In a Bind: Mandatory Arbitration Clauses in the Corporate Derivative Context

Published in cooperation with the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolutio

The Israeli–Palestinian Separation Wall and the Assemblage Theory: The Case of the Weekly Rosary at the Icon of Our Lady of the Wall

In this work I analyse the ethnographic case study of the icon of Our Lady of the Wall as establishing a unique ritual landscape among the cement slabs of the Israeli–Palestinian Wall separating Jerusalem from Bethlehem. Although the Wall has been widely described as a technology of occupation on one side and as a device to ensure security on the other, through Latour’s concept of assemblages I unearth its agency in developing a Christian shrine. Through a decade of weekly recitations of the Rosary along the Wall near Checkpoint 300, the Elizabethan nuns of the Caritas Baby Hospital have been invoking Mary’s help to dismantle the Wall. This weekly ritual represents both political dissent against the bordering action enacted by the Wall, as well as giving visibility to the plea of the Palestinian Christian right to live in this territory in the face of their status as an ethno-religious minority

Cultural Identity and the peacemaking process. The case of Christians in Israel and the Palestinian Territories

This research constitutes an in fieri project which aims at analyzing and problematizing the presence and role of the Arab Palestinian Christian population in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Our focus is on understanding if and how the peace process could undergo revitalization and gain new momentum from the grassroots. We would like to ascertain if religious fervor and motivation have an active role in mending the relationships between the groups involved in the conflict and eventually influence state policies. In the present study, we provide firstly a brief description of the Christian milieu in Israel and the PT in order to arouse awareness on the multidimensionality inherent to the Christian population. Secondly, we will present the nature and characteristics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which will help shedding light onto the dynamics that need to be addressed by any peace making effort. Thirdly, we will analyze the directions taken by Elias Chacour to approach the conflict. We have hypothesized that the agency of Chacour as well as of other Arab Christian communities, or single members of the communities, can be read both as religious peacemaking grafted into the vision of Track Two diplomacy, as well as acts of resilience

Surface Water and Groundwater Exchanges in Fine and Coarse Grained River Bed Systems and Responses to Initial Stages of Dam Removal, Milltown, Montana

More than 620,000 miles of rivers are affected by over 79,000 dams in the United States. The dams are a valuable asset, however dams block fish passage, and disrupt the physical and biological systems, and alter hyporheic exchange. In efforts to remediate rivers impacted by dams, dam removal is being proposed. Changes in the location and timing of groundwater and river water exchanges in post dam remediated river systems are typically not identified. The goal of this study was to examine the factors controlling surface water and groundwater exchange rates and locations in river systems during dam removal. Specific tasks included establishing a river elevation and groundwater elevation monitoring network, defining riverbed properties and exchange rates using in-riverbed measurements, developing a site conceptual model for different river reaches, and constructing and calibrating a finite difference numerical groundwater model representing site conditions. Results of monitoring indicate that the Clark Fork River above the dam and reservoir is connected to the aquifer system, containing losing and gaining and parallel flow reaches. The Clark Fork River below the dam appears to be gaining approximately 600 ft below the dam and then becomes a perched losing river that at times throughout the year may become linked to the underlying water table. The reservoir pool and its Blackfoot River arm are losing systems with pool elevations well above the local water table. In-river measurements indicate the river and groundwater exchange water at a rate of 0.02 to 13 ft3/(dayft2). A calibrated numerical groundwater model was used to examine how pre-dam removal groundwater, river and reservoir exchanges were likely to change once the dam is removed. Simulations suggest that historically (with the dam) the reservoir contributed approximately 21% of the recharge to the local Milltown aquifer system. Once the dam is removed this recharge contribution may be reduced to less than 1%. As a result water table elevations will decrease locally and exchange locations and rates above the dam location will be altered. Reducing uncertainty of the modeling results and predictions could be improved by further data collection and evaluation of various conceptual models