Urban League of Central Carolinas – Civil Rights Organizations in a New Era: An Action Research Study of One Organization’s Pursuit of New Strategies

What leadership approaches and operational strategies should traditional civil rights organizations, like the Urban League, undertake to in this post-civil rights era? Specifically at the local level, what expectations must the Urban League of Central Carolinas satisfy to reassert its leadership in Charlotte? In recent years, an increasing array of social enterprises across different sectors has emerged to address failures in civil society. Civil rights organizations have long served a niche in the battle for an equitable society. However, the role of civil rights organizations in community revitalization has been diffuse and subject to fundraising constraints. I undertook this action research study to assist the Urban League of Central Carolinas in developing earned-income strategies based upon their assessment of market needs, resources and socio-political realities. The pursuit of such strategies will enable the agency to create new partnerships, renewed community engagement and greater financial sustainability. This study demonstrated the recurring nature of strategy development and execution. Interestingly, both external and internal environmental factors surfaced the following lessons: (1) Civil rights organizations remain relevant. There remains an important role for the ULCC (traditional civil rights organizations) in ameliorating the conditions of social and economic inequality; (2) Leadership by the ULCC must be fluid, vigorously asserted and continuously exercised. In addition, capacity building, engaged leadership and strategic alliances are necessary steps; (3) The depth and breadth of problems such as poverty, homelessness, and educational failures require comprehensive solutions, collaborative efforts and shared leadership; (4) Social enterprise strategies require organizational change and generative governance; and (5) Action Research practitioners must be alert to organizational readiness. Undertaking A/R efforts asks us to pay keen attention to team development and team process as key elements of one\u27s methodologies. This study contributes to the field of community development and social change by broadening our understanding of the ways in which community-based organizations and their leaders evolve in response to economic and social influences. Such an understanding may enable us to improve organizational practice and improve local policy decisions. The electronic version of this dissertation is available in the open-access OhioLINK ETD Center, www.etd.ohiolink.edu

Urban League of Central Carolinas – Civil Rights Organizations in a New Era: An Action Research Study of One Organization’s Pursuit of New Strategies

What leadership approaches and operational strategies should traditional civil rights organizations, like the Urban League, undertake to in this post-civil rights era? Specifically at the local level, what expectations must the Urban League of Central Carolinas satisfy to reassert its leadership in Charlotte? In recent years, an increasing array of social enterprises across different sectors has emerged to address failures in civil society. Civil rights organizations have long served a niche in the battle for an equitable society. However, the role of civil rights organizations in community revitalization has been diffuse and subject to fundraising constraints. I undertook this action research study to assist the Urban League of Central Carolinas in developing earned-income strategies based upon their assessment of market needs, resources and socio-political realities. The pursuit of such strategies will enable the agency to create new partnerships, renewed community engagement and greater financial sustainability. This study demonstrated the recurring nature of strategy development and execution. Interestingly, both external and internal environmental factors surfaced the following lessons: (1) Civil rights organizations remain relevant. There remains an important role for the ULCC (traditional civil rights organizations) in ameliorating the conditions of social and economic inequality; (2) Leadership by the ULCC must be fluid, vigorously asserted and continuously exercised. In addition, capacity building, engaged leadership and strategic alliances are necessary steps; (3) The depth and breadth of problems such as poverty, homelessness, and educational failures require comprehensive solutions, collaborative efforts and shared leadership; (4) Social enterprise strategies require organizational change and generative governance; and (5) Action Research practitioners must be alert to organizational readiness. Undertaking A/R efforts asks us to pay keen attention to team development and team process as key elements of one\u27s methodologies. This study contributes to the field of community development and social change by broadening our understanding of the ways in which community-based organizations and their leaders evolve in response to economic and social influences. Such an understanding may enable us to improve organizational practice and improve local policy decisions. The electronic version of this dissertation is available in the open-access OhioLINK ETD Center, www.etd.ohiolink.edu

Harold Pinter and the politics of love

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The changing X-ray time lag in MCG-6-30-15

MCG-6-30-15 is one of the most observed Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies in the X-ray band. In this paper we examine the X-ray time lags in this source using a total of 600 ks in observations (440 ks exposure) taken with the XMM-Newton telescope (300 ks in 2001 and 300 ks in 2013). Both the old and new observations show the usual hard lag that increases with energy, however, the hard lag turns over to a soft lag at frequencies below ~1e-4 Hz. The highest frequencies (~1e-3 Hz) in this source show a clear soft lag, as previously presented for the first 300 ks observation, but no clear iron K lag is detected in either the old or new observation. The soft lag is more significant in the old observation than the new. The observations are consistent with a reverberation interpretation, where the soft, reflected emission is delayed with respect to the hard powerlaw component. These spectral timing results suggest that two distinct variability mechanisms are important in this source: intrinsic coronal variations (which lead to correlated variability in the reprocessed emission), and geometrical changes in the corona. Variability due to geometrical changes does not result in correlated variability in the reflection, and therefore inhibits the clear detection of an iron K lag.Comment: Resubmitted to MNRAS after minor corrections. 11 pages, 10 figure

Preparation of difluoromethylthioethers through difluoromethylation of disulfides using TMS-CF2H

We report an operationally simple, metal-free approach for the late-stage introduction of the important lipophilic hydrogen-bond donor motif, SCF2H. This reaction converts diaryl- and dialkyl-disulfides into the corresponding aryl/alkyl–SCF2H through the nucleophilic transfer of a difluoromethyl group with good functional group tolerance. This method is notable for its use of commercially available TMSCF2H, and does not rely on the need for handling of sensitive metal complexes

An Archaeological Survey of a Portion of the Choke Canyon Reservoir Area in McMullen and Live Oak Counties, Texas

An intensive cultural resource survey was carried out on approximately 2544 hectares (6285 acres) of the proposed Choke Canyon Reservoir by the Cultural Resources Institute (CRI) of Texas Tech University from August through October 1977. The project was undertaken in response to needs of the Bureau of Reclamation. This report is one of a multivolume study.\u27concerning the area\u27s cultural resources. During the 1977 survey, 113 archaeological sites, 42 low density artifact scatters, and five isolated finds were located and recorded. A no-collection policy was maintained, except isolated finds. In the late fall 1977, 15 of the recorded sites were subjected to limited testing activities. The cultural resources recorded during the survey document the presence of human groups in the reservoir beginning in late Paleo-Indian times and extending to the present. Based upon the limited occurrence of diagnostic artifacts, most of the prehistoric occupation occurred during the Archaic. Historic sites recorded were occupied primarily during the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century. This report documents the research design and particularly the methodology utilized during the project. Special emphasis is given to describing the systematic and intensive survey, as well as to the random/judgmental approach of selecting the various sites for limited testing. Cultural material recovered during testing activities are described in techno-morphological terms. The nature of survey projects in general and the paucity of reliable time markers recovered during field work severely limited the development of a cultural chronology for the study area. Research efforts resulted in the developmert of a model of lithic technology based on the ready availability of raw materials. Also presented is a settlement and subsistence pattern model which is based primarily on a rainy and dry season dichotomy and the availability of food resources.

Relativistic spectroscopy of the extreme NLS1 IRAS13224-3809

The narrow line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) IRAS 13224-3809 is the most X-ray variable active galactic nucleus (AGN), exhibiting 0.3-10 keV flux changes of over an order of magnitude within an hour. We report on the results of the 1.5 Ms 2016 XMM-Newton/NuSTAR observing campaign, which revealed the presence of a 0.24c ultra-fast outflow in addition to the well-known strong relativistic reflection. We also summarise other key results of the campaign, such as the first detection of a non-linear RMS-flux relation in an accreting source, correlations between outflow absorption strength/velocity and source flux, and a disconnect between the X-ray and UV emission. Our results are consistent with a scenario where a disk wind is launched close to the black hole, imprinting absorption features into the spectrum and variability.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, contributed talk at "Revisiting narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies and their place in the Universe" (Padova, April 2018). Accepted for publication in Proceedings of Science, PoS(NLS1-2018)03

Revealing the X-ray Variability of AGN with Principal Component Analysis

We analyse a sample of 26 active galactic nuclei with deep XMM-Newton observations, using principal component analysis (PCA) to find model independent spectra of the different variable components. In total, we identify at least 12 qualitatively different patterns of spectral variability, involving several different mechanisms, including five sources which show evidence of variable relativistic reflection (MCG-6-30-15, NGC 4051, 1H 0707-495, NGC 3516 and Mrk 766) and three which show evidence of varying partial covering neutral absorption (NGC 4395, NGC 1365, and NGC 4151). In over half of the sources studied, the variability is dominated by changes in a power law continuum, both in terms of changes in flux and power law index, which could be produced by propagating fluctuations within the corona. Simulations are used to find unique predictions for different physical models, and we then attempt to qualitatively match the results from the simulations to the behaviour observed in the real data. We are able to explain a large proportion of the variability in these sources using simple models of spectral variability, but more complex models may be needed for the remainder. We have begun the process of building up a library of different principal components, so that spectral variability in AGN can quickly be matched to physical processes. We show that PCA can be an extremely powerful tool for distinguishing different patterns of variability in AGN, and that it can be used effectively on the large amounts of high-quality archival data available from the current generation of X-ray telescopes.Comment: 25 pages, 27 figures, accepted to MNRAS. Analysis code available on request to lead author. Edit: Rogue table remove

Effects of Desensitization, Rogerian Therapy, and Modeling on Stage-Fright

Since fear of public speaking has been considered a good example of anxiety and an example that is correlated with behavioral and cognitive measures of anxiety levels, a study of Rogerian therapy, desensitization, and modeling techniques in reducing this anxiety seemed appropriate