Flawed or Flawless: Twenty Years of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, 2 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 178 (2003)

A common complaint among patent practitioners is that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit does not provide the predictability needed in patent law. The author suggests that a better question is whether the Federal Circuit provides more predictability than the alternative, the regional circuits. The choice is clear, the Federal Circuit provides greatly enhanced predictability compared to the regional circuits and patent practitioners should be thankful for what they have, and do not have

The Shape of Trafficking

“Much of the popular writing on human trafficking has been anecdotal or sensationalistic, and most scholarly publications are either general overviews of the problem or critiques of the literature” (Weitzer 2014). A 2017 report estimated 24.9 million people were victims of human trafficking globally. Of those 24.9 million, 71% are women and girls and 25% are under the age of 18. Research on human trafficking is limited, and training is lacking within organizations essential to the fight against human trafficking. Additionally, members of the public are typically ignorant of the true nature of human trafficking, which is multifaceted and much more prevalent in society than the number of arrests and investigations suggests. For my honors project, I created a website with resources detailing red flags of human trafficking and links to training resources. It also contains four articles written by me on human trafficking in the area. Among researchers, it is typically agreed that human trafficking is an underestimated market and is growing. I hope my project will help health workers, law enforcement agencies, as well as the general public in identifying victims and perpetrators of human trafficking, and aid in stopping the expansion of this horrifying industry. Link to Website: http://bgsujournalism.com/theshapeoftrafficking

MOCCASIN ECONOMICS: ENTANGLED MUSEUM STORIES OF NIITSITAPI WOMEN, LABOR, AND FOOTWEAR

This dissertation emphasizes how anthropologists can use museum collections as anthropological data banks (Sturtevant 1973) to uncover the unwritten histories of objects, people, and cultures. I show how museum collections are repositories for the untold stories of Native women’s economic histories and how objects embody women’s critical contributions to the economic, spiritual, and cultural survival of their communities throughout time. To reveal the complex, hidden labor processes involved in historical and contemporary moccasin-making, I draw on interviews with contemporary Niitsitapi moccasin-makers, as well as object-based analyses of 109 pairs of moccasins from five museum collections and numerous archival documents and photographs. Analyses revealed that most of the Niitsitapi moccasins in these five museum collections are outgrowths of production for tourist markets. Additionally, I show how moccasin production has historically been influenced by the colonial policies of the United States government and how moccasins’ stories are influenced by museum categorization tools

The Role of the Chief of Naval Material in Logistics Administration

The role of the Chief of Naval Material is essentially similar to that of the head of a large business operation. In accomplishing his responsibilities, he is assisted by a Vice Chief of Naval Material and four Deputy Chiefs

The Three Stages to Successful Appellate Advocacy Before the Federal Circuit, 1 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 238 (2002)

To succeed at the CAFC, the advocate must succeed in three stages of appeal. The first stage of appeal is actually the stage of proceedings in the trial court. The trial court proceedings are the first stage of appeal because in the absence of correct advocacy in the trial court, there is no opportunity for appeal. The action in the trial court need not be the success of winning at trial. It must, however, at least be the success of preserving issues for appeal – preserving critical error that cannot be remedied at the trial level. In the second stage of appeal, the appeal must be successfully taken and briefed: clear, credible, powerful persuasion is essential. And in the third stage, the appeal must be sustained at oral argument in the face of the appellate judges’ vigorous views and incisive questions. A combination of three successes that radiates its own strong energy offers the best prospect of reaching the advocate’s goal at the Federal Circuit

Loss of aboveground forest biomass and landscape biomass variability in Missouri, US

Disturbance regimes and forests have changed over time in the eastern United States. We examined effects of historical disturbance (circa 1813 to 1850) compared to current disturbance (circa 2004 to 2008) on aboveground, live tree biomass (for trees with diameters \u3e/= 13 cm) and landscape variation of biomass in forests of the Ozarks and Plains landscapes in Missouri, USA. We simulated 10,000 one-hectare plots using random diameters generated from parameters of diameter distributions limited to diameters \u3e/= 13 cm and random densities generated from density estimates. Area-weighted mean biomass density (Mg/ha) for historical forests averaged 116 Mg/ha, ranging from 54 Mg/ha to 357 Mg/ha by small scale ecological subsections within Missouri landscapes. Area-weighted mean biomass density for current forests averaged 82 Mg/ha, ranging from 66 Mg/ha to 144 Mg/ha by ecological subsection for currently forested land. Biomass density of current forest was greater than historical biomass density for only 2 of 23 ecological subsections. Current carbon sequestration of 292 TgC on 7 million ha of forested land is less than half of the estimated historical total carbon sequestration of 693 TgC on 12 million ha. Cumulative tree cutting disturbances over time have produced forests that have less aboveground tree biomass and are uniform in biomass compared to estimates of historical biomass, which varied across Missouri landscapes. With continued relatively low rates of forest disturbance, current biomass per ha will likely increase to historical levels as the most competitive trees become larger in size and mean number of trees per ha decreases due to competition and self-thinning. Restoration of large diameter structure and forested extent of upland woodlands and floodplain forests could fulfill multiple conservation objectives, including carbon sequestration

Loss of aboveground forest biomass and landscape biomass variability in Missouri, US

Disturbance regimes and forests have changed over time in the eastern United States. We examined effects of historical disturbance (circa 1813 to 1850) compared to current disturbance (circa 2004 to 2008) on aboveground, live tree biomass (for trees with diameters \u3e/= 13 cm) and landscape variation of biomass in forests of the Ozarks and Plains landscapes in Missouri, USA. We simulated 10,000 one-hectare plots using random diameters generated from parameters of diameter distributions limited to diameters \u3e/= 13 cm and random densities generated from density estimates. Area-weighted mean biomass density (Mg/ha) for historical forests averaged 116 Mg/ha, ranging from 54 Mg/ha to 357 Mg/ha by small scale ecological subsections within Missouri landscapes. Area-weighted mean biomass density for current forests averaged 82 Mg/ha, ranging from 66 Mg/ha to 144 Mg/ha by ecological subsection for currently forested land. Biomass density of current forest was greater than historical biomass density for only 2 of 23 ecological subsections. Current carbon sequestration of 292 TgC on 7 million ha of forested land is less than half of the estimated historical total carbon sequestration of 693 TgC on 12 million ha. Cumulative tree cutting disturbances over time have produced forests that have less aboveground tree biomass and are uniform in biomass compared to estimates of historical biomass, which varied across Missouri landscapes. With continued relatively low rates of forest disturbance, current biomass per ha will likely increase to historical levels as the most competitive trees become larger in size and mean number of trees per ha decreases due to competition and self-thinning. Restoration of large diameter structure and forested extent of upland woodlands and floodplain forests could fulfill multiple conservation objectives, including carbon sequestration

Loss of aboveground forest biomass and landscape biomass variability in Missouri, US

Disturbance regimes and forests have changed over time in the eastern United States. We examined effects of historical disturbance (circa 1813 to 1850) compared to current disturbance (circa 2004 to 2008) on aboveground, live tree biomass (for trees with diameters \u3e/= 13 cm) and landscape variation of biomass in forests of the Ozarks and Plains landscapes in Missouri, USA. We simulated 10,000 one-hectare plots using random diameters generated from parameters of diameter distributions limited to diameters \u3e/= 13 cm and random densities generated from density estimates. Area-weighted mean biomass density (Mg/ha) for historical forests averaged 116 Mg/ha, ranging from 54 Mg/ha to 357 Mg/ha by small scale ecological subsections within Missouri landscapes. Area-weighted mean biomass density for current forests averaged 82 Mg/ha, ranging from 66 Mg/ha to 144 Mg/ha by ecological subsection for currently forested land. Biomass density of current forest was greater than historical biomass density for only 2 of 23 ecological subsections. Current carbon sequestration of 292 TgC on 7 million ha of forested land is less than half of the estimated historical total carbon sequestration of 693 TgC on 12 million ha. Cumulative tree cutting disturbances over time have produced forests that have less aboveground tree biomass and are uniform in biomass compared to estimates of historical biomass, which varied across Missouri landscapes. With continued relatively low rates of forest disturbance, current biomass per ha will likely increase to historical levels as the most competitive trees become larger in size and mean number of trees per ha decreases due to competition and self-thinning. Restoration of large diameter structure and forested extent of upland woodlands and floodplain forests could fulfill multiple conservation objectives, including carbon sequestration