Commodification of Black Bodies: Convict Leasing and Prison Privatization in the United States of America

The United States is home to a private prison industry, which allows for the detention of human beings to be transformed into a multi-billion dollar industry. This paper traces the parallels between the post-civil war convict leasing system and the current system of prison privatization, which encourages the commodification of black bodies in order to maintain a racial hierarchy. It analyzes the incompatibility of prison privatization with the US Constitution. Private prisons, which hold African American men at a higher rate that state-run prisons, take cost-cutting measures in order to increase profit, which expose prisoners to higher rates of abuse and increased recidivism rates. Private prisons have significant political power to determine crime control legislation, which has led to harsh laws which increase the number of men of color behind bars. This paper provides a three-phase plan for abolishing private prisons and reducing overall incarceration rates in the United States.

Black Medicine

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Pre-Service Teachers’ Mathematics Language and Reflection in the Context of an Early Childhood Mathematics Methods Course

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Safety of oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-based pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention: prospective studies in HIV-uninfected men and women

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Birth-to-pregnancy intervals and adverse perinatal outcomes among African-born black women in Washington State.

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Neo-Pre-Raphaelitism: The Final Generations

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Neighborhood Change after Investment in Light-rail Transit (LRT)

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

The effect of pre-clinical fieldwork subject on the confidence and professional skills of undergraduate occupational therapy students

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of a pre-clinical fieldwork subject on the confidence and professional skills of undergraduate occupational therapy students during their first full-time clinical fieldwork placement. Methods: Participants were 31 third year students enrolled in the pre-clinical fieldwork subject (experimental group), and 25 students not enrolled in the subject (control group). Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were employed to address the research question. Student anxiety levels were measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and compared at three different intervals - prior to commencing the university semester, prior to commencing full-time practical placement, and following this full-time placement. Individual interviews were conducted with six students (three from the experimental group, three from the control group) to explore their perceptions regarding confidence levels and skill proficiencies during full-time placement. At each data analysis interval, responses for both groups were compared using independent samples t-tests. Responses were compared over time using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The qualitative data were subjected to thematic and content analysis. Results and Conclusions: In general, student anxiety levels did not differ between the experimental and control groups over time. However, qualitative results suggest that students who were enrolled in the pre-clinical subject have greater confidence and competence with occupational therapy skills, and have heightened awareness of the expectations on full-time placement.

'I never imagined I'd have to teach these children': Providing authentic learning experiences for secondary pre-service teachers in teaching students with special needs

This article describes a collaborative and cross-curricula initiative undertaken in the School of Education at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. The project involved developing an integrated approach to providing professional year pre-service secondary teacher education students with experiences that would assist them to develop their knowledge and skills to teach students with special needs in their classrooms. These experiences were undertaken in the authentic teaching and learning context of a post-school literacy program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. In preliminary interviews pre-service teachers revealed that they lacked experience, knowledge and understanding related to teaching students with special needs, and felt that their teacher education program lacked focus in this field. This project was developed in response to these expressed needs. Through participating in the project, pre-service teachers' knowledge and understanding about working with students with diverse learning needs were developed as they undertook real and purposeful tasks in an authentic context.

Post-hatching growth and development of the pectoral and pelvic limbs in the black noddy, Anous minutus

The black tern (Anous minutus) uses a semi-precocial growth strategy. Terrestrial locomotor capacity occurs soon after hatching, but pectoral limb development is delayed and flight is not possible until about post-hatching day 50. A growth series (hatchlings to fledglings) was used to explore how limb musculoskeletal development varied with body mass. In the pelvic limb, bone lengths scaled isometrically or with negative allometry. Gastrocnemius muscle mass and the failure load and stiffness of the tibiotarsus scaled isometrically. In the pectoral limb, pectoralis and supracoracoideus muscle masses increased with strong positive allometry that was mirrored by increases in wing bone strength and stiffness. Bending strength (σult) and modulus (E) remained fairly constant throughout development to fledging for all limb bones. The moment of inertia (I) scaled with negative allometry for the tibiotarsus and with strong positive allometry in the wing bones. Differences in σult and E of the tibiotarsus between pre-fledged chicks and adults was due, primarily, to increases in bone density rather than increases in the moment of inertia of the skeletal elements, whereas σult of wing bones was a function of increases in both bone density and I. Early development of functional pelvic limbs in tree-nesting birds is relatively unusual, and presumably reflects a familial trait that does not appear to compromise breeding success in this species.

Mapping the emergence of heart disease in a black, urban population in Africa: The Heart of Soweto Study

Background: There is increasing evidence that many populations in the developing world are in epidemiologic transition with the subsequent emergence of more affluent disease states. The Heart of Soweto Study will systematically investigate the emergence of heart disease (HD) in a large urban population in South Africa. Methods: Part of the conurbation of Johannesburg, South Africa, Soweto is a predominantly Black African community of I million individuals. During an initial two year period, all individuals presenting to the local Baragwanath Hospital (3500 beds) with any form of HD will be studied. Demographic and diagnostic coding data in those with pre-established HD will form an abbreviated clinical registry of > 12,000 prevalent cases. Similarly, socio-demographic, clinical and diagnostic data (e.g. echocardiography and ECG) in newly diagnosed patients will form a more detailed clinical registry of > 5000 incident cases. Sub-studies of the relationship between HIV status and H D and the optimal management of chronic heart failure will also be performed. Results: These data will provide a unique insight into the causes and consequences of a broad spectrum of HD-related conditions in a developing world community in epidemiologic transition. Initially documented Population rates, in addition to detailed examinations of the underlying risk factors and causes of HD-related morbidity/mortality will provide an important platform for future stages of the study: a community-based, population screening program and culturally specific primary and secondary programs of care. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to systematically track the emergence of HD in the developing world. Initially involving more than 15,000 individuals, the unique Heart of Soweto Study has the potential to provide a wealth of information in this regard. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

An online community of practice for pre-service and beginning teachers of secondary mathematics

The aim of this study was to investigate how a community of practice focused on learning to teach secondary mathematics was created and sustained by pre-service and beginning teachers. Bulletin board discussions of one pre-service cohort are analysed in terms of Wenger’s (1998) three defining features of a community of practice: mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and a shared repertoire. The study shows that the emergent design of the community contributed to its sustainability in allowing the pre-service teachers to define their own professional goals and values. Sustainability was also related to how the participants expanded, transformed, and maintained the community during the pre-service program and after graduation.