Ruth Bader Ginsburg\u27s Equal Protection Clause: 1970-80

Professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg of Columbia Law School was the leading Supreme Court litigator for gender equality in the crucial decade, 1970-80. In addition to teaching her classes, producing academic articles, and co-authoring the first casebook on sex discrimination and the law, she worked on some sixty cases (depending on how one counts), including over two dozen cases in the Supreme Court. Rumor has it she did not sleep for ten years; her prodigious output gives the rumor some credence. Her impact on the law during that critical decade earned her the title the Thurgood Marshall of the women\u27s movement and secured her place in history-even before she became a federal appellate judge and Supreme Court justice. The author devotes her allotted space to two, intimately intertwined, topics: first, Ruth Ginsburg and the Supreme Court\u27s standard of review in sex discrimination cases, and second, the substance of Ruth Ginsburg\u27s concept of gender equality in law

Evaluation of clinical parameters for detection of early endpoint criteria in guinea pigs experimentally infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Includes bibliographical references.2015 Summer.Tuberculosis (TB) is a global epidemic caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite extensive research and funding to improve diagnostic and treatment strategies, the emergence of multi drug resistant and extensively drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis are on the rise. Vaccines present a solution to the failing diagnostic and treatment strategies by preventing incidence of disease. Guinea pigs are a common animal model to test TB vaccine candidates, but are difficult to evaluate in terms of overall health status. We hypothesized that using parameters within the complete blood count, serum biochemistry, and urinalysis assays we would identify biomarkers that could be used as early endpoint criteria for guinea pigs experimentally infected with M. tuberculosis. Using groups of BCG-vaccinated or saline-treated guinea pigs we measured biomarkers over the life of guinea pigs both pre-challenge and after challenge with laboratory strain M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Our study showed significant differences between groups of guinea pigs, as well as compared to pre-challenge values. Specifically, blood urea nitrogen, urine specific gravity, serum proteins, alanine transferase, hematocrit, leukocytes, and body weight should be monitored when establishing early endpoint criteria in guinea pigs experimentally infected with M. tuberculosis

Review of George Eliot, Poetess

The word \u27poetess\u27 is contentious. For some it rankles, because the diminution of \u27poet\u27 is generally considered gratuitous, patronizing and offensive. More often than not, it belittles women writers and their work. Others, however, argue that it is a useful word with which to describe poets belonging to the \u27poetess tradition\u27. That particular tradition demands our attention, they argue, and requires detailed study. In 2003, Peggy Davis wrote that such work had only just begun but more biographical research was needed \u27to establish a more prominent place for the poetess in particular and, more generally, women\u27s poetry in literary criticism and history\u27.1 George Eliot, Poetess can be seen as one response to that call to fill in the gaps. In her Introduction and five additional chapters, Williams offers interpretations of George Eliot\u27s poems that have received little or no critical attention, namely \u27Erinna\u27, \u27How Lisa Loved the King\u27, \u27Brother and Sister\u27, \u270 May I Join the Choir Invisible\u27, \u27Mid the Rich Store of Nature\u27s Gifts to Man\u27 and\u27 Agatha\u27. She also looks in detail at the more frequently considered Armgart, and in lesser detail at some of the other, mostly overlooked, poems. And, very significantly, she urges us to see Eliot as a poetess, freer to comment on social issues in her poetry than in her novels. In Chapter 1, \u27The Poetess Tradition’, the religious atmosphere of nineteenth-century Britain is examined, specifically how women poets found limited public forums for expressing religious ideas. By the end of the eighteenth century, poetry as worship was closely associated with feminine feelings, Williams says, and by the end of the nineteenth century the notion of the \u27poet as prophet\u27 was commonplace, giving women poets a special status to pronounce on all sorts of moral issues. Eliot worked in that tradition. Consider her detailed knowledge of Christian and Judaic religions worked into her poetry: the midrashic account of Moses\u27s last days on Earth in \u27The Death of Moses\u27 (ca 1876) and a very brief reference found in Genesis 4 as the germ for \u27The Legend of Jubal\u27 (1869-70). Consider also how poetesses used foreign settings, thereby escaping gender restrictions. As a result, we have Eliot\u27s The Spanish Gypsy (1864-68), Elizabeth Barrett Browning\u27s Aurora Leigh (1856) and Christina Rossetti\u27s Monna Innominata (1881), all set in distant lands. When looking closely at \u27Erinna\u27 (c.1873-1876), Williams encourages us to see the female narrator as someone giving voice to the idea of women overcoming societal restrictions; and Eliot does so by creating verse that enlightens, elevates and endures

Process Evaluation of the Basic Training Program at a State Corrections Academy in the Southeast

This applied dissertation was designed to provide law enforcement and corrections administrators with current information about the components of basic training that can affect the retention of newly employed trainees during basic training. Attracting qualified applicants for law-enforcement jobs is a challenging task, and the preemployment screening and hiring processes are very expensive for agencies already plagued with reduced budgets. By the time a trainee actually makes it to basic training, a great deal of time and money has already been invested by the agency, and the trainee becomes an investment. When more than 20% of trainees exit a basic training program before completion, it becomes an operational and financial concern for law-enforcement agencies. The researcher conducted a process evaluation of a basic training program at a state corrections academy in the southeastern United States in an effort to identify what factors were affecting trainee retention during the critical first couple of months of employment. Using various instruments, the researcher collected data from trainees and academy instructors with emphasis on (a) pretest and posttest trainee perceptions and attitudes of basic training; (b) effectiveness of instructors, curriculum topics, and training methods; and (c) reasons given by trainees for withdrawing from the program prior to completion. An analysis of the data revealed significant differences in trainee perceptions before and after basic training, as well a relationship between instructor sense of efficacy and instructor delivery of content. A relationship was also observed between instructor delivery of content and trainee academic achievement. Finally, the reasons provided by trainees for departing the program before completion were identified and considered when presenting recommendations to agency administrators for possible program modification

A Measure of Soft Skill Gains Acquisition with Engagement in Baccalaureate Nursing Programs

This dissertation examined soft skill acquisition from engagement in baccalaureate nursing programs. Baccalaureate nursing programs prepare nurses to be the future leaders of nursing practice. Soft skills include critical thinking, interpersonal communications, and ethical decision-making. To explore the acquisition of soft skills, this research study analyzed data from the National Survey of Student Engagement to explore for gains in critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and critical thinking. After gains scores were identified, then correlations were run to identify key engagement indicators. The findings of the study found gains in soft skill behaviors from freshman year to senior year of baccalaureate education. There was significant correlation with key engagement indicators, which were associated with gains in soft skills

The Glycemic Index

The glycemic index is a ranking of carbohydrate containing foods. Foods are ranked according to their immediate effect on blood sugar levels. The higher a food raises blood sugar, the higher its glycemic inde

Addressing Obesity in Stevenage, Hertfordshire: A Consultation with Young People

Public Health England have identified that almost a quarter of children are overweight when they start primary school, which increases to a third when they leave in year 6 aged 10-11 years. This has implications for young peoples’ physical and mental health and also later in adult life. The newly launched NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East of England is focusing on selected areas of health inequality and this includes neighbourhoods in Stevenage, Hertfordshire which have high rates of childhood obesity. In order to find out what young people think about these issues, Hertfordshire County Council and the University of Hertfordshire carried out a collaborative project in 2019. Hertfordshire County Council have adopted a Whole Systems approach to obesity and are keen to engage with young people in order to prioritise issues identified by them. The importance of ‘involving’ young people in shaping services has been widely documented. Two researchers met twice with 56 young people (from a range of schools) aged 16 years who were attending the National Citizen Service (NCS) scheme at a school in Stevenage in the summer holidays. A number of involvement activities were carried out during the sessions. The young people, with help from the researchers, facilitated their own informal discussion groups, using maps, flips charts, post-it notes and an anonymous suggestion box. The first session did not mention obesity but allowed open discussion about what it was like to live in Stevenage and the second session focussed more on the issue of ‘obesity and weight’. The young people were encouraged to find their own solutions and imagine if they “were in charge”. The four main themes that came from the sessions were; affordability, crime and anti-social behaviour, transport and places to go and eat. A number of solutions were suggested by the young people which included; healthy environment (e.g. cycle paths, street lights, regulation of shops), community approach (e.g. more affordable sports activities), schools (e.g. raise awareness, promote sport), focus on young people (e.g. activities for young people and healthy affordable eating outlets) and helping people maintain a healthy weight. The priorities identified by local young people and the wider issues they raised are important to take into consideration when shaping any intervention or public health initiative, especially when considering the wider determinants of health. Listening to the issues and solutions and using the language of young people is vital and young people should be included in co-designing any services that are aimed at them. Involving local young people who know an area and who can identify important issues is vital for any successful public health intervention

Grappling with the complexity of the New Zealand Curriculum: Next steps in exploring the NZC in initial teacher education.

Teacher educators in New Zealand are charged with supporting student teachers' understandings of the New Zealand Curriculum document (Ministry of Education, 2007). Integral to this challenge is the need to provide relevant knowledge and understandings that are contextually and pedagogically appropriate (Fullan, 2007; Jasman, 2003). Aspects of the "front end" of the New Zealand Curriculum document such as the vision, principles, values and key competencies along with the learning area statements need to be understood by newly graduated teachers who will be applying this curriculum in their own classrooms. This paper reports on ongoing research investigating and reflecting on student-teacher understandings of these components of the New Zealand curriculum, on completion of three different compulsory papers within the Bachelor of Teaching degree and Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Primary). Implications for pre-service teacher education and for supporters of provisionally registered teachers are considered

Exploring the front end of New Zealand curriculum in student teacher education: an example from language and mathematics education.

This paper reports on two components of a collaborative project conducted by members of the language and literacy education, mathematics education and social studies teaching teams at the Faculty of Education, The University of Waikato. The teams decided to research the implications of the front end of The New Zealand Curriculum document [NZC] (Ministry of Education, 2007). The front end of the document includes key competencies and a statement describing each learning area. The language and literacy team chose to explore student teacher understandings of the English essence statement and the way in which that learning area is structured. The mathematics education team explored student teacher understandings of and implications for the "thinking" key competency for the teaching and learning of mathematics. Data were collected through in-class observations and tasks, and the analysis of aspects of student assessment work. The findings highlighted the value of an explicit focus on a particular facet of the NZC along with the challenges student teachers experience in envisaging how this might play out in practice