Trends in Officer‐involved Firearm Deaths in Oklahoma from 2000 to 2015

The purpose of this study was to collect data and disseminate trends in officer‐involved firearm deaths in Oklahoma from 2000 to 2015. The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) database was searched for civilian decedents with gunshot wounds inflicted by law enforcement officers and officer decedents with gunshot wounds inflicted by civilians. Five decedents were law enforcement officers, while 274 decedents were civilians. The number of civilian decedents throughout the study followed a quadratic trend. Civilian decedents were most commonly males (95%) between the ages of 20 and 39 (64%), had one or two gunshot wounds (46%), and had an increasing number of gunshot wounds over time. Postmortem toxicology testing most commonly detected ethanol, methamphetamine, cocaine, and PCP. Efforts toward increased tracking by various agencies and more scientific studies like this are needed to facilitate future analysis of trends in officer‐involved firearm deaths.     

ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR SOIL CONSERVATION PRACTICES

When making its case to Congress and other audiences the Conservation Technical Assistance program of USDAIS Soil Conservation Service, which is the federal government's most extensive and expensive soil conservation program, based its argument on data about its clients. Missing have been comparisons between clients and nonclients that address the issue of whether clients might not have exhibited just as good conservation behavior without the program. Using multiple regression analysis that relates the diversity of conservation practices used to farm operators' receipt lnonreceipt of technical assistance, and controlling for relevant other variables, this study found statistically and substantively significant program effects in each of six diverse survey sites.     

THE MARKET PROVISION OF MANDATORY SOCIAL SECURITY: Protecting the Public Interest in Perpetuity

Pressures to introduce market reforms to public social security system emerged as a reaction to state welfare paternalism, drawing strength from the spirit of liberalism and emphasizing the virtues of the marketplace. Market reform advocates seek to shift the prevailing social security paradigm away from community solidarity to individual responsibility, with a view to divesting government of some of its statutory social security responsibilities. Market reform of public social security provision redefines the public‐private boundary, making socio‐political governance more a process of co‐ordination, steering, influencing, and balancing pluralist interactions, with the civil service increasingly expected to act as trustee of the public interest. What, however, the public interest is and how it differs from private interest is problematic and it should reflect the shared values that create social bonds and identity within a society. The daunting twin challenges facing governments are to design a set of regulatory arrangements that can protect the public interest in perpetuity, and to resist calls for government subsidies to support the economic rent expectations of privatized providers. To meet these challenges the “hollowed‐out” state must become a “smart” state.     

Pluralistic project design

The improved valuation techniques that have expanded the range of benefit-cost analysis assume the likelihood and intensities of impacts from development projects can be predicted. Techniques for prediction address the impacts of the project on the environment and society, but indirect relationships - the impact on society and thereby the environment - are too numerous, subtle, and complex to model. Even if these indirect relationships could be modeled systematically, predictive models must assume factors and relationships are fixed or change in predetermined ways. Projects do not perform as predicted and benefit-cost analyses have limited value because the characteristics of factors and relationships in fact evolve in unpredictable ways over time. In some cases evolution results in further gains, but typically this has not been the case. The use of coevolutionary development criteria would help in the design of projects which would more likely evolve in preferred ways.     

Distinguishing Between Legally and Illegally Produced Gold in South Africa

The identification of gold‐bearing material is essential for combating the theft of gold in South Africa. Material seized in police operations is generally a mixture of gold from different mines, and as such cannot be traced back to a single location. ICP‐OES analysis of material dissolved by acid dissolution provided a database of gold compositions comprising gold from South African mines, illegal gold stolen from the mines, and commercial gold alloys and jewelery. Discrimination between legal and illegal gold was possible due to the presence of Pb, As, Sb, Sn, Se, and Te in the stolen material, elements which are not present in legally produced gold. The presence of these elements is a quick and simple way to distinguish between gold alloys based on refined gold, such as in commercially manufactured jewelery, and gold alloys containing a proportion of unrefined and therefore illegally obtained gold.     

Raising the Bar: Maximizing Engaged Student Learning Using the American Mock Trial Association Case State of Midlands v. Dylan Hendricks

Abstract

This short review demonstrates how the use of American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) case materials, both throughout intercollegiate competitions and in academic courses, can engage and invigorate students while teaching them crucial skills in a way that few other programs or activities can do. The AMTA case provided for the 2017–2018 academic year, State of Midlands v. Dylan Hendricks, offers a comprehensive introduction to the rules of evidence and crucial criminal law concepts while teaching students the importance of thorough preparation in a way that is difficult to do in a classroom setting. This case requires student attorneys to make difficult choices while preparing their case, witnesses, and evidence for trial. Arriving at an optimum strategy (or strategies) can only occur after critical and reasoned examination of each side of an often complex problem, thereby providing an excellent opportunity for students to use critical thinking skills and to analyze all sides of an issue and all potential outcomes of a strategy. Students must thoroughly study and understand the rules of evidence, rules of criminal procedure, and relevant statutory and case law, and be prepared to use all of these as part of a reasoned, logical argument at a moment’s notice. Overall, this is an exceptional case for skill-building and engaged learning, and can be a valuable tool for faculty and students alike.     

Economic inducements to private foreign investment in Africa∗

The removal of high levels of protection combined with substantial real devaluations have changed the environment in which Ghanaian manufacturing firms have operated in the 1990s. The changes in output, composition and productivity, which have occurred over this period, are examined in this article. Survey evidence for the growth of the sector is shown to be consistent with data from sales tax returns. Analysis of the panel survey shows that, in a comparative context, the rate of job creation in Ghana's manufacturing sector is high. This rate is highest in medium‐sized firms; small firms have not grown more rapidly than larger firms. There has been no underlying growth in technical efficiency and output growth has been matched by a commensurate growth in labour and capital inputs. Labour productivity differs substantially by firm size due primarily to differences in physical, not human, capital endowments.     

International perspectives on public sector management and productivity: an introductory synthesis

The last ten years have seen the adoption of many significant public sector productivity initiatives globally. This special edition grew out of the first World Congress of the International Productivity Network, held in Canberra, Australia, in July 1992. Four themes are explored.