Strict Scrutiny & Fisher: The Court's Decision and its Implications

During the 2012-2013 term of the U.S. Supreme Court, many were in suspense over how the Court would rule on Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the latest higher education case involving race-conscious admissions. Because it has been less than ten years since the Supreme Court ruled on Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, some expected the Court to overrule the use of race in deciding admissions into colleges and universities. Instead, the Supreme Court affirmed that diversity is a compelling state interest and race-conscious admissions are permissible under a strict scrutiny review. However, the Court remanded the case back to the Fifth Circuit because it did not properly review the University’s admissions plan to determine whether it was narrowly tailored. In Fisher, Abigail Fisher, a Caucasian Texas resident, claimed that the University of Texas at Austin denied her admission because of her race and that other minority students with fewer qualifications were admitted instead of her. Affirming the district court’s opinion, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held in favor of the University presuming that the University’s decision to use race was made in good faith. The Supreme Court ruled that deference to the University under the narrow tailoring prong does not follow the standard of strict scrutiny. After briefly explaining the equal protection analysis and earlier Supreme Court decisions involving race-conscious admissions, we provide a background on the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case and ruling. We further analyze the case under the strict scrutiny judicial review standard and explore how social science could play a role in determining the outcome. The article then expands on the ruling’s implications in higher education, K-12 education, private colleges and universities, and the hiring of faculty and teachers

The Development of a Legend: Stonewall Jackson as a Southern Hero

Throughout history, most individuals have lived their lives, and then faded into oblivion with little to remember them by. Relatively few receive credit for significantly affecting the course of human history and obtain appropriate remembrance in accounts of the past. For those whose memories endure, due to the unrepeatable nature of past events, history remains vulnerable to the corrupting influence of myths and legends that distort historical realities. Confederate Lieutenant General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (1824-1863) serves as a prime example of an historical figure, who, though deserving of his place in history, has been subsequently distorted by biographers and memory. The following discussion largely passes over the general’s already well-analyzed military career, and explores other factors that contributed to his incredible rise in fame to the exalted position of southern hero. Topics include Jackson’s well-documented eccentricities, the manner of his death, the social climate of the post-war South, and his subsequent treatment by early biographers. All will contribute to the answer of the question, “what made Jackson into a legend?

"Current practices and anticipated changes in academic and nonacademic admission sources for entry-level PharmD programs"

Renae J. Chesnut is Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University. She can be contacted at [email protected] Charles R. Phillips is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy Administration/Department Chair of Pharmacy Practice in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University. He can be contacted at [email protected] purpose of this study was to describe and compare current admission practices with anticipated changes in academic and nonacademic admission information sources for entry-level PharmD programs. An author-constructed survey collected data from pharmacy programs on current and anticipated admission processes. After follow-up efforts, a 92 percent response rate was achieved. Results suggest that a lack of significant changes can be expected between admission practices used for the Fall 1997 entering class and those anticipated for Fall 2000. Likewise, applicant qualities sought and information sources used to measure these qualities are not expected to change significantly prior to the Fall 2000 entering class. This study indicated that most pharmacy programs utilize academic and nonacademic admission information sources and that they feel they are meeting the adopted ACPE Standard and Guideline 16.3 which requires that pharmacy programs use information sources in the admission process other than academic information

q-Functional Field Theory for particles with exotic statistics

In the paper we give consecutive description of functional methods of quantum field theory for systems of interacting q-particles. These particles obey exotic statistics and appear in many problems of condensed matter physics, magnetism and quantum optics. Motivated by the general ideas of standard field theory we derive formulae in q-functional derivatives for the partition function and Green's functions generating functional for systems of exotic particles. This leads to a corresponding perturbation series and a diagram technique. Results are illustrated by a consideration of an one-dimensional q-particle system and compared with some exact expressions obtained earlier.Comment: 12 pages, LaTe

Aspirin Use in Children for Fever or Viral Syndromes

Aspirin should not be used to treat acute febrile viral illness in children. (Strength of Recommendation [SOR]: C, based on case- control studies). Although no causal link has been proven, data from case-control and historic cohort studies demonstrate an association between aspirin use and Reye syndrome

Irreducible Multiplets of Three-Quark Operators on the Lattice: Controlling Mixing under Renormalization

High luminosity accelerators have greatly increased the interest in semi-exclusive and exclusive reactions involving nucleons. The relevant theoretical information is contained in the nucleon wavefunction and can be parametrized by moments of the nucleon distribution amplitudes, which in turn are linked to matrix elements of three-quark operators. These can be calculated from first principles in lattice QCD. However, on the lattice the problems of operator mixing under renormalization are rather involved. In a systematic approach we investigate this issue in depth. Using the spinorial symmetry group of the hypercubic lattice we derive irreducibly transforming three-quark operators, which allow us to control the mixing pattern.Comment: 13 page

Finite strain Landau theory of high pressure phase transformations

The properties of materials near structural phase transitions are often successfully described in the framework of Landau theory. While the focus is usually on phase transitions, which are induced by temperature changes approaching a critical temperature T-c, here we will discuss structural phase transformations driven by high hydrostatic pressure, as they are of major importance for understanding processes in the interior of the earth. Since at very high pressures the deformations of a material are generally very large, one needs to apply a fully nonlinear description taking physical as well as geometrical nonlinearities (finite strains) into account. In particular it is necessary to retune conventional Landau theory to describe such phase transitions. In Troster et al (2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 55503) we constructed a Landau-type free energy based on an order parameter part, an order parameter-(finite) strain coupling and a nonlinear elastic term. This model provides an excellent and efficient framework for the systematic study of phase transformations for a wide range of materials up to ultrahigh pressures