Identifying the Plessy Remainder: State Exploitation of Private Discriminatory-Impact Actions

Public education in the U.S. is arguably more racially segregated now than it was in 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared in Brown v. Board of Education that in the field of public education the doctrine of separate but equal\u27 has no place. Although scholars may differ in the extent they believe that racial integration might be necessary for educational equality, most agree that educational segregation, whether imposed by law, socioeconomics, or happenstance, is not likely to reverse in any meaningful way in the near future. In the absence of a recognized federal right to education, federal-court- supervised school desegregation has been, perhaps, the most viable vehicle for students of color to access educational opportunities enjoyed by white students. This phenomenon remains salient, almost to the point of truism, but not because of any inherent or behavioral differences among students by race or because of any benefits proximity to whiteness affords students of color. Rather, the desegregation remedy is primarily a function of intractable political and socioeconomic realities that enable educational opportunity hoarding by wealthier and whiter stakeholders at the expense of poorer Black stakeholders and stakeholders of color

Contextualizing Gay‐Straight Alliances: Student, Advisor and Structural Factors Related to Positive Youth Development among Members

Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) may promote resilience. Yet, what GSA components predict well-being? Among 146 youth and advisors in 13 GSAs (58% lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning; 64% White; 38% received free/reduced-cost lunch), student (demographics, victimization, attendance frequency, leadership, support, control), advisor (years served, training, control), and contextual factors (overall support or advocacy, outside support for the GSA) that predicted purpose, mastery, and self-esteem were tested. In multilevel models, GSA support predicted all outcomes. Racial/ethnic minority youth reported greater well-being, yet lower support. Youth in GSAs whose advisors served longer and perceived more control and were in more supportive school contexts reported healthier outcomes. GSA advocacy also predicted purpose. Ethnographic notes elucidated complex associations and variability as to how GSAs operated

The Public Right to Education

Public education is the most important function of state and local government and yet not a fundamental right or liberty. This Article engages one of constitutional law\u27s most intractable problems by introducing the public right to education as a doctrinal pathway to a constitutional right to education process in three steps. First, it identifies that the otherwise right-to-education foreclosing case, San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, only contemplated education as a fundamental right or liberty interest. Second, by identifying public education as a due process protected property interest, this Article presents a viable pathway for circumventing Rodriguez. Third, mindful of myriad judicial competency concerns and consistent with the Court\u27s recent call to reimagine a twenty-first century due process, it reintroduces the public right to understand how school children might appeal to substantive due process to protect their rights to state-created interests. This ambitious yet modest approach covers securing schoolchildren\u27s rights to both discrete education tangibles and the integral educational opportunity that the states have assumed the affirmative duty to provide. This approach also has promise for improving individual rights to quality public schooling

The Perils of Asian-American Erasure

Affirmative action, particularly its most well-known variant, race-conscious college admissions practices, has long occupied a precarious position in constitutional jurisprudence of equal protection and statutory antidiscrimination law. As a policy matter, affirmative action practices are necessary to reduce the impact of durable structural barriers to opportunity that have been imposed on members of identifiable racial groups because of their race. Legally, they’re on far less secure footing. As a constitutional matter, these measures have been summarily divorced from any reparative purpose since the “diversity rationale” emerged from Regents of the University of California v. Bakke as the only compelling interest a public college or university may have in race-consciousness enrollment management. Without “a [predicate] judicial determination of constitutional violation,” a public college or university simply cannot appeal to remedy to justify its use of race classifications. The question currently before the Court in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina is whether the diversity rationale alone is constitutionally sufficient. In the companion case, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, the question is whether a federal-funds-receiving educational institution’s consideration of race can be compatible with the Title VI statutory requirement that such institutions not discriminate on racial grounds. Unlike in the University of North Carolina case, the certified question in the President & Fellows of Harvard College case specifically asks if institutional consideration of race “penalize[es] Asian-American applicants.” This is the first time that the Court has explicitly asked for consideration of the effects race-conscious admissions policies might have on Asian Americans. Though this motivating premise is left unstated, in Professor Vinay Harpalani’s article, Asian Americans, Racial Stereotypes, and Elite Admissions, it’s long overdue

Topographic determinants of foot and mouth disease transmission in the UK 2001 epidemic

Background A key challenge for modelling infectious disease dynamics is to understand the spatial spread of infection in real landscapes. This ideally requires a parallel record of spatial epidemic spread and a detailed map of susceptible host density along with relevant transport links and geographical features. Results Here we analyse the most detailed such data to date arising from the UK 2001 foot and mouth epidemic. We show that Euclidean distance between infectious and susceptible premises is a better predictor of transmission risk than shortest and quickest routes via road, except where major geographical features intervene. Conclusion Thus, a simple spatial transmission kernel based on Euclidean distance suffices in most regions, probably reflecting the multiplicity of transmission routes during the epidemic

Synthesis, Structural Characterization and Catalytic Activity of Indenyl tris-N-Pyrrolyl Phosphine Complexes of Ruthenium

The synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of new ruthenium complexes of the tris-N-pyrrolyl phosphine ligand P(pyr)3 is described. The new ruthenium complexes [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(pyr)3}] and [RuCl(ind){P(pyr)3}2] (ind = indenyl ligand η5-C9H7−) were synthesized in 73% and 63% isolated yield, respectively, by thermal ligand exchange of [RuCl(ind)(PPh3)2] with P(pyr)3. The electronic and steric properties of the new complexes were studied through analysis of the X-Ray structures and through cyclic voltammetry. The new complexes [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(pyr)3}] and [RuCl(ind){P(pyr)3}2] and the known complex [RuCl(ind)(PPh3)2}] differed only slightly in their steric properties, as seen from the comparable bond lengths and angles around the ruthenium center. The oxidation potentials of [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(pyr)3}] and [RuCl(ind){P(pyr)3}2] are +0.34 and +0.71 Volt vs. Cp2Fe0/+, which are substantially higher than that of [RuCl(ind)(PPh3)2] (−0.023 V), which is in accordance with the enhanced π-acidity of the P(pyr)3 ligand. The new complexes are catalytically active in the etherification of propargylic alcohols and in the first ruthenium-catalyzed formation of known and new xanthenones from propargylic alcohols and diketones (18 to 72 h at 90 °C in ClCH2CH2Cl or toluene, 1-2 mol-% catalyst, 69-22 % isolated yields)

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness Is Associated with Changes in Salivary Inflammatory Genes Transcripts

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a ubiquitous problem that affects public health and safety. A test that can reliably identify individuals that suffer from EDS is needed. In contrast to other methods, salivary biomarkers are an objective, inexpensive, and noninvasive method to identify individuals with inadequate sleep. Although we have previously shown that inflammatory genes are elevated in saliva samples taken from sleep deprived individuals, it is unclear if inflammatory genes will be elevated in clinical populations with EDS. In this study, salivary samples from individuals with sleep apnea were evaluated using the Taqman low density inflammation array. Transcript levels for 3 genes, including prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), were elevated in patients with sleep apnea. Interestingly, PTGS2 was also elevated in patients with EDS but who did not have sleep apnea. These data demonstrate the feasibility of using salivary transcript levels to identify individuals that self-report excessive daytime sleepiness

Achieving provider engagement: providers' perceptions of implementing and delivering integrated care

The literature on integrated care is limited with respect to practical learning and experience. Although some attention has been paid to organizational processes and structures, not enough is paid to people, relationships, and the importance of these in bringing about integration. Little is known, for example, about provider engagement in the organizational change process, how to obtain and maintain it, and how it is demonstrated in the delivery of integrated care. Based on qualitative data from the evaluation of a large-scale integrated care initiative in London, United Kingdom, we explored the role of provider engagement in effective integration of services. Using thematic analysis, we identified an evolving engagement narrative with three distinct phases: enthusiasm, antipathy, and ambivalence, and argue that health care managers need to be aware of the impact of professional engagement to succeed in advancing the integrated care agenda

Synthesis, Structural Characterization and Catalytic Activity of Indenyl Complexes of Ruthenium Bearing Fluorinated Phosphine Ligands

The synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of new ruthenium complexes of fluorinated triarylphosphines is described. The new ruthenium complexes [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(p-C6H4CF3)3}] and [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(3,5-C6H3(CF3)2)3}] were synthesized in 57% and 24% isolated yield, respectively, by thermal ligand exchange of [RuCl(ind)(PPh3)2], where ind = indenyl ligand η5-C9H7−. The electronic and steric properties of the new complexes were studied through analysis of the X-ray structures and through cyclic voltammetry. The new complexes [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(p-C6H4CF3)3}] and [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(3,5-C6H3(CF3)2)3}] and the known complex [RuCl(ind)(PPh3)2}] differed only slightly in their steric properties, as seen from comparison of bond lengths and angles associated with the ruthenium center. As determined by cyclic voltammetry, the redox potentials of [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(p-C6H4CF3)3}] and [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(3,5-C6H3(CF3)2)3}] are +0.173 and + 0.370 V vs. Cp2Fe0/+, respectively, which are substantially higher than that of [RuCl(ind)(PPh3)2] (−0.023 V). After activation through chloride abstraction, the new complexes are catalytically active in the etherification of propargylic alcohols (8–24 h at 90 °C in toluene, 1–2 mol% catalyst loading, 29–61% isolated yields). As demonstrated by a comparative study for a test reaction, the three precursor complexes [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(p-C6H4CF3)3}], [RuCl(ind)(PPh3){P(3,5-C6H3(CF3)2)3}] and [RuCl(ind)(PPh3)2}] differed only slightly in catalytic activity