Ethnography, education and on-line research

This paper is an attempt to establish the methodological basis for carrying out ethnographies of online education communities, in particular in the Continuing Professional Development VITAL project co-ordinated by the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at The Open University www.vital.ac.uk/ A much shorter earlier draft version of this paper was given at the Qualitative Research For Web 2.0/3.0: The Next Leap! 25 & 26 March 2010 in Berlin. Organised by Merlien. The arguments and references in this paper are almost all to be found in two books 'one authored and one edited – by Professor Christine Hine of Surrey University, UK (Hine 2000; Hine 2005)

Hopeless to Homeless to Hired to Housing: Helping transition our homeless veteran heroes into American communities by identifying the potential short-term and long-term problems and risks that lower enlisted servicemen and servicewomen have when leaving the military that can lead to housing insecurity and homelessness in the post 9-11 era

The author\u27s focus is what happens to our military men and women after they come home from wars “over there” and what happens after their last day when they put on civilian clothes and decide to hang up the uniform for good. There will always be wars and will always be a need to help care for and help integrate combat veterans back into everyday society in America. Both the soldier and his or her family will need help. A recent motto of Department of Veteran’s Affairs office was borrowed from President Abraham Lincoln- “To help care for him who have borne the battle, and his widow and his orphan”.. The title of this study is also a window into the research done for this study- Hopeless to Homeless to Hired to Housing: Helping transition our homeless veteran heroes into American communities by identifying the potential short-term and long-term problems and risks that lower enlisted servicemen and servicewomen have when leaving the military that can lead to housing insecurity and homelessness in the post 9-11 era . Both military and civilian agencies and programs such as FourBlock, DoD Skillbridge, Flanders Fields and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) are explored for their contributions before, during and after life in the military to help end veteran homelessnes

How Volcanic Explosions Interface with Infrastructure: A Brief Analysis of Volcano Infrasound\u27s Influence on Fuego Observatory Near Fuego Volcano, Guatemala

In 2022, roughly 9 kilometers from the summit of the volcano at Fuego Observatory in Guatemala, our team deployed two arrays of low frequency microphones (infrasound sensors) to capture the effects of Fuego Volcano’s semi-active period explosions on the observatory building. We hypothesized a discernible differential pressure signal and frequency spectra content between sensors placed inside and outside of the observatory. The peak force exerted on a building by volcano infrasound, depending upon the strength of the explosion and distance from it, may be enough to damage windows or even entire buildings if they are poorly built/kept. This presentation aims to contextualize volcanic explosion emitted infrasound as a potential geophysical hazard capable of harming infrastructure

Enduring Originalism

If our law requires originalism in constitutional interpretation, then that would be a good reason to be an originalist. This insight animates what many have begun to call the positive turn in originalism. Defenses of originalism in this vein are positive in that they are based on the status of the Constitution, and constitutional law, as positive law. This approach shifts focus away from abstract conceptual or normative arguments about interpretation and focuses instead on how we actually understand and apply the Constitution as law. On these grounds, originalism rests on a factual claim about the content of our law: that we regard the framers\u27 law, and any other further lawful changes, as our law today. If we do not, originalism is not the law and perhaps should be abandoned in favor of what is. The Article proceeds as follows. Part I outlines the positive turn in originalism, one of the most important and promising developments in originalist theory in recent years. After noting the approach\u27s benefits, we offer jurisprudential objections to its foundations. Part II explains how the positive turn\u27s appealing form of originalism is better grounded in a broader understanding of the moral point of constitutions. Far from being a musty, sectarian artifact, the classical natural law tradition of reasoning about positive law\u27s moral purpose animated the framers\u27 understanding of our Constitution and provides the most persuasive reason for continued adherence to that original law today. Part III addresses the difficulties that today\u27s nonoriginalist practices present to one normatively committed to original law, while also explaining why the appeal of originalism endures in the face of those challenges

Creative Self-Expression for Hospitalized Patients: The Practice and Assessment of an Innovative Oral Storytelling Program at the University of Michigan Health System

This breakout session focuses on a two-year old integrative program across the fields of narrative art, healthcare, and psychology that enables patients to collaboratively develop and then record a story at the bedside. Examining these stories may enhance our collective understanding of the role creativity and human resiliency plays in sustaining and supporting personal identity in the face of illness, chronic illness, and disability. The panel discusses research findings, share audio stories recorded at the bedside, and offer a brief participative workshop, giving attendees an opportunity to experience our storytelling facilitation approach

Recovering Classical Legal Constitutionalism: A Critique of Professor Vermeule\u27s New Theory

This Review proceeds in three Parts. Part I briefly summarizes Common Good Constitutionalism and provides a more detailed description of four of the book’s distinctive features. Part II critiques Vermeule’s argument in light of the classical tradition’s four essential aspects of law, namely that it is an ordinance of reason, for the common good, made by one who has care of the community, and promulgated. Part III draws on those reflections to respond to Vermeule’s criticisms of work like ours that argues that original-law-based understandings of the Constitution are at home in the classical legal tradition. A Conclusion briefly reflects on the choices facing the classical natural lawyer in the American constitutional order going forward

Voluntary Intoxication as a Mitigating Circumstance during the Death Penalty Sentencing Phase: A Proposal for Reform Comment.

When the State of Texas seeks the death penalty against a defendant, the trial court conducts a sentencing proceeding under Article 37.071 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. This proceeding determines whether the defendant will receive the death penalty. During deliberation, the jury must consider all mitigating evidence. The defendant may claim his voluntary intoxication as a mitigating factor. Under Tex. Pen. Code § 8.04(b), the court instructs the jury to consider evidence of voluntary intoxication only if it rendered the defendant temporarily insane. Although Article 37.071 calls upon juries to consider “all” mitigating evidence, a Section 8.04 instruction actually impairs the jury’s prerogative to consider non-insane intoxication. By restricting a jury’s ability to hear relevant evidence of non-insane intoxication, Section 8.04 undermines the fairness of the current sentencing scheme, produces inconsistent results, and is not consistently available. The unpredictable applications of Section 8.04(b) in these two cases illustrate the uncertainty capital defendants face in determining whether and how courts will instruct the jury during the sentencing phase regarding the mitigating factor of voluntary intoxication. Critics of Section 8.04(b) assert Texas has virtually removed the role of voluntary intoxication as mitigation for sentencing purposes. The Eighth Amendment requires the court to allow the defendant to present relevant mitigating evidence. Texas appears to comply with this mandate; yet, Section 8.04(b) requires jury instructions stating they cannot consider this evidence unless it rises to the level of temporary insanity. Article 37.071 is not curative of the limiting effects of Section 8.04(b); thus, the Texas intoxication statute unconstitutionally restricts the sentencer in a capital trial from considering relevant mitigating evidence. This restriction has the potential of resulting in erroneous verdicts and a deprivation of justice. The long-term fairness of the Texas death penalty scheme depends upon reform

The very large G-protein coupled receptor VLGR1: a component of the ankle link complex required for the normal development of auditory hair bundles

Sensory hair bundles in the inner ear are composed of stereocilia that can be interconnected by a variety of different link types, including tip links, horizontal top connectors, shaft connectors, and ankle links. The ankle link antigen is an epitope specifically associated with ankle links and the calycal processes of photoreceptors in chicks. Mass spectrometry and immunoblotting were used to identify this antigen as the avian ortholog of the very large G-protein-coupled receptor VLGR1, the product of the Usher syndrome USH2C (Mass1) locus. Like ankle links, Vlgr1 is expressed transiently around the base of developing hair bundles in mice. Ankle links fail to form in the cochleae of mice carrying a targeted mutation in Vlgr1 (Vlgr1/del7TM), and the bundles become disorganized just after birth. FM1-43 [N-(3-triethylammonium)propyl)-4-(4-(dibutylamino)styryl) pyridinium dibromide] dye loading and whole-cell recordings indicate mechanotransduction is impaired in cochlear, but not vestibular, hair cells of early postnatal Vlgr1/del7TM mutant mice. Auditory brainstem recordings and distortion product measurements indicate that these mice are severely deaf by the third week of life. Hair cells from the basal half of the cochlea are lost in 2-month-old Vlgr1/del7TM mice, and retinal function is mildly abnormal in aged mutants. Our results indicate that Vlgr1 is required for formation of the ankle link complex and the normal development of cochlear hair bundles