Images of Mothers in Poverty Discourses

This Essay focuses on the construction of the concept of Mother in poverty discourses. It addresses the role of patriarchical ideology in the process whereby a characteristic typical of a group of welfare recipients has been selected and identified as constituting the cause as well as the effect of poverty. I am particularly interested in those political and professional discourses in which single Mother status is defined as one of the primary predictors of poverty. This association of characteristic with cause has fostered suggestions that an appropriate and fundamental goal of any proposed poverty program should be the eradication of the status and practice of single motherhood. This goal is to be accomplished through appropriate coupling of the single mother with the child\u27s father- who would thereby assume his rightful place in the family and fulfill his financial obligations. By his so doing, the paramount welfare reform objective-letting the state off the economic hook-will have been achieved

Investment potentials in shellfish culture in Nigeria

Shellfish are a major but cheap protein source for human consumption as well as source of income for coastal towns and villages of the Niger Delta in Rivers State, Cross River, and Lagos States. A research into the nutritive value of some of these marine shellfish viz: bivalves (oyster - Crassostrea gasar and cockle - Anadara senilis); gastropods (periwinkle - Tympanotonus fuscatus, obtuse periwinkle - Semifusus morio and the giant whelk - Thais callifera) and mangrove crabs (green crab - Goniopsis pelli, ghost crab - Cardisoma ormatum, and common blue crab - Callinectes latimanus) was carried out to compare their quality and cost with beef, chicken meat, pork and egg in order to identify those most suitable for commercial culture. Results show that all shellfish had at least 16% crude protein except blue crab (13.38%). All shellfish had higher protein content than egg (13.36%). Cockle with protein content 25.47% compared favourably with beef, (29.60%). Beef, chicken meat and pork cost 11.50, 9.00 and 8.00 per kilo respectively while oyster, periwinkle and the common blue crab cost 3.50, 3.00, and 1.50 per kilo respectively. Oysters and Cockles are recommended for commercial culture based on the findings of this researc

Commercial mariculture of Oreochromis niloticus using net cages

The culture of tilapia has a long history in Africa. Fossil remains of members of the genus have been found which are about 18 million years old (Fryer and Iles, 1972). Oreochromis niloticus was the subject of detailed observations in Egypt of 5,000 years ago. A bas relief of 2,500B.C. depicts tilapia being reared in ponds in Egypt. However, despite this long history the prolific nature of this fish results in very high populations in pond culture systems. Consequently small size fish are harvested. Several methods have thus been tried to control the excessive reproduction of tilapia in captivity with only partial success. This paper reports how large size tilapia especially O. niloticus averaging at least 150g per piece can be commercially produced using floating net cages in the marine environmen

The effects of supplemental feeds containing different protein: Energy ratios on the growth and survival of Tilapia nilotica (Oreochromis niloticus) in brackishwater ponds

A research was conducted in thirty approximately 100 sq.m earthern ponds of the Brackishwater Aquaculture Centre (BAC), College of Fisheries, University of the Philippines, Leganes Iloilo from November 7, 1982 to March 7, 1983 to evaluate the effects of nine supplemental feeds containing different protein: energy ratios on the growth and survival of Tilapia nilotica in brackishwater ponds. Nine supplemental feeds formulated were with protein levels of 20%, 25%, and 30% each at three energy levels of 3,000 kcals; 3,500 kcals; and 4,000 kcals. There was a control treatment with no feeding so that mean weight gain growth rate, feed conversion rate, and survival were determined. Fish fingerlings were acclimated from 0-29 ppt. salinity before the experiment and 20% of fish in each treatment were sampled after every 30 days. Growth rates were significantly different and increased with increasing energy level at the 30% protein feeds but decreased at high energy levels in the 20% and 25% protein feeds. Feed conversion was significantly different due to interaction between protein and energy levels in the feeds, and was better at the 30:3,500 kcals feeds having a feed conversion of 1.55 g. Survival was not significantly differen

Up, Up, and Away

pages 96-10

The Inevitable Demise of the Implied Employment Contract

In this article, Professor Fineman argues that courts\u27 decision in the early 1980s to apply implied contract doctrine to employment relationships did not have the intended results. Employers immediately began restructuring their employment documents, and eventually found a way to essentially avoid liability through careful drafting of personnel documents. Professor Fineman further argues that the failure of contract law was inevitable based on the limitations of contract theory. Finally, Professor Fineman suggests a method to more successfully enforce workplace norms by looking to broader-based norms prevalent in the industry or applicable to the type of job position at issue

Cronyism, Corruption, and Political Intrigue: A New Approach for Old Problems in Public Sector Employment Law

This article argues that the best interest of the public is served when at least some public employees receive some degree of job protection. However, there is also value in the argument that we no longer can justify the retention of a uniform system of traditional civil service protections for all public employees. Therefore, this article takes the position that this debate should not be framed as an either/or proposition between a rigid system of job protections for all (or most) employees on one hand and unfettered managerial discretion on the other. Instead, job protections should be context-based, varied depending upon the nature of service, and provided only when there is a clear connection between the adverse employment action in question and the public interest. The closer the connection between the public interest and the employment action, the stronger the job protections should be

Improved risk analysis for large projects: Bayesian networks approach

PhDGenerally risk is seen as an abstract concept which is difficult to measure. In this thesis, we consider quantification in the broader sense by measuring risk in the context of large projects. By improved risk measurement, it may be possible to identify and control risks in such a way that the project is completed successfully in spite of the risks. This thesis considers the trade-offs that may be made in project risk management, specifically time, cost and quality. The main objective is to provide a model which addresses the real problems and questions that project managers encounter, such as: • If I can afford only minimal resources, how much quality is it possible to achieve? • What resources do I need in order to achieve the highest quality possible? • If I have limited resources and I want the highest quality, how much functionality do I need to lose? We propose the use of a causal risk framework that is an improvement on the traditional modelling approaches, such as the risk register approach, and therefore contributes to better decision making. The approach is based on Bayesian Networks (BNs). BNs provide a framework for causal modelling and offer a potential solution to some of the classical modelling problems. Researchers have recently attempted to build BN models that incorporate relationships between time, cost, quality, functionality and various process variables. This thesis analyses such BN models and as part of a new validation study identifies their strengths and weaknesses. BNs have shown considerable promise in addressing the aforementioned problems, but previous BN models have not directly solved the trade-off problem. Major weaknesses are that they do not allow sensible risk event measurement and they do not allow full trade-off analysis. The main hypothesis is that it is possible to build BN models that overcome these limitations without compromising their basic philosophy

The Vulnerable Subject at Work: A New Perspective on the Employment at-Will Debate

This article applies recent vulnerability scholarship to employment law issues. A vulnerability approach argues that the autonomous liberal legal subject at the heart of much of political and legal thought fails to capture the material, social, and developmental realities of the human condition and thus should be replaced with a vulnerable subject. Importantly, and in contrast to the autonomous, independent, and self sufficient abstraction of the liberal legal subject, the vulnerable legal subject is theorized as embodied and as embedded in social contexts. The idea of the vulnerable subject has been described as providing a needed intervention into U.S. policy discussions, providing a heuristic - a way to shift the focus of inquiry to a more balanced or complete conception of what it means to be human in ways that will raise new questions and reveal new relationships and patterns.\u27 I plan to apply this general theory to the employment context by the creation of the constructs of the vulnerable employer and the vulnerable employee. As a starting point for applying vulnerability theory to the employment relationship, this article examines the effect of employment law on employees\u27 vulnerability and resilience to vulnerability. Importantly, we must recognize that the at-will rule is the manifestation of a policy choice made by the state. This policy choice gives a privilege to American employers that is not shared by employers in most other first-world nations. That policy choice, like all others, has consequences. It decreases employees\u27 resilience and ability to positively respond in the face of their vulnerability. A vulnerability approach allows us to introduce the idea that the privilege the employer enjoys under the at-will regime might also appropriately be complemented by some reciprocal responsibility for the situation of the employee. To the extent possible, employment policy should attempt to mitigate the consequences of giving employers broad control over the workplace by balancing it with some benefits for employees. At present, employers receive most of the privileges of the at will rule, but do not bear a proportionate share of the consequences. Using vulnerability and resilience as guiding principles, a vulnerability analysis asks whether those burdens and benefits should be more equitably shared. In addition, because the at-will rule is a privilege created by the state, vulnerability theory suggests the state may have some additional obligation to protect employees\u27 resiliency beyond fashioning employment law