How to Sidestep Saying “See Ya Real Soon” to the Public Domain: Using Droit D’auteur to Justify a Trademark-Favored Treatment of Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse is one of the most recognizable characters in the world, but this famous character will be passing into the public domain when his copyright expires in 2024. The Walt Disney Company also has registered Mickey Mouse as a trademark. Thus, when Mickey passes into the public domain, an interesting conflict between copyright and trademark law will arise, and it is unclear which area of intellectual property law should determine the protections, if any, afforded to Mickey. France’s droit d’auteur, or “author’s rights,” offers a possible solution: when an author’s exploitation rights expire, the author’s moral rights continue to exist indefinitely, protecting the author from potential harmful uses of his or her creation. This scheme is similar to the way trademark law continues to protect trademarks so long as they are used in commerce. By marrying the concepts, trademark law would have a basis to supersede copyright’s public domain. Although there would be restrictions to prevent goodwill-damaging uses, the various trademark defenses would remain available to public domain users. Thus, allowing trademark law to govern in the public domain would encourage derivative works and thriving creativity while still protecting goodwill for generations to come

Liaison, Delegates, and Advisors: An Examination of the Chief of Staff Role on College Campuses

The chief of staff role first emerged as a military and government position to strategize battles and advise generals centuries ago (O’Brien, 2020). It has been more common in the United States to find chiefs of staff (or COS) in political environments: The White House chief of staff often comes to mind when the title is mentioned. In recent years the role has been adopted by corporate entities. Companies often create and hire individuals into the title to organize senior level, institution work (Ciampa, 2020) and the corporatization and resulting organizational changes in higher education (Bleikliea & Kogan, 2007) have led to the adoption of the COS role by college presidents as well. Following discussions with, and the review of credentials of, nine incumbent chiefs of staff and a review of position descriptions of a handful of others, some trends emerged and are reported here

Regulating the Reguliers: How the Normalization of Gays and Lesbians in Dutch Society Impacts LGBTQ Nightlife

This Independent Study Project explores how LGBTQ nightlife is impacted by the changing position of gays and lesbians in Dutch society. Specifically, this project seeks to explore how the normalization and popularization of certain subcommunities of LGBTQ individuals in Amsterdam, lauded as one of the most progressive and gay-friendly cities in the world, influences how people navigate LGBTQ bars, clubs, and parties. Data was obtained by conducting 10 in-depth, semi-structured interviews. This data was then analyzed using Judith Butler’s theory of normalization, recognition, and regulation and Gert Hekma’s theory of homonormativity. The research revealed that despite apparent advancements in LGBTQ liberation, the Netherlands is still riddled with homophobia and interviewees expressed feelings of discomfort and even lack of safety when they visited straight-dominated bars. Furthermore, some participants expressed concerns that previously gay spaces were being appropriated by straight people while others viewed this influx of heterosexuals in LGBTQ nightlife as a positive step towards integration and gay liberation. Some participants prefered ‘queer’ spaces, such as the Vrankrijk and underground parties, to the more mainstream gay and lesbian bars of the Reguliersdwarsstraat (aka Reguliers-Amsterdam’s gay bar heavy street), noting that they felt more comfortable to ‘be themselves’ in these spaces. Participants’ perceptions of LGBTQ spaces (and how those spaces are changing due to an influx of straight people) was greatly informed by their own positionality. Ultimately, this research reveals that the normalization of gays and lesbians in the Netherlands leads to a reduction in spaces where queer people can be their authentic selves. Mainstream gay bars such as those found on the Reguliers become ‘straighter’, catering to a more heterosexual audience and mimicking mainstream heterosexual culture, forcing LGBTQ individuals to either assimilate or take part in the growing alternative queer nightlife scene

The role of RNAs and extracellular vesicles in the radiation response

The bystander effect (BE) occurs when cells that have not been directly traversed by ionizing radiation exhibit DNA damage effects as though they had been. It is established that signalling molecules such as cytokines and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signal to surrounding cells to mediate BE, however more recently it has been demonstrated that extracellular vesicles (EVs) might be involved. In addition, following RNase treatment, the EVs are no longer able to cause DNA damage in unirradiated recipient cells, suggesting that an RNA molecule in association with the EVs is involved with BE. As the literature documenting differential regulation of RNA in EVs released from irradiated cells is scarce, the work described in this thesis has aimed to better understand the role of RNA in the radiation response. Firstly the miRStress database was developed and used to identify novel miRNA candidates involved in response to radiation by meta-analysis of the published literature. Characterisation of the EVs released was also performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), sucrose gradient centrifugation, sizing and the determination of EV concentration released from cells. Next-generation sequencing was performed to identify the mRNA, non-coding RNA and microRNA candidates involved. General characterisation of EVs derived from unirradiated and 2 Gy irradiated MCF7 cells was also performed to gain a better understanding of the populations of vesicles released following irradiation. The results herein suggest that EVs from irradiated cells have specific characteristics when compared to those from unirradiated cells. An increase in the number and a decrease in the size of EVs released from 2 Gy irradiated cells were observed compared to unirradiated cell EVs. In addition to the changes in size and release of EVs from 2 Gy cells, EVs released from irradiated MCF7 cells contained specific mRNAs, non-coding RNAs and miRNAs. Furthermore the miRStress database identified microRNA candidates predicted to be involved in the radiation response. Following RNA Seq analysis a functional study of the genes ANP32B, MALAT1, NET1, HSP90AA1 and NCL was performed based upon their upregulation in 2 Gy EVs. Knockdown of some of these genes resulted in changes in the DNA damage response observed in directly irradiated and bystander cells, suggesting that the RNAs carried in irradiated cell EVs do indeed have a functional role in transmission of BE. In summary, this study has identified diverse RNA species in EVs released from irradiated cells that appear to play functional roles in the mediation of the bystander effect. Further investigation would help to elucidate the mechanisms by which these RNAs function in recipient cells in order to better understand the BE mechanism

Symbolism or Substance: Factors Influencing Campus Messaging Decisions and their Alignment with Institutional Values

Historically, institutions of higher education (IHE) have been cautious and slow in making changes. Yet in today’s fast-paced and dynamic world of content availability and information flow generated by 24-hour news cycles and the ubiquity of social media present a challenging reality for colleges and universities in their public relations and communications approaches (Sands & Smith, 2000). Creating a harmonious and agile approach to managing these responsibilities against the backdrop of an incessant flow and public demand for information, including responses to national events often with seemingly little or no connection to the institution, suggested a need to examine the duties of university relations organizations. The study yields valuable insights into how university relations organizations offer timely and relevant responses to meet stakeholder demands for statements about off-campus events in ways that serve to build and maintain the trust of these key audiences. The study answers five research questions to understand the stimulus-response phenomenon that triggers stakeholder desires to hear from institutions, and how that informs decision-making by senior university relations officials and, finally, the development of values-based messaging strategies on the behalf of the institution. The contemporary issues faced by these offices is also discussed. The study used a case study approach manifested as a series of interviews with the communications leaders at 5 IHEs. The conclusions reveal several themes, which are described in the areas of candor, frequency, allegiances, trauma, and power – and ultimately suggest there are times when a president should respond to demands to make a statement, and times when a president should say nothing, both are equally complicated and important decisions to be made

Water Quality Trading and Offset Initiatives in the U.S.: A Comprehensive Survey

This document summarizes water quality trading and offset initiatives in the United States, including state-wide policies and recent proposals. The following format was used to present information on each program. We attempted to have each program summary reviewed by at least one contact person for program accuracy. In the cases where this review occurred, we added the statement "Reviewed by.." at the end of the case summary

Coming Out of the Closet, Also on the News? A Longitudinal Content Analysis of Patterns in Visibility, Tone and Framing of LGBTs on Television News (1986-2017)

This study documents the results of a longitudinal content analysis of television news about LGBT people in terms of visibility, active representation, tone and framing in Flanders (1986–2017). While attention for LGBT issues has increased over time, LGBTs are not more likely to be visually represented or granted a voice. Gay men are more often actively represented than lesbians and transgender people. News remains negatively biased, although news stories in which LGBT people are depicted as the cause of negativity have become less prevalent. Patterns in framing have shifted: Deviance and abnormality frames have decreased in favor of a rise in equal rights and victim frames. Patterns in tone and framing were similar for gay men, lesbians and transgender people. Results suggest that journalists have shifted from problematizing homosexuality to problematizing homophobia. Implications of news as a source of mass-mediated contact to promote tolerance toward LGBT people are discussed