KEYNOTE ADDRESS: On the Binding Biases of Time

Lance Strate is Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, and Executive Director of the Institute of General Semantics. He is a Past President of the New York State Communication Association, and a recipient of NYSCA\u27s John F. Wilson Award. He is a founder and Past President of the Media Ecology Association, and author of Echoes and Reflections: On Media Ecology as a Field of Study. This is the text of his Keynote Address presented at the 67th Annual Conference of the New York State Communication Association, Ellenville, NY, October 23-25, 2009

Notes on Narrative as Medium and a Media Ecology Approach to the Study of Storytelling

Storytelling, as a distinctively human characteristic, is a product of our capacity for language and symbolic communication. Just as language is considered a medium within the field of media ecology, so too can narrative be understood as a medium of communication, as well as a kind of language, and as a fundamentally social phenomenon. As a medium, narrative interacts with and is modified by other media, undergoing significant change as it is expressed through oral tradition, dramatic performance, written documents, and audiovisual media. In particular, major changes in the nature of character and plot accompany the shift from orality to literacy, and writing and especially printing make possible new forms of tragedy as opposed to comedy, prose as opposed to poetry, and fiction as opposed to nonfiction. Storytelling continues to mutate through the introduction of new media, with increasingly greater emphasis on narrative as an environment, especially one associated with social interaction and gaming

The Nevada Gaming Debt Collection Experience

In the discussion - The Nevada Gaming Debt Collection Experience - by Larry D. Strate, Assistant Professor, College of Business and Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Assistant Professor Strate initially outlines the article by saying: “Even though Nevada has had over a century of legalized gaming experience, the evolution of gaming debt collection has been a recent phenomenon. The author traces that history and discusses implications of the current law.” The discussion opens with a comparison between the gaming industries of New Jersey/Atlantic City, and Las Vegas, Nevada. This contrast serves to point out the disparities in debt handling between the two. “There are major differences in the development of legalized gaming for both Nevada and Atlantic City. Nevada has had over a century of legalized gambling; Atlantic City, New Jersey, has completed a decade of its operation,” Strate informs you. “Nevada\u27s gaming industry has been its primary economic base for many years; Atlantic City\u27s entry into gaming served as a possible solution to a social problem. Nevada\u27s processes of legalized gaming, credit play, and the collection of gaming debts were developed over a period of 125 years; Atlantic City\u27s new industry began with gaming, gaming credit, and gaming debt collection simultaneously in 1976 [via the New Jersey Casino Control Act] .” The irony here is that Atlantic City, being the younger venue, had or has a better system for handling debt collection than do the historic and traditional Las Vegas properties. Many of these properties were duplicated in New Jersey, so the dichotomy existed whereby New Jersey casinos could recoup debt while their Nevada counterparts could not. “It would seem logical that a territory which permitted gambling in the early 1800’s would have allowed the Nevada industry to collect its debts as any other legal enterprise. But it did not,” Strate says. Of course, this situation could not be allowed to continue and Strate outlines the evolution. New Jersey tactfully benefitted from Nevada’s experience. “The fundamental change in gaming debt collection came through the legislature as the judicial decisions had declared gaming debts uncollectable by either a patron or a casino,” Strate informs you. “Nevada enacted its gaming debt collection act in 1983, six years after New Jersey,” Strate points out. One of the most noteworthy paragraphs in the entire article is this: “The fundamental change in 1983, and probably the most significant change in the history of gaming in Nevada since the enactment of the Open Gaming Law of 1931, was to allow non-restricted gaming licensees* to recover gaming debts evidenced by a credit instrument. The new law incorporated previously litigated terms with a new one, credit instrument.” The term is legally definable and gives Nevada courts an avenue of due process

Casino Gambling is Hot: Gambling Debt Collection is Hot

Gambling on credit, considered a vice by some, is not judicially collectible based upon the Statute of Anne. This common law statute prevents the collection of gambling losses, unless expected by state statute. This article reviews and updates the findings of an unenforceability of gambling debt study conducted in 1989 just prior to the rapid expansion of gambling in the United States

Advertising Legalized Gambling: A Late Bloomer Under the First Amendment

New federal laws and court cases have put a new perspective on the ability of the industry to advertise as it has never been able to do before. With gaming becoming more prevalent, the acceptability of the legal industry is making promotion easier. The author discusses these new influences

Self-Describing Fiducials for GPS-Denied Navigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Accurate estimation of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’s (UAV’s) location is critical for the operation of the UAV when it is controlled completely by its onboard processor. This can be particularly challenging in environments in which GPS is not available (GPS-denied). Many of the options previously explored for estimation of a UAV’s location without the use of GPS require more sophisticated processors than can feasibly be mounted on a UAV because of weight, size, and power restrictions. Many options are also aimed at indoor operation without the range capabilities to scale to outdoor operations. This research explores an alternative method of GPS-denied navigation which utilizes line-of-sight measurements to self-describing fiducials to aid in position determination. Each self-describing fiducial is an easily identifiable object fixed at a specific location. Each fiducial relays data containing its specific location to the observing UAV. The UAV can measure its relative position to the fiducial using camera images. This measurement can be combined with measurements from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to obtain a more accurate estimate of the UAV’s location. In this research, a simulation is used to validate and assess the performance of algorithms used to estimate the UAV’s position using these measurements. This research analyzes the effectiveness of the estimation algorithm when used with various IMUs and fiducial spacings. The effect of how quickly camera images of fiducials can be captured and processed is also analyzed. Preparations for demonstrating this system with hardware are then presented and discussed, including options for fiducial type and a way to measure the true position of the UAV. The results from the simulated scenarios and the hardware demonstration preparation are analyzed, and future work is discussed

A study of the relationships of parents\u27 locus of control and child-rearing attitudes to children\u27s locus of control

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between children\u27s locus of control and parental locus of control and attitudes toward warmth and control in child-rearing. It was hoped that the degree to which the parent variables were related to children\u27s locus of control would be useful in suggesting specific emphases for parent training and counseling.;The subjects chosen for this research were public school children attending fourth, fifth, or sixth grades in an eastern Virginia school system and their parents. The sample was limited to 233 volunteers from middle to upper socioeconomic two-parent homes.;Participating parents completed three self-report measures (locus of control, warmth, control), after which the students completed the children\u27s locus of control measure. The data collected were then organized according to students\u27 gender and locus of control score. Four groups were derived: internal males, external males, internal females, and external females. Six parent variables were then examined for each group. to investigate the research hypotheses, correlational analyses, followed by multiple regression analyses were performed.;Results of the research suggest that for only one group, internal males , were the relationships between locus of control scores and parents\u27 variables significant. For this group, the data suggest that males who have internal locus of control orientations may have mothers and fathers who also have internal locus of control orientations and who display a high degree of warmth or acceptance in child-rearing. It was also found that when the locus of control scores of all four groups were combined they were significantly related to fathers\u27, but not to mothers\u27, locus of control scores.;These relationships, while statistically significant, were extremely weak. This suggests that there may be other variables (social, familial, or individual) which were not considered in this research which may interact to influence the development of children\u27s locus of control orientations. Recommendations are given for future research which suggest the inclusion of these variables

Does the Use of Oral Amphetamines Reduce Cocaine Use in Cocaine-Dependent Individuals?

Objective: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not the use of oral amphetamines reduces cocaine use in cocaine-dependent individuals. Study Design: Review of three English language randomized control trials (RCTs) published in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Data Sources: 3 randomized controlled trials published after 1999 were obtained using PubMed, OVID, and Medline. Outcomes Measured: The efficacy of using d-amphetamine to promote cocaine use cessation in cocaine-dependent individuals, determined using immunoassay and mass spectrometric analysis to identify cocaine metabolites in the participant’s urine. Results: Grabowski et al (2004) found a significant reduction in the use of cocaine in cocaine-dependent individuals, while Grabowski et al (2001) and Shearer et al were unable to show a significant reduction. Conclusion: Evidence supporting the role of oral amphetamines in reducing cocaine use in cocaine-dependent individuals is inconclusive and conflicting at this time. However, further research and larger scale analysis is warranted and feasible considering the suggestive outcomes these studies represent

Designing & Implementing Robotic Animal Interventions for Adults with Dementia

Dementia is a leading cause of disability and dependency worldwide and expected to increase in the next few decades. Robotic Pet Intervention (RPI) is an emerging, non-pharmacological intervention incorporating robotic animals, with promising implications for people with dementia. This capstone project examined the impacts of robotic pet interventions (RPI) on occupational performance outcomes of adults with dementia living in long-term care facilities. For the capstone project, customized group and individual therapy interventions incorporating robotic cats were developed and implemented for local memory care residents. For the capstone experience, educational materials were presented and provided for facility stakeholders, including care staff and families of residents. The ultimate aim of this project is to provide a template for future occupational therapists to effectively implement this emerging, unique treatment for people with dementia, and to provide an impetus for future research