Size and Orientation of the `Z' in ZRGs

Some X-shaped radio galaxies (XRGs) show a Z-symmetric morphology in the less luminous secondary lobes. Our geometrical arguments strongly support a merger of two galaxies as mechanism for the formation of these sources (ZRG). They also strengthen the conjecture that a jet is aligned with the spin of the BH at its base and that the jet flips into the direction of the orbital angular momentum of the pre-merger binary black hole (BHB). We could also restrict the distance where the pre-merger jet is bent into Z-shape by the inspiralling galaxy to the range of 30-100 kpc. One of three possible orientations of the jet relative to our line of sight is more likely than the others and allows us to deduce the direction of the spin of the merged BH. The existence of XRGs and ZRGs proves that the binary has merged, contrary to previous speculations that after a merger of two galaxies the decay of the BHB stalls due to loss cone depletion. In ZRGs the black holes probably merge on timescales of some 10^8 yr after the bending of the jet in a distance of about 50 kpc. Thus, in a way, the bending starts a stop watch for the rest of the merger.Comment: 2 pages, to appear in the proceedings of ESO Astrophysics Symposia: Groups of Galaxies in the Nearby Universe, Santiago de Chile, Dec. 200

Regional employment impacts of Common Agricultural Policy measures in Eastern Germany: A difference-in-differences approach

Politicians and farm lobbyists frequently use the argument that agricultural policy is necessary to safeguard jobs in agriculture. We explore whether this is true by conducting an econometric ex-post evaluation of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the three East German States Brandenburg, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt. Whereas previous studies have employed descriptive statistics or qualitative methods and have looked at single policy instruments in isolation, we apply a difference-in-differences estimator to analyse the employment effects of the entire portfolio of CAP measures simultaneously. Based on panel data at the county level, we find that investment aids and transfers to less favoured areas had a zero marginal employment effect. We present evidence that full decoupling of direct payments in 2005 led to labour shedding, as it made transfer payments independent of factor allocation. Spending on modern technologies in processing and marketing and measures aimed at the development of rural areas led to job losses in agriculture. Agri-environmental measures, on the other hand, kept labour intensive technologies in production or induced them. This analysis calls into question whether an expansion of existing second pillar measures is a reasonable way to use funds modulated away from the first pillar.Impact analysis, Agricultural employment, Common Agricultural Policy, Decoupling, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital, Q18, J43, R58,

CAP REFORM AND THE EFFECTS OF DIRECT PAYMENTS ON HETEROGENEOUS FARM STRUCTURES IN EAST GERMANY

Structural change, Dynamic panel data models, Common Agricultural Policy, East Germany, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Factors Affecting Retention of Transfer Students at Linfield College

Building on the work of Tyler (2011), this paper analyzes the factors that affect the decision by transfer students at Linfield College to return for a second year. Data was obtained for transfer students from the Department of Institutional Research at Linfield College from 2009 to 2013. We estimate the logit probabilities of retention likelihood as a function of academic ability, net price, curricular engagement, extra-curricular engagement, choice of major and demographic characteristics. We find that academic ability, curricular engagement, institutional commitment, and choice of major variables may be significant factors in the retention of transfer students at Linfield College. The estimated effects and the resulting conclusions must be interpreted cautiously due to our small sample size. However, a discussion of the results shows that Linfield may be able to improve retention of transfer students through increased curricular engagement and greater departmental awareness

Direct Payments, Farm Survival, and Strategic Farm Creation: The Case of Large-Scale Agricultural Structures in East Germany

Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management,

CAP IMPACTS ON LABOUR USE IN EAST GERMAN AGRICULTURE

Agricultural employment, Dynamic panel data models, Common Agricultural Policy, East Germany, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Q18, J43, C23,

“Champion Man-Hater of All Time”: Feminism, Insanity, and Property Rights in 1940s America

Legions of law students in property or trusts and estates courses have studied the will dispute, In re Strittmater’s Estate. The cases, casebooks, and treatises that cite Strittmater present the 1947 decision from New Jersey’s highest court as a model of the “insane delusion” doctrine. Readers learn that snubbed relatives successfully invalidated Louisa Strittmater’s will, which left her estate to the Equal Rights Amendment campaign, by convincing the court that her radical views on gender equality amounted to insanity and, thus, testamentary incapacity. By failing to provide any commentary or context on this overt sexism, these sources affirm the court’s portrait of Louisa Strittmater as an eccentric landlady and fanatical feminist. This is troubling. Strittmater should be a well-known case, but not for the proposition that feminism is an insane delusion. Despite the decision’s popularity on law school syllabi, no scholar has interrogated the case’s broader historical background. Through original archival research, this Article centers Strittmater as a case study in how social views on gender, psychology, and the law shaped one another in the immediate aftermath of World War II, hampering women’s property rights and efforts to achieve constitutional equality. More than just a problematic precedent, the case exposes a world in which the “Champion Man-Hater of All Time”—newspapers’ epithet for Strittmater—was not only a humorous headline but also a credible threat to the postwar order that courts were helping to erect. The Article thus challenges the textbook understanding of “insane delusion” and shows that postwar culture was conducive to a strengthening of the longstanding suspicion that feminist critiques of gender inequality were, simply put, crazy

Lessons for the Philanthropic Sector on the Use of Matching Contingencies

Many philanthropic institutions require prospective or current grantees to match all or part of the value of a grant in order to secure funding. Foundations use matching contingencies to recruit funding partners, build grantee capacity to raise funds, replicate program models, and exit from the field, among other purposes. In January 2014, Atlantic commissioned Mathematica Policy Research to evaluate its matching practices. The purpose of the evaluation is to document the utility and outcomes of Atlantic's use of matching requirements. The findings in this report provide information on the outcomes and effects of the use of matching contingencies to inform other philanthropic organizations about possible consequences of this funding practice