Education in the Post-Lake View Era: What Is Arkansas Doing to Close the Achievement Gap?

Assesses whether the state's reforms can close the achievement gap among racial and socioeconomic groups. Proposes additional steps such as school health programs, extended learning programs, targeted small classes, and more parental engagement

Is False Imputation of Being Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Still Defamatory? The Arkansas Case

Falsely identifying someone as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) has historically been defamation per se in American courts. In modern times, however, courts have become conflicted as to whether a false imputation of a person as LGB is defamatory. Accordingly, this article examines the roots of defamation law as it relates to sexual minorities, and then examines questions regarding the defamatory status of false identification of another as LGB, whether community or national standards should drive such a determination, and finally, to what degree is any legal recognition of harm to reputation for being LBG a perpetuation of the status quo for sexual minorities. Recent case law involving the false imputation of LGB status shows the confusion emanating from changes on all matters related to sexual orientation in the United States - courts seem to be randomly ruling gay defamation legitimate or not. This article argues that there is no continuing justification for deeming false imputation of an individual as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual defamatory, even in locales where community standards illustrate negative attitudes toward LGB individuals. Specifically, because sodomy laws have been abolished nationwide, gay defamation cases function as state-driven perpetuation of denigration of sexual minorities, which is the opposite of the trajectory of American law regarding sexual orientation. Because empirical evidence of Arkansans\u27 attitudes toward homosexual behavior and status is so clearly negative, traditional defamation law would likely dictate that false imputation as LGB in Arkansas is harmful to an individual’s reputation. Such a result would stymie an otherwise mostly pro-equality shift in Arkansas law. Accordingly, the article concludes that it is important for Arkansas courts to refuse to perpetuate biases against gays, lesbians, and bisexuals through recognition of false imputation of a person as LGB as defamatory

Is False Imputation of Being Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Still Defamatory? The Arkansas Case

Falsely identifying someone as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) has historically been defamation per se in American courts. In modern times, however, courts have become conflicted as to whether a false imputation of a person as LGB is defamatory. Accordingly, this article examines the roots of defamation law as it relates to sexual minorities, and then examines questions regarding the defamatory status of false identification of another as LGB, whether community or national standards should drive such a determination, and finally, to what degree is any legal recognition of harm to reputation for being LBG a perpetuation of the status quo for sexual minorities. Recent case law involving the false imputation of LGB status shows the confusion emanating from changes on all matters related to sexual orientation in the United States - courts seem to be randomly ruling gay defamation legitimate or not. This article argues that there is no continuing justification for deeming false imputation of an individual as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual defamatory, even in locales where community standards illustrate negative attitudes toward LGB individuals. Specifically, because sodomy laws have been abolished nationwide, gay defamation cases function as state-driven perpetuation of denigration of sexual minorities, which is the opposite of the trajectory of American law regarding sexual orientation. Because empirical evidence of Arkansans\u27 attitudes toward homosexual behavior and status is so clearly negative, traditional defamation law would likely dictate that false imputation as LGB in Arkansas is harmful to an individual’s reputation. Such a result would stymie an otherwise mostly pro-equality shift in Arkansas law. Accordingly, the article concludes that it is important for Arkansas courts to refuse to perpetuate biases against gays, lesbians, and bisexuals through recognition of false imputation of a person as LGB as defamatory

Challenges in Partially-Automated Roadway Feature Mapping Using Mobile Laser Scanning and Vehicle Trajectory Data

Connected vehicle and driver's assistance applications are greatly facilitated by Enhanced Digital Maps (EDMs) that represent roadway features (e.g., lane edges or centerlines, stop bars). Due to the large number of signalized intersections and miles of roadway, manual development of EDMs on a global basis is not feasible. Mobile Terrestrial Laser Scanning (MTLS) is the preferred data acquisition method to provide data for automated EDM development. Such systems provide an MTLS trajectory and a point cloud for the roadway environment. The challenge is to automatically convert these data into an EDM. This article presents a new processing and feature extraction method, experimental demonstration providing SAE-J2735 map messages for eleven example intersections, and a discussion of the results that points out remaining challenges and suggests directions for future research.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Variation in the Position of the Upwelling Front on the Oregon Shelf

As part of an experiment to study wind-driven coastal circulation, 17 hydrographic surveys of the middle to inner shelf region off the coast of Newport, OR (44.65°N, from roughly the 90 m isobath to the 10 m isobath) were performed during Summer 1999 with a small, towed, undulating vehicle. The cross-shelf survey data were combined with data from several other surveys at the same latitude to study the relationship between upwelling intensity and wind stress field. A measure of upwelling intensity based on the position of the permanent pycnocline is developed. This measure is designed so as to be insensitive to density-modifying surface processes such as heating, cooling, buoyancy plumes, and wind mixing. It is highly correlated with an upwelling index formed by taking an exponentially weighted running mean of the alongshore wind stress. This analysis suggests that the front relaxes to a dynamic (geostrophic) equilibrium on a timescale of roughly 8 days, consistent with a similar analysis of moored hydrographic observations. This relationship allows the amount of time the pycnocline is outcropped to be estimated and could be used with historical wind records to better quantify interannual cycles in upwelling

Our Common Journey: The Economics of Educating Women in Arkansas

In 2012, only 4% of children of mothers with bachelor's degrees were living in poverty, in comparison to 53% of children of high school dropouts and 31% for those whose mothers completed high school but nothing more. In addition, children's own high school completion years later was related to their mothers' education level. Forty percent of children whose mothers did not complete high school did not graduate high school on time (that is, by age 19) in comparison to only 2% of children whose mothers had bachelor's degrees. A focus on the educational and economic lives of women and girls is justified because improvements in their lives have the potential for exponential returns to the state of Arkansas in the form of children's educational and economic success as adults. Thirty-eight percent of Arkansas children lived in single parent households in 2012 with approximately 80% of these households headed by women. These demographic realities, coupled with the alarmingly low education levels of Arkansas residents, mean a focus on women's education is a crucial strategy in improving the lives of all Arkansas. When women advance economically, Arkansas is improved as a state