Digital Commons Network^™

Trying To Live Forever, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

Since the case of Karen Ann Quinlan, legal actions regarding the dying have become commonplace. Unfortunately, so has legal misinformation, misapplication, fantasy, and inhumanity. We seem to have frightfully underestimated the ability of lawyers to focus on trivia and self protection, and to ignore the basic human rights of dying persons. As the authors of the Hasting Center's Guidelines declare in the introduction:

Hospital legal counsel, lawyers serving other health care institutions, and legal advisors to individual health care professionals have a critical role to play in seeing that medicine is not driven by law, and health care professionals are …

Search For The S Meson In Antiproton-Proton Interactions, William J. Fickinger, R. Marino, D. K. Robinson

Faculty Scholarship

The interaction between antiprotons and protons has been studied in the range 1910 to 1990 MeV center-of-mass energy in a drift-chamber experiment at the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. The total cross section has been determined at eleven different incident momenta, and the elastic cross section between 8 and 30 deg in the laboratory has been measured with an energy resolution of about 5 MeV. The cross section for annihilation into charged mesons has also been measured, with the same resolution. There is no evidence in any of these channels for the existence of a narrow resonance.

Equilibrium Polymerization Of Chains And Rings: A Bicritical Phenomenon, Rolfe G. Petschek

Faculty Scholarship

The equilibrium polymerization of chains and rings together is a (n=1) critical phenomenon with aspects of bicriticality, governed by exponents not found in any symmetric O(n) model. The bicritical nature of the critical point is the result of a competition between a transition to form long-chain polymers and a transition to form an infinite-rings condensate. As a result the fraction of monomers incorporated in chains and in rings varies with temperature according to a different power law than that for the total fraction of polymerized material and is governed by an exponent that depends on the crossover exponent φfor …

The Ethics Of Embryo Research: Not As Easy At It Sounds, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

Mark Twain once said of Wagner's music, "It's not as bad as it sounds." Likewise, it may be said of Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse's stroll through the issues involving embryo research: "It's not as easy as it sounds."

Today it seems clear that Aldous Huxley's version of a Brave New World is much closer to the mark than George Orwell's 1984. We will not have to be dragged into a technologically dominated future by a totalitarian government; we will go willingly, cheering almost any change as "better" and accepting science as always "improving" on nature. This childlike faith …

Made In The U.S.A.: Legal And Ethical Issues In Artificial Heart Experimentation, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

The death of William Schroeder in Louisville, Kentucky, on August 6, 1986, brought to a close a remarkable chapter in public human experimentation. Artificial heart implants represent the most public experiments in the history of the world. The manner in which they are conducted is a matter of utmost public and professional concern, since it graphically portrays the seriousness with which we take our laws and ethical rules regarding the protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects. Unfortunately, the brief history of artificial heart implants is neither a happy nor a proud one. Begun with high hopes and …

Universality Classes For The Isotropic-To-Nematic Transition In Systems Of Interacting, Semiflexible Polymers, Rolfe G. Petschek

Faculty Scholarship

This paper discusses the behavior of simple models of interacting, semiflexible, nonchiral polymers. The Ursell-Mayer expansion is used to systemize calculation of the properties of such systems and avoid problems encountered with the strong, bonding interactions in a direct analysis of this problem. The formation of a nematic phase is discussed within a field theory which is equivalent, order by order in perturbation theory, to the Ursell-Mayer expansion. Symmetry analysis allows two universality classes; one has the usual, tensor order parameter, the other has a vectorlike order parameter. The vectorlike order parameter has no direct physical interpretation (distinguishing the transition …

Comment On "Universality Of The Kosterlitz-Thouless Transition In 4he Films As A Function Of Thickness", Rolfe G. Petschek

Faculty Scholarship

[No abstract available]

Conflict Of Laws (1986), James Paul George, Fred C. Pedersen

Faculty Scholarship

Conflicts of law occur when foreign elements appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident plaintiffs or defendants, incidents in other state or countries, and lawsuits outside of Texas are all foreign elements that may create conflicts problems with judicial jurisdiction, choice of law, or the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. This Article will review Texas conflicts of law during the Survey period from late 1984 through 1985. The Survey includes cases from Texas state and federal courts, and non-Texas cases affecting Texas practice.

During the Survey period, judicial jurisdiction continued its uncertain theoretical expansion, with Texas courts raising important questions. Foreign …

Comment On "Role Of Long-Wavelength Degrees Of Freedom In The Rod-To-Coil Transition In Polymers", Rolfe G. Petschek

Faculty Scholarship

[No abstract available]

Difference Spectra: Dominance Of Two-Body Cascades In Antiproton-Neutron Annihilations At Rest, R. Debbe, William J. Fickinger, D. K. Robinson

Faculty Scholarship

A novel method of analysis which eliminates the combinatorial background in searches for states produced in p¯n annihilations and in association with a recoil Ï€- is presented. The difference between Ï€- and Ï€+ spectra on p¯n annihilations is the spectrum of the recoiling Ï€- or difference spectrum. We applied this analysis to the exclusive channels p¯n→2Ï€-Ï€+, 2Ï€-Ï€+Ï€0, 3Ï€-2Ï€+. A new prominent state of mass and width ≃1480 and 100 MeV/c2 is present in the first and dominates the third channel. These three channels are interpreted in terms of two-body intermediate states only. The suppression or absence of ‘‘direct’’ annihilation is …

Evidence For A New State Produced In Antiproton Annihilations At Rest In Liquid Deuterium, R. Debbe, William J. Fickinger, R. Marino, D. K. Robinson

Faculty Scholarship

Inclusive charged-pion spectra from p¯d annihilations at rest have been measured in a high-statistics experiment in search of broad states. Analysis of these spectra reveals an enhancement of the π- spectrum at 315 MeV/c. This may be interpreted as a production of a new state of mass 1485 MeV/c2 and width at most 200 MeV/c2 recoiling against the π-. This quasi two-body final state accounts for a large fraction of the p¯n annihilations.

Copyright: Factual Compilations And The Second Circuit, Beryl R. Jones-Woodin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Overview Of Health Law Research And An Annotated Bibliography, Richard A. Danner, Claire M. Germain

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

What Disabilities Are Protected Under The Rehabilitation Act Of 1973?, David Larson

Faculty Scholarship

It can be difficult for an employer or a recipient of federal funds to determine exactly what types of disabilities are protected by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Relevant literature has not given a great deal of attention to this specific question. Recent cases, however, provide additional information that can assist in determining which disabilities are protected. The question of what is protected handicap differs from the question of whether a handicapped person is also “qualified.” This article focuses on the threshold question of determining whether a handicap actually exists, concentrating on the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The definition of …

The Fault With Comparative Fault: The Problem Of Individual Comparisons In A Modified Comparative Fault Jurisdiction, Michael K. Steenson

Faculty Scholarship

Minnesota courts have interpreted the Minnesota Comparative Fault statute as requiring comparison of a plaintiff's negligence with the individual negligence of each defendant. Exceptions to this rule involve joint venture cases. This Article examines the individual comparison rule and explores an alternative rule which provides for a comparison of the plaintiff's negligence with the aggregate negligence of the defendants.

Disabled Newborns And The Federal Child Abuse Amendments: Tenuous Protection, Steven R. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

This Article first explores the scope of the problem of withholding lifesaving treatment from seriously impaired infants. Next, the Article examines the interests involved in decisions to withhold treatment and the rationales for them. It contends that there are limitations on parental child-rearing rights and suggests standards to define when treatment may be withheld. The Article then reviews recent efforts to protect disabled newborns and points out a shift in the focus of these efforts toward a reliance on child abuse and neglect laws. Next, the Article surveys the development of federal and state child abuse and neglect statutes. The …

Production And Off-Bank Transport Of Carbonate Sediment, Black Rock, Southwest Little Bahama Bank., Charles M. Hoskin, John K. Reed, David H. Mook

Faculty Scholarship

Surficial sediments between the intertidal zone and 600 m were studied with the objectives of characterizing their source, dispersal pathways and sites of accumulation. Bioerosion is a major source of sediment in the intertidal and shallow subtidal environments. In-situ enclosure experiments showed that the urchin Echinometra lucunter produced 667 mg sediment cm ^-2 yr^-1, and an associated diverse rock infauna produced an additional 183mg cm^-2 yr^-1. Microborers caused erosion of 25 mg cm ^-2 yr ^-1, and feeding activity by the chiton Acanthopleura granulate caused additional erosion of 10 mg cm^-2 yr^{-1 …}

Sterilization Of Mentally Retarded Persons: Reproductive Rights And Family Privacy, Elizabeth S. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

Sterilization is one of the most frequently chosen forms of contraception in the world; many persons who do not want to have children select this simple, safe, and effective means of avoiding unwanted pregnancy. For individuals who are mentally disabled, however, sterilization has more ominous associations. Until recently, involuntary sterilization was used as a weapon of the state in the war against mental deficiency. Under eugenic sterilization laws in effect in many states, retarded persons were routinely sterilized without their consent or knowledge.

Sterilization law has undergone a radical transformation in recent years. Influenced by a distaste for eugenic sterilization …

Child Sexual Abuse, Jeffrey A. Fagan

Faculty Scholarship

Over the past two decades awareness of child sexual abuse among academics and professionals has grown from several convergent trends: the "discovery" of child abuse in the 1960's, concern by feminists over sexual assault and rape, increasing reports to law enforcement and child protective service workers of sexually abused children, and the general "deprivatization" of the family. More recently, general public awareness of child sexual abuse has followed well-publicized cases of child molestation in day-care centers, nationwide concern over pornography and its subsequent links to teenage prostitution, and runaway youth, delinquency, and family violence among adults.

The Limits Of Rationality And The Place Of Religious Conviction: Protecting Animals And The Environment, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

When people hold religious views that have implications for moral choices and for the desirable uses of law, may they properly rely on those religious views in our liberal democracy? The commonly expressed ideas that church and state are separate and that no group should impose its religious views on others may seem to suggest that political dialogue and bases for political decisions should be wholly nonreligious. This position, which is the main target of this Article, receives articulate defense among prominent social philosophers. This Article urges a different position: that no commonly shared ground of decision is available for …

Economic Perspectives On Trade In Professional Services, Jagdish N. Bhagwati

Faculty Scholarship

This paper will bring an economist's perspective to bear on three questions raised at this conference by some of the other important contributions:

1. How are services different from goods;
2. What implications do these differences have for the rules we seek to negotiate to free trade in services; and
3. How can we induce the key developing countries, such as Brazil, Egypt and India, which have generally opposed liberalization of trade in services, to support it?

Answers to these questions will naturally bear critically on the narrower question of international trade in professional, and especially legal, services, since recommendations and decisions on …

The Suspect As A Source Of Testimonial Evidence: A Comparison With The English Approach, Gordon Van Kessel

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The "Official" Texas Court Reports: The Rest Of The Story, James Hambleton, Jim Paulsen

Faculty Scholarship

In the January 1986 issue of the Texas Bar Journal, this column recounted the checkered tale of the official Texas court reports, from the birth of the Texas Reports in the first State Legislature, to their mysterious death at the hands of the Legislature in 1963, and their equally mysterious resurrection by the most recent session, in the form of the Texas Government Code. The authors have since been deluged with reader mail on the subject, and have decided to share excerpts from both letters.

The Interpretation Of Means Expressions During Prosecution, R. Carl Moy

Faculty Scholarship

This article briefly explains how the scope of a claim including a means expression is determined both under the PTO view and a strict application of the statutory language. The lack of consensus and current state of the law in the area are illustrated through an analysis of several recent decisions of the Federal Circuit. The policies underlying the PTO and statutory methods of interpreting means expressions during prosecution are examined in an effort to demonstrate that the statutory method more effectively furthers the policies underlying the patent system.

Access To Health Care And Equal Protection Of The Law: The Need For A New Heightened Scrutiny, Wendy K. Mariner

Faculty Scholarship

Proposals to reduce national expenditures for health care under Medicare and other programs raise questions about the limits on legislative power to distribute health care benefits. The constitutional guarantee of equal protection has been a weak source of protection for the sick, largely because they fail to qualify for special scrutiny under traditional equal protection analysis. Recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court suggest that the Justices seek a newer, more flexible approach to reviewing claims of unequal protection. This Article examines the application of the equal protection guarantee to health-related claims. It argues that traditional equal protection analysis …

American Income Tax Aspects Of Trans-Border Securities Investment, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

Encouraging investment of foreign capital in securities issued by American companies does not always marry well with preserving the integrity of the tax system. The interaction between the anonymity sought by some foreign investors and the disclosure required to enforce the law reminds one of the prophet Ezekiel's vision of a wheel within a wheel, and Shakespeare's Hamlet, which contains a play within a play. For today's topicwhich claims neither the elegance of Shakespeare's drama nor the obscure fascination of Ezekiel's vision--contains a problem within a problem.

The Right Of Elderly Patients To Refuse Life-Sustaining Treatment, George J. Annas, Leonard H. Glantz

Faculty Scholarship

Some legislation, such as law permitting living wills, has addressed the problem of decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment for the elderly. Most of the developing law on the subject is, however, being made by the courts, often in prospective decisions about treatment. These rulings have followed a variety of approaches to the ends of protecting incompetent patients and enforcing the right of the competent to make their own decisions.

The Forgotten Era, David S. Bogen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Do We Need A Calculus Of Weight To Understand Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt?, David H. Kaye

Faculty Scholarship

The commentary on a paper by L.J. Cohen, prepared for a symposium on probability and inference in the law of evidence, shows that the legal requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt can be understood simply as demanding a sufficiently high probability that the prosecution's narrative or story of the facts, which captures all the elements of the offense, is true. No separate measure of the "weight" of the totality of the evidence is required to understand the burden of persuasion. Any incompleteness in the evidence can be accounted for by a conditional probability that includes the presence of any …

The Consequences Of The Insanity Defense: Proposals To Reform Post-Acquittal Commitment Laws, James W. Ellis

Faculty Scholarship

There are sound public policy reasons for considering a reform of state laws concerning commitment of insanity acquittees. A balanced system of special commitment can protect the public safety and, at the same time, give acquittees a fair hearing on their current mental condition and continuing need for confinement. Special commitment can also insulate general commitment laws from political pressures that can arise from the prospect of the possible release of notorious insanity acquittees. Several of the recently proposed model reforms, however, have features that commend them to the attention of state legislators. The Oregon model of using a Psychiatric …