The Effects of Retirement on Division III Collegiate Athletes\u27 Mental Health

Following their participation in athletics after their collegiate retirement, this research examines whether there is a relationship between college athletes\u27 mental health and their athletic identity. Specifically, it examines whether athletic retirement leads to anxiety and depression. Participants will be asked to answer a survey that relates to their athletic identity, and the occurrence of symptoms related to depression and anxiety at different periods of their collegiate career and after their athletic retirement. Results are predicted to demonstrate a significant relationship between retired athletes’ level of athletic identity and the prevalence of depression and anxiety following cessation of athletics. However, this effect is likely to be moderated by their participation in athletic endeavors post-graduation. Future research should explore athletes’ identity and their mental health throughout their careers and after retirement

Arts curriculum reform : social and cultural reproduction in Victorian schools

This thesis examines the implementation of the government educational policy document The Curriculum and Standards Framework. I examined the historical and political motivation behind the development of this document and how it introduced a pervasive new initiative of outcomes based education and accountability based on economic rationalism. In particular I examined the implications this new approach had for visual arts education and the subsequent changes to the arts curriculum. This has entailed the introduction of the aesthetic appreciation of the arts as an outcome of the CSF: The Arts. I applied Bourdieu\u27s theory of cultural reproduction in education which draws predominantly on a Weberian view and a theory of practice. Bourdieu discusses differential educational achievement according to cultural capital stating education requires certain forms of cultural capital that are not equally distributed among the classes. This therefore impedes or enhances life chances according to social class i.e. educational qualifications become a commodity in the labour market and other social fields. I examined how aesthetic appreciation of the arts has evolved historically as a form of social distinction. This entails an abstract element of arts discourse, which demands a certain linguistic competence, and familiarisation, which Bourdieu claims, is developed in the family, as \u27cultural capital\u27 this is further perpetuated in schools. The likely outcome is that the introduction of aesthetic appreciation in arts education i.e the demand to \u27write about\u27 and \u27talk about\u27 art, will perpetuate class inequality due to social and cultural difference. The study has been to examine the practices of arts education in four schools and the extent to which aesthetic appreciation was implemented in the visual arts. Data was collected by case study methods of observation, questionnaire and interview and was interpretive in both quantitative and qualitative methods. I analysed the data based on class differentiation by socioeconomic divisions and examined the school ethos and attitude towards the Arts along with differentiation in cultural capital between student population. I also found teacher and student habitus played a vital role in the implementation of the CSF. This is because habitus can cause resistance to change due to the division between the formulation of the curriculum in the bureaucratic order and the practice of teachers in classrooms. My thesis interprets education as a form of social reproduction, perpetuating the existing social order. However, as Bourdieu asserts and I agree education is a form of symbolic power as it conceals its social function under the guise of neutrality and the technical functional premise. Therefore, this thesis aims to make transparent how the education system serves the interests of the dominant group through curriculum policy. Consequently, it becomes clear how education has far reaching social implications where the distinctions of class are perpetuated through cultural reproduction

Characterization of Interfacial Interactions By Functionalized Afm Probes

Interfacial interactions play a crucial role in many complex materials systems, determining many of their properties. However, characterization of these interactions, especially at the micro- to nanometer length scales is experimentally challenging. Consequently, insufficient knowledge of these systems limits technological advances in important applications. In this work, custom functionalized atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes were developed to measure the interaction forces in two important systems: petroleum reservoirs and nanocomposites. Our work seeks a deeper understanding of the specific interactions that occur in these two systems so that modified approaches can be developed to improve them. Petroleum recovery is concerned with maximizing the collection of crude oil, which adheres to rock surfaces underground and resists release when flushed with injection water. to promote more efficient oil extraction, the injection water can be tailored to decrease this oil–rock adhesion. In our study of petroleum recovery, we coated a probe in crude oil and dried the oil to create a robust layer. By performing force measurements with this probe on a mica substrate and varying the surrounding aqueous composition, we observed the effect of multiple variables on the relevant forces in a reservoir, ultimately providing enhanced predictive capabilities for increased oil extraction in injection wells. to achieve a graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite with optimal properties requires a strong bond between the nanofiller particles and surrounding polymer matrix. to this end, we studied the interactions within a GO–polymer nanocomposite by coating a probe in GO flakes and performing force measurements on polymer substrates. The preferential attraction between GO and some polymers is consistent with the results of recent interfacial tests performed in our lab. Our research provides crucial information for the selection of novel GO–polymer combinations, which can be implemented in superior reinforced nanocomposite systems. Through development of these novel tools, we anticipate that our customized probes will enhance predictive capabilities in the study of colloidal and other interfacial systems

Public Law Values in a Privatized World

Although domestic administrative law scholars have long debated privatization within the US, this debate has not confronted the growing phenomenon of privatization in the international realm or its impact on the values embodied in public international law. Yet, with both nation-states and international organizations increasingly privatizing foreign affairs functions, privatization is now as significant a phenomenon internationally as it is domestically. For example, states are turning to private actors to perform core military, foreign aid, and diplomatic functions. Military privatization entered the popular consciousness in 2004, when private contractors working for the US government abused detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. The US is increasingly using private actors for logistical support to combat troops and to provide strategic planning and tactical advice. Other states, such as Sierra Leone, have used private contractors to engage in direct combat, and international organizations have weighed the possibilities of using private contractors to perform peacekeeping. In the foreign aid context, states and international organizations are entering into agreements with private non-profit and for-profit entities to deliver all forms of aid, including humanitarian relief, development assistance, and post-conflict reconstruction. Even diplomatic tasks such as peacekeeping negotiations are being undertaken by private actors. In this Essay I suggest that the domestic U.S. administrative law literature may provide a useful set of responses to privatization that has been largely overlooked by international law scholars, policy-makers, and activists. In particular, I argue that possibilities for extending public law values inhere in the privatized relationship itself, particularly in the government contracts that are the very engine of privatization. Thus, the contracts governments enter into with non-state actors can include many provisions that would help to create both standards of behavior, performance benchmarks, and a means of providing some measure of public accountability. In this Essay, I outline nine such contractual provisions. Specifically, I suggest that contracts be drafted to: (1) explicitly extend relevant norms of public international law to private contractors, (2) specify training requirements, (3) provide for enhanced monitoring both within the government and by independent third-party monitors, (4) require accreditation, (5) establish clear performance benchmarks, (6) mandate self-evaluation by the contractors, (7) provide for governmental takeovers of failing contracts, (8) include opportunities for public participation in the contract negotiation process, and (9) enhance whistleblower protections and rights of third-party beneficiaries to enforce contractual terms. And while these provisions are not a panacea, they may be at least as effective as the relatively weak enforcement regime of public international law. At the same time, by considering the field of international privatization, I seek to open what I believe could be a fruitful dialogue between domestic administrative law scholars and international law scholars about possible responses

Using Legal Process to Fight Terrorism: Detentions, Military Commissions, International Tribunals, and the Rule of Law

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, those arguing that international law cannot serve as an effective tool in the fight against terrorism have grown. The ranks of international relations realists, who view international law primarily as a cover for strategic interests and thereby as lacking any independent bite, has swelled. In November 2001, President Bush issued an executive order asserting the authority to use military commissions to try individual terrorism suspects captured by the United States. Such commissions would be conducted unilaterally and would not be required to include procedural safeguards to protect the rights of the accused. This crisis has forced us to revisit the question of what the rule of law gets us as a nation and as a people. This article argues that the Administration\u27s treatment of detainees and the military commissions run counter to the rule of law - both domestically, by violating American constitutional protections, and internationally, by flouting established principles of international law. Far from being a straight-jacket that threatens our security, respect for legal process values and international law, will actually best serve our long-term strategic interests in containing terrorism. This article also considers how an international tribunal process could be initiated expeditiously and two alternative quasi-international models that have received insufficient consideration thus far. The law skeptics\u27 perspective is also addressed at a more theoretical level, offering some tentative observations about the importance of fair adjudicatory processes despite the fact that societies are always to some degree riven by conflict

Using Legal Process to Fight Terrorism: Detentions, Military Commissions, International Tribunals, and the Rule of Law

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, those arguing that international law cannot serve as an effective tool in the fight against terrorism have grown. The ranks of international relations realists, who view international law primarily as a cover for strategic interests and thereby as lacking any independent bite, has swelled. In November 2001, President Bush issued an executive order asserting the authority to use military commissions to try individual terrorism suspects captured by the United States. Such commissions would be conducted unilaterally and would not be required to include procedural safeguards to protect the rights of the accused. This crisis has forced us to revisit the question of what the rule of law gets us as a nation and as a people. This article argues that the Administration\u27s treatment of detainees and the military commissions run counter to the rule of law - both domestically, by violating American constitutional protections, and internationally, by flouting established principles of international law. Far from being a straight-jacket that threatens our security, respect for legal process values and international law, will actually best serve our long-term strategic interests in containing terrorism. This article also considers how an international tribunal process could be initiated expeditiously and two alternative quasi-international models that have received insufficient consideration thus far. The law skeptics\u27 perspective is also addressed at a more theoretical level, offering some tentative observations about the importance of fair adjudicatory processes despite the fact that societies are always to some degree riven by conflict

Torture and Contract

This essay is a contribution to the War Crimes Research Symposium: Torture and the War on Terror” at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, October 7, 2005. The symposium raised important questions about the problem of torture and the use of torture in the so-called War on Terror. In considering this problem, this essay focuses on an aspect of the issue that has only recently received popular and scholarly attention, but that is likely to have profound implications: the privatization of military functions, and specifically, the privatization of torture. Such privatization may, at first blush, seem to render it more difficult to hold human rights abusers accountable because private actors might not be deemed subject to various international human rights instruments that were initially drafted primarily with states in mind. Yet, while the extensive outsourcing of torture to private military contractors is certainly a cause for serious concern, such outsourcing may not provide as serious an impediment to accountability as it may at first seem. Indeed, abuses by private contractors may actually be more readily subject to legal sanction than abuses by official governmental actors. Nevertheless, scholars and policymakers need to look beyond simply the formal instruments of international human rights law and consider alternative modes of accountability as well, such as the use of contractual provisions and internal institutional structures. These alternative modes of accountability harness the potential of the government contracts that are the very engine of privatization to help deter and prevent torture and other abuses

Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems: The Overlooked Importance of Administrative Accountability

The rise of lethal autonomous weapons systems creates numerous problems for legal regimes meant to insure public accountability for unlawful uses of force. In particular, international humanitarian law has long relied on enforcement through individual criminal responsibility, which is complicated by autonomous weapons that fragment responsibility for decisions to deploy violence. Accordingly, there may often be no human being with the requisite level of intent to trigger individual responsibility under existing doctrine. In response, perhaps international criminal law could be reformed to account for such issues. Or, in the alternative, greater emphasis on other forms of accountability, such as tort liability and state responsibility might be useful supplements. But largely absent from this debate is discussion of an alternative form of accountability that often gets overlooked or dismissed as inconsequential, one that we might term “administrative accountability.” This article provides a close look at this type of accountability and its potential. Such accountability might take the form of administrative procedures, inquiries, sanctions, and reforms that can be deployed within the military or the administrative state more broadly to respond to an incident in which a violation of international humanitarian law may have occurred. These procedures might result in after-the fact sanctions on individuals who may be implicated in harms even if they would not be deemed criminally responsible or even negligent within a tort law framework. They also might dictate organizational reforms of bureaucratic structures that affect systems of hierarchical or other types of control that are forward-looking in their focus. Administrative accountability may be particularly useful in the case of autonomous systems because the restrictions of criminal law, such as the intent requirement for most crimes, may not apply in many circumstances. Administrative accountability, in contrast, is far more flexible both in the process by which it unfolds and in the remedies available, offering the prospect of both individual sanctions as well as broader organizational reforms. Obviously, such accountability depends on the willingness of actors within the administrative bureaucracy to pursue such accountability mechanisms. And at times, criminal accountability or tort liability may be more appropriate. But at the very least the potential for such administrative accountability should be part of any discussion about accountability for uses of autonomous and semi-autonomous weaponry. Moreover, because administrative bureaucracies are not monolithic, simply the creation of administrative procedures to investigate and impose non-criminal discipline for violations of international norms can create a cadre of experts within the government who internalize these values and foster a culture of broader compliance

Military Lawyers on the Battlefield: An Empirical Account of International Law Compliance

This empirical study, based on personal interviews, draws on insights from organizational theory to consider how military lawyers embedded with troops can help produce battlefield decisions that comply with international legal norms. These lawyers appear to be most likely to function effectively and encourage legal compliance if certain organizational features are present. Accordingly, focusing on the links between organizational structure, institutional culture, and legal compliance through more nuanced qualitative analysis should contribute to a better understanding of international law compliance