The effectiveness of carbon overcoats as a corrosion barrier for thin film media has been studied. The sputtering pressure and power used during the deposition of the carbon overcoat has a direct influence on its density, and thus upon its corrosion protection characteristics for the underlying metal media. Corrosion rates of the carbon overcoated metal media were measured both electrochemically and by exposing disks to conditions of elevated temperature and humidity. Corrosion measurements show that the corrosion rate of the magnetic media, (sputtered at a constant pressure and power), increases with increased deposition pressure (1–30 mTorr) and decreased sputtering power (2.8–0.3 kW) of the carbon film. The increased corrosion rate is caused by a decrease in density of the carbon film. In another experiment, sputtering pressure was varied in both the magnetic and overcoat layers. Corrosion measurements reveal a relatively small change in corrosion rate for sputtering pressure in the range of 1 to 6 mTorr of Ar, but a significant increase at 30 mTorr. This sharp increase was attributed to an increase in surface area of the magnetic layer believed to be generated by the the formation of rough porous films at high pressure. In this study carbon and magnetic films sputtered at high power and low pressure yield media with the lowest corrosion rate.

In this article, we heed lessons from Laurel Richardson's After a Fall: A Sociomedical Sojourn to investigate how nondisabled high school-aged girls are affected by their volunteer experiences in Believe Ballet, a nonprofit organization that provides primary-and secondary-school-aged girls with physical disabilities with the opportunity to dance and perform ballet. Drawing on a qualitative content analysis of three academic years of volunteers' pre-and post-participation questionnaires, this article focuses specifically on changes in volunteers' self-reported perceptions of disability and ability. This article also points to directions for future research in the fields of disability, feminist disability, and ableism studies.

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