Untitled

This contribution by Sara Hughes will challenge your views of normalcy in sexuality. This powerfully experiential reflection humanizes the experience of unique individuals making extraordinary decisions, in this case a decision to bring consistency to one\u27s own gender identity

Territoriality, Sovereignty and the Nation-state System in Israel-Palestine: The Creation of the Palestinian Bantustan “state” and Shifting Palestinian Resistance Tactics

The conflict in Israel-Palestine is over the sovereign control of territory and takes place within a global framework made up of clearly defined nation-states. It is within this framework that Israeli colonial expansion and construction of the separation barrier in the West Bank attempt to maximize Israeli annexation of the oPt while creating a Palestinian Bantustan “state” to contain and isolate the Palestinian people in non-sovereign territorial enclaves through the use of territoriality as a strategy for exercising sovereignty. In response to this obvious process of cantonization, Palestinians are resisting by supporting Israeli annexation – of the West Bank and its Arab population. That way, the Palestinian people can protect their rights as citizens of the State of Israel

Low Resolution Examination of Cool-water Carbonate Foraminifera around Tasmania during the Pleistocene

Benthic foraminifera from nine sediment samples recovered during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 189: The Tasman Gateway were examined to determine how changing Southern Ocean conditions affect benthic foraminiferal populations. All samples come from Site 1168 situated 70km from the coast of Tasmania on the western continental slope (2463 m below the surface) and are spaced at roughly 150,000 years apart. Identifications of benthic foraminifera were done with a dissecting microscope and several reference books. Foraminifera were correlated with environmental proxy data obtained from Brughmans (2003) (total organic carbon, carbonate, siliciclastics, coarse fractions, chlorin, barium, aluminum, iron, and titanium) and The Scientific Shipboard Party (2001) (density, magnetic susceptibility, and lightness). The data demonstrates that benthic foraminifera responded to large-scale changes in the ocean surface waters caused by the movement of the subtropical convergence during glacial and interglacial periods. Genera such as Uvigerina, Cibicidoides, Cibicides, and Notoralia tend to be more successful during glacial periods when there is greater abundance of wind-blown terrigenous metals delivered to the ocean; whereas genera Pyrgo and species Epistominella elegans and Hansenisca soldanii seem to thrive under interglacial conditions when there is higher productivity in the surface waters. This research also adds to the growing knowledge base of cool-water carbonate environments and provides further evidence of a mid-Pleistocene extinction event affecting the genus Siphondosaria and others

Future Mandated Reporters: Understanding the Role

Graduate students in the medical, mental health, and educational fields have in common that they all will become future mandated reporters. As part of their graduate training, these professionals receive minimal training at best as to how to proceed when faced with reasonable suspicion that maltreatment has occurred. Unfortunately, specific training is not common, leaving graduates exposed and putting the children they serve at further risk. The purpose of this pilot study was to obtain direct feedback from graduate educators and graduate students as to the way the topics of child maltreatment and mandated reporting are incorporated into training programs. Using a survey questionnaire tailored to the level of training for the different respondents, researchers seek to delineate and document the critical need for direct training in these areas. The long-term goals are to provide an exploratory and evaluative study of the strengths and weaknesses of current training practices, all serving to provide a basis to develop and disseminate necessary recommendations to improve preservice training, protect graduates from liability, and reduce placing children and families at further risk of harm

Michigan’s uneven and unequal approach to taking over municipal governments in financial distress is linked to local drinking water crises.

From 2015 to 2019 the city of Flint, Michigan experienced a drinking water crisis which saw thousands of residents exposed to water-borne diseases and potential lead contamination. In new research, Sara Hughes and Anna Kopec examine the role of Michigan’s municipal takeover laws – which are intended to tackle local financial distress – in shaping water crises in Flint and elsewhere. They find that the state’s municipal takeover policies were often applied unevenly and inequitably, with cities placed under emergency management more likely to experience rising water rates, water service shutoffs, and attempts at privatization, often without public input

Preparing Our Kids for Education, Work and Life: A Report of the Task Force on Youth Aging Out

Summarizes a study of Massachusetts youth transitioning out of foster care, and offers recommendations for policies, practices, and resource conditions, including "Five Core Resources" to prepare them for higher education, work, and adulthood