Galton's Two Papers on Voting as Robust Estimation

The relationship between voting and robust estimation was discussed by Francis Galton in 1907. His two papers in Nature are discussed and reprinted.     

Does the minimum drinking age affect traffic fatalities?

Since the mid-1970s numerous states have raised their minimum legal drinking age in an effort to reduce alcohol-related traffic accidents. This study examines determinants of a variety of traffic fatality rates at the state level for 1978, with particular attention to drinking age and drinking experience. The legal drinking age has no perceptible influence on fatalities, but inexperience in drinking is an apparent risk factor independent of age. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of higher drinking ages as a safety policy tool probably has been overstated.     

Photographic Image Comparison of Vegetation

Images and videos are common types of evidence in crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis. Images may be taken by the suspect and/or by crime scene investigators and may serve as crucial elements in forensic laboratory analysis. Forensic photographic image comparison is the process of comparing one or more objects or persons in photographs/images when at least one image is known to be related to a crime. The forensic examiner usually compares the images in order to determine whether or not an association between the exhibits in the images can be made. This paper proposes an extension to the currently prevalent photographic image examination method. The extension introduces comparison of landscape and vegetation over time. It is revealed that similarities between images may still be found between the period of time the suspect photograph was taken and the period the crime scene investigator took the photograph from the same area. In this case report, two suspects to be involved in growing a marijuana field were arrested by the police. The forensic experts were asked to examine images taken by the crime scene investigators and to compare them to the images found in the suspects’ phones. They then tried to determine whether the suspects could be linked to the specific locations. While applying techniques derived from morphological comparison methodologies, the plants at the scene provided significant additional information. A tree trunk, branches, and twigs on a hedge in the photographs revealed specific individual characteristics that led the examiner to reach a conclusive decision.     

Examining Changes in Settlement Policies for Immigrants: The Israeli Case

Settlement policies for immigrants seek to provide services for the needs of the newcomers during their initial stay in their new country. These services can be differentiated by the degree of discretion clients have over the manner in which the services are provided, i.e., in the form of in-kind or cash benefits, and by the conditions linked to receipt of these services. In recent years, the Israeli government has implemented an unusually liberal and relatively generous settlement policy that provides virtually unconditional cash benefits to immigrants. An examination of the decision-making process surrounding the adoption of this unique policy indicates that it can be linked to the need to deal with the mass influx of Soviet Jews during the early 1990s, power struggles between the agencies charged with immigrant integration, and the dominant Zionist and free market values of the decision-makers. This study of the settlement policy adopted in Israel during the 1990s not only can contribute to a better understanding of the decision-making process involved in social policy formulation but, on a more practical level, can serve as a model of dealing with immigrants that may be of relevance to other welfare states.     

Creating Chaos at the Borders

The morbidity and mortality issues likely to arise for geriatric superstars are not unlike those already realized for so-called miracle babies. The therapeutic imperative and other social pressures, the technological imperative, financial interests, and media hyping have driven the overzealous medical-science pursuits of very old individuals and very young fetal infants. This article discusses lessons learned and lessons expected.