Uncle Sam\u27s War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization

The roots of American globalization can be found in the War of 1898. Then, as today, the United States actively engaged in globalizing its economic order, its political institutions, and its values. Thomas Schoonover argues that this drive to expand political and cultural reach—the quest for wealth, missionary fulfillment, security, power, and prestige—was inherited by the United States from Europe, especially Spain and Great Britain. Uncle Sam’s War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization is a pathbreaking work of history that examines U.S. growth from its early nationhood to its first major military conflict on the world stage, also known as the Spanish-American War. As the new nation’s military, industrial, and economic strength developed, the United States created policies designed to protect itself from challenges beyond its borders. According to Schoonover, a surge in U.S. activity in the Gulf-Caribbean and in Central America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was catalyzed by the same avarice and competitiveness that motivated the European adventurers to seek a route to Asia centuries earlier. Addressing the basic chronology and themes of the first century of the nation’s expansion, Schoonover locates the origins of the U.S. goal of globalization. U.S. involvement in the War of 1898 reflects many of the fundamental patterns in our national history—exploration and discovery, labor exploitation, violence, racism, class conflict, and concern for security—that many believe shaped America’s course in the twentieth and twenty-first century. In this provocative synthesis, Schoonover offers a searing indictment of U.S. foreign policy and informal empire. . . . Will almost certainly generate debate among scholars; it also merits the attention of anyone with a serious interest in U.S. history. -- American Historical Review Schoonover’s brief, provocative interpretation of US foreign relations based on 40 years of research will challenge all who read it. . . . Essential. -- Choice A wide-ranging and learned book. -- Historian A suggestive synthesis that links the emergence of a late nineteenth-century United States empire to the rise of an all-pervasive twentieth-century economic and cultural globalism. -- International History Review A masterful job of pulling together long-forgotten thread of mid-19th century history to explain why ‘Mr. Hearst’s war’ against Spain was, 80 years of history to the contrary, actually our first global war. -- John D. Stempel, Patterson School of Diplomacy, University of Kentucky Very forward-looking and thought-provoking. . . . Will surely provoke lively discussion among students and scholars. -- Latin Americanist Schoonover’s sobering and thought-provoking study shows why and how the American hunger for wealth, material, labor, markets, and attempts at empire building was sparked by the Spanish-American War of 1898 and continues unabated to this day. -- Military Heritage His concise history of the U.S.’s early imperial maneuvering is scarcely comforting and should play a role in ongoing debates about current actions. -- Publishers Weekly During a time when Americans speak all too glibly about their \u27empire,\u27 it is necessary to understand where they took the fork in the road to that \u27empire,\u27 how their last \u27empire\u27 turned out (that is, badly), and how we should think about American empires. Schoonover does all this masterfully, succinctly, and in a broad historical context that is as instructive as it is imaginative. -- Walter F. LaFeber, from the Foreword Well-researched, especially considering the difficulty of using recently declassified information. -- J. W. Thacker -- Bowling Green Daily News Schoonover’s study is a welcome addition to the scholarship on the role of Latin America in World War II. Hitler’s Man in Havana is also an exciting tale that should be of interest to fans of espionage novels. -- Michael R. Hall -- The Latin Americanisthttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_military_history/1034/thumbnail.jp

Telepresence in Ecuador

Ellner, MarkThe Telepresence in Ecuador project served to analyze and gain an understanding of virtual education with an emphasis in building relationships with students and English language acquisition. The project was completed through a partnership with Kansas State University and ULEAM in Manta, Ecuador. An honors section of Educational Technology (EDCI 318) took on the project, using Double 2 robots to access the Ecuadorian classrooms. The K-State students in the class were split into pairs and assigned a school. The K-State students focused on improving the English pronunciation and vocabulary of the Ecuadorian students through the use of literature circles, games, and conversation. The project found that conversation with the students not only helped to improve their pronunciation as they listened to native English speakers, but it also rapidly built relationships and trust with the students. This project focuses on the qualitative experiences of the authors rather than the quantitative data, as the project was still in its early stages when the authors were involved. https://youtu.be/QRrAnActls

Overview of the Langley subsonic research effort on SCR configuration

Recent advances achieved in the subsonic aerodynamics of low aspect ratio, highly swept wing designs are summarized. The most significant of these advances was the development of leading edge deflection concepts which effectively reduce leading edge flow separation. The improved flow attachment results in substantial improvements in low speed performance, significant delay of longitudinal pitch up, increased trailing edge flap effectiveness, and increased lateral control capability. Various additional theoretical and/or experimental studies are considered which, in conjunction with the leading edge deflection studies, form the basis for future subsonic research effort

Ohio Northern Alumnus - April, 1927

https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/alumni_mag/1000/thumbnail.jp

Ohio Northern Alumnus - July, 1927

https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/alumni_mag/1001/thumbnail.jp

Maternal hormonal milieu influence on fetal brain development

An adverse maternal hormonal environment during pregnancy can be associated with abnormal brain growth. Subtle changes in fetal brain development have been observed even for maternal hormone levels within the currently accepted physiologic ranges. In this review, we provide an update of the research data on maternal hormonal impact on fetal neurodevelopment, giving particular emphasis to thyroid hormones and glucocorticoids. Thyroid hormones are required for normal brain development. Despite serum TSH appearing to be the most accurate indicator of thyroid function in pregnancy, maternal serum free T4 levels in the first trimester of pregnancy are the major determinant of postnatal psychomotor development. Even a transient period of maternal hypothyroxinemia at the beginning of neurogenesis can confer a higher risk of expressive language and nonverbal cognitive delays in offspring. Nevertheless, most recent clinical guidelines advocate for targeted high-risk case finding during first trimester of pregnancy despite universal thyroid function screening. Corticosteroids are determinant in suppressing cell proliferation and stimulating terminal differentiation, a fundamental switch for the maturation of fetal organs. Not surprisingly, intrauterine exposure to stress or high levels of glucocorticoids, endogenous or synthetic, has a molecular and structural impact on brain development and appears to impair cognition and increase anxiety and reactivity to stress. Limbic regions, such as hippocampus and amygdala, are particularly sensitive. Repeated doses of prenatal corticosteroids seem to have short-term benefits of less respiratory distress and fewer serious health problems in offspring. Nevertheless, neurodevelopmental growth in later childhood and adulthood needs further clarification. Future studies should address the relevance of monitoring the level of thyroid hormones and corticosteroids during pregnancy in the risk stratification for impaired postnatal neurodevelopment.This work was supported by the grant "Doutoramento em Medicina Jose de Mello Saude 2014" by Jose de Mello Saude to AM

Big Push or Big Grab? Railways, Government Activism and Export Growth in Latin America, 1865-1913

Railways were one of the main engines of the Latin American trade boom before 1914. Railway construction often required financial support from local governments, which depended on their fiscal capacity. However, since the main government revenues were trade-related, this generated a two-way feedback between government revenues and railways, with a potential for multiple equilibria.The empirical tests in this article support the hypothesis of such a positive two-way relationship.The main implication of our analysis is that the build-up of state capacity was a necessary condition for railway expansion and also, to a large extent, for export expansion in Latin America during the first globalization