3736 research outputs found
Sort by
Disciplinary Power and the Subversion of Student Protest on U.S. University Campuses
No full textABSTRACT: The university campus has continually been a center for political performance and student activism; however, this article examines they ways in which universities subvert and undermine student activism. Analyzing ten public US universities’ student code of conducts and policies, I determined four common approaches universities use: Defending and limiting free speech; naming “disruptive behavior”; regulating use of time and space; and use of police forces. These four approaches are analyzed through the lens of Michel Foucault’s theory of disciplinary power to argue that these approaches are actually mechanisms for disciplinary control. I also draw upon liberal democracy theory’s representation of the concomitance of public space and education to explain that student protest is a fundamental pillar upholding democratic principles. When these principles are confronted with mechanism of disciplinary control, democracy is threatened. Not only do these mechanisms reconstitute the docility of students (removing students from participating in an essential form of democracy like protest), they also undermine democracy by preventing the pursuit for the determinants upon which democracy is structured. Keywords: University, student activism, code of conduct, disciplinary power, democrac
Status of the Endangered Indian Knob Mountainbalm Eriodictyon altissimum (Namaceae) in Central Coastal California
Full text linkIndian Knob Mountainbalm Eriodictyon altissimum (Namaceae) is a shrub endemic to western San Luis Obispo County in central coastal California, and little has been published regarding it. The species was listed as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act in 1979 and the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1995. At Federal listing in 1995, Indian Knob mountainbalm was known from six occurrences, two of which were in protected areas, with a total population estimate of 2018, Indian Knob mountainbalm is known from seven occurrences, six of which are in protected areas and one (the largest) mostly in a protected area, with a total population count of 6,489+ individuals in 2016. Two occurrences are likely extirpated. Indian Knob mountainbalm is considered a fire-adapted chaparral plant. Reproduction is reported to be primarily vegetative by underground rhizomes, and it is specialized for substrates with physical disturbances, including: steep rocky slopes, cliff faces, fallen rock debris, sand dunes (shifting sand), roadsides, old graded substrates such as dirt/rock roads, the talus of graded substrates, and trails. We report the species grows up to 5.5 m tall and at 98 to 263 m elevation. In consideration of the life history traits used by Anacker et al. (2013) for rare plants in California, Indian Knob mountainbalm would be considered highly vulnerable to climate change. Using the international standards of IUCN, Indian Knob mountainbalm meets the criteria for classification as critically endangered including the following: geographic range, severely fragmented; extent of occurrence, 34 km2 (km2); area of occupancy, 2 (km2); and quality of habitat, continuing to decline (dense vegetation, lack of recent fire). Coordinated conservation and research are needed to further understand the species, and to restore and maintain the five extant occurrences
Bodily In/Securities at the Airport Border
Full text linkCounterterrorism efforts after 9/11 brought about a new era in airport security, intensifying the surveillance and militarization of the border like never before. Yet those changes have not affected everyone equally: They have markedly terrorized the marginalized in society, particularly in terms of race and gender. Indeed, one in five transgender travelers have reported being harassed by Transportation Security Administration officers, and many choose not to fly out of fear they will be. This paper calls into the question the current security system at the border and examines strategies of inclusion that can make border-crossing more equitable for gender nonconforming and trans travelers, while pointing to the limits and possibilities of organizing around “queer” futurities
An Ecological Niche Model to Predict Range Expansion of the Eastern Gray Squirrel in California
Full text linkThe eastern gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis (EGS) has been introduced to California and has expanded its geographic range since initial introductions. In this study we projected the potential future geographic range of the EGS in California using Maxent to create an ecological niche model. Location data were obtained over the time period of 2004 - 2015 from museum specimens, wildlife rehabilitation centers, the California Department of Public Health, the California Roadkill Observation System, and non-iNaturalist citizen science observations. Research grade data from iNaturalist was obtained over the time period of 2004 - 2018. Range and habitat suitability maps were developed by mapping in ArcGIS. Three threshold selection methods were used to create different estimates of the potential future range of the EGS in California. The first method used the 10th percentile logistic threshold, the second used the minimum training presence logistic threshold, and the third used Jenks Natural Breaks. We propose that Jenks Natural Breaks has distinct advantages over the other two methods for estimating the potential future range of the introduced EGS in California, because it provides information on the habitat suitability ranking throughout California, whereas the other methods only provide a binary suitable/unsuitable map
First Authenticated Record of the Goldspotted Sand Bass, Paralabrax auroguttatus from California Waters
No full textWe report on the first authenticated capture of the Goldspotted Sand Bass, Paralabrax auroguttatus from California marine waters
Temporal and Volumetric Characteristics of Lagoons in the Santa Monica Bay and the Passage Implications for Southern California Steelhead Trout
No full textRecord drought from 2012 to 2016 followed by rainfall in the winter of 2017 provided an opportunity to examine how changing climate conditions may affect migration opportunities for the endangered southern steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). This study examined how intermittently open estuary-ocean interfaces in the Santa Monica Bay that have historically supported steelhead evolved temporally and volumetrically. All seven lagoons in the study area breached by January 2017 after five years of drought and nearly exclusively closed conditions. Duration of breach was affected by the size of the lagoon, with smaller lagoons remaining breached longer than larger lagoons. Conversely, volume capacity persisted longer in larger lagoons. Lagoon condition was quantified by presence/absence of breach and passibility, coupled with daily rainfall. This study provides important lagoon planning, restoration and management information needed to support recovery of southern steelhead trout populations in the face of climate change
Additional Information on a Nonnative Whiptail Population (Aspidoscelis flagellicauda/sonorae complex) in Suburban Orange County, California
Full text linkA nonnative population of all-female spotted whiptails from the Asidoscelis flagellicauda/sonorae complex was reported from suburban Irvine, Orange County in 2015 and 2016. We report additional suburban observations dating back to 2010 from Laguna Woods and extending the range south ~6 km southwest to Aliso Viejo. We hope that this and other exotic reptile species will remain restricted to highly altered urban environments and not threaten native species in natural habitats
Optimizing a Municipal Wastewater-based Chlorella vulgaris Photobioreactor for Sequestering Atmospheric CO2
Full text linkAbstract. - Microalgae photobioreactors are among the most effective systems for capturing gaseous CO2, the main contributor to global warming. Their capacity to generate massive amounts of biomass has been exploited serendipitously to sequester CO2 and explicitly to remove nutrients from municipal wastewater. Unfortunately, research in this area has not included merging this dual capacity to address global warming. Instead, most are focused on thermolytic conversion of biomass into energy which in end returns CO2 to the atmosphere. In this study, we investigated the potential of combining the two microalgal capacities (that of deriving nutrients from municipal wastewater and metabolic carbon from atmospheric and/or industrial CO2 gas supplies), into an integrated means of reducing nutrients in ocean-bound wastewater and CO2 in the atmosphere simultaneously. The test species used in this study is Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris); turbidity of C. vulgaris is used as a measure of yield in biomass. Our results show (i) that an open photobioreactor, and not a closed one, is the most productive, especially when augmented with industrial CO2 (hence making a strong case for scrubbing CO2 gas from industrial sources), (ii) that a mechanically agitated Chlorella vulgaris culture is more productive than a static one, (iv) that without mechanical agitation, 32 ± 3 days of incubation are needed to reach the maximum yield of an open photobioreactor, (iii) that the optimal proportion of wastewater (%WW) required to support C. vulgaris growth is 80 ± 3%; at least 33% WW is required to observe growth above background, and (v) that without intervention, the upper pH limit of a WW-based C. vulgaris culture is 8.69 ± 0.09. Two mutually independent models are proposed to aide in scaling up an open WW-based C. vulgaris photobioreactor