Archives of Memory: A Soldier Recalls World War II

“Tell me about the war”—these words launched a ten-year project in oral history by a husband-and-wife team. Howard Hoffman fought in World War II from Cassino to the Elbe as a mortar crewman and a forward observer. His war experiences are of intrinsic interest to readers who seek a foot soldier’s view of those historic events. But the principal purpose of this study was to explore the bounds of memory, to gauge its accuracy and its stability over time, and to determine the effects of various efforts to enhance it. Alice Hoffman, a historian, initiated the study because she recognized the critical role of memory in gathering oral history; Howard Hoffman, the subject, is an experimental psychologist. Alice’s tape-recorded interviews with her husband over a period of ten years are the basic material of the study, which compares the events as recounted in the first phase of the interviews with later accounts of the same experiences and with the written records of his company as well as the memories of fellow soldiers and the evidence of photographs and other documents. This engrossing story of World War II breaks new ground for practitioners of oral history. The Hoffmans’ findings indicate that a subset of human memory exists that is so permanent and resistant to change that it can properly be labeled “archival”. In addition to describing some of the circumstances under which archival memories are formed, the Hoffmans describe the conditions that were found to influence their storage and retrieval. If you are an oral historian who enjoys war stories, you will take up this book without hesitation; if you don’t enjoy them, you should persist anyway. —Oral History Review A significant work in oral history. This book will help those who collect and use oral histories understand how and what people remember. —American Historical Reviewhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_military_history/1004/thumbnail.jp

Microelectronics and the Garment Industry: not yet a perfect fit

SUMMARY The garments sector is a major source of exports and employment in many Idcs. If automated technology were to become available, comparative advantage might revert to the developed countries. This is lent further importance by the fact that the basic technology is similar to that used in the shoe and leather industries which are also major sources of Idc exports. Garment technology has remained remarkably static over the last century and there have been few technological barriers to new entrants to the industry. However, the introduction of microelectronics technology is beginning to affect this and the advantages of low wage costs are beginning to be undermined. This article warns that emerging microelectronics technologies may erode the comparative advantages of developing countries which fail to adjustto the changing technological environment. RESUME La micro?électronique et l'habillement: une gêne aux entournures Le secteur de l'habillement est une source importante d'exportations et d'emplois dans bien des PVD. Avec l'automation, l'avantage relatif pourrait revenir aux pays développés, d'autant plus que les techniques de base sont analogues à celles de la chaussure et du cuir, importants secteurs d'exportation des PVD. L'industrie de l'habillement a peu bougé depuis un siècle, et les nouveaux venus n'ont pas jusqu'ici senti la contrainte des exigences techniques. La micro?èlectronique pourrait retourner la situation et minimiser l'avantage des bas salaires. Cet article met en garde les PVD qui ne sauront pas s'adapter à l'évolution technique. RESUMEN La microelectrónica y la industria del vestido: todavía no ajustan perfectamente El sector de la industria del vestido es una fuente importante de exportaciones y empleo en muchos países menos desarrollados. Si se dispusiera fácilmente de una tecnología automatizada, la ventaja comparativa podría pasar de nuevo a los países desarrollados. Esto adquiere aún mayor importancia por el hecho de que la tecnología básica es semejante a la utilizada en las industrias del cuero y el calzado, que también constituyen importantes fuentes de exportaciones de los países menos desarrollados. La tecnología de las prendas de vestir ha permanecido notablemente estática durante el último siglo y apenas han existido barreras tecnológicas para los nuevos participantes en la industria No obstante, la introducción de la tecnología microelectrónica comienza a influir en esto y empiezan a reducirse las ventajas de los costos salariales bajos. Este artículo constituye una advertencia de que las tecnologías microelectrónicas que empiezan a surgir pueden disminuir las ventajas comparativas de los países en vías de desarrollo que dejen de ajustarse a un ambiente tecnológico cambiante

Dynamics of elastocapillary rise

We present the results of a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the surface-tension-driven coalescence of flexible structures. Specifically, we consider the dynamics of the rise of a wetting liquid between flexible sheets that are clamped at their upper ends. As the elasticity of the sheets is progressively increased, we observe a systematic deviation from the classical diffusive-like behaviour: the time to reach equilibrium increases dramatically and the departure from classical rise occurs sooner, trends that we elucidate via scaling analyses. Three distinct temporal regimes are identified and subsequently explored by developing a theoretical model based on lubrication theory and the linear theory of plates. The resulting free-boundary problem is solved numerically and good agreement is obtained with experiments

Presidents and the Rhetoric of Recessions

Are presidents reticent during recessions? Some research indicates that presidents make fewer major and minor speeches when economic conditions worsen (Ragsdale 1984; Eshbaugh-Soha 2010). We examine whether this holds true with major discretionary speeches utilizing recessions as the indicator of poor economic conditions. In addition, we also investigate the subject matter of major discretionary speeches given during both economic expansions and contractions. Presidents potentially have an incentive during a recession to focus the attention of the public away from economic concerns, where they have little command and control ability, to foreign policy, where they do have more power to act unilaterally. We find that presidents are not reticent during recessions. During recessions, fewer average months elapse between major discretionary speeches than we find elapse during economic expansions. Furthermore, while presidents never talk about the economy at high rates overall, they do focus more than twice as many major discretionary speeches on economic topics during recessions than they do during expansions. We also find no evidence that presidents attempt to ratchet up the rate at which they discuss foreign policy during recessions in an attempt to divert attention from economic matters

Communicating as Chief Legislator: Four Case Studies from the State of the Union

While the Constitution stipulates in Article II, Sec. 3 that presidents can recommend necessary and expedient measures to Congress, it is up to Congress to act. The primary place presidents engage in the activity of recommending legislation is the State of the Union Address (SUA). We examine SUAs from 1965-2002 and identify the legislative requests that presidents make of Congress. The SUA is a unique presidential speech that allows assessment and comparison between presidents of whether Congress follows where the president leads. Are presidents successful in getting Congress to enact the policies they ask for in the SUA? Furthermore, the policy making environment is complex and in order to assess the nature and role of the chief legislator’s communications with Congress in the SUA, we utilize case studies to determine what role the SUA played in the outcome of four cases. Each case was chosen based on its outcome. One is an unsuccessful request (constitutional amendment for four-year house terms), one is fully successful (authorization and funding of a manned space station), one is partially successful (civil service reform), and one is a repeat request from multiple presidents that was eventually successful (line-item veto). We find that when a president uses the SUA to request action of Congress, he typically receives about two in five of his requests, either in full or in part, during the following congressional session. In each of our four cases, the SUA played an integral role in the outcome, although this did not always mean the president was successful in getting his request enacted, or that the SUA was the most important factor. The SUA is an excellent tool of political communication for the chief legislator, but it is not without its limitations. The chief legislator’s position in the political system makes it much more likely Congress will give consideration to his requests, but it does not guarantee the president will receive a substantial amount of his requests. The chief legislator’s increase in rhetorical powers represented in the SUA did give him an advantage over regular legislators, but it did not unduly increase his power over the legislature. The chief legislator is not an ordinary legislator, but neither is he empowered with a rhetorical arsenal with which he can assault Congress. The system of shared legislative powers continues to check the president despite an increase in the president’s rhetorical power. The SUA is a tool the chief legislator can utilize to facilitate congressional leadership, but it is not a weapon with which he can cudgel Congress into accepting his leadership

The Presidential Rhetoric of Hard Times

Is there a presidential rhetoric of hard times? We are interested in presidents’ rhetorical reactions during economic contractions. Do they rhetorically react at all? If they choose to speak, what do they seek to convey to the public about the economy? We analyze the major discretionary speeches presidents give during recessions. Some presidents are reluctant to address major economic remarks to the public; in five of the 11 recessions since World War II, presidents have not offered a major economic speech. They do, however, deliver major discretionary speeches on other topics during recessions. While most presidents tend to deliver more major remarks about non-economic subjects during recessions, Reagan is a notable exception. When presidents do choose to direct major remarks on the economy, we search for common characteristics in their rhetoric to examine if this subset of speeches classifies as a genre of rhetoric. We examine three dimensions in the speeches: orientation toward time, the tone of the remarks, and whether or not there is action specified. We found that there is no discernable overall pattern for how presidents orient their rhetoric in time, the speeches are more negative in tone than expected, and while there are a good number of action oriented sentences, the speeches are not uniformly action oriented. Thus, there is not sufficient evidence to suggest there is a uniform presidential rhetoric of hard times

George W. Bush and the Rhetoric of Chief Legislator: The First Term

Near the beginning of a congressional session, the president will present key pieces of his legislative agenda to both Congress and the American public in the State of the Union address (SUA). He will couch his requests in a way that seeks to persuade his audiences he has the legislative solution to a problem he details. Effective political communication between the president and Congress is essential since each play key roles in the legislative process. While Congress comprises the legislative branch, the moniker we attach to one of the multiple jobs with which presidents are charged is that of chief legislator. Within the legislative process, presidents may recommend legislation, but it is up to Congress to act. While the chief legislator’s role is limited, the SUA has become a potent tool that the president may utilize in his role as chief legislator. Presidents, as chief legislators, share two goals with regular legislators. They desire to secure reelection, and they want to make public policy. In addition, term limited presidents have a unique goal; they want to secure a positive legacy. In the SUA, chief legislators will claim credit for past successes, make requests for legislative actions, and use symbols all to further these mutually reinforcing goals. We examine how President George W. Bush used the rhetoric of the SUA in his role as chief legislator during his first term to aid him in the advancement of these goals. We find that Bush’s use of the policymaking rhetoric changed after 9-11 and became unusual when compared to previous presidents’ use of the SUA. He acted less as chief legislator and more as commander-in-chief and chief executive

The Effects of Campaign Contributions on State Legislators

Tremendous increases in campaign contributions at the state legislative level, both from labor and business interests have led to suspicions regarding the influence of money on legislative voting. This study seeks to assess the degree to which campaign funds flowing from private interests to state legislators, influence how legislators vote on bills that affect those private interests. This study addresses the influence of money on roll call votes using campaign contribution data from 4,000 legislators in 22 states for the 1998 and 2000 election cycles. The analysis shows that in states with nonprofessional legislatures, campaign contributions from business interests do indeed influence how legislators vote on business-supported legislation. Unlike professionalized legislatures, where such factors as significant staff support, and stricter campaign finance laws mitigate the influence of lobbyists and campaign contributions, legislators in nonprofessional legislators are often overburdened with complex policy proposals along as well as numerous contributors and lobbyists ready to provide both campaign money and advice when it comes to voting for business-backed legislation. Disaggregating the analysis to the individual state level provides for a detailed examination of the political forces and policy environments, both historically and in the present that have shaped how and why the major players in state capitols maintain their influence over policy outputs. Findings that link the contributions of business interests to legislative voting raise important concerns including the declining representativeness of state legislators as well as the possibility of corrupt practices or the perceptions of corruption among the public when money is exchanged for votes