Offences Against the Res Publica: The Role of Public Interest Arguments in Cicero’s Forensic Speeches

By the mid-first century BC, quaestiones perpetuae (standing courts) were the principal tribunals before which charges of offences against the Roman res publica were tried. The extant writings of the Roman statesman and orator M. Tullius Cicero are our main source as to the arguments which were deployed before these courts as being relevant to their determination of the charges presented to them. Cases of maiestas (treason) sometimes raised questions of law as to the relationship among different organs of the res publica, but Cicero argued that such cases also required the courts to decide whether defendants had acted against the interests of the res publica by reference to substantive policy considerations. Cicero appears also to have argued that wide public interest considerations should be taken into account in relation to other offences tried before the quaestiones perpetuae. The courts’ willingness to entertain such arguments detracted from the clarity of the rules they were called upon to apply, and altered the nature of their own function, as trials were potentially transformed into arenas of political judgment. In consequence, the quaestiones perpetuae did not operate in accordance with a modern understanding of the rule of law. Recognition of these features of the quaestiones perpetuae may assist in explaining why these courts were of questionable legitimacy, were ineffective in providing an effective constraint on the exercise of political power, and failed to achieve the purpose which L. Cornelius Sulla may have envisaged for them

Managing the group polarization of attitudes toward new policies: A procedural justice perspective

Discussion among co-workers is common in organizations after a policy change has been made that results in change for employees. Group polarization theory asserts that group discussion will influence attitudes and perceptions about a policy change by shifting individual reactions in the direction of the average of the group’s prediscussion reactions. After a policy change resulting in negative outcomes, this shift will be in the direction of even more negative reactions. The procedural justice theoretical framework may provide organizational decision makers with an answer to the effects of group discussion after a policy change. The use of social accounts after a policy change decision has been made may lessen the polarization of policy-related and organizational attitudes and perceptions. The current study investigated reducing the polarization of five dependent variables through the use of two different types of social accounts. Specifically, using a 2x2x2 mixed design, the effect of a causal account and an ideological account on the negative polarization of fairness perceptions after the policy change, acceptance of the policy change, commitment to the University, fairness perceptions of the University, and trust of the University was assessed. Thirty-two groups of four undergraduate students each (N = 128) participated in a scenario study. Each participant was given a copy of a policy change involving a new University graduation requirement, and each received either a causal account, ideological account, both accounts, or no account. After reading the policy change and filling out a questionnaire, participants were encouraged to discuss the policy change with other group members for 15 minutes, after which each participant filled out a second questionnaire. A significant main effect of causal account was found for perceptions of fairness of the policy change, acceptance of the policy change, and commitment to the University. This effect supports previous research findings on causal accounts in the procedural justice literature. Contrary to predictions, no main effects of ideological account were found. A main effect of time was found for four of the dependent variables, confirming the group polarization phenomenon. However, this effect was not qualified by the hypothesized interaction between account type and time demonstrating the benefit of using a social account to lessen polarization after a policy change. Methodological concerns regarding the current study and directions for future research are also discussed

Errand Into the Wilderness and America: An Analysis of the Effects of Puritan Symbols on the Perceived Purpose of Education in America.

Present day America is perceived as immersed in a moral crisis due to certain cultural conditions; that national identity has fractured, resulting in a pervading sense of uncertainty and anxiety about the future; that public schools, as institutions charged with preserving the symbols of national identity and a morality that is the concrete expression of those symbols, have failed and must be reformed; and finally, that only through schooling can America be saved from this current cultural crisis. This rhetorical trajectory has a history that extends back to the Puritans who settled in America during the early seventeenth century and produced what was to become the New England Way, then Yankee Way and finally American Way. Puritans generated a symbolic narrative that assembled, as well as constrained, the possible ways of perceiving and embodying the American identity and a sense of sacred/secular historical mission attached to that identity. This group also supplied the forms by which this symbolic narrative would be given to future generations. The intent of this historical sortie is to explicate these elements within the American psyche by exploring the effects of the symbolism at different points in American history--Puritans during the 1600s and 1700s; the Gilded Age, the period beginning after the Civil War and extending to the first part of the twentieth century when the urban Protestant middle class ascended to cultural dominance; and the present age. A specific and vital operation will be to explore the relationship between the purpose of education (and how this term has shifted in meaning) and the notion of an American identity and morality perceived as crucial to the impulse to view America as having a sacred/secular purpose

Design of a Torque Current Generator for Strapdown Gyroscopes

The design, analysis, and experimental evaluation of an optimum performance torque current generator for use with strapdown gyroscopes, is presented. Among the criteria used to evaluate the design were the following: (1) steady-state accuracy; (2) margins of stability against self-oscillation; (3) temperature variations; (4) aging; (5) static errors drift errors, and transient errors, (6) classical frequency and time domain characteristics; and (7) the equivalent noise at the input of the comparater operational amplifier. The DC feedback loop of the torque current generator was approximated as a second-order system. Stability calculations for gain margins are discussed. Circuit diagrams are shown and block diagrams showing the implementation of the torque current generator are discussed

Origins of Purpose in Life: Refining our Understanding of a Life Well Lived

Purpose can be characterized as a central, self-organizing life aim. Central in that when present, purpose is a predominant theme of a person’s identity. Self-organizing in that it provides a framework for systematic behavior patterns in everyday life. As a life aim, a purpose generates continual goals and targets for efforts to be devoted. A purpose provides a bedrock foundation that allows a person to be more resilient to obstacles, stress, and strain. In this paper, we outline a theoretical model of purpose development. Besides outlining various essential ingredients to creating a purpose in life, we describe three broad pathways. The first process is proactive involving effort over time and only resulting in a purpose after gradual refinement and clarification. The second process is reactive involving a transformative life event where a purpose arises and adds clarity to the person\u27s life. The third process is social learning - involving the formation of purpose through observation, imitation, and modeling. Our aim is to stimulate more research on this higher-level construct in the architecture of personality

Thermal barrier coating life prediction model

The objectives of this program are to determine the predominant modes of degradation of a plasma sprayed thermal barrier coating system, and then to develop and verify life prediction models accounting for these degradation modes. The program is divided into two phases, each consisting of several tasks. The work in Phase 1 is aimed at identifying the relative importance of the various failure modes, and developing and verifying life prediction model(s) for the predominant model for a thermal barrier coating system. Two possible predominant failure mechanisms being evaluated are bond coat oxidation and bond coat creep. The work in Phase 2 will develop design-capable, causal, life prediction models for thermomechanical and thermochemical failure modes, and for the exceptional conditions of foreign object damage and erosion

Advertising paid and unpaid job roles in sport: an updated position statement from the UK Strength and Conditioning Association

Editoria

Investigating and implementing enhancements to the simulation of short-term collision hazards

A software tool, the Relative Collision Matrix (RCM), has been developed to provide a quick-look representation of the shortterm collision hazard to space systems from a fragmentation event in Earth orbit. The software performs multiple fragmentation simulations of space objects to quantify the probability of collision for a satellite or a constellation of satellites nearby. Previously, the results were displayed in a color matrix format which showed the relative hazard of each constellation. The RCM can be used for scientific research and operational assessments even though it was designed for test and evaluation applications. Because of its successful use as an analytical tool, the capabilities of RCM are being extended by enhancing the orbital hazard analysis routines, developing ballistic trajectory hazard analysis routines, and expanding the breakup modeling. Improvements are also being made to the RCM's usability and presentation quality by developing a graphical user interface and by providing graphical animated and nonanimated output