A Method for Estimating Sex Using Metric Analysis of the Scapula*

Abstract: The most accurate and precise methods for the assessment of age and stature often require knowledge of sex. Thus, being able to correctly identify sex from skeletal remains is critical in the forensic context. The presence of the os coxae or skull can never be guaranteed, making the development of reliable methods of sex estimation using other skeletal elements necessary. Using a 724 individual calibration sample from the Hamann‐Todd collection, this study identifies sexual dimorphism in the human scapula, and presents a new five‐variable discriminant function for sex estimation. The overall accuracy of this method proved to be 95.7% on the cross‐validated calibration sample, 92.5% on an 80 individual test sample from the Hamann‐Todd collection, and 84.4% on a 32 individual test sample from the skeletal collection of the Wichita State University Biological Anthropology Laboratory. Additionally, a slightly less accurate two‐variable model was developed and has cross‐validated accuracy of 91.3%.     

The Right to Be Racist in College: Racist Speech,White Institutional Space,and the First Amendment

Throughout the post–civil rights era, colleges and universities across the United States have periodically experienced explicitly racist incidents on their campuses. From the hurling of racial slurs at students of color, to the hanging of nooses on campus, to students donning Ku Klux Klan outfits or throwing “ghetto” parties that caricaturize communities of color, these incidents challenge the notion that modern racism has changed to a more subtle form, referred to as color‐blind racism. We place these incidents within a broader context of race and institutions, suggesting a connection between overt racist expressions and the more covert elements of neoliberal color‐blind racism. Through a critical discourse analysis of news stories about these incidents, the website of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and the controlling legal cases involving racist expression on campuses, we suggest that explicitly racist incidents operate in tandem with neoliberal educational policies and color‐blind racism to mark and reinscribe colleges and universities as white institutional spaces.     

Taphonomic Effects of Mechanical Plowing on Buried Juvenile‐Sized Remains

Agricultural activity is a worldwide taphonomic process and can present unique challenges in the recovery of buried remains. Previous research has been mostly within the realm of site formation processes of archeological sites utilizing only surface material. This research expands upon the previous research by incorporating the distribution of subsurface material by the use of archeological excavation techniques. An experiment was conducted utilizing juvenile pig (Sus scrofa) skeletons buried in relative anatomical position at two different depths (15 cm below the surface [cmbs] and 22 cmbs). The burials were then subjected to different intervals of mechanical plowing: one, three, five, seven, or 10 plow passes. The skeletal material was recovered using pedestrian survey followed by hand excavation and screening of all sediments. This research shows that there is a significant relationship between the degree of plowing and the distance skeletal material is distributed and the percentage of material recovered undamaged.     

Determination of cocaine and its metabolites in brain tissue using high-flow solid-phase extraction columns and high-performance liquid chromatography.

A new solid-phase extraction procedure for the determination of cocaine and some of its metabolites in brain tissue, using high-flow co-polymeric sorbents is reported as a substantial improvement on our recently reported procedure. The recovery of cocaine, norcocaine and cocaethylene was excellent as was the reproducibility of the extraction. The use of high-flow sorbents allowed the easy extraction of tissue without the need for a time-consuming lipase digestion, regardless of sample viscosity or physical nature. The use of these solid-phase columns provided many advantages over the more commonly used solvent extraction, including an increase in extraction speed and efficiency, reduced operator time, reduced solvent use and disposal volumes and exceptional extract quality. The procedure was successfully applied to rabbit brains spiked with cocaine, benzoylecgonine, norcocaine and cocaethylene.     

The effect of breath freshener strips on two types of breath alcohol testing instruments

The potential for breath freshener strips to interfere with the accuracy of a breath alcohol test was studied. Twelve varieties of breath freshener strips from five manufacturers were examined. Breath tests were conducted using the infrared based BAC DataMaster or the fuel cell based Alco-Sensor IV-XL, 30 and 150 seconds after placing a breath strip on the tongue. No effect was observed using the Alco-Sensor system. Some of the strips gave a small reading at 30 seconds (less than or equal to 0.010 g/210 L apparent alcohol) using the DataMaster. Readings on the DataMaster returned to zero by the 150 second test. A proper pre-test observation and deprivation period should prevent any interference from breath freshener strips on breath alcohol testing.     

Attempted suicide by cop: a case study of traumatic brain injury and the insanity defense

Over the years, there have been a number of well-publicized incidents involving persons who seemingly maneuver police officers into shooting them. Such cases, while relatively rare compared with most forms of violence, nevertheless pose difficult challenges to law enforcement agencies. Relatively little is known about persons who engage in suicide by cop incidents. To our knowledge, there has been no published indepth research on instigators of suicide by cop who survived. In this paper, we present a case study of an individual who engaged in and lived through three separate "attempted suicide by cop" incidents. After describing relevant history as well as events of the most recent incident, we compare the case with the extant literature on suicide by cop and analyze commonalities and differences. Finally, we examine the legal considerations involved, with particular attention devoted to the role the individual's traumatic brain injury played in applying the insanity defense.     

Comparison of the MMPI-2 and Niederhoffer Cynicism Scales for a Sample of police academy trainees

This study compared the Niederhoffer Cynicism Scale, as a less costly alternative, to the MMPI-2 measure of cynicism. Data were collected on both scales from a sample of male and female police academy trainees to compare reliability and construct validity. Subgroup analyses by race and sex yielded comparable Cronbach alpha estimates for minority (.71) and majority (.83) males to MMPI-2 norms. The Niederhoffer reliability values were marginally smaller (.73 to .77) but within the acceptable range. Construct validity correlations between both scales were significant for minority and majority males. However, sample size was too small for both minority and majority females groups to use appropriate statistical techniques to determine reliability or validity. Continued use of the Niederhoffer is recommended for minority and majority males. Author's Note: This paper was presented at the 44^th Annual Meeting of the Western Social Science Association in Albuquerque, NM, in April of 2002.