New Prairie Press

Fictionalizing Fiction through the Metaphor of (De)Construction in Kamel Daoud’s Meursault, contre-enquête

Mary Poteau-Tralie — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 12:16:08 PDT

Kamel Daoud’s Meursault, contre-enquête, employs the metaphor of (de)construction to disassemble and reconstruct Albert Camus’s L’Étranger on both the plot and lexical levels. Daoud creates a series of binary oppositions using Camus’s original building blocks. His literary rebuilding on the unsteady canonical foundation ultimately valorizes plurality in the retrospective reconstruction of Algeria’s past, and in an ever-deferred construction of its future. Daoud thus becomes inextricably part of the rebuilding process.

Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, editor. Pierre Bourdieu in Hispanic Literature and Culture. Palgrave MacMillan, 2018.

Katie J. Vater — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 10:27:45 PDT

Review of Sánchez Prado, Ignacio M., editor. Pierre Bourdieu in Hispanic Literature and Culture. Palgrave MacMillan, 2018.

Iker González-Allende. Hombres en movimiento: Masculinidades españolas en los exilios y emigraciones, 1939-1999. Purdue UP, 2018.

Jeffrey Zamostny — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 10:27:33 PDT

Review of Iker González-Allende. Hombres en movimiento: Masculinidades españolas en los exilios y emigraciones, 1939-1999. Purdue UP, 2018.

Nora Hämäläinen. Literature and Moral Theory. Bloomsbury, 2016.

Anthony M. Dotterman — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 10:27:21 PDT

Review of Nora Hämäläinen. Literature and Moral Theory. Bloomsbury, 2016.

Window Shopping with Duchamp: Commodity Aesthetics Delayed in Glass

J. Brandon Pelcher — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 10:27:07 PDT

While Marcel Duchamp’s readymades are consistently framed as a challenge to the art world and the concept of art itself, they also challenge the world from which they were taken, the world of commodities. Readymades subject the commodity to the world of aesthetics in order to more fully investigate the commodity aesthetics of both the commodity form itself and it presentation in shop window displays. This critical investigation complicates the role of commodity aesthetics and consumption as well as their formation of the consumer-subject in Fordist capitalism. The readymade can be seen both as an important forerunner to the theories of commodity aesthetics and consumption in the 1960s and 70s as well as as exemplary of contemporaneous Dadaist praxis.

Book Review: Financial Recovery

Nathan Astle — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:19:05 PDT

Book Review: Financial Recovery

Book Review: Communication Essentials for Financial Planners

Dana Carney — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:18:51 PDT

Book Review: Communication Essentials for Financial Planners

Practitioner Profile: Ed Coambs

Ed Coambs — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:18:36 PDT

Practitioner Profile: Ed Coambs

Researcher Profile: Michelle Jeanfreau

Michelle Jeanfreau — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:18:21 PDT

Researcher Profile: Michelle Jeanfreau

The Role of Dual-Self Constructs in Determining Payment Card Choice: Insights for Working with Credit Card Borrowers

Laura Ricaldi et al. — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:18:04 PDT

Evidence shows that consumers are always better off using credit cards rather than debit cards as a payment choice (King & King, 2005). This assumes that credit card payers are “convenience users” and do not carry a balance. However, we know there are habitual credit card borrowers (“revolving users”) as well as those that elect to use debit cards, even though the costs outweigh the benefits. By examining the determinants of payment choice, with a specific focus on dual-self constructs (attitudes, myopia, and financial sophistication), results from this study can provide insight for financial professionals to help mitigate the incidence of revolving credit card users. Using data from Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) between 1998 and 2013, we find that while myopia does not explain variation between revolving credit and debit card users, there are differences in attitudes. All dual-self constructs discriminate between revolving and convenience credit card users, with attitudes having the greatest effect. Combining results from these payment choice profile comparisons suggests that financial professionals may find value in initially encouraging revolving credit card users to be debit card users, while working to change credit attitudes, with the goal of transitioning these former revolvers to convenience credit card users.

Healthcare Professionals’ Retirement Intentions: The Roles of Financial and Work Factors

YETTY SHOBO 3674528 et al. — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:17:47 PDT

Delayed retirement has been utilized to provide short-term solution to the healthcare workforce demand-supply gap arising from increased retirement and healthcare needs by aging population. To adequately design an effective financial therapy and retirement delaying program, a knowledge of key factors affecting retirement intentions is critical. This study examines the influences of financial and work-related factors on retirement intentions among a sample of 21,860 healthcare professionals between 50 to 65 years old. Using data from the Virginia’s 2016 Dentist, Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Nurse, Physician, and Pharmacist Surveys, multinomial logistic regressions were used to identify key factors associated with retirement intentions. Study findings showed that having lower income, education debt, and higher job satisfaction, among other factors, were associated with delayed retirement intentions. Incorporating this finding will be key in the creation of successful retirement delaying programs and ultimately in the reduction of the healthcare workforce demand-supply gap.

Financial and Parental Stress as Predictors of Retirement Worry

Helen Kiso et al. — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:17:30 PDT

While past studies have examined retirement planning, limited studies have investigated the role of parenthood and its influence on retirement worry. This study draws from three bodies of literature: saving for retirement, family stressors, and retirement worry. The purpose of this study was to identify key predictors of retirement worry in working-age adults with children. Specifically, it was of interest to consider child and family factors on retirement worry. A sample of 466 adults (M_age = 39.05, SD = 9.32) completed an online questionnaire. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted. It was found that retirement planning measures (having clear goals and negative thoughts about retirement) as well as child and family stressors (childcare financial stress, negative work to family spillover, and having the child as a financial responsibility) predicted retirement worry. Study findings can inform programs and services aimed at assisting families in planning for retirement to avoid financial obstacles that could prevent future financial worries.

Psychosocial Attributes and Financial Self-Efficacy Among Older Adults

Sarah D. Asebedo — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:17:12 PDT

This study investigates the relationship between psychosocial characteristics and financial self-efficacy (FSE) within a sample of 9,187 U.S. individuals over age 50 from the Health and Retirement Study. Psychosocial factors were operationalized through the PERMA well-being construct from positive psychology: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Results of a second-order confirmatory factory analysis (CFA) within a structural equation modeling framework revealed that the PERMA construct was positively associated with FSE for the full sample, the spouse/partner sample, and the sample with children. Results also indicated that all individual PERMA elements were directly and positively associated with FSE except for engagement, which revealed a direct negative relationship. Researchers have found older adults’ FSE to be vulnerable to a sustained decline; this study builds upon the literature by providing insight into how the psychosocial environment might contribute to or mitigate this decline.

Vol 10 Issue 1 Editorial

Kristy L. Archuleta — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:16:53 PDT

Vol 10 Issue 1 Editorial

Food Insecurity and Assistance on Campus: A Survey of the Student Body

Michael Miller et al. — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 13:59:52 PDT

According to recent studies, food insecurity affects from 34%-59% of college students. This will continue to be an issue as tuition increases and more low-income and first-generation students enter universities and colleges. Nearly 52% of college students live at, or near, the poverty level, compared to a national poverty rate of 14.5%. This leaves many undergraduate and graduate students with challenging decisions around meeting their basic housing, nutritional, and educational expenses. To assess food insecurity at Kansas State University (KSU), a random sample of undergraduate and graduate students was surveyed. Findings include a high rate of food insecurity (44.3%) among respondents. This measure was calculated by summing the affirmative responses to the USDA short-form food security questions in the survey. This means that during a 7-month period during the 2016 to 2017 academic year, 44.3% of respondents experienced at least two of the following: 1) didn’t have enough food to last and didn’t have money to buy more, 2) couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals, 3) cut the size of or skipped meals, 4) ate less than they felt they should because they didn’t have enough money, or, 5) were hungry and didn’t eat. This finding is consistent with other studies that report food insecurity rates between 34% and 59% at U.S. universities and community colleges. Fifty-seven percent of respondents were generally aware that food insecurity is a significant problem on college campuses. A majority of respondents (63%) reported that they knew students besides themselves who, currently or sometime during the academic year, had problems with food insecurity or hunger. Yet food assistance (e.g., food pantries) and SNAP are seldom used and responses regarding the use of an on-campus food pantry were mixed. Despite this mixed response, over 2,000 students had used the campus food pantry within the one-year period between opening in 2017 to 2018 (Bishop 2018).

Does Good Design Matter in the Seedstock Advertising Business? Effects of Graphic Design in Beef Seedstock Ads on Cattle Producers’ Trust and Credibility

Morgan L. Marley et al. — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 12:39:14 PDT

Designers are trained professionals who understand how to effectively visually communicate based on executing principles of design and an understanding of their audience. Within the beef seedstock industry, ad design varies widely in terms of technical effectiveness, but how do those differences affect potential customers? This study tested the effects of seedstock ad’s graphic design on the viewer’s trust and credibility among 561 Angus cattle producers. Our results show the graphic design of a beef seedstock ranch ad promoting an upcoming bull sale did not influence producers’ perceptions of trust and credibility. However, results did reveal better designed ads are positively related to producers’ trust of that brand. We suggest the study results were influenced by a first impression established through the brand description presented to all treatment groups, which illustrates beef seedstock buyers may be more reliant on other informational cues than design to inform their purchasing decisions. Future research is needed to parcel out effects of the brand information relative to the design aspects of the ad.

Communication Channel Preferences: A Descriptive Audience Segmentation Evaluation

Kevan W. Lamm et al. — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 12:38:55 PDT

For over 70 years the use of opinion leaders in a two-step communication process has been employed and validated. However, despite the accepted importance of communicating with opinion leaders as a means to cascade information to opinion leaders’ networks of influence there have been few empirical studies specifically examining agricultural and natural resource opinion leader communication channel preferences, particularly from an audience segmentation perspective. The results reported in the study capitalize on previous research data examined from a unique perspective. Specifically, communication channel preferences were analyzed according to opinion leader self-reported demographic categories serving as audience segments. Associations between sex, age, level of employment, level of education and geographical region and communication channel preference were analyzed. The results of the study are descriptive and foundational in nature. Overall, the results indicate a dedicated web page or blog is the most preferred communication channel across all audience segments and conference calls are the least preferred communication channel across the majority of audience segments. The Facebook group communication channel had the most variability between audience segments and the LinkedIn group communicational channel had the largest observed effect sizes among audience segments.

A Comparative Content Analysis of News Stories and Press Releases During the 2015 Blue Bell Ice Cream Recall

Brandyl Brooks Calley et al. — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 12:38:40 PDT

In 2015, Blue Bell Creameries had its first recall in the company’s history. Blue Bell issued a voluntary recall of all of its ice cream products after Listeria was detected and was linked to 10 illnesses that resulted in three deaths. With the theoretical framework of framing and Situational Crisis Communication Theory, the purpose of this study was to explore how this recall was presented in company press releases and news media coverage to determine what crisis communication strategies Blue Bell implemented and how the media presented that information. This study was a content analysis of 23 press releases from Blue Bell and 68 articles from newspapers. The four crisis response strategies, or postures, used as frames were deny, diminish, rebuild, and bolster. This study also examined sources identified in the articles and the topic areas they discussed. The results indicated Blue Bell’s communication efforts were properly and effectively disseminated through the news media to the public. Blue Bell used accommodative crisis communication postures to restore its reputation. Blue Bell was also commonly found as a source in the news stories, which benefitted the company when communicating about the recall to the public. This study provided an examination of crisis communication strategies and reputation management for organizations related to one specific food recall, which should encourage additional studies of these strategies in food and agricultural industries.