大学如何服务于社会

大学可以以多种方式服务社会,但主要的有三种:一是基础研究。大学的基础研究促进了科学知识、技术和医学的发展,而这正是经济增长、物质生活水平提高和人类健康状况改善的基础。大学也主要是以它的这种基础研究来服务于社会的。二是人才培养。通过基础性的学术研究创造知识绝不是大学为社会做出的唯一重要的贡献,通过对学生的能力培养使其将来能够更好地为社会服务,是与学术研究同样重要的社会贡献。大学、特别是好大学的培养目标应该是培养学生的创造性、灵活性,以及解决问题、创新和领导的能力。实际上,大学正是通过这种对学生能力的培养而积极地服务于社会的。三是履行好机构性公民的义务。大学可以通过参与社区建设、提供智力支持的方式直接为当地的经济发展、邻里关系的改善等做出自己的贡献。大学也可以通过以身作则,使学生树立强烈的社会责任感来间接地为社会做出自己的贡献。     

Educational vouchers: Effectiveness,choice, and costs

Most of the policy discussion on the effects of educational vouchers has been premised on theoretical or ideological positions rather than evidence. This article analyzes a substantial body of recent empirical evidence on achievement differences between public and private schools; on who chooses and its probable impact on educational equity; and on the comparative costs of public and private schools and an overall voucher system. The findings indicate that: (1) results among numerous studies suggest no difference or only a slight advantage for private schools over public schools in student achievement for a given student, but evidence of substantially higher rates of graduation, college attendance, and college graduation for Catholic high school students; (2) evidence is consistent that educational choice leads to greater socioeconomic (SES) and racial segregation of students; and (3) evidence does not support the contention that costs of private schools are considerably lower than those of public schools, but the costs of an overall voucher infrastructure appear to exceed those of the present system.     

Caught in a bad romance: displaced people and the Georgian state*

After years of frenetic cross-border movement, in 2014, a mother and daughter live in post-Soviet Georgia as practically stateless noncitizens. Recognizing the advantages of citizenship, they commit their limited resources to obtaining citizenship documents. Through an analysis of their attempts to make citizenship claims and build stable lives, this paper argues that the contemporary Georgian citizenship regime fosters a relationship that further destabilizes the lives of already vulnerable non-citizens. It does so by drawing them in with the promise of citizenship – only to deny them. Yet, Georgian citizenship law is neither uniquely malicious nor indifferent; its form of ‘inclusive exclusion’ is an inherent feature of the reigning paradigm of global citizenship. In this context, far from being passive subjects, non-citizens facing consistent official refusals and seemingly flagrant obfuscation actively attempt to both maintain their relationship with the state and transform it in their favor.     

Ophthalmologic Concerns in Abusive Head Trauma

When Abusive Head Trauma (AHT) is suspected in a child, a dilated eye examination by an ophthalmologist is an essential part of the medical workup, as the presence and pattern of retinal hemorrhages can have a high positive predictive rate for abusive head injury. This article proposes to review the clinical presentation, pathophysiology, natural history, sequelae, and differential diagnosis of retinal hemorrhages and other ocular lesions associated with AHT.     

Reviews

Les relations de pouvoir façonnent le cours de l'existence du secteur pétrolier depuis la découverte et la commercialisation de l'or noir remontant au 19e siècle. Progressivement, quoique bien rapidement, cette substance devint le moteur de l'évolution économique mondiale toujours en vigueur. Étrangement, plusieurs études actuelles, que l'on rassemble sous la thèse de la malédiction des ressources (resource curse [RC]), semblent pourtant esquiver leur centralité à la compréhension de la paupérisation et des violences vécues chez les populations de certaines régions riches en ressources pétrolières. À travers la problématisation de la littérature analytique portant sur la RC appliquée à la situation chaotique de la région du delta du Niger au Nigéria et sa mise en relation avec les débats appréciatifs des pratiques de RSE (responsabilité sociale des entreprises), cet article démontre l'importance de prendre en compte l'ensemble des dimensions politiques du vécu de la RSE dans une réalité locale, nationale et internationale aux diverses ramifications "s'inter-constituant."     

‘Walking the tightrope’: The Kosovo conflict and Russia in European security, 1998–August 1999

This article argues that Russia has pursued a policy of inclusive multipolarity towards European security after Primakov's appointment as Foreign Minister in 1996. This policy focused on three dimensions to constrain NATO and ensure a Russian voice in Europe. First, ties with NATO; second, the pursuit of OSCE reform and a European ‘Security Charter'; third, the primacy of the UN Security Council in international affairs. NATO actions in the Kosovo crisis deeply undermined all dimensions of this policy. However, inclusive multipolarity was not discarded by the Russian leadership. The tortuous path of Russian accommodation after May 1999 highlighted Russian attempts to reinstate this policy and restore a Russian voice in European security affairs — with limited success. This article examines the evolution of Russian shifts in this crisis until Vladimir Putin's appointment as Prime Minister in August 1999.