“Destructive to Judicial Dignity”: The Poetry of Melville Weston Fuller

Although there have been many debates over the relevant qualifications for a Supreme Court nominee, Fuller’s nomination was the first—and last—time in history where the quality of a nominee’s verse was debated in national and regional newspapers. In this essay, we weigh the merits of two claims leveled against Fuller: (1) he was a mediocre poet, and (2) his penchant for verse colored and polluted his judicial opinions. As judge and jury, we conclude that neither charge is supported by a preponderance of the evidence

The Impact of Physical Classroom Environment on Student Satisfaction and Student Evaluation of Teaching in the University Environment

Recently, many colleges and universities have made significant investments in upgraded classrooms and learning centers, incorporating such factors as tiered seating, customized lighting packages, upgraded desk and seat quality, and individual computers. To date, few studies have examined the impact of classroom environment at post-secondary institutions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of classroom environment factors on individual student satisfaction measures and on student evaluation of teaching in the university environment. Two-hundred thirty-seven undergraduate business students were surveyed regarding their perceptions of classroom environment factors and their satisfaction with their classroom, instructor, and course. The results of the study indicate that students do perceive significant differences between standard and upgraded classrooms. Additionally, students express a preference for several aspects of upgraded classrooms, including tiered seating, lighting, and classroom noise control. Finally, students rate course enjoyment, classroom learning, and instructor organization higher in upgraded classrooms than in standard classrooms. The results of this study should benefit administrators who make capital and infrastructure decisions regarding college and university classroom improvements, faculty members who develop and rely upon student evaluations of teaching, and researchers who examine the factors impacting student satisfaction and learning

End-User Computing Applications

Businesses today rely on the work being done by staff using personal computers. The proliferation of personal computers has led to widespread implementation of end-user computing applications. As their name implies, end-user applications are designed, implemented, and controlled by users rather than by IT professionals. End-user applications can be risky for organizations, both with respect to management decision making and to financial reporting. For public companies, the risk involved in these applications has been increased by the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which call for management to document end-to-end financial operations and internal control structures. This article review the reasons for the prevalence of end-user applications and their inherent problems, as well as the strategies for the internal control of these applications for various-sized businesses. For all companies, a policy should be put in place and communicated to employees about the use of end-user applications

A wedge or a weight? Critically examining nuclear power’s viability as a low carbon energy source from an intergenerational perspective

Some integrated assessment studies of climate change have concluded that nuclear energy has a large potential impact on carbon abatement costs. However, these studies have often modeled the cost of nuclear waste management very simply or neglected it entirely. Common difficulties with existing studies include the use of simplistic nuclear waste management cost models and implicitly minimizing costs in the distant future by using discount rates that are arguably inappropriate for intergenerational cost-benefit analysis. These difficulties lead to results that may underestimate the cost of nuclear waste management – and therefore overestimate the value of nuclear energy as a low carbon energy technology. Here, we consider how a more realistic treatment of the nuclear waste disposal problem than has been used in previous studies could affect the viability of nuclear power in the context of integrated assessments of climate change. We construct a generic nuclear waste management cost model to develop cost estimates for nuclear waste management based on current policy, practice, and cost estimates for storage and disposal technologies. Our cost estimates are discounted using conventional constant exponential discounting as and a declining discount rate scheme. Results suggest that the optimism reflected in previous works is fragile: More realistic nuclear waste management cost models and uncertainty-appropriate intergenerational discount rates produce many more scenarios in which nuclear waste management costs are higher than previously assumed. As a consequence, nuclear energy’s economic attractiveness as a low carbon energy option is appears to be lower than earlier works suggested

Information Technology in the Undergraduate Accounting Curriculum

This study examines the extent to which undergraduate accounting programs are integrating information technology (IT) across the curriculum. Based on responses from nearly 70 accounting programs, respondents believe that integrating IT into the curriculum is important, but (1) few departments have an IT policy, (2) coverage of general IT topics is minor to moderate, and (3) student usage of computer applications is fairly low. The main technical barriers to IT integration are inadequate lab personnel and continual changes in technology

Multivariate spatio-temporal visualization of over-pumping the High Plains aquifer and impacts on the Arkansas River in western Kansas

This presentation was given as part of the GIS Day@KU symposium on November 15, 2017. For more information about GIS Day@KU activities, please see http://gis.ku.edu/gisday/2017/PLATINUM SPONSORS: KU Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science KU Institute for Policy & Social Research GOLD SPONSORS: KU Libraries State of Kansas Data Access & Support Center (DASC) SILVER SPONSORS: Bartlett & West Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program KU Center for Global and International Studies BRONZE SPONSORS: Boundles

A study, mainly from royal wardrobe accounts, of the nature and organisation of the king's messenger service from the reign of John to that of Edward III inclusive

The object of this thesis is to show that, from the reign of John onwards, English kings maintained a messenger service of nuncii (riding messengers) and cokini or cursores (messengers on foot). Both were professional messengers, in regular employment, who were appointed by the king, carried his badge, and swore fidelity to him. In addition to these and distinct from them were messengers employed by chancery, exchequer, and chamber, or attached to subordinate royal households. The nuncii regis appear to have been controlled by chancery as the main secretariat, until, in 1234, they came under the authority of the wardrobe, the department which paid and dispatched the nuncii and cursores of Edward I. and II. The effects of the ordinances of 1318, 1323, and 1324, and the final subjugation of the wardrobe in 1341 brought the messengers under exchequer control from 1342. But they remained members of the king's household, the nuncii regis fully, and the cursores in a restricted sense. Nuncii regis, therefore, were entitled to clothing, food, stabling, and wages while in court: could be disciplined by the marshal, and were provided for insickness or age with alms, corrodies, or remunerative offices.The duties of messengers were manifold. They carried letters, money, or goods: arrested prisoners; and escortedforeign envoys. Travelling expenses in England were reckoned at 3d. a day for nuncii and 2d. a day for cokini during the thirteenth century, later increasing to 6d. a day for nuncii in war time, and 5d. in peace. Extra was allowed for travel abroad, for channel crossings, and for hire of additional horses. The service chiefly attracted men from royal manors and small-holders. My main sources have been the full and enrolled accounts of the wardrobe; the issue rolls of the exchequer; and the household and exchequer ordinances.<p

Identifying Important Observations Using Cross Validation and Computationally Frugal Sensitivity Analysis Methods

AbstractSensitivity analysis methods are used to identify measurements most likely to provide important information for model development and predictions. Methods range from computationally demanding Monte Carlo and cross-validation methods that require thousands to millions of model runs, to very computationally efficient linear methods able to account for interrelations between parameters that involve tens to hundreds of runs. Some argue that because linear methods neglect the effects of model nonlinearity, they are not worth considering. However, when faced with computationally demanding models needed to simulate, for example, climate change, the chance of obtaining insights with so few model runs is tempting. This work compares results for a nonlinear groundwater model using computationally demanding cross-validation and computationally efficient local sensitivity analysis methods

Identifying Important Observations Using Cross Validation and Computationally Frugal Sensitivity Analysis Methods

Sensitivity analysis methods are used to identify measurements most likely to provide important information for model development and predictions. Methods range from computationally demanding Monte Carlo and cross-validation methods that require thousands to millions of model runs, to very computationally efficient linear methods able to account for interrelations between parameters that involve tens to hundreds of runs. Some argue that because linear methods neglect the effects of model nonlinearity, they are not worth considering. However, when faced with computationally demanding models needed to simulate, for example, climate change, the chance of obtaining insights with so few model runs is tempting. This work compares results for a nonlinear groundwater model using computationally demanding cross-validation and computationally efficient local sensitivity analysis methods