A method to estimate the significance of coincident gravitational-wave observations from compact binary coalescence

Coalescing compact binary systems consisting of neutron stars and/or black holes should be detectable with upcoming advanced gravitational-wave detectors such as LIGO, Virgo, GEO and {KAGRA}. Gravitational-wave experiments to date have been riddled with non-Gaussian, non-stationary noise that makes it challenging to ascertain the significance of an event. A popular method to estimate significance is to time shift the events collected between detectors in order to establish a false coincidence rate. Here we propose a method for estimating the false alarm probability of events using variables commonly available to search candidates that does not rely on explicitly time shifting the events while still capturing the non-Gaussianity of the data. We present a method for establishing a statistical detection of events in the case where several silver-plated (3--5$\sigma$) events exist but not necessarily any gold-plated ($>5\sigma$) events. We use LIGO data and a simulated, realistic, blind signal population to test our method

Sucker Punch

This is a review of Sucker Punch (2011)

Cloud Atlas

This is a film review of Cloud Atlas (2012) directed by Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, and Lana Wachowski

Working Off-Track: Adjunct Labor In Higher Education

The proportion of non-tenure track faculty has grown over the last decade and adjuncts now constitute two-thirds of the academic workforce. Despite this growth, there remain important limitations to our understanding of this new faculty majority. For one, typologies for conceptualizing adjunct diversity are often poorly aligned and make limited use of information valuable for classification. This study addresses these issues by employing the multivariate typological method of cluster analysis. The analysis implied a “natural typology” for adjunct faculty and suggested important nuances for fully recognizing adjunct diversity in higher education. This dissertation also addresses limitations with regard to adjunct job satisfaction and turnover. With lower earnings and less job security, it has typically been assumed that beginning off the tenure line carries with it a greater risk of early career departure. However, the empirical evidence of this has been weak. Using survival analysis and a behavioral measure of career attrition, this study confirmed the risks of beginning off the tenure track. Furthermore, using a structural equation model, this study examined nuances in the satisfaction and turnover intentions of different subclasses of contingent faculty members. Satisfaction with benefits and financial satisfaction are distinct among aspiring academics and career-ending adjuncts and this has important implications with regard to faculty retention policies

The Rite (2011)

This is a film review of The Rite (2011)

Locating representation: Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Brown, and the manifestation of biography

This work explores the synthesis of Ralph Waldo Emerson\u27s 1838 address History with the life of John Brown. In his address Emerson declares that there is no history; only biography, and from this statement the foundation for Representative Men is put in place. Although nearly 21 years separate Emerson\u27s lecture from Brown\u27s work in bloody Kansas and Harpers Ferry, Brown\u27s warfare for abolition gave Emerson\u27s philosophy of biography an identity. In keeping with the concept of biography, Emerson\u27s overarching principle of Self-Reliance often deployed philosophical forms such as Man Thinking and The Hero, but by 1850, Emerson\u27s philosophy was informed by the politics of the day, and Self-Reliance became identified with the abolition movement. In an attempt to find an American biography, Emerson aligned himself with one of the country\u27s most radical abolitionists. In Chapter One the author offers an explication of History, including Emerson\u27s experience in Europe in 1832, and the subsequent anticipation for an American genius. Chapter Two will focus on Emerson choosing Brown as a representative, thus declaring Brown to be the true history of the American Republic. In treating Emerson and Brown the writer engages not only major works of the Emerson canon, but lesser known essays and lectures, including Remarks at a Meeting for the Relief of John Brown\u27s Family (1859), and John Brown: Speech at Salem (1860)

A Dangerous Method

This is a film review of A Dangerous Method (2011), directed by David Cronenberg

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

This is a film review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), directed by Peter Jackson

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

This is a review of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

This is a film review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) directed by Rian Johnson