The Scout Report for Social Sciences - March 21, 2000

March 21, 2000

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The target audience of the new Scout Report for Social Sciences is faculty, students, staff, and librarians in the social sciences. Each biweekly issue offers a selective collection of Internet resources covering topics in the field that have been chosen by librarians and content specialists in the given area of study.

The Scout Report for Social Sciences is also provided via email once every two weeks. Subscription information is included at the bottom of each issue.

In This Issue

Research

Learning Resources

New Data

Current Awareness

In The News


Research

Oxford English Dictionary Online
http://www.oed.com/
On Tuesday, the Oxford University Press placed the world's most famous dictionary, the OED, on the Web. Individual and institutional subscribers will now have online access to what is indisputably the most authoritative and historical dictionary of the English language. In addition, the editors have announced plans to use the online version for the first comprehensive revision of the twenty-volume work (in regular-size print, plus three supplemental volumes) since the completion of the first edition's publication in 1928. Quarterly updates of the dictionary will involve adding new words and updating all 250,000 of the entries in the current version. The online edition allows users to conduct word or phrase searches, including proximity searches, of the full text or selected portions, such as etymologies, quotations, definitions, etc. -- searches that are functionally difficult or impossible in the print edition. The Web version will also have such additional features as links to scholarship about the dictionary, a "Word of the Day," opportunities for readers to provide lexicographical input to the ongoing revision, and more. But this marvel doesn't come cheap. Individual subscriptions are $550 per year; institutions will be charged $795 per annum. A free tour of the dictionary is available for prospective buyers who wish to kick the tires. We suspect this will be a must-have for academic institutions and larger public libraries, but individuals without a large cache of discretionary funds will just have to keep squinting at that little print. [DC]
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Archives of Maryland Online [QuickTime]
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/homepage/html/homepage.html
"The Maryland State Archives, through a grant from the Information Technology Fund of the state of Maryland, is working to provide on-line access to over one million historical documents that form the constitutional, legal, legislative, and administrative basis of Maryland government." Included here are documents from the following sources: legislative records, state council, judicial records, executive records, council of safety, land records, laws, codes, compilations, military records, constitutional conventions, public officials, and early state records. Recent editions to the electronic archive include the Proceedings and Acts of the 1796 General Assembly and Proceedings and Debates of the 1850, 1864, and 1967 State Constitutional Conventions. The archives are searchable as a whole or by selected section with a number of different parameter options available. Scholars doing research into the state of Maryland or the history of the early American Republic's governance will want to avail themselves of this site. [DC]
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The English Emblem Book Project [Java]
http://emblem.libraries.psu.edu/home.htm
The Penn State University Libraries have placed online nine emblem books printed in Early Modern England. These scanned versions of the complete texts provide scholars with "an unparalleled source not only for the study of daily life of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but also for extraordinary insights into what the intellectuals of the times viewed as a necessary adjunct to heraldry, social life, politics, philosophy, and moral behavior." Each of the texts is accompanied by complete bibliographical information, and the works are searchable (though the Java application used for the search engine may give some browsers difficulties). The materials are certainly a find for scholars interested in "the analysis of reading practices, printing history, Elizabethan popular culture, the use of allegory, and the relationship of word to image." [DC]
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2000 Trade Policy Agenda and 1999 Annual Report of the President of the United States on the Trade Agreements Program [.pdf]
http://www.ustr.gov/reports/tpa/2000/index.html
Released March 2nd, this annual report (see the April 5, 1996 Scout Report) outlines in detail the trade negotiations and agreements of the past year as well as the trade policy to be pursued for the coming year. As the last annual trade report of the Clinton administration, it "reviews in detail the record of the past seven years, including a special report on the WTO pursuant to our statutory requirement under Section 125 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act; and looks ahead to the challenges of the future." [DC]
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Psychology Resources: A Guide to Conducting Internet Research in Psychology
http://www.psychologyresources.net/site/resources.htm
This clearly organized site provides general instruction on finding one's psychological needle in the haystack of the Internet as well as annotated links and resources focused on the field of psychology. The site offers a tutorial on search strategies as well as annotated -- and sometimes indexed -- links to the following: search engines and subject directories suited for the discipline, "other information-finding sites" (such as gateways, databases and dictionaries), subject-specific sites, electronic libraries and their databases, online journal search engines and online journal titles, and more. A calendar of Psychology conferences is also posted. The "site was created in December 1999 as an academic research project by Melanie Pahlmann of Regis University in Denver, Colorado," and updated this month. [DC]
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Women in Politics: Bibliographic Database
http://www.ipu.org/bdf-e/BDfsearch.asp
This bibliographic database currently holds 650 titles of recent works concerned with women in politics. A new addition to the Inter-Parliamentary Union's "Democracy through Partnership between Men and Women in Politics" site, "it provides bibliographic references to books, reports and journal articles on all aspects of women's participation in political life worldwide." The search mechanism allows users to specify type of document, geographic region, publishing organization, subject matter, author, title of periodical, and year of publication. Alternatively, there is also a subject keyword search. For more information about the Inter-Parliamentary Union Website, see the December 12, 1997 Scout Report. [DC]
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Learning Resources

ThisNation: The American Government and Politics Portal
http://www.thisnation.com/index.shtml
This extraordinary Website bills itself as "the most comprehensive guide to American government and politics on the net," and from an educational standpoint, it is surely a major contender for the title. To begin with, ThisNation features an extensive library of major documents in American political history, including (but not nearly limited to) the Magna Carta, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, Washington's Farewell Address, The Federalist Papers, the Emancipation Proclamation, Madison's War Message of 1812, the Monroe Doctrine, the War Powers Resolution Act, over a dozen historic Supreme Court rulings, and The Atlantic Charter. The site also offers an online American Government and Politics Textbook that serves as an excellent primer on the American political process. In addition, the site contains learning tools designed separately for citizens, students, and teachers. ThisNation helps users stay current with a daily political briefing with hypertext links to major media outlets; a Capitol Watch that not only provides contact information for congresspeople and senators but follows important issues, legislation, and the 2000 congressional campaign; a search engine for 5,000 political Websites; and much more. Incredibly, the entire site is authored by one man, Jonathan Mott, a PhD in Political Science who has taught political science at the University of Oklahoma and at Brigham Young University. Professor Mott is available online to answer questions about American civics: just click the "Ask Dr. Mott" button on the sidebar menu. [DC]
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Conner Prairie: A Living History Museum in Fishers, Indiana
http://www.connerprairie.org/home.html
Sponsored by Conner Prairie, an AAM accredited open-air living history museum located in Fishers, this recently-updated Website features a wealth of materials concerning "the lives, times, attitudes, and values of early 19th-century settlers in the Old Northwest Territory, based upon the Indiana experience." Visitors to the site's Learning Pages will find full-text articles on dozens of pertinent topics, including Women's Legal Issues, Western Immigration, Early Indian Policies, Religion in Indiana in the 1830s, 19th-Century Politics, Farms and Farming, Travel and Transportation, and more. There are also primary documents here including significant official documents of early Indiana history and memoirs and diaries of public officials and pioneers. Educators and individuals interested in visiting this open-air museum will find a plethora of materials describing opportunities for educational participation at the museum. An impressive, very moderately priced distance learning program is also substantially previewed here. [DC]
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Beliefnet.com
http://www.beliefnet.com/
Founded by a former national editor for US News and World Report and the founder of The New England Monthly, this site is designed "to do whatever it takes to help individuals meet their own needs in the realm of religion, spirituality and morality." The site is a smorgasbord of inspiration, reportage, instruction, and commentary on religious and spiritual issues and experience. Menu sections include religion, spirituality, news, culture, family, teens, and milestones. There are columns here from top religion journalists across the country, special features on politics and religion (this week's deals with George Bush Jr. and the Christian Right) as well as cultural issues (such as the effort to censor Huckleberry Finn), spiritual advice from the Dalai Lama, guided meditations, reports on developments in various spiritual communities from Mormons to American Buddhists, and much, much more. While the site offers a vast array of materials, these materials are all from high quality, reputable sources in their respective fields. Thankfully, the site does offer a search engine. We suspect such a site could only be created by (and for) America's prodigious spiritual diversity. [DC]
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WebExhibits
http://webexhibits.com/
This directory of links to online exhibits covers the gamut from the biosphere to Rembrandt, from frogs to Freud, offering ratings and annotations of the Websites. One can use the keyword search engine to search for a specific subject or browse using subject headings that break down into more specific terms. The annotations are fairly informative, and the ratings of sites seem to reflect their attractiveness and critical mass; but we found some of the topic listings fairly idiosyncratic, such as Dolphins, the Oracle of the Sea (a Thinkquest site) listed under Veterinarian Medicine. Still, given the number and breadth of quality sites featured, this would be an excellent resource for educators seeking ways to integrate the Web into their teaching or even high school and college students looking for good research topics. Its attractive, easy-to-use presentation makes it a fine resource for younger students as well. This site was designed by Michael Douma Productions with initial support from the National Science Foundation (Division of Undergraduate Education). [DC]
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Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink
http://members.nbci.com/cariblink/Links.html
Self-described as "an international editorial team presenting comprehensive coverage of Caribbean Amerindian communities and educational resources," this site serves as a directory to online resources for its subdiscipline. The site provides annotated links to Websites dedicated to the Amerindians of various Caribbean islands as well as links to archives and libraries; debates, documents, and dissertations; archaeological reports and projects; online encyclopedia and reference materials; and links to art sites devoted to poetry, music, or the visual arts. Also featured is "A collection of Occasional Papers, sourced on- and off-site, reviewed and published or approved for linking by the Editors of the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink." [DC]
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Center for Nonverbal Studies: The Nonverbal Dictionary
http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/index.htm
The Center for Nonverbal Studies, a private, nonprofit research center located on the West Coast whose mission is to advance the study of human communication in all forms apart from language, offers online The Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs, and Body Language Cues. Compiled by PhD David B. Givens and drawing on the work of anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, linguists, psychiatrists, psychologists, semioticians, and others who study communication, this text is a fascinating compendium of brief essays on the way we say things without saying anything. From automobile grilles to folded arms to lawn ornaments to high heels, this text elucidates the language of nonverbal communication. New entries are added on a regular basis and featured at the Center's What's New page. The Website is affiliated with the Center for Ethnographic Research (CER) at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. [DC]
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Jones' Digital Telecommunications & Multimedia Encyclopedia
http://www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo/index.html
This online reference from Jones International, a leading firm in online postsecondary education, features dozens of entries on telecommunications and media topics and innovators. The entries are categorized by "technologies and trends, biographies, legislation, and company profiles." Included here are substantial hypertext articles on the history and development of printing, photography, computers, and software; as well as entries on crime on the Internet, cybersleuthing, Brian Eno, George Lucas, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and Xerox among others. Each week a new article is featured, and the entire encyclopedia is searchable (though we were unable to retrieve results on our visit). [DC]
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American Radio Works: Justice for Kosovo-Massacre at Cuska [RealPlayer]
http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/kosovo/index.htm
Posted by American Radio Works, a project of Minnesota Public Radio, this site examines in depth one incident of Serb atrocities against Albanians in 1999. The site employs slides, photos, audio segments, maps, and substantial print reportage to give visitors one small piece of the picture of Serb-Albanian conflict in Kosovo. There are interviews here with Serb Militia, the complete diary of a Serbian woman whose town suffered under NATO bombings, the full transcript of the Hague War Crimes Indictment, a description of Serbian police units that participated in the assault on Cuska, the narratives of three Albanian widows whose husbands were massacred, and more. American Radio Works is supported by NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. [DC]
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Discovery.com: Great Books Series [RealPlayer]
http://school.discovery.com/ontv/themes/greatbooks.html
This companion Website to ten one-hour Discovery specials airing next week offers teachers and students materials to enhance their study of some of the classics of Western literature. The site has sections on Pride and Prejudice,Heart of Darkness,All Quiet on the Western Front,Dracula, Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams,The Scarlet Letter,Lord of the Flies,Catch-22,Frankenstein, and Plato's Republic. In addition to brief video segments from the broadcasts and definitions of key terms, the site provides discussion questions and activities, including a link to Discovery's "Everyone's A Literary Critic" which takes students through the process of editing their own critical edition of a text. The site is highly useful for educators planning classroom activities, but less so for the person seeking general information about the authors and texts. The series will be rebroadcast again in early May and early June. [DC]
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New Data

National Institute on Drug Abuse: Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Report [.pdf, 82 pg.]
http://www.drugabuse.gov/STRC/STRCindex.html
The Secretary of Health and Human Services's Sixth Triennial Report To Congress On Drug Abuse And Addiction has been placed online. The report provides data on major forms of drug use (including marijuana, cocaine, nicotine, and anabolic steroids), information on links between drug abuse and infectious diseases, and an appendix detailing the types, medical uses, modes of transmission, and "period of detection" for commonly abused drugs. Subtitled "25 Years of Discovery to Advance the Health of the Public, " the report also summarizes National Institute on Drug Abuse research and findings in the areas of neurobiology, genetics, and behavior; treatment advances; drug use, HIV, and other infectious diseases; fetal and childhood development; prevention of drug use and addiction; women's health and gender differences; minority population studies; and outreach and international programs. The above address takes users to table of contents's links to the HTML version of the report; the report can also be downloaded from this page in .pdf format. [DC]
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American Religion Data Archive: Anti-Semitism In The United States, 1981 [ASCII, SPSS, Microcase 4.0]
http://www.thearda.com/archive/ANTSEM81.html
The American Religion Data Archive (see the December 11, 1998 Scout Report) has recently posted the results of a study of anti-Semitism. "The major topics covered include the anti-Semitic beliefs of non-Jews as well as the anti-Semitic experiences of Jews." The study also examines Christian fundamentalism and prevalent attitudes toward other racial and ethnic groups. The text of the questions and the numerical results and percentages may be viewed by clicking on the codebook link on the sidebar menu. In addition, users may browse the data file directory and download data sets in a variety of formats, including ASCII, SPSS, and Microcase 4.0. By clicking the analyze link, users may also analyze results according to demographic categories, such as race, sex, age, marital status, religion, and income. [DC]
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Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC): Customs and DEA Update
http://trac.syr.edu/traccus/index.html
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (last discussed in the September 9, 1999 Scout Report) has updated its data site on the Drug Enforcement Agency and added a new Customs Service data site. The DEA site features "numerous graphs, charts and tables, all based on data from the Justice Department, the federal court, the U.S. Sentencing Commission and numerous other sources." According to TRAC, this data shows "hard-to-explain regional variations in the enforcement activities and sentencing decisions found among the 90 federal judicial districts." In addition, the customs site data suggests that, while Customs Department convictions on drug-related offenses are sharply up, other convictions are down, indicating a change in enforcement focus. TRAC is associated with Syracuse University. [DC]
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Current Awareness
(For links to additional current awareness on tables of contents, abstracts, preprints, new books, data, conferences, etc., visit the The Scout Report for Social Sciences Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/socsci/metapage/).

Gun Control vs. Gun Rights
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/guns/
This Website from opensecrets.org (see the July 30, 1999 Scout Report) summarizes the current state of the debate including the positions of the interest groups on both sides and, most revealingly, offers statistics on campaign contributions from both sides of the debate to Congress. In addition, links are provided to a congressperson-by-congressperson breakdown of voting records vis-a-vis contributions received. Such a site may not resolve the constitutional (and sometimes metaphysical) issues involved in the gun debate, but it gives us a more realistic picture of how the politics of influence impact this issue. [DC]
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New Working Papers

Bugaric, Bojan. "States, Markets And Transition" [.pdf, 11 pg.]
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/groups/ccsa/bugaric2.PDF

Bumpass, Larry and Hsien-Hen Lu. "Trends in Cohabitation and Implications for Children's Family Contexts in the U.S." -- Center for Demography and Ecology [.pdf, 38 pg.]
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/98-15.pdf

Carter, Wendy Y. "The Effects of Changing Family Structures on Higher Education for Black and White American Cohorts: 1908-1969" -- Center for Demography and Ecology [.pdf, 61 pg.]
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/96-22.pdf

Dempsey, Lorcan et al. "Scientific, Industrial, And Cultural Heritage: A Shared Approach: A Research Framework For Digital Libraries, Museums And Archives" (Article in Ariadne No. 22)
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue22/dempsey/

Guillen, Mauro F. "Diversity in Globalization: Organizational Change in Argentina, South Korea and Spain" -- School of Social Science Occasional Papers [.pdf, 41 pg.]
http://www2.admin.ias.edu/ss/Papers/papersix.pdf

Hank, Karsten and Michaela Kreyenfeld. "Does The Availability Of Childcare Influence The Employment Of Mothers?: Findings From Western Germany" -- Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research [.pdf, 34 pg.]
http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Papers/Working/wp-2000-003.pdf

Pacheco, Luis Miguel. "Fiscal Federalism, EMU and Shock Absorption Mechanisms: A Guide to the Literature"
Abstract:
http://eiop.or.at/eiop/texte/2000-004a.htm
Full text:
http://eiop.or.at/eiop/texte/2000-004.htm
.pdf version:
http://eiop.or.at/eiop/pdf/2000-004.pdf
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New Think Tank Policy Papers and Briefs

The Urban Institute: Assessing the New Federalism:
Conover, Christopher J. and Hester H. Davies. "The Role of TennCare in Health Policy for Low-Income People in Tennessee"
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/occa33.html
.pdf version (3715K):
http://newfederalism.urban.org/pdf/occa33.pdf
Capizzano, Jeffery and Gina Adams. "The Number of Child Care Arrangements Used by Children Under Five: Variation Across States"
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/series_b/b12/b12.html
.pdf version (8 pages):
http://newfederalism.urban.org/pdf/anf_b12.pdf

Capizzano, Jeffery and Gina Adams. "The Hours that Children Under Five Spend in Child Care: Variation Across States"
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/series_b/b8/b8.html
.pdf version (8 pages):
http://newfederalism.urban.org/pdf/anf_b8.pdf

Capizzano, Jeffery, Gina Adams, and Freya Sonenstein. "Child Care Arrangements for Children Under Five: Variation Across States"
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/series_b/b7.html
.pdf version (8 pages):
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/series_b/b7.html

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 2000:
Smith, Lisa C. and Lawrence Haddad. "Overcoming Child Malnutrition In Developing Countries: Past Achievements And Future Choices"
Brief:
http://www.cgiar.org/ifpri/2020/briefs/number64.htm
Full text (.pdf version, 1341K):
http://www.cgiar.org/ifpri/checknames.cfm/2020dp30.pdf?name=2020dp30.pdf&direc=D:\Inetpub\cgiarweb\ifpri\2020\dp

Oxfam Policy Papers:
"Education for All: a Compact for Africa"
(OxfamGB/ Action Aid joint position paper - Nov 99)
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/papers/eduafr.htm
.rtf version:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/papers/eduafr.rtf

Institute of Development Studies:
Devereux, Stephen. "Famine in the Twentieth Century" [.pdf, 40 pg.]
http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/publicat/wp/wp105.pdf

The Commonwealth Fund:
Sandman, David and Elisabeth Simantov. "Five Boroughs, Common Problems: The Uninsured in New York City"
http://www.cmwf.org/programs/newyork/sandman_nycfactsheet_369.asp
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New Offerings from Academic Publishers

Association of American University Presses: New Releases
http://aaup.uchicago.edu/new_releases/

Michigan State University Press Online -- New Releases
http://www.msu.edu/unit/msupress/newrel/newrlst.html

Cambridge University Press
http://www.cup.org/books/hot.html

Basic Books: New Releases
http://www.basicbooks.com/newreleases.html

Thela Thesis -- Just Published
http://www.thelathesis.nl/new.html

Perseus Publishing -- Book News (click on category)
http://www.perseuspublishing.com/booknews.html
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Conferences

Seminars on Humanities Computing
Oxford University Computing Services
July 10-14, 2000
Oxford, England
http://www.hcu.ox.ac.uk/Summer/

International Comparative Programmes in the Social Sciences (UNESCO-MOST)
Summer School 2000
June 20-25, 2000
Sofia, Bulgaria
http://www.unesco.org/most/summersc.htm

International Congress of Americanists
"The Americas' Universal Messages for the XXI Century"
July 10-14, 2000
Warsaw, Poland
http://www.cesla.ci.uw.edu.pl/50ICA/

American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
"Socially Intelligent Agents - The Human in the Loop"
Fall Symposium, November 3-5, 2000
Sea Crest Resort, North Falmouth, MA
http://www.cyber.rdg.ac.uk/people/kd/WWW/SIA-2000.html
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New Tables of Contents/ Abstracts/ Online Journals

The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research (table of contents, abstracts)
Vol. 27, Nos. 1 and 2
http://www.fmhi.usf.edu/jbhsr/jbhsrv27toc.html

The Stoic Voice Journal (New Online Publication)
Vol. 1, Nos. 1 and 2
http://www.joinme.net/stoicvoice/

New Media and Society (table of contents, abstracts)
Vol. 2, No. 1 (March 2000)
http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journals/search.asp

Jewish Social Studies (full text)
Vol. 6, No. 1 (Fall 1999)
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jewish_social_studies/toc/jss6.1.html

International Journal of Lexicography (table of contents, some abstracts)
Vol. 13, No. 1 (March 2000)
http://www3.oup.co.uk/lexico/hdb/Volume_13/Issue_01/
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Job Guides

H-Net Job Guide
http://www.matrix.msu.edu/jobs/

The Chronicle of Higher Education Job Openings
Humanities
http://jobs.chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/humanities/links.htm
Social Science
http://jobs.chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/sscience/links.htm

Academic Employment Network (By State)
http://www.academploy.com/jobs.cfm

American College Personnel Association: ACPA Ongoing Placement Listings
http://www.acpa.nche.edu/placemnt/placemnt.htm

Academic 360.com (Update of Jobs in Higher Education site)
http://www.academic360.com/
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In The News

Taiwan Takes Another Step Towards Independence?
1. Asia Society: The 2000 Taiwan Presidential Elections
http://www.asiasociety.org/publications/taiwan_elections.html
2. BBC News: Taiwan Vote 2000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/asia_pacific/2000/taiwan_election/default.stm
3. Taiwan Headlines :Full Coverage of Presidential Elections
http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/20000319/
4. IntellectualCapital.com: "A New Generation Seizes Power"
http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue355/item8794.asp
5. James Soong's Website
http://www.soong.org.tw/global/
6. Taiwan Research Institute:
http://www.taiwaninformation.org/home.htm
7. RAND Report: Taiwan's National Security, Defense Policy, and Weapons Procurement Processes
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1128/index.html
8. US State Department: Background Notes, Taiwan August 1999
http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/taiwan_899_bgn.html
On Saturday, the Republic of China elected Chen Shui-bian (pronounced chen shway-bien) as president. The leader of the opposition's Democratic Progressive Party, Chen had called for Taiwan's independence from China, which had responded to such rhetoric with threats of invasion were Chen to be elected. Thus far, no invasion is imminent, but an olive branch from Chen in the form of a request for immediate talks was rejected by Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Zemin has made Chen's acceptance of eventual reunification with China (known as the "one China" policy) a precondition of any further discussion. Meanwhile, the Taiwan stock market fell sharply, losing three percent in morning trading yesterday. Supporters of the Nationalist Party, which had been in power for the last half century, and whose candidate, Lee Teng-hui, came in a dismal third in the election, stormed the Nationalist Party headquarters Sunday demanding Lee's immediate resignation. Concerned about destabilization as a result of Chen's election, the White House prepared to have National Security Advisor Sandy Berger join Ambassador Richard Holbrooke in Beijing to urge patience on China's part while the State Department sought another official -- possibly former Democratic representative Lee Hamilton -- to send to Taiwan to counsel similar caution.

Asia Society's site (1) provides comprehensive background on the issues, the candidates, the parties, and past election results. In a similar vein, a special BBC Website (2) contains, among other things, the latest election news, features and analysis, background on the candidates, economic impacts of the results, and a Taiwan timeline from 1945 to the present. Taiwan Headlines(3), the Republic of China's "first English-language daily e-paper," supplies readers with coverage and background from a Taiwanese perspective. Julian Weiss, writing for IntellectualCapital.com (4), offers an election eve analysis that examines the election in terms of more long-term shifting social forces in Taiwan, focusing in particular on the political ascendancy of a younger generation. The Website of independent candidate James Soong (5), who came in a very close second and many see as the likely leader of the new opposition, features biographical background, public relations material, and the candidate's position on key issues. The Taiwan Research Institute (6) , a nonprofit research organization based in Taipei, offers background analysis and relevant Taiwanese political history. A Rand report (7) examines Taiwan's "national security decisionmaking structure and process and the primary factors guiding its defense strategy, force structure, and military procurement decisions," analyzing Taiwan's decision to acquire major weapons and related support systems from foreign sources, especially the United States. Finally, the background notes of the State Department (8) provide substantial information about Taiwan's history, economics, demographics, culture, and politics. [DC]
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