From the Closed Society to the Realization of Freedom: The Mississippi Delegation Debate at the 1964 Democratic National Convention

In late August of 1964, two-days prior to the opening ceremonies of the Democratic National Convention, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) members were poised to challenge the seating of the regular, all-white Mississippi Democratic Party delegation in dramatic fashion on national television. While both sides believed that they would win the challenge, neither side could have foreseen the complicated twists and turns this debate would take. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the arguments of the Mississippi delegation debate at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in order to more fully understand the rhetorical situation.Using Lloyd Bitzer\u27s definition, this dissertation analyzed the arguments of the Mississippi delegation debate first by situating those arguments within the rhetorical context, then by assessing the debate discourse through a close reading of the text. Additionally, this study employed oral history techniques to thicken the historical descriptions of the rhetorical situation and to enhance the meaning inferred from a close reading of the arguments.What emerged from this historical moment was an interesting rhetorical situation. From the perspective of the MFDP, there was a rhetorical exigency that needed to be addressed through the discourse of the delegation debate. While their arguments were persuasive in changing the attitudes of the credential committee members, their discourse was ultimately rendered ineffectual because of the institutional constraints they faced. Although members of the MFDP may have struggled to understand this point at the national convention, the regulars understood it well. As a result, the regulars focused their testimony on the realities of the current power relationships within the National Democratic Party. In the end, they were effective because they were able to remind their audience what was at stake. Therefore, this dissertation argued that key terms were used in this debate not only to promote democratic values, but also to guide the decision of the credentials committee by re-appropriating our understanding of representation from a moral, political perspective (held by the MFDP) to a legal, technical perspective (held by the regulars)

The Status of Table Mountain Pine (\u3cem\u3ePinus pungens\u3c/em\u3e) Stands on the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee

Table Mountain pine (Pinus pungens Lamb.)(TMP) is a threatened species, endemic to the southern Appalachian Mountains. The status of TMP following the southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman) outbreak of 1999–2001 is unknown. This study focuses on stands of the Cherokee National Forest (CNF) in eastern Tennessee that had a TMP component in the 1994 Continuous Inventory of Stand Condition (CISC) data. This project has two parts: an inventory of the 1994 stands as well as a case study of cost comparison of release treatments for a young overstocked stand. The objective of the inventory was to visit the TMP stands designated in the 1994 CISC data on the CNF to determine whether these stands still contain a significant component of TMP and to document the present stand condition and successional status. The objective of the case study was to produce a cost analysis/comparison of releasing young TMP that are in the stem exclusion stage of stand development by several silvicultural methods: strip thinning, crop tree release, and prescribed burning. TMP is declining across the CNF with less that 900 acres dominated by the species. TMP was a major component on more than 7400 acres from the 1994 data, but many have also succeeded to hardwoods because of the absence of fire and SPB infestations. Management actions should be taken to maintain the health of remaining TMP stands on the CNF. Reintroduction of a controlled burning regime to create seedbed conditions favorable to TMP regeneration and to control hardwoods in existing stands is suggested. If TMP is to remain in Southern Appalachian ecosystems, more direct, cost-effective, and positive management approaches are necessary. Initial cost effectiveness of release treatments were analyzed. Regardless of treatment, costs ranged from $18 to$45 per acre. In this study, prescribed burning, generally considered more cost effective than mechanical treatments, was most expensive because of the small tract size and the labor involved to monitor the burn. The crop tree release treatment had the least cost because small trees were cut and cost of equipment is minima

The educational needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in UK in one local authority in England: Professional and child perspectives

This two-part small-scale research is positioned within a social constructionist interpretive epistemology. Both parts of the research used qualitative methods. Part One explores the perspectives of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in relation to their educational experiences in the UK. It also considers the experiences, opportunities and challenges for school and college staff with supporting the educational needs of UASC in a shire county in England. The methodology employed to collect the data for Part One consisted of semi-structured interviews with six professionals and the ‘Talking Stones’ (Wearmouth, 2004) interview technique with six UASC. For Part Two of the research, a Collaborative Action Research (CAR) approach was used consisting of one cycle of three group supervision sessions with five professionals from Part One. Within the group supervision sessions, a Solution Circles framework was implemented and participants were encouraged to prepare cases to discuss and collaboratively problem solve. The benefits to supporting the needs of UASC by introducing professionals to the process of group supervision are also explored. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) interpretation of Thematic Analysis was employed across both phases as a method of data analysis. This enabled themes to be identified which emerged from the data. Two key findings were discovered to play a significant role in the UASC’s social and emotional wellbeing: the uncertainty of the UASC’s future in relation to their unresolved asylum status and their acquisition and fluency of English language. The latter is discussed in relation to how fully the students felt able to integrate and communicate their needs. Barriers to language also link closely to students accessing the curriculum and their experience of inclusion within the setting. An array of opportunities and challenges of supporting the social and emotional needs of UASC are outlined by school and college staff. Such findings include: recognising and identifying the social and emotional needs of UASC, a lack of experience and opportunities for staff training, challenges with inclusion and integration of UASC within the educational settings, funding and available resources, developing supportive and trusting relationships over time and forming social connections. Within the paper, these findings are explored in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s (1979; 1989) Ecological Systems Theory. Implications for educational professionals and for educational psychology practitioners are discussed

How national and regional U.S. newspapers framed abortion and the glass ceiling effect, 2000-2005

The mass media continue to be a potent force that shape the way people understand important social issues, including those that relate to the status of women in society. This study analyzed how two national newspapers-the Washington Post and the New York Times-and two regional newspapers-the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Des Moines Register-covered two feminist issues: abortion and the glass ceiling syndrome. As a theoretical foundation, it used a dimension of framing theory which predicts that national and regional newspapers will differ in terms of the frames they used to cover the two issues because of differences in several factors that influence how journalists discuss social topics, such as social norms and values, organizational pressures and constraints, pressures of interest groups, journalistic routines, and ideological or political orientations of journalists. The intensity of coverage, frames used, attitudes, and sources cited were compared over a five-year period (2000-2005). In general, this study found partial support for the tenets of framing theory in that the national and regional papers did not differ significantly in terms of the frames they used to cover the two issues. In terms of the sources cited, however, the national papers made more attributions to government officials and agencies, but the regional papers cited more advocacy group and citizen voices in their articles. The national papers also tended to be more positive toward the two feminist issues than the regional newspapers

Attitudes to depression and its treatment in primary care

Background Undertreatment of depression in primary care is common. Efforts to address this tend to overlook the role of patient attitudes. Our aim was to validate and describe responses to a questionnaire about attitudes to depression and its treatment in a sample with experience of moderate and severe depressive episodes. Method Cross-sectional survey of 866 individuals with a confirmed history of an ICD-10 depressive episode in the 12 months preceding interview, recruited from 7271 consecutive general practitioner (GP) attendees in 36 general practices in England and Wales. Attitudes to and beliefs about depression were assessed using a 19-item self-report questionnaire. Results Factor analysis resulted in a three-factor solution: factor 1, depression as a disabling, permanent state; factor 2, depression as a medical condition responsive to support; and factor 3, antidepressants are addictive and ineffective. Participants who received and adhered to antidepressant medication and disclosed their depression to family and friends had significantly lower scores on factors 1 and 3 but higher scores on factor 2. Conclusions People with moderate or severe depressive episodes have subtle and divergent views about this condition, its outcome, and appropriate help. Such beliefs should be considered in primary care as they may significantly impact on help seeking and adherence to treatment

Analysis of DFW Perimeter Taxiway Operations

This study examines operations of the perimeter taxiway system at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to characterize and understand the impact of the perimeter taxiway system and to provide operational decision makers with guidance on use of this new airport resource. DFW s perimeter taxiway entered service in December 2008 and is representative of perimeter or end-around taxiways currently in use at several other airports worldwide. This perimeter taxiway analysis is a collaborative effort between NASA and various DFW stakeholders including the FAA, air carriers and the airport operator. The initial investigation has focused on quantifying perimeter taxiway usage and assessing effects on taxi times at both the local and global levels. Local-level results show taxi times via the perimeter taxiway to be about forty-five seconds longer on average, but with significantly less variability. Global-level results show average perimeter taxiway times to be a little more than one minute longer with variability that is comparable to that for other taxi paths

Ethical barriers to artificial intelligence in the national health service, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Note sur quelques méthodes d’évaluation de l’inégalité dans la répartition des revenus par groupe, basées sur l’indice Gini

In this paper, we compare three methods presently used to split up the Gini index in order to evaluate the contribution of one particular factor (for example, age) to the value of this index: the B-M-P decomposition*, Paglin's measures and Love & Wolfson indexes. The problem with the decomposition of the Gini index is that it is impossible to cut it in two parts, one, representing the value of inequality attributable to the factor analysed and the second, inequality due to other factors. We also have to include the value of overlaps. This is clearly shown by Bhattacharya and Mahalanobis.By using a very simple example for which we can forecast the results, we can compare the reaction registered by each method when we introduce a change in the distribution of income and consequently evaluate the lightness of these methods. We confirmed our convictions by decomposing two other measures which can be separated in the two parts mentioned above: Theil's entropy and the square of the coefficient of variation.We conclude that the indexes used in the B-M-P decomposition are exact. Paglin's age-Gini index is accurate, but not his residue, the Paglin-Gini's index. And, Love and Wolfson's index did not behaved as expected to our modifications.We also showed, by using the B-M-P decomposition, that overlaps is an important component. Finally, we noted that our indexes changed in value when we changed the number of groups analysed (example: if, to analyse the effect of age we divide our population into 5 or 10 age groups). So, it is important in a longitudinal study always to use the same group definitions to obtain comparable results.* Bhattacharya, Mahalanobis and Pyratt