Deepwater Horizon and the Law of the Sea: Was the Cure Worse than the Disease?

The number 4.9 million is commonly known as the number of barrels of crude oil that entered the Gulf of Mexico during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Less known, but perhaps equally disconcerting, is the number 1.7 million—the number of gallons of Corexit, a toxic dispersant used to mitigate oil spills, that was also released into the Gulf of Mexico. Some observers claim that Corexit spared shorelines, wetlands, and beaches from the worst of the oil spill. Others, however, argue that Corexit was at best a massive ecotoxicological experiment that could impair the marine environment for years. With a focus on the use of Corexit during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, this Article concludes that laws and regulations in the United States do not meet the standards set by Article 194 and Article 195 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In light of the overall purpose of UNCLOS to “protect and preserve the marine environment,” however, the United States might be able to meet the standards of at least Article 194 by ensuring that the use of dispersants is authorized only if the dispersants result in a net environmental benefit and are the optimal dispersants to use for the unique situation of an oil spill. Finally, the future of oil spill remediation could involve genetically engineered microorganisms to clean up spills, but the United States regulatory regime does not seem to protect the marine environment from bioengineered microbes and therefore falls short of meeting the standards of Article 196 of UNCLOS, which regulates the introduction of alien or new species. Because UNCLOS represents customary international law, the United States should strive to meet the marine pollution provisions of the treaty

Unitary Theory, Consolidation of Presidential Authority, and the Breakdown of Constitutional Principles in Immigration Law

This paper will argue that beginning with President Reagan the adoption of unitary theory as a central tenet in presidential administrations created a now ongoing consolidation of executive regulatory authority. This consolidation of power has considerably accelerated over the course of the last four decades. As Courts continue to defer to the executive in decisions made within the broad grants of power delegated by Congress, the relevance of the legislative body dwindles. The checks on executive assumption of power have largely been removed. The wall between the executive and the administrative have crumbled, and what were once considered unofficially separate branches are merging. This convergence of both the power to enforce and create the laws has no other outcome but to create significant questions of power allocation and constitutionality in immigration law and beyond. This idea will be explored through the historical evolution of United States immigration law, the executive’s expansions of power, and the gradual rise of the modern American administrative state

Assessing the Economic Viability of Arkansas Farms under the 2018 Farm Bill

For over a century, the American agricultural industry has relied on federal government support to aid in the maintenance and expansion of farming operations. Since 1933, a series of 18 farm bills have shaped agricultural policy into what is commonly known as the agricultural safety net. The 2018 farm bill was passed on December 20, 2018 and is the most recent update of the agricultural safety net. Commodity programs and federal crop insurance are two key components of today’s agricultural safety net, and many times, these programs may be the difference between a net loss and a positive net income for many producers. The objective of this study is to examine the safety net as it is designed in the 2018 farm bill, and assess its contribution to the economic viability of Arkansas farms. Using a set of representative Arkansas farms, this study simulates the production and financial characteristics of these farms over the life of the 2018 farm bill to quantify the effects of commodity program payments and crop insurance payments on overall financial health. The projected farm models generate large government support payments in all five-year life of the 2018 farm bill (2019-2023) leading to more financially sustainable farm performance across all five farms

Gentrification and Displacement: Connections Between Changing Housing Typologies and Long-Time Residents’ Quality of Life in East Austin, Texas

This thesis investigates the impacts of gentrification on quality of life, displacement, and housing typology in East Austin, Texas. The neighborhood is examined as a case study and example of the concepts discussed. Evaluated through both a qualitative and quantitative lens, this study serves as a report and update on the continued disruption of the living patterns of minority residents in the city. Recommendations are given to mitigate displacement for East Austin residents and improve the quality of life for those remaining. By identifying the connection between changing housing typology and displacement impacts, this report aspires to give designers a better understanding of the impact of their work on the contexts in which they build

Topological Manifolds

Topological Manifolds are abstract spaces that locally resemble Euclidean space. For example, consider a round globe and a flat map. The map is a 2-dimensional representation of a 3-dimensional space. Given any point on the globe we can find a corresponding position on the map, and vice versa. This correspondence is called a chart. With a sufficient number of charts, we can describe the whole space. Such a collection of charts is called an Atlas. It is possible to construct different Atlases for the same space, allowing us to move from one chart, to the space, to another chart. This process is called a transition map. The areas of focus for this project include several examples of manifolds such as curves, n-spheres, and the torus. We explore and illustrate different approaches to charts on these manifolds, the properties of a manifold, examples of spaces that fail to meet these requirements, and the derivation of transition maps

Gamma-Ray Bursts via Pair Plasma Fireballs from Heated Neutron Stars

In this paper we model the emission from a relativistically expanding electron-positron pair plasma fireball originating near the surface of a heated neutron star. This pair fireball is deposited via the annihilation of neutrino pairs emanating from the surface of the hot neutron star. The heating of neutron stars may occur in close neutron star binary systems near their last stable orbit. We model the relativistic expansion and subsequent emission of the plasma and find 10^51 to 10^52 ergs in gamma-rays are produced with spectral and temporal properties consistent with observed gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to the Conference Proceedings of the 5th Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposiu

Energy storage in the UK electrical network : estimation of the scale and review of technology options

This paper aims to clarify the difference between stores of energy in the form of non-rechargeable stores of energy such as fossil-fuels, and the storage of electricity by devices that are rechargeable. The existing scale of these two distinct types of storage is considered in the UK context, followed by a review of rechargeable technology options. The storage is found to be overwhelmingly contained within the fossil-fuel stores of conventional generators, but their scale is thought to be determined by the risks associated with long supply chains and price variability. The paper also aims to add to the debate regarding the need to have more flexible supply and demand available within the UK electrical network in order to balance the expected increase of wind derived generation. We conclude that the decarbonisation challenge facing the UK electricity sector should be seen not only as a supply and demand challenge but also as a storage challenge. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Ranches with Wolves: How straight talk is the salvation of open range in the Northern Rockies

Since U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced gray wolves into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995 and 1996, conflicts between wolves and livestock have increased as the wolf population has grown and expanded. Ranchers in wolf country face a changing ecology that now includes wolves as a keystone predator, and failing to adapt to the change has meant hard losses for some ranchers. In other cases, ranchers have found ways to compensate for the reintroduced predator. These ranching situations, both the unchanged and the changed, offer lessons to livestock producers who can anticipate wolves becoming part of the landscape. And the values most likely to make the transition from ranching without a viable wolf population to ranching with a viable population as painless as possible, the ranchers say, are communication and cooperation between themselves, their neighbors, wildlife managers and government trappers

Market Orientation, Alliance Orientation, and Business Performance in the Canadian Biotechnology Industry

There is a large body of research supporting the importance of market orientation in determining performance. A growing body of research supports the notion that strategic alliance management competencies positively influence performance. Few empirical investigations have examined the importance of market orientation in the biotechnology industry, much less the effect of alliance orientation on performance, or the combined effect of market and alliance orientation on performance. This study explores these relationships among Canadian biotechnology companies with medical/healthcare focuses. Of the 394 Canadian medical/healthcare biotechnology companies identified, 81 usable responses were received, yielding a response rate of 20.6 percent. It was found that market orientation positively and significantly influenced business performance, supporting the first hypothesis. Additionally, alliance orientation positively and significantly influenced business performance, supporting the second hypothesis. However, when market and alliance orientation were examined together, alliance orientation’s effect on business performance remained positive and significant, but market orientation’s effect on business performance became negative and non-significant. This prompted a further analysis that investigated the presence of a mediation relationship. Market orientation was fully mediated by alliance orientation in its relationship with business performance. This study contributes academically by adding to market and alliance orientation research and by the successful development of a biotechnology-specific performance instrument. This study contributes to marketing and management strategy, as it outlines performance indicators that enable high performance