Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Magic Mix: After-School Programs In A Nursing Home, Judes Ziemba, Kathleen Roop, Sally Wittenberg

Special Topics, General

At 3:00 every afternoon. Monday through Friday. 8-year-old Darlene and nine of her classmates leave school and ride a special bus that brings them to a nearby nursing home where they participate in an afterschool program. At the nursing home. residents anxiously await the children's arrival. Many of them have been sitting patiently iii the lobby for over an hour.

Youth Entering Service To America, Yes To America

Civic Engagement

George Bush announced today his proposal for the creation of Youth Entering Service to America, a challenge grant program designed to spur more young people to serve their communities as a continuing androutine part of their daily lives in high schools, college, and after graduation.

Service: Meeting Youth's Need To Be Needed, James C. Kielsmeier, Rich Willits

Special Topics, General

In April 1861, hours after the smoke cleared at Fort Sumpter, the first volunteer military units from the North were organized in preparation for the battle to preserve the Union. They were from Minnesota.

The North Star State is again mobilizing, capturing some of the fresh air of the service movement sweeping the nation, and adding its own populist brand of citizen involvement. Youth service is blooming in America's heartland, and community educators are leading the way.

Caur Focus, Vol. 01, No. 06, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

This issue of Center for Applied Urban Research (CUAR) FOCUS features Omaha Personal Income Increased 1984-1986; Correctional Studies Using CUAR Study Recommendations; Day Care Homes Prevalent in Nebraska; Economic Development: Self-Help Is On Its Way; Spotlight on--Mary Ann Lamanna & Nancy Langworthy; and State of Black Omaha Update.

Violence, Youth And A Way Out, John A. Calhoun

Special Topics, General

It is a conviction shared by those who care for young people and their families that violence among youth has reached intolerable levels and that a response is demanded. The homicide statistics are chilling: In 1986, four to five people under age 18 were murdered per day, 10 percent more than in 1985. Equally chilling, three to four people under 18 were arrested for murder every day, a seven percent increase over 1985.

State Health Care Legislation For The Uninsured, 1985-1987, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

The percentage of persons in the United States without health insurance that do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare has been increasing steadily since 1979. Growing numbers of single-parent households, full-time workers becoming part-time, jobs without benefits, and early retirement are a few of the factors contributing to the problem of the medically uninsured.

Caur Focus, Vol. 01, No. 02, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

This issue of Center for Applied Urban Research (CUAR) FOCUS features the article "Nebraska 1986 Population Estimates" by Jerome A. Deichert and Tim K. Himberger.

Caur Review Vol. 01, No. 05, Center For Applied Urban Research (Caur)

Publications

ECONOMIC GROWTH INCREASES IN NEBRASKA

The Moderating Effects Of Evaluation Apprehension And Group Goals On Social Loafing, Thomas Rauzi

Student Work

The social loafing effect, that subjects work harder alone than in groups, was contrasted against the use of two motivational techniques. Subjects were 80 undergraduate students at a midwestern university. A 2 x 2 factorial design was employed contrasting the use of group goals with the salience of evaluation apprehension. Subjects, working in groups of four, were asked to generate possible uses for common objects during two timed work periods. Results provided support for an Interaction Hypothesis: that group goal or evaluation apprehension conditions are sufficient to increase performance over a social loafing replication condition. However, the actual presence of …

Corporate Farming And Corporate Farming Restrictions In Nebraska, Bruce Johnson, David J. Aiken

Publications

Corporate activity in production agriculture has been an object of public debate in the United States and in Nebraska for a long time. During the 1960s, foreign nationals began buying agricultural land, particularly in the Midwest. At about the same time, corporations such as Gates Rubber Company and Blackwatch Farms acquired large tracts of land. Many people saw this as a threat to the family farm and, subsequently, sought restrictions on corporate ownership of agricultural land.

A Practical Guide To Municipal Budgeting In Nebraska, John W. Swain

Publications

The meaning of budgeting is simple and complex. It is simple because budgeting involves making decisions about revenues and expenditures. It is complex because it has many meanings for various people.

Local Economic Development Strategic Planning: A Proposal To Develop Community Self-Help Training Materials, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

Rural and small town economies suffer from a lack of economic diversification, and from small size and isolation. At the same time, small communities often need help in organizing regionally based and locally driven comprehensive programs for economic development. In response to the apparent need for training assistance, the Center for Applied Urban Research (CAUR) and the Department of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) developed during the past two years a strategic planning approach for use by small towns. Altogether, the process has been successfully used in projects involving twelve communities in Nebraska.

This proposal …

An Exploratory Study Of The Relationships Among Sex-Role Orientation, Communicative Attitudes And Perceptions Of Communicative Behaviors, Roberta J. Mcbride

Student Work

Communication, whether in spoken language, written form or nonverbal behavior, has been the object of scrutiny for as long as it has been practiced. The study of communication has become increasingly specialized and occasionally compartmentalized as the interest in communication and its effects has grown. Interpersonal, small-group, non-verbal and organizational are just some of the divisions within communication study and research.

Caur Review Vol. 01, No. 03, Center For Applied Urban Research (Caur)

Publications

Independent Living for the Elderly Examined

Environmental Persuasion And Roman Catholic Church Interior Design After Vatican Council Ii, 1963-Present: A Case Study Of Notre Dame Chapel, Omaha, Nebraska, James M. Gaughan

Student Work

For an environment to produce a change in attitude, or at least begin that transformation, it is necessary to view it as part of the communication/persuasion process. Environments both reflect communication and modulate it, channel it, control it, facilitate it, or even inhibit it (Rapoport, 1982). Environmental meaning is often expressed through signs, materials, colors, forms, sizes, furnishings, landscaping, maintenance, and even in some instances, by people themselves (Bachelard, 1969; Blomeyer, 1979; Cralik, 1976). Therefore, spatial meanings or messages can be conveyed by walls or other sharp breaks, or by transitions (Reed, 1974). Thus, environment can produce a sense of …

Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test Norms For Preadolescents, Donna Homer

Student Work

The Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test is an easily administered assessment technique designed to measure immediate memory span and provide a learning curve. It consists of six trials of a 15-word list with an intervening task between Trials 5 and 6 . However, norms were established in France several years ago. To update the norms the AVLT was administered to 236 children between the ages of 9 and 12. The students are representative of preadolescents in a large urban school district. Means and standard deviations are provided for each of seven trials, their repetitions, and additions.

Findings from this study generally …

Evaluating And Working With Community Agencies: A Guide For The Principal, Carl I. Fertman

Partnerships/Community

Schools can take the initiative in dealing with community agencies, says this writer, who offers some suggestions on how schools can help such agencies develop programs to meet student needs.

Municipal Revenue Sources: Analysis Of Omaha's Options -- 1987 Update, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

This report updates a study conducted by the Center for Applied Urban Research in 1983. The first section of this report compares the revenue structure of Omaha with the revenue structure of other U.S. municipalities. The comparisons are based on data contained in the U.S. Bureau of the Census publications, City Government Finances in 1980-81 and 1984-85. The categories of comparison cities are all U.S. cities, cities with populations between 300,000 and 500,000, and ten cities that are comparable to Omaha in size and central/ core city percentage of total metropolitan area population.

Caur Focus, Vol. 01, No. 01, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

This first issue of Center for Applied Urban Research (CUAR) FOCUS features the article "Economic Development Targeting Data Base" by Jerome A. Deichert.

Issues And Action In The Streams Of Service, Frank J. Slobig

Service Learning, General

The landscape across the country is sporadically spotted with an increasing number of locations where young people are engaged in sustained significant service. They are involved in part-time school-based programs in junior and senior high schools, in campus-based collegiate programs and in full-times corps.

Nebraska Department Of Labor Es-202 Estimates Quality Study, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

The Employment and Wages (ES-202) Report is the only source of employment and total wages data available in complete industry detail, and forms the basis for several important federal, state, and local economic indicators. The quality of the data, therefore, is of major importance.

Minority And Female Employment In The Omaha Msa Construction Industry: Status, Trends And Outlook, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Publications

This profile of minority and female employment in the construction industry in the Omaha Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) was developed to provide information to assist the Work Force Analysis Subcommittee of the Construction Industry Liaison Committee (CILC). The CILC represents a public-private effort to increase minority and female employment in the construction industry in the Omaha MSA. The profile briefly examines:

• Construction industry employment trends in the Omaha MSA,
• Minority and female employment in the construction industry, • Labor availability, and
• Future prospects for construction industry employment.

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

Publications

URBAN CONDITIONS RESEARCH GRANTS AWARDED

Recommendations To The Presidential Transition Office Regarding The Youth Entering Service To America Foundation, The Youth Service America Working Group On Public Policy

Special Topics, General

Youth service today operates from an expanding base of well-organized programs utilizing the energy and idealism of young people to address significant community needs. This programmatic base currently includes 50 full-time state and local youth corps; 450 campus-based community service programs; more than 3,000 junior and senior high school community service programs; additional community-based programs; and federal civilian service programs including the Peace Corps, VISTA, and the Youth Conservation Corps.

The Impact Of Volunteer Experience On Adolescent Social Development: Evidence Of Program Effects, Stephen F. Hamilton, L. Mickey Fenzel

School K-12

The Social and Personal Responsibility Scale was employed in a study of the Youth Volunteers program, involving 44 adolescents in 12 projects, equally divided between child care and community service. Participants showed statistically significant gains on the Social Responsibility sub-scale. Girls gained more than boys and volunteers in community improvement projects gained more than those in child care. However, as in previous studies, gains were quite modest. Testimony from adolescents and adult participants was more strongly positive, volunteers citing improvement in their knowledge of themselves and others and the acquisition of new skills, adults seeing greater willingness to make decisions. …

The Roles Of Youth In Society: A Reconceptualization, Ruthanne Kurth-Schai

School K-12

The 1980s have been characterized as a decade of platforms for educational change. In 19S3 alone, five reports were released by national task forces and commissions, all expressing serious concern for the future of youth and society, and all proposing recommendations for ways in which educational policies and practices might be altered, to address such concerns.

Roots Of Service, Theodore H. Erickson

Special Topics, General

The thesis that I want to advance is a simple one: It is that service is rooted in religion. Service is religious in the sense that it expresses our bondedness with the universe (religare: to bind fast), and by extension with one another. Over time, service-oriented activities may become rationalized, institutionalized, and secularized. But the roots of service remain religious.

National Service And Religious Values, L. William Yolton, Edward L. Long Jr.

Special Topics, General

The idea of national service covers a range of proposals for organizing young people and, in some cases, senior citizens to do work of national importance to satisfy unmet needs in the society. How people at middle age would be engaged in service is rarely discussed.

Conversation Piece: National Service, Is It For Us?, Carl A. Bade

Special Topics, General

Many of the writers, conceptual developers, and advocates of a National Service Program for the United States credit William James with issuing, in 1910, the first call to youth to be enlisted in a program entitled "The Moral Equivalent of War,'' The program was envisioned to engage youth in industrial work and social service, according to their skills and interests. While that did not come to fruition, we saw some forms of it instituted during the bleak days and years of the Great Depression in the 1930's. Thousands of youth were enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corps beginning in 1933, …

The Time Is Right: A Report Of The Youth Serviceamerica And Brown University Youth Service Leadership Conference, Youth Service America

Conference Proceedings

This report, summarizing the proceedings at a February 1988 conference at Brown University on youth service,presents briefly an overview of the emerging network of youth service programs in the following states: (1) Minnesota; (2) Pennsylvania; (3) California; (4) Massachusetts; and (5) Ohio. Rationales for youth service are analyzed. Eight strategies for implementing youth service programs at the state level are identified. Individual programs, such as the Youth Volunteer Corps of Greater Kansas City, and City Year in Boston, are discussed. The following types of youth service programs,and means of expanding them are outlined: (1) full-time corps; (2) campus-based service; and …