Digital Commons Network^™

Tort Law Developments, Maine Law Review

Maine Law Review

Any discussion of recent tort law developments in Maine should begin with the abrogation of sovereign immunity, for in the timing of that far-reaching act the Law Court revealed the essence of its approach to this entire area, at once expanding liability while ensuring its careful limitation. Other progressive changes, such as the judicial creation of a new tort remedy in the cause of action for invasion of privacy, have also been hedged with restrictions. Similarly, in charting the development of legislatively created or enlarged grounds of liability in such realms as products liability or owners' and occupiers' duties to …

The Use Of Federal Habeas Corpus In Child Custody Disputes, Maine Law Review

Maine Law Review

Inability to enforce child custody decrees on a nationwide basis has created an unfortunate and well-publicized anomaly in the law. A parent disappointed with one state's award of custody may remove the child to another jurisdiction, gambling that the second state's courts will decline to enforce the original decree. Of the several remedies that have been suggested to relieve this situation, federal habeas corpus remains among the least explored. The use of federal habeas corpus in child custody disputes raises two questions central to every federal jurisdictional controversy: Do the federal courts have power to entertain the action? If the …

An Investigation Into The Effects Of Explosive Based Shockwaves And Heat Generation Imparted On Bomb Squad Helmets, Aaron James Champion

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Scowl - V. 88 N. 18 - April 3, 2025

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 88 No. 18 - April 3, 2025. 20 pages.

The Secret Service Industry: Reimagining Trade Secret Protections To Curb Exploitation In The Hospitality Industry, Caleb Graham

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

This paper observes and analyzes the current discussion around the exuberant use of non-compete clauses in the business world by placing a focus on the hospitality industry and why, in an time where we are witnessing the demonization of non-competes it might be prudent to revisit and enhance trade secret laws to make them better equipped to handle the caseload that would inevitably come should non-competes be banned by the FTC. While the near-ban or complete ban of non-competes would certainly affect other industry fields and bodies of law, the hospitality industry is one that has been particularly scrutinized as …

Perspectives On Older Workers: Maine's Prohibition Of Mandatory Retirement, Susan Dana Kertzer

Maine Law Review

The 1978 Amendments to the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which generally prohibit mandatory retirement before the age of seventy, have been criticized as proposing to "extend freedom of choice by restricting freedom of contract. Despite such criticisms and other less philosophical objections to the Act, the 108th Maine Legislature in 1977 passed the first part of a legislative program which, as of January 1, 1980, prohibits all mandatory retirement in Maine, in both the public and private sectors. Emphasizing the parallels between age discrimination legislation and other civil rights legislation, one of the bill's senate supporters acknowledged …

"Fighting Words" And The First Amendment In Maine: State V. John W., Deborah J. Ross

Maine Law Review

On April 1, 1979, John W. was driving his car, accompanied by his sister Maria. The car was stopped by a police officer who requested John's license and registration. Maria asked the officer why they had been stopped. When the officer remained silent, Maria became abusive and was arrested for disorderly conduct. John demanded to know what was going on. Ordered to get back into his car, John began shouting at the police: "Hey, turn around and come back here;" "Hey, you fucking pig, you fuckin' kangaroo;" "Fuck you." John was arrested and convicted in a juvenile proceeding of disorderly …

Assessing Various Methods Of Social Media Use To Combat Vaccine Hesitancy, Jeremy Abe, Janelle Angelo, Emily Martin, Braden Prillwitz

NURS 464: Evidence-Based Nursing Capstone

Science is no stranger to skeptics, and vaccine technology has proven no exception to being immune from detractors since the inception of inoculation (Lanzarotta, 2024). At first, people questioned vaccine safety and efficacy, fearing contraction of disease. Public trust in vaccination gained traction with such successes as the polio vaccine, but the Wakefield article published in 1998 falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism, arguably launching modern vaccine skepticism (Motta & Stecula, 2021). It was retracted twelve years after publication following refutation by evidence-based research, but not before increasing internet speeds allowed for the dissemination and proliferation of vaccine misinformation. …

Sustainable Pavement Design, Evan Antonius, Matthew Graham

General Engineering

This thesis proposes a transformative vision for highway infrastructure, prioritizing sustainability, resilience, and innovation. Concentrating on California's Interstate 80, a vital freight and commuter corridor that is vulnerable to climate variability and structural issues, this research introduces an innovative pavement design. This design seeks to address the system's ongoing challenges while aligning with California's ambitious climate and infrastructure objectives.

Utilizing cutting-edge materials and design techniques, this solution incorporates a comprehensive three-layer Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) system designed for durability and high performance. The top layer features an Open-Graded Friction Course (OGFC), enhanced with 3.5% Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) to improve permeability, mitigate …

When Business Meets Badge: Corporate America's Hand In The Crackdown Against Dissent In Cop City, Ariana Crepeau

Expo Student Presentations

2025 Spring Expo Poster Presentation

• Social & Behavioral Sciences

Development Of Sustainable Nano-Engineered Cementitious Composites Reinforced With Graphene Oxide From Invasive Seaweed, Steven Garcia, Will Weber, Noah Chun

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

This research explores the integration of graphene oxide (GO) derived from invasive sargassum seaweed into cementitious composites to enhance concrete performance while addressing critical environmental and sustainability challenges. With the dual goal of reducing the carbon footprint of cement and repurposing harmful sargassum blooms in Puerto Rico, the research investigates the viability of sargassum-derived GO (SGO) as a partial cement substitute in mortar mixes. The study is motivated by the urgent need to lower cement-related CO₂ emissions—currently contributing nearly 8% of global totals—and by the ecological and economic burdens caused by the accumulation of sargassum along coastlines. Graphene oxide, with …

The Northern Student, Spring 2025, Bemidji State University

Northern Student Newspaper

No abstract provided.

The Internal Flame, Bailey Robydek

Interior Design Capstones

This body of research and design explores the vital relationship between interior environments and the well- being of firefighters. Challenging the traditional assumptions about how fire station design impacts their health and recovery. Firefighters endure significant physical exertion, psychological stress, and exposure to traumatic events, yet many fire station interiors remain focused primarily on operational functionality rather than personal wellness.

This research underscores the urgent need for fire station design to transcend traditional assumptions and evolve into a model that actively supports holistic recovery. Firefighters require spaces that address the cumulative impacts of their profession, both physical and mental taxation. …

Bridging Deterministic And Probabilistic Analysis For Dam Safety, Giselle Aviles

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

Dams play a critical role in water supply, flood control, energy generation, and infrastructure resilience. However, many existing dams face significant risks due to aging structures, evolving environmental conditions, and outdated design methodologies. These dams pose a danger to downstream populations, demanding greater attention to investment in measures to help reduce risks to public safety and economic assets. Traditional deterministic methods for dam stability assessments rely on static factors of safety (FS), often resulting in either overly conservative or underestimated designs. In this approach, engineers input known material properties, loads, and the dam's geometry into a single FS, which is …

Prison Privatization And Its Impacts On Inmate Quality Of Life: An Analysis Through Logan's Eight Dimensions Model, Hafsa Ahmed

Master in Public Administration Theses

This capstone paper delves deeply into the ramifications of prison privatization on inmates' quality of life in contracted immigration detention facilities. With the increasing inclination towards privatizing correctional institutions, especially immigration detention centers, a rigorous evaluation is indispensable to ascertain the ramifications of such privatizations on the welfare of incarcerated individuals. In this exploration, Logan's quality of confinement model is meticulously applied to selected immigration detention centers to scrutinize the living conditions and reveal profound insights into the quality of life experienced by inmates. This model allows a structured assessment of various dimensions such as safety, order, care, activity, management, …

Security Or Suppression? Rethinking U.S. Policies Regarding Foreign Tech Firms And National Security, Gordon Mccreadie, Cade Morris

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Increasingly adversarial relationships between the United States and countries such as China, Russia, and Iran have resulted in legislative efforts to ensure the National Security of the United States by banning foreign technology firms deemed to pose a threat. Certain high profile bans, such as the ban of Huawei and potential ban of Tik Tok, have raised concerns that these bans are motivated by factors other than a legitimate national security threat. Failure to protect the rights of affected foreign firms could result in an anticompetitive, isolated U.S. market. This paper will analyze the legality of different efforts to ban …

Police Officers’ Use Of Force In The Low Country Of South Carolina, Mariah Roy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

United States police officers' use of force is an ongoing concern of many community members. As these encounters continue to occur, lawmakers in states, including South Carolina (SC), have revitalized or implemented statutes addressing the use of force. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to better understand the use of force in law enforcement from the perspectives of community members in the Low Country region of SC. The rational model and contact hypothesis served as the study’s foundation. Data were collected from interviews with 10 participants over the age of 18 from Charleston, SC, a city within the …

A Theoretical Defense Of Police Recalibration In Columbia, South Carolina, Sanya Singh

Senior Theses

This paper defends police recalibrationism as the best means of reforming law enforcement. Columbia, South Carolina, will serve as a case study to demonstrate the philosophical and practical justifications of recalibrationism. Police recalibration, which aims to reconceptualize the role of police by reallocating extraneous responsibilities to other entities, offers a more comprehensive and viable solution than abolition, fiscal restraint, and managerialism. The paper further examines proposals that align with police recalibrationism through the lens of the philosophical frameworks of social contract theory and utilitarianism to demonstrate how the reform would fulfill the proposed goals of the American criminal justice system. …

Mathematics & Statistics 2025 Apr Self-Study & Documents, Unm Academic Program Review

UNM Academic Program Review

UNM Mathematics & Statistics APR self-study report, review team report, response report, and initial action plan for Spring 2025, fulfilling requirements of the Higher Learning Commission.

Feeding The Fire: The Feedback Loop Created By Mass Incarceration And Climate Change And Why Abolition Is The Only Way To A Stable Climate, Mandy Mericle

North Carolina Civil Rights Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mixed-Methods Findings And Implications From Hrsa Grantees On Addressing Health Workforce Burnout And Moral Injury, Alys Barton, Lauren Munoz, Margaret Ziemann, Polly Pittman

GW Research Showcase 2021-2026

No abstract provided.

Empowering Staff Wellbeing: A Team-Based Qi Initiative, Rebecca Lauren Smith, Elizabeth Morse, David Phillippi

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Project Title: Empowering Staff Wellbeing: A Team-Based QI Initiative

Keywords: Burnout, wellbeing, DNP, primary care, QI methodology

Background and Rationale: The consequences of burnout in healthcare are alarming: worse patient outcomes, lack of continuity of care, higher turnover, and increased cost to employers. Many studies of burnout and wellbeing of clinicians focus on larger institutions such as hospitals and Federally Qualified Health Centers. Over the past several years, burnout has been discussed among our small, eight-person clinician team working in a small, non-profit primary care clinic. Yet, there has been no formal assessment of the level of burnout among …

The Digitization Of Asylum: The Legal And Ethical Implications Of Ai Use Within Migration Governance, Myla Somersall

Switzerland: International Studies and Multilateral Diplomacy

This paper critically examines the blossoming integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within European asylum systems, demonstrating the interplay between operational efficiency and state obligations for human oversight. Case studies from Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, where AI software, including DIAS (language recognition), Casematcher (filtered case comparisons), and S.I.N.D.A.C.A (speech-to-text transcription) reveals technology’s ability to streamline and enhance asylum processing. Imbalanced success in facilitating similar technologies across Europe questions the maturity and accuracy of existing AI implementation. Moreover, AI-guided surveillance and identification methods, including mobile phone data analysis, reflect privacy, legal, and proportionality concerns of AI deployment. Through discussion of refugee-centered …

Switzerland’S Approach To Combating Addiction To Opiates, And Its Application To The United States Framework, Vittoria Volpi

Switzerland: Global Health and Development Policy

The opioid epidemic remains a pressing global public health challenge, with a hypothesized 1.2 million opioid-related fatalities in the United States alone, by 2029 (Rao et al., 2021). In the United States, the epidemic was driven by the overprescription of opioid pain medications in the 1990s. In contrast, in Switzerland, the opioid crisis stemmed from heroin imports and open-air drug scenes in the late 20th century. This research project analyzes Switzerland's national response to opioid abuse—specifically its Four Pillar Approach—and evaluates its potential applicability within the context of the United States. Using a qualitative research design, the study draws on …

Government-Backed Insurance For Artificial Intelligence Technologies, Renee Henson

Faculty Publications

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an unpredictable technology that has the capacity to both help and harm people. Although insurance plays a key role in compensating for harms in other contexts, AI-produced damages evade traditional principles of risk pricing which limits viable commercial insurance coverage. AI requires modified insurance systems that can compensate diverse and unpredictable losses. Just like AI, at one time nuclear energy was viewed as a new and profitable, yet wholly unpredictable, technology that had the capacity to cause devastating harm. AI poses similar threats to society in certain domains, including, for example, health care (e.g., risk management …

Peak Wokeness In Legal Scholarship: An Empirical Analysis Of Recent Trends In Progressive Topics, Michael Conklin

California Western Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Extension Newsletter, Issue 117, Spring 2025, Wright State University Retirees Association

The Extension Newsletter

An eight page newsletter from the Wright State University's Retirees Association.

Annual Faculty Research Symposium 2025, Oakwood University

Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Stars, Stripes, And Pills: The Stock Narratives That Blind, Michelle Wilde Anderson

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Patricia A. Tomson Center For Violence Prevention Spring 2025 Newsletter, University Of Northern Iowa. Patricia A. Tomson Center For Violence Prevention.

Patricia A. Tomson Center for Violence Prevention Newsletter

Contents:

--- Central College Train the Trainers
--- Spring 2025 MVP Train the Trainers
--- MVP Student Leadership Summit
--- Dan Marburger MVP Advocacy Award Ceremony
--- Iowa High School Athletic Association's Conference Connections
--- Oelwein Hearts Diversity Night
--- UNI College of Education's 2025 Social and Emotional Learning Conference
--- Iowa Healthiest State Initiative Conference
--- SAAM Panel Event
--- Tomson Scholars