Federal Sponsorship Research Articles

The cost of doing business: Drug costs in federally sponsored cancer clinical trials.

10 Background: Federally sponsored cancer clinical trials (FS-CCTs) address a broad set of clinical cancer research questions that are avoided by industry sponsors, including combining treatment modalities, examining whether approved drugs may work in other cancers, or examining de-escalation therapy. FS-CCTs routinely extend the lives of patients with cancer and inform treatment guidelines. However, FS-CCTs must often be conducted in partnership with industry sponsors since the cost of drugs is high and cannot be paid for by the government. This limits the independence of FS-CCTs. We aimed to examine the drug costs for trials with federal sponsorship. Methods: We included all US-based cancer treatment trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov that examined pharmaceuticals and/or biological products and started from 2018-2022. Trials with any NIH or other federal sponsorship (as the sole, lead, or other sponsor) were included. Drug names and number of enrollments per arm and drug were extracted from ClinicalTrials.gov and study protocols. The Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC) was obtained from IBM Micromedex RED BOOK (2023) by matching the product name, dose strength and administration route. The product acquisition cost (“cost”) per trial was computed by summing the WAC for each drug and multiplying by the number of enrollments. Results: Overall, N=1020 trials were examined (phase I = 343, phase II = 611, phase III = 66). The mean (median) drug costs were $53.9 million (m) ($7.4m) overall, including $73.8m ($19.8m), $47.2m ($8.7m), and $44.7m ($5.8m) for trials solely sponsored, led by, or with secondary/tertiary participation by federal sponsors, respectively. Trial-level drug costs were $19.2m ($3.6m), $51.9m ($9.4m), and $244.9m ($38.8m) for phase I, II, and III trials, respectively. Drug costs were much greater for trials involving immune and/or targeted therapies ($60.1m [$11.4m]) than those with conventional chemotherapies ($30.8m [$1.5m]). In the subset of n=128 phase 2 or 3 comparative trials, drug costs were $97.7m ($21.8m) for experimental arms and $24.1m ($1.4m) for control arms. Conclusions: The costs for drugs in FS-CCTs were very high, especially for the experimental arms, highlighting the necessity for federally sponsored researchers to collaborate with industry partners to conduct trials. Drug costs for immune and/or targeted therapies were higher yet, suggesting that the cost burden to conduct trials for federal sponsors may continue to increase. These findings also suggest that systemwide costs for cancer drugs in clinical practice will continue to increase substantially. These results have implications for how FS-CCTs are designed and conducted, since the necessity of collaboration between federal and industry sponsors likely limits the independence of federal research. Future public policy efforts should focus on mechanisms for independent investigation of new pharmacologic agents.

Sponsorship of clinical trials related to the spine: Trends over time and comparative analysis of trial characteristics by sponsorship type

Clinical trials are crucial to advance products and procedures related to the spine. ClinicalTrials.gov is an internet-based registry and results database that catalogs trial characteristics, such as intervention types, phase, randomization, and blinding. Sponsorship trends have not been specifically evaluated for spine-related clinical trials, nor have trial characteristics been compared among spine-related trials sponsored by institutions, industries, and federal agencies. The purpose of this cross-sectional analysis of spine-related clinical trials was to characterize the types and trends of sponsorship for spine-related clinical trials, and compare trial characteristics among trials sponsored by institutions, industries, and federal agencies. ClinicalTrials.gov was queried for clinical trials started from the launch of ClinicalTrials.gov (February 29, 2000) through December 31, 2022, using the term "spine." Trial characteristics were abstracted, including start year, intervention type, phase, randomization, and blinding. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine associations between sponsorship type and other trial characteristics. A total of 4,484 clinical trials were identified, of which 78 trials were excluded due to incomplete reporting of trial registration data. From 2000 through 2022, the number of spine-related trials initiated annually markedly increased (from 21 to 453, representing an increase of 2,057%). This was predominantly driven by an increase in the number of institutionally sponsored trials. Relative to trials with institutional sponsorship, industry sponsorship was independently associated with different intervention types, phases of study, lack of randomization, and lack of blinding. Relative to trials with institutional sponsorship, federal sponsorship was independently associated with intervention type, and phase of study. From 2000 through 2022, the number of spine-related clinical trials initiated annually markedly increased, driven by an increase in institutionally sponsored trials. Specific trial characteristics were more or less likely for industrially or federally sponsored trials relative to institutionally sponsored trials suggesting the types of clinical trials are shifting over time.

Accounting and Networks of Corruption

This paper examines the process of corruption within a Canadian federal government sponsorship programme in the mid- to late-1990s and, more specifically, the role of accounting in making this corr...

How HBCUs Can Get Federal Sponsorship from the United States Department of Education (Editor’s Commentary)

How HBCUs Can Get Federal Sponsorship from the United States Department of Education (<i>Editor’s Commentary</i>)

How HBCUs Can Get Federal Sponsorship from the United States Department of Education (&lt;em&gt;Editor’s Commentary&lt;/em&gt;)

Ensuring that every student-from the wealthiest to the poorest and historically underserved-has access to a high-quality education is what our work is all about.... We aren't just talking the talk; we are awarding millions of dollars in grants to help institutions better serve minority students through variousprograms and services.-U.S. Secretary of Education Ame DuncanIntroductionEducational inequities that exist for African Americans underscore the need for education research programs and advocacy at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The Department of Education (ED) accounts for more revenue to HBCUs than any other federal agency-totaling more than $4.7 billion in 2013. ED is a multifaceted agency, and revenue to HBCUs comes from ED in many forms. The bulk of the funding is awarded to students to attend HBCUs in the form of grants and loans for qualifying students. ED also offers noncompetitive grants to HBCUs through the Strengthening HBCUs program. Also known as Title III, these noncompetitive awards, which are aimed at building the capacity of HBCUs, account for approximately $300 million of the revenue that ED awards to HBCUs.Any given year, HBCUs collectively receive between $600-$750 million from ED through grants and contracts. Because of the nature and purpose of many of the grant programs, HBCUs have been uniquely suited to receive funding from ED. The White House Initiative on HBCUs (WHIHBCUs) believes that increasing revenue to HBCUs from federal grants and contracts is vital to the long term sustainability of these institutions. By developing innovative proposals, working with HBCU liaisons at federal agencies and taking advantage of federal funding opportunities, HBCUs can increase the resources necessary to initiate and sustain vital programs.The U.S. Department of Education OverviewED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. This agency was created in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies. ED's 4,400 employees and $68 billion budget are dedicated to:* Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing, as well as, monitoring those funds;* Collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research;* Focusing national attention on key educational issues; and* Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.For fiscal year (FY) 2016, President Obama requested $70.7 billion for ED; an increase of approximately $3.6 billion, or a 5.4 percent, in ED's discretionary funding from the previous year. ED's FY 2016 request budget targets four key areas (a) increasing equity and opportunity for all students; (b) expanding high-quality early learning programs; (c) supporting teachers and school leaders; and (d) improving access, affordability, and student outcomes in postsecondary education.According to the ED's budget proposal, improving college access and completion is an economic necessity and a moral imperative. Reclaiming the top spot in college completion is essential for maximizing both individual opportunity and our economic prosperity.White House Initiative on HBCUs' Liaison to the U.S. Department of EducationA liaison between the White House Initiative on HBCUs (WHIHBCUs) and ED works with the WHIHBCUs to organize efforts to strengthen the capacity of HBCUs through increased participation in appropriate federal programs and initiatives.Specifically, the HBCU liaison at ED helps the WHIHBCUs to:* Establish how the department or agency intends to increase the capacity of HBCUs to compete effectively for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements and to encourage HBCUs to participate in federal programs;* Identify federal programs and initiatives in which HBCUs may be either underserved or underused as national resources, and improve HBCUs' participation therein; and* Encourage public-sector, private-sector, and community involvement with improving the overall capacity of HBCUs. …

Integration of biogas plants in the building materials industry

The paper quantifies the synergy-effects of an areal combination of biogas-plants with plants of the building materials industry (e.g. cement works) from the energetic and economical point of view. Therefore an overall process model based on energy and mass flow balances is developed to determine the effects of a combination of both plants in terms of energetic efficiency, investment and operating costs, greenhouse gas emission reduction and overall energy production costs. The results and the calculation procedure for a combination of biogas plants with cement works are presented in detail. The main benefits of this combination are the utilisation of low temperature excess heat sources from cement works for fermenter heating and the direct thermal utilisation of unprocessed biogas as a valuable, CO2-neutral fuel for combustion processes for instance clinker burning. Due to the combination, the energetic efficiency of the biogas plant, defined as utilisable energy output in relation to the energy content of the produced biogas, significantly increases from 63.0% to 83.8%. Concurrently the energy production costs are reduced, turning biogas into a competitive source of energy without the need for federal sponsorship. Calculations show, that production costs in combined plants for plant sizes larger than 90 m³STP/h biogas are even lower than the actual market prize of natural gas.

Our National Monument of Art: Constructing and Debating the National Body at the Library of Congress

It is not surprising that the Library of Congress would be defined as our national monument of art given the scale of the project, its federal sponsorship, and its posture as a public library with access to all Americans. Paralleling the assumption of the Library of Congress as not merely a building for housing books but a ritualistic center of civilization, the ambitious decorative program celebrated Western civilization and, in particular, the evolution of culture through knowledge. This article examines two mural cycles at the Library of Congress, The Evolution of the Book by John White Alexander and The Evolution of Civilization by Edwin Blashfield, considering each as a multivalent construction of American national identity and the critical debates that they generated. The male body was the subject of both cycles and functioned as the ideological armature within which to project current assumptions of and debates about masculinity, labor, imperialism, social reform, national identity, and progress.

Advances and Challenges in Developing Research Capacity in Social Work

Significant improvements in research capacity have been realized in social work in the past two decades. Investments by federal entities such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and concentrated efforts by deans, directors, and faculty members have led to important advances in research infrastructure and capacity in many social work programs. These developments have contributed to historic improvements in the scope and quality of social work research. Despite recent accomplishments, however, considerable variation exists in infrastructure support and research capacity across social work programs. For example, whereas some schools and universities have developed impressive internal supports for faculty research, other programs have struggled to simply create the culture necessary to address deficiencies in research capacity. Demands for new knowledge about the etiology, prevention, and treatment of individual and social problems as well as growing interest in evidence-based policy and practice suggest that the time has come to evaluate recent advances and identify the persistent challenges associated with enhancing infrastructure support and research capacity in social work. ADVANCES IN RESEARCH CAPACITY Research and knowledge development activities vary considerably across the continuum of social work undergraduate and graduate education. On one hand, well-established graduate programs located in research-oriented universities generally value research and strongly encourage faculty members to pursue external funding. Conversely, many undergraduate and graduate social work programs recognize the importance of research but place greater emphasis on the teaching and practice missions associated with the profession. Regardless of where a program might fall in this continuum, most educators would agree that nearly all schools of social work have increased their attention to topics of research capacity. A variety of approaches have been used in the past two decades to increase infrastructure supports and research capacity in social work. For example, some schools have pursued an ambitious program of federal research sponsorship through entities such as NIH, the National Institute of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and others. NIH has been particularly responsive to social work as evidenced by the creation and funding of eight social work research centers in the 1990s. In recent years, NIH has continued its commitment to the field by developing and disseminating a social work research agenda (NIH, 2003) and by issuing a call for proposals to investigate the effects of theoretically and empirically based social work practice on health outcomes for people experiencing medical and behavioral problems (NIH, 2005). Released in 2005, Research on Social Work Practice and Concepts in Health (PA-06-081) is important because it publicly acknowledges the contribution of social work practice to the enhancement and efficacy of interventions targeting health problems. Significantly, the language in the PA goes beyond the proposition that social work strategies are mere enhancements to existing medical services and interventions. The existence of a social work knowledge base that offers unique and significant clinical expertise to interdisciplinary intervention efforts with client groups across multiple systems of care is clearly recognized in this announcement. Advances in federally funded social work research are perhaps best measured by the number of NIH awards made to social work investigators. It is important to note that 621 grants have been awarded to social work researchers since 1993 (Corvo, Zlotnik, & Chen, 2008; Institute for the Advancement of SocialWork Research [IASWR], 2008). Awards have ranged from a low of 18 in 1993 to more than 60 funded grants in 1998. Reflecting current economic constraints at the federal level, only 24 grants were funded in 2007. …

NASA Funding Slow, Not Steady, After Space Race

After reading d. Kennedy's editorial “Sputnik nostalgia” (5 October, p. [17][1]), I find myself in a state I did not expect—one of disappointment. Kennedy writes about the positive effects the launch of Sputnik had on education and the nation's educational community. These improvements resulted largely from an increase in federal sponsorship that came as part of the backlash from Sputnik. Yet, there lies within this seemingly fine outcome an issue that needs to be addressed. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was formed along with a dramatic increase in federal funding for science and science education in response to the former Soviet Union's incredible achievement ([1][2]). When Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon, the government's interest in science dropped almost immediately. Because of the sudden lack of funding, the Apollo program was discontinued just 6 years after Apollo 11 landed in the Sea of Tranquility, in order to save funds for the shuttle and Skylab programs ([2][3]). Lately, NASA has received additional funding to attempt a second series of missions to the moon as part of the Constellation Program ([3][4]), but the long-awaited increase is the bittersweet result of an imaginary space race ([4][5]). It seems that only when faced with the threat of looking stupid or coming in second place does our government open its wallet to science ([1][2], [4][5]). 1. 1.[↵][6] 1. J. F. Kennedy ,Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs, Washington, DC, 25 May 1961. 2. 2.[↵][7] 1. R. W. Orloff , Apollo by the Numbers (NASA History Division, Washington, DC, 2000). 3. 3.[↵][8] 1. W. Gerstenmaier ,paper presented before the Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics, and Related Sciences, Washington, DC, 28 March 2007. 4. 4.[↵][9] 1. R. Block ,“NASA points to foreign competition to spark support,” Orlando Sentinel 23 October 2007. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1150389 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #ref-3 [5]: #ref-4 [6]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1. in text [7]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2. in text [8]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3. in text [9]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4. in text

Replacing ineffective early alcohol/drug education in the United States with age‐appropriate adolescent programmes and assistance to problematic users

Despite more than a decade of federal sponsorship of 'evidence-based' alcohol/drug education, there has been no consistent downward trend in overall prevalence among youth over the past 15 years. Reasons underlying this situation are examined. Published technical critiques of initial research supporting widely used evidence-based programs are reviewed along with replication studies conducted later by independent researchers not associated with initial program development. Social and institutional barriers in the US against changes in AOD policy and practice for young people are also suggested. Emerging use of diverted pharmaceuticals (now second to cannabis in prevalence) may underlie moderate recent decline in use of alcohol. Early federal certification standards for 'evidence based' prevention education have been seriously compromised. Technical critiques of initial evaluations and negative replication studies of these programs are consistent with lack of impact. Finally, fidelity of implementation in regular school settings is commonly flawed. Failure of these mainly pre-secondary educational programs may underlie recent federal support for forced random AOD testing of secondary school students. A new approach to drug education for adolescent students seems warranted as a positive alternative to personally intrusive surveillance. An interactive approach at the secondary school level that incorporates an age-appropriate educational process is proposed. While advising abstinence, this approach also facilitates identifying and assisting problematic AOD users.

The Hill-Burton Act and Civil Rights: Expanding Hospital Care for Black Southerners, 1939-1960

THE HOSPITAL SURVEY AND CONSTRUCTION ACT--COMMONLY KNOWN as the Hill-Burton Act or simply Hill-Burton in recognition of its Senate sponsors, Lister Hill (D-Ala.) and Harold H. Burton (R-Ohio)--was debated in Congress and passed into law in 1946 at the height of the South's paradoxical status as the nation's neediest yet most politically powerful region. From 1947 to 1971 Hill-Burton underwrote the creation of a modern health care infrastructure with $3.7 billion in federal funding and $9.1 billion in matches from state and local governments. Space for nearly a half million beds was constructed in 10,748 projects, including nursing homes, mental health and other specialized facilities, and public health centers as well as hospitals. Edward H. Beardsley's seminal 1987 study of southern health care, A History of Neglect: Health Care for Blacks and Mill Workers in the Twentieth-Century South, contains the most nuanced and detailed historical analysis to date of Hill-Burton's impact on the South, where half the facilities were built. While recognizing that most participating southern hospitals remained closed to black physicians, Beardsley asserts that with the help of Hill-Burton projects Southerners of both races, but blacks particularly, began to enjoy an access to modern hospital care that they had never known before. (1) Most scholars since Beardsley have focused on Hill-Button's separate-but-equal clause and the program's failure to completely end racial discrimination in southern hospitals. This body of work at times views Hill-Burton in a deterministic light, with some scholars essentially sharing the view of integrationist medical activists that eliminating segregation in health care was a magic bullet that would end racial health disparities. This article posits a long civil rights movement in health care by surveying and elaborating on the historiography of Hill-Burton in the South and considering multiple factors that contributed to the expansion of hospital care for blacks and whites, particularly in underserved rural areas. The essay focuses mainly on the fifteen-year period from 1939, when hospital construction was first debated in Congress as part of proposals to establish a national health plan, to 1954, when the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka declared segregation unconstitutional and inherently unequal in public elementary and secondary education. Finally, this article uses North Carolina as a case study to evaluate Hill-Burton's record in improving blacks' access to hospital care during the two decades before full compliance with integration was made a condition of federal aid in all health care programs as a result of the Supreme Court's 1963 Simkins v. Cone decision, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Medicare and Medicaid legislation of 1965. (2) Hill-Burton contributed to a series of major transitions in the life of the South and the nation. Scholars commonly cite the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as the New Deal's end point, but Hill-Burton was the last and perhaps the most progressive expression of redistributive New Deal liberalism. Lawrence J. Clark, a health administrator and policy analyst, and his coauthors judged the act to be one of the most ambitious efforts for the development of social capital to that time. Hill-Burton was the first federal program to incorporate a graduated, need-based allocation formula that favored the South, paving the way for federal sponsorship of health, education, and welfare as well as costly new infrastructure that made Sun Belt prosperity possible while allowing southern states to maintain low taxes. As an outgrowth of Florida Democratic senator Claude D. Pepper's Subcommittee on Wartime Health and Education, Hill-Burton was among the first and most successful examples of a new postwar brand of federal reform that garnered bipartisan support by blending centralized planning, economic development, and a rationale for domestic spending based on national defense. …

State Sponsorship and Community Environmental Groups: The Atlantic Coastal Action Program in Newfoundland

Introduction When the Canadian federal government announced in November 2002 that it would assume part of the cost involved in building a primary sewage treatment plant in St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador, thereby halting the flow of untreated waste into that city's harbor, no one was happier than the members and supporters of the St. John's Harbour ACAP (SJH). ACAP is the acronym for Atlantic Coastal Action Program, an initiative of Environment Canada that provides project funding for community environmental organizations active in coastal ecosystem issues. Newfoundland (1) has two ACAPs. Besides the St. John's group, there is one in Corner Brook, the Humber Arm ACAP (HA). Although the Corner Brook organization also sought sewage treatment for its region, it has made very little headway on the issue. In this study, we examine the two local environmental groups, focussing on two distinct questions. The first asks why one group had greater success than the other. Answering this question necessarily requires looking at the structures of the two organizations, their specific objectives, and the political context in which they operated. Our second question is somewhat less obvious. Both ACAPs can be considered to be environmental groups, because both receive funding from the Canadian government. We want to know how having federal sponsorship affects their relationships with not just Ottawa but with the provincial and local authorities as well. In particular, we ask how having a link to the federal government influenced the capacity of the two to deal with wastewater issues, if it did at all. To answer these questions, the paper proceeds through a series of steps. First, it looks at the question of state sponsorship of interest groups. It then lays out the two cases that make up the study, searching for difference in structure, objectives, or relations with the governments involved that can explain why they achieved different results. The article's conclusion summarizes the findings, suggests an explanation for the results, and comments on the impact of governmental sponsorship on the two and their work. State-sponsored Groups The development of environmental in Canada is a relatively recent phenomenon. Unlike other Anglo-American countries, there were virtually no conservation or environmental prior to the 1960s. Nevertheless, in a short period of time, about two thousand environmental were established involving an estimated one to two million Canadians (Wilson, 2002; Doern and Conway, 1994). Pluralist theory views the flourishing of interest as a natural product of liberal democratic societies. Other theories focussing more on the development of new social movement have provided explanations in terms of the rise of a new middle class, the nature of late capitalism, and the development of post-materialist attitudes. Despite different theoretical perspectives, are generally seen as autonomous organizations originating in civil society. Although some researchers have noted the significance of state funding for many environmental groups, insufficient attention has been paid to the role of the state in encouraging and supporting environmental groups. In their classification of interest groups, Whittington and Van Loon (1996) make a useful distinction between groups that have been primarily responsible for their own creation and maintenance (autonomous groups) and groups that have been either created or encouraged by government itself (state-sponsored groups). As with all classification systems, there is a degree of arbitrariness in determining what is and is not a state-sponsored group; the degree of state-sponsorship may vary from those that are essentially agencies of the state to those that obtain some minimal level of support from the state. As well, the concept of state sponsorship may be considered multidimensional, including such aspects as whether government was responsible for founding or encouraging the founding of the group, the degree of financial dependence upon government, and the degree of autonomy of the group in terms of setting objectives, selecting strategies to achieve their objectives, and the choice of key personnel. …

Federal Sponsorship of Cost-Effectiveness and Related Research in Health Care: 1997–2001

Objectives To describe recent federal sponsorship of cost-effectiveness and related health economics research to provide insight into the functioning of existing research support systems and assess the roles of federal health agencies. Methods Using the PubMed database, we identified cost-effectiveness and related publications citing support from a US government entity and published during the period of 1997 through 2001, and audited them for information on funding sources, study type, and content focus. Results Five Department of Health and Human Services agencies and centers and the Veterans Administration are cited as funders in 74% of 520 federally supported health economics publications we identified. Three-fourths of federally supported publications address five areas of high disease burden: infections, cancer, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, and substance abuse. Other high burden diseases, including mental health, diabetes, and injuries, receive less attention. Federal support of health economics studies of health education and care delivery—intervention types underexamined in the field—is relatively strong but most often focuses on substance abuse or mental health services. Each of the top federal funders has a distinct funding pattern, but there are substantial areas of overlap within which we could not identify content domains specific to one funder or another. Conclusions Federal support of health economics research has paralleled growth in the field. Federal funders support projects consistent with their mission and focus on high-burden disease areas. However, overlapping funding areas, ambiguity concerning agency interests within overlapping content areas, and gaps in some disease and intervention areas suggest that the coordination of health economics research funding could be improved.

Hell's Corner: An Illustrated History of Canada's Great War

HELL'S CORNER An Illustrated History of Canada's Great War J. L. Granatstein Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2004. x, 198pp, $50.00 cloth (ISBN 1-55365-047-6)Judging by what they read, Edwardian Canadians had no particular interest in the world around them. Only a minority of them were immigrants (according to the 1911 census, nearly 80 percent of the population had been born in Canada), and the bestseller lists the trade periodical Bookseller and Stationer started compiling in 1899 included very few non-fiction books had anything to do with international affairs. Religion, civics, philosophy, natural science, yes-but world politics, no. Few people cared when 400-odd French Canadians joined the Zouaves in the late 1860s to defend the papal states against partisans interested in unifying Italy, or when Canadian boatmen volunteered to help pull Britain's chestnuts out of the fire by rafting troops up the Nile to relieve the siege of Khartoum in 1884 . The South African War (1899-1902) caught the reading public's attention for a short while, but over the next decade, Canada was largely oblivious to the deteriorating international situation. This explains the shock of August 1914: the war came to Canada like a bolt from the blue, and the nation was seized by the realization history had presented it with an opportunity to take its place on the world stage.Four years later, Canada re-emerged from the inferno, immeasurably poorer for the loss of 60,000 lives but with a more sharply defined sense of itself and its place in the world. The country had proven it had a rightful role in international affairs, and had used its success on the battlefields of Europe to leverage greater influence within the British empire and on the world stage. It has become a cliche to state Canada became a nation on the battlefields of Flanders, but it is a cliche with more than a grain of truth.That transformation from colony to nation underpins J.L. Granatstein's fine new account of Canada's first great overseas war. The nation in 1914, he points out, was a true mosaic, dominated numerically and politically by Anglo-Saxons and old-stock French Canadians, but with a healthy smattering of newcomers from virtually every nation in the world. But in those unenlightened days before federal sponsorship programs, there had been no organized efforts to make Canadians out of those who had chosen to come here (1). Only a few idealists, and a few more nativists, gave much thought to transforming newcomers into Canadians.But the painful process turned farmers, machinists, and office clerks into some of the finest soldiers to fight on the western front also instilled in them, and the nation, a sense of Canadianness. Granatstein describes the slow dawning of a Canadian consciousness from the stout defence of Ypres in April 1915 to the successful attack on Vimy Ridge in April 1917. It was after Canada's triumphs in the campaigns of 1917 a French journalist observed that 'one Canadian is worth three Germans' (153), a comment that, even when stripped of its propaganda element, had some truth to it. What was emerging as a result of these battlefield successes (and, it must be admitted, the failures the Canadian corps endured), in Granatstein's view, was a sense among Canadians they were different-from the British and French who had originally colonized Canada, and from the Americans, and this at a time when the US was starting to overtake Mother Britain as the primary influence on Canada. This sense of distinctness impressed itself powerfully on Canadian soldiers, and was in turn expressed in many different ways, not the least common of which was the colourful language used by future cabinet minister Brooke Claxton.Playing a key role in Granatstein's narrative is Canada's greatest general of the war, Sir Arthur Currie, whose prewar career gave no hint he had any potential as a corps commander. …

Pioneering Interdisciplinary Research Initiatives for Oceans and Human Health

Following the release of the report From Monsoons to Microbes by the National Research Council in 1999, efforts began to promote federal sponsorship of research and education in a new scientific discipline focusing on how the ocean affects human health. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated a joint program to establish and sustain several research Centers for Oceans and Human Health (COHH) at nonfederal institutions. Shortly thereafter, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) mounted a similar initiative to establish intramural centers at existing NOAA facilities as well as an extramural grants program. This profile reviews the history and current state of these developments.

Profiting from the plains: the Great Northern Railway and corporate development of the American West

Profiting from the Plains looks at two inextricably linked historical movements in the United States: the westward expansion of the great Northern Railway and the agricultural development of the northern plains. Claire Strom explores the persistent, idiosyncratic attempts by the Great Northern to boost agricultural production along its rail routes from St. Paul to Seattle between 1878 and 1917. Lacking a federal land grant, the Great Northern could not make money through land sales like other railways. It had to rely on haulage to make a profit, and the greatest potential for increasing haulage lay in farming. The energetic and charismatic owner of the Great Northern Railway, James J. Hill, spearheaded most of the initiatives undertaken by his corporation to boost agricultural production. He tried, often unsuccessfully, to persuade farmers of the profitability of his methods, which were largely based on his personal farming experience. When Hill's initial efforts to increase haulage failed, he shifted his focus to working with outside agencies and institutions, often providing them with the funding to pursue projects he hoped would profit his railroad. At the time, state and federal agencies were also promoting agricultural development through irrigation, conservation, and dryland farming, but their agendas often clashed with those of the Great Northern Railway. Because Hill failed to grasp the extent to which politicians' goals differed from those of the railroad, his use of federal expertise to promote agricultural change often backfired. But despite these obstacles, the railroad magnate ironically remained among the last defenders of the small-scale farmer modelled on Jeffersonian idealism. This fascinating story of railroad politics and development ties into themes of corporate and federal sponsorship, which are increasingly recognized as fundamental to western history. As the first scholarly examination of James J. Hill's agricultural enterprises, Profiting from the Plains makes an important contribution to the biography of the popular and controversial Hill, as well as to western and environmental history. Claire Strom is assistant professor of history, North Dakota State University, Fargo.

Emerging Competition and Risk-Taking Incentives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Abstract: This paper examines two major forces that may soon increase competition in the U.S. secondary conforming mortgage market: (1) the expansion of Federal Home Loan Bank mortgage purchase programs and (2) the adoption of revised risk-based capital requirements for large U.S. banks (Basel II). The authors argue that this competition is likely to reduce the growth and relative importance of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and hence their franchise values and effective capital. Such developments could, in turn, lead to more risky behaviors by these two GSEs. It is this last consequence that warrants greater regulatory awareness. JEL classification: G21, G28 Key words: government-sponsored enterprises, mortgages, securitization, risk-based capital, moral hazard, charter value I. Introduction The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) dominate the U.S. secondary market for conforming singlefamily residential mortgages as both investors in and securitizers of these loans. (1) For example, in 2002, these two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) acquired the credit risk on $1.5 trillion in conforming mortgages, or 78 percent of the $1.9 trillion in conforming mortgage originations that year. (2) Such activity over the past decade or so has resulted in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac becoming the second and fourth largest U.S. companies, respectively, when ranked by total assets as of year-end 2002. As GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have federal charters (3) that include provisions that serve to lower their operating costs directly (e.g., state and local income tax exemptions) as well as create the perception that their obligations have implicit federal backing (due to, among other things, having access to a line of credit with the Treasury). (4) The presence of such federal benefits naturally leads to questions about their purpose, size, and distribution. That is, should the federal government support housing finance through GSEs? and if so, how they should be structured so as to maximize social benefit and minimize taxpayer risk? Indeed, public interest in these issues has recently been heightened in the wake of hedging and accounting travails at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Frame and White, 2004). Like the mortgage interest deduction and a myriad of other governmental policies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are a mechanism by which the federal government encourages the construction and consumption of housing. (5) While such encouragements do provide benefits for households in their roles as buyers and consumers of housing services, these benefits are not free. The encouragements for housing significantly reduce the resources available for and thus impose costs on the other sectors of the economy (e.g., Mills 1987; Taylor 1998). Further, it's unclear that that federal sponsorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac actually has a material impact on homeownership rates (Feldman, 2003). As a result, Calomiris (2001) and White (2003) argue that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be fully privatized and replaced with targeted explicit subsidies for first-time, low- and moderate-income homebuyers. Such subsidies, the authors argue, would be more effective in dealing with the genuine positive externality that accompanies home ownership and would be less distortionary. The size of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's obligations raises questions about the extent of potential taxpayer liability, systemic risk exposure, and the appropriate safety and soundness regulatory regime for GSEs. As of year-end 2002, Fannie Mae had total assets totaling almost $890 billion and net off-balance sheet mortgage guarantees of over $1.0 trillion, while Freddie Mac had about $720 billion in total assets and net off-balance-sheet mortgage guarantees of over $740 billion. (6) Furthermore, both of these enterprises are highly leveraged, with ratios of total equity capital to total assets of 3. …

Improving evidence-based practice in the treatment of chronic insomnia: a commentary for Sleep Medicine Reviews on “Chronic hypnotic use: deadly risks, doubtful benefits” (Daniel F. Kripke)

The view on chronic hypnotic use by Professor Daniel F. Kripke underscores a scandalous public health issue, namely, the lack of scientific and clinical evidence to support the prevalent clinical practice of chronic sedative hypnotic prescription for patients with chronic insomnia. Not only is there a lack of controlled data to support this practice, there is also reason to think that it may be ultimately harmful to the health and wellbeing of some, if not many, patients, as argued in this review. This state of affairs leads compellingly to the research agenda recommended by Kripke for randomized, placebo-controlled maintenance clinical trials of sedative hypnotics to assess definitively the benefits and risks of these medications in the long-term clinical management of a chronic relapsing condition. Pending the collection of such data, Kripke recommends that maintenance treatment with sedative hypnotics be withdrawn and that cognitive behavioral therapy [1] be offered. While agreeing with Professor Kripke’s research agenda, I believe that it does not go far enough. I also think that there may be a role for support by the pharmaceutical industry, in tandem with federal sponsorship. In my opinion, we definitely need placebo-controlled evaluation of the efficacy of maintenance sedative hypnotic medication for the long-term management of chronic primary insomnia. The data reviewed by Kripke raise the distinct possibility that placebo may be at least as effective, if not more effective, and safer than sleeping pills. Since the highest currency both scientific and ethical between doctor and patient is derived from placebo-controlled evaluation, that standard should be applied to this prevalent clinical practice. However, I also believe that this is too narrow a research agenda and would not adequately inform clinical practice. Patients with chronic insomnia also frequently

Paul Revere's Last Ride: The Road to Rolling Copper

An immigrant's son, a heroic revolutionary rider, and an eminent silversmith, Paul Revere seems to epitomize the American Dream. He has been justifiably lauded as a hardworking, practical, and ambitious patriotcitizen, yet this portrait is incomplete. Paul Reveres greatest ride, truly earning him his place in history, was his successful quest to become the first American to master the technique of rolling copper. Accounts from colleagues, as well as his own writings and business records, provide a compelling picture of the real Paul Revere, who grew increasingly comfortable with technological and managerial challenges as he advanced from silversmith and Revolutionary War jack-of all-trades to foundry operator, bellmaker, and ordnance manufacturer. At the age of 65, he took up what may be called the greatest challenge of his life, the founding of a national copper rolling industry. The following analysis investigates Reveres lifelong technological education (culminating in his attempt to roll copper) as well as the social, economic, and political context that shaped his experiences. Like many of his peers in America's growing technological community, Revere rose through the apprentice training system to become a colonial artisan. Although he rejected his craft roots while striving to become a successful entrepreneur/proto-industrialist, many aspects of his professional endeavors reflected his artisanal heritage. But he differed from many of his peers by seeking federal sponsorship for his work. The government of the early republic, particularly during the Federalist administration of John Adams, offered several forms of limited assistance to economic and technological endeavors. Reveres business fell into a privileged category because it was linked to the military (in this case, the naval) requirements of the United States. However, he quickly discovered that the young government's small, inexperienced bureaucracy, competing political parties, and divided ideologies hindered the efficient and consistent support of private enterprises.1 Reveres earliest education took place in his father's silver shop, where he served as an apprentice until 1754. As a craftsman he belonged to a community of skilled laborers joined by common traditions such as a seven-year apprenticeship period, a distinctive local interpretation of artistic styles, and the practice of subcontracting portions of complex jobs to fellow artisans with superior experience or tools. Versatility distinguished his career from the very beginning: he produced over 90 different kinds of objects, quickly mastered new processes and the most fashionable artistic trends, and performed other skilled tasks such as copperplate engraving.2 This flexibility served him well in the unstable economic climate of the colonial and revolutionary period. Reveres silversmithing career was interrupted when the Revolutionary War presented compelling demands for his services. A member of the Boston Sons of Liberty, he made many trips to New York and Philadelphia for the committees of safety and correspondence, as well as his famous midnight ride. He also provided three extremely important technical services to the revolutionary effort. He engraved and printed loan notes and currency for the Massachusetts Provincial Congress beginning in the spring of 1775. Later that year, the Continental Congress sent him to Philadelphia to learn how to manufacture gunpowder, and he eventually supervised the establishment of a powder mill in Canton, Massachusetts. Finally, the Massachusetts War Council asked him in 1777 to learn how to cast brass cannon from Lewis Ansart, a skilled and innovative French foundryman living in Connecticut, whose knowledge of metallurgy was virtually unequaled in America.3 Revere succeeded at all of these tasks and would later apply his experience (particularly his work with Ansart) to his own foundry. At the end of the Revolutionary War, Revere returned to silverworking. …

Faculty and Administrators' Attitudes toward Potential Conflicts of Interest, Commitment, and Equity in University-Industry Relationships

In the 1940s the federal government began awarding grants and contracts for significant amounts of money to academic researchers who pursued paths of national as well as scholarly interest (Smith, 1990). During the post-World War II years, the conduct of research through federal sponsorship became a source of prestige and autonomy within the academic profession. In the mid-1970s the federal share of academic research funding began to decrease, and faculty and administrators began to look for other sources of funding. At the same time, business leaders voiced concern that governmental regulations, restrictions, and processes were impending their ability to compete in the global marketplace. In the 1980s the U.S. government responded by encouraging increased cooperation between universities and firms, allowing universities to hold patents on federally sponsored research and financing research projects in which universities and firms were both active participants (Campbell, 1995, 1997; Campbell & Slaughter, 1999; Slaughter & Rhoades, 1996). Although the academic and industrial sectors had worked together on a limited basis before 1980, over the past fifteen years, collaborative relationships have intensified, and increasing numbers of academics are seeking ways to position themselves close to the commercial marketplace. Ample literature has tracked this activity between academics and industry, particularly since the late 1970s (Blumenthal, Campbell, Anderson, Causino, & Louis, 1997; Blumenthal, Campbell, Causino, & Louis, 1996a, 1996b; Blumenthal, Epstein, & Maxwell, 1986; Blumenthal, Gluck, Louis, & Wise, 1986a, 1986b; Bowie, 1994; Braxton & Bayer, 1996; Dooris & Fairweather, 1994; Etzkowitz, 1983, 1990, 1992, 1993; Fairweather, 1988, 1989, 1993; Fassin, 1991; Feller, 1992; Hackett, 1990; Lambright & Rahm, 1992; Lee, 1994, 1995; Louis, Anderson, & Rosenberg, 1995; Louis, Blumenthal, Gluck, & Stoto, 1989; Rahm, 1994a, 1994b; Wood, 1992; Zuckerman, 1993). Those in favor of increased interaction suggest that, for the most part, faculty and administrators(1) approach industry-sponsored research as professionals who strive to maintain Mertonian norms such as rationality, impartiality, and objectivity rather than allow themselves to be influenced by the potential financial gains that might arise from their research. Their discussions focus on the benefits that arise out of university-industry relationships and suggest that most adverse impacts on institutions are anomalous and readily remedied (Bok, 1982; Geisler & Rubenstein, 1989; Peters & Fusfeld, 1982). Those more skeptical of this movement toward the market warn that the potential to generate revenue at personal and institutional levels has had a multifaceted, not always positive, impact on academe. For example, administrators are increasingly treating faculty in the same manner that industrial managers treat their employees and, as a result, faculty are losing ownership of their discoveries and autonomy over their professional lives (Dickson, 1984; Florig, 1986; Luton & Zinke, 1989; Rhoades & Slaughter, 1991a, 1991b; Slaughter, 1990; Slaughter & Rhoades, 1990). Although faculty involvement in collaborative activity is encouraged by federal sponsors and university leaders (Campbell, 1995, 1997), thus far there is neither a large body of university policy nor professional customs and norms that guide and shape entrepreneurial faculty behavior. Administrators, faculty, and business persons are in the process of establishing new entrepreneurial norms, and this provides a unique opportunity to study the reshaping of professional roles as well as the tensions and conflicts that surround such changes. Some tension between faculty and administrators has been accepted as an enduring part of academic life, but few studies have explored empirically the possibility that differences between the two groups may be amplified when industry enters into the picture. …