How to Help Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds Succeed in Law School

Over the past 50 years, law schools have seen an amazing increase in the diversity of their students. Minorities, women, and the foreign born now make up a significant percentage of those attending law school. However, law school education has changed little in reaction to the new kind of students it must educate. Law schools continue to use the casebook/Socratic method with some modifications at the edges for legal writing and clinics. While law schools have added minority offices, remedial classes, bar review courses, and academic support personnel, these efforts have not helped to the extent hoped

Copyright Infringement of Musical Compositions: A Systematic Appproach

This article addresses the problems that courts face when dealing with copyright infringement of musical compositions. Infringement of music presents special problems for judges and juries because music is an intuitive art that is nonverbal and nonvisual. Consequently, traditional methods of establishing infringement are often unreliable when applied to music. This paper will concentrate on the question of whether a composition that is similar to, but not the same as, another work infringes on the other work. I This inquiry is both qualitative and quantitative. First, one must establish that the first work employs material from the second work. Determining whether copying has occurred is often difficult, and the majority of this paper will deal with this problem. Second, once copying has been established, one must determine whether the quantity copied is sufficient to constitute illegal appropriation. Part I of this paper examines and criticizes the methods courts have employed to determine copyright infringement of musical compositions. Part II shows how some scholars have dealt with this question. Part III presents this author\u27s solutions to determining infringement of musical works. This paper will concentrate on infringement of popular music

Why Philip Ewell’s “Music Theory and the White Racial Frame” is Fundamentally Wrong: Ignoring Inconvenient Facts

Professor Ewell’s argument concerning a white racial frame in American music theory is fundamentally flawed because Ewell’s argument is based on the notion that Schenker’s worldview was based on biological racism, not culture, and Ewell is incorrect that Schenker’s worldview was based on biological race. In addition, Ewell hid this fact by incompletely presenting a quotation that is central to his argument (he omitted three sentences), as well as by using numerous quotes out-of-context

Risk factors for suicide in prisons : an updated systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Rates of suicide among people in prison are elevated compared with people of similar age and sex who are living in the community. Improving assessments and interventions to reduce suicide risk requires updated evidence on risk factors. We aimed to examine risk factors associated with suicide in prisoners. Methods We did an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of risk factors for suicide among people in prison. We searched five biblographic databases for articles published between Jan 1, 2006, and Aug 13, 2020, and one database for articles published between Jan 1, 1973, and Aug 13, 2020. Eligible studies reported risk factors in individuals who died by suicide while in prison and in controls from the general prison population. Two reviewers independently extracted data for each study using a standardised form. We calculated random-effects pooled odds ratios (ORs) for the association of suicide with demographical, clinical, criminological, and institutional risk factors, and investigated heterogeneity using subgroup and meta-regression analyses. This systematic review is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42020137979. Findings We identified 8041 records through our searches, and used 77 eligible studies from 27 countries, including 35 351 suicides, in the main analysis. The strongest clinical factors associated with suicide were suicidal ideation during the current period in prison (OR 15·2, 95% CI 8·5–27·0), a history of attempted suicide (OR 8·2, 4·4–15·3), and current psychiatric diagnosis (OR 6·4, 3·6–11·1). Institutional factors associated with suicide included occupation of a single cell (OR 6·8, 2·3–19·8) and having no social visits (OR 1·9, 1·5–2·4). Criminological factors included remand status (OR 3·6, 3·1–4·1), serving a life sentence (OR 2·4, 1·3–4·6), and being convicted of a violent offence, in particular homicide (OR 3·1, 2·2–4·2). Interpretation Several modifiable risk factors, such as psychiatric diagnosis, suicidal ideation during the current period in prison, and single-cell occupancy, are associated with suicide among people in prison. Preventive interventions should target these risk factors and include improved access to evidence-based mental health care. Understanding other factors associated with suicide might improve risk stratification and resource allocation in prison services. Funding Wellcome Trust, National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley

High plasma uric acid concentration: causes and consequences

High plasma uric acid (UA) is a precipitating factor for gout and renal calculi as well as a strong risk factor for Metabolic Syndrome and cardiovascular disease. The main causes for higher plasma UA are either lower excretion, higher synthesis or both. Higher waist circumference and the BMI are associated with higher insulin resistance and leptin production, and both reduce uric acid excretion. The synthesis of fatty acids (tryglicerides) in the liver is associated with the de novo synthesis of purine, accelerating UA production. The role played by diet on hyperuricemia has not yet been fully clarified, but high intake of fructose-rich industrialized food and high alcohol intake (particularly beer) seem to influence uricemia. It is not known whether UA would be a causal factor or an antioxidant protective response. Most authors do not consider the UA as a risk factor, but presenting antioxidant function. UA contributes to > 50% of the antioxidant capacity of the blood. There is still no consensus if UA is a protective or a risk factor, however, it seems that acute elevation is a protective factor, whereas chronic elevation a risk for disease