The Roles a “Civil Society” Can Play in International Dispute Resolution

Since its very inception, the United Nations has worked with NGOs (non-governmental organizations) or, to use the contemporary term, a "civil society." In fact, every single U.N. department now has an NGO liaison. As the world becomes increasingly smaller, the role and influence of NGOs will continue to be significant in international negotiations.     

A pregnant pause: federalism, equality and the maternity and parental leave debate in Canada

In Reference re E.I. the Supreme Court of Canada was asked to assess the constitutionality of the federally administered maternity and parental leave benefit regime. This social programme has been a key site of feminist struggle in Canada, with attention focused in recent years on whether the benefit, as delivered, was an equality-enhancing regime. This note examines the way in which the questions posed to the Supreme Court of Canada were framed in a manner that obscured the essential equality dimensions of the issue before the Court. It is argued, however, that, notwithstanding the relatively formal division of powers answer that the Court was called upon to give, the decision is a promisingly substantive reflection on the debate over the most effective means to recognize the care-giving labour of Canadian parents through the delivery of this benefit.     

Classical Islam and Medieval Europe: A Comparison of Political Philosophies and Cultures

There were fundamental differences in political philosophy and culture between Islamic and westem-Christian or European civilization in the period up to c. 1500, notably concerning the nature of the political community, of religious law and of the mode of political discourse. Europe proved open to Greco-Roman influences and thus developed, as Islam did not, a notion of the legitimate secular state.     

Drug-related deaths among recently released prisoners in the Strathclyde Region of Scotland

Drug abuse and its consequences are everyday problems encountered globally, and Scotland is no exception. During a study of drug-related deaths in the Strathclyde region of Scotland it was noted that known drug users who had recently been released from prison were at high risk of dying from a drug overdose. The majority of deaths occurred within one week of the release date and polydrug use was prevalent. Morphine was the most frequently encountered drug and this was found in combination with benzodiazepines in a significant number of cases. This paper highlights the dangers of resuming drug consumption following a period of abstinence.     

OUTCOMES OF VARIOUS MODES OF ADMINISTERING AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES

The outcomes of various modes of administration may be summarized as follows:

• 1 Under both ministerial and departmental control, the prior experience and predispositions of the Minister were critical factors affecting the colleges. Under departmental control, the background and attitudes of senior officers within the department were also important. Various instances of this were cited.
• 2 There tended to be proportionately fewer dismissals of principals or resignations in protest by them under departmental control than when colleges were controlled by Ministers of the Crown or governing councils. Several reasons for this trend were suggested.
• 3 Under all systems of control the colleges were subject from time to time to direct or indirect political pressure. For example, there were instances in which parents invoked or attempted to invoke political pressure to save their sons from expulsion from a college. Such pressures played a part in the dismissal or resignation of several principals.
• 4 Another factor which led to the resignation of two principals who were directly responsible to a Minister was the belief that their jurisdiction had been transgressed by another senior public servant.
• 5 Under departmental control a principal was likely to be caught up in intradepartmental politics. The fortunes of the college depended somewhat upon his success in this arena.
• 6 In determining the policies and practices to be adopted on the college farm, a principal generally had greater freedom under Education Department control than under Agriculture Department control. On the other hand, teaching practices were generally subject to closer departmental supervision in the former case than in the latter.
• 7 One problem with any system of control is that of maintaining a balance between continuity in policy on the one hand and sensitivity to demands for change on the other. In general, control over the colleges by government departments or governing councils tended to be conservative in emphasis, to stress continuity. By contrast, where control was directly exercised by Ministers of the Crown and where there were relatively frequent changes in incumbency of the relevant portfolio, continuity in policy was less assured.
• 8 The life of advisory committees was typically marked by early enthusiasms and influence in dealing with urgent matters of policy. After these matters had been dealt with there was generally a decline in activity and influence, growing disillusion among members, and eventually reconstitution or replacement of the committee.

     

The impact of past sexual experiences on attributions of responsibility for rape

Two factors potentially affect observers'attributions of responsibility to a rape survivor: how closely they identify with the survivor and how much they adhere to rape myths. To assess the impact of these factors, 157 female college students categorized by their sexual assault history and by their acceptance of rape myths, evaluated a sexual assault scenario. It was hypothesized that previously victimized participants would attribute less blame, and that those participants who self-identify as rape survivors would view the assault as rape more often than other participants. Neither hypothesis was supported. As expected, those who scored higher on the Rape Myths Acceptance Scale(RMAS) blamed the victim more and were less likely to believe rape had occurred. Only one subscale of the RMAS, Adversarial Sexual Beliefs, was consistently associated with participants'evaluation of the scenario, suggesting that this dimension may be especially important to understanding an observer's assessment of rape.     

Analysis of nitrite in adulterated urine samples by capillary electrophoresis

A simple method for analyzing nitrite in urine has been developed to confirm and quantify the amount of nitrite in potentially adulterated urine samples. The method involved separation of nitrite by capillary electrophoresis and direct UV detection at 214 nm. Separation was performed using a bare fused silica capillary and a 25 mM phosphate run buffer at a pH of 7.5. Sample preparation consisted of diluting the urine samples 1:20 with run buffer and internal standard, and centrifuging for 5 min at 2500 rpm. The sample was hydrodynamically injected, then separated using -25 kV with the column maintained at 35 degrees C. The method had upper and lower limits of linearity of 1500 and 80 microg/mL nitrite, respectively, and a limit of detection of 20 microg/mL. The method was evaluated using the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) protocol (Document EP10-A2), and validated using controls, standards, and authentic urine samples. Ten anions, ClO-, CrO4(-2), NO3-, HCO3-, I-, CH3COO-, F-, SO4-, S2O8(-2), and Cl-, were tested for potential interference with the assay. Interferences with quantitation were noted for only CrO4(-2) and S2O8(-2). High concentrations of Cl- interfered with the chromatography. The method had acceptable accuracy, precision, and specificity.     

Unsuspected meningoencephalitis in a case of assault by blunt force trauma

Reported is a case of an assault causing extensive blunt force injuries in which the clinical, radiologic, and postmortem findings were all consistent with death resulting from brain damage arising from the assault. The assailant was charged with murder. Subsequent full neuropathologic (including histologic) examination revealed the unsuspected finding of a widespread meningoencephalitis but no evidence of significant traumatic brain damage. The contributions of the infective process and of the trauma to death were felt to be unclear and a guilty plea to attempted murder was accepted. This case highlights the importance of a full neuropathologic examination, including histology, in cases of trauma to the head, even when the cause of death may initially appear obvious.