A System Appallingly out of Balance : Morgan v. State and the Rights of Defendants and Victims in Sexual Assault Prosecutions

In a series of three cases that culminate with Morgan v. State, Alaska\u27s courts established a unique protection for defendants in sexual assault cases. This protection, which allows such defendants to attack their victims in court with previous reports of sexual assault that did not result in prosecution, is not afforded to defendants in other cases and is based on a dubious general principle that the credibility of sexual assault victims has special relevance. The protection is problematic in several ways: it is grounded in erroneous stereotypes about the victims of sex crimes; it is detrimental to victims and the pursuit of truth; it is inconsistent with traditional rules of evidence; and it is unnecessary to protect the rights of defendants. For these reasons, this protection for defendants in sexual assault cases should be abrogated by legislative action as proposed herein

Representations of reductive normal algebraic monoids

The rational representation theory of a reductive normal algebraic monoid (with one-dimensional center) forms a highest weight category, in the sense of Cline, Parshall, and Scott. This is a fundamental fact about the representation theory of reductive normal algebraic monoids. We survey how this result was obtained, and treat some natural examples coming from classical groups.Comment: 10 pages. To appear in a volume of the Fields Communications Series: "Algebraic Monoids, Group Embeddings, and Algebraic Combinatorics," edited by Mahir Can, Zhenheng Li, Benjamin Steinberg, and Qiang Wan

Composable computation in discrete chemical reaction networks

We study the composability of discrete chemical reaction networks (CRNs) that stably compute (i.e., with probability 0 of error) integer-valued functions $f:\mathbb{N}^d\to\mathbb{N}$. We consider output-oblivious CRNs in which the output species is never a reactant (input) to any reaction. The class of output-oblivious CRNs is fundamental, appearing in earlier studies of CRN computation, because it is precisely the class of CRNs that can be composed by simply renaming the output of the upstream CRN to match the input of the downstream CRN. Our main theorem precisely characterizes the functions $f$ stably computable by output-oblivious CRNs with an initial leader. The key necessary condition is that for sufficiently large inputs, $f$ is the minimum of a finite number of nondecreasing quilt-affine functions. (An affine function is linear with a constant offset; a quilt-affine function is linear with a periodic offset)

Teacher Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth in the Era of Educator Effectiveness in Maine

Maine is one of many states that undertook reform to teacher supervision and evaluation in the wake of public attention (e.g., Waiting for Superman) and federal pressure (e.g., NCLB Flexibility Waivers). The Maine Legislature passed An Act to Ensure Effective Teaching and School Leadership (2012), shifting from local discretion to greater state influence on the functions of formative supervision and summative evaluation. As school districts created systems to meet the state’s mandates, they combined growth and employment functions and navigated persistent challenges described in the literature on evaluation and supervision. The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives from the field as to major local changes in teacher performance evaluation (PE) and professional growth (PG), the ways in which local PE & PG systems were or were not beginning to improve teacher effectiveness, and perceptions of factors contributing to or providing barriers to this improvement. This mixed-method, multi-site case study captured eight school districts as they piloted or implemented systems; the sites were purposefully selected to yield a rural and a non-rural site for each of the professional practice models frequently chosen in Maine. Teachers, evaluators, and supervisors were interviewed (20 total); 302 practitioners in the same roles contributed survey data. Data were analyzed through multi-cycle coding (Saldaña, 2016), descriptive statistics, and basic inferential statistics. Major changes were underway, including implementation of new and more detailed professional standards, rubrics, and processes for supervision and evaluation. Sites were striving to put professional growth in the forefront and were perceiving positive gains with the detailed standards and cultural efforts, but some intentions such as increasing formative feedback to teachers were not yet realized. New resources were rare and the implementation of sites’ aspirations exposed the scarcity of time for all involved, especially for evaluators (e.g., Principals). Participants largely found the student growth data evaluation mandate unhelpful. Overall in this piloting and early implementation stage participants were not yet seeing the intended increase in effectiveness, but promising practices emerged along with rural differences and the need to address the scarcity of time for evaluative accuracy and formative growth

Astrochemical confirmation of the rapid evolution of massive YSOs and explanation for the inferred ages of hot cores

Aims. To understand the roles of infall and protostellar evolution on the envelopes of massive young stellar objects (YSOs). Methods. The chemical evolution of gas and dust is traced, including infall and realistic source evolution. The temperatures are determined self-consistently. Both ad/desorption of ices using recent laboratory temperature-programmed-desorption measurements are included. Results. The observed water abundance jump near 100 K is reproduced by an evaporation front which moves outward as the luminosity increases. Ion-molecule reactions produce water below 100 K. The age of the source is constrained to t \~ 8 +/- 4 x 10^4 yrs since YSO formation. It is shown that the chemical age-dating of hot cores at ~ few x 10^3 - 10^4 yr and the disappearance of hot cores on a timescale of ~ 10^5 yr is a natural consequence of infall in a dynamic envelope and protostellar evolution. Dynamical structures of ~ 350AU such as disks should contain most of the complex second generation species. The assumed order of desorption kinetics does not affect these results.Comment: Accepted by A&A Letters; 4 pages, 5 figure

Self-Consciousness and Body Image Issues Among College Females

This study examined some of the procedures used in eating disorder research. Body size estimation procedures, in light of their similarity to procedures in social psychology, were used to create self-focus and self-consciousness conditions. If the procedures in the present study create self-consciousness effects, it is possible that the results of those studies have been affected by a heightened state of self-awareness. The present research also explored the relationships between self-consciousness, self-esteem, body esteem, body perception, and eating disorder proneness. The research was conducted with a nonclinical sample from a university population, controlling for age and body development factors. Baseline and experimental measures of objective self-awareness and body size perception were taken. The experimental conditions consisted of the presence of a) a VCR and mirror and b) an observer who was rating the subject. The third condition was a control setting that replicated the baseline setting. The sample was also tested at the posttest for self-esteem, body esteem, and eating disorder proneness. The results indicate that the subjects reported no significant changes in self-consciousness or body size estimates, suggesting that something besides the presence of equipment influences whether or not one feels selfconscious. This idea has been borne out in other research that implicates self-esteem as a major consideration in whether or not an individual feels self-conscious in certain situations (that is, that low self-esteem appears to increase one\u27s amenability to induce self-consciousness). Another primary factor is that self-consciousness cannot be induced when the individual is interested in the task. Subjects in the present study indicated that they found the tasks inherently interesting and forgot about the presence of equipment and observers once they began thinking about the questions posed to them. In the present research, selfesteem and body esteem were both found to be negatively related to self-consciousness, while eating disorder proneness was found to be positively related to selfconsciousness. The results are discussed in light of these connections, and suggestions for future research are provided

Letter from Dale E. Doty Regarding Response from Members of the Three Affiliated Tribes to Burdick\u27s Letter Attempting to Resolve Current Tribal Conflict, January 24, 1952

This letter dated January 24, 1952 from United States (US) Assistant Secretary of the Interior Dale E. Doty to US Representative Usher Burdick updates Burdick on the status of the tribal conflict that Burdick is attempting to help resolve. Doty reports that after receiving Burdick\u27s letter, tribal members Oscar Burr, Percy Rush, Rufus Stevenson, and Jim Blackdog (also refered to elsewhere as James Black Dog) had a meeting with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In that meeting, they were informed of how they may proceed with their complaint. Doty provides additional information regarding their options for hiring an attorney. See also: Letter from Representative Burdick to Oscar L. Chapman Enclosing a Letter to Members of the Three Affiliated Tribes Which Burdick Hopes Will Help Resolve Current Tribal Conflict, January 14, 1952 Resolution Passed by Three Affiliated Tribes Calling for the Ousting of Current Tribal Council and Immediate Special Election to Appoint New Council Sent from Black Dog to Oscar Burr for Circulation, February 8, 1952https://commons.und.edu/burdick-papers/1141/thumbnail.jp

The Effects of Electronic Commerce on the Traditional Shopping Center Lease

The Internet, in addition to its wealth of information, has introduced America to a new way to purchase goods. Along with this new way to shop comes the potential for conflict between the way the retail industry has done business in the past and this new technology. Traditional shopping center leases contain clauses which base the tenant\u27s rent on a percentage of the sales from that store. To ensure its profits, landlords require tenants not compete within a certain radius of the shopping center. With the birth of electronic commerce, customers are ordering their goods directly from retailers online and not entering malls, which, in turn, causes lower profits for landlords. Shopping center tenants who also sell online have the potential to breach their shopping center leases. Therefore, to protect themselves, tenants should draft lease language to address electronic commerce. Section I of this article will discuss the specifics of shopping center leases and explain how electronic commerce works. Section II will explain the problem and demonstrate how courts have addressed similar problems in the past. And, finally, Section III will propose two different solutions to the problem-a legal one, through drafting, and a technological one

Cultural Resources Survey of the Leander Rehabilitation Center, Williamson County, Texas

In August-September 1996, personnel from Prewitt and Associates, Inc., conducted a cultural resources survey of ca. 725 acres of the former Leander Rehabilitation Center. The project area lies adjacent to U.S. Highway 183 and FM 620 in southern Williamson County, Texas. The survey resulted in additional documentation of one previously recorded prehistoric archeological site (41 WM452), the identification and recording of four historic archeological sites (41WM892, 41WM893, 41WM896, and 41WM897), and reconnaissance-level documentation of 45 historic buildings and structures. Site 41WM452 is an extensive upland lithic scatter and lithic procurement site which lacks subsurface deposits, features, and datable materials. Site 41WM892 is a wood-chopper camp that contains a number of rock alignments and limited artifact deposits dating to the first decade of the twentieth century. Site 41WM893 is a remnant of a railroad spur used during the 1937-1941 construction of Marshall Ford Dam (now Mansfield Dam). Site 41WM896 contains a small number of features and sparse artifact deposits associated with the 1937-1945 Rhodes farmstead. Site 41WM897 is an isolated historic well with unknown associations. None of these archeological sites contains important information, and it is recommended that they be considered not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places or for designation as State Archeological Landmarks. The 45 buildings and structures, at 36 locations, are associated with the former State Dairy and Hog Farm. This farm was established in 1942, expanded after 1945, and reached its peak years of production as a hog farm between 1950 and the late 1960s, Created to serve the needs of the State Board of Control and the State Hospital, the facility is significant for its success in food production for eleemosynary institutions in Austin and throughout Texas, as well as for its role in the application of modern psychiatric treatment based on the therapeutic value of manual labor. Among the surveyed resources are dwellings, an office and warehouse building, a dormitory, a variety of agricultural buildings and structures, and infrastructural elements, all built between 1943 and 1955. Twenty-one of the 45 surveyed resources are recommended as being eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A and C as Contributing resources in a historic district and for designation as State Archeological Landmarks