Digital Commons Network^™

Formal Vs. Informal Disclosure Of Campus Sexual Assault: Social Reactions, Institutional Responses, And Associated Posttraumatic Stress, Karyna Fowler

Honors Theses

With research demonstrating increasing rates of sexual victimization on college campuses (Koss et al., 1987; Koss et al., 2022), sexual assault disclosure has become a critical construct with implications for victim-survivors’ posttraumatic stress (PTS) and healing. In the present mixed-methods study, college students (N = 558) at Bucknell University completed a survey assessing sexual victimization, disclosure, peer responses, institutional betrayal and support, and PTS; a subset (n = 9) participated in qualitative interviews examining social reactions, barriers to disclosure, and present functioning. Consistent with hypotheses, women reported significantly higher rates of sexual victimization than men; disclosure was relatively infrequent (26.5%) …

Zero Tolerance Or Strong Cultural Diversity: The Hard Case Of Female Genital Surgery, James M. Donovan, Christiane Canant

Emory International Law Review

This article applies a thesis favoring strong cultural diversity to defend a subject-centered policy regarding female genital surgeries (FGS). That idea posits that cultural variation holds an intrinsic value that should be presumptively respected when setting policy and creating law. Correlatively, cultural homogenization, especially by force, should be resisted.

Taking as a starting point the recent celebration of the United Nation’s Day of Zero-Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, the paper reviews the context of FGS practices in various societies and critiques the inconsistencies of U.N. arguments to advance its goal of total elimination by 2030. Especially problematic for the U.N. …

The “Multi-Normative” Biological Weapons Convention: A Study Of The 2022 Article V Meeting In Geneva, Robert Lawless

Emory International Law Review

In September 2022, States parties to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) held a Formal Consultative Meeting in Geneva pursuant to Article V of the Convention, following Russia’s allegations that the United States and Ukraine had developed biological weapons in violation of BWC prohibitions. Although largely overlooked in public discourse, the Geneva meeting provides a revealing example of the BWC in practice. This article examines the Geneva meeting to assess the Convention’s normative role in contemporary international relations. It argues that States parties reaffirmed their commitment to the BWC’s core prohibition against the hostile use of biological agents against humans. Moreover, …

Is City Of Grants Pass V. Johnson The End For Homelessness Advocates?, Phoenix Burke

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Catholic Legal Tradition Perspective, David Mina Ibrahim

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Community Resources For Older Adults With Age-Related Disabilities And Chronic Conditions: A Scoping Review, Oejin Shin, Sojung Park, Soobin Park, Sarah Sunghye Kang, Sunghei Han, Eunsun Kwon, Seoyeon Ahn, Borin Kim

Faculty Publications - Social Work

Community resources are essential for supporting older adults with disabilities and chronic conditions, yet how these resources are conceptualized and evaluated across the empirical literature remains unclear. This scoping review synthesizes U.S.-based research on community resources for older adults with age-related disabilities and chronic conditions, guided by the PAGER framework. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Web of Science, ultimately including 21 peer-reviewed studies. Findings reveal four primary resource domains: healthcare-based services, home- and community-based services (HCBS), behavioral health supports, and environmental or structural resources. Accessibility and utilization emerged as the most consistently examined dimensions, while quality …

Ordo Ab Chao: Crystallographic Disorder As A Window Into Ionic Liquid Structure, Joseph Cooper, Marija Scheuren, Lara I. Teodoro, Christopher M. Butch, Raychell A. Jerdo, Kylie M. Allen, Mariana E. Toner, Matthias Zeller, Arsalan Mirjafari, Patrick C. Hillesheim

Faculty Publications – Chemistry

Despite being intended to resist crystallization, ionic liquids (ILs) quite frequently form solids, albeit with low melting points. The design motifs that lower melting points can leave measurable signatures in the solid state, manifesting as crystallographic disorder, and often give rise to metastable liquid states. While sometimes treated as experimental complications, such features provide a valuable window into the structural origins of IL phase behavior. Herein, we report a crystallographic study of a series of benzylated ILs that crystallize either directly or from long-lived supercooled melts. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction, supported by computational modeling and statistical analyses, provides structural evidence that …

Meiji Rhythm: Auditory Effects And Tradition Vs. Modernity In Late Nineteenth Century Verse, Roger K. Thomas

Faculty Publications – Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

This study, which grew out of a 2009 presentation at the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, examines possible alignments between choices of lineation in Japanese poetry of the Meiji period (1868-1912) and various political and social ideologies of the time. It argues that the choice of arrangements of lines into patterns of either 5-7 or 7-5 morae typically associated the former with advocacy of adaptation of the classical chōka  genre while the latter tended to be associated with more "progressive" values and was employed in shintaishi and songs that drew stylistic inspiration from the  imayō genre.

Turnover Talk: Organizational Turnover Communication And Its Effects On Turnover Intention, Organizational Identification, And Job Satisfaction, Ethan L. Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

Employee turnover intention has been a focus of organizational research within the field of communication. Communication can affect organizational culture, relational dynamics, and even information flow throughout organizations, which all have influence over employee decisions. The body of literature that pertains to turnover is vast; however, the gap that this study aimed to fill was looking at communication about turnover. The purpose of this study was to investigate and explore communication related to turnover within organizational practices and interactions. This study used a mixed methods approach that first explored the concept of turnover talk and, second, investigated the impact of …

Leading The Temporary Workforce: Leadership Communication And Adaptation Among Seasonal Employees, Alfred Kwabena Obiri

Theses and Dissertations

Seasonal employees constitute an essential yet understudied workforce sustaining organizational operations during peak demand periods across industries. Despite the growing organizational reliance on temporary employees, organizational communication studies have primary focused on permanent employees with extended socialization periods, leaving important questions about how leadership communication operates in compressed timeframes inadequately addressed. This qualitative study examined how leadership communication practices shape seasonal employees’ adaptation, belonging, and morale within the temporal constraints characteristic of temporary employment. Drawing on organizational socialization theory, leader-member exchange theory and cultural dimensions, this study employed semi-structured interviews with 19 seasonal employees across hospitality, camp, retail, and education …

Constructing And Deconstructing Homelessness: Challenging The Stigmatization Of The Unhoused Through Lived Experience, Brenna Jones

Theses and Dissertations

As homelessness rises across the United States, public discourse plays an important role in shaping how the housing crisis is understood and addressed. This study examines how homelessness is constructed through local media narratives and how these constructions shape the experiences of unhoused individuals. Using a case study of Greater Bangor, Maine, this research combines a critical content analysis of 315 news articles from the Bangor Daily News (2020-2025) with in-depth interviews with 18 unhoused and precariously housed individuals. The findings demonstrate how media portrayals construct homelessness as a stigmatized identity associated with disorder, addiction, and danger. These narratives contribute …

The Effects Of Personality Traits On Relationship Satisfaction Among Romantic Partners In Ghana, Emmanuel Owusu

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the associations of personality traits, as conceptualized by the five- factor model, on relationship satisfaction among individuals in romantic relationships in Ghana. The research explored how individuals’ self-reported traits and their perceptions of their partners’ personality traits are associated with relationship satisfaction. A cross-sectional survey design was used, and data were collected through an online questionnaire administered via Qualtrics. Participants consisted of adults residing in Ghana, most of whom were involved in romantic relationships. After data screening procedures, 149 usable responses were included in the analysis.

Self-reported personality traits were measured using the Big Five Inventory – …

Data-Driven Partitioning In Distributed Optimization For Networked Systems, Prosper Azameti

Theses and Dissertations

The convergence behavior of distributed optimal power flow (OPF) depends strongly on how the power network is partitioned into regions. Classical graph-based methods such as METIS are widely used, but they rely mainly on static topological criteria and do not explicitly incorporate operating-point-dependent information that may affect distributed optimization performance. This thesis develops a data-driven partitioning framework for distributed OPF using graph neural networks (GNNs). Each OPF scenario is represented as a graph in which buses are nodes and transmission lines are edges. Node and edge features capture both structural and operational characteristics of the network. Partition prediction is formulated …

Contract Law (Taylor’S Version): The Legality Of Extended Re-Recording Clauses In Record Label Contracts, Raquelle Rocco

Student Works

No abstract provided.

“Extraordinary” Means Extraordinary: Why Courts Should Refuse To Apply Sentencing Minimum Reductions In Compassionate Release Petitions, J.M. Icasiano

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Kingsley And The Deliberate Indifference Circuit Split, Kevin Scanlon

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Pregnancy Discrimination In Women’S Sports: An Analysis Of What Has Been Done, And What There Is Still Left To Do, Jordan Decrescente

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Breaking Through The Defense: Reassessing Mls’S Single-Entity Defense, Andreas N. Antoniades

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Reinvestment Not Restriction: Modernizing Mlb’S Economic Framework Without A Salary-Cap, Noah J. Hagedoorn

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Ncaa's Eligibility Rules - Pathways For Meaningful Change, Guido John Alfonso Salandra

Student Works

No abstract provided.

A Call For A Stronger Framework: The Lack Of Constitutional Protections Against Student Cell Phone Searches, Gabriella Labarbera

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Incapacitating The Immigration Courts, Jennifer Lee Koh

SMU Law Review

Amidst the dizzying array of developments taking place under the banner of mass deportation, the second Trump Administration is engaged in a sustained effort to fundamentally transform the country’s immigration courts by incapacitating them. Although the immigration courts have long been the subject of extensive criticism, they also seek to function as neutral forums in which the Department of Justice adjudicates the removability of noncitizens and certain types of immigration relief, governed by due process principles. Rendering those courts unable to perform their functions could potentially give rise to a more fundamental deterioration of even the semblance of due process …

Infusing Authenticity Into A Service-Learning Program: Examining Long-Term Impacts On Professional Development, Mohan Yang, Jonathan Harbor, Belle Li, Jacqueline Nikiema

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Purpose

The employability of postgraduate students remains a critical concern in higher education, as postgraduate programs, particularly at the doctoral level, traditionally focus on disciplinary and research competencies. This leads to a lack of adequate preparation for employment, especially for non-academic roles. This study examines the long-term impacts of an authentic service-learning program on trainees' professional lives, with a particular emphasis on academia. This addresses the need for insight into the long-term impacts of initiatives that enhance postgraduate programs with opportunities for students to acquire transferable competencies prior to entering employment.

Design/methodology/approach

We adopted a narrative inquiry approach to investigate …

Lease Capitalization And Financial Flexibility: An Empirical Investigation Of Asc 842’S Impact On Liquidity In The Us Telecommunications Industry, Caleb J. Martin

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Measures of liquidity are some of the most important financial ratios to analyze when measuring a firm’s overall financial health and its ability to pay both creditors and dividends. The US telecommunications industry is an industry that has become synonymous with dividends, mergers, and acquisitions, all of which are possible due to industry wide and firm specific liquidity. With the implementation of ASC 842 and the new standard of placing operational leases on the balance sheet, additional research may be warranted to determine the effect ASC 842 may have on firm liquidity. This study investigated whether there was evidence to …

2026 Faculty Summer Seminar - Modern Misenchantments: St. Augustine’S Wisdom For Challenging The Idols Of Consumerism And Nationalism, Center For Catholic Studies, Seton Hall University

Center for Catholic Studies Faculty Seminars and Core Curriculum Seminars

About the 2026 Faculty Seminar - p.6

Josephine De Vito - p.9 The Idolatry of Saint Augustine for College Students

Anthony Haynor - p.12 Checking Idolatry Creep in Catholic Universities

Mark Horowitz - p.20 Can the Universal Church Transcend the Tribal Chimp?

Richard M. Liddy - p.26 Cavanagh’s Distinction and Lonergan’s Intellectual Conversion

Jose Lopez - p.32 Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness Under Pressure

Jon Radwan - p.37 Idolatrous Grasp, Sacramental Encounter: Communication and Contact Before, During and After Babel

Elizabeth Brewer Redwine - p.46 Saint Augustine, Idolatry and Service: A Pedagogical Response

Lisa Rose-Wiles - p.50 Useful …

What Is A Standard? Perspectives On Acd’S Standards For Leadership In Oral Healthcare, N. Karl Haden Phd, Facd

Journal of the American College of Dentists

The American College of Dentists’ new Standards for Leadership in Oral Healthcare mark the first attempt in dentistry to articulate standards specifically for leadership, complementing the broader orientation offered by the Ethics Handbook for Dentistry. This article explores the basic question, “What is a standard?” Close reading of the document indicates at least three distinct but related senses of the term: an expectation, a norm, and a guiding principle. The article offers an interpretation of how these three senses fit together coherently. Referencing the Handbook, the article argues that the leadership standards are most impactful only when habituated, when practiced …

Mapping The Distribution Of The Common House Mosquito (Culex Pipiens) In The City Of Spokane: Mosquito Breeding Sites And Blood Meal Analysis, Oluwapelumi Hannah Sonoiki

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Mosquitoes in the genus Culex are the primary vectors of West Nile virus (WNv) in the United States, with Culex pipiens and Culex tarsalis serving as the dominant species in Spokane. In urban environments, catch basins and other artificial water bodies that collect stagnant and polluted water provide favorable breeding habitats for Culex pipiens. This study aimed to assess the spatial distribution and seasonal dynamics of Culex larvae in Spokane. We examined 303 randomly selected catch basins in the summer of 2025, and at each site we recorded the presence or absence of water, water depth, and mosquito larval …

2025-2026 Annual Report, Law And Government Institute

Law and Government Institute Collections

The Law and Government Institute is one of Widener University Commonwealth Law School's signature programs. The Institute focuses on the complex intersection of legislation, regulation, public policy, and the law.

This report covers activities and events through the end of the 2025-26 academic year.

Digital Docent: An Analysis Of Accessibility In The Digital Music Space, Erin L. Fowler

Theses and Dissertations

The world is constantly changing and growing, most often seen through advances in technology. When it comes to the world of music, the same can be said, and digitization of musical material is moving at a faster rate than ever before. With the influence that music has on society and considering new ways of making music more accessible to the general public through the public-facing museum format, I wanted to examine how digital music museum exhibits and experiences can be made accessible and if it is possible to fully represent what an in-person exhibit can offer. In 2010, Smithsonian created …

Affects Of Ai In The Arts, Carolina D. Maldonado Faria

Theses and Dissertations

Art is an essential part of society, shaping culture, communication, and the digital world through forms such as music, writing, film, and animation. However, the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has created conflict in the creative industry. Many AI systems are trained using artists’ works without consent, raising concerns about copyright infringement, intellectual property theft, and the loss of artistic value. While AI was originally intended as a tool for innovation, it now threatens artists’ careers and profits by imitating human creativity. This issue highlights the need for ethical regulations, stronger copyright protections, and fair compensation systems so AI and …