Race, Income and College in 25 Years: The Continuing Legacy of Segregation and Discrimination

The rate at which racial gaps in pre-collegiate academic achievement can plausibly be expected to erode is a matter of great interest and much uncertainty. In her opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger, Supreme Court Justice O’Connor took a firm stand: “We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary . . .” We evaluate the plausibility of Justice O’Connor’s forecast, by projecting the racial composition and SAT distribution of the elite college applicant pool 25 years from now. We focus on two important margins: First, changes in the black-white relative distribution of income, and second, narrowing of the test score gap between black and white students within family income groups. Other things equal, progress on each margin can be expected to reduce the racial gap in qualifications among students pursuing admission to the most selective colleges. Under plausible assumptions, however, projected economic progress will not yield nearly as much racial diversity as is currently obtained with race-sensitive admissions. Simulations that assume additional increases in black students’ test scores, beyond those deriving from changes in family income, yield more optimistic estimates. In this scenario, race-blind rules approach the black representation among admitted students seen today at moderately selective institutions, but continue to fall short at the most selective schools. Maintaining a critical mass of African American students at the most selective institutions would require policies at the elementary and secondary levels or changes in parenting practices that deliver unprecedented success in narrowing the test score gap in the next quarter century.

Race, Income, and College in 25 Years: The Continuing Legacy of Segregation and Discrimination

The rate at which racial gaps in pre-collegiate academic achievement can plausibly be expected to erode is a matter of great interest and much uncertainty. In her opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger, Supreme Court Justice O'Connor took a firm stand: "We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary . . ." We evaluate the plausibility of Justice O'Connor's forecast, by projecting the racial composition and SAT distribution of the elite college applicant pool 25 years from now. We focus on two important margins: First, changes in the black-white relative distribution of income, and second, narrowing of the test score gap between black and white students within family income groups. Other things equal, progress on each margin can be expected to reduce the racial gap in qualifications among students pursuing admission to the most selective colleges. Under plausible assumptions, however, projected economic progress will not yield nearly as much racial diversity as is currently obtained with race-sensitive admissions. Simulations that assume additional increases in black students' test scores, beyond those deriving from changes in family income, yield more optimistic estimates. In this scenario, race-blind rules approach the black representation among admitted students seen today at moderately selective institutions, but continue to fall short at the most selective schools. Maintaining a critical mass of African American students at the most selective institutions would require policies at the elementary and secondary levels or changes in parenting practices that deliver unprecedented success in narrowing the test score gap in the next quarter century.

Clay Pipes from the Tuck Carpenter Site (41CP5) Camp County, Texas

In this paper, four clay elbow pipes are described from the Tuck Carpenter site (41CP5) in Camp County, Texas, and compared to clay pipes from other areas

The DAMES Metadata Approach

The DAMES project will provide high quality data management activities services to the social science research community based on an e-social science infrastructure. The infrastructure is supported by the collection and use of metadata to describe datasets and other social science resources. This report reviews the metadata requirements of the DAMES services, reviews a number of metadata standards, and discusses how the selected standards can be used to support the DAMES services. The kinds of metadata focussed upon in this report include metadata for describing social science microdatasets and other resources such as data analysis processing instruction files, metadata for grouping and linking datasets, and metadata for describing the provenance of data as it is transformed through analytical procedures. The social science metadata standards reviewed include: • The Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) • The Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) versions 2 and 3 • Dublin Core • Encoded Archival Description (EAD) • e-Government Metadata Standard (e-GMS) • ELSST and HASSET • MAchine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) • Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS) • MetaDater • Open Archives Initiative (OAI) • Open Archival Information System (OAIS) • Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) • Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) The review concludes that the DDI standard version 3.0 is the most appropriate one to be used in the DAMES project and explains how best to integrate the standard into the project. This includes a description of how to capture metadata upon resource registration, upgrade the metadata from accessible resources available throughthe GEODE project, use the metadata for resource discovery, and generate provenance metadata during data transformation procedures. In addition, a “metadata wizard” is described to help with data management activities

Parolees' physical closeness to health service providers: a study of California parolees.

We studied a sample of parolees and health service providers in the state of California in 2005-2006 to examine the relative physical closeness to health providers (and the potential demand of these providers) of parolees based on their demographic and prior offending characteristics. Although African-American and Latino parolees have more health providers nearby, these providers have considerably more potential demand. The health providers near long-term prisoners and sex offenders have more potential demand. The results suggest inequity in access to services, as minority parolees and those with greater needs may live near more impacted providers. The results also suggest some differences in access based on rural, suburban, or urban location

Faith and community empowerment strategies for crime prevention and economic development

The Faith and Community Empowerment Strategies (FACES) project was designed to enhance the involvement and capacity of eight clergy members in crime prevention and economic development within the University Park Weed and Seed neighborhood. University Park has approximately fifteen churches located in the area; however, there is miniscule involvement from the clergy in crime prevention and economic development. Lack of awareness, knowledge, lack of skills in managing CED and crime prevention initiatives, lack of communication and financial resources are issues among the churches serving the neighborhood that directly contribute to the clergy's noninvolvement. FACES addresses the problem through a series of educational initiatives, i.e., crime prevention, economic development workshops and trainings. Through increased and enhanced knowledge and resources the FACES project changes the lack of involvement of clergy members within the University Park neighborhood in North Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The project was implemented with eight clergy members within the University Park Weed and Seed neighborhood. The project began in early spring 2009 and concluded in late winter 2010. (Author abstract)Turner, J. C. (2010). Faith and community empowerment strategies for crime prevention and economic development. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduMaster of Science (M.S.)School of Community Economic Developmen

Road verges facilitate exotic species’ expansion into undisturbed natural montane grasslands

Questions How has exotic plant species richness and composition changed in and adjacent to a montane road verge over a 10-year period? Are montane road verges conduits of exotic species’ dispersal into adjacent, undisturbed hinterland? Location Montane grassland, Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation Area, South Africa. Methods We surveyed road verge and adjacent hinterland transects (25 × 2 m; N = 80) across an elevational gradient of 1,500–2,874 m a.s.l. in 2007 and 2017. In each transect, we estimated the cover of each exotic plant species and the total cover of indigenous species. Generalised Linear Models were fitted to test if exotic species’ richness and cover had changed over time. A Canonical Correspondence Analysis was used to determine if exotic species’ composition had changed over time. Results Ten years onwards, exotic species richness had increased significantly across the entire elevational gradient, predominantly in the low- to mid-elevational range. Road verge and adjacent hinterland transects differed in species composition in 2007, but no longer in 2017. Conclusion Exotic species richness and composition displayed a high spatiotemporal rate of change. Over time, exotic species increasingly moved into the hinterland from the verges as a result of human-mediated colonisation pressure. These results indicate that montane road verges are far better conduits for the dispersal of exotic species than previously assumed, and that further colonisation of the hinterland by exotics can be expected

The Effect of Electronic Cigarette User Modifications and E-liquid Adulteration on the Particle Size Profile of an Aerosolized Product

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are an alternate nicotine delivery system that generate a condensation aerosol to be inhaled by the user. The size of the droplets formed in the aerosol can vary and contributes to drug deposition and ultimate bioavailability in the lung. The growing popularity of e-cigarette products has caused an increase in internet sources promoting the use of drugs other than nicotine (DOTNs) in e-cigarettes. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of various e-cigarette and e-liquid modifications, such as coil resistance, battery voltage, and glycol and drug formulation, on the aerosol particle size. E-liquids containing 12 mg/mL nicotine prepared in glycol compositions of 100% propylene glycol (PG), 100% vegetable glycerin (VG), or 50:50 PG:VG were aerosolized at three voltages and three coil resistances. Methamphetamine and methadone e-liquids were prepared at 60 mg/mL in 50:50 PG:VG and all e-liquids were aerosolized onto a 10 stage Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor. Glycol deposition correlated with drug deposition, and the majority of particles centered between 0.172–0.5 μm in diameter, representing pulmonary deposition. The 100% PG e-liquid produced the largest aerosol particles and the 100% VG and 50:50 PG:VG e-liquids produced ultra-fine particles \u3c0.3 μm. The presence of ultrafine particles indicates that drugs can be aerosolized and reach the pulmonary alveolar regions, highlighting a potential for abuse and risk of overdose with DOTNs aerosolized in an e-cigarette system