Does Political Affirmative Action Work, and for Whom? Theory and Evidence on India’s Scheduled Areas

Does political affirmative action undermine or promote development, and for whom? We examine Scheduled Areas in India, which reserve political office for the historically disadvantaged Scheduled Tribes. We apply a new theoretical framework and dataset of 217,000 villages to evaluate the overall impact of affirmative action on development, as well as its distributional consequences for minorities and non-minorities. Examining effects on the world’s largest employment program, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, we find that reservations deliver no worse overall outcomes, that there are large gains for targeted minorities, and that these gains come at the cost of the relatively privileged, not other minorities. We also find broader improvements in other pro-poor policies, including a rural roads program and general public goods. Contrary to the expectations of affirmative action skeptics, our results indicate that affirmative action can redistribute both political and economic power without hindering overall development

Enough Being Reasonable: Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Moral Absolutism's Contribution to Democracy

Political theory that addresses morality's role in politics most often emphasizes the need for political actors who are moral compromisers. Politicians have a responsibility to serve the people, and they will sometimes be faced with a dilemma: either stick to their personal morals or violate those morals because the political office requires it; many political theorists insist that these politicians should do the latter. These theorists value consensus as a fundamental cornerstone of democracy, and they associate a willingness to sacrifice one's personal morality for the greater good with a democratic ideology and mindset. They typically dismiss the potentially positive influence that moral absolutists, especially ones who are able to build public support and therefore power behind their causes, might have on a democracy. This thesis challenges theorists to consider potential democratic benefits of oppositional moral absolutists who ground their arguments in democratic rhetoric and principles. It pushes these theorists, then, to consider both how oppositional moral absolutists and how confrontation and conflict might serve democratic interests and society. The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) movement of the 1960s is used as the central case study to make this argument.Honors (Bachelor's)Political ScienceUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162565/1/nihaas.pd

Automated Pollen Image Classification

This Master of Science thesis reviews previous research, proposes a method anddemonstrates proof-of-concept software for the automated matching of pollen grainimages to satisfy degree requirements at the University of Tennessee. An ideal imagesegmentation algorithm and shape representation data structure is selected, alongwith a multi-phase shape matching system. The system is shown to be invariantto synthetic image translation, rotation, and to a lesser extent global contrast andintensity changes. The proof-of-concept software is used to demonstrate how pollengrains can be matched to images of other pollen grains, stored in a database, thatshare similar features with up to a 75% accuracy rate

Statistical inferences for the Cauchy distribution based on maximum likelihood estimators

Various estimators of the location and scale parameters in the Cauchy distribution are investigated, and the superiority of the maximum likelihood estimators is established. Tables based on maximum likelihood estimators are presented for use in making statistical inferences for the Cauchy distribution. Those areas considered include confidence intervals, tests of hypothesis, power of the tests, and tolerance intervals. Both one- and two-sample problems are considered. Tables for testing the hypothesis of whether a sample came from a normal distribution or a Cauchy distribution are presented. The problems encountered in finding maximum likelihood estimators for the Cauchy parameters are discussed, and a computer program for obtaining the estimates is included --Abstract, page ii

Systemic Risk and Hedge Funds

Systemic risk is commonly used to describe the possibility of a series of correlated defaults among financial institutions---typically banks---that occur over a short period of time, often caused by a single major event. However, since the collapse of Long Term Capital Management in 1998, it has become clear that hedge funds are also involved in systemic risk exposures. The hedge-fund industry has a symbiotic relationship with the banking sector, and many banks now operate proprietary trading units that are organized much like hedge funds. As a result, the risk exposures of the hedge-fund industry may have a material impact on the banking sector, resulting in new sources of systemic risks. In this paper, we attempt to quantify the potential impact of hedge funds on systemic risk by developing a number of new risk measures for hedge funds and applying them to individual and aggregate hedge-fund returns data. These measures include: illiquidity risk exposure, nonlinear factor models for hedge-fund and banking-sector indexes, logistic regression analysis of hedge-fund liquidation probabilities, and aggregate measures of volatility and distress based on regime-switching models. Our preliminary findings suggest that the hedge-fund industry may be heading into a challenging period of lower expected returns, and that systemic risk is currently on the rise.

Digital, Automated Reactive Target System

In this era, technology is woven into almost every facet of our leisure activities. Although technology has innovated hobbies ranging from chess to soccer, the art of shooting has been neglected. Unnecessary insufficiency such as bullet ricochets off of mechanical steel targets, ineffective progress tracking, and general inaccessibility to outdoor training facilities are all improvable areas of this sport. The Dynamic Automated Reactive Target (D.A.R.T) System aims to fill some of these gaps and help modernize recreational marksmanship. Modeling the system after a dueling tree will optimize the use of the system and allow for different training models to challenge the marksman. The system will utilize accelerometers to collect accurate data regarding target tracking from the user during training, and custom motor controllers allow for optimized movement response times of each target. To ensure safety and increase efficiency, Bluetooth communication will grant the marksman control of the system from anywhere within the range with the use of any portable device. With the algorithms developed, multiple different training simulations can be practiced. In all, the D.A.R.T. System will revolutionize the safety and convenience of shooting sports