Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: Rationale:
Breast cancer mortality decreased by 24% between 1990 and 2000, and early detection by mammography screening had a sizeable contribution to this reduction. However, there are persistent variations in breast cancer mortality rates by race and ethnicity. Some studies report a decrease in disparities in mammography use among racial and ethnic groups based on self-reported information from surveys.

Objective:
To assess racial and ethnic disparities in mammography utilization in 2003, and trends over time since 1996 using several different measures. The paper will evaluate disparities between Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, Asian, and non-Hispanic white women, who are age 40 and older.

Methodology:
We use the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys (MEPS) for 1996-2003 and claims data for five years, 1999-2003, from a large national employer plan (LNEP).

MEPS data contain detailed information on individual race/ethnicity and socio-economic characteristics for 25-40,000 respondents per year and two measures of mammography use: one based on documented medical events that involved mammograms, and another based on a self-reported response regarding the most recent mammogram. The first measure is based on journals and cross-checked with providers, and is therefore more reliable than the second measure. We use logistic regression analysis and Oaxaca-Blinder style decomposition to isolate the individual effects of race and ethnicity on disparities in mammography utilization, while controlling for socio-economic characteristics.

LNEP contains claims information on 4 million individuals per year, but there is no information on an individual’s race/ethnicity or socio-economic characteristics. We measure disparities in mammography use based on whether they live in a high-minority or a high-white zip-code, controlling for the socio-economic characteristics of the zip-code of residence.

Results:
MEPS medical events data show that disparities persisted over the period 1996-2003. Foe example, in 2003, 30% of white women age 40 or older had a mammogram, while only 19% of black women, 17% of Hispanic women, and 16% of Asian women had one

When asked in 2003 if they had a mammogram in the past two years, 72% of white women age 40 and older answered “yes” as did 72% of black women, 62% of Hispanic women, and 56% of Asian women. The corresponding responses were not substantially different in 1998: 70% for white women, 69% for black women, 61% for Hispanic women, and 48% for Asian women. Regression results show that racial and ethnic disparities remain even after controlling for other factors.

Preliminary LNEP results indicate that 38% of women age 40 or older living in predominantly white neighborhoods had a screening mammogram in 2003; only 33% of enrollees living in black neighborhoods, 29% in Hispanic, and 31% in Asian neighborhoods had screening mammograms in 2003.

Conclusions:
Measures that reliably track actual medical events find that black women are less likely to have a screening mammogram than white women. Disparities in mammography screening between white and Hispanic and Asian women persist over time regardless of the question used for the measure.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study analyzed all the public relations articles in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, and Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly from 1996 to 2003 to find the most productive authors, productive programs, and most cited authors within the three scholarly journals. The study found quite a change in recent public relations scholarship: Many new names were found in productive author and program categories. Glen T. Cameron and Maureen Taylor were the most productive authors and University of Georgia, Rutgers University, University of Houston, and University of Missouri ranked as top institutions in terms of productivity. Academicians wrote most of the public relations articles and academicians-professionals together wrote about 10 percent of articles. Female authors comprised almost half of all public relations authors.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In a recent series of U.S. court cases involving media ownership regulation, broadcasters have invoked the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to resist ownership limitations, while civil society organizations have raised free speech rights as a rationale to promote the idea of ownership restrictions. Informed by political economy, this study reviews First Amendment jurisprudence on the matter of broadcast ownership regulation since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and explores the potential for a consequential rhetorical shift in the U.S. federal courts.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: From the early 1990s onwards, national governments of advanced industrialised countries have formulated and then started implementing action plans for digital switchover, the migration process from analogue to digital TV. This paper examines public policies on digital switchover in Italy, from their formulation under the centre-left governments (1996-2001) to their implementation under the centre-right governments led by Silvio Berlusconi (2001-2006). The analysis broadly corroborates what has been argued examining digital transition policies in a number of other industrialised countries, most notably the importance of domestic agendas in explaining governments’ motives behind the formulation and implementation of such policies. At the heart of the initiatives on digital switchover in Italy is the issue of competition in the terrestrial television market, historically characterised by the duopoly of Berlusconi’s Mediaset and state broadcaster RAI. Depending on the political orientation of the government in office, digital transition in Italy has primarily been about either breaking the RAI-Mediaset analogue-based duopoly or extending it into the digital future. The general underlying argument of the paper is that digital switchover in Italy offers a very interesting case to discuss the way domestic political and economic interests have shaped the introduction of a major new technology.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Power transition and alliance theories suggest that weaker powers will remain aligned with a dominant global power, so as not to jeopardise important benefits they receive. Junior allies will therefore be reluctant to diverge from the policies of their senior partners. Yet Australia has managed to consistently and constructively build a relationship with China, whilst maintaining a close alliance with the United States, in spite of the oscillating relationship between these two powers. This study seeks to account for how and why Australia has been able to do so. It examines this question in relation to three separate phases of the Sino-Australian relationship under the Howard Government: (1) re-instigation of cooperative Sino-Australian relations in the wake of the Taiwan Straits crisis, 1996-97; (2) intensified strategic engagement within the U.S. alliance, 1999-2002; and (3) the Sino-Australian ‘strategic partnership’ 2003-2005.