Unmasking Athlete Microaggressions: Division I Student-Athletes’ Engagement With Members of the Campus Community

The purpose of this study was to explore student-athletes’ (n = 122) perceptions of discriminatory acts by professors and other students at a large Division I university in the western United States. The majority of respondents reported either positive or neutral experiences with other campus community members, but a small number described instances where professors and other students questioned their intellectual abilities, academic motivation, or treatment by the university. The author introduces the label “athlete microaggressions” to classify and validate the existence of insensitive and demeaning behaviors directed at student-athletes. The author identifies new directions for future work that builds on this research

The Juris Master: A Proposal for Reducing Excessive Public Defender Caseloads

The US public defense system is underfunded, understaffed, and underdelivering on the Constitutional promises of the 6th Amendment, the right to a fair and speedy trial. This state of our public defense system results in monstrous impacts for indigent defendants nationwide. Through indefinite delays in litigation, being abandoned in jail while sitting on waiting lists for public defenders, and being outright denied representation, indigent defendants are deprived of their rights. Beyond just defendant neglect, our current system puts immense strain on public defenders, prosecutors, and state budgets. In an attempt to combat this current state of affairs, this paper details a possible provision to assist our public defense system. This provision is the idea of a Juris Master\u27s degree as an alternative to the Juris Doctor (JD) that is largely required to practice law. The Juris Master would allow its holder to handle misdemeanor criminal cases in lieu of a JD-holding attorney. This provision would be useful as the large majority of public defender dockets are indeed misdemeanor cases. The lift of this paper is both describing this proposal and explaining how it would harmonize with the ethical ideas backing the Constitution and the mandated standards of the legal profession. Proving this harmonization requires looking at documents such as the Magna Carta, regulations such as the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC), and analogical relationships in other professions

Risk Reducing Mastectomies among Women with Mutations in Moderate Penetrance Breast Cancer Susceptibility Genes

Women who harbor mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes are at an increased lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and are faced with decisions about managing their risks, including the decision of whether to undergo a risk reducing mastectomy (RRM). While decision making for risk management has been studied extensively for BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers, there is much less information surrounding risk management for women with mutations in moderate penetrance genes. This is a retrospective study of 280 women undergoing genetic counseling at a Los Angeles-based academic hospital between 2009 and 2019. The study used medical records to examine rates of RRMs in both affected and unaffected women with 1) no known mutation (N=92), 2) a mutation in a moderate penetrance gene CHEK2, ATM, NBN, or PALB2 (N=90), or 3) a BRCA mutation (N=98). Participants had a mean age of 45.7 years and were 78% Caucasian, 34% affected with breast cancer, and 31% never married. Results showed that mutation status was associated with RRM decision (p\u3c.001), with 8.6% (8/92) of women with no known risk mutations, 30% (27/90) of moderate penetrance gene carriers, and 39.8% (39/98) of BRCA mutation carriers undergoing RRM. Women were more likely to undergo RRM if they were affected with breast cancer (p\u3c.001), had a younger age at diagnosis (p\u3c.001), were presented with a higher lifetime risk (p=.006), and were married or partnered (p=0.02). Participants with a moderate risk mutation without breast cancer were more likely to have RRM if they had a first degree relative with breast cancer (p=.03). The NCCN Guidelines® does not typically recommend consideration of RRM for moderate penetrance carriers, but their rates of RRM approach those of BRCA carriers. Genetics providers must better equip surgeons and patients with knowledge of risks associated with moderate penetrance mutations, and healthcare providers must strive to understand why surgical decisions are made

Joint optimization of process improvement investments for supplier-buyer cooperative commerce

This research focuses on supporting the formation of strategic alliances through the concept of cooperative commerce, where suppliers and buyers work together to jointly optimize their businesses. The general goal of this research is to examine existing cooperative commerce models for obstacles that would hinder their successful implementation into modern industrial applications and to address those shortcomings. Total annual cost equations are formulated to capture the joint total relevant cost of cooperative commerce business relationships. These total joint relevant cost models will include terms that capture the ordering cost, holding cost, and cost of quality, as well as any applicable investment cost for process improvements, consistent with traditional economic order quantity and economic production quantity theory. This research corrects a modeling error of Affisco, et al. (2002) that led to underestimating the effectiveness of process improvements in joint economic lot size models. In addition, the models are expanded to accommodate a full range of product quality inspection policies, from zero to one hundred percent product inspections. Furthermore, the models are modified to account for the cost of scrap generation, as well as the effects of accepting non-conforming product and rejecting conforming product during quality inspections. Once the total cost models are expanded to account for these neglected costs, the joint total relevant cost equations are minimized to find the optimal batch sizes, and the effects of each model extension on the model solution are studied. Results indicate that these extensions do have a significant impact on the model results, such as reduced optimal batch sizes and increased optimal fraction conforming product

Remedying Unequal Access: The Role of Outreach in Shaping College Opportunities for Underserved Students

The discourse regarding affirmative action in California, stemming in recent years from the passing of SB 1 in 1995 and Proposition 209 in 1996, has major implications for African Americans’ struggle for higher education in California. This legislation signals a need to understand where African Americans are now and how to identify strategies and practices that are efficacious in improving access as well as preparing these students for competitive college eligibility. In an attempt to illuminate the current status of African American students in California, this article analyzes patterns and trends of academic preparation at the secondary level and undergraduate enrollment to the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. Intervention programs and policies and a range of strategies necessary to create a pipeline to college for students who are both disadvantaged and academically qualified are also discussed. Such efforts and continued research have become critically important due to recent reductions in outreach funding, which have forced California institutions to do more with fewer resources

Remedying Unequal Access: The Role of Outreach in Shaping College Opportunities for Underserved Students

The discourse regarding affirmative action in California, stemming in recent years from the passing of SB 1 in 1995 and Proposition 209 in 1996, has major implications for African Americans’ struggle for higher education in California. This legislation signals a need to understand where African Americans are now and how to identify strategies and practices that are efficacious in improving access as well as preparing these students for competitive college eligibility. In an attempt to illuminate the current status of African American students in California, this article analyzes patterns and trends of academic preparation at the secondary level and undergraduate enrollment to the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. Intervention programs and policies and a range of strategies necessary to create a pipeline to college for students who are both disadvantaged and academically qualified are also discussed. Such efforts and continued research have become critically important due to recent reductions in outreach funding, which have forced California institutions to do more with fewer resources

Black mangrove (Avicennia sp.) colony expansion in the Gulf of Mexico with climate change : implications for wetland health and resistance to rising sea levels

textPopulations of black mangroves (Avicennia sp.) are hypothesized to expand their latitudinal range with global climate change in the 21st century, induced by a reduction in the frequency and severity of coastal freezes, which are known to limit mangrove colony extent and individual tree size, as well as an overall warmer climate. The Gulf of Mexico is located at the northward limit of black mangrove habitat and is therefore a prime candidate for population expansion with global warming. This expansion may come at the expense of existing Gulf coastal saline wetlands that are dominantly Spartina spp. marsh grasses. The present study was conducted to focus, not on the extent to date of this replacement, but to examine the potential implications of a marsh to mangrove transition in Gulf wetlands, specifically 1) resistance to accelerating eustatic sea level rise (ESLR) rates, 2) wetland resistance to wave attack in large storms (increased cyclonic storm frequency/intensity is predicted with future climate warming), and 3) organic carbon sequestration and wetland soil geochemistry. Field sites of adjacent and intergrown Avicennia mangrove and Spartina marsh populations in similar geomorphological setting were selected in back-barrier areas near Port Aransas and Galveston, TX (two sites each) as part of a larger-scale planned study of the full latitudinal transition of the western Gulf funded by the National Institute for Climate Change Research (U.S. Department of Energy). The reconnaissance conducted for site surveys show that black mangrove populations in this part of Texas are clustered near inlet areas, suggesting seed transport vectors are a major control on colony establishment, and likely, on the potential rapidity of wetland habitat replacement. Resistance to ESLR was tested by 1) creating high-accuracy (±1 cm) elevation maps over ~5,000 m² areas of adjacent mangrove and marsh areas, and 2) measuring mineral and organic matter accumulation rates (Pb/Cs radiotracer geochronology, loss on ignition) from auger cores. Elevation surveys in Port Aransas indicate mangrove vegetated areas are 4 cm higher in elevation than surrounding marsh on an average regional scale, and 1 to 2 cm higher at the individual mangrove scale: at the Galveston sites, any trend is complicated by the area's pre-existing geomorphology and the relative youth of the mangrove colonies. ¹³⁷Cs accumulation rates and loss on ignition data indicate that mineral trapping is 4.1 times higher and sediment organics are 1.7 times lower in mangroves at Port Aransas; no such definable trends exist at the Galveston sites or in calculated ²¹⁰Pb sediment accumulation rates. This additional mineral particle trapping in mangroves does not differ in grain size character from marsh mineral accumulation. Elevation change may also be effected by root volume displacement: live root weight measurements in the rooted horizon (~0 to 20 cm depth) are consistently higher in mangrove cores from Port Aransas and the site at the west end of Galveston Island. Port Aransas porosities are lower in mangrove rooted horizons, with a corresponding increase in sediment strength (measured by shear vane in the cores), suggesting mangrove intervals may be more resistant to wave-induced erosion during storm events. Port Aransas mangroves exhibit higher pore water redox potentials and salinities over entire core depths and depressed pH over rooted intervals, suggesting a distinct diagenetic environment exists relative to marsh sites. Increased salinities and higher redox potentials may be a function of the rooting network, which introduces oxygen into the sediment and focuses evapo-transpiration and salt exclusion within this zone: this may prove advantageous when competing with marsh grasses by elevating salinities to levels that are toxic for Spartina. Trends observed in the more mature systems of Port Aransas are generally absent at the Galveston sites, suggesting the youth and physically shorter stature of these systems means they have not yet established a unique sediment signature.Geological Science

An Analysis of Nobuo Uematsu’s Linear Structures: The Score of Final Fantasy VI’s Opera

Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of the first nine entries in the Final Fantasy video game series, creates sophisticated music in the operatic section of Final Fantasy VI. This thesis will provide a linear analysis of the music, borrowing from contrapuntal techniques of important theorists such as Heinrich Schenker and Paul Hindemith. The analysis will explain how some linear progressions play guiding roles within the music while others although heard, may not be as important. Furthermore, the most important linear structures will be shown to support the tonal identity of a movement, while important end points coincide with junctures in the programming of the game

Verification and Validation of Robot Manipulator Adaptive Control with Actuator Deficiency

This work addresses the joint tracking problem of robotic manipulators with uncertain dynamical parameters and actuator deficiencies, in the form of an uncertain control effectiveness matrix, through adaptive control design, simulation, and experimentation. Specifically, two novel adaptive controller formulations are implemented and tested via simulation and experimentation. The proposed adaptive control formulations are designed to compensate for uncertainties in the dynamical system parameters as well as uncertainties in the control effectiveness matrix that pre-multiplies the control input. The uncertainty compensation of the dynamical parameters is achieved via the use of the desired model compensation–based adaptation, while the uncertainties related to the control effectiveness matrix are dealt with via two fundamentally different novel adaptation methods, namely with bound-based and projection operator-based methods. The stability of the system states and convergence of the error terms to the origin are proven via Lyapunov–based arguments. Extensive numerical studies are performed on a two–link planar robotic device, and experimental studies are preformed on Quansers QArm to illustrate the effectiveness of both adaptive controllers. In the experimental validation of the theory, both adaptive controllers demonstrate remarkable resilience, maintaining control of the Quanser QArm even with up to an 80% control input deficiency. After tuning the gains, both joints satisfactorily tracked the desired trajectories. When evaluating the entire experiment, the norm of the square of the total error is averaged. The bound-based controller exhibited an average error of 2.816◦ across all cases, while the projection operator-based controller had a reduced average error of 1.012◦ across all cases. Furthermore, over time, there is a noticeable decrease in error for both joints. These results underscore the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed adaptive controllers, even under substantial actuator deficiencies. The results highlight the significance of achieving near-perfect system knowledge and the careful selection of controls for desirable system performanc