Digital Commons Network^™

Troxel Revisited: A New Approach To Third Party Childcare, Jeffrey A. Parness

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

In 2000 in Troxel v. Granville, four United States Supreme Court justices determined that the “liberty interests of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children” generally foreclose states from compelling requested grandparent childcare over current parental objections. Yet, these four justices recognized that “special factors” might justify judicial interference as long as the contrary contemporary wishes of parents were accorded “at least some special weight.” The plurality, and one concurring justice, reserved the question of whether any “nonparental” visitation, presumedly also encompassing stepparents, siblings and others, must “include a showing of harm or potential harm to the …

Stress, Anxiety Symptomology, And The Need For Student Support Services For University Freshmen Of First-Generation Status, Low-Ses Backgrounds, And Those Registered With Disabilities, Kelly Dale Allison

LSU Master's Theses

Three populations of concern for professional social workers in higher educational settings include first-generation college students (FGCSs), students from low socio-economic (low-SES) backgrounds, and students with disabilities. As the national demand for degrees in higher education rises both socially and economically, the push for young adults’ postsecondary success becomes increasingly crucial. In college and university settings, a significant portion of students may be classified as FGCSs, low-SES, or may be registered with a disability. Examining these vulnerable populations within higher education settings, particularly regarding stress and anxiety symptomology, can help social workers recognize the social, developmental, and academic inhibitions that …

The False Idealization Of Heteronormativity And The Repression Of Queerness, Catherine Lynn Thurmond

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, entitled “The False Idealization of Heteronormativity and the Repression of Queerness,” I examine heteronormativity as a social structure that is idealized over, and against, queerness. In the first chapter, I define heteronormativity and queerness. “Heteronormativity,” here, is simply a set of standards that dictate what one must do with their gender and sexuality, such as having sexual relations with the opposite sex, getting married, or having children. Heteronormativity is visible, validated, and normalized in society. Conversely, “queerness” refers to the social structures that dictate what one must not do with their gender and sexuality. Thus, queerness is …

Griggs At Midlife, Deborah A. Widiss

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Griggs v. Duke Power, the Supreme Court case that held that policies that disproportionately harm minority employees can violate federal employment discrimination law even without evidence of “intentional” discrimination, recently turned forty. Griggs is generally celebrated as a landmark decision, but disparate impact’s current relevance (and its constitutionality) is hotly debated. Robert Belton’s The Crusade for Equality in the Workplace offers a rich and detailed history of the strategic choices that led to the plaintiffs’ victory in Griggs. This Review uses Belton’s history as a jumping off point to consider the contemporary importance of disparate impact in efforts to challenge …

Book Review. Reviving Fiscal Citizenship, Ajay K. Mehrotra

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In recent years, numerous lawmakers, policy analysts, and scholars have been decrying the many defects of the present U.S. income tax system. Few have attempted to defend our return-based mass income tax. This essay reviews Learning to Love Form 1040, Lawrence Zelenak’s stirring and persuasive defense of a simplified version of our present federal income tax system. In contrast to the conventional economic critiques, Zelenak explores the underappreciated social, cultural, and political benefits of a return-based, mass income tax. Chief among these, he argues, is the existing regime’s potential to raise the tax consciousness of the average citizen and to …

Student-Athlete Academic And Athletic Identity And Self-Efficacy, Bailey Ann Macnab

LSU Master's Theses

The present study was designed to gain insight into student-athlete identity and self-efficacy. The study will discuss findings from a confirmatory analysis of the internal consistency reliability and validity of two scales found by using Cronbach’s alpha and confirmatory factor analysis. This is discussed in the instruments area of the Methods section. The main part of the study seeks to gain insight into the academic and athletic identity of student athletes and if and how that identity relates to student’s academic and athletic self-efficacy. A sample of 108 current Division I Student-Athletes at a large southeastern university were administered a …

Forfeiture Of Confrontation Rights And The Complicated Dynamics Of Domestic Violence: Some Thoughts Inspired By Myrna Raeder, Aviva A. Orenstein

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this essay and memorial to my friend and colleague, Myrna Raeder, I examine forfeiting the right of confrontation in the context of domestic violence cases. In 2004, Crawford v. Washington the United States Supreme Court reinterpreted the Sixth Amendment, requiring that for “testimonial statements” to be offered against the accused, the speaker must appear in court, or, if unavailable, must have been subject to cross-examination previously. The practical effect of Crawford was to exclude many out-of-court statements that had previously been admissible. Nowhere was the effect of Crawford more striking than in domestic violence cases, where victims often make …

"The Lonely Romantic": Nature, Education, And Cultural Pessimism In The Early Works Of Hermann Hesse, Erik Paul Wagner

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines the early works of Hermann Hesse in the historical context of early twentieth-century Germany. While Hesse’s literary career spans over six decades, most scholarship focuses only on a brief period. Historians study his Weimar novels, as psychologically penetrating pieces that offer insights into this fascinating and chaotic era of German history. Yet, Hesse’s early works have not received due attention in historical scholarship. This situation is unfortunate because Hesse’s prewar writings provide interesting and relevant commentary on life in fin de siècle Germany. Hesse’s early writings offer unique insights into aspects of German culture and society, specifically …

People’S Perception Of Free Trade And Economic Sophistication, Igor Kuznetsov

LSU Master's Theses

The question of which factors form people’s attitudes toward free trade has occupied scholars’ minds for no less than two decades. Many theories were suggested in an attempt to explain why some individuals strongly support protectionist policies while others prefer trade liberalization. These explanations range from classical economic models of factors of production to nationalism, the fear of foreign cultures, and gender differences. The contribution of this paper is that I combine economic and non-economic approaches, introducing the possibility that individuals may think from an economic perspective or draw on other considerations depending on what they know about economics. That …

Evaluating The Interspersal Procedure Using Free Access To A Competing Reinforcer, Catherine Rose Lark

LSU Master's Theses

Previous research has shown that interspersing additional easy problems among difficult target problems increases target problem fluency and student preference for an assignment. Nonetheless, there have been some contradictory findings concerning the efficacy of the interspersal procedure, so more research is needed to determine whether teachers should use this procedure for academic assignments. The current study attempted to replicate and extend the research on this procedure by using access to a competing reinforcer (an iPad) and a homework analogue. Fourth-grade students were given access to an iPad, but were told to work first for 10 minutes each on a control …

Exploration Of The Shrp 2 Naturalistic Driving Study: Development Of A Distracted Driving Prediction Model, Syndney Jenkins

LSU Master's Theses

The SHRP 2 NDS project was the largest naturalistic driving study ever conducted. The data obtained from the study was released to the researching public in 2014 through the project’s InSight webpage. The objectives of this research were to first explore the massive dataset and determine if it was possible to develop prediction models based on several performance measures that could be used to study driver distraction. Time series data on driver GPS speed, lateral and longitudinal acceleration, throttle position and yaw rate were discovered as five appropriate performance measures available from the NDS that could be used for the …

Do People With Aphasia Interpret Road Signs Differently Than People Without Aphasia?, Caitlin Elise Brown

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: This study increased our understanding of how aphasia may affect interpretation of road signs. Background: Despite aphasia’s theoretical effects on road sign comprehension and promising initial findings in studies that investigated driving and aphasia, the literature examining aphasia and road signs has been sparse. Research has shown that aphasia may have some effect on road sign interpretation. However, more study is needed regarding both accuracy and response time to road sign interpretation, which are equally important for safe driving. Methods: This was a prospective, between group study that used data collected from a larger study by Donovan, Savage, Varnado, …

Examination Of The Effects Of The Homework, Organization, And Planning Skills (Hops) Intervention On Undergraduate Students, Ashley E. Bordelon

LSU Master's Theses

Homework, organization, and time-management skills are often a source of stress for undergraduate students. The type of homework given, self-management skills, and planning skill level combine to contribute to student success in school. Previous research has shown that the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) program has been successful with teaching these skills; however, research has focused on younger students. The purpose of the current study was to determine if the HOPS program was suitable for undergraduate students, based on pretest, posttest, and follow-up scores on the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory- Second Edition (LASSI) using a randomized waitlist control …

Factors Influencing Sustainable Cocoa Production In Northern Haiti, Wegbert Chery

LSU Master's Theses

Given the environmental concerns on the one hand, especially soil erosion and deforestation, and the hope that the global cocoa market offers on the other hand, cocoa production is a potential candidate to simultaneously guarantee a competitive return to investment for farmers in northern Haiti and mitigate the negative environmental impact of farming practices. It becomes crucial for policy makers and investors to know and understand the key elements of the decision to produce cocoa. Though there has been substantial effort to improve the cocoa sector in Haiti, cocoa production systems in Haiti lag behind in the area of sustainability. …

Between Beauty And Duty: Ethics And Judgment In Camus And Kant, Alex Donovan Cole

LSU Master's Theses

The ideas of Albert Camus and Immanuel Kant are not often thought of as sharing pronounced similarities. However, both thinkers are deeply concerned with role of aesthetics in moral, and subsequently, political life. According to each, taste is a faculty whereby one is able to develop the “moral insight” needed for the flourishing of a robust, thoughtful, ethical individual. Yet, both Camus and Kant utilize highly divergent methodologies in going about this. Camus prefers the artistic form and poetic language offered by the novel and Kant prefers the logical rigor of critical philosophical arguments. This thesis hopes to reveal that …

The Effects Of Emotion And Action On Binding In Memory, Kacie Mennie

LSU Master's Theses

The ability to successfully bind features and objects at different levels of abstraction is important for everyday functioning of memory. The current study examined how actions and emotional arousal influence item recognition and between-item binding across two experiments. According to the Arousal-Biased Competition Theory (ABC; Mather and Sutherland, 2011), binding can be enhanced by emotional arousal, depending upon what is the focus of attention within a scene. In the current study, participants viewed a series of slides, each of which depicted a person performing an action with an object, as well as an object that is not interacted with. All …

Writing Quality Predicts Chinese Learning, Connie Qun Guan, Lindsay N. Harris, Wanjin Meng, Charles A. Perfetti

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

To examine the importance of manual character writing to reading in a new writing system, 48 adult Chinese-as-a-foreign-language students were taught characters in either a character writing-to-read or an alphabet typing-to-read condition, and engaged in corresponding handwriting or typing training for five consecutive days. Prior knowledge of orthography and phonology was assessed before training. At the end of each training day, improved orthographic quality was assessed via increased skill in producing Chinese characters at both the component and global levels. In addition, pretests and posttests were administered at each training day, and the proportional changes were used as the measure …

An Empirical Analysis Of Noncompetition Clauses And Other Restrictive Postemployment Covenants, Randall S. Thomas, Norman D. Bishara, Kenneth J. Martin

Vanderbilt Law Review

Employment contracts for most employees are not publicly available, leaving researchers to speculate about whether they contain postemployment restrictions on employee mobility, and if so, what those provisions look like. Using a large sample of publicly available CEO employment contracts, we are able to examine these noncompetition covenants, including postemployment covenants not to compete ("CNCs" or "noncompetes'), nonsolicitation agreements ("NSAs"), and nondisclosure agreements ("NDAs'). What we found confirms some long-held assumptions about restrictive covenants but also uncovers some surprises.

We begin by discussing why employers use restrictive covenants and examining how the courts have treated them. We then analyze an …

Judicial Education: Pedagogy For A Change, T. Brettel Dawson

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Canadian judges have maintained a steadfast, long-term commitment to judicial education. Through teaching one another, judges renew their vision over time, and more concretely, address their concerns and challenges today. Since its inception in 1985, the National Judicial Institute (NJI) has sought to be a partner and a resource to judges and Courts in a shared endeavour to create relevant, practical, and effective judicial education. Working together, the NJI, judges, and Courts have built a “Canadian model” of judicial education widely respected and emulated.

Examining The Prevalence Rates, Demographic Differences, And Concurrent Validity Associated With A Universal Bidimensional Mental Health Screener For Youth In Schools, Sarah Bolognino

LSU Master's Theses

When using a bidimensional mental health (BDMH) model, psychological distress and wellbeing are measured. This study used a mental health screening measure, with equal number of items measuring each mental health dimension (i.e., wellbeing and distress) to classify students into one of four possible mental health groups: mentally healthy (MH), mentally unhealthy (MU), symptomatic but content (SBC), and asymptomatic but discontent (ABD). First, prevalence rates for each group in a sample of youth from the 2009–10 Health Behavior in School-aged Children Survey in the United States (N = 6,345) were explored; about a quarter of the population experienced mixed mental …

Does The Bicycle Detector Symbol Change Cyclist Queuing Position At Signalized Intersections?, Stefan W. Bussey, Christopher M. Monsere, Peter Koonce

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Manual of Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) includes a bicycle detector pavement marking (Section 9C-05) and accompanying explanatory sign (R10-22) which may encourage cyclists to position themselves over detection at traffic signals. This paper presents the results of an observational and survey- based study evaluating the bicycle detector marking. Three minor actuated approaches at signalized intersections with significant bicycle volumes and without bicycle detector markings were selected for treatment. Three configurations were compared: 1) bicycle detector marking only 2) bicycle detector marking with the R10-22 explanatory sign, and 3) an alternative bicycle detector installed over a contrasting green rectangle. Analysis …

Social Anxiety And Cannabis-Related Impairment: The Roles Of Anxiety Sensitivity And Intolerance Of Uncertainty, Emily Robin Jeffries

LSU Master's Theses

Cannabis use is associated with many negative consequences. Identification of factors associated with cannabis could inform prevention and treatment efforts. Social anxiety appears to be one risk factor for cannabis-related problems. Thus, it is important to identify malleable cognitive vulnerability factors that may play a role in the social anxiety-cannabis problems relationship. Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is the fear of anxiety-related bodily sensations and is composed of three subfacets: physical, cognitive, and social concerns. AS is associated with greater social anxiety and may play a role in cannabis-related impairment. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) refers to a tendency to respond negatively to …

Community Assessment Of African Maternal Health In The Portland Region: Drivers For Community, Health Services And Institutional Change, Marie-Elena Reyes, Ann Curry-Stevens

Center to Advance Racial Equity Publications and Reports

This community needs assessment surfaces a range of health priorities faced by the African community. While the scope of the study is limited by time and resources, and strategically focused on maternal health, there are a wider set of upstream and downstream health challenges that impede the community’s wellbeing. We encourage policy makers to remember these whenever health policies, and in fact all manner of policies and programs tied to the social determinants of health, are being considered.

The main body of this report contains the insights of the 56 African women who participated in six focus groups. Their voices …

The Relationship Between Pinterest Use And Body Dissatisfaction, Krystal Badillo

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Stress In Allied Healthcare Students, Amy Fitzsimmons

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Education, Oppression, And Democracy : A Philosophical Approach To Educational Inequity, Ben Davis

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Sensory Processing And Conducive Study Environments, Katrina Kotta

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Judgment Of Fearful Faces, Anthony Garnett

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

A Vocal Autobiography : Pedagogical Considerations And Personal Review Of Beginning Through Advanced Voice Lessons, Jacy Walker

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Automated Conversion Of Text Instructions To Human Motion Animation, Ravikumar Vishwanath Chimmalgi

LSU Master's Theses

Text to animation is the conversion of textual instructions to animations following and depicting those instructions. Text to animation is important to fields such as crime scene investigation, military special operations and storytelling where text is utilized. It is also useful for physical therapy where a doctor can factor in disability parameters in the 3D models and determine the safest therapy exercises for patients. It can be used in robotics, where robot assistants can be instructed to perform tasks through text instructions. In this research, a system was created to generate 3D animation of workouts from their textual instructions. An …