Still hazy after all these years: the law regulating surrogacy

In 1997, Margaret Brazier was asked by the then Government to chair a review of the laws regulating surrogacy. The subsequent Brazier Report made a number of recommendations, including the need for greater regulation and the tightening of 'expenses' payments. Fifteen years on, the limitations in the legal regulation of surrogacy have become increasingly clear. Yet, none of Brazier's recommendations have been adopted, despite the clear opportunity for revisiting the regulation of surrogacy offered during the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (2008). In this paper, we revisit the Brazier Report in the light of subsequent developments and assess to what extent its key findings remain salient. Brazier's recommendations will thus provide a jumping off point for a critical analysis of the current state of the law regarding surrogacy.     

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF LIBERTY IN THE ARAB AND ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST

The following papers were the basis for a panel at the annual meeting of the Association of Arab American University Graduates (AAUG) in Washington, D.C., October 23, 1993. See below for the participants' affiliations     

Ego identity status and expressive writing among high school and college students

Several studies were conducted to assess the relationship between expressive writing (poetry writing and journal keeping) and ego identity development among high school and college students. In three independent comparisons, poetry writers were more likely than students not writing poetry to have previously resolved identity crises (i.e., to be in the identity achiever status). There were also indications that students who had never written poetry were more likely to be in the foreclosure and identity diffusion statuses. No differences in identity development were found between students keeping personal journals and those who had not kept journals. A comparison was made of the themes most frequently chosen as the subject for each type of expressive writing and the functions such writings were believed to be serving. Possible explanations for why poetry writing, but not journal keeping, is related to ego identity formation are discussed.Received his Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo. Research interests include psychosocial development during adolescence, youth, and adulthood and techniques for resolving identity crises.Research interests include identity development in early and midadolescence and the choice of models.     

The evidential value of cosmetic foundation smears in forensic casework

Cosmetic foundation products are easily transferred to clothing and other surfaces as a result of contact with such objects. Examination of past cases involving cosmetics in New Zealand has shown cosmetic foundation to be one of the more common cosmetic products encountered. The aim of this research was to determine the most discriminating method for the comparison of transferred foundation with samples obtained from a known source in forensic casework. Fifty-three foundation samples were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-Ray analysis (SEM-EDX). It was found that a 5 mm2 section of a light smearing was enough to provide detectable results. The discriminating powers for FTIR, SEM-EDX and GC-FID were 98.3, 93.8, and 82.0% respectively. A combination of all three techniques provided a discriminating power of 99.7%, meaning that almost complete discrimination was achieved between the foundation samples.