Digital Commons Network^™

Maps Behind Bars: A Spatial Study Into Wrongful Convictions And Social Equality, Bailee Kinghorn, Emma Milne, Camille Heaton

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Wrongful convictions are representative of errors in the criminal justice system. Often reflecting broad patterns of social inequality, prior research suggests that structural factors may influence the likelihood of conviction and access to legal resources. This project investigates how these social equality indicators correlate with wrongful convictions at the county level across the United States. Using data from the National Institute of Health and the National Registry of Exonerations, we aggregate measures of education, poverty, and non-English-speaking populations normalized by population density and combine them with exoneration records to create a series of comparative maps. Through spatial analysis in ArcGIS, …

Fallow Ground, Eli Kerns

Theses and Dissertations

Fallow Ground refers to the agricultural practice of intentionally leaving a field unseeded for a year or more in order to restore fertility and interrupt cycles of depletion. Although fallowing is a beneficial and necessary practice, the term has also come to signify waste or a lack of productivity. This double meaning is central to the work, reflecting a central contradiction: that withdrawal can be as vital as effort, and that rest, like labor, can function as a deliberate and sustaining act. The question I explore in this work is how to organize, understand, and live with these contradictions. Through …

Data Siloing As A Solution To Google’S Illegal Monopoly, Derek Polson, Victoria Wood

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

While the court-issued remedies prescribed in United States of America v. Google LLC (2024) aim to curb Google’s use of anticompetitive practices, they fail to address the structural mechanisms that sustain its monopoly. Antitrust remedies in the U.S. traditionally seek to (1) end anticompetitive practices and (2) reopen competitive market conditions. The court’s approach in this case does neither. By leaving intact Google’s ability to leverage significant barriers to entry and its unparalleled big data advantage, the court’s remedies preserve the very conditions that entrench Google’s dominance in the digital advertising and search engine markets. This note argues that data …

The Implication Of Permanence: Indigenous Water Rights In The State Of Arizona V. Navajo Nation, Collin Powell

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

In the State of Arizona v. Navajo Nation, the Supreme Court asked the Navajo to accept a contradiction. In light of disagreements over water rights between Arizona and the Navajo Tribe, members of the Navajo pointed to the Treaty of Bosque Redondo. The Treaty was a compromise between the Navajo and US Officials to reparate the Navajo after “The Long Walk”: a series of forced relocations against the Natives that resulted in over 2,500 deaths. Among these reparations was the guarantee of a “permanent home” on US federal lands. For over a century, case law defined a “permanent home” to …

Full Issue

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

No abstract provided.

Thinking Ahead: Ranking Substantive Canons To Protect Loper Bright, Tanner Macdonald

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

After forty-two years, the Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in their decision Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024). The decision suggested a rising inclination towards legal formalism in cases of statutory interpretation. This Note argues that if the Court intends statutes to be interpreted in accordance with formalism, clarification is needed. Loper Bright was not sufficient to clear up the inconsistencies in statutory interpretation that the Court used to overrule Chevron. Without a strong prescription, Loper Bright will eventually collapse on itself. A formal ranking of substantive canons is one type of structure that would support Loper Bright and enable …

Rethinking Antitrust In The Age Of Fintech, Quaid Knell, Olivia Mossman

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

In cases involving large technology firms, current antitrust laws are proving difficult to enforce when applied through the traditional framework of price-centered metrics. Financial technology (fintech) companies are firms that integrate digital technology into financial services and operate through multi-sided platforms, and they are growing in number. This increased number of firms introduces the next challenge for antitrust enforcement, as traditional definitions of market dominance and monopolistic behavior are ill-suited to the realities of the digital landscape. Although there are no current antitrust lawsuits against major fintech firms, their existing structures and business models, if left unexamined, allow these firms …

“Loophole Of The Century”: Routine Use And The Privacy Act Of 1974, Joslynn Jensen

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

This Note examines structural weaknesses in the Privacy Act of 1974 and argues that the statute no longer provides meaningful safeguards for personal information held by federal agencies. Enacted in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, the Act was designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and individual control over government recordkeeping systems. However, two core features—the routine-use exception and the Act’s narrow remedial structure—have undermined these protections. The routine-use provision permits agencies to disclose personal records without individualized consent so long as the disclosure is deemed “compatible” with the purpose of collection and published in the Federal Register, a form of …

Good Faith And The Ministerial Exception, Kailey Hopkins, Nathan Gurr

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, lower courts, in attempting to adhere to the ruling, have largely disregarded the Court’s explicit instruction to avoid adopting a “rigid formula” for determining ministerial status. Instead, they have repeatedly relied on the factors identified in that decision as a functional test. When the Court revisited the ministerial exception, it reaffirmed that no definitive legal standard governs the designation of a “minister,” while modestly broadening the doctrine by emphasizing that formal titles are less significant than functional considerations. This Comment argues that the lower courts’ …

Observational Diagnostics And Spectroscopic Detection Of Tropospheric Trace Gases And Oxidation Processes, Callum E. Flowerday

Theses and Dissertations

The troposphere is governed by photochemical and radical-mediated processes that control atmospheric oxidation capacity, secondary pollutant formation, and the chemical lifetime of gases. Quantitative understanding of these processes requires both robust observational frameworks capable of resolving complex precursor–product relationships and instrumentation with sufficient sensitivity and selectivity to detect reactive and low-concentration species. This dissertation advances atmospheric chemistry through the parallel development of quantitative observational methodologies and refined spectroscopic measurement techniques. The first component of this work evaluates atmospheric oxidation systems using long-term monitoring data and empirical diagnostics. Multi-year analyses of ozone and particulate matter trends were conducted to characterize variability …

The River Of Life In Flannery O'Connor's "The River", Abbi L. Peo

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the role of the River in “The River” by Flannery O’Connor.  O’Connor’s fiction consistently explores the workings of grace and “The River” is no exception. In the story, the River functions as a metaphor for Christ’s grace. Most literary critics focus on the disconcerting drowning of the young protagonist, Harry Ashfield, an example of O’Connor’s signature use of the grotesque to facilitate her characters’ encounters with grace. However, this emphasis on Harry often obscures the broader role of the River within the narrative. When the story’s analysis is limited to Harry’s death, critics overlook how the River …

Software-Defined Radios In Avalanche Detection, Andrew Mcdonald

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explores the use of software-defined radios (SDRs) to develop a low-cost radar system for avalanche detection. Avalanches are a significant danger in mountainous locations and existing systems are often difficult or expensive to use. This research assesses if commercially available SDRs can be used to create a radar system capable of detecting moving targets and accurately measuring distance. A frequency-modulated contiuous-wave (FMCW) radar was implemented using the LimeSDR-Mini and the USRP B210. Signal generation, data collection, and processing all are performed in software, enabling easy configuration. Improvements to data transfer methods for the LimeSDR-Mini reduced sampling errors and …

Does Concurrent Completion Of A Computer Task Interfere With Talking? Comparing Younger And Older Adults, Emma Simpson Hymas

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the impact of a computer-based divided attention task on spoken language and compares the impact between younger (18–30 years) and older (55–82 years) adults. Sixty adults participated in a speaking task and two computer tasks which varied in difficulty. The Level 1 computer task involved highlighting each instance of the word “the” and the Level 2 computer task involved highlighting each instance of the word “the” while also underlining each instance of the word “a”. Each task was completed alone and then two computer tasks with different levels of difficulty were completed concurrently with a procedural discourse …

Uav Imaging: Reliability Of Drone-Captured Images In Ecological Work, Andrew Sevy, Steven L. Petersen, Russell Torgersen, Otto De Grof, Austin Housley

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2026

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based imagery offers a scalable, repeatable method for surveying large landscapes, with the potential to reduce field effort while increasing detection consistency.

Despite growing interest in UAV applications, the accuracy of drones in identifying small, irregular features like stud piles remains poorly quantified, creating uncertainty about their reliability for management decisions.

The Impact Of Social Media On Attention And Memory, Jared Mcfarlane, Nathan Mangum, Ryan Ensign, Andrew Lloyd, Samuel Storm, Jared Nielsen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2026

Social media has become nearly ubiquitous in recent years. However, relatively little is known about how its use is related to cognition. This study investigates the potential connection between our social media use habits and our cognitive abilities, specifically sustained attention and episodic memory.

Hamstrings Strength Is Influenced By Participation In Sports And Body Mass Across All Ages, Isaiah Guymon, Malorie Wilwand, A. Wayne Johnson

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2026

Hamstrings (HS), is a group of 4 muscles in the legs.

With age, muscles atrophy in part from factors related to age and increased sedentary behavior.

The Nordic curl is an eccentric HS exercise often used in athlete training. The Nordboard is a device that measures this eccentric force while performing a Nordic curl.

PURPOSE: To examine and compare eccentric (lengthening phase of a movement) hamstrings average (avg) and max force production across varying sports and age.

Derivation And Validation Of Age-Associated Prognostic Gene Signatures Across Breast Cancer Subtypes, John Speers, Adrienne Parsons, Elizabeth Feliciano, Sandra Mcallister, Lindsey Hale

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2026

Relatively little research has been done investigating the effects of linear age on breast-cancer specific mortality . The development of age-associated gene signatures may reveal interesting gene-set patterns with therapeautic potential. We hypothesize that the separation of patients into age categories will yield more predictive gene-signatures than an age-agnostic approach.

Music-Based Intervention For Stress And Sleep In Substance Use Recovery, Olivia A. Coleman

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Aim: Sleep difficulties and elevated stress are common among individuals recovering from substance use disorders (SUDs), often persisting long after initial detoxification. Music-based interventions offer a low-risk, nonpharmacological option that may support sleep and stress regulation. This study examined whether a Structured Music Listening Protocol (SMLP) could improve sleep quality and reduce perceived stress within a residential SUD treatment program.

Methods: Fifty eligible patients were enrolled in the Intervention Group (SMLP – Structured Music Listening Protocol) and fifty in the Control Group (Standardized Therapy) from a residential treatment center for SUDs. Both groups received standard therapy from the center. The …

Implementing A Problem-Solving Framework In Physics Tutorials For Upper-Division Electricity And Magnetism Students, James C. Hecht

Undergraduate Honors Theses

We study the effects of implementing a problem-solving framework in tutorials intended for use in upper-division electricity and magnetism courses. These tutorials were integrated into an electricity and magnetism course in Fall 2024, and were compared alongside a set of tutorials on the same topics which did not include the problem-solving framework. We performed a mixed-methods analysis on exam scores, interviews, and survey responses from students who were in the class. Students seem to prefer the tutorials that implement the problem-solving framework, and these tutorials seem to assist students with conceptual understanding somewhat; however, the qualitative data on conceptual understanding …

The Politics Of Exposure: How Local Israeli Violence Affects Palestinian Public Opinion, Noah Passey

Undergraduate Honors Theses

International violence has been connected to domestic public opinion in a variety of ways. Most of the research on this topic focuses on large-scale events like war and ignores smaller events like airstrikes, border conflicts, and police action. This thesis examines small-scale, individual-level violence in Palestine and what impact this violence has on Palestinian public opinions. It uses data on Palestinian casualties to specifically examine the effects of violence perpetrated by Israel in the period 2000-2016—a period marked by frequent conflict short of all-out war. Through multilevel regression analysis, I find that this low-level violence does influence Palestinian public opinion, …

Scarcity Rewritten: Revenue Tracking As A Catalyst For Growth Mindset And Financial Control, Christian M. Pearson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

While revenue tracking is a widely recognized “best practice” for businesses in developed economies, it is far from a universal practice. In Cambodia and other emerging markets, many small business owners do not track revenue or expenses, which may limit their ability to make sound financial decisions and reinforce psychological responses consistent with chronic resource scarcity. This article examines the effects of a business support intervention in which Cambodian business owners participated in an 8-week program designed to help them calculate profits by tracking revenue, variable costs, and fixed costs. Findings from a randomized field experiment show that business owners …

Quantifying Regional Variation Of Lipid Metabolism In The Brain, Martin D. Sorensen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) and its associated isoforms are the most significant genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The common alleles, APOE2/3/4, exhibit a protective/neutral/risk-inducing impact on sporadic AD development respectively. Our lab’s research focuses on APOE modification of the brain proteome and lipidome, with an emphasis on regional regulation and interest in assessing how APOE4 affects regulation differently between distinct regions of the brain. This thesis presents an analysis of cryosectioned brain samples harvested from young APOE knock-in mice. Using metabolic labeling with deuterated water, we measure turnover and dietary sourcing of lipids. We observe significant differences in …

An Appalachian Expression Of Rootedness: Exploring Rootedness In The Writings Of Simone Weil And Wendell Berry, Luke Bratton

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

Endowed With Intelligence From On High: Scriptural Patterns Of Divinely Augmented Knowing, Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Learning, Teaching, & Researching Optimization

The four standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contain numerous accounts in which individuals exhibit intellectual capacities — of perception, reasoning, problem-solving, and articulation — that demonstrably exceed their natural endowments and circumstances. This essay identifies twenty such accounts, organizes them into five conceptual typologies, and draws from each typology a set of concrete, actionable proposals for faculty at Brigham Young University who seek to integrate divine assistance into their scholarly and pedagogical work. The central argument is that the patterns encoded in Latter-day Saint scripture constitute not merely historical records of miraculous intervention but …

Tusqh: Topological Control Of Volume-Fraction Meshes Near Small Features And Dirty Geometry, Brian Reese Shawcroft

Theses and Dissertations

This work develops a framework to create meshes with user-specified homology from potentially dirty geometry by coupling background grids, persistent homology, and a generalization of volume fractions. For a mesh with fixed grid size, the topology of the output mesh changes predictably and monotonically as its volume-fraction threshold decreases. Topological anti-aliasing methods are introduced to resolve pinch points and disconnected regions that are artifacts of user choice of grid size and orientation, making the output meshes suitable for downstream processes including analysis. The methodology is demonstrated on geographical, mechanical, and graphics models in two-dimensions (2D) and three-dimensions (3D) using a …

On The Generality Of Ground, Hannah M. Kunkel

Undergraduate Honors Theses

It is widely held that true grounding claims are general. That is, individual grounding facts are subsumable under general patterns or principles of ground. In this paper, I advocate a novel position in the theory of ground on which particular grounding facts do not generalize to yield patterns of ground. This is not an argument for grounding pluralism, but is analogous to particularist views in metaethics which hold that moral principles are not general, but particular. If true, particularism about ground dissolves a serious challenge to the theory of ground, Louis deRosset's connection problem for non-reductivism. However, rejecting the generality …

Are You Listening?, Hanna H. Eyre

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the interconnection between music, religion, and a feminist lens in the form of a sixteen-song Christian album. The content of the music broaches topics specific to women’s issues including family dynamics, maternal mortality, and invisible labor while also covering more broad topics of repentance, developing a more nuanced relationship with the Savior, recognizing divinity in ourselves and others, and our Heavenly Mother. This paper includes the groundwork research and experiences that led me to write this album, the methods I took to write, record, and produce the album, and an analysis of how the music changed, and …

The Irrelevance Of Filing Speed: Evidence From A Regulatory Reporting Discontinuity, Bryson Mumford

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Does faster financial reporting increase firm value? I exploit the $700 million public float threshold in SEC Rule 12b-2, which imposes a 60-day Form 10-K filing deadline for large accelerated filers relative to 75 days for accelerated filers. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, I show that crossing the threshold sharply increases the likelihood of Large Accelerated Filer status and reduces filing lags by approximately one week, with no evidence of concurrent changes in mandated audit quality. Despite this exogenous acceleration in information disclosure, I fail to reject the null hypothesis that there are no effects on firm valuation (Tobin’s …

Stacking Moves: How Digital Platforms Sequence Value Creation, Jonathan M. Dickson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines how large digital platform firms evolve by adding new platform types over time. Using the four-type framework developed by Bryce, Dyer, and Van Alstyne—transaction, connection, innovation, and collaboration—I trace the platform histories of seven firms: Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Tencent, and Alibaba. For each firm, I classify every qualifying platform event as a base platform, a stacking move (a new interaction that draws on an existing platform's users or architecture), or a standalone platform (a new platform that operates independently). Across seventy-plus events, four findings emerge:

1. Firms stack new platform types in predictable sequences shaped by …

Flight Of The Gods: Charting The Terra Incognita Of Belief Through Dragon Literature, Alanna Hess

Undergraduate Honors Theses

“Flight of the Gods” is a fantasy short story that portrays a religious relationship between humans and dragons to explore themes of religious questioning. In doing so, “Flight of the Gods” unites with modern dragon literature by adapting the dragon motif to address real-world issues. Drawing from research on falcons and falconry, the dragons in this short story exhibit a complex relationship with their human counterparts that emphasizes themes of religious doubt and the complexity of belief. The thesis begins with a critical introduction discussing these topics and then presents the short story.