Size does matter : the impact of size on governance in arts organizations

This paper documents governance conformance and performance in small to medium sized arts organizations in Australia, where artistic development, innovation and stakeholder relationships inform the governance activity central to achieving their mission. The key question of this study is whether the governance of large and small arts organizations differs as they balance competing needs
in order to achieve their artistic vision. The results of the study provide evidence that size is a critical factor in how boards govern arts organizations. Using material from indepth interviews and surveys, the paper argues that governance conformance and performance are in a state of constant tension with artistic development, and governance processes are dependent on organizational size and resources.

Does every child know they matter? : Pupil's views of one alternative to exclusion

Schools are now urged to make every child matter. In this paper we present the case of the Coalfields Alternatives to Exclusion (CATE) strategy in which pupils at risk of permanent exclusion are offered the opportunity to start afresh in a new school. Without the stigma of exclusion, pupils are able to develop new relationships with peers and teachers and enhance self-esteem. We argue that this system of managed moves, despite some difficulties and challenges, offers an insight into the ways in which feelings of mattering can be translated into new behaviours and intentions. This we suggest provides pupils with a positive opportunity to resume their education and to be genuinely included in the life of their new school.

Do entrepreneurship programs matter? An analysis of North American university innovation systems

Are there differences in commercialization outcomes between universities in Canada and the USA? If so, why? We first examine the commercialization performance of universities on both sides of the 49th parallel through indicators of university spinouts generated. Secondly, we measure the presence and growth in numbers of entrepreneurship centers to determine if there are any parallels or discernable patterns that may be related to spinout performance. Based upon theories that suggest entrepreneurial culture plays a significant role in the spinout process, we then test the hypothesis that entrepreneurship education programs play a significant role in determining spinout performance. Our model assumes that the level and intensity of an academic entrepreneurship program/center is a valid indicator of “entrepreneurial culture” that may impact upon a universities propensity to spinout new knowledge intensive firms. Our results find that there is indeed a correlation between intensity of entrepreneurship program and commercialization outcomes.

Relationships of land use mix with walking for transport : do land uses and geographical scale matter?

Physical activity and public health recommendations now emphasize the creation of activity-friendly neighborhoods. Mixed land use in a neighborhood is important in this regard, as it reflects the availability of destinations to which residents can walk or ride bicycles, and thus is likely to contribute to residents’ active lifestyles that in turn will influence their overall health. Relationships between land use mix (LUM) and physical activity have not been apparent in some studies, which may be because geographical scale and the specificity of hypothesized environment–behavior associations are not taken into account. We compared the strength of association of four Geographic Information Systems-derived LUM measures with walking for transport and perceived proximity to destinations. We assessed physical activity behaviors of 2,506 adults in 154 Census Collection Districts (CCDs) in Adelaide, Australia, for which ‘‘original’’ LUM measures were calculated, and then refined by either: accounting for the geographic scale of measurement; including only the most-relevant land uses; or, both. The refined (but not the ‘‘original’’) LUM measures had significant associations with the frequency of walking for transport (p < 0.05) and area-corrected measures had significant associations with the duration of walking for transport. All LUM measures had significant associations with perceived proximity to destinations, but stronger associations were seen when using the refined measures compared with the original LUM. Identifying the LUM attributes most strongly associated with walking for transport is a priority and can inform environmental and policy initiatives that are needed to promote health-enhancing physical activity.

Mental reinstatement of context with child witnesses : does it matter whether context is reinstated 'out loud'?

In this study we examined the impact of two types of mental reinstatement of context instructions in facilitating children's recall of a staged event across two stages of development. Specifically, a 2 times 3 factorial design was utilised incorporating two age groups (6- and 12-year-olds) and three interview conditions (standard recall, mental reinstatement where the child was instructed to reinstate the context 'out loud', and mental reinstatement without the explicit 'out loud' instruction). Overall, mental reinstatement instruction led to more correct and fewer incorrect responses than the standard recall instruction. The effect of mental reinstatement was similar across the age groups and irrespective of whether the child was asked to reinstate 'out loud'. Beneficial effects of the technique, however, were only evident for cued-recall questions as opposed to free-narrative responses. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Market based performance : do ownership structures, or firm policy choice matter?

This study examines whether the structure of share ownership or firm's dividend and debt policies provide explanation for firm performances in Malaysia. Firm performance, measured as Tobin's Q is modelled in a dynamic panel framework to estimate effects of director ownership, family ownership, foreign ownership, and firm's dividend and debt policy. The generalised methods of moments (GMM) method is used to estimated the models for 80 CI components companies listed on Main Board of Malaysia observed from 1999 to 2002. The findings reveal strong evidence of positive impact of firm's dividend and debt policy on firm performance. However, ownership structure seems to be less important for market based performance of Malaysian firms: These results are expected to provide guidelines to the investors regarding the significance of firm dividend policy, leverage policy and market to book value ratio as some of the key sources of value creation for Malaysian listed firms.

Low and high birth weight as risk factors for obesity among 4 to 5 year old Australian children : does gender matter?

Studies testing whether birth weight and childhood obesity differ by gender are lacking. We aimed to describe the relationship between birth weight and childhood overweight/obesity and investigate the influence that gender has on this relationship among 4 to 5-year-old children. We performed a secondary analysis of an Australian nationally representative cross-sectional study in 4 to 5-year-old children. The main outcome measure was child overweight and obesity. We found that low birth weight (LBW) was associated with lower risk of overweight/obesity among girls at 4–5 years before (OR 0.50, 95%CI 0.32, 0.77) and after adjusting for socio-demographic factors (OR 0.51 95%CI 0.33, 0.80) and ethnicity (OR 0.52, 95%CI 0.33, 0.81) but was not associated with child overweight/obesity among boys before or after adjustment. High birth weight (HBW) was associated with a higher risk of overweight/obesity among both girls (adjusted OR: 1.76, 95%CI 1.12, 2.78) and boys (adjusted OR: 2.42 95% CI 2.06, 2.86). Conclusion: There are gender differences in the association of birth weight with child overweight/obesity. HBW was associated with a higher risk of child overweight/obesity in boys and girls before and after adjustment for socio-demographic factors. However, LBW was associated with a lower risk of child overweight/obesity in girls but not in boys. These gender differences need to be considered when planning interventions to reduce child overweight/obesity.

Wry-necked memory : the matter of Ireland in cutting green hay and memory Ireland, and the poems of the pattern.

This paper examines the matter of Ireland in Buckley’s two memoirs, Cutting Green Hay (1983) and Memory Ireland (1985), and the poems of The Pattern (1979), in order to revisit critically the ways in which he constructs himself as a diasporic Irish-Australian, a participant in the most remote Gaeltacht. It raises questions of victimhood, of similar and different experience of being at the mercy of the land, and of his re-engineering of the place of the political in poetry. It argues that Buckley’s agonized positioning as Ireland’s ‘guest/foreigner/son’ was a project that was doomed by its utopianism, and that, obsessed as he became with Ireland, the angst within had little to do with ‘the Ireland within’ or without. The paper suggests that the poet’s slow and unacknowledged abandonment in his Irish period of a key tenet of modernism, its distrust of propaganda and the political, is in itself a new formation which had some continuity with the radicalism of his thinking during the formative years of the revolutionary catholic apostolate he led both at the University of Melbourne and nationally. It also points to the deployment of an ancient medieval Irish trope, that of the ocean (rather than a landmass) linking a dispersed community, as one of the ways the poetry effects a resolution of the issues of being ‘Irish’ in a remote country.