University at Albany, State University of New York
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The Contested Domain of Political Space in Southeast Asia
Get PDFUnderstanding political norms in Southeast Asia requires conceptualising the domain in which politicians, activists, and ordinary citizens exercise and challenge them: political space. We focus here on domestic political space, particularly that in which individuals and organisations champion alternatives to prevailing norms of state and market. This terrain is highly, perennially mutable. In it, we find an array of non-state organisations, from trade unions to non-governmental organisations, as well as media (including online and social media), and a range of structures and associations not inherently political, but potentially so, such as religious bodies. In this chapter, we consider, first, the character of political space, as it extends over both a real-world and virtual landscape; second, who claims or defines that space, and in what ways; and third, how past engagement shapes the discursive and strategic environment for subsequent efforts
My Time as an Albany Journalist
Get PDFWith my graduation in May, I’m pleased to say that my experience in journalism across these past four years has been a well-rounded one, and I hope this collection reflects this well. Some of my work came about from internships, such as my WAMC piece on Central Avenue. Some happened as class assignments, like my article on Troy’s No Fun. Some happened as freelance attempts to make a name for myself (i.e. my Times Union piece) and others were the result of consistent work with the Albany Student Press. My time in the journalism program has exposed me well to more than one medium and has introduced me to a range of perspectives on how to be a journalist, an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. I look to use my connections and skills for a long career in radio or print, and hopefully this collection is a strong showing of what I can do in the industry
The Occult and Elizabeth I: How the Virgin Queen Used Magic As a Political Tool
Get PDFOn May 28, 1555, Dr. John Dee was arrested and taken to one of the most infamous prisons in British history: The Tower of London. He was arrested under suspicion of violating the Treasons Act of 1534, which outlawed predicting the death of the monarch, the consort, and any heirs. Why would an Oxford-educated, catholic man of the gentry possibly risk death in predicting the outcome of Queen Mary I’s pregnancy? Because Lady Elizabeth, the heir presumptive, hired him to do so.. This fourth month-long incident was Elizabeth I’s first forte into the realm of political magic, and it almost certainly would not be her last. Her relationship with John Dee would span decades, and her early reign would also be plagued with pretenders and potential usurpers using magic to target her and her reign. In turn, she would use the law to target those who targeted her
Embracing Plurisexuality: Factors Influencing Self-Identification
Get PDFPlurisexual labels under the Bi+ umbrella are varied in terms of identity categories, their definition, and the experiences of the people who claim them. Previous research exploring this topic has focused on individual narratives, definitions, and experiences under the Bi+ umbrella through survey and interview methods. While valuable knowledge has been gained as scholars make known how these definitions and experiences converge and deviate from each other, there has been little emphasis on the relational aspect of sexual identity labels, their social construction, and how they are navigated in social contexts. This overlooks the relational and social aspect of sexual identity that takes place between self and external identification to denote a kind of self-understanding. To address the limitations that stem from the use of individual-based methods such as surveys and interviews, I center the social interaction dimension of sexual identity through focus groups, which take into account the social nature of how sexual identity is defined, navigated, and marked. Based on five two-hour long focus groups with a total of twenty-four plurisexual-identified individuals, I explore how gender shapes participants’ understanding of their sexual identity, including experiencing attraction as gendered and, on occasion, detached from their own gender identity. Additional factors explored include relationships, community, safety, and aesthetic preferences
A Comparison of Arctic and Atlantic Basin Cyclone Predictability from a Climatology and Case Study Perspective
Get PDFArctic cyclones (ACs) can transport warm, moist air into the Arctic region, which combined with strong winds may lead to rapid declines in sea ice during the summer. As a consequence, accurate sea ice predictions during the summer may rely on being able to predict cyclone-related wind speed and direction, which critically depends on the cyclone track and intensity. Despite this, there are relatively few studies that have documented the predictability of ACs during the summer, beyond a few case studies. In addition, there has been no extensive comparison of whether these cyclones are more or less predictable relative to comparable midlatitude cyclones, which have been studied in greater detail.
The first part of this thesis creates a climatology of comparable, long-duration, intense Arctic and Atlantic basin cyclones to compare the predictability of Arctic and Atlantic position and intensity forecasts over a large number of cases using the Global Ensemble Forecast System Reforecast V2. Using standard deviation (SD) and root mean square error as a proxy for predictability, Atlantic cyclone position is characterized by higher predictability relative to comparable ACs, but intensity predictability is higher for ACs. In addition, storms in both basins characterized by low ensemble SD and predictability are found in regions of higher baroclinicity than storms characterized by high predictability. There appears to be little, if any, relationship between latent heat release and precipitable water and predictability.
The source of position and intensity forecast variability of two Arctic and two Atlantic basin cyclones, similar to those analyzed in the climatology, is diagnosed using ensemble-based sensitivity analysis applied to Model for Prediction Across Scales ensemble forecasts. Results suggest that the position and intensity variability of these storms are largely associated with both upstream and downstream uncertainty of meso-scale features embedded within the larger-scale potential vorticity (PV) features, particularly downstream ridge building, in both regions associated with cyclogenesis. Further, the intensity variability of the ACs is associated with uncertainty to thermal boundaries near the cyclone or along the sea ice edge, whereas the Atlantic basin cyclone intensity variability is sensitive to low-level temperature and moisture along the polar front proceeding the cyclones. Further, AC intensity variability appears to be most sensitive to upper-tropospheric variability earlier in the forecast, transitioning to lower tropospheric variability later in the forecast, whereas results are less clear for Atlantic basin cyclones.
An additional AC that was observed during the THINICE 2022 field campaign is analyzed to compare the optimum metrics applied to sensitivity analysis to assess the source of forecast error of European Centre for Medium-Range Weather ensemble forecasts. Sensitivity of cyclone position variability (along the major axis direction) and 500-hPa geopotential height variability within a domain encompassing a tropopause polar vortex is compared, revealing similar sensitive regions primarily to the position of an upstream PV trough and amplitude of a downstream PV ridge. However, comparing sensitivity of cyclone intensity (minimum sea level pressure) variability and low-level wind variability encompassing a low-level jet associated with the AC, are less similar. Sensitivity of low-level wind variability reveals more systematic uncertainty associated with the upper-level PV field and a low-level thermal boundary
Information Access for Infrastructurally-Challenged Environments and Beyond Through Mutually Aware Spectrum Sharing Technologies
Get PDFThe Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum is scarce and to make it available for new mobile wireless services, regulators are forced to re-allocate spectrum from existing services or develop mechanisms to share spectrum with new entries. Television White Space (TVWS) and Citizen Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) are two examples of recently commercialized spectrum sharing technologies. TVWS enables sharing among fixed wireless broadband technologies (secondary users) and terrestrial TV broadcast services (primary users). CBRS enables spectrum sharing among 5G/LTE (secondary users) and naval radar (primary users). With both technologies, a central database determines when it is safe for secondary users to operate without interfering with primary licensees. While these are just two early examples, spectrum sharing, and coexistence will be the future of wireless networks, as all stakeholders’ needs and capabilities expand. Current sharing mechanisms are technology specific and incur serious inefficiencies in spatial reuse of the spectrum due to overly conservative resource allocations. Thus, future efficient spectrum sharing will require algorithms to facilitate coexistence through mutual awareness. However, currently we lack sufficient analytic capabilities to support transmitter detection, particularly for short-lived fleeting transmitters, which poses challenges in sharing spectrum with entities such as naval or weather radar. Additionally, analysis outcomes for mutual awareness are as insightful as the quality of the data that supports them, and there are currently no mechanisms to quantify spectrum data fidelity. Finally, even when sharing is granted, we need ways to accelerate data transmission through optimal rate adaptation to ensure that multiple clients can utilize spectrum-sharing networks.
The goal of this dissertation is to develop algorithms for spectrum awareness to facilitate spectrum management and coexistence with an outlook towards equitable access. To address inefficiencies in spectrum sharing, we develop a reinforcement learning rate adaptation algorithm for mobile access in TVWS networks. Efficient rate adaptation will minimize the time to transmit and will ensure more time is available on a given band for other clients. To aid practical mutual awareness, we develop a general unsupervised algorithm for the detection of narrow-band and short-lived transmitters. We demonstrate its applicability in CBRS and show that it can reduce the interference protection zones along the US coast by a factor of three, and dramatically increase the spatial efficiency of spectrum reuse. To ensure accurate spectrum characterization, we develop a framework that attributes sensor properties and configuration to spectrum data fidelity and models the relationship between spectrum analytics performance and data quality. This is the first work that can quantify the fidelity of data from a spectrum trace. Finally, we propose an adaptive closed loop approach to dynamic and data driven policy with a call to action to the spectrum community. Our work has been informed by the needs of rural and infrastructure-challenged areas and our research outcomes have been field-tested in collaboration with rural communities in Upstate New York. We design solutions for challenges associated with information access through mutually-aware spectrum sharing technologies. While the focus of analysis in this dissertation is on TVWS and CBRS technology, our proposed methodologies are more general and can be applied to any future spectrum sharing technologies
Characterizing Parent-Child Interactions in Dyads with Autistic Children Using the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System
Get PDFThe prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been steadily increasing for the past several decades, with recent estimates indicating that 1 in 36 children in the United States have an ASD diagnosis (Maenner et al., 2023). As this condition is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder, with a strong evidence base supporting early identification, intervention and parenting practices to promote social communication development, a large portion of the research has focused on identifying characteristics of parent-child interactions amongst this population and determining how best to intervene on the family level to promote the development of these skills (Ku et al., 2019). There have been a variety of tools developed to achieve this goal, but there is a strong need for an observational behavioral coding system that has been standardized across neurotypical and autistic populations, as this would best facilitate comparisons of parent-child interactions across these populations. The current study sought to investigate a tool with that potential. Specifically, this exploratory study sought to identify the parent and child characteristics that are related to behaviors coded for using the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System, Fourth Edition (Eyberg et al., 2013). Additionally, this study sought to identify whether there were differences between in-person and virtual observations of the parent-child interactions. Results indicated that no differences were observed between the virtual and in-person observations of the parent-child interactions in the study. There were several parent and child characteristics that were correlated with specific parent and child interactive behaviors. Strengths and limitations of the study, as well as its implications for future research, are discussed
The Subordination Of Teaching To Learning: Teacher Adaptability And Awareness
Get PDFABSTRACT In today’s context of schooling, most teaching is aimed at output, coverage, and high scores which is in direct contrast to what pre-service teachers are taught to cherish — differentiation, academic choice, and student autonomy. However, there is an approach that shows promise in counteracting the tendency to over stress scores and undermine a humanizing approach to teaching and learning. Called the Subordination of Teaching to Learning (SubTLe), this approach potentially alleviates the tension between long established, highly valued learning outcomes and the unavoidable pressures of high stakes testing but has yet to be studied in this context. Founded by Caleb Gattegno (1911-1988) SubTLe, as a practice, is defined in this study as teaching that is guided by learning. As a theory, the Subordination of Teaching to Learning derives from Gattegno’s assertion that “only awareness is educable” (defined later) in humans (Gattegno, 1987). Using that assertion as its foundation, this dissertation explores what happens when teachers pay attention to – and carefully reflect on – their own learning and its implications for responding to and being guided by their students’ learning and, through reflective practices, thereby educate their own awareness of themselves as learners. The results of the study indicate that, while it is challenging to attend to one’s own learning in the act of teaching, it is nevertheless possible, through structured reflection, to gain insight into one’s own inner movements, habits, and inclinations. Evidence shows that disciplined, structured conversations about what they can learn about themselves in the act of teaching increases teachers’ awareness of themselves as learners, which in turn increases their capacity to more skillfully adapt to and be guided by the learning of their students. Key words: awareness, adaptive teaching, reflection, subordination of teaching to learning, teacher educatio