Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Cpar Focus, October 1989, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

This issue of Center for Public Affairs Research (CPAR) FOCUS features "Employment Trends in the Omaha MSA Construction Industry" by E. David Fifer.

National Service And Student Aid: Myth And Reality, Will Marshall, Joel Berg

Service Learning, General

Do citizens who receive government benefits owe a debt of service to society? That question lies at the heart of the controversy surrounding the Citizenship and National Service Act introduced in January, 1989 by Sens. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and Charles Robb (D-Va.) and Rep. Dave McCurdy (D-Ok.). The bill stems from a May, 1988 proposal by the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) that challenges the efficacy and fairness of existing federal student aid programs and proposes instead a "new G.I. Bill" that would award public aid in exchange for civilian or military service to the nation.

The Predictive Value Of Mmpi Personality Style In Obesity Therapy, Jeffrey J. Harvey

Student Work

The present study assessed whether psychopathology influences obese subject’s ability to lose weight. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was used to differentiate between 46 pathological and 52 nonpathological subjects. A repeated measures analysis of variance did not support the hypothesis that the degree of weight loss is negatively associated with the amount of psychopathology measured by the MMPI. In addition, an analysis of covariance was conducted in an attempt to control for possible confounding factors at the start of treatment and also failed to support the hypothesis.

The Effects Of Feedback Referent And Content Upon Self-Determination, Rated Task Interest, And Intrinsic Motivation, Kerry L. Sheehan

Student Work

This study was an attempt to determine if verbal feedback could be used to convey information about feedback referent and feedback content to individuals in an experimental setting, and if so, if that information would influence their perceptions of perceived task competence, self-determination, task-interest, and intrinsic motivation. Eighty subjects were used from psychology classes. The majority were college freshmen or sophomores. Results showed that subjects did attend to the feedback referent, but that the referent had no subsequent influence on any of the dependent variables. Additionally, the feedback content manipulation did not produce the predicted effects upon the dependent variables. …

The Effects Of Facial Attractiveness On Judicial Recommendations Made By Middle-Aged Mid-Western Females, Angela Boyd

Student Work

Upon first meeting someone, we are most likely to notice their physical appearance before anything else. "We have a strong tendency to be favorably impressed by attractive people and to be less favorably impressed with those who are not so attractive" ( Janda, & Klenke-Hamel, 1982, p. 422). There are a number of studies that have dealt with characteristics of an individual as related to his or her physical attractiveness. Past studies (Asch, 1946, Landy & Aronson, 1969) have also looked at attractive and unattractive individuals and the effects this has on one's expectations of these individuals.

Construct Validity And Development Of Local Norms In The Assessment Of Adhd., Rose Ternes Hunter

Student Work

A pilot study was performed to determine the validity of on-task behavior and locally developed attention tasks# to assist in the identification of children with ADHD. Subjects were third grade students in the Hampton City Public Schools. Means and standard deviations were computed for time-on-task as well as number correct and number committed for each of five separate attention tasks. A correlation analysis was performed to compare results of attention tasks with each other as well as with the Abbreviated Conners Teacher's Scale (ACTS), a Hyperactivity Index, and IQ. Results were in the expected direction, although correlations with ACTS were …

Speaking Out For Youth Service: It's Not Just The Thought That Counts, Youth Service America, Nittional Association Of Service And Conservation Corps

Conference Proceedings

Welcome to the Youth Service America conference on national youth service issues and policy. We are gathering in Washington at a time when interest in youth service is high and Congressional action possible. Together, at this conference, we have an opportunity to play a central role in expanding the diversified field of youth service and translating successful youth service strategies into a national policy that will make the ethic of service an integral part of growing up in America.

Caur Review Vol. 02, No. 01, Center For Applied Urban Research (Caur)

Publications

S.T.A.R.T. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

A Communication Methodology For Subordinates-Supervisors To Coactively Generate Heuristic-Leadership Decisions In Commercial Banking, Mary Ann Danielson

Student Work

This thesis neither advocates nor strictly adheres to the dominant, top-down style of leadership often used in commercial banking institutions. Rather, while working within the commercial bank setting, this thesis focuses on the subordinatesupervisor relationship and emphasizes a heuristic approach to leadership.

Negotiation Pedagogy As Communication Methodology Focused On Conditionality And Recursivity In Third-Order Coupling, Eroca Gabriel

Student Work

This study is not a prescribed method of communication techniques for learning how to negotiate. It is not designed to teach the reader various and sundry negotiation strategies or tactics. Neither is this a study in East Indian communication theory or cross-cultural communication. The result of this study is a negotiation pedagogy as communication methodology—a distinctly heuristic design intended to lead the student of negotiation to discover his/her own capacities for negotiating. In the broad realm of negotiation, this study serves to introduce a new approach—actually a meta-approach to negotiating— that provides a systematic means whereby students can direct themselves …

The Value Of Community-Service Programs, John H. Buchanan

Service Learning, General

When both President Bush and Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts assume leading roles in a new national movement, there is reason to believe that something significant may be happening.

Such appears to be the case with the growing interest in Washington and elsewhere in youth-focused community-service programs.

Fostering Intergenerational Relatiollships For At-Risk Youth, Marc Freedman

Intergenerational

Many at-risk youth are growing up isolated from the range of caring and consistent adult relationships so important for navigating the treacherous course from adolescence to adulthood. An accumulation of research from the social sciences suggests that adult relationships-provided not only by parents. but by grandparents, neighbors and other interested elders-are a common factor among resilient children, who achieve success despite growing up under disadvantaged and stressful circumstances. An important. and not often addressed, question for social programs and policy is whether the circumstances of more at-risk youth could be improved through efforts designed to provide greater access to helping …

National Youth Service: The Proposed Legislation, Robert H. Atwell

Special Topics, General

I'm very happy to be back in sunny Arizona. I was here just a few weeks ago for another meeting, but this week I'm especially glad to be out of Washington, where the weather has been dreary and some of the political debate even drearier.

Because I work in Washington, everybody always wants to know what's really going on in the nation's capital, and why the government can't seem to get anything right. So I thought I'd begin by telling you about something you didn't read in the newspapers, and that's a meeting that took place the other day at …

Occasional Paper No. 089-1: Employment Of Black And Hispanic Police Officers, 1983-1988: A Follow-Up Study, Sam Walker

Publications

Police departments in the 50 largest cities in the United States made uneven progress in the employment of black and Hispanic officers between 1983 and 1988.

Nearly half (45 percent) of the big-city police departments made significant progress in the employment of black officers. Seventeen percent, however, reported a decline in the percentage of black officers. A similar pattern exists in the employment of Hispanic police officers. Forty-two percent of the departments reported significant increases in the percentage of Hispanic officers employed. Nearly 11 percent (10.6 percent) reported a decline, however, while 17.0 percent reported no change.

Affirmative action plans …

Reciprocity: A Major Paradigm Shift, John A. Calhoun

Special Topics, General

It is not news to the youth-serving community that something new is afoot regarding how we think about and work with youth.

Well known is the stir on the national level: President Bush's YES initiative; numerous pieces of congressional legislation whose proposals range from school-based programs through conservation and urban corps to mandated national service. Locally, projects of various sorts are springing up in schools, youth-serving agencies and in other organizations whose functions impinge on youth.

Not so well known-or fully understood-is a key notion that could well be lost amid the legitimate clamor and enthusiasm for the concept, namely, …

"Person-To-Person": A Community Service Guide For Youth Groups Visiting Senior Residences, Susan Chandler

Intergenerational

The purpose of this guide is to assist you in the development and implementation of intergenerational projects in which youth groups visit senior adult residences. These "youth in service to elders" projects are designed to meet a variety of needs. Through them, young people learn to give of themselves and their time in a significant and positive way. With our mobile society, young people often do not have the opportunity to spend time with their elders; and as a result are deprived of an awareness of the aging process and of the wisdom which older people possess. Conversely, older people …

Partnerships: The Community Education Process In Action, William J. Cirone

Partnerships/Community

Partnerships represent such a simple concept, it is amazing that they - and the whole community education process - have taken so long to become widely recognized. The benefits seem so obvious that the real wonder is that we haven't been operating this way all along. Partnerships - and, by extension, community education - are tools that can be used to address many of the problems we face as members of modern society.

The National Agenda, Paul A. Elsner

Higher Education

No abstract provided.

The State Of Black Omaha: 1989, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

Creation of an economic base is necessary for the continued growth and development of any society or community. It is of utmost importance within Black neighborhoods in our urban center because they have Jacked representative economic development. They have been depleted as a result of a "dollar drain," through which money leaves Black communities and strengthens White communities. This drain must be halted. Economic enterprise must be created in Black communities, such as employment opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed to foster family stabilization, and neighborhood beautification projects that can provide jobs and an improved environment.

Metropolitan Technical Community College Survey Of Current Students, James Johnson

Publications

The survey of 1,957 students enrolled at Metropolitan Technical Community College done in the spring, 1980 provided a variety of information. The data on their characteristics were similar to earlier profiles of Metro Tech students. Most Metro students continued to be part time rather than full time and enrolled in a degree or certificate program rather than taking selected courses. Students were almost equally split between day and night courses. Only one-fifth were under 21 years of age. One-third earned under $9,000, but one-fourth earned over $20,000. Approximately 28% were not employed (slightly higher than earlier profiles) but almost half …

S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development Local Leader's Guide, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

"Unlike a charismatic leader who gets people to follow his or her vision, a catalytic leader is able to facilitate the development of a critical mass of diverse policy actors, motivated by a goal or vision that is created collectively I among themselves."

Congratulations on deciding to use S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development to help your community plan for local economic development. You and other community residents and leaders have already viewed the video, "S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development: Assessing Readiness." You have also talked about the kit and your needs with the University of Nebraska at Omaha. You and other leaders in your …

S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development Action Step Packet - Retail And Main Street Development, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

Many communities want to enhance retail trade as one part of their economic development effort. While most retail businesses in a community serve local residents employed in such basic-sector businesses as manufacturing, agriculture, and health care, retailing is a significant source of employment in itself.

S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development Action Step Packet - Municipal Management Options, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

The need for professional city staff to address issues such as the city's role in economic development, city budgeting, grant writing, comprehensive planning, zoning, capital improvement planning and maintenance may have emerged as a major issue during your S.T.AR.T. Economic Development strategic planning sessions.

S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development Action Step Packet - Community Image And Marketing, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

Lack of a clear community image, or the presence of a negative or ambivalent image, may emerge during your S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development strategic planning sessions as a reason for economic difficulties. Image problems are often perceived as a major cause of declining sales, conflicts, residents shopping elsewhere, and young people leaving. Although a negative image may be only part of the reason for (or a product of) economic decline, it usually has some influence on the community economy. Image is manifest in feelings of pride or embarrassment about the community-its streets, houses, lawns, city buildings, and businesses. A lack of …

Nebraska Policy Choices: 1989 - Education, Miles T. Bryant, Christine M. Reed

Publications

The eight chapters in Nebraska Policy Choices: Education represent the work of University of Nebraska faculty from both the Lincoln and Omaha campuses, as well as the University of Nebraska Medical Center. These authors participated in a unique effort jointly sponsored by the University of Nebraska Central Administration, College of Education (University of Nebraska at Omaha), Teachers College (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), and Center for Public Affairs Research (University of Nebraska at Omaha). Unlike earlier volumes of Nebraska Policy Choices, the focus of this volume is on one critically important area: education policy.

S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development Facilitator's Guide, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

This guide has been developed to provide facilitators of the S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development process with an easy-to-use checklist for their work with co=unities. The guide does not provide background information on facilitation techniques; you have been invited to be a facilitator because of your group process and training experiences. Instead, the material lays out the activities which take place during the S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development process, highlights your responsibilities, and gives you a view of where you want the resource team and steering committee to be at the end of each of your site visits.

Omaha Minority Conditions And Research Conference Report: Issues In Education, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

Planning for the 1989 Omaha Minority Conditions and Research Conference began during October 1988. In the early stages of the planning, a luncheon meeting of community members representing the three groups (Blacks, Native Americans, and Hispanics) for which the conference would be targeted was held. One purpose of this meeting was to further ascertain whether community members generally thought such a conference would be worthwhile. A second purpose was to identify persons who would be willing to serve on a steering committee which would have the task of planning and structuring the conference. A third purpose of the meeting was …

S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development Action Step Packet - Business Retention And Expansion, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

Research indicates that the creation and growth of local firms is usually the source of most new jobs in a community. Because of this, local business retention and expansion is an important key to keeping local economies healthy.

S.T.A.R.T. Economic Development: An Overview, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

S.T.A.R.T. stands for Strategic Training And Resource Targeting - a self-help approach to local economic development. Today's rapidly changing economic climate requires new strategies and processes for managing local economic development. In fact, the successful communities of the future will be those that are able to rely on local initiative and resources to tailor their own economic development strategies. S.TA.R.T. provides you with the necessary tools to determine your community's strengths and weaknesses, and helps you develop a strategic plan to improve your local economy.

Strategic Planning Information For Boys Clubs Of Omaha, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

The following study consists of a series of brief reports summarizing information collected by the Center for Applied Urban Research (CAUR) for the Boys Clubs of Omaha. This information can be used by the Boys Clubs for strategic planning. The information was collected to determine: If clients' needs are being addressed; if the current program is effectively meeting clients' needs; and if service delivery should be expanded. To address these issues, CAUR designed a work plan containing five elements. Each element focuses these issues using . a different data gathering approach, and is presented separately.