Educational Leave of Absence: Retaining High-Potential Employees Pursuing MBA Degrees

[Excerpt] Surveys show that 78% of companies include tuition reimbursement as a part of their benefits offerings compared to 0% who offer to pay-off existing student loans. These statistics alone shed light on why a growing number of workers are deciding to pursue an educational leave of absence through their company when pursuing their education. Why would an employee leave their work if they know their future employer will not pay off their student loan debt, while at the same time their sponsoring company will cover some of the costs, have a position waiting for them, and continue to provide health coverage while they are in school full-time? Yet despite this continued relationship with their organization, employees often leave the organization upon receiving their MBA, resulting in losses of talent and money for the company. This practice is especially prevalent in employees who receive only partial tuition assistance from their employer while pursuing their MBA—meaning they still have substantial student loan debt to pay off following graduation

Length, Weight, and Yield in Channel Catfish, Lake Diane, MI

Background: Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) are important to both commercial aquaculture and recreational fisheries. Little published data is available on length-weight relationships of channel catfish in Michigan. Though there is no record of public or private stocking, channel catfish appeared in Lake Diane between 1984 and 1995 and it has developed into an excellent fishery. 
Materials and Methods: Sport angling provided 38 samples which were weighed and measured (fork length). Fillets were also weighed. The best fit estimates of parameters a and b in the model, W(L) = aLb, were obtained by both linear least-squares (LLS) regression (log(W) = log(a) + b log(L)) and non-linear least-squares (NLLS) regression. Best-fit parameters of an improved model, W(L) = (L/L1)^b, were also determined by NLLS regression; the parameter L1 is the typical length of a fish weighing 1 kg. The resulting best-fit parameters, parameter standard errors, and covariances are compared between the two models. The average relative weight for this sample of channel catfish is also determined, along with the typical meat yield obtained by filleting. 
Results: NLLS regression yields parameter estimates of b = 3.2293 and a = 0.00522. The improved model yields the same estimate for the exponent, b, and a length estimate (parameter L1) of 45.23 cm. Estimates of uncertainty and covariance are smaller for the improved model, but the correlation coefficient is r = 0.995 in both cases. LLS regression produced different parameter values, a = 0.01356 and b = 2.9726, and a smaller correlation coefficient, r = 0.980. On average, catfish in the sample weighed 106.0% of the standard weight, (Brown et al.) and the linear regression (no slope) of fillet yield vs. total weight suggests a typical fillet yield of 28.1% with r = 0.989.
Conclusion: Most of the fish in the sample were above the standard weight, heavier than the 75th percentile for their length. Channel catfish are doing well in Lake Diane and the population is well matched to the food supply. Management should attempt to maintain current population levels. In this case, the improved length-weight model, W(L) = (L/L1)^b, provided lower uncertainties in parameter estimates and smaller covariance than the traditional model.
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Writing about Aj Pop B\u27atz\u27: Bruce Grindal and the Transformation of Ethnographic Writing

The works of Bruce Grindal teach us many things about anthropology’s humanistic tradition. With examples such as Redneck Girl and “Postmodernism as Seen by the Boys at Downhome Auto Repair,” Bruce Grindal demonstrated how we can creatively engage our ethnographic writing to reflect lived experiences. In this article, I examine Bruce’s influence on my ethnographic writing and collaborative research in the Maya community of San Juan Chamelco, Guatemala. Since 2006, I have worked collectively with a group of Chamelqueños to investigate the story of their local hero, Aj Pop B’atz’. In the sixteenth century, Aj Pop B’atz’ welcomed Spanish invaders to Chamelco in peace, avoiding the death and destruction suffered by indigenous communities elsewhere. Today, he is revered as a model of indigenous identity. Throughout our work together, my collaborators and I sought outlets to share the information learned through our research with the community. In 2012, we co-wrote a bilingual children’s book about Aj Pop B’atz’ for use in Chamelco’s schools. This book offered school children a chance to reconnect with their history, lost through decades of state-sponsored violence. The Aj Pop B’atz’ project, inspired by Bruce Grindal’s legacy, reveals that ethnographic writing can inform creative collaborative projects, making them accessible to those outside of academia and with whom we work in the field

Meaningful Relationships: Collaborative Anthropology and Mentors from the Field

In this article, I explore my collaboration with my long-time colleague in ethnographic research, Sebastian Si Pop, and our work on a collaborative ethnohistory project in Chamelco. In doing so, I examine the role that indigenous colleagues play in mentoring anthropologists. I argue that anthropologists develop the most meaningful relationships of their academic careers with the people that they meet in the field. These colleagues and friends often go underappreciated and unacknowledged in our resulting scholarship, even when they play crucial roles in our lives

Regulating Human Germline Modification in Light of CRISPR

This comment evaluates the United States‘ current regulatory scheme as it applies to CRISPR and related gene-modifying technologies and discusses the ethical ramifications of regulating human germline modification versus continuing to allow self-regulation within the scientific community. Part I explains what CRISPR is, how it works, and its impact on genetic engineering technology. Although CRISPR offers unparalleled potential for modifying [both] human and nonhuman genomes, this comment focuses primarily on the use of CRISPR technology to manipulate the human germline. Part II discusses the social and bioethical implications of altering the human germline, including safety concerns, multigenerational consequences, equity issues, and ethical complications involved with editing human embryos. Part III examines the United States‘ current regulatory scheme as it applies to gene-modifying technologies, discusses the need for reform in light of CRISPR germline-editing therapies, looks at several possible solutions to improve the existing scheme, and proposes an adapted regulatory framework

The House in the Market: How Q’eqchi’ Market Women Convert Money and Commodities into Persons and Personhood

Recent research argues that globalization in Latin America sometimes results in the homogenization of culture and loss of indigenous identity. This paper, however, explores how Q’eqchi’-Maya market women in San Juan Chamelco, Guatemala, generate Q’eqchi’ personhood by embracing the conflicts of value introduced by the confrontation of globalization with longstanding Q’eqchi’ values. I argue that in Chamelco, market women are mediators of value who participate in global capitalism to reinforce the categories that structure indigenous life. Q’eqchi’ women engage in marketing activities not only to accrue capital resources, but also to maintain local values, centered on the junkab’al or “house,” or “family.” In doing so, they convert the money and commodities exchanged in the market into kinship and Maya personhood. They do so by sustaining local junkab’als, providing them with products necessary for survival, and by constructing marketing as an occupation practiced by their ancestors. When faced with globalization, Chamelco’s market women harness capitalism to reproduce longstanding Q’eqchi’ values, rather than lose them to global capitalist ones. This research contributes to the growing literature on globalization in Latin America by revealing how Maya communities interface with global ideals to perpetuate, rather than alienate themselves from, indigenous values and categories

Producing The Latina Disney Princess

In our contemporary moment, which some are suggesting is a “Golden Age” of American television, programs featuring Latinx characters, especially Latinas, remain scarce. The history of Latinx representation in American television is filled with stereotypical portrayals of violent drug dealers and forlorn domestic workers. This thesis examines how the animated fantasy television program Elena of Avalor (2016-) offers alternative, and potentially empowering, narratives for Latinas. Elena challenges gender norms, explores the ramifications of colonialism, and imagines a world in which whiteness is not the default. However, the show often fails to acknowledge the colorist and anti-Black discourses prevalent within the US and Latin America. as a product of the Disney empire – a corporation that for years has faced criticism for its portrayals of Latinxs in their live action and animated films and shows – Elena embodies the struggle for representation and the fight against commodification. Though a “Latina Disney Princess” can be a source of inspiration to Latinas around the world, there remains the question of how the Latina body is commodified by and for white, non-Latinx consumers. By analyzing the episodes and tie-in merchandise of Elena alongside other Latina-centric programs like Once Upon a Time (2011-2018) and Disney films like Saludos Amigos (1942), I argue that Hollywood’s fixation with cultural and ethnic authenticity is reifying hegemonic notions of Latinidad. While shows like Elena have the potential to dispel stereotypical understandings of Latin America, the US film and television industry continues to disregard the cultural complexity of its Latinx viewers, normalizing whiteness and exoticizing Latinidad