One Year Later: The Fiscal Impact of 9/11 on New York City [.pdf]
http://comptroller.nyc.gov/bureaus/bud/reports/impact-9-11-year-later.pdf
Prepared by the Comptroller of New York City, William C. Thompson, Jr., and his colleagues, this 65-page report offers an intensive look into the short and long term economic impact of 9/11 on the city. Along with looking at the loss of human capital and potential as a result of these events, the report details the impact on the city's budget, cash balances, and the impact of the federal aid administered by the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA). The report contains many helpful tables, including ones detailing the estimated loss in gross city product, the decline in property taxes, and the resulting impact on the city's pension expenses. One of the final sections also contains material on the economic stimulus package that is currently in place to aid in rebuilding the economic vitality of Lower Manhattan. [KMG]
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Invention at Play: Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/iap/index.html
Sponsored by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and the Science Museum of Minnesota, this virtual exhibit celebrates the playful and inventive nature that has led to the discovery of numerous helpful and revolutionary inventions. This exhibit "departs from traditional representations of inventors as extraordinary geniuses who are 'not like us' to celebrate the creative skills and processes that are familiar and accessible to all people." The site will be particularly enjoyable to persons interested in the creative process and learning about different first-hand perspectives on the spirit of inventiveness. The site includes an interactive sketchbook, where visitors can work out their own ideas, and a section on the nature and importance of play through history. Finally, amidst all of the other highly interactive features, there is a Word Play area, where visitors to the site can collaborate on creating an unique story. [KMG]
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Status of Michigan Cities: An Index of Urban Well-Being [.pdf]
http://www.publicsectorconsultants.com/urbanstatus/2002/report.pdf
This report, prepared by Public Sector Consultants, Inc., was researched and written to provide policymakers in Michigan with a thorough portrait of the general well-being of the numerous urban areas within the state. Researched on behalf of the Michigan Bipartisan Urban Caucus, the 55-page report seeks, as one of its primary goals, to serve as a "catalyst for engaging interested parties in discussing ways to improve the standards of living and quality of life in Michigan cities." As the second in a biennial series of reports, the reports will be updated with new data sets every two years. After a brief section on their methodology, there is a useful summary of their main findings based on the data from 1990 and 2000 that they analyzed. The final section of the main report also offers an explanation of the 12 variables they used to measure urban well-being throughout the state. [KMG]
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American Indian and Alaska Native Roundtable Report on Long Term Care: Final Report 2002 [.pdf]
http://www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/PublicAffairs/PressReleases/Press_Release_2002/Final_LTC_Report_ALL.pdf
This 120-page report is the culmination of a roundtable forum held in April 2002 to discuss the multitude of issues involved with providing long term care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives. At the core of the report are five papers prepared by policy makers and practitioners in the field, along with subsequent substantive discussion of their recommendations and implications for practice. Paper topics include the incorporating Indian elder's teachings and tribal values into a long term care scenario and the provisioning of long term care for Indian elders in an urban setting. The overarching considerations of the roundtable forum included commitment; coordination; and, in particular, interagency collaboration. The report concludes with several appendices, including a nursing home survey and an economic analysis of long term care. [KMG]
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Genomes and Machines
http://www.cs.tcd.ie/Francisco.Azuaje/genomes&machines.html
The Department of Computer Science at the University of Dublin-Trinity College provides this Web site as "an overview of the rapidly evolving field of bioinformatics," or the "discipline that generates computational tools, databases and methods to support genomic, molecular and medical research." Simply presented as a list of links organized by subject, this frequently updated Web site offers users a one-stop source for locating genomic and molecular biology databases, soft/hardware and service providers, courses and tutorials, journals, and more. This site is also reviewed in the September 6, 2002 NSDL Life Sciences Report. [RS]
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Geode
http://geode.usgs.gov/
Maintained by the US Geological Survey (USGS), Geode is the "data delivery system of the geologic discipline and continues to provide unbiased scientific and energy related data to the public via a fully functional, web accessed GIS map server." Subjects covered include Coastal and Marine Geology, Earth Surface Dynamics, Earthquake Hazards, Integrated Natural Resource Sciences, Mineral Resources, National Cooperative Geologic Mapping, and Volcano Hazards. This powerful resource gives researchers and scientists an excellent tool for simplifying the often difficult task of data acquisition. This site is also reviewed in the September 6, 2002 NSDL Physical Science Report. [JAB]
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Early Washington Maps: A Digital Collection
http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/holland/masc/xmaps.html
Documenting "the struggle between Britain and America for the ownership of the region, and the further development of one of the last frontiers on the continent" is one of the primary goals of this digital collection of maps relating the history and development of the area that eventually would become Washington state. Created by a partnership between the University of Washington and Washington State University, the digital collection includes a timeline of early Washington maps that orients its users to the breadth and depth of the digital collection. There is also a drop-down menu that allows visitors to look at thumbnails of each map, organized by different themes such as forests, Puget Sound, and railroads. A general searchable index to the collection is also available for visitors looking for any number of thematic maps. The site will be of special interest to those curious about Washington state history, historical geography, and the practice of cartography over the past few centuries. [KMG]
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How Do Cohabiting Couples With Children Spend Their Money? [.pdf]
http://www.harrisschool.uchicago.edu/wp/02-04.html
This working paper by Thomas DeLeire and Ariel Kalil of the University of Chicago examines the question of how cohabiting couples with children spend their income. Over the course of the 60-page work, they use the Consumer Expenditure Survey to see if cohabiting couples with children spend their money on different goods than either married parents or single parents. Some of their initial findings conclude that cohabiting couples spend a substantially larger share of their total expenditure on alcohol and tobacco than either married-parent families or single parents. Additionally, DeLeire and Kalil conclude that cohabiting couples with children also spend less on health care and education than married parents. The report will be of special interest to persons in the field of public policy and child development. [KMG]
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