A Shplit Ticket, Half Irish, Half Chinay : Representations of Mixed-Race and Hybridity in the Turn-of-the-Century Theater

Charles Townsend\u27s 1889 adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe\u27s Uncle Tom\u27s Cabin features white actors playing light- and dark-skinned African-American characters, changing degrees of make-up as the script, stage business, or number of available players demands. Thomas Denison\u27s stage directions to his 1895 play, Patsy O\u27Wang, an Irish Farce with a Chinese Mix-Up, stipulates that the alternation of the half -Chinese, half-Irish cook between his two ethnic personas is key to this capital farce, and that a comedie use of the Chinese dialect is central to this. The Geezer (c. 1896), Joseph Herbert\u27s spoof of the popular musical, The Geisha, features white actors playing Chinese dignitaries, but also donning German and Irish accents. The white actors in these plays enact different paradigms of hybridity. The actors in Townsend\u27s Uncle Tom\u27s Cabin, a Melodrama in Five Acts embody conceptions of both mixed and unmixed African Americans, freely alternating between each. In Patsy O\u27Wang, the main character\u27s background is central to the story, and the lead actor moves between the two ethnicities by his accent, mannerisms, and politics. Racial mixing is central to the plot of The Geezer through Anglo actors who make themselves hybrid by appearing Chinese and appropriating a third accent, rather than the creation of racially mixed offspring

Alienation in Capitalism: Rediscovering Fulfillment

Many Americans are pessimistic about their country\u27s medium or long-term economic outlook. A century ago, Big Business was born as an economic force, but it has powerfully infiltrated the realm of politics now. The corporate scramble for natural resources has caused global disharmony and domestic economic conflict in the U.S. The capitalist system, which many have come to realize is unsustainable and oppressive, has thus come to fulfill some of the predictions made by earlier critics from Kierkegaard, Rousseau, to Marx. Each believed that a society which is forced to accommodate an oppressive system will inherently display alienation. That is, a person will begin to feel isolated from himself, unhappy (as amply documented in the growing happiness literature), and work without enthusiasm (resulting in lower productivity). Alienation is inextricably linked with all aspects of our lives; it occurs on a material level and we are forced to deal with it on a daily basis. How then does mankind overcome the difficulties posed by alienation? If not capitalism and democracy, then what? This paper discusses these issues in an attempt to give the reader a better understanding of how to overcome alienation and the problems/root causes associated with it

Curvature Corrections to Dynamics of Domain Walls

The most usual procedure for deriving curvature corrections to effective actions for topological defects is subjected to a critical reappraisal. A logically unjustified step (leading to overdetermination) is identified and rectified, taking the standard domain wall case as an illustrative example. Using the appropriately corrected procedure, we obtain a new exact (analytic) expression for the corresponding effective action contribution of quadratic order in the wall width, in terms of the intrinsic Ricci scalar $R$ and the extrinsic curvature scalar $K$. The result is proportional to $cK^2-R$ with the coefficient given by $c\simeq 2$. The resulting form of the ensuing dynamical equations is obtained in terms of the second fundamental form and the Dalembertian of its trace, K. It is argued that this does not invalidate the physical conclusions obtained from the "zero rigidity" ansatz $c=0$ used in previous work.Comment: 19 pages plain TeX, 2 figures include

Neoliberal Environmentalism in the War on Poverty: A Case Study of Carbondale, Illinois

The following thesis examines the city of Carbondale, Illinois, during the tumultuous years between 1965 and 1975. Carbondale was the recipient of large amounts of funding from the Model Cities program, part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. During that time, Carbondale experienced violent anti-war protests and community-wide unrest. At the same time as Model Cities projects began, the modern environmentalism movement surrounding the first observance of Earth Day, April 22, 1970, also occurred. Within four years, environmental groups comprised mostly of white citizens were pitted against African-American community activists working to improve Carbondale’s segregated Northeast neighborhood and the city officials who supported them. Environmental activism in Carbondale was perceived as a source financial gain, as was the Model Cities program. Thus, a neoliberal, marketplace approach was used to sell both activities to the general public rather than appeals to justice, public health, or moral outrage. Most historical accounts of the rise of environmentalism begin with accounts of spectacular national events, yet the story of environmental change in Carbondale contradicts that narrative. Both sides of the struggle were eventually denied success by a combination of generational endemic poverty in Southern Illinois, and lingering racism the War on Poverty programs stoked rather than diffused

Deep into that darkness, peering: A series of studies on the Dark Triad of personality

This submission spans my work undertaken over the course of recent years on sub-clinical narcissism, Machiavellianism, and sub-clinical psychopathy: The Dark Triad of personality. Across this thesis, I present a series of published and unpublished materials that cover these overlapping yet distinct personality traits in relation to their attractiveness to women, short- and long-term mating preferences, broader personality and lifestyle correlates, general and sexual competitiveness (in women), verbal and non-verbal behavioural outcomes in a mate-attraction scenario, and health-related behaviours and longevity. I also apply a form of scale analysis to establish how well these traits are measured across sex and age groups by a short inventory that has seen widespread use in the field. Broadly, I consider these issues against a backdrop of evolutionary psychology, individual differences in personality, sex- and age-related differences, and the perception and measurement of personality traits. Specifically, I consider the need to look beyond self-reports, especially when over-claiming is a serious risk, to simultaneously evaluate sex similarities, as well as sex differences, to develop an understanding of the particular behaviours that are demonstrated by individuals with personalities associated with higher levels of mating success, and the need to subject inventories to rigorous scrutiny, across both classical, and item response testing. In each chapter, I have sought to contribute to the on-going discussions that researchers active in this field are engaged with regarding the future of this rapidly-advancing area of study. Interest in this personality constellation shows no sign of abating – its rise to prominence within evolutionary and personality psychology to date has been swift – and I conclude with thoughts and suggestions as to which areas future research could explore in order to further our understanding of the Dark Triad

MODELING THE EFFECT OF SPATIAL EXTERNALITIES ON INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT

Changes in production conditions associated with biological invasions can be complex. As a result, modeling invasive species management decisions can be difficult. Modeling these decisions is further compounded by externalities associated with spatial relationships among growers. In order to calculate optimal management decisions, an accurate bioeconomic model of the feedback between grower decisions and the new biological interactions created by an invasive species population is needed. In this paper, a bioeconomic model is used to explicitly analyze how externalities caused by spatial relationships among agricultural producers affect optimal invasive species management decisions. The example of the coordinated greenhouse whitefly management in the Oxnard, CA, area is discussed. This is an interesting example because of the complex cycle of host crops used by the whitefly and the effect this cycle has on the optimal whitefly management decisions for strawberry growers. Three research objectives achieved in this paper include first, using the model to assess how the spatial relationship among growers affects incentives for regional invasive pest management. Second, analyze whether current policies could be adjusted to substitute for coordination among growers. Third, the use of the bioeconomic model to identify factors for this specific case that affect whether or not growers may voluntarily coordinate their management decisions. We find that spatial relationships among growers affect the need for coordination in the strawberry/whitefly case. Whitefly migrations across host crop fields require growers to manage the whitefly on a regional basis in order to maximize strawberry producer welfare. The results also indicate that the amount of effort needed to achieve coordination required is limited; the only requirement is that information related to field management be shared among growers of whitefly host crops. The results from the bioeconomic model describe the biological and economic feedback of the grower's decision which allows policymakers to identify the willingness of producers to coordinate at various times of year. In the Oxnard strawberry/whitefly case, for example, growers will not find it optimal to adjust their application timing for a second immigration of adult greenhouse whiteflies when they occur near the end of the season, such as in May or June, but will for earlier points in the season. Three policy implications of the results from the strawberry/whitefly case are also discussed in the paper. First, adjustments to current policies regulating whitefly management do not remove the need for coordination among growers to them. Also, it was found that current policies do not, by themselves, generate the need for coordination. Finally, the results show it is not always necessary to create a central agency for regional invasive species management.Invasive species, strawberry, greenhouse whitefly, externality, optimal management, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Plant chlorophyll content meter

A plant chlorophyll content meter is described which collects light reflected from a target plant and separates the collected light into two different wavelength bands. These wavelength bands, or channels, are described as having center wavelengths of 700 nm and 840 nm. The light collected in these two channels are processed using photo detectors and amplifiers. An analog to digital converter is described which provides a digital representation of the level of light collected by the lens and falling within the two channels. A controller provided in the meter device compares the level of light reflected from a target plant with a level of light detected from a light source, such as light reflected by a target having 100% reflectance, or transmitted through a diffusion receptor. The percent of reflection in the two separate wavelength bands from a target plant are compared to provide a ratio which indicates a relative level of plant physiological stress. A method of compensating for electronic drift is described where a sample is taken when a collection lens is covered to prevent light from entering the device. This compensation method allows for a more accurate reading by reducing error contributions due to electronic drift from environmental conditions at the location where a hand-held unit is used

Across Racial Lines: Three Accounts of Transforming Urban Institutions after a Natural Disaster

At 1:30 p.m. on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina grazed the mostly evacuated city of New Orleans, reserving its most devastating force for coastal Mississippi, just to the east. During the next two days, the federal levees protecting the city failed in multiple places. Sixteen hundred people died in the metropolitan area. Residences and businesses in 80 percent of the city went underwater. Public officials warned residents and business owners that they might not be able to return for two to three months. The scope of devastation in certain parts of the city made ever returning questionable for many residents. Grievous failures of coordination among local, state, and federal governments exacerbated the collective misery, adding general confusion and uncertainty about the city’s very future to deep personal anxieties about homes, jobs, schools, and neighborhoods. What follows are accounts of the post-Katrina transformation of New Orleans by three of its leaders. None had met before these events but became trusted allies and later friends in the crucible of the events they describe. James Carter recounts the creation of an office of independent police monitor to address a longstanding history of racial bias and brutality. Nolan Rollins offers an account of how the governance of a major economic organization was transformed for the benefit of the whole city. And Gregory Rusovich explains the role of diverse, action-oriented coalitions in addressing a range of key issues, including criminal justice reforms and holding elected officials accountable for campaign promises