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Wellness Initiative for Employees Working in Long-Term Care
No full textBurnout and workplace stress significantly contribute to decreased employee satisfaction and productivity, underscoring the need for wellness initiatives in the workplace. This quality improvement project aimed to enhance employee well-being through a wellness program focusing on stress management, sleep hygiene, nutrition, and exercise. The project, “Caring for the Caregiver Series: Four Pillars of Health,” included three in-person educational sessions addressing key wellness components identified in the American Nurses Association, “Pulse on the Nation\u27s Nurses COVID-19 Survey Series: Mental Health and Wellness Survey 1”, August 2020 needs assessment. The primary goal was to equip employees with practical knowledge and skills to improve their physical and mental health. Implemented across three long-term care facilities (LTC), employees completed the Mental Health Quality of Life (MHQoL) survey before and after the intervention. Statistical analysis using Welch\u27s t-test revealed a significant improvement in MHQoL scores post-intervention, with pre-test scores averaging 17.82 (SD = 22.39) and post-test scores averaging 7.54 (SD = 9.71), yielding a t-value of 2.63 and p-values of 0.0056 (one-tailed) and 0.0012 (two-tailed). However, a one-way ANOVA showed no significant difference in outcomes based on the number of sessions attended (F(2, 114) = 0.34, p = 0.71). While the findings were statistically significant, the small sample size (n=17 for posttest) limits generalizability and should be interpreted cautiously. Regardless, the initiative successfully empowered participants to manage personal and work-related stressors, emphasizing the critical role of educational interventions in promoting mental well-being in healthcare settings
Acer palmatum (Japanese Maple) ID#17
Full text linkWith the study of one of the specific trees on Salve Regina University’s Campus, the observations made throughout the semester keep the students engaged with the environment and create a way for the community to be connected with nature. This study of the Japanese Maple displayed interesting signs that aren’t seen throughout the other common trees on campus. One is how the tree had most of its leaves by the end of the semester since Japanese Maples can survive in temperatures dropping to -15°F. This is one example of how studying the Japanese Maple creates a new understanding of different tree species on the Salve Regina University Campus.https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/bio140_arboretum/1040/thumbnail.jp
Beyond Bias: The Ethics of Risk-Based Artificial Intelligence Decision-Making in the Criminal Justice System
No full textThis dissertation explores the ethical implications of using fully automated algorithmic decision-making based on risk assessment instruments in the United States criminal justice system, envisioning a hypothetical future where the human decision-maker is removed from the process altogether. While acknowledging the important study of algorithmic bias, the work instead examines these ethics based on its reliance on statistics. It traces the historical development of the statistical normal, beginning with its origins in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and examines its influence on criminology and the eugenics movement. In contrast it examines the pluralistic normal, a concept based on Hannah Arendt\u27s expansion of Kantian judgment, which emphasizes both understanding individuals in their particularity and the inherent equality of human life. The dissertation argues that artificial intelligence is inherently unsuitable for making decisions about human life and freedom due to its inability to meet the demands of human dignity as considered through utilitarian, deontological, and virtue ethics perspectives
Unraveling the Pseudo Statehood of Lebanon: A Critique of Consociationalism in Lebanon
No full textThis study critically examines the paradigm of consociationalism and its inherent inadequacies within the framework of the Lebanese political model. Emphasizing three pivotal deficiencies—namely, elite political dynamics, the entrenchment of sectarian institutions, and external interference—this research delves into their manifestation in Lebanon across key historical junctures, encompassing Lebanon’s genesis under the National Pact, its reconfiguration following the Ta’if Agreement, and the ramifications within its security apparatus and prevailing corruption. Moreover, an analytical comparison is drawn between the failures of Lebanese consociationalism and the prevailing strengths of Hezbollah, resulting in a nuanced portrayal that extends beyond a conventional depiction of a failing state but not a failed state, positioning Lebanon within the framework of a quasi-state. This study posits the introduction of a novel categorization for assessing states, denoted as a pseudo state. Upon the application of Lebanon’s consociational shortcomings against the criteria delineating a pseudo state, this research establishes the eligibility of Lebanon for pseudo statehood: a sovereign state that cannot function as a state in defending itself, running an economy or legislating but is run by either a local non-state actor or foreign power
The Relationship Between Offshore Wind Farms and Marine Wildlife in Rhode Island
Full text linkDespite political and environmental controversy, research has shown that not only do offshore wind farms have minimal impact on birds, whales, and benthic organisms, but they can actually be beneficial to marine ecosystems. However, many Rhode Island and Massachusetts citizens are concerned that the construction of the Revolution wind farm will decrease the biodiversity of marine ecosystems. Current research refutes these claims on the negative impacts of offshore wind farms, stating that their construction benefits benthic communities, has little to no impact on the health of whales, and only temporarily impacts migrating bird species. New and innovative technology has found ways to decrease the negative impact of wind farms on whales, birds, and benthic organisms, as scientists are finding ways to make the turbines safer and less disruptive to these animals and their environment
The Erosion of Civic Virtue: How Recruiting Technology Changed the All-Volunteer Force
No full textPersistent recruiting problems and other criticisms that emerged from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to calls for a systemic review of the U.S. military’s 50-year-old All-Volunteer Force design. Critics reference these problems as another indicator of a growing civil-military divide. This dissertation argues that the U.S. military’s use of recruiting technology narrows the accession pool as a matter of near-term efficiency, but, over the long term, it reduces the social and geographic diversity of the military and veterans. The cumulative result is a civil-military divide made worse by a veteran population that is increasingly smaller, less representative, more geographically concentrated, and thus less broadly connected to society. The research is framed by the philosophies of technology and Clausewitz to compare the Army’s accession data from 1990 to 2022. The analysis identifies that recruiting technology has resulted in accessions that are not geographically representative of the U.S.; increasingly, the Southeast is overrepresented among recruits. The pattern is similar for Blacks and women, but not so for the education level. A qualitative analysis of the military profession indicates that purposeful civilian oversight will likely be required to change the application of recruiting technology to achieve a more representative military. These findings have implications for the viability of republicanism as a unifying national virtue, civil-military relations, military accessions and recruiting, and the design of the armed forces
George T. Downing and the “Fraternal Unity of Man”: The Battle for an Abolition Democracy in Nineteenth-Century America
No full textIn “George T. Downing and the ‘Fraternal Unity of Man’: The Battle for an Abolition Democracy in Nineteenth-Century America,” Erik J. Chaput and Russell J. DeSimone argue that Newport entrepreneur George T. Downing’s leadership role in the national fight for racial justice was especially significant in the period after the Civil War when Black leaders pushed for an extension of rights to formerly enslaved people in the South as well as to Blacks in the North who endured racial oppression. While holding significant positions in a movement to establish racial equality, Downing led the fight for the de-segregation of Rhode Island schools in the 1850s and 1860s. Then, in the postwar period, he took a visible national leadership role in lobbying for legislation that would bolster the civil rights of all people of color. It was a time when many members of the Republican party, formerly the foremost advocates for abolition and racial justice, turned their backs on the fight to end segregation, repression of voting rights and restrictions of citizenship. In their essay, the authors draw on numerous sources, including accounts of “Colored” Conventions that took place in Northern cities in the prewar period.
Erik Chaput is the author of The People’s Martyr: Thomas Wilson Dorr and His 1842 Rhode Island Rebellion (2013); Russell DeSimone has published a detailed study, Broadsides of the Dorr Rebellion (1992). They have both penned dozens of articles for the Providence Journal, the online journal Common-Place, the Newport History v v New England Journal of History, and the Small State Big History website. Together Chaput and DeSimone will publish a one-volume collection of the Selected Writings of Thomas Wilson Dorr later this year. They are currently collaborating on a monograph on the life and career of George T. Downing
Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus)
Full text linkThe horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) is known as a living fossil; one of the four known species in the world it can be found in the oceanic environment of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA
A Legal Whirlwind: An Exploration and Evaluation of Legal Claims Relating to The South Fork Wind Farm and Revolution Wind Project
Full text linkWith the Biden Administration’s national goal of net-zero emission by 2050 and Rhode Island’s state goal of carbon-neutrality by 2035, progressive steps towards renewable energy goal are critical. As the state adopt more renewable energy practices, public and private organizations voice concern over offshore wind farm projects and their adherence to local, state, and national laws. Through extensive research it has been determined that many of these claims are misguided. However, this skepticism emphasizes key issues regarding the transparency of the permitting process. Steps towards streaming and uniting the legal processes of wind farm construction, such as the COLLABORATE Act, would prevent destructive misinformation and miscommunications in the future
