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Includes a compilation of poetry, recipes, life essays, and short stories by the members of the Pixie Chicks' Writers Group.

Military recruitment is a perennial challenge. Estimates show just 30 percent of youth are fully qualified to enlist, and many do not consider serving. To meet this challenge, the military must continually assess and adapt its recruiting approaches. This dissertation aids military recruitment planners by providing a more comprehensive understanding of how youth build and access their career and educational information networks in high school, as part of their decision-making process. This dissertation consists of three papers. The first paper explores the many theories and factors that affect youth career and educational decision-making, integrating several disciplines that have contributed separately to understanding youth in this context. The second paper provides an exploration of two sources of data-a longitudinal survey from the U.S. Department of Education and interviews with high school juniors and newly enlisted U.S. Air Force recruits. I segment youth into seven groups of interest and evaluate how each builds and uses its information networks in high school. The third paper visualizes and describes youth information networks across groups using concepts from social network analysis. I find that youth information networks are dynamic and evolving, with four-year college-bound youth and females having the strongest networks and youth neither enrolling in college nor serving in the military having the weakest. I also find that social-emotional wellbeing, degree of focus, and motivation are important factors in how youth build their networks and make career and educational decisions. I then provide insights and implications for military recruitment planners on how to more effectively engage with youth. This could include marketing strategies designed for the full youth life-course with multiple points of engagement and doing more to distinguish and reach out to youth in a social network context.

A common goal of low vision patients is to maximize their sight for reading. The Ohio Reading and Visual Impairment Study (ORVIS) examined the relationships between clinical vision measures, including reading performance, in visually impaired patients. The main goal was to evaluate predictive models for reading based on parameters collected during eye examinations. In this retrospective chart review, we evaluated examination data for 410 new patients who presented to the Low Vision Rehabilitation Service at The Ohio State University College of Optometry during a three-year period (2012 to 2015). The primary inclusion criterion was a minimum set of spatial vision data, including distance visual acuity and critical print size estimation (i.e. smallest angular print size that allows maximum reading rate). Data extracted included presenting visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, lighting preferences, estimated peak reading speed, critical print size (typically attained with the MNREAD test), and threshold print size. Descriptive statistics suggest that our patient demographics are similar to those of other large-scale low vision clinical studies. The average age of patients is 72 years, and the majority of patients are female (65%) and have age-related macular degeneration (53%). Threshold print size is on average worse (i.e. a larger angular size) than distance visual acuity by 0.077 log units, or about a factor of 1.2. In addition, both threshold print size and distance visual acuity are poor predictors of critical print size. The mean difference between critical print size and distance visual acuity is 0.273 log units, or approximately three lines, while the mean difference between critical print size and threshold print size is smaller at 0.197 log units, or approximately two lines. Regression analysis reveals that these differences diminish with poorer acuities. Furthermore, there is substantial variability in the magnitude of these differences, even for individuals with the same distance acuity or threshold print size. Calculation of 95% confidence intervals suggests that those critical print size estimates based on distance visual acuity can be approximated only within ±0.478 log units, while those based on threshold print size can be approximated only within ±0.288 log units. These results support direct measurement of critical print size with a dedicated reading assessment, rather than calculation of critical print size from a distance visual acuity or threshold acuity measurement.

Author Jennifer Rothschild has a story for you. It's about an unlikely couple, an unusual courtship, a beautiful wedding, and an illicit affair. Despite this situation, the marriage did not fail. It flourished. Here is the story of Hosea's love for Gomer—a woman who might have disappeared into her transgressions if not for the love of her husband. It's a beautiful illustration of the story of God and Israel. Believe it or not, it's your story too. God chose you and loves you. If you wander off, He will find you. If you are afraid, He will reassure you. If you are broken, He will restore you. If you are ashamed, He will cover you. If you give up on Him, He will not give up on you. No matter where you are, God sees who you are and loves you faithfully. Through the story of Hosea and Gomer, God tenderly reaches out to you and whispers, "My daughter, my name and nature are love. My name makes you lovely. Because I am worthy, I make you worthy. I am here to remind you of who you are. You are never invisible to me."

This Note is the outgrowth of a special assistance effort by the Arroyo Center for the Army Community and Family Support Center (CFSC) during Operations Desert Shield and Storm. Faced with the need for short-term information that could also be of long-term value, CFSC asked RAND to consider ways the Army could gain information about experiences of Army personnel and their families during similar fast-breaking events. The document was prepared to address a wider question as well: How to query a representative sample of Army families and obtain timely information on topics of concern as changing policy needs and external events dictate. The analysis and recommendations on how to meet future information needs will be of interest to policymakers responsible for community and family support, military survey practitioners, and leaders and managers within the Army personnel community. The authors thank RAND colleagues Allan F. Abrahamse, who originated the idea of a panel survey with replicates, and Bruce Orvis, who reviewed and commented on an earlier draft of this document.

This is a story of an orphan who overcame and triumphed over adversity in her life. She had many premonitions, dreams, and visions that came to pass. She is a great, extraordinary, gifted, unique visionary, and prophetess who has the ability to sense and discern what lies beyond her imagination. She can also interpret premonitions, dreams, and visions and watch them come into fruition. You will learn that you are here on purpose; you are not an accident. God has a plan and a purpose for your life. Wherever you are, God knows your whereabouts""look up and reach up!

Jennifer Lawrence is one of the youngest Oscar nominees for Best Leading Actress in Academy history. This engaging volume examines Lawrence’s career from its beginnings on "The Bill Engvall Show” to her landing the starring role in the much-anticipated “The Hunger Games” trilogy. Accessible text explores the drive that fuels this talented young actress to rise to new challenges.

“I Am Jennifer” is the story of a personal journey from daddy’s favourite son to mature woman in an environment of conservative Christian fervor. A study of Gender identification taken from a different point of view.

Jennifer Mason has taken a journey in life that looks like no other. This book/teaching tool will guide you into a world where EVERYTHING that man said no to, God said yes too. You will laugh, cry ,and feel the loving conviction to change your way of thinking. Your self worth will be confronted , dating values challenged , FAITH increased as you journey through this read. Jennifer desires for your heart ,and life to change. May the love of God be recognized even the more after you finish reading How this Good girl , went bad, and the Holy.

The pieces in this collection capture the feeling of being buffeted by great gusts of middle-aged longing. What began as one woman's quarrel with Buddhism, especially its doctrine of non-attachment, morphs into a larger question: What's the right way to love a person or a thing? With voluptuous detail and rigorous self-interrogation, Jennifer Brice looks for answers in family lore, personal experience, conversations with friends, and beloved books. The result is a tender, moving, far-reaching--sometimes delightfully funny, sometimes achingly poignant--exploration of the powerful ties that bind us to one another and to the world around us.