Revenue-Recycling and the Efficiency and Spatial Distributional Impacts of Development Taxes

Recent studies that compare the efficiency and distributional impacts of alternative instruments to curb sprawl typically ignore what to do with the revenues from anti-sprawl policies, such as development taxes. This paper extends first-best analysis of development taxes aimed at preserving land at the urban fringe to account for interactions with other distortions within the urban system. By incorporating urban decline at the city core, which in turn, generates negative neighborhood spillover effects and extra pressure for development at the urban fringe, we provide a more complete framework to evaluate the efficiency and distributional impacts of development taxes. We consider three potential alternative schemes to recycle the revenues: lump sum recycling, earmarked revenues to purchase conservation easements that permanently save open space and earmarked revenues to subsidize a revitalization program at the city core. In this setting, when revenues from the development tax are earmarked to fund a conservation easement there is an additional welfare gain (relative to the lump sum case) because the threat of future conversation of open space is fully eliminated. Similarly, when revenues are earmarked to fund a revitalization program at the city core, there are additional sources of welfare that make this policy preferred relative to the lump-sum recycling scheme. Finally, we also explore the spatial distributional impacts of these three alternative recycling schemes.Urban Sprawl, Revenue-Recycling, Regional Coordination, Spatial Modeling, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q31, R14, R38,

Welfare Effects of Anti-Sprawl Policies in the Presence of Urban Decline

This paper extends first-best analysis of anti-sprawl policies, such as development taxes, and examines the welfare effects of development taxes in the presence of urban decline at the city core. We find that anti-sprawl policies generate several important feedbacks within the urban system, generating additional welfare gains and affecting the level of urban decline and suburban sprawl. Further, the optimal development tax exceeds the (first-best) Pigouvian level, irrespective of whether or not revenues are returned lump-sum to all landowners or earmarked for urban decline mitigation.urban sprawl, development taxes, second-best policies, spatial modeling, Land Economics/Use,

The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults: Its Potential of Revitalizing The Basic Ecclesial Communities of Bontoc-Lagawe

One of the most important innovations of Vatican II is the restoration of the Catechumenate and its integration into the Lenten and Easter celebrations as practiced in the early centuries of Christianity. But it is surprising that in the Philippines in general and in the Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe in particular, the RCIA is not yet in place. I would like, therefore, to argue in this paper that the implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) in Bontoc-Lagawe could revitalize the Basic Ecclesial Communities of the vicariate. The BEC experience, in which I was immersed and formed, is the context, presenting some pastoral-liturgical challenges that jumpstarts my research. The RCIA experiences I have here in the USA, deepened by my liturgical/sacramental theology formation at the Jesuit School of Theology provided the theological and practical frameworks that shed light to the challenging pastoral-liturgical practices in Bontoc-Lagawe. This enlightenment of the pastoral-liturgical context (BEC), through the RCIA theology and practice, strongly supports the implementation of the RCIA in Bontoc-Lagawe because the RCIA theology and practice can certainly revitalize the BECs of the vicariate. This theological exploration on the RCIA will focus on the practice of the catechumenate integrated in the Lenten and Easter celebrations. It looks into how this RCIA theology and practice, with its vibrant ecclesiological vision, embodied in the images of the Body of Christ and the People of God and further expressed in liturgical preparation, celebration, and post-initiation catechesis, can revitalize the ecclesial, participative, and communal structures and processes of Church life in Bontoc-Lagawe. And to provide the overall trajectory of this paper, these two-fold general research questions will be undertaken. How can the RCIA provide vitality and opportunities for renewal in the celebration of the sacraments of initiation in the BECs of Bontoc-Lagawe? And how can the RCIA – with its underlying history, theology, rite, and pastoral practice provide new impetus for Bontoc-Lagawe’s journey towards a more participative community of disciples that is expressed in the way it prepares for, celebrates, and lives the sacraments of initiation? The above general questions are answered in three chapters. The first chapter presents a historical evolution of the BEC-type church in the Philippines and how it emerged in Bontoc-Lagawe, with its current structures, values, principles, and practices. The building up of a participative, dialogic, and co-responsible church inspired by Vatican II’s communio ecclesiology led to the organization of chapel-based and neighborhood-based BECs, whose focus also evolved from liturgical participation to involvement in liberational and developmental concerns, respectively. After twenty six years of organizing, forming, and mobilizing BECs, there are still challenging practices in the celebration of the sacraments of initiation in Bontoc-Lagawe such as the disintegrated celebration of Baptism-Confirmation-Eucharist, the non-ecclesial and non- Eucharistic celebration of initiation, the non-integration of the initiation process in the Lenten and Easter celebrations, the mineralization of liturgical symbols and rituals, and the interruption of the flow of Baptism-Confirmation-Eucharist by the practice of receiving Holy Communion prior to Confirmation. The above challenges can be corrected by the RCIA’s theology and practice, in the second chapter, that deals with the RCIA’s historical, theological, ritual, and consequent pastoral developments from the post-resurrection communities to the Patristic period, the middle ages, to the Council of Trent until Vatican II, and post-Vatican II. What is so telling is RCIA’s vigorous vision of the Church as the Body of Christ and the People of God that summons all the baptized to fully, actively, and consciously participate in the liturgy and the mission of the Church. The RCIA concretizes this by making the Christian community aware that ministry and service is the responsibility of the baptized who needs to minister as an initiating assembly that supports, inspires and journeys with the catechumens in their evangelization, conversion, initiation, and postinitiation catechesis. Additionally, the RCIA’s Trinitarian foundation, revealed through the paschal mystery of Christ, provides the theological reasons for celebrating Baptism- Confirmation-Eucharist together as an organically unified liturgical corpus. Furthermore, the RCIA affords a new perspective and model for sacramental catechesis based on serious theology for the whole community that is focused on evangelization and conversion into the way, the truth and the life of Jesus. This subsequently calls for a faith response and mission that challenges those baptized to live in communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and to participate in the paschal mystery—the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Chapter three, picking up on the prevailing RCIA theology and practice in chapter two, demonstrates that the RCIA can transform Bontoc-Lagawe BECs by helping in the attainment of the vicariate’s transformative directions towards a church of participation, communion, and mission. This is attainable through empowered lay ministries, communal living of the faith, engagement in total human salvation, inculturation of the liturgy, and the formation of self-reliant and missionary Christian communities. Furthermore, the RCIA theology and practice corrects the problematic liturgical practices in Bontoc-Lagawe by supporting an integrated, ecclesial and Eucharistic celebration of the sacraments of initiation, specially within the seasons of Lent and Easter, by maximizing liturgical rites and symbols, and by empowering the baptized to become evangelized-evangelizers. In the end, we can say that the RCIA’s implementation in Bontoc-Lagawe promises to revitalize the vicariate’s BECs. The RCIA achieves this as it helps in the fulfillment of Bontoc-Lagawe’s transformative directions, corrects the challenging practices of the sacraments of initiation in the vicariate, and assists in the attainment of the vision-mission-goal of Bontoc-Lagawe

Making Teamwork Work in the IS Classroom

Objective: To present a Teamwork Design Model that will help participants identify and manage the key design decisions they make, explicitly or implicitly, when using team projects in their IS courses. Rationale: IS practice requires not only technical skills, but also the ability to work with others. The importance of developing students\u27 teamwork skills leads many IS faculty to incorporate team projects in their courses. Unfortunately, placing people in groups does not guarantee that they are going to be able to work as a productive team. Not surprisingly, team projects frequently generate a lot of anxiety and frustration for all involved (including the instructor!), resulting in more entropy than synergy. The Teamwork Design Model draws from group dynamics and teamwork literature to identify the nature and impacts of the various decisions that IS instructors make when structuring team projects. These decisions can have profound effects on both the process and the outcomes of a team project. They are often made, however, with little or no awareness or reflection about their consequences. In many cases, instructors may not even be aware that certain features of team projects reflect design choices, rather than imperatives. This workshop will help participants to become aware of the decisions they make, consciously or unconsciously, when structuring team projects in IS courses. It will also help participants to anticipate and evaluate the possible consequences of these decisions. Format: The presentation will be highly interactive, and supported by a laptop PC, running Windows, connected to a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panel. The model will be displayed in successive images, where the level of detail and complexity will gradually increase)

“Regarding Lupe”: A one-act play where two cultures collide on the road to a Latina’s performance appraisal

This article presents an original academic play, “Regarding Lupe,” that explores traditional and emerging Latina cultural values and how cross-cultural differences may affect a performance appraisal process. The dramatic structure of the play, inspired by Crandall and Eshleman’s Justification/Suppression Model of Prejudice (JSM), represents a novel and vivid way to engage students in learning why even an acculturated Latina executive may face stereotypes, prejudice, and unintentional discrimination in performance appraisal at work. Here we share the play and offer theoretical and cross-cultural information to facilitate the debriefing. We hope to contribute not only to the teaching and learning of diversity and discrimination, but also to an appreciation of the innovative pedagogical potential of academic plays

Autophagy in the fight against tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB), a chronic infectious disease mainly caused by the tubercle bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is one of the world's deadliest diseases that has afflicted humanity since ancient times. Although the number of people falling ill with TB each year is declining, its incidence in many developing countries is still a major cause of concern. Upon invading host cells by phagocytosis, M. tuberculosis can replicate within infected cells by arresting the maturation of the phagosome whose function is to target the pathogen for elimination. Host cells have mechanisms of controlling this evasion by inducing autophagy, an elaborate cellular process that targets bacteria for progressive elimination, decreasing bacterial loads within infected cells. In addition, autophagy activation also aids in the control of inflammation, contributing to a more efficient innate immune response against M. tuberculosis. Several innovative TB therapies have been envisaged based on autophagy manipulation, with some of them revealing high potential for future clinical trials and eventual implementation in healthcare systems. Thus, this review highlights the recent advances on the innate immune response regulation by autophagy upon M. tuberculosis infection and the promising new autophagy-based therapies for TB.This work was funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (subcontract on the production of high quality chemical hit series with defined, tractable targets as drug leads for tuberculosis grant awarded to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health) (OPP1024021), Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and EU-FEDER-COMPETE for funding (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028359; PTDC/BIAMIC/2779/2012). VM would like to acknowledge Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia for a postdoctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/79531/2011).This is the accepted manuscript. The final published version is available from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers at http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/dna.2014.2745