Latest news with #Calhoun
Arab Times
5 days ago
- Science
- Arab Times
Calhoun and the rodent trial
American ecologist and animal behaviorist John Calhoun conducted a series of experiments on rodents to explore the effects of population density on social behavior, even when all essential resources were available. His most famous experiment, known as 'Universe 25', was carried out around 60 years ago. Calhoun created a utopian environment for a colony of mice, one that was free from disease and predators, with unlimited access to food, water, nesting materials, and more than enough space to support a population far larger than the initial group. The experiment unfolded in several phases: 1. Strive period: The mice adapted to their new environment, began reproducing, and making use of the resources. 2. Exploit period: Lasting from approximately day 105 to day 315, the population grew rapidly, doubling approximately every 55 days. 3. Stagnation phase and the emergence of the Behavioral Sink: This phase lasts about 240 days, during which population growth slows dramatically despite the continued availability of resources. During this time, strange and destructive social behaviors begin to surface. Male behavior deteriorates, and they stop defending their territories and females. Some males become aggressive, attacking females and young, and exhibit abnormal sexual behaviors. Cannibalism has also been observed among the mice, despite the ample food supply. 4. Social Isolation phase: Mice become unable to form normal social bonds or engage in complex behaviors such as courtship, mating, and raising their young. Another group of mice becomes completely isolated, refusing all social and sexual interaction, spending their time solely eating, drinking, sleeping, and excessively grooming their fur. This is followed by females growing more aggressive, abandoning or even attacking their young. Some females fail to carry pregnancies to term, and mortality rates among the young rise sharply. The natural social structures collapse as social roles become unclear, and essential behaviors like mating and raising offspring cease to function effectively. 5. Death phase: This phase begins around day 600. Although some individuals remain physically capable of reproduction, the few surviving females stop bearing offspring. The last mouse died less than five years after the experiment began, in 1973. Calhoun concluded that despite abundant material resources, excessive population density and overcrowding lead to the collapse of social structures and the emergence of a series of destructive and abnormal behaviors, which he termed the Behavioral Sink. This 'behavioral degeneration,' as Calhoun called it, eventually led to the extinction of the entire population. He believed the experiment offered important lessons for humans, warning of the dangers of overpopulation and its potential effects on social behavior and psychological well-being, even in a world of material abundance. The Universe 25 experiment sparked much controversy and debate, with some questioning how applicable its findings are to complex human societies. Nonetheless, it remains one of the most notable studies in animal behavior and the impact of environment and population density. The primary goal was to examine how overcrowding affects social behavior in rodents living in an ideal environment, free from predators and disease, with unlimited food, water, and nesting materials, to understand how overcrowding alone could trigger social collapse, even in the absence of other environmental pressures.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Burning of Nottoway Plantation
Firefighters from Baton Rouge battle a blaze as flames burst from the roof of the Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, La., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. Credit - Michael Johnson—The Advocate/AP Years ago, I was having a long lunch with a group of graduate school classmates at one of the most legendary restaurants in New Orleans' French Quarter. Memorabilia hung on the walls nearby and inside rooms. While I enjoyed my gumbo, I noticed my friends kept looking over my shoulder. The paintings, old menus, and other objects told the story of a mythical south where happily enslaved people worked at the beck and call of the kindly landed class. I had seen these images my whole life, so I was desensitized to them. But my friends who were from other countries like Canada and South Korea lost their appetites. Louisiana, like much of the rest of the South, is dotted with former plantations. But on May 15, 2025, the largest surviving plantation mansion of them all burned to the ground, reportedly due to an electrical fire. All that's left is a portion of the façade. All else is ashes. Nottoway, like many plantations, took on a second life as a location for weddings and portrait taking. As of this writing, the website labels Nottoway as a 'resort' with amenities such as a gym, pool, and tennis courts. The history tab of Nottoway's website provides a detailed listing of the diameters of certain oak trees—but nothing about the history of the plantation, how it was built, or what went on there. Many people, myself included, see the Nottoway Plantation as little more than a former slave labor camp. A place where crimes against humanity went unpunished and many affiliated with those crimes were treated as noble heroes. John C. Calhoun, Vice President under Andrew Jackson, often argued that slavery was good for America because it created prosperity for those who were meant to rule. Slavery was lucrative for people like Calhoun. By 1863, many of the wealthiest Americans were from the so-called 'planter class' i.e. plantation owners. Calhoun also had the audacity to say that slavery was good for the enslaved because it provided them with food and shelter, which they weren't able to provide for themselves. Movies like Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind brought this propaganda into the 20th century by showing plantations as sites of human flourishing where the best people lived the good life and the enslaved were beloved members of the family. In the later film, Scarlett O'Hara had pretty dresses, more suitors than she could handle, and an enslaved caretaker who gave her motherly advice. But these depictions, as we know, were fantasies. No classic Hollywood film tells the story of plantation life from the point of view of the enslaved—that would have dispelled the myth entirely. Such films did not show how enslaved families felt being forced to increase the wealth of others and as their family members were sold off to other slave labor camps. There is no question, the enslaved workers at the Nottoway Plantation during the antebellum era were human chattel. They were unpaid and unable to leave. They had no property rights, no rights to their own children, and no rights to their own bodies. Nor could they appeal to the legal system for justice even if they or a loved one had been assaulted, raped, or killed. The question at hand: how do we treat the physical locations of such heinous histories? In Amsterdam, a short walk from the Rijksmuseum and a park full of blossoming tulips, sits the Anne Frank House. Anne Frank, of course, was the young woman who hid with her family from Nazi's in the attic of this home. Eventually, she was captured and murdered. And there are the two 'Doors of No Return' along the western coast of Africa. These memorials in Senegal and Benin mark the locations where Africans were shipped away from their homelands into chattel slavery. In 2023, I visited the Doorway of No Return at the House of Slaves on Gorée Island in Senegal, where expert tour guides gave detailed lectures about the deprivation experienced by humans held in the building. (Some people were kept in the space under the stairwells, an area no larger than a doghouse.) With this context, it was impossible not to be moved at the end of the tour where the guide cleared the way for me to stand at the threshold of the doorway. There were no tennis courts or facials offered at the House of Slaves. Between 2017 and 2022, I visited Amsterdam three times on research trips. I tried to go to the Anne Frank House repeatedly, but each time I arrived, the line of people queued up to bear witness to what happened there was down the block and around the corner. By all accounts, seeing the interior of the home is a moving experience. Herein lies the problem with America's attitudes towards its former slave labor camps: they are divisive because they ignore their own histories. While there are some plantations that attempt to provide context for their past (the Whitney Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana is an excellent example), there are far too many former plantations where the guides offer revisionist histories designed to make visitors feel unbothered by what happened there. This is especially damaging when many visitors believe they are taking an educational tour. Most people would not want to take glamour shots at the site of a human catastrophe. Most people would be appalled if someone threw a party in the place where their great great grandmother was imprisoned and abused. Any attempt to turn the World Trade Center site into a vacation resort would likely be met with widespread resistance from Americans. This is because the past must be contended with. Reconciliation cannot come before recognition and mourning. If Nottoway Plantation had been serving the community it was based in, I'd be the first one devastated by its loss. But as it stands, my face is completely dry. Contact us at letters@
Time Magazine
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Time Magazine
The Burning of Nottoway Plantation
Years ago, I was having a long lunch with a group of graduate school classmates at one of the most legendary restaurants in New Orleans' French Quarter. Memorabilia hung on the walls nearby and inside rooms. While I enjoyed my gumbo, I noticed my friends kept looking over my shoulder. The paintings, old menus, and other objects told the story of a mythical south where happily enslaved people worked at the beck and call of the kindly landed class. I had seen these images my whole life, so I was desensitized to them. But my friends who were from other countries like Canada and South Korea lost their appetites. Louisiana, like much of the rest of the South, is dotted with former plantations. But on May 15, 2025, the largest surviving plantation mansion of them all burned to the ground, reportedly due to an electrical fire. All that's left is a portion of the façade. All else is ashes. Nottoway, like many plantations, took on a second life as a location for weddings and portrait taking. As of this writing, the website labels Nottoway as a 'resort' with amenities such as a gym, pool, and tennis courts. The history tab of Nottoway's website provides a detailed listing of the diameters of certain oak trees—but nothing about the history of the plantation, how it was built, or what went on there. Many people, myself included, see the Nottoway Plantation as little more than a former slave labor camp. A place where crimes against humanity went unpunished and many affiliated with those crimes were treated as noble heroes. John C. Calhoun, Vice President under Andrew Jackson, often argued that slavery was good for America because it created prosperity for those who were meant to rule. Slavery was lucrative for people like Calhoun. By 1863, many of the wealthiest Americans were from the so-called ' planter class ' i.e. plantation owners. Calhoun also had the audacity to say that slavery was good for the enslaved because it provided them with food and shelter, which they weren't able to provide for themselves. Movies like Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind brought this propaganda into the 20 th century by showing plantations as sites of human flourishing where the best people lived the good life and the enslaved were beloved members of the family. In the later film, Scarlett O'Hara had pretty dresses, more suitors than she could handle, and an enslaved caretaker who gave her motherly advice. But these depictions, as we know, were fantasies. No classic Hollywood film tells the story of plantation life from the point of view of the enslaved—that would have dispelled the myth entirely. Such films did not show how enslaved families felt being forced to increase the wealth of others and as their family members were sold off to other slave labor camps. There is no question, the enslaved workers at the Nottoway Plantation during the antebellum era were human chattel. They were unpaid and unable to leave. They had no property rights, no rights to their own children, and no rights to their own bodies. Nor could they appeal to the legal system for justice even if they or a loved one had been assaulted, raped, or killed. The question at hand: how do we treat the physical locations of such heinous histories? In Amsterdam, a short walk from the Rijksmuseum and a park full of blossoming tulips, sits the Anne Frank House. Anne Frank, of course, was the young woman who hid with her family from Nazi's in the attic of this home. Eventually, she was captured and murdered. And there are the two 'Doors of No Return' along the western coast of Africa. These memorials in Senegal and Benin mark the locations where Africans were shipped away from their homelands into chattel slavery. In 2023, I visited the Doorway of No Return at the House of Slaves on Gorée Island in Senegal, where expert tour guides gave detailed lectures about the deprivation experienced by humans held in the building. (Some people were kept in the space under the stairwells, an area no larger than a doghouse.) With this context, it was impossible not to be moved at the end of the tour where the guide cleared the way for me to stand at the threshold of the doorway. There were no tennis courts or facials offered at the House of Slaves. Between 2017 and 2022, I visited Amsterdam three times on research trips. I tried to go to the Anne Frank House repeatedly, but each time I arrived, the line of people queued up to bear witness to what happened there was down the block and around the corner. By all accounts, seeing the interior of the home is a moving experience. Herein lies the problem with America's attitudes towards its former slave labor camps: they are divisive because they ignore their own histories. While there are some plantations that attempt to provide context for their past (the Whitney Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana is an excellent example), there are far too many former plantations where the guides offer revisionist histories designed to make visitors feel unbothered by what happened there. This is especially damaging when many visitors believe they are taking an educational tour. Most people would not want to take glamour shots at the site of a human catastrophe. Most people would be appalled if someone threw a party in the place where their great great grandmother was imprisoned and abused. Any attempt to turn the World Trade Center site into a vacation resort would likely be met with widespread resistance from Americans. This is because the past must be contended with. Reconciliation cannot come before recognition and mourning. If Nottoway Plantation had been serving the community it was based in, I'd be the first one devastated by its loss. But as it stands, my face is completely dry.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Parent claims Florida teacher 'groomed' child to become gay, internal investigation says
The Brief Brevard Public Schools released a report after investigating a parent's claim that Satellite High School teachers were "grooming" her child to transition and become gay. The report detailed the steps officials took before deciding on disciplinary action. While a reprimand was recommended, the superintendent ultimately chose not to renew the teacher's contract. VIERA, Fla. - Brevard Public Schools (BPS) conducted a weeks-long investigation and released a 128-page report that details the steps officials took before deciding not to renew a Satellite High School teacher's contract. What we know Melissa Calhoun taught at Satellite High School for several years but was caught up in controversy when BPS says she broke the state law about using nicknames for students. According to the law, teachers have to have written permission from the parent in order to call a child by a name other than the name assigned at birth. The district started an investigation after a school board member contacted the principal because a parent said her child was being encouraged to transition by teachers at school. The district had several meetings with Calhoun, who said she didn't know where to find the permission slips online for student's nicknames. She also said she had not discussed transitioning with the student at all during the class. Parents and community members held another rally in support of the teacher on Tuesday before the regularly scheduled school board meeting. What we don't know It's unclear when the state will wrap up its investigation into whether Calhoun will stay certified to teach in the state. That investigation is still ongoing at this point. The district could hire Calhoun back but so far, it's unclear if they would in this situation. What they're saying In the report, several quotes were listed from the parent and teacher. "Both DeLaura Middle School and Satellite High School faculty members have been influencing and grooming her daughter to transition and to be gay," the report reads. The parent said teachers were calling her child by the "student's preferred male nickname." The school principal confronted Calhoun who said she had "no clue" calling the student that name was an issue and "she was not intentionally being malicious or breaking the policy." A school spokesperson explained in a statement to FOX 35 why the district decided not to renew the teacher's contract instead of just sending the letter of reprimand. "The decision was made by Dr. Rendell based on uncertainty surrounding the state's response to the incident. We do not have any historical data to guide us on a FLDOE [Florida Department of Education] response to this violation. We do not want to start the 2025-2026 school year with a teacher whose license may be revoked by the state…" STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 35 ORLANDO: Download the FOX Local app for breaking news alerts, the latest news headlines Download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather app for weather alerts & radar Sign up for FOX 35's daily newsletter for the latest morning headlines FOX Local:Stream FOX 35 newscasts, FOX 35 News+, Central Florida Eats on your smart TV The Source FOX 35's Reporter Esther Bower read through the report after it was sent to her by a district spokesperson. She also emailed for a statement asking why the district decided not to renew her contract. She was given one on May 20, 2025. She's been covering this ongoing situation for weeks and has attended other protests and rallies that have been organized for the teacher.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
21-year-old entrepreneur opens up her own Huntsville business
HUNTSVILLE, Ala (WHNT) — If you head into Huntsville Nutrition off of Governors Drive, you can find a variety of loaded teas, coffees, healthy shakes, and more. But behind the bar, you can find a working student who's turned her dreams into reality. Benefits behind Botox: How it can help with migraines, other conditions 'I didn't want limits over my head, so I knew if I opened my own that I would create the limits…like if I want a raise, I go get that raise … if I want more, I go get more,' she said. 21-year-old Dezarae Pate is Huntsville Nutrition's owner and operator. 'It was a lot saving up, but I did start saving up maybe a year before I thought I wanted to do something like this, and I started buying the small things along the way,' she said. 'Then, when it came time to renting, that's when I knew I was going to have to work a lot to make it happen.' Pate said she's getting her business degree at Calhoun, and she's spent the last four years serving tables, hoping to one day open up a business of her own. 'I was there like as many shifts as I could just to pay for the work to get done, and then I was still in school, so I did school online so that I was able to work more because I knew what I needed to get it open,' she said. Athens named second-fastest growing city in Alabama for 2024 With the help of her family and friends, she said they spent the last few months turning an old gym into the store space. 'We signed the lease in September, and then a lot of work had to be done to the building,' she said. 'It was pretty rundown, but now we got it all fixed up, and the journey was pretty rough, but I feel like I needed the journey to be the person I needed to be to open.' While this young entrepreneur's dreams are endless, she said right now, her main focus is growing relationships with the community. 'I would say the dream is just to connect with as many people in the Huntsville community that I can and, you know, gain friendships and relationships with those people,' she said. If you want to stop in and see Dezerae, Huntsville Nutrition is located at 3300 Governors Drive SW, Unit C. On Mondays, the shop offers special discounts all day long on mega Teas, and Tuesdays are two-stamp Tuesday on loyalty cards. They also do deliveries. To reach out to the shop, you can call (256) 801-5986. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
