154 research outputs found
Jonathan Ashley-Smith: mentor, role model, inspiration
No full textJonathan Ashley-Smith has been such a prominent player in the field of conservation that he has had an impact on many people’s careers. He has certainly been an inspiration for this author who presents a personal overview of the many ways in which Ashley-Smith helped steer my path
Recovery of a subtidal soft-sediment macroinvertebrate assemblage following experimentally induced effects of a harmful algal bloom
No full textA defaunation experiment mimicking the effects of a harmful algal bloom (HAB) on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages (>500 µm) was conducted at a hydrodynamically active soft-substrate site in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand, to test the recovery rate (return to pre-disturbance state) of temperate benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and to elucidate the main factors influencing the recovery process. Tarpaulins were used to create anoxic conditions by smothering the sediment for 65 d. Assemblage recovery in treatment plots was studied for 1 yr and compared with assemblage composition in undisturbed adjacent control plots. Recovery was slow until Day 70, at which time abundance of individuals (N) and number of species (S) increased synchronously in treatments and controls. Within 10 mo, univariate indices (N, S and also species diversity H’ and evenness J’) of treatment assemblages returned to values observed for the control assemblages. Multivariate analyses showed that fluctuations in assemblage composition were most pronounced in the first 100 d in treatment replicates, but decreased thereafter as the recovering assemblage became more similar to the undisturbed one. However, after 1 yr, even though the composition of treatment and control assemblages was converging, differences in composition were still significant. Based on the observed trajectory of recovery, complete assemblage recovery is predicted to take approximately 2 yr. Timing of the disturbance in relation to seasonal recruitment events was identified as an important factor for assemblage recovery
Episode 24 - Miracle on 34th Street and Top Law Movies List (Guest: Ashley Merryman)
No full textThis episode looks at “Law Films You Won\u27t Want to Miss,” a recent list of the most captivating legal themed movies, published in U.S. News and World Report. Which movies are on the list? Which didn\u27t make the cut? And what does the list tell us about “law movies”—and of great law movies?
One film on the list may be something of a surprise: Miracle on 34th Street (1947) written and directed by George Seaton, from a story by Valentine Davies. In this Christmas holiday classic, the events director of Macy’s Department Store in NYC, Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) hires an old man named Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn, who won an Oscar as best supporting actor) to serve as Macy’s Santa Clause after the prior Santa is fired for being a drunk. Kringle not only closely resembles Santa Clause but believes he is Santa. Kringle is welcomed into Doris’s home and makes a favorable impression on Doris’s daughter Susan (Natalie Wood). Kringle also makes an impression at work. He advises one customer to go to another store when Macy’s can’t fulfill her son’s request for a particular toy instead of trying to sell her something else. This turns out to be a public relations stroke of genius, demonstrating Macy’s concern for and loyalty to its customers. But Kringle’s success at Macy’s doesn’t last. He gets into a dispute with another employee who insists Kringle be fired and put into a mental hospital. A civil commitment hearing takes place, where the question centers on whether Kringle’s belief that he is Santa Clause shows he is insane. Miracle on 34th Street raises timeless questions how law should treat beliefs. I’m joined by Ashley Merryman, the author of the list, “Law Films You Won\u27t Want to Miss.”Timestamps:0:00 Introduction4:21 The top law movies5:16 What makes a great law movie9:19 Witness for the Prosecution and other favorites16:16 Erin Brockovich and why great law movies aren’t always courtroom dramas22:54 Some also-rans29:45 Why Miracle on 34th Street made the list31:53 A take on how politics informs courts and trials35:34 Proving Santa Claus through a federal postal regulation39:47 The legal realism of Miracle on 34th Street41:40 When holiday movies were released in the spring45:34 When courts are the arbiter of beliefs 51:04 Fun facts in compiling the best law movies list57:29 Introducing the new Q & A segment
Further reading:Davis, Kevin, The 25 Greatest Legal Movies: Expanding the Boundaries, ABA Journal (Aug. 2018) Merryman, Ashley, “Law Films You Won\u27t Want to Miss,” U.S. News & World Report (Feb. 1, 2024)Minnow, Nell, “An Idea Is a Greater Monument than a Cathedral: Deciding How We Know What We Know in ‘Inherit the Wind,’” 30 U.S.F. L. Rev. 1225 (1996)Olear, Greg, “‘Miracle on 34th Street’: Best Christmas movie ever,”? Salon (Dec. 24, 2012)https://scholarship.shu.edu/law-on-film-s02/1007/thumbnail.jp
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