On the cuspidality of pullbacks of Siegel Eisenstein series and applications to the Bloch-Kato conjecture

Let $k > 3$ be an integer and $p$ a prime with $p > 2k-2$. Let $f$ be a newform of weight $2k-2$ and level 1 so that $f$ is ordinary at $p$ and $\bar{\rho}_{f}$ is irreducible. Under some additional hypotheses we prove that ord_{p}(L_{alg}(k,f)) \leq ord_{p}(# S) where $S$ is the Pontryagin dual of the Selmer group associated to $\rho_{f} \otimes \epsilon^{1-k}$ with $\epsilon$ the $p$-adic cyclotomic character. We accomplish this by first constructing a congruence between the Saito-Kurokawa lift of $f$ and a non-CAP Siegel cusp form. Once this congruence is established, we use Galois representations to obtain the lower bound on the Selmer group.Comment: 33 page

Residually reducible representations of algebras over local Artinian rings

In this paper we generalize a result of Urban on the structure of residually reducible representations on local Artinian rings from the case that the semi-simplification of the residual representation splits into 2 absolutely irreducible representations to the case where it splits into m ≥ 2 absolutely irreducible representations

The Role of Folk Consciousness in the Modern State: Its Efficacy, Use and Abuse

A video recording of a presentation by Dr Jim Brown (Standford University) on 'The role of Folk Consciousness in the Modern State: Its Efficacy, Use and Abuse' at the National Storytelling Conference in Bhutan 2009. The presentation is followed by Ap Dregang narrating 'Tshongon Dawa Zango and Damtsi Drem'.World Oral Literature Project: an urgent global initiative to document and make accessible endangered oral literatures before they disappear without record

A Call to Action: An Integrated Approach to Youth Permanency and Preparation for Adulthood

Addresses the unique needs of adolescents in foster care, and highlights efforts to ensure that youth in the foster system benefit from the most strategic preparation and supports for entering adulthood

Retrofitting Cities: A Case Study in Baltimore - Exploring New Trends in Urban Greenways

Landscape Architecture is presented with a unique design challenge in the contemporary city as ideas of green infrastructure and sustainability are gaining significance, and the emerging role of greenways’ importance in shaping future urban form. There is significant discussion of the role of urban greenways along natural corridors providing recreation and environmental services in cities (Gobster &Westphal et al., 2004) as well as the role of greenways in creating synergy on differing scales addressing sustainability and connectivity in urban areas (Sharma, 2010). Additionally there has been an emerging discussion of how Detroit and other “blighted” or “legacy” rust-belt cities are turning to urban agriculture, new economies and other progressive or adaptive land uses to address sustainability, community development, and urban infill (Reed 2012, et al). However it is unclear how or if these land uses are part of a larger systems wide approach and to what extent already existing greenways can anchor these objectives. This ongoing project is a critical review of how cities such as Baltimore can use established design approaches paired with greenway development to address the underutilization of space and lack of connectivity which have resulted in urban fragmentation, population loss and declining economic activity in recent decades. Are these design approaches sufficient to retrofit a city? Can landscape architecture provide design solutions by extending greenways technology and theory out from the stream valleys and onto the ground plane of our urban public realm to meet those goals of connectivity? Landscape ecological urbanism provides a foundation to bridge the gaps between theoretical approaches of landscape urbanism and the scientific approaches of urban ecology by recognizing that cities are essentially human dominated ecosystems (Steiner 2012). By acknowledging that landscape urbanism projects can improve the quality of life in cities, we can now advance our systems thinking as to how these projects can become more integrated into the related discussions of ecosystem services and future urban form. This project looks at those related and evolving theories to examine which landscape design approaches are relevant and what the future might look like for cities with shrinking populations, an abundance of space, and rich cultural and ecological diversity – with a focus on the role of current and future greenways in those cities. The underlying intention of this research is to look at how the built environment between greenways can be adapted to create a meaningful sense of place and synergy to an emerging greenway network