The Power of a Cultural Campus: Lincoln Center's Economic Impact on New York City

Lincoln Center, the cultural heart of New York City for over half a century, is also an important economic force, according to a new report released today. Lincoln Center's 11 resident cultural organizations and its three long-term licensees hosted 4.5 million people in the 2015 fiscal year, and the cultural campus contributed $2.4 billion in economic impact in New York City. In addition, New Yorkers benefited from access to free performances: 33$2.4 billion impact consists of direct spending by Lincoln Center of $785.4 million and indirect spending of$1.4 billion. Lincoln Center tourists--audience members from out of town who said that Lincoln Center was a very important reason for their trip to New York City--spent $669.8 million, having an impact of$1 billion. This economic activity created nearly 16,000 jobs in the city. Some highlights from the report: Lincoln Center contributed $2.4 billion to New York City's economy in the 2014-2015 season. Lincoln Center organizations spent$785.4 million in New York City during that period, having an economic impact of $1.4 billion.$113.5 million in New York City taxes were collected. Lincoln Center tourists--audience members from out of town who said that Lincoln Center was a very important reason for their trip to New York City--spent $669.8 million, having an impact of$1 billion. 15,802 New York City jobs were created by this economic activity. 71% of Lincoln Center expenditures were on program-related labor and expenses. 44% of all attendees took advantage of Lincoln Center free events, programs, and admissions. Nearly 1.5 million people attended a free performance, and another half million visited the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, to attend free events

The Effective Use of Volunteers: Best Practices for the Public Sector

Brudney posits a relationship between the best practices and the benefits realized from volunteer involvement. A volunteer program in the public sector is sponsored by a government agency and, thus, occurs in an organizational context; remuneration is not provided for volunteers\u27 contributions, but reimbursement for their expenses is permitted; the time is given freely, yet volunteers may certainly benefit as well, and the work fulfills ongoing responsibilities of the host agency

Using Computer Technology Tools to Improve the Teaching-Learning Process in Technical and Vocational Education: Mechanical Engineering Subject Area

This paper discusses the integration of computer assisted instructions (CAI) with traditional class room teaching. It describes a teaching method to bring real-world of industrial work into the classroom that underscores the need to learn fundamental principles while adding excitement and relevance to the experience. This paper presents results of a case study undertaken to understand the effect of computer assisted teaching methodology on learning effectiveness in classroom environment. The effects of computer assisted instructions on different levels of cognition of individual learners have also been evaluated. The computer aided drawing (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM) and computer numerical control (CNC) courses at the Bahrain institute are an integral part of this attempt. These courses emphasize the development of a 3-D geometric computer model and application of this digital database to all phases of the design process. The students make freehand sketches, build computer models, mate assemblies of parts, perform various analysis, create kinematics simulations, generate final design drawings, import engineering drawing as DXF file, generate NC file to build rapid prototypes as shown in the table 1 below. Keywords: Computer Technology, C.N.C and AutoCad Softwar

The launch of the euro

The introduction on January 1, 1999, of the euro--the single currency adopted by eleven of the fifteen countries of the European Union--marked the beginning of the final stage of Economic and Monetary Union and the start of a new era in Europe. The creation of a single currency and a single monetary policy has provided both extraordinary challenges and exceptional opportunities within Europe. This article reviews the organization, objectives, and targets of the euro area's new central bank and discusses some of the early challenges it has faced in setting and implementing monetary policy with the new common currency. It discusses the initial functioning of the payment system and the interbank market and reviews the effects to date of the single currency on European bond and equity markets, on the banking system, and in euro-area transactions.Euro ; European Monetary System (Organization) ; European currency unit

Measurement Invariance and Response Bias: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

The goals of the present paper were to assess measurement invariance using a common econometric method and to illustrate the approach with self-reported measures of parenting behaviors before and after a family intervention. Most recent literature on measurement invariance (MI) in psychological research 1) explores the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis to identify measurement invariance, and 2) tests for measurement invariance across groups rather than across time. We use method, Stochastic Frontier Estimation, or SFE, to identify response bias and covariates of response bias both across individuals at a single point in time and across two measurement occasions (before and after participation in a family intervention). We examined the effects of participant demographics (N = 1437) on response bias; gender and race/ethnicity were related to magnitude of bias and to changes in bias across time, and bias was lower at posttest than at pretest. We discuss analytic advantages and disadvantages of SFE relative to SEM approaches and note that the technique may be particularly useful in addressing the problem of “response shift bias” or “recalibration” in program evaluation -- that is, a shift in metric from before to after an intervention which is caused by the intervention itself and may lead to underestimates of program effects.Measurement invariance, measurement equivalence, response bias, response-shift bias, stochastic frontier analysis

Into the Fray: Novice Teachers Tackle Standards-Based Mathematics

This article tracks twenty-one graduates of a refom-based mathematics teacher education program for two years as they begin teaching mathematics in public elementary schools in New York City. Using surveys, classroom observations, and interviews, it examines the extent to which these beginning teachers were able to implement standards-based mathematics instruction in their classes. Results of the study were mixed. The novice teachers generally demonstrated an adequate understanding of the underlying mathematics principles and strong intentions of teaching mathematics for understanding.They were generally able to engage children in learning, and most performed at the “beginning stages of effective instruction” in their first year. However, they still struggled to engage students in higher order thinking and knowledge construction. ln their second year their abilities improved, but they were still hampered by local factors such as insufficient in-service support, the restrictions of high-stakes testing, and the overall school climate