Digital Commons Network^™

Toward A New Standard For The Admission Of Expert Evidence In Illinois: A Critique Of The Frye General Acceptance Test And An Argument For The Adoption Of Daubert, Paul A. Rodrigues

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Illinois courts continue to apply the general acceptance test announced in Frye v. United States, as opposed to the Daubert approach used by the federal courts, to determine the admissibility of expert evidence. This article reviews both standards and argues that Illinois should abandon the Frye test in favor of the current federal admissibility standard laid out in the line of cases beginning with Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The recent Illinois Supreme Court decision in People v. McKown demonstrates the flaws of the current Frye analysis. The case fails, however, to adequately draw boundaries between “novel scientific evidence” …

A Dignified Death? Don’T Forget About The Physically Disabled And Those Not Terminally Ill: An Analysis Of Physician-Assisted Suicide Laws, Cyndi Bollman

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

There are presently two states which have legalized physician-assisted suicide by enacting death with dignity statutes: Oregon and Washington. In late 2009, the Montana Supreme Court essentially legalized physician-assisted death by stating that there was no state law to suggest that it was against public policy. Under the presently-enacted death with dignity statutes of Oregon and Washington, a person who suffers from a physically incapacitating ailment cannot be assisted by her physician in suicide because she is unable to ingest the lethal prescription herself. Additionally, the laws of Oregon and Washington each restrict physician-assisted suicide to patients who are terminally …

The Rehabilitation Act Of 1973, The American With Disabilities Act, And The Individual With Disabilities Education Act, And How The Autism Student Population Has Been Affected, Hillary Johannsen

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

History Of The Indian Caste System And Its Impact On India Today, Manali S. Deshpande

Social Sciences

The Indian Caste System is historically one of the main dimensions where people in India are socially differentiated through class, religion, region, tribe, gender, and language. Although this or other forms of differentiation exist in all human societies, it becomes a problem when one or more of these dimensions overlap each other and become the sole basis of systematic ranking and unequal access to valued resources like wealth, income, power and prestige. The Indian Caste System is considered a closed system of stratification, which means that a person’s social status is obligated to which caste they were born into. There …

A Study On The Diversity Of Cal Poly's Faculty, Suzanne Tack

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Parents' Role In Childhood Obesity, Heather M. Wintrup

Psychology and Child Development

This paper is an examination of the current childhood obesity crisis in the U.S. and how this epidemic is related to psychological issues. Specifically, the role of parental forces on children’s health attitudes and habits is addressed. The following chapters will define and explain the current situation of childhood obesity, investigate the role parents have in contributing to their children’s weight development, and cover methods of intervention for families dealing with this serious health issue.

A Generational Look Into The Occurrence Of Child Maltreatment Among Latinos And Their Effects On Developmental Growth, Maria Teresa Sanchez Diosdado

Psychology and Child Development

Little is known about the prevalence or risk factors associated with child maltreatment among Latino immigrant and native born families. As a result, Latino children and families are often treated as a homogeneous group, with little understanding of the potential differences that may exist between immigrant and native-born families. This paper attempts to explain the concept of child maltreatment and explore the differences between the two groups, while taking into account the effects of acculturation, Belsky’s Ecological Model of Maltreatment, childrearing practices, and the developmental consequences of maltreatment. Finally, the role that Child Protective Services plays in this issue will …

Rangeland Condition Assessment Of A Portion Of The Cal Poly Sheep Unit, Colin S. Mckim

Animal Science

This rangeland condition assessment was conducted as part of the Cal Poly Rangeland Condition Assessment Project. Five pastures comprising 31.7 acres at the Cal Poly sheep unit were assessed to collect baseline ecological information. Methods used were Line-point Intercept, Belt Transect, Residual Dry Matter, and the rangeland health indicators recommended by Pyke et al., 2002. Additionally, a preliminary species list was collected. The rangeland health assessment method found all pastures to have no to slight departure from the local reference area when evaluated for soil and site stability, hydrologic function, and biotic integrity.

Hot Air Balloon Navigation, Dustin Blackwell

Aerospace Engineering

This report describes a program used for navigating a hot air balloon.  The program, Balloon_Trip, was written using MATLAB and gives a flight path to follow from a start position to an end position.  Balloon_Trip calculates the flight path by taking in wind conditions and then flying through these different winds so as to steer the hot air balloon.  The program calculates the flight path by taking into consideration at all times how the wind will propel the balloon while it is rising or falling in elevation.  It then takes the most direct and least complicated, if not fastest, …

Landmines And Land Rights In Conflict Affected Contexts, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

Land rights in conflict and post-conflict contexts are an increasing area of concern within the humanitarian and development communities. Conflict can often result in dramatic changes to a country's land tenure regime and administration. Even when conflicts end, land rights may be threatened, especially for women, Internally Displaced People (IDPs), returning refugees, migrants and farm labourers. Secure land rights are, therefore, a critical issue for humanitarian response, sustainable peace-building and longer-term economic recovery, particularly in countries where a significant proportion of the population relies on agriculture as their main source of livelihood. The situation can be even more complex in …

Epigenetic Regulation Of Neuronal Maturation: The Effect Of Mecp2 And Micrornas On The Maturation Of Hippocampal Neurons, Richard D. Smrt

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Dendrites and the dendritic spines of neurons play key roles in the connectivity of the brain and have been recognized as the locus of long-term synaptic plasticity, which is correlated with learning and memory. The development of dendrites and spines in the mammalian central nervous system is a complex process that requires specific molecular events over a period of time. It has been shown that specific molecules are needed not only at the spines point of contact, but also at a distance, providing signals that initiate a cascade of events leading to synapse formation. The specific molecules that act to …

The In Situ Function Of A Microbial Community Profiled By Ft-Ir: A Snapshot In Time, Ryan Roberts

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Photographs of an ecosystem are an important tool in macro-community ecology. The photograph is a permanent record of species phenotype. In microbiology, biochemical activity provides the most descriptive information of an organism’s phenotype. A method for fingerprinting all biochemical activities occurring within a microbial community is analogous to a photograph. Infrared spectroscopy in the region between wavelengths 2500 to 20,000 nm (mid-IR) is a well established instrumental method for fingerprinting the total biochemical profile of axenic cultures. Spectra are complex and sensitive as demonstrated by the ability to discriminate between strains of bacteria, fungi, and algae. This thesis develops the …

Mercury Removal From Coal By Leaching With Sulfur Dioxide, Poornima Chateker

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Mercury from coal-fired utilities has been identified as one of the most hazardous air pollutants and the greatest potential public health concern. Furthermore, it has a tendency to bio-accumulate in the food chain. Mercury is present in coal in concentration well below 1 ppm; however, the large tonnages of coal consumed for electric power generation represent a significant source of mercury vapor entering the environment. There are various technologies available to control the emission of mercury from coal-fired power plants. Among them activated carbon injection into the flue gas stream has been studied for many years and is considered to …

A Field Evaluation Of Dust Palliatives In West Virginia, Kevin A. Butler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

It is estimated that a vehicle making a single pass on one mile of untreated, unpaved road every day can generate one ton of dust per year. This dust constitutes fine materials which act as a binder to the larger coarse aggregates within surface gravel. As these fines are removed, the surface deteriorates and expensive aggregate ends up along the roadside in ditches and culverts. The surface continually deteriorates until the road must be reconstructed. Furthermore, airborne dust presents serious safety concerns to traveling motorists and health concerns associated with respiratory illnesses. At the West Virginia Division of Highway's current …

Evaluating The Effects Of The Blennerhassett Island Bridge Crossing (Ohio River) On Soil, Vegetation, And Wildlife, Joshua Allen Vance

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Corridor D was one of the original 23 highway corridors selected by the Appalachian Highway Development System in 1965 and stretches from Bridgeport, West Virginia to Cincinnati, Ohio. The last piece of Corridor D to be completed was the Blennerhassett Island Bridge which crosses over the Ohio River and Blennerhassett Island near Parkersburg, West Virginia and Belpre, Ohio. The Blennerhassett Island Bridge is a tied-arch style bridge about 1,220 m in length and 24 m above the ground and water surface. Construction of the bridge began in March 2005 and the bridge was opened to the public in June 2008. …

Social Worlds Of Rock Climbers At Seneca Rocks, West Virginia, Katherine A. Thompson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to provide management at Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, West Virginia, with an understanding of the social worlds of rock climbers at Seneca Rocks, to ascertain any management interventions that can improve access to climbing areas at Seneca Rocks, and to determine how permitted group sizes among guided and/or unguided climbers would affect the social worlds of climbers at Seneca Rocks. Between the fall of 2009 and spring of 2010 17 interviews with rock climbers of varying experience climbing at Seneca Rocks were conducted, then analyzed along with accident reports, internet forum discussions, …

Mandatory Reporting In The Context Of Home Visitation Programs, Danielle Marie Davidov

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Each year in the United States, 4.8 million physical assaults and rapes are committed against 1.5 million women by an intimate partner. An estimated 3.3 to 10 million children are exposed to some form of intimate partner violence (IPV) in their own homes annually. Although mandatory reporting laws regarding child abuse and/or neglect are implemented in all 50 U.S. states, the extent to which these laws are appropriate for IPV between adults and children exposed to IPV is undetermined. A comprehensive examination of the perspectives of those required to report abuse is critical, as their roles as mandated reporters often …

Spectral Approaches To Natural Mesh Processing, Takamitsu Kawai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Mesh design is a major bottleneck in the creation of computer games and animation. Therefore simplifying the process of mesh editing is an important problem. Natural mesh processing is generally difficult to perform since natural meshes often have nontrivial surface shapes and high degrees of freedom. In this study I present novel approaches to natural mesh processing utilizing spectral methods based on the manifold harmonic basis.;Geometric scaling transformations do not respect the biological processes which govern the size and shape of living creatures. I describe an approach to scaling which can be related to biological function. Known biological laws of …

Using Knowledge Building To Support Deep Learning, Collaboration And Innovation In Engineering Education, Glenn W. Ellis, Alan N. Rudnitsky, Mary A. Moriarty

Engineering: Faculty Publications

Knowledge building is a potentially transformative approach to engineering education. In knowledge building students participate in an interactive discourse in which they work together to broaden ideas, reform problems and share knowledge - the result being a deeper level of understanding and the collaborative production of new knowledge. In 2009 we conducted a knowledge building pilot study in the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College. In this study students worked together to formulate a question about the potential for a conscious machine and then engaged in an intensive knowledge building discourse. Assessment data showing the effectiveness of the approach and …

Campus Assessment Of Building Heating Energy Consumption-Informing The Climate Action Plan, E. Grover-Silva, D. A. Mckahn, D. Weisbord

Engineering: Faculty Publications

We present a methodology to assess the technical feasibility of building thermal energy reduction strategies from an architecturally diverse building stock that is not metered. While carbon emissions forecasting efforts are typically the domain of planning and policy, the process detailed here can inform institutional decision-making relative to investments in renewable energy, infrastructure, and offsets to further reduce carbon footprint. As a case study, we estimated the Smith College campus building thermal energy losses, an analysis which informed our Sustainability and Climate Action Plan [1]. Due to building specific physical constraints and planned renovations, different thermal envelope improvement scenarios were …

Examining The Effectiveness Of Dropout Prevention Practices And Their Implications For Intervention With Public School Students, Louisa Pollack

Dissertations

Schools face the dilemma of transforming both the trend of students dropping out of school and the associated negative socioeconomic outcomes into a positive path of persistence and school completion. Despite ongoing efforts of the federal and state government, as well as those of the local school districts, this problem continues to burden the educational system and society as a whole. The opinions of those with the experience of dropping out and returning to school are pertinent sources of information on educative practices that can help stem the dropout rate.

A survey was conducted to gather the opinions of students …

Administrators' And Teachers' Perceptions Of In-School Suspension, Amelia Shondra Jackson

Dissertations

Providing a safe and orderly school environment for students to learn is of paramount importance to school administrators, teachers, students, and the general public; however, the learning process should not be compromised while trying to maintain such an environment. There are many alternative approaches that can be utilized that would rectify the problem we as educators face in providing a safe and orderly environment. At-risk students are usually the ones who have the most serious infractions. These students exhibit a cyclical pattern of recalcitrant behavior. It is imperative that these at-risk students be identified as early as possible, and intervention …

Emotional Maturity Of Adolescents And Adults In Ged Programs, Billy Joe Riffle

Dissertations

When discussing issues relating to students in General Educational Development (GED) Option and pre-GED programs with educators, the contention exists that it is possible to make reasonably accurate predictions on the success or failure of a student by observing a number of items. Looking at their cumulative records shows their academic and attendance history. Insight is gained by looking at their family dynamics and how they relate to adults. Much can be learned about them from their discipline reports and the nature of any infractions. One of the most intriguing aspects gained through experience and observation is the perception of …

The Relationship Between Leader Decision Making And Student Achievement At K-3 Title I And Reading First Elementary Schools, Emily Kathleen Richmond

Dissertations

This mixed methodology study investigated the relationship between administrator and teacher perceptions of leader decision making regarding five variables (reading training, reading curriculum, program evaluation, financial support, and student assessment) and student achievement (in the single content area, reading, at the 3rd grade level) in Title I K-3 schools receiving Reading First Grants (RFGs) and Title I K-3 schools not receiving RFGs, in four states (Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, and Oklahoma). Respondent data and district data regarding percentages of students achieving proficient and above on state third grade reading assessments were analyzed via Pearson Correlations, Multiple Regression Analysis, and a MANOVA. …

A Psychometric Investigation Of The Young Adult Social Behavior Scale (Yasb), Michelle Rene Augustin

Dissertations

Aggressive behavior is a serious public health concern that has resulted in several problems in contemporary society. Despite a considerable body of literature on human aggression, both popular and scientific, a focus on overt physical aggression has obscured other forms of aggression. As a result, considerably less is known about other, more subtle forms of aggression, such as relational aggression. Moreover, research on relational aggression, particularly among older adolescents and adults, has been hindered by the lack of psychometrically sound measures. Research in this area would be enhanced by the availability of such a measure, facilitating comparison of data across …

Geological And Ichthyological Investigations Into Palaeodrainage Hypothesis For The Tennessee River, Andrea Karen Persons

Dissertations

The course of the ancestral Tennessee River has been debated in both the geological and biological literature for over 100 years. Several of the proposed courses for the ancestral Tennessee place its course across the state of Mississippi. Geochemical analysis of sedimentary rocks in the Pascagoula River basin supports these hypotheses suggesting that the rocks in the Pascagoula basin were derived from the Highland Rim of Tennessee and northern Alabama, while geochemical analysis of rocks from the Pearl River basin point to deposition from a mixture of sources including the ancestral Mississippi River and perhaps the ancestral Tennessee. To delve …

Older Adults And A Writing Workshop: A Phenomenological Study, Jennifer Lynn Alex

Dissertations

This study examines how older adults experience the phenomenon of participating in a writing workshop and how older adults interpret their experiences, understandings, and realities of writing. Ten older adults, ranging in age from 62 to 83 with varying degrees of experiences in writing, participated in this study. Through a semi-structured interview, each participant related his or her experience first as a writer and then as a member of a writing workshop offered through a Community Literacy Center in a mid-sized Appalachian city.

A phenomenological analysis method was used to identify and analyze themes of meaning that emerged in the …

Toxicogenomics Analysis Of Non-Model Transcriptomes Using Next-Generation Sequencing And Microarray, Arun Rawat

Dissertations

With the advent of next generation technologies like Roche/454 Life Sciences that require low cost and less time for sequencing will help in providing a workable draft of non-model species genomes. Availability of high throughput microarray technologies for gene expression profiling provides low-cost tools for investigation of highly-integrated responses to various stimuli. These advancements along with bioinformatics processing have led to an increasing number of non-model species having well-annotated transcriptomes. The project focuses on the life cycle of development, functional annotation, and utilization of genomic tools for the avian wildlife species to determine the molecular impacts of exposure to munitions …

Synthesis And Electrical Properties Of Functional Block Copolymer/Inorganic Nanocomposite Materials, Hongying Chen

Dissertations

Sulfonated poly[styrene-b-ethylene-co-butylene-b-styrene] (sSEBS) block copolymers/inorganic nanocomposite materials were synthesized via in situ formation of inorganic fillers and characterized particularly for their dielectric properties and proton conductivities.

In preparation of sSEBS/SrTiO₃ nanocomposites, titanium (IV) isopropoxide [Ti(OPrⁱ)₄] complex was diffused into sSEBS film, followed by subsequent hydrolysis of [Ti(OPr i)4], diffusion of strontium cations in sSEBS domains, and in situ formation of crystalline SrTiO₃. sSEBS with sulfonation degree of 38.1% and 65.0% were employed, and relevant sSEBS/SrTiO₃ composites contain SrTiO₃ of 10-15 wt%. Elemental composition characterization with ESEM/EDX indicated uniform distribution of …

Student Persistence In Associate Degree Nursing Programs At Mississippi Community Colleges, Kathryn Lee Fleming

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine factors of student persistence and attrition in addition to strategies that may help students persist in associate degree nursing programs at community colleges. Data were collected from nursing students enrolled in first-year associate degree nursing programs at participating Mississippi community colleges and analyzed using multiple regression and repeated measures ANOVAs. Tinto’s Classic Model and Bean & Metzner’s Nontraditional Model of Student Attrition were utilized in this study. This mixed methods convenience sample yielded 564 participants, and the results were as follows: environmental factors and demographic factors of student persistence were found to …