The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "personality tests" ...
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What Killed Arafat?
This 50-minute film was the result of a nine month long cold case investigation into the suspicious death of Yasser Arafat, Palestine's iconic, revolutionary leader. After obtaining Arafat's entire original medical files, Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit, led by producer and reporter Clayton Swisher, crossed continents to track down and interview the French, Jordanian, Egyptian, and Palestinian doctors who had worked to save Arafat's life. Part I of "What Killed Arafat?" was able to easily shatter popular myths about what caused Arafat's precipitous decline from the onset of his illness on October 12, 2004 until his death on November 11th. Testimony from Arafat's doctors conclusively ruled out liver cirrhosis, cancer, even rumors of HIV. The scientific, evidence-based discoveries made in the Part II result from the work performed by a team of forensic pathologists, toxicologists, and radiation physicists from the University Center for Legal Medicine and Institute for Radiation Physics in Lausanne, Switzerland. Working without payment, they agreed to run a battery of sophisticated tests on a large gym bag containing Arafat’s last personal effects. The scientists discovered significant levels of reactor-made Polonium 210 contaminating areas of Arafat's personal effects that came into contact with his biological fluids. When the final results came back in late June, Al Jazeera hosted Mrs. Arafat in Doha to watch the Swiss explain the results on set. Upon witnessing their testimony, Ms. Arafat made a resolute, unanticipated surprise announcement, calling on the Palestinian Authority to exhume her husband's body for testing. Yasser Arafat’s body was exhumed on November 27, 2012 so that the final samples could be retrieved. Whether the causes of Arafat's death are determined to be natural, inconclusive—or even murder—suffice it to say that Al Jazeera’s "What Killed Arafat?" and the resulting investigations and exhumation will have inched the world closer to understanding what did not, and possibly for the first time, what did claim the life of this historic and controversial personality.
Tags: Science; death; biology; investigation; exhumation; testing
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The Ethanol Myth
Although the Bush administration has been stressing the push for ethanol to replace gasoline, economically it isn't ideal. After numerous tests, Consumer Reports found that a person will get 27 percent lower fuel economy by using E85 as an alternative to gasoline. Drivers will pay more on a per-mile basis, and the fuel-flex vehicles are typically large vehicles, like SUVs, so drivers will have to pay more at the pump regardless of their fuel type.
Tags: gasoline; fuel; ethanol; corn; farming; oil; economy; petroleum
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Mattress Man
Local mattress retailer Handy Dandy Woods sells old used mattresses, re-covering them and passing them off to customers as new. The WHEC team took a hidden camera to the store and purchased mattresses and box springs, later cutting them open to expose filthy old mattresses. They also tested the mattresses for allergens and spoke with people who had bought mattresses from the same store. They also tracked down the person who had "rebuilt" the bedding.
Tags: Mattress; allergens; asthma; consumer fraud
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Army Recruitment - Desperate Tactics
The authors explored the tactics used by the Bronx recruiting office to increase number of enlistees. The report documented the first case of enlistment fraud since personal re-training on May 20. Despite being technically ineligible for recruitment due to a positive drugs test, allergy and other prescription drug usage the undercover reporter was shown ways to get around the rules. As a result of the report the Army is conducting an internal investigation.
Tags: Military; army; recruitment; drug test; recruiting stations; Bronx; undercover reporting; hidden camera
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Chicago Matters: Money matters
These three series; "Chasing the Dream," Paycheck to Paycheck," and "Paper Bag Test," examined how money and financial matters affects different individuals and families around Chicago. "Chasing the Dream" revealed that whites earning less than $30,000 a year had a better chance of getting home loans than blacks earning more than $90,000 a year."Paycheck to Paycheck" revealed that thousands of families don't earn what they need just to meet their basic expenses. "Paper Bag Test" showed that the major retailers have three times the number of outlets in the predominantly white areas of Chicago than in the predominantly black areas.
Tags: personal finance; home loans; mortgages; poverty level; racial discrimination; racism; neighborhood businesses
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911 Test
What's unique about the 911 emergency system in Rhode Island is that it allows operators to trace a persons location using a GPS system. As this story explains, this system can be useful only if the cell phones have a GPS chip in it, which is present only in newer models.
Tags: 911; emergency calls; GPS technology; cell phones; mobile phones; GPS mapping
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Access Denied
The Trib sets out to test how government employees around the state were handling public records request made by citizens. They discover that bureaucrats have largely rendered meaningless, one of the strongest public record laws in the nation. Forty-three percent of the agencies audited violated the records law in some way. Also, public employees tried to force reporters, who were posing as citizens, to reveal personal information or explain why they wanted the records.
Tags: Chris Davis; Matt Doig; First Amendment Foundation; FAF; Florida Press Association; Bob Ford; Welaka; Mayor Gordon Sands
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Flunking Grade: Psychological Tests Designed to Weed Out Rogue Cops Get a 'D'
The Wall Street Journal investigates the psychological tests designed to weed out bad cops and finds "critics say they fail to halt racial and other abuse." However, other police cite gains.
Tags: cops; police; psychological tests; racism; police brutality; personality tests; LAPD; job screening
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Pump Station #2
An investigation by KGO-TV revealed that "the emergency water supply for San Francisco's fire hydrants was in critical condition. If the water stopped flowing to the hydrants during a disaster such as an earthquake or firestorm, the engines that power the back-up system would blow up. There are two pumping stations in the city that, in an emergency, would draw water out of San Francisco Bay to send to the fire crews. But, the engineer in charge of the stations was failing to maintain the engines. He hadn't changed the oil in more than ten years on the job. (KGO-TV) commissioned independent tests that showed the engines were in critical condition -- that they would blow up, if run at full load for any length of time. (KGO-TV) also revealed that the chief engineer was busy with many other projects at the station that had nothing to do with public safety. The former appliance repairman used the fire department's building to store old washers, dryers, mattress springs, furniture, a bowling ball and other junk. He set up a putting green, and would drive golf balls off the walls. He parked his personal car inside the pumping station for weeks on end, to do body work. He tended a garden of vegetables and spices."
Tags: San Francisco Bay; earthquake; fire hydrants; pumping station; public safety; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT
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Anti-Aging
"Patients were routinely given hormones to look and feel younger even when tests showed no deficiencies... medical research shows taking too much of these hormones has serious side effects, including an increased cancer rate." This story show how the Preventive Medicine of the Pacific, and anti-aging clinic, is run by a person that is not a doctor, and neither has a medical license of any kind.
Tags: hormones; anti-aging; Preventive Medicine of the Pacific; California Medical Association; Regalia; TAPE; TV; TRANSCRIPT