Rice Crisis Forensics: How Asian Governments Carelessly Set the World Rice Market on Fire

The world rice market was aflame last spring and for several months it looked as if the trading edifice that had exhibited such resilience over the last two decades was going to burn to the ground. World prices trebled within less than four months and reached a 30-year inflation-adjusted high. Many market observers thought the previous record set in 1974 would soon be toast. The fire was man-made, not the result of natural developments. While the governments in India, Vietnam, and the Philippines did not to set the world market on fire, that was the unintended result of their actions which threatened both innocent bystanders (low-income rice importers as far away as Africa and Latin America) and, ultimately, poor rice consumers at home. This paper describes what sparked the fire and the accelerants that made a bad situation nearly catastrophic. Fortuitously, when the flames were raging at peak intensity, rain clouds appeared, the winds [market psychology] shifted, and conditions on the ground improved, allowing the fire to die down. It remains to be seen, however, if the trading edifice has been seriously undermined by the actions of decision makers in several key Asian rice exporting and importing countries. In describing the cascading negative effects of these seemingly rational domestic policies, this paper aims to help policy makers in the rice exporting and importing nations to avoid a repeat of the disastrous price spike of 2008.rice, inflation, prices

Maximum Sentencing Under Section 35

The Massachusetts General Law Chapter 123 Section 35 allows a person to be involuntarily committed into a treatment facility for drug/alcohol abuse for a maximum of 90 days if suspected to pose an immediate risk to themselves or others. This law changed on July 1st, 2012 when it was previously a maximum of 30 days. A further look will be taken into what precipitating factors led the legislature to extend the maximum sentence, and what effect this has had on the treatment of the men in the facility. This research takes a step inside a facility where Section 35’s are sent, and breaks down the issues that lead the men into this facility. In addition, survey results will be presented that show which drugs have proven themselves most problematic in leading to the forced detox. Recommendations will be presented on how the Section 35 process could be improved, as viewed from the opinions of the men in the facility, psychologists who recommend the detox, clinicians of the facility, and Senator Jen Flanagan, who recently led a panel discussion on the Section 35 process

GROWTH, BROWSING AND MORTALITY IN MIXED OAK AND PINE PLANTINGS

The purpose of this project was to determine if different oak/pine arrangements elicited potential beneficial interactions that affected seedling growth, mortality and overall protection from deer browsing. Northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) were planted together and alone in six different planting patterns and spacings, replicated over three blocks in recent clearcuts in east Tennessee, USA. Each block consisted of two monocultures planted at a 3.0 by 3.0 meter (m) spacing and four multi-cropped treatments planted at varying spatial arrangements (0.3 m, 1.0 m, 1.5 m, and 3.0 m) from neighboring shortleaf pine seedlings that were planted on a 3.0 m X 3.0 m grid. Each block was located on a distinct site with its own aspect and slope position. Seedlings were planted in late winter in 2018 and measured in the spring of 2019 and 2020. Height in centimeters (cm), root-collar diameter (cm), and presence of deer browsing were collected for live seedlings. In general, differences in these variables among treatments were not statistically significant except for deer browsing analyzed in the first-year measurements. The 1.0 m treatment appeared to have an influence on the level of deer browsing observed on the northern red oak seedlings. The lack of significant differences in nearly all areas of interest can also suggest there may be minimal negative effects to tree species in multi-cropping systems. This study was designed to build from previous research that investigates if multi-cropping treatments can improve the overall health and resiliency of a forest from the adverse effects of a shifting climate or increasing stress from insects or diseases. This study is also the first installment of a multi-year research project focused on detecting possible synergistic trends between northern red oaks and shortleaf pines

Interview with Joy Slayton

Ms. Slayton shares about her life growing up in Arkansas and raising kids here at Harding

Law Reform in Quebec: A Cautionary Note

Law reform is everywhere in Canada. On all sides substantial changes in diverse areas of the law are constantly being proposed by government organizations whose only purpose is to make such proposals. The reforms mooted by these bodies (these reforms are typically described as long overdue ) are generally welcomed as correcting deficiencies in law and as signalling the legal system\u27s responsiveness to changing social and other standards. Is the law reform pace, if not furious, too fast? What is the most appropriate forum for initiating change in law? Such questions seem reasonable enough, and yet a traditionalist might well argue that irrevocable answers are inherent in any legal system. Both civil and common law systems, so the argument would go, have their chosen instruments of change, and the nature of those instruments substantially determines the rate and extent of progress. If we accept a system, we must accept the way in which, and the extent to which, it responds to alleged needs for reform of its law