Digital Commons Network^™

Minesweeper: Not Just A Game Anymore, Andres Mack

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Cornell MineSweeper is a nonprofit student organization founded in 2006 by Cornell University engineering student Vikas Reddy that integrates robotics technology and humanitarian initiatives. The team, comprised of over 40 highly dedicated Cornell students, is designing practical robotic vehicles—still in the concept stage—to assist with demining efforts worldwide.

38th Annual Wku Student Research Conference, Student Research Council, Western Kentucky University

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

Western Kentucky University 38th Annual Student Research Conference program and student abstracts. Saturday, April 12, 2008, Carroll Knicely Conference Center, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Most Popular Downloads -- March 2008

Institutional Repository Information

The month of March 2008 saw a record number of downloads from (73,204) and uploads to (814) the Digital Commons. Of 12,663 available open-access articles, 9,138 were downloaded at least once (72.2%). Overall, articles averaged 5.78 downloads for the month.

The 15 Most-Downloaded, March 2008:

The Probe, Issue 213 – November/December 2000 (3,523 downloads) — Monthly newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association. This issue is so amazingly popular because it contains a product review of the “Collarum,” a non-lethal device for capturing coyotes and stray or feral dogs. All those Internet users that you didn’t know were dogs …

Blaxican Identity: An Exploratory Study Of Blacks/Chicanas/Os In California, Rebecca Romo

NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings

Abstract:

This paper explores the racial/ethnic identities of multiracial Black-Mexicans or ‘Blaxicans.’ In- depth interviews with 12 Blaxican individuals in California reveal how they negotiate distinct cultural systems to accomplish multiracial identities. I argue that choosing, accomplishing, and asserting a Blaxican identity challenges the dominant monoracial discourse in the United States, in particular among African American and Chicana/o communities. That is, Blaxican respondents are held accountable by African Americans and Chicanas/os/Mexicans to monoracial notions of ‘authenticity.’ The process whereby Blaxicans move between these monoracial spaces to create multiracial identities illustrates crucial aspects of the social construction of race/ethnicity in the …

Citizens For Peace Minutes 03-12-08, Linda J. Lieder

Citizens for Peace

The film “Building a World Beyond War: A Roadmap for Citizens” was viewed by the group. It is meant to inspire us to look more deeply at shared assumptions that must shift in order for us to accept differences and adopt practical, nonviolent alternatives to war. The film also presents hopeful examples of effective strategies that result in safety and security for all the world’s people. The Mission: Beyond War is a community of people from around the world who are committed to ending the use of warfare in this century. They explore, model and promote practical ways of resolving …

“Multi-Track Diplomacy” Through Enhancing Interreligious Understanding: A Case Study In Abrahamic Trialogue Between Jordanian And American Students, Nick Doctor

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Interfaith dialogue has become widely acknowledged as a means to enhance interreligious and intercultural sensitivity, complement state-based diplomatic efforts, and attain sustainable conflict resolution. This study is aimed at examining the potential of Multi-Track Diplomacy, demonstrated through interreligious discourse, to develop interreligious and intercultural sensitivity within the young adult, nonprofessional demographic. The data and analysis is based upon research acquired through interviews with interreligious organizations, religious and academic scholars, and Jordanian citizens in spring 2008; and three interfaith trialogue sessions held April-May, 2008 with participants from the three Abrahamic faith traditions. The analysis indicates that mild tension exists between Christian …

The Path Of The Arrow: The Evolution Of Mongolian National Archery, Eric X. Brownstein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Mongolian bow, once the cornerstone of the largest empire in the world, has gone through changes in almost every period of history. At present much of its past glory has been lost to people even in Mongolia and while it technically remains as one of Mongolia’s three national sports it is of much less prominence than the other two, wrestling and horseback racing. Archery has become detached from its strong history and the sport finds itself in danger of extinction. The reasons for this are complex but can often be attributed to various archery associations which are run in …

Wsu Research News, Spring 2008, Office Of Research And Sponsored Programs, Wright State University

WSU Research News

A sixteen page newsletter of the WSU Research News. The WSU Research News was published monthly beginning in June of 1968 and issued by the Office of Research Development. This newsletter was created to provide information to the WSU faculty about the availability of outside funds for research and educational programs, new developments that may affect availability of funds, and general information on research and educational activities at Wright State University.

Editor's Introduction And Acknowledgments, Andrew Moreman

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

Analyzing Service Barriers For Trafficked Persons In The Context Of The U.S. Refugee Program: Strategies To Improve Service Delivery And Program Management, Hoa Duong, Tanya Ghani, Myra Valenzuela

Human Trafficking: Data and Documents

Research Question: The goal of this research study is to examine the specific barriers and needs of refugees and trafficked persons in the context of federal benefits and programs. The study asks the following questions:
• Are there differences in the needs of refugees and trafficked persons?
• What services exist for both groups and are there gaps in service delivery?
• How can program management within ATIP help improve service delivery?

Findings: The research study’s main findings indicate that although refugees and trafficked persons are similar in many ways, the latter have unique ongoing needs that require a more …

Imag(In)Ing September 11: Ward Churchill, Frame Contestation, And Media Hegemony, Erika G. King, Mary Deyoung

Peer Reviewed Articles

This study analyzes the Denver Post’s reportage on the frame contest between the dominant narrative of the September 11 terrorist attacks set out by President Bush and a challenge to that narrative in an Internet essay by Professor Ward Churchill. The authors find that by refusing to interrogate Churchill’s sociopolitical argument, reducing it to the offensive rhetorical trope “little Eichmanns” he used to describe the victims of the attacks, and pillorying Churchill as a person and scholar, the Post assured his counterframe would not achieve parity with the dominant frame. The authors interpret this as an example of media …

An Anthropological Examination Of Mandated Ultrasounds As An Element Of State Policy On Abortion, Anne Morrill

Anthropology Theses

Prenatal ultrasounds have become commonplace and widespread throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Ethnographic studies have illustrated that ultrasounds can have a positive impact on a woman’s pregnancy, one that establishes a relationship between the mother and the unborn fetus as a person. This relationship comes into question when examining the state’s regulation of abortion. Several states, including Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, South Dakota, South Carolina and Ohio have considered legislation that would mandate the use of ultrasounds prior to terminating a pregnancy. The specifics of these policies vary from mandating ultrasounds as simply an option for pregnant women …

Women And Combat: Why They Serve, Holly Zenor–Lafond

Inquiry Journal 2008

No abstract provided.

Generals In Three-Piece Suits—Contractors In Camouflage: A Critical Assessment Of Contractors In Iraq, Wyman E. Shuler Iii

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Contractors compose part of the total force for U.S. warfare capability in Iraq.

Some augment U.S. warfare capability; others do not. Some of the contractors are controlled by the military; others are controlled by civilian (nonmilitary/political) government agencies. The problem: Who are the contractors and how has the nature of government oversight and control over contractors determined whether contractor contributions augment or diminish U.S. warfare capability in the Iraq War?

Argument: It is the degree of government control over contractors that determines whether the contractors' contributions have a positive or negative impact on warfare capability. Ultimately the findings support …

April 2008: Pascal Delivers...And How!, Dacus Library

Dacus Focus

No abstract provided.

Developing A Repeatable And Reliable Methodology To Determine Return-On-Investment, Mark Cullen Nesselrode

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The high costs of modern weapons systems, fuel, personnel, and increasing environmental awareness is forcing U.S. forces to rely on simulation for training. Further, the need to train in a robust and theater specific environment is critical to ensure operational readiness immediately upon reaching the combat theater. Finally, the rapidly changing nature of the conflicts, crises, or contingencies in which U.S. forces are involved requires a new approach to training.

The purpose of this research is to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a methodology that can provide a reliable, consistent method for determining ROI in various forms, focusing on …

Examination Of A Nomological Network Of Team Leadership: A Construct Validation Study, Kari R. Strobel

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the construct-related validity evidence for team leadership measurement within the United States Navy. Drawing on literature from industrial/organizational, sport, and military psychology, the current research specified one nomological network for officer team leadership appraisal. The proposed model tested the idea that Naval team leaders engaging in transformational behaviors would be more likely to use and encourage the use of teamwork processes, increase cohesion among team members, and maintain superior mission readiness. The hypotheses were tested with performance appraisal data from 900 Commanders, Lieutenant Commanders, and Lieutenants from aviation, surface, and subsurface warfare communities. The relationships between the …

Grand Valley Forum, Volume 032, Number 34, March 31, 2008, Grand Valley State University

2007-2008, Volume 32

Grand Valley Forum is Grand Valley State's faculty and staff newsletter, published from 1976 to the present.

An Exploratory Examination Of Social Website Quality, Joseph B. Werling

Theses and Dissertations

With websites becoming the frontend for numerous systems, the system's benefits require customers to have a favorable evaluation of the site and an intention to re-use it. It must be considered to be of high quality. With websites increasing adding collaborative technologies (such as tools for social networking, forums, and blogging) a new instrument to evaluate the quality of these types of sites is needed. Before such an instrument is developed, an understanding of the applicable theories is needed. This study offers that background. First the potential benefits of this research and its guiding questions are presented. Next is a …

Operationalizing Offensive Social Engineering For The Air Force, Bryan E. Skarda

Theses and Dissertations

Social engineering is the art and science of persuading individuals to bypass in place security mechanisms causing the unintended release of information. It is a low tech solution to a high tech problem and is as much an art as a science. As is true of many such solutions, social engineering is both ill-defined yet extremely effective. Its low cost, high payoff nature makes it an extremely attractive alternative to adversaries that do not have access to all the resources of a nation state. However, with full backing, the weapon can become that much more effective. Social engineering is something …

Spartan Daily, March 4, 2008, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily (School of Journalism and Mass Communications)

Volume 130, Issue 23

Most Popular Downloads -- February 2008

Institutional Repository Information

This month’s most popular article, “RODENTS AS A FOOD SOURCE,” (from the Proceedings of the Fourteenth Vertebrate Pest Conference 1990) was referenced by food blogger Jesse Sharrad at http://corduroyorange.com/?p=273 and experienced 50 to 100 hits daily for several weeks afterwards. Interesting article, but lately I’ve been eyeing the campus squirrels and thinking “Brunswick stew”.

Other newcomers to the top of the list include Roscoe Pound’s classic essay “Justice according to Law” (from The Mid-West Quarterly 1914), which has a link from the Wikipedia article on Pound.

Theodore Parker’s “Strauss’s Life of Jesus,” an 1840 review from the Christian Examiner of …

Will Oslo Be The Next Ottawa? The Cluster-Munitions Debate, Jeff Abramson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

More than a decade has passed since the monumental Ottawa Mine Ban Convention was opened for signature in December 1997. Now, with the adoption of the text of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in May 2008, the global community is closer than ever to an international agreement prohibiting the use of cluster munitions. A review of the key issues underpinning the debate on cluster munitions follows.

United Nations Development Fund For Women, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has taken several measures to promote gender equality in all areas of life. These include not only several operational programs around the world but also a number of important areas of information collection and dissemination through various publications. These areas of work have been invaluable for organizations attempting to further gender equality in mine action. They have provided a starting line of information on how women are disproportionately affected by armed conflict and ERW as well as how women can be better integrated into solving the problems following a mine- accident.

An African Perspective On The Cluster Munitions Convention, Sheila Mweemba

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

On 30 May 2008, the international community adopted the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It is little wonder that those who were against a convention of this sort are still reeling from the shock of it. Africa, on the other hand, can give itself a well-deserved pat on the back for having played a pivotal role in the adoption of a groundbreaking, legally-binding instrument of which posterity will judge the results.

Social Security Privatization: An Ideologically Structured Movement, Judie Svihula, Carroll L. Estes

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

We document the cumulative change in expressions of support for Social Security's social insurance ideals to privatization,from the late 1970s through 2007. Social Security's basic structure and principles generally were supported by the United States government and in amendments to the original Act of 1935. However, in the 1980s market arguments began to proliferate in government alongside pension privatization projects by international governmental organizations and conservative think tanks. Although in 1983 Commission members concluded "the Social Security system is sound in principle.. and... structure," four members wrote a supplemental statement that emphasized market rationalism. By 1994 dissension in Congress was …

Ec-Funded Mine Action In Africa: Volume 2 - Country Reports, Ted Paterson, Vera Bohle, Léonie Barnes, Mohamed Ahmed, Pamela Rebelo

Global CWD Repository

The Evaluation of EC support for mine action in Africa is the first of six regional mine action evaluations that the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) will conduct or commission for the European Commission (EC). These regional evaluations follow from a Global Assessment of EC support for mine action completed in 2005. Given the broad scope of a regional evaluation, no attempt was made to assess the performance of individual
projects; rather, the focus was on EC mine action strategy and programming issues at the country and regional levels. In addition to a document review, the evaluation team …

The Illicit Arms Trade: A Social Network Analysis, David Todd Kinsella

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, researchers have increasingly turned their attention to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons. Small arms are difficult to track and are not the stuff of military parades, but they are immensely destructive. In addition to what is already circulating, a substantial percentage of what is newly produced enters the black market and is destined for conflict zones across the globe. I argue that the illicit trade in small arms shares some important properties with networked forms of organization studied by sociologists. I then employ quantitative methods developed for the study of social networks in an …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 83, No. 35, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

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

• Rowell, Larry. Suspect of Pearce-Ford Tower Peeping Had Criminal Background – Jarred Bray
• Siders, Neil. Students Rally at Capitol – Budget Cuts, Protests
• Day, Michelle. Condemnation Case Heard; No Ruling by Judge – 1672 Normal Drive
• Erwin, Jill & Neil Siders. Western in Top 10 of ONE Campaign Campus Challenge – Charities
• Ryan, Eileen. Staring, Reflecting & Remembering – Tornados, Gamaliel, Treg Turner
• Laun, Susie. Memorial Services Planned for Phi Mu Sorority Freshman – Sally Schiller
• Erskine, Anne. Editorial Cartoon re: Gannett as Darth Vader
• Hunton, Ryan. A …

Five Chinese Historical Events That Don’T Get Much Attention, Kate Merkel-Hess

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

After Jeremiah Jenne recently posed a question about “the most important Chinese historical figure most people have never heard of,” I got to thinking about the vast expanse of Chinese history that is so often neglected in favor of the (admittedly sometimes more-relevant) post-49 events. In chronological order, here are my five nominations for Chinese historical events I wish were more often talked and written about. What events make your list?

1. The An Lushan Rebellion

Led by the rogue general, An Lushan, the civil war that riled the Tang Dynasty from 755 to 763 caused death by violence and …