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Editorial, Teresa R. Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Leveraging Grantmaking: Understanding The Dynamics Of Complex Social Systems, David Peter Stroh

The Foundation Review

· The nonobvious interrelationships among elements in a complex system often thwart people’s best intentions to sustainably improve system performance.

· The complex, nonlinear problems that most foundations address can be solved most effectively by thinking systemically instead of linearly about these problems.

· Systems thinking offers a range of analytic tools to improve our capacity to think systemically, including ways to distinguish problem symptoms from root causes, reinforcing and balancing feedback, system archetypes, mental models, and system purpose and goals.

· Applying these tools enables us to target highleverage interventions that can lead to sustainable, system-wide improvement.

· These …

Tools To Support Public Policy Grantmaking, Martha Campbell, Julia Coffman

The Foundation Review

· This article provides guidance on how foundations can frame, focus, and advance efforts to achieve public policy reforms.

· Five essential steps for developing public policy strategy are described: choosing the public policy goal, understanding the challenges, identifying influential audiences, determining how far those audiences must move, and deciding how to move them.

· Two tools developed specifically to support foundations during the strategy development process are presented.

Measuring The Impacts Of Advocacy And Community Organizing: Application Of A Methodology And Initial Findings, Lisa Ranghelli

The Foundation Review

· The increasing emphasis by funders on strategic grantmaking and measurable outcomes may be a disincentive to support policy and advocacy work, because of the perception that outcomes can be difficult to assess.

· A tool for measuring impact can reduce the barriers to funding advocacy and policy work.

· The tool draws upon the literatures on evaluating advocacy and organizing, social capital building efforts, and return on investment approaches to evaluation.

· The tool was applied in two sites, where funders found it useful to understand advocacy impacts and learn how advocacy can enhance their grantmaking goals.

Fee Shifting And Sovereign Immunity After Seminole Tribe, T. Haller Jackson Iv

Nebraska Law Review

This Article asks two questions: (1) Is the constitutional availability of attorneys' fees from states limited by the constitutional availability of damages, and (2) what would be the effect of saying "yes"? Those simple and straightforward questions defy an easy answer. In Parts IV-VI of this Article, I attempt to work through several ways of thinking about those problems to arrive at an account of what the Court might do, what I believe it should do, and why struggling with this problem is a valuable exercise.

Surveillance And The Political Value Of Privacy, Benjamin J. Goold

All Faculty Publications

The steady expansion in the use of surveillance technologies by the state and private sector represents a substantial threat to the privacy of ordinary individuals. Yet despite the best efforts of civil libertarians, many members of the public still struggle to understand why privacy is valuable and deserves to be protected as a basic right. In part, this is a result of the inherent complexity of the idea of privacy, but it is also due a tendency on the part of privacy advocates to focus on the individual - as opposed to the social and political dimensions - of privacy. …

Why Law Students Should Take The Federal Courts Course, Roger L. Goldman

All Faculty Scholarship

The most unique feature of the American judiciary is its dual system of trial courts, one state and one federal. This article explores the reasons traditionally given for the need for lower federal courts and whether, in practice, the federal courts are actually serving those needs. For example, it has been assumed that state courts are less hospitable to federal civil rights and consumer claims than federal courts, yet in many jurisdictions, plaintiffs’ lawyers prefer filing claims in state courts under state anti-discrimination or consumer laws rather than federal laws to prevent removal of the case to federal court. The …

Regulating Physician Behavior: Taking Doctors’ 'Bad Law' Claims Seriously, Sandra H. Johnson

All Faculty Scholarship

Physician behavior is a key target of government regulation intended to improve the efficiency, quality, and accessibility of health care. Yet according to physicians’ "bad law" claims, the legal effort to promote patient health and well-being has actually caused significant harm. These "bad law" claims - that malpractice litigation prompts defensive medicine, that patients’ rights policies prompt doctors to provide futile care, that controlled substance laws cause physicians to undertreat patients in pain - have diminished in significance due to the deconstruction of professionalism. Claims are often discarded as the cries of "bad apple" doctors or in the interest of …

Regulating Conflicts Of Interest In Research: The Paper Tiger Needs Real Teeth, Jesse A. Goldner J.D.

All Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the current state of the regulation of financial conflicts of interest in research in the United States. It notes the implications of the changing academic and private research environment and reviews recent empirical research on (1) the perceived implications of such conflicts on clinician and researcher behavior, and (2) the effect of disclosure of such conflicts to potential research participants. The article also details a number of widely publicized research “scandals” involving conflicts of interest and the effects these may have on both public support for research as well as on the quality of care that ultimately …

Toward A Theory Of Persuasive Authority, Chad Flanders

All Faculty Scholarship

The debate about the citation of foreign authorities has become stale. One side says that citing foreign authorities means being beholden to foreign sovereigns. The other side responds that this is nonsense, as the authorities are being used only for their "persuasive value." But do we even have a good idea of what it means to be a persuasive authority? My essay is the first to focus entirely on the notion of persuasive authority and to make the first steps towards providing a general theory of it. I make two major contributions. First, I try to show that there is …

Labor Injunctions In Bankruptcy: The Norris-Laguardia Firewall, Michael C. Duff

All Faculty Scholarship

This article considers whether federal courts, including bankruptcy courts, are authorized to issue injunctions in connection with various kinds of labor disputes arising after the filing of a petition in bankruptcy. The question takes on renewed importance in light of the record number of Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in 2008, including filings by two of the three major American automakers, which are unionized. Given the increasing complexity of some of these notorious reorganizations, the likelihood of post-petition labor disputes appears to have correspondingly increased. In agreement with the few federal circuits that have considered the question, the article concludes that, …

Working Sick: Lessons Of Chronic Illness For Health Care Reform, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

Although chronic illness is generally associated with the elderly or disabled, chronic conditions are widespread among working-age adults and pose significant challenges for employer-based health care plans. Indeed, a recent study found that the number of working-age adults with a major chronic condition has grown by 25 percent over the past 10 years, to a total of nearly 58 million in 2006. Chronic illness imposes significant costs on workers, employers, and the overall economy. This population accounts for three-quarters of all personal medical spending in the United States, and a Milken Institute study recently estimated that lost workdays and lower …

The Violent Bear It Away: Emmett Till & The Modernization Of Law Enforcement In Mississippi, Anders Walker

All Faculty Scholarship

Few racially motivated crimes have left a more lasting imprint on American memory than the death of Emmett Till. Yet, even as Till's murder in Mississippi in 1955 has come to be remembered as a catalyst for the civil rights movement, it contributed to something else as well. Precisely because it came on the heels of the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, Till's death convinced Mississippi Governor James P. Coleman that certain aspects of the state's handling of racial matters had to change. Afraid that popular outrage over racial violence might encourage federal intervention in …

Consolidation Of Parental Monitoring Variables And Scales: Preliminary Evidence For Construct Validity, Ryan J. Anderson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The aim of the present study was to improve definitions of parental monitoring constructs by reducing the domain of content from which researchers have sampled in previous investigations. For example, between the years of 1991 and 2007 researchers developed at least 49 different parental monitoring scales comprised of a total of 310 questions or items. Visual inspection of these scales as well as thorough review of the parental monitoring literature suggested that researchers primarily were interested in assessing five domains of content (the sum of which is described as parental monitoring). These five domains of content are (1) adolescent perceptions …

Assessment Of The System Of Professional Development For West Virginia Pre-K Teachers, Sally Byard

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examined the system for professional development that exists in West Virginia for education staff who teach in the West Virginia Pre-K program. This information should be used to increase the understanding of policy makers and early childhood system planners within a framework of policy areas as described by the National Association for the Education of Young Children in Workforce Designs: A Policy Blueprint for State Early Childhood Professional Development Systems to support quality improvement. While several components of a comprehensive professional development system are present, further coordination and alignment is necessary to meet the diverse needs of individual …

Development And Commissioning Of A Small Engine Test Cell, Jacob R. Brown

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

For the purposes of providing the Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines, and Emissions (CAFEE) of West Virginia University (WVU) with the ability to perform engine dynamometer and emissions testing on small engines in the range of 40 horsepower or less, a new test cell was built and commissioned within the CAFEE annex facility in the Morgantown Industrial Park in Westover, WV. The test cell was designed to be used with existing CAFEE emission testing equipment.;Test cell commissioning demonstrated the ability of the system to properly operate full steady state test cycles, as well as capture steady state continuous gaseous emissions …

Male Sexual Violence Victimization: Definitions, Epidemiological Profile, And Psychological Impact, Ekta Choudhary

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Sexual violence or sexual assault refers to any forcible or non-forcible sexual activity where consent is not obtained or freely given. In comparison to female victims, there is a relative paucity of literature examining the characteristics and adverse health outcomes associated with male sexual assault as well as long-term consequences. Past studies have relied primarily on population-based survey data to estimate the prevalence of sexual assault and associated health outcomes. The main objective of this study was to enhance our understanding of male sexual assault through results obtained from three related projects. In the first study, data from the 2001-2005 …

Effective Maxillary Protraction: Hyrax Expansion Appliance Vs. Double-Hinged Expansion Appliance, Thuy B. Do-Delatour

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Patients with a skeletal Class III malocclusion may have one of the following conditions: midface deficiency and/or mandibular hypertrophy/prognathism. If modification of the skeletal Class III growth pattern is not effectively accomplished at an early age via maxillary protraction, then orthognathic surgery would be required to help correct the skeletal Class III malocclusion. Some of the more serious risks associated with orthognathic surgery include parasthesia, bone and tissue necrosis, and possibly death. However, if one is able to effectively protract the maxilla, the need for anterior-posterior correction of the maxilla via orthognathic surgery will be minimized if not eliminated.;The purpose …

The Effects Of An Educational Intervention On Nurse -Physician Collaboration And Compliance Rates With Quality Indicators For Cardiac Patients In Critical Care Settings, Sara L. Clutter

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Purpose. The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of an educational intervention on knowledge, nurse-perceived nurse-physician collaboration, and compliance with quality indicators and to assess the relationship between collaboration and compliance. This study also investigated the difference in collaboration and knowledge between and within nurses from intensive care (ICU) and intermediate care (IMCU) settings.;Research questions. Six research questions guided this study. The questions compared knowledge, collaboration scores, and compliance with quality indicators between and within intermediate and intensive care unit nurses before and after an educational intervention. Questions also addressed the relationship between collaboration scores and compliance …

The Effects Of Aquaculture Production Noise On The Growth, Hearing, Disease Resistance, And Survival Of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) And Methods For Minimizing Noise In Fiberglass Aquaculture Tanks, John W. Davidson Iii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Intensive aquaculture systems, particularly recirculating systems, often require noise producing equipment such as pumps, blowers, and filters that inadvertently increase sound levels within the culture environment. These systems are often very effective at culturing healthy, fast growing fish; however, the potential impacts of underwater noise on fish within intensive aquaculture systems have not been evaluated. Limited research suggests that subjecting fish to noise could result in impairment of the auditory system, reduced growth rates, and increased stress. The studies presented within this manuscript were conducted to gain a better understanding of aquaculture production noise and its potential impacts on rainbow …

The Politics Of Disaster Relief Policy (1947--2005), Viviane E. Foyou

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Like other studies of agenda setting, this research builds on the work of Baumgartner and Jones (1993), King (1997), Worsham (1997) and Tzoumis (2001), and most recently, Wilkerson, Feeley, Schiereck, and Sue (1999). Specifically, the focus of this study is on disaster relief policy. Two basic objectives guide the study. The first is to examine the origins and evolution of disaster relief policy in order to understand its shifting image. The second is to understand how Congress governs the agenda of disaster relief policy in the post-war period.;The analysis in this dissertation is derived from data collected on disaster relief-related …

Detection And Determination Of Degradation And Metabolic Products Of Drugs Of Abuse And Explosives, Melissa Gayton Ely

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Among the different means of decomposition, thermal, environmental, and metabolic degradation play a significant role in how forensic related compounds are analyzed. In the first stage of this research, cocaine and methamphetamine were pyrolyzed utilizing a pyroprobe to detect reported products of pyrolytic/thermal degradation and smoked markers. This simple and rapid method has laid the groundwork for future smoked drug analyses. In the second stage of research, a new focus was developed on detection of explosives in soil from detonated UXO at the West Virginia Maneuver Area. TNT, RDX, HMX, tetryl, and TNT environmental degradation products were analyzed using a …

Urban Planning, Transportation, And Land -Use Planning: The Effects On Attitudes And Political Behaviors, Abraham Goldberg

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Public policy decisions made across levels of government have an effect on the way in which cities and city neighborhoods are built and maintained. Places vary in several ways including by the level of diversity or uniformity of the types of available amenities, transportation options, cleanliness, safety, affordability, and the availability of basic services. A growing body of literature, through empirical research, demonstrates that these variations affect several domains of people's lives. Personal health, the natural environment, and social capital have all been linked to characteristics of the built environment and attributes of the public realm. In line with this …

The Effectiveness Of Four Translation Strategies On Nurses' Adoption Of An Evidence -Based Bladder Protocol, Jamey S. Frasure

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background. Mixed evidence exists regarding the effective use of the use of the four translation strategies of educational materials, educational meetings, reminders, and audit and feedback on the adoption and implementation of interventions by nurses. Many clinical practice guidelines for the care of the stroke patient advocate for bladder training, but evidence-based bladder protocols for the stroke patient are not available. The best available bladder protocol identified was a prompted voiding algorithm from the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario. Review of the literature reported 32--79% of hospitalized stroke patients suffer from urinary incontinence. Strong support for prompted voiding demonstrated the …

In Mid -Stream: A Qualitative Case Study Of A Young Deaf Woman - Becoming 'Leigh', Ann Darby Getty

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this longitudinal case study was to closely examine one deaf child's lived experience. The research was designed to examine linguistic development, academic experience, and personal and social conditions through the use of multiple interviews with a 'hearing' mother and her deaf daughter. Their perspectives have been shared as well as that of the narrator/inquirer.;The study begins when 'Leigh' was identified as having a profound, bilateral hearing loss at the age of 12 months, and continues to date with her current status as a twenty year old, college sophomore. The raw texts analyzed include: interview excerpts, results of …

The Influence Of A Challenge Course Based Pre-Orientation's Curriculum Integration On Participants' Perceived Self-Efficacy, Simon J. Grout

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This present work employed a quasi-experimental study to examine the change of college and academic self-efficacy perception of first year students following their experience upon participation in a Challenge Course Based Orientation Program (CCBOP) covering varying levels of University 101 curriculum integration. In total 68 first year students out of an available 96 participated in the study. Four individual programs were chosen, two were randomly assigned a 'Holistically integrated' treatment (n=37) and the remaining programs were assigned 'Non-integrated' treatment (n=31). All participants completed the College Self-Efficacy Inventory (CSEI), and College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES) prior to and immediately following the …

The Role Of Nadph Oxidase In Blood -Brain Barrier Dysfunction Following Stroke In Aged Rats, Kimberly Kelly

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Stroke is the leading cause of long-term adult disability and the third leading cause of death in the United States. More that 72% of stroke victims are over the age of 65, yet most studies utilize young animals. Aged rats suffer exacerbated stroke volume and inflammation, as well as worsened functional outcome when compared to young adult rats. While the blood brain barrier (BBB) remains intact with age, it becomes more susceptible to external factors. BBB permeability in the penumbra appears acutely, 20 min after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in aged rats. Importantly, BBB permeability is earlier and more …

The Fate Of Salmonella Tennessee And Salmonella Typhimurium In Peanut Butter Subjected To Electron Beam Irradiation, Andrea Lynn Hvizdzak

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Peanut butter and peanut paste products were implicated as the vehicle of contamination in an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium that began in September 2008 and in the November 2006 outbreak of Salmonella Tennessee; therefore based on the apparent need for intervention measure, the purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of non-thermal electron beam irradiation for reduction of Salmonella serovars Tennessee (ATCC 10722) and Typhimurium (ATCC 14028) in creamy peanut butter. Each strain was studied independently. Peanut butter samples were inoculated with approximately 7.0 log CFU/g of Salmonella and exposed to e-beam doses ranging from 0--3.1 kGy. Doses …

A Spatial Optimization Approach To Watershed Water Quality Management: A Case Of The Opequon Watershed, Wilbert Karigomba

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Opequon Creek watershed is located in northern VA and the eastern panhandle of WV. Currently, the main creeks in the watershed do not meet VA or WV state water quality standards for recreational uses and aquatic life. In both states, the creeks are listed as impaired due to high levels of nutrients, bacteria, benthic and biologic impairment. The Opequon Creek is part of the upper Potomac River watershed, and ultimately impacts water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The main aim of this study was to develop a methodology that can be used to reduce nutrient loadings entering the …

Everybody Playing Together: West Virginia Educators' Perspective On The Implementation Of The Universal Preschool Policy, Ashley Atkins Martucci

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines West Virginia's Universal Access to a Quality Early Education System (Policy 2525) mandate for mandatory universal preschool through a study of the roles of stakeholders in the implementation, understanding, and perspectives about the issues. Thirteen interviews were conducted to gain multiple perspectives of West Virginia educators'. The interviewees included: a state government representative, three early childhood state administrators, three early childhood county administrators, three early childhood local administrators, and three early childhood teachers. The policy provides a framework for the interviews conducted and the language utilized by the interviewees. This discourse and discrepancy analysis unveiled complex perspectives …