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Whose Claim Is It Anyway?—Direct And Derivative Claims In The Context Of Bankruptcy Litigation, Kristen M. Lasak

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

In bankruptcy litigation, the line between direct and derivative claims may be a thin one, and courts are often entrusted with the task of determining whether the claims creditors set forth are actually derivative of claims owned by the bankruptcy estate. Companies entering into bankruptcy proceedings have the option of creating litigation trusts, which are authorized to pursue any claims the bankruptcy estate may own. A release of claims is often part of any settlement agreement, and such an agreement combined with the ownership of claims by the bankruptcy estate, often controlled through a litigation trust, can leave defrauded …

A Sublessee’S Rights In The Face Of A Debtor-Sublessor’S Rejection Of An Unexpired Lease Under Chapter 11, Adam K. Lau

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

Whether or not rejection of a lease constitutes termination is of great concern to interested parties in a chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. This determination can alter the remedies available for injured parties. Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code establishes the general rule that rejection does not constitute termination, and sets forth the circumstances where exceptions to the general rule apply.

In In re Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc., a Delaware Bankruptcy Court held that the rejection of a lease constitutes a prepetition breach of the lease under section 365(g) of the Bankruptcy Code. The court determined the amount of …

Conflict In The Bankruptcy Code: Ramification Of A Trustee’S 363(F) Right To Sell Property “Free And Clear” On The Lessee’S 365(H) Right To Retain Property, Aaron Leaf

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

Section 363(f) of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) allows a trustee to sell property “free and clear of any interest in such property” that a third party might have if certain conditions are met. Section 365(h) of the Bankruptcy Code allows the lessee of a rejected lease to either retain the property with all rights appurtenant to the estate, or treat such lease as terminated and sue for damages. Courts are split on if these sections of the Bankruptcy Code are compatible. The majority of courts have found these sections are not compatible, and …

Whether Sovereign Immunity Is A Defense For States In Bankruptcy Cases, Melanie Lee

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

Sovereign immunity, generally, prohibits suit against a sovereign without the sovereign’s consent. The defense of sovereign immunity may not be asserted by any state, or arm of the state, in any bankruptcy proceeding. The prohibition of asserting sovereign immunity in a bankruptcy case has been common practice, almost continuously, since the states agreed to such a waiver in the Constitutional Convention. Moreover, this waiver of sovereign immunity, has since been codified in Section 106 of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”). As a result, a state involved in a bankruptcy case will typically be treated …

Application Of The Automatic Stay To A Non-Debtor Corporation, Joanna Matuza

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

When a corporation files for bankruptcy, it is entitled to an automatic stay of any action that has been filed against it pursuant to section 362(a)(1) of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”). But today, litigation is often complex and involves more than one defendant. For example, I may commence an action against corporations X, Y and Z. Corporation X then files for bankruptcy and is entitled to an automatic stay. The question in these cases is whether the automatic stay applicable to the debtor corporation (Corporation X) also applies to the non-debtor corporations (Corporations …

May A Bankruptcy Court May Permanently Disbar An Attorney From Practicing Before Its District?, Maurice W. Sayeh

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

In most matters, the local bar association governs attorney discipline. Depending on the offense by the attorney, discipline can range from a private or public reprimand to a suspension or even disbarment. However, in special circumstances and when the court believes it must protect the general public from attorneys it finds unfit to practice, a bankruptcy court, as well as other courts, may permanently disbar an attorney from practicing before it. However this exercise of authority requires cautious judicial discretion.

Bankruptcy courts, in particular, may find the authority to discipline attorneys through multiple federal statutes, the Federal Rules of …

Duty To Advise Of The Legal Risks From Business Transactions, Nicole Strout

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

Lawyers owe specific duties to their clients, mainly with respect to reasonable legal advice. If reasonable care is not exercised by an attorney when providing legal advice and services, there is a potential for a malpractice claim against that attorney. For attorneys that represent businesses, however, legal advice can sometimes be blurred with business advice. It is important to note that lawyers are not business consultants and do not specifically owe a duty to their clients to protect them from poor business decisions. The problem occurs when it is hard to distinguish between the legal and business advice. These …

Creditor And Debtor Burdens When Confirming A Chapter 11 Reorganization Plan, Corey Trail

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

In Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after a debtor has submitted a reorganization plan, the creditor has the right to vote on that plan. However, the right to vote on that plan is grounded in the understanding that the creditor will not vote against a debtor’s reorganization plan in bad faith. If a court finds that the creditor rejected the plan in bad faith, the court may “designate” the votes of the creditor that voted against the plan. But the issue of good faith does not solely lie with the creditor’s behavior. Reorganization under Chapter 11 also demands that the debtor …

Can A Consumer Debtor Voluntarily Dismiss Own Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case?, Shane P. Walsh

Bankruptcy Research Library

(Excerpt)

Under Section 707(a) of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”), a court may dismiss a chapter 7 bankruptcy case for cause. Section 707(a) provides a list of examples of conduct that constitutes cause to guide the court in making its determination. A chapter 7 consumer debtor has the right to voluntarily dismiss his own chapter 7 case, however, that right is not absolute. When a consumer debtor seeks to voluntarily dismiss his chapter 7 case he must establish cause for dismissal under section 707(a). The court will determine whether the debtor’s voluntary motion to dismiss …

Ain't Misbehavin': Phenomenological Inquiry Into Black Male Experiences Of School, Kelly N. Ferguson

Dissertations

Disproportionate representation of Black male students in subjective areas of discipline has long been documented. Research indicates that racial disparities in discipline have been found with insufficient evidence to support that Black or other minority students are simply misbehaving more than others. Differences in cultural orientations between Black males and their predominantly White and female teachers have been linked to bias that disproportionality impacts discipline for these students. Through phenomenological inquiry, this study explored the schooling, professional, and mentoring experiences of successful Black men to better understand how schools and communities contribute to their resilience. This research sought to uncover …

Special Education Disproportionality Through A Social Lens: A Mixed Methods Approach, Marianne J. Fidishin

Dissertations

The disproportionate nature of special education, notably with African American students, is longstanding and most pronounced in judgmental eligibility categories such as intellectual disability and emotional disturbance. Numerous studies on disproportionality conclude there is not a single causative factor, but point to the multifactorial nature of the issue and the complex interplay among different factors. Research related to the role social factors exhibited in an institution have on special education referral and eligibility determination is more limited. This is important since practices employed during the eligibility process take place within the institution’s social environment and are underpinned by the beliefs …

Mechanism By Which Commensal Bacteria Limit Inflammation, Mallory Paynich

Dissertations

Trillions of bacteria live within the gastrointestinal tract and are critical for maintaining intestinal homeostasis; however, the mechanisms utilized by specific bacterial molecules to contribute to homeostasis are not well understood. We utilize a mouse model in which a single oral dose of the probiotic, Bacillus subtilis, protects mice from acute colitis induced by the enteric pathogen Citrobacter rodentium. Our goal is to elucidate the mechanism by which B. subtilis prevents inflammation.

We identified exopolysaccharides (EPS) to be the active molecule of B. subtilis, and a single dose of EPS protects mice from disease. EPS binds F4/80+CD11b+ peritoneal macrophages, and …

Improving Causal Claims In Observational Research: An Investigation Of Propensity Score Methods In Applied Educational Research, Julie Diane Wren

Dissertations

This study used existing institutional data from a large, urban, public, very high research university to compare sixteen matching schemes, built from three separate datasets, to estimate the propensity score, achieve balance between groups and test the sensitivity of the average treatment effect (ATE). For each PS model, four different conditioning strategies were applied. The first four matching schemes used commonly collected data available within a student information system (referred to as SIS dataset). The next four matching schemes combined the SIS dataset with data from an entering student survey (referred to as ESS dataset). The next four matching schemes, …

Keeping Schools Catholic: Discipleship As Paradigm For Administrators, Teachers, Staff And Students, James (Deporres) Charles Durham

Dissertations

Of the many accomplishments of the Catholic Church in the United States, one of the most known is the Catholic School System. In 1965, over 4.4 million children were educated in the 10,667 Catholic elementary schools, and almost 700,000 in the 1,527 Catholic high schools (Center for Applied Research for the Apostolate, 2013). The mission of the school was embodied, literally, in these skilled male and female religious who taught in these schools. But the number of male and female religious was not sustained, leading to the question of how the religious mission of the school will continue. The number …

Understanding Academic Achievement Among Low-Income, Urban, Black Adolescents: The Role Of Father Involvement, Patrick Henry

Master's Theses

Although the Black-White test score gap has improved over time, it still persists. Furthermore, this academic risk for Black youth is compounded by the disproportionate representation of Blacks among low-income families in the U.S. Thus, the present study aims to shed light on factors related to greater academic success among adolescents in low-income, urban, Black families. Overall, this study addresses the following question. How does the presence of a biological father and positive father involvement impact the academic achievement of their adolescent children? Data from the Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study (TCS) were analyzed in order to address …

Waiting On You: A Study Of Tipped Minimum Wages' Effects On Job Tenure Among White Restaurant Servers, John Henry Sienkiewicz

Master's Theses

Many restaurant servers do not make adequate earnings under the current tipped wage system in America. On top of this, restaurant servers largely lack benefits such as paid sick days and health insurance. Unsurprisingly, those in the food and accommodation industry exhibit among the highest rates of voluntary turnover. As research has shown that raising the non-tipped, standard minimum wage decreases employee turnover and increases overall job tenure, it follows that increases in the tipped minimum wage may increase job tenure for restaurant servers. Using survey data from nearly 1700 white restaurant servers from 2006, this multiple regression analysis shows …

Dying To Better Themselves: West Indians And The Building Of The Panama Canal, Written By Olive Senior, Michael L. Conniff

Faculty Publications, History

A book review of Dying to Better Themselves: West Indians and the Building of the Panama Canal, by Olive Senior. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press, 2014. xxiii + 416 pp. (Paper US$ 40.00)

Reframing Pictures: Reading The Art Of Appropriation, Liz Linden

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Three Years Of Unmediated Document Delivery: An Analysis And Consideration Of Collection Development Priorities, Emily Chan, Christina Mune, Yiping Wang, Susan Kendall

Faculty and Staff Publications

Like most academic libraries, San José State University Library is struggling to meet users’ rising expectations for immediate information within the financial confines of a flat budget. To address acquisition of nonsubscribed article content, particularly outside of business hours, San José State University Library implemented Copyright Clearance Center’s Get It Now, a document delivery service. Three academic years of analyzed data, which involves more than 10,000 requests, and the subsequent collection development actions taken by the library will be discussed. The value and challenges of patron-driven, unmediated document delivery services in conjunction with traditional document delivery services will be considered.

Faculty, Students, And Perceptions Of Library Value, Ann Agee, Bernd Becker

Faculty and Staff Publications

“What do you value most about the library?” A single open-ended question on a recent San José State University survey of faculty and students revealed a world of difference between what these two groups want from a library. Students valued the library for the quiet space it offered. They commented less on the library collection and more on library services. Faculty, however, valued the variety and quality of the library resources. Their responses focused on the collection, with an emphasis on the print collection’s breadth and depth. Not only did student and faculty responses differ, but among the faculty, different …

Effectiveness Of Library Staff Training On Use Of Gimlet In Reference Statistics Recording, Emily Chan, Jennifer Dinalo

Faculty and Staff Publications

This study focuses on library employees’ reference question coding accuracy. Employees were asked to code questions using the Warner Scale both before and after a library-wide training session on reference question coding. Initial results indicate that the training session had little impact on overall accuracy, but improvements were seen in specific employee demographic groups and for coding between specific question levels. Future efforts will focus on developing a more effective training model for all library employees.

Defining Success In Scholarly Communications: A Survey Of California Librarians, Emily Chan

Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Critical Literacy For Information Professionals, Ann Agee

Faculty and Staff Publications

A review of the book Critical Literacy for Information Professionals edited by Sarah McNicol. “Liberating education consists in acts of cognition, not transferrals of information,” wrote Paulo Freire in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed(Herder and Herder 1970, 79). Freire argued that rather than viewing students as empty vessels to be filled with knowledge—termed the “banking model” of education—teachers should recognize and value students’ individual perspectives and life experiences. Today’s critical literacy movement has its roots in Freire’s philosophy. When taught critical literacy methods, students begin from the viewpoint that there can be no single “correct” way to interpret information. Instead, …

Library News, Winter 2016, San Jose State University Library

Library News

No abstract provided.

Adenovirus Evasion Of Cell-Intrinsic Immunity, Andrew Michael Burrage

Dissertations

Virus cell entry represents one of the earliest opportunities for a host to respond to infection. Understanding the processes of pathogen detection and restriction employed by the host, as well as strategies utilized by the virus itself to evade such processes, is critical in developing therapeutics to counter pathogenesis. Adenovirus (Ad) infections are self-limiting in healthy populations, but can be devastating to individuals with compromised immune systems. Currently, no specific antiviral treatments exist to combat Ad infections in susceptible populations. However, because Ad infections are not severe in healthy individuals, employing replication-defective Ads as vaccine vectors is generally regarded as …

Atomic Oxygen Adsorption And Absorption On Rh(111) And Ag(111), Jonathan Derouin

Dissertations

A central question in the field of heterogeneous catalysis is how surface structure and subsurface species influence catalytic behavior. One key to answering that question is determining which surface structures and subsurface species are present under catalytically relevant conditions. This dissertation presents results of Auger electron spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction, temperature programmed desorption, and scanning tunneling microscopy experiments on oxidized Rh(111) and Ag(111) crystals. Exposing Rh(111) to O2 produced a predominately (2 × 1) adlayer, but even after extended dosing, (2 × 2) domains were also present. Exposing Rh(111) to atomic oxygen yielded O coverages greater than 0.5 ML …

United States Foreign Policy Toward Hiv/Aids In Africa: The Role Of Pharmaceutical Companies In The Formulation And Implementation Of The President’S Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (Pepfar) 2003-2008, Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula

Dissertations

During his 2003 State of the Union Address, President Bush announced his Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and asked Congress, over the next five years, to authorize the appropriation of $15 billion to provide treatment, prevention and care to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Given the existing pattern of neglect and indifference in U.S.-Africa relations and the Bush campaign’s statement in 2000 dismissing Africa from his foreign policy priorities, what then justifies his administration’s undertaking of this massive foreign policy change?

My dissertation offers insight into the role played by private US pharmaceutical companies …

Emature: Intergenerational Networks In Digital Media Spaces, Andras Lukacs

Dissertations

While the literature on adolescent usage of the Internet and mobile communication technology is burgeoning, the technological affordance of increased intergenerational contacts and intergenerational friendships received less attention. This project documents how intergenerational virtual networks operate in one particular massively multiplayer online game (World of Warcraft) from the standpoint of adolescent players. Online social worlds are similar to offline settings in a lot of ways. Users must obey certain behavioral standards and follow established rules and moral codes to participate. Despite accounts of online democracy and networked individualism, control and authority is central to the functioning of these environments. Power-relationships …

Scribal Harmonization In Greek Manuscripts Of The Synoptic Gospels From The Second To The Fifth Century, Cambry Pardee

Dissertations

Harmonization in manuscripts of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) has been recognized as a textual phenomenon since at least the late second century. This dissertation constitutes the first major catalogue of assimilated readings and provides evidence for the nature of harmonization in the earliest period of the development of the text of the New Testament.

Harmonization occurs whenever a scribe copying a Gospel by hand introduces a textual variant that reflects the influence of parallel material from another Gospel or gospel tradition. The body of this dissertation is a text-critical analysis of every harmonizing variant in the forty-four …

Development Of "Inside-Out" Pegylated Crosslinked Hemoglobin Polymers: Novel Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carriers (Hboc), Kyle Douglas Webster

Dissertations

The development of an effective blood substitute is urgent due to increasingly common blood shortages, the need to type-match donated blood, and communicable diseases (e.g. HIV) posing risks for blood transfusions around the world. There have been many attempts at creating hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOC) using a variety of techniques centered around the use of polyethylene glycol (PEG) conjugated to hemoglobin (Hb) tetramers. A novel method, “Inside-Out” PEGylation, has been developed by our lab to produce a polyethylene glycol crosslinked hemoglobin (PEG XL-Hb) polymer. This method utilizes a single PEG backbone that is surrounded by multiple proteins, instead of covering …