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The Role of Black South African Women in the Construction of Memory with the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Get PDFAs talks about a TRC increase in the American context it is important to understand what has made previous TRC\u27s successful or unsuccessful. I argue that what makes the South African TRC successful is the role that Black African women played. Black women did a disproportionate amount of testifying, and without their contributions and sacrifices the country could not have moved forward with a strong shared history. The role that these women played has been under appreciated. Despite the importance of their testimonies, Black women received little thanks and were often mistreated by the TRC when they did not conform to the expected narrative form or testimonial content
Diets of coastal and inland Western Fence Lizard populations in Washington State
Get PDFThe Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) is a species of spiny lizard with a large range across western North America and has a generalist insectivorous diet. There are often behavioral and morphological variations between S. occidentalis populations, which can be influenced by local climate and habitat, as well as by diet (such as trophic level). Using a stable isotope analysis approach, our study examines the role of marine derived nutrients in S. occidentalis populations at an inland, coastal forest and beach habitat study site in Washington State. Beach lizards on the Puget Sound had variable and significantly greater δ15N values than the other populations, suggesting they feed on marine prey with individuals sourcing between 10-50% of their diet from marine sources. The similar δ15N values of coastal forest and inland lizards suggest they feed on similar trophic levels, and that coastal forest lizards do not rely on marine prey despite the population\u27s proximity to the beach (~1000 m). Spatial subsidies across ecosystem boundaries have important impacts on species interactions and food web dynamics. Our study documents a unique spatial subsidy in which marine nutrients and energy from the Puget Sound ecosystem enter the terrestrial food web via beach dwelling Western Fence Lizards. Because of this important energy exchange, changes to marine ecosystems can have consequences for Puget Sound lizard populations by influencing nutrient and energy flow via prey availability
Comparing 40-year sediment records of aquatic ecosystem evolution in two large lakes in the blast zone of Mount St. Helens
Get PDFThe 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens dramatically altered the surrounding landscape, removing vegetation and impacting hydrology. The pyroclastic debris flow partially filled Spirit Lake and dammed Coldwater Creek, creating Coldwater Lake. Spirit Lake was sterilized by the eruption, and fallen trees from the blast washed into the lake forming a floating log mat covering 20% of the surface. While significant research has gone into understanding the history of ecosystem recovery in Spirit Lake, nearby Coldwater Lake has not been studied as extensively. These two lakes provide a unique opportunity to study how volcanic eruptions alter freshwater environments. Recent research at Spirit Lake has focused on spatial heterogeneity in the post-eruption lake ecosystem related to patterns of log mat coverage, and our current work at Coldwater Lake provides an important point of comparison in a lake without the influence of woody debris. In order to study the evolution of the Coldwater Lake ecosystem, we collected four sediment cores (~30 centimeters each), extruded and sectioned the cores, and analyzed diatom abundance and diversity, and carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry through time. These sediment records reflect changes in lake conditions, such as water chemistry, and in aquatic ecology. Our data show a substantial increase in diatom abundance and diversity through time, with highest levels in the top 15 centimeters of the cores. The percent carbon and nitrogen also increases in younger core sediments. Coldwater Lake displays some spatial variability in diatom abundance between deeper and shallower locations in the lake, but benthic taxa are dominant across the lake. Coldwater Lake has a lower ratio of pelagic to benthic diatom taxa than Spirit Lake, implying that Coldwater Lake is more nutrient poor. The differences between the two lakes can likely be mainly explained by the differences in their geologic formations, and both have come to ecological equilibrium
The Relationship Between Short-Term International Volunteer Work and Long-Term Community Involvement
Get PDFThere is well researched data pointing the fact that international community service, or more commonly, volunteer tourism, has a generally negative impact on communities abroad (Wearing & McGehee 2013, 121). Typically, young adults from middle or upper middle income families will travel in large groups to a developing country in the hopes of producing a meaningful service project. There is sufficient research that agrees on the negative impact of volunteer tourism trips, but much of this research is focused upon the communities abroad rather than the impact that is taken on by the volunteers (Zahra & McIntosh 2007, 115). Community involvement and service learning are growing in popularity and becoming integral in nation-wide K-12 curriculum models (Youniss, Yates & McLellan 1997, 623). Not only are young people today less likely to engage in their communities, but there has become a growing desire for young people to become ‘global citizens’ in such a way that will benefit their career in the long run (de Andriotti & Oliveira 2014, 21). There is undeniable room for personal growth within volunteer tourism experiences, and if done correctly, these experiences can have long lasting, positive impacts on individuals and their communities. With this is mind, we can explore the relationship between short term youth international service work and long term community involvement
Mitigating Spillover Effects of a General Warning on Accuracy Judgements of True News Headlines
Get PDFMy study sought to analyze whether the inclusion of the generic source (e.g., blog post, academic journal, etc) of headlines posted on social media sites influenced people’s accuracy judgments of true and false news headlines regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and whether that source information would help mitigate the previously demonstrated spillover effect that warning users of the potential for false news information on social media reduced people’s accuracy ratings of both true and false news headlines. Participants completed questionnaires each containing 6 true and 6 false headlines. Half of the participants first saw a general warning as described above. Additionally, participants either did or did not receive source information for each headline. Three generic sources were used: Blog Post, Politically Affiliated National News Source, or Medical Journal. Participants were able to accurately distinguish between true and false headlines across all conditions and the presentation of a general warning significantly decreased accuracy judgments for both true and false headlines. Although the mere inclusion of headline sources did not significantly affect accuracy judgments as has been previously reported, source had a significant impact on participants’ accuracy judgments such that headlines associated with Medical Journals were rated as significantly more accurate than headlines attributed to Blog Posts or Politically Affiliated National News Sources regardless of whether the headlines were true or false
The Perpetual Disservice of “Passive Action” to Reduce Racism on College Campuses: Why Things Like Cluster Hires, Talks, Reading Groups, and Pedagogy Workshops Don’t Work
Get PDFIn the wake of increasing pressure to address issues of system racism, college and university administrators’ announcements of institutional initiatives to combat racism on their campuses have also increased. However, incidences of hate crimes and racist acts at these schools continue to increase as well suggesting that either the types of initiatives undertaken, or the processes of implementation are ineffective in the goal of reducing racism in these settings. This conceptual paper argues that is it likely both, problematizing the use of programming aimed only at generating discussion as “passive action” that which seeks to look like action, but actually engenders very little social change. Instead, colleges and universities truly committed to transforming their institutions into anti-racist ones must start with shifting hierarchies of power and reimaging the institutional mission before attempting to implement things like cluster hires, invited talks, reading groups, and pedagogy workshops. Only then do predominately white institutions founded on ideologies of white supremacy have the potential to become anti-racist organizations