When Rules Are Invisible

HiggsResearchers at CERN laboratory in Switzerland announced this week that they believe they have evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson, or Higgs particle. The Higgs boson and the associated Higgs field help to explain, among other things, how particles achieve mass. In 1964 physicist Peter Higgs and five other researchers theorized the Higgs boson. Researchers at CERN have been colliding particles in the Large Hydron Collider to look for the Higgs boson.

The Higgs boson is part of the Standard Model theory, which explains the interactions and characteristics of subatomic particles. Researchers had accounted for the Higgs boson in their Standard Model calculations over the years. In November 2011, a CERN physicist said, “’For our theory to be right, we need the Higgs to exist. If it doesn’t, we need something to replace it.’” The question now appears to be what kind of Higgs boson researchers have observed.

Reading about the Higgs boson announcement reminded me of Professor Lawrence Tribe’s book The Invisible Constitution. The Higgs boson and the United States Constitution don’t at first glance have much in common, but the way Tribe approaches interpreting the Constitution parallels the approach of theoretical physicists in creating models that explain the invisible rules that govern the physical universe. In fact, Tribe himself draws an analogy to physics throughout the book.

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Doggie Drug Abuse–Public Policy Had a Hole Chewed Through It

PrescriptionsSurprisingly, Governor Scott Walker signed a bill this week, March 13, 2013, to exempt Wisconsin veterinarians from the state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program requirements of

1. Collecting data outlined in the state PDMP law, Pharm 18.

2. Submitting any PDMP data collected since the law took effect on Jan. 1, 2013.

I am torn on how to feel or what to think. On one hand, they are claiming this burden on veterinarians would have cost $7 million a year to the industry, ultimately passed on to the consumer of veterinary services. So kudos to the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association for protecting their members from the costly burden of recording and reporting and for protecting the consumer against increased costs of veterinary care.

On the other hand, the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) was introduced by the Pharmacy Board division of the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, formerly the Department of Regulation and Licensing, to protect the public. “The Wisconsin Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) is a tool to improve patient care and safety and to reduce the abuse and diversion of prescription drugs.” The duty of this department, which licenses all professionals in Wisconsin except attorneys, is to protect the public–the consumer and their property/animals–not the veterinarian.

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Usufructuary Rights and the Chippewa

I am only kidding when I tell my Property students that using the word “usufruct” on their finals will yield extra credit, but I am in fact intrigued by the venerable notion of usufructuary rights. The holders of usufructuary rights may use and enjoy real property that is vested in another as long as they do not use up that property or do harm to it.

The potential assertion of usufructuary rights has surfaced recently in conjunction with Governor Walker’s efforts to prompt iron ore mining along the northern rim of Wisconsin and to create sales opportunities for manufacturers of mining equipment. Native Americans and particularly several bands of Chippewa (formally recognized branches of the Ojibwe people) have opposed the development of the mines because mining waste contains sulfides that pollute wetlands, streams, and groundwater. And, as it turns out, the Chippewa have usufructuary rights related to the lands where the projected mines will be located!

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