Digital Commons Network^™

To Die Or Not To Die: The History And Future Of Assisted Suicide Laws In The U.S., Shelly A. Cassity

Utah Law Review

Throughout United States history, society has viewed assisted suicide unfavorably. Recently, however, Americans seem to be more accepting of the controversial procedure. Although assisted suicide is legal in only three states, it appears that as society grows increasingly comfortable with regulation of the issue, it may be more inclined to allow the practice.

The Most Important Thing, Linda Smith

Utah Law Review

It was a Guardianship action filed by the Granmother (Abuela) of a little girl. The mother had died while she and her daughter were living with Abuela. So Abuela sought permanent custody of the three-year-oId child. The lawyer filed the papers in Massachusetts, and served the father (Padre) who was far away in Puerto Rico.

Seen But Not Heard: Child Sexual Abuse, Incest, And The Law In The United States, Alison Adams

Utah Law Review

Ashley Morgan's monologue Full Circle explores the difficult subject of child sexual abuse. In 2005 alone, over 83,000 children were confirmed victims of sexual abuse in the United States. This number is taggering. Even more shocking is a 1994 retrospective survey of adults, which suggests that the number of confirmed sexual abuse victims is extremely understated. The survey estimated that at least twenty percent of American woman and five to ten percent of American men experienced some form of sexual abuse as children. More alarming than the number of children who are victims of child sexual abuse is understanding who …

Elective Surgery-When Parental And Medical Opinion Supersedes A Child's Right To Choose, Danielle Hawkes

Utah Law Review

In Raising a Woman, I Mary was fourteen when she had an operation that would forever deprive her of the ability to bear a child. In facing this 'surgery, she had no choice in the matter, no option to say no, and no advocate asking what she wanted. She was alone and left without a voice because her physician, and even her own mother, had taken her choice away. When Mary received a hysterectomy, her mother's needs were addressed the monthly anguish in caring for her daughter's menstruation was eliminated, thereby diminishing the extremely difficult turn that her life had …

Marital Rights For Teens: Judicial Intervention That Properly Balances Privacy And Protection, Pamela E. Beatse

Utah Law Review

Uncle George's Story, pinpoints the many policy tensions at play when minors desire to marry, especially when the minor female is pregnant. Clearly, George was a young man deeply affected by his experiences growing up as an illegitimate child. He made the voluntary choice to marry his childhood sweetheart,who was pregnant with another man's child. With the support of her father, George and his bride were legally married in Utah and had a strong, loving marriage. Yet, this story is not the typical story when teens marry. Consequently, under pure common law and subsequent statutory provisions, all states have carved …

Justice In The Darkness: Mental Health And The Juveniie Justice System, Brian Jay Nicholls

Utah Law Review

Unless states can provide a way to identify these youth at an earlier stage, intervene, and provide meaningful and effective treatment, the future of those youths as well as the public safety is in jeopardy. Research has shown, as illustrated by Utah's C3 Court, that a comprehensive and collaborative approach to treating these kids can "reduce both crime and costs in the long run while improving (and even saving) the lives of young people today." If states do nothing however, not only do those states fail the youth that they are supposed to rehabilitate, but the state also "fails the …

Extending The Shadow Of The Law: Using Hybrid Mechanisms To Develop Constitutional Norms In Socioeconomic Rights Cases, Brian Ray

Utah Law Review

As a hybrid process that operates somewhere between pure ADR and pure adjudication—and, indeed oscillates between those extremes—engagement offers a novel and potentially important tool for enforcing socioeconomic rights. That tool falls somewhat short of the call by the Constitutional Courts’ critics for fullfledged judicial interpretation and enforcement, but the same features that make engagement something less than strong court enforcement also enhance its legitimacy.

Height Discrimination In Employment, Isaac B. Rosenberg

Utah Law Review

This Article looks critically at heightism, i.e., prejudice or discrimination against a person on the basis of his or her height. Although much scholarship has focused on other forms of trait-based discrimination—most notably weight and appearance discrimination, both of which indirectly involve height as a component—little has focused on “pure” height discrimination. Nevertheless, within the past five years courts, scholars, and legislatures have increasingly tackled these non-traditional forms of discrimination. As such, this Article endeavors to fill the gap in the existing scholarship.

Divided Loyalties: How The Metlife V. Glenn Standard Discounts Erisa Fiduciaries’ Conflicts Of Interest, Beverly Cohen

Utah Law Review

Professor Langbein, a noted ERISA scholar, has argued convincingly in favor of applying de novo review to ERISA benefit denials where the fiduciary acted under a conflict of interest. While the Supreme Court in MetLife rejected the de novo standard in favor of retaining Firestone’s arbitrary and capricious standard coupled with weighing the conflict as a factor, application of the MetLife standard yields a result that is so close to de novo review as to be virtually indistinguishable. By allowing the reviewing court to assign a discretionary weight to the conflict, it is uncertain how much, if any, deference will …

Introduction, Robert W. Adler

Utah Law Review

Although criminal enforcement has always been an important component of environmental law, the year of this symposium (2009) marked the twenty-year anniversary of an event that, for some, increased attention to the propriety and effectiveness of criminal remedies as tools for environmental protection. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez supertanker ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, spilling almost eleven million gallons of North Slope crude oil and causing one of the largest and most significant single-incident environmental disasters in history. Among the casualties were hundreds of thousands of birds, more than a thousand sea otters, hundreds of bald …

Up From The Sewers: A Perspective On The Evolution Of The Federal Environmental Crimes Program, Raymond W. Mushal

Utah Law Review

The environmental crimes program has become an established part of our environmental protection effort. It exists at all levels of government, federal, state, and local. But how do we describe its evolution? There are a number of ways in which this can be done. One, of course, would be to track the case statistics and trends through the years. Another—which is the approach of this essay—would be to focus less upon the cases, as such, and more upon the background developments and issues that have characterized the federal program over time. A pattern emerges in which each successive decade has …

The Belt And Suspenders Approach: The Advantages Of A Formalized Environmental Compliance Program, Carol Dinkins, Sean Lonnquist

Utah Law Review

Because environmental crimes can be committed by businesses, regulating and enforcement entities such as the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) may have a particular interest in indicting a corporation as a means of protecting the public at large. Although major environmental statutes such as the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act provide for civil penalties, some environmental violations are such that criminal charges may be appropriate both as a means of punishing wrongdoing and also to deter future violations. Additionally, the U.S. Attorneys’ Manual states prosecution of corporate crime is a high priority …

Bark And Bite: The Environmental Sentencing Guidelines After Booker, Michael M. O'Hear

Utah Law Review

The federal sentencing guidelines for environmental crimes bark loudly, calling for sentences of imprisonment for all but the most trivial of environmental offenses. Although the terms of imprisonment are not long, the prospect of even a short period of incarceration is doubtlessly capable of getting the attention of the white-collar professionals who commit environmental offenses. Research I conducted in 2004, however, indicated that the bark of the environmental guidelines was considerably worse than their bite. Judges “departed” below the applicable guidelines range in an unusually high percentage of environmental cases; barely one-third of convicted environmental defendants received prison sentences, and …

Locating The Environmental Harm In Environmental Crimes, Susan F. Mandiberg

Utah Law Review

The current approach to environmental harm is odd from a criminal law perspective. The environmental criminal statutes barely deal with the subject at all. The environmental sentencing guidelines, on the other hand, focus almost entirely on harm. The resulting system does not adequately address the role of harm in evaluating the seriousness of environmental crimes or in graduating punishment for different levels of offenders. Although the situation could be resolved through amendments to the sentencing guidelines, a statutory approach has certain advantages from a societal perspective. There is no need to jettison the current statutory approach, which works well to …

Environmental Crime Comes Of Age: The Evolution Of Criminal Enforcement In The Environmental Regulatory Scheme, David M. Uhlmann

Utah Law Review

The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 often is considered the first environmental criminal statute because it contains strict liability provisions that make it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse into navigable waters of the United States without a permit. When Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Act, however, it was far more concerned with preventing interference with interstate commerce than environmental protection. For practical purposes, the environmental crimes program in the United States dates to the development of the modern environmental regulatory system during the 1970s, and amendments to the environmental laws during the 1980s, which upgraded criminal violations of …

Not Guilty…Until Recommitment: The Misuse Of Evidence Of The Underlying Crime In Ngri Recommitment Hearings, Jana R. Mccreary

Utah Law Review

A criminal defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity was found not guilty. Commitment to a state mental facility is not designed to be punishment for a crime. The commitment is meant instead to address the acquittee’s insanity. Involuntary commitment strips a person of a vital liberty interest, and under our Constitution it should be done only with adequate due process. Recommitment of the person, though, is due that same protection. Accordingly, use of unfairly prejudicial evidence should be limited unless a court deems it necessary to a jury’s determination.

Gender Based Strategies For Increased Student Achievement, Mary Louise Bryant-Wilder

Graduate Research Papers

This paper will present information based on various instructional strategies used in the single gender classrooms. These strategies are researched based, and have been know to help support gender specific classrooms. Chapter two will discuss the history of traditional classroom setting and the introduction of the single gender learning classroom. Chapter three will discuss the results of the current research and findings of experts in the study of gender classrooms and the affect such classrooms have on boys. It will also compare the advantages and disadvantages of gender classrooms for boys. Chapter four is an analysis of the findings presenting …

Networked Learning In An Educational Environment, Garey Gill

Graduate Research Papers

Yesterday's methods of instruction are no longer sufficient for today's global world or today's learners. Networked learning provides the capability of making connections with people and information for lifelong learning. This literature review seeks to define Networked Learning and Personal Learning Networks and their implications for education. Networked learning and Personal Learning Networks in relationship to motivation theory is also explored. Recommendations for future use include using social networking as an educational strategy for student learning and instructor professional development. Another recommendation and strategy discussed includes student-centered learning to improve student learning in an educational environment through networked learning. Technology …

Distance Education : Is The Classroom Becoming Obsolete?, Randall M. Gilbert

Graduate Research Papers

The future of education seems to be moving rapidly towards distance education. Society is moving faster as people are trying to coordinate work, family, and school. Due to the increasing pressure of time and distance constraints, today's learners are sometimes choosing to get their educations online, or through a school with distance education technologies and capabilities. This literature review describes distance education, instructor and student attitudes towards distance education, benefits and disadvantages of distance education, the past and the future of distance education, and how and why it should be used in training and education.

A Review Of Character Education Programs And Their Impact On Student Performance, Cara Marie Ludemann

Graduate Research Papers

The teaching of character education in the U.S. public school system is being proposed by many educational leaders as a way of reducing deadly violence perpetrated by children and addressing the broad spectrum of social ills found throughout the country (Lickona, 2004). This review addresses research regarding the purposes of character education, roles of the teacher, program implementation, evaluation of programs, and financial considerations. This review reports elements found in successful character education programs. The review supports the value of implementing character education into a school's curriculum but also identifies obstacles that need to be overcome.

Strategies To Improve The Comprehension Of Struggling Readers And The Elementary Level, Melissa Mueller

Graduate Research Papers

Comprehension occurs when a reader constructs meaning from the text. Each reader must use a strategy to best suit their interaction with the text. By internalizing reading strategies, students will become successful readers. Education is part of a research based instructional practice movement. This paper describes five instructional methods used to teach comprehension strategies to elementary students and the research that supports them. The paper closes with conclusions and recommendations for teaching comprehension strategies.

Preschool Spanish Speakers Who Are Learning English : Factors Related To Later Reading Success, Debra S. Negley

Graduate Research Papers

The rapid rate of increasing numbers of Hispanics in the United States, along with the reading achievement gap between Whites and Hispanics, highlights the need to examine the factors that affect young Hispanics' literacy success. This literature review examined the specific factors that might predict Spanish-speaking Hispanic preschoolers' later reading accomplishments. Studies were categorized by child, family, and school factors that are related to prediction of future literacy attainment.

Analysis of the assorted papers and articles demonstrated that a combination of the following factors would most affect Hispanic preschoolers' future reading abilities in English: high quality early childhood education programs …

Accountability And Collaborative Inquiry In A School-Based Early Childhood Program, Sherri Peterson

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of a professional learning community and the way in which an early childhood team can follow the developmentally appropriate practice guidelines and early learning standards to improve student outcomes.

Seroprevalence Of Hepatitis A Infection In The Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus, Zafer Kurugöl, Güldane Koturoğlu, Sadik Akşi̇t, Ti̇jen Özacar

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Aims: This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Materials and Methods: A total of 660 unvaccinated persons 1 to 30 years old were selected for the study with cluster sampling. Information on sociodemographic characteristics was gathered for each participant and, in 641 of them, anti-HAV antibodies were assayed using an enzyme immune assay. Results: Anti-HAV prevalence in the Turkish population under the age of 30 in Northern Cyprus was 23.9%. For the age groups 1-5, 6-10 and 11-15 years, seroprevalence rates were relatively low (11.4, 9.4 …

Orbital Emphysema Due To Nose Blowing, Mustafa Sever, Tunç Büyükyilmaz

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Orbital emphysema is a rare ocular emergency in the absence of trauma, sinusitis and/or surgical intervention. We report a case of orbital emphysema in a 29-year-old male caused by forceful blowing of the nose. The patient presented with sudden and painful onset of right periorbital swelling and nose-bleed following forceful blowing of the nose. There was no history of sinusitis, facial trauma or previous surgery. Examination of the patient disclosed crepitant eyelid swelling, ptosis, and mild unilateral exophthalmos and inferomedial strabismus in the neutral position. Otorhinolaryngologic and ophthalmic examinations were accompanied by computerized tomography, which demonstrated areas of emphysema in …

The Relationship Between Plasma Homocysteine And Early Coronary Collateral Vessel Development After Acute Myocardial Infarction, Telat Keleş, Tahi̇r Durmaz, Ni̇hal Akar Bayram, Murat Akçay, Ekrem Yeter, Hüseyi̇n Ayhan, Engi̇n Bozkurt

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Aim: Homocysteine is known to inhibit endothelial cell proliferation, which is a key event in angiogenesis. Factors responsible for the presence or absence of coronary collateral circulation are poorly understood. Therefore, in this study we investigated the effect of plasma homocysteine level on the early formation of angiographically visible collaterals after acute myocardial infarction. Materials and Methods: The study included 60 patients that had ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). All the patients underwent coronary angiography 1-4 days after admission (mean: 2.3 ± 1.2 days). Patients were graded according to Rentrop classification. Patients with grade 0 or 1 collateral vessels were …

Evaluation Of Ribavirin Genotoxicity With Sister Chromatid Exchange And Micronuclei Assays In Humans, Abdulgani̇ Tatar, Zülal Özkurt, Ahmet Hacimüftüoğlu, Ahmet Yeşi̇lyurt, Serhat Vançeli̇k

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Aim: The main objective of this study was to assess the genotoxicity of ribavirin in 15 patients who were suffering from Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and treated with the therapy dose of the antiviral agent. Materials and Methods: Genotoxicity was evaluated using the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (MN) and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) assays in lymphocyte cultures that were prepared from blood samples collected from the 15 patients. The blood samples were taken on day 9 of a 10-day therapeutic regimen of ribavirin and 1 month after the cessation of therapy. Results: In all patients, the frequency of sister chromatid exchanges and the …

Subcutaneous Mucormycosis In An Immunocompetent Nigerian Child, Edirin Omorigho Yusuf, Alphonsus Ndidi Onyiriuka

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

A 13-year-old girl presented with a three-month history of generalized blisters on her body following a traumatic injury to her leg with a piece of wood while farming. The lesions were hemorrhagic, itchy and tender on pressure. The patient was non-diabetic, non-leukemic, non-neutropenic, and not previously on immunosuppressive drugs, nor was there any evidence of immunosuppression. Culture and microscopic examination of scrapings from the skin lesions revealed growth of a Mucor spp. She was initially placed on potassium iodide and responded well for about a month, then relapsed. The patient was successfully treated with itraconazole monotherapy.

Lack Of Association Between Tlr4 Polymorphism And Severe Gram-Negative Bacterial Infection In Neonates, Tuba Turul Özgür, Leman Yel, Şule Yi̇ği̇t, Lütfi̇ye Mesci̇, Özden Sanal, İlhan Tezcan, Gülsevi̇n Teki̇nalp, Fügen Ersoy

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Aim: Gram-negative microorganisms are responsible for a significant percentage of systemic bacterial infections in neonates, which tend to progress to sepsis. Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), one of the receptors in the innate immune system, binds to the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) present on gram-negative bacteria. Following ligation, a cascade of cellular signals leads to activation of NF\kappaB, resulting in the generation of such proinflammatory cytokines as TNF\alpha, IL-1, IL-2, and IL-6. These are the mediators of inflammation, which is the cellular response to activation of the innate immune system. As such, TLR4 appears to be a very likely candidate involved in the …

A New Classification For Ileosigmoid Knotting, S. Selçuk Atamanalp, Gürkan Öztürk, Bülent Aydinli, M. İlhan Yildirgan, Mahmut Başoğlu, Durkaya Ören, Abdul Meci̇t Kantarci

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Aim: This study aimed to establish a new classification that will contribute to the treatment and prognosis of ileosigmoid knotting (ISK), which is a combination of ileum volvulus and sigmoid volvulus (SV). Materials and methods: Based on the SV classification in which criteria associated with mortality, such as age over 60 years and the presence of accompanying disease and/or shock, were used, and a new classification was made for ISK. For this classification, the records of 71 patients with ISK, who were treated surgically, were reviewed retrospectively, and unlike in SV classification, rather than the presence of sigmoid gangrene alone, …