{"id":1247,"date":"2018-08-02T13:11:16","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T13:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/?page_id=1247"},"modified":"2018-08-02T13:11:16","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T13:11:16","slug":"july-2018","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/inthenews\/july-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"July 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is the Supreme Court\u2019s legitimacy undermined in a polarized age?<\/a><\/strong> – By Kevin J. McMahon<\/strong><\/a>, Professor of Political Science & Director of the Graduate Program in Public Policy, Trinity College<\/p>\n

The Conversation<\/em><\/p>\n

When I learned Justice Anthony Kennedy would retire, my thoughts went immediately to the confirmation of the newest justice, Neil Gorsuch.<\/p>\n

The Senate\u2019s confirmation of Gorsuch was unprecedented in the history of the country. Never before had a \u201cminority president\u201d named a \u201cminority justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a scholar of the presidency and the Supreme Court. I will soon publish an article in the Chicago-Kent Law Review that considers the concepts of a \u201cminority president\u201d and a \u201cminority justice\u201d in relation to presidential appointments to the High Court for much of American history.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I mean by these terms.<\/p>\n

Court out of step with America?<\/p>\n

Since Donald Trump lost the popular vote in the 2016 election, he is, by definition, a minority president, elected by a minority of the voters.<\/p>\n

Similarly, I define a \u201cminority justice\u201d as a nominee who won confirmation with the support of a majority of senators, but senators who did not represent a majority of voters.<\/p>\n

Consider Gorsuch. He was supported by a majority of senators \u2013 51 Republicans and three Democrats. But the votes earned by those 54 senators only added up to a total of 54,098,387.<\/p>\n

The 45 senators who opposed Gorsuch, all Democrats, collected 73,425,062 votes in their most recent elections \u2013 a nearly 20 million-vote difference.<\/p>\n

There are now three Supreme Court justices \u2013 Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Gorsuch \u2013 that fit the description of a \u201cminority justice.\u201d And they are the only three in the nation\u2019s history\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Episode 40: Watching Vesuvius<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cTime to Eat the Dogs\u201d podcast<\/p>\n

Sean Cocco<\/strong><\/a> talks about the 1631 eruption of Vesuvius and its impact on Renaissance science and culture. Cocco is an associate professor of history at Trinity College. He is the author of Watching Vesuvius: A History of Science and Culture in Early Modern Italy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trinity College Foundation Testing Program Brings Precise Results To Homeowners<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hartford Courant<\/em><\/p>\n

For homeowners in Northeastern Connecticut who suspect their foundations might be crumbling, testing for the problem can sometimes cost $4,000.<\/p>\n

But now, thanks to a partnership between the Connecticut Coalition Against Crumbling Basements and Trinity College, a less expensive test is available.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Gourley<\/strong><\/a>, senior lecturer and laboratory coordinator at Trinity\u2019s Environmental Science program learned of the problem from his neighbors in Bolton. Gourley approached Christoph Geiss<\/strong><\/a>, the director of Trinity\u2019s Environmental Science program, and the two realized they could use magnetic testing to determine whether the concrete contained the dreaded pyrrhotite.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard about the issue, but I was like \u2018something is crumbling people\u2019s basements, what can I do about it?\u2019\u201d Geiss said. \u201cFor once, what I\u2019ve been doing for the last 20 years might be useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said as many as 34,000 homes may be at risk for failing foundations in large part because of a mineral known as pyrrhotite that was present in the concrete aggregate used for the foundations that are now crumbling.<\/p>\n

Pyrrhotite can be very difficult to test for, Geiss said. His and Gourley\u2019s test involves heating the samples to see when the material loses its magnetic properties. Concrete including pyrrhotite becomes non-magnetic at 325 degrees and regular concrete at 580 degrees. They also test how much sulfur is in a sample \u2014 which confirms the presence of pyrrhotite in the sample as well as estimates how much might be present.<\/p>\n

While the testing method has been around for some time, its application is new. Gourley said the tests they are conducting are much more precise than visual inspections done by engineers. He estimated that the lab processes about five to 10 cores a week\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Colleges in America and Ecuador Team Up to Study Dengue and Zika<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

CollegeChoice.net<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago, Ecuador built a new highway. The road ran from the north coast of the country to the mountains and connected the remote coastal province of Esmeraldas to the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

The highway brought a lot of change quickly: electricity, development, logging, and an unwanted hitchhiker: disease.<\/p>\n

Scientists from six colleges in the US and Ecuador have been studying the impact of that road on 21 rural villages for the past 15 years in a wide-ranging program called Eco Dess, which stands for Ecolog\u00eda Desarrollo, Social y Sal\u00fad \u2013 or in English, Ecology, Development, Social, and Health.<\/p>\n

Last year, Eco Dess received its latest funding: a grant from the National Institutes of Health to research the highway\u2019s effect on the spread of Zika virus and Dengue Fever.<\/p>\n

\u201cDengue, which is considered an urban disease, is showing up in our area,\u201d said Dr. Joseph Eisenberg, the project leader and chair of epidemiology at University of Michigan.<\/p>\n

He said the appearance of Dengue shows that the area, while still rural, is urbanizing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re interested in what it means to be urban and why,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Diseases are more than microorganisms. They\u2019re pathogens spread by people. Choices made by the communities affected by the diseases influence who is infected, how many disease vectors there are, and how the disease spreads.<\/p>\n

\u201cExposure to the viruses that cause Dengue and Zika is a product of human behavior and mosquito behavior,\u201d said James Trostle<\/strong><\/a> of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., a long-time member of the Eco Dess research team.<\/p>\n

Trostle, an anthropologist, is one of Eco Dess\u2019s principal investigators. He\u2019s been with the project since 2003.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Trostle\u2019s job to study the human behavior in the equation. He focuses on the way social networks influence the spread of disease, how human behavior helps mosquito populations flourish, and how rural and and urban development \u2013 road building in this case \u2013 draw people and mosquitos together\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Afraid of the Keto Diet Full Time? Try Keto Cycling<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Healthline<\/em> (7\/26)<\/p>\n

The ketogenic diet is hard to stick with. Really hard.<\/p>\n

But now a new trend is making the diet more accessible with a cheat day of delicious carbohydrates.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeto cycling\u201d is a more lenient take on the ketogenic diet that lets people \u201ccycle\u201d in and out of ketosis with a single day where carbs are OK.<\/p>\n

More specifically, there should be a planned day of higher carbohydrate intake \u2014 obviously, you shouldn\u2019t go crazy on sweets and other unhealthy carbs.<\/p>\n

Why try keto cycling?<\/p>\n

Many people on the ketogenic diet are likely trying to lose weight, but because of the diet\u2019s oppressive menu restrictions, it can be hard to stick to. This can lead to dangerous eating habits such as yo-yo dieting or even abandoning the diet completely.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a lot of my patients, ketogenic has worked fairly well, but the challenge for many is that it\u2019s hard to sustain, and they sometimes find that they go back to old habits after getting off the diet,\u201d Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD, a licensed, registered dietitian, and wellness manager at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, told Healthline<\/p>\n

Some dietitians and nutritionists have begun recommending keto cycling as a way for individuals to actually stick to the diet for the long run. The rationale is that by allowing people to have carbs once a week, they will be more fulfilled with their diet and stick to it and maintain healthy eating habits\u2026<\/p>\n

Susan A. Masino<\/strong><\/a>, PhD, a professor of applied science at Trinity College in Connecticut and an expert on the ketogenic diet, told Healthline, \u201cI do know that it would definitely not be recommended for someone prescribed the ketogenic diet for seizures, and probably not if [it] was prescribed for other medical conditions. However, for those who are using the ketogenic diet to boost health, it may be a way to gain benefits and sustain it long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more a fan of balance, so I don\u2019t see the need to go super heavy with carbohydrates one day, and light on the next,\u201d said Kirkpatrick. She recommends that, if individuals are interested in introducing more carbs into a ketogenic diet, \u201cthey should focus on smart carbs that are lower on the glycemic index, like legumes and beans, berries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is the Supreme Court\u2019s legitimacy undermined in a polarized age? – By Kevin J. McMahon, Professor of Political Science & Director of the Graduate Program in Public Policy, Trinity College The Conversation When I learned Justice Anthony Kennedy would retire, my thoughts went immediately to the confirmation of the newest justice, Neil Gorsuch. The Senate\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1424,"featured_media":0,"parent":683,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1247"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1248,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1247\/revisions\/1248"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}