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A Constitution Without Constitutionalism: Reflections On Iraq's Failed Constitutional Process, Feisal Amin Istrabadi

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletter, Portland State University. Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute

Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute Newsletters

Newsletter provides information on:

• Updates on the Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute
• Recent presentations
• Research roundup
• Articles highlight criminology and criminal justice today

Determinants Of Fluid Milk Quality, Jose Luis Vargas

LSU Master's Theses

The objectives of this study were to provide an overview of fluid milk quality in the U.S., determine if there is a correlation between rapid and traditional tests, determine if results from different analyses correlate with a sensory analysis and to determine any correlation between any of the analyses done in this study. Whole and 2% milks were received from 17 dairy processing plants located in the west, midwest, and southern regions of the U.S in duplicates. Samples were pasteurized at the processing plants by HTST method (161-175oF for 15-25 seconds). For standard plate counts at day 0 no significant …

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Women After Hurricane Katrina: Predictors And Symptom Endorsement, Julia E. Thompson

LSU Master's Theses

Hurricane Katrina devastated areas of New Orleans and caused the evacuation of most of the city’s residents. Many people were exposed to dangerous storms and flooding and lost many of their possessions. One of the most common psychological disorders following a disaster is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. This study describes the PTSD symptom endorsement of a sample of women who experienced Hurricane Katrina. In addition, many of these women had previous trauma histories which are also described. Participants included 287 women from New Orleans, Jefferson and East Baton Rouge Parish recruited for a larger study on mother’s and children’s psychological functioning …

Modeling Gag Grouper (Mycteroperca Microlepis) In The Gulf Of Mexico: Exploring The Impact Of Marine Reserves On The Population Dynamics Of A Protogynous Grouper, Robert D. Ellis

LSU Master's Theses

The gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis) population in the Gulf of Mexico supports both a commercial and recreational fishery but has experienced a decrease in the male to female sex ratio over the past thirty years. Protogynous fish populations naturally have a smaller male to female ratio than gonochoristic fish populations; however the decline in the gag population is such that sperm limitation may be occurring. In an effort to correct the decline in sex ratio, fishery managers have recently implemented two marine reserves designed specifically to protect gag spawning aggregations. Results from two population models (an age-structured model and an …

Book Review. Liberty: Rethinking An Imperiled Ideal By Glenn Tinder, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Teaching Freedom: Exclusionary Rights Of Student Groups, Joan W. Howarth

Scholarly Works

Progressive, anti-subordination values support robust First Amendment protection for high school and university students, including strong rights of expressive association, even when those rights clash with educational institutions' nondiscrimination policies. The leading cases addressing the conflicts between nondiscrimination policies and exclusionary student groups are polarized and distorted by their culture war context. That context tainted the leading authority, Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, and is especially salient in the student expressive association cases, many of which are being aggressively litigated by religious groups with strong anti-homosexuality goals. The strength of these First Amendment claims can be difficult to recognize …

The Plame Game: Framing A Political Scandal, Misty Dawn Albrecht

LSU Master's Theses

The media play an important role in society. They interpret political events, actions, policies, and scandals in a manner that citizens can understand. The media use frames to assist in interpretations and descriptions. They may create their own frames or use frames supplied by the political elites. Frames can also lead to biased coverage when used to omit details or present someone in a favorable or unfavorable manner. This study examines the frames the media used during the coverage of President George W. Bush’s first political scandal, the “Plame Game.” On July 14, 2003, Robert Novak exposed the identity of …

A Garden-Based Nutrition Education Summer Program Positively Impacts The Fruit And Vegetable Preferences Of Inner-City High School Students, Emily K. Neustrom

LSU Master's Theses

Americans, especially low-income citizens, do not meet the daily USDA recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption. Low fruit and vegetable intake can be associated with several types of chronic diseases. The dietary patterns established at a young age often carry into adulthood, hence the need for nutrition education beginning in youth. Studies have shown that nutrition education coupled with a gardening program can impact youth's nutrition choices and snack preferences. The Summer Experience was an eight-week garden-based nutrition education program designed to teach gardening, cooking, nutrition, business and life skills for inner-city high school students in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The …

Vitreo-Retinal Traction And Anastrozole Use, Alvin Eisner, Emily J. Thielman, Julie Falardeau, John T. Vetto

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose—This study tested a prediction stemming from the hypothesis that anastrozole users experience heightened vitreo-retinal traction. This hypothesis was based on the knowledge that menopause increases the risk of intraocular tractional events such as posterior vitreous detachments (PVDs).

Methods—Retinal thickness was measured for 3 groups of amenorrheic women: (1) anastrozole users and (2) tamoxifen users undergoing adjuvant therapy for early-stage breast cancer, and (3) control subjects not using hormonal medication. Foveal shape indices were derived for subjects without PVDs.

Results—For anastrozole users, the distance to the temporal side of the fovea became less than the distance to …

100 Years Strong: Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services And The On-Going Pursuit For Equal Rights And Equal Justice, Tom I. Romero Ii, Bruce A. Beneke

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Heuristics In Decision Making, Fatima M. Albar, Antonie J. Jetter

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Heuristics are simple rules of thumbs for problem solving that follow a logic that is quite different from consequential logic. They have long been regarded, as an inferior technique for decision making that is the source of irrational decision behavior. Recently, decision making researchers have demonstrated that some heuristics are highly efficient and can compete with complex decision models in some application domains. This paper explores the different streams of research, summarizes the state of the art decision making model, and discusses its implications for complex decisions in engineering and technology management.

Rfid Tags / Planar Inductors As Chemical Sensor Platforms In Liquid Sensing Applications, Gregory Donald Schumacher-Novak

Master's Theses (2009 -)

In this work, RFID tags are investigated as a liquid-phase chemical sensing platform. A dual-layer of selective coating film with polyaniline (PANi) on top of poly(epichlorohydrin) (PECH) is used for the detection of trace amounts of organic compounds (toluene and ethylbenzene) in aqueous solutions. Various experiments were performed to evaluate the coated RFID tag sensors. Shifts in the impedance and resonant frequency due to analyte sorption are measured. Details of the responses of the dual-layer film to different pH baseline solutions are shown. The results show that this dual-layer film can be used to detect toluene and ethylbenzene with high …

Characterization Of The Electromagnetic Fields Inside A Wire Mesh Cage For Biotelemetry, Johnny Bernard Lienau

Master's Theses (2009 -)

A wire mesh cage composed of thin conductive wires will influence the behavior of electromagnetic fields within it. Theory suggests that the cage will behave like a low Q cavity. Many researchers have investigated electromagnetic field behavior in solid walled cavities and waveguides, but little of this work has probed into the effects of a wire mesh. Additionally, few studies have investigated RF communication in these types of environments. The primary goal of this work is to research wireless communication inside a low Q wire mesh cavity in the 200-700 MHz range. Through simulated and experimental results, ideal antenna locations …

Isolation And Dependency Resolution Of Presentation, Processing And Persistence, Mehrab Monjur

Master's Theses (2009 -)

For business application development it is important to isolate programming efforts of the concerns: Presentation, Processing and Persistence. Development of each of these concerns has an independent thinking process and requires somewhat different programming languages and development tools. In order to isolate the concerns, we provide passages between the concerns and control the flow of execution by following essentially three rules: 1. Presentation and Processing are coroutines, 2. Processing is finished before Presentation can begin to show output, and 3. Persistence is a subsystem of Processing. We explain how these rules come to existence, and what the implications are in …

Development And Implementation Of Novel Bristle Tool For Surface Treatment Of Metallic Components, Piyush Khullar

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Despite advances in paints and coatings technology, protective coatings are prone to eventual corrosion, degradation and/or failure. Consequently, a corrosive layer will develop that can undermine the performance and integrity of structural components. Therefore, both the corrosive layer and defunct coating must be periodically removed, and an acceptable level of surface cleanliness and texture must be obtained prior to the reapplication of new paint. Currently, an array of processes and equipment are used for efficiently cleaning and conditioning metallic surfaces, such as grit blasting, needle guns, and a variety of non-woven and coated abrasive tools.

This research investigates the method …

Environmental Politics In Paradise: Resistance To The Selling Of Vieques, Sherrie Baver

Publications and Research

The most notable instance of a massive and successful social protest in Puerto Rico in recent years has been on the island of Vieques between 1999 and 2003. This was a rare case in which Puerto Ricans were able to overcome their partisan divisions to end the U.S. Navy's 60 years of training on this small, 51- square-mile island off the main island's east coast. Part of the reason for the Vieques victory, including gaining support from some influential U.S. politicians, was that leaders framed the protest in terms of human rights, public health and environmental degradation rather than Yanqui …

Cookie Monsters: Seeing Young People’S Hacking As Creative Practice, Gregory T. Donovan, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

This paper examines the benefits and obstacles to young people’s open-ended and unrestricted access to technological environments. While children and youth are frequently seen as threatened or threatening in this realm, their playful engagements suggest that they are self-possessed social actors, able to negotiate most of its challenges effectively. Whether it is proprietary software, the business practices of some technology providers, or the separation of play, work, and learning in most classrooms, the spatial-temporality of young people’s access to and use of technology is often configured to restrict their freedom of choice and behavior. We focus on these issues through …

I Promise I Won't Say 'Herstory': New Conversations Among Feminists, Jannelle Ruswick, Alycia Sellie

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Synergies And Tensions Between Rural Social Movements And Professional Researchers, Marc Edelman

Publications and Research

This essay outlines approaches to analysing and managing relations between rural activists and academic researchers. It suggests (a) that contemporary social movements engage in knowledge production practices much like those of academic and NGO-affiliated researchers and (b) that the boundaries between activists and researchers are not always as sharp as is sometimes claimed. These blurred boundaries and shared practices can create synergies in activist– academic relations. The essay then examines tensions in the relationship, including activists’ expectation that academic research will be immediately applicable to their struggles and researchers’ expectation that movement participants will accommodate their needs. The final section …

1968/1989: Political Upheaval And Artistic Change, Claire Bishop, Marta Dziewanska

Publications and Research

Anthology of texts proceeding from the conference "1968/1989: Political Upheaval and Artistic Change" held at the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, in 2008.

Ken Russell: Musical Mythmaker, Michael Adams

Publications and Research

Iconoclastic English film director Ken Russell (1927-2011) made more films about music and musical figures than any other filmmaker. His theatrical films and BBC films from 1959 to 2002 are examined.

Quirky, Not Quacky: Quantum Computing For Librarians, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

This slideshow introduces librarians and non-scientists to the relatively young field of quantum computing.

Brooklyn College Library's Online Art Catalog: Art On The Wall Goes Digital, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

This slideshow describes the creation of the Brooklyn College Library's online art catalog and audio tour.

Methodology Appendix: On The Craft Of Sociology In The Digital Era, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

An appendix to the book that explores the methodology of studying the Internet.

Combating Global White Supremacy In The Digital Era, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

This chapter explores both the ability of white supremacists to connect globally through Internet technologies, and considers international efforts to combat white supremacy. The United States is not a willing partner in fighting white supremacy online due to certain interpretations of the first amendment. However, absolutist views of free speech contradict the Supreme Court of the US which has ruled that there is a burning cross is not protected by the first amendment. Failing to take action against white supremacy online, the US functions as a global haven for hate speech.

Wikipedia, Me, And Ohp, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Weaving Color Lines: Race, Ethnicity, And The Work Of Leadership In Social Change Organizations, Sonia Ospina, Celina Su

Publications and Research

For social change organizations working to address intractable social problems throughout the USA, tackling race may not only be unavoidable; it may represent a way to fully engage stakeholders in social change work. We argue that illuminating the relationship between race and leadership can advance our under- standing of how social change leadership happens in practice. We build upon scholarship that emphasizes the ways in which seemingly essentialist, intractable racial categories are actually mutable, and the simultaneous emergence of academic research calling attention to the constructed and collective dimensions of leadership. Using a constructionist lens to analyze narratives from 22 …

Post-Structuralism And Music Theory (A Response To Adam Krims), Joseph N. Straus

Publications and Research

In a recent article in this journal, Adam Krims has argued that mainstream music theory, with its organicist bias, is fundamentally incompatible with post-structuralist thought. This commentary is a defense of theory-based analysis in a postmodern world.

Valuing And Pricing Of Random And Non-Persistent Genetically Modified Traits (Corn And Hrsw), Sumadhur Shakya

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

With many genetic traits discovered and many more in progress, it is imperative to the industry that firms (biotechnology companies) decide on the trait valuation and pricing. This includes more than one trait (also referred to as stacked traits) in a single variety of crop; the risk and uncertainty of expected returns associated with the development and release of a variety increases even more in case of stacked traits. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a model that can be used for the valuing and pricing of genetically modified (GM) traits that are random, sporadic, and non-persistent (e.g. …