Keep the Kids Inside? Juvenile Curfews and Urban Gun Violence

Gun violence is a chronic problem in the United States. Nationally in 2012, 11,622 people were killed by assault with a firearm. Many more people are injured by guns each year: in 2011, 693,000 individuals were treated in emergency rooms for injuries due to assaults by firearms and similar mechanisms. Gun violence takes a particularly large toll on young people: according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), homicide accounted for 18 percent of deaths for males aged 15-19 and 20-24 — more than for any other age group. For black males, homicide is the leading cause of death for those age groups, explaining 48 percent and 50 percent of deaths, respectively. The vast majority of these are gun-related homicides

Melanie C. Hawthorne. Women, Citizenship, and Sexuality: The Transnational Lives of Renée Vivien, Romaine Brooks, and Natalie Barney. Liverpool UP, 2021.

Review of Melanie C. Hawthorne. Women, Citizenship, and Sexuality: The Transnational Lives of Renée Vivien, Romaine Brooks, and Natalie Barney. Liverpool UP, 2021. 167 pp

Complicity and Collection: Religious Freedom and Tax

This Article focuses on how the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill might be improved so that members of Congress enact it. The bill would allow war tax resisters who qualify as pacifists to direct their tax money to a separate fund not to be used for military spending. At present, the IRS is expending time and resources trying to track down tax resisters, which results in loss of revenue for the government. This Article argues that passage of an amended version of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill would eliminate the tension between the IRS and war tax resisters by increasing revenue to the United States while respecting religious freedom. Section I of the Article defines the term “war tax resister” and explains the difficulties of conscience faced by war tax resisters. Section II suggests the U.S. military’s definitions of conscientious objector (both current and past) could be used to determine conscientious objector status under the revised bill. Section III traces the history of war tax resistance, which puts the purpose of the bill in perspective by explaining the difficulty the IRS has faced in collecting tax from war tax resisters and the difficulties war tax resisters have faced in avoiding complicity with war, which they see as a sin. Section IV discusses the relevant case law and why, thus far, war tax resisters claiming constitutional protection against tax collection have been unsuccessful, making passage of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill (as it is currently called) necessary. Section V explains the history of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill, and Section VI suggests changes that might ensure passage of the revised bill

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Translated from the French with commentary by Jennifer Carr

Discourses of Widening Participation and Social Inclusion

This thesis explores the relationship between policies and initiatives designed to widen participation in post-compulsory learning and notions of social inclusion. Whilst both widening participation and social inclusion can be viewed as distinct policy areas, the focus for this research are the links between the two, the impact that these links have on the development of specific education policy initiatives and what that means for those implicated in these initiatives. This thesis begins with an examination of the way in which notions of social exclusion, lifelong learning and widening participation are constructed in policy texts and practices. I argue that dominant discourses of social inclusion, which emphasise equality of opportunity brought about through participation in paid employment, lead to an under-valuing in policy terms of learning programmes that seek to promote the wider benefits of learning. I also argue, however, that the potential exists for practitioners and learners to resist and subvert these dominant discourses. Drawing on the work of Bacchi (2002) I highlight how, through theorising the ‘spaces for challenge’, analysts can examine processes of micromanipulation – the unique ways in which marginalised people or groups raise problems or attempt to influence any agenda. Adopting a Foucauldian genealogical approach I explore the ways in which a specific widening participation initiative, that of Adult Learners’ Week (ALW), has been used by practitioners to both engage potential learners and influence Government policy. The range of data drawn on includes archive material relating to the ALW initiative; policy texts and documents; interviews with practitioners and learners involved with ALW and other widening participation initiatives; and, participant and non-participant observations of interactions between practitioners involved in planning for and delivering ALW. In this thesis I use the ALW themes of ‘Community, Culture and Citizenship’, ‘Equality and Diversity’ and ‘Skills for Life’ to explore examples of micromanipulation identified in the analysis of these data. This thesis concludes with reflections on the usefulness of adopting a genealogical approach and a discussion of the lessons that can be learned from the examples of micromanipulations discussed, including the challenges to widening participation that persist

Cut-Off Values For Gait Variables To Detect Forelimb Lameness In Individual Dogs

The objective of this study was to characterize kinetic and kinematic variables in dogs with forelimb lameness and determine lameness cutoff values of gait variables using ROC analysis with observational gait analysis (OGA) as reference. Twenty client-owned dogs with unilateral lameness were included. Dogs underwent orthopedic exam, including OGA, and instrumented gait analysis (IGA; kinetic and kinematic analysis). Kinetic variables with the highest accuracy were PVF and %WD with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.73 and 0.92, respectively. Optimal cutoff value for PVF and %WD were ≤ 10.6 (sensitivity 70% and specificity 75%) and ≤ 29.7 (sensitivity 90% and specificity 85%), respectively. Results of the ROC analysis indicate that KVs were most useful in determining lameness

Where Do We Come From? A Quantitative Study of the Backgrounds and Professional Qualities of Special Education Transition Specialists in Massachusetts

The position of secondary Special Education Transition Specialist has evolved into a pivotal role in the transition planning process for students with disabilities. Through state level legislative efforts, licensed Special Educators and select others are able earn a Transition Specialist Endorsement through the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Yet, there is no requirement that school districts in Massachusetts have a person on staff who solely acts as a Transition Specialist or employ a person who holds a Transition Specialist Endorsement. Further, little is known about those across the Commonwealth working in this unique capacity. Using a self-administered questionnaire, this quantitative and comparative statewide study examined secondary Special Education Transition Specialists in three settings: public secondary schools, Special Education Collaboratives, and Chapter 766 approved secondary schools. Specifically it looked at their, educational and employment histories as well as their entrepreneurial skills, perceived level of self-efficacy, and aptitude for social networking. As well as provided information about the skills of those who hold a Transition Specialist Endorsement versus those who do not. Findings from this study revealed that nearly all of those working as secondary Transition Specialists are Caucasian females. Over half earned a master’s degree and a majority were educated in Massachusetts. Further, just under half changed careers to become a Transition Specialist, primarily coming from education, counseling, and health science backgrounds. In addition, findings showed that less than one quarter of those working as secondary Special Education Transition Specialists have a Transition Specialist Endorsement and further, less than half are employed solely as a Transition Specialist in their setting. Through analysis it was also found that those who are endorsed as Transition Specialists reported higher levels of entrepreneurial leadership skill, perceived self-efficacy, and aptitude for social networking. Findings of this study can be used to inform the hiring process at the secondary level, drive higher education Transition Leadership Programs recruitment efforts, and lead to further inquiry around those working as secondary Special Education Transition Specialists in Massachusetts and beyond

(In)visible Witnesses: Young people's views of images of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians on UK children's television from a gender perspective (Research Briefing)

This briefing is based on the (In)visible Witnesses study by a team of researchers led by Liz Whitelegg and Richard Holliman at the Open University. This project is one of five commissioned by the UKRC to explore issues around the role of the media and representations of women in STEM. This briefing looks at the (re)construction of gendered representations of STEM on children's television and investigates the ways in which these images affected children's and young people's perceptions of STEM. The content of two weeks of children's television was analysed. Following this, 45 children and young people were involved in a study which looked at how children and young people made sense of the STEM they watch on television. Several methods were used to elicit children's and young people's perceptions of STEM and their place within these fields in the future - a questionnaire, 'draw-a-scientist' test, reflective writing about their future selves as scientists and the creation of a 'storyboard' for a TV programme