Digital Commons Network^™

Wrongful Birth After Dobbs And The Limits Of Tort Law In Areas Of Dissensus, E. Travis Ramey

Nebraska Law Review

As the abortion debate has raged in this country, a secondary debate over wrongful birth has accompanied it. Wrongful birth is a medical-malpractice-like claim brought by parents who allege that a medical provider negligently failed to provide accurate information about the fetus and that had they received accurate information they would have terminated the pregnancy. Courts rejected the tort theory until Roe v. Wade was decided. Post-Roe, courts were heavily divided over whether to recognize the claim and what damages were recoverable. Now, after Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the continued viability of wrongful birth is …

Adapting Gingles & Retaining Voter Power: Applying The Vra To State Judicial Retention Elections, Jake Mazeitis

Nebraska Law Review

State supreme courts play a crucial yet overlooked role in our nation’s judiciary. They are also predominantly White. In states with judicial elections, this racial homogeneity suggests that voters of color may not have an equal opportunity to “elect representatives of their choice” as required by the Voting Rights Act (VRA). While federal courts frequently apply the VRA to judicial elections resembling legislative and executive contests, those same tribunals have failed to protect voters of color in non-competitive judicial retention elections. This failure is due in part to Thornburg v. Gingles, which established three threshold requirements for plaintiffs in …

Diversity Statements, Academic Freedom, And The First Amendment, Keith E. Whittington

Nebraska Law Review

Diversity statements have become a common component of applications for faculty positions and student admission at universities across the country. They have also become politically controversial, with several states banning the use of such requirements at public universities. The use of diversity statements also raises difficult constitutional questions under the First Amendment at public universities and academic freedom questions at both public and private universities. Although there are versions of such statements that might pass constitutional muster, as commonly designed and implemented, the use of diversity statements likely violates both First Amendment and academic freedom principles. Indeed, diversity statement requirements …

Masthead & Table Of Contents, Vol. 104, No. 1

Nebraska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Introduction, David Earl Wietlispach

Nebraska Law Review

What follows in these pages is some of the scholarship that law professors from around the country came to discuss at the fall 2024 Nebraska Law Review Symposium: Democracy Without Trust? Professors Jennifer Breen and Brandon Johnson both tackle the question of whether institutions deserve trust, especially the nation’s courts. Professor Jacob Eisler discusses the role of party politics and gerrymandering. Professor Anthony Gaughan examines the rise and fall of trust in American higher education. The Nebraska Law Review chose this topic—proposed by Professor Johnson—for its timeliness ahead of a consequential presidential election. The Nebraska Law Review would like to …

Democracy’S Fundamentals: Efficacy, Equality, And The Supreme Court, Jenny Breen

Nebraska Law Review

When assessing courts in a democratic regime, we must begin by asking substantial questions about what it means for any democratic nation to allocate such important functions to an often unelected branch of government. Courts must fit within a democracy, not democracies within a judicial system. This Essay identifies two fundamental predicates of democratic rule—efficacy and equality—and examines the decisions of the United States Supreme Court in light of both of those key categories, finding that its recent decisions have been consistently undermining both. These observations on the United States Supreme Court are prefaced by overviews of the scholarly literature …

The Rise And Fall Of Public Confidence In Higher Education, Anthony J. Gaughan

Nebraska Law Review

During the 20th century, college came to be viewed as an essential credential on the path to middle-class prosperity. But in the 21st century, a growing percentage of Americans have come to doubt the value of higher education. Consequently, the future for colleges and universities has never been more uncertain.

This Article explores the rise and decline of public confidence in higher education. Part One explores how higher education gained the confidence of the American people. In the 1800s, the idea that higher education would uplift the country became an article of national faith. The 20th century saw further gains …

Lessons From The Vieth Dissents: Partisan Gerrymandering, Party Construction, And The Challenge Of Judicial Intervention, Jacob Eisler

Nebraska Law Review

No topic endured more uncertainty over the past fifty years than the legality of politicized districting. In 1986’s Davis v. Bandemer, the Supreme Court first indicated that sufficiently egregious partisan gerrymanders might be unconstitutional, while offering a test so vague that federal courts virtually never found districtings to be illegal. In 2004’s Vieth v. Jubelirer, a plurality of the bench announced the Supreme Court lacked appropriate constitutional tools to identify such partisan gerrymanders—but Justice Kennedy’s concurrence suggested that while no test had yet been found, one might be found in the future. It was not until 2019’s Rucho …

Dreamers And The Fda: Article Iii Standing In Immigration Cases After Fda V. Alliance, Madeline Hutchison

Nebraska Law Review

States historically challenge federal executive policy through litigation. One recent example is Texas’ challenge to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) policy for the second time in two years. The validity of DACA was challenged in the Fifth Circuit due to immigration concerns by Texas, where the court ultimately held Texas had Article III standing to sue. However other courts, and the Supreme Court in particular, have begun closing the door on plaintiffs that demonstrate only broad injuries related to government regulations and policies. The June 2024 Supreme Court ruling in FDA v. Alliance may open the door for …

The Jurisprudence Of Statutory Interpretation: A Framework For The Logical Restraints Of Legal Positivism And Textualism, K. A. Stenseng

Nebraska Law Review

Since President Donald Trump’s first term in office, the Supreme Court has become increasingly dominated by justices who identify as textualists. In recent years, the Court’s environmental decisions (and the Court itself) have become the center of public scrutiny. As President Trump proceeds through his second term in office, how can legal experts and policymakers better understand the trajectory of the current court? Answering this question is vital as the legal community faces new questions surrounding the Rule of Law.

This Article centers on recent Supreme Court case law, including the Court’s controversial Clean Water Act (“CWA”) decision in Sackett …

Masthead & Table Of Contents, Vol. 104, No. 2

Nebraska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Zigzagging Outer Space: The Legal Complexities Of Mega-Constellations, Alex S. Li

Nebraska Law Review

The rapid rise of satellite mega-constellations is reshaping the “spacescape” of Low Earth Orbits (LEO). This Article explores the unprecedented challenges introduced by these vast networks and proposes a comprehensive governance framework to ensure their sustainable operations.

It begins by examining the transformative potential of mega-constellations and offering an overview of current deployments and upcoming projects. It then evaluates the existing legal landscape, highlighting the key treaties, international organizations, and national regulators that can influence these systems. The Article then describes how the fragmented nature of the current regulatory architecture leaves us ill-equipped to address the critical challenges, such as …

Reading Is Dead: Can Law Schools Make Lawyers From Non-Readers?, Elizabeth Ruiz Frost

Nebraska Law Review

Reading is dead. While its death has been widely reported in popular media, this Article contributes to the conversation by connecting the death of reading to core lawyering skills, arguing that the way we teach in law schools must change to account for the loss. Reading fuels critical thinking skills, communication skills, general knowledge, and our ability to understand and empathize with people. Thus, a lifetime of reading builds the foundation for core lawyering skills. But what happens when law students spend their lifetime doing anything but reading? This Article will first explain, briefly, how reading has been taught in …

Latinos In Massachusetts: Dominicans, Phillip Granberry, Michelle Borges, Florita Coto Tristán, Daliza Nova

Gastón Institute Publications

The Gastón Institute’s 2024 Latinos in Massachusetts series includes this statewide report on the Dominican population in Massachusetts. This report analyzes Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data from the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Our descriptive analysis uses both household- and individual-level data to estimate population size and percentages and to compare Dominicans to Other Latinos and Non-Latinos in the state.

Sustainability Hub Newsletter - January 2025, Margaret Saville, Neyda Gilman, Jennifer Embree, Ashley Maurad

Library Sustainability Resources

Happy New Year Bearcats! I hope you’re all having a fun and restful break from classes. Jump into the new year with some campus sustainability news, and a handful of other tips and tricks for sustainable living!

Exploring The Role Of Boundary Infrastructures In Facilitating Learning In A Research-Practice Partnership, Jody Clarke-Midura, Alireza Zandi, Mimi Recker

Publications

This study examines how boundary infrastructures in Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) facilitate learning and collaboration between a rural school district and two universities. Using the Learning at the Boundaries framework, we analyze design team meetings, teacher feedback, and co-designed curricular materials. Our findings highlight the roles of boundary spanners, practices, and objects in bridging gaps among stakeholders and fostering sustainable collaboration. This research contributes to the learning sciences by documenting effective processes for organizational learning, emphasizing the importance of structured co-design in educational improvement.

In-Person Versus Peer-Coordinated Virtual Health Coaching For Metabolic And Behavioral Outcomes In Women In Sober Living Facilities, Craig R. Witt

Dissertations

Background: Women in early recovery from substance use disorder often face metabolic health vulnerabilities, yet physical health behaviors are frequently under-emphasized in sober living settings. Feasible and accessible wellness strategies are needed to support both behavioral and metabolic health in this population.

Purpose: To compare the effects of professionally delivered in-person health coaching versus peer-coordinated virtual health coaching on metabolic outcomes and health-promoting behaviors among women in sober living facilities.

Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 32 women enrolled in a 12-week group-based health coaching program focused on nutrition, physical activity, and stress management; 18 completed post-intervention assessments (in-person: n = …

Strategic Leadership In Cybersecurity Risk Management: Elevating The Role Of Executive Managers, Lordt Becklines, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

As the frequency and sophistication of cyber threats continue to escalate, cybersecurity has evolved from a technical concern to a central pillar of strategic enterprise governance. This TREO Talk presents the findings of a rigorous systematic literature review (SLR) encompassing 69 scholarly publications selected using the PRISMA 2020 framework. The study investigates how executive managers (EMs) influence the success of cybersecurity risk management (CRM) programs and frames their participation as both a requirement and a competitive advantage. Despite global investment in security infrastructure, many organizations remain vulnerable to breaches, largely due to the absence of sustained executive leadership in CRM. …

Integrating Generative Ai Into Knowledge Management Systems For Context-Aware Decision Support, Thad J. Dymkowski, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

In complex organizations, traditional Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) and decision support systems (DSS) often struggle with three persistent challenges: capturing and converting tacit knowledge, like employee expertise and contextual insights, into explicit shareable formats; dynamically adapting recommendations and knowledge delivery to rapidly changing organizational contexts, user roles, and project needs; and enabling fast, relevant knowledge retrieval for timely decision-making. These challenges result in knowledge silos, loss of critical expertise, and decision delays. Integrating Generative AI (GenAI) with KMS, and context-aware DSS (CADSS) directly addresses these challenges by automating the collection, extraction, and structuring of tacit knowledge; personalizing insights based on …

Human Cognitive Bias Mitigation Approaches To Fairness Within The Machine Learning Value Chain: A Review And Research Agenda, Stephen Surles, Cherie Noteboom, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

This systematic review examines the influence of human cognitive biases on machine learning (ML) systems across the 9 phases of the ML algorithmic value chain. Following the PRISMA guidelines, it synthesizes 19 studies on bias integration and management within ML, highlighting techniques to reduce bias and increase fairness. The review identifies key gaps: the unclear translation of human cognitive biases to ML biases, absence of metrics to measure biases, re-introduction of biases during debiasing, and the critical need for human intervention. These findings prompt several research themes spanning human cognition and algorithmic bias. The theoretical implications are three-fold: extending bias …

Ai-Powered Operations: Navigating Ethics, Automation, And Strategic Innovation In The Digital Era, Lordt Becklines, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is redefining Operations Management (OM) by transforming how organizations plan, execute, and optimize their core processes. This TREO Talk presents a comprehensive synthesis of AI’s evolution and impact in OM, underscoring its role as a strategic enabler of agility, resilience, and innovation in digitally driven enterprises. Leveraging a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) guided by PRISMA methodology across nine scholarly databases, this research constructs a validated framework that captures the multidimensional role of AI in transforming operational strategies, capabilities, and outcomes across industries. AI's influence spans predictive analytics, robotic process automation, supply chain orchestration, logistics, and real-time quality …

Non-Functional Requirementsand Key Propositionselicitation For An Hdss:A Grounded Theory Approach, Mohammad Tafiqur Rahman, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

Deciding humanitarian actions during relief distribution is a crucial and challengingtask.Humanitarian decision-makers (HDM) make manycritical decisions during disaster responses,but they sufferfrom incomplete, irrelevant, and sometimes excessive humanitarian operations-related disaster datain many situations.Hence, for constructive and meaningful support in decision-making, HDMs oftenappreciate computer-basedinformation systems(IS) (i.e. humanitarian decision support systems) that require non-functional requirements (NFRs) for their development. To identify those necessary NFRs, we applied the grounded theory approach to analyze 61 literature-and field-based decision-making parameters reported in the primary author's previous research (Rahman and Majchrzak (2020)). Our analysis resulted in 13 essentialNFRs and four key propositions to guide relief distribution decision-making …

Evaluating Topic Models With Openai Embeddings: A Comparative Analysis On Variable-Length Texts Using Two Datasets, Abdullah Wahbeh, Mohammad Al-Ramahi, Omar F. El-Gayar, Ahmed Elnoshokaty, Tareq Nasralah

Research & Publications

Topic modeling is a crucial unsupervised machine learning technique for identifying themes within unstructured text. This study compares traditional topic modeling methods, like Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), against advanced embedding-based models, specifically BERTopic-OpenAI. The analysis utilizes two distinct datasets: user reviews from the mental health app Replika and the 20newsgroup dataset. For the Replika dataset, both methods identified common themes, but BERTopic-OpenAI uncovered additional nuanced topics, demonstrating its enhanced semantic capabilities. Quantitative evaluation of the 20newsgroup dataset further highlighted BERTopic-OpenAI's advantage through achieving higher topic coherence and diversity than the best-performing LDA model. These results suggest that embedding-based models provide …

A Review Of Reasoning In Artificial Agents Using Large Language Models, Nagraj Naidu, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

The increasing sophistication and the use of large language models (LLMs) in artificial agents highlights the need to investigate their reasoning capabilities and limitations. Understanding these aspects is crucial, given the integral role of reasoning in decision-making processes, which are central to a software or embodied agent. This research paper presents a systematic review of the topic. We review the literature by selecting and analyzing highly cited papers using both PRISMA and snowballing. The gathered literature is categorized using a detailed framework of facets and categories. In the results section, we elaborate on our findings and illustrate the mapping through …

Exploring The Interoperability For Information Exchange Between Acute And Post-Acute Care Settings, Madhu Gottumukkala, Cherie Noteboom, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

The seamless transfer and assimilation of healthcare data are foundational to delivering holistic, timely, and effective patient care across the healthcare spectrum. However, disparities in Electronic Health Record (EHR) system adoption, especially in long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) settings, consistently obstruct interoperability. This study explores the factors that impede and facilitate health information exchange in LTPAC environments, focusing on technical and organizational facets. Grounded theory guided our qualitative case study research, involving 35 stakeholder interviews. Key technical findings highlight the need for integrated, reliable data structures, robust infrastructure, and standardized practices. Organizational insights reveal a shift towards integrative, patient-centric strategies …

Latent Subtypes Of Comorbidities In Multiple Sclerosis Patients: Insights From Social Media, Laxmi Manasa Gorugantu, Nevine Nawar, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic neurological disease associated with various physical and cognitive impairments. Individuals with MS might also experience medical and psychiatric comorbidities that can exacerbate the severity of the disease and lower their overall well-being. Therefore, it becomes essential to identify these co-occurring health conditions at the early stages to optimize treatment and improve patient outcomes. Consequently, the objective of this study is to explore the commonly occurring comorbidities among MS patients around the globe from social media discourse. Furthermore, it aims to unveil public perceptions, providing insights that might not be captured via clinical research methods. The …

Highlighting Competency Gaps In Health Informatics Education Using Advanced Text-Embedding Models, Omar F. El-Gayar, Abdullah Wahbeh, Mohammad Al-Ramahi, Ahmed Elnoshokaty

Research & Publications

The healthcare sector anticipates substantial growth, with 125,000 job openings by 2026, including 69,000 middle-skilled positions. Despite this growth, data use and integration inefficiencies cost the sector $750 billion annually. Health informatics, an interdisciplinary field blending healthcare, computer, information, and cognitive sciences, can address these challenges through enhanced healthcare management via information technology. However, there is a critical disparity between competencies taught in educational programs and those demanded by the job market. This study examines competencies from job postings on Indeed.com and accredited health informatics programs, comparing them with the Health Information Technology Competencies (HITComp) database. Utilizing advanced text-embedding models, …

Towards Adaptive Learning: A Review Of Machine Learning On Lms Data, Cindy Zhiling Tu, Gary Yu Zhao, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

This study presents a literature survey on the application of machine learning (ML) in learning management system (LMS) data analytics, aiming to provide insights into adaptive learning development and propose an agenda for future research. The literature survey is based on a proposed adaptive learning framework and critically analyzes the results within this context. The results reveal that machine learning methods can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional interventions and combining online behaviors with textual data can improve the outcome of performance prediction. Key findings also highlight several open issues, including using small datasets and the need for …

Generative Ai And Academic Integrity In Higher Education: A Systematic Review And Research Agenda, Kyle Bittle, Omar F. El-Gayar

Research & Publications

This systematic literature review rigorously evaluates the impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on academic integrity within higher education settings. The primary objective is to synthesize how GenAI technologies influence student behavior and academic honesty, assessing the benefits and risks associated with their integration. We defined clear inclusion and exclusion criteria, focusing on studies explicitly discussing GenAI’s role in higher education from January 2021 to December 2024. Databases included ABI/INFORM, ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, and JSTOR, with the last search conducted in May 2024. A total of 41 studies met our precise inclusion criteria. Our synthesis methods involved qualitative analysis …

A Systematic Literature Review Of Ai, Education, And Change In Radiology Practice, Cherie Noteboom, Vahini Atluri, Sai Mounika Chintalapudi

Research & Publications

Radiology is undergoing a role change as Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in clinical workflows, reshaping the roles, responsibilities, and educational needs of radiologists. As professionals known for their autonomy and expertise, radiologists face significant transitions that require effective change management and educational support. The systematic literature review is guided by the PRISMA methodology and synthesizes findings from peer-reviewed research between 2019 and 2024 to explore how AI integration influences radiology practice and training. Anchored in the GrandFusion Framework—a novel theoretical synthesis of Dewey’s Experiential Learning, Simon’s Bounded Rationality, Lewin’s Change Management, Davis’s Technology Acceptance Model, and Rogers’s Diffusion …