Draft Auctions

We introduce draft auctions, which is a sequential auction format where at each iteration players bid for the right to buy items at a fixed price. We show that draft auctions offer an exponential improvement in social welfare at equilibrium over sequential item auctions where predetermined items are auctioned at each time step. Specifically, we show that for any subadditive valuation the social welfare at equilibrium is an $O(\log^2(m))$-approximation to the optimal social welfare, where $m$ is the number of items. We also provide tighter approximation results for several subclasses. Our welfare guarantees hold for Bayes-Nash equilibria and for no-regret learning outcomes, via the smooth-mechanism framework. Of independent interest, our techniques show that in a combinatorial auction setting, efficiency guarantees of a mechanism via smoothness for a very restricted class of cardinality valuations, extend with a small degradation, to subadditive valuations, the largest complement-free class of valuations. Variants of draft auctions have been used in practice and have been experimentally shown to outperform other auctions. Our results provide a theoretical justification

Developing a draft learning progression framework for ESOL in New Zealand schools

Early in 2003 we were commissioned to produce a draft Learning Progression Framework (LPF) for ESOL in the New Zealand curriculum. The draft Framework was completed in June 2003 and entered the consultation round. In producing the draft Framework, we had to address a range of issues. Some these related to user expectations. Others concerned the relationship between the draft Framework and documents such as English in the New Zealand Curriculum, existing curriculum documents relating to other languages, and ESOL frameworks available in other countries. These issues proved to be critical. This paper explores some of these issues and introduces the draft Framework

Draft Final Report

This report contains reviews of various city ordinances, which include plans to improve design regulations along the overlay zone. Also includes a mention of the Waller Creek Citizens' Advisory Committee.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Colorado River corridor from Tom Miller Dam, through Lady Bird Lake and then eastward beyond Longhorn Dam is undoubtedly the most significant community asset in central Austin. This incredibly beautiful stretch of river provides a wide range of benefits to our city including fantastic scenic vistas, wonderful urban recreational opportunities, and serene open spaces that gives our center city a unique character among Texas cities. In addition to providing our drinking water, the river and lake are a major economic asset drawing folks to Austin both to work and play downtown. It is also a fragile beauty that can quickly be overwhelmed if development along its shores is not carefully planned and regulated to provide a balance between accommodating growth in the urban core and preserving the character of the river corridor and the lakefront. Development along the banks of the lake in the 1970’s and early 1980’s drew attention to the need to establish a clear vision of what the community wanted along the lakefront. The 1985 Town Lake Corridor Study and the 1986 Waterfront Overlay ordinance gave the task force the necessary planning guidelines and land development tools to assess what would constitute harmonious development along the lakefront preserving the unique quality of this river corridor. While the original Waterfront Overlay ordinance was largely successful, recent development pressure along the shoreline of Lady Bird Lake has brought into question whether the current Waterfront Overlay ordinance is adequate to protect and enhance the lakefront, especially since the 1986 ordinance underwent a code rewrite in 1999 that made some significant changes. In response to this concern, the City Council charged the Waterfront Overlay Taskforce with reviewing the current situation. The essential finding from the Taskforce’s eight month review is that the current code has been significantly weakened by the changes in the ordinance that have been adopted since 1986 and in particular the 1999 recodification of the ordinance has removed significant protections and incentives to promote community benefits and enhancement of the waterfrontWaller Creek Working Grou

The effects of teacher feedback on multiple-draft compositions in ESL classrooms

Teacher feedback plays a significant role in helping ESL learners acquire the writing skills. However, many research findings indicated that feedback on single draft essays does not help ESL learners much in improving the essays because these learners do not have the opportunity to revise, rewrite, and resubmit their work. Therefore, this study aims at examining the effects of teacher feedback on ESL learners’ compositions in terms of content, language and organization by instituting the multiple draft procedure. The participants of this study wrote a first draft; revised it after getting the feedback on content and further revised it after receiving feedback on language. The findings showed that there were significant mean differences in the content, language, organization and the total marks when the second and the third drafts were compared to the first draft

Portland Stump Speech: Draft

Draft of a stump speech, Portland, ME, September 9, 1984. Includes handwritten notes.https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/vice_presidential_campaign_speeches_1984/1121/thumbnail.jp

Draft Bill for the Electricity Act

This draft is an attempt to improve upon an existing Electricity Act draft bill without making significant changes in substance, and is meant to be viewed as an exercise in legislative techniques