"Victims of our history", the Labour Party and In Place of Strife, 1968 to 1969

PhDThis thesis consists of a detailed chronological examination of the events leading up to the publication of the white paper, In Place of Strife in January 1969, and its subsequent replacement with a 'solemn and binding' agreement with the Trades Union Congress in June 1969. The work seeks to address four propositions that have emerged from the historiography: that Barbara Castle was unduly influenced by anti-trade union officials; that the contents of the white paper were a knee jerk reaction to the Conservative proposals; that neither Castle nor Harold Wilson understood the trade union movement; and that the final agreement, was a failure that demonstrated the inability of a Labour government to escape from its trade union roots. In Place of Strife has received considerable coverage in the diaries, autobiographies and biographies of politicians and trade union leaders. However, there remain a number of important gaps, notably; the respective roles of civil servants, politicians and outside advisors; the detailed debates of the parliamentary Labour party and the internal discussions of the trade unions, especially the TUC general council. Drawing from a range of primary sources including; newly released government papers this study addresses the gaps in our knowledge and evaluates the existing historiography. What emerges from this study is that, rather than being unduly influenced by her officials, Barbara Castle was the main instigator of the white paper. Similarly, whilst the white paper was influenced by the publication of the Conservative proposals, it was grounded in a well thought out philosophy of trade union rights and responsibilities. Similarly, whilst confirming that Castle and Wilson demonstrated considerable naivety in failing to anticipate the extent of the antagonism shown by trade unions towards the proposals, the study also reveals a depth of trade union intransigence that came close to challenging the government's right to govern. Consequently, Wilson in particular emerges as a skilled negotiator who extracted as much as was possible given the constraints placed on him

Who Benefits from Obtaining a GED? Evidence from High School and Beyond

This paper examines the value of the GED credential and the conventional high school diploma in explaining the earnings of 27-year-old males in the early 1990s. The data base is the High School & Beyond sophomore cohort. We replicate the basic findings of prior studies that implicitly assume the labor market value of the GED credential does not depend on the skills with which dropouts left school. We show that these average effects mask a more complicated pattern. Obtaining a GED is associated with higher earnings at age 27 for those male dropouts who had very weak cognitive skills as tenth graders, but not for those who had stronger cognitive skills as tenth graders.

Do the Cognitive Skills of School Dropouts Matter in the Labor Market?

Does the U.S. labor market reward cognitive skill differences among high school dropouts, the members of the labor force with the least educational attainments? This paper reports the results of an exploration of this question, using a new data set that provides information on the universe of dropouts who last attempted the GED exams in Florida and New York between 1984 and 1990. The design of the sample reduces variation in unmeasured variables such as motivation that are correlated with cognitive skills. We examine the labor market returns to basic cognitive skills as measured by GED test scores. We explore whether the returns differ by gender and race. The results indicate quite large earnings returns to cognitive skills for both male and female dropouts, and for white and non-white dropouts. The earnings payoff to skills increases with age.

Greenmission: An off-grid energy system

In alignment with Santa Clara University\u27s sustainability ideology, the outdoor science school WaldenWest desired to further its students\u27 education through a greenhouse with working electricity. Following greenhouse purchase and assembly, underground wiring for AC, DC and Ethernet lines were sized and installed. A substation was then designed and built in a designated shed, integrating wind turbines and photovoltaics rom past capstone projects. New charge controllers, batteries and circuit breakers were urchased and configured for the system. Worst-case electrical load and solar shading analyses also revealed that these older energy sources were collectively inadequate, so a secondary solar array was designed and flush-mounted to the shed roof; the system falls lightly short of desired year-round performance, but is otherwise a drastic improvement. Electrical measurements show that power is received at the greenhouse with a less than 3% voltage drop, meeting national Electric Code standards. To maintain the greenhouse environment, substation loads are specifically selected to allow for temperature control. These are driven by the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which never leaves the greenhouse; an enclosed Raspberry Pi automates load operation through SainSmart relays and simple comparative logic. To account for both varying seasonal weather conditions and client accessibility, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) is programmed to allow adjustment of all relevant control parameters via Wi-Fi in real-time. A battery monitor from a past capstone project is also reconfigured to run on Linux to estimate remaining stored energy. Project analyses include ethical, aesthetics, commercial benefit and basic photovoltaic rate-of-return analyses. Hypothetical scenarios are frequently presented to investigate the potential consequences of client and residentially-replicated usage of the entire system. It is also estimated that the combined photovoltaics will result in a lifetime net zero energy in 4.3 years of continuous expected use. Future project work involves tasks that could not be accomplished within the project time frame and budget. Among these include a larger solar array; the 24VDC integration of the horizontal wind turbine; rigorous seasonally-based testing of temperature controlling mechanisms for better parameter adjustments; and finally, the propagation of electrical power beyond the immediate premises and into the entire Walden West garden. Based on client needs, inspiration for future project work will likely draw from the tremendous success of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin non-profit organization, Growing Power

Are Lots of College Graduates Taking High School Jobs? A Reconsiderationof the Evidence

Several recent published papers have asserted that a growing proportion of workers with college degrees are either unemployed or employed in jobs requiring only high school skills. Using data from the 1980 and 1990 Censuses of Population and Housing, we show that this assertion does not accurately reflect labor market trends for young (25-34 year old) male or female college graduates or for older (45-54 year old) female college graduates. For all these groups, real earnings increased during the 1980s and the percentage in 'high school jobs' declined. The assertion is valid only for older male college graduates. Young college graduates improved their labor market position during the 1980s by increasingly obtaining degrees in occupations which had high earnings at the beginning of the decade and which had the highest earnings growth over the decade.

Employing a Modified Diffuser Momentum Model to Simulate Ventilation of the Orion CEV (DRAFT)

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to model the flow field in the Orion CEV cabin. The CFD model employs a momentum model used to account for the effect of supply grilles on the supply flow. The momentum model is modified to account for non-uniform velocity profiles at the approach of the supply grille. The modified momentum model is validated against a detailed vane-resolved model before inclusion into the Orion CEV cabin model. Results for this comparison, as well as that of a single ventilation configuration are presented

Survival and Selection of Migrating Salmon from Capture-Recapture Models with Individual Traits

Capture–recapture studies are powerful tools for studying animal population dynamics, providing information on population abundance, survival rates, population growth rates, and selection for phenotypic traits. In these studies, the probability of observing a tagged individual reflects both the probability of the individual surviving to the time of recapture and the probability of recapturing an animal, given that it is alive. If both of these probabilities are related to the same phenotypic trait, it can be difficult to distinguish effects on survival probabilities from effects on recapture probabilities. However, when animals are individually tagged and have multiple opportunities for recapture, we can properly partition observed trait-related variability into survival and recapture components. We present an overview of capture–recapture models that incorporate individual variability and develop methods to incorporate results from these models into estimates of population survival and selection for phenotypic traits. We conducted a series of simulations to understand the performance of these estimators and to assess the consequences of ignoring individual variability when it exists. In addition, we analyzed a large data set of .153 000 juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss) of known length that were PIT-tagged during their seaward migration. Both our simulations and the case study indicated that the ability to precisely estimate selection for phenotypic traits was greatly compromised when differential recapture probabilities were ignored. Estimates of population survival, however, were far more robust. In the chinook salmon and steelhead study, we consistently found that smaller fish had a greater probability of recapture. We also uncovered length-related survival relationships in over half of the release group/river segment combinations that we observed, but we found both positive and negative relationships between length and survival probability. These results have important implications for the management of salmonid populations

A 21 day Daniel Fast improves selected biomarkers of antioxidant status and oxidative stress in men and women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dietary modification via both caloric and nutrient restriction is associated with multiple health benefits, some of which are related to an improvement in antioxidant status and a decrease in the production of reactive oxygen species. The Daniel Fast is based on the Biblical book of Daniel, is commonly partaken for 21 days, and involves food intake in accordance with a stringent vegan diet. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of a 21 day Daniel Fast on biomarkers of antioxidant status and oxidative stress.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>43 subjects (13 men; 30 women; 35 ± 1 yrs; range: 20-62 yrs) completed a 21 day Daniel Fast following the guidelines provided by investigators. Subjects reported to the lab in a 12 hour post-absorptive state both pre fast (day 1) and post fast (day 22). At each visit, blood was collected for determination of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), nitrate/nitrite (NOx), Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC), and Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC). Subjects recorded dietary intake during the 7 day period immediately prior to the fast and during the final 7 days of the fast.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A decrease was noted in MDA (0.66 ± 0.0.03 vs. 0.56 ± 0.02 μmol L^-1; p = 0.004), while H₂O₂demonstrated a trend for lowering (4.42 ± 0.32 vs. 3.78 ± 0.21 μmol L^-1; p = 0.074). Both NOx (18.79 ± 1.92 vs. 26.97 ± 2.40 μmol L^-1; p = 0.003) and TEAC (0.47 ± 0.01 vs. 0.51 ± 0.01 mmol L^-1; p = 0.001) increased from pre to post fast, while ORAC was unchanged (5243 ± 103 vs. 5249 ± 183 μmol L^-1TE; p = 0.974). As expected, multiple differences in dietary intake were noted (p < 0.05), including a reduction in total calorie intake (2185 ± 94 vs. 1722 ± 85).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Modification of dietary intake in accordance with the Daniel Fast is associated with an improvement in selected biomarkers of antioxidant status and oxidative stress, including metabolites of nitric oxide (i.e., NOx).</p