text:
Morgellons Disease ?
The Morgellons Research Foundation (MRF)
MRF Board Members
Advocacy/Volunteer
What is Morgellons disease?
Chemtrails and Morgellons – It's Worse than you Thought!
Morgellons Disease symptoms
Morgellons Syndrome And What You Can Do About It
Living With Morgellons
Stories from Sufferers
Case Definition
Morgellons Research Foundation
William T. Harvey, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., Chairman
Mary M. Leitao, Executive Director
Douglas Buckner, Ph.D., Associate Director
Janelle Fossen, Secretary
Dale Cowher, CPA, Treasurer
Roy Houchins
Louise Mandrell
William T. Harvey, M.D., MPH
Geoffrey S. Ames, M.D.
Robert C. Bransfield, M.D., DFAPA, PC
Bradley Hope, M.D.
Jed H. Horowitz, M.D., FACS
Rebecca Ricchi, RN, ARNP
Todd M. Warden, M.D.
Andrew Bohm, Ph.D.
Kenneth A. Curr, Ph.D.
Ahmed Kilani, Ph.D., MT( ASCP)
Joseph A. Price, Ph.D.
Cynthia A.Villarimo, Ph.D
Nursing Advisor
Barbara Johnson, BS, RN
Director of Media and Public Relations
Candice Han
Posted in morgellons
The Morgellons Research Foundation
PO BOX 357, Guilderland, NY 12084-0357
The Morgellons Research Foundation cannot offer medical diagnoses or treatment recommendations. The MRF is run solely by unpaid volunteers. We cannot accept samples from patients. Occasionally, researchers who are investigating Morgellons disease at their university or private labs do need additional samples, but these samples must be collected by a physician.
If you are able to become an advocate or volunteer, please see the Advocacy/Volunteer page for more information.
Members of the media, please contact Candice Hahn, MRF Director of Media and PR at: [email protected]
The Morgellons Research Foundation is designated by the IRS as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Donations to The Morgellons Research Foundation are tax-deductible to the full extent of the Internal Revenue Code, and will help us to continue to raise awareness of this disease, as well as to fund critical research.
Six groups of PhD level scientists have submitted formal research proposals to the MRF, totaling $581,600. These dedicated researchers, who work at three different universities, two private microbiology laboratories, and one research institute, require funding to continue their investigations of Morgellons disease.
Please consider making a contribution.
Contributors to the MRF will receive a written receipt which can be used for tax purposes. The ultimate goal of this foundation is to find a cure for Morgellons disease.
Donations, in the form of checks payable to Morgellons Research Foundation, can be mailed to:
Guilderland, NY
Contribute without spending a dime! Learn more >>>
There are several ways to add to your contribution without spending a dime!
eBates.com
GoodSearch.com
Thank you to our sponsors. Learn more about our wonderful sponsors >>>
On behalf of everyone suffering from Morgellons disease, we would like to thank these organizations and individuals for their kind support of the efforts of the Morgellons Research Foundation.
Maria Lucas and the Asthma & Respiratory Services
National Hot Rod Association (NHRA)
Where do donations go?
The MRF is operated by an unpaid board of directors, officers, and volunteers who are working out of their homes. The MRF has minimal operating costs and the current Board of Directors has always paid for their own travel and related costs associated with Morgellons disease. We operate this way so that the bulk of our donations go to raising awareness and supporting scientific research.
Please use iGive.com when you shop online and designate the MRF as your charity of choice. You can shop as you normally would and a percentage is donated to charity. The prices aren't any higher than you would normally pay. In fact, they often offer discounts.
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Another organization that contributes to charity is eBates.com. Again, shop online and designate the MRF as your charity of choice. Shop as you normally would and a percentage is donated to the MRF. The prices aren't any higher than you would normally pay and often offer discounts.
You can also search the web using Good Search (click the button below). Every time you search the web, a small amount goes to the MRF. It uses Yahoo as the search engine, so it works great.
Thank you to our sponsors.Maria Lucas and the Asthma & Respiratory Services
Thank you to Maria Lucas and everyone at Asthma and Respiratory Services of Oklahoma, for their generous contribution as well as their support.
American Association of Critical Care Nurses
Thank you for your generous sponsorship of the MRF at the Bridges Symposium in San Francisco. Your kindness will never be forgotten.
Thank you to SCORE. We would like to also personally thank Bob Checkaneck of SCORE for all of his advice, patience and guidance. Click here for SCORE letter, awarding MRF Small Business Success 2006.
Thank you to the NHRA for their help in raising awareness of Morgellons disease, during the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Races in Pomona, California.
With a special thank you to David Baca, who was the first NHRA Driver to volunteer to help raise awareness of Morgellons disease, by driving with MRF information on his car, in honor of a friends'sister-in-law Deanna, and her loving and supportive sister Terri.
We would also like to thank the following drivers for their help in raising awareness of Morgellons disease, by racing with MRF information on their cars, during the 2006 races in Pomona, California.
Clay Millican – Werner Enterprises Top Fuel car
Garrett Bateman – Big O Tires A/Fuel car
Kenny Koretsky – Nitro Fish Pro Stock Car
The kindness of the drivers of the NHRA has meant so much to so many people!
Welcome to the MRF Advocacy Coalition
The Morgellons Research Foundation is working diligently to accomplish the goals of the MRF: raising awareness of Morgellons disease and increasing funding for research. Please help us help you, your loved ones, or people whose lives have been affected by this illness.
Together, we can make a difference. Here are some of the ways you can help:
1. Register with the MRF. .
This allows us to attempt to track the number of people who are suffering from the disease, learn what symptoms they have, and what parts of the country/world are most affected. Congress pays attention to these numbers. All information will be kept confidential.
2. Contact Congress.
Ask ten additional people to do the same.
The fastest way to send the following letter to Congress is via FAX. Postal mail is also effective, but is a much slower process due to government mail screening. Your representatives' contact information can be found at:
www.senate.gov
www.house.gov
Click here for a sample letter to Congress.
3. Contact President Obama.
Information about contacting president Obama can be seen below. This letter (or your version) can be sent via the following two Whitehouse website contact forms, faxed or mailed to the President. We recommend faxing over mailing since postal mailings likely pass through a lengthy security screening process.
Whitehouse Fax number: 202-456-2461
Whitehouse Main Office website form
Whitehouse Public Liason Office Website form
Click here for a sample letter to the President.
4. Please consider volunteering your time to help us.
We are trying to help over 13,000 families whose lives have been affected by this illness. We are a grassroots organization with all-volunteer officers, board members or staff. We do have human compassion, drive, and dedication. But we need help! We have a tremendous need for volunteers able to assist us in some critical need areas, including those below.
Critical Needs:
Please email [email protected] if you can help in one of the following ways:
A. Clinicians: If you are a physician, or other clinician and feel that you could help us in any way, please contact us. We are in need of clinicians willing to accept patients suffering from this illness.
B. Fundraising. We hope to raise appropriate funds to support the five (5) research grant proposals sent to us by PhD level scientists, which will speed the discovery process.
C. Professionals. We would like to hear from professionals capable of helping in any way.
D. Scientists. We would like to hear from scientists able to investigate any aspect of this illness.
Tagged volunteer
The Medical Advisory Board of the Morgellons Research Foundation (MRF) developed a Case Definition, the most recent revision of which is currently nearing completion. Until this more rigorous definition has been submitted for review, the much earlier case characterization (seen at bottom) will remain in place.
Following is the history of the MRF's attempt to understand Morgellons disease.
Morgellons Disease is a label assigned by the founder of the MRF to the condition of an ill child in 2002 with numerous symptoms outside known illness categories. One physical sign became the "defining" characteristic of the illness: small diameter "filaments" protruding from lesions near the child's mouth and other body areas that were both sensitive and painful. In searching for others who might have encountered the same phenomenon, the MRF was created. Its initial function was to convey details of the phenomenon to others, and simultaneously provide a central registration site to foster broader communication.
Although the initial attention of the MRF focused on filaments and movement, awareness of the other symptoms increased which broadened the presumed boundaries of the illness. This illuminated the possible degree of disability of those afflicted and made clear that Morgellons disease likely extended far beyond the "filaments" and dermal movement sensations, to include numerous other organ system effects. Initially the name Morgellons disease was only a rallying point for self-diagnosed people to compare symptoms and experiences. With time, the number of registrants and the magnitude of their data reached a level that revealed a more consistent pattern, and although virtually all remained self-diagnosed, more than one hundred physicians contacted the MRF about patients with similar symptoms. In addition, physicians, veterinarians, dentists, nurses, and other medical professionals contacted the MRF about their own illness, or about the illness of family members.
The first attempt to pool and characterize Morgellons data into a consistent pattern was made by a physician member of the MRF who evaluated information collected from fifty people who self-referred from the MRF site to a single medical clinic. It was noted that many of these patients had been previously diagnosed with a common medical label, Delusions of Parasitosis (DP), the basic tenet being this is a psychiatric illness with the presumption of a purely delusional "parasite infestation." It was already clear by the time the first dozen patients had been extensively examined physically that they did not fit under that diagnostic label. All had evidence of actual parasite infestation, including comparison of typical skin lesions, onset history, sequence of organ system involvement, and expected organ pathology. The "filaments" were consistently observable and collectible, and laboratory data was collected on all, supporting an irrefutable immune deficiency state, chronic inflammation, and a complex picture of autonomic abnormalities. Medical histories clearly support that most symptoms of Morgellons disease precede emotional effects. Thus, it appears that Morgellons and DP are different illnesses.
Many clinicians sought out initially by patients, although formally trained and licensed, based their conclusions on the presumptions of others who had made the same presumptions in the 57 DP-titled papers in the NLM database from 1956 through 2007. Although some patients did find clinicians willing to help them, many patients reported feeling abandoned by physicians unwilling to investigate their illness. These patients tried valiantly to find a modicum of relief in the face of an otherwise ineffective medical system, and some became the target of fringe groups who occasionally promoted ineffective treatments for economic benefit.
The MRF chose to display the following clinical characterization from 2005, which has since been revised, of Morgellons disease. We know well that Morgellons disease has no formal Case Definition. However, all new definitions of human disease begin with patient observations and collected data. As the number of patients we have temporarily labeled Morgellons has grown in consistency and, counter to the DP concept, we present below a collation of all information collected from Morgellons patients until mid-2006 to create a MRF characterization of the illness. The following subsequent step will be a fact-based Case Definition.
THE MRF 2006 MORGELLONS DISEASE CHARACTERIZATION:
The Following Signs or Symptoms are The Basis of Morgellons Disease as defined by patients that fit within a consistent boundary that is also outside the boundary of other "known" diseases. The initial three characteristics parallel a much more entrenched illness, Delusions of Parasitosis (DP) named decades before today's laboratory technology and infection/immunity knowledge, driven by HIV, developed. The more recent findings listed below provide a far broader and more consistent evidence base, strongly supporting the likelihood that DP is a prematurely assigned label to an organic, rather than purely psychiatric disease.
1. "Filaments" are reported in and on skin lesions and at times extruding from intact-appearing skin. White, blue, red, and black are common among described fiber colors. Size is near microscopic, and good clinical visualization requires 10-30 X. Patients frequently describe ultraviolet light generated fluorescence. They also report black or white granules, similar in size and shape to sand grains, on or in their skin or on clothing. Most clinicians willing to invest in a simple hand held commercial microscope have thus far been able to consistently document the filaments.
2. Movement sensations, both beneath and on the skin surface. Sensations are often described by the patient as intermittently moving, stinging or biting. Involved areas can include any skin region (such as over limbs or trunk), but may be limited to the scalp, nasal passages, ear canals, or face…and curiously, legs below the knees.
3. Skin lesions, both (a) spontaneously appearing and (b) self-generated, often with pain or intense itching. The former (a) may initially appear as "hive-like", or as "pimple-like" with or without a white center. The latter (b) appear as linear or "picking" excoriations. Even when not self-generated (as in unreachable regions of babies' skin), lesions often progress to open wounds that heal incompletely (e.g., heal very slowly with discolored epidermis or seal over with a thick gelatinous outer layer.). Evidence of lesions persists visually for years.
4. Musculoskeletal Effects and Pain is usually present, manifest in several ways. Pain distribution is broad, and can include joint(s), muscles, tendons and connective tissue. Both vascular and "pressure" headaches and vertebral pain are particularly common, the latter usually with premature (e.g., age 20) signs of degeneration of both discs and vertebrae.
5. Aerobic limitation is universal and significant enough to interfere with the activities of daily living. Most patients meet the Fukuda Criteria for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well (Fukuda, Ann. Int. Med., 1994). Cardiology data and consistently elevated heart rates suggest a persistent myocarditis creating lowered cardiac output that has been partially compensated for by Starling's Law.
6. Cognitive dysfunction, includes frontal lobe processing signs interfering with logical thinking as well as short-term memory and attention deficit. All are measurable by Standard Psychometric Test batteries.
7. Emotional effects are present in most patients. Character typically includes loss or limitation of boundary control (as in bipolar illness) and intermittent obsessional state. Degree varies greatly from virtually absent to seriously life altering.
OTHER COMMONLY REPORTED SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS
1. Shifting visual acuity. Unexplained frequent need to change glasses prescription, perceived changes in visual field, and scattered and changing level of perceived light intensity.
2. Numerous neurological symptoms and clinical findings. A variety of neurological symptoms and signs have been reported. Common physical findings include abnormal Romberg, peripheral neuropathy in ALL (feet, and in some cases fingers), abnormal reflexes, verifiable, probably neuropathic pain and recurrent brain control abnormalities affecting motor function, circadian rhythm, body temperature and respiratory rate.
3. Gastrointestinal symptoms, often including dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux, swallowing difficulty, and changes in bowel habits (Similar to IBS or Crohn's disease)
4. Acute changes in skin texture and pigment. The skin is variously thickened and thinned, with irregular texture and hyper- OR hypo-pigmentation pattern. Overgrowth or hypergrowth phenomena are common (nevi, skin tags, microangioma, lipomas, callus formation).
5. Arthralgias. Frequently reported, although arthritis is not. Common joints are in fingers, shoulders, knees and vertebrae.
COMMON LABORATORY ABNORMALITIES
Elevated cytokines: TNF-alpha, IL-6, TGF-beta; elevated inflammation markers: C-reactive protein and TNF-alpha; Immunodeficiency markers: low CD 56 or CD 57 number, low C1Q, low IgG subclasses 1 and 3; hematological abnormalities: low hemoglobin and hematocrit with abnormal RBC indices; and biochemical abnormalities: elevated blood glucose, insulin, calcium, and serum Homocysteine, and low serum potassium and magnesium.
The consistent finding of numerous unexpected biologic agents at atypically high levels (some thought to be non-pathogens, others definitely pathogenic) strongly supports that an immune deficiency state exists in Morgellons patients. Agents identified serologically include many zoonoses (intermittently and in low numbers) such as Borrelia (at least five species) and Babesia, a single recently found gram negative bacterium, most herpes viruses, some strongly activated such as VZV and HHV-6, several mycology species (esp. Tineas), and particularly in those we have labeled Morgellons patients, parasites (species will be elaborated following PCR sequencing).
Tagged morgellons case
Savely, VR, Stricker, RB, Morgellons Disease: the Mystery Unfolds
Expert Review of Dermatology
2007, Vol. 2, No. 5, Pages 585-591
Bransfield, RT, Morgellons Disease (Letter to the Editor)
Psychiatric News.
2007; 42; 11, page 24
Harvey, WT. Morgellons disease.
J Am Acad Dermatol. 2007;56:705-706.
Psychology Today Magazine
The Morgellons Mystery
American Journal of
Clinical Dermatology
2006, Volume 7, Issue
authored by:
Ginger Savely, NP,
Mary Leitao and
Raphael B. Stricker, MD
The Mystery of Morgellons Disease:
Infection or Delusion?
Advance For Nurse Practitioners – May 2005
National Nursing Publication's
article on
Morgellons Disease
Ginger Savely, FNP-C
and Mary M. Leitao
Case Definition Draft of Morgellons Disease
Tagged morgellons disease research
The Morgellons Research Foundation (MRF) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization established in 2002 in honor of a two-year-old child with an unknown illness, which his mother labeled "Morgellons disease". The MRF is dedicated to raising awareness and research funding for this poorly understood illness, which can be disfiguring and disabling, and affects people of all age groups including an increasing number of children. The number of families currently registered with the MRF is believed to represent a fraction of the true number of affected families.
The MRF fully supports the formal efforts by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Division of Research to investigate Morgellons disease. The MRF will continue to financially assist the ongoing efforts of private research scientists who are dedicated to solving the mystery of this tragic illness.
CDC Investigation:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in conjunction with Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Division of Research held a national media telebriefing on January 16, 2008 announcing government efforts to investigate the cause of this illness. Follow this link for a transcript of the media telebriefing.
According to the CDC: "Morgellons is an unexplained and debilitating condition that has emerged as a public health concern. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received an increased number of inquiries from the public, health care providers, public health officials, Congress, and the media regarding this condition. Persons who suffer from this condition report a range of coetaneous symptoms including crawling, biting and stinging sensations; granules, threads or black speck-like materials on or beneath the skin; and/or skin lesions (e.g., rashes or sores) and some sufferers also report systemic manifestations such as fatigue, mental confusion, short term memory loss, joint pain, and changes in vision"
In Loving Memory of Ken Cowles
No part of this website may be reproduced without expressed written permission from the Morgellons Research Foundation.
Tagged morgellons research foundation
thank_you.htm
( Please see note below from John Fowler, Health & Science Editor KTVU TV)
To MRF Registrants:
We are sad to announce the passing of a good and kind human being, Ken Cowles. Ken passed away peacefully in his sleep on October 24, 2007.
Ken was the Director of Media and PR for the Morgellons Research Foundation and worked extremely long hours for the cause. He felt it was his calling to help all people with this devastating illness and he never waivered in his belief or his efforts. It is due to Ken's determination and sense of right, that Morgellons disease has received so much media attention starting with KTVU in San Francisco and including ABC's Primetime Live.
Ken learned about Morgellons disease six years ago from a woman with the illness who was living in Washington State. She contacted Ken because she knew that he had worked with the media on other stories and asked him to consider helping our group. She asked Ken to speak with people at the MRF for more information and he agreed. After learning more about the illness and speaking with physicians who had patients, Ken reached out to his contacts in the media and asked for their help raising public awareness of the disease.
Below is the thank you to Ken that the MRF has had on the website for several months. Those of us who knew Ken, loved him and will miss him. Ken was a good man with a pure heart.
Mary Leitao
Thank you, Ken Cowles!
The Morgellons community would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Kenneth (Ken) Cowles, MRF Director of Media and Public Relations, for working diligently and consistently for six years to help all people with Morgellons disease.
Although Ken does not have Morgellons disease, nor does anyone in his family, he has devoted an enormous amount of his personal time to help raise public awareness of the disease. Thousands of people with Morgellons disease have reported that they became aware of others with their illness only after seeing media coverage which Ken has coordinated over the years. Ken's contacts in the media led to the initial KTVU media report of Morgellons disease in March 2004. This initial report was the beginning of a public awareness campaign which Ken directed and devoted himself to daily.
To Ken Cowles, we would like to say a sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU for caring about the plight of other people, and for a job well done!
Dear Mary-It is with profound sadness I write this note of condolence. Ken was a beacon of moral, ethical and compassionate advocacy for so many people. His perseverance and clear communication educated me and Sharon about Morgellons and spurred me in my own investigation. His tireless voice on behalf of the
suffering will be missed by us and I'm certain by many thousands. As we enter a new phase in the discovery about this illness, I feel compelled to dedicate ourselves in his memory. My deepest personal condolences to you, for I recognize you lost a friend as well as colleague.
Health & Science Editor
KTVU TV
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
SUNY FINDINGS


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Could mayor Mike Rawlings do better in a spelling bee than your kid? Wednesday, Oct. 10, you can watch Rawlings and other local celebs show their spelling savvy at the Reading Partners Celebrity Spelling Bee. The event takes place from 6–8:30 p.m. at the Dallas City Performance Hall, at the intersection of Routh and Flora.
Individual tickets cost $75, and DISD employees (with ID) get discounted tickets for $50. Proceeds benefit the DISD Reading Partners programs.


Good that discussion has started again. You must keep this up.
This FIR is worrying and is a bad precedent. Technically any death from armed action can be classified as 'murder' so in the very extreme this can lead to a situation where every action by Indian security forces can be called a murder. All that is needed is a subverted police force and judiciary.
Akshay Kapoor I got your PM. Busy week. You raise important points and I don't disagree. Will try to give some more comments on Sunday.
IAF is following their mandate and it's not their job to root for an unmade untested article. They have been quite supportive and patient. The article has many misrepresentations.
There is some confusion in the article. He is confusing the decision for MK1A orders with the Single Engine Fighter requirement. There has never been any doubt on the MK1A orders. The presentation was made in context of a further evolution of Tejas. I cannot say more than this.
Good effort and an interesting high quality discussion. This is what I came to this forum for. Look forward to more.
Nirmalaji rescinds the earlier order.
A good decision. More is needed.
Am going to take a break for a few days. Happy Diwali to all of you.


De acordo com Kant, o idealismo é um "escândalo da filosofia". Ao contrário de Hume, Kant não se satisfaz em notar que seres humanos não são capazes de abandonar suas crenças em coisas externas na vida prática. Kant pretende oferecer uma prova satisfatória da existência de coisas externas. Neste artigo, eu argumento que a prova definitiva da existência de coisas externas que Kant tem a oferecer está fundamentalmente conectada à sua nova concepção do eu empírico como um ser no mundo (Weltwesen), uma concepção que emerge na segunda edição da primeira Crítica e é completamente articulada nas Reflexões de 1788 em diante. Para mostrar isso, eu analiso a Refutação do Idealismo na Crítica ao Quarto Paralogismo da Psicologia Transcendental, a teoria kantiana da cognição de existências por inferência, a teoria crítica do "objeto" e a Refutação do Idealismo de 1787 em diante.
According to Kant, idealism is a "scandal of philosophy". Unlike Hume, Kant is not satisfied to point out that human beings are not capable of abandoning their belief in outer things in practical life. Kant aims to offer a satisfactory proof of the existence of outer things. My claim in this paper is that Kant's definitive proof of the existence of outer things is fundamentally connected to his new conception of the empirical self as a being in the world (Weltwesen), a conception that emerges in the second edition of the first Critique and is fully articulated in Reflections from 1788 onward. In order to make my point, I analyse the Refutation of Idealism in the Criticism of the Fourth Paralogism of Transcendental Psychology, the Kantian theory of inferential cognition of existences, Kant's critical theory of the "object", and the Refutation of Idealism from 1787 onward.
ABELA, P. 2002. Kant's Empirical Realism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ALLISON, H. E. 2004 Kant's Transcendental Idealism: an interpretation and defense. Revised and enlarged edition. Michigan: Yale University Press.
EMUNDTS, D. 2010. "The Refutation of Idealism". In: GUYER, P. The Cambridge Companion to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 168-189.
GUYER, P. 1987. Kant and the Claims of Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
HUME, D. 2000. A Treatise of Human Nature (THN). New York: Oxford University Press.
KANT, I. 1998. Critique of Pure Reason (KrV). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
KANT, I. 2005. Notes and Fragments (Refl). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
NOZICK, R. 2001. Invariances: The Structure of the Objective World. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.


I just finished my P90X workout for the day, Yoga X! It felt great to do Yoga X first thing this morning. It was also very easy to focus exclusively on Yoga X since it's Sunday and the only thing I'm doing today is going to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg.
Today I didn't even cover up the timer with a piece of paper (to prevent myself from becoming anxious to finish the workout). Days like today where I have very little planned are far and few between, but it's always nice to have days like this! All of the poses and stretches during Yoga X went great! I got as deep as I could into all of the moves. I did stumble like usual during the Half Moon and Twisting Half Moon, but I was able to hold the poses briefly on each side. It felt like I was able to hold the Crane a lot longer than usual. I would say I held it for a good 20 seconds or so today before falling out of it.
Yoga Belly 7 also felt great! During the last Touch the Sky I tried to increase the height of my arms and legs as high as possible during each 20 second interval. By the time I got to the last interval my arms, legs, and abs were shaking like crazy as I kept trying to push myself higher and higher.
Only 5 more days left of P90X! I want to myself as hard as I can during these last few days (even though it's a Recovery Week) to maximize my P90X results!
Lunch: Turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread.
Mid-Afternoon: Protein shake or some beef jerky.
Dinner: Since we'll be at Busch Gardens for the day, I'm not sure what I'll be having for dinner. We may end up going to the Smokehouse and getting some BBQ. If we do that, I'll probably share a meal with my wife (it's very easy for me to overindulge in beef brisket, barbecue chicken, etc. since I love it so much).


text:
Students evaluate TU's communication following "possibly armed person" incident one month after campus shooting
October 18, 2021 October 18, 2021 Social Manager
By: Jake Shindel, Associate Editor
Illustration by Meghan Hudson/ The Towerlight
Exactly one month after the Sept. 4 shooting on Towson University's (TU) campus, which caused widespread policing changes to the University, another incident occurred with a possibly armed suspect running loose around campus.
Sophomore Mikayla Mellis got back to her dorm in Tower A when she looked out the window and saw a helicopter and flashing lights outside her window. She recalls herself and her friends being confused by the sudden police presence across campus. At this time, there had been no communication to students regarding the situation.
As of now, the University has an opt-in text alert system which anyone can opt-in to to receive communications from the University and the Office of Public Safety in a timely manner. The University continues to contact its members via email, which can not be opted-out of.
"There was about 15-20 minutes in between me seeing police cars at 5:28 p.m. and Towson's first email alert sent at 5:49 p.m.," Mellis said. "I would say there is a significant delay in communication between the University and students."
TU sent out an emergency text on Monday, Oct. 4 at 5:49 p.m. notifying the campus of a possibly armed person in the West Village and University Village (a nearby, off-campus apartment complex) area. At 6:04 p.m. they followed up with a shelter in place order.
"While I understand we are all human and things take time, in high risk situations like this, any type of alert is better than nothing at all," Mellis said.
University Village resident Julia Phillips was leaving her apartment when she saw the police presence. She was stopped by police and an officer looked into her car. Phillips, a junior, said the gap between when she was stopped by police and when she first got an email alert from TU was about 30 minutes.
The response time and lack of communication between an event occurring and TU's alert system has students concerned.
"The campus communications system is absolutely abysmal," senior Justine Borneman said.
Brandon Rytina was in class when the alerts started to appear. His class paused for ten minutes while they turned the lights off and locked the doors. Rytina says that his professor kept the class updated.
"I think [Towson] could definitely do a better job at getting out the alerts faster," sophomore Brandon Rytina said. "My email was very late, very delayed."
Mellis tuned in to a police scanner for the entirety of the incident, which is where she says she got most of her information. Before hearing from the University again, Mellis was able to gather more precise locations as to where the suspect was seen and that the suspect had ultimately stolen a vehicle and fled the Towson area.
The Towerlight released sightings and reports submitted by students via our social media accounts regarding the incident in live time. Tweets that detail this series of events can be found on our page, @thetowerlight.
TU's Police Department (TUPD) sent out an email at 6:37 p.m. confirming the person was ultimately identified as unarmed. At 6:41 p.m. a text was sent saying that the subject had left the area, and ten minutes later a text and email was sent out saying the subject had been apprehended in Baltimore City.
The following morning the Baltimore County Police Department released a statement confirming the carjacking and released the identity of the suspect and his charges related to the incident. He now awaits trial at the Baltimore County Detention Center.
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Note: this page is intended to communicate our beliefs about our best guess for the size of spillover effects caused by GiveDirectly's programs in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. We are not trying to communicate an opinion on the size of spillover effects of cash transfers in other countries or in development economics more broadly. In a previous version of this page, we made a mistake by not being as clear about this as we should have been. For more, see this blog post.
GiveDirectly, one of our top charities, provides cash transfers to extremely low-income households. We wrote in May 2018 about new research on potential "negative spillover" effects of cash transfers: i.e., negative effects that cash transfers might have on people who live nearby transfer recipients. At that time, we wrote that we would reassess this evidence when we had results from GiveDirectly's "general equilibrium" (GE) study, which we expected to play a major role in our conclusions because it is the largest and highest quality study on spillover effects relevant to GiveDirectly's program that we are aware of.
We have now seen private draft results from the GE study. In brief, it did not find negative spillover effects of cash transfers. Considering the GE study alongside other relevant studies of the spillover effects of cash transfers, it appears that the overall evidence base (as it relates to GiveDirectly) is mixed. Of the five randomised controlled trials (RCTs) which look at the spillover effects of unconditional cash transfers on consumption in sub-Saharan African countries, three RCTs find substantial negative spillover effects, one RCT finds no spillover effects, and the GE study finds no or even a small positive spillover effect.
We attempted to combine the results from these studies and create a model of the magnitude of possible spillover effects of GiveDirectly's program. However, we did not feel comfortable relying on this model because we lack basic information on a number of key parameters, such as how many non-recipient households may be affected by spillover effects for each treated household and how the magnitude of spillover effects changes with distance. We would revisit this explicit model if further academic analysis is able to shed light on these parameters.
In the meantime, our best guess is that negative or positive spillover effects of GiveDirectly's cash transfers program are minimal on net. We believe potential negative spillover effects of GiveDirectly's program are likely to be minimal on net for a number of reasons, including: the largest and highest quality study (the GE study) found no evidence of negative spillovers, and we have not seen strong evidence on the mechanisms for large negative spillover effects. However, given that negative spillover effects via inflation are theoretically plausible, and given that three studies find evidence of negative spillovers, we do include a small negative discount in our cost-effectiveness analysis for this concern. We emphasize that our conclusion at this point is very tentative, and we hope to update our views next year if there is more public discussion or research on the areas of uncertainty highlighted in our analysis.
Why might cash transfers have spillover effects on consumption?
What does the academic literature find about spillover effects on consumption?
Can we apply the results from the academic literature to estimate the spillover effects in GiveDirectly's program?
What is our best guess for the spillover effect on consumption in GiveDirectly's program?
GiveDirectly, one of our top charities, provides unconditional cash transfers to very poor households in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Cash may have negative spillovers on non-recipient households who live close to recipient households.
The benefits of cash for recipients may fade quickly over time.
Update (12-6-18): We further explained our choices about which studies and outcomes to focus on in response to some concerns raised about this report in this blog post.
The evidence base for spillover effects relevant to GiveDirectly's program is mixed: of the five RCTs which look at the spillover effects of unconditional cash transfers on consumption in sub-Saharan African countries, three find substantial negative spillover effects, one finds no spillover effects, and the GE study finds no or even a small positive spillover effect. The GE study is much larger than the other studies and has fewer methodological limitations, but the large magnitude of the negative findings in some studies is concerning.
We summarise some of the key features of each study in the following table, but for more details and sources see this spreadsheet. Note that at least four out of five papers below estimate consumption by measuring household expenditure,8 which may be an imperfect proxy for true "consumption" (i.e., actual goods consumed) because prices may change.
(Note: stars denote statistical significance. * = 10% level, ** = 5% level, *** = 1% level. The Haushofer, Reisinger and Shapiro 2015 estimates are based on a very different identification strategy to the other within-village spillover estimates and so are less comparable. For more details, see this spreadsheet).
We provide a brief summary of the results in the academic literature in the following bullet points; for more detail see this spreadsheet. As mentioned previously, we focus on five RCTs which study spillover effects on consumption from unconditional cash transfers in sub-Saharan African countries. Though, note that three of these studies (Haushofer and Shapiro 2016, Haushofer and Shapiro 2018, and Haushofer, Reisinger and Shapiro 2015) were conducted on the same study population, so should not be thought of as fully independent data points.
No evidence of negative spillover effects on household consumption across villages.
Evidence of a small positive spillover effect on household consumption within-villages, approximately 7 percent of the control group mean.
No evidence of across village spillover effects on household asset ownership or subjective well-being. They find a positive spillover effect on subjective well-being of ineligible households within treatment villages.
The three negative studies find reductions in consumption of roughly 0-20 percentage points per non-recipient household, for non-recipient households who reside within the same village as the recipients during the first year or two after cash transfers are made.22 However, it is difficult to directly compare these results across papers due to major differences in the cash programs studied and the methodologies used.23 These studies suffer several methodological issues, and we are uncertain what mechanisms drive the negative spillover effects.
The General Equilibrium study by contrast finds no evidence of negative spillover effects on consumption across or within villages. This study is much larger than the other studies and has fewer methodological limitations. However, the results are in private draft form and we do not have a strong understanding of the mechanisms explaining its findings.
We attempted to combine the results from the academic literature and create a model of the magnitude of possible negative spillover effects (see footnote).24 However, we did not feel comfortable relying on this model because we lack basic information on a number of key parameters, such as how many non-recipient households may be affected by spillover effects for each treated household and how the magnitude of spillover effects changes with distance. We hope that future academic research might have more to say on these policy-relevant questions.
There is an estimate from an RCT for the magnitude of spillover effects for the average non-recipient ineligible household that lives in a village where about 11% of all households receive a $500 transfer.
We want to use that finding to estimate the spillover effects on non-recipient households (both eligible and ineligible) that live outside of a village where about 100% of households receive a $1,000 transfer.
In order to make such an extrapolation, we would need an estimate for at least two quantities: 1) how the size of spillover effects change as one goes from within a village to outside of a village at various distances, and 2) how many non-recipient households live at various distances. So far, we have not seen this key information in the relevant literature.
Note that this description leaves out several other factors that would also need to be estimated, discussed below. Also note that it provides an example of how to apply an estimate from one RCT, though we actually have estimates from multiple RCTs.
What is the effect of inflation on overall social welfare in GiveDirectly's contexts? Price increases may decrease consumption for some households while increasing it for others (see footnote for more).26 We have not yet tried to explicitly model the net effect on social welfare for a given price increase.
To what extent do spillover effects impact recipient households too? Whilst some mechanisms for spillover effects on consumption do not apply to recipient households, as explained here,29 the direct spillover effects caused by price increases, lowering consumption for a given level of expenditure, will impact recipient households as well as non-recipients. We need a better understanding of the mechanisms behind spillover effects to understand how much they apply to recipient households.
Our theoretical prior is that potential negative effects via price increases and potential positive effects via economic stimulus would roughly offset each other, though we have not yet constructed models for these effects so this guess is very uncertain.
Several papers have demonstrated evidence for moderate to large negative spillover effects on consumption, as described in this section. However, we have not seen strong evidence on the mechanisms that explain these effects, reducing our confidence in the results.
We pre-registered our belief that the GE study would play a large role in our conclusions in this post, because it is the largest and highest quality study that we have seen on spillover effects. That study finds no evidence of negative spillover effects, no effect on prices, and some evidence for small positive spillover effects within villages.35 We therefore update our best guess for negative spillover effects towards zero.
Our explicit model of spillover effects suggests that our current best guess is in a reasonable range. However, for the reasons outlined in this section, we are highly uncertain about several key parameters in that model, and so place little confidence in its conclusions.
Providing cash transfers to all households in a village may decrease the size of negative spillover effects because it is plausible that the within-village spillover effects experienced by recipient households are smaller than those experienced by non-recipient households for some of the mechanisms discussed in this section (e.g. psychological mechanisms), and there are no longer non-recipient households within treated villages.
Alternatively, the size of spillover effects may increase because the intensity of the treatment is larger when all households in target villages receive transfers.
GiveDirectly told us that it provides transfers to most villages in a relevant region.
However, it also means that recipient villages are surrounded on all sides by other recipient villages, which increases the likely incidence of spillover effects on households in those recipient villages, for example through price effects.
We emphasize that our conclusion at this point is very tentative, and we hope to update our views next year if there is more public discussion or research on the areas of uncertainty highlighted in our analysis.
In this post we wrote: "Our current estimates are consistent with assuming little medium-term benefit of cash transfers. We estimate that about 60% of a typical transfer is spent on short-term goods such as eating more food, and count this as about 40-60% of the benefits of the program. If we were to instead assume that 100% of the transfer was spent on short-term consumption (i.e., none of it was invested), our estimate of the cost-effectiveness of cash would become about 10-30% worse. We think using the 100% short-term consumption estimate may be a reasonable and robust way to model the lower bound of effects of cash given various measurement challenges."
The version of our cost-effectiveness analysis which assumes that 100% of the cash transfer is immediately consumed is here.
For more information, see our cost-effectiveness model changelog.
Whilst some papers directly look at subjective well-being as an outcome variable, it is typically measured as a combination of many underlying psychological components whose effects on welfare are not easy to understand.
In addition, we choose not to build effects on multiple outcomes into our cost-effectiveness model because we are worried that effects across outcomes within a given paper may not be independent. For example, if a paper were to find an effect on both subjective well-being and consumption, we wouldn't be sure how much of the effect on subjective well-being is driven by the effect on consumption. Attempts to build both effects into our cost-effectiveness model could therefore risk double counting a single effect.
An important part of our literature review on spillover effects is the private draft results that we have seen from GiveDirectly's General Equilibrium study, which is a large-scale RCT that estimates the within-village and across-village spillover effects of GiveDirectly's program in Kenya. We have also studied Haushofer and Shapiro 2018, McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018 and Haushofer and Shapiro 2016 in greater detail, as well as the blog posts that discuss Haushofer and Shapiro 2018's methodology and results, which are linked to in this post.
Angelucci and DiGiorgi 2009 and Filmer, Friedman, Kandpal & Onishi 2018 study spillovers effects of conditional cash transfers in Mexico and the Philippines respectively, whilst Baird, DeHoop & Ozler 2013 study spillover effects on mental health amongst school girls in Malawi.
Some details on those papers can be found in this spreadsheet.
To identify relevant papers, we: 1) reviewed any papers linked from relevant blog posts about spillover effects of cash transfers (several such posts linked from here), 2) had a few conversations with researchers working on these topics and asked for relevant papers. We have not done a systematic literature search, so it is possible that there are papers that would have met our inclusion criteria that we did not review. If you are aware of such papers, please send them to us.
Price increases. Cash transfers may lead to local price increases. We previously reviewed four RCTs, which found mixed evidence of impacts on prices. We have not recently conducted a systematic review of the effect of cash transfers on prices, so we have likely not examined some studies with relevant evidence. Price increases affect both the recipients and non-recipients of cash transfers.
We are uncertain about the best way to model the effect of price increases on social welfare. Theoretically, we expect that some goods in GiveDirectly's target villages would be non-tradable (e.g. local services such as haircuts) and that there would be some increase in the prices of such goods, as we believe is consistent with basic economic theory. Price increases may reduce net welfare by a) effectively redistributing gains from consumers to producers (producers may be richer and fewer in number, so may have lower marginal utility from consumption), and b) causing people to substitute away from non-tradable goods as prices for such goods increases. Note that in both of these cases value is transferred to some extent, and we are unsure about the magnitude of the final welfare impact. We have not yet attempted to explicitly model the magnitude of these competing factors or rigorously assessed all of the ways that inflation could affect social welfare. Nevertheless, we would roughly guess that overall effects of inflation are minorly negative.
Harmful psychological effects on non-recipients. Cash transfers may harm non-recipients psychologically, for example because they feel like they have lower social status, or are envious of recipients. If this causes non-recipients to become demotivated, their productivity and so income and consumption may decrease. Related to this, we previously reviewed two RCTs which look at the effect of cash transfers on social unrest.
Competition in the labor market or business. Non-recipients may compete with recipients in the labor market or in business, in which case they may be put at a disadvantage when their neighbour receives a cash transfer. As a simple hypothetical example, a recipient may purchase clothes for a job interview that increases their probability of becoming employed at the expense of a non-recipient. Though, note that this concern may apply to some extent to all interventions that increase income.
"We do not have conclusive evidence of the mechanism behind spillovers, but speculate it could be due to the sale of productive assets by spillover households to treatment households, which in turn reduces consumption among the spillover group", p.3. in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018.
We have not yet reviewed other cash literature with this mechanism in mind to determine if there is other relevant evidence.
Cash transfers could discourage wage-earning work amongst recipients. If recipients have control over their work and leisure time, they may substitute work for leisure after receiving a cash transfer. The welfare gain from an increase in leisure will come at the expense of lower consumption. We previously reviewed a World Bank review and three RCTs on this question, which overall found little evidence of decreases in work hours (two RCTs find an increase in work hours).
An increase in demand from cash transfers may lead to an increase in revenues for local producers (e.g. because prices of the goods they sell increase or because they are able to sell a larger quantity of goods), which in turn increases their consumption also. That increase in consumption can have the same knock on effect, and so on. The size of these multiplier effects will depend on the marginal propensity of households to consume, and the proportion of household expenditure that is spent on locally produced goods.
If local production increases in response to the increase in demand, there may be an increase in employment of local workers, which increases their consumption in turn. We are not sure whether or by how much local producers would increase supply in response to a temporary income shock.
For a detailed description of the expenditure-based consumption measures in Haushofer and Shapiro 2016, see p.12 in the Online Appendix. The same outcome variables are used in the other two studies based on this RCT (Haushofer, Reisinger and Shapiro 2015 and Haushofer and Shapiro 2018).
We have not seen a detailed description of the consumption measure used in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018. "The study focuses on five dimensions. Here we briefly summarize each; details of the construction of these outcomes are included in Appendix A", p.15. However, Appendix A does not seem to contain this information.
"The intervention involves roughly USD 11 million in transfers across 653 villages (328 treatment and 325 control villages) in one Kenyan county", p.2 in GE study: Note for GiveWell.
Groups of on average ten villages, called sublocations, are randomly assigned to low or high saturation status. In low saturation sublocations, one third of villages are treated, whilst in high saturation sublocations, two-thirds of villages are treated. Within sublocations, villages are randomly assigned to treatment or control. Within treated villages, all eligible households (defined as having a thatched roof) receive the cash transfers.
"Treatment assignment is randomized at the village level, and within treatment villages, all households meeting GD's eligibility requirement receive the unconditional cash transfer. A second level of randomization provides variation in treatment intensity: sublocations, an administrative unit directly above the village level comprising of an average of ten villages, were randomly assigned to high or low saturation status. In high saturation sublocations, two-thirds of villages were assigned to treatment, while in low saturation sublocations, only one-third of villages were assigned to treatment", p.2 in GE study: Note for GiveWell.
"GD provides unconditional cash transfers to poor households in rural Kenya, targeting (for villages in our study) households living in homes with thatched roofs, a basic means-test for poverty. In treatment villages, GD enrolls all households in treatment villages meeting its thatched-roof eligibility criteria ("eligible" households); approximately one-third of all households are eligible", p.6 in GE study: Note for GiveWell.
Within-village spillover effects are identified by comparing the consumption of ineligible households in treatment villages with ineligible households in control villages. Across-village spillover effects are identified by comparing consumption across households in high and low saturation sublocations for a given household type (for each combination of eligible or ineligible, and treated or control).
"We then outline our strategy for measuring externality effects, both within-village externality effects for ineligible households in treatment versus control villages, and cross-village externalities, making use of variation in treatment saturation intensity at the sublocation level", p.14 in GE study: Note for GiveWell.
"To estimate within-village externalities on ineligible households, we restrict our sample to ineligible households and use Equation (1)", p.15 in GE study: Note for GiveWell. Equation (1) is on p.14.
"To measure cross-village externalities, we pool data from all households and include interaction terms between households' eligibility status, village treatment status, and sublocation saturation status", p.15 in GE study: Note for GiveWell. See p.15 and p.16 for a detailed description of the across-village spillover effects that the authors estimate, including the regression specification in Equation (2) on p.15.
See this spreadsheet for further details and sources.
We were told this during a discussion with the GE study team on October 17, 2018.
Sixty villages were randomly assigned to treatment, and within those villages half of the eligible households were treated and half were not.
"The results reported here capture the impacts of unconditional cash transfers approximately 3 years after the transfers were sent", p.3 in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018.
"This study is a two-level cluster-randomized controlled trial", p.5 in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018.
"The research team then identified the 120 villages with the highest proportion of thatched roofs within Rarieda. Sixty villages were randomly chosen to be treatment villages (first stage of randomization)", p.5 in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018.
"After baseline, the research team randomly chose half of the eligible households to be transfer recipients (second stage of randomization). This process resulted in 503 treatment households and 505 control households in treatment villages at baseline", p.6 in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018.
See equation (12) on p.24 in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018. "Here, the sample includes only non-treatment households (in treatment and control villages). Thus, β1 identifies within-village spillover effects by comparing control households in treatment villages to control households in pure control villages", p.12.
Households in control villages were selected into the sample at the first endline survey rather than at baseline. The eligibility criterion for selection (that households have a thatched roof) was therefore applied to households in control villages approximately one year after it was applied to spillover households (the control households in treatment villages). During that year, some households in control villages may have upgraded from a thatched to a metal roof, meaning they were ineligible for the survey. Households in control villages are therefore a selected sample who may not be comparable to spillover households.
"A potential weakness in this analysis is that the thatched-roof selection criterion for participation in the study was applied to households in control villages one year after it was applied to households in treatment villages. As a result, there is endogenous selection into the pure control condition, as some proportion of households in pure control villages are likely to have upgraded to a metal roof over this time period. These households are excluded from endline in the pure control villages", p.19 in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018.
Attrition rates are significantly higher for control villages than treatment villages between the first and second endlines.
"...there is a statistically significant difference in attrition levels for households in control villages relative to households in treatment villages from endline 1 to endline 2: 6 percentage points more pure control households were not found at endline 2 relative to either group of households in treatment villages", p.9 in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018.
For more detail and sources, see this spreadsheet.
Villages were randomly assigned to treatment arms, with a total of 34 villages assigned to large cash transfers and 74 villages assigned to the control group.
"Randomization occurred at the village level across 248 villages, using a blocked randomization", p.13 in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018.
"74 villages were assigned to the Gikuriro intervention, 74 were assigned to the control group (no intervention), and 100 were assigned to GiveDirectly household grants. The GiveDirectly villages were further split into four transfer amounts, randomized at the village level. Three treatment amount arms, with 22 villages in each, received transfer amounts in a range around the anticipated cost of Gikuriro. A final 34 villages were assigned to the 'large' GiveDirectly transfer amount which was selected by GiveDirectly as the amount anticipated to maximize the cost effectiveness of cash", p.13 in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018.
All eligible households in treatment villages are treated, but the eligibility criterion differs from that used by GiveDirectly and specifically focuses on households with malnourished children, or pregnant or lactating mothers.
Criteria 1. All households in a village with a malnourished child (defined by a threshold value of weight/age) were enrolled.
Criteria 2. All households in Ubudehe 1 or 2 with children under the age of 5 (Ubudehe is the Rwandan government household-level poverty classification, with 1 being the poorest, 3 being non-poor, and rural areas containing very few of the wealthiest Ubudehe 4 households).
Criteria 3. All households in Ubudehe 1 or 2 with a pregnant or lactating mother.
Both implementers agreed to attempt to treat all eligible households that were identified as meeting any of these criteria", p.10 in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018.
The authors estimate the direct effects of consumption on recipient households by comparing consumption for eligible households in treated villages to eligible households in control villages. They also estimate the "total causal effect" of the cash transfers by comparing the average consumption of eligible and ineligible households between treatment and control villages.
Equation (1) on p.17 in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018 is the regression used to estimate the intent to treat effect amongst eligibles.
estimated by running Equation (1) on the entire sample, ineligible and eligible alike", p.18 in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018.
The authors do not directly estimate spillover effects, but the total causal effect of cash transfers is a weighted average of the direct effect for treated households and the spillover effect for ineligible households.
"The final column, which gives the impact sizes on ineligible households, implies that there may have been as much as a 50% decline in total HH wealth, 12% decline in consumption, and about a 7% decline in the dietary diversity score. That the SNT estimates are most likely to be statistically non-significant is a function of study design: despite the fact that ineligible population outnumbers the eligible one, there are almost twice as many eligible HHs in the sample, or four per village. The study is underpowered to detect the TCE and the SNT and that makes the findings suggestive. But, the implied negative spillover effect sizes are large", see this post.
See the "Results" columns in this spreadsheet for a detailed outline of the results in each paper.
Differences in the size of cash transfers, the proportion of households in treatment villages who are treated, whether non-recipients are eligible or ineligible for the program, the identification strategy used, and the length of time between the cash transfer and the follow-up survey make it hard to directly compare effect sizes across papers. See this spreadsheet and descriptions of the studies in this report for further information.
Our model is here, with explanatory document here.
To arrive at a best guess of the true spillover effects of GiveDirectly's program, we must consider the reliability of relevant studies ("internal validity") as well as how applicable they are to GiveDirectly's program ("external validity").
On internal validity: major factors that affect our views include the sample size of the relevant studies, the study design and identification strategy used, and whether the study is able to assess the mechanisms for its findings.
On external validity: GiveDirectly's current program provides transfers of about $1,000 to all poor households in a village. All studies of spillover effects that we consider in this report have substantial differences from GiveDirectly's program, such as: differences in the size of cash transfers, the proportion of households in treatment villages who are treated, and how mechanisms of spillover effects may differ across contexts.
Spillover effect estimates in the academic literature tell us the average change in consumption for non-recipient households (where non-recipient households may be within the same village or in a different village). To apply this estimate to our cost-effectiveness analysis model, we need to know how many non-recipient households exist for each recipient household.
For example, in GiveDirectly's current program, in which all households are treated within treatment villages, we are interested in across-village spillover effects. Do those spillover effects apply only to the next village over, two villages over, or do they apply to villages further afield?
In the context of GiveDirectly's program, what we would ideally like to know is: for each of a given set of distance bands away from a treated village (e.g. 0-1km, 1-2km, 2-3km, and further), how many non-recipient households are there, and how does the size of spillover effects decline across those bands.
This is particularly relevant when we try to extrapolate within-village spillover effects estimated in several academic papers to make inferences about the across-village spillover effects of GiveDirectly's program. How large are across-village spillover effects relative to within-village? Again, this will depend on the relative distance between households across villages compared to within villages, as well as how spillovers decline with distance.
It is also worth noting that the concept of distance could be more complicated than just physical distance "as the crow flies", for example it may factor in geographical barriers like difficult terrain, or, say, language barriers.
Cash transfers may lead to local price increases. We previously reviewed four RCTs, which found mixed evidence of impacts on prices. We have not recently conducted a systematic review of the effect of cash transfers on prices, so we have likely not examined some studies with relevant evidence. Price increases affect both the recipients and non-recipients of cash transfers.
Some indirect effects of price increases can be picked up in academic papers that measure consumption as expenditure. For example, as described in this section, price increases may cause non-recipients to sell productive assets so that they can increase expenditure to maintain their initial level of consumption. In the medium term, the loss of income from the sale of the productive asset may lead to a decrease in expenditure and a decrease in consumption. This effect can be picked up to at least some degree in expenditure-based measures.
This might be driving the negative spillover effects on consumption estimated in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018. The authors state that "We do not have conclusive evidence of the mechanism behind spillovers, but speculate it could be due to the sale of productive assets by spillover households to treatment households, which in turn reduces consumption among the spillover group. Though not always statistically different from zero, we do see suggestive evidence of negative spillover effects on the value of productive assets such as livestock, bicycles, motorbikes and appliances", p.3.
In addition, a given decrease in consumption caused by an increase in prices will be more harmful for non-recipients if they consume less to begin with, due to the diminishing marginal utility of consumption. By virtue of the cash transfer itself, recipients are likely to start from a higher level of consumption.
30. For example, we are uncertain how long it takes for recipient households to spend cash transfers, how long it takes for this to filter through and increase prices, and at what rate local prices might then decrease through arbitrage over time. In turn, we are unsure how quickly non-recipients respond to price changes, for example through the sale of productive assets. We are also unsure how long it might take for psychological effects to impact non-recipients' productivity.
The size of cash transfers. Cash transfers in several RCTs in the academic literature are considerably smaller than the transfers in GiveDirectly's program, which are currently US$1,085 in Kenya, US$970 in Rwanda and US$963 in Uganda. For example, in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018 the large cash transfers were only US$532.
"Transfer sizes for the standard lump sum projects: Kenya: $1,085, Rwanda: $970, Uganda: $963." Joe Huston, GiveDirectly CFO, email to GiveWell, February 20, 2018.
"The fourth and much larger transfer arm transferred $532", p.5 in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018.
It seems intuitive that spillover effects will be larger as a result of a larger cash transfer, but how much larger is less certain. As a starting point in our model, we assume that spillover effects increase linearly with an increase in the size of the cash transfer.
The proportion of households who are treated. As a larger proportion of households are treated within treatment villages, we would expect the within-village spillover effects to be larger. In the General Equilibrium study, one third of households are treated, whilst in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018 approximately 11% are treated, and in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018, Haushofer and Shapiro 2016 and Haushofer, Reisinger and Shapiro 2015, on average 9% of households are treated.
"With 11.4 percent of all households being defined as eligible", p.28 in McIntosh and Zeitlin 2018.
"An average of 19 percent of households per village were surveyed, and an average of 9 percent received transfers", p.5 in Haushofer and Shapiro 2018, which is based on the same RCT as Haushofer and Shapiro 2016 and Haushofer, Reisinger and Shapiro 2015.
"In treatment villages, GD enrolls all households in treatment villages meeting its thatched-roof eligibility criteria ("eligible" households); approximately one-third of all households are eligible", p.6 in GE study: Note for GiveWell.
In GiveDirectly's program in Kenya and Uganda, all households within treatment villages are treated. We are uncertain to what extent treated households are affected by within-village spillover effects as explained in this section, and so we have so far not made an adjustment for this consideration because we do not include within-village spillover effects on treated households in our model. This is one way that our model might underestimate the size of spillover effects, although the GE study finds that price effects (which is the most plausible mechanism behind a negative spillover effect on consumption for treated households) are small and statistically insignificant.
In the General Equilibrium study, across-village spillover effects are estimated by comparing sublocations where two-thirds of villages are treated to sublocations where one-third of villages are treated. If a different proportion of villages are treated in GD's program, the size of across-village spillovers may be different too.
GiveDirectly told us that they try to treat all villages in a given region as far as possible: "Generally, we try to go to all villages in the regions where we work, leaving out only urban or obviously substantially richer areas...The high-level answer...is that our enrollment is more "clumped" than "scattered"", Joe Huston, GiveDirectly CFO, email to GiveWell, November 1, 2018.
In that case, comparing sublocations that receive the transfers to sublocations that do not is more like an increase from zero to 100% of villages being treated within the sublocation. Combining this with the fact that in Kenya and Uganda the GD program treats all households within villages (compared to one third of households in the GE study), and the intensity of treatment may be much higher in GiveDirectly's program in a given region than in the GE study. As a result, across-village spillover effects from that region may be stronger too. In our current simple model, we base our assumption for the ratio of the size of across-village to within-village spillover effects on the size of the across-village compared to within-village spillover effects estimated in the GE study. For the reasons described here, this may underestimate the relative size of across-village spillover effects in GiveDirectly's program.
Spatial distribution of the program. As described in the email from Joe Huston above, in GiveDirectly's program, where villages in a single large block are treated, villages in non-recipient sublocations are more likely to be only surrounded by treated sublocations on one side. By contrast, in the GE study a low saturation sublocation may be surrounded by high saturation sublocations on multiple sides. This would suggest stronger across-village spillover effects in the GE study than in the program.
We do not currently have information on the spatial distribution of recipient and non-recipient villages in GiveDirectly's program in order to adjust for this.
In some studies, spillover effects are estimated for eligible households by randomly allocating transfers to some eligible households whilst excluding others. In other studies, all eligible households are assigned to treatment, meaning that spillover effects are estimated for ineligible households. In GD's program, if non-recipient villages include households with both thatched and metal roofs, then spillovers affect both eligible and ineligible households.
Within-village treatment estimates are identified by comparing consumption between control households in treated villages and households in control villages.
What adjustment needs to be made for this depends on the relative size of across-village compared to within-village spillover effects, about which we are highly uncertain as previously explained.
a) "True within-village spillover effect is a factor of Y times the within-village spillover effect estimated in the study"
b) "Across-village spillover is X% as large as within-village spillover"
Suppose that $1,000 is given to 50% of households in village A, and no households are given the transfer in village B. The transfer has a within-village spillover effect which decreases consumption by W%, and an across-village spillover effect which decreases consumption by A%. Our study will compare the consumption of control households in village A to households in village B, and conclude that the spillover effect is (W% - A%).
We currently include a 5% discount for this concern in our cost-effectiveness analysis. For more on the reasoning behind this adjustment, see this document.
Our best guess is that Rwanda will comprise between 15-45% of GiveDirectly's overall program going forward. In the first quarter of 2017, approximately 16% of households enrolled in GiveDirectly cash transfer programs were in Rwanda. In the second half of 2017, Rwanda comprised approximately 45% of GiveDirectly's non-Universal Basic Income enrollees.
See rows 5 and 8 in GiveDirectly, Dashboard Metrics for GiveWell, May 2017. To estimate the number enrolled, we multiply the eligibility rate by the total number censused (we have not accounted for the refusals in this calculation). Doing so, approximately 404 were enrolled in Rwanda out of a total of 2,555 across all three countries, meaning that approximately 16% of enrollees in that quarter were from Rwanda.
See the right hand side figure on slide 14 in GiveDirectly, Dashboard Metrics for GiveWell, April 2018. From that figure, our best guess is that approximately 1,900 were enrolled in the Universal Basic Income (UBI) program in Kenya, and 3,200 were enrolled in the cash transfer program in Rwanda. Of 7,113 enrollees in the cash transfer program (9,013 total enrollees - 1,900 in the UBI program), this means that (3,200/7,113) = 45% were in Rwanda.
GiveDirectly told us via email that it only provides cash transfers to eligible households in Rwanda to comply with government requirements there. Joe Huston, GiveDirectly CFO, email to GiveWell, November 21, 2018.
For more information on GiveDirectly's targeting criteria in each of its country programs, see this section of our GiveDirectly review.
"Generally, we try to go to all villages in the regions where we work, leaving out only urban or obviously substantially richer areas...The high-level answer...is that our enrollment is more "clumped" than "scattered"", Joe Huston, GiveDirectly CFO, email to GiveWell, November 1, 2018.
Intuitively, the spatial pattern of GiveDirectly's program is likely to lead to a smaller number of non-recipient households experiencing across-village spillover effects, as the total length of the border between treated and non-recipient villages is smaller in a block pattern.


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Could the EU crack down on pro-life activism?
Steven Woolfe
Imagine a world where opposing abortion was not just a matter of opinion, but instead constituted a criminal offence.
If certain trends in the European Union continue, that world might be closer than you think.
In the European Parliament last month, my fellow MEPs overwhelmingly voted to back an interim report by the Civil Liberties and Justice Committee. The report, which focuses on protecting women from domestic abuse, forms the basis for the European Parliament's recommended guidance to the European Commission for relevant forthcoming pieces of draft legislation.
The report's aims may seem innocuous. But look closely and it becomes clear the document is far from anodyne. On page 10 it states that the EU:
"Strongly affirms that the denial of sexual and reproductive health and rights services, including safe and legal abortion, is a form of violence against women and girls."
Now that the parliament has approved the report, it goes back to the European Commission who will then see its recommendations incorporated into draft legislation. Soon, there could be EU law which classes "denial of … reproductive rights" as a form of violence.
The potential consequences for EU member states are worrying. And even though Brexit will probably happen before any new policy takes effect, that does not necessarily mean this country will be unaffected. The EU could determine that as a condition for bilateral trade deals with non-EU countries, any partner country adheres to an arbitrary set of standards on a host of social issues, including abortion. For that jurisdiction, failure to meet those standards may result either in unfavourable terms of trade or even denial of access to the single market altogether.
Ultimately, it's hard to predict what the proposal will mean in practice; but the worst-case scenario is truly alarming. It could mean that if you work in public policy, and as a cost-saving measure decide to cut funding for an abortion clinic, that could be deemed violence against women.
Perhaps, even, those campaigning for a reduction in the term limits for abortion – or against the laws permitting late-term abortion for disability – could be considered as conspiring to commit violence against women. In Northern Ireland's case, it risks criminalising an entire country's laws. The measure has serious and potentially far-reaching consequences for our freedom.
Whatever your views are on abortion, put them to one side – this particular report is criminalising ideas and views. It smacks of a small coterie of decision-makers based in Brussels, detached from the realities on the ground, telling others that their views are unacceptable and possibly criminal.
So can it be stopped? In theory, yes; and I know I am not the only MEP who is seriously alarmed by the implications of the report. But the likelihood is slim. EU legislation is nearly always approved by the European Parliament. To attempt to stop something in the EU is like running against a gale-force wind. The layers of administration and government mean the odds are stacked in their favour. Of course, we can try to lobby MEPs, which occasionally proves worthwhile. But often this is futile.
Freedom of expression and freedom of religion help to make a functioning democracy. They are sacrosanct even when we come across those who hold different views to our own. And if any organisation should be defending these freedoms, it is the European Union.
Steven Woolfe is a Member of the European Parliament for the North West England region
Tags abortion Brexit EU pro-life
Alfie Evans's parents have the right to decide their child's treatment, not Alder Hey


Scientists have discovered a thriving ecosystem of 'infectious organisms' aboard the International Space Station.
The toilet of the orbiting space base was one of the main sites of infection along with the exercise area. Researchers calculated that there is a '79% probability that they may potentially cause disease', although analysis has only been carried out on dead samples at this stage so this risk could prove to be higher or lower following further research.
It's feared some of the bacteria could be drug-resistant, meaning they could pose more of a threat to astronauts because traditional treatments would not work properly.


Disclaimer: All persons and events in this blog are all based on real people and true events; all names therefore are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental.
Greetings from the professor! How are you doing this fine snowy day?
I'm doing well! How about you?


text:
Category: war on terror
Eid without Talha. Held for seven years without trial.
Syed Talha Ahsan?is a British poet and translator. He has been imprisoned for seven years without a trial. The family is spending another Eid without him.
Continue reading "Eid without Talha. Held for seven years without trial."
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on August 10, 2013 Categories Arts, Bangladesh, Law, People, politics, Religion, security, South Asia, Terrorism, UK, USA, war on terrorTags Extradition, illegal detention, Islamophobia, justice, Talha Ahsan, war on terrorLeave a comment on Eid without Talha. Held for seven years without trial.
In Defense of Hezbollah, a ?Terrorist? Organization
We had gone past the iconic shelled out buildings of central Beirut. It was soon obvious we were in Hezbollah territory. My guide and guardian angel Yasmine had told me about how the city was clearly divided, but I hadn't expected as clear a demarcation as the one I'd seen in Falls Road in Northern Ireland many years ago.
Yasmine, my guide and guardian angel, walking me safely through the streets of Beirut. June 2009. ? Shahidul Alam/Drik/Majority World
Continue reading "In Defense of Hezbollah, a ?Terrorist? Organization"
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on July 31, 2013 Categories Colonialism, Democracy, Global Issues, Human rights, Imperialism, media, Occupation, politics, Resistance, security, Terrorism, UK, USA, Violence, war on terror, WorldTags Beirut, EU, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Terrorism, terrorist, USA, ViolenceLeave a comment on In Defense of Hezbollah, a ?Terrorist? Organization
The New World Disorder
Tariq Ali, in this exclusive interview, seamlessly switches from contemporary historian to scholar-at-large to polemicist to raconteur, as he tackles many of the impinging issues of our times. By SASHI KUMAR, Frontline
He was in southern India after nearly 30 years. He had come to Kerala to deliver the Chinta Ravindran Memorial Lecture at Thrissur. My friend, the well-known writer Paul Zacharia and I were showing him the sights and we had just been to the site of the archaeological dig at Pattanam near Kodungalloor where he saw the unearthed pottery and artefacts that were reconstructing the fascinating story of an early society in these parts, already in maritime contact with West Asian ports and ancient Rome. From there we proceeded to the nearby Cheraman juma masjid, considered the first mosque in India, and perhaps the second in the world, dating back to A.D. 629. There was only a little evidence of that ancient patrimony left; the quaint old native structure had been all but pulled down some 50 years back and a more commodious, more standardised edifice built around it. All that was left were some pillars, a section of a doorway, another of a beamed ceiling and a crumbling staircase leading up to the attic, all in wood. But a photograph of the structure, as it was in 1905, hung on the wall. Continue reading "The New World Disorder"
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on July 30, 2013 Categories Capitalism, China, Corruption, Democracy, economy, exploitation, Global Issues, Governance, Human rights, Imperialism, India, Media issues, Military, New Media, Pakistan, politics, Religion, Resistance, security, South Asia, surveillance, Taliban, Technology, Terrorism, UK, USA, war on terrorTags 9/11, Abbas Kiarostami, Al Jazeera, Barack Obama, Eva Morales, Frontline, George Bush, Hugo Chavez, Sashi Kumar, Saudi Arabia, Tariq Ali, Yasir ArafatLeave a comment on The New World Disorder
Witnesses to War
By?JAMES ESTRIN?in New York Times Lens Blog
During the eight years that?Michael Kamber?covered the Iraq war, he often had lengthy late-night conversations with his fellow conflict photographers. Whether it was in Baghdad or on shared embeds, the discussion usually turned to a mutual frustration that Americans were not getting a full view of the war. There is a signing of the book at the International Center for Photography in New York on the 7th June
Continue reading "Witnesses to War"
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on April 8, 2013 Categories Capitalism, Human rights, Imperialism, Islam, Killings, Media issues, Military, Occupation, Oil, People, politics, Religion, Resistance, USA, Violence, War, war on terrorTags Iraq, James Estrin, Michael Kamber, New York Times Lens Blog, USA, WarLeave a comment on Witnesses to War
?So Many People Died?: How Afghanistan and Iraq Echo Vietnam
The ties between the wars are darker than most Americans recognize.
By?Nick Turse
Pham To looked great for 78 years old. (At least, that's about how old he thought he was.) His hair was thin, gray, and receding at the temples, but his eyes were lively and his physique robust?all the more remarkable given what he had lived through. I listened intently, as I had so many times before to so many similar stories, but it was still beyond my ability to comprehend. It's probably beyond yours, too. Continue reading "?So Many People Died?: How Afghanistan and Iraq Echo Vietnam"
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on March 22, 2013 Categories Capitalism, Global Issues, Human rights, Killings, Media issues, Military, Occupation, politics, USA, Violence, War, war on terrorTags Afghanistan, civilian casualties, Iraq, Nick Turse, rape, USA, Vietnam, War1 Comment on ?So Many People Died?: How Afghanistan and Iraq Echo Vietnam
Barbarian Rhapsody: Ten Years Deeper Into Hell: Iraq
BY CHRIS FLOYD SATURDAY, 16 MARCH 2013 16:40 Empire Burlesque
All forms of political media — in print, on line, on the air — have been awash in recent weeks with retrospectives on the tenth anniversary of the American-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Amidst the mountainous heap of drivel and falsehood such an occasion inevitably produces among the vast and vapid army of analysts who happily spend their days chewing the cud of whatever happens to be the conventional wisdom of the day, there have been a few outstanding pieces that put this continuing war crime in stark perspective. Continue reading "Barbarian Rhapsody: Ten Years Deeper Into Hell: Iraq"
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on March 19, 2013 Categories Capitalism, Global Issues, Human rights, Occupation, Oil, politics, UK, USA, War, war on terrorTags Chris Floyd, Iraq, Occupation, UK, USA, War, WMDLeave a comment on Barbarian Rhapsody: Ten Years Deeper Into Hell: Iraq
Tony Blair is a psychopath who should be in a padded cell says Arundhati Roy
Perhaps someone could post this video on vimeo allowing us in Bangladesh to view it more easily. Sadly a far easier task than getting our governments to act sensibly.
A log of the transcription:
0:07?fifteen million people across the world who marched against the wall hanging out
0:12?into his perhaps the biggest display of family planning team the words Continue reading "Tony Blair is a psychopath who should be in a padded cell says Arundhati Roy"
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on March 19, 2013 Categories Capitalism, Democracy, Human rights, Imperialism, Military, Occupation, Oil, politics, UK, USA, War, war on terror, WorldTags Arumdhati Roy, George Bush, invasion, Iraq, Occupation, Tony Blair, UK, USA, WarLeave a comment on Tony Blair is a psychopath who should be in a padded cell says Arundhati Roy
Nobel Committee Asks Obama ?Nicely? To Return Peace Prize
By NORM DE PLEUME in The Final Edition
Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, said today that President Obama ?really ought to consider? returning his Nobel Peace Prize Medal immediately, including the ?really nice? case it came in. Continue reading "Nobel Committee Asks Obama ?Nicely? To Return Peace Prize"
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on March 9, 2013 Categories Humour, Occupation, Pakistan, politics, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, War, war on terror, WorldTags nobel peace prize, Obama, War1 Comment on Nobel Committee Asks Obama ?Nicely? To Return Peace Prize
The story the CIA doesn't want to talk about
Ghost flights, black sites, and stories of appalling abuse.
Watch Amrit Singh of the Open Society Justice Initiative describe the grim realities of the CIA?s post-9/11 campaign of secret detention and torture.
She has compiled a first-of-its-kind report that tells the story of how the United States used its position to cajole, persuade, and strong-arm 54 other countries to take part in the CIA?s highly classified programs.
From Australia to Iran, Canada to Sweden, Hong Kong to Indonesia. The list is shocking.
Even though I?you?have heard many stories about what was done in the name of the war against terror, I found myself shocked again about what was done under the CIA?s secret programs after 9/11.
These are not the practices of an open society. Only with a full reckoning can the United States hope to close the door on this shameful chapter in its history.
Take a step toward puncturing the layers of secrecy. Watch?and share?this video.
Chairman and Founder
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on February 7, 2013 Categories Global Issues, Human rights, Imperialism, Killings, Law, Military, politics, USA, Violence, War, war on terrorTags Amrit Singh, CIA, George Soros, OSI, torture1 Comment on The story the CIA doesn't want to talk about
The Obama Hypocrisy
Do Arabs Cry For Their Children Too?
by TOM MCNAMARA Counter Punch
Rennes, France.
Once more tragedy befalls America. But this time the tragedy is even more bitter due to the fact that such a large number of young children were involved. A gunman, identified as Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people, 20 of them children ? all between the ages of 5 and 10 ? at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on the 14thof December. The attack ended with the gunman committing suicide. It was the Nation?s second deadliest school shooting.
Most people can?t imagine the evil and insanity needed to drive a person to commit such a heinous act. The murder of innocent people is reprehensible, but it is even more so when carried out on the most vulnerable elements of our society, children. Most disturbing of all is the well planned, deliberate and determined manner in which the murders appear to have been carried out. Early reports state that the gunman was highly accurate, leaving only one wounded survivor alive at the school. Continue reading "The Obama Hypocrisy"
Author Shahidul AlamPosted on December 20, 2012 Categories Global Issues, Human rights, Killings, Military, politics, USA, war on terrorTags Children, Connecticut, depleted uranium, Iraq, Obama, Tom McNamara, UN sanctions, USA, War CrimesLeave a comment on The Obama Hypocrisy


text:
package org.apache.lucene.search.vectorhighlight;

import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanClause.Occur;
import org.apache.lucene.search.BooleanQuery;
import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
import org.apache.lucene.search.vectorhighlight.FieldFragList.WeightedFragInfo;
import org.apache.lucene.search.vectorhighlight.FieldFragList.WeightedFragInfo.SubInfo;

public class WeightedFragListBuilderTest extends AbstractTestCase {
  public void test2WeightedFragList() throws Exception {
    testCase( pqF( "the", "both" ), 100,
        "subInfos=(theboth((195,203)))/0.8679108(149,249)",
        0.8679108 );
  }

  public void test2SubInfos() throws Exception {
    BooleanQuery.Builder query = new BooleanQuery.Builder();
    query.add( pqF( "the", "both" ), Occur.MUST );
    query.add( tq( "examples" ), Occur.MUST );

    testCase( query.build(), 1000,
        "subInfos=(examples((19,27))examples((66,74))theboth((195,203)))/1.8411169(0,1000)",
        1.8411169 );
  }

  private void testCase( Query query, int fragCharSize, String expectedFragInfo,
      double expectedTotalSubInfoBoost ) throws Exception {
    makeIndexLongMV();

    FieldQuery fq = new FieldQuery( query, true, true );
    FieldTermStack stack = new FieldTermStack( reader, 0, F, fq );
    FieldPhraseList fpl = new FieldPhraseList( stack, fq );
    WeightedFragListBuilder wflb = new WeightedFragListBuilder();
    FieldFragList ffl = wflb.createFieldFragList( fpl, fragCharSize );
    assertEquals( 1, ffl.getFragInfos().size() );
    assertEquals( expectedFragInfo, ffl.getFragInfos().get( 0 ).toString() );

    float totalSubInfoBoost = 0;
    for ( WeightedFragInfo info : ffl.getFragInfos() ) {
      for ( SubInfo subInfo : info.getSubInfos() ) {
        totalSubInfoBoost += subInfo.getBoost();
      }
    }
    assertEquals( expectedTotalSubInfoBoost, totalSubInfoBoost, .0000001 );
  }

}


text:
Studying viola with Richard Fleischman at New World School of the Arts
As a viola major in the Bachelor of Music program at New World School of the Arts, students have the opportunity to study both viola and chamber music ensembles with Professor Richard Fleischman..
Read more about the unique advantages that the NWSA's Bachelor of Music program offers:
An exceptional resume builder, NWSA is an educational partnership of Miami-Dade College, University of Florida and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Students benefit from the partnership through selective courses, activities, heavy discounts, exceptional facilities, and more.
NWSA students earn a Miami-Dade College Associate of Arts and a University of Florida Bachelor of Music degree by living in Miami's fast-paced and growing economy.
NWSA is located on the Wolfson Campus at Miami-Dade College in thriving downtown Miami. Blocks from the Arsht Center, PAMM Museum, American Airlines Arena and much more, NWSA students have easy access to hundreds of world-class performances each year.
Students benefit from taking academic courses at any of eight Miami-Dade College Campuses throughout Miami.
NWSA is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and alumni are employed by top music companies around the world.
NWSA students graduate with little to no debt, thanks to remarkable low tuition costs, putting our students ahead of the rest. Generous financial assistance is also available.
HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM: Students accepted into Mr. Fleischman's private studio at the high school level will receive weekly private lessons and participate in his weekly studio class. Several of his high school graduates have gone on to study at conservatories such as The Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music and the Eastman School of Music.
CONTACT RICHARD FLEISCHMAN


Tom Kha Soup is famous for its silky taste and aromatic flavor, made with coconut milk broth simmered with chicken, tofu, shrimp or fish, vegetables and basil. It is often served over rice for a more filling meal. The complex flavors are rich, sour, salty and spicy all at the same time. Verve Culture's Thai for Two Cooking Kits allow unlimited customization with different vegetables, meats, and proteins - check out some of our recommendations here!
Panang Curry is a drier curry using thicker coconut milk. It is usually cooked with chicken, beef, lamb or tofu and served with sliced kaffir lime leaves and chili as additional components to make it even more delicious. Verve Culture's Thai for Two Cooking Kits allow unlimited customization with different vegetables, meats, and proteins - check out some of our recommendations here!
Chili peppers are the main ingredient in Thai Red Curry. Spicy and aromatic, the flavor is enhanced with coconut milk and fires up savory taste buds. Verve Culture's Thai for Two Cooking Kits allow unlimited customization with different vegetables, meats, and proteins - check out some of our recommendations here!
Green Curry is known for its spicy, tangy and pungent flavor, enriched with the fresh taste of coconut milk and kaffir limes leaves. Verve Culture's Thai for Two Cooking Kits allow unlimited customization with different vegetables, meats, and proteins - check out some of our recommendations here!