Statement from the Co-Chair Erin Ruel Dear Colleagues and Friends of the Division: It’s been a rough winter across the country. I hope you and your families are staying warm, safe and healthy. Here in Atlanta we are seeing the first signs of spring—finally! Those signs of spring mean it’s time to start planning your trip to San Francisco for the 64th SSSP Annual Meeting, from August 15-17. The annual meeting will be held at the San Francisco Marriot Marquis. The Marriott Marquis hotel in San Francisco provides the convenience of an extraordinary downtown San Francisco hotel. It is located just south of Market Street, next to the Moscone Convention Center and is steps away from the Yerba Buena Gardens, renowned museums, cultural attractions and world-class shopping on Union Square. Rates (per night) for a single/double are $189 plus tax, or for a triple or quad are $209 (per night) plus tax. You can book your reservation with them to get the SSSP price at: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/sssp2014 If you want to check out the hotel, here is the url: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sfodt-san-francisco-marriott-marquis/ If necessary, you may call their toll free number at 1-877-622-3056.  International callers, please call the Hotel directly at 415-896-1600 and ask to be connected to Reservations.   Please ask for the Society for the Study of Social Problems group rate, when booking a room reservation to ensure the correct discounted group rate is given (based on availability). The Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Division has an exciting set of sessions and other activities planned. Please see the complete listing below and start planning which of these sessions you will attend! Additional details (including titles and authors of papers) will be posted soon on the SSSP website in the Preliminary Program available in mid-May. RECEPTION But mark your calendars now for the division reception. This co-sponsored reception will be held at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis (SSSP conference hotel) on Friday, August 15 from 6:30pm-7:30pm.  This is a great opportunity to connect with old friends and colleagues and make some new ones. I look forward to meeting you there!! We invite you all to attend our Annual Division business meeting where we will plan the sessions for next year’s meeting, appoint members to the student paper award committee, and seek nominations for next year’s co-chair election. This meeting tends to be small and intimate and attend will assure that sessions of interest to you can and will be included. We especially invite newcomers—and those of you who never have attended our business meeting--to come. It’s a great way to meet other members and learn more about the work of the Division. If you are interested in organizing a session for next year’s meeting in Chicago, have ideas for the Division, or would simply like to become more involved, please come and share your ideas. As we approach the Annual Meeting, more information will be made available via the Division’s Facebook page. If you have not already done so, please like us at https://www.facebook.com/#!/SSSPHealth?fref=ts. NOMINATIONS Finally, we are soliciting nominations for Division Chair with a 2-year term, beginning at our August meeting. Consider nominating yourself or someone you know! Please consider running - it's a great way to get to know more about the Division and the workings of the SSSP.  While the tasks of the Co-Chair are important to the workings of the Division, they are shared among the Co-Chairs and are not time-consuming. Co-Chairs serve overlapping two year terms, and are jointly responsible for: developing the Division program (identifying sessions and organizers) for the annual meeting; running the Division business meeting at the annual meeting; working with the newsletter editor to assure publication of the annual newsletter; and other Division business. Tenure begins at the annual meeting in summer 2014.  Chairpersons are elected for two years. No Division chairperson can serve for more than three consecutive years. Self-nominations are acceptable.    If you are nominated, the Executive Office will contact you to request your biographical information and statement prior to the elections. Names of nominees must be submitted to the Executive Office no later than June 1, so please contact us soon if you wish to nominate someone, or to nominate yourself. The election process is handled by the Executive Office. Election procedures will insure to all members of the Division an opportunity to vote in the election. A majority of votes cast will be necessary to elect any Division Officer. If there are more nominees for an office and there is not a clear majority, a run-off election will be held between the two candidates receiving the most votes. The same election procedures described above will be followed for the run-off election.   If I can answer any questions that you might have about the position, please let me know.  I ask that you email nominations and self-nominations to me (eruel@gsu.edu) by May 1st so that I can forward names on to the Executive Office of SSSP in time for a June 1st election cut-off date. Best wishes!! -- Erin Ruel Graduate Student Paper Awards The Graduate Student Paper Competition Committee, chaired by Erin Ruel and assisted by Debbie Potter and LaTonya Trotter, is pleased to announce the winners of the competition. The Committee enjoyed reading the many well-written, quality research papers submitted. Yasmin Ortiga from Syracuse University has won first place for her paper entitled, “Professional Problems: The Burden of Educating the “Global” Filipino Nurse.” Her paper will be presented in the session, Racial Inequalities in Health Services and Health Professions. Abstract This paper investigates the challenges faced by nursing schools within migrant-sending nations, where teachers and school administrators face the task of producing nurse labor, not only for domestic health needs but employers beyond national borders. I situate my research in the Philippines, one of the leading sources of migrant nurse labor in the world. Based on 58 interviews with nursing school instructors and administrators, I argue that Philippine nursing schools are embedded within a global nursing care chain, where nations lower down the chain must supply nurse labor to wealthier countries higher up the chain. This paper shows how this process forces Filipino nurse educators to negotiate an overloaded curriculum, the influx of aspiring migrants into nursing programs, and erratic labor demand cycles overseas. These issues create problems in defining the professional knowledge needed by Filipino nurses; instilling professional values and standards; and maintaining proper job security. As such, these findings demonstrate how countries like the Philippines bear the burden of ensuring nurses’ employability, where educational institutions constantly adjust curriculum and instruction for the benefit of employers within wealthier societies. My interviews reveal how such adjustments undermine the professional values and standards that define the nursing profession within the country. Such inequality is an outcome of nurse migration that current research has not fully explored. Julia Behrman from New York University has won honorable mention for her paper entitled, “Is schooling a social vaccine against HIV for adolescent girls: Evidence from Uganda and Malawi.” Her paper will be presented in the session: Comparative/International Health among Women and LGTB’s. Abstract Schooling has been proposed to be a “social vaccine” against HIV/AIDS, especially for adolescent girls who are particularly at risk for new infection. While the literature indicates a strong association between schooling and HIV, it has been unable to control for additional factors, such as socio-economic status, that predict both schooling and likelihood of HIV infection. In this paper I deal with the endogeneity of schooling by taking advantage of a natural experiment, the implementation of Universal Primary Education policies in Malawi and Uganda in the mid 1990s. I use data from the most recent Demographic Health Surveys in Malawi (2010) and Uganda (2011) and model the relationship between primary schooling and adult HIV status using an instrumented fuzzy regression discontinuity approach. The results indicate that in Malawi a one year increase in schooling for a girl leads to a 6-7 percent reduction in probability of testing positive for HIV as an adult and in Uganda a one year increase in schooling leads to a 2-4 percent reduction in probability of testing positive for HIV as an adult. In a series of supplementary analyses a number of potential pathways through which such effects may occur are explored. Findings indicate increased exposure to primary school affects overall schooling attainment and effects adolescent sexual behavior to some extent. However primary schooling has no effect on recent (adult) sexual behavior. News of Note Travel scholarships to attend the annual meeting, due March 15 The Lee Scholar Support Fund Committee announces funds available for foreign scholars.  The Lee Student Support Fund Committee announces funds available for undergraduate and graduate students.  The Erwin O. Smigel Award Committee announces funds available for unemployed and underemployed sociologists.  For more information, visit: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/263/Travel_Fund_Awards/.    2013 Members: Renew your membership and Recruit a New Member! There are several benefits to joining the SSSP or continuing as a member. View the membership benefits of the Society, and especially membership benefits for graduate students. Renewing online is easy!      Join the SSSP Listserv We also want to remind current SSSP members to join the SSSP listserv. The listserv is an optional benefit for members.  To join the listserv, visit http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/1625. Questions relating to the listserv should be directed to Listserv Moderator Nancy Mezey, nmezey@monmouth.edu. Technical questions should be directed to GRA & Webmaster Lisa East, eeast2@utk.edu.      Connect with the SSSP on social media Have you liked the SSSP on Facebook and Twitter yet? Our social media accounts feature information from the Society as well as relevant news and articles of interest to our members. Connect with us today!     2014 General Election ballot preview is available Voting will take place from February 15-March 15, 2014.  To preview the ballot, visit: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/pageid/1014/fuseaction/poll.ballotView/pollId/123/. Call for Nominations Nominations for the Thomas C. Hood Social Action Award, due April 1 The Thomas C. Hood Social Action Award is awarded to a not-for-profit organization in the city/area hosting the annual meeting.  For more information, visit: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/262.      Nominations for the Joseph B. Gittler Award, due April 15 The Joseph B. Gittler Award is made in recognition of the significant scholarly achievements that a SSSP member has made in contributing to the ethical resolution of social problems.  For more information, visit: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/294.      Nominations for the Lee Founders Award, due April 15 The Lee Founders Award is made in recognition of significant achievements in a career that demonstrate a lifetime commitment to the ideals of the founders of the Society and especially to the humanist tradition of Alfred McClung Lee and Elizabeth Briant Lee. For more information, visit: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/260.      Call for Nominations for the 2015 General Election, due June 15 Nominations are open for candidates to run in the SSSP 2015 General Election.  For more information, visit: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/310/2015_General_Election_Candidate_Nominations/ 64th Annual Meeting Fifty Years Later: From a War on Poverty to a War on the Poor August 15-17, 2014 The San Francisco Marriot Marquis Dates and Information to Remember * The preliminary Program will be available on May 15, 2014 * All program participants must pre-register by July 1, 2014 * Pre-registration rates end on July 15, 2014 * See the SSSP site at: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/562/2014_Annual_Meeting/ to find the registration form and for more information about registering for the annual meeting. If you experience any problems while registering, please contact sssp@utk.edu. Division Sessions THEMATIC CFP 30: Families, Disability, and Poverty Sponsors: Disabilities; Family; Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Organizers: Ebonie L. Cunningham Stringer, Wingate University and Laura Lorenz, Brandeis University Presider: Ebonie L. Cunningham Stringer, Wingate University Papers: “Who are the well spouses? Using ethnography to investigate spousal caregiving experiences,” Laura Mauldin, University of Connecticut “A Qualitative Exploration of HIV Positive Men’s Experiences Trying to have Children,” Carrie Foote, IUPUI and Anna Muraveva, Ohio State “Motherhood as Disability Activism,” Angela Frederick, Rhodes College “Balancing Care and Work: The impact of employment on the caregiving relationship,” Alexis A. Bender, Army Institute of Public Health “Transitional life experiences of the long term brain injury survivor: A qualitative study to understand survivors’ perspectives,” Therese O'Neil-Pirozzi, Northeastern University, Laura Lorenz, Brandeis University, Michelle Demore-Tabor, Advocates, Inc. and Sindi Samayoa, Advocates Inc. THEMATIC CFP 33: Historical Transformations of Constructions of the 'Poverty Problem' Sponsors: Disabilities; Health, Health Policy, and Health Services; Social Problems Theory Organizer: Jack W. Spencer, Purdue University Presider: Deborah A. Potter, University of Louisville Papers: “Blaming the Victim: The Ideology of Social Mobility in the War on the Poor,” Jill Niebrugge Brantley and Patricia Lengermann, The George Washington University “Constructing the Reproductive Behavior of Poor People: From Malthus to Murray,” Stephen Monroe Tomczak and Mary Ellen Crawford, Southern Connecticut State University, Department of Social Work “Evolution of responsibility for poverty: New federalism and state poverty reduction coalitions,” Linda S. Schmidt, Michigan State University “From the War on Poverty to the War on the Poor: The Devolution Revolution in the United States,” Ingrid Phillips Whitaker, Old Dominion University and Mark M. Whitakeer, Hampton University “Why Don’t They DO Something? The Societal Problematization of ‘Homelessness’ and the Relationship between Discursive Framing and Social Change,” Kaitlin J. Schwan, University of Toronto CFP 52: Global Perspectives: Sustainability, Ecological Justice, and Globalization Sponsors: Environment and Technology; Global; Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Organizers: Kyle Knight, University of Alabama in Huntsville and Jenny Lendrum, Wayne State University Presider: Jenny Lendrum, Wayne State University Papers: “What it Means to be a Refugee: The Environmental Refugee-Migrant Debate,” Amanda R. Bertana, University of Utah “An Investigation into Social Movement Convergence at the Rio+20 Peoples’ Summit 1992-2012,” Terran Giacomini, University of Toronto “Opportunity Structures and Resource Mobilization in World Society: An Exploratory Case Study of Environmental Policy Implementation in Ecuador and the United States,” Nichole K. Weber, University of Utah “Hybrid Political Economies, Sustainability and Justice,” Alan P. Rudy, Central Michigan University “Can we call the Alberta oilsands environmental injustice? Moving from environmental justice to just sustainability,” Randolph Haluza-DeLay, The King's University College and Ken Caine, University of Alberta CFP 67: Comparative/International Health Among Women and LGBTs Sponsors: Global; Health, Health Policy, and Health Services; Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities Organizers: Jenny Lendrum, Wayne State University and Christina Miller-Bellor, Wayne State University Presider: Jenny Lendrum, Wayne State University Discussant: Christina Miller-Bellor, Wayne State University Papers: “Attitudes Towards Restricting HIV-Positive Women’s Sexual And Reproductive Rights,” Abdallah Badahdah, University of North Dakota “Cultural Context and Frame Variation in the Breastfeeding Movement: U.S. and Canadian Strategies,” Harmony Newman, University of Northern Colorado “Disentangling Gender and Sexuality: Understanding the Social Context of HIV/AIDS for African Americans,” E. Maxwell Davis, California State University, East Bay “Is schooling a ‘social vaccine’ against HIV for adolescent girls? Evidence from Malawi and Uganda,” Julia A. Behrman, New York University THEMATIC CFP 70: PAPERS IN THE ROUND: Health Consequences of and Potential Solutions for the Failed War on Poverty Sponsor: Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Organizer & Presider: Deborah A. Potter, University of Louisville Roundtable Title: Health Consequences of and Potential Solutions for the Failed War on Poverty Papers: “Health Inequality: Trends & Assessment,” Sarah A. Burgard, University of Michigan and Molly M. King, Stanford Univesity “National-Level Inequality and Child Sex Abuse Prevalence,” Will LeSuer, University of Akron “An Occupational Role Change? The Questionable Compatibility of the Solo-Practitioner in Modern Healthcare Delivery,” Emily Harris, Purdue University “Analyzing Successful Organizing: A rhetorical framing analysis of National Nurses United ‘Organizing Victories’ from 2010-2013,” Rebekah L. Fox, Texas State University and Kathleen Abrahamson, Purdue University “Paradigms of Change: How 16 healthcare organizations transformed prescriber-industry interactions,” Susan Chimonas and David J. Rothman, Columbia University CFP 72: Lived Experiences of Illness for Families and Caretakers Sponsor: Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Organizer & Presider: Erin Ruel, Georgia State University Papers: “‘No One Really Cares’: The Lived Experience of Community-based Persons with Alzheimer’s disease and their Caregivers,” William D. Cabin, University of Michigan School of Social Work and Susan Havens Lang, Lang Associates, LLC “Caring for Wounded Warriors: Experiences of Military Cadre Unit Members,” Shelley S. Kay, Alexis A. Bender, Christine Lagana-Riordan, Amanda Jungels, Sheba King, Sarah Aktepy, Amber Wilson and Amy M. Millikan-Bell, Army Institute of Public Health “Facilitating culture-centered communication between and health care providers and veterans transitioning from military deployment to civilian life,” Christopher J. Koenig, Department of Medicine, University of California, Shira Maguen and Jose D. Monroy, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Lindsay Mayott, Department of Medicine, University of California and Karen H. Seal, Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, University of California “Is it Bad News?: Recommending Cessation of Treatment in an Oncology Clinic,” Dagoberto Cortez, Douglas W. Maynard and Toby Campbell, University of Wisconsin-Madison “Therapeutic Voyeurism: Medicalization and Memoirs,” Wendy Simonds, Georgia State University CFP 73: Safety-net Policies Across the Life Course Sponsors: Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Youth, Aging, and the Life Course Organizer & Presider: Mary Byrnes, Marygrove College Papers: “Employing a Structural Vulnerability of Poverty Framework to Examine Determinants of SNAP Participation,” Gina Rosen, UCLA Department of Social Welfare “Homecare needs of seniors with disabilities: challenges facing safety-net policies,” Mélanie Levasseur, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada and Annie Carrier, Université de Sherbrooke “Mandatory Social Impact Assessments as a Safety-Net Policy Requirement,” William D. Cabin, University of Michigan School of Social Work “Measuring Health Literacy in Vulnerable Populations: A Replication Using Data from Young Sex Workers in Dallas and New York City,” Heather D. Champeau, University of Colorado - Boulder “Organizing God: Navigating religion and belonging in a medically supervised adult daycare program,” LaTonya J. Trotter, Vanderbilt University CFP 75: Racial Inequalities in Health Services and Health Professions Sponsors: Health, Health Policy, and Health Services Racial and Ethnic Minorities Organizer: Deborah A. Potter, University of Louisville Presider: David G. Embrick, Loyola University-Chicago Papers: “Professional Problems: The Burden of Educating the Global Filipino Nurse,” Yasmin Y. Ortiga, Syracuse University “Racial/Ethnic Differences in Utilization of Physician Care Services for Diabetes,” Raeven F. Chandler and Shannon M. Monnat, Penn State University “Sweet Salvation: The Black Church, Inclusion, and Type 2 Diabetes,” James Battle, Dept. of Sociology, University of California, Santa Cruz “Is HIV/AIDS A Black Disease? Teaching Students About Racial Disparities in Health,” Donna M. Cole, Yale School of Public Health “Challenges to Addressing Reproductive Health Disparities in a Smaller Urban Setting,” Matthew Matsaganis and Annis Golden, State University of New York at Albany 1