Spring Break. March Madness. Yet another snow storm. A new volume in production and two getting ready to go to the press. There are lots of great reasons that TSP’s HQ has been quiet this week, but of course, our ambitious grad students, dedicated SSN fellows, and dogged bloggers have been spreading the soc, rain, shine, or sleet (all of which have fallen on us, by the way… we get all the weather).

There’s Research on That!

“E-Cigarettes and Acceptable Substance Use,” by Jacqui Frost. As cities move to regulate e-cigarettes as they do regular smokes, the argument can no longer hinge on the dangers of second-hand smoke.

Citings & Sightings:

“Development and Climate Change,” by John Ziegler. Is there any way to simultaneously curb environmental impacts, increase human health, and encourage economic development? Maybe some maps can help.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Do Term Limits Encourage Legislators to Ignore Constituents?” by Jennifer Hayes Clark and Robert Lucas Williams. In their forced lame-duck terms, office holders meant to be kept from perpetual power may be instead feel free to “go rogue.”

“How Unlikely Allies Can Roll Back America’s Prison Boom,” by David Dagan and Steven M. Teles. Why once tough-on-crime conservatives now have room to fight mass incarceration in the name of fiscal responsibility and responsiveness to persistent crime drops.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Cyborgology on the “1:1 self-to-body ratio” and how it relates to trans- theory and the body/self divide.
• Sociological Images on interspecies petting and what makes humans special, the women’s work that’s valued in Women’s History Month, and the Indian man who lost his wife—then got her back—by trying to tackle the enormous problem of exorbitantly priced menstrual products in his country.
• ThickCulture tries to “Make Sense of the Madness” by taking a look at the statistics and the sociological variables that break our brackets (and make some offer up their phone numbers to companies like Quicken).