Digital Commons Network^™

Gimmick Leadership, George Padilla

Faculty Publications

In the 1960’s, “Gypsy,” a musical movie classic premiered about a domineering mother who sought self-glorification by pushing her young daughter into stripping. The young daughter, Gypsy, learned the trick of the trade from veteran strippers in a song—“You Gotta Have A Gimmick.”

While education has always been filled with fads and slogans, today, educational leaders loudly proclaim, “College Ready”/”College Started”/”College Complete”/Career Ready.” For many educational leaders, these are gimmick slogans because academic achievement remains low and many students are arriving at college academically unprepared—but, now, possibly with hollow college credits and at greater risk of failing. Our nation …

A Square Peg In A Round Hole: Academic Review And Exhibitions, Cory L. Nimer, Megan E. Frost

Faculty Publications

Academic libraries increasingly use exhibitions as scholarly communication, yet conventional peer-review models rarely account for their collaborative, interdisciplinary nature. Museums and other GLAM institutions have developed standards addressing exhibition goals, audiences, interpretation, attribution, access, and visitor engagement, offering a useful foundation for academic library practice. At Brigham Young University, a library task force examined peer-review models across disciplines and adapted museum standards into a policy for evaluating exhibitions as scholarship in retention and promotion processes. Approved in January 2025, the policy was first applied to By Study and By Faith: 150 Years of BYU, an exhibition developed for the …

Parental Perceptions Of Censorship In Utah: Working Paper, Rachel L. Wadham, Dallyn Edmunds

Faculty Publications

The rapid rise of book challenges and removals in U.S. school libraries has increasingly been justified through appeals to parental rights, yet relatively little research has explored what parents themselves believe about censorship and book removal. This exploratory qualitative study examined Utah parents’ perceptions of censorship in school libraries, the kinds of content they believe should be restricted, and the reasoning underlying those beliefs. Using a grounded theory-informed thematic analysis approach, data were collected through a survey of 319 Utah parents with children enrolled in public schools. The survey combined closed-ended and open-ended questions, allowing participants to articulate their views …

Equal Goals, Unequal Standards: The Policy Debate On Goalpost Dimensions In Women’S Football, Tarlan Chahardovali, Johan Rewilak Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This study critically examines proposals to reduce goalpost sizes in women’s football; a debate often framed as a practical adjustment to accommodate physiological differences between male and female goalkeepers. Using data from men’s and women’s professional English football within two distinct periods (1951–1975 and 2011–2025), we investigate whether differences in goalkeepers’ height, gender and training are associated with variations in goals conceded. Our findings reveal that taller goalkeepers concede fewer goals; however, this relationship is U-shaped and this benefit diminishes beyond a certain point. We also find that improved coaching and investment, proxied by additional training via national team selection, …

Evaluating A Dual-Beacon Hartmann Turbulence Profiling Technique Using Wave Optics Simulations, Benjamin C. Wilson, Matthew Kalensky, Santasri Bose-Pillai, Jack E. Mccrae

Faculty Publications

Resolving how optical turbulence varies along a propagation path remains a key challenge for designers of free-space optical propagation systems. Instruments such as scintillometers and differential image motion monitors are commonly used, but only provide path-integrated turbulence estimates. Point sensors provide localized estimates of turbulence strength and can be used to generate path-resolved profiles when an array of point sensors are distributed along the optical path. However, this approach can be costly and complex to deploy in certain environments. Alternatively, a single point sensor can be mounted on a mobile platform that collects data while traversing the optical path, although …

An Atmospheric Optical Turbulence Structure Parameter Measurements System Based On Direct Ri Sensing Using High-Resolution Fiber-Optic Sensors, Matej Njegovec, Simon Pevec, Vedran Budinski, Boris Macuh, Melissa K. Beason, Denis Onlagic

Faculty Publications

The paper presents a method to characterize the refractive index structure parameter (C_n²) associated with optical turbulence directly. The characterization system is based on miniature, high‑resolution, all‑fiber refractive index (RI) sensors. The refractive index sensors employ open‑path, low‑finesse Fabry–Perot interferometers that are approximately 8 mm long and 200 μm in diameter. The active part of the interferometers is made of ultra‑low‑expansion glass, which eliminates the influence of thermal expansion on the refractive index measurements. The proposed refractive index sensor, operating in a differential configuration, achieved a resolution of 2×10^-9 RIU using a custom‑designed spectral interrogation system …

Regulating Manipulative Design Is Not Preempted By Cda 230 Or The First Amendment, Brett Frischmann, Peter Ormerod

Faculty Publications

For over two decades, there has been a heated debate among legal scholars, activists, judges, and others about the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. A persistent theme in those debates has been hyperbolic claims about the necessity of immunity from state laws for digital tech platforms and fearmongering that anything less than maximum immunity will destroy the Internet.

This Article argues that states retain considerable discretion to regulate digital platforms’ design and engineering decisions. We argue that manipulation, engineered behavior, and even habituation and normalization of engineered behavior by digital platforms are content-agnostic harms attributable to …

Recommendations For Conducting Ethical Network Research, Francisca Ortiz Ruiz, Paola Tubaro, José Luis Molina, Jennifer Watling Neal, Raffaele Vacca, Jana Diesner, Jimi Adams, Michelle Birkett, Jenny Godley, Juniper Lovato, Michael Schönhuth, Laura Teves, Michael Zimmer

Faculty Publications

Ethical considerations in social network studies are grounded in the general principles of human subjects’ research, including avoidance of harm, promotion of justice, equitable distribution of burdens and benefits, respect for human dignity, and protection of confidentiality. To help navigate these challenges, this article presents recommendations for conducting ethical network research, developed by a multi-disciplinary and multi-national working group. The article is divided in three main sections where there are certain recommendations identified for each one of them: data collections, use, and availability. Discovering how others addressed and solved problems can be a way for all of us to improve …

#Metoo Vs. Anti-Dei, Nicole Porter

Faculty Publications

Nine years ago, the entire country was talking about the #MeToo movement, which can be credited with the unseating of hundreds of powerful men and changing the way we talk about and address sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2026, continued progress of the #MeToo movement might be threatened by a new movement-the Trump Administration's attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. This article discusses the ways in which the #MeToo movement conflicts with the anti-DEI movement. Specifically, it addresses how employers will respond to pressure to dismantle DEI programs, offices, and training, and how those responses will affect …

Upper Mora River Corridor Plan. Path To Social And Economic Recovery. A Working Paper, José A. Rivera Ph.D

Faculty Publications

The Working Paper outlines a plan for the Upper Mora River Corridor as a path to the social and economic recovery of the watershed and its communities in the Mora Valley of New Mexico in the aftermath of the year 2022 wildfires. The first section of the plan includes an historical overview of the traditional gristmills of northern New Mexico and places where a few of them are preserved and still standing. The next section goes into detail as to the early commercial mills situated along the upper Mora River Corridor with a focus on the four remaining mills: the …

Digitize And Discard: A Campaign For Sustainable Av Stewardship, Cory L. Nimer, Ben Harry, Abby Beazer, Miya Jensen, Michael F. Gates

Faculty Publications

Archives and libraries face growing preservation challenges from aging audiovisual collections due to carrier degradation and playback equipment obsolescence. As the media becomes more difficult to access, its archival value decreases, leading to questions about its ongoing storage. One proposed solution has been to digitize and discard the original media, preserving the recordings as digital masters with derivative files for public access. The suggestion to reformat audiovisual materials raises questions for cultural heritage professionals, and each stakeholder group may have its own concerns. Yet as media capture and digital preservation technology improve, to maintain our program’s sustainability, we have begun …

Institutional Influences And The Governance And Administration Of The Programa Produtor De Água Payment For Ecosystem Services Program In Brazil, Thomas G. Safford

Faculty Publications

Payment-for-Ecosystem-Services (PES) has been promoted as an innovative approach to environmental governance capable of simultaneously advancing conservation and sustainable development objectives. While studies commonly assess the ecological and economic performance of PES schemes, less attention has been given to their organizational and administrative effectiveness. This study examines these governance dimensions of one of Latin America’s most prominent PES initiatives—the Water Producer Program (WPP) in Brazil. Drawing on a meta-synthesis of 125 publications, the analysis investigates how regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive institutional forces shaped WPP implementation. Guided by neo-institutional theory and institutional bricolage, findings show that WPP governance operated through hybrid …

Don't Self-Opt Out Of Career Opportunities: Proceed With Confidence, Valerie Mendoza

Faculty Publications

While reflecting on your career in the past, have you ever stepped back from an opportunity that you wanted because you doubted yourself? In the workplace, confidence often gets mistaken for competence, and that means talented employees can be overlooked simply because they hesitate. The truth is that confidence isn’t something you’re born with. It’s a skill you can build. This session will get you started on building that skill.

We’ll explore practical strategies to strengthen your confidence starting today. We’ll also break down the key differences between how confident individuals act compared to those who aren’t, so you can …

Winddensity-Mbir: Model-Based Iterative Reconstruction For Wind Tunnel 3d Density Estimation, Karl J. Weisenburger, Gregery T. Buzzard, Charles A. Bouman, Matthew R. Kemnetz

Faculty Publications

Experimentalists often use wind tunnels to study aerodynamic turbulence, but most wind tunnel imaging techniques are limited in their ability to take non-invasive three-dimensional (3D) density measurements of turbulence. Wavefront tomography is a technique that uses multiple wavefront measurements from various viewing angles to non-invasively measure the 3D density field of a turbulent medium. Existing methods make strong assumptions, such as a spline basis representation, to address the ill-conditioned nature of this problem. We formulate this problem as a Bayesian, sparse-view tomographic reconstruction problem and develop a model-based iterative reconstruction algorithm for measuring the volumetric 3D density field inside a …

Experience Therapy: How Service Experiences Regulate Everyday Negative Affect, Chang Ma Ph.D., Jae Eun Park, Alei Fan, Laurie Wu

Faculty Publications

In today's fast-paced and high-pressure society, maintaining emotional well-being requires effective strategies for managing everyday negative affect. This research examines the role of service experiences in reducing negative affect and introduces experience therapy as a novel strategy for affect regulation. Through a series of studies, we assess the effectiveness of experience therapy and investigate how different service experiences—varying in levels of personal effort involvement and social involvement—contribute to negative affect regulation. The findings demonstrate that experiences requiring high personal effort and social involvement are particularly effective in alleviating negative affect, especially among emotionally stressed individuals. These effects are mediated, respectively, …

Mapping The Tar Vrna Interaction With Hiv-1 Integrase, Jian Sun, Rahul Yadav, Tolga Catmakas, Luke Fisher, Nicholas C. Fitzkee, Jacques J. Kessl

Faculty Publications

A series of critical interactions within the viral core between viral RNA (vRNA) and HIV-1 Integrase (IN) has previously been reported. In these studies, contact points between vRNA and IN were identified using RNA-seq and MS-based protein foot-printing approaches. Several IN amino acids located in its C-terminal domain (CTD) were found to be essential for vRNA binding, and their alanine substitution severely impacted the correct morphogenesis of the mature viral core. Here, we have used the TAR element to extend these studies by performing a comprehensive mapping of the interaction by deploying RNA crosslinking and NMR methodologies. Together, these approaches …

One Assay To Rule Them All: Development Of A Global Environmental Dna Tool To Support Range-Wide Surveys Of An Imperiled Sawfish And Its Application In The Eastern Tropical Pacific, Juan C. Cubillos-M, Annmarie Fearing, Demian D. Chapman, Peter M. Kyne, P. Joana Dias, Cindy Gonzalez, Ryan N. Lehman, Yaliana Chichaco, Bryan L. Huerta-Beltrán, Kayla L. Mcculloch, Sarah M. Toepfer, John K. Carlson, Nicole M. Phillips

Faculty Publications

Environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as a powerful tool to support the conservation of threatened species. The sawfishes are one of the most imperiled vertebrate groups, with all five species classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Owing to their toothy rostra, sawfishes are easily entangled in a wide range of fishing gear, with mortalities in fisheries and loss of habitat driving global declines. The Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis pristis, historically had a circumtropical range, but has experienced severe declines in geographic range and abundance. Viable populations are thought to be confined to northern Australia, but …

The Historical Persistence Of Working-Class Culture: How Laborers Created The Ethical Foundation Of Western Civilization, Kenneth Atkinson

Faculty Publications

This article highlights four historical events that shape our present: the world’s first industrial strike in ancient Egypt to protest workers’ health and safety; working-class efforts to improve labor conditions during the Roman Republic and Middle Ages through strikes and the creation of guilds; the social justice activism of the prophets of Western religions (all working-class folks!); and the creation of the selfie and the transition from a culture of character to our present obsession with celebrities and individualism that began during the Renaissance. Each case highlights unique features of working-class culture, working class reactions to societal changes, and the …

News Media Coverage Of Measure Ula: How The Story Of La’S Big Project To Address Homelessness And Affordable Housing Got Sidetracked By The Story Of Big Real Estate, Christopher R. Martin

Faculty Publications

“Measure ULA,” named after United to House LA, was approved by voters in Los Angeles in 2022 to create a dedicated, long-term funding source for solutions to homelessness in LA, including funding the construction of affordable homes and preventing homelessness by helping tenants stay in their homes. The funding would come from a new tax on the most expensive real estate transactions in L.A. (i.e., mansion tax), and would affect fewer than 4% of all property transactions. At the end of three years of local news coverage about Measure ULA from the Los Angeles Times and LAist, the news audience …

Pioneering Change: Digital Reformatting For Sustainable Av Stewardship, Cory Nimer, Ben Harry, Abby Beazer, Miya Jensen, Michael Gates, Karen Glenn

Faculty Publications

Archives and libraries face growing preservation challenges from aging audiovisual collections due to carrier degradation and playback equipment obsolescence. As the media becomes more difficult to access, its archival value decreases, leading to questions about its ongoing storage. One proposed solution has been to digitize and discard the original media, preserving the recordings as digital masters with derivative files for public access. The suggestion to reformat audiovisual materials raises questions for cultural heritage professionals, and each stakeholder group may have its own concerns. Yet as media capture and digital preservation technology improve, to maintain our program's sustainability, we have begun …

Visual Cues In Online Education: How Emojis In Asynchronous Instructor Communication Strengthen Emotional And Behavioral Outcomes, Minseong Kim, Tami L. Knotts, Nancy D. Albers, Karen E. James

Faculty Publications

Online learning environments often lack nonverbal cues that support relational communication between instructors and students, making it difficult to establish emotional connection and trust. This study examines how emojis, as affective visual cues, influence instructor credibility, emotional attachment, trust, and responsible behavior in asynchronous online education. A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 297 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to view an instructor email either with or without emojis. Participants subsequently evaluated the instructor’s credibility (expertise, trustworthiness, and likeability), as well as their emotional attachment, trust, and anticipated responsible behavior. The results indicate that emojis significantly enhance perceived likeability, which …

Analysis Of Approximations In Flash Thermal Diffusivity Measurements Using High‑Fidelity Simulations, Tage T. Burnett, Jakob G. Bates, Matthew R. Jones, Christopher R. Dillon, John Tencer

Faculty Publications

Thermal diffusivity is an important material property for understanding and characterizing transient behavior in many heat transfer applications. This study investigates the accuracy and approximations of inverse mathematical models for measuring thermal diffusivity of materials via the widely used Flash Method. High-fidelity simulations of the Flash Method in copper, silicon carbide, silicon, and glass were performed as numerical experiments and included physics such as in-depth absorption, radial conduction, and surface convection. Data from those numerical experiments were used to estimate material thermal diffusivity using seven traditional and new inverse models. Parker’s original model had relative errors 𝜖< 5% when the approximations it makes were enforced in numerical experiments. Newer models performed well even when experimental restrictions were relaxed. Models that include radial heat conduction were capable of accurately measuring thermal diffusivity (𝜖< 1%) when a Gaussian energy source was used. Models with radial conduction and in-depth material absorption of the laser source could calculate thermal diffusivity for semi-transparent materials such as silicon (𝜖< 1%) and even transparent materials like glass (𝜖< 10%). Convective losses from the material’s front surface had a negligible impact on measurements except for very low thermal diffusivity materials. Using temperatures from many locations of the test material’s surface increased resilience to noise, reducing the distribution of thermal diffusivity measurements by more than an order of magnitude. The models developed in this study could enable a more relaxed Flash Method experimental setup that maintains thermal diffusivity accuracy and extend the utility of the Flash Method to semitransparent materials.

Institutional Silence And The Governance Of Women College Athletes’ Reproductive Autonomy In The United States, Tarlan Chahardovali, Molly Harry Ph.D., Emily S. Mann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This study examines how women college athletes understand their pregnancy-related rights and protections and how institutional communication – or its absence – shapes reproductive autonomy within college sport. Guided by a reproductive justice framework, it conceptualizes pregnancy as a site of reproductive governance shaped by institutional policies, norms, and silences within performance-oriented sport organizations. The analysis draws on semi-structured interviews with 25 women college athletes from various NCAA Division I institutions in the United States, conducted between September 2023 and July 2024 in the post-Dobbs legal context, and uses reflexive thematic analysis to examine athletes’ knowledge of Title IX and …

Use Of Period- Or Fertility-Tracking Technologies Pre- And Post-Dobbs, Emily Neiman, Marta Bornstein Phd, Mph, Abigail Norris Turner, Megan L. Kavanaugh, Maria F. Gallo

Faculty Publications

Objectives

Study design

Libraries And Librarians Get After Participatory Science, Catherine Wong, Megan Bresnahan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Tunable Shock And Vibration Damping In Metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion Components Via Controlled Post-Print Compaction Of Particle Damper Cavities, Joud N. Stame, Yanzhou Fu, Samuel Roberts, Austin Downey, Tianyu Zhang, Lang Yuan, Daniel Kiracofe

Faculty Publications

Components manufactured by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) can incorporate particle dampers (PDS) by retaining unfused powder within internal pockets, providing inherent vibration suppression without added mass or separate damping components. This study investigates the damping performance of such LPBF-integrated PDs through two complementary approaches: (1) quantifying the effect of post-printing volume compression on energy absorption by mechanically indenting the damper pocket, and (2) evaluating how variations in particle packing density influence the dynamic response under both sinusoidal and transient impulse excitation. Experimental results from shaker and shock testing demonstrate that increased packing density, whether by compression or tighter confinement, …

Hidden Costs Of Ethical Fashion: Sustainable Development Goals And Garment Worker Exploitation In Bangladesh, Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana M.S., Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Across garment factories in the Global South, the promise of “ethical fashion” coexists with poverty wages and retaliation. This study examines why the global call for decent work has not improved labor conditions in Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry. Twelve semistructured interviews with production workers were thematically analyzed through Critical Theory and Labor Process Theory. Five persistent problems emerged: wage manipulation, audit and compliance evasion, silencing of worker voice, restrictions on mobility, and the disposal of older workers. A single positive theme, workplace safety and child-labor prevention, showed limited progress. Overall, sustainability rhetoric remains symbolic while buyer cost pressures drive exploitation. …

Hidden Costs Of Ethical Fashion: Sustainable Development Goals And Garment Worker Exploitation In Bangladesh, Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana M.S.,Ph.D

Faculty Publications

Across garment factories in the Global South, the promise of “ethical fashion” coexists with poverty wages and retaliation. This study examines why the global call for decent work has not improved labor conditions in Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry. Twelve semistructured interviews with production workers were thematically analyzed through Critical Theory and Labor Process Theory. Five persistent problems emerged: wage manipulation, audit and compliance evasion, silencing of worker voice, restrictions on mobility, and the disposal of older workers. A single positive theme, workplace safety and child-labor prevention, showed limited progress. Overall, sustainability rhetoric remains symbolic while buyer cost pressures drive exploitation. …

Heterogeneity Of Treatment Effects In Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation For Knee Osteoarthritis Pain And Symptoms, Chiyoung Lee, Xiaoxiao Sun, Juyoung Park, Chen X. Chen, Christine Pellegrini Ph.D., Nan-Kuei Chen, David O. Garcia, Heewon Kim, C. Kent Kwoh, Hyochol Ahn

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Although heterogeneity of treatment effects (HTEs) is commonly observed in clinical trials, it has received little attention in studies on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Objectives: This study identified the presence of HTE in tDCS treatment among participants with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and explored participant characteristics associated with this heterogeneity.

Methods: This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial included 120 participants with symptomatic KOA who received 15 daily sessions of home-based 2-mA active or sham tDCS over 3 weeks. We used a multitrajectory analysis to identify distinct subgroups based on the longitudinal trajectories of KOA pain and …

Heterogeneity Of Treatment Effects In Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation For Knee Osteoarthritis Pain And Symptoms, Chiyoung Lee, Xiaoxiao Sun, Juyoung Park, Chen X. Chen, Christine Pellegrini, Nan-Kuei Chen, David O. Garcia, Haewon Kim, C. Kent Kwoh, Hyochoi Ahn

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Although heterogeneity of treatment effects (HTEs) is commonly observed in clinical trials, it has received little attention in studies on transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

Objectives: This study identified the presence of HTE in tDCS treatment among participants with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and explored participant characteristics associated with this heterogeneity.

Methods: This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial included 120 participants with symptomatic KOA who received 15 daily sessions of home-based 2-mA active or sham tDCS over 3 weeks. We used a multitrajectory analysis to identify distinct subgroups based on the longitudinal trajectories of KOA pain and …