Digital Commons Network^™

Establishing A Right To Civil Transcription, Shruti Bax

University of Chicago Law Review

Court reporters have long been a fixture of American jurisprudence, but tightening state budgets and a nationwide shortage of certified reporters have left many state court civil proceedings without any form of verbatim transcription at public expense. While litigants with means can hire private court reporters to accompany them to their proceedings, indigent parties must go without—even though the absence of a transcript is often deadly to one’s chances of prevailing on appeal, no matter how meritorious the claim.

In the 1956 case Griffin v. Illinois, the Supreme Court held that the principle of equal justice demands that “[d]estitute defendants …

Ox Creek Nutrients, Geochemistry And Streamflow Raw Data, Md Helal Ahmmed, Tyson L. Jeannotte, Taufique H. Mahmood

Datasets

This dataset contains hydrologic, nutrient, and hydrogeochemical observations collected from the Ox Creek Watershed, a cold-region agricultural watershed in North Dakota, from 2024 to 2026. The dataset includes laboratory-measured nutrient concentrations and major hydrogeochemical constituents from collected water samples and in situ water-level measurements. The observations span contrasting hydrologic conditions, including spring snowmelt and summer rainfall-runoff events. The dataset supports investigation of how changes in runoff regimes, hydrologic pathways, and hydrogeochemical conditions influence nutrient mobilization and transport in cold-region agricultural watersheds.

"When The Methodist Came To Lawrence Hill", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Writings

Speech outline about the Methodist history of Lawrence Hill, a settlement on LaGrange Mountain, in Leighton, Alabama. The location was the former site of the University of North Alabama's predecessor LaGrange College before its relocation to Florence in Lauderdale County, Alabama and series of name changes.

"The Trail Of Tears" (1999), William Lindsey Mcdonald

Writings

Speech, speech outline, article, and related memorabilia commemorating the sorrow of the Trail of Tears and Commemorative Motorcycle Ride ending in Waterloo, Alabama. The pdf compilation also includes a "5th Annual Trail of Tears Pow Wow" letter signed "Your Brother, Thunderheart"

"Green Hill's Golden Era Of Gun Shops", William Lindsey Mcdonald

Writings

Speech outline and article that discusses the history of gun shops in Green Hill, Alabama and the surrounding vicinity. Notably, the outline mentions the Kennedy Gun Factory, a remnant of the gun factory's legacy, a family home, remains as a historic landmark in Florence, Alabama now recognized as the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts on the campus of the University of North Alabama view the historical marker here.

September 2026 Bulldog Alumni & Friends News, Kari Jones, Garrett King

Bulldog Alumni & Friends News

September 11 SWOSU Charitable Hunt

October 30-31 SWOSU Homecoming

November 5 SWOSU Near You: Elk City

November 13 Shoot For The Stars Sporting Clay Shoot

September 2026, Swosu Rural Health Center

RURAL ROCKS

Introducing Hilltop Health: Connecting Campus, Community & Care

This fall marks an exciting new chapter for SWOSU Hilltop Health as services and partnerships continue to grow within the Jerry & Margaret Hodge College of Pharmacy and Rural Health Center. Designed to create a more connected approach to health and wellness, Hilltop Health brings together healthcare access, prevention, education, and community resources while creating new opportunities for collaboration across SWOSU and western Oklahoma.

Unique Pharmaceutical Laboratories (A Div. of J. B. Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd.) Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall of Cetirizine Hydrochloride Tablets USP 5 mg Due to Potential Cross Contamination …

The Cross-Section Of Empirical Evidence And Personal Experience: A Deeper Look At School Resource Officers Through The Lens Of Demarcus A. Jenkins' Research On The Public Opinion Of Their Potential Removal From Public Schools, Quin Armstrong

University Honors Theses

Following the 2020 Black Lives Matter and Anti-Police movements, there were many discussions across the nation about possible changes to law enforcement operations. Among these discussions included specific discussions about what to do about law enforcement officers stationed in schools. These law enforcement officers are known as school resource officers, or SROs.

The focus of this thesis is specifically on Portland, Oregon's Portland Public School (PPS) district's decision to sever ties with the Portland Police Bureau, and what may have contributed to that ultimate decision. This is accomplished through an analysis of a research paper written by fellow Criminal Justice …

“Voices Of Tomorrow”: A Youth Participatory Action Research Study Of A Middle School Advisory In An Urban Public Charter School, Seth Hull

Theses and Dissertations

Urban middle schools often grapple with how to create spaces that affirm students’ identities and foster authentic engagement within a broader landscape shaped by standardized testing and accountability pressures. This dissertation examines Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and advisory as two relationally grounded practices that can address these challenges. Grounded in critical hope (Zembylas, 2013), culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2017), and community responsive education (Duncan-Andrade, 2022), the study explores the experiences of 12 middle school students who spent seven months investigating their school’s advisory program as student-researchers, as well as the findings that emerged about advisory. Data sources …

Thermal And Electrical Properties Of (Cr,Mo,Ta,V,W)C High-Entropy Carbide Ceramics, Ali Sarikhani, Steven M. Smith, Suzana Filipovic, William G. Fahrenholtz, Gregory E. Hilmas

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The synthesis and characterization along with the resulting properties of fully dense (Cr,Mo,Ta,V,W)C high entropy carbide ceramics were studied. The ceramics were synthesized from metal oxide and carbon powders by carbothermal reduction, followed by spark plasma sintering at various temperatures for densification. Increasing the densification temperature resulted in grain growth and an increase in the lattice parameter. Thermal diffusivity increased linearly with testing temperature, resulting in thermal conductivity values ranging from ∼7 W/m•K at room temperature to ∼12 W/m•K at 200 °C. Measured heat capacity values matched theoretical estimates calculated using the Neumann-Kopp rule. Room temperature electrical resistivity decreased from …

The Application Of Machine Learning And Deep Learning On Demand Forecasting Across Time-Critical Industries: A Systematic Review, Asmaa Seyam, Sujith Samuel Mathew, May El Barachi, Cheng Zhang, Jun Shen

All Works

The applications of machine learning and deep learning in demand forecasting have attracted increasing attention, as they offer remarkable predictive capabilities that help automate forecasting processes and achieve higher accuracy. While numerous review studies have examined solutions within specific industries, there is a lack of comprehensive literature review investigating these solutions across different sectors. Therefore, this study overviews machine learning and deep learning applications in demand forecasting across time-critical industries, including power, tourism, water, transportation, and food. A two-tier classification framework is proposed to categorize demand forecasting studies by both application industry and methodological architecture. In addition, the most popular …

Radiological Safety Assessment Of Gamma Spectroscopy Based Spent Fuel Burnup Analysis At The Itu Triga Mark Ii Reactor, T. Akyurek, Z. Boduroglu, A. Kaya, O. Erbay, I. A. Reyhancan, M. S. Kiziltas, S. Ozcan

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study investigates radiological safety and photon attenuation behavior during spent fuel inspection and burnup analysis at the ITU TRIGA Mark II Research Reactor. A lead-shielded fuel inspection system equipped with an HPGe detector was used to perform remote gamma spectroscopy on spent fuel elements, ensuring operator safety. Dose rate measurements were taken using a handheld radiation monitor at both the surface and at a distance of 1 m from the inspection system for each fuel element. The highest contact dose rate was observed for the B4 element (6.68 ± 0.60 μSv/h), while the lowest was for F30 (2.4 ± …

Borders And Bids: Assessing How Competition In Transportation Projects Is Shaped By The Presence Of Out-Of-State Contractors, Mariam Elazhary, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Competitive bidding in transportation construction is vital for securing better value for money and higher-quality proposals. Prior research has attempted to encourage more competition by proposing novel delivery methods, contractual incentives, or alternative bidder profiles. However, one viable bidder profile, which has received limited attention in the literature, is to encourage cross-border participation to expand the pool of qualified firms and thereby increase competition. While, in theory, this may improve economic efficiency, the inclusion of more out-of-state contractors (OSCs) is not costless. The goal of this paper is to assess whether participation by OSCs is associated with strengthening competition in …

Data-Driven Analysis For Managing Causes Of Disputes In Nuclear Power Plant Construction Projects, Mahmoud S. Mansour, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Nuclear energy remains a key element of the energy mix in the United States (US) and other parts of the world, with renewed and increased interest in recent years, driven by rising energy demand across various sectors. This is due to its capabilities of generating a vast amount of reliable and carbon-free electricity, which are crucial advantages as compared to other energy sources. However, nuclear power plant (NPP) projects involve unique risks and complexities that have long hindered their progress and shaped dispute dynamics differently from other construction sectors. Despite extensive research on construction disputes, there is a lack of …

Parallel Failures: The Recurring Logic Of Interventionist Blunders From Ukraine To Mexico, Jerjes Aguirre Ochoa, Jorge Alejandro Vázquez Valdez

Journal of Strategic Security

This article argues that a potential US military intervention in Mexico, predicated on securitizing cartels as terrorist threats, would replicate strategic failures seen in interventions like Russia’s in Ukraine. Through a comparative framework of three variables—securitization, underestimated nationalist resistance, and neglected co-responsibility—the analysis shows how external force applied to structural crises provokes nationalist backlash. In Mexico, any intervention would reactivate historical memory of US interference, triggering broad institutional and social resistance. The core security challenge is not the cartels but Mexico's institutional fragility: systemic impunity, subnational governance deficits, and weak checks and balances. Therefore, militarized approaches are counterproductive. As a …

Why Sports Participation Matters For Girls In Urban Core Public Schools, David Mcleod, Angela B. Pharris, David Crynes, Emmy Hufnagel, Eddie Wright, Sabrina Hynd, Tim Mclaughlin

Journal of Youth Development

Sports participation plays a critical role in supporting academic success, school engagement, and social-emotional well-being, particularly for girls in urban core public school settings. This study examines the relationship between athletic participation and academic outcomes, attendance, and social-emotional functioning in a large urban public school district during the post-COVID period. Findings indicate that student-athletes outperform non-athlete peers across multiple indicators, including grade point average, enrollment in advanced coursework, and school attendance. Female athletes, in particular, demonstrate stronger academic performance and more favorable social-emotional outcomes compared to female non-athletes. Despite these advantages, a pronounced decline in girls’ sports participation occurs between …

Connected But Disconnected: A Covid-19 Youth Participatory Action Research Study, Vianney Atugonza, Jodi Dworkin, Stacey S. Horn, Joanna A. Tzenis, Samantha Lebouef

Journal of Youth Development

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced most schools across the U.S. to close and transition to remote learning. Families were forced to transform their homes into classrooms while facing challenges to their health, finances, and social connections. To better understand how young people experienced these changes, a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project was employed to engage young people in naming, exploring, and sharing their experiences during this time. Nine high school youth leaders were trained as researchers to conduct interviews with their peers. These youth scholars were also trained on how to code, sort, and disseminate data and results. …

Exploring 21st-Century Skills In A Summer Camp: A Qualitative Methodological Triangulation Approach, Alexander Bowman, Jing Song

Journal of Youth Development

Despite the recognized importance of 21st-century skills and the substantial body of research on these skills, little is known about how to identify growth in these skills. The lack of reliable methods to measure 21st-century skill growth presents a challenge for the design of relevant learning environments and for evaluating if such learning environments are effective. Using a qualitative methodological triangulation approach, this study explored camp counselors’ learning processes. Using a systematic data integration method, field observations were synthesized with participant reflections about how their skills develop. Data were collected from 13 high-school-aged junior camp counselors at a summer camp …

Becoming Who I Am: How Youth Leadership Experiences Shape Lifelong Leadership Journeys, Dustin Evatt, Deborah Acker, Parker R. Watson, Jennifer T. Peters

Journal of Youth Development

Youth leadership experiences have the power to shape individuals’ values, identities, and leadership behaviors well into adulthood, yet limited empirical research has examined how these formative experiences contribute to leadership development over time. This study examines the long-term impact of youth leadership experiences using the six-stage Leadership Identity Development (LID) model as a guiding and interpretive framework by exploring the journeys of alumni from the Shelton Challenge, a six-day immersive high school leadership program at NC State University rooted in values-based and positive youth development (PYD) principles. Using narrative inquiry, we conducted interviews and focus groups with 30 alumni ages …

4-H Program Staff Perceptions Of Including Youth With Disabilities, Brittney Muschetto, Amy Leman

Journal of Youth Development

This study’s focus is to examine 4-H youth development county program staff’s perceptions of the inclusion of youth with disabilities in the Illinois 4-H program. The majority of program staff identified positive perceptions about including youth with disabilities in 4-H. However, they also noted that there was a need for more staff training to adequately include youth with disabilities in 4-H programming. As more youth are being diagnosed with disabilities, 4-H must continue to improve its knowledge and skills to make 4-H inclusive to all youth.

A Hip-Hop-Based Workshop Cultivates Urban Underserved Youths’ Critical Consciousness Around Food Systems, Jacob Rowell, Hannah Scherer, Kim Niewolny, Anthony Kwame Harrison, Kendrick Spencer

Journal of Youth Development

Hip hop is social commentary and critique that highlights the complexity of issues within society, including systemic inequity in the food system, which disproportionately affects urban and African American populations. After-school and non-formal programs are innovative educational opportunities to engage youth in learning about and addressing local problems through culturally-relevant program design and enactment of critical pedagogy. To meaningfully connect middle-school-aged urban youth, their lived experiences, and inequities in the food system, we designed a hip-hop-based workshop and delivered it in an established afterschool program. In this qualitative case study, we explored participants’ critical consciousness related to the food system …

Joining Forces:A Research-Practice Partnership For Out-Of-School Time, Julián C. Alonso Restrepo, Trevor Bopp, Diedre F. Houchen, Chanae Jackson, Sunshine Moss, Rose M. Pringle, Christine Wegner

Journal of Youth Development

This article describes the development and early implementation of the Youth Development Research-Practice Partnership (YDRPP), a collaboration between university researchers and the Better Out-of-School Time (BOOST) Alliance in Alachua County, Florida. Established to address persistent racial and socioeconomic disparities affecting youth, the partnership used a collaborative qualitative assessment to identify local youth needs, program strengths, and organizational challenges. Findings revealed that practitioners viewed academic support, mental health, social-emotional development, positive adult relationships, physical activity, life skills, and workforce preparation as the most pressing needs of youth. Programs responded through holistic offerings that included tutoring, mentoring, trauma-informed practices, recreation, career readiness, …

A Billion People In The Shadows: Understanding Disability, Kelly Dziak

Journal of Youth Development

The disability community is the largest minority group and encompasses people of all ages and backgrounds. Despite its size, members of this community frequently encounter social, educational, and economic barriers that limit opportunities for full participation. Youth development programs have the potential to support skill-building and foster a sense of belonging. However, professionals often face challenges to effectively support individuals with disabilities including limited training and accessibility barriers. A Billion People in the Shadows: The Ultimate 1-Hour Guide to Understanding Disability by Doug McCullough provides practical guidance for improving understanding and support for this population. Drawing on personal experiences with …

Between Markets And Maritime Might: India’S Engagements In The Indo-Pacific’S Emerging Order, Akriti Khajuria, Arushi Anthal

Journal of Strategic Security

In the strategic landscape of the Indo-Pacific, economic cooperation and security imperatives often converge in complex and sometimes conflicting ways. This strategic region has emerged as a critical arena where global and regional powers alike pursue economic engagement while recalibrating security postures in response to shifting geopolitical currents. Within this dynamic environment, India occupies a pivotal position as an emerging power seeking to reconcile its economic aspirations with evolving security challenges. This article explores how India negotiates the interplay between deepening economic integration, especially with major actors such as China and the US, while maintaining strategic autonomy and sovereignty. Anchored …

Structural Dependency: Nato, Defense Industry Politics, And Europe’S Stagnation, Diane M. Zorri

Journal of Strategic Security

Europe’s defense industrial base (DIB) weaknesses are commonly attributed to underinvestment, fragmented policies, or a lack of European cohesiveness. This article advances an alternative explanation: European defense industrial dependency has emerged through institutionalized alliance structures that systematically privileged US capabilities and incentives, becoming self-reinforcing and difficult for European actors to exit, even as their strategic preferences evolved. Drawing on dependency theory, path dependence, and theories of alliance politics, this article argues that transatlantic security arrangements established during the early Cold War, most notably NATO’s integrated command structures, defense procurement norms, and interoperability requirements, have generated long-lasting asymmetries in production, technology, …

Reinterpreting The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Dispute In The Nile Basin Through The Game Theories Of Attrition And Bargaining, Olileanya Amuche Ezugwu, Felix C. Chidozie, Adeola A. Adebajo

Journal of Strategic Security

Why have more than a decade of negotiations, mediation efforts, and diplomatic interventions failed to produce a binding agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)? This article examines the hydro-politics of the Nile Basin through the lens of game theory, focusing on how bargaining behavior, strategic persistence, and competing perceptions of gains and losses shape state interactions. Drawing on the game of attrition and the bargaining game, the study analyzes the evolving strategies of Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan in the context of dam construction, filling, and operation. Rather than viewing the dispute solely as a contest over water allocation, …

Complex Adaptive Resilience And Asymmetrical Balancing: Russia And The 2022 Sanctions Regime, Renny Puspitarini, Sartika Soesilowati, Kacung Marijan, Ahmad Iskandar Rahmansyah

Journal of Strategic Security

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted unprecedented Western sanctions, which amounted to more than 23,000 sanctions during 2022-2024. However, these sanctions failed to fulfill their designated objective of influencing the end of the Russia-Ukraine War. Russian responses to progressively augmented sanctions have sparked debates surrounding microeconomic sovereignty, macroeconomic adaptability, and, foremost, resilience. The article’s findings reveal that while sanctions have not brought the Russian Federation to acquiesce, they have catalyzed a structural, politically induced policy shift into a Complex Adaptive Resilience (CAR) framework. Russia's ability to build resilience against sanctions has been manifested structurally in its strategy to reinforce …

A More Perfect Union: An Examination Of The Film, Salt Of The Earth, And The American Labor Movement, Amber Montgomery

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

This paper examines the film, Salt of the Earth, which is based on the actual events of the Mine-Mill strike that took place in Hanover, New Mexico, in 1949. The strike was organized by Mexican workers with the help of their wives. The fight was over workers’ rights, as well as their dignity. At the same time, another fight was taking place. The wives of these miners were also seeking equality within their marriages, serving as a parallel narrative to the strike. To understand the environment at this time, this paper will also analyze American politics during this period, …

Proxy End-Of-Life Decision-Making: Ethical, Religious And Existential Dimensions, Deborah Kaufman Giordano

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

End-of-life decision-making conducted by medical proxies on behalf of incapacitated loved ones presents profound theological, ethical, and existential challenges. In the qualitative study “Influence of Culture and Spiritual Tradition on Support for Families of Children Dying in Intensive Care Units” (Journal of Pediatric Nursing), Ju et al found that the most painful moment for parents and proxies was not the death itself, but the agonizing decision to withdraw life-sustaining treatment. As a hospital chaplain, I have witnessed these moments where faith, culture, and medical ethics collide. This paper argues that proxy decision-making cannot be understood solely through the lens of …

Evaluating The Case Against Fda Independence, Patricia J. Zettler, Rachel E. Sachs

Utah Law Review

Many former FDA officials, both politically-appointed leaders and those from the career ranks, as well as numerous FDA scholars have advocated for increased FDA independence in varied forms, and for good reason. At the same time, there are advantages to FDA’s current structure, and there may be ways to insulate career scientific experts’ decisions from political influence and to address other problems by generating independence, without overhauling the agency’s design. Policymakers should consider all options, as particular independence features may, or may not, be the best way, to address concerns about FDA’s capacity to carry out its vital public health …