Financing Georgia's Schools: A Primer

Georgia's nearly 1.5 million students make it the ninth largest state K-12 school system in the United States. Furthermore, Georgia has one of the fastest growing school enrollments in the nation, registering an increase of 12.2 percent between 1996 and 2002. Educating these students requires substantial financial resources. The purpose of this Primer is to explain how education in Georgia is financed and to point out some of the major school financing issues confronting the state. Report No.8

Overview of escalator applications in rail transit

The difference in operating environment and in construction between escalators in transit and nontransit use, the impact of recent escalator innovations, and areas which could benefit from urban mass transportation administration sponsored research and development are determined. Several factors causing a more severe transit escalator operating environment are identified. There are no significant design differences between transit and nontransit escalators. Recent innovations that have affected performance and cost include outdoor escalators, extra flat steps at both landings, and modular escalators. Data were collected by interviews at transit agencies. Long term, unscheduled, escalator maintenance records were available for analysis from one property. A description of escalator operating principles is provided. Transit represents less than 5% of the U.S. escalator market. Transit agencies have limited leverage on escalator industry practices. A substantial impact on transit escalator cost and performance can be achieved by research identifying when and how to apply and specify several of the more recent innovations. Purchase of escalators under long term (25 year) maintenance contracts is one method that has been used to promote escalators manufactured for minimum life cycle cost

High-strength tungsten alloy with improved ductility

Alloy combines superior strength at elevated temperatures with improved ductility at lower temperatures relative to unalloyed tungsten. Composed of tungsten, rhenium, hafnium, and carbon, the alloy is prepared by consumable electrode vacuum arc-melting and can be fabricated into rod, plate, and sheet

Will the President be able to resolve the Middle East crisis?

In this lecture in the "Israel and Palestine" Looking Ahead Twenty-five Years series, Richard L. Rubenstein offers a profound reflection on the political and religious developments of Israel and Palestine and the moral dilemmas that result from it

Changing Demographics and the Middle East

In this lecture in the Israel and Palestine "Looking Ahead Twenty-five Years" series, Dr. Richard L. Rubenstein discusses the changes in the demographics and the significance of the growth of Islam in Europe

Nature, Culture, Craft: Re-thinking the National Park Visitor Experience

This thesis explores the role that architecture might play in the experience of wilderness. This case study focuses specifically on how architecture in the National Parks serves as a threshold to nature. The National Park building tradition began in the 19th century with the grand lodges of the west sponsored by the railroad. With the advent of the automobile, the visitor center typology was developed and the architecture shifted to focus on personal visitor needs. This project attempts to demonstrate how the architecture of an Interpretive Center can provide a destination and launching point into the National Parks. By combining ideas of a "traditional" visitor center with a science and research component, the program can become both educational and participatory. This thesis proposes a design in Apgar Village in Glacier National Park. The design reaches beyond the confines of the Interpretive Center complex to create connections throughout the landscape helping to strengthen Apgar Village as a place

Technology, Unemployment and Genocide

The impact of technology on the processes of production affects every aspect of American life, and most especially the long-range employment prospects of the American worker

Steps to a Political Ecology of Amazonia

Many recent studies of Amazonia have documented the ways in which agents of the state or capital seek to colonize not only indigenous land and labor, but indigenous desires as well. This colonization of the third kind has disastrous consequences: recently, William Fisher asked, “Why ... did it seem that Xikrin would sell their grandchildren’s environmental birthright just at the moment when reservations were finally being demarcated and boundaries guaranteed for generations to come?” Here I argue that this sort of question must become one of the central concerns of Amazonian ethnology. Drawing on work by Fisher and others, I review the value of political ecology approaches to answering such questions. I argue that political ecology must be informed by a broad notion of politics, one that centers on complex operations of power, especially the relationship between power and desire. Such a political ecology, informed both by poststructuralist concerns, a commitment to grounded ethnography, and a sophisticated theory of agency is well-equipped to make a serious contribution to our understanding of this problem, and is especially timely for Amazonian ethnography. Muchos estudios recientes de Amazonia han documentado las maneras a través de las cuales agentes del estado o del capital procuran colonizar no sólo la tierra y el trabajo indígenas sino también los deseos de los indígenas. Esta colonización tiene consecuencias desastrosas: recientemente, William Fisher preguntó “¿por qué … parecía que los Xikrin venderían los patrimonios ambientales de sus nietos justo en el momento en que las reservas estaban finalmente siendo demarcadas y sus fronteras garantizadas para las generaciones por venir?” En este ensayo, propongo que esta cuestión debe convertirse en una preocupación central de la etnología amazónica. Utilizando el trabajo de Fisher y otros, repaso la importancia del enfoque sobre ecología política para responder a preguntas como la de Fisher. Propongo que la ecología política debe incluir un concepto amplio de la política, uno que se centre en las operaciones complejas del poder, especialmente en la relación entre poder y deseo. Una ecología política que incluya preocupaciones pos-estructuralistas, una etnografía bien fundamentada, y una teoría sofisticada de la agencia, se adecuaría para hacer una contribución seria a nuestro entendimiento de este problema, y sería especialmente oportuna para la etnografía amazónica actual

GOVERNMENT PATENTING AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Intellectual property rights such as patents protect new inventions from imitation and competition. Patents' major objective is to provide incentives for invention, sacrificing short-term market efficiency for long-term economic gains. Although patents are primarily granted to private firms, policy changes over the last 25 years have resulted in greater use of patenting by the public sector. This study examines government patenting behavior by analyzing case studies of patenting and licensing by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ARS uses patenting and licensing as a means of technology transfer in cases in which a technology requires additional development by a private sector partner to yield a marketable product. Licensing revenue is not a major motivation for ARS patenting. More widespread use of patenting and licensing by ARS has not reduced the use of traditional instruments of technology transfer such as scientific publication. Once the decision has been made to patent and license a technology, the structure of the licensing agreement affects technology transfer outcomes. As commercial partners gain experience with the technology and learn more about the market, mutually advantageous revisions to license terms can maintain the incentives through which private companies distribute the benefits of public research.patents, licenses, intellectual property rights, technology transfer, Agricultural Research Service, agricultural research and development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Listening to patients: How understanding health information use can contribute to health literacy constructs

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83167/1/14504701159_ftp.pd