Digital Commons Network^™

The Borderline Constitution, Pratheepan Gulasekaram

Publications

This Feature identifies and theorizes a distinct constitutional regime that federal courts have constructed at, adjacent to, and because of the nation’s border. Drawing together strands of First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment law, along with habeas doctrine, constitutional torts, tribal sovereignty, and separation-of-powers concerns, this Feature demonstrates how constitutional guarantees systematically recede in the border’s shadow. These deviations from canonical and mainstream constitutional norms authorize intrusive state invasions of privacy and other fundamental rights, abdicate judicial oversight in favor of outsized executive discretion, and entrench racial and religious subordination.

The Feature further demonstrates that the effects of border exceptionalism …

The Law Of Health Equity, Govind Persad

Publications

Since 2025, health equity has faced increasing hostility from federal courts, agencies, and the executive branch. Yet health equity’s promise—to narrow stark health gaps along racial, economic, and other lines—remains urgent and widely endorsed by states, localities, and nongovernmental actors. Evaluating how health equity efforts might falter under or surmount these challenges requires understanding their legal underpinnings: the law of health equity.

This Article is the first in legal scholarship to comprehensively examine federal, state, and private sector health equity commitments. It reveals sustained societal recognition of health equity’s importance, while highlighting the need for more precise and actionable definitions. …

The Public Franchise Tradition As A Limit On Patent Takings, Laura E. Dolbow

Publications

A longstanding debate exists over whether patents are forms of “private property” that the Takings Clause protects. Recently, in a different context, the Supreme Court stated that a patent is a specific form of property: a public franchise. Several scholars have argued that the public franchise characterization means patents are not protected by the Takings Clause at all. This Article identifies another potential implication of the public franchise framing. It argues that even if patents are viewed as protected by the Takings Clause, the public franchise framing suggests that the scope of that protection should be quite narrow.

To explore …

The Spac Clock, Andrew A. Schwartz

Publications

Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are public companies organized to die. Unlike ordinary corporations, which enjoy perpetual existence by default, SPACs are legally required to consummate a merger within a fixed period--usually two years, never more than three--or else liquidate and return investors' cash.

This Article takes that clock seriously and argues that limited life is foundational to the SPAC form: it disciplines sponsors by preventing indefinite warehousing of capital, reassures investors by guaranteeing liquidity, and makes the form marketable in the first place. A perpetual SPAC would be good for nobody.

At the same time, the SPAC clock distorts …

Film For Jeanette, Brice Goldberg

Theses and Dissertations

Film for Jeanette is an experimental documentary concerning grief, memory, and what remains of those who have left this physical plane. The film paints the portrait of my late sister, Jeanette Lee Goldberg, who died in a car accident when she was 19. What begins as a memorial becomes a celebration of her life and an exploration into the complexities of her character that led to her death. Jeanette’s story is told through interviews with family members, while the visuals, created with various alternative 16mm film techniques, depict my own journey through the filmmaking process. I was only 3 when …

Tms Phantoms For Investigating Multimodal Neuromodulation Procedures, Wesley H. Lohr

Theses and Dissertations

Evidence suggests that combining deep brain stimulation (DBS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is potentially unsafe for certain TMS target locations, though TMS can alleviate several DBS-resistant PD symptoms such as speech impairment, freezing of gait, and dysphagia. Addressing this issue, head phantoms designed for TMS with embedded electric field (E-field) triaxial dipole probes (TDPs) are used to investigate a tunable magnetic shield that can protect implants from periphery E-fields and focalize magnetic fields. Through segmentation of MRI files, 3D printing, and injection molding of CNT-PDMS conductive composites, anatomical head phantoms are created. Anchoring TDPs to clinically relevant regions in …

Climate Last Resorts, Michael Pappas

Publications

The United States faces a climate crisis, an affordable housing crisis, and, linking them both, an insurance crisis. At the intersection of these concurrent predicaments lie a set of little-known but surprisingly impactful policies: state Insurer of Last Resort (ILR) programs. ILRs are state policies that provide property insurance when private insurance is unavailable, such as when private insurers determine that climate hazards are too risky to underwrite.

This Article argues that long-overlooked ILR programs are quickly becoming lynchpins for addressing some of today’s most pressing concerns around climate, housing, and insurance. Accordingly, ILRs bear urgent attention and reevaluation. In …

The Role Of Agricultural Biomass In Supply Chain Decarbonization, Ruxia Lyu, Sobhan Arisian, Zhitang Li, Mohammad S. Taskhiri, Reza Kiani Mavi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

To achieve supply chain decarbonization, environmentally conscious manufacturers are transforming their energy infrastructure. While certain manufacturers are adopting a pure bioenergy strategy in their production processes, others are opting for a hybrid energy approach that combines traditional energy with bioenergy. This choice is often influenced by limitations in land capacity and the developmental stage of biomass conversion technologies. This paper introduces a game-theoretic model that explores the optimal approach to achieving supply chain decarbonization by strategically selecting energy portfolios. Our findings reveal that in scenarios where the market size is small, manufacturers tend to adopt a hybrid energy strategy, particularly …

Er-Reina A-10289, Hala Halabi

Favissa: Past Archaeological Excavation Reports

In April 2026, a trial excavation was conducted at Er-Reina (Permit No. A-10289/2026; map ref. 230650–75/736120–50), prior to development work. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by Nasser Abu Ahmad, was directed by H. Halabi (field photography), with the assistance of W. Atrash (supervision), W. Hamdan (photogrammetry and field photography), J. Zilpa (administration), M. Masarwa (Lower Galilee and Valleys District), and laborers from Umm al-Fahm.

(2026) Maughn Rollins Gregory Curriculum Vitae (Short Version), Maughn Rollins Gregory

Collected Papers of Maughn Rollins Gregory

No abstract provided.

(2026) The Importance Of Wonder, Maughn Rollins Gregory

Collected Papers of Maughn Rollins Gregory

In this editorial Maughn Gregory presents wonder as the root of philosophical thinking and a lifelong human capacity that begins in childhood. He argues that questioning and curiosity foster critical and creative thought, enriching our understanding of ourselves and the world. Yet social and educational pressures often diminish this openness over time. He encourages adults to actively renew their sense of wonder, especially through philosophical dialogue with children, whose imaginative questions can help revive shared inquiry and discovery.

(2026) Desegregating The Community Of Inquiry In Philosophy For / With Children: A Dialogue On Racism, Maughn Rollins Gregory, Darren Chetty

Collected Papers of Maughn Rollins Gregory

This dialogical article examines persistent challenges in engaging racism, colonialism, and white supremacy within the theory and practice of Philosophy for/with Children (P4/wC). Framed as a mutual interview between two long-standing colleagues, the dialogue revisits formative encounters in the P4/wC community and situates them within broader intellectual traditions, including American pragmatism, deliberative democracy, and Africana philosophy. Drawing on personal experience, archival material, and critical scholarship, the authors interrogate the metaphilosophical assumptions underpinning the “community of inquiry,” particularly its commitments to reasonableness, consensus, and democratic dialogue. Concepts such as the “gated community of inquiry,” white ignorance, nonideal theory, and insurrectionist ethics …

(2026) Three Traditions Of Philosophical Dialogue, Maughn Rollins Gregory

Collected Papers of Maughn Rollins Gregory

This chapter distinguishes and interrelates three major traditions of philosophical dialogue: inquiry, political, and contemplative. Inquiry dialogue, exemplified by the “community of philosophical inquiry,” emphasizes collaborative reasoning aimed at forming the most reasonable judgments about contested concepts. Political dialogue, exemplified by the story circle, shifts the focus toward democratic transformation, highlighting how discourse is shaped by power, ideology, and the need for emancipatory critique and action. Contemplative dialogue, exemplified by lectio divina, foregrounds self-awareness, ethical disposition, and attentive presence as conditions for meaningful exchange. Across these traditions, dialogue is presented as a normative practice that simultaneously cultivates the self and …

The Jurisprudence Of Baseball: Private Versus Public Litigation, Ahmed E. Taha

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Like every sport, baseball operates as a legal system, complete with laws that govern play and a process for resolving disputes that occur during the game. The large majority of these laws are enforced through a type of public litigation: umpires are responsible for detecting infractions and imposing the mandated penalties. However, unlike in every other sport popular in the United States, certain laws are enforced through a type of private litigation: the appeal play. Umpires do not declare those infractions unless the other team appeals to an umpire that the infraction occurred. A substantial body of legal scholarship explores …

To Kill And Let Suffer: The Incompatibility Of The Death Penalty And Medical Aid In Dying, And The Necessity For A Fundamental Right To Life, Nicholas Stackhouse

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Currently, the Supreme Court holds that the death penalty is constitutional and that a person has no right to Medical Aid in Dying, resulting in a legal environment in which a person can unwillingly be put to death while simultaneously having no ability to end their own life if terminally ill and in pain. The conclusion drawn from the Supreme Court’s decisions means that death row inmates who wish to end their lives have a greater right to die than law-abiding citizens. This state of affairs is untenable and contradictory to the founding principles of the United States. This Comment …

From Privacy To Profit: The Evolution Of Name, Image, And Likeness Rights And The Revolution In College Athletics Toward Collegiate Capitalism, Donald M. Remy

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The story of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights in American law is one of adaptation, transformation, and ultimately, revolution. What began as a modest recognition of personal dignity in the late 19th century has evolved into a multibillion-dollar framework that has fundamentally altered the landscape of college athletics. The journey from Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis’s seminal articulation of the “right to be let alone” to the June 2025 approval of the House v. NCAA¹ settlement represents not merely a doctrinal evolution but a profound shift in how American society conceptualizes the relationship between identity, commerce, and fair …

Name, Image, Likeness And The Great American Pastime, Barbara Lauriat

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The ability of high-profile athletes to commercialize name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights is at the center of many current controversies about the future of college sports in the United States. This Article describes how what we call NIL protection— largely based on publicity rights doctrines developed in the mid-20th century—is historically recent, conceptually unstable, and insufficiently scrutinized, even though it now underwrites major entertainment markets in sports. Just as baseball is a sport particularly identified with the United States, there is also a peculiarly American approach to the protection of persona. Using baseball as the central case study, the …

Losing Your Driver’S License; Just What The Doctor Ordered?, Shawna Traver

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Having a medical scare or living with a chronic medical condition is a common experience for many people in the United States. But should you go to a doctor in Pennsylvania and tell them of your condition or experience, a little-known law may force the doctor to report you to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation— without your knowledge. Once the report is received, the Department can recall your license. You can attempt to restore your license by attending a hearing, though you are fighting an uphill battle. Essentially, Pennsylvania drivers may be blindsided by a license recall merely because they …

Listening To The Cemí: An Exploration Of Taíno Spirituality Culture Through Artifact Analysis And Digital Archives, Jordan G. Richardson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

My research explores the evolution and continuity of Taíno spirituality culture across five centuries through artifact analysis and digital archives. While Spanish imperialism in the 15th century devastated Taíno populations and traditional craft production, I find that Taíno spirituality was not eradicated but rather adapted its mode of expression. The shift in medium from primarily pre- and peri- physical cemí artifacts (carved from wood and stone) to contemporary digital representations (online archives, blog posts, YouTube videos) illustrates two things: a) strategic integration of Taíno technological use to preserve spiritual practices while reestablishing cultural connectivity through education, community, and resistance movements, …

The Effects Of Stress-Related Hormones On Excitatory Synapse Formation, Autumn C. Garvey

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Stress profoundly influences brain function through neuromodulatory hormones that regulate synaptic plasticity, yet how temporal patterns of hormone exposure shape excitatory synapse formation remains poorly understood. This study investigates how exposure to stress hormones, norepinephrine and cortisol, affects excitatory synapse development. While existing research primarily compares concentration models, real-world stress occurs in variable patterns that may produce distinct neural outcomes. To address this gap, differentiated Neuro2A neuronal cells are exposed to norepinephrine or cortisol under a continuous treatment paradigm designed to model chronic stress conditions. Following treatment, immunofluorescence imaging is utilized to quantify excitatory synapse formation through analysis of presynaptic …

Reimagining Emily Dickinson And Rupi Kaur’S Techniques For A Contemporary Creative Portfolio, Julia S. Gearing

ENG 490 Senior Seminar Capstone

This thesis combines literary analysis and creative practice to examine how notorious poet Emily Dickinson and up and coming Rupi Kaur have shaped the genre of poetry over time and can influence a novice writer, such as myself. Through close reading and analysis of Dickinson and Kaur’s work this thesis identifies key stylistic and thematic elements and uses my findings to influence original poetry, with the goal of experimenting and expanding upon the use of craft within my writing. This project demonstrates how critical analysis of other successful authors can inform creative expression and broaden the literary realm.

Sustainable Safety Planning On Two-Lane Highways: A Random Forest Approach For Crash Prediction And Resource Allocation, Fahmida Rahman, Cidambi Srinivasan, Xu Zhang, Mei Chen

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

During the safety planning stage, accurate crash prediction tools are critical for prioritizing countermeasures and allocating resources effectively. Traditional statistical approaches, while long applied in this field, often depend on distributional assumptions that may introduce bias and limit model accuracy. To address these issues, studies have started exploring Machine Learning (ML)-based techniques for crash prediction, particularly for higher functional class roads. However, the application of ML models on two-lane highways remains relatively limited. This study aims to develop an approach to integrate traffic, geometric, and critically, speed-based factors in crash prediction using Random Forest (RF) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) …

Beyond Amateurism: The Evolving Role Of Sports Agents In The Nil Era, Madison Taylor

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Neighborhood Deprivation Associated With Impaired Sit-To-Stand Performance In Middle-Aged And Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis With Clinical Implications, Kenneth Harrison, Silvia Campos-Vargas, Brandon M. Peoples, Keven G. Santamaria-Guzman, David T. Redden, Michael A. Samaan, Jaimie A. Roper

Kinesiology and Health Promotion Faculty Publications

Background: Socioeconomic factors significantly influence health outcomes in older adults, yet their impact on specific aspects of mobility remains unclear. This study investigates the relationship between area-level socioeconomic disadvantage and mobility health in older adults.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 110 community-dwelling older adults recruited and collected using voluntary response sampling at eight health fairs across rural Southeast Alabama in 2022–2024 (60 ± 16 years, 80% female). Area-level socioeconomic status was measured using the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), a validated composite measure of neighborhood disadvantage. Mobility was assessed using the Instrumented Timed Up and Go (iTUG) test and …

Forward Chaining And Emotion Regulation: Exploring The Effects Of Forward Chaining On Emotion Regulation Skills, Celoine Akouri

Masters Essays

Emotion dysregulation places the quality of life for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at risk. The current research on emotion regulation teaching strategies after emotion recognition training is limited. This study explored the effectiveness of forward chaining on teaching emotion regulation skills to an adult with ASD who engaged in a long history of self- injurious, property destruction, and screaming behaviors. The emotion regulation intervention used forward chaining procedures to teach a three-step sequence of behaviors to the participant in their adult day program setting using a multiple baseline across time design. The results showed that as the participant’s …

A Comparison Of Using Token Economy With Differential Reinforcement Procedures In Increasing Compliance In Children With Autism, Jada Keyes

Masters Essays

Compliance, or engaging in an adult-delivered instruction, is a prerequisite skill for following daily routines in school-aged children. Noncompliance, engaging in any other behavior than the directed activity or task, is a common barrier among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Behavioral interventions, such as token economy and differential reinforcement, have been implemented to increase compliance among children with ASD. However, limited research has compared the effectiveness of combining token economy with different types of differential reinforcement interventions. Thus, this study compared the effects of using token economy with differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) versus differential reinforcement of other …

Horizontal Gene Transfer And Reciprocal Chimerism In Compactonostoc (Nostocales, Cyanobacteriophyta) With Evidence For Two New Species In The Genus., Daniel Al Fatayri

Masters Essays

The genus Nostoc has long been known to be polyphyletic, and recent taxonomic work has segregated several Nostoc-like lineages into new genera, including Compactonostoc. Until now, Compactonostoc shennongjiaensis was the only described species in the genus. In a survey of biological soil crusts from Santa Catalina Island (California, USA), we isolated two Nostoc- like strains that phylogenetically affiliate with Compactonostoc. A polyphasic approach based on morphology, 16S rRNA gene phylogeny, 16S–23S ITS secondary structure, and cloned ribosomal operons revealed that each strain harbors two highly divergent ribosomal operon types. One operon (Type 2) is closely related to C. shennongjiaensis and …

Comparative Analysis Of Serum-Free Culture Conditions On Cell Proliferation And Extracellular Vesicle Production By Adipose-Derived Stem Cells, Ayna Ghulldu

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are promising candidates in regenerative medicine due to their proliferative capacity, self-renewal, and secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that mediate intercellular communication. Serum-free media has been increasingly explored for MSC culture as it eliminates xenogeneic components, improving human therapeutic suitability. However, comparative evaluation of distinct serum-free formulations on ADSC proliferation and EV output simultaneously remains limited. This study compares a serum-containing medium to three proprietary serum-free media prototypes differing in composition, including the presence or absence of extracellular matrix proteins, to inform the optimization of culture conditions for clinical use. Proliferation, EV characteristics, and gene expression …

The Depuration Of Microplastic Pollution In Aquacultured Indian River Lagoon Oysters, Lee Nguyen

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Plastics are widely used in consumer goods and industrial manufacturing, and their degradation into microplastics (MP, size < 5 mm) has created an emergent environmental pollutant. Plastics readily enter aquatic environments, where they accumulate additional contaminants and bioaccumulate in organisms. While MP contamination in marine ecosystems is well documented, less is known about MP presence in aquacultured shellfish. Depuration, the process of purging contaminants from shellfish, is conducted in sterile seawater without food, which may cause oyster starvation and death. To date, MP depuration has not been examined in the aquacultured eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in published studies. This study had 3 goals: 1) evaluate the effects of algal feed on oyster survival during depuration, 2) determine the effect of algal feed on depuration effectiveness, and 3) investigate the effect of a ten-day depuration on MP concentration in aquacultured C. virginica soft tissue. MP were quantified in oyster tissues, biodeposits, and in industrial algal feed. Tissues were digested using alkaline solutions, manually examined via microscopy, and analyzed using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to investigate MP polymer …

The Impact Of Gastric Sleeve And Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass On Chief Cell Function And Protein Digestion In Obese Patients, Garikoitz Mikel Gainza

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Obesity has become one of the largest global health concerns of the 21^st century, correlating with numerous associated diseases. To help address the growing prevalence and burden of obesity, sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass have become two commonly performed surgical procedures done to promote weight loss by altering the anatomical structure of the stomach and surrounding organs of the gastrointestinal system. Although the benefits of improved metabolism linked to these surgical procedures are well studied, their impact on the physiology of gastric cells, and more specifically chief cells as they relate to protein digestion post-surgery, is yet to …