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Addictions Content Published in Counseling Journals: A 10-Year Content Analysis to Inform Research and Practice
Feb 3, 2017 | Volume 7 - Issue 1
Edward Wahesh, S. Elizabeth Likis-Werle, Regina R. Moro
This content analysis includes 210 articles that focused on addictions topics published between January 2005 and December 2014 in the journals of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), Chi Sigma Iota (CSI), the American Counseling Association (ACA), and ACA member divisions. Results include the types of addictions content and behaviors studied as well as the populations and data analytic techniques used in the addictions research articles. Whereas most articles discussed addictions counseling techniques, addictions issues among non-clinical populations, and professional practice issues, fewer articles addressed clients in treatment, utilized clinical populations, or analyzed intervention outcomes. Implications for addictive behaviors and addictions counseling scholarship in professional counseling are discussed.
Keywords: addictive behaviors, addictions counseling, content analysis, NBCC, ACA
Professional counselors have an ethical obligation to be actively involved in continuing education in order to remain current on relevant professional issues and scientific information related to their client population and setting (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014). Continuing education also is required by licensing and certification bodies for credential renewal. One way continuing education is achieved is through reading and contributing to peer-reviewed journal articles. Publications can expose professional counselors, counselor educators and counselors-in-training to new and innovative practices grounded in empirical research.
Professional journals represent "the repository of the accumulated knowledge of a field" (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 9). A number of journals are produced by the major counseling certification and professional organizations, including The Professional Counselor, published by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, published by Chi Sigma Iota International (CSI); and the Journal of Counseling & Development (JCD), which is the flagship journal of ACA. In addition to JCD, there are 20 journals published by ACA member divisions. ACA member division-sponsored journals publish articles that inform counseling practices and contribute to the body of research on topics that are salient to the particular settings, populations, interest areas, and issues associated with the division. An area that is relevant to most professional counselors, regardless of specialty area or setting, is addiction.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in 2014 there were an estimated 21.5 million Americans (8% of the population aged 12 or older) living with a substance use disorder (SUD; SAMHSA, 2015). It is likely that many individuals with SUDs also have other co-occurring mental health conditions. In fact, 2014 estimates suggest 7.9 million adults (i.e., 18 years and older) in the United States had both a past-year SUD and a mental illness diagnosis. Among adolescents, approximately 1.3 million reported a past-year SUD; 28.4% of these (over 300,000) had experienced a major depressive episode in the past year (SAMHSA, 2015).
While not all professional counselors will specialize in addictions counseling, given this prevalence it is likely counselors will need to provide services to individuals with an SUD (Chandler, Balkin, & Perepiczka, 2011; Harwood, Kowalski, & Ameen, 2004; Salyers, Ritchie, Cochrane, & Roseman, 2006). In addition, professional counselors are more than likely to come into contact with clients of any age who are impacted by someone else's addiction (e.g., friend, family member). This may explain why the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP; 2016) requires that all counselors-in-training, regardless of counseling specialty, learn about the theories and etiology of addictions. Salyers et al. (2006) found little consensus among CACREP-accredited programs in how addictions issues were addressed; in fact, when asked where substance abuse was covered in the curriculum, more than 25 different courses were listed by CACREP program representatives. Counselors-in-training learn about addictions in a variety of ways, such as by taking a course in addictions, encountering clients with addictive behaviors in practicum or internship, or learning about addictions in other courses. Since addictions-related training seems to occur throughout the counseling curriculum, all counselor educators, regardless of their particular area of specialty, should maintain an awareness of current trends in addictions science and theory.
Given that knowledge of addictive behaviors is an important aspect of professional counselor identity (CACREP, 2009; 2016), it is necessary that professional counselors have access to scientific information and practice-oriented resources on addiction that are consistent with the philosophical orientation of the profession. Whereas related professions, such as psychology, public health and social work, produce peer-reviewed publications on addictions and addictions treatment that can be utilized by professional counselors, these resources may not reflect the qualities that make professional counseling unique. Examining the state of the counseling literature on addictive behaviors and additions counseling can inform efforts to improve access to scientific information and evidence-based practices that represent the core philosophy of the counseling profession. Further, an assessment of available addictions research can help to shed light on the state of the counseling profession, as production of original research has been regarded as a standard for measuring the identity development of a profession (Mate & Kelly, 1997).
Research on trends in addictions publications in professional counseling is scarce. Moro, Wahesh, Likis-Werle, and Smith (2016) utilized content analysis to investigate the frequency and type of addictions content within a sample of Association for Counselor Education and Supervision conference programs and four ACA-sponsored journals (JCD, Counselor Education and Supervision, Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation [CORE], and Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development) that appeal to counselor educators. These authors found that about 2% of conference sessions and articles between 2007 and 2011 addressed addictions counseling. Most of the articles identified in this analysis focused on treatment strategies, particularly among diverse populations. Although the study by Moro et al. is informative, it is limited in that it comprised a 5-year time period and included only a small subset of professional counseling journals. Examining all professional counseling journals during a lengthier time frame would provide professional counselors and researchers with a more comprehensive snapshot of what aspects of addictions theory, prevention, intervention and treatment have been discussed within the counseling literature. This information can be used to inform efforts to promote the production of research and publications that address specific areas of addiction that are currently lacking.
The purpose of the present study was to provide an overview of available literature on addictions topics in professional counseling journals published between January 2005 and December 2014. Moreover, the types of addictions content, addictive behaviors and addictions-related research were examined. The research questions that guided this study were: (1) To what extent do counseling journals address addictions topics? (2) What addictive behaviors and types of content were addressed? (3) How much addictions research was published in counseling journals? and (4) What types of populations and data analytic techniques were represented in this research?
Content analysis was utilized to address the research questions. This methodology was selected because content analysis is a systematic approach to summarize and make valid and replicable inferences from written communication (Krippendorff, 2013). A review of the literature shows that content analysis has served as a valuable methodology to identify publication trends over time and highlight attention on specific topics within the counseling profession. Content analysis has been used in the counseling literature to examine topics such as multicultural counseling (Arredondo, Rosen, Rice, Perez, & Tovar-Gamero, 2005), pedagogy in counselor education (Barrio Minton, Wachter Morris, & Yaites, 2014), and research in counseling (Ray et al., 2011). Studies by Barrio Minton et al. (2014), Arrendondo et al. (2005), and Ray et al. (2011) were of journal articles during a similar time frame as the present study (i.e., 10 years). Content analysis procedures used in this study include identifying articles, generating and refining the content analysis protocol, conducting a pretest, data collection, assessment of reliability and validity, and reporting the results.
The research team consisted of three professors and two master's-level graduate students. The professors each possess a doctoral degree in counselor education and specialize in addictions counseling. Two professors identify as White females and one professor is a White male. The graduate assistants, both White females, hold bachelor's degrees in psychology, completed a course in counseling research methods, and participated in a workshop on content analysis facilitated by the first author before joining the research team. The graduate assistants were responsible for searching for applicable articles using predetermined keywords and identifying the total number of articles for each journal during the time period; the three assistant professors (first, second, and third authors) participated in the search for articles as well as in the development of the content analysis protocol and coding process.
The Professional Counselor, published by NBCC, the Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, published by CSI, and 21 ACA and ACA member division peer-reviewed journals (Table 1) were identified as having published articles on addictions between the years 2005 and 2014. Because the purpose of the study was to present a survey of all available articles on addictions content in professional counseling journals between 2005 and 2014, all journals were included in the analysis even if they were not in press during the entire 10-year period under analysis.
A set of keywords was generated to identify relevant articles to be used in the study. These keywords included: (a) general terms taken from the literature on addiction and addictions treatment (e.g., addiction, prevention, relapse, recovery, abstinence, co-morbidity, behavioral and process addictions, and mutual support groups); (b) terminology drawn from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), such as substance use disorders, dependence, intoxication, withdrawal, substance abuse and opioid maintenance; and (c) a list of drug classifications (and common pseudonyms) from the DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5, including alcohol (drinking), amphetamine, cannabis (marijuana), cocaine, hallucinogen, opioid, stimulant, gambling, inhalant, sedative, caffeine and nicotine (tobacco, smoking).
Two graduate assistants independently conducted electronic searches using PsycINFO, EBSCO and ERIC of the keywords, titles and abstracts of all articles (editorial statements, book reviews, errata and advertisements excluded) during the specified time period to identify relevant articles and provide the total number of articles published for each journal. Journals not indexed within these electronic databases were searched by reading the electronic version of each issue's table of contents and article abstracts and keywords. Following this process, the first author met with the graduate assistants in order to reconcile any differences between their lists of applicable texts and total number of journal articles found. A preliminary list of 226 articles was identified and reviewed by each author to determine suitability for the study. Fifteen articles were removed from the analysis because they did not discuss addictions or addictions treatment; for example, two articles included the keyword "substance abuse" in the abstract, but not in the article itself. To maintain independence, one article was removed because it had been published twice.
The authors developed a content analysis protocol that included definitions and categories for each coding variable. To address research questions 1–3, the following variables were developed: (a) addiction-related content topic, (b) addictive behavior and (c) type of research article. In order to assess research question 4, (d) data analytic technique and (e) research population also were included as variables. Categories of each variable were initially developed by the authors based on their knowledge of the addictions literature as well as past content analysis research of counseling journals. The authors then pretested the protocol by coding 40 randomly selected articles within the sample (approximately 20%) to purify the coding scheme and conduct a preliminary assessment of coder agreement. Following this process, the authors met to refine existent category definitions, agree on the inclusion of additional variable categories and determine which variables would be single versus multiple classification. High inter-rater agreement (85% or higher) across all five study variables was observed among the three coders during the pilot phase. A pattern was not observed in the disagreements among the coders, suggesting that the framework possessed acceptable construct validity (Insch, Moore, & Murphy, 1997).
Once the protocol was refined, all articles were coded independently by two members of the research team (first, second, and third authors). Krippendorff's alpha (Krippendorff, 2013), with a minimum acceptable value set at α = .80, was utilized to assess agreement among the coders. This coefficient was selected to capture inter-rater reliability because it estimates error in observed agreement attributable to chance and accounts for small sample sizes. Using a reliability measure designed for small samples was an important consideration because research question 4 relates only to a smaller subset of the sample used in the study. Further, the use of two coders for each article was to ensure that the total number of observations for each variable in this study exceeded the minimum number recommended by Krippendorff (2013) for an alpha value greater than .80 at the .01 level of significance (i.e., according to Krippendorff [2013] two coders would have to code at least 103 units). The "odd-man-out" procedure recommended by Insch et al. (1997), in which a third coder determined the final category when differences emerged, was used to reconcile disagreements between coders.
Coding Variables
Five variables were identified by coders in the study. All articles (N = 210) were coded utilizing three of the variables: addiction-related content topic, addictive behavior and type of research. Two variables were used to code research articles identified within the sample. Percentage of agreement (observed agreement [OA]) and Krippendorff's alpha (α) were calculated for each variable.
Addiction-related content topic. The purpose of this variable was to identify the area of addictions counseling and research that the article addressed. Categories were initially drawn from content analyses by Ray et al. (2011) and Moro et al. (2016) and modified for the present study. Because the purpose of this variable was to identify the main content focus of the articles, a single classification system was used, which meant that coders were required to assign each article to one category. The use of a single classification system is recommended when coding variables that represent latent meaning and require greater interpretation by the coder (Insch et al., 1997). The variable included the following categories: approaches to counseling, professional practice, population variables, client variables, counselor variables, measurement, and effectiveness of counseling and preventative interventions (OA = 87.6%; α = .85). Approaches to counseling included articles that presented specific addictions-related counseling techniques, models or treatment programs. The professional practice issues category contained articles that described addiction-related counselor training, credentialing, ethics, diagnosis or trends in the field. Population variables included articles that described characteristics of a non-clinical population; the client variables category contained articles that addressed addictions or addictions counseling within a clinical population. Articles on the characteristics or perceptions of professional counselors were assigned to the counselor variables category. The measurement category included any article with a focus on instrument development, formal assessment or psychometrics. Effectiveness of counseling and preventative interventions represented articles that focused on evaluating an intervention or prevention program or technique.
Addictive behavior. This variable represented the types of addictive behavior addressed in the articles. Coders were instructed to record all addictive behaviors and substances described in each article (i.e., multiple classification) using a list of categories that included relevant keywords developed by the researchers for the text search. If a specific type of behavior or substance was not discussed, coders labeled the article as general substance use. Categories representing specific behaviors and substances included: general substance use, alcohol, nicotine, opioids, cannabis, stimulants, ecstasy and behavioral addictions (OA = 95%; α = .90).
Type of research. Each article was coded as non-research, qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods (OA = 98.5%; α = .98). Classifications were based on past content analysis research of counseling journals (Moro et al., 2016; Ray et al., 2011), and coders were required to assign each article to one category. Articles that were assigned to the three research categories (i.e., qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods) were used to address research question 4.
Data analysis. All research articles were coded in order to determine the types of data analytics used by the authors. The coding variable included 15 categories (i.e., descriptive statistics, regression analysis, theme analysis and coding, chi-square test, multivariate analysis of variance/multivariate analysis of covariance, correlation, analysis of variance/analysis of covariance, structural equation modeling, t-test, confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, other nonparametric test, discriminant analysis, canonical analysis, and cluster analysis), and coders were instructed to assign each article to multiple categories when appropriate (e.g., case where a single research article included multiple types of analysis; multiple classification). The scheme for grouping different types of data analysis was based on a framework by Erford et al. (2011) in their content analysis of articles published in JCD. Percentage of agreement among coders in the present study was 82.4% and α = .79. Because inter-rater reliability is slightly below the recommended minimum of .80 (Krippendorff, 2013), readers are encouraged to interpret these results with caution.
Research population. The various populations examined in the research articles were recorded using this variable (OA = 91%; α = .88). Because an article could potentially include multiple populations (e.g., African American, male, college students), coders were instructed to code each article with as many categories as necessary (i.e., multiple classification). When coding, research team members used a preliminary list of possible categories derived from several previous content analysis studies of counseling journals (Byrd, Crockett, & Erford, 2012; Smith, Ng, Brinson, & Mityagin, 2008). This resulted in 11 discrete categories: undergraduates, children and adolescents, adults (non-college, 18 years and older), families, men only, women only, clients in addictions treatment, addictions professionals, counseling students, multicultural populations and LGBT populations. To improve the conciseness of the findings, several smaller categories were combined to create the multicultural populations category. A twelfth category was designated for articles that did not include a research sample.
Research Question 1: To What Extent Do Counseling Journals Address Addictions Topics?
Table 1 provides a listing of counseling journals as well as the number of addictions-related articles in relationship to total publication. The percentage of the total number of addictions-related articles in comparison to total number of published articles was 4.5%. As expected, the Journal of Addiction & Offender Counseling (JAOC) published the highest percentage of addictions articles (76.1%). The journal with the next highest percentage of addictions articles was the Journal of Military and Government Counseling (13.8%), followed by the Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling (9.6%), the Journal of College Counseling (8.6%), and CORE (8.3%). Six journals published less than 1% of their articles on addictions: The Career Development Quarterly (0.0%), Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy (0.0%), Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology (0.0%), Counselor Education and Supervision (0.5%), Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development (0.5%), and Professional School Counseling (0.9%).
The authors also examined the first research question by calculating the percentage of addictions-related articles during each year of publication. The number and percentage of addictions articles published for each year is as follows: 2005 (n = 18; 4.0%), 2006 (n = 20; 4.5%), 2007 (n = 20; 4.7%), 2008 (n = 14; 3.0%), 2009 (n = 17; 3.9%), 2010 (n = 21; 4.5%), 2011 (n = 30; 6.3%), 2012 (n = 30; 6.4%), 2013 (n = 20; 4.0%), and 2014 (n = 20; 4.7%). The percentage of addictions articles remained relatively stable during this period; however, a slight increase in the percentage of articles published on addictions was observed in 2011 and 2012.
Research Question 2: What Types of Addictive Behaviors and Content Topics Were Addressed?
All seven categories included in the addiction-related content topic variable were represented in the data. The highest number of addictions articles focused on population variables (n = 57; 27%), or addictions issues within non-clinical groups. The content topics approaches to counseling (n = 43; 20%) and professional practice issues (n = 39; 19%) were the second and third most represented categories. Fewer addiction-related articles were published on the following content topics: client variables (n = 20; 10%), measurement (n = 18; 9%), effectiveness of counseling and preventative interventions (n = 17; 8%), and counselor variables (n = 16; 7%).
Additional analysis revealed that among the 18 articles in the measurement category, 14 different assessment instruments were represented. Whereas most instruments (n = 10) were discussed in only one article each, the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-3 (SASSI-3; Miller & Lazowski, 1999) was included in eight of the articles in this category. Three instruments were included in two articles: the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey (Core Institute, 1994), CAGE questionnaire (Ewing, 1984) and the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (Selzer, 1971). Further, additional analysis of the effectiveness of counseling and preventative interventions category found that only four articles addressed prevention; three of these articles discussed a similar intervention to prevent college student drinking and one presented findings of an evaluation of a school-based substance abuse prevention program.
Addiction Articles in Professional Counseling Journals, 2005–2014
No. of Addiction Articles Found
No. of Total
Possible Articles
% Addiction to No. of Total
The Professional Counselor
Journal of Counselor Leadership & Advocacy
Journal of Counseling & Development
Adultspan Journal
The Career Development Quarterly
Counseling and Values
Counselor Education and Supervision
Journal of Addiction & Offender Counseling
Journal of College Counseling
Journal of Employment Counseling
Journal of Humanistic Counseling
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development
Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation
The Family Journal
Journal of Creativity in Mental Health
Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling
Journal of Mental Health Counseling
Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology
The Journal for Specialists in Group Work
Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development
Professional School Counseling
Rehabilitation Counseling
Journal of Military and Government Counseling
Note. The first issue of The Professional Counselor was published in 2011; Counseling Outcome Research and Evaluation was first published in June 2010; Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling was first published in October 2008; Journal for Social Action in Counseling was first published in April 2007; Journal of Creativity in Mental Health was first published in September 2007; the first issue of Journal of Military and Government Counseling was published in January 2013; the first issue of the Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy was published in 2014.
The addictive behavior coding variable also was used to assess this research question. General substance use was by far the most represented addictive behavior in the articles (n = 142; 68%), followed by alcohol consumption (n = 46; 22%) and behavioral addictions (n = 11; 5%). Specific substances were addressed in fewer articles: nicotine (n = 8; 4%), opioids (n = 4; 2%), stimulants (n = 4; 2%), cannabis (n = 3; 1%) and ecstasy (n = 1; 0.5%). The total values exceed the actual number of research articles included in the analysis because some articles addressed more than one addictive behavior. In the behavioral addictions category, sex addiction was addressed in three articles, three articles included a general discussion of behavioral addictions, and addictions to gambling, gaming, Internet, self-injury and food were each mentioned once.
Research Question 3: How Much Addictions Research Was Published in Counseling Journals?
This research question was addressed using the type of research coding variable. Approximately 60% of addictions-related articles (n = 127) were original research. Among these articles, 82% were quantitative (n = 104) and 13% were qualitative (n = 17). Mixed methods was the smallest category (n = 6), representing 5% of all addictions research. Articles coded as "non-research" (n = 83) included innovative methods papers, professional practice papers, interviews, and literature reviews on topics such as counseling theory and special populations.
Research Question 4: What Types of Populations and Data Analytic Techniques Are Represented in the Addictions Research?
Research population and data analysis were the coding variables used to assess this research question. Table 2 lists the various types of participants used in the addictions-related research articles. The most common population examined was adults (n = 49; 40%), or individuals (18 years and older) not enrolled in college, followed by undergraduates (n = 36; 29%) and addictions professionals (n = 26; 21%). The total values exceed the actual number of research articles included into the analysis because some articles included more than one population. The multicultural populations category represented a number of ethnic groups including African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans, as well as a sample of participants in Korea. Three articles were not included in this analysis because they did not involve research with human subjects (e.g., content analysis of substance use screenings).
Table 2 Types of Participants Used in Addictions Research Articles
Addictions Professionals
Clients in Addictions Treatment
LGBT Populations
Multicultural Populations
Counseling Students
Note. Three articles were removed because they did not include human subjects (n = 124). Some articles include more than one population. Therefore, the total values may exceed the actual number of research articles accepted into the analysis.
All 15 data analytic techniques were represented within the addiction-related research articles (Table 3). Descriptive statistics (n = 34; 27%), regression analysis (n = 31; 24%) and theme analysis/coding (n = 22; 17%) were the most used techniques. Data strategies less likely to be utilized include discriminant analysis (n = 4; 3%), canonical analysis (n = 3; 2%) and cluster analysis (n = 1; 1%). The total values exceed the actual number of research articles included in the analysis because some articles utilized more than one data analysis strategy.
Table 3 Type of Data Analysis Used in Addictions Research Articles
Data Analytic Procedure
Theme Analysis/Coding
Chi-Square Test
MANOVA/MANCOVA
ANOVA/ANCOVA
t-test
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Exploratory Factor Analysis
Other Nonparametric
Discriminant Analysis
Canonical Analysis
Note. Some articles used more than one procedure. Therefore, the total values may exceed the actual number of research articles accepted into the analysis (n = 127). MANOVA = multivariate analysis of variance; MANCOVA = multivariate analysis of covariance; ANOVA = analysis of variance; ANCOVA = analysis of covariance.
Articles published in 23 professional counseling journals between January 2005 and December 2014 were examined to assess the scope with which addictions were represented in the professional counseling literature. Overall, 210 (4.5%) of the 4,640 articles published addressed addictions content. Not surprisingly, JAOC, a publication sponsored by the International Association of Addictions and Offender Counselors, contained the most articles on addictions. It also is noteworthy that several journals with higher percentages of addictions articles were launched within the period of time the analysis was conducted (e.g., Journal of Military and Government Counseling and Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling). The introduction of these journals may suggest that increased attention is being given to addictions issues or, at the very least, to populations that are more vulnerable to experiencing the consequences of addictive behaviors.
The higher percentage of articles in 2011 and 2012 may have been associated with changes to addictions-related professional training and diagnostic considerations that occurred around these years. In 2009, CACREP introduced an addictions counseling specialty area and added language in their standards requiring all students to learn about the etiology, prevention and treatment of addictions; therefore, it is possible that during the years following these changes, there was an increased interest in the teaching of addictions content to counselors-in-training. Alternatively, the revised formulation for the diagnosis of SUD in the DSM-5, published in 2013, also may have contributed to the increase in addictions articles. Leading up to the publication of the DSM-5 there may have been greater discussion as to how addictive disorders are conceptualized and assessed.
The most common type of article published addressed addiction-related issues within non-clinical populations; fewer articles focused on topics specific to individuals receiving addictions counseling. Even fewer articles included research on outcomes of prevention and counseling interventions. The presence of only four articles in the sample (1.9%) that assessed the efficacy of prevention efforts is concerning given that prevention has been found to be a key facet of professional counselor identity (Mellin, Hunt, & Nichols, 2011) and is considered by CACREP (2016) as "foundational knowledge" (p. 8) for all counseling professionals. This discrepancy may suggest that despite being regarded as an important component of professional training and identity, little is actually done pertaining to prevention practice and research by professional counselors.
Although relatively few articles in the sample included addictions outcomes research, it is promising that CORE was established by the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling in 2010 as a venue for outcomes research and program evaluation findings (Hays, 2010). Since the inception of CORE, its publication of addiction research has resulted in it being one of the top five journals in our study publishing on addiction topics.
Among the assessment instruments in articles that focused on addictions-related measurement issues, the SASSI-3 (Miller & Lazowski, 1999) was the most commonly discussed. The amount of attention given to the use of the SASSI-3 appears to be warranted considering the popularity of this instrument among professional counselors and clinical mental health counselors in particular. In a national survey of counselor assessment practices by Peterson, Lomas, Neukrug, and Bonner (2014), the SASSI-3 was the highest ranked test of addictive behaviors among all professional counselors. Among clinical mental health counselors, it was the third highest ranked inventory overall, behind the Beck inventories for depression and anxiety. Further, Neukrug, Peterson, Bonner, and Lomas (2013) found that more than three-quarters of counselor educators who teach assessment use the SASSI-3 in their courses. Despite the widespread use of the SASSI-3, it does have its limitations; the SASSI-3 can be cost prohibitive for some clients and requires that those who use it receive specialized training. As a result, examining the psychometric properties of other instruments, specifically measures that are free or more cost effective and do not require specialized training to interpret, seems prudent.
The limited number of articles addressing specific types of addictive behaviors is problematic. Although common physiological and psychosocial processes exist across all addictive behaviors, there also are unique factors associated with the etiology, prevention and treatment of the various drug classifications and behavioral addictions (Brooks & McHenry, 2015). Indeed, prevention and intervention efficacy often correlate with information tailored to each need. In light of the current opioid and prescription drug epidemic—a 137% increase in drug overdose deaths and 200% increase in opioid deaths from 2000 to 2014 (Rudd, Aleshire, Zibbell, & Gladden, 2016)—examining the prevention and treatment of this specific classification of substances would be a prudent area of research.
Analysis of addictions-related research revealed that nearly two-thirds of all articles in the sample represented original empirical research. This is higher than what Ray et al. (2011) found in their content analysis of 15 counseling journals in print between 1998 and 2007; these authors found that approximately one in three articles published included original research. These findings suggest that despite addictions not being a topic commonly discussed across counseling journals, there may be greater attention to conducting research on addictive behaviors by counseling researchers. Or, this may reflect an overall trend among counseling journals to publish research since the final year (2007) of the content analysis conducted by Ray et al. (2011). The level of sophistication of data analysis in the articles in this sample is comparable to findings from past content analyses of long term publication trends in specific counseling journals; for instance, descriptive statistical techniques were among the most commonly used methods of analysis in JCD (Erford et al., 2011) and Journal of College Counseling (Byrd et al., 2012).
One of the most commonly used groups in addictions research was college students, which may indicate an over-reliance on the use of convenience sampling across institutions of higher education. A concerning trend observed in the data was that addictions professionals were utilized more as research participants than were clients in addictions treatment. Greater attention to understanding individuals who are enrolled in treatment can help researchers and professional counselors identify successful ways to tailor and personalize counseling interventions to fit the needs of specific client populations. In addition, although several articles used diverse populations, fewer studies examined addictions issues among discrete groups of men and women only. Moreover, twice as many articles were found that focused on men compared to women only. Additional research examining gender differences is necessary considering that men and women face unique issues related to the development and treatment of addictive behaviors (National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2015).
The findings of this study should be viewed within the context of several limitations. An advantage of content analysis is that it can be used to help organize and summarize large quantities of information; however, by assigning each individual article to a category, it is possible that some distinctive characteristics of the articles in the sample may have been lost or trivialized (Riffe, Lacy, & Fico, 2014). In addition, the process of creating categories for the articles is researcher-driven and, even though efforts were made to develop the coding framework using the available literature, it is possible that different researchers would not have created the same levels of the study variables.
Other limitations relate to data collection and the coding process. Since the purpose of the present study was to analyze articles that focused on addictions, the sample was developed through a review of journal titles, abstracts and keywords only—an approach utilized in previous content analyses of specific topics within the counseling literature (Barrio Minton et al., 2014; Evans, 2013). In the unlikely event that an article focusing on addictions did not include one of the search terms in these three areas, it would not have been included in this study. Also, this study did not include articles in counseling journals that are affiliated with regional or statewide counseling organizations, such as The Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, published by the North Atlantic Region Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, or the Virginia Counselors Journal, which is the journal of the Virginia Counseling Association. The authors chose to restrict their data collection to include only journals produced by NBCC, CSI, ACA and ACA member divisions because they believed that a content analysis of articles sampled from these national publications would provide a general overview of the addictions-related content discussed throughout the counseling literature.
Although inter-rater agreement among coders for most variables was satisfactory, reliability for coding the data analysis variable was lower than the minimal acceptable threshold suggested by Krippendorff (2013). Possible reasons for low concordance include the number of categories for this variable and the inconsistencies in how data analytic techniques were described within the various articles in the sample. Finally, as this study presented an overview of the types of addictions-related articles published in counseling journals, the quality of the publications was not evaluated during the coding process. This may be a possible next step for counseling researchers that could yield more rigor and, subsequently, evidence-based practices for addictions prevention and counseling.
Implications for Professional Counselors
According to the ACA Code of Ethics (2014), "Counselors have a responsibility to the public to engage in counseling practices that are based on rigorous research methodologies" (Section C, p. 8). When addressing issues related to addictive behaviors, professional counselors have a modest yet relatively diverse literature available to help guide their practice. Despite the fact that a large number of articles in the sample described approaches to addictions counseling, many of these papers were conceptual in nature and did not include original empirical research to assess counseling outcomes. To better assist professional counselors in using research-informed approaches, it is necessary for greater attention to be given by counselor educators and researchers to producing addictions-related intervention research and program evaluations.
The limited number of articles that evaluated treatment approaches also may represent a more endemic issue in counseling and counselor education. Many professional counselors report not feeling adequately prepared to operationalize and measure client outcomes, despite recognizing the need for these skills in their work (Peterson, Hall, & Buser, 2016). Although these skills have been identified as key research competencies in counselor education (Wester & Borders, 2014), it is unclear how these competencies are addressed in entry-level and doctoral research curricula. Researchers may wish to examine the ways in which professional counselors and counselor educators learn how to evaluate treatment outcomes. This may help inform the development of new pedagogical strategies that lead to an increased production of outcomes research on approaches to counseling and prevention in counseling journals.
In addition to a call for research on counseling outcomes, it also seems apparent that there is a need for more sophisticated research questions and hypotheses in research conducted on addictive behaviors. Addiction is a multifaceted phenomenon that involves the interplay of multiple biological, psychological and social determinants (American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2011); therefore, the use of descriptive statistics or univariate procedures may not capture the complexities of how addictive behaviors are initiated, maintained and extinguished. The use of more sophisticated data analytic techniques by researchers may help address this issue. Structural equation modeling can be utilized to simultaneously test the fit of an explanatory model of addictive behavior comprised of multiple independent and dependent variables. For example, Wahesh, Lewis, Wyrick, and Ackerman (2015) utilized structural equation modeling to evaluate the fit of a mediational model of collegiate drinking that included multiple determinants of alcohol use. Alternatively, qualitative methods can be used by researchers to provide an in-depth understanding of how various interpersonal, social and cultural variables shape individual behavior (Likis-Werle & Borders, 2017).
One way that counseling journals can increase the publication of articles that address specific issues related to addiction is by offering a special issue or section on these topics. Journal editors can develop a call for papers that focus on addictions-related issues salient to their publication's readership. Depending on the particular journal's audience, this can include examining prevention, a specific classification of addictive behaviors, or intervention outcomes, areas that were not well represented in the current sample of articles. For example, in 2011 CORE dedicated a special section (Volume 2, Issue 1) to substance abuse outcome research and measures. The use of special issues or sections across counseling journals can ensure that professional counselors have access to information that is germane to their work. JAOC may seem like a natural venue for topics related to addictions in counseling; however, that perception is problematic because JAOC is geared toward addictions and offender counselors, making it possible that the particular populations studied, findings and implications in articles published in this journal are not as relevant to professional counselors in other settings.
Although journal articles represent an important source of professional development, it is possible that professional counselors utilize other venues for continuing education. Future researchers can examine continuing education practices of counselors to determine the particular sources of education and whether or not the information provided through these venues is consistent with the typical scope of practice and professional identify of the counseling profession. Relatedly, it also seems necessary to determine where else counseling researchers and counselor educators publish their research on addictions counseling. While counselor educators in CACREP-accredited programs are expected to demonstrate scholarly activity in counseling (CACREP, 2016), it is possible that some addictions counselor educators publish in journals outside of counseling that specialize in addictions or have higher impact factors. Journal impact factors are a method of determining a journal's significance in comparison to other journals in the field. Some counselor educators may seek to publish in journals with a more favorable impact factor for evaluation purposes related to faculty tenure and promotion (Fernando & Barrio Minton, 2011). Assessing author publication trends by reviewing the curriculum vitae of addictions counselor educators can help identify the journals in which they most frequently publish. Examining these trends can identify the types of addictions-related research and other scholarly work that are being produced by counselor educators and counseling researchers but are not appearing in counseling journals.
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Edward Wahesh, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at Villanova University. S. Elizabeth Likis-Werle is an Assistant Professor at East Tennessee State University. Regina R. Moro, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at Boise State University. Correspondence can be addressed to Edward Wahesh, Villanova University, Education and Counseling (SAC 302), 800 E. Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085, edward.wahesh@villanova.edu.


Several wine tours throughout the Yarra Valley are available. Tour operators recommended by past visitors include Wild Wombat Winery Tours, Yarra Valley Winery Tours and Yarra Valley Private Winery Tours. If you're traveling without a car, consider choosing a tour operator that offers pick-ups and drop-offs from the CBD.
The Yarra Valley is situated about 40 miles northeast of central Melbourne. The easiest way to get to the area is by car or by taking a wine tour with transfer service. Most wineries offer daily tastings (a small fee may apply), though hours vary depending on the winery. To learn more about the Yarra Valley's wineries and other things to do in the area, check out the Yarra Ranges Tourism website.


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John Laurinaitis is reportedly back in charge of WWE Talent Relations
By Sean Rueter@s1rude Updated Mar 10, 2021, 1:05pm EST
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People Power is back! At least, that's what this report from Wrestling Observer tells us.
Most WWE fans remember John Laurinaitis from his awkwardly awesome run as Raw's General Manager early last decade (or maybe from his ongoing role as Daniel Bryan's stepfather-in-law on Total Bellas, but that's a whole nother story). But the man known as Johnny Ace stepped onto our screens from his real-world job as head of talent relations.
After taking over from Jim Ross in 2004, Laurinaitis held the job until he resigned in 2012. In the past few years he returned to WWE working a producer/agent, which is what he was doing when he took over for JR in the first place. Now, he's again moving on up, reporting directly Executive Vice President of Operations Brad Blum.
It's not clear from the Observer report what else is changing as a result of Laurinaitis' promotion, but PWInsider says their sources tell them Mark Carano will now report to the 58 year old All Japan and WCW veteran. The Talent Development team will still be headed up by Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Canyon Cemen, and remain separate.
Aside from the "People Power" and "Mr. Excitement" jokes, reaction among fans seems to be focused on the perception that Laurinaitis first stint in talent relations coincided with the Divas era and is associated with things like bra-and-panties matches. There doesn't seem to be any reason to believe he'll have a ton of influence on how wrestlers are trained - or even who gets signed for the developmental pipeline, so there's probably not a ton of reason for real concern there.
It seems more likely Laurinaitis will be the man to negotiate new contracts, and to implement/enforce things like the company's controversial new social media and third-party engagement policies.
Good luck with that, Big Johnny.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of high-performing, next-generation leaders that have a passion for advancing the Philippines and the Filipino people.
FYLPRO was established in 2012 by Former Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States of America, Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. and Mrs. Victoria J. Cuisia in cooperation with the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI) to annually identify outstanding young professionals in the Filipino communities across the United States and provide the delegates with invaluable community, business, and government insights and access to a distinguished network captains of industry and government.
Continue and strengthen the dialogue with the highest officials and policymakers in the Philippines and US, leaders of industry, media, artists and cultural experts, and entrepreneurs.


The suit fits fine and looks good. Visibility is a challenge. It would be hard to walk on the street without some assistance. The back zipper is no problem at all.
The suit is of good weight and flexibe. It is a bit hard to get zipped alone, but possibe. Vision through the mask is limited. You can see forms, yet reading would be impossible. I am confident it gets better with practice. Shipping was about as predicted.
For a standard size, the fit is quite good. Two-way back zipper seems a plus, but the suit is a bit hard to get into by myself. Material thickness is very good, but this hinders visbility through the suit quite a bit, This is my first Zentai purchase, so new to what to expect.


The Kinder-Grade School offers a six-year academic program that aims to develop young learners to become well-rounded individuals. The different subject areas and co-curricular clubs integrate the core values of simplicity, truth, justice, peace, and integrity of creation through relevant and meaningful student-centered activities.
The subject offerings include Christian Formation, Filipino, Mother Tongue, Reading, Language, Araling Panlipunan, Mathematics, Science, Music, Arts, Physical Education, Home Economics and Livelihood Education, and Communications and Information Technology. These programs provide varied opportunities geared towards the fulfillment of the school's vision and mission – academic excellence for social transformation.
Special academic programs are also provided to address the different needs of pupils. These include the tutorial and remedial programs for learners with academic difficulties, and the individualized bilingual instructional program (IBIP) for foreign pupils with limited language (Filipino or English) proficiency skills. A Home Study Program is also designed for pupils who cannot attend regular classes.


This is a unique program and opportunity for students choosing to check out expensive textbooks for a couple of hours at a time in lieu of shelling out large sums of money for the rental, or purchase of a used or new textbook.
The Minnesota State Student Association (MSSA) is the "lead partner" of the cooperative arrangement which involves the on-campus bookstore vendor, Barnes and Noble Bookstore, and Library Services. Without the direct support of these two partners the program wouldn't be what it is.


Mop Topper Phone Stand — Branditright Ltd - Don't just brand it, brand it right!
The Mop Topper Phone stand has it all... it combines a stress item, phone stand and screen cleaner in one!
Not only that, it also brings a touch of fun to customers' desktops. Your company logo is branded to the front, so it stays clearly visible even when the phone is in place.


how to resolve this kind of error in jsp?
i ill install the right mysql connecter in web inf- lib ..... but i'm again and again getting this error only?
Did you added it on classpath?
this means you program does not able to find my sql class. Make sure you give correct mysql class path in your program.


With the positions 3, 6 and 18 respectively, for its drivers Sean Edwards, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Khaled Al Qubaisi, 'Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit' stays tuned in the fight for the team and driver championship at the 6th round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup series at the Nürburgring. In the 200th race of the championship, rain specialist Sean Edwards only started from 7th place, however, scored another podium in a great catch-up race. In the driver championship, he ranks 2nd with 90 points and within reach of the leader René Rast.
Jeroen Bleekemolen starts from position 8, however, catches up one position, too. Being one of only two race drivers who managed to be on every podium of one Supercup season, he therefore scores 10 points and continues to rank 5th. Khaled Al Qubaisi once again shows a great start in the race and competes on position 9 for some time. However, being started on rain tyres, he falls back to position 18 on the drying track during the race.
Eurosport will show a summary of the race on July 24 at 11.00 p. m. in the frame of their "Motorsports Weekend Magazin".
Despite of starting from position 5, 'Team Deutsche Post by tolimit' pilot Sean Edwards dominates the Porsche Carrera Cup race at the Norisring from lap 2. After four wins in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, he achieves his maiden victory in the German one-make-cup. Team mate Jeroen Bleekemolen starts from position 8 and finishes sixth. Edwards continues to lead the driver standings followed directly by Bleekemolen, whereas 'Team Deutsche Post by tolimit' leads the team standings with a gap of 50 points.
Untypically mixed weather conditions converted the race at the Norisring in Nuremberg into a glissade. Despite of his start from position 5, Sean Edwards was able to take the lead already in lap 2. The rain specialist managed to find the ideal line and overtook his competitors Tandy, Ragginger, Seyffarth and Rast before consequently winning the race.
Jeroen Bleekemolen managed to catch up to position 5 in the middle of the race, however fighting with dismantling tyres, had to settle for position 6 in the end.


Marriage is becoming an affluent pursuit, and social mobility is stagnating: two big contemporary American problems. Are they related?
Derek Thompson at The Atlantic thinks so. His "How America's Marriage Crisis Makes Income Inequality So Much Worse", suggests the changing landscape of marriage is fuelling the income gap. Of course, the importance of these changes in the shape of the family goes beyond inequality and mobility, but it is not possible to separate marriage and mobility.
The rise in single mothers matters for income inequality. But it's a concern for social mobility too. On this blog, we have highlighted the rising number of single mothers among twenty-somethings—and what it means for the future prospects and mobility of children. Children of married parents have better life outcomes, in terms of education, health, and income—in large part because they have more resources available to them.
Thompson focuses briefly on what he calls the "marriage gap," or what academics inelegantly call "assortative mating." This signals the tendency of like to marry like: those who are college educated and high-earning marry each other; and those with less education and less income marry each other (if they marry at all).
Brookings has examined the role of assortative mating in the context of economic mobility and gender. One reason women stay in the income brackets of their parents is that they marry someone from a similar background: the earnings of a married woman's husband bear as much resemblance to her parents' income as her own earnings.
The primary source of the gains to marriage shifted from the production of household services and commodities to investment in children…Marriage is the commitment mechanism that supports high levels of investment in children and is hence more valuable for parents adopting a high-investment strategy for their children.
In the U.S., marriages are excellent institutions within which to raise children well and optimize their life chances. This lesson has not been lost on the affluent.


June Walker | Indies with no tax knowledge cheat themselves.
I'm a freelance writer/consultant in San Francisco, finishing my taxes, and would greatly appreciate a small bit of help/clarification.
As a full-time freelancer with no employer health plan, can I deduct the full cost of my health insurance payments? I have no access to a partner's plan or COBRA.
Last year I deducted one-fourth of health insurance as a business expense, but can I deduct the full amount?
One more question if I can: do I need to report any payments under $400 from clients, if I didn't get a 1099?
There's a special place in my heart for writers. My husband is a writer. Many friends are writers. So here's my special caution to you.
A writer's accuracy is his credibility.
Everything you do goes out with a byline. I assume you are sure of the facts before you put your name on something you offer for publication.
You don't say whether you're a sportswriter or science writer or a generalist. If you're a sportswriter you sure as heck better understand the game. If a science writer you'd better be comfortable in a physics or chemistry lab.
Just as being a specialist in any field requires education and experience so too does tax preparation for indies require education, research, experience.
Your tax return is a document that you sign, attesting to the accuracy and truthfulness of what's on that paper. You must know what you're signing.
Your two questions point out why indies should not do their own tax returns. Your questions are Indie Tax 101.
Health insurance premiums are not a business expense deduction.They are deducted as an adjustment to income. Same place you'd deduct alimony payments.
Payment to you for your freelance writing is taxable. All of it. Whether you get a 1099 or you're paid in cash and nobody sees the transaction or you're paid in chickens. And if you don't claim the income it's fraud.
Don't mess yourself up by getting into trouble with the IRS. Learn more. Read. A good place to start your education: Go to your library and check out my book Self-employed TAX Solutions.


Students at Pick Elementary School have a whole new way to make joyful noise thanks to another Troop 50 Eagle Scout Service Project. Kyle, a founding member of Troop 50 and aspiring Eagle Scout, planned and built an outdoor music classroom for students, complete with his stations featuring drums, cymbals, chimes, shakers and a PVC pipe xylophone. The space not only provides the school's music teacher with a music-focused outdoor educational space, but the site provides teachers of other subjects with alternative outdoor classroom space and students with an optional recess area.
Kyle's project is the fourth in a series of Troop 50 Eagle Scout projects at Pick Elementary School, which also include a pair of raised planter beds, a nature trail and outdoor classroom, and a creek-side observation deck. As part of his project planning, Kyle researched various instruments and different building materials that would be beneficial for making different types of sound. He worked with music teacher Caleb Doster and physical education teacher Charles Cooper to obtain the necessary permissions and conceptualize the outdoor music classroom. Michael Tullier, the troop's chartered organization representative, served as his Eagle project coach.
Kyle and his father assemble the music station featuring a musically tuned PVC-pipe xylophone.
metal trash can lid cymbals.
After presenting his project idea to and having it approved by Saugahatchee District's Eagle Board in November 2015, Kyle began the physical work on the outdoor music classroom site work in February 2016 by clearing the area of small trees and brush. During two weekends in April, Kyle and a group of volunteers created the structures for the instrument stations and the instruments themselves. Stations include metal trash can drums, a PVC pipe xylophone with washboard, metal pipe chimes, plastic bucket drums with metal trash lid cymbals, and tree stumps originally designed for seating, but as later discovered, more opportunities for students to express themselves rhythmically.
Because many of the troop's past Eagle projects were completed during summer breaks, Kyle had a unique opportunity to reveal his completed project site to the school's faculty and teachers during a school day. On Wednesday, April 20, Kyle — joined by his parents, Art and Melissa Sullivan; Scoutmaster Andrew Baird; and Mr. Tullier — unveiled the space to the school's principal, Debbie Brooks; Mr. Doster; Coach Cooper; and several of the school's students. In addition to Coach Cooper serving as Kyle's PE teacher in kindergarten and much of his time as a student at Cary Woods Elementary School, Mrs. Brooks also served as principal during Kyle's studies at Cary Woods. Auburn City Schools later featured Kyle's efforts on its Facebook page.
For more before, during, and after photos of Kyle's project efforts, visit the troop's online photo album.


The lesson here is that electronics devices–iPads, laptops, and even smartphones–give off lots of heat, so they must not be left on any surface that can burn. There have even been burn accidents where laptop users severely burned their legs by placing the laptop in their lap to use it! Sometimes these devices become overheated from a product defect such as a short circuit, and this product defect could result in an injury lawsuit against the manufacturer.


Many people love mythical creatures and can want to know as it would be a world dominated only for them.
Which of them do you wanna to do? Why?
well thers an idea... a race of anubis!
If a creature with two or more vertebral column it's possible, a world of hydras or scylas (a water hydra) will be really cool too.
I might... but definately not Greek/Egyptian/Roman mythological creatures though. I might like to make a few Asian mythological creatures, but the greatest fun would be to make some modern mythological creatures like the Chupacabra for example.
I have a funny feeling that i'll get sick of seeing dragon species, or more likely, 4+ armed/legged dragon species.
It does have some general descriptions though that could be used to make up model.
Thats just kinda what I meant. Dragons have general western and eastern images, but I was never aware of the chupacabra ever having one truly accepted image. Though im always behind on my myth and folklore, its why i asked. Maybe they just need better agents and perhaps some better magazine reviews? Or is that guy in your avatar space in the tryouts for the "Face of goatsuckers 2006"?
I will create lots of dragons to annoy Hydro!
Couldn't you use a bunch of limbs that have been fattened at the ends to make a 'skull'?
hmm, i wonder if there'll be easter egg like mythical creatures (high points in everything, amazing physical ability)... that'd be awesome.
If flying creatures are in, I plan on a black, two-headed, two-tailed dragon.
I'm not sure if it counts as a mythical creature but i'd definetly recreate metal gear ray!
I'll make the best possible recreation of a phoenix, making a large bird that is all red, or maybe giving said bird extra feathers going backwards and coloring them a different tint of red so that it looks as if the thing is on fire as it flies.
I dunno, but I will create a phoenix.
For anyone who is in to alternative religious stuff, I would highly reccomend reading a collection of Jewish creation myths called the Haggadah. (I think that's how it's spelled. o.o) Anyway, it talks at length about all of the fantastic creatures that were around when God first created the Earth, including some really bizzare ones. The one that first comes to mind is the 'man of the earth', which looks exactly like a human, only it has an umbillical cord of sorts that keeps it bound to a single place on the ground, meaning it can only eat whatever is stupid enough to wander into its radius. While it resembles a man physically, it is a brutal creature, furious at anything it cannot touch.
Mmmm maybe but I doubt it. I'm most likely to make movie based creatures such as Xenomorphs, ALiens from War of the Worlds, Species 8472 etc.
It might be fun to do centaurs at one stage, or a variation to that theme. The spine seems flexible enough to make that incredible 90 degrees angle.
That my friend....SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF MEEEE!!!!!!!!
If I'm really bored one day I might make one otherwise I'm sure there will be enough of them out there. Of course if i run into any poorly designed mythological creatures or dragons I won't bother filtering them out, i mean what else would i have my handy UFO capability to destroy planets for?
Nothing says "I went into the editor and threw random things together" like a jackalope. I look forward to seeing many other small rodents with unnecessary horns as well.
Some things are just must-haves. You don't necessarily have to let them conquer the universe, but they would be nice to keep on a dozen or so zoo planets.
Anubis was an anthropomorphic Jackal.
And as to those fans of Ligers, you do all know that Ligers are a danger to the ecosystem right? They're infertile creatures that waste the valuable breeding capacity of endangered animals. Ligers are litterally an unintended threat to the existance of their parents. Now, while you enjoy that little slice of sadness, I'd think it'd be neat to add something like Stymphalian Birds.
They don't look too impressive, but they're actually covered in metal that naturally grows on their body, and have a loud metallic screech. Some use claws, some breath fire. Take your pick.
I wouldn't mind adding Nightwalkers to the list of creatures. Huge, lumbering behemoths with burning eyes.
No, I didn't. But seems cool!
The Goatsucker is one of the creatures I plan on making(maybe even for my main race!).
it looks like a huge vampire bat with a goblin face. cewl.
to be real, could it not just be a undiscovered animal, like the boogie man or Micheal jackson.
We don't know. No one who has ever seen one has lived to tell about it. Du du duuuuuu <---dramatic music.
that no was has seen a chupakrabra whatever the hell it is.
My mythical creature would be, Buh Buh BAH!!! A Smart president!!
Maybe an Air Rod? Though I doubt you could ever do it.... And not really mythical but....damnt I just wanna link the air rods somewhere!
We know they're in. Enjoy your dragon.
As for me, I might make the mythical Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Trall. Since there aren't any pictures of it, I'm free to make it up the way I imagined it.
Personally, I'd say it's a lot like a Megatherium (Giant Sloth).
i bet they have badass camo.


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text:
Ramping up the stakes of his sport
By Leslie Gornstein
Special to The Times
What's it going to take to get Chinese kids onto skateboards? Jumping the Great Wall?
It's a good start.
American skater Danny Way, one of the hottest names in the sport, plans to take his reputation for vertical insubordination to the world's most famous barrier this summer. During a five-day trip to Beijing this year, Way announced plans to use a giant ramp to torpedo himself over the 2,000-year-old Chinese monument and land -- possibly a world record or two later -- in a stone courtyard on the other side, just steps from a Buddhist temple.
The larger goal, though, is to sell skateboarding as a legitimate sport here and to introduce a nation of 1.3 billion to a marketing concept revolutionary for China: the way of the "extreme."
In allowing Way to display his Yankee audacity at the doorstep of their emperors, Chinese officials are making a statement of their own. Roughly translated, they're ready to tolerate, even support, this showy, rebellion-born American pastime, albeit in their own, very Chinese style.
After years of planning, the Chinese government recently unveiled a new branch: the grand office of the Chinese Extreme Sports Assn. In an even stronger indication that the market is ready to explode, U.S. action sports brand Quiksilver intends to open a string of stores in major Chinese cities -- up to 20 are planned by the end of 2006. Shanghai is expected soon to open one of the largest concrete skate parks the world has ever seen, at a reported 200,000 square feet. And as of last year, the government has been running a gymnastics-style set of skating matches to recruit a team of national champions. Using a points system tallied throughout the calendar year, the new ministry awards five skateboarders the right to represent the People's Republic.
"In China, it is expected that each sport has its own [government] association," says Wei Xing, who heads the new Extreme Sports Assn. "We are responsible for holding events, training the athletes, the referees, the judge. And for overseas teams to come into China, they need to get approval from this association," he says through a translator.
Such a rigorous qualifying structure -- each delegate receives a signed certificate of excellence from the state -- horrifies some U.S. skateboarders, whose history reads like a rap sheet of social and legal defiance.
"In America, kids are being chased by security guards, and there's a battle out there between the police and skateboarders trying to showcase what they can do," says Jake Phelps, editor of the skate magazine Thrasher. "It's a rebel culture. The first rule is that there are no rules. You can't tell me what to do."
But skaters like Way know that China is not America. "We live in a community with a really relaxed lifestyle, and skateboarding is easily accepted," says Way, 30, who lives in Encinitas with his wife and two sons. "But in China we're dealing with a whole different world."
For starters, most Chinese kids aren't accustomed to self-celebratory stunt work. As local Beijing skateboarder Sun "Tiger" Hu struggled to explain to a visitor recently, the Chinese way of life leaves little room for preening on wheels. "The Chinese are still traditional, and many young kids have no ambitions to show themselves [off]," Sun says with the occasional help of a translator.
So if popularizing skateboarding's individualist and laid-back "bro" lifestyle means card-stock certificates and a government ministry, Way, for one, is willing to wait to see how it turns out.
"No one has ever taken that [nationalized] approach," he says. "Approaching it like a training regimen -- and that's basically the foundation of how these kids are going to get exposed to skateboarding -- I am curious to see what that can produce. But if it is overemphasized, it will take away from the soul of the sport."
Ready to embrace the West
In China, a country always proud to remind outsiders of its 5,000 years of recorded history, young people still "thank the emperors" if they're lucky enough to get into a university. That their government is willing to embrace the freewheeling image of skateboarding might seem like a trick in itself.
But China is changing, Wei says. His country is ready for more cultural influences from the West and the benefits they may bring to Chinese children -- in the case of extreme sports, that could mean a renewed sense of creativity, he says. But right now, Wei admits, "skateboarding is not very popular."
One big obstacle: a country with 1.3 billion people but, according to several studies, the ability to economically support perhaps 800,000. The result is too few jobs, a predicament that forces Chinese teens into an infamously competitive academic system. Parents still hesitate to let their children have as much playtime as their American counterparts, Wei says. "If you play more, you study less," he says during a visit to his spartan office, with a clutch of uniformed guards at the building's entrance. "All parents here worry about that."
In the United States, skateboarding is a $5.2-billion industry, a commercial juggernaut mythologized on television by ESPN's X Games and boosted by clean-cut endorsement king-cum-video game star Tony Hawk. A visitor to Beijing might see one teen futzing with a skateboard trick in a restaurant parking lot while a mass of bikes rolls by.
Way hopes to help change that by jumping the Wall. It won't be the first time that a brazen aerialist has attempted to hurdle that ancient imperial fence; a Chinese stunt bicyclist died in 2002 attempting a similar feat. But Way's jump, scheduled for June 19, will mark the first attempt by a skateboarder.
A stuntman's skating
To bring his "big air" skateboarding style to China, Way will prepare using a typical stuntman's approach: strengthening his body while brushing off reminders that the last guy who tried this died. "From what I've seen, that guy didn't have much of an idea what he was doing," Way says. "His ramp didn't look that good either. I think I've had more experience in this ballpark," he says, shrugging off that he has recently had surgery to replace a knee ligament -- his fourth.
Way has hooked up with a Las Vegas-based media rights and event production company called Global Village Media Group, which plans to spend up to $1.7 million on the event. The company hopes to bring the spectacle to as many Chinese viewers as it can, earning its money back through sponsorships and, eventually, rebroadcast rights.
"When it comes to skateboarding, or extreme sports in general, in China we are on the tip of a very large wave," Global Village principal David Tumaroff says. And, he adds, thanks to the Olympics, which will come to Beijing in 2008, "we are also at the forefront of a wave of Western participation into media and culture in China."
For the most part, the Chinese government remains tolerant of American cultural influences; even Westernized religion got a grudging nod last Christmas, when officials cryptically acknowledged the holiday with public decorations celebrating "Santa's Birthday Bash."
"Overall, China has grown very receptive" to American culture, "especially in big cities," says T.Y. Wang, a political science professor and East-West relations expert at Illinois State University.
China has even invited such decadent icons as Britney Spears to perform. But ahead of other aspects of Western pop culture -- namely music and TV shows -- Chinese youth seem to have developed a particular obsession with extreme sports. Citing a survey by Beijing-based Horizon Research, conducted on 1,600 junior high and high school students in 1999, USC professor Stan Rosen said that extreme sports rank among "the top five coolest things" among Chinese kids.
The only other portion of Western culture even making a dent in China? Not pop music, in which Korean performers are the current rage, or TV, unless you count the late-night "Baywatch" reruns on local stations. It's American film. American blockbusters have featured prominently in Beijing theaters since 1994, when the first U.S. flick, "The Fugitive," penetrated the Red Curtain, Rosen said.
In August, Way and his partner, John Tyson, erected a $500,000, nine-story ramp outside the annual X Games at Staples Center. Way went on to break a world distance record on his trademarked MegaRamp, setting a new 79-foot standard in teenage death wishes.
But Way, whose sun-kissed good looks and clear blue eyes remind fans of Michael Vartan or a young Paul Newman, says he cares less about the money (in fact, he's not being paid for this jump), personal exposure or even breaking another record. More important, he says, he wants Chinese kids to see his chosen path as a real sport with real earning potential.
"My goal is to expose skateboarding in a way that best represents the sport," Way says. "It's a bonus that it's in a place where my vision is actually valued."
But exactly how a country like China, whose children still study roughly 10 hours a day, will take to such an unruly pastime remains far from certain. So the question remains: Once Way lands on the other side of the Great Wall, ideally with all bones and ligaments intact, will anyone in China care?
For starters, China already has its favorite Western sports all picked out, xie xie very much. It's no secret that the Chinese prefer team sports and love their basketball. Even in rural villages, it's not uncommon for posters of American basketball stars to outsell those of Jackie Chan.
And soccer remains the No. 1 sport, with 3.5 million of the country's roughly 600 million fans regularly attending matches at the stadiums and countless more watching on TV, according to the mobile communications company Siemens, a soccer league sponsor here.
But China does love its national champions. Houston Rockets all-star basketball center Yao Ming, for example, remains a virtual demigod. "In China, any sporting event winner is a hero," notes Warren Stuart, an avid skater who lives in Hong Kong and runs the online community HKSkateboarding.com. Hence the fresh crop of government-tapped skateboard heroes.
One champ, Che Lin, was recently snatched up by Quiksilver to represent the brand in China. Quiksilver also signed Johnny Tang, a Chinese Canadian who recently moved back to the People's Republic.
And, Wei notes, many parents are returning from study or work trips abroad and want a more Westernized life for their kids. "In the past, children had only one way to measure success -- studying in school," he says. "Now they can be sports stars."
Officials such as Wei prefer to discuss only the cultural benefits of creating a People's Republic of Half-Pipes. But skateboarders like Stuart suspect less lofty motives. "China is doing all this because [skateboard] events make a lot of money," he says. He points out that China holds a yearly X Games-style event that attracts major corporate sponsors. "It is obvious that it is very profitable."
Ask Beijing locals about the skate scene and they'll point you to a couple of promising skate parks, at least one thriving skate shop and some well-run websites by Beijing enthusiasts.
What they won't be able to show you are hordes of actual skaters.
The discrepancy is hard to explain, even for experts. Take Beijing skater Sun, who has run his own shop here since 1992 and has followed Way's exploits via the Internet. His hair in a spiky brush cut, a bomber-style leather jacket hanging loosely on a rangy frame, Sun best embodies Beijing's street skating scene. He runs the eZone skate park in the city's densely populated south end and hosts occasional competitions there. When he finally met Way in January, during the American athlete's first trip to mainland China, Sun looked star-struck.
In 1990, when Sun first started skateboarding as a college student, he says he could count perhaps 20 other Chinese as fellow enthusiasts. Those numbers haven't exactly exploded in the last decade. "In all of China, there may be about 50 professional skateboarders right now," Sun estimates, sitting at Beijing's Hard Rock Cafe basking in the afterglow of meeting Way. "And maybe 200 amateurs."
But urban China has all the right ingredients to nurture the sport -- most important, plenty of concrete to conquer. Even the media, all of which must be blessed by the Chinese government, have been practically begging kids to give skateboarding a shot.
"For sheer expanses of concrete, it's hard to beat Beijing," sang one recent article in the China Daily. "Skate on, comrades!"
So what's holding back swarms of potential rippers from trying a sweet move across Tiananmen Square? Would you believe, as Sun puts it, shyness?
"In China, most kids are fans of skating, but they mostly like to watch," he says. "Many young people like to watch skateboarding on video. And maybe they stand there and hold their boards."
Way hopes to pop a backside 180 on that attitude.
Contact Leslie Gornstein at Calendar.letters@latimes.com.


text:
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