Advantage, Incumbent

Highlights findings on the advantage incumbents and those with fundraising success had in the 2002, 2004, and 2006 state legislative races, as well as the correlation between the two advantages. Considers the effects of term limits and public funding

From Coffins to Coffers

The funeral industry in the United States is big business, generating more than $11 billion annually and employing over 100,000 people. Since 1999, the industry has given more than$6 million to political parties and state-level candidates in 46 states, positioning themselves to have a hand in shaping legislation and regulation.Fast FactsState funeral director associations were the leading contributors from the funeral services industry, accounting for $3.3 million, or more than half of the industryi?1/2s$6 million in contributions.Since 1999, the funeral services industry has given more than $6 million to political parties and state-level candidates in 46 states, positioning themselves to have a hand in shaping legislation and regulation

Elastocaloric response of PbTiO3 predicted from a first-principles effective Hamiltonian

A first-principles based effective Hamiltonian is used within a molecular dynamics simulation to study the elastocaloric effect in PbTiO3. It is found that the transition temperature is a linear function of uniaxial tensile stress. Negative temperature change is calculated, when the uniaxial tensile stress is switched off, as a function of initial temperature Delta-T(T_initial). It is predicted that the formation of domain structures under uniaxial tensile stress degrades the effectiveness of the elastocaloric effect.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, published in JPS

Yield to the Resistance: The Impact of Nematode Resistant Varieties on Alfalfa Yield

Alfalfa is a major cash crop in the western United States, where it is common to find fields that are infested with the alfalfa stem nematode (Ditylenchus dipsaci). With no nematicides available to control nematode spread, growers can use nematode resistant varieties of alfalfa to manage nematode populations in a field. I present a deterministic, discrete-time, host-parasite model that describes the spread of alfalfa stem nematodes on resistant hosts that was fit to experimental data obtained in Weber County, Utah. Numerical results obtained from simulations with the model are used to compare how varying levels of resistance can affect harvest yield. Results show that switching from a low resistant rating to a high resistant rating can approximately double the yield over the lifetime of the alfalfa crop

Managing the Spread of Alfalfa Stem Nematodes Ditylenchus dipsaci: the Relationship Between Crop Rotation and Pest Re-emergence

Alfalfa is a critical cash/rotation crop in the western region of the United States, where it is common to find crops affected by the alfalfa stem nematode (Ditylenchus dipsaci). Understanding the spread dynamics associated with this pest would allow end-users to design better management programs and farming practices. This is of particular importance given that there are no nematicides available against alfalfa stem nematode and control strategies largely rely on crop rotation to non-host crops or by planting resistant varieties. I present a basic host-parasite model that describes the spread of the alfalfa stem nematode on alfalfa crops. With this discrete time model I am able to portray a relationship between the length of crop rotation periods and the time at which the density of nematode-infested plants becomes larger than that of healthy ones in the post-rotation alfalfa. The numerical results obtained are consistent with farming practice observations, suggesting that the model could play a role in the evaluation of management strategies

Morality and the Personhood of God: A Moral Argument for the Existence of a Personal God

The concept that God is personal is an important part of religious belief. If God were not personal, it would be odd to think of him as moral or loving; it would also seem counterintuitive to speak of him as One with whom humans can have a personal relationship, One who can be trusted, cares for the people he created, listens to their prayers, acts on their behalf, has their best interests at heart, and so on. In short, to talk of such matters in a sensible manner and to experience them in everyday life seemingly requires that God is personal. Is there evidence that a personal God actually exists? Enter the moral argument. The moral argument, like other classical arguments for God’s existence, is able to provide evidence for believing in God’s existence, but—unlike other arguments, or perhaps better than the other arguments—is able to shed an incredible amount of light on God’s character (i.e., what God is like). For example, in order to account for morality, God must be good, loving, and holy. Additionally, by surveying the moral landscape—specifically, categories such as moral knowledge, moral values, moral obligations, and moral transformation—it becomes apparent that the deeply personal nature of morality points in the direction of a personal source, and most appropriately, a source personal to the highest degree possible. If the moral argument suggests that a personal source is needed in order to account for the personal nature of morality, naturalism is in a difficult position because of its impersonal or non-personal nature. Similarly, Platonism is a non-personal metaphysical system and therefore faces a challenge in accounting for the personal nature of morality. Although there are several belief systems that set forth the notion of a personal God, with some conceptions coming nearer to adequately accounting for what is required of a personal God than others, Christianity uniquely demonstrates that not only is God personal, but that he has always been personal. If the only sense in which God is personal is in his personal interactions with human persons, then one could say that God’s personality was frustrated before he created human persons or that God became personal only after he created human persons. To say these sorts of things presents all sorts of theological and philosophical problems, namely, that God is dependent on something other than himself and therefore not self-sufficient. A Trinitarian conception of God, which is a distinctly Christian concept, solves the sorts of problems alluded to above, suggesting that God has always been personal in and through the inner personal relations of the three Persons of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the fundamental reason why the Judeo-Christian God, the God of the Bible, is the best explanation for the deeply personal nature of morality: he is intrinsically personal himself. While there is certainly more involved, there are two key tasks to this version of the moral argument: (1) demonstrate that morality points in the direction of a personal source; and (2) explain how a Trinitarian conception of God provides the best explanation for the deeply personal nature of morality