Technology utilization program report, 1974

The adaptation of various technological innovations from the NASA space program to industrial and domestic applications is summarized

So No Damn Politician Ever Scrap It: The Constitutional Protection of Social Security Benefits

Is the nation’s old-age pension system bankrupt? Each year brings repeated warnings of a need for immediate reform. Yet somehow, reasonable people and even experts dispute both the severity of the crises and the scope of the reforms, if any, that ought to be taken. Completely overlooked in the debate, however, are the legal and even constitutional limits to any reformation plan. President Roosevelt intended to create a program that would withstand political compromise—a program that would create a “legal, moral, and political right” to the receipt of benefits. Nearly seventy years after Social Security’s creation, we must ask: Did Roosevelt succeed

Shared Value in Chile: Increasing Private Sector Competitiveness by Solving Social Problems

Over the last few decades, Chile has experienced rapid and sustained economic, social, and institutional development. Crucial challenges remain, however, in the form of social inequity, lack of opportunity, mistrust, and social unrest. The Chilean private sector is at an inflection point in its relationship with society. The corporate sector has both contributed to and benefited from the growth and development of the last decades, but remaining social challenges pose significant constraints to the continued growth of the private sector. High levels of mistrust regarding the role of business in society reflect a widespread belief that profit making activities are merely a demonstration of corporate greed. The Chilean private sector faces a frequently antagonistic relationship with government and civil society that will likely worsen unless companies are able to find ways to authentically link their businesses to efforts to solve Chile's social problems. On the other hand, if government and civil society conclude that the private sector has no contribution to make to the country's social and economic development strategy, Chile will squander an important engine for creating shared prosperity. The good news is that there does not need to be a trade-off between private sector competitiveness and greater prosperity for all Chileans. Shared value, a concept explained in Harvard Professor Michael Porter and Mark Kramer's Harvard Business Review articles, suggests an approach for companies to increase their competitiveness and profitability by helping to solve social problems. The public sector and civil society can increase the social benefits from shared value by thoughtfully partnering with the private secto

We the People : John Locke, Collective Constitutional Rights, and Standing to Challenge Government Action

The Article is presented in three Parts. Part I documents the enormous effect that Locke\u27s political philosophy had on the Constitution\u27s Framers and traces the idea of collective rights through Locke\u27s Second Treatise, showing how Locke viewed government as a trustee and society as the settlor-beneficiary that forms and gives legitimacy to the government. Part II reviews the development of the current doctrine of standing and demonstrates how the current standing model creates a class of cases where government may, with impunity, violate the Constitution. Part III demonstrates the anomaly of the Supreme Court\u27s current doctrine in a society founded on the ideas of John Locke. It then explores the constitutional provisions where collective rights have already been recognized by the courts, though not with respect to standing analysis. Finally, Part III proposes a revision of the current test for standing to ensure that vindication of society\u27s collective rights is possible without creating universal standing and thus threatening the courts with a tidal wave of litigation brought by “officious intermeddlers.

Environmental Implications of the Health Care Service Sector

This report analyzes the environmental effects associated with activities undertaken and influenced by the health care service sector. It is one part of a larger study to better understand the environmental effects of service sector activities and the implications for management strategies. Considerable analysis has documented the service sector's contribution to domestic economic conditions, yet little analysis has been performed on the broad impacts service firms have on environmental quality. For this study the authors developed a framework to examine the nature of service sector industries' influence on environmental quality. Three primary types of influence were identified: direct impacts, upstream impacts, and downstream impacts. In addition, indirect impacts induced by service sector activities include their influence over settlement patterns and indirect influences over other sectors of the economy. In their initial analysis, the authors noted that many functions performed in the service sector also are commonly found in other sectors. The impacts of these activities have been analyzed separately from those unique to the health care sector, as they present different challenges. Health care is one of the largest U.S. industries, employing one in nine workers and costing one in seven dollars generated in the economy. Functions performed in the industry that are common in other sectors include: transportation; laundry; food services; facility cleaning; heating and cooling; and photographic processing. Activities unique to the health care industry include: infectious waste generation and disposal; medical waste incineration; equipment sterilization; dental fillings; ritual mercury usage; x-ray diagnosis; nuclear medicine; pharmaceutical usage and disposal; and drinking water fluoridation. The industry has considerable leverage upstream on its suppliers, which is important to managing risks from the use of goods commonly used in the industry, including: mercury-containing products, polyvinyl chloride plastics, latex gloves, and syringe needles. The authors identified a number of areas for potential environmental management initiatives: controlling emissions from on-site "production" type functions; mercury use; the environmental consequences of infection control measures; pollution prevention through substitution of alternative health care services; and research and data collection.

FEEDING A NUCLEAR GIANT: FERNALD AND THE URANIUM PRODUCTION SYSTEM, 1943-1989

The Fernald Feed Materials Production Center, located 18 miles northwest of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, refined and produced uranium products for the American nuclear weapons program from 1951 to 1989. In the course of its Cold War mission, Fernald polluted the surrounding countryside and was responsible for increased illnesses among workers and nearby residents. Using a case study approach based largely on archival materials, this thesis places Fernald within the Cold War context, explains the creation of the uranium production system in the United States, and explores the conflict between Cold War production goals and protection of health and the environment. Despite its critical importance to nuclear weapons production, Fernald has received scant attention from Cold War or environmental historians. While the Fernald site has been remediated into a green space, medical studies have found elevated rates of cancer among the local population as well as continuing environmental contamination

How Can Medicare Lead Delivery System Reform?

Explores options and design issues for reforming the fee-for-service payment system to encourage better, more efficient health care through greater accountability for specific populations and totality of care. Proposes a Medicare demonstration program

Maltreatment of Youth In U.S. Juvenile Corrections Facilities

In its 2011 report, "No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration," the Annie E. Casey Foundation demonstrated that America's heavy reliance on juvenile incarceration is a failed strategy for addressing youth crime. Specifically, "No Place for Kids" showed that heavy reliance on correctional confinement exposes incarcerated youth to widespread maltreatment; results in alarming levels of recidivism; incarcerates children who do not pose significant threats to public safety; ignores the emergence of treatment models that produce better outcomes; wastes money with costs that often exceed $100,000 per young person per year; and fails to provide adequate mental health, educational, substance abuse and other services. This report focuses on the first of these challenges, the widespread and persistent maltreatment of youth confined in America's juvenile corrections facilities. These facilities often go by euphemistic labels such as training school, reformatory, correctional center, etc., but are in essence youth prisons