Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This presentation discusses California laws AB 537: The Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act, and the recently enacted AB 394: Safe Place to Learn Act, the latter enacted as an attempt to concretize implementation of the first. These laws demand that gender identity and sexual orientation be added to the lexicon of protected classes of anti-harassment in public education. In spite of these progressive measures, the social construction of misogyny and heteronormativity is often reified in the school culture, largely unconsciously. This unconscious acceptance of the norm, in and of itself, largely undermines the spirit of these laws. The presentation addresses what a school, indeed all schools in California, should do to move beyond the capacity to change standard practices to actually realizing the change that laws like AB 537 and AB 394 have the potential to affect. The paper asserts that systemic implementation of these laws is necessary for their success. The second assertion is that laws like AB 537 and AB 394.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: AB 939 mandated a 50% reduction in CAs landfilled waste by the year 2000 & plans are now in the works to increase the rate to 75% by 2020. How will this goal be met? Utilizing Sabatier’s Advocacy Coalition framework and theories of learning over time. Focusing on County of San Bernardino’s Solid Waste Advisory Task Force, the study examines how learning networks have affected the success of AB 939-mandated landfilled waste reduction. A selective case study was performed to investigate and explain the dynamics related to the theoretical framework. Data was collected at interviews with SWAT members, then analyzed against each of nine research questions originating with Sabatier’s 12 hypotheses._x000d_This analysis, coupled with an extensive review of the literature regarding learning in public organizations, a history of California waste law and San Bernardino County waste diversion, supports the resultant theory that advocacy coalitions are effective and desirable by public jurisdictions; but given the absence of a useful coalition, an organization will either reach out to other like organizations to establish teaming bonds or turn inward and become an internally directed, self-actuated learning organization.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Two of our most informative accounts of the elevation of manliness to virtue can be found in the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, and in their respective treatments of magnanimity, the virtue that Aristotle regards as the crown (kosmos) of virtue. In contrast to the physicality of contemporary manliness sketched above, both Aristotle and Aquinas regard the magnanimous man in the following way: "a slow step is thought proper to the great-souled man, a deep voice, and a level of utterance; for the man who takes few things seriously is not likely to be hurried, nor the man who thinks nothing great to be excited, while a shrill voice and a rapid gait are the results of hurry and excitement." Aquinas agrees that this is the physical embodiment of magnanimity, but, contrary to modern, Nietzsche-inspired interpretations of Christian virtue, emphasizes its agility, subtlety, and clarity. If we go beyond opinions regarding machismo and alleged sexual frustrations of Muslim youth, we can see that the question of manliness is another way of inquiring into the nature of the highest type of virtue, what it means to be truly human. In doing so, I shall consider the accounts of magnanimity in Aristotle and more so in Thomas Aquinas as ways to approach this topic.
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Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: An innovative methodology of face-to-face reconstruction interviews with the reporters who had authored a sample of news items, allowed wide and systematic research access to one of the most sensitive and virtually unapproachable spheres of journalism – leaks. The main findings: 1. Leaks were highly prevalent: each fifth item involved the sensitive practice; 2. The dominant leakers were senior sources; 3. The favorite channel for leaks was the telephone; 4. Leaked stories were initiated equally by reporters and sources; 5. Leaks were cross verified with additional sources much more frequently than non-leaked items. The study, which took place in Israel 2001, focused on national daily press reporters and their contacts with news sources.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The paper looks at domestic conditions under which states approach international organizations. It particularly examines if and when states (ab)use international organizations. In the first part, I explore current approaches to studying international organizations, focusing on the literature about delegation to IOs, as based on principal-agent theory. I argue that this approach mainly regards international cooperation as the motive for delegation and does not sufficiently acknowledge the aspect of domestic reasons, such as the lack of expertise and the need to overcome barriers, as to why states delegate to international organizations. As case study, I focus on the OECD’s tool of multilateral surveillance, namely peer-reviewing in the field of education. The empirical findings show how particularly small states consult international organizations.