Digital Commons Network^™

Challenges For "Affected States" In Accepting International Disaster Aid: Lessons From Hurricane Katrina, E. Katchka

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The International Law Commission (ILC) draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters purport to "facilitate an adequate and effective response to disasters that meets the essential needs of the persons concerned, with respect to their full rights" by setting forth complementary principles governing both individual state responsibilities and international cooperation in disaster response. The principles presented in the draft articles reflect an application of established international law principles as well as current, practical challenges to coordinating international disaster cooperation. This article applies specific ILC draft articles targeting the role of the state impacted by a …

Beyond Voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility: Corporate Human Rights Obligations To Prevent Disasters And To Provide Temporary Emergency Relief, Anastasia Telesetsky

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Much of the focus of the emerging field of International Disaster Law is on state responsibility. Yet the source of some disasters is the failure of corporations to address known risks created by a company or located on company property. This Article queries whether there are obligations for corporations to act under international human rights law to prevent disasters where corporations have control over known hazards such as tailings dams or chemical dumps. This Article concludes that corporations have a legal duty to act in order to support and protect human rights whenever there is corporate knowledge of hazards that …

The Democratization Of Energy, Joseph P. Tomain

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The electricity industry is changing in dramatic ways. Most significantly, as demonstrated by the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan, the country is witnessing the merger of energy and environmental regulation. Historically, energy regulation was driven by the need to produce more power for economic growth. By contrast, environmental regulation attended to the pollution of the environment. Production of energy depends upon the use of natural resources, and throughout the fuel cycle from extraction and transportation to the burning and disposal of those resources, the environment is directly affected. Most dramatically, greenhouse gas emissions present climate change challenges. In order to …

Beyond Known Worlds: Climate Change Governance By Arbitral Tribunals?, Valentina Vadi

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Can economic development and the fight against climate change be integrated successfully? What role, if any, does international investment law play in global climate governance? Can foreign direct investments (FDI) be tools in the struggle against climate change? What types of claims have foreign investors brought with regard to climate change--related regulatory measures before investment treaty arbitral tribunals? This Article examines the specific question as to whether foreign direct investments can mitigate and/or aggravate climate change. The interplay between climate change and foreign direct investments is largely underexplored and in need of systematization. To map this nexus, this Article proceeds …

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them: The U.S. Solution To The Issue Of Corporate Inversions, Scott Deangelis

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

There is an old proverb, "If you can't beat them, join them, "that suggests that those who cannot win against some group should stop fighting and instead band together with them. It seems clear that when it comes to corporate inversions, the United States cannot win. Instead, countries overseas have taken advantage of tax break schemes to lure multinational companies away from the United States. This Note suggests that to prevent further foreign inversions, the United States should join these foreign countries in two ways. First, the United States should put its support behind the OECD's plan of a multilateral …

Reminiscing About 15 Years Of Interoperability Efforts, Herbert Van De Sompel, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Over the past fifteen years, our perspective on tackling information interoperability problems for web-based scholarship has evolved significantly. In this opinion piece, we look back at three efforts that we have been involved in that aptly illustrate this evolution: OAI-PMH, OAI-ORE, and Memento. Understanding that no interoperability specification is neutral, we attempt to characterize the perspectives and technical toolkits that provided the basis for these endeavors. With that regard, we consider repository-centric and web-centric interoperability perspectives, and the use of a Linked Data or a REST/HATEAOS technology stack, respectively. We also lament the lack of interoperability across nodes that play …

Structural Tax Exceptionalism, James M. Puckett

Faculty Scholarship

This Article argues that it is misleading to declare the death of tax exceptionalism and that structural tax exceptionalism may have important benefits. Part II provides a brief historical overview of the rise of federal agency administration of statutes and especially tax laws. The history trends to detract from anti-tax and anti-agency rhetoric that counsel disempowering the Treasury Department and other administrative agencies from comprehensively enforcing laws and making policy in their relevant domains. Part III analyzes how the Code's structure for tax administration differs from the APA template for administrative agencies. Part IV deconstructs these differences, drawing from general …

The Price Of Paid Prioritization: The International And Domestic Consequences Of The Failure To Protect Net Neutrality In The United States, Arturo J. Carrillo, Dawn C. Nunziato

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article examines the international trade and human rights obligations of the United States as they relate to net neutrality to determine the extent to which the approach adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2015 to promote an open Internet complies with those obligations. In March of that year, the FCC adopted new rules to promote and protect an open Internet that, inter alia, reclassified broadband providers as common carriers subject to nondiscrimination obligations and codified strong net neutrality protections. The authors argue that the 2015 FCC Order, contrary to its predecessors, largely meets the requirements of the …

Book Review: Casting Off The Canon: Family Law Reimagined, Laurie S. Kohn

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Jill Hasday's book, Family Law Reimagined, offers a clear-eyed vision of what family law is, what it is not, and where it might be headed. Hasday considers family law's canon-the set of principles by which we have come to characterize family law-and then debunks the canon by methodically setting forth each notion and illustrating its inaccuracies or limitations. In doing so, Hasday urges the reader to clear the noise of the canon and to see the law in all its messy inconsistencies and shortcomings.

Capturing The Social/Emotional World Of Students, David Naff, Jesse Senechal

MERC Publications

The goal of this report is to explore the possibilities using student social emotional measures withing K-12 schools. This will include (1) a discussion of what constitutes a social emotional measure, (2) an overview of commonly used measures, and (3) a discussion of how these measures may inform school improvement processes and promote the success of students at the classroom, school, school system, and community level.

The Pneumatic Common: Learning In, With And From The Air, Derek R. Ford

Education Studies Faculty publications

Air is an immersive substance that envelopes us and binds us together, yet it has dominantly been taken for granted and left out of educational and other theorizations. This article develops a conceptualization of the pneumatic common in order to address this gap. The specific intervention staged is within recent educational literature on the common by Noah De Lissovoy, Tyson E. Lewis, and Alexander Means. This literature is surveyed and analyzed in relation to educational theory, curriculum, pedagogy, and policy. Claiming that the air is a central feature of and paradigm for the common, I then concentrate on making the …

Exploring Strategic Strengths And Weaknesses Of Retail Purchasing Groups, Erik Sandberg, Carlos Mena

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Retail purchasing groups consist of small, independent, specialised stores that join together and collaborate on purchasing and other areas. In comparison to large-scale corporate retail chains, often labelled mega-retailers, retail purchasing groups are based on collaborative external integration between a central unit and the independent, local dealers. The overall purpose of this research is to explore the specific characteristics that underscore a retail purchasing group. The paper has two research questions: (1) What are the strengths and weaknesses of a supply chain structure based on external integration? and (2) In what areas are the purchasing groups' ownership structure particularly advantageous …

Csbs Statements, V17, 2015, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Social And Behavioral Sciences.

CSBS Statements

Contents:

--- From the Desk of the Dean
--- Sabin Hall Renamed
--- A Game-Changing Gift for the Social & Behavioral Sciences
--- Podolefsky Conference Room Named
--- Where in the Worlid is CSBS?
--- Polar Opposites: CSBS is involved in places very different from ours-and each other
--- College of Social & Behavioral Sciences Loyal Roster
--- Dean's Fund Inner Circle
--- Faculty Retirements
--- Award-Winning Faculty
--- New Faculty
--- Iowa Photo Archive @ UNI
--- 2015 CSBS Distinguished Alumni Named
--- TEDxUNI
--- In Memoriam: John Baskerville
--- Student Highlights
--- Alumni Updates

“Big Science Through A Small Lense” This Month At Cafe Scientifique, University Relations

Campus News Archive

Professor of English Chrissy Kolaya will lead the discussion on the importance of effective science communication.

Lateral Flow Nucleic Acid Biosensor For The Detection Of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Meenu Baloda

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Nucleic acid detection is of central importance for the diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases, infectious agents, bio-warfare agents, and drug discovery. Nucleic acid testing for diseases is exclusively performed in laboratories using high-end instrumentation and personnel. However, this has developed the need for point of care diagnostics which can provide near-patient testing in a clinic, doctor’s office, or home. Such diagnostic tools can prove advantageous when rapid response is required or when suitable facilities are unavailable. Compared to equivalent methods used in laboratories, point of care testing is more affordable, as it eliminates the need for expensive instrumentation and …

A Description Analysis Of Disciplinary Cases Of Law Enforcement Officers In The State Of Florida Over A Ten-Year Period, Brian V. Frank

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

A distrust of government is as old as the country itself. Police officers hold a great deal of power, as they have the ability to take the one thing the American people hold sacred: freedom. Ethical violations by police officers enrage the public and cause great concern for law enforcement administrators. Past research has focused on the individual aspects within law enforcement along with criminological and sociological theories. The most recent research in law enforcement ethics shows fragmentation and a lack of standardization within the areas of screening, training, and managing for integrity. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, …

Underlying Dimensions Of The "Physical Educators' Judgments About Inclusion" Instrument: Brazilian-Version, Samuel R. Hodge, Paulo José Barbosa Gutierres Filho, Justin A. Haegele, Francis M. Kozub

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

Background/Objective: The available information pertaining to the attitudes of Brazilian physical education teachers about teaching students with disabilities is limited in the extant literature base. Rationally, however, scholars argue that determining, analyzing, and theorizing about the attitudes of physical education teachers is important in the preparation and professional development of these teachers. It is therefore important to extend the research base using valid and reliable measures regarding teachers’ attitudes about inclusion and teaching students with various disabilities. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the underlying dimensions of the Physical Educators’ Judgments about Inclusion (PEJI) scale following translation …

The Substance Of Self-Government, James E. Fleming

Faculty Scholarship

In Democratic Rights: The Substance of Self-Government, Corey Brettschneider develops an attractive and powerful conception of self-government - the value theory of democracy - that encompasses both substantive rights like privacy and procedural rights. Although he argues, following Habermas and Rawls, that substantive rights and procedural rights are "co-original," the structure of his theory may lead him to reduce the former into the latter and not fully to account for personal self-government in his conception of democratic self-government. The wages of his democratic justifications for substantive rights may be a surprising anxiety or unwarranted tension concerning judicial review protecting such …

Surveillance As Loss Of Obscurity, Woodrow Hartzog, Evan Selinger

Faculty Scholarship

Everyone seems concerned about government surveillance, yet we have a hard time agreeing when and why it is a problem and what we should do about it. When is surveillance in public unjustified? Does metadata raise privacy concerns? Should encrypted devices have a backdoor for law enforcement officials? Despite increased attention, surveillance jurisprudence and theory still struggle for coherence. A common thread for modern surveillance problems has been difficult to find.

In this article we argue that the concept of ‘obscurity,’ which deals with the transaction costs involved in finding or understanding information, is the key to understanding and uniting …

The Anti-Innovators: How Special Interests Undermine Entrepreneurship, James Bessen

Faculty Scholarship

For much of the last century, the United States led the world in technological innovation-a position it owed in part to well-designed procurement programs at the Defense Department and NASA. During the 1940s, for example, the Pentagon funded the construction of the first general-purpose computer, designed initially to calculate artillery-firing tables for the U.S. Army. Two decades later, it developed the data communications network known as the ARPANET, a precursor to the Internet. Yet not since the 1980s have government contracts helped generate any major new technologies, despite large increases in funding for defense-related R & D. One major culprit …

Comments On The Oecd's "Due Diligence Guidance For Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement In The Extractives Sector", Lisa J. Laplante, Erika George

Faculty Scholarship

Professor Lisa Laplante of New England Law | Boston’s Center for International Law and Policy (CILP) and Professor Erika George of the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law’s Center for Global Justice respectfully submitted this collaborative commentary in response to the OECD’s Draft Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement in the Extractives Sector which build off of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises which offer comprehensive recommendations to promote responsible business conduct. The 2011 revisions to the OECD MNE Guidelines introduced an important new provision on stakeholder engagement. Pursuant to the provision, multinational enterprises should: “engage with …

Factors Associated With Inconsistent Condom Use Among Men Who Have Sex With Men In Cambodia, Siyan Yi, Sovannary Tuot, Pheak Chhoun, Khuondyla Pal, Khimuy Tith, Carinne M. Brody

Background: Compared to the general population, men who have sex with men (MSM) are at greater risk for HIV and less understood due to their more hidden and stigmatized nature. Moreover, the discrepancy in findings in the literature merits further investigations in MSM populations from different cultures and settings. We therefore conducted this study to explore factors associated with inconsistent condom use among high-risk MSM in Cambodia.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014 among 367 MSM randomly selected from Battembang and Siem Reap using a two-stage cluster sampling method. A structured questionnaire was used for face-to-face interviews to …

Improving Education Opportunity, Health, And Quality Of Life Of Orphans And Vulnerable Children: The Sustainable Action Against Hiv And Aids In Communities (Sahacom), Siyan Yi, Pheak Chhoun, Samantha Brant, Kelley Kita, Sovannary Tuot

Aims: This study evaluated the impact of the Sustainable Action against HIV and AIDS in Communities (SAHACOM) project in improving education opportunity, health, and quality of life of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Cambodia.

Study Design: Operational intervention study.

Place and Duration of the Study: Five provinces in Cambodia, from 2010 to 2014.

Methodology: A two-stage cluster sampling method was used to select 756 OVC at midterm and 785 OVC at end line for face-to-face interviews. Outcome indicators from end line (2014) were compared to those obtained at midterm (2012). Where possible, the data were also compared with data …

The Impact Of A Community-Based Hiv And Sexual Reproductive Health Program On Sexual And Healthcare-Seeking Behaviors Of Female Entertainment Workers In Cambodia, Siyan Yi, Sovannary Tuot, Pheak Chhoun, Carinne M. Brody, Khimuy Tith, Sopheap Oum

Background: In Cambodia, despite great successes in the fight against HIV, challenges remain to eliminating new HIV infections and addressing sexual reproductive health (SRH) issues in key populations including female entertainment workers (FEWs). To address these issues, the Sustainable Action against HIV and AIDS in Communities (SAHACOM) project has been implemented since late 2009 using a community-based approach to integrate HIV and SRH services. This study evaluates the impact of the SAHACOM on sexual and healthcare-seeking behaviors among FEWs in Cambodia.

Methods: A midterm and endpoint comparison design was utilized. Midterm data were collected in early 2012, and …

Economic Self-Help Group Programs For Improving Women’S Empowerment: A Systematic Review, Carinne M. Brody, Thomas De Hoop, Martina Vojtkova, Ruby Warnock, Megan Dunbar, Padmini Murthy, Shari Dworkin

Motivation: Self-help groups (SHGs) are implemented around the world to empower women, supported by many developing country governments and agencies. A relatively large number of studies purport to demonstrate the effectiveness of SHGs. This is the first systematic review of that evidence.

Approach: We conducted a systematic review of the effectiveness of women’s economic SHG programs, incorporating evidence from quantitative and qualitative studies. We systematically searched for published and unpublished literature, and applied inclusion criteria based on the study protocol. We critically appraised all included studies and used a combination of statistical meta-analysis and meta-ethnography to synthesize the …

Research Ethics Training Of Trainers: Developing Capacity Of Bolivian Health Science And Civil Society Leaders, Annette Aalborg, Jacqueline Cortez, Sarah Sullivan, Oscar Lanza, Armando Basagoitia, Adriana Valencia, Roxane Modares

Program/Project Purpose: The University of San Andres, Faculty of Medicine in La Paz, Bolivia in collaboration with Touro University California, Public Health Program was awarded a NIH Research Ethics Planning Grant in June, 2013 to develop strategies and processes for implementation of a comprehensive national research ethics program for Bolivia. Although the importance of scientific research based on ethical principles is highlighted in the Bolivian constitution and national health legislation, few Bolivian academics, researchers and health professionals have received formal training in the principles and practices of research ethics. A principle aim of the Planning Grant is to develop …

Social Behaviors Of Indiana Bats (Myotis Sodalis) At Day Roost Sites, Caroline M. Byrne

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bats are highly social, but the study of bat social behavior was limited until recently due to technological limitations. Most of bat behavior is imperceptible to our senses, including both their use of ultrasound and their nocturnal activities. During the maternity seasons (May-August) of 2013 and 2014 near Plainfield, Indiana, we recorded Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) roost site behaviors with emergence count observation, video (Sony Nightshot HandyCams and IR lights), and acoustic detectors (Pettersson D500X ultrasonic detectors). The objective of this study was to compile a catalog of observable and acoustic behaviors seen at M. sodalis day roost sites. We …

A Study Of Students’ Orientation In The Virtual Classroom, Anna Toom

Graduate School of Education Publications and Research

One of the most important features determining successful adjustment and learning in the virtual classroom (VCR) is an individual’s ability to quickly, independently, and flexibly orient oneself in the new learning environment. It means grasping the idea of information-technological resources as well as the course organization with its academic, administrative, technical, and communicational requirements. In our pilot study, we investigated this ability of twenty five students enrolled in the author’s online psychology class in 2015. The research methodology included an analysis of the students’ preparation for their study and an evaluation of correlations of these data with students' previous online …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Graduate Sport Administration/Management Curricula Offered At Private And Public Institutions In Comparison To Cosma Requirements, Kristin E. Brown

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The evolution of sport and the factors that are influencing it, such as industry standards and external conditions, have challenged curricula in the area of sport. The number of sport administration/management programs has increased over the years to over 500 (North American Society for Sport Management, n.d.), which, in turn, has contributed to variation among higherEducation programs (Eagleman & McNary, 2010). Sport administration/management programs vary in core content, specializations,Educational philosophies, and ideologies (Eagleman & McNary, 2010; Jones, Brooks, & Mak, 2008). Ideologies underpinning the curricular structure are uncertain among graduate programs in sport administration/management. The information in this study was …

A Traves De La Experiencia: Son-Father Relationships In Mexican Migrant Farmworker Families As Seen By Sons, And Gatekeepers' Perspectives On The Families, Luis Romero

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this qualitative study, I focus mainly on the perspectives of sons, regarding their interactions and relationships with their fathers. The participants were 10 adolescents of Mexican descent, ranging in age from 12 to 17 years and belonging to migrant/seasonal farmworker families in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas and the Panhandle of North Florida. In addition, five gatekeepers who worked with this population added their perspectives on the lives of these migrant/seasonal farmworker families. Using the paradigm of constructivism and a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data. Interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Data …