Giving a Voice to the Inanimate: The Right of a Corporation to Political Free Speech

This Note examines the concept of corporate personhood and whether the state-created corporate entity is contemplated by the First Amendment. To discuss this controversy in relation to federal election laws constraining corporate financing, this Note first explains the particulars giving rise to the Citizens United case. Next, this Note examines the legislative and judicial treatment of corporate financing laws in regard to elections. Building upon this milieu, this Note presents the viewpoints of both those opposed to unrestricted corporate political speech as well as those championing a broad interpretation of the First Amendment that encompasses the corporate entity. Finally, this Note concludes that while a dramatic decision like Citizens United would normally warrant a swift remedial response from Congress, the Court\u27s unambiguous construction of the First Amendment has effectively foreclosed any legislative response short of a constitutional amendment

The question of tests

"The ACT and SAT requirements for student-athletes spark provocative discussions about standardized examinations."--Table of contents for issue.By Dr. Steven Osterlin

Staking a Claim on the Building Blocks of Life: Human Genetic Material within the United States Patent System

This Article examines the place, if any, of genes within the United States patent system by first providing a broad background of the United States patent system, including the foundational cases that have shaped the system. Further, this Article briefly describes human genes to explain how genetic material is viewed within the United States patent system. Subsequently, gene patents within the United States are explained. Building upon this milieu, the merits of arguments in opposition to gene patents are examined by focusing on the arguments presented in an ongoing suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (on behalf of various parties) against Myriad Genetics, the holder of several gene patents, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Finally, this Article concludes with a brief forecase of the fate of gene patents in the United States and how concerns about the deleterious effects of gene patents might be addressed

Quality of life of elderly persons with newly diagnosed cancer.

The aim was to investigate quality of life (QoL) in elderly persons newly diagnosed with cancer (65+ years) in relation to age, contact with the health-care system, ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL), hope, social network and support, and to identify which factors were associated with low QoL. The sample consisted of 101 patients (75 women and 26 men) newly diagnosed with cancer. EORTC QLQ-C30, Nowotny's Hope Scale, Katz ADL and the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI) were used. The analysis was carried out in four age groups and revealed no significant differences in QoL. Compared with the other age groups, those of a high age (80+ years) more often lived alone, used more home-help service and had a smaller social network. Factors associated with low QoL were 'no other incomes than retirement pension', 'low level of hope' and 'lung cancer'. In addition, 'being told that the cancer disease has not come to an end', 'needing more help in activities of daily living', 'getting help from grown-up children' and 'needing help with PADL' were associated with low QoL. Those at risk of inferior QoL, that is, having poor economy, low level of hope and lung cancer need special attendance and specific interventions to improve QoL

The Performance Effects of Word Locator Cues on the NAEP Reading Assessment

Beginning with the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment, a new subset of items will be introduced with the intent of measuring vocabulary in context. The assessment’s item format requires an examinee to locate a targeted word in the reading passage. It was reasoned that presenting these items along with ‘word locator cues’ might help reduce construct irrelevant variance due to students’ differential ability in searching the targeted word. Using a sample of 1323 fourth and eight grade students, this study investigated the effects of two such ‘word locator cues’ on student performance: numbering the lines of the passage, and printing targeted words in boldface type. The results indicated that various format conditions (with and without cues) do not influence student performance on the vocabulary items after controlling for reading comprehension. On the other hand, at both fourth and eighth grade, we detected interactions between format conditions and race/ethnicity, which suggested that word locator cues appear to hurt the performance of certain subgroups. Implications of these findings for NAEP’s future reading assessments are discussed. Accessed 11,314 times on https://pareonline.net from October 04, 2007 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right