Digital Commons Network^™

Questions About The Efficiency Of Employment Arbitration Agreements, Matthew T. Bodie

All Faculty Scholarship

The growing popularity of arbitration agreements is well-documented. The academic literature on these agreements has been largely critical, arguing that they jeopardize important rights and enable employers to take unfair advantage of employees and consumers. However, standard economic analysis suggests that since these agreements are freely negotiated, they presumably increase the utility of both parties and are therefore efficient. This Article raises questions about the efficiency of such agreements in the employment context. It begins by modeling the decision-making process by which a rational employee would judge the desirability of an agreement, both after and before a dispute has arisen. …

Can Federal Agencies Authorize Private Suits Under Section 1983 - A Theoretical Approach, Brian Galle

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Article offers a few thoughts on the theory of regulatory enforcement under § 1983. Section 1983, I argue, itself authorizes federal agencies to make their regulations privately enforceable. In recent years, the Supreme Court has announced that federal norms are unenforceable in the absence of clear statutory authorization - a "clear statement rule" for private rights of action. Drawing on key tenets of modern statutory interpretation, I claim that the plain text of § 1983 allows many federal regulations to meet this test. Because § 1983 has an important function in coordinating state regulatory efforts with federal law, a …

Conspiracy Theory, Neal K. Katyal

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Over one-quarter of all federal criminal prosecutions and a large number of state cases involve prosecutions for conspiracy. Yet, the major scholarly articles and the bulk of prominent jurists have roundly condemned the doctrine. This Article offers a functional justification for the legal prohibition against conspiracy, centering on psychological and economic accounts. Advances in psychology over the past thirty years have demonstrated that groups cultivate a special social identity. This identity often encourages risky behavior, leads individuals to behave against their self-interest, solidifies loyalty, and facilitates harm against non-members. So, too, economists have developed sophisticated explanations for why firms promote …

Transforming Aggressive Prosecution Policies: Prioritizing Victims’ Long-Term Safety In The Prosecution Of Domestic Violence Cases, Deborah Epstein, Margret E. Bell, Lisa A. Goodman

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Until fairly recently, prosecutors' offices around the country ignored domestic violence cases, failing to press charges in the vast majority of situations and dropping charges prior to conviction in many others. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, the battered women's movement made significant efforts to improve the criminal justice system's response. One way that this effort has met with substantial success is that many prosecutors' offices now have adopted aggressive "no-drop" policies for domestic violence cases. In these jurisdictions, cases proceed regardless of the victim's preferences about prosecution, even if she recants her original story and testifies for the defense.

A Model Of Norm Development For Computer-Mediated Teamwork, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

The process of establishing norms is an important aspect of group dynamics. Most, if not all, of the major models of group development incorporate norming as an important part of the process. However, little is understood and agreed on regarding how norms develop.With the increased availability and power of technology to connect people at remote sites, the popularity of computer-mediated teamwork has increased dramatically. This new communication context brings with it some dramatic differences from the traditional face-to-face context, along with a need to understand how norms develop in this environment. This study investigates the norming process engaged in by …

Blending Face-To-Face And Distance Learners In A Synchronous Class: Instructor And Learner Experiences, P. Clint Rogers, Charles R. Graham, Rus Rasmussen, J. Olin Campbell, Donna M. Ure

Faculty Publications

Like many institutions, Brigham Young University (BYU) is searching for ways to extend the reach of its programs without expanding the physical classroom and without incurring unreasonable costs. Internet supported instruction provides one alternative, with millions of students already attending Web-based classes (Gubernick & Ebeling, 1997). This case study examines the development of a class that blends distance and face-to-face students in a synchronous class. This case study focuses on how this blended learning environment was experienced by the distance and face-to-face students as well as the instructor.

Blended Learning Environments Definitions And Directions, Russell T. Osguthorpe, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

During the past decade the availability of computer technologies, such as the Internet, have greatly expanded the educational options available to learners and instructors alike. Innovative uses of technology have begun to blur the distinctions between traditional face-to-face and more recent distance learning environments. As the learning environments have been combined, many have recognized the inherent strengths and weaknesses associated with both.

Parental Reports Of The Development Of Autism In Their Children: The Relevance Of Regression, Comorbidity, And Genetics In The Detection Ofearly Characteristics, Robin Page Goin

Theses and Dissertations

Early detection of autism plays an important role in enhancing developmental outcomes for affected children. Identifying potential characteristics of the disorder evident during infancy and toddlerhood aids efforts to screen for such symptoms, which may lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses; however, it is unclear to what extent certain factors encourage or impede early detection. Because parents are responsible for making decisions on behalf of their children based upon their perceptions of children's developmental progression, caregivers were queried in terms of their beliefs about the development of autism characteristics in their children. Participants included 393 caregivers of children with …

Effects Of Domestic Violence Exposure In Colombian Adolescents: Pathways To Violent And Prosocial Behavior, Roberto Mejia

Theses and Dissertations

A multidimensional model of associations between domestic violence exposure and risk of violence and prosocial behavior was tested in a sample of Colombian adolescents, with attention to impulsivity and substance use problems as mediators of these associations. A representative sample of 1,152 school youths and a convenience group of 148 juvenile offenders aged 11-19 years was recruited from Medellin, the second largest city in this South American country. Assessment was carried out in classrooms in the school sample and in correctional institutions for juvenile offenders. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the conceptually derived models. Similarly, multisample analyses …

Law, Share Price Accuracy And Economic Performance: The New Evidence, Merritt B. Fox, Randall Morck, Bernard Yeung, Artyom Durnev

Faculty Scholarship

Mandatory disclosure has been at the core of U.S. securities regulation since its adoption in the early 1930s. For many decades, this fixture of our financial system was accepted with little examination. Over the last twenty years, however, mandatory disclosure has been subject to intensifying intellectual crosscurrents. Some commentators hold out the U.S. system as the standard for the world. They argue that adoption by other countries of a U.S.-styled system, with its greater corporate transparency, would enhance their economic performance. Other commentators, in contrast, insist that the U.S. mandatory disclosure regime represents a mistake, not a model. These crosscurrents …

Thinking About Eden: A Tribute To Herbert Morris, George P. Fletcher

Faculty Scholarship

This essay is an exercise in interpreting a revered, but neglected, text. I take as my object of study the story of Adam and Eve in Eden. My interest in these passages derives in large part from conversations with my mentor, Herb Morris, who taught me to appreciate the beauties and mysteries of this rich tale. For both us, the problem is explicating the deeper meaning of the story. Perhaps I put more emphasis on the original text than Morris does, but we share a common objective of understanding what the story can teach us about the human condition.

Thus, …

Punishment, Proportionality, And Jurisdictional Transfer Of Adolescent Offenders: A Test Of The Leniency Gap Hypothesis, Aaron Kupchik, Jeffrey A. Fagan, Akiva Liberman

Faculty Scholarship

In the past two decades, nearly every state has expanded its authority and simplified its procedures to transfer adolescent offenders from juvenile to criminal (adult) courts. As a result, the use of jurisdictional transfer has grown steadily. These developments reflect popular and political concerns that punishment in juvenile courts is too lenient for serious crimes committed by adolescents. Yet there is mixed evidence that expanded transfer authority has produced more certain or severe punishments for adolescents prosecuted in criminal courts. Some empirical studies show that adolescents transferred to criminal court are more likely to be convicted, sentenced to prison, and …

Resource Reviews, Phyllis Fox

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Resources Received, Phyllis Fox

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Resources Received, Phyllis Fox

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

When Code Isn't Law, Tim Wu

Faculty Scholarship

When the Supreme Court upheld extended copyright terms in Eldred v. Ascroft, many Internet activists called for renewed political action in the form of appeals to Congress or even a campaign to amend the Constitution. But others suggested a very different course: They argued that it would be wiser to forgo institutions controlled by the powers of the past, and to return instead to the keyboard to write the next generation of "lawbusting" code. In the words of one observer, "tech people are probably better off spending their energy writing code than being part of the political process" because …

Emotional Harm In Housing Discrimination Cases: A New Look At A Lingering Problem, Victor M. Goode, Conrad Johnson

Faculty Scholarship

With the United States Supreme Court's condemnation of legal segregation in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, and a vigorous civil rights movement that led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the nation entered the beginning of a new era in race relations. This, and future civil rights legislation, would be characterized by the development of a national agenda for ending discrimination and promoting equality. One area that was not included in this initial congressional effort, but later found its way into the legislative agenda, was the subject of housing discrimination. Despite the relatively few debates …

Where Will Women Lawyers Be In 25 Years?, Frances E. Bivens, Joan Guggenheimer, Nancy Northrup, Susan Sturm, Judith Reinhardt Thoyer

Faculty Scholarship

Barbara Black said in her unbelievably moving remarks that Columbia has opened up its institutional heart to women. I thought that was a wonderful expression and, as a relative newcomer to Columbia, I have to agree. What does this mean? It means that women have become part of the cultural fabric of the Columbia Law School. We are not an accent. We are not an accessory. We are woven into the day-to-day fabric of the school. And this means being able both to participate in the old traditions and to reshape them to make some new traditions and then have …

Development Of A Peer Tutor Training Model At Fort Valley State University With A Plan For Implementation And Evaluation, Darlene H. Harper

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The problem was that Fort Valley State University had a low retention rate, and the mean grade point average fell over a 4-year period. As the population at Fort Valley State University became more diverse, tutors needed to be aware of cultural differences, various learning styles, and strategies necessary to promote success in students who might lack college level skills in certain academic areas.

The purpose of this project was to develop a peer tutor training model at Fort Valley State University. The use of a model enhanced tutorial services in an effort to increase the retention rate and the …

Performing Texts; Playing With Jazz Aesthetics, Richard (Rick) Walters

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite all the critical attention jazz has received in recent years from scholars in other fields---literature, history, political science, cultural studies---very little headway has been made in understanding what jazz aesthetics are and how they might inform other forms of cultural and artistic expression. Part of the difficulty lies in the time-bound, performative nature of the artform and the fact that it is primarily a non-discursive means of expression; that is to say, jazz does not translate well.

This dissertation attempts to evoke and inhabit jazz aesthetics rather than trying to define, categorize or delineate them. Alternating between close reading, …

Privatize Or Self-Operate: Decision-Making In Campus Services Management, Jeffrey Shelton Pittman

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

In the past colleges operated as communities in which teaching and almost every other aspect of campus life were managed by a campus entity. This is particularly true in the area of campus support services. In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the way campus services are provided. Increasingly, college and university administrators evaluate the benefits and potential problems of privatizing or outsourcing various service units. Currently, such services as bookstores, food preparation/service operations, and physical plant departments have been the primary services chosen for privatization.

This study examines the decision-making process governing the choice between privatization …

Development Of An Associate Of Applied Science Degree In Digital Photography At The Community College Of Southern Nevada, Edie Chiarappa

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

Since 1996, the Community College of Southern Nevada has offered the only associate of applied science degree program in commercial photography in the state. This program offered a basic introduction to digital technology in the electronic imaging class but lacked more advanced courses in digital technology with a focus on commercial photography.

The college was interested in enhancing its digital photography technology curriculum to prepare students better for the world of advertising photography. This project was designed to develop an associate of applied science degree in digital photography for the Community College of Southern Nevada.

The results of the study …

Development Of An Aggregation Methodology For Risk Analysis In Aerospace Conceptual Vehicle Design, Trina Marsh Chytka

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The growing complexity of technical systems has emphasized a need to gather as much information as possible regarding specific systems of interest in order to make robust, sound decisions about their design and deployment. Acquiring as much data as possible requires the use of empirical statistics, historical information and expert opinion. In much of the aerospace conceptual design environment, the lack of historical information and infeasibility of gathering empirical data relegates the data collection to expert opinion.

The conceptual design of a space vehicle requires input from several disciplines (weights and sizing, operations, trajectory, etc.). In this multidisciplinary environment, the …

An Examination Of Personality As A Predictor Of Guard Behavior In A Virtual Environment, Jean M. Catanzaro

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Military personnel need access to realistic training tools that can provide a safe environment in which to acquire skills that will generalize to real world tasks. A virtual environment (VE) is one such tool. The focus of the present study was to evaluate a VE as a training tool for military guards. The first goal was to examine the potential of VE technology to provide effective training for standing watch at a military checkpoint. The second goal was to study a set of personality traits that might predict performance. Participants completed the NEO Personality Inventory and were trained to perform …

Examining The Equivalence Of Rater Groups In 360-Degree Feedback For Use In Leadership Development, Amy Fitzgibbons

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study assessed the seldom-considered aspect of measurement equivalence across the three most common rater groups in 360-degree feedback systems. The graded response model for polytomous items was used to assess differential functioning of items and tests and applied to an archival data set of 664 ratees to determine the equivalence of peer, subordinate, and supervisor ratings of four leadership competencies. The results indicate that the leadership competencies were invariant across the three rater groups. The results and conclusions produced are discussed with practical implications in mind.

Anger And Intent For Murder: The Supreme Court Decisions In R. V. Parent, Joanne Klineberg

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In R v. Parent, the Supreme Court of Canada recently held that intense anger alone is not, of itself, a defence to murder, although anger does play a role in reducing murder to manslaughter in connection with the defence of provocation. The Court's brief decision ignores twenty years of contrary jurisprudence and fails to provide detailed reasons for its conclusion, resulting in uncertainty about the scope and application of the decision. In this article, the author explores the relationship between anger and intent for murder, and outlines some possible arguments the Court could have relied on that would have provided …

Remarks From The 75th Anniversary Luncheon, Barbara Aronstein Black

Faculty Scholarship

I will try to make this reasonably brief, though not as brief as a commencement address I was once asked to give. The invitation stated that I was to speak on any topic of my choice. Anything at all. For five minutes. Reporting this to one of my sons – I can't remember which one – I said, "They say it has to be no longer than five minutes. What can I possibly say in five minutes that's worth saying?" To which my son replied, "Did they say it has to be worth saying?"

Well, I'd like to say something …

Vol. 81, No. 1: Full Issue, Denver University Law Review

Denver Law Review

No abstract provided.

Performance & Project Spirit Of Student Design Competition Teams, Bradley Marcus Davis

Masters Theses

"Student design competition teams present a valuable research possibility in the field of work group research. They are widely available and present greater learning opportunities than do class project groups. This study intended to create an instrument to measure the level of project spirit and team performance in order to establish a link between these two concepts. In the present study, nine student design competition teams from the University of Missouri - Rolla (UMR) campus (n = 186) were surveyed. The results indicate a strong correlation of the project spirit variables (project culture, project commitment, project citizenship, and project satisfaction) …

Increased Brain Histamine H3 Receptor Expression During Hibernation In Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels, T Sallmen, Af Lozada, Ov Anichtchik, Al Beckman, P Panula

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

BACKGROUND: Hibernation is a state of extremely reduced physiological functions and a deep depression of CNS activity. We have previously shown that the histamine levels increase in the brain during hibernation, as does the ratio between histamine and its first metabolite, suggesting increased histamine turnover during this state. The inhibitory histamine H3 receptor has both auto- and heteroreceptor function, rendering it the most likely histamine receptor to be involved in regulating the activity of histamine as well as other neurotransmitters during hibernation. In view of accumulating evidence that there is a global depression of transcription and translation during hibernation, of …