The Prairie State Heats Up

Home to the second largest coal reserves in the United States, Illinois is in a position to be the nation's leader in developing coal gasification projects. The Illinois Clean Coal Portfolio Standard Act, signed into law January 2009, sets the stage for Illinois to usher in one of the first state-backed efforts to develop these kinds of coal power facilities. Not surprising, the groups, companies and associations that stand to benefit from the Act are attempting to ensure that they have a say in how it is implemented

High Court Contests: Competition, Controversy and Cash in Pennsylvania & Wisconsin

Fund raising for the 2007 and 2008 judicial elections in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin fell in line with the national trend of increasingly expensive judicial races. Highly competitive and contentious contests in both states resulted in significantly more spending than in previous elections.Fast FactsIn Wisconsin, the two female Supreme Court candidates in the general election raised $2.6 million in 2007, double the$1.3 million raised in the previous most-costly judicial race, which took place in 1999 when another two female candidates vied for one seat.In the 2007 Pennsylvania Supreme Court races, contributions from individuals accounted for 39 percent of the nearly $9.5 million raised by Supreme Court candidates in 2007. Attorneys made up the largest share (more than$1.3 million) of the money given by individuals.Two of the seven Pennsylvania Supreme Court candidates in 2007 were African-American; both raised less than the other five candidates and were soundly defeated in the Democratic primary.Wisconsin's first and only African-American Supreme Court justice lost his seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, despite the fact that he raised nearly one-fifth of the money raised by all other Wisconsin high court candidates in 2007 and 2008

Alaska's Citizens Lock Out Private Prisons

Since the mid-1990s - through six legislative sessions and three gubernatorial administrations - Alaska's lawmakers have made more than a half dozen attempts to privatize prisons. These attempts have met with unfavorable public opinion. To date, the strength of public opposition has prevailed, and all private prison proposals have been defeated.Fast FactsStaying true to her campaign promise not to accept campaign contributions from Veco Corp, Gov. Sarah Palin received no money from the private-prison advocate and Alaskan oil field and services company during her 2006 gubernatorial race

An Apple From the Teachers: Teachers' Unions Give Lessons on Contributing at the State Level

From 2003 through 2007, teachers' unions gave $112.5 million to committees working on 88 ballot measures in 22 states. In addition, international unions NEA and AFT and their affiliates gave almost$53 million to political campaigns for state candidates and political party committees.Fast FactsIncumbent legislators received $21 million of the$29.7 million given to legislative candidate committees.Nearly 97 percent of the money given by teachers' unions came from the home state of that union.Teachers' unions made up only 1 percent of the more than $4 billion given to all candidates from all sources between 2003 and 2007.Teachers' union contributions represent a small percentage of all money given to candidates or political party committees

Predictors of Willingness of the Sheltered Homeless to Be Screened for Hepatitis C

Background. Homeless individuals are at high risk of contracting the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) given that many use intravenous drugs or have a prison history, common risk factors for the disease. Although there is no vaccine, it is curable. Methods. This cross-sectional study surveyed residents (n=120) of five homeless shelters in Connecticut to understand their screening willingness and knowledge about HCV. Results. Those who tested previously (OR=0.46, 95% CI 0.23-0.90) and those who had never spent time in prison (OR=0.39, 95% CI 0.15-0.98) were less willing to be screened. Most did not recognize HCV symptoms and risk factors. Conclusions. The study revealed that 12.5% of those surveyed have HCV and 60% had been to prison. Although 67.8% indicated HCV knowledge, the mean grade on the quiz was 48.6%. Discussion. 92.5% had been to a doctor within the past year, yet HCV and screening do not appear to have been discussed

Identity Claims in a Complex Global World

This case study of Nike explored the relationship of an organization’s history and the recollection of critical organizational events in the evolution of its identity claims. Data collection involved interviews, observations, and document review. Six identity claims were found: athlete/sport/performance-driven, competitive, innovative, passionate, relationship-focused, and integrity-based. The claims remained the same over time and featured prominently in the discussion of significant events, which included the signing of Michael Jordan, air technology, and the founding. The case study makes several contributions. It further articulates the relationship between an organization’s history, the recollection of that history, and the evolution of its identity claims. It also expands the conceptualization of the history of an organization from a sociological perspective (Schwartz, 2000) on collective memory. Finally, it expands the social actor theory of organizational identity by providing empirical support for its phenomenological component (Whetten, 2006)

The process of change in offender rehabilitation programmes

Whilst the overall effectiveness of offender rehabilitation programmes in reducing recidivism is now well established, there has been less discussion of the reasons why rehabilitation programmes may be unsuccessful for some offenders. In this paper we suggest that models of change developed in counselling and psychotherapy may have utility in explaining how offender rehabilitation programmes bring about change, and argue that the dominance of cognitive-behavioural treatments in the rehabilitation field means that those offenders who have particularly low levels of problem awareness may be at increased risk of treatment failure. Understanding more about the mechanisms by which programmes help offenders to desist from offending is likely to lead to the development of more responsive and, ultimately, more effective programmes. Some suggestions for those involved in the delivery of offender rehabilitation programmes include: being mindful of the sequence of components of programmes, the development of preparation (or readiness) programmes and offering a broad suite of programmes to cater for different stages of problem awareness and assimilation among offenders. <br /

The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2009-10

Examines trends in the impact of special interest groups' spending on judicial elections, TV advertising, and implications such as threats of impeachment for unpopular decisions, attacks on merit selection systems, and danger to public election financing

Microplastics, Oysters, and the Indian River Lagoon – Final Report to IRL NEP, March 2021

UCF and partners initiated microplastics (MP) sampling in the Indian River Lagoon in March 2019, with monthly sampling of water samples at 35 locations, and quarterly sampling of oysters through February 2020. Additionally, the ability of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica to excrete microplastics was examined. Forty-four percent of water samples contained MP and there was an overall mean (± S.E.) of 1.47 (± 0.05) MP per liter of lagoon water (range: 0 – 25 MP). Fibers were the dominant MP type of MP (95.6%) and no nurdles or microbeads were collected. The dominant color of MP in water was clear followed by light blue, black and dark/royal blue. The mean length of MP was 1.94 (± 0.13) mm with a range in length from 0.1 to 30 mm. Water from the southern regions of the lagoon contained significantly higher abundances of MP and these MP were smaller in length. A significant difference in MP abundance across sampling months was also detected. Samples collected during April, May, June, October, December and February samples had significantly more MP than all other months. Oyster sampling took place in May, August, and November 2019, and February 2020. Overall, 70% of 1440 oysters contained MP. A total of 3181 MP was found in oysters. Lagoon-wide, the mean abundance of MP in oysters was 2.26 (± 0.08), and mean density per gram tissue weight was 2.43 (± 0.26) MP. The mean length of MP was 2.79 (± 0.06) mm. Fibers dominated collections (95.0%) and black, clear and dark blue were the dominant colors. Smaller oysters (\u3c 35 mm) contained higher densities of MP per gram tissue weight than adults and contained larger MP. Oysters from the southern IRL had more MP than other regions, but there was no difference in MP length between locations. Experimental trials to examine MP in oyster biodeposits (feces + pseudofeces) were conducted from 15 July through 18 July 2019. MP were present in both feces and pseudofeces from both small and adult oysters. Overall, 67% of oysters produced biodeposits that contained MP. MP ranged in length from 0.05 - 20 mm in pseudofeces and 0.05 - 6 mm in feces. Mean length of MP in pseudofeces was 1.73 (± 0.16), and 1.46 (± 0.08) mm in feces. Fibers accounted for 88.3% of MPs found in biodeposits, and black MPs were the most abundant color. MPs in biodeposits from small oysters were significantly larger than those in adult biodeposits by an average of 1.07 mm. Oysters had a mean MP egestion efficiency of 62.1%, and 32% of oysters were able to egest all MP from their tissues during the 2-h trials. There was no egestion efficiency difference among IRL regions. MP egestion efficiency decreased significantly with increasing oyster shell height and tissue mass; AIC model selection revealed tissue mass was best at predicting MP egestion efficiency in C. virginica. Egestion efficiency decreased by 0.8% for every 1-gram increase in tissue weight. Overall, results indicated that oysters excreted at a rate of approximately 1 MP per 1 hour through feces, and 1 MP per 2 hours through pseudofeces