bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Infant Perception of Non-Native Consonant Contrasts that Adults Assimilate in Different Ways
Authors: Best Catherine C. , McRoberts Gerald W.
Published: February 2009

Numerous findings suggest that non-native speech perception undergoes dramatic changes before the infant's first birthday. Yet the nature and cause of these changes remain uncertain. We evaluated the predictions of several theoretical accounts of developmental change in infants' perception of non-native consonant contrasts. Experiment 1 assessed English-learning infants' discrimination of three isiZulu distinctions that American adults had categorized and discriminated quite differently, consistent with the Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM: Best, 1995; Best et al., 1988). All involved a distinction employing a single articulatory organ, in this case the larynx. Consistent with all theoretical accounts, 6—8 month olds discriminated all contrasts. However, 10—12 month olds performed more poorly on each, consistent with the Articulatory-Organ-matching hypothesis (AO) derived from PAM and Articulatory Phonology (StuddertKennedy & Goldstein, 2003), specifically that older infants should show a decline for non-native distinctions involving a single articulatory organ. However, the results may also be open to other interpretations. The converse AO hypothesis, that non-native b etweenorgan distinctions will remain highly discriminable to older infants, was tested in Experiment 2, using a non-native Tigrinya distinction involving lips versus tongue tip. Both ages discriminated this between-organ contrast well, further supporting the AO hypothesis. Implications for theoretical accounts of infant speech perception are discussed.
Early Word Learners' Ability to Access Phonetic Detail in Well-Known Words
Authors: Fennell Christopher T. , Werker Janet F.
Published: February 2009

Several recent studiesfrom our laboratory have shown that14-month old infants have difficulty learning to associate two phonetically similar new words to two different objects when tested in the Switcht task. Because the infants can discriminate the same phonetic detail that they fail to use in the associative word-learning situation, we have argued that this wordlearning failure results from a processingoverload. Herewe explore how infants perform in the Switch task with already known minimally different words. The experiment involved the same phonetic difference as used inour earlier word learning studies. Following habituation to two familiar minimal pairobject-label combinations(ball and doll), infants of 14months looked longer to aviolation in the object label pairing(e.g., label `ball'pairedwith object doll) than to an appropriate pairing. These resultsusing well known words are consistent withthe pattern of data recently obtained by Swingley and Aslin(2002) in which it was found that infants of 14 months looklonger tothe correct object when the accompanying well known word is spoken correctly rather than mispronounced. We discuss how these results are compatible with the limited resource explanation originally offered by Stager and Werker (1997).
Perceptual Tests of Rhythmic Similarity: II. Syllable Rhythm
Authors: Kim Jeesun , Davis Chris , Cutler Anne
Published: February 2009

To segment continuous speech into its component words, listeners make use of language rhythm; because rhythm differs across languages, so do the segmentation procedures which listeners use. For each of stress-, syllable-and mora-based rhythmic structure, perceptual experiments have led to the discovery of corresponding segmentation procedures. In the case of mora-based rhythm, similar segmentation has been demonstrated in the otherwise unrelated languages Japanese and Telugu; segmentation based on syllable rhythm, however, has been previously demonstrated only for European languages from the Romance family. We here report two target detection experiments in which Korean listeners, presented with speech in Korean and in French, displayed patterns of segmentation like those previously observed in analogous experiments with French listeners. The Korean listeners' accuracy in detecting word-initial target fragments in either language was significantly higher when the fragments corresponded exactly to a syllable in the input than when the fragments were smaller or larger than a syllable. We conclude that Korean and French listeners can call on similar procedures for segmenting speech, and we further propose that perceptual tests of speech segmentation provide a valuable accompaniment to acoustic analyses for establishing languages' rhythmic class membership.
A Cross- Linguistic Study in Learning Prosodic Rhythms: Rules, Constraints, and Similarity
Authors: Bailey Todd M. , Plunkett Kim , Scarpa Ester
Published: February 2009

Differences in the learnability of linguistic patterns may be crucial in deciding among alternative learning models. This paper compares the ability of English speakers (Experiment1) and Portuguese speakers (Experiment 2) to learn two complex rhythm patterns observed in languages with primary word stress. Subjects were familiarized with one of two rhythms during a discrimination task, followed by a recognition task which tested whether knowledge of the rhythm generalized to novel stimuli. The main findings were: (1) speakers trained on the cross-linguisticallyless common rhythm distinguished between novel stimuli which did or didnot conform to their training rhythm, while speakers trained on the more common rhythm did not;(2) English speakers were biased more strongly than Portuguese speakers against final stress; and (3) melodies that are on a boundary between rhythm categories were treated as less prototypical than other members of the same rhythm category. The results demonstrate that knowledge of complex linguistic rhythms can be generalized after very little training, and that the less common rhythm is easier to learn even though it seems more complex. The results are compared with general-purpose exemplar-based learning models as well as abstract linguistic theories of word stress acquisition.
Linguistic Models of F0 Use, Physiological Models of F0 Control, and the Issue of “Mean Response Time”
Authors: Herman Rebecca , Beckman Mary , Honda Kiyoshi
Published: February 2009

This paper evaluates “mean responsetime”(MRT),a method used in previous studies to relate physiological evidence (recordings of electromyographic activity in the cricothyroid and sternohyoid) to acoustic evidence (fundamental frequency). Rather than averaging over tokens before correlating these signals, we calculated the bestresponse time (RT) for each token, and evaluated the pattern of variability across utterances. Furthermore, rather than correlating over whole utterances, we correlated electromyographic activity (EMG) to fundamental frequency (F0) only over intervals defined in terms of linguistically significant events in the F0 trace, identified using a linguistically motivated model of English intonation. Steep changes in the F0 tended to have better correlation coefficients than shallow ones, which we relate to the physiological model by noting the complex of components contributing to both signal types. Also, the distribution of lead times was easier to interpret when the two tones delimiting the analysis domain had some tight temporal relationship specified by the intonational phonology. Finally, lead times tended to vary as a function of what preceded the target rise or fall. In short, averaging over signals before analysis obscures patterns of variation in the data which may lead to new insights and to new directions for research.
Stress-Induced Variation in F2 Trajectories as Evidence for Coproduction in CV Syllables
Authors: Tjaden Kris
Published: February 2009

This study explored the extent to which a model of the acoustic consequences of overlapping, sliding consonantal and vocalic gestures was used to account for stress-induced changes in F2 trajectories occurring in test words embeddedin a carrierphrase. Three stress conditions were studied including contrastive stress on test words(CS),contrastive stress on the content word preceding test words (U-CS), and noncontrastive stress on test words (NS). F2 on set frequency was used to quantify the extent to which adjacent consonantal and vocalic gestures in stop consonant + vowel syllables were coproduced (i.e., overlapped) in the different stress conditions. The predicted relationship between F2 onset frequency and temporal variation in trajectories was also examined within and across stress conditions. In addition, the effects of stress-induced variation in articulatory scaling on F2 onset frequency were studied and factored into the interpretation of the results. The results indicated that F2 onset frequencies tended to differ for stress conditions characterized by large differences in prominence. Regression analyses predicting temporal variation in trajectories from F2 on set frequency accounted for part of the variance within and across stress conditions. Taken together, the results suggested that a model of over lapping, sliding gestures accounts for only some of the stressinduced variability in F2 trajectories in the current study.
Coping Behavior in Hurricane-Affected African American Youth: Psychometric Properties of the Kidcope
Authors: Vigna Julia F. , Hernandez Brittany C. , Kelley Mary L. , Gresham Frank M.
Published: February 2009

Hurricane Katrina forced thousands of children in and around New Orleans to cope with life-altering circumstances. The Kidcope, a checklist designed to assess coping in pediatric populations, has been used to evaluate children after disasters. Research has demonstrated the importance of considering the role of cultural factors in the development and use of coping strategies. The authors examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Kidcope on the basis of the responses of hurricane-exposed, African American, predominantly low income youth in New Orleans and surrounding areas. The results yielded a one-factor scale for the adolescent version and three factors for the child version. Future directions for use of the Kidcope with African Americans are discussed.
School Psychology Trainer Shortage in the USA: Current Status and Projections for the Future
Authors: Clopton Kerri L. , Haselhuhn Charlotte W.
Published: February 2009

This study documents the number of school psychology faculty openings, reasons for resignations and the outcome of faculty searches in the United States for three consecutive academic years beginning in 2004. School psychology program training directors in the United States were surveyed about program faculty needs, including resignations and the outcome of faculty searches. Ninety-four program directors reported 136 openings and 79 percent of the program directors indicated one or more openings in the three most recent academic years. Results indicate an increasing number of openings left unfilled each year with more than one in four of the positions going unfilled. Data concerning resignations, professionals leaving academia, new positions, previously unfilled positions and age of the current faculty suggest a need to hire at least 36 faculty per year for the 94 programs represented, with increasing numbers of openings in the next decade due to retirements. Directors reported a small percentage of 2006—2007 doctoral level interns were seeking academic positions. Program directors reported concerns and ideas about success in recruitment and retention of school psychology faculty. Implications of the faculty shortage on the profession are discussed.
Intelligence and Birth Order Among Children and Adolescents in Psychiatric Care
Authors: Kirkcaldy Bruce , Furnham Adrian , Siefen Georg
Published: February 2009

A sample of around 2,500 adolescents in a child and adolescent psychiatry clinic in the region of Münster, Germany had their intelligence assessed. Family size (total number of siblings within a family) was significantly correlated with intelligence score categories (—0.08 and —0.19 for males and females). First borns and only children displayed higher IQs than later borns supportive of the confluence theory of Zajonc. The relationship was found only for those older children (11 or older) and not the under 11-year-olds. The relationship between birth order and intelligence was moderated by gender.
New Labour and the third way in the British welfare state: a new and distinctive approach?
Authors: Powell Martin
Published: February 2009

The Labour government elected in May 1997 has seen the reform of the welfare state to be one of its major tasks. Its big idea to achieve this is the third way, which is said to be a new and distinctive approach that differs from both the old left and the new right. It is argued that the third way is best summarized by a new acronym—PAP—pragmatism and populism. It appears to be neither distinctive nor new, leaning to the right rather than the centre or centre-left, and having some roots in the New Poor Law and the mixed economy of welfare of Beveridge.
Metaphor, morality and myth: a critical discourse analysis of public housing policy in Queensland
Authors: Marston Greg
Published: February 2009

This article presents illustrative findings from case study research investigating the function and effects of competing discourses in the policy change process. The specific field of research is the development and implementation of public housing policy in Queensland, Australia. Critical discourse analysis is used to explore discursive constructions of the policy problem and power relations within the policy community. It is argued that positivist approaches to policy analysis have failed to address the way in which policy language constructs welfare identities, legitimates policy interventions and functions as an important site of ideological struggle over the meaning of human services within the welfare state. These themes are discussed using semi-structured interview data and key policy documents collected during the course of research.
The development of community care for people with learning difficulties 1913 to 1946
Authors: Walmsley Jan , Rolph Sheena
Published: February 2009

This article explores from an historical perspective the emerging debates on the similarities and differences between community care and institutional care. While institutional care has been widely condemned, community care has been welcomed as offering greater opportunities for adults who have long term care needs. We argue, however, that it is more helpful to regard institutional and community care as a continuum, and draw on our ongoing research into the history of community care for people with learning difficulties to show that community care has a longer history than has been widely assumed, and that some forms of community care were as much motivated by a desire to control as they were by a wish to provide care. The article ends with some consideration of the relevance of such historical studies for modern understandings of community care.
Housing policy, housing management and tenant power in the ‘risk society’: some critical observations on the welfare politics of ‘radical doubt’
Authors: Allen Chris , Sprigings Nigel
Published: February 2009

This article is a direct response to Culpitt (1999: 10), who has recently argued that ‘concepts of risk, particularly of Beck's thesis of risk society and the various meanings associated with it, have not been explored fully in relation to social policy’. We make applied usage of the work of Beck and other key risk society theorists to make sense of the changing nature of housing policy and management issues in late modernity. We also use these empirical observations of housing policy and management developments in the post-welfare society to critically reflect on (and thus develop) the risk society thesis, which we argue is a theory of postindustrial society and therefore partial and incomplete. In doing so, we take issue with Beck's and with Giddens's over-generalized notion that late modern societies are characterized by a ‘post-scarcity’ (e.g., ecological) risk politics that has moved ‘beyond left and right’. Using empirical evidence from the post-welfare society, we argue that the risk society further embeds and exacerbates—rather than transcends—the forms of (primarily economic) inequality found in industrial societies.
The state of welfare for asylum seekers and refugees in Spain
Authors: Jubany-Baucells Olga
Published: February 2009

This article explores the development and current legal, political and social context of welfare provisions for asylum seekers and refugees in Spain. The text explains the historical background of immigration and welfare in which policies have developed, and presents an analysis of the current legal and political framework of the Spanish system for welfare benefits for refugees and immigrants. Following this, the meaning of asylum admission and differences in refugee welfare rights are highlighted. The role of extra-institutional actors, particularly NGOs, is examined and examples of their welfare programmes are given. The last part of the article explores current public debates including the criminalization of refugees through their problematic access to welfare, and issues related to racism and violence. The article concludes with views on future transformations and the improvement of existing strategies.
The deserving and the undeserving? Refugees, asylum seekers and welfare in Britain
Authors: Sales Rosemary
Published: February 2009

This article focuses on recent policy in relation to asylum which has created a new social category of asylum seeker, increasingly portrayed as 'undeserving' in contrast to the 'deserving' refugee. Asylum policy in Britain is preoccupied with control, with no national system for the settlement of refugees. The new social support system for asylum seekers, particularly the voucher system and compulsory dispersal, serve to isolate them from society and promote intense social exclusion. Policies to promote the social inclusion of recognized refugees are limited, uneven and dependent on voluntary initiative. They are also harmed by the punitive system of social support for asylum seekers. Acute recent labour shortages, which have forced employers to recruit overseas, have opened up the debate on immigration, and present the possibility of developing a more progressive agenda based on a commitment to human rights.
Deceiving, theorizing and self-justification: a critique of independent living
Authors: Oldman Christine
Published: February 2009

The article starts with an examination of some key paradigms of later life and then employs their insights to expose the powerful and deceptive discourse of 'independent living', which has recently been one of social policy's most persuasive mantras. The theoretical perspective that informs the whole article is that of postmodernism with a critical gerontology perspective. The critique of independent living that the article offers is then applied within the overlapping area of housing and community care to a special case, that of physically impaired older people, in three separate but related instances: academic, policy and political. Taking a critique of independent living beyond theory into policy development may achieve a closer fit between what older people want their living environments to be and what they are currently presented with. Finally, rather more arguably, it may also result in a more cost-effective use of resources.
Beyond universalism and particularism: rethinking contemporary welfare theory
Authors: Ellison Nick
Published: February 2009

Current debates about the respective merits of universalist and particularist approaches to welfare suggest that contemporary welfare theory has reached an impasse. Following an examination of recent attempts to discuss the respective merits of universalist and particularist claims, this article argues that, in an increasingly pluralist social and political environment characterized by shifting identities and solidarities, we need to embrace ‘difference’ more forthrightly if allocations of social goods and services are to be judged legitimate by service users and providers alike. To this end, and in an effort to push beyond the universalist–particularist divide, we need to take greater account of ‘postmodern’ understandings of contemporary social politics, not because these should be accepted entirely, but because it is important to claim their utility for decentralized, ‘deliberative’ conceptions of social politics. Deliberative processes, particularly where accompanied by a ‘politics of presence’ can better legitimate particularist patterns of resource distribution, paradoxically fostering greater social inclusion, in a rapidly changing world.
Social welfare and economic development in China and Hong Kong
Authors: Chau Ruby C. M. , Yu Sam W. K.
Published: February 2009

The article studies the relation between social welfare development and economic development in China and Hong Kong. It is found that social welfare in these two economies makes important contributions to economic development, and that its expansion is associated positively with economic growth. However, despite this, it is still difficult to judge whether or not social welfare in Hong Kong and China can be defined as well-developed. Its social status, judged by the independent value ascribed to it, is apparently less than would be inferred from the size of the material resources actually allocated to it in both economies. It is essentially subordinate to economic considerations and has no separate integrity.
Absent without leave: a gender perspective on the management of staff sickness in social services
Authors: Horder William
Published: February 2009

This article is concerned with the management of sickness absence and its implications for women staff. Changes in the management of sickness absence in a London local authority are outlined and considered in relation to the predominantly female staffing profile of the organization, and to women's work roles, health needs and stress factors, in the light of research on the Social Services workforce (Balloch et al., 1995, 1998). It is argued that the approach to managing sickness absence in the local authority has disproportionate effects on women and that it undermines other goals of the organization. It is suggested that the causes of absence have been ignored in favour of symptomatic action, that in the interests of an effective workforce links between absence and stress should be addressed and that gender roles should be considered explicitly in policy-making and workforce planning.
Why make ‘hate’ a crime?
Authors: Iganski Paul
Published: February 2009

Speci.c offences of racially aggravated crimes were established in Britain by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. A number of offences with a racial aggravation now attract a higher penalty than those without. The United States has a long experience of similar legislation. But critics of so-called ëhate crimeí laws in the US argue that the legislation has failed to ful.ll expectations. It is therefore timely to ask what are the objectives behind the legislation in Britain, and what are the prospects for achieving them? This article argues that the most signi.cant impact of the legislation is likely to be on the criminal justice agencies expected to deal with racially aggravated crime.
The Budget Debate of 1926: A Case Study in Weimar Democracy
Authors: Clingan C. Edmund
Published: February 2009

This article argues against the historiography of Borchardt and others who believe that the German government did not act against the Depression because it thought such crises were self-correcting. The budget debate of 1926 showed the government of Hans Luther and Peter Reinhold taking action against an economic crisis and working increasingly with the Social Democratic Party. The alterations to Reinhold’s original budget show a political system working in normal fashion and responding to political demands from interest groups that had their roots in civil society. The system found solutions to these demands in an orderly and democratic fashion, and this was the first budget passed on time by the Reichstag since 1911. After reviewing the process in detail, the article agrees with Gisela Upmeier that the 1926 budget was ‘a kind of revolution’.
Per necessità famigliare: Hypocrisy and Corruption in Fascist Italy
Authors: Bosworth R. J.B.
Published: February 2009

Recent literature has made great play of an alleged Fascist cultural revolution, extending its influence deep into the subjectivities of the citizens of Fascist Italy. In his article, Bosworth doubts the completeness of this intrusion of an alleged totalitarianism. Reviewing material from Mussolini’s personal office, Bosworth traces the way in which the Fascist leadership and, most notably, Mussolini himself, remained impervious to Fascist idealism. In instance after instance, leading Fascists expressed the worlds of patronage and clientship, localism and the family, hypocrisy and corruption, rather more evidently than they did Fascist ideals about a fully ordered and disciplined society of ‘new’ men and women. In other words, the evidence which Bosworth assembles appears to demonstrate that many of the familiar structures of Italian life continued despite the Fascist ‘revolution’. Certainly in the longue duree, and perhaps also in the short, Italian Fascism failed more than it succeeded.
Strange and Exorbitant Demands’:Rural Labour in Nineteenth-Century Bologna
Authors: Dumont Dora M.
Published: February 2009

Although rural populations continue to suffer a lack of attention from many historians, an examination of the province of Bologna during the early nineteenth century reveals that this is a mistake. As a substantial literature now shows for the case of France, peasants were not simply ignorant in their political actions during nineteenth-century revolutions. This article suggests that rural populations could also be more sophisticated in terms of labour developments than urban-focused historians generally allow. Rice cultivation began dramatically to alter the Bolognese plains during the Revolutionary era, and the rural labouring population responded in two phases. The first, during the Restoration, was a battle against ricefields altogether: in 1816 and 1817 several communities attacked and destroyed ricefieldsin what might be considered an agricultural equivalent of machine-breaking. By the second phase, during the 1840s and 1850s, ricefield workers were engaging in full-blown strikes, several years before the province’s urban labourers made that transition. The evidence of the province of Bologna thus suggests that the urban path to working-class formation must be viewed within the context of rural labour as well.
A Tribal Trinity: The Rise and Fall of the Franks, the Frisians and the Saxons in the Historical Consciousness of the Netherlands since 1850
Authors: Beyen Marnix
Published: February 2009

In the late nineteenth century, it became common to consider the Franks, the Frisians and the Saxons, three Gemanic tribes believed to have settled in the Netherlands during the Early Middle Ages, as the oldest ancestors of the Dutch people. The success of this historical theme was partly due to evolutions in the human sciences, which during that same period were stronglyinfluenced by a tribal paradigm. Being politically and geographically inclusive and leaving at the same time space for diversity, the theme also responded to the needs of Dutch nation-building and integration. Nevertheless, the disadvantages of the theme soon became apparent. Since it did not allow for strong external borders, while suggesting fairly clear-cut internalborders, the theme appeared, especially during the Second World War, to be an insufficient warrant against the dangers of regionalism and annexionism. When after the Second World War the tribal paradigm lost its grip on the human sciences, the ‘three-tribes-theme’ was also fundamentally questioned, and slowly faded away.
Trade and the Regeneration of France, 1789–91: Liberalism, Protectionism and the Commercial Policy of the National Constituent Assembly
Authors: Whiteman Jeremy J.
Published: February 2009

The recent rise in the importance of the notion of political culture in French Revolutionary historiography seems to have been accompanied by a degree of neglect of the economic dimension of the Revolution. Some historians, in seeking to salvage something of a notion of ‘bourgeois’ revolution from revisionist onslaughts, have, however, continued to focus their attention on the internal economic policy of the National Constituent Assembly, seeing it as exemplitive of laissez-faire capitalism and arguably ‘bourgeois’ class-interest. More neglected, though, has been the question of the Assembly‘s external economic policy, an examination of which shows that the policy makers involved were driven as much or more by pragmatic conceptions of national interest than by any doctrinaire concern for free trade or specific class-interests.
Multimedia Knowledge and Culture Production: On the Possibility of a Critical and Ethical Pedagogy Resulting From the Current Push for Technology in the Classroom
Authors: McCurry David S.
Published: February 2009

Demands for standardization and accountability as systemic cures for perceived ills in the education system are paralleled by a public and private sector promotion of technology integration as one pedagogical solution. The general critique of education and of technology in society has developed as two related yet separate threads in critical inquiry and discussion. As electronic forms of media and communication are becoming pervasive in society in general, solutions to long-standing educational dilemmas that mirror problems in society at large need to develop from grounded theories for educational practice that embrace technological forms of information, knowledge, and culture production. This needs to be done to reverse the historical trend of education as an institution first adopting and then adapting technological forms to purposes of replicating status quo culture and social relationships. Despite the claims of many to the contrary, new technology may not make any difference in education. Individual attainment and achievement through technological efficiency may prove meaningless in a world pressed to reconcile problems that move diverse societies closer together rather than farther apart. Hope, meaning, belonging, and what has been termed the pedagogy of possibility are posited as an ethical foundation for advancing the integration of technology into education for an equitable, democratic, and different future.
Health Information Privacy: A Disappearing Concept
Authors: Weiss Marcia J.
Published: February 2009

Rapid advances and exponential growth in computer and telecommunications technology have taken individual records and papers revealing the most intimate details of one’s life, habits, and genetic predisposition from the private sector into the public arena in derogation of privacy considerations. Although computerized medical information offers a means of streamlining and improving the health care delivery system through speed and enormous storage capacity, it also presents new challenges as it affects the right of privacy and expectation of confidentiality, creating serious ethical and legal issues. Other considerations include constitutional matters such as loss of liberty when one is compelled to remain in an undesirable or unsuitable job so that insurance will not be canceled or the inability to secure another more suitable position due to genetic predisposition and denial of equal protection of the laws if one is stigmatized because one belongs to a certain ethnic or racial group that exhibits a particular genetic propensity. Collateral questions concern the propriety of disclosure of confidential health care information, including genetic data. This article also considers the proposed federal guidelines for a health information privacy law.
Antonio Meucci: Telephone Pioneer
Authors: Catania Basilio
Published: February 2009

The life and work of Antonio Meucci, an Italian immigrant who claimed to have invented the telephone, are reviewed on the basis of sound evidence retrieved by the author in various archives. Of paramount importance toward establishing the historical truth was an affidavit retrieved among the (never-printed) acta of the suit instituted by the U.S. government to annul the two basic patents of Alexander Graham Bell on the telephone. This affidavit contains the telephone notes of Meucci’s laboratory notebook, complete with drawings, translated into English. Both the notes and the drawings reveal advanced telephone techniques, such as inductive loading, antisidetone circuit, call signaling, line structure, and other contrivances that were to be adopted by the Bell Company many years after the affidavit was notarized, thus demonstrating the originality of Meucci’s inventions.
The Pragmatism of Knowledge: Quantum Mechanics
Authors: Rooker Tyler
Published: February 2009

Quantum mechanics is certainly a strange place to start an investigation into the nature of the relationship between science and society. However, this article begins by integrating its history and proceeds through current conceptions of it by some physicists to examine quantum mechanics as an intersection of both science and knowledge. A famous thought experiment by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen pointed to an area that few physicists still research–a paradigm gone awry. Yet the vast majority of physiciststoday do not agonize over this uncertainty. Physics today presses forward with indominable speed and precision. But by questioning a small sample of physicists doing physics about their practice, this study aims at an everyday physicist’s understanding of the matter; a paradox that lies between the results of experiment and their interpretation or place as knowledge in society. For Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen, the paradox was that we can only determine the spin of an entangled particle–it only becomes real–after measuring the spin of its partner particle. For a few contemporary physicists, the problem is how to understand the fact that a measured particle “teleports” its state instantaniously to another point in space. Practicing physicist resolve this, to put it simply, by just using it. Quantum mechanics, as with physics, is incredibly accurate–accepting it as truth yields results that physicists and society can use. By interrogating this process in its historicity and current formulation, this article sheds some light on the way physics works as knowledge. It provides a possibility for turning the scientific eye toward the very meaning of science.
Environmental Issues and the Watchdog Role of the Media: How Ellul’s Theory Complicates Liberal Democracy
Authors: Moore Rick Clifton
Published: February 2009

Citizens of Western democracies have long believed that the media should serve as watchdogs. Many feel one of the media’s most important watchdog duties is environmental reporting. As human progress has undoubtedly caused significant changes in the ecosystem, citizens have increasingly depended on the media to inform us about possible ill effects thereof. Though critics from both right and left have reservations about the actual fulfillment of this role by the press, most uphold environmental reporting in principle. Hence, environmental journalism is growing in stature and respect. Even so, the work of Jacques Ellul puts forth an analysis of the watchdog function of the press that challenges key tenets of the liberal democratic presuppositions of our technological society. His analysis, which is of neither the right nor the left, raises questions that anyone who thinks seriously about the media and the environment should ponder, even those who ultimately disagree with Ellul’s position.
Plastic Words: Words Without Meaning
Authors: van der Laan J. M.
Published: February 2009

Taking as its point of departure the works of Jacques Ellul, Sven Birkerts, George Steiner, Uwe Poerksen, and others, this article explores the status of language in a technicized civilization. It is argued that language has devolved under the impact of technology, particularly in the dimension of values and ethics. This diagnosis points to the way from which a possible cure may emerge.
Is a Second Negawatt Revolution Within Reach?
Authors: Vanderburg Willem H.
Published: February 2009

It is argued that contemporary civilization may be distinguished by the fact that its technology-based connectedness is fast displacing its culture-based connectedness. This article examines the ramifications of this phenomenon from the perspective of sustainability in general and its implications for our “energy systems” in particular. The diagnosis is followed by policy suggestions that would make energy use not only more sustainable but also bring it in line with human values and aspirations.
Negotiating Eternity: Energy Policy, Environmental Justice, and the Politics of Nuclear Waste
Authors: Hoffman Steven M.
Published: February 2009

Arguing that a crisis is upon us, the Bush Administration has proposed an energy strategy remarkable in its scope and audacity. While much criticism has been directed towards the plan’s ecological impacts, it also guarantees the continuing collapse of communities tha stand in the way of the full realization of the current energy economy. This situation is best understood reference to evolving notions of environmental justice. Unfortunately, the variety of meanings attributable to environmental justice often times come into conflict when applied to specific cases. Until a way is found to reconcile the idea’s many diverse meanings and to prevent one or another to be used in a specific institutional context to the exclusion of all others, environmental justice will, in a perverse way, be turned into yet another means to disregard society’s most vulnerable members.
Electric Utility Deregulation and the Myths of the Energy Crisis
Authors: Slocum Tyson
Published: February 2009

Electricity deregulation was meant to improve the quality of people’s lives by lowering the cost of a critical commodity. In every state that has chosen deregulation, however, power companies, free from the oversight of state regulators, have increased prices and, in California’s case, have driven a utility to bankruptcy. It is clear that deregulation was intended to benefit the energy industry more than consumers by removing cost-based regulations that restricted corporate profits but guaranteed low prices and reliable service to consumers. Deregulation proponents argued that California’s commitment to strong air quality standards prevented development of adequate power plant construction and that not a single power plant was constructed in California in the 1990s. This claim is refuted through an examination of California Energy Commission data. Although other states’ experiences are not as dramatic as California’s, serious problems will emerge if deregulation continues to dominate the policy agenda.
When Everything Changes, Everything Does Change: Nuclear Power After September 11th
Authors: Mariotte Michael
Published: February 2009

September 11, 2001, may have marked the end of the nuclear power era. Although there are still a large numbe of reactors operating worldwide, the idea that there will be a vast new generation of nuclear reactors is no longer valid given the new world reality. Nuclear power will now be dominated by questions of decommissioning, waste storage, cleanup, and the threat reactors pose to our national security because each is a virtual nuclear weapon, offering a myriad of opportunities for potential terrorism. Despite the obvious security risks, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently began a program to let the utilities essentially judge their own security capabilities—a form of self-regulation designed to achieve reassuring public relations results, not actual security improvements. Significant and realistic alternatives to nuclear power, including transitional options such as natural gas and large-scale wind, as well as longer term, noncentral station systems, are explored.
Education and Business Partnerships in the United Kingdom: Initiatives in Search of a Rationale
Authors: Weller Michael , Dillon Patrick
Published: February 2009

Education-business partnership in the United Kingdom has a long history. The promotion of links between the partners at all levels and in all sectors of the economy has become a service industry in its own right. In 1991, the UK government established a regional network of Education-Business Partnerships (EBPs) in an attempt to coordinate these activities. Education-business links embrace curriculum enrichment for students at all levels of education; professional development for teachers, lecturers, and business employees; and institutional development and mutual benefits arising from collaboration between educational institutions, business, and the wider community. The authors review the development of education-business links in the United Kingdom and raise a number of issues about definition and purpose. They discuss the difficulties of establishing an educational framework for industrial, commercial, and business enterprises and the economic and technological processes which operate within them.
Precise Precaution Versus Sloppy Science
Authors: Meyer Hartmut
Published: February 2009

The Convention on Biological Diversity opens the possibility to negotiate a legally binding Biosafety Protocol to assess and minimize risks in the field of transboundary transfer, handling, and use of organisms modified by genetic engineering. Two principles— the Precautionary Principle and the Principle of Familiarity—guiding the risk assessment as basis of import decisions on such organisms are discussed. Developing and European industrialized countries favor the Precautionary Principle. The U.S., Australia, Japan, and some others call for the Principle of Familiarity. These two principles exhibit opposite effects on scientific progress in general and on scientific methodology of risk assessment in particular. With the example of risk assessment by the U.S. company Monsanto discussed below, it could be illustrated that the Principle of Familiarity opens the way for superficial evaluations based on citing arbitrary references while the Precautionary Principle is an incentive for developing and applying sound methodology in experimental risk assessment. on the transboundary transfer of such LMOs, for example, on the international exchange of and trade with transgenic seeds, grains, animals, or bacteria. The negotiations are based on Articles 19.3 and 8(g) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, elaborated during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, and on Decision II/5 of the Second Conference of the Parties to this Convention in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1995 (see the appendix; for more documents, see www.biodiv.org). Until the Fourth Conference of the Parties in 1998, 172 states ratified this convention. This conference decided to finish the Biosafety Protocol in February 1999. In 1998, transgenic crops were allowed to be planted in eight (75%) countries of the world. As the country with the largest acreage of transgenic crops and as the main trader of LMOs, the United States cannot become a member of the protocol until it has ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Contemporary Environmental Issues: Creating Curricular Connections In K-12 Education
Authors: Dass Pradeep Maxwell
Published: February 2009

The nature of contemporary issues facing our society and the research being conducted to deal with them clearly crosses the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines. Hence, it is suggested that school education should provide students with trans-disciplinary learning experiences in which students learn to use knowledge from various academic disciplines in an integrated format within the context of specific real-life issues. Trans-disciplinary approaches hold the promise of helping students see real-life issues in an organic rather than fragmented manner and be able to apply knowledge to deal with them in an organic manner. A majority of the contemporary issues facing our society relate to the environment. Hence, environmental issues can serve as excellent organizers for designing trans-disciplinary instructional units. Arguments in favor of organizing trans-disciplinary instruction around contemporary environmental issues and an approach for doing so are presented in this article.
Hunting for Hope in the Academy
Authors: Stocking S. Holly
Published: February 2009

Can academic scholarship harbor hope for humanity, or is it destined to become just another of many things that contribute to the demise of our species? Prodded by the unflinching observations of an eminent colleague, a journalist-turned-academic goes hunting for hope in the scholarship of her own field of mass media studies. Her search raises uncomfortable questions not only for herself, but for other academics who share her environmental concerns.
An Institutional Approach to Electricity Sector Restructuring: The Case for Consumer Aggregation
Authors: Rosales Jon , Sherry Christopher , Gregory Johanna , Boyle Thomas
Published: February 2009

Social and environmental problems attributed to current electricity sector restructuring structures are spelled out. The energy source choices and market power of large industrial and commercial users versus residential consumers are compared. An institutional analytic approach is used to reveal the best option to alleviate the social and environmental problems associated with electricity restructuring. Community aggregation emerges with great potential to achieve meaningful social and environmental improvement.
Modern Technology and Technological Determinism: The Empire Strikes Again
Authors: Alvarez Mauricio Ramos
Published: February 2009

In spite of the discredited notions of determinism during the last two decades, the idea of technological determinism strikes again, based on the social impacts of modern technology. The main objective of this article attempts to study the relation between civilization, modern technology, and development. To attain our objective, the debate is presented on the issue of whether the current management of technology contributes to the guidance of technological development on the basis of “social priorities.”
Borders and the Utility of Violence
Authors: Bornstein Avram S.
Published: February 2009

■ The geopolitical border is a uniquely modern form of social and economic control. When marked and functional, one usually finds military or police personnel who stop, search, turn back, detain and sometimes beat or kill people trying to cross. This article describes how border enforcement on the Green Line, between the West Bank and Israel proper, contributes to the under-development of the West Bank and the intensified exploitation of Palestinians. Particular examples are provided from the construction industry and the textile industry. However, this article argues that the border is not simply a tactic to squeeze workers. Violence is rarely deployed in such a straightforward, utilitarian fashion, but is, instead, usually mediated by complicated patterns of fear. Like the US-Mexico border described by Heyman, the Israeli-Palestinian border is shaped by popular fears of criminal and racial invasion.
‘Anthropologies of the South’
Authors: Quinlan Tim
Published: February 2009

This contribution attempts to pinpoint the concerns voiced for and against ‘anthropologies of the South’, and to sort out the confusion that has arisen in this debate. I suggest that the notion of specific anthropologies is ultimately self defeating, indeed, is a superficial issue, in a debate that is driven primarily by ‘southern’ anthropologists’ concerns about the intellectual and political implications of advocating a reflexive approach to social research for the future of anthropology as a discipline.