(Un)Becoming Working Class? Living Across the Lines

I am writing this piece as a white self-identified gay male raised working class associate professor in art who is actively reconnecting with my past/roots, trying to better understand my sense of isolation in academe and my slowly seething anger directed at many of my academic colleagues. By working class I mean 2nd and 3rd generation Polish-American, devout Catholic, white privilege, contractor father, housewife mother, large family, in and out of poverty at times, racist with no real information. By academe I mean working for six years to achieve and be granted tenure at Texas Tech University in visual studies

The Tallinn Manual 2.0 on Nation-State Cyber Operations Affecting Critical Infrastructure

Protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats is difficult and complex. News headlines abound with reports that show how critical infrastructure—ranging from voting machines to steel mills—have become increasingly vulnerable to cyber operations from state and sophisticated nonstate actors. As critical infrastructure becomes increasingly entangled with the Internet and as new tactics, techniques, and procedures rapidly proliferate and evolve, governments and businesses alike must contend with a mutating threat environment that may put sensitive and highly important critical infrastructure assets in serious jeopardy. The vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure, which provide vital services and functions to societies, may pose a particularly tempting way for states to asymmetrically project power during an armed conflict or other crisis. Recent tensions between Russia and Ukraine have provided a useful test bed to consider how cyber-threat actors could couple cyber-based operations with movements of traditional military forces

Fenced In/Out in West Texas: Notes on Defending My Queer Body

In this article, I utilize autoethnography to describe and reflect upon my experiences as a queer artist, associate professor, and activist living in West Texas (1996-2012). To date, I believe there exist too few testimonies in art education that document how queer educators/artists manage myriad social, political, and everyday issues in their lives and workplaces. Such stories are necessary if I am going to equip present and future art teachers with anti-homophobia classroom strategies. I believe such stories are also necessary to counter cultural homophobia and violence and let queer students and teachers know they do not stand alone. Stories can assuage and possibly heal some of the brutality that occurs in schools. I offer this as one of many testimonies

A National Labor Project: Recovering Unprecedented Numbers of Working Class Lives and Histories through Art

I consider this essay an initial mapping where I reconstruct multiple ways of knowing and understanding the lived realities and plights of workers, whether they are manual workers, teachers or artists (Zandy, 2004). I use autobiography from a perspective of Standpoint Theory where I use the lives of working people as theory, method and evidence. I speak from my standpoint of my experiences as being raised white working class and my shift in salary and education to middle class

The Decline in Value Formulation: How Courts Should Approach State Bulk Sale Provisions in Bankruptcy

Bulk sale statutes require purchasers in a bulk sale to follow certain procedures in order to protect the state’s interest in recovering and collecting unpaid taxes. The recent decision in Illinois Department of Revenue v. Hanmi Bank left many practitioners wanting for a more robust answer to the questions of whether bulk sale provisions create interests of value for state revenue departments and how courts should classify those interests. The author argues that these interests should be protectable under § 363(e) of the Bankruptcy Code. The author further provides a framework for courts to determine the extent to which this protection should extend. Under this framework, which builds on statements made in dicta in Illinois Department of Revenue v. Hanmi Bank, the burden should be placed on a state’s department of revenue to prove that failing to protect an interest derived from the bulk sale statute will result in that interest losing value. A state would successfully prove this by showing that it would have recovered value from its interest had that interest been protected

Book Review: Analyzing the Effectiveness of the Tallinn Manual’s Jus Ad Bellum Doctrine on Cyberconflict,: A NATO-Centric Approach

Review of: Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare, Michael Schmitt, ed., New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013

A Mechanistic Examination of Interspecific Competition Between Wild and Domestic Herbivores

Large herbivores, such as mule deer and cattle have similar life histories and likely compete for resources. However, quantifying the extent to which these species compete and the specific resources they compete for has proved challenging. My research examines if cattle influence deer abundance and behavior due to competition for forage, competition for shade, and/or by affecting the predation risk of deer. Using a grid of autonomous trail cameras, I was able to determine if cattle abundance influences local deer abundance in relation to specific resources and habitat features. Using GPS data from collared deer, I was also able to examine if cattle density affects the probability that a deer was in a foraging, resting, or commuting state. I found evidence that cattle abundance reduces deer abundance in forage-rich areas, indicating that these species are likely competing for forage. Likewise, I found that cattle density increases the probability that a deer is foraging, and reduces the probability that a deer is commuting. Behavioral data is difficult to interpret, but this may suggest that deer must compensate for having less forage available due to competitors by spending more time foraging. However, it is also possible that cattle are merely an indicator of good habitat, so deer are more likely to forage in areas where cows are present. I did not find any compelling evidence of shade competition or predation risk effects between deer and cattle. My work demonstrates that it is important to examine many different data sources when trying to assess competition between large herbivores, and to not just assume what resources are driving competition. Additionally, my work demonstrated that forage competition occurs between mule deer and cattle, so managers should take this into account when balancing their goals for livestock, mule deer, and rangeland health

Book Review: Analyzing the Effectiveness of the Tallinn Manual’s Jus Ad Bellum Doctrine on Cyberconflict,: A NATO-Centric Approach

Review of: Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare, Michael Schmitt, ed., New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013

A Modeling and Shaping Approach to Increase Food-Related Responses for Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Food selectivity and other mealtime problems are common in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Food selectivity can interrupt appropriate development and lead to disruptive behaviors and familial stress. Escape extinction, a common intervention, can lead to more undesirable behaviors, more health concerns, and fails to teach independent eating skills. This study aimed to treat food selectivity in 2 children diagnosed with ASD by modeling and shaping independent initiations (i.e., tolerating, interacting, tasting, and eating) to food items. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participants design evaluated the effects of the intervention while measuring the participant’s affect throughout the mealtimes. The results indicated that this approach increased food-related responses and provided a positive mealtime experience for both participants