Exodus 14–15 as an Anti-Baal Polemic and Its Implications for Interpreting Exodus 15:17 and Dating These Chapters

Olson, Brent, M. “Exodus 14–15 as an Anti-Baal Polemic and Its Implications for Interpreting and Dating These Chapters.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2020. 257 pp. This dissertation seeks to answer the following questions: What is the relationship of Baal-zephon worship and its governing narrative, the Baal Myth, to the accounts of the Sea Event in Exodus 14–15? Secondly, what are the implications of this relationship for interpreting and dating these chapters? Building upon scholarship’s engagement with these questions since the Ras Shamra discoveries, the dissertation makes the case that Exodus 14–15 function in part as an anti-Baal polemic. Four pieces of evidence are adduced: (1) the Baal Myth parallels in the Song of the Sea; (2) the Baal-zephon cultic site references in the Song’s immediate canonical context; (3) the theme of Yahweh’s defeat of the gods of Egypt in Exodus 1–15; and (4) the historical evidence for the centrality of Baal-zephon worship in the East Nile Delta—particularly as controller of waterways—during the New Kingdom period, precisely the historical context for the exodus presented in the biblical canon. To confirm this case, the dissertation employs Yairah Amit’s methodology for identifying biblical polemics, demonstrating these chapters’ fulfillment of Amit’s criteria for an implicit anti-Baal polemic—namely, the occurrence of other anti-Baal polemics in the Bible, striking signs by which the author indicates a polemic, and the identification of the text’s anti-Baal polemical subject by others within the history of exegesis. Finally, the dissertation argues that an anti-Baal polemic in Exodus 14–15 has implications for dating these chapters and for interpreting the referent of Exod. 15:17. Evidence for the zenith of Baal-zephon worship in Egypt during the New Kingdom supports the plausibility of a Mosaic era dating for the narrative traditions constituting these chapters. The Song’s polemical paralleling of the Baal Myth also implies that Yahweh’s “mountain of inheritance” in Exod. 15:17 is likely as discrete and at least as permanent as Baal’s “mountain of inheritance,” Mount Zaphon

Recreation Capital: Natural Resources, Amenity Development, and Outdoor Recreation in Bend, Oregon

This dissertation examines the production of recreational resources associated with amenity development. I argue that recreational resources are produced along lines similar to the production of timber, water, or mineral resources. Their production depends on the material characteristics of the resource, infrastructures of development, institutional arrangements, and the cultural symbolic value of rural and natural spaces. Scholars of amenity development have glossed over both the material elements of recreational resources and the history of resource development related to amenity landscapes. As a result, these scholars have overlooked insights concerning the production of resource spaces and evolving relationships between the city and the countryside. The dissertation utilizes insights from critical resource geography, the environmental history of resource development, cultural landscape studies, and histories of the American West. Drawing from sources such as government reports, business records, archival records, personal interviews, and newspaper research I construct a narrative of recreational development in Bend, Oregon since 1950. Before Bend became emblematic of the recreational development of the New West it functioned largely as a single industry company town, making it an ideal place to consider the production of recreational resources at the end of the 20th century. After introducing the dissertation\u27s goals and exploring the theoretical interventions it makes in chapter one, I examine, in chapter two, the resource relationships between Bend and its hinterland leading up to World War II, with particular attention to how the region\u27s recreational opportunities were used alongside its timber and ranching resources. Chapter three addresses national concerns about recreational resource supply and demand by considering the work of the Outdoor Recreational Resource Review Commission and their effort to rationalize recreational resources and make them legible for conservation and development. Chapter four examines how one firm, Brooks Scanlon, converted some of its timberlands to a golf resort, capitalizing on the recreational amenities offered by its former timberland and setting the standard for further amenity development in Central Oregon. Chapter five examines the political debate about how to manage land on the urban fringe-land valuable for real estate development--in light of conflicts between the right to develop private property and the common good associated with symbolic and material characteristics of the countryside, in this case, migratory deer. Chapter six considers the infrastructure of the countryside and the city in the production of recreational resources through an examination of historical development and commercialization of the Century Drive Scenic Byway, Black Butte Ranch, and the Old Mill District. In Chapter seven, I return again to real estate development on the urban fringe to consider the impact of fire on exurban development and the institutional arrangements associated with reducing the risk and damage to recreational resources. Finally, I offer a conclusion that considers the production of recreational resources and its relationship to the production of space and the cultural landscape

A Call for a Unified Business Organization Law

The authors propose a wholesale reformation of business organization law. The current regime of business organization law reflects an attempt to blend the benefits of limited liability with conduit or flow-through taxation. The result has been a haphazard development of business forms, often created to satisfy shifting federal tax law guidelines. The authors trace this development, from the traditional corporation and partnership forms through limited partnerships and Subchapter S corporations to the recent organizational forms of limited liability companies and limited liability partnerships. The authors show how the search for the ideal organizational form has failed, leaving an unwieldy morass of choice of entity issues for the business owner. The authors propose a two-tier framework to overhaul existing business organization law and classification. Traditional corporations would continue in existence. The remaining myriad of business forms would be replaced by a simplified Standard Business Organization (“SBO”) governed by a Standard Business Code (“SBC”). The hallmarks of the SBO under the SBC would be limited liability for owners, pass-through taxation, free transferability of interests, perpetual existence or continuity of life, and presumed owner management. These attributes conform to the default features most desired by business owners. Consistent with recent changes by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service in the traditional entity classification scheme for taxation purposes, the two-tier framework combines the benefits of consistency, flexibility, and simplicity. Current laws and regulations governing business organizations formed as corporations would remain intact, allowing states to continue to “race to the top” (or bottom), and affording a substantial federal entity-level tax base from these entities. The SBC would provide a flexible, owner-oriented operational structure for the SBO while avoiding entity-level taxation, except where the SBO chooses to become publicly traded. The result is a vastly simplified system of business organization law that elevates the substance of desired business organization law elements over the form of attributes necessary to satisfy federal tax guidelines

Coherent Websites and Creative Play: Constructivist Approaches to Information Technology in Teacher Education

This paper qualitatively compares two different approaches to teaching information technology to pre-service teachers. The approaches (Creative Play and Coherent Websites) have their origins in different cultural settings. Both approaches emerge from constructivist views and aim at engaging students in conversations and collaborations that sensitize them to the sorts of classroom issues they will confront when they are teachers.This paper qualitatively compares two different approaches to teaching information technology to pre-service teachers. The approaches (Creative Play and Coherent Websites) have their origins in different cultural settings. Both approaches emerge from constructivist views and aim at engaging students in conversations and collaborations that sensitize them to the sorts of classroom issues they will confront when they are teachers

YOUTH PERCEPTIONS ON LEARNING IN IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL REALITY: DEVELOPING AND ASSESSING ESSENTIAL SOCIOEMOTIONAL SKILLS

This qualitative study investigated youth perceptions of educational virtual reality (VR) for developing socioemotional skills. A constructivist theoretical framework was utilized to guide the research design according to five key elements: learning in relevant settings, the social negotiation of learning, ownership in learning, multimodal representation, and metacognition. An exploratory case study approach was used. A grade 8 class of 28 students were invited to participate as the co-researchers for this study. The methods for data collection were semi structured artifact analysis, observations, surveys, and interviews. Research activities involved guided exploration of sustainability issues in AltspaceVR, collaborative painting in MultibrushVR, and an artifact contribution to a co-created learning experience in FrameVR. Empathy was the most predominant type of social-emotional learning (SEL) demonstrated by the co-researchers: Teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving skills were also evident. The youth exemplified new empathetic insights and activism for people, the environment, and animals based on their learning in immersive contexts. Findings indicate a rationale for educational VR to include SEL competencies, which VR excels at through its capacity for perspective-taking. The research activities within the virtual environments contributed to the co-researchers’ sense of social presence through open communication, affective expression, and group cohesion. Although the scholarly literature identifies personalized avatars as influential for enhancing social presence in VR environments, there was a lack of consensus on avatar value. The data collected in this study may serve as a basis for further research on understanding the capacity of educational VR to promote empathy and SEL in youth

Fuel Summary Report: Shippingport Light Water Breeder Reactor - Rev. 2

The Shippingport Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) was developed by Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory to demonstrate the potential of a water-cooled, thorium oxide fuel cycle breeder reactor. The LWBR core operated from 1977-82 without major incident. The fuel and fuel components suffered minimal damage during operation, and the reactor testing was deemed successful. Extensive destructive and nondestructive postirradiation examinations confirmed that the fuel was in good condition with minimal amounts of cladding deformities and fuel pellet cracks. Fuel was placed in wet storage upon arrival at the Expended Core Facility, then dried and sent to the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center for underground dry storage. It is likely that the fuel remains in good condition at its current underground dry storage location at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center. Reports show no indication of damage to the core associated with shipping, loading, or storage

Identity-Based Perceptions of Others’ Consumption Choices

In this chapter we argue that studying “identity” means moving beyond the “self.” Consumers exist in a social context, meaning that the choices they make (a) reinforce their own identities and (b) provide information about who they are to other people. For example, someone (an “actor”) might choose to buy organic produce; someone else (an “observer”) may perceive this individual as an environmentally-conscious Millennial with higher disposable income. Importantly, observers may use an actor’s perceived identities to judge the “appropriateness” of a given purchase. We illustrate these points by focusing on income identity (e.g., socioeconomic status) and ethical consumption choices (i.e., choices that are prosocial but costly). Across several experiments, we find that low-income consumers receiving government assistance (“welfare recipients”) are seen as less moral when they choose ethical products, such as organic food and eco-friendly vehicles. This occurs in part because people expect those who are poor to be frugal. Conversely, wealthier consumers are seen as more moral for the same choices, in part, because of a belief they have earned spending freedom. We also find that these judgments extend to non-financial choices like volunteering time. This chapter is important because it highlights that who we are impacts perceptions of what we do, which may have consequences for our relationships with other consumers, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. For example, identity-based cues may influence hiring practices (e.g., poor actors are seen as less employable than wealthy actors), government policies (e.g., some people may be seen as more “deserving” of aid than others), and the ability to solicit donations (e.g., people donate less to a charity providing “organic food” vs. “conventional food” to aid recipients). We hope our chapter inspires additional research activity into understanding how observer-based identity judgments influence consumer well-being and marketplace experiences

North to south: ecosystem features determine seagrass community response to sea otter foraging

We compared sea otter recovery in California (CA) and British Columbia (BC) to determine how key ecosystem properties shape top-down effects in seagrass communities. Potential ecosystem drivers of sea otter foraging in CA and BC seagrass beds that we examined include the role of coastline complexity and environmental stress on sea otter effects. In BC, we found greater species richness across seagrass trophic assemblages. Furthermore, Cancer spp. crabs, an important link in the seagrass trophic cascade observed in CA, was less common. Additionally, the more recent reintroduction of sea otters, more complex coastline, and reduced environmental stress in BC seagrass habitats supported the hypothesis that sea otter foraging pressure is currently reduced in more northern latitudes. In order to manage the ecosystem features that lead to regional differences in top predator effects in seagrass communities, we review our findings, their spatial and temporal constraints, and present a social-ecological framework for future re- search

Effect of Polymer Chemistry on the Linear Viscoelasticity of Complex Coacervates

Complex coacervates can form through the electrostatic complexation of oppositely charged polymers. The material properties of the resulting coacervates can change based on the polymer chemistry and the complex interplay between electrostatic interactions and water structure, controlled by salt. We examined the effect of varying the polymer backbone chemistry using methacryloyl- and acryloyl-based complex coacervates over a range of polymer chain lengths and salt conditions. We simultaneously quantified the coacervate phase behavior and the linear viscoelasticity of the resulting coacervates to understand the interplay between polymer chain length, backbone chemistry, polymer concentration, and salt concentration. Time-salt superposition analysis was used to facilitate a broader characterization and comparison of the stress relaxation behavior between different coacervate samples. Samples with mismatched polymer chain lengths highlighted the ways in which the shortest polymer chain can dominate the resulting coacervate properties. A comparison between coacervates formed from methacryloyl vs acryloyl polymers demonstrated that the presence of a backbone methyl group affects the phase behavior, and thus the rheology in such a way that coacervates formed from methacryloyl polymers have a similar phase behavior to those of acryloyl polymers with ∼10× longer polymer chains

Age-related CNS disorder and early death in transgenic FVB/N mice overexpressing Alzheimer amyloid precursor proteins

AbstractTransgenic FVB/N mice overexpressing human (Hu) or mouse (Mo) Alzheimer amyloid precursor protein (APP695) die early and develop a CNS disorder that includes neophobia and impaired spatial alternation, with diminished glucose utilization and astrogliosis mainly in the cerebrum. Age at onset of neophobia and age at death decrease with increasing levels of brain APP. HuAPP transgenes induce death much earlier than MoAPP transgenes expressed at similar levels. No extracellular amyloid was detected, indicating that some deleterious processes related to APP overexpression are dissociated from formation of amyloid. A similar clinical syndrome occurs spontaneously in ∼20% of nontransgenic mice when they reach mid-to late-adult life, suggesting that APP overexpression may accelerate a naturally occuring age-related CNS disorder in FVB/N mice