Race, Class, and College Access: Achieving Diversity in a Shifting Legal Landscape

This is a groundbreaking report examining how legal challenges to race-conscious admissions are influencing contemporary admissions practices at selective colleges and universities around the country. The report is especially timely in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to take a second look at the constitutionality of the University of Texas' admissions policy by granting review in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.Study findings are based on responses to a first-of-its-kind national survey of undergraduate admissions and enrollment management leaders administered in 2014 -- 15. Data reflect responses from 338 nonprofit four-year institutions that collectively enrolled 2.7 million students and fielded over 3 million applications for admission in 2013 -- 14. Among other findings, the authors examine the most widely used and effective diversity strategies; changes in admissions factors after the 2013 Fisher ruling and statewide bans on race-conscious admissions; and the most sought after research and guidance given the current legal and policy landscap

Considering Class: College Access and Diversity

Each time that the continued legality of race-conscious affirmative action is threatened, colleges and universities must confront the possibility of dramatically changing their admissions policies. Fisher v. University of Texas, which the Supreme Court will hear this year, presents just such a moment. In previous years when affirmative action has been outlawed by ballot initiative in specific states or when the Court has seemed poised to reject it entirely, there have been calls for replacing race-conscious admissions with class-based affirmative action. Supporters of race-conscious affirmative action have typically criticized the class-based alternative as ineffective at maintaining racial diversity. This article presents the results of a study conducted at the University of Colorado in 2008 and 2010 that challenges that common assertion. We present a class-based affirmative action policy that led to increased socioeconomic diversity as well as slightly increased racial diversity in two entering freshmen classes. This study, the first done at a moderately selective university, shows how class-based affirmative action can be an effective tool for admitting a class of students that is diverse both socioeconomically and racially. Even if the Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of race-conscious college admissions, class-based policies are attractive as a supplement to race-conscious policies. The challenges associated with low socioeconomic status are different from those associated with minority status, and there are good reasons to seek equal opportunity along both lines

From Access to Success: Affirmative Action Outcomes in a Class-Based System

Scholarly discussion about affirmative action policy has been dominated in the past ten years by debates over mismatch theory\u27 --the claim that race-conscious affirmative action harms those it is intended to help by placing students who receive preferences among academically superior peers in environments where they will be overmatched and unable to compete. Despite serious empirical and theoretical challenges to this claim in academic circles, mismatch has become widely accepted outside those circles, so much so that the theory played prominently in Justice Clarence Thomas\u27s concurring opinion in Fisher v. University of Texas. This Article explores whether mismatch occurs in the context of a class-conscious affirmative action approach. By moving away from race--which has no logical relationship to mismatch theory--we are able to examine mismatch through a more grounded, less politically laden empirical lens. Our research builds on a previous Article that detailed a class-based affirmative action system implemented at the University of Colorado in Boulder. We examine college outcomes for the beneficiaries of this affirmative action policy, and find that although grades and graduation rates for disadvantaged students lag behind those of their more advantaged peers, the gaps do not widen over time as mismatch theory suggests that they will. Indeed, more often than not, beneficiaries of this policy earn a bachelor\u27s degree. Moreover, Colorado\u27s class-based indices identify some students who perform quite well in college--better than the typical undergraduate--and who would not have been admitted to college without admissions preferences based on class. The Article concludes with implications for affirmative action policy, along with recommendations for supporting academic success for disadvantaged students who have long faced social, economic, and institutional barriers to college access

Observations of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect at high angular resolution towards the galaxy clusters A665, A2163 and CL0016+16

We report on the first observation of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with the Diabolo experiment at the IRAM 30 metre telescope. A significant brightness decrement is detected in the direction of three clusters (Abell 665, Abell 2163 and CL0016+16). With a 30 arcsecond beam and 3 arcminute beamthrow, this is the highest angular resolution observation to date of the SZ effect.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, accepted to New Astronom

A functional screen of translated pancreatic lncRNAs identifies a microprotein-independent role for LINC00261 in endocrine cell differentiation

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a heterogenous group of RNAs, which can encode small proteins. The extent to which developmentally regulated lncRNAs are translated and whether the produced microproteins are relevant for human development is unknown. Here, we show that many lncRNAs in direct vicinity of lineage-determining transcription factors (TFs) are dynamically regulated, predominantly cytosolic, and highly translated during pancreas development. We genetically ablated ten such lncRNAs, most of them translated, and found that nine are dispensable for endocrine cell differentiation. However, deletion of LINC00261 diminishes generation of insulin+ endocrine cells, in a manner independent of the nearby TF FOXA2. Systematic deletion of each of LINC00261’s seven poorly conserved microproteins shows that the RNA, rather than the microproteins, is required for endocrine development. Our work highlights extensive translation of lncRNAs into recently evolved microproteins during human pancreas development and provides a blueprint for dissection of their coding and noncoding roles

Prognostic and therapeutic considerations of antibodies against c-ter apolipoprotein A-1 in the general population.

Autoantibodies against apolipoprotein A1 (anti-apoA1 IgGs) and its C-terminal region (cter apoA1) have emerged as an independent biomarker for cardiovascular disease. Cter apoA1 mimetic peptides were shown to reverse the deleterious anti-apoA1 IgG effects in vitro. We evaluated the association of anti-cter apoA1 IgGs with overall mortality in the general population and tested the ability of a cter apoA1 mimetic peptide to reverse the anti-apoA1 IgG-induced inflammatory response and mortality in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Anti-cter apoA1 IgGs were measured in serum samples of 6386 participants of the CoLaus study of which 5220 were followed for a median duration of 5.6 years. The primary outcome was overall mortality. The peptide inhibitory concentration 50% (IC <sub>50</sub> ) was determined in vitro on HEK-Blue-4 and RAW cells. ApoE <sup>-/-</sup> mice were exposed to 16 weeks of anti-apoA1IgG passive immunisation with and without peptide co-incubation. Anti-cter apoA1 IgGs were associated with higher interleukin 6 levels and independently predicted overall mortality; an increase of one standard deviation of anti-cter apoA1 IgG level was associated with an 18% increase in mortality risk (hazard ratio: 1.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.33; P = 0.009). The cterApoA1 analogue reversed the antibody-mediated inflammatory response with an IC <sub>50</sub> of 1 µm in vitro but did not rescue the significant anti-apoA1 IgG-induced mortality rate in vivo (69% vs. 23%, LogRank P = 0.02). Anti-cter apoA1 IgG independently predicts overall mortality in the general population. Despite being effective in vitro, our cter apoA1 analogue did not reverse the anti-apoA1 IgG-induced mortality in mice. Our data suggest that these autoantibodies are not readily treatable through cognate peptide immunomodulation

Homeopathy for seasonal allergic rhinitis: rationale, design and methods of the three-armed randomized controlled HOMEOSAR trial

Background: Patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) frequently use homeopathic therapy. Although there is some evidence that homeopathy may be effective in treating symptoms of SAR, there is a lack of high-quality clinical trials. Therefore, the aim of the homeopathy for SAR (HOMEOSAR) trial is to determine the efficacy of individualized or standardized homeopathic drug treatment compared to placebo regarding rhinitis-related quality of life in patients with SAR. Methods: This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, three-armed intervention study will be conducted at two university hospital outpatient clinics for complementary and integrative medicine in Berlin and in 12 office-based practices specializing in homeopathic treatment in Germany. A total of 270 patients with clinical symptoms of SAR and positive allergy test to birch and grass pollen will receive homeopathic anamnesis and subsequently be randomized into (a) standardized homeopathic drug treatment with Galphimia Glauca (potency D6), (b) individualized homeopathic drug treatment (D6), or (c) placebo. All three groups can receive on-demand rescue medication as needed. Treatment will consist of two consultations and daily intake of the study medication for 4 weeks during the pollen season. The primary outcome is the mean overall score of the Rhinitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) in weeks 3 and 4, analyzed using analysis of covariance (adjusted for baseline RQLQ overall score and study center). A closed testing procedure will be used to control the overall type I error comparing the 3 treatment groups. Secondary outcomes include the overall RQLQ and its seven domain scores, responder status (decrease in RQLQ overall score of at least 0.5 points compared to the baseline value), use of rescue medication, intensity of total and individual SAR symptoms based on visual analog scale, generic health-related quality of life, safety, utilization of health care resources and associated costs. In addition, a qualitative data analysis is planned. Conclusion: The results of our study will contribute to clarifying the possible therapeutic effects of homeopathic drug treatment for patients with SAR

Secondary invasion after clearing invasive Acacia saligna in the South African fynbos

CITATION: Nsikane, M. M., et al. 2019. Secondary invasion after clearing invasive Acacia saligna in the South African fynbos, South African Journal of Botany, 125: 280-289. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2019.07.034The original publication is available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/south-african-journal-of-botanyIt is often assumed that clearing invasive alien species will lead to the dissipation of their negative impacts and recovery of native plant diversity. However, this is often not the case because clearing of primary invasive alien species can lead to secondary invasion by non-target species. We investigated the effects of vegetation type and application of fire during management of biomass after clearing invasive acacias on secondary invasion in the South African fynbos. Furthermore, we determined how these effects change with years after clearing. We sampled vegetation in lowland and mountain fynbos cleared of invasive Acacia saligna using the “fell, stack and burn” method. During burning of the stacked slash, the area at the centre of the stack experiences a high severity fire while the area at the edge experiences a low severity fire. After fire, burn scars remain in place of the stacked slash. We sampled in and outside of 80 burn scars over three years after clearing. Overall, we set out to (1) identify species that are secondary invaders; (2) determine whether secondary invader richness and cover differ between where there were high and low severity fires and no fires, and how these differences change with years after clearing; and (3) determine whether secondary invader richness and cover differ in and between lowland and mountain fynbos, and how these differences change with years after clearing. We identified 32 secondary invader species. Mean secondary invader richness was lower where there were high severity fires (2.75) compared to where there were low severity fires (3.28) and no fires (3.24). Mean secondary invader proportion cover was lower where there were no fires (0.14) compared to where there were high severity fires (0.19) and low severity fires (0.2). Three years after clearing, secondary invader richness and cover had not changed or was now higher than in the first year, while secondary invader richness was similar between lowland and mountain fynbos. Secondary invader cover was similar between lowland and mountain fynbos up to two years after clearing but was 58% lower in lowland fynbos in the third year. Fire application after clearing invasive acacias can have positive (i.e. reduction of Acacia soil seed banks by triggering mass germination) and negative (i.e. favors the dominance of secondary invaders) effects. As a result, slash should be spread throughout the restoration site instead of being stacked and then burnt to reduce Acacia soil seed banks. To avoid the establishment of a second generation of invasive acacias, the seedlings that germinate can be controlled through manual weeding, mowing and herbicide application. Due to the persistence and abundance of secondary invaders up to three years after clearing at levels similar to or higher than in the first year, we conclude that practicing restoration ecologists must manage these species to ensure successful restoration of native plant diversity.Publisher’s versio

Constructing and protecting identity in a diverse higher education context

UK higher education (HE) has become increasingly diverse. Despite the clear social, economic and pedagogical benefits of diversity, it can also be challenging for identity as it may bring about psychological change and compel both the ‘dominant majority’ and ‘minorities’ to adjust to the presence, identities and worldviews of the other. Drawing upon Identity Process Theory from social psychology, the present article explores the potential challenges to identity in a diverse HE context and how students may subsequently cope with these challenges. After a brief overview of Identity Process Theory, two case studies are presented that focus on how social class and ethnic/religious diversity can impact identity. The more general aim of this article is to develop the basic tools for enhancing students’ learning experience in a diverse HE context. It is suggested that HE institutions need to support students from diverse backgrounds in ways that are conducive to a positive identity, and that they must facilitate a shared superordinate identity which can be viewed as inclusive and available to all, regardless of class, ethnicity, religion or any other identity