Suchergebnisse

The past decade has seen a significant rise in research on high-consequence human and animal pathogens, many now known as "select agents." While physical security around these agents is tightly regulated, information security standards are still lagging. The understanding of the threats unique to the academic and research environment is still evolving, in part due to poor communication between the various stakeholders. Perhaps as a result, information security guidelines published by select agent regulators lack the critical details and directives needed to achieve even the lowest security level of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). While only government agencies are currently required to abide by the provisions of FISMA (unless specified as preconditions for obtaining government grants or contracts—still a relatively rare or narrowly scoped occurrence), the same strategies were recently recommended by executive order for others. We propose that information security guidelines for select agent research be updated to promulgate and detail FISMA standards and processes and that the latter be ultimately incorporated into select agent regulations. We also suggest that information security in academic and research institutions would greatly benefit from active efforts to improve communication among the biosecurity, security, and information technology communities, and from a secure venue for exchange of timely information on emerging threats and solutions in the research environment.

Beyond their educational function, schools are frequently a focal point for community life. We argue that this latter role was compromised in New Zealand by a decade of neoliberal realignments within education policy. During the 1990s the abolition of school zones, the commodification of education, and the drive for efficiency in the allocation of educational resources undermined the place of school in community life. In this paper we explore the impacts of a school closure on an urban neighbourhood in Invercargill, New Zealand. We present and interpret narratives gathered during an interview-based study of the closure of Surrey Park Primary School. Our analysis highlights parents' perspectives on the role of the educational bureaucracy in the closure debate, the ambiguous role assigned to 'community' within the restructured system, the impact of the closure for low-income families, and the place of schools in contributing to the neighbourhood social cohesion. Our analysis concurs with international research suggesting that breaking links between schools and communities has potentially significant educational impacts on children.

Valuation encompasses far more than the practice of estimating the financial value of environmental services and changes. It extends to almost any socio-political process in which local actors seek to shape the development of their places and environments by describing what matters about these places. This paper draws on diverse engagements with participants involved in high-profile marine development decisions in New Zealand to examine value-articulating institutions (VAIs), i.e., the formal and informal ways that values of affected parties are elicited, received and evaluated by decision-makers. Our study shows that formal VAIs can be alienating for many participants, demanding huge investments of time and personal sacrifices, demoralising members of communities when their local knowledge and expertise is delegitimised. Such processes can leave communities shaken, conflict-riven and unhappy, and undermine the legitimacy of democratic institutions. All VAIs are imperfect – using informal along with formal VAIs can provide alternative spaces for people to present and describe their values. The paper describes in situ experiences that provide an informal alternative to more formal VAIs. ; Peer Reviewed