Contractibility and Contractible Approximations of Soft Global Constraints

We study contractibility and its approximation for two very general classes of soft global constraints. We introduce a general formulation of decomposition-based soft constraints and provide a sufficient condition for contractibility and an approach to approximation. For edit-based soft constraints, we establish that the tightest contractible approximation cannot be expressed in edit-based terms, in general

Local consistency for extended CSPs

AbstractWe extend the framework of Constraint Satisfaction Problems to make it more suitable for/applicable to modern constraint programming languages where both constraint satisfaction and constraint solving have a role. Some rough principles for local consistency conditions in the extended framework are developed, appropriate notions of local consistency are formulated, and relationships between the various consistency conditions are established

Catholic High School Students’ Attitudes Toward Homosexuality: A Snapshot of Incoming College Freshmen

This study is a survey of incoming freshmen at a Midwestern Catholic university on their agreement with Church teachings on homosexuality. In general, females had more homo-positive attitudes than males, graduates of Catholic high schools had more homo-positive attitudes than graduates from non-Catholic high schools, and graduates from coeducational Catholic high schools had more homo-positive attitudes than graduates from unisex Catholic high schools. Also, if respondents agreed with the Church’s teaching against homosexual activity and that homosexuality is a disorder, they were less likely to agree with the Church’s teachings that gay and lesbian people have rights that the Church should protect

Liverpool's approaches to tackling the educational attainment gap between mainstream pupils and looked after children (LAC)

In October 2006 the Government Green Paper; 'Care Matters: Transforming the lives of Children and Young People in Care', outlined its proposals for the creation of Virtual Schools for Looked after Children (LAC) by setting out a radical package of proposals for transforming the lives of Children in Care (CiC). They noted the educational attainment gap between CiC and the wider school population was widening, leading to poorer life chances and much bleaker futures for children that had been looked after. The concept of the Virtual School (VS) has provoked much interest in England and Europe. The initial successes of the pilot LA(s) has meant that the programme is to be rolled out nationwide, albeit to claims that the Government's efforts are once again directed at symptoms rather than causes. However one thing is evident, and that is the political will to do the right thing. This dissertation examines the approaches to tackling the educational attainment gap between LAC and their mainstream peers. It investigates the deeper theoretical relationships required to tackle a holistic approach in developing a clearer strategy to assist the main driver as a concept of the VS. Liverpool's performance will be measured against its closest geographical, demographic and statistical neighbours. In conclusion recommendations will be offered to enhance the life chances for the future LAC of Liverpool

Some Background on Addressing the Topic of Homosexuality in Catholic Education

The Catholic magisterium has made a distinction between homosexual orientation (disordered, but not sinful), homosexual activity (sinful, but judged “with prudence”), rights of gay and lesbian people, and the Church’s pastoral responsibilities to gay and lesbian people. Both the Vatican and the American bishops have clearly stated that the topic of homosexuality must be addressed in Catholic education, but the emphasis on how it is addressed differs between the Vatican (emphasis on finding causes and cures) and the American bishops (providing pastoral care and inclusion). Research indicated that some American Catholics may be very supportive of the rights of gay and lesbian people even if they disapprove of their sexual activity. It also appears that American Catholics are becoming more positive in their attitudes toward homosexuality over time. The Vatican has been directly confrontational with many gay and lesbian Catholic groups, expressing concern that they disregard the teaching against homosexual activity in the quest to meet pastoral needs. Some dioceses have begun to train their secondary school staffs on issues of homosexuality and to include the topic in the curriculum. On the other hand, gay and lesbian students at Catholic colleges, universities, and seminaries have a history of confrontation with Catholic educators