The Story of the Gary, Indiana Crucifix

In the spring of 1955, the Knights of Columbus erected an enormous crucifix in a public park in Gary, Indiana. Incensed by this flagrant constitutional violation, Harrison J. Mellman, a bright, well-liked, but still green local lawyer, began making plans to challenge the towering structure in court. Today, more than half a century later, the edifice remains, undisturbed, in its original spot. And so begins, and ends, a most unusual tale

The role and responsibilities of a midwifery mentor

Midwifery Basics: Mentorship 1 Mentorship of student midwives in clinical practice is an important part of the role of a qualified and experienced midwife (Steele 2009). The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008 p9) states ‘The role of the sign-off mentor and/or practice teacher is to make judgments about whether a student has achieved the required standards of proficiency for safe and effective practice for entry to the NMC register.’ However, mentorship is much more than this and can be considered as the process of giving support for personal and professional development. This can be provided in a range of ways, such as acting as a role model, teaching, encouraging, offering feedback and formally assessing the student midwife. Less formal definitions suggest that the mentor is a guide, supporter and advisor (Casey & Clark 2012). The mentoring process, the relationship between mentor and student midwife and the institutional environment within which the mentoring occurs can present a range of rewards and challenges for both mentor and studen

Legislating the Normative Environment: Nonprofit Governance, SarbanesOxley and UPMIFA

Regulation of nonprofit investment and governance practices has migrated from traditional common-law principles to codified statutory law, affecting areas of nonprofit governance not addressed in the original legislation. Trustees will do well to heed this development.A phenomenon with far-reaching effects on nonprofit investment management and governance has become a little-noticed yet powerful force in boardrooms over the past decade. Despite its wide-ranging implications, this development has largely gone undocumented.This paper seeks to draw attention to this change and its implications, and to trace a transformation in thinking that has gained momentum in recent years. Briefly stated, regulation of key aspects of nonprofit governance and investment has, in important ways, ceased to be a matter of unwritten common law and has become primarily a matter of codified statutory law. While interpretation by courts remains fundamental to the application of these laws, it is nevertheless true that standards which previously varied from state to state around a set of core fiduciary principles are now being interpreted against much more uniform statutory standards

Experimenting with inspiration: In-service education for HE teachers.

Experienced teachers at the University of Huddersfield participated in an experimental module, the Inspire Module, during 2013/14. The module was influenced by theories of transformative learning and arts-based education and aimed to offer participants freedom to experiment combined with intellectual support and challenge. Initial evaluations suggest that is has been partially successful, but that increased interventions, stimulus and opportunities for dialogue would improve the experience