Christian Initiation: Ethics and Eschatology

(Excerpt) I did not choose the three terms of my assignment: initiation , ethics and eschatology. It would take a degree of arrogance that I do not have, to select the universe for one\u27s subject in this fashion. While I did not choose them, I am fortunate in your committee having chosen them. For in fact, as it turns out, the three terms nestle beautifully together and define a field of reflection that I have found enjoyable. Baptism is initiation into the Christian church, an ethical community. And baptism is initiation into the kingdom of God, the eschatological community. And it does both these things at once, thereby setting up a dialectic. What more could any systematic theologian ask for? That baptism does doubly initiate, is, I take it, dogma. It could be argued; but on this occasion I will assume it, and go on

Space Station Freedom Structural Characterization Experiment (SCE) node code

A method is described for naming the Space Station Freedom nodes and truss members that enhances the management, maintenance, and record keeping methods utilized by the space station

The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women's Status in India

Cable and satellite television have grown rapidly throughout the developing world. The availability of cable and satellite television exposes viewers to new information about the outside world, which may affect individual attitudes and behaviors. This paper explores the effect of the introduction of cable television on gender attitudes in rural India. Using a three-year individual-level panel dataset, we find that the introduction of cable television is associated with improvements in women's status. We find significant increases in reported autonomy, decreases in the reported acceptability of beating and decreases in reported son preference. We also find increases in female school enrollment and decreases in fertility (primarily via increased birth spacing). The effects are large, equivalent in some cases to about five years of education in the cross section, and move gender attitudes of individuals in rural areas much closer to those in urban areas. We argue that the results are not driven by pre-existing differential trends. These results have important policy implications, as India and other countries attempt to decrease bias against women.

Careers and Canvases: The Rise of the Market for Modern Art in the Nineteenth Century

This paper reexamines the process by which a market for a new product modern painting emerged in Paris in the nineteenth century. Contrary to the accepted account, in which the monopoly of the official Salon was replaced by a competitive market operated by private dealers, we find that the Salon was in fact initially replaced by a series of smaller group exhibitions organized by artists. The Impressionists were thus leaders not only in creating modern art, but also in developing its markets. Our reinterpretation of this episode yields a new understanding of the interactions between artists and markets in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and for the first time highlights specific ways in which artists' behavior was affected by the structure of art markets during the first half century of the modern era.

Giffen Behavior: Theory and Evidence

This paper provides the first real-world evidence of Giffen behavior, i.e., upward sloping demand. Subsidizing the prices of dietary staples for extremely poor households in two provinces of China, we find strong evidence of Giffen behavior for rice in Hunan, and weaker evidence for wheat in Gansu. The data provide new insight into the consumption behavior of the poor, who act as though maximizing utility subject to subsistence concerns, with both demand and calorie elasticities depending significantly, and non-linearly, on the severity of their poverty. Understanding this heterogeneity is important for the effective design of welfare programs for the poor.