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Becoming a Beloved Community: A Restorative Reckoning for a Radical Conversion to Transform Discourse in Higher Education
No full textThis dissertation critically examines the misappropriation of Restorative Justice Discourse (RJD) within three predominantly white institutions (PWIs), analyzing 59 institutional documents through Critical Discourse Analysis, Relational Critical Discourse Analysis, and Rhetorical Criticism (Fairclough, 1995; Vaandering, 2021; van Dijk, 2008). Tribal Colleges and Universities and South African institutions have emerged as exemplars of authentic RJD, countering co-optation within PWIs. The findings demonstrate that RJD as applied in PWIs is framed in ways that attenuate its transformative potential, perpetuating color-evasiveness (Bonilla-Silva, 2017) and obscuring the intersectional experiences of Black, Indigenous, and disabled communities (Crenshaw, 1991; Million, 2009).
Grounded in decolonial praxis (Smith, 2012; Wilson, 2008), this study introduces the concepts of Colonial Renaissance, to describe how PWIs adopt a restorative facade while maintaining hegemonic control over justice discourse and appropriating Indigenous and Afrocentric knowledge systems, and Performative Proximity, elucidating how PWIs superficially engage with themes of inclusion while reinforcing existing power structures. It challenges institutionalized whiteness, calling for restorative reckoning that necessitates radical commitment to equity, decolonization, and the transformative potential of justice in higher education, and presents the HEAL Humanity Now! framework, which advocates for the decolonization of restorative justice through relational accountability, systemic change, and the reclamation of Indigenous and Afrocentric epistemologies
Suprathel Burn Dressing Versus Standard Care: Impact on Hospitalization Duration and Post- Discharge Outpatient Visits
Get PDFThe aim of this evidence-based project is to determine the effectiveness of Suprathel a synthetic, one-time application, wound dressing that acts as a temporary skin substitute, particularly effective for partial-thickness burns and deep dermal burns vs, the standard of either Polysporin or Santyl, Xeroform, gauze on the frequency of outpatient (OP) visits after a patient’s discharge. A secondary aim of this project was to investigate whether Suprathel burn dressing significantly decreases the length of stay (LOS) for patients with second-degree burns involving \u3c 20% total body surface area (TBSA). The results showed that the use of Suprathel dressings resulted in a shorter hospital stay 7.05 vs 9.35 days with a higher number of outpatient visits 5.47 vs 2.69 visits, compared to conventional dressings. The use of Suprathel dressings as a standard practice reduces inpatient hospitalization but increases outpatient visits and resource utilization. The use of Suprathel dressings shortens the length of hospitalization and may augment patient comfort, and decrease overall healthcare costs associated with hospitalization. Due to the reduction in need for painful daily dressing changes, Suprathel dressings constitute a potentially preferred option in burn care and could thereby influence treatment protocols and enhance patient outcomes.
Keywords: Wound care, Suprathel dressing, total body surface area, Outpatient Visits, Second-degree Burn, Length of stay, Gauz
Uncovering Artemisia: Turning Rage Into Fame
Get PDFDuring the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries in Italy - more commonly known as the Italian Renaissance and early Baroque periods - masters like Titian, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio made a name for themselves and secured legacies through the widespread popularity and study of their masterpieces. As time progressed, however, more artworks have been found, and more histories, especially by women Baroque artists, have been explored. With the rise of women’s rights movements and social justice campaigns from the mid-20th century on, stories of female artists and figures have further emerged from the woodwork and hold greater precedence in art history. The Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi is one of these women who is seeing a resurgence of interest, in large part due to her vivid works and the themes behind the paintings. She lived an extraordinary life full of remarkable achievements, not only as a woman, but also as an artist in a time when competition in the field was so high. Her independence and defiance of traditional women’s livelihood paved the way for future feminists in the art world and beyond.
Gentileschi’s spirit is best captured in the works that she produced throughout her life of women, both real and allegorical, whom she likely identified with. Some of the most pivotal works in her career coincide with major events in her life. They can be read in contexts that relate to the content of the work. Through an examination of Gentileschi’s choices of subjects, and how she presents them in the following works – Self Portrait as St. Catherine of Alexandria (1615-17), Self Portrait as a Lute Player (1615-18), and Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (1638) – this thesis explores her ability to construct an image of herself that was purposefully fluid and differing in social class or respect, allowing her to cast herself in different roles that can be presently described as feminist. These modifications in the idea of the artist herself can raise questions about the identity of the viewers, and create a dialogue about what it means to be who we are in the times and place we exist
Introduction
Get PDFIn November 2023, the Institute for Law and Philosophy at the University of San Diego School of Law convened a Symposium on Andrew Koppelman’s recent book, published in 2022, Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed. The argument of Andy Koppelman’s book is that whereas modern American libertarianism began admirably with Friedrich Hayek’s corrective to the Depression-era vogue for central economic planning, libertarianism has since devolved into a toxic blend of anarchism, greed, disdain for the weak, and rationalization for environmental catastrophe.
The papers from the Symposium are published in this issue of the Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues
Freedom from Libertarianism
Get PDFAndrew Koppelman’s new book Burning Down the House is a guide to some of the late stages of the libertarian collapse. It’s a book whose many virtues include its clear and simple prose style. As a result of that style, and its generally straightforward exposition, I think this book will be of real use to many people, perhaps especially to free-thinking former libertarians who are engaged in a project of self-deprogramming. The book makes a nice holiday gift to the former libertarian or wavering libertarian in your life who would like to learn more about the arc of how it all went wrong. Perhaps with that sort of audience in mind, Koppelman meets the semi-libertarian or ex-libertarian reader partway—in my view, considerably more than partway—offering an argument about how much was right with libertarianism before it went so spectacularly wrong. The result is an improbable love letter to Friedrich Hayek.
Hayek’s thought is nuanced and interesting. Rather than brushing away all contradictions, Hayek sometimes frankly acknowledges them. Koppelman leans into Hayek’s nuances. In Koppelman’s narrative, Hayek functions both as a bridge to the libertarian or libertarian-curious reader and as something grander: the avatar of the good version of libertarianism, the illustration of what libertarianism was like before it produced the likes of Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch. In Koppelman’s narrative, Hayek stands for libertarianism without the “corruption and greed,” the indifference to real-world evidence, the general dogmatism. However, it is not clear that Hayek can bear the weight that Koppelman’s narrative assigns him. And there is a deeper problem. Koppelman’s decision to make Hayek his hero results in a book that endorses and celebrates, rather than deconstructing, the central error of libertarian thought that Hayek exemplifies. In other words, Koppelman’s aim seems to be to coax his reader to get off the libertarian train, and that is a worthy aim, but the book itself gets off the train too late
Electricity Affordability in Context
Get PDFRecent residential electricity price increases in California have caused some to suggest the state is experiencing an electricity affordability crisis. Although the typical household in California and across the country spends less than three percent of its income on electricity, California’s soaring electricity rates can impose substantial burdens on some of the state’s lowest-income households. Why have retail electricity prices rapidly risen in California over the past decade while remaining relatively stable in others? What are the potential downsides of overly fixating on electricity affordability concerns in the context of energy policymaking? And what principles should guide policymakers in California and beyond as they confront electricity affordability challenges in the energy transition? This Article highlights the structural and contextual drivers of California’s growing electricity affordability problems and applies basic microeconomics concepts to analyze them and identify appropriate strategies for addressing them. Among other things, policymakers should resist the temptation to use retail electricity rate structures to redistribute wealth among ratepayers as a means of improving energy affordability. They should also ensure that electricity affordability policies preserve customers’ incentives to conserve power and to invest in energy efficiency improvements. Policymakers should resist calls to promote electricity affordability through reforms that discourage distributed solar energy development. California’s recent electricity price spikes are not harbingers of a looming nationwide energy affordability crisis, and electricity affordability objectives need not hinder the country’s important decarbonization efforts. With thoughtful and innovative planning, energy policymakers can continue to advance progress toward an age when all Americans have electricity service that is both affordable and environmentally sustainable
No Rights to a Healthful Environment: Children Warrant Class Standing to Inhibit Climate Change Related Harm
Get PDFCurrent laws in the United States stand at odds with children’s interests in a clean and healthful environment. Children deserve a healthful environment because of their constitutional right to life. This Article will analyze why courts have denied children’s right to a healthful environment. State and federal Courts have found that the environmental rights of children are a political question and, therefore, that children do not have standing to sue under the theory that they have a right to a healthy climate. This Article suggests that the courts are the best area of law for redressability for children affected by their environment and that children should have standing to sue
How Housing Insecurity and Welfare Systems Retraumatize Women in Southern California
Get PDFStudies show that individuals experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity also experience trauma and mental illnesses. Despite this evidence, many resources provided through state welfare services seldom allocate sufficient funds and personnel to help address mental health. This study investigates the relationship between housing insecurity and trauma for adult women who have tried to access assistance throughout Southern California. To do this, I conducted in-depth interviews and DSM-5 questionnaires with twenty-six women during the summer of 2023 and 2024 via Zoom. My findings show that adult women who have experienced homelessness and housing insecurity in Southern California were more susceptible to retraumatization by welfare services as long as they attempted to access them. The results from this study can be used to implement trauma-informed care practices into welfare services to improve resources for women and lower the rate of homelessness
Coleoptera of Brazil: what we knew then and what we know now. Insights from the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil
Get PDFIn 2000, Cleide Costa published a paper presenting the state of knowledge of the Neotropical Coleopte ra, with a focus on the Brazilian fauna. Twenty-four years later, thanks to the development of the Coleoptera section of the Taxonomic Catalog of the Brazilian Fauna (CTFB - Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil) through the collaboration of 100 coleopterists from all over the globe, we can build on Costa’s work and present an updated overview of the state of knowledge of the beetles from Brazil. There are currently 35,699 species in 4,958 genera and 116 families known to occur in the country, including representatives of all extant suborders and superfamilies. Our data show that the Brazilian beetle fauna is the richest on the planet, concentrating 9% of the world species diversity, with some estimates accounting to up to 15% of the global total. The most diverse family in numbers of genera is Cerambycidae (1,056 genera), while in number of species it is Chrysomelidae (6,079 species). Conotrachelus Dejean, 1835 (Curculionidae) is the most species-rich genus, with 570 species. The French entomologist Maurice Pic is the author who has contributed the most to the naming of species recorded from Brazil, with 1,794 valid names in 36 families, whereas the Brazilians Ubirajara R. Martins and Maria Helena M. Galileo are the only ones among the top-ten authors to have named species in the 21st century. Currently, approximately 144 new species of Brazilian beetles are described each year, and this average is projected to increase in the next decade to 180 species per year, or about one new Brazilian beetle every two days