At work in the temple of science: theory-building in the university

This paper develops a metaphor that shows academia as a temple of science where acolytes and priests devote themselves to building and developing an arcane lore that supports their faith. Though a somewhat strained metaphor, its heuristic value will become clearer when illustrated by lessons drawn from the sociology of knowledge. Through these lessons, I will attempt to demonstrate that the university setting has inexorably influenced the theories that have developed there, particularly in contributing to the perception of a gap between theory and practice that an applied, problem-solving field such as public administration can ill afford.     

Violate, incur sanctions, and exhaust: the steep price of judicial review under Illinois Council

This Article analyzes the decision in Shalala v. Illinois Council on Long Term Care, Inc., in which the Supreme Court held that providers seeking to challenge Medicare regulations must first pursue those challenges through an administrative review process, except when application of this rule would result in "no review at all." In reaching this decision, the five-justice majority rejected the interpretation given to prior holdings by many commentators and circuits, and reasoned that it was appropriate to require providers to exhaust their administrative appeals even though the penalties for the challenged violations would not be stayed during the process. Given the nature of the administrative appeal process and the scope of penalties that may be assessed against Medicare providers, the author argues that the decision in Illinois Council evidences excessive deference towards the agency, or a disinclination on the part of the court towards entertaining Medicare lawsuits, either of which bodes ill for providers seeking judicial relief.     

Human Rights and Unfair Dismissal: Private Acts in Public Spaces

This article addresses the termination of employment because of the conduct of the employee in her leisure time, in the light of the right to private life. It explores the impact on the retention of employment of activities taking place outside the workplace and outside working hours, and argues that the approach of UK courts and tribunals, which is based on a primarily spatial conceptualisation of privacy, is flawed. A fresh approach to privacy, resting on the idea of domination, is proposed, which is sensitive to the particularities of the employment relationship. Considering the fairness enquiry in dismissal, it argues that off‐duty conduct may lead to lawful termination of employment only if there is a clear and present impact or a high likelihood of such impact on business interests; a speculative and marginal danger does not suffice. It further proposes that a particularly meticulous test is appropriate when certain suspect categories, such as the employees' sexual preferences, are at stake.     

Hair analysis for cocaine: Factors in laboratory contamination studies and their relevance to proficiency sample preparation and hair testing practices

Hair samples were contaminated by rubbing with cocaine (COC) followed by sweat application, multiple shampoo treatments and storage. The samples were then washed with isopropanol for 15 min, followed by sequential aqueous washes totaling 3.5 h. The amount of drug in the last wash was used to calculate a wash criterion to determine whether samples were positive due to use or contamination. Analyses of cocaine and metabolites were done by LC/MS/MS. These procedures were applied to samples produced by a U.S. government-sponsored cooperative study, in which this laboratory participated, and to samples in a parallel in-house study. All contaminated samples in both studies were correctly identified as contaminated by cutoff, benzoylecgonine (BE) presence, BE ratio, and/or the wash criterion. A method for determining hair porosity was applied to samples in both studies, and porosity characteristics of hair are discussed as they relate to experimental and real-world contamination of hair, preparation of proficiency survey samples, and analysis of unknown hair samples.     

Ethnic Microaggressions and the Depressive and Somatic Symptoms of Latino and Asian American Adolescents

Ethnic microaggressions are a form of everyday, interpersonal discrimination that are ambiguous and difficult to recognize as discrimination. This study examined the frequency and impact of microaggressions among Latino (n = 247) and Asian American (n = 113) adolescents (M (age) = 17.18, SD = .75; 57 % girls). Latino adolescents reported more frequent microaggressions that dismiss their realities of discrimination and microaggressions characterized by treatment as a second class citizen than Asian Americans, but similar levels of microaggressions that highlight differences or foreignness. There were no ethnic differences in the extent to which adolescents were bothered by microaggressions. Moreover, even supposedly innocuous forms of discrimination are associated with elevated levels of anxiety, anger, and stress, which may increase feelings of depression and sickness. Microaggressions should be recognized as subtle discrimination that send messages about group status and devaluation, and similar to overt discrimination, can evoke powerful emotional reactions and may affect mental health.     

Book review

Jeffrey L. Brudney. Fostering Public Programs Tn The Public Sector: Pianning, Initiating, And Managing Voimary

Activities. Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1990. 243 pp., $25.95.     

‘Am I Free Now?’ Overseas Domestic Workers in Slavery

This article examines United Kingdom overseas domestic worker and diplomatic domestic worker visas in place since 2012. These visas tie workers to an employer by making it unlawful for them to change employer, even when seriously exploited or abused. The article presents the findings of a qualitative study of overseas domestic workers, exploring how this vulnerable and difficult (for researchers) to reach group experience these visas in practice. Workers reported instances of exploitation and abuse by the employers with whom they arrived in the United Kingdom. Having escaped, they have become undocumented, and are trapped in ongoing cycles of exploitation. The article assesses what light this empirical exploration sheds on the question of whether the visa is contrary to the prohibition of slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour in article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015.