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This handbook is designed to give journalists and editors the fast facts they need to cover the stories on the environment which have become part of the daily beat. Its concise briefings explains the risks and controversies connected with twenty-seven environmental and health issue-from acid rain to toxic metals, from cancer clusters to endangered species, from recycling to radon.

At one time, a move to the suburbs was the American Dream for many families. However, despite the success of Levittown, NY,impoverished “inner-ring” suburbs—those closest to the urban core of metropolitan cities—like Lansdowne, MD, are in decline. As aging housing stock, foreclosures, severe fiscal problems, slow population growth, increasing poverty, and struggling local economies affect inner-ring suburbs, what can be done to save them? Once the American Dream analyzes this downward trend, examining 5,000 suburbs across 100 different metropolitan areas and census regions in 1980 and 2000. Hanlon defines the suburbs’ geographic boundaries and provides a ranking system for assessing and acting upon inner-ring suburban decline. She also illuminates her detailed statistical analysis with vivid case studies. She demonstrates how other suburbs, particularly those in the outer reaches of cities, flourished during the 1980s and 1990s. Once the American Dream closes with a discussion of policy implications and recommendations for policymakers and planners who deal with suburbs of various stripes.

This book advances the theory that a potential leading export sector—in this case, the oil sector—is capable of inducing economic growth even in peripheral countries where the product line is primary in nature. In Venezuela the oil sector has contributed directly and indirectly to the development of the country's overall economy, particularly from 1936 to 1973, when that sector met the criteria of a leading sector, i.e., one that expands rapidly and obtains a large specific size relative to the economy as a whole. Oil investment in Venezuela contributed to the fiscal sector, the foreign sector, GDP, income, backward and forward linkages, the multiplier and accelerator effects, and the retained value of total expenditures. In spite of recent efforts to diversify the production and export mix, the Venezuelan economy continues to remain heavily dependent on oil production for export. During the midcentury decades of solid growth, it became evident that government oversight was needed to ensure that the numerous contributions flowing from the oil sector would be put to good use. Overall, it appears that the contributions were well utilized by the Venezuelan government, although there was plenty of room for improvement. Income distribution problems and other social inequities continued to beset the development process, leaving the economy rigid and inflexible. Consequently, when the oil sector faltered (1974 to 2000), Venezuela was unable to shift into other product lines. Political disarray soon followed, and with it a pervasive aura of economic uncertainty that persists to this day.

When an environmental news story breaks, the first place to turn for background on the issue is The Reporter's Environmental Handbook, now available in an updated and expanded third edition. Here, journalists can find the fast facts they need to cover complex and controversial environmental health stories accurately. The book features twenty-nine briefs on topics identified by journalists as the most important environmental issues in their communities--from indoor and outdoor air quality to sprawl to bioterrorism. Each brief provides succinct background information, "pitfalls" to avoid in reporting, important points for researching each issue, and sources for additional information, including valuable Internet sites. Arranged to facilitate easy use, The Reporter's Environmental Handbook explains where to find unbiased experts, ways to track down a company's record, and how to make sense of the language of risks and hazards. Additionally, this new edition features chapters placing environmental stories within a larger social context, including a chapter on the challenges journalists face when covering today's complex and frequently contentious environmental issues, ranging from community misunderstanding to the lack of editorial support for environmental stories. Other chapters discuss who sets the environmental agenda and the future of environmental policy and regulation. Each article has been reviewed by representatives from both environmental and industry groups to insure balanced coverage. The book is ritical resource for reporters, editors, students, librarians--and anyone who wishes to better understand the who, what, where, why, and how of the media reports on the environment.

Why it so difficult to change your lifestyle habits, even when you know your life is at risk? Bernadette Bohan acknowledges that it's not easy to change your life, especially if you are also dealing with a health crisis that is in itself life-changing. The Survivor's Mindset provides a series of easy-to-understand strategies to help overcome the hesitancies, fears and prejudices that are so often a barrier to making personal change. Using case studies, Bernadette shows how different therapies and approaches can be used to develop personal strengths and overcome doubts, helping you to make the changes you need to make. These real stories from real people vividly illustrate how lifestyles can be restructured both physically and mentally to help you recover from, and indeed prevent, illness.