Digital Commons Network^™

Poor Millionaires: A History Of Free Agency In Major League Baseball And The National Football League, Cameron Conley

CMC Senior Theses

In 2011, both Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Football League (NFL) saw the expiration of their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) between the players’ unions and owners. Without an agreement in place, the two leagues would have been unable to play the next season. The CBAs established basic contract provisions, pensions and other benefits for players, and, most importantly, granted players the right to move between teams at their own discretion and outlined the manner in which they could do so. This process of changing teams was known as free agency.

Changes In The Effects Of Determinants Of Earnings Inequality And Their Labor Implications In Urban China, 1988 - 2002, Maira T. Mercado

CMC Senior Theses

This study seeks to analyze the changes in the effects of determinants of earnings inequality and their labor market implications in urban China from 1988 to 2002. It analyzes urban individual data from the 1988, 1995, and 2002 surveys of the China Household Income Project by studying its inequality measures and summary statistics, and by conducting an ordinary least squares regression, quantile regression, and regression-based decomposition analysis. It finds that the labor market has indeed been rewarding human capital variables, in which age and work experience, which are related to seniority, have been decreasing in their contribution to earnings inequality, …

Deinstitutionalization And Its Discontents: American Mental Health Policy Reform, Olga Loraine Kofman

CMC Senior Theses

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Mental Retardation and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act, establishing the beginnings of deinstitutionalization in the United States. By some counts, this Act was a stupendous policy success—by others, a dismal failure. 50 years later, no cohesive national mental health care policy has emerged to deal with increased rates of mental illness among the homeless and the incarcerated. However, California has made enormous strides to create a state policy which provides adequate services to the mildly, moderately, and severely mentally ill as well as adequate funding for those services through Proposition 63, …

Effects Of Early Round Venture Capital Syndication On Ipo Exits In Europe And The United States, Rosabella M. Magat

CMC Senior Theses

While the importance of venture capital (VC) can be highlighted by policy goals outlined in the 'Lisbon agenda', the European VC industry remains nascent in comparison to the more sophisticated VC market in the US. Researchers have identified key determinants that foster VC success on a broad level, and have often identified syndication as an important factor of success. This paper seeks to understand the role of syndication on the VC-backed company's success. I take a novel departure from past research in this area in three ways 1) I measure performance from the perspective of the portfolio company, rather than …

The Individual Mandate, Commerce Clause, And Supreme Court: Predicting The Court's Ruling In Hhs V. Florida, Nicholas Medling

CMC Senior Theses

An analysis of the evolution of the Commerce Clause, the Justices on the Supreme Court, and the arguments presented in this case indicate that the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be struck down. Although the Court will likely be split 5 to 4 along ideological lines, each of the justices will have a unique rationale behind their decision. Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, and Justice Kennedy were heavily targeted by both parties’ oral and written arguments because there was speculation that any one of these traditionally conservative justices could be the fifth vote …

Buy Global, Think Local: Direct Trade Coffee And Community Renaissance In Olympia, Washington, Maren E. Hotvedt

CMC Senior Theses

The development of the specialty coffee industry in the United States occurred in the latter half of the twentieth century not as an independent phenomenon but rather as a result of a series of interrelated movements that began to coalesce in the late 1960s. Direct Trade, the latest development in gourmet coffee sourcing and marketing, is an amalgam of elements of an American food revolution that gained national prominence in the 1970s, the environmental movement, and movements for social justice through conscious consumption. Direct Trade coffee is differentiated in particular by roasters' rejection of the notion of coffee as a …

Incentivizing Biodiversity Conservation: The Ecological Icms In Brazil, Erin Franks

CMC Senior Theses

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the ecological ICMS (ICMS-e) in the Brazilian Amazon, an intragovernmental transfer for incentivizing biodiversity conservation. Tax funds are passed from state governments to municipalities in proportion to the amount of protected area within their borders; biological reserves, sustainable use areas, and indigenous lands are all considered. Econometric analysis using a fixed effects model found that the policy had little positive effect on increasing protected areas compared to the significant negative influence of poor land tenure, agricultural influences, and lack of monitoring for illegal deforestation. However, the policy may increase municipal governments' acceptance of and …

Understanding And Exploring Narcissism: Impact On Students And College Campuses, Emily J. Hudson

CMC Senior Theses

"Narcissist" is a term that may be used lightly to describe or label someone that is self-centered. However, research that suggests a possible increase in narcissistic personality tendencies among college-aged American students has a very real and serious impact on society. The goal of this paper is to examine the evolution of the concept of narcissism and its detrimental effects on society. This will then be applied to the impact that narcissism has on college students and campus environments. It is important to note that individuals high in narcissistic traits encounter many problems including difficulties with interpersonal and professional relationships, …

Does A Change In A Logo Affect The Value Of The Brand? The Case Of Starbucks, Brittany Isobe

CMC Senior Theses

When the first Starbucks opened in 1971, not even the founders expected that just two decades later, it would become one of the strongest international corporations. Starbucks has experienced unprecedented growth and unfathomable success. The company grew from 17 stores in the company’s founding years to approximately 17,000 stores across 55 countries just 40 years later.1 According to the corporate website, the Starbucks mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time”.2

In order to fulfill their mission statement, Starbucks has to mold their company to align with the …

Prose And Polarization: Environmental Literature And The Challenges To Constructive Discourse, Paige E. Costello

CMC Senior Theses

This work explores how authors employ literary modes to persuade readers towards one side or another of the environmental debate and whether the works promote constructive discourse on environmental issues. It uses two seminal works from each side of the environmental discourse, Silent Spring and The Population Bomb and The Ultimate Resource and The Skeptical Environmentalist, to analyze stylistic differences and similarities, to compare public reception, and to explain the increasing polarization of environmental discourse.

Pulling Back The Veil: The Hijab Ban And The Evolution Of French Nationalism, Meghan Henkel

CMC Senior Theses

In 2004, a French law went into effect banning girls in state sponsored schools from wearing the hijab, a Muslim head covering. While the law also banned the Jewish kippa and large cross necklaces from being worn in public schools, the hijab took center stage in what became a worldwide media frenzy. The ban of the hijab as well as more recent laws that banned full face veils in all public spaces and a ban on Muslim prayer being performed in the street show a growing divide in the French populace. This thesis argues that these recent laws, as well …

The Rise And Fall Of Public Higher Education In The United States: Implications For Socioeconomic Inequality, Chantal Bao-Chau Hoang

CMC Senior Theses

This paper aims to explore how shifting federal, state, and individual priorities have transformed public higher education from a bastion of quality higher education for the greatest number of people to a more privatized state that only provides access and choice to those who can afford them. Decreased public support and state appropriations for public higher education schools have led many institutions to privatize themselves through increasing tuition prices and enrolling more out-of-state and international students who can afford to pay the full sticker price. At the same time, federal financial aid programs have become more and more geared towards …

The High Cost And Value Of Patents: Finding The Appropriate Balance Between The Rights Of The Inventor And The Advancement Of Society, Andy Segal

CMC Senior Theses

Property rights are the backbone of Western Civilization. Capitalism can only be successful if individuals feel secure about the ownership of their assets. Patents are the property rights granted to the inventor by the government. Without these rights, inventors will find it extremely difficult monetizing their contributions to society. Thus, in an effort to incentivize innovation and commit society to human progress, our Founding Fathers built our country on a strong set of intellectual property rights.

At the same time, nothing impedes innovation like a monopoly and, in essence, all a patent amounts to is a monopoly, the right to …

The Politics Of Physical Education Reform, Ari Zyskind

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of the paper is to determine why today's youth are so physically inactive by examining the role and efforts of physical education, and the state and federal governments responsibility in supporting these programs, in fighting today's obesity epidemic by creating generations of healthy and physically active children. Research led to the determination that states have failed to maintain and improve physical education resulting in a physically inactive youth. Therefore, the nation should look to federal legislation to support state-led physical education, which this paper found to be constitutional if the enactments followed the provisions established in South Dakota …

China's Censored Leap Forward: The Communist Party's Battle With Internet Censorship In The Digital Age, Caitlin Feeney

CMC Senior Theses

Citizens around the world are using the Internet to connect with an international community, speak out against governmental injustices, and dissolve informational barriers. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a regime known for its strict control and harsh repression, is faced with the challenge of balancing an appropriate amount of civilian freedom on the Internet while still maintaining its monopolistic power. How does a one-party system successfully maintain control over the flow of information and sustain its unchallenged control of citizens in an increasingly-liberalized world? The Party’s answer to this question is a finely-tuned Internet censorship strategy, which this paper seeks …

The Disappearing Middle Class: Implications For Politics And Public Policy, Trevor Richard Beltz

CMC Senior Theses

What does it mean to be middle class? The majority of Americans define themselves as members of the middle class, regardless of their wealth. The number of Americans that affiliate with the middle class alludes to the idea that it cannot be defined simply by level of income, number of assets, type of job, etc. The middle class is a lifestyle as much as it is a group of similarly minded people, just as it is a social construct as much as it is an economic construct. Yet as the masses fall away from the elite, and changes continue to …

Weiser Carrots And Sticks: Motivation Beyond Money At The Shakedown Café, Julian A. Martinez

CMC Senior Theses

It is generally assumed that monetary incentivization is the most effective means of motivating organizationally-beneficial behaviors. Individuals, under this line of thought, pursue their own objective self-interest above all else. However, evidence is being uncovered that indicates that human motivation may be a much more complicated facet of the human psyche. The purpose of this study is to examine the deeper underpinnings that drive people work that might lie beyond financial rewards. In order to do this, the Shakedown Café, a student-run restaurant on Pitzer College’s campus, will be examined. This specific organization is of particular interest because it does …

Complexities In The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Thyroid Cancer: Discussions, Observations, Research And Public Policy, Hannah V. Gordon

CMC Senior Theses

The impact of the increasing incidence of thyroid cancer presents an interesting case study in public health policy and resource allocation. During the last three decades, thyroid cancer cases have increased by more than 400%. As an illness that affects the lives of hundreds of thousands each year, the human and economic costs will be magnified in the next decade. It is estimated that approximately 13-67% of people will have thyroid nodules during their life of which approximately 5% will be malignant. The standard treatment, a thyroidectomy frequently followed by radioactive 131 iodine treatment, accordingly would seem to be a …

Asset Protection Through The Use Of Premarital Agreements, Robert T. Rose

CMC Senior Theses

The number of multi-million dollar divorce settlements has been increasing rapidly in the last decade. Although Donald Trump's divorce from his first wife, Ivana, wherein $25 million was awarded to the former spouse, may have seemed like a significant sum in 1992, this amount appears quite minuscule today.1 In December of 2011, Mel Gibson's soon to be ex-wife Robyn Moore received $425 million in the couples' divorce settlement.2 In March of 2012, Frank McCourt was forced to sell his professional franchise, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in bankruptcy during his divorce proceedings with Jamie McCourt.3 It seems as if every month …

Who's Afraid Of The Patent Trolls? Assessing The Market Impact Of Landmark Patent Troll Litigation Outcomes, Xiaotong Li

CMC Senior Theses

Patent trolls have changed the innovation and patent policy landscape. This thesis is an empirical event study that focuses on two landmark cases of patent troll litigation, RIM v. NTP and eBay v. Mercexchange, to determine whether pro-troll litigation outcomes significantly impact the market values of the firms in the high-tech industries they target. I find that the Supreme Court ruling in eBay v. Mercexchange did seem to significantly impact a proportion of firms in the market. The decisive factors in distinguishing affected vs. unaffected firms include a firm's R&D to Sales ratio, market value, and NAICS code specification.

The Effects Of The Media On The Discrepancy Between Gaap And Pro Forma Earnings, Peter Schock

CMC Senior Theses

This study seeks to find if there is a significant relationship between the amount of media coverage focused on public companies in the United States and the difference between GAAP financial performance and analyst-adjusted estimates of financial performance. I will answer this question by testing this difference among S&P 500 companies, as well as companies within that index as identified by a certain industry.

Candidates, Campaigns, And Political Tides: Electoral Success In Colorado's 4th District, Megan Gwynne Maccoll

CMC Senior Theses

The race between Republican Cory Gardner and Democratic incumbent Betsy Markey for Colorado's 4^th Congressional District was a partisan fight for political momentum. In the 2010 campaign cycle, Republicans looked to retake the historically Republican 4^th District as part of a national strategy to win back the U.S. House, while Democrats tried desperately to hold on to both. Cory Gardner was only one of fifty-four Republican challengers to defeat a Democratic incumbent in 2010, but the Gardner-Markey race is particularly interesting as a case study of voter motivation and the mediating forces, both regional and national, that influence …

Does The Reit Tale Wag The Dog? The Relationship Between Tenant Ownership And The Volatility Of Retail Reit Stock Returns, Dana G. Staley

CMC Senior Theses

This paper will assess the relationship between tenant characteristics and public REIT volatility. Specifically, we focus on the retail REIT subset of the industry. Given that retail REITs are one the most transparent asset classes, they provide an interesting landscape for evaluating the relationship between the firm and the customers, or in this case, the tenants. Specifically, we assess how major tenant ownership, public or private equity owned, impacts the volatility of the REIT’s stock price using 2010 data on 30 retail REITs. Controlling for tenant credit quality, leverage, ROE, book-to-market, size, age, region and property focus, we find that …

How To Pick A Running Mate: Rethinking The Vice Presidential Selection Process And Criteria, Jake A. Petzold

CMC Senior Theses

Over the course of American history, the vice presidency has evolved into a meaningful and influential part of the executive branch, and running mates have become an important part of presidential elections. But scholars, pundits, and political professionals continue to discuss and evaluate vice presidential selection in an outdated framework that now borders on superstition. Now that presidential nominees have sole authority to choose their running mates and the resources to take care in the process, voters demand that they do so. The modern presidential nominee should undertake a serious and methodical research and decision-making process, and should choose a …

A Proposal To Test The Effects Of Factor Ecat1 On Pluripotency, From Reprogramming To Differentiation Of Human Somatic Cells, Vritti R. Goel

CMC Senior Theses

The field of stem cell research has been growing more because of the interest in using stem cells to cure diseases and heal injuries. Human embryonic stem cells, because of the controversy surrounding them—and subsequently the difficulties in acquiring samples of the existing aging cell lines—can only be used in limited capacities. While the development of induced pluripotent stem cells in the last decade has allowed the field to progress closer to medical treatments, the low efficiency of reprogramming a somatic cell to a pluripotent state, and the vast molecular and genomic differences between human embryonic stem cells and human …

T.S. Eliot's Anti-Modernism: Poetry And Tradition In The European Waste Land, John Bedecarré

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis hopes to contribute to a reconciliation of the apparent conflict between Eliot's conservative outlook and his formally innovative poetry. I do not advocate stripping Eliot of his modernist label. I would rather amend the term "modernism." This qualification is important because the modernist label carries connotations that simply do not do justice to Eliot. For example, the label implies that modernists wanted to move forward, away from the past. Eliot wanted to move backwards, partly because he felt other artists had left the past behind. In an essay introducing the early twentieth-century modernists, the Norton Anthology of British …

California's War Over The Bay-Delta: Historic Failures And Current Battles, Jessica J. Mao

CMC Senior Theses

California has one highly-coveted possession: the Bay-Delta, which is the second largest estuary in the United States. Today, tensions are higher than ever as Southern California continues to grow and demand water from the Delta, agriculture suffers from drought and less-than-promised water allocations, and aquatic life diminishes due to environmentally damaging processes like pumping and exporting of water elsewhere. This paper will examine the historic policies that have shaped how the Delta has been managed, their successes and failures, and current plans in discussion for continuing improvement of the Delta. The Bay-Delta Conservation Plan and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water …

Is There A Right To Healthcare? An Analysis From The Perspective Of Liberty And Libertarianism, Sarah R. Robinson

CMC Senior Theses

Despite already having the most expensive healthcare system in the world, the U.S. is facing rapidly rising costs, a growing population not covered by health insurance, and outcomes that are no better, and frequently worse, than those seen in the majority of developed nations with universal healthcare. Popular justifications of keeping the state out of healthcare appeal to protecting individual liberty; those who assert that there is a universal right to healthcare usually fail to address this claim. This paper describes the kinds of obligations in healthcare that are consistent with, if not demanded by, theories of justice that emphasize …

Do Political Contributions Purchase Regulatory Discretion In Mining Inspections?, Neil K. Malani

CMC Senior Theses

A vast literature acknowledges the corruptibility of regulators; however, empirical tests on the matter have been limited to two-agent models examining the rulemaking process and price regulation of natural monopolies. It remains an open question whether political contributions, by driving legislative pressure, can entice laxity from regulators in their application of the rules. To remedy this issue, I observe the highly-regulated coal mining industry for which there exists several points for inspector discretion. By comparing the outcomes with Congressional coal mining contribution levels, I am able to ascertain capture across several dimensions. Specifically, I find that contributions are associated with …

Half Baked: The Federal And State Conflicts Of Legalizing Medical Marijuana, Andrew K. Fevery

CMC Senior Theses

The legalization of medical marijuana has been a complicated and confusing process. The drug is used for medical purposes yet is only semi-legal and not approved by the federal government. This piece will observe the legal medical history of this drug in the United States. It will analyze the growth of the medical marijuana movement up to the present with a special emphasis to the importance of federal, state and local supremacy. It will observe important court cases that have been decisive in defining the reach of federal power under the Commerce Clause and the 1970 Controlled Substance Act. This …