Assessment of sardinella and othter small pelagics in West Africa: Progress Report 2002

The co-operation between the Dutch fisheries research institute RIVO and the Mauritanian fisheries research institute IMROP (Institut Mauritanien des Recherches Océanographiques et de Pêche) in the field of pelagic stock assessment was continued in 2002. In January, a new contract was signed between RIVO and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries (LNV) that allowed the existing co-operation to be continued and expanded for the next three years. As a consequence, RIVO project staff was increased to three scientists who worked full-time on the project. The project contributed to two major working group meetings: the FAO working group on small pelagics in West Africa (Banjul, March 2002) and the IMROP Groupe de Travail (Nouadhibou, December 2002). Both meetings concluded that there was no evidence yet for over-exploitation of small pelagics at a regional level, but that as a precautionary measure catch levels should not be further increased. The IMROP Groupe de Travail went even further and recommended a freeze on pelagic fishing effort in the Mauritanian zone. During a survey with the Mauritanian research vessel “Al Awam” in November, large concentrations of pelagic fish were observed in the coastal waters off Nouadhibou and Cap Blanc. Especially the presence of large quantities of sardines indicated the recruitment of a strong year-class and good prospects for the sardine fishing for several years to come

School Achievement of Pupils From the Lower Strata in Public, Private Government-Dependent and Private Government-Independent Schools: A cross-national test of the Coleman-Hoffer thesis

We consider the question whether pupils from the lower social strata perform better in private government-dependent schools than in public or private-independent schools, using the PISA 2000 data on European high schools. In the eighty’s, Coleman and Hoffer (1987) found in the USA that the performance of these pupils was better at religious schools than at comparable public schools. Dronkers and Robert (2003) found in PISA-data for 19 comparable countries that private government-dependent schools are more effective then comparable public schools, also after controlled for characteristics of pupils and parents and the social composition of the school. The main explanation appeared to be a better school climate in private government-dependent schools. Private independent schools were less effective than comparable public schools, but only after controlling for the social composition of the school. As a follow-up we now investigate, again with the PISA-data of these 19 countries, whether this positive effect of private government-dependent schools differs between pupils from different strata. We use various indicators to measure social strata: social, cultural and economic. We expect that the thesis of Coleman & Hoffer does hold for private government-dependent schools, because in these 19 countries they are mostly religious schools, which have more opportunities to form functional communities and create social capital. But for private independent schools, which due to their commercial foundation are less often functional communities, this relation is not expected to hold. However, the results show that public and private schools have mostly the same effects for the same kind of pupils and thus mostly not favor one kind of pupils above another kind of pupils. But private government-dependent schools are slightly more effective for pupils with less cultural capital. However, private independent schools are also more effective for pupils from large families or low status families.school choice; private schools; public schools; class differential effect of schools; cross-national comparison; PISA data

Port-au-Prince, Washington, Santo Domingo Premières leçons d'un embargo (Note)

After three pro-embargo resolutions from the OAS and five from the Security Council, an American military intervention authorized by the United Nations has enabled the democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return to office. This article seeks to trace the escalation from embargo to military intervention with reference to the transnationalization of social, economic, and political relations in which Haïti, the United States, and the Dominican Republic are directly involved. Large-scale population movements - deemed to be "threats to peace", and the importance of a "humanitarian" form of discourse and, even more so, a form of discourse about the "suffering" of the "unfortunate people of Haïti who are bearing... the full weight of sanctions" (Boutros-Ghali) are components of such transnationalized relations. These relations have developed in a setting that the boat people issue has determined in several ways, a setting where one can make out, on the one hand, a joining of forces between, among other people, the Haïtian priest-president and the U.S. congressional black caucus and, on the other hand, a shaky coalition comprising notably the president of the Dominican Republic, the Dominican archbishop, the Conference of Haitian bishops, the Vatican, and certain sectors of the American administration. Pena Gomez - a black man believed to be of Haïtian origin - ran as candidate for the Dominican presidential election and his candidacy was favoured for quite some time in the opinion polls. He ultimately failed, however, to provide an alternative in terms of political culture. The election on May 16, 1994 in the Dominican Republic was marked by incidents of fraud. The "international community", preoccupied as it was with re-establishing peace in Haiti, reacted feebly

Qualité subjective de la vie et réadaptation : émergence et évolution conceptuelle

La qualité subjective de la vie émerge ces dernières années comme un concept central dans les prises en charge thérapeutiques. Cependant la préoccupation de la réintégration des malades mentaux apparaît dès le début de la psychiatrie (1798). Différentes stratégies réadaptatives anglo-saxonnes, germaniques et latines ont été développées, en particulier depuis les années 1950. Une approche au départ objective, le concept de qualité de la vie évolue vers une approche contemporaine essentiellement subjective. L'auteur propose un modèle compréhensif des variables sous-tendant ce concept dans le cadre de la pratique clinique.In recent years, subjective quality of life has increasingly become a central concept in therapeutic treatment. However, the concern to reintegrate mental health patients has existed since the very beginning of psychiatry (1798). As a result, various Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Latin readaptation strategies were developed, particularly since the 1950s. Considered objective at first, the concept of quality of life evolved toward a contemporary approach which is essentially subjective. To discuss the matter, the author presents a comprehensive model of the variables underlying this concept in the context of clinical practice