William A. Schwab

Who Goes Who Stays: An Assessment of the Effect of a Freshman Mentoring and Unit Registration Program on College Persistence.

We present an evaluation of a freshman block registration and mentoring program at a major state university. In an effort to improve retention, the University initiated a freshman block registration and mentoring program in the fall of 1994. The program was developed to strengthen social support, which we hypothesize leads to higher rates of persistence. We present the effects of the program on retention and academic performance for successive cohorts from 1994 through 1998. Academic performance and retention rates are used as outcome measures and are related to student and university characteristics. We describe the nature of the program and the impact that it has on persistence (survival times), grades, and graduation. Our analysis uses event history models (follow back life tables and Discrete-Time Logit Models).

Barriers to sustainable development : Jordan's sustainable tourism strategy

Sustainable development is now widely promoted as a holistic concept that aims to integrate social, economic and cultural policies to ensure high-quality growth in the context to which it is applied. During implementation such programs encounter, however, place-specific institutional and cultural barriers that often go unrecognized. This article presents findings from a 10-year collaboration of the University of Arkansas with Yarmouk University, Jordan, that led to the adoption of a heritage tourism strategy that is both economically and environmentally feasible.

The Predictive Value of Three Ecological Models A Test of the Life-Cycle, Arbitrage, and Composition Models of Neighborhood Change

The degree to which three ecological models can predict the direction of neighborhood change is evaluated in this article. The life-cycle, arbitrage, and composition models commonly are found in the literature on neighborhood change, but each focuses on a different aspect of this process. To date, researchers have evaluated these models individually, but few have compared their predictive ability. This study uses discriminant analysis to evaluate the efficiency of each model in correctly classifying upward and downward succession of tracts, using census tract data from Cincinnati, Ohio. The composition model had the greatest predictive value, closely followed by the life-cycle model, but each identifies different and complementary aspects of the neighborhood change process.

Social Interaction in a Heterogeneous Apartment: An Investigation of the Effects of Environment upon Behavior

Abstract This paper examines the relationship of propinquity (spatial proximity) to social interaction in a heterogeneous apartment, specifically, whether spatial propinquity or social homogeneity is the better explanation for resident interaction. We also examine the effects of other characteristics of the apartment design upon interaction patterns among apartment residents. Data are derived from in-depth structured personal interviews with residents of the apartment complex and are analyzed with standard sociometric techniques. Findings indicate that while propinquity and other design features may precipitate initial contact and interaction, this contact will remain superficial unless it is reinforced by shared social and demographic characteristics. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the literature about the effects of the man-made environment upon behavior.

Spatial and Temporal Aspects of the Density-Distance Relationship

Abstract Numerous studies of the relationship between urban population density and distance from the citys center have shown that: (1) Cross-sectionally, the relationship between density and distance is negative, such that density crests in the interior of the city and declines toward the periphery. (2) Longitudinally, the slope of the density-distance relationship becomes flatter as central densities decline as neighborhoods age and thin and as fringe areas develop and increase in population. Most studies have worked with the total relationship between density and distance, ignoring cross-sectional and longitudinal variants from the general pattern for subareas of the metropolis. Large cities seldom develop uniformily in concentric patterns focused upon the CBD. More typical is the axial pattern described by Hurd or the sectoral pattern by Hoyt in which development is axial along principal arteries of transportation with inner-axial areas developing at later points in time. This paper pursues intra-urba...

Alternative Explanations of Neighborhood Change: An Evaluation of Neighborhood Life-Cycle, Composition, and Arbitrage Models

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to evalute the degree to which three ecological models can predict the direction of neighborhood change. Three models — life-cycle, arbitrage, and composition — are found commonly in the literature on neighborhood change, but each focuses on a different aspect of this process. To date, researchers have evaluated the models individually, but few have compared them. This study uses regression analysis to evaluate the three models using census tract data from Cincinnati, Ohio. The life-cycle model was clearly the most parsimonious model for both upward and downward succession tracts. The arbitrage model had predictive value for upward succession tracts but not downward ones. The composition model was found to have little predictive value. The contributions of each model to the neighborhood change process is discussed.