On the enumeration of some D-optimal designs

Two matrices with elements taken from the set {-1,1}$\{-1,1\}$ are Hadamard equivalent if one can be converted into the other by a sequence of permutations of rows and columns, and negations of rows and columns. In this paper we summarize what is known about the number of equivalence classes of matrices having maximal determinant. We establish that there are 7 equivalence classes for matrices of order 21 and that there are at least 9884 equivalence classes for matrices of order 26. The latter result is obtained primarily using a switching technique for producing new designs from old.     

A Multitude of Voices: Pushcart Prize Winning Publications 1976–2006

The Pushcart Prize, established in 1976, has a well-deserved reputation for highlighting the best in small press publication. The authors examined the first thirty volumes, 1976/1977 through 2006, to identify attributes of the items included in each volume and placed the volumes into five time periods of six volumes each to facilitate trend analysis. In order to identify the most productive publications, titles that had fewer than four selections in the thirty volumes and did not appear in at least two time periods were eliminated. The authors examined: press status as independent or affiliated, state and region where published, and type of work (poetry or other). Finally, highly productive titles were reviewed in WorldCat to determine how frequently these were held in the United States.California, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio have a continuing, substantial presence in the Prize volumes. Most of the publications included were still active and were affiliated with a larger institution. The three small press titles appearing most frequently were Ploughshares, Paris Review, and American Poetry Review. The Pushcart Prize selections most frequently listed in WorldCat were the Hudson Review, the Paris Review, and the American Poetry Review. Each is held by more than eight hundred U.S. libraries.     

The Workers' Compensation System in Victoria: Who Takes the Blame?

Four years after its inception, Workcare, the Victorian Government's new workers' compensation scheme, has failed to live up to its promise. Recent reforms have concentrated on identifying groups responsible for the ‘rorts’ and cost ‘blowouts’ of the scheme. It is argued that although this sort of intervention might make economic sense, it continues a tradition of scapegoating individual workers rather than trying to analyse the complex workings of such schemes. Several of the assumptions underlying Workcare (and similar systems) are discussed in order to demonstrate the potential for failure in any benefits delivery system based on status rather than need.     

Students as a resource for introducing intercultural education in business schools

Despite a recognized need for a global mindset, opportunities for US business school students to gain hands‐on diversity training regarding intercultural issues remain rare. The reasons for this neglect include a lack of agreement on how to teach intercultural awareness and a paucity of faculty qualified to do so. In order to introduce intercultural education into a core business course, students were offered the opportunity to participate in an extra‐credit project that required the development of a proposal for an international joint venture and afforded them the chance to learn about each other while pursuing a superordinate goal of value to each. Thirty‐nine cross‐cultural teams were created, each of which had a partner from the US and a partner from a different country. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that the value of the project was closely related to the amount of learning that reportedly took place in both the business and cultural realms. Importantly, 73% of the students reported a strong interest in meeting people from different cultures as a result of participation in the project.     

A hypothesis about the decline of fertility

The hypothesis proposed earlier seems to be supported by the analysis of U.S. fertility. Urbanization was consistently negatively correlated with thelevel of fertility in 1810, 1860, 1920, and 1940. Urbanization was not significantly correlated with thedecline of fertility in the period, i.e. from 1800 to 1860; from 1860 to 1920; and from 1920 to 1940. For the period from 1800 to 1860, however, the decline was closely associated with a proxy variable for what is called the spirit of autonomy, i.e., a feeling of control over one's life. It is hypothesized that this sense of control extended to control over fertility. After 1860 the ideas became so widespread that they were no longer associated with any particular group, region, religion, or class. It was just a matter of time until the ideas spread slowly to all groups.     

The Effect of Risk Beliefs on Property Values: A Case Study of a Hazardous Waste Site1

Health risk beliefs of homeowners near a landfill site were assessed in a survey and compared to expert judgments of the health risks of living near the site. A bimodal distribution of health risk beliefs suggested sharp disagreement between the experts and at least some of the residents. Correlates of high risk beliefs included perception of odor from the site, exposure to media coverage of the problem, having children living at home, age (younger respondents more concerned), and gender (females more concerned). An aggregated neighborhood health risk belief predicted reductions in home prices even after controlling for home physical characteristics, such as size and other disamenities such as proximity to a freeway. In the 4100 homes near the site, the estimated depression in property values was estimated to total about $40.2 million before the site was closed and to be about $19.7 million after closure. Implications of these results for community conflict and for benefit-cost analysis of hazard site remediation are discussed.     

Civil Society Opposition to Nonferrous Metals Mining in Montana

This paper discusses the opposition of civil society to nonferrous metals mining in Montana. The mineral resources and mining history of Montana are discussed, as is the vibrant civil society of that state. Montana’s civil society has opposed mining due to its environmental effects, particularly upon areas of high conservation value. This opposition has involved litigation and the implementation of a ban on the use of cyanide by the mining industry. The paper concludes with a discussion of whether this opposition to mining has damaged the economy of the state and Montana’s future as an example of the “New West,” wherein amenities based growth act as the principal agent of economic activity.