Broadcast Localism and the Lessons of the Fairness Doctrine

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution recognizes a laissez-faire policy toward speech and the press. The Framers of the Bill of Rights worried that the self-interest of politicians fostered suppression of speech. In contrast, some constitutional theorists have argued that the Constitution empowers, rather than restricts, the federal government to manage speech in order to attain the values implicit in the First Amendment. The government managed broadcast speech for some time, in part through the Fairness Doctrine, which was said to promote balanced public debate and "an uninhibited marketplace of ideas." The history of the Fairness Doctrine confirms the validity of the concerns of the Framers of the First Amendment, because federal officials and their agents used and sought to use the Fairness Doctrine to silence critics of three presidencies. Broadcasters adapted to the Fairness Doctrine by avoiding controversial speech, thereby chilling public debate on vital matters. The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to manage broadcast speech by imposing localism requirements, including content requirements and advisory boards to oversee managing stations. This proposal limits the editorial independence of license holders to serve the public interest. The history of the Fairness Doctrine suggests that federal officials who make and enforce such policies are more concerned with limiting political debate than they are with advancing local concerns or the public interest. Like the Fairness Doctrine, the FCC's localism initiative poses the risk of restricting speech. Our unhappy experience with the Fairness Doctrine suggests that imposing localism mandates on broadcasters is unlikely to serve the public interest in constitutional propriety and uninhibited political debate

Can Computer Algebra be Liberated from its Algebraic Yoke ?

So far, the scope of computer algebra has been needlessly restricted to exact algebraic methods. Its possible extension to approximate analytical methods is discussed. The entangled roles of functional analysis and symbolic programming, especially the functional and transformational paradigms, are put forward. In the future, algebraic algorithms could constitute the core of extended symbolic manipulation systems including primitives for symbolic approximations.Comment: 8 pages, 2-column presentation, 2 figure

Absolutely free extrinsic evolution of passive low-pass filter

Evolutionary electronics is a brunch of evolvable hardware, where the evolutionary algorithm is applied towards electronic circuits. The success of evolutionary search most of all depends on variable length representation methodology. The low-pass filter is a standard task in evolutionary electronics to start with. The results of evolution enable one to qualify whether the methodology is good for further experiments. In this paper the maximum freedom for evolutionary search has been proclaimed as a main target during development of new VLR methodology. The introduction of R-support elements enables to perform an unconstrained evolution of analogue circuits for the first time. The proposed algorithm has been tested on the example of analogue low-pass filter. The experimental results demonstrate that the evolved filter is comparable with filters evolved previously using genetic programming and genetic algorithms techniques. The obtained results are compared in details with low-pass filters previously designed

Preservation & revitalisation of marginal languages : a study of Creoles and adult learning and education

Language, which is social in nature, is the primary tool used by human beings to communicate. It is inextricably intertwined with culture. Every language should be safeguarded because of its criticality to human identity and survival. Bearing in mind the afore-mentioned, this paper examines the preservation and revitalisation of marginal languages, as in the case of Creole languages. The paper launches into a critical discussion about language and domination, with specific reference to colonialism and its profound impact on the marginalisation of language and the origination of Creole languages. It outlines some of the issues which may arise from these endangered or extinct languages. By means of an examination of the case of Saint Lucian Kwéyòl, the paper considers adult learning and education as a possibly powerful tool to preserve, revitalise and promote a marginal language. Some of the impacts and challenges of adult learning and education, as it relates to the implementation of this initiative, are also addressed. Consequently, it is argued that every attempt should be made to ensure the protection of marginal languages, in order to promote linguistic and cultural diversity, and human rights.peer-reviewe

CMOS circuit implementations for neuron models

The mathematical neuron basic cells used as basic cells in popular neural network architectures and algorithms are discussed. The most popular neuron models (without training) used in neural network architectures and algorithms (NNA) are considered, focusing on hardware implementation of neuron models used in NAA, and in emulation of biological systems. Mathematical descriptions and block diagram representations are utilized in an independent approach. Nonoscillatory and oscillatory models are discusse

With the Support of Listeners Like You : Lessons from U.S. Public Radio

This chapter provides an assessment of public broadcasting in the United States. It asserts that European public service broadcasting (PSB) could learn from U.S. practices that may prove to be particularly relevant in the current PSB climate

Faculty Publications 2018-2019

The production of scholarly research continues to be one of the primary missions of the ILR School. During a typical academic year, ILR faculty members published or had accepted for publication over 25 books, edited volumes, and monographs, 170 articles and chapters in edited volumes, numerous book reviews. In addition, a large number of manuscripts were submitted for publication, presented at professional association meetings, or circulated in working paper form. Our faculty\u27s research continues to find its way into the very best industrial relations, social science and statistics journal