Empowerment Through the Needs Assessment Process

One of the most persistent issues in social welfare planning has been the relative roles of service provision and social change. They have often been conceived as dichotomous: the assumption is that one precludes the other, on both ideological and methodological grounds. However, this division may be more the product of turf wars and fuzzy thinking than any necessary dichotomy. In this article a rationale for viewing service delivery and social change as dimensions of a single process --empowerment -- is developed. Next the needs assessment is examined as a vehicle for implementing the process of empowerment. Finally, a case study of this use of needs assessment is presented and analyzed

Social Reproduction and Learned Helplessness in a Dying Community

This paper reports some of the findings of a broad-based community study of a small Oregon town that depends for its existence on one timber mill--a single plant in a declining industry. The community has been in decline for at least the last decade and prospects for reversal are not good. Specifically, this paper explores the forces that shape the response of high school students and young adults who have grown up in the community to the decline, using survey, ethnographic, and archival data. Despite a clear understanding of the economic plight of the community, young people are not prepared for the changes they face. The research indicates that this is because of (1) a community culture that is fatalistic and highly individualistic and (2) a school system that has as its primary function the preparation of workers for the wood products industry. In this paper the community and its economy are described. Next, research findings on the culture of the community and on its school system are presented, along with their implications for the socialization of young people. Finally, the findings and implications are discussed in relation to the literature on dying communities

Book Reviews

The Cost of Human Neglect: America\u27s Welfare Failure - HARREL R. RODGERS JR. - Reviewed by MICHAEL REISCH - pp. 239 Women in the Workplace: Proposals for Research and Policy Concerning the Conditions of Women in Industrial and Service Jobs - PAMELA ROBY - Reviewed by ANN WITHORN pp. 243 Social Welfare or Social Control? Some Historical Reflections on Regulating the Poor - WALTER I. TRATTNER - Values in Social Policy: Nine Contradictions - JEAN HARDY - An Immodest Agenda: Rebuilding America Before the 21st Century - AMITAI ETZIONI - Reviewed by MICHAEL HIBBARD - pp. 24

A new red giant-based distance modulus of 13.3 Mpc to the Antennae galaxies and its consequences

The Antennae galaxies are the closest example of an ongoing major galaxy merger, and thereby represent a unique laboratory for furthering the understanding of the formation of exotic objects (e.g., tidal dwarf galaxies, ultra-luminous X-ray sources, super-stellar clusters, etc). In a previous paper HST/WFPC2 observations were used to demonstrate that the Antennae system might be at a distance considerably less than that conventionally assumed in the literature. Here we report new, much deeper HST/ACS imaging that resolves the composite stellar populations, and most importantly, reveals a well-defined red giant branch. The tip of this red giant branch (TRGB) is unambiguously detected at Io(TRGB)=26.65 +/- 0.09 mag. Adopting the most recent calibration of the luminosity of the TRGB then yields a distance modulus for the Antennae of (m-M)o= 30.62 +/- 0.17 corresponding to a distance of 13.3 +/- 1.0 Mpc. This is consistent with our earlier result, once the different calibrations for the standard candle are considered. We briefly discuss the implications of this now well determined shorter distance.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the Ap

Blending Learning: The Evolution of Online and Face-to-Face Education from 20082015

In 2008, iNACOL produced a series of papers documenting promising practices identified throughout the field of K–12 online learning. Since then, we have witnessed a tremendous acceleration of transformative policy and practice driving personalized learning in the K–12 education space. State, district, school, and classroom leaders recognize that the ultimate potential for blended and online learning lies in the opportunity to transform the education system and enable higher levels of learning through competency-based approaches.iNACOL's core work adds significant value to the field by providing a powerful practitioner voice in policy advocacy, communications, and in the creation of resources and best practices to enable transformational change in K–12 education.We worked with leaders throughout the field to update these resources for a new generation of pioneers working towards the creation of student-centered learning environments.This refreshed series, Promising Practices in Blended and Online Learning, explores some of the approaches developed by practitioners and policymakers in response to key issues in K–12 education, including:Blended Learning: The Evolution of Online and Face-to-Face Education from 2008-2015;Using Blended and Online Learning for Credit Recovery and At-Risk Students;Oversight and Management of Blended and Online Programs: Ensuring Quality and Accountability; andFunding and Legislation for Blended and Online Education.Personalized learning environments provide the very best educational opportunities and personalized pathways for all students, with highly qualified teachers delivering world-class instruction using innovative digital resources and content. Through this series of white papers, we are pleased to share the promising practices in K–12 blended, online, and competency education transforming teaching and learning today

The Role of Local Leaders in Environmental Concerns in Master Plans: An Empirical Study of China’s Eighty Large Municipalities

Limited research has explored the reasons behind the level of environmental concerns in master plans in China, where serious environmental degradation has caught the world’s attention and the planning regime is significantly different from those based on representative democracy. Analyzing eighty master plans of China’s large municipalities, we find that the education and age of local leaders have a significant effect on environmental concerns in master plans, while their work experience and state mandate do not. We conclude that that well-educated local leaders and a more collaborative planning approach could deal more efficiently with environmental problems in China

Resistance to Bt Corn by Western Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in the U.S. Corn Belt

Transgenic Bt corn hybrids that produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner have become the standard insect management tactic across the U.S. Corn Belt. Widespread planting of Bt corn places intense selection pressure on target insects to develop resistance, and evolution of resistance threatens to erode benefits associated with Bt corn, such as reduced reliance on conventional insecticides. Recognizing the threat of resistance, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires seed companies to include an insect resistance management (IRM) plan when registering a Bt trait. The goal of IRM plans is to delay Bt resistance in populations of target insects. One element of IRM is the presence of a non-Bt refuge to maintain Bt-susceptible individuals within a population, and growers are required to implement IRM on-farm by planting a refuge. Field-evolved resistance has not been detected for the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner), even though this species has been exposed to Bt proteins common in U.S. corn hybrids since 1996. The IRM situation is unfolding differently for Bt corn targeting the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte. In this article, we examine the scientific evidence for D. v. virgifera resistance to Bt rootworm traits and the cropping system practices that have contributed to the first reports of field-evolved resistance to a Bt toxin by D. v. virgifera. We explain why this issue has developed, and emphasize the necessity of an integrated pest management approach to address the issue