Yakima Valley Community College

Sietske A.L. van Till and Eline M. Bunnik (2024) have recently expressed a concern about science miscommunication regarding human brain organoids. They worry that the mereological fallacy is often being committed when the possibility of brain organoid psychological capacities such as consciousness and intelligence are considered, especially by bioethicists discussing the moral status of human brain organoids. Focusing specifically on one psychological capacity, namely consciousness, this article begins with a brief introduction to van Till and Bunnik’s concern about the mereological fallacy as it relates to brain organoids. It is then shown that whether the mereological fallacy is being committed depends on commitments in philosophy of mind about how consciousness relates to the brain and its neural mechanisms. This is demonstrated by appealing to two different example views about the ontology of consciousness embraced by J.J.C. Smart’s type identity theory and a version of hylomorphism. The article ends with a discussion of how neurobiological theories of consciousness can be intertwined with ontological commitments about consciousness that have significant implications for HBOs. An awareness of this can yield a philosophically informed application of neurobiological theories to the topic of whether HBOs could be conscious.

The Perspectives on Writing series addresses writing studies in a broad sense.Consistent with the wide ranging approaches characteristic of teaching and scholarship in writing across the curriculum, the series presents works that take divergent perspectives on working as a writer, teaching writing, administering writing programs, and studying writing in its various forms

Scientific works examining coal-derived nanoparticles (NPs) containing potentially toxic elements (PTEs) confined in marine suspended sediments (MSSs) in port regions worldwide is an understudied topic, despite the fact that coal NPs have tremendous negative impacts on marine estuaries. The general objective of this study is to analyze the NP levels of coal, including PTEs, contained within MSSs in the general vicinity of the largest Caribbean port in Colombia. The morphology, size, chemical composition, and agglomeration states of NPs within MSSs of the sampled beaches were calculated through modern electron microscopy. The methodology used to detect chemical elements, unfortunately with EDS, it is not possible to precisely specify the chemical elements of low atomic weight (e.g. H, O, F, etc.) Therefore, with the EDS available today, it is only possible to have an idea of the chemical composition of each detected particle. Thus, it was possible to obtain the average frequency of the chemical elements identified in the 23 analyzed sampling points. Through the results, more than one thousand particles were detected in the most abundant phases, thus, the most frequent particles in the results of this manuscript were described. Sample point 8, located closest to the coal export port, had a higher concentration of nano-toxic elements (Al, Fe, Si, K, Mg, K) most concerning for human health in addition to being harmful to marine life. This study suggests that public policies dealing with MSS pollution need to be discussed by public managers to avoid further and sustained environmental degradation. The need to create projects will subsidize legacy liabilities generated by coal in seaports in other regions of the world.

: This chapter’s case study demonstrates how writing placement that arises from and responds to local contexts increases equitable student outcomes and supports programmatic and institutional change. In the past decade, Yakima Valley College (YVC), a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) located in Central Washington, has shifted from a predominantly White institution to a majority Latinx institution. Local demographic shifts, coupled with increased intervention in developmental education reform by policymakers and funding entities, propelled YVC to adopt an “equity agenda.” YVC’s English department collaboratively developed innovations to ameliorate placement issues and to improve the efficacy of our developmental writing sequences, into which the majority of students and the vast majority of students of color placed prior to 2017. After COMPASS’s discontinuation (2016), English faculty seized upon the moment to develop a new placement methodology that combined alternative means of demonstrating first-year writing-readiness with a customized version of Boise State’s The Write Class. Since the change in placement procedures (effective Fall 2017), the majority of students place directly into first-year writing while maintaining high success rates. The authors argue that YVC’s placement reform plays an important role in the college’s mission as an HSI and serves as a foundation for reforms across campus toward more equitable and antiracist practices.