Latino Labor Report, 2008: Construction Reverses Job Growth for Latinos

"Due mainly to a slump in the construction industry, the unemployment rate for Hispanics in the U.S. rose to 6.5% in the first quarter of 2008, well above the 4.7% rate for all non-Hispanics. As recently as the end of 2006, the gap between those two rates had shrunk to an historic low of 0.5 percentage points--4.9% for Latinos compared with 4.4% for non-Latinos, on a seasonally adjusted basis.1

The spike in Hispanic unemployment has hit immigrants especially hard. Their unemployment rate was 7.5% in the first quarter of this year,2 marking the first time since 2003 that a higher percentage of foreign-born Latinos was unemployed than native-born Latinos. Some 52.5% of working age Latinos (ages 16 and older) are immigrants. Latinos make up 14.2% of the U.S. labor force." Source: Pew Hispanic Center

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"The Influence of the Gender Gap in Parliamentarian Support for Reproductive Rights: Comparisons across Western Europe"

"I test seven explanations the function of gender in parliamentarian support for abortion policy by comparing the differences in attitudes between women and men national and European parliamentarians across 15 democracies in Western Europe. I consider the influence of the social policy environment of a parliamentarian’s nation, women’s autonomous access to resources in a parliamentarian’s nation, the mass orientations of a parliamentarian’s nation, the party family to which the parliamentarian belongs, the ideology of the parliamentarian, the institutional design elements of the parliamentarian’s nation, and the gender composition of the representational body in which the parliamentarian resides." Author: Amy C. Alexander Source: Center for the Study of Democracy. Symposium: Democracy and Its Development. Paper G08-01.

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"Is Sunshine the Best Disinfectant? The Causal Relationship between Media Freedom and Democratization"

his article seeks to contribute to the literature on democratization by examining the media’s causal relationship to political liberalization. First, I briefly review the major theoretical research regarding democratization and the media. I then provide an account of why media freedom contributes to democratic development. Specifically, I highlight two causal mechanisms, The Civil Society Function and The Opposition Function. The Civil Society Function, most often carried out in the print media, describes the media’s role in facilitating a public sphere in which elites can communicate. In contrast, in accordance with The Opposition Function, the media furthers political liberalization by increasing the public’s awareness of alternative political candidates. Because of its vast distribution, the broadcast media best performs The Opposition Function. The case of Mexico is examined to provide a concrete illustration of each of these functions of the media in relation to democratization. In the third section, I show the explanatory ability of the media on democratization, tested empirically against competing conventional explanations of democratization. To do so, I use the ordinary least squares method on time-series cross-sectional data of 200 countries measured annually from 1980-2004. The data and methods are described, as are the empirical findings and their theoretical implications. Author: Molly Cohn Source: Center for the Study of Democracy. Symposium: Democracy and Its Development. Paper G08-03.

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The Role of Political Parties in Electoral Competition

"This paper analyzes the role of political parties in electoral competition. A generalization of the Alesina (1988) model of electoral competition is proposed and estimated using data from the U.S. House of Representatives. The main extension is the reconsideration of the role of bargaining in the context of political parties. Results from the axiomatic bargaining literature are used to establish testable hypotheses regarding the effect of party representation on relevant parameters of the model including incumbency advantage. The model is estimated and tested using a regression discontinuity design. The predictions of the theoretical model developed here are only partially supported by the data. In particular, there is an increase in the incumbency advantage of the party at the district level while there does not seem to be any variation in the effect of party affiliation. A related implication of the results presented here is that the effect of election on policy outcomes increases with the representation of the party in congress. These results indicate that further analysis of the bargaining process and the role of political parties in electoral competition may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the effect of elections on policy outcomes. " Author: Juan Carlos Suarez Serrato Source: Center for the Study of Democracy. Symposium: Democracy and Its Development.

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McCain's Negatives Mostly Political, Obama's More Personal

"As the end of the primary season draws near, Barack Obama is the clear favorite of Democratic voters for their party's presidential nomination. He currently holds a wide 54% to 41% lead over Hillary Clinton. But when the Illinois Democrat is tested against John McCain in a general election matchup, he now runs about even against the presumptive Republican nominee. Previously, Obama had led McCain by modest margins in three Pew surveys conducted since late February.

Obama's strong lead over Clinton reflects his more favorable image among voters. The balance of voter opinion about Obama has consistently been more positive than for Clinton. However, the tightening general election matchup between Obama and McCain shows some sullying of Obama's personal image over the past three months, despite his primary victories. Over this period, unfavorable views of McCain have risen as well. " Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

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Unauthorized Aliens' Access to Federal Benefits: Policy and Issues

"Federal law bars aliens residing without authorization in the United States from most federal benefits; however, there is a widely held perception that many unauthorized aliens obtain such benefits. The degree to which unauthorized resident aliens should be accorded certain rights and privileges as a result of their residence in the United States, along with the duties owed by such aliens given their presence, remains the subject of intense debate in Congress. This report focuses on the policy and legislative debate surrounding unauthorized aliens' access to federal benefits. Except for a narrow set of specified emergency services and programs, unauthorized aliens are not eligible for federal public benefits." Source: Congressional Research Service

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Youth Transitioning From Foster Care: Background, Federal Programs, and Issues for Congress

"Nearly half of states have laws that explicitly permit the state child welfare system to continue providing foster care for children beyond the age of majority (usually no later than 19). However, the number of states that actually facilitate youth remaining in care beyond their 18th or 19th birthdays is significantly smaller. Over 20,000 young people have been emancipated from foster care annually from FY2002 through FY2006. While most young people have access to emotional and financial support systems throughout their early adult years, older youth in care and those who age out of care often face obstacles to developing independent living skills and building supports that ease the transition to adulthood. Older foster youth who return to their parents or guardians may continue to experience poor family dynamics or a lack of emotional and financial supports, and studies have shown that recently emancipated foster youth fare poorly relative to their counterparts in the general population on several outcome measures. " Source: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress

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Hispanics in the 2008 Election: Puerto Rico

This fact sheet contains information on elections in Puerto Rico and data on the size and social and economic characteristics of the Puerto Rican eligible voter population. This fact sheet is based on the Center's tabulations of the Census Bureau's 2006 Puerto Rico Community Survey. Source: Pew Hispanic Center

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The Condition of Education 2008

The Condition of Education 2008 summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 43 indicators on the status and condition of education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. The 2008 print edition includes 43 indicators in five main areas: (1) participation in education; (2) learner outcomes; (3) student effort and educational progress; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education; and (5) the contexts of postsecondary education. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

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The Program Officer: Negotiating the Politics of Philanthropy

ABSTRACT:
As a part of a larger study on the relationship between private philanthropy and farmworker organizing and community development across California’s Central Valley, this paper concentrates on the central role of the foundation program officer in negotiating the process of grant making. The work of the program officer is revealed as both containing and opening up spaces for addressing political and economic inequity. It is argued that the work of the foundation program officer often limits the approach of granted organizations through professional processes and program frameworks that make poor people responsible for their own betterment while excluding the economic relationships that created the situations the programs seek to ameliorate. Yet findings also point to the role of the program officer as one of significant risk taking and advocacy during non-movement times. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews with foundation program officers, consultants, and grantees, review of foundation program materials, and participant observation at foundation gatherings and presentations. Source: Institute for the Study of Social Change. ISSC Fellows Working Papers. Paper ISSC_WP_27.

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Using GPS-enabled cell phones to track the travel patterns of adolescents

"Background
Few tools exist to directly measure the microsocial and physical environments of adolescents in circumstances where participatory observation is not practical or ethical. Yet measuring these environments is important as they are significantly associated with adolescent health-risk. For example, health-related behaviors such as cigarette smoking often occur in specific places where smoking may be relatively surreptitious.

Results
We assessed the feasibility of using GPS-enabled cell phones to track adolescent travel patterns and gather daily diary data. We enrolled 15 adolescent women from a clinic-based setting and asked them to carry the phones for 1 week. We found that these phones can accurately and reliably track participant locations, as well as record diary information on adolescent behaviors. Participants had variable paths extending beyond their immediate neighborhoods, and denied that GPS-tracking influenced their activity." Source: International Journal of Health Geographics

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OIG Special Report: Review of the FBI's Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq

"Our report found that after FBI agents in GTMO and other military zones were confronted with interrogators from other agencies who used more aggressive interrogation techniques than the techniques that the FBI had successfully employed for many years, the FBI decided that it would not participate in joint interrogations of detainees with other agencies in which techniques not allowed by the BI were used." Source: U.S. Department of Justice

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Community Foundation Giving Jumps 14 Percent,

The country's more than 72,000 grantmaking foundations increased their giving to $42.9 billion in 2007, an estimated 10 percent gain over 2006, according to Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates: Current Outlook (2008 Edition). Contributing to this rise was close to 12 percent growth in foundation assets in 2006 — the first double-digit gain in assets recorded since 1999. Source: Foundation Center

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The Internet and Consumer Choice

Online Americans use different search and purchase strategies for different goods

The internet plays an important role in how people conduct research for purchases, but it is just one among a variety of sources people use and usually not the key factor in final purchasing decisions.

A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project tracks the decision-making processes for buying music, purchasing a cell phone, and buying or renting a home.

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Which States Have the Best (and Worst) High Courts?

"This paper ranks the high courts of the fifty states, based on their performance during the years 1998-2000, along three dimensions: opinion quality (or influence as measured by out-of-state citations), independence (or non-partisanship), and productivity (opinions written). We also discuss ways of aggregating these measures. California and Delaware had the most influential courts; Georgia and Mississippi had the most productive courts; and Rhode Island and New York had the most independent courts. If equal weight is given to each measure, then the top five states were: California, Arkansas, North Dakota, Montana, and Ohio. We compare our approach and results with those of other scholars and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose influential rankings are based on surveys of lawyers at big corporations." Source: University of Chicago Law & Economics, Olin Working Paper (via SSRN)

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State-by-State costs of child Poverty in the U.S.

"In 2006, an estimated 13.3 million U.S. children were living in poverty, and at risk for such lifelong problems. But the individual hardships brought by poverty also exact a staggering financial toll on broader society. One recent estimate has suggested that growing up in poverty costs the United States $500 billion annually in lost potential earnings, involvement with the criminal justice system, and the costs associated with poor health outcomes.1

Taking its cue from that cost estimate, as well as campaigns in some states designed to reduce poverty, the KIDS COUNT project in Washington state (affiliated with the University of Washington's Human Services Poverty Center) has produced state-level estimates of the costs of child poverty. By taking the national estimate of child poverty costs and applying it to the estimated the number of poor children in each state in the 2006 American Community Survey, the study estimates the amount that each state would save annually if child poverty were eliminated." Population Reference Bureau

Link to online State-by-state reports

Marriage and Divorce since World War II: Analyzing the Role of Technological Progress on the Formation of Households

"Since World War II there has been: (i) a rise in the fraction of time that married households allocate to market work, (ii) an increase in the rate of divorce, and (iii) a decline in the rate of marriage. It is argued here that labor-saving technological progress in the household sector can explain these facts. This makes it more feasible for singles to maintain their own home, and for married women to work. To address this question, a search model of marriage and divorce, which incorporates household production, is developed. An extension looks back at the prewar era." Source: Population Studies Center (PSC Working Paper Series)

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Churches and Campaign Activity: Analysis Under Tax and Campaign Finance Laws

Churches and other houses of worship qualify for tax-exempt status as Internal Revenue Code ? 501(c)(3) organizations. One qualification for ? 501(c)(3) status is that these organizations may not participate in political campaign activity. They are permitted under the tax laws to engage in other political activities (e.g., distribute voter guides and invite candidates to speak at church functions) so long as such activity does not support or oppose a candidate. Additionally, church leaders may engage in campaign activity in their capacity as private individuals without negative tax consequences to the church. The tax code's political campaign prohibition is sometimes referred to as the "Johnson Amendment," after then-Senator Lyndon Johnson, who introduced the provision as an amendment to the Revenue Act of 1954. While some have argued the prohibition violates churches' free exercise and free speech rights under the First Amendment, the two federal courts of appeals to address the issue have reached the opposite conclusion. Separate from the prohibition in the tax code, the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) may also restrict the ability of churches to engage in electioneering activities. Legislation introduced in the 110th Congress, H.R. 2275, would repeal the political campaign prohibition in the tax code. If this bill were enacted into law, churches could engage in campaign activities without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status, but they would still be subject to applicable campaign finance laws. This report examines the restrictions imposed on campaign activity by churches under tax and campaign finance laws, discusses recent IRS inquiries into such activity, and analyzes H.R. 2275. Source: Congressional Research Service

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Moral Intuitions and Organizational Culture

Abstract: Many efforts to understand and respond to a succession of corporate scandals over the last few years have underscored the importance of organizational culture in shaping the behavior of individuals. This focus reflects appreciation that even if an organization has adopted elaborate rules and policies designed to ensure legal compliance and ethical behavior, those pronouncements will be ineffective if other norms and incentives promote contrary conduct.

Responding to the call for creating and sustaining an ethical culture in organizations requires appreciating the subtle ways in which various characteristics of an organization may work in tandem or at cross-purposes in shaping behavior. The idea is to identify the influences likely to be most important, analyze how people are apt to respond to them, and revise them if necessary so that they create the right kinds of incentives when individuals are deciding how to act.

This can be a tall order even if we assume that most behavior is the result of a deliberative process that weighs multiple risks and rewards. It’s even more daunting if we accept the notion that conscious deliberation typically plays but a minor role in shaping behavior. A focus on what two scholars describe as “the unbearable automaticity of being” posits that most of a person’s everyday life is determined not by conscious intentions and deliberate choices but by mental processes outside of conscious awareness.

In this article, I discuss a particular strand of research that is rooted in the study of non-conscious mental processes, and consider its implications for ethics and culture in the organizational setting. This is work on the process that we use to identify and respond to situations that raise what we think of as distinctly moral questions. A growing body of research suggests that a large portion of this process involves automatic non-conscious cognitive and emotional reactions rather than conscious deliberation. One way to think of these reactions is that they reflect reliance on moral intuitions. When such intuitions arise, we don’t engage in moral reasoning in order to arrive at a conclusion. Instead, we do so in order to justify a conclusion that we’ve already reached. In other words, moral conclusions precede, rather than follow, moral reasoning. Source: Mitt Regan Georgetown Law. Georgetown Law Faculty Working Papers. Paper 60.

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ore Older Americans are Poor than the Official Measure Suggests

Abstract: The number of poor adults age 65 and older has declined dramatically since the official poverty rate was designed back in the 1960s. Today the federal government considers fewer than 1 in 10 older adults to be poor, compared with about 1 in 3 in the 1960s. These estimates show the share of people with insufficient income to meet basic living expenses, such as food and housing. However, substantial research shows that the official poverty measure no longer reflects the true resources or needs of older adults.

The lack of an accurate poverty measure for older adults hampers efforts to reform Medicare and Social Security, which face significant revenue shortfalls. Reform proposals often aim to reduce costs by combining benefit cuts with increased cost sharing for older adults. To target any cuts or increased costs to older adults with the greatest ability to pay, an accurate measure of economic well-being is critical. Source: Urban Institute

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Women Speaking for Women: The Meaning of Motherhood in an Argentine Legislative Debate

"Do women matter for politics? Champions of women’s representation in the legislature believe that female politicians pass female-friendly policies. The research problem opposes essentialism to empirics. On the one hand, we cannot assume that female legislators represent universally-shared women’s interests. On the other hand, female legislators in the developing world are more likely to address children and families, gender equality, violence against women, and reproductive rights.

Argentina presents a most likely case for studying the effects of women’s presence. Women’s representation in the Congress has increased threefold since the implementation of mandatory gender quotas in 1991; women currently hold 36% of seats in the lower house and 43% of seats in the Senate. This paper uses an innovative approach to assess whether women matter, focusing on the entirety of the policymaking process." Source: UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Thinking Gender Papers. Paper TG08_Piscopo.
http://repositories.cdlib.org/csw/thinkinggender/TG08_Piscopo

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No Child Left Behind or Every Teacher under Surveillance?

"Revealing Patriarchal Ideologies of Surveillance and Control

This paper addresses how the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act uses patriarchal control to paper over issues of inequalities in education. While NCLB is set up to “save” public schools, I argue that it fails both students and teachers: it does not attend to the structural reasons why poor children and children of color are left behind or even center these children in its reforms; instead, it relies on and furthers the feminization of teaching, using teachers as convenient scapegoats, and it leaves class and race privilege intact. Its central focus on “high quality teachers,” in conjunction with centralized policies of curriculum and pedagogy, targets and blames predominantly female teachers as workers, ultimately reproducing patriarchal relations." Source: UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Thinking Gender Papers. Paper TG08_Pitzer.

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Human Rights Handbook for NGOs

"Working with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: a handbook for NGOs is a publication put out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The purpose of the publication is to inform the general public about United Nations human rights work. It provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about the United Nations human rights programme as well as information on how to use the system to address human rights violations." Source: United Nations [via UN Pulse]

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Favorability of Leading Figures

Opinion of Oprah More Politicized, Gore’s Ratings Improve

"Long one of America's best-known and best-liked media figures, Oprah Winfrey saw her popularity slip after her endorsement of Barack Obama last year. A new survey shows that her image has not recovered, and opinions about the talk show host have become increasingly divided along partisan political lines.

Currently, 68% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of Winfrey, which is largely unchanged from a Gallup survey in October 2007 (66%). At that time, Gallup found that positive views of Winfrey had declined by eight points, from 74%, since January 2007."

"Former vice president Al Gore's favorability has improved since 2002. Currently, 53% have a favorable opinion of Gore while 36% express an unfavorable view. In December 2002, opinions about Gore were evenly split (44% favorable vs. 46% unfavorable)." Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

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Berkman Center Publius Project

"This project brings together a distinguished collection of Internet observers, scholars, innovators, entrepreneurs, activists, technologists and still other experts, to write short essays, to foster an on-going public dialogue, and to create a durable record of how the rules of cyberspace are being formed, potentially impacting their future incarnation."

"This collection will highlight asynchronous moments occurring in high profile settings and at the edges of cyberspace that link to formulate the norms and realities of decision-making on the web. Through this series of essays, we hope to generate a discussion among global stakeholders and netizens regarding rule-making and governance on the net, and in the process, to envision the net of the future." Source: Publius Project - Berkman Center at Harvard

Link to Publius Project

Participation of Mothers in Government Assistance Programs

Fewer Mothers With a Recent Birth Rely On Government Assistance Than in 1996

"The report, Participation of Mothers in Government Assistance Programs: 2004, analyzes the socioeconomic characteristics of mothers participating in six different public assistance programs. These include Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); food stamps; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); Medicaid; housing assistance; and other assistance. It shows that in 1996, 42 percent of mothers with a birth in the previous year were participants in at least one of these programs. The rate dipped to 29 percent in 2001 before climbing to 34 percent in 2004. The corresponding number, 1.6 million in 1996, dipped to 1.2 million in 2001 before rising to 1.4 million in 2004 .

Overall, 7.5 million mothers of childbearing age (15 to 44), or 22 percent, participated in one or more of these programs in 2004. Those with infants were more likely participants than those with older children (34 percent compared with 20 percent).

Mothers were also more likely to receive public assistance if they were younger than 25, living with either no other adult or with an unmarried partner, a minority, did not work in the past month, never attended college, or did not receive child support.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

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California Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage

From Press Release: "The court concluded that permitting opposite-sex couples to marry while affording same-sex couples access only to the novel and less-recognized status of domestic partnership improperly infringes a same-sex couple’s constitutional rights to marry and to the equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the California Constitution.

The decision directs state officials who supervise the enforcement of the state’s marriage laws to ensure that local officials comply with the court’s ruling and permit same-sex couples to marry. The decision becomes final in 30 days unless that period is extended by court order. " Source: California Courts

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The Norton Online Living Report

Parents, Get a Clue!
Norton Online Living Report Reveals What Your Cyber-Savvy Children Know That You Don't

"The Norton Online Living Report gives a snapshot of how different cultures and different countries approach the Internet and provides insight into how their daily lives are affected by the online world. All the data is constantly changing and will be updated in further iterations of this first bi-annual report."

"...makers of Norton security software, wanted to know how Internet users and their families spent their time online, so we commissioned Harris Interactive to ask thousands of children and adults across the globe about their online behaviors. Specifically, we surveyed Internet users in the U.S., UK, Australia, Germany, France, Brazil, China and Japan about anything and everything "Internet" (yes, we even asked adults about porn sites). We catalogued the feedback in our first-ever Norton Online Living Report." Source: Symantec/Harris Interactive.

Link to the site provides access to country reports, topline data sheets, and numerous ways to view the survey data.

Dehumanization of the Black American Female: An American/Hawaiian Experience

"The dehumanization of Blackness and its effects on Black females are rooted in the harsh history of slavery in America. Attributes such as race and gender impact their life and educational experiences. Examining the historical implications of dehumanization through the lens of Critical Race and Black Radical Feminist Theories provides a foundation for understanding issues surrounding gender, race, and identities of black females in society. This article uses data from 72 Black female students in Hawaii along with the author’s personal experiences to investigate the implications of being Black and female in Hawaiian society." Author: Kimetta R. Hairston, Penn State University Source: Spaces for Difference: An Interdisciplinary Journal

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Worst of the Worst: The World’s Most Repressive Societies 2008,

"Worst of the Worst examines civil liberties and political rights in 17 countries and three territories. The report is taken from excerpts of the upcoming Freedom in the World 2008 report, which assesses the state of freedom in 2007 in every country in the world."
Source: Freedom House

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Psychology of Intelligence Analysis

"The articles are based on reviewing cognitive psychology literature concerning how people process information to make judgments on incomplete and ambiguous information. I selected the experiments and findings that seem most relevant to intelligence analysis and most in need of communication to intelligence analysts. I then translated the technical reports into language that intelligence analysts can understand and interpreted the relevance of these findings to the problems intelligence analysts face.

The result is a compromise that may not be wholly satisfactory to either research psychologists or intelligence analysts. Cognitive psychologists and decision analysts may complain of oversimplification, while the non-psychologist reader may have to absorb some new terminology. Unfortunately, mental processes are so complex that discussion of them does require some specialized vocabulary. Intelligence analysts who have read and thought seriously about the nature of their craft should have no difficulty with this book. Those who are plowing virgin ground may require serious effort." Author: Richards J. Heuer, Jr. Source: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency

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Quick Health Facts 2008: A Compilation of Selected State Data

"This publication provides a snapshot of each state’s health care landscape by providing comparable state-level and national data for over 30 indicators. Data are presented for each state and the District of Columbia in regard to demographics, Medicare, Medicaid, and health insurance coverage. Limited data are presented for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This publication is adapted from the State Profiles series that was published annually from 1990 to 2000 and biennially from 2001 to 2005 by the AARP Public Policy Institute. Quick Health Facts is not a continuation of the State Profiles series; therefore, comparisons should not be made with information contained in past editions of State Profiles." Source: AARP

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2008-2009 Presidential Transition: National Security Considerations and Options

"A presidential transition is a unique time in America and holds the promise of opportunity, as well as a possible risk to the nation's security interests. The 20082009 election marks the first presidential transition in the post-9/11 era, and is of concern to many national security observers. While changes in administration during U.S. involvement in national security related activities are not unique to the 20082009 election, many observers suggest that the current security climate and recent acts of terrorism by individuals wishing to influence national elections and change foreign policies portend a time of increased risk to the current presidential transition period. Whether the enemies of the United States choose to undertake action that may harm the nation's security interests during the 2008-2009 election, or the new President experiences a relatively peaceful period during the transition, many foreign and domestic policy and security challenges will await the new Administration. How the new President recognizes and responds to these challenges will depend heavily on the planning and learning that occurs prior to the inauguration. Actions can be taken by the outgoing President and President-elect that may ameliorate decisionmaking activities in the new administration. Whether an incident of national security significance occurs just before or soon after the presidential transition, the actions or inactions of the outgoing Administration may have a long-lasting effect on the new President's ability to effectively safeguard U.S. interests and may affect the legacy of the outgoing President. This report discusses historical national-security related presidential transition activities, provides a representative sampling of national security issues the next administration may encounter, and offers considerations and options relevant to each of the five phases of the presidential transition period. Each phase has distinct challenges and opportunities for the incoming administration, the outgoing administration, and Congress." Source: Congressional Research Service

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Transportation Fuel Taxes: Impacts of a Repeal or Moratorium

Legislation that would repeal or otherwise provide for a summer-long moratorium of federal transportation fuel taxes has been introduced in the 110th Congress. Simultaneously, Senators McCain and Clinton are proposing a summer fuel tax collection moratorium as part of their Presidential campaigns. Fuel prices have risen rapidly in 2008 for a variety of reasons. Those seeking to alter federal fuel tax collection are doing so in the belief that a reduction in fuel taxes would give Americans a modest level of economic relief from high pump prices. Current market conditions and the marginal amount of tax relief incorporated in most proposals, however, raise uncertainty as to whether prices to individuals and businesses would fall and whether any price decline would be meaningful to consumers in economic terms. Also of concern is the possible impact of any repeal or moratorium on the overall federal budget deficit. A reduction in transportation fuel taxes would result in a decrease in spending for Highway Trust Fund-supported federal programs, unless Congress designated alternate sources of funding for these programs. As a result of the structure of the federal programs, the effects of a fuel tax repeal on federal transportation programs would not necessarily be immediate, but depending on the length and scope of the repeal or suspension, they could be substantial. Source: Congressional Research Service

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Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2007

Latin America and the Caribbean received record levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2007, with inflows surpassing the US$ 100 billion mark for the first time ever. This development is all the more significant because the previous record was set in 1999 in the context of one-off privatizations. The upsurge in investment was fuelled mainly by market-seeking transnational corporations (TNCs) intent on taking advantage of growth in local demand for goods and services and by natural-resource-seeking companies against a backdrop of buoyant global demand. Meanwhile, despite lower levels of outward FDI from the regions' transnationals (trans-Latins), new companies in different industries are investing outside their home countries, while some of the traditional trans-Latins are taking their foreign investments to new levels.

This report provides an overview of FDI flows to and from the region in 2007 and of the recent activities of transnationals in the region and of trans-Latins outside their home countries (chapter I). It further explores three topics: investment in hardware for information and communication technologies (ICTs) (chapter II); investment in telecommunications services (chapter III); and Canadian investment in Latin America and the Caribbean (chapter IV). Chapters II and III describe the evolution of ICT hardware and telecommunications services industries in the context of the technological changes that have generated convergence among ICT services and have had impacts both on the industrial organization of manufacturing and on the market structure and incentives for telecommunications operators. Source: United Nations

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Hispanic Women in the United States

There are 30.1 million Hispanic adults in the United States and 14.4 million of them--or 48%--are women, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates. This fact sheet describes the demographic, employment and income characteristics of Hispanic women in the U.S. using data from the 2007 Current Population Survey and the 2006 American Community Survey. The findings reveal striking differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic women, and native-born and immigrant Hispanic women from different countries of origin. Pew Hispanic Center

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A Deeper Partisan Divide Over Global Warming

The proportion of Americans who say that the earth is getting warmer has decreased modestly since January 2007, mostly because of a decline among Republicans. Republicans are increasingly skeptical that there is solid evidence that the earth has been warming over the past few decades: just 49% of Republicans say there is evidence that the earth's average temperature has been rising, down 13 points since January 2007.
Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

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Changes in Preadolescent and Early Adolescent Children's Time

"The present study found a small decline in preadolescent and early adolescent children?s discretionary time between 1997 and 2002, primarily resulting from continued increases in maternal employment outside the home and increased time in school and child care. Studying and reading increased over the period, whereas participation in sports declined, suggesting that the increased emphasis on academics at the school level has altered children?s behavior at home as well. Increased participation in religious and youth activities and declines in outdoor activities may reflect changes in parental values and concerns. The results suggest continuation of the upward trend in reading and studying from the 1980s and early 1990s, but increased religious attendance and youth group participation rather than increased participation in sports characterized this recent period." Source: California Center for Population Research

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Philanthropy Annual

"The Foundation Center has just released Philanthropy Annual: 2007 Review, a new yearly publication that highlights the news, issues, people, organizations, and giving trends that are shaping the philanthropic field.

"Supporting the Foundation Center's goal to build wide public understanding of philanthropy, this volume will benefit anyone with an interest in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector," says Sara Engelhardt, the Center's president, in the Annual's introduction.

The new compendium provides a full overview of organized philanthropy in all its forms, illustrating philanthropy's important role in society and its national and global impact. Its contents are drawn in part from Philanthropy News Digest (PND), the Center's daily online news service, as well as selected research findings in the annual Foundations Today Series and other Center sources." Source: The foundation center

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Wiretap Report 2007

The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 requires the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) to report to Congress the number and nature of federal and state applications for orders authorizing or approving the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications. The statute requires that specific information be provided to the AO, including the offense(s) under investigation, the location of the intercept, the cost of the surveillance, and the number of arrests, trials, and convictions that directly result from the surveillance. This report covers intercepts concluded between January 1, 2007, and December 1, 2007, and provides supplementary information on arrests and convictions resulting from intercepts concluded in prior years. Source: U.S. Courts

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A Nation Accountable: Twenty-five Years after A Nation at Risk

"In 1983, Swatch introduced its first watch, Microsoft Word was released, and Michael Jackson's Thriller video hit the airwaves. We also learned that our supposedly world-class system of education was not keeping pace with the progress of other nations.

That same year, the landmark U.S. Department of Education report, A Nation at Risk, found that about 13 percent of 17-year-olds were functionally illiterate, SAT scores were dropping, and students needed an increased array of remedial courses in college. Such trends threatened both our children's opportunities and our collective future.

Twenty-five years later, it's time to review the progress we have made since the report's release. We remain a nation at risk but are also now a nation informed, a nation accountable, and a nation that recognizes there is much work to be done." Source: U.S. Department of Education

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Rational Judicial Behavior: A Statistical Study

"This paper analyzes the connection between ideology and voting of judges using a large sample of court of appeals cases decided since 1925 and Supreme Court cases decided since 1937. The ideological classifications of votes (e.g., liberal or conservative) are dependent variables in our empirical analysis and the independent variables include the party of the appointing President, the relative number of Republican and Democratic Senators at the time of the judge's confirmation, the appointment year, characteristics of the judge (e.g., gender, race and prior experience), and the ideological make-up of the judges on the court in which the judge sits as measured by the relative number of judges appointed by Republican and Democratic Presidents. We have a number of interesting results, including how a judge's voting's is affected by the voting of the other judges he serves with. We find a a political-polarization effect among Justices appointed by Democratic but not by Republican Presidents; that is, the fewer the judges appointed by Democratic Presidents, the more liberally they vote. With regard to court of appeals judges, we find a conformity effect: if the number of judges appointed by Republican Presidents increases (decreases) relative to the number appointed by Democratic Presidents, all judges in the circuit tend to vote more conservatively (more liberally)." Source: Social Science Resource network.

Link to online abstract | Download full pdf report

Parents turn to states for autism help

"One of the toughest problems facing autism patients, their families and policymakers is paying for treatment. Families are increasingly relying on states to help them cope with the financial, medical and educational needs.

Governors and lawmakers have tried to ease those costs with two different approaches: by requiring private insurers to pick up the tab for more services or by creating or expanding public health programs, such as Medicaid, to cover autism treatment." Source: Stateline.org

Link to online article

Squeezed: How Costs for Insuring Families are Outpacing Income

"This article reveals how the cost of family health insurance nationwide is increasing dramatically for employees without anywhere near an equivalent increase in family income. If this trend continues, more workers are likely to become uninsured because of the expense.

As part of Cover the Uninsured Week (April 27–May 3), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation commissioned the University of Minnesota to prepare this comprehensive state-by-state analysis on the cost of family health insurance premiums as compared to income. The researchers used data from ongoing federal surveys of individuals and employers to examine trends in employer-sponsored health insurance coverage, premiums and offer rates across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They collected additional data on offer rates from the federal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component." Source: Univ. of Minnesota sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

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"The Foundation for Child Development's Special Focus Report, "Trends in Infancy/Early Childhood and Middle Childhood Well-Being, 1994-2006," presents the first wide-ranging picture of how children in their first decade of life are faring the the U.S. It is the first report to look comprehensively at the overall health, well-being, and quality of life of America's youngest children - from birth through eleven years old, using the FCD Child Well-Being Index (CWI), and to track and compare child well-being across three primary stages of development - early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence." Source: Foundation for Child Development

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Obama's Image Slips, His Lead Over Clinton Disappears

Democratic voters are not as positive about Barack Obama as they were a month ago. Somewhat smaller percentages of Democrats describe Obama in favorable terms, and he has lost his lead over Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination. Nationally, Democratic voters are about evenly divided between Obama and Clinton; Obama holds a slight 47% to 45% edge. In late March, the Illinois senator held a 49% to 39% lead over his New York rival.

Source: Pew Research for People and the Press

Download full pdf report | Link to online Summary | Download topline questionnaire

Social Security Reform: Possible Effects on the Elderly Poor and Mitigation Options

Social Security has significantly reduced elderly poverty. The elderly poverty rate has fallen from 35% in 1959 to an all-time low of 9% in 2006, in large part because of Social Security. If Social Security benefits did not exist, an estimated 44% the elderly would be poor today assuming no changes in behavior. The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, also provides benefits to the poorest elderly, many of whom do not qualify for Social Security benefits. However, despite these programs, about 3.4 million elderly individuals remained in poverty in 2006. The Social Security system faces a long-term financing problem. The Social Security Trustees project cash-flow deficits beginning in 2017 and trust fund insolvency in 2041. Many recent proposals to improve system solvency would reduce Social Security benefits in the future. Benefit reductions could affect the lowincome elderly, many of whom rely on Social Security benefits for almost all of their income. Such potential benefit reductions could lead to higher rates of poverty among the elderly compared to those projected under the current benefit formula. Because the low-income elderly are especially vulnerable to benefit reductions, many recent Social Security reform proposals have included minimum benefits or other provisions that would mitigate the effect of benefit cuts on the elderly poor. This report analyzes the projected effects of four possible approaches to mitigating the effects of Social Security benefit reductions on elderly poverty in 2042, the first full year of projected trust fund insolvency. The options are compared to a payable baseline, which assumes current-law benefits would need to be cut across the board to balance Social Security's annual income and spending at the point of insolvency. The four options examined are (1) a poverty-line Social Security minimum benefit; (2) a sliding-scale Social Security minimum benefit; (3) a povertyline SSI benefit; and (4) a poverty-line SSI benefit with liberalized eligibility. Source: Congressional Research Service

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America's Rental Housing: The Key to a Balanced National Policy

This report"...examines recent mortgage market events in the context of long-standing affordability problems that plague millions of renters. Fueled by record foreclosures and sluggish home sales, the share of households owning a home is declining, while the number of renter households jumped by nearly one million last year, or more than four times the pace of renter growth over the 2003 to 2006 period. Despite the growing signs of economic weakness, monthly rents last year reached a record high of $775.

The report also observes that rising foreclosures and the resulting turmoil in credit markets raises the costs of financing rental housing construction and preservation. Last year, completions of multifamily units for rent fell to 169,000 units – just two thirds of the 2002 figure and only one-third of the 1986 record high. The blighting influence of vacant and foreclosed properties also will accelerate the abandonment of low-cost rental properties in distressed neighborhoods, further limiting the supply of affordable housing." Source: Harvard University, Joint Center for Housing Studies


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How Words Really Can Hurt

"The power communication has over how meaning is created and transmitted in society is indisputable—language contributes to decisions we make, opinions we form, stories we believe, attributions we assign, and perceptions we internalize. Because of the substantial influence that language has on these areas of social life, it is essential to critically examine how language functions in the mass media in order to discuss possible implications communication has on audiences and the perceptions, opinions, and attributions they form about gender violence in our society. From a linguistic perspective, the Sapir- Whorf hypothesis illustrates that “human beings do not live in the objective world alone, [and] are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society….We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation” (Sapir, 1929). Here, Sapir defines language as a social medium of expression that influences our choices and interpretations of reality within given contexts. Whorf (1940) further describes our world as “a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds—and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds.” Both of these conceptions relate to the influence language has in our given social structure to mold and shape the version of reality we perceive, illustrating the powerful impact language has on constructing individual ideas of social reality" Source: UCLA Center for the Study of Women. Paper Apr08_Schwartz.

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Household Economic Studies: Net Worth and the Assets of Households

Two of the most important defining factors of economic well-being in the United States are income and net worth. When considered alone, income - the resources a person or household receives from a job, transfer program, or other source - provides an incomplete picture of economic well-being. A person's or a household's wealth or net worth - the difference between assets and liabilities - considered in conjunction with income, provides a better understanding of economic health and well-being.

This report compares the levels of wealth and asset ownership, such as home equity, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, stocks and mutual funds, and vehicle ownership, by various socioeconomic factors, including monthly household income, in late 1999/early 2000 and late 2002." Source: U.S. Census Bureau

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Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival

"Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival uses existing data to measure coverage of key interventions and approaches proven to reduce maternal and child mortality. The 2008 report highlights the rapid progress that many of the 68 countries are making in providing vaccinations, vitamin A supplementation coverage and insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent major killers such as measles and malaria.

Nonetheless, treatment for potentially fatal illnesses and other vital health services still fail to reach the majority of women and children according to the findings. These services are dependent on strong health systems that can provide 24-hour care within the community, at health clinics, and through a functioning referral system when more serious intervention is necessary. Access to these services is most critical at the time of birth and during the first two weeks of life which are riskiest for mother and infant." Source: Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, The World Health Organization

Download pdf report | Download pdf executive summary | Link to Countdown to 2015, Maternal, newborn & child survival

Children's Perspectives on Economic Adversity: A Review of the Literature

"This paper, authored by Gerry Redmond, reviews some of the recent qualitative literature on children's perspectives on economic disadvantage. The idea of asking people who experience disadvantage about their own situations is still a relatively new one in the social sciences, and the idea of asking children about their own perceptions of economic and social disadvantage is even more recent. Nine analyses, all published since 1998, and all of them involving in-depth interviews or group work with children aged between 5 and 17, are examined in detail. Most of these studies develop frameworks based on the 'new sociology of childhood', which emphasises the social construction of childhood and children's agency in the context of child-adult relations. The nine studies cover a number of issues related to economic disadvantage, including exclusion from activities and peer groups at school and in the community; perceptions of 'poor' and 'affluent' children; participation in organized activities outside of school hours; methods of coping with financial hardship; support for parents in coping and in seeking and keeping employment, and aspirations for future careers and lives. " Source: UNICEF: Inocenti Research Centre [via UN Pulse Blog]

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Implications of higher global food prices for poverty in low-income countries

In many poor countries, the recent increases in prices of staple foods raise the real incomes of those selling food, many of whom are relatively poor, while hurting net food consumers, many of whom are also relatively poor. The impacts on poverty will certainly be very diverse, but the average impact on poverty depends upon the balance between these two effects, and can only be determined by looking at real-world data. Results using household data for ten observations on nine low-income countries show that the short-run impacts of higher staple food prices on poverty differ considerably by commodity and by country, but, that poverty increases are much more frequent, and larger, than poverty reductions. The recent large increases in food prices appear likely to raise overall poverty in low income countries substantially. Source: World Bank [via UN Pulse blog]

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The Talent Hunt: Getting the People You Need, When You Need Them

"Ask any CEO or senior level executive what his or her biggest challenge is, and the answer is almost always finding and keeping good people. Yet most executives fail to manage their company's needs in a way that recognizes the unpredictability of the global marketplace. In a book titled, Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty, Peter Cappelli, director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources, proposes a new approach to this issue based on applying the principles of supply chain management to people. He and Joyce Bradley -- senior vice president and general manager, Delaware Valley region, of Lee Hecht Harrison, a global human capital consulting firm headquartered in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. -- spoke with Knowledge@Wharton about talent management, including the challenges of managing employees in a recessionary economy" Source: knowledge@Wharton

Link to pdf of edited transcript | Link to online version of edited transcript

Writing, Technology and Teens

"While the debate about the relationship between e-communication and formal writing is on-going, few have systematically talked to teens to see what they have to say about the state of writing in their lives. Responding to this information gap, the Pew Internet & American Life Project, together with the National Commission on Writing, an initiative of the College Board, conducted a national telephone survey and focus groups to see what teens and their parents say about the role and impact of technological writing on both in-school and out-of-school writing.2 The report that follows looks at teens' basic definition of writing, explores the various kinds of writing they do, seeks their assessment about what impact e-communication has on their writing, and probes for their guidance about how writing instruction might be improved." Source: Pew internet and American life project

Link to online report

Food Price Inflation: Causes and Impact

"U.S. food prices rose 4% in 2007 and are expected to gain 3.5% to 4.5% in 2008. Higher farm commodity prices and energy costs are the leading factors behind higher food prices. Farm commodity prices have surged because (1) demand for corn for ethanol is competing with food and feed for acreage; (2) global food grain and oilseed supplies are low due to poor harvests; (3) the weak dollar has increased U.S. exports; (4) rising incomes in large, rapidly emerging economies have changed eating habits; and (5) input costs have increased. Higher energy costs increase transportation, processing, and retail costs. Although the cost of commodities such as corn or wheat are a small part of the final retail price of most food products, they have risen enough to have an impact on retail prices. Generally, price changes at the farm level have a diminished impact on retail prices, especially for highly processed products. The impact of higher food prices on U.S. households varies according to income. Lower-income households spend a greater portion of their income on food and feel price hikes more acutely than high-income families. Higher food costs impact domestic food assistance efforts in numerous ways depending on whether benefits are indexed, enrollments are limited, or additional funds are made available. Higher food and transportation costs also reduce the impact of U.S. contributions of food aid under current budget constraints." Source: Congressional Research Service

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Stereotype Threat: a Case of Overclaim Syndrome?

"The theory of Stereotype Threat (ST) predicts that, when widely accepted stereotypes allege a group’s intellectual inferiority, fears of confirming these stereotypes cause individuals in the group to underperform relative to their true ability and knowledge. There are now hundreds of published studies purporting to document an impact for ST on the performance of women and racial minorities in a range of situations.

This article reviews the literature on stereotype threat, focusing especially on studies investigating the influence of ST in the context of gender. It concludes that there is currently no justification for concluding that ST explains women’s underperformance compared to men on standardized tests of mathematics ability, or in scientific fields more generally. The current experimental literature provides no information about the magnitude of ST’s influence relative to other possible causes of gender or race disparities in academic performance generally, or in women’s underperformance in math more specifically. Existing studies are fully consistent with a minimal role for ST in accounting for observed patterns. In addition, there are unexplained inconsistencies and puzzles in the ST literature that further undercut the possibility of drawing firm conclusions about the magnitude of ST effects or the importance of ST to observed group disparities. The article concludes by proposing new ST research methodology that would help to address unanswered questions about the significance of ST as compared to other possible causes of observed gaps. These modifications would allow researchers more precisely to measure the magnitude of ST effects, and thus to determine whether ST accounts for all, most, some, or only a little of observed racial and gender performance differences on standardized tests of verbal and mathematical ability." Source: "University of Pennsylvania Law School"

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Parent Expectations and Planning for College: Statistical Analysis Report

This report uses data from the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) Parent and Family Involvement Survey (PFI) to examine the characteristics associated with the educational expectations parents had for their children and the postsecondary education planning practices families and schools engaged in. The results presented in this report are based on a sample of students in grades 6 through 12 who represented the 28,182,000 students in grades 6 through 12 in the United States in early 2003. The data revealed that roughly nine out of every 10 students (91 percent) in grades 6 through 12 had parents who expected them to continue their education beyond high school, with about two-thirds (65 percent) having had parents who expected them to finish college. Other findings presented in this report show that about one-third (32 percent) of students had parents who perceived that their child's school did very well at providing information to help their child plan for postsecondary education. Finally, among students whose parents expected them to continue their education after high school, 82 percent had parents who reported that the family was planning on helping to pay for their child's postsecondary education costs, and among those whose parents reported that the family was planning on helping to pay the costs, 66 percent had parents who reported that they had enough information about postsecondary education costs to begin planning. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Download full pdf report | Link to NCES Summary site

Partial peace rebel groups inside and outside civil war settlements

Summary: Previous research proposes that peace is more likely to become durable if all rebel groups are included in the settlement reached. The argument implies that if actors are excluded and continue to pursue the military course, this could have a destabilizing effect on the actors that have signed an agreement. This article argues that all-inclusive peace deals - signed by the government and all rebel groups - are not the panacea for peace that many seem to believe. Given that the parties are strategic actors who are forward-looking when making their decisions, the signatories should anticipate that the excluded parties may continue to fight. Therefore, the risk of violent challenges from outside actors is likely to already be factored into the decision-making calculus when the signatories decide to reach a deal, and so does not affect their commitment to peace. Implications from this theoretical argument are tested using unique data on the conflict behavior of the government and each of the rebel groups in internal armed conflicts during the post-Cold War period. The results are well in line with the theoretical expectations and show that whether an agreement leaves out some actor does not affect whether the signatories stick to peace. The results demonstrate that even when excluded rebel groups engage in conflict, this does not affect the signatories' commitment to peace. Hence, the findings suggest that partial peace is possible. Source: World Bank Policy Research Working Papers

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Every Student Counts: The Case for Graduation Rate Accountability

"Graduation rate calculations vary widely from state to state, resulting in measurements that are not comparable and not always reliable. Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act has not addressed these discrepancies and the U.S. Department of Education has not required schools to appreciably increase the numbers of students they are graduating over time—undermining graduation rates as a tool for genuine reform. For example, schools are allowed to set low graduation rate expectations to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals; meet AYP by demonstrating statistically insignificant progress; and report overall graduation rates as opposed to rates within sub-groups, which tell a more complete story." Source: Alliance for Excellent Education

Download full pdf publication | Link to Alliance for Excellent Education

Complaint Communication: How Complaint Severity and Service Recovery Influence Guests’ Preferences and Attitudes

Executive Summary : "A survey of 802 travelers found a connection between the mechanism that restaurant guests use to voice complaints and the nature and severity of the problems that motivate those complaints. Guests bring the most severe problems to management’s attention in one of two ways. As one might expect, most complaints about severe problems are made face-to-face, but contrary to expectations, some guests are just as likely to write a letter. The respondents viewed food issues and failures in food and service combined as the worst failures, but these also gave restaurateurs the best chance to cure the situation, earn the guest’s satisfaction, and improve the prospects for a repeat purchase. The guests tended to raise issues relating just to service directly with the server, again giving the restaurant the chance for a rapid recovery. Most puzzling were complaints relating to other factors, such as atmosphere, that are not related to food or to service. Although the respondents generally considered failures in those issues to be the least severe, these were also the complaints that were most likely to cause the guest to decide never to return to the restaurant, even when the problem had been addressed to the customer’s satisfaction." Source: Cornell School of Hotel Administration, Center for Hospitality Research

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With Age Comes Happiness, Sociological Study

from press release: "Americans become happier as they age, according to a new University of Chicago sociological study published in the April issue of the American Sociological Review, the flagship journal of the American Sociological Association.

The study, one of the most thorough examinations of happiness in America, also found that baby boomers are not as content as other generations, blacks are less happy than whites, women are happier than men, happiness can rise and fall between eras, and that, as people age, their happiness increases while the differences between genders and ethnic groups narrow." Source: American Sociological Association

Download full pdf report | Link to Press Release

Cyberethics: The Emerging Codes of Online Conduct

Thomas Kuhn published The Structure of Scientific Revolutions in 1962, describing the progression of science not as gradual accumulation of knowledge but as serial equilibrium punctuated by revolutionary changes—paradigm shifts that rapidly transform all subsequent inquiry.

The Internet presents such a shift in the domain of human communication, with special consequences for media and publishing. Last week, a Carnegie Council Workshop for Ethics in Business explored the codes of online conduct that are emerging as new media gain more influence in political and business affairs. Source: Carnegie Council.


Link to online summary of workshop
Link to all video of Cyberethics workshop
Link to all audio of Cyberethics workshop

Lessons for Business Schools

"New books and revisited history illuminate the irrelevance of today’s MBA — and ways to make it compelling again.

Are MBA programs out of sync with the needs of business in the 21st cen­tury? Have they failed to keep pace with global and technological change? Are they too theoretical and removed from the day-to-day challenges faced by managers and entrepreneurs? And do they encourage the silo-ing of such functions as finance and marketing rather than instilling in their students a multidisciplinary view? These questions are taking on greater importance as the business environment be­comes ever more globalized and competitive. 'This is one of those punctuated-equilibrium moments,' says Joel Podolny, dean of Yale’s School of Management. 'There’s lots of experimentation, and we have to adopt new models to meet 21st-century challenges.'" Source: Strategy + Business : Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

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UK Social Trends

Figures on health, wealth and life satisfaction are published... in
Social Trends, the ‘state of the nation’ statistical report from the
Office for National Statistics, which this year takes the theme of
societal well-being. Source: UK office of National Statistics.

Download full pdf report | Link to UK Statistics Authority

Residential Relocation and Commuting Behavior in Shanghai, China: The Case for Transit Oriented Development

"This paper examines the effects of residential relocation to Shanghai’s suburbs on job accessibility and commuting, focusing on the influences of proximity to metrorail services and neighborhood environments on commute behavior and choices. The policy implications of the research findings on the planning and design of suburban communities in large cities like Shanghai are addressed in the conclusion. Our research suggests that TOD has a potentially important role to play in placing China’s large, rail-served cities on a more sustainable pathway." Source: UC Berkeley Center for Future Urban Transport

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

Survivals of Pharaonic Religious Practices in Contemporary Coptic Christianity.

"The concept of “survivals” has provoked heated discussions among scholars of various disciplines within the humanities and the social sciences. In the case of Egypt the polemics have been most vehement between those who trace contemporary popular beliefs and practices back to Pharaonic times and others who reject the idea altogether. The perspectives of “analogy,” “continuity and change,” and “living traditions” have opened the way to alternative approaches to the subject. Urbanization and globalization have profoundly changed Egyptian culture and prompted the abandonment of most religious practices belonging to the Egyptian lore. However, some aspects of Pharaonic religious practices can still be observed in Coptic Christianity. These practices are tied to the Coptic calendar, funerary rituals, visits to the dead, and mulids." Source: Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA

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An International Rule of Law?

"The rule of law is almost universally supported at the national and international level. The extraordinary support for the rule of law in theory, however, is possible only because of widely divergent views of what it means in practice. Disparate national traditions posed few problems while operating in parallel, but efforts to promote the rule of law through international organizations have necessitated a reassessment of this pluralism. This article proposes a core definition of the rule of law as a political ideal and argues that its applicability to the international level will depend on that ideal being seen as a means rather than an end, as serving a function rather than defining a status. Such a vision of the rule of law more accurately reflects the development of the rule of law in national jurisdictions and appropriately highlights the political work that must be done if power is to be channeled through law." Source: New York University School of Law

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Engines of Inequality: Class, Race, and Family Structure

"The past 30 years has witnessed a dramatic divergence in family structure by social class, income, education, and race. This article reviews the data on these trends, explores their significance, and assesses social scientists’ recent attempts to explain them. The article concludes that society-wide changes in economic conditions or social expectations cannot account for these patterns. Rather, for reasons that are poorly understood, cultural disparities have emerged by class and race in attitudes and behaviors surrounding family, sexuality, and reproduction. These disparities will likely fuel social and economic inequality and contribute to disparities in children’s life prospects for decades to come." Source: University of Pennsylvania Law School

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UNICEF Report: Children and AIDS

"Children and AIDS: Second stocktaking report is a review of progress on how AIDS affects children and young people. Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS, which was launched in October 2005 by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), UNICEF and other partners, was a call to action around the impact of HIV and AIDS on children." Source: UNICEF

Download full pdf report | Link to online press release

Report on Iraq to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source: U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Chairman Howard L. Berman’s opening remarks for hearing

Testimony of Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker Before the House Foreign Affairs Committee

Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq, General David H. Petraeus (PDF)

Satisfaction with Presidential Primary Process Dropping Among Both Parties, Annenberg Data Show

"Fewer than one in three Democrats (30.9%) is satisfied with the presidential primary process this election season. That level has dropped significantly since the beginning of the year. Although satisfaction rates with the primary process are significantly higher among Republicans, those rates also have declined substantially since the first of the year.

Source: National Annenberg Election Survey of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Income Inequality, Income Mobility, and Economic Policy

"Income inequality has been increasing in the United States over the past 25 years. Several factors have been identified as possibly contributing to increasing income inequality. Some researchers have suggested the decline in unionization and a falling real minimum wage as the primary causes. Others have argued that rising returns to education and skill-biased technological change are the important factors explaining rising inequality. Most analysts agree that the likely explanation for rising income inequality is due to skill-biased technological changes combined with a change in institutions and norms, of which a falling minimum wage and declining unionization are a part. Since most people are concerned with upward mobility, and given the central importance of income mobility to the debate over income inequality, this report examines the relation between income mobility and inequality." Congressional Research Service

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Oil Industry Profit Review 2007

"Increases in the price of crude oil that began in 2004 pushed the spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a key oil in determining market prices, to nearly $100 per barrel in the third quarter of 2007. Tight market conditions persisted through the remainder of 2007, with demand growth in China, India, and other parts of the developing world continuing. Uncertain supply related to political unrest in Nigeria, Venezuela, Iraq, and other places continued to threaten the market and contribute to a psychology that pushed up prices. The decline of the value of the U.S. dollar on world currency markets, as well as the investment strategies of financial firms on the oil futures markets, has also been identified by some as factors in the high price of oil. The profits of the five major integrated oil companies remained high in 2007, as they generally accounted for approximately 75% of both revenues and net incomes. For this group of firms, oil production led the way as the most profitable segment of the market, even though oil and gas production growth was not strong. The refining segment of the market performed relatively poorly. Independent oil and natural gas producers are small relative to the integrated oil companies, and their financial performance was weaker, with more than half of the firms reporting declines in net income. Independent refiners and marketers also experienced a difficult year that was reflected in profits in 2007. The combination of high crude oil prices that raised their costs and the inability to quickly pass cost increases on to consumers lowered refining margins, resulting in generally declining profits. The potential volatility of the world oil and financial markets, coupled with the weakness of the U.S. and other economies, makes any profit forecast for 2008 highly speculative. While continued high oil prices are likely -- the price of oil reached $110 per barrel in the first quarter of 2008 -- the ability of the industry to pass those prices on to consumers of gasoline and other products during 2008 is uncertain due to possibly weakening demand." Source: Congressional Research Service

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Inside the Middle Class: Bad Times Hit the Good Life

"This report on the attitudes and lives of the American middle class combines results of a new Pew Research Center national public opinion survey with the center's analysis of relevant economic and demographic trend data from the Census Bureau." Source: Pew Research Center.

Download full pdf report | Link to executive summary

Gender Differentials in Judicial Proceedings: field evidence from housing related cases in Uruguay

"Using micro data on judicial proceedings in Uruguay we present evidence that female defendants receive a more favorably treatment in courts than male defendants. This is due to longer foreclosure proceedings and higher probabilities of being granted extensions in evictions and dispossessions for female defendants." Source: U.C. Berkeley Program in Law & Economics.


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Findings from the Pilot Teacher Compensation Survey

"This brief publication contains summary data from the research and development effort to collect individual salary and demographic data on public school teachers. Seven states participated in this effort: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Data from full-time public school teachers who teach at only one school were included in the analysis. Median salaries and counts for different groupings by experience, age, race, and gender are presented." Source: National Center for Education Statistics


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2008 Economic Report on Africa

The 2008 Economic Report on Africa has been launched. The report, the annual flagship publication of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), has the theme “Africa and the Monterrey Consensus: Tracking Performance and Progress.” Source: United Nations

Download full pdf report | Link to download site (report download available in sections)

Financial Turmoil: Federal Reserve Policy Responses

The Federal Reserve (Fed) has been intimately involved in the current financial turmoil since it began in August 2007. It has sharply increased reserves to the banking system through open market operations and lowered the federal funds rate and discount rate on several occasions. As the turmoil has progressed without signs of subsiding, the Fed has introduced new policy tools to try to restore calm. In December 2007, it began to auction off reserves to member banks through the newly created Term Auction Facility (TAF). Equivalent in economic effect to the discount window, the TAF allows the Fed to control how much direct lending was undertaken and removes the stigma attached to the discount window that may have made member banks reluctant to access it. In March 2008, it created the Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF) to expand its Treasury securities lending program. Under the new program, it allowed the primary dealers (financial institutions who are counterparties to the Fed in its open market operations) to temporarily swap their less liquid assets for Treasury securities. Source: Congressional Research Service

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Most Americans Unfamiliar with Petraeus, Rice Remains Popular

"Gen. David Petraeus has played a pivotal role in crafting the U.S. military strategy in Iraq, but he is an unfamiliar figure to most Americans. On the eve of Petraeus' congressional testimony on the situation in Iraq, a solid majority (55%) says they do not know enough about the top U.S. commander in Iraq to offer an opinion of him."

"Although the Bush administration gets low ratings for its handling of foreign policy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continues to be viewed positively by a majority of Americans (56%). The percentage saying they have a favorable opinion of Rice has remained largely unchanged since March 2005." Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

Download full pdf report | Download topline quesionnaire (pdf) | link to online article

The Use -- and Misuse -- of Statistics: How and Why Numbers Are So Easily Manipulated

"Today, consumers of information are drowning in data," says Justin Wolfers, Wharton professor of business and public policy. "Terabytes of data are being generated from the constant measurement of businesses, workers, government and other activity, and there are many ways to draw inferences from the raw data. Unfortunately, many of them lead in the wrong direction." Source: Knowledge @ Wharton

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Experimental Use of Blog-Based Peer Review Gives Mixed Results

"An experiment in using an academic blog to peer-review a scholarly book showed promise, but the approach is time-consuming, and it will not replace traditional blind peer review anytime soon.

That was the assessment of those involved in an effort to post an academic book online, piece by piece over a number of weeks, and let anyone critique it" Source: Chronicle of Higher Education

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Transcript: Torture and Democracy

Professor Darius Rejali gives a comprehensive view of the issue of tourture, as he discusses latest book Torture and Democracy.

"For a very long time, Western democracies have upheld the international ban on torture and have publicly criticized governments that violate it. Although many choose to believe that torture was only a tool of dictatorships, you may be surprised to learn that as the 20th century progressed, many democracies became quite adept in engaging in the systematic infliction of physical torment on detained individuals. In fact, according to our speaker, many common torture techniques in use today either originated in democracies or reached their most characteristic form in that context."

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Childhood Obesity Among Children of Mexican Descent: A Binational Approach

Abstract: The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased dramatically in the United States over the past 30 years, especially among children of Mexican origin. Children of Mexican origin are an especially high-risk group because of their increased risk for morbidities associated with obesity in adulthood, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and uncontrolled hypertension compared to other racial and ethnic groups. This study takes a binational approach to understanding the health disparity in obesity among children of Mexican descent by examining the acculturation hypothesis as well as the factors associated with children’s weight status in Mexico. Two cross-sectional samples of 5-year-old children from California and Mexico were designed to compare predictors of obesity. The California sample included 287 children from a longitudinal birth cohort. Mexican children were 316 participants in a study designed to capture a sample similar to the California sample. Equivalent recruitment and data collection methodologies were used in both sites. I found significant differences between samples; California mothers reported that their children played outside fewer hours per day, drank more sweetened beverages per day, consumed fast food more frequently but ate more fresh fruits and vegetables than mothers in Mexico reported (p-value<0.05 for each). Using Center for Disease Control growth charts, I found that 53% of California children and 15% of Mexican children were classified as at-risk for overweight or overweight with an age- and sex-specific body mass index greater than the 85th percentile. I found no significant differences in children’s weight status according to acculturation level of the mother. I used logistic regression models to determine predictors of being at-risk for overweight or overweight in each sample. Maternal obesity was the only significant predictor in California (OR 2.5 95% CI 1.2, 5.3). The odds of being classified as at risk of overweight or overweight in Mexico were significantly positively associated with having an obese mother versus a normal-weight or overweight mother (OR 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3, 4.6), living in households in the upper socioeconomic status level compared to the lowest SES level (OR 2.9, 95% CI: 1.2, 6.8) and experiencing food insecurity with hunger in the last 12 months compared to food-secure children (OR 3.7, 95% CI: 1.4, 9.9). In the absence of support for the acculturation hypothesis, alternative hypotheses to explain the high prevalence of overweight among children of Mexican descent in the US may come from understanding the predictors of children’s weight status in sending communities in Mexico. Source: U.C. Berkeley Institute for the Study of Social Change. ISSC Fellows Working Papers.

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The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2007

"About 140,000 8th-grade students and about 28,000 12th graders participated in the assessment. The 8th-grade sample is much larger because it provides results for the nation, for most states, and for 10 urban school districts. At the 12th-grade, we have national results only. There was no 4th-grade assessment.

We assessed student writing for three different purposes—narrative, informative, and persuasive. In the scoring of student answers, we recognized that these were essentially first drafts, not polished pieces of writing. Student responses could receive any of six ratings—from "Excellent" to "Unsatisfactory." But even an "Excellent" response could contain errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation, as long as they were few in number and did not interfere with a reader’s ability to understand the response. More errors were acceptable for ratings of "Skillful" and "Sufficient," again as long as they did not interfere with understanding. Examples of NAEP writing questions and student responses, along with scoring guides and performance data, are available on the NAEP web site" Source: National Center for education Statistics

Download Complete Report (pdf) | Link to NCES "Nation's Report Card" web site

How to Channel the Data Deluge in Academic Research

"What are the best ways to organize the mass quantities of data that researchers generate, and to share those data to engender new research? Scott Carlson, a senior reporter at The Chronicle, asked Michael C. Witt, an assistant professor of library science and an interdisciplinary research librarian at Purdue University Libraries and its Distributed Data Curation Center, and Sayeed Choudhury, associate dean of university libraries and director of the Digital Knowledge Center at the Sheridan Libraries of the Johns Hopkins University, for their views." Source: Chronicle of Higher Education.

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