The Obama Administration and the Press: Leak Investigations and Surveillance in Post-9/11 America

U.S. President Barack Obama came into office pledging open government, but he has fallen short of his promise. Journalists and transparency advocates say the White House curbs routine disclosure of information and deploys its own media to evade scrutiny by the press. Aggressive prosecution of leakers of classified information and broad electronic surveillance programs deter government sources from speaking to journalists

The Reconstruction of American Journalism

Explores the history and changing landscape of American journalism as well as the need to preserve independent, original, and credible print news reporting. Considers the roles of the Internet, collaborations among newspapers, and foundation support

Spring Commencement Address

Commencement address given by Leonard Downie Jr., Executive Editor of The Washington Post, to the Spring 1993 graduating class of The Ohio State University, Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio, June 11, 1993

Democratic Change and Transition in Africa and the Dilemma of Nigeria

The 1990s witnessed profound political change throughout the continent of Africa. Tired and frustrated with one-party, autocratic, and often military rule, ordinary African citizens in country after country began to voice and demonstrate their discontent in 1990. As the former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe broke ranks with the Soviet Union to claim their independence, these extraordinary events served as an added catalyst to African civil servants, market women, taxi drivers and peri-urban inhabitants to rise up against what they increasingly viewed as repressive governments and regimes, which had done little or nothing to improve their living standards and conditions. Almost ten years later, twenty-plus nations have held democratic elections at least twice; elements of civil society are evident; government has become more participatory and transparent; freedom of the press and free speech are evident everywhere; military regimes are becoming a relic of the past; and economic reforms and real growth are beginning to register a positive impact on formerly ravaged countries such as Mozambique and Uganda. There have been difficulties and setbacks in several countries, but overall, the future looks promising for the world\u27s last frontier. Nigeria, a complicated, complex, and troubled nation of an estimated 120 million people, where the military has ruled for all but ten years of independence, looms as Africa\u27s most important country in political transition. With the passing of former hardline dictator General Sani Abacha and the ascendency of his enlightened and reform minded-successor, General Abdusalami Abubakar, Nigerians, as well as the international community, are somewhat optimistic that this pivotal nation may finally participate in democratic elections to return the country to civilian rule

Development of innovative stationary phases for chiral and protein separations in open tubular capillary electrochromatography

Protein biomarkers in bodily fluids can lead to an indication of the onset of a disease. Due to low abundance of the biomarker at early stages of the disease and other protein interferences, detection may be challenging. Therefore, in order to achieve more selective protein separations, the development of a novel stationary phase has been investigated. Moreover, novel methods to apply polysaccharides as stationary phases were developed for protein separations as well as chiral separations. The initial discussions in this dissertation commences with the use of novel zwitterionic lysine-based molecular micelles as a coating for open tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC) for protein separations. Poly-å-sodium-undecanoyl lysinate (poly-å-SUK) was evaluated as a stationary phase by varying polymer concentration, voltage, and temperature in the separation of six acidic (myoglobulin, albumin, â-lactoglobulin A, â-lactoglobulin B, á-lactalbumin, deoxyribonuclease I) and four basic (á-chymotrypsinogen A, lysozyme, cytochrome c, and ribonuclease A) proteins. Additionally, NaCl concentration was assessed for enhancement of the separation due to increased interactions from polymer swelling. Nearly all protein peaks were baseline resolved. In addition, a separation of proteins in a human serum sample was evaluated under optimized acidic and basic conditions. Furthermore, a separation of proteins in a human serum sample was also evaluated under optimized acidic and basic conditions. This dissertation also addresses chiral separations using polysaccharides derivatives (cellulose acetate (CA), cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP), and cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB)) for OT-CEC. These hydrophobic polymers were each dissolved in a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate and deposited into capillaries. Four chiral analytes (thiopental, sotalol, labetalol, and ephedrine) were evaluated using the coated capillaries. The system was optimized using pH, polymer concentration, voltage, and temperature studies. Examination of results indicated baseline resolution for thiopental using each polysaccharide, while only partial separation was achieved for sotalol, labetalol, and ephedrine. Lastly, protein separations were evaluated using polysaccharides as coatings for OT-CEC. Basic proteins, mentioned earlier, were investigated using CA, CAP, and CAB. CA had the fastest analysis time, and it was further investigated in this study. Polymer concentration, temperature, and voltage studies were conducted to determine optimized conditions. In addition, proteins were evaluated using CA nanofibers. Nanofibers were coated at various times onto the capillary wall for the separation of basic proteins

The Diviners (February 5-7, 13-14, 2009)

Program from The Diviners (February 5-7, 13-14, 2009). To view the photos from this production of The Diviners, please click here