Introduction to G.W.F. Hegel

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A Realist Defense of the Alien Tort Statute

This Article offers a new justification for modern litigation under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), a provision from the 1789 Judiciary Act that permits victims of human rights violations anywhere in the world to sue tortfeasors in U.S. courts. The ATS, moribund for nearly 200 years, has recently emerged as an important but controversial tool for the enforcement of human rights norms. “Realist” critics contend that ATS litigation exasperates U.S. allies and rivals, weakens efforts to combat terrorism, and threatens U.S. sovereignty by importing into our jurisprudence undemocratic international law norms. Defenders of the statute, largely because they do not share the critics‟ realist assumptions about international relations, have so far declined to engage with the cost-benefit critique of ATS litigation and instead justify the ATS as a key component in a global human rights regime. This Article addresses the realists‟ critique on its own terms, offering the first defense of ATS litigation that is itself rooted in realism—the view that nations are unitary, rational actors pursuing their security in an anarchic world and obeying international law only when it suits their interests. In particular, this Article identifies three flaws in the current realist ATS critique. First, critics rely on speculation about catastrophic future costs without giving sufficient weight to the actual history of ATS litigation and to the prudential and substantive limits courts have already imposed on it. Second, critics‟ fears about the sovereignty costs that will arise when federal courts incorporate international-law norms into domestic law are overblown because U.S. law already reflects the limited set of universal norms, such as torture and genocide, that are actionable under the ATS. Finally, this realist critique fails to overcome the incoherence created by contending that the exercise of jurisdiction by the courts may harm U.S. interests while also assuming that nations are unitary, rational actors. Moving beyond the current realist ATS critique, this Article offers a new, positive realist argument for ATS litigation. This Article suggests that, in practice, the U.S. government as a whole pursues its security and economic interests in ATS litigation by signaling cooperativeness through respect for human rights while also ensuring that the law is developed on U.S. terms. This realist understanding, offered here for the first time, both explains the persistence of ATS litigation and bridges the gap that has frustrated efforts to weigh the ATS‟s true costs and benefits

Higher Education: Obligation or Opportunity?

From the beginning of my experience at Marquette, I continually observed students that appeared to demonstrate no enthusiasm for getting an education, reflected in a noticeable lack of participation in class discussions. I felt my expectations of academia being crushed as students boasted about skipping lectures and passively sat in class, seemingly disinterested in the professor and the material. If college was truly regarded as an opportunity for intellectual growth, why did students treat education as nothing more than an obligation? Through mixed-method, qualitative research, combining observation, interviews, and review of scholarly literature, this project examines what factors influence student engagement in the learning environment.https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_3210ur/1021/thumbnail.jp

The domain of authority

If the commands of authority are peremptory and content-independent directives, it is a great puzzle why any rational autonomous agent should accept them as morally binding, as Robert Paul Wolff and others have argued. I analyse the peremptory and content-independent quality of authoritative directives and argue that all earthly authorities operate within a specified domain. I investigate three candidates for the role of universally applicable boundary conditions–morality, harm to self, and absurdity. I conclude that commands are authoritative only when intra vires, i.e. issued within the proper domain of the authority. Wolff's challenge is not met, hut it is shown to be less forbidding

Why are married men working so much?

Empirical patterns of labor supply at the micro level tend to reject the unitary model assumption implicit in most macro theories, where households are the deemed to be rational agents. This paper examines the rise in in per-capita labor since 1975 and asks how the inclusion of bargaining between spouses in a standard macro model would alter the analysis of recent trends in aggregate labor supply. The main findings are that the stationarity of married men's work hours reflects weakening of men's bargaining position as women's wages rose, and that the unitary model seriously overstates the response of aggregate labor to trends in relative wages

Implementing a Checklist & Hourly Huddles to Increase Situational Awareness During the Second Stage of Labor-A Perinatal Quality Improvement Project

Background: Current management of the second stage of labor often follows tradition-based routines rather than evidence-based practices. A lack of situational awareness and tunnel vision can limit medical decision-making. Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network (NNEPQIN) has listed Second Stage Situational Awareness as a priority initiative. Standardized checklists are useful for maintaining situational awareness. Regular debriefings using a standardized tool have been shown to improve communication and team based care, which generally leads to improved patient outcomes. Based on this evidence, developing a standardized checklist including regular hourly care team “huddles” is valuable and could result in improved birth outcomes. AIM Statement: The global aim of this project was to reduce variability in practice during the second stage of labor to improve neonatal birth outcomes. The specific aim was to implement a second stage situational awareness checklist with a completion percentage of 80% by July 2015. Method: The theoretical framework guiding this project was Endsley’s theory of Situation Awareness. Pre-implementation chart reviews were conducted to determine what information was currently being documented during the second stage. A 9-item checklist was developed based on hospital preference for use during hourly huddles once second stage was reached. Staff were educated on checklist use pre-implementation. Post-implementation chart reviews were conducted to determine checklist completion percentage. Results: Chart reviews demonstrated an average checklist completion percentage of 43% over the two-week implementation period with a range of 22-89%. Huddles were conducted and documented in 33% of the reviewed delivery charts. Conclusions: Continued follow up and work re-design is needed to consistently incorporate the checklist and huddles into practice. Implications for the CNL: Implications for the CNL include continuing staff education to increase awareness and acceptance of the practice change, and examining project effects on perinatal outcomes including delivery mode and neonatal Apgar scoring

A Simple Way to Iron a Shirt

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The Next Generation: Mentoring, Recruitment and Library Education

Good morning! Praise God for this wonderful day! I am greatly honored to speak to the audience of the Association of Christian Librarians. I also want to acknowledge the members of the Massachusetts Black Librarians Network who have come to support me. This presentation is so appropriate because I strive towards a commitment to Christian principles in my personal life, and my work life. In fact, my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc, a private non-profit organization committed to academic excellence and community service, is based on Christian principles. We set aside time for spiritual readings in our business meetings, and during service weekends, my sorority combines visits to a local church for a Sunday service. It is a wonderful way to share our Christian values with each other and our community. It is not just the motions that we go through that I appreciate, but the respect and support for each other