Euphemisms and Ethics: A Language-Centered Analysis of Penn State’s Sexual Abuse Scandal

For 15 years, former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky used his Penn State University perquisites to lure young and fatherless boys by offering them special access to one of the most revered football programs in the country. He repeatedly used the football locker room as a space to groom, molest, and rape his victims. In February 2001, an eye-witness alerted Penn State\u27s top leaders that Sandusky was caught sexually assaulting a young boy in the showers. Instead of taking swift action against Sandusky, leaders began a cover-up that is considered one of the worst scandals in sports history. While public outcry has focused on the leaders\u27 silence, we focus on the talk that occurred within the organization by key personnel. Drawing from court documents and internal investigative reports, we examine two euphemism clusters that unfolded in the scandal. The first cluster comprises reporting euphemisms, in which personnel used coded language to report the assault up the chain of command. The second cluster comprises responding euphemisms, in which Penn State\u27s top leaders relied on an innocuous, but patently false, interpretation of earlier euphemisms as a decision-making framework to chart their course of (in)action. We use this case to demonstrate how euphemistic language impairs ethical decision-making, particularly by framing meaning and visibility of acts, encouraging mindless processing of moral considerations, and providing a shield against psychological and material consequences. Further, we argue that euphemism may serve as a disguised retort to critical upward communication in organizations

Idealized Modeling Of Circulation Under Landfast Ice

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010Idealized analytical and numerical models are used to elucidate the effects of a spatially variable landfast ice cover on under-ice circulation. Three separate forcing mechanisms are investigated; lateral inflow onto an ice-covered shelf (an elevated sea level at the western boundary), a spatially uniform upwelling wind blowing along the seaward landfast ice edge and a buoyant inflow under the ice cover that enters the domain through the southern coastal wall. The idealized models are configured to resemble the shallow Alaskan Beaufort Sea shelf. Models show that the inclusion of landfast ice means shelf response is substantially different from an ice-free shelf. In the case of a lateral inflow, landfast ice spreads the inflow offshore (in a manner similar to bottom friction) but the change in surface stress across the ice edge (from ice-covered to ice-free) limits the offshore spreading. In the case of an upwelling wind along the ice edge, the low sea level at the ice edge (due to ice edge upwelling) leads to a cross-shore sea level slope between the coast (high sea level) and the ice edge (low sea level), which drives a geostrophically balanced flow upwind. In the absence of along-shore changes in wind or ice the circulation does not vary along the shelf and currents near the coast are O(10 -3) m s-1. Along- and cross-shore variations in the ice-ocean friction coefficient introduce differences in the response time of the under-ice flow and can lead to along-shore sea level slopes, which drive along-shore flows near the coast (< 0.06 m s-1). In the case of a time dependent buoyant inflow, the landfast ice spreads the buoyant inflow much farther offshore (~ 9 times the local baroclinic Rossby radius, ~ 45 km) than in the ice-free case (< 30 km). When the ice width is finite, the change in surface across the ice edge acts to restrict offshore flow (in the anti-cyclonic bulge) and inhibits onshore flow farther downstream

Acoustic Emission Fatigue Crack Monitoring of a Simulated Aircraft Fuselage Structure

The purpose of this research was to replicate the fatigue cracking that occurs in aircraft placed under loads from cyclical compression and decompression. As a fatigue crack grows, it releases energy in the form of acoustic emissions. These emissions are transmitted through the structure in waves, which can be recorded using acoustic emission (AE) transducers. This research employed a pressure vessel constructed out of aluminum and placed under cyclical loads at 1 Hz in order to simulate the loads placed on an aircraft fuselage in flight. The AE signals were recorded by four resonant AE transducers. These were placed on the pressure vessel such that it was possible to determine the location of each AE signal. These signals were then classified using a Kohonen self organizing map (SOM) neural network. By using proper data filtering before the SOM was run and using the correct classification parameters, it was shown that this is a highly accurate method of classifying AE waveforms from fatigue crack growth. This initial classification was done using AE waveform quantification parameters. The method was then validated by using both source location and then examining the waveforms in order to ensure that the waveforms classified into each category were the expected waveform types associated with each of the AE sources. Thus, acoustic emission nondestructive testing (NDT), in combination with a SOM neural network, proved to be an excellent means of fatigue crack growth monitoring in a simulated aluminum aircraft structure

Stable coupling of nonconforming, high-order finite difference methods

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1137/15M1022823A methodology for handling block-to-block coupling of nonconforming, multiblock summation-by-parts finite difference methods is proposed. The coupling is based on the construction of projection operators that move a finite difference grid solution along an interface to a space of piecewise defined functions; we specifically consider discontinuous, piecewise polynomial functions. The constructed projection operators are compatible with the underlying summation-by-parts energy norm. Using the linear wave equation in two dimensions as a model problem, energy stability of the coupled numerical method is proven for the case of curved, nonconforming block-to-block interfaces. To further demonstrate the power of the coupling procedure, we show how it allows for the development of a provably energy stable coupling between curvilinear finite difference methods and a curved-triangle discontinuous Galerkin method. The theoretical results are verified through numerical solutions on curved meshes as well as eigenvalue analysis.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

An energy stable approach for discretizing hyperbolic equations with nonconforming discontinuous Galerkin methods

When nonconforming, discontinuous Galerkin methods are implemented for hyperbolic equations using quadrature, exponential energy growth can result even when the underlying scheme with exact integration does not support such growth. Using linear elasticity as a model problem, we proposes a skew-symmetric formulation that has the same energy stability properties for both exact and inexact, quadrature-based integration. These stability properties are maintained even when the material properties are variable and discontinuous, and the elements non-affine (e.g., curved). The analytic stability results are confirmed through numerical experiments demonstrating the stability as well as the accuracy of the method.National Science Foundation (NSF)Office of Naval Research (ONR)EAR-1547596 (NSF)N0001416WX02190 (ONR

PTSD AND THE WARFIGHTER: A TECHNOLOGY-BASED APPROACH TO THERAPY

The missions in support of Global War on Terrorism may have concluded throughout the Middle East, but the residual effects of the sustained combat operations remain present and continue to influence the lives of so many combat Veterans. Advances in technology, such as health monitoring and wearable devices, could improve the treatment of the warfighters and the approach adopted by the Defense Health Agency and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps have policies established to remove their respective Sailors and Marines from their standard deployable status to a Limited Duty (LIMDU) position, which are limited to six-month periods and two concurrent periods before personnel must go before a Medical Review Board, where they are susceptible to medical separation or medical retirement. It is important to explore additional treatment options so the victims can obtain a renewed sense of purpose, eliminate suicidal thoughts and ideations, and if preferred, continue their military service and share their valued experiences with the next generation. This research explores nontraditional methods of PTSD treatment, to include technology, mood tracking, and sleep data, and how these data points influence one another.Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.Lieutenant, United States NavyLieutenant, United States Nav