Digital Commons Network^™

Contractors And The Ultimate Sacrifice, Steven L. Schooner

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This brief article quantifies how, in Iraq and Afghanistan, contractor personnel increasingly have made the ultimate sacrifice alongside, or in lieu of, service members. The enormity of the contractor sacrifice gives pause - more than 2,000 contractors have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But what is more striking is that contractors are bearing an increasing proportion of the annual death toll. In the first half of 2010, more contractors died in Iraq and Afghanistan supporting the war effort than members of the U.S. military waging these wars.

A Versatile Prism: Assessing Procurement Law Through The Principal-Agent Model, Christopher R. Yukins

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Over the past several decades, the federal procurement system in the United States has grown remarkably, and now totals over $500 billion annually.

Over that same period, the rules governing federal procurement have been buffeted by broad efforts at reform. At no point, however, have we ever had an overarching theory - a model or prism - through which to assess the procurement system or its reform. Agency theory provides one such theoretical model. Long established in economics and the other social sciences, the principal-agent model (agency theory) provides a model to explain successes (and failures) in organizational structures, and …

Making Workshops Work (For Everyone): Creating And Capturing A Student-Driven Writing Workshop Series, Iselin Magdalene Gambert, Benjamin James Grillot

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

It's not uncommon for new law students to arrive at law school anxious for support on their legal writing assignments and looking for strategies to improve their time management and exam preparation skills. At the same time, upper-level law students are often eager for opportunities to develop their public speaking, presentation development, and leadership skills. This article presents an overview of the 2009-10 Fall Writing Workshop Series, sponsored by the GW Law Writing Center, which successfully met both sets of goals. The article provides readers with concrete ideas for implementing a similar program at their law schools, and includes ideas …

The First Amendment Issue Of Our Time, Dawn C. Nunziato

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Here we go, once more unto the breach, to face yet another battle in the near decade-long war over net neutrality. Some of the combatants have changed, and their positions have shifted slightly, but today we find essentially the same interests represented and the same arguments advanced. On one side, the major cable, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), and wireless broadband providers continue to argue against increasing the Federal Communication Commision’s (FCC) authority over how these providers manage the flow of information through their pipes. On the other side, we have content providers, Internet users, and--this time--the FCC, contending that the …

The National Innovation System Of Singapore, Winston T. H. Koh, Phillip Phan

Research Collection School Of Economics

No abstract provided.

Resilience In Western Australian Adolescents: A Model Of The Processes That Occur Between Risk And Success, Mandie B. Shean

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aim of this research was to develop a model that represents how adolescents in the Western Australian context navigate their way to resilience. Resilience was defined as “the outcome from negotiations between individuals and their environments for the resources to define themselves as healthy amidst conditions collectively viewed as adverse” (Ungar, 2004a, p. 342). The philosophical approach was social constructivist and the methodology was mixed, employing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies through grounded theory. The techniques used to gather data included interviewing, focus groups, and questionnaires. There were three stages in the research: namely, developing the model of resilience, …

Conceptualising Bullying In An Aboriginal Context As Reported By The Yamaji Community, To Inform The Development Of A Bullying Prevention Program That Is Culturally Sensitive To The Needs Of Aboriginal Students, Juli Coffin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The Solid Kids Solid Schools project aimed to capture the unheard voices of Aboriginal children and community members on the issues surrounding ‘bullying’. In an Aboriginal context bullying is different and the outcomes are different, yet mainstream programs are utilized to combat the issue. We need to know how bullying is different for Aboriginal children and young people, why it is different and what does this difference mean in terms of addressing this issue in a school and community setting? A community based steering group guided the direction of this study and the larger Solid Kids Solid Schools project. Snowball …

Consuming Online Communities : Computer Operating Systems, Identity And Resistance, Gregory C. Stratton

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A defining feature of the modern era of computer technologies has been a massive reliance upon the mass consumption of personal operating system software. Currently three products dominate how the world experiences computer operating system – Microsoft‘s Windows, Apple‘s Mac, and Linux. The near monopoly held by Windows has been a crucial enabler of the ICT revolution, while the small but significant markets held by Mac and Linux provide alternatives to Windows monoculture. Aside from their technical differences each offers distinct examples of modern-day branding, with individuals forming communities in which members signify their allegiance with these products. This thesis …

Personal Exposure Of Children To Formaldehyde In Perth, Western Australia, Victoria S. Lazenby

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Formaldehyde is a common air pollutant that tends to be found in elevated concentrations in indoor air. Exposure to formaldehyde has the potential to impact on respiratory health, particularly amongst sensitive individuals and populations, including children. Children spend most of their time indoors at home, however, there are very little data on the contribution of formaldehyde concentrations in homes to personal exposure in children. The principal aim of this cross sectional study was to investigate whether the domestic environment is the most significant source of personal exposure of formaldehyde in children. Forty-one primary school children (aged between 8 and 12) …

Agency And Partnership Law [2009], Pearlie Koh, Stephen Bull

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The laws relating to the creation of an agency, implied authority, holding out and apparent authority, duties of the agent in relation to Agency law are discussed. The laws relating to partnership law and issues such as relationship of partners to third parties, relationships of partners between themselves and capacity to be a partner are highlighted.

Evaluating The Impact Of The Un Convention On The Use Of Electronic Communications In International Contracts On Domestic Contract Law: The Singapore Example, Eliza Mik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (CUECIC or Convention) was adopted on 23 November 2005. Its essential objective is to establish uniform rules intended to “remove obstacles to the use of electronic communications in international contracts, including obstacles that might result from the operation of existing international trade law instruments, with a view to enhancing legal certainty and commercial predictability.” The Convention relies on the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce (MLEC), which constitutes an e-commerce flagship project dating back to 1995. It also resembles UNCITRAL’s Convention …

The Evolution Of The Ict Sector In Egypt – Partnership4development, Sherif Kamel

Faculty Journal Articles

Emerging information and communication technology (ICT) is setting the pace for a changing, competitive and dynamic global marketplace and representing an enabling platform for business and socioeconomic development in the 21st century. In that respect, developing nations are urged to keep pace regularly with the developments taking place in the developed world through the design and implementation of plans for universal access in terms of ICT literacy and its effective utilization for developmental purposes. It is important to note that building the ICT infrastructure will not realize quantum leaps in the development process unless it is coupled with concrete projects …

Background On The Aicpa/Nasba Uniform Accountancy Act-What Does It Mean?, American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants (Aicpa)

Association Sections, Divisions, Boards, Teams

No abstract provided.

Modeling Terahertz Diffuse Scattering From Granular Media Using Radiative Transfer Theory, Kyung Moon Nam

Dissertations and Theses

Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy can potentially be used to probe and characterize inhomogeneous materials, however spectroscopic identification of such materials from spectral features of diffuse returns is a relatively underdeveloped area of study. In this thesis, diffuse THz scattering from granular media is modeled by applying radiative transfer (RT) theory for the first time in THz sensing. Both classical RT theory and dense media radiative transfer (DMRT) theory based on the quasi-crystalline approximation (QCA) are used to calculate diffuse scattered intensity. The numerical solutions of the vector radiative transfer equations (VRTE) were coded and calculated in MATLAB. The diffuse scattered field …

War, Peace, And Principled Action: A Study Of Veterans And The Peace Movement, Laura Kay Wegener

Dissertations and Theses

Throughout the history of the United States (U.S.), there have been service members who, upon leaving the service, have spoken out against U.S. involvement in wars. The current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and their increasing unpopularity, have contributed to this trend. Recently veterans have begun to come forward in larger numbers to speak out against the current wars and have self-identified as members of peace movements. The purpose of this research project was to explore veterans' understandings of the peace movement and their involvement in veterans' peace movement organizations. This study hoped to answer the following questions: 1) How …

Globalization; But Under What Conditions? -- The Case Of The E.U., Michaelangelo Anastasiou

Dissertations and Theses

The present study explores the relationship between trust placed in national institutions and opinion of globalization. A secondary data analysis is conducted using data collected by the European Commission in a 2004 Eurobarometer survey of European Union (EU) citizens on various issues regarding the EU, globalization and national challenges. A prominent theme in the literature is that, in recent times, globalization has had the effect of compromising the sovereignty of nation-states. This has generated a backlash of nationalistic attitudes wherein globalization is posited in opposition to the nation-state. This surge in nationalism has reinforced a culture wherein any external force …

Investigation Of Speech Samples From Typically Developing Preschool Age Children: A Comparison Of Single Words And Imitated Sentences Elicited With The Paba-E, Matthew William Olsen

Dissertations and Theses

Assessment of speech sound production in young children provides the basis for diagnosis and treatment of speech sound disorders. Standardized single-word articulation tests are typically used for identification of speech sound errors because they can provide an efficient means of obtaining a speech sample for analysis and comparison to same-age peers. A major criticism of single-word articulation tests is that they may not accurately reflect speech sound production abilities in conversation. Comparison of performance in single-word and conversational contexts has produced conflicting results in the available research.

The purpose of the present study was to compare speech samples obtained using …

Rashomon Comes To The Courtroom: The Adoption Of The Lay Judge System In Japan, Its Impact On Jurisprudence, And The Implications For Civic Engagement, Bryan Matthew Thompson

Dissertations and Theses

In May of 2009, Japan began formal operations of the "saiban-in seido" or "lay judge system," a quasi-jury means of criminal trial adjudication that represents the first occasion since 1943 that average Japanese citizens will be required to fulfill a role in the criminal jurisprudential process. While the lay judge system promises to affect the methods and procedures of criminal trials in Japan, recent scholarship in the United States has raised an interesting question: to what degree can the lay participatory adjudication process facilitate greater levels of civic engagement in past citizen jurists once their service has completed?

It …

Effects Of Processing On Health-Promoting Attributes Of Soymilk Phenolics, Yingying Tan

Biological Sciences

This study was designed to investigate the effects of different processing methods on the antioxidant and anti-cancer properties of soymilk crude phenolic extract (CPE) using the human prostate cancer cell line DU 145 as a model system. Four grinding methods and two ultra-high temperature (UHT) processing methods were investigated. Briefly, the four grinding methods included grinding with tap water (Method 1), okara-washed water (Method 2), soaked water (Method 3), as well as both okara-washed water and soaked water (Method 4); the two UHT processing conditions included one-phase UHT (143 °c, 60 s) and two-phase UHT (120 °C, 80 s + …

Investigation Of The Nature Of Science Views Of Undergraduate Natural Science And Nonscience Majors In Biology Courses, Marie Christine Desaulniers Miller

Biological Sciences

Science educators have the common goal of helping students develop scientific literacy, including understanding of the nature of science (NOS). University faculties are challenged with the need to develop informed NOS views in several major student subpopulations, including science majors and nonscience majors. Research into NOS views of undergraduates, particularly science majors, has been limited. In this study, NOS views of undergraduates in introductory environmental science and upper-level animal behavior courses were measured using Likert items and open-ended prompts. Analysis revealed similarities in students' views between the two courses; both populations held a mix of naYve, transitional, and moderately informed …

An Historical Analysis Of The Virtual Va Program, Linda G. Reviea

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Hydrophobic Silicas With Well-Defined Chemistry And Geometry: Synthesis, Adsorption, And Interfacial Properties, Francis Bernardoni

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Influences On Middle Income, First-Generation Prospective College Students: Perspectives Of College-Bound High School Seniors, Mary A. Dillon

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Adaptable Ideology And Policymaking In Contemporary China: A Case Study Of The Government Response To The Rich-Poor Gap, Gary Stephen Andrasko

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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An Empirical Assessment Of The Can Spam Act, Alex Conrad Kigerl

Dissertations and Theses

In January 2004, the United States Congress passed and put into effect the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN SPAM). The Act was set forth to regulate bulk commercial email (spam) and set the limits for what was acceptable. Various sources have since investigated and speculated on the efficacy of the CAN SPAM Act, few of which report a desirable outcome for users of electronic mail. Despite the apparent consensus of anti-spam firms and the community of email users that the Act was less than effective, there is little to no research on the efficacy of …

Numerical Modeling Of Electromagnetic Scattering In Explosive Granular Media, Garth Sundberg

Dissertations and Theses

Terahertz (THz) reflection and transmission spectroscopy is a promising new field with applications in imaging and illicit material detection. One particularly useful application is for the detection of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which is a favorite weapon of global terrorists. Explosive materials have been shown to have a unique spectral signature in the THz band which can be used to identify the explosives. However, the initial measurements performed on the explosive samples do not account for the modulation of the spectral features by random scattering that will be prevalent with actual samples encountered in applications. The intent of this work …

Radiative Transfer Theory Applied To Ocean Bottom Modeling, Jorge Quijano

Dissertations and Theses

Research on the propagation of acoustic waves in ocean bottom sediment is of interest for active sonar applications such as target detection and remote sensing. Currently, all seabed scattering models available in the literature are based on the full solution of the wave equation, which sometimes leads to mathematically intractable problems. In the electromagnetics community, an alternative formulation that overcomes some of this complexity is radiative transfer theory, which has established itself as an important technique for remote sensing. In this work, radiative transfer (RT) theory is proposed for the first time as a tool for the study of seabed …

Panacea Or Pathetic Fallacy? The Swiss Ban On Minarets, Lorenz Langer

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On November 29, 2009, Swiss voters adopted a ballot initiative introducing a constitutional ban on the construction of minarets. This Article provides a thick description of the minaret vote's context. A legal analysis addresses the implications of the ban under national, regional, and international normative frameworks. The Article argues that the ban is irreconcilable with the Swiss constitutional bill of rights and several international human right provisions. In Switzerland, however, respect for the vox populi potentially trumps any concern over conflicting international obligations, and there is no effective judicial review of initiatives. This lack of judicial review is partly a …

One New President, One New Patriarch, And A Generous Disregard For The Constitution:, Robert C. Blitt

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The government of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC)--the country's predominant religious group--recently underwent back-to-back changes in each institution's respective leadership. This coincidence of timing affords a unique opportunity to reassess the status of constitutional secularism and church-state relations in the Russian Federation. Following a discussion of the presidential and patriarchal elections that occurred between March 2008 and January 2009, the Article surveys recent developments in Russia as they relate to the nation's constitutional obligations. In the face of this analysis, the Article argues that the government and the ROC alike continue to willfully undermine the constitutional principles of …

A Defensible Defense?: Reexamining Castle Doctrine Statutes, Benjamin Levin

Scholarship@WashULaw

Recent years have seen a proliferation of so-called “castle doctrine” statutes – laws that provide home dwellers with more expansive self-defense protections if they resort to lethal force in confrontations with intruders. The passage of such laws and subsequent uses of the defense have captured the public imagination, prompting significant media attention, as well as skeptical and critical scholarship from the legal academic community. Considering the current prevalence of castle laws and the often polarized nature of the debate concerning their application, this Article argues that it is important to excavate the doctrine from the culture wars rhetoric in which …