Digital Commons Network^™

Biologically Biased Beneficence, Jeffrey E. Stake

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

A World Elsewhere: Secession, Subsidiarity, And Self-Determination As European Values, Timothy W. Waters

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Interstate Groundwater Law Revisited: Mississippi V. Tennessee, Noah D. Hall, Joseph Regalia

Scholarly Works

In June 2015, the United States Supreme Court granted the State of Mississippi leave to file a bill of complaint against the State of Tennessee, the City of Memphis, and Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division for wrongfully converting groundwater from the interstate Sparta-Memphis Aquifer. The dispute arises from Memphis and its municipal utility pumping groundwater within Tennessee, which Mississippi alleges has lowered the water tables within its territory. The Supreme Court's grant of leave raises for the first time the question of what legal doctrine applies to transboundary interstate groundwater resources. Tennessee and lower courts would subject interstate groundwater …

Braking The Rules: Why State Courts Should Not Replicate Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, Stephen N. Subrin, Thomas O. Main

Scholarly Works

We have criticized the amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure since the 1980s and the procedural changes made by United States Supreme Court decisions during the same period. These amendments and changes, even if subtle and incremental, launched a new era—the Fourth Era in the grand history of American civil procedure. In this era, tragically, litigation is often perceived as a nuisance, trials are a mistake, and judicial case management is a catholicon. In this Article, we turn our attention to state court procedure. States could follow their federal counterparts; indeed, the pursuit of uniformity can be instinctive. …

Promoting Literacy Development In The Early Childhood Classroom: An Evaluation Of Phonemic Awareness And Phonics Instruction, Elise Catherine Mciver

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research has consistently demonstrated that literacy skills are associated with a host of benefits that are both substantial and long lasting. Given the implications of reading skill development, efforts to understand the most effective methods of teaching students how to read are consequential. Fortunately, substantial research has been conducted on this topic and has subsequently highlighted two essential building blocks of a balanced literacy framework: phonemic awareness and phonics. The current literature on the reading acquisition process shows that if students are to benefit from phonics instruction, they must have a certain level of phonemic awareness proficiency. The question remains, …

Decriminalization, Regulation, Privatization: A Response To Professor Natapoff, Darryl K. Brown, Lauren M. Messonnier

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

Initial Development And Validation Of The Student Wellbeing Teacher-Report Scales, Anthony Joseph Roberson

LSU Master's Theses

Given that youth mental health is associated with their success in school and in life more broadly, it is important that school-based psychological service providers embrace best-practice prevention and intervention strategies that target mental health when working with student populations. One line of study in this area has begun exploring the incorporation of a dual-factor model of mental health within universal screening systems in schools. The dual-factor model is differentiated from the traditional unidimensional mental health model, which focuses on the presence or absence of psychopathology, by conceptualizing mental health alternatively as consisting of both psychopathology and wellbeing dimensions. The …

Constructing The Search Template: Episodic And Semantic Influences On Categorical Template Formation, Juan D. Guevara Pinto

LSU Master's Theses

Search efficiency is usually improved by presenting observers with highly detailed target cues (e.g., pictures). However, in the absence of accurate target cues, observers must rely only on categorical information to find targets. Models of visual search suggest that guidance in a categorical search results from matching categorically-diagnostic target features in the search display to a top-down attentional set (i.e., the search template), but the mechanisms by which such attentional set is constructed have not been specified. The present investigation examined the influences of both semantic and episodic memory on search template formation. More precisely, the present study tested whether …

Gotta Catch 'Em All, Jennifer Lynn Lombardi

LSU Master's Theses

The ability to imagine is essential to shaping who we are, and is an important part of our humanity. Children have the ability to use aspects of their environment as their playthings, becoming the characters in their world through their sense of imagination. We lose this ability as we grow, leaving us with only memories and sentimentality. I have come to realize that my art is an expression of the longing and search to regain that ability to become fused with my imagination and my environment. I allow myself to become lost in a world of fantasy once more, and …

The Attentional Mechanisms Of Active Forgetting, Laura Lee Heisick

LSU Master's Theses

Recent work has shown that intentional forgetting of distracting, erroneous, or irrelevant information aids memory, and relies on active, effortful processes. Two experiments investigated the underlying attentional mechanisms that are active during directed forgetting (DF). Across both experiments, participants completed a modified item-method DF task, in which they received memory instructions to remember or forget individual images for a subsequent memory test. Participants studied items associated with remember or forget instructions before they were shown a subliminal presentation of target items. Finally, participants responded to probes by identifying briefly shown letters to assess how attention and item identity information are …

“What Credit Is That To You?” The Social Context Of Moneylending In Medieval England A Comparative Study 1340-1509, Elizabeth Ann Green

LSU Master's Theses

This study makes use of the manorial court rolls of Dyffryn Clwyd, a cantref in Northern Wales, and the certificates of debt from London to examine the lives of two medieval usurers, Ieuan Kery and Sir William Capell, between the years 1340 to 1352 , and 1478 to 1509 . By examining the life of these two individuals who both operated one of the rarest, most socially complex occupations of his place and time, this study begins to expose the ways in which usury helped to shape the fabric of late Medieval culture in the British Isles. The singular focus …

The Latino Voter Registration Dilemma, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

This special report in partnership with CNN en Espanol examined changes in the Latino electorate, registered voters, and voters in the U.S. and key swing states between 1992 and 2016. Methods: Data were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, Voting and Registration, as a part of the Current Population Survey data from the November Voter Supplements. The 2016 estimates were derived by using the yearly percentage rate of increase between 2004 and 2012. Results: The absolute number of Latinos eligible to vote, registered, and who voted grew dramatically. Yet the rates of Latino voter registration were almost exactly the same …

Collective Intervention: An Analysis Of The Political Issues Regarding Secession, Self-Determination, And Sovereignty In The Republic Of Kosovo, Benjamin Werthan

University Honors Theses

In 2008, the Republic of Kosovo, after years of war and internal conflicts between the ethnic Albanians and Serbians who lived in the territory, finally received status as an independent state. The process was long and even after declaring independence the Republic still had to fight for such recognition. This thesis explores that process, starting with the years prior to the Yugoslav Wars, through the Republic of Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence and the subsequent International Court of Justice advisory opinion. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the concepts of self-determination and state sovereignty with regard to the actions …

The Effects Of The Aca On Actuarial Pricing: How The Work Of Health Actuaries Has Changed Post-Aca, Alex M.S. George

University Honors Theses

In the United States, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA) drastically altered the health insurance industry. Insurers are no longer able to deny coverage or charge higher premiums based on an individual’s medical history. In order to more evenly spread the financial risks associated with these ACA reforms among insurers and stabilize health insurance premiums, risk-sharing provisions dubbed the "3 R's" (risk adjustment, risk corridors, and reinsurance) were instituted in the individual and small group market. This thesis will begin with a discussion of the "3 R's" and the other ACA regulations that have had significant …

Binti: Daughter Of Arab America, Melika Valentine Belhaj

University Honors Theses

In a fifth grade class a television sits propped on a metal stand. On the screen, images of smoke billow from two tall towers, the clip of planes formerly crashing into them repeat over and over again. A young child sits in the back row of the room. She draws on her desk. War on Terror reads the banner at the bottom of the screen; words that do not describe the culture to which she belongs. She invites friends to her home for djej emshermel, stewed chicken with lemon and olives, for kefta made of ground lamb and tomato sauce, …

Who Matters?: Effective Classroom Management Strategies For Multicultural Elementary Education, Erica Bailey-Ramos

University Honors Theses

Current classroom management procedures, which are dominated by white affluent culture, are not conducive to effectively teaching the increasingly growing diverse school population. Differing backgrounds in a classroom are often viewed as deficits that teachers need to correct instead of individual strengths that add to the classroom knowledge. Currently, the public education system is making students conform to the school culture, instead of the school changing to reflect the community. Multicultural education is for all students, preparing them for the real world by teaching tolerance, acceptance, and learning through multiple perspectives. Current research agrees that a shift in management techniques …

Meditation And Mindfulness: Combatting Negative Mindsets And Mental Health Afflictions While Promoting Positives Such As Confidence And General Well-Being, Charlotte R. Dicharry

University Honors Theses

Popular opinion holds that meditation and mindfulness render positive effects. However, minimal empirical evidence has been submitted except in the last seven years that it has gained attention. This study uses data from these recent years to gather a concise view of the effects of meditation and mindfulness practices in combatting anxiety, depression, and poor self-esteem as well as the increase in positives such as confidence and general well-being.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. has been promoting meditation and mindfulness as treatment for stress since the 1980s. He has applied the practice to physical ailments as well as mental maladies (Kabat-Zinn, 2014b). …

Gertrude's Lazy Susan, Emily Griffin

University Honors Theses

A collection of poetry in conjunction with a critical analysis of Gertrude Stein's Tender Button, this work examines concepts of coherence and value as they apply to experimental literature. The collection of poems explores personal, domestic spaces and the ways in which external forces are exerted upon them.

Preventing Campus Sexual Assault: Evaluating Studies Of Male Offender Prevention Programs And Determining Best Practices, Cam Tu Tran

University Honors Theses

Campus sexual assault is becoming a highly publicized issue, with the U.S. White House recently releasing a report urging universities to improve prevention efforts through systematic evaluations, policies, reporting procedures, and victim support (U.S. White House Task Force, 2014). Although these recent headlines have focused attention on universities’ responses to sexual assault, research in prevention program effectiveness has been conducted in university settings for over 30 years. This thesis focuses on past research in primary prevention in facilitated educational trainings for college men. This thesis reviews studies on interventions implemented on college campuses by exploring the most effective practices, and …

Downtown Revitalized, Community Organized: A Comparative Analysis Of Tulsa, Oklahoma And Portland, Oregon, Amber Wagoner

University Honors Theses

This thesis explores the relation between successful revitalization efforts and community engagement initiatives. The cities of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Portland, Oregon are compared on their most recent planning documents related to their downtown and/or central city. In 2010, The City of Tulsa adopted the Tulsa Comprehensive Plan, as well as the Downtown Area Master Plan (DAMP). These documents began a new era of revitalization after decades of disinterest and neglect for Tulsa’s downtown area. Portland’s revitalization efforts date back to the 1972 Downtown Plan. The plan launched participatory planning policies and inspired enthusiasm for a vibrant central city that continues …

Trespass, Veronika Ivanova

University Honors Theses

Controversial artworks are relentlessly defended by art critics, who frequently downplay their disturbing emotional affect. Against an overwhelming consensus to the contrary, this essay will propose that ethical analysis is an effective and critically revealing method of engaging with contemporary transgressive art. It will argue that in favoring conceptual rather than emotional reactions, commentators fail to fully engage with the work they promote. Far from clouding our judgement, shame, outrage, and revulsion are the very emotions that artworks can set out to evoke. I am specifically interested in artists that challenge the attitude of aesthetic disinterestedness through engaging our moral …

The Role Of Portland State University As A Community Partner In Addressing Homelessness, Jennifer Hoskins

University Honors Theses

This paper explores the role of Portland State University as a community partner in addressing the issue of homelessness. The research includes a literature review, findings from a 10-month participant observation study, and interviews with community and academic leaders. The findings from the study focus on community needs, which include having a citizenry educated on issues of poverty and homelessness; having vocal support for public policies that serve people who are homeless; insight from research; and having labor to get work done. The research findings also focus on university needs, which include classroom curriculum centered on poverty and homelessness; service …

Language Sample Length Effects On Various Lexical Diversity Measures: An Analysis Of Spanish Language Samples From Children, Morgan Stills

University Honors Theses

Purpose: various studies have assessed whether lexical diversity in language samples is a useful clinical tool for assessing language abilities. However, not all studies used the same measure of lexical diversity indices or sample demographic. Therefore it is unclear which lexical diversity indices work best when analyzing Spanish language samples. The current study aimed to compare validity evidence for five lexical diversity measures based on Spanish language samples. Specifically it assessed how changes in language-sample length influenced each measure. The most accurate lexical diversity measures were expected to yield similar estimates for a given child across language samples that differed …

Communication Methods In Healthcare For Latinos With Limited English Proficiency: Physician Language Concordance And Children As Translators, Katie Castellanos

University Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis was to examine the primary methods of communication that Latinos with limited English proficiency (LEP) use when professional translators are not available. Latinos constitute 17% of the United States population, 64% of which have limited English proficiency. A literature review was conducted to identify research done in regards to children as translators and physician language concordance. Two themes of communication for Latinos with LEP in the absence of professional translators emerged from the literature review: the use of children as translators, and reliance on physician language concordance. Providers should take caution when working with these …

Mills And Veblen: An Institutional Analysis, Matthew Klosterman

University Honors Theses

This inquiry considers and also seeks to establish theoretical relationships between the thinking and contributions of Thorstein Veblen and C. Wright Mills. Selected writings of Veblen have not only formed new approaches to the discipline of Economics, but also influenced prominent scholars, like Mills. In his contributions, Veblen employs various approaches to social science analysis, such as use of dichotomy (Veblenian Dichotomy), subreption, and cumulative causation in his efforts to describe social change within an evolutionary-institutionalist framework. While not being explicit, some contributions of Mills utilize similar approaches advanced earlier by Veblen. In summary, Mills’ contributions to sociology appear to …

Differences In How Boomers And Millennials Experience Listening To Recorded Music, Pablo Saldana

University Honors Theses

Music is present in people’s lives. This work looks at cultural changes among two generations, the Baby Boomers and Millennials. Furthermore, there is a focus on values held by each generation when it comes to recorded music. Through textual analyses, claims are made about consumer habits, preferences, and relationships with music held by these distinct generations.

Standing On The Street Corners Of Capitalism : Translations Of Tawara Machi's Chocolate Revolution Tanka, Jared Ridabock

University Honors Theses

This thesis contains original translations of the first three rensaku of best selling author Tawara Machi's 1997 tanka collection Chocolate Revolution. In it, Tawara's work is examined from a critical lens developed by Dean Brink, arguing that while her poetry is subsumed within the language of capitalist consumer society, it's engagement with absurd moments therein creates an opportunity for resistance for readers. While this thesis initially agrees with Brink's assessment of Tawara as an apolitical writer, it suggests that recent works published to social media by Tawara Machi may show a deviation from her apolitical stance and discusses the effect …

The Impact Of Drought On The Sierra Nevada Range: Using Remote Sensing Data To Estimate Large-Scale Carbon Dioxide Flux, Jessica Mazzi

University Honors Theses

Remote sensing is a widely used technique for studying Earth systems, including ecosystem response to global warming. With the recent California drought, remote sensing gives an opportunity to study large-scale CO₂ flux changes over time due to insufficient water uptake by plant life. In this study three flux towers were used, to correlate Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE = PRI * NDVI * PAR), gathered from remote sensing data, and measurements of CO₂ flux from in-situ flux towers over an area of 8,149 km² in the Sierra Nevada Range. To estimate CO₂ from NEE, two linear regressions …

Gretchen Kafoury: The Personal Is Political, Corinne Rupp

University Honors Theses

Gretchen Kafoury (June 23, 1942 – March 13, 2015) was a Portland politician whose personal ideals formed the backbone of her lengthy career in public service. While an avowed liberal and feminist, Kafoury recognized the need to work across political boundaries in order to get things done. She dedicated her time and voice to communities she saw as underserved, and helped build and protect a social safety net in all her elected positions.

The exhibit created from the Special Collections Archives housing her documents highlighted her political life and achievements, from her earliest days as a grassroots organizer for women’s …

Vignettes And Havensville Farm, Michael Mckee Green

University Honors Theses

This thesis includes a series of terse vignettes and a pastoral section. Both groups of poems share a connection to imagism and are invested in latency, given that the fraught images hint at violences just beyond the reader's sensual periphery.