This study explored union leaders' attitudes and perceptions about Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) in the united states. Three hundred and five union leaders who were participants in a union leadership training program completed the survey instrument. This study explored a number of research questions that add to the descriptive knowledge about EAPs and tested four groups of hypotheses concerning union leaders' view of EAPs. The first two hypotheses examined the readiness of union leaders to cooperate with management on the EAP. The second hypothesis examined the factors that affect the readiness to cooperate variables. The results revealed that the majority of union leaders perceive EAPs as increasing human capital rather than as a form of management control. The readiness to cooperate was found to be affected by the presence of training, written materials, and whether the EAP was in collective bargaining agreement. Generally, the demographic characteristics of union leaders did not have an impact on their views of EAPs. Replication of the research of Trice and Beyer (1982) was conducted and little similarity was found with their earlier findings. The results revealed that EAPs were relatively new in this population, were generally sponsored by the company and the actual services delivered by EAP providers. Union leaders perceived the drug problem in America as serious but saw it as less serious in their locals. Drug testing was being conducted at most of the companies and one half of the companies referred workers who tested positive to the EAP for assistance. / Ph. D.

Recently, the population of gay and lesbian persons who are open about their sexuality has increased (Evans and Wall, 1991). Student attitudes toward these subpopulations are of interest to educators and administrators who are involved in directly serving students. While several national studies have been conducted to assess general attitudes toward gays and lesbians, little research is aimed at assessing student attitudes toward this population. Past research has pointed up the need for an instrument that assesses attitudes toward gay men and lesbians as two distinct groups. Herek developed an inventory to address this issue. The attitudes of Virginia Tech’s Resident Advisors toward lesbians and gay men were assessed using Herek’s (1988) Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men scale. A three-way ANOVA was used to determine the degree to which gender, academic level, and tenure of experience were associated with scores on the inventory. No significant effects were revealed from this analysis. Overall mean scores fell in the "neutral" range suggesting a lack of support for both gay and lesbian persons. The results of this study should aid educators and other administrators at Virginia Tech in better understanding the attitudes of the Resident Advisors toward gays and lesbians and to consider the implications of this assessment data. / Master of Arts

This thesis sought to answer the research question: How do the top educators in the area of public relations, marketing, and advertising perceive the concept of integrated marketing communications as compared to one another?The mail survey applying Q methodology was sent to 15 top educators in each of the three fields in the United States for a total sample of 45 educators. A total of twenty-five responses were returned representing 55.5 percent of the sample. When the respondents were analyzed by discipline, there were eight responses from the pubic relations educators, nine from the marketing educators, and eight from the advertising educators. As a result the responses from each disciplines comprised, respectively, 53.3 percent, 60 percent, and 53.33 percent of the total sample.The statements in Q-Sorting were collected from the review of literature and in interviews with the Ball State University advertising, and public relations professors. Each statement either agreed or disagreed with the perception of integrated marketing communications. Each educator was asked to indicate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with each statement.A computer program developed for Q-Methodology studies was used to extract the factors from the educators' responses. After the Q-Sorts were tabulated, the researcher identified two factors, Factor I, and Factor II. The majority of Factor I respondents were the marketing, and advertising educators. The majority of Factor II respondents were public relations educators.The researcher concluded that these two groups had clearly different attitudes toward IMC. Stated in another way, marketing educators and advertising educators had similar perceptions of IMC, while public relations educators perceived the IMC concept very differently. Public relations educators indicated that the concept of IMC would be acceptable if it should be viewed as a total organizational communications function. / Department of Journalism

In this study the public view of adult education in the United States was inferred from articles published in nationally distributed magazines. Two hundred twenty-eight articles from fifty-three non-professional magazines published in the United States from January 1,1970, through December 31, 1987, were reviewed. The articles were selected from those listed under "adult education," or cross referenced as "see also" under "adult education" in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. The research questions were: What concept of adult education appears in the print media? To what extent is this view congruent with professional views of adult education? Leisure learning and literacy programs were prevalent and available from a variety of sources. Adult illiteracy was reported as a national concern. Programs that were commonplace (basic education, general equivalency degree classes, job skills training, and industrial training) were reported less often than new or novel programs. Most articles were positive in tone, promoting adult education activities as useful, rewarding, and enjoyable experiences, but ignored adult education as a professional field. The public view as reflected in the articles was positive with programs available to adults of many levels of educational attainment. The public view was not congruent with professional writings. Group activities were more in evidence than self directed learning. Learners tended to be urban, educated, and Caucasian. Although few programs restricted participation because of age or gender there were discernible groups of aged people and women. Programs were usually sponsored by institutions of higher education and entrepreneurs, and rarely by public school systems, community organizations, or cultural groups. Program content reflected adult interest in self improvement and entertainment rather than professional growth. To refine an understanding of the public view, further research focusing on other information sources such as national and regional newspapers and the electronic media is needed, making it possible to compare the public view across various regions of the country.

The purpose of the study was to interpret and compare the meanings attributed to furisode by selected female Japanese college students living in Japan and living in the U.S.A. The furisode is a type of kimono worn on formal occasions by young Japanese women. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in this exploratory study to further understand meanings attributed to the furisode by Japanese college students. A symbolic interactionist perspective was employed to understand the meanings which participants attached to the furisode. A purposive sample of two groups of Japanese college students were investigated: seven female Japanese college students living in Japan and seven female Japanese college students living abroad. The college students were recruited at a university in eastern Japan and at a university in western U.S.A. The semi-structured questions asked during the interviews captured participants' experiences and memories related to the furisode, its meanings, and participants' demographic characteristics. The findings revealed that there were no particular differences in the meanings attached to the furisode by the college students in this sample living in Japan and living abroad. Emergent themes were classified into three groups: 1) symbolic themes related to culture: formal wear, age or youth, marital status, entrance into adulthood, national costume of Japan, a costume or kimono related to culture and tradition, a traditional costume, a dress that represents conformity to other girls, a dress that represents ideal cultural images of a wearer; 2) themes related to individual perceptions: a dress that enhances the spiritual and mental state of the mind of a wearer, a dress that makes a wearer feel pleased or happy, a dress that represents a valuable experience, a dress that reflects feelings or moods of perceivers, a dress or kimono which is valuable, a dress or kimono seen as an heirloom, a dress or kimono that represents the individuality or personality of a wearer, a dress regarded as a memento ; and 3) themes associated with the furisode itself: A dress or kimono with increased costs for preservation and maintenance, a dress or kimono that restricts the movement or activity of a wearer, a dress or kimono that takes time and labor in preparing for wear, and a dress or kimono that is rarely worn in everyday life. The study also found the sources of information for participants in both countries were a mother, a grandmother, the mass media such as TV, magazines, and a book, leaflets to promote the sale of the furisode, clerks at a kimono shop, staff at a beauty salon who had a participant put on the furisode, friends at school, friends outside the university, and neighbors. Further, the themes that emerged from the interviews also illustrated that symbolic meanings attached to the furisode were communicated meaningfully between a wearer and a perceiver in Japan. Based on the results from this study, the furisode appears to be a cultural symbol for which shared meanings are attributed. Future research may analyze the relationships among meanings, demographic variables such as age, and other variables that influence the attitudes toward or perceptions of the furisode, such as practicing Japanese traditional arts and the wearing of other Japanese traditional costumes. / Graduation date: 1999

The role and function of school counselors remains a consistent source of concern in the school counseling profession. Aligning school counseling activities with comprehensive school counseling practice is a way to standardize the profession. Creating a school board policy for counseling is a strategy to gain support for and institutionalize school counseling practices. The purpose of this dissertation study was to produce two manuscripts related to the role and function of school counselors and school board policies for counseling. The researcher investigated school board members' (N = 169) and school counselors' (N = 341) perceptions of school board knowledge of comprehensive school counseling program activities, school board prioritization of those activities, and school board adoption of policies and actions related to school counseling. The school board perception survey and school counselor perception survey were modified versions of the School Counselor Activity Rating Scale. This research suggested that school counselors were more likely to rate school board members' knowledge of and level of priority for school counseling activities lower than school board members rated themselves. This research also suggested that there was a direct relationship between school board members' knowledge of and level of priority they assign to school counseling activities. / Graduation date: 2013

Various researchers (e.g., Copeland, 1977; Foster,1973; and Dickson, 1993) have theorized that due to negative self-imagery and the lack of eligible Black men, Black women's self-concept suffers as a result of "losing" potential Black partners to White women. The purpose of the present study was to empirically evaluate the relationship between Black women's self-concept and their attitudes toward Black men dating White women. In addition, level of racial identity development, dating practices, and selfratings of attractiveness were examined as moderating variables. Thirty-six single Black pre-professional (PP) and 36 single Black professional (P) women completed the Demographic Questionnaire, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS), and the Racial Identity Scale-Version B (RIAS-B). The video vignette depicting a Black male-White female couple was then introduced, and the TSCS was administered for a second time. The results indicated that self-concept of the sample was not influenced by viewing a video of a Black male-White female couple. Moreover, level of satisfaction with physical appearance was not correlated with self-concept. In addition, PP women tended to be unsure of their Black identity while P women were less confused and more comfortable with their Black identity. The effects of Black male-White female relationships on Black women is in its exploratory stage and more research is needed in this area. / Department of Psychological Science

The U.S. Department of Defense employs both uniformed military personnel and non-uniformed civilian employees as information sources. The objectives of this study was to determine whether students, acting in the role of journalists, attributed greater credibility to uniformed or non-uniformed spokespersons and whether a difference in attribution could be measured when the topic being briefed was more specifically related to the military mission.Seventy undergraduate journalism students were randomly assigned to four groups and exposed to one of four videotaped press briefings. Two briefings announced the outbreak of hostilities involving U.S. forces or award of a major construction contract. Each of the announcements was delivered by a uniformed military public affairs officer or by a spokesperson in civilian business suit.Following the briefings, students evaluated the source using semantic differentials first developed by Berlo, Lemert and Mertz (1969) and prepared questions exactly as they would ask them following the spokesperson's prepared statement. The semantic differentials were analyzed using ANOVA. The follow-on questions were coded using methodology similar to that used by Einsiedel (1974) and evaluated using the "Coefficient of Imbalance" proposed by Janis and Fadner (1949). This second method was employed to determine whether data obtained and analyzed using the Coefficient of Imbalance would validate results obtained through the use of more traditional semantic differentials.Neither method resulted in findings which would suggest a statistically significant difference in the credibility attributed to the defense source by the student-journalists in any of the four treatments. / Department of Journalism

The purpose of the study was to provide a descriptive data analysis for program planners on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior regarding organ donation among undergraduate students enrolled at Ball State University. An 84-item questionnaire was administered to undergraduate students. The subjects were obtained from a convenient sample.The data were analyzed using mean and Pearson's r to answer the research questions. The overall attitudes of the subjects were positive (M=20.88 out of a possible 26). The knowledge of the subjects toward organ donation was low (M=9.98 out of a possible 22). About one half of the subjects indicated that they are organ donors, by indicating on the survey that they have signed an organ donor card or a similar document. Attitude regarding organ donation (r =.232) was found to be a greater influence on willingness to become an organ donor than was knowledge about organ donation (r = .106). Recommendations are to submit results to program planners to help create more effective organ donation recruitment. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

From the colonial period to the present, Americans have debated the role of the military and its place in American society. One important part of this debate is the issue of compulsory military service and whether it is consistent with the ideals of a democratic state. Although Americans have generally accepted compulsory service in times of national emergency, they have often expressed great reservations to it in times of peace. In their view, compulsory military service raises fundamental questions about the responsibilities of citizens to the state.Following World War II, proponents of compulsory military service campaigned for implementation of Universal Military Training (UMT) as a method of insuring manpower for a potential national emergency. By stressing the universal aspect of the program, supporters hoped to demonstrate the democratic qualities of UMT and its compatibility with traditional American ideals. Ultimately, however, they were unable to convince Congress and the general public of the program's merits. Some opposed the program because of its questionable military value in the atomic age. Many others voiced their disapproval of UMT largely because of a longstanding American sentiment against peacetime compulsory service. As a result, UMT was never implemented.This thesis will explore a neglected aspect of the UMT debate and examine the opposition of veterans to UMT. Veterans generally, and veterans organizations in particular, have traditionally advocated military preparedness. Not surprisingly, the American Legion was the primary nongovernmental organization to spearhead the effort to adopt UMT. Yet significant opposition to UMT existed even within the Legion's ranks. Similarly, the American Veterans Committee (AVC), a newly formed organization comprised of World War II veterans, announced its opposition to military training. With uncertain support from a segment of American society that would normally be expected to back preparedness programs, the government's plan for military training had little chance for adoption. With the resumption of selective service in 1948, the importance of UMT to U.S. military policy greatly diminished, and UMT virtually disappeared from the political forefront.Through the use of archival sources at the American Legion National Headquarters, the records of the American Veterans Committee, congressional testimony by representatives of both organizations, and various secondary sources, this thesis demonstrates that some veterans, like many Americans, viewed peacetime compulsory military service with great ambivalence and not an obligation of citizenship in a democratic state. / Department of History