Housing the Aging Baby Boomers: Implications for Local Policy

Most elderly want to age in place. Yet, most elderly live in suburban and rural communities ill-suited to meet the changing aging-related demands. This paper discusses various issues communities need to address when balancing the demands of aging baby boomers against those of younger households. Accommodating changes in life stage needs requires revising building and zoning codes to permit mixed use and mixed density development incorporating greater varieties of housing units and easier accessibility. Developing support arrangements for naturally occurring retirement communities will become important for state and local governments. A significant number of aging adults will move to locales with natural and augmented civic amenities. Such migration is double-edged; features that attract "gray gold" also attract needy elderly. Finally, affordable housing will be an issue for a growing number of elderly, calling for targeted tax and financial assistance policies for lower income elderly homeowners. Working Paper 08-0

Letter from John Turnbull to John Muir, [ca. 1906].

[A][at?] [Bath?] attracted by the Roman remains which have been [discovered?] there. Stonehenge also formed part of the attraction. That mysterious work I visited and felt [greatly?] interested or rather my interest was by no means diminished when I saw the remains.Another year I visited Iceland. The Lakes of Kilarney - a charming spot. I fear however I [tire?] you By the way I enclose [two?] [cards?] which placed end to tend gives you a view of the [illegible] of the Tweed from Bemerside Hill. you perhaps remember Mr Turnbull Mr [illegible] & myself [took?] you to see this as the [illegible] [C]view of Tweed with Sir Walter Scott.America is said to be a place of magnificent distances. I dont know how far you may be from the scene of that terrible con[illegible] which overtook San Francisco - but I have no doubt you are near enough to be agreeable and to feel the influence of such a catastrophe. Excuse my rambling letter. If you can find time I shall be greatly pleased to have a letter in replyBy the way I have a [daughter?] married to a [illegible] B. Shield, Straw. Fergus County Post. Office Box 147 Montana.If you are ever that way I was [illegible] you what they would [illegible] be delighted if you would [illegible] upon them. With kindest regards I am yours very trulyJohn Turnbull[B]occasion I went south to [Christians?] thence up the interior of the country by rail and boat probably over a hundred miles. I was attracted to this [illegible] reports that the almost primitive habits of the people were still [illegible] reformed but rapidly disappearing as the people were getting more in [contact?] with the world outside. I am somewhat of a wanderer. The year before last I visited Holland that quaint old country [illegible]ed from the sea. Last year I spent an enjoyable holiday0380

The dynamic nature of risk practice: A study of youth practitioners’ accounts of risk in work with young people

The concept of risk has played an increasingly dominant role in policy and practice around children and young people over the past twenty-five years. From risk-factor based ‘prevention’, ‘early intervention’ and surveillance, to the identification of young people as ‘vulnerable’, ‘at-risk’ or ‘risky’, risk has become central to the planning, management and delivery of youth practice. This has taken place in a changing organisational and professional context, where neo-liberal managerialism has led to confidence-based standardised bureaucratic systems, while notions of risk- management, blame, and mistrust have displaced trust in organisations and in professionals. The research that informs this thesis draws upon semi-structured interviews with twenty-eight front-line youth practitioners from across England in order to explore how those working with young people in informal youth contexts engage with ‘risk’ and risk discourses on a day-to-day basis. The study finds that practice is infused with different risk-based decisions and actions, and that practitioners employ complex ‘situational practices’ in order to navigate this ‘risk- world’, balancing the needs of young people, the organisation and their own interests and safety. Their decisions are multi-faceted, informed by bureaucratic processes, the perceived interests of young people, notions of humane practice and personal experiences and drivers. The study also identifies that, with organisational risk- and responsibility-aversion and a retreat from practice, the front-line practitioner is often expected to operate in a responsibilised grey area in order to respond to young people, potentially subject to individual blame or personal harm if problems arise. Young people’s risk construction is also malleable in the context of situational rationalities and, particularly with austerity-driven service cuts and risk-based prioritisation, practitioners are faced with amplifying (and at times attenuating) young people’s risk biographies in an attempt to meet needs. This, it is argued, leads to a commodification of young people, and youth in general

Letter from John Turnbull to John Muir, 1894 Dec 23.

Galashills, 23 Dec. 1894.My dear Mr. Muir:To my amazement and my shame, I find that it is almost exactly twelve months since I got your esteemed letter. I do not know how to apologize for leaving your letter so long unanswered. I meant to write, but time slipped on, and the earth has been allowed to complete almost a revolution in its orbit before I have finally made up my mind to perform a duty so long delayed.I was proud to receive your letter. It was a pleasing remembrance of a pleasant time, the enjoyment of which was so greatly due to you. I shall always look back with pleasure on my Norwegian trip, from which I derived much information contributed mainly by yourself. To me your companionship was invaluable. Your intimate knowledge of glacial action contributed in what I regarded and still regard charming language, rendered the trip more than a pleasure to me. Without you the scenery we passed through would have been grand and awe-inspiring, but your eloquent descriptions of how the fjords had been scooped out and the rocks shown down by the mighty ice rivers gave the whole an interest and a meaning otherwise it would have been without. And what was one of the most enjoyable features of our trip was the fun and laughter in the saloon, Where we sat, at least.And now I have to thank you for another proof of your friendship. Yesterday I received a copy of your work on the Mountains of California. It is a graceful gift, gracefully made. Of course I have not had time to read it, but I have dipped in here and there, and I find it an exquisite piece of word painting. You possess rare descriptive powers. I anticipate great pleasure from the perusal, I have already read several of your contributions to the Century, which I fortunately possess.I do not suppose you have ever met with any of our old comrades of the St. Sunniva? It is not likely -- I have not. Of our two Kenwick friends, one only I have seen, and merely to nod to, Mr Lynne. By the way, you may be interested to know that Mr. Lynne and Mr. Turnbull have become brothers-in-law, the former having married a sister or the sister of the latter.Last summer I went no further for my holidays than Inverness. I went there, however, by way of the Trossacks and Caledonian Canal, a charming trip.I thank you much for your invitation. I am afraid, however, I shall never be able to accept it. Distance and increasing years are alike prohibitive. I should be delighted if I saw any prospect to meet you once more. I notice your trip had nearly a tragic end. I hope the shake has left no evil effects. I do not know if you passed through Kansas City on your way home, but I regretted afterwards I did not think of it, to ask you to call on my two sons who are employed there in Messrs. Swift & Co. establishment. They would, I know, have been delighted and I feel certain you would not have refused.AS I am near the end of my paper, and I dare say [have] exhausted your patience, I will conclude by wishing you a very happy New Year, and many returns. I will be delighted to receive a letter from you again.Your very sincere friend,John Turnbul

List Price Information in Residential Appraisal and Underwriting

This article examines the usefulness of listing prices as leading indicators of house values and as predictors of the direction of housing markets. With Multiple Listing Service data from a large metropolitan area, we create two price indexes, using first listing price and then selling price as the dependent variable in the hedonic regressions. The market is then geographically and categorically segmented, and Granger causality tests are performed to analyze the leading aspect of list prices in the list price-sales price relationship. We find that different segments of the market perform quite differently over the time period of our study, suggesting that for data-based appraisal purposes care is needed in determining the manner and level of aggregation. We also find, however, that market list prices continue to convey important information about subsequent selling prices in most market segments.

Lack of Effect of Methylene Blue in the SOD1 G93A Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Background: Methylene blue (MB) is a drug with a long history and good safety profile, and with recently-described features desirable in a treatment for ALS. Methodology/Principal Findings: We tested oral MB in inbred high-copy number SOD1 G93A mice, at 25 mg/kg/day beginning at 45 days of age. We measured disease onset, progression, and survival. There was no difference in disease onset between MB-treated mice and controls, although subgroup analysis showed a modest but statistically significant delay in disease onset in MB-treated female mice only (control 122610.2 versus MB 129610.0 days). MB-treated mice of both sexes spent more time in less severe stages of disease, and less time in later, more severe stages of disease. There was a nonsignificant trend to longer survival in MB-treated animals (control males reached endpoint at 161614.1 days, versus 166610.0 days for MB-treated animals, and control females reached endpoint at 17166.2 days versus 173613.4 days for MB-treated animals). Conclusions/Significance: In spite of a strong theoretical rationale, MB had no significant effects on onset or survival in the inbred SOD1 G93A mouse model of ALS

The devil in the deep: Expanding the known habitat of a rare and protected fish

The accepted geographic range of a species is related to both opportunity and effort in sampling that range. In deepwater ecosystems where human access is limited, the geographic ranges of many marine species are likely to be underestimated. A chance recording from baited cameras deployed on deep uncharted reef revealed an eastern blue devil fish (Paraplesiops bleekeri) at a depth of 51 m and more than 2 km further down the continental shelf slope than previously observed. This is the first verifiable observation of eastern blue devil fish, a protected and endemic southeastern Australian temperate reef species, at depths greater than the typically accepted depth range of 30 m. Knowledge on the ecology of this and many other reef species is indeed often limited to shallow coastal reefs, which are easily accessible by divers and researchers. Suitable habitat for many reef species appears to exist on deeper offshore reefs but is likely being overlooked due to the logistics of conducting research on these often uncharted habitats. On the basis of our observation at a depth of 51 m and observations by recreational fishers catching eastern blue devil fishes on deep offshore reefs, we suggest that the current depth range of eastern blue devil fish is being underestimated at 30 m. We also observed several common reef species well outside of their accepted depth range. Notably, immaculate damsel (Mecaenichthys immaculatus), red morwong (Cheilodactylus fuscus), mado (Atypichthys strigatus), white-ear (Parma microlepis) and silver sweep (Scorpis lineolata) were abundant and recorded in a number of locations at up to a depth of at least 55 m. This underestimation of depth potentially represents a large area of deep offshore reefs and micro habitats out on the continental shelf that could contribute to the resilience of eastern blue devil fish to extinction risk and contribute to the resilience of many reef species to climate change