Stander Symposium Projects

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  Investigating Factors that Impact the Probability of Covering the Spread in NFL Games

  Larry J D'Onofrio

  This analysis is to determine if the winner against the spread of NFL regular season games can be probabilistically determined. In order to obtain the results for the analysis, a logistical regression will be run analyzing data from the 2010 – 2015 NFL seasons. The data consists of variables pertaining to team resources, individual games, and Las Vegas closing spreads.

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  Investigating the role of inflammatory cytokines on tumor progression and metastasis in a Drosophila cancer model

  Kirti Snigdha

  Tumor cells and surrounding normal cells interact with each other and constitute the tumor microenvironment (TME) which supports the survival and proliferation of tumors. Studies indicate the presence of inflammatory components in the TME. However, little is known about the effect of these inflammatory molecules on tumor growth and progression. The core inflammatory pathways are conserved in Drosophila. Imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster are a popular model to study epithelial tumors due to the variety of mosaic analysis tools, and the ease positively marking cells that allow tracking growth and progression of tumor cells. We co-activated oncogenic forms of Yki or RasV12 activities in polarity deficient (scribble mutant) epithelial cells to model aggressively growing and metastatic tumors. To simulate the TME, ‘FLP-out’ clones of tumor cells marked with GFP were generated. The activity of key inflammatory pathways Toll, TNF, and JNK in the TME was tested by immunohistochemistry. We observed upregulation of Cactus (TLR pathway component) and p- JNK (activated form of JNK), and downregulation of Drosophila TNF ligand, Eiger in the tumor cells. Of these, only Eiger was upregulated in neighboring normal cells. Based on these results we hypothesized that a bidirectional cross-talk between the tumor and normal cells in the TME elicits a differential inflammatory response that promotes tumor cell survival and progression. To analyze this, we down-regulated Cactus and Wengen (TNF receptor) and evaluated the effect on tumor size and survival of tumor cells. A comparison of hyperplastic (Yki ScribRNAi) and metastatic (RasV12 ScribRNAi) tumor model was done to identify the role of inflammatory cytokines in tumor progression. Here, we report our progress on the study of the effect of these pathways and inflammatory cytokines on tumor survival and metastasis. Our research will help unravel the correlation between inflammatory pathways and tumor progression in an in vivo model.

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  Investigating the role of putative regeneration genes of Notophthalmus viridescens using Drosophila melanogaster model.

  Abijeet S Mehta

  Notophthalmus viridescens, Red-spotted newt, possess amazing capability to regenerate its organs including tail, limb, heart, brain, spinal cord, lens and other tissues. We have identified a novel family of proteins expressed in adult tissues during regeneration in newts by using a de novo assembly of the newt transcriptome that is combined with proteomic validation. Although, these proteins have no counterparts in public databases, they have a putative signal peptide suggesting the secretory nature of these proteins. To investigate the regeneration potential of these newt-specific genes (and given certain restrains with transgenic newts, such as time), we employed transgenic Drosophila melanogaster model to express these genes. We generated the transgenic flies containing candidate genes, and tried to evaluate their potential to rescue pattern defect mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. Simultaneously, we prepared samples for RNA sequencing to generate the snap shot of gene expression when the candidate genes are misexpressed. Using transgenic approach, these candidate genes were expressed in all the tissues of Drosophila, and samples for sequencing were collected at third instar larval (L3) stage. Interestingly, we have found that these genes are affecting regulatory machinery of Drosophila melanogaster by binding to the sequence specific sites in DNA and regulating the genes involved in Apoptosis and cell cycle. We are further evaluating the potential of these novel genes to rescue pattern defect mutants of Drosophila melanogaster. Our hypothesis is that if these genes are responsible for regeneration they will be able to rescue developmental cell death. The results generated from these studies will be presented in the conference.

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  Investigation of the role of Mitochondrial Dysfunction as a trigger for neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s Disease

  Lydia C Payton, Amit Singh

  Alzheimer’s disease (hereafter AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects cognitive function and memory of the patient. It results from plaques formed by the abnormal cleavage of the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP), which result in the formation of 42 amino acid polypeptide, also known as amyloid beta 42 (Aβ42). Accumulation of Aβ42 peptide triggers cell death in the neuronal cell population of central nervous system. However, the trigger for this abnormal cell death is unknown. A possible explanation involves the role of mitochondrial dysfunction as the trigger for neurodegeneration. Mitochondria are involved in vital cellular functions, including ATP production, calcium ion homeostasis, reactive oxygen species production, and apoptosis. My hypothesis is that mutations in genes regulating mitochondrial health may play a role in neurodegeneration observed in AD mediated neurodegeneration. The rationale behind this hypothesis is, mitochondria are present in all neurons and mitochondrial function impairment results in cell suicide. It is known that trigger for cell death initiates from the mitochondria. Therefore, mitochondria might play an important role in Aβ42 mediated neuronal death. In order to investigate these issues, a Drosophila melanogaster eye model is used with the Gal4/UAS to misexpress the human Aβ42 polypeptide in the photoreceptor neurons of the fly retina. I propose to test the role of mitochondria in AD using candidate gene approach. These studies swill have significant bearings on understanding the etiology of AD and identification of biomarkers for early detection of this disease.

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  Investigation of the role of OPA1 gene mutation in amyloid-beta 42 mediated neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s Disease

  Elizabeth A Borchers, Lydia C Payton, Ankita Sarkar

  Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with no known cure to date. The disease is caused by the extra-cellular accumulation of amyloid-beta 42 (Aβ42) peptides, which results in neuronal death. We have developed transgenic Drosophila melanogaster (a.k.a fruit fly) model of AD where human Aβ42 peptide was misexpressed specifically in the Drosophila eye using the GAL4/UAS system. Our approach allows Aβ42 accumulation only in the differentiating photoreceptor neurons, which kills only the retinal neurons, and does not affect the reproductive ability as well as life span of flies. It allows us to use these flies to understand the molecular genetic basis of AD. One of the hallmark of AD is generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from mitochondria, which triggers neuronal death. My hypothesis is that OPA-1, a dynamin related GTPase, which regulate mitochondrial fusion, is involved in regulating Aβ42 mediated neurodegeneration. A fine balance between mitochondrial fission and fusion events is essential for normal mitochondrial and cellular function. Mutations of OPA1, an early stop signal produces small unstable mitochondrial proteins, which increases ROS levels in neurons. There is a strong correlation between increased ROS levels and mitochondrial fragmentation with neuronal death. I will investigate role of OPA1 in Aβ42 mediated neurodegeneration using our fly eye model. This gene is highly conserved between flies and humans. Thus, our studies will have significant bearings on understanding molecular genetic basis of AD and role of energy generating mitochondrial machinery in age related neurodegeneration.

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  Is hemipteran community structure in a coastal tallgrass prairie dependent on micronutrients?

  Kiersten P Angelos, Emma E Pierpont, Ryan W Reihart

  Insects play a major role in our ecosystems as pollinators, pest controls, decomposers, and a as food sources. Yet, there is limited knowledge on the factors that frame the structure of herbivore communities. The insect order, hemiptera, have piercing/sucking mouthparts, and are very important in grassland ecosystems as major herbivore species that affect nutrient cycling, primary productivity. They are also an important food source for other organisms. We con a large conducted a large fertilization experiment manipulating macronutrients (N,P) and micronutrients (Ca, K, and Na) in all combinations (16 total treatments) replicated 8 times (128 plots total) in large plots (30m x 30m) in a coastal tallgrass prairie in Texas. We sampled insects in each plot by sweepnetting plots, and also sampled plants and soil properties. We sorted insects to order, and are identifying all hemipterans to morphospecies. Because hemipterans were the abundant group in the samples, their responses drove community level responses of insects. Hemipterans were co-limited by nitrogen, phosphorous, and sodium. Their response may be driven by plant community responses to our treatments: their abundance was positively correlated with plant species richness. Future experiments will test to see if hemipterans are responding the micronutrients or the plant communities. These results demonstrate, for the first time, that this globally important insect group may be co-limited by a combination of macro- and micronutrients in this ecosystem. These findings important implications for the management of insect pest, and management for insect diversity.

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  Journalism Ethics: Bias in Coverage of the Duke Lacrosse Team Sexual Assault Case and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

  Janine A Costello, Nora E Sullivan, Annette M Taylor

  Nora Sullivan considers press coverage of the 2006 rape scandal involving members of Duke University lacrosse team and whether a media bias toward alleged victims led to a rush to judgment and errors in coverage. Her paper explores the ethics involved and how the press could have better reported this case. Janine Costello examines whether bias is evident in press coverage of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her paper focuses on ABC News’ misidentification of photos of rubble in Gaza as being in Israel, The failure to verify information about the photo reinforced the preconceived notions that American news outlets are more likely to sympathize with Israel rather than Palestine.

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  Journalism Ethics: News Coverage of the Trayvon Martin Shooting and Death of Robin Williams

  Dawnn P Fann, Anna Lagattuta Lagattuta, Annette M Taylor

  Anna Lagattuta explores how several news organizations used edited versions of 9-1-1 tapes in their coverage of the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, which created a distorted view of the situation. She considers ethical decision-making in selection of facts and what the press should have done in its reporting. Dawnn Fann examines press coverage of the 2011 death of actor/comedian Robin Williams, and whether the reporting adhered to ethical standards of reporting truth while minimizing harm to the surviving family as well as those suffering mental illness. She considers how the press can remain accountable as well as sensitive when reporting on suicides, especially of celebrities.

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  Journalism Ethics: Stephen Glass and Juan Thompson Fabrication Scandals

  Xi Jin, Christopher M Miller, Annette M Taylor, Qi Wang

  Stephen Glass, at the age of 25, was a popular and prolific writer in the 1990s who had stories published in top news magazines including the New Republic, Harper’s and Rolling Stone. Then it was discovered that Glass had plagiarized and fabricated scores of stories. Qi Wang examines the ethical violations and the impact of his transgressions on journalism’s credibility with audiences. Xi Jin also considers Glass’ transgression in light of today’s charges of “fake news” and how adherence to journalism ethics can prevent against such cases in the future. Christopher Miller examines fabrication in journalism through the 2016 case of Juan Thompson, a journalist for The Intercept, who created sources in some of his stories, apparently to promote an agenda of racial and community justice. While his goal was admirable, Thompson violated ethical norms of journalism and his lying destroyed his credibility with audiences.

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  Journalism Ethics: The Fall of Journalist Jack Kelley and “The Hitler Diaries” Hoax

  Emily P Biery, Annette M Taylor, Elizabeth C Torrance

  The career of Jack Kelley, a longtime USA Today reporter, came to an abrupt end in 2004 when it was discovered that he had fabricated many of his stories. Lizzie Torrance explores the ethical issues involved in the fall of this Pulitzer Prize finalist who once reported on important international events but became better known for violating journalism’s core principles of truthfulness and accuracy. Emily Biery analyzes the systematic failures of verification by German magazine, Der Stern, and several British magazines in the 1983 publication of "The Hitler Diaries," a series of journals allegedly written by Adolf Hitler that were later concluded to be fabricated by German swindler, Konrad Kujau.

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  Keeping Your Friends Close: Perceived Distance as a Function of Psychological Closeness

  Sierra F Corbin

  Traditionally, visual-spatial perception research has focused quite heavily on the visual information necessary to perceive the environment and the locations of objects within that space. Recent research has illustrated that non-visual factors like our emotional states, motivations and physical abilities affect not just the ways we behave, but may also affect how we perceive the environment. Social factors may also impact the way we see the space around us. This study sought to investigate whether feelings of psychological closeness to another person influenced the perception of spatially-oriented characteristics (e.g. perceived distance) of that person. In short, this study asked whether we perceived people with whom we share social ties to be physically closer than people we do not know. This research intended to determine whether psychological closeness affected perceived physical interpersonal distance using a variety of indicators of perceived egocentric (self-to-target) distance. Fifty undergraduate students were recruited from introductory psychology courses at the University of Dayton. Participants made several estimates of the distance between himself or herself and another “target” person. This target person represented either someone with whom the participant shared a relationship or a stranger. I hypothesized that an individual’s feelings of psychological closeness to someone considered a best friend would lead to the perception of closer visual-spatial proximity to a visual representation of that friend than to a visual representation of a stranger. This project contributes to a growing body of literature illustrating non-visual contributions to the perception of egocentric distance and spatial cognition.

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  Ketamine treatment induces sex-specific synaptogenic effects in the medial prefrontal cortex of stress-naïve C57BL/6J mice

  Emily M Flaherty, Joseph N Mauch, Sara S Mohamed, Joseph E Saurine, Connor F Thelen

  Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric disease that impacts more than 350 million individuals worldwide. A neurobiological characteristic of MDD, the atrophy of spines, most often presents itself in brain regions implicated in stress response (e.g., prefrontal cortex and hippocampus). Directly combating these neural deficits, the novel rapid-acting antidepressant drug ketamine has been shown to induce its therapeutic effects by enhancing synaptogenesis and dendritic spine formation in the male rodent brain. Despite the wealth of knowledge on the neurobiological effects of ketamine in the male brain, the effects of this drug in females are not well characterized. Published and preliminary data from our group and others indicate that female mice are behaviorally more reactive to the antidepressant-like effects of ketamine. However, the innate mechanisms underlying the female sensitivity to this rapid-acting antidepressant drug still remain elusive. A modified Golgi-Cox neurohistological staining technique was used to determine whether increases in dendritic spine density in the PFC were associated with the antidepressant-like effects of ketamine in stress-naïve female mice. It was found that a single dose of ketamine (10mg/kg) elicited a synaptogenic response in the medial prefrontal cortex of male but not female mice at three days post-injection. These findings support the notion that different brain regions and/or molecular pathways are implicated in the female antidepressant response to ketamine, and highlight the need for further studies focusing on the sex-specific neuromolecular alterations following ketamine administration.

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  Lift, Run, and/or Stretch: The Decision Making Process of Exercise Choice and Duration

  Jeffrey M Kingery

  Campus recreation environments have been shown to promote physical health and wellbeing for students, yielding great benefits such as higher levels of belongingness and overall academic success, and thus creating a greater likelihood to be retained at the university if utilized. However, there are various types of exercises one can choose to do within a campus recreation environment, including strength (resistance), cardio, and stretching (flexibility) activities. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the decision making process of exercise choice and duration amongst strength, cardio, and stretching activities as experienced by seven full-time undergraduate students who have visited the RecPlex at the University of Dayton at least 15 times over the course of one semester and who self-identify as men and women. Little information is known about the decision making process of exercise choice and duration among college students, specifically within campus recreation and higher education environments. Previous institutional assessment data has shown various differences in exercise choices and durations amongst undergraduate men and women. A greater understanding of these choices can inform those who work various health and wellness professions to design strategies fitted to enhance success and promote greater overall health and wellbeing for students to balance strength, cardio, and flexibility activities within their exercise routines.

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  Light Induced Color Changes in the Purple Protein Bacteriorhodopsin

  Carlie J McGrath

  This research provides new insights into the mechanisms associated with light-induced color changes in the bacteriorhodopsin (BR)-containing halobacterial purple membrane (PM). BR is a purple, 26kDa transmembrane protein which is structurally similar to the human visual proteins rhodopsin and iodopsin. This research focuses on the influences of light scattering and spectral distortions induced by the solvent in which PM is suspended. Varying volume ratios of water and glycerol were used as the solvent for PM samples. A ratio of 60% glycerol:40% water produced spectra with the least scattering, as demonstrated by a low absorbance region (300-420 nm) in the UV-visible absorption spectra and equal intensities of the positive and negative bands in the circular dichroism (CD) spectra. Suspensions of native PM, calcium saturated purple membrane (CSPM) and cation free blue membrane (CFBM) were irradiated with intense 532 nanometer (nm) laser pulses or the 254 nm line from a mercury lamp. During irradiation the absorption and CD spectra were monitored; the spectral changes observed in pure water and glycerol:water suspensions were similar, but faster in pure water. PM, CSPM, and CFBM each produced a UV product with λmax ~360 nm; each species experienced unique changes in the CD spectra as well. With both the laser and the lamp, the absorption spectra of both PM and CSPM “crossed over” (i.e., the long wavelength edge of the main absorption band shifted bathochromically) during the early stages of irradiation; this “crossing over” was absent in CFBM. PM also underwent a later bathochromic shift of its absorption λmax with a concomitant purple-to-blue color change—but only with the laser. With both light sources CSPM and CFBM underwent a color loss but no color change. The structural and mechanistic implications of these spectral changes are detailed below.

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  Listeria monocytogenes Oxygen Consumption

  Andy J Deak

  Listeria monocytogenes is a human pathogen responsible for foodborne illnesses with a high mortality rate. Similarly to many other enteric pathogens, it is a facultative anaerobe capable of growing under anoxic conditions such as some food packaging and our intestinal lumen. Therefore, to better understand how Listeria responds to fluctuating oxygen levels during transmission and infection, we measured oxygen consumption rate of Listeria grown under different conditions. Bacteria were grown overnight to stationary phase in BHI media aerobically or anaerobically and back diluted into fresh BHI for 2 hours to reach mid-log phase. The optical density of all cultures was measured and used to normalize oxygen consumption rate. The bacteria was centrifuged, washed, and resuspended into a concentrated suspension. The oxygen level was measured with the use of an oxygen probe inside an anaerobic chamber. The oxygen level of blank BHI media was measured and subtracted from the final oxygen rate. The results showed that anaerobically-grown mid-log phase bacteria has the fastest rate of oxygen consumption, followed by the aerobically-grown mid-log phase, then the anaerobically-grown and the aerobically-grown stationary phase bacteria. To test the role of electron transport chain in oxygen consumption rate, we treated the sample with the uncoupler CCCP during oxygen concentration measurement. Interestingly, the presence of CCCP did not significantly alter oxygen consumption rate, a result suggesting the presence of another oxygen consumption pathway other than the electron transport chain. The acutely toxic salt anion sodium azide will be tested next to determine if the cytochrome oxidase is involved in oxygen consumption. In summary, our results indicate a significantly different oxygen consumption potential between aerobically and anaerobically grown Listeria that may contribute to its transmission through environments with fluctuating oxygen levels.

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  Local Difference Sign-Magnitude Transform of Edge/Corner Features for Robust Face Recognition

  Almabrok Essa Essa

  In this research, a new appearance based feature descriptor, named Local Difference Sign-Magnitude Transform (LDSMT) is developed for robust face recognition, which efficiently summarizes the local structure of face images. LDSMT is a nonparametric descriptor that utilizes a combined edge/corner detection strategy. We obtain the information about corners and edges of the face image using the Frei and Chen edge detector, then for each pixel position there are two local differences to describe the relationship of pixels to their local neighborhood. The first one is using the sign (positive or negative) of the difference between the values of the central pixel and the neighboring pixel. The second one is using the magnitude of the difference between the central pixel and the neighboring pixel. Then a histogram is built for each component from each edge and corner map respectively. Finally, we concatenate these histograms together to form the final LDSMT feature vector. The performance evaluation of the proposed LDSMT algorithm is conducted on several publicly available databases and observed promising recognition rates.

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  Love at the Intersection: Supporting the Faith Development of LGB Students of Faith at the University of Dayton.

  Matthew D Little

  Both student affairs professionals and college students are recognizing the value of faith development (Braskamp, 2007). However, Love, Bock, Jannarone, and Richardson (2005) cautioned that for LGBT students, this can be a painful topic given organized religion’s anti-LGBT history. Despite this, they noted that a growing number value their faith practices and need developmental support. Unfortunately, Dahl and Galliher (2012) observed that minimal research has been published on the faith development of this population and the external factors that influence it. They insisted that “it is incumbent on researchers to gain an increased understanding of the experiences and development trajectories of LGBTQ individuals within religious contexts” (p. 219). Heeding their call, this qualitative study sought to determine which forms of support LGB students of faith at the University of Dayton (UD) described as most beneficial to their faith development. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, the research focused on interviews with seven undergraduate students who identified as both Catholic/Christian and lesbian, gay, or bisexual. These students discussed their experiences as LGB Christians on UD’s campus, the forms of support in faith development they found most beneficial, and other supportive efforts they still sought as LGB people of faith. Common themes found in their interviews included the benefits of unconditional acceptance/love offered by campus professionals, the value of solitude and time for reflection in contemplating their intersecting identities, the positive impact of the example of Christians throughout history who have both remained faithful to the Church and yet disagreed with aspects of its teaching, and the need for role models who reflect both strong faith and an open LGB identity.

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  Low Birthweight and How Mother’s Status Influences It

  Xueyan Bai

  This research project investigates the impact of various factors on the risk of low birth weight. A Logistic regression model will be used to identify those factors that impact the probability of low birth weight (smaller than 2500 grams) baby. The related factors include mother’s age, mother’s weight, smoking status during pregnancy and several others. Basically, those factors are related to mother’s life habits and personal status.

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  Magnesium Catalyzed Synthesis of Organophosphates

  Emily K Granger, Cori K Young

  Synthetic strategies for the construction of phosphorus centered organophoshorus molecules are underdeveloped compared to their carbon-centered cousins. Though the methods for the construction of organophosphate triesters and their derivatives are somewhat limited, they nevertheless have recently found great utility in the pharmaceutical industry. Given that phosphates are commonly used by nature as powerful tools for the regulation of life processes, it is no surprise to find them as key components in many pharmaceuticals.6 It is easy to find phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in reactions that control various aspects of metabolism through phosphate esters or their derivatives. This type of chemistry offers profound control with biomolecules such as proteins (especially kinases), carbohydrates, nucleotides (DNA and RNA), and steroids. As such it is a process that, when controlled, can treat many different types of human ailments such as cancer, contagious diseases like Hepatitis C, AIDS, and the flu

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  Making a Difference: Experiences of Students who Participate in Community Engagement within Urban Neighborhoods

  Allyssa Allen

  As institutions begin to create opportunities for multiculturalism programming on and off campus, undergraduate students have the opportunity to become socially active leaders. Higher education institutions create spaces for students to develop their identities, redefine values and beliefs, and make mistakes. However, as there is an increase in generations enrolling with intersecting identities, they are becoming more prominent and complex to understand (Zuniga, Williams, & Berger, 2005).The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of students who attend a predominantly white institution and participate in community engagement within urban neighborhoods. Using qualitative interviews with six participants of the Youth Economic Self-Sufficiency program at the University of Dayton, the study explored how human experiences can increase cultural understanding and if these interactions influence vocational goals. Themes emerging from the data are personal development and identity, self-awareness, the power of privilege, cultural understanding, and student’s openness to diversity.

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  Marco Economic Activity And Stock Price Movements: A Closer Look At The Covariation Between Total Non-Farm Employment Plus Goods Sector Employment And S&P 500 Stock Prices, 2009-2016.

  Tyler B Cronin, Leah M Haverkos

  Employment growth is considered a key measure of macroeconomic activity. Rational expectation theory, therefore, would expect a positive linkage between employment growth and the price movement of common stocks. In this study, we examine the relationship between non-farm employment and the goods sector employment growth and price movements in Consumer Staples (XLP) and Consumer Discretionary (XLY) stocks. Using regression analysis, we regress employment growth on the top ten stocks in each of the above sectors (i.e. XLP and XLY). We test the hypothesis that the B coefficients in the regressions are > 0 and statistically significant at the 95% confidence level (T>2).

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  Media Law: Current Issues in Libel & Privacy

  Mason Alexander Dipalma, Melissa Paige Finnegan, Emma E Pierpont, Annette M Taylor

  Melissa Finnegan examines libel cases in Ohio and New York courts that have been brought against the press for social media postings and how the law has been evolving in the last decade to deal with the new media landscape. Mason Di Palma examines the libel case brought by Aleksej Gubarev, CEO of XBT Holding, a Luxembourg-based web hosting company, against BuzzFeed for publishing a dossier that alleges compromising information about President Trump. Gubarev was named in the document and alleged that his company helped Russian intelligence services in its hacking operations. DiPalma determines whether Gubarev has a case based on libel law in Florida. Emma Pierpont investigates the rights of the press and public to film on-duty police officers in states within the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Analyzing cases since 2006, Pierpont determines how courts balance rights of privacy and free press, as well as the public interest in transparency in matters of public concern.

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  Media Law: Limits on Newsgathering

  Margaret M Bukowski, Emma G Creekbaum, Annette M Taylor, Cari M Zahn

  The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently removed animal inspection reports from its website, stating that it did so to protect the privacy of people and institutions. Emma Creekbaum analyzes Freedom of Information Act cases from the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals to determine how the court is resolving conflicts between individual’s privacy rights and the public’s interest in public disclosure of activity by government agencies such as the USDA. Cari Zahn explores restrictive orders, also known as gag orders, issued against the press in the District of Columbia within the last decade and identifies the circumstances under which the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has found such orders to be constitutional. Margaret Bukowski examines California’s anti-paparazzi laws and whether the state’s 2010 Assembly Bill 2479, which was designed to curtail reckless driving by paparazzi seeking to photograph celebrities, could survive a constitutional challenge in appeals court.

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  Media Law: Press Access to Courts and Court Documents

  Caroline M Flahive, Colleen G Peregrin, Kathryn E Speed, Annette M Taylor

  Although the U.S. Supreme Court in Florida Star v. B.J.F., 491 U.S. 524 (1989), upheld press rights to publish truthful information lawfully obtained from court records, the press is often challenged when it reveals the identities of crime victims. Caroline Flahive’s paper explores the ongoing conflict between rights of public and press to access government records and the privacy rights of crime victims. Kathryn Speed examines journalists’ rights to access juvenile courts and information concerning juvenile offenders through 10 years of case law in 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers states in the western U.S. Colleen Peregrin investigates the press’s right to be present during military Article 32 hearings and whether this violates the defendant’s right to a fair trial, as the military suggested in the case ABC Inc. vs Powell, 47 M.J. 363 (1997). The paper explores cases in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and U.S. Court of Military Appeals, as well as U.S. Supreme Court cases on open courts.

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  Media Law: Shield Laws Protecting Journalists

  Clare J Gallagher, Annette M Taylor, Jada M Woods