Open Water: Affirmative Action, Mismatch Theory and Swarming Predators: A Response to Richard Sander

Open Water offers a sharp normative critique of Richard Sander\u27s Stanford Law Review study (57 STAN. L. REV. 367 (2004)) that claims to prove empirically that affirmative action positively injures African American law students. Sander\u27s law review article and conclusions are troublesome for a range of reasons and my critique unfolds as follows: First, Sander promulgates an objectionable form of racial paternalism in his anti-affirmative action study; Second, Sander casts himself in the fateful and historically disturbing role of the Great White Father ; Third, Sander seemingly manipulated the mass media in drawing attention to his study and purported findings, particularly the use of his real life role as the father of a biracial son and his claim that he came to his difficult conclusions as a sympathetic and reluctant white liberal; and Fourth, Sander fails to consider, in any recognizable sense, crucial issues that impact his conclusions such as the clear benefits of diversity in the law school classroom and the significant work that law school admissions committees\u27 undertake in evaluating applicants aside from straight LSAT and GPA considerations. Most distressing is that while Sander\u27s study sheds light upon troubling statistics that he did not create (not new, just now more publicized) that expose the serious United States education problem of the racial testing gap between white students and minority students and the bar examination passage gap between black and white students, he does not undertake a fundamental examination of the root causes of these problems. These are very serious evils indeed - disturbing issues that many in the legal academy should be (and are) working hard to understand and resolve. Sander however takes the easy road looking for a scapegoat upon which he can pin the entirety of the racial testing gap predicament, rather than undertaking a careful and thoughtful examination of the sources of the problem. Sander chooses his scapegoat (affirmative action) and then attaches the resolution of these problems on eliminating that scapegoat. My article criticizes Sander for each of these reasons, and then offers a much different path toward resolution

Personal Food Computer: A new device for controlled-environment agriculture

Due to their interdisciplinary nature, devices for controlled-environment agriculture have the possibility to turn into ideal tools not only to conduct research on plant phenology but also to create curricula in a wide range of disciplines. Controlled-environment devices are increasing their functionalities as well as improving their accessibility. Traditionally, building one of these devices from scratch implies knowledge in fields such as mechanical engineering, digital electronics, programming, and energy management. However, the requirements of an effective controlled environment device for personal use brings new constraints and challenges. This paper presents the OpenAg Personal Food Computer (PFC); a low cost desktop size platform, which not only targets plant phenology researchers but also hobbyists, makers, and teachers from elementary to high-school levels (K-12). The PFC is completely open-source and it is intended to become a tool that can be used for collective data sharing and plant growth analysis. Thanks to its modular design, the PFC can be used in a large spectrum of activities.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, Accepted at the 2017 Future Technologies Conference (FTC

The Development of Visual Sociology: A view from the inside

This paper is a reflection by one of the founding members of the IVSA (International Visual Sociology Association) about the events, ideas, social trends and revolutions within sociology that contributed to development of visual sociology. In 2016 the IVSA entered its 34th year and the author has been a participant in the organization for its full duration. The paper details the importance of documentary photography in the early era of visual sociology. During this era key papers by Howard Becker contributed to the intellectual movement’s original intellectual definition and created a pedagogical model that has served as a model for teaching visual sociology to this day. Moving from visual sociology as a method based on black and white photography, the discipline embraced and developed collaborative methods including photo elicitation and photovoice. A parallel track of visual sociology focused on the analysis of the visual dimension of society, drawing on semiotics and cultural studies. More recently visual sociology has begun to explore the rapidly changing meaning and social function of photographic imagery, as cameras and images have become ubiquitous in the cell phone era

The image in sociology : histories and issues

While photography had established a minor presence in early American sociology, it was not until the 1970s that a practice of « visual sociology » became recognized as a subfield of the parent discipline. In anthropology, photography was used to gather data to support theories of social evolution popular in the early 20th century, but photography as a data gathering device fell into disuse as the theoretical focus of anthropology changed. In the 1940s, the pioneering work of Bateson and Mead reinvigorated the use of still photography in the analysis of culture. To this day, however, still photography remains underutilized in relation to film and video in visual anthropology.I suggest that for visual sociology to fully develop, it must continue to embrace a theoretical dimension. Furthermore, visual sociology must address postmodernism criticisms of documentary photography (from which much visual sociology takes its form) and scientific field reporting. Finally, I suggest that visual sociology offers a new means of gathering and presenting social science data. These experimental forms include photo elicitation, visual narrative, and the non‑linear organization of visual information in hyperlogic texts.Alors que la photographie était présente à une petite échelle dans la sociologie américaine des débuts, il fallut attendre les années 1970 pour que la pratique de la « sociologie visuelle » gagne une reconnaissance en tant que sous‑champ de la sociologie. En anthropologie la photographie avait servi à rassembler des données pour appuyer les théories de l’évolution sociale, courantes au début du XXe siècle. Son usage tomba en désuétude avec le changement d’orientation théorique de la discipline. Dans les années 1940, le travail pionnier de Bateson et Mead relança l’utilisation de la photographie dans l’analyse de la culture. Néanmoins, et jusqu’à aujourd’hui, l’image fixe demeure sous‑utilisée en anthropologie visuelle, comparativement au film et à la vidéo.Je suggère que, pour atteindre son plein développement, la sociologie visuelle continue à embrasser une dimension théorique. En outre, elle doit reprendre les critiques post‑modernistes formulées à l’encontre du documentaire photographique (dont elle a repris largement la forme) et des comptes rendus scientifiques de terrain. Enfin, il me semble que la sociologie visuelle offre une nouvelle manière de récolter et de présenter les données des sciences sociales. Ces formes expérimentales comprennent l’entretien à partir de photographies, la narration en images et l’organisation non-linéaire des informations visuelles au moyen de l’hypertexte

The Effects of Fish Trap Mesh Size on Reef Fish Catch off Southeastern Florida

Catch and mesh selectivity of wire-meshed fish traps were tested for eleven different mesh sizes ranging from 13 X 13 mm (0.5 x 0.5") to 76 x 152 mm (3 X 6"). A total of 1,810 fish (757 kg) representing 85 species and 28 families were captured during 330 trap hauls off southeastern Florida from December 1986 to July 1988. Mesh size significantly affected catches. The 1.5" hexagonal mesh caught the most fish by number, weight, and value. Catches tended to decline as meshes got smaller or larger. Individual fish size increased with larger meshes. Laboratory mesh retention experiments showed relationships between mesh shape and size and individual retention for snapper (Lutjanidae), grouper (Serranidae), jack (Carangidae), porgy (Sparidae), and surgeonfish (Acanthuridae). These relationships may be used to predict the effect of mesh sizes on catch rates. Because mesh size and shape greatly influenced catchability, regulating mesh size may provide a useful basis for managing the commercial trap fishery

Esthetic and Recreational Potential of Small Naturalistic Streams Near Urban Areas

The purpose of this study was to find a way to evaluate the esthetic and recreational potential of small streams and their watersheds. Research was limited to naturalistic streams with drainage areas under 100 square miles and located within 25 miles of a city. A methodology, based on some previous work of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service and the principles or concepts of terrain analysis, land use planning, value Judgment philosophy and the economics of outdoor recreation, was developed and applied in detail to two streams (Boone and Jessamine Creeks) near Lexington, Kentucky. Evaluations were made of the streams\u27 potential for camping (primitive, transient and group), fishing, picnicking, a trail system (hiking, horseback riding, bicycling and auto tour routes), esthetic enjoyment (sightseeing, nature walks and walking for pleasure) and the establishment of natural, scenic and historic areas, Limited applications were also made to two other watersheds and to selected recreation sites on Boone and Jessamine Creeks. Extensions of these case studies resulted in procedures for estimating: visitation to a developed site, future participation demand generated by an urban area and the proportion of that demand that would be satisfied at a specific site, and the economic benefits that would accrue if the sites were developed. Conclusions reached were: (1) Esthetic and recreational values can be identified, inventoried and used to evaluate a watershed\u27s development potential. (2) The methodology yielded fairly accurate evaluations for most of the recreational activities considered. (3) The case studies revealed that many small stream areas possess medium to high potential for camping, fishing, picnicking, trail system development and some forms of esthetic enjoyment. (4) Visitation estimates were judged to be only approximate due to lack of relevant data on similar existing recreation areas. Estimates of participation demand, acreage requirements and annual benefits were somewhat more reliable. Suggestions for further research include: (1) Additional applications of the evaluation methodology to streams in other Kentucky urban areas and in states having climatic, topographic and socio-economic conditions different from Kentucky\u27s and (2) A feasibility study of the use of a psychometrics approach to determine personal preferences about outdoor recreation and the preservation of natural areas

UA66/8/2 Climate of Middlesboro, Kentucky

Climatological summary of weather and temperatures for Middlesboro, Kentucky from 1951 to 1980