Digital Commons Network^™

The Next Los Angeles: The Struggle For A Livable City, Regina Freer, Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Peter Dreier

Mark Vallianatos

While most historians, journalists, and filmmakers have focused on Los Angeles as a bastion of corporate greed, business boosterism, political corruption, cheap labor, exploited immigrants, and unregulated sprawl, The Next Los Angeles tells a different story: that of the reformers and radicals who have struggled for alternative visions of social and economic justice. In a new preface, the authors reflect on the gathering momentum of L.A.'s progressive movement, including the 2005 landslide victory of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor.

Voting Rights Act Reauthorization: Research-Based Recommendations To Improve Voting Access, Christopher Edley, Ana Henderson

Ana Henderson

No abstract provided.

Accountability By Design In Literacy Professional Development, Catherine Rosemary, Patricia Grogan, Kathryn Kinnucan-Welsch

Kathryn A. Kinnucan-Welsch

This article identifies the principles of high-quality professional development based on research and explores how the principles were used to examine the Literacy Specialist Project (LSP) in Ohio. It discusses how each principle was related to literacy professional development using examples from the LSP, reports data from the project about teacher and student learning, and presents implications and additional questions related to accountability systems for professional development.

Occupational Hearing Loss In Agricultural Settings, Marilia Antunez

Marilia Y. Antunez, MLS, MA

Most of the materials on hearing loss due to noise in the agricultural industry are training and research-oriented materials in the form of brochures, manuals, and journal articles, published by academic presses, government associations, and professional organizations, respectively. Few books are entirely devoted to the topic of hearing loss in agricultural settings. Recently, many occupational and safety Web sites have been adding information and links to publications dealing with hearing loss in the agricultural industry. This Webliography represents the author's best efforts to briefly describe some authoritative Web sites with information targeted to individuals interested in farm occupational hearing loss.

Environment, Disaster, And Race After Katrina, Manuel Pastor, Robert Bullard, James Boyce, Alice Fothergill, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Beverly Wright

Robert D Bullard

No abstract provided.

Criminal Procedure: The Constitution And The Police, Examples And Explanations, Robert Bloom, Mark Brodin

Robert Bloom

No abstract provided.

National Assessment Program : Civics And Citizenship Years 6 And 10 Report 2004, Suzanne Mellor, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, Nicole Wernert

Nicole Wernert

The National Civics and Citizenship Sample Assessment was conducted in October 2004 with 10,712 Year 6 students from 318 schools and 9,536 Year 10 students from 249 schools. At both year levels, a sample of schools was selected with a probability proportional to size and then a sample of up to two classrooms was selected at random from those schools. The sample design and procedures, the high response rates (more than 90 percent) and the low levels of exclusions ensured that there was very little bias in the sample. The assessment was representative of the elements identified in the assessment …

Environmental Equity Is Child's Play: Mapping Public Provision Of Recreation Opportunities In Urban Neighbourhoods, Jason Gilliland, Martin Holmes, Jennifer Irwin, Patricia Tucker

Trish Tucker

This paper examines the spatial distribution of recreational opportunities for children and youth in a mid-sized Canadian city (London, Ontario), in relation to the socioeconomic status of neighbourhoods and estimated local need for publicly provided recreation spaces. Public recreation facilities (N = 537) throughout the city were identified, mapped and analysed in a geographic information system. To explore potential socio-environmental inequities, neighbourhoods (N = 22) were characterized by socioeconomic and environmental variables, an index of neighbourhood social distress, a neighbourhood play space needs index, and measures of the prevalence and density of recreational opportunities. The results of the spatial analysis …

Feasibility Of A Campus-Based "Buddy System" To Promote Physical Activity: Canadian Students' Perspectives, Patricia Tucker, Jennifer Irwin

Trish Tucker

Objective: To explore the characteristics of a university-wide buddy system that students would be receptive to using. Methods: This study targeted a heterogeneous sample of undergraduate university students age 18 to 25 y. An experienced moderator, using a semi-structured interview guide, conducted 13 focus groups (n = 65). Focus group discussions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Inductive content analysis was conducted independently by two researchers. Measures were incorporated throughout to ensure data trustworthiness. Results: The value of this campus-based physical activity intervention was emphasized by the vast majority of participants. Five main themes exemplified students' preferences: sign-up methods; matching …

Surveillance Of The Colorectal Cancer Disparities Among Demographic Subgroups: A Spatial Analysis, Chiehwen Hsu, Francisco Soto Mas

Francisco Soto Mas

Objective: The literature suggests that colorectal cancer mortality in Texas is distributed inhomogeneously among specific demographic subgroups and in certain geographic regions over an extended period. To understand the extent of the demographic and geographic disparities, the present study examined colorectal cancer mortality in 15 demographic groups in Texas counties between 1990 and 2001. Methods: The Spatial Scan Statistic was used to assess the standardized mortality ratio, duration and age-adjusted rates of excess mortality, and their respective p-values for testing the null hypothesis of homogeneity of geographic and temporal distribution. Results: The study confirmed the excess mortality in some Texas …

It Works For Us, Collaboratively! : Shared Tips For Effective Collaboration, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe

Hal Blythe

"Collaborating is a highly effective skill we develop and use throughout our lives … until we become faculty." Thus the authors begin their journey into yet another in their popular "It Works" series that include: It Works for Me! Shared Tips for Teaching It Works for Me, Too! More Shared Tips for Teaching It Works for Me, Online! Shared Tips for Online and Web-Enhanced Teaching Everyone in the following pages—the authors’ collaborators—has found some area of academia that has been improved through the use of collaboration. The book begins by presenting some general tips about collaboration, then moves to more …

Literacy In The First Three Years Of School : A Longitudinal Investigation, Marion Meiers, Siek Toon Khoo

Dr Siek Toon Khoo

The ACER Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy Study (LLANS) was designed to follow the growth in literacy and numeracy of a single cohort of students across the years of primary school. A sample of 1000 students in 100 schools formed the cohort for the study, which commenced in 1999. A linked set of literacy assessment tasks focused on key aspects of literacy was developed for the LLANS. Assessment data collected across the years of primary school provided information needed to construct a long LLANS literacy scale covering the full range of proficiency. The scale was used to measure change and track …

National Assessment Program : Civics And Citizenship Years 6 And 10 Report 2004, Suzanne Mellor, John Ainley, Julian Fraillon, Nicole Wernert

Julian Fraillon

The National Civics and Citizenship Sample Assessment was conducted in October 2004 with 10,712 Year 6 students from 318 schools and 9,536 Year 10 students from 249 schools. At both year levels, a sample of schools was selected with a probability proportional to size and then a sample of up to two classrooms was selected at random from those schools. The sample design and procedures, the high response rates (more than 90 percent) and the low levels of exclusions ensured that there was very little bias in the sample. The assessment was representative of the elements identified in the assessment …

Promoting Investments In Intangible Organizational Assets Through Aligned Incentive Compensation Plans, Susan Hughes, Craig Caldwell, Kathy Paulson Gjerde

Craig B. Caldwell

Religious Perspectives On Business Ethics, Scott Paeth, Thomas O'Brien

Thomas W O'Brien

In the first anthology of its kind, Thomas O'Brien and Scott Paeth have gathered unique pieces from across religious perspectives to illustrate the growing influence and contribution of religion to the field of business ethics. Tackling such wide-ranging subjects as Jewish environmental ethics, Zen in the workplace, and Christian social ethics, this text is a valuable addition to business ethics courses.

Pricing Coordination Failures And Health Care Provider Integration, Karen Eggleston, George Norman, Lynne Pepall

Karen N Eggleston

The rise of managed healthcare organizations (MCOs) and the associated increased integration among providers has transformed US healthcare and at the same time raised antitrust concern. This paper examines how competition among MCOs affects the efficiency gains of improved price coordination achieved through integration. MCOs offer differentiated services and contract with specialized and complementary upstream providers to supply these services. We identify strategic pricing equilibria under three different market structures: overlapping upstream physician-hospital alliances, upstream-downstream arrangements such as Preferred Provider Organizations, and vertically integrated Health Maintenance Organizations. The efficiency gains achieved depend not only on organizational form but also on …

European Integration And International Relations Theory, Engin Erdem

ENGIN I ERDEM Dr.

One of the most significant developments in the twenty-century world politics has been the foundation of European Community (EC), and its evolution into the European Union (EU). Now, the EU is a supranational entity that is composed of twenty-five member states while it will be twenty-seven with the membership of Bulgaria and Romania in January 2007. The EU poses great challenges for both the policy and academic world. On one hand, the EU has become a powerful international actor in the current international politics. On the other hand, the academic world needs to explain the genesis and development of European …

The Perfectionists Of Oneida And Wallingford, Charles Nordhoff, Paul Royster

Paul Royster

The Perfectionists of Oneida, New York, and Wallingford, Connecticut, are best known for their practice of what they called “complex marriage,” a system of polygamy and polyandry devised by their founder John Humphrey Noyes (1811–1886). This account by Charles Nordhoff (1830-1901), a journalist based in New York, was drawn from his visits to the Perfectionist colonies, and includes a description of their history, organization, manners, beliefs, worship, faith-cures, and their practice of “criticism.”

Notes Geographical And Historical, Relating To The Town Of Brooklyn, In Kings County On Long-Island. (1824) An Online Electronic Text Edition., Gabriel Furman, Paul Royster

Paul Royster

Furman’s work is one of the earliest compilations of historical documents (with commentary) about an American city, in this case his native Brooklyn. It is an invaluable source of information on the early Dutch and English settlements of Brooklyn, Flatbush, Bushwick, New Lotts, Canarsie, Bedford, New Utrecht, Jamaica, and New Amsterdam, and their controversies with one another and with the Governors of New York and the crown of England. Included are original documents relative to the Indian purchases, original boundaries, water rights, ferry rights, wood rights, and forms of town government. Sections include: Situation of the Town of Brooklyn, Ancient …

A Two Years Journal In New-York: And Part Of Its Territories In America (1701), Charles Wolley, Edward Bourne, Paul Royster

Paul Royster

This description of the city and inhabitants of New York and its environs was written by the Anglican chaplain who resided there in the years 1678–1680, who published it twenty years after his return to England. A large portion concerns the life and manners of the Native inhabitants, obtained both by direct observation and conversation, and by reports from the official government interpreter. The remainder concerns the habits and commerce of the largely Dutch inhabitants of the city. It is an anecdotal description, sprinkled with quotations from English and classical writers, but very homely in its accounts of such diverse …

A Relation Of The Indian War, By Mr. Easton, Of Rhode Island, 1675, John Easton, Paul Royster

Paul Royster

John Easton (1617-1705) was deputy governor of Rhode Island in the winter of 1675-1676 when he wrote this account of the beginnings of King Philip’s War. One copy of the document was sent to Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of New York, and it was preserved in the state archives and is the original source of the version presented here. Jenny Hale Pulsipher writes that Easton "also may have sent copies of the narrative to England, proving to authorities that, contrary to Massachusetts’s repeated protests, the colonies, not the Indians, bore responsibility for the conflict." The "Relation" apparently circulated among …

Beginnings Of The 'Innocence Revolution', Timothy O'Neill

Timothy P. O'Neill

Lyapunov Exponents For Small Aspect Ratio Rayleigh-Benard Convection, Janet Scheel, M. Cross

Janet D. Scheel

Leading order Lyapunov exponents and their corresponding eigenvectors have been computed numerically for small aspect ratio, three-dimensional Rayleigh-Benard convection cells with no-slip boundary conditions. The parameters are the same as those used by Ahlers and Behringer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 40, 712 (1978)] and Gollub and Benson [J. Fluid Mech. 100, 449 (1980)] in their work on a periodic time dependence in Rayleigh-Benard convection cells. Our work confirms that the dynamics in these cells truly are chaotic as defined by a positive Lyapunov exponent. The time evolution of the leading order Lyapunov eigenvector in the chaotic regime will also be discussed. …

Chapter 7: The Evaluation Of Ontologies, Leo Obrst, Benjamin Ashpole, Werner Ceusters, Inderjeet Mani, Steven Ray, Barry Smith

Steven R Ray

Recent years have seen rapid progress in the development of ontologies as semantic models intended to capture and represent aspects of the real world. There is, however, great variation in the quality of ontologies. If ontologies are to become progressively better in the future, more rigorously developed, and more appropriately compared, then a systematic discipline of ontology evaluation must be created to ensure quality of content and methodology. Systematic methods for ontology evaluation will take into account representation of individual ontologies, performance and accuracy on tasks for which the ontology is designed and used, degree of alignment with other ontologies …

Howe V. Mgh And Hudson V. Texas Children's Hospital: Two Approaches To Resolving Family-Physician Disputes In End-Of-Life Care, Michael Moreland

Michael P. Moreland

No abstract provided.

New Evidence On Eastern Europe's Pollution Progress , Matthew Kahn

Matthew E Kahn

Under communism, Eastern Europe's cities were significantly more polluted than their Western European counterparts. An unintended consequence of communism's decline is to improve urban environmental quality. This paper uses several new data sets to measure these gains. National level data are used to document the extent of convergence across nations in sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions. Based on a panel data set from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, ambient sulfur dioxide levels have fallen both because of composition and technique effects. The incidence of this local public good improvement is analyzed.

Transforming Into An International Lawyer, Susan Franck

Susan D. Franck

No abstract provided.

Lobbying Bureaucrats, Sven Feldmann, Morten Bennedsen

Sven Feldmann

We study how interest group lobbying of the bureaucracy affects policy outcomes and how it changes the legislature's willingness to delegate decision-making authority to the bureaucracy. We extend the standard model of delegation to account for interest group influence during the implementation stage of policy. We analyze how the decision to delegate changes when the bureaucratic agent is subject to external influence. The optimal degree of delegation as well as the extent to which interest groups influence policy outcomes differ depending on whether the system of government is characterized by unified or divided control. The result is a comparative theory …

The Role Of Bnp Testing In Heart Failure, Jenny Doust, Richard Lehman, Paul Glasziou

Jenny Doust

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are simple and objective measures of cardiac function. These measurements can be used to diagnose heart failure, including diastolic dysfunction, and using them has been shown to save money in the emergency department setting. The high negative predictive value of BNP tests is particularly helpful for ruling out heart failure. Treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin-II receptor blockers, spironolactone, and diuretics reduces BNP levels, suggesting that BNP testing may have a role in monitoring patients with heart failure. However, patients with treated chronic stable heart failure may have levels in the normal range (i.e., BNP …

Staffing The Modern Library: A How-To-Do-It Manual, John M. Cohn, Ann L. Kelsey (Eds.). Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., New York (2005), (How-To-Do-It Manuals For Librarians, No. 137). Isbn: 1-55570-511-1, Elizabeth Parang

Elizabeth Parang

No abstract provided.