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This study examined lived experiences of foreign-born student affairs professionals (SAPs) in the United States and Canadian higher education. We sought to understand foreign-born SAPs' impacts on higher education internationalization and what their professional experiences inferred about the level of international engagement in the field of student affairs. The findings from 35 completed interviews unveiled foreign-born SAPs' enthusiasm and capacities in contributing to internationalization work, particularly in international student services and international and intercultural education for domestic students and peers. However, their rocky journeys to attain visas to enter and stay in the field of student affairs indicated their misplaced functionalities and signaled a missed opportunity for higher education institutions. It is recommended that higher education institutions recognize the importance of internationalizing the SAP and creating a welcoming and supportive environment to further their internationalization efforts.

This study examines a lagged soil moisture–precipitation (S–P) correlation for 24 yr of boreal summer (1979–2002) from the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40), the NCEP–Department of Energy (DOE) reanalysis 2 (R-2), the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), 10 yr (1986–95) of data from phase 2 of the Global Soil Wetness Project (GSWP-2), and two 24-yr model simulations with the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model version 3.1 (CAM3). The different datasets and model simulations all show a similar negative-dominant S–P correlation pattern with wet areas having more significantly negative correlations than the dry areas. The experiments with CAM3 show that this correlation pattern is not caused by the soil moisture feedback. Rather, the combined effect of the precipitation variability and the memory of soil moisture is the main reason for this correlation pattern. Theoretical analysis confirms this conclusion and shows that the correlation pattern is related to both the precipitation spectrum and the time scale of soil moisture retention. This study suggests that the attribution of lagged correlations of precipitation with soil moisture or related variables should be done cautiously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Unintended pregnancy remains a major public health concern in the United States. Information on pregnancy rates among contraceptive users is needed to guide medical professionals' recommendations and individuals' choices of contraceptive methods. Methods: Data were taken from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) and the 1994-1995 Abortion Patient Survey (APS). Hazards models were used to estimate method-specific contraceptive failure rates during the first six months and during the first year of contraceptive use for all U.S. women. In addition, rates were corrected to take into account the underreporting of induced abortion in the NSFG. Corrected 12-month failure rates were also estimated for subgroups of women by age, union status, poverty level race or ethnicity, and religion. Results: When contraceptive methods are ranked by effectiveness over the first 12 months of use (corrected for abortion underreporting), the implant and injectables have the lowest failure rates (2-3%), followed by the pill (8%), the diaphragm and the cervical cap (12%), the male condom (14%), periodic abstinence (21%), withdrawal (24%) and spermicides (26%). In general failure rates are highest among cohabiting and other unmarried women, among those with an annual family income below 200% of the federal poverty level, among black and Hispanic women, among adolescents and among women in their 20s. For example, adolescent women who are not married but are cohabiting experience a failure rate of about 31% in the first year of contraceptive use, while the 12-month failure rate among married women aged 30 and older is only 7%. Black women have a contraceptive failure rate of about 19%, and this rate does not vary by family income; in contrast, overall 12-month rates are lower among Hispanic women (15%) and white women (10%), but vary by income, with poorer women having substantially greater failure rates than more affluent women. Conclusions;... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine factors that influence the process by which foreign-born persons whose mother tongue is not English acquire English-language proficiency. We argue that the determinants of English-language proficiency include cultural and other traits that U.S. immigrants acquire either at birth or while growing up in their home countries, the human capital and other endowments they possess at the time they migrate to the United States, and the skills and other experiences they accumulate after their arrival in this country. Based on data from the November 1989 Current Population Survey, our results confirm that both pre- and post-immigration phases of the life cycle contain elements that are associated with how well immigrants to the United States speak English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how health-related characteristics and behaviors affect the first marriage rates of young adults in the United States. This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth in the United States. The findings support the hypothesis that health-related variables are related to the timing of first marriage in the United States. The findings presented here confirm the hypothesis that many health-related marital choices are likely to be based on commonly observed behaviors and characteristics of young adults rather than simply on the presence of specific diseases and functional disabilities. The results of this study emphasize the importance of including health variables in models of marriage choice by demonstrating that persons with unhealthy behaviors (such as high levels of alcohol consumption and the use of hard drugs) and with physical characteristics that are typically associated with poorer past and future health statuses (obesity and short stature) have lower marriage rates than their healthier counterparts.

We estimate the size of the African American population in five-year age groups at census dates from 1930 to 1990 using a three-part strategy. For cohorts born after 1935, we follow the U.S. Census Bureau in using classical demographic analysis. To estimate the size of cohorts born before 1895, we use extinct-generation estimates. For remaining cohorts, we implement an age/period/cohort model of census counts. All approaches are applied to a data set in which the age distribution of deaths has been corrected for age misreporting. Results provide strong confirmation of the basic validity of Census Bureau estimates of census undercounts for African Americans while extending estimates to new cohorts and periods. Our estimates are less consistent with an historical series prepared by Coale and Rives (1973). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]