Is Early Start a Better Start? Evaluating California State University's Early Start Remediation Policy

Remediation has long been a costly way to address the misalignment between K-12 and higher education. In 2011, the California State University (CSU), the nation's largest public four-year university system, enacted Early Start, requiring students needing remediation to enroll in such courses in the summer before their freshman year. We estimate the impact of Early Start summer remediation relative to both traditional fall remediation and relative to no remediation at all. Our results suggest Early Start summer remediation has not improved student performance or persistence relative to either alternative. As many states move away from remedial courses altogether, there is continued need for both innovation and for evidence in policy and practice to improve college readiness and success.     

Forensic isoscapes based on intra-individual temporal variation of δ18O and 206Pb/207Pb in human teeth

Isotopic signatures used in the georeferencing of human remains are largely fixed by spatially distinct geologic and environmental processes. However, location-dependent temporal changes in these isotope ratios should also be considered when determining an individual’s provenance and/or trajectory. Distributions of the relevant isotopes can be impacted by predictable external factors such as climate change, delocalisation of food and water sources and changes in sources and uses of metals. Using Multi-Collector Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) analyses of ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb in tooth enamel and dentin from a population of 21 ± 1-year-old individuals born circa 1984 and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) of δ¹⁸O in their enamel, we examined the expected influence of some of these factors. The resulting adjustments to the geographic distribution of isotope ratios (isoscapes) found in tooth enamel and dentin may contain additional useful information for forensic identification, but the shifts in values can also impact the uncertainty and usefulness of identifications if they are not taken into account.

KEY POINTS

• Isoscapes of ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb and δ¹⁸O used for geolocation are not static.
• Within a few years, the enamel and dentin of a person may exhibit measurable differences in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb even without changing locations.
• Changes in climatic patterns tied to rising temperatures are more significant than the direct effect of increasing temperature on δ¹⁸O fixed in tooth bioapatite.
• Third molar (M3) enamel mineralisation includes material incorporated from before formal amelogenesis takes place.

     

Brexit: Challenges and Opportunities for Small Countries and Territories

This article is based on a round table discussion that was held at the Centre for Small States, Queen Mary University, London, on 18 September 2017. The article uses the presentations from the event, together with answers to questions that were posed, to construct an analysis of how Brexit has affected, and will probably continue to affect, small states and subnational island jurisdictions in Europe and beyond. There is still no real clarity in relation to British Prime Minister Theresa May’s declaration that ‘Brexit means Brexit’, but the effects of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) are starting to be felt – whether that involves redefining Euroscepticism across Europe, marginalising the diplomatic and economic profile of the UK’s overseas territories, or creating anxieties in the Commonwealth Caribbean regarding future trading relations. Thus, Brexit is creating a significant ripple effect and the article provides some reflections on how these are affecting small countries and territories, many of which are already highly vulnerable.     

Piracy,the Protection of Vital State Interests and the False Foundations of Universal Jurisdiction in International Law

It is widely asserted by courts and in legal scholarship that for hundreds of years universal jurisdiction has applied to the crime of piracy. However, the alleged historical legal foundations of universality need challenge. The central argument of this analysis is that jurisdiction over “piracy” is better understood under the protective principle, which arose out of the necessity of maritime Powers roughly between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to protect certain of their vital interests, not least their overseas trade routes and colonial trade and settlements. It follows that there is a need to re-conceptualise jurisdiction over piracy as the protection of vital State interests shared by the international community, a concept misinterpreted as universal jurisdiction.     

Does Spending More Get More? Health Care Delivery and Fiscal Implications From a Medicare Fee Bump

While salient features of the Affordable Care Act include insurance expansions and private coverage reforms, various other provisions are embedded within the law. We focus on a temporary 10 percent fee increase for primary care visits supplied to publicly insured (Medicare) beneficiaries. Using administrative and survey data, we assess the price shock's impact on service volume, physician labor supply, and quality of care. Primary care physicians (PCPs) in independent practices demonstrate, at most, a marginal 2 percent increase in new patient visits while horizontally and vertically integrated PCPs show no change. Both PCP organizational types witness declines in established patient visits, on average, but there is marked heterogeneity: established patient visits increase by 1 to 2 percent among PCPs with fewer Medicare claims in the pre‐period. The Medicare fee bump did not observably impact other labor supply outcomes and quality of care margins. We estimate that the policy introduced a $1.5 billion transfer from taxpayers to providers during the initiative's first three years.     

Corporate Chaos: The Muddled Jurisprudence of Corporate Public Figures

Public-figure determinations in libel law are enormously consequential legal decisions. The divide between public and private status for a defamation plaintiff can be – and frequently is – determinative of whether that plaintiff can succeed. Lower court rulings on how corporate plaintiffs fit into this status determination are inconsistent. Meanwhile, corporations are taking increasingly active roles in political and social controversies. This article explores the sprawling and contradictory law of corporate public figures, analyzing and critiquing lower court jurisprudence on this vital issue. The article also provides a suggested direction for clarifying the state of the law and aligning it more closely with important First Amendment values.     

Failures for Consideration: Re-Analysing Jurisdiction in Unjust Enrichment Claims

There has been little attempt to provide a full and coherent analysis of the rules governing service of a claim form out of the jurisdiction in claims concerning unjust enrichment. This lacuna has grown more noticeable since the rules were reformed in 2015, with the continuation of an excessively wide approach that had overrun the older, overly restrictive rules. This article attempts not only to provide such an analysis but also one which is able to reconcile the wording of the rules with their underlying principles and the substantive law of unjust enrichment claims – significant constraints that have received insufficient consideration in both the case law and the literature.     

The Impact of Gender Identity on Female Offending: A Quantitative Assessment Using the BSRI

Despite considerable research showing the importance of masculinity in male offending, the role of gender identity in female offending remains unclear. The current study explores the impact of gender identity on female offending among a sample of 843 college women using the Bem Sex Role Inventory and Multiple Problem Behavior Index. The impact of gender identity on rates of general deviance, as well as behaviors typically in high male and female participation, aggression and self-harming, respectively, were examined. Results found that women with masculine identity were more likely to engage in aggression as well as general deviance broadly. Gender identity was not found to impact rates of self-harming.