Article Alert

November / December 2008

ALERT, a monthly publication of the Information Resource Center at the American Center for Educational Exchange, offers abstracts of current articles in major areas of U.S. domestic or international affairs. Full-text articles are available to you upon request. To request articles, please contact the Information Resource Center by telephone , fax, e-mail ircacee@state.gov, or by mail. To request by mail, please circle the articles you wish to receive, include your name, address, and telephone number and return this list to us.  DISCLAIMER: articles and links to non-U.S. government Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

The Rule of Law

1. AMERICA'S HARD SELL
Jentleson, Bruce; Weber, Steven
Foreign Policy, vol. 169, November-December 2008, pp. 43-49

Jentleson and Weber, professors of political science at Duke University and the University of California at Berkeley respectively, argue that the public diplomacy strategies of the last century won't work as well in the 21st century. The "War of Ideas" metaphor is outdated and should be replaced with the "Marketplace of Ideas" where the U.S. competes for market share against other ideologies, some from nonstate sources. The authors contend that ideology is the most important component of national powers, technology massively multiplies soft power, and "domestic values" and "international values" must be consistent. The authors write that the U.S. will have to compete with countries, global corporations, religious movements, Internet communities -- each with strengths and shortcomings -- on a level playing field.

2. MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR PARTIAL DEMOCRACY? QUESTIONING THE PREMISES OF DEMOCRACY PROMOTION
Goldsmith, Arthur
International Security, vol. 33, no. 2, Fall 2008, pp. 120-147

Goldsmith, professor of management at the University of Massachusetts Boston, asserts that democracy promotion is a favorable strategy to advance the cause of world peace, especially in the Middle East, but undifferentiated democracy promotion has two faulty premises. First, all progress toward the establishment of democratic regimes does not necessarily make the global community safer. Second, regime change is not something external actors have the capacity to guide in the desired direction. The first assumption fails to consider the well-documented security problems caused by partial democracies, and the second assumption overstates the ability of powerful outsiders to induce transitions to full democracy. Goldsmith writes that a cautious and selective approach to democracy promotion is better than a "one-size-fits-all" blanket approach that disregards the nature of each situation.

3. THE NEW LIBERALISM
Packer, George
New Yorker, vol. 84, no. 37, November 17, 2008

After looking back at presidential history, interviewing President-elect Obama's advisors, and reviewing Obama's words from his books and campaign speeches, Packer tries to describe how Obama might lead the country. Packer compares this moment to the election of President Roosevelt in 1932 but believes in Obama's idea of "deliberative democracy", in which adults listen to one another -- "who attempt to persuade one another by means of argument and evidence, and who remain open to the possibility that they could be wrong." Obama reads widely from both the "right-wing and left-wing book clubs" but Packer states that Obama's liberalism is more procedural than substantive -- his most fervent belief is in rules and standards of serious debate. Packer believes that Obama will favor activist government in questions of social welfare such as jobs, income, health care and energy but will attempt to accommodate differences on social and legal issues such as guns, abortion, the death penalty, same-sex marriage, the courts and the constitution.

4. THE PRIVATIZATION OF CIVIL JUSTICE
Murray, Peter L.
Judicature, vol. 91, no. 6, May-June 2008, pp. 272-275, 315-316

Murray, professor of law at Harvard University, describes the evolution of the civil justice industry with arbitrators and mediators -- private practitioners rather than public officers deciding cases. As a result of too many court cases, Congress has encouraged arbitration and mediation; Murray believes that the mediators and arbitrators now require more oversight. Only 1-2 percent of civil cases are heard by judges, and arbitrators/mediators may be influenced by repeat customers. He describes one arbitrator who decided 19 times for a credit card company; after deciding against the credit card company, he stopped getting cases. Along with other improvements, Murray suggests that Congress amend the Federal Arbitration Act to protect consumers and non-repeat players, allow judicial review of mediation and arbitration decisions, and provide mediation within the civil justice system using the court's judges as mediators.

5. STATE OF BLOGGING
Jackson, Nancy Mann
State Legislatures, Vol. 34, No. 5, May 2008, pp. 30-32

Mann discusses state legislators' use of blogs as a method of communication for their constituents. While some representatives get a lot of coverage in traditional media, others who are closer to metropolitan centers have a more difficult time getting exposure. Blogs provide an easy and cheap means of publicity and a new way for constituents to meet their elected officials. Blogs are also helping to create transparency in government; state legislators enjoy the opportunity to engage directly with constituents and let them know what is going on in the state capitol as it is happening. Research has shown that those who are involved in the online community are often civically engaged offline. While this is a relatively new technology, Dr. David Wyld, professor of management at Southeastern Louisiana University and author of "The Blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of Web 2.0," says that this will be a feature constituents will come to expect from their elected officials in five to ten years. First Amendment activists are concerned, however, about the comments feature on these blogs. Some are worried that filtering inappropriate comments may infringe upon a public forum (state legislators' blogs are often hosted on government Web sites).

Economics and Trade

6. ANATOMY OF A MELTDOWN
Cassidy, John
New Yorker, December 1, 2008

The author chronicles the U.S. financial history of the last two years and the role of Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank. In hindsight, it still isn't easy to judge the whether Bernanke, described by fellow economists as "the smartest guy in the room," should have done things differently or if he did it right. Cassidy says that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Bernanke employed the "finger-in-the-dike" strategy, attempting to deep the financial sector operating so that it could repair itself. As more financial institutions failed and the government put more resources into bailing out the financial sector, the Federal Reserve Board has become engaged in the boldest exercise of its authority since its inception in 1913. Bernanke believes that the Fed's bold action has avoided a disaster. Cassidy describes the views of the Fed's proponents and critics and the reasoning behind each of the various financial bailouts.

7. CHANGE IS IN THE AIR
Swelbar, William
Foreign Policy, vol. 169, November/December 2008, pp. 40-41

Only a complete overhaul can save the airline industry in the face of the current global recession and high fuel prices, says Swelbar, a research engineer at MIT's International Center for Air Transportation. So far this year, more airlines around the world went bankrupt than in the aftermath of September 11, mostly because of high fuel prices. U.S. airlines still dominate the field but regional budget carriers in China and Europe are rapidly catching up. U.S. carriers are overextended, flying almost everywhere and often; this translates into higher passenger numbers but not necessarily higher revenue. They have reduced (or kept steady) their labor and maintenance costs, but the share of fuel costs in the overall costs has more than doubled since 2003. A short article with much statistical data suggests that, to survive, U.S. airlines will have to pare their routes and number of flights and charge much higher prices.

8. THE END
Lewis, Michael
Conde Nast Portfolio, December 2008

In this article Lewis, a former Wall Street investment banker and the author of LIAR'S POKER, returns to his old haunts to chronicle the causes of the monumental collapse of the financial markets that the Wall Street firms brought about. He writes that even financial-world insiders had a hard time grasping the scope of the economic bubble in housing and finance that evolved during the past decade. Lewis profiles a small group of bankers and hedge-fund managers who shared a jaded view of Wall Street, and who were among the few who realized that Wall Street had constructed a "doomsday machine" that would eventually implode.

9. FALSE READINGS: HOW THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT LEADS US ASTRAY
Rowe, Jonathan
Columbia Journalism Review, vol. 47, no. 4, November/December 2008, pp. 22-24

The Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, was devised as a planning tool by economist Simon Kuznets at the U. S. Commerce Department in 1933 to help navigate the Depression. Since that time it has been extensively used -- erroneously, according to the author -- as a barometer of how the economy is doing. Looking at GDP alone without examining the side effects of "growth" gives an inaccurate picture, Rowe maintains. Some effects, assumed harmless, may not be when consumption is the result of diseases caused by industrial pollution, a byproduct of growth. Kuznets, who ultimately won a Nobel Prize, came to see "fixation on the GDP as fundamentally misguided." The author offers Kuznets' view that knowing exactly what is growing and the effects of that growth is as important as knowing the rate of economic growth.

10. HOW ECONOMICS CAN DEFEAT CORRUPTION
Fisman, Raymond; Miguel, Edward
Foreign Policy, no. 168, September/October 2008, pp. 66-74

The authors note that we have very little idea about how corruption works or how pervasive it is. Corruption undermines the rule of law, distorts trade, and confers economic advantages on a privileged few. It prevents aid money from reaching disaster victims, topples buildings thanks to shoddy construction, and strangles business with the constant burden of bribes and payoffs. The hidden underworld of corruption often reveals itself in unexpected ways and in situations that allow people not only to measure actual corruption but to test different methods of preventing it. They write that governments should become more experimental, in how they deal with their corruption problems, and must think seriously about evaluating what does and does not work in the real world. At some point, economic theories must be tested in the chaos of real economies to see which anticorruption approaches work, whether it is some combination of higher salaries, government transparency, or stricter punishments. If policymakers work to end corruption systematically, they may just find that economics, armed with a little creativity, can make corruption a little less common.

11. THE PLUG-IN REVOLUTION
Leonard, Jeffrey
Washington Monthly, vol. 40, no. 6, August/September/October 2008, pp. 26-30

Leonard, an energy equity firm manager, describes the energy policies of Senator McCain and Obama as well as T. Boone Pickens' "Pickens's Plan." Leonard's criticism is that each plan involves a multiyear, massive-spending government initiative which displaces foreign oil with domestically produced liquid fuel. Leonard argues that this will not add up to a long-term energy plan solution for transportation. With electrification, policymakers won't need to settle on a "favorite fuel"; the free market can determine the mix of generation resources. Leonard believes that electrification is the best and only way to create a clean and secure energy future.

12. REPUBLIC OF THE CENTRAL BANKER
Delong, J. Bradford
American Prospect, vol. 19, no. 11, November 2008, pp. 14-17

The author, professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley and former deputy assistant secretary of the treasury in the Clinton administration, writes that Ben Bernanke "is the closest thing to a central economic planner the United States has ever had". He notes that the fate of the U.S. economy depends much more upon the Federal Reserve chairman than on the president. Delong believes that Bernanke may very well be the right person for his job at this juncture in U.S. economic history; a former chair of the economics department at Princeton University, Bernanke is a student of the Great Depression, and his highest priority is to avoid the mistakes that were made at the time. The evolution of central banks on either side of the Atlantic was not by design, notes Delong, but came about through a series of accidents and crises. The absence of a central bank in the U.S. was blamed for most of the financial panics between the 1860s and World War I; presidential administrations after World War II did not plan to turn over macroeconomic policy to the Federal Reserve, writes Delong -- "it just seemed like the least-bad idea at the time."

13. WALL STREET LAYS ANOTHER EGG
Ferguson, Niall
Vanity Fair, December 2008

Ferguson, professor of history at Harvard University and fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, notes that the worldwide financial crisis is about more than the stock market; it is "a fundamental breakdown of the entire financial system, extending from the monetary-and-banking system through the bond market, the stock market, the insurance market, and the real-estate market. It is global in scope and unfathomable in scale." Credit and money have been growing faster than underlying economic activity for several decades, to the point where, two years ago, the total value of domestic and international bonds was forty percent higher than the economic output of the entire world. Says Ferguson, "Planet Finance was beginning to dwarf Planet Earth; Planet Finance seemed to spin faster, too." He notes that the "hunt for scapegoats is futile. We have all played a part ... we shall now have to question some of our most deeply rooted assumptions" about the nature of the modern economic system.

Global Issues / Environment

14. THE BIGGER TENT
Cooper, Ann
Columbia Journalism Review, Vol. 47, no. 3, September/October 2008, pp. 45-47

The question of "who is a journalist" is a thing of the past, with bloggers, amateur videographers, and others now widely recognized as falling within the "big tent" of mainstream journalism. The author says barriers will continue to erode, and while more traditional journalists are adopting the less formal blogs along with news aggregates, the bloggers are also doing some original reporting, along with disseminating news and opinion. The better question now is "what is journalism"; the author says the best of both worlds can be combined for the good of the public. "Old media will have to let go of some attitudes and assumptions that are no longer relevant, and new media will need to recognize standards that can infuse credibility and trust into this new journalism," she says. The goal of the fourth estate to hold power accountable, inform the citizenry and strengthen democracy still remains intact in this new age of journalism, she argues.

15. CHARTICLE FEVER
Stickney, Dane
American Journalism Review, vol. 30, no. 5, October-November 2008, pp. 36-39

A fast-growing trend in newspapers is the charticle -- a bite-size combination of words, images and graphics. Some newsrooms call them blurbs. No matter what the name, these easy-to-digest forms for relaying information are becoming all the rage among newspapers eager to attract young readers away from the Internet and appeal to busy readers short on time. Detractors say charticles contain too much personal opinion and lack detail. Supporters say charticles are readable ways to present mundane information.

16. OVERLOAD! JOURNALISM'S BATTLE FOR RELEVANCE IN AN AGE OF TOO MUCH INFORMATION
Nordenson, Bree
Columbia Journalism Review, vol. 47, no. 4, November/December 2008

The vast amount of information available on the Internet, and the limited ability of human beings to consume it, is affecting news production, distribution and design. It may also have a long-term negative effect on readers subjected to the overload, studies find. Some news organizations, such as the Associated Press, have taken heed and altered their formats; nonetheless, interruptive clutter abounds. Seemingly limitless freedom of choice becomes a burden which may change the roles of news agencies and journalists from being gatekeepers to guides through the information glut.

17. SURFACE ROUTINES: HOW WE READ ON THE WEB
Meyer, Michael
Columbia Journalism Review, vol. 47, no. 4, November/December 2008

People's limitations when faced with the huge volume of information on the Internet, coupled with their compulsion to know what is there, is changing the way people read printed and online material. In-depth reading is often replaced by skimming greater quantities of content. Studies, such as that by Jakob Nielsen, show that people read much less in their pursuit of relevant information. Although some fear a negative impact on introspective literacy, evidence from a 2007 Poynter Institute EyeTrack study indicates readers online read substantially more text than those devoted to print, and were drawn by text rather than photos. The author concludes that while the Web may influence behavior, it merely highlights cultural inadequacies already present in social and educational institutions.

18. TOMORROWLAND: AN ECO-SMART DESIGN COMPETITION TURNS "WHAT IFS" INTO "WHAT IS"
Boyd, E.B.
Utne Reader, vol. 149, September/October 2008, pp. 38-41

The non-profit "Conscious Choice" sponsored a design competitions for forward-thinking ideas in the energy, transportation, commerce, community and "city block" categories. 70% of the competition entries came from students and included playgrounds which convert "kid power" into electricity for LED lights, a farm park which allows commuters to buy local food as they connect to public transportation, green building, and recyclable housing. The competition's goal is to inspire real-world designers to think about new ways to make city life healthier and more sustainable.

Regional Security

19. AFRICOM STANDS UP
Pham, J. Peter
World Defense Review, October 2, 2008

The author, Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University, says the new sixth U.S. regional military command, which became fully operational October 1, 2008, is defined by the goal of empowering Africans and other partners to deal with the man-made and natural challenges facing Africa, fighting terrorism and protecting access to strategic resources on the continent. He says the civilian experts and military officers that staff AFRICOM know well that diplomatic outreach, political persuasion and economic programs are the key to the success of U.S. policy in Africa. Will the command succeed in its mission over time? The author says only time will tell "but given the strategic interests at stake, both for the United States and for its African partners, it is an effort certainly worth undertaking."

20. THE ANGLO-AMERICAN MISALLIANCE
Abramsky, Sasha
World Policy Journal, vol. 25, no. 1, Spring 2008, pp. 72-79

Most Americans believe that they share a "special relationship" with the United Kingdom. However, modern Americans and Britons do not understand or appreciate the role their countries currently play in world affairs. Abramsky, senior fellow at the Demos think tank, offers suggestions to clear up the misunderstandings between these two countries. Americans need to understand how their actions are perceived by the British while the British must be more understanding of the challenges facing the United States. Both countries should look to their own pasts in order to understand the other's present; a century ago, Great Britain was engaged in several wars to maintain its empire and America found that behavior hostile and aggressive. Understanding the British past may also give the U.S. insight into this country's future.

21. THE ART OF PETRAEUS
Hammes, T.X.
National Interest, No. 98, November-December 2008, pp. 53-59

According to Hammes, retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, what General David Petraeus did to turn around the war in Iraq was make careful analysis of the actual situation on the ground and then have the will and judgment to carry out the military campaign based on that analysis. The wrong idea to take away is that a troop surge is a replicable, universal approach to countering an insurgency. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, for example, a simple solution does not exist. Despite the experience in Iraq, a number of bureaucratic and legislative reasons make unlikely that the Defense Department will focus enough attention on fighting insurgencies and too much attention on fighting conventional wars. "We need a flexible force that can organize to fight nation-states as well as nonstate actors," Hammes writes.

22. BUILDING A MODEL PUBLIC HISTORY PROGRAM: THE OFFICE OF THE HISTORIAN AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Ahlberg, Kristin
Public Historian, vol. 30, no. 2, May 2008, pp. 9-28

The author, a Historian in the Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, presents the evolution of a model public history program. The Office of the Historian in the U.S. Department of State has engaged in an expanding series of historical outreach programs aimed at both new and old audiences. The Foreign Relations of the United States series is still the major publication produced by this office and provides an accurate record of diplomatic correspondence and decisions for any given year. The production of this series has benefited from the application of new technologies as the Office of the Historian at the U.S. Department of State adapts to meet the challenges of new realities and emerge as a model public history program.

23. BUSH'S LEGACY
Frum, David
Foreign Policy, no. 168, September/October 2008, pp. 32-38

The author, a former speechwriter and special assistant to President Bush, and now a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, admits that the president may be the most unpopular president in modern times, often considered a "reckless, unilateralist cowboy", but history will be kinder to George W. Bush than contemporary caricatures. After eight years, he leaves behind much more than a defeated dictator in Iraq. His successes include closer ties to India, a pragmatic relationship with China, pressure applied to Iran that will pay dividends for years to come, the signing of new bilateral trade agreements, and the world's first convention on cybercrime. In the two decades leading up to Bush's presidency, the US and its allies were struck by a rising number of increasingly ambitious, aggressive, and deadly terrorist attacks. Conversely, if Iran is allowed to follow North Korea into the nuclear weapons club, it could well be the failure to act against the other two thirds of the "axis of evil," not the willingness to act in Iraq, that will be regarded as the most important decision of the Bush years. Bush's political opponents will continue to attack him after he leaves the presidency. Just as the Bush presidency led Democrats to express an unexpected nostalgia for Ronald Reagan, the next Republican president can expect to hear from pundits and academics alike that he falls far short of the high standard set by the last one.

24. THE DEFENSE INHERITANCE: CHALLENGES AND CHOICES FOR THE NEXT PENTAGON TEAM
Flournoy, Michele; Brimley, Shawn
Washington Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 4, Autumn 2008, pp. 59-76

The authors, both with the Center for a New American Security, note that when Barack Obama is inaugurated in January, he will face "the most daunting defense inheritance in generations" -- wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the search for bin Laden; the increasing power of China, Russia, India, and Pakistan; changes in the nature of war, as shown by the Israeli experience in Lebanon; cyberspace warfare; instability on the world's oceans; and broader systemic problems such as climate change and increased competition for resources, including food. This dire situation is compounded by American budgetary woes made worse by the economic crisis, the spiraling costs of entitlements, and the exploding costs of the two wars. The Pentagon will be forced to make tough choices regarding personnel and weapons programs. The authors note that the Defense Department "cannot afford to continue hemorrhaging taxpayer dollars because of its broken acquisition system." Other problems facing the new administration include countering weapons of mass destruction, reducing the U.S. nuclear posture, reexamining the U.S. global military posture, sustaining the all-volunteer force, fixing dysfunctional management processes, and improving interagency cooperation.

25. HISTORY'S BACK
Kagan, Robert
Weekly Standard, Vol. 13, no. 46, August 25, 2008, pp. 18-23

In an analysis of Russia's return to an authoritarian system of governance, Kagan notes that "the core assumptions of the post-Cold War years have proved mistaken." While the West assumed that more open markets and capitalistic economic activity in Russia and China would lead to greater political freedoms, "the autocracies of Russia and China have figured out how to permit open economic activity while suppressing political activity." Kagan sees a period of growing tensions ahead, but he does not believe that the West and the U.S. are in a poor position to respond. Despite the damage the war in Iraq has done to U.S. popularity in the world, Kagan sees the traditional allies "pursuing policies that reflect more concern about the powerful autocratic states in their midst than about the United States." He writes that "the future is up for grabs" and the U.S. and other democratic nations must rise to the challenge of "keeping the hopes for democracy alive in Russia and China."

26. OBAMA'S WORLD; CHALLENGES FACING BARACK OBAMA
--
Economist, vol. 389, no. 8605, November 8-14, 2008, pp. 31-32, 34

The historic election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president of the U.S. will be tempered by the huge domestic and global challenges Obama faces when he moves into the White House in January. In his 2006 book, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, Obama wrote of America's need to build a new international consensus to confront transnational threats. The world of great-power rivalry, he argued, no longer exists but the argument can be made that old-fashioned competition between the powers has come back with a vengeance since the fleeting post-Soviet interlude of the 1990s. This is hardly the agenda Obama would have chosen for himself, but he will begin his term as a war president, one who has promised to end the war in Iraq but to win the one in Afghanistan. Obama has inherited a world of pressing troubles, but as he tackles them he will have to keep an eye on the longer game -- how to prepare for the day when America may no longer be the sole superpower and only one of many big powers.

U.S. Society and Values

27. EDS, MEDS AND URBAN REVIVAL
Gurwitt, Rob
Governing, May 2008

In many American cities, a university or medical system is the largest private employer, and in four of them -- Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, San Diego and Baltimore -- universities and medical systems generate more than half the jobs among the 10 largest employers. Taking Birmingham, Alabama, as an example, Gurwitt looks at how local political and civic leaders are beginning to think strategically about how "eds and meds" can be used to further economic and community development. It is widely acknowledged that, without the University of Alabama, Birmingham would have collapsed in the 1980s when U.S. Steel shut down the mills that provided the city's identity for more than a century. Today, the university, with its medical school and hospital system, is a major source of economic development in Birmingham. Universities have big money to spend and they don't get bought out or relocated -- but they have not always recognized their local responsibilities. "The priorities of the university, the city and the state all move in different directions, making intensive collaboration difficult to build," Gurwitt says. Universities look to their alumni, students and state legislatures for money, and Birmingham city leaders have not been as supportive of the university's needs with the state legislature as they might have been. But now in Birmingham there's a new appreciation for the role the university plays in the city's economy.

28. HIDDEN HURT
Otto, Mary
Washington Post Magazine, November 9, 2008, pp. 8-15

One of the most important priorities for President-elect Barack Obama will be to address the health care for Americans, especially those in the lower income levels. At the Wise County, Virginia fairgrounds, the Remote Area Volunteer Medical Corps makes an annual three-day visit to establish a health clinic for people with no place else to go. In tents, barns and exhibition halls, the medical staff use clotheslines, hospital sheets and medical clamps to set up examination rooms, surgeries, a vast open-air dental clinic, a laboratory, eye and ear clinics and a pharmacy. During this three-day period, more than 800 volunteer doctors, dentists, nurses and other health-care workers come from all over Virginia and beyond to this isolated Appalachian locale to provide free medical care to those who cannot afford it.

29. LIBRARIES CONNECT COMMUNITIES
Barber, Peggy; Wallace, Linda
American Libraries, vol. 39, no. 9, October 2008, pp. 52-55

The authors, cofounders of the Chicago-based consulting firm Library Communication Strategies, produce the Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study, which provides data and insights to help libraries and library staff strengthen their advocacy efforts and market themselves more effectively. Now in its second year, the study documents the proliferation of information technology in libraries and gathers the only data available on technology expenditures. Even before the latest economic downturn, most directors anticipated flat or declining revenues due to growing resistance to taxes and government budget deficits. The authors confirm that many libraries are increasingly turning to grants, fundraising, and gifts to supplement public financing. Not surprisingly, people at libraries with newer computers expressed a high level of satisfaction with their experience -- but so did users at less well-equipped libraries. People in poorer communities focused more on economics ("It's important for people like me who can't afford computers"), while users in more affluent areas talked more about education and research ("Computers are more important than books today") and the library as a quiet, convenient place to go ("Some of us don't want computers at home"). From 1996-2000, the number of libraries offering public-access computing went from 28 to 95 percent.

30. LONE STAR RISING
Kotkin, Joel
American, March/April 2008, pp. 1-6

Founded in the 1830's in a non-descript area of southeastern Texas, Houston is growing rapidly; though it is not near a major river or port, Houston has attracted newcomers because of its reputation as an "opportunity city." Houston's leaders developed the city by attracting business and federal funds to the city. After the destruction of the neighboring port of Galveston in 1900 by a hurricane, Houston's business leaders obtained local and federal funds to build a 50-mile-long ship channel to the Gulf of Mexico; the channel allowed Houston to become the nation's second largest port. The discovery of oil in its vicinity cemented Houston's rise. With the help of then-Senate majority leader Lyndon Johnson and House speaker Sam Rayburn, NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center was located in Houston. By 2006 Houston's population of over two million made it the fourth largest city in the U.S. Houston has always had an international orientation; while it may not be a favorite of urban aesthetes or food critics, the cost of living in Houston is lower than cities such as New York or San Francisco, and has a growing population and job market.

31. MUSICAL HEALING?
Sublette, Ned
Down Beat, vol. 75, no. 11, November 2008, pp. 38-43

Three years after Hurricane Katrina, a big part of the community that created New Orleans music is still gone. Many lost not only their homes to the flood, but also irreplaceable archives, books, recordings, CDs, rare artifacts, vintage instruments, research materials and sheet music. New Orleans is back up to 72 percent of its pre-flood population, but for African Americans, it's just 63 percent. Most of the big names in music are back, but less so the rank and file. New Orleans has maintained its schedule of festivals, but the musicians' union membership and theatrical performances are down. Most clubs have reopened. "The people who have had the most difficulty in returning are the working-class families, from whose ranks the new generation of musicians would emerge ... a generation of elders was lost," says Sublette. Volunteer and charitable programs are struggling to meet the vast need that the government isn't meeting. Pianist Henry Butler was turned down by a state program that offers assistance to Katrina victims; he now lives in Denver but returns for gigs, as do many other musicians. "My music has grown exponentially since Katrina," he said, "partly because I'm feeling more." But he doesn't know if he'll live in New Orleans again, because, he says, "I don't know what direction the city is going to take."

32. OBSESSION WITH RANKINGS GOES GLOBAL
Labi, Aisha
Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 55, No. 8, October 17, 2008, pp. A27-29

In the late 1990s, Chinese university administrators and the Chinese government wanted to know whether all the money being poured into Chinese higher education was producing any results. To satisfy their need for an objective international frame of reference, Nian Cai Liu, a professor at Shanghai Joao Tong University, created a ranking of the world's top universities. Liu created his rankings by assigning scores on the basis of four factors: quality of education, quality of faculty, research output, and per capita performance. Quality of education, for example, counts the number of alumni who have won Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals. Liu's rankings, posted on a university Web site in 2003, created a storm because for the first time everyone could easily compare the world's universities, and officials and educators in many countries were shocked to see their own systems ranked so low. American universities dominate Liu's list -- 17 of the top 20 in the world are in the U.S., including the top 3 (Harvard, Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley). Liu's rankings play a major role in the choices made by international students and universities looking for partnerships; they also have had a major impact on governments, which in some cases are only financing scholarships for students who attend universities ranked above a certain cut-off point. Liu's rankings have also sparked a rival U.K. list, the Times Higher Education List, on which British institutions fare dramatically better. Critics take issue with the Shanghai list's emphasis on scientific research and the Times Higher Education List's heavy reliance on peer opinion. Liu welcomes criticism and tries each year to improve his methodology. Meanwhile, the lists have become "an integral part of international higher education," says Aisha Labi.

33. WELCOME MAT
Gurwitt, Rob
Governing, December 2008

American towns everywhere are struggling to adapt to an influx of immigrants. The immigration problem was "dumped [by Congress] into the laps of hometowns across America," says New Haven, Connecticut, Mayor John DeStefano. While nearby Danbury, is cracking down on immigrants, New Haven has issued nearly 7,000 ID cards to both legal and illegal immigrants since July 2007 without discriminating between the two groups. Gurwitt outlines the arguments by supporters and opponents of this approach. Opponents consider the idea of giving ID cards to illegal immigrants "close to treasonous," while supporters say the card and atmosphere of tolerance have made immigrants feel part of the community, boosted their use of public libraries and other services, and made them more comfortable talking with housing inspectors and police. The police chief of Fair Haven, a New Haven suburb where most immigrants live, claims a 17 percent drop in the crime rate, and librarians says libraries and ESL classes have more customers. However, the card has not helped many immigrants make use of the city's banks, a key goal of the program -- only four New Haven banks will accept the cards. While there is not much evidence yet how beneficial the new ID cards are, it is "certainly clear is that places such as New Haven will be crafting their approaches to illegal immigration for a long time to come," says Gurwitt.

34. WI-FI IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Chavers, Mikel
State News, vol. 51, no. 6, June/July 2008, pp. 23-26

Increasingly, visitors to U.S. state parks can not only hike, fish, ski, snorkel or scuba dive, but surf the Internet. With California taking the lead, and other states like Ohio, Kentucky and Texas following, wireless Internet hotspots are becoming more available in state parks. With its "almost negligible footprint," park directors and other state officials see Wi-Fi as meeting the need of visitors and ensuring those visitors keep coming, whether they be short-term vacationers, business or other groups holding events or retirees spending several weeks or months on the road and in the parks. The chief information officer for California State Parks comments: "We know today that people live very complicated lives. People end up being tethered to their cell phone or their computers. We were concerned that we were going to start losing people at our state parks." Some states charge for access, while others offer free service. But, in all cases, the bottom line is not to recoup costs, but to provide a service that travelers increasingly have come to expect.

Contact Information:
Information Resource Center (IRC)
American Center for Educational Exchange
Jingguang Center, Suite 2801
Hujialou, Chaoyang Qu
Beijing, 100020, PRC
Tel: 86-10-6597-3242, Ext.209 or 212
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