Evaluating Rawls: Equality in the Family

This paper examines the latest developments in feminist critiques of the seminal Theory of Justice, written by John Rawls, the late preeminent American moral philosopher. Rawls is recognized as one of the most influential moral political philosophers of the twentieth century and is increasingly relevant because of his discussions on pluralist societies. With the current diverging of liberal, conservative and libertarian philosophies among Americans, as well as the fragmentation of parties to accommodate an increasingly diverse public, a clear philosophy and understanding of liberal theory is necessary for its future in American politics. The current pressure to address the needs of oppressed groups such as women and sexual minorities has created a philosophical tipping point. What is to be considered equality, how the government should involve itself, and how this will be done feasibly and throughout generations need answers defined on all sides of the discussion. Gender and sexual inequality, when considering what should be done, is one of the most significant challenges because of its effect on the traditional family, on centuries of preconceived notions of gender and sexuality, and the heavy commitment it may take to extinguish. To analyze the social contract approach and the theory of justice as fairness, I will examine and then follow Rawls’ own method of the original position to determine in which manner the family should be situated within society to result in the best accordance to the two principles. Furthermore, the arguments on the reasonability of religion in a political conception will be used to promote a fair and stable society. The overall aim is to develop a Rawlsian solution to gender equality in society that is both fair and sustainable in a pluralistic society. Focusing on the role of the family in society, I argue that Rawls’ fundamental concept of justice – “justice as fairness” – does not develop a clear and convincing stance on how gender equality will be produced (and reproduced) in a pluralistic society. Debate has risen between feminist and liberal philosophers in distinguishing the relationship between Rawls’ two principles of justice and their intervention in family hierarchy, duties, and responsibilities. The two principles are known as: First Principle: Each person has the same indefeasible claim to a fully adequate scheme of equal basic liberties, which scheme is compatible with the same scheme of liberties for all; Second Principle: Social and economic inequalities are to satisfy two conditions: They are to be attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity; They are to be to the greatest benefit of the least-advantaged members of society (the difference principle). (JF, 42-43) The distinction between an indirect and direct interaction between principles of justice and the basic structures of society (family being one of them) will shape the way the political arena promotes equality. This is the case, provided that the procedure in which Rawls utilizes is fair in itself, which has come into contention among feminist thinkers. Once the family is situated in the original position, the feasibility of the theory will be discussed within the parameters of a property-owning democracy as well as, more specifically, a deliberative democracy. This solution should bring a reflective justification for the principles abilities to deal with injustices outlined by feminists

The promise and perils of asynchronous learning: how faculty, students, and administrators can collaboratively increase retention and satisfaction in the online classroom

This paper explores some of the major challenges faced by faculty, students, administrators, and support staff in retaining online students, and doing so while earning high marks for the quality of each course. A number of strategies are explored beginning with the need to carefully consider effective mixes of technology, structure, and content in the classroom environment. With an emphasis on social presence and careful consideration of how students use technology to access the class learning management system (LMS), the paper offers a variety of options to build classroom spaces that foster a sense of community and collaboration. Thereafter the paper addresses best practices to turn well‐ considered design elements into a classroom experience which addresses issues related to retention, achieving learning outcomes, and ensuring students and faculty invest in the learning process from day one. By addressing concerns shared by the major actors in the field of online education, realistic best practices can be identified to help ensure online learning achieves, if not exceeds, retention and satisfaction levels seen from brick‐and‐mortar classrooms

Contingencies of Self-Worth and Social-Networking-Site Behavior

Social-networking sites like Facebook enable people to share a range of personal information with expansive groups of "friends." With the growing popularity of media sharing online, many questions remain regarding antecedent conditions for this behavior. Contingencies of self-worth afford a more nuanced approach to variable traits that affect self-esteem, and may help explain online behavior. A total of 311 participants completed an online survey measuring such contingencies and typical behaviors on Facebook. First, exploratory factor analyses revealed an underlying structure to the seven dimensions of self-worth. Public-based contingencies explained online photo sharing (beta = 0.158, p < 0.01), while private-based contingencies demonstrated a negative relationship with time online (beta = -0.186, p < 0.001). Finally, the appearance contingency for self-worth had the strongest relationship with the intensity of online photo sharing (beta = 0.242), although no relationship was evident for time spent managing profiles.Radio-Television-Fil

High-temperature thermal storage systems for advanced solar receivers materials selections

Advanced space power systems that use solar energy and Brayton or Stirling heat engines require thermal energy storage (TES) systems to operate continuously through periods of shade. The receiver storage units, key elements in both Brayton and Stirling systems, are designed to use the latent heat of fusion of phase-change materials (PCMs). The power systems under current consideration for near-future National Aeronautics and Space Administration space missions require working fluid temperatures in the 1100 to 1400 K range. The PCMs under current investigation that gave liquid temperatures within this range are the fluoride family of salts. However, these salts have low thermal conductivity, which causes large temperature gradients in the storage systems. Improvements can be obtained, however, with the use of thermal conductivity enhancements or metallic PCMs. In fact, if suitable containment materials can be found, the use of metallic PCMs would virtually eliminate the orbit associated temperature variations in TES systems. The high thermal conductivity and generally low volume change on melting of germanium and alloys based on silicon make them attractive for storage of thermal energy in space power systems. An approach to solving the containment problem, involving both chemical and physical compatibility, preparation of NiSi/NiSi2, and initial results for containment of germanium and NiSi/NiSi2, are presented

Safer Well Water: Exploring Environmental Screening Efforts For Family Child Care Homes

Background Children are widely recognized as particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of environmental contaminants. As such, the physical environment in which they live, play, and breathe can have a significant impact on their health and development throughout their life. In 2007, Connecticut\u27s Department of Public Health established the Screening Assessment for Environmental Risk (SAFER) program as a proactive, non-regulatory approach to screening child care centers in the state. Several screening methods are implemented in this voluntary process, including the identification of any hazardous waste sites within 1/8 of a mile of a proposed child care site. While successful, the SAFER program is only implemented for licensed child care centers and group child homes, not family child care homes. This is largely because residential sites are assumed to pose a lesser risk than providers located in industrial or non-residential spaces. However, SAFER has received referrals concerning environmental hazards in proximity to family child care homes, particularly in relation to well water. In this study, a proximity analysis is performed for family child care homes and two potential sources of well water contamination in five Middlesex County towns. These findings will be used to inform whether the SAFER program should consider efforts to improve well water testing among family child care homes in Connecticut. Methods Five towns in Middlesex County, Connecticut were selected for analysis. A total of 55 addresses of active family child care home licenses in Middlefield, Middletown, Portland, Cromwell, East Hampton were geocoded in ArcGIS. Pending and inactive family child care home licenses were excluded. Addresses for open and controlled Significant Environmental Hazard (SEH) Sites identified by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) were geocoded in the towns of interest as well as their bordering towns, resulting in a total 13 town SEH sites included in the analysis. A buffer and near analysis were used to identify family child care sites within 1/8 and 1/4 of a mile of an SEH site, as well as find the average distance from family child care homes to the closest SEH site. The University of Connecticut’s Agricultural Land Use maps were used to identify agricultural land in the same aforementioned five towns of interest. Images of the land use maps were georeferenced in ArcGIS and a buffer analysis was used to identify homes within 1/8 and 1/4 of a mile of current and former agricultural land. Results Of the 55 family child care homes included in the analysis, 24 (44%) were within 1/8 a mile and 40 (72%) were within 1/4 a mile of former agricultural land. For current land use, 10 (18%) of family child care sites were within 1/8 a mile and 28 (39%) were within 1/4 a mile of agricultural land. There were 15 family child care homes (27%) not within the 1/4 mile radius of current or former agricultural land. A total of 33 open and controlled Significant Environmental Hazard are located in the 13 towns studied. Four of these sites are classified as open and 29 are controlled. Among the 55 family child care sites included in the analysis, 2 were located within 1/4 a mile (4%), and 1 site was located within 1/8 a mile of an open or controlled SEH site (2%). Discussion The proximity of family child care homes to agricultural land in this rural region suggest a potential need for increased well water testing among family child care homes. SAFER may consider implementing a similar non-regulatory approach they have used previously to increase the recommended annual testing among family child care homes relying on well water. There are important limitations to consider with these findings. The UConn CLEAR map used for current agricultural use is based on 2006 data. Furthermore, the farm activity or history of chemical use among the mapped agricultural in this study is not known. Future studies may consider identifying proximity to farms with current pesticide licenses or areas with known former pesticide use, especially in the case of banned pesticides. This analysis also relied on geocoding addresses of homes as well as the significant environmental hazard sites reported by DEEP. While this provides insight on location, it is an important limitation as exact sites of the home, well, and contamination site may vary significantly on property lines. DEEP maintains an ArcGIS map with more exact longitude and latitude locations of SEH sites, which should be used for future SAFER screening. Lastly, it must be reiterated that proximity to these sites does not imply exposure. Rather, these findings demonstrate that the existing mapping methods used for child care center licenses may be useful for determining a need for future environmental screening among family child care homes

Foreign Direct Investment in a Developing Economy : The Malaysian Perspective

The objective of the study is to investigate and analyze the trend pattern, determinants and impact of FDI in Malaysia vis-a-vis in ASEAN settings over the period of 1985 to 1999. The theoretical underpinning of the FDI role in Malaysia is explored as background of the study. The empirical study was carried out by linear regression model (OLR) and tested with ANOVA method. Our results show an increasing trend of public and private investment in the country over the years. However, the growth of private investment in the flow of FDI has out paced the rise inpublic investment, 1992 onwards. The macroeconomic variables such as GDP, GNI, employment and exports are found to be positively influenced by the growth of FDI in Malaysia. FDI is an engine of growth for the Malaysian economy. For sustained flow of FDI, we suggest the policy-makers should maintain price stability and macroeconomic balance with effective policy measures combined with good governance and accelarating growth rate of the economy