Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Radical reformists advocated the introduction of the jury in China in 1906. However, it was almost immediately suspended and it was not until the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 that the institution of lay assessors was given a significant role. The form and status of assessors have been continually revised since then. This paper outlines stages of development to the present day, and reports on preliminary findings of an empirical project on the current form and operation of lay participation in China.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In May 2007, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution that expresses sympathy to the families of victims in Guatemala who were killed in the most extreme acts of gender-based violence (GBV). The most appropriate classification for these acts is femicide, yet the resolution neglects to name them as such. The text of the document reveals an attempt to open up a space to discuss GBV, yet its rhetoric of expression as action leaves us concerned about the disparity between the functions of simple congressional resolutions and the real, imminent, life and death threat that Guatemalan women may face on a daily basis. An analysis of this resolution in the context of authorship, patriarchal dominance, globalization, and U.S.-Guatemala relations raises questions as to what is accomplished by this “expression of sympathy” and how the document rhetorically constructs gendered victims yet leaves the construction of the perpetrators to the reader or auditor.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: A content analysis of 100 top circulated U.S. daily Internet newspapers found that out of the 100 online newspaper sites, 86 percent had a cross media partnership. Cross media partnership newspaper Web sites with a print medium partnership was found to be the highest at 79 percent, followed by television (49 percent) and radio (20 percent). The results showed that cross media partnership had a significant effect on technological convergence of the Internet newspapers. The newspapers with cross-media partnership had a much higher level of convergence than those that did not engage in cross-media partnership. There was no relationship between newspaper size and level of technological convergence. Advancement in technological convergence of the Internet newspapers was found to be unrelated to the level of content updatedness of the newspapers. The implications of cross media ownership / partnership of the Internet newspapers and technological convergence that changed news content delivery and presentation are also discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Ever since Ralph Peer invented the marketing categories of “race” and “hillbilly” music in the 1920s, the categories that the US music industry has used to market music and track popularity and sales have been predicated on a society that was legally segregated. Since that time, the categories of pop, r&b, and country—the direct descendents of this race-based marketing system—have persisted in some form as defining categories of music marketing. Since 1958, the chart used by the US music industry to track pop singles has been the Billboard Hot 100. Then, in 2005, Billboard abruptly introduced a new chart called the Pop 100. To the uninitiated, this new chart first appeared to be a duplication of effort. The Hot 100 had been Billboard’s pop singles chart for nearly half a century. What, then, was the Pop 100? The answer to this question began to reveal itself after one noticed that every record to reach number one on the Hot 100 in 2004 was by a black artist. Evidence suggests that the Pop 100 was created to counter this situation. Can it be that this late in the game, 40 years after the US Civil Rights Movement, US music interests would continue to promote racial separation as a way to market and track music? How does the Pop 100 differ from the Hot 100? What have been the effects of this new chart? What have been the reactions to it? This paper will explore answers to questions such as these as part of an overarching analysis of racism in the US music business.

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: The U.S. Supreme Court rendered a verdict in Woodson v. North Carolina on the same day in 1976 that the Gregg v. Georgia case was decided. However, the effect of Woodson was opposite that of Gregg in that the justices struck down North Carolina's capital punishment statute because of the requirement that a first degree murder conviction automatically resulted in a death sentence. This forced North Carolina to include a penalty phase in their capital murder trials. The revised law and resulting procedure went into effect on June 1, 1977 and remains essentially intact today, thereby constituting the modern era of capital punishment in that state. This poster presents descriptive and analytical data of more than 1,100 cases tried capitally in North Carolina from 1977-2002. The statistics shown are derived from a near population of capital sentencing hearings conducted during that period, and the display highlights findings from the data that approximate or depart from key findings in the capital punishment literature.