Cities and climate change: Strategic options for philanthropic support

Now, more than ever, cities are at the front lines of U.S. climate action. As national action stalls, there is still a daunting amount to be done in reducing human-generated climate emissions. Fortunately, this report comes in the wake of a groundswell of initiatives to engage on climate change by cities, countries, and states across the U.S. Several important and thorough reports on the types of mitigation actions cities can take have recently been released. We already have examples of cities taking significant leadership roles in reducing their own climate emissions, from New York and Boston to Austin, Boulder, and Los Angeles - yet U.S. climate emissions continue to rise, and cities have an outsized role to play. The purpose of this project is to review current U.S. city climate activities in order to identify areas where additional investment by foundations could help accelerate city action to reduce urban greenhouse gas emissions. The focus of the inquiry is on aggressive actions cities can take that significantly increase their “level of ambition” to achieve emissions reductions on an accelerated timetable. City strategies on climate adaptation are not encompassed in this project. [TRUNCATED

Parent and peer influences reconsidered: the convoy of social support model of adolescent substance use

Longitudinal data were used to test hypotheses concerning the changes in parental and peer influence over a 6-year period in a panel of rural adolescents (mean age of 14 years at first assessment). Drawing on the assumptions of the social convoy model of social support (Antonucci, 1985; Kahn & Antonucci, 1980), a multivariate latent growth curve model tested the relative contributions of parental and peer influences on adolescent substance use. Evidence of a common pattern of alcohol and cigarette use was found, which was distinguished from the use of marijuana. In order to make use of all available information, a model-based approach was used to justify the imputation of missing data, using the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. Univariate growth curve models indicated that although adolescents reported an increase in parental support, the level of friend support did not change between the ages of 14 and 16. Similarly, separate univariate growth models showed that the reported level of parental influence on adolescents\u27 substance use decisions decreased across the six-year time, while the level of friend influence remained the same. The results of the multivariate model provided evidence that the relations between the growth parameters of social support and adolescent substance use were mediated by parents\u27 and peers\u27 influence on adolescents\u27 substance use-related decisions. Comparison of paths in the multivariate model suggested that the relative influence of parents on adolescents\u27 substance use was significantly higher than that of friends. While parents provided a protective buffer against early and escalating use, friends served to increase the risk of initial substance use. Thus, parental influence was found to be stronger than peer influence not only at early ages, but throughout the adolescent period

An introductory survey on the development of Australian art song with a catalog and bibliography of selected works from the 19th through 21st centuries

An Introductory Survey on the Development of Australian Art Song and A Bibliographic Catalog of Selected Australian Art Song of the 19th through the 21st Centuries is a concise survey that examines the growth of the genre spanning over 120 years, and is accompanied by a catalog of annotated song data for over 300 selected works. The annotated catalog contains information including composer, year of composition, poet, range and tessitura, and publisher. Appendices that detail the most easily accessible sources for obtaining musical scores and a comprehensive list of composers are provided. This subject is widely unaddressed in the song literature courses taught in American universities, and is largely absent from the oeuvre of English-language song. This document was designed to provide a practical, introductory resource for both performers and academics that are interested in learning more about the history of Australian art song