Valuing Medieval Annuities: Were Corrodies Underpriced?

Medieval bishops condemned and restricted the sale of corrodies (a type of annuity), partly on the grounds of their perceived unprofitability. The available data on the profitability of corrodies is limited and little analysed, and the episcopal condemnation of corrodies has been adopted by modern researchers. After recognising the difficulties, this paper applies an annuity pricing model to study corrody pricing. Given various assumptions, contrary to the established view, it is argued that the sale of corrodies was financially profitable for institutions. Finally, some reasons are considered for the negative attitude of contemporary and historical opinion towards the sale of corrodies.Corrodies, pensions, annuities, monasteries, pricing models

Building Civic Infrastructure: Implementing Community Partnership Grant Programmes in South Africa

This article examines recent efforts to establish Community Partnership Grant Programmes (CPG) in six South African communities. CPG programmes provide the financial and organizational infrastructure to support citizen-initiated neighbourhood projects

Speaking Through My Tears: A Critical Exploration Of Black Students’ And Parents’ Perceptions Of School Discipline

Research shows African American students are disproportionately suspended and expelled in K-12 institutions throughout the United States due to zero tolerance policies. Additionally, several scholars argue the most restrictive school discipline policies were implemented in the state of Michigan. The purpose of this study is to investigate African American students\u27 and parents\u27 perceptions of school discipline in primarily black high schools to determine the following: a) How do black students and parents perceive school discipline, b) How do black students and parents perceive school safety measures, and c) How do black student and parent perceptions of school discipline differ by social class, gender, and disability status. The results of this study suggest black students and parents perceive school discipline as an impediment to academic achievement, a hindrance to parental employment, a contributor to “black educational flight”, and as a precursor to undesired social outcomes (i.e. school dropout, police contact, and substance abuse). The results also suggest the informal social norms that govern interpersonal communication in impoverished African American communities (i.e. the code of the street) may pervade primarily black high schools to become the Code of the School. Moreover, out-of-school suspension and expulsion may function as ineffective deterrents to physical altercations and school violence because under the Code of the School black students may seek physical altercations and school discipline to gain respect and an elevated social status in the academic setting

Effects of Upward Football Reclassification on Revenues, Football Attendance, and Enrollment

With an ever increasing chasm between the have and have nots in college athletics, athletic directors and university administrators view reclassification as a way to increase financial standing and gain valuable exposure for their school despite mixed findings by recent studies. The process of reclassification costs schools sizable financial and labor investments detracting from their academic endeavors. The schools at the highest level of collegiate football competition enjoy constant national television exposure for their school resulting in many direct and indirect benefits. A repeated measures ANOVA was utilized to assess the change in athletic department revenues, student enrollment and football attendance over years one, four and eight of upward football reclassification to the Football Championship Subdivision and Football Bowl Subdivision. The results found that the sample schools realized significant increases in athletic department revenues and student enrollment. Modest increases were also measured in football attendance; however, the increases were not statistically significant. The discussion provides valuable insight for university administrators, college athletic administrators, alumni, students and other key stakeholders whose institution may be considering upward football reclassification

Towards a Digital Equity Foundation: Best Practices for Foundations Established with Public Assets

In April 2021, New America's Open Technology Institute (OTI) and the Philanthropication thru Privatization Project (PtP) released a joint proposal that the federal government should invest a substantial portion of the windfall proceeds from future auctions of public airwaves (spectrum) to seed a new Digital Equity Foundation dedicated to addressing equity gaps in broadband adoption, education, telehealth, access to government services, and other critical areas.Since that time, momentum for the concept has continued to build. In February, 2022 the concept was endorsed by nine prominent national organizations that joined to launch the Airwaves for Equity initiative: the American Library Association, the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, Center for Rural Strategies, Common Sense Media, Consumer Reports, National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition. As of this writing, a growing coalition of more than 75 additional organizations have endorsed the idea of establishing such a foundation with future spectrum auction revenue.The next step in realizing this vision is now in the hands of Congress and other federal policymakers, as allocation of spectrum auction proceeds to support the creation of a Digital Equity Foundation requires legislation. Policymakers will also play a critical role in establishing the guidelines for the creation of an initial foundation board and mission. This paper serves to help flesh out the options for how that could be accomplished, drawing on a review of existing foundations created with public and nonprofit assets to identify best practices for how to start a foundation with public, quasi-public, or nonprofit funds.This paper is structured in five parts. In Part I, we provide a brief overview of the proposed Digital Equity Foundation; in Part II, we examine some key examples of existing U.S. foundations that illustrate the use of public or quasi-public funds to support priority public needs; in Part III, we explore ways the proposed Digital Equity Foundation might be structured and organized to achieve its programmatic goals to advance digital equity and inclusion, while operating with appropriate transparency and public accountability; in Part IV, we consider additional legal considerations that surfaced in a review of foundations previously established under federal legislation; and in Part V we provide a summary of concrete recommendations for the proposed foundation