[Review of] Samuel Selvon. Moses Ascending

Sam Selvon\u27s fifth novel Moses Ascending addresses the ethnic experience with dual prongs: linguistic and racial. Although the situation of the novel is not new -- the plight of the subject come to the motherland -- having been treated by George Lamming and others, this handling of the basic theme is: all the sacred cows fall before Selvon\u27s iconoclastic pen. Moses, the I protagonist, is but a faintly veiled, highly disillusioned Selvon who dares look at the present world situation: the emperor has no clothes

[Review of] Ian Smart. Central American Writers of West Indian Origin: A New Hispanic Literature

Ian Smart has made, as he himself asserts in the Author\u27s Foreword, a very limited approach to the very complex body of literature written by Central American authors of West Indian origin. In fact one wonders if indeed his most insistent premises are verifiable: the region comprises one cultural area in which common factors have forged a more or less common way of looking at life ... share an identifiable Weltanschauung. His emphasis lies on the commonness of the West Indian experiences which he perceives to be African. To be sure, there are many critics who would take issue with him, some of whom he does allude to. The truth is that he treads on perilous, indeed highly controversial, ground. Many critics would indeed demand that we look at the nuances of differences among the authors as a way of perceiving the complexity of the Caribbean experience. To be sure, there has been a shared history to a point, but it is this very juncture which makes all the difference. Generally, critically speaking, one is concerned more with those areas of differences, no matter how minute, which do indeed distinguish one entity from another

Youth Incarceration, Health, and Length of Stay

For youth from marginalized communities, the pathway into the juvenile justice system occurs against a backdrop of disproportionately high levels of stress, complex trauma, and adverse childhood experiences. Despite overall reductions in the percentage of youth in confinement from recent state-level reforms, the lengths of stay for many youth often exceed evidence-based timelines, as well as a state’s own guidelines and criteria. This occurs despite a large and growing body of empirical research that documents the health status of system-involved youth and the association between incarceration during adolescence and the range of subsequent health and mental health outcomes in adulthood. Presently, advocates for length of stay reform rely on two primary arguments: recidivism and costs of confinement. This Article argues that this framing misses a critical component, as a better understanding of the linkages between length of stay, health, and mental health are essential for achieving the foundational goals of the juvenile justice system—i.e., rehabilitation, decreased recidivism, and improved community reintegration. Through an examination of juvenile sentencing typologies, release decision-making, and empirical research on the health and mental health needs of at-risk and system-involved youth, this Article aims to fill this gap and expand current lines of debate, discourse, and advocacy.

[Review of] David O. Sears , Jonathan L. Freedman, and Letitia Anne Peplau. Social Psychology

At a time when social psychology as a field of study has reached a new high and journals and textbooks have proliferated to meet the new demands of social psychologists and students alike, the publication of the fifth edition of a basic social psychology text says something not only about the book\u27s endurance but also about its basic soundness. Over the years, this volume has been used by thousands of students and in many ways has set the standard for other social psychology texts which attempt to give an introduction to the field. With this edition the high standard set back in the early 1970s has been maintained; the present volume is a re-write of an already excellent book

Exact solutions to chaotic and stochastic systems

We investigate functions that are exact solutions to chaotic dynamical systems. A generalization of these functions can produce truly random numbers. For the first time, we present solutions to random maps. This allows us to check, analytically, some recent results about the complexity of random dynamical systems. We confirm the result that a negative Lyapunov exponent does not imply predictability in random systems. We test the effectiveness of forecasting methods in distinguishing between chaotic and random time-series. Using the explicit random functions, we can give explicit analytical formulas for the output signal in some systems with stochastic resonance. We study the influence of chaos on the stochastic resonance. We show, theoretically, the existence of a new type of solitonic stochastic resonance, where the shape of the kink is crucial. Using our models we can predict specific patterns in the output signal of stochastic resonance systems.Comment: 31 pages, 18 figures (.eps). To appear in Chaos, March 200

Method to analyze the influence of hysteresis in optical arithmetic units

A new method to analyze the influence of possible hysteresis cycles in devices employed for optical computing architectures is reported. A simple full adder structure is taken as the basis for this method. Single units, called optical programmable logic cells, previously reported by the authors, compose this structure. These cells employ, as basic devices, on-off and SEED-like components. Their hysteresis cycles have been modeled by numerical analysis. The influence of the different characteristic cycles is studied with respect to the obtained possible errors at the output. Two different approaches have been adopted. The first one shows the change in the arithmetic result output with respect to the different values and positions of the hysteresis cycle. The second one offers a similar result, but in a polar diagram where the total behavior of the system is better analyzed

[Review of] Lucha Corpi. Delia\u27s Song

Lucha Corpi\u27s novel, Delia\u27s Song, operates on several levels which remain basically disparate; that is, we seldom have a sense of complete integration. Perhaps, finally Delia herself, must be seen as symbolic of the Chicana in search of self, although even this falters at times. Finally we cannot be sure if Delia represents all Chicana women, the educated Chicana, or the emerging Chicana. Even her name, Artemis, the one from Delos .... Delia, the beautiful huntress, compounds the dilemma. Huntress of what? We\u27ve witnessed her sexual encounters with various males, Daniel, Mario, Fernando, Roger (the Anglo), Jeff, which suggest that a paradox exists even in her name. Artemis was not only a beautiful huntress, she was also chaste. Often the omniscient author suggests that perhaps Delia is schizophrenic. Two people, equally strong, live in you, Cammille, the dabbler in astrology, tells her. Nor is this the first time the idea has occurred. The character herself eludes us, even though in Joycean style, the author allows us free access to Delia\u27s mind. She claims she\u27s always been subservient, but we see a unique individual behaving in unorthodox ways, a paradox again. And the title is no less difficult. What is her song? Is it a lament, a dirge? Is it a song of triumph? A lyric? We learn from Mattie that this is the title of one of Delia\u27s poems that is shaky at the end. The uncertainty remains

[Review of] Zee Edgell, Beka Lamb

Formerly called British Honduras, Belize, an emerging third world country, second smallest in Central America, originally became a part of the British Empire because its coast gave sanctuary to British sailors and pirates. But a thousand years or so before, the land formed a small part of the mighty Mayan civilization. A dozen or more sites-Mayan centers-have been discovered in Belize and have offered up their pyramids and artifacts as silent testimony to the past. Becoming fully self-governing in 1964, the country continues to experience various power struggles; Guatemala claims Belize since, according to its doctrine, a province which successfully revolts against a colonial power inherits all the rights and boundaries claimed by the colonist power. Hence both Mexico and Guatemala, as successful revolters against the Spanish, could lay claim to Belize. Moreover, the inhabitants of Belize represent many disparate loyalties: the Black Caribs, descendants of West Africans and the Red Caribs; Mayan Indians; Creoles and Africans; Mestizos, Maya Indian and Spanish mixed bloods; East Indians; Syrian and Lebanese; Chinese; North Americans and Europeans