Music in Haredi Jewish Life: Liquid Modernity and the Negotiation of Boundaries in Greater New York

In this dissertation I seek to understand tensions regarding boundary maintenance, music, and cultural continuity among the contemporary Haredi (“Ultra-Orthodox”) Jewish community of Greater New York in the context of sociologist Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity. While Bauman suggests that modernity has melted familiar institutions and created an unstable and rapidly shifting world, I argue that for Haredim, the non-liberal religious community and its cultural productions solidify social bonds. While many Haredi Jews strive to continue the musical practices of pre-WWII Europe, some Haredi musicians push or disregard the boundaries of accepted practice by experimenting with Western popular music to varying degrees. This has led to vibrant debate that often invokes rhetoric of spiritual health and danger. This dissertation examines four spheres of music making in order to better understand how these negotiations play out in contemporary cosmopolitan environments. First, I examine Hasidic niggunim, with a focus on composer Ben Zion Shenker and the Modzitz Hasidic dynasty in order to show the manner in which they are believed to encapsulate an idyllic Haredi life. Second, I study tensions over traditionalism and assimilation in the context of Haredi popular music, particularly a watershed moment involving Hasidic singer, Lipa Schmeltzer. In this chapter I offer an example of music as a site of public reasoning in which the inherently pluralistic Haredi community continually negotiates its identity. Third, I look to Haredi boys choirs, arguing that they stage a secure future through the display of cultural continuity in the next generation of Haredi Jews. Finally, I examine music of the “Haredi periphery.” Individuals in this community have one foot in the Haredi world and the other in the larger host culture, a negotiation that they believe ultimately enhances their religiosity. Through examining these four domains of music making, I demonstrate that Haredim are adept at negotiating boundaries and that their cultural productions help them to reinforce social bonds within their community

Four-year Growth Results from 16 Year Old Intensively Managed Low Density Loblolly Pine Plantations

In 1994 eighty four permanent research plots were established in two twelve year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations in East Texas. Plots differed in relation to: soil-site type, density of trees per acre, fertilization treatments, and competing vegetation control. Three levels of thinning treatments reduced the basal areas to 36,60, and 84 square feet of basal area (approximately 100,200, and 300 stems, respectively) per acre. All residual trees were pruned to a height of 25 feet. Plots were re-measured in 1995, 1996, and 1998. Significant differences in diameter and height growth rates were detected in 1996 and 1998. Average diameter growth rates from 1995 to 1998 ranged from 0.64 to 0.31 inches per year depending on density class and treatment type

Financial Analysis of Pruning Combined with Low Density Management of Southern Yellow Pine in East Texas: An Assessment

Time study was conducted on pruning of research plots in a IZyear-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantation thinned to 58 square feet basal area (190 trees) per acre. Pruning times with labor and equipment costs were used to determine per acre and per tree pruning costs. Pruning costs were used to find values necessary to break-even on a pruning investment. Soil expectation value (SEV) calculations were used to compare profitability of management utilizing heavy thinning with pruning to traditional management regimes. Calculations were performed using a current hourly wage of $8.00, stumpage price of$400.00, per thousand board feet (MBF) and real interest rates of 0.13,2.78,7.00, and 10.00 percent. Per acre combined labor and equipment cost was $116.07. Cost per tree to prune to a height of 25 feet was$0.61. Break-even values were found to range from $118.82 to$645.34 per acre depending on interest rate. Profit increase by utilizing low density management combined with pruning was found to range from $491.43 to$88,093.04 per acre over traditional management for a perpetual series of full rotations

Initial Investigation of Height-Diameter Relationships of Dominant Trees in the mixed Hardwood Bottomland Forests of East Texas

Three to five dominant trees from each of 445 ten-factor variable radius inventory points were utilized to evaluate the height- diameter relationships of 13 species or genera found on bottomland hardwood sites throughout east Texas. Regression analysis was performed using the linear model such that height = (30 + (31 x (d.b.h.). The species were placed into six groups: (1) pines (Pinus taeda and P. enchinata) ; (2) water oak/willow oak/white oak/swamp chestnut oak (Quercus nigra)/(Q. phe//os)/(Q. alba)/(Q. michauxi1) ; (3) blackgum/laurel oak/overcup oak (Nyssa sylvatica)/(Q. laurifolia)/(Q. lyrata); (4) ash/maple (Fraxinus spp.)/(Acerspp.); (5) hickories (Carya spp.), and (6) elms (Ulmus spp.), or were analyzed as individual species: (7) cherrybark oak (Q. pagoda) and (8) sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) based on similar intercepts and slopes of the regression lines. The coefficients of the model were estimated and residual analysis conducted for each species group

The Spitzer Local Volume Legacy: Survey Description and Infrared Photometry

The survey description and the near-, mid-, and far-infrared flux properties are presented for the 258 galaxies in the Local Volume Legacy (LVL). LVL is a Spitzer Space Telescope legacy program that surveys the local universe out to 11 Mpc, built upon a foundation of ultraviolet, H-alpha, and HST imaging from 11HUGS (11 Mpc H-alpha and Ultraviolet Galaxy Survey) and ANGST (ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury). LVL covers an unbiased, representative, and statistically robust sample of nearby star-forming galaxies, exploiting the highest extragalactic spatial resolution achievable with Spitzer. As a result of its approximately volume-limited nature, LVL augments previous Spitzer observations of present-day galaxies with improved sampling of the low-luminosity galaxy population. The collection of LVL galaxies shows a large spread in mid-infrared colors, likely due to the conspicuous deficiency of 8um PAH emission from low-metallicity, low-luminosity galaxies. Conversely, the far-infrared emission tightly tracks the total infrared emission, with a dispersion in their flux ratio of only 0.1 dex. In terms of the relation between infrared-to-ultraviolet ratio and ultraviolet spectral slope, the LVL sample shows redder colors and/or lower infrared-to-ultraviolet ratios than starburst galaxies, suggesting that reprocessing by dust is less important in the lower mass systems that dominate the LVL sample. Comparisons with theoretical models suggest that the amplitude of deviations from the relation found for starburst galaxies correlates with the age of the stellar populations that dominate the ultraviolet/optical luminosities.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; Figures 1,8,9 provided as jpeg

Stand Structure and Species Composition in Bottomland Hardwood Forests of East Texas

Bottomland hardwood forests, growing on the flood plains of rivers and streams, comprise about 14 percent (1.6 million acres) of the total commercial forest land in East Texas. These stands represent high values for a variety of forest uses such as timber production and wildlife habitat. However, information on these forests is not as complete as that of the southern U.S. For this study, data from 445 ten-factor variable radius inventory points were used to characterize stand structure, species composition and the general condition of bottomland hardwood forest throughout East Texas. The importance of this information and its impact on management practices is discussed

Spitzer 70~μ\mum Emission as a SFR Indicator for Sub--Galactic Regions

We use Spitzer 24 $\mu$m, 70 $\mu$m and ground based H$\alpha$ data for a sample of 40 SINGS galaxies to establish a star formation rate (SFR) indicator using 70 $\mu$m emission for sub--galactic ($\sim0.05-2\ \rm{kpc}$) line-emitting regions and to investigate limits in application. A linear correlation between 70 $\mu$m and SFR is found and a star formation indicator SFR(70) is proposed for line-emitting sub-galactic regions as $\rm \Sigma(SFR)\ ({M_{\odot}\cdot yr^{-1}\cdot kpc^{-2}})=9.4\times10^{-44}\ \Sigma(70)\ \rm{(ergs\cdot s^{-1}\cdot kpc^{-2})}$, for regions with$12+\rm{log(O/H)}\gtrsim8.4$and$\rm \Sigma(SFR)\gtrsim10^{-3}\ (M_{\odot}\cdot yr^{-1}\cdot kpc^{-2})$, with a 1-$\sigma$dispersion around the calibration of$\sim0.16$dex. We also discuss the influence of metallicity on the scatter of the data. Comparing with the SFR indicator at 70$\mu$m for integrated light from galaxies, we find that there is$\sim40%$excess 70$\mu$m emission in galaxies, which can be attributed to stellar populations not involved in the current star formation activity.Comment: 36 pages, 1 table, 18 figures, accepted by Ap

Modeling Dust and Starlight in Galaxies Observed by Spitzer and Herschel: NGC 628 and NGC 6946

We characterize the dust in NGC628 and NGC6946, two nearby spiral galaxies in the KINGFISH sample. With data from 3.6um to 500um, dust models are strongly constrained. Using the Draine & Li (2007) dust model, (amorphous silicate and carbonaceous grains), for each pixel in each galaxy we estimate (1) dust mass surface density, (2) dust mass fraction contributed by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)s, (3) distribution of starlight intensities heating the dust, (4) total infrared (IR) luminosity emitted by the dust, and (5) IR luminosity originating in regions with high starlight intensity. We obtain maps for the dust properties, which trace the spiral structure of the galaxies. The dust models successfully reproduce the observed global and resolved spectral energy distributions (SEDs). The overall dust/H mass ratio is estimated to be 0.0082+/-0.0017 for NGC628, and 0.0063+/-0.0009 for NGC6946, consistent with what is expected for galaxies of near-solar metallicity. Our derived dust masses are larger (by up to a factor 3) than estimates based on single-temperature modified blackbody fits. We show that the SED fits are significantly improved if the starlight intensity distribution includes a (single intensity) "delta function" component. We find no evidence for significant masses of cold dust T<12K. Discrepancies between PACS and MIPS photometry in both low and high surface brightness areas result in large uncertainties when the modeling is done at PACS resolutions, in which case SPIRE, MIPS70 and MIPS160 data cannot be used. We recommend against attempting to model dust at the angular resolution of PACS.Comment: To be published in Apj, September 2012. See the full version at http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~ganiano/Papers

Evaluating an Alleged Mimic of the Monarch Butterfly: \u3ci\u3eNeophasia\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) Butterflies are Palatable to Avian Predators

Some taxa have adopted the strategy of mimicry to protect themselves from predation. Butterflies are some of the best representatives used to study mimicry, with the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) a well-known model. We are the first to empirically investigate a proposed mimic of the monarch butterfly: Neophasia terlooii, the Mexican pine white butterfly (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). We used captive birds to assess the palatability of N. terlooii and its sister species, N. menapia, to determine the mimicry category that would best fit this system. The birds readily consumed both species of Neophasia and a palatable control species but refused to eat unpalatable butterflies such as D. plexippus and Heliconius charithonia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Given some evidence for mild unpalatability of Neophasia, we discuss the results considering modifications to classic mimicry theory, i.e., a palatability-based continuum between Batesian and Müllerian mimicry, with a quasi-Batesian intermediate. Understanding the ecology of Neophasia in light of contemporary and historical sympatry with D. plexippus could shed light on the biogeography of, evolution of, and predation pressure on the monarch butterfly, whose migration event has become a conservation priority