The Art of Manipulation: Agents of Influence and the Rise of the American National Security State, 1914-1960

Throughout the twentieth century, British and Chinese agents of influence, fellow travelers and their unwitting allies conducted political warfare campaigns designed to exploit America’s rising xenophobia to achieve specific diplomatic goals. The result of these “friendly” political warfare campaigns led the United States to not only fight in two world wars but also lead to a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign and domestic policy. By creating a culture of fear, these political warfare specialists influenced the U.S. political climate making it amiable toward their respective governments’ diplomatic agendas. These foreign agents infiltrated the media, created front organizations, and quietly worked behind the scenes to shape American foreign and domestic policy. During the First World War, British intelligence played on American fears by suggesting that “hyphenated” Americans might be treasonous. Patience, luck, and nerve finally paid off as a reluctant president asked Congress to declare war. Two decades later, England, once again, found itself embroiled in war. By the summer of 1940, Winston Churchill, the newly appointed British Prime Minister, knew the only way the British Empire could survive was to drag the United States into the conflict. Using the lessons learned from the Great War, British intelligence began working to drag a reluctant nation to war. British agents of influence suggested that German Fifth columnists working on American soil sought to undermine the nation. The fear of subversion helped to shift U.S. attitudes. The British were not the only nation struggling to survive. Half a world away, the Chinese fought Imperial Japan, and like the British, the Chinese began lobbying the United State for support. The British and the Chinese competed for American aid. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor did not end this competition nor did the defeat of the Axis powers. As the “Good War” ended, the British and the Chinese worked to ensure that U.S. aid would help rebuild their shattered economies. The blowback from these operations led the rise of the American national security state. This is the story of how these agents of influence and their domestic allies worked to change the course of a nation.History, Department o

Rationalizing the E-Rate: The Effects of Subsidizing IT in Education

Starting in 1998, the E-Rate program has provided $2.25 billion to subsidize Internet access in schools and libraries serving low income populations in the US. I analyze the effect of E-Rate subsidies on educational outcomes for Texas high schools over the 1994-2003 time period. Consistent with previous economic analyses, I find few, if any, improvements in student achievements. I do find evidence that experienced teachers are reallocated within districts toward schools receiving E-Rate grants. I also find evidence that the pool of college entrance exam takers is affected by E-Rate grants such that relying on average scores could lead to incorrect conclusions

Rationalizing the E-Rate: The Effects of Subsidizing IT in Education

Starting in 1998, the E-Rate program has provided $2.25 billion to subsidize Internet access in schools and libraries serving low income populations in the US. I analyze the effect of E-Rate subsidies on educational outcomes for Texas high schools over the 1994-2003 time period. Consistent with previous economic analyses, I find few, if any, improvements in student achievements. I do find evidence that experienced teachers are reallocated within districts toward schools receiving E-Rate grants. I also find evidence that the pool of college entrance exam takers is affected by E-Rate grants such that relying on average scores could lead to incorrect conclusions

Structured on-the-job training to improve retention of newborn resuscitation skills: a national cohort Helping Babies Breathe study in Tanzania

Background: Newborn resuscitation is a life-saving intervention for birth asphyxia, a leading cause of neonatal mortality. Improving provider newborn resuscitation skills is critical for delivering quality care, but the retention of these skills has been a challenge. Tanzania implemented a national newborn resuscitation using the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) training program to help address this problem. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of two training approaches to newborn resuscitation skills retention implemented across 16 regions of Tanzania. Methods: An initial training approach implemented included verbal instructions for participating providers to replicate the training back at their service delivery site to others who were not trained. After a noted drop in skills, the program developed structured on-the-job training guidance and included this in the training. The approaches were implemented sequentially in 8 regions each with nurses/ midwives, other clinicians and medical attendants who had not received HBB training before. Newborn resuscitation skills were assessed immediately after training and 4–6 weeks after training using a validated objective structured clinical examination, and retention, measured through degree of skills drop, was compared between the two training approaches. Results: Eight thousand, three hundred and ninety-one providers were trained and assessed: 3592 underwent the initial training approach and 4799 underwent the modified approach. Immediately post-training, average skills scores were similar between initial and modified training groups: 80.5 and 81.3%, respectively (p-value 0.07). Both groups experienced statistically significant drops in newborn resuscitation skills over time. However, the modified training approach was associated with significantly higher skills scores 4–6 weeks post training: 77.6% among the modified training approach versus 70.7% among the initial training approach (p-value \u3c 0.0001). Medical attendant cadre showed the greatest skills retention. Conclusions: A modified training approach consisting of structured OJT, guidance and tools improved newborn resuscitation skills retention among health care providers. The study results give evidence for including on-site training as part of efforts to improve provider performance and strengthen quality of care

Male Weaponry in a Fighting Cricket

Sexually selected male weaponry is widespread in nature. Despite being model systems for the study of male aggression in Western science and for cricket fights in Chinese culture, field crickets (Orthoptera, Gryllidae, Gryllinae) are not known to possess sexually dimorphic weaponry. In a wild population of the fall field cricket, Gryllus pennsylvanicus, we report sexual dimorphism in head size as well as the size of mouthparts, both of which are used when aggressive contests between males escalate to physical combat. Male G. pennsylvanicus have larger heads, maxillae and mandibles than females when controlling for pronotum length. We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis that relatively larger weaponry conveys an advantage to males in aggressive contests. Pairs of males were selected for differences in head size and consequently were different in the size of maxillae and mandibles. In the first experiment, males were closely matched for body size (pronotum length), and in the second, they were matched for body mass. Males with proportionately larger weaponry won more fights and increasing differences in weaponry size between males increased the fighting success of the male with the larger weaponry. This was particularly true when contests escalated to grappling, the most intense level of aggression. However, neither contest duration nor intensity was related to weaponry size as predicted by models of contest settlement. These results are the first evidence that the size of the head capsule and mouthparts are under positive selection via male-male competition in field crickets, and validate 800-year-old Chinese traditional knowledge

Island Invasion by a Threatened Tree Species: Evidence for Natural Enemy Release of Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) on Dominica, Lesser Antilles

Despite its appeal to explain plant invasions, the enemy release hypothesis (ERH) remains largely unexplored for tropical forest trees. Even scarcer are ERH studies conducted on the same host species at both the community and biogeographical scale, irrespective of the system or plant life form. In Cabrits National Park, Dominica, we observed patterns consistent with enemy release of two introduced, congeneric mahogany species, Swietenia macrophylla and S. mahagoni, planted almost 50 years ago. Swietenia populations at Cabrits have reproduced, with S. macrophylla juveniles established in and out of plantation areas at densities much higher than observed in its native range. Swietenia macrophylla juveniles also experienced significantly lower leaf-level herbivory (∼3.0%) than nine co-occurring species native to Dominica (8.4–21.8%), and far lower than conspecific herbivory observed in its native range (11%–43%, on average). These complimentary findings at multiple scales support ERH, and confirm that Swietenia has naturalized at Cabrits. However, Swietenia abundance was positively correlated with native plant diversity at the seedling stage, and only marginally negatively correlated with native plant abundance for stems ≥1-cm dbh. Taken together, these descriptive patterns point to relaxed enemy pressure from specialized enemies, specifically the defoliator Steniscadia poliophaea and the shoot-borer Hypsipyla grandella, as a leading explanation for the enhanced recruitment of Swietenia trees documented at Cabrits

Personal Papers (MS 80-0002)

Letter from Arlington Hotel to Jeane Bertig Kempner thanking Kempner for her stay and asking for any critiques she may have as well as providing the names of friends who would visit Hot Springs