Demonstrably Awful: The Right to Life and the Selective Non-Treatment of Disabled Babies and Young Children

Twenty-five years ago it was common practice to bring about the deaths of some children with learning disabilities or physical impairments. This paper considers a small number of landmark cases in the early 1980s that confronted this practice. These cases illustrate a process by which external forces (social, philosophical, political, and professional) moved through the legal system to effect a profound change outside that system – primarily in the (then) largely closed domain of medical conduct/practice. These cases are considered from a socio-legal perspective. In particular, the paper analyses the reasons why they surfaced at that time, the social and political contexts that shaped the judgments, and their legacy.     

Plays,Performances and Power Struggles – Examining Copyright's ‘Integrity’ in the Field of Theatre

This article explores the notion of ‘integrity’ under copyright law by analysing examples of 'integrity‐based objections' in the field of theatre. These objections typically involve playwrights objecting to changes being made to their copyright works by other parties, such as directors and actors. This analysis is deepened by the use of two concepts from the field of art theory – ‘aura’, as put forward by Walter Benjamin, and ‘trajectory’, as outlined by Bruno Latour and Adam Lowe. Finally, to shed further light on the issues raised, the work of Pierre Bourdieu is used to present new empirical research recently undertaken by the author in the field of UK theatre. This research demonstrates that ‘power struggles’ are a common feature of theatrical collaboration; that copyright is deeply implicated in the way such power struggles are conceived; and moreover, that resolving these power struggles successfully – including taking account of ‘integrity‐based objections’ – is crucial to theatrical practice.     

Obtaining absorption spectra from single textile fibers using a liquid crystal tunable filter microspectrophotometer

Visible absorption spectra were recorded for single textile fibers using a microspectrophotometer based on a liquid crystal tunable filter. Spectra compared well with results from a conventional instrument. Some advantages include very fast and simple sample preparation and easy comparison of multiple fibers at the same time. Advantages over extraction-dependent methods include the fact that it is applicable to extremely small sample size, not susceptible to artifacts induced by variable extraction efficiencies, non-destructive, and much easier. Because an immense amount of information is collected in one experiment, good signal averaging is possible, along with multiple comparisons for each data set. The addition of a camera, computer, and liquid crystal tunable filter can transform a standard microscope into a microspectrophotometer capable of performing similar work.     

COLORADO'S SUNSET REVIEW 1976-1981: AN EXPERIMENT IN STATE REGULATORY REFORM

Sunset review seeks to determine whether governmental agencies meet a genuine public need, and to terminate those that do not. Some form of sunset review has been adopted by two-thirds of the states. March reviews the last five years of sunset review in Colorado and characterizes it as a trial and error process punctuated with some mistakes, but a process which eventually became cost-effective. The article narrates the history of different review processes, successes, and evaluation criterion. Evaluation methodologies were developed over time and altered occasionally as the criteria in the initial legislation was seen as unsatisfactory. In Colorado the process proved to be vulnerable to special interest groups.     

Social Capital and the Dynamics of Trust in Government

It is well understood that trust in government responds to the performance of the president, Congress, and the economy. Despite improved government performance, however, trust has never returned to the levels witnessed in the 1950s and 1960s. Social capital may be the force that has kept trust low. If so, we need to assess the relative contributions of both government performance and social capital at the macro level. Using macrolevel data, the analysis, here, is designed to capture the variation over time in both social capital and government performance and let them compete to explain the macro variation in trust. The empirical results demonstrate that both government performance and social capital matter, but that social capital appears to be the force which accounts for the decline in trust over the last 40 years.     

THE POLITICS OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE USSR

Book reviewed in this article:
Nathan Leites, The Soviet Style in Management (New York: Crane Russak, 1985).
Bruce Parrott, Politics and Technology in the Soviet Union (Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press, 1985).
Bruce Parrott, Trade, Technology and Soviet-American Relations (Bloom-ington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1985).     

Latent Fingermark Aging Patterns (Part II): Color Contrast Between Ridges and Furrows as One Indicator of Degradation

Currently, no established methodology exists to determine degradation patterns of latent fingermarks by visual means. This article is the second in a series of reports exploring quantifiable degradation‐related parameters, which focuses on color contrast changes between fingermark ridges and furrows over time. Experiment variables included type of secretion (eccrine and sebaceous), substrate (glass and plastic), and exposure to natural light (dark, shade, and direct light). Fingermarks were sequentially visualized with titanium dioxide powder and photographed. Image histogram profiles were evaluated and combined with statistical analysis of color data values. Results indicate that sebaceous depositions on glass were generally less degraded by the effect of environmental conditions compared with those on plastic. In addition, aging in darkness was not always the best condition for preservation, and direct exposure to light seemed to inhibit visual degradation under certain conditions. Overall, the technique provided sufficient sensitivity to discern degradation patterns of fingermarks.