Academic Faculty Wives and Systemic Discrimination —Antinepotism and "Inbreeding"

In the past, the academic careers of women married to professors have often been disadvantaged by anti-nepotism rules in universities and by informal department policies against hiring one's own Ph.D. graduates. To determine if these two systemic forms of discrimination, which especially affect faculty wives, are still operating, a study was made at a large university, the University of Waterloo. UW calendars show that some departments have hired academic spouses and many have hired their own Ph.D.s; however, a survey of UW professors indicates that a sizable number are against hiring spouses in a department and against a department hiring its own Ph.D.s. There is still cause for concern, therefore, if a university wants to hire the best candidate for a position and she happens to be a faculty wife.Dans le passe', l'accès des épouses de professeurs à des carrières académiques a souvent été limité par les règles en vigueur dans les universités visant à éliminer le népotisme dans les procédures d'engagement, et par les politiques départementales ne permettant pas l'accès des diplômés des programmes aux postes des mêmes départements. Une étude effectuée à l'Université de Waterloo a tenté d'établir si ces deux formes de discrimination systématique, qui affectent particulièrement les conjointes des professeurs, étaient toujours opérantes. Les annuaires de l'Université montrent que quelques départements ont passé outre à ces règles et ont engagé des épouses de professeurs ou des diplômés. Une enquête auprès du corps professoral de l'institution démontre, cependant, qu'une proportion importante des professeurs désapprouve ces initiatives. Il y a donc lieu de s'inquiéter si la meilleure candidate pour un poste n'est autre que l'épouse d'un professeur à la même institution

Gaits and Their Development in the Infraorder Pecora

The gaits of twenty-eight species of the Infraorder Pecora are analyzed from motion picture sequences comprising over 45,000 frames. For each gait the percentage time spent on the various supporting legs during each stride and the order in which the combinations of supporting legs were used are tabulated. When possible the times for the strides are calculated. The walk patterns of each of the four families studied are shown to be statistically distinctive. Within each family, those members that live where the vegetation is so dense that they must rely on hearing to warn them of danger use a more stable walk than those species that inhabit open grasslands. A stable walk is that in which diagonal legs are used in preference to lateral legs and three or four supporting legs are used rather than two. With a more stable walk, a species is able to pause quickly and to flee instantly if danger threatens. The data for these species suggest that the antelopes, giraffids and pronghorns evolved in an open environment while the cervids, including the caribou, evolved in a woodland habitat. The variability in the walking strides of members of these species is assessed for the first time. The walk pattern varies with the nature of the terrain and with the speed at which the walk is executed. It also depends upon the age of an individual of a species and on the weight of its antlers or horns. A trotting gait is shown to be the predominant one of the constantly moving caribou. This species has evolved anatomically in ways that ensure an effective trot. The preferred fast gait of several other species is found to be a trot rather than a gallop, owing to their large size, their wooded environment, the swampy nature of the ground underfoot or their heavy antlers or horns. The type of gallop of the Pecoran species is shown to be closely related to their environment and to their anatomy. Light Pecoran species use both flexed and extended suspensions in their fast gallops. The white-tail and the mule deer alone use the extended suspension primarily, since it is in this phase of their gallop that they leap over the bushes and logs that occur throughout their brush environment. Heavy Pecoran species do not use extended suspensions, nor generally do those animals with backs sloping downward posteriorly to relatively short hind legs. A symmetrical bound is shown to be used by both cervids and antelopes either to navigate steep and rough slopes or to increase the field of vision. The times taken for walking, trotting and galloping strides are shown to be longer in larger animals. The reason for this is discussed in terms of the leg considered as a pendulum

Levels of Citation of Nonhuman Animal Studies Conducted at a Canadian Research Hospital

The publication of scientific articles that receive few or no citations raises questions of the appropriate use of resources as well as ethics. In the case of animal research, the ethics issue extends beyond human patients to nonhuman animals, as the research subjects them to pain and, typically, to death. This study is a citation analysis of animal research conducted at Toronto\u27s Hospital for Sick Children (HSC). Of the 594 publications (1990 to 1995) on animal research by affiliates of HSC, 29% received Iower than 10 citations in a 10-year period. We compare the research history of 13 best and 13 worst HSC scientists. Worst researchers continue to do infrequently cited research. Recommendations indicate how institutions and researchers can become more effective and accountable