1856 - "Bidwell Bar Bridge over the Feather River in Oroville, California, was completed by the Bidwell Bridge Co. The bridge was dismantled before completion of Oroville Dam and replaced by the 1965 high-level Bidwell Bar suspension bridge. The 1856 structure was later reassembled about 1.5 miles south of the new Bidwell Bar bridge. The one-lane bridge is still in use, but restricted to foot traffic across the current location at Kelly Ridge"  http://www.bridgemeister.com/list.php?type=state&s  

1856 - "John Marsh, sometimes referred to as the ‘first American doctor in California’ was brutally murdered in 1856 by aggrieved ranch hands. Through his considerable success in medical practice in Los Angeles, and later in the vicinity of the Pueblo of San Jose and Yerba Buena, he earned enough money to purchase the extensive Rancho Los Meganos in the shadow of Mt.. Diablo. When he first arrived in the Pueblo of Los Angeles, he was penniless. Undismayed by his predicament, he announced that he was ‘Doctor John Marsh’, and applied for a license to practice medicine and surgery. He had in fact gained some medical knowledge from anatomy courses that he took at Harvard, and a brief apprenticeship with Doctor John Dixwell of Boston, but he had no formal medical schooling and no medical degree. Nevertheless, he obtained a license to practice by submitting his Harvard B.A. diploma to the Mexican authorities. They believed that the inscrutable Latin in which the document was written signified that he had been awarded an MD degree by Harvard. With greater validity, he is credited with having had a major influence on immigration to California by his convincing advocacy of its mild and healthful climate. "   http://elane.stanford.edu/wilson/Text/2e.html  

Studies in the News is a very current compilation of items significant to the Legislature and Governor's Office. It is created weekly by the State Library's Research Bureau to supplement the public policy debate in California’s Capitol. To help share the latest information with state policymakers, these reading lists are now being made accessible through the State Library’s website. This week's list of current articles in various public policy areas is presented below.

Service to State Employees:

• When available, the URL for the full text of each item is provided.

• California State Employees may contact the State Information & Reference Center (916-654-0206; cslsirc@library.ca.gov) with the SITN issue number and the item number [S#].

• All other interested individuals should contact their local library - the items may be available there, or may be borrowed by your local library on your behalf.

CALIFORNIA READER

CALIFORNIA READER

PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey of the Central Valley in Collaboration with the Great Valley Center. By Mark Baldassare, Public Policy Institute of California. (The Institute, San Francisco, California) June 2006. 40 p.

Full Text at: www.ppic.org/content/pubs/survey/S_606MBS.pdf

["A new survey of 2,002 Valley residents, from Redding to Bakersfield, shows 73 percent consider their communities excellent or good.... When it comes to ranking the importance of the various problems, however, respondents were all over the map. In the Central Valley's southern counties, air pollution is seen as the biggest problem. Residents in the Valley's northern end identify a lack of good jobs.... Valleywide, 29 percent said public transit should be the top priority. Sacramento is the one region in the Central Valley where people have begun to realize the importance of a transportation system that doesn't rely on the automobile." Sacramento Bee (June 28, 2006) B3.]

[Request #S63001]

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CRIMINAL JUSTICE & LAW ENFORCEMENT

CORRECTIONS

Understanding California Corrections. By Joan Petersilia, University of California, Irvine. Prepared for the California Policy Research Center, University of California. (The Center, Berkeley, California) May 2006.

["This report summarizes existing data and makes several suggestions for policy changes related to the shift toward rehabilitation. 1) Restore discretion to prison release decisions so that inmates feel that responsible behavior is rewarded and so officials can deny early release to those considered dangerous. 2) Employ parole supervision in a more selective way, so that parole is used for higher-risk offenders. 3) Criminally prosecute parolees’ new crimes rather than using the administrative parole revocation route as an expedient and inexpensive fix. 4) Prioritize the delivery of substance abuse, education, and job training programs."]

Report. 88 p.
http://www.ucop.edu/cprc/documents/understand_ca_corrections.pdf

Brief. 4 p.
http://www.ucop.edu/cprc/documents/correctionsbrf.pdf

[Request #S63002]

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Testing Incapacitation Theory: Youth Crime and Incarceration in California. By Mike Males and others, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. (The Center, San Francisco, California) July 2006. 40 p.

Full Text at: www.cjcj.org/pdf/testing_incapacitation.pdf

["California's juvenile incarceration rate and juvenile crime rate have both dropped dramatically, prompting some experts to urge a restructuring of the way juvenile criminals are handled. Commitments to the state's juvenile correctional facilities have dropped this year to 65 per 100,000 youths -- the lowest rate in 47 years." Sacramento Bee (June 29, 2006) A5.]

[Request #S63004]

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DEMOGRAPHY

IMMIGRATION

Senate Immigration Bill Would Allow 100 Million New Legal Immigrants over the Next Twenty Years. By Robert Rector, Heritage Foundation. (The Foundation, Washington, DC) May 15, 2006. AND Immigration Numbers in Context: An Analysis of Senate Immigration Bill S. 2611. By the National Foundation for American Policy. (The Foundation, Arlington, Virginia) June 2006.

["The debate isn't just about the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already living in the county -- but the tens of millions of new legal immigrants the legislation might produce in the future. So when a think tank analyst projected more than 100 million over the next 20 years -- raising the U.S. population by a third, or nearly three Californias and perhaps even twice that -- it landed like a perfectly timed statistical bomb.... And a new analysis by the pro-immigration National Foundation for American Policy concluded the 20-year total would come to about 28.4 million, but includes many who would not be new arrivals, but people adjusting their status." San Francisco Chronicle (June 20, 2006) 1.]

Heritage Foundation. 13 p.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/upload/wm_1076.pdf

National Foundation for American Policy. 16 p.
http://www.nfap.com/researchactivities/studies/NFAPPolicyBriefImmigrationNumbersInContext0606.pdf

[Request #S63005]

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ECONOMY

ENTERPRISE ZONES

How California's Enterprise Zones Have Saved the State from Decline. By Ted K. Bradshaw, University of California, Davis. (California Chamber of Commerce, Sacramento, California) 2006. 10 p.

Full Text at: www.calchamber.com/NR/rdonlyres/7E15A03C-7B92-4D3C-A12F-DF0A3C0446D4/0/FinalEZReport_6_14.pdf

["A recent report by the California Budget Project [#S62103] addressed the increasing cost of the Enterprise Zone program in California and calls attention to some of the shortcomings in the administration of the program without evaluating any of the benefits.... The California EZ program stands out as an example nationwide because it targets disadvantaged areas and it promotes the hiring of disadvantaged workers. This is the right way to run Enterprise Zones, and overall the California program has been successful in transforming many distressed areas that otherwise would remain in the spiral of decline."]

[Request #S63006]

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Investing in California's Infrastructure: How to Ensure Value for Money and Protect California’s Competitive Position in the National and Global Economy. By Peter Luchetti, Bay Area Economic Forum. (The Forum, San Francisco, California) June 2006. 76 p.

Full Text at: www.bayeconfor.org/pdf/CAinfrastructureJune06.pdf

["Most promising for implementation in California is likely to be the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). PFI, or CPFI in California, is a form of Public Private Partnership that marries a public investment program, where the public sector purchases infrastructure from the private sector, to an extension of contracting out, where public services are contracted from the private sector.... On this basis, California can invest $42 billion per year, or a total of $420 billion, which is closer to the 2.5 percent 45-year historical average. This level of investment is closer to the global rate of investment for economies of similar size."]

[Request #S63007]

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EDUCATION

SCHOOL VOUCHERS

"Vouchers Tested: School Vouchers Are Facing a Different Set of Legal Challenges in State Courts." By Wendy N. Davis. IN: ABA Journal, vol. 92 (June 2006) pp. 16-17.

["Plaintiffs have successfully challenged voucher programs in at least two states, Colorado and Florida. And, some observers say, the nature of those legal challenges could throw another roadblock in the way. Rather than invalidating voucher programs on the basis of religion, courts are striking down those laws on other state constitutional issues."]

[Request #S63008]

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High Hopes, Big Debts. By the Project on Student Debt. (The Project, Berkeley, California) 2006. 2 p.

Full Text at: projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/High_Hopes_Big_Debts.pdf

["The average college senior graduated this year with more than $19,000 in debt. Graduates with more than $100,000 in debt still account for a small subset of borrowers, but their number is rising." Sacramento Bee (June 12, 2006) A6.]

[Request #S63009]

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EMPLOYMENT

POVERTY

When Work Doesn't Pay: What Every Policymaker Should Know. By Nancy K. Cauthen, National Center for Children in Poverty. (The Center, New York, New York) June 2006. 8 p.

Full Text at: nccp.org/media/wdp06_text.pdf

["This brief informs policymakers and others about the difficulties faced by low-income working parents as they strive to make progress in the workforce. It highlights ways in which the current structure of work support policies often leads to unintended consequences.... Work support benefits are means-tested, so as earnings increase, families begin to lose eligibility even though they are not yet self-sufficient. The result is that parents can work and earn more without their families moving closer to financial security."]

[Request #S63010]

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"Managing Public Service Contracts: Aligning Values, Institutions, and Markets." By Trevor L. Brown and others. IN: Public Administration Review, vol. 66, no. 3. (May/June 2006) pp. 323-331.

Full Text at: www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00590.x

["The contracting of public services has been an integral part of public managers’ work for a long time, and it is here to stay. This essay sums up current research on the topic for busy practitioners and scholars. Where are we today with respect to the problems and pitfalls of contracting out, from balancing equity with efficiency to confronting the frequent problem of imperfect markets?"]

[Request #S63011]

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Paths to Work in Rural Places: Key Findings and Lessons from the Impact Evaluation of the Future Steps Rural Welfare-to-Work Program. By Alicia Meckstroth and others, Mathmatica Policy Research. Prepared for the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Mathematica Policy Research, Princeton, New Jersey) March 2006. 141 p.

Full Text at: www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/pathstowork.pdf

["Helping low-income families in rural areas find gainful employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency is an ongoing policy concern. The Rural Welfare-to-Work Strategies demonstration is using rigorous experimental designs to build knowledge about how to help low-income families in rural areas strive toward sustained employment and self-sufficiency.... The findings imply a need for stronger interventions in rural areas and demonstrate the challenges inherent in designing, implementing, and evaluating programs in these types of settings."]

[Request #S63012]

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ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES

AIR POLLUTION

San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan. By the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. (Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California) June 2006.

["The ports, which together handle the most shipping traffic in the country but are also among the nation's worst polluters, announced radical new environmental policies that could change the way America's ports operate. The policies are aimed at drastically reducing lethal, cancer-causing diesel emissions from oceangoing ships, railroads, trucks and cargo handling equipment. The changes would likely affect other major ports, including Oakland, as the major shipping and cargo moving companies are forced to switch to newer, more efficient equipment." San Francisco Chronicle (June 28, 2006) 1.]

Overview. 36 p.
http://www.portoflosangeles.org/DOC/REPORT_Clean_Air_Overview_English.pdf

Report. Various pagings.
http://www.portoflosangeles.org/environment_studies.htm#air

[Request #S63013]

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Report to the President. By the Task Force on Boutique Fuels, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (The Agency, Washington, DC) June 2006. 26 p.

Full Text at: www.epa.gov/otaq/boutique/resources/bftf62306finalreport.pdf

["'Boutique' gasoline blends to help states meet clean air rules are not a factor in higher prices as President Bush has suggested, says a study ordered by the White House.... The review 'did not reveal any studies or empirical data confirming that boutique fuels presently contribute to higher fuel prices or present unusual distribution problems.' The report, based on input from the states and the Energy and Agriculture departments, said that the refining and distribution systems are 'able to provide adequate quantities of boutique fuels, as long as there are no disruptions in the supply chain.'" Associated Press (June 23, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S63014]

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California Climate Change Policy: Is AB 32 a Cost-Effective Approach? By Margo Thorning, American Council for Capital Formation. (California Chamber of Commerce, Sacramento, California) June 15, 2006. 14 p.

Full Text at: www.calchamber.com/NR/rdonlyres/F7F36D4B-44DB-4545-AE54-59AB8FF72A7C/0/ACCPstudy.pdf

["Establishing a mandatory cap and trade system in California would impede, not promote, progress in reducing emissions intensity, globally. Climate change policies should continue to strive to reduce energy intensity as the capital stock is replaced over the business cycle and to develop new, cost-effective technologies for alternative energy production and conservation and encourage the spread of economic freedom in the developing world.... Near-term targets and timetables for CO2 emissions reductions will negatively impact California without materially slowing the growth of global emissions."

[Request #S63015]

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GENERAL GOVERNMENT

ELECTION FINANCING

Keeping it Clean: Public Financing in American Elections. By Steven M. Levin, Center for Governmental Studies. (The Center, Los Angeles, California) 2006. 137 p.

Full Text at: www.cgs.org/publications/docs/Keeping_It_Clean.pdf

["This report is the first comprehensive effort to analyze and evaluate all forms of public campaign financing laws for state and local elections.... Balancing the pros and cons of public financing, this report finds that public financing is the most important campaign finance reform to emerge in the past 35 years. Public financing can help correct many of the campaign finance and electoral problems that plague state and local jurisdictions."]

[Request #S63016]

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U.S. Tsunami Preparedness: Federal and State Partners Collaborate to Help Communities Reduce Potential Impacts, but Significant Challenges Remain. By the U.S. Government Accountability Office. GAO-05-519. (The Office, Washington, DC) June 2006. 65 p.

Full Text at: www.gao.gov/new.items/d06519.pdf

["While the coastal areas of the five states bordering the Pacific Ocean and US territories in the Caribbean face the greatest tsunami hazard, reliable and comprehensive assessments of the potential impacts on people and infrastructure have not been completed for many of these areas. To effectively prepare for a tsunami, states and localities need to assess the potential impacts of a tsunami on people and infrastructure. Efforts are under way to significantly expand federal tsunami detection."]

[Request #S63017]

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Privacy Guidelines for RFID Information Systems. By the Information and Privacy Commission. (The Commission, Toronto, Ontario) June 2006. 4 p.

Full Text at: www.ipc.on.ca/docs/rfidgdlines.pdf

["In order to allow Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to realise its potential for consumers, retailers and suppliers, it is vital that we address privacy concerns prompted by the current state of the technology, while establishing principles for dealing with its evolution and implementation.... This document is intended to serve as privacy 'best practices' for organizations when designing and operating RFID information technologies and systems."]

[Request #S63018]

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League of United Latin American Citizens, et al. v. Perry, Governor of Texas, et al. U.S. Supreme Court. 05-204. June 28, 2006. Various pagings.

Full Text at: www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/05-204.pdf

["The Supreme Court gave politicians legal license to aggressively redraw election districts to benefit the party in power, as it upheld the mid-decade redistricting plan engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and other Texas Republicans.... A five-member majority said DeLay's plan, even if it were drawn for a purely partisan purpose, did not violate the Constitution and its guarantee of equal protection under the law. But the court did find one district to be illegally drawn because it diluted Latino voting power." Los Angeles Times (June 29, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S63019]

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Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Regulatory State. By Clyde Wayne Crewes, Competitive Enterprise Institute. (The Institute, Washington, DC) June 2006. 42 p.

Full Text at: www.cei.org/pdf/5407.pdf

[" Extrapolating from an assessment of the federal regulatory enterprise, regulatory costs hit an estimated $1.13 trillion in 2005. Given that 2005 government spending was $2.47 trillion, the hidden tax of regulation now approaches half the size on federal spending itself. Regulatory costs are more than triple the $318 billion budget deficit. Regulatory costs also exceed all corporate pre-tax profits, which were $874 billion in 2003."]

[Request #S63020]

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A Budget For All Californians: Improving the Transparency and Accountability of the State Budget. By Erin Riches and Jean Ross, California Budget Project. (The Project, Sacramento, California) May 2006. 32 p.

Full Text at: www.cbp.org/2006/0605_budgettransparency.pdf

["This report analyzes the transparency of the budget by examining the availability, understandability, and detail of budget information; the openness of the budget process to the public; and the level of analysis that is available to put budget proposals into context.... A 'budget transparency scorecard' is used to assess the transparency of existing practices and processes, assigning 'star ratings' based on six parameters. Overall, California’s budget received a score of three stars; scores on individual sections ranged from two stars to five stars."]

[Request #S63021]

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The Machinery of Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World. By the Brennan Center Task Force on Voting System Security, New York University. (The Center, New York, New York) 2006. 162 p.

Full Text at: www.brennancenter.org/programs/downloads/Full%20Report.pdf

["For what it calls the most comprehensive review of its kind, the think tank convened a task force of election officials, computer scientists and security experts to study e-voting vulnerabilities.... Most of the electronic voting machines widely adopted since the disputed 2000 presidential election pose a real danger to the integrity of national, state and local elections.... State election officials could improve voting-machine security if they conduct routine audits comparing voter-verified paper trails to the electronic record and ban wireless components in voting machines." Sacramento Bee (June 27, 2006) A15.]

[Request #S63022]

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HEALTH

ASTHMA

"Traffic, Susceptibility, and Childhood Asthma." By Rob McConnell and others. IN: Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 114, no. 5. (May 2006) 766-772.

["Results from studies of traffic and childhood asthma have been inconsistent, but there has been little systematic evaluation of susceptible subgroups. This study examines the relationship of local traffic-related exposure and asthma and wheeze in southern California school children (5-7 years of age)."]

Article.
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/8594/8594.pdf

Online Supplement. 7 p.
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2006/8594/suppl.pdf

[Request #S63023]

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The Relative Effectiveness of 10 Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Programs in the United States. By Andrew R. Morral and others, RAND. (RAND, Santa Monica, California) 2006. 100 p.

Full Text at: www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2006/RAND_TR346.pdf

["Analysis teams approached the problem of identifying treatment effects using a range of methods. This report describes RAND Corporation’s approach to this problem, and our findings concerning the relative effectiveness of the 11 programs evaluated under the Adolescent Treatment Model.... The report should be of interest to professionals with an intererst in substance abuse treatment effectiveness, treatment evaluation methods, and risk of case-mix adjustment."]

[Request #S63024]

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California Health Care 2006-2011: Public Policy Environment and Update to "View of the Future." By the California Hospital Association. (The Association, Sacramento, California) 2006. 16 p.

Full Text at: www.calhealth.org/Download/View06.pdf

["Major factors influencing the forecasts for this period include: increasing costs; the aging of, and shortages in, the health care workforce; demographic changes in the general population; a looming unfunded seismic mandate; continuing pressure on hospitals from public and private payers regarding payments, quality, patient safety and practices; and the unresolved problem of improving access to care.... Enactment of The Tobacco Tax Act of 2006 by voters on November 7 is critical to success. If this ballot initiative is not enacted, access to hospital emergency and trauma services will worsen, availability of physician services to hospital emergency patients will deteriorate further and an opportunity to respond to the nurse shortage will be missed."]

[Request #S63025]

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Snapshot: Employer-Based Insurance: Coverage and Cost. By Christine E. Eibner and others, RAND. (California HealthCare Foundation, Oakland, California) June 2006. 25 p.

Full Text at: www.chcf.org/documents/insurance/SnapshotEmployerCostsCoverage2006.pdf

["The cost of health insurance remains a perennial preoccupation of employers, employees, and policymakers. About two-thirds of California businesses offer health insurance to at least some workers as a benefit of employment. These businesses account for 89 percent of California workers. This report provides an overview of the employment-based insurance landscape. It addresses a range of issues, including how costs are distributed; which types of employers offer coverage; the number of workers enrolled; and how employer premiums vary among offering businesses. It also examines how employer costs would change if every business provided coverage for all full-time workers."]

[Request #S63026]

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HOUSING

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The State of the Nation's Housing 2006. By Barbara Alexander and others, Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University. (The Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts) 2006.

["Southern California's housing boom is running out of steam, but the slowing pace of sales won't erode the huge gains in equity that many homeowners have realized in recent years, says a report. Dismissing the likelihood of sharp price declines the report offered reassuring news to homeowners who have seen their values soar since the late 1990s." San Diego Union-Tribune (June 9, 2006) C1.]

Report. 44 p.
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/son2006/son2006.pdf

Executive Summary. 6 p.
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/son2006/son2006_executive_summary.pdf

[Request #S63027]

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The Economic Benefits of Housing in California. By the Sacramento Regional Research Institute. Prepared for California Building Industry Association. (The Institute, Sacramento, California) June 2006. 42 p.

Full Text at: www.srri.net/AboutUs/EconBenHousing.pdf

["The housing industry contributed more than a quarter-trillion dollars, about 11 percent of total output, to California's economy last year, according to a home building group. From the money builders spend to put up new homes to the dollars rippling through the economy from workers' spending on gas and medical care, the housing sector accounted for $273 billion in the state last year and supported about 960,000 jobs, based on the more than 200,000 residential units built last year." San Francisco Chronicle (June 16, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S63028]

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HUMAN SERVICES

CHILD CARE

Millions of Tax Dollars Lost to Child Care Fraud. By Lois Groinauer and others, Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury. (The Jury, Los Angeles, California) June 2006. Various pagings.

Full Text at: grandjury.co.la.ca.us/gjury05-06/LACGJFR_05-06.pdf

["Calling Los Angeles County child-care programs an 'ATM for thieves,' the county grand jury said welfare recipients and their friends and relatives are defrauding taxpayers of $500 million a year, much more than previously estimated. Failure of the county Department of Public Social Services to verify that welfare-to-work recipients qualify for child care has resulted in about half of the $1.1 billion CalWORKS child-care program being lost to fraud.... Some parents in the welfare-to-work program earn very little income -- a few hundred dollars per month -- but are reimbursed thousands of dollars per month for miles driven and child-care expenses." Los Angeles Daily News (June 30, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S63029]

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Hunger in Los Angeles County 2006. By the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. (The Bank, Los Angeles, California) 2006. 18 p.

Full Text at: www.lafoodbank.org/images/HILAC2006.pdf

["The soaring cost of housing in Los Angeles County has led to a whopping increase in demand for food assistance, creating a critical shortage of supplies for the needy, according to a report. The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, which supplies most food pantries in Southern California, reported a 22.5 percent jump in recipients since 2001. An estimated 674,000 residents now seek food at pantries, soup kitchens and shelters, compared to 535,000 residents five years ago. And nearly a third of pantries are forced to turn away hungry clients because they don't have enough donated food -- a shortage estimated at nearly 11 million pounds." The Daily News of Los Angeles (June 7, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S63030]

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Poverty in California: Moving Beyond the Federal Measure. By Deborah Reed, Public Policy Institute of California. California Counts: Population Trends and Profiles. (The Institute, San Francisco, California) May 2006. 28 p.

Full Text at: www.ppic.org/content/pubs/cacounts/CC_506DRCC.pdf

["This study points to several problems with the current federal measure of poverty but it does not attempt to prescribe the 'right' measure of poverty for California. Measurement issues have important implications for policy and improving measures is important for implementation, targeting, and planning. Furthermore, when poverty programs do not adjust income eligibility criteria and benefits to reflect the cost of living, the programs provide very different levels of service for poor families facing different costs. Addressing these concerns will require moving beyond the federal measure of poverty."]

[Request #S63031]

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TRANSPORTATION

DRIVERS

Reducing the Crash Risk for Young Drivers. By Daniel R. Mayhew and others, Traffic Injury Research Foundation. Prepared for the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety. (The Foundation, Washington, DC) June 2006. 181 p.

Full Text at: www.aaafoundation.org/pdf/ReducingTeenCrashes.pdf

["The report examines graduated driver licensing and driver education as it impacts novice driver safety. Fatality and injury crash rates for 16-year-old drivers were 20 percent lower in a state with nighttime and passenger restrictions than in a comparison jurisdiction that lacked these building blocks of safer teen driving. The significant differences between crash-free and crash-involved teen drivers were overall compliance with provisions found in state graduated driver licensing laws, adherence to traffic laws and regulations, and parental involvement." TRB Newsletter (June 27, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S63032]

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Commuter Rail Issues Should Be Considered in Debate over Amtrak. By the U.S. Government Accountability Office. GAO-06-470. (The Office, Washington, DC) April 2006. 51 p.

Full Text at: www.gao.gov/new.items/d06470.pdf

["The report examines the extent to which commuter rail agencies rely on Amtrak for access to infrastructure and services and issues that commuter rail agencies would face if Amtrak abruptly ceased to provide them with services and infrastructure access. The report also explores the options available to commuter rail agencies should Amtrak abruptly cease to provide them services and infrastructure access." TRB Newsletter (May 19, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S63033]

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[The following studies, reports, and documents have been ordered or requested, but have not yet arrived. Requests may be placed, and copies will be provided when the material arrives.]

HEALTH

HOSPITALS

Hospital-Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point. By Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System, National Institute of Medicine. (National Academy Press, Washington, DC) 2006. 420 p.

Full Text at: darwin.nap.edu/books/0309101735/html

["Today our emergency care system faces an epidemic of crowded emergency departments, patients boarding in hallways waiting to be admitted, and daily ambulance diversions. [This book] addresses the difficulty of balancing the roles of hospital-based emergency and trauma care."]

[Request #S63034]

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