Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Targeted Interventions Could Ease Maine's Prison And Jail Populations, Mark Rubin

Justice Policy

Overcrowding and rising costs in Maine’s corrections system have become a serious problem. In the past twenty years, the average daily population in state prisons has grown 74 percent, while county jails have grown 193 percent. To accommodate this growth, Maine, in 2004, spent $127,343,971, not including debt service, to operate the prisons and county jails. This brief examines state prison, county jail, and probation population trends since 2004 and identifies key factors driving the number of prisoners

University Of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Connect, February 2008

Connect (University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension)

Inside this issue:

pg. 3 Youth-adult partnerships
pg. 5 Beef home study
pg. 7 Leadership training

Catholic Deaf Newsletter, February-March 2008

Catholic Deaf Newsletter

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Harford, CT

Catholic Deaf Newsletter Finding Aid

Enhance Your Performance Through Goal Setting, Randy Borum

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

America's Health Insurance Crisis - Talking Points, Derek Wilmott

Publications

This last documentary by Peter Jennings aims the lens on the country’s health insurance system. Why is there a growing number of uninsured in this country? Why do people, who can afford the ever-increasing prices, cannot get insurance? Peter Jennings finds that spiraling costs and the growing number of uninsured are all part of a health insurance system in a state of crisis.

The Impact Of Tourism On Host Communities, Miral Ahmed Dwedar El-Bassyouni

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Parent-Child Relations And Peer Associations As Mediators Of The Family Structure-Substance Use Relationship, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988, the authors assess the extent to which adolescents’ levels of parental attachment and opportunities for participating in delinquent activities mediate the family structure–substance use relationship. A series of hierarchical regressions supported the hypotheses that high levels of substance use among adolescents residing with stepfamilies would be explained by low parental attachment, whereas heightened opportunities for participating in deviant activities would account for the substance use behaviors of individuals living in single-parent households. More generally, the findings suggest that family structure has a moderate effect on youth substance use; that parental …

Black History Month 2008 Supplement

Diversity Programs

Lectures, Cultural Events and Cuisine during Black Heritage Month, February 2008.

Black Heritage Month 2008

Diversity Programs

Lectures, Cultural Events and Cuisine during Black Heritage Month, February 2008.

Job Creation In The Gaza Strip During The Second Intifada, Hashim Saud Al Hussaini

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Heather Heckel On Child Soldiers: From Violence To Protection By Michael Wessells. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006. 284 Pp., Heather Heckel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Child Soldiers: From Violence to Protection by Michael Wessells. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006. 284 pp.

Nebraska Agriculture Fact Card

Department of Agricultural Economics: News, Announcements, and Information

Cash receipts from farm marketings contributed over $12 billion to Nebraska’s economy in 2006, ranking 4th in the nation.

Nebraska’s six leading commodities (in order of importance) for cash receipts are cattle and calves, corn, soybeans, hogs, wheat, and dairy products, which represent 95 percent of the state's total farm receipts.

Nebraska's Top National Rankings

Nebraska Ag Facts

Nebraska's Natural Resources

[Review Of] A Dictionary Of Shakespeare In Performance, 1970-2005: V. 1: Great Britain, Robert A. Aken

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

A Positive Theory Of Income Taxation Where Politicians Focus Upon Swing And Core Voters, John E. Roemer

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We construct an equilibrium model of party competition, in which parties are especially concerned with their core and swing voters, concerns which American political scientists have focused upon in their attempts to understand party behavior in general elections. Parties compete on a large policy space of possible income-tax policies. An element in this infinite-dimensional space is a function which maps pre-fisc income into post-fisc income. The only restrictions are that the function be continuous, and satisfy exogenously specified upper and lower bounds on its derivative, where it is differentiable. Only a fraction of each voter type will vote for each …

Efficient Estimation Of Semiparametric Conditional Moment Models With Possibly Nonsmooth Residuals, Xiaohong Chen, Demian Pouzo

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

For semi/nonparametric conditional moment models containing unknown parametric components (theta) and unknown functions of endogenous variables (h), Newey and Powell (2003) and Ai and Chen (2003) propose sieve minimum distance (SMD) estimation of (theta, h) and derive the large sample properties. This paper greatly extends their results by establishing the followings: (1) The penalized SMD (PSMD) estimator (hat{theta}, hat{h}) can simultaneously achieve root- n asymptotic normality of theta hat and nonparametric optimal convergence rate of hat{h}, allowing for models with possibly nonsmooth residuals and/or noncompact infinite dimensional parameter spaces. (2) A simple weighted bootstrap procedure can consistently estimate the limiting …

Effects Of Neonatal Handling On Play Behavior And Fear Towards A Predator Odor In Juvenile Rats, Stephen M. Siviy

Psychology Faculty Publications

The effects of brief daily separation, also known as "handling," during the first 2 weeks of life on play behavior and fearfulness toward a predatory odor were assessed in juvenile rats. Handled rats were more playful than nonhandled control rats, and while handling had no effect on the direct response of these rats toward a predatory odor, handled rats did not exhibit a conditioned suppression of play when tested later in the same context where they had been exposed to the predatory odor. Handled rats were still wary of the environment in that they continued to show a heightened level …

Do Local Economic Development Programs Work? Evidence From The Federal Empowerment Zone Program, Matias Busso, Patrick Kline

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper evaluates the impact of Round I of the federal urban Empowerment Zone (EZ) program on neighborhood level labor and housing market outcomes over the period 1994-2000. Using four decades of Census data in conjunction with information on the proposed boundaries of rejected EZs, we find that neighborhoods receiving EZ designation experienced substantial improvements in labor market conditions and moderate increases in rents relative to rejected and future zones. These effects were accompanied by small changes in the demographic composition of the neighborhoods, though evidence from disaggregate Census tabulations suggests that these changes account for little of the observed …

Communication And Learning, Luca Anderlini, Dino Gerardi, Roger Lagunoff

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We study the intergenerational accumulation of knowledge in an infinite-horizon model of communication. Each in a sequence of players receives an informative but imperfect signal of the once-and-for-all realization of an unobserved state. The state affects all players’ preferences over present and future decisions. Each player observes his own signal but does not directly observe the realized signals or actions of his predecessors. Instead, he must rely on cheap-talk messages from the previous players to fathom the past. Each player is therefore both a receiver of information with respect to his decision, and a sender with respect to all future …

Efficient Estimation Of Semiparametric Conditional Moment Models With Possibly Nonsmooth Residuals, Xiaohong Chen, Demian Pouzo

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

This paper considers semiparametric efficient estimation of conditional moment models with possibly nonsmooth residuals in unknown parametric components ( theta ) and unknown functions ( h ) of endogenous variables. We show that: (1) the penalized sieve minimum distance (PSMD) estimator ( theta\hat,h\hat ) can simultaneously achieve root- n asymptotic normality of theta\hat and nonparametric optimal convergence rate of h\hat , allowing for noncompact function parameter spaces; (2) a simple weighted bootstrap procedure consistently estimates the limiting distribution of the PSMD theta\hat ; (3) the semiparametric efficiency bound formula of Ai and Chen (2003) remains valid for conditional models with …

Mathematics Library News 3, Aaron Lercher

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Faculty Notebook, February 2008, Provost's Office

Faculty Notebook

The Faculty Notebook is published periodically by the Office of the Provost at Gettysburg College to bring to the attention of the campus community accomplishments and activities of academic interest. Faculty are encouraged to submit materials for consideration for publication to the Associate Provost for Faculty Development. Copies of this publication are available at the Office of the Provost.

Forensic Science, Wrongful Convictions, And American Prosecutor Discretion, Dennis J. Stevens

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

A hot controversy exists about the reliability of forensic science as reported by prime-time drama television series in bringing violent criminals to justice. This exploratory research will show that neither forensics or its fictionalised (CSI Effect) accounts, nor substantial evidence secured by police investigators, shape prosecutor decisions to charge a suspect with a crime, which can often result in freeing guilty suspects and convicting innocent individuals. In the summer of 2006, 444 American prosecutors responded to a survey. The findings reveal that judges, juries, and defence lawyers are influenced more by prime-time American drama forensic accounts than by the substantial …

Achieving Proficiencies In Economics Capstone Courses, Michael Seeborg

Scholarly Publications

This paper argues that capstone courses in economics should be integrative experiences that require students to demonstrate six core proficiencies. The capstone economics senior seminar at Illinois Wesleyan University is used as an example of how a capstone course that requires completion of an original research paper might achieve these proficiencies. Also, carefully designed co-curricular activities, such as student-edited undergraduate journals, and participation in undergraduate research conferences are recommended as complements to capstone research courses.

Perceptions Becoming Reality: Bridging The Market Knowledge Gap, Siu Loon Hoe

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

PurposeOrganizations constantly strive to learn about new market trends and ideas to stay ahead of the game. However, with an increased demand of market knowledge, how does the organization motivate employees to constantly acquire and disseminate market knowledge? The purpose of this paper is to highlight the perceived importance of market knowledge in promoting continuous employee acquisition and dissemination of customer and competitor knowledge.Design/methodology/approachThe perceived importance of market knowledge concept is highlighted and discussed.FindingsThe paper offers a view on how management could address the increased demand for market knowledge and how the development and learning team could provide further support …

Farm Real Estate Ownership Transfer Patterns In Nebraska’S Panhandle Region, Bruce Johnson, Dennis M. Conley, Gibson Nene, Patrick L. Krepel

Rural Initiative Program: Publications and Reports

The purpose of this study was to review and analyze the entire universe of recent agricultural real estate activity in the multi-county, Panhandle Region of Nebraska. This region was chosen because of the widely-held perception that a consider¬able number of acquisitions in recent years were by absentee owners. By investigating all recorded agricultural land trans¬fers (filed in public records) for the period 2003 through the first half of 2006, we were able to identify the true characteris¬tics of the market and analyze the associated implications.

Bringing Sexy Brac: The Case For Allowing Local Governments To Control Environmental Cleanup In The Military Base Closure And Redevelopment Process, Thomas William "T.W." Bruno

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Interaction Of Customary Law And Microfinance: Women's Entry Into The World Economy, Shana Hofstetter

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

This note examines the complicated relationship between microfinance and customary law. Microfinance, the practice of giving small, collateral-free loans to the poorest members of society, has gained great popularity in the last thirty years. These loan programs specifically target women and use women's traditional emphasis on groups to ensure success. Customary law can hinder microfinance ventures because of the restrictions these laws place on women's roles and responsibilities. Case studies on the Dominican Republic, Morocco, and Bangladesh explore how individual customary laws can hinder microfinance programs and women's micro-businesses. This note also discusses how microfinance programs act as catalysts of …

Data Note: Job Seekers With Disabilities At One-Stop Career Centers: An Overview Of Registration For Wagner-Peyser Funded Employment Services, David Hoff, Samita Bhattarai

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933 established a nationwide system of public employment services, known as the Employment Service. Via the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the Employment Service was made part of the One-Stop service delivery system. Wagner-Peyser funds are a primary source of funding for the core and other services of One–Stop Career Centers that provide employment services available to all people, including people with disabilities.

Building Knowledge And Power With The Third Sector In Haifa Israel: A Report Of The Learning Exchange Research Project, Donna H. Friedman, Jennifer Cohen

Center for Social Policy Publications

A Report of the Learning Exchange Research Project. This report presents a model of Participatory Action Research (PAR) focused on the development of the third sector in Israel. The PAR methodology, combined with a learning exchange, intentional reflection, and community building opportunities, was used as a tool for enhancing Haifa Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGO) capacities. The report describes the practical and conceptual impacts of this model's application in a pilot trial and discusses its possible use and importance for future participatory research and NGO capacity building work.

Rrh Library Newsletter, February 2008, Libraries At Rochester Regional Health

Rochester Regional Health authored publications and proceedings

Newsletter sections include: Heart Healthy Lifestyle -- Nutrition, Diet and Exercise; OVID's interface changes; Healthy Heart Fair