Civil Procedure as a Critical Discussion

This Article develops a model for analyzing legal dispute resolution systems as systems for argumentation. Our model meshes two theories of argument conceived centuries apart: contemporary argumentation theory and classical stasis theory. In this Article, we apply the model to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as a proof of concept. Specifically, the model analyzes how the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure function as a staged argumentative critical discussion designed to permit judge and jury to rationally resolve litigants’ differences in a reasonable manner. At a high level, this critical discussion has three phases: a confrontation, an (extended) opening, and a concluding phase. Those phases are the umbrella under which discrete argumentation phases occur at points we call stases. Whenever litigants seek a ruling or judgment, they reach a stasis—a stopping or standing point for arguing procedural points of disagreement. During these stases, the parties make arguments that fall into predictable “commonplace” argument types. Taken together, these stock argument types form a taxonomy of arguments for all civil cases. Our claim that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure function as a system for argumentation is novel, as is our claim that civil cases breed a taxonomy of argument types. These claims also mark the beginning of a broader project. Starting here with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, we embark on a journey that we expect to follow for several years (and which we hope other scholars will join), exploring our model’s application across dispute resolution systems and using it to make normative claims about those systems. From a birds-eye view, this Article also represents a short modern trek in a much longer journey begun by advocates in city states in and near Greece nearly 2500 years ago

Performance of school-age children of prenatal cocaine exposure: Five case studies

The purpose of this study was to examine the social and learning performance of school age children of prenatal cocaine exposure. The Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC) was used along with interviews, observations and document analysis for each individual case studied. The data collected through these methods was coded and examined for patterns and relationships in each case, and across cases.;Data analysis revealed that each case varied in the effects exhibited on a continuum from subtle to severe, as indicated in the literature. Social and behavioral patterns appeared to be most severely affected, while the language area was found to be within normal parameters for children their age. Additionally, all cases experienced tremendous environmental factors which may have impacted their performance such as trauma, abuse, and passive exposure to cocaine and other drugs

NATIVE AND EUROPEAN HAPLOTYPES OF \u3ci\u3ePHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS\u3c/i\u3e (COMMON REED) IN THE CENTRAL PLATTE RIVER, NEBRASKA

Phragmites australis (common reed) is known to have occurred along the Platte River historically, but recent rapid increases in both distribution and density have begun to impact habitat for migrating sandhill cranes and nesting piping plovers and least terns. Invasiveness in Phragmites has been associated with the incursion of a European genotype (haplotype M) in other areas; determining the genotype of Phragmites along the central Platte River has implications for proper management of the river system. In 2008 we sampled Phragmites patches along the central Platte River from Lexington to Chapman, NE, stratified by bridge segments, to determine the current distribution of haplotype E (native) and haplotype M genotypes. In addition, we did a retrospective analysis of historical Phragmites collections from the central Platte watershed (1902- 2006) at the Bessey Herbarium. Fresh tissue from the 2008 survey and dried tissue from the herbarium specimens were classified as haplotype M or E using the restriction fragment length polymorphism procedure. The European haplotype was predominant in the 2008 samples: only 14 Phragmites shoots were identified as native haplotype E; 224 were non-native haplotype M. The retrospective analysis revealed primarily native haplotype individuals. Only collections made in Lancaster County, near Lincoln, NE, were haplotype M, and the earliest of these was collected in 1973

Factors affecting post-control reinvasion by seed of an invasive species, \u3ci\u3ePhragmites australis\u3c/i\u3e, in the central Platte River, Nebraska

Invasive plants, such as Phragmites australis, can profoundly affect channel environments of large rivers by stabilizing sediments and altering water flows. Invasive plant removal is considered necessary where restoration of dynamic channels is needed to provide critical habitat for species of conservation concern. However, these programs are widely reported to be inefficient. Post-control reinvasion is frequent, suggesting increased attention is needed to prevent seed regeneration. To develop more effective responses to this invader in the Central Platte River (Nebraska,USA), we investigated several aspects of Phragmites seed ecology potentially linked to post-control reinvasion, in comparison to other common species: extent of viable seed production, importance of water transport, and regeneration responses to hydrology. We observed that although Phragmites seed does not mature until very late in the ice-free season, populations produce significant amounts of viable seed (\u3e50 %of filled seed). Most seed transported via water in the Platte River are invasive perennial species, although Phragmites abundances are much lower than species such as Lythrum salicaria, Cyperus esculentus and Phalaris arundinacea. Seed regeneration of Phragmites varies greatly depending on hydrology, especially timing of water level changes. Flood events coinciding with the beginning of seedling emergence reduced establishment by as much as 59 % compared to flood events that occurred a few weeks later. Results of these investigations suggest that prevention of seed set (i.e., by removal of flowering culms) should be a priority in vegetation stands not being treated annually. After seeds are in the seedbank, preventing reinvasion using prescribed flooding has a low chance of success given that Phragmites can regenerate in a wide variety of hydrologic microsites

Using Partial Queue-Length Information to Improve the Queue Inference Engine's Performance

The Queue Inference Engine (QIE) uses queue departure time data over a single congestion period to infer queue statistics. With partial queue-length information, the queue statistics become more accurate and the computational burden is reduced. We first consider the case in which we are given that the queue length never exceeded a given length L. We then consider the more general case in which we are given the times of all L-to-(L + 1) and (L + 1)-to-L queue-length transitions. We present algorithms, parallel to the QIE algorithms,for deriving the queue statistics under the new conditioning information. We also present computational results, comparing both accuracy and computation time, under the QIE and the new algorithms, for several sample runs

Nature, the Monumental and Urban Technological Networks in Víctor Moreno's Edificio España (2012) and La ciudad oculta (2018) / Naturaleza, lo monumental y las redes tecnológicas urbanas en Edificio España (2012) y La ciudad oculta (2018) de Víctor Moreno

If we affirmatively answer Maria Kaika and Erik Swyngedouw’s invitation to think beyond the ‘fetishization of the modern city’ as the pinnacle of human-centered progress and achievement in order to consider the urban as both a process of transformed nature and the metabolic and social transformation of nature through human labor, the city becomes a ‘hybrid of the natural and the cultural, the environmental and the social’ (Kaika and Syngedouw; 122). This essay argues that markedly different ways of imagining monumental public spaces and the relationship between nature and the city have arisen since the economic crisis of 2008 in Spain. Urban cultures create opportunities to imagine these new social, material and symbolic transformations and are exemplified in the documentary films of Víctor Moreno Edificio España (2012) and La ciudad oculta (2018). Considered together, the two films capture the scale, depth and three-dimensionality of spaces that are made up of both organic and non-organic material flows in ways that encourage us to question some of our basic assumptions about the urban

Los modos literarios flexibles de ‘Vísceras de la ciudad’ (1935) de Rosa Arciniega

This is a two-part publication that contains a facsimile of the original story "Vísceras de la ciudad" by Rosa Arciniega (including an introduction) and a 7,500-word academic critical analysis of the story. Of interest to specialists in urban literature, women's literature, social literature, and popular culture

Faculty Perceptions of the One Baker Initiative

The "One Baker" initiative was used by Baker University to promote unity and common purpose across the four distinct academic units that comprise the university (Baker University, 2011a). It was developed because the university was concerned that the units were too separated and isolated from each other. As a part of this proposal, the university is considering implementing a university faculty senate. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine the faculty's perception of the initiative. The conceptual framework for this study is based on an understanding of higher education institutions, effectiveness, communication, formal governance including faculty senates, and loose coupling. Seventeen participants in the study represented all of the four units of the university and were selected to capture a diversity of opinions. Themes were developed from semi-structured interviews. Participants indicated that One Baker was needed to present a more unified brand for the university and to overcome the lack of appreciation of the contributions of all of the units. Further developing the initiative would help the university by increasing the faculty member's ability to be a spokesperson for the university, increasing collaboration among the units, and providing advantages for students. Disadvantages would include potential loss of the liberal art identity of the university, and a loss of unit autonomy. Participants identified barriers created by geography, structural differences, and cultural differences of the academic units. They recommended the use of workshops and collaborative projects to help develop more unity. They also recommend ways to improve the effectiveness of the current governance structure, but they did not want to create a university faculty senate. Policy implications for Baker University and similar higher education institutions are given

Computer-Assisted Instruction in Literacy Skills for Kindergarten Students and Perceptions of Administrators and Teachers.

The perceptions of administrators and teachers of a computer-assisted instructional program in literacy skills were collected by a survey. The survey participants were kindergarten teachers and administrators from four elementary schools in the same, fast-growing, suburban school district in Texas. Literacy assessments were given to all kindergarten students in the district in the fall, winter, and spring of the 2005-2006 school year. This study included a quasi-experimental research design to determine if students using the computer-assisted instructional program improved more on the district literacy assessments than students who did not use the program. The treatment group members were the 449 kindergarten students of the survey participants. The treatment group worked in The Imagination Station program for a nine-week trial period. The control group members were 1385 kindergarten students from thirteen other schools in the same school district. The study found that teachers and administrators perceived that their students' improvement in literacy skills after using the program was good. The quasi-experimental portion of the study found that there was a statistical difference between the treatment and control groups on the composite literacy assessment score. The group membership variable could explain 1.4% of the variance in the students' literacy assessment scores. Based on the small effect size, there was no practical difference between the groups