Letter from Artemas Ward to Benjamin Stone, 1787 July 18

Artemas Ward wrote this letter to Benjamin Stone on July 18, 1787, expressing his concern about the expense of his son, Henry Dana Ward's, imminent studies at Harvard. Ward complains to Stone about his own debts and the failure of the government to honor their financial obligations to him, and he also expresses hope that the President of Harvard will allow his son to spend part of his time "keeping a school" during his freshman and sophomore years, thus earning an income sufficient to pay for his studies. Ward also suggests that it might be preferable that his son board with a respectable family, rather than live at the College.

Letter from James Otis, Jr. to James Otis, Sr., and portrait print of James Otis Jr., 1743 June 17

Letter from Otis in Boston to his father, James Otis Sr. on June 17, 1743. In the short, half-page letter, Otis asks his father for money to pay for expenses relating to Commencement including the printing of theses, shoes, buckles, and any entertainment. He mentions that he will share entertainment expenses with his classmate Lothrop Russell.

An act for granting to His Majesty the sum of fifty-five thousand pounds, and for striking the same in bills of credit, in the manner herein after directed..., 1764

Contains an act for collection of taxes to pay the debt by establishing a set fee of fifteen shillings per head and household.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to William Willard and Katherine Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, April 4, 1801

Willard informs his parents of the death of Deacon Fairbank. He assures them that on his return to Cambridge, he was “received with great apparent cordiality both by the government + the president’s family.” He also reports on the health of President Willard, whose health has improved. Willard concludes the letter by asking for money to pay his expenses.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Solomon Willard, Petersham, September 8, 1802

Willard reports that President Willard “has so far recovered,” and explains that he has changed his vacation plans from Lancaster to Cambridge “as it is excellent weather for studying.” He complains about shoes that were sent to him and also about having a lack of money, and requests that he be sent his woolen coats. He also informs his brother that he has been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and asks for money to pay the dues.

Letter from Samuel Willard, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to William Willard, Petersham, Massachusetts, November 30, 1802

Willard discusses President Willard’s son Sheafe, who he has been tutoring, explains his education and argues for well-rounded studies. He also mentions that Doctor Aaron Dexter, a lecturer on chemistry, gave him a recipe for paint “which I enclose [separately] in this letter,” as well as a recipe for mortar. He explains that his vacation plans are to teach at a school in Groton for eighteen dollars a month, and asks for a loan from his parents to pay a bill.

Letter from Lemuel Shaw to Susanna Shaw, January 3, 1797

This single page handwritten letter was sent from Lemuel Shaw to his mother, Susanna, during his freshman year at Harvard. In the letter, he requested that his mother wash and return his dirty laundry and send him clothes, including a pair of overalls, some neck-handkerchiefs, and a new hat. Shaw also asked for money to be sent to pay off his debt of $21.25 to Mr. Richard Hunnewell for board and rent, $18.93 for the previous quarter’s bill, and $1.15 for Mr. Timothy Alden, the College Butler.

Letters from Timothy Pickering to his brother and father, 1797-1798

These two handwritten letters by Timothy Pickering were written on February 14, 1797 and June 14, 1798 to his brother John Pickering and his father Timothy Pickering, respectively. The letter to his brother, John, discusses mutual friends, classmate Thomas Lee, and John’s recent attendance at a sermon by Dr. Joseph Priestley. The letter from Timothy to his father includes a discussion of Timothy’s expenses and the amount of money needed to pay his debts, a request for new shoes for commencement, the news of Timothy’s invitation to join honor society Phi Beta Kappa, and a few comments on his forensics course at Harvard.

Electricity without borders: a plan to make the internal market work. Bruegel Blueprint Series 20, 5 September 2013

The most straightforward European single energy market design would entail a European system operator regulated by a single European regulator. This would ensure the predictable development of rules for the entire EU, significantly reducing regulatory uncertainty for electricity sector investments. But such a first-best market design is unlikely to be politically realistic in the European context for three reasons. First, the necessary changes compared to the current situation are substantial and would produce significant redistributive effects. Second, a European solution would deprive member states of the ability to manage their energy systems nationally. And third, a single European solution might fall short of being well-tailored to consumers’ preferences, which differ substantially across the EU. To nevertheless reap significant benefits from an integrated European electricity market, we propose the following blueprint: First, we suggest adding a European system-management layer to complement national operation centres and help them to better exchange information about the status of the system, expected changes and planned modifications. The ultimate aim should be to transfer the day-to-day responsibility for the safe and economic operation of the system to the European control centre. To further increase efficiency, electricity prices should be allowed to differ between all network points between and within countries. This would enable throughput of electricity through national and international lines to be safely increased without any major investments in infrastructure. Second, to ensure the consistency of national network plans and to ensure that they contribute to providing the infrastructure for a functioning single market, the role of the European ten year network development plan (TYNDP) needs to be upgraded by obliging national regulators to only approve projects planned at European level unless they can prove that deviations are beneficial. This boosted role of the TYNDP would need to be underpinned by resolving the issues of conflicting interests and information asymmetry. Therefore, the network planning process should be opened to all affected stakeholders (generators, network owners and operators, consumers, residents and others) and enable the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) to act as a welfare-maximising referee. An ultimate political decision by the European Parliament on the entire plan will open a negotiation process around selecting alternatives and agreeing compensation. This ensures that all stakeholders have an interest in guaranteeing a certain degree of balance of interest in the earlier stages. In fact, transparent planning, early stakeholder involvement and democratic legitimisation are well suited for minimising as much as possible local opposition to new lines. Third, sharing the cost of network investments in Europe is a critical issue. One reason is that so far even the most sophisticated models have been unable to identify the individual long-term net benefit in an uncertain environment. A workable compromise to finance new network investments would consist of three components: (i) all easily attributable cost should be levied on the responsible party; (ii) all network users that sit at nodes that are expected to receive more imports through a line extension should be obliged to pay a share of the line extension cost through their network charges; (iii) the rest of the cost is socialised to all consumers. Such a cost-distribution scheme will involve some intra-European redistribution from the well-developed countries (infrastructure-wise) to those that are catching up. However, such a scheme would perform this redistribution in a much more efficient way than the Connecting Europe Facility’s ad-hoc disbursements to politically chosen projects, because it would provide the infrastructure that is really needed.

Derisory Results or Reasons to be Cheerful? Evaluating the Implantation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. Natolin Research Paper 01/January 2011

This paper considers the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. The paper presents a portrait of the three neighbours in terms of their current political and socio-economic profiles, as well as the status of their relations with the European Union. Subsequently, it provides an overview of the development of ENP. A general set of conclusions are offered in relation to the key issue of good governance, where, the paper argues, ENP has delivered derisory results, with patchy effects across the region. Moreover, the paper identifies the democratic back-sliding in Ukraine and entenched authoritarianism in Belarus, which ENP has done very little to address. The EU’s willingness to provide better mobility options for ENP citizens to visit and work in the EU is a key test for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in the coming year. This paper sees that whilst there are reasons to be cheerful here, with the EU’s recent offer of greater Visa Liberalisation for Ukraine and Moldova, there remains much to be done and in the meantime the EU remains a ‘Fortress Europe’. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for ENP, which include the need to finally tackle corruption in the region, bring more differentiation into ENP, soften the EU’s borders through more generous Visa regimes, develop a more robust Belarus strategy and to think more creatively about the use of ENP funds for regional and cross- border activities.

Real leadership and the U.S. Army : overcoming a failure of imagination to conduct adaptive work /

This monograph begins with a case study that provides a means for analyzing the complexity of organizational leadership in the contemporary security environment. As such, it presents a high stakes problem-set that required an operational adaptation by a cavalry squadron conducting combat operations in Baghdad. This problematic reality triggered the struggle to find a creative response to a very deadly problem, while cultural norms served as barriers that prevented the rejection of previously accepted solutions that had proven successful in the past, even though those successful solutions no longer fit in the context of the reality of the present. The case study highlights leaders who were constrained by deeply-held assumptions that inhibited their ability to adapt quickly to a changed environment. The case study then moves on to provide an example of a successful application of adaptive leadership and adaptive work that was performed by the organization after a period of reflection and the willingness to experiment and assume risk. The case study serves as a microcosm of the challenges facing the U.S. Army, and the corresponding leadership framework presented in this monograph can be used as a model for the Army as it attempts to move forward in its effort to make adaptation an institutional imperative. The paper presents a more holistic approach to leadership where the leader transcends that of simply being an authority figure and becomes a real leader who provides a safe and creative learning environment where the organization can tackle and solve adaptive challenges. The paper concludes by recommending that U.S. Army leaders apply Harvard Professor Dean Williams's theory to the challenges confronting the Army's leader development process thereby fostering a culture of adaptive leaders.

Encouraging practitioners to use resources: evaluation of the national implementation of a resource to improve the clinical management of alcohol-related problems in Indigenous primary care settings

This paper reports on the evaluation of the implementation of the National Recommendations for the Clinical Management of Alcohol-Related Problems in Indigenous Primary Care Settings undertaken in 2001 through 74 standardized workshops, which sought to determine: ( 1) whether this approach to implementation influenced the likelihood that the National Recommendations would be used; ( 2) whether it influenced participants' willingness to engage with Indigenous patients regarding alcohol-related issues; and ( 3) whether the implementation as a whole influenced both practice and clinicians' willingness to engage. Evaluation included pre-/post-workshop and follow-up questionnaires and a focus group. The findings presented indicate that distribution of clinical resources alone is not sufficient to ensure use and that, particularly for medical practitioners, appropriate introduction not only increases use but also positively influences willingness to engage with alcohol-related problems as part of primary clinical care. Further, the enthusiasm for guideline production should be tempered by the need to develop effective implementation strategies.

An orthodontic information package designed to increase patient awareness

BACKGROUND: Most patients and their parents experience difficulty in fully appreciating the implications and demands of orthodontic treatment. This is largely because of inadequate understanding of the process of treatment or the commitment required. OBJECTIVES: To determine if a specifically developed video information package could significantly increase patient awareness of the implications of a full course of orthodontic treatment. Changes in attitude to orthodontic treatment after viewing the package were also measured. METHODS: Year 7 (12 year-old) students in two primary schools in the City of Gold Coast, Australia were randomly allocated to either a study group or a control group. Knowledge of and attitude to orthodontic treatment were measured with self-administered questionnaires before and after viewing the information package. RESULTS: The intervention group showed a 15 per cent gain in knowledge (p < 0.001). There was no gain in knowledge for the 45 students in the control group. There was no measured change in perception of need for orthodontic treatment in the study group. There was, however, an increase in potential compliance and positive attitude to the appearance of orthodontic appliances. There was a small increase in willingness to undertake treatment, but this was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The information package developed for this study increased awareness of the implications and practical difficulties which may be encountered during a course of orthodontic treatment, and produced some changes in attitude to treatment.

The importance of the relevance of the issue to the group in voting intentions: The case of the Australian republic referendum

A questionnaire was distributed on the Australian republic issue to examine the interplay between norms and relevance of the issue to the group on voting intentions. Supporters of an Australian republic (N = 188) indicated the level of support for a republic within their peer Group, the relevance of the republic issue to the group, and measures designed to assess voting intentions and other attitude outcomes. Analysis revealed an interaction between normative support and relevance of the issue to the group. On the measure of intention, increasing normative support was associated with increased intention to vote in an attitude-consistent way at both relevance levels, but the effect was heightened when the issue was highly relevant to the group. On the outcomes of willingness to express opinion and perceived personal importance of the republic issue, normative support had a positive effect only when the issue was highly relevant to the group. Mediation analyses revealed that the impact of normative support and group relevance on intention were mediated through perceived personal importance of the republic issue.

Vladimir Janda, MD, DSc - Tribute to a master of rehabilitation

The purpose of this presentation is to pay tribute to the life's work of Professor Vladimir Janda, a key figure in the 20th Century rehabilitation movement. An accomplished neurologist, he founded the rehabilitation department at Charles University Hospital in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He was one of the seminal members of the Prague school of manual medicine and rehabilitation that expanded its influence throughout Central and Eastern Europe. His observations regarding muscle imbalances, faulty posture and gait, and their association with chronic pain syndromes, etiologically, diagnostically, and therapeutically, influenced the rehabilitation world. The authors comprise a multinational, multiprofessional group representative of rehabilitation specialists around the world who would like to pay tribute and give a final word of thanks to this innovative educator, clinician, and author.