El Otro Encuentro: Gigi Oltavaro-Hormillosa’s Neo-Queer Precolonial Imagining

This essay examines the performance and video art piece Cosmic Blood, by Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa, a queer Colombian and Filipina American artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It argues that Cosmic Blood is a performative intervention into dominant modes of reading the racialized and gendered Filipina body, as well as a critique of absolutist notions of national and ethnic belonging. Cosmic Blood challenges the inherent heteronormativity and masculinism of dominant notions of nation and kinship, accomplishing this imaginative intervention by its retroping of the past through a lens of queer desire. Within Otalvaro-Hormillosa’s retelling of the moment of first contact, queer bodily desire is the locus of power relations between colonizer and colonized. In this vision of the past, the figure of the Filipina is presented as a desiring subject, resisting the overdetermined tropes of woman as nation, territory, and land that are both a legacy of colonization, and a persistent narrative within contemporary articulations of national and diasporic belonging. In doing so, Cosmic Blood presents a possibility for forms of belonging that exceed the absolutism of race, ethnicity, and nation, while also imagining a utopian vision of the future that critiques the material conditions of the present

Opposition at the Water Cooler: The Treatment of Non-Purposive Conduct Under Title VII’s Anti-Retaliation Clause

A well-functioning, energy-efficient ventilation system is of vital importance to offices, not only to provide the kind of comfortable, healthy indoor environment necessary for the well-being and productive work performance of occupants, but also to reduce energy use in buildings and the associated impact of CO2 emissions on the environment. To achieve these goals impinging jet ventilation has been developed as an innovative ventilation concept. In an impinging jet ventilation system, a high momentum of air jet is discharged downwards, strikes the floor and spreads over it, thus distributing the fresh air along the floor in the form of a very thin shear layer. This system retains advantages of mixing and stratification from conventional air distribution methods, while capable of overcoming their shortcomings. The aim of this thesis is to reach a thorough understanding of impinging jet ventilation for providing a good thermal environment for an office, by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) supported by detailed measurements. The full-field measurements were carried out in two test rooms located in a large enclosure giving relatively stable climate conditions. This study has been divided into three parts where the first focuses on validation of numerical investigations against measurements, the second addresses impacts of a number of design parameters on the impinging jet flow field and thermal comfort level, and the third compares ventilation performance of the impinging jet supply device with other air supply devices intended for mixing, wall confluent jets and displacement ventilation, under specific room conditions. In the first part, velocity and temperature distributions of the impinging jet flow field predicted by different turbulence models are compared with detailed measurements. Results from the non-isothermal validation studies show that the accuracy of the simulation results is to a great extent dependent on the complexity of the turbulence models, due to complicated flow phenomena related to jet impingement, such as recirculation, curvature and instability. The v2-f turbulence model shows the best performance with measurements, which is slightly better than the SST k-ω model but much better than the RNG k-ε model. The difference is assumed to be essentially related to the magnitude of turbulent kinetic energy predicted in the vicinity of the stagnation region. Results from the isothermal study show that both the SST k-ω and RNG k-ε models predict similar wall jet behaviours of the impinging jet flow. In the second part, three sets of parametric studies were carried out by using validated CFD models. The first parametric study shows that the geometry of the air supply system has the most significant impact on the flow field. The rectangular air supply device, especially the one with larger aspect ratio, provides a longer penetration distance to the room, which is suitable for industrial ventilation. The second study reveals that the interaction effect of cooling ceiling, heat sources and impinging jet ventilation results in complex flow phenomena but with a notable feature of air circulation, which consequently decreases thermal stratification in the room and increases draught discomfort at the foot level. The third study demonstrates the advantage of using response surface methodology to study simultaneous effects on changes in four parameters, i.e. shape of air supply device, jet discharge height, supply airflow rate and supply air temperature. Analysis of the flow field reveals that at a low discharge height, the shape of air supply device has a major impact on the flow pattern in the vicinity of the supply device. Correlations between the studied parameters and local thermal discomfort indices were derived. Supply airflow rates and temperatures are shown to be the most important parameter for draught and stratification discomfort, respectively. In the third part, the impinging jet supply device was shown to provide a better overall performance than other air supply devices used for mixing, wall confluent jets and displacement ventilation, with respect to thermal comfort, heat removal effectiveness, air exchange efficiency and energy-saving potential related to fan power

Feminist Reflections on the 'End' of the War on Terror

This article examines the range of arguments articulated to justify the use of force under the ‘War on Terror’. The three key justifications for unilateral force directed against terrorist actors, pre-emptive force, implied authorisation and the use of force to prevent terrorist actors operating from failed states, are demonstrated as analogous to domestic provocation excuses. As such, the article argues the ‘end’ of the ‘War on Terror’ has been in name only as the Obama Administration in the United States continues to develop practice in line with that of its predecessor. The analogy with domestic provocation excuses demonstrates weaknesses of contemporary US practice and of the pre-emptive force justification. Using a feminist understanding of the limitations of provocation defences and of the relationship between social, cultural, political and legal norms, the legacy of the ‘War on Terror’ is demonstrated as an assertion of a limited model of security that ignores the role militaries play in women’s insecurity and which limits women’s participation through the use of sexual stereotypes. The article concludes with a discussion of the range of feminist strategies that might be invoked to challenge the legacy of the ‘War on Terror’

Feminist Politics and the Use of Force: Theorising Feminist Action and Security Council Resolution 1325

This article reflects on the ten-year anniversary of ‘Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security’ (hereinafter, “Resolution 1325”). The article contextualises the Security Council’s approach within feminist legal thinking, using Resolution 1325 as a springboard for increased feminist conversations on the recurrent themes of essentialism, victim feminism and praxis. It is argued that feminist action in the Security Council should extend these debates. To this end, the article concludes with reflection on the possibility of force to save women, arguing that this fourth axis of feminist debate be taken up with some urgency by feminist scholars and activists

Staging Revolution: Form and Violence in La noche de los asesinos

Written within the first years of the Cuban revolution, José Triana’s La noche de los asesinos (1965) has traditionally been read as either a revolutionary or an antirevolutionary play. This article argues that more than its historical and political context, revolution constitutes La noche’s form. The concept of revolution as a violent, paradigm-shattering phenomenon relates to La noche’s shifting and unstable dramatic spaces. Triana creates a complex performative space that turns La noche into a dramaturgical exploration of revolution as violent change and transformation. Through Franz Fanon’s theoretical understanding of structural violence, this article ultimately investigates how La noche offers important insights into the experiential and emotional processes of the Cuban subject within the historical process of the revolution

An evaluation and comparison of the Horowhenua and Tararua Community Alcohol Action Programmes (CAAP) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

In New Zealand, Community Alcohol Action Programmes (CAAP) have emerged to address the high number of alcohol-related road injuries and fatalities. The present study is an evaluation and comparison of the Horowhenua and Tararua CAAP programmes. Subjects (n=175) from several different groups within these communities were interviewed and observational studies of licensed premises (n=36) were used to collect data. Statistical analysis (chi-square) was conducted to see whether one programme had been more successful in meeting its aims and objectives than the other. Few statistically significant differences were found indicating that the programmes were on the whole similar. However, prior to the commencement of this piece of research, a number of potential problems concerning the evaluations were identified. These relate mainly to the fact that the evaluation of the programmes had not been planned for before they were implemented. It was concluded that the citizens involved in community action programmes often have little awareness of research design and evaluation. This can limit the utility of such programmes and make it difficult to draw valid or reliable conclusions concerning their efficacy

Crossing 21st and State: Marquette-Milwaukee Relations

This project delves into relations between Marquette University and the Milwaukee community, analyzes potential issues, and suggests proposals for continued change. Through field observations, multiple interviews, and wide scholarly research, I\u27ve ascertained that Marquette University, a school long-deemed isolationist and elite, is at a pivotal point in their community engagement. While Marquette shows efforts toward more meaningful community engagement, these efforts could fall short, especially if not continually cultivated. For Marquette to signal sustained and deep investment in community engagement, I propose an awareness campaign, more open and honest discussion about current tensions, and more purposeful actions of Marquette to truly become part of and integrated with Milwaukee.https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_3210ur/1040/thumbnail.jp

Funding Business Development Services for Women Microentrepreneurs in the Philippines

After lending small sums of money to poor people in Bangladesh in the 1970s, economics professor Muhammad Yunus was onto a new way to finance the poor and fight poverty: through microfinance. Since then, many approaches have been taken to lend to those in poverty, help them save money, and help them start businesses. Microfinance organizations provide loans, business advisory services, marketing help, insurance, and more. Business development services especially complement loan assistance because they provide nonfinancial help essential to running a business, such as accounting skills, product development, supply chain management, and more. In 2017, I traveled to San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines to research at the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD), a global leader in microfinance. With funding from a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), I studied at one of CARD’s institutions, the Business Development Service Foundation, Inc. (BDSFI), to research financially sustainable business models for providing high-quality business development services to microentrepreneurs. After reviewing literature in the field and interviewing clients, I found that a market facilitation model that incorporates fees or a percentage of sales would be the most feasible model. This validated BDSFI’s existing practices and affirmed that they could charge clients for business development services. I also presented the organization with several other models as options