To act or not to act? That is the question!

The year was 2003. I was a new Research Manager working in a Māori tertiary institution that had a history of inequitable treatment by government, through not receiving establishment funding that had gone unproblematically to non-Māori institutions. Repeating a common pattern in New Zealand, our government had decided to implement a research funding scheme, to be measured at the level of the individual academic. My institution’s decision to participate in the PBRF was not without its difficulties, and it is here that the ethics of participation become problematic. This chapter is about our ability to articulate our values, to show how we work these out in our practice, and how we are accountable to ourselves and others for that practice. Would I, with the benefit of hindsight, have encouraged my institution to enter the PBRF again

Reasons to Not Believe (and Reasons to Act)

In “Reasons to Believe and Reasons to Act,” Stewart Cohen argues that balance of reasons accounts of rational action get the wrong results when applied to doxastic attitudes, and that there are therefore important differences between reasons to believe and reasons to act. In this paper, I argue that balance of reasons accounts of rational action get the right results when applied to the cases that Cohen considers, and that these results highlight interesting similarities between reasons to believe and reasons to act. I also consider an argument for Cohen's conclusion based on the principle that Adler, Moran, Shah, Velleman and others call “transparency.” I resist this argument by explaining why transparency is itself doubtful

Another Hurdle to Habeas: The Streamlined Procedures Act

This report describes how the system may be exposed to oscillations and how this can lead to resonance. Resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when a system is affected by external periodic oscillations with frequencies close to the system's natural frequencies. Structures subjected to resonance can risk great damage and destruction, why resonance is something that is important to take into account when designing structures. Alternative ways to counteract resonance is to supply damping in the system. Damping means that the resonance decreases instead of letting the amplitude increase.The report discusses some examples on constructions that have experienced the effect of resonance. The control tower in Stockholm's Arlanda Airport was swaying so much that water tanks had to be installed as resonance dampers, where the water swung in opposite phase compared to the tower. The oscillations probably started due to the fact that the tower was too lightweight in relation to its height. Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington, USA, oscillated in the amount that the bridge collapsed. The reason was that the bridge weighed too little to withstand the strong wind forces. The stadium Ullevi in Gothenburg had to be strengthened due to the fact that a jumping crowd during a concert caused resonance oscillations which endangered parts of the construction. After the concert, beams with decent damping attributes were installed against the rooftops to reduce the risk of damage to these. Broughtons Suspension Bridge in Britain fell apart when soldiers marched in step and in this way contributed to the oscillations of the bridge. The bridge also had structural parts whose strength was not sufficient

The Immigration Act and the ‘Right to Rent’ : exploring governing tensions within and beyond the state

Using Scotland as a case study, this paper will review the implications of the ‘right to rent’ section of the Immigration Act 2016 for matters of devolved legal competence, such as housing. Outlining the main criticisms from a wide range of agencies and institutions, this paper will go on to argue that these measures cannot be understood in isolation from the wider activities of a neo-liberal government embroiled in the pursuit of border enforcement at one end, while utilising non-state actors in petty sovereign roles to enforce and reify the border on the other. In doing so, we highlight governing tensions within and beyond the state, including between governments at the UK and Scotland level, between landlords and the state, and between landlords and their tenants. In doing so, we illuminate the ways in which the Act is augmenting the State’s role by making border agents of us all.PostprintPeer reviewe

From ACT-ONE to Miranda, a Translation Experiment

It is now almost universally acknowledged that the data language ACT-ONE associated with the formal description technique LOTOS is inappropriate for the purpose of OSI formal description. In response to this the LOTOS restandardisation activity plans to replace ACT-ONE with a functional language. Thus, compatibility between ACT-ONE and the replacement data language becomes an issue. In response to this, we present an experimental investigation of backward compatibility between ACT-ONE and the new LOTOS data language. Specifically, we investigate translating ACT-ONE data types into the functional language Miranda. Miranda has been chosen as it is a widely used functional programming language and it is close in form to the anticipated new data language. This work serves as a ``verification of concept'' for translating ACT-ONE to the E-LOTOS data language. It identifies the bounds on embedding ACT-ONE in a functional data language. In particular, it indicates what can be translated and what cannot be translated. In addition, the paper reveals pertinent issues which can inform the E-LOTOS work. For example, which constructs are needed in E-LOTOS in order to support the class of data type specifications typically made in the LOTOS setting? We conclude with a number of specific recommendations for the E-LOTOS data language

To act, or not to act, upon feedback? A case study in academic development, students’ experience and student feedback

This case study reports on a recent module evaluation of the Engaging and Enhancing Student Learning (EESL) module. This module forms part of the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) at the University of Salford and is offered mainly to new academics and other professionals who support learning. The EESL module aims to introduce participants to teaching and learning in HE, and is aligned with the UK Professional Standards Framework (UK PSF). It is delivered over 10 weeks, including eight face-to-face workshops and two online weekly seminars. Active, collaborative and technology-enhanced learning are coupled with more creative and experimental approaches. The development of reflective skills is enabled through peer, mentor and tutor observations and feedback conversations and reflective accounts. Participants are invited to experiment in a safe environment and within a learning community with ideas and concepts, to challenge their own beliefs linked to teaching and learning in HE, and to begin shaping their teaching philosophy and academic identity. Reviewing feedback is part of our continuous evaluation and enhancement process and this case study reports on how learners’ feedback has been used to develop an EESL module further