Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In 1997, the United States government claimed ownership of the root file database and the domain name system (DNS) on which the functioning of the Internet depends. This U.S. decision constructed the Internet as a global marketplace rather than as a global public community even as the latter vision of Internet governance was equally compatible with efficient management of the system. Whereas the extant literature on Internet governance is predominantly normative, my study poses an analytical question: why did the U.S. government promote the Global Marketplace vision, which privileges corporate and intellectual property interests, over the alternative, Global Public Community vision of Internet governance? I will argue that U.S. identity, anchored in the trope of freedom and articulated through the discourses of democracy and free market enterprise precluded the Global Community vision from emerging as a viable Internet governance solution. The U.S. acted to incorporate and secure the Internet into market-oriented normative and legal frameworks in a way that reflected and reproduced America's self-image as a champion of freedom and a leader of the community of the world's capitalist-democratic nations. The relative success of the United States in shaping the Internet as a Global Marketplace means that the Internet is free in the predominant sense in which "freedom" is discursively constructed in contemporary U.S. culture; it is not "free" in the more radical sense implicitly associated with the term by champions of the Global Community vision of the Internet, which predominates the extant literature on the subject.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The public Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program is facing the challenge of having to increase service capacity with constant or even decreasing resources. Information and Communication Technology, particularly the Internet, offers a wide range of opportunities to improve service delivery and customer engagement. However, little is known about how technology is currently being used and how ICT can effectively be integrated into the whole spectrum of public VR service delivery options. The conceptual model employed in this research involved four components: perceived attributes of using ICT, communication channels, counselor characteristics, and perceived attributes of state VR agencies that were hypothesized to impact technology acceptance by rehabilitation counselors. The research conducted a case study of counselors within four state VR agencies in the Northeast Region of the United States. Case study data was obtained through a document review, a survey of state VR counselors, in-depth qualitative interviews with and participant observation of counselors in their practice. The findings of this research contribute to e-government policy in public VR service delivery but also to scholarship on technology adoption and diffusion.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Woman warrior is never a foreign image in Chinese culture, and it is certainly not a strange component in Chinese martial arts film. The story of Fa Mulan, a brave daughter who joins the army in the replacement of her aged father and defeats enemies, is eulogized in every Chinese household. Nowadays, with the circulation of the Disney movie Mulan, the legend has traveled even further. And due to the recent popularity of Chinese martial arts film outside of the East Asian countries, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), the image of woman warrior has gained wider recognition. Seemingly, the cinematic representation of fighting women has been accepted and celebrated; however, if looking closely, one would see the disjunction between femininity and fighting hither and thither. My purpose here is not to explore the general depiction of female fighters in the genre of martial arts, but to examine closely how the male anxiety of emasculation has helped mold and frame the image of powerful women.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Research points to a variety of reasons an individual will seek health information both online and from friends and family. However, little is known about what factors influence an individual’s decision to seek medical attention based on the findings of their information search. As the health care industry hastily transitions to a more consumer-driven paradigm, obtaining a better understanding of the health decision-making behaviors of individuals becomes paramount to those interested in effective health communication. This study examines previous research on the relationship of online health information seeking and interpersonal discussion about health on health care utilization decisions such as visiting a doctor. Further, this study suggests that an individual’s level of health anxiety moderates these relationships.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The decision to share one’s individual’s secret with another is complex. This study was conducted to examine the characteristics of the communicative act of sharing another’s secret with a third party to determine the effect of betrayal of confidence on perceptions of closeness, difficultly keeping secrets, and secret to assess reasons for sharing another friend’s secret, and outcomes of sharing the secrets. The perceptions of both 1) participants who were betrayed by a friend who told a secret of theirs to a third party (n = 64), and 2) those participants who betrayed a friend (n =77) were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings suggest that the degree of reported closeness is dependent on whether the participant reported about being betrayed or betraying a friend. Participants perceive significantly different levels of closeness from the time before the secret was shared to the time after the secret was revealed to a third party.