Digital Commons Network^™

The New Look Of Shareholder Litigation: Acquisition-Oriented Class Actions, Robert B. Thompson, Randall S. Thomas

Vanderbilt Law Review

Now, however, a new form of shareholder litigation has emerged that is distinct from derivative or securities fraud claims: class action lawsuits filed under state law challenging director conduct in mergers and acquisitions. The empirical data reported in this article show that these acquisition-oriented suits are now the dominant form of corporate litigation and outnumber derivative suits by a wide margin.

Are these acquisition-oriented class actions just another deadbeat in the corporate governance debate? Should policymakers take action to cut back on the development of this new form of shareholder litigation? In this paper, we argue that, just as with …

Gender Assignment To English Words In The Spanish Of Southern Arizona, Elise M. Dubord

Faculty Work

This paper examines the gender assignment of English words in the Spanish of Southern Arizona based on the categories of biological sex, phonological gender, and analogical gender. It is determined that biological sex is the greatest indicator of gender assignment, followed by phonological gender and lastly by analogical gender. There was a small (7.9%) proportion of variation in gender assignment to English words in the corpus that is attributed to a combination of words that are neither phonologically nor socially integrated into the Spanish lexicon and the linguistic insecurity of the participants.

Let's Dump The 1916 Antidumping Act: Why The 1994 Gatt Provides Better Price Protection For U.S. Industries, Nicole Disalvo

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The U.S. Congress is currently considering a vote to repeal the 1916 Antidumping Act. The 1916 Antidumping Act makes the importation of foreign goods that were sold below market prices illegal if the foreign company had the "intent [to] destroy or injure an industry in the United States." Few claims have been adjudicated under the 1916 Act since its passage, and no plaintiff has won a case based solely on the 1916 Antidumping Act. Commentators reason that the strict intent requirement or the availability of remedies in other antitrust statutes has contributed to this phenomenon. Recently, there has been debate …

Enhancing The Legitimacy Of The World Trade Organization, Andrea Greisberger

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has faced harsh criticism from developing nations in recent years. Many developing nations feel that the promises they received when they joined the WTO have not been fulfilled. These nations feel that wealthy, industrialized nations like the United States and the members of the European Union are the only ones that have benefited from the organization. Moreover, they feel that these developed nations have benefited at their expense through the WTO's dispute settlement process. Many improvements to the WTO have been proposed. However, the one that seems the most able to help developing nations, the …

Perpetuation Of The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, Hale E. Sheppard

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article discusses Section 911 of the Internal Revenue Code, also known as the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), as an example of a provision that has been sustained, not on the basis of sound economic analysis and compliance with established U.S. international tax policy, but rather because of effective lobbying and political circumstance. First providing an overview of the U.S. system of worldwide taxation, and the place of the FEIE within that framework, Mr. Sheppard explores the forces underlying the perpetuation of the FEIE. He demonstrates that FEIE is inconsistent with each of the primary components of U.S. international …

Are Parties True To Their Word? Platform Politics In The 1996 Election, Catherine Louise Olexa

Honors Program Theses

There is a certain cynicism that prevails in our American culture when it comes to politics. Many people view politicians in a negative light, believing that a politician will say whatever voters want to hear while he or she is on the campaign trail, but that those promises are not made good upon after the election. It is for this reason that l chose to write on this issue of political promises. Despite the common attitude of skepticism, the question must be posed: Do parties and politicians keep their promises? There is no easy way to answer this question, because …

From Relations To Rules: A Theoretical Explanation And Empirical Evidence, Shaomin Li, Daniel A. Bell (Ed.), Hahm Chiahark (Ed.)

Management Faculty Publications

(First Paragraph) There is a general perception that people in the East rely more on guanxi (relations, or informal social networks) to govern economic transactions and manage business activities than people in the West. A large quantity of literature on the difference has been produced. One of the dominant views argues that the difference is due to culture, which is treated as an exogenous variable.1 These studies on culture as the determinant of different management and governance style have helped us gain insight on how businesses are conducted in different regions of the world and on how cultures differ through-out …

Collection Management As Risk Management, Mary F. Casserly

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

Risk and technological changes are inexorably linked, and librarians, as experts, must communicate these risks to lay persons and develop appropriate risk management strategies. This paper identifies some of the risks to library primacy, library and professional values, collection integrity, and scholarly communication and the information marketplace that those involved in collection development and acquisition of library materials may encounter. The sources of these risks are briefly described, and the author suggests some risk management strategies.

The Role Of Soil Water Availability In Potential Rainfed Rice Productivity In Bangladesh: Applications Of The Ceres-Rice Mode, Rezaul Mahmood, David R. Legates, Mark Meo

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Soil water stress and its impact on the monsoon season potential rainfed rice productivity in Bangladesh is investigated. A crop growth simulation model, CERES-Rice, is applied to 16 locations representative of the major rice growing regions of Bangladesh to determine the impact of soil water stress on the regional scale potential yield for four transplanting dates: 1 June, 1 July, 15 July, and 15 August. A quantified estimate of potential yield loss for four regions and for Bangladesh as a whole is calculated for water stress during flowering and maturing stages. For example, in Bangladesh, average potential yield for 1 …

Skill Acquisition And Transfer In A Simple Algebraic Task, Charan J. Singh

Theses : Honours

Speelman's (\999) finding that performance of a skill is based to some extent on the conter.t in which it is performed, rather than simply on the acquired skill itself, is not accounted for by the basic skill acquisition theories like ACT -R Theory or Instance Theory. The purpose of the current experiment was to examine whether the degree of change in context influences the degree of reduction in transfer. Forty participants were trained on an algebraic task and then tested in two different transfer conditions. Condition one included one new item and condition two included two new items in the …

Construction Of Male Identity : The Relationship Between Cancer Support Groups And Identity For Men Who Are Living With Cancer, Kathryn M. Chegwidden

Theses : Honours

A diagnosis of cancer may have many meanings for a man in terms of the impact that cancer has on various aspects of his life, including his identity as a man. Subsequent membership of a cancer support group may support men negotiating their changing identity. A review of the relevant literature examines the impact of cancer and its treatments for men, and the various changes resulting from men's experiences with cancer and cancer treatments. An overview of support groups, their function, composition, and benefits is provided with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of professional and member facilitated cancer …

The Abject In The Technological Other, Alex Bradley

Theses : Honours

A photographic project and exegesis demonstrating artificial intelligence and artificial life as occurrences of the abject. In the photographic project '0=2', the technologies of artificial intelligence and artificial life are examined in relation to identity, via an elaboration of the psychoanalytic concert of the 'abject'. An exegesis of the creative project contains an investigation of computer technologies in regard to identity, an analysis of the basic concepts and paradigms of the sciences of artificial intelligence and artificial life, and an elaboration of the psychoanalytic concept of the abject - demonstrating A.l. and a-life as cultural instantiations of abjection. In addition, …

Towards An Understanding Of The Grey Nomad Consumer, Mandy Pickering

Theses : Honours

This exploratory study applied a grounded approach to the collection and analysis of data. The study investigated the consumption behaviours utilised by a sample of Grey Nomads who subscribed to an eco·camping philosophy and who occupied their own caravans for accommodation whilst travelling. The aim was to examine the growing phenomenon of Grey Nomads who travelled in Western Australia in order to obtain insight into the group as consumers. Thirty nine informants (n=39) were interviewed where an understanding of the primary concerns of informants could be achieved. Informants were recruited who were over 60 years of age, travelled for a …

Picturing A Postcolonial Australia : Breaking The 'White' Norm In Contemporary Creative Practice, Rebekah Rousi

Theses : Honours

This dissertation is about addressing social issues relating to colonial encounters from the perspective of a 'White' colonial Australian artist. The discussion seeks to address representational imbalances which occur within image construction as the result of a history of Imperial investment in defining the 'civilised Self against the non-European 'primitive Other' (Said, 1978). The label 'White' is analysed in terms of its contradictions and generalisations, where it is linked to a culturally assumed 'Self' positioning of human centrality and neutrality. This centrality (humanity) was used by Imperialists to justify reasoning behind colonial expansion. The thriving mechanisms of Euro-centric perception are …

Clutch, Claire Canham

Theses : Honours

The research encompasses an analysis of Paradigms of practice, material as content, historical precedents, social and political conditions relative to the project themes and corresponding theoretical discourse. It reflects issues of domesticity and familial relationships, memory, narrative and the use of specific materials and methods sympathetic to these concerns. Aspects of the practices of Eva Hesse and Marcel Duchamp have been considered to contextualise and differentiate the creative work. The research also attempts to define and position the artworks through relative critical evaluation of contemporary art practices.

Sox In The Boardroom: The Impact Of Sarbanes-Oxley 2002 On The Corporate Reporting Of The Fortune Fifty, Angela Boedeker

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

When I began this research project I believed that I would find some major differences in reporting between the 2001 and 2002 financial reports of major corporations. My research question was, "What was the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on the corporate reporting of the top 50 corporations in America as identified by Fortune magazine." Each year Fortune magazine lists the top 500 public corporations in American with the rankings based upon revenues. The results of the 2001 financial reports of these corporations led to the 2002 listing in the magazine; the results of the 2002 financial reports …

Rules-Based Vs. Principles-Based Accounting Standards: Analyzing The Impact Of Amending Apb No. 18 To A Principles-Based Standard, Jodi E. Ferring

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

In the above analysis I considered the impact of amending APB No. 18 to a principles-based standard upon implementation, accounting objectives, and management manipulation. The analysis has uncovered both positive and negative aspects to a change in the accounting standards setting process. Implementation would be more costly and require more resources due to applying judgment instead of objective tests. Accounting objectives of comparability and reliability could arguably be improved assuming implementation is accurate. Principles-based accounting standards would not significantly improve consistency. Management structuring of transactions could be decreased assuming accurate implementation. The analysis has discovered that the potential success of …

Beyond Bakke: Grutter-Gratz And The Promise Of Brown, Joel K. Goldstein

All Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s long-awaited decisions this past summer in the Michigan affirmative action cases provided yet another landmark in the continuing controversy regarding race and education. A quarter century, almost to the day, after the Court handed down its badly splintered decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke,[1] the Court again concluded that universities may sometimes, but not always, give some preference to racial and ethnic minorities in deciding whom to admit. The Court, in a 5-4 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, upheld the constitutionality of the University of Michigan Law School’s admission policy that considered race …

Whistling In The Dark? Corporate Fraud, Whistleblowers, And The Implications Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act For Employment Law, Miriam A. Cherry

All Faculty Scholarship

Passed in 2002 in the wake of the accounting scandals that resulted in billions of dollars of lost value to shareholders, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has as its major goal the prevention of corporate corruption. This Article analyzes the impact of Section 806, the portion of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that provides protections for employees who report securities fraud, and describes the effect that Sarbanes-Oxley has on existing employment law. In addition, this Article contributes to the debate over the general effectiveness of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a topic of contention among both academics and press commentators. This Article argues that the Act …

116th Annual Meeting Of The Iowa Academy Of Science [Program, 2004], Iowa Academy Of Science

Iowa Academy of Science Documents

Contents:

Notes Page --- 3
Friday Program Summary --- 4
Senior Academy Poster Presentation Titles --- 5
General Session Speakers --- 7
Symposia Programs --- 8
Saturday Program Summary --- 9
Section Meeting Programs (Alphabetical by Section) --- 9
2004 Awards --- 14
Abstracts (by Section) --- 15
Author Index --- 42

So Much Activity, So Little Change: A Reply To The Critics Of Battered Women's Self-Defense, Kit Kinports

Faculty Scholarship

Prior to 1970, the term "domestic violence" referred to ghetto riots and urban terrorism, not the abuse of women by their intimate partners. Today, of course, domestic violence is a household word. After all, it has now been ten years since the revelation of football star O.J. Simpson's history of battering purportedly sounded "a wake-up call for all of America"; ten years since Congress enacted legislation haled as "a milestone . . .truly a turning point in the national effort to break the cycle" of violence; and twenty years since Farrah Fawcett's portrayal of Francine Hughes in the movie The …

The Forgotten Constitutional Right To Present A Defense And Its Impact On The Acceptance Of Responbilility-Entrapment Debate, Katrice Bridges Copeland

Faculty Scholarship

This Note argues that Section 3E1.1 of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines must be interpreted to allow defendants who claim entrapment at trial to remain eligible for the acceptance-of-responsibility adjustment. To interpret Section 3E1.1 in any other way would run afoul of defendants' constitutional right to present a defense. Part I argues that the entrapment defense does not put factual guilt at issue; instead the entrapment defense challenges whether the statute should apply to the defendant's conduct. Part II contends that the legislative intent in creating the sentencing guidelines in general and the acceptance-of-responsibility adjustment in particular are furthered by requiring …

Turning The Endangered Species Act Inside Out, Jud Mathews

Faculty Scholarship

Within a week, both the Fifth and D.C. Circuits upheld the takings prohibitions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as applied to species found only in single states, against Commerce Clause challenges. Both cases reach the same result, but the legal analysis used to get there could hardly be more different. In GDF Realty, the Fifth Circuit found the requisite "substantial impact" on commerce by treating the species themselves as commodities and aggregating the economic impact of all endangered species "takings". The D.C. Circuit, by contrast, held in Rancho Viejo that the true object of ESA regulation …

The Occ's Preemption Rules Exceed The Agency's Authority And Present A Serious Threat To The Dual Banking System And Consumer Protection, Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr.

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In January 2004, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued new regulations that are intended to preempt a broad range of state laws from applying to national banks and their operating subsidiaries. The OCC's rules declare that state laws are preempted if they obstruct, impair, or condition a national bank's ability to fully exercise its federally-authorized powers, either directly or through operating subsidiaries. According to the OCC, state laws apply to national banks only to the extent that state laws provide the legal infrastructure that makes it practicable for national banks to do business. The OCC's new …

Toward A Constitutional Regulation Of Minors' Access To Harmful Internet Speech, Dawn C. Nunziato

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In this article, I scrutinize Congress's recent efforts to regulate access to sexually-themed Internet speech. The first such effort, embodied in the Communications Decency Act, failed to take into account the Supreme Court's carefully-honed obscenity and obscenity-for-minors jurisprudence. The second, embodied in the Child Online Protection Act, attended carefully to Supreme Court precedent, but failed to account for the geographic variability in definitions of obscene speech. Finally, the recently-enacted Children's Internet Protection Act apparently remedies the constitutional deficiencies identified in these two prior legislative efforts, but runs the risk of being implemented in a manner that fails to protect either …

Environmental Regulation, Energy, And Market Entry, Richard J. Pierce Jr

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

As my contribution to a symposium, I was asked to identify and to discuss conflicts between environmental regulation and pursuit of the goals of national energy policy. I identify three contexts in which I see clear conflicts between environmental regulation and energy policy - gasoline production, importation of liquefied natural gas, and transmission of electricity. In each case, I conclude that the conflict is attributable to state and local regulations. In the case of the gasoline market, I conclude that the market is beginning to perform poorly because of a combination of state land use regulations that make it impossible …

The Tyranny Of Time: Vulnerable Children, Bad Mothers, And Statutory Deadlines In Parental Termination Proceedings, Catherine J. Ross

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper explores issues raised by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) and contends that the Act may have unwittingly harmed some children and mothers by creating a categorical imperative that a child's health and safety must be a paramount consideration in child welfare decisions. After discussing the reforms made by the Act, this paper analyzes hard cases, in particular cases involving substance abusing mothers and battered mothers, and concludes that in some instances children's interests in these cases might be better served by a flexible standard where the child asserts a claim to a continued relationship …

Political Questions And Political Remedies, Jonathan R. Siegel

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Defenders of the political question doctrine sometimes observe that the lack of a judicial remedy for a constitutional violation does not deprive injured parties of all remedy, because injured parties can pursue a political or an electoral remedy - they can seek relief at the ballot box or in the political process. This essay criticizes that argument. Political and electoral remedies for constitutional violations are ineffective for important practical and theoretical reasons that grow out of the different structures of the judicial, political, and electoral processes. The judicial process focuses each case on a particular issue; candidates in elections always …

The Digital Person: Technology And Privacy In The Information Age (Introduction), Daniel J. Solove

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

THE DIGITAL PERSON: TECHNOLOGY AND PRIVACY IN THE INFORMATION AGE (ISBN: 0814798462) (NYU Press 2004) explores the social, political, and legal implications of the collection and use of personal information in computer databases. In the Information Age, our lives are documented in digital dossiers maintained by hundreds (perhaps thousands) of businesses and government agencies. These dossiers are composed of bits of our personal information, which when assembled together begin to paint a portrait of our personalities. The dossiers are increasingly used to make decisions about our lives - whether we get a loan, a mortgage, a license, or a job; …

Hiv/Aids Related Stigma In Sub-Saharan Africa: Context And Consequences, Chinyelu B. Okafor, Barbara Holder

International Journal of Global Health and Health Disparities

While HIV infection has been a worldwide epidemic, minority and poor rural groups the world over have been disproportionately affected by the disease. People of color have been most affected, particularly in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa and the United States. HIV/AIDS is a highly stigmatized disease, and the stigma attached to the disease has fed into, and in many ways strengthened, pre-existing stigma and prejudice against certain groups in the society. This paper gives an analysis of factors that create and sustain such stigma in rural communities, with particular reference to Nigeria, which is Africa's most populous country. The …