Policing the Campus: Academic Repression, Surveillance, and the Occupy Movement

Book review of Policing the Campus: Academic Repression, Surveillance, and the Occupy Movement, edited by Anthony J. Nocella II and David Gabbard (2013)

Policing the Campus: Academic Repression, Surveillance, and the Occupy Movement

Book review of Policing the Campus: Academic Repression, Surveillance, and the Occupy Movement, edited by Anthony J. Nocella II and David Gabbard (2013)

Do consumers really want credit card reform?

Earlier this year, several bills were introduced in Congress to curb what many consumer advocates have described as abusive credit card practices. These bills were intended to keep credit card issuers from penalizing consumers for paying their card balances in full each month. In unveiling one of the measures, Congressman John LaFalce declared, "[Consumers] should not be tricked or trapped into escalating interest rates and unnecessary fees. And they clearly deserve better than to be punished for paying off debt and for responsibly using their credit cards."> Apparently, many consumers agree. According to a November 1996 survey by Money magazine, 79 percent of respondents supported legislation to restrict how credit card issuers set fees and account terms.> With such strong consumer support for credit card reform, it is not surprising that Congress responded. In fact, Congress has repeatedly considered similar measures, some even more restrictive, such as proposals to cap the interest rate charged on credit card accounts. These measures have in common one potentially disturbing feature: if passed into law, they each would impose price controls on credit card accounts.> Combs and Schreft address whether such legislative efforts can achieve the stated objective of benefiting consumers. They find that consumers as a whole generally do not benefit from reform measures of the type studied. The effective price of a credit card account might not fall for many---or any---consumers as a result of such pricing restrictions, and credit availability is likely to be reduced, at least to some consumers. Thus, consumers should think twice before asking for pricing restrictions on credit cards.Credit cards

Prairie Farms Dairy, Inc.: Economic Impact of a Dairy Cooperative [This report is now at http://purl.umn.edu/180971]

This report is now at http://purl.umn.edu/180971Dairy cooperative, fluid milk, processing, distribution, history, economic impact., Livestock Production/Industries,

Trauma, Personality, and Behavior: A Longitudinal Study Predicting Adverse Outcomes After Sexual Assault from Personality Prior to the Assault

Exposure to sexual assault results in ongoing harms for women. After an assault, some women engage higher levels of externalizing behaviors, such as drinking problems and drug use, and others experience higher levels of internalizing dysfunction, such as clinical anxiety and clinical depression. In a longitudinal sample of 1929 freshman college women assessed across three time points, I found the following. Pre-assault negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when distressed) interacted with assault exposure to predict increased subsequent drinking and initiation of drug use. Pre-assault trait anxiety/depression interacted with assault exposure to predict increased subsequent clinical anxiety and depression. There was also the surprising finding that the interaction between assault and trait anxiety/ depression was a protective factor against drinking and drug use. Finally, mean levels of trait negative urgency were significantly higher after an assault, though the same was not true for trait anxiety/depression. Women with different personalities tend to experience different forms of post-assault distress. These results support the development of targeted treatment protocols for trauma specific to personality types

The Effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, and Combined Posttraumatic Stress Disorder/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury on Returning Veterans

Veterans of the Iraqi and Afghanistan conflicts have frequently returned with injuries such as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). More recently, concern has been raised about the large number of returning soldiers who are diagnosed with both. Literature exists on the neuropsychological factors associated with either alone, however far less research has explored the effects when combined (PTSD+mTBI). With a sample of 206 OEF/OIF veterans, the current study employed neuropsychological and psychological measures to determine whether participants with PTSD+mTBI have poorer cognitive and psychological outcomes than participants with PTSD-o, mTBI-o, or veteran controls (VC), when groups are matched on IQ, education, and age. The PTSD+mTBI and mTBI-o groups exhibited very similar neuropsychology profiles, and both PTSD+mTBI and mTBI-o performed significantly (α=.01) worse than VC on executive functioning and processing speed measures. There were no significant differences between VC and PTSD-o on any notable neuropsychology measures. In contrast, on the psychological measures, the PTSD+mTBI and PTSD-o groups were identical to each other and more distressed than either mTBI-o or VC. These findings suggest there are lasting cognitive impairments following mTBI that are unique to the condition and cannot be attributed to known impairments associated with distress

Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson\u27s Disease: An Investigation of Post-Surgical Self-Regulation and Executive Functioning

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder that attacks the basal ganglia and contributes to a range of motor, cognitive, and behavioral impairments (e.g., tremor, rigidity, and executive dysfunction). This dysfunction may contribute to self-regulatory impairment across several domains, including cognitive skills, thought processes, and emotion. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical procedure that allows for direct and reversible manipulation of brain activity in patients with PD. The procedure is growing in popularity and is commonly used as an adjunct or in some instances an alternative to dopaminometic medications. Preliminary studies suggest mild executive dysfunction follows DBS but as the literature is in its early stages, there is a need to examine further the range of executive deficits and self-regulatory impairment observed in PD following DBS. In the present study, twenty-seven PD patients post-DBS completed a brief neuropsychological test battery and provided measures of heart rate variability (HRV). Patients also completed questionnaires regarding their ability to self-regulate emotions and thought patterns. Scores were compared to the patient’s pre-surgical performance as well as to a group of healthy older adults. Results suggest DBS leads to significant declines in executive function (EF) and self-regulation (SR). Patients had significantly worse scores on neuropsychological tests of EF (i.e., phonemic fluency, semantic fluency, and working memory) when compared to their preoperative performance. Similarly, DBS patients had significantly worse scores than controls on measures of EF (i.e., verbal fluency, attention, mental flexibility) and verbal memory. With regard to physiological functioning, lower baseline HRV was linked to worse EF but fewer impulsive-compulsive behaviors in DBS patients. Correlations among measures of theoretically similar constructs (i.e., EF and SR) modest and variable, challenging the idea that SR in different domains depends on a common resource. The results of the current study suggest that PD patients are prone to a variety of self-regulatory deficits, ranging from subtle to severe. They are likely to experience small declines in EF post-DBS that may contribute to these self-regulatory impairments. However, this research suggests that both the quantity and quality of impairment varies, and that the correlates of these deficits may be different between patients. Clinically, it is important for health care professionals working with PD to recognize the presence of self-regulatory deficits and to be aware of the potential obstacles that might arise from such impairments within a patient’s daily life

ANALYSIS OF MARINE CORPS CANCELED ACCOUNT PAYMENTS

Over $1.2 million remains unpaid in United States Marine Corps canceled account payments due to a failure to properly closeout over-aged contracts used for the procurement of goods and services. The authority of government agencies to make further expenditures and payments against these contracts cancels at the end of the appropriation’s five-year period of availability. Pursuant to 31 U.S. Code § 1553, current year funds must then be utilized to pay those closed account invoices in addition to any interest accrued over time. This presents an issue within constrained budgets, already insufficient in meeting Force Design initiatives. While an effort has been made by Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC), Programs and Resources (P&R) to streamline the reconciliation and payment of these invoices, both internal and external factors continue to undermine the Marine Corps’ funds execution credibility. My research examined findings from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and data from HQMC, P&R and found that labor shortfalls within the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) along with internal visibility issues impede the closeout of canceled account payments. To address this impact, the implementation of a tiger team within DCAA is recommended. Additionally, the promulgation of official payment and policy guidance should be provided to applicable commands, including Marine Corps Systems Command, which accounts for nearly half of all Marine Corps canceled account payments.Captain, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Liquid rocket performance computer model with distributed energy release Interim final report, 15 Aug. 1969 - 15 Aug. 1970

Liquid propellant rocket engine performance computer program with distributed energy releas