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Many believe our schools to be in crisis--a crisis brought on by educators having lost their sense of mission. What is needed, it is argued, is a new vision built on students' and teachers' highest potential. To achieve this goal, 101 activities that can foster students' self-esteem and responsibility are presented in this book. Assuming that education reform should begin with teachers, the first section is devoted to them and what they can do to improve their own self-esteem. It asks teachers to envision new roles for themselves--as leaders, as role models, and as coaches--and outlines activities to help them realize these roles. The second section emphasizes lessons that push students to take responsibility for their world, rather than seeing themselves as victims of circumstance. Teaching is portrayed as a loving process that is also a transforming activity. The last part of the book delves into what is called "the true purpose of education." The activities in this section help students attain goals, participate in peer counseling groups, resolve conflicts, and expand their expertise in areas beyond the classroom and into the community. All the activities are based on proven theories and have been tested in the field. (RJM)

This book offers teachers and group leaders over 100 activities, cartoons, and quotations to enhance children's self-concept. The activities are divided into seven section: (1) Getting Started; (2) My Strengths; (3) Who Am I?; (4) Accepting My Body; (5) Where Am I Going?; (6) The Language of Self; and (7) Relationships with Others. Part one offers ideas on developing an environment of trust and support so that students will feel safe exploring themselves and interacting with each other. So that students can begin to take risks and grow, parts two, three, and four help children to develop a sense of place and to identify their strengths. Section five assists children in deciding where they want to go, what they want to accomplish, and who they want to become, while in part six youngsters learn how to stop using language that will prevent them from reaching their goals. The last section shows student how to relate all of their emerging selves to others. Included are suggestions for adapting activities to fit today's culturally diverse classrooms, as well as introductory explanations and suggestions for when, where, and how to use the activities. An annotated bibliography, broken down by subject matter, appears at the end. (RJM)

This handbook for teachers and parents presents 100 practical and easily applicable ways to enhance the self-concept of children in the classroom or at home. The techniques are drawn from many of the newer approaches to self-development such as gestalt therapy, psychosynthesis, guided fantasy, sensory awareness, transactional analysis, expressive art, and movement. Activities are designed to help teachers develop a classroom climate of trust and rapport, encourage pupil interaction, develop emotional awareness, stimulate creative writing, raise achievement motivation, foster self-acceptance, and promote better human relations. The first chapter presents suggestions for getting started and building an environment of positive support. Through an activity such as keeping a personal journal, students can learn more about themselves, their feelings, and their goals and aspirations. The second chapter has students evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Subsequent chapters include: Who Am I, Accepting My Body, Where Am I Going, The Language of Self, and Relationships with Others. Within each chapter are suggested student activities such as drawing self-portraits, writing short autobiographies, writing imaginary newspaper articles about their accomplishments, and developing resumes of their accomplishments. In addition, an annotated bibliography of available resources and notes for both parents and teachers on how to use the book are included. (Author/JR)

Sulfur isotopes are fractionated during dissimilatory sulfate reduction; therefore, sulfur isotope studies have been useful in elucidating the role of sulfate reduction in the sulfur cycle, and in understanding the early evolution of the sulfur metabolism on Earth. Sulfur isotope fractionation during sulfate reduction occurs when sulfate is transported into the cell and is reduced to sulfide through a series of reversible reactions operating with different efficiencies and distinct fractionation factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manipulator described in this paper is a novel three degree-of-freedom device that is ideally suited as a robotic wrist or platform manipulator. Because of its similarity to the human wrist, the invention has been named the "Carpal Wrist.' Much like its natural counterpart, the Carpal Wrist has eight primary links, corresponding to the eight carpal bones of the human wrist, a parallel actuation scheme, similar to the flexor and extensor carpi muscles along the forearm, and an open interior passage, which forms a protected tunnel for routing hoses and electrical cables, much like the well-known carpal tunnel. The Carpal Wrist also has the significant advantages of possessing closed form forward and inverse kinematic solutions and a large, dexterous workspace that is free of interior singularities (either considered separately or as part of a manipulator arm). As a result of its symmetric parallel architecture, the Wrist can handle a large payload capacity and can easily be adapted to a variety of actuation schemes. One embodiment of the Carpal Wrist is shown in Fig. 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies of the magnetic properties of several high superconducting transition temperature (Tc) cuprate parent compounds and related materials will be reviewed. The observations of a Heisenberg to XY-like crossover upon cooling below ∼ 300 K towards the Néel temperature TN=257 K and a subsequent magnetic field-induced XY-like to Ising-like crossover near TN in single crystals of the K2NiF4-type spin 1/2 model compound Sr2CuO2Cl2 will be described. The spin 1/2 linear chain compound Sr2CuO3, the parent of the Sr2CuO3+δ oxygen-doped superconductors, is found to exhibit classic Bonner-Fisher magnetic behavior, with a large antiferromagnetic Cu−Cu superexchange coupling constant. Studies of the evolution of La2−xSrxCuO4 with Sr doping in the insulating regime (x<0.05) will be summarized, which indicate that the doped holes reside in walls separating undoped domains. We have found that BaCuO2.1, a copper-oxygen cluster compound, exhibits ferromagnetic rather than antiferromagnetic Cu−Cu superexchange interactions. Finally, a summary of the magnetic properties of single crystals of the recently discovered RNi2B2C layered structure superconductors will be given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organismic and Evolutionary Biology