Word: lax
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...persist) is uncertain. But Harvard did, with Scalise busy with women's soccer, and a surplus of laxmen wandering around Soldiers Field, searching for a place to swing their sticks. The vacant tennis courts behind Palmer Dixon were finally settled on, but a tennis court does not a lax field make, with space enough for only a few players to practice at once...
...detecting cocaine use, which consists of descending on a unit without warning to administer urine tests on a spot basis. The tests are supposed to detect the presence of benzoylecgonine, a component of the drug. The system, like many an effective military operation, relies on surprise. Unfortunately, because of lax security in scheduling the tests, that element is not always present. Says one troubled officer: "In some places the troops find out through the grapevine about a urine test five days ahead of time. You can get most anything out of your system with that kind of lead time...
While this mainstream acceptance of marijuana as our generation's drug of choice has occurred, our legal codes have been evolving at glacial speed to come to terms with the new mores. For most of us, lax enforcement of marijuana laws concerning small recreational amounts has induced an indifferent attitude towards the legalization and decriminalization of grass. It is only those for whom marijuana is a major aspect of their lives, the heavy users and dealers, who have organized, with the help of public-interest lawyers, into special-interest groups, comprising a lobby whose constituency is the nation...
Moreover, computer criminals are rarely caught. Jay Becker, director of the National Center for Computer Crime Data, estimates that 99 out of 100 electronic swindles go totally undetected. In most cases security procedures are lax, or clever crooks have learned how to beat the system without leaving a trail. Says FBI Agent Paul Nolan: "In many instances, the criminal can punch just one button, which tells the computer to forget everything. Once that's done, the evidence is destroyed...
...ground rules clearly defined from the start. By letting the class know exactly what is expected of them, the teaching fellow is saying, "I know you're concerned about these things and they're not trivial matters." However, understanding the concerns of a class does not mean being a lax instructor. The students I have come in contact with at Harvard are highly competent individuals who prefer to be challenged and respond well to encouragement...