Digital Commons Network^™

Why A Board? Group Decisionmaking In Corporate Governance, Stephen M. Bainbridge

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article begins by briefly describing the role of the board both in law and in practice. Part II explores the distinction be- tween consensus and authority as modes of institutional decision- making. As hierarchical institutions, corporations rely far more heavily on authority than on consensus. Yet, at the apex of the hierarchy is a collegial body that functions mainly by consensus.

Part III is the core of the Article. In order to evaluate corporate law's preference for collective decisionmaking, we need to know whether group decisionmaking is superior to that of individuals. A wealth of experimental data suggests that …

Theology In The Jury Room: Religious Discussion As "Extraneous Material" In The Course Of Capital Punishment Deliberations, Gregory M. Ashley

Vanderbilt Law Review

"Why would a God concerned about justice in a matter of life and death be willing to delegate an absolute power over life and death to such fallible and morally benighted creatures?'"

In the landmark Furman v. Georgia decision, Justice Brennan likened capital punishment to a mere game of chance: "When the punishment of death is inflicted in a trivial number of the cases in which it is legally available, the conclusion is virtually inescapable that it is being inflicted arbitrarily. Indeed, it smacks of little more than a lottery system." Although Brennan's argument in Furman focused primarily on disparities …

The Routinization Of Prenatal Testing, Sonia M. Suter

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

As testing for late-onset genetic conditions becomes increasingly available, concerns have been raised about the psychosocial costs of obtaining such genetic information. Anxiety and distress can result from testing that offers only probabilistic results as to whether and when the condition will develop, especially when treatment is limited or unavailable. Many have therefore urged caution regarding late-onset testing, suggesting that knowledge can sometimes be toxic. This article argues that the same circumspection does not exist with respect to prenatal testing, which has become de rigeur as a result of a complex mix of norms within the medical community, society, and …

When You Aren't In Kansas Anymore: Computer, Research, And Library Anxieties Of Graduate Education Students, Rita Ann Kohrman

Masters Theses

Library anxiety is accepted as a valid, unique phenomenon and is recognized as a major stumbling block when writing at the graduate research level. Graduate students are woefully unprepared for the high level of technology found in academic libraries today. Many students are also unprepared for the intricacy of graduate level research. They discover their research skills are inadequate for computerized libraries when they return to universities or colleges for graduate studies after being away from academic studies. They must not only learn research skills, some truly learning for the first time, but also learn an online catalog, databases. Interlibrary …

Review Of James Nagel's The Contemporary American Short-Story Cycle: The Ethnic Resonance Of Genre, Robert Beuka

Short Story

No abstract provided.

Women Entrepreneurs: Factors That Contribute To Women Launching Their Own Business And Factors That Satisfy Women Entrepreneurs, Jean M. Mcatavey

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Factors that contribute to women launching their own business and satisfaction levels of women entrepreneurs are examined. Survey responses from 94 respondents are obtained from women entrepreneurs in Florida. An ANOVA was used to compare sample means between the demographics and the independent variables. Aligning with values, regaining excitement, being in charge, advancing myself, fulfilling life-long goal and balancing family and friends contribute to reasons why women launch their own business. Regression analyses were also conducted where being in charge, fulfilling a life-long goal, and balancing family and work contribute 41% of the variance of the dependent variable regaining excitement. …

The Characteristics Of High School Transition Programs That Assist Learning Disabled Students To Succeed At The Post-Secondary Level, Julia Lynn Mcnair

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

When students with learning disabilities (LD) move from a high school environment in which they are often carefully guided to a setting in post-secondary education, where they are expected to achieve on their own, they may encounter transition difficulties.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the transition programs in place in high school for six successful students with learning disabilities who were enrolled in an institution on a post-secondary level and to measure the effectiveness of the practices of those programs in conjunction with internal characteristics that students brought with them to that environment. The outcome of the …

"An Overwhelming Question" About Non-Formal Procedure, Thomas O. Main

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Moments Of Clarity, Maria Kannianen

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Predictors Of Reporting Peer Sexual Harassment In High School Students, Amie Logan

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Contemporary Portraiture, Sharon Ennis

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Yale Rosenberg, Nancy B. Rapoport

Scholarly Works

In memory of Yale Rosenberg, much-appreciated colleague at the University of Houston Law Center.

Whether A Guilty Plea Is A Mitigating Factor For Sentencing Purposes, And If So, Is It Mandatory Or Permissive?: A Critique Of The Kambanda Decision And A Comparative Study Of Plea Bargaining And Sentencing Issues In Ictr And Icty Jurisprudence And Other Common Law Countries, Amar Khoday

War Crimes Memoranda

No abstract provided.

Comparative Jurisprudence On Participation Offenses: Joint Criminal Enterprise, Aiding, And Abetting In Jurisdictions For The International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda, The International Criminal Tribunal For Yugoslavia, England (And Wales), Scotland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, And The United States, Cwru Law

War Crimes Memoranda

No abstract provided.

Witness Protection, Sarah Suscinski

War Crimes Memoranda

No abstract provided.

Behavioral Evidence For Chemosensory And Thermosensory Pathway Convergence In The Caenorhabditis Elegans Nervous System, Bowman O. Davis Jr., Lewis Vanbrackle, Darren Pittard

Faculty Articles

The nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, is an established model system to explore the ways simple nervous systems detect and direct organismal responses to environmental changes. C. elegans possesses specialized receptor cells for the detection of a variety of environmental stimuli. Separate cell types respond to volatile chemical and thermal stimuli and the neural pathways for these show anatomical evidence of convergence. This work reports findings from behavioral assays during simultaneous exposure of nematodes to both thermal differences and attractant volatile chemicals. Combined exposure to benzaldehyde and cold neutralized the behavioral responses to both stimuli in 24°C acclimated worms. Diacetyl and mild …

Figuring Rhetoric: From Antistrophe To Apostrophe Through Catastrophe, Jane Sutton, Mari Lee Mifsud

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

This essay explores rhetoric tropologically through various strophes: antistrophe, catastrophe, and apostrophe. Our purpose is to delineate problems and possibilities that these tropes pose for rhetoric in an effort to create new rhetorics. We seek to display the antistrophic and catastrophic figurations of rhetoric and then use visual lenses of photography and cinema to disrupt the figurations. Following the disruption, we seek to heighten sensibilities to other figurations, in particular an apostrophic figuration. We cast apostrophe as a figure for change because it marks a deeply felt turn toward difference and otherness. Turned as such, rhetoric becomes erotic.

Relationship Between The Church Involvement And The Self-Esteem In Urban African American Adolescents, Ywinta Jones

Theses

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between the level of church involvement and self-esteem in African American adolescents from the area of St. Louis, Missouri. Participants were 58 adolescents who were given two instruments: The Hare Self-esteem Scale and Church Involvement Assessment Scale. The Hare Self-esteem was administered to measure the level of self-esteem. The researcher designed the Church Involvement Assessment Scale to measure the level of involvement in church related activities. The hypothesis was that the adolescents who are more involved in church related activities would tend to have a higher self-esteem than adolescents who are less …

Contrast Effects In Stereotype Formation And Change: The Role Of Comparative Context, Na Wyer, Ms Sadler, Cm Judd

School of Psychology

Two experiments investigated the way in which the presence of a comparative or inter-group context during stereotype formation affects stereotype change, induced by subsequent disconfirming information. Participants learned about a focal group, after learning about one of the two context groups. After reporting their stereotypes about both groups, participants learned additional information about the focal group. This information described new group members who either confirmed or disconfirmed the group stereotype. Consistent with previous research, participants formed more extreme stereotypes about the focal group on dimensions that distinguished it from the context group (i.e., a contrast effect). In response to the …

The Influence Of Parenting Styles On Social Phobia In A College Sample, Kimberly Sue Fischer

Theses

Since researchers have only studied social phobia in the last several decades, the need to identify influencing variables is essential. While most researchers concur that familial factors have an impact on social phobia, the influence of family variables remain under investigation. Many studies have examined the impact of parenting characteristics on social phobia involving individuals in a clinical setting. However, few studies have focused on social phobia in a nonclinical setting with adults. This study explores the relationship between parenting styles of overprotection and rejection with social phobia in a college sample of adults. Subjects for this study were 35 …

Social Cognition: The Impact Of Gender And Leadership Surrounding Groupthink In Conjunction With Foreign Policy Decision-Making, Maggie E. Kuehner

Theses

This thesis surrounds social cognition seen within group dynamics. Specifically, focusing on the study of decision - making and the impact gender and leadership styles has upon groups under risk involved decision - making. Th.is type of decision-making is generally seen with corporate committees and members involved in the formation of foreign policy.

Research has attributed to reprehensible historical :fiascoes to faulty group decision - making. Due to this notion, it is imperative to hone in on the cognitive process and the possible factors that act as antecedents to errors in judgement seen in groups.

Many results remain inconclusive when …

On Making Anti-Essentialist And Social Constructionist Arguments In Courts, Suzanne B. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

One of my most intense disagreements with another lawyer during nearly a decade of lesbian and gay rights litigation concerned social constructionism. The lawyer (a law professor, if truth be told) wanted to argue in an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court that sexual orientation, like race, was a social constructed category. He reasoned that since the Court had condemned race discrimination even while recognizing the "socio-political, rather than biological" nature of race, it would similarly be willing to invalidate a measure discriminating against lesbians, gay men and bisexuals, even while recognizing the socially constructed nature of sexual …

Lawyers And The Practice Of Workplace Equity, Susan Sturm

Faculty Scholarship

Lawyers involved in the pursuit of workplace equity are difficult to pigeon-hole. Of course, the practice of many employment lawyers conforms to conventional understandings of lawyers' roles. These lawyers litigate cases on behalf of management or employees, advise clients about their legal rights and obligations, and define their mission as avoiding liability or winning battles in court.But innovators have crafted interesting and dynamic roles that transcend the traditional paradigm. These innovators connect law, as it is traditionally understood, to the resolution of the underlying problems that create and maintain workplace inequity. Civil rights lawyers working in both public and private …

Adding Value To Families: The Potential Of Model Family Courts, Jane M. Spinak

Faculty Scholarship

The Harlem Community Justice Center (Justice Center) officially opened in July 2000 with all the fanfare of a major civic event. The Chief Judge of the State of New York, Judith Kaye, and the Mayor of the City of New York, Rudolph Guiliani, were keynote speakers, lauding the combined efforts of private administrators and public officials in reopening a deteriorating but magnificent 1892 court building in the center of Harlem. The ceremony began and ended with gospel sung by the Addicts Rehabilitation Center Choir, a musical reflection of one component of the Justice Center's jurisdiction. The new Juvenile Intervention Court …

The Rise And Fall Of Article 2, Robert E. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

In August 13,2001 the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws voted eighty-nine to fifty-three to reject the Amendments to Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code that had just been approved in May by the American Law Institute. The vote followed a last minute effort by the Article 2 drafting committee to amend the scope provisions of Article 2 in response to continuing criticism from representatives of the software and information industries. Several months later, at the request of the NCCUSL leadership, amended Article 2 with its revised scope provision was withdrawn from the agenda of the ALI …

Relationship Between Insomnia And Job Satisfaction, Stacy Lynn Taylor

Theses

The disorder of insomnia is seriously effecting every aspect of people's lives including job satisfaction. This study examines the relationship between insomnia and job satisfaction. Subjects for this study included 30 previously diagnosed insomniacs and 30 non-insomniac graduate students. The subjects were asked to complete the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire- short form and demographic sheet. Pearson Chi-square tests were performed to explore possible relationships. There were no statistically significant relationships found between insomnia and the dependent variables of job satisfaction and job stress.

The Relationship Between The "Lies" Christians Believe And Emotional Symptoms Of Anxiety, Anger/Hostility, And Depression, Terry Lee Swan

Theses

This correlational study examined the relationship between Christian's irrational beliefs (lies believed) and the number of symptoms of the emotional disturbances: anger/hostility, anxiety, and depression. Previous studies have shown that a relationship between these variables exists. A total of 55 subjects, 24 male and 31 female, from 3 randomly selected churches volunteered to participate in the study. The subjects completed two questionnaires: The Lies We Believe Questionnaire, developed by Chris Thurman, Ph.D. and A Symptom Questionnaire, developed by Robert Kellner, M.D. The former identifies irrational beliefs ("lies), and the latter identifies the number of symptoms of anger/hostility, anxiety, and depression. …

Time Travel As An Element Of Literature, Klenya M. Morales Miranda

Theses

The purpose of this culminating project is to compile information about the evolution and development of the idea of time travel in western literature.

This endeavor offers a historical approach tracing the evolution of the idea of time travel in literature, its consideration in science, and the interaction between these two fields to create a new theme of art.

Through the analysis of different works about time travel, we will identify plot, themes, symbols and other elements that are common to this sort of literature. From these elements we will be in the position to infer the meaning that each …

Prescriptions For The Top Five Problem Areas Of Corporate Teams: A Blueprint For Success, James B. Wilson

Theses

This thesis will focus on five top problem areas corporate teams face in regards to effective teamwork and how those areas can be remedied.

Research has revealed five top problem areas: personality conflicts, confused goals, depleted trust, mismatched needs, and leadership failure. These areas consistently challenge those entities where corporate teams are present.

Since the Industrial Revolution work groups, their individual components, and relevant external forces, have been scrutinized by psychologists, sociologists, behaviorists, and business consultants. Many researchers have learned (sometimes by accident) how perception, communication, and commitment can have a direct affect upon teamwork. Through trial and error, corporations …

Noise Control And Speech Intelligibility Improvement Of A Toll Plaza, Luc Mongeau, Robert J. Bernhard, Jeffery P. Feist

JTRP Technical Reports

Vehicular toll roads are one component of many municipal transportation systems. Open communication windows, often used in tollbooths, facilitate essential communication and monetary transactions. However, the vehicle noise generated outside the booth is easily transmitted into the booth via the open window. Personnel working at toll collection plazas are exposed to extended, continuous traffic noise. Sustained noise levels of this nature may cause hearing loss, induce fatigue or stress, and reduce worker productivity. The annoyance and discomfort related to continuous noise exposure may create an unpleasant working condition and may affect the hospitality of the tollbooth operators and their attitude …