Charicteristics of Total Institutions in the Merry Pranksters and Augsburg College: A Goffmanian Analysis

Ken Kesey\u27s classic novel One Flew over the Cuckoo\u27s Nest recounts the experiences of R.P. McMurphy, a criminal sentenced to time in a mental hospital. Kesey\u27s illustration of the mental hospital provides the stereotypical view of institutions. However, many other areas of life go unnoticed as institutions, such as schools or even families or close-knit groups of friends. Despite general unawareness of the extent of institutions, institutions have direct consequences for the identities of individuals that exist within them. In this analysis I will first outline Goffman\u27s theory of total institutions focusing on the general characteristics of total institutions, the disculturation process, and the privilege system of total institutions. I will then apply Goffman\u27s theory to Kesey\u27s group the Merry Pranksters and to Augsburg College. Both cases should be interesting to analyze because Kesey demonstrated that he had significant knowledge of the effects of total institutions in his fiction writing, and Augsburg College is perceived as a training ground to nurture future leaders of the world (Augsburg Website). Neither of the two cases is traditionally viewed as a total institution in the public eye. After applying Goffman\u27s original theory to the two cases, I will evaluate weak areas in the theory and elaborate on the original theory in an effort to strengthen its applicability to a variety of cases. In doing this I will demonstrate that total institutions break down the pre-institution identity of individuals to create a new institutionalized identity which allows the institution control over the institutionalized individual\u27s identity. This breakdown and rebuilding of identity benefits the functionality of total institurtions

Posthumanist Rhetorical Agency

The postmodern criticism of humanist agency initiated by Dilip Gaonkar nearly twenty years ago set in motion a discipline wide discussion concerning the conceptualization rhetorical agency. Rhetorical agency is difficult but vital to conceptualize because the term bears directly on the discipline\u27s theorizing about the speaker or rhetor, the effect of the speaker or rhetor\u27s rhetoric on an audience, and the extent to which the speaker or rhetor\u27s agency is constrained by ideology and discourse. What emerged from this discussion about agency did distance the discipline from the humanist conceptualization of rhetorical agency that persisted at the time Gaonkar published his argument, but conceptualizing rhetorical agency remains an evolving endeavor. The postmodern critique created two interrelated problems for the conceptualization of rhetorical agency in the discipline. The first concerns the role of discourse in the formation of rhetorical agency; the second concerns the impact ideology has on the formation of rhetorical agency. The response to the critique often assumes postmodern philosophy maintains the subject or agent is determined by discourse, and second, that the philosophy suggests ideology is virtually totalizing for subjectivity. I believe no postmodern author actually maintains either of these positions. The conceptualization of rhetorical agency which emerges in the recuperative effort predicated upon these two phantom criticisms results in the rehabilitation of the humanist paradigm Gaonkar\u27s criticism suggests we reject. I argue we need not rehabilitate those aspects of agency postmodernism calls into question, but rather should direct our attention to the conceptualization of rhetorical agencies that Gaonkar presumes exist in discourse practices. Lacan\u27s theory of discourse corrects for these errors because it assumes there are four discrete manifestations of rhetorical agency in discourse. The psychoanalytic terminology Lacan provides compliments the study of rhetoric not only because rhetoric was central to Lacan\u27s thinking, but also because his theory provides a model for isolating and explaining rhetorical agency in discourse practices

Final Grant Paper

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is a state agency within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which helps to promote and enhance education for all levels, including higher education institutions and universities throughout the state (About PDE, 2022). One of the greatest and most substantial ways the PDE does this is through their grant funding efforts and programs they make available to eligible institutions and organizations. While they offer a variety of different grant opportunities to help students and learners throughout the state, the particular grants that the researchers focused on for review and analysis are the following: “It’s On Us” Grant, The PA Smart Grant in STEM Education, and the Career and Technical Education Grant. The Pennsylvania Council on The Arts (PCA) is a government agency within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which helps foster, promote, and enhance the arts communities, programs, and organizations throughout the state (Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Agency Overview, 2022). Their mission is based on growing the culture within the arts community, as well as expanding arts opportunities across all the counties (Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Agency Overview, 2022). While they too offer a variety of grants to eligible programs and organizations, the researchers focused specifically on their largest grant funding effort, the Arts Organizations and Arts Programs (AOAP) grant. Through the duration of this semester, the researchers reviewed and analyzed both grant funding efforts and grant equity among multiple agencies within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The primary research focused on reviewing agencies\u27 grant funding processes and the different grants each agency offers to different organizations and programs within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Researchers also examined the grant processes in relation to promoting equity and diversity within the distribution of funds. Researchers were assigned to review The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), and the Pennsylvania Department of Veterans and Military Affairs (DMVA). The Department of Education consisted of three grants: It’s on Us, PA Smart in Stem education, and Pa Career in Technical Education. Researchers analyzed the Veterans Trust Fund through The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and The Arts Organizations and Arts Programs for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Each agency provided an in-depth understanding of their missions, along with the support they aim to provide to a variety of diverse causes through the different grants they distribute within eligible organizations and programs. Through this, the researchers were able to see how grant funding within Pennsylvania aims to assist people throughout both rural and urban counties. After analyzing grant funding efforts, conclusions and policy recommendations, researchers developed an array of alternatives government agencies can use to promote diversity and inclusion through their funding efforts

Fabrication of Atomically Precise Nanopores in Hexagonal Boron Nitride

We demonstrate the fabrication of individual nanopores in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) with atomically precise control of the pore size. Previous methods of pore production in other 2D materials create pores of irregular geometry with imprecise diameters. By taking advantage of the preferential growth of boron vacancies in hBN under electron beam irradiation, we are able to observe the pore growth via transmission electron microscopy, and terminate the process when the pore has reached its desired size. Careful control of beam conditions allows us to nucleate and grow individual triangular and hexagonal pores with diameters ranging from subnanometer to 6nm over a large area of suspended hBN using a conventional TEM. These nanopores could find application in molecular sensing, DNA sequencing, water desalination, and molecular separation. Furthermore, the chemical edge-groups along the hBN pores can be made entirely nitrogen terminated or faceted with boron-terminated edges, opening avenues for tailored functionalization and extending the applications of these hBN nanopores.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Early Predictability of Asylum Court Decisions

Early Predictability of Asylum Court Decisions with M. Dunn and L. Sagun In the United States, foreign nationals who fear persecution in their home country can apply for asylum under the Refugee Act of 1980. Unfortunately, over the past decade, legal scholarship has uncovered significant disparities in asylum adjudication by judge, by region of the United States in which the application is filed, and by the applicant’s nationality. These disparities raise concerns about whether applicants are receiving equal treatment before the law. Using machine learning to predict judges’ decisions, we document another concern that may violate our notions of justice: significant variation among the degree of predictability of judges at the time the case is assigned to a judge. Highly predictable judges are those who almost always grant or deny asylum. Our predictive model corroborates prior work as the final outcome of the case is overwhelmingly driven by the adjudicating judge and the applicant’s nationality. We are able to predict the final outcome of a case with 80% accuracy at the time the case opens. Additionally, this study shows that highly predictable judges tend to make use of fewer hearing sessions before making their decision. The contribution of this study is twofold. First, early prediction of a case with 80% accuracy could assist asylum seeker in their process of application. Secondly, by demonstrating the variation of predictability among the judges, based solely on a minimal subset of case information, this study raises questions about whether the specifics of each case are being given their due weight in asylum adjudications

What is a Political Value? Political Philosophy and Fidelity to Reality

This essay seeks to defend the claim that political philosophy ought to be appropriately guided by the phenomenon of politics that it seeks to both offer a theory of and, especially in its normative guise, offer a theory for. It does this primarily through the question of political values. It begins by arguing that for any value to qualify as a value for the political domain, it must be intelligible in relation to the constitutive features of politics as a human activity. It then examines the extent to which the preconditions for the realization of values in practice ought to figure in our considerations as to whether they are values that fit or belong to our social world. We can understand these parts of the essay as responding to two related questions, respectively: (i) Is this a political value at all? — which is to ask, is it a value that is appropriate for the political realm?; and then (ii) Is this a political value for us? The final section responds to the often-made complaint that political philosophy ought not to make any concessions to the actual world of politics as it really is, arguing that attending to the realities of politics, and in particular the constitutive conditions of political activity, gives meaning to the enterprise as the theorization of politics (and not something else). Furthermore those same conditions provide the limits of intelligibility beyond which ideals and values can no longer be, in any meaningful sense, ideals and values for the political sphere

New Additions to the Flora of San Nicolas Island, Ventura County, California

Ongoing collecting efforts on San Nicolas Island have substantially increased the number of plant species documented from the island. Here we report thirty-one plants previously unrecorded from the island. The list includes six eudicots, one monocot, four liverworts and twenty mosses. Five of these species are understood to be introduced on San Nicolas and the remainder are believed to be native. The native vascular plants are Logfia filaginoides, Cistanthe maritima and Muhlenbergia microsperma. Of the twenty-four new bryophytes, one—Asterella bolanderi—is the first record from the Channel Islands. Specific ecological and locality information are provided for the new vascular plant finds and general patterns of bryophyte richness and ecological preferences are discussed

Lateral visual occlusion does not change walking trajectories

Difficulties with walking are often reported following brain damage that causes a lateralized loss of awareness on one side. Whether lateralized loss of awareness has a direct causal impact on walking is unknown. A review of the literature on visually guided walking suggests several reasons why a lateralized loss of visual awareness might be expected to lead to difficulties walking. Here, we isolated and examined the effect of lateralized vision loss on walking behavior in real and virtual environments. Healthy young participants walked to a target placed within a real room, in a virtual corridor, or on a virtual ground plane. In the ground-plane condition, the scene either was empty or contained three obstacles. We reduced vision on one side by occluding one eye (Experiment 1 and 2) or removing one hemifield, defined relative to either the head or trunk (Experiment 2), through use of eye patching (Experiment 1) and a virtual-reality system (Experiment 2). Visual-field restrictions did not induce significant deviations in walking paths in any of the occlusion conditions or any of the environments. The results provide further insight into the visual information that guides walking in humans, and suggest that lateralized vision loss on its own is not the primary cause of walking difficulties

School IPM Outreach and Research Activities, NYS IPM Program, 2017

NYS IPM Type: Project ReportNYS schools need assistance in reducing risks to children and others from both pests and the overuse of pesticides. In 2017, NYS IPM Program activities have resulted in school personnel becoming better informed and able to implement IPM in their school districts. Managing geese on school grounds was the focus of a demonstration project and associated outreach. A school IPM assessment tool was developed and began to be piloted. A phone survey of BOCES health & safety officers is providing input into school IPM outreach and implementation. The NYS IPM Program made several blogs and tweets throughout the year with IPM stories of relevance to the state’s schools and childcare facilities. NYS IPM Program staff made visits to several schools trouble shooting specific pest-related situations, collaborated with Cornell faculty on research of relevance to school IPM, and were involved in statewide, regional, and national collaborations involving school IPM outreach

Adolescents leaving mental health or social care services: predictors of mental health and psychosocial outcomes one year later.

BACKGROUND: UK service structure necessitates a transition out of youth services at a time of increased risk for the development and onset of mental disorders. Little is currently known about the mental health and psychosocial outcomes of leaving services at this time. The aim of this study was to determine predictors of mental health and social adjustment in adolescents leaving mental health or social care services. METHODS: A cohort (n = 53) of 17 year olds were interviewed and assessed when preparing to leave adolescent services and again 12 months later. Their mental health and psychosocial characteristics were compared to a same-age community sample group (n = 1074). RESULTS: At discharge 34 (64%) met DSM IV criteria for a current psychiatric diagnosis and only 3 (6%) participants met operational criteria for successful outcomes at follow-up. Impairments in mental health, lack of employment, education or training and low preparedness were associated with poor outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest the current organisation of mental health and care services may not be fit for purpose and even unwittingly contribute to persistent mental illness and poor psychosocial outcomes. A redesign of services should consider a model where the timing of transition does not fall at the most hazardous time for young people, but is sufficiently flexible to allow young people to move on when they are personally, socially and psychologically most able to succeed. Assessment of a young person's readiness to transition might also be useful. A youth focused service across the adolescent and early adult years may be better placed to avoid young people falling through the service gap created by poor transitional management.This work was completed within the NIHR Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (now CLAHRC East of England). The CLAHRC is hosted by the University of Cambridge and the Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. This work was partially supported by a Wellcome Trust programme grant (grant no. 74296) for the ROOTS data collection awarded to Ian Goodyer.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from BioMed Central via http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12913-015-0853-