Digital Commons Network^™

It's The Law Schools Stupid! Explaining The Continuing Increase In The Number Of Lawyers, Herbert M. Kritzer

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Many countries around the world have experienced sharp increases in the number of legal professionals over the last 40 to 50 years. In this paper, I focus on the role of the gatekeepers which in most countries today are the institutions that provide education and training for those hoping to enter the profession. I argue that while the profession may have an incentive to control the “production of producers,” the educational institutions do not share this incentive. While this argument has been made previously, in this paper I seek to draw out the implications of the institutional incentives, both with …

Data Mining And Machine Learning Techniques For Extracting Patterns In Students’ Evaluations Of Instructors, Ernest Fokoue, Necla Gündüz

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No abstract provided.

The Triple System Of Family Law, June Carbone, Naomi Cahn

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The Article analyzes the role of class in family structure and family law. Building on Jacobus ten Broek’s classic articulation of a “dual system” of family law, we explore the nascent development of a parallel third system of family law. In the early sixties, ten Broek argued that family law had two parts that differ in substance, purpose, and procedure. One system focused on private arrangements and supported the families of those who were economically self-sufficient. Ten Broek maintained, however, that a parallel second system existed, one imposed on those who sought public assistance. In this second system: i) the …

Risks And Safety On The Internet: Comparing Brazilian And European Children, Alexander Barbosa, Brian O'Neill, Cristina Ponte, Simões Simões, Tatiana Jereissati

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A child’s home and school are the most frequently reported locations of internet use in Brazil: 60% of Brazilian children aged 9 to 16 who used the internet claimed to access it from home, and 42% from school, whereas in Europe this proportion is 87% for home access and 63% for schools.

However, when it comes to accessing the network from publicly sponsored internet access centres such as Local Area Network (LAN) Houses or cybercafés, the value in Brazil is considerably higher when compared to Europe, 35% against 12% respectively. Access from public libraries is far more popular in Europe …

Community Syndicalism For The United States: Democratic Production In Resisting Hegemonic Globalization And Law, Kenneth M. Casebeer

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No abstract provided.

Freedom Of The Church Without Romance The Freedom Of The Church In The Modern Era, Paul Horwitz

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No abstract provided.

Ethics And International Law: Integrating The Global Justice Project(S), Steven R. Ratner

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Academic discourse on global justice is at an all-time high. Within ethics and international law, scholars are undertaking new inquiries into age-old questions of building a just world order. Ethics – political and moral philosophy – poses fundamental questions about responsibilities at the global level and produces a tightly reasoned set of frameworks regarding world order. International law, with its focus on legal norms and institutional arrangements, provides a path, as well as illuminates the obstacles, to implementing theories of the right or of the good. Yet despite the complementarity of these two projects, neither is drawing what it should …

Bayesian Model Selection For Exponential Random Graph Models, Alberto Caimo, Nial Friel

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Exponential random graph models are a class of widely used exponential family models for social networks. The topological structure of an observed network is modelled by the relative prevalence of a set of local sub-graph configurations termed network statistics. One of the key tasks in the application of these models is which network statistics to include in the model. This can be thought of as statistical model selection problem. This is a very challenging problem---the posterior distribution for each model is often termed ``doubly intractable'' since computation of the likelihood is rarely available, but also, the evidence of the posterior …

Engaging Students In The Classroom: How Can I Know What I Think Until I See What I Draw?, Paul Donnelly, John Hogan

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Recognising that the world into which students emerge upon graduation is characterised by constant change, we embrace a critical pedagogy that can be implemented in the classroom through the use of freehand drawing. Freehand drawing is a technique that can stimulate a critical stance, as visual representations allow us to comprehend the world differently, while permitting us see how others understand the world. First year students, in their first lecture, were asked to draw their interpretations of Irish politics and to explain in writing what they had drawn. The students were then placed in groups and asked to note what …

Legal Positivism And Russell's Paradox, David G. Carlson

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In this Article, I argue that legal positivism is subject to the same paradox as was engendered by Frege's set theory-a paradox that has come to be known as Russell's Paradox. Basically, Frege tried to define what a set is. Russell showed that, because of self-reference, any attempt to define the word "set" led to formal condition. I argue that Russell's analysis can be applied to legal positivism, if "legal positivism" is defined to mean that a complete and closed rule of recognition for law is a logical possibility. I also argue that, to the extent legal positivism claims that …

Integration Reclaimed: A Review Of Gary Peller's Critical Race Consciousness, Michelle Adams

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Integration occupies a contested and often paradoxical place in legal and public policy scholarship and the American imagination. Today, more Americans are committed to integration than ever before. Yet this attachment to integration is hardly robust. There is a widespread perception that integration has failed. A vanishingly small percentage of social and economic resources are spent on integration. At the same time, some progressives and those who would otherwise consider themselves on the "left" criticize integration as insufficiently attentive to economic equality and dismissive of black identity and culture. Scholars from across the political spectrum have sought to explain this …

Fisher, Academic Freedom, And Distrust, Paul Horwitz

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In Fisher v University of Texas at Austin the United States Supreme Court remanded to the Fifth Circuit a challenge to the University of Texass postGrutter use of raceconscious admissions in selecting a student body concluding that the Fifth Circuit had not engaged in the proper level of strict scrutiny review such policies require From the moment Fisher was handed down it has been the subject of discussion and debate over whether Fisher represents a speedbump for raceconscious university admissions policies or a major barrier to such policies In this paper I focus specifically on what Fisher means as a …

Symptom-Based Gun Control Symposium Article, Fredrick E. Vars

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No abstract provided.

Discerning Critical Moments: Lessons From The Life Of Derrick Bell Title Challenging Authority: A Symposium Honoring Derrick Bell, Jean Stefancic

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No abstract provided.

Protecting Elites: An Alternative Take On How United States V. Jones Fits Into The Court's Technology Jurisprudence, Tamara Rice Lave

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This Article argues that the Supreme Court's technology jurisprudence can be best understood as protecting the privacy interest of elites. After providing an overview of the major technology cases from Olmstead to Kyllo, the Article focuses on the recent case of United States v Jones. The Article does not contend that the Court intended to protect elites, but instead posits that this motive likely operated at a more unconscious level because of the Justices' greater relative affluence and elevated social position.

The Difference A Justice May Make: Remarks At The Symposium For Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Suzanne Baer

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First, I will briefly summarize the state of the art of equality law in Germany today. A distinct dimension of this story from a European Union member state is that we are not just theorizing postnational constitutionalism these days, but that we live it already, since law is not anymore isolated as national but needs to be seen in the context of transnational migration and multinational regimes. Second, I turn to a key feature and key challenge in and to equality law today. It is what I have called the triangle of fundamental rights, referring to the three most prominent …

Only Part Of The Picture: A Response To Professor Tushnet's Worth A Thousand Words, Zahr Kassim Said

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Professor Rebecca Tushnet’s recent article Worth a Thousand Words: The Image of Copyright elucidates a number of difficulties in copyright that flow from judicial failures to treat images consistently and rigorously. She argues that courts both assess copyrightability and evaluate potential infringement in ways that rely on a naïve understanding of the way artists create, and indeed, the way viewers receive works of art. The problem is particularly pronounced with respect to what Tushnet calls non-textual works because copyright law’s default to textuality means that the tools and methods that judges use misalign with the objects of their examination.

In …

The Trials And Tribulations Of Japan’S Legal Education Reforms, Daniel H. Foote

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A sense of momentum accompanied the start of Japan's new legal education system in the spring of 2004. Less than three years had passed since the Justice System Reform Council (the Reform Council) issued its final report in June 2001, proposing a major restructuring of Japan's legal training system centered on a new tier of graduate level law schools. And less than a year and a half had elapsed since the details of the law school system were decided and enabling legislation passed. Despite the tight timetable, sixty-eight law schools were ready to commence operations in 2004, having arranged facilities, …

Re-Theorizing The “Structure–Agency” Relationship: Figurational Theory, Organizational Change And The Gaelic Athletic Association, John Connolly, Paddy Dolan

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This article illustrates how the figurational sociology associated with Norbert Elias provides an alternative theoretical framework for explaining the relationship between, ‘individualorganization- society’ and organizational change, and in so doing transverses what is conceived as a false dichotomy between structure and agency. Through an historical case study of the Gaelic Athletic Association in Ireland, the ‘individual-organization-society’ relationship is conceptualized as overlapping figurations and organizational change is explained as figurational dynamics—the shifting social interdependencies between the individuals and groups comprising an organization, between that organization and other organizations, between social groups on a higher level of integration and competition. In tandem …

Emotions, Violence And Social Belonging: An Eliasian Analysis Of Sports Spectatorship, Paddy Dolan, John Connolly

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This paper examines the development of different forms of spectator violence in terms of the socio-temporal structure of situational dynamics at Gaelic football matches in Ireland. The nature of violent encounters has shifted from a collective form based on local solidarity and a reciprocal code of honour, through a transitional collective form based on deferred emotional satisfaction and group pride, towards increasing individualization of spectator violence. This occurs due to the shifting objects of emotional involvement. As the functional specialization of the various roles in the game is partially accepted by spectators, the referee becomes the target of anger. Violence …

Supporting Professionalism In Educational Development In Irish Higher Education, Muireann Okeeffe

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Higher education, in Ireland and globally, is undergoing profound change influenced by a variety of factors. In conjunction with these changes many initiatives to improve teaching and learning and the quality of graduates in higher education have been introduced in recent years. The changes and expansions in the sector has enabled growth of new roles in higher education described as ‘third space’ professionals by Whitchurch (2008).

This paper describes the struggle of those in third space professions, such as academic development, to establish a professional identity in higher education. The benefits of these contemporary roles to higher education are …

Grm7 Variants Associated With Age-Related Hearing Loss Based On Auditory Perception, Dina L. Newman, Laurel M. Fisher, Jeffrey Ohmen, Robert Parody, Chin-To Fong, Susan T. Frisina, Frances Mapes, David A. Eddins, Robert D. Frisina, Rick A. Friedman

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Age-related hearing impairment (ARHI), or presbycusis, is a common condition of the elderly that results in significant communication difficulties in daily life. Clinically, it has been defined as a progressive loss of sensitivity to sound, starting at the high frequencies, inability to understand speech, lengthening of the minimum discernable temporal gap in sounds, and a decrease in the ability to filter out background noise. The causes of presbycusis are likely a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Previous research into the genetics of presbycusis has focused solely on hearing as measured by pure-tone thresholds. A few loci have been identified, …

A Rough Look At The Shifting Effects On Learning Through Student Work Placement, Frank Cullen

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The use of internship as a means of informal education is relatively commonplace. This is evident by the vast amount of literature dedicated to workplace learning, however very little research to date has explored the impact of international culinary internships on students. This paper addresses the void in research by exploring the nuances associated with culinary internships and in particular investigates the 2006 and 2007 student cohorts studying in the Technological University Dublin for the degree award of BA in Culinary Arts. The paper examines the internship preparation and experiences examining the impact of internship on the student’s attitudes towards …

Walking In Sunshine, Or Away From It? Creating A Unified Transparency Index, John Hogan, Raj Chri, Gary Murphy

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Abstract: Despite the strengths of the two bodies of literature on Freedom of Information (FOI) and Lobbying Regulation, a main inadequacy is that they fail to meet each other. The reason why both the FOI and lobbying regulation literatures need to be synthesized is that both should be seen as the two sides of the deliberative democracy coin: FOI legislation aims to regulate the actions of state officials, while lobbying laws seek to regulate the actions of private interests attempting to influence such officials. The novelty of this paper is that we thus extend and link the ideas raised in …

Rehabilitation, Research, And Reform: Prison Policy In Ireland, Mary Rogan

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The paper tracks the concept of rehabilitation within official thinking in

Ireland since the foundation of the State. It explores when and how the term was first

used and how it has fared since. It then examines barriers to and the role of research

in the making of prison policy and comments on data deficits in the system at present.

Finally it looks at the role of interest groups within the criminal justice system in

Ireland, and specifically their effect, or potential effect, on the formation of prison

policy.

Work-Home Balance: A Management Perspective, Kathleen Farrell

Articles

Work-home balance issues have become a very important challenge for both management and employees in the 21^st century. The purpose of this paper is to examine work-home balance practices from a management perspective in the Irish hotel industry. There is a dearth of research in relation to work-home balance practices in the hotel sector. The study included a sample of all hotels including Northern Ireland. It found that the needs of the organisation are paramount with profitability considerations being the main driver of work-home practices and benefits. While the majority of managers agree that people work best when they …

Rhyme Or Reason:That Is The Question?, Jim Roche

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Noting that “the aesthetic should not be limited merely to the way things look” the organisers of this conference sought “in part to address the discursive limitation in architecture and related subjects by broadening the aesthetic discourse beyond questions relating to purely visual phenomena in order to include those derived from all facets of human experience”.

So where does etchics come in? Well, the introductory brochure noted that most philosophical trained aestheticians will say that “the aesthetic is everything” hinting perhaps of the necessity for a more haptic experience of architecture. It also drew on Wittgenstein’s quote that “ethics and …

Coffee Culture In Dublin: A Brief History, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

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This paper discusses the history and development of coffee and coffee houses in Dublin from the 17th century, charting how coffee culture in Dublin appeared, evolved, and stagnated before re-emerging at the beginning of the 21st century, with a remarkable win in the World Barista Championships. The historical links between coffeehouses and media—ranging from print media to electronic and social media—are discussed. In this, the coffee house acts as an informal public gathering space, what urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg calls a “third place,” neither work nor home. These “third places” provide anchors for community life and facilitate and foster broader, …

An Investigation In Culinary Life And Professional Identity In Practice During Internship, Frank Cullen

Articles

The primary objective of this research was to investigate the selection process used by consumers when choosing a restaurant to dine. This study examined literature on consumer behavior, restaurant selection, and decision-making, underpinning the contention that service quality is linked to the consumer’s selection of a restaurant. It supports the utility theories that consumers buy bundles of attributes that simultaneously combined represent a certain level of service quality at a certain price. The findings of the research displayed a preference by Dublin consumers for Italian and Chinese styled restaurants and identified quality of the food, type of food, cleanliness of …

Women Are The Dominant Decision Makers When Selecting Restaurants To Dine, Frank Cullen

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The primary objective of this research was to investigate the selection process used by consumers when choosing a restaurant to dine. The findings of the research displayed a preference by Dublin consumers for Italian and Chinese styled restaurants and identified quality of the food, type of food, cleanliness of the restaurant, its location and reputation were the key decision variables/attributes used by consumers to select restaurants. The study also established that the importance of the attributes changed, depending on the consumers age, prior experience, their mood and the occasion involved.