Identity and democracy in the Baltics

The purpose of this essay is to consider the probable impact of issues related to ethnic and cultural identity on democratization in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Particular attention will be given to the demographic make‐up of the Baltic states, which are home to a high percentage of Slavs (mostly Russians but also Belarusians, Poles, and Ukrainians), and to those factors which affect how these Slavs and the majority Baits: (1) identify themselves; and (2) identify with the new states in which they find themselves. The key question is the degree to which civic democracy can prosper in a newly emerging multi‐ethnic state. The answer is important not only for the Baltic states but also for the other new multinational states that have emerged from the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe in the past few years.     

A COMPARISON OF CRIME REPORTAGE IN TWO NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS: DAILY TIMES AND NEW NIGERIAN

This study compares crime reportage in the two major newspapers in Nigeria, Daily Times and New Nigerian, from August 1 to October 31, 1983, utilizing a content analysis methodology. The Daily Times (jointly owned by the Government and the private interest) exceed the New Nigerian (totally owned by the Government) in total crime reports, average daily reports, average number of lines per report and the ratio of space-utilization for crime vs. non-crime reportage. It is likely that newspapers totally owned and controlled by the government, e.g., New Nigerian, are less likely to publish crime reports in general and political crimes in particular than newspapers owned and controlled in part by the private sector, e.g., Daily Times. Both newspapers covered political crimes more frequently (36 percent of total reports) than any other type of crime and its subcategory “riots and demonstrations” comprised 44 percent of all political crimes. This finding reflects Nigeria's problems of neo-colonization and ethnic, religious, political, economic and regional heterogeneity, resulting in a series of violent coups and counter-coups since the country's independence in 1960.     

An STR forensic typing system for genetic individualization of domestic cat (Felis catus) samples

A forensic genotyping panel of 11 tetranucleotide STR loci from the domestic cat was characterized and evaluated for genetic individualization of cat tissues. We first examined 49 candidate STR loci and their frequency assessment in domestic cat populations. The STR loci (3-4 base pair repeat motifs), mapped in the cat genome relative to 579 coding loci and 255 STR loci, are well distributed across the 18 feline autosomes. All loci exhibit Mendelian inheritance in a multi-generation pedigree. Eleven loci that were unlinked and were highly heterozygous in cat breeds were selected for a forensic panel. Heterozygosity values obtained for the independent loci, ranged from 0.60-0.82, while the average cat breed heterozygosity obtained for the 11 locus panel was 0.71 (range of 0.57-0.83). A small sample set of outbred domestic cats displayed a heterozygosity of 0.86 for the 11 locus panel. The power of discrimination of the panel is moderate to high in the cat breeds examined, with an average P(m) of 3.7E-06. The panel shows good potential for genetic individualization within outbred domestic cats with a P(m) of 5.31E-08. A multiplex protocol, designed for the co-amplification of the 11 loci and a gender-identifying locus, is species specific and robust, generating a product profile with as little as 0.125 nanograms of genomic DNA.     

Global governance of training standards in an outsourced labor force: The training double bind in seafarer license and certification assessments

The shipping industry is among the most globalized of all industries and is characterized by complex modular supply chains, including a largely outsourced labor force of “just‐in‐time” casualized workers from developing countries and the transitional East European states. Despite long‐standing efforts by international bodies to standardize and regulate the education and training of seafarers, variations in practices and standards persist. Employers exercise contradictory influences on education and training providers, on the one hand demanding the urgent provision of more recruits (encouraging corner‐cutting), and on the other complaining about the poor quality of recruits received (urging crackdowns on poor quality providers and more rigorous examinations) – the training double bind. This paper reflects on these issues through the study of the problematic use of computerized assessments in seafarer examinations, drawing upon findings from a study involving research in six different case study countries providing maritime labor and interviews with stakeholders.