bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Violation and Resistance
Authors: Jaschok Maria
Published: June 2003

This article argues that where gender is pressed into the service of collective projects of nation and community building, women's rights to self-constitution, incorporating religious expressions, are vulnerable to violation, as are associated rights to political and social participation and societal recognition of full personhood. Against the recent history of a volatile, sometimes violent, relationship between an absolutist Chinese State and its religious minorities, the article examines the implication of the relegation of religious women to an antithesis of paradigmatic womanhood, in terms of questions over the origin, definition, and validation, as well as legitimacy, of Communist Party-led liberation. It also explores the beginnings of women's challenge to loci of both secular and religious patriarchy.
Encountering “Hot” Anger
Authors: Rydstrøm Helle
Published: June 2003

This article examines husband-to-wife violence within a rural Vietnamese community. In Vietnam, domestic violence is tied to a complex field of cultural forces that consists of a patrilineal tradition of ancestor worship, assumptions about females' versus males' character, Confucian virtues, and a history of war. Females are expected to encourage house-hold harmony by adjusting themselves and, in so doing, make social life smooth. Males, on the other hand, are assumed to have a hot character, meaning that a male might fly into a rage and even behave violently. Local ways of constructing females and males, the article suggests, provide conditions for considering females as a corporeal materiality that can be manipulated into the right shape by the means of (male) violence. Domestic violence, like any other violence, by ignoring the corporeal limits thus brutally alters assumptions about the topography of the human body.
What the Papers Say
Authors: Hilsdon Anne-Marie
Published: June 2003

This article explores the case of Flor Contemplacion, a Filipino domestic worker in Singapore who was sentenced to death in 1995 for the supposed murder of a young boy. The totally different versions of the case presented by the media, especially the Singapore and Philippine presses, are explored. Violence against overseas domestic workers has long been acknowledged in sociological research. However, previous media analyses of the Contemplacion case have not addressed such violence. Here, negotiation of gender discourse in media meanings of violence with respect to the Contemplacion case is presented, thereby bringing a different approach to media and cultural analysis of the case, and contributing more generally to the dearth of media analyses of gender and violence. The article endeavors to show how media and nationalist discourses are inextricably interwoven and felt politically in the lives of Contemplacion, the other individuals involved, other overseas domestic contract workers in Singapore and their employers, and media audiences.
Feminization of Labor Migration as Violence Against Women
Authors: Piper Nicola
Published: June 2003

International labor migration has emerged as an increasingly regionalized phenomenon, with flows within East and Southeast Asia having gained great momentum. An expanding number of women are taking part in these cross-border movements in the search for work, to the extent that migration scholars have been referring to this development as the “feminization of labor migration.” This article examines the debates and issues concerning intersections between women migrant workers' experiences of specifically gender-based violence and violations of their more generalized workers', human, and citizenship rights. This is explored by investigating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their advocacy networking activities in response to states' (non)policies. Preliminary interviews with NGO representatives and migrant women in Japan were conducted in 1996. The article, however, raises more questions than offers answers. It, therefore, should be read as setting a future research agenda.
Municipal Institutions and Voter Turnout in Local Elections
Authors: Hajnal Zoltan L. , Lewis Paul G.
Published: June 2003

Although low voter turnout in national elections has garnered considerable attention and concern, much lower turnout in municipal elections has often been largely ignored. Using a survey of cities in California, this article examines a series of institutional remedies to low turnout in mayoral and city council elections. Moving local elections to coincide with the dates of national elections would have by far the largest impact on voter turnout, but other institutional changes that tend to raise the stakes of local elections also increase turnout. Specifically, less outsourcing of city services, the use of direct democracy, and more control in the hands of elected rather than appointed officials all tend to increase turnout.
From Sewers to Suburbs
Authors: Dilworth Richardson
Published: June 2003

Central city infrastructure development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in areas such as sewerage, water works, street lighting, and street pavement, was an important cause of suburban municipal autonomy by the time of the Great Depression. Suburban autonomy was in turn an important factor in the racial and economic transformations that were visible in central cities by the 1950s. Thus, although central city infrastructure development was a classic developmental policy, it led to a central city politics that emphasized fiscal retrenchment and racialized poverty. This argument provides an important new perspective to the study of urban politics because it suggests that suburban autonomy was an intermediate process by which city policies transformed the context in which they were initially formulated. Evidence is provided for this argument through four OLS regression models that indicate a statistically significant relationship between central city infrastructure development in 1907 and suburban population growth in the 1930s and 1940s.
Price versus Income Effects as Sources of Growth in Government's Share of GDP
Authors: Blackley Paul R.
Published: June 2003

A demand-based model of public sector spending is used to identify the economic determinants of the relative size of government in the United States for the period 1949 to 1998. The government's share of GDP is hypothesized to be a function of income growth (Wagner's Law), relative prices for public sector output (Baumol/Beck hypothesis), and several demographic, cyclical, and budget variables. Although nondefense, noninterest government spending as a share of GDP has not grown in recent decades, the results support both income and price explanations of increasing government size. It is shown that the income and price effects are sensitive to the degree of disaggregation used to define government spending shares. Higher relative prices outweigh economic growth as a factor behind increasing shares for government consumption. Economic growth dominates the relative price effect for investment purchases. The two effects are similar for transfer payments.
Let No Child Be Left Behind: Determining the Cost of Improving Student Performance
Authors: Reschovsky Andrew , Imazeki Jennifer
Published: June 2003

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and recent legislation in a number of states have raised the standards for accountability in schools, with the objective of closing achievement gaps and increasing student performance overall. These new education policies, however, rarely address the way in which schools are financed. They ignore the fact that characteristics of schools and students require that some schools spend more than others to achieve any given student performance standard. To determine the characteristics that lead to variations in the costs of achieving a specified improvement in student performance, the authors estimate an educational cost function using data from elementary and secondary school districts in Texas. Results indicate that cost differences across districts can be quite large. The cost function results are summarized into a cost index that can then be used in a simple formula to guarantee that every district has sufficient fiscal resources to achieve state-imposed performance goals.
Relative Efficiency of AD Valorem and Unit Taxes: The Case of Endogenous Quality
Authors: Liu Liqun
Published: June 2003

This article studies the relative efficiency of unit and ad valorem taxes in a competitive market in which the quality of product is endogenous. The author finds that the relative efficiency of these two taxes depends on exactly how individuals value the quality of a product. Specifically, the unit tax welfare dominates the ad valorem tax in the “casket” case and the “full-price” case, whereas the ad valorem tax welfare dominates the unit tax in the “lightbulb” case.
A Survey of the International Empirical Evidence on the Tax-Spend Debate
Authors: Payne James E.
Published: June 2003

The concern over budget deficits in the mid-1980s generated a strand of literature known as the tax-spend debate, sometimes labeled the revenue-expenditure nexus. This literature has focused on the intertemporal relationship between revenues and expenditures in the generation of budget deficits. In light of the numerous empirical time-series studies on the subject, the intent of this survey article is to provide an overview of the work to date as well as provide suggestions for future research in this area.
Striking the Right Balance
Authors: Bolton Ruth N. , Smith Amy K. , Wagner Janet
Published: June 2003

This article explores how the exchange of social resources delivered by service employees and economic resources provided through service operations creates social and structural bonds that enhance business-to-business relationships. It describes an empirical study of experienced business customers of a large telecommunications company. The study shows that social bonds created by employee-delivered service have a greater influence on customers' satisfaction with company representatives and perceived value, whereas structural bonds created through the exchange of economic resources (financial or operational) have a stronger effect on their overall satisfaction with the organization. Business customers' responses to service design are moderated by the length, nature, and quality of customers' prior experiences with the service organization. Moreover, value mediates the effects of both service and satisfaction on behavioral intentions. The findings provide guidance for managers on how to “strike the right balance” in deploying service personnel and structuring service operations.
Reality or Perception?
Authors: Burton Suzan , Sheather Simon , Roberts John
Published: June 2003

The extent to which actual (rather than perceived) performance influences customer satisfaction has received limited attention by researchers, yet it is important for managers to understand the extent to which customer perceptions and behavioral intentions are associated with actual service performance. This study investigates the links between actual and perceived performance, customer standards, attributions, satisfaction, and behavioral intention. The results suggest that actual performance is a significant predictor of customer satisfaction, separate from its indirect association via perceived performance. Customers' comparison standards are also suggested to affect satisfaction both directly and indirectly. Customer attributions, in contrast, do not appear to influence performance judgments but are significantly associated with satisfaction levels. Customer experience is shown to be associated with satisfaction via an interaction effect and also to be significantly associated with behavioral intentions. The implications for research and management are discussed.
Consumer Comfort in Service Relationships
Authors: Spake Deborah F. , Beatty Sharon E. , Brockman Beverly K. , Crutchfield Tammy Neal
Published: June 2003

The importance of building relationships with customers is well documented, yet the role of consumer comfort in service relationships has not been fully explored. The authors report their efforts to measure and ascertain the importance of this construct in service relationships. Their findings provide evidence that consumer comfort has a significant and incremental impact on satisfaction, trust, commitment, and active voice with service providers. Furthermore, this variable appears to provide incremental understanding of the traditional satisfaction-trust-commitment paradigm. A scale of consumer comfort is developed that exhibits validity and reliability across two provider types.
When Does Commitment Lead to Loyalty?
Authors: Fullerton Gordon
Published: June 2003

Customer commitment is now regarded as a key variable in marketing relationships. The article investigates the roles played by different forms of commitment in the relationship between customers and their service provider. It was found that when customer commitment is based on shared values and identification, it has a uniformly positive impact on customer loyalty. When customer commitment is based on switching costs and dependence, it has mixed effects on customer loyalty. In addition, it was found that there were significant interactions between these two forms of commitment on customer loyalty. If we are to understand the role of customer commitment, we must have a solid understanding of the nature of commitment present in the relationship. These findings have important implications for the development and management of service relationships because it is not necessarily the case that more customer commitment is better for either the service provider or the customer.
An Examination of the Determinants of Hotel Reits' Unsystematic Risk
Authors: Gu Zheng , Kim Hyunjoon
Published: June 2003

This article follows up on a previous study that examined the systematic risk of hotel real estate investment trusts (REITs). Although the previous study found that the predominant component of hotel REITs' risk was the unsystematic risk, it analyzed only the determinants of the systematic risk. This article discusses the relevance of hotel REITs' unsystematic risk in firm valuation and investigates financial variables that affect the unsystematic risk. Using backward selection regression method, we found that hotel REITs' unsystematic risk was associated positively with debt and dividend payout but negatively with capitalization. The findings suggest that large hotel REIT firms paying lower dividends and using less debt are likely to have an advantage in firm valuation.
Risk-Adjusted Performance: A Sector Analysis of Restaurant Firms
Authors: Kim Hyunjoon , Gu Zheng
Published: June 2003

This study examined the risk-adjusted performance of three restaurant sectors, namely full-service restaurants, economy/buffet restaurants, and fast-food restaurants. Three indexes—the Sharpe Index, the Treynor Index, and the Jensen Index—were derived to compare the performance of the three restaurant sectors for the period 1996-2000. The findings indicate that fast-food restaurants performed the best, followed by full-service restaurants and then economy/buffet restaurants. The results also reveal that the performance of all the three restaurant sectors was inferior to that of the market portfolio. To improve their risk-adjusted performance, restaurant firms should continue to consolidate to further enhance revenue and lower operating costs, thus raising their stock returns without increasing the systematic risk. In the meantime, they should lower their unsystematic risk.
Diversity Training Management Initiatives in the Lodging Industry: An Exploratory Analysis of Underlying Dimensions
Authors: Weaver Pamela , Wilborn LaChelle , McCleary Ken , Lekagul Apichoke
Published: June 2003

An exploratory study of managers with individual affiliate memberships in the American Hotel & Lodging Association was undertaken to (a) determine if any underlying dimensions are perceived within diversity management training initiatives (DMTIs) used in the lodging industry and (b) determine if managers can be grouped according to the importance placed on DMTIs. A survey was mailed to a random sample of 998 managers. A principal components analysis explaining 75% of the variance revealed that five underlying dimensions represented the DMTIs. Three groups of managers were identified from a hierarchical cluster procedure.
Hotel Managers' Predictions of Satisfaction with Unexpected Outcomes
Authors: Coughlan Richard
Published: June 2003

A great deal of research has focused on the relationship between individuals' expectations and their satisfaction with outcomes. This article describes a field study involving hotel managers who were asked about affective expectations related to real-life outcomes. Results show that managers were not as satisfied as they had predicted they would be with outcomes that exceeded expectations. Similarly, they were not as dissatisfied as they had predicted they would be with outcomes that fell short of expectations. Implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are noted.
A Management Tool for Evaluating Police Use of Force: An Application of the Force Factor
Authors: Terrill William , Alpert Geoffrey P. , Dunham Roger G. , Smith Michael R.
Published: June 2003

Collecting and using data on police use of force is a complex issue. The process the authors suggest applies the force factor methodology to understanding police use of force relative to suspect resistance in interactive and sequential encounters. Agencies that adopt the force factor approach will learn about their officers, supervisors, and encounters with the public they serve. Although this process is fairly complex and may be difficult to implement, it will provide important information to agencies and the public.
Police and Correctional Department Firearm Training Frameworks in Washington State
Authors: Morrison Gregory B.
Published: June 2003

Police handgun shooting accuracy during field confrontations is poor, and this raises questions about the validity and thus utility of public safety officer firearm training. Surveys of police and correctional departments (n = 124) and instructors (n = 224) in Washington State were used to explore firearms training frameworks comprised of resources and facilities, general program parameters, instructor selection and development, and officer requalification. Findings exemplifying important similarities and differences are presented, and general recommendations for practitioner organizations are offered. Research will be central to future efforts to identify valid and thus best practices, as will program evaluation for providing ongoing refinement.
Demonstrating the Value of an Organization's Learning Culture: The Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire
Authors: Marsick Victoria J. , Watkins Karen E.
Published: June 2003

The problem and the solution. Some organizations seek to become learning organizations. Yet, implementation is elusive and is not often based on research about what constitutes a learning culture. Over the past 16 years, a model of a learning organization was developed that draws on both the literature and organizational case studies. However, organizations wanted a way to diagnose their current status and guide change, and scholars wanted better measures of learning to compare organizations and to explore links between organizational learning and the performance of the firm. The solution was to develop and validate an instrument that addresses these needs.
Identifying Valid and Reliable Measures for Dimensions of a Learning Culture
Authors: Yang Baiyin
Published: June 2003

The problem and the solution. There continues to be a strong interest in the learning organization construct. This construct has attracted increasing attention conceptually but has been underresearched empirically. Human resource development scholars and practitioners alike face a challenge when they attempt to assess such an abstract idea and its effect on organizational performance. This article shows how the concept of a learning culture can be adequately measured and validated by relating it to organizational performance.
Making the Business Case for the Learning Organization Concept
Authors: Ellinger Andrea D. , Ellinger Alexander E. , Yang Baiyin , Howton Shelly W.
Published: June 2003

The problem and the solution. Organizations that embrace strategies consistent with the learning organization literature are thought to achieve improved performance. Yet few empirical studies have examined the relationship between the learning organization concept and firms' financial performance. To assess this association, managerial responses to the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire along with objective measures of firms' financial performance were obtained.
Professional Associations as Learning Systems: Learning + Strategy + Action = Strategic Learning
Authors: Milton Judith
Published: June 2003

The problem and the solution. Making learning meaningful—so that it is focused on development of individuals and realization of the organization's goals and objectives—is the hallmark of an effective learning organization. To do this, “learning initiatives must be both (1) guided by strategic objectives and (2) integrated with important business initiatives” (Cross & Israelit, 2000, p. ix). This article discusses a professional association's effort to integrate the principles of a learning organization into its core business initiatives through the strategic planning process.
Developing a Culture of Learning in a Changing Industrial Climate: An Australian Case Study
Authors: Dymock Darryl
Published: June 2003

The problem and the solution. An organization that does not have a history of being a learning organization but has experienced generally confrontational industrial relations began to change its learning culture. This study suggests that even without a systematic approach, some of the features of a learning organization can develop through efforts at the individual and the systemic levels but that the issue of power relationships in the organization is highly significant.
Participant's Guide for Interpreting Results of the Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire
Authors: O'Neil Judith
Published: June 2003

The problem and the solution. Once an organization has diagnosed its learning culture, it may not know how to interpret the results or select alternative practices to move toward desired change. This article presents a Participant's Guide that helps organizations understand and make use of their Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire results. This guide provides descriptions of potential problems that lead to low scores and offers suggestions about activities that might be used to improve scores and thereby create a stronger learning culture.
Too Many Questions? The Uses of Incomplete Cyclic Designs for Paired Comparisons
Authors: Burton Michael L.
Published: June 2003

The author describes a method for constructing incomplete designs for paired comparisons data, using cyclic designs that place each item in the same number of pairings. He tests the reliability of the method using judged similarity data on twenty-one animal names and finds that designs that use 30% of the data have an acceptable level of reliability. The method has great potential value in field research as a means of reducing the number of questions required.
Analysis of the Unconventional Political Action Scale: Results in Spain
Authors: Prados Juan Sebastián Fernándex , Tejada Antonio José Rojas
Published: June 2003

Citizens usually participate in two ways in politics: conventional and unconventional political action. The latter type covers a wide range of behaviors that do not conform to the rules defined under a specific regime. Among the most significant unconventional expressions are the signing of petitions, boycotts, legal demonstrations, illegal strikes, and the occupation of buildings. In this article, the psychometric properties of a scale to measure unconventional political action in Spain are assessed. This scale was included in the last World Values Survey (of 1995-1996). The sample used in that survey contained 6,920 persons in Spain. The data from Spain are analyzed for the country as a whole and by region. Reliability, as indicated by Cronbach's alpha, is acceptable, and construct validity (tested with a principal components analysis, a differential study, and a correlational study) supports the use of the scale to differentiate persons in unconventional political action.
Active Interview Tactics in Research on Public Deviants: Exploring the Two-Cop Personas
Authors: Hathaway Andrew D. , Atkinson Michael
Published: June 2003

The need to establish and maintain good rapport with interviewees is a methodological axiom supported by most social scientists. Some say we place unnecessary limits on data collection, however, when respondents' statements are simply accommodated. More innovative approaches are especially needed to account for varying roles and their narratives, as Goffman would have it, at different frontstage and backstage levels. Sociological focus on tolerable deviance—with emphasis on public deviance by those who promote wider tolerance through situated claims making—presents a research challenge of this nature. The interviews in this article with tattoo artists and drug reform advocates combine attention to rapport with more confrontational tactics, aiming to elicit from informants an array of interpretive standpoints. The authors term this technique “good cop, bad cop.”
Using Informants' Judgments to Infer Attributes in Dynamic Domains
Authors: Tonn Bruce E. , Conrad Frederick G.
Published: June 2003

This article describes a methodology, called the Product Attribute Characterization Technique (PACT), which is designed to elicit from informants information to group and describe products. The methodology was developed for use by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in price-indexing efforts. Informants are required to complete three tasks: provide a list of products that fall into the area of analysis, group these products on the basis of similarity, and compare and contrast pairs of products that fall into specific product clusters. The last task produces information that can be used to create detailed product descriptions, which, for example, can be used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop product checklists, an essential tool in developing price indices. PACT has been successfully tested in two product areas, PC software and telecommunications. PACT's implementation time needs to be shortened for its value to be fully realized.
The Economics of Professional Sports Leagues
Authors: Bougheas Spiros , Downward Paul
Published: June 2003

Over the years, sporting leagues around the world have implemented a number of cross-subsidization policies aiming to preserve their competitive balance. The main target of these policies has been the sporting labor market. Some of these policies aim to directly affect players' salaries, whereas others attempt to reform the transfer market. In this article, after a brief review of cross-subsidization policies, the authors develop a simple model of the transfer market where players' salaries are determined by a bargaining process. Within this framework, the authors reexamine the effect of such policies for competitive balance, taking explicitly into account their effects on transactions in the transfer market.
Sports Practice, Health, and Macroeconomic Performances
Authors: Eber Nicolas
Published: June 2003

The author explores an endogenous growth model accounting for how sports practice intervenes in the macroeconomic behavior of a developed country. The model exhibits multiple balanced growth paths. For a given economy, there may be two steady-state equilibria — a “studious” equilibrium and a “sporting” equilibrium — and the model points out a long-run trade-off between economic growth and sports practice and health. The author also compares two countries with the same preferences, technologies, and human capital endowments but with different levels of sports practice and shows that the country with the higher level of sports practice also has a higher consumption and income per capita. This result suggests that, in the short run (i.e., for given human capital potential), sports practice and economic wealth should go hand in hand. Empirical implications of the model are discussed.
The Utility of Sport and Returns to Ownership
Authors: DeGennaro Ramon P.
Published: June 2003

Previous research demonstrates conclusively that owning thoroughbred racehorses tends to be a losing financial proposition. Owners pay a premium to enter the game of racing. Recent evidence has concluded that this premium is approximately constant across thoroughbred prices. This article generalizes recent work by allowing multiple determinants of the premium rather than one. It concludes that although the premium is approximately constant for relatively low-priced horses, it increases with the cost of the animal, at least for the most expensive ones. Evidently, a sizable number of owners are willing to pay increasing prices for talent in the quest to own a champion. To the extent this preference for champions generalizes to other sports, it has important implications for public policy and social welfare.
“Competitive Balance in Sports Leagues: An Introduction”
Authors: Fort Rodney , Maxcy Joel
Published: June 2003

The authors summarize the literature on competitive balance to point out that there is no need for Zimbalist's editorial position that a single measurement of competitive balance is the correct measure, whereas others are not. Different measurements are of different use, and all lines of research into competitive balance have, to date, proven quite instructive. To ignore this is to forgo important insights into the behavior of competitive balance.
Competitive Balance Conundrums
Authors: Zimbalist Andrew
Published: June 2003

Fort and Maxcy misrepresent my argument at various points and misapprehend the nature of the competitive balance issue. The analysis of competitive balance needs to be informed by theory. Purely empirical exercises are unlikely to enhance our understanding of the importance of competitive balance to team sports leagues.
Registered Nurse Staffing and Patient and Nurse Outcomes in Hospitals: A Commentary
Authors: Clarke Sean P. , Aiken Linda H.
Published: June 2003

The authors' research group published a major article in October 2002 showing a strong effect of nurse staffing on both patient outcomes and factors related to nurse turnover in 168 Pennsylvania hospitals. This article reviews major design elements and findings of the study and discusses policy implications of this research. Even though evidence is mounting that hospital staffing is a public health issue, regulation of staffing levels remains controversial. Higher quality staffing data that incorporate information about patients' needs for nursing care are required for better administrative decision-making and research purposes. That the current nurse shortage is occurring in an era of renewed concerns about safety in hospitals offers unique opportunities for developing public policy to remedy problems with staffing and other long-standing workplace environment issues in hospital nursing.
Evidence of Nurse Working Conditions: A Global Perspective
Authors: Stone Patricia W. , Tourangeau Ann E. , Duffield Christine M. , Hughes Frances , Jones Cheryl B. , O'Brien-Pallas Linda , Shamian Judith
Published: June 2003

There is a global nursing shortage. Few health services decision makers have made the critical link between the number of human resources, the characteristics of the work environment and the impact on patients, nurses, and the system as a whole. The purpose of this article is to review evidence about nurse workload, staffing, skill mix, turnover, and organizational characteristics' effect on outcomes; discuss methodological considerations in this research; discuss research initiatives currently under way; review policy initiatives in different countries; and make recommendations where more research is needed. Overall, an understanding of the relationships among nurse staffing and organizational climate to patient safety and health outcomes is beginning to emerge in the literature. Little is known about nursing turnover and more evidence is needed with consistent definitions and control of underlying patient characteristics. Research and policy initiatives in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States are summarized.
A Phenomenological Approach to Political Competence: Stories of Nurse Activists
Authors: Warner Joanne Rains
Published: June 2003

Political competence is the skills, perspectives, and values needed for effective political involvement within nursing's professional role. Political competence is requisite within nursing to (a) intervene in the broad socioeconomic and environmental determinants of health, (b) intervene effectively in a culturally diverse society, (c) partner in development of a humane health care system, and (d) bring nursing's values to policy discussions. This phenomenological study used narratives of 6 politically expert nurse activists to enhance our understanding of political competence. Six themes emerged from an analysis of the lived experience of their political involvement. They include nursing expertise as valued currency, opportunities created through networking, powerful persuasion, commitment to collective strength, strategic perspectives, and perseverance. These themes can inform development toward greater political efficacy for individual nurses and for the profession collectively.
The Quest for Sustainability Gets Closer: CMS Funds Nurse-Managed Health Center Congressional Demonstration
Authors: Hansen-Turton Tine
Published: June 2003

In July 2002, the National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC) received a demonstration grant from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to create a descriptive profile and conduct an evaluation of selected health services at 15 nurse-managed health centers. This demonstration project will begin to assess the potential of nurse-managed health centers to serve as an alternative safety net model of community-based primary health care and health promotion. A final report is due in Fall 2003.
Never Free of Suspicion
Authors: Bekerman Zvi
Published: June 2003

In this article, the author reflects on the personal insights he gained while involved in a 2-year research project at two bilingual-Palestinian/Jewish-schools in Israel. The most salient characteristic of his venture relates to the ongoing sense of suspicion he felt throughout his work. The suspicion (of a civil sort) was shaped at many and different intersections. It could be perceived in meeting with and between all-teachers, parents, children, and investigators. Not surprisingly, it invaded his most private spheres-home, spouse, and past memories. Suspicion seemed to become in those places shaded by national ideology that, in our modern world, is to say all. The article is also a comment on some theoretical and methodological issues relevant to the social sciences today, in particular those dealing with complexities such as identity and culture.
The Strategic Centrality of Class in the Politics of “Race” and “Difference”
Authors: Scatamburlo-D'Annibale Valerie , McLaren Peter
Published: June 2003

This article argues against the radical displacement of class analysis and the decentering of capitalism within contemporary theoretical narratives, the political pusillanimity of post-Marxist “culturalist” discourses, and offers a historical materialist critique of the “politics of difference.” The authors argue that much of what falls under the rubric of “difference” politics amounts to little more than a demand for inclusion into the club of “representation” —a posturing which they argue merely reinscribes the banality of liberal pluralism rooted in the ideology of free-market capitalism. The authors advance an approach to “difference” and “race” that seeks to reanimate these constructs by acknowledging their embeddedness in capitalist social formations and material relations of power.
Corporate Capitalism and Political Agency: A Dialogue with Valerie Scatamburlo-D'Annibale and Peter McLaren
Authors: Mirón Louis F.
Published: June 2003

This article both responds to the criticisms of some postmodern scholarship raised by Scatamburlo-D'Annibale and McLaren and suggests the basis for new coalitions to interrupt global corporate greed. The author strives to work within the perspective advanced by these authors in that he exposes the contradictions of corporate capital illuminated by the Enron crisis. Rather than looking to the working classes, who have been largely displaced resulting from the worldwide concentration of capital, the author argues that it is the new “lost generation” of the investor class that needs mobilization. Finally, he argues that it is greed, not profit, that needs resistance from below.
The Apocalyptic Vision of Philip K. Dick
Authors: Best Steven , Kellner Douglas
Published: June 2003

Interrogating the importance of the writings of Philip K. Dick for critical cultural studies and social theory, the authors provide contextual and political readings of his work. Although H. G. Wells carried through a crucial science fiction breakthrough, Philip K. Dick emerges in the reading as the poet laureate of the postmodern adventure in his bleak and frightening portrayals of the future of global capitalism, interplanetary space travel and colonization, and the merging of humans and technology. Dick's stories and novels pursue the science fiction logic of “what if?” - taking a premise about current social development and following through to its possible conclusions. Eschewing the hard science approach of Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlen, Dick was more interested than other science fiction writers of his time in the philosophical interrogation of reality, the decline of human and social values, and providing warnings against future catastrophes of the human species and natural world.
The Cultural Images of Public Schooling and the Emergence of Plurality in Research
Authors: Mirón Louis F.
Published: June 2003

In this experimental article, the author initiates a methodological move toward the aesthetic in educational research. In doing so, he uncovers the hidden dynamics of power in the politics of knowledge. By treating the current commonsense images of public schooling as part of an emerging pluralism, he argues for a conception of aesthetics that is anchored in everyday cultural practices. Viewing public schooling as both a site of theoretical/methodological inquiry and intervention, the article begins to move away from an epistemological perspective that is rooted in “problem solving” to one that Willis captures as the “relations of creativity.”
`Eph'ective signaling: forward, reverse and crosstalk
Authors: Murai Keith K. , Pasquale Elena B.
Published: June 2003

The Eph receptors comprise the largest group of receptor tyrosine kinases and are found in a wide variety of cell types in developing and mature tissues. Their ligands are the ephrins, a family of membrane-bound proteins found in lipid rafts. In the past decade, Eph receptors and ephrins have been implicated in a vast array of cellular processes. Unlike other receptor tyrosine kinases, however, the Eph receptors seem to be geared towards regulating cell shape and movement rather than proliferation. Studies have uncovered intricate signaling networks that center around the ligand-receptor complex, and this may account for the broad repertoire of functions of Eph proteins. Deciphering the bi-directional pathways emanating from an Eph receptor-ephrin complex will not only help us to understand basic biological processes, but may also provide important insight into disease.
Fluorescence in situ hybridization: past, present and future
Authors: Levsky Jeffrey M. , Singer Robert H.
Published: June 2003

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), the assay of choice for localization of specific nucleic acids sequences in native context, is a 20-year-old technology that has developed continuously. Over its maturation,various methodologies and modifications have been introduced to optimize the detection of DNA and RNA. The pervasiveness of this technique is largely because of its wide variety of applications and the relative ease of implementation and performance of in situ studies. Although the basic principles of FISH have remained unchanged, high-sensitivity detection,simultaneous assay of multiple species, and automated data collection and analysis have advanced the field significantly. The introduction of FISH surpassed previously available technology to become a foremost biological assay. Key methodological advances have allowed facile preparation of low-noise hybridization probes, and technological breakthroughs now permit multi-target visualization and quantitative analysis - both factors that have made FISH accessible to all and applicable to any investigation of nucleic acids. In the future, this technique is likely to have significant further impact on live-cell imaging and on medical diagnostics.
Intramembrane proteolysis by presenilin and presenilin-like proteases
Authors: Xia Weiming , Wolfe Michael S.
Published: June 2003

Regulated intramembrane proteolysis is a novel mechanism involving proteases that hydrolyze their substrates in a hydrophobic environment. Presenilin (PS) 1 and PS 2 are required for intramembrane cleavage of an increasing number of type I membrane proteins, including the amyloid precursor protein of Alzheimer's disease and the Notch receptor, which signals during differentiation and development. Mutagenesis, affinity labeling, biochemical isolation, and reconstitution in cells reveal that PS, in complex with co-factors nicastrin, APH-1 and PEN-2, apparently contains the active site ofγ-secretase, a novel membrane aspartyl protease. In addition, other related aspartyl proteases have been identified. These include members of the type-4 prepilin peptidase family in bacteria, which are known proteases and carry a GD motif conserved in PS. A group of multi-pass membrane proteins found in eukaryotes also contain YD and LGXGD motifs in two transmembrane domains that are conserved in PS and postulated to constitute an aspartyl protease active site. Among these is signal peptide peptidase (SPP), which cleaves remnant signal peptides derived from signal-peptidase-mediated ectodomain shedding. SPP cuts type II membrane proteins, illustrating that PS-like proteases play a key role in intramembrane proteolysis of single-pass membrane proteins oriented in either direction.
Some Economics of Ticket Resale
Authors: Courty Pascal
Published: June 2003

A large number of brokers and scalpers resell a significant fraction of event tickets at substantial markups and they manage to do so despite the fact that promoters and ticketing agencies do not support resell for profits and often attempt to block secondary market. Why can't promoters capture the profits from secondary markets or at least deter brokers from doing so? I present a simple explanation that borrows from the literature on airline ticket pricing and draw parallels with that literature. I review some evidence consistent with this explanation.
Awards, Success and Aesthetic Quality in the Arts
Authors: Ginsburgh Victor
Published: June 2003

The role of experts is dramatically increasing in our societies, where sorting information about quality is becoming more and more difficult. This paper looks at expertise in the arts (movies, novels and musical interpretation) and shows that expert opinion given shortly after the work has been produced (Oscars, prizes, rankings in musical competitions) may influence success, though it does not always recognize talent and does often not survive the “test of time,” considered by many art philosophers, since Hume, as one of the possible measures of fundamental aesthetic quality.
Indirect Liability for Copyright Infringement: Napster and Beyond
Authors: Landes William , Lichtman Douglas
Published: June 2003

When individuals infringe copyright, they often use tools, services, and venues provided by other parties. An enduring legal question asks to what extent those other parties should be held liable for the resulting infringement. For example, should a firm that produces photocopiers be required to compensate authors for any unauthorized copies made on that firm's machines? What about firms that manufacture personal computers or offer Internet access; should they be held liable, at least in part, for online music piracy? In this essay, we examine how modern copyright law addresses these questions and we evaluate the resulting system on economic grounds.
Health Care Costs: On the Rise Again
Authors: Glied Sherry
Published: June 2003

Since 1999, health care costs have been growing faster than national income. This rapid growth has occurred as the ability of private and public purchasers to reduce service utilization and bargain for lower prices has fallen, insurers have recouped lost profits through higher premiums, and new technologies have driven up costs throughout the sector. Private insurance market responses to these rising costs may lead to reductions in the number of people with insurance and to increased fragmentation of the insurance market. Over time, technological change in medicine both increases costs and improves the quality of care. The challenge for public policy is to maintain insurance and some degree of equity in the face of these rising costs.
Comments
Authors: Neu Werner , Harford Jon D , Robson Arthur J , Field Alexander J
Published: June 2003

To be considered for publication in the Comments section, letters should be relatively short—generally less than 1,000 words—and should be sent to the journal offices at the address appearing inside the front cover. The editors will choose which letters will be published. All published letters will be subject to editing for style and length.
Fatigue of Severely Deformed Metals
Authors: Vinogradov A. , Hashimoto S.
Published: June 2003

In this brief communication, we would like to review present data on fatigue performance of ultra‐fine grain materials fabricated by severe plastic deformation (SPD) and to discuss the possible mechanisms of their plastic deformation and degradation in light of currently available experimental data. The most prominent effect of SPD is often associated with significant grain refinement down to the nanoscopic scale. The other evident effect, which accompanies intensive plastic straining, is the dislocation accumulation up to limiting densities of 1016 m–2. Since namely these two factors, the grain size and the dislocation density, govern the strengthening of polycrystalline materials, we shall primarily confine ourselves to their role in cyclic deformation of severely pre‐deformed metals.
Five year research update (1996–2000): evaluations for competence to stand trial (adjudicative competence)
Authors: Mumley Denise L. , Tillbrook Chad E. , Grisso Thomas
Published: June 2003

This article reviews and evaluates publications during 1996–2000 with relevance for assessments of competence to stand trial (also known as adjudicative competence). The review focuses specifically on articles that provide new concepts or data supported by research or case analyses. The studies are reviewed under the following headings: (i) the systemic context of evaluations of adjudicative competence (AC); (ii) conceptual guidelines for AC evaluations; (iii) research on AC assessment methods; (iv) empirical correlates of AC judgments and psycholegal abilities; (v) quality of AC evaluations and reports; (vi) interpretation of AC evaluation data; (vii) issues in AC assessment of special populations (e.g., juveniles, persons with mental retardation, and women); and (viii) treatment to restore competence. Suggestions are offered for further research to advance the quality of clinical evaluations of adjudicative competence. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.