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[Review] Changing Minds: The Shifting Perception of Culture in Eighteenth-Century France (open access)

[Review] Changing Minds: The Shifting Perception of Culture in Eighteenth-Century France

This article reviews the book "Changing Minds: The Shifting Perception of Culture in Eighteenth-Century France," by John C. O'Neal, published in 2002.
Date: February 2005
Creator: Kaplan, Marijn S.
Object Type: Review
System: The UNT Digital Library
Southwest Retort, Volume 57, Number 6, February 2005 (open access)

Southwest Retort, Volume 57, Number 6, February 2005

This publication of the Dallas-Fort Worth Section of the American Chemical Society includes information about research, prominent scientist, organizational business, and various other stories of interest to the community.
Date: February 2005
Creator: American Chemical Society. Dallas/Fort Worth Section.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library

Guest Artist Lecture Recital: 2005-02-09 - Allen Forte, music theorist and Madeleine Forte, piano

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Guest lecture recital performed at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall.
Date: February 8, 2005
Creator: Forte, Allen & Forte, Madeleine
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Guest Artist Recital: 2005-02-24 - Phil Woods, saxophone; UNT Jazz Faculty and One O'Clock Lab Band

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Jazz concert performed at the UNT College of Music Winspear Hall.
Date: February 24, 2005
Creator: Woods, Phil & One O'Clock Lab Band
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library

Myth, Magic, and Farce: Four Multicultural Plays

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Sterling Houston is an innovative African American writer whose plays are known for biting social commentary combined with eye-popping theatricality. Despite many successful productions, his work has never before been widely available in print. The four plays in this collection represent Houston’s full range of themes and styles. High Yello Rose deflates the Alamo myth by casting the heroes’ parts entirely with women. Isis in Nubia is a love story that sets the Isis/Osiris myth in West Africa. Black Lily and White Lily is a realistic domestic drama exploring racial tensions. Miranda Rites returns to Houston’s broadly farcical style, enacting Martha Mitchell’s last days in a hospital, where she hallucinates about Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Dandridge, and is escorted to the underworld by Carmen Miranda. “It is up to the artists to be the healers, the visionaries, to retell our stories so that they resurrect us. This is what Sterling does when he collects the lives fallen and forgotten between the cracks. What a marvelous gift Sterling has given to American culture by remembering, and not remembering as some do with retribution, but with wisdom, humor, generosity, and heart. For his labor and research, for his lifework and lovework, I …
Date: February 15, 2005
Creator: Houston, Sterling
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Personnel: Financial Cost and Loss of Critical Skills Due to DOD's Homosexual Conduct Policy Cannot Be Completely Estimated (open access)

Military Personnel: Financial Cost and Loss of Critical Skills Due to DOD's Homosexual Conduct Policy Cannot Be Completely Estimated

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From the passage of the homosexual conduct policy statute, in fiscal year 1994, through fiscal year 2003 the military services separated about 9,500 servicemembers for homosexual conduct. This represents about 0.40 percent of the 2.37 million members separated for all reasons during this period. Questions have been raised about the costs of separating servicemembers for homosexual conduct. Also, in the post-September 11th environment, there has been concern about the separation of servicemembers with critical occupations or important foreign language skills in, for example, Arabic. GAO was asked to determine (1) the military services' annual financial costs from fiscal year 1994 through fiscal year 2003 for certain activities associated with administering the Department of Defense's (DOD) policy on homosexual conduct--e.g., the recruitment and training of servicemembers to replace those separated under the homosexual conduct statute--and (2) the extent to which the policy has resulted in the separation of servicemembers with critical occupations and important foreign language skills. GAO provided DOD with a draft of this report for comment, and DOD provided additional information on separations for homosexual conduct compared with other unprogrammed separations."
Date: February 23, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicaid Drug Rebate Program: Inadequate Oversight Raises Concerns about Rebates Paid to States (open access)

Medicaid Drug Rebate Program: Inadequate Oversight Raises Concerns about Rebates Paid to States

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To help control Medicaid spending on drugs, states receive rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers through the Medicaid drug rebate program. Rebates are based on two prices--best price and average manufacturer price (AMP)--reported by manufacturers. Both reflect manufacturers' prices to various entities, accounting for certain financial concessions like discounts. Concerns have been raised about rising Medicaid drug spending. GAO studied (1) federal oversight of manufacturer-reported best prices and AMPs and the methods used to determine them, (2) how manufacturers' determinations of those prices could have affected rebates, and (3) how the rebate program reflects financial concessions in the private market."
Date: February 4, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tax Shelters: Services Provided by External Auditors (open access)

Tax Shelters: Services Provided by External Auditors

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Recent legislative and regulatory changes have addressed the relationship between auditor-provided tax services and auditor independence. At this time, the federal regulatory community is exploring further changes. To contribute to the discussion surrounding these changes, GAO's objectives were to determine (1) according to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, how many Fortune 500 companies obtained tax shelter services from their auditor; (2) according to IRS data, in how many Fortune 500 companies did the auditor provide the services to individual company officers or directors; and (3) whether selected Fortune 500 case study companies changed how they obtain tax services from their auditor in recent years. For the first two objectives, GAO used IRS and Standard and Poor's data after finding they were sufficiently reliable for our work. GAO counted a company, officer, or director as obtaining a tax shelter service from the company's external auditor when an auditor that IRS identified as promoting a tax shelter also audited the company in at least one year that the shelter was in effect. For the third objective, independent of any IRS information, GAO selected case studies on the basis …
Date: February 1, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
VA Health Care: VA Should Expedite the Implementation of Recommendations Needed to Improve Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Services (open access)

VA Health Care: VA Should Expedite the Implementation of Recommendations Needed to Improve Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Services

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is caused by an extremely stressful event, can develop after military combat and exposure to the threat of death or serious injury. Mental health experts estimate that the intensity of warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan could cause more than 15 percent of servicemembers returning from these conflicts to develop PTSD. Symptoms of PTSD can be debilitating and include insomnia; intense anxiety; and difficulty coping with work, social, and family relationships. Left untreated, PTSD can lead to substance abuse, severe depression, and suicide. Symptoms may appear within months of the traumatic event or be delayed for years. While there is no cure for PTSD, experts believe early identification and treatment of PTSD symptoms may lessen their severity and improve the overall quality of life for individuals with this disorder. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a world leader in PTSD treatment and offers PTSD services to eligible veterans. To inform new veterans about the health care services it offers, VA has increased outreach efforts to servicemembers returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Outreach efforts, coupled with expanded access to VA …
Date: February 14, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Performance Budgeting: States' Experiences Can Inform Federal Efforts (open access)

Performance Budgeting: States' Experiences Can Inform Federal Efforts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "With a number of challenges facing the nation--including a long-term fiscal imbalance--agencies need to maximize their performance and leverage available resources and authorities to achieve maximum value while managing risk. Examining state efforts to increase the focus on performance and their experiences in responding to recent fiscal stress can offer insights into practices that may assist federal decision makers in addressing the challenges ahead. GAO described for five selected states--Arizona, Maryland, Texas, Virginia, and Washington--legislators' use of performance information in budget deliberations, how performance information helped to inform choices during fiscal stress, challenges these states face in implementing and sustaining their efforts, and the potential for state experiences to inform initiatives to improve the use of performance information at the federal level. Among other factors, these states were selected because they have established histories of performance budgeting efforts and represent a variety of approaches to implementing those efforts."
Date: February 28, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Elderly Housing: Federal Housing Programs That Offer Assistance for the Elderly (open access)

Elderly Housing: Federal Housing Programs That Offer Assistance for the Elderly

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "According to the 2003 American Housing Survey sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), nearly one-third of elderly households--those whose head was age 62 or older--were experiencing housing affordability problems. Further, a congressional commission reported in 2002 that investment in affordable housing is decreasing, although the elderly population is expected to increase. A number of federal housing programs provide assistance, including rent subsidies, mortgage insurance, and loans and grants for the purchase or repair of homes, to low-income renters and homeowners. These programs are administered primarily by HUD or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). GAO was asked to determine the extent to which federal housing programs provide benefits to elderly households, summarize information on the programs' effectiveness in assisting the elderly and supportive services, and determine how HUD and USDA avoid overlap and duplication in their programs."
Date: February 14, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Head Start: Comprehensive Approach to Identifying and Addressing Risks Could Help Prevent Grantee Financial Management Weakenesses (open access)

Head Start: Comprehensive Approach to Identifying and Addressing Risks Could Help Prevent Grantee Financial Management Weakenesses

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2004, Congress appropriated $6.8 billion to serve 919,000 poor children through 1,680 Head Start grantees nationwide. Recent reports of financial improprieties at a number of Head Start programs raised questions about the effectiveness of the oversight by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in identifying and resolving financial management weaknesses in Head Start grantees. In this report, GAO provides information on whether (1) ACF can consistently identify financial management weaknesses, if any, in Head Start grantees and (2) ACF ensures that grantees effectively resolve any problems, in a timely manner, when detected."
Date: February 28, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Performance Budgeting: Efforts to Restructure Budgets to Better Align Resources with Performance (open access)

Performance Budgeting: Efforts to Restructure Budgets to Better Align Resources with Performance

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Efforts to better align and integrate budget and performance information raises many issues, including the question of budget structure--should appropriations accounts or congressional budget justifications or both be restructured to tighten the link between resources and performance? If so, how and to what extent? The administration elevated attention to this issue by including budget restructuring as part of the President's Management Agenda in 2001. To provide an overview of the various budget restructuring efforts underway in the federal government, GAO: (1) summarized steps taken by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and nine selected agencies to better align their budgets with performance and to better capture the cost of performance in the budget; (2) discussed the potential implications of these efforts for congressional oversight and executive branch managerial flexibility and accountability; (3) described the experiences and implementation challenges associated with these efforts; and (4) identified lessons learned that can provide insights useful in considering current and future budget restructuring efforts."
Date: February 1, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security: Management of First Responder Grant Programs Has Improved, but Challenges Remain (open access)

Homeland Security: Management of First Responder Grant Programs Has Improved, but Challenges Remain

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP)--originally established in 1998 within the Department of Justice to help state and local first responders acquire specialized training and equipment needed to respond to terrorist incidents--was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security upon its creation in March 2003. After September 11, 2001, the scope and size of ODP's grant programs expanded. For example, from fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2003, ODP grants awarded to states and some urban areas grew from about $91 million to about $2.7 billion. This growth raised questions about the ability of ODP and states to ensure that the domestic preparedness grant programs--including statewide and urban area grants--are managed effectively and efficiently. GAO addressed (1) how statewide and urban area grants were administered in fiscal years 2002 and 2003 so that ODP could ensure that grant funds were spent in accordance with grant guidance and state preparedness planning and (2) what time frames Congress and ODP established for awarding and distributing grants, and how time frames affected the grant cycle."
Date: February 2, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Contract Management: The Air Force Should Improve How It Purchases AWACS Spare Parts (open access)

Contract Management: The Air Force Should Improve How It Purchases AWACS Spare Parts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the past several years, the Air Force has negotiated and awarded more than $23 million in contracts to the Boeing Corporation for the purchase of certain spare parts for its Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. Since they first became operational in March 1977, AWACS aircraft have provided U.S. and allied defense forces with the ability to detect, identify, and track airborne threats. In March 2003, GAO received allegations that the Air Force was overpaying Boeing for AWACS spare parts. This report provides the findings of GAO's review into these allegations. Specifically, GAO identified spare parts price increases and determined whether the Air Force obtained and evaluated sufficient information to ensure the prices were fair and reasonable. GAO also determined the extent to which competition was used to purchase the spare parts."
Date: February 15, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Equal Employment Opportunity: Information on Personnel Actions, Employee Concerns, and Oversight at Six DOE Laboratories (open access)

Equal Employment Opportunity: Information on Personnel Actions, Employee Concerns, and Oversight at Six DOE Laboratories

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In April 2002, GAO identified the need to strengthen equal employment opportunity (EEO) oversight at three Department of Energy (DOE) national weapons laboratories and recommended that DOE and the Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) collaborate to ensure the laboratories complied with EEO requirements. GAO was subsequently asked to examine six other DOE laboratories and determine (1) whether differences exist for managerial and professional women and minorities compared with men and Whites in salaries, merit pay increases, separation patterns, and promotion rates; (2) what EEO concerns laboratory women and minorities have raised; and (3) what DOE and OFCCP have done to implement GAO's earlier recommendation."
Date: February 18, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Grants Management: EPA Needs to Strengthen Efforts to Provide the Public with Complete and Accurate Information on Grant Opportunities (open access)

Grants Management: EPA Needs to Strengthen Efforts to Provide the Public with Complete and Accurate Information on Grant Opportunities

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has faced persistent challenges for many years in managing its grants, which constitute over one-half of the agency's budget, or about $4 billion annually. Among other things, EPA has been criticized for not always promoting competition in awarding grants, including not completely and accurately announcing grant opportunities to the public and potential applicants. One avenue EPA uses to inform the public about grant opportunities is the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), the federal government's listing of available grants and other federal funding opportunities. EPA's Office of Grants and Debarment (OGD), among other things, develops grants policy and guidance and compiles grant information for the CFDA. OGD has taken several steps to address criticism regarding the lack of complete and accurate information in the CFDA. In this context the Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, asked us to determine whether EPA is providing complete and accurate information on grant opportunities to the public in the CFDA."
Date: February 3, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
NASA's Space Vision: Business Case for Prometheus 1 Needed to Ensure Requirements Match Available Resources (open access)

NASA's Space Vision: Business Case for Prometheus 1 Needed to Ensure Requirements Match Available Resources

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) initiated the Prometheus 1 project to explore the outer reaches of the Solar System. The Prometheus 1 spacecraft is being designed to harness nuclear energy that will increase available electrical power from about 1,000 watts to over 100,000 watts and enable the use of electric propulsion thrusters. Historically, NASA has had difficulty implementing some initiatives. NASA's failure to adequately define requirements and quantify the resources needed to meet those requirements has resulted in some projects costing more, taking longer, and achieving less than originally planned. Prometheus 1 will need to compete for NASA resources with other space missions--including efforts to return the shuttle safely to flight and complete the International Space Station. GAO was asked to determine (1) whether NASA is establishing initial justification for its investment in the Prometheus 1 project and (2) how the agency plans to ensure that critical technologies will be sufficiently mature at key milestones."
Date: February 28, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Contract Management: Opportunities to Improve Pricing of GSA Multiple Award Schedules Contracts (open access)

Contract Management: Opportunities to Improve Pricing of GSA Multiple Award Schedules Contracts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies can directly purchase more than 8 million commercial products and services through the General Services Administration's (GSA) multiple award schedules (MAS) contracts. Over the past 10 years, MAS contract sales have increased dramatically--with sales jumping from $4 billion to $32 billion. In addition to simplifying the procurement process, the MAS program is designed to take advantage of the government's significant aggregate buying power. While GSA seeks to negotiate best pricing for its MAS contracts by analyzing vendor-provided information--such as discounts given to other customers and recent sales data for the same or similar items--past reports have found that GSA has not always used pricing tools effectively and that management controls for better ensuring fair and reasonable pricing had been reduced. This report discusses GSA's process for negotiating most favored customer prices for MAS contracts and its efforts to improve the overall quality of negotiations."
Date: February 11, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Security Administration: A More Formal Approach Could Enhance SSA's Ability to Develop and Manage Totalization Agreements (open access)

Social Security Administration: A More Formal Approach Could Enhance SSA's Ability to Develop and Manage Totalization Agreements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1977, the U.S. has entered into bilateral social security totalization agreements with 20 foreign countries. In fiscal year 2004, the Social Security Administration (SSA) paid approximately $206 million to 102,000 beneficiaries in these countries based on their eligible periods of coverage. If put into force, pending agreements with Mexico and Japan will increase the number of beneficiaries receiving totalized benefits, as well as the amount of benefits paid. Given the costs to the Social Security Trust Funds posed by existing and pending agreements, GAO was asked to (1) document SSA's policies and procedures for assessing the accuracy of foreign countries' data when entering into a totalization agreement, and (2) examine SSA's processes for verifying beneficiaries' initial and continuing eligibility for benefits once an agreement is in force."
Date: February 28, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Catastrophe Risk: U.S. and European Approaches to Insure Natural Catastrophe and Terrorism Risks (open access)

Catastrophe Risk: U.S. and European Approaches to Insure Natural Catastrophe and Terrorism Risks

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Natural catastrophes and terrorist attacks can place enormous financial demands on the insurance industry, result in sharply higher premiums and substantially reduced coverage. As a result, interest has been raised in mechanisms to increase the capacity of the insurance industry to manage these types of events. In this report, GAO (1) provides an overview of the insurance industry's current capacity to cover natural catastrophic risk and discusses the impacts of the 2004 hurricanes; (2) analyzes the potential of catastrophe bonds--a type of security issued by insurers and reinsurers (companies that offer insurance to insurance companies) and sold to institutional investors--and tax-deductible reserves to enhance private-sector capacity; and (3) describes the approaches that six European countries have taken to address natural and terrorist catastrophe risk, including whether these countries permit insurers to use tax-deductible reserves for such events. We provided a draft of this report to the Department of the Treasury and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Treasury provided technical comments that were incorporated as appropriate."
Date: February 28, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Food Safety: Experiences of Seven Countries in Consolidating Their Food Safety Systems (open access)

Food Safety: Experiences of Seven Countries in Consolidating Their Food Safety Systems

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The safety and quality of the U.S. food supply are governed by a complex system that is administered by 15 agencies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), have primary responsibility for food safety. Many legislative proposals have been made to consolidate the U.S. food safety system, but to date no other action has been taken. Several countries have taken steps to streamline and consolidate their food safety systems. In 1999, we reported on the initial experiences of four of these countries--Canada, Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Since then, additional countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, have undertaken consolidations. This report describes the approaches and challenges these countries faced in consolidating food safety functions, including the benefits and costs cited by government officials and other stakeholders. In commenting on a draft of this report, HHS and USDA said that the countries' consolidation experiences have limited applicability to the U.S. food safety system because the countries are much smaller than the United States. The two agencies believe that they …
Date: February 22, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
DOD Systems Modernization: Management of Integrated Military Human Capital Program Needs Additional Improvements (open access)

DOD Systems Modernization: Management of Integrated Military Human Capital Program Needs Additional Improvements

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has long-standing problems with its information technology (IT) systems supporting military personnel and pay. To address these problems, DOD initiated the Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System (DIMHRS) program, which is to provide a joint, integrated, standardized military personnel and pay system across all military components. In November 2004, DOD accepted the design for the first of three phases, DIMHRS (Personnel/Pay). GAO reviewed DOD's management of the requirements definition for the system as well as the program's management structure."
Date: February 11, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bioterrorism: Information on Jurisdictions' Expenditure and Reported Obligation of Program Funds (open access)

Bioterrorism: Information on Jurisdictions' Expenditure and Reported Obligation of Program Funds

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1999, the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began funding jurisdictions' efforts to prepare for bioterrorism attacks through the Public Health Preparedness and Response for Bioterrorism program. After the events of September 11, 2001, and the 2001 anthrax incidents, program funds increased almost twentyfold. Citing jurisdictions' unexpended program funds, HHS reallocated some fiscal year 2004 funds to support other local and national bioterrorism initiatives. Jurisdictions and associations representing jurisdictions disputed HHS's assertion that large amounts of funds remain unused, noting that HHS did not acknowledge obligated funds that had not yet been expended. GAO was asked to provide information on (1) the extent to which jurisdictions had expended the fiscal year 2002 funds awarded for the program's third budget period as of August 30, 2003, and August 31, 2004, and the fiscal year 2003 funds awarded for the program's fourth budget period, as of August 30, 2004; (2) the extent to which fiscal year 2001, 2002, and 2003 funds awarded for the third and fourth budget periods remained unobligated as of August 30, 2004; and (3) factors …
Date: February 28, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library