"If you don't want to take risks, then you have to be silent" : an interview with Howard Zinn.

An interview with intellectual Howard Zinn is presented. When asked on the responsibilities of a public intellectual, he mentioned doing something that would benefit the society and not just satisfying one's own personal ambition. He states that there are risks on coming up with ideas as a public intellectual, including the opinions of the people. He discusses the benefits and problems of being allied to a university as a public intellectual.

Unintentional needlestick injuries in livestock production : a case series and review

Livestock producers and their employees sometimes experience unintentional needlestick injury (NSI) while vaccinating or injecting medications into animals. There is little published regarding the medical complications that can develop from this occupational exposure. The objectives of this study were to (1) perform a retrospective review of animal-related NSIs treated at a tertiary medical center of a rural state; and (2) review the risks of NSI and measures to decrease their occurrence. Medical records of patients with NSI related to animal injection were identified from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics database from 2002 to 2008 and reviewed. Nine patients received medical care for NSI that occurred while vaccinating farm animals. Most common NSI site was the nondominant hand and most occurred while attempting to inject the animal. Soft tissue infection was common and all nine received oral and/or intravenous antibiotics. Two thirds required hospital admission. Three required surgery and one had a bedside incision and drainage procedure. One patient had a serious inflammatory reaction with necrosis in the leg due to the oil adjuvant in the animal vaccine. Another case had a probable mycetoma with osteomyelitis and soft tissue infection due to the bacteria Streptomyces, which is a NSI complication not previously reported. Although medical complications from farm-related NSIs do not appear to be common, this case series illustrates how these injuries can be debilitating, costly, and lead to loss of work time and productivity. Producers and employees who inject livestock need to be aware of the risks and utilize measures to decrease unintentional NSI.

Self-reported empathy levels in undergraduate occupational therapy students.

Relevence to exploring Occupational therapy role transitions and processes: The skill of establishing an empathetic therapeutic relationship in collaboration with one’s clients is a valued professional competency. To prepare occupational therapy students for professional practice, aspects of empathy awareness should be explored early in their undergraduate education. Raising students’ awareness of empathy and transforming this into professional competency for building empathetic relationships requires time. Occupational therapy undergraduates should explore aspects of empathy, both theoretically and in practice at all levels, to ensure these developing professionals can build empathic therapeutic relationships in practice. 
Aim: This research was undertaken to determine if students in four different years of study in occupational therapy at an Australian university differed in self-reported levels of empathy.

Facing up to the risks in commercially focused university-industry R&D partnerships

The number of university–industry R&D partnerships (UIPs) has increased significantly over the past decade, in most OECD countries and in Australia, yet the study of risk in such commercially focused collaborative ventures is still a developing area. This review paper seeks to contribute to debate on this increasingly important phenomenon by addressing three key areas of risks for universities in entering such collaborations. The commercialization of research findings presents particular risks to universities, most notably the possibility of financial loss, which has a greater impact than for companies in cross‐sector collaborations. Another major type of risk faced by universities is relational risk, and this can significantly alter the trust dynamics that underpin research and innovation. There are also institutional risks to universities and their research staff engaged in commercializable R&D and, ultimately, to their reputation as a neutral source of expertise. It is argued there is a need for universities in Australia to develop comprehensive policies to manage the risks of commercialization and R&D collaboration with industry partners.

Outsourcing the risks : alcohol licensing, risk and the making of the night time economy

Mariana Valverde argues that in the late twentieth century, the British state contracted out the prevention of disorder and monitoring of risks produced by widespread alcohol use to the private sector through the process of liquor licensing. This paper will argue that this scenario was duplicated in Victoria at the same time. It will do so by an analysis of four government-instigated inquiries into liquor licensing regimes from 1965 to 1998. The inquiries were distinguished by the subtly different emphases in their terms of reference. In 1965, the Phillips Royal Commission was directed to inquire into the best ways of dealing with the problems alcohol produced and how best to regulate it for the benefit of the population as a whole. By the time the Nieuwenhuysen Report was commissioned in 1985, the emphasis had changed, and he was directed to inquire how best to serve the interests of alcohol consumers and to produce the licensing regulatory regime which would enable the construction of a 24-hour city. Any anomalies that still existed in the revised Act were eliminated in the 1998 review which was instigated as a direct response to the National Competition Policy. A consequence of these changes over 30 years was the development of particular risk groups, such as ‘binge-drinking young people’, whose violence and nuisance must be controlled to enable all other ‘reasonable’ and ‘moderate’ drinkers be allowed to keep drinking. Thus the notion of risk had been redefined and the responsibility for dealing with these risks had been directed from the state to individual licensees and individual drinkers.

Benchmarking occupational health and safety performance of Australian construction companies.

It is mandatory for Australian construction companies to provide a safe working environment for their workers and sub-contractors. Consequently, occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major issue for construction firms mainly due to the fear of prosecution. The recent introduction of Zero Tolerance by the Victorian government WorkCover Authority provided even higher OHS safety standards for the construction industry. This has placed a increased burden on construction companies especially small firms that are not in a position of financial strength.

The size of the companies has been found to be a major contributing factor to the OHS performance of construction contractors. This research is based on benchmarking study of 44 construction companies in Victoria, Australia. The results show that the major factors influencing safety performance were; company size, and management commitment to OHS.