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Fundamental Reporting Differences in Nonprofit Operating Models
No full textNot all nonprofit organizations rely on donations to achieve their social mission. Some nonprofit organizations, which Dart (2004) classifies as social enterprises, generate revenue through commercial transactions. This study identifies significant operating, monitoring, and efficiency differences between traditional fundraisers and social enterprises. Using panel data and fixed effects regressions, I find that social enterprises report more revenue persistence and better program ratios - a common metric for evaluating nonprofit performance - than traditional fundraisers. I also find that social enterprises are less likely to audit their financial statements than traditional fundraisers. Furthermore, when evaluating operating efficiency, social enterprises appear to have a higher asset turnover to program revenues, suggesting that this model may be more concerned with the operating efficiency of the social program. These results provide evidence that if the operating model is not considered, financial information can give misleading results when comparing traditional fundraisers and social enterprises. Additionally, the operating model may drive management decisions about investments, operations, and external monitoring, defining different goals in nonprofit behavior
Abortion Funds as Care Work: Navigating the Emotional Tolls of the Texas Executive Order Abortion Ban and COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textThis qualitative study explores the experiences of abortion fund staff and volunteers amidst the unprecedented challenges posed during the early months of COVID-19 and the Texas Executive Order. Through analysis of semi-structured interviews, we aimed to identify the shared experiences of staff and volunteers during this time. Four categories of experiences were identified: (1) Reproductive Justice, (2) Emotional Support, (3) Creating a Community of Care, and (4) Emotional Burnout. Our findings revealed that to navigate the uncertainties of the pandemic and Executive Order, staff and volunteers adapted a community of care model deeply rooted within the framework of reproductive justice. Central to their approach to supporting callers, was a commitment to alleviating the emotional and logistical burdens that were exacerbated during this period for individuals seeking abortion care. However, the additional work necessary to provide this support in addition to navigating their own personal challenges because of the pandemic also led to emotional burnout. We argue that the experiences of abortion fund staff and volunteers exemplify their participation in emotional labor and engagement in feminist care ethics
Standing at the Back of the Bar A Narrative
No full textStanding at the Back of the Bar is a collection of semi-autobiographical literary pieces, a hybrid of lyrical essays, poetry, and short stories, that are based on life experiences of the author, Lawrance Cuellar. The book begins with stories of the narrator growing up as a gay Latino in the very conservative, West Texas town of Amarillo in the 1960s and 1970s. The narrator describes and expresses the normalized and internalized homophobia and racism he experienced in the city. As the title for the manuscript implies, he is expected to “stand at the back of the bar” in deference to the white patrons at the only gay bar in town. When the AIDS epidemic emerges in the 1980s, the narrator seeks refuge in Austin, Texas, just as the epidemic is exploding in the white gay community.In Austin, the narrator begins to unlearn the discriminatory and destructive messages that were implanted in his belief system. As he joins efforts to prevent the spread of the AIDS virus in the Latinx and people of color communities, he begins to see that the racism that exists in the gay community is affecting the resources available to serve his community. Again, he feels as though his Latinx community and other communities of color are left “standing at the back of bar” because HIV resources are focused only on organizations serving the white gay communities. The legacy of the racism in the gay community that has existed since the 1970s is evidenced today by high incidence of HIV in gay Latinx and Black communities. The lack of attention and resources that these communities needed to fight the disease were kept in the white AIDS service organizations, which were inept at serving the people of color communities. The outcome of this disparity was the demise of community based Latinx and Black AIDS service organizations
Examining School-Age Children\u27s Use of Rare Words in Expository Discourse: Applications of Computerized Analysis
No full textIn the school-age years, children use varied discourse styles to convey information. In addition to conversational and narrative discourse, they learn to use expository discourse to explain complex topics. Previous studies have found that compared to conversation, expository discourse samples are generally more syntactically complex (Lundine et al., 2018; Nippold et al., 2005). In addition, the vocabulary used in expository discourse may be more advanced than that in other discourse types. One way to explore vocabulary use in discourse is to measure the rarity of words within samples of discourse. The purpose of this study was to compare typically developing school-age children’s use of rare words between expository generation, expository retell, and conversational samples and examine if their rare word use was correlated with their scores on standardized language assessments. Language samples were collected from a convenience sample of twenty-six school-age children who were considered typically developing. Nippold’s favorite game or sport (FGS) task was used to elicit expository generation samples (Nippold et al., 2005). For expository retell, the children were shown a scientific video and asked to explain its content. The Wordlist for Expressive Rare Vocabulary Evaluation (WERVE; Mahurin-Smith et al., 2015) and a second rare word list generated from the word frequency dataset SUBTLEX (Brysbaert & New, 2009), a movie subtitle corpus, were used to measure lexical rarity. Results showed that across measures, expository retell samples had a significantly greater number of rare words compared to generation and conversational samples. There was no significant correlation between rare word use and language assessment scores. Overall, the findings indicated that children used more advanced vocabulary when retelling complex content from a video, compared to sharing information about a familiar activity or participating in conversation
Race, Severe Mental Illness, and Crime: An Intersectional Look Into Stigma and Policy Implications
No full textCriminal behavior has been a long-discussed topic in the United States and often is tied to characteristics such as race and mental illness. The presumed connection between criminal behavior and being a member of a racial minority group or having a mental illness have been researched for years, however few researchers have sought to take an intersectional approach to investigate the unique experiences of people belonging to both groups in the criminal legal system. Using the lenses of attribution and intersectionality theories, the proposed studies sought to understand the effect of race that influences policy support of justice-involved people with mental illness using participants gathered from Amazon’s CloudResearch platform. The study found that participants were significantly more likely to support rehabilitative correctional policies as compared to punitive policies, no matter the vignette information they were shown. However, attitudes about these groups of people and the police drove money allocation patterns. Mutability of justice-involved people, attitudes towards mental illness and support of the Defund the Police movement were some of the most notable. Though, these patters were not always in the direction expected; individuals who were not supportive of the Defund the Police movement, but saw the Black, violent vignette were much more likely to allocate money to mental health services as compared to correctional facilities or the police. The results suggests that there may be an element of social desirability in the participants, or it may be a demonstration of people overcorrecting for historical biases against Black men. The results have implications for both policymakers and in research, including the need for further exploration into concern for minority groups in the context of the criminal justice system, and the identification of areas that would benefit from educational interventions to reduce the discrepancies that are currently seen in the criminal justice system and offer more fair and just treatment
Earth Abundant Catalyst for Environmental Sustainability Applications
No full textThe development of experimental methodologies for synthesizing a diverse range of metallic and metal oxide nanoparticles tailored for sustainable water treatment applications was investigated. These nanoparticles are prepared using environmentally friendly and scalable synthesis methods, underscoring their potential for large-scale production. Synthesized nanoparticles are harnessed for various processes, including catalysis and electrocatalysis, with a primary objective of degrading and removing organic pollutants from water. Key to this research is the encapsulation of nanoparticles within solid supports. Multiple methodologies are explored to engineer supports that ensure nanoparticle stabilization, monodispersion, and prevent unintended release into the environment. Two alternative approaches were evaluated for the treatment of organic dyes, one within the factory encompassing the synthesis of Al@C nanomaterial through a MOF intermediate and the development of magnetic Fe@C nanomaterial, both exhibiting excellent catalytic activity in the reductive degradation of organic dyes such as MO, MB and 4-NP, comparable to Pt and Au based catalysts in terms of degradation time and rate constants. While, for water remediation and sanitization in already contaminated rivers it was successfully synthesized several ZnO nanoparticles through a saccharide combustion methodology, all of them showing very good catalytic activity in the MO degradation assisted by UV and sunlight. The stability studies also show the potential reusability of this nanomaterial, losing less than 10% of activity after 3 cycles. Finally in the field of energy for electrocatalytic applications two new nanomaterials based on Fe and Co were successfully synthesized and tested for electrocatalysis in OER, showcasing very good results comparable to rare earth metals such as Ru
A Writer in Writing
No full textAs a writer and individual, I speak between many roles, presenting myself as “I” but also “her”. Inevitably, there is a gap between “who I am” and “who I am made out to be” that I am not always in control of. Similarly, there is a disparity in intention versus interpretation in writing. Since we don’t exist in a vacuum, I must account for these gaps, acknowledging my individuality while adapting to changing circumstances and needs. As an individual with several disadvantages and particularities, however, my sense of self is unstable and uncertain, reflecting the instability and uncertainty in my life. Unable to neither defend myself nor depend on someone, I take on the persona of an ‘outsider’, construing my character based on “who I am not” and “who I cannot be”. I recognize my alienation and its negative effects on me, working backward to understand myself through writing. Accordingly, I converge three narrative lines—the concept of identity, the concept of story, and the concept of sensemaking—labeling the three sections of my project following these concepts. I provide important yet traumatic accounts of my life, identifying the root of my alienation and finding similarities in how I rationalize my life and my writing. Additionally, I explore three major theories—identity, the life story, and psychological and construal-level—to support the process of acquiring and grounding individuality and ownership of voice. I finalize my project with a writing method based on the final theory to facilitate and argue for individuality and voice in writing, claiming that writing and the self are inseparable because the writer composes through experience, as witnessed throughout my project
Effect of Patient Specific Blood Biomarkers on Nanoparticle – Cell Interactions
No full textNanoparticles are currently known to be a promising material class for bio-applications in drug delivery and vaccine development. Using gold nanoparticles of varied sizes, in this case 45 and 100 nanometers as a model nanomaterial system, we investigated how patients\u27 blood physiology and chemistry (such as solute, protein, lipid levels) affect the biological response to bionanomaterials. When nanoparticles are injected into the body, biomolecules in the blood adsorb to the nanoparticle’s surface to form a biomolecular corona that is specific to the patient’s unique blood composition. This biomolecular corona is important because it affects the in vivo fate and biodistribution of the administered nanoparticles Here we show that the abundance of certain proteins and lipids in patient blood changes the biomolecular corona of nanoparticles of the varied sizes. Furthermore, the presence of these proteins and lipids affected in vitro cell uptake of nanoparticles. Our preliminary results suggest that certain blood composition biomarkers can predict patient-specific biomaterial interaction. Future experiments will follow up on these candidate protein and lipid biomarkers and investigate if they are applicable in predicting nanoparticle interactions of different physicochemical properties, such as lipid-based nanoparticles. Studying how patient-specific blood biomarkers interact with biomaterials can help us rationally design personalized nanomaterials for therapeutic applications to improve their health
On Hannah Arendt’s Study of Constitutionalism in the Aftermath of Totalitarianism: A Philosophical Search for the Principle to Secure the Foundations of Modern Politics
No full textHannah Arendt faces the grotesque appearance of totalitarianism, and with bravery goes on the offensive, herself armed with contemporary philosophical tools of analysis, to do battle in the field of existential-phenomenology against this modern monster. Totalitarianism, birthed from the seeds of lawless action, claims to be the most lawful mode of human existence. The monstrous existence of totalitarianism demonstrates a crisis in the very foundations of modern man’s political mode of being. In order to find a solution to this modern political crisis Arendt closely studies the experience of constitution writing at the moment the men of action are about to will themselves into the abyss of freedom. The American Revolution, as a prior experience to constitution writing, gives Arendt the elements for a powerful instrument to wield against the modern monster of totalitarianism. From these revolutionary elements Arendt fashions an instrument to wield against totalitarianism, the vital activity of pluralistic power. But the shadow of totalitarianism runs deep in the spirit of man, who can easily be atomized. Arendt teaches one that one must enact thoughtfulness in our speech and be judicious in our action
Nationwide Practices and Perspectives on Early Literacy Activities in Daycare
No full textIn the United States approximately 6 million children (about twice the population of Arkansas) between the ages of birth and five attend some kind of daycare outside the home. Daycare is a spectrum that comes in the form of home centers to child learning centers that provide an educational setting typically equipped with materials and resources tailored to support various aspects of child development such as language, social, behavior, cognitive and literacy. Children between the ages of birth and five spend about eight to ten hours per day in daycare, five to six days a week. The daycare environment impacts a child’s language due to the development that occurs when a child’s environmental setting is absorbed, imitated, and learned from