Articles by Steven Gilchrist

Most of the Amazon rainforest is in the South American country of Brazil.   The former Portuguese colony is the continent’s most influential country and is one of the world’s largest democracies.   Similarly to the United States there is a significant gap between the rich and poor in Brazil.   The nation’s population is quite diverse.   Brazil’s population includes native indigenous Americans and descendants of African slaves and European settlers. Recently, Brazil has experienced two historic events: the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.   More importantly, the former president of Brazil Dilma Rousseff was suspended in May 2016 by the Brazilian senate.   Rousseff was charged with using illegal budgetary maneuvers to shield the extent of Brazil’s financial woes.   In 2010, Rousseff (a member of the left-wing Workers’ Party) was elected as Brazil’s first woman president.   In 2014, Rousseff was re-elected.   Howev...

According to a March 30, 2015 National Public Radio story, “Open Cases: Why One-Third of Murders In America Go Unresolved,” by Martin Kaste, criminologists estimate that at least 200,000 murders have gone unsolved in the United States since the 1960s. There are several challenges that law enforcement officials encounter when trying to solve murder investigations. 1. Prosecutors might want clear-cut investigations that can lead to plea bargains. 2. A pervasive “no snitch” culture (in particular in minority communities). 3. Poor communication between law enforcement and the general public. 4. Insufficient staffing/limited resources 5. Prioritization of cases University of Maryland criminologist Charles Wellford suggests in the NPR story that the attention given to certain murder investigations depends on prioritization.   “Take for example, homicides of police officers in the course of their duty…they’re frequently done in communities that generally have l...

Published in 2014 Effective Supervision for the Helping Professions (second edition) by Michael Carroll is an informative book that provides suggestions for managers to improve their ability to understand the concerns of their employees.   Throughout the book, Carroll references inventor Leonardo da Vinci and the philosopher Socrates.   In Chapter 8 – “Learning from Supervision,” Carroll uses Leonardo da Vinci as an example to follow for effective supervision.   “Leonardo constantly questioned his own conclusions, theories, beliefs and assumptions and suggested others do the same.” Here are some key points from Carroll’s book: P. 102. “We make that mistake constantly – thinking we are on our own, making our own decisions, having total free will and control over our lives and can change, if we choose, what we want to change.   We often believe we are independent individuals reliant on no one else for the important challenges of life.   Not so....

2016 marks the 100 th anniversary of the National Park Service.   On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill creating the National Park Service agency, “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” The National Park Service manages all of the 59 national parks in the United States.   Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. The National Park System encompasses 84.4 million acres of land; 27,000 historic structures; 21,000 buildings; 12,250 miles of trails; and 8,500 miles of roads.   The largest single property of the National Park System is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska.   The smallest property in the system is Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial in Pennsylvania. Early proprietors of ...