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Menorah Review (No. 68, Winter/Spring, 2008)

Menorah Review

A Response to Stephen Windmueller's Essay -- Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide: Similarities and Differences -- On Biblical Personality -- Telling Tales -- Templ(Ar)Ing -- The Ancient Grudge: The Merchant of Venice and Shylock's Christian Problem -- The Spiritual Path of Kabbalah -- Noteworthy Books

Treatment Of Chronically Depressed Patients: A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial Testing The Effectiveness Of 'Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System Of Psychotherapy' (Cbasp) For Chronic Depressions Versus Usual Secondary Care, Jenneke E. Wiersma, Digna Jf. Van Schaik, Patricia Van Oppen, James P. Mccullough, Robert A. Schoevers, Jack J. Dekker, Marc Bj. Blom, Kristel Maas, Johannes H. Smit, Brenda Wjh. Penninx, Aartjan Tf. Beekman

Psychology Publications

Background

'Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy' (CBASP) is a form of psychotherapy specifically developed for patients with chronic depression. In a study in the U.S., remarkable favorable effects of CBASP have been demonstrated. However, no other studies have as yet replicated these findings and CBASP has not been tested outside the United States. This protocol describes a randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of CBASP in the Netherlands.

Methods/Design

The purpose of the present paper is to report the study protocol of a multisite randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of 'Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy' (CBASP) for …

Use Of Multiple Methods: An Examination Of Constraints Effecting Ethnic Minority Visitor Use Of National Parks And Management Implications, Nina S. Roberts, Donald A. Rodriguez

Ethnic Studies Review

Understanding outdoor recreation participation and national park visitation by members of ethnic minority groups has been a particular focus of outdoor recreation researchers for the past twenty years. Attracting ethnic minorities, and understanding their recreation needs and interests, demands a multi-faceted approach and sustained commitment not only by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) but by other resource management agencies as well.

Artisans And The Marketing Of Ethnicity: Globalization, Indigenous Identity And Nobility Principle In Micro-Enterprise Development, Robin M. Chandler

Ethnic Studies Review

As a constructed category of human difference, 'ethnicity' has given way to 'culture' in its shared genealogy in the new millennium. Public knowledge about such phenomena as 'ethnic cleansing', debates on immigration, and the use of ethnicity as both a dependent and independent variable in research and policy are central realities in the domestic and foreign policies of many nations. The social psychology of group affiliation, nationalism, and the use of ethnicity (as well as gender) in workplace diversity, or the deployment of ethnicity in electoral politics continues to perplex and complicate human social interaction.

Fire In De Cane: Metaphors Of Indo Trinidadian Identity In Ramabai Espinet's The Swinging Bridge, Rosanne Kanhai

Ethnic Studies Review

The evolution of identity is on-going, yet to articulate identity is the self analysis of a people's understanding of who they are at a particular time. Perhaps in more stable societies, identity has not been a preoccupation, not the "stuff" of literature and other types of art. However, for us, in the western hemisphere, where indigenous populations have been brutally decimated and room made for more brutality in the uprootment, transportation and relocation of peoples from different parts of the globe, we find it a crucial to pause and understand who we are as we connect with each other. In …

Poictesme: A Student Anthology Of Literature And Art (2008)

Pwatem (Poictesme), 2006-

Poictesme (now Pwatem) is an anthology of literature and art from undergraduate students at Virginia Commonwealth University. It publishes poetry, prose and art of all kinds from talented undergraduate students of all majors.

Memories Of Home: Reading The Bedouin In Arab American Literature, Anissa J. Wardi, Katherine Wardi-Zonna

Ethnic Studies Review

In an urban neighborhood with a large Jewish population near my home, there is an Arabic restaurant. Name, menu and ownership mark its ethnic identification, yet its politics are otherwise obscured. An American flag, permanently placed in the restaurant's window since 9/11, greets American customers with a message of reconciliation. I am one of you, it says: come; eat; you are welcome here. In a climate where "Arabs, Arab-Americans and people with Middle Eastern features, everywhere are struggling to merely survive the United States' aggressive drive to 'bring democracy to the Middle East'" (Elia 160) and where the hostility toward …

Contributors

Ethnic Studies Review

Contributors to Ethnic Studies Review, Vol. 31, No. 1, Summer 2008.

Ethnic Studies Review

Ethnic Studies Review

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Differently Framed Information On Decision Making In The Public Budgeting Process: Does Budget Reform Mean A Damn?, Robert Dennis Malarkey

Theses and Dissertations

Public budgeting has become a central artifact of American government – the principal means for establishing and implementing policy. Modern public budgeting was introduced in the early Twentieth Century as an adaptation of objects of revenue and expenditure budgeting used in commercial businesses. Since then - over a hundred years - a series of budget reform movements have sought to overcome a major drawback to this model: the lack of a direct link between revenues and expenditures and any measure of the quality or quantity of public benefits derived from budget allocations. While a number of major budget reforms have …

Civic Habits: A Predictive Model Of Volunteer Behavior, Susan G. White

Theses and Dissertations

The findings of this research indicate that volunteering is influenced by a number of factors, one of which is gender. The data used in this study reveal a different profile of the volunteer than is presented in much of the research on volunteering, which tends to profile the "most likely" volunteer as female, employed by the public sector, possessing a higher education and having children. The questions addressed in this research are: 1) What are the contextual effects of volunteering and 2) Is there a relationship of one or more of these effects to gender? The findings indicate men in …

Informal Caregivers Of Advanced Cancer Patients: The Impact Of Geographic Proximity On Social Support And Bereavement Adjustment, John Garland Cagle

Theses and Dissertations

This research explored the social and psychological needs of caregivers of advanced cancer patients, and their subsequent bereavement adjustment. The study focuses exclusively on informal caregivers who provide assistance to patients receiving hospice care for end-stage cancer. Those individuals living furthest from the dying care recipient, the long distance caregivers, were of particular interest. This study used a prospective design to explore how a caregiver's geographic proximity impacted their social support and bereavement adjustment. A 2 x 3 repeated measures design was used to gather data from caregivers before a patient's death (using a pre-death questionnaire) as well as after …

Self-Appraisals, Perfectionism, And Academics In College Undergraduates, David Edward Canter

Theses and Dissertations

The influences on perfectionism and procrastination of race, gender, cognitive-affective and academic self-appraisals, and academic performance expectations were studied. The sample consisted of 155 Introductory Psychology students (57 African Americans, 41 Asian Americans, and 57 European Americans; 51.6% women) with a mean age of 19.4 years (SD = 3.6). Data were collected during the final week of the Fall 2007 semester. Consistent with previous research indicating that men are more likely to procrastinate than women, men were over-represented in this sample. Self-esteem, measured with the Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, was conceptualized as having two components: self-liking and self-competence (Tafarodi & …

The Pedagogy Of Shakespeare & Company, Catherine Bryne

Theses and Dissertations

The Pedagogy of Shakespeare & Company examines in several ways the principles and practices of actor training at Shakespeare & Company of Lenox, Massachusetts. Chapter 1 is a narrative of my personal experience at the Month-long Intensive in Lenox, elaborating its multiple components. Chapter 2 recounts the genesis of the company and looks at the influences that shaped its identity. Chapter 3 is a more specific attempt to define the pedagogy developed by Tina Packer, Kristin Linklater and the other founders of Shakespeare & Company and to provide some contextual analysis. The remainder of this document explores my own pedagogical …

A Science & Mathematics Magnet School At Maymont, Sarah Shamus Nakfoor

Theses and Dissertations

I am interested in the idea that schools should be designed to offer individualized learning."A Science & Mathematics Magnet School at Maymont" explores a type of school that is becoming more familiar and accessible. By allowing students who have an interest in excelling in school and preparing for their future careers to come together and meet one another and experience aneducation that might not otherwise be available can be beneficial in many ways. In most cases, because of the funding required for such specialized schools, class sizes are reduced to meet budgets and the schools are opened to the community …

Surging Seepage: A Triple Bond Accretion System, Jacqueline Brown

Theses and Dissertations

My current work revels in a state of flux. I strive for the work to be electrically charged, conveying a feverish sense of immediacy and vitality that implies motion and frenetic energy. The work is an accretion of brightly colored biomorphic forms that extend out from the wall and onto the floor. Viscous parts ooze and drip while others are globular and bulbous. The hyper-organic forms suggest a paradoxical state of both ripening and rotting, becoming and unbecoming. The work is an attempt to traverse between seemingly divergent constructs, some of which include: growth and decay, the artificial and the …

Examining Student Engagement And Its Influence In A Social Contextual Model Of Adolescent Health Behavior Change, Ian Joseph Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

Current theoretical models of health behavior change frequently serve as the theoretical backdrop to adolescent health promotion programs. Yet, despite that each main theory was developed with adults and for adults, appropriate and necessary changes for adolescents are often neglected. The unique values, priorities, and abilities of adolescents are important and therefore necessary to consider during health promotion efforts. The present study explored student engagement, a unique adolescent need that has been shown to facilitate achievement in academic environments. Evidence from the psychological and educational literatures suggests that engagement may uniquely influence the process of health behavior change for adolescents. …

Quantifiying The Depth Of Oral Sedation Using Bispectral Index Monitoring, John Flowers

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: To determine whether Bispectral Index Monitoring is an effective tool for quantifying sedation depth after the administration of oral drug regimens in children.Methods: This retrospective study reviewed the charts of 75 children who received oral conscious sedation for dental treatment. Data collected from the chart included; 1) BIS values at 5 minute intervals and at five critical events: pre-operative, local anesthesia delivery, rubber dam placement (if utilized), during operative treatment, and postoperatively, 2) behavior ratings at the five critical events and an overall behavior assessment, 3) treatment data, and 4) demographic data. Results: The mean BIS value for orally …

Assessment Of Seminary Education On End Of Life Issues, Stefan Hakon Pomrenke

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The US health care system faces increased costs from end of life (EOL) care. The intensive approach to EOL treatment with greater use of procedures in ICUs has led to decedent spending six times greater than that of survivors in the hospital. Experts in ICU and Palliative care fields have called for greater utilization of end of life planning and education. To date, EOL education has been dominated by the technologically driven medical field and the church has been under-utilized. The US population relies on clergy support for many mental health and EOL issues. Clergy report feeling uncomfortable in …

Comparative Practices & Perspectives: Gender, Development And Empowerment In Uttarakhand, India And Northern Virginia, Sara Duke

Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis is a qualitative comparative case study which investigated the values, practices, perspectives, and strategies of Indian and American community organizers (practitioners and volunteers of non-profits and non-governmental organizations) who use microfinance, including savings schemes, as an instrument within the social intermediation process of developing disadvantaged women's capacities for self-sufficiency/empowerment. The focused inquiry was conducted through similarly structured in-depth interviews of directors, staff members and volunteers/community-based organizers of a women's business center in Northern Virginia, a large U.S. metropolitan area, and a women's federation in the rural Himalayas of Uttarakhand, India. Interview questions focused on savings, social intermediation, …

The Effects Of Atomoxetine On Cognitive Performace And Neuroplasticity After Traumatic Brain Injury, Wendy Reid

Theses and Dissertations

Catecholaminergic neurotransmission is regionally altered following injury, and drugs aimed at these systems offer promising avenues for post-TBI pharmacotherapies. Atomoxetine is a selective norepinephrine transporter (NET) inhibitor currently indicated for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The studies in this dissertation were designed to test the efficacy of atomoxetine for treating cognitive deficits following experimental TBI and the potential mechanism for any beneficial effect. The first part of the study focused on behavioral recovery following atomoxetine treatment. Several important questions of dose, therapeutic window, and duration of treatment were addressed in these studies. Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to lateral fluid-percussion …

Organizing Around A Center: A Design Incubator And Business Center, Mindy Carter

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the development of an interdisciplinary design incubator and community business center in Richmond, Virginia through the adaptive reuse of a retired, historic school building. In contrast to the deteriorating conditions of Patrick Henry School, renewed growth abounds in its extraordinary site surroundings—the 105 acres of Forest Hill Park, which serves as the virtual backyard of the school building. This dualism provided a prime opportunity for discovering the design possibilities in connecting a built space to its physical surroundings and for giving meaningful new life to an abandoned space.

Blending Doctrine, Practice, And Purpose In Legal Education: The Case For An Integrated Pedagogy, Debra M. Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional legal education is sorely imbalanced. A law student receives rigorous training in legal doctrine and analytical skills—he learns to "think like a lawyer"—but is left with little training in practical skills or his ethical role in society. Moreover, law schools rely almost exclusively on the ineffectual pedagogy of the case-dialogue, or "Socratic," method. Several factors explain this entrenched imbalance, most notably the academy's top-down power structure and its budget constraints. Increasingly, however, the marketplace is demanding practice-ready lawyers who have strong training not only in doctrine but in practical skills and ethics. Law schools, responding to this market pressure, …

Greenlife: A Sustainable Retail Space, Veronica J. Ledford

Theses and Dissertations

GreenLife is the name of the retail interior design project that embodies this thesis. Using interior design as a medium to influence customers,I sought to create an environment that promotes a connection to nature and an awareness of creative possiblities within the context of a store. It addresses the problem of personal social responsiblity by using shopping, a dominant activity in the western world, as a tool for change. As a project, GreenLife attempts to answer three questions: How does design inform cultural experience? How can a connection with nature inform consumerism? Can a store transcend its purpose from filling …

Moments Of Absorption, Sarah K. Kaufman

Theses and Dissertations

Moments of Absorption explores the conceptual and visual themes that are presented in my MFA thesis exhibition. The research looks into the absorption of the nude subject, the gestures that communicate this absorption, and the domestic space as a stage for the presentation of these gestures. This work investigates a tension between the theatrical and the natural as represented by images.

Amendment (2008 Fall)

Amendment, 2004-

Amendment is a VCU student-produced progressive literature and art journal that provides a platform for students to promote equality, tolerance, and social progression through artistic expression.

Growing Adult Readers: Promoting Leisure Reading In Academic Libraries, Renée Bosman, John Glover, Monique Prince

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

This article provides an introduction to the recreational reading promotion tools at VCU Libraries, including a book review blog, book swap, and bulletin board, as well as the libraries’ involvement with VCU’s summer reading program and Richmond’s citywide “One Community One Book” initiative. Policies and operating procedures will be examined, and these services will be discussed in the context of other libraries’ offerings. We will also discuss why there is a need for these services–which have traditionally been the purview of the public library–on a college campus. Reading among American adults is in dramatic decline, and the academic library is …

The Influence Of Environmental Factors And Organizational Characteristics On Innovations In Family Medicine Practices In Virginia, Debora Goetz Goldberg

Theses and Dissertations

Family medicine practices are currently threatened by factors such as poor reimbursement, physician stress, shortage of providers, and difficulties in providing prompt access and reliable continuity of care. The external environment faced by family medicine practices is extremely complex and characterized by high pressure from regulatory sources, decreasing reimbursement levels, an increasing rate of change in technologies and care delivery processes, and increasing patient and community expectations. Over the last several years there have been many efforts in family medicine to respond to the challenges presented by the external environment. The majority of these efforts focus on redesigning the delivery …

A Comparison Of Ordinary Least Squares And Instrumental Variables Regression For High Intensity Disease Management Evaluation, Gerald A. Craver

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Disease management (DM) programs are typically evaluated using study designs that are susceptible to selection bias and other internal validity threats because participants are often allowed to self-select into the programs. As a result, DM evaluation results are usually biased because researchers are unable to control for preexisting differences between the DM participants and non-participants. Linden and Adams (2006) offer an instrumental variables (IV) regression procedure as a means of deriving unbiased estimates of DM program effectiveness. However, IV regression relies upon the existence of one or more variables (or instruments) that produce considerable variation in the program participation …

Looking For Ways To Ruin A Perfectly Good Day: Masculinity In Bash: The Latter-Day Plays By Neil Labute, Daniel F. Devlin

Theses and Dissertations

Neil LaBute is one of the most prolific and challenging playwrights in America today. My thesis will explore his work bash: the latter-day plays through the frame of the performance and use of masculinity by his characters, and will create a vocabulary through which the remainder of LaBute's works can be studied, both in terms of academic scholarship and the practical application of that scholarship to the process of theatrical creation.