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The paper contributes to the literature on black students and racial disparities in high school completion in Canada and makes original use of the 2006 Census to analyze the educational attainment of 18- to 19-year-olds in Ontario and Quebec. Results of a logistic regression indicate that in both provinces, black/white disparities in graduation rates disappear when income, family structure, language, gender, and place of residence are taken into account. Higher rates of socioeconomic disadvantage among black children pose challenges for high school completion. These findings do not imply that racism has no impact; indeed, the paper concludes that high school completion may not be the outcome most suitable for evaluating the effects of racism on educational attainment. Future studies should examine the causes of racial disparities in intermediate outcomes of school success (i.e., grades, special education placement, academic tracking, and disciplinary sanctions), and their effects on the graduation rates and postsecondary pathways of black students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional altruism in the form of a public-sector intervention and support for victims and social altruism generated by mutual aid and solidarity among citizens constitute a coming together in a crisis. This coming together and mutual support precipitate a decrease in crime rates during such an event. This paper presents an analysis of daily fluctuations in crime during the prolonged ice storms in Quebec, Canada, in January 1998 that provoked an electrical blackout. Of particular interest are the principal crisis-related influences on daily crime patterns. A first series of analyses examines the impact of altruistic public-sector mobilisation on crime. A significant decline in property crime rates was noticed when cheques were distributed to crisis victims in financial need in Montérégie, and hence they were attributable to public intervention (institutional altruism). Moreover, the rate of social altruism (financial donations), which was more substantial in adjoining rather than distant regions, was inversely proportional to crime rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]