The application of lead isotope analysis to bullet individualization in two homicides.

Bullets were characterized by lead isotope ratio analysis and trace element analysis in two homicides. In one case, we concluded that a fatal bullet did not share a common origin with bullets in a box of ammunition containing 24 cartridges taken from suspects. Evidence in the second case included two bullets from the crime scene and 163 bullets taken from various suspects. We were able to infer that the two bullets from the crime scene did not share a common origin and that they differed from all of the bullets taken from suspects. All of the suspects' ammunition had been reloaded as was evident both from trace and isotopic analysis and, indeed, from visual inspection.     

College Student Reporting Responses to Hypothetical and Actual Safety Concerns

Campus violence prevention often includes proactively reducing crime through noticing and resolving concerning situations. Within these efforts, interventions aimed at enhancing reporting have been considered necessary. The current study explored several reporting influences on college students’ responses to hypothetical and actual campus safety concerns. Students were unwilling to report most (i.e., 52%) vignettes of pathway behavior, and most students who witnessed campus safety concerns did not report (i.e., 87%). Students who witnessed several concerning behaviors from a nonfriend perpetrator tended to be more willing to report, especially if personally victimized and understanding the violence risk associated with pathway behavior. Analyses supported campus-wide exhibitions of the dangerousness of various pathway behaviors and the fair, flexible authority problem solving available to struggling students.     

ORGANIZING THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN TEXAS: THE LEGACY OF SAUL ALINSKY

This paper examines the political activities of the Industrial Area's Foundation (IAF) network in Texas. Two major research questions are addressed. The first is whether or not the political program of the IAF can empower the Mexican-American community and influence the policy-making process. The second is whether or not their efforts can have a lasting impact on the social and economic problems that plague the Mexican-American population. The evidence put forth reveals that the IAF network has been successful in mobilizing the Mexican-American com- munity and has established a significant record of political vitories. Despite these gains, however, there is reason to doubt the network's ability to counter larger structural problems facing minority communities such as poverty and unemployment. Questions concerning the future of the IAF's style of neighborhood politics are raised in the context of their political ideology, goals, alliances and the difficulties encountered when organizing the poor.