Relative Property (T) and Linear Groups

Relative property (T) has recently been used to construct a variety of new rigidity phenomena, for example in von Neumann algebras and the study of orbit-equivalence relations. However, until recently there were few examples of group pairs with relative property (T) available through the literature. This motivated the following result: A finitely generated group Gamma admits a real-special linear representation with non-amenable Zariski closure if and only if it acts on an Abelian group A (of finite nonzero Q-rank) so that the corresponding group pair (Gamma \ltimes A, A) has relative property (T). The proof is constructive. The main ingredients are Furstenberg's celebrated lemma about invariant measures on projective spaces and the spectral theorem for the decomposition of unitary representations of Abelian groups. Methods from algebraic group theory, such as the restriction of scalars functor, are also employed.Comment: 34 pages, last section is ne

The Elusive Talent Strategy: An Excellent Teacher for Every Student in Every School

Calls for improving the teacher applicant pool; preparing, recruiting and retaining the best; incentivizing hard-to-fill assignments; utilizing data to improve support systems and evaluations; and bolstering accountability. Includes lessons from abroad

Disentangling accent from comprehensibility

The goal of this study was to determine which linguistic aspects of second language speech are related to accent and which to comprehensibility. To address this goal, 19 different speech measures in the oral productions of 40 native French speakers of English were examined in relation to accent and comprehensibility, as rated by 60 novice raters and three experienced teachers. Results showed that both constructs were associated with many speech measures, but that accent was uniquely related to aspects of phonology, including rhythm and segmental and syllable structure accuracy, while comprehensibility was chiefly linked to grammatical accuracy and lexical richness

Pengembangan Bahan Ajar Bahasa Indonesia Materi Menulis Pantun.

Abstrak: Pengembangan Bahan Ajar Bahasa Indonesia Materi Menulis Pantun. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan langkah–langkah pengembangan bahan ajar pembelajaran pantun.Adapun rumusan masalah dalam riset ini yaitu bagaimana kefektifan bahan ajar bahasa Indonesia materi menulis pantun yang diujicobakan pada siswa kelas VII SMP Pancasila Bengkulu? Metode penilitian dalam riset ini yaitu kualitatif deskriprif. Adapun teknik pengumpulan data yang diperoleh antara lain metode tes digunakan untuk mendapatkan hasil belajar siswa dalam pemebelajaran menulis pantun. Lembar obervasi dalam penelitian ini digunakan untuk memperoleh data dengan mencatat aktivitas siswa dan guru dalam pembelajaran menulis pantun. Serta angket yang digunakan untuk memperoleh data mengenai analisis guru terhadap kurikulum, perencanaan terhadap pelaksanaan. Pengembangan modul pembelajaran materi pantun untuk siswa kelas VII SMP Pancasila Bengkulu ini sudah layak menjadi modul pembelajaran yang dapat digunakan oleh siswa untuk menjadi suplemen tambahan dalam belajarnya. Berdasarkan penilaian yang dilakukan oleh ahli materi, Bahasa dan design serta 1 guru dan 10 siswa, modul memperoleh nilai rata – rata akhir sebesar 4,455 dengan persentase 95%. Dari keseluruhan hasil skor rata – rata yang didapatkan, kualitas bahan ajar ini menghasilkan jumlah sebesar 21, 50. Hasil penjumlahan skor rata – rata ini kemudian dihitung rata – ratanya sehingga mendapatkan nilai rata – rata akhir sebesar 4,65 dengan persentase 95% dan masuk ke dalam kategori “Sangat Baik”. Modul dikatakan sangat baik juga berdasarkan 4 aspek modul yang baik terdiri dari (1) Kelayakan isi/ materi, (2) Komponen kebahasaan, (3) Komponen Penyajian dan (4) komponen kegrafikan

Quest for Knowledge and Pursuit of Grades: Information, Course Selection, and Grade Inflation at an Ivy League School

This paper exploits a unique natural experiment — Cornell University’s 1996 decision to publish course median grades online - to examine the effect of grade information on course selection and grade inflation. We model students’ course selection as dependent on their tastes, abilities, and expected grades. The model yields three testable hypotheses: (1) students will tend to be drawn to leniently graded courses once exposed to grade information; (2) the most talented students will be less drawn to leniently graded courses than their peers; (3) the change in students’ behavior will contribute to grade inflation. Examining a large dataset that covers the period 1990-2004 our study provides evidence consistent with these predictions

The Effective MSSM

We suggest an effective field theory framework to discuss deviations from the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) which is based on an alternative arrangement of the gauge-Higgs sector. In this effective MSSM (EffMSSM) nonlinearly realised $SU(2)\times U(1)$ gauge sector is described by an $SU(2)\times U(1)$-valued massive vector superfield, which contains a neutral CP-even and charged Higgs fields, while another neutral CP-even Higgs and the neutral CP-odd Higgs fields are residing in an $SU(2)\times U(1)$-singlet chiral superfield. Although the new theory contains the same particle content as the conventional MSSM, the unconventional representation of superfields allows for new type of interactions, which may lead to a significant modification of the phenomenology. As an illustrative example we consider EffMSSM with modified Higgs and electroweak gauge sector augmented by gaugino soft supersymmetry breaking masses, $M_i~ (i=1,2,3)$ and the Standard Higgs soft-breaking masses, $m_{H_u}=m_{H_d}$ and $B_{\mu}$, and point out distinct features in the Higgs and gaugino sectors as compared to MSSM. In particular, we show that the lightest neutral CP-even Higgs boson with mass $\sim 125$ GeV can be easily accommodated within EffMSSM.Comment: 11 page