'PODEMOS' : de las calles al ‘asalto al cielo’

ResPublica : Revista Lusófona de Ciência Política, Segurança e Relações InternacionaisLa irrupción de Podemos en el escenario político nacional español ha despertado gran interés tanto dentro como fuera del país. El objetivo de este artículo es reflexionar sobre el nacimiento de Podemos desde una perspectiva múltiple y multidisciplinar: en el texto se relata su génesis y sus primeros pasos; se analiza su organización interna y la supuesta democracia directa; se pondrá el acento en su forma de comunicar, el recurso a medios tradicionales y medios digitales. Finalmente se ofrecerán una serie de breves reflexiones sobre el fenómeno “Podemos”.The irruption of Podemos in the Spanish national political scene has awakened great interest inside and outside the country. The aim of this article is to reflect on the birth of Podemos from a multiple and multidisciplinary perspective. The text relates its genesis and its first steps; it discusses its internal organization and the supposed direct democracy; it analyzes its way of communicating, the use of traditional and digital media. Finally, there are a series of brief reflections on the “Podemos” phenomenon

Success of Black and White Coaches in the NFL

Black and white coaches in the NFL have been compared since the Rooney Rule was implemented in 2001. Between the years of 1990-2002, it was demonstrated that black coaches in the NFL were more successful than white coaches looking at regular season winning record. Winning record can be attributed to other factors than just coaching. Factors such as leadership and motivational characteristics of a certain coach have an impact on how successful coaches are in the NFL. Looking at post game quotes by head coaches and finding out their frequency helps us better understand the relationship between motivation/leadership styles and their effects on players. The results from the study explained that both black and white coaches have a low ego oriented leadership style that helps motivate their players and leads to the coaches’ success on the field

Berlusconi y el deporte como estrategia de comunicación política

Sport and football were instrumental in the political strategy that allowed Silvio Berlusconi to access the Presidency of the Italian Government. Football with his media power became a useful platform for his electoral purposes. The acquisition of a popular and historic team represented a good intuition (now copied by many Arab sheikhs), a way to gain prestige and become known to the whole country, operation conducted with the cooperation of television channels of tycoon’s property. As well, the prominence of the sport increased, attending a constant “futbolarizatión” of politics and communication in general.El deporte y el fútbol resultaron fundamentales dentro de la estrategia política que permitió a Silvio Berlusconi acceder a la Presidencia del Gobierno italiano. El fútbol con su poder mediático se convirtió en una plataforma útil por sus finalidades electorales. La compra de un popular e histórico equipo supuso una buena intuición (hoy copiada por muchos jeques árabes), una manera para obtener prestigio y darse a conocer al país entero, operación conducida con la colaboración de los canales de televisión pertenecientes al magnate. Asimismo, creció el protagonismo del deporte, asistiendo a una constante “futbolarización” de la política y de la comunicación en general

Four Dimensions of Leadership in the Problem-Solving of Education Deans

This study links personal attributes of deans of schools and colleges of education to the problem solving contexts in which they make decisions that affect the programs they serve. We describe the mix of intellect, emotion, social acumen, and moral attributes that deans draw upon when they respond to vignettes that capture the multifaceted nature of problem solving in their positions. This study is a continuation of research that attempts to identify characteristics of deans of education who have survived in their role. This is an important issue, as schools and colleges report difficulty in identifying deans who can meet their needs (Anderson, 1999) and as the average tenure of education deans is only 4.5 years (Robbins & Schmitt, 1994)

Demographics of Ohio's River Otter Population

Historically, river otters (Lontra canadensis) were abundant in aquatic systems throughout the country. By the 1830’s, river otter numbers had been drastically reduced due to unregulated trapping and habitat destruction. By 1977, otters had been reduced to 75% of their historical range and completely eradicated from several states, including Ohio. Improved conditions in potential otter habitat, along with concern over the severe decline of this species led many states to develop plans to restore otter populations. From 1986-1993, Ohio implemented its own reintroduction plan in which 123 river otters were released at four locations in Eastern Ohio. Since 1993, the Ohio Division of Wildlife has used various methods to monitor the otter population and has documented otter presence in 67 of Ohio’s 88 counties. This perceived abundance of river otters led management authorities to implement a harvest as a way of controlling population growth and mitigating conflicts. However, more information on Ohio’s river otter population is needed not only to ensure the continued success of the reintroduction program, but also because river otters are listed as an Appendix II species by CITES. The goal of this research was to use carcass data including sex, age and reproductive rates from three harvest seasons (2005-2008) to determine the age distribution and sex ratio of the otter population. The data was used to create a life table and estimate the population growth rate. The observed age structure of harvested otters was also compared to that predicted by a population model created in Missouri to project the growth of an otter population following reintroduction. From 2005-2008, data was collected from 468 otters. The sex ratio did not differ significantly from a population with a 50:50 male to female ratio. The age distribution showed a higher proportion of younger animals which is consistent with a growing population. The percentages of females exhibiting reproductive activity by age class were 6.4% pups, 46% yearlings, 57% 2-year-olds and 71% of adults. Litter sizes averaged 3.19 young per parous female (n=57). Population growth as determined by a life table was R0=1.54, which also indicates a growing population. Comparing the observed proportions of pups, yearlings and adults from each year and the expected proportions predicted by the Missouri Model resulted in similar percentages. These results indicate a stable age distribution and constant growth rate. We concluded that a limited harvest does not seem to be negatively impacting Ohio’s otter population.No embarg

Culture Wars in Education: Whiteness, APUSH, and the Pursuit of Property

This work examines an artifact of K-12 educational discourse within which structural and cultural aspects of society merge to reinforce current social power dynamics, specifically whiteness as a norm within U.S society. My intention here is to add to the wealth of literature aimed at decentering whiteness by furthering our understanding of how, while often unnoticed, whiteness works to privilege by framing societal perceptions and ascribing meaning based on a person’s race (Crenshaw, 1997; Gilborn, 2005; Haviland, 2008; Leonardo, 2010; Nakayama & Krizek, 1995; Shome, 1996; Warren, 1999). To do so, I will perform a rhetorical analysis of a Jefferson County Board of Education meeting (Jeffco BOE) that took place in Golden, Colorado on October 2, 2014. My analysis will argue for that meeting as offering emblematic glimpse into how whiteness is protected vis–à–vis the competition for property. In the case of the Jeffco BOE meeting, I take knowledge and U.S. history as forms of material property. More specifically, knowledge is the perceived opportunity to better one’s position by earning college credits while still in high school, and history is a collection of narratives that emphasize or deemphasize crucial moments within the nation’s past. In Jefferson County (Jeffco) as in many states across the country, opportunities for students to earn college credits while still in high school come via their enrollment in an Advanced Placement U.S. history (APUSH) course. In such courses, students prepare to take the College Board APUSH exam. The College Board is the non-profit organization that designs the nation’s SAT and college-credit-earning AP program exams. A passing score on its APUSH exam would earn high school students college credits. Put another way, students could take the APUSH and test out of an entry-level U.S. history course required by an institution for higher education. With this in mind, I argue, it is useful to think of property on two interconnected levels. First, it is important to think of college credits, which of course hold monetary value, as property. Second, and perhaps more profoundly, it is crucial to think of the perceived right to own the guiding educational narrative of U.S. history itself, a narrative explicitly tied to what it means to be American and what it means to be patriotic, as property. And so, both college credits and history have value and with them, they bear the perception of ownership. In sections that follow, I will shed light on how these understandings of property are catalysts in an ongoing struggle, or culture war, between opposing moral visions for control of how the nations’ past is taught in K-12 history and social studies courses and subsequently how it is recalled by future generations (Hunter, 1991). My rhetorical analysis attempts to excavate the ways in which the rhetoric espoused at a Jeffco BOE meeting works to cloak whiteness even when it is the inclusiveness of the historical narratives of ‘Others’ that has prompted the initial debate. To explain how the meshing of property and patriotism clouds and subsumes whiteness as the norm in U.S K-12 educational discourse and to examine the educational benefits associated with white privilege that position it as an inherent asset capable of advantaging people in their pursuit of properties such as knowledge, I will utilize Derrick Bell’s theory of interestconvergence. Bell (2004) argues that historically whites concede gains to minorities if and only if whites themselves perceive a material benefit in doing so (p. 49). Before moving forward, I must note that, in this essay, it is not my intention to ignore issues related to class in U.S. society of which race has often been just a marker. Class will be included in the discussion in the “Context of the Artifact” section though perhaps too briefly for the tastes of some. For those who hold such a position, I offer this: my goal here is to put forth an argument that aims to understand how race remains and has consistently remained a marker of class throughout American society. K-12 educational discourses, I argue, provide a rich ground to do such exploration That said, I focus my lens on the underlying issues pertaining to race within the existing power structures of U.S. society, one of which involves the education of our nation’s youth. My perspective is in keeping with that of Gloria Ladson-Billings, former president of the American Educational Research Association, who wrote, “class- and genderbased explanations are not powerful enough to explain all of the difference (or variance) in school experience and performance. Although both class and gender can and do intersect race, as stand-alone variables they do not explain all of the educational achievement differences apparent between whites and students of color” (Ladson-Billings & Tate IV, 1995, p. 51). Context of the Artifact Every rhetorical situation contains a set of constraints made up of personas, events, objects, and relations which are parts of the situation because they have the power to constrain decision and action needed to modify the exigence. (Bitzer, 1992, p. 8) Whether, as the quote above suggests the exigence—the urgent problem addressed by speakers within a given rhetorical context—is resolved or not matters little within the scope of my overall argument, one that claims whiteness remains obscured even as rhetors attempt to resolve a perceived exigence (Bitzer, 1992, p. 5). Still, to fully appreciate a speaker’s persuasion, and whatever it may or may not deemphasize, it is important to first lay out a healthy understanding of the situation that “calls the discourse into existence” (Bitzer, 1992, p. 2). As Bitzer (1992) wisely suggests, it is often the situation that constructs the arena for rhetorical address (p. 2). In keeping with this mindset, this section is devoted to offering, at very least, a rudimentary understanding of “the context of meaning” within which the speeches delivered at a school board meeting in Golden, Colorado were located (Bitzer, 1992, p.2). That said, I fully admit that the context I present in this section only encapsulates a relatively abridged collection of the possible events that unfolded to bring about the rhetoric and narratives espoused at the meeting; however, my hope is that this section, which is dedicated specifically to events immediately influencing the persuasion enacted by those who spoke at the meeting during its public comment section will paint a full enough picture and provide a transparent enough window to support my arguments

The Impact of Evolutionary History and Nutrient Limitation on LTEE E. coli Strains

Increasing antibiotic resistance is an important issue that impacts health and wellness. In a long-term evolution experiment, it was found that Escherichia coli grown in the absence of antibiotics over multiple generations were less resistant than their ancestors. We conducted minimal inhibitory concentration tests with different antibiotics to test how evolutionary history and nutrient limitation affect antibiotic resistance. We found that evolutionary history does impact resistance but nutrient limitation does not