Canadian Social Research Newsletter

Canadian Social Research Newsletter
October 16, 2006

Welcome to the weekly Canadian Social Research Newsletter,
a listing of the new links added to the Canadian Social Research Links website in the past week.

The e-mail version of this week's issue of the newsletter is going out to 1706 subscribers.
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see some notes and a disclaimer.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Canadian Content

1. Inclusive Cities Canada (ICC) releases two new policy and practice papers - October 13
--- The Municipal Youth Cabinet’s Role in Inclusion (St. John, New Brunswick)
--- The Municipal Franchise and Social Inclusion in Toronto : Policy and Practice
2. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Canadian Economic Observer (October 2006 Issue) - October 12
--- Juristat: Adult Correctional Services in Canada, 2004/2005 - October 11
--- Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning, 2006 - October 10
3. PovNet - Fall 2006 site update (British Columbia/Canada/International)
4. What's New from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (University of Toronto) - October 13

International Content

5. Poverty Dispatch: U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs
6. News from Mathematica Policy Research (U.S.) - October 10
7. World Food Day - October 16 (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
8. Chronic Poverty Research Centre (U.K. / International)
9. GSR Bulletin: October 2006 (Government Social Research) - United Kingdom
10. United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty - Stand Up to Fight Poverty! (October 17)
11. Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus win Nobel Peace Prize (October 13, 2006) + Global Microcredit Summit - November 12-15, Halifax

Have a great week!

Gilles Séguin
Canadian Social Research Links
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net

E-mail:
gilseg@rogers.com

Inclusive Cities Canada (ICC) releases two new policy and practice papers
Friday, October 13, 2006 - Inclusive Cities Canada (ICC) releases two new policy and practice papers to advance social inclusion in cities and communities across Canada . These papers build on the recommendations of the 2005 social inclusion audit reports and can be downloaded from the ICC website.

Kathryn Asher - An ICC Recommendation Comes to Life: The Municipal Youth Cabinet’s Role in Inclusion
Kathryn Asher is the coordinator of the Saint John Youth Cabinet (SJYC). Her paper presents a snapshot of Saint John and its local youth community, including challenges faced by a high poverty rate, the looming youth exodus, and local young people’s feelings of exclusion. ICC’s work on social inclusion is explored, particularly in relation to youth civic engagement, and youth (dis)engagement.
(This paper is jointly published by the Saint John Human Development Council and Inclusive Cities Canada .)

Myer Siemiatycki - The Municipal Franchise and Social Inclusion in Toronto : Policy and Practice
Dr. Myer Siemiatycki is a Professor of Politics at Ryerson University , where he is Director of the Graduate Program in Immigration and Settlement Studies. His paper addresses the question: Would extending the right to vote in civic elections – for municipal council and local school board positions – significantly advance democracy, civic participation and the prospects for more responsive public policy in Toronto?

Source:
Inclusive Cities Canada

- Go to the Municipalities Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/municipal.htm

2. What's New from Statistics Canada:
--- Canadian Economic Observer (October 2006 Issue) - October 12
--- Juristat: Adult Correctional Services in Canada, 2004/2005 - October 11
--- Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning, 2006 - October 10

What's New from The Daily [Statistics Canada]:

October 12
Canadian Economic Observer, October 2006 Issue
- incl. Current economic conditions * Economic events * Feature article * Tables * Charts * User information
National and regional trends in business bankruptcies, 1980-2005
- feature article in the October 2006 issue of the Canadian Economic Observer

October 11
Adult correctional services, 2004/2005
The composition of adult offenders in custody in provincial and territorial jails has shifted dramatically during the past decade in the wake of large increases in the number of adults held in remand and a decline among those in sentenced custody. For the first time, these two populations each represented half of the number of adults in custody.
Juristat: Adult Correctional Services in Canada, 2004/2005 (PDF 325K, 34 pages)
Earlier editions of Juristat - statistics on corrections, crime, justice, legal aid, victim services, shelters for abused women, etc.

October 10, 2006
Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning, 2006
Data from the Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning are now available.

Related Links from the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL):

Majority of parents can’t help their children with homework, say Canadians
Oct. 10, 2006—Two of every three parents (65%) don’t have the knowledge needed to help their children with homework, according to a new large-scale survey released today by the Canadian Council on Learning.

Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning
Canada’s barometer of opinions, perceptions and beliefs about lifelong learning
This annual large-sample survey was designed by the Canadian Council on Learning in consultation with Statistics Canada, and was also administered by the statistical agency. It asked more than 5,000 Canadians about four aspects of learning throughout the lifespan:
* early childhood learning
* health-related learning
* structured learning (elementary, secondary and post-secondary)
* work-related adult learning

Other CCL Reports and Data - incl. Composite Learning Index * Lessons In Learning * Journal of Applied Research on Learning * State of Learning in Canada * State-of-the-field Reviews * Survey of Canadian Attitudes toward Learning * Data

- Go to the Education Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/education.htm
- Go to the Federal Government Department Links (Fisheries and Oceans to Veterans Affairs) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/fedbkmrk2.htm

3. PovNet - Fall 2006 site update
(British Columbia/Canada/International)

PovNet Fall 2006 update!
Here's just *some* of what you'll find on the PovNet website home page, much of it posted in September:
[just click the PovNet link above to access all of the content below and much more]
* BC Poverty Rates Soar Amidst Plenty * Staggering Losses in Welfare Incomes (Welfare Incomes 2005) * New Electricity Meters in Hamilton Could Hurt Low-Income Tenants * Canadian Bar Association Reaffirms Commitment to Constitutional Right to Civil Legal Aid * OCAP Women of Etobicoke * Poor People in Dublin Prescribed Drugs * Towards a New Architecture for Canada's Adult Benefits * Guaranteed Livable Income * Are Wage Subsidies the Answer for the Working Poor? * Across the Country * BC Needs Comprehensive Mental Health Strategy * Ontario's Disabled Finally To Get Support Payments * Out of the Shadows at Last * Beyond Decriminalization: Sex Work and Law Reform * Seven Women's Voices Told * The Declining Health and Well Being of Low Income Women in Canada: A Preventable Tragedy * Making Indigenous Poverty History in Australia * Canada Votes Against Native Rights at UN * Save Low Income Housing Coalition (Greater Vancouver Area) * National Youth Homelessness Conference * Homelessness: It's No Game * The Blueprint to End Homelessness in Toronto * Canada Denying Housing and Human Rights in Canada and Abroad * Online Resources
Source:
PovNet
"PovNet is for advocates, people on welfare, and community groups and individuals involved in anti-poverty work. It provides up-to-date information about welfare and housing laws and resources in British Columbia, Canada. PovNet links to current anti-poverty issues and also provides links to other anti-poverty organizations and resources in Canada and internationally."
- the PovNet home page also includes links to : News - Issues - Advocacy - Find an Advocate - Regional - About us - Links

Related Links:

What's New? - Canadian, U.S. and international resources
Child Care in the News - media articles
Links to child care sites in Canada and elsewhere
CRRU Publications - briefing notes, factsheets, occasional papers and other publications
ISSUE files - theme pages, each filled with contextual information and links to further info

- Go to the Non-Governmental Early Learning and Child Care Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ecd2.htm
- Go to the Work-Life Balance Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/work_life_balance.htm

5. Poverty Dispatch:
U.S. media coverage of social issues and programs

Poverty Dispatch - U.S.
- links to news items from the American press about poverty, welfare reform, child welfare, education, health, hunger, Medicare and Medicaid, etc.
NOTE: this is a link to the current issue --- its content changes twice a week.

Past Poverty Dispatches
- links to two dispatches a week back to June 1 (2006) when the Dispatch acquired its own web page and archive.

Poverty Dispatch Digest Archive - weekly digest of dispatches from August 2005 to May 2006
For a few years prior to the creation of this new web page for the Dispatch, I was compiling a weekly digest of the e-mails and redistributing the digest to my mailing list with IRP's permission.
This is my own archive of weekly issues of the digest back to August 2005, and most of them have 50+ links per issue. I'll be deleting this archive from my site gradually, as the links to older articles expire.

Source:
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP)
[ University of Wisconsin-Madison ]

- Go to the Links to American Government Social Research page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (A-J) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us2.htm
- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm

6. News from Mathematica Policy Research (U.S.) - October 10

News from Mathematica:
A Semimonthly Update on New Publications, Presentations, and Other Developments
October 10, 2006
In This Issue:
(click the link above to access the articles below)
* TANF at 10: A Look at Policies in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania
* Medicare Advantage: Changes in the Market in 2006
* Two New Briefs Released on Special Care for Special Kids:
—Profile of Those Enrolled in Commercial Plans
—Prescription Drug Costs for Children in These Plans
*Beyond Test Scores: New Brief Looks at Student Competencies
* Career Opportunities at Mathematica
Source:
Mathematica
For more than 35 years, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., has been known for its high-quality, objective research to support decisions about our nation's most pressing social policy problems. The firm has conducted some of the most important studies of health care, welfare, education, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs in the United States. This research, which crisscrosses the human life span from children's health and welfare to long-term care for elderly people, provides a sound foundation for decisions that affect the well-being of Americans.
- incl. links to : Education - Labor - Health - Disability - Welfare - Nutrition - Early Childhood - Surveys

- Go to the Links to American Non-Governmental Social Research (M-Z) Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/us3.htm

7. World Food Day - October 16
(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

World Food Day - October 16
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations celebrates World Food Day each year on 16 October, the day on which the Organization was founded in 1945. The World Food Day and TeleFood theme for 2006 is "Investing in agriculture for food security".
Source:
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO)

Also from the FAO:

* World Food Day
* FAO and the Millennium Development Goals
* World Agricultural Information Centre
* Telefood
* UN System Network on Rural Development and Food Security
* The State of Food and Agriculture 2005: Agricultural trade and poverty: Can trade work for the poor?
(FAO's annual report on current developments affecting world agriculture)

Also from the United Nations:

World Food Day - 6 October
World Food Day was proclaimed in 1979 by the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It marks the date of the founding of FAO in 1945. The aim of the Day is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. In 1980, the General Assembly endorsed observance of the Day in consideration of the fact that "food is a requisite for human survival and well-being and a fundamental human necessity" (resolution 35/70 of 5 December 1980). The theme for World Food Day and the TeleFood campaign for 2006 is "Investing in agriculture for food security" which highlights the need for increased resources to fight hunger.
- click the link above to access an impressive collection of relevant links (a few sample links appear below)
United Nations Global Issues on the UN Agenda: Food
Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems
World Food Programme
Food Safety - from the World Health Organization
Food Security - Development Gateway
International Food Policy Research Institute
People and Planet - People and Food and Agriculture
More online food resources

world food day usa
World Food Day, October 16th, is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-around action to alleviate hunger.

World Food Day - from World Vision Canada

Google Web Search Results:
"world food day 2006, canada"
Google News Search Results:
"world food day 2006, canada"
Source:
Google.ca

- Go to the Food Banks and Hunger Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/foodbkmrk.htm

8. Chronic Poverty Research Centre (U.K. / International)

Chronic Poverty Research Centre (U.K. / International)
http://www.chronicpoverty.org/
Established in 2000, with a series of innovative grants and funding schemes from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the Chronic Poverty Research Center (CPRC) is primarily concerned with researching chronic poverty around the globe and creating well thought out analyses that will be useful to different government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other researchers. Specifically, their approach is designed to focus on “three pillars”, which include thematic research, policy analysis, and policy engagement. The site is divided into several primary sections, including “Resources”, “Partners”, and “News and Events”. The homepage isn’t a bad way to delve into some of their materials, which as of late have included calls for papers and a presentation on a report on the state of the chronically poor in Bangladesh.
Review by:
The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2006. http://scout.wisc.edu/

- Go to the Social Research Links in Other Countries (Non-Government) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/internatngo.htm

9. GSR Bulletin: October 2006 (United Kingdom)
(Government Social Research)

Government Social Research: Analysis for Policy (Government of the U.K.)
- "Career information, news, training, events and the latest methodological developments for government social researchers
(...) Members of the Government Social Research service (GSR) are based in 20 government departments. The service is led by the Chief Government Social Researcher, Sue Duncan, who is supported by the Government Social Research Unit - GSRU. The team works in partnership with several cross-government committees of social researchers. The report of the Better Regulation Task Force (Local Delivery of Central Government) published in July 2002 recommended that Policy Hub should be developed as the key gateway for promoting best practice, guidance and case studies to policy makers.
[Updated October 18 - the deleted section applies to Policy Hub, not the GSR bulletin]

GSR Bulletin: October 2006
The October edition of the GSR Bulletin contains the latest GSR news, updates on continuing professional development, research funding, research methods, and research outputs, and a website of the month feature

- Go to the Government Social Research Links in Other Countries page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/internat.htm

10. United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty - October 17
Stand Up to Fight Poverty!

STAND UP to Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History News Release
October 11, 2006
Make Poverty History supporters across Canada are joining with thousands world wide on October 15 and 17 in a call to end poverty. STAND UP is a United Nations Millennium Campaign and a Make Poverty History challenge to set an official Guinness World Record. To have the greatest number of people ever to STAND UP against poverty on October 15. Within a 24-hour period, a minimum of 10,000 people will physically or symbolically "STAND UP" to let world leaders know that they must act now to help end poverty.
Source:
Make Poverty History Canada

For more information on the STAND UP challenge go to:
www.millenniumcampaign.org

For more information on Canadian Make Poverty History events go to:
www.makepovertyhistory.ca/e/take-action/calendar-of-events.html

For more information on international events go to:
www.whiteband.org

Let's Stand Up to fight poverty
October 14, 2006
In countries around the world tomorrow, thousands of people will Stand Up to protest against global poverty as part of events to mark the 14th United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Those events continue Tuesday with rallies across Canada, including one scheduled for Queen's Park, to highlight the national tragedy of poverty and particularly its effects on the 1.2 million Canadian children who, despite living in a land of plenty, are growing up in impoverished families. Fighting child poverty was once a national goal in Canada. Some 17 years ago, the House of Commons unanimously resolved to eliminate poverty among children by the year 2000. That lofty goal has never been met.
Source:
The Toronto Star

Take action to end child poverty in Canada - from Campaign 2000
September 16 to October 17th has been identified as a month of action by the international Make Poverty History campaign. October 17th is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Here in Canada the focus is on the demand to End Child Poverty in Canada. In Ontario, anti-poverty groups have declared October 16-20th to be Action Against Poverty Week. Over 1 million children in Canada live below the poverty line – that’s 1 in every 6 children and youth under 18 years of age.

Join us to raise awareness about child and youth poverty in Canada.

Want to send a message to our politicians that we can and need to do something about it?

* Send a message to the Prime Minister and Opposition Leaders
* Send a message to your Member of Parliament.
* Activities for Students and Teachers.
* Check our Events Calendar to find out about events happening in your community.
* If in Ontario, send a message to Premier McGuinty and Opposition Leaders
* Visit the Make Poverty History web site to find out how you can participate in other activities and actions.
* Campaign 2000 Partners - 100+ links to national and provincial/territorial organizations across Canada
* 6 steps you can take for children's rights in Canada - from the UN Special Session on Children: A Promise to Act

Google Web Search Results:
"U.N., Day for the Eradication of Poverty"
Google News Search Results:
"U.N., Day for the Eradication of Poverty"
Source:
Google.ca

NOTE: See also World Food Day (October 16) links further down on this page.

- Go to the United Nations Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/un.htm

11. Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus win Nobel Peace Prize - October 13, 2006
Global Microcredit Summit - November 12-15, Halifax

Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus win Nobel Peace Prize
October 13, 2006
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work in advancing economic and social opportunities for the poor, particularly women. The economist and the bank he founded will share the prize. They were cited for their efforts to help "create economic and social development from below" in their home country by using innovative economic programs such as microcredit lending. Grameen Bank has been instrumental in helping millions of poor Bangladeshis, many of them women, improve their standard of living by letting them borrow small sums to start businesses. Loans go toward buying items such as cows to start a dairy, chickens for an egg business, or mobile phones to start businesses where villagers who have no access to phones pay a small fee to make calls.
Source:
CBC.CA

The 2006 Ig Nobel Prize Winners

The 2006 Ig Nobel Prize winners were awarded on Thursday night, October 5, at the 16th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, at Harvard's Sanders Theatre.
http://www.improbable.com/ig/2006/2006-details.html

Here is a selection of Ig Nobel Prizes for 2006:

ORNITHOLOGY:
Ivan R. Schwab, of the University of California Davis, and the late Philip R.A. May of the University of California Los Angeles, for exploring and explaining why woodpeckers don't get headaches.

NUTRITION:
Wasmia Al-Houty of Kuwait University and Faten Al-Mussalam of the Kuwait Environment Public Authority, for showing that dung beetles are finicky eaters.

PEACE:
Howard Stapleton of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, for inventing an electromechanical teenager repellant -- a device that makes annoying noise designed to be audible to teenagers but not to adults; and for later using that same technology to make telephone ringtones that are audible to teenagers but not to their teachers.

ACOUSTICS:
D. Lynn Halpern (of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, and Brandeis University, and Northwestern University), Randolph Blake (of Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University) and James Hillenbrand (of Western Michigan University and Northwestern University) for conducting experiments to learn why people dislike the sound of fingernails scraping on a blackboard.

MATHEMATICS:
Nic Svenson and Piers Barnes of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization, for calculating the number of photographs you must take to (almost) ensure that nobody in a group photo will have their eyes closed

LITERATURE:
Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton University for his report "Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly."

PHYSICS:
Basile Audoly and Sebastien Neukirch of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, in Paris, for their insights into why, when you bend dry spaghetti, it often breaks into more than two pieces.

CHEMISTRY:
Antonio Mulet, José Javier Benedito and José Bon of the University of Valencia, Spain, and Carmen Rosselló of the University of Illes Balears, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, for their study "Ultrasonic Velocity in Cheddar Cheese as Affected by Temperature."

BIOLOGY:
Bart Knols (of Wageningen Agricultural University, in Wageningen, the Netherlands; and of the National Institute for Medical Research, in Ifakara Centre, Tanzania, and of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna Austria) and Ruurd de Jong (of Wageningen Agricultural University and of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Italy) for showing that the female malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae is attracted equally to the smell of limburger cheese and to the smell of human feet.

MEDICINE:
Francis M. Fesmire of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, for his medical case report "Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage"; and Majed Odeh, Harry Bassan, and Arie Oliven of Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel, for their subsequent medical case report also titled "Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage."
**************
OK, two questions pop into my mind on his last one:

1. Did a professional health researcher actually think, "Hey - we can control hiccups with digital rectal massage!" --- or did someone who was practising DRM at the time just happen to notice that their partner's hiccups went away around the same time? And exactly how long does DRM have to be performed before those nasty ole hiccups go away? ("Until it works, eh!")

2. Researchers in Tennessee AND in Israel came up with this *independently* ???????

******************************************
Crass Casualty (My blog)
http://canadiansocialresearch.net/mywordpress/