Digital Commons Network^™

Justice Under Siege: The Rule Of Law And Judicial Subservience In Kenya, Makau Wa Mutua

Journal Articles

The piece examines the tortured history of the judiciary in Kenya and concludes that various governments have deliberately robbed judges of judicial independence. As such, the judiciary has become part and parcel of the culture of impunity and corruption. This was particularly under the one party state, although nothing really changed with the introduction of a more open political system. The article argues that judicial subservience is one of the major reasons that state despotism continues to go unchallenged. It concludes by underlining the critical role that the judiciary has to play in a democratic polity.

Insurer Moral Hazard In The Workers' Compensation Crisis: Reforming Cost Inflation, Not Rate Suppression, Martha T. Mccluskey

Journal Articles

This article challenges the standard story of the insurance crisis that led to the near-collapse and major reform of a number of states’ workers’ compensation programs in the 1980s and 1990s.

In the prevailing account, insurance costs rose due to expanding costs of benefits for injured workers’, much of which was blamed on wasteful or abusive "moral hazard" by workers and their lawyers and doctors. Because state regulators had substantial power to control insurance rates, this account claims governments tried to suppress prices in the face of rising benefit costs in a misguided attempt to avoid political trade-offs between labor …

Making Deals In Court-Connected Mediation: What's Justice Got To Do With It?, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

When mediation was first introduced to the courts, the process was hailed as “alternative.” Mediation gave disputants the opportunity to discuss and resolve their dispute themselves; the role of the third party was to facilitate the disputants’ negotiations, not to dictate the outcome; and because the disputants were able to focus on their underlying interests in mediation, the process could result in creative, customized solutions. The picture of mediation is changing, however, as the process settles into its role as a tool for the resolution of personal injury, contract, and other nonfamily cases on the courts’ civil dockets. Attorneys dominate …

Human Rights International Ngos: A Critical Evaluation, Makau Wa Mutua

Contributions to Books

Published as Chapter 7 in NGOs and Human Rights: Promise and Performance, Claude E. Welch, Jr., ed.

The Human rights movement can be seen in a variety of guises. It can be seen as a movement for international justice or as a cultural project for “civilizing savage” cultures. In this chapter, I discuss a part of that movement as a crusade for a political project. International nongovernmental human rights organizations (INGOs), the small and elite collection of human rights groups based in the most powerful cultural and political capitals of the West, have arguably been the most influential component of …

Nothing Comes Of Nothing… Or Does It? A Critical Re-Examination Of The Doctrine Of Separability In American Arbitration, Tanya J. Monestier

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Students And Due Process In Higher Education: Of Interests And Procedures, Fernand N. Dutile

Journal Articles

In the process of enforcing their academic and disciplinary standards, colleges and universities increasingly find themselves confronting the possibility and even the reality of litigation. At public institutions, of course, the strictures of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment loom especially large. Meeting the complex needs of their institutions and students as well as the expectations of American courts presents an ongoing and daunting challenge to higher education personnel.

For both internal and external reasons, institutional dealings with aberrant students in public higher education has, over the years, developed on a dual track. Courts themselves have generally treated …

Domestic Violence Screening Practices Of Healthcare Providers In Rural And Urban Areas Of An Upper Midwestern State, Elizabeth Marie Larson Sillers

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Adoption And Safe Families Act : Foster Care Workers Impressions Of Implementation, Jody Goodell-Lange

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Determination Of The Anaerobic Threshold By Salivary Alpha-Amylase And Blood Lactate, Ulf Gunnar BronäS

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Work And Productivity In The 21st Century, Johann Van Reenen

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Advances in information technology have created the potential for global markets, virtually integrated work and workplaces, and international workforce development on a scale never before imagined. To capitalize on these developments, countries, organizations and their leaders need to understand the potential, the challenges, the policies and the attitudes that will be required for success in the electronic environment. This chapter provides an overview of the major technology and management trends and the formative role of digital libraries and information science. The characteristics of the 21st century, emerging trends for libraries and information management, knowledge management and technology driven changes, and …

Business And The Holocaust, Katie Weis

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Memory For Social And Evaluative Prose Passages In Socially Anxious And Nonanxious Individuals, Erin Nicole Haugen

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Into The Use Of Software Code Metrics In The Industrial Software Development Environment, Tim Littlefair

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This work describes a project that investigates the use of software metrics based on measurement of source code in industrial software development. Literature is examined relating to considerations of quality in industry; to software engineering; to emergent technologies in the software industry including the object-oriented paradigm and software patterns; to software product and process metrics; and to cultural factors affecting workplaces in the software industry. It then expounds theoretical and practical work aimed at specifying, designing and implementing a source code analyzer for use in a typical industrial project setting. There is an explanation of the design and outcomes of …

The Mind Of Christ? A Phenomenological Explication Of Personal Transformation And Cosmic Revision In Christian Converts In Western Australia, Stuart Cranford Devenish

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Religious converts routinely report differences in the way they attribute meaning as a consequence of religious conversion. Previously known objects, events and persons are perceived differently as a result of a new plausibility structure being brought to bear. Converts experience themselves and their lives as fundamentally problematic due to their limitations in the face of seemingly insurmountable physical, moral or spiritual crises, and set out in search of a resolution to their anguished existence. The resolution comes as they encounter God, the one whom-it is thought-holds within his hands the resolution to their problem and the seeds of their transformation …

The Management Of Performance By Volunteers: The Use Of Performance Feedback, Megan Paull

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of feedback by managers and co-ordinators of volunteers in the management of performance by volunteers. Research into the use of feedback in the paid workforce was examined extensively. Additionally, research dealing with the application of human resource management theory to volunteers is discussed. A foundation study conducted to examine the performance management practices in use with volunteers in Western Australia forms the basis for a multi-phase qualitative and quantitative examination of the topic. The perceptions of the managers and coordinators of volunteers, and the volunteers themselves about what constitutes poor …

A Critical Linguistic Analysis Of A Popular Comic Genre In Japan, Angela Rawson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research will focus on the issue of power and gender in the language of Japanese comics (manga). Comics in Japan are enormously popular and are read by a wide audience. They are aimed at specific audiences and it is my argument that the language of manga helps to reinforce certain social stereotypes - particularly the inferiority of women and the dominance of males. The language of children's manga will be analyzed using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which concerns itself with the relation between ideology and power in discourse. The analysis will be at various levels including …

An Investigation Into The Use Of The Internet For Medical Informatics, Patricia A. Williams

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The rapid evolution and popularity of the Internet technologies, and the World Wide Web, have resulted in unrestricted worldwide access to medical and health information. This has provided the medical profession with the ability to access up to date research more immediately than by traditional means, and has created the potential for advanced information collation. Also the availability of medical literature, previously difficult to obtain for the general public, is having an effect that is both a benefit and a burden to the medical profession. Whilst benefits exist in the use of the Internet in General Practice for clinical support, …

Privacy On The Internet : Investigation Into Corporate Privacy Policy Of Australian Large Private Sector Organisations On The Internet, Keiko Sato

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The popularity of the Internet has been dramatically increased over recent years. The rapid growth of this technology and its international use has made it almost impossible to regulate the internet. As a result, the Internet has certainly provided freedoms to people and it has led to some abusing systems. Privacy is one of the major issues in the development of Electronic Commerce using the Internet. As an enormous amount of personal information is transmitted to several hosts connecting to the Internet, the information can be accessed by both authorised and unauthorised people. Although it is certain that there are …

Teacher Perceptions Of Student Speech, Yvonne G. Haig

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Although language variation is widespread and natural,it is subject to judgement. Where a standard language has developed, other varieties tend to be judged against its "standards". While a number of overseas studies have found that this type of linguistic bias occurs in education and negatively impacts on dialect speakers, there has been little research in Australia. The research reported in this thesis investigates how teachers perceive the speech of school-aged students and whether the socio-economic status or level of schooling of the students influence these perceptions. Further, it examines the relationships between the teachers' background, the way they define Standard …

Communicative Interaction In The English Language Classroom : A Field Study Of A Western Teacher As Change Agent In Two Chinese Primary Schools In Zhong Shan, People's Republic Of China, Monika Trittibach-Andres

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a 'Change Agent' in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Chinese primary schools, and to determine whether changes were perceivable in the number and type of communicative interactions that occurred in EFL classrooms. The Department of Education of Zhong Shan, People's Republic of China, welcomed this research as the communicative approach to teaching English is sanctioned by the authorities. However, the formality of the actual classroom in primary schools often precludes much use of this method. An Investigation of the influence of a Westerner in the role …

Small Business Owners' Measures Of Success, Elizabeth A. Walker

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Small business plays a significant part in the economy of all nations because of its revenue contribution and as a generator of employment. In the Australian context, small businesses account for 85% of all businesses, employ 40% of the total workforce and contribute $75 billion annually to Industry Gross Product. All of these numerical indicators highlight the financial importance of small business, which is also how small business success has traditionally been measured. These traditional success measures have been by increases in financial performance criteria, such as return on investment, turnover or profit, or by increases in number of staff.

History, Culture And Alcohol: Drinking Patterns In Poland And Australia, Barbara Wolska

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

It is a widely held view in Poland that for centuries those in power have promoted heavy drinking among their subjects in order to achieve their various goals and that this contributed to the development of Polish drinking patterns. There is some empirical evidence that the political economy of alcohol in Poland promoted heavy drinking among the Polish population. Drinking alcohol in Poland was an important aspect of social situations. The most popular beverage was vodka(s). Social pressure to drink in the extreme was attributed to the tradition of hospitality. Cultural norms encouraged very heavy drinking among men and imposed …

John Smith: A Charismatic And Transformational Religious Leader, Philip B. Muston

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

John Smith is best known as the charismatic leader and president of God's Squad Motorcycle Club, which seeks to proclaim and incarnate the Christian gospel in Australian outlaw motorcycle subculture. Smith is in fact an evangelist and public figure in his own right. As well he is a teacher and social commentator whose prophetic statements and interpretation of events had an impact in his own culture and abroad. He is also a media spokesman and unofficial 'priest' for thousands who feel themselves alienated from institutional expressions of Christianity, and the pioneering founder of alternative church congregations. This biographical and theoretical …

Creating Non-Representational Art By Students Who Are Severely Intellectually Disabled Through A Pictorial And Musical Program, Jane Riddoch

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The main purpose of this research study was to investigate the worth of a recently developed Pictorial and Musical art program for severely intellectually disabled students, and to compare the non-representational art work produced by lower primary students in a special education school to similar art work being produced by lower primary students in a regular school, when taught in the same program. A subsidiary purpose of the study was to investigate teacher reactions in the art classroom of each participating school, and to observe the extent of the Pictorial and Musical program interventions on the students' attitudes and production …

Change Of Support Correction In Mineral Resource Estimation, Marek J. Janas

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The success of any mining operation greatly, if not entirely, depends on the accuracy of prediction of recoverable mining reserves. However, prior to mining, knowledge about the distribution of the Selective Mining Unit (SMU) is limited. The SMU represents the volume on which extraction of ore takes place and on which recoverable mining reserves are based. Realistic recoverable reserve estimates can be obtained from the grade-tonnage curve that corresponds to the unknown distribution of the SMU rather than to the distribution of exploration sample data. In general, if the reserve calculation, at the given cut-off grade, is based upon exploration …

Aid Administration Of Bilateral, Multilateral And Non-Government Organisations In The Primary Education Sector: A Comparative Case Study Analysis Of Zambia, Patrick Nkhoma

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This is a study of the administration of aid by bilateral, multilateral and non-government organisations in Zambia during the period 1990 to 2000. The particular purpose of this study is to compare the aid programs administered by the above organisations to the primary education sector using a case study approach. The study critically analyses how the performance of these organisation is or is not influenced by setting clear objectives, by elaborating planning processes and implementation arrangements. The study uses a matrix table developed through a NUD*IST retrieval reports generated from the data collected from each organisation’s documentation and in-depth interviews …

Statistical Multiplexing And Connection Admission Control In Atm Networks, Guoqiang Mao

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology is widely employed for the transport of network traffic, and has the potential to be the base technology for the next generation of global communications. Connection Admission Control (CAC) is the effective traffic control mechanism which is necessary in ATM networks in order to avoid possible congestion at each network node and to achieve the Quality-of-Service (QoS) requested by each connection. CAC determines whether or not the network should accept a new connection. A new connection will only be accepted if the network has sufficient resources to meet its QoS requirements without affecting the QoS …

Teacher-Class, Teacher-Group And Student Interactions : Opportunities For Learning In Primary Science Classrooms, Christine A. Coulstock

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many studies have investigated learning in science classes, examining various influences on the understandings that students develop. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interactions that took place in upper primary science lessons, and the teacher and student behaviours affected these interactions and the opportunities for learning. The three classes that were selected for the study were similar and the teachers were all experienced primary teachers. The teachers were supplied with a set of science lessons on the topic of electric circuits. The resources included background information for the teachers and suggested activities, demonstrations, analogies and focus questions …

Monday Morning And The Millennium : Cultural Studies, Scepticism And The Concept Of Power, Mark Gibson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The thesis examines the use or the concept of power in cultural studies, offering a revisionist perspective on the history or this use. The dominant approach to questions or power in the field, it is argued, is a 'rationalist' one: the various phenomena comprehended under the concept are conceived ultimately as instances or the one phenomenon. This approach implies that positions in relation to power share a common referent allowing them to be assessed according to general criteria of 'correctness' or theoretical adequacy. It also allows developments in debates around power to be represented in terms or a narrative or …

To Release Or Not To Release That Is The Question: A Phenomenological Study Of Western Australian Government Freedom Of Information Coordinators, Graham Harnwell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study explores the issues that impact on Western Australian State Government Freedom of Information Coordinators who, within the framework of the Freedom of Information Act (1992), manage requests from the public to access agency held documents. A literature review identified two bodies of material. One extolling FOI, the other arguing that some agency personnel have not accepted, and are actively resisting, the concept of FOI. Using a phenomenological approach, eight Coordinators narrated the issues that impact on their roles and decision-making processes. Themes were identified, analysed and reported in the context of the broader FOI environment. This research found …