American Foreign Policy of the Twenty-first Century: Security through the Promotion of Democracy

Each year, the Margaret Chase Smith Library sponsors an essay contest for Maine high school seniors. We feature here Grace Thompson’s 2005 first place prize-winning essay, which draws upon historical examples as well as personal experiences and opinions to discuss American foreign policy for the 21st century

How Commonsense Consumption Acts Are Preventing “Big Food” Litigation

This Note takes a critical look at Commonsense Consumption Acts and how they are detrimental to the possibility of “Big Food” litigation. The tobacco industry was held accountable through the effective use of tort litigation (commonly referred to as “Big Tobacco” litigation), and the food industry could theoretically be held similarly accountable, but CCAs are preventing the possibility of similar reform. Therefore, in order for health reform to be as effective as tobacco reform, CCAs must be repealed in the states where they exist. Part I of this Note discusses why the food industry needs tort reform. Specifically, it argues that the food industry has engaged in deceitful practices that are directly harming the health of American consumers, just as the tobacco industry did. Class action lawsuits played a vital role in holding the tobacco industry liable for tobacco-related illnesses. If CCAs were removed, class action lawsuits could also make an impact on obesity-related illnesses by holding the food industry accountable. Part II gives an overview of the different CCAs, including the legislative impetus behind their enactment and how they prevent health reform. Part III dives into a variety of foreseeable problems tort reform faces when taking on the powerful food industry, including how litigation against the food industry would differ from the–largely successful litigation against the tobacco industry. Lastly, the Note concludes with the argument that CCAs must be repealed, in order to move toward a healthier, more prosperous America

Know Your Clients' behaviours: a cluster analysis of financial transactions

In Canada, financial advisors and dealers are required by provincial securities commissions and self-regulatory organizations--charged with direct regulation over investment dealers and mutual fund dealers--to respectively collect and maintain Know Your Client (KYC) information, such as their age or risk tolerance, for investor accounts. With this information, investors, under their advisor's guidance, make decisions on their investments which are presumed to be beneficial to their investment goals. Our unique dataset is provided by a financial investment dealer with over 50,000 accounts for over 23,000 clients. We use a modified behavioural finance recency, frequency, monetary model for engineering features that quantify investor behaviours, and machine learning clustering algorithms to find groups of investors that behave similarly. We show that the KYC information collected does not explain client behaviours, whereas trade and transaction frequency and volume are most informative. We believe the results shown herein encourage financial regulators and advisors to use more advanced metrics to better understand and predict investor behaviours.Comment: 38 pages, 12 figure

"The Effect of the Brightness of Background on the Extent of the Color Fields and on the Color Tone in Peripheral Vision": Erratum.

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Biodiversity Through the Lens of Bird Flocks

Birds are known bioindicators for ecosystems worldwide. At Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica located in the Madre de Dios region of Perú, it’s no different. Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica is home to over 480 different bird species and frequently engages in bird monitoring. We noted every identifiable species of bird we saw or heard and chose to focus on mixed-species flocks (MSF) of birds to observe biodiversity within one collective group. In our study, we saw a total of 141 species of birds. We saw 4 different MSF with 24 species and ~60 individuals total. By focusing on MSF, we were able to gather observations of bird behavior and species interactions. While observing MSF and the different species within them, we were able to witness the importance of citizen science through collecting data via eBird

Book review - a moonless, starless sky by Alexis Okeowo

Grace Thompson says Okeowo's latest book is a compelling reminder of the lives of ordinary people that are hidden behind headlines of violence and war zones

A Concept Paper for a VCU Social Sciences Initiative

This project proposes the development of a Social Sciences Initiative at the undergraduate and graduate levels that will provide educational, research and service opportunities for faculty and students. These opportunities are envisioned as interdisciplinary, with a focus on community issues and priorities, and with the potential to create new links among existing educational/research units within the University. The development of a Social Sciences Initiative provides a direct link to the Mission of VCU through several of the Mission’s intents: “activities that increase knowledge and understanding of the world and inspire and enrich teaching” The Social Sciences Initiative will expand current activities and promote innovative teaching in an interdisciplinary manner. “diverse educational programs” The Social Sciences Initiative increases the diversity of educational program offerings. “development of innovative approaches to meet the changing needs of our society” The Social Sciences Initiative will directly address the changing societal needs through support of interdisciplinary education, research, and service. Further, this initiative is consistent with the VCU Vision in that it will “advance a climate of scholarly inquiry…serve as a model of diversity in higher education…addressing urban issues in the nation and the world…build upon its substantial foundations in the…applied social sciences.” (VCU Strategic Plan for the Future of Virginia Commonwealth University, Phase II, 1998)

The MiALA Fine Arts Interest Group: Making Connections Across the Mitten State

The Michigan Academic Library Association (MiALA), established in 2014, is the leading professional organization for academic librarians in the state of Michigan, and a chapter of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL). Within the organization are several established interest groups that reflect a wide variety of interests across academic librarianship. The MiALA Fine Arts Interest Group was formed in 2017 to serve as a forum for academic librarians who work with users and collections in the fine arts, including but not limited to, visual art, creative writing, dance, film, media production, music, and theatre to share ideas, collaborate, and develop professionally in order to best serve our constituencies’ unique needs. The Interest Group advocates and communicates the work of arts library organizations, such as the Music Library Association and the MLA-Midwest Chapter, with hopes for communication from other arts-library organizations in the future, such as TLA and ARLIS-NA. Through virtual meetings, the group has brought together librarians across Michigan for collaborative efforts, including conference presentations and feedback on day-to-day projects. In this session, three members of the Interest Group share how the group started, the benefits of connecting with local arts librarians, and future plans for the group. Librarians interested in making connections with other professionals across their region will gain ideas for starting similar groups and fostering relationships with local colleagues