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Archive for October, 2013
HHS Secretary’s Congressional Testimony on Healthcare.gov
The 3.5 hour testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee is available, courtesy of C-SPAN. A transcript of her prepared testimony is here. If you are interested, her official biography can be accessed along with her speeches and other testimonies. Additional information on her can be garnered from The New York Times.
Area 51 As Seen Through Declassified Documents
The Area 51 File: Secret Aircraft and Soviet MiGs from the National Security Archive at George Washington University contains more than 60 declassified documents tracing the importance of Area 51 as a testing site for stealth technology (F-117) and for examination of captured/surrended Soviet jet aircraft. Among the items included are: use of F-117 in Operation Just Cause, the analytical paper that gave birth to stealth technology, and investigations into the capabilities of the MiG -21. The documents are presented in an essay form so context is provided from them. Another fine collection.
Economic Crisis – October 2013 Update
How Economic Insecurity in Children Changed Over the Course of the Great Recession: Fact Sheet (Urban Institute); Impact of 2008 global economic crisis on suicide: time trend study in 54 countries (British Medical Journal); Global Financial Stability Report: Transition Challenges to Stability (IMF); and Five years on: The European economic crisis leaves a legacy of poverty (International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies).
New Jersey A Year After Superstorm Sandy
According to this Rutgers report – The Impact of Superstorm Sandy on New Jersey Townships and Households – “…in the long term, New Jersey municipalities remain as vulnerable, if not more, to the next disaster due to the lack of investment in hazard mitigation and repair of aging infrastructure much of which was further impaired by Sandy; the total bill for these items is $25 billion.”(5-6) This report pinpoints what communities suffered the most (the Community Hardship Index, 73+) and which populations were most impacted (the Household Hardship Index, 67+). An interactive version of both these indexes is found here along with other socioeconomic data. The report does show that those families below, at, or just above the poverty level were harmed the most.(30+)This is a comprehensive report that should be used for future planning. Speaking of future planning, a coalition of environmental groups has issued report cards on the main players in the state’s response to Sandy; the Governor gets an “F”. And why are households still waiting for promised help? Please look at this report from WNYC. The Bergen Record’s Superstorm Sandy: One Year Later is must reading. Climate Central ‘s Surging Seas site shows the Jersey shore and points inland have a 1 in 6 chance of flooding by 2020.
“12 Years a Slave” – Read the Original Book
The movie “12 Years a Slave” has been the recipient of almost universal laudatory reviews (Rotten Tomatoes and metacritic) for its unflinching look at the harrowing life and times of a slave. It is based on actual events as told in the autobiographical work by Solomon Northup – Twelve Years a Slave…: “Having been born a freeman, and for more than thirty years enjoyed the blessings of liberty in a free State-and having at the end of that time been kidnapped and sold into Slavery, where I remained, until happily rescued in the month of January, 1853, after a bondage of twelve years—it has been suggested that an account of my life and fortunes would not be uninteresting to the public.”(17) But his is not the only work of its kind. North American Slave Narratives “… includes all the existing autobiographical narratives of fugitive and former slaves published as broadsides, pamphlets, or books in English up to 1920. Also included are many of the biographies of fugitive and former slaves and some significant fictionalized slave narratives published in English before 1920.” You can search by author, subject, religious content, and whether the work is autobiographical, biographical, or fictionalized. (The latter categories found here.) Another source of great importance is Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936-1938 from the Library of Congress. This site contains 2300 first-hand accounts of slavery as well as 500 photographs collected by the FWP and published in 17 volumes, many with additional parts; for example, the Arkansas interviews are in volume two that has seven parts to it. You can search by keyword, narrator, state, and the photographs by subject.
“Ten years I toiled for that man without reward. Ten years of my incessant labor has contributed to increase the bulk of his possessions. Ten years I was compelled to address him with down-cast eyes and uncovered head—in the attitude and language of a slave. I am indebted to him for nothing, save undeserved abuse and stripes…. and standing on the soil of the free State where I was born, thanks be to Heaven, I can raise my head once more among men. I can speak of the wrongs I have suffered, and of those who inflicted them, with upraised eyes.” (Northup 183)
Congressional Hearing on Healthcare.gov
The House Energy and Commerce Committee heard testimony from the major contractors responsible for the construction of the healthcare.gov site; C-SPAN provided complete coverage. Background documents and transcripts of testimony are found at the committee’s site. In Practice: Tracking the Affordable Care Act from The New York Times is a good start to keeping abreast of developments.
National Security Reports – October 2013 Update
Information Sharing and Collaboration in the United States Intelligence Community: An Ethnographic Study of the National Counterterrorism Center (dissertation, University of Pennsylvania); NUCLEAR TERRORISM RESPONSE PLANS, Major Cities Could Benefit from Federal Guidance on Responding to Nuclear and Radiological Attacks (GAO); Social Ties, Space, and Resilience: Literature Review of Community Resilience to Disasters and Constituent Social and Built Environment Factors (Federal Reserve, Atlanta); Workforce Planning in the Intelligence Community: A Retrospective (RAND); Supply Chain Security: DHS Could Improve Cargo Security by Periodically Assessing Risks from Foreign Ports (GAO); 2013 Secrecy Report (opengovernment.org); Disasters, Rebuilding and Leadership – Tough Lessons from Japan and the U.S. (Wharton); New Report: Avoid Premature or Overly Broad Professionalization of Rapidly Evolving Cybersecurity Field (National Research Council); Russian Military Expenditure: Data, Analysis and Issues (Swedish Defense Research Agency); Backgrounder — Foreign Investment and U.S. National Security (Council on Foreign Relations); Yemen: Corruption, Capital Flight and Global Drivers of Conflict (Chatham House); Information for First Responders on Maintaining Operational Capabilities during a Pandemic (Department of Homeland Security); Cybersecurity and Trade: National Policies, Global and Local Consequences (Brookings); and The Massive Metadata Machine: Liberty, Power, and Secret Mass Surveillance in the U.S. and Europe (University of Washington).
Increases in College Tuition/Fees Slow Down
For the first time in 30 years, tuition/fees have slowed down to an annual rate of 2.9% according to the College Board’s Trends in College Pricing 2013. Accompanied by numerous figures and tables, the report offers a comprehensive look across the nation with some historical data for comparative purposes. Once again, New Jersey public institutions are among the most expensive in the nation. Some highlights:
- Average published tuition and fees for in‐state students at public four-year institutions increased from $8,646 in 2012‑13 to $8,893 in 2013-14. At $9,498, room and board charges account for more than half of the total charges for these students.
- Average published out-of-state tuition and fees at public four-year institutions rose by $670 (3.1%), from $21,533 in 2012-13 to $22,203 in 2013-14. Average total charges are $31,701.
- Average published tuition and fees at private nonprofit four-year institutions rose by $1,105 (3.8%), from $28,989 to $30,094 in 2013-14. Average total charges are $40,917.
- Average published tuition and fees at public two-year colleges increased by $110 (3.5%), from $3,154 in 2012-13 to $3,264 in 2013-14.
- Estimated average tuition and fees for full-time students in the for-profit sector increased by about $70 (0.5%), from $15,060 in 2012-13 to $15,130 in 2013-14.
Simultaneously, the College Board released Trends in Student Aid 2013 that “…is a compendium of detailed, up-to-date information on the funding that is
available to help students pay for college. This report documents grant aid from
federal and state governments, colleges and universities, employers, and other
private sources, as well as loans, tax benefits, and Federal Work-Study
Assistance. ” Access to previous reports of both titles back to 1998 is also available.
Student Financial Aid, Academic Year 2011-12
These preliminary statistics from NCES are broken down by 4-year, 2-year, and less-than-2 year institutions, by family income levels as well as by sector: public, private, and private-for-profit. Comparatively, the numbers speak for themselves. NJCU’s financial aid figures are available at the IPEDS 2011 provisional data site.
What is the Minimum Wage in EU Countries?
Minimum wage debates at both state and federal levels are nothing new here. But what about minimum wages in the European Union countries? Does the EU have a standard rate crossing all countries and sectors? The answer is no; each country sets its own minimum levels. Buried on pages 23-24 of this draft report – A coordinated EU minimum wage policy? – are the minimum monthly wage levels and median monthly wage levels for all the EU countries for 2009 and 2010. (The countries are listed by their EU abbreviations; a list is available .) The figures must be used with caution as the data come from various sources and legislation, but they do allow for some comparative analysis. (A lengthier explanation is contained in the previous pages of this report; see especially p.22 for a succinct overview.)
EdTech Reports – October 2013
Alive in the Swamp: Assessing Digital Innovations in Education (nesta.org) formulates a comprehensive “index” of criteria that support the intersection of technology, pedagogy, and system change. OECD Skills Outlook 2013, the first assessment of adults of this kind, presents figures from 24 countries, showing the various ability (numeracy, literacy, and problem-solving) levels needed in a “technology-rich” work environment. Of note are the numerous correlations between ICT use and increased proficiency in all three abilities. See where the United States ranks. In fact, NCES has just released a report examining the U.S. results – Literacy, Numeracy, and Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments Among U.S. Adults: Results from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2012. This UNICEF report – A Global Agenda for Children’s Rights in the Digital Age frankly states: “Strikingly, the huge importance of ICT in today’s digital, networked society appears not to have been recognised by UNICEF as the wholesale transformation that it surely represents.”(5) Measuring the Information Society 2013 is replete with country-level data on a wide variety of ICT topics as well as a separate chapter on “digital natives” and their use of ICT. It ends with a current bibliography composed mainly of linked references. A recent Gallup poll – In U.S., Online Education Rated Best for Value and Options – showed that online education is viewed positively by Americans, but many doubt if employers hold the degrees in the same regard. What are the emerging technologies, and what impact will they have on education in the near-term? To find out these answers, please peruse Technology Outlook: STEM + Education 2013-2018 from New Medium Consortium and its partners.
Leading Causes of Death and Injury in the United States
The CDC has issued recent reports on fatal and non-fatal injuries/conditions in the United States. The tables are arranged by age group and cover from < 1year old to 65+. They make for sobering reading.
Obesity in America, 2011-2012
It isn’t pretty. Highlights from the report are:
- More than one-third (34.9%) of adults were obese in 2011–2012.
- In 2011–2012, the prevalence of obesity was higher among middle-aged adults (39.5%) than among younger (30.3%) or older (35.4%) adults.
- The overall prevalence of obesity did not differ between men and women in 2011–2012. Among non-Hispanic black adults, however, 56.6% of women were obese compared with 37.1% of men.
- In 2011–2012, the prevalence of obesity was higher among non-Hispanic black (47.8%), Hispanic (42.5%), and non-Hispanic white (32.6%) adults than among non-Hispanic Asian adults (10.8%).
- The prevalence of obesity among adults did not change between 2009–2010 and 2011–2012
The Annotated Constitution
We are all familiar with the Constitution of the United States, one of our most important national documents, and the bedrock upon which our rules of law is based. But there is another version known as the Annotated Constitution (its actual title is Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation). This version “…contains legal analysis and interpretation of the United States Constitution, based primarily on Supreme Court case law. This regularly updated resource is especially useful when researching the constitutional implications of a specific issue or topic.” It incorporates almost 8,000 Supreme Court decisions through June 26, 2013. The notes number in the thousands and refer to contemporary writings (i.e., The Federalist) to current Supreme Court rulings (i.e., the 14th Amendment). An older version with links to many of the sources used is found here.
Workplace Flexibility
One of the ways employers try to engage their employees is by offering some kind of flexibility in their work schedules. WorldatWork has just released its Survey on Workplace Flexibility 2013 that shows how prevalent this practice is. More than 80% of companies offer telework, or flex time, or part-time schedules (5) with larger companies offering a greater variety of arrangements. Compressed workweeks (the same amount of work in less than five days) are offered in 43% of companies (8). The executive summary on pages 5-10 offers a succinct distillation of the 46 informative tables that follow.
Quality of Life in European Cities
From the European Commission, The Quality of Life in European Cities gives the results of a massive survey undertaken in dozens of European cities.”This survey included all capital cities of the countries concerned (except for Switzerland), together with between one and six more cities in the larger countries. In each city, around 500 citizens were interviewed.”(Introduction) Questions ranged from residents rating their sports stadiums, their public transportation systems, to their opinion on whether or not having foreigners in their midst is a good thing. Key findings are found on pages 3-11; they are followed by in-depth charts and statistical data for each question posed. Comparative information from the 2009 survey is also offered. A revealing work to say the least.
Congressional Votes on Ending the Government Shutdown
The voting records of both the House of Representatives and the Senate are available. Find out how your legislators voted: yea or nay. You will also find how they voted on previous bills, what major bills they have sponsored, and on what committees they serve.
New Jersey Special Senate Election Results
A county breakdown of the election results is now online; analyses are at NJ Spotlight and CNN.
New Jersey Second Worst State for Taxes
That’s according to the Tax Foundation’s 2014 State Business Tax Climate Index. Only New York has a worse record and according to this report, both states are in a virtual tie for last place.(1) New jersey consistently ranks at the bottom of all the taxes used to formulate this index: 41st place for corporate tax; 48th for individual income tax; 46th for state sales tax; 32d for unemployment insurance tax; and 50th for property tax. Many tables are supplied that explain our dismal ranking.
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 