Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Science And Technology Policymaking: A Primer, Deborah D. Stine

Congressional Research Service Reports

Scientific and technical knowledge and guidance influences not just policy related to science and technology, but also many of today’s public policies as policymakers seek knowledge to enhance the quality of their decisions. Science and technology policy is concerned with the allocation of resources for and encouragement of scientific and engineering research and development, the use of scientific and technical knowledge to enhance the nation’s response to societal challenges, and the education of Americans in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Science and engineering research and innovations are intricately linked to societal needs and the nation’s economy in areas such as …

Energy And Water Development: Fy2009 Appropriations, Carl E. Behrens

Congressional Research Service Reports

The Energy and Water Development appropriations bill provides funding for civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), the Department of Energy (DOE), and a number of independent agencies.

In considering the FY2009 budget, both the House and the Senate Appropriations Committees voted to report out an Energy and Water Development appropriations bill. However, neither bill reached the floor in either house. On September 24, 2008, the House passed H.R. 2638, the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009, which continued appropriations for Energy and Water Development, …

Wind Power In The United States: Technology, Economic, And Policy Issues, Jeffery Logan, Stan Mark Kaplan

Congressional Research Service Reports

Rising energy prices and concern over greenhouse gas emissions have focused congressional attention on energy alternatives, including wind power. Although wind power currently provides only about 1% of U.S. electricity needs, it is growing more rapidly than any other energy source. In 2007, over 5,000 megawatts of new wind generating capacity were installed in the United States, second only to new natural gas-fired generating capacity. Wind power has become “mainstream” in many regions of the country, and is no longer considered an “alternative” energy source.

Wind energy has become increasingly competitive with other power generation options. Wind technology has improved …

Grazing Fees: An Overview And Current Issues, Carol Hardy Vincent

Congressional Research Service Reports

Charging fees for grazing private livestock on federal lands is a long-standing but contentious practice. Generally, livestock producers who use federal lands want to keep fees low, while conservation groups and others believe fees should be increased. The formula for determining the grazing fee for lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service uses a base value adjusted annually by the lease rates for grazing on private lands, beef cattle prices, and the cost of livestock production. The collected fees are divided among the Treasury, states, and federal agencies. Fee reform was attempted but not adopted …

Yul Annual Report; 2007-2008, Yale University Library

Yale University Library Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Japan And The World: Japan’S Contemporary Geopolitical Challenges – A Volume In Honor Of The Memory And Intellectual Legacy Of Asakawa Kan’Ichi, Frances Rosenbluth, Masaru Kohno

CEAS Occasional Publication Series

Yale CEAS Occasional Publication Series - Volume 2

The Politic 2008 Winter, The Politic, Inc.

The Politic

No abstract provided.

From Debate To Design: Issues In Clean Energy And Climate Change Law And Policy, Leslie Parker, Jennifer Ronk, Rachel Maxwell, Bradford Gentry, Marijn Wilder, James Cameron

Yale School of the Environment Publications Series

A report on the work of the REIL Network 2007-2008

Citizens For Peace Minutes 12-11-07, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

We were pleased to welcome Loretta Johnson, from the Michigan Peace Team, who was with us to discuss her experiences in the Middle East. She presented a slid show depicting several areas she visited during her two peace-keeping visits. She thought it appropriate to start with the city of Bethlehem – the city of Peace. She said the problem today, is that the wall being built by the Israeli’s is being built well within the Palestinian areas, as a way to separate villages and capture more land. As a result, it is very hard for the Palestinian’s to lead the …

Fiscal Conditions, Political Interests, And Service Outsourcing Decisions: The Case Of Georgia Counties, Ya Anna Ni, Zhirong Jerry Zhao

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

The question why a government chooses a specific service delivery tool to provide public service to its citizenry is a central intellectual inquiry in public administration. This paper develops a framework to explain the production and sector choices of public services by political-economic environment, organizational capacity, service market condition, and nature of service. Using operation and financial data of Georgia county governments during 2000-2006, we apply the framework to analyze Georgia counties’ public service outsourcing decisions, focusing on the effects of fiscal condition and political interests. The logistic regression results show that the choice of external production is negatively associated …

Fiscal Conditions, Political Interests, And Service Outsourcing Decisions: The Case Of Georgia Counties, Ya Anna Ni, Zhirong Jerry Zhao

Working Group on Interlocal Services Cooperation

The question why a government chooses a specific service delivery tool to provide public service to its citizenry is a central intellectual inquiry in public administration. This paper develops a framework to explain the production and sector choices of public services by political-economic environment, organizational capacity, service market condition, and nature of service. Using operation and financial data of Georgia county governments during 2000-2006, we apply the framework to analyze Georgia counties’ public service outsourcing decisions, focusing on the effects of fiscal condition and political interests. The logistic regression results show that the choice of external production is negatively associated …

Seeing White In Black: Examining Racial Identity Among African American Adolescents In A Culturally Centered Book Club, Kafi D. Kumasi

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This qualitative, ethnographic study explores the various tensions and struggles around racial identity that thirteen African American youth encounter while participating in a culturally responsive, library-based book club called Circle of Voices. Data were collected twice a week over four months in an after school community literacy intervention program in a public library and a university Black cultural library setting. Thematic analysis of the corpus of data and a micro ethnographic discourse analysis were performed on the data. Whiteness and double consciousness serve as complementary theoretical frameworks. Findings reveal that: a) tension is an integral component in helping African American …

The Effectiveness Of Mentoring-Based Professional Development On Physical Education Teachers' Pedometer And Computer Efficacy And Anxiety, Jeffrey J. Martin, Nate Mccaughtry, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Donetta Cothran, Roberta Faust

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of our study was to examine the impact of mentoring-based professional development on physical education teachers' efficacy. Experienced mentor teachers were paired (n = 15) with inexperienced protégé teachers (n = 15) at the beginning of a yearlong intervention study. It was hypothesized that teachers would increase their efficacy to use pedometers and computers to enhance instruction, and reduce their computer anxiety. Repeated-measures ANOVAs for mentors and protégés revealed a variety of significant main effects. We found increases in computer and pedometer efficacy. A second set of repeated-measures ANOVAs based on mentors', protégés', and control groups' …

What Limits Fire? An Examination Of Driver's Of Burnt Area In Southern Africa, Sally Archibald, David P. Roy, Brian W. Van Wilgen, Robert J. Scholes

GSCE Faculty Publications

The factors controlling the extent of fire in Africa south of the equator were investigated using moderate resolution (500 m) satellite-derived burned area maps and spatial data on the environmental factors thought to affect burnt area. A random forest regression tree procedure was used to determine the relative importance of each factor in explaining the burned area fraction and to address hypotheses concerned with human and climatic influences on the drivers of burnt area. The model explained 68% of the variance in burnt area. Tree cover, rainfall in the previous 2 years, and rainfall seasonality were the most important predictors. …

The Reintegration Of Veterans, Kevin Ross, Adela Anderson, Maribeth Horan, Cina Sorenson

Service-Learning Program

This study explores the attitudes and beliefs of Boise State University students regarding veterans’ reintegration issues. Two hundred eight students in an introductory psychology course participated in an online survey. We found that 88% of respondents know a veteran but 37% don’t know what services are available to them to assist with reintegration issues such as family, mental health and addictions problems. The information gathered assisted us in designing a brochure to serve as a single source of information on reintegration assistance for veterans and their families.

Transforming Library Service Through Information Commons: Part 1 - Introduction, D. Russell Bailey, Barbara Tierney

Library Commons Basics

An introduction to the concept of the Information Commons in libraries.

Transforming Library Service Through Information Commons: Part 2 - Definitions, D. Russell Bailey, Barbara Tierney

Library Commons Basics

Definitions of the Information Commons and Learning Commons models in libraries.

Adolescent Females And Their Mothers, Julie E. Volkman, Kami Silk

Communication Faculty Journal Articles

Recent research indicates environmental factors and personal behaviors are related to breast cancerrisk, but adopting a healthy lifestyle as early as adolescence can serve a protective function. Toinvestigate perceptions of breast cancer risk and the environment, 10 focus groups (N = 91) wereconducted with adolescent females (n = 55) and mothers (n = 36) across four counties in the Midwest,USA. The Uncertainty Management Theory provides a framework for discussing statements, andresults suggest that uncertainty is maintained through ambiguity about environmental risk factorsand breast cancer. Recommendations for prevention messages are presented.

Determinants Of Gasoline Price: Can Consumer Spending Make A Difference?, Jonathan Stachelek

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the determinants to gasoline prices in the United States. The regression contains five different independent variables: the price of imported oil per barrel, the number of barrels of oil imported to the United States, the number of barrels of oil produced domestically in United States, the commodity price of oil, the number of automobiles purchased monthly in the United States, and the dependent variable, Gasoline Price. By using these variables in a linear regression model, the results show that the price of gasoline is primarily driven by the price of imported crude oil, followed shortly thereafter by …

Differing Immigrant Wages: Causes For Differences In Immigrants Standards Of Living, Sahana Zutshi

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper looks at the relationship between immigration workers and their differing standards of living based on various variables. The variables chosen were gender, place of origin/ethnicity, number of years living in the United States, education level and finally, the age of the immigrants. The model incorporates all these variables and then finds the connection between them and the earning status of the immigrants. The results show that gender and ethnicity often impact the earnings negatively whereas age, number of years living in the US and education level impact immigrant earnings positively.

Reclaiming Egalitarianism In The Political Theory Of Campaign Finance Reform, Frank Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

Recent advocacy for campaign finance reform has been based on an ideal of the democratic process which is unrealistic and unhelpful. Scholars should instead return to its egalitarian roots. This article examines how deliberative democratic theory became the main justification for campaign finance reform. It exposes the shortcomings of this deliberativist detour and instead models campaign spending as an effort to commodify issue-salience. Given this dominant function of money in politics, a more effective paradigm for reform is equalizing influence. Advocates of campaign regulation should return to the original principles of reformers; not an idealized vision of the democratic process, …

The Political Economy Of South Korea: Economic Growth, Democratization, And Financial Crisis, Uk Heo, Houngcheul Jeon, Hayam Kim, Okjin Kim

Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies

No abstract provided.

Evolving On-Line Empowerment: The Manchu Identity Revival Since The 1980s, Lian Bai

Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies

No abstract provided.

Taiwan's 2008 Presidential And Vice Presidential Election: Maturing Democracy, John F. Copper

Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies

No abstract provided.

Korean Dispute Over The Northern Limit Line: Security, Economics, Or International Law?, Terence Roehrig

Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies

No abstract provided.

Graduate Record 2008: Year Of The Dawg, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

SWOSU Yearbooks

The 2008 Graduate Record was produced by the journalism department.

Greater El Paso Chamber Of Commerce Community Mental Health Survey, Lisa Tomaka, Mario Caire, Dennis L. Soden

IPED Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Social Learning Spaces In The Li Ka Shing Library, Pin Pin Yeo

Research Collection Library

This paper describes the efforts made by the Li Ka Shing Library, Singapore Management University, in the design, creation and continual improvements of its spaces to meet the needs of its community. The Collaborative Study Area was presented as an example of introducing social learning spaces into the Library. We conducted a survey to measure the satisfaction with our spaces and the activities carried out in the Library. In striving to become a research, social and event space for its community, the Library is also used as an event and training space. This article was presented as a paper at …

Fy2008 Association Of College And Research Libraries (Acrl) Statistical Survey: University Of Rhode Island Data

University Libraries Reports & Statistics

The main document posted here is a report generated from the online subscription service ACRLMetrics. The report contains FY2008 data as submitted by the University of Rhode Island Libraries for the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) 2007-2008 statistical survey. It also provides additional metrics calculated by ACRL. Several files are included as supplemental content: "ACRL academic library survey -- URI FY2008 data.xlsx," the report (above) in spreadsheet format; "2008 ACRL data entry printout - URI.pdf," a printout of one version of URI's FY2008 data as entered in the ACRL Web-based form; "A(C)RL Statistics 2007-08 Worksheet.pdf" provided by ARL …

Alternatives For Youth’S Advocacy Program:Reducing Minority Youth Incarceration Placements In Cleveland, Ohio, Christopher A. Mallett, Linda Julian

Social Work Faculty Publications

Detaining and incarcerating juvenile delinquents is ineffective and costly juvenile justice policy. These placements, indicative of the “tough on crime” approach, become problematic for many of these youths who do not have the advantage of legal counsel because they waive this right. In addition, a majority of these youths have a mental health or special education disability that does not get addressed in correctional facilities. Alternatives for Youth's Advocacy Program (AFY) in Cleveland, Ohio (Cuyahoga County) is addressing these issues using a holistic approach that includes the provision of civil legal representation to assist youths in accessing disability services and …