The Use and Abuse of Lotteries as a Revenue Source.
word "lot," from which the name lottery is derived, originated from the Teutonic word "hleut," and was used to designate an object such as a disk, pebble, or bean that was drawn or cast to decide disputes, divide property, settle uncertain matters, or determine winners in games of chance.1 Accordingly, lottery gambling is a distribution scheme by lot or chance, a game of hazard in which consideration is ventured for the chance at obtaining a prize.2 Lots have been in use from time immemorial. Archaeologists in Egypt found artifacts used in gaming from as early as 3500 B.C. Also, the use of lots for determining the distribution of property is traceable to biblical times as first appears in the book of Numbers of the Old Testament where it is written that Moses apportioned the land west of the Jordan to the twelve tribes of Israel on the basis of lots.3 In Acts of the New Testament, the casting of lots was used to determine who should replace Judas Iscariot as an apostle.4 Also, lotteries were used extensively by the Romans, including Emperors Nero and Augustus, to give away slaves and gifts during Saturnalias feasts and other banquets.5 Furthermore, Italian merchants used the lottery to distribute prizes and dispose of unsold merchandise during the Middle Ages. Some historians propose that the first public lottery was held in the French town of L'Ecluse in 1420 to raise funds for fortifications;6
The Florida Teacher Incentive Program: A Policy Analysis
This article is a case study of the Florida Educational Reform Act of 1983, a teacher merit pay program, and focuses on comparison with similar programs in other states and countries for analyzing the policy process regarding educational reform. The inception, implementation, and decline of the reform are studied using the concepts of coalition building, fiscal support, and the various arenas in which salient actors worked: legislative and executive, administrative, professional organizations, and the workplace of teachers.
Urban Identities and Catastrophe: Izmir and Salonica at the End of the Ottoman Empire*
Two huge fires dramatically influenced the urban development of Salonica and Izmir, in 1917 and in 1922, respectively. These catastrophes occurred after the Ottoman Empire fell, and Salonica and Izmir had shifted into new national contexts. The fires mainly destroyed the districts that were transformed during the late‐Ottoman period. These districts became the cosmopolitan façades of modern Izmir and Salonica. The post‐fires' tabula rasa provided an opportunity for Greek and Turkish politicians and European planners to change the urban identity of both cities. Moreover, the Lausanne Treaty of 1923 transformed their multicultural societies also. Reconstruction plans had been thought to de‐Ottomanize and remove the previous idea of the towns and their multiplicity, interpreting new cultural and nationalist feeling. Here, I emphasize how modernity was interpreted before and after the fires, and point out contradictions between ideological aspects of planning and how the first urban districts were built during the 1920s.