SOCIOLOGICAL WORK ON ENERGY: THE OPPORTUNITY AND SOME PRESCRIPTIONS

The opportunity for sociological work on energy is demonstrated by a critical review of several bodies ofnon-sociological work on energy. Included in this review is the crisis genre, the energy primer, the political economy of energy, the work of "renegade" scientists, and research by traditional economists. By criticizing these bodies of work, the potential contribution of sociology to the intellectual debate over energy is shown. Besides these critical comments, there are also several positive prescrip tions suggesting that sociological work on energy be critical, historical, and theoretical

Cooptation : analysis of a neglected social process

M.A. University of Kansas, Sociology. 1978The concept of cooptation is at the same time very popular and quite neglected. One frequently reads or hears the phrase mentioned in passing, as though there were agreement as to what it meant, but there is a dearth of work on the subject. In one of the few works focusing directly on the subject, Karl Loewenstein (1973:21) decries the 11 complete lack of systematic research on cooptation11 and notes that the standard references in sociology and political science either mention it not at all or contain only a few sentences on the subject. There exist only two books, to the current author's knowledge, in which cooptation is a major concept: Loewenstein's work in German, which is an attempt to develop a model of cooptation, and one work in English, Selznick's TVA and the Grass Roots (1949), a case study of the TVA using cooptation as a basic concept. The neglect of the concept, coupled with the varieties of its use, as will be documented below, would be enough to justify the current investigation. Additional justification rests on two bases: 1) insofar as power is a basic process in all societies, organizations, and groups, and since cooptation is a part of the power process, it has import; and 2) hopefully, the reader will agree that cooptation is a ubiquitous phenomenon, occurring just as ordinarily as other recognized social processes, such as assimilation, accommodation, or revolution. The intent of this investigation is to clarify the concept of cooptation and show its use as an analytic and explanatory device, and to formulate some notions about typical patterns and outcomes of the cooptation process. To begin, my working definition of a threat model of cooptation will be presented along with a model of a power system which, as will be seen, is the locus for the occurrence of cooptation. Then, several other models of cooptation will be examined with critiques indicating the need for the new conceptualization represented by the threat model

STUDENT VALUES AND PRESTIGE STRUCTURE WITHIN TWO SECONDARY SCHOOL SYSTEMS

Two factors are hypothesized to underlie the prestige of students within secondary school systems: family background, and personal qualities of the student. In a survey of two school systems, this hypothesis was not supported. An additional hypothesis suggested that the content of student values should become more like those of the adult world as the students progress through high school; this was partially supported. The prestige values cited by student respondents are similar to those found in earlier studies by Coleman and Hollingshead. However, a new complex of anti-establishment values is also revealed in student responses

Pressures and Preferences Affecting Willingness to Apply Beef Manure on Crops in the Colorado High Plains

Little is known about producers' willingness to use manure. Past studies have focused on substitutability for fertilizers. We surveyed crop producers in a cattle-dense region of the Colorado Plains about whether and why they apply manure, focusing on how pressures (like owning cattle) or preferences (pro and con) affect their adoption. Using logistic regression, findings show that pressure and preference (PS/PF) significantly affect adoption. A producer with high PS/PF was 10 times more likely to use manure than one with low PS/PF. Policy and decision makers can use such findings to inform education and policy aimed at increasing the land application of manure.cattle, economic benefits, economic costs, management, manure application, Crop Production/Industries,

INTERDISCIPLINARY VARIATIONS IN THE PERCEPTION OF POWER: A STUDY IN IDEOLOGY

There have been marked disagreements in the literature on the structure of power in American society. The authors suggest that this controversy is an artifact of ideological differences between sociologists and political scientists. This hypothesis is tested through the use of a pluralism-elitism scale. Political scientists are found to score toward the pluralistic end of the spectrum, while sociologists are concentrated toward the elitist end, thus providing preliminary support for the hypothesis

Discovery of a Classic FR-II Broad Absorption Line Quasar from the FIRST Survey

We have discovered a remarkable quasar, FIRST J101614.3+520916, whose optical spectrum shows unambiguous broad absorption features while its double-lobed radio morphology and luminosity clearly indicate a classic Fanaroff-Riley Type II radio source. Its radio luminosity places it at the extreme of the recently established class of radio-loud broad absorption line quasars (Becker et al. 1997, 2000; Brotherton et al. 1998). Because of its hybrid nature, we speculate that FIRST J101614.3+520916 is a typical FR-II quasar which has been rejuvenated as a broad absorption line (BAL) quasar with a Compact Steep Spectrum core. The direction of the jet axis of FIRST J101614.3+520916 can be estimated from its radio structure and optical brightness, indicating that we are viewing the system at a viewing angle of > 40 degrees. The position angles of the radio jet and optical polarization are not well-aligned, differing by 20 to 30 degrees. When combined with the evidence presented by Becker et al. (2000) for a sample of 29 BAL quasars showing that at least some BAL quasars are viewed along the jet axis, the implication is that no preferred viewing orientation is necessary to observe BAL systems in a quasar's spectrum. This, and the probable young nature of compact steep spectrum sources, leads naturally to the alternate hypothesis that BALs are an early stage in the lives of quasars.Comment: 14 pages, 6 postscript figures; accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

The Reddest Quasars

In a survey of quasar candidates selected by matching the FIRST and 2MASS catalogs, we have found two extraordinarily red quasars. FIRST J013435.7-093102 is a 1 Jy source at z=2.216 and has B-K > 10, while FIRST J073820.1+275045 is a 2.5 mJy source at z=1.985 with B-K = 8.4. FIRST J073820.1+275045 has strong absorption lines of MgII and CIV in the rest frame of the quasar and is highly polarized in the rest frame ultraviolet, strongly favoring the interpretation that its red spectral energy distribution is caused by dust reddening local to the quasar. FIRST J073820.1+275045 is thus one of the few low radio-luminosity, highly dust-reddened quasars known. The available observational evidence for FIRST J013435.7-093102 leads us to conclude that it too is reddened by dust. We show that FIRST J013435.7-093102 is gravitationally lensed, increasing the number of known lensed, extremely dust-reddened quasars to at least three, including MG0414-0534 and PKS1830-211. We discuss the implications of whether these objects are reddened by dust in the host or lensing galaxies. If reddened by their local environment, then we estimate that between 10 and 20% of the radio-loud quasar population is reddened by dust in the host galaxy. The discovery of FIRST J073820.1+275045 and objects now emerging from X-ray surveys suggests the existence of an analogous radio-quiet red quasar population. Such objects will be entirely missed by standard radio or optical quasar surveys. If dust in the lensing galaxies is primarily responsible for the extreme redness of the lensed quasars, then an untold number of gravitationally lensed quasars are being overlooked.Comment: AASTEX 24 pp., 7 figs; accepted by ApJ. See also the preprint astro-ph/0107435 by Winn et al., who independently discovered that J013435.7-093102 is gravitationally lense

A spectroscopic study of IRAS F10214+4724

The z=2.286 IRAS galaxy F10214+4724 remains one of the most luminous galaxies in the Universe, despite its gravitational lens magnification. We present optical and near-infrared spectra of F10214+4724, with clear evidence for three distinct components: lines of width ~1000 km/s from a Seyfert-II nucleus; <~200 km/s lines which are likely to be associated with star formation; and a broad ~4000 km/s CIII] 1909ang emission line which is blue-shifted by ~1000 km/s with respect to the Seyfert-II lines. Our study of the Seyfert-II component leads to several new results, including: (i) From the double-peaked structure in the Ly alpha line, and the lack of Ly beta, we argue that the Ly alpha photons have emerged through a neutral column of N_H ~ 2.5 x 10^{25}/m^2, possibly located within the AGN narrow-line region as argued in several high redshift radiogalaxies. (ii) The resonant O VI 1032,1036ang doublet (previously identified as Ly beta) is in an optically thick (1:1) ratio. At face value this implies an an extreme density (n_e ~ 10^{17}/m^3) more typical of broad line region clouds. However, we attribute this instead to the damping wings of Ly beta from the resonant absorption. (iii) A tentative detection of HeII 1086 suggests little extinction in the rest-frame ultraviolet.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Uses BoxedEPS (included

Social Genomics of Healthy and Disordered Internet Gaming

Objectives: To combine social genomics with cultural approaches to expand understandings of the somatic health dynamics of online gaming, including in the controversial nosological construct of internet gaming disorder (IGD). Methods: In blood samples from 56 U.S. gamers, we examined expression of the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), a leukocyte gene expression profile activated by chronic stress. We compared positively engaged and problem gamers, as identified by an ethnographically developed measure, the Positive and Negative Gaming Experiences Scale (PNGE-42), and also by a clinically derived IGD scale (IGDS-SF9). Results: CTRA profiles showed a clear relationship with PNGE-42, with a substantial linkage to offline social support, but were not meaningfully associated with disordered play as measured by IGDS-SF9. Conclusions: Our study advances understanding of the psychobiology of play, demonstrating via novel transcriptomic methods the association of negatively experienced internet play with biological measures of chronic threat, uncertainty, and distress. Our findings are consistent with the view that problematic patterns of online gaming are a proxy for broader patterns of biopsychosocial stress and distress such as loneliness, rather than a psychiatric disorder sui generis, which might exist apart from gamers ’ other life problems. By confirming the biological correlates of certain patterns of internet gaming, culturally-sensitive genomics approaches such as this can inform both evolutionary theorizing regarding the nature of play, as well as current psychiatric debates about the appropriateness of modeling distressful gaming on substance addiction and problem gambling

Giant Lya nebulae associated with high redshift radio galaxies

We report deep Keck narrow-band Lya images of the luminous z > 3 radio galaxies 4C 41.17, 4C 60.07, and B2 0902+34. The images show giant, 100-200 kpc scale emission line nebulae, centered on these galaxies, which exhibit a wealth of morphological structure, including extended low surface brightness emission in the outer regions, radially directed filaments, cone-shaped structures and (indirect) evidence for extended Lya absorption. We discuss these features within a general scenario where the nebular gas cools gravitationally in large Cold Dark Matter (CDM) halos, forming stars and multiple stellar systems. Merging of these ``building'' blocks triggers large scale starbursts, forming the stellar bulges of massive radio galaxy hosts, and feeds super-massive black holes which produce the powerful radio jets and lobes. The radio sources, starburst superwinds and AGN radiation then disrupt the accretion process limiting galaxy and black hole growth, and imprint the observed filamentary and cone-shaped structures of the Lya nebulae.Comment: 36 Pages, including 8 Postscript figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa