Critical Perspectives on Undergraduate Black Women

This project is one of reclamation, an attempt to explore and name Black undergraduate women’s experiences in higher education scholarship. As a Black queer trans person, Audre Lorde knew all too well the ways in which society defined Black women and the dangers associated with the confinement embedded in those definitions. Today, there are many fantasies about Black women in higher education that must be critically interrogated and examined to illuminate the complexities of our experiences across the higher education landscape. This project is one effort devoted to the interruption of epistemic violence enacted to silence, marginalize, and dehumanize Black women, particularly at the undergraduate level. Scholars and practitioners know little about the experiences of Black undergraduate women, and what is presumed to be known has in large part been constructed outside Black women’s communities, devoid of a critical lens, and treated as insignificant

On the Existence of Configurations of Subspaces in a Hilbert Space with Fixed Angles

For a class of $*$-algebras, where $*$-algebra $A_{\Gamma,\tau}$ is generated by projections associated with vertices of graph $\Gamma$ and depends on a parameter $\tau$ $(0 < \tau \leq 1)$, we study the sets $\Sigma_\Gamma$ of values of $\tau$ such that the algebras $A_{\Gamma,\tau}$ have nontrivial $*$-representations, by using the theory of spectra of graphs. In other words, we study such values of $\tau$ that the corresponding configurations of subspaces in a Hilbert space exist.Comment: Published in SIGMA (Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications) at http://www.emis.de/journals/SIGMA

Observer and Particle Transformations and Newton's Laws

A frequently confused point in studies of symmetry violation is the distinction between observer and particle transformations. In this work, we consider a model in which a coefficient in the Standard-Model Extension leads to violations of rotation invariance in Newton's second law. The model highlights the distinction between observer and particle transformations.Comment: Presented at the Sixth Meeting on CPT and Lorentz Symmetry, Bloomington, Indiana, June 17-21, 201

The Impact of Rereading on Metacomprehension and Comprehension of Negation

The present research explored the awareness that readers have of the difficulty of negative text, and aimed to determine whether reading a passage twice could impact metacomprehension and comprehension of that text. Participants read expository passages that sometimes contained negative words such as “no” and “not”, rated their ability to comprehend what they just read, and answered a comprehension question. Half of the passages were read twice, and rated again before the participant was prompted to answer a comprehension question. Results showed that passages that were read twice were rated as easier to understand, and questions that corresponded with those passages were answered with higher accuracy as well. However, these improvements were not only for negated passages. While participants were aware that the negative passages were harder to comprehend, this understanding did not aid in heightened comprehension of the negative text

Identifying the role of cholesterol and the cholesterol transfer protein, YSP1-2, in cell-cell fusion in Tetrahymena thermophila

A cell’s shape directly affects how it behaves as one’s structure directly correlates to its function. The shape of cells and organelles is driven in part by the lipid bilayer that makes up their membranes. The process by which cells systematically adjust the types of lipids in membranes to facilitate changes in membrane shape remain uncertain. In our research, we aimed to address this issue by studying the role of lipid transfer proteins in the ciliate, Tetrahymena thermophilia. Specifically, we focus on the process of cell-cell fusion during mating in Tetrahymena as this requires a drastic change in membrane shape at a specific time and place along the cell membrane. Using methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MBCD), we showed that the curvature accommodating lipid, cholesterol, is required for mating in Tetrahymena. Through bioinformatics analysis, we were able to identify a potential cholesterol transfer protein, TTHERM_ 00129660 (YSP1-2), that is expressed during the fusion process and that contains domains consistent with membrane binding and deformation as well as lipid transfer. We were able to clone this gene and its key functional domains with a yellow fluorescent protein with the goal of determining their function and localization. Future experiments involve determining the localization and function of domains within YSP1-2, as well as testing the effects of cholesterol sequestration on cell-cell fusion specifically. Importantly, we think that because of the conservation and importance of cell-cell fusion in higher eukaryotes, we believe that the information that we glean from this research can be applicable to the broader understanding of cell-cell fusion

When Love Hurts: Confronting William Styron’s Racial Misery in College Composition Classrooms

Acknowledging and attending to how professors feel about their students is an often ignored but fundamental component in creating relationship-rich pedagogy. This paper references William Styron’s “This Quiet Dust” to facilitate a transparent discussion about how we truly feel about Black Language, its role and use in the academy, and how these feelings ultimately shape how our Black students experience our encounters with them

Potentials and Impediments to Universal, School-based Screening for Behavioral and Emotional Risk: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Current Case Law

Disproportionality in special education is a long-standing issue. Some scholars have proposed group or universal screening for emotional and behavioral risk in schools as a method of addressing disproportionality. Considering previous case law, questions exist as to the legality of such screening programs in public schools. The purpose of this inquiry was to apply critical discourse analysis (CDA) to the federal case of Rhoades v. Penn-Harris (2008) to explore how court discourse reflects issues of social power and multidisciplinarity in the context of a school mental health screening program. CDA is usually interdisciplinary and focuses on explaining discourse structures related to social problems and may be applied from various theoretical frameworks and methodologies. This study used a discourse-historical approach to address the questions regarding the court’s discussion of relative power relationships, its use of argumentation strategies, and the knowledge base(s) accessed in formulating its arguments. Case study findings indicated that the court\u27s use of various argumentation strategies in its discourse on student mental health screening presented varying potential duties and liabilities for entities and individuals involved in such programs. Additionally, although mental health screening in public schools requires an interdisciplinary approach, the court\u27s discussion of the program litigated in Rhoades used a centrist, law-based perspective, suggesting that attempts to facilitate a pluralist or an integrationist approach to such cases may require efforts particular to legal, as opposed to clinical, practice. Recommendations for developing school mental health screening programs sensitive to issues addressed by Rhoades are provided

Who\u27s speaking to whom?: The formation of the Multicultural Radio and Television Association of Western Australia

The fundamental aim of this dissertation will be to outline and critique the factors which have delayed the establishment of the first independent ethnic/multicultural radio station in Perth. The Multicultural Radio and Television Association of Western Australia are due to commence broadcasting on 6EBA FM on 1 December, 1990. While the Association has been broadcast·.ng through 6NR Community Access Radio for the past fourteen years, the increasing demand for air-time led them to apply for a Special Purpose, category \u27S\u27 licence through the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal. The application was made in 1987, and the licence was granted after a hearing in 1988. Since then, the inauguration of broadcasting has been delayed by several factors, namely; finances for the establishment of studio facilities, the search for an antenna site, and the construction of the antenna. Nonetheless, other factors attributed to the delay need to be investigated. Independent ethnic/multicultural radio stations have been operating in Sydney, Melbourne, their regional areas, Adelaide and Brisbane for over ten years. This disjunction in establishment, must, then, be examined on an official level. Chapter One outlines and identifies national ethnic policy and philosophy in the context of broadcast radio. The history of ethnic radio broadcasting is detailed to establish how philosophy and official policy are not always aligned. Chapter Two contextualises national pol icy and philosophy in the locality of Perth. The history of ethnic broadcasting in Perth is critiqued to determine why there was a need for an independent ethnic radio station. The needs of migrant/ethnic participants are also identified through a theoretical framework and interviews conducted with program co-ordinators. These two themes are brought together in Chapter Three, where the contradictions between official policy and philosophy, and, policy and migrant/ethnic needs are examined. The contradictions identified ascertain how the lack of appropriate provision, through official policy structure, has contributed to the delay in formation of 6EBA. This lack is characterised by the contentions within the structure of policy formation, and the lack of acknowledgement of migrant/ethnic needs in the ethnic broadcasting sphere. The disparity between the language of official policy and the voice of migrant/ethnic groups denies the application of access and equality in the ethnic/multicultural broadcasting sphere, and consequently begs the question - Who\u27s Speaking to Whom

Administrative evaluations of teachers in tested and non-tested subjects.

The teacher evaluation process seeks to help teachers grow and thrive, and as a result, affect student achievement. Administrators evaluate teachers from different subjects, grade levels, and experience levels. This qualitative study examined the perception of feedback given through the cooperating school district’s evaluation system from both the teacher and the principal viewpoint in order to explore their perceptions of the quality and quantity of feedback given during the evaluation process. Participants were arts teachers, tested subject teachers, and their evaluating administrators from a suburban school district in Kentucky. The analysis revealed that generic evaluations do not differentiate for teachers in separate subjects, grade levels, or experience levels, and this lack of differentiation does not contribute to the overall effectiveness of teacher growth. These findings suggest administrator training and district and state policy revisions to address this could improve the experience of the evaluation system for all teachers