Digital Commons Network^™

About The Journal, Kris Barrios

Florida Atlantic University Undergraduate Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Loyola Consumer Law Review

Loyola Consumer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Catch 23: Putting Superior Back Into The Superiority Prong Of Rule 23(B)(3), Fred B. Burnside

Loyola Consumer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Subversion By Design, Daniel Nicastro

Loyola Consumer Law Review

Dark patterns, in the words of the design expert who coined the term, are ".. . tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you didn't mean to, like buying or signing up for something."¹ The FTC, in its 2022 Staff Report on the subject, defined them similarly as ". . . design practices that trick or manipulate users into making choices they would not otherwise have made and that may cause harm."² Endemic to the digital retail space, dark patterns subvert consumer decision making, resulting in inflated spending, widespread privacy violations, and the …

Preemption Without Protection: Reconsidering The Airline Deregulation Act In An Era Of Federal Retreat, Carmela Frontzak

Loyola Consumer Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Privacy Protection: Why Ai Chatbots Demand Coppa Changes, Jacob Yeskis

Loyola Consumer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Changes In Telehealth Usage Among Medicaid Beneficiaries With Mental Illnesses In A Rural State: An Analysis Of Kentucky Medicaid Dataset Over 5 Years (2018–2022), Chizimuzo T.C. Okoli, Tianyi Wang, Bassema Abufarsakh, Sarret Seng, Zainab Almogheer, Jarrah Al-Kayed, Pooja Bhattarai, Holly Stith, Andrew Makowski

Nursing Faculty Publications

Introduction: Accessing mental health care remains challenging for Medicaid beneficiaries with mental illnesses (MI) in rural settings. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted telehealth service expansion through temporary policy changes and shifts in health care delivery. Despite the increased availability of telehealth as a modality to address disparities in health care access, telehealth adoption and associated use are inadequately explored among Medicaid beneficiaries with MI in Kentucky.

Objective: To examine trends and factors associated with telehealth use by residence status among Kentucky Medicaid beneficiaries with MI.

Design: A retrospective analysis of Kentucky Medicaid claims data obtained from 174,354 beneficiaries aged 18 years …

Ceo Compensation Changes Following Acquisitions, Leonce Bargeron, David J. Denis

Finance and Quantitative Methods Faculty Publications

We find that CEO compensation increases following acquisitions only in those deals in which acquirer stock is used as the method of payment. These compensation increases are driven by increases in equity-based compensation and are concentrated in riskier acquirers, in riskier acquisitions, and in acquirers whose CEOs have low exposure to the stock price. We find little support for traditional agency cost explanations of changes in CEO pay following acquisitions. However, our findings are broadly consistent with compensation changes representing a contracting solution to a two-sided adverse selection problem that is present only in stock acquisitions.

Cannabis Retail Environment And Treatment For Cannabis Use Disorder, Jeremy Mennis, J. Douglas Coatsworth, Nikola Zaharakis, Nathaniel R. Riggs, Aaron Brown

Social Work Faculty Publications

Purpose: This research investigates whether the efficacy of a digital cannabis use disorder (CUD) treatment for young adults (age 18–25) differs by exposure to cannabis retailers in the residential neighborhood and activity space (significant places visited throughout daily life).

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial of the digital substance use disorder treatment Peer Network Counseling-txt (PNC-txt) for reducing cannabis use among young adults with CUD ( n = 425). We hypothesize that the indirect effect of treatment on reducing cannabis use via the mediating mechanism readiness-to-change is moderated by exposure to cannabis retailers, …

Impact Of Powdered Tart Cherry Supplementation On Performance Recovery Following Repeated Sprint Exercise, Anthony M. Hagele, Kyle S. Levers, Kevin F. Holley, Alex C. Schrautemeier, Joesi M. Krieger, Joshua M. Iannotti, Connor J. Gaige, Ralf Jäger, Chad Kerksick

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Due to its high polyphenol content and purported capability to mitigate post-exercise muscle soreness and promote recovery, tart cherry (TC) supplementation has been proposed to enhance recovery and athletic performance. This study examined the effects of powdered TC supplementation on various recovery and performance metrics following a repeated sprint exercise protocol in physically active young adults.

Methods: 40 (18 M, 22 F) healthy, active participants (24.6 ± 5.5 yrs, 171.5 ± 11 cm, 71.7 ± 14.5 kg, 24.2 ± 3.1 kg·m−2) participated in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study design. Placebo (PLA) or powdered TC supplementation (500 …

Aging On The Fringes: Understanding Inequities Among Older Adults Impacted By Poverty, Mental Health Challenges, And Drug Use, William O’Leary, David Howson-Jan, Marjorie Knight, Soo Chan Carusone

Lyle S. Hallman Social Work Faculty Publications

This report provides an overview of government reports and academic literature examining aging and its intersection with poverty, homelessness, drug use, and mental health challenges. It pairs national and Ontario trends with data from Waterloo Region to illustrate how aging on the fringes is unfolding locally.

Throughout the report, “Local Lens: Waterloo Region” callouts highlight key regional indicators and their implications for programs and policy. The purpose of this report is to support discussion and action to advance equity-informed research and advocacy for people aging on the fringes. It is written for community members, service providers, and organizations seeking to …

Adding Family Complications To Birthright Citizenship, Scott Titshaw

Articles

On the first day of his second administration, President Trump issued an executive order purporting to restrict citizenship of U.S.-born children based on their parents’ citizenship or immigration status. In the process, it discriminates between mothers and fathers and adopts genetic definitions of “mother” and “father” to exclude any parent, who is not the child’s “immediate … biological progenitor.”

Courts and scholars have condemned this attempt to restrict birthplace citizenship as a violation of both the Fourteenth Amendment and the Immigration and Nationality Act. Yet there has been little, if any, discussion of the new family-based conditions in the order. …

Critical Lawyering Pedagogy: Transformational Legal Education, Carolyn Grose

Faculty Scholarship

In an era marked by democratic backsliding, systemic inequality, and widespread disillusionment with legal institutions, traditional legal education has proven not merely inadequate, but actively complicit in reproducing the institutional norms, professional identities, and hierarchies that have enabled democratic erosion and the misuse of law as a tool of exclusion and domination.

This Article describes a comprehensive, justice-oriented framework that reimagines the structure, content, and outcomes of legal education to better meet those needs. Critical Lawyering Pedagogy (CLP) draws from Critical Pedagogy, Narrative Theory, and Critical Lawyering and challenges the entrenched hierarchies and exclusionary norms that dominate most law schools …

Labor Market Impacts Of Immigration Enforcement: Evidence From The Second Trump Administration, Rachel Letts

Economics Honors Papers

The onset of the second Trump Administration saw a stark immigration policy shock in the U.S. with record numbers of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) detentions. This paper seeks to understand the labor market impacts of this immigration enforcement that have disproportionately affected the risk of being detained for non-white individuals. To estimate the effect of this policy shock, a triple difference model is used comparing non-white individuals to white individuals living in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with above or below average concentrations of immigration detentions before and after this immigration shock. The regression analysis finds that since the beginning of …

Portal To The Possible: Naming The Liberatory Classroom Applications Within Afrofuturist And Queer-Futurist Ya Literature, Westley Wrenn Cardani

English Honors Papers

This thesis is an intertwining of disciplines and chronologies. Using English and educational theories, I employ thematic literary analysis, close readings, and lesson plan design to answer the following question: How do works of Afrofuturist and queer-futurist Young Adult literature present us with liberatory possibilities, and how can those stories be effectively pedagogically employed in classrooms to cultivate ‘future imaginings’? In this work, although it pertains to all students, I am especially concerned with the capacity of Black, Brown, queer, and trans* students to dream and construct futures given the operations of systems of oppression which attempt to tell them …

Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète, Benjamin T. Connolly

Pitzer Senior Theses

Hear & Now: Culturally Responsive Music Education Through Digital Audio Workstations & Musique Concrète is a two-part ethnomusicological study of how the capacities and affordability of modern electronic instruments could be utilized within school curricula as an affordable alternative to traditional music classes. I explore the musique concrète movement from mid-20th century France, aiming my examination towards the movement’s emphasis on the materiality of sound production and utilization of modern technology during the composition process. From there, the paper transitions into a study on the affordances of contemporary music technologies through a series of interviews with electronic composers, tracing the …

Reimagining Castañeda To Analyze How Districts Use Esser Funds To Support Latinx Spanish-Speaking Multilinguals: A Multiple Case Study, Mariano Lozano-Soto

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This study applies a reimagined Castañeda framework grounded in intersectionality theory to examine how California K–12 districts used Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to support Latinx Spanish-speaking multilingual learners (MLs) during the pandemic. The research design for this study was a qualitative multiple-case study (n=6) using multiple data sources, including semi structured interviews and public-district documents. Data analysis consisted of deductive, descriptive, and theoretical coding to analyze a district’s ESSER allocation practices through the lens of the reimagined Castañeda framework. The findings reveal that the Castañeda standard guided districts’ use of ESSER funds to support Latinx Spanish-speaking …

Unpacking K-12 Teachers’ Creative Identity, Ariana Mungia

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Despite increasing emphasis on creativity as a core competency in K-12 education, limited research has examined how teachers understand their own creativity and how these perceptions shape their professional identities and instructional practices. Existing scholarship has largely focused on pedagogical strategies, curriculum design, and student outcomes, often overlooking the role of teachers’ beliefs, experiences, and self-perceptions. Addressing this gap, this study unpacks how K-12 teachers construct their creative identity and how this identity informs their approaches to teaching for creativity. Guided by a constructivist grounded theory methodology, this qualitative study explores the lived experiences on current K-12 teachers in Southern …

The Myth Of The Second Amendment, Laura Muna-Landa

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation traces the evolution of the United States Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment, which shifted from a constitutional provision grounded in collective security and concerns about tyranny to a modern doctrine emphasizing an individual right to possess firearms. It contends that post-Heller (District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) decisions do not simply “apply” founding-era intent to modern circumstances but instead reflect a significant doctrinal reconstruction that now shapes both gun policy and public perceptions of constitutional meaning. This research first reconstructs the founding-era context, then tests explanations of judicial behavior, and finally applies that framework to Heller, …

When Hearts Beat In Two Languages: Enabling Access To Biliteracy Pathway Recognitions For Latine Linguistically Expanding Learners (Lexls) In K-8 Schools Across A Southern California School District, Mayra C. Orozco

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative nested case study examined how Biliteracy Pathway Recognitions (BPRs) are implemented and accessed for Latine Linguistically Expanding Learners (LExLs) in one Southern California school district. Although California has expanded opportunities for students to earn recognitions that value bilingualism and biliteracy, little research has examined how these policies are implemented at the elementary and middle school level and how families navigate access to these opportunities. Guided by Honig’s (2006) policy implementation framework of policy, people, and places and Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) model, this study explored how district and school personnel implemented BPR policies and how families …

Entre Nos: A Three-Part Study Exploring The Experiences Of The American Association Of Hispanics In Higher Education Members, Monique Posadas

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Membership and participation in national associations or professional societies are the cornerstone of academic and career advancement in higher education. These organizations allow faculty and career professionals to connect and grow their networks. However, like other social structures, they can also reflect, reinforce, and reify exclusionary colonial, hegemonic norms. Professionalization for people of color in the academy, through formalized organizations and societies, was grossly delayed, despite the emergence of “mother societies” at the turn of the century. Academics of color took matters into their own hands to build professional networks. While associations are assumed to be academic and professionally rich …

Blazing Turquoise And Coral Light Jewels Of Veiled Empowerment: Buddha Ye Shes Mtsho Rgyal (ཡེ་ཤེས་མཚོ་རྒྱལ) And Saint Hildegard Von Bingen In The Lotus Of Ever-Excellent Feminist Dialogue, Janice Leigh Poss

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This Women's and Gender Studies in Religion dissertation seeks to restore awareness of women's religious leadership using the actual embodied experience of Yeshe Tsogyal and Hildegard von Bingen embedded in the philosophical terms Erlebnis (German), Padartha/Bhava (Sanskrit), and srid pa (Tibetan). Brief definitions are: Erlebnis as enthusiastic, lived experience and awareness, Padarthas as categories of real things or actualities, Bhava as the act of emotional or spiritual feeling, and Srid pa as becoming in possibility. Drawing on the above four terms encapsulated in a feminist transnational and intersectional methodological framework, this project reinforces women’s authority and influence in religion as …

Institutional Responses To Racial Incidents In California Public Higher Education: A Qualitative Historical Document Analysis, Shannon Dominique Quihuiz

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Despite stated commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion, racial incidents remain a persistent structural problem on college and university campuses. These incidents encompass a wide taxonomy of racialized harm, ranging from bias-motivated violence and hate symbols to controversial White supremacist speakers, structural inequities, and interpersonal microaggressions. Administrators responding to these incidents must navigate complex, often competing tensions between fostering safe, inclusive learning environments and upholding civil liberties protections, all while operating under intense political scrutiny, public relations pressures, and legal risk. To understand how these tensions are rhetorically managed, this qualitative historical document study examined how California public higher education …

John: A Samaritan Gospel, John Colin Stringfellow

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The Gospel of John is enigmatic; scholars have sought to identify its distinctive features. Is it influenced by Hellenistic culture, Gnosticism, Dositheism, or is it an editorial compilation? These distinct characteristics have led scholars to speculate about the intended recipients of the Fourth Gospel. Identifying the audience is crucial in deciphering these distinct characteristics. Why did the author(s) use specific literary techniques and devices? Why were particular stories selected? This dissertation does not seek to dismiss the existing scholarly analyses that have identified the recurring themes and structure of the Gospel of John; instead, it prompts the question, "Why?" Understanding …

Chicano Studies Courses: Latina/O Student Engagement In Community Colleges, Marisol Celeste Madrigal Uribe

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Community colleges play a vital role in expanding access to higher education for historically marginalized students, particularly Latina/o and first-generation college students. However, many students arrive carrying the effects of cultural erasure, racial marginalization, and deficit-based schooling experiences that shape their academic engagement, sense of belonging, and future aspirations. This qualitative study examines how Chicana/o Studies courses foster student engagement, identity development, belonging, and future orientation within the community college context. Guided by Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the concept of racial microaffirmations, the study conceptualizes Chicana/o Studies as a transformational educational space that affirms students’ lived experiences, challenges Eurocentric …

Institutional Reform In Support Of Xi’S Anti-Corruption Campaign, Rixin Wen

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Corruption remains a pervasive challenge that distorts markets, undermines public service delivery, destabilizes social order, and erodes governmental legitimacy. In China, anti-corruption has been a recurring policy priority since 1949, culminating in Xi Jinping’s sweeping campaign launched in late 2012. Conceptualizing corruption through a principal–agent framework, this dissertation argues Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign represents not merely an institutional inflection point in China’s supervisory architecture substantially enhancing enforcement capacity and elite discipline, but also the enforcement–perception interactive change, reproducing an asymmetry between punishment and public perception under the unvarying political foundation. This study employs a multi-method research design that integrates institutional …

A Vascular And Non-Vascular Flora Of The Mcgee Creek Watershed, Mono County, California, Matthew Yamamoto

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The McGee Creek watershed is a topographically and geologically diverse drainage in the eastern Sierra Nevada of California covering 27.28 sq-mi (70.65 sq-km), with an elevation range of 6750–12,999 ft (2057–3962 m). Relative to nearby watersheds, few plant specimens had been collected in the McGee Creek watershed before 2024, and these were mostly collected along roads and trails. To better understand the flora, 2860 collections of vascular and non-vascular plants were made across the watershed in 2024 and 2025, and 187 specimens collected before 2024 were examined. In total, the flora of the McGee Creek watershed includes at least 970 …

Reading The Birds: Critical, Multimodal, And Queer Meaning-Making In Literacy Teacher Education, Kris Benefield

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation explores critical, multimodal, and queer literacies and related pedagogies in teacher education. In it, I engage in both critical analysis and theorizing at the intersection of teacher education, literacy, and pedagogy, producing insights and tools that may be of use to teachers, teacher-educators, and researchers interested in resisting oppression in and through literacy and composition education. The findings contribute to the research on literacy teacher education by detailing the situated processes involved in both critical meaning-making and pedagogical enactment among a group of K-12 teachers in and beyond two literacy methods courses. I draw on thematic analysis …

Pathways To (Prevent) Radicalization: How Uncertainty And Identity Complexity Shape Vulnerability, Michelle Blaya Burgo

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Violent radicalization and politically motivated violence are pressing concerns that threaten global peace, security, and social cohesion. Violence is costly, in both lives and resources, and reactive measures have failed to decrease its occurrence. In a world marked by uncertainty where some degree of conflict is unavoidable, the focus should be on preventing violence. Previous research had demonstrated that various group- and individual-level factors can lead people to radicalize; this work extends that research by introducing social identity complexity (Roccas & Brewer, 2002) as a potential buffer against radical pathways. The current research proposed that complex identity structures – defined …

Catalog Of The Music Of Nick Strimple (B. 1946), Ruth Ballenger

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation provides a rich primary source for future scholars interested in the music of American composer Dr. Nick Strimple. A complete catalog of Dr. Strimple’s works and more than thirty transcribed interviews with the composer offer broad insight into Dr. Strimple’s motivations, inspirations, and sources for his own compositions. Primary sources – that is, firsthand evidence created in real time by a participant or observer – offer what musicologists might colloquially describe as the “gold standard” for citation and understanding of their musical subjects. As the field of musicology evolved, primary sources have come to be highly valued as …