Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Introduction, James Jennings

Trotter Review

The Summer 1995 issue of the Trotter Review, "Public Health and Communities of Color: Challenges and Strategies," provides a range of essays and two personal commentaries on facets of public health, race, and ethnicity in urban America. The essays are written by scholars and activists familiar with public health and issues of race, access, and diversity. The first article is the Executive Summary of the Institute of Medicine's national report, Balancing the Scales of Opportunity: Ensuring Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Health Professions. This report focuses on the problem of underrepresentation of Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans in the …

Programmatic Responses To The Aids Epidemic By Communities Of Color In Massachusetts, Ron E. Armstead

Trotter Review

The Centers for Disease Control found that minorities now account for more than half of all the HIV cases in the United States. For African Americans, the rate was more than 5 times as high as that for whites. Further, the disease has equally affected women and children in the African American community; 84% of the AIDS cases involving children age 12 and under can be found in the African American community. AIDS has now become the second leading cause of death for African American women. This essay describes a research project focusing on the factors involved in developing and …

Improving Health Care For Disadvantaged Local Communities: Proposing User Fees Based On Some International Experiences, Saskia Wilhelms

Trotter Review

The fact that national health care reform in the United States has been stalled is not reason for resign. More than ever, one has to design and implement creative options to achieve satisfactory health service at low costs. The political turnover in Congress shifts more responsibility to local governments. This means less funding and less willingness by the national government to be held accountable for health and social services. On the other hand, this situation may carry opportunity to impact social policies on a local level.

The living conditions in some of our communities equal those in so-called third world …

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley

New England Journal of Public Policy

These two issues of the Journal focus exclusively on the Latino community in the United States, which is the fastest-growing minority in the country. It is a development that poses profound questions regarding the course this country will take into the twenty-first century and the way in which it will define itself. It will sever the almost metaphysical distinctions between the melting pot and multiculturalism, opposites on a philosophical curve that are as much self-created as self-evident.

Three areas of Latino experience are examined in this volume — the impact of immigration policies, employment and income opportunities, and the degree …

Foreword, Edwin Meléndez

New England Journal of Public Policy

This is the first of two parts of "Latinos in a Changing Society"; Part II is scheduled for Fall/Winter 1995 publication. The following articles provide new insights into several key areas of concern: immigration, employment and income, and political participation. Part II articles will address education, health, and identity and ethnicity.

Income And The School Funding Formula: A Contrary View, Ralph Townsend

Maine Policy Review

School funding in Maine remains a controversial and complex issue. Economist Ralph Townsend provides one perspective on this issue in his commentary.

An Interview With Janet Waldron: Reforming Maine State Government, Janet Waldron

Maine Policy Review

This past year Janet Waldron was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services for the State of Maine, planting her firmly in the center of a number of recent Maine state government reform initiatives. In this interview, Waldron discusses some of these current initiatives and in the process, offers a vision of a more streamlined, responsive, and accountable government.

Technology Policy: A Fixture On The National Agenda, Robert W. Rycroft, Don E. Kash, Richard Adams

Maine Policy Review

Federal government research and development priorities have shifted in recent years away from areas of national security and agency missions, and toward the enhancement of industrial competitiveness in the global economy. This shift has stirred ideological controversy over whether the federal government should be in the business of picking "winners" and "losers," even prompting some to label this practice “corporate welfare.” Rycroft, Kash, and Adams suggest that the central issues at stake have little to do with ideological differences and a great deal to do with whether the U.S.will continue to lead the world in technological innovation. They describe a …

The Complexities Of Decision-Making Related To Health Risk Assessments, Barbara A. Knuth

Maine Policy Review

Maine, like the nation, has focused a great deal of recent attention on determining acceptable levels of environmental and human health risk. Barbara discusses the role and uses of scientific information in risk assessment and public policy debate. Similar to Kevin Boyle's previous article (featured in the December 1994 issue of Maine Policy Review), Knuth discusses the 1992 Maine Board of Environmental Protection hearings which focused on the human consumption of fish potentially contaminated with dioxin.