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The Physics Research Problem: A Brief Analysis of Financial and Administrative Factors Relating to Recent Trends in Research Output in Physics in India
Get PDFThis paper attempts to view and interpret data from various sources such as the World Bank database, research and development (R&D) reports by the Indian government, Nature Index, Scopus index, and others to examine the effect that the various government financial initiatives and administrative features and policies concerning funding of institutions of higher attainment have had on India’s research output in the field of physics. In addition to this, the inconsistent standards of funding across various institutes of higher education, investment in R&D activities made by other nations in comparison to India, the share of physics research output of various countries in comparison to India, the concentration of government funding amongst certain higher education institutions, and the ineffectual policies relating to scientific research over the past three decades are all touched upon to provide a more comprehensive image of the financial and administrative issues that have contributed to recent trends and slow growth in physics research in India
Bad Boy Bias: Linguistic Bias in the Law
Get PDFThis paper seeks to establish and put in use methodology capable of analyzing the significant linguistic bias found within American jurisprudence. It summarizes the limited preexisting empirical work done and adds a new original empirical study on linguistic bias in the courtroom. It examines a large number of cases through various software and examines the prevalence of certain labels (badges of bias). In doing so, this paper seeks to find the most common labels and seeks to determine the amount of emotional variability present within the courtroom. Based on these results, the paper provides recommendations, answering how best to efficiently minimize the effects of linguistic bias on jury impartiality
Truth, Not Accuracy: Native American Fiction vs. White Settler Colonialism
Get PDFFor centuries, depictions of Native American culture have largely been constructed by White authors and have thus reflected white settler colonialist ideology. This paper suggests that one way to counter this point of view when studying Native American history is to turn to fiction, specifically fiction written by Indigenous authors. Taking as an example Ojibwe author Louise Erdrich’s Plague of Doves, a novel based on the real-life massacre of a frontier family in the late nineteenth century, this paper argues that the creative fiction of Indigenous authors can counter the biased, incomplete, and often incorrect official histories of White–Native interactions. In February 1897 in North Dakota, the Spicer family were brutally murdered in their home; almost immediately, Native American men were suspected, and several were soon taken into custody and charged with the crime. When one of the accused had his conviction overturned and was granted a new trial by the state, a mob of White men stormed the jail where the Native men were being held, forcibly removed them, and lynched them. Although the guilt of these men was widely accepted by the White community, the ones who confessed and implicated other Native men changed their stories over time, and the man who had been granted a new trial never wavered in his declaration of innocence. Erdrich’s reimagining of this tragedy lays bare how White greed and racism play into the determination of guilt, and it offers an alternative version of the murders. Although Erdrich’s novel is fictional, it illustrates how White prejudice and colonialist mentality can produce a historical narrative that is “official” but not a reflection of the truth. Ironically, fiction written by Native American writers can provide accounts of White–Native conflicts that are more truthful than traditional historical accounts produced by White settler discourse
Effects of Anthropogenic Noise on Body Mass in Gryllodes sigillatus
Get PDFInsects use vibrational structures to produce and sense airborne sounds in intraspecific communication. These signals are important in courtship as well as defensive behavior against predators. For example, insects can detect the presence of nearby predators using vibrations. With an increase in anthropogenic activity, processing these signals and the constant threat they represent may increase stress on insects, subsequently affecting their behavior and physiology. Our experiment was designed to determine whether anthropogenic noise, possibly perceived as a stressor, will decrease the body mass of banded crickets, Gryllodes sigillatus. We predicted that the anthropogenic noise would stress the crickets, leading to a decrease in body mass and increase in mortality rate. In this study, we subjected crickets to three different levels of anthropogenic activity for three days: high, low, and negligible. We found no significant difference in body mass or mortality throughout the duration of the experiment
