Digital Commons Network^™

Children And Categorization: Maintaining A Standard For Recognizing Speech Categories In Brown V. Entertainment Merchants Ass’N, 131 S. Ct. 2729 (2011), Erick D. Reitz

Nebraska Law Review

The freedom to speak one’s mind free of persecution has long occupied a place of particular gravity in American culture. At its core is the idea that government cannot control our access to certain ideas by restricting some messages but not others—it prohibits government from discriminating against content. To be workable, however, this right must acknowledge exceptions, and it does so by allowing discrimination against certain types of speech to bypass this strict First Amendment protection. So while the Supreme Court prohibits discrimination of most content, there are a few types of speech, such as libel or incitement, that receive …

Law School Marketing And Legal Ethics, Ben Trachtenberg

Nebraska Law Review

This Article will show that although Paul Pless, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Illinois College of Law, and Mark Sargent, the Dean of Villanova University School of Law, acted with unusual mendacity, misrepresentation in law school marketing is by no means unique to a few bad actors at a handful of law schools. Part II describes many ways in which law school officials have used deceit and misrepresentation, along with misleading statistics, to market legal education. In addition to highlighting examples of particularly egregious marketing, it depicts how the common presentation of employment statistics …

Custody Of The Confined: Consideration Of The School Setting In J.D.B. V. North Carolina, 131 S. Ct. 2394 (2011), Kelli L. Ceraolo

Nebraska Law Review

The recent United States Supreme Court decision in J.D.B. v. North Carolina illustrates the Court’s continuing efforts to clarify when Miranda warnings are necessary. The Miranda framework requires courts to decide whether, under the circumstances of the interrogation, a reasonable person would have felt free to end the interrogation and leave. This usual framework cannot properly be applied to interrogations of suspects taking place in the K–12 school setting because a reasonable person in those circumstances would not feel free to leave even without the police presence. In this setting, where the suspect is already confined, a special rule is …

Forging Toward Coexistence, Laurie J. Beyranevand

Nebraska Law Review

This Article argues that because current federal policies hamper the ability of organic and non-GE farmers to ensure the safety and authenticity of their products, the AC21 needs to meet its charge and reach consensus on USDA supported mechanisms that encourage and facilitate farmers to develop long term, viable solutions that address the interests of all parties. Without USDA support, farmers have little incentive to attempt collaboration under the umbrella of existing federal policies. Part II of this Article provides a detailed history of the regulatory scheme that governs genetically engineered plants and products and demonstrates the clear preference for …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Brockton, Phillip Granberry, Sarah Rustan, Faye Karp

Gastón Institute Publications

This report provides a descriptive snapshot of selected economic, social, educational, and demographic indicators pertaining to Latinos in the Brockton-Abington area. It reflects a commitment by UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy to provide periodic updates on the growing Latino population in Massachusetts.

The report on the Brockton-Abington area is part of a larger series that covers fourteen other cities, or clusters of cities, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Each report analyzes data from the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data are analyzed by Public Use Microdata Area …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Lynn, Nahant, And Saugus, Phillip Granberry, Sarah Rustan, Faye Karp

Gastón Institute Publications

This report provides a descriptive snapshot of selected economic, social, educational, and demographic indicators pertaining to Latinos in the cities of Lynn, Nahant, and Saugus. It reflects a commitment by UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy to provide periodic updates on the growing Latino population in Massachusetts.

The report on Lynn, Nahant, and Saugus is part of a larger series that covers fourteen other cities, or clusters of cities, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Each report analyzes data from the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data are analyzed …

Latinos In Massachusetts Selected Areas: Worcester, Phillip Granberry, Sarah Rustan, Faye Karp

Gastón Institute Publications

This report provides a descriptive snapshot of selected economic, social, educational, and demographic indicators pertaining to Latinos in Worcester. It reflects a commitment by UMass Boston’s Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy to provide periodic updates on the growing Latino population in Massachusetts.

The report on Worcester is part of a larger series that covers fourteen other cities, or clusters of cities, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Each report analyzes data from the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data are analyzed by Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA), which consists of …

Teaching For Tomorrow: Utilizing Technology To Implement The Reforms Of Maccrate, Carnegie, And Best Practices, Stephen Johnson

Nebraska Law Review

More than a half century ago, famed educator John Dewey predicted that, “[I]f we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.”1 While Dewey was not referring to legal education, the legal education community has echoed his call for reform for decades.2 Critics routinely assert that the “Socratic Method” and Christopher Columbus Langdell’s “Case Method”3 that are still employed by many law professors4 fail to provide students with a variety of important skills that are necessary to practice law.5 Further, critics argue that those traditional methods fail to adequately focus students on the important issues of …

Private Memorials On Public Space: Roadside Crosses At The Intersection Of The Free Speech Clause And The Establishment Clause, Amanda Reid

Nebraska Law Review

Private roadside memorials are part of a growing trend among the bereaved who seek to “make sense of senseless deaths” along the public roadways.2 These memorials, which often feature a Latin cross, are part of deeply meaningful bereavement practices that support the grieving process. As such, these memorials are created to satisfy a human need during a time of crisis and are, therefore, largely constructed without regard to the legality of erecting such markers.3 Courts have yet to provide clear guidance on the constitutionality of erecting and maintaining these private memorials on public spaces. This Article considers the constitutional guideposts …

The Last Rites Of Public Campaign Financing?, James Sample

Nebraska Law Review

This Article asserts the current predicament of public campaign financing is this: options that are still on the table under the Court’s First Amendment jurisprudence are, with only rare and idiosyncratic exceptions, fiscal and political non-starters. Conversely, options that would be, and indeed previously had been, fiscally and politically viable, are now, even after years of their routine practice in varied jurisdictions, no longer constitutional. It is, in short, simultaneously a legal and practical dilemma. Short of highly unlikely swings of the Supreme Court pendulum, and absent an even more unlikely constitutional amendment, cities, states, and federal government actors, who …

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Particular And Socially Visible Masses: The Eighth Circuit’S New Standard Governing Particular Social Group Asylum Applications After Gaitan V. Holder, 671 F.3d 678 (8th Cir. 2012), Christopher J. Preston

Nebraska Law Review

For many noncitizens today, the law of asylum exists as the sole route to lawful residence in the United States. The safety and relief that the mere borderlines of our nation secure for some of the most desperate and oppressed are accessed only through this one body of law. Though it may not say so on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, passage through Emma Lazarus’s “golden door”1 (or, in other cases, permission to stay on this side of the door) for “the homeless, tempesttost” 2 requires, for many, navigation through the modern obstacles of asylum law. Needless to …

Experiences And Perceptions Of Mental Health Professionals Considered Effective In The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Adults With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Bonita H. Erb

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that has been documented in medical and mental health literature for over 100 years (Still, 1902). ADHD is a neurobiological based disorder characterized by three major symptoms identified at clinical levels and validated by diagnostic criteria established for the diagnosis of children before the age of seven (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4 th edition-Text Revision; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The three diagnostic criteria are inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity that have been observed at clinical levels.

Because many signs of the disorder were believed to discontinue …

Community College Presidents' Perspectives Of Dichotomous Events: The Consequences Of The Great Recession & Coincidental Increased Enrollment, Corey W. Carlson

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The community college, like all of higher education, has been significantly impacted by the Great Recession and coincidental increased enrollment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the decision making processes of community college presidents as related to resource allocation and the impact of these decisions on the comprehensive community college mission. Declining state funding and increased enrollments have greatly impacted how community college leaders make decisions with leaders incorporating shared governance and informed decision-making. Community college leaders have also been proactively seeking out alternative revenue streams in order to help offset decreased state funding. Findings of this …

Teacher Beliefs, Teacher Concerns, And School Leadership Support As Influences On School Readiness For Implementing A Research-Based Reform Model, Elizabeth Hoag Carhart

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Federal policy makers and school leaders increasingly recognize middle school math as a turning point in students' academic success. An i3 scale-up grant allowed grant partners to conduct a large-scale implementation of Power Teaching (PT), a research-based reform to increase student math achievement. In a mixed-methods study during the pilot phase of the project, eight schools' readiness for reform was explored. Teacher questionnaires; interviews with project managers, school leaders, and teachers; classroom observations; and school evaluation forms were used to describe school characteristics that affected variability in initial implementation of the PT model. A cluster analysis demonstrated the relative importance …

An Examination Of The Predictive Relationship Between Mode Of Instruction And Student Success In Introductory Biology, Lynette Kathleen Hauser

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Community colleges continue to increase online course offerings as these institutions strive to offer open access, cost effective education to a growing student population. With an increased student demand for online learning, community colleges should explore the possibility of offering all courses in the online environment, including science courses. The purpose of this quantitative research was to investigate the success of non-science major students in biology 102 on campus comparing students who completed biology 101 online to students who completed biology 101 on campus within Virginia community colleges. This was the first multi institutional, multi semester study of community college …

System Governance Analysis Of Complex Systems, Behnido Y. Calida

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop and deploy a systems-based framework for analysis of complex governance systems using a multimethodology research design. Two research gaps motivated this research: (1) lack of an integrated conceptualization of a system governance construct, (2) an absence of studies that consider both the governed and governing systems as well as the emergent interactions that arise from within complex governance systems.

The research focused on three primary questions: (1) What are the distinctive characteristics of governance?; (2) What system-based framework can be developed for analysis of governance in complex systems?, and (3) What results …

Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division Engagement Systems (G) Department Development Of A Plan To Maintain, Expand, And Create Corporate Knowledge, Luis J. Rodriguez

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents the implementation of an organizational study in a technical organization that provides basic information for proper decision making to establish, continue, nurture, modify, transfer or terminate a Knowledge Management (KM) practice. Different aspects of an organization influence the capability to create and retain knowledge. Understanding the factors and the environment of the KM problem in an organization is essential for a successful plan and execution of knowledge creation, transfer and retention. The study purpose was to describe the contextual situation of the organization in terms of Human, Structural and Relational Capital; identify critical knowledge for the organization …

“One Day On The Red Hills Of Georgia”: The Effects Of Immigration Status On Latino Migrants’ Experience Of Discrimination, Utilization Of Public Services, And Attitudes Toward Acculturation, Mikhail Lyubansky, Paul A. Harris, William E. Baker, Cameron D. Lippard

Faculty Articles

This study documents the experiences and identities of undocumented Spanish-speaking migrants in Georgia vis-à-vis their counterparts who have legal status. Structured interviews were used to collect data from 127 adults (49 percent undocumented at their time of arrival and 38 percent undocumented at the time of data collection) regarding their experience of discrimination, utilization of services, identity preferences, mental health, and beliefs in five domains: vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness. Significant immigration status differences emerged for education, income, utilization of some city services, and a few of the belief scales. However, the documented and undocumented samples were more similar …

Late Registration And Student Success In On-Campus And Online Classes, Patrick Tompkins

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The study examined the effect of late registration into on-campus and online classes upon student performance when accounting for completion of a college success skills course and the demographic factors of sex, race/ethnicity, age, and full-time/part-time enrollment status. The data source was 2010-2013 ex post facto data from 23 colleges in a large community college system in the southeastern United States. The statistical method of binary logistic regression was applied to the data. The regression models failed to yield strong predictions of the association between registration timing and student success. Coupled with previous studies, this study demonstrated that the presumed …

The Effects Of Group Size On Student Learning, Student Contributions, \Mental Effort, And Group Outcomes For Middle-Aged Adults Working In An Ill-Structured Problem-Solving Environment, Gary Lee Roemmich

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Group work has become increasingly important within adult education as educators strive to present students with problems and processes that they encounter in their professional lives. In many work environments, individuals are expected to function as a part of a team to solve complex problems. Consequently, there has been a shift towards teaching students how to solve problems as part of a group rather than individually. An important question becomes "What size group maximizes students learning?" This study compared student learning, student participation levels, and mental effort for middle-aged, professional students in large (six students) and small groups (three students) …

Investigation Of Nbnx Thin Films And Nanoparticles Grown By Pulsed Laser Deposition And Thermal Diffusion, Ashraf Hassan Farha

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Niobium nitride films (NbNx) were grown on Nb and Si (100) substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD), laser heating, and thermal diffusion methods. Niobium nitride films were deposited on Nb substrates using PLD with a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser (λ = 1064 nm, 40 ns pulse width, and 10 Hz repetition rate) at different laser fluences, different nitrogen background pressures and deposition temperatures. The effect of changing PLD parameters for films done by PLD was studied. The seen observations establish guidelines for adjusting the laser parameters to achieve the desired morphology and phase of the grown NbNx films.

When the …

Shared Leadership In Six Sigma Teams From The North Shore-Lij Health System, Brian J. Galli

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The main goal of the research was to identify the relationships that the internal research team environment and external coaching variables had with the degree of shared leadership in the context of Six Sigma teams from the North Shore LIJ Health System. Furthermore, the research ascertained the relationships that these variables had with two performance metrics: a team's ability to complete project deliverables and satisfy customer's requirements. This research also sought to understand additional factors that affected the five variables.

The research found that while shared leadership did not positively change as a team progressed through the phases of the …

Effects Of Signal Ambiguity And Signal Location On Target Detection Under Varying Degrees Of Time Constraint, Kimberly E. Culley

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of decision-making strategies and tendencies, time constraint, and signal characteristics on decision-making performance utilizing the fuzzy signal detection theory framework. Participants were tasked with deciding whether x-ray images of passenger luggage contained hazardous objects.

The first objective of the study was to develop a methodology for quantifying optimizing versus satisficing tendencies in decision making through direct measurement and observation.

The second objective of the study was to examine how time constraint and specific signal characteristics contribute to decision making. Interestingly, despite having more time available to conduct a comprehensive …

Thermo-Elasto-Plastic Behavior Of Biaxially Loaded Steel Beam-Columns Inducing Those From World Trade Center Towers, Yanhong Zhao

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An experimental and theoretical investigation into the behavior of biaxially loaded steel beam-columns is conducted including the effects of high temperature. Systems of materially nonlinear differential equations of beam-column equilibrium are first formulated for both ambient and high temperature conditions. An iterative finite integral procedure is formulated and programmed to solve the governing differential equations. To check the validity of the theoretically predicted behavior and strength of the beam-columns, a series of forty-two laboratory tests are conducted at both ambient and high temperature up to 950°F. Upon achieving a good agreement between the predicted beam-column behavior and that observed in …

Functional Near Infrared Detection Of Real And Imagined Finger Taps Using Support Vector Machine, Linear Discriminant Analysis, And Decision Tree Classification Methods, Eugene A. Stoudenmire

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates the thesis that given cerebral response samples of an individual's left, right, both, and imagined finger tapping, continuous wave (CW) functional Near Infrared (fNIR), unregistered with fMRI, can differentiate between any two of the four categories.

Fifty subjects were outfitted with a single source/detector attached to a single, square pad, affixed to their heads using devices such as elastic bands and caps for light shielding. Slides depicting arrows pointing left, right, both directions, or made of dashed lines were presented to each subject, with a slide of text interspersed between each. Subjects tapped with their left finger, …

The Eleven Nocturnes For Solo Piano Of Lowell Liebermann: A Field-Chopin-Faure Lineage, Martin Harvey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Since 1987, Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961) has composed eleven piano Nocturnes, making him the most significant recent contributor to the genre. This research analyzes these Nocturnes, six of which have no previously published analysis. This paper also considers Liebermann's Nocturnes as a continuation of the tradition of nocturne-writing, initiated in the nineteenth century by composers like John Field and continued by Fryderyck Chopin and Gabriel Faure. Numerous composers have written Nocturnes since Faure's opus 119 in 1921; however no one did so with an interest as marked as Liebermann's. Moreover, Liebermann shares with Faure many stylistic features. Liebermann is therefore …

New Tools For Real-Time Study Of Embryonic Development, Lauren M. Browning

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Embryonic development represents one of the most complex and dynamic cellular processes in biology, and plays vital roles in understanding of functions of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and design of ESC-based therapy. Conventional assays and fluorescence-based imaging methods have been widely used for the study of embryonic development. These conventional methods cannot effectively provide spatial and temporal resolutions with sufficient sensitivity and selectivity that are required to depict embryonic development in vivo in real-time at single-cell and single-molecule resolutions. In this dissertation, we have developed a wide range of innovative tools for real-time study of embryonic development. These new tools …

Measurement Of Polarized Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering At The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (Rhic), Ivan Koralt

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Elastic proton-proton (pp) scattering is one of the most fundamental processes in nature and yet, it is one of the most difficult to describe. There are two interactions involved in this process: electromagnetic (Coulomb) and hadronic (strong) interactions. Underlying exchange mechanisms of these two interactions are the virtual photon and the Pomeron exchange, respectively. The difficulty of elastic pp scattering arises from the fact that the nature of the Pomeron and its exchange are not well understood and need a theoretical approach, which is still under development.

At the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Lab …

Visualizing And Understanding Tectonism And Volcanism On Earth And Other Terrestrial Bodies, Mladen M. Dordevic

Physics Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation presents new methods of visualizing, teaching, assessing, modeling, and understanding tectonics on Earth and other celestial bodies. Tectonics is the study of planetary lithospheres and includes impact, plate, plume, cryo- and gravitational mechanisms. This dissertation is concerned with plate tectonics and plate/mantle plume interactions. Plate tectonics describes the mainly horizontal motion of lithospheric plates over the asthenosphere. Lithosphere is created at ridges and consumed at subduction zones. In addition to the plate tectonic system, mantle plumes also contribute to mass motions in the subsurface Earth. Both plate tectonics and plume upwelling processes help shape the present form of …

Experiences Of The Process And Outcomes Of Group Dream Work, Penny Makris

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Clients often wish to discuss their dreams in counseling sessions in order to make sense of their waking experiences. Although the efficacy of dream work has been indicated in numerous studies, other studies indicate that a majority of therapists report a lack of knowledge in working with dreams. The purpose of this qualitative heuristic design study was to explore the experiences of individuals participating in dream work groups that use the Ullman method as a foundation for exploring and finding meaning and waking life relevance from dreams. The Ullman method features a series of structured steps in which all group …