Matter Of Public Concern Research Articles

Opinion

The Editor has asked me to write a short personal opinion column to start a series designed to stimulate readers' views. We feel that the expression of one man's views about matters of public concern may spark off reactions from others. So if you read what follows you are invited to write in and say what you think.

The reluctant beneficiaries: The teacher and the public examination system

schools after the success of the 'Exeter Experiment' in 1857 and in elementary schools after the publication of the Revised Code in 1862, provided a publicly acceptable yardstick for the judgement of schools and schoolmasters. The descent of glorious and pompous academics upon a provincial town in the West Country was apparently so awe inspiring that few doubts were expressed concerning the educational effects of such completely external assessment. The doubtful intellectual and practical capacities of some schoolmasters was already a matter of public concern and the better organized secondary schools were extremely anxious to benefit from an impartial judgement of their competence. Indeed, many of them had already adopted the practice of seeking reports upon their performance from 'persons of consequence'.' The rescue of the great universities from academic torpor by the institution of a system of written examinations undoubtedly influenced subsequent events in elementary and secondary schools.2 Economic, social and political conditions conspired to generate a mood of naive enthusiasm for the external examination, a mood which was accompanied by a highly deferential regard for the universities as arbiters of excellence. For example the term 'Locals', used to describe the most important school level examinations provided by Oxford and Cambridge, indicated clearly that, for the duration of the examination, regional venues became local appendages of the Universities. The schools and their teachers played no part in the examinations which took place outside the school as a private contractual arrangement between the candidates' parents and the univer

Nitrosamines in foodstuffs.

Adulteration of food has been a matter of public concern for many years. The earliest food legislation attempted to prevent the use of poisonous mineral contaminants and other malpractices of dishonest traders. I.t was then the duty of the Guilds to maintain the purity of various commodities such as pepper, sugar, essential oils, and products of the baking, brewing, and distilling trades. A history of the development of Food and Drugs Law in England has been prepared by O’Keefe (1968). Over the years, as food technology has become more sophisticated, legislation has grown more and more complex embracing a whole variety of compositional problems and standards to protect consumers and reputable manufacturers alike. Nowadays, it is recognized that there is a technological need to use chemicals in the manufacture of some foods and accordingly regulations have had to be drawn up, and kept under continual review, to ensure that only those products that are adjudged to be safe, on the basis of the available evidence, are approved for use.

Should There Be a Researchers' Privilege?

to the Ervin Committee's Watergate hearings, the capacity of journalists to expose seamier aspects of our society was severely limited by the hostility of the Administration, the indifference or impotence of Congress and the states, and the conservatism of the Nixon Supreme Court. Now, after the White House's frontal attack on those newspapers and newspersons who probed the massive deceptions (which almost succeeded in obscuring the true nature of the Executive Branch's illegal operations and conspiracies), and in the aftermath of the Watergate hearings, most citizens seem likely to recognize the value of unfettered journalism to our society and the need for strong shield laws to protect newspersons from government coercion. It would be unfortunate, however, if the focus on the journalists' role obscured the equally crucial if less spectacular function served by scholars, researchers, and others dedicated to inquiry into matters of public concern. To our great detriment we ignored for too long the penetrating critiques of scholars of our China policies, our Vietnam policies, and our Cambodian policies. Issues of domestic concern also have been illuminated by the work of researchers and muckrakers such as Ralph Nader. In order to perform their task, scholars and researchers, like journalists, often rely upon confidential sources to provide them with essential insights into the background of the political and social problems they study. And as with journalists, it is essential for the proper functioning of our society that they too be afforded the maximum possible protection against coerced disclosure of confidential sources, consistent with the society's primary function of protecting the lives and limbs of its citizens. In one sense, failure to extend the scope of protection from newspersons to researchers against exposure of confidential sources to governmental investigatorial agencies i understandable. Typically, scholars and researchers should and do recognize their obligation to expose fully their thought processes and to support their statements with appropriate documentation of sources so that their accuracy and the validity of judgments based upon them may be appraised by independent researchers in much the fashion that natural scientists may repeat experiments and confirm findings. In this way we add to the storehouse of eliable information upon which we may draw with confidence.

From Hippocrates to Senate Res. 75

From Hippocrates to Senate Res. 75

Critical Evaluation of Fair Plans

Widespread problems of availability of basic property insurance became a matter of public concern over the last decade, culminating in the emergence of a Congressional interest following riots in inner-city areas. The Congress, in 1968, authorized a Federal program following generally the recommendations of the President's Advisory Panel on Insurance in Riot-Affected Areas, encompassing Federal reinsurance against riot and civil disorder losses and State-wide FAIR Plans to assure access to insurance markets. FAIR Plans, in operation for over a year, appear generally to have succeeded in accomplishing the basic purposes for which they were organized, although the profitability or loss potential of these Plans is as yet undemonstrated. New or more comprehensive Federal regulations governing the operation of approved FAIR Plans were issued in September 1970. A comprehensive report on the availability of crime insurance in urban areas was transmitted to Congress by the Federal Insurance Administration in July 1970 recommending a sequential approach to a solution of the availability problem with maximum reliance upon the capabilities of private industry and the existing structure of State regulation. The viewpoint aid position of the Federal Government rely upon the insurance industry and the States to continue to carry out their responsibilities under the free enterprise system. To the extent the industry and the States fails to do so, the Federal Government recognizes its responsibility to meet the essential insurance needs of the public. In evaluating the role of the FAIR Plans in meeting urban insurance needs, it is necessary both to understand the background and purpose of the legislation that authorized the Federal riot reinsurance program, and to appreciate the growing public need and demand for insurance

Federal Aid and Area Redevelopment

FEW people, if any, would quarrel with the objective of federally directed programs to alleviate poverty in economically depressed areas. Similarly, few would argue that the federal government has no place in fashioning the economic destiny of the Nation. However, in deciding on the role to be assigned to the federal government, it is obviously desirable to discover whether, in practice, the governmental machinery will actually operate in such a way as to bring about the results which it is hoped to achieve by any given governmental program. The following article is a short report of the findings of a research project that evaluated the actual decisions about the allocation of aid made by the Area Redevelopment Administration as compared with the apparent intent of the legislature in creating this agency. The Area Redevelopment Act1 elicited Federal assistance in the form of loans and grants to alleviate structural unemployment and underemployment in redevelopment, or depressed areas, throughout the United States. It authorized, as an experimental measure, the establishment of the Area Redevelopment Administration (the ARA) within the Department of Commerce to carry out the legislative intent. ARA began operations in 1961 and was terminated in August, 1965, although its functions were absorbed by the Economic Development Administration. By 1955 it had become apparent to many legislators and others that all communities in the United States were not sharing in the general prosperity of the Nation. Some urban areas, such as the coal mining regions of West Virginia, for example, were suffering from structural unemployment. Other rural areas with low incomes were not sharing in the general prosperity because of disguised unemployment, or underemployment. These conditions became a matter of public concern in 1955 and legislation was finally passed in 1961 which, among other things, specified the criteria to be used in qualifying an area for assistance under the program. Redevelop-

Introduction to triazine-soil interactions.

The more man’s technology develops, the more important it becomes to study its influence on the environment: on the soil, water, and air, and on the flora and fauna. This is mainly a matter of public concern, questioning whether or not human habitats will not be changed too much by technology to allow a healthy and worthwhile living. On the other hand, technology itself has to cope with the elements of the environment and their influence on technological installations or operations therefore must be considered, too. Indeed, today’s studies on interactions between environment and technology constitute a substantial part of the total worldwide research efforts.KeywordsSoil SystemSoil ConstituentTriazine HerbicideSolid Soil PhaseSoil PhaseThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Symposium: Unemployment in New Zealand (Part One) Introduction: Unemployment and its consequences

Research on unemployment in New Zealand is not as widespread as in most affluent economies, no doubt partly reflecting that for the post-war period up to the late 1960s unemployment, however measured, and the social problems arising from it were small. In the 1970s, unemployment began to increase sharply, reflecting difficulties in economic performance, and its social consequences became a matter of public concern.

An underdeveloped dimension

We are not likely to see another decade of growth in science such as witnessed in the recent past. Both the results and impressions of that remarkable 1958-67 decade will be felt by the public quite far into the future. Unfortunately, there is serious likelihood that the feeling will not be all good. In fact, science and technology may be in for poor times at the hands of public opinion. Incidents with such antitechnology echoes as the Utah sheep kill and the Rhine River fish kill draw blame to science and technology for more than their fair share of the problems of a world frantically seeking simplistic solutions or scapegoats. But sheep and fish rank below the human in matters of public concern. With the atomic bomb in the past and visions of control over mind and genetics in the future the apprehensions go deeper than fear of poisoning and pollution. The public ...

The Peaceful Nuclear Explosion

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsFrederick ReinesDr. Reines is a theoretical physicist at Los Alamos. Nine years ago he commented in the Bulletin (June 1950, pp. 171–72) on Soviet claims of using atomic energy “to divert rivers and move mountains,” and concluded that, while “the atomic bomb [could] be employed for constructive engineering applications, such uses appear at best to be extremely limited in scope….” Recently, the question has again become a matter of public concern, for two reasons: first, because the thermonuclear bomb permits the energy of a nuclear explosion to be increased without proportionally increasing radioactivity; and, second, because the engineering use of nuclear explosives could complicate the implementation of a ban on nuclear weapons tests. Below, Dr. Reines takes a look at the “nuclear blasting” problem in this new light.

De Morini v. Enregistrement.

Treaties — Interpretation of — Agencies of Interpretation — Treaties Affecting Matters of Public Concern — The Law of France.

MEDICAL EDUCATION IN PROGRAMS OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE

A broad concept of medical education is essential in the present era. For the purposes of my discussion, I have taken medical education to include the basic and postgraduate training of the major professional groups concerned with the health care of the people. The medical school is recognized as the indispensable, integrating force of the medical center of the future. The medical center, as we visualize it, would be the hub of continuous research and education, as well as of medical and public health services to outlying areas. The contemporary problems of medical education are matters of public concern. In 1946 Dr. H. G. Weiskotten stated: 1 The first and most important step to be taken in improving the health and medical care of the American public is to see to it that medical schools are provided with sufficient funds to conduct a basically satisfactory program of medical education. Since

Drunkenness as a Criminal Offense

Consumption of intoxicating liquor, and effects to control antisocial results are well-nigh universal phenomena. From the laws of the ancient Hebrews and the discourses of Greek philosophers to the Anglo-Saxon dooms and down to the present time, control of the harmful social effects of drunkenness has been a matter of public concern.

Drunkenness as a Criminal Offense

Consumption of intoxicating liquor, and effects to control antisocial results are well-nigh universal phenomena. From the laws of the ancient Hebrews and the discourses of Greek philosophers to the Anglo-Saxon dooms and down to the present time, control of the harmful social effects of drunkenness has been a matter of public concern.

The Direct Method

In his article on ‘Latin for To-day’ Mr. Coates has used several sentences about the Direct Method which show that he does not understand its principles or practice. This is a matter of public concern, for such statements can mislead the reader and so hinder the good teaching of Latin. They cannot therefore be allowed to go unrefuted.

The National Museums at South Kensington

WE dealt last week with the position of the Natural History Museum at South Kensington in relation to the Trustees of the British Museum at Bloomsbury, of which it is a branch. There are eventually to be three museums at South Kensington, and it seems to be desirable that these should be under a single authority interested in the advancement of natural knowledge and its utilisation for the good of the nation. The Interim Report of the Royal Commission on National Museums and Galleries leaves open the whole question of the governance of the national collections, both of museums and of public galleries. The internal control of such institutions and their staffs by directors is clearly a desirable arrangement, but their interrelationships, policy, and development are as certainly matters of public concern. The director is responsible to a Minister, where national funds are concerned, but there is usually some body between, either in a governing or in an advisory capacity. The collections include countless gifts and bequests to the nation, and the nation is the trustee for these. Each gift entails annual expenditure, be it book, picture, machine, or animal, and staffs have to be maintained to care for them, and to see that they are available for the study of experts and for the education and intellectual amusements of the public. Catalogues have to be printed, and special exhibitions arranged, and these do not usually pay for themselves. In addition, certain institutions are so clearly connected with industry and commerce, on which the country and empire so closely live, that annual expenditure is requisite for additions and for the study of these.

The Organized Work of Women in One State

WHEN MARY Wollenstonecraft shocked conservative England in 1792 with her Vindication of the Rights of Women, Rousseau in France with his ideas of social equality had already paved the way for the be? lief in the abstract rights of human beings, Tom Paine had stirred the world by championing the cause of individual freedom, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Ameri? can Declaration of Independence had established the rights of the individual. Naturally upon a world waking up to the rights of mankind, the legal and economic position of women became a burning question. This broadening of human sympathy, this emancipation from the tyranny of tradition opened up a new world to women who had suffered from the oppression of custom. Edu? cational opportunities were demanded and re? ceived by women who realized that knowledge is power. The opportunity came to them through the change in the world's point of view and they were not slow to grasp it. The world became a place of life and enjoyment for them, while be? fore it had been a place of retirement from all matters of public concern. Since the days of Mary Wollenstonecraft great changes have taken place and a woman has only to prove her ability to be recognized. Limitations of sex are no longer an insuperable barrier to progress. The one powerful agency through which a woman has been able to express her individuality is through the woman's club movement. It came into existence in America at the same time as the growth of the idea of individual freedom. As early as the 18th century women all over the country were in the habit of gathering to? gether for purposes of sewing and reading, as well as for attending to philanthropic and church affairs. But it was not until the 19th century that the woman's club movement was a recog? nized force.

The Development of Labor Legislation in Germany

T HE development of labor legislation in Germany before the war was dominated by the principle that the relation of employer to employe is not merely a private affair between these parties but a matter of public concern as well. On this account the shaping of labor conditions was increasingly withdrawn from private jurisdiction, which follows the free volition of the individual, and made subject to social regulation. There were two organs of the social will which made these contractual relations the

National Statistics in War and Peace

Our national participation in the war has brought with it an enormous demand for prompt and exact statistical information. Such a demand is, of course, an inevitable accompaniment of a war waged under modern conditions. War has come to be a conflict of directed masses?of aggregates. Men, money, muni tions, food, railways, shipping, raw materials, and manufactured products in great variety are impressed into the service of the nation. The problems of the effective control and use for war pur poses of these varied national resources is intimately dependent upon a knowledge of their quantities, that is, upon statistics. Like chemistry, physics, and the applied sciences, statistical knowl edge and the statistical method have come to be important tools of modern warfare. Just as this was is our largest national un dertaking, so its statistical demands constitute, in the aggregate, the largest statistical problem with which we have had to deal. The statistical activities of the federal government in times of peace cover in the main only those phases of national life which are deemed to be of public and especially of political moment. Our census of population is taken primarily to afford a basis for congressional apportionment; our census of manufacturers and our foreign trade statistics still bear the marks of tariff controver sies, and our federal statistics of wages and prices may be traced back to the same origin. In other fields, as diverse as immigra tion and railway transportation, our federal statistics are at once a by-product of federal control and a guide in the exercise ofthat control. In the fields of federal finance, money, and banking, our statistics are largely administrative by-products. The statistical work of the Department of Agriculture is a recognition, inade quate as yet, of a public interest which is probably only in small part political, and so with the statistical work of the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines. The work of the Bureau of the Census in the field of vital statistics is the most noteworthy example of the recognition of a large social interest which is not primarily either economic or political. Thus the federal government, in its statistical work, has touched the current of our national life at only relatively few points, and at some of these only intermittently. For the most this current flows on in its own channels, free from disturbance or questioning or measurement by the government. Except to the tax-gatherer, a large part of the productive and business ac tivities of the country have not been deemed to be matters of public concern, even as group aggregates. The changes brought by our entrance into the war have been profound. Other activities have had to be subordinated to the necessities of the efficient and successful conduct of the war. This subordination, we may well believe, is only imperfectly realized as yet. If the war continues it is certain that the field of