Teaching Students How to Use Emotions as They Negotiate

Given that emotions are inescapable and complex, how do you teach students how to deal with them? This article offers instuctors a practical approach. It suggests that instructors and students turn their attention away from emotions and toward a more limited set of core emotional concerns that stimulate many emotions. The article describes ways to teach students how to use these core concerns as tools to understand the emotional terrain and to stimulate helpful emotions.     

Entry barriers and evolution of banking systems: Lessons from the 1980s Canadian western bank failures

Abstract: As federal policy‐makers revise and update the Bank Act, any change should be seen in the context of public policy towards financial institutions in Canada. Rather than being condemned to repeat history, both policy‐makers and potential bank entrepreneurs would be well advised to re‐examine the Report of the Inquiry into the Collapse of the ccb and Northland Bank (August 1986), chaired by the Honourable Willard Z. Estey. Public policy for financial institutions faces the challenge of reconciling competing interests. Since 1867, Canada has experienced a nationally controlled banking system that is highly stable (i.e., few bankruptcies) and that has enabled in‐flows of capital needed for national economic development. The Canadian Commercial Bank failure raised a fundamental challenge to the government's policy agenda. When asked what the government's position should be, the three officials recommended the rescue package. All three participants from the political side advised against it. Future policy must learn the lessons from this important and atypical moment in Canadian financial history. Sommaire: Alors que les decisionnaires federaux revoient et mettent à jour la Loi sur les banques, toute modification devrait être envisagée dans le contexte de la politique gouvernementale visant les institutions financières au Canada. Plutôt que d'être condamnés à répéter les mêmes erreurs, les décisionnaires et les banquiers potentiels feraient bien mieux de réexaminer le Rapport de la commission d'enquête sur la faillite de la Banque commerciale du Canada et la Norbanque (août 1986), présidée par l'honorable Willard Z. Estey. La politique gouvernementale concernant les institutions financières a la tâche difficile de réconcilier des intérêts opposés. Depuis 1867, le Canada connaît un système bancaire contrôléà l'échelle nationale qui est très stable, ayant enregistré peu de faillites, et qui a permis des rentrées de fonds nécessaires au développement économique national. La faillite de la BCC a lancé un défi fonda mental au programme de politique gouvernementale. Lorsqu'on leur a demandé quelle devrait être la position du gouvernement, les trois responsables ont recommandé le programme de renflouement. Les trois participants du secteur politique ont conseillé le contraire. Les futurs décisionnaires doivent tirer des leçons de cet évènement important et exceptionnel dans l'histoire financière canadienne.     

Bureaucratic capacity and state-society relations in China

In view of the efforts of post-Mao state-rebuilding, how does bureaucratic capacity affect the pattern of state-society interaction in China, where a robust civil society is still missing? Using the case of China’s population control, we analyze the linkage between bureaucratic capacity and state-society relations. The study demonstrates remarkable resilience of the party-state and its transformative thrust in reformist China. Through a mix of mass mobilization and institutional building, the Chinese state remains puissant in extending social control over its people. Equally important, bureaucratic capacity is a major predictor of state coerciveness. Other things being equal, localities with stronger bureaucratic capacity tend to develop a less antagonist and more cooperative state-society relationship. Bureaucratic capacity can serve as remedy to despotic or authoritarian rule despite the lack of an autonomous civil society. This finding has important implications for the potential of democratization in China.     

STATE SUPREME COURT APPLICATIONS OF TROXEL v. GRANVILLE AND THE COURTS' RELUCTANCE TO DECLARE GRANDPARENT VISITATION STATUTES UNCONSTITUTIONAL

In this article, the author reviews state supreme court applications of Troxel v. Granville , analyzing the impact of the decision on the courts' ongoing efforts to adjudicate visitation disputes between parents and grandparents. Set against a background of legislative recognition of grandparents' rights and judicial uncertainty regarding the appropriate role of nonparents in children's lives, Troxel reaffirmed the constitutional right of parents to direct their children's upbringing. The author argues that state supreme courts evaluating gradparent visitation statutes and seeking to enforce Troxel 's presumption in favor of parents should be more willing to strike down overly broad statutes. Such an approach would be a positive step toward addressing the excessive judicial discretion that the Troxel Court found so problematic, and would signal to state legislatures the need for statutes that both provide for the needs of children and protect parental rights.     

Spatial variation of refractive index in a pane of float glass.

In the statistical interpretation of forensic glass evidence it is standard practice to make the assumption of homogeneity of the refractive index (RI) of the source glass, or of localized homogeneity. However, the work of Locke and Hayes showed that, for toughened windscreen glass, this assumption might not be true. This work is well cited, but there appears to have been little follow-on published research. Furthermore, the toughening process is something known to affect the refractive index, and is a process that float glass does not undergo. Float glass is a major component of casework in New Zealand and for that reason it would be interesting to know whether the findings of Locke and Hayes apply when dealing with float glass. In this paper we describe an experiment similar to that of Locke and Hayes, systematically examining the variation of RI in a pane of float window glass. It was found that, although there were no systematic differences in refractive index, there were observable differences across the pane.     

准确·凝炼·具体——周总理给雷锋题词的往事

１９６３年２月下旬，毛主席题词“向雷锋同志学习”。３月５日，《人民日报》、《解放军报》、《中国青年报》等报刊发表以后，全国青年乃至全国军民热烈响应，迅速掀起了学雷锋活动的高潮。在毛主席题词之后，总政首长亲自向中共中央其他常委写报告，请求题词，在《解放军报》上刊登。刘少奇、周恩来、朱德、邓小平等同志陆续题了词。《解放军报》于３月６日首先刊载题词手迹后，进一步推动了全国学雷锋活动热潮。在中央常委题词过程中，周总理的一件事给我很大教育，至今印象很深。那段时间，我在解放军报社工作，正值上夜班。在周总理的…     

System Change through Collaboration…Eight Steps for Getting from There to Here

Family courts and child welfare agencies across the country are charged with protecting the safety of our children. That mission has become more challenging with increasing federal legislation and decreasing funding. In Buffalo, N.Y., the Family Court and the Department of Social Services have teamed up to respond to this challenge. With minimal additional staffing and resources, they have led a collaboration of agencies and service providers to change the way business is done in child welfare. By engaging each other in an interagency system change effort, the amount of time children spend in foster care has been reduced. The collaboration has been able to accomplish in a relatively short time what no agency had previously been able to accomplish on its own. The beneficiaries have been the children and families of Erie County.     

Driving less for better air: Impacts of a public information campaign

In the wake of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act, localities across the United States initiated public information campaigns both to raise awareness of threats to air quality and to change behavior related to air pollution by recommending specific behavioral changes in the campaign messages. These campaigns are designed to reduce the health hazards associated with poor air quality and to avoid federal sanctions resulting from the failure to meet air quality standards. As in many other communities across the country, a coalition of government agencies and businesses initiated a public information campaign in the Atlanta metropolitan region to reduce certain targeted behaviors, mainly driving. A two‐stage model used to analyze data from a rolling sample survey shows that the centerpiece of the information campaign—air quality alerts—was effective in raising awareness and reducing driving in a segment of the population. When the overall information campaign was moderated by employers' participation in programs to improve air quality, drivers significantly reduced the number of miles they drove and the number of trips they took by car on days when air quality alerts were sounded. Public information campaigns can be successful in increasing awareness, but changing well‐established behaviors, such as driving, is likely to require institutional mediation to provide social contexts that support the behavioral change, as well. © 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.