Proposition 8: Religion, Morality Politics and California\u27s Same-Sex Marriage Debate

This paper explores the relationship between religious affiliation and support for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and how this relationship changes over the course of the campaign. There is a demonstrable connection between religious beliefs and partisan and ideological preferences in the United States (Patrikios 2008; Campbell 2007; Layman 2001). Using Proposition 8 in California (2008) as my primary case study, I consider how religion shapes voter behavior specifically in same-sex marriage ballot propositions and how moral policy decisions most clearly expose the link between religious beliefs and ideological preferences. I find that the predictive capacity of religion with respect to Proposition 8 vote choice increases for the non-Christian vote over the course of the 2008 campaign cycle. In contrast, religion produces stable voting preferences among Christian voters throughout the campaign. From these results, I conclude that the religion effect on non-Christian Proposition 8 vote choice is magnified when accompanied by campaign mobilization, same-sex marriage political salience and the effect of public opinion. My analysis shows that the religion effect, coupled with California’s political opportunity structure, stabilizes Christian Proposition 8 vote preference, while increasing opposition amongst non-Christian Proposition 8 voters over the course of the campaign (Soule 2004). While campaign effects narrowed the gap between “yes” and “no” votes on Proposition 8, California’s ballot initiative system ultimately favors moral policy outcomes that resonate with deeply held religious beliefs (Haider-Markel and Meier 1999). Drawing on survey data from the Public Policy Institute of California, I argue that same-sex marriage electoral outcomes are a product of timely campaign mobilization tactics, the unique California voter initiative system, and religion effects that simultaneously stabilize voting patterns among Christian voters and provide opportunities for non-Christian voters to mobilize against same-sex marriage bans

Back to the scriptorium: amid budget woes, vendors and librarians find a common purpose

Picture medieval monks hunched over their desks in the scriptorium as they labor to copy manuscripts. A 21st-century version of this activity is being repeated daily in the world\u27s libraries and publishing houses as major digitization projects seek to preserve millions of printed books and documents. The work of medieval scribes ensured that the classics were available when the invention of movable type and the printing press made books accessible to the masses, transforming the world. Today\u27s laborers are hunched over digitization equipment, but their goal is the same: copying and preserving resources so they are available now and into the future

Information with a twist: vendors keep the party going with Web 2.0

Social networking and other Web 2.0 technologies led the social whirl of the information industry. Publishers and librarians tried to keep their products and services relevant by mixing authoritative content with user involvement, but that wasn\u27t enough. Enhancing interfaces, adding new forms of content, and making strategic acquisitions--all are necessary to ensure that the information industry party continues

Scaling behavior at zero-temperature critical points

A scaling form for the logarithm of the partition function suitable for a zero-temperature critical point is obtained and found to hold for the spherical model in less than two dimensions and the classical n-component Heisenberg linear chain. Nevertheless, several cases are found where the critical-exponent relations involving the specific heat fail. These anomalous cases do not imply a breakdown of the scaling implicit in the basic formulation of renormalization-group theory

Not your family farm: the information industry added value with unique content and custom tools as large search engines entered the market

The information industry continues to consolidate, just as agribusiness has consolidated and now dominates farming. Both the family farm and the small information company still exist but are becoming rarer in an age of mergers, acquisitions, and increased economies of scale. Small companies distinguish themselves by high quality, special themes, or useful tools to keep and build their customer base. The database marketplace this year was dominated by the news of several large acquisitions. Wiley\u27s purchase of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. drew concerns from members of the Information Access Alliance (IAA), made up of representatives from SLA, the American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, and other library groups. The IAA is particularly concerned with continued market consolidation among commercial scholarly publishers. Other acquisitions occurred in the database and secondary publisher fields. In March 2007, Elsevier, a publisher that has raised IAA\u27s concerns in the past, announced its acquisition of the Beilstein Database, the well-known organic chemistry fact book and database. Elsevier had been involved with the Beilstein-Institut in the database\u27s production and marketing since 1998 before acquiring it outright in 2007. Cambridge Information Group (CIG) acquired ProQuest and formed ProQuest CSA, which extended both its indexing and abstracting services and full-text articles. OCLC purchased RLG to create a single mega-shared cataloging company in a world that once had several competitors (remember WLN?). OCLC\u27s new WorldCat.org service included several features from RLG\u27s discontinued RedLightGreen union catalog

Feast and famine: more and better choices, but belt-tightening forces libraries to cut subscriptions

With fancy new software developments and growth in both the richness of content and delivery options for information resources, the Database Marketplace 2010 is a feast for buyers. Unfortunately, institutional budget cuts may force more of a famine mentality--with belt-tightening for most, and only purchases that are life-sustaining being served in many libraries

Renovating this old house

When we turn on the faucet we expect water to flow. When we flip the power switch, we expect light. We want a house to work and to look good. This old house of online databases is getting a new look and, in some cases, a new foundation to make it more attractive and robust for 2006. Much of the value of a renovation lies in respecting history while reinforcing the foundation to keep the house intact. Information providers are using state-of-the-art technologies to create digital historical back files and collections

Samuel, Kings & Chronicles and Work

Introduction to Samuel, Kings and Chronicles The historical background of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles From Tribal Confederation to Monarchy: 1 Samuel The perils of inherited authority (1 Samuel 1-3) The perils of treating God like a good luck charm (1 Samuel 4) The opportunities that arise from working faithfully (1 Samuel 5-7) When children disappoint (1 Samuel 8:1-3) The Israelites ask for a king (1 Samuel 8:4-22) The Task of Choosing a King (1 Samuel 9-16) David\u27s rise to power (1 Samuel 17-30) Abigail defuses a crisis between David and Nabal (1 Samuel 25) The Golden Age of the Monarchy: 2 Samuel 1-24, 1 Kings 1-11, 1 Chronicles 21-25 David\u27s Successes and Failures as King (2 Samuel 1-24) David’s dysfunctional handling of family conflict leads to civil war (2 Samuel 13-19) David’s disobedience to God causes a national pestilence (1 Chronicles 21:1-17) David’s patronage of the musical arts (1 Chronicles 25) Assessing David’s reign (1 Kings) Preparing for a Successor to Israel\u27s Throne (1 Kings 1; 1 Chronicles 22) Solomon Succeeds David as King (1 Kings 1-11) Solomon Builds the Temple of the Lord (1 Kings 5-8) Solomon Centralizes the Rule of the Kingdom (1 Kings 9-11) Assessing Solomon\u27s Golden Age (1 Kings) From Failed Monarchies to Exile (1 Kings 11 - 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 10-36) Obadiah saves a hundred people by working within a corrupt system (1 Kings 18:1-4) Ahab and Jezebel murder Naboth to get his property (1 Kings 21) The Prophet Elisha’s Attention to Ordinary Work (2 Kings 2-6) Elisha’s restoration of a household’s financial solvency (2 Kings 4:1-7) Elisha’s restoration of a military commander’s health (2 Kings 5:1-14) Elisha’s restoration of a lumberjack’s axe (2 Kings 6:1-7) The Southern Kingdom\u27s march toward Exile (1 Kings 11:41 - 2 Kings 25:26; 2 Chronicles 10 - 36) Financial accountability in the Temple (2 Kings 12:1-12) Arrogance and the end of the kingdoms (2 Chronicles 26) Conclusions from Samuel, Kings, and Chronicle

A Uniform Analysis of the Ly-alpha forest at z = 0 - 5: I. The sample and distribution of clouds at z > 1.7

We present moderate resolution data for 39 QSOs at z $\approx$ 2 obtained at the Multiple Mirror Telescope. These data are combined with spectra of comparable resolution of 60 QSOs with redshifts greater than 1.7 found in the literature to investigate the distribution of Ly-alpha forest lines in redshift and equivalent width. We find a value for $\gamma$, the parameter describing the number distribution of Ly-alpha forest lines in redshift, of $1.88\pm0.22$ for lines stronger than a rest equivalent width of 0.32 $\AA$, in good agreement with some previous studies. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied to the data and it is found that this single power law is a good fit over the relevant redshift ranges. Simulations of the Lyman alpha forest were performed to determine the completeness of the line lists and to test how well the analysis the underlying line statistics, given this level of completeness.Comment: minor corrections to text, 37 Latex pages, 11 encapsulated Postscript figures, uses emulateapj.sty, To appear in the Sept. 2000 ApJS, line lists and spectra available at http://qso.as.arizona.edu/~jscott/Spectra/index.htm