Don\u27t Walk Alone

Dont walk alone: The effect of the widely accepted behavior of street harassment on women’s mobility Sarah Hughes, School of Humanities and Life Sciences. Mentor: Bonnie Boaz ABSTRACT Women are continuously exposed to street harassment in their daily lives, however this issue lacks the recognition that it deserves as a societal problem. This paper explores to what extent men control public space and the effect that street harassment has on women both psychologically and physically. Data has been collected from scholarly articles as well as published studies. Unfortunately the research finds that society accepts the mistreatment of women through street harassment as a social norm due to the presence of male dominated institutions. Consequently women are forced to alter their behavior in order to accommodate the ideal of a male dominated public space. Women also face a diminished sense of self worth when exposed to continual harassment in public. In order to address the issue of street harassment society needs to develop a vocabulary to describe instances of street harassment in order to shed light on an issue that lacks recognition.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1155/thumbnail.jp

Spacetime and orbits of bumpy black holes

Our universe contains a great number of extremely compact and massive objects which are generally accepted to be black holes. Precise observations of orbital motion near candidate black holes have the potential to determine if they have the spacetime structure that general relativity demands. As a means of formulating measurements to test the black hole nature of these objects, Collins and Hughes introduced "bumpy black holes": objects that are almost, but not quite, general relativity's black holes. The spacetimes of these objects have multipoles that deviate slightly from the black hole solution, reducing to black holes when the deviation is zero. In this paper, we extend this work in two ways. First, we show how to introduce bumps which are smoother and lead to better behaved orbits than those in the original presentation. Second, we show how to make bumpy Kerr black holes -- objects which reduce to the Kerr solution when the deviation goes to zero. This greatly extends the astrophysical applicability of bumpy black holes. Using Hamilton-Jacobi techniques, we show how a spacetime's bumps are imprinted on orbital frequencies, and thus can be determined by measurements which coherently track a small orbiting body's orbital phase. We find that weak-field orbits of bumpy black holes are modified exactly as expected from a Newtonian analysis of a body with a prescribed multipolar structure, reproducing well-known results from the celestial mechanics literature. The impact of bumps on strong-field orbits is especially strong, suggesting that this framework will allow observations to set robust limits on the extent to which a spacetime's multipoles deviate from the black hole expectation.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figures, accepted to Phys. Rev. D. This version corrects some typos and incorporates suggested edit

On resistance in human geography

This paper outlines scholarship on resistance within geography. Its contention is that conceptualisations of resistance are characterised by a predetermination of form that particular actions or actors must assume to constitute resistance. Asking what we risk ignoring if we only focus on predetermined, recognisable resistant forms, the paper revisits some of the fundamental assumptions (of intention, linearity and opposition) that underpin accounts of resistance. It calls for geographers to engage with resistance in emergence. The paper concludes by detailing what this might look like in practice, including intersections with work on potentiality, incoherent subjects, agentic materiality and speculative futures

The WEAVE fibre positioner: calibration, commissioning, and first-light

This thesis details the final assembly and calibration procedures for the WEAVE fibre positioner, from October 2019 to first-light in September 2022. The positioner was successfully mounted to the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in May 2022. I present the first-light results of WEAVE for each of its three observing modes and discuss whether the positioner has met its design expectations. Chapter one describes the evolution of astronomical spectroscopy and the scientific motivations behind the construction of WEAVE. This is followed by the instrument design specification and sub-systems required to meet them. Chapter two will focus on the positioner in detail and include the evolution of our quality control methods. An account of the calibration procedures, in both the lab environment and on the elevation testing rig, is given in chapter three. The test rig revealed flexure behaviour in the positioner's structure, which was modified to correct for this. The calibration work was repeated with improved techniques, to predict changes in the positioner's metrology with elevation. This chapter then presents the results of the fibre movement testing, including the current placement timings To maximise the scientific output from WEAVE, I applied a series of adjustments to a subset of target fields, identifying methods that will improve the survey output using the fibre assignment program, Configure, and highlight potential selection effects. Chapter five presents the first-light results and the steps taken to achieve this. It required extensive measurements of the optical distortion map across the FoV, which were carefully mapped using astrometry of the night-sky across our focal plane. I then compare these results with the observational requirements from WEAVE's conception, to define its overall success. Chapter 6 provides an overview of the work completed in this thesis and describes potential upgrades to the instrument in the future

The Effects of Rhythm Versus Visual Images on Working Memory Recall

In the current study, the researcher aimed to examine the interaction between the independent variable of mnemonic modalities (visual images versus auditory rhythms) and working memory recall. Previous research indicates that information encodes better when presented with rhythm compared to a no-rhythm condition. This suggests that rhythm acts as a mnemonic, or a memory aid. However, across the numerous studies on rhythm and memory, rhythm’s effectiveness on memory retention has not been compared to the effectiveness of more commonly used mnemonics, such as images. The researcher hypothesized that the auditory rhythm condition would produce better working memory recall compared to the visual images condition. Participants for this study included 11 undergraduate students at Western Oregon University. In Learning Condition A, participants learned ten words in Estonian and their associated English meaning, paired with images related to each word shown. In Learning Condition B, participants learned the same list, paired with a rhythm. After a short distraction, participants in both conditions were asked to recall the English meanings. The difference between the two conditions was significant, t(10) = 3.184, p \u3c .05, supporting visuals as the better mnemonic device, leading the researcher to fail to reject the null. Future research should include more participants

Rethinking Resistance: Creativity and potentiality within the UK asylum system

This thesis explores the ways in which creativity can produce modes of resistance within the UK asylum system. It argues for a rethinking of resistance across three dimensions: non-linear temporalities; incoherent subjectivities, and lively materialities. The thesis proposes that a focus on creativity allows for a critical engagement with ambiguous moments, materials and subjects that contain the immanent potential to disrupt both the practices and premise of the UK asylum system; to imagine, and thus to open up the possibility, that things can become otherwise. The argument arises from ethnographic research conducted within the multiple spaces of the UK asylum system, working closely with two charities running creative activities in this area: Music in Detention and Crossings. This research produced three main themes which form the focus of the empirical chapters of this thesis. First, the thesis demonstrates how an attention to (non)linear temporalities disrupts the ontologically realist linear time of the state; that music and artwork pulse with discordant rhythms, which bring multiple space-times into the ‘present’. It suggests that this has consequences for how resistance is understood for, when situated within a framing of time as polyrhythmic, it is possible to remain open to the multiplicity of directions that these may moments bring. Second, the thesis moves to focus upon an (in)coherent subject. Drawing upon the interactions of staff and immigration detainees, and the wider place of creative charities within UK asylum system, it argues for the fixed coordinates of intention and opposition to be decentred from narratives of resistance, for to delineate resistance a priori is miss that moments, subjects and materials contain the potential to trouble the performance of the asylum system. Finally, the thesis examines the lively, agentic materials of resistance. It argues that materials contain the potential to form relations that cannot always be predetermined. Crucially however, the thesis demonstrates that whilst the potential for resistance is latent within all relations, the possibility for resistance is not evenly distributed; the topography of possibility is undulating, continually shaped by structural inequalities. Together these chapters make the argument for an attention to the potential for resistance as always-already entangled within the exercise of power; found within the messiness, the fractures and the ambiguities that saturate the UK asylum system. This thesis explores the ways in which creativity can produce modes of resistance within the UK asylum system. It argues for a rethinking of resistance across three dimensions: non-linear temporalities; incoherent subjectivities, and lively materialities. The thesis proposes that a focus on creativity allows for a critical engagement with ambiguous moments, materials and subjects that contain the immanent potential to disrupt both the practices and premise of the UK asylum system; to imagine, and thus to open up the possibility, that things can become otherwise. The argument arises from ethnographic research conducted within the multiple spaces of the UK asylum system, working closely with two charities running creative activities in this area: Music in Detention and Crossings. This research produced three main themes which form the focus of the empirical chapters of this thesis. First, the thesis demonstrates how an attention to (non)linear temporalities disrupts the ontologically realist linear time of the state; that music and artwork pulse with discordant rhythms, which bring multiple space-times into the ‘present’. It suggests that this has consequences for how resistance is understood for, when situated within a framing of time as polyrhythmic, it is possible to remain open to the multiplicity of directions that these may moments bring. Second, the thesis moves to focus upon an (in)coherent subject. Drawing upon the interactions of staff and immigration detainees, and the wider place of creative charities within UK asylum system, it argues for the fixed coordinates of intention and opposition to be decentred from narratives of resistance, for to delineate resistance a priori is miss that moments, subjects and materials contain the potential to trouble the performance of the asylum system. Finally, the thesis examines the lively, agentic materials of resistance. It argues that materials contain the potential to form relations that cannot always be predetermined. Crucially however, the thesis demonstrates that whilst the potential for resistance is latent within all relations, the possibility for resistance is not evenly distributed; the topography of possibility is undulating, continually shaped by structural inequalities. Together these chapters make the argument for an attention to the potential for resistance as always-already entangled within the exercise of power; found within the messiness, the fractures and the ambiguities that saturate the UK asylum system

Policing Money Laundering Through Fund Transfers: A Critique of Regulation Under the Bank Secrecy Act

Symposium: The Financial Services Industry: A New World (Dis)Order