What’s in an MSW? Graduate education for public child welfare workers,intention, engagement,and work environment

ABSTRACT

This study employs a mixed methods analysis of exit survey data gathered from public child welfare employees at their completion of a Title IV-E funded MSW program, distinct because it was initiated during a period of major reform and permitted students to continue employment during their studies. Findings suggest that opportunities for growth and manageable levels of stress were associated with intentions to stay and engagement with the work, reflected in respondents’ positive perceptions of their roles in the work environment and their retrospective assessments of the impact of their social work education.     

Is an Early Start the Best Start?: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Political Science Summer Bridge Program

Summer bridge programs are supposed to connect a graduating high school senior’s summer to their first semester in college, easing the transition away from home and into a university setting. Although research is plentiful on the programs, assessments regarding the overall effectiveness of such programs have been mixed (e.g., Cabrera, Miner, and Milem 2013 Cabrera, Nolan, Danielle Miner, and Jeffrey Milem. 2013. “Can A Summer Bridge Program Impact First-Year Persistence And Performance?: A Case Study Of The New Start Summer Program.” Research in Higher Education 54(5): 481–498.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Douglas and Attewell 2014 Douglas, Daniel, and Paul Attewell. 2014. “The Bridge and the Troll Underneath: Summer Bridge Programs and Degree Completion.” American Journal of Education 121(1): 87–109.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Grayson 2003 Grayson, J. Paul. 2003. “The Consequences of Early Adjustment to University.” Higher Education 46(4): 411–429.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). As Cabrera, Miner, and Milem (2013 Cabrera, Nolan, Danielle Miner, and Jeffrey Milem. 2013. “Can A Summer Bridge Program Impact First-Year Persistence And Performance?: A Case Study Of The New Start Summer Program.” Research in Higher Education 54(5): 481–498.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) note, many of the studies collect data from participants in a one-time satisfaction survey and/or do not have an equivalent group of students who did not participate in the program from which to compare effectiveness. Our proposed study mitigates these flaws by employing a nonequivalent-groups quasi-experiment (NEG). Our bridge program—called Early Start (ES)— tapped into social, emotional, and academic engagement, as we sought to integrate the students into the university and school communities while holding high expectations and actively involving them in their own learning (Tinto 2004 Tinto, Vincent. 2004. Student Retention and Graduation-Facing the Truth, Living with the Consequences. Washington, DC: The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education. [Google Scholar]). Results suggest that not only were students enrolled in our program better socially and emotionally integrated into the university during their first year but they also scored better on content-based political science questions at the end of the fall semester, compared to their non-Early Start peers. Finally, aggregated data indicate an increase in retention for Early Start participants.     

中药保留灌肠治疗慢性肾功能衰竭临床研究

目的观察大黄龙骨牡蛎汤保留灌肠治疗慢性肾衰竭(chronic renal failure,CRF)脾肾气虚证的临床疗效。方法将41例非透析CRF患者随机分为治疗组和对照组,对照组21例给予一般治疗,治疗组20例在对照组治疗的基础上加大黄龙骨牡蛎汤灌肠治疗,2周为1个疗程,共治疗2个疗程。观察比较两组患者临床疗效、中医症状评分以及血尿素氮(blood urea nitrogen,BUN)、血清肌酐(serum creatinine,SCr)、肾小球滤过率(glomerular filtration rate,GFR)、24小时尿蛋白定量(24-hour urinary protein quantity,24hPr)、白蛋白(albumin,ALB)、血清总蛋白(serum total protein,TP)、血红蛋白(hemoglobin,Hb)水平。结果两组患者临床疗效分布比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。与治疗前比较,对照组治疗效果不明显(P>0.05),治疗组水肿、倦怠乏力、腰膝酸软、气短懒言、脘腹胀满、口淡不渴评分均有明显降低(P<0.05)。治疗后治疗组食少纳呆、倦怠乏力、腰膝酸软、气短懒言、脘腹胀满、口淡不渴评分下降幅度均显著大于对照组(P<0.05)。与治疗前比较,对照组各指标水平均无明显改变(P>0.05);治疗组BUN、SCr水平均明显下降(P<0.05),GFR、Hb水平均明显升高(P<0.05)。治疗组BUN、SCr降低值,GFR升高值均显著大于对照组(P<0.05)。结论在西医治疗基础上合用大黄龙骨牡蛎汤灌肠,能够改善患者肾功能,提高CRF的临床疗效。     

The CLSR-LSPI Seminar – ‘The future of privacy regulation in the online world’

The annual CLSR-LSPI Seminar (www.lspi.net) took place on 19 September 2011 at the Sixth Legal, Security & Privacy Issues in IT Conference (LSPI) at University of Nicosia, Cyprus. The event, led by Prof. Steve Saxby, Editor-in-Chief of CLSR, invited contributions from five legal specialists on a variety of current issues dealing with the future of privacy. A lively discussion took place amongst those present after each intervention. The reports of those who presented are recorded below.     

Russian data retention requirements: Obligation to store the content of communications

This paper presents an analysis of Russian data retention regulations. The most controversial point of the Russian data retention requirements is an obligation to keep the content of communications that is untypical for legislation of European and other countries. These regulations that oblige telecom operators and Internet communication services to store the content of communications should come into force on July 1, 2018.The article describes in detail the main components of the data retention mechanism: the triggers for its application, its scope, exemptions and barriers to its enforcement. Attention is paid to specific principles for implementation of content retention requirements based on the concepts of proportionality, reasonableness and effectiveness.Particular consideration is given to the comparative aspects of the Russian data retention legislation and those applying in different countries (mainly EU member states). The article focuses on the differences between the Russian and EU approaches to the question of how to strike a balance between public security interests and privacy. While the EU model of data retention is developing in the context of profound disputes on human rights protection, the Russian model is mostly concentrated on security interests and addresses mainly economic, technological aspects of its implementation.The paper stresses that a range of factors (legal, economic and technological) needs to be taken into account for developing an optimal data retention system. Human rights guarantees play the key role in legitimization of such intrusive measures as data retention. Great attention should be paid to the procedures, precise definitions, specification of entitled authorities and the grounds for access to data, providing legal immunities and privileges, etc. Only this extensive range of legal guarantees can balance intervention effect of state surveillance and justify data retention practices.     

Data retention in the UK: Pragmatic and proportionate,or a step too far?

On 6 April 2009 new legislation came into force, for the first time putting Internet service providers' duty to retain significant amounts of data (relating to customers' email and Internet usage) on a compulsory, as opposed to a voluntary footing. It is a topic which has provoked intense protest from the privacy lobby and fuelled months of “Big Brother” headlines in the press. For the industry it raises operational challenges – how to facilitate storage and retrieval of colossal amounts of data. In this article we consider the policy background to the regime, the detail of the UK implementation and the practical implications for communications service providers. We weigh up the privacy and human rights concerns against the business case put forward by the Government. We also examine the Government's proposals – announced at the end of April – to significantly extend and “future proof” this regime in the form of its Intercept Modernisation Programme.     

英国警务信息复查、保留与清理制度及其借鉴意义

随着我国公安信息化建设的不断深入,公安机关收集了海量的警务信息,不但产生了大容量信息的存储困难,同时也造成储存管理的复杂化和成本不断上升。英国警方建立了比较完善的警务信息复查、保留与清理制度,明确了这一制度的法律依据,确立了必须、足够、准确和最新、不过度原则等四项原则,详细规定了信息复查的形式、流程及审计监督等制度。借鉴英国警务信息复查、保留与清理制度,对我国稳步推进公安信息化建设十分有益。     

对嫖宿幼女罪存废的法理思考——以维护幼女合法权益为视角

随着习水8·15案件的发生。对“嫖宿幼女罪”罪名存废的争议再次引起社会的关注,从维护幼女合法权益的视角．应将保护幼女身心健康作为选择嫖宿幼女罪存废的最高价值目标,并基于此价值导向废止嫖宿幼女罪的罪名,而统一归入《刑法》第236条所规定的强奸罪。