Digital Commons Network^™

Property Rules, Liability Rules, And Immunity: An Application To Cyberspace, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

This Article sets out a theory of torts and cyberspace wrongs. My goal is to provide a sparse theoretical account of tort law and apply it to cyberspace torts, both negligent and intentional. I approach this goal by applying the framework of property rules and liability rules to cyberspace torts. That framework suggests that trespass doctrine is appropriate in instances of cyber invasions of private information resources, such as the breaking of codes to access private information on the web. However, trespass doctrine should play no role in cyber-invasions of public information resources, such as the sending of spam email. …

The Bush Administration's Terrorist Surveillance Program And The Fourth Amendment's Warrant Requirement: Lessons From Justice Powell And The Keith Case, Tracey D. Maclin

Faculty Scholarship

This article was written for a symposium issue of the University of California at Davis Law Review on the fortieth anniversary of Katz v. United States. The article analyzes the Bush Administration's claim that the President has the authority to order warrant less electronic surveillance of communications between American citizens and persons abroad suspected of having connections with foreign terrorists groups. When evaluating this claim, my article focuses on a case that could be characterized as more constitutionally robust and stronger Katz. That case is United States v. United States District Court, also known as Keith. The Keith ruling held …

Antitrust Around The World: An Empirical Analysis Of The Scope Of Competition Laws And Their Effects, Keith N. Hylton, Fei Deng

Faculty Scholarship

Since the early studies of Arnold Harberger,' George Stigler,² and Richard Posner,³ there has been a growing movement calling for the use of empirical evidence to judge the effectiveness of antitrust law in securing its goals.⁴ That there have been relatively few such studies is attributable to the lack of useful statistical information on the law, enforcement policies, and penalties.

In this article, we present an effort to use information on competition laws around the world to assess their scope and effectiveness. The foundation of this study is a dataset that codes key features of the competition …

Unpacking Backdating: Economic Analysis And Observations On The Stock Option Scandal, David I. Walker

Faculty Scholarship

The corporate stock option backdating scandal has dominated business page headlines since the summer of 2006. The SEC has launched investigations of more than one hundred companies with respect to the timing and pricing of stock options granted during the boom years of the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the number of firms caught up in the scandal continues to increase. This Article contributes to our understanding of the backdating phenomenon by analyzing the economics of backdating and the characteristics of the firms under investigation. Its main points are the following: First, given the high volatilities of the stocks …

Love, Marriage, And The Baby Carriage: Revisiting The Channelling Function Of Family Law, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

This Article revisits a significant idea at the core of contemporary debates in family law: the channeling function of family law. This idea is that a basic purpose of family law is to support fundamental social institutions, like marriage and parenthood, and to steer people into participating in them. Family law scholar Carl Schneider helpfully invited attention to this familiar idea in an essay published fifteen years ago. Challenges to the conventional sequence (expressed in the childhood rhyme) of love-marriage-baby carriage posed by changing social practices, rights claims made by various groups within society that lead to legislative change and …

Mostly Unconstitutional: The Case Against Precedent Revisited, Gary S. Lawson

Faculty Scholarship

In Part I of this Article, the author briefly recaps the argument against precedent that the author sketched in The Constitutional Case Against Precedent. Although the author’s purpose here is to refine that argument, the author still believes that the original argument is right in most particulars, and it still functions as a prima facie case against the use of precedent in constitutional interpretation. In Part II, the author surveys different possible grounds for the practice of precedent. In Part III, the author dismisses the possibility that the Constitution or some other controlling legal source affirmatively commands the use of …

Softening Of The Formality And Formalism Of The "Testimonial" Statement Concept, Robert P. Mosteller

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Arbitration Clause In Context: How Contract Terms Do (And Do Not) Define The Process, W. Mark C. Weidemaier

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Spiritual World Of A Hakka Village, Sharon A. Carstens

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper examines spiritual beliefs and practices in the Hakka Malaysian community of Pulai, focusing on the pantheon of deities and spirits worshipped and propitiated; the system of local beliefs in the power and efficacy of these deities; and the manner in which individuals and families have reproduced and altered these spiritual beliefs over time. Unlike my previous writings about religion in Pulai, which have emphasized the sociological components of local religion practices, my goal here is to explore the cosmological system, world view, and system of meanings conveyed through religious practices in this Hakka village.

As with many Chinese …

An Applied Evaluation Of Resurgence: Functional Communication Training (Fct) And Treatment Relapse, Valerie Marie Volkert

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Extinction is a very important component of functional communication training (FCT). Thus, the potential undesirable effects of extinction must be considered before this type of treatment is implemented. Resurgence, the recurrence of previously reinforced behavior when another behavior is placed on extinction, is a possible undesirable effect of extinction. Resurgence may account for some instances of treatment relapse in situations where problem behavior recovers following implementation of extinction-based treatments such as FCT. Despite the potential relevance of resurgence to understanding why problem behavior may re-emerge, few applied studies have examined resurgence effects. The current study attempted to determine whether resurgence …

Developing/Testing A New Approach For Assessing Rapid Visual Identification Of Hematological Cells Using Principles Of Visual Cognition: A Health Science Education Study, Deborah Elizabeth Fox

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was the development and testing of a novel method for assessment of white blood cell (WBC) identification skills used in the field of Clinical Laboratory Sciences (CLS). A dual format exam was administered to both novices (students) and experts (laboratory professionals). Format 1 was similar to current assessment formats, simply presenting a series of single WBC images for identification. Format 2 applied principles of visual cognition, grouping WBCs for identification by patient and presenting multiple example images from the patient before requesting identification of individual cells. This novel exam format was intended to: (a) provide …

Potential Of Co2 Enhanced Oil Recovery And Sequestration In The Golden Pinnacle Reef Reservoir In The Williston Basin, North Dakota, Charles Gorecki

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

This design project is developed to determine the feasibility of CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and CO2 sequestration in the Golden Pinnacle Reef Reservoir in the Williston Basin, North Dakota; with a specific analysis of the Shell Golden #34X-34 (SWSE 34 T161N R87 W) well in Renville County, North Dakota, USA. The objectives of this research are to: (1) Characterize the candidate reservoir; (2) Estimate the potential of CO2 EOR and the capacity of CO2 sequestration; and (3) Optimize the operations under different production/injection and economic options. This research is conducted to establish the reservoir parameters and future production possibilities …

Performance Analysis Of Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, Tribuvan Kumar Prakash

LSU Master's Theses

With the emergence of thread level parallelism as a more efficient method of improving processor performance, Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) technology is being more widely used in developing processor architectures. Also, the widening gap between CPU and memory speed has evoked the interest of researchers to understand performance of memory hierarchical architectures. As part of this research, performance characteristic studies were carried out on the Intel Core 2 Duo, a dual core power efficient processor, using a variety of new generation benchmarks. This study provides a detailed analysis of the memory hierarchy performance and the performance scalability between single and dual …

How The Internet Is Shaping The Chilean Scientific Community: Globalization And Dependency, Richard B. Duque

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Internet has emerged as a catalyst for global knowledge production. This is supported by its positive impacts in the First World. A progressive assessment argues that the Internet will be the "elixir" that brings immediate visibility and relevance to scientific communities in the periphery. Yet, Internet diffusion is often framed by past technology failures that further widen global divides. This characterizes an "affliction" argument. The "teething argument" suggests that adoption within the Third World is tentative at best with benefits unfolding over time in some regions but not others. This dissertation is a qualitative and quantitative study that tests …

Security And Human Rights, Liora Lazarus, Benjamin J. Goold

All Faculty Publications

In the wake of the events of September 11th, the task of reconciling issues of security with a respect for fundamental human rights has emerged as one of the key challenges facing governments throughout the world. Although the issues raised by the rise of security have been the subject of considerable academic interest, to date much of the debate surrounding the impact of security on human rights has taken place within particular disciplinary confines. In contrast, this collection of essays from leading academics and practitioners in the fields of criminal justice, public law, international law, international relations and legal philosophy …

O Brave New World? Electronic Voting Machines And Internet Voting: An Annotated Bibliography, Therese A. Clarke Arado, Susan M. Boland

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Webs Of Significance: The Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, New Technology, And The Democratization Of History, Drew Vandecreek

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Lincoln/Net (http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu), a product of the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project at Northern Illinois University Libraries, represents a new type of historically oriented digital library resource. Like many other digital libraries, it contains a large amount of searchable primary source materials. Like a number of other historically oriented online resources, project staff have organized Lincoln/Net around a specific topic, in this case Abraham Lincoln's life and times in antebellum Illinois. In addition to Lincoln's own papers, the project's databases contain resources shedding light on his context, including letters, diaries, and publications prepared by his peers. Unlike most historically oriented digital …

Emigration To Liberia From The Chattahoochee Valley Of Georgia And Alabama, 1853-1903, Matthew F. Mcdaniel

LSU Master's Theses

Between 1853 and 1903, approximately five hundred African-Americans left the Chattahoochee Valley of Georgia and Alabama to start new lives in the West African republic of Liberia. Most of the emigrants came from Columbus, Georgia, and Eufaula, Alabama, and departed for Liberia during the uncertainty of the post-Civil War years of 1867 and 1868. Most sought safety and escape from a still intact white supremacist society. The ready availability of land in Liberia also promised greater opportunities for prosperity there than in the South. Black nationalism and evangelical zeal motivated others. Liberia would be their “own” country and afford an …

Byron And "Scribbling Women": Lady Caroline Lamb, The Brontë Sisters, And George Eliot, Denise Tischler Millstein

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Looking first at Byron’s canon, I trace the evolution of the Byronic heroes offered in his poetry, arguing that these heroes are the culmination of images of the poet as he interacted with and was interpreted by his female reading audience. Working with his readers, Byron fundamentally altered his poetic heroes to suit changing public opinions about himself. In later chapters, I show how this image continued to evolve as the Byronic hero was co-opted, adopted, and adapted in the novels of female authors across the nineteenth century, especially Lady Caroline Lamb in Glenarvon, Emily Brontë in Wuthering Heights, Anne …

Evaluation Of Selected Immune Response To Haemonchus Contortus In Gulf Coast Native Compared To Suffolk Lambs, Krishna P. Shakya

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Haemonchus contortus is one of the major nematode parasites causing substantial economic losses in small ruminant farming worldwide. Recently, effect of anthelmintic treatment has decreased due to an increasing problem of nematode populations that have developed resistance to anthelmintics. There are certain breeds of sheep that are identified as being relatively resistant to the parasite including Gulf Coast Native (Native) sheep. Understanding the mode of immune response that helps these breeds of sheep control infection could help design vaccines and enhance control programs. This experiment was designed to evaluate the immunological responses of Native, compared with susceptible Suffolk sheep that …

Responding To Nietzsche: The Constructive Power Of Destruktion, Francis J. Mootz Iii

Scholarly Works

As a student of Hans-Georg Gadamer, and later a translator and important commentator on Gadamer’s philosophy, P. Christopher Smith is widely acknowledged to be a leading hermeneutical philosopher. In a series of works, Smith has argued that Gadamer provides an important corrective to Nietzsche’s caustic critical challenges, but that Gadamer’s hermeneutics has no relevance for legal theory because law is just the manifestation of will to power. In this paper I argue that Smith misunderstands the nature of legal practice. Starting with a re-reading of the debate between Gadamer and Jacques Derrida about the legacy of Nietzsche’s philosophy, I argue …

Factors That Influence Visual Attention And Their Effects On Safety In Driving: An Eye Movement Tracking Approach, Larry Bargola Nabatilan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Statistics show that a high percentage of road related accidents are due to factors that cause impaired driving. Since information extraction in driving is predominantly a visual task, visual distraction and its implications are therefore important safety issues. The main objective of this research is to study some of the implications of demands to human’s attention and perception and how it affects performance of tasks such as driving. Specifically, the study aims to determine the changes that occur in the visual behavior of drivers with different levels of driving experience by tracking the movement of the eye; examine the effects …

Feral Swine Action Plan For Oregon, Mark Sytsma, Arick Christopher Rouhe

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Feral swine are defined as free roaming animals of the genus Sus that are not being held under domestic management or confinement. Swine have spread from Europe and Russia to habitats around the world via human introduction. Currently, feral swine populations are established on every continent except Antarctica. Unlike other large mammal invaders, swine have a high reproductive capacity and are omnivorous, which allows for a quick assimilation into most habitats. Once a breeding population is established in an area, the population can quickly increase and negatively impact the ecosystem. A successful invasion of feral swine is difficult, and sometimes …

Deficits In Social Skills And Feeding Behaviors Associated With Adults Diagnosed With Autistic Disorder Living In An Institutionalized Setting, Cindy Terlonge Graham

LSU Master's Theses

Autistic disorder, a syndrome beginning in infancy and persisting into adulthood, has captured the attention of researchers and clinicians alike. Although this disorder has been studied since the mid-1940s, there is a lack of literature addressing certain adaptive skills in adults with autism. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in social and feeding skills between individuals with and without autistic disorder. Given the importance of acquiring these skills to facilitate proper adjustment and decrease potential health risks, better understanding of these behaviors in persons with autism is warranted. Participants comprised three separate groups: an autism group, …

Investigation Of Phospholipid Tubule Morphology For Use In Drug Delivery, Colleen Colson Garrett

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Spherical vesicles consisting of phosphatidylcholines in which diacetylene groups have been inserted in the hydrocarbon tail centers give rise to hollow cylindrical tubes, known as “tubules”. The study of tubules has become an area of intense interest in recent years due to their unusual morphology, which raises several profound theoretical issues and suggests their use in a variety of applications. Tubule hollowness suggests medical and industrial encapsulations as well as filtration and purification applications. These potential uses, e.g., for drug and gene delivery, requires optimization of their morphology for the application. Tubules have many technologically desirable properties, such as a …

Revelations From "Cheesecake Manor": Agatha Christie, Detective Fiction, And Interwar England, Carron Stewart Fillingim

LSU Master's Theses

For too long standard interwar histories have portrayed the interwar years as a period marked by failure, instability, depression, and volatility. Instead, rising living standards, the narrowing of socioeconomic disparities, expanded avenues of social welfare, increased leisure time, and mass consumerism resulted in an altogether peaceful, healthier, stable, and increasingly affluent England. Out of these rising economic improvements emerged forms of mass entertainment, including popular fiction. Cheaper paper and printing methods, rising literacy, faster distribution methods, new forms of advertising, and the expansion of public libraries led to the creation of a mass readership across England. For the first time, …

The Particulate Nature Of Polyatomic Ions: An Exploratory Study Using Molecular Drawing Software, Leodore Mathew, Jr. Amiot

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of molecular drawing software would improve student understanding of polyatomic ions. Using software designed for producing drawings of molecules, students developed drawings of polyatomic ions during a regular activity of the state mandated core curriculum on ions. The sample consisted of students enrolled in chemistry at a rural south Louisiana high school-both Honors and Regular. Pretest and posttest scores were analyzed with a number of covariants. The statistical analysis of test scores indicated that there was no significant difference in the improved test scores between the treatment and control …

Reclaiming Martyrdom: Augustine's Reconstruction Of Martyrdom In Late Antique North Africa, Collin S. Garbarino

LSU Master's Theses

The cult of martyrs existed throughout the Mediterranean world in late antiquity, but local communities venerated the martyrs in their own ways and for their own reasons. During the fourth and fifth centuries, two factions of Christianity existed in North Africa. Catholicism and Donatism competed for the souls of North African Christians, and this competition influenced the development of the cult of martyrs in that region. The sermons on the martyrs by Augustine of Hippo (354-430) illuminate the milieu of North African Christianity's cult of martyrs and demonstrate that Augustine viewed "possessing" the martyrs as a key component in overcoming …

Mitigating Disaster: Mapping Cognitive Processes In Applying Technology To Crises, John Clinton Borne

LSU Master's Theses

Extreme events are sometimes defined as unexpected events in which local resources are insufficient to cope with the extent of the damage and require outside resources to address the hazards specific to the event. For that reason, communities immediately adjacent to disaster areas have a unique and important role in the study of measures to mitigate the effects of the resulting hazards to human life and property. This exploratory study looks at the use of information technology in conjunction with disaster mitigation activities in areas adjacent to a large disaster. The experiences, thoughts, and beliefs of individuals involved in mitigation …

Reforming Politics: The Covenant Device In Anglo-American Political Theory, Glenn A. Moots

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation provides an historical and theoretical inquiry into “covenants” as a device within Anglo-American political theory. It includes an overview of Biblical covenants which are the source of the covenant device, together with an analysis of subsequent application by early modern and contemporary political theorists. I demonstrate that this revealed political theology, moderated by the political traditions of salus populi and natural law, provides support for contemporary political imperatives of liberty while avoiding both the terrors of gnostic political religion and the inevitable moral and political failure of natural political theology. The argument begins with an examination of contemporary …