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Cops & City Settle "Ricci 2" Case
by Thomas MacMillan | May 18, 2014 9:15 pm
(11) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author
Posted to: Legal Writes
The city officially settled a lawsuit brought by five black police officers, agreeing to shell out $242,000 to the cops and their lawyer and to promote all the officers to sergeant.
The settlement was made official Friday. Click here to read it.
"It's everything we were looking for," said John Williams, the plaintiffs' attorney. "We're delighted."
"After the Court denied the City's motion for summary judgment, it became in the best interests of all to resolve this longstanding state court dispute over the 2009 Sergeants exam amicably rather than through further litigation," said Nicole D. Chomiak of Nuzzo and Roberts, who represented the city in the case.
Williams represented officers Bruce Bonner, Milton Jackson, Rahque Tennant, Craig Alston, and Shafiq Abdussabur. The officers sued after the civil service commission certified a promotions list for only one year, because no Latinos scored highly enough on a 2009 promotions exam to make sergeant.
"This is what I call 'Ricci Two,'" Williams said, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court case New Haven lost after a mostly-white group of 20 firefighters sued over a promotions exam. "This was, in my view, the Ricci case with different ethnic backgrounds but otherwise the same case."
In the text of the settlement, the city continues to deny the allegations of the plaintiffs' complaint.
The city agreed to pay the five cops back pay as follows: $24,000 to Alston, $24,000 to Tennant, $43,000 to Abdussabur, $43,000 to Jackson, $58,000 to Bonner. Williams will receive $50,000 in attorney's fees.
The department will promote Bonner to sergeant by May 31. He plans to retire on June 1.
The other four officers will be promoted by Dec. 11.
"It's very good for the city," Williams said. "It puts a very unfortunate incident behind us all."
Post a Comment
posted by: Noteworthy on May 16, 2014 6:17pm
Who else wants to get in on the action? Are we done yet?
posted by: Ozzie on May 17, 2014 7:22am
Only in New Haven. Thats what the City gets when they continually manipulate promotional exams. It's been going on for years. All those people in the Civil Service office should be investigated.
posted by: fk on May 17, 2014 8:38am
What is on this test anyway? Is it a law test?
I suspect that the guys coming right out of the academy would test higher than these guys anyway since this information should be fresh in their minds. These tests probably don't indicate how good of a cop anybody is.
posted by: Razzie on May 17, 2014 11:59am
Hopefully this puts a wrap on the DeStefano era manipulation of civil service exam results for political purposes. This has truly been a very costly period for New Haven taxpayers, and stressful for the police and fire departments whose members serve us faithfully every day. I hope we can now move forward and get the job done. Congrats to the new Sergeants!
posted by: FacChec on May 17, 2014 1:50pm
Well now, what's another 242K, plus the untold amount to be paid to the city's outside lawyers for settling this case when they could have done so two years ago and just settled for the promotions to Sergeant.
Just add this 242k to the growing debt pile which is currently north of $9M.
The city is still paying off the Ricci case and the taxpayers are still picking up that annual bond debt of $2M/year, for the next 4 years. But only if, there is not new lost cases, although history is not on our side.
The responsible boards of police and fire commissioners should be removed, if not already, and be replaced with professional analytical audit minded persons and not just political affiliated citizens appointed by the mayor, as is now the case.
Hold your wallets more of the same is coming, particularly from city employees, of all people.
This is easy pickings, they ain't done yet. After all, no one's watching anyway.
posted by: robn on May 18, 2014 9:33pm
Need I remind you that it was the "reverend" Boise Kimber, serving as the chair of the Board of Fire Commissioners in 2002, who suggested that new recruits wouldn't be hired because they have "too many vowels on their name." Yes he was DeStefanos pick, but the words came out of his mouth and nobody else's.
posted by: Razzie on May 19, 2014 8:29am
I do acknowledge that Rev. Kimber, DeStefano's hand-picked Chair of the Bd. of Fire Commissioners, was widely quoted in the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in the Ricci case. That case was good reading for the particulars of how the DeStefano administration carried out their illegal discriminatory employment schemes. But I also need to mention that with this settlement of claims against the City's Police Department, the New Haven Civil Service commission can now claim the very questionable reputation of having engaged in illegal racial discrimination against Blacks and Whites during the same period of time! That's got to be quite an accomplishment (equal employment discriminator)—that would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that it involves over a million dollars of taxpayer money that we are still trying to figure out how to pay.
Rev. Kimber was only one symptom of a very pernicious disease that infected the entire prior Administration.
posted by: David Backeberg on May 19, 2014 9:47am
I have the same question now I had back during the Ricci case.
What exactly is on a Sergeant's test, and what's on a firefighter promotional test?
Are these things that New Haven makes up? Are there universal bodies of questions for tests national firefighting training bodies, or national associations of police chiefs?
Main point of my question is what are we actually measuring when the candidates take those tests?
Cynically, I would agree that if you are getting promoted, being able to do paperwork well is a decent thing to measure, as you do more paperwork the higher you get.
But if I need the police or firefighters to come to my house in a hurry and help me, I care way more about their ability to run upstairs quickly than how well they can analyze and answer a multiple choice question.
posted by: NewHavenTaxTooHigh on May 19, 2014 10:45am
The $242K is NOT the FULL amount of the settlement. Bonner will retire as a Seargant even though he never acted in that capacity. So, his pension will probably be at least $20K a year more and seeing as though he is a relatively young man (for retirement) it is conceivable that he will receive the higher pension for 25 years. So the cost in his case alone is really an additional $500K to taxpayers. But, most people will only find out the true cost when the city becomes bankrupt.
posted by: RACISMISALIVEANDWELL on May 19, 2014 6:12pm
Congratulations to these Sergeants for standing strong in the face of adversity. It's extremely cruel and disgusting what these men had to endure within the past few years.
Under the Destefano administration there careers were stagnated due to the perils of politics. The incompetence and discriminatory practices used by the Police Commissioners under this administration is unbelievable.
As the court noted, "employment discrimination is often accomplished by discreet manipulations and hidden under a veil of self-declared innocence." Getting passed over for promotion because someone doesn't like the racial make up of a list is cruel, evil and racist.
Ozzie and Razzie, you are both correct in your assessment of the civil service office and its manipulation of exams for political purposes. This is no secret! This indeed occurred under Destefano's watch, hopefully, Harp and her administration will get it right.
posted by: pd093 on May 19, 2014 9:55pm
When I was by-passed for promotion on the Sgt. exam with the New Haven Police for those with lower scores, the New Haven Register quoted Police Commission Chairman Richard Epstein, when he was asked why they by-passed white candidates, "We want the African-American Community to know that we take race into consideration when we promote". What did I do wrong?
I congratulate the Officers on "Ricci 2" as well as the firefighters on "Ricci 1". The City needs to stop the madness. Just give a fair test and go down the list, unless there is just cause to by-pass an individual.
Actually, when I took the last test, they would round the scores. They do not do that now. "Hey Dad, why didn't you make Sgt?" It wasn't my time.


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Guest speaker Peter Hews will give a presentation entitled; Earthquakes in the Sunshine Coast area: past, present and future at the first meeting of 2014 for the Sunshine Coast Natural History Society.
The meeting is tonight, Friday, Jan. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt. Refreshments will be served and new members are always welcome to attend.
The Pacific Northwest is seismically very active, since there are four tectonic plates meeting and interacting in the area. The enormous strain energies that can be stored by these interactions, are usually released by sudden plate movements, causing phenomena which we call earthquakes.
Canada's largest earthquake in more than 60 years struck off the coast of Haida Gwaii on Oct. 27, 2012, but thankfully did not produce a tsunami. There have been about 10 damaging earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest over the last 160 years.
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Hews has been a geologist in the oil and gas industry for more than 35 years and is based in Calgary. His heart though is the Sunshine Coast area which he discovered about 20 years ago and has solemnly kept the secret from the rest of Alberta.
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Ligand binding by Notch receptors triggers a series of proteolytic cleavages that liberate the intracellular portion of Notch (ICN) from the cell membrane, permitting it to translocate to the nucleus. Nuclear ICN binds to a highly conserved DNA-binding transcription factor called CSL (also known as RBP-Jkappa, CBF1, Suppressor of Hairless, and Lag-1) and recruits Mastermind-like transcriptional co-activators to form a transcriptional activation complex. Using bioinformatics tools, we identified a Rel homology region (RHR) within CSL that was used as a guide to determine the minimal protein requirements for ternary complex formation. The RHR of CSL contains both the N- and C-terminal beta-sheet domains (RHR-n and RHR-c) of typical Rel transcription factors, as judged by circular dichroism spectra. Binding of monomeric CSL to DNA requires the entire RHR of CSL and an additional 125-residue N-terminal sequence, whereas binding to ICN requires only the RHR-n domain. Although the RAM (RBP-Jkappa (recombination-signal-sequence-binding protein for Jkappa genes)-associated molecule) domain of ICN is flexible and relatively unstructured as an isolated polypeptide in solution, it associates stably with CSL on DNA. Recruitment of Mastermind-like 1 (MAML1) to CSL.ICN complexes on DNA requires inclusion of the ankyrin repeat domain of ICN, and N- and C-terminal sequences of CSL extending beyond the DNA-binding region. The requirement for cooperative assembly of the MAML1.ICN.CSL.DNA complex suggests that a primary function of ICN is to render CSL competent for MAML loading. On the basis of our results, we present a working structural model for the organization of the MAML1.ICN.CSL.DNA complex.
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Functional Genomic Approaches To Study Organismal Response To Global Environmental Change Introduction: Genes in Ecology and Ecology in Genes. Understanding and predicting the responses of individual organisms, communities, and ecosystems to environmental change is one of the great challenges for biology in the 21st century (National Science Board, 2000; Vitousek, 1997; Lubchenco, 1998). We propose to link responses of living systems to environmental change at the genetic level. We will answer the following questions: "What is the genetic basis for ecological responses to the environment? What are the genetic and regulatory mechanisms involved in organismal responses to environmental changes? What is the ecological context necessary to understand gene expression? Most environmental change studies span only one or two ecological levels (e.g. communities, and ecosystems), and thus are focused on the top half of the conceptual framework (link to conceptual model). 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We intend to leverage our strong ecology program and the Konza Prairie research platform to take advantage of new research opportunities at the interface of genetics and ecology. In addition, the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center at KU have a long tradition of excellence in addressing questions of biodiversity and evolutionary ecology. Both KU and KSU have a new emphasis on developmental genetics and genomics. Faculty at both institutions have developed new curricula (e.g., program in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) at KSU, and Molecular Biosciences at KU. Having established successful research programs, many faculty are ready to embark on new questions at the interface of genetics and ecology and to increase our competitiveness for larger-scale, cross disciplinary external awards. Functional genomics. Environmental effects on organisms are mediated by regulation of certain environmentally sensitive genes and processes, e.g. those involved in heat shock (Feder and Krebs, 1998; Feder, 1999) nutrient response (Zhang and Forde, 1998), plant defense (Glazebrook, 2001), disease resistance (Stahl et al., 1999; Bergelson et al., 2001), and N fixation (Zehr et al., 1998). Organismal responses to these effects are mediated through changes in gene expression, which influence the behavior of organisms, and thus impact the environment. Thus, there is a reciprocal interaction of genes and the environment We will use functional genomics in "model" organisms (i.e., those with well-developed genetics and sequenced genomes) such as Arabidopsis thaliana, Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster to understand the interactions of genes and environment. Since genes and regulatory pathways are highly conserved among animals and plants, the knowledge acquired from model organisms is applicable to native organisms in field settings (C. elegans Sequencing Consortium, 1998; Arabidposis Sequencing Consortium, 2000). Environmental change. The Great Plains biota and ecosystems have evolved with climatic variability (Axelrod, 1985; Hayden, 1998) and nitrogen deficiency (Seastedt et al., 1991; Blair, 1997). Environmental change predictions for the Great Plains include increased temporal variability in rainfall (larger storm events and longer intervening dry periods) (Groisman et al.,1999; Easterling et al., 2000), increased nitrogen availability (Vitousek, 1997) and increased temperature (Gregory, et al., 1997; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2001). We will implement projects (link to research projects) that meld the disciplines of genetics and ecology, many of which take advantage of model organisms. Our goal is to identify major genes and pathways directly involved in the organismal response to a changing environment. We will focus on aspects of global change most relevant to grasslands in Kansas: the amount and timing of precipitation, increased nitrogen (N) availability, and changes in temperature. We will use functional genomics to study environmentally sensitive genes involved in plant, animal, and microorganism responses in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We predict that changes in these drivers will fundamentally alter living systems in Kansas with effects cascading from ecosystems to genes and vice versa. Konza Prairie's research platform provides unparalleled opportunities because these environmental drivers are already being manipulated. References Arabidopsis Sequencing Consortium 2000. Analysis of the genome sequence of the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature 408, 796-815. Axelrod, D.I. 1985. Rise of the grassland biome. The Botanical Review 51:163-201. Bergelson, J. and Kreitman, M., Stahl, E. and Tian, D. Evolutionary dynamics of R-genes. Science. 292: 2281-2285. Blair, J.M. 1997. Fire, N availability and plant response in grasslands: A test of the transient maxima hypothesis. Ecology 78:2539-2368. C. elegans Sequencing Consortium. 1998. Genome sequence of the nematode C. elegans: a platform for investigating biology. Science 282, 2012-2018. Easterling, D.R., G.A. Meehl, C. Parmesan, S.A. Changnon, T.R. Karl and L.O. Mearns. 2000. Climate extremes: observations, modeling, and impacts. Science 289: 2068-2074. Feder, M. 1999. Engineering candidate genes in studies of adaptation: the heat shock protein HSp in Drosophila melanogaster. American Naturalist 154: S55-S66. Feder, M. and Krebs, R. 1998. Natural and genetic engineering of the heat shock protein Hsp70 in Drosophila melangoaster: consequences for thermotolerance. American Zoologist 38: 503-517. Glazebrook. J. 2001. 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Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report, Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. Knapp, A.K., J.M. Briggs, D.C. Hartnett, and S.L. Collins, editors. 1998. Grassland Dynamics: Long-Term Ecological Research in Tallgrass Prairie. Oxford University Press. New York, NY. Lubchenco, J. 1998. Entering the century of the environment: a new social contract for science. Science 279:491-497. National Science Board. 2000. Environmental Science and Technology for 21st Century: The Role of the National Science Foundation. NSB 00-22. Seastedt, T.R., J.M. Briggs and D.J. Gibson. 1991. Controls of nitrogen limitation in tallgrass prairie. Oecologia 87:72-79. Stahl, E., Dwyer, G., Mauricio, R., Kretiman, M. and Bergelosn, J. 1999 Dynamics of disease resistance polymorphism at the Rpm1 locus of Arabidopsis. Nature 400:667-671. Vitousek, P.M., et al. 1997b. Human alteration of the global nitrogen cycle: Causes and consequences. 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Advances in Mechanical Engineering
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 906120, 16 pages
Assessing Numerical Error in Structural Dynamics Using Energy Balance
1Department of Applied Physics, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Campus Diagonal Nord, Building B5, C/Jordi Girona 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
2Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, Zoisova cesta 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Received 30 May 2013; Accepted 23 September 2013
Academic Editor: Mehdi Ahmadian
Copyright © 2013 Rabindranath Andujar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This work applies the variational principles of Lagrange and Hamilton to the assessment of numerical methods of linear structural analysis. Different numerical methods are used to simulate the behaviour of three structural configurations and benchmarked in their computation of the Lagrangian action integral over time. According to the principle of energy conservation, the difference at each time step between the kinetic and the strain energies must equal the work done by the external forces. By computing this difference, the degree of accuracy of each combination of numerical methods can be assessed. Moreover, it is often difficult to perceive numerical instabilities due to the inherent complexities of the modelled structures. By means of the proposed procedure, these complexities can be globally controlled and visualized in a straightforward way. The paper presents the variational principles to be considered for the collection and computation of the energy-related parameters (kinetic, strain, dissipative, and external work). It then introduces a systematic framework within which the numerical methods can be compared in a qualitative as well as in a quantitative manner. Finally, a series of numerical experiments is conducted using three simple 2D models subjected to the effect of four different dynamic loadings.
1. Introduction
1.1. Targets and Interest of Our Research
Variational mechanics date back as far as the Eighteenth Century, when Leibniz, Euler, Maupertuis, and Lagrange devised the calculus of variations and the principles of least action. This methodology of treating physical phenomena is based on the notion that everything in nature tends to a state of minimal energy [1].
In structural engineering practice, there is a preference to use forces and accelerations rather than energy concepts. Unfortunately, this approach often limits our understanding of the phenomena, as, for example, in the case of earthquakes, damage is a function of the square of the velocity, and not so much of the acceleration [2].
In parallel we will deal with a systematic treatment of the numerical methods which have proliferated since the 1950s with the ever-increasing power of computers. This ceaseless growth in numbers and terminology has given place to a cumbersome mix of mathematics, physics, and computer science that is often difficult to grasp. We have used our work to propose a possible categorization according to the physical qualities which they represent instead of according to their mathematical properties.
1.2. Variational Mechanics
According to the principles of variational mechanics [3], the difference between kinetic energy and strain energy in a structural system equals the applied work due to external forces. In this way, by computing the energy scalars and carefully accounting for this difference at each time step, one should be able to infer the degree of accuracy of a simulation [4].
The correct values should not in any case diverge much from zero, and deviations from this value would give us an idea about how accurate and stable a method is.
1.3. Numerical Methods for Structural Analysis
In previous works published by the authors [5, 6], it was shown how the vast amount of existing numerical methods can be grouped into three main sets according to the kind of physical phenomena they represent and the type of differential equations they discretize: matter integration techniques (partial differential equations), constraint integration techniques (algebraic differential equations), and time integration techniques (ordinary differential equations).
Based on this concept, we have chosen the following matter integration implementations: finite element (FEM), finite differences (FDM), and mass spring systems (MSS). For the constraint integration we will limit ourselves to the constraint reduction (CR) technique, whereas, in the case of time integration we will study the Newmark Beta (NB), Hilber-Hughes-Taylor (HHT), Chung-Hulbert's generalized-alpha (CH), and Wilson Theta (WTH) methods.
All these time integration methods are available in a general-purpose commercial package, so we were able to establish a comparative reference for our own implementations. In the case of matter integration, we implemented our own algorithms from the literature and adapted them to our own purposes, also making a previous benchmark of their results with respect to those obtained by the aforementioned software.
1.4. Numerical Experiments
Three simple structural models under four dynamic loadings will be tested. The influence of the parameters time step, damping ratio, and the number of integration points will be studied.
The work done by the load patterns, along with the internal elastic, kinetic, and dissipative energies, will be computed at each time step and combined together to verify the Hamiltonian energy balance. Its integral through time will provide different values of the total Lagrangian action of the structure-loads system. The deviation from a proposed analytical value, whose computation is straightforward, would account for the level of accuracy of the implementations.
It will be shown how, whether used on single elements or complex systems with more elements, this methodology could be employed as a reference since the value of the action is a simple scalar which is easy to monitor.
2. Variational Mechanics
2.1. Principle of Least Action
In variational mechanics, the Lagrangian functional , describing the dynamics of a system, is given by where and are the kinetic and potential energies of the system, respectively.
According to Hamilton's definition, action is the integral through the studied time lapse of the Lagrangian
The correct path for a dynamic system is the one for which the value of the action integral is stationary. This leads to a minimization problem which is rooted in the variational principles of Lagrange and Euler.
2.2. Euler-Lagrange Equation and Energy Balance
For a single particle-spring system subject to an external force, the Lagrangian can be written as where is the mass of the particle, is the stiffness of the spring, is the instantaneous position, and the superscript dot indicates derivation with respect to time.
From Hamilton's principle of stationary action, and after some variational calculus, the evolution of a physical system is described by the solutions of the forced Euler-Lagrange equation for the action of the system: where
Substituting (5), (6), and (7) into (4), and deriving (5) with respect to time, we get the Newtonian classical formulation: where the externally applied force is generally given, and the velocity dependent damping term is a nonconservative force defined in terms of d'Alembert's virtual work [7].
2.3. Kinetic Energy of a System,
For a structural system under dynamic forces, the above equations are used in a vector-matrix fashion. Each of the points of the structure and its degrees of freedom are represented as terms of a vector, and the mass and stiffness of the whole system are characterized by a matrix. This leads to the following expression for the computation of the kinetic term: where is the vector of the velocities obtained.
In the present work, the construction of the mass matrix consists of the simple addition of the elements' particular masses in their concurrent nodes (lumped mass matrix).
2.4. Elastic Potential Energy,
When a body of some material is subject to external forces, its internal structure is deformed. The displacement of these forces in space is the source of performed work.
The scalar value of such work, in order to preserve the balance of energy, must be equal to that of the internal forces in the body (stresses) times the internal displacements within the material (strains).
The energy that is not recoverable is commonly dissipated in the form of heat. However, for the sake of simplicity the scope of this paper will be limited to the elastic range.
In elastic materials, the stored potential strain energy can be accounted for as half of the integral over the volume of the internal strains times the internal stresses. The corresponding formula is [8] where
In the case of the linearized beam depicted in Figure 1, we can define four kinds of strain energy according to the four main stress components: axial , shear , bending moment , and torsional moment .
In Table 1, the formulae for each of these strain energy components are given. The listed expressions can be either a function of the displacements along the beam or of the input forces.
For a structural system, where several elements are combined and attached in nodes, the equations that establish the behaviour of each node with respect to others are defined in the stiffness matrix .
The coefficients that compose this matrix are obtained through the different matter integration methods (FEM, FDM, MSS, BEM, etc.) by solving the above equations in a combination for all three kinds of stresses in all three planes [9].
Finally, in order to compute the total elastic energy of the system, the following expression: is used, where is the vector of the displacements obtained.
2.5. Work Done by Dissipative Forces
In every real structure the existence of damping is a well-known phenomenon whose nature is still not fully understood. In order to incorporate it into a simulation, numerical artefacts are created which can account for the energetic dissipation involved.
In general, a damping matrix is defined which accounts for the dissipative properties of the structural elements. This matrix affects the velocity in Newton's equation (8), behaving as a force which acts against the applied external forces.
The work done by this force can be accounted for by means of the following relation:
The simplest model for dissipation in structural dynamics is due to Lord Rayleigh and is known as "linear damping," "Rayleigh damping," or "classical damping." In this idealization, the damping matrix is assumed to be a linear combination of the stiffness and the mass matrices. Despite the numerous criticisms this model receives, it is still widely used for its convenience when combined with the modal analysis procedure [10]. Once the stiffness matrix and the mass matrix are ready, the damping matrix can be defined as follows:
The value of the mass and stiffness coefficients is determined by the solution of the eigenvalues of the matrix [10].
2.6. Work Done by External Forces
The total work exerted over a structure by the external applied forces can also be represented in a vectorial fashion as
In general, the vector of the external forces is known for each time step.
2.7. Total Action of the System, Energy Balance, and the Lagrange-d'Alembert Principle
In order to account for the correctness of a simulation, we can utilize the Lagrange-d'Alembert principle [11], which establishes the following relation:
If we withdraw the variation operator and rearrange the terms, this leads to which, in discrete form, yields
Having defined previously each of the terms, we can now write an elementary formula from which the degree of exactness of a simulation can be estimated:
This is basically the computation of an energy balance, where the Hamiltonian action is treated, in its discrete form, as an average over time of each instantaneous Lagrangian. In order to account for the external forces involved, we also integrate their work over time. According to d'Alembert's principle, these two measures should be equal when internal dissipative forces (hysteretic damping) are not present.
It is noteworthy how (20) also represents the first law of thermodynamics, where the value of heat (in this case added to the structure) can be associated with the kinetic energy of the system.
Any divergence from this equality gives a measure as to how inaccurate a numerical method is by means of a single value, without the need to find simplified analytical models whose assumptions rarely fit the real problems of engineering practice.
3. Numerical Methods
As explained in previous works by the authors [5, 6], for the simulation of structural dynamics three different physical notions need to be integrated: time, matter, and kinematic constraints.
Figure 2 shows a schematic of the process involved and its relation to the physical concepts of time, matter and constraints. Also for convenience, a list of abbreviations for existing numerical methods is provided in Table 2.
3.1. Matter Integration
To describe the dynamics of matter we have an infinite number of degrees of freedom because the particles that compose it can have arbitrary displacements with respect to each other. Such systems are described using partial differential equations (PDEs), where the time and spatial coordinates are related. These general partial differential equations, which are applicable to any solid or fluid material, are derived from the constitutive laws which apply to the material.
For the solution of these equations, two different approaches can be taken in order to control the number of degrees of freedom (i.e., discretize): creating a mesh where the material displacements are limited (mesh based methods) or establishing the equations in the form of potential functions so that they compose a system of particles that regulate each other (mesh free methods) [12, 13].
We have limited our study to three mesh based methods with different discretization schemes: finite element method (FEM), finite differences method (FDM), and a mass spring system (MSS).
For the general computation of nodal displacements and rotations, a framework employing the direct stiffness method (DSM) was prepared [14].
In our case, where beam elements were used, the analytical solution of Bernoulli-Euler is lumped into local element matrices that are ultimately assembled into a global stiffness matrix [8].
For FEM implementation, the description of the elastic deformation of the beam is based on a Hermite interpolation polynomial obtained from [3].
FDM establishes the relations between stations along the beam as a sequence of equations that form a linear system which is easily invertible [9, 15].
MSS is somewhat more complex since it requires previous discretization of the beam into a set of connected tetrahedra, but from the point of view of physics its results are clearer as the assumptions are that the nodes are simply connected by bars with a characteristic Young's modulus and area [16]. Some adjustments had to be made to the position of the masses in the cross section so that the inertia of the section would match the value assigned in the polynomial-based methods.
The global nodal displacements and rotations computed by means of DSM were transformed ultimately into local coordinates and served as input variables for each of the three methods above.
3.2. Kinematic Constraints Integration
In order to obtain the internal strains and stresses, bodies are subject to kinematic constraints. In this way a set of differential algebraic equations (DAEs), comprising the PDEs mentioned in the previous chapter, is assembled in the respective stiffness, mass, and damping matrices: Equation (21) shows DAE integration by constraint reduction (CR). The global stiffness matrix of the system is made nonsingular by symmetrically subtracting the columns and rows corresponding to the constrained degrees of freedom (: original matrix; : modified reduced nonsingular matrix). Consider Equation (22) shows DAE integration by Lagrange multipliers (LM). The global stiffness matrix is made nonsingular by symmetrically adding columns and rows where unit values are placed in the location of the constrained degrees of freedom (: original matrix; : modified extended nonsingular matrix). Consider Equation (23) shows DAE integration by penalty method (PM). The singularity of the global stiffness matrix is treated by scaling the diagonal elements of the constrained degrees of freedom with a very large number (: orginal matrix; : modified scaled nonsingular matrix).
There is vast a amount of literature dedicated to explain different schema from which stable, accurate, and faster formulations can be constructed [12]. In general terms, Newton's equation is manipulated in one way or another to isolate one of its terms. The possibilities are to do it either at the acceleration level, at the velocity level, or at the position level.
In the most common acceleration level schemes, predominance is given to the methods of constraint reduction (CR), Lagrange multipliers (LM), and penalty method (PM).
In all three methods the strategy is to alter the stiffness, damping, and mass matrices in such a way that they become invertible (after assembly, the stiffness matrix is symmetrical and singular).
By means of CR one simply removes from the stiffness and mass matrices the rows and columns corresponding to the constrained degrees of freedom, hence reducing it in size.
Similarly, the LM method increases the size of the system of equations in as many rows and columns as there are constrained degrees of freedom in the model. These "attached" vectors are zero in all their elements, except for those corresponding to the aforementioned DOFs, where a value in the range is inserted.
Regarding the Penalty Method, the corresponding elements of the diagonal are replaced with values that have several orders of magnitude larger than those initially assembled.
Equation (23) and Figures 3 and 4 provide a visualization of these methodologies as they are commonly implemented. Further analysis on their advantages and drawbacks can be found in [17].
3.3. Time Integration
Integration over time in a structural dynamics simulation reduces to the solution for each time step of an ordinary differential equation (ODE). The first possible classification for ODEs solvers distinguishes between explicit, implicit, and hybrid methods. This division arises as a consequence of the so-called numerical stiffness. This phenomenon forces the size of the adopted time step to be so small that convergence is never reached; or otherwise, the adopted time steps are so large that the simulation becomes unstable. This can be caused by the physical characteristics of the system (components with large differences in their masses, stiffness, and/or damping). However, in many other instances, stiffness is numerically induced due to either the discretization process, the large number of components and equations of motion, or sudden or accumulated violations in the constraint conditions.
Explicit methods present this kind of problem. The advantage of implicit methods is that they are usually more stable for solving a stiff equation, meaning also that a larger step size can be used. Nevertheless, extra computations need to be performed internally, thus requiring extra time.
For our comparison we have used the methods available in a general purpose commercial package: Newmark Beta (NB), Wilson Theta (WTH), Hilbert Hughes Taylor (HHT), and Chung and Hulbert (CH). We implemented our algorithms from [17–21]. The results obtained were in very good agreement with those of the commercial package.
4. Numerical Experiments and Results
In this chapter we provide the results of our numerical experiments, where several combinations of methods were used in diverse simulations. Three different specimens of increasing complexity were tested, and some engineering relevant parameters affecting each numerical method were systematically studied (time step, damping ratio, and number of integration points).
In order to avoid excessive complexity, the specimens were treated as 2D models and kept within the elastic range, considering the shear effects in deformation to be negligible.
4.1. The Studied Specimens
As mentioned above, and for the sake of simplicity, we omitted material and geometrical nonlinearities from our analyses.
The material and geometric properties shown in Table 3 are common in engineering practice, with values similar to those of a 200 × 200 × 2 mm hollow extruded steel bar.
The geometric configuration of each model is displayed in Figure 3, in order of increasing complexity.
Notwithstanding the obvious resemblance to a typical structural engineering application, the generality of our work and its potential use in the simulation of any mechanical object regardless of size or shape should be noted. However, the choice of parameters to characterize the strain energy must be judicious in order to achieve adequate stiffness and mass matrices.
Model A. The simplest model of choice for our research was a 387,5 cm long cantilever column under a lateral loading acting in its tip. The cantilever model is extensively utilized for the validation of numerical methods in the literature. It is composed of two elements, each half the length of the column.
Model B. A natural extension to this model from the structural engineering point of view is a simple moment frame, with identical geometrical and mechanical properties for each beam element as in the previous case. The load is applied to the upper left corner.
Model C. The more complex three bay-four storey frame is also shown in Figure 3. Its properties are again those presented in Table 3, and load is also applied to the upper left corner.
In order to represent the structural dissipative behaviour, Rayleigh damping was implemented according to [10]. It is based on modal analysis and uses the first two natural frequencies of the structure under study. The ones applicable to our models are listed in Table 4.
For comparison purposes, a frequency response function was computed for all three models. Its values are in agreement with those of the modal analysis of Table 4 as can be seen in Figure 4. It can be inferred from this figure that the more complex model C has the highest sensitivity to low frequencies, whereas models A and B should behave similarly as they have their strongest response to similar frequency values.
4.2. Transient Input Forces
A load of 10 KN applied to the tip of each specimen was scaled at each time step with an input signal of variable amplitude.
As presented in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8, four input signals were devised in order to stimulate the loading of our system: a simple sine function, a simple sine function suddenly interrupted, an incremental triangular function, and a ramp pulse, all of them spanning through five seconds.
A sine function with such a low frequency is seldom encountered in engineering practice, but allows for the calibration and tuning of the combined methods given its smoothness and clarity.
For the second signal, after completion of the first period it is interrupted abruptly in order to allow for free vibration of the system. The point of interruption, in zero amplitude, allows for observation of the effect of kinetic energy on the simulation.
The incremental triangular function was constructed in order to account for earthquake engineering regulations, where sudden changes and peaks are to be simulated.
Regarding the last pulse, it makes it possible to compare the performance of the numerical methods simulating free vibration and the effect of resonance.
4.3. Parametric Sensitivity Study
The significant parameters involved in the numerical computations have been iteratively modified in order to assess their influence in the simulations. For each type of integration the following parameters were studied:(i)Time integration:(a)time step influence,(b)damping ratio influence.(ii)Matter integration:(a)number of integration points along the beam element.(iii)Constraint integration:(a)no comparison was available, as only the constraint reduction technique is implemented in the reference software.Table 5 shows the values used for the characteristic parameters of each numerical method in all the simulations.
These values were not the subject of our study and were fixed according to recommended values from the literature [18–21]. It is important to note that Chung-Hulbert's method (also known as Generalized-Alpha) under certain combinations of parameters includes previous ones, whose performances are, according to [21], less accurate when low frequency excitation is present.
4.4. Methodology: Energy Computation of a Simulation
The evaluation of instantaneous energetic magnitudes provides a very holistic hindsight into the behaviour of a simulation, which is qualitatively superior to that of the displacement domain to which time history analysis is traditionally limited.
Besides, in the case of the single cantilever beam choosing the tip as the observed target is generally straightforward, but for more complex arrangements like, say, models B and C, this is not so trivial. The common choice of a "representative point" (the centre of mass of each storey, conversion to SDOF, etc.) has a definition which is always difficult and elaborate.
As an example, simple observation of the displacement behaviour of the tip of Model A would mislead the analyst to the conclusion that the results for signal 4 in Figure 9 are better approximations than those for signal 3, as the displacement values seem to be closer to the analytical ones.
Nevertheless, this can be proven to be less accurate than expected. Figure 10 shows the same simulation in the energy domain, computing some operators of the different terms from Section 2. The application of (20) appears in Figure 10 as . From this operator one can obtain that, on average, under signal 4 the simulation "creates" +0.69 N cm of spurious energy on each time step, whereas the same model, under signal 3—visibly more flurry in the displacement domain, "absorbs" −1.12 N cm from nowhere. In terms of absolute value, the first is closer to zero, apparently still showing a better approximation for signal 4. However, a rigorous computation should also take into account that the total amount of work applied by signal 3 is, on average, three times larger than that of signal 4. It is not equivalent to a large average deviation from zero with large values as it is with smaller ones. The formulation of an independent normalization parameter will be provided.
To define our measure of error we use (9), (13), (14), and (16) at each time step to compute the respective instantaneous values of kinetic energy , strain energy , dissipative energy , and external work .
Our methodology, based on (20), uses the Hamiltonian action integral minus the average over time of the work due to the externally applied forces, thus measuring the difference to zero.
Moving the Lagrangian term to the right hand side and including the damping term, we obtain: whose discrete integral in time gives However, this value is, by itself, not yet very representative. As mentioned before, in the case of large values of external work, epsilon also yields large values. For this reason, a normalization parameter was devised. It is based on the total work done by the external forces, but computed independently from the displacements and based on (13) and (16). It is obtained by isolating the displacement vector in each equation:
By combining (26) and (27) it is now possible to define our reference input work parameter: This reference work is completely self-contained and does not rely on the numerical method used to do the simulation, as the vector of the external forces and the stiffness matrix are given data.
Once this value is defined, it is possible to establish a measure of the error that is consistent regardless of the numerical method, applied force, or desired model of study.
The applied formula for each of our comparisons is then as follows:
Other options for the value of epsilon are also available. Similarly, one could compute (20) using the Hamiltonian and subtracting it from the applied work. Its time history is shown in Figure 10 as . This operator provides a lower bound for the evolution of the Lagrangian (most clearly visible for signal 4), as it balances the kinetic energy of the system against the potential and the dissipative energies. Its evolution in time gives information about whether the absolute value of the kinetic term is overestimated at each step. Given that the mass is kept constant this operator permits to verify that instantaneous velocities are computed correctly.
Another possible option for the value of epsilon is to calculate the instantaneous increment of the Hamiltonian, . In systems where the energy is constant, this value should be zero, but it is rarely the case in practical applications. Its main interest resides in the detection of segments in the simulation where the smooth transition from one time step to the next is lost.
One could also define the epsilon on each time step as the difference between the time-dependent calculated work and our presented analytical reference work . In a way, this computation appears the most precise, as the involved terms are of the same kind and the reference work is derived from a numerically neutral relationship. Apart from the possible error in the inversion of the stiffness matrix, the term is immune to the fluctuations caused by the time integrators. Still, this operator is not fully satisfactory. As the possible errors in the instantaneous work only depend on the computed displacement, its time history only provides information about irregularities in this matter.
The choice, then, of the Lagrangian (minus the damping energy when applicable) to balance the external work seems the most appropriate. Not only is its time history a valuable source of information for the analysis of irregularities in a simulation but also its integral in time provides a single scalar whose value should be zero. Given that the energetic terms are all positive, a positive value of this integral can only be caused by an average overestimation of the kinetic term (i.e., the velocities) against the displacements. Similarly, a negative value tells us to what degree displacements are unbalanced against velocities, as the internal potential energy is a direct function of them.
4.5. Numerical Results: Influence of Time Step
According to the methodology exposed above, a thorough parametric study was carried using the three models of choice. Figures 11, 12, and 13 present the values obtained from iteratively modifying the time step between values of 0.00125 s and 0.15 s for each numerical method, with a constant damping ratio value of 2%.
As opposed to the analyst's intuition, in spite of dealing with linear models we obtained curves that vary significantly from one method to another. Nevertheless, and as expected, this divergence is more pronounced with larger time steps and also increases with the complexity of the model.
The character positive or negative of the value of the error also provides a valuable source of information, as it tells us when the internal strain energy is larger or smaller than the sum of the kinetic energy plus the external work. As this term is dependent on velocity, it shows when the kinetic term is overestimated or underestimated. In other words, the higher the decoupling between velocity and displacement, the further the simulation is from correctness.
When the time step is larger, it affects the velocity, which loses or gains in phase with the normal modes of the structure and with the input signal. In these cases the simulation might either dissipate or absorb energy artificially. This explains the ripple around the abscissa presented by all the methods in all the simulations.
In terms of evaluation of the particular methods, it is commonly accepted that CH has better performance than the others, as it gives the analyst control over the numerical damping for high frequencies without loss of accuracy. As the sensitivity to those parameters was not within the scope of this study, we cannot give a view about such effect, but we can point out how, in general, in this configuration they all show fairly similar results, only diverging significantly for larger and impractical time steps. Although all of them are of the implicit type, meaning unconditional stability regardless of the time step size, our results show how this set of methods in general tends to sacrifice energy conservation. In most linear structural dynamics problems it is still not an issue, but for the analysis of nonlinear situations we strongly recommend the use of more modern integrators of the symplectic type, as those described in [22].
4.6. Numerical Results: Influence of the Damping Ratio
It should be noted that the damping considered in our experiments is of an external nature, given the fact that no material nonlinearities have been taken in to consideration. The corresponding Rayleigh mass and stiffness coefficients defined in (27) were obtained according to [10]. Figure 14 shows the relation of these values to the models used in the study.
The sensitivity of the numerical methods to variations in the damping ratio is presented in Figures 15, 16, and 17. For all three models the range of study was fixed between 0% to 10% of critical damping. In general, this is sufficient for all the methods to reach their asymptotic limit in almost every simulation. For models A and B a value of 2% of damping suffices to achieve stable behaviour with an error of less than 0.3%, which can be considered very acceptable.
4.7. Numerical Results: Influence of the Number of Integration Points for Matter Integration Methods
For the study of the matter integration techniques a similar approach based on the variational principle of action was adopted. However, here the definition of a reference parameter was not required as the analytical solution for beam elements is available applying the concepts of Section 2.4.
Instead, we computed a global action term, whose units are also those of angular momentum. It is defined as
The charts in Figure 18 were made by computing the instantaneous value of internal work corresponding to each different numerical method and averaging it over time. The applied transient force was signal 1.
The measure of the error was computed as a percentage of the difference to the analytical value. A positive error indicates numerical spurious dissipation of energy, whereas a negative error stands for artificial energy creation.
As expected, for an increasing number of integration points the methods converge towards the analytical value. However, they do it in an asymptotic fashion, reaching an almost flat parallel value after about 25 integration points. In general, the obtained error values remain below 5% for all the methods, which is completely acceptable in practice.
Interestingly, FEM presents the best behaviour only for the simple cantilever beam, creating spurious strain energy for the other two models.
FDM and MSS tend to dissipate energy in all cases, which means that, in general, they result in an underestimated value of displacement by about 2%, remaining on the unsafe side.
5. Discussion and Future Work
The total Hamiltonian actions of three systems under transient loadings have been computed for each possible combination of methods. A comparison was made on the basis of energy principles. It was shown how variational principles and an energetic norm can be employed in an easy and efficient manner to benchmark and assess the accuracy and stability of different implementations. The scheme provided, tested in three simple examples, is trivially extensible to more complex systems where more elements are present. The advantage of this approach is that it allows for the monitoring of the global behaviour by means of one simple scalar. Also, a conceptual framework for the classification and treatment of numerical methods, grouping them into time, matter, and constraint integrators, was used for systematic analysis of the results. It was also shown how methods of a different nature and concept can be compared using the same theoretical background. The accuracy and good performance of time and matter integration methods are generally taken for granted, as it is difficult, in the displacement domain, to assess them with certainty. Future work will aim at the application of the same methodology in material nonlinear analysis and in structures of higher complexity.
- C. Lanczos, The Variational Principles of Mechanics, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada, 1970.
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- J. H. Argyris, Energy Theorems and Structural Analysis, Butterworths Scientific Publications, London, UK, 1960.
- R. Aguiar, Analisis Estatico de Estructuras, Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles de Pichincha, Quito, Ecuador, 2005.
- S. Adhikari, Damping models for structural vibration [Ph.D. thesis], Trinity College, Cambridge, UK, 2000.
- F. Bullo and A. D. Lewis, Geometric Control of Mechanical Systems, Texts in Applied Mathematics, Springer, New York, NY, USA, 2004.
- A. Nealen, M. Müller, R. Keiser, E. Boxerman, and M. Carlson, "Physically based deformable models in computer graphics," Computer Graphics Forum, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 809–836, 2006. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at Scopus
- G. R. Liu, Mesh Free Methods: Moving Beyond Finite Element Methods, CRC Press, New York, NY, USA, 2003.
- T. M. Wasfy and A. K. Noor, "Computational strategies for flexible multibody systems," Applied Mechanics Reviews, vol. 56, no. 6, pp. 553–613, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at Scopus
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- G. D. Smit, Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations by Finite Difference Methods, Oxford Applied Mathematics and Computing Science Series, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 2nd edition, 1978.
- E. L. Wilson, Static and Dynamic Analysis of Structures, Computers and Structures, New York, NY, USA, 2004.
- K. J. Bathe, Finite Element Procedures in Engineering Analysis, Prentice Hall, New York, NY, USA, 1995.
- N. M. Newmark, "A method of computation for structural dynamics," ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics Division, vol. 85, no. 3, pp. 67–94, 1959.
- H. M. Hilber, T. J. R. Hughes, and R. L. Taylor, "Improved numerical dissipation for the time integration algorithms in structural dynamics," Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, vol. 5, pp. 282–292, 1977.
- J. Chung and G. M. Hulbert, "A time integration algorithm for structural dynamics with improved numerical dissipation: the generalized-α method," ASME Journal of Applied Mechanics, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 371–375, 1993. View at Scopus
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text:
NC STEM Certified School, 2014
Welcome to Contentnea-Savannah School. Use the links on the site to navigate the various resources for parents, students and teachers.
Make sure you check our announcements section frequently, as important information will be shared on that page, or use the menu on the right side of this page to view the latest news at Contentnea-Savannah School.
Click here for directions to the school.
Principal: Mrs. Frances Herring
Assistant Principal: Dr. Janet Stivers-Blaebaum
District mission: Preparing all students to be competitive and productive citizens in a global economy.
School vision: Enriching our students today, to find solutions for tomorrow
School mission: The staff of Contentnea-Savannah School believe that we can accomplish an effective learning environment by providing an opportunity for intellectual growth, physical well-being, emotional maturity, and social responsibility. We are committed to fostering these traits within each student through collaboration with staff, parents, community, and beyond to help our students become globally competitive citizens.
Proud home of the 2013-2014 Lenoir County Teacher of the Year and Southeast Regional Principal of the Year
The educator named Principal of the Year in Lenoir County for the 2013-2014 is now the Southeast Region Principal of the Year and will compete for statewide recognition this spring. Frances Herring, in her third year as principal at Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School, was the top choice among county nominees in the 13-county Southeast Region. An educator for 11 years, Herring took a circuitous route to the school house. A native of Lenoir County, she earned a bachelor's degree in English form UNC-Chapel Hill, but headed for law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. After practicing law for a year, she came back home and began teaching English at Kinston High School. After teaching for five years, she was named assistant principal at Kinston High, a position she held nearly three years. She earned her master's degree in school administration form East Carolina University. She was named principal at Contentnea-Savannah in the summer of 2011.
Under her leadership, Contentnea-Savannah, the county's only K-8 School has ser ed as the pilot site for several innovative projects, including STEM instruction designed to boost students' interest and success in science and math and a unique gardening and nutrition program known as Project D.I.G.
Congratulations, Ms. Katy Benton, on being named 2013-2014 Lenoir County Teacher of the Year!
Ms. Benton is a first-grade teacher at CSS.
Contentnea-Savannah School is extremely fortunate to have Ms. Benton represent us as our 2013-2014 Teacher of the Year. Ms. Benton is an innovative teacher who takes her first graders on educational adventures daily. Her intelligence and dedication is matched by her pleasant demeanor and willingness to help. The staff's selection of Ms. Benton as Teacher of the Year at CSS is indeed an honor for which she is very deserving.
Read more about her selection as Teacher of the Year by clicking this link.


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Issue #21: Breaking News!
Flame the Hybrid on Nov. 30, 2008
I'm back! HA!
Ah Ka at 6:21PM, Dec. 25, 2008
Wow... cool comic you have here. I like it. =D
Marik J Foxx at 9:33PM, Dec. 15, 2008
yoshirider4 at 1:09PM, Dec. 2, 2008
It's... alive!! Hi! :D
THKNN_NUL at 10:37PM, Dec. 1, 2008
BloodTh at 6:04PM, Dec. 1, 2008
Whoa... haven't seen this in ages...
Flame the Hybrid at 5:48PM, Dec. 1, 2008
Also plan on fixing up the HTML on here again. :P
Flame the Hybrid at 5:47PM, Dec. 1, 2008
[b]@ Kinuchio:[/b] Nothing much. :T [b]@ Miss Annoying:[/b] I've been trying to make the next issue. D ; Oh, that and High School.
Miss Annoying at 5:31PM, Dec. 1, 2008
where have you been? :P
Kinuchio at 4:37PM, Dec. 1, 2008
HOLY SHIT! (scuse' my language) Sup, man?


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Scholar in Residence Donald Brown Focuses on Climate Change as an Ethics Issue
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- Published: July 9, 2012
"I believe that global environmental problems have to be understood as ethical problems," says Donald A. Brown, who officially joined Widener University School of Law's Harrisburg campus on July 1st, 2012 as Scholar in Residence for Sustainability Ethics and Law.
Brown previously served as Associate Professor of Environmental Ethics, Science, and Law at the Pennsylvania State University where he taught interdisciplinary courses on climate change and sustainable development and also acted as Program Director of the Collaborative Program on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change. He also served as director of the Pennsylvania Environmental Research Consortium, which comprises 56 Pennsylvania colleges and universities working on sustainability issues.
Observing that Widener is "gaining a reputation for having a very productive environmental law faculty," Brown says that he has been following the development of the school's
Environmental Law Center
over the last several years. Brown and Distinguished Professor and ELC co-director
John C. Dernbach
were colleagues at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in the past and have collaborated on a number of projects.
Mr. Brown has written extensively on climate change and sustainability issues and in over 30 countries with a focus on the need to integrate environmental ethics with science, economics, and law in environmental policymaking. He is the author of American Heat, Ethical Problems with the US Response to Global Warming and a new book to be published in October, Navigating the Perfect Moral Storm, Climate Ethics. CNN and Time Magazine called ClimateEthics.org, his previous blog, as one of the best 15 websites on any environmental issue in the United States. At Widener, he will be continuing to write at
Mr. Brown began blogging on the subject of ethics and climate change law "as a way of participating in policy discussions as they unfold in real time," and "to raise ethical questions that weren't being talked about in the United States."
"I'm hoping to help Widener expand upon what its already doing successfully, and that is become a place of excellence in sustainability and environmental law," concludes Brown, adding, "I'm obviously interested in legal issues that are emerging because of increased globalization in economics and environmental law – a place like Widener can help people in the United States understand what's going on in the larger world."


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Assumption Historical Society/Museum
This museum displays old school pictures and artifacts from the town of Assumption. Open by appointment.
CITY: Assumption
Edgewood Golf Club
This 18-hole, par 71 course has water on 11 holes, many mature trees and several elevation changes.
CITY: Auburn
Original Brick Road
This beautiful 1.4 mile long piece of restored hand-laid brick road is a segment of 66 done in 1931 and placed over a concrete roadbed. Route 66 at its best.
CITY: Auburn
Curran Antique Mall
50-plus dealers feature antique furniture, primitives, glassware, etc.
CITY: Curran
World Cowboy Gunspinning Hall of Fame and Museum
This museum was established in 2003 to honor those individuals who have made significant contributions to the sport of gunspinning, made famous on the silver screen and television.
CITY: Divernon
Gebhart Farms
Located in Edinburg, this farm specializes in organically produced and certified pork, chicken and turkey products.
CITY: Edinburg
Elwin Antique Mall
Fourteen individual rooms hold antiques of every sort, including pine, oak, & walnut furniture; wicker, glassware, advertising signs and posters, books, jewelry, linens, quilts, primitives, granite ware, stoneware, cast iron, Fostoria, Fiestaware, country florals, crafts, tin chandeliers, country accessories and much more!
CITY: Elwin
Raspberry Room
A cozy country tea room known for their daily quiche specials and chicken salad sandwich. Located next door to the Elwin Antique Mall.
CITY: Elwin
Korner Cafe
A quaint cafe located in downtown Latham. They offer reasonable prices on home cooked food. The friendly atmosphere at the Korner Cafe will bring you back for more.
CITY: Latham
Hall's Jewelry & Gifts
An elegant shop filled with jewelry and gifts for you or that special someone.
CITY: Moweaqua
Moweaqua Coal Mine Museum
Houses a number of coal minig artifacts - Pictures, newspaper clippings, coal mining tools, and other mine related materials on display. Most famous for the explosion that happened on December 24, 1932 which killed 54 workers.
CITY: Moweaqua
4 - 7
Moweaqua Pow Wow Days
Come and enjoy this family-friendly festival with plenty of food, entertainment, and vendors everyday with a parade on Saturday. All of the events at the festival are located in the downtown park.
CITY: Moweaqua
Lake Lawn Inn
23 unit hotel. Restaurant facility on location. Room service and cableTVv offered. Phones in the rooms. Weekly rates offered.
CITY: Pana
The Shaker Loft Bed & Breakfast
Contemporary B&B. Shaker loft with king-size bed, Amish room with queen bed, quilt room with full bed. Wooded lakeside serenity, 18-hole golf course, driving range, boating and fishing available, reservations required.
CITY: Pana
Oak Terrace Lodge
Four guest bedrooms, three baths, two fireplaces, patio, deck, private loft master suite with whirlpool and suana. Beautiful A-frame nestled in rustic timber overlooking pond.
CITY: Pana
Anderson Prairie
This 25-acre wildlife park, featuring remnants of the original tallgrass Illinois prairie, features a butterfly house.
CITY: Pana
Stone Coal Log Cabin Village
Original log buildings in this educational village are from Illinois' early prairie years.
CITY: Pana
Lincoln Prairie Trail
This paved hiking and biking trail follows a historic rail bed for 15 miles across the Illinois prairie.
CITY: Pana
Carnegie Schuyler Library
A full-service library, the Carnegie still contains the original furniture, interior decor and double stairway that was designed and built in 1913 from funds donated by Andrew Carnegie.
CITY: Pana
Kitchell Park and Chautauqua Auditorium
This 40-acre park, donated to the City of Pana by Civil War Captain Kitchell, features the round Chautauqua Auditorium, Schuyler Bridge, a playground and picnic area.
CITY: Pana
Rosamond Grove Cemetery
Located on a high mound overlooking the prairie, this cemetery is home of the famous Lincoln the Orator statue by artist J. Mulligan and the Lincoln-commissioned cannon called Mary Lincoln.
CITY: Pana
Karla's Kollectibles and Antique Mall
Largest antique mall in Christian County -- Next door to the Dutch Mill Flea Market.
CITY: Pana


text:
I Can't Seem to Lose Weight, What Should I Do?
Question from Sam from Springfield, VA
I am very frustrated with losing weight. I eat small meals frequently, I stay away from carbs and fat, and I work out a lot. Yet I'm still overweight and I just can't seem to lose the weight. Can you help me Muscle Prodigy?
Answer from Muscle Prodigy
I'm unsure what you're doing wrong when you say that you eat frequently, stay away from carbs and fat, and work out a lot. This could mean one of two things. You're either heavily exaggerating or your definitions of what you've described are far off from what you're supposed to do.
First off... in terms of diet, I'm glad that you're eating frequently. That's very important. You want to treat your stomach like a furnace holding a fire. If you put too much in at any one time, it'll smother the fire and it will go out. If you don't feed it frequently enough, the fire will run out as well. We want to eat so the fire will continuously run- therefore you need to eat every 2-3 hours. When you stay away from carbs and fat, I hope you don't stay away from them completely. That means that your only source of macro-nutrients is protein? That's very bad. Not only is that harmful for your health and kidneys, but that's not the best way to lose weight effectively. Carbs and fat serve their importance in losing weight. You need both. Try to keep your total calories in check- whatever your basal metabolic rate is less 500 calories. Don't go too overboard restricting yourself or you will halt the fat-burning process. You should strive to eat no more than 30 g protein per meal- your body can't digest anymore than that. Strive for 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Carbohydrates should make up about 50% of your diet. Make sure they are low glycemic though.
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Date Published : 2010-12-23 20:53:02
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Norman's X-Men, as led by Emma and Namor, are the face of mutant law and order! The X-Men look played out of position as Osborn's dark reign falls over California-- but Scott Summers isn't done yet. The X-Men strike at Norman, at H.A.M.M.E.R., at his fraud X-Men and his sham Avengers all at once! This is the book where, at long last, the Marvel Universe starts to fight back-- and it sets the stage for next month's unbelievable conclusion in UNCANNY X-MEN/DARK AVENGERS - EXODUS!
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By Le Templar
East Valley Tribune
Jonathan Dean, 12, yanks on the action slide to load the 20-gauge shotgun, then sights down the length of the barrel.
"Pull," he calls softly.
The 5-2, 104-pound boy barely flinches as the shotgun recoils against his right shoulder. Hes found his mark: The 4-inch clay disc shatters in the darkening sky of the East Valley.
Jonathan is smaller and has less experience than many of the 118 boys and girls who attend statesponsored shotgun training at the Red Mountain Trap and Skeet club just north of Mesa.
But hes already thrilled with the experience, and looking forward to a possible hunting trip later this year.
Theres only one downside to attending the program at 6 p.m. every other Thursday.
"It kind of interferes with my homework," says Jonathan, a student at Mesas Poston Junior High School.
Gun-rights advocates say they have the answer to Jonathans problem. They want public schools to teach students how to use shotguns and rifles. With the help of Arizona Game and Fish officials, firearms enthusiasts have been quietly shepherding a bill through the Legislature that would encourage schools to offer a semesterlong elective, combining the use of laser replicas on campus and field trips to shooting ranges.
Landis Aden, a lobbyist for the Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association, said the class would teach children safe ways to deal with the kinds of weapons he says are found in up to half of Arizona households.
"Its a tool, its an implement, just like power tools or saws or screwdrivers," Aden said. "Different tools for different jobs, obviously. Once you take the black magic out of it or the forbidden object thing out of it, the temptation to fool with it will lessen quite a bit."
But some gun control advocates and public health experts are shocked lawmakers are considering such a policy.
A decade of school shootings climaxed by the killings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., has prompted rigid crackdowns that lead to suspensions for bringing even a water pistol to class.
Dr. Mary Rimsza, who heads the statewide Child Fatality Review Program, said all available scientific research indicates theres no "safe" way for schools to teach children about guns.
"Handling guns safely are the responsibility of adults, not the child," said Rimsza, a medical doctor and research professor of health management and policy at Arizona State University. "Any of these educational programs really are moving the responsibility to the child."
In the past, rifle and pistol clubs were common on high school campuses. But they disappeared as urban areas expanded and high school violence exploded on the publics conscience.
Arizona law allows schools to offer firearms safety training for children 10 and older. But in the East Valley, only Apache Junction does so and thats a program that focuses on urging children to avoid guns and asks their parents to keep weapons out of reach.
Parents can also enroll children in 20-hour hunter education classes. But that program attracts a relatively small percentage of the states students.
So Laden and Alan Korwin of Scottsdale, an author of books about gun laws, crafted a bill to encourage schools to introduce rifles and shotguns to their students.
While advocates talk about gun safety, the bill also has a political angle. The voluntary class would have to include instruction on the value of the Second Amendment and the gun-rights clause in the state constitution.
"Id be particularly pleased if schools would choose to have this program because it really does talk about the role of firearms to preserve peace and freedom and the constitutional roots of the right to keep and bear arms," said Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, the bills lead sponsor.
Laden and other supporters said they didnt work with any education officials while drafting the bill. Several East Valley school districts appeared to be baffled by the idea last week.
"We tend to focus our precious class time on the state standards," said Kathy Bareiss, spokeswoman for the Mesa Unified School District. "I cant say if this would be included without more information."
But Game and Fish officials believe there would be a groundswell of interest if the bill passes.
When Jonathan Deans after-school shooting program Scholarship Clay Target started in September, state officials expected only about 125 kids to register in the first year.
The program already has grown to more than 500 members and more shooting ranges around the state will be added in the coming months.
Don Winslow, chief of the Game and Fish education division, said a similar program would fit into a schools mission because rifle shooting is an Olympic sport and some universities offer full-ride scholarships to top marksmen.
But critics said children have little impulse control and a sense of invincibility that means more exposure to firearms will invite more trouble.
"There has been nothing developed so far that has been shown to be safe for children to be educated in that fashion with guns," said Hildy Saizow, president of Valley-based Arizonans for Gun Safety.
Contact Le Templar by email, or phone (602) 542-5813