Protecting Science and Public Health in Communities – PFOA and Possible Cancer Clusters in the Village of Hoosick Falls,Rensselaer County,New York

Making measurable that which is not measurable often is a critically important responsibility of public health professionals, for example to identify environmental causes of cancer clusters as a valuable step toward addressing them. In epidemiology such associations cannot be measured directly, but they can be inferred probabilistically. The appropriate approach therefore is statistical. Its implementation, however, has been flawed due to an intrinsic conflict between protecting public health vs. protecting the body of scientific knowledge. Science typically is protected via application of the 95-percent confidence criterion, whereas public health must be protected via application of the statistically less demanding precautionary principal. Public health professionals can and must serve both masters. One approach to fulfilling this mandate is exemplified here via evaluation of possible associations between PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and the incidence of multiple cancer types in the Village of Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer County, New York.     

Lessons Learned from Legacy Contaminants of Emerging Concern: Perfluoroalkyl Compounds (PFCs) in the Village of Hoosick Falls,Rensselaer County,New York

Legacy contaminants, those predating modern environmental statutes, are exemplified by arsenic, lead, chlorinated dioxins, DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), PFCs, and radioactive fallout. Some pose risks recognized for decades. Concern about others is emerging. Until recently, routine monitoring of PFCs was infeasible, and their public health significance in the parts-per-trillion range unrecognized. Properties of emerging contaminants are exemplified by PFOA, PFOS, and other PFCs in the Village of Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer County, New York. Lessons learned should be embodied in laws, regulations, and enforcement to assure that we leave to our descendants a more positive environmental legacy than that left to us.     

Delivering Community Services in a New World of Volunteering: A Case Study From Sydney,Australia

In a challenging contemporary environment of a mixed economy of welfare, volunteers are a resource much-needed for the delivery of critical community-based services. Yet the context is changing as a result of new state/non-profit sector relationships and increased government intervention. Little is known about how these changes impact on the capacity and commitment of volunteers. This article responds to this gap in understanding through a case study of existing volunteers across community services in Sydney, Australia. Findings highlight the critical importance of supportive management, and particularly coordinators who understand volunteers' escalating needs in the new volunteer world.     

A need for greater understanding of civil law entities by common law jurisdictions

In the course of the last six months, the ratification by theSwiss parliament of The Hague Convention of 1 July 1985 on theLaw Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition has generatedmuch attention. There has also     

The evolution of elite framing following enactment of legislation

The study of policy framing enables the investigation of how elites conceptualize policy issues. While the dominant investigative work on elite framing has been within the mass media, we demonstrate the utility of an elite framing approach in a political institution, the U.S. Congress. We argue for moving to a ??life-cycle?? approach to policy framing that recognizes the evolution of elite framing attempts as implementation of a law deviates from its legislative intent, basing our approach out of the issue-attention cycle theory put forth by Downs (Public Interest 28:38?C50, 1972). Framing efforts by policy advocates do not end after legislation has been enacted or policy changed. Elites who have been unsuccessful in achieving their policy aims continue to advocate for their preferred outcomes by altering their framing strategies. We demonstrate this by applying evolutionary factor analysis to investigate 10 Congressional committee hearings held between 1957 and 2006 pertaining to federal funding for the Garrison Diversion Unit in North Dakota. From the perspective of proponents of diverting water from the Missouri River, how the Congressional debate over the Unit progressed constituted policy regression. This is reflected in the evolution of elite framing over the period studied. Our analysis uncovers the emergence of four evolutionary frames. Initial frames emphasized the benefits to be derived from water diversion, while subsequent frames reflected a more defensive posture emphasizing the limited harm that water diversion would cause. This research demonstrates the consequences of legislative implementation delay for elite framing attempts.     

Public Policy Implications of the Fiscal Year 1989–90 Reduction in California Family Planning Funding

In July 1989, the governor of California reduced funding for the state family planning program by two-thirds, from $36.2 million to $12.1 million. This article describes the family planning program, the events leading to the funding cuts, the impact of the reductions and the actions that led to the restoration of funds in January 1990. An analysis of advocacy efforts and an outline of policy recommendations concludes the discussion.     

Issue Networks and Activism

Using an investigation of a technical policy issue, this paper demonstrates the utility of employing an issue networks approach to understanding the dynamics among those concerned about the threat of earthquakes to the province of British Columbia, Canada and the state of Washington, United States. Such an approach focuses on issue emergence in the early stages of agenda building. This research demonstrates how scientific and technical expertise, in the absence of political leadership, is an unrivaled source of presumptive rights leading to key actor status within a specialized policy community. A complementary finding is that career-related rationales provide the overwhelming motivation for issue network participation.