A Citizen's Handbook for Evaluating Community Impacts: an Experiment in Community Education
Four nonmetropolitan communities were selected for an experimental community education program designed to train local citizens in the general procedures of economic impact research. It is argued that citizen participation is enhanced by a fuller understanding of the technical content of the planning problem at hand and that this understanding is best developed through involvement in a citizen research process prior to policy formulation. The experiment was only partially successful. A handbook was developed that is easily used by lay persons to make impact estimates, but a broad base of citizen involvement in research could not be developed. Community interest was strongest in places anticipating impacts in the near term. Retirees, citizens who could receive specific immediate benefits, and local planners and managers emerged as the best community analysts.
Professional Values about Community Decisions: the Advocacy Question
Content analysis of articles in the Journal of the Community Development Society from 1970 to 1986 reveals three common sets of values about community decisions and related professional roles for community development practitioners. Journal authors value community decisions that are informed, democratic and just. The authors differ, however, over a key question: should community development professionals be advocates when they are assisting community leaders who are making policy decisions? A strong case can be made for nonadvocacy, based on a respect for democracy. Advocacy is, however, often unavoidable and common professional values, including democracy, can in some situations be used to support an advocacy role. This article provides a guide for community development practitioners to use in making ethical choices concerning advocacy.
The peculiar thermo-structural behavior of the anionic lipid DMPG.
Aqueous dispersions of the anionic phospholipid dimyristoyl phosphatidylglycerol (DMPG), around 100 mM ionic strength, are known to exhibit a thermal behavior similar to that of the largely studied lipid dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC), which undergoes a gel to liquid crystalline phase transition at 23 degrees C, well characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and other methods. However, at low ionic strength, DMPG has been shown to present a large gel-fluid transition region, ranging from 18 to 35 degrees C. This intermediate phase is optically transparent and characterized by a continuous change in membrane packing. Structural properties of the DMPG gel-fluid transition region will be discussed, based on results obtained by several techniques: electron spin resonance (ESR) of spin labels at the membrane surface and intercalated at different depths in the bilayer; light scattering; DSC; small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS); and fluorescence spectroscopy of probes in the bilayer.