The SEC Rides into Town: Defining an ICO Securities Safe Harbor in the Cryptocurrency “Wild West”

This Note recommends a viable way for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to apply the Regulation S foreign-issuer safe harbor to Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). In the last two years, cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based companies have witnessed dramatic rises in price and value. New entrants to the crypto-markets often use ICOs as virtual public offerings to earn capital and develop their projects. The SEC has signaled that they plan to fold ICOs and blockchain offerings into existing securities law. How these new virtual capital-raising mechanisms will fit into this framework is still largely unknown. As a defensive measure, many ICOs have banned US investors in an attempt to become foreign offerings that are outside the SEC\u27s reach. Regulation S is the existing safe harbor that conventional securities offerings utilize to ensure that they are foreign offerings. While ICOs are novel and do not fit perfectly into Regulation S\u27s language, the safe harbor can be adapted to appropriately set parameters for ICOs. This Note suggests the correct interpretation that both protects US consumers and sets acceptable requirements for corporations seeking to fall within Regulation S

Small steps and long strides: Personal reflections and insights on becoming multiculturally competent

With a history of attention being paid to multicultural counseling competencies as important attributes for a counselor to have to work with diverse clients, new counselors are challenged to prepare for working with these clients. Lee (2006) found that multiculturally competent professionals possess the awareness, knowledge, and skills to work with diverse communities. New counselors need to develop the knowledge, skills and awareness to competently work with diverse clients. There are multiple training methods suggested to support the development of these counseling competencies including Contact Hypothesis, cross-cultural interaction and cultural immersion. This article focuses on one graduate student’s background and recent strides to incorporate these training methods as a way to become multiculturally competent. The article follows how the student uses her background and recent cross-cultural experiences to inform her of her knowledge, skills and awareness of working with diverse communities. The author then concludes with her integrating current research with her experiences to provide insights about the process of becoming multiculturally competent. The author outlines practical suggestions for future research in the area of becoming multiculturally competent

It\u27s Not All Rainbows & Glitter

The goal of this exhibition is to contextualize the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community by anchoring personal stories with collage and poetry to demonstrate the ongoing difficulties of growing up queer. Mixed media digitized collages have been created and paired with companion typographic treatments of poems and narratives from diverse points of view. The word queer as a term to describe gay men, lesbians, and other non-conforming sexual identities, has evolved over the past 100 years. This evolution of the word parallels the struggles of LGBTQ+ people to achieve equal rights, marriage equality, protection in housing and employment, and an end to stigmatization, harassment, and oppression. In the South, queer is still used as a slur, though there is an ongoing reclamation effort to embrace the term as an identifier that began in the mid-20th century. In seeking to define the effect of queer designers on contemporary graphic design and other fine arts, I have undertaken research into the experience of queer artists over the past century. Through collage—combining image-making with poetry, prose, and storytelling—my own experience will be tied to the historical record. The focus of my research will be the impact of queer stigmatization, harassment, and oppression, and an examination of the struggles and progress the queer community has seen over the past century

Print Media Portrayal of the Culture of NASA Before and After the \u3cem\u3eChallenger\u3c/em\u3e Explosion

In recent years, culture has become a major topic within organizational studies. The culture of an organization affects how individuals in the organization interact, what is valued in the organization, and what goals the organization strives to achieve. However, the view of culture that outsiders hold of an organization also has significance for the organization. Mostly, the mass media influence the outsider\u27s view of an organization\u27s culture. Yet, organizational cultural studies have failed to look at the external perception of an organization and how the external viewpoint is affected by major actions by or events in the organization. This study attempts to expand approaches to the study of organizational culture by evaluating the print media portrayal of NASA\u27s overall culture from the perspective of an outsider to the culture. A content analysis of articles from four large-circulation and geographically dispersed newspapers was conducted using sampling dates from the year before and the year after the explosion of NASA\u27s Space Shuttle Challenger. The articles were analyzed for evidence of established indicators of organizational culture and any positive, negative or neutral reference associated with the indicator. The results show that the print media not only conveyed to the public indicators of NASA\u27s organizational culture, but that the print media also influence the public\u27s positive or negative perception of the culture. The print media\u27s interpretation of NASA\u27 s culture shifts- within the short period of a year- from sympathy before the explosion to blame for the first months after the Challenger crash and then to acknowledgement of NASA\u27s ability to move ahead with space exploration

The Effect of Increasing Salinity and Forest Mortality on Soil Nitrogen and Phosphorus Mineralization in Tidal Freshwater Forested Wetlands

Tidal freshwater wetlands are sensitive to sea level rise and increased salinity, although little information is known about the impact of salinification on nutrient biogeochemistry in tidal freshwater forested wetlands. We quantified soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) mineralization using seasonal in situincubations of modified resin cores along spatial gradients of chronic salinification (from continuously freshwater tidal forest to salt impacted tidal forest to oligohaline marsh) and in hummocks and hollows of the continuously freshwater tidal forest along the blackwater Waccamaw River and alluvial Savannah River. Salinification increased rates of net N and P mineralization fluxes and turnover in tidal freshwater forested wetland soils, most likely through tree stress and senescence (for N) and conversion to oligohaline marsh (for P). Stimulation of N and P mineralization by chronic salinification was apparently unrelated to inputs of sulfate (for N and P) or direct effects of increased soil conductivity (for N). In addition, the tidal wetland soils of the alluvial river mineralized more P relative to N than the blackwater river. Finally, hummocks had much greater nitrification fluxes than hollows at the continuously freshwater tidal forested wetland sites. These findings add to knowledge of the responses of tidal freshwater ecosystems to sea level rise and salinification that is necessary to predict the consequences of state changes in coastal ecosystem structure and function due to global change, including potential impacts on estuarine eutrophication

University Libraries Annual Report FY 2021-2022

Annual Report of the Old Dominion University Libraries for FY 2021-2022. Contents include New Faces, Research at the Libraries, Expanding Digital & Virtual Access, Advancing Projects & Resources, and Outreach and Alignment with University Vision. The report was written by the Libraries\u27 Communications Team

Leaf Litter Decomposition and Nutrient Dynamics in Four Southern Forested Floodplain Communities

Decomposition of site-specific litter mixtures was monitored for 100 wk in four Roodplaht communities: (i) a mixed oak community along the Cache River in central Arkansas, (ii) s sweetgum (Liquidambar styracijlua L.)-cherrybark oak (Quercus falcata var. pagodaefolia ELI.) community along Iatt Creek in central Louisiana, (iii) a sweetgum-swamp tupelo [Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora (Walt.) Sarg.] community, and (iv) a laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia Michx.) commnnityalong the Coosawhatchie River in southeastern South Carolina. Soil temperature, hydroperiod, and litter quality (C:N, C:P, N:P, fignin: N) were used to interpret differences in the rates of mass loss and nutrient dynamics. After 100 wk, litter mixtures retained 33, 18, 8, and 5% of original mass on the Cache, Coosawhatchie (laurel oak community), Coosawhatchie (sweetgum-swamp tupelo community), and Iatt floodplains, respectively, and these differences appeared related to hydroperiod. Decay rates were comparable to rates reportedin similar floodplain environments. Net mineralization of both N and P was observed after 100 wk, but both elements accumulated in litter mixtures periodically. Differences in hydroperiod were observed among the four floodplain communities and decomposition of and nutrient mineralization from litter among them appeared to be inversely related to the number and duration of flood events. Litterbags containing leaf litter of a single-species (i.e., cherrybark oak) were also monitored on three of the four sites to compare decay rates and nutrient dynamics with the litter mixtures. On the Cache River floodplain, slower decay of poorer quality cherrybark oak litter suggested that titter quality drove decomposition under similar edaphic conditions

Wild pig removal reduces pathogenic bacteria in low-order streams

Invasive wild pig populations have undergone enormous increases in the United States and particularly across the southern U.S. in recent years. High fecundity rates and abilities to adapt quickly to varied habitats have enabled pig populations to become entrenched and difficult to eliminate. The pigs cause many negative impacts on ecosystems including degradation of water quality through infusion of fecal contamination and other non-point source pollutants. Our goal was to determine the effects of pig removal on water quality in streams that were known to be significantly polluted by pig activity Bolds (J Environ Qual 50: 441–453, 2021). We compared e. coli and fecal coliform concentrations and loads in streams between a pre-removal period with those that occurred during the removal activities. Results suggest that e. coli and fecal coliform concentrations were reduced by 75 and 50% respectively through pig removal efforts. Questions remain concerning the longevity of the reduction especially once pig removal activities decrease in intensity