A Survey of Press Opinions on the Billie Sol Estes Case as Reported Through News Releases

It was the purpose of this study (1) to compare the types of reporting by various newspapers versus periodicals of the facts of the Billie Sol Estes case, and (2) to show that governmental intervention was necessary in the Billie Sol Estes case. Our American society is based on an economic philosophy— the doctrine of laissez faire. This is the economic philosophy generally subscribed to several decades ago. During the past four decades, however, political government has been so busy eliminating monopolies that many people question whether capitalism is the proper designation for our system. Monopolies tend to develop because pure competition is not always practiced. However, there are undertakings in which competition is not socially desirable. To preserve the virtues of the present system, it is essential that no group or combination of groups be permitted to use government for the purpose of regulating prices or control for their own advantage, and to the detriment of the public. A balance of national power arising from and representing all economic groups must be maintained. Therefore, it is even more important that individuals, in the various economic groups and their leaders, be increasingly motivated by a real interest in the economic well-being of all persons who live within the society. Thus, a survey of the press opinions on the Billie Sol Estes case as reported through news releases in regards to interactions, transactions, involvements, and outcome is of significance to our understandings of free enterprise in our capitalistic society

Constant linguistic effects in the diffusion of 'be like'

This article examines change in social and linguistic effects on be like usage and acceptability. Results from two studies are presented. The first set of data comes from a trend study with samples of U.K. university undergraduates collected in 1996 and 2006. While the effect of subject person, morphological tense, and quote content is constant in the two samples, the effect of speaker sex decreases. The second study is a judgment experiment with 121 native speakers of U.S. English, examining acceptability of be like in environments biasing direct speech and reported thought readings. The analysis reveals no interaction between age and the reported thought/direct speech contrast, suggesting no support for change in this effect on be like acceptability in apparent time. The two studies therefore converge in suggesting no evidence of change in linguistic constraints on be like as it has diffused into U.K. and U.S. Englishes

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Assumption without representation: the unacknowledged abstraction from communities and social goods

We have not clearly acknowledged the abstraction from unpriceable “social goods” (derived from communities) which, different from private and public goods, simply disappear if it is attempted to market them. Separability from markets and economics has not been argued, much less established. Acknowledging communities would reinforce rather than undermine them, and thus facilitate the production of social goods. But it would also help economics by facilitating our understanding of – and response to – financial crises as well as environmental destruction and many social problems, and by reducing the alienation from economics often felt by students and the public

A comparative study of business success predictors perceived by college recruiters and college seniors

Purpose Because education for business must change to meet the needs of our dynamic society, factors that indicate potential success also change and, therefore, must be identified. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to identify and provide information to serve educators as guidelines for organizing, developing, and inproving college-level occupational programs. This information was intended to supply counselors, students, personnel directors, college recruiters, and errployers with data about current and emerging business success predictors of potential entry-level employees. Procedures A Business Success Predictor Opinionnaire containing 20 statements was constructed and used to gather data for this study. The 20 statements were dealing with the use of high pressure, "playing up" to the boss, indefinite responses to questions, being natural, the desirability of good personal appearance, interviewees' willingness to move, expressing appreciation, efficient administrators' actions, "name dropping," the lack of planning for a career, "job hopping," a sloppy application blank, poor handling of personal finance, being late for an interview, the desirability of conservative hair styles for males, the ability to express oneself, students' high absentee rate, extra-curricular activities, the desirability of conservative female styles, and on-site visits. The Likert-type opinionnaire elicited attitudinal responses from 40 college recruiters and 95 college seniors (business majors only) who availed themselves of the placement centers' services and voluntarily responded at Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University, and the University of Houston. The college recruiters were those who sought enployees, and the college seniors were those who sought enployment through the centers between August and December 1975. Eleven (11) major hypotheses were fromulated and statistically tested using the one-way analysis of variance procedure to secure data for this study. The .05 confidence level was set for rejecting or failing to reject the hypotheses. Findings The findings of this study were grouped according to those relating to (1) college recruiters' and college seniors' perceptions by classification, (2) college recruiters' and college seniors' perceptions by race, (3) college recruiters' perceptions only by race, and (4) college seniors' perceptions only by school. When making comparisons by classification, race, and school, the college recruiters differed significantly from the college seniors on their perceptions toward the business success predictors. All hypotheses formulated to conpare and statistically test the college recruiters' and the college seniors' perceptions in this study, therefore, were rejected. Conclusions and Recommendations Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) classification, race, and school were determining factors in how college recruiters and college seniors perceived the business success predictors; (2) college recruiters perceived the college seniors as having perceptions different from theirs toward the same business success predictors; and (3) likewise, the college seniors perceived the college recruiters as having perceptions different from theirs toward the same business success predictors. Based on the data obtained, described, and analyzed in this study, the following recommendations are made; (1) that Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University, and the University of Houston coordinators of education for business and curriculum planners should provide additional opportunities for students to interact with college recruiters and prospective enployers; (2) that the education for business should increase enphasis on such nonacademics as work experiences, personal appearances, communications, extra-curricular activities, and the importance of wholesome attitudes; (3) that further research be conducted to identify additional business success predictors; and (4) that this study be replicated with another population to conpare the findings and conclusions presented by the writer.Education, College o