Digital Commons Network^™

Preserving Power Without Sacrificing Justice: Creating An Effective Reciprocity Regime For The Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Judgments, Vishali Singal

UC Law Journal

Globalization has transformed the world's legal systems into interconnected regimes. The strength of a nation's legal system is predicated, in part, on whether foreign nations will recognize and enforce its judgments. While nations have accorded respect to one another's judgments in the spirit of comity by recognizing and enforcing them, none are obligated to do so. Given these delicate relationships between nations, a debate has arisen in the United States' legal community as to whether the United States should require foreign nations to recognize and enforce its own judgments before its courts will reciprocate this treatment towards foreign judgments. In …

Transnational Legal Practice 2006-07, Carole Silver, Laurel S. Terry, Ellyn S. Rosen, Carol A. Needham, Robert Lutz, Peter D. Ehrenhaft

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article reviews developments in transnational legal practice during 2006 and 2007, including international developments, U.S. developments and regional developments in Australia and Europe. The primary focus of the international developments section is the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). This article discusses GATS Track 1 Activities related to legal services, including the Legal Services Collective Requests and issues related to GATS Track 2 and the potential development of GATS disciplines. This section also surveys GATS-related initiatives of the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association and U.S. implementation of foreign lawyer multi-jurisdictional practice rules. In other …

Globalization And The Business Of Law: Lessons For Legal Education, Carole Silver, David Van Zandt, Nicole De Bruin Phelan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Whether working for global or local organizations, lawyers today are increasingly faced with the prospect of working with colleagues and competitors who are diverse in terms of nationality, education and training, and with clients whose problems may be as locally-focused as a Chicago zoning matter or as distant as the acquisition of one non-U.S. company by another. The global forces shaping business and the practice of law are felt in legal education, too, and U.S. law schools occupy a leading role in educating domestic and non-U.S. students for practice in the transnational marketplace. In spite of this, however, the core …

Signature Identification In The Light Of Science And Experience, Roger C. Park

UC Law Journal

The Daubert case encourages judges to ask whether forensic identification expertise is valid, not merely whether it is accepted among practitioners. The example of DNA has shown what real science can do, and has highlighted the shortcomings of other forms of forensic science. The combined effect of Daubert and DNA has contributed to skepticism about forensic identification techniques. This skepticism may lead to exclusion of evidence or to procedural limits aimed at making the expertise more trustworthy or preventing it from having undue weight. I will discuss these two alternatives in the context of the specific forensic problem of signature …

Conceptual Hurdles To The Application Of Atkins V. Virgina, Lois A. Weithorn

UC Law Journal

In its 2002 decision in Atkins v. Virginia, the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment precludes the execution of "mentally retarded offender[s]." Despite the apparent "brightline" clarity of an absolute ban on the execution of mentally retarded offenders, the determination of which offenders fall within the protected group is deceivingly complex. The meanings of the concepts of "mental retardation," "intelligence," and "adaptive behavior" are-like the standards of decency guiding the Court-continually evolving, and are subjects of ongoing reevaluation and debate. Given what is at stake in Atkins assessments, lawmakers, jurists, practitioners, …

The Myth Of "Lucky" Patent Verdicts: Improving The Quality Of Appellate Review By Incorporating Fuzzy Logic In Jury Verdicts, Michael T. Nguyen

UC Law Journal

Fuzzy logic, a relatively new mathematical concept, has emerged over the past few decades as an effective tool to model complexity and uncertainty. In a nutshell, fuzzy logic recognizes that truth is not always black or white, but rather, truth can be measured in shades of gray. Patents, because they rely on language to claim inventions, are fuzzy legal concepts. Fuzzy logic may help to simplify the jurors' comprehension of complex real-world problems in patent law.

In this Note, I propose a "fuzzy" special verdict form and procedure for "defuzzifying" the verdict that would allow the jury the freedom to …

Why Binomial Distributions Do Not Work As Proof Of Employment Discrimination, Ben Ikuta

UC Law Journal

Although it is possible for employer discrimination policies to be facially apparent in employment discrimination cases, usually employer policies are not overtly discriminatory. In those situations where it is not apparent, the only method of proving a prima facie case of discrimination in most systemic disparate treatment instances is to show a pattern of discrimination in the employer's hiring decisions. Since these patterns can usually "be identified and analyzed in quantitative form," cases rely primarily, and often exclusively, on statistics. If the plaintiff offers statistics that indicate a hiring practice that is unlikely absent discrimination, then the plaintiff is deemed …

Disciplinary Differences In Preferred Research Methods: A Comparison Of Groups In The Biglan Classification Scheme, Mark A. Alise

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Biglan system of classifying disciplines in groups based on similarities and differences in their subject matter has been validated in numerous empirical studies. The present study sought to expand that validation by comparing two Biglan groups that include disciplines representing the social and behavioral sciences. As a unique point of comparison, preferred research methods were contrasted between Psychology and Sociology forming one group of pure disciplines and Education and Nursing forming another group of applied disciplines. A code sheet was developed to categorize the various components of published research, distinguishing at the most basic level quantitative, qualitative, and mixed …

The Matter Of Fit: The Law Of Discrimination And The Science Of Implicit Bias, David L. Faigman, Nilanjana Dasgupta, Cecilia L. Ridgeway

UC Law Journal

This Article examines the "fit" between the law of discrimination and the science of implicit bias, including consideration of the legal standards that apply and a broad overview of the sociological and psychological literatures that are relevant to those standards. The Authors first set forth the legal framework within which the psychological and sociological research literatures must be considered. Although the legal standard is not entirely unambiguous, scientific research on implicit bias appears relevant to the basic empirical issues put in issue by the law. The Authors then review the general research literature on the phenomenon of "implicit biases" in …

Death To Tyrants: District Of Columbia V. Heller And The Uses Of Guns, David C. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Public Law As The Law Of The Res Publica, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Apocalypse South: Judgment, Cataclysm, And Resistance In The Regional Imaginary, Anthony Hoefer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project investigates manifestations of Apocalypse in selected works of southern fiction, each of which simultaneously draws upon the cosmology of southern evangelical Protestantism and disrupts that cosmology’s power to govern the discourses of race, class, and gender in the U.S. South. Apocalypse South proposes that invocations of the Apocalypse are signs of deferred meaning—of hidden histories of undifferentiation, hybridity, and contradiction which defy the prevailing discourses that configure social relationships in southern spaces and places. Southern religious culture maps Apocalypse onto the boundaries of race, class, and gender and imparts catastrophic consequences to their violations. However, the works investigated …

The Effectiveness Of Contextualization On Second Language Acquisition Using The Situational Discourse Semantic Model, Alice Marie Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

In traditional classrooms a second language is taught via thematic word sets, grammatical explanations, and patterned syntactic practice. This study compared the traditional teaching approach to a scaffolded teaching approach, consisting of words taught within a narrative context. Five fifth-grade students were taught Spanish as a second language during a ten-week intervention. Vocabulary learning and sentence generation were measured following each session, as well as a pre-posttest measure. Results showed that print was an important support used by participants in the traditional condition. However across time, vocabulary learning and sentence length increased significantly more in the scaffolded condition.

Administrative Responses To Hurricane-Induced Mobility, Christopher J. Fontenot

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita posed serious challenges to school systems as children displaced by the storms attended schools across Louisiana and in most of the states of the Union. This qualitative case study examined the administrative challenges of one school district that received over 6,800 new students in less than a month. Research questions posed in the study focused on the planning, placement, and support of displaced students, the leadership of the superintendent and principals in integrating displaced students into the district and schools, which problems arose, and whether any policies or procedures were changed as a result hurricane-induced mobility. …

Conversations On Citizenship: Young People's Perceptions And Performances Of Democratic Citizenship, Katherine Rhodes Knobloch

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate how the practice of democratic citizenship compares to ideals of it. I hope to provide a clear view of what contemporary democratic citizenship means, how this conception has been formed, and how democratic citizenship can be effectively practiced to serve the ideals held by democratic citizens. To do this, this paper will be comprised in several parts. After an initial explanation of the theoretical perspective used, I will explore how democracy was understood and implemented in the formative stages of United States government. Next I review contemporary practices of citizenship before examining …

The Perils And Empowerments Of Mountain Literacies: Reading Loss And Shifting Identities In Appalachian Memoirs And Novels, Erica Abrams Locklear

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the literary portrayal of literacy events in memoirs and novels written by Appalachian women during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Drawing from contemporary literacy scholarship, my project engages several definitions of the term "literacy," including theories defining it as a technical skill, a social act, cultural knowledge, or a potent form of ideological power. In a region historically (and often inaccurately) stigmatized as illiterate, "literacy" is a loaded term, a concept doubly associated with cultural pride and with cultural loss. By applying literacy theories to Appalachian literature, I analyze the identity conflicts literacy attainment causes for several …

The Construct Validity Of The Clinical Assessment Of Working Memory Ability, Benjamin David Hill

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Working memory is the cognitive ability to hold a discrete amount of information in mind in an accessible state for utilization in mental tasks. This cognitive ability is impaired in many clinical populations. There have been a number of theoretical shifts in the way that working memory is conceptualized and assessed in the experimental literature. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Working Memory Indices (and their component subtests) from the WAIS-III and WMS-III accurately assess the working memory construct as it is currently defined in the experimental cognitive literature. Results generally supported the construct validity of …

The Role Of Attentional Focus In Event-Based Prospective Memory, Jill Shelton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Shelton, Jill, B.S., University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, 2001 M.S., University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, 2003 Doctor of Philosophy, Summer Commencement, 2008 Major: Psychology The Role of Attentional Focus in Event-based Prospective Memory. Dissertation directed by Professor Emily Elliott Pages in dissertation, 59. Words in abstract 188. ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted to investigate how attentional resources are utilized in event-based prospective memory (PM). A PM component (make a designated response when you see a bird word) was embedded in a living/non-living judgment task (Experiment 1) and a recall task that required participants to alphabetically re-order sets of items (Experiment 2). One hypothesis predicts …

The Effectiveness Of The Introduction And Amendment Of Traffic Laws On Louisiana Road Crashes, Vamshi Krishna Mudumba

LSU Master's Theses

Evaluating the safety benefit of a treatment provides information to the future safety projects of our transportation system. Various transportation laws have been amended in the state of Louisiana, aiming to reduce the roadway crash rates. The major traffic laws introduced or amended in the state in the past decade were the Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) Program in 1998, repealing the mandatory motorcycle helmet law in 1999 and reenacting it in 2004, introducing the open alcohol container laws in 2000, and lowering the per se Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) from 0.10 to 0.08 percent in 2003. A before-and-after analysis was …

A Matter Of Questionable Death: An Analysis Of Physical Child Abuse, Carey M. Schwartz

LSU Master's Theses

The ability to identify child abuse through skeletal remains is a skill that has generally received little attention. Since the publication of influential articles dealing with battered-child syndrome and shaken baby syndrome, researchers have put more effort toward finding recognizable patterns of physical child abuse. Several studies have found specific fracture patterns associated with child abuse; the humerus, femur and tibia, skull, ulna and radius, and the ribs have all been identified as the most commonly fractured bone resulting from physical child abuse in previous studies. Furthermore, researchers have found that subdural and retinal hemorrhages are the most commonly seen …

Effects Of Handedness On The Skull And Shoulder Bones, Michelle Lynn Osborn

LSU Master's Theses

The unique configuration of the human clavicle and mastoid process suggests a functional connection between the head and shoulders in humans. The hypothesis in this study is that the clavicle, scapula and head form a functional complex and are interconnected by the sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles. In this complex, the trapezius muscles attach to the skull and become active when loads are carried. The sternocleidomastoid muscles are anchored to the clavicles; when loads are being carried, they act as guy ropes for the head, thereby keeping the head from being extended by the force of the contracting trapezius muscles. These …

Night, Nick Hwang

LSU Master's Theses

Night is a work in 2 movements, each depicting different aspects or qualities of night. Several instruments are given solo roles to depict the many parts of a night, from the wind, stars, moon, and the individual observing the night. The first movement, an introduction and prelude, brings forth elements of the overwork. These elements are later developed in the later movements. The second movement uses the solo clarinet as a character trying to escape an enveloping night. The dissonance and darkness seem overwhelming at points and pushing the clamorous clarinet to its extremes.

Potatoes Again : The Travel Diary Of A World War Ii Prisoner Of War, Jon Lucht

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Not Made Of The Right Matter : The Ordination Of Women In The Roman Catholic Church Priesthood, Emily Dubord Hill

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Louis Aragon And Pierre Drieu La Rochelle: Servility And Subversion, Oana Carmina Cimpean

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the use of literature in support of political ideologies, starting from the cases of Louis Aragon and Pierre Drieu La Rochelle. Aragon and Drieu wrote extensively about man’s alienation in the modern world and, more importantly, about the possibility of overcoming that alienation. Both argued for the creation of a new man who could erect a new world on the ruins of the old. Though Aragon was a communist and Drieu a fascist, they shared an apocalyptic view of the world and believed themselves to be living in the last stage of history, the prelude to a …

Internet Use And Environmental Justice: An Exploratory Study, Jane Catherine Dailey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

My study examined how inner-city adults perceive and experience the Internet as a civic engagement tool, and if they view the Internet as a tool for environmental advocacy. Research shows a consistent divide between those with Internet access and those without. Individuals living in low-income minority communities are the least likely groups to be Internet connected. Consequently, the Internet could further separate historically marginalized communities from important government and social resources rather than bringing them closer. Qualitative research methods were used to reveal socially-constructed perceptions of the Internet as a civic engagement tool in the inner city. Grounded theory techniques …

Influenza Virus Samples, International Law, And Global Health Diplomacy, David P. Fidler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Indonesia’s decision to withhold samples of avian influenza virus A (H5N1) from the World Health Organization for much of 2007 caused a crisis in global health. The World Health Assembly produced a resolution to try to address the crisis at its May 2007 meeting. I examine how the parties to this controversy used international law in framing and negotiating the dispute. Specifically, I analyze Indonesia’s use of the international legal principle of sovereignty and its appeal to rules on the protection of biological and genetic resources found in the Convention on Biological Diversity. In addition, I consider how the International …

Cryopreservation Of Adipose Derived Adult Stem Cells And Multidimensional Cell Sheets, Sreedhar Thirumala

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Human adipose tissue provides a uniquely abundant and accessible source of adult stem cells. In response to chemical, hormonal or structural stimuli, these human adipose-derived adult stem (ASCs) cells can differentiate along multiple lineage pathways, including adipocytes, chondrocytes, myocytes, neurons and osteoblasts. Successful cryopreservation of scientifically and commercially important ASCs would revolutionize the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine industry. In this research, we have investigated the water transport phenomenon during freezing of several passages of adipose derived adult stem cells and generated the membrane permeability parameters in the presence and absence of cryoprotective agents. These measured permeability parameters were then …

Culturally-Constructed Barriers, Hae-Jung Lee

LSU Master's Theses

I have traveled to and lived in many different countries outside my native country of Korea. These opportunities have allowed me to meet diverse people and learn about their unique cultures. While living in the United States, I have experienced culture shock in such everyday activities as observing students eating food during class, wearing pajamas at school, and other similar displays of informal behavior. I was taught to follow Confucian ideas; the basic principles being to respect one¡¯s elders and to be considerate of other people. Compared to Korean culture, Western culture seems very open-minded and individualistic. Adjusting to the …

Factors That Influence Traditional-Age College Students To Re-Enroll In Their Third Year At A Research Extensive University In The Southern Region Of The United States, Joseph M. Lutta

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Student retention is of policy significance to higher education systems. In the United States, student retention is a major problem in higher education affecting students, universities, and society. Most of the research on student retention has focused on first-year students. Little is known about the retention of college students after their first year. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of selected demographic and academic characteristics on the decision of traditional-age, undergraduate students to re-enroll at a research-extensive university. The population was defined as all traditional-age undergraduate students who entered the selected university during the fall …