Do the Merits Matter More? The Impact of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

This article examines the effect of the Private Securities LitigationReform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) on stockholder lawsuits. We explorethe role of restatements, earnings forecasts, and insider tradingin the filing and resolution of lawsuits for a sample of hightechnology firms. Consistent with our predictions, there isa post-PSLRA shift away from litigation based on forward-lookingearnings disclosures. Conversely, there is a significantly greatercorrelation between litigation and both earnings restatementsand abnormal insider selling after the PSLRA. Finally, we finda post-PSLRA increase in the likelihood of settlement for casesinvolving earnings restatements.     

What Plato Knew About Enron

This paper applies Plato’s cave allegory to Enron’s success and downfall. Plato’s famous tale of cave dwellers illustrates the different levels of truth and understanding. These levels include images, the sources of images, and the ultimate reality behind both. The paper first describes these levels of perception as they apply to Plato’s cave dwellers and then provides a brief history of the rise of Enron. Then we apply Plato’s levels of understanding to Enron, showing how the company created its image and presented information to support that image, and how the public eventually emerged from the cave to realize the truth about Enron’s actual accounting practices and financial state, which led to the corporation’s downfall. We find Plato’s allegory both useful in analyzing the relationship between Enron and the public and instructive about the power and moral responsibility of Enron’s executives.     

Impact of the economic downturn on nursing schools

The challenges posed by the economic downturn on baccalaureate nursing schools in the southeast as it relates to their perceptions of changes in the number of applicants, acceptance rates, employer recruitment efforts, and student clinical and job placement were explored. Responses from deans and program directors indicated nursing schools are experiencing negative effects of the economic downturn in the form of graduates having difficulty finding employment, decreased recruitment efforts from prospective employers, difficulty locating clinical placements for students, and no change in faculty applicants despite an increase in undergraduate student applicants as well as graduate student applicants. These multiple factors combined could signal the death knell for programs that are ill-prepared to deal with such a crisis. Programs need to be aggressive in their efforts to draw health care recruiters as well as qualified faculty applicants to their campuses. Nursing schools must be able to clearly show why their graduates are superior to other programs' graduates when competing for both highly qualified faculty applicants and prospective student employers.     

Understanding Event Sport Tourism Experiences of Support Partners: A Research Note

The purpose of this research reflection is to set the stage for a more detailed research agenda in exploring event sport tourism experiences of support partners (SPs) during events. Using photo elicitation, the article presents a preliminary empirical case study. Visual materials were assembled by three female participants to interrogate how SPs experience “spectator space” and explore the processes that produced those experiences, an area of study that remains relatively unexplored in leisure research. Initial findings show how waiting to see the triathlete can be anxiety-provoking, but the release of emotion when smiles are exchanged constitutes core activities of being there. However, there are more questions than answers, and there is a need for further inquiry. Suggestions for future research on the impact of serious leisure on intimate others are given.     

Healthy and tasty school snacks: suggestions from Brazilian children consumers

Children do not choose what to eat based on health issues alone, and the high availability of non‐nutritious food in the environment can be a barrier to the consumption of healthy foods. Brazilian children are consuming processed, savoury, rich in fat, sodium and refined carbohydrates rather than more nutrient‐dense foods. Foods offered in public school meals and those sold in private school canteens in Brazil are subject to regulation, but not the snacks brought from home. This study identified the suggestions of public and private school students about the characteristics that a snack should present in order to be considered both healthy and palatable. A qualitative exploratory study using focus groups was conducted with 128 primary school students aged 7–10 years old. Interviews were transcribed and content analysis was conducted, generating three categories: (1) foods actually consumed during snack breaks; (2) examples of foods considered healthy and/or tasty for consumption during snack breaks; and (3) desired characteristics of a healthy and tasty snack. Foods of high energy density and low nutritional value were mentioned as the most consumed snacks, usually brought from home or purchased within/near the schools. Consumption of meals offered by the National School Meal Program was reported by only one‐third of the public school students. Fruits, natural juices and vegetables were considered healthy foods; sweet‐tasting preparations containing fruits were considered tasty; while fruits and natural fruit juices were considered both healthy and tasty. Sweet‐tasting preparations containing fruits were mentioned as examples of snacks with the desired healthy/tasty characteristics. The disparity between what was actually consumed and what was reported as ideal leads us to question the availability in retail stores of healthy yet palatable foods that meet this population's desires.