ORGANIZATIONAL REFORM AND THE EXPANSION OF THE SOUTH’S VOICE AT THE FUND

What organizational reforms might increase the influence of developing member countries within the International Monetary Fund? In this paper we argue that a variety of organizational changes are both feasible and could substantially increase the ability of developing countries to articulate policy alternatives and advance change. We focus particularly on changes in the recruitment, training, career paths and deployment of the Fund’s staff. Our recommendations address two general issues. First, we explore ways to diversify the “intellectual portfolio” of the staff by drawing more effectively on hands-on knowledge of the concrete circumstances that shape policy outcomes in the South. More mid-career hiring of staff with practical experience inside developing country institutions could increase the degree to which the distinctive institutional circumstances of developing members are taken into account in formulating Fund policies and implementing them. Allocating a larger share of the Fund’s resources to research consulting contracts for researchers and institutions based in developing countries could also expand input of ideas that reflect the experience of member countries from the South. Second, large asymmetries in workload currently make it difficult for those working on the needs of developing members to formulate and advocate alternative policies. We suggest a number of ways in which even modest reallocation and addition of staff resources might create breathing space that would allow Executive Directors from developing countries to play a larger role in shaping the Fund’s policies.

Titanium additions to MgB2 conductors

A series of doping experiments are reported for MgB2 conductors that have been synthesized using doped boron fibers prepared by chemical vapor deposition(CVD) methods. Undoped MgB2 samples prepared from CVD prepared fibers consistently give critical current densities, Jc, in the range of 500,000 A/cm^2 in low field at 5K. These values fall by a factor of about 100 as the magnetic field increases to 3T. For heavily Ti-doped boron fibers where the B/Ti ratio is comparable to 1, there is a substantial suppression of both Tc, superconducting volume fraction, and Jc values. If, however, a sample with a few percent Ti in B is deposited on a carbon coated SiC substrate and reacted at 1100 degrees C for 15 min, then Tc is suppressed only a couple of degrees Kelvin and critical current densities are found to be approximately 2-5 x 10^6 A/cm^2 for superconducting layers ranging from 4-10 micrometers thick. These materials show Jc values over 10,000 A/cm^2 at 25K and 1.3 T.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Synthesis and Processing of MgB2MgB_2 powders and wires

Sintered powders and wires of superconducting $MgB_2$ have been fabricated under a variety of conditions in order to determine details of the diffusion of the $Mg$ into $B$ and to study the types of defects that arise during growth. For samples prepared by exposure of boron to $Mg$ vapor at $950^{\circ}C$, the conversion of particles of less than $100\mu m$ size particles to $MgB_2$ is complete in about $2 h$. The lattice parameters of the $MgB_2$ phase determined from X-ray are independent of the starting stoichiometry and the time of reaction. Wire segments of $MgB_2$ with very little porosity have been produced by reacting $141 \mu m$ diameter boron fibers in an atmosphere of excess $Mg$ vapor at $950^{\circ}C$. Defects in the reacted fibers are predominantly the voids left as the boron is converted to $MgB_2$

Perceptions of Stress Experienced by Student-Athletes in an Education Opportunity Program

Stress has been shown to have a negative impact on psychological and physical health. Individuals who experience chronic stress are at increased risk for serious health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, coronary disease and some cancers as well as mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, disordered eating and substance use. The resulting conditions impact any area of an individual’s life such as academic or career endeavors. In the case of college students, experiences of stress impact student achievement and persistence. Research on student- athletes, underrepresented, first generation, and low-income students has shown these populations to be at increased risk for stress and the negative effects of stress experiences. This study aims to increase understanding of the experiences of student-athletes in an Education Opportunity Program (EOP). Participants indicated that they felt stressed sometimes to fairly often but felt in control of their lives. They identified academics, social, and personal wellness issues as concerns which caused them to experience stress. The new insights gained by this study will expand research in this area and could improve efforts by The College at Brockport EOP counselors to serve their student-athletes

Alien Registration- Finnemore, James (Fort Fairfield, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/35488/thumbnail.jp

Developments in Superconductivity

Key experiments leading to our present understanding of superconductivity are reviewed

Breaking the Cult of Masculinity –The Other Lamb, Midsommar and Empowerment on Screen

It is not only cult cinema but also the representation of the ‘cult’ on screen that can provide vital opportunities to de-centre destructive masculinity and ask questions about wider gender power struggles. Female characters that are at the centre of cult cinema, driving the narrative and breaking the rules of masculine control are not a new phenomenon. From Pam Grier’s ferocity in films such as Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown(1974) to Kurt Russell’s brutal takedown in Tarantino’s Death Proof (2007), cult film has long been a platform for destabilising the notion of traditional gender hierarchies. The notion of the ‘cult’ itself, however, has long been thought of and (represented on screen) as an all-male power trip with disastrous consequences for those that believe. As far back as The Seventh Victim (1943) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968), there have been many manifestations of cult violence towards woman on screen but there is also a cannon of films that use cinematic representations of the cult to change the narrative and bring wider gender politics to the surface. Two such contemporary examples of this are Małgorzata Szumowska’s The Other Lamb (2020) and Ari Aster’s Midsommar (2019). Both films offer nightmarish manifestations of cult mechanisms and control that at first seem to once again place men and masculinity in pole position. This paper will examine how the narrative, character and cinematic language of both films offer a more complex and subversive discourse linked to female empowerment. They use the medium to offer cautionary, and often shocking, on-screen representations that attempt to disrupt traditional, male led power structures and can also be read as a commentary on wider society and not simply the cults that they portray

Sir Neil and Glengyle

This broadside ballad about love and murder is of Scottish origin. It was first printed in Peter Buchan’s Ancient Ballads of the North of Scotland in 1828. Gavin Greig, in Folk-Song of the North-East, wrote that it seemed to be an 18th century ballad.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/songstorysamplercollection/1055/thumbnail.jp

The Caravan Of Hate:The Cautionary Tale of Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers and Alternative Spaces for Masculinity On-Screen

Ben Wheatley's Sightseers is a brutally violent and darkly comic addition to British cult cinema, satirising British values, habits, and relationships with the humble caravan at the centre of its world. However, Wheatley's third feature warns against the harmful effects of not conforming to masculinity. Performance, recognition, and hegemonic masculinity enter this conversation. This paper critically analyses how Sightseers uses frame, sound, character, and narrative to condemn white, working-class toxic masculinity in a regional context. The true cautionary tale is in the numerous and savage manifestations of violence and hyper-masculinity. Sightseers is a cult film that shows the harmful effects of masculinity and societal demands, but it neglects alternative masculinities, which may help us comprehend gender construction and portrayal. This research relies on scholars like Jack Halberstam who discuss alternative and subordinate masculinities. How do these affect viewers? This dissertation concludes by considering how current cult cinema may offer alternatives to "heroic" masculinity or "real thing" as Halberstam calls it. Whether it's Everything Everywhere All at Once's "gentle masculinity" or other constructions, different spaces will hopefully continue to reshape our understanding of masculinity and the positive role these on-screen representations can play in this ideology evolution

Alien Registration- Finnemore, George W. (Bridgewater, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/26280/thumbnail.jp