Compact Binary Waveform Center-of-Mass Corrections

We present a detailed study of the center-of-mass (c.m.) motion seen in simulations produced by the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) collaboration. We investigate potential physical sources for the large c.m. motion in binary black hole simulations and find that a significant fraction of the c.m. motion cannot be explained physically, thus concluding that it is largely a gauge effect. These large c.m. displacements cause mode mixing in the gravitational waveform, most easily recognized as amplitude oscillations caused by the dominant (2,$\pm$2) modes mixing into subdominant modes. This mixing does not diminish with increasing distance from the source; it is present even in asymptotic waveforms, regardless of the method of data extraction. We describe the current c.m.-correction method used by the SXS collaboration, which is based on counteracting the motion of the c.m. as measured by the trajectories of the apparent horizons in the simulations, and investigate potential methods to improve that correction to the waveform. We also present a complementary method for computing an optimal c.m. correction or evaluating any other c.m. transformation based solely on the asymptotic waveform data.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figure

To Act with Justice and Love Tenderly: Exploring the Church’s Call for Inclusion

This paper explores some of the documents that provide a foundation for the Church and its ministries to deliver justice and mercy to all, including students with disabilities. First, Catholic Social Teaching (CST) traditions will be presented as the foundation to some of the documents of the American Church. A chronology of the documents of United States bishops will trace the flow of CST as the impetus for designing and delivering programs for students with disabilities in Catholic schools. Implications for Catholic schools are outlined for next steps for implementation

Declining City, Born-Again Citadel: Faith-Based Organizations and the Reconstitution of Inequality in Postindustrial America

In the context of the hegemonic neoliberalism of recent decades, faith-based organizations (FBOs) have flourished as mechanisms for addressing poverty and other varieties of social need. For all of the contributions of contemporary anthropological research to the study of FBOs, however, most analyses have stressed the potency of FBOs and elided the agency of recipients. The present dissertation aims, through a multisited study of Evangelical FBOs in the postindustrial American city of Plainfield, to focus on the latter theme. Owing to the traditional behaviorism of American culture and also its Evangelical reproduction in FBO settings, the pursuit of charity thrusts a dilemma onto recipients: Risk accepting the stigma and shame typically associated with poverty or contest those meanings and risk alienating oneself from a valuable source of much-needed household assistance. Rather than accepting the terms of this invidious dilemma, however, charitable subjects in Plainfield transcend them with performances of worthiness—that is, demonstrations of respectfulness, a work ethic, and more that mark them as, despite their poverty, people who qualify as worthy according to the standards of liberal society. By interpreting these dynamics through the lens of Marxian praxis theory, however, it is apparent that, despite their status as acts of contestation, these performances and related recipient behaviors have the contradictory consequence of facilitating the reproduction of capitalist social relations, particularly the relationship of working-class dependence. The data also demonstrate that the faith-based sphere of Plainfield has developed in a geographically uneven fashion, such that some working-class neighborhoods are far better served by the local groundswell of charitable flows than others. As a consequence of this unevenness, faith-based redistributive flows in Plainfield actually exacerbate racial inequality and constitute a form of eleemosynary white privilege among the city’s working class. In addition to supporting these political economic conclusions, the ethnographic evidence from Plainfield also exposes the disjuncture between behaviorist interpretations of poverty and its experience as lived in the context of postindustrial austerity

Developing and Sustaining Leaders for Catholic Schools: A Summary of the Conference Proceedings of the Second Catholic Higher Education Collaborative Conference

On October 1-3, 2009, Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Catholic School Effectiveness (CCSE) and School of Education hosted the second in a series of six planned Catholic Higher Education Collaborative Conferences (CHEC) entitled, “Developing and Sustaining Leaders for Catholic Schools: How Can Catholic Higher Education Help?” This working conference was structured around four main presentations, each addressing an aspect of the conference theme. Upon the conclusion of each session, conference participants were invited to respond and explore the themes that were presented in each session. This paper provides a summary of the presentations and the discussions of the participants. Finally, the follow-up actions, resulting from the conference, are shared

Introduction to the Focus Section: Preparing Leaders in Light of the Standards

The role of the principal has been increasingly documented as an important variable in student achievement. As such, preparation of principals is coming under more scrutiny by legislators and policy makers. It should be argued that the same attention that is being given to public school principal preparation programs must also be undertaken for formation programs for Catholic school principals. This article serves as the introduction to a focus issue that explores this topic

Principles of American Government (POL 151) City as Classroom Project Report

POL 151 provides an overview of the principles, institutions, and decision-making processes of the American government. It focuses on the foundations of American constitutional order and the development of powers to the executive, legislative and judicial branches. It addresses a range of actors from federal government agencies to lobbies, interest groups and the media, who contribute to public policy in the United States. The central focus of this course will be on the institutions, principles and practices of American government, though it will also touch upon contemporary debates in American politics. Thematic topics are approached in a critical and analytical way, seeking to understand the trade-offs inherent in democratic choice. The City-as-Classroom component of this course was relatively straightforward. On October 6, I proposed to lead a group of students to the Constitution Center, at 5th and Arch, and see the multi-media exhibit “Freedom Rising” and go through the exhibit together. Students unable to make the joint visit were permitted to go on their own before the end of the semester. Students were expected to write a brief reflection paper (2 pages) connecting some of the themes and debates covered in the POL 151 class with things that they saw and experienced during their visit to the Constitution Center

Validation of empirical measures of welfare change: comment

In an excellent article from a recent issue of this journal, Sellar, Stoll and Chavas (1985) make a technical error which causes them to misstate their closed-ended estimates of willingness to pay. Truncation of the estimated cummulative distribution function must we made explicit in compution of willingness to pay.nonmarket valuation; contingent valuation; stated preferences; welfare evaluation; willingness to pay

An Investigation of the Attitudes of Catholic School Principals towards the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities

Catholic school principals typically serve as the prime decision-makers in admission and enrollment issues. A key factor in this decision-making can be the principals’ perceptions and attitudes about servicing students with disabilities within a Catholic school context. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of Catholic school principals toward inclusion of students with disabilities in Catholic schools. Overall, a majority of surveyed principals reported a positive attitude toward including students with disabilities. Some significant relationships were found between principal’s pervious experiences with students with disabilities and the principals’ willingness to enroll students with disabilities. Implications for practice are presented