Toward a Vision of Sexual and Economic Justice

This report is based on the Virginia C. Gildersleeve Lecture and colloquium at Barnard College, with keynote speakers Josephine Ho and Naomi Klein. The participants in the colloquium have all made significant contributions to our understandings of global justice as activists, artists, and scholars who have explored the meanings of economic justice and sexual justice and have worked to build links between these spheres. The aim of the workshop was to articulate connections between struggles for sexual justice and economic justice and to develop new visions of how different people and movements might come together in their efforts to create justice. This report provides a synthesis of the short thought papers the participants developed in preparation for the colloquium and their conversations during the worksho

Location-Based Preferences in Federal and Federally Funded Contracting: An Overview of the Law

[Excerpt] The recession that began in December 2007 has prompted increased interest among some Members of Congress and their constituents in legal authorities that could require or allow federal agencies to prefer contractors in one state or locality over those in other states or localities. Federal spending on procurement contracts has remained high, reaching $523.9 billion in FY2009, at a time when many other businesses have scaled back their purchases of goods and services. However, this spending has historically been localized in three to five states, which receive nearly half of all federal procurement dollars, prompting concerns about whether other states receive their “fair share.” Such concerns may be overstated, given that many contracts must be performed in or near Washington, DC, and shifting the place of performance of existing contracts from one state to another would generally not decrease overall unemployment. Nonetheless, geographic distribution of federal spending and federal funding is often a concern during economic downturns. This report discusses constitutional and other legal issues related to the creation and implementation of location-based preferences in federal contracting, as well as summarizes key authorities requiring or allowing federal agencies to “favor” contractors located in specific places. The report does not address federal preferences for domestic products or provisions of federal law that could, depending upon their implementation, effectively prefer local contractors, such as project labor agreements

Comparison of the effects of high and low milk-replacer feeding regimens on health and growth of crossbred dairy heifers

Context: Pre-weaning growth in dairy heifers is highly dependent on the amount of milk fed. Both milk replacer (MR) and associated labour are costly, encouraging restricted milk rations and once-a-day feeding. Aims: This study compared performance relating to the growth and health of calves receiving one of two commercial feeding regimens: High or Low. Methods: All heifers born during the Spring (January–March) calving block on a commercial UK farm with mixed-breed genetics were recruited at birth, randomly assigned to the High (n = 104, receiving MR-A) or Low (n = 88, receiving MR-B) feed group and reared indoors on straw bedding, with free access to concentrate. Both groups initially received MR twice daily. The High group continued to receive MR twice daily throughout the experiment, whereas the Low group calves were reduced to a single MR feed daily during Weeks 4–8. Blood samples were taken in Weeks 1 and 6 to assess passive transfer and measure circulating insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1). The Wisconsin calf-scoring system was used to assess health of calves in Weeks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 and at 6 months and size was also measured at these times. Data were analysed by univariate and multivariate models. Key results: Passive transfer was good in both groups (serum total protein (mean ± s.d.) 60.9 ± 9.1 mg/mL) with no differences in pre-weaning disease incidence; diarrhoea occurred in 64.5% and bovine respiratory disease in 26.3% of calves. High group calves were significantly heavier, taller and longer at all pre-weaning examinations except recruitment owing to more growth in the first month, and remained significantly larger at 6 months: weight 157 ± 8 vs 149 ± 7 kg, height 103 ± 5 vs 100 ± 5 cm, length 90 ± 4 vs 88 ± 5 cm. Plasma IGF1 concentrations at around Week 6 were doubled in the High group (101 ± 38.6 vs 55 ± 34.1 ng/mL). Bovine respiratory disease was associated with reduced weight gain. Heifers with diarrhoea were leaner at weaning. High feed group, weight at recruitment and good passive transfer were positively associated with weight at 6 months. Conclusions: Higher feeding levels pre-weaning increased growth rates and IGF1, although the disease incidence was unaffected. Implications: Previous studies have shown that more growth and higher IGF1 pre-weaning are associated with a lower age at first calving and an increased chance of reaching the end of first lactation. These in turn improve long-term performance

Fishing futures

This policy brief focuses on fisheries and provides three perspectives: one, an overview of the underlying causes of overfishing; two, a discussion on the recent efforts of Australia to put its Commonwealth fisheries on a sustainable management path; and three, the challenges faced by our Pacific neighbours in managing valuable and migratory tuna fisheries. The contents are: Too few fish and too many boats by R. Quentin Grafton Getting things right: structural adjustment in Australia’s Commonwealth fisheries by Tom Kompas Ensuring sustainable fisheries in the Pacific by Kate Barcla

Benefits of Industry Involvement in Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Courses

Opportunities for industry involvement in capstone design courses go beyond industry sponsorship of capstone design projects. Representatives from industry can serve as guest lecturers, curriculum advisors, and design project sponsors and team mentors. Since 2000, industry participation has been a core part of the capstone design course at Marquette University. Practicing engineers provide a relevant, practical real-world perspective of their topic, reinforcing its importance to professional engineering practice. Students and faculty benefit from the up-to-date treatment of the topic provided by guest speakers from industry who have expertise in the topic and are willing to share their experiences with students. Students benefit from industry sponsorship of senior design projects through the opportunity to work on realworld problems of importance to industry, exposure to industry and company-specific project management and product development processes, and familiarity with economic, legal, and regulatory design constraints. This paper provides a brief description of the Multidisciplinary Capstone Design course at Marquette University, examples of industry involvement in the course, and the observed benefits of industry involvement to students, the university, and industry participants. It presents examples of current practices used at other schools as well as helpful recommendations for managing industry participation in capstone design courses