Digital Commons Network^™

Reexamination Of The Benefit Of Publicly Funded Private Education For African-American Students In A Post-Desegregation Era, Kevin D. Brown

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Opt-In Privacy Rules On Retail Credit Markets: A Case Study Of Mbna, Fred H. Cate, Michael Staten

Articles by Maurer Faculty

U.S. privacy laws are increasingly moving from a presumption that consumers must object to ("opt out" of) uses of personal data they wish to prohibit to a requirement that they must explicitly consent ("opt in") to uses they wish to permit. Despite the growing reliance on opt-in rules, there has been little empirical research on their costs. This Article examines the impact of opt-in on MBNA Corporation, a diversified, multinational financial institution. The authors demonstrate that opt-in would raise account acquisition costs and lower profits, reduce the supply of credit and raise credit card prices, generate more offers to uninterested …

The Role Of Dottie In Tracy Letts' Killer Joe: A Production Thesis In Acting, Elizabeth Jane King

LSU Master's Theses

The role of Dottie in Killer Joe by Tracy Letts was selected as a thesis project spring semester of 2003. This thesis is a written record of the actor’s work on the character of Dottie throughout the rehearsal process in the form of a rehearsal journal and a character analysis.

How Should Sports Organizations Handle A Crisis?: A Focus On Collegiate Institutions, Jamie Mabile Delatte

LSU Master's Theses

The sports industry is big business just like any other big business. Sports organizations face various crises just as corporate America does. A survey of 345 professional and college level sports organizations revealed that 70% of them experienced a crisis in 1997, while the Los Angeles Times reported that 220 college athletes were the focus of criminal charges in 1995. "Sports crises are clearly more frequent today than ever before," said Kathleen Hessert. Mike Paul agrees with that trend based on his research, attributing the trend to poor life choices away from the sport. What is a crisis? A crisis …

Why Judicial Elections Stink, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Those who are concerned about judicial independence and accountability in the United States quite rightly focus their attention on state judicial election campaigns. It is there that the most sustained and successful efforts to threaten judicial tenure in response to isolated, unpopular judicial decisions have occurred; and it is there that escalating campaign spending has created a public perception that judges are influenced by the contributions they receive. Attempts to address these problems have been undermined by four political realities that the author refers to as "the Axiom of 80 ": Eighty percent of the public favors electing their judges; …

Stereotyping Of Women In Television Advertisement, Vaishali Shrikhande

LSU Master's Theses

This study examined the portrayal of women in television commercials and documented the stereotypes associated with women in today’s television commercials. Content analysis was chosen as a method of inquiry for this study. Two hundred and twenty six advertisements were recorded from the three chosen networks, ABC, CBS and NBC. No local advertisements or public service announcements were included in the sample. Each advertisement was initially coded for the central figure, whether the central figure was a male or a female. In addition, each central figure in the advertisement was coded for the following categories: 1) age; 2) product use; …

Susceptibility Of Bacillus Anthracis To Gamma And Cherry Bacteriophage, Preston A. Fulmer

LSU Master's Theses

Bacillus anthracis is a bacterium that causes severe disease mainly in ruminants, but can affect any mammal, including humans. A popular method for the detection of this organism is susceptibility of the bacterial isolate to g bacteriophage. However, to date no study on the resistance of a wide variety of B. anthracis isolates has been conducted. The following study examines the rate of resistance of a wide range of B. anthracis isolates to g phage as well as another phage specific for B. anthracis known as Cherry phage. We also compared susceptibility to phage with another detection method, susceptibility to …

Are The U.S. Patent Priority Rules Really Necessary?, Mark A. Lemley, Colleen V. Chien

UC Law Journal

The United States is the only country in the world that awards patents to the first person to invent something, rather than the first to file a patent application. In order to determine who is first to invent, the United States has created an elaborate set of "interference" proceedings and legal standards to define invention and decide how it may be proven. Supporters of this system claim that it is necessary to protect small inventors, who may not have the resources to file patent applications quickly, and may therefore lose a patent race to large companies who invented after they …

Do Terraces And Coconut Mats Affect Seeds And Submerged Aquatic Vegetation At Sabine National Wildlife Refuge?, Aaron Bailey Caldwell

LSU Master's Theses

Terraces are a widely used wetland restoration tools in coastal Louisiana, yet the benefits of terraces are poorly documented. Like terraces, coconut mats also may increase abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), but their benefits are undocumented. I compared SAV and seed abundance in a marsh pond among three treatments: terrace, coconut mat, and marsh.

I evaluated terraces constructed in 1999 and coconut mats installed in 2001 in portions of unit 7 of Sabine National Wildlife Refuge that converted from emergent marsh to open water between 1956 and 1978. I randomly selected 3 terrace, marsh, and coconut mat stations. I …

The Price Of Macroeconomic Imprecision: How Should The Law Measure Inflation?, Jim Chen

UC Law Journal

Because no economy is forever free from price change, a legal system that seeks to maintain its vitality across the full range of macroeconomic conditions must adopt a proper measure of inflation. In areas such as taxation, economic regulation, and private contracting, the law's response to inflation constitutes a policymaking opportunity in its own right. In campaign finance and judicial compensation, the legal treatment of inflation may have constitutional consequences.

In spite of inflation's profound ramifications for the law, federal law has taken a seemingly haphzard approach toward its measurement. Federal statutes specifying one price index strongly favor the Bureau …

Playing Ostrich With The Faa's History: The Scope Of Mandatory Arbitration Of Employment Contracts, Claire Kennedy-Wilkins

UC Law Journal

Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") states that "nothing herein contained shall apply to contracts of employment of seamen, railroad employees, or any class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce." The Court has interpreted this section very narrowly so that it only applies to seamen, railroad, and other transportation employees. This Note examines the historical context in which the FAA emerged and argues that the Court has ignored the original intent of the Section 1 exception. The note examines the meaning of the term "engaged in commerce" at the time the FAA was enacted, the legislative …

A Hybrid Model-Based And Memory-Based Short-Term Traffic Prediction System, Ciprian Danut Alecsandru

LSU Master's Theses

Short-term traffic forecasting capabilities on freeways and major arterials have received special attention in the past decade due primarily to their vital role in supporting various travelers' trip decisions and traffic management functions. This research presents a hybrid model-based and memory-based methodology to improve freeway traffic prediction performance. The proposed methodology integrates both approaches to strengthen predictions under both recurrent and non-recurrent conditions. The model-based approach relies on a combination of static and dynamic neural network architectures to achieve optimal prediction performance under various input and traffic condition settings. Concurrently, the memory-based component is derived from the data archival system …

The Dubious Concept Of Jurisdiction, Evan Tsen Lee

UC Law Journal

The conventional wisdom about jurisdiction is that it equals power and is conceptually distinct from the merits. In this Article, Professor Lee challenges both those notions. Jurisdiction is more akin to legitimate authority than to power, and, as such, cannot be conceptually distinguished from the merits, which also ultimately pertain to legitimate authority. Professor Lee argues that courts should therefore abstain from the metaphysics of jurisdiction-they should always ask whether, all things considered, they should rule as a plaintiff asks, not whether they are capable of so ruling.

Homicide On Holiday: Prosecutorial Discretion, Popular Culture, And The Boundaries Of The Criminal Law, Carolyn B. Ramsey

UC Law Journal

As tort reforms have decreased plaintiffs' opportunities to recover for injuries and deaths arising from popular "extreme" sports, prosecutors have become more willing to bring criminal charges against participants in these inherently dangerous sports. This Article explores the emerging tensions between the popularity of these sports and the prosecutorial decisions resulting in the charging and conviction of "extreme" sport athletes deemed responsible for recreational injuries and fatalities.

Demonstrating the increasing popularity of "extreme" sports and examples of injury and death resulting from them, this Article shows that tort reform and the economic influence of service providers, such as ski areas, …

Golden Gateway And The Search Of A Fairer Application Of California's Constitutional Right To Free Expression, Eileen K. Chauvet

UC Law Journal

Over twenty years after its landmark decision in Robins v. Pruneyard Shopping Center, the California Supreme Court revisited the issue of constitutionally protected speech on private property. The resulting plurality opinion in Golden Gateway Center, Inc. v. Golden Gateway Tenants Ass'n clarified that free expression on private property may be protected by the state constitution only when that private property is freely open to the public. While the case showed a strong desire by members of the court to return to free speech jurisprudence more in line with the First Amendmentrequiring state action before a constitutional claim could be madethere …

Binding Interest Arbitration In The Public Sector: A "New" Proposal For California And Beyond, Brian J. Malloy

UC Law Journal

For over thirty-five years, binding interest arbitration legislation has been enacted in many states and localities as a way to avoid debilitating labor problems with essential public employees, particularly police and firefighters. A recurring issue has been whether these statutes unconstitutionally delegate legislative policy- making authority to a private third party, thereby violating the non-delegation doctrines in many state constitutions. A sizeable majority of courts have upheld these statutes against nondelegation doctrine challenges. In April 2003, however, the California Supreme Court invalidated California's binding interest arbitration statutory system. The court, importantly, did not base its decision on typical non-delegation grounds. …

The Public Domain: The Evolution Of Legal Restraints On The Government's Power To Control Public Access Through Secrecy Or Intellectual Property, Edward Lee

UC Law Journal

The concept of the public domain is the focus of a firestorm of debate, precipitated by some of the most important controversies of our digital age. This debate, however, is deeply flawed in two critical respects. First, the debate has invoked the public domain without a clear understanding of the origin of the term and the first principles that courts enunciated in recognizing the concept. Second, the debate has focused almost exclusively on intellectual property law in analyzing the public domain, ignoring the many uses of the term in other areas of law, such as First Amendment rights of access, …

A Proposed Right Of Conscience For Government Attorneys, Ralph Nader, Alan Hirsch

UC Law Journal

Government lawyers may be discharged for failing to carry out an assignment that violates their conscience or their conception of the Constitution. This is regrettable, especially given the special role of the government lawyer as an officer of the court committed to the public interest. Drawing on a wide range of analogies involving lawyers and non-lawyers, public and private employees, and citizens outside of the workplace, the authors argue that recognizing a right to conscience for government lawyers would in no way compromise the effective functioning of the government. They propose specific statutory language, as well as a canon of …

The Insufficiency Of Antitrust Analysis For Patent Misuse, Robin C. Feldman

UC Law Journal

Difficulties at the intersection of patent misuse and antitrust cannot be eased by requiring the application of antitrust rules to test for patent misuse. Nevertheless, in the last decade, the Federal Circuit has altered the doctrine of patent misuse by taking this approach.

The Federal Circuit's approach is inconsistent with legislative and judicial precedent and threatens to distort both patent and antitrust law. More importantly, using antitrust rules to test for patent misuse is inadequate because the policies underlying patent misuse are not confined to limiting the types of monopoly harms that antitrust recognizes.

This Article reviews the history of …

The Definition Of "Serious Health Condition" Under The Family Medical Leave Act, Jessica Beckett-Mcwalter

UC Law Journal

This Note examines the definition of "serious health condition" under the Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"). The FMLA allows an employee to take time off from work if she suffers from a "serious health condition" or needs to care for a family member with a "serious health condition." The Department of Labor regulations provide that a "serious health condition" requires inpatient care or continuous treatment. Many courts have interpreted the Department of Labor regulations as setting up a bright-line test for determining whether an illness constitutes a "serious health condition" under the FMLA. This Note argues that the Department of …

Taking Cover: Fifth Amendment Takings Jurisprudence As A Tool For Resolving Water Disputes In The American West, Jeffrey A. Wilcox

UC Law Journal

The Supreme Court's Fifth Amendment takings jurisprudence over the last half-century, through its notorious inconsistency, has provided relatively unreliable precedent for those seeking clearly to delineate the parameters of appropriate government intrusion upon private property rights. Although the Court has outlined a few categories where a per se taking has occurred, these categories cover but a small portion of takings challenges, thus leaving a broad swath of ambiguity for parties that might otherwise implement these decisions to vindicate their rights.

At present, litigants on both sides of a water dispute in the arid American West seek refuge in these scattered …

Slaughter-House Five: Views Of The Case, David S. Bogen

UC Law Journal

This Article discusses five views of the Slaughter-House Cases: (I) that Justice Miller was deliberately ambiguous about whether the Bill of Rights is incorporated against the states by the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; (2) that Justice Miller rejected incorporation through the privileges and immunities clause; (3) that he adopted incorporation of the Bill of Rights in the Slaughter-House Cases; (4) that the Slaughter- House Cases should be reexamined and overturned by the modern court; and (5) that the Slaughter-House Cases should remain the way in which the privileges or immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is …

Five Films Of Steven Soderbergh, Donald Beale

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines five films of Steven Soderbergh: sex, lies, and videotape (1989), The Underneath (1995), Out of Sight (1998), The Limey (1999), and Traffic (2000). For each film, themes and cinematic form and technique are analyzed with the intent of demonstrating a consistent authorial voice of the director. The investigation reveals that common themes include the protagonist at odds with the world about him, journey, ambiguities and uncertainties in the characters' worlds, and the nondichotomous nature of reality, especially in regard to morality. The study also argues that Soderbergh has evolved a style that favors a nonlinear narrative and …

Revisiting The 1992 Los Angeles Riots: An Analysis Of Geographical Perspectives, Paul Watts

LSU Master's Theses

The intent of this thesis is to investigate the complexities of the 1992 Los Angeles riots from a spatial perspective. To study the 1992 Los Angeles riots is an attempt to understand dynamic and unpredictable events, events that can result in multiple deaths, vast property damage, and leave irrevocable scars on a community for years. It is these reasons that should call geographers to the challenges of studying riots. Part of this thesis is to critically evaluate previous quantitative work on the 1992 Los Angeles riots and to argue for a new investigative approach in understanding riots in general. My …

Major And Minor Life Events As Predictors Of Medical Utilization, Gareth R. Dutton

LSU Master's Theses

Research suggests stressful life events can negatively influence physical and mental health in a number of ways. While previous research indicates both major and minor life events contribute unique variance to the prediction of physical and mental symptoms, little research has examined the relationships of both major and minor life events with medical utilization. The current study included a predominantly African American, low-income sample of adults (N = 207) attending two primary care outpatient clinics and assessed their experience of both major and minor life events over the course of one year. Medical utilization data were collected over a subsequent …

The Correlation Between College Students' Familiarity With Potentially Offensive Popular Music And Self-Reported Tolerance Of Obscene Language And Sexual Behavior, Harry Emons Martin

LSU Master's Theses

This study's purpose was to examine the correlations among popular music preference, sexual behavior tolerance, and potentially obscene language usage. Subjects (N = 81) were college freshmen over the age of 18 who graduated from high school in 2001. They were drawn from one section each of a Music Appreciation course (non-music majors) and an Introduction to Music Study course (music majors). The top 20 songs from the October 27, 2001 Billboard Magazine's Top 100 charts were analyzed for occurrences of potentially offensive words and whole lines of lyrics containing sexual references. Subjects responded to a 4-part questionnaire. In part …

Restructuring The Spaces Under Elevated Expressways: A Case Study Of The Spaces Below The Interstate-10 Overpass At Perkins Road In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Ramon Irizarry

LSU Master's Theses

General information about the development the United States Interstate System, different theories of urban design, and samples of projects developed under elevated highways structures were used to illustrate the issues associated to the development of elevated highway within urban areas. After building the framework for the study of the spaces below elevated highways a comprehensive study of the contextual, spatial, and functional characteristics of the spaces below the Interstate-10 at Perkins Road was conducted over a period of 9 months. As a result of this study a master plan was developed to addresses the issues affecting the spaces below the …

Toxicity Of South Louisiana Crude Oil, Alaskan North Slope Crude Oil, And Dispersant Corexit 9500 To Gulf Killifish, White Shrimp, And Eastern Oyster, Bo Liu

LSU Master's Theses

To address public concern over potential ecological effects on commercially and ecologically important species following use of dispersants during oil spill response efforts, toxicity data was generated for three estuarine species indigenous to the Gulf of Mexico including juvenile Gulf killifish Fundulus grandis, white shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus, and Eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica. The acute toxicity of the dispersant Exxon Corexit 9500, South Louisiana crude oil (SLC), Alaskan north slope crude oil (ANSC) and dispersed oils (SLC+9500 and ANSC+9500) to the species was determined for both nominal concentrations (NC) and hydrocarbon concentrations (HC). Two 24-h field toxicity trials were conducted with …

Behind The Scenes: Uncovering The Structures And Manipulations Of Tabloid Talk Show Workers, Guests And Audiences, Kelly Thompson Losch Deshotel

LSU Master's Theses

How talk show workers, guests and audiences behave behind-the-scenes is largely a mystery to the public. This research focuses on the behind-the-scenes workings of a daytime syndicated talk show to better understand the motivations of talk show guests and how talk show workers manipulate guests and audiences. While researchers have conducted studies of talk show guests using formal interviews and questionnaires, no researchers have posed as covert observers to study talk shows. The researcher conducted participant observation to study the behaviors of those involved with the on and offstage talk show structure. The researcher interned for the show without revealing …

Integrity Review Of Statutory Arbitration Awards, Calvin William Sharpe

UC Law Journal

The 1991 Supreme Court decision in Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp. introduced a new era in the enforcement of statutory rights designed to protect individuals in the workplace. No longer would employees be entitled to a judicial forum or employers limited to such a forum in adjudicating workplace disputes. Rather, Gilmer created the possibility that pre-dispute employment contracts could bind workers to litigate important public rights in the private forum of arbitration under the auspices of the Federal Arbitration Act. This possibility reached fruition in the Court's 2001 decision in Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams, making such pre-dispute arbitration …