Presidential Advisors and Their Most Unpresidential Activities: Why Executive Privilege Cannot Shield White House Information in the U.S. Attorney Firings Controversy

On March 10, 2008, the House Judiciary Committee sued White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers seeking to overcome White House claims of executive privilege in the committee\u27s investigation of the 2006 U.S. attorney firings. Since the U.S. Supreme Court first recognized the executive privilege over thirty years ago in United Slates u Nixon, it has remained controversial and unclearly defined. In an attempt to clarify the relevant principles that the courts should apply to the recent House lawsuit, this Note examines executive privilege jurisprudence from the Nixon cases to recent \u27opinions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. It concludes that executive privilege, which is intended to protect the public interest, must never stray far from the Executive in whose name it is invoked. Thus, because the White House has maintained that President Bush was not involved in the U.S. attorney purge, the privilege must fail

Estimating “Peak Water” Runoff and Power Production for Hydropower-relevant Icelandic Glaciers Under Future Climate Scenarios

Glaciers are important water resources in Iceland, in part because glacial runoff powers the country’s largest hydropower stations, which produce a large portion of the nation’s electricity. However, glaciers around Iceland are retreated at unprecedented rates due to climate change and are projected to continue to do so over the course of the 21st century. Glacial retreat plays a complex role in the water cycle, most often following a “peak water” curve marked by initial increases in total annual runoff as melt accelerates followed by eventual declines as the glacier continues to shrink. This holds important implications for the hydropower industry, which will experience changes in power production potential aligned with changes in runoff. This study attempts to estimate the timing of peak water for five different hydropower operational areas in Iceland, as well as quantify runoff and power production during these peaks. Additionally, this study examines net changes in runoff and power production by the end of the century. Glacier mass balance and runoff in each operational area are modelled until 2100 using the Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM). Each glacier is simulated under three future SSP scenarios, and resulting trends in ice volume, total annual runoff, monthly runoff, and contributions to total runoff by runoff type are assessed. Lastly, power production potential during peak water and at the end of the century is computed from modelled runoff results for eight of the largest hydropower stations in Iceland. Results indicate universal glacier retreat throughout the country, with resulting runoff patterns resembling the peak water curve. Most operational areas experience peak water between 2040 and 2050, with power production potential peaking around the same time. Changes in glacial runoff will dramatically increase power production potential during peak water, though the net change in production by 2100 is much more variable. Extensive planning and engineering within Iceland’s hydropower industry is required in order to effectively make use of increased runoff levels, as well as to prepare for eventual declines in production by the end of the century

Effects of Yoga and Mindfulness-Based Practices on Stress and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents

This study focused on yoga, and other mindfulness-based practices and how they impact children and adolescents who are dealing with stress and anxiety. Three interviews were conducted with Yoga Calm certified instructors who work with children and adolescents, and how they view the impacts of Yoga Calm on the population they work with. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Once analyzed, nine themes were found: Children use tools they are taught to cope with stress and anxiety, practicing mindfulness allows one to better listen to their bodies, lack of time, resistance from children, children teaching others, adaptation for developmental differences, differences between Yoga Calm and other mindfulness-based practices, the sustainability of Yoga Calm, and professional collaboration. Similar findings were found between this research and the literature review, which include the use of the tools taught to children, and mindfulness helping one better listen to their bodies. Adaptation for developmental differences, differences between Yoga Calm and other mindfulness-based practices, sustainability of Yoga Calm, and professional collaboration were themes that were only found in this current research study. Due to these new findings, future research should focus on the differences found between Yoga Calm and other mindfulness based practices, as well as how to maintain sustainability of these types of programs in schools

Alien Registration- Geldert, John (Presque Isle, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/33771/thumbnail.jp

Effects of Yoga and Mindfulness-Based Practices on Stress and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents

This study focused on yoga, and other mindfulness-based practices and how they impact children and adolescents who are dealing with stress and anxiety. Three interviews were conducted with Yoga Calm certified instructors who work with children and adolescents, and how they view the impacts of Yoga Calm on the population they work with. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Once analyzed, nine themes were found: Children use tools they are taught to cope with stress and anxiety, practicing mindfulness allows one to better listen to their bodies, lack of time, resistance from children, children teaching others, adaptation for developmental differences, differences between Yoga Calm and other mindfulness-based practices, the sustainability of Yoga Calm, and professional collaboration. Similar findings were found between this research and the literature review, which include the use of the tools taught to children, and mindfulness helping one better listen to their bodies. Adaptation for developmental differences, differences between Yoga Calm and other mindfulness-based practices, sustainability of Yoga Calm, and professional collaboration were themes that were only found in this current research study. Due to these new findings, future research should focus on the differences found between Yoga Calm and other mindfulness based practices, as well as how to maintain sustainability of these types of programs in schools

Impulse Response Interpolation via Optimal Transport

Interpolation between multiple room impulse responses is often necessary for dynamic auralization of virtual acoustic environments, in which a listener can move with six degrees-of-freedom. The spatial room impulse response (SRIR) represents the combined effects of the surround room as sound propagates from a source to the listener and varies as the source or listener positions change. The early portion of the SRIR contains sparse reflections, considered to be distinct sound events, that tend to be impaired with interpolation methods based on simple linear combinations. With parametric processing of SRIRs, corresponding sound events are able to be mapped to one another and produce a more physically accurate spatiotemporal interpolation of the early portion of the SRIR. In this thesis, a novel method for parametric SRIR interpolation is proposed based on the principle of optimal transportation. First, SRIRs are represented as point clouds of sound pressure in a 3D virtual source space. Mappings between two point clouds are obtained by defining a partial optimal transport problem problem, solvable with familiar linear programming techniques. The partial relaxation is implemented by permitting both point-to-point mappings and dummy mappings. The obtained optimal transport plan is used to compute the interpolated point cloud which is converted back to an SRIR. Testing of the proposed method against three baseline comparison methods was done with SRIRs generated by geometrical acoustical modeling. An error metric based on the difference in energy between low-passed rendering of the omnidirectional room impulse response was used. Statistical results indicate that the proposed method consistently outperforms the baseline methods of interpolation. Qualitative examination of the mapping methods confirms that partial transport produces more physically accurate spatiotemporal mappings. For future work, it is suggested to consider different cost functions, interpolate between measured SRIRs, and to render the responses to allow perceptual tests

Exploring the Consumer Green Gap: Consumer Attitudes and Intentions Related to Sustainable Product Consumption

Green consumerism is an important issue among marketers due to the prevailing green gap (Tseng, 2016). A consumer’s green gap is the distance between the stated importance of protecting the environment and actual behavior (Tseng, 2016). This study strives to understand factors affecting consumer motivations and decisions related to sustainable product consumption. Our primary research question examines how social identification, attribute product strength, and product sustainability labels influence consumer attitudes and intentions. Understanding what influences the green gap requires looking at how multiple levels of sustainability exist in relationship to each other (Phipps, 2013). We must isolate different attitudes and behaviors associated with environmentally friendly products and look for connections between the factors that might contribute to the purchase decision of a sustainable product. The green gap could also be investigated through understanding when and why consumers behavior deviates from their articulated preferences (Prothero, 2011). By examining the combined influence of social identification, product strength, and product sustainability we have the potential to discover factors that complicate or facilitate a sustainable vs. less sustainable purchasing decision. Ideally, this research aims to identify factors that have the potential to, in application, increase the purchase and adoption of sustainable products. Key Words: consumer behavior, marketing, sustainability, social identification, product strengt

Alien Registration- Geldert, John (Presque Isle, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/33771/thumbnail.jp