What to Do If Simultaneous Presidential and Vice Presidential Inability Struck \u3ci\u3eToday\u3c/i\u3e

Dual incapacity is one of three major inability scenarios involving the Vice President that threatens the continuity of the executive branch. The current state of the law in this area, unfortunately, leaves only imperfect options for policymakers. This Article proposes that, in the event of a dual inability, the Speaker, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Cabinet should meet and then jointly declare that the Speaker is Acting President until either the President or Vice President regains capacity. At the same time, the Speaker—as the new Acting President—the President pro tempore, and the Cabinet should request that Congress ratify their decision and the process they undertook to reach that determination

Density of states for Bose-Einstein condensation in harmonic oscillator potentials

We discuss how it is possible to obtain a reliable approximation for the density of states for a system of particles in an anisotropic harmonic oscillator potential. A direct application of the result to study Bose-Einstein condensation of atomic gases in a potential trap can be given. In contrast to a previous study, our method involves only analytic calculations.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX2e, no figure

Evidence of Raleigh-Hertz surface waves and shear stiffness anomaly in granular media

Due to the non-linearity of Hertzian contacts, the speed of sound in granular matter increases with pressure. Under gravity, the non-linear elastic description predicts that acoustic propagation is only possible through surface modes, called Rayleigh-Hertz modes and guided by the index gradient. Here we directly evidence these modes in a controlled laboratory experiment and use them to probe the elastic properties of a granular packing under vanishing confining pressure. The shape and the dispersion relation of both transverse and sagittal modes are compared to the prediction of non-linear elasticity that includes finite size effects. This allows to test the existence of a shear stiffness anomaly close to the jamming transition.Comment: 4 pages 4 figure

Effects of plasma membrane cholesterol level and cytoskeleton F-actin on cell protrusion mechanics.

Protrusions are deformations that form at the surface of living cells during biological activities such as cell migration. Using combined optical tweezers and fluorescent microscopy, we quantified the mechanical properties of protrusions in adherent human embryonic kidney cells in response to application of an external force at the cell surface. The mechanical properties of protrusions were analyzed by obtaining the associated force-length plots during protrusion formation, and force relaxation at constant length. Protrusion mechanics were interpretable by a standard linear solid (Kelvin) model, consisting of two stiffness parameters, k0 and k1 (with k0>k1), and a viscous coefficient. While both stiffness parameters contribute to the time-dependant mechanical behavior of the protrusions, k0 and k1 in particular dominated the early and late stages of the protrusion formation and elongation process, respectively. Lowering the membrane cholesterol content by 25% increased the k0 stiffness by 74%, and shortened the protrusion length by almost half. Enhancement of membrane cholesterol content by nearly two-fold increased the protrusion length by 30%, and decreased the k0 stiffness by nearly two-and-half-fold as compared with control cells. Cytoskeleton integrity was found to make a major contribution to protrusion mechanics as evidenced by the effects of F-actin disruption on the resulting mechanical parameters. Viscoelastic behavior of protrusions was further characterized by hysteresis and force relaxation after formation. The results of this study elucidate the coordination of plasma membrane composition and cytoskeleton during protrusion formation

Women Hospitality Managers: Perceptions of Gender-Related Career Challenges

In spite of increases in the number of women who are both academically pre- pared and interested in pursuing hospitality management careers, women appear to be leaving the industry at a much higher rate than their male counter- parts. Although women are better represented in lower and middle management than ever before, there has been no corresponding increase in the number of women in top level management positions. The author explores women managers\u27 perceptions of the career-related challenges they confront in hospitality environments and suggests that inadequate access to informal information networks, lack of women mentors, and the impact of unique job characteristics are their most significant concerns

Teaching Listening: Some Thoughts on Behavioral Approaches

This paper provides an overview of the issues involved in providing listening instruction to those who work or who are preparing to work in organizations. Questions are posed regarding the nature of listening and listening instruction. A behavioral approach is suggested, and the benefits and concerns regarding this perspective are examined

Perceptions of Effective Listeners: A Management Study

Listening is a vital management skill. To find out more about how managers’ listening is perceived in an organizational context, researchers administered a questionnaire to 144 managers and 827 of their subordinates in 6 hospitality organizations. Managers were asked to rate 26 of their own listening behaviors using a 7-point scale. Subordinates were asked to indicate their perceptions of their managers’ listening behavior on each of the same 26 items. Profiles are presented of those managers who were perceived as particularly “good” or particularly “poor” listeners according to the ratings given them by their subordinates. Characteristics of those employees who gave their managers the highest and lowest ratings are also described. This information contributes to a better understanding of how managers’ listening is perceived in organizational contexts

Communicating with Credibility: The Gender Gap

By examining their listening, speaking, and nonverbal behavior, men and women can make wiser choices about how to present themselves and their ideas

Predicting Leadership: The Assessment Center’s Extended Role

Purpose: Predicting leadership demonstrates how assessment centers can be designed to meet the extended goals of assessing three broad-based and particularly critical indicators of hospitality leadership effectiveness: the ability to respond to change, the ability to foster trust, and the ability to create inclusive work environments. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review reveals the most critical hospitality leadership needs in times of rapid and continuous change, and supports the assessment center approach as a means of judging key leadership competencies. The steps involved in developing a center to assess three particularly critical leadership competencies are outlined and challenges noted. Findings: The assessment center is shown to be a valuable means of both assessing and predicting leadership talent beyond the scope normally associated with this method. Practical implications: Assessment center methods can be extended to accomplish the organization’s most important goal – preparing for, and responding to, future leadership requirements. Originality/value: The paper is of value to both academic and practitioner readers interested in leadership development. It provides a rationale and practical guide for assessment center design and implementation

Can the Sun Rise on Sunset? A Case in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior

Events at the Sunset Hotel illustrate the numerous human resources issues that can develop when a senior manager who was passed over for promotion distorts messages and undermines his supervisor’s constructive change efforts. Rumors flourish, employees become confused, and Sunset Hotel’s general manager is frustrated in his inability to accomplish goals. It is uncertain whether the general manager will be able to regain the senior manager’s support or to prevent his behavior from affecting employee morale and damaging the hotel’s image and reputation