Reducing Partisan Bias in Political Reporting for a Better Informed Public

This study focused on bias in political journalism, attempting to find how political journalists today can improve the quality of their work for a better informed public. By collecting data from the literature currently available, gaps within said literature were found. Therefore, three experts within the relevant fields of political communications research, political journalism, and editing were asked the same questionnaire in an individual interview setting in order to resolve the unanswered questions. These interviews were used to further the information already available in the literature, while also attempting to fill in the research question gaps. After the data was collected, it seemed that the biggest problem for current journalists is a lack of critical thinking in regards to every step of the writing process. Since bias has never been clearly defined within previous research, there are an abundance of different types of bias present in the media; therefore, the best journalists can do is be cognizant of their inherent biases as humans, and critically think about their decision-making processes every step of the way. According to the experts, bias is present from the types of stories deemed newsworthy, to the questions asked in interviews, the sources used, and how the story is worded. Although journalists have limitations such as deadlines and the willingness of sources to speak to the media, the amount of bias will be greatly reduced if journalists pause to think about why they make the decisions they do every step of the story writing process

Blending Scripture and the Law: The Lack of Christian Law and the Dangers it Presents in Christian Arbitration

This paper will examine the ways in which a lack of an established substantive law within the Christian faith tradition affects the Christian arbitration process and explore the possible means to address these issues. It will outline the history and functions of Christian tribunals, highlighting the unique space within the justice system that these special tribunals fill. Next, it will discuss the differences between the application of law in tribunals of other religious faith traditions and the application of law in Christian arbitration. This paper will demonstrate how a lack of concrete and applicable law creates issues in the enforceability of an arbitration agreement, the selection and challenge of arbitrators, and the challenge to the awards themselves. Finally, it will outline possible remedies to ensure that Christian arbitration is carried out in a way that honors all parties involved. This paper concludes with a proposal to carefully acknowledge the issues discussed and implement the changes suggested to the field of Christian arbitration

Investigation of Ammonia and Nitrate Removal From Municipal Wastewater Using Biowish

This research entails investigation of ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite removal from wastewater using a proprietary blend of bacteria known as BiOWiSHTM. The degradation rates of ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite for Aqua were determined using wastewater at the San Luis Obispo Water Resource Recovery Facility (SLO WRRF). Laboratory and field experiments were conducted to test how Aqua compared with natural bacteria for removal of nitrogen compounds. Preliminary data suggested that Aqua performed nitrate removal best in SLO WRRF wastewater at the secondary clarifier. Aqua could perform anoxic and aerobic denitrification in secondary clarifier wastewater. In mineral media, Aqua removed 6.6 mg NO3-N/L/hr. In partially sterilized wastewater, Aqua removed 2.67 mg NO3-N/L/hr. Field experiments using a batch reactor suggested that Aqua aided in nitrate removal when dosed above 25 ppm in secondary clarifier wastewater. A dose of 25 ppm Aqua resulted in a 0.1 mg NO3-N/L/hr removal rate. A dose of 50 ppm Aqua resulted in a 0.15 mg NO3-N/L/hr. Aqua did not aid in ammonia or nitrate removal in sludgewash at the SLO WRRF likely due to high concentrations of nitrate and ammonia existing in the wastewater were toxic to Aqua. Aqua removed about 5 ppm more nitrate than a competitor bacteria blend in a laboratory setting. Activating Aqua to increase initial cell count before inoculation did not have any effect on removal. Providing partial aeration did not help nitrification rates and inhibited nitrate removal for Aqua. Laboratory experiments showed that Aqua did not remove nitrate in final clarifier wastewater most likely due to a limited carbon source. Aqua can perform nitrification in mineral media. Aerobic activation of Aqua inhibited denitrification. Aqua activated anoxically can perform denitrification. Using a powder with 70% microbial cultures, instead of the 1% found in Aqua, resulted in quicker nitrate removal. Inoculating as a concentrated liquid versus a dry powder did not affect nitrate removal rates. Use of trace mineral media did not affect nitrate removal rates

Get your facts right : preschoolers systematically extend both object names and category-relevant facts

There is an ongoing debate over the extent to which language development shares common processing mechanisms with other domains of learning. It is well-established that toddlers will systematically extend object labels to similarly-shaped category exemplars (e.g., Landau, Smith, & Jones, 1988; Markman & Hutchinson, 1984). However, previous research is inconclusive as to whether young children will similarly extend factual information about an object to other category members. We explicitly contrast facts varying in category relevance, and test for extension using two different tasks. Three- to four-year-olds (N = 61) were provided with one of three types of information about a single novel object: a category-relevant fact (‘it’s from a place called Modi’), a category-irrelevant fact (‘my uncle gave it to me’), or an object label (‘it’s called a Modi’). At test, children provided with the object name or category-relevant fact were significantly more likely to display systematic category extension than children who learnt the category-irrelevant fact. Our findings contribute to a growing body of evidence that the mechanisms responsible for word learning may be domain-general in nature

Poisoned By Gas: Institutional Failure, Energy Dependency, and Security

Many states lack domestic access to crucial energy supplies and must deal with the challenge of formulating an energy security policy that informs their relations with energy producing states. While secure and uninterrupted access to energy is crucial to state security and welfare, some states fail to implement energy security policies and remain dangerously dependent on a foreign supplier. In the post-Soviet region many states even actively resist attempts by the European Union and others to diversify their supplies. Why and under what conditions do states pursue energy security? Conversely, why do some highly dependent states fail to maximize their security vis-à-vis a dominant supplier? I argue that that to understand the complex nature of energy dependence and security it is necessary to look beyond energy markets to domestic political capture and institutional design. More specifically, I argue that initial reform choices guiding transition had long-lasting affects on the ability to make coherent policy choices. States that did not move away from Soviet era property rights empowered actors with an interest in maintaining the status quo of dependence. Others that instituted de facto democratic property rights to guide their energy transitions were able to block energy veto players and move towards a security maximizing diversification policy. I term this the Strong Players, Weak Rules Theory. Although the institutional legacies of the Soviet Union had long-lasting effects on all states in the region, I argued that all states were not doomed to path dependency. Change is possible in both directions: towards and away from the institutional reform that facilitates energy security. To illustrate this logic I first present an original dataset, which facilitates an innovative method of accurately measuring the complex nature of energy dependence in the region. To examine the conditions under which states choose various energy security policies, it is first necessary to understand the extent to which they are dependent on their primary supplier. I argue that current measures of energy dependence are inadequate, and miss out key political and country level variables including provisions in bi-lateral contracts overseeing the provision of natural gas supplies across borders and ownership structures of key downstream infrastructure. I first review the components of an original index of energy dependency and then present my findings both within case over time and comparatively across countries. In Chapter Four I present initial quantitative evidence of a correlation between weak property rights, corruption and energy dependence. Due the magnitude of data collection and methodological issues regarding measurement of institutional development, this chapter is just the first step towards showing a relationship between institutional development and energy outcomes. I first review measures of the dependent and independent variable and then present findings as well as areas for future research. In Chapters Five through Seven I evaluate three cases of energy dependence post-1991: Ukraine, Lithuania and Hungary. Ukraine illustrates a classic case of Strong Players, Weak Rules. Lithuania shows how a state can break from path dependency to pursue energy security, and Hungary demonstrates how a state can regress from a policy of energy diversification to one of dependency. I find that institutional legacies of the Soviet period have long-lasting effects energy security even decades after independence. I further find that globalization has provided new avenues for corruption and reinforced Soviet patterns of elite resource distribution that can hamper a state’s ability to maximize its security. I conclude this study with broader applications and directions for future research and policy implications

The Euro-Russian Energy Divorce: How Ukraine and Climate Broke Ostpolitik

Russia’s war in Ukraine is forcing a redrawing of global energy flows and a reevaluation of contemporary European security architecture. The war has pushed Europe into a brutal reckoning with its energy dependence on Russia, and European states’ turn toward cleaner energy technology and nuclear will diminish Russia’s place on the European continent, redirecting the latter’s attentions eastward

We don't know how democracies die

Since the election of Donald Trump, many have expressed their concern that the United States could slip into an authoritarian backslide. Emily Holland and Hadas Aron react to this claim, most notably asserted in Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt's new book, 'How Democracies Die,' noting that the decline of one of the most stable, long-lasting democracies in the world can only be compared to the decline of other lasting, consolidated democracies, of which there are none

The ‘Trump Dossier’ is aimed at taking down American democracy, not Donald Trump.

The lead up to Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the United States has seen the release of a dossier which claimed that he has close ties to Russia. Emily Holland and Hadas Aron write that Russia’s recent alleged involvement in US politics, from hacking the Democratic National Committee to the allegations contained in the dossier are meant to destabilize US democracy rather than to undermine specific politicians like Trump. They argue that the dossier is part of an attempt by Russia for their narrative of instability and illiberalism to become the dominant one in the international system

Narratives in Video Games and User Experience

This presentation will discuss how the narratives within video games create a better gaming experience for the player. Specifically, this presentation addresses user experience based on interactive and immersive narratives within the game. A narrative is a story or event presented in sequence; a narrative within a video game is the interactive storyline presented by the game designer. The key components of this paper rely heavily on user experience research done on video game interaction. This topic will cover human-computer interaction and immersion models which take into account interface interaction, user-defined tasking, and narrative building within video games. The importance of intuitive interface interaction between the game design and the player facilitates a better gameplay experience as well as user-defined tasking, such as being assigned quests and goals to achieve in the game. The dialogue built between the player and game utilizes certain tools to increase immersion and thus bettering the gaming experience. The user experience is a major factor which comes into play when discussing player and game interaction. As stated by Ermi and Mayra, the essence of a game is rooted in its interactive nature, and there is no game without a player (Ermi & Mäyrä, 2005). Research on this topic is progressing as technology in “Interactive Storytelling” grows and moves in the direction of dynamic user interaction (e.g., Cavazza, Lugrin, Pizzi, and Charles, 2002). This presentation will elaborate on the need for further research by expanding on already researched foundations within the topic of user experience and video game research