A View from Melrose

An essay by President Vivian A. Bull: Thirteen Years in Review

Faculty concert: Schumann Series Program II, "Exploring the Psyche," February 23, 1998

This is the concert program of the Faculty Concert: Schumann Series Program II, "Exploring the Psyche" performance on Monday, February 23, 1998 at 8:00 p.m., at the Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue. Works performed were the following by Robert Schumann: Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, Op. 135, Märchenerzählungen, Op. 132, and Kreisleriana, Op. 16. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Humanities Library Endowed Fund

The present and future system for measuring the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and heat transport

of the global combined atmosphere-ocean heat flux and so is important for the mean climate of the Atlantic sector of the Northern Hemisphere. This meridional heat flux is accomplished by both the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and by basin-wide horizontal gyre circulations. In the North Atlantic subtropical latitudes the AMOC dominates the meridional heat flux, while in subpolar latitudes and in the subtropical South Atlantic the gyre circulations are also important. Climate models suggest the AMOC will slow over the coming decades as the earth warms, causing widespread cooling in the Northern hemisphere and additional sea-level rise. Monitoring systems for selected components of the AMOC have been in place in some areas for decades, nevertheless the present observational network provides only a partial view of the AMOC, and does not unambiguously resolve the full variability of the circulation. Additional observations, building on existing measurements, are required to more completely quantify the Atlantic meridional heat transport. A basin-wide monitoring array along 26.5°N has been continuously measuring the strength and vertical structure of the AMOC and meridional heat transport since March 31, 2004. The array has demonstrated its ability to observe the AMOC variability at that latitude and also a variety of surprising variability that will require substantially longer time series to understand fully. Here we propose monitoring the Atlantic meridional heat transport throughout the Atlantic at selected critical latitudes that have already been identified as regions of interest for the study of deep water formation and the strength of the subpolar gyre, transport variability of the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) as well as the upper limb of the AMOC, and inter-ocean and intrabasin exchanges with the ultimate goal of determining regional and global controls for the AMOC in the North and South Atlantic Oceans. These new arrays will continuously measure the full depth, basin-wide or choke-point circulation and heat transport at a number of latitudes, to establish the dynamics and variability at each latitude and then their meridional connectivity. Modeling studies indicate that adaptations of the 26.5°N type of array may provide successful AMOC monitoring at other latitudes. However, further analysis and the development of new technologies will be needed to optimize cost effective systems for providing long term monitoring and data recovery at climate time scales. These arrays will provide benchmark observations of the AMOC that are fundamental for assimilation, initialization, and the verification of coupled hindcast/forecast climate models

University High Highlights 3/19/1958

This is the student newspaper from University High School, the high school that was on the campus of Western Michigan University, then called University High Highlights, in 1958

A Decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind : Referring to Foreign Law to Express American Nationhood

Why might a court refer to non-U.S. law? Justice Stephen Breyer\u27s pragmatic defense of the practice is probably the most widely known, as are its defects. Here, I want to sketch a counterintuitive explanation for the practice. Referring to non-U.S. law in Supreme Court opinions might be a way in which Supreme Court Justices participate in the dissemination of a distinctively American self-understanding. By this I do not mean that Justices who refer to non-U.S. law necessarily endorse the (reasonable) interpretive theory that the U.S. Constitution instantiates universally true propositions of political morality. Rather, I mean that references to non-U.S. law might be a way of ensuring that the United States helps lead the world\u27s nations to a better way of governing themselves and their peoples

Sedimentary lithofacies, petrography and diagenesis of the Kapuni group in the Kapuni Field, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science with Honours in Earth Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The reservoir architecture and quality of the Kapuni Group sandstones in seven wells (Kapuni−1, −3, −8, −12, Deep−1, 14 and −15) in the Kapuni Field are characterised using available core and digital geophysical log data. The study focused primarily on the Eocene Mangahewa Formation, but where limited core permits the older Kaimiro and Farewell formations are also examined. Eleven lithofacies in the Kapuni Group, identified and defined in core on the basis of colour, lithology, bedding, texture and sedimentary structures, are interpreted to represent tidal sand bar, tidal-inlet channel, fluvial-tidal channel, spit platform, sand flat, shallow marine, tidal channel, meandering tidal channel, mud flat, swamp and marsh environments. Correlation of core lithofacies with geophysical log motifs enabled lithofacies identification where core data are not available. Log motifs representing each of the lithofacies were then extrapolated to uncored sections of the Mangahewa Formation in the Kapuni Field wells. Interpretation of lithofacies in core and geophysical log motifs indicate that the Mangahewa Formation was deposited in an estuarine setting. During initial deposition of the Mangahewa Formation tide-dominated estuarine lithofacies were deposited. A major coal horizon, the K20 coal, in the field represents a period of maximum infilling. Above this coal core and log data indicate a wave-dominated estuary exhibiting a clearly- defined, "tripartite" (coarse-fine-coarse) distribution of lithofacies. Provenance studies suggest that low-grade metamorphic and granitic rocks are the dominant source for the Kapuni Group sandstones. Minor input from sedimentary and acid volcanic source rocks are also identified. A volcanic source, however, is more important in sandstones from the Farewell Formation, than in the younger Kapuni Group formations. Probable sources include the low-grade metamorphic rocks of Lower Cambrian to Permian age, Permian to Carboniferous Karamea Granite, Triassic and Jurassic greywacke-argillite sediments. Upper Cretaceous Pakawau Group sediments and Pre Cambrian to Upper Cretaceous acid volcanics. Reservoir quality variations in the Kapuni Group sandstones are directly related to environmental and diagenetic processes that have controlled porosity reduction and enhancement. Porosity has been reduced mainly by mechanical and chemical compaction, clay formation (predominantly kaolinite and illite in the Mangahewa and Kaimiro formations and smectite in the Farewell Formation), carbonate precipitation (primarily siderite and calcite), quartz and feldspar overgrowths and pyrite precipitation. While, porosity has been enhanced primarily by carbonate dissolution and subordinately by grain and clay dissolution and minor grain fracturing. The Mangahewa Formation sandstone lithofacies of tidal sand bar and tidal channel environments exhibit the best reservoir characteristics. Future reservoir development in the Kapuni Field and exploration in the Kapuni Field should focus on identifying and exploiting these lithofacies

Chinese cinema and transnational cultural politics : reflections on film festivals, film productions, and film studies

This study situates Chinese cinema among three interconnected concerns that all pertain to transnational cultural politics: (1) the impact of international film festivals on the productions of Chinese films and their reception in the West; (2) the inadequacy of the “Fifth Generation” as a critical term for Chinese film studies; and (3) the need to address the current methodological confinement in Western studies of Chinese cinema. By “transnational cultural politics” here I mean the complicated——and at times complicit—ways Chinese films, including those produced in or coproduced with Hong Kong and Taiwan, are enmeshed in “a larger process in which popular- cultural technologies, genres, and works are increasingly moving and interacting across national and cultural borders” (During 1997: 808). Designating this process as “transnationalization” rather than “globalization,” Simon During calls on scholars to investigate the challenge that commercial cultural production, or what he terms “the global popular,” poses to “current cultural studies’ welcome td difference, hybridicity, and subversion” (During 1997: 809). Before embarking on the transnational and cross-cultural issues, I would like to start with a personal observation. When I completed my first essay on Chinese cinema in the summer of 1989 (Zhang 1990), I had practically no idea that Chinese film would gain such unprecedented popularity in the world within such a short period of time. Despite the facts that Zhang Yimou’s Red Sorghum (1987) had just won the first Golden Bear for Chinese film at the 1988 Berlin International Film Festival and that Chen Kaige\u27s Yellow Earth (1984) had attracted critical attention from the West, China\u27s turbulent political situation in 1989 prevented anyone from making an optimistic prediction. Nevertheless, political setbacks notwithstanding, China’s economy has enjoyed a high rate of growth, and Chinese film has continued to develop its particular type of global appeal. Less than a decade after my initial essay, one is overwhelmed if one attempts to count every major award Chinese films have won in recent film festivals around the world.1 To be sure, this spectacular international success has provided ample opportunities, for scholars of Chinese film and culture, but it has also created problems in Chinese film studies. In what follows, I will examine a number of issues under the headings of screening, naming, speaking, and mapping, and I will reflect on film festivals, film productions, and film studies from the perspective of transnational cultural politics

Diversity & Inclusion Update - Spring 2019

The Spring 2019 newsletter discusses ongoing campus initiatives to facilitate diversity and inclusion efforts on campus. Topics discussed include: The First Generation Campaign; the growth of Latinx house; faculty training around diversity and inclusion in teaching; the Trustee-led advisory group on the new campus renaming policy; the development of Breathe Gettysburg ; the continued development of Our Voices , which will be replacing the Vagina Monologues; as well as continuing to address concerns from the Campus Climate Study