Discovering a Better Way: The Need for Effective Civil Litigation Reform

This Article addresses the myriad problems posed by unfettered discovery in the United States Rather than promoting fairness and efficiency in the American legal system, plaintiffs today often use discovery in an abusive and vexatious manner to coerce defendants into accepting quick settlements Over the past several decades, discovery has expanded in both scope and magnitude such that discovery costs now account for at least half of the total litigation costs in any given case The advent of electronic discovery has only exacerbated the problem, given the sheer number of electronic documents generated in the course of business and the corresponding time, effort, and cost associated with electronic discovery Although recent efforts to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have failed to combat the abuses of civil discovery, meaningful and effective reform of the current system is possible This Article proposes a number of pragmatic reforms-including adopting the English rule for discovery disputes and suspending discovery during the pendency of a motion to dismiss-to mitigate the abusive and costly nature of discovery in the United State

Policing in nonhuman primates: partial interventions serve a prosocial conflict management function in rhesus macaques.

Studies of prosocial policing in nonhuman societies traditionally focus on impartial interventions because of an underlying assumption that partial support implies a direct benefit to the intervener, thereby negating the potential for being prosocial in maintaining social stability for the benefit of the group. However, certain types of partial interventions have significant potential to be prosocial in controlling conflict, e.g. support of non-kin subordinates. Here, we propose a policing support hypothesis that some types of agonistic support serve a prosocial policing function that maintains group stability. Using seven large captive groups of rhesus macaques, we investigated the relationship between intervention type and group-level costs and benefits (rates of trauma, severe aggression, social relocation) and individual level costs and benefits (preferential sex-dyad targeting, dominance ambiguity reduction, access to mates, and return aggression). Our results show that impartial interventions and support of subordinate non-kin represent prosocial policing as both (1) were negatively associated with group-level rates of trauma and severe aggression, respectively, (2) showed no potential to confer individual dominance benefits, (3) when performed outside the mating season, they did not increase chances of mating with the beneficiary, and (4) were low-cost for the highest-ranking interveners. We recommend expanding the definition of 'policing' in nonhumans to include these 'policing support interventions'

Sports Franchise Relocation: Competitive Markets and Taxpayer Protection

In 1958, Walter O\u27Malley moved his baseball team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. This franchise relocation affected professional sports leagues in two significant ways: it expanded the market for professional sports to cities on the west coast and altered the relationship between sports franchises and their communities. O\u27Malley moved his team not because of a lack of support from either the team\u27s fans or the city-traditional justifications for franchise movement-but rather in hopes of higher financial returns

Quantifying Extravehicular Activity Performance Degradation Due To Sustenance Deprivation

Modern EVAs (spacewalks) performed onboard the International Space Station require astronauts to endure up to twelve hours of intense mental and physical exertion without food, as they do not stop to eat nor do they currently have the capabilities to consume sustenance in their spacesuits. With the future of space exploration taking aim at the Moon, Mars, and beyond, EVAs are expected to become more demanding than ever. This is a pilot study to attempt to quantify astronaut performance during an EVA to determine if there is significant performance degradation because of acute starvation. Astronauts conducting EVA training at NASAâs Neutral Buoyancy lab were measured in cognitive and physiological domains during EVA training to gauge how their performance was affected. Additionally a basic feeding system with a protein supplement was tested to determine if performance could be improved. Result revealed there was not a significant degradation in test scores due to acute starvation, and while there was some improvement with the protein supplement, it was not statistically significant for all but one test domain. The Working Memory domain did show a statistically significant score improvement. Test subject feedback indicated a strong preference for the protein supplement as well as enthusiastic support for future spacesuit designs and/or EVA protocols to include food throughout the duration of a spacewalk as a human factors consideration

His Majesty's advocate : Sir James Stewart of Goodtrees (1635-1713) and Covenanter resistance theory under the Restoration monarchy

This thesis is the first to explore the life and political thought of Sir James Stewart of Goodtrees (1635-1713). The first part reviews the life of his father, Sir James Stewart of Kirk field (1608-1681) to 1661, and Goodtrees' own life from birth to his admission to the Scots bar in 1661. This provides the backdrop of history necessary to appreciate his contributions as both writer and radical activist. Particular attention focuses on the conflict between Charles I and Charles II, on the one hand, and the Church of Scotland, on the other; the National Covenant (1638) and the Solemn League and Covenant of(1643); the British wars of religion; and the upheavals following the Restoration in the 1660s, culminating in the Pentland Rising of 1666. The next part develops Goodtrees' political philosophy from his two most important writings. Chapter 3 reviews and interprets Naphtali (1667), a defence of those who rose at Pentland. Chapter 4 reviews Andrew Honyman's Survey of Naphtali (1668, 1669), a rebuttal of Naphtali and standard Anglican case for royal absolutism. Chapter 5 reviews and interprets Goodtrees' Jus Populi Vindicatum, or The People's Right, to defend themselves and their Covenanted Religion, vindicated (1669), his rejoinder to Honyman. His Calvinist, covenantal constitutionalism is shown to be an important link between earlier resistance theorists like John Knox and Samuel Rutherford and the later Whigs, represented preeminently by John Locke. The third part (chapters 6-7) reviews Goodtrees' life and minor writings as radical critic of the Restoration monarchy; a participant in plots among British exiles in Holland to overthrow it; a member briefly of James's Scottish government before the Revolution; and lord advocate and churchman pursuing political, legal, and ecclesiastical reforms afterwards

Master of Science

thesisNorthern Utah has a long history of landslides occurring on natural and man-made slopes. Earthquake activity in this region may exacerbate the incidence of landslides, thus increasing the potential of landslide related damage to residential structures and transportation corridors. In this context;, the present study addresses the earthquake response in both drained and undrained conditions of a typical, shallow landslide in northern Utah occurring in completely decomposed Norwood Tuff. The slide mass geometry was obtained using a 2-D seismic refraction profile and previously collected geotechnical borehole data. The Newmark sliding block analysis was employed with a translational failure mechanism to determine the permanent dynamic slope displacements under various input accelerograms. The yield coefficient for both drained and undrained conditions was obtained from pseudo-static limit-equilibrium slope stability analyses. Based on the computational results, a methodology to evaluate the peak ground acceleration threshold that would distinguish between insignificant ground movement and potentially damaging slope displacements during an earthquake was developed. A normalized Arias intensity was subsequently used to compare the dynamic displacements in dry and partially saturated conditions. Dry slopes comprised of completely decomposed Norwood Tuff that experience earthquake accelerations greater than 0.55g are considered unsafe against damaging displacements. Slopes that are partially saturated or contain a perched water table are considered unsafe when earthquake accelerations exceed 0.47g. Dynamic displacements in completely decomposed Norwood Tuff increase exponentially for partially saturated slopes relative to dry slopes as the normalized Arias intensity increases