Wounded Planet, Wounded People: The Possibility of Ecological Trauma

In recognizing that the human relationship to the nonhuman natural world has been characterized primarily by trauma, we might notice that humans abuse landscapes and deplete resources, harming the very ecosystems that support us, moving on when they no longer can or using technology in order to remain. This might be seen as a double trauma in which the human traumatizes ecosystems, which are then traumatic to the human. Our unwillingness as a culture to consider the nonhuman natural world as a valuable subject capable of experiencing trauma prevents us from understanding the repercussions of our actions. Spivak\u27s theory offers a possible solution: we should enter into a relationship of ethical singularity with the earth in which we accept that we are indelibly part of the ecosystem ourselves and that we must attempt to understand as much of what the natural world expresses as possible, even though we can never fully comprehend what we see. Representation through literature provides access to ecological trauma, especially its hidden elements, through the analogy of ecological to human trauma. The two novels I address, the bone people and Mr. Pip, both geographically set in the South Pacific, approach understanding of the nonhuman natural world in very different ways, but both use human trauma to mediate ecological trauma, making it accessible to readers

Identity Design: Challenging Archetypes with Feminist Approaches to Video Game Design

Lack of diversity in video games and the mainstream games industry warrants an inclusive, feminist approach to game design. Producing a feminist video game as a core component of my dissertation will impact rhetorical, literary, game, and feminist studies, emphasizing the benefits of embracing electrate and playful modes of identity formation and pedagogy

VisibleZ: A Mainframe Architecture Emulator for Computing Education

This paper describes a PC-based mainframe computer emulator called VisibleZ and its use in teaching mainframe Computer Organization and Assembly Programming classes. VisibleZ models IBM’s z/Architecture and allows direct interpretation of mainframe assembly language object code in a graphical user interface environment that was developed in Java. The VisibleZ emulator acts as an interactive visualization tool to simulate enterprise computer architecture. The provided architectural components include main storage, CPU, registers, Program Status Word (PSW), and I/O Channels. Particular attention is given to providing visual clues to the user by color-coding screen components, machine instruction execution, and animation of the machine architecture components. Students interact with VisibleZ by executing machine instructions in a step-by-step mode, simultaneously observing the contents of memory, registers, and changes in the PSW during the fetch-decode-execute machine instruction cycle. The object-oriented design and implementation of VisibleZ allows students to develop their own instruction semantics by coding Java for existing specific z/Architecture machine instructions or design and implement new machine instructions. The use of VisibleZ in lectures, labs, and assignments is described in the paper and supported by a website that hosts an extensive collection of related materials. VisibleZ has been proven a useful tool in mainframe Assembly Language Programming and Computer Organization classes. Using VisibleZ, students develop a better understanding of mainframe concepts, components, and how the mainframe computer works. ACM Computing Classification System (1998): C.0, K.3.2

Introduction to the Prisoners Versus Guards Game

We introduce a two-player game in which one and his/her opponent attempt to pack as many ``prisoners'' as possible on the squares of an n-by-n checkerboard; each prisoner has to be ``protected'' by at least as many guards as the number of the other prisoners adjacent. Initially, the board is covered entirely with guards. The players take turns adjusting the board configuration using one of the following rules in each turn: I. Replace one guard with a prisoner of the player's color. II. Replace one prisoner of either color with a guard and replace two other guards with prisoners of the player's color. We analyze winning strategies for small n (n<5) and the maximum number of prisoners in general. We show that this maximum is less than (7n^2+4n)/11 and conjecture it is more likely 3n^2/5+O(n).Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur

Hydraulic Performance Evaluation of RCC Stepped Spillways with Sloped Converging Training Walls

More than 5,500 small watershed dams designed and built with support from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will reach the end of their 50 year planned service life by 2018. Changes in watershed hydrology and hazard classification due to urbanization often require these structures to pass greater flows than were originally intended. Roller compacted concrete (RCC) stepped spillways provide an effective solution to this problem. Increased flow requirements, urban constraints, and valley geometry call for convergent chute sections designed with sloped training walls. There are currently no generalized guidelines for convergent sloped training walls. A three-dimensional, physical model study was utilized to conduct an investigation of sloped training wall convergence on 3:1 stepped spillway chutes including flow patterns and run-up for both stepped and smooth sloped training walls. Generalized relationships for stepped and smooth sloped training wall dimensions on a 3:1 RCC stepped spillway chute were developed. Results are expected to assist in the development of general design guidelines for stepped spillways.Biosystems and Agricultural Engineerin

Using Great Basin cottonwoods to study climate change and evolution

The mountains of Great Basin National Park represent important “natural laboratories” for studying the ecological and evolutionary consequences of past climate change. The Cottonwood Ecology group at Northern Arizona University is interested in examining whether genetic changes in Nevada’s cottonwood populations have resulted in the adaptation of dependent organisms to new hosts

Population Density Estimates and Growth Rates of Eleutherodactylus coqui in Hawaii

The Puerto Rican terrestrial frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) has received considerable attention in Hawaii because of its rapid spread, loud mating calls, and its potential threat to native species. Thus far, its invasion potential on the Island of Hawaii remains poorly understood. Critical components for determining this potential are robust estimates of abundance and vital rates across habitat types. To address this lack of information, we used mark-recapture methods to estimate E. coqui survival and abundance, determine growth rates of adult male and female frogs, and relate densities to elevation, snout–vent length (SVL), habitat structure, and invertebrate abundance. Mean adult E. coqui density across eight sites was 62 ± 12 adults/100 m2 and ranged from 6-138 adults/100 m2. Our three-year mean adult density estimates were three times greater at three of our study sites (100 adults/100 m2) than the highest long-term estimates from Puerto Rico (33 adults/100 m2). Mean individual growth rates were 0.0078 mm/day (± 0.007 SD, N = 87) for males and 0.0097 mm/day (± 0.009 SD, N = 11) for females. Frogs of similar size were found to be growing slower in Hawaii than Puerto Rico. We found no relationship between elevation and E. coqui density or elevation and SVL or between invertebrate abundance and E. coqui density. However, there was a positive relationship between understory structure and E. coqui density. This relationship suggests that removing understory structure could reduce E. coqui densities, although other potential implications of this management treatment should be considered