Digital Commons Network^™

The Treatment Action Campaign's First Decade: Success Achieved?, Jung Cho

Honors Scholar Theses

South Africa is known to have the largest HIV epidemic in the world with 5.7 million people currently living with HIV, according to UNAIDS. In light of the crisis, South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has led the social movement for increased treatment access for people living with HIV through lobbying the government, multinational pharmaceutical companies, and grassroots campaigning. Since it's founding a decade ago, TAC has been highly acclaimed both regionally and internationally for its success. In order to determine the success of this social movement organization, social movement theories, such as mobilization potential, external political opportunity structure, and …

Weak States And Political Constraints: Experiments With Truth In Liberia And Sierra Leone, Robert Collins Painter

Political Science Honors Projects

Focusing on truth and reconciliation commissions in Liberia and Sierra Leone, this thesis examines which political conditions typical of weak states had the greatest impact in deciding the different levels of success between the two cases. Two conditions played a central role in determining each commission’s success: the de-legitimization of the state and political fragmentation. Their presence in Sierra Leone derailed that truth commission’s efforts to carry out its mandate. Conversely, their absence in Liberia allowed its commission to operate relatively free of political impediments, leading to greater success.

If You Want Peace, Work For Justice: An Evaluation Of International And Sustainable Peace Building In The Former Yugoslavia, Elizabeth Wasson

Global Studies Student Scholarship

This thesis paper provides an evaluation of international criminal tribunals and their ability to incite sustainable peace in ethnically conflicted regions of the world. This research focuses particularly on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the role it has played in reconciling ethnic tensions in the Balkans. First, an extensive review of the literature concerning international jurisdiction provides background information on the two opposing views of international relations: realism and legalism. Both perspectives of international relations have significant implications for the effectiveness of this UN Tribunal and whether or not such supra-national institutions are ultimately effective. …

Follow-Up Interview With Lijia Zhang, Author Of Socialism Is Great!

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Last June, Nicole Barnes of the China Beat interviewed Lijia Zhang, author of the acclaimed book Socialism is Great!, whose paperback edition has just been released by RandomHouse. Here is a follow-up interview with Ms. Zhang about her recent (and ongoing) book tour, her upcoming book, and women’s issues in Asia:

Nicole Barnes: You recently completed your book tour for Socialism is Great!Where did you speak about your book?

Lijia Zhang: I have not completed my book tour yet. My French publisher has promised to invite me for a promotional tour this autumn when the French version comes out. I’ll …

Timing Justice: Lessons From The Tribunals In Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, And Cambodia, Zoe B. Whaley

Political Science Honors Projects

Scholarship on tribunals for mass human rights violations overlooks how the presence or absence of conflict influences its effectiveness. I argue that implementing a tribunal during conflict undermines its ability to effectively pursue justice—as I demonstrate with a case study of the Yugoslav Tribunal. Ongoing conflict makes challenges of transitional justice more acute. The absence of conflict eases a tribunal’s ability to carry out certain necessary activities such as collecting evidence. I demonstrate this using a case study of the Rwanda Tribunal. Examining tribunals in Sierra Leone and Cambodia suggests that hybrid structures influence the effectiveness of these accountability mechanisms.

Advocate, May 2009, Vol. [20], No. [7], Gc Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

From the Editor’s Desk: Writer’s Block (p. 2)

Adjuncting: Stifling the Economy of Ideas. Renée McGarry (p. 4)

Political Analysis: Letter from Dakar. Michael Busch (p. 7)

Foul Play at Bard? Controversy Ensues After College Terminates Kovel. John Boy (p. 8)

Midlife Crisis for a Movement Icon: At 95, the “Peace Pentagon” Building is Hardly in its Dotage; Is it Nonetheless Nearing the End of Its Days? John Otrompke (p. 10)

Masthead (p. 2)

CUNY News in Brief (p. 3)

Student Enrollment to Hit All-Time High

Even on the Cheap, Education Costs are Difficult to Bear

While …

Growing Change: Local Foods Movements And The Emergence Of Global Social Change, Annie S. Virnig

Political Science Honors Projects

Local foods movements increasingly emerge as social movements with the power to challenge global norms. This paper develops around the question: can local foods movements create holistic sustainability at the global level? I begin by analyzing impetuses behind contemporary local foods movements. I then evaluate sustainability in three case studies – Auroville, India; the Twin Cities, United States; and Southern Africa. I ultimately argue that local foods movements can create sustainable change if they: (1) develop organically within their locale, (2) account for ecological, social, and economic implications of their actions, and (3) build translocal connections across multiple geographic scales.

Private Warfare: History Of The Increasing Dependency On Private Military Corporations And Implications, Erika Morris

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

A history of the private military industry, how and why it emerged, and why nations around the globe are becoming increasingly dependent on them. Investigates limitations and implications of these corporations and possible policy prescriptions to correct many of the imperfections currently found in the system.

An Obscene Gesture: A Civil Approach To Interpreting Community Standards, Nathan B. Laursen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Since the 1970's, obscenity cases in the US legal system have long been detennined by the three-part Miller test. Criminal convictions for obscenity have frequently been disputed due to the ambiguous nature contained within the three-part test, especially having the trier of fact apply "contemporary community standards." Technological advances and increasing homogeneity has added to the dubious nature of the test and some feel obscenity laws need revised, ifnot eliminated. Numerous suggestions have been made to improve the "intractable problem" ofdetennining what is obscene speech. This paper considers some of those possibilities and suggests commentary on others. One way of …

On The Development Of Democracy In Japan: From Samurai To Civil Society, Hamilton Tyler D’Aquilla

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of The Political Process On Education: Political Corruption And Education In Paterson, New Jersey, Curtis Martell Eatman

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Paterson, New Jersey Public school system has continued to produce low-graduation rates, high drop-out rates, and low test scores despite being taken over by the state of New Jersey. In this qualitative paper, I see to place the blame for Paterson’s failing schools not on the teachers, parents and students—which other scholars have done—but on the politicians (namely the Board of Education) for their failures in leadership, being inept, and all out corruption. I propose solid solutions to the problem of Paterson failing schools. This study builds off of the scholarship of Lydia Segal, who worte Battling Corruption in America’s …

The Political Application Of Humor, Matthew K. Harris

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In the weeks preceding the 2008 US Presidential Election, both major party candidates and their running mates made appearances on several late night comedy programs. Candidates told jokes during campaign speeches. Advertisements from both sides featured humor. In examining the campaigns of candidates since the dawn of radio and television, humor is clearly a weapon politicians believe to be important when running for office. In my Capstone Project, I hoped to answer a very basic question: Why? Psychologically, what factors allow humor to be a valuable tool for politicians in appealing to voters?

For the following thesis, I examined research …

Protecting The Appropriations Power: Why Congress Should Care About Settlements At The Department Of Justice, Todd David Peterson

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Theories Of Poverty/The Poverty Of Theory, Barbara Stark

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Analyzing Policy Issues In Presidential Speeches And The Media: An Agenda-Setting Study, Jessica L. Hughes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For decades, researchers have maintained that the president has a significant role in setting the policy-making agenda. In this study, a grounded theory approach was applied to determine President George W. Bush's success in focusing the media's attention toward policies mentioned in his State of the Union Addresses (2002-2008). Bush's issue priorities were determined by coding individual paragraphs as themes. To identify the frequency of these same themes in the media, the front pages of The L.A. Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post were analyzed one week before and after each address. Coding was limited to every …

A Monster Mash(Up) With Chinese Characteristics: Breaking News From The Prc For Those Intrigued By The "Pride And Prejudice And Zombies" Phenomenon

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

By the end of this post, readers will have been able to click on a word to be introduced to the sounds of “Redgrass Music” (a genre that uses Chinese instruments in a novel manner), seen the special look of a curious vehicle recently displayed in Shanghai that one journalist has said should be called a “Lexiac” ( like a Pontiac from the front, like a Lexus from behind), and discovered something important that Zhang Yimou and Jane Austen have in common (hint: surprise appearances by the undead are involved in each case). First, though, some background about “mash-ups” (aka …

Digital Traces Of 1989

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

China Beat sent out a note to a few scholars and journalists who have carefully watched and written about the events of 1989, asking them to send in short commentaries detailing what they wish more people knew, associated with, or remembered about that spring. We ran the first piece in this limited series, by John Gittings, on April 23, the second, by Jonathan Unger, on April 26. This is the third piece.

Yang Guobin is an Associate Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College. He has written essays on many subjects, including the students protests of 1989, …

Informal Institutions: Proportional Representation And Single Party Dominance In South Africa, Sebastian Watt

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

The Forgotten Meaning Of Tiananmen, Philip J. Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

“Tiananmen” is a taboo topic in China. But even in places where it is remembered and commemorated, the Beijing student movement of 1989 is best known for its bloody ending on June 4, a tragic turning point of unquestioned significance, but one which tends to obscure the amazing weeks of restraint, harmony and cooperation in crowds that swelled to a million at the height of an entirely peaceful and extremely popular social movement.

Twenty years ago, as hundreds of thousands demonstrated day after day in Beijing, as ordinary citizens joined in or supported the student protesters with offers of food, …

It’S Just History: Patriotic Education In The Prc, Julia Lovell

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

It’s now a year since Chinese nationalism had its last big public outing. On April 19, 2008, twelve days after pro-Tibet protesters in Paris tried to grab the Olympic flame from a wheelchair-bound Chinese paralympian, patriotic civilians began mobilising protests around the French embassy in Beijing, and outside Carrefours in at least four different Chinese cities. “Protect Our Tibet! Bless Our Olympics! Boycott Carrefour!” declared banners at demonstrations on the northeast coast. “Say No to French Imperialists!”

As popular outrage grew about perceived anti-Chinese bias in Western reporting on the riots in Tibet and opposition to the torch relay, more …

Tiananmen Moon: Excerpt, Philip J. Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

“Tiananmen,” whispers Chai Ling.

“What?” I ask, comprehending without comprehension.

“I’d like to see Tiananmen, one last time.”

We skip the turn to the train station—she and Wang Li had been talking about catching the first train out of Beijing– and instead continue east on Chang’an. As the car approaches the familiar student-controlled zone around Tiananmen Square, I try to make sense of what we are doing.

I had just delivered to the international media a candid interview with a wanted student leader who said she is going to run away, while speaking forthrightly about imminent bloodshed and the desire …

China Events: Dc And Boston

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

We’ve published a few pieces lately on China’s coming water crisis, including Ken Pomeranz’s “China’s Water Woes” (2/12/09). Tomorrow (April 22 from 9-11 a.m. EST), the Wilson Center will host a roundtable on “Asia’s Next Challenge — Securing the Region’s Water,” for those interested in learning more. For those who aren’t in the DC-area, the talks (by Saleem Ali, Geoff Dabelko, Suzanne DiMaggio) will be webcast live (so you can log onto the above link to watch).

Readers in the Boston area might be interested in this upcoming event on Chinese media at the Fairbank Center:

Does the Party Still …

We Speak For Ourselves: Grassroots Movements In The Struggle For Environmental Justice, Christopher O'Brien

Global Studies Student Scholarship

This literature review and thesis examine two main issues, one on grassroots and community organizing and the other discussing the implications of environmental racism. The paper examines the nature of why low income and minority communities experience a disproportionate amount of environmental injustices, and what can be done at the grassroots level to combat this. Through a review of literature on both community/grassroots organizing and the prevalence of environmental racism within the United States, along with experiential findings through a community partnership, the issues of remedying environmental racism and the effectiveness of the remedies are explored. Environmental racism is a …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 84, No. 46, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Articles:

• Barczak, Mary. All Smiles, Kevin Smiley Wins Student Government Association Election
• Shay, Meg. I Won’t Give Up – James Neighbors, Homelessness
• Howerton, Christina. Universities Feel Pain of Recession
• Barczak, Mary. Clubs Suffer from Money Problems – Sister 2 Sister
• Pajares, Elio. A Thousand Words – Melissa Blankenship, Baptist Campus Ministry
• Hale, Marianne. Tea Party Protest Draws Larger Crowd Than Expected
• Tobin, Whitley. Phresh Pham to Host Open Mic Night
• Erskine, Anne. Editorial Cartoon re: Pedestrian Safety
• Exercise Some Crosswalk Courtesy
• Hughey, Aaron. The Problem with Standardized Tests
• Dooper, …

Tiananmen Moon: Preface, Philip J. Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

If getting caught up in a popular uprising in China has taught me anything, it is that the past, present and future flow together as one with ferocious intensity. Looking back now at the eventful uprising at Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989 makes it all the more clear that what happened there was shaped by things that came before; and today’s China, basking in a post-Olympic glow and new-found national strength, is still profoundly haunted by the seminal events of 1989, though the topic is strictly taboo in the media and still feared by influential people in the leadership. …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 84, No. 45, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Aricles:

• Lintner, Jonathan. Western Graduate Kenny Perry Nearly Wins Masters – Golf
• Ulber, Emily. Western Implements New Emergency Procedures – Emergency Management
• Waggoner, Tabitha. Night of Mayhem – Concert
• Simpson, Mandy. Western Fails 2 Equal Opportunity Goals – Integration, Discrimination
• Erskine, Anne. Editorial Cartoon re: National Political Issues – Big Red, Uncle Sam
• Students Should Care About Issues That Could Affect Them
• Bryan, Kendrick. The Student Government Association Needs to Display Championship Effort – Elections
• Hale, Marianne. Tax Tea Party Wednesday – Protests, Demonstrations, DontGoMovement
• McCrarey, Magen. Professor Offers …

From Mumbai To Beijing: China For Indian Readers, Angilee Shah

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In the land of news-meets-the-Internet, China has been fertile soil for very interesting blogs by journalists. There’s Evan Osnos’ Letters from China at theNew Yorker, the China Journal at the Wall Street Journal, Pomfret’s China (John Pomfret, that is) from the Washington Post, James Fallows‘ often-China blog onThe Atlantic, Peter Foster and Richard Spencer at the Telegraph, The New York Times reporter Howard French’s non-New York Times’ blog, and last but not least, Tim Johnson’s long-standing China Rises for McClatchy Newspapers. Though this list is long, it is not exhaustive.

Perhaps what is most interesting about these blogs is the …

The Plight Of The Roma In Italy: Human Rights Injustices Of A Feared Minority, Alexandra Errante

Global Studies Student Scholarship

Human rights is unique in that it has a universal affect on everyone world-wide no matter his or her nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or economic standing. In order to narrow this down, the intention of this thesis is to explore a specific topic in regards to the overlying issue of human rights. This thesis provides evidence of the mistreatment and blatant racism that is inflicted upon the Roma living in Italy and this paper makes the claim that this is the fault of the Italian government. The methodology used for the community engagement portion of the thesis …

Abrahamic Faith-Based Ngos: A New Approach To Peacemaking And Development, Nicole Chininis

Global Studies Student Scholarship

This thesis examines the new phenomenon of faith-based nongovernmental organizations and their work in peacemaking and development. In our current globalized world, religion has become a heated topic, often times being the cause of international conflict. However, this argument proves that religion, specifically those of the Abrahamic faiths, and which has been used as a means in peacemaking for many years, is now coming to the forefront of providing a strong foundation for NGOs to thrive. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have some of the most popular, successful, and expansive NGOs currently involved with humanitarian aid and peacemaking. This paper goes …

Cultural Culinary Wisdom: Combating The Nutrition Transition, Alanna O'Neil

Global Studies Student Scholarship

The nutrition transition is a rapidly developing global problem. The disparity between the rates of global obesity and malnutrition is diminishing. Westernization and industrialization are serious factors contributing to the global food and dietary epidemic. As a result, food cultures are threatened by dietary changes inflicted by Westernization. Moreover, rates of diet related non-communicable diseases are on the rise as never seen before. This study examines the problem of the nutrition transition through the context of the prevalence of food cultures, case studies, culinary recipes, dietary habits, and cultural transitions. Supporting this research is a dietary survey of study abroad …