1852 - "Benjamin Ignatius Hayes (1815-1877) (state assemblyman, 1867-1868) helped translate into Spanish the statutes of the first California legislature. His ability to read and write Spanish, also gave him special entree to the numerically preponderant Mexican Californios. He was chosen county attorney for Los Angeles, and by 1852 was able to gain wide endorsement for the position of district judge. "  http://www.sandiegohistory.org/bio/hayes/hayes.htm  

1852 - "Rapid development of rail power propelled westward expansion. As early as 1852, six lines carried passengers and freight across the Appalachian mountain range. Baltimore and the Ohio River were connected by rail in 1852, by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad … the first U.S. railway chartered for commercial transportation of freight and passengers. Investors hoped a railroad would allow Baltimore, the second largest U.S. city at that time, to successfully compete with New York for western trade. Later extensions brought the line to Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland. "  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb28.html  

Studies in the News is a very current compilation of items significant to the Legislature and Governor's Office. It is created weekly by the State Library's Research Bureau to supplement the public policy debate in California’s Capitol. To help share the latest information with state policymakers, these reading lists are now being made accessible through the State Library’s website. This week's list of current articles in various public policy areas is presented below.

Service to State Employees:

• When available, the URL for the full text of each item is provided.

• Items in the State Library collection can be checked out to state officials and staff.

• Access to all materials listed will be provided by the State Information Reference Center, either by e-mail to cslsirc@library.ca.gov or by calling 654-0261.

CALIFORNIA READER

The New California Dream: Regional Solutions for 21st Century Challenges: Final Report: Special Edition Printed for the Civic Entrepreneur Summit. By the Speaker’s Commission on Regionalism, California State Assembly. (The Commission, Sacramento, California) January 13, 2002. 131 p.

["[Speaker Hertzberg] appointed this Commission with a charge to study and recommend new state policies that would support more effective solutions to some of California's most serious immediate and long-term issues: economic competitiveness; persistent poverty and underemployment; traffic congestion and long commutes; unaffordable housing; and loss of open space and habitat, among many others."]

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CRIMINAL JUSTICE & LAW ENFORCEMENT

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

A Broken System: Error Rates in Capital Cases, 1973-1995. June 2000. Various pagings. And A Broken System, Part II: Why There Is So Much Error in Capital Cases, and What Can Be Done About It: Executive Summary. By James Liebman and Jeffrey Fagan, Columbia Law School. (The School, New York, New York) February 2002. Various pagings.

["In a study ... James Liebman reviewed more than 5,000 cases over 23 years and found that in the states that most often handed out the death penalty, nearly 70% were ultimately reversed.... Liebman concluded, 'heavy and indiscriminate use of the death penalty creates a high risk that mistakes will occur ... including execution of the innocent.'" Los Angeles Times (February 14, 2002) 16.]

Part I
http://www.law.columbia.edu/instructionalservices/liebman/

Part II
http://www.law.columbia.edu/brokensystem2/report.pdf

[Request #S4271]

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An Empirical Analysis of Imprisoning Drug Offenders. By Ilyana Kuziemko and Steven D. Levitt. Prepared for the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER Working Paper No. 8489. (The Bureau, Cambridge, Massachusetts) September 2001. 22 p.; Appendices.

Full Text at: www.nber.org/papers/w8489

["The number of prisoners incarcerated on drug-related offenses rose fifteen-fold between 1980 and 2000. This paper provides the first systematic empirical analysis of the implications of that dramatic shift in public policy.... Incarcerating drug offenders is found to be almost as effective in reducing violent and property crime as locking up other types of offenders."]

[Request #S4272]

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Evaluation of the South Oxnard Challenge Project 1997-2001. By Susan Turner and others, RAND Criminal Justice Program. Prepared for the Ventura County Probation Agency. MR-1520-VC. (RAND, Santa Monica, California) January 2002. 79 p.; Appendix.

Full Text at: www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1520/

["Ventura County developed an innovative collaborative approach to reducing juvenile delinquency.... This restorative justice approach incorporates offenders, victims, and community residents in the administration of juvenile justice and in the healing of the community. The RAND Corporation and Dr. Joan Petersilia conducted the evaluation of the Ventura program ... to document program outcomes for youth, their families, victims and the local community."]

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DEMOGRAPHY

CENSUS

The American Indian and Alaska Native Population : 2000. By Stella U. Ogunwole, U.S. Census Bureau. Census 2000 Brief. (The Bureau, Washington, DC) February 2002. 12 p.

Full Text at: www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/c2kbr01-15.pdf

["One in four of the 4.1 million American Indians and Alaska Natives counted in the 2000 Census now calls California or Oklahoma home.... The American Indian and Alaska Native population also grew faster than the general U.S. population in the past decade, with Califoria boasting the largest presence -- 628,000 people." San Franciso Chronicle (February 13, 2002) 1.]

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Evaluating Components of International Migration: The Residual Foreign Born. By Joe Costanzo, Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Division Working Paper #61. (The Bureau, Washington, DC) 50 p.; Appendices.

Full Text at: www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0061.pdf

["Illegal Migration Doubled in '90s: Census: New Estimates Offer Support to Immigration Foes and Supporters Alike: The nation's illegal-immigrant population doubled to 8.7 million in the past decade, according to Census Bureau estimates.... The estimates are fueling passionate debate." Orange County Register (January 24, 2002) 1.]

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A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet. By the United States National Technology and Information Administration and the United States Economics and Statistics Administration. (The Administration, Washington, DC) February 5, 2002. 96 p.

Full Text at: www.esa.doc.gov/508/esa/nationonline_020502.pdf

["This report provides comprehensive information on Americans connectivity to the Internet, broadband services, and computers. Increasing numbers of Americans have integrated these technologies into their daily lives and are using them in a variety of places and for a wide range of activities."]

[Request #S4320]

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ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY

“Overview of State Tax Incentives For Biotech Companies.” By Allan Smith. IN: State Tax Notes (January 7, 2002) pp. 55-58.

[“By the beginning of 2002, the U.S. biotech industry is expecting to top $32 billion in direct revenue and employ over 157,000 people…. A number of tax incentives biotech companies utilize are non-industry-specific business incentives introduced by states to promote their regional economies…. Because of the competitive nature of attracting biotech companies, many states have developed innovative twists to standard tax incentives to specifically address unique biotech business realities.”]

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Profile of a Recession: The U.S. and California. By Mary Daley and Fred Furlong. IN: FRBSF Economic Letter, no. 2002-04 (February 22, 2002) pp. 1-3.

Full Text at: www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2002/el2002-04.pdf

["For most of the 1990s, Southern California lagged behind the red-hot economy of the San Francisco Bay area. But Southern California's diverse economy of manufacturing, trade and services is weathering the current downturn far better than its tech-dependent neighbor to the North. So now it is the Bay Area that is the laggard, according to a recent analysis by the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank." Wall Street Journal (February 19, 2002) 1]

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Cities Under Pressure: Local Growth Controls and Residential Development Policy. By Paul G. Lewis and Max Neiman. Public Policy Institute of California (The Institute, San Francisco) 2002. 162 p.

Full Text at: www.ppic.org/publications/PPIC154/ppic154.onefile.pdf

["Slow Growth Rules Studied: Report: Development limits did not cause the state's housing shortage, researchers conclude: The report ... examined residential development policies of California cities.... Statewide, the report says, other factors are more to blame for the shortage of homes and their affordability, such as restrictive building codes, federal tax laws governing commercial real estate, costly environmental review requirements and litigatiion and liability problems facing condominium builders." Press-Enterprise (January 30, 2002) B1.]

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Final Report: Potential Roles as an Electric Utility. By R.W. Beck Inc. Prepared for East Bay Municipal Utility District. (The District, Oakland, California) February 2002. 122 p.

Full Text at: www.ebmud.com/EBMUDPower.pdf

["The study by the East Bay Municipal Utility District outlines three proposals -- including the takeover of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s infrastructure. Each could offer the district's 1.3 million customers lower electric rates and greater reliability than PG&E, the report states, but even the cheapest plan has a seven-figure price tag." San Francisco Chronicle (February 13, 2002) A23]

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After Three Quarters of Recession, the Economy Continues to Sink. By Dean Baker, Financial Markets Center. Beige Book Review and Analysis. (The Center, Philomont, Virginia) January 16, 2002. 2 p.

Full Text at: www.fmcenter.org/pdf/Beige011602.pdf

["The 10-month recession may be starting to loosen its grip, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic survey of business conditions across the country. Despite broad-based economic weakness during the period from late November to early January, the survey noted 'scattered reports of improvement' as well...In the Fed's Western region, 'high-tech producers reported fewer order cancellations and a slight pickup in bookings,' the report noted." San Francisco Chronicle (January 17, 2002) B1.]

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It Ain't Over Till It's Really Over: Slow Growth Will Lead to Rising Unemployment in 2002 and High Unemployment in 2003. By Lawrence Mishel, Jared Bernstein, and Thacher Tiffany. Briefing Paper. Economic Policy Institute (The Institute, Washington DC) January 2002. 13 p.

Full Text at: epinet.org/briefingpapers/121/bp121.pdf

["The Institute believes that the spring recovery won't help America's workers. According to its latest research the Institute sees the unemployment rate reaching 6.5 percent by spring of this year and then falling only slightly next year. Many of America's working families will be feeling the after shocks of the recession of '01 for years as they struggle to regain lost ground." Consumer Bankruptcy News (February 5, 2002) 1.]

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EDUCATION

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Using Title I to Support Out-of-School Time and Community School Initiatives: Strategy Brief. Tools for Out-of-School Time and Community School Initiatives. Vol. 2, No. 4 (January 2002) 16 p.

Full Text at: www.financeproject.org/Brief10.pdf

["This strategy brief first presents an overview of the Title I program, emphasizing its use for extended learning through out-of-school time and community school initiatives. It then highlights three strategies that community leaders, program developers and school officials can employ to access these funds to support out-of-school time and community school initiatives."]

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School Dropouts: Education Could Play a Stronger Role in Identifying and Disseminating Promising Prevention Strategies. By the U.S. General Accounting Office. GAO-02-240. (The Office, Washington, DC) February 2002. 52 p.

Full Text at: www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-240.pdf

["We are recommending that Education evaluate the quality of existing dropout prevention research; determine how best to encourage or sponsor the rigorous evaluation of the most promising state and local dropout prevention programs and practices; and determine the most effective means of disseminating the results of these and other available studies to state and local entities interested in reducing dropout rates."]

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Unequal Opportunity: Disparities in College Access Among the 50 States. By Samuel M. Kipp, Kipp Research and Consulting, and others. Prepared for the Lumina Foundation. New Agenda Series. Vol. 4, No. 3. (The Foundation, Indianapolis, Indiana) January 2002. 70 p. And Media Advisory: Lumina Foundation Issues Corrections to “Unequal Opportunity” Research Report: The Report’s Overall Conclusions are Unchanged. By the Lumina Foundation. (The Foundation, Indianapolis, Indiana) January 23, 2002. 2 p.

["The research assessed colleges' accessibility to four student groups: dependent and independent low-income students and dependent and independent median-income students. Colleges were classified according to their admissions selectivity and the degree to which they are affordable to typical students in the four groups." Ascribe Newswire (January 22, 2002) 1.]

Report:
http://www.luminafoundation.org/monographs/states/pdfs/Web.pdf

Correction:
http://www.luminafoundation.org/monographs/adv012402.shtml

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Testing Dissidents: School Leaders Go Public With Their Concerns Over the Harm of High-Stakes Tests. By Paul Riede. IN: The School Administrator Web Edition (December 2001) [online].

Full Text at: www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2001_12/riede.htm

["School leaders go public with their concerns over the harm of high-stakes tests....Parents, students and a few educators have led high-profile protests and boycotts against the tests in California, Massachusetts, New York and elsewhere. Others are working with state administrator associations or legislators to try to modify the testing systems or are even filing lawsuits to overturn them."]

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EMPLOYMENT

CALIFORNIA

Are Wages Really Lower in San Diego? By Jim Gerber. IN: Cross Border Economic Bulletin, vol. 5, no. 1 (January 2002). [online]

Full Text at: www.sandiegodialogue.org/Report/jan02/pg5.html

["Local conventional wisdom is that San Diego is such a nice place to live that employers can pay below average wages and still find plenty of qualified employees.... This issue ... examines some of the quantitative evidence of lower wages in San Diego."]

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Charting New Territory: Early Implementation of the Workforce Investment Act. By Maria L. Buck. Field Report Series. (Public Private Ventures, New York, New York) January 2002. 34 p.

Full Text at: www.ppv.org/pdffiles/charting.pdf

["The final version of the Act envisioned sweeping restructuring of the workforce development system to improve its overall performance.... This paper highlights issues for policymakers and seeks to provide guidance to states and localities implementing the Workforce Investment Act by describing the successes and struggles of five cities implementing the new legislation."]

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ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES

AIR POLLUTION

Pollution Report Card: Grading America's School Bus Fleets. By Patricia Monahan. Union of Concerned Scientist. (The Union, Cambridge, Massachusetts) February 2002. 80 p.

Full Text at: www.ucsusa.org/publications/PollutionRptCard.pdf

["The report found that the average school bus in California discharged the same amount of particulates annually as 170 cars. The study found that the state had the highest proportion of older buses, including 1,340 pre-1977 models. The report calls for natural gas school buses." San Francisco Chronicle (February 8, 2002) A1.]

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Toxic Beginnings: A Lifetime of Chemical Exposure In The First Year. By National Environmental Trust. (The Trust, Washington, DC) 2001. 28 p.

Full Text at: www.environet.policy.net/health/toxic_beginnings.pdf

["Exposure to Los Angeles air pollution doubles the chances that infants and children will develop cancer later in their lives.... The report emphasized that California needs to take the lead in regulating air toxics, as it had done with other air pollutants in the past." Los Angeles Daily News) February 8, 2002. 1]

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Global Climate Change Policy Book: Executive Summary. Clear Skies Initiative: Executive Summary. By President George W. Bush. (The White House, Washington, DC) February 15, 2002. Various pagings.

Full Text at: www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/climatechange.html

["President Bush asked Congress to set new limits on three pollutants spewed by power plants and to create a trading system that would give the utilities financial incentives to reduce emissions. The president also outlined a new policy to tackle global warming by using voluntary incentives and tax breaks to slow the growth rate of greenhouse gas emissions relative to economic growth.... Bush's announcement is expected to be received coolly abroad, where leaders in Europe and Japan have expressed displeasure with the president's decision last spring to walk away from the Kyoto accord. But Bush argued that cutting greenhouse gases would deeply damage the American economy." Los Angeles Times (February 15, 2002) A18]

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Climate Change Sensitivity Study of California Hydrology: A Report tom the California Energy Commission. By Norman L. Miller, Lawerence Berkeley National Laboratory, and others. (The Laboratory, Berkeley, California) November 2001. 30 pp.

Full Text at: www-esd.lbl.gov/RCC/outreach/Miller-Bashford-Strem.pdf

["A new study finds that climate warming over the next century could bring wetter winters and drier growing seasons to California. The research suggests that warming temperatures could bring increased flooding as a result of increased streamflows throughout California, but that less water will be available during the summer months." Environmental News Service (January 18, 2002) 1.]

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Pricing the Priceless: Cost-Benefit Analysis of Environmental Protection. By Lisa Heinzerling and Frank Ackerman, Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute, Georgetown University Law Center. (Georgetown University, Washington, DC) February 2002. 38 p.

Full Text at: ase.tufts.edu/gdae/downloads/R&PDocuments/C-B%20pamphlet%20final.pdf

["This paper aims to demonstrate that the case for cost-benefit analysis of environmental protection is, at best, wildly optimistic and, at worst, demonstrably wrong.... While economists have spent three decades wrangling about how much a human life, or a bald eagle, or a beautiful stretch of river, is worth in dollars, ecologists, engineers, and other specialists have gone about the business of saving lives and eagles and rivers, without waiting for formal, quantitative analysis proving that saving these things is worthwhile."]

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Phytophthora Ramorum; Quarantine and Regulations: Interim rule and notice of public hearings. By Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture. IN: Federal Register, vol. 67, no. 13 (February 14, 2002) pp. 6827-6837

Full Text at: frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=79204916484+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

["Federal authorities will impose a quarantine to slow the spread of sudden oak death, more than a year after they were asked to increase restrictions around the Bay Area. The new federal rules will further restrict the movement of a wide range of plants and wood products from 10 counties in the region.... The federal action is important because it will regulate the movement of host materials in interstate commerce. It will presumably be more stringent than state restrictions imposed in May." Contra Costa Times (February 13, 2002) A1.]

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Poisoned Waters: Pesticide Contamination of Waters and Solutions to Protect Pacific Salmon. By Pollyanna Lind, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides. (Wahington Toxics Coalition, Seattle, Washington) February 2002. 35 p.

Full Text at: www.watoxics.org/pdffiles/PoisonedWaters.pdf

["An environmental group suing the federal government for not doing more to protect endangered salmon runs now says an analysis of government data shows pesticides hurt the fish. The analysis of pesticides in five watersheds, including the San Joaquin/Tulare Basin draws on data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The five watersheds are in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.... Washington State University environmental toxicologist Allan Felsot said some of the environmental group's claims are dubious... 'Except maybe in your San Joaquin Basin, no pesticides are high enough to really be that kind of a danger.'" Stockton Record (February 11, 2002) 1.]

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ETHNIC, RACIAL & CULTURAL DIVERSITY

AFRICAN AMERICANS

"White Residents, Black Incumbents, and a Declining Racial Divide." By Zoltan L. Hajnal, University of California, San Diego. IN: American Political Science Review, vol. 95, no. 3 (September 2001) pp. 603-661.

["Despite the hopes of the civil rights movement, researchers have found that the election of African Americans to office has not greatly improved the well-being of the black community. This study focuses on the white community and finds that black leadership can have a profound effect.... A black mayoralty tends to decrease racial tension, increase racial sympathy, and increase support of black leadership."]

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Brookings Review, Vol. 20, No. 1. (The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC) Winter 2002. 48 p.

Full Text at: www.brook.edu/press/review/rev_des.htm

[Includes: “Diversity in a New America: Charting the Changes;” “Demography, Diversity, and Democracy: the 2000 Census Story;” “Inventing Hispanics: A Diverse Minority Resists Being Labeled;” “Arab and Muslim America: A Snapshot;” “From Melting Pot to Centrifuge: Immigrants and American Politics;” “Beyond Sushiology: Does Diversity Work?” “Affirmative Action: Don’t Mend It or End It – Bend It;” “Brain Circulation: How High-Skill Immigration Makes Everyone Better Off;” “Technology and Tolerance: Diversity and High-Tech Growth;” “Getting Uncle Sam’s Ear: Will Ethnic Lobbies Cramp America’s Foreign Policy Style;” “Diversity in Israel: Lessons for the United States;” and “Religion in America: The New Ecumenicalism.”]

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GENERAL GOVERNMENT

CALIFORNIA

Overview of the 2002-03 Budget Bill. By the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, California State Senate. #1124-S. (The Senate, Sacramento, California) January 2002. Various pagings.

["[This overview] includes California's fiscal condition, California's revenue structure, 'Budget Highlights' for most departments and agencies, and a working timeline for completing the budget and list of assignments for budget committee consultants."]

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GAO Reports on Current Efforts on Election Reform. By the U.S. General Accounting Office (The Office, Washington, DC) October 2001. Various pagings.

["The 2000 elections were plagued by problems with equipment, poll workers and procedures for overseas ballots, says a report.... Elections officials said resolving voter eligibility questions at the polls is one of the major problems they faced in the 2000 elections.... Despite states' attempts to make it easier for military and overseas residents to vote, many voters need a better understanding of procedures and deadlines for registering and returning ballots." Associated Press (October 16, 2001) 1.]

Elections: Perspectives on Activities and Challenges Across the Nation
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-02-3
"Elections: Statistical Analysis of Factors That Affected Uncounted Votes in the 2000 Presidential Election"
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-02-122
"Elections: Status and Use of Federal Voting Equipment Standards"
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-02-52
Elections: A Framework for Evaluating Reform Proposal
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-02-90

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Be Prepared: Getting Ready for New and Uncertain Dangers. Report #162. Little Hoover Commission (Sacramento, California) January 2002. 38 p.

Full Text at: www.lhc.ca.gov/lhcdir/162/report162.pdf

["We need not be motivated by fear, but by the knowledge that preparation diminishes harm. Toward that end, the Commission offers these suggestions for improving the readiness of all Californians, their communities and the state. Much more analysis will be needed to know what precisely needs to be done. These recommendations would provide for progress to be made with each new day."]

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The California Initiative Process: Final Report. By the Speaker's Commission on The California Initiative Process. (The Commission, Los Angeles, California) January 2002. 31 p.

Full Text at: www.cainitiative.org/pdf/initiativereportfinal07feb2002.pdf

["Initiative Process Shaped by Special Interest, Campaign Money: The commission recommended that California give voters more information about pending initiatives, block confusing propositions and create an alternative 'indirect initiative' that could lead to enactment without voters' consideration." Associated Press State and Local Wire (February 13, 2002) 1.]

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Betting on a Brighter Future: The Social and Economic Context of the Governor's Proposed 2002-03 Budget. By the California Budget Project. (The Project, Sacramento, California) January 2002. 52 p.

Full Text at: http://www.cbp.org/adobe/2002/r0201cht.pdf

[Includes: "The Gains from the Economic Expansion of the Late 1990s Were Not Broadly Shared;" "California's Poverty Rate Remains Higher Than That of the Nation;" "Economic Boom Did Not Reduce Number of Working Poor;" "Most Job Growth in California is in Relatively Low-Wage Occupations;" "California's Budget Faces a Short Term Cyclical Problem and a Long Term Structural Problem;" and others.]

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Reorganizing California’s Energy Bureaucracy. By the California Business Roundtable and the California Chamber of Commerce. (The Roundtable, Sacramento, California) January 14, 2002. 2 p.

Full Text at: www.cbrt.org/pr_011402.doc

["Frustrated by government overlap and a lack of accountability, the California Chamber of Commerce and California Business Roundtable propose eliminating two state agencies and consolidating various duties now carried out by the Public Utilities Commission, Energy Commission, Department of Conservation and the energy division of the California Department of Water Resources...The business leaders said they are raising the issue because a more accountable, streamlined energy bureaucracy might lead to lower electricity rates." Los Angeles Times (January 14, 2002) B2.]

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Analysis of the 2002-03 Budget Bill. The 2002-03 Budget: Perspectives and Issues. And Options for Addressing the State's Fiscal Problem. By the Legislative Analyst's Office. (The Office, Sacramento, California) Febraury 2002.

["The Legislature's chief budget analyst said that California is $17.5 billion in the red -- $5 billion more than estimated by Gov. Gray Davis. Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill handed out her grim prediction along with more than 100 cost-cutting and tax-increasing ideas ranging from the early release of nonviolent prison inmates to the reduction of homeowner tax benefits.... Hill says that the state will take in $2.8 billion less this year in income tax revenue than Davis estimates and that next year it will take in $1.1 billion less." San Francisco Chronicle (Febraury 21, 2002) A1.]

Analysis. Various pagings. http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis_2002/analysis_2002_contents.html

Perspectives and Issues. 157 p. http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis_2002/2002_pandi/pandi_toc_anl2002.html

Highlights. 16 p.
http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis_2002/anl02_press_release.pdf

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Counting All the Votes: The Performance of Voting Technology in the United States. By Henry E. Brady and others, Survey Research Center and Institute of Governmental Studies, U.C. Berkeley. (The Center, Berkeley, California) September 2001. 57 p.

Full Text at: ucdata.berkeley.edu/new_web/countingallthevotes.pdf

["Our analysis is based upon data for 2,219 U.S. counties for the 2000 general election. This information includes the type of voting system, residual votes computed from turnout and votes for candidates, and demographic and political characteristics of the counties.... Our report focuses on the degree to which voting systems record votes for every voter who comes to the polls."]

[Request #S4309]

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HEALTH

ASTHMA

"Asthma in Exercising Children Exposed to Ozone: A Cohort Study." By Rob McConnell and others. IN: The Lancet, vol. 359 (February 2, 2002) pp. 386-391.

["We investigated the relation between newly-diagnosed asthma and team sports in a cohort of children exposed to different concentrations and mixtures of air pollutants.... Incidence of new diagnoses of asthma is associated with heavy exercise in communites with high concentrations of ozone."]

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Analyses for the Initial Implementation of the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System: Executive Summary. By Grace M. Carter and others, RAND Health. MR-1500/1-CMS. Prepared for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. (RAND, Santa Monica, California) 2002. 23 p.

Full Text at: www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1500.1/MR1500.1.pdf

["This report describes the research that RAND performed to support the efforts of the Health Care Financing Administration to design, develop and implement a Prospective Payment System for inpatient rehabilitation. It presents recommendations concerning the payment system and also discusses our plans for further research on the monitoring and refinement of the PPS.."]

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Expanding Family Coverage: States’ Medicaid Eligibility Policies for Working Families in the Year 2000. By Matthew Broaddus and others, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (The Center, Washington, DC) February 13, 2002. 79 p.

Full Text at: www.cbpp.org/1-2-02health.pdf

["All told, more than two-thirds of the states have taken steps in recent months to cut spending on programs that serve low-income residents, according to the report. Fiscal conditions for the states are the worst they have been in two decades ... noting that the National Governors' Association estimates total budget cuts for the year will amount to more than $40 billion. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (January 22, 2002) A5.]

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Medi-Cal After Welfare Reform: Enrollment Among Former Welfare Recipients. Issue Brief. (The Institute, Oakland, California) January 2002. 12 p.

["The Issue Brief ... concludes that overall, Medi-Cal 'take-up' rates are increasing, it also highlights some troubling variations at the county level that may have adverse implications for low-income families transitioning from welfare to work."]

Issue Brief:
http://admin.chcf.org/documents/mcpi/MediCalAfterWelfareReformIssueBrief.pdf

Addendum to Issue Brief:
http://admin.chcf.org/documents/mcpi/MediCalAfterWelfareReformAddendum.pdf

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Closing the Gap: A National Blueprint to Improve the Health of Persons with Mental Retardation: Report of the Surgeon General's Conference on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation. By the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (The Department, Washington, DC) 2002. 76 p.; Appendices.

Full Text at: www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/mentalretardation/retardation.pdf

["This report is part of recent national initiatives to highlight and improve the health and health care of individuals with mental retardation who live in their communities. [It] is designed to provide information about service programs that have developed creative strategies to provide health care to people with mental retardation."]

[Request #S4315]

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HUMAN SERVICES

CHILDREN

"Lack of Appropriate Research Leads to Gaps in Knowledge About Children in Immigrant Families." Based on research by Donald J. Hernandez. Research Forum on Children, Families, and the New Federalism (The Forum, New York, New York) IN: The Forum, vol. 5, no. 1, (February 2002) 6 p.

Full Text at: www.researchforum.org/newsletter/forum51.pdf

["'Children in immigrant families are the fastest growing population of children in the United States, and they are leading the way toward the creation of a new American majority made up of current racial and ethnic minorities,' says Donald J. Hernandez.... 'The future of the economy and the polity depend on improved scientific understanding and on public and private policies and programs that assure healthy development, high educational attainments, and labor force success for these children.'"]

[Request #S4316]

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State-by-State Rates of Household Hunger and Food Insecurity, 1997-1999. By the Food Research and Action Center. (The Center, Washington, DC) January 2002. 7 p.

Full Text at: www.frac.org/html/news/foodinsecurity.PDF

["This report presents the Food Research and Action Center's state-by-state analysis of the most recent available hunger and food insecurity data collected by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.... The survey is widely accepted as a reliable gauge of family well-being and will serve as the basis for evaluating the nation's progress in reducing food insecurity."]

[Request #S4317]

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Children's Defense Fund Analysis of the President's Budget: The President's Budget for FY 2003 Leaves Millions of Children Behind. Children's Defense Fund. (The Fund, Washington DC) February 5, 2002. 5 p.

Full Text at: www.cdfactioncouncil.org/cdf_bushfy03.htm

["'This is a profoundly unjust budget,' said Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund.... Edelman said Bush's spending plan is long on defense but fails to address the needs of 12 million children living in poverty, 7 million home alone after school and the million who are homeless and the millions awaiting child-care assistance and Head Start.'" The Bulletin's Frontrunner (February 7, 2002) 1.]

[Request #S4318]

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What Cities Need from Welfare Reform Reauthorization. By Paul Leonard and Maureen Kennedy. Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, The Brookings Institution (The Institution, Washington DC) January 2002. 8 p.

Full Text at: www.brookings.edu/es/urban/publications/leonkenbrief.pdf

["This paper argues that cities should organize now around an agenda for next year's reauthorization of welfare reform that is sensitive to the particular needs of urban areas. The paper offers a full range of policy recommendations for TANF reauthorization."]

[Request #S4319]

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INTERNATIONAL READER

State Support for Ending Cuban Embargo Growing. By Greg McDonald, Stateline.org. (Pew Center on the States, Washington, DC) February 6, 2002. 3 p.

Full Text at: www1.stateline.org/print_story.do;jsessionid=g5jqq6el81?storyId=221431

["Pressure is growing at the state level for improving relations with the Cuban government. Elected officials from across the country are traveling to Cuba with trade delegations from their respective states this year in hopes of negotiating contracts for the sale of agriculture and health-related goods under the narrow confines of U.S restrictions."]

[Request #S4276]

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TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL FUNDING

The High Cost of Bad Roads: Conditions, Travel Trends and Funding Needs for California's State and Local Roads. By The Road Information Program. Sponsored by Transportation California (West Sacramento, California) December 2001. 24 p.

Full Text at: www.tripnet.org/CalifStudyDec2001.PDF

["California lost more general highway funding than any other state when a congressional group redirected the money to pet projects. Congress routinely finances members' pet projects. But this is the first time it has done so by taking money from a pool of federal cash that was set up specifically for states to use as they wished. 'In the total scheme of things, it's quite a small amount, but our needs are so critical in California that we need every dollar we can get,' said Larry Fisher, executive director of Transportation California". San Jose Mercury News (February 4, 2002) A1.]

[Request #S4322]

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[The following studies, reports, and documents have been ordered or requested, but have not yet arrived. Requests may be placed, and copies will be provided when the material arrives.]

ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

INCOME INEQUALITY

Chasing the Red, White and Blue: a Journey in Toqueville's Footsteps Through Contemporary America. By David Cohen. (Picador USA, New York, New York) 2001. 312 p.

["(David) Cohen's theme, supported by interviews alternating with devastating statistics, is the exact opposite of the comforting conclusion Tocqueville drew. Where, in 1831, what struck a visiting European was the astonishing equality of Americans, what amazed Cohen was the inequality, the unfairness and hardness. Today, in the new economy, the trend is inexorably away from the equality of conditions that Tocqueville saw." New Statesman (February 11, 2002) 1.]

[Request #S4325]

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EDUCATION

VIOLENCE

Children Who See Too Much: Lessons from the Child Witness to Violence Project. By Betsy McAlister Groves. (Beacon Press, Boston, Massachusetts) 2002. 168 p.

["This book ... examines what happens when young children witness violence in their communities and homes.... Their stories speak strongly about the ways in which exposure to violence changes the landscape of childhood forever.... The message of these stories has two parts: Many children in this country are growing up in a sea of violence and violent images, and it is destroying their abilities to be hopeful and trusting of adults. The second message is that we as adults have enormous capacity to help these children." NOTE: Children Who See ... will be available for 3-day loan.]

[Request #S4326]

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EMPLOYMENT

JOB SECURITY

A More Perfect Union: Advancing New American Rights. By Jesse Jackson, Jr. (Welcome Rain Publishers, New York, New York) 2001. 420 p.

[“The number one issue that confronts every American family, as the economy begins to teeter, is employment security. Those families need the kind of security that says they will not be allowed to fall beneath a certain floor of human dignity. So the end game must be the right, a constitutionally guaranteed right, to full employment.” NOTE: A More Perfect Union ... is available for 3-day loan.]

[Request #S4327]

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