Starlight

pages 24-4

Closing a Commons: How a Novel Property Regime Can Promote Peace and Efficient Extraction of Deep Sea Resources in the South China Sea

Disputes over maritime boundaries result in inefficient outcomes for all parties to the conflict. The investments required to exploit deep-sea resources are too costly for risk-averse states to attempt to tap into mineral and hydrocarbon deposits beneath disputed boundaries. Consequently, more risk-tolerant states may exploit deep-sea resources without other parties receiving any form of compensation. Alternatively, in some cases no parties will opt to invest in or sponsor such operations because of the uncertainty and risk, depriving surrounding states of the economic benefits tied to those deep-sea resources. This paper relies on principles underlying Coasian bargaining to develop a template for the immediate resolution of maritime disputes to allow for the efficient exploitation of deep-sea resources. It fills a gap in the literature on these disputes by calling for a framework other than the application of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Though other authors have applied property-based thinking to topics related to the Law of the Sea, those inquiries have not directly addressed how that thinking could resolve specific disputes over deep-sea resources, such as in the South China Sea

Age Before Fundamental Right? Resolving the Contradiction Presented by an Age Restriction on Running for Executive Offices in Montana\u27s Constitution

The Montana Constitution guarantees that “[t]he rights of persons under 18 years of age shall include, but not be limited to, all the fundamental rights of this Article unless specifically precluded by laws which enhance the protection of such persons.” Adults receive similarly strong protections. According to Article II, Section 15, of the Montana Constitution, “[a] person 18 years of age or older is an adult for all purposes,” except for legislated limits on the legal age to purchase alcohol. It follows that all Montanans have a constitutional claim to the fundamental right that [a]ll elections shall be free and open, and no power . . . shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage. Yet, that same Constitution denies all Montanans under the age of 25 the full exercise of that fundamental right because the Constitution bars them from legally voting for themselves as candidates for various state offices. No person under the age of 25 at the time of their election may run for “the office of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, or auditor. This article argues that this contradiction cannot stand. The Montana Constitution cannot at once guarantee fundamental rights to all Montanans while also causing a significant percentage of the population an irreparable injury when it comes to exercising that right. It is far from unpredictable that a Montanan under the age of 25 will run for governor or one of the other executive offices with an age requirement. Given the likelihood of such a challenge, this article aims to provide the Montana Supreme Court with a rationale for eliminating the age requirement

Policy Proposals for the United States to Protect the Undersea Cable System

The protection of the undersea cable system, which carries the vast majority of the world’s Internet traffic, requires a new policy approach from the United States government. Old vulnerabilities and new threats have placed this critical piece of international infrastructure under increased threat of disruption and sabotage. Old vulnerabilities include the inherent difficulties associated with defending cables that lay along the open seafloor across international waters and the fragility of the cables themselves--often no larger than a garden hose. New threats come from climate change and changes in geopolitics. For example, Russia, among other nations, has made investments in offensive military equipment tailored to breaking undersea cables. Though disruptions to Internet traffic through the undersea cable system can be diverted to satellites, that alternative comes with significant financial and temporal costs. Therefore, proactive policies to prevent cable breaks should receive substantial attention from political leaders. The weeks and millions of dollars required to repair broken cables further justify the prioritization of proactive policies to reduce the frequency of breaks. This article explores why current international and domestic laws and policies meant to protect undersea cables fall short of what is needed to ensure the longevity and security of the undersea cable system. After an analysis of these various laws and policies, the article offers a series of steps the Biden Administration can take to improve the resilience of the undersea cable system, at least the parts of it connected to the United States. These steps make theoretical sense and have received support from policy leaders on this topic--actually taking the steps, though, will require significant political capital. The majority of the undersea cable system is owned and operated by private stakeholders. The protection of the system necessitates extensive collaboration between private and public stakeholders. Because collaboration takes time and trust, this article comes at a critical moment -- it can help direct political energy toward this time-sensitive endeavor

Privacy Lost: How the Montana Supreme Court Undercuts the Right of Privacy

In 1972, Montanans ratified a new constitution that included a “right of privacy.” The plain text of the provision fails to express the intent of the Framers who not only intended to afford Montanans a right, but also to impose a responsibility on the State to continuously and thoroughly examine State practices in light of evolving means of invading residents’ privacy. This intent has gone unrealized despite the fact that the intent of the Framers is clear, readily available, and the primary source state courts ought to use when interpreting the Constitution. This article delves into the transcripts of the 1972 Constitutional Convention to increase awareness of the true intent of the Framers—to create a right for residents and a responsibility for the government. The first part familiarizes the reader with the arguments made by Framers during the Convention and their intent with respect to the right of privacy. The second part explores how courts have interpreted the right of privacy and details the extent to which courts have diverged from the intent of the Framers; it also assesses the extent to which the legislative and executive branches of the Montana state government have advanced the intent and objectives of the delegates in terms of privacy protections. The third part examines the importance of the Montana Supreme Court as well as the legislative and executive branches reviving the Montana Constitution’s right of privacy and applying it to new threats to that right

Learning From Mistakes: A Guide to Expanding the Oversight Board

More than 4.4 billion people use social media. A few platforms attract a significant number of those users—for example, 2.9 billion people use Facebook, 2.3 billion use YouTube, and 1.2 billion use WeChat. How these major platforms govern themselves with respect to content moderation has an impact on billions of users and may lead to policy changes across other platforms that affect billions more. That is why it is so important to analyze Meta’s Oversight Board—an independent body created for the purpose of “promot[ing] free expression by making principled, independent decisions regarding content on Facebook and Instagram by issuing recommendations on the relevant Facebook company content policy.” Though decisions made by the Oversight Board with respect to specific posts receive substantial media attention, less attention has been paid to the structure of the Board as well as how the Board plans to expand to increase the number of posts it reviews per year. This article aims to fill that gap. Lessons from the evolution of the federal court system in the United States provide the template from which this article will make recommendations for the expansion of the Oversight Board. This article argues that the Board, at least in theory, shares much in common with federal courts—making those courts a valuable source of information on the ways in which the Board and Meta’s content adjudication system should evolve. The first lesson for the Board from the evolution of the federal court system is that—in response to increases in the Board’s jurisdiction and caseload—the Board must make timely adjustments to its structure, including creating lower courts or “Content Moderation Commissions” (CMCs) and increasing the number of members on the Board. The second lesson is that Board members and CMC commissioners must reflect the diversity of users on platforms under their jurisdiction and possess the expertise necessary to address the complexity presented by appeals. The third lesson is that Meta should cede authority to the Board over when and how to select content adjudicators so that the Board and CMCs can develop in a more appropriate and flexible fashion

Forget Forgot Forgotten

The purpose of this thesis is to support a series of works that represent different ideas on my life experiences through memory, attachment to social media use, and digital appearance. By showcasing these works together, viewers can experience the ways in which I choose to visualize how digital content alters our memories, as well as our own opinions of ourselves.The paper begins with a background of myself, detailing how I arrived at this project and why I am interested in the relationship between memory and social media. It then provides examples of previous work I created to inform the reader of the visual language I use in my work. After that, it begins to use citations of research articles providing truth to the claims that I want to make, and finally then describes the work in detail. This paper is designed to open the door for others to consider the idea of externalized memories, and how we are actively altering the way we remember events from our past. It highlights the complex relationship we have with the digital world, and shines a light on how we are, knowingly or not, rewiring our brains on how to remember things

Synthetic approaches toward 12,13-epoxytrichothecenes

The 12,13-epoxytrichothecenes exhibit a variety of biological activities. Several compounds are of particular interest because they are among the most potent cytostatic agents yet discovered. As a result of their biological activities and novel structures, the epoxytrichothecenes have been the objects of intense synthetic activity;A program was undertaken to develop a synthetic route to the AB ring system of the trichothecenes. After initial approaches employing intramolecular etherifications failed, the cis-fused system was successfully produced via a Diels-Adler reaction of methyl coumalate and isoprene;Seeking an improved route, studies were made of intramolecular cyclizations involving allylic carbonium ions. Initial successes in model systems could not be extended to suitably functionalized systems. Ultimately, an efficient seven-step sequence was developed for the production of the AB ring system. The key reaction of this route was the reduction of an acetal to an ether;The course of this research led to the development of two novel synthetic methods: preparation of allylic alcohols from epoxides using iodotrimethylsilane, and selective reductions via enolate protection. The conversion of epoxides of allylic alcohols was found to proceed regiospecifically with trisubstituted epoxides. This procedure compliments previously developed methods. The use of enolate anions as protecting groups served as a convenient procedure for selective reductions of various functionalities employing a variety of reducing agents