Bennett, Breen, and the birdman of alcatraz: A case study of collaborative censorship between the production code administration and the federal bureau of prisons

In bringing to the screen the life of murderer Robert Stroud in Birdman of Alcatraz (United Artists, 1962), filmmakers encountered official obstruction from the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, James V. Bennett. Campaigning for the release of Stroud, Burt Lancaster retaliated by exposing Bennett’s efforts to censor the film as evidence of a personal vendetta against the prisoner. However, new archival research demonstrates how the Bureau had collaborated with Hollywood’s own censorship body, the Production Code Administration, for many years - and that Birdman was in fact the culmination of a decades-long struggle to control all films about Alcatraz

IN VITRO APPARENT RUMINAL DIGESTIBILITY OF DIETS CONTAINING CORN DISTILLERS GRAIN WITH DIFFERENT QUANTITIES OF CRUDE FAT

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF David Williams for the Master of Ruminant Nutrition degree in Animal Science, presented on December 12, 2016 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: IN VITRO APPARENT RUMINAL DIGESTIBILITY OF DIETS CONTAINING CORN DISTILLERS GRAIN WITH VARYING LEVELS OF CRUDE FAT MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Rebecca Atkinson Four dual-flow continuous fermenters were used in a Latin square design to determine the apparent ruminal digestibility and ruminal characteristics of diets containing dried distillers grains plus solubles (DDGS) at various levels of fat content. Fermenters were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: 1) 40% DDGS containing 4.82% fat content (40 LOW); 2) 40% DDGS plus corn oil to obtain 7.5% fat (40 MED); 3) 40% DDGS plus corn oil to obtain 10.5% fat (40 HIGH); or 4) 70% DDGS plus corn oil to obtain 7.5% fat (70 MED). Rumen fluid was collected at the beginning of each period from two ruminally cannulated Angus cows previously adapted to the 40LOW treatment. Each period consisted of 10 days with a seven day adaptation period followed by three days of sample collection. Calories per gram of diet increased as percent fat increased and calories per gram was greater at the 70% inclusion of DDGS compared to 40% inclusion of DDGS at all levels of fat content. However, level of fat in the diet did not influence (P ≥ 0.35) apparent ruminal digestibility of DM, NDF, ADF, CP or total calories. Similarly, inclusion rate of DDGS had no influence (P ≥ 0.35) on nutrient digestibility. Ammonia concentrations were greatest (P = 0.0002) for 70 MED compared to the other treatments. However, treatment had no impact (P ≥ 0.16) on volatile fatty acid production with the exception of propionate which increased (P =0.05) as the level of DDGS increased from 40 to 70% inclusion rate. This data would suggest that level of fat content of DDGS has no negative influence on apparent ruminal digestibility and select ruminal characteristics. From an economic perspective, higher fat DDGS should have a higher price differential, but lower fat DDGS can still be an effective protein and energy substitute

The Making of a Courtroom: Landlord-Tenant Trials in Philadelphia\u27s Municipal Court

This dissertation analyzes Philadelphia\u27s Landlord-Tenant Court (L-T Court) within organizational and policy contexts. It identifies the factors that influence the outcome of private landlord-tenant trials, describes people\u27s experience of the courtroom from multiple perspectives, and analyzes the Municipal Court\u27s intraorganizational and interorganizational dynamics that inform L-T Court\u27s behavior. Housing courts have been mandated to prevent the deterioration of existing housing stock by protecting landlords\u27 property rights and tenants\u27 rights to a habitable dwelling. Landlords have long had the right to receive rent and to hold tenants responsible for property damage; recent changes in landlord-tenant law have established tenants\u27 right to receive habitable, safe homes. It is only in the protection of both rights that these courts can help preserve affordable, adequate rental housing. This study employs mixed method, single-case study design that utilizes quantitative, case study, and ethnographic methodologies. The combined methods establish a complementary, holistic approach that triangulates methods and data to derive convergent findings. Multiple regression of the judge\u27s identity and actions, litigants\u27 legal strategy, contest participant characteristics, and case characteristics on trial outcomes is based on trial transcript, in-court observation, and court administrative data. Case study analysis is based on interviews with trial participants, including landlords, tenants, attorneys, judges, and court staff and trial transcripts. Ethnographic analysis is based on informal discussions with and observations of disputants, judges, court staff, and others who interact with the court system that surrounds L-T Court. The study also employs a theoretical bundle comprised of autopoiesis, territoriality, paradox theory, and street level bureaucracy to analyze L-T Court\u27s organizational behavior. The study\u27s central finding is that L-T Court propagates substantive and procedural policies that diverge from theoretically binding common law and basic jurisprudential expectations. This divergence can be explained by Municipal Court\u27s organizational dynamics within a legal and regulatory environment. The study concludes that policies designed to strengthen the supply of affordable housing must incorporate the interests of both landlords and tenants. Policy recommendations address the legal representation gap between landlords and tenants, the weak court linkage with legal and administrative organizations, and other areas that prevent effective rental housing regulation

Rewilding soil-disturbing vertebrates to rehabilitate degraded landscapes: benefits and risks

Soil-disturbing animals are common globally and play important roles in creating and maintaining healthy functional soils and landscapes. Yet many of these animals are threatened or locally extinct due to habitat loss, predation by non-native animals or poaching and poisoning. Some reintroduction and rewilding programmes have as their core aims to increase animal populations and reinstate processes that have been lost due to their extirpation. Here we use a meta-analytical approach to review the effects of soil-disturbing vertebrates on ecosystem processes, and advance the argument that they can be used to rehabilitate degraded ecosystems by altering mainly composition and function, but with fewer positive effects on structure. We describe four examples where the loss or reintroduction of soil-disturbing vertebrates leads to ecosystem state changes and highlight the role of spatial scale, covarying management changes, and species co-occurrence in modulating their effects. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using soil-disturbing vertebrates over mechanized engineering approaches such as pitting and furrowing, considering some advantages to include more self-sustainable and heterogeneous disturbances, creation of new habitats and added recreational values. Finally, we identify key knowledge gaps in our understanding of the use of soil-disturbing vertebrates for rehabilitating degraded ecosystems.This research was funded by the Hermon Slade Foundation (grant no. HSF21040)