The Effect of Milwaukee’s Parental Choice Program on Student Achievement in Milwaukee Public Schools

This paper examines evidence on the “systemic effects” of expanding school choice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Milwaukee is home to one of the nation’s largest and longest-running school choice programs. If there are systemic effects from expanding school choice we should be able to see them in Milwaukee. This paper also introduces a novel method for analyzing systemic effects. Taking full advantage of student-level data, we develop a new measure of those effects based on the extent of voucher options that each student has each year. The idea behind this measure is that school systems face greater competitive pressure to serve students well when students have more options to leave. This type of measure might be useful for future analyses of systemic effects. Using this new approach, we find that students fare better academically when they have more options from Milwaukee’s voucher program. The effects are modest in magnitude, but they are robust to multiple specifications of the model

Self-Sovereign Identity and the Decentralized, Consent-Based Model

The centralized third-party authentication model for digital identity validation is obsolete in light of newer and more secure means of ensuring accurate digital identification. Governments, private organizations, and citizens should be encouraged to explore the means by which they can maximize the latest in digital developments to protect themselves and their online identities. California should begin to implement the precepts of the decentralized Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) model, which is superior to its predecessor in its simplicity, as it requires only three things to validate a digital identity: (1) a blockchain which has the information necessary to satisfy the consensus algorithm ensuring adequate replication across the network nodes; (2) verifiable credentials; and (3) decentralized identifiers. Because this system is predicated on a trustless Proof of Work (PoW) model, at present, blockchains are practically immutable, thus making it impossible to falsify or forge information on them. The use of cryptographic hash functions ensures that the security of each block of data is independently secured from one another, and ultimately known only to the controller and owner of the information: the user. California should join other state and national governments in the research and implementation of SSI-compliant models of governance to better protect and support the needs of its citizenry in an increasingly digitized world

Stunting death: affect, attraction and authenticity in Rated-R superhero cinema

2018 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Stunt work is an ever-present and typically overlooked aspect of film production. The labor goes unseen by design; traditionally, Hollywood studio hierarchies regarded a good stunt performer as one who altogether eluded audience detection. The early star system's stunt performers did not see their names splashed across film industry magazines as happens today. Even contemporarily, studios and surrounding paratextual discourse systematically de-emphasize the stunt even in cases where certain stunt performers become, as Lauren Steimer put it, "hypervisible." The trick works perhaps too well, as Steimer remains one of few scholars to studies stunts. Several of these few have called for stunt work's theoretical and generic expansion. The impetus for doing so is a fundamentally ethical one. How can a society view and engage with entertainment while being unaware of those who willingly risk injury and death to imbue films with authentic action? Stunt scholarship thus far has focused primarily on stunt worker's history—from their origins as human flies, bridge-jumpers and other daredevils to feckless circus clowns and all these characters' eventual absorption into Hollywood sets. Scholars also discuss ways in which stunt work complicates traditional understandings of film diegesis. I further articulate the stunt's relationship with diegetic narrative, tracing its functions through the cinema of attractions, avant-garde spectatorship, documentary space and other story-breaking constructs. In doing so, I hope to heed one particular scholarly call to evaluate this ubiquitous brand of labor within the brightly colored, ultra-violent and action-driven world of R-Rated superhero films. Fox studios recently produced two Deadpool (2016, 2018) films and Logan (2017). Critics hailed them as groundbreaking achievements within a genre that has typically eschewed not only fourth-wall-breaking humor, but gratuitous blood and gore. Something in the characters of Wade Wilson and old man Logan reflects common perceptions of stunt people. They must surely leap back up after any injury, much like the rapidly healing antiheroes they play in these films. Industry dialectic encourages a kind of spectatorship that does not linger on the stunt body's ethereal appearance on-screen. In removing attention from the stunt, such coverage tacitly preserves audience immersion in narrative while distracting attentions from the pain and sacrifice comprising the stunt performer's career. Since these performers give filmgoers authentic-looking affective thrills, I argue for a closer look at what is not meant to be seen

Islamophobia “Trumps” Reason

Op Eds, or opinion editorials, are typically published in daily newspapers and can raise awareness about a particular topic or aim to persuade others. For this project each student wrote an op-ed in which they presented their opinion or thoughts about the issue of islamophobic discourse coming from Republican candidates, especially Donald Trump

Wood-Fired Train Kiln

My research focused on constructing a wood-fired train kiln. I utilized ashlar fine tooled masonry techniques to create a dry-stacked formation. Primarily, I analyzed the different materials to which I had access and determined the proper steps to create an ideal structure. In order to accomplish this, I sorted, cut, and shaved various series of both insulating and dense fire bricks to create a perfect fit, an expansion joint or a level surface. If a level surface could not be attained using solely bricks then a compound termed “butter” was applied, but I utilized a high temperature refractory mortar when I required a brick to be held in place. Furthermore, arches are formed to span the door, chamber, firebox and throat of the kiln using skewback along with varying arch brick, and subsequently, a steel frame is used to buttress the arches as well as hold the bricks in place during expansion; for this reason, I ascertained the importance of inspecting the structure to be true, level, flush, and plum. Through my research, I determined it is of the utmost importance one understands everything about their materials on hand; this allowed me to design a kiln to fit together in both a tight and level manner atop an unlevel foundation. I found that the efficiency of building a dry-stacked kiln is reliant upon organizing bricks according to their differences in height by sixteenths of an inch. In addition, a brick saw and several levels must be used with precision accuracy

Neurologic Changes and Depression

This article covers current research on the relationship between depression and cognitive impairment in older adults. First, it approaches the clinical assessment of late-life depression and comorbid cognitive impairment. Cognitive risk factors for suicide are discussed. Research is then provided on neuropsychological changes associated with depression, discussing subjective cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia profiles. Additionally, literature regarding neuroimaging and biomarker findings in depressed older adults is presented. Finally, therapeutic models for treatment of late-life depression are also discussed, including psychotherapy models, holistic treatments, pharmacologic approaches, and brain-stimulation therapies

Lack of evidence for decreased protein stability in the 2397 (Met) haplotype of the leucine rich repeat kinase 2 protein implicated in Parkinson’s disease

Missense mutations in the leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene are the leading genetic cause of autosomal dominant familial Parkinson’s disease. We previously reported that two mutations within the ROC domain, namely R1441C and A1442P, exhibit increased protein degradation leading to lowered steady state LRRK2 protein levels in HEK293 cells. More recently, the common WD40 domain LRRK2 haplotype, Met2397, which is a risk factor for Crohn’s disease, has been shown to lower steady state protein levels in HEK293 cells. In view of recent evidence implicating LRRK2 and inflame-mation in PD, we investigated the effects of Met2397 on LRRK2 expression, and compared them to the Thr2397 variant and other LRRK2 mutants. In this study, we transfected HEK293 cells with plasmid constructs encoding the different LRRK2 variants, and analyzed the resulting protein levels by Western blot and flow cytometry. Here we found that both the Met2397 and Thr2397 haplotypes yield similar levels of LRRK2 protein expression and do not appear to impact cell viability in HEK293 cells, compared to other LRRK mutants. Thus, we have concluded that the Met2397 haplotype is unlikely to play a role in LRRK2 mediated or idiopathic PD

Deep Chandra Observations of the Compact Starburst Galaxy Henize 2-10: X-rays from the Massive Black Hole

We present follow-up X-ray observations of the candidate massive black hole (BH) in the nucleus of the low-mass, compact starburst galaxy Henize 2-10. Using new high-resolution observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory totaling 200 ks in duration, as well as archival Chandra observations from 2001, we demonstrate the presence of a previously unidentified X-ray point source that is spatially coincident with the known nuclear radio source in Henize 2-10 (i.e., the massive BH). We show that the hard X-ray emission previously identified in the 2001 observation is dominated by a source that is distinct from the nucleus, with the properties expected for a high-mass X-ray binary. The X-ray luminosity of the nuclear source suggests the massive BH is radiating significantly below its Eddington limit (~10^-6 L_Edd), and the soft spectrum resembles other weakly accreting massive BHs including Sagittarius A*. Analysis of the X-ray light curve of the nucleus reveals the tentative detection of a ~9-hour periodicity, although additional observations are required to confirm this result. Our study highlights the need for sensitive high-resolution X-ray observations to probe low-level accretion, which is the dominant mode of BH activity throughout the Universe.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. 7 pages, 4 figure

SALT Long-slit Spectroscopy of Luminous Obscured Quasars: An Upper Limit on the Size of the Narrow-Line Region?

We present spatially resolved long-slit spectroscopy from the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) to examine the spatial extent of the narrow-line regions (NLRs) of a sample of 8 luminous obscured quasars at 0.10 < z < 0.43. Our results are consistent with an observed shallow slope in the relationship between NLR size and L_[OIII], which has been interpreted to indicate that NLR size is limited by the density and ionization state of the NLR gas rather than the availability of ionizing photons. We also explore how the NLR size scales with a more direct measure of instantaneous AGN power using mid-IR photometry from WISE, which probes warm to hot dust near the central black hole and so, unlike [OIII], does not depend on the properties of the NLR. Using our results as well as samples from the literature, we obtain a power-law relationship between NLR size and L_8micron that is significantly steeper than that observed for NLR size and L_[OIII]. We find that the size of the NLR goes approximately as L^(1/2)_8micron, as expected from the simple scenario of constant-density clouds illuminated by a central ionizing source. We further see tentative evidence for a flattening of the relationship between NLR size and L_8micron at the high luminosity end, and propose that we are seeing a limiting NLR size of 10 - 20 kpc, beyond which the availability of gas to ionize becomes too low. We find that L_[OIII] ~ L_8micron^(1.4), consistent with a picture in which the L_[OIII] is dependent on the volume of the NLR. These results indicate that high-luminosity quasars have a strong effect in ionizing the available gas in a galaxy.Comment: 9 Pages, 5 figures, accepted to Ap

Indigenizing City Planning Processes in Saskatoon, Canada

The article examines how the City of Saskatoon’s strategies for working with Indigenouscommunities in high-level planning processes leading to its Strategic Plan 2013-2023 relate to three concepts framing the academic literature on how to re-calibratestate-Indigenous society relations at the urban municipal level: Indigenization, coproduction,and coexistence. We argue that indigenizing mainstream city planningprocesses through authentic forms of partnership will increase Indigenous densitywithin our shared cities. Qualitative interviews with leaders from City Hall andAboriginal communities revealed a disconnection between municipal and Indigenousparticipants’ ideas about inclusion. The City’s mechanisms of consultation engagedIndigenous communities as stakeholder interest groups, but not as autonomouspolitical communities wanting to share control as full partners. A civic culture andinstitutional structures that affirm and operationalize indigeneity would have improvedthe outcome of Saskatoon’s planning processes