Predicting State Allocation of Funds: The Case of John Rowland and his Hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut.

This study attempts to analyze the underlying factors and motives influencing the allocation of discretionary state expenditures. The fact that some cities receive more money than other cities begs the question of what accounts for this variation. After framing the provision of state money within the theoretical framework of political patronage, a case study of Governor Rowland’s tenure in office and the accompanying expenditures to Connecticut’s 17 largest cities from 1995 to 2004 was conducted to evaluate whether a disproportionate amount of money was given to Rowland’s hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut. Besides employing a statistical analysis that determined that cities with similar characteristics received different amounts of money, interviewing was conducted to identify reasons for such variation. The results indicate that Waterbury received a greater amount of money than was predicted based on the city’s economic and demographic characteristics, and that non-objective and biased factors such as favoritism, the need to reward political support, or the desire to increase political loyalty sometimes take precedence over more objective factors.

Great leaders of Hebrew history from Manasseh to John the Baptist

by Henry Thatcher Fowler

The glacier inventory of Salzburg, Austria, 2007/2009

A third glacier inventory (GI3) is presented for the province of Salzburg where 173 glaciers are located in the seven mountain ranges: Ankogel (47°4'N, 13°14'E), Glockner, Granatspitz, Sonnblick (Goldberg), Hochkönig, Venediger and Zillertal (47°8'N, 12°7'E). The basis for the new GI3 are orthophotos of 2007 and 2009 and the digital elevation model (DEM) of the southern part of Salzburg. On the basis of former inventories, area- and volume changes have been calculated. The biggest relative loss of glacier area per mountain range was found in the Ankogel range and on Hochkönig as a result of the disrupted structure of their small and thin glaciers. In terms of absolute values, the largest changes took place in the Glockner- and Venediger range with an area loss of -10.1 km**2 and -9.7 km**2 during the period between GI1 (1969) and GI3 (2007/2009), respectively. Volume changes have been calculated for nearly half of the glacier area in Salzburg, where DEMs were available. The Glockner, Granatspitz and Sonnblick mountain ranges showed a volume loss of -0.481 km**3 which corresponds to a mean thickness change of -10.5 m. An extrapolation of these changes to all of the 173 glaciers in Salzburg results in a loss of about 1.04 km**3 between GI1 and GI3 and 0.44 km**3 between GI2 and GI3. Overall annual changes in the province of Salzburg between GI2 and GI3 were higher than between GI1 and GI2 and show likewise changes such as those of Tyrol.

John Rziha, Perfecting human actions: St. Thomas Aquinas on human participation in eternal law, Catholic University of America Press, Washington, 2009; 300 p., ISBN 978-0-8132-1672-0.

Fil: Peretó Rivas, Rubén.

A.A.V.V.: Reason, morality, and law. The philosophy of John Finnis, J. Keown & R.P. George (eds.), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013, 616 pp.

Fil: Massini Correas, Carlos I.. Universidad de Mendoza

Horizontal profiles of longwave and shortwave radiation components over sea ice near Barrow, Alaska during the 2011 melt

An integrated instrument package for measuring and understanding the surface radiation budget of sea ice is presented, along with results from its first deployment. The setup simultaneously measures broadband fluxes of upwelling and downwelling terrestrial and solar radiation (four components separately), spectral fluxes of incident and reflected solar radiation, and supporting data such as air temperature and humidity, surface temperature, and location (GPS), in addition to photographing the sky and observed surface during each measurement. The instruments are mounted on a small sled, allowing measurements of the radiation budget to be made at many locations in the study area to see the effect of small-scale surface processes on the large-scale radiation budget. Such observations have many applications, from calibration and validation of remote sensing products to improving our understanding of surface processes that affect atmosphere-snow-ice interactions and drive feedbacks, ultimately leading to the potential to improve climate modelling of ice-covered regions of the ocean. The photographs, spectral data, and other observations allow for improved analysis of the broadband data. An example of this is shown by using the observations made during a partly cloudy day, which show erratic variations due to passing clouds, and creating a careful estimate of what the radiation budget along the observed line would have been under uniform sky conditions, clear or overcast. Other data from the setup's first deployment, in June 2011 on fast ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, are also shown; these illustrate the rapid changes of the radiation budget during a cold period that led to refreezing and new snow well into the melt season.