Some Thoughts on the Study of Judicial Behavior

Back in the 1940s the political scientist C. Herman Pritchett began tallying the votes and opinions of Supreme Court Justices. His goal was to use data to test the hypothesis that the Justices were not only following the “law,” but were also motivated by their own ideological preferences. With the hindsight of nearly eighty years, we know that Pritchett’s seemingly small project helped to create a big field: Judicial Behavior, which I take to be the theoretical and empirical study of the choices judges make. Political scientists continue to play a central role, but they are now joined by economists, psychologists, historians, and legal academics. I briefly explore their contributions. I also consider other developments since Pritchett’s time, including the analysis of judicial behavior abroad, the massive improvements in our data, and the increasing number of topics under study. I conclude with some directions the field might take in the next few years. All in all, I am quite optimistic that the study of judicial behavior will continue to hold an important place in the social sciences, history, and, increasingly, I hope, law

Designing communication tools for responsible fisheries - Responsible Fisheries Series No. 7

The Concept of Responsible Fisheries advocated by FAO through its Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries is considered as an epitome among global efforts for realising the coveted goal of sustainable utilization of our marine resources. The Code is a landmark in marine development thinking as it represents the consensus achieved by more than 150 nations across the world on the directions we should follow in order to avoid resource depletion due to irrational utilization behavior pattern shown by various stakeholders. It is essential to inculcate awareness on the need to undertake all fisheries -related activities on a responsible manner. Since the code is voluntary in nature, it is only through concerted and continuous communication or extension interventions that we can bring about desirable cognitive changes among the varied and multiple resource users in the fisheries sector so that they would follow responsible practices as a moral obligation. Though the code was promulgated way back in 1995 it was not available in any of the maritime vernaculars in our country, except Tamil till the year 2000. I am proud to recall that Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) could bring out a Malayalam translation of this important international document in 2002 as an initial and significant output of the NATP funded project titled "Designing and Validation of Communication Strategies for Responsible Fisheries- A Co-learning Approach" under the leadership of Dr. C. Ramchandran, Scientist, Agricultural Extension, Socio Economic Evaluation and Technology Transfer Division (SEETTD), of the Institute. The project could also bring out a number of well -validated communication tools for making the fisher folk aware about the concept of responsible fisheries. This includes animation films, pamphlets, books, CDs, campaign materials etc. It is worth mentioning that the animation film "Little Fish and Tiny Nets" developed under the project was short- listed in the prestigious "Earth Vision" video film festival held in Tokyo in 2003. I am happy that he has compiled his experiences he has gathered while carrying out this project, along with other details, in this publication titled 'On Designing Communication Tools for Responsible Fisheries". As the whole project activities were organized in a Co -Learning mode, the emphasis given on insights and learnings derived out of the very process of designing these communication tools is a welcome departure. I am sure that this publication will be useful for all marine fisheries stakeholders in general and the extension professionals working in this sector in particular. Prof.(Dr) Mohan Joseph Modayil (Director

Beiträge des 2. Doktorandenworkshops zur Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa 2004

Dieses Discussion Paper enthält die Kurzfassungen der Beiträge, die im Rahmen des Workshops zur Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa für Doktoranden und Post-Doc’s vorgestellt und diskutiert werden sollen. Dieser Workshop findet nach der erfreulichen Reso-nanz im vergangenen Jahr nun zum zweiten Mal, vom 17. bis 19. Juni 2004, am IAMO statt, wobei die Anzahl der eingereichten Beiträge noch über dem Wert des Vorjahres lag. Ziel der Veranstaltung ist es, Nachwuchswissenschaftlern die Möglichkeit zu geben, Ihre Forschungs-vorhaben zu präsentieren und zu diskutieren. Die folgenden Kurzfassungen sollen allerdings nicht nur als Diskussionsgrundlage für den Workshop dienen, sondern auch einen Querschnittsüberblick über die gegenwärtige Nach-wuchsforschung im Agrarbereich zu Mittel- und Osteuropa vermitteln. Wir denken, dass ein breites Spektrum von relevanten Themen bearbeitet wird. Dies entspricht einerseits dem in-terdisziplinären Ansatz in der Agrarökonomie, andererseits zeigt es, dass die Diskussion mit Nachbarwissenschaften wie Politikwissenschaften oder Geographie fruchtbar geführt werden kann. Hervorzuheben ist weiterhin der hohe Anteil von Wissenschaftlern aus dem europäi-schen Ausland, die am Workshop teilnehmen. Dieser Umstand dokumentiert die europäische Dimension des Themas und unterstreicht die Rolle des IAMOs als Forum des wissenschaftli-chen Austausches. Wir wünschen uns, dass der Workshop zur Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa für Doktoranden und Post-Doc’s zu fruchtbaren Diskussionen anregt und hoffen, dass die vorlie-gende Zusammenstellung dazu beiträgt, den Erfahrungsaustausch auch über den engeren Kreis der unmittelbar Beteiligten hinaus zu fördern. -- E N G L I S H V E R S I O N: This Discussion Paper contains the contributions to be presented at the "Workshop zur Agrar-entwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa für Doktoranden und Post-Doc’s" to take place at IAMO from 17 to 19 June 2004. After last year’s positive resonance, the workshop is held for the second time with an increased number of contributions. It is the aim of the event to give young scientist the opportunity to present and discuss their research. The following short versions of the contributions shall not only serve as a basis for discussion during the workshop, but also offer a cross-sectional overview of current research on agricul-ture in Central and Eastern Europe done by young scientists. We think a broad spectrum of topics is covered. On the one hand, this is due to the interdisciplinary approach in agricultural economics, on the other hand, it shows that stimulating exchange with neighbouring disciplines such as political science or geography is possible. We also want to stress the significant con-tribution of scientists originating from European countries other than Germany, which docu-ments IAMO’s role as a forum of scientific exchange. It is our hope that the "Workshop zur Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa für Dokto-randen und Post-Doc’s" stimulates fruitful discussion and that the current compilation fosters exchange beyond those immediately involved in the workshop.

The Making of an Arctic Naturalist

One of the greatest impressions of my life was my first visit to Greenland. I was a mere boy at that time, only sixteen years old .... This visit to Greenland changed my life. I lost my heart to the Arctic and realized that I must return to learn more of the secrets behind the Polar beauty. This was not my birth as a naturalist, to be sure, since from early boyhood I had wanted to study nature and its creatures, but during this Greenland trip I received a special challenge: my endeavours were now directed towards a distinct though faraway goal. ... When in 1925 at the age of sixteen I joined Schiøler's Greenland expedition I had been a member of the Danish Ornithological Society and the Danish Natural History Society for two years, admittedly an extraordinarily young member. ... I was interested in most animal groups, although favouring birds and various marine invertebrates. During that time I made the acquaintance of Dr. C. G. Johs. Petersen, director of the "Biological Station", in those days the Danish institute for marine biological research. ... I spent many evenings in Dr. Petersen's home, learning and discussing marine zoology. I was seriously inclined to choose that field, rather than ornithology, as my future specialty, until I met Ejler Lehn Schiøler, and one year later received the offer to accompany him to Greenland. Schiøler was a remarkable man. He was a banker who became very wealthy but in his spare time he was an ardent student of ornithology and succeeded in gathering a collection of more than 25,000 skins of western palearctic birds, besides skeletons and eggs. He built a large museum for his collections with an ornithological library. ... Naturally, I admired this great scientist, and in his study, when he showed me his birds and told me about the problems they posed, I gradually decided to be an ornithologist. When we left for Greenland in 1925, altogether five men, in order to collect and study the birds of the west coast, it was still the old regime. The native population lived literally under stone-age conditions, mildly ruled by the patriarchal Danish government. The Greenlanders had not changed their ancient Eskimo-like habits, living in turf-houses, wearing their seal-skin kamiks and anoraqs, and sailing in kayaks and umiaks. While writing this I am sitting in a hotel in one of the modern Greenland cities, with factories, canneries, noisy motor traffic on the broad streets and in the busy harbour, certainly a far cry from the conditions during my first visit almost 50 years ago. The primitive life of the Eskimos was, of course, something quite extraordinary for a school-boy who had just left his books. I tried to learn as much as possible about these people and their country in the short time, less than four months, in which we stayed in Greenland, and succeeded to a degree. The main thing, however, was the bird life. Series of practically all Greenland species were secured. ... I think it was the solemnity which fascinated me so much, a solemnity effected by the extreme quietness and the purity and severity of the country. ... I felt myself in a forgotten world, remote and lonely, resting in quietness, untouched by man, unspoiled. I could move around hour after hour; nothing disturbed the impression of beauty, and the changing horizons seemed endless. Here I was nearer nature's heart than anywhere else, and here I sensed a strange harmony. I admit that not all people would feel that way. ... the Arctic is so extremely simple and clear! Everything unnecessary has been removed; here there are no forests, no houses, no people; only the very backbone of nature is left. From a biological viewpoint it is significant that the number of animal and plant species is so reduced that their ecology, their mutual relationship, their adaptations to the environment are much easier to study in the polar than in the tropical regions. ... All this makes the Arctic in some respects the ideal working ground for a biologist. ... This rapport with the arctic regions has brought continuing richness and rejuvenation to my life. I have been true to my first love, and I have made several later visits to the far north; it still provides a challenge and an inspiration. By many regarded as a godforsaken waste, the polar regions are to me a place where the divine manifestation is more apparent than in other parts of the world

Motherhood: The Elephant in the Laboratory

[Excerpt] This book contains essays written by thirty-four mother-scientists whose stories provide insight into the choices they have made to create balance in their lives. Contributors to this book work part-time or full-time, opt out, and opt back in. They\u27ve become entrepreneurs, they job-share, and they volunteer. They work in academia, industry, consulting, state and federal government, and on their own. Some of these women who have chosen to stray from the straight and narrow road paved by mentors, advisors, and scientists before them by working part-time, or who no longer coax data from the bench or the field, have a sense that they have become an invisible, underutilized, and misunderstood workforce. They often feel marginalized when they attempt to return or interact with the more traditional workforce

An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output that takes into account the effect of multiple coauthorship

I propose the index $\hbar$ ("hbar"), defined as the number of papers of an individual that have citation count larger than or equal to the $\hbar$ of all coauthors of each paper, as a useful index to characterize the scientific output of a researcher that takes into account the effect of multiple coauthorship. The bar is higher for $\hbar$.Comment: A few minor changes from v1. To be published in Scientometric

University Students Promoting Science in the Community

Project SEARCH (Science Education and Research for Children) has brought these undergraduate students here today. It is an outreach program designed to bring the science resources of a large research university to classrooms and community centers. For the past 9 years, SEARCH students have spent 4 hours each week doing hands-on-science experiments, dissecting frogs, demonstrating microscopes, lecturing about the planets, playing computer games, exploring the World Wide Web, and creating Web pages.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe