The Influence of Public Health Faculty on College and University Plans During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the institutional presence of public health expertise within colleges and universities was associated with operational plans for the fall semester of 2020. Using cross-sectional data collected by the College Crisis Initiative of Davidson College, six levels of instructional modalities (ranked from least to most restrictive) were compared between Council on Education of Public Health (CEPH)-accredited and non-CEPH-accredited 4-year institutions. Institutions with CEPH-accredited schools and programs were more likely to select some restrictive teaching modalities: 63.8% more likely to use hybrid/hyflex or more restrictive and 66.9% more likely to be primarily online (with some in person) or more restrictive. However, having CEPH-accredited programs did not push institutions to the most restrictive modalities. COVID-19 cases in county, enrollment, and political affiliation of the state governor were also found to be associated with instructional modality selection. While any ecological study has certain limitations, this study suggests that college and university fall plans may have been influenced by the presence of CEPH-accredited schools and programs of public health, and/or the input of their faculty. The influence of relevant faculty expertise on institutional decision-making can help inform college and university responses to future crises.

Do religion and politics impact corporate governance diversity policy?

PurposeIn this paper, the authors examine how religious and political factors affect a firm's corporate governance diversity policies.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop five basic empirical models. Model 1 examines how religious beliefs and political affiliation determine whether a firm will establish diversity incentive in its senior executives' performance assessment. Model 2 investigates how the diversity goal, religious beliefs and political affiliation separately affect the level of actual diversity achieved. Model 3 examines how the diversity goal and environmental factors interact to affect the level of actual diversity achieved. Model 4 and Model 5 examine whether the diversity incentive in senior executives' compensation plan and the environmental factors (religious belief and political affiliation) help to reduce the compensation differentials between male and female executives.FindingsThe authors find that firms located in more liberal counties with more Mainline Protestants and less Republican voters in the United States are more likely to include workforce diversity as a criterion in evaluating their senior executives. The authors also provide evidence that firms with diversity goals have more female directors, more female senior executives and more minority directors. However, they find no evidence that the compensation differentials between male and female executives are smaller in these firms. Finally, they find that external environment affects the effectiveness of the implementation of the diversity goals.Originality/valueIn line withthis branch of research, the authors expand the literate on the link between corporate culture and corporate decision-making by investigating the non-financial performance measures. Besides the corporate decision-making in investment, financial reporting and social responsibilities as documented in prior studies, the authors argue that the religious beliefs and political affiliations could also affect the development and implementation of corporate non-financial performance goals in executive incentive contracts.

Othering Europe: Ambivalence in Moroccan Discourse Towards Modernity under the Dogmatic Understanding of Islam and the Political Affiliation to the Monarchy

This paper is a study of the reaction of the Moroccan intellectual elite against/towards European modernity in the nineteenth century. The primary focus is on the Moroccan failure to formulate and develop a positive and reasonable response to European expansionism and menace. This threat may seem military in its core as it was related to colonialism, yet the encounter was essentially cultural and the reaction of the Moroccan elite took its grounds from religious and cultural stands. This is simply because Europe was not only a colonizing Other, but also a cultural opponent with which Morocco had armed conflicts, long-standing rivalries, and even cultural dialogues. This paper develops an argument that the Moroccan intellectual elite exemplified via ambassadorial travel writers, the Makhzen’s envoys to Europe, failed to see Europe as a possible model or at least to open some horizons of cultural dialogue and encounter. Due to cultural reasons and historical circumstances, this intellectual elite rejected Europe and modernity. The present paper limits itself to the question of ambivalence shown by Moroccan ambassadorial travel writers in their narratives. It argues that their travel accounts were torn between the writers’ religious thinking and political affiliations. It postulates that ambassadorial travel writers showed ambivalence in their connection to the idea of modernity. Their narratives were governed by the dichotomy of admiration of the material progress of Europe and rejection of Europe as a possible cultural model.

EXPRESS: Vaccination Acceptance across Cultures: The Roles of Collectivism, Empathy, and Homophily

How does culture influence vaccination acceptance? This is an important question facing managers, policymakers, and global health organizations. Even with effective vaccines for highly contagious diseases, humankind remains at risk from vaccine hesitancy. We conduct a largescale multilevel analysis of more than 400,000 survey respondents, finding that COVID-19 vaccination intentions are higher among people from countries higher in cultural collectivism (Study 1). Follow-up studies indicate that vaccination acceptance is higher among people that endorse collectivistic values because they feel more empathy for those afflicted by the disease (Studies 2a, 2b, 3), especially when victims of the disease have similar characteristics (e.g., political affiliation, lifestyle, personality) as themselves (Study 3). To encourage vaccination acceptance, we suggest promoting collectivistic values and empathic concern, as well as homophily through the portrayal of victims with characteristics like those hesitant to accept vaccination.

Examining Social Work Students Knowledge of and Attitudes About Abortion and Curriculum Coverage in Social Work Education

Despite social work's stated commitment to abortion rights, research on this topic is not prolific within the discipline (Begun et al., 2016). If we are to live up to our ethical principles, this should be changed. The authors posit that increasing students’ exposure to and understanding of abortion is necessary in the preparation of competent social work practitioners. Using Begun et al.’s (2016) Social Workers’ Abortion Attitudes, Knowledge, and Training questionnaire, the authors expanded the survey by creating additional questions about social work curriculum coverage and training experiences, as well as further content on abortion. Findings indicate that most social work students believe abortion should be legal in at least some circumstances, and also that abortion laws should be less restrictive in the United States. Reported religion and political affiliation had significant effects on several of the abortion attitude statements. Only 7.2% of respondents indicated that abortion is regularly discussed in social work classrooms, and only 2.7% of respondents report they have received training on the topic of abortion in their field placement. The results suggest that social work curriculum coverage on reproductive justice is tenuous and inconsistent at best, leaving students to grapple without the necessary professional foundation.

The Correlates of Panethnic Identification: Assessing Similarities and Differences among Latinos and Asians in the United States

Latinos and Asian-Americans constitute the largest recent immigrant groups in the United States. Upon arrival, immigrants from these groups generally identify with their national origin despite being categorized as “Asian” or “Latino” for state enumeration. While both are racialized and excluded from mainstream identities, they differ in their internal linguistic and religious diversities, socioeconomic status, and immigration experiences. Sociologists theorized that Asian-American panethnicity is based on structural commonalities while Latino panethnicity is built upon cultural commonalities. We elaborate the theoretical understanding of contexts associated with this identification and find alternative underpinnings that shape both groups’ panethnic identification. We find generation since immigration is a common basis for elevated likelihood of panethnic identification for both groups. However, among Asian-Americans, we find English proficiency and age increase people’s odds of identifying with a panethnic identity over a national origin term, whereas for Latinos, political affiliation and religiosity increase these odds.

Vaccine Hesitancy and Support for Employer Vaccine Mandates

This study investigated COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and support for employer vaccine mandates and support for termination for non-vaccinated employees among a national sample in New Zealand. A total of 1852 individuals participated in the study. Results indicated participants who are able to get vaccinated are less likely to support employer mandated vaccinations and the rights of employers to terminate employees who refuse to get vaccinated. However, individuals who self-identify that they can get vaccinated and have higher confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine are more likely to get vaccinated. Age and confidence in the vaccine influence support for mandates, while age and political affiliation influenced support for employer right to terminate a non-vaccinated employee. Understanding support, or lack thereof, for such initiatives is essential as businesses and nations respond to growing COVID concerns.

Environmental crimes and green criminology in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is an environmentally vulnerable country, where environmental crimes are massive and common. However, the environmental crime prevention mechanism in the country is very weak, and traditional policing is utilized to stop these crimes. Therefore, the green criminological approach to prevent environmental crimes in Bangladesh is underdeveloped in many ways, with a total absence of the green policing model. Hence, this study focuses on attaining a critical understanding of environmental crimes in Bangladesh by exploring the key underlying factors of environmental crimes. It also attempts to contribute to the environmental crime prevention mechanism by recommending a green policing model, while identifying the key weaknesses of the existing environmental crime prevention approach. This article implements the qualitative technique of data collection, and the analysis is based on an in-depth interview of 25 respondents, belonging to different categories of stakeholders, and participant observation. It also analyses the content of newspapers to understand the patterns of environmental crimes in Bangladesh. This article finds that environmental crimes are propagated by several political, economic, institutional, and social elements, such as the political affiliation of criminals, economic profit from natural resources, absence of institutional collaboration, and lack of social consciousness. The issue has become further aggravated due to the weakness of the crime prevention mechanism. Thus, the findings of this study suggest that environmental crimes in Bangladesh should be considered and understood from green criminological perspectives and the development of a green policing model would be effective in reducing environmental crimes in the country.

Sabah State Election 2020: Victory of Alias Haji Sani (WARISAN) at DUN 53 Sekong

The Sabah state assembly was dissolved on 30 July 2020 by the Chief Minister Shafie Apdal to prevent a coup by the previous Chief Minister Musa Aman through his “Group 33”. The 2020 Sabah State election was held on 26 September 2020 involved a record total of 447 candidates vying for 73 state seats. The main contest was between the WARISAN-PLUS of 5 political parties and a group of 9 political parties under the coalition of the newly minted Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS). GRS managed to wrest the state government by comfortably winning 38 out of 73 seats with additional 3 seat came from pro-GRS independent candidates. Nevertheless, WARISAN managed to retain N53 Sekong even as the incumbent have been dropped after 26 months at the helm. This article studied on issues surrounding the victory of Alias Haji Sani during the election. The findings of this articles uses primary data, secondary data, online sources dan participative observation findings. The victory of Alias Haji Sani shows that the influence of people-centric and “Gentlemen Politics Budiman” identification is stronger than political affiliation.

Liberalization and Community Ties

The post-war period (Tony Judt) of citizenship, which was overshadowed by expulsions, decolonization, and the ideological division of Europe, embodied a long history of dealing politically with the consequences of war, violence, and discrimination. In the European dictatorships after 1945, integration into the community of class and the state-prescribed ideology remained decisive for political affiliation. By contrast, in Western European society, which became more open under the influence of post-colonial immigration and the sustained boom, citizenship (T. H. Marshall) evolved into the ultimate emblem of a social-welfare state, a state in which on the principles of constitutionally guaranteed and expanding civil rights political affiliation was based on consensus, participation, and consumerism. These two polar concepts of citizenship were overcome and politically overlaid by a new human rights policy that established the protection of civil rights beyond the state and contributed to the 1989 political transformation of Europe.