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Minor v. Happersett, Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u27s Health Organization, and the SUpreme Court\u27s Refusal to Reconstruct America
No full textOne hundred and fifty years ago, in the wake of the ratification of the Reconstruction Amendments, the United States Supreme Court decided Minor v. Happersett. In Minor, the Court ruled Missouri could continue to deny women the right to vote based on their sex. The decision was simply reasoned. In the absence of clear constitutional text requiring Missouri to provide the right to vote to women or proof that the right to vote was a right of citizenship, Missouri had no obligation to allow women to vote. Some states had banned women citizens from voting since the country’s founding. Missouri had done so since its admission to the union. The Minor Court ruled nothing had occurred in the wake of the Civil War that compelled Missouri to end the practice. The Reconstruction Amendments—the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments ratified in the wake of the Civil War—may have triggered constitutional change, but not enough to require women’s suffrage. .
Computer Problems? Must Have Been the Sun How Solar Particles and Cosmic Rays Affect the Future of Computing
No full textImagine playing your favorite video game, when suddenly, your character teleports to the top of the level. One may be quick to blame the software for faulty code, clueless that this error may have originated from an unlikely source: the sun. That’s right, during a speed run of Nintendo’s Super Mario 64, one stray cosmic ray flipped a single bit (a bit is the most basic unit of information inside a computer, storing one of only two possible values of 0 and 1), causing a streamer’s character to glitch in front of him and a live audience. This phenomenon, however, can be far more consequential than a video game - how about a national election? During Belgium’s 2003 federal vote, one candidate inexplicably received 4,096 extra votes, more than was mathematically possible. The voting machines did not catch any internal malfunctions, but investigators deemed it likely that this error originated from a bit flip in the voting machine’s memory, triggered by a high-energy particle from space (Johnston, 2017)
My Roman Empire: The Mystery of Roman Concrete
No full textAfter the fall of an empire and millennia of conflict and decay, most structures crumble. Yet the monumental dome of the Pantheon, the towering ruins of the Colosseum, and the sprawling miles of aqueducts still stand today, two thousand years later, as testaments to Roman engineering brilliance. The survival of these ancient structures was made possible by one of Rome’s greatest innovations: Roman concrete, or opus caementicium
Alternate Approaches: Beyond Problem-Solving Courts
No full textProblem-solving courts were born out of a well-meaning experimentalist spirit, a spirit that is very much in line with the vision of a recent symposium on the multidoor criminal courthouse. These courts, which include drug courts, mental health courts, veterans courts, and many other specialized criminal courts, were created as a way to close one door to the criminal courthouse — the so-called “revolving door” that appeared to bring some people accused of crimes back into court as soon as they exited. Problem-solving court judges sought to open a different door for some of those who entered their courtrooms, one that they hoped would lead out of the criminal system entirely. The judges attempted to realize this goal by offering treatment instead of, or in addition to, incarceration under the belief that such interventions would prevent people from committing crimes in the future
Destinations and Conversations - Episode 4 - An Interview with Tom Zylkin
No full textJulian Cline and Tom Zylkin, Associate Professor of Economics, talk about the current United State\u27s political administration\u27s use of tariffs and the implication of such tariffs. Free trade and economic models are also discussed
Reputation Reconsidered
No full textReputation has a great reputation. We know this because the law values, venerates, and subsidizes reputation in many ways. Contract law relies on it as a means of disciplining the market without the need for intrusive regulation. Defamation law lets individuals and businesses seek relief when their reputations are sullied. Trademark law grants exclusive rights in order to encourage rightsholders to invest in their reputations. In these fields and others, the law views reputation as an important, socially positive good.
This faith in the integrity and value of reputation is unwarranted. Our impression of any given business is subject to so many distortions that relying on reputation as a basis for broad policymaking is fraught with peril. Some of these distortions arise from the informational nature of reputation itself. Other distortions are more deliberate; no one has an interest in cultivating a reputation that is worse than the reality, but everyone has an interest in cultivating a reputation that’s better. The overall effect of these distortions is that reputation often represents what its object wants it to represent, rather than representing its object’s true nature. This insight contravenes common assumptions about reputation, undermines the law’s reliance on it, and compels a reexamination of normative and doctrinal commitments across otherwise unrelated areas of law
Monte Carlo Analysis for a Private Equity Transaction in Excel
No full textMonte Carlo Analysis for a Private Equity Transaction in Excel
This article demonstrates a Monte Carlo analysis in Excel for a private equity transaction. The approach provides a probability-based assessment of future outcomes (i.e., waterfall calculations), with key model inputs randomly sampled from defined probability distributions. With minimal VBA programming, numerous Monte Carlo trials are generated and recorded in a second worksheet. This output can then be analyzed to assess the riskiness of the transaction. Further, because the analysis is performed entirely in Excel, it is immediately accessible to the practitioner. It is also very “transparent” in its execution, unlike “black box” statistical software and AI-based tools.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
To produce a Monte Carlo simulation for a private equity transaction model in Excel, key parameters are randomly drawn from specified probability distributions. Output data (i.e., waterfall calculations of the transaction) from the simulation trials are then examined to assess the riskiness and benefits of the transaction.
With minimal VBA programming, the model generates numerous Monte Carlo trials, automatically recording each trial’s output data in a second worksheet. The user can easily adjust the number of trials.
Because the analysis is performed entirely in Excel, it is immediately accessible to the practitioner. It is also very “transparent” in its execution, unlike “black box” statistical software or AI-based tools
I AM A PERSON TOO: THE STATE\u27S FAILURE TO SECURE TRANSGENDER RIGHTS AND PERSONHOOD
No full textThe winds of change appeared to blow on June 15, 2020, when the Su- preme Court decided Bostock v. Clayton County. The Bostock decision—in which the Court held that discrimination based upon an employee’s gender identity violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act—has been heralded as a revolutionary triumph for the LGBTQ+ community. And yet, while the Bos- tock decision dictated that employers cannot terminate people based on their gender identity, it failed in the most important regard: establishing gender identity as a protected constitutional class. The Court, however, is not unique in its failure to secure transgender rights; Congress has failed to enumerate transgender rights into law. As such, transgender people face myriad forms of discrimination at appalling rates. Moreover, anti-transgender litigation and legislation is rising—demonstrating the precarity of transgender exist- ence. Thus, transgender people have been relegated to a state of constitutional purgatory: their legal personhood and constitutional rights hinging on a Su- preme Court decision regarding employment—not the right to exist as human beings. This Article examines how transgender people lack legal personhood and therefore do not possess full constitutional rights. Additionally, this Ar- ticle analy=zes how the Bostock holding coupled with an absence of supportive legislation has resulted in persistent discrimination. And, ultimately, this Ar- ticle postulates that without full recognition of transgender personhood by the State, transgender people will never enjoy the lives and rights afforded to many people in this country—that is, basic human rights
A Conversation with Dr. Shannon Jones Faculty Highlight
No full textDr. Shannon Jones, Senior Teaching Faculty in the Department of Biology, is a toxicology expert, teacher, and long-time mentor from Roper, North Carolina. With a PhD in Toxicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Jones came to the University of Richmond with a purpose: to transform the lives of her students
Chew on This How Gum Can Prevent Cavities
No full textGum has become a staple in my daily routine. What started as something I chewed casually after school has evolved into a small yet essential part of how I relax, focus, and stay alert throughout the day. Beyond its familiar chewy texture and refreshing flavors, gum has a surprising hidden benefit - it can actually help prevent cavities. This article will explore what gum really is, the science behind its cavity-fighting abilities, and which types of gum are best for maintaining a healthy smile