Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Media use and media reliance have been major variables studied in media displacement research. In previous studies, they have been used interchangeably to indicate the existence of the displacement effect of a new medium on the older forms of media. This paper suggests that such undifferentiated use of the two variables can be problematic, in that media use is an objective measurement while media reliance, perceptual. Using the data from a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2000, this study compares the differences between media use and reliance in three aspects: demographic characteristics, knowledge, and individual interests. Findings of our study suggest that interests in different content areas as well as demographic variables including age, education, and income have different effects on media use and reliance. Moreover, media use and reliance have different effects on knowledge about current affairs.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The doctrine of stare decisis, or the
principle that judicial decisions should conform to previous case law,
is central to the functioning of the U.S. legal system. Yet, despite
its importance, modern scholars of judicial decision-making often
question the frequency with which Supreme Court justices abide by the
dictates of stare decisis. Attitudinal scholarship argues that Supreme
Court justices have the ability to pursue ideologically motivated
decisions, as they are largely unconstrained with regard to both case
selection and final decisions on the merits. In their article on the
influence of stare decisis, Professors Segal and Spaeth test adherence
to precedent through an examination of a random sample of 54 landmark
cases and their progeny. According to the definition given by Segal and
Spaeth, a Supreme Court justice who dissents in a landmark case and
then reverses his position and votes with the original landmark
majority in a progeny case has conformed to stare decisis. The authors
find that the justices in the sample voted in accordance with their
preferences, rather than precedent, 90.8 percent of the time. The Segal
and Spaeth research has motivated vigorous debate within the literature
of Supreme Court decision-making. Several authors have attempted to
dispute the Segal and Spaeth findings, either through suggestions for
methodological improvements or by recoding portions of the original
case set. Such attempts have yielded highly disparate conclusions with
respect to the influence of stare decisis. This paper seeks to
reevaluate these findings by employing an improved definition of stare
decisis. Preliminary research indicates that United States Supreme
Court justices act in accordance with precedent more frequently than
earlier studies suggest, about 58.9 percent of the time. More
importantly, this paper expands previous research through the use of
logistic regression analysis to account for variations in the decision
to vote in accordance with precedent or preference. Preliminary
logistic regression suggests that increased length of tenure on the
Supreme Court renders a justice more likely to conform to the dictates
of stare decisis. The initial regression also supports the assertion
that a larger voting block in the landmark majority corresponds with an
increased probability of adherence to the landmark decision. Similarly,
initial results suggest that as the landmark precedent ages, justices
become less likely to vote in accordance with its dictates. Finally,
the preliminary logistic regression analysis indicates that the model
is effective in explaining variations in the voting decisions of U.S.
Supreme Court justices (α = .01), predicting 78.1 percent of the votes
correctly (reduction of error = 46.7 percent ).

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Geographic information systems (GIS) mapping technologies have the potential to advance public health promotion by graphically showing regional differences in a range of attributes (e.g., disease burden, environmental exposures, access to health care services) to suggest priorities for public health interventions. Training oriented toward practical GIS mapping skills for comprehensive cancer control (CCC) has been an overlooked need. State CCC programs� training needs for GIS were assessed by interviewing 49 state CCC directors. A majority of directors perceived a need for GIS training, slightly more than half of state CCC programs had access to geo-coded data, and the majority of programs did not require continuing education credits of their staff, a common method of introducing training. CCC directors perceived judging the validity of maps and realizing their limitations as important skills. Five training audiences identified included epidemiologists, CCC staff, other public health officials, policymakers, and cancer coalition members. The preferred training format was in-class sessions and preferred training duration ranged from a few hours to a day. Lessons learned are shared to develop training programs with translatable GIS skills for comprehensive cancer control.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: No matter what level of military power a nation possesses, wedge strategy is one method all countries can utilize to break apart enemy alliances. If applying wedge strategy means that these groups are no longer categorically separated from their militarily-superior rival nations, is this thus another asymmetric strategy that terrorists can use? Approaching wedge strategy as an independent tool of analysis, this paper expands on the traditional use in state-to-state interactions and analyzes how wedge strategies are used by terrorists to achieve their goals.

This includes two interrelated facets of discussion. The first topic regards using wedges against states in the anti-terror alliance. The War on Terror requires multilateral support, and when this support is fractured the War on Terror will fail. This paper addresses how and why alliances in the war on terror are more important than traditional alliances in conventional wars, and how terrorists exploit this reliance, as seen in the splintering of the coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003.

The second topic is the use of internal wedges in a foreign country's domestic politics for the purpose of achieving wider goals. For example, consider Al Qaeda's attacks in Madrid in 2004. These singular attacks drove a wedge between the people and the government, which in a democratic state like Spain resulted in new leadership, which pulled troops out of Iraq. Al Qaeda thus achieved its goal of one less enemy in the Iraq War.

Is wedge strategy a conventional method that can be used by terrorists in non-conventional warfare? Does wedge strategy thereby merge the gap between realist theory and the applicability of non-state actors to system-level politics? This paper uses case studies to support the argument that terrorists are applying wedge strategy in ways previously seen only in state-to-state interactions. Emphasis is given to less-studied topics like using wedges in another state's internal politics. The conclusion will focus on what this means for strategic military planning in anti-terrorism operations.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Contemporary political theory finds itself in what could be called a “political-theological” moment, yet political theology so far has primarily been of interest to European thinkers. This paper is an effort to bring the theoretical concerns of political theology as a mode of political theory to the thought of Ralph Waldo Emerson. The paper proposes a new interpretation of Emerson’s concept of “self-reliance.” Against the dominant interpretations, I argue that “Experience” is an essay about power and that “Self-Reliance” is an essay about grief. The key to this reading lies in Emerson’s thoughts on the finitude of language and ultimately on the finitude of the self, thoughts that are available in “The Poet.” In proposing that we read Emersonian self-reliance as a elegy on human finitude, I also suggest that Emerson sees self-reliance as a politics and an ethics of an individualism that struggles with theological themes as life, mortality, and human relation, despite any secular disavowal of interest in a “theological.” Finally, I suggest that we reconsider liberal individualism as itself a politics that confronts, and does not evade, the question of the “theological.” This paper is based on the fourth chapter of my dissertation.