'Enhanced interrogation' memos report [US DOJ]

Investigation into the Office of Legal Counsel's Concerning Issues Relating to the Central Intelligence Agency's Use of "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" on Suspected Terrorists, US Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility, released publicly February 19, 2010 [concluding that two Bush administration lawyers committed professional misconduct when they wrote memos authorizing the use of certain interrogation techniques that critics have called torture

Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice via The Jurist

Site to download full pdf report

Midterm Election Challenges for Both Parties

From Summary:

Nine months ahead of the midterm elections, voters have conflicted attitudes about both political parties. Opinions of the Republican Party have improved significantly, and for the first time in years the GOP’s favorable ratings nearly equal the Democratic Party’s. Voting intentions for the fall elections also remain closely divided. However, the Democratic Party is still better regarded in many respects than is the GOP and far more people continue to blame the Republicans than the Democrats for the current state of the economy. And despite frustrations with his stewardship of the economy, bottom-line opinions of Barack Obama have not changed in the past few months

Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

Download full pdf publication | Download pdf topline questionnaire | Link to online summary

Private-Public Sector Collaboration to Enhance Community Disaster Resilience: A Workshop Report

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11) on the United States prompted a
rethinking of how the United States prepares for disasters. Federal policy documents
written since 9/11 have stressed that the private and public sectors share equal
responsibility for the security of the nation’s critical infrastructure and key assets. Private sector entities have a role in the safety, security, and resilience of the communities in which they operate. Incentivizing the private sector to expend resources on community efforts remains challenging. Disasters in the United States since 9/11 (e.g., Hurricane Katrina in 2005) indicate that the nation has not yet been successful in making its communities resilient to disaster.

In this book, the National Research Council assesses the current states of the art and practice in private-public sector collaboration dedicated to strengthening community disaster resilience.

Source: National Academies Press

Download entire pdf publication (free reg. required) | Download Executive Summary (pdf)

Modest and Uneven: Physician Efforts to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities

While nearly half of U. S. physicians identify language or cultural communication barriers as obstacles to providing high-quality care, physician adoption of practices to overcome such barriers is modest and uneven, according to a new national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). Despite broad consensus among the medical community about how physicians can help to address and, ultimately, reduce racial and ethnic disparities, physician adoption of several recommended practices to improve care for minority patients ranges from 7 percent reporting they have the capability to track patients’ preferred language to 40 percent reporting they have received training in minority health issues to slightly more than half reporting their practices provide some interpreter services. The challenges physicians face in providing quality health care to all of their patients will keep mounting as the U.S. population continues to diversify and the minority population increases.

Source: Center for Studying Health System Change

Download full pdf issue brief | Link to online brief

From Egypt to Umbria: Jewish Women and Property in the Medieval Mediterranean.

This article compares the financial activities of medieval Jewish women in Italy and the Mediterranean. Contrary to Jewish legal tradition, which curtailed women’s financial autonomy, by the later Middle Ages communities across the region increasingly allowed women to manage their own dotal property, inherit property from a variety of sources, and engage in loan banking. An examination of the historical developments of some Jewish communities in Egypt, Spain, and central Italy suggests that this only occurred in times of communal crisis. Because all Jewish communities in the Middle Ages owed their respective governments a fiscal contribution or faced expulsion, money needed to be controlled by competent managers. In times of crisis, this could include women. Thus, in times of Mediterranean convivencia, Jewish communities flourished and followed their own laws, including prohibitions against female financial autonomy.
This article argues that in times of disintegrating Mediterranean convivencia, however, Jewish women were able to actively contribute to the welfare of their community via their financial autonomy.

Author: Frank, Karen
Source: California Italian Studies Journal, 1(1), via eScholarship Repository

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

Updated: "Education under attack"

Education under attack, 2010: a global study on targeted political and military violence against education staff, students, teachers, union and government officials, aid workers and institutions

Source: UNESCO

Download full pdf publication | Link to all UNESCO Education Publications

Does Google Make Us Stupid?

Respondents to the fourth "Future of the Internet" survey, conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center, were asked to consider the future of the internet-connected world between now and 2020 and the likely innovation that will occur. The survey required them to assess 10 different "tension pairs" - each pair offering two different 2020 scenarios with the same overall theme and opposite outcomes - and to select the one most likely choice of two statements. Although a wide range of opinion from experts, organizations, and interested institutions was sought, this survey, fielded from Dec. 2, 2009 to Jan. 11, 2010, should not be taken as a representative canvassing of internet experts. By design, the survey was an "opt in," self-selecting effort.

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Link to online report

Europeans broadly satisfied with their lives, but survey highlights concerns over the future of the economic and social situation

Europeans are on average broadly satisfied with their personal situation, but less satisfied when it comes to the economy, public services and social policies in their country, according to an opinion survey released today. The Eurobarometer on the social climate in the EU also found large differences between countries, with people in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands generally most satisfied with their personal situation.

Source: Europa

Download pdf in English | Link to online site to download in more languages

Workers' Response to the Market Crash: Save More, Work More?

The stock market crash of 2008 significantly dimmed the retirement prospects of workers approaching retirement. These workers are heavily dependent on 401(k) plans, as opposed to traditional defined benefit pensions, as a source of retirement income. During the economic downturn, these plans lost about one-third of their value. Even before the crash, many older workers lacked the assets needed to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

The rational response to a sharp decline in retirement wealth is to spread the pain – save more, work longer, and consume less in retirement – to the point where the incremental pain from each response is the same. The extent to which workers are absorbing a portion of the loss by saving more and working longer is thus critical for assessing their retirement prospects.

Source: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

Download full pdf publication | Link to online introduction

Afghanistan: Politics, Elections, and Government Performance

In the context of a review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan during September-November 2009, the performance and legitimacy of the Afghan government figured prominently. In his December 1, 2009, speech on policy in Afghanistan going forward, President Obama stated that the Afghan government would be judged on performance, and "The days of providing a blank check are over." The policy statement was based, in part, on an August 2009 assessment of the security situation furnished by the top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, which warned of potential mission failure unless a fully resourced classic counterinsurgency strategy is employed. That counterinsurgency effort is deemed to require a legitimate and effective Afghan partner. The Afghan government's limited writ and widespread official corruption are identified by U.S. officials as factors helping sustain the insurgency in Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai has been able to confine ethnic disputes to political competition through compromise with faction leaders, but these political alliances have limited his ability to stock his government with politically neutral and technically competent officers.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online overview

"As Men Do with Their Wives": Domestic Violence in Fourteenth-Century Lucca

Abstract:
Marriage disputes, such as those contained in the records of the episcopal court of Lucca, offer a glimpse into the meanings and effects of domestic violence in the fourteenth century. In one case in particular, the case of Guilielino and his wife Sitella, violence is the centerpiece of the marriage dispute. In this conflict, Guilielino, complaining that Sitella had left his household against the law of marriage, petitioned the court to force the restitution of his wife and marital rights under penalty of excommunication. Guilielino and Sitella’s testimonies indicate that both parties sought to exploit social and legal preconceptions of gender. Guilielino insisted that the violence in question was not excessive, but moderate and appropriate for a husband who must correct his wife, while Sitella described Guilielino as inhuman and depraved, impugning his ability to provide for her or to control himself. To Guilielino, violence was a tool for correction and a means of confirming his masculinity. Sitella used language that indicated her own helplessness, describing occasions on which Guilielino threatened her, beat her, deprived her of food and drink, and tried to kill her, all while emphasizing her obedience. The episcopal court, torn between preserving the indissolubility of marriage and protecting a member of its diocese, granted Sitella a separation a mensa
et throro, from table and bed, freeing her from her marital obligations, but also preventing her from remarrying. Violence thus served several functions in this case: as a tool for reinforcing gender relations, as a means of legally justifying abandonment, and as the impetus for creative legal solutions within the episcopal court
Author:Wieben, Corinne
Source: California Italian Studies Journal, Italian Studies Multicampus Research Group, UC Office of the President via eScholarship Repository

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

Pervasive Image Capture and the First Amendment: Memory, Discourse, and the Right to Record

As digital image technology proliferates in camera phones, iPhones, and PDAs, almost any image we observe can be costlessly recorded, freely reproduced and instantly transmitted. We live, relate, work, and decide in an environment in which pervasive image capture from life is routine. During the last half decade, captured images have come to underpin crucial elements of ongoing private and public discourse; digital image capture has become a ubiquitous adjunct to memory and a pervasively accepted mode of connection and correspondence.

Digitally captured images precipitate conflicts between government authority and free expression. From efforts to suppress cell phone videos of official abuse or private malfeasance to prosecutions of “sexting,” the proliferation of digital image technology will require legal decision makers to come to grips with the First Amendment status of pervasive image capture. This Article commences the task.

Source: Scholarship at Penn Law via Nellco Legal Scholarship Repository

Download pdf publication | Link to online abstract

Electronic Legal Resources on International Terrorism

This site aims to provide comprehensive and accurate legal information on the steps taken by the international community and individual countries in the fight against international terrorism.

Stored data are accessible in full-text, and provide up-to-date information on counter-terrorism conventions, resolutions, and national criminal laws worldwide.

Model laws, legislative guides, and other legal tools can also be accessed to assist national authorities in setting up the structures and adopting the legislation necessary to implement the global legal framework against terrorism.

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Link to site database

Beyond Compliance: Rethinking Why International Law Really Matters

Abstract

The conceptual, and more recently empirical, study of compliance has become a central preoccupation, and perhaps the fastest growing sub-field, in international legal scholarship. The authors seek to put in question this trend. They argue that looking at the aspirations of international law through the lens of rule-compliance leads to inadequate scrutiny and understanding of the diverse complex purposes and projects that multiple actors impose and transpose on international legality, and especially a tendency to oversimplify if not distort the relation of international law to politics. Citing a range of examples from different areas of international law-ranging widely from international trade and investment to international criminal and humanitarian law-the authors seek to show how the concept of compliance (especially viewed as rule-observance) is inadequate to understanding how international law has normative effects. A fundamental flaw of compliance studies is they abstract from the problem of interpretation: Interpretation is pervasively determinative of what happens to legal rules when they are out in the world yet “compliance” studies begin with the notion that there is a stable and agreed meaning to a rule, and we need merely observe whether it is obeyed.

Source: New York University Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers. Paper 174.

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

Sick at Work: Infected Employees in the Workplace During the H1N1 Pandemic

From News Release

A new Briefing Paper entitled Sick at Work: Infected Employees in the Workplace During the H1N1 Pandemic, released by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, finds that while almost 26 million employed Americans age 18 and over may have been infected with the H1N1 flu in 2009, nearly 8 million employees took no time off work while infected. Relying on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on rates of illness and work attendance during the months of September through November, 2009, the study suggests that an alarming number of employees attended work while sick, and this pattern was especially prevalent in industries with low paid sick days coverage. The findings suggest that a lack of paid sick days allowed H1N1 to spread in the workplace.

Source: Institute for Women's Policy Research

Download full pdf publication | Link to Institute for Women's Policy Research

Investing in Improvement: Strategy and Resource Allocation in Public School Districts

From the Executive Summary

The operating environments of public school districts are largely void of the market forces that reward a company's success with more capital and exert pressure on it to eventually abandon unproductive activities. HBS senior lecturer Stacey Childress describes the strategic resource decisions in 3 of the 20 public school districts that she and colleagues have studied through the Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard. The stories in San Francisco, New York City, and Maryland's Montgomery County occurred largely before the districts faced dramatic decreases in revenues, though they show the superintendents facing budget concerns near the end of the narratives. Even so, the situations share common principles that superintendents and their leadership teams can use to make differentiated resource decisions—reducing spending in some areas and increasing it in others with a clear rationale for why these decisions will produce results for students.

Source: Harvard Business School Working Papers

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Pew Report : Social Media and Young Adults

Overview:

Two Pew Internet Project surveys of teens and adults reveal a decline in blogging among teens and young adults and a modest rise among adults 30 and older. Even as blogging declines among those under 30, wireless connectivity continues to rise in this age group, as does social network use. Teens ages 12-17 do not use Twitter in large numbers, though high school-aged girls show the greatest enthusiasm for the application.

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Download full pdf report | Link to online overview

Becoming Protagonists for Integration: Youth Voices from Segregated Educational Spaces

Abstract:

We report the preliminary findings of a community-based participatory action research project grounded in the principles of emancipatory education. Born as a grassroots response to profound racial and socioeconomic segregation between the "gifted" and "regular" learning programs, this action research collaboration was centered in a middle school. The project curriculum was built on the premise that youth have the potential to become protagonists of integration. With that in mind,the project provided a space in which to become increasingly conscious about segregation and to imagine and enact new possibilities for integration. Findings from in-depth qualitative interviews with six youth participants reveal various youth efforts toward integration in three distinct layers of consciousness that we refer to as voice: (a) reflective voice as an awareness of self in segregated places and the associated social consequences; (b) dialogic voice as communal recognition of the structural nature of segregation, solidarity in opposition to it, and a common need for healing and reconciliation; and (c) praxis voice as the commitment to transforming segregated educational spaces through a critique of segregation and demand for subdermal diversity. We discuss the implications of these findings for continued transformative action at the local site and lessons for educational pedagogies and actions in general.

Source: InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, 6(1)

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship repository record

Change and Continuity in Labor Relations in Mexico at the Beginning of the 21st Century

From the introduction

The corporative system has predominated in industrial relations in Mexico for the past 70 years. Some people believed it was approaching its end with establishment of the neoliberal economic model, but some 20 years have passed since then and it appears to persist. Others assumed that arrival to power in the year 2000 of a political party other than the traditional PRI would imply the end of this system of industrial relations, but that has not been the case. Nevertheless, important changes have taken place in these past six years. In this essay, we analyze the changes in labor relations during the last 13 years of the PAN government (2000-2009), the first occasion in 75 years of a change of party in power in Mexico.

Source: Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
UC Los Angeles [via escholarship repository]

Download full pdf publication | link to eScholarship Repository Record

Exploring the Intersection of Science Education and 21st Century Skills

An emerging body of research suggests that a set of broad "21st century skills"--such as adaptability, complex communication skills, and the ability to solve non-routine problems--are valuable across a wide range of jobs in the national economy. However, the role of K-12 education in helping students learn these skills is a subject of current debate. Some business and education groups have advocated infusing 21st century skills into the school curriculum, and several states have launched such efforts. Other observers argue that focusing on skills detracts attention from learning of important content knowledge.

Exploring the Intersection of Science Education and 21st Century Skills addresses key questions about the overlap between 21st century skills and scientific content and knowledge; explores promising models or approaches for teaching these abilities; and reviews the evidence about the transferability of these skills to real workplace applications.

Source: National Academies Press

Download full pdf of publication (free-Registration required) | Link to record online

Getting Value Out of Value-Added: Report of a Workshop

"The National Research Council and the National Academy of Education held a workshop, summarized in this volume, to help identify areas of emerging consensus and areas of disagreement regarding appropriate uses of value-added methods, in an effort to provide research-based guidance to policy makers who are facing decisions about whether to proceed in this direction."

Source: National Academies Press

Download pdf (registration required) | Link to online record

Immigration: Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion and Removal of Aliens

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) spells out a strict set of admissions criteria and exclusion rules for all foreign nationals who come permanently to the United States as immigrants (i.e., legal permanent residents) or temporarily as nonimmigrants. Notably, any alien who engages in terrorist activity, or is a representative or member of a designated foreign terrorist organization, is generally inadmissible. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the INA was broadened to deny entry to representatives of groups that endorse terrorism, prominent individuals who endorse terrorism, and (in certain circumstances) the spouses and children of aliens who are removable on terrorism grounds. The INA also contains grounds for inadmissibility based on foreign policy concerns. The report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9/11 Commission) concluded that the key officials responsible for determining alien admissions (consular officers abroad and immigration inspectors in the United States) were not considered full partners in counterterrorism efforts prior to September 11, 2001, and as a result, opportunities to intercept the September 11 terrorists were missed. The 9/11 Commission's monograph, 9/11 and Terrorist Travel, underscored the importance of the border security functions of immigration law and policy. In the 110th Congress, legislation was enacted to modify the terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, as well as the impact that these grounds have upon alien eligibility for relief from removal. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-161) modified certain terrorism-related provisions of the INA, including exempting specified groups from the INA's definition of "terrorist organization" and expanding immigration authorities' waiver authority over the terrorism-related grounds for exclusion. P.L. 110-257 expressly excludes the African National Congress (ANC) from being considered a terrorist organization, and provides immigration authorities the ability to exempt most terrorism-related and criminal grounds for inadmissibility from applying to aliens with respect to activities undertaken in opposition to apartheid rule in South Africa. Immigration reform is an issue in the 111th Congress, and legislative proposals may contain provisions modifying the immigration consequences of terrorism-related activity. The case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who allegedly attempted to ignite an explosive device on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009, has refocused attention on terrorist screening during the visa process.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Data Collection Methods Semi-Structured Interviews and Focus Groups

The authors developed an introductory short course on qualitative research methods. This document provides an annotated version of the course material, which includes an overview of semi-structured interviews and focus groups, two techniques that are commonly used in policy research and applicable to many research questions.

Source: RAND Corporation

Download full pdf publication | Link to RAND Corporation

Children in the Aftermath of Immigration Enforcement

This report examines the consequences of parental arrest, detention, and deportation on 190 children in 85 families in six locations, providing in-depth details on parent-child separations, economic hardships, and children's well-being. The contentious immigration debates around the country mostly revolve around illegal immigration. Less visible have been the 5.5 million children with unauthorized parents, almost three-quarters of whom are U.S.-born citizens. Over several years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intensified enforcement activities through large-scale worksite arrests, home arrests, and arrests by local law enforcement. The report provides recommendations for stakeholders to mitigate the harmful effects of immigration enforcement on children.

Source: The Urban Institute

Download full pdf report | Link to online abstract and Executive Summary

'Warm' or 'Competent'? What Happens When Consumers Stereotype Nonprofit and For-profit Firms

In 2002, a promising new nonprofit that wanted to link school teachers in search of basic classroom supplies with willing donors nearly collapsed because of potential backers' concerns that despite having a worthwhile goal, the organization itself would not be able to execute its mission competently.

What a difference a few years can make. Donorschoose.org is thriving today. But the nonprofit's near-death experience was one of the reasons that compelled a team of academic researchers to explore how and why consumers, investors and other stakeholders pigeonhole a company using stereotypes, often to its detriment. The study -- the first of its kind ever undertaken -- reveals that consumers frequently assign stereotypical views to nonprofits, such as Donorschoose.org, that brand them as warm, generous and caring organizations, but lacking the competence to produce high-quality goods or services and run financially sound businesses. In contrast, for-profit companies are seen as more competent from a balance sheet perspective, but are not necessarily socially aware.

Source: Knowledge @ Wharton

Download pdf article | Link to online article

2009 State Teacher Policy Yearbook

The 2009 edition of the State Teacher Policy Yearbook is the National Council on Teacher Quality's third annual review of state laws, rules and regulations that govern the teaching profession. This year's report is a comprehensive analysis of the full range of each state's teacher policies, measured against a realistic blueprint for reform.

The release of the 2009 Yearbook comes at a particularly opportune time. Race to the Top, the $4.5 billion federal discretionary grant competition, has put unprecedented focus on education reform in general, and teacher quality in particular. In many respects, the Yearbook provides a road map to the Race to the Top, addressing key policy areas such as teacher preparation, evaluation, alternative certification and compensation. Our analysis makes clear that states have a great deal of work to do in order to ensure that every child has an effective teacher.

Source: National Council on Teacher Quality

Download full Report | Link to download reports by state

Leadership Development in Business Schools: An Agenda For Change

There is surprisingly little evaluation of business school or, for that matter, company leadership development efforts. What evidence exists suggests that business schools have not been particularly effective, overall, in their leadership development activities. In part this is because leadership development has been used more for fund raising than to guide either the curriculum or affect the faculty evaluation process. If business schools are going to take the mission of leadership development seriously, a number of changes are necessary.

Author: Jeffrey Pfeffer (CASBS Fellow 1999) Source: Stanford Graduate School of Business

Download full pdf publication | Link to online Abstract

U.S. Health Care and Real Health in Comparative Perspective: Lessons from Abroad

Abstract:

Among the 19 rich democracies I have studied for the past 40 years, the United States is odd-man-out in its health-care spending, organization, and results. The Obama administration might therefore find lessons from abroad helpful as it moves toward national health insurance. In the past hundred years, with the exception of the U.S., the currently rich democracies have all converged in the broad outlines of health care. They all developed central control of budgets with financing from compulsory individual and employer contributions and/or government revenues. All have permitted the insured to supplement government services with additional care, privately purchased. All, including the United States, have rationed health care. All have experienced a growth in doctor density and the ratio of specialists to primary-care personnel. All evidence a trend toward public funding. Our deviance consists of no national health insurance, a huge private sector, a very high ratio of specialists to primary-care physicians and nurses, and a uniquely expensive (non)system with a poor cost-benefit ratio. The cure: increase the public share to more than 65% from its present level of 45%. In regards to funding the transition cost and the permanent cost of guaranteed universal coverage: no rich democracy has funded national health insurance without relying on mass taxes, especially payroll and consumption taxes. Whatever we do to begin, broad-based taxes will be the outcome. Three explanations of "why no national health insurance in the U.S.?" are examined.

Source: Working Paper Series, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, UC Berkeley

Download full pdf publication | Link to online record in eScholarship Repository

Neighborhood Ethnic Density as an Explanation for the Academic Achievement of Ethnic Minority Youth Placed in Neighborhood Disadvantage

Abstract:

The underachievement of ethnic minority youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods is a
pervasive educational issue this nation is facing. Based on an ecological perspective, we examined the contextual effects of neighborhood ethnic density and neighborhood disadvantage on the academic achievement of Hmong immigrant youths. Utilizing hierarchical linear modeling techniques in analyzing 3,185 Hmong and White students (for comparisons) across 79 neighborhoods, we found when we controlled for student demographics, Hmong students in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods (high-crime and high-poverty) performed better academically than their ethnically identical peers in the more safe and affluent neighborhoods. Further, with student demographics held constant, Hmong adolescents in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods academically outperformed their White counterparts with the same neighborhood conditions. These intriguing findings resulted from ethnic density in that the predictor of the
Hmong population percentage in each neighborhood appeared to absorb the significant effect of neighborhood types. Hmong students would be more likely to achieve highly when they were surrounded by more Hmong residents in their neighborhoods. The logic behind ethnic density functioning as a positive factor for Hmong students within neighborhoods high in disadvantage is discussed along with the implications of this finding for policy.

Source: Berkeley Review of Education, 1(1), . Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9bc8v1g6

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Unauthorized Alien Students, Higher Education, and In-State Tuition Rates: A Legal Analysis

Currently, federal law prohibits states from granting unauthorized aliens certain postsecondary educational benefits on the basis of state residence, unless equal benefits are made available to all U.S. citizens. This prohibition is commonly understood to apply to the granting of "in-state" residency status for tuition purposes. Legislation to amend this federal law has routinely been introduced in previous Congresses, and several similar bills have been introduced in the 111th Congress, including H.R. 1751, S. 729, and H.R. 4321. Meanwhile, some states have passed laws aimed at making unauthorized state residents eligible for in-state tuition without violating this provision. This report provides a legal overview of cases involving immigrant access to higher education, as well as an analysis of the legality of state laws that make in-state tuition rates available to illegal immigrants.

Source: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress

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Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School: Legal Resources

"This Legal Resources section provides access to treaties and other international and regional documents, statutes and case law from around the world relating to gender-based violence. By making these resources available, our goal is to promote the use of laws and rules aimed at providing access to justice to survivors of gender-based violence."

Link to Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School: Legal Resources

State Responses to Immigration: A Database of All State Legislation

This database contains all bills and resolutions related to immigrants or immigration that were considered by state legislators across the nation. At present, the database contains all immigration-related legislation for 2007. Data for 2008 and historic 2001-2006 data will be added in the coming months.

Source: Migration Policy Institute

Link to MPI Search site

Almost All Millennials Accept Interracial Dating and Marriage

"Over the last several decades, the American public has grown increasingly accepting of interracial dating and marriage. This shift in opinion has been driven both by attitude change among individuals generally and by the fact that over the period, successive generations have reached adulthood with more racially liberal views than earlier generations. Millennials are no exception to this trend: Large majorities of 18-to-29 year olds express support for interracial marriage within their families, and the level of acceptance in this generation is greater than in other generations."

Source: Pew Research Center

Download Pew report on racial attitudes in the United States | Link to online fact sheet

World Bank: Global Economic Prospects 2010

"The global economic recovery that is now underway will slow later this year as the impact of fiscal stimulus wanes. Financial markets remain troubled and private sector demand lags amid high unemployment,..."

Source: World Bank

Download full pdf publication | Link to news release

Report of the National Equality Panel (U.K.)

From the Executive Summary

"The independent National Equality Panel was set up to examine how inequalities in
people’s economic outcomes – such as earnings, incomes and wealth – are related to
their characteristics and circumstances – such as gender, age or ethnicity."

"Our report shows the way economic advantage reinforces itself across the life cycle, and on to the next generation. It matters more in Britain who your parents are than in many other countries."

Source: Government Equalities Office, United Kingdom

Download full pdf report | Download summary | Link to online overview

Pew Survey Report: Senate Legislative Process A Mystery To Many

"In the latest installment of the Pew Research Center’s News IQ Quiz, just 32% know that the Senate passed its version of the legislation without a single Republican vote. And, in what proved to be the most difficult question on the quiz, only about a quarter (26%) knows that it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster in the Senate and force a vote on a bill. The survey was conducted before Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown won a special election to the Senate on Jan. 19; Brown’s election means Senate Democrats can no longer count on a 60-vote majority once he takes office."

Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press.

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

Statistical Portrait of Hispanics in the United States

This statistical profile of the Latino population is based on Pew Hispanic Center tabulations of the Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is the largest household survey in the United States, with a sample of about 3 million addresses. It covers virtually the same topics as those in the long form of the decennial census. The ACS is designed to provide estimates of the size and characteristics of the resident population, which includes persons living in households and, for the first time, persons living in group quarters.

Source: Pew Hispanic Center

Download full pdf report | Link to online summary and tables

UN Department of Economic And Social Affairs (DESA) Working Paper Series

The DESA Working Papers are preliminary documents circulated in a limited number of copies and posted on this website, to stimulate discussion and critical comment on the broad range of economic, social and environmental issues associated with the United Nations Development Agenda.

Readers are invited to submit their comments directly to the authors. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations Secretariat. The designations and terminology employed may not conform to United Nations practice and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Organization.

Link to DESA Working Papers website

Many Americans Mix Religious Beliefs and Practices

Pew Forum Poll Finds Eastern, New Age Beliefs Widespread

The religious beliefs and practices of Americans do not fit neatly into conventional categories. According to a new report based on a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, large numbers of Americans engage in multiple religious practices, blending elements of diverse traditions.

The survey, conducted Aug. 11-27 among 4,013 adults reached on both landlines and cell phones, finds that many Americans say they attend worship services of more than one faith or denomination, even when they are not traveling or going to special events like weddings and funerals.

Source: Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life

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Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be...Lawyers

This essay treats a legal education as an investment, and asks the question of whether, based on known costs and expected benefits, such investment should be undertaken. The inquiry will necessarily differ from one potential law student to another. But for three posited “typical students,” the investment is shown to be a bad one.

Source: Vanderbilt Law and Economics Working Paper No. 09-29 [via SSRN

Download complete pdf publication | Link to SSRN

Health Care on Aisle 7 : The Growing Phenomenon of Retail Clinics

Presents information on the growing phenomenon of retail medical clinics, the types of patients they serve and the types of care they provide, and whether some common claims about retail clinics are supported by evidence.

Source: RAND Corporation

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Understanding Commanders' Information Needs for Influence Operations

From the online Summary:

The objectives of this study were to develop a better understanding of commanders' information requirements pertaining to cultural and other “soft” factors (e.g., networks and hierarchies, cultural norms, attitudes) in order to improve the effectiveness of combined arms operations, and to develop practical ways for commanders to integrate information and influence operations activities into combined arms planning and assessment in order to increase the usefulness to ground commanders of such operations. The monograph describes commanders' own views of their information needs for information and influence operations, identifies principal sources of commanders' information needs for these operations, and sets out important challenges associated with improving the ability of field commanders to plan, execute, and assess successful information and influence operations. Also included is a review of various indicators related to information and influence operations that have been used in the field; specific message themes that were used in Bosnia; a detailed analysis of tasks related to information and influence operations; an implementation plan for a metrics-based planning and assessment approach for information and influence operations that was developed in an earlier study; a taxonomy of information operations tasks and effects; and assessments of the suitability of two analytic techniques — expected utility modeling and social network analysis — for information and influence operations.

Source: RAND Corporation

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Working Paper : "Calorie Posting in Chain Restaurants"

From Press Release:

A new study released Jan. 6 examined consumer behavior before and after calorie counts were posted, and determined that when restaurants post calories on menu boards, there is a reduction in calories per transaction. Based on transaction data provided by Starbucks, researchers from the Stanford Graduate School of Business found that calorie-posting in New York City in 2008 led to a 6% reduction in calories per transaction. According to the study, beverage choices at Starbucks are unaffected by calorie posting. However, calorie posting leads consumers to buy fewer food items, and to switch to lower calorie food items.

Source: Stanford School of Business

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Worldwide Study Finds Few Gender Differences in Math Abilities

From the Press Release:

Gender Gaps Linked to Status of Women, According to New Analysis

Girls around the world are not worse at math than boys, even though boys are more confident in their math abilities, and girls from countries where gender equity is more prevalent are more likely to perform better on mathematics assessment tests, according to a new analysis of international research.

Source: American Psychological Association

Download full pdf publication : Cross-National Patterns of Gender Differences in Mathematics

Mullahs, Guards, and Bonyads : An Exploration of Iranian Leadership Dynamics

The Islamic Republic of Iran poses serious challenges to U.S. interests in the Middle East, and its nuclear program continues to worry the international community. The presidential election of June 2009 that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power and led to broad protests and a government crackdown presents yet another cause for U.S. concern. Yet the U.S. ability to “read” the Iranian regime and formulate appropriate policies has been handicapped by both a lack of access to the country and the opacity of decisionmaking in Tehran. To help analysts better understand the Iranian political system, the authors describe

* Iranian strategic culture, including the perceptions that drive state behavior
* the informal networks, formal government institutions, and personalities that influence decisionmaking in the Islamic Republic
* the impact of elite behavior on Iranian policy formulation and execution
* factionalism, emerging fissures within the current regime, and other key trends.

Source: RAND Corporation

Download full pdf publication | Download pdf Executive Summary | Link to online summary

Who Regulates Whom? An Overview of U.S. Financial Supervision

Federal financial regulation in the United States has evolved through a series of piecemeal responses to developments and crises in financial markets. This report provides an overview of current U.S. financial regulation: which agencies are responsible for which institutions and markets, and what kinds of authority they have. There are two traditional components to U.S. banking regulation: deposit insurance and adequate capital. Commercial banks accept a quid pro quo that was adopted in response to widespread bank failures during the 1930s. Through deposit insurance, the federal government provides a safety net for some banking operations and in return the banks that are exposed to depositor runs accept federal regulation of their operations, including the amount of risk they may incur. Since the 1860s, federal banking regulation has sought to prevent excessive risk taking by banks that might seek to make extra profit by reducing their capital reserves--at the time called "wildcat" banks. There are five federal bank regulators, each supervising different (and often overlapping) sets of depository institutions. Federal securities regulation is based on the principle of disclosure, rather than direct regulation. Firms that sell securities to the public must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but the agency has no authority to prevent excessive risk taking. SEC registration in no way implies that an investment is safe, only that the risks have been fully disclosed.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

New PEW survey results : Internet, broadband, and cell phone statistics

From Overview

In a national survey between November 30 and December 27, 2009, we find:

74% of American adults (ages 18 and older) use the internet -- a slight drop from our survey in April 2009, which did not include Spanish interviews. At that time we found that 79% of English-speaking adults use the internet.

60% of American adults use broadband connections at home – a drop that is within the margin of error from 63% in April 2009.

Download full pdf report | Download Survey Questions (pdf) | Link to online overview

Alternative Welfare-to-Work Strategies for the Hard-to-Employ

From the Overview:

This report presents interim results from an evaluation of two different welfare-to-work strategies for hard-to-employ recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in Philadelphia. The study is part of the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project, which is testing innovative employment strategies for groups facing serious obstacles to finding and keeping a steady job. The project is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with additional funding from the U.S. Department of Labor. It is being conducted by MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, along with the Urban Institute and other partners.

Source: MDRC

Download full pdf report | Download pdf executive summary | Link to MDRC

The Millennials

Generations, like people, have personalities. Their collective identities typically begin to reveal themselves when their oldest members move into their teens and twenties and begin to act upon their values, attitudes and worldviews.

America's newest generation, the Millennials,1 is in the middle of this coming-of-age phase of its life cycle. Its oldest members are approaching age 30; its youngest are approaching adolescence.

Source: Pew Research

Link to various demographic and social trends of the Millennial Generation

Staying Safe Survey 2009 - Young People and Parents' Attitudes around Internet Safety

The Saying Safe Survey is the Department’s new tracking survey of young people and parents’ attitudes and confidence around a number of safety issues. The results in this report were commissioned specifically to inform the Department's work on child internet safety.

The survey was conducted through face-to-face in-home interviews with 1,433 parents and carers of children aged 0-17 and 833 with children and young people aged 12-17. Fieldwork took place between 12 June and 17 July 2009.

Source: United Kingdom Dept. for children, schools and family

Download full pdf publication | Link to DCSF

Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009

Presents data on crime and safety at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, and principals. A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. It also provides the most current detailed statistical information on the nature of crime in schools and school environments and responses to violence and crime at school. Data are drawn from several federally funded collections including the National Crime Victimization Survey, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, School Survey on Crime and Safety, and the Schools and Staffing Survey.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Download full pdf publication | Link to Bureau of Justice Statistics

Federal Student Aid FY2009 Annual Report

In FY 2009, Federal Student Aid delivered or supported the delivery of approximately $113 billion in grant, work-study and loan assistance to almost 13 million postsecondary students and their families. These students attend approximately 6,200 active institutions of postsecondary education accredited by dozens of agencies. Many of these students also receive loans from approximately 2,900 lenders with 35 agencies administering the guarantee on those loans.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Download full pdf report | Link to Federal Student Aid gov site

Transcript : Berkeley Endowed Lecture on Law and Economics: "Transitions into--and out of--Liberal Democracy"

"I believe a society can be expected to evolve into a liberal democracy, including private property and the rule of law, only if producer groups can organize and exert enough influence to prevent government predation."


Williams, Honorable Stephen F.(2009). Berkeley Endowed Lecture on Law and Economics

UC Berkeley: Berkeley Program in Law and Economics. Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0t78b9mn

Download entire pdf publication

Together We Must! End Violence against Women and Girls and HIV & AIDS

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) and HIV & AIDS are mutually reinforcing pandemics; the need and the opportunity for integrated approaches addressing their intersection are increasingly evident. To date, however, such strategies have not been implemented on a widespread scale. Advocates and communities working on HIV & AIDS and VAWG are just beginning to come together to explore common strategies.

This publication profiles ten organizations that are working on innovative strategies to address the intertwined pandemics. It highlights key elements to consider when implementing such strategies.

Source: United Nations Development fund for women

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America

Hispanics are the largest and youngest minority group in the United States. One- in-five schoolchildren is Hispanic. One-in-four newborns is Hispanic. Never before in this country's history has a minority ethnic group made up so large a share of the youngest Americans. By force of numbers alone, the kinds of adults these young Latinos become will help shape the kind of society America becomes in the 21st century.

This report takes an in-depth look at Hispanics who are ages 16 to 25, a phase of life when young people make choices that-for better and worse-set their path to adulthood. For this particular ethnic group, it is also a time when they navigate the intricate, often porous borders between the two cultures they inhabit-American and Latin American.

Source: Pew Hispanic Center

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Unemployment and Economic Recovery

From Summary

Even though the economy seems to be growing again, it may be a while before the unemployment rate begins to decline, and it may even continue rising for some time after the resumption of sustained economic growth. The unemployment rate is generally a lagging indicator, meaning that its ups and downs happen some time after the ups and downs of other broad indicators of economic activity. Unemployment may not fall appreciably when economic growth first picks up because some firms may have underutilized labor.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

The Copyright Registration Requirement and Federal Court Jurisdiction: A Legal Analysis of Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick

From the online overview:

Although an author need not register his or her work with the U.S. Copyright Office to obtain copyright protection, registration is a statutory prerequisite to bringing suit for infringement of the copyright, as mandated by 17 U.S.C. §411(a). The question in Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick, currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, is whether this section of the Copyright Act restricts the subject matter jurisdiction of the federal courts over copyright infringement actions.

Oral argument was heard in Reed Elsevier on October 7, 2009. The outcome of this case will not only affect the particular settlement at issue, but may well have broader implications for authors, publishers, and the general public.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download pdf publication | Link to online overview

Does the Globalization of Anti-corruption Law Help Developing Countries?

Abstract:

What role do foreign institutions play in combating political corruption in developing countries? This chapter begins by describing the recently developed transnational anti-corruption regime, which encompasses legal instruments ranging from the dedicated multilateral agreements sponsored by the OECD and the United Nations, to the anti-corruption policies of international financial institutions, to components of the international antimony laundering regime, international norms governing government procurement, and private law norms concerning enforcement of corruptly procured contracts. It also surveys the evidence concerning a variety of claims about the potential advantages and disadvantages of having foreign institutions play a role in preventing, sanctioning, or providing redress for corruption on the part of local public officials. One of the main conclusions is that more attention ought to be paid to whether foreign institutions displace and undermine, or alternatively complement and enhance, local anti-corruption institutions. The analysis not only sheds light on the transnational anti-corruption regime, but also has implications for other efforts to rely on foreign legal institutions to address the problems of developing countries.

Source: New York University Law and Economics Working Papers

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

Educators See More Hungry Students in Their Classrooms

Educators across the nation report that, with increasing frequency, they are witnessing hunger among their students—which affects the ability to concentrate and learn—despite government and private nutrition programs intended to ensure children have enough to eat in and out of school, according to a new survey of classroom instructors released on Nov. 23.

AFT members—who include paraprofessionals, classified staff and food service workers, as well as teachers—will continue to track hunger in their schools by responding to an online question—giving examples of how the problem affects their students and identifying steps they believe would alleviate it. In addition to what the Share Our Strength survey found about teachers' responses to hungry students, AFT members have related other stories of cafeteria workers handing out extra food and classified staff keeping a snack drawer in the school office.

The survey of 740 elementary and middle school teachers was commissioned by Share Our Strength. It was conducted by Lake Research Partners through an online questionnaire Oct. 21-28. The results were released during an SOS-organized webinar that featured the stories of teachers who participated in the survey.

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

New Report Shows Paid Parental Leave Can Save Government Money in Turnover Costs

From Press Release:
The federal government could save an estimated $50 million in recruitment and retention costs by putting in place a paid parental leave benefit, according to new research by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). The report, and its conclusion, was presented today at a Capitol Hill briefing co-hosted by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).

“NTEU has long believed that commonsense benefits which assist employees in balancing competing work and home responsibilities help agencies hold on to talented workers,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. “This report shows that is true, with an added benefit of saving the government money.”

The IWPR report calculates that an additional 2,650 employees would remain with the government each year, if this benefit were in place. That would save $50 million in recruitment and retention costs, according to the report.

Source: IWPR via NTEU

Download full pdf report | Link to online press release

The Devil Wears Prada? Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making

Abstract:

Although the concept of luxury has been widely discussed in social theories and marketing research, relatively little research has directly examined the psychological consequences of exposure to luxury goods. This paper demonstrates that exposure to luxury goods increases individuals' propensity to prioritize self-interests over others' interests, influencing the decisions they make. Experiment 1 found that participants primed with luxury goods were more likely than those primed with non-luxury goods to endorse business decisions that benefit themselves but could potentially harm others. Using a word recognition task, Experiment 2 further demonstrates that exposure to luxury is likely to activate self-interest but not necessarily the tendency to harm others. Implications of these findings were discussed.

Source: Harvard Business School Working Papers

Download full pdf publication | Link to online Executive Summary

Transcript: Workplace Challenges: Managing Layoffs, and Motivating Those Left Behind

The current downturn has left many companies scrambling to manage workplace issues -- ranging from how to avoid a brain drain to how they can provide better value to customers and clients. Employees, for their part, face the challenges that arise from working in a leaner organization that demands increased productivity with fewer resources.

Knowledge@Wharton talked about these issues with Peter Cappelli, Wharton management professor and director of the school's Center for Human Resources, and Philip Miscimarra, a partner in the labor and employment practice in the Chicago office of law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, co-chair of the Morgan Lewis/Workforce Change practice, and managing director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources research advisory group.

Link to online transcript

U.S. Seen as Less Important, China as More Powerful

Isolationist Sentiment Surges to Four-Decade High

The general public and members of the Council on Foreign Relations are apprehensive and uncertain about America’s place in the world. Growing numbers in both groups see the United States playing a less important role globally, while acknowledging the increasing stature of China. And the general public, which is in a decidedly inward-looking frame of mind when it comes to global affairs, is less supportive of increasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan than are CFR members.

Source : Pew Research Center for People and the Press

Download full pdf publication | Download topline questionnaire in pdf format | Link to online summary

Hispanics in the News: An Event-Driven Narrative

A study of more than 34,000 news stories that appeared in major media outlets finds that most of what the public learns about Hispanics comes not through focused coverage of the life and times of this population group but through event-driven news stories in which Hispanics are one of many elements.

Source: Pew Hispanic Center

Download Complete pdf report | Link to online summary

Lobbying the Executive Branch: Current Practices and Options for Change

Summary:

Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) of 1995, as amended, individuals are required to register with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate if they lobby either legislative or executive branch officials. In January 2009, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner placed further restrictions on the ability of lobbyists to contact executive branch officials responsible for dispersing Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA, P.L. 110-243) funds. Subsequently, President Barack Obama and Peter Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), issued a series of memoranda between March and July 2009 that govern communication between federally registered lobbyists and executive branch employees administering American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) funds. Most recently, in October 2009, the White House directed executive agencies to prohibit, when possible, the appointment of federally registered lobbyists to federal advisory bodies and committees. The Recovery and Reinvestment Act lobbying restrictions focus on both written and oral communications between lobbyists and executive branch officials. Pursuant to the President's memoranda, restrictions have been placed on certain kinds of oral and written interactions between federally registered lobbyists and executive branch officials responsible for Recovery Act fund disbursement. The President's memoranda require each agency to post summaries of oral and written contacts with lobbyists on dedicated agency websites. EESA regulations are virtually identical. This report outlines the development of registration requirements for lobbyists engaging executive branch officials since 1995. It also summarizes steps taken by the Obama Administration to limit and monitor lobbying of the executive branch; discusses the development and implementation of restrictions placed on lobbying for Recovery Act and EESA funds; examines the Obama Administration's decision to stop appointing lobbyists to federal advisory bodies and committees; considers third-party criticism of current executive branch lobbying policies; and provides options for possible modifications in current lobbying laws and practices.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online Summary

Parenting in Poverty and the Politics of Commitment: Promoting Marriage for Poor Families through Relationship Education

Abstract:
The federal government has recently taken an unprecedented role in actively promoting marriage through social policies to address family instability and poverty in America. In 1996, Congress overhauled welfare policy to encourage work and marriage as routes to economic self-sufficiency for poor American families. This policy focus eventually led to the creation of the federal Healthy Marriage Initiative, a program that primarily funds relationship skills classes to promote marriage. Using ethnographic data from a community-based marriage education program for poor parents funded through a healthy marriage grant, I analyze how government-sponsored relationships skills classes intended to promote marriage tailor their messages for poor families. In doing so, this study addresses a broader sociological question: how does policy co-opt and transform ideas about love, family, and interpersonal commitment in the service of a particular political agenda? Moreover, how do parents accept, contest, and transform these ideologies on the ground when such ideas come up against the lived experience of families trying to create and maintain love while raising children in poverty? Ultimately, without addressing the structural issues that undermine poor couples’ aspirations to marry, relationship education frames healthy marriage as an emotional and economic partnership, one in which communication, conflict resolution, and financial management skills can be a social and psychological bulwark against the stresses of parenting in poverty.

Source: U.C. Berkeley Institute for the Study of Social Change

Download full pdf publication | Link to online article

Drug Industry Document Archive

Description:

The Drug Industry Document Archive (DIDA) contains over 2500 documents about pharmaceutical industry clinical trials, publication of study results, pricing, marketing, relations with physicians and involvement in continuing medical education.

Most of these previously secret documents were made public as a result of lawsuits against the following pharmaceutical companies: Merck & Co., Parke-Davis, Warner-Lambert, Wyeth, and Pfizer.

About the Project

The Drug Industry Document Archive (DIDA) was created by the Center for Knowledge Management at the University of California San Francisco Library in collaboration with faculty members C. Seth Landefeld, MD (CASBS Fellow 2009) and Michael Steinman, MD to house material pertaining to United States of America ex rel. David Franklin vs. Parke-Davis, Division of Warner-Lambert (now owned by Pfizer, Inc). Filed by former Parke-Davis employee David Franklin, the lawsuit alleged that the company violated federal regulations by engaging in systematic efforts to promote the drug gabapentin (Neurontin) for uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Drs. Steinman and Landefeld were unpaid expert witnesses on behalf of the plaintiff and wrote an expert report for the court regarding marketing practices for gabapentin and its potential impact on physician prescribing.

Documents were obtained from public-access files of the United States District Court for Massachusetts and other sources including the plaintiff's law firm. These include materials written by Parke-Davis and companies with whom it worked which were entered as evidence, and legal documents outlining the progress of the litigation.

Source: UCSF

Users can search or browse by document type
Link to Drug Industry Document Archive

Ending Social Promotion Without Leaving Children Behind : the case of New York City

Online Overview

Many states and school districts are implementing test-based requirements for promotion at key transitional points in students' schooling careers, thus ending the practice of “social promotion” — promoting students who have failed to meet academic standards and requirements for that grade. In 2003–2004, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), which oversees the largest public school system in the country, implemented a new test-based promotion policy for 3rd-grade students and later extended it to 5th, 7th, and 8th graders. The policy emphasized early identification of children at risk of being retained in grade and provision of instructional support services to these students. NYCDOE asked RAND to conduct an independent longitudinal evaluation of the 5th-grade promotion policy and to examine the outcomes for two cohorts of 3rd-grade students. The findings of that study, conducted between March 2006 and August 2009, provide a comprehensive picture of how the policy was implemented and factors affecting implementation; the impact of the policy on student academic and socioemotional outcomes; and the links between the policy's implementation and the outcomes of at-risk students. Two other publications in this series provide a review of the prevailing literature on retention and lessons learned about policy design from top-level administrators across the country.

Source: RAND Corporation

Download full pdf publication | Download pdf Summary | Link to Rand Record

APA Exposed : Everything you always wanted to know about the APA format but were afraid to ask

Developed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the online tutorial reflects 6th edition changes to APA's Publication Manual. The online tutorial is presented in the following short sections:

Introduction (7:08)

* Tutorial Features
* Tutorial Outline
* Why Use the APA format

Module 1: APA Formatting Basics (6:58)

* Spacing
* Margins
* Typeface and Font
* Unbiased Language
* Five-Heading System

Module 2: Citing Sources (10:49)

* Author-Date Method
* Direct Quotes
* Quotes from Electronic Sources
* Block Quotes

Module 3: Reference Citations in the Text (7:27)

* The Paragraph
* Two Authors
* Three to Five Authors
* Six or More Authors
* Studies I Didn't Read
* Lectures

Module 4: References (18:34)
* Two Entries by the Same Author
* APA Reference Style: Periodical (Journal)
* DOIs
* APA Reference Style: Book
* APA Reference Style: Book Chapter
* Online Documents
* PowerPoint Presentations

Source: Harvard School of Education

Link to tutorial site

United Nations Rule of Law Website

From About page:

The United Nations Rule of Law Website is a promotional and educational tool for practitioners and the general public. It seeks to inform users about the UN’s work in the field of rule of law, and its efforts to coordinate and strengthen system-wide approaches in this field. It is the central UN rule of law web-based resource, serving as a gateway to the rest of the UN’s related sites, and making information more widely accessible about UN rule of law issues and activities, and the various tools, documents and materials on the subject. The website is also an avenue for users to access other web resources on or related to rule of law, developed by the UN or external organizations.

The website features focus articles that describe UN rule of law engagement in countries, and major developments in the rule of law field. The UN’s approach to the emerging and critical rule of law issues that span the work of the Organization are explained in the crosscutting themes section. The interactive map provides highlights of current UN rule of law activities by region.

A key component of the website is the knowledge resources section. Its main feature is the United Nations Rule of Law Document Repository. The repository comprises core official and unofficial UN rule of law tools and materials: including UN norms and standards, resolutions, reports, guidance materials, training materials, and programming materials, lessons learned and evaluation. Users are also able to access additional practical rule of law resources, such as other databases, jobs, trainings, and practitioner networks.

Source: United Nations Rule of Law Resource and Coordination Group

Link to U.N. Rule of Law Website

2009 State of the World Population Report : Facing a Changing World: Women, Population and Climates

From the introduction:

Climate—the average of weather over time—is always changing, but never in known human experience more dramatically than it is likely to change in the coming century. For millennia, since civilizations arose from ancient farming societies, the earth's climate as a whole was relatively stable, with temperatures and patterns of rainfall that have supported human life and its expansion around the globe.

A growing body of evidence shows that recent climate change is primarily the result of human activity. The influence of human activity on climate change is complex. It is about what we consume, the types of energy we produce and use, whether we live in a city or on a farm, whether we live in a rich or poor country, whether we are young or old, what we eat, and even the extent to which women and men enjoy equal rights and opportunities. It is also about our growing numbers—approaching 7 billion.

As the growth of population, economies and consumption outpaces the earth's capacity to adjust, climate change could become much more extreme—and conceivably catastrophic. Population dynamics tell one part of a larger, more intricate story about the way some countries and people have pursued development and defined progress and about how others have had little say in the decisions that affect their lives.

Source: United Nations

Download full pdf report | Link to UNFPA Online Overview

Diabetes Awareness and Knowledge Among Latinos: Does a Usual Source of Healthcare Matter?

To provide national prevalence estimates of usual source of healthcare (USHC), and examine the relationship between USHC and diabetes awareness and knowledge among Latinos using a modified Andersen model of healthcare access. Three thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine Latino (18-years or older) participants of the Pew Hispanic Center/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Hispanic/Latino Health survey from the 48 contiguous United States. Cross- sectional, stratified, random sample telephone interviews. Self-reported healthcare service use was examined in regression models that included a past-year USHC as the main predictor of diabetes awareness and knowledge. Anderson model predisposing and enabling factors were included in additional statistical models. Significant differences in USHC between Latino groups
were found with Mexican Americans having the lowest rates (59.7%). USHC was associated with significantly higher diabetes awareness and knowledge (OR=1.24; 95%CI=1.05-1.46) after accounting for important healthcare access factors. Men were significantly(OR=0.64; 95%CI=0.52-0.75) less informed about diabetes than women. We found important and previously unreported differences between Latinos with a current USHC provider, where the predominant group, Mexican Americans, are the least likely to have access to a USHC. USHC was associated with Latinos being better informed about diabetes; however, socioeconomic barriers limit the availability of this potentially valuable tool for reducing the risks and burden of diabetes, which is a major public health problem facing Latinos.

Source: Journal of General Internal Medicine [via eScholarship repository]

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship repository record

Who Benefits From Student Aid? The Economic Incidence of Tax-Based Federal Student Aid.

Abstract:

Federal student aid is designed to lower the costs of postsecondary attendance, working to ensure that higher education is widely accessible. The effectiveness of these programs depends crucially on the existence of offsetting price changes. Contrary to the intention of policymakers, I find that schools fully counteract the cost reduction of tax-based aid by lowering institutional aid dollar-for-dollar. This finding implies that colleges and universities capture the financial benefits of tax-based aid at the expense of eligible students and families.

Author: Nick Turner
Source: U.C. San Diego, Department of Economics [via eScholarship repository]

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship Repository

Noncitizen Eligibility and Verification Issues in the Health Care Reform Legislation

From the Summary:

Health care reform legislation raises a significant set of complex issues, and among the thornier for policy makers are the noncitizen eligibility and verification issues. That the treatment of foreign nationals complicates health care reform legislation is not surprising given that reform of immigration policy poses its own constellation of controversial policy options. This report focuses on this nexus of immigration law and health care reform in the major health care reform bills that have received committee action.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Social Isolation and New Technology

From the online description:

This report adds new insights to an ongoing debate about the extent of social isolation in America. A widely-reported 2006 study argued that since 1985 Americans have become more socially isolated, the size of their discussion networks has declined, and the diversity of those people with whom they discuss important matters has decreased. In particular, the study found that Americans have fewer close ties to those from their neighborhoods and from voluntary associations. Sociologists Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin and Matthew Brashears suggest that new technologies, such as the internet and mobile phone, may play a role in advancing this trend. Specifically, they argue that the type of social ties supported by these technologies are relatively weak and geographically dispersed, not the strong, often locally-based ties that tend to be a part of peoples’ core discussion network. They depicted the rise of internet and mobile phones as one of the major trends that pulls people away from traditional social settings, neighborhoods, voluntary associations, and public spaces that have been associated with large and diverse core networks.

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Download full pdf report | Link to online description

Religious Landscape Survey Data Release

From the Press Release:
Data files from the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, are now available to the public.

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey included interviews with a representative sample of more than 35,000 U.S. adults. The survey examined religious affiliation, beliefs and practices as well as basic social and political attitudes. The large sample presents scholars and analysts with opportunities to analyze small population groups that most smaller surveys do not afford.

Source: Pew Research Center Forum on Religion & Public Life

Link to Pew data site

Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2008, and Salaries of Full-Time Instructional Staff, 2008-09

Description:
This First Look presents data from the Winter 2008-09 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), including data on the number of staff employed in Title IV postsecondary institutions in fall 2008 by primary function/occupational activity, length of contract/teaching period, employment status, salary class interval, faculty and tenure status, academic rank, race/ethnicity, and gender.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Download full pdf publication | Link to online overview

Preliminary Analysis of the Affordable Health Care for America Act As Introduced in the House of Representatives on October 29

From the Congressional Budget office Director's blog:
Among other things, H.R. 3962 would establish a mandate for most legal residents of the United States to obtain health insurance; set up insurance “exchanges” through which certain individuals and families could receive federal subsidies to substantially reduce the cost of purchasing that coverage; significantly expand eligibility for Medicaid; substantially reduce the growth of Medicare’s payment rates for most services (relative to the growth rates projected under current law); impose an income tax surcharge on high-income individuals; and make various other changes to the federal tax code, Medicaid, Medicare, and other programs.

Download full pdf report | Link to CBO

Equality in higher education: statistical report 2009

ECU's second annual report into equality across the higher education sector presents a selection of statistics relating to the gender, ethnicity, disability status and age of all staff and students in higher education. In a time of economic difficulties, it has never been more important for higher education institutions to be clear about ongoing, and in some cases growing, patterns of disadvantage across the sector.

The report reveals that much progress has been made with equality over the past five years, but there are still significant challenges ahead.

Building on last year's publication, this report provides further analysis of the challenges facing the sector, including combinations of equality characteristics, analysis of key trends over the past five years and pay gaps. The report aims to enable individual institutions to compare themselves against national trends to assess their own progress on equality.

Source: Equality Challenge Unit

Download full pdf report | Link to online abstract

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2009 : Trade-led Recovery and Beyond

Abstract:

The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report is an annual publication prepared by staff of the Trade and Investment Division as a full in-house publication. The Report replaces the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Review with its first issue in 2009. The theme of APTIR 2009 is: "trade-led recovery and beyond". This issue analyses the impact of the global economic crisis on trade and investment flows in and to the region and implications for trade policy. It provides a conceptual framework for trade policy which should contribute to achieving inclusive and sustainable development. It makes a case for the multilateral trading system as the prime international trade governance system and gives an overview of the latest developments in the Doha Round. This issue of the Report also calls for an expansion of intraregional trade and deeper regional integration for that purpose and discusses the role of regional trade agreements in that regard. The Report also emphasizes the role of trade facilitation and needs for trade finance and explores issues related to business survival and development in time of crisis and beyond, including the development of regional value chains and the need for business to adopt principles related to corporate social responsibility (CSR).

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The Global Financial Crisis: Analysis and Policy Implications

From the summary:

Although recent data indicate the large industrialized economies may have reached bottom and are beginning to recover, for the most part, unemployment is still rising. Numerous small banks and households still face huge problems in restoring their balance sheets, and unemployment has combined with sub-prime loans to keep home foreclosures at a high rate. Nearly all industrialized countries and many emerging and developing nations have announced economic stimulus and/or financial sector rescue packages, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5). Several countries have resorted to borrowing from the International Monetary Fund as a last resort. The crisis has exposed fundamental weaknesses in financial systems worldwide, demonstrated how interconnected and interdependent economies are today, and has posed vexing policy dilemmas.

Source: Congressional Research Service


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The Impact of Inequality for Same-Sex Partners in Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans.

From Executive Summary:
This report analyzes the impact of unequal treatment of same-sex partners in the context of retirement plans and estimates the cost for employers of adopting a policy of equal treatment. The focus of this report is retirement income rather than health care provision for retirees and their families. Our goal is to address several key issues for same-sex couples as they plan for retirement. We find that same-sex couples face inequalities when it comes to their ability to accumulate wealth, plan for their futures, and pass on wealth.


Source: UC Los Angeles: The Williams Institute. Retrieved from: http://escholarship.org

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Social Movements and the Journalistic Field: A Multi-Institutional Approach to Tactical Dominance in the LGBT Movement

Social movements typically consist of several diverse organizations, with each using subtly different tactics to advance a similar, but not equivalent, vision of social change. The landscape of powerful social institutions in which a movement is situated affects which tactics become dominant among these organizations (and thus, within the movement) and which tactics are sidelined, discredited, or not even considered. The mainstream media is one example of a social institution that may have such a constitutive effect on social movements. When the mainstream news media – conceptualized here as a journalistic field – produce more substantial coverage of a given movement tactic, they may increase the tactic’s legitimacy, permitting organizations that perform the tactic to occupy a more dominant position within the movement. In this paper, I analyze media coverage of LGBT movement activity in a sample of mainstream newspapers from 1985-2008 to examine whether, in its coverage of the movement for LGBT rights, the mainstream media have focused on the LGBT movement’s legal tactics, organizations, and framing, and have downplayed other types of movement tactics and framing. This paper expands upon empirical studies from the communications and sociolegal literatures, which find that litigation oftenattracts publicity,
whereas protest activity rarely receives any substantive news coverage. The data presented here will likely have implications for the new, multi-institutional approach to social movement theory. They should help to clarify the ways in which tactics, when amplified by media coverage, influence the ascendancy of specific strategies and organizations within a social movement.

Source: Institute for Social Change, UC Berkeley

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Divided Fates: The State, Race, and Adaptation of Korean Immigrants in Japan and the United States

From the Introduction:

The content of this paper is based on a book manuscript that I am currently completing, which compares Korean diasporic groups in Japan and the United States. In my book project, I highlight the contrasting adaptation of Koreans in Japan and the United States, and illuminate how the destinies of immigrants who originally belonged to the same national collectivity diverged, depending upon destinations and how they were received in a certain state and society within particular historical contexts.

Source: Institute of Advanced Study| Kazuko Suzuki

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Incentives and Creativity: Evidence from the Academic Life Sciences

Abstract:
Despite its presumed role as an engine of economic growth, we know surprisingly little about the drivers of scientific creativity. In this paper, we exploit key differences across funding streams within the academic life sciences to estimate the impact of incentives on the rate and direction of scientific exploration. Specifically, we study the careers of investigators of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), which tolerates early failure, rewards long-term success, and gives its appointees great freedom to experiment; and grantees from the National Institute of Health, which are subject to short review cycles, pre-defined deliverables, and renewal policies unforgiving of failure. Using a combination of propensity-score weighting and difference-in-differences estimation strategies, we find that HHMI investigators produce high-impact papers at a much higher rate than two control groups of similarly-accomplished NIH-funded scientists. Moreover, the direction of their research changes in ways that suggest the program induces them to explore novel lines of inquiry.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

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Moral Freaks: Lawyers' Ethics in Academic Perspective

Abstract:
Much recent academic discussion exaggerates the distance between plausible legal ethics and ordinary morality. This essay criticizes three prominent strands of discussion: one drawing on the moral philosophy of personal virtue, one drawing on legal philosophy, and a third drawing on utilitarianism of the law-and-economics variety. The discussion uses as a central reference point the “Mistake-of-Law” scenario in which a lawyer must decide whether to rescue an opposing party from the unjust consequences of his own lawyer’s error. I argue that academic efforts to shore up the professional inclination against rescue are not plausible. I conclude by recommending an older jurisprudential tradition in which legal ethics is more convergent with ordinary morality.

Source: Forthcoming Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics (2010) [via nellco legal scholarship repository]

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