The Scout Report - June 15, 2001

Policy Library
http://www.policylibrary.com
A nonprofit and nonpartisan enterprise, the Policy Library seeks to "place public policy knowledge in the public domain." It does this by linking to an array of policy papers and resources available for free from think tanks, governments, and universities. The focus is on UK think tanks, but visitors will find content from a range of international organizations. The database currently contains over 700 policy and research papers, with additions made daily. Papers may be keyword searched by subject, author, country, institution, or title or browsed by topic under four categories: social policy, economic policy, international issues, and political thought. Each topical resource page also includes a varying number of related links. This is a solid resource that should find ready use by researchers, students, and the interested public. [MD]
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Voting Irregularities in Florida During the 2000 Presidential Election -- USCCR
http://www.usccr.gov/vote2000/stdraft1/main.htm
Probe of Election Practices in Florida During the 2000 Presidential Election
http://www.usccr.gov/vote2000/flmain.htm
Released last week amidst some controversy, this draft report of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) finds, among other things, that African-American voters in Florida were at least nine times more likely than other voters to have their ballots rejected in last year's presidential election and that the state's poorer counties were much more likely to use voting systems with higher spoilage rates than those used by more affluent counties. The report employs strong language and calls on the Justice Department to investigate Florida's voting irregularities, but the commission itself has become embroiled in political controversy as the majority voting to accept the report were appointed by Democrats and the minority against by Republicans. The latter have announced that they will write a dissent to be included in the final report at the end of this month. In the meantime, users may read the full text of the report in HTML format at the USCCR site. [MD]
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Global Report on Child Soldiers 2001
http://www.child-soldiers.org/report2001/global_report_contents.html
Released on June 12, this report from the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reveals that, "at any one time, more than 300,000 children under 18 . . . are fighting as soldiers with government armed forces and armed opposition groups in more than 30 countries worldwide." While the majority of these child soldiers are aged between fifteen and eighteen, the report cites examples of soldiers as young as seven. Readers can access the full text of the report online. It contains an overview, glossary, individual country entries (via a pulldown menu), and appendixes. [MD]
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"Enough to Make You Sick: Prescription Drug Prices for the Elderly" -- FamiliesUSA [.pdf]
http://www.familiesusa.org/drugs$$.pdf
Press Release
http://www.familiesusa.org/press/releases/2001/enoughtomakeyousick.htm
Released on June 12 by Families USA, a national, nonprofit organization that advocates high-quality, affordable health and long term care for all Americans, this study finds that "last year and during the past 5 years, the prices of the 50 drugs most commonly used by older Americans have increased considerably faster than inflation." The report also demonstrates that the most expensive drugs are among the most commonly prescribed and that generic drugs are generally rising in price at much slower rates than brand-name drugs. Users may read the full text of the report in .pdf format at the FamiliesUSA site. [MD]
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Drug Courts -- NCJRS [.pdf]
http://www.ncjrs.org/drug_courts/drug_courts.html
This new spotlight feature from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service is a helpful primer and reference resource on drug courts. Although they differ by jurisdiction, drug courts share the common goal of reducing recidivism through supervised treatment and rehabilitation rather than prison terms. At the site, visitors will find a summary of drug courts which links to a number of related documents and resources, and a collection of topically organized links for more detailed information. [MD]
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"Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions" [.pdf]
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10139.html?onpi_newsdoc06062001
This new report from the National Academies' National Research Council was produced in response to a request from the Bush administration. Written by a distinguished committee, the report attempts to summarize our current understanding of global climate change and examine what the future may hold for the 21st century and the extent to which warming may be attributable to human activity. Among other things, the report argues for a great deal more systematic research to address current uncertainties in climate-change science. Users may read the full text of the report in Open Book format at the National Academy Press site. [MD]
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World Wide Words - Update [.zip]
http://www.worldwidewords.org
Originally reviewed in the January 15, 1999 Scout Report, this site by wordsmith Michael Quinon has expanded considerably, now containing over 1,000 items. The site focuses on the history of the English language and the development of new words, offering definitions and histories of words and phrases, as well as numerous short articles on various aspects of the language, book reviews, usage notes, and a phonetic key. Users can also subscribe to a newsletter containing each week's updates. Back issues are available in .zip format. [MD]
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Uniting the Kingdoms?
http://www.pro.gov.uk/utk/utk.htm
Created by the UK Public Record Office, this well-crafted and entertaining site explores how the English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh thought of themselves between 1066 and 1603 and how they ended up with only one (Scottish) King among them. The exhibition is divided into five principal sections, examining Scotland, England, France, Wales, and Ireland in turn. Each begins with a very brief overview and then offers a mixture of text and images of primary documents (via pop-up windows) to explore a number of topics related to the larger theme. Selected links and recommended readings are also included. Additional sections include a list of monarchs and a collection of maps. [MD]
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Panoramas: The North American Landscape in Art
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Landscapes/home-e.html
Brought to the Web by the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery, this online exhibition explores the landscapes of North America using these broad categories: Evolving, Social, Mythic, and Personal. The show includes paintings, drawings, textiles, and photographs from the US, Mexico, and Canada. Each category has its own sub-themes; for example, the Mythic Landscapes, which begins with Emanuel Leutze's pictorial justification for Manifest Destiny, Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, has sub-themes such as National Icons, Allegories And Their Stories, and Archetype To Stereotype. Selecting National Icons takes the viewer through a series of pictures that function as "visual shorthand for a country's culture and values," such as Tom Thomson's Early Snow, Juan O'Gorman's La ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City), and William H. Jackson's photograph, Grand Canon of the Colorado. One very nice feature of the Website is that, in addition to caption information, most pictures are plotted to a map of the country of origin. Larger images and the maps open in a separate window. There is one slightly confusing navigation point -- sub-theme images are presented in groups of four, with arrows to continue on their right. There are two sets of arrows, top and bottom, but both lead to the same place. [DS]
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State of the Beach 2001 -- Surfrider Foundation
http://www.surfrider.org/stateofthebeach/
This second annual Surfrider Foundation report surveys the state of the beaches in coastal and Great Lakes states that are home to Foundation chapters. Each state is rated based on the availability of information and status of eight indicators, including beach access, Website access, surf zone water quality, and beach erosion, among others. The report is written from the perspective of a "concerned local citizen" and aimed at "the people who use and care most about this precious resource." The online report contains six sections, including an executive summary, an explanation of the indicators, conclusions, and recommendations. [MD]
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Calvin Photographic Collection
http://www.uiowa.edu/~calvin/
Provided by the University of Iowa, this site is another fine example of how the Internet allows worldwide access to unique collections that might otherwise go unnoticed. Samuel Calvin, Professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Iowa (1873-1911) and State Geologist, along with his colleagues, produced some 10,000 gelatin dry plates and glass plate negatives between 1880s and the 1920s. These photos documented Iowa's geological landscapes and features, along with mines, quarries, classes in the field, and their families. In addition to his training as a geologist, Calvin was also quite the photographer, as the large number of skillful and attractive images in this collection attest. These photos may be accessed in three ways: a slideshow of selected images, a topically organized scrapbook, or via a database. The database is browseable by Iowa county or state/ province (for those of Calvin's images taken outside of Iowa). The photos are presented as large thumbnails which link to full-sized images. The site also offers general information on the collection and a very brief biographical sketch of Calvin. [MD]
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World Treasures of the Library of Congress: Beginnings
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/world/
Though small compared to most LOC online exhibitions, this site showcases some truly wonderful objects from the Library's outstanding international collections. The site is a companion to the physical installation, an ongoing exhibit that starts with "'Beginnings,' an exploration of how world cultures have dealt with the creation of the universe and explained the heavens and the earth." The site is divided into four sections : Introduction, Creating, Explaining and Ordering, and Recording the Experience. each section features a varying number of thumbnail images of books, documents, and objects from the collections, accompanied by a short description. Highlights include a beautiful nineteenth-century hand-copied Koran in Arabic, Blake's image of the creation, and a lavishly colored Tibetan Buddhist Wheel of Life. Well worth a visit. [MD]
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MegaSoccer
http://megasoccer.com
With over 600,000 URLs indexed, 5,000 categorized links, and a dizzying array of features and news stories, this site offers one-stop browsing for world soccer fans. Regardless of which national teams or professional leagues they follow, visitors will find recent news, editorials, and useful links. Site content may be accessed by continent, country, or league. Users may also see live scores, view fixtures and tables, access stats, view video selections, and chat with other soccer fans. [MD]
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Netscape 6.1 Preview Release 1
http://home.netscape.com/browsers/6/index61pr.html?cp=ncsctr
The first preview release of Netscape's next browser is now available for download. This latest version has found a more favorable reception than the much-criticized Netscape 6. Improvements include a simpler user interface, enhanced History and Bookmark management, easier download and file management (via an updated download interface), and one-click Instant messenger access from Webpages, among others. As always, users should be aware that preview release software is not in its final form and is released in part to discover bugs and usability problems. Netscape 6.1 may be downloaded for free at the Netscape site. [MD]
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SmartFTP
http://www.smartftp.com/
SmartFTP is a full featured FTP client with an easy-to-use, Explorer-style interface. It has context-menus and support for dragging and dropping files from Explorer or within internal windows. SmartFTP allows users to open multiple connections to servers without starting the application again. It also comes with lots of other features including the ability to set up a transfer queue, schedule uploads/ downloads, perform recursive uploads/ downloads, and resume broken transfers. In addition, SmartFTP includes a global history, the ability to store Favorites similar to IE, and support for working behind proxy servers and firewalls. Users may download SmartFTP for free at the site. [MA]
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Senate Passes Education Bill
"Senate Passes Major Revamp of Education" -- Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3404-2001Jun14.html
"Senate Approves Legislation to Penalize Failing Schools" -- New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/15/politics/15EDUC.html
"Senate approves education bill after lengthy debate" - CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/06/14/senate.education/index.html
"Senate Approves Education Bill Requiring Tests" -- Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/natpol/lat_schools010615.htm
"Senate approves education bill" -- MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.com/news/586546.asp
"Senate OK's education bill" -- Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/166/nation/Senate_OK_s_education_bill+.shtml
"Education bill passes in Senate" -- Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/national/394363_education_15na.html
Yesterday the US Senate overwhelmingly passed the President's education overhaul bill, the first major reform of national education policy in 35 years. While the bill passed with a 91-8 vote, it contains elements that are sure to raise hackles on both sides fo the political divide. First, the Senate bill authorizes $33 billion in spending for the coming fiscal year. The House bill puts aside approximately $24 billion, while the President asked for only $19 billion, slightly above this year's level. The bill also contains a late amendment, introduced by Senator Jesse Helms, that takes away federal funding from any school district that discriminates against the Scouts or similar groups that "prohibit the acceptance of homosexuals." This amendment passed 51-49 after an emotionally charged debate and has been harshly criticized by several Democratic senators. An additional amendment to the new bill would require schools and school districts to implement uniform discipline policies for all children, regardless of whether they are disabled or receiving special education funds. The bill itself introduces a number of major changes to the education system in the United States. The most important of these is requiring all schools to test students annually in math and reading in grades 3 through 8 and in high school. Schools where scores do not improve are eligible for extra federal aid, but they must change their curriculum and retrain teachers. If scores don't improve after several years, students will be allowed to transfer and federal funds will be made available for tutoring or travel to another public school (but not for tuition to a private school). The bill is commonly regarded as a moderate victory for the President, as it allocates quite a bit more funding than he requested and does not include federal funds for private school tuition, but it retains the President's core principle of school accountability. With the exception of the Boy Scouts amendment, this bill was a compromise measure with overwhelming bipartisan support. The fight over the education budget, which will take place later this year, may prove more difficult.

Readers should begin with the Washington Post, which offers background, analysis and related links. Additional coverage is available from the New York Times (free registration required), CNN, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, Boston Globe, and Dallas Morning News.[MD]
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Michael de Nie Susan Calcari Rachael Bower Travis Koplow David Charbonneau Emily Missner Laura X. Payne Debra Shapiro Scott Watkins Ed Almasy Hilary C. Sanders Manoj Ananthapadmanabhan David Sleasman Barry Wiegan Pat Coulthard Andy Yaco-Mink

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