Issues Of Public Interest Research Articles

Classroom Action: Human Rights, Critical Activism, and Community-Based Education ed. by Ajay Heble

Reviewed by: Classroom Action: Human Rights, Critical Activism, and Community-Based Education ed. by Ajay Heble Dorothy Woodman Ajay Heble, ed. Classroom Action: Human Rights, Critical Activism, and Community-Based Education. University of Toronto Press, 2017. 236 pp. $25.95. For some, community-based education (cbe) both offers pedagogical possibilities to "break[] through the false construction of the corporate university as set apart from real life and seeks to re-envision schooling as always a part of our real world experience, and our real life" (hooks 41) and produces its own set of concerns. Experiential learning, wherein "members of both educational institutions and community organizations work together toward outcomes that are mutually beneficial" (Gemmel and Clayton 1), is attractive. Yet implementing a cbe project raises questions about language, process, and outcomes. What do service, social activism, facilitation, and collaboration mean within academic discourse and practices? How can we ascertain that we are not producing another version of elitist intervention? Are student learning outcomes overshadowing community assessments of the work? And, finally, how do we address ideology when linking learning to activism? Thankfully, for those of us implementing cbe, recent publications are offering critical appraisals. Ajay Heble's Classroom [End Page 139] Action: Human Rights, Critical Activism, and Community-Based Education brings perspectives of both instructor and students into the conversation. Heble, Director of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation and Professor in the School of English and Theatre Studies at Guelph University, has, together with former students, compiled a set of critical essays on community-based education. Heble has substantial expertise as a researcher and community innovator, and his students critically reflect on juggling two constituencies while implementing "community-facing" projects. His introduction, if one reads no further in this collection, is a useful summary of the issues and some of the thinkers in this field. Student essays offer project ideas and cautionary tales for both instructor and student. For readers of Paulo Friere, bell hooks, and Henri Giroux, Classroom Action explores how instructors might "make [their] work more socially and ethically responsible" because "pedagogical activities […] are connected […] to issues of resources, power, and public interest" (5). Moreover, Heble argues, these activities "can generate alternative ways of seeing (and being in) the world" (5); his "community-facing" pedagogy "encourage[s] opportunities for students to activate their knowledge, to intervene purposefully in the broader communities in which they work and live" (15). Following classes on social activism and pedagogy, his students enter the community to "make interventions" within it (8). For this collection, student contributors describe and reflect on their "activist community-based interventions" and "discuss how such initiatives have shaped and energized their own current research and teaching practices" (8). However, community-based education is a fraught process: both Heble and his students point to the constraints of academia's fixed terms and semesters, the limitations of academic grading requirements, and the hierarchies of instructor/student and academy/community. Additionally, cbe is messy and complicated work; even well-received projects are fraught with struggles, failures, and conflicts. The first student essay forms the lynchpin for those that follow. Elizabeth Jackson and Ingrid Mündel's group created and mounted a day-long symposium "that explored questions of access to and access within education" (39); the project quickly raised pressing concerns of defining terms, identifying and working with and against the realities of an educational institution, and addressing the systemic constraints that affect access to and engagement with "educational processes" (40). As they explain, the larger question of community-based education as fundamentally a "pedagogy [End Page 140] of the privileged" (40) quickly came to bear on how the group would conceptualize and implement the project. Their parenthetical question—"why weren't 'they' a part of our conversations"? (41)—is a concern that I experienced throughout the book. In "The Guelf Speaks! Anthology: Storytelling as Praxis in Community–Facing Pedagogy," Ashlee Cunsolo, Paul Danyluk, and Robert Zacharias developed an anthology as a "gathering" of community stories (57). Like Jackson and Mündel, they express concern with social activism in the community that is, at the same time, a project for which students will be assessed and graded, and therefore...

RISK MANAGEMENT AND RISK COMMUNICATION IN MOZAMBIQUE: THE CASE OF ARMS AND AMMUNITION DEPOTS OF MALHAZINE

Risk management and risk communication affect everybody’s daily life. Local authorities have the duty to manage public structures, to inform civilians of the risks coming from these structures, to implement prophylaxis procedures. Military storage sites are fully included in this category. This article presents – through a qualitative methodology based on risk analysis – how risk management and communication in weapons and ammunition warehouses is managed in a “partially free” country, using as a case-study, the Malhazine depot in Mozambique, which resulted in more than 100 deaths. In 2007, an extraordinary accident related to the management of obsolete conventional weapons occurred at the Malazhine warehouse. In this circumstance, the Mozambican Government adopted a policy of classifying the information “highly confidential”. This policy aimed at obscuring facts and responsibilities by hiding the causes of such a huge tragedy. This article concludes with the consideration that a high level of confidentiality in treating issues of public interest, such as the one kept in regard to Malhazine, does not help public authorities to effectively manage and prevent similar risks from occurring again, with resulting negative impacts on local populations. Keywords: military storage, Malhazine, local authorities, confidentiality.

THE ROLE OF SIDIS V. F-R PUBLISHING CO. CASE IN THE FORMATION OF RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN

The given article displays the case of Sidis v. F-R Publishing Co., which features a suit of a former adolescent prodigy, William Sidis against the New Yorker newspaper for publishing an article “Where Are They Now? April Fool” where his biography as well as a then-present style of life were portrayed. This case possesses a particular concordance for the theory of “right to be forgotten” as a derivative of right to privacy in common law as well as having triggered the issues of celebrity-related public interest and article newsworthiness tests applied by US courts in later cases.

Revisiting the Firm, Reporting Entity, and Going Concern Concepts in Light of Financial Crisis

ABSTRACT Contemporary accounting conceptual frameworks depict reporting entities as self-evident stand-alone units whose current activities are likely to continue. That representation is revisited in light of Veblen's (1904) sabotage thesis that managers routinely utilize mechanisms that disrupt underlying markets. Credit default swaps played a significant role in the 2008 subprime financial crisis, blurring the boundaries of entities to create entanglements that threatened the global financial infrastructure. The reporting entity and going concern concepts developed in a climate of philosophical pragmatism operating from a flawed premise that a scientific approach assures objective, value-free data. The conventional treatment of reporting entities is contrasted with emerging conversations that paint “the firm” as a legal fiction functioning within a dynamic and potentially unstable matrix. The paper argues that a distorted view on the underlying nature of the firm masks significant public interest issues, making it difficult to address problems inherent in interdependent institutional structures.

Public Pension Fund Structure And Mechanisms: A Case Study Of The Tanzanian Pension Funds System

Good governance structures have become an issue of public interest, including public pension systems. This study assesses the pension funds governance in Tanzania, with a special focus on board of trustees’ issues. The growing interest referred to, is partly because the quality and performance of the funds trustees determines the income flows to which members are entitled and promised, as well as any shortfalls thereof, that may require interventions. Our findings suggest that board of trustees play an important role for funds governance and hence performance. The pension fund structure and mechanisms in Tanzania uphold high standards. Yet, a major issue is that the board selection seems to be politically motivated and that the government claims most board seats, making conflicts of interest likely to occur repeatedly.

Editorial Coverage on Implementation of Bangladesh–India Land Boundary Agreement: An Analysis of Six Dailies of Bangladesh and India

Newspapers influence the formation, shaping, and molding public opinion by generating debate on various issues of public interest. The “editorials” represent the voice of a daily on an issue, imply stance of the authority, and influence public opinion. The Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) of 1974 between Bangladesh and India is an issue of interests for the people of both the countries as well as the global policy makers. The newspapers of both the countries have shown their concerns through analyses, comments, and observations on the same. The present study aims at understanding the stance of the newspapers of both the countries with regard to the much-talked about LBA issue by analyzing contents and discourse of the relevant editorials of six leading dailies of both the countries. It reveals that the dailies have expressed their concerns for peaceful implementation of the LBA as well as stressed on maintaining bilateral relationship and economic progress between Bangladesh and India. Simultaneously, tone o...

Amicus Acceptance and Relevance: The Distinctive Example of Philip Morris v. Uruguay

In the last decade amicus intervention has become increasingly prevalent in investor-state arbitration. As part of a generalized drive towards transparency, amicus briefs are now routinely submitted in high-profile investor-state arbitrations, which are closely related to public interest issues. Philip Morris v. Uruguay is a notable example of such arbitrations. However, it is often argued that amicus submissions are hardly relevant to investor-state tribunals’ analyses. By first shedding light on the conditions governing the acceptance of amicus briefs, this article looks at how the Philip Morris tribunal admitted such briefs and whether they were at all relevant to the tribunal’s analysis. It thereafter questions the extent to which such relevance may be linked to the tribunal’s findings.

Strategic role of corporate transparency: the case of Ukrainian agroholdings

The paper argues that transparency of large corporate farms operating in transition economies is the factor that affects their competitive position as it helps to preserve access to international equity markets and to reduce uncertainty that arises from imperfect local input markets. We demonstrate that the corporate transparency of large farms is an issue of both public interest and private investor interest and decompose the construct of transparency respectively. Because firms tend to exhibit heterogeneous transparency strategies when facing common sets of pressures, we draw upon four case studies of different Ukrainian agroholdings using the suggested decomposition of the transparency construct. We find that large farms may benefit substantially in the long run if they establish effective corporate governance mechanisms and provide more evidence that they contribute positively to corporate social responsibility and rural development.

Composite Building Materials: Thermal and Mechanical Performances of Samples Realized with Hay and Natural Resins

Recent years have seen an increasing public interest in issues related to energy saving and environmental pollution reduction in the building sector. As a result, many directives have been issued, the most important being the Directive 2010/31/EU (EPBD Recast) on the energy performance of buildings, which requires that “Member States shall ensure that by 31 December 2020 all new buildings are nearly zero-energy buildings”. This goal can be obtained not only by reducing energy demand for heating and cooling, but also, for example, by improving building envelope performances. In this work, a first analysis of the thermal and structural behaviour of a biocomposite material, constituted by a natural resin (rosin) and vegetal fibres (hay), has been performed, with particular attention to the share of fibres and the granulometry in the mixture. The biocomposite has shown both good insulation properties and mechanical resistance. However, the results show that further analyses should be performed on the optimisation of the samples’ preparation process.

Chilling at the grassroots? The impact of the Leveson Inquiry on journalist-source relations and the reporting of the powerful at local level

Abstract No sooner had the Leveson Inquiry opened in 2011 than journalists and politicians were warning of a ‘chilling effect’ on the willingness of the press to continue using informal avenues to research stories. A particular fear was that tougher regulation might deter newspapers from using off-the-record briefings – and occasional subterfuge – to legitimately investigate public-interest issues that would go unreported if they relied solely on official channels. But a wider concern was that a putative ‘Leveson effect’ could also discourage both journalists and sources from engaging in the day-to-day communications on which newspapers relied for routine content. Drawing on first-hand testimony from practising local journalists, this article argues that, while there is early anecdotal evidence for some chilling at the grassroots, this is affecting sources more than journalists. Moreover, their concerns are based on a (perhaps wilful) ‘scapegoating’ of Leveson for other factors hampering their relations with reporters: notably, longer-term institutional moves to regulate their relations with journalists and, perhaps more significantly, financial cutbacks.

Governança Transnacional: Definições, Abordagens e Agenda de Pesquisa

Resumo O presente estudo analisou a produção acadêmica sobre a governança transnacional. Adotou-se uma análise multimétodo, primeiramente realizando-se uma análise bibliométrica com o objetivo de identificar os vinte artigos mais influentes, para em seguida analisá-los em profundidade segundo o tipo de estudo empregado e a forma e dimensão de governança transnacional estudadas. Conclui-se que o interesse sobre a governança transnacional é, embora recente, crescente; que a maioria dos artigos evidenciam a multiplicidade de atores que exercem a governança transnacional, reforçando a pluricentralidade do seu exercício e a diversidade de processos e formas que esta pode assumir. Aponta-se a necessidade de estudos empíricos e que ressaltem o contexto latino-americano. Por fim, argumenta-se que é necessário o desenvolvimento de estudos que permitam a crítica ao desenvolvimento de mecanismos de regulação que legitimam a ação de atores privados sobre questões de interesse público.

A Conversation with Lynne Billard

Lynne Billard was born in Toowomba, Australia. She earned her B.Sc. (Honors I) in 1966, and a Ph.D. degree in 1969, both from the University of New SouthWales, Australia. She is perhaps best known for her ground breaking research in the areas of HIV/AIDS and Symbolic Data Analysis. Broadly put, Professor Billard’s research interests include epidemic theory, stochastic processes, sequential analysis, time series analysis and symbolic data. She has written extensively in all these areas and more through numerous fundamental contributions. She has published more than 200 research papers in some of the leading international journals including Australian Journal of Statistics, Biometrika, Journal of American Statistical Association, Journal of Applied Probability, Journal of Royal Statistical Society, Journal of Time Series Analysis, Nature, Sequential Analysis, Statistical Science, Statistics in Medicine and Stochastic Processes and Their Applications, plus book chapters in a number of acclaimed edited volumes. Professor Billard has (co-)edited or (co-)authored eight prestigious books including her authoritative text (co-authored with E. Diday), Symbolic Data Analysis: Conceptual Statistics and Data Mining (2006) published byWiley. During the period 1969 through 1980, the career path took her to travel to University of Birmingham (U.K., 1969–1970), State University of New York at Buffalo (1971, 1974–1975), University ofWaterloo (Canada, 1971–1974), Stanford University (California, 1974), Florida State University at Tallahassee (1975–1980), Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.A., 1979), University of California (Berkeley, 1979), Imperial College (1986), Isaac Newton Institute, Cambridge (1993), and other prestigious places. She had joined the Department of Statistics at Florida State University as an Associate Professor in 1975 and during 1976–1978 she served as the Associate Head there. She became a Professor at Florida State in 1980 but went on leave to visit the Department of Computer Science and Statistics at University of Georgia, Athens. She joined the same department in Georgia permanently as Professor of Statistics and Head in 1980. When the Department of Statistics was formed in Georgia under Professor Billard’s leadership, she became its Professor and Head (1984–1989). Since 1992, she has held the most prestigious and coveted position, the University Professor, in the University of Georgia. She served as an Associate Editor for numerous journals including the Journal of American Statistical Association and Statistical Analysis and Data Mining. All her life, she has served extensively by holding high-level offices as well as memberships of both national and international committees at several scholarly international societies including the American Statistical Association (ASA), the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS), International Biometrics Society (IBS) and Eastern North American Region (ENAR), Bernoulli Society and the International Statistical Institute (ISI). For example, Professor Billard was elected President of ENAR (1985), International Vice President (1993, 1996) and International President (1994, 1995) of IBS and President of ASA (1996). She has earned many honors and awards, including Fellow of the IMS (1988), Fellow of the ASA (1980), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2001) and elected membership in the ISI (1980). Professor Billard received several prestigious awards including the S. S. Wilks Medal (1999) of the ASA. Its citation read, “For significant contributions to the theory and methodology of statistics and the advancement of scientific knowledge in a variety of fields, especially in the area of HIV/AIDS; for effective leadership on issues of public interest, particularly with respect to the decennial census; for energetic professional service nationally and internationally; and for influential dedication to the statistical education of both statisticians and the public at large.” She was honored by the Founders Award (2003) from the ASA. She received the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) Elizabeth Scott Award (2008) and FN David Award (2013), as well as the Janet L Norwood Award (2011). In 2015, she was installed as an Honorary Member of the Statistical Society of Slovenia. Professor Billard travels extensively to scientific conferences as an invited participant, works harder than many half her age, and continues to inspire through her writings and uniquely affectionate presence. The following conversation began August 1, 2011, at the Joint Statistical Meetings held in Miami, Florida.

The 2016 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami: Local tsunami behavior and recommendations for tsunami disaster risk reduction

The 2016 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami presented several new issues of tsunami generation mechanism and propagation, as well as of organizational responses such as evacuation procedures and dissemination of tsunami warning. This study focuses on explanations to issues of public interest based on the experiences during the 2016 tsunami: (1) Despite Fukushima Prefecture's proximity to the earthquake's epicenter, why was the largest wave observed in the neighboring Miyagi Prefecture? (2) Why was the second wave of the tsunami larger than the first? (3) Why was the tsunami advisory elevated to a tsunami warning in Miyagi Prefecture? (4) Why did tsunami intrusions into rivers occur? (5) And why were local tsunami runup values much higher than the broadcasted tsunami amplitudes from local tide gauges? In the wake of the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, this study also points out remaining problems and new perspectives related to tsunami disaster risk reduction. These include tsunami warnings and advisories by emergency management agencies, the fact that tsunami waves are higher near the coast than in the open ocean, and refraining from being close to rivers in case of a tsunami. Based to Japan's experiences with disaster mitigation, lessons were learned from numerous events that could lead to revisions and improvements of current warning systems and provide useful guidelines for other countries.

Usos ciudadanos de Twitter en eventos políticos relevantes.La #SesiónDeInvestidura de Pedro Sánchez

Twitter está introduciendo importantes novedades en la comunicación política y se ha tornado un espacio en el que los ciudadanos debaten sobre cuestiones de interés público. Esta investigación analiza el empleo que la ciudadanía hace de Twitter durante un acontecimiento político relevante: la investidura del candidato socialista a la presidencia, Pedro Sánchez. Se aplica un análisis de contenido a través de la etiqueta #SesiónDeInvestidura. Los resultados señalan que los ciudadanos utilizan esta red social para criticar y mostrar su descontento con la política y su atención se centra en los aspectos personales de los diputados y no en sus propuestas.

The Strategy Of Sustainable Waste Management: Landfill Management, Recycling, Reduction, And Pollution Prevention

In “The Strategy of Sustainable Waste Management: Landfill Management, Recycling, Reduction, and Pollution Prevention,” the enduring problem of solid waste management is presented. As such, this case study deals with a real-life scenario when a recent graduate in the area of journalism and professional writing attempts to branch out and complement her professional interests. With a fresh MPA in hand, Suzanne Rodgers lands a paid internship with a mid-sized city and takes on the responsibility of researching, planning, and implementing a policy and set of recommendations, for the Public Works Department. She interviews the key political and economic actors in Winterville, provides a comprehensive description of the city, researches and analyses the incentives and barriers to change and then sets out to develop a plan for a comprehensive residential recycling effort that contains two options: solid waste management and balancing a landfill fund. This plan and implementation strategy is addressed in a research portfolio. In the final analysis she is faced with the real world issues of public interests and pressures and at a town hall meeting receives the responses from the citizens of Winterville. In this fast moving three-part case study, Suzanne Rodgers faces the real world of citizen input, conflict, and the role of special interests and pressure groups in making and implementing urban policy. The case concludes with measurements that were used in Iowa’s Pollution Prevention Intern Program and a summary of the tonnage of waste and pollution reduction and diversion associated with the program from 2001-2014. Cost savings associated with the intern program over the same period are identified and 2014 yearly savings is presented.

Building External Support, Increasing Visibility, and Enhancing Development Activity in Kinesiology

In today’s challenging economic climate at most universities, kinesiology administrators are becoming increasingly aware of the need to participate in activities that will generate alternative revenue sources related to their academic mission. The ways deans and development officers communicate with alumni, potential donors, upper administrative leaders, and legislatures will all impact how successful the efforts to develop funds and partnerships will be. Successful fundraisers are those who can generate strategic alliances, create and market a plan that relates needs to societal issues of public interest and university priorities, and are able to identify partnerships that will produce an increase in resources. This paper provides strategies for identifying and connecting with key donors, building partnerships, developing the plan and cultivating internal and external audiences, aligning needs with university priorities, and working with legislatures.

Exploring Spatial Distribution of Pollen Allergenic Risk Zones in Urban China

The growth of urban areas and the impact of urban ecosystems on public health and urban sustainability have been leading issues of both academic and public interest. More than 100 million Chinese people suffer from pollen allergy. Pollen allergy induces bronchitis, bronchial asthma, pulmonary heart disease, and may even be life-threatening. Thus, pollen allergies greatly affect the daily life of individuals. High-resolution WorldView-2 remote sensing data and vegetation distribution features were used to detect the dominant tree species in the study area and obtain canopy distribution information on different tree species. In this way, the sources of pollen from different tree species were identified. Using remote sensing technology, the overall accuracy of tree species recognition for the study area exceeds 86%. Most plants in the study area flower during the spring, so the pollen allergenic risk zones are extensive during spring and sparse in fall. Based on the spatial ranges of pollen dispersal during different seasons, areas were identified that might contain pollen concentrations detrimental to pollen-sensitive individuals.

The Guardian’s publications of Snowden files: assessing the standards of freedom of speech in the context of state secrets and mass surveillance

The unprecedented pressure that has been exerted on The Guardian by UK authorities for disclosing state secrets about mass surveillance programmes of security and intelligence services and the instrumental involvement of large high-tech corporations has legal and practical consequences. On one hand, it endangers freedom of speech that characterises and sustains democracy at domestic level and, on the other, it reinforces cross-jurisdictional tactics of media organisations and uncontrolled disclosures on the internet, where the danger of manipulation of national state secrets is considerable. The legal problem involved lies in a judicial deviation from the entrenched standards of constitutional review, forcing an exclusive focus on the alleged damage that is caused by media publications. To secure a healthy political and public debate domestically and avoid unwarranted disclosures and manipulation of national state secrets in foreign media and digital markets, the importance of the public interest issue that is disclosed by domestic media must be evaluated, and safeguarded accordingly by a higher level of protection of freedom of speech in constitutional review.

Comunicação e interesse público

Este artigo tem como objetivo identificar que variáveis relacionadas à articulação “iniciativa privada – poder público – comunidade” interferem no interesse público, considerando-se os processos de comunicação pública implicados nessa triangulação. A partir de reflexões teóricas sobre a problemática do interesse público e estudo empírico – entrevistas com vereadores de município que é sede de uma empresa de grande porte – evidenciam-se duas variáveis principais: a) acentuada assimetria de poder entre os agentes envolvidos na triangulação e b) naturalização das ações privadas na área pública. Conclui-se que essas variáveis constituem obstáculo para as práticas e princípios normativos da comunicação pública, bem como tendem a provocar o “apagamento” de interesses privados no debate público.

Theorising About Insolvency Law and the Public Interest in the Context of Insolvent Utilities: An Australian Perspective

The insolvency of a privatised utility raises problems of balancing the general public's interest as consumers of the essential service and the interests of other stakeholders particularly creditors. One mechanism of dealing with this conflict is to incorporate the notion of the public interest within insolvency regulation. This article discusses theoretical justifications for incorporating public interest issues into insolvency law when dealing with insolvent utilities. The article argues that while that the indeterminacy argument provides a strong rationale for refusing to open up insolvency law to all interests that might have a nexus to financial distress of ordinary trading companies, the special nature of essential services tips the balance in favour of a limited use of the public interest within insolvency regulation of utilities. One problem with incorporating the public interest within regulation relates to definitional difficulties and the article discusses the different ways in which theorists have approached the problem of providing a coherent basis for identifying the public interest. The article identifies 6 elements that may comprise the public interest in utility insolvencies.