Balancing the Carrot and the Stick: Achieving Social Goals Through Real Property Tax Programs

The sharp and growing wealth divide in the United States has elicited significant media and public attention over the past decade, with loud calls for achieving social goals through tax system change. While wealth preservation loopholes in the Internal Revenue Code can contribute to wealth inequalities, tax policies that incentivize socially responsible, tax efficient investment offer an attractive tool for estate planning professionals while also promoting social impact programs. Additionally, while direct government investments into low-income community development, land preservation, and food security are important drivers of change, tax policies that push private capital into these causes are equally important to making a social impact. Through the lens of three widely used estate planning strategies, (i) Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) investments, (ii) conservation easement donations, and (iii) special agricultural appraisals, this Article examines the potential for such strategies to offer wealth-preserving tax breaks while directing private capital toward achieving social goals. There are pitfalls to be considered in the analysis of these programs, including inequality in accessing these tax breaks and potential for taxpayer abuse. Regardless, this Article concludes that well-drafted and properly policed incentive-based programs that offer tax discounts in return for private investments of capital into socially beneficial impact areas can offer an appealing alternative to direct government investment programs

Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia: global challenges in low resource settings complete with proposed interventions in rural Haiti

Preeclampsia is a complex multi-pathway disease process diagnosed by hypertension with two readings of systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg, separated by a 4-6 hour period, and proteinuria with a urine dipstick of ≥ 1+ or ≥ 300 mg per 24 hours, after 20 weeks’ gestation in a previously normotensive patient. Ninety-nine percent of pregnancy related deaths occur in middle and low-income countries (LMIC). Of these deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranks pre-eclampsia and eclampsia as the second leading direct cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, behind only postpartum hemorrhage. A woman born in a developing country has a seven times greater risk of developing pre-eclampsia and a three times greater risk of progressing to eclampsia. This paper seeks to review what we know about the basics of detection and management to encourage thoughtful applications in improving the global burden of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia in low resources settings

The Rotation of M Dwarfs Observed by the Apache Point Galactic Evolution Experiment

We present the results of a spectroscopic analysis of rotational velocities in 714 M dwarf stars observed by the SDSS III Apache Point Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) survey. We use a template fitting technique to estimate $v\sin{i}$ while simultaneously estimating $\log{g}$, $[\text{M}/\text{H}]$, and $T_{\text{eff}}$. We conservatively estimate that our detection limit is 8 km s$^{-1}$. We compare our results to M dwarf rotation studies in the literature based on both spectroscopic and photometric measurements. Like other authors, we find an increase in the fraction of rapid rotators with decreasing stellar temperature, exemplified by a sharp increase in rotation near the M$4$ transition to fully convective stellar interiors, which is consistent with the hypothesis that fully convective stars are unable to shed angular momentum as efficiently as those with radiative cores. We compare a sample of targets observed both by APOGEE and the MEarth transiting planet survey and find no cases were the measured $v\sin{i}$ and rotation period are physically inconsistent, requiring $\sin{i}>1$. We compare our spectroscopic results to the fraction of rotators inferred from photometric surveys and find that while the results are broadly consistent, the photometric surveys exhibit a smaller fraction of rotators beyond the M$4$ transition by a factor of $\sim 2$. We discuss possible reasons for this discrepancy. Given our detection limit, our results are consistent with a bi-modal distribution in rotation that is seen in photometric surveys.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication by A

SESSION 6: Innovating the Built Environment Post-COVID-19

ABSTRACT: Innovating the Built Environment for a Post-COVID-19 World It would seem an act of academic malpractice to teach a course titled Innovating the Built Environment: How the Law Responds to Disruptive Change, and host an all-day symposium as an integral part of that course, and not endeavor to address the most-disruptive thing to happen to the built environment in more than 100 years: The coronavirus pandemic. This disruption to real estate is the proverbial elephant in the room. Hopefully, it will maintain a minimum six-foot distance from others as we address how it impacts the four Special Topics addressed above. What should/will our built environment look like in a post-COVID 19 world? This Session 6 discussion begins with two special guests as Featured Speakers and then brings back a few of the panelists from earlier sessions to discuss how today’s Special Topics may be fundamentally altered for a post-COVID 19 world

A near infrared frequency comb for Y+J band astronomical spectroscopy

Radial velocity (RV) surveys supported by high precision wavelength references (notably ThAr lamps and I2 cells) have successfully identified hundreds of exoplanets; however, as the search for exoplanets moves to cooler, lower mass stars, the optimum wave band for observation for these objects moves into the near infrared (NIR) and new wavelength standards are required. To address this need we are following up our successful deployment of an H band(1.45-1.7{\mu}m) laser frequency comb based wavelength reference with a comb working in the Y and J bands (0.98-1.3{\mu}m). This comb will be optimized for use with a 50,000 resolution NIR spectrograph such as the Penn State Habitable Zone Planet Finder. We present design and performance details of the current Y+J band comb.Comment: Submitted to SPIE, conference proceedings 845