Alaska Felony Sentencing Patterns: Selected Findings

This article describes selected findings from the Alaska Judicial Council's recently released report Alaska Felony Sentencing Patterns: 2012–2013. The report examines factors associated with felony sentences under new presumptive ranges set by the Alaska Legislature in 2005 and 2006. The study has been used by the Alaska Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC), established by the legislature in 2014 to make recommendations about criminal justice reform and sentencing.Classification of Felony Offenses / Background / Selected Finding

Recidivism in Alaska

Recidivism data are a tool that can help policymakers determine how effectively a criminal justice system is working to protect the public. Such data can help answer whether the current system is appropriate, whether alternative methods could provide better results, and whether specialized programs such as therapeutic courts can help reduce recidivism rates. The Alaska Judicial Council published two reports in 2007 that sought to address these questions and more. This Comment has combined much of the data from these two reports in order to present them in a unified fashion, providing direct comparisons and contrasts where appropriate. The Council has also been busy at work responding to requests regarding the data originally published, and some of this new information is printed here. Finally, the Council has proposed that alternatives to incarceration be looked at in certain situations as a result of the findings and also has encouraged agencies sponsoring therapeutic courts to do more work in order to show the costs and benefits of that approach

An Assessment of the Division of Juvenile Justice's Use of the Youth Level of Services/ Case Management Inventory

In June, 2010, the Alaska Division of Juvenile Justice (Division) invited the Alaska Judicial Council and the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at University of Alaska Anchorage to assist “in understanding how scores on the Division’s assessment instrument for juveniles, the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI), reflect the actual recidivism of juveniles who’ve received services from the Division.” Other states had shown that YLS/CMI scores could be helpful in predicting recidivism among the youths they served, but Alaska had not yet done the comparable research. ISER and the Council agreed that the questions proposed would provide valuable information and help the Division to better address the reasons for youth recidivism.The Division of Juvenile Justice.Executive Summary / Introduction / Part 1: Research background and design / Part 2: Findings / Part 3: Summary and Conclusions / Appendice

Alaska’s Merit Selection Of Judges: The Council’s Role, Past And Present

Delegates to Alaska\u27s Constitutional Convention adopted a Judiciary Article that called for the state\u27s judges to be selected and retained in a merit selection system. Modeled after the Missouri Plan, attorneys applying for judgeships are reviewed by the Judicial Council; two or more candidates are nominated to the governor; the governor appoints from the Council\u27s list; and all judges periodically stand for retention in the general elections. Alaska\u27s Judicial Council is composed of three non-attorneys appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature, three attorneys appointed by the Alaska Bar Board of Governors, and the Chief Justice who serves ex officio. All appointed members serve staggered six-year terms and are appointed with due consideration for area representation and without regard to political affiliation. This article draws on Council minutes, reports, and other materials to describe the Council\u27s selection process, and how it has evolved since the first days of statehood. The authors evaluate the effectiveness of the process using objective measures, including outcomes of retention elections. Finally, the article concludes with considerations for possible changes to make the process better suited to the Council\u27s increasing work load and the needs of applicants and others participating in judicial selection

Hydrohalite Salt-albedo Feedback Could Cool M-dwarf Planets

A possible surface type that may form in the environments of M-dwarf planets is sodium chloride dihydrate, or "hydrohalite" (NaCl $\cdot$ 2H$_2$O), which can precipitate in bare sea ice at low temperatures. Unlike salt-free water ice, hydrohalite is highly reflective in the near-infrared, where M-dwarf stars emit strongly, making the effect of the interaction between hydrohalite and the M-dwarf SED necessary to quantify. We carried out the first exploration of the climatic effect of hydrohalite-induced salt-albedo feedback on extrasolar planets, using a three-dimensional global climate model. Under fixed CO$_2$ conditions, rapidly-rotating habitable-zone M-dwarf planets receiving 65% or less of the modern solar constant from their host stars exhibit cooler temperatures when an albedo parameterization for hydrohalite is included in climate simulations, compared to simulations without such a parameterization. Differences in global mean surface temperature with and without this parameterization increase as the instellation is lowered, which may increase CO$_2$ build-up requirements for habitable conditions on planets with active carbon cycles. Synchronously-rotating habitable-zone M-dwarf planets appear susceptible to salt-albedo feedback at higher levels of instellation (90% or less of the modern solar constant) than planets with Earth-like rotation periods, due to their cooler minimum day-side temperatures. These instellation levels where hydrohalite seems most relevant correspond to several recently-discovered potentially habitable M-dwarf planets, including Proxima Centauri b, TRAPPIST-1e, and LHS 1140b, making an albedo parameterization for hydrohalite of immediate importance in future climate simulations.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Patterning Polymer Thin Films: Lithographically Induced Self Assembly and Spinodal Dewetting

In an age in which the microchip is ubiquitous, the rewards for novel methods of microfabrification are great, and the vast possibilities of nanotechnology lie just a little ahead. Various methods of microlithography offer differing benefits, and even as older techniques such as optical lithography are being refined beyond what were once considered their upper limits of resolution, new techniques show great promise for going even further once they reach their technological maturity. Recent developments in optical lithography may allow it to break the 100-nm limit even without resorting to x-rays

Advanced Conducting Project

Hodie Christus Natus Est by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Cum Sancto Spiritu (from Gloria in D Major RV 589) by Antonio Vivaldi And the Glory of the Lord (from Messiah, HWV 56) by George Frideric Handel, adapted by Roger Emerson Credo (from C Minor Mass, K427) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart The Heavens are Telling (from The Creation) by Joseph Haydn He, Watching Over Israel (from Elijah Op. 70) by Felix Mendelssohn Mon Coeur Se Recommande à Vous by Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin, arranged by Russell Robinson Battle Hymn of the Republic by Peter Wilhousky Ubi Caritas (from Quatre Motets sur des themes Grégorians Op. 10) by Maurice Duruflé, adapted by J. Mark Baker Ave Maria by Franz Biebl Make Our Garden Grow (from Candide) by Leonard Bernstein Ne Sedi, Djemo by Steven Sametz Glory, Glory, Glory to the Newborn King by Moses Hogan Tshotoloza by Jeffery L. Ames