Separate & Unequal: How Higher Education Reinforces the Intergenerational Reproduction of White Racial Privilege

Clearly class is a powerful cross-cutting factor in explaining postsecondary differences among all students. Yet, controlling for income, race matters: taken together, lower-income AfricanAmerican and Hispanic students just don't do as well as lower-income whites. We find that white students (45%) in the lower half of the family income distribution drop out of college much less frequently than African Americans (55%) and Hispanics (59%). These lower-income whites get Bachelor's degrees at nearly twice the rate of African Americans and Hispanics and obtain many fewer sub-baccalaureate degrees. In particular, African-American students get substantially more certificates.Class and race overlap and are most virulent in combination. Along with many other researchers, we find that the reason for persistent racial inequality begins with the fact that African Americans and Hispanics seem to face barriers not faced by whites. Unequal educational and career outcomes for economically disadvantaged whites can be explained with variables like family income, parental education, and peer expectations. These same variables do not fullyexplain African American and Hispanic educational and economic outcomes. Earlier research shows income effects are more fully explained by observable things, like peer group and tutoring, while differences by race are not so easy to pin down. The preponderance of evidence supports the premise that the disadvantages of race and income must be considered separately in most cases. Yes, differences in readiness and income explain differences in academic and life outcomes; but, independently, so do race and ethnicity

Aristotle on the Heterogeneity of Pleasure

In Nicomachean Ethics X.5, Aristotle gives a series of arguments for the claim that pleasures differ from one another in kind in accordance with the differences in kind among the activities they arise in connection with. I develop an interpretation of these arguments based on an interpretation of his theory of pleasure (which I have defended elsewhere) according to which pleasure is the perfection of perfect activity. In the course of developing this interpretation, I reconstruct Aristotle’s phenomenology of pleasure, arguing that while he denies that all pleasures share any given phenomenal element, he does think that all pleasures have a common phenomenal structure. Finally, I argue that Aristotle’s view that pleasures differ in kind does not imply that they cannot be compared in pleasantness

Cultural appropriation and the intimacy of groups

What could ground normative restrictions concerning cultural appropriation which are not grounded by independent considerations such as property rights or harm? We propose that such restrictions can be grounded by considerations of intimacy. Consider the familiar phenomenon of interpersonal intimacy. Certain aspects of personal life and interpersonal relationships are afforded various protections in virtue of being intimate. We argue that an analogous phenomenon exists at the level of large groups. In many cases, members of a group engage in shared practices that contribute to a sense of common identity, such as wearing certain hair or clothing styles or performing a certain style of music. Participation in such practices can generate relations of group intimacy, which can ground certain prerogatives in much the same way that interpersonal intimacy can. One such prerogative is making what we call an appropriation claim. An appropriation claim is a request from a group member that non-members refrain from appropriating a given element of the group’s culture. Ignoring appropriation claims can constitute a breach of intimacy. But, we argue, just as for the prerogatives of interpersonal intimacy, in many cases there is no prior fact of the matter about whether the appropriation of a given cultural practice constitutes a breach of intimacy. It depends on what the group decides together

Transcription of the sporulation gene ssgA is activated by the IcIR-type regulator SsgR in a whi-independent manner in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

SsgA plays an important role in the control of sporulation-specific cell division and morphogenesis of streptomycetes, and ssgA null mutants have a rare conditionally non-sporulating phenotype. In this paper we show that transcription of ssgA and of the upstream-located ssgR, an iclR-type regulatory gene, is developmentally regulated in Streptomyces coelicolor and activated towards the onset of sporulation. A constructed ssgR null mutant was phenotypically very similar to the ssgA mutant. The absence of ssgA transcription in this mutant is probably the sole cause of its sporulation deficiency, as wild-type levels of sporulation could be restored by the SsgR-independent expression of ssgA from the ermE promoter. Binding of a truncated version of SsgR to the ssgA promoter region showed that ssgA transcription is directly activated by SsgR; such a dependence of ssgA on SsgR in S. coelicolor is in clear contrast to the situation in S. griseus, where ssgA transcription is activated by A-factor, and its control by the SsgR orthologue, SsfR, is far less important. Our failure to complement the ssgR mutant with S. griseus ssfR suggests functional differences between the genes. These observations may explain some of the major differences in developmental control between the phylogenetically divergent species S. coelicolor and S. griseus, highlighted in a recent microreview (Chater and Horinouchi (2003) Mol Microbiol 48: 9–15). Surprisingly, transcription of ssgA and ssgR is not dependent on the early whi genes (whiA, whiB, whiG, whiH, whiI and whiJ )

A Mistake for the Lake: Why Ohio Should Rethink Its Ban on Rights of Nature for Lake Erie

“Throughout legal history, each successive extension of rights to some new entity has been, theretofore, a bit unthinkable.” - Professor Christopher Stone. The purpose of the rights of nature movement is to recognize that ecosystems and natural entities have the right to exist and thrive. Rights of nature give the natural entities legal protections against pollution and other harms. This Note recommends that the Ohio legislature reconsider its stance on prohibiting rights of nature under Ohio Revised Code Section 2305.011. This recommendation stems from the groundbreaking Lake Erie Bill of Rights, which granted rights of nature to Lake Erie in 2019, and its subsequent invalidation in federal court. This Note argues that rights of nature should be recognized at the state level in the state’s constitution. This Note further argues that recognition of rights of nature is a logical progression of granting legal standing and personhood rights to non-human entities. By recommending this change, this Note aims to ensure that a natural entity, like Lake Erie, can protect itself from harmful pollution

Car Wash Helps Club Raise Money

Beta Beta Beta, the biology honors society on campus, hosted a car wash this past Saturday, September 13, at the Bank of the Ozarks. They did so in hopes of raising money for future projects and trips for the club.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gwu-today/1015/thumbnail.jp

The Faces of Gardner-Webb SGA- Treasurer Conner Bos

Gardner-Webb Sophomore, Connor Bos, is taking steps to cement a positive financial future for clubs and organizations on campus. As Treasurer for Student Government Association (SGA), Bos has been working through both the funding council and club congress to allocate and hand out funds.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gwu-today/1059/thumbnail.jp

Pawse on the Quad

Every Friday, we will take a “pawse on the quad” to ask students three questions and take their picture.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gwu-today/1011/thumbnail.jp