Holistic, Ethical Leadership for the 21st Century

The New Oxford American Dictionary (2001) delineates two definitions for a leader: “1) The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country; a person followed by others. 2) A short strip of nonfunctioning material at each end of a reel of film or recording tape for connection to the spool.” How often does the latter definition seem more applicable for many of our educational leaders than the former? What are the philosophical foundations of leadership? What does a modern, ethical leader look like? These are just a few questions that will be explored in this article. The challenge beset for the educational leaders of the present and the future is one that will require a bridging and blending of old and new paradigms. A mere paradigm shift may not be sufficient–the term shift is still too mechanistic and linear to adequately describe this new approach. Rather, the modern ethical leader must create a paradigm blend. In the circular way of knowing, akin to the epistemology of the Lakota Sioux (Stolzman, 1986), this article will explore four aspects of modern educational leadership. First, the criticisms and attacks on the educational system will be addressed. Second, the aim of education will be analyzed through three lenses: axiology, epistemology, and ontology. Third, systemic education will be discussed. Fourth, the role of the modern/future educational leader will be explored: specifically regarding the need for him/her to address the concerns of the critics and bridge the divide between two paradigms of education. This essay is a brief exploration that delves into the shortcomings of the modern educational system, the core purposes of education, systemic educational paradigms, and the role of the 21st century ethical leader. The author’s goal is not to provide answers, nor propose a prescription for ethical leadership. Rather, the intent is to aid in focusing the direction which leaders must follow in order to be effective in this millennium. Similar to the manner in which Descartes shared his method of inquiry, the author will share part of his experience in learning and growing as an educational leader. “Thus my purpose here is not to teach the method that everyone should follow in order to conduct his reason correctly, but merely to show how I have tried to conduct mine” (Descartes, 1637/1980, p. 2)

A WAC From Maine in The South: The World War II Correspondence of Katherine Trickey

The World War II Correspondence of Katherine Tricke

Spin Foam Models of Yang-Mills Theory Coupled to Gravity

We construct a spin foam model of Yang-Mills theory coupled to gravity by using a discretized path integral of the BF theory with polynomial interactions and the Barret-Crane ansatz. In the Euclidian gravity case we obtain a vertex amplitude which is determined by a vertex operator acting on a simple spin network function. The Euclidian gravity results can be straightforwardly extended to the Lorentzian case, so that we propose a Lorentzian spin foam model of Yang-Mills theory coupled to gravity.Comment: 10 page

Tweaking the Charge Transfer: Bonding Analysis of Bismuth(III) Complexes with a Flexidentate Phosphane Ligand

To account for the charge transfer and covalent character in bonding between P and Bi centers, the electronic structures of [P(C6H4-o-CH2SCH3)3BiCln](3–n)+ (n = 0–3) model species have been investigated computationally. On the basis of this survey a synthetic target compound with a dative P→Bi bond has been selected. Consecutively, the highly reactive bismuth cage [P(C6H4-o-CH2SCH3)3Bi]3+ has been accessed experimentally and characterized. Importantly, our experiments (single-crystal X-ray diffraction and solid-state NMR spectroscopy) and computations (NBO and AIM analysis) reveal that the P···Bi bonding in this trication can be described as a dative bond. Here we have shown that our accordion-like molecular framework allows for tuning of the interaction between P and Bi centers

Variation in sexual dimorphism in a wind-pollinated plant: The influence of geographical context and life-cycle dynamics

Understanding the mechanisms causing phenotypic differences between females and males has long fascinated evolutionary biologists. An extensive literature exists on animal sexual dimorphism but less information is known about sex differences in plants, particularly the extent of geographical variation in sexual dimorphism and its life‐cycle dynamics. Here, we investigated patterns of genetically based sexual dimorphism in vegetative and reproductive traits of a wind‐pollinated dioecious plant, Rumex hastatulus, across three life‐cycle stages using open‐pollinated families from 30 populations spanning the geographic range and chromosomal variation (XY and XY1Y2) of the species. The direction and degree of sexual dimorphism was highly variable among populations and life‐cycle stages. Sex‐specific differences in reproductive function explained a significant amount of temporal change in sexual dimorphism. For several traits, geographical variation in sexual dimorphism was associated with bioclimatic parameters, likely due to the differential responses of the sexes to climate. We found no systematic differences in sexual dimorphism between chromosome races. Sex‐specific trait differences in dioecious plants largely result from a balance between sexual and natural selection on resource allocation. Our results indicate that abiotic factors associated with geographical context also play a role in modifying sexual dimorphism during the plant life‐cycle