Digital Commons Network^™

Family Values In The Jewish Tradition, J. David Bleich

Articles

In Family Values in the Jewish Tradition, Professor J. David Bleich presents Judaism as a religion of law. He describes the family unit, "both as a social unit and as a legal institution," and how it helps to provide comfort, companionship, and stability. He discusses the role of reproduction within the family unit, artificial insemination, and the homosexual act (not the homosexual as a person). Professor Bleich concludes with a discussion of the phrase, "be fruitful and multiply." He notes that this phrase is understood as both a commandment and a blessing.

The Wisdom Of Crowds? Groupthink And Nonprofit Governance, Melanie B. Leslie

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Scandals involving nonprofit boards and conflicts of interest continue to receive considerable public attention. Earlier this year, for example, musician Wyclef Jean's Yele Haiti charity became the target of intense criticism after the charity disclosed that it had regularly transacted business with Jean and entities controlled by Jean and other directors. Although scandals caused by self-dealing undermine public confidence in the charitable sector, they continue to erupt. Why do charitable boards sanction transactions with insiders?

This Article argues that much of the blame lies with the law itself. Because fiduciary duty law is currently structured as a set of fuzzy …

Promoting Public Health Through Clinical Legal Education: Initiatives In South Africa, Thailand, And Ukraine, Tamar Ezer

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No abstract provided.

The Role Of Teachers In The Academic English Literacy Acquisition Experiences Of Deaf College Students, Kathryn L. Schmitz

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The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe deaf college students’ perceptions of their experiences learning academic English literacy vis à vis their teachers. The study examined the narrated academic English literacy acquisition experiences and practices of 11 deaf and hard-of-hearing students at a hearing university with a large deaf student population. Through paradigmatic analysis of narrative data, the study located common themes, which revealed students’ perceptions of academic English literacy acquisition, particularly with regard to their teachers. Methods employed in the study were phenomenological interviewing and recursive analysis. The primary data sources were participant interviews and a focus …

Figurational Dynamics And Parliamentary Discourses Of Living Standards In Ireland, Paddy Dolan

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While the concept of living standards remains central to political debate, it has become marginal in sociological research compared to the burgeoning attention given to the topic of consumer culture in recent decades. However, they both concern how one does and should consume, and, indeed, behave at particular times. I use the theories of Norbert Elias to explain the unplanned but structured (ordered) changes in expected standards of living over time. This figurational approach is compared to other alternative explanations, particularly those advanced by Bourdieu, Veblen and Baudrillard. Though these offer some parallels with Elias’s theories, I argue that consumption …

“We Are Going To Rape You And Taste Tutsi Women”: Rape During The 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Christopher W. Mullins

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Over the past decades, scholars have paid greater attention to sexual violence, in both theorization and empirical analysis. One area which has been largely ignored, however, is the sexual violence during times of armed conflict. This paper examines the nature and dynamics of sexual violence as it occurred during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Drawing upon testimonies given to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), descriptions of rapes--both singular and mass—were qualitatively analyzed. In general, three broad types of assaults were identified: opportunistic, assaults which seemed to be a product of the disorder inherent within the conflict; episodes of sexual …

A Critical Introduction To The Symposium, Kyron J. Huigens

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No abstract provided.

Dit’S Dynamic Speech Corpus, Dermot Campbell, Ciaran Mcdonnell, Marty Meinardi, Charles Pritchard, Bunny Richardson, Yi Wang

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The Technological University Dublin’s FLUENT Dynamic Speech Corpus is aimed at learners, teachers, authors and researchers. When the prototype is complete (target: July 2009) it will afford access to a unique audio resource based on dialogues. Users will be able to find samples of native-to-native speech on a chosen topic, listen to phonetically interesting sections and explore the dynamic environment which gave rise to the spoken features studied. At all stages the user will be able to slow down sequences for heightened intelligibility.

The Role Of One Religiously Affiliated Law School, Michael Herz

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No abstract provided.

Objectivist Problematics: Planning For Leisure From An Experiential Perspective?, Ross Neville

Articles

Despite the fact that the experiential perspective has had a profound impact on the way we view leisure behaviour, experiential matters have been renounced for being overtly subjective. As a corollary, experiential matters have been castigated for their inability to offer concrete criteria for leisure policy and the provisions of services. This paper argues that this dismissal of experiential matters is based on an overinflated dichotomy – the fact/value dichotomy – and that, by valorising objectivist approaches to managing leisure resources, experiential matters have become nothing more than a policy-making faux pas. The paper argues that while experiential matters bring …

Two Notions Of Privacy Online, Avner Levin, Patricia S. Abril

Articles

Users of social networking websites tend to disclose much personal information online yet seem to retain some form of an expectation of privacy. Is this expectation of privacy always unreasonable? How do users of online social networks define their expectations of privacy online?

These questions were the impetus behind an empirical study, the findings of which are presented in this Article. The project, simultaneously conducted in Canada, at Ryerson University, and in the United States, at the University of Miami, consisted of a survey regarding personal information protection and expectations of privacy on online social networks (OSNs). Approximately 2,500 young …

From The Chair, Lela P. Love

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No abstract provided.

Applying Computational Models Of Spatial Prepositions To Visually Situated Dialog, John D. Kelleher, Fintan Costello

Articles

This article describes the application of computational models of spatial prepositions to visually situated dialog systems. In these dialogs, spatial prepositions are important because people often use them to refer to entities in the visual context of a dialog. We first describe a generic architecture for a visually situated dialog system and highlight the interactions between the spatial cognition module, which provides the interface to the models of prepositional semantics, and the other components in the architecture. Following this, we present two new computational models of topological and projective spatial prepositions. The main novelty within these models is the fact …

Land Virtues, Eduardo Peñalver

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This Article has two goals. First, I explore some of the descriptive and normative limitations of certain law-and-economics discussions of the ownership and use of land. These market-centered approaches struggle in different ways with features of land that distinguish it from other "commodities." The complexity of land-its intrinsic complexity, but even more importantly the complex ways in which human beings interact with it-undermines the positive claim that owners will focus on a single value, such as market value, in making decisions about their land. Adding to the equation land's "memory," by which I mean the combined impact of the durability …

Marriage Or Liberation? Reflections On Two Strategies In The Struggle For Lesbian And Gay Rights And Relationship Recognition, Edward D. Stein

Articles

A great deal has changed about the legal and social situation for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) people since the 1989 publication of Tom Stoddard and Paula Ettelbrick's dueling essays about how the quest for same-sex marriage fit into the larger struggle for LGBT rights. In 1989, twenty-four states and the District of Columbia criminalized most forms of adult consensual sex between people of the same sex and the constitutionality of such sodomy laws had been recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Bowers v. Hardwick in an opinion that said arguments against the constitutionality of such …

Jurisdictions And Causes Of Action In Bullying, Stress And Harassment Cases Part 1, Niall Neligan

Articles

This is the first of a two part article in which the author will critically evaluate the different causes of action and myriad of jurisdictions for bringing a claim in the inter-related fields of bullying, stress and harassment in the workplace from a commercial law perspective. The author will define and trace the separate headings under which the law governing bullying, stress and harassment has evolved. In the second part of the article (which will
appear in the next edition of the journal), the author will examine recent developments in tortious claims for psychiatric injuries arising from bullying, stress and …

The Experiences Of Social Care Workers In Managing Incidents Of Self Injury With Young People In Care, David Williams

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No abstract provided.

Why Seek Forgiveness? Using Expectancy, Instrumentality, And Valence Theory, Deborah Runke

Articles

Award in Psychology. College: Liberal Arts. Program: Psychology. Course: Senior Project. Professor: Nicholas DiFonzo. Student Honor Awardees are selected by the faculty who teach courses in these areas of Liberal Arts and by the Kearse Awards Committee. Twenty-Ninth Kearse Distinguished Lecture Award Ceremony, nomination for Deborah Runke, 2009.

Media Discourses On Autonomy In Dying And Death, Christina Quinlan

Articles

THIS PAPER IS A SYNOPSIS of a research project designed to examine the representations of particular experiences of dying and death as represented in media consumed in Ireland. This media research is a small part of a large study commissioned by the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme, through the Irish Hospice Foundation. The large study, undertaken by a team of researchers from University College Cork and the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, was tasked with the development of an ethical framework for health-care practitioners on patient autonomy in end-oflife care. Patient autonomy at end-of-life is the degree of autonomy or control …

Suing The Pope And Scandalising The People: Irish Attitudes To Sexual Abuse By Clergy Pre- And Post-Screening Of A Critical Documentary, Michael J. Breen, Hannah Mcgee, Ciaran O’Boyle, Helen Goode, Eoin Devereux

Articles

THE SEXUAL ABUSE OF children became a significant public issue in Ireland in the 1990s, with frequent media reports about the issue. In the main these focused on the issue of abuse of children by members of the clergy and religious orders. Headline cases included the abuse perpetrated by Fr Brendan Smyth, a priest of a religious order who was convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse of children and subsequently died in prison, and Fr Seán Fortune, a diocesan priest, who committed suicide before his court trial for abuse. While child sexual abuse by clergy was widely exposed in …

Expenditure-Based Segmentation And Visitor Profiling At The Quays In Salford, Uk, Ruth Craggs, Peter Schofield

Articles

There is a substantial body of literature relating to tourism’s economic impact at the macro level, but less is known about tourist expenditure at a micro scale. This paper reports findings from a survey of day-visitor expenditure by category at The Quays in Salford, UK. Expenditure is influenced strongly by the visitor’s age, frequency of visitation and visit motivation. Heavy, medium and light expenditure segments and associated profiles are identified. ‘Heavy spenders’ are more likely to be female, in a family group and have shopping as the main motivation for the visit. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Keeping (Or Losing) The Faith: Reflections On Spiritual Struggles And Their Resolution By College Seniors., Jodi Fisler, Holly Alexander Agati, Shannon Chance, Amie E. Donahue, Gregory A. Donahue, Eric J. Eickhoff, Sara E. Kolb Gastler, Joseph C. Lowder, John D. Foubert

Articles

In this qualitative study, researchers examined how college seniors experienced and resolved spiritual struggles in college. Results indicated that academic activities provided opportunities to question, learn, and grow spiritually. Although a variety of external factors influenced students' explorations of their spirituality, participants looked inward to resolve their struggles in deeply personal ways. Spiritual struggle was often manifested as a reexamination of students' pre-college values, an ongoing process for many students. Researchers identified four ways of describing students' state of resolution: (1) recommitting to an existing faith, (2) slightly readjusting their spiritual or religious values, (3) blending spiritual traditions, or (4) …

The Marriage Amendments, Equality And Partner Benefits: A Letter To The City Council Of Moscow, Idaho, Elizabeth Brandt

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No abstract provided.

Race To The Left: A Legislator’S Guide To Greening A Corporate Code, Judd F. Sneirson

Articles

American corporate law tolerates green businesses. Green business decisions that are informed, disinterested, and made in the good-faith best interests of the firm will enjoy deference pursuant to the business judgment rule, whether the decisions maximize shareholder profits or sacrifice them in the name of sustainability. Corporate law generally stops there, however, and neither encourages green business efforts nor particularly discourages them.

States are more or less uniform in this approach, and thus new businesses selecting a state of incorporation have had no green basis for preferring one state’s corporate laws to those of another. Recent efforts in Oregon to …

Is Religion The Environment’S Last Best Hope? Targeting Change In Individual Behavior Through Personal Norm Activation, Stephen M. Johnson

Articles

This Article explores the important role that religious organizations have played, and can play, in personal norm activation to influence change in individuals’ environmentally destructive actions. Part I of the Article describes the need for regulating or targeting individuals, in addition to industrial sources, in order to address many of the remaining significant environmental problems. Part II examines the advantages and disadvantages of targeting individual actions through command-and-control regulation, economic-based alternatives, and information disclosure programs. Part III outlines the concept of norm activation and details the manner in which information disclosure programs can be used to activate personal norms to …

Entrepreneurial Teams: Comparing High-Growth Software Firms Through Structure And Strategy, Thomas Cooney

Articles

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore hypothesis that high-growth firms founded by entrepreneurial teams use a unique combination of organic structure and emergent strategy. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative study of 445 software development firms in the USA and 219 firms in Ireland was undertaken with a valid response rate of 22 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively. Findings – Generally, all classifications of firms in the USA and in Ireland demonstrated a combination of organic structure and emergent strategy at the beginning of their existence. As the US firms grew older they moved towards a …

Developing Consumer Subjectivity In Ireland: 1900-80, Paddy Dolan

Articles

The development of consumer subjectivity cannot be solely understood in terms of the intentions, strategies and discursive practices emanating from diverse power centres. Following Elias, and using Ireland as an empirical case, the consumer is presented as undergoing a shift along a continuum of We–I balances towards the latter pole. This occurs within the context of increasing social interdependencies, functional specialization and social integration. Through complex, unplanned social processes over time, the consumer is seen more individualistically. I conclude by suggesting that there are opportunities to synthesize figurational and Foucauldian approaches to consumer subjectivity once long-term social change is prioritized.

Rethinking Categorical Prohibitions On Capital Punishment: How The Current Test Fails Mentally Ill Offenders And What To Do About It, Pamela A. Wilkins

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My aim in this short Article is both specific and general. Specifically, I examine whether the Eighth Amendment should be held to prohibit imposition of death sentences upon offenders with severe mental illnesses, as is the case with mentally retarded and juvenile offenders. More generally, and perhaps more importantly, I examine the current Eighth Amendment test for categorical prohibitions, find it wanting, and propose a different test that, at least in my view, more neatly captures what the Eighth Amendment is intended to accomplish.

I believe the key to an Eighth Amendment analysis of categorical prohibitions lies in two dilemmas …

Describing The Effect Of Adaptation On Settlement, Jonathan Masur, John Bronsteen, Christopher Buccafusco

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No abstract provided.

Happiness And Punishment, Jonathan Masur, John Bronsteen, Christopher Buccafusco

Articles

This Article continues our project of applying new findings in the behavioral psychology of human happiness to some of the most deeply analyzed questions in law. When a state decides how to punish criminal offenders, at least one important consideration is the amount of harm any given punishment is likely to inflict. It would be undesirable, for example, to impose greater harm on those who commit less serious crimes or to impose harm that rises to the level of cruelty. Our penal system fits punishments to crimes primarily by adjusting the size of monetary fines and the length of prison …