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Experimenting with an Electronic Poster Session in Carlson Library
Get PDFRecent renovations have added many screens to the University of Rochester Carlson Science & Engineering Library. When an instructor inquired about a print poster session in the library, I proposed a pilot e-poster session to save students time, money and make use of our new technology. This talk will cover the inspiration, logistics and outcome of an e-poster session for an Environmental Science class in the library
Waiving SNAP Interviews during the COVID-19 Pandemic Increased SNAP Caseloads
Get PDFFood insecurity in the United States reached historically high rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus substantially increasing demand for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). To facilitate access to SNAP during the pandemic, the federal government granted state SNAP offices the option to waive the interview requirement – an administrative burden associated with the SNAP certification process. This brief summarizes findings from a recent study that used data from SNAP offices across 10 states to examine the impact of SNAP interview waivers on SNAP caseloads from January 5th to April 30th of 2021. Findings reveal that counties that implemented the SNAP interview waiver experienced an estimated 5% increase in SNAP caseloads compared to counties that did not
Paradise Lost: The Effect of Judicial Review on Congressional Debate
Get PDFHow does judicial supremacy affect constitutional deliberation in Congress? Normative critics of judicial supremacy argue that judicial supremacy warps congressional debate by disincentivizing members of Congress from independently considering the moral and legal issues at stake in legislation. As this dissertation’s quantitative analysis, topic modeling, and qualitative textual analysis show, the Supreme Court’s decision in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012) disincentivized members of Congress from engaging in independent constitutional interpretation and normative argumentation. Before the Supreme Court’s decision in Sebelius, members of both parties debated the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and used constitutional discourse as scaffolding for normative argumentation. However, as seen in this dissertation’s quantitative analysis, topic modeling, and qualitative textual analysis, Sebelius reduced the quantity of constitutional deliberation over the Commerce Clause and the quality of constitutional deliberation over the Taxing and Spending Clause. Post-Sebelius, most members of Congress expressed their acceptance of Sebelius and used the decision as a justification for character attacks on their political opponents. Finally, Congress’ inability to independently consider the legal issues at stake in the Affordable Care Act shaped the Affordable Care Act’s interpretative effects and undermined Republicans’ long-term policy goal of entrenching the individual responsibility model of health care. This dissertation advances (with empirical evidence) two claims: that constitutional deliberation in Congress is significant for both normative and practical reasons. This dissertation argues that constitutional deliberation in Congress is normatively desirable because constitutional discourse can serve as scaffolding for normative argumentation in congressional debate. This dissertation finds evidence that judicial supremacy warps this normatively desirable debate in Congress and therefore provides empirical support for the normative claims of critics of judicial supremacy that judicial supremacy has negative effects on the United States’ constitutional system. This dissertation also argues that constitutional deliberation in Congress is practically significant because constitutional discourse can affect policy implementation, policy entrenchment, and a policy’s interpretative effects. Constitutional discourse in Congress matters
A Research Center at the End of the World A study of local writing practices in a global context
Get PDFHow do transnational flows and collaborations shape scientific research writing? What role do local language practices play in a global science context? Or how do phenomena of globalization and internationalization impact the work of scientists writing for local audiences and “with a local eye”? Through a case study drawing on memory, archival material, and interviews, this dissertation explores the language practices of a team of vaccine researchers working from a country in the global semi-periphery (Chile). Drawing on elements of mobility, activity and genre theories, this study traces the work of these scientists across space and time and shows how they contend with and resist the progressive standardization and scalification (Tsing, 2005; 2012) of knowledge making and language practices. This work’s findings show how from the early 90’s to the present time, researchers as writers faced the imposition of increasingly rigid standards in the writing of documents involved in the research activity and a progressive loss of agency in the decisions associated with research design and protocols. In other words, how “global” standards were imposed and preferred over local ones, even in matters concerning the most adequate ways to address local populations. At the same time, I show how these researchers found ways to resist standardization, using language in locally attuned ways and asserting their own standards for ethical research. I argue that an attunement to locality is critical for good and ethical scientific work, especially that dealing with human participants. This study offers interesting insights for technical writing, especially in the realm of scientific and health science communication. It also advances the understanding of transnational writing practices and writing in a global context, suggesting that more needs to be done in the ways of attending to locality in ethical and productive engagements with research across borders and contexts
Black Women Have the Highest Maternal Mortality Rate in the United States
Get PDFThe U.S. maternal mortality rate is consistently higher than its high-income peer countries. Since 2018 maternal mortality rates in the U.S. have steadily increased for all ethnoracial groups. This data slice uses data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics to describe U.S. maternity mortality rates for women ages 15-45 across different ethnoracial groups between 2018-2022. Results show that, except for non-Hispanic (NH) Asian women, ethnoracial minority women have higher maternal death rates than NH White women
A Fork in the Road: Uncovering the Impact of Industrial Animal Agriculture on the Physical Health of Communities of Color
Get PDFNearly all (99%) farmed animals in the U.S. come from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs are industrial agriculture facilities defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as operations where animals are raised in confinement and meet animal size and waste material thresholds. Communities located near CAFOs, which tend to have high shares of low-income and racial/ethnic minority residents, are at risk of exposure to CAFO-related air and water pollutants. This brief summarizes the health risks for communities located near CAFOs. Additionally, it calls for government regulations that improve transparency, management, and consumer empowerment