This paper chronicles the life of Democratic Congressman "Tip" O'Neill, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1977-1986. O'Neill's life is recounted, including: (1) encountering the patronage practice in Boston politics; (2) experiences in the Massachusetts legislature; (3) work with the Kennedy brothers and Lyndon Johnson;…

Public broadcasting in the United States frequently draws criticism from conservatives who accuse it of pursuing an agenda promoting environmentalism, gay rights, affirmative action, reproductive choice, and other liberal causes, and of being hostile to conservative interests such as defense, the pro-life effort, and the promotion of Christian…

These hearings examined testimony on the practice of academic earmarking by the U.S. Congress, the process of allocating federal funds to academic projects or institutions based upon the influence of one or more members of Congress who favor the funding, rather than on the specific merits of the project or institution. Oral and written testimony…

This directory of Puerto Rican elected officials in the United States is intended to serve as a benchmark of Puerto Rican political participation and to encourage community leaders to run for public office. The survey conducted for this directory identified 123 elected officials in 11 states with Puerto Rican populations of 10,000 or more.…

This booklet summarizes the proceedings of a forum--whose audience consisted of over 200 library and information managers, congressional staff members, and persons from the information industry and academic community--on the condition of federal information policies as they relate to the Congressional initiative. Among issues discussed are: (1)…

A study examined how Alabama legislators' ratings of news media for job-relevant information correlate with their views on news media adversary and consensus agent roles. Eighty-two questionnaires (out of 140 mailed) were completed by Alabama state representatives and senators for a return rate of 59%. Results suggested that lawmakers who believe…

This document includes five reports originally presented at two meetings of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) held respecively in 1985 and 1987. In "Public Policy on LIbraries," Hector Wynter, a member of the Jamaican Parliament, describes the role of the legislator in the development of libraries in Jamaica.…

Designed to provide information for the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges' review of the state's Master Plan for Higher Education, this two-part report presents background on recent research on the community college mission and describes processes currently available to the Board to establish priorities within the mission.…

Data gathered in a study of news coverage of the parttime Indiana and fulltime Michigan state legislatures were used to determine if source use in stories, portrayals of lawmakers and of the legislature as a whole, and topic coverage varied with the length of the legislative session. A content analysis was conducted of the 111 stories written by…

To replicate previous studies indicating a consistent pattern of unequal treatment of women in newspaper coverage, a study examined how 21 Michigan newspapers treated stories involving male and female state officials over an eight-week period. In particular, the study focused on the amount of coverage, the context of the coverage, the length of…

This guide for changing public opinion concerning physical education is divided into four sections: The first, "Setting the Stage" tells how the various governments are organized, and the processes which turn public opinion into public policy. Future trends in the federal, state, and local role in funding public education are discussed. An…

A member of the Illinois House of Representatives expresses her reasons for believing that most of the goals of Women's Rights advocates are not only reasonable and desirable, but necessary for the survival of the family, and that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) means equal opportunity and recognition for all. (Author/AJ)

The testimony of ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission) officials and the Governors of Appalachian states at Congressional hearings constitutes a report on ARC's current status and program plans. (JC)

To better serve the diverse and complex needs of the parliamentarian, parliamentary libraries are transferring the emphasis of their activities from collection building to the provision of increasingly more costly library services. Parliamentary libraries must accept that information prepared for members of parliament is more differentiated and…

Expressing the concern of the Parliamentary Libraries Section of International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) about the need of legislators for access to up-to-date, reliable, adequate libraries and dissemination facilities, this paper offers a general review of requirements necessary for the initiation and development of legislative…