The Anchorage, Alaska Municipal Pretrial Diversion Program: An Initial Assessment

Pretrial diversion programs have the potential to prevent future criminal behavior through intervention and community based services. This may be particularly true for specific populations of offenders such as those with mental illness, substance abuse disorder, and those with co-occuring disorders. Pretrial diversion programs take low-level offenders out of the jail population, both reducing system overpopulation and costs of incarceration. The programs also provide speedy case processing for minor crimes resulting in savings to the court system and personnel. Pretrial diversion can help an offender avoid a criminal conviction and potentially avoid future criminal violations. Results indicate that most Anchorage pretrial defendants comply with and complete the pretrial conditions in a very short time period, an additional savings in case processing time. This research details the initial assessment of the Anchorage Municipal Prosecutor Pretrial Diversion program. This assessment examines system savings in time and money, as well as policy implications for the justice system that may assist other jurisdictions as they consider implementing a pretrial diversion program

The Anchorage, Alaska Municipal Pretrial Diversion Program: Initial Outcome Assessment

This report provides an initial outcome assessment of the Anchorage Municipal Pretrial Diversion Program, a voluntary program aimed at diverting first-time offenders in certain criminal and traffic cases from traditional case processing, with successful complion of the terms of the program resulting in dismissal of charges. Pretrial diversion agreements under AMC 08.05.060 typically require the defendant to pay a fine or do community work service, usually within a month. The initial assessment examines offender completion under the program, adherence to conditions of probation, and time and cost savings for the Anchorage Municipal Prosecutor's Office.Office of the Anchorage Municipal Prosecutor, Municipality of Anchorage, AKAcknowledgments / Section I: Executive Summary / Counts and Charges of Defendants Offered Pretrial Diversion / Demographic Variations Among Defendants Offered Pretrial Diversion / Conditions of Pretrial Diversion / Length of Time for Pretrial Diversion Processes / Number of Court Hearings and Estimated Time Spent / Section II: Introduction / Section III: Literature Review / Descriptions of Pretrial Diversion / Pretrial Diversion in the United States / Description of Pretrial Diversion in Anchorage / Section IV: Methods / Data Collection / Section VI: Findings / Counts and Charges of Defendants Offered Pretrial Diversion / Demographic Variations Among Defendants Offered Pretrial Diversion / Conditions of Pretrial Diversion / Length of Time for Pretrial Diversion Processes / Number of Court Hearings and Estimated Time Spent / Section VII: Conclusion / References / Appendix: Anchorage Municipal Pretrial Diversion Data Collection For

A Native Hymenopteran Predator of \u3ci\u3eAgonopterix Alstroemeriana\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) in East-Central Illinois

Agonopterix alstroemeriana is a European oecophorid moth that defoliates poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), a noxious Eurasian weed extensively naturalized throughout temperate Australia, New Zealand, North America, and South America. Throughout western North America, and increasingly in the Midwest and Northeast, A. alstroemeriana has been utilized in poison hemlock eradication programs. We report, for the first time, predation on A. alstroemeriana by Euodynerus foraminatus (Hymenoptera: Eumenidae), a native solitary wasp that paralyzes these and other lepidopteran larvae and uses them to provision its nests. The presence of an effective predator may reduce the impact of A. alstroemeriana in biological control programs

Eigenvalue Separation in Some Random Matrix Models

The eigenvalue density for members of the Gaussian orthogonal and unitary ensembles follows the Wigner semi-circle law. If the Gaussian entries are all shifted by a constant amount c/Sqrt(2N), where N is the size of the matrix, in the large N limit a single eigenvalue will separate from the support of the Wigner semi-circle provided c > 1. In this study, using an asymptotic analysis of the secular equation for the eigenvalue condition, we compare this effect to analogous effects occurring in general variance Wishart matrices and matrices from the shifted mean chiral ensemble. We undertake an analogous comparative study of eigenvalue separation properties when the size of the matrices are fixed and c goes to infinity, and higher rank analogues of this setting. This is done using exact expressions for eigenvalue probability densities in terms of generalized hypergeometric functions, and using the interpretation of the latter as a Green function in the Dyson Brownian motion model. For the shifted mean Gaussian unitary ensemble and its analogues an alternative approach is to use exact expressions for the correlation functions in terms of classical orthogonal polynomials and associated multiple generalizations. By using these exact expressions to compute and plot the eigenvalue density, illustrations of the various eigenvalue separation effects are obtained.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures include

Secondary literacy across the curriculum: Challenges and possibilities

This paper discusses the challenges and possibilities attendant upon successfully implementing literacy across the curriculum initiatives – or ‘school language policies’ as they have come to be known - particularly at the secondary or high school level. It provides a theoretical background to these issues, exploring previous academic discussions of school language policies, and highlights key areas of concern as well as opportunity with respect to school implementation of such policies. As such, it provides a necessary conceptual background to the subsequent papers in this special issue, which focus upon the Secondary Schools’ Literacy Initiative (SSLI) – a New Zealand funded programme that aims to establish cross-curricular language and literacy policies in secondary schools

Equilibrium distributions in thermodynamical traffic gas

We derive the exact formula for thermal-equilibrium spacing distribution of one-dimensional particle gas with repulsive potential V(r)=r^(-a) (a>0) depending on the distance r between the neighboring particles. The calculated distribution (for a=1) is successfully compared with the highway-traffic clearance distributions, which provides a detailed view of changes in microscopical structure of traffic sample depending on traffic density. In addition to that, the observed correspondence is a strong support of studies applying the equilibrium statistical physics to traffic modelling.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, changed content, added reference

An Economic Comparison Of Year Round vs Conventional Grazing Systems In Iowa

Year round grazing systems that utilize stockpiled forage and/or crop residue are often promoted as a way for Northern and Western cow-calf producers to reduce winter feeding costs and improve overall profitability. This study compared the profitability of a conventional spring calving/summer grazing- winter drylot herd to a year round system that utilized both spring- and fall-calving herds with weaned calves retained as stockers. Forage supplies in the year round system were derived from stockpiled forage and corn crop residues. We developed a model that randomly generated production values with parameters based on the results of a 3-year study conducted at the Iowa State University McNay Research and Demonstration farm near Chariton, Iowa. The simulated production values were combined with livestock and forage prices prevailing from 1993-2001 to estimate income per head generated by each system. Average income over the nine- year period was equal. However, the year round system was economically superior in 3 years, equivalent in 1 year, and inferior in 5 years.

Identification of fire gases in early stages of fire in laboratory scaled and full scale fire experiments

A series of reduced scale emulations of standard fires in a 2 m3 enclosure have been developed for studies at laboratory scale enabling useful comparison and correlation with full scale EN54/7 and UL268 test fires. This makes study of standard test fire conditions and products substantially more accessible. The reduced scale test fire emulations have smoke obscuration characteristics matched to the fire standards and show acceptable matching of experimental CO levels Sensor, fire detector, and analytical studies have been carried out on test fires in the 2 m3 enclosure and in a full scale test room. Protocols were developed for capture of gas and vapours from fires on absorbent media and their subsequently desorption and analysis by GC/MS techniques. A data set of GC chromatograms has been generated for full and reduced scale test fires and for a number of non standard fire or false alarm related process including overheating of cooking oils and toasting bread. Analysis of mass spectrometry ion fragmentation spectra has been carried out and a wide range of products identified. Products occurring for a range of different fires include propene, benzene, and some polyaromatics. The value of the scaled test fire emulations has been demonstrated by monitoring response of a range of sensors, detectors and instruments including electrochemical gas sensor, experimental and conventional light scattering smoke detectors, and ion mobility measurement equipment (FAIMS). The study has provided information on fire characteristics and products to inform future research and development on fire detection technologies

The Clumping Transition in Niche Competition: a Robust Critical Phenomenon

We show analytically and numerically that the appearance of lumps and gaps in the distribution of n competing species along a niche axis is a robust phenomenon whenever the finiteness of the niche space is taken into account. In this case depending if the niche width of the species $\sigma$ is above or below a threshold $\sigma_c$, which for large n coincides with 2/n, there are two different regimes. For $\sigma > sigma_c$ the lumpy pattern emerges directly from the dominant eigenvector of the competition matrix because its corresponding eigenvalue becomes negative. For $\sigma </- sigma_c$ the lumpy pattern disappears. Furthermore, this clumping transition exhibits critical slowing down as $\sigma$ is approached from above. We also find that the number of lumps of species vs. $\sigma$ displays a stair-step structure. The positions of these steps are distributed according to a power-law. It is thus straightforward to predict the number of groups that can be packed along a niche axis and it coincides with field measurements for a wide range of the model parameters.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures; http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-5468/2010/05/P0500