Digital Commons Network^™

A Survey Of Dissolved Oxygen In Groundwater During Drought Conditions, Barton Springs Segment Of The Edwards Aquifer, Central Texas, Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

Assessing Post-Ada Employment: Some Econometric Evidence And Policy Considerations, Christopher L. Griffin Jr., John J. Donohue Iii, Michael Ashley Stein, Sascha Becker

Faculty Scholarship

This article explores the relationship between the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the relative labor market outcomes for people with disabilities. Using individual-level longitudinal data from 1981 to 1996 derived from the previously unexploited Panel Study of Income Dynamics (“PSID”), we examine the possible effect of the ADA on (1) annual weeks worked; (2) annual earnings; and (3) hourly wages for a sample of 7120 unique male household heads between the ages of 21 and 65 as well as a subset of 1437 individuals appearing every year from 1981 to 1996. Our analysis of the larger sample suggests the …

Four Constitutional Limits That The Minimum Coverage Provision Respects, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

Opponents of the minimum coverage provision in the Affordable Care Act charge that if Congress can require most people to obtain health insurance or pay a certain amount of money, then Congress can impose whatever mandates it wishes—or, at least, whatever purchase mandates it wishes. This Essay refutes that claim by identifying four limits on the Commerce Clause that the minimum coverage provision honors. Congress may not use its commerce power: (1) to regulate noneconomic subject matter; (2) to impose a regulation that violates constitutional rights, including the right to bodily integrity; (3) to regulate at all, including by imposing …

Adopting The "Other": A Peculiar U.S. Orientalism In The Response To The Circassian War, 1838-1859, Christopher L. Miller

History Faculty Publications

This study seeks to complicate the rather one-dimensional character of so-called "Orientalist" discourse as outlined by Edward Said by examining the way in which periodical literature in the United States during the early nineteenth century looked at a particular set of events in a particular region of the Greater Middle East: the so-called Circassian War in the Caucasus Mountains. There clearly was a variety of U.S. Orientalism that was partially a product of an imperialist project, though only partially. The attention paid to the Circassian War by nineteenth-century U.S. newspapers and magazines provides a unique window for understanding how and …

Courting The Iron Horse: How The United States Exacted Limited Controls Over The Railroads In The Second World War, Carl Nieman

Honors Capstones

This thesis explores the extent of US Government control over the railroads during the Second World War. The purpose of this project is to discover how much government regulation there was regarding the railroads and how intrusive it was. This is achieved by looking over government documents between 1930 and 1950. These documents were reviewed and were assessed on how intrusive they were or were not and also the period in which they were wrote, during the war or before or after, was also taken into account. The findings of this thesis were that the US Government did increase its …

Israel And The United States A Study, John A. Kissane

Honors Capstones

There has been no greater relationship in the last half of the twentieth century and currently than the relationship between the United States and Israel. Both parties do benefit from the relationship, but the benefits that Israel receives surpass the benefits that the United States receives in turn. The purpose of this Capstone thesis was to explore the problematic relationship between the two nations and how the relationship could be alter to benefit both nations equally. The method of research was the reading and analysis of policy makers from Israel and the United States, government documents and research orchestrated from …

Jurisdictional Discovery In Transnational Litigation: Extraterritorial Effects Of United States Federal Practice, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

This article describes the device in detail, distinguishing it both practically and theoretically from methods used in other common law systems to establish jurisdiction, and discusses how recent US Supreme Court precedent provides international actors with the means of limiting or avoiding this potentially burdensome procedure.

Labor Markets In Transition: Science And Migration After The Collapse Of The Soviet Union: Dissertation Summary, Ina Ganguli

Dissertation Awards

The author studies the collapse of the Soviet Union to shed light on the behavior of workers and the human capital they embody. The first two essays concern the behavior of scientists. Using information from the earliest large-scale grant program for Soviet scientists, the author employs a regression discontinuity design to obtain causal estimates of the impact of grants. Findings show that the grants more than doubled researcher publications and induced scientists to remain in the science sector. The second essay studies the unprecedented exodus westward of scientists after the end of the USSR and examines both the selection of …

A Surfer’S Guide To Us Foreign Policy In Egypt, Or Has Obama Been Snookered?, Craig Scott

Comparative Research in Law & Political Economy

This short article (3800 words, including 14 footnotes) was written and published on February 8, 2011, by OpenDemocracy.net, and may be republished with attribution for non-commercial purposes following the Creative Commons guidelines. OpenDemocracy.net’s summary blurb reads: “Reading the Washington runes. What happened with Mr. Wisner, Egypt lobbyist and Obama's special envoy to Mubarak? Is this an ugly farce, an ethical travesty or a cronyistic scandal?” The purpose of the article is to explore two hypotheses surrounding the sending by President Obama of former US Ambassador to Egypt, Frank Wisner, as Obama’s envoy to President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt during the …

Taking Tea With Torturers, Craig Scott

Comparative Research in Law & Political Economy

This working paper (3000 words, including 19 footnotes) was written on January 29-31, 2011, as events unfolded in Egypt. It was published in the present version as an article on January 31, 2011, by OpenDemocracy, and may be republished with attribution for non-commercial purposes following the Creative Commons guidelines. The article’s sub-title is “From the Shah of Iran to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister to Egypt’s Mubarak, cozy relationships in US foreign policy need to be questioned.” Its point of departure is the Thatcher-Pinochet friendship, which is related to Hillary Clinton's interview in Egypt in 2009 when she downplayed the US …

From Sweetwater To Seawater: An Environmental History Of Narragansett Bay, 1636--1849, Christopher L. Pastore

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines environmental change on and around Narragansett Bay from first European settlement in 1636 to the dissolution of the Blackstone Canal Company in 1849. It uses one of the largest estuaries on the East Coast and one situated at the heart of early English settlement in New England as a means to write estuaries into Atlantic history. Examining the ecological and epistemological complexities that arose at the nexus of land and sea, where improvable space and the push of "progress" met an eternal or "profound" ocean, this study reframes estuaries as watery borderlands that people used but never …

The Origins Of American History In The Early Modern English Atlantic World, Ian J. Aebel

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is the story of how the English wrote the history of America between c. 1500 and c. 1700. Utilizing printed and manuscript sources, it argues that writing American history allowed English writers to navigate, negotiate, and contest the terms of a developing Atlantic empire. In doing so, the English created a vision of America to compete with the dominant Spanish narrative by the end of the seventeenth century.

The existence of America gave the English an opportunity to explore the prospect of overseas empire. After the Columbian encounter, English thinkers and writers transformed their historical methodology to accommodate …

Defining Civil Disputes: Lessons From Two Jurisdictions, Elizabeth G. Thornburg, Camille Cameron

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Court systems have adopted a variety of mechanisms to narrow the issues in dispute and expedite litigation. This article analyses the largely unsuccessful attempts in two jurisdictions - the United States and Australia - to achieve early and efficient issue identification in civil disputes. Procedures that rely on pleadings to provide focus have failed for centuries, from the common (English) origins of these two systems to their divergent modern paths. Case management practices that are developing in the United States and Australia offer greater promise in the continuing quest for early, efficient dispute definition. Based on a historical and contemporary …

The Paradoxes Of Dodd-Frank, James D. Cox

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Securities Class Actions As Public Law, James D. Cox

Faculty Scholarship

The Political Economy of Fraud on the Market provides a wide-ranging criticism of and thoughtful reforms for securities class actions....However, both their critique of contemporary class actions and their model of the reforms they propose leave unexamined a good many matters relevant to both the criticism and reform of securities class actions....Bratton and Wachter earn high marks for being less passionate and much more thoughtful than others in the chorus calling for reform; indeed, their observations are among the most thoughtful to be found in this area. Nonetheless, their analysis is incomplete in many important areas, and in addition to …

What Is The Emperor Wearing? The Secret Lives Of Ecosystem Services, James Salzman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Symposium Introduction, Stephen Yale-Loehr

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

A profile of law professor and author John F. Murphy is presented, including information on his educational background, his teaching experience at institutions such as the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and his authorship of several books and monographs. Murphy's selection as a recipient of the 2011 Louis B. Sohn Award for Public International Law is also mentioned.

The Role Of International Law And Practice In Addressing International Tax Issues In The Global Era, Charles H. Gustafson

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

The article discusses the role of international law and practice in deciphering complex international tax policy and administration issues as of July 2011. An August 2009 deal between the U.S. and Switzerland, known as the U.S.-Swiss Agreement, is also mentioned. The international law of jurisdiction is examined as it relates to the issue of double taxation.

The United States And International Law: The United Nations Finds A Home, Mark Weston Janis

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

An essay is presented on the relationship between the U.S. and the United Nations (UN) as of July 2011, focusing on the commitment of the U.S. to international law and international organization, as well as a historical overview of the UN and its facilities in the U.S. John F. Murphy's book "The United States and the Rule of Law in International Affairs" is also mentioned.

Paul Timmermans On Invisible War: The United States And The Iraq Sanctions. By Joy Gordon. Cambridge, Ma: Harvard University Press, 2010. 359 Pp., Paul Timmermans

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions. By Joy Gordon. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010. 359 pp.

Fp-11-05 Adoptive Parents In The U.S., 2007, Elizabeth J. Ela

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Fp-11-03 Adopted Children In The U.S., 2007, Elizabeth J. Ela

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Third-Party Financing On Transnational Litigation, Cassandra Burke Robertson

Faculty Publications

Third-party litigation finance is a growing industry. The practice, also termed “litigation lending,” allows funders with no other connection to the lawsuit to invest in a plaintiff’s claim in exchange for a share of the ultimate recovery. Most funding agreements have focused on domestic litigation in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. However, the industry is poised for growth worldwide, and the recent environmental lawsuit brought by Ecuadorian plaintiffs against Chevron demonstrates that litigation funding is also beginning to play a role in transnational litigation.

This article, prepared for a symposium on “International Law in Crisis,” speculates about …

Homestead National Monument, Vegetation Classification [Map], United States National Park Service

United States National Park Service: Publications

Color graphic vegetation map of Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, Nebraska, USA. Created as part of the Homestead NM of America Vegetation Mapping Project in April and May 2011. Includes a color-coded vegetation classification.

Federalism And U.S. Participation In Intergovernmental Efforts To Unify Private Law, Peter H. Pfund

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

The article discusses federalism and the participation of the U.S. in the intergovernmental private law unification process as of July 2011, focusing on the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the role of the U.S. State Department in facilitating changes to state laws in the U.S., and the view of the U.S. towards private international law (PIL) conventions. The United Nations (UN) Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is also mentioned.

Medical Encounter Characteristics Of Hiv Seroconverters In The Us Army And Air Force, 2000–2004, Shilpa Hakre, David Brett-Major, Darrell E. Singer, Robert J. O'Connell, Warren B. Sateren, Jose L. Sanchez, Brian K. Agan, Nelson L. Michael, Paul T. Scott

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Active duty US Army and Air Force military personnel undergo mandatory biennial HIV antibody screening. We compared pre- and post-HIV seroconversion health status by conducting a case-control study, which evaluated all medical encounters and sociodemographic factors among incident HIV seroconverters and HIV-negative controls from June 2000 through February 2004.

RESULTS: A total of 274 HIV seroconverters and 6205 HIV-negative personnel were included. In multivariate analysis restricted to male personnel (cases = 261, controls = 5801), single marital status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 14.37), clinical indicators or symptoms within four years of HIV diagnosis (AOR = 6.22), …

Results Of C14 Analysis [Of] Big Room Guano Deposits, Patricia Jablonsky

KIP Data Sets and Technical Reports

The author describes the results of efforts to accurately date guano deposits found in the Big Room of Carlsbad Caverns. Open Access - Permission by Author(s) See Extended description for more information.

Proceedings Of The 2011 U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas, April 26-29, 2011 Usgs Karst Interest Group Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5031, Eve L. Kuniansky

KIP Talks and Conferences

Contents: Introduction and Acknowledgments -- Agenda U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group and University of Arkansas Hydro Days Workshops. SpeleogenesisPaleokarst of the USA: A Brief Review / Arthur N. Palmer and Margaret V. Palmer. Karst in coastal Zones: Influence of Tides and Salinity on the Discharge at the Coastal Spring Creek Springs Group and the Connection to Discharge at the Inland Wakulla Springs, Wakulla County, Florida / J. Hal Davis and Richard J. Verdi -- Revised Hydrogeologic Framework for the Floridan Aquifer System in the Northern Coastal Areas of Georgia and Parts of South Carolina / Harold E. Gill and …

The Implications Of Padilla V. Kentucky On Practice In United States District Courts, Judge Robert Pratt

Saint Louis University Public Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Promise And The Reality: Exploring Virtual Schooling In Rural Jurisdictions, Michael Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

The history of online learning at the K-12 level is almost as long as its history at the post-secondary level, with the first virtual school programs beginning in the early 1990s. While these opportunities were designed as a way to provide rural students with access to more specialized courses, as opportunities have become organized into virtual or cyber schools the nature of students served by these institutions have broadened. Unlike online learning in general, much less is known about virtual schooling – even less of which is based on systematic research. Regardless, the growth and practice of virtual schooling has …