The Clinton Budget for FY 1994: Taking Aim At The Deficit

President Clinton's budget for FY 1994 takes a high-risk approach to deficit reduction. By calling for the largest peace-time tax increase in American history as the centerpiece of his five-year economic plan, Clinton invited the possibility of either an outright defeat, unwelcome compromise in Congress, or a "victory" that might severely impair the prospects for economic growth. His willingness to accept such risks may be taken as strong evidence that reducing the deficit was the new administration's top priority.     

Nonterrorist suicidal deaths involving explosives

Suicidal deaths involving explosives unconnected to terrorism are rare. The investigation of deaths from explosive devices requires a multidisciplinary collaborative effort, as demonstrated in this study. Reported are 2 cases of nonterrorist suicidal explosive-related deaths with massive craniocerebral destruction. The first case involves a 20-year-old man who was discovered in the basement apartment of his father's home seconds after an explosion. At the scene investigators recovered illegal improvised power-technique explosive devices, specifically M-100s, together with the victim's handwritten suicide note. The victim exhibited extensive craniofacial injuries, which medicolegal officials attributed to the decedent's intentionally placing one of these devices in his mouth. The second case involves a 46-year-old man who was found by his wife at his home. In the victim's facial wound, investigators recovered portions of a detonator blasting cap attached to electrical lead wires extending to his right hand. A suicide note was discovered at the scene. The appropriate collection of physical evidence at the scene of the explosion and a detailed examination of the victim's history is as important as documentation of injury patterns and recovery of trace evidence at autopsy. A basic understanding of the variety of explosive devices is also necessary. This investigatory approach greatly enhances the medicolegal death investigator's ability to reconstruct the fatal event as a means of separating accidental and homicidal explosive-related deaths from this uncommon form of suicide.     

Reviews

Arms and the African: Military Influences on Africa's International Relations edited by William J. Foltz and Henry S. Bienen Yale University Press, New Haven (Connecticut), and London, 1985. xv plus 221 pp. including map, tables, appendix and index. $22,50.

Language, Society and Paleoculture: Essays by Edgar C. Polome Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1982. xiii plus 387 pp. including bibliography. $20,00.

Indigenous Agricultural Revolution: Ecology and Food Production in West Africa by Paul Richards Hutchinson, London, 1985. 192 pp. including figures, tables, illustrations, appendix, bibliography and index. $12,95.

Rural‐Urban Balance: Policy and Practice in Ten African Countries by T.J.D. Fair Africa Institute of South Africa, Pretoria, 1985. 37 pp. including tables, map and references. R4,00 paperback.

Hundert Jahre Afrika und die Deutschen edited by Wolfgang Höpker Günther Neske (for the Deutsche Afrika‐Stiftung), Pfullingen (West Germany), 1984. 178 pp. including map and illustrations. DM28,00.

Kenya: The Quest for Prosperity by Norman N. Miller Westview Press, Boulder (Colorado), and Gower, London, 1984. x plus 180 pp. including map, illustrations, figures, tables, notes, bibliography and index. £14,45.

Colonial Evangelism: A Socio‐Historical Study of An East African Mission at the Grassroots by T.O. Beidelman Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1982. xix plus 274 pp. including maps, tables, notes, bibliography and index. $12,50 paperback.

Zimbabwe: A Revolution that Lost its Way? by André Astrow Zed Press, London, 1983. xv plus 254 pp. including maps, tables, notes, bibliography and index. R.20,75 paperback.

Where are the Ju/Wasi of Nyae Nyae?: Changes in a Bushman Society, 1958–1981 by John Marshall and Claire Ritchie Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, 1984. ix plus 187 pp. including diagrams, tables, maps, illustrations, appendices and references. R3,50 paperback.

South Africa in its International Context: Some Historical Reflections by F.H. Hinsley, Noel Garson and Sara Pienaar South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg, October 1986 (Bradlow Series, No. 4). 14 pp. R10,00 paperback.

The Surplus People: Forced Removals in South Africa by Laurine Platzky and Cherryl Walker Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. xxxiii plus 446 pp. including maps, tables, illustrations, bibliography and index. R.14,95 paperback.

From Control to Confusion: The Changing Role of Administration Boards in South Africa, 1971–1983 by Simon Bekker and Richard Humphries Shuter and Shooter, Pietermaritzburg, 1985. 258 pp. including maps, tables, notes, appendices, bibliography and index. R20,00 paperback.

The Ambiguities of Dependence in South Africa: Class, Nationalism, and the State in Twentieth‐Century Natal by Shula Marks Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1986. ix plus 171 pp. including map, illustrations, appendix, notes and index. R.13,50 paperback.

Khoikhoi and the Founding of White South Africa by Richard Elphick Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. xxii plus 266 pp. including maps, references, bibliography and index. R14,95 paperback.

The Colonization of the Southern Tswana, 1870–1900 by Kevin Shillington Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. xxii plus 311 pp. including maps, tables, illustrations, notes, appendices, bibliography and index. R18,00 paperback.

John Blades Currey, 1850 to 1900: Fifty Years in the Cape Colony edited by Phillida Brooke Simons Brenthurst Press, Johannesburg, 1986. 275 pp. including illustrations, notes, appendix, bibliography and index. R.195,00.

The World of Can Themba: Selected Writings edited by Essop Patel Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. 244 pp. R6,95 paperback.     

Developmental trends in television coviewing of parent-child dyads

In this study, long-term trends in joint parent-child television viewing are taken as prototype for developmental changes of the parent-child relationship during adolescence. To describe and compare trends of television coviewing in different configurations of family members, trajectories of daily television viewing, tmeasured with Nielsen-type people meters over a time period of three years, were analyzed using time series methods. The findings show the transferability of hypotheses about general developments in relations between the generations on coviewing behavior of adolescents aged 14–16 with their parents to predict differential declines in the four parent-child dyads.Received Ph.D. from Free University of Berlin in 1976. Research interests include the role of the media in child development and family relations.Received Ph.D. from Free University of Berlin in 1984. Research interests include time series analysis, television behavior, and personality.Received M.S. from Technical University of Berlin, in 1987. Research interests include role of television in political socialization.     

Conceptualizing and Measuring Collaborative Networks

Walter J.M. Kickert, Erik-Hans Klijn, and Joop F. M. Koppenjan, eds., Managing Complex Networks: Strategies for the Public Sector (London: Sage Publications, 1997). 206pp., $41.95 paper, ISBN: 0-7619-5548-8.
Myrna P. Mandell, ed., Getting Results through Collaboration: Networks and Network Structures for Public Policy and Management (Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 2001). 275 pp., $89.95 hard, ISBN: 1-56720-455-4.
Robert Agranoff, and Michael McGuire, Collaborative Public Management: New Strategies for Local Governments (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2003). 219 pp., $26.95 paper, ISBN: 1-58901-018-3.     

Cleaning Puparia for Forensic Analysis

We tested procedures for removing adipocere from insect samples to allow identification. An acceptable procedure was determined: (i) Samples were sorted in petri dishes with 75% alcohol to remove any larvae, adult insects, or other soft‐bodied material. (ii) Samples of up to 24 puparia were placed in a vial with 15 mL of 95% acetone, capped, and vortexed for a total of 30–90 sec in 10‐ to 15‐sec bursts. This step removed large masses of adipocere or soil from specimen. (iii) Specimens were removed from acetone and placed in a vial of 15 mL of 2% potassium hydroxide (KOH) and vortexed in 10‐ to 15‐sec bursts until all puparia appeared clean (with our samples this required a total of 60–120 sec). (iv) Specimens were removed from the 2% KOH, placed in 75% ethanol, and examined microscopically. (v) Material was stored in 75% ethanol for identification and long‐term preservation.     

Sex Offenders of East Asian Heritage Resemble Other Canadian Sex Offenders

Although there is considerable research on Caucasian sexual offenders, there has been much less research on sex offenders of Asian heritage. The current study compared East Asian (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) sex offenders in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, and other B.C. sex offenders on items and total score of Static-99R. This study included all provincially sentenced adult male sexual offenders (n = 4580) supervised in the community by B. C. Corrections (including 122 East Asian sex offenders). Sexual, violent, any crime, and any recidivism (including technical violations) data were collected with an average follow-up 4.3 years. The total scores of Static-99R were similar between East Asian sex offenders and other ethnic groups (M = 2.0 vs. M = 2.4). East Asian offenders scored significantly lower than other ethnic offenders on several items measuring general criminality (e.g., prior non-sexual violence, prior sentencing dates, and any prior sex offenses). In contrast, Asian offenders appeared to be more paraphilic (e.g., any convictions for non-contact sex offenses). Lastly, Static-99R significantly predicts sexual, violent, and criminal among sex offenders of East Asian heritage.     

Report of Increasing Overdose Deaths that include Acetyl Fentanyl in Multiple Counties of the Southwestern Region of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2015–2016

Acetyl fentanyl is a Schedule I controlled synthetic opioid that is becoming an increasingly detected “designer drug.” Routine drug screening procedures in local forensic toxicology laboratories identified a total of 41 overdose deaths associated with acetyl fentanyl within multiple counties of the southwestern region of the state of Pennsylvania. The range, median, mean, and standard deviation of blood acetyl fentanyl concentrations for these 41 cases were 0.13–2100 ng/mL, 11 ng/mL, 169.3 ng/mL, and 405.3 ng/mL, respectively. Thirty‐six individuals (88%) had a confirmed history of substance abuse, and all but one case (96%) were ruled multiple drug toxicities. This report characterizes this localized trend of overdose deaths associated with acetyl fentanyl and provides further evidence supporting an alarmingly concentrated opiate and opioid epidemic of both traditional and novel drugs within this region of the United States.     

Palynological Investigation of Mummified Human Remains

Pollen analysis was applied to a mummified homicide victim in Nebraska, U.S.A., to determine the location of death. A control sample showed the normal ambient pollen in the garage crime scene. Ambient windborne types, common in the air of the region, dominated the control. Internal samples were analyzed from the sacrum, intestine, and diaphragm. Microfossils were recovered from the rehydrated intestine lumen. The intestinal sample was dominated by Brassica (broccoli). The sacrum sample was high in dietary types but with a showing of ambient types. The pollen from the diaphragm was dominated by ambient pollen similar to the control samples. The discovery of diverse pollen spectra from within a single mummy was unexpected. They show that ingested and inhaled pollen mixed in the corpse. The data linked the decedent to a specific crime scene in her Nebraska home in the southern tier of eastern counties on the border with Kansas.