Recent Developments in Absentee Voting

With the votes cast and counted, the political signs down, and the final dollars tallied, most people were glad to have election season behind them. For the election community, however, the groundwork for future decisions was beginning anew. The 2009 session of the Virginia General Assembly again saw a large number of bills related to election administration.1 Included in those were a large number of absentee voting bills.2 For the last fifteen years, legislators have introduced numerous bills related to absentee voting, and roughly half of these bills have succeeded. 3 While the rest of the country considers large election reform such as vote centers and all vote-by-mail, Virginia cautiously makes incremental reform by adding permissible reasons for absentee voting

From The Race Course To The Boardroom: How Endurance Sports Inspire A Strong Sense Of Leadership And An Unrelenting Pursuit Of Success.

The purpose of this capstone is to explore the connection between competing in endurance sports and leadership in the workplace. Is there a link between the two and if so, are the skillsets transferable? The research is examined through a multidisciplinary approach of literature, survey results of 63 endurance athletes and first hand experience as an endurance athlete and workplace leader. The primary focus of the survey was on age group participants that competed in a wide range of endurance sports (e.g. half marathon, duathlon, full ironman, etc.) and had careers separate from the sport that ranged from being an individual contributor to a CEO. Much of the research points to a correlation between the leadership traits that are required to compete in endurance sports and those that are critical to higher level success in the workplace. Essentially, the research suggests that there is a transfer of skills from the race course that endurance athletes train and compete on to the work setting they manage and lead from. Furthermore, the preparation that goes into training for endurance events provides valuable lessons that can be applied beyond business to many other areas of life

Recent Developments in Absentee Voting

With the votes cast and counted, the political signs down, and the final dollars tallied, most people were glad to have election season behind them. For the election community, however, the groundwork for future decisions was beginning anew. The 2009 session of the Virginia General Assembly again saw a large number of bills related to election administration.1 Included in those were a large number of absentee voting bills.2 For the last fifteen years, legislators have introduced numerous bills related to absentee voting, and roughly half of these bills have succeeded. 3 While the rest of the country considers large election reform such as vote centers and all vote-by-mail, Virginia cautiously makes incremental reform by adding permissible reasons for absentee voting

Effects of initial planting density on branch development in 4-year-old plantation grown Eucalyptus pilularis and Eucalyptus cloeziana trees

The effect of planting density on branch development was examined in 4-year-old Eucalyptus pilularis Sm. and Eucalyptus cloeziana F. Muell. plantations located near the coast of north-eastern NSW. Branch diameter, angle and status (live or dead) were measured along the entire stem of trees established at 1250, 1667 and 3333 stems per hectare (sph). Measurements of tree height and stem diameter at breast height over bark (DBH) were also recorded. Results showed that with an increase in initial planting density from 1250 to 1667 sph, branch size decreased, branch mortality on the lower stem increased, branch angle became more acute and DBH decreased in trees of both E. pilularis and E. cloeziana. A further increase in initial planting density from 1667 to 3333 sph did not significantly reduce branch size or branch angle but did result in increased branch mortality and decreased DBH in both species. These results suggest that increasing initial planting density from 1250 to 1667 sph will improve early branch control. However, there is no advantage in establishing trees at 3333 sph rather than 1667 sph to reduce branch size or increase branch mortality in either species. Clearwood production on the lower stem in all stocking treatments of both species was negligible at age 4

Within- and between-person relationships between spontaneous self-affirmations, coping style, and wellbeing

Self-affirmations—responding to self-threatening information by reflecting on positive values or strengths—help to realign working self-concept and may support adaptive coping and wellbeing. Little research has been undertaken on spontaneous self-affirmations in response to everyday threats, and less has been undertaken on the relationships between spontaneous self-affirmations, coping, and wellbeing. This study aimed to test both within- and between-person relationships between spontaneous self-affirmations, coping, and wellbeing, controlling for threat intensity and other outcomes. A repeated survey assessment design was adopted to achieve these aims. Outcome measures included approach coping, avoidance coping, positive affect, negative affect, and eudaimonic wellbeing. It was found that spontaneous self-affirmations positively predicted approach coping and positive affect at both within- and between-person levels, and eudaimonic wellbeing at the between-person level. Overall, spontaneous self-affirmations were positively associated with approach coping and aspects of wellbeing

The near future of children's robotics

Robotics is a multidisciplinary and highly innovative field. Recently, multiple and often minimally connected sub - communities of child - robot interaction have started to emerge , variously focusing on the design issues , engineering, and applications of robotic platforms and toolkits . Despite increasing public interest in robots, including robots for children, child - robot interaction research remains highly fragmented and lacks regular cross - disciplin ary venue s for discussion and dissemination . This workshop will bring together researchers with diverse scientific backgrounds . It will serve as a venue in which to reflect on the current circumstances in which child - robot research is conducted, articulate emerging and “near future” challenges, and discuss actions and tools with which to meet those challenges and consolidate the field

Measurement of the Condensation Coefficient of Water in the UMR Cloud Simulation Chamber

Measurements of the condensation coefficient of water under conditions closely approximating those in natural atmospheric cloud have been made in the cooled-wall UMR cloud simulation chamber. Current measurements disclose a value of condensation coefficient near unity at the outset of the experiment, generally decreasing to lower values (~ .01) as the experiment progresses. The significance of the magnitude of condensation coefficient in atmospheric cloud is briefly discussed

Measurement of the Condensation Coefficient of Water in the UMR Simulation Chamber

The UMR Cloud Simulation Facility is described. The facility is designed to provide a controlled environment simulating the conditions of natural atmospheric processes. It consists of two cooled-wall expansion cloud chambers and peripheral instrumentation for generation and characterization of aerosols used for cloud formation studies. Results of initial studies of the growth of warm cloud droplets and inferred measurements of the condensation coefficient are described