Stats; New Crops and Cultivation for Criss Library; Keep Tilling!

Nebraska’S Immigrant Population: Economic And Fiscal Impacts - Ollas Report No. 5, Christopher Decker, Jerry Deichert, Lourdes Gouveia

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

Immigration issues have once again assumed center stage in policy circles at every level of government in the United States, as the number of new immigrants, many undocumented and many from Latin American nations, has risen markedly in recent years. This is certainly true in Nebraska. According to US Census figures for 2000, the total immigrant population in Nebraska was estimated to be 74,638. By 2006, this figure had risen to 99,500, a 33.3 percent increase. By comparison, the total native-born population in the state grew less than 2.0 percent over the same six-year period.

This study attempts to quantitatively …

In The Balance: Immigrant Economic Contributions And The Advancement Of Human Rights In Nebraska - Ollas Policy Brief No. 1, Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, Lourdes Gouveia

Latino/Latin American Studies Policy Briefs

No abstract provided.

Coaching Critically: Engaging Critical Pedagogy In The Forensics Squad Room, Adam W. Tyma

Communication Faculty Publications

During my first few years as a high school speech coach, I worked with an oratory student who was also a policy debater. During one particular coaching session, she mentioned that she and her partner were "running Foucault" as a case in policy. "What do you mean you are 'running' Foucault,'' I asked? She then informed me how the work of Foucault and other critical and cultural theorists was being employed in the competitive policy debate world as "kritiks." My student explained that she and her partner were using Foucault because it was "the way" to win rounds: "all of …

Connecting Generations For Organizational Success, Kate Wise, Heidi Blackburn, Alysia Starkey

Criss Library Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

This presentation features Introduction, A Brief Look at Generational Characteristics, and Techniques to Bridge Generational Gaps.

Bookreview: Price, B. E. (2006). Merchandizing Prisoners: Who Really Pays For Prison Privatization? Westport, Ct: Praeger. 187 Pp, Gaylene Armstrong

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Review of Price’s Merchandizing Prisoners: Who Really Pays for Prison Privatization?

The Organizational, Community And Programmatic Characteristics That Predict The Effective Implementation Of After-School Programs, Todd A. Armstrong, Gaylene Armstrong

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

To identify characteristics predicting the effective implementation of after-school programs, in-depth interviews were conducted at five sites randomly selected from a subset of 16 ACE after-school sites serving high risk youth in a southwestern city. Qualitative data from structured in-depth interviews, follow-up telephone conversations with personnel as well as researcher observations during site visits were synthesized. Data identified three constellations of characteristics associated with effective implementation: staffing, community and programmatic. Staffing characteristics included limited staff turnover and sufficient training. Community characteristics included cultural sensitivity and community integration. Programmatic characteristics included clearly defined program goals and specific program content. Researcher observations …

2007 Nebraska Population Report, David J. Drozd, Jerry Deichert

Archived Publications

This report shows annual estimates of the population for Nebraska and its counties and cities. Demographic patterns and trends, including changes in the components of population change, are illustrated. As the passage of time takes us further from Census 2000 and closer to the 2010 Census, it is important to see how official estimates show the specific changes that have been occurring at both the state and local level.

The Human Face Of Economic Globalization: Mexican Migrants And Their Support For Free Trade, John Aldrich, Victoria Defrencesco Soto, Gregory A. Petrow

Political Science Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results from a focus group and an experiment conducted with Mexican immigrant farm workers as participants. The idea is to investigate free trade attitudes among a group little studied in the debate over immigration and its role in globalization. We can readily illustrate, as we do via our focus group participants, that many of these migrants understand their political situation. Our focus then turns to the political psychology of these workers: how does this understanding manifest itself in their political attitudes? The experiment exposes them to a standard set of arguments for and against economic globalization …

Responding Destructively In Leadership Situations: The Role Of Personal Values And Problem Construction, Jody J. Illies, Roni Reiter-Palmon

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study explored the influence of personal values on destructive leader behavior. Student participants completed a managerial assessment center that presented them with ambiguous leadership decisions and problems. Destructive behavior was defined as harming organizational members or striving for short-term gains over long-term organizational goals. Results revealed that individuals with self-enhancement values were more destructive than individuals with self-transcendence values were, with the core values of power (self-enhancement) and universalism (self-transcendence) being most influential. Results also showed that individuals defined and structured leadership problems in a manner that reflected their value systems, which in turn affected the problem solutions they …

Keep Public Places Open To The Autistic, Karen Falconer Al-Hindi, Carol Salber, Shawn Neff

Geography and Geology Faculty Publications

What does it mean to be "well-behaved"?

A recent Associated Press article (Aug. 17 World-Herald) discussed the "disruptive behavior" of individuals with autism. As mothers and activists on behalf of children with autism, we have a different perspective.

Nebraska Births Report: A Look At Births, Fertility Rates, And Natural Change, David J. Drozd, Jerry Deichert

Archived Publications

This report shows annual birth and death figures for Nebraska and its counties. Demographic patterns and trends, including components of population change, are illustrated. Births to Nebraska residents have outnumbered deaths for decades, a leading factor in Nebraska’s population growth. In Nebraska, this “natural change” tends to dwarf the other primary component of population change, net migration, so details and factors relating to births and fertility rates are important areas to study. As such, this report focuses on showing changes in the number of births and other birth trends since they have such a profound effect on Nebraska’s population and …

A Long Spell Of Uncertainty, John Austin, Chris Decker, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Bruce Johnson, Lisa Johnson, Ken Lemke, Franz Schwarz, Scott Strain, Eric Thompson, Keith Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

We find ourselves in a period of sustained economic uncertainty. Today, like 6 months ago, the U.S. economy is on the brink of a recession. Weakness in lending activity, coupled with weakness in the housing sector and related manufacturing industries has stymied economic growth since late 2007. At times, recession seems imminent. But, the official measures, such as quarterly gross domestic product, do not clearly signal that the economy is contracting. Further, prices are rising rapidly for food and energy. That is the uncertainty. Will 2008 be remembered as a recession year, or as a period of disappointing but slow …

Endogenous Asymmetric Information And International Equity Home Bias: The Effects Of Portfolio Size And Information Costs, John M. Barron, Jinlan Ni

Economics Faculty Publications

Equity home bias is one of the major puzzles in international finance. This paper investigates the impact of asymmetric information on equity home bias in a rational expectation model where portfolio managers differ in their levels of initial portfolio size and information acquisition is endogenous. The model characterizes the information acquisition and investment decisions made by each portfolio manager, and the resulting equilibrium. We find that portfolio managers with larger portfolio size acquire information about the foreign asset; this is consistent with new evidence linking the degree of home bias across portfolio managers to portfolio size.

The Measurement Of Psychopathy: Dimensional And Taxometric Approaches, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This article extends the debate over personality disorders as dimensional or taxonic phenomena to the study of psychopathy and relates this issue to questions surrounding whether behaviors or personality traits best represent psychopathy. Proponents of dimensional measurements of psychopathy consider personality traits to be important constructs of psychopathy, whereas proponents of taxometric measurements consider behaviors to be important characteristics of psychopathy. After a brief introduction to the measurement of psychopathy, taxometric and dimensional measurement techniques are explained, their assumptions addressed, and their strengths and weaknesses discussed. Empirical evidence for each technique is then critiqued, and methodological problems are described. It …

In The Simplest Terms, In The Most Convenient Definitions: 2.0 Tools For Education And Outreach, Amy Schindler

Criss Library Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Presentation about the use of Web 2.0 or social media tools in the Swem Library's Special Collections presented at the spring 2008 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC).

"From Troubled Ground To Common Ground": The Locust Grove African- American Cemetery Restoration Project: A Case Study Of Service-Learning And Community History, Steven B. Burg

Project Summaries

This article chronicles a movement to restore Shippensburg, Pennsylvania's Locust Grove Cemetery, a historic African-American burial ground. The cemetery faced persistent troubles exacerbated by changing demographics in the surrounding neighborhood, its caretakers' limited resources, and the community's history of racial discrimination. Beginning in 2003, Shippensburg University applied history students assisted with research, grant writing, and interpretative materials. By 2005, a community coalition formed that built on the students' efforts, ultimately mobilizing the resources needed to finish the restoration. This case study illustrates the complex dynamics of a community preservation campaign and ways Public History programs can support such efforts.

Technical Services Round Table Spring Meeting Spelunking Or Serendipity: Discovery In The Catalog, Angela J. Kroeger, Janice Boyer

Criss Library Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

No abstract provided.

"The Gallery": An Experiential Approach To Visual Aid Construction And Analysis In The Classroom, Adam W. Tyma

Communication Faculty Publications

Objective(s): Students will create ballots based on established criteria and critique visual aids

Course(s): Public Speaking, Introduction to Human Communication, Business and Professional Communication, Persuasive Speaking

A Tobacco-Free Service-Learning Pilot Project, Sherry Bassi, Janet Cray, Lois Caldrello

Higher Education

This pilot project was a collaboration between a public university school of nursing in New England and an elementary school in southeastern Connecticut, with 450 student participants. The school was selected because of the presence of poverty, health disparities, and single-parent homes in the population. Eighteen nursing students participated as part of a service-learning project. The nursing students provided tobacco-use education. Fourth and fifth grade students were taught components of the pro-health tobacco education program, the Tar Wars curriculum. Other age-appropriate strategies targeted grades pre-kindergarten through 3. One hundred percent of fourth and fifth grade students achieved the learning objectives; …

Constructing A Home On The Range: Homemaking In Early Twentieth Century Plains Photograph Albums, Christina E. Dando

Geography and Geology Faculty Publications

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.¹

These lyrics capture a yearning for a place to call home. But what landscape is associated with this longing? For people living near the coasts or mountains of America, it must be hard to imagine longing for a "home on the plains"-but many Americans have had, and still have, a home on the Plains. The stereotypical American image of the Plains is flatness, austerity, emptiness. Not all would …

Mind Your Meetings: Improve Your Organization’S Effectiveness One Meeting At A Time, Joseph A. Allen, Steven G. Rogelberg, John C. Scott

Psychology Faculty Publications

Managers and executives spend an inordinate amount of time in the estimated 11 million meetings held in the United States every day. In a survey of 1,900 business leaders, 72% indicated they spend more time in meetings today than they did five years ago, and 49% said they expect that time in meetings to increase.

Another study revealed that small businesses (fewer than 10 people) spend about 10% of their time preparing, attending, leading and concluding meetings. Larger organizations (500 or more employees) spend about 75% of their work time on these activities.

As the number of meetings increases, the …

Putting Together The Pieces At Your Library: Your Library Is More Than The Sum Of Its Departments, Angela J. Kroeger

Criss Library Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Therapeutic Camping Needs Of Children: The Hole-In-The-Hills At Wa-Shawtee, R. K. Piper, Ashley Kistner, Karen Rolf, Jerry Deichert, Russ Smith

Archived Publications

This executive summary of the preliminary report documents the major findings, to date, of the first two components of a needs assessment being conducted for the Hole in the Hills at Wa-Shawtee (HITH). The purpose of the study is to determine if a new, medically-equipped and professionally-staffed therapeutic camp in the Great Plains region of the Midwest has the capacity to be a success. There are almost 3.5 million children between the ages of five and seventeen in the 6-state HITH region, 1 an unknown number of whom are seriously-ill and/or have special medical conditions and health care needs, who …

State Rural Development Policy: The Role Of The Community Development Block Grant Program, Robert Blair, Jerry Deichert, David J. Drozd

Publications

A partnership of the federal government and the states implement rural community development policy today, yet researchers rarely examine the nature and efficacy of this extensive intergovernmental collaboration. The authors collected data on Community Development Block Grant awards made by one state to small and rural communities for a variety of development projects over a period of more than ten years, and using a modified rural classification system detected patterns and trends in allocation. This study seeks to determine if a federally funded program assists states address the development needs of a diverse mix of rural communities. Do federal block …

Adolescents With Two Nonresident Biological Parents: Living Arrangements, Parental Involvement, And Well-Being, Valarie King, Katherine C. Stamps, Daniel Hawkins

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

We know little about children who have two living nonresident biological parents. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examines the diverse living arrangements of U.S. adolescents in this situation, the kinds of relationships they have with each of their nonresident parents, and the consequences of these arrangements for child well-being. Differences between these adolescents (N = 502) and those who have one nonresident biological parent (N = 4746) are also examined. Results point to certain groups of adolescents with two nonresident parents who are at particular risk of exhibiting higher levels of behavior problems …