C-essential surfaces in (3-manifold, graph) pairs

Let $T$ be a graph in a compact, orientable 3--manifold $M$ and let $\Gamma$ be a subgraph. $T$ can be placed in bridge position with respect to a Heegaard surface $H$. We show that if $H$ is what we call $(T,\Gamma)$-c-weakly reducible in the complement of $T$ then either a "degenerate" situation occurs or $H$ can be untelescoped and consolidated into a collection of "thick surfaces" and "thin surfaces". The thin surfaces are c-essential (c-incompressible and essential) in the graph exterior and each thick surface is a strongly irreducible bridge surface in the complement of the thin surfaces. This strengthens and extends previous results of Hayashi-Shimokawa and Tomova to graphs in 3-manifolds that may have non-empty boundary.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Communications in Analysis and Geometr

Surf ’s Up: Work, Life, Balance and Brand in a New Age Capitalist Organization

This article reframes the notion of work/life balance through analysis of branding and the immaterial labour process in a ‘new age capitalist’ organization. The company does not manufacture material products; rather, value is produced through branding imported goods to promote ‘alternative’ ways of living. This is achieved through incorporation of leisure activities and lifestyles of key employees, effectively putting their ‘lives’ to ‘work’ in the creation of value for the company. For employees, therefore, much work actually takes place notionally outside or on the margins of their formally employed space and time. We argue that this qualitatively transforms the conceptions of, and relations between, work and life that underpin the concept of work/life balance. We conclude by exploring the tensions generated by organizational incorporation of employee autonomy in the pursuit of aspirational branding. </jats:p

Buffalo Hunt: International Trade and the Virtual Extinction of the North American Bison

In the 16th century, North America contained 25-30 million buffalo; by the late 19th century less than 100 remained. While removing the buffalo east of the Mississippi took settlers over 100 years, the remaining 10 to 15 million buffalo on the Great Plains were killed in a punctuated slaughter in a little more than 10 years. I employ theory, data from international trade statistics, and first person accounts to argue that the slaughter on the plains was initiated by a foreign-made innovation and fueled by a foreign demand for industrial leather. Ironically, the ultimate cause of this sad chapter in American environmental history was of European, and not American, origin.