Digital Commons Network^™

Ultrathin Complementary Metasurface For Orbital Angular Momentum Generation At Microwave Frequencies, Menglin L.N. Chen, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Wei E.I. Sha

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electromagnetic (EM) waves with helical wave front carry orbital angular momentum (OAM), which is associated with the azimuthal phase of the complex electric field. OAM is a new degree of freedom in EM waves and is promising for channel multiplexing in the communication system. Although the OAM-carrying EM wave attracts more and more attention, the method of OAM generation at microwave frequencies still faces challenges, such as efficiency and simulation time. In this communication, by using the circuit theory and equivalence principle, we build two simplified models, one for a single scatter and one for the whole metasurface to predict …

Volterra Series-Based Time-Domain Macromodeling Of Nonlinear Circuits, Xiaoyan Y.Z. Xiong, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Jose E. Schutt-Aine, Weng Cho Chew

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Volterra series (VS) representation is a powerful mathematical model for nonlinear circuits. However, the difficulties in determining higher order Volterra kernels limited its broader applications. In this paper, a systematic approach that enables a convenient extraction of Volterra kernels from X-parameters is presented. A concise and general representation of the output response due to arbitrary number of input tones is given. The relationship between Volterra kernels and X-parameters is explicitly formulated. An efficient frequency sweep scheme and an output frequency indexing scheme are provided. The least square linear regression method is employed to separate different orders of Volterra kernels at …

When Social Enterprises Fail, Jonathan Brown

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article identifies the conflicts between social enterprise legislation and bankruptcy law and presents a normative argument for a legal regime that would harmonize the two. Focusing on benefit corporations, the most widely adopted social enterprise form, this Article observes that existing law leaves uncertainty as to the role of directors at a time of financial distress and will produce outcomes that are at odds with the core goals of social enterprise legislation. Then, drawing on academic proposals for contract-based systems of bankruptcy, this Article argues that just as a firm may opt out of a corporate governance norm of …

Ministers Of Justice And Mass Incarceration, Lissa Griffin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Over the past few years, scholars, legislators, and politicians have come to recognize that our current state of “mass incarceration” is the result of serious dysfunction in our criminal justice system. As a consequence, there has been significant attention to the causes of mass incarceration. These include the war on drugs and political decisions based on a “law and order” perspective. Congressional and state legislative enactments increased the financing of the expansion of police powers and provided for severely punitive sentencing statutes, thereby giving prosecutors uniquely powerful weapons in securing guilty pleas. All of this occurred as crime rates dropped. …

Farming And Eating, Margot J. Pollans

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This essay argues that the “us versus them” rhetoric that dominates food and agriculture policy today drives a wedge between farmers and food consumers. Together, farmers and food consumers could form a powerful coalition to challenge the true obstacle to sustainable and equitable food production: concentration of market and political power elsewhere along the food chain.

Property As Prophesy: Legal Realism And The Indeterminacy Of Ownership, John A. Humbach

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Property law, like all law, is indeterminate. This means that ownership itself is indeterminate and every owner is vulnerable to challenges based on unexpected legal rules or newly created ones. Even the most seemingly secure rights can be defeated or compromised if a clever-enough lawyer is retained to mount a challenge. The casebooks used in first-year property courses are full of examples. In the case of particularly valuable property, such as works of art, the motivation to fashion arguments to support ownership challenges is obvious. Short and strictly interpreted statutes of limitations can mitigate the risks to ownership by cabining …

"Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It . . .": Taking Law School Mission Statements Seriously, Vanessa Merton

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Learning about the process and the results of mission definition in law schools has made palpable the tension between clarity and inflexibility, candor and marketing concerns, and the specificity that fosters accountability as opposed to the generality that embraces a vague multitude of approaches to the law school endeavor. Building on the strong endorsement of the use of mission statements in the original Best Practices for Legal Education, we present some “Best Practices” for both the development and the content of law school mission statements. We hope that this piece hastens further conversation and commentary that will foster a richer …

Using Feminist Theory To Advance Equal Justice Under Law, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This essay provides an overview of the purposes, themes and scholarly methodologies evidenced at the October 2016 conference, The U.S. Feminist Judgments Project: Writing the Law, Rewriting the Future, a two-day conference hosted by the Center for Constitutional Law at the University of Akron School of Law. This essay provides some of the background to the development of the path-breaking book, Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court (Cambridge University Press, 2016). It also focuses attention on the importance of diversity on the bench, with a particular need for judges who understand or experience the intersecting relationships …

Rule Of Law In The Age Of The Drone: Requiring Transparency And Disqualifying Clandestine Actors—The Cia And The Joint Special Operations Command, Thomas Michael Mcdonnell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Since shortly after 9/11, weaponized drones have be-come part of the fabric of United States policy and practice in countering Islamic terrorist organizations and personnel. Although many diplomats, UN officials, and scholars have criticized the widespread use of this weapon system for “targeted killing,” drones are here to stay. But how much investigation and oversight must a democratic country carry out over such a program, and more critically, how can a country do so effectively when the Executive has handed primary responsibility for drone targeted killing attacks to its clandestine forces, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations …

Sex Quotas And Burkini Bans, Darren Rosenblum

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Essay recounts how feminist theorists and activists managed to write their ideals into the fabric of French law and culture, and how nonfeminists began to appropriate those ideals. Parité, the 2000 law that requires half of all candidates for public office be women, saw French feminists first engineer a change in French universalism to respect sex difference; although not wholly successful, Parité advanced women's political inclusion. Then, like a drop of water in a pond, these feminist ideas disappeared in plain sight: they became intrinsic to French state norms and public values. As they became woven into such norms, …

Foreword--Festschrift In Memory Of Dennis I. Belcher, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In academia, it is customary to honor important milestones in a colleague's career with a festschrift, a collected volume of scholarly essays or reflections on the individual's contributions to his or her field. Very often, festschrifts are assembled to celebrate a retirement, but they are also used to honor the memory of a colleague who has died. The Board of Editors of the ACTEC Law Journal unanimously agreed that our first issue of the 2017-2018 academic year should be in honor and memory of Dennis Belcher. With the encouragement and contributions of many of Dennis's friends and colleagues, we are …

In The Shadow Of A Myth: Bargaining For Same-Sex Divorce, Noa Ben-Asher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article explores a relatively new phenomenon in family law: same-sex divorce. The Article's central claim is that parties to the first wave of same-sex divorces are not effectively bargaining against the backdrop of legal dissolution rules that would govern in the absence of an agreement. In other words, to use Robert Mnookin and Lewis Kornhauser's terminology, they are not "bargaining in the shadow of the law." Instead, the Article argues, many same-sex couples today bargain in the shadow of a myth that same-sex couples are egalitarian—that there are no vulnerable parties or power differentials in same-sex divorce.

The Article …

The Life And Legacy Of Chief Judge Lawrence H. Cooke: "Truly An Exemplary Life. A Life Well Lived", Jay C. Carlisle

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

It is an appropriate tribute to the late Chief Judge of New York, Lawrence H. Cooke, that this article be devoted to a man who many leaders of the bench, bar, and academia consider to be the greatest jurist to ever serve on New York State's highest court. Chief Judge Cooke, better known as Larry, served with honor and distinction as an associate judge of the Court of Appeals, and later as Chief Judge.

When Does Sex Diversity On Boards Benefit Firms?, Darren Rosenblum

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Firms embrace diversity, especially with regard to sex. Overtly optimistic predictions of a diversity dividend, some built on sex stereotypes, lead these firms to count on profits that may never materialize. This Article attempts to reset the agenda on how to study corporate board diversity. We can only assess if and how sex diversity yields benefits by understanding the who, what, and where of diversity. Whether sex diversity produces a "diversity dividend" depends on three key factors: ( 1) the nature of the benefit of including women (whether for their experience or other qualities); (2) the kind of firm and …

The Uberization Of Arbitration Clauses, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In the early part of this decade, the Supreme Court’s decisions interpreting the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) strictly enforced predispute arbitration clauses (PDAAs) with class action waivers and so-called “delegation” provisions in consumer contracts. Just after the Court’s 2013 ruling that clauses with class action waivers did not prevent claimants from vindicating their statutory rights, Uber— a company at the heart of the “gig economy”—started inserting PDAAs in agreements with its drivers and passengers. Uber’s move has generated dozens of challenges to its clause in lawsuits across the country, and thus dozens of federal court opinions contributing to modern FAA …

Fracking Health Care: How To Safely De-Medicalize America And Recover Trapped Value For Its People, William M. Sage

Faculty Scholarship

The wealth trapped within American health care is simultaneously a tragedy and a miracle. It is a tragedy because stagnating wages, widening disparities in income, ballooning deficits, and stunted investments in education and social services make such medical profligacy shameful. It is a miracle because it still exists, whereas other U.S. economic resources of similar magnitude have already been dissipated by global market forces without addressing any of the aforementioned failings – indeed, sometimes having contributed to them. It therefore can be released and used.

It is time to “frack the health care system” and innovate the de-medicalization of America. …

The Rcep And Intellectual Property Normsetting In The Asia-Pacific, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

Commissioned for the CEIPI-ICTSD Series on Global Perspectives and Challenges for the Intellectual Property System, this article examines the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with a focus on the intellectual property norms it seeks to develop. It begins by briefly discussing the partnership’s historical origins and ongoing negotiations. It then examines the latest leaked draft of the RCEP intellectual property chapter, highlighting the key provisions concerning copyright and related rights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and undisclosed information, and intellectual property enforcement. This article concludes by exploring three scenarios concerning the future of this chapter--namely, the lack of an intellectual property …

Income Inequality In Latin America And The Caribbean: Inefficient Labor Markets And Remnants Of Racism, Vivian Tejada

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper aims to explore the key reasons as to why income inequality in Latin America is so vast. The study will investigate the various manners in which labor markets operate throughout Latin America and attempt to draw a connection between labor market inefficiency and income inequality keeping in mind the regions tumulus history with racism. Factors considered in this assessment are rate of income levels, unemployment, GDP p/capita, educational attainment, and age of labor force. The factors are accounted for in a regression model to examine the level of influence labor markets and race have on income inequality.

Effects Of Drought Conditions On Agricultural Productivity In Central And Western Tennessee, Sean Erwin

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper analyzes the relationship between agricultural productivity of farms in drought conditions. The variables used in this research include fertilizer expense, precipitation totals, and average temperature. The model integrates all of the mentioned variables and finds the connection between the land value of farms and the variables. The outcomes show that both fertilizer expense and precipitation have negative relationships to land values for farms, while average temperature has a positive relationship.

Fdi And Income Inequality In Latin America, Terese Coulon

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

The main purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between FDI and income inequality in Latin America after Operation Condor. This study uses economic panel data from seven different Latin American countries over a sixteen year time period. This study takes place from 1982 to 1997. Other variables have been included in this study to achieve the most accurate results possible. The results from this study show that FDI is significant to income inequality at the 5% significance level in Latin America during this time period. Also, the results indicate that FDI has a positive effect on income …

Fiscal Policy And Its Effects On Economic Growth, Jordan J. Smith

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth during the time horizons of 1985, 1998, and 2014. Using cross country data from a minimum of 37 countries, it is found that international trade taxes share a partial correlation with economic growth. The magnitude of this relationship is found to be positive during all time horizons, and is diminishing over time. Estimates from 2014 suggest that a 10 percentage point increase in a country’s international trade tax will grant that country a .6% increase to their economic growth rate.

An Empirical Analysis On The Effects Of Fbs College Football Success On Undergraduate Enrollment From 2000 To 2014, Liam Rice

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper investigates the theoretical connection between FBS College Football success and the undergraduate enrollment of schools in the Northeastern United States. With multiple texts qualitatively discussing the positive effects a winning football culture has on the amount of applicants an institution receives, this study attempts, using panel data, to discover quantitative connections in this field. Utilizing data from over 19 FBS colleges and universities from 2000 to 2014, this study finds that there is a significant, positive connection between undergraduate application rates and football wins, as well as championships. This study lays the foundation for future studies into the …

The Effects Of Foreign Aid On Income Inequality In Africa, Sierra Moore

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines the correlation between donations of foreign aid given to African countries and the income inequality, measured using the Gini coefficient, within those countries. A panel method is used in order to analyze trends in a number of countries over a period of time. The independent variables in this study are official developmental assistance, income group, inflation measured by CPI, polity, GDP per capita growth, and population growth. The results of this study show a negative relationship between foreign aid and income inequality, which is consistent with recent studies on the effectiveness of aid.

The Effects Of The Affordable Care Act’S Individual Mandate On Ethnic And Racial Minorities, Zack Cyr

Empirical Economic Bulletin, An Undergraduate Journal

This paper examines the quantitative impact of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate on health insurance coverage rates. This study will include race, ethnicity, and immigration status into a conventional model for predicting insurance coverage rates. This will illustrate the groups in the US population that may have been most influenced by the individual mandate, and potentially experienced the largest changes in coverage rates under the ACA. The data utilized in this research is in two pools, 2010-2011 and 2013-2014, as these are the years preceding the ACA’s implementation and directly after. The results reveal that while there was …

Unilateral Corporate Regulation, William Magnuson

Faculty Scholarship

Corporations today wield unprecedented power in politics and society, and they have a tremendous effect on human welfare around the globe. At the same time, they are increasingly difficult to regulate. Corporations are savvy and mobile, and they can relocate to avoid burdensome domestic regulation with surprising ease. The agility of corporations creates a dilemma for government decisionmakers seeking to balance the need to attract the wealth that corporations create with the desire to pursue other policy priorities. One potential approach that governments have used to address this dilemma is international cooperation, and a growing number of scholars have argued …

Class Action-Barring Mandatory Pre-Dispute Consumer Arbitration Clauses: An Example Of (And Opportunity For) Dispute System Design?, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

Ultimately, this essay will conclude that a private, ad hoc dispute system design process did lead to the insertion of class action waivers in mandatory pre-dispute consumer arbitration clauses. In-house and outside counsel certainly played key roles in initiating this process, but it is unclear that any individual lawyers could claim credit or responsibility as "designers." The representatives of dispute resolution organizations, meanwhile, played supporting roles-as providers of information and as amici in Supreme Court litigation. The essay will consider whether dispute resolution professionals could have managed their role in the process differently-and if so, why they would have managed …

Making Meaning: Towards A Narrative Theory Of Statutory Interpretation And Judicial Justification, Randy D. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

The act of judging is complex involving finding facts, interpreting law, and then deciding a particular dispute. But these are not discreet functions: they bleed into one another and are thus interdependent. This article aims to reveal-at least in part-how judges approach this process. To do so, I look at three sets of civil RICO cases that align and diverge from civil antitrust precedents. I then posit that the judges in these cases base their decisions on assumptions about RICO's purpose. These assumptions, though often tacit and therefore not subject to direct observation, are nonetheless sometimes revealed when a judge …

Khaled Hosseini, Keigo Higashino, And Zoe Ferraris: Social Concealment, Personal Revelation, And Community Guilt, John C. Hawley

English

Detective novels, while generally considered to be pulp fiction and therefore worthy of less academic attention, nonetheless lay bare the reader’s interest in getting to the so-called truth. Even the inclusion of “red herrings” and false leads serves to entice a deeper commitment to proving the existence of what “really” happened. They are, therefore, escapist in the sense that they tease readers to reject the underpinnings of deconstruction and poststructuralism and allow, at least for the limited duration of the reading, a comforting illusion that there are larger truths that an actual “self” can discern and pin down. This need …

Probabilistic Analysis And Verification Framework For Adaptive Flight Control, Mario Luca Fravolini, Tansel Yucelen, Marcello Napolitano

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A crucial aspect that could facilitate the applications of adaptive control systems in aerospace applications is the development of effective validation and verification procedures. Most of the existing analysis and design frameworks for adaptive controllers are based on the Lyapunov direct method. One well-known drawback of this approach is the conservatism in the estimation of the uniform ultimate boundedness region with little practical utility. To overcome this limitation, a probabilistic framework for the design of uniform ultimate boundedness regions is proposed where uncertain parameters and adaptive controls are considered as random variables. In this framework, the design is translated into …

Plume Characterization Of Electric Solid Propellant Pulsed Microthrusters, Matthew S. Glascock, Joshua L. Rovey, Shae Williams, Jason Thrasher

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electric solid propellants are an attractive option for propulsion because they are ignited only by an applied electric current. This leads to capabilities such as on-demand throttling and reignition in chemical combustion operation, and it lends itself to application in electric propulsion. In this work, the plasma plume created by electric solid propellant pulsed micro thrusters is investigated using a nude Faraday probe, a triple Langmuir probe, and residual gas analysis. The thrusters are tested at a vacuum level of 2 x 10-5torr. Results indicate an average plume electron temperature of 1.7 eV and a density of 1011 to 1014cm-3. …