The California Healthy Youth Act (2016): Strengths, Weakness, and Issues of Implementation

This article analyzes how the CHYA both helps and fails students in different aspects, how the CHYA’s standards are interpreted and taught in real classrooms, and how the act might be improved in the future. There are two forms of data used in the article: expert interviews and observations in two dichotomous California middle schools: one low-income, majority-Hispanic middle school, and one upper-income, majority-white middle school. The CHYA is analyzed on multiple levels: Sex in schools: The Stigmas of Sex Education Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Allies (LGBTQIA/A) Inclusion and Exclusion Pleasure and Porn and Their Exclusion From The CHYA Race, Class, National Origins, and the Problems of Pedagogy Who Should Teach Sex Education and At What Age Should It Be Taught? The CHYA’s strength lies in its amendments of previous legislation that did not mandate sex education throughout California and did not include clear instructions on the mandate of LGBTQIA/A and ethnic/racial/culturally inclusive materials. The act also works to combat popular and controversial stigmas by working with parents and mandating unbiased, transparent, and medically accurate instruction, while also giving schools several different state approved curriculum options. The CHYA mandates many new topics that were not required by previous legislation, and are not only beneficial, but essential to the healthy development of youth. However, despite the CHYA’s improvements, sex education legislation in California still has lengths to go in order to properly serve the youth of the state. Currently the CHYA relies on the implementation of sex education in schools and the enforcement of the law by local sex education advocates. However, while local control is functioning in certain districts for now, it is hard to regulate whether or not programs are following all of the CHYA requirements, and there is not enough state enforcement so that schools provide sex education to their students and the curricula provided adhere to the law. The importance of sex education cannot be understated, and the State of California needs to reassess sex education as a major priority. I believe Californians would benefit from a state-mandated curriculum, and more funding and dedication of state resources to the publicity of new sex education legislation, implementation of sex education, and enforcement of the act. While sex education curriculum is required by the act to be inclusive of LGBTQIA/A students, current curricular options give a lot of leeway to different school districts. A state-mandated curriculum would solve this problem by requiring that schools provide sex education that is inclusive of all different identities. While there might be parental backlash to schools providing LGBTQ inclusive education, a state mandate would protect districts who would have the ability to claim they are only working in compliance with the law. Also, despite provisions that California sex educators must be properly trained in sex education instruction, there is currently no mandate requiring sex educators receive extensive training in LGBTQIA/A inclusion and anti-racist curriculum. A new clause should mandate this education for all sex educators as well as promote the development and instruction of anti-racist lessons. The act must also be updated or amended to include legislation on porn and pleasure topic

Ultrasonic Wavefield Imaging: Research Tool or Emerging NDE Method?

Ultrasonic wavefield imaging refers to acquiring full waveform data over a region of interest for waves generated by a stationary source. Although various implementations of wavefield imaging have existed for many years, the widespread availability of laser Doppler vibrometers that can acquire signals in the high kHz and low MHz range has resulted in a rapid expansion of fundamental research utilizing full wavefield data. In addition, inspection methods based upon wavefield imaging have been proposed for standalone NDE with most of these methods coming from the SHM community and based upon guided waves. If transducers are already embedded in or mounted on the structure as part of an SHM system, then a wavefield-based inspection can potentially take place with very little required disassembly. A frequently-proposed paradigm for wavefield NDE is its application as a follow-up inspection method using embedded SHM transducers as guided wave sources if the in situ SHM system generates an alarm. This presentation considers the broad role of wavefield imaging in ultrasonic NDE, both as a research tool and as an emerging NDE method. Examples of current research will be presented based upon both guided and bulk wavefield imaging in metals and composites, drawing primarily from the author’s work. Progress towards wavefield NDE will be discussed in the context of such issues as defect detection and characterization capabilities, required scan times, equipment cost, and operator training; recent research efforts will be highlighted that can potentially enable wavefield NDE

Migrations and Diasporas. German Writers in Mexican Exile. Egon Erwin Kisch’s and Anna Seghers’ Promotion of Cross-Cultural Understanding

The journalist and popular travel writer, Egon Erwin Kisch, and the well-known novelist and short story writer Anna Seghers were among the many left wing and communist intellectuals for whom Mexico was a haven during the Hitler years. Kisch traveled extensively in Mexico, immersed himself in its history and culture and interpreted Mexico for the other German exiles. On her return from exile Seghers became an important mediator in the GDR of Mexican and South American culture and a strong voice for crosscultural understandin

The Role of Literature in Promoting a Multicultural Society: The Austrian Case

This essay examines the efforts of Austrian writers to make their fellow citizens more tolerant of recent immigrant groups. Postmodern discourses on identity, diversity and cultural difference have shaped debates in Austria about multiculturalism and have encouraged Austrian writers to challenge concepts of national identity and cultural homogeneity and to insist that multicultural and marginalized voices be heard. Like their counterparts in other countries, they encourage the celebration of difference. In their literary works as well as in political essays both in print and on the world wide web they play a leading role in speaking out against anti-foreigner sentiments and intolerance and they present models of a multicultural and multiethnic Austria in which not only Austria's historical minorities such as Jews, Roma and other groups from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, but also more recently arrived immigrants and refugees can live together and mutually enrich each other's cultures and lives

Deterministic Source Inversion for Wave Propagation Problems in Nondestructive Testing

A source of acoustic or elastic waves is of considerable interest for many nondestructive testing methods. During acoustic emission, waves are generated by transient deformation processes in materials or by externally applied excitations. During ultrasonic testing, transducers of several possible types are used to generate waves. Source inversion refers to the process of determining characteristics of the source of waves from measurements of the resulting wave motion