A Day Late and A Dollar Short: Discount Retailers are Falling Behind on Safer Chemicals

This report, released by the Campaign for Healthier Solutions -- a group of over 100 health, community, and environmental justice organizations around the country -- includes testing results for 164 dollar store products such as toys, jewelry, school supplies and other household items, that found over 81% (133 of 164) contained at least one hazardous chemical above levels of concern

Fundraising Central: Majority of Presidential Bundlers and Other Fundraisers Hail from Only Five U.S. Industries: Lawyers and Law Firms, Three Finance Industries and Real Estate

More than half the major fundraisers for the presidential campaigns hail from just three segments of the U.S. economy: lawyers and law firms, representing both corporate and consumer interests; the financial sector; and real estate, according to a joint study released by Public Citizen and Campaign Finance Institute

Funding, school specialisation and test scores:an evaluation of the specialist schools policy using matching models

We evaluate the effect on test scores of a UK education reform which has increased funding of schools and encouraged their specialisation in particular subject areas, enhancing pupil choice and competition between schools. Using several data sets, we apply cross-sectional and difference-in-differences matching models, to confront issues of the choice of an appropriate control group and different forms of selection bias. We demonstrate a statistically significant causal effect of the specialist schools policy on test score outcomes. The duration of specialisation matters, and we consistently find that the longer a school has been specialist the larger is the impact on test scores. We finally disentangle the funding effect from a specialisation effect, and the latter occurs yielding relatively large improvements in test scores in particular subjects

Relative pay and job satisfaction: some new evidence

This paper investigates the determinants of job satisfaction using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study. The determinants of interest include actual pay, relative pay, hours of work, job autonomy and several personal characteristics. We also investigate the determinants of satisfaction with pay conditional on a worker's satisfaction with other domains of job satisfaction, such as satisfaction with job security. We find that relative pay is statistically significant but that its effect on satisfaction with pay is relatively small. Job autonomy has a powerful influence on satisfaction with pay. So too does being black.JOB SATISFACTION WAGES AUTONOMY SECURITY

Random matrix ensembles for PTPT-symmetric systems

Recently much effort has been made towards the introduction of non-Hermitian random matrix models respecting $PT$-symmetry. Here we show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between complex $PT$-symmetric matrices and split-complex and split-quaternionic versions of Hermitian matrices. We introduce two new random matrix ensembles of (a) Gaussian split-complex Hermitian, and (b) Gaussian split-quaternionic Hermitian matrices, of arbitrary sizes. They are related to the split signature versions of the complex and the quaternionic numbers, respectively. We conjecture that these ensembles represent universality classes for $PT$-symmetric matrices. For the case of $2\times2$ matrices we derive analytic expressions for the joint probability distributions of the eigenvalues, the one-level densities and the level spacings in the case of real eigenvalues.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, typos corrected, small changes, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics

The Sources of Higher States of Consciousness

In this paper, it is argued that “higher states of consciousness”–or mystical experiences–have two main sources: they can be caused by a disruption of the normal homeostasis of the human organism and also by an intensification of the “consciousness-energy” that constitutes our being. (These are termed HD and ICE states). The author investigates examples of both types of experience, and compares and contrasts them. It is concluded that the second type of experience is the only one which is truly positive and which can become a fully integrated and permanent higher state of consciousness

Professional Mentoring at a Christian Predominantly White Institution: Impacts on the Social Connections of African American Students

Private Christian universities with predominantly Caucasian student bodies have historically faced difficulty when attempting to become more diverse. Often these colleges’ student populations have mimicked that of the founding parent church, although many desire to broaden the student ethnic background. The purpose of this qualitative single case study research was to examine the impacts of mentoring by professional, full-time, university employees on African American students’ social connections. Positive, social connections improve student retention and satisfaction. This study was conducted at a single Christian PWI university in the Midwest. Data included personal interviews and a combined focus group with four African American students, a focus group of five mentors, and key documents. The three main themes identified include that the mentee was able to build a significant relationship with his/her mentor, the process reduced student isolation, and students grew in their campus involvement. In each of these major themes, three additional subthemes add depth regarding the students’ growth in their social connections. The outcomes of this study support the need for future research to investigate the importance and validity of Christian PWI universities in the support of African American students, as well as those from other ethnic backgrounds. Programs intended to promote meaningful social connections with mentors, peers, teachers, and the campus as a whole as means to increase retention and diversity among those student populations are a valuable means of support

The Peak at the Nadir: Psychological Turmoil as the Trigger for Awakening Experiences

A study of 161 temporary awakening experiences showed that over 23% were triggered by, or associated with, intense turmoil and distress (Taylor, 2012b). Examples of some of these turmoil-induced awakening experiences are given, illustrating the wide variety of traumatic experiences involved. (The type of trauma was found to be less important than its intensity.) These temporary awakening experiences are contrasted with permanent suffering-induced transformational experiences (SITEs). A distinction is made between a primary shift, involving the establishment of a new self-system (which occurs in SITEs), and the secondary shift which may occur after temporary awakening experiences, when the individual’s self-system remains fundamentally intact, but she or he experiences a shift in perspective and values. Possible reasons for the connection between psychological turmoil and awakening experiences are discussed, arguing that the experiences cannot simply be explained away as self-delusion or a psychological defense mechanism. It is suggested that there is a connection between turmoil-induced awakening experiences and the dissolution of psychological attachments, together with an intensification of energy