Digital Commons Network^™

Language Change At The Intersections Of Movement, Economy, And Orientation, Joseph A. Stanley, Margaret E. L. Renwick, Monica Nesbitt

Faculty Publications

A growing amount of research on North American English varieties shows that many sociolinguistic variables peaked among the Baby Boomer Generation (born approximately 1946–64). By “peak,” we mean that a linguistic phenomenon in one community has reached its point of greatest intensity and is maximally divergent from realizations of that same variable in most other North American communities. Similarly, we also find studies that describe a “cliff” beginning among Generation X (born approximately 1965–82) such that after generations of relative stability, local dialect features are lost. Nesbitt (2021, 359) observes that “the Baby Boomer–Gen X transition appears to be a …

In-House Counsel(Or): The Case For Providing Integrated Mental Health Support Services To Law Students, Eric W. Shannon

Faculty Publications

While some American law schools currently provide onsite mental health support services to their student populations, many still do not. This essay is the first to argue that all law schools should provide onsite mental health support services to their students—ideally, by way of a mental health professional integrated within the law school’s staff (an “integrated mental health professional,” or “IMHP”) who is familiar not only with the unique pressures of law school generally, but also with the school-specific environment. It explores current data on law student well-being as well as external considerations including ABA recommendations and standards for law …

Parent Motivations For Enrolling Their Young Children In Early Childhood Programs: An Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behaviour, Rachel A. Mcgovern, Camilla Hodge, Edward Ruddell

Faculty Publications

This study used the theory of planned behaviour to identify and determine the relative influence of factors influencing parents’ decisions to enrol their young children (3 to 5 years old) in early childhood programs at a specific museum venue. An eliciting questionnaire was distributed to museum members with at least one child 3–5 years old to elicit outcome expectancies, normative beliefs, and control beliefs, and these responses were developed into items for the main questionnaire. Regression and correlation analyses were conducted to determine factors associated with parents’ intention to enrol their children. Parents across socioeconomic and educational backgrounds indicated they …

Priorities For Pan-American Geography Education: Needs And Trends, Alex Oberle, Fabian Araya, Sandra Alvarez

Faculty Publications

Geography education research in Latin America is uneven in terms of its thematic focus and country-level contributions. Research demonstrates the necessity for a region-wide prioritization of geography education themes that builds on existing scholarship and adapts to emerging needs and trends. The Pan-American Institute for Geography and History, a scholarly society, established a research team with a four-year charge of advancing geography education in the region. Titled “Geographic Literacy for the Countries of the Americas”, the initiative develops research agendas that encompass the diversity of definitions and criteria, scholarly activities, and curricular resources across countries. The purpose of this study …

Human Mobility And The Infectious Disease Transmission: A Systematic Review, M. Naser Lessani, Zhenlong Li, Fengrui Jing, Shan Qiao Ph.D., Jiajia Zhang Ph.D., Bankole Olatosi Ph.D., Xiaoming Li Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Recent decades have witnessed several infectious disease outbreaks, including the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which had catastrophic impacts on societies around the globe. At the same time, the twenty-first century has experienced an unprecedented era of technological development and demographic changes: exploding population growth, increased airline flights, and increased rural-to-urban migration, with an estimated 281 million international migrants worldwide in 2020, despite COVID-19 movement restrictions. In this review, we synthesized 195 research articles that examined the association between human movement and infectious disease outbreaks to understand the extent to which human mobility has increased the risk of infectious disease outbreaks. …

Long Overdue: The Need For An Examination Of The Specter Of Racial Bias In The Federal Death Penalty System, John Nidiry, Ruth Friedman

Faculty Publications

The specter of racial bias in the federal government's administration of the death penalty over the past thirty-five years has been long apparent yet insufficiently scrutinized. Scholars have studied the racially disparate application of capital punishment at the state level and linked those disparities to a history of racialized violence. The federal death penalty, especially with regard to the impact of race, however, remains largely unexamined.
It is time to bridge this gap in the research on racial bias in the criminal justice system and in the implementation of the federal death penalty specifically. There are, as this Article sets …

Asynchronous Movement Patterns Between Breeding And Stopover Locations In A Long-Distance Migratory Songbird, Theodore Zenzal, Andrea Contina, Hannah Vander Zanden, Leanne Kuwahara, Daniel Allen, Kristen Covino

Faculty Publications

The species-specific migratory patterns and strategies of many songbirds remain unknown or understudied, as research in animal ecology is biased toward the breeding period, with the fewest studies on the migratory period across taxa. Identifying large-scale spatiotemporal migratory patterns is challenging, as individuals within a species may vary in their migratory behavior and strategies. The Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) is a Nearctic-Neotropical migrant that is relatively well studied during the breeding season, but its species-wide migratory patterns remain understudied. Our aim in studying Yellow Warbler movement ecology was to characterize temporal migration patterns during fall migration. We sought to determine …

Symposium Introduction: The Effect Of Dobbs On Work Law, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Faculty Publications

In March 2023, Chicago-Kent College of Law hosted a symposium—The Effect of Dobbs on Work Law—to explore the ways that the Dobbs abortion decision has affected the workplace. The presenters at that live symposium wrote articles that are being published in this journal. As the host of the symposium and the Editor of this Journal, I use this Article to introduce the articles in this symposium issue and to provide my reflections on them. I also briefly address the topic that I presented at the symposium—the effect of Dobbs on people with disabilities.

The Efects Of Cryptocurrency Wealth On Household Consumption And Investment, Darren Aiello, Scott R. Baker, Tetyana Balyuk, Marco Di Maggio, Mark Johnson, Jason Kotter

Faculty Publications

We use bank transaction data from millions of U.S. households to:

1. Characterize retail crypto investing
2. Examine the efect of crypto wealth on consumption and investment behavior
3. Zoom in on the efect of crypto wealth on housing spending
4. Document spillovers of crypto wealth to the local economy

Democratic Accountability And Tax Enforcement, Joshua D. Blank, Leigh Osofsky

Faculty Publications

One of the most powerful charges that can be leveled against the IRS is that it is targeting taxpayers. Charges of political targeting have dogged the IRS for over a century, including in major controversies such as the alleged Tea Party auditing scandal in 2013. Commentators and scholars have long critiqued the IRS for focusing audit resources on some of the lowest-income Americans. And, most recently, a group of researchers estimated that the IRS audits Black taxpayers at a 2.9 to 4.7 times greater rate, as compared to non-Black taxpayers. In response, legislators demanded action, there was widespread public consternation, …

Debt, Race, And Physical Mobility, Kate Sablosky Elengold

Faculty Publications

Residents in every state in the United States can lose their driver’s license or car registration because they owe debt to the state. At least eleven million people across the United States suffer these debt-based driving restrictions at any given time. Because Americans overwhelmingly rely on personal automobiles for transportation, states, by controlling access to driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations, use debt policy to control where and how people travel. And because these laws disproportionately affect people of color, primarily Black people, this kind of regulation props up racial segregation in both location and opportunity. This Article’s first contribution is …

Breaking The Vicious Cycle Fragmenting National Law, Ryan Vacca, Peter S. Menell

Faculty Publications

One of the most troubling and increasingly overlooked problems plaguing the federal judiciary has been the reduction of throughput at the Supreme Court and the resulting fragmentation of national law. The imperative to resolve circuit splits has taken a back seat as the Court grapples with high-profile battles and the relentless crush of certiorari petitions. This fuels confusion and greater fragmentation of national law. Add in the general expansion of national law, and the vicious cycle intensifies.

This Article proposes a solution for expanding structural capacity to address fragmentation that does not require legislative reform or constitutional amendment. It utilizes …

Africa Si(Gh)Ted In Spanish: An Introduction, Dorothy Odartey-Wellington, Dosinda Garcìa-Alvite

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Fred R. Gowans (1936-2023), Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Historian, Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

Fred R. Gowans is the proverbial American original – or, better yet, Western American original. Fred talked and wrote convincingly about the American West and the fur trade because he spent so much time in it, exploring or retracing old trails. Fred made no pretenses. He dressed for class, public talks, or academic presentations the same way he dressed for working with his horses: Western hat, Western shirt, Levis, cowboy boots, and on the rare occasion a sport coat and bolo tie. He lived with his wife Gloria in a log home that he and his father Floyd had built …

The Role Of Trauma-Informed Care In Sustaining The Well-Being Of Refugee Entrepreneurs, Arielle Badger Newman, Lisa Jones Christensen

Faculty Publications

Many international aid organisations encourage refugees to engage in entrepreneurship after relocation to a new host country. Yet, this encouragement may be based on data about entrepreneurship from non-refugee populations, particularly those who do not experience the common traumas of forced relocation. This chapter addresses the topic of trauma and refugee entrepreneurship by asking the following question: How can support organisations encourage well-being (or mitigate ill-being) for entrepreneurial refugees? In doing so, we propose how organisations supporting refugee entrepreneurship can incorporate trauma-informed practices. Specifically, there are four “Rs” to being trauma-informed, which correspond to: realisation, recognition, response, and resistance to …

Tax Sentiment And Compliance: Evidence From Social Media, Andrew Belnap, Jacob Thornock, Kevin Standridge, Braden Williams

Faculty Publications

Motivations for voluntary tax compliance that fall outside of a standard, rational model can be intrinsic or extrinsic. We use social media rhetoric about taxes to create a measure of tax sentiment that reflects taxpayers’ extrinsic, behavioral motivations for voluntary compliance, and then examine the association between public tax sentiment and tax compliance. Our machinelearning based approach for measuring sentiment uses millions of tax-related tweets, which vary by time and geography. We find that tax sentiment is negatively associated with tax compliance. Our main findings and cross-sectional tests are consistent with the notion that paying one’s taxes is a way …

Do Audit Partners Exhibit Hometown Bias?, Yuzhou Chen, Timothy Seidel, Aleksandra "Ally" B. Zimmerman

Faculty Publications

We investigate whether audit partners exhibit greater leniency towards audit clients located in their childhood or pre-professional home state. While prior research has examined the audit quality effects of geographic distance between an auditor and client as well as auditors’ social ties to company management or directors, this study uniquely examines auditors’ psychological affinity to places rather than people. Using hand-collected data on audit partners, company managers, and directors, we find evidence of partners exhibiting hometown bias in the form of greater leniency towards clients’ opportunistic reporting. However, we find no evidence to suggest that these psychological biases affect audit …

Traditional Investment Research And Social Networks: Evidence From Facebook Connections, Travis Dyer, Gerrit Köchling, Peter Limbach

Faculty Publications

We show that investors acquire more public information about firms to which they are more socially proximate. On average, a standard deviation increase in the Social Connectedness Index (Bailey et al., 2018) between a firm’s headquarter county and a searcher county is associated with 30% more EDGAR filing downloads from the searcher county. The effect of social proximity on traditional investment research is distinct from the effect of geographic proximity. We find similar results studying headquarter relocations, investor-level data, and EDGAR downloads from European regions, for which physical distance should be irrelevant. Social proximity matters more during times of high …

What's In A Name? Standardization Of Vernacular Names For Trichechus Manatus, A. A. Mignucci-Giannoni, Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske, Anmari Alvarez-Alemán, Jamie Aquino, D. Caicedo-Herrera, Delma Nataly Castelblanco-Martínez, Diane Claridge, M. Fabiola Corona-Figueroa, Adolphe O. Debrot, Benoit De Thoisy, Carlos Espinoza-Marin, J. Galves, Eddy Garcia-Alfonso, Hector M. Guzman, Jalaludin Ahmad Khan, Jeremy J. Kiszka, Fabia De Oliveira Luna, Miriam Marmontel, Leon David Olivera-Gomez, Christine O'Sullivan, James A. Powell, Enrique Pugibet-Bobea, Indranee Roopsind, Carlos J. Silva

Faculty Publications

Trichechus manatus is one of 3 recognized extant species of manatees of the mammalian Order Sirenia. Currently, it is known by various vernacular names, none of which are descriptive of its biology and known distribution. This lack of standardization has led to confusion and miscommunication, hindering conservation efforts for this species. We propose standardizing the vernacular names used to refer to the species and its 2 subspecies based on appropriate geographical characterization in English, Spanish, French, Dutch, and Portuguese, respectively: “American Manatee”, “Manatí de las Américas”, “Lamantin d’Amérique”, “Amerikaanse Lamantijn”, and “Peixe-boi das Américas” for T. manatus; “Florida Manatee”, “Manatí …

Data Controllers As Data Fiduciaries: Theory, Definitions & Burdens Of Proof, Noelle Wilson, Amanda Reid

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Miocene Climatic Optimum Fungal Record And Plant-Based Crest Climatic Reconstruction From Southern Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica, Mallory Pilie, Martha E. Gibson, Ingrid C. Romero, Noelia B.Nuñez Otaño, Matthew J. Pound, Jennifer M.K. O'Keefe, Sophie Warny

Faculty Publications

Deep-time palynological studies are necessary to evaluate plant and fungal distribution under warmer-than-present scenarios such as those of the Middle Miocene. Previous palynological studies from southern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (SMS), have provided unique documentation for Neogene environments in the Ross Sea region during a time of pronounced global warming. The present study builds on these studies and provides a new climate reconstruction using the previously published SMS pollen and plant spore data. Additionally, 44 SMS samples were reanalyzed with a focus on the fungal fraction of the section to evaluate the fungal distribution under warmer than present conditions. The probability-based …

Patterns And Predictors Of Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Hiv Care Continuum In The Southern Usa: Protocol For A Population-Based Cohort Study, Xueying Yang Ph.D., Jiajia Zhang Ph.D., Bankole Olatosi Ph.D., Zhenlong Li, Sharon Weissman, Xiaoming Li Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Introduction Health disparities exist at every step of the HIV care continuum (HCC) among racial/ethnic minority population. Such racial/ethnic disparities may have significantly delayed the progress in HCC in the Southern US states that are strongly represented among geographic focus areas in the 2019 federal initiative titled 'Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America'. However, limited efforts have been made to quantify the long-term spatiotemporal variations of HCC disparities and their contributing factors over time, particularly in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. This project aims to identify the spatiotemporal patterns of racial disparities of each HCC outcome and then …

Atmospheric Flash Drought In The Caribbean, Craig A. Ramseyer, Paul W. Miller

Faculty Publications

Despite the intensifying interest in flash drought both within the United States and globally, moist tropical landscapes have largely escaped the attention of the flash drought community. Because these ecozones are acclimatized to receiving regular, near-daily precipitation, they are especially vulnerable to rapid-drying events. This is particularly true within the Caribbean Sea basin where numerous small islands lack the surface and groundwater resources to cope with swiftly developing drought conditions. This study fills the tropical flash drought gap by examining the pervasiveness of flash drought across the pan-Caribbean region using a recently proposed criterion based on the evaporative demand drought …

Soil Legacy Nutrients Contribute To The Decreasing Stoichiometric Ratio Of N And P Loading From The Mississippi River Basin, Zihao Bian, Hanqin Tian, Shufen Pan, Hao Shi, Chaoqun Lu, Christopher Anderson, Wei Jun Cai, Charles S. Hopkinson, Dubravko Justic, Latif Kalin, Steven Lohrenz, Steven Mcnulty, Naiqing Pan, Ge Sun, Zhuonan Wang, Yuanzhi Yao, Yongfa You

Faculty Publications

Human-induced nitrogen–phosphorus (N, P) imbalance in terrestrial ecosystems can lead to disproportionate N and P loading to aquatic ecosystems, subsequently shifting the elemental ratio in estuaries and coastal oceans and impacting both the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The N:P ratio of nutrient loading to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River Basin increased before the late 1980s driven by the enhanced usage of N fertilizer over P fertilizer, whereafter the N:P loading ratio started to decrease although the N:P ratio of fertilizer application did not exhibit a similar trend. Here, we hypothesize that different release rates of …

Building Resilience To Extreme Weather And Climate Events In The Rural Water And Wastewater Sectors, Nathan P. Kettle, Sarah F. Trainor, Renee Edwards, Donald Antrobus, Curt Baranowski, Tina Buxbaum, Kevin Berry, Michael Brubaker, Kristine L. De Long, Steve Fries, Davin Holen, Barry Keim, Danielle Meeker, Harry Penn, Cheryl Rosa, Rick Thoman, John Walsh, Jian Zhang

Faculty Publications

Extreme weather and climate events pose significant risks to rural water and wastewater systems. We examine the vulnerability of the water sector to weather and climate extremes in rural, predominantly Indigenous and underserved coastal areas and analyze how networks support resilience. Drawing on the analysis of 39 web-based questionnaire responses and 19 interviews with rural water and wastewater managers and service providers in southern Louisiana and western Alaska, this article reports a range of interrelated historical, environmental, and social factors that influence vulnerability to extreme weather events. Formal and informal social networks serve multiple roles in building resilience. These roles …

African Bovid Tribe Classification Using Transfer Learning And Computer Vision, Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, Juliet Brophy, Gregory J. Mathews, Marcos Pizarro-Monzo, Enrique Baquedano

Faculty Publications

Objective analytical identification methods are still a minority in the praxis of paleobiological sciences. Subjective interpretation of fossils and their modifications remains a nonreplicable expert endeavor. Identification of African bovids is a crucial element in the reconstruction of paleo-landscapes, ungulate paleoecology, and, eventually, hominin adaptation and ecosystemic reconstruction. Recent analytical efforts drawing on Fourier functional analysis and discrimination methods applied to occlusal surfaces of teeth have provided a highly accurate framework to correctly classify African bovid tribes and taxa. Artificial intelligence tools, like computer vision, have also shown their potential to be objectively more accurate in the identification of taphonomic …

Multiscale Analysis Of Spatial Accessibility To Acute Hospitals In Carinthia, Austria, Changzhen Wang, Michael Leitner, Gernot Paulus

Faculty Publications

Health care accessibility studies are well established in the US but lacking in Austria, even though both experience high costs and have hospital care as the largest contributor to health care spending. This study aims to examine multiscale spatial accessibility to acute hospitals in Carinthia, Austria. Using the most recent data at census block and 250 meter grid levels, we refine proximity and generalized two-step floating catchment area (G2SFCA) methods while accounting for the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) and edge effects. For census blocks and 250 meter grids, the mean travel times to the nearest acute hospitals are 16 …

Breaking Boundaries In Wind Engineering: Lsu Wise Open-Jet Facility Revolutionizes Solar Panel And Building Design, Aly Mousaad Aly

Faculty Publications

Featured Application: The Louisiana State University (LSU) Windstorm Impact, Science, and Engineering (WISE) Open-Jet Testing facility is instrumental in enhancing structural resilience under windstorms. The facility represents a Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure to address grand challenges and the need for experimental capabilities in the mid-scale range. Its unique capabilities enable the comprehensive testing and evaluation of critical infrastructure components, encompassing low- and high-rise buildings, photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, wind turbines, bridges, vegetation (nature-based solutions), power transmission lines, and more. Through controlled wind conditions, researchers can gain invaluable insights into the behaviour and performance of these critical infrastructures. The facility is pivotal …

What The Book Of First Enoch And The Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls Reveal About The History Of The Qumran Community, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

The Aramaic book commonly known as First Enoch is among the most important of all the compositions found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The fragments of this pseudepigraphal work and related documents provide new information about the use and growth of the Enochic traditions, as well as how their contents influenced the community that collected and placed the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves in the vicinity of Khirbet Qumran. Research on the Enochic literature in this corpus of documents is important for Jewish studies and for understanding the history of Christianity since the New Testament cites from and alludes …

Historical Archives Reveal Record Rainfall And Severe Flooding In December 1867 Resulting From An Atmospheric River And Snowmelt, Western Washington, Usa, Daniel G. Gavin, Patrick J. Bartlein, Cary J. Mock

Faculty Publications

The flooding of 1861-1862 in California and Oregon is the most severe flood event documented in the far western USA and stands as a benchmark for a worst-case atmospheric-river flooding event. In western Washington, historical data are sparser, and 19th-century flood events have consequently not been well documented. We found that rainfall observations from five locations spanning western Washington had no detectable bias when compared to nearby 20th and 21st-century comparator stations. Time series of the four-day precipitation sum revealed an event in December 1867 that was greater than any of the last century at three locations, and in the …