Waiting for Their Chance: A Closer Look at Wait Lists in Urban Public Charter Schools

Public charter schools are finally giving parents an alternative to the low-performing school systems in the nation's biggest cities. Unfortunately, in communities with few high-quality public school options, the demand for charter schools is substantially higher than the number of seats available. When this happens, charter schools hold lotteries to determine which students will be able to attend. And every year far too many students end up on wait lists, rather than in the school of their choice. No student's fate should be decided by a lottery ball.This report looks at conditions in ten urban school districts that have large wait lists for public charter schools. In these school districts, nearly all of their traditional public school systems perform well below their state's average, and most of them have public charter schools that are achieving positive academic outcomes for their students. Not surprisingly, these districts also have thousands of students who are waiting for a chance to attend a public charter school

Boxed In: The True Cost of Extreme Isolation in New York's Prisons

The NYCLU set out to investigate New York's use of extreme isolation. We explored the history that led to the emergence and expansion of the practice in New York. We asked who New York subjects to extreme isolation, for what reasons, and for how long. We sought to understand and articulate its effects on prisoners and their families, as well as an often-overlooked population -- the corrections staff assigned to watch them. We compared New York's use of extreme isolation with practices in other states and asked if the widespread use of the practice violates legal standards. Finally, we considered how reforming the use of extreme isolation would affect the safety of New York's prisons and communities.In order to answer these questions, the NYCLU conducted an intensive year-long investigation. We communicated with more than 100 prisoners who have spent significant amounts of time -- in one case, more than 20 years -- inside a SHU cell. We interviewed family members and corrections staff. We consulted corrections experts, mental health professionals, lawyers and academics. We read decades of DOCCS reports and press coverage recounting the history of New York's SHU expansion. We researched the scientific and academic literature regarding the use and effects of extreme isolation. We studied domestic and international legal standards governing extreme isolation and the steps undertaken by other states to reform their use of the practice. Finally, we reviewed DOCCS' internal regulations and policies and analyzed thousands of pages of official DOCCS records obtained through New York's open records laws

Crop circles explained

Crop circles and their mysterious origins have spawned years of debate and speculation about whether or not they are formed by aliens. Crop circles have been adapted into films and television series, and usually the use of crop circles in these mediums is to give way to a supernatural or otherworldly entity that has come to earth. But in all its forms crop circles are beautiful and cryptic, so they innately fascinate people even though they've been around for a very long time. They've generated rumors, been researched and debunked, and people all over the world hold varying levels of belief as far as the origins are concerned

Memoirs of Pioneers of Cheyenne County, Kansas: Ole Robert Cram, Georg Isernhagen, Nancy Moore Wieck

During the late nineteenth century American settlers and emigrants from Germany, Russia, Switzerland, and Sweden moved westward seeking a place to live in peace, raise their families, and better their lives. They slogged through the muddy trails of the Missouri and slowly progressed through the drier -but barely discernible trails of Nebraska until they arrived at what is now Cheyenne Cotmty, Kansas.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/fort_hays_studies_series/1001/thumbnail.jp

Determining Optimal Nutrient Value through Leaf Tissue Analysis on Tomato

The number of vegetable producers using controlled environments and hydroponics for production in the United States has grown significantly in the last decade. There are many different hydroponic nutrient solutions on the market and these solutions have recommended rates of application that are specifically designed to suit the needs of newer hybrid lines. The management of heirloom tomatoes is different as each heirloom line has specific nutritional needs that may require more or less of an individual nutrient than the standard hybrid line. The optimization of Total Dissolved Solids (i.e. fertilizer solution) for each heirloom line is required to achieve the maximum production of saleable fruit. If not optimized, excess fertilization has the potential to become an economic cost and reduce sustainability. Each variety can require a significantly different solution strength in order to reach its maximum potential yield. This work developed methodologies required to determine optimal nutrient plans for three of the tomato varieties being grown at the Tennessee Tech University Oakley Farm greenhouses. Through leaf analysis the tomatoes were tested with an industry standard nutrient package. By testing the leaves, we found that the nutrients were in the normal range for “greenhouse tomatoes”, but it was obvious from observation that the heirloom varieties were all lacking individual nutrients like Calcium, Nitrogen and Magnesium. We feel that further research is necessary utilizing individual nutrients instead of a standard nutrient package to determine the appropriate levels of macro and micronutrients needed for the most popular commercial heirloom varieties

Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York

This report analyzes 851 Taser incident reports from eight police departments across the state as well as 10 departments' policies and guidelines for using the weapons, which deliver up to 50,000 volts of electricity and have caused the deaths of more than a dozen New Yorkers in recent years. The report concludes that police officers throughout New York State are consistently misusing and overusing Tasers