Digital Commons Network^™

Selection Bias In College Admissions Test Scores, Jesse Rothstein, Melissa Clark, Diane Schanzenbach

Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

Data from college admissions tests can provide a valuable measure of student achievement, but the non-representativeness of test-takers is an important concern. We examine selectivity bias in both state-level and school-level SAT and ACT averages. The degree of selectivity may differ importantly across and within schools, and across and within states. To identify within-state selectivity, we use a control function approach that conditions on scores from a representative test. Estimates indicate strong selectivity of test-takers in "ACT states," where most college- bound students take the ACT, and much less selectivity in SAT states. To identify within- and between-school selectivity, we …

Organizational Values, Social Responsibility, And Corporate Citizenship: The Case Of Nevada State College, Grace S. Thomson

Dr. Grace S. Thomson

Organizational Values, Social Responsibility, and Corporate Citizenship Organizations contribute more than products and services to the society. The generation of jobs, creation of wealth and satisfaction of needs are only a portion of the influence that organizations have in a community. Likewise, organizations are increasingly engaging in social responsible initiatives to respond to the concerns of their various stakeholders (Aguilera, Rupp, Williams, & Ganapathi, 2007). Organizations with a genuine interest for social responsibility and citizenship possess value systems that articulate and integrate these social motives into their corporate strategy (Graber & Kilpatrick, 2008). Higher education institutions in the United States …

Strengthening Security And Oversight At Biological Research Laboratories, Michael Greenberger

Michael Greenberger

With the advent of the Anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001, this Nation has been confronted with a serious policy conundrum. On the one hand, we have strengthened programs that encourage the use of our best scientific resources to develop countermeasures to the weaponization of highly dangerous biopathogens. On the other hand, research on those countermeasures requires the use of the very biopathogens we seek to defeat. There have been many mishaps in the handling of those pathogens, which raises the frightening prospect that the research may be as (or more) dangerous than the potential bioterrorist acts themselves. Indeed, …

The Brazilian Consensus, Andrea P. Pradilla

Andrea P Pradilla

No abstract provided.

Ideologia E Utopias Nas Mais Recentes Constituintes Brasileira E Portuguesa: Algumas Linhas De Leitura, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Based upon a political compromise, in which « democratic socialists » and « social democrats » were the main protagonists, the ideology of Portuguese Constitution of 1976 was discrete, subtle. And ulterior constitutional revisions confirmed that fondamental aspect. Of course, utopia was present. But, even more present was the « hope principle ». We believe that the Brazilean constituent assembly, with the original importance of popular contributions, also had hope principle’s decisive influence. But the dinamics of the constituent assembly moderated, since the very beggining, the verbal signs of less discret ideologies. Utopia, neverthless, is very present in the aim …

Re-Visioning The Future Of Work: Towards A New Mindset, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.

The Obama Administration's Challenges After The 'War On Science': Reforming Staffing Practices And Protecting Scientific Integrity In The Executive Branch, Justin Vaughn, José Villalobos

José D. Villalobos

In this article, we examine the difficult leadership position President Barack Obama inherited as he took office with respect to science and technology policy making and implementation, particularly following the Bush administration and years of the so-called "war on science." We contend that the Obama administration's challenge is not only to take substantive policy action, but also to reform certain administrative practices, particularly in light of the previous administration's practice of the politics of strategic vacancies, a managerial technique that rearranges an agency's ideological inclinations not through the usual forms of active politicization (i.e., by filling the appointee ranks with …

Youtube: Spotlight On Policy, Dr. Greg Hill On Educational Attainment, Greg Hill

Gregory C. Hill

In this episode of SPOTLIGHT ON POLICY, Dr. Greg Hill, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Administration discusses educational attainment measures for the Boise MSA and Idaho. Spotlight on Policy is a production of the Public Policy Center at Boise State University. http://ppa.boisestate.edu/centerppa/

Improvement And Growth Of Local Productive Systems From Identity, Selfsufficiency, Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, Luciana Mercedes Girotto

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

This paper intends to begin the discussion of a new territorial development perspective. According to Boisier, the concept of territorial development is understood as one related to the idea of container, rather than content. Therefore, it is understood that, even though every portion of the earth surface is territory, not all territories are important from a developmental perspective. The aforementioned author differentiates among: “natural territory”, composed by natural elements free from any human intervention; "equipped territory" or “intervened territory”, where man has already built transport systems, infrastructure and even extractive production activities; and "organized territory", characterized by a community with …

An "Act Of God": Race, Religion, And Policy In The Wake Of Hurricane Katrina, Seneca Vaught

Seneca Vaught

This essay addresses how characterization of Hurricane Katrina as an “act of God” exposed historical racial cleavages and policy challenges in post-Katrina America. Act-of-God rhetoric not only stemmed from religious history but was also largely informed by America's racial legacy. Usage of the term often absolved individuals and institutions from personal responsibility and economic liability, especially when the specter of race could be invoked. The term also revealed generational ideological differences within the Black community itself, posing significant questions about the discourse of race and religion in post–civil rights America.

Organized Crime In West Africa: Options For Eu Engagement, Emmanuel Aning

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

Worldwide, organized crime is considered a major threat to human security. Organized crime impedes social, economic, cultural and democratic developments globally, with disproportionate effects on developing and fragile states. The threat and challenges of organized crime in Africa in general and West Africa in particular is enormous because of the high presence of fragile states serving as potential breeding grounds for such activities (Commission of the European Communities 2007: 5). In Africa, as in the rest of the world, organized criminal activities take the form of drug trafficking, advanced fee and Internet fraud, human trafficking, diamond smuggling, forgery, cigarette smuggling, …

Tobacco Use Policymaking And Administration In Bhutan, Michael S. Givel

Michael S. Givel

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Link Between Gun Possession And Gun Assault, Charles C. Branas, Therese S. Richmond, Dennis P. Culhane, Thomas R. Ten Have, Douglas J. Wiebe

Dennis P. Culhane

Objectives. We investigated the possible relationship between being shot in an assault and possession of a gun at the time.

Methods. We enrolled 677 case participants that had been shot in an assault and 684 population-based control participants within Philadelphia from 2003 to 2006. We adjusted odds ratios for confounding variables.

Results. After adjustment, individuals in possession of a gun were 4.46 (P<.05) times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not in possession. Among gun assaults where the victim had at least some chance to resist, this adjusted

odds ratio increased to 5.45 (P<.05).

Conclusions. On average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. Although successful defensive gun uses occur each year, the probability of success may be …

Community Based Divorce Education Programmes: Short-Term And Longer-Term Impacts, Sherrill W. Hayes, Lori Pelletier

Sherrill W. Hayes

Public Relations And War: Socially Responsible Or Unethical, John R. Fisher

Dr. John R. Fisher

This article applies symmetrical public relations to warfare and argues that it is not possible because the purpose of public relations in wartime is to persuade and control information.

Employment In Construction And Distribution Industries: The Impact Of The New Jobs Tax Credit, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

Excerpt] The New Jobs Tax Credit (NJTC) offers a tax credit of fifty percent of the first $4200 of wages per employee for increases in employment of more than two percent over the previous year. Economic theory predicts that such a tax credit should stimulate employment, decrease hours worked per week, and reduce product prices of the subsidized industries. A time series analysis of the construction, retailing, and wholesaling industries finds strong support for these hypotheses. Our results suggest that the NJTC was responsible for 150,000-670,000 of the more than 1-million increase in employment that occurred between mid-1977 and mid-1978 …

Keeping National Health Insurance (Nhi) Accessible For All. 台北時報論壇, Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Media reports say that Taiwan Health Insurance Bureau and the Department of Health are proposing an amendment to the health insurance laws to require every returned overseas Taiwanese who has been abroad for more than six months be resident in Taiwan for four months before he or she becomes eligible to re-enroll in the National Health Insurance (NHI) program. The proposed amendment arose from a small portion of overseas Taiwanese who are have allegedly played medical tourists, returning to Taiwan for medical treatments under the NHI plan. The amendments’ proponents urged “restoring equality” in the NHI. However, the proposal could …

A Service Choice Model For Optimizing Taxi Service Delivery, Shih-Fen Cheng, Xin Qu

Shih-Fen CHENG

Taxi service has undergone radical revamp in recent years. In particular, significant investments in communication system and GPS devices have improved quality of taxi services through better dispatches. In this paper, we propose to leverage on such infrastructure and build a service choice model that helps individual drivers in deciding whether to serve a specific taxi stand or not. We demonstrate the value of our model by applying it to a real-world scenario. We also highlight interesting new potential approaches that could significantly improve the quality of taxi services.

Blind Matching Versus Matchmaking: Comparison Group Selection For Highly Creative Researchers, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira, Juan Rogers

Philip Shapira

This research examines approaches for constructing a comparison group relative to highly creative researchers in nanotechnology and human genetics in the US and Europe. Such a comparison group would be useful in identifying factors that contribute to scientific creativity in these emerging fields. Two comparison group development approaches are investigated. The first approach is based on propensity score analysis and the second is based on knowledge from the literature on scientific creativity and early career patterns. In the first approach, the log of citations over the years of activity in the domains under analysis produces a significant result, but the …

Teaching Students And Teaching Each Other: The Importance Of Peer Learning For Teachers, Clement (Kirabo) Jackson, Elias Bruegmann

C. Kirabo Jackson

Using student examination data linked to longitudinal teacher personnel data, we document that a teacher’s students have larger test score gains when she experiences an improvement in the observable characteristics of her colleagues. Using within-school and within-teacher variation, we further show that a teacher’s students have larger test score gains when she has more effective colleagues (based on their own students’ achievement gains from an out-of-sample pre-period). A one standard deviation increase in average teacher peer quality is associated with an increase of 0.02 and 0.04 standard deviations in student test score growth in reading and math respectively (about one …

Gouverner: Détecter Et Prévenir!, Antoinette Rouvroy

Antoinette Rouvroy

No abstract provided.

American Red Cross Academy: Team-Building And Leadership Development, Anne L. Drabczyk

Dr. Anne L. Drabczyk

This research explored and validated value-based organizational indicators in order to enable co-construction of the American Red Cross Leadership Academy. Participation in the leadership experience would foster deeper membership accountability toward fulfilling requisite disaster response functions. Through an appreciative inquiry method, a cohort discovered and acknowledged individual, collective, and organizational strength-based values. An emergent cohort profile was generative in nature and cultivated vision statements that synchronized collective strengths and values with organizational responsibilities. Self-identified strengths and values provided tangible traction upon which associates could foster design and deployment accountability strategies. The cohort was able to create a customized leadership curriculum …

Ecowas And Conflict Prevention In West Africa: Confronting The Triple Threats, Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, A. Sarjoh Bah

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning

In this paper, Dr. A. Sarjoh Bah and Dr. Kwesi Aning, addresses three critical transnational challenges, referred to as the “triple threats” confronting West Africa, namely: governance, drug trafficking and small arms and light weapons. They contend that the combined effects of these threats could undermine the security and stability of the entire sub-region. Consequently the analysis focuses on policy responses by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in confronting the triple threats and offers specific recommendations on how these responses can be enhanced. Among other things, the authors call on ECOWAS to articulate its concerns relating to …

Review: The Limits Of Boundaries: Why City-Regions Cannot Be Self-Governing, By Andrew Sancton, Christopher D. Gore

Christopher D Gore

No abstract provided.

Federalism And National Integration In Nigeria (1999-2007), Fab O. Onah Phd, Ozy B. Orluwene Jp

Dr Ozy B.Orluwene,JP

ABSTRACT This study examined the concept of federalism and the issue of national integration in Nigeria from 1999-2007. It is observed that governance in Nigeria is replete with very many contradictions, controversies, paradoxes and crises emanating from the country’s fragile experiment in a multi-ethnic federalism. These have generated conflicting interests, which have over the years lingered unresolved since Lord Lugard forced the amalgamation of disparate and isolated ethno-linguistic nationalities into a country in 1914. Considerable information on federalism, national integration and related concepts were synthesized. The literature review identified gaps, which the study addressed. Source of data for the study …

“'Roots Run Deep Here': The Construction Of Black New Orleans In Post-Katrina Tourism Narratives", Lynnell L. Thomas

Lynnell Thomas

This article explores the emergent post-Katrina tourism narrative and its ambivalent racialization of the city. Tourism officials are compelled to acknowledge a New Orleans outside the traditional tourist boundaries – primarily black, often poor, and still largely neglected by the city and national governments. On the other hand, tourism promoters do not relinquish (and do not allow tourists to relinquish) the myths of racial exoticism and white supremacist desire for a construction of blacks as artistically talented but socially inferior.

Submission To The Independent Review Of The Environment Protection And Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Graham Bowrey, Ciorstan J. Smark

Graham Bowrey

Please find following a submission to the Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999. This submission focuses on reviewing the level of compliance with Section 516A (Annual reports to deal with environmental matters) of the EPBC Act 1999 by addressing the following questions raised in the Independent Review of the EPBC Act’s Discussion Paper: Question 37 – Does the Act contain sufficient comprehensive and appropriate range of enforcement mechanisms? Are those mechanisms capable of deterring and responding to contraventions of the Act? Question 40 – Does the Act provide sufficient guidance for decision makers in …

Should Pakistan Sign Ctbt?, Rabia Akhtar

Rabia Akhtar, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Self-Interest, Symbolic Attitudes, And Support For Public Policy: A Multilevel Analysis, Richard Lau, Caroline Heldman

Caroline Heldman

This paper examines the role of self-interest and symbolic attitudes as predictors of support for two domestic policy issues—guaranteed jobs and incomes and national health insurance—in the American National Election Survey (ANES) between 1972 and 2004. As was the case in 1976 when Sears, Lau, Tyler, and Allen (1980) first explored this topic, symbolic attitudes continue to be much more important predictors of policy attitudes than various indicators of self-interest over the 30 years we analyze. We explore this finding further to determine whether any individual/internal and external/contextual variables affect the magnitude of self-interest effects on policy support. Five possible …

Public Perspectives On The Nuclear Future, Hank C. Jenkins-Smith, Kerry G. Herron

Hank C Jenkins-Smith

Policy experts have traditionally relegated public opinion to the sidelines where US nuclear weapons policy is concerned. The public is expected to be too ill-equipped and disinterested to contribute to policy in a meaningful way. Using data from a series of nationwide studies of the structure of public opinion on nuclear issues spanning more than a decade, we explore the nature of public opinion about nuclear weapons, deterrence and terrorism. We find greater stability and coherence that might be expected, and clear trends that reflect sensitivity to changing international circumstances. We argue that the generation of stable policies will require …