Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Direct Observation In Functional Behavior Assessment, Lori O'Rourke

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The present study is an investigation into the use of observational strategies as they apply to functional behavior assessment. In addition to highlighting the key observational methods, practical issues that affect the development of an observational instrument are discussed. Furthermore, the factors that influence the reliability and validity of an observation session are discussed. Suggestions are provided for practitioners who are observing the instructional, social, and physical factors that may influence a student's behavior within the classroom. Finally, this study will demonstrate how assessment knowledge, which is gained through direct observation, can be tied to effective classroom interventions.

An Exploration Of Academic Advising Care Groups At An Iowa Private College, Kendra Williams-Perez

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Care Group advising, as it was institutionally developed, is an academic advising method intended to improve the first year experience of undergraduate college students. The purpose of this study was to explore student perceptions of their participation in Care Group advising, as well as faculty and administrative perceptions. The overarching research question was: "How are academic advising Care Groups perceived by students, faculty, and administrators?" From the perspectives of students, faculty, and administrators, the following sub-questions served to guide this study:

1. Are academic advising Care Groups serving their intended purpose?
2. What are the perceived benefits of academic advising Care Groups, …

A Public Relations Case Study On The United States Navy And Marine Corps' Role In Operation Unified Assistance Following The South Asia Tsunami, Hans H. Chun

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine from a public relations point-of-view, the public image impact on the United States from the efforts of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps' response to the tsunami crisis. The thesis analyzes the disaster that affected so many nations, and the humanitarian response of the United States Navy and Marine Corps in Operation Unified Assistance and the role of Navy Public Affairs following the earthquake and tsunami disaster and the importance of visual media.

Media Coverage Of Athletes In Legal Proceedings : An Analysis Of The Kobe Bryant Case, Brooke Holmquist

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the media's impact when reporting on high-profile athlete's legal proceedings. Through the use of text analysis, the study examined whether sports journalists gave preferential treatment to "home-town heroes" in the Kobe Bryant case. The study also attempted to find differences and similarities between sports reporters and sports columnists with regard to positive and negative treatment of the case.

Could Distributed Curriculum Improve The Itbs Scores Of Non-Proficient Students?, Lesli Lancey-Wensman

Graduate Research Papers

Will the use of a distributed math curriculum improve the outcomes of students who consistently score between the 20th and 30th percentile on ITBS tests? That question and others are addressed in this paper. The purpose of this study was to determine what strategies were being used for math instruction, if those strategies were working for all students, and whether a distributed curriculum would improve the math outcomes of students with disabilities who were not working at their current grade level.

Reading Motivation In The Elementary Classroom, Maria E. Youngblut

Graduate Research Papers

This literature review offers suggestions on how to increase reading motivation in the elementary classroom. This review will look at ways to influence students to read. Reading motivation can affect a students' ability to learn how to read. Also, it will examine different aspects and techniques, and discuss how these components affect reading motivation in the elementary classroom setting. Overall, examples of ways to increase reading motivation will be investigated.

Reciprocal Teaching As An Instructional Strategy To Increase Reading Comprehension, Paula Thome

Graduate Research Papers

The primary focus of this study has been to evaluate the implementation of a new instructional strategy called Reciprocal Teaching. Reciprocal Teaching was designed to improve reading comprehension by teaching students strategies needed to monitor comprehension and construct meaning (Palincsar, 1986). Central Middle School was identified as a School In Need of Assistance (SINA) in 2002 after failing to meet proficiency guidelines established by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) regulations. After being identified as a School in Need of Assistance, Central was required to develop a plan to address curricular areas in which students were not proficient. One area Central …

Why People Self-Injure And What School Counselors Can Do To Help, Emily M. Thole

Graduate Research Papers

Today school counselors are working more with students who choose self-injury. In order to do so effectively, it is important that counselors understand the nature of self-injury and effective ways to treat it. This paper looks at reasons behind self-injuring and explores the difference between self-injury and suicide attempts as well as the different classifications of self-injury. Knowing the risk factors such as loss, childhood illness, physical and sexual abuse, familial violence, familial self-injury, peer conflict, and impulse control problems will aid counselors in targeting at-risk students. Once risk factors were targeted, it was found that behavioral treatments that address …

Effective Thinking Strategies, Wendy Trainer

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to determine if teaching efficient thinking strategies would increase students learning of basic addition math facts as measured by timed tests, student interviews, interviews with teachers, and the districts basic facts data. Basic addition facts are facts that are a single digit plus a single digit. The efficient thinking strategies include "count on to add," use "doubles to add," and "make ten." The research suggests that basic facts need to be improved. Students should be reasoning, problem solving, communicating, and making connections in math to learn the basics. These strategies will .help students understand …

What I Believe About Leadership And Education : A Reflective Essay, Kathleen M. Walech

Graduate Research Papers

What do I believe about leadership and education? In order to answer that question, I must delve into my past experience with education, examine why I became an educator, and what I have come to believe about educational leadership. When I ask myself when it was that I knew I wanted to be an educator, I do not believe I can pinpoint an exact moment. In fact, I do not believe I ever gave any real consideration to any other career. For as long as I can remember, teachers were people I admired and education was something I valued. I …

Inside The Stress Of A Police Officer's Job : What Mental Health Counselors Should Know, Molly J. Wertz

Graduate Research Papers

Police officers have a unique responsibility within the job. They must learn to cope with stress, adrenaline, and fear during working hours while protecting themselves as they are protecting society. Becoming burdened and overwhelmed by the stress of the job can have many consequences, including suicide attempts and the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. This paper will examine primary stressors a police officer encounters on and off the job, suicide, posttraumatic stress disorder, peer support, as well as implications for counselors.

Effectiveness Of Wilderness Therapy, Cody A. Williams

Graduate Research Papers

This paper examines the literature in the field of Wilderness Therapy in order to evaluate the current state of research, and the basic format of how Wilderness Therapy works. The theoretical base of Wilderness Therapy is discussed to provide conceptual framework and describe how the therapy could be launched into mainstream therapy. The techniques of Wilderness Therapy are explained for better understanding of how the therapy works. In conclusion, Wilderness Therapy appears to be a viable alternative for the treatment of emotional and behavioral problems amongst adolescents and adults. Recommendations for the future are for more research and better understanding …

Home: A Concept Analysis With Application Of The Concept To Experiences Of Individuals With Serious And Persistent Mental Illness, Corinne A. Overmyer

Masters Theses

The purpose of this paper was to explore and define the concept of home through an extensive review of the literature. The concept analysis framework of Walker and Avant (1995) was used to structure the paper and the theories of Johnson (1980) and Maslow (1954) were used for operationalization. The literature search examined characteristics of home applicable to all individuals. The concept’s defining attributes were discovered and applied to the home experiences of those living with serious and persistent mental illness. Homes were evaluated to assess for attribute presence and to determine if the homes were model, borderline, or contrary. …

Lessons Learned With Arc, An Oai-Pmh Service Provider, Xiaoming Liu, Kurt Maly, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Web-based digital libraries have historically been built in isolation utilizing different technologies, protocols, and metadata. These differences hindered the development of digital library services that enable users to discover information from multiple libraries through a single unified interface. The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) is a major, international effort to address technical interoperability among distributed repositories. Arc debuted in 2000 as the first end-user OAI-PMH service provider. Since that time, Arc has grown to include nearly 7,000,000 metadata records. Arc has been deployed in a number of environments and has served as the basis for many other …

Interim Measures In International Human Rights: Evolution And Harmonization, Jo M. Pasqualucci

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, the Author undertakes a comprehensive study of interim measures ordered in human rights cases before six international enforcement bodies--the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the United Nations Committee against Torture, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. An order of interim measures may require that the State take positive action, such as providing protection for human rights activists or journalists, or it may call upon the State to refrain from taking action, such as not extraditing a person or delaying …

Improving The Appellate Process Worldwide Through Maximizing Judicial Resources, Honorable J. Clifford Wallace

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

As the number of cases filed each year has surged, U.S. federal appellate courts have evolved in order to fulfill their core functions of deciding appeals and setting guiding precedent. Many of the challenges created by overwhelming caseloads are also being tackled in foreign judicial systems. In this Article, Judge Wallace offers the approach of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as a possible model of reform, although he also points out that each judiciary will need to tailor reform efforts to its particular circumstances. In Part II, Judge Wallace details several of the case management …

Why Environmental Liability Regimes In The United States, The European Community, And Japan Have Grown Synonymous With The Polluter Pays Principle, Eric T. Larson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Significant concern about the harm to the environment caused by the disposal of hazardous wastes and detrimental materials abounds. In response, regulators around the globe have struggled to develop environmental liability regimes that effectively remediate contaminated sites. Regulators in the United States, the European Community, and Japan have addressed environmental contamination concerns by adopting the polluter pays principle as a core component of their domestic environmental liability regimes. The polluter pays principle demands that the polluter bear the burden of remediating the waste it generates. The impetus for adoption of the polluter pays principle in the United States, the European …

The "Privilege Of Speech" In A "Pleasantly Authoritarian Country", Hans C. Clausen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Giving credence to Alexis de Tocqueville's argument that in democratic societies the love of equality is greater than the love of freedom is a recently emerging trend among Western nations to legally proscribe speech critical of homosexuality. Such laws, in various forms, now exist in a large and growing minority of countries in Europe and North America. The goal of these laws is much grander than preventing discrimination against homosexuals; rather, the objective is seemingly to promote the social acceptance of gay and lesbian lifestyles. These laws provide for civil remedies and in some instances even criminal sanctions for speech …

Subjects Of International Law: A Power-Based Analysis, Guido Acquaviva

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, the Author challenges the definition of the term "state" that is commonly accepted in legal scholarship as the basis for assessing whether an entity is a subject of international law. By analyzing a number of cases that do not fit into the "traditional" model--including the Holy See, Napoleon, and the Confederacy--the Author reaches the conclusion that the only essential element of a subject of international law is its sovereignty. An entity is sovereign when it is able effectively to assert that it is not subordinate to another authority: territory and population are therefore not essential attributes of …

Law And War: Individual Rights, Executive Authority, And Judicial Power In England During World War I, Rachel Vorspan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this-Article Professor Vorspan examines the role of the English courts during World War I, particularly the judicial response to executive infringements on individual liberty. Focusing on detention, deportation, conscription, and confiscation of property, the Author revises the conventional depiction of the English judiciary during World War I as passive and peripheral. She argues that in four ways the judges were activist and energetic, both in advancing the government's war effort and in promoting their own policies and powers. First, they were judicial warriors, developing innovative legal strategies to legitimize detention and other governmental restrictions on personal freedom. Second, they …

Constitutional Conversations And New Religious Movements: A Comparative Case Study, Leigh H. Greenhaw, Michael H. Koby

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Using the metaphor of a constitutional conversation to compare the treatment of a relatively new and unpopular religion by the legal systems of the United States, Russia, and Spain, this Article examines the methodology by which laws affecting religion are made and enforced. It uses as a case study the interaction of the Jehovah's Witnesses with the legal system of the United States, comparing it with more recent interactions in Russia and Spain. The Authors argue that while the experience in the United States was profoundly influenced by a common-law methodology, the experience in two civil-law countries, Russia and Spain, …

The Importation Of Sexism: A Cost-Benefit Approach To The U.S.-South Korea Friendship, Commerce And Navigation Treaty, Jennifer D. Fease

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The U.S.-South Korea Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaty was entered into by the signatory countries following World War II and governs the actions of corporations operating in a foreign country. One provision of the Treaty allows foreign corporations in the United States to choose executives "of their choice," arguably without regard to the statutory protections that the United States affords in the hiring process. In this Note, the Author contends that the U.S.-South Korea Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaty results in discrimination against women in the United States because South Korean employers tend to choose South Korean men to fill …

The Roles Of Precaution And Political Accountability In The Regulation Of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers, Danielle Brim

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The differing approaches used in the United States and the European Union to regulate toxic chemicals have been highlighted by debates about a group of chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs. PBDEs act as flame-retardants and are added to consumer products to increase their safety. Questions about the continued use of PBDEs have been raised, however, because of concerns that PBDEs may be dangerous to human health and the environment. The European Union has decided to ban two types of PBDEs, while the United States has not issued similar restrictions. In this Note, the Author argues that neither decision …

Banned And Enforced: The Immediate Answer To A Problem Without An Immediate Solution, Alison W. Manhoff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

India has banned the use of ultrasound technology to determine the sex of a fetus for more than a decade. Despite this ban, India's 2001 census showed that for every one thousand boys under the age of six there are only 927 girls. There is speculation that this striking gender imbalance is largely the result of the abortion of fetuses discovered to be female after a sex determination ultrasound or amniocentesis procedure. Traditionally, the desire not to have a female child is viewed as a consequence of the dowry system that is prevalent in India. Commentators often propose efforts to …

Immunity For Artworks On Loan? A Review Of International Customary Law And Municipal Anti-Seizure Statutes In Light Of The "Liechtenstein" Litigation, Matthias Weller

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Are we witnessing the emergence of a legal principle of immunity for artworks on loan from abroad? This Article analyzes to what extent such a principle exists or is about to come into being and what its legal potential might be. To this end, Part II examines one of the leading cases about artworks on loan, the Liechtenstein case, and compares it to other controversies about loaned artworks to identify possible signs of a development in court practice towards a principle of immunity for artworks on loan. Against the background of the legal weaknesses of a yet inchoate concept of …

The Choice Between Civil And Criminal Remedies In Stolen Art Litigation, Jennifer A. Kreder

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article analyzes the patchwork of legal remedies available to persons claiming ownership of Nazi-looted art. This Article demonstrates that the use of the NSPA via criminal prosecutions or civil forfeiture proceedings provides a claimant with great advantages over the present-day possessors of the art. Part II analyzes the criminal remedies used to punish thieves and restore the art to its original owners or their heirs. Part III analyzes the use of the civil forfeiture mechanism--a hybrid of criminal and civil remedies--in pursuit of restoring art to claimants.

Part IV concludes that criminal prosecutions or civil forfeiture proceedings premised on …

Adrift On A Sea Of Troubles: Cross-Border Art Loans And The Specter Of Ulterior Title, Norman Palmer

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The purpose of this Article is to show how modern law responds to such challenge. In particular, it examines the means by which common law systems manage the return of unlawfully removed cultural objects to dispossessed parties, and the implications of those means for international loan agreements. Regard is paid to the remedies that may be available in the aftermath of a claim, and the "self-help" devices that are available to lenders and borrowers. Some of the measures examined are peculiar to cultural objects, but others are general. Some have no direct relation to law, but work on voluntary regulation. …

Preventing Repeat Offenders: North Korea's Withdrawal And The Need For Revisions To The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Raven Winters

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) took effect on March 5, 1970, with the following purposes: to prevent the proliferation of nuclear arms, promote nuclear disarmament, and encourage the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Even though the NPT was initially intended as a temporary solution to the threat of nuclear weapons, in 1995 the parties to the NPT voted to extend it indefinitely. For the most part, the NPT has been successful in achieving its goals. Recent challenges to the NPT, however--namely North Korea's withdrawal from the NPT in January 2003--have revealed several weaknesses inherent in the NPT. To strengthen the …

Communication Breakdown?: The Future Of Global Connectivity After The Privatization Of Intelsat, Kenneth Katkin

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In 1971, eighty-five nations (including the United States) formed the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT), a public intergovernmental treaty organization. INTELSAT was charged with operating the world's first global telecommunications satellite system, to guarantee the interconnectedness of the world's communications systems and the availability of international telecommunications service to every nation on earth. By the late 1980s, however, INTELSAT's operations began to experience substantial competition from the private sector. In 2000, the proliferation of privately-owned telecommunications satellites and transoceanic fiber-optic cables led the U.S. Congress to mandate the privatization of INTELSAT. That privatization process began in 2001, and was substantially …

The Vocation Of International Arbitrators, Catherine A. Rogers

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay examines the vocation of the international arbitrator. I begin by evaluating, under sociological frameworks developed in literature on Weberian theories of the professions, how the arbitration community is organized and regulated. Arbitrators operate in a largely private and unregulated market for services, access to which is essentially controlled by what might be considered a governing cartel of the most elite arbitrators. I conclude my description with an account of how recently international arbitrators have begun to display a professional impulse, meaning efforts to present themselves as a profession to obtain the benefits of professionalization. Professional status is often …