Two More Problems and Too Little Money: Can Congress Truly Reform Forensic Science?

The goal of this Note is to analyze how the Forensic Science Reform Act would have improved forensic science nationwide, and whether a top-down approach from Congress can appropriately deal with essentially localized situations. Part I examines the current state of federal regulation on this issue, the 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences "Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward", new legislation, and the reasons why misconduct has occurred and continues to occur in forensic laboratories. Part II then takes a critical look at the Act and examines where it may succeed in leading to true reform and where it does not, then lays out other regulatory reforms that may be better suited to ensuring that we can have confidence in the findings of our forensic laboratories. In the end, this Note concludes that the Act does make several important improvements over our current regulatory system, but there is still a long way to go before our forensic science system truly meets traditional scientific standards and ensures confidence in the results obtained by forensic professionals

The university as a hackerspace

In a paper published last year, I argued for a different way of understanding the emergence of hacker culture. (Winn 2013) In doing so, I outlined an account of ‘the university’ as an institution that provided the material and subsequent intellectual conditions that early hackers were drawn to and in which they worked. The key point I tried to make was that hacking was originally a form of academic labour that emerged out of the intensification and valorisation of scientific research within the institutional context of the university. The reproduction of hacking as a form of academic labour took place over many decades as academics and their institutions shifted from an ideal of unproductive, communal science to a more productive, entrepreneurial approach to the production of knowledge. As such, I view hacking as a peculiar, historically situated form of labour that arose out of friction in the academy: vocation vs. profession; teaching vs. research; basic vs. applied research; research vs. development; private vs. public; war vs. peace; institutional autonomy vs. state dependence; scientific communalism vs. intellectual property; individualism vs. co-operation. A question I have for you today is whether hacking in the university is still a possibility? Can a university contain (i.e. intellectually, politically, practically) a hackerspace? Can a university be a hackerspace? If so, what does it look like? How would it work? I am trying to work through these questions at the moment with colleagues at the University of Lincoln. The name I have given to this emerging project is ‘The university as a hackerspace’ and it has grown out of an existing pedagogical and political project called ‘Student as Producer.’ It is also one of four agreed areas of work in a new ‘digital education’ strategy at Lincoln. More broadly, our project asks “how do we reproduce the university as a critical, social project?

Commentary: Totally Tubular - Northern Science's Most Excellent Adventure

... The second day of our meetings revisited [the] theme of northern science "going down the tubes." One of us, ... cautioned against too dim a view of the state of our interest. "While it's undeniable that northern science is going down the tubes, as my colleagues suggests," he said, "I think it is also important to realize that some of those tubes are directing us towards some pretty interesting places - increased interdisciplinary work and greater relevance to the northern community itself are two trends which the current funding levels are forcing us to consider as we seek to legitimate our proposed research. These are not, I think, such bad directions to see our activities descend to" .... My goal here ... is to discuss more fully some of the current trajectories of the journey of northern science and suggest that in thinking "tubular" about the trip we can find ourselves in a most excellent adventure. Northern research, primarily due to its geographic isolation and associated costs, has long relied on a multidisciplinary approach. ... The second feature of northern research that has been sustained to some degree over the years has been the extent to which local populations have been involved as critical participants in the research. In the early years of poor communications and logistical staging, native northerners often made the difference in the success or failure of a project - at times their guidance, food, habitations and local knowledge quite literally made a difference between life and death. As state intervention in the North increased, aboriginal people became more marginalized in their participation, but the symbiotic heritage remained. It is partly for this reason that the current recognition of the potential for traditional knowledge to contribute to scientific research has been taken most seriously in the North. ... A good many northern scientists look back on the 1960s and '70s as the halcyon days of northern research, a time when there was seemingly inexhaustible funding and access to logistical support. ... That the reports of public inquiries, along with a downturn in world petroleum prices, effectively ended the grand schemes of these interests and their associated research should demonstrate pretty clearly the relationship between science and the business community. This is a relationship that many of us assume without a second thought; why then the trepidation displayed at the prospect of greater involvement of wider local community interest in research? These are not just academic issues of informed debate for this journal and our conference libations; they are critical to the emergence of a legitimate indigenous northern scholarly tradition and that role that northern-oriented academics are going to play in it. ..

Critical Issues in School Mathematics and Science

Cite: Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), (2011). Critical Issues in School Mathematics and Science. [Online] Available at: DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/assaf.2016/0027The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), as a body of natural and human scientists, has an important role to play in providing government and members of society with evidence-based information that can be used to influence policy and guide decisions for the benefit of society. The ASSAf Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Standing Committee organised a forum to deliberate on critical issues in school mathematics and science education and to make concrete proposals on how the situation can be improved. The state of science and mathematics in South African schools has frequently been termed a national crisis. South African learners have fared poorly in comparative tests of science and mathematics at both international and regional levels and in local bench mark tests. This is true at both primary and secondary levels. These averaged results mark a very wide disparity between our learners: a small minority continue to make significant progress in these subjects, while the majority fail to perform at appropriate levels. As a result, the pool of potential scientists, engineers, health practitioners and future teachers of mathematics and science is severely limited. This, in turn, limits South Africa’s ability to be internationally competitive, as well as its ability to provide the infrastructure needed for the well-being of the majority of its people. 2009 was a seminal year for education in South Africa as the first recipients of the new National Senior Certificate (NSC) entered higher education, and in larger numbers than in the past. The NSC, and particularly the requirements related to Mathematics and entry into higher education (HE), succeeded in releasing what was a considerable blockage to entry to HE. Early indications were that overall student performance in science-based programmes at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) was below that of previous years. The larger intake resulted in larger numbers of students performing very poorly in their mid-year assessments. HEIs have mounted various interventions to prevent a large failure rate of first year students. What has become clear is that the knowledge and skills with which students who obtained an NSC in 2008 entered HEIs were different from either the knowledge or skills that HEIs expect students to have or from those held by entering students in the past. The situation highlighted the need for an in-depth look at school mathematics and science – the curricula, how they are taught, how they are assessed and how teachers are prepared to teach them –and the interface with science and mathematics at higher education level. In the process, issues related to transformation, equity and social justice were also discussed.Academy of Science of South Africa, South Afric

Literature Meets Biology: An Evolutionary Approach to Literary Studies

The following thesis engages with the relatively young development in literary studies, called evocriticism, which uses scientific perspectives to look at literature. It first gives an overview of the current state of English departments and their decline in numbers, budgets, and cultural relevancy, mostly due to outdated modes of literary criticism and theory. It then introduces evocriticism as a new paradigm for studying literature. Literature and the arts are studied as human behaviors with possible adaptive benefits. Individual texts are interpreted through a scientific lens, using the theory of evolution to find cultural and biological human universals that can help explain characters and readers’ behaviors. The thesis then briefly outlines the areas of evolutionary theory most relevant to this discussion. Finally, it gives two critical readings to demonstrate evocriticism’s usefulness for examining literature from a broad range of genres, styles, time periods, and content. The first reading looks at the contemporary American poet Lyn Hejinian’s autobiographical prose poem My Life to compare the poem’s form with the evolved structure of the brain and memory. The second reading gives an evocritical interpretation of William Shakespeare’s tragic play King Lear using biological theories of unequal parental investment, sibling rivalry, and generational conflict to explain the motivations of the characters. This thesis enters the critical conversation started by Joseph Carroll, E.O. Wilson, Stephen Pinker, Brian Boyd, and others about the relationship between literature and science. It is based on the idea that literary criticism should negotiate between scientific evidence and literary imagination to explore what it means to be human. Astronomer and popular scientist Carl Sagan writes in The Dragons of Eden, “Curiosity and the urge to solve problems are the emotional hallmarks of our species; and the most characteristically human activities are mathematics, science, technology, music and the arts—a somewhat broader range of subjects than is usually included under the “humanities” (82)

An Evaluation of the Implementation of Educational Policies in Senior Secondary Schools in Osun State Nigeria

Effective implementation is very paramount for secondary education to achieve its objectives of providing opportunity for education of higher quality; catering for the differences in talents, equipping students to live effectively in our modern age of science and technology, inspire students with a desire for achievement and self-improvement at school and later in life; among others. It is observed that government’s effort towards implementation of secondary school education yielded little or no dividend due to improper implementation of policies caused by lack of basic amenities for practical in sciences and vocational subjects as well as lack of instructional materials to facilitate effective learning in all subjects. The problem of poor planning  as a result of political instability and in continuity of policy, insufficient fund, massive promotion of students , insufficient teachers, poor remuneration  of teachers, among others are detrimental to effective policy   implementation . This paper therefore takes a critical look at the areas of implementation   and non-implementation of secondary schools policy and recommends that proper planning should be made to make provisions for basic amenities and instructional materials needed for effective learning and practice for proper implementation of secondary education policy and to achieve its laudable objectives in the State of Osun. Keywords:- Evaluation, Implementation, Polic

Basque '68 in Light of Cultural Nationalism and Critical Utopia

In enlightened or utilitarian reasoning, nationalism is considered a reactionary and irrational belief in an invented tradition. Utopian imaginary, for its part, is cast into the background together with escapist fantasy or useless science fiction. This paper will look at alternative theories that challenge these interpretations. In this new light, utopianism serves as a critique of the status quo and an impulse against it - Ernst Bloch's principle of hope and Tom Moylan's critical utopia are our compass in this regard. On the other hand, cultural nationalism is interpreted as a desire to modernise a community through cultural praxis and not subordinated to state-building projects, as argued by John Hutchinson. These theories are the framework for the revision of the Basque '68. As far as nationalism is concerned, this period has been interpreted from a political perspective, with the foundation of ETA and demands for independence as the key features. The new framework, however, allows us to consider cultural praxis as a way to critically recreate the community through new utopian imaginaries. Therefore, the Basque '68 keeps the nation’s imaginary from being subordinated to statist politics and becomes an ambiguous yet open-ended movement in search of the (n)ever true Heimat

Masters of Science in Environmental Science and Policy Portfolio

Through my work as a Master’s student in Environmental Science and Policy at Clark University I have acquired a wide variety of knowledge and skills which will be showcased in this document. The breadth of courses and sub disciplines that I have taken has expanded my awareness and understanding of the current state of Environmental Science and Policy. My undergraduate degree from Clark University in Environmental Science focusing on Earth Systems Science focused primarily on comprehension of the Earth’s physical processes with applications for Global Climate Change. This master’s work has expanded upon those quantitative skills as well as deepened my understanding of American environmental legislation and has encouraged creative solutions in building a sustainable future. This portfolio is meant to represent the variety of knowledge that I have acquired through my work at Clark University’s Environmental Science and Policy program including the state of climate denial in America, analyses of municipal environmental policies, social practices and their climate impacts, quantitative analyses of climate data, and critical examinations of energy systems. Some of the work showcased in the following pages was collaborative in nature as many courses in this program aim to simulate the collaborative nature of the field and the increasing collaborative nature of our world. In order to promote a sustainable future within the capitalist framework that we live in, we must look at what it means to sustainably consume and produce. Through my work at Clark, particularly in a course called Sustainable Consumption and Production, I examined the structure of hyper consumerism, the concepts of well-being in America as it pertains to sustainability, growth within the capitalist framework, and the usefulness and downsides of technical 3 efficiencies to promote sustainability. The first paper included in this portfolio was a group endeavor that examined New York City’s extensive OneNYC Plan for a Strong and Just City. This paper summarizes the extensive plan put out by the Mayor’s Office and analyzes the plan based on how the concepts of human well-being, consumptive behavior and growth of the economy play into the sustainability of the city. The second paper is a quantitative research project done using statistical analyses to compare historical O18 isotope ratios from coral cores at variety of locations around the globe. These ratios tend to be highly correlated with water temperatures. The analysis of historical coral cores is a technique used to give us a clearer idea of the paleoclimate. The raw data for this project was acquired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). This project is one of the many exercises at Clark that tailored my ability to obtain, clean and organize data from external sources. In a time where we are well on our way to reaching dangerously high levels of Green House Gasses in our atmosphere, I am committed to working towards a more sustainable future for ourselves and for future generations. Unfortunately, an alarming large percentage of the American population does not support the idea that climate change is a human induced phenomenon. The third paper here addresses climate denial in America and analyses and refutes arguments that are commonly used. My team and I examined the demographics of the communities that are most likely to deny human induced climate change, the actual arguments leaders of this movement tend to use, and, most importantly, examined techniques that can be harnessed to discuss climate change with those who do not believe in it. Communication with those who do not understand or agree with the grave implications involved with human induced climate change is vital to promoting a sustainable future. 4 The fourth paper is a discussion on the solar photovoltaic market which accompanies a solar panel planning spread sheet that I created to help companies or individual consumers can forecast their expenses and potential revenue from installing a single solar panel or a solar array. This paper discusses the historical increase in efficiencies of solar photovoltaics and the innovation that has occurred as well as the steep decrease in cost of photovoltaics since their release on the market in the 1970’s. Overall, this portfolio represents a wide variety of knowledge and skills that I have acquired through my Master’s education at Clark University. Each piece of work, carefully chosen to be included here, represents a larger body of knowledge and experiences that I have acquired through my time at Clark University. Clark’s Environmental Science and Policy program has helped cultivate me to be thoughtfully critical of environmental policies through collaborative and individual work. It has provided scientific training in environmental decision making and has fueled my commitment to finding creative solutions to promote a sustainable future and culture

Lawrence University Receives Grant to Support of ArtsBridge America Program

Lawrence University will share in a $75,000 grant awarded by the New York-based Dana Foundation as part of a five-campus consortium working with the ArtsBridge America program. Joining Lawrence as grant recipients were the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Utah, the University of California, San Diego and Purchase College, State University of New York. Founded in 1996 at the University of California, Irvine by current Lawrence president Jill Beck, ArtsBridge America is an arts education and outreach program that works with schools throughout the country. The program partners university arts students with a K-12 teacher to introduce interdisciplinary arts instruction through a variety of collaborative projects to create and implement lessons that integrate the arts with the core curriculum. Nationally headquartered at Lawrence, the ArtsBridge America program currently supports arts curriculum initiatives with more than 300,000 students nationwide through 21 universities in 13 states. Earlier this year, Lawrence launched its first local ArtsBridge program with 13 Lawrence “ArtsBridge Scholars” working with more than 300 Fox Valley students from kindergarteners to high school seniors on nine different projects. “As the number of university partner institutions joining the ArtsBridge America network continues to grow, we need to recognize the importance of assessing scholar preparation for students working in and with schools to bring more arts education to our nation’s children,” said Jasmine Yep, national coordinator of ArtsBridge America. “With the generous support from the Dana Foundation, we will be able to collect data and analyze scholar preparation and project planning at a number of ArtsBridge campuses. By developing methods for scholar training, ArtsBridge America continues to look at ways in which we can better prepare our scholars as teaching artists. “This grant will enable Lawrence to better support its ArtsBridge scholars in project planning and teaching methods throughout their individual projects,” Yep added. “Lawrence ArtsBridge scholars are working hard to promote creativity not only through music, theatre and visual arts, but also through critical thinking skills in science and language arts. “Not all children are able to experience the arts as an audience member of a professional performance or exhibition, but through ArtsBridge projects here in the Fox Valley as well as in communities across the country, students are able to take pride in the art that they are creating and performing.” Founded in 1950, the Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic organization that supports initiatives in education, science and health. Its interests in education focus on innovative development programs that facilitate improved teaching of the performing arts in public schools