Gen X and Digital Games: Looking back to look forward

Despite there being increased attention in recent years to older adults who actively play digital games, it seems that there has been comparatively minimal scholarly focus on the next generation of older adult gamers – Generation X gamers. Although there have been few, current audience studies that examine this population within a gaming context, a temporal perspective reveals another story. Older members of this generation were the first age cohort to be exposed to and engage in video gameplay at an early age (i.e., childhood). With the emerging popularity of video games in the 1980s, this did not escape the attention of scholars. This study provides an overview of those early studies that assessed video game use and its potential (for better or worse) among the older members Gen X. The study themes identified include: health, education, and behavior. In addition, the first studies that identified gaming characteristics of this generation in their formative years emerged in the latter half of that decade. By identifying themes in these early studies, scholars have the potential to track an entire generation’s gaming history and characteristics from childhood to present day. Ultimately, this may glean richer insight into those qualities when they become the next older generation of digital game players

Water temperature dynamics in High Arctic river basins

Despite the high sensitivity of polar regions to climate change and the strong influence of temperature upon ecosystem processes, contemporary understanding of water temperature dynamics in Arctic river systems is limited. This research gap was addressed by exploring high-resolution water column thermal regimes for glacier-fed and non-glacial rivers at eight sites across Svalbard during the 2010 melt season. Mean water column temperatures in glacier-fed rivers (0.3-3.2 °C) were lowest and least variable near the glacier terminus but increased downstream (0.7-2.3 °C km ). Non-glacial rivers, where discharge was sourced primarily from snowmelt runoff, were warmer (mean: 2.9-5.7 °C) and more variable, indicating increased water residence times in shallow alluvial zones and increased potential for atmospheric influence. Mean summer water temperature and the magnitude of daily thermal variation were similar to those of some Alaskan Arctic rivers but low at all sites when compared with alpine glacierized environments at lower latitudes. Thermal regimes were correlated strongly (p<0.01) with incoming short-wave radiation, air temperature, and river discharge. Principal drivers of thermal variability were inferred to be (i) water source (i.e. glacier melt, snowmelt, groundwater); (ii) exposure time to the atmosphere; (iii) prevailing meteorological conditions; (iv) river discharge; (v) runoff interaction with permafrost and buried ice; and (vi) basin-specific geomorphological features (e.g. channel morphology). These results provide insight into the potential changes in high-latitude river systems in the context of projected warming in polar regions. We hypothesize that warmer and more variable temperature regimes may prevail in the future as the proportion of bulk discharge sourced from glacial meltwater declines and rivers undergo a progressive shift towards snow water and groundwater sources. Importantly, such changes could have implications for aquatic species diversity and abundance and influence rates of ecosystem functioning in high-latitude river systems

The Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966: Politics & Perception in Cuban Migration to the United States

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

Rethinking Reasonableness : Implementation of a National Board to Clarify the Trade Secret Standard now that the Work-From-Home Culture has Changed the Rules

Under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), almost any type of information can qualify as a trade secret but only if the owner has taken “reasonable measures” to keep such information secret. Under case law, what is “reasonable” varies and may differ based on the court, the company size, and the particular facts of each situation. The interpretation of what is “reasonable” must change with the times, specifically, to take into consideration the sharp increase in remote work that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. The rise in remote work necessarily means more servers accessing data and more remote transmission of information, and therefore a need for more security and updated protocols and requirements to protect proprietary information. Companies are not sufficiently modifying their security and remote policies, and courts are not taking into consideration the change in the work-from-home landscape when analyzing “reasonable measures.” This Article proposes that Congress implement a national trade secret registrar which would create a set of standards that companies may follow to protect their trade secrets. If a company follows the standards and submits paperwork attesting it has done so, the registrar will issue a certificate which will afford the company a presumption that it has implemented “reasonable measures” to protect its trade secrets. Adopting this proposal reduces the guesswork that companies must do to protect their valuable trade secrets, and no longer will companies fail to implement important trainings, reminders, or confidentiality agreements—mistakes which could lead to the loss of trade secrets. It will also lead to a more consistent interpretation of the DTSA by courts

Space, Secularism, and the Expansion of Forced Child Begging in Senegal, 1850-2008

Hundreds of thousands of young boys known as talibés roam the streets of Senegal\u27s cities begging for food and change. They are students of the Quran sent from rural to urban communities to learn from a marabout, or spiritual guide. In exchange for their education, the students are asked to beg for several hours a day. Journalists and nonprofit workers often portray the forced begging phenomenon in an ahistorical manner, depicting the marabouts as evildoers without examining the origins of the problem. It was the rural exodus of the 1960s and \u2770s that forced the marabouts to adapt the traditional Quranic education system to a new environment, and thus institute begging. Political officials and spiritual leaders renegotiated their use of space and their notions of secularism, though the government has been ineffective in curbing the problem under all three of Senegal\u27s presidents. The forced begging problem continues to grow, and marabouts, NGO workers, and government officials must work together to address the issues of space and secularism that underlie this complex religious and cultural issue

ROUTINE VERSUS SELECTIVE EPISIOTOMIES CAUSING SEVERE PERINEAL TEARS

Objective: To determine if the use of routine episiotomies decreases the rate of severe perineal tears in comparison to selective episiotomies during vaginal delivery. Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar were used to generate a set of random control trials which all had the objective of comparing severe perineal tears in routine compared to selective episiotomies during vaginal delivery. Three trials were reviewed and included in this study. Results: The results of each trial were not all statistically significant in the rate of severe perineal tears when comparing the two interventions. However, a downward trend of third-degree perineal tears amongst the use of selective episiotomies was noted. Conclusion: Heterogeneity amongst each of the trials made it difficult to determine if the use of selective vs. routine episiotomies influenced the rate of severe perineal tears. While a decrease in severe perineal tears is found with selective episiotomies, more research is needed at this time