Josephine Baker: A Chanteuse and a Fighter

This excerpt is from her newly-published biography of Josephine Baker, “A Fighting Diva.” It tells the intriguing story of Baker’s travels to Japan, her close friendship with the Japanese humanitarian Miki Sawada, and her adoption of a pair of Japanese orphans. Even after she achieved celebrity in France, Baker’s experience as a Black American led her to develop an antiracist philosophy at a worldwide level, and she combined political militancy in the public sphere with a personal commitment through the formation of an international multiracial household of children, the “Rainbow Tribe.”

Source: Journal of Transnational American Studies, American Cultures and Global Contexts Center, UC Santa Barbara [via eScholarship Repository]

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScolarship Repository record

The Afro-American. Du Bois, W. E. B.

This hitherto unpublished essay by W. E. B. Du Bois, the text titled “The Afro-American,” which likely dates to the late autumn of 1894 or the winter of 1895, is an early attempt by the young scholar to define for himself the contours of the situation of the Negro, or “Afro-American,” in the United States in the mid-1890s. It is perhaps the earliest full text expressing his nascent formulations of both the global “problem of the color-line” and the sense of “double-consciousness” among African Americans in North America.

Source: Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1) [via eScholarship Repository]

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship Repository

Historical Look : Public health campaign: getting the message across

...a historical look at the power of posters to persuade people to change their behaviour. It charts decades of changing health priorities, advertising trends and government regulations. The book contains a large global sample of public health posters with translations in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Russian.

Link to Download publication in chapters | Link to World Health Organization

Broad Public Support For Legalizing Medical Marijuana

With a growing number of states moving to legalize medical marijuana, nearly three-quarters of Americans (73%) say they favor their state allowing the sale and use of marijuana for medical purposes if it is prescribed by a doctor, while 23% are opposed. Support for legalizing medical marijuana spans all major political and demographic groups, and is equally high in states that have and have not already passed laws on this issue.

Source: Pew Research Center for People and the Press

Download full pdf report | Download pdf topline questionnaire | Link to Pew

Statistical Profiles of the Hispanic and Foreign-Born Populations in the U.S.

The Pew Hispanic Center recently updated its statistical profiles of Hispanics and foreign-born people in the U.S.

The updated profiles feature two new topics: racial self-identification and health insurance coverage. Racial identity questions in census forms have varied over the years and that has had an impact on results. The race and ethnicity questions in the 2008 ACS reflect the wording being used in the 2010 census. Thus, the 2008 data predict how the results may appear in the 2010 census as well as how those results may differ from the 2000 census. Questions on health insurance coverage were included in the ACS for the first time in 2008. The large sample size of the ACS permits more detailed analysis of that issue at the state level and by detailed demographics.

Source: Pew Hispanic Center

Download full pdf publication | Link to Pew Hispanic Center and other reports

Racial and Ethnic Disparities Juvenile Justice Data Map

About the datamap:

Under the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), States are required to address Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) in their juvenile justice systems. The nature of DMC and/or racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system varies among States, as does each State's effort to reduce DMC and disparities.

To facilitate analysis of these variations, our interactive map provides State-by-State and County data regarding juvenile justice system involvement, using data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Click the desired State to learn about State data on racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system, State's efforts to reduce disparities, and State's juvenile justice system information, including state contact information and relevant law.

Source: Burns Institute for Juvenile Justice Fairness & Equity

Link to interactive map

‘Hidden Marks: A study of women students’ experiences of harassment, stalking, violence and sexual assault

"...a snapshot of the harassment and violence that women students have faced whilst they have been at their current institution."

Source: U.K. National Union of Students

Download full pdf publication | Link to news release from UK National Union of Students

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

From the overview:

The Department of State prepared this report using information from U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, foreign government officials, nongovernmental and international organizations, and published reports. The initial drafts of the individual country reports were prepared by U.S. diplomatic missions abroad, drawing on information they gathered throughout the year from a variety of sources, including government officials, jurists, the armed forces, journalists, human rights monitors, academics, and labor activists. This information gathering can be hazardous, and U.S. Foreign Service personnel regularly go to great lengths, under trying and sometimes dangerous conditions, to investigate reports of human rights abuse, monitor elections, and come to the aid of individuals at risk, such as political dissidents and human rights defenders whose rights are threatened by their governments.

Once the initial drafts of the individual country reports were completed, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, in cooperation with other Department of State offices, worked to corroborate, analyze, and edit the reports, drawing on their own sources of information. These sources included reports provided by U.S. and other human rights groups, foreign government officials, representatives from the United Nations and other international and regional organizations and institutions, experts from academia, and the media. Bureau officers also consulted experts on worker rights, refugee issues, military and police topics, women's issues, and legal matters. The guiding principle was to ensure that all information was assessed objectively, thoroughly, and fairly.

The reports in this volume will be used as a resource for shaping policy, conducting diplomacy, and making assistance, training, and other resource allocations. They also will serve as a basis for the U.S. Government's cooperation with private groups to promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights.

Source: U.S. State Department

Link to report - list by country

Labor Force Characteristics of Foreign-Born Workers

From Press Release:

...compares the labor force characteristics of the foreign born with those of their native-born counterparts. The data on nativity are collected as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey of approximately 60,000 households. The foreign born are persons who reside in the United States but who were born outside the country or one of its outlying areas to parents who were not U.S. citizens. The foreign born include legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Link to site with available data tables | Link to BLS summary

Immigration Reform Issues in the 111th Congress

Summary

There is a broad-based consensus that the U.S. immigration system is broken. This consensus erodes, however, as soon as the options to reform the U.S. immigration system are debated. The number of foreign-born people residing in the United States is at the highest level in U.S. history and has reached a proportion of the U.S. population--12.6%--not seen since the early 20th century. Of the 38 million foreign-born residents in the United States, approximately one-third are naturalized citizens, one-third are legal permanent residents, and one-third are estimated to be unauthorized (illegal) residents. Some observers and policy experts maintain that the presence of an estimated 11 million unauthorized residents is evidence of flaws in the legal immigration system as well as failures of immigration control policies and practices. The 111th Congress is faced with strategic questions of whether to continue to build on incremental reforms of specific elements of immigration (e.g., employment verification, skilled migration, temporary workers, worksite enforcement, and legalization of certain categories of unauthorized residents) or whether to comprehensively reform the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). President Barack Obama has affirmed his support for comprehensive immigration reform legislation that includes increased enforcement as well as a pathway to legal residence for certain unauthorized residents. This report synthesizes the multi-tiered debate over immigration reform into key elements: legal immigration; legalization; immigration control; refugees, asylees, and humanitarian migrants; and, alien rights, benefits and responsibilities. It delineates the issues for the 111th Congress on permanent residence, temporary admissions, border security, worksite enforcement, employment eligibility verification, document fraud, criminal aliens, and the grounds for inadmissibility. Addressing these contentious policy reforms against the backdrop of economic crisis sharpens the social and business cleavages and narrows the range of options.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Pooh-Poohing Copyright Law’s “Inalienable” Termination Rights

Abstract:

From its earliest manifestations, copyright law has struggled to deal with the equitable and efficient division of value and control between creators and the enterprises that distribute their works. And for almost as long as copyright has existed, there has been concern about creators getting the short end of the stick in their dealings with distributors. Since 1909, Congress has sought to protect authors and their families by allowing them to grant their copyrights for exploitation and then, decades later, to recapture those same rights. After judicial interpretation of the 1909 Act frustrated this intent by upholding advance assignments of renewal terms, Congress spoke unambiguously in 1976: “Termination of the grant may be effected notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary . . . .” Yet recent decisions in the Ninth and Second Circuits have eviscerated that clear Congressional command by permitting a grantee to renegotiate the terms of the grant so as to frustrate recapture by the author’s family. After critically analyzing these decisions, this article provides a comprehensive framework for restoring the integrity and clarity of the termination of transfer provisions.

Source: Berkeley Program in Law and Economics, Working Paper Series, Berkeley Program in Law and Economics, UC Berkeley [via eScholarship Repository]

Download full pdf publication | Link to eScholarship Repository

Supreme Court Database

Database contains over two hundred pieces of information about each case decided by the Court between the 1953 and 2008 terms. Examples include the identity of the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed, the parties to the suit, the legal provisions considered in the case, and the votes of the Justices.

Datasets are available for download or you can use the online analysis tools to run queries on the data.

Created and maintained by Prof. Harold Spaeth of Michigan State University College of Law

Link to database

Discrimination by Comparison

From the Abstract:

Contemporary discrimination law is in crisis, both methodologically and conceptually. The judiciary’s favored heuristic for observing discrimination – a comparator who is like the discrimination claimant but for the protected characteristic – has nearly depleted discrimination jurisprudence and theory. The resulting deficit can be explained, in turn, by the comparator methodology’s profound mismatch with current understandings of identity discrimination and the realities of the modern workplace. Even in run-of-the-mill cases, comparators often cannot be found, particularly in today’s mobile, knowledge-based economy. This difficulty amplifies for complex claims, which rest on thicker understandings of discrimination developed in second-generation intersectionality, identity performance, and structural discrimination theories. By collapsing an observational heuristic into a defining element of discrimination, courts have largely foreclosed these theories from consideration, leaving the mismatch in place and sharpening the divide between theory and practice. At the same time, courts have further shrunk the very idea of discrimination by disregarding the lesson of harassment and stereotyping jurisprudence that discrimination can occur without a comparator present.

Source: Columbia Public Law & Legal Theory Working Papers. Paper 9185.

Download full pdf | Link to online

Alternative Schools and Programs for Public School Students At Risk of Educational Failure: 2007-08

This First Look report presents data from a recent district Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) survey about alternative schools and programs available to students during the 2007-08 school year. Alternative schools and programs are specifically designed to address the educational needs of students at risk of school failure in a setting apart from that of the regular public school. They can be administered by the district or an entity other than the district. The study includes information on the availability and number of alternative schools and programs, the number of students enrolled in alternative schools and program, and district policy on returning students to a regular school.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Terms of Engagement Men of Color Discuss Their Experiences in Community College

This study draws on the experiences of 87 African-American, Hispanic, and Native American men who were enrolled in developmental math courses at four Achieving the Dream institutions to find out more about what affects the success of men of color in community college. The fieldwork explored how students’ experiences in their high schools and communities, as well as their identities as men of color, influenced their decisions to go to college and their engagement in school. The students offered their perspectives in their own words in three rounds of focus groups and interviews during the 2007-08 academic year.

Source: MDRC

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

Dying to Give Birth: Maternal Health in the US

More than two women die every day in the USA from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Approximately half of these deaths could be prevented if maternal health care were available, accessible and of good quality for all women in the USA.
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Maternal mortality ratios have increased from 6.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987 to 13.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2006. While some of the recorded increase is due to improved data collection, the fact remains that maternal mortality ratios have risen significantly.

Source: Amnesty International

Download full pdf report | Link to online summary

Morocco: Current Issues

The United States government views Morocco as a moderate Arab regime, an ally against terrorism, and a free trade partner. King Mohammed VI retains supreme power but has taken incremental liberalizing steps. Since 9/11, Moroccan expatriates have been implicated in international terrorism, and Morocco has suffered terror attacks. Morocco takes a proactive approach to countering terror, but some of its measures may be setting back progress in human rights. Morocco's foreign policy focuses largely on Europe, particularly France and Spain, and the United States. In the Middle East, it supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has severed diplomatic relations with Iran for bilateral reasons.

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

High risk of depression among low-income women raises awareness about treatment options

Depression in young women living in poverty has devastating consequences if left untreated. Low-income women are at a higher risk for depression than other income groups, and the majority of these women are untreated. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale was used to assess depression symptoms in women under 45 years old in five California counties. More than 45% were identified as depressed, and the highest level of depressive symptoms was found in Sonoma County. We also found a significant negative association between the number of people in the household and depressive symptom scores, that is, with fewer people in the household depression increased. This result may indicate the need for a support system that is more accessible to individuals in smaller households or it may be an artifact of Hispanics having larger families and lower depression scores.

Source: California Agriculture, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Communication Services, UC Office of the President [via eScholarship Repository]

Download pdf publication | Link to eScholarship Repository

The Story of Bob Jones University v. United States: Race, Religion, and Congress’ Extraordinary Acquiescence

Abstract

On May 25, 1983, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had authority to deny tax-exempt status to Bob Jones University, Goldsboro Christian School, and other private and religious schools with racially discriminatory educational policies. The Court relied on the statute’s broad purpose and placed significant weight on Congress’ failure to enact legislation to overturn the IRS policy. A complete account of the legislative history, provided here, both supports and undercuts the Court’s opinion. More importantly, this story provides an account of the dynamic interaction among a Supreme Court critical of racial integration, a Congress divided on this issue, and a presidency at war with itself. In the end, the story suggests that Bob Jones may have a limited role in shaping interpretive methodology, but that the case reveals how all three branches of government (as well as the public) interact to shape a statute’s meaning.

Source: Columbia Public Law & Legal Theory Working Papers. Paper 9184.

Download full pdf publication | Link to online abstract

"Expanding Access to Paid Sick Leave: The Impact of the Healthy Families Act on America's Workers,"

Report

"...estimating the impact of the Healthy Families Act (S. 1152, introduced by Senator Chris Dodd, and H.R. 2460, introduced by Representative Rosa DeLauro), on access to paid sick leave. The report, "Expanding Access to Paid Sick Leave: The Impact of the Healthy Families Act on America's Workers," was requested by the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families and analyzes the demographics of workers who currently have access to paid sick leave and workers who would gain access to paid sick leave under the Healthy Families Act."

Source: U.S. Joint Economic Committee

Download full pdf publication | Link to Press Release

America's Tomorrow: A Profile of Latino Youth

This statistical brief examines the status of Latino youth in the United States. Latino youth, who compose nearly 20% of all youth in the country, experience high levels of poverty, high dropout rates, low graduation rates, high unemployment rates, and low rates of health insurance. Given that Latinos will compose about 30% of the U.S. population by 2050, the ability of Latino youth to overcome these pressing challenges today will directly impact the economic and social success of our nation in the future.

Source: National Council of La Raza


Download pdf publication | Link to National Council of La Raza

Family Factors and Student Outcomes

To examine the effects of family process variables (specific things families do) and family status variables (who families are) on students' academic achievement and nonacademic outcomes, the author uses the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a U.S. longitudinal dataset that follows a nationally representative sample of children from kindergarten through fifth grade, and the Programme for International Student Assessment, a cross-country cross-sectional dataset that assesses academic achievement of 15-year-old students. The U.S. data indicate that even after controlling for demographics and school inputs, student achievement was associated with such process variables as parental expectations and beliefs, learning structure, resource availability, home environment, parenting and disciplinary practices, and parental involvement. In addition, doing homework more frequently, having home Internet access, and owning a community library card had higher returns in terms of student achievement for black children or children from low socio-economic families than for their counterparts. U.S. students did not fare as well as their peers in other countries and economies, and family process variables, especially considered collectively, are important factors in explaining student achievement in an international setting.

Source: RAND Corporation

Download full pdf publication | Download pdf executive summary | Link to RAND

Trade Agreements: Impact on the U.S. Economy

The United States is in the process of considering a number of trade agreements. In addition, the 111th Congress may address the issue of trade promotion authority (TPA), which expired on July 1, 2007. These agreements range from bilateral trade agreements with countries that account for meager shares of U.S. trade to multilateral negotiations that could affect large numbers of U.S. workers and businesses. During this process, Congress likely will be presented with an array of data estimating the impact of trade agreements on the economy, or on a particular segment of the economy. An important policy tool that can assist Congress in assessing the value and the impact of trade agreements is represented by sophisticated models of the economy that are capable of simulating changes in economic conditions. These models are particularly helpful in estimating the effects of trade liberalization in such sectors as agriculture and manufacturing where the barriers to trade are identifiable and subject to some quantifiable estimation. Barriers to trade in services, however, are proving to be more difficult to identify and, therefore, to quantify in an economic model. In addition, the models are highly sensitive to the assumptions that are used to establish the parameters of the model and they are hampered by a serious lack of comprehensive data in the services sector. Nevertheless, the models do provide insight into the magnitude of the economic effects that may occur across economic sectors as a result of trade liberalization. These insights are especially helpful in identifying sectors expected to experience the greatest adjustment costs and, therefore, where opposition to trade agreements is likely to occur. This report examines the major features of economic models being used to estimate the effects of trade agreements. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the models as an aid in helping Congress evaluate the economic impact of trade agreements on the U.S. economy. In addition, this report identifies and assesses some of the assumptions used in the economic models and how these assumptions affect the data generated by the models. Finally, this report evaluates the implications for Congress of various options it may consider as it assesses trade agreements.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

Southwest Border Violence: Issues in Identifying and Measuring Spillover Violence

There has been a recent increase in the level of drug trafficking-related violence within and between the drug trafficking organizations in Mexico. This violence has generated concern among U.S. policy makers that the violence in Mexico might spill over into the United States. Currently, U.S. federal officials deny that the recent increase in drug trafficking-related violence in Mexico has resulted in a spillover into the United States, but they acknowledge that the prospect is a serious concern. The most recent threat assessment indicates that the Mexican drug trafficking organizations pose the greatest drug trafficking threat to the United States, and this threat is driven partly by U.S. demand for drugs. Mexican drug trafficking organizations are the major suppliers and key producers of most illegal drugs smuggled into the United States across the Southwest border (SWB). The nature of the conflict between the Mexican drug trafficking organizations in Mexico has manifested itself, in part, as a struggle for control of these smuggling routes into the United States. Further, in an illegal marketplace--such as that of illicit drugs--where prices and profits are elevated due to the risks of operating outside the law, violence or the threat of violence becomes the primary means for settling disputes. When assessing the potential implications of the increased violence in Mexico, one of the central concerns for Congress is the potential for what has been termed "spillover" violence--an increase in drug trafficking-related violence in United States. While the interagency community has defined spillover violence as violence targeted primarily at civilians and government entities--excluding trafficker-on-trafficker violence--other experts and scholars have recognized trafficker-on-trafficker violence as central to spillover. When defining and analyzing changes in drug trafficking-related violence within the United States to determine whether there has been (or may be in the future) any spillover violence, critical elements include who may be implicated in the violence (both perpetrators and victims), what type of violence may arise, when violence may appear, and where violence may occur (both along the SWB and in the nation's interior). Currently, no comprehensive, publicly available data exist that can definitively answer the question of whether there has been a significant spillover of drug trafficking-related violence into the United States. Although anecdotal reports have been mixed, U.S. government officials maintain that there has not yet been a significant spillover. In an examination of data that could provide insight into whether there has been a significant spillover in drug trafficking-related violence from Mexico into the United States, CRS analyzed violent crime data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Report program. The data, however, do not allow analysts to determine what proportion of the violent crime rate is related to drug trafficking or, even more specifically, what proportion of drug trafficking-related violent crimes can be attributed to spillover violence

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf report | Link to online summary

Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues

Pakistan's nuclear arsenal consists of approximately 60 nuclear warheads, although it could be larger. Islamabad is producing fissile material, adding to related production facilities, and deploying additional delivery vehicles. These steps will enable Pakistan to undertake both quantitative and qualitative improvements to its nuclear arsenal. Whether and to what extent Pakistan's current expansion of its nuclear weapons-related facilities is a response to the 2008 U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement is unclear. Islamabad does not have a public, detailed nuclear doctrine, but its "minimum credible deterrent" is widely regarded as primarily a deterrent to Indian military action. Pakistan has in recent years taken a number of steps to increase international confidence in the security of its nuclear arsenal. In addition to dramatically overhauling nuclear command and control structures since September 11, 2001, Islamabad has implemented new personnel security programs. Moreover, Pakistani and some U.S. officials argue that, since the 2004 revelations about a procurement network run by former Pakistani nuclear official A.Q. Khan, Islamabad has taken a number of steps to improve its nuclear security and to prevent further proliferation of nuclear-related technologies and materials. A number of important initiatives, such as strengthened export control laws, improved personnel security, and international nuclear security cooperation programs have improved Pakistan's security situation in recent years. Instability in Pakistan has called the extent and durability of these reforms into question. Some observers fear radical takeover of a government that possesses a nuclear bomb, or proliferation by radical sympathizers within Pakistan's nuclear complex in case of a breakdown of controls. While U.S. and Pakistani officials continue to express confidence in controls over Pakistan's nuclear weapons, continued instability in the country could impact these safeguards.

Source: Congressional Research Service

Download full pdf report | Link to online summary

Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Hate Crime: a London Case Study

...reveals the trends behind underreported violence against Muslims in London. It illuminates how contexts of fear and prejudice against Muslims are providing a basis for violence against Muslim communities. This is the first step in a ten year research project led by the European Muslim Research Centre at the University of Exeter that will investigate Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crime in towns and cities across Europe.

Source: European Muslim Research Centre, Univ. of Exeter

Download full pdf publication | Link to EMRC

Power, voice and rights: a turning point for gender equality in Asia and the Pacific.

From Press Release:

While Asia and the Pacific can take pride in the region’s vibrant economic transformation in recent decades, this has not translated into progress on gender equality.

Discrimination and neglect are threatening women’s very survival in the Asia-Pacific region, where women suffer from some of the world’s lowest rates of political representation, employment and property ownership. Their lack of participation is also depressing economic growth.

Those were some of the findings of the UNDP-sponsored 2010 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report launched today.“Empowering women is vital for achieving development goals overall, and for boosting economic growth and sustainable development,” said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, in presenting the Report: Power, Voice and Rights: A Turning Point for Gender Equality in Asia and the Pacific, here today. “Policy needs to advance gender equality, so that women as well as men can benefit from job creation and investments in social infrastructure.”

Source: UN Development Programme (UNDP)

Download full pdf publication | Link to press release

Mixed Views of Hamas and Hezbollah in Largely Muslim Nations

Across predominantly Muslim nations, there is little enthusiasm for the extremist Islamic organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, although there are pockets of support for both groups, especially in the Middle East.



A survey conducted May 18 to June 16, 2009 by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project also finds limited support for the Lebanese Shia organization Hezbollah.1 While most Palestinians (61%) and about half of Jordanians (51%) have a favorable view of Hezbollah, elsewhere opinions are less positive, including Egypt (43%) and Lebanon (35%). As with many issues in Lebanon, views of Hezbollah are sharply divided along religious lines: nearly all of the country's Shia Muslims (97%) express a positive opinion of the organization, while only 18% of Christians and 2% of Sunni Muslims feel this way.

Source: Pew Research Center

Download full pdf report | Link to online summary (with graphs)

Legitimacy and Deterrence Effects in Counter-Terrorism Policing: A Study of Muslim Americans

This study considers the circumstances under which members of the Muslim American community voluntarily cooperate with police efforts to combat terrorism. Cooperation is defined to include both a general receptivity toward helping the police in anti-terror work, and the specific willingness to alert police to terror related risks in a community. Two perspectives on why people cooperate with law enforcement, both developed with reference to general policing, are compared in the context of anti-terror policing and specifically among members of the Muslim American community. The first is instrumental. It suggests that people cooperate because they see tangible benefits that outweigh any costs. The second perspective is normative. It posits that people respond to their belief that police are a legitimate authority. On this view legitimacy is linked to the fairness and procedural justice of police procedures. Data from a study involving interviews with Muslim Americans in New York City between March and June 2009 strongly support the normative model by finding that the procedural justice of police activities is the primary factor shaping legitimacy and cooperation with the police.

Source: New York University Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers. Paper 182.

Download full pdf publication | link to online abstract

India Code Database

India Code the India Code Information System contains all Central Acts of Parliament right from 1836 onwards. Each Act includes: Short Title, Enactment Date, Sections, Schedule and also Foot notes.

Search on the following fields:
1. Act Year
2. Act Number
3. Short Title
4. Act Objective

Free Text Search is also available.

Source: Legislative Branch, Gov't of India


Link to India Code

Primary Sources: America’s Teachers on America’s Schools,

...a landmark report presenting the results of a national survey of more than 40,000 public school teachers in grades pre-K to 12. The survey reveals that, while teachers have high expectations for their students, they overwhelmingly agree that too many students are leaving unprepared for success beyond high school. Primary Sources reveals teachers’ thoughtful, nuanced views on issues at the heart of education reform – from performance pay and standardized tests to academic standards and teacher evaluation.

Source: Scholastic Inc. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Download full pdf report | Link to press release

Analysis Shows Varying Rates of Improvement in Low-Performing Schools

The report—the first in a four-part “Stuck Schools Series” that examines school achievement and improvement patterns—explores the data on improvement in initially low-performing schools in two states, Maryland and Indiana. These states were selected as examples because they illustrate quite different improvement patterns that are evident in the eight other states the authors examined.

Source: The Education Trust

Download full pdf report | Link to online summary

Social Networking and Constituent Communications: Member Use of Twitter During a Two-Month Period in the 111th Congress

Beginning with the widespread use of e-mail by Congress in the mid-1990's, the development of new electronic technologies has altered the traditional patterns of communication between Members of Congress and constituents. Many Members now use e-mail, official websites, blogs, YouTube channels, and Facebook pages to communicate with their constituents--technologies that were either non-existent or not widely available 15 years ago. These technologies have arguably served to enhance the ability of Members of Congress to fulfill their representational duties by providing greater opportunities for communication between the Member and individual constituents, supporting the fundamental democratic role of spreading information about public policy and government operations. In addition, electronic technology has reduced the marginal cost of constituent communications; unlike postal letters, Members can reach large numbers of constituents for a relatively small fixed cost. Despite these advantages, electronic communications have raised some concerns. Existing law and chamber regulations on the use of communication media such as the franking privilege have proven difficult to adapt to the new electronic technologies. This report examines Member use of one specific new electronic communication medium: Twitter. After providing an overview and background of Twitter, the report analyzes patterns of Member use of Twitter during August and September 2009. This report is inherently a snapshot in time of a dynamic process. As with any new technology, the number of Members using Twitter and the patterns of use may change rapidly in short periods of time. Thus, the conclusions drawn from this data can not be easily generalized nor can these results be used to predict future behavior. The data show that 205 Representatives and Senators are registered with Twitter (as of September 30, 2009) and issued a total of 7,078 "tweets" during the data collection period of August and September 2009. With approximately 38% of House Members and 39% of Senators registered with Twitter, Members sent an average of 116 tweets per day collectively. Members' use of Twitter can be divided into eight categories: position taking, policy, district or state activities, official congressional action, personal, media, campaign activities, and other. The data suggest that the most frequent type of tweets were district or state tweets (24%), followed by policy tweets (23%), media tweets (14%), and position-taking tweets (14%).

Source: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress

Download full pdf publication | Link to online Summary

Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile

This report presents a profile of the membership of the 111th Congress. Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age and length of service, occupation, religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign births, and military service. Currently, in the House of Representatives, there are 262 Democrats (including five Delegates and the Resident Commissioner), 178 Republicans, and one vacant seat. The Senate has 57 Democrats; 2 Independents, who caucus with the Democrats; and 41 Republicans. The average age of Members of both Houses of Congress at the beginning of the 111th Congress was 58.2 years; of Members of the House, 57.2 years; and of Senators, 63.1 years. The overwhelming majority of Members have a college education. The dominant professions of Members are public service/politics, business, and law. Protestants collectively constitute the majority religious affiliation of Members. Roman Catholics account for the largest single religious denomination, and numerous other affiliations are represented. The average length of service for Representatives at the beginning of the 111th Congress was 11.0 years (5.5 terms); for Senators 12.9 years ( 2.2 terms). A record number of 93 women serve in the 111th Congress: 76 in the House, 17 in the Senate. There are 41 African American Members of the House and one in the Senate. This number includes two Delegates. There are 29 Hispanic or Latino Members serving: 28 in the House, including the Resident Commissioner, and one in the Senate. Twelve Members (eight Representatives, two Delegates, and two Senators) are Asian or Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander. The only American Indian (Native American) serves in the House.

Source: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

A Human Rights-Based Approach to Programming Practical Information and Training Materials

This Manual provides step-by-step guidance on how to apply a culturally sensitive, gender-responsive, human rights-based approach to programming in each of UNFPA’s three core areas of work: population and development, reproductive health, and gender. It also covers how to apply such an approach in the context of a humanitarian emergency.

This Manual was designed primarily for use by UNFPA Country Staff, but will also be useful for UNFPA implementing partners and others working in the fields of population and development, sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment.

In addition to serving as a standalone reference tool, the Manual may also be used in conjuction with the accompanying Training Materials (Part III) as a basis for conducting a training in human rights-based programming.

This Manual was produced through a collaboration between the Program on International Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health and the Gender, Human Rights and Culture Branch of the UNFPA Technical Division, with the involvement of UNFPA staff and outside consultants.

Site to download report and materials in sections

Public Focuses on Health Care and Olympics Modest Rise in Expectation That Health Care Reform Will Pass

Americans say the two news stories they followed most closely last week were the reinvigorated debate over health care reform in Washington and the second week of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

In interviews shortly after the Feb. 25 bipartisan summit on health care legislation, a quarter of the public (25%) says they followed the health care debate more closely than any other story last week. A comparable number (24%) say they followed the Winter Olympics most closely, according to the latest News Interest Index survey, conducted Feb. 26-March 1 among 1,008 adults by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

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International benchmarking of healthcare quality

There is growing interest in the systematic assessment and international benchmarking of quality of care provided in different healthcare systems, and major work is under way to support this process through the development and validation of quality indicators that can be used internationally.

Recognising that cross-national data comparison remains a challenge, there is now a considerable body of data that allow for comparisons of healthcare quality in selected areas of care. The report includes a description of existing indicators that could be used to compare healthcare quality in different countries, along with a discussion of specific problems in making comparisons at this level of detail. This is illustrated with case studies of two measures widely used for international comparisons: avoidable mortality and cancer survival. These show both the potential power of cross-national comparisons and some of the difficulties in drawing valid interpretations from the data.

Source: RAND Corporation

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Understanding illicit drug markets, supply-reduction efforts, and drug-related crime in the European Union

The European Drugs Strategy concentrates on demand reduction and supply reduction through international cooperation and research, information and evaluation. However, efforts to provide insight in the different aspects of Europe’s illicit drug problems have largely focused on indicators developed to assess demand-side strategies. The development of measures capturing dimensions of the supply of different illicit substances is an emerging field in the EU. To advance these efforts, the European Commission DG Justice, Freedom and Security commissioned a study to recommend indicators for improving the understanding of illicit drug markets, supply reduction efforts, and drug-related crime in the EU. In this study we reviewed literature and RAND’s previous work in this area, and we gathered insights from European experts and policymakers.

Based on these insights and a conceptual framework for thinking about drug markets, we develop a number of immediate-term, near-term, and long-term recommendations. These recommendations will improve both Member States’ and the European Commission’s ability to monitor drug markets and drug-related crime as well as initiate analyses regarding the effectiveness of supply reduction strategies.

Source: RAND Corporation

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Responding to the Needs of Young Latino Children: State Efforts to Build Comprehensive Early Learning Systems

Recent policy developments and investments in early care and education (ECE) reflect a renewed commitment to improving the school readiness and, ultimately, the school success of young children. Most importantly, these new proposals present a prime opportunity to incentivize states to design early learning systems that meet the needs Latino children. This white paper examines how states are working to build comprehensive early learning standards and to address issues of professional development to ensure the success of Latino and English language learner children and families. Based on interviews with state leaders, the white paper reveals that states have a long way to go to develop early learning programs that are responsive to the needs of Latino and English language leaner children and families.

Source: National Council of La Raza

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MetLife Mature Market Institute Produces Demographic Profiles of Different Age Segments of American Adults

A series of publications from the MetLife Mature Market Institute provide a history of the generations born since the early 1900s. There are almost as many members of Gen Y (born 1977-1994) in the U.S. in comparison to the largest group, the Baby Boomers. Younger Baby Boomers, those 45-50, have the highest average income. All groups spend most of their money on housing and transportation. The youngest, Gen Y, say they are the healthiest; they are also projected to live the longest. The fastest growing sub-group is the over 85 group who number six million, including 99,000 centenarians. They have also seen the most change as some were born before cars, central heat and refrigerators were ubiquitous.

Download pdf profiles:
65+
Older Boomers
Middle Boomers
Younger Boomers
Gen X
Gen Y

Link to Summary and Press Release

Supporting Parents of Young Children in the Child Welfare System

This report explores the challenges and opportunities of improving mandated parent training for parents of young children in the child welfare system. Drawing on lessons from research and practice, it calls on states, courts and communities to use more intentional, cost effective, and strategic approaches to required parent training. The report is based on Improving Parenting Outcomes for Children in the Child Welfare System: an emerging issues roundtable that the National Center for Children in Poverty conducted in July 2007 in New York. The forum brought together leaders in child welfare, policymakers, philanthropists, researchers and those with practice expertise to explore the best means to ensure effective parenting training and to consider action steps to help this high risk population.

Source: National Center for Children in Poverty

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Strong Chinese growth resumes but increased social spending needed, says OECD report

With the help of massive government stimulus action, China is now leading the world economy out of recession, according to a new OECD report. Already the world’s second largest economy, China could well overtake the United States to become the leading producer of manufactured goods in the next five to seven years, it says.

Source: Organisation for economic cooperation and development

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Juveniles in Residential Placement

Presents information about juvenile offenders held in residential placement. The number of juvenile offenders in residential placement in publicly and privately operated juvenile facilities has declined steadily since 2000. In 2008, fewer than 81,000 juvenile offenders were housed, which represents the lowest number since 1993. This fact sheet includes data from the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement and the Juvenile Residential Facility Census, both of which are 1-day counts of the juvenile placement population.

Source: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (USDoJ)

Download full pdf publication | Link to Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Measuring the Information Society 2010

From the press release

Prices for information and communication technology (ICT) services are falling worldwide, yet broadband Internet remains outside the reach of many in poor countries, ITU says in its Measuring the Information Society 2010 report

The report features the latest ICT Development Index (IDI), which ranks 159 countries according to their ICT level and compares 2007 and 2008 scores. "The report confirms that despite the recent economic downturn, the use of ICT services has continued to grow worldwide," says Sami Al Basheer Al Morshid, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). All 159 countries included in the IDI have improved their ICT levels, and mobile cellular technology continues to be a key driver of growth. In 2010, ITU expects the global number of mobile cellular subscriptions to top five billion. "At the same time, the report finds that the price of telecommunication services is falling — a most encouraging development," said Mr Al Basheer.

The IDI combines 11 indicators into a single measure that can be used as a benchmarking tool globally, regionally, and at national level, as well as helping track progress over time. It measures ICT access, use and skills, and includes such indicators as households with a computer, the number of fixed broadband Internet subscribers, and literacy rates.

Source: International Telecommunication Union [via United Nations Pulse Blog]

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'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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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"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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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)

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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]

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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'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

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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

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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

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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

Download full pdf publication | Link to online summary

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