Hearing Testimony Research Articles

Slide Mountain, or the Folly of Owning Nature by Theodore Steinberg

628 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Slide Mountain, or theFolly of Owning Nature. By Theodore Steinberg. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1995. Pp. 212; illustrations, notes, index. $24.00 (cloth). Theodore Steinberg’s latest book, Slide Mountain, or the Folly of Owning Nature, takes its title from a Mark Twain short story in which a circle of 19th-century practicaljokers duped a U.S. attorney named Bunscombe. Bursting into Bunscombe’s Carson City, Nevada, office, Dick Hyde cries that his ranch has been buried in a landslide. To make matters worse, the panicked man complains that his property is being claimed by a neighbor whose land now rests comfortably atop the contested terrain. That afternoon, litigants converged upon a local magistrate, himself part of the ruse. After hearing testimony, the bench decrees: “No—Heaven created the ranches and it is Heaven’s prerogative to rearrange them” (p. 4). Incensed at the ruling, Bunscombe appeals to the judge to reconsider. Eventually, the magistrate relents, telling counsel that Hyde could retain title by digging out his buried ranch from underneath his neighbor’s property. Trapped in a universe where—with enough shovels—jus­ tice could be served, Bunscombe stomps off in disgust. Throughout Slide Mountain, Steinberg playfully argues that we are all Bunscombes and that thejoke is on us—“all ofus,” that is, “who consider ourselves property owners or who are forced to respect a world increasingly defined by private property rights” (p. 4). Remi­ niscent ofJohn McPhee’s Control of Nature, Slide Mountain uses su­ perb storytelling to illustrate the gathering eclipse of reason. Steinberg constructs his book around a collection of court cases, each in its way as funny and enlightening as Twain’s imaginary one: an Omaha Indian reservation at Blackbird Bend, along the evershifting Missouri River; Grand and Six Mile Lakes (or are they a river?) in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya River basin; fast-disappearingfossil water pumped from beneath Arizona’s desert; uncertain weather high above Fulton County, Pennsylvania; Manhattan’s 3-D air rights perched above the lucrative earth below; and quitclaim deeds to the moon. Lunacy, you wonder? Perhaps. But consider the plight of the replumbed Atchafalaya basin. Steinberg depicts a legal struggle over a once-choked remnant of Louisiana’s Mississippi, the Atchafalaya River. In successive stages, first the state, and then nature’s orthodontists, the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers, sought to set things straight. “The Corps of Engineers had worked a massive disappearing act, a vast series ofmanipulations that had stolen the identity of this part [the Grand—Six Mile Lake segment] of the basin right from under it” (p. 58). Contested ownership of Grand and Six Mile lakes erupted over the issue of oil revenues. Article 509 of Louisiana’s 1870 Civil Code ceded title of deposited alluvial soils to owners of adjacent rivers or streams. “Call it a lake and [Louisiana] state coffers would jingle with the extra oil revenues, not to mention the control the state TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 629 would have over the region’s ecological destiny,” Steinberg writes. “Call it a stream and private landowners [corporations like Gulf, Texaco, Amerada, and others] would experience a windfall” (p. 60). The protracted legal struggle was fought over whether Grand—Six Mile Lake was a lake or a stream. The problem was, as Steinberg wryly observed, that “[n]one of the meanings given the words lake and stream adequately represented the body of water in question” (p. 68). Touche. The essence of this book is captured in this paradox: real estate isn’t. Writing at thejuncture ofcritical legal theory and environmen­ tal history, Steinberg ushers us into a labyrinthine world devoid of rational gravity. It is all reminiscent of the widow Winchester, who, believing she would die when her mansion near SanJose, California, was completed, continued adding room upon room, staircase upon staircase, all going nowhere. Theodore Steinberg has written a book both scholarly and farcical about private property as shibboleth. I dare say Erasmus himselfwould have applauded Steinberg’s aplomb. Michael Black Mr. Black rents airspace somewhere over San Francisco, California. He is coeditor (with Frank Fischer) ofa recent anthology entitled GreeningEnvironmentalPolicy: The Politics ofa SustainableFuture...

Panel Calls E coli Screening Inadequate

HOPING TO REDUCE unnecessary medical treatment and strengthen the detection of disease outbreaks, an expert panel has recommended widespread culturing of laboratory specimens for Escherichia coli O157:H7. The panel, sponsored by the American Gastroenterological Association Foundation, met last month in Washington, DC. After hearing testimony from experts in medicine, public health, the food industry, and federal regulatory agencies, the panel produced a report with recommendations to stem "a major national problem." Who's Getting Sick, and Why? From 1982, when the virulent O157:H7 strain was identified as a human pathogen, through 1992, only two to three outbreaks were investigated each year in the United States. The figure jumped to 16 in 1993; 11 outbreaks during the first half of this year are being studied. Some of the increase is attributed to growing awareness, but the panel said the actual number of infections appears to be rising. It is estimated that E

The challenge of “Healthy People 2000”

The federal Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (U.S. Public Health Service) has again prepared a compilation of goals and objectives for the health of the Nation's people, applicable to anticipated achievements within the decade ending in the year 2000. This effort involved work groups from numerous federal agencies, testimony in regional hearings from 800 citizens, and enrollment of a consortium of 300 national organizations. The final product, "Healthy People 2000," was released in September 1990, and contains 298 measurable objectives. Content regarding children, genetic disorders, developmental disabilities, and disabilities in general is less featured and less specific than was hoped for. Ten objectives of relatively direct concern to geneticists are discussed, plus 23 others of interest in the maternal and child health field. On balance, it is suggested that the Healthy People 2000 objectives can be useful and stimulating for workers in genetics, child health care, and disabilities' services. Regrettably, there was no simultaneous proposal of legislation that would provide new federal programs, funding, or assistance to states.

Expert Psychiatric Evidence in Sexual Misconduct Cases Before State Medical Boards

The growing problem of physician sexual misconduct has captured the attention not only of the medical and legal communities, but of the public as well. State medical boards, administrative agencies with generous rules of evidence and varying levels of expertise, face the difficult task of responding to patients' allegations of physician sexual abuse. This Article, based in large part on the author's survey of current state medical board practice, reveals an increasing reliance on expert psychiatric testimony to explain the behavior of complainants and accused physicians. Drawing analogies from the use of psychiatric evidence in child sexual abuse cases, the author examines the factors that boards must consider in determining the admissibility of expert testimony in physician sexual misconduct cases, and calls upon states to establish clear evidentiary rules to govern the use of such testimony in administrative hearings.

The Role of the Psychiatrist in Dangerous Offender Hearings

The current Canadian legislation regarding dangerous offenders is reviewed, with specific emphasis on the role of the required psychiatric testimony. It is suggested that, although this legislation as it is currently formulated could be viewed as an attempt to broaden the insanity defence, and permit the diversion of mentally ill offenders from a punitive to a therapeutic milieu, it enables the preventive detention of recidivist offenders. Some fundamental ethical issues which follow from this are identified, together with the issues which have dominated expert testimony in hearings held in British Columbia during the past 13 years.

Feminist Activities at the 1988 Republican Convention

A feminist presence re-emerged at the 1988 Republican Convention after an eight year hibernation. It was primarily focused on abortion, which still divides the party despite the fact that the far right continues to write the platform on all issues directly affecting women. However, since delegate polls indicated that those going to New Orleans last August distributed themselves on the political spectrum pretty much the way they did in 1984, there was no consensus on what this means for the future of a party headed by George Bush.Feminists made their first appearance at the hearings before the platform Subcommittee on Family and Community. Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans spend the week before their convention hearing testimony and writing their platform. In 1988 representatives from both NOW and NARAL presented their proposals. This was a “first” for both organizations even though neither Kim Gandy (NOW) nor Kate Michelman (NARAL) expected changes in the platform to result. The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), which has co-ordinated past convention activities though its Republican Women's Task Force, did not send any one to New Orleans this year, although New York Congressman Bill Green had spoken for the NWPC at a May 31 Platform Committee hearing in Kansas City. NWPC President Irene Natividad said the NWPC's views were given by New York member Tanya Melich, who officially testified for the New York State Republican Family Committee of which she is the Executive Director.

Feminist Activities at the 1988 Republican Convention

A feminist presence re-emerged at the 1988 Republican Convention after an eight year hibernation. It was primarily focused on abortion, which still divides the party despite the fact that the far right continues to write the platform on all issues directly affecting women. However, since delegate polls indicated that those going to New Orleans last August distributed themselves on the political spectrum pretty much the way they did in 1984, there was no consensus on what this means for the future of a party headed by George Bush.Feminists made their first appearance at the hearings before the platform Subcommittee on Family and Community. Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans spend the week before their convention hearing testimony and writing their platform. In 1988 representatives from both NOW and NARAL presented their proposals. This was a “first” for both organizations even though neither Kim Gandy (NOW) nor Kate Michelman (NARAL) expected changes in the platform to result. The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), which has co-ordinated past convention activities though its Republican Women's Task Force, did not send any one to New Orleans this year, although New York Congressman Bill Green had spoken for the NWPC at a May 31 Platform Committee hearing in Kansas City. NWPC President Irene Natividad said the NWPC's views were given by New York member Tanya Melich, who officially testified for the New York State Republican Family Committee of which she is the Executive Director.

Senators study ozone, climate

Whether the United States should restrict ozone‐destroying pollutants on its own or wait until other countries agree to do the same was one major focus of a joint hearing held last month by two Senate subcommittees. Ten senators, members of the Subcommittee on Hazardous Waste and Toxic Substances and the Subcommittee on Environmental Pollution of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, heard testimony from experts on both the science and policy aspects of ozone depletion, the greenhouse effect, and climate change.

English interest in the treatment of alcoholism in the United States during the early 1870's.

SummaryIn 1872 Donald Dalyrmple, chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Habitual Drunkards, invited Joseph Parrish and Daniel Dodge, representing the American Association for the Cure of Inebriety, to testify before his committee. Dalyrmple believed that these Americans would give testimony about the treatment of inebriety in the United States which would support his efforts to pass a law establishing the authority to confine drunkards, under medical certificate, for as long as might be necessary to cure them. His witnesses did not disappoint him because they also had the optimistic assumption that the authority to confine inebriates would contribute to their cure. If, however, Dalrymple's committee had paid more attention to ironies in the testimony of these witnesses, heard testimony from other members of the AACI, who held different views that these witnesses, or known more about the early history of the inebriate asylum in the United States, they might have reached different conclusions than they did.

A search for missing answers to questions never asked reply to Kosters

Martinus Kosters’ rejoinder to my article, “Tourism and Political Science: A Case of Not so Benign Neglect” really leaves me without any excuse to reply. His appraisal is generous, certainly requiring no rebuttal on my part. His critique of my neglect of European tourism conditions is both accurate and well-argued. I am exercising my opportunity to reply, therefore, not to defend my article, but to continue the kind of dialogue which simply must take place if we are to develop research agenda for exploring the politics of tourism systematically. If Kosters is correct about the even more appalling state of neglect of tourism politics in Europe than in the United States, then the prospects for political research on tourism are more grim than I anticipated. Perhaps naively, I assumed that once the economic importance of tourism was fully appreciated, the political ramifications would be similarly recognized. However, Europe has long recognized the economic importance of tourism, and its several institutes of tourism and tourism journals testify to a longstanding interest in the subject. If the impact of tourism has failed to intrigue the political scientists of Europe, then simply the expansion of tourism within the United States or our growing dependence on international tourism to ameliorate our balance of payments deficit will scarcely suffice. It is easy to appreciate how discouraging it must be for individuals like Senator Daniel Inouye (USA), who spent a decade gently guiding the National Tourism Policy Act through Congress, to see the results of their labor. For years Inouye’s congressional committee heard testimony detailing the staggering importance of tourism to the society, to employment rates, to our tax revenue and balance of payments. One administration after another hardly yawned in reply. Finally in 198 1 President Reagan signed the first National Tourism Act commiting the nation to an attempt to coordinate tourism’s development in conjunction with other sometimes conflicting national policies. A new era? At last political recognition for the nation’s second largest retail industry? Scarcely. In hisnext two budget messages, the President’s recommendations proposed to gut funding for the new U.S Travel and Tourism Administration (USTTA). President Reagan is famous for cost-cutting of domestic programs, but cutting an agency designed to increase revenues, increase employment, and increase foreign trade is scarcely consistent with the President’s avowed desire to stimulate the economy. Moreover, as a busi-

Alcohol Beverage Advertisement and Consumption

This paper is an attempt to present the alcohol beverage industry's view of the value and role of advertising and its relationship to consumption. The authors suggest that regulation of price and availability of alcohol can reduce mean consumption, excess mortality, and social consequences. Although government does not accept the notions of cause and effect between advertising and consumption, the industry does. Industry advocates self-regulation. However, the aggressive posture of the companies as reflected through their media campaign is in direct contrast to their testimony in public hearings. Rather than competing for shares of an existing market, the alcohol beverage companies appear to be introducing new product lines, planning for overall expansion of the older products, and targeting new markets such as heavy drinkers, women, and teenagers. The media compete vigorously for alcohol beverage advertising dollars which also fosters targeted advertisement. Ways to control the growth of alcohol consumption through advertising are suggested.

The Role of the Expert Witness in Social Security Administrative Hearings

A vocational expert and administrative law judge present factors salient to vocational testimony in social security administrative hearings. The role of the vocational expert in testimony preparation and delivery is discussed.

Are Foreign Aid Objectives Attainable?

HE AMERICAN PUBLIC and Congress have long expressed widespread and deep dissatisfaction with our economic and military foreign aid program. As inflated as pregnant elephant, globeloney, a shocking waste, bloated, many ways dangerous, overextended in resources and undercompensated in results, are but few of the epithets and slogans current in Washington.' Testimony in hearings on Foreign Aid bills is full of complaints about specific instances of wasted money: costly roads leading to nowhere in Panama; rusting trucks along the wayside in Afghanistan; food supplies smuggled from the Congo and sold on the black market; embezzled funds in Laos; overstaffed aid offices everywhere.

THE PEDIATRICIAN AND THE PUBLIC

THE two communications in this issue are from Dr. George Baehr, President of the New York Academy of Medicine, an organization which has a long tradition of study of the problems of medical care. First is the statement made in behalf of this Academy before the Senate Committee which has been hearing testimony concerned with the various medical care bills now before Congress. This statement is a succinct and thoughtful appraisal of these bills and indicates that S-1970 (Flanders-Ives-Herter-Javits Bill) comes nearest to meeting the Academy's requirements for a voluntary prepaid comprehensive medical service plan. The second communication is Dr. Baehr's analysis and comments upon S-1970 (Flanders-Ives-Herter-Javits Bill). He points out that, in the words of Senator Flanders, S-1970 is essentially a "'voluntary health insurance bill calling for compulsory public contribution,'" which is to take the form of a subsidy for the operating deficits of voluntary prepayment agencies. Other outstanding features of the bill are the provisions designed to stimulate group practice and the requirement that subscription charges shall vary with income. The implications of a subsidy for the operating deficits of voluntary agencies and the fostering of group practice on a nation-wide scale will warrant careful study. It should also be noted that individuals with wide experience in existing prepayment organizations have expressed real concern as to the feasibility of private organizations doing business with clients on a sliding premium basis.

Further Testimony in Hearings on Naval Dental Bill

Further Testimony in Hearings on Naval Dental Bill

The conduction of heat by gases

Gridlock and rollback in Washington have led to a turn to the states for action on climate change in the U.S. The state of Massachusetts presents a particularly puzzling case, since it was an early leader with binding emissions targets, but the succeeding dozen years saw most ambitious efforts stalled or watered down. We collected 1187 pieces of legislative testimony, 4126 reported lobbying visits, and interviews with and input from over fifty experts. Based on their lobbying reports and testimony in legislative hearings, we systematically characterize the legislative interests of nine main coalitions engaged in Massachusetts energy politics. We find that climate and clean energy advocates have few reliable allies and face four coalitions of opponents from the utilities, real estate, power generators, and fossil fuel and chemical industries. Our analysis indicates the central role utilities play in blocking the most ambitious clean energy legislation, and how they remodel those bills that survive the process into forms favorable to their interests.