The Politics of Rights of Nature

How Rights of Nature laws are transforming governance to address environmental crises through more ecologically sustainable approaches to development. With the window of opportunity to take meaningful action on climate change and mass extinction closing, a growing number of communities, organizations, and governments around the world are calling for Rights of Nature (RoN) to be legally recognized. RoN advocates are creating new laws that recognize natural ecosystems as subjects with inherent rights, and appealing to courts to protect those rights. Going beyond theory and philosophy, in this book Craig Kauffman and Pamela Martin analyze the politics behind the creation and implementation of these laws, as well as the effects of the laws on the politics of sustainable development. Kauffman and Martin tell how community activists, lawyers, judges, scientists, government leaders, and ordinary citizens have formed a global movement to advance RoN as a solution to the environmental crises facing the planet. They compare successful and failed attempts to implement RoN at various levels of government in six countries—Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, India, New Zealand, and the United States—asking why these laws emerged and proliferated in the mid-2000s, why they construct RoN differently, and why some efforts at implementation are more successful than others. As they analyze efforts to use RoN as a tool for constructing more ecocentric sustainable development, capable of achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goal of living “in harmony with Nature,” Kauffman and Martin show how RoN jurisprudence evolves through experimentation and reshapes the debates surrounding sustainable development

TA Mentoring: Issues and Questions

The widespread use of graduate teaching assistants (TAs) in higher education has generated a search for techniques to improve the quality of teaching of TAs as well as enhance the entire TA experience. One such technique is mentoring. This paper attempts to accomplish four things: (a) delineate issues to be addressed, (b) share feedback from educators with mentoring experience, (c) present questions to guide decision making, and (d) provide a bibliography of literature on mentoring. The information presented comes from a questionnaire administered to basic course directors, a conference discussion on mentoring and the personal experiences of the authors

The Impact of Perceived Research and Teaching Competence on the Credibility of a Basic Course Director: A Case Study

1992 Award Winning Paper in Basic Course Research This case study provides an initial inquiry into graduate teaching assistants\u27 (GTA) perceived credibility of a basic course director (BCD), specifically isolating their perception of the teaching and research competence of the BCD. The results indicate that the perceived credibility may be tied to both teaching and research competence, appears to be extremely important to the GTAs, and implies that low credibility would have many unpleasant effects on the staff, their teaching and the graduate program as a whole. This case study points to the need for more research to identify variables associated with the credibility of BCDs as a way to strengthen the quality of the basic course

Repurposing Fumaric Acid Esters to Treat Conditions of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation: A Promising Emerging Approach with Broad Potential

The medicinal benefit of salts of fumaric acid and its esters (FAE), known as fumarates (mono and dimethyl fumarate), was realized many years ago. Early on, FAE were derived from plants and mushrooms (e.g., Fumaria officinalis, Boletus fomentarius var. pseudo-igniarius). The FAE containing formulation Fumaderm® was licensed in Germany for the treatment of psoriasis in 1994. Recently, a clinical formulation of dimethyl fumarate known as BG12 (Tecfidera) was approved for use in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, European Union, Switzerland, and Canada for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Others and we have assessed the potential benefit of FAE in a number of disease conditions that are diverse with respect to etiology but unified with regard to the involvement of inflammation and oxidative stress. Hence, a FAE-based drug with robust anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects that is already US-FDA approved is a perfect contender for repurposing and rapid clinical implementation for their management. There is a burgeoning literature on the use of FAE in the prevention and treatment of diseases, other than psoriasis and MS, in which oxidative stress and/or inflammation are prominent. This chapter highlights critical information gleaned from these studies, exposes lacunae of potential importance, and provides related perspectives

Back to the Future: Re‐Examining the Need for Shelf‐Ready Processes in the E‐Book Environment

Shelf‐ready processing of print materials is a commonly available service from library book vendors, and many libraries outsource these services in order to help save staff time and costs, and to expedite the process. However, in the age where print monographs are increasingly replaced with e‐books, do these services still make fiscal sense? In the spring of 2015, the Texas Woman’s University Libraries were looking to expand shelf‐ready services to a second vendor, but before doing so opted to do a feasibility study to see if shelf‐ready services were still needed and economical. This paper presents the findings of a two‐month study done at the Texas Woman’s University Libraries on their outsourced and in‐house cataloging workflows. The study examined the amount of time it took to receive the materials after ordering, the various costs involved, including shelf‐ready fees and internal staff costs, as well as the number of print materials being purchased over the past three fiscal years

Curriculum Materials for Elementary Reading: Shackles and Scaffolds for Four Beginning Teachers

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to learn how beginning elementary teachers understood and used curriculum materials for teaching reading, and how, in turn, these materials shaped teachers\u27 instruction. We followed 4 teachers who worked in markedly different school situations and were provided a variety of curriculum materials, ranging from scripted reading programs to supplemental materials without teaching guides. Data were gathered through classroom observations, interviews, and curriculum artifacts over the teachers\u27 first 3 years on the job. Our analysis suggested that curriculum materials interacted with teachers\u27 knowledge of reading and reading instruction, and with the contexts in which they worked. As a result, curriculum materials both fostered and inhibited teachers\u27 on-the-job learning. We found that the 2 teachers with weak knowledge or more restrictive materials and environments learned the least and were least able to adapt instruction to meet the needs of their students. The 2 teachers with stronger knowledge, access to multiple materials, and support for decision making regarding materials and instructional strategies learned the most and were most able to adapt instruction. Furthermore, early experiences with specific curriculum materials had effects 2 years later on these teachers\u27 instructional practices. Implications for curriculum mandates, material selection, and professional development are discussed