Statement from the Co-Chair Teresa Scheid Below is a brief introduction from the incoming co-chair regarding her community and policy-related work: Current Policy Related Activities Mecklenburg County HIV/AIDS Council (MCHAC), an advisory council charged by the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissions to develop specific strategies and recommendations for a broad-based comprehensive community plan to eliminate HIV/AIDS in Mecklenburg County. Our overall objectives are to reduce the incidence and spread of HIV/AIDS, to improve access to care and treatment, and to improve the infrastructure of services and facilitate system integration. Originally convened as the Mecklenburg County HIV Task Force, the MCHAC submitted a report in 2004 to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners which detailed issues and recommendations for addressing HIV/AIDS in Mecklenburg County. I was a Co-Chair for this report and focused on issues of system integration. This report was the result of a broad based community effort and serves to provide specific objectives for the MCHAC. A large and dedicated group of individuals spent met in January 2005 in order to formalize the MCHAC; they developed a set of by-laws, procedures for nominations and elections, and elected the first MCHAC on June 27th, 2006. I have served as secretary of the MCHAC since its formation, and also play the important role of informal organization driver. My role in the HIV community has provided me with numerous opportunities to collect data from both consumers of HIV services and providers of HIV services (all data I have collected was approved by the UNC-C IRB). This research and subsequent community based collaborations serves as the foundation for a book titled Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Care: Community Based Initiatives published this year by Taylor/Francis and Routledge. Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Care consists of six chapters each utilizing separate data which I have collected over the past 10 years in order to integrate diverse systems of care for people living with HIV. The Mecklenburg County HIV/AIDS Council has served as an important vehicle for service system integration as well as advocacy. Much of this advocacy is directed to making public officials and the public aware of impact of HIV, and enhancing resources for care. We have sponsored a number of educational events and community forums as well numerous programs to reduce the stigma of HIV disease. We are formally recognized by the Board of County Commissioners and report regularly. We are currently planning a community forum focused on reducing the stigma of HIV disease. -- Teresa Scheid Graduate Student Paper Awards Deadline: January 31, 2015 Applications for the annual student paper award competition are due by January 31, 2015. The paper should be related to the broad Division interest, including health and illness, health policy, and health services. Current graduate students and recent graduates (who received their degrees after January 2014) may submit a paper if it was written while a student. Papers based on theses or dissertations are acceptable. Co-authored papers are acceptable as long as all the listed authors were graduate students at the time the paper was written. Double submission to other SSSP award competitions will disqualify the submission. The award recipient will present a version of the winning paper at a session of the 2015 SSSP Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. Thus, the paper also should be submitted to any Health Division meeting session organizer or the roundtable organizer by the January 31st deadline. The recipient will receive a monetary prize of $100, a plaque of recognition, student membership, and conference registration. The winner will be recognized at the Division Meeting as well as the SSSP Awards Ceremony. Send an electronic copy of the paper and a cover letter identifying your graduate program to: Teresa L. Scheid, tlscheid@uncc.edu. The paper submission should not exceed 30 double-spaced pages (including references) and should be prepared for anonymous review (with the author specified only on the cover page). News of Note Please remember to renew your membership. Memberships expired on Dec 31!  Our membership is diverse, representing not only academia, but policy, practice, and activist viewpoints as well.  Let's continue to reflect this diversity by also telling our colleagues about the SSSP and the Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Division. Job Posting Salem College, a liberal arts college for women in Winston-Salem, NC, seeks an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology.  Position begins August 2015, but an earlier appointment may be possible.  The candidate should be able to teach core courses in sociology, including social statistics. Other areas of specialization are open. A Ph.D. in sociology, evidence of teaching excellence and a promising scholarly agenda are required.  ABD considered but doctoral degree must be in hand by August 2015.   Applicants should submit a letter of interest, CV, teaching portfolio (philosophy, evidence of teaching effectiveness, sample syllabi), unofficial graduate transcripts and three letters of reference to gerry.hayes@salem.edu. Electronic submission is preferred. Letters should be addressed to Professor Teresa Rust Smith, chair, Sociology Search Committee, Department of Sociology and Criminal Studies, Salem College, 601 South Church St., Winston Salem, NC 27101.  Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. To receive full consideration, applications should be received before October 31, 2014. Salem College is an equal opportunity employer and encourages women and underrepresented minorities to apply.  Founded in 1772 by Moravian settlers, Salem College is ranked as the oldest women’s institution in the nation by founding date and the 13th oldest college overall by the American Council on Education. It provides a four-year liberal arts experience to a diverse and vibrant undergraduate student body. The student to faculty ratio is 12 to 1, average class size is twelve, and full- and part-time faculty number approximately one hundred. The college offers a number of special programs including a January term featuring study trips and experimental courses, the Women in Science and Mathematics Program, the Center for Women Writers, the Center for Women in Business, graduate programs in education and the Martha H. Fleer Center for Adult Education. Salem’s beautiful 64-acre campus is located in the Old Salem historic district in the heart of Winston-Salem. For more information on Salem College, see www.salem.edu Member Publications William Cabin, PhD, JD, MSW, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Temple University and DPH candidate at CUNY School of Public health. He is a long-time SSSP member. The following are his recent publications: Cabin, W. (2014). “Is this as good as it gets? The false promise of risk-based Medicare and for-profit dominance of health care.” Non Profit Quarterly, Fall 2014: 24-31 Cabin, W., Himmelstein, D., Siman, M., and Woolhandler, S. (2014). “For-profit Medicare home health agencies’ costs appear higher and quality appears lower compared to non-profit agencies.” Health Affairs,33(8): 1460-1465. Call for Papers   SSSP – Annual Meeting  Each participant is permitted to submit one sole-authored paper and one critical dialogue paper, but additional co-authored papers may be submitted. Critical Dialogue sessions include short (5 minute) presentations by up to 8 authors followed by facilitated dialogue that critically explores connections among the papers. The audience will have an opportunity to participate in the dialogue as well. Emphasis is placed on exploring interesting connections between papers with a broadly similar theme. The hope is that both presenters and the audience will have an opportunity to make new and deeper connections from their unique insights and presented ideas. Critical Dialogue sessions will not have audio-visual equipment. The division sponsored and division co-sponsored sessions are listed below. Annual Meeting Removing the Mask, Lifting the Veil: Race, Class, and Gender in the 21st Century August 21-23, 2015 Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago, IL Division sponsored sessions Session Type: Papers in the Round, thematic Session Title: Social Issues in Health and Health Care Organizer: Debbie Potter Session Type: Critical Dialogue, thematic Session Title: Intersectionality and Health Organizer: Teresa Scheid Session Type: Paper Session Title: Community and Participatory Research in Health Organizer: Heather Champeau Co-sponsored Sessions Gambling and Society (PAPERS IN THE ROUND) Co-Sponsors: Conflict, Social Action, and Change and Sport, Leisure, and the Body Session Organizer: Sarah St. John Health, Disability, and Incarceration Co-Sponsors: Crime and Juvenile Delinquency Disabilities Session Organizer: Arthur Jipson Poverty and Access to Health and Human Services Co-Sponsors: Disabilities, Poverty, Class, and Inequality, and Sociology and Social Welfare Session Organizer: Shannon Mohnat Substance Use, Race, and Health Co-Sponsor: Drinking and Drugs Session Organizer: Alex Bennett Reproductive and Family Health (THEMATIC) Co-Sponsor: Family Session Organizer: Jenny Lendrum Globalization and Health Co-Sponsor: Global Session Organizer: Erin Ruel LGBT + and health (THEMATIC) Co-Sponsor: Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities Session Organizer: Cary Gabriel Costello 1