Iowa’s Historic Preservation and Cultural and Entertainment District Tax Credit Program Evaluation Study

Executive Summary: Iowa introduced the Historic Preservation and Cultural and Entertainment District (HPCED) Tax Credit Program in 2000. The program allows property owners or developers to claim tax credits equal to 25 percent of qualified rehabilitation costs for eligible historic properties in Iowa. In tax year 2002, the tax credit was made transferable and refundable at a discounted amount. In tax year 2005, the cap of the tax credit was increased to $6.5 million per year. In tax year 2007, the cap of the tax credit was increased to$10 million for fiscal year 2008, $15 million for fiscal year 2009, and$20 million for fiscal year 2010 and subsequent years. In addition, the tax credit was made fully refundable in 2007. The major findings of the study are:...Investment Tax Credit, Tax Policy, State and Local Governement, Public Subsidy

The enrichment of the evaluation processes with ICT in the university context

Las tecnologías atraviesan hoy los espacios culturales y sociales de los alumnos y también de los docentes. En muchas ocasiones los docentes se ven compelidos a utilizarlas sin mediar decisión, pero otras veces lo hacen con plena decisión desde sus marcos de referencia. En este sentido, las tecnologías en las prácticas de formación pueden ofrecer un enriquecimiento para la evaluación no sólo de los alumnos, sino de los propios docentes y sus propuestas de enseñanza. Presentaremos seis enfoques que nos orientan para comprender las mediaciones en la evaluación a partir del uso que hacen los docentes universitarios de las nuevas tecnologías de la información y comunicación. Se trata de perspectivas que nos permiten analizar experiencias y proyectos en el nivel superior de grado y de posgrado, tanto en la presencialidad como en la modalidad a distancia, b-learning o virtual. Los seis enfoques son los siguientes: 1)La evaluación es administrada por la tecnología donde el acento está puesto en la eficiencia. 2) La evaluación con tecnología de tipo objetivo y automatizada. 3) La evaluación se constituye en fuente para diseñar la clase. 4) Plantea de manera diferente lo público y lo privado en la evaluación mediada por la tecnología. 5) Se usa la tecnología para transparentar los procesos cognitivos. 6) Evaluación colaborativa. Sostenemos que los dos primeros enfoques refieren a usos más acotados y consideramos de mayor valor y potencialidad de enriquecimiento para las prácticas de evaluación de los docentes a partir del tercero de los enfoques.The technologies cross today the cultural and social spaces of the students and also of the teachers. In many occasions teachers meet compelled to use them without their own decision, but other times they do it with full decision from their conceptual framework. In this respect, the technologies in the formation practices can offer enrichment for the evaluation not only of the students, but of the teachers and their teaching proposals. We will present six approaches that orientate us to understand the mediations in the evaluation from the university teachers’ use of the information and communication technologies. They are prospects which allow us to analyze experiences and projects within the superior level of grade and postgraduate courses, both face to face or distance education, b-learning or virtual. These six approaches are: 1)The evaluation is administrated by the technology where the accent is put on the efficiency, 2)The evaluation with objective and automated technology, 3)The evaluation set up as a source to outline the class, 4) Brings up the difference between public or private matters in the technology mediated evaluation, 5) Technology is used to transparent cognitive processes y 6) Collaborative evaluation. We consider that the two first proposals refer to more limited uses and we consider with more value and potential to enrich the teachers’ evaluation practices from the third proposal

Teaching evaluation, teacher training and self-evaluation at the University of Buenos Aires

La educación universitaria constituye un factor clave para toda sociedad y uno de los más complejos de abordar. Su mejoramiento depende, entre otros, de la recuperación y revisión de las tradiciones presentes en el campo de la formación universitaria, de una lectura adecuada de la situación actual que dé cuenta de las fortalezas, limitaciones y potencialidades de las propuestas formativas en relación con las demandas de la sociedad actual y de la anticipación de los requerimientos profesionales que los cambios educativos y sociales les impondrán a nuestros egresados en el futuro. Este artículo se enmarca en el análisis de la evaluación de la docencia en un contexto más amplio, el de una institución universitaria que lleva adelante programas y proyectos de formación docente y autoevaluación institucional. El trabajo está estructurado a partir de dos casos. El primero de ellos más general, un programa de autoevaluación en la Universidad de Buenos Aires, y el segundo más particular: un trayecto formativo articulado -la Carrera de Formación Docente- que redimensiona la evaluación de la docencia para las prácticas de mejora en la Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica.Uma educação universitária é um factor essencial para qualquer sociedade e um dos endereços mais complexos. Sua melhoria depende, entre outros, recuperação e revisão das tradições presentes no campo do ensino universitário, de uma leitura correcta da situação actual que dar conta dos pontos fortes, limitações e o potencial das propostas formativas em relação a demandas da sociedade moderna e a antecipação dos requisitos profissionais, educacionais e sociais alterações impõem-las em nossos graduados no futuro. Este artigo é parte da análise da avaliação do ensino em um contexto mais amplo, que de uma instituição de Universidade que realiza programas e projetos de formação de professores e de auto-avaliação institucional. O trabalho é estruturado em torno de dois casos. A primeira delas mais geral, um programa da auto-avaliação na Universidade de Buenos Aires e o segundo mais específico: uma jornada formativa inteiriço - a carreira de professor de formação - que redimensiona a avaliação do ensino de práticas de melhoria na faculdade de farmácia e bioquímica.The university education is a key factor for any society and one of the most complex to address. Its improvement depends, between others, on the recovery and review of the traditions present in the field of universitary education, of a proper reading of the current situation to account for the strengths, limitations and potentials of the proposed training in relation to demands of modern society and the anticipation of the professional requirements that the educational and social changes will impose our graduates in the future. This article focuses on the analysis of teaching evaluation in a broader context, that of a university institution that carries out programs and projects of teacher training and institutional self-evaluation. The paper is structured from two cases. The first one is more general, a program of self-evaluation in the University of Buenos Aires, and the second, most particular: a formative articulated track - the Career of Teacher Training - that resizes the evaluation of teaching for practices of improvement in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry

Milking It: How Breasts Humanized the Divine and Eroticized the Human in Renaissance Art

While art depicting bare breasts was nothing new to audiences in the Middle Ages, emerging themes associated with them gained popularity and developed new meanings for them in the fourteenth century. Issues regarding fertility and breastfeeding became pertinent with the arrival of famine and the bubonic plague in Europe and allowed for scenes such as the Maria lactans, or nursing Madonna, to find their place in the canon of devotional themes. The paintings humanized the Virgin through her breasts and some versions of the composition depicted her as a contemporary woman. Once these images were commonly accepted, artists and patrons could begin depicting the breasts of women who were actually their contemporaries. They manipulated breasts to suit the spiritual, psychological, or erotic needs of the viewer so that the breast became a multivalent symbol whose meaning varied depending on the setting in which it was employed

The power of like 2: how social marketing works

The Power of Like 2: How Social Marketing Works is the second research report in a series examining the ways in which brands can quantify the paid and earned effects of their social marketing programs on Facebook and optimize their efforts. The analysis leverages data and insights from the comScore Social Essentials™ and comScore AdEffx™ products. By understanding the core elements of maximizing reach on Facebook – Fan Reach, Engagement, and Amplification – brands can benchmark their performance against other brands and devise strategies to improve on these dimensions and deliver measurable social marketing ROI. The report includes original analysis demonstrating ways in which exposure to earned and paid media on Facebook drives behavioral lifts in purchase behavior. &nbsp

Predator Drones and Public Discourse: A Framing Analysis of the Killing of Anwar al-Awlaki

This study analyzed the dynamic framing processes that occurred within the public discourse in the United States surrounding the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen, by a CIA drone in Yemen on September 30, 2011. The study examined mainstream media broadcast transcripts and publications, advocacy organization press releases, and government statements to analyze the framing of the drone program in the aftermath of the incident as compared to an earlier strike on a non-US citizen, Baitullah Mehsud. The study found that the killing of al-Awlaki generated a "legality" frame that differs qualitatively from prior discourse that focused on strategic implications of the program. Whereas prior drone strikes produced debate over the strategic utility of drones, the killing of al-Awlaki caused a shift in focus to the legality of drones within the post-9/11 political context. These findings suggest that the killing of a US citizen by the US government created a breach in which previously parallel ideological goals of execution of the war on terror and protection of civil liberties came into contradiction with one another. The introduction of a new frame suggests a shift in the narrative pertaining to the relationship between liberty and security in the context of the war on terror, while also raising questions about contemporary citizenship in a globalizing world