May 1857 - "“This is one of those glorious and awe-inspiring scenes which greet the traveler’s eye and fill his mind with wondering admiration, as he journeys among the bold and beautiful mountains of our own California.” The Hutchings’ California Magazine publishes Israel S. Diehl’s account of his lone ascent of Mount Shasta. Hutchings’ California Magazine 1, no. 11 (May 1857), 482-485."  http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb3779n5w4/?qu  

1857 - "Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale led the nation's first and only 'camel corps' expedition from Texas to California in 1857.... Men and beasts were employed in an attempt to link up the expanding commerce and defence of two portions of a rapidly growing nation, and in the background stands the figure of the romantic militarist, that dreamer of national expansion, Jefferson Davis.... In Lt. Beale's glowing report on the expedition, he frequently commented on the camels' remarkable endurance." Uncle Sam's Camels ... the Report of Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1857-1858) "  http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/HL2205.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.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE & LAW ENFORCEMENT

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

"Lethal Injection for Execution: Chemical Asphyxiation?" By Teresa A. Zimmers and others. IN: PLOS Medicine, vol. 4, no. 4 (April 2007) Various pagings.

Full Text at: medicine.plosjournals.org/archive/1549-1676/4/4/pdf/10.1371_journal.pmed.0040156-L.pdf

["Two of the three drugs used in lethal injection are not administered in a way that reliably produces painless death for inmates, leaving at least some to die of suffocation and be conscious enough to realize it, according to a new analysis of executions in California and North Carolina. Reviewing the cases of 41 inmates dating back to 1984, the researchers found that the dose of anesthesia given at the start of an execution varied widely and was often insufficient to keep an inmate unconscious. They also concluded that the chemical intended to induce cardiac arrest did not always stop prisoners' hearts." Los Angeles Times (April 24, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72101]

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Evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, 2005. By the Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California, Los Angeles. Prepared for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. (ISAP, Los Angeles, California) April 13, 2007. 203 p.

Full Text at: www.uclaisap.org/Prop36/documents/SACPAEvaluationReport.pdf

[“Convicted drug users in California are more likely to be arrested on new drug charges since Proposition 36 took effect than before voters approved the landmark law mandating drug treatment rather than incarceration. Only about 25% of the defendants who are sentenced to drug treatment complete the programs. Even among those who complete drug treatment, more than four in 10 had new drug arrests within 30 months of their Proposition 36 convictions. Those who failed to show up for rehab were less likely to be rearrested than those who went to some treatment but dropped out.” Los Angeles Times (April 14, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72102]

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A Shrinking Minority: The Continuing Decline of Gun Ownership in America. By the Violence Policy Center. (The Center, Washington, DC) 2007. 7 p.

Full Text at: www.vpc.org/studies/gunownership.pdf

["Contrary to public claims by the gun industry and the gun lobby, firearms ownership has declined dramatically over the past 35 years according to new survey data from the General Social Survey released today by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.... The NORC data shows that during the period 1972 to 2006, the percentage of American households that reported having any guns in the home has dropped nearly 20 percentage points: from a high of 54 percent in 1977 to 34.5 percent in 2006."]

[Request #S72103]

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Los Angeles County Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act: Fiscal Year 2004-2005 Report. By Susan Turner, RAND, and others. Prepared for the Los Angeles County Probation Department. (RAND, Santa Monica, California) 2007.

["California counties receiving funds from Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) programs are required to report six outcome measures to the California State Legislature on an annual basis to measure the success of the program. These outcome measures are successful completion of probation, arrests, probation violations, incarcerations, successful completion of restitution, and successful completion of community service."]

Report. 158 p.
http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2007/RAND_TR368-1.pdf

Summary. 16 p.
http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2007/RAND_TR368-1.sum.pdf

[Request #S72104]

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DEMOGRAPHY

YOUTH

California Dreamers: A Public Opinion Portrait of the Most Diverse Generation the Nation Has Known. By Bendixen & Associates. Prepared for New America Media. (New America Media, San Francisco, California) April 2007. Various pagings

Full Text at: news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_custom.html?custom_page_id=340

["The results, though hardly conclusive, do a lot to reinforce and fill out the picture of California in the generation to come. They portray a future California with high rates of ethnic intermarriage, strong concern for family cohesiveness, and a passionate commitment to the American dream. Perhaps most impressive is the high degree of ethnic tolerance." Sacramento Bee (April 25, 2007) B7.]

[Request #S72105]

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ECONOMY

CALIFORNIA

UCLA Anderson Forecast for the Nation and California: 1st Quarter 2007 - 4th Quarter 2009. By the UCLA Anderson Forecasting Project, Anderson Graduate School of Management. (The School, Los Angeles, California) March 2007. 101 p.

["The real estate slowdown will be a major drag on California's economy this year, but not enough to pull the state into recession.... 'If the carnage in the sub-prime markets turns out worse than we expect, job losses in Southern California could make things a bit worse,' said the forecast. But other sectors of the state's economy, such as professional and business services, are holding up much better than real estate. 'There still is no other sector that looks poised to combine with real estate to generate enough job loss to cause a recession.'" Los Angeles Times (April 2, 2007) C1.]

[Request #S72106]

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The Third California: The Golden State’s New Frontier. By Joel Kotkin, New America Foundation, and William H. Frey, The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program. (The Institution, Washington, DC) March 2007. 20 p.

Full Text at: www3.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20070320_thirdca.pdf

["Although often maligned as poor, ugly and polluted, California's vast inland valleys, from Redding to Riverside, spanning 75,000 square miles, are the key to California's future. The population in those regions has increased 14% between 2000 and 2005, four times the rate of the rest of the state. The study recommends three approaches to help transform inland boomtowns into more livable and economically sustainable cities: create more amenities that appeal to families, skilled labor and industries; create upward mobility for residents by offering more work-force training and better schools; and build on optimism to create political consensus for leadership and positive change.” Los Angeles Times (March 28, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72107]

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Manufacturing in Southern California. By Jack Kyser, Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. (The Corporation, Los Angeles, California). March 2007. 30 p.

Full Text at: www.laedc.org/reports/Mfg-2007-Report.pdf

[“Southern California lost more manufacturing jobs last year, but the Los Angeles metro area remained the nation's top manufacturing center. Manufacturing employment has been declining since 1990, with two modest blips up in 1997 and 1998. The report also found that: manufacturing in Southern California tends to be small to medium-size firms often in high-tech type of activities; the sector has a higher job 'multiplier,' meaning that more indirect jobs in other industries are supported by every direct position in manufacturing, and local manufacturing firms are under heavy competitive pressure, often from off-shore production.” Los Angeles Daily News (March 28, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72108]

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Life in the Valley Economy: Silicon Valley Progress Report. By Louise Auerhahn and others, Working Partnerships USA (The Partnerships, San Jose, California). March 2007. 152 p.

Full Text at: www.wpusa.org/live/get/LIVE_2007.pdf

[“Silicon Valley's middle-income and lower-income families are straining harder to cope with the region's escalating cost of living, despite other economic indicators that show a strong recovery from the dot-com crash. The study portrays a middle class that's shrinking. From 2000 to 2006, the number of lower-income households making under $50,000 a year grew the fastest. The only other group that grew was households making $200,000 or more.... More and more, the regional economy is simply producing too few quality jobs for the middle class to be able to survive and prosper in Silicon Valley." San Jose Mercury News (March 30, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72109]

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Intuit Future of Small Business Report: First Installment: Demographic Trends and Small Business. By Steve King and others, Institute for the Future. (The Institute, Palo Alto, California) January 2007. 20 p.

Full Text at: http-download.intuit.com/http.intuit/CMO/intuit/futureofsmallbusiness/SR-1037_intuit_SmallBiz_Demog.pdf

["In 1980s and 1990s personal computers entered the marketplace and the Internet laid the groundwork for new businesses and disruptive business models. These decades also saw an increase in entrepreneurial activity. The growing digital infrastructure reduced the costs of starting and running a small business and opened new markets and industries to small businesses. The next decade will see these movements combine to transform the economic landscape and begin an era of economic decentralization. Small businesses will play a key role in this transformation."]

[Request #S72110]

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EDUCATION

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings from the First Student Cohort: Report to Congress. By Mark Dynarski, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and others. (Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC) March 2007. Various pagings.

Full Text at: ies.ed.gov/ncee/pdf/20074005.pdf

[“Educational software, a $2 billion-a-year industry that has become the darling of school systems across the country, has no significant impact on student performance. The technology -- ranging from snazzy video-game-like programs played on Sony PlayStations to more rigorous drilling exercises used on computers -- has been embraced by low-performing schools as an easy way to boost student test scores. ‘We are concerned that the technology that we have today isn't being utilized as effectively as it can be to raise student achievement,’ said Katherine McLane, spokeswoman for the Department of Education.” Washington Post (April 5, 2007) A1.]

[Request #S72111]

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California's Commitment to Adult English Learners: Caught between Funding and Need. By Arturo Gonzalez, Public Policy Institute of California. (The Institute, San Francisco, CA) 2007. 117 p.

["This report examines the discrepancy between California’s goal of providing free English classes and the reality that the current funding system for providing classes is about 30 years out of date. During those 30 years, the state’s immigrant population has exploded. The gap between goal and reality has created an excessive financial burden on some local school districts -— which provide most of the state’s English as Second Language classes -— and may be forcing other districts to turn away immigrants who want to learn English"]

Report. 91 p.
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_407AGR.pdf

Research Brief. 2 p.
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/rb/RB_407AGRB.pdf

[Request #S72112]

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Returning to Learning: Adults' Success in College is Key to America's Future. By Brian Pusser, University of Virginia, and others. Lumina Foundation For Education New Agenda Series. (The Foundation, Indianapolis, Indiana) March 2007. 32 p.

Full Text at: www.luminafoundation.org/publications/ReturntolearningApril2007.pdf

["Adult students are not well documented, are frequently left out of discussions of higher-education policy, and are not fully understood by the colleges they attend... As a result, those students often have no clear, viable paths to earning bachelor's degrees and establishing careers. A key flaw, the report says, is the gap between noncredit study -— like remedial education and job-related training -— and degree programs. Many adult students start in noncredit, skills-related programs and, after months and even years of effort, make no progress toward earning associate or bachelor's degrees." Chronicle of Higher Education (April 13, 2007) A35.]

[Request #S72113]

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The State of America's Libraries. By the American Library Association. (The Association, Chicago, Illinois) April 2007. 19 p.

Full Text at: www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/march2007/SAL_AnnualReport-FINAL.pdf

["While the general public supports strong funding for libraries, many school library media centers are experiencing budget cuts resulting in staffing reductions, shortened hours, and even closures. The new federal requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act are cited most frequently as the reasons for these funding cuts.... The report also highlights the library community's continued work in defense of the First Amendment against intrusive legislation, including the USA Patriot Act, and to refute challenges that would restrict the free flow of information and ideas to all adults and children." ALA Press Release (April 16, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72114]

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Multiple Perspectives on Multiple Pathways: Preparing California's Youth for College, Career, and Civic Responsibility. By Jeannie Oakes, University of California, Los Angeles, and others. (The Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, University of California, Los Angeles, California) April 2007. Various pagings

Full Text at: www.idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/mp/index.html

["This collection of studies by various scholars on education reform examines the Multiple Pathways approach to high school education. Multiple Pathways is an approach to learning that incorporates college required courses with technical courses that are needed for many jobs in the 21st century, as well as soft skills that are needed to work with other people in a civil society. These studies discuss the benefits of the Multiple Pathways approach, the challenges that are faced implementing it, and policy recommendations. Some of the paper topics include: challenges of English learner students, youth employment patterns, theme-based small learning communities, vocational education, job-linked apprenticeship programs, and more."]

[Request #S72116]

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Making Sense of Career-Technical Education: Options for California. By W. Norton Grubb and David Stern, University of California. Berkeley. (Policy Analysis for California Education, Berkeley, California) April 2007. 12 p.

Full Text at: pace.berkeley.edu/reports/PB.07-1.pdf

["Some forms of Career-Technical Education (CTE) that integrate academic with occupational content could usefully be expanded to provide high school students with multiple pathways to college and careers. This strategy, which we call 'CTE/multiple pathways,' is more feasible and desirable for California high schools than other approaches to CTE —- including the traditional vocational education of the past century, the 'dual' systems developed in Austria and Germany, or the sophisticated technical training provided in community colleges."]

[Request #S72115]

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EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Here's a Tip: When Restaurant and Hotel Workers Don't Have Paid Sick Days, It Hurts Us All. By Jodie Levin-Epstein, Center for Law and Social Policy. (The Center, Washington, DC) February 8, 2007. 5 p.

Full Text at: www.clasp.org/publications/heres_a_tip.pdf

["Restaurant and hotel workers are typically low-paid employees, and their employers rarely provide them with paid sick days. Instead, these workers are forced to make difficult choices when they or their family members are sick, including coming to work sick -— which also presents a public health risk. This fact sheet details both the need for paid sick days for restaurant and hotel workers and some current efforts to ensure that workers have them."]

[Request #S72117]

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Getting Immigration Reform Right. By Ray Marshall, Economic Policy Institute. (The Institute, Washington DC) March 2007. 10 p.

Full Text at: www.sharedprosperity.org/bp186/bp186.pdf

["Because there will be no net increase in the number of prime-working-age natives (aged 25 to 54) for the next 20 years, the strength of the American economy could depend heavily on how the nation relates immigration to economic and social policy. Unauthorized immigration, on the other hand, subjects migrants to grave dangers and exploitation, suppresses domestic workers’ wages and working conditions, perpetuates marginal low-wage industries addicted to a steady flow of unauthorized immigrants, is unfair to people waiting to enter the United States legally, and undermines the rule of law. The issue is not immigrants, but their legal status, characteristics, and integration into American life."]

[Request #S72118]

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ENERGY

ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY

California’s Greenhouse Gas Policies: Local Solutions to a Global Problem? By James Bushnell, University of California Energy Institute, and others. (The Institute, Berkeley, California) April 2007. 35 p.

Full Text at: www.ucei.berkeley.edu/PDF/csemwp166.pdf

["California is in the process of implementing a broad portfolio of policies and regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This paper summarizes the initiatives likely to impact the electricity generating sector.... There is a substantial risk that two of the most prominent policies could simply result in a reshuffling of the electricity generating resources within the West that are dedicated to serving California... The renewable portfolio standards (RPS), are likely to have the biggest near-term impact on the carbon-intensity of electricity generation in the West. Thus the scale of RPS programs may be limiting the potential role of non-renewable options in reducing carbon emissions from the electricity sector."]

[Request #S72119]

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Refinery Outages: Description and Potential Impact on Petroleum Product Prices. By the Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy. (The Department, Washington, DC) March 2007. 53 p.

Full Text at: www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/refinery_outages/SROOG200701.pdf

[“Up until the mid 1990’s, the U.S. had excess refinery capacity. Refinery outages seemed to have little if any impact on product prices. Between 1985 and 1995, demand grew, while refinery capacity remained relatively flat, resulting in utilization increasing to 92 percent by 1995. Since then, U.S. refineries have been running near capacity during the peak-demand summer months. With little spare refinery capacity available during peak demand times, unexpected refinery outages can result in local supply disruptions that result in temporary price surges.“]

[Request #S72120]

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ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES

CLIMATE CHANGE

Massachusetts, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al. U.S. Supreme Court. 05-1120. April 2, 2007. Various pagings.

Full Text at: www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/05-1120.pdf

["The Supreme Court cleared the way for a more aggressive attack by government on global warming, which could include the first national rules to limit carbon dioxide emissions from new cars, trucks and power plants. In a 5-4 decision, the high court ruled that so-called greenhouse gases -- like carbon dioxide -- were air pollutants subject to federal regulation..... The court's ruling knocked down a legal barrier that kept California and other states from requiring reduced carbon emissions by new vehicles starting in 2009." Los Angeles Times (April 3, 2007) A1.]

[Request #S72121]

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Climate Change 2007: Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Summary for Policymakers. By Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, World Meteorological Organization. (The Panel, Geneva, Switzerland) April 2007. 23 p.

Full Text at: www.ipcc.ch/SPM6avr07.pdf

["The message stays the same, but it gets clearer every year: As greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere rise, California likely will suffer more severe droughts, floods, forest fires and wildlife extinctions. The same is true for many other water-scarce areas of the world, according to a major international study... The report reiterates many already-accepted projections about the impact of climate change on the planet's coastlines, rivers, farm fields and wildlands. But new scientific evidence gives those predictions greater certainty and credibility than ever before." Sacramento Bee (April 6, 2007) A1.]

[Request #S72122]

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Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty: 1987-2007. By Robert D. Bullard, Clark Atlanta University, and others. Prepared for the United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries. (The Church, Cleveland, Ohio) April 2007. 175 p.

Full Text at: www.ucc.org/justice/pdfs/toxic20.pdf

["California has the nation's highest concentration of minorities living near hazardous waste facilities. Greater Los Angeles tops the nation with 1.2 million people living less than two miles from 17 such facilities, and 91% of them are minorities.... 'There's a piling on effect…. You get the landfill because you've already got the incinerator, the paint manufacturer, the chemical plant,' Bullard said. 'These neighborhoods become basically sacrifice zones.'... The report follows up on issues originally raised in the 1987 study which is widely considered to have given birth to the environmental justice movement by linking race and income to elevated levels of environmental and industrial risk." Los Angeles Times (April 12, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72123]

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Sustaining America’s Fisheries and Fishing Communities: An Evaluation of Incentive-Based Management. By Environmental Defense. (Environmental Defense, New York, New York) March 2007.

["This study provides a clear roadmap for rebuilding fishing stocks and restoring fishing communities. The research details how Limited Access Privilege Programs, or 'catch shares,' save fishing stocks and help restore fishing communities.... Catch shares work by allocating a dedicated percentage share of a fishery’s total catch to individual fishermen, communities or associations. If a fishery is well managed, the value of these shares increases as the stock expands. When participants have a secure portion of the catch, they gain the flexibility to make business decisions that improve safety, increase profits and promote healthy fishing stocks." Environmental Defense press release (March 28, 2007) 1.]

Report. 36 p.
report

Executive Summary. 4 p.
summary

[Request #S72124]

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GENERAL GOVERNMENT

STATE CONTRACTING

Professional Engineers in California Government, et al. v. Will Kempton, as Director, California Department of Transportation. California Supreme Court. S139917. April 12, 2007. 64 p.

Full Text at: www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S139917.PDF

[“The court handed a major victory to private engineering firms, broadly upholding a 2000 ballot measure that allows private engineers to work on public works projects.... The measure overturned a long-standing provision of the state constitution that effectively reserved engineering work for state employees. And, the court ruled, Proposition 35 implicitly repealed several other sections of law restricting contracting out because the voters intended to eliminate ‘existing restrictions’ on private work.” Sacramento Bee (April 12, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72125]

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Who Pays Taxes in California? Policy Points. By Jean Ross, California Budget Project. (The Project, Sacramento, California) April 2007. 5 p.

Full Text at: www.cbp.org/pdfs/2007/0704_pp_taxes.pdf

[“The study cited a wide tax burden gap between the poorest and wealthiest taxpayers, based on the percentage of income that goes toward income, sales, property and excise taxes. For the poorest fifth of taxpayers, taxes amount to 11.7 percent of their average household budget of $11,000. On the flip side, the richest 1 percent, averaging $1.6 million in annual income, pay 7.1 percent for state taxes. Compared with other states, California's tax burden ranks 19th with state and local taxes eating up 16.17 percent of personal income. The U.S. average is 15.55 percent.” Sacramento Bee (April 13, 2007) D1.]

[Request #S72126]

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Putting Taxes on the Map: Federal Tax Burdens by City, County, Congressional District and State. By Gerald Prante and Andrew Chamberlain, Tax Foundation. (The Foundation, Washington, DC) March 2007.

["Americans in some cities, counties and congressional districts bear a much heavier burden to finance federal spending than in others. America’s highest-federal-tax major city area is Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut, which pays $82,745 per household. San Francisco pays the second highest taxes at $36,409, and San Jose is third at $34,577. America’s lowest-tax city area surrounds Mission, Texas, and pays $7,238 per household. Forty percent of federal taxes are paid by counties that make up only one percent of the nation’s land area. California alone pays roughly 14 percent of federal taxes."]

Full Report. 12 p.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr150.pdf

Data - City. Various pagings.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/2228.html

Data - County. Various pagings.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/2229.html

Data - Congressional District. Various pagings.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/2230.html

[Request #S72127]

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HEALTH

AIR POLLUTION

"Effects of Ethanol (E85) versus Gasoline Vehicles on Cancer and Mortality in the United States." By Mark Z. Jacobson. IN: Environmental Science and Technology. DOI: 10.1021/es062085v. (April 18, 2007)

["Ethanol, widely touted as a greenhouse-gas-cutting fuel, would have serious health effects if heavily used in cars, producing more ground-level ozone than gasoline, particularly in the Los Angeles Basin.... 'Our results show that a high blend of ethanol poses an equal or greater risk to public health than gasoline, which already causes significant health damage,' said Jacobson. Ozone is a key ingredient in smog, and when inhaled even at low levels it can harm lungs, aggravate asthma and impair immune systems." Los Angeles Times (April 18, 2007) 1.]

Effects of Ethanol. 8 p.
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/pdf/es062085v.pdf

Press release. 1 p.
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/apr/science/ee_ethanol.html

[Request #S72128]

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State of Diabetes Complications in America. By the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. (The Association, Jacksonville, Florida) April 10, 2007. 9 p.

Full Text at: tinyurl.com/29x6qy

[“Three out of every 5 patients with Type 2 diabetes suffer from at least one significant complication of the disease, such as heart disease, stroke, eye damage, chronic kidney disease or foot problems leading to amputation. These complications cost each patient an average of about $10,000 per year -— $1,600 of it out of their own pockets. Those are crucial numbers, because an estimated 40% of diabetics have family incomes below $35,000 per year.” Los Angeles Times (April 11, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72129]

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Pandemic Flu and the Potential for U.S. Economic Recession: A State-By-State Analysis. By Jeffrey Levi, Trust for America’s Health, and others. (The Trust, Washington, D.C.) March 2007. 96 p.

Full Text at: healthyamericans.org/reports/flurecession/FluRecession.pdf

[“While other industries may founder, a pandemic might actually increase the gross domestic product for the healthcare industry. Preparing for an influenza pandemic, however, could lead to financial hardship for many hospitals, costing $5 billion in aggregate for the 5,000 general hospitals across the country. ‘These additional costs could strain an already troubled industry,’ the report stated, estimating that the preparation costs could average $1 million per hospital. Thirty percent of hospitals are already losing money, and many do not have more than a few weeks of cash on hand.” Modern Healthcare (March 26, 2007) 17.]

[Request #S72130]

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Department of Health Services: Its Licensing and Certification Division Is Struggling to Meet State and Federal Oversight Requirements for Skilled Nursing Facilities. 2006-106. By the California State Auditor, Bureau of State Audits. (The Bureau, Sacramento, California) April 2007. 87 p.

Full Text at: www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2006-106.pdf

[“The California Department of Health Services has failed to respond quickly to complaints about safety at nursing homes and has understated the severity of problems at some homes. The audit found that the department failed to respond within legal time limits to almost half, and failed to complete about six in 10 investigations promptly. Auditors also found instances in which investigators did not take safety violations seriously enough. The auditor looked at 35 instances in which state inspectors cited nursing homes and said the penalty should have been more severe in nine of the cases.” Sacramento Bee (April 13, 2007) A4.]

[Request #S72131]

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Food for Thought: Television Food Advertising to Children in the United States. By Walter Gantz, Indiana University, and others. (The Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, California) March 2007. 59 p.

Full Text at: www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/7618.pdf

[“Youngsters 2 to 7 years old see a dozen food ads a day and nearly half of the commercials aimed at children 17 and younger are selling candy, snacks, soda or fast food. The review of more than 8,800 ads couldn't find a single commercial for fresh fruit or vegetables. The results are likely to add to the growing pressure on advertisers and networks to cut back on the promotion of junk food before regulators do it for them.” Los Angeles Times (March 29, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72132]

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Prescription for Improving Patient Safety: Addressing Medication Errors: A Report from The Medication Errors Panel Pursuant to California Senate Concurrent Resolution 49 (2005). By the Medication Errors Panel. (The Pharmacy Foundation of California, Sacramento, California) March 2007.

[“Medication errors sicken or kill 150,000 Californians and cost more than $17 billion annually, says a yearlong study by a new state board. The board's suggestions include adding a drug's purpose to the label on the bottle, better educating consumers, urging patients to listen to advice about potential drug conflicts, better training for pharmacy workers, bolstering government oversight, and getting all physicians and pharmacies to electronically transmit prescriptions.” Oakland Tribune (March 8, 2007) 1.]

Report. 27 p.
http://66.35.213.106/pdf/SCR42_Final_report.pdf

Executive Summary. 4 p.
http://66.35.213.106/pdf/SCRFR_executivesum.pdf

[Request #S72133]

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HOUSING

REAL ESTATE LOANS

Mortgage Payment Reset: The Issue and the Impact. By Christopher L. Cagan, First American CoreLogic, Inc. (First American, Santa Ana, California) March 19, 2007. 188 p.

Full Text at: www.firstamres.com/MPR2007

[“Americans borrowed $2.2 trillion from 2004 through 2006 in the form of adjustable loans. It's those borrowers who are most likely to wind up in default because they won't be able refinance or sell their homes at a profit to cope with higher monthly payments.... This report didn't find the problems with risky loans to be limited to subprime borrowers, or people with poor or little credit. The largest group of loans likely to go into default are those that started with extremely low teaser rates regardless of whether borrowers had high or low credit scores.” San Francisco Chronicle (March 20, 2007) 1]

[Request #S72134]

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HUMAN SERVICES

CHILD CARE

“Are There Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care?” By Jay Belsky and others. IN: Child Development, vol. 78 no. 2 (March/April 2007) pp. 681-701.

[“Children who spend more time in day care centers are more likely to display minor bad behavior, including aggression and disobedience, than youngsters tended to at home by nannies or relatives.... Children who had high-quality care from engaged, responsive adults in a nurturing setting, whether from relatives, nannies or day care centers, had more advanced vocabularies by fifth grade than children who got poor care, according to the study.” Buffalo News (March 27, 2007) A6.]

[Request #S72135]

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Ending Homelessness In Santa Monica: Current Efforts and Recommended Next Steps. By Martha R. Burt and Laudan Y. Aron, The Urban Institute. (The Institute, Washington, DC) December 2006. 215 p.

Full Text at: lahealthaction.org/library/HomelessEvaluation.pdf

["Santa Monica, along with many other communities across the country, finds itself struggling to find feasible approaches and solutions to homelessness.... Santa Monica does not control either the movement of homeless people across its boundaries or the county-level resources that are needed to help people leave homelessness. The regional nature of the homelessness problem makes it especially challenging for a city such as Santa Monica to tackle."]

[Request #S7236]

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Adoptive Parents, Adaptive Parents: Evaluating the Importance of Biological Ties for Parental Investment. By Laura Hamilton. IN: American Sociological Review, vol. 72. (February 2007) pp. 95-116.

Full Text at: www.asanet.org/galleries/default-file/Feb07ASRAdoption.pdf

["Adoptive children’s test scores are most like children from two-biological-parent families.... We know little about how this theory applies across other alternative family forms. Lesbian and gay parents -— facing high levels of discrimination, homophobia, and stigma -— may engage in compensatory parenting mechanisms that benefit their children. Research on biracial families hints at the presence of compensatory mechanisms for parental investment.... Ironically, the same social context that creates struggles for these alternative families may also set the stage for them to excel in some measures of parenting."]

[Request #S72137]

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TRANSPORTATION

INFRASTRUCTURE

Research Opportunities in Radio Frequency Identification Transportation Applications. Edited By Tom Jirik and Kathryn Harrington-Hughes, Transportation Research Board. (The Board, Washington, DC) March 2007. 88 p.

Full Text at: onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec114.pdf

["This Circular summarizes a conference by the same title that was held October 2006, in Washington, D.C. The conference focused on current and future research on radio frequency identification technologies in transportation applications, which include the tagging of containers, pallets, individual packages, and building equipment and components; vehicle collision avoidance; electronic preclearance of vehicles and individuals through security checkpoints; and electronic toll collection." TRB Newsletter (April, 10, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72138]

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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.]

GENERAL GOVERNMENT

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Lessons of Disaster: Policy Change after Catastrophic Events. By Thomas A. Birkland. (Georgetown University Press, Washington, DC) 2006. 216 p.

["Birkland examines four categories of disasters: aviation security, homeland security, earthquakes, and hurricanes. He explores lessons learned from each, focusing on three types of policy change: change in the larger social construction of the issues surrounding the disaster; instrumental change, in which laws and regulations are made; and political change, in which alliances are created and shifted." University of Albany Campus Update (December 4, 2006) 1. Note: Lessons of Disaster ... will be available for loan.]

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