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Monthly Archives: September 2016

Census of Problem-Solving Courts, 2012

Suzanne M. Strong, Ph.D., Ramona R. Rantala, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Tracey Kyckelhahn, Ph.D., Former BJS Statistician. September 15, 2016. NCJ 249803 “Describes type, location, and characteristics of all known problem-solving courts in 2012. Types of problem-solving courts include drug, mental health, family, youth specialty, hybrid DWI/drug, DWI, domestic violence, veterans, tribal wellness, and other… Continue Reading

You Can’t Write Without Research: The Role of Research Instruction in the Upper-Level Writing Requirement

Drake, Alyson, You Can’t Write Without Research: The Role of Research Instruction in the Upper-Level Writing Requirement (2016). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2841860 “The majority of law students still meet the ABA’s upper-level writing requirement using a piece of scholarly legal writing. Despite this, most students receive little-to-no formal scholarly research and writing instruction.… Continue Reading

Infographic: How Gay Marriage Finally Won In The U.S. Supreme Court

Via GOOD – Infographic by Eric Sasson Katie Wudel “Rallying against same-sex unions used to be a mandatory battle cry for politicians. Today, gay marriage isn’t just legal in all 50 states, it’s normal. How did we reach mass acceptance in 10 years? Here, we’ve mapped out the series of lawsuits and referendums that took place alongside… Continue Reading

GAO – Combating Wildlife Trafficking

Combating Wildlife Trafficking: Agencies Are Taking a Range of Actions, but the Task Force Lacks Performance Targets for Assessing Progress, GAO-16-717: Published: Sep 22, 2016. Publicly Released: Sep 22, 2016. “Africa’s iconic elephants and rhinos face extinction The illegal trade in wildlife is worth an estimated $7 billion to $23 billion annually—and is pushing some… Continue Reading

OPM Announces 2016 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey Results

“The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) today released agency-level results from the 2016 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). The 2016 FEVS was administered to 407,789 employees representing 80 (38 large / 42 small) Federal agencies. These results provided through UnlockTalent.gov contain scores for two major indices — Employee Engagement and Global Job Satisfaction across… Continue Reading

Paper – Examining the costs and causes of cyber incidents

Examining the costs and causes of cyber incidents, Sasha Romanosky, Journal of Cybersecurity, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyw001. First published online: 25 August 2016. “In 2013, the US President signed an executive order designed to help secure the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyberattacks. As part of that order, he directed the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST)… Continue Reading

Kaiser – How Much Has Medicare Spent on the EpiPen Since 2007?

Kaiser Data Note: “The latest example of high and rising prescription drug prices to attract significant media and public attention relates to the EpiPen, an auto-injector containing the drug epinephrine which is used to reverse the effects of severe allergic reactions. Since Mylan acquired the EpiPen from Merck in 2007, the company has increased the… Continue Reading

The Atlantic – What Congress Is Actually Good at

Michelle Cottle is a contributing editor at The Atlantic: “Because while some of Congress’s flashier oversight crusades reek of politics, the committees are in many ways doing the Lord’s work. It’s just that no one hears much about the not-so-sexy, not-so-partisan probes that actually seek to improve government. “No doubt there have been some abuses… Continue Reading

Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement September 21 2016

Release Date: September 21, 2016: “Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in July indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and growth of economic activity has picked up from the modest pace seen in the first half of this year. Although the unemployment rate is little changed in recent months,… Continue Reading

Duke University Libraries receive grant to transform prison into farm and education center

News release: “The Duke University Libraries have received a $52,647 grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to help transform an abandoned prison into a sustainable farm and education center through the magic of virtual reality. “It’s not easy to visualize how an abandoned and unused prison can be repurposed to help a struggling… Continue Reading

Researching Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Resources for Congressional Staff

Researching Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Resources for Congressional Staff, Jerry W. Mansfield, Lead Information Services Coordinator. September 19, 2016. “This report is designed to introduce congressional staff to selected governmental and nongovernmental sources that are useful in tracking and obtaining information on federal legislation and regulations. It includes governmental sources, such… Continue Reading