Which Congregations Will Take Advantage of Charitable Choice? Explaining the Pursuit of Public Funding by Congregations*

Objective. To determine the effects of clergy attitudes on the willingness of congregations to seek public funding to provide social welfare. Methods. Survey data are drawn from a probability sample of clergy leading congregations in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A logistic regression model examines the effects of clergy attitudes on the potential pursuit of public funding by congregations. Results. Controlling for a set of congregation attributes, a positive attitude toward partnerships between congregations and secular groups and a fear of government entanglement with religion are the strongest attitudinal predictors of congregation willingness to pursue public funding. However, attributes, particularly the racial composition of members and denominational affiliation, also predict congregation willingness to seek public funding. Conclusions. Congregation willingness to pursue public funding is a function of clergy attitudes and congregation attributes, which has implications for politics and public policy.     

另类准则

缩小参照的范围一直是形式主义思想自命的任务,这种尝试是要通过将单个变量孤立出来,以科学实验的方式来规训艺术批评。一个更大的反对意见则关系到格林伯格对前现代艺术的处理,对此需要加以讨论,因为格林伯格的现代主义是在与老大师们的对立中界定自己的。假如这一对立变得不稳定了,那么现代主义也许需要重新加以界定,即由另类准则来加以界定。     

Finances of American Unions in the 1970s

The aggregate finances of American unions in the 1970s are examined and compared with their state in 1962. We find that unions’ real financial wealth declined in the 1970s to the levels of the previous decade, while their real income grew at a much slower rate than during the 1960s. These results suggest that unions may face financial as well as operational problems in the future.     

Characterization of an optimal matrix estimator under convex loss function

Characterization of an optimal vector estimator and an optimal matrix estimator are obtained. In each case appropriate convex loss functions are considered. The results are illustrated through the problems of simultaneous unbiased estimation, simultaneous equivariant estimation and simultaneous unbiased prediction. Further an optimality criterion is proposed for matrix unbiased estimation and it is shown that the matrix unbiased estimation of a matrix parametric function and the minimum variance unbiased estimation of its components are equivalent.     

Attitude towards a redistribution of income

This article reports on some data from a pilot study which surveyed the attitude of the active male Flemish population towards a redistribution of income. A simple linear regression model based upon the average ratings of actual and fair incomes of twelve occupations is presented. The model allows to calculate for each subject how much redistribution he favors, the extent to which he wants to alter the income structure, and the reference point he uses to determine which incomes have to moderate and which have not to. Some results are presented and discussed. Subjects tend to favor some degree of income leveling, however without affecting the income structure.     

Is the future of unionism in cyberspace?

V. Conclusions Cyber technology has been proposed as the panacea for the troubled Old Unionism, the expansion of the New Unionism, and to promote the political power of the Labor Movement. In furtherance of those objectives, the AFL-CIO created a web site on December 1, 2000, workingfamilies.com. The site is intended to provide 17 million union members and retirees access to the Internet; the Federation also offers them computers at low cost. The AFL-CIO’s web is intended to link the union’s members to each other, offer discussion forums, chat rooms, and e-mail networks which will allow workers to talk to each other regularly and mobilize their workplaces and communities for causes endorsed by the Federation (World Future Society, February, 2000). The new service is an extension of the Union Privilege Benefit Programs set up by the Federation during the 1980s as a way of reversing the unions’ faltering membership. Those programs include reduced attorney fees, lower cost life and accident insurance, participation in a motor-club, car-repair, and travel-club services, a Walt Disney World Hotel Discount, a parents’ college advisor, reduced cost for educational books and software, mortgage and real estate advice, and a dental program. The original package was offered to nonmembers for a small fee who become "associate members." It was hoped that the associate participants would become full members. A number of affiliated unions adopted similar programs. In 1995, the Federation added a credit card issued by Household International and for which it received $75 million each year for five years ending in 2000. The card has no annual fee and low monthly interest charges. How the Federation spent these sums is unknown.     

The Challenge of Political and Economic Change in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe

This article discusses political and economic changes in Poland, Central and Eastern Europe emerging since the demise of the ‘closed system’ in 1989. The presentation explores the range of change, the method and the sequence of change. General lessons in economic transition as identified by Polish Finance Minister Lezak Balcerowicz are discussed. The challenges involved in macroeconomic stabilization, radical liberalization, currency convertibility, subsidy reduction and conversion of state-owned enterprises are reviewed. Despite their complexity, economic and political reforms proved necessary and inevitable. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Developing technological initiatives for youth participation and local community engagement

Recent advances in technology are transforming our lives, but in many cases they are also limiting the way children are exposed to local communities and physical spaces. Technology can help young people actively connect with their neighborhoods, but doing that requires different methods and tools from the ones typically available in schools, homes, and youth centers. This article introduces a theoretical framework describing the technical and nontechnical elements that must be considered in the implementation of technology initiatives for youth participation and local community engagement. The article then describes the application of the framework in two multiyear initiatives.     

当面试官问三年内,你有深造计划吗?

<正>首先,问题背后是招聘方的担心:担心优秀人才是否愿意在相对长的时间里与公司共同发展,还是只把公司当成跳板为以后继续进修积累经验。毕竟公司还是希望员工能稳定。求职者如果回答:是的,我有计划。准备3年之内重返校园或者出国。那么招聘