Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier: The Battle for First Amendment Freedom

The Spectrum, the student newspaper of Hazelwood East High School, St. Louis, Missouri, was censored on May 13, 1983, by Principal Robert Reynolds. Reynolds deemed two articles unsuitable for the younger students, especially fourteen year old freshmen: one an article describing the experiences of three teenage pregnant students at Hazelwood East, which did not in Reynolds\u27 view sufficiently disguise the identity of the three students; and a second article, which identified by name (later deleted pre-publication) students who had made derogatory remarks concerning their parents\u27 divorce and alcohol problems. The staff of the Spectrum was not apprised of the deletion of the two pages until the printed copies were delivered to Hazelwood East for distribution. Spectrum staff members Cathy Kublmeier, Leann Tippett and Leslie Smart, filed suit in Federal District Court alleging their First Amendment rights had been violated. After a trial in 1985, the court denied an injunction, stating no First Amendment violation had occurred. An appeal was filed and a second trial was held in the Eighth Circuit Court, where the decision was overturned in favor of the students. The court that ruled the Spectn.m1 was a public forum and was intended to be operated as a conduit for student expression. Hazelwood School District on appeal to the Supreme Court won a decision in 1988. The ruling stated that the Spectn1m was part of the curriculum and regular classroom activity and therefore, not a public form. The Hazelwood decision was a serious set back for First Amendment freedom of high school journalists in America. Through research of literature and interviews with former Hazelwood East High School principal, Robert Reynolds, and former student, Cathy Kuhlmeier-Collins, the study provides an in depth analysis of the events and their impact to the present day. The legal and journalistic repercussions of the Hazelwood decision are further explained through extensive interviews with attorney and executive director of The Student Press Law Center, Mark Goodman, who also discusses the important role his organization plays in educating student journalists and the results of the Hazelwood decision and the effect on the Spectrum are discussed in interviews with present day Hazelwood East High School journalism advisor, Cheryl Stoller, and student and contributing editor, John Combest. The need to reaffirm the First Amendment rights curtailed by the Hazelwood decision is explored in an interview with Missouri State Representative Joan Bray, who is sponsoring a law in the Missouri legislature that would protect student journalists

Community assembly of the native C. elegans microbiome is influenced by time, substrate and individual bacterial taxa

Summary Microbiome communities are complex assemblages of bacteria. The dissection of their assembly dynamics is challenging because it requires repeated sampling of both host and source communities. We used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model to study these dynamics. We characterized microbiome variation from natural worm populations and their substrates for two consecutive years using 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. We found conservation in microbiome composition across time at the genus, but not amplicon sequencing variant (ASV) level. Only three ASVs were consistently present across worm samples (Comamonas ASV10859, Pseudomonas ASV7162 and Cellvibrio ASV9073). ASVs were more diverse in worms from different rather than the same substrates, indicating an influence of the source community on microbiome assembly. Surprisingly, almost 50% of worm-associated ASVs were absent in corresponding substrates, potentially due to environmental filtering. Ecological network analysis revealed strong effects of bacteria–bacteria interactions on community composition: While a dominant Erwinia strain correlated with decreased alpha-diversity, predatory bacteria of the Bdellovibrio and like organisms associated with increased alpha-diversity. High alpha-diversity was further linked to high worm population growth, especially on species-poor substrates. Our results highlight that microbiomes are individually shaped and sensitive to dramatic community shifts in response to particular competitive species

On the Potential for Saturated Buffers in Northwest Ohio to Remediate Nutrients from Agricultural Runoff

Nutrient loading from nonpoint source runoff in the Midwest has emerged as one of the largest threats to water quality as the frequency of harmful algal blooms, hypoxic zones, and issues associated with human-resource interactions have risen abruptly over the past several decades. In this study, a saturated buffer ~500 m in length located in the western basin of the Lake Erie watershed was evaluated for its potential to reduce edge of field runoff and nutrient loading. Saturated buffers reduce runoff by routing subsurface tile drainage water into the riparian zone, providing an opportunity for drainage volume as well as nutrient reduction of runoff waters. Over a 12-month study period, controlled drainage was used to redirect nearly 25% of the total tile flow into the riparian zone from a subwatershed in corn/soybean rotation with near complete reductions of dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus from tile inflows averaging 4.7 and 0.08 mg/L, respectively, as well as total reduction of suspended sediments (average 10.4 mg/L). This study provides additional evidence that riparian areas are an important part of nutrient reduction strategies as they can act as both controlled drainage points by raising water tables in fields as well as nutrient sinks which couple to help mitigate nutrient runoff in the region

Changes in Water Quality of Grand Lake St. Marys Watershed Following Implementation of a Distressed Watershed Rules Package

Grand Lake St. Marys watershed has drawn attention over the past decade as water quality issues resulting from nutrient loading have come to the forefront of public opinion, political concern, and scientific study. The objective of this study was to assess long-term changes in water quality (nutrient and sediment concentrations) following the distressed watershed rules package instituted in 2011. Since that time, a variety of rules (e.g., winter manure ban) and best management practices (cover crops, manure storage or transfers, buffers, etc.) have been implemented. We used a general linear model to assess variation in total suspended solids, particulate phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), nitrate N, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen concentrations from daily Chickasaw Creek (drains ∼25% of watershed) samples spanning 2008 to 2016. Parameters were related to flow (higher values during high flows), timing (lower values during winter months), and the implementation of the distressed watershed rules package (lower values following implementation). Overall, reductions following the distressed designation for all parameters ranged from 5 to 35% during medium and high flow periods (with exception of SRP). Reductions were even more pronounced during winter months covered by the manure ban, where all parameters (including SRP) exhibited decreases at medium and high flows between 20 and 60%. While the reductions seen in this study are significant, concentrations are still highly elevated and continue to be a problem. We are optimistic that this study will serve to inform future management in the region and elsewhere

Nuclear spin coherence in a quantum wire

We have observed millisecond-long coherent evolution of nuclear spins in a quantum wire at 1.2 K. Local, all-electrical manipulation of nuclear spins is achieved by dynamic nuclear polarization in the breakdown regime of the Integer Quantum Hall Effect combined with pulsed Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. The excitation thresholds for the breakdown are significantly smaller than what would be expected for our sample and the direction of the nuclear polarization can be controlled by the voltage bias. As a four-level spin system, the device is equivalent to two qubits.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection as Presenting Feature of Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

A spontaneous coronary artery dissection as the sole presenting feature of vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is an uncommon finding. We present a 33-year-old woman with sudden onset chest pain caused by a spontaneous coronary artery dissection. Genetic testing revealed vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome as the underlying cause. Specifically, we show the value of genetic testing, which in some patients may be the only way of establishing a diagnosis