Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancy are significant public health concerns. Abstinence-only until marriage (AOUM) and abstinence pledge programs have received a significant amount of government funding in an attempt to address these problems. Despite receiving over two billion dollars in funding, the programs have not been shown to be effective in achieving their stated goals. In addition, there are significant concerns about the content of AOUM curriculums, including medical inaccuracy and use of outdated gender stereotypes.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancy are significant public health concerns. Abstinence-only until marriage (AOUM) and abstinence pledge programs have received a significant amount of government funding in an attempt to address these problems. Despite receiving over two billion dollars in funding, the programs have not been shown to be effective in achieving their stated goals. In addition, there are significant concerns about the content of AOUM curriculums, including medical inaccuracy and use of outdated gender stereotypes.

Thesis advisor: Mary Ellen Carter / Thesis advisor: Amy Hutton / Managerial share pledging (using shares as collateral for personal loans) is controversial. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), highly publicized anecdotes, and international research suggest that share pledging increases the risk of stock price crashes. Nevertheless, U.S. boards continue to allow the practice, suggesting that share pledging benefits shareholders or some boards are beholden to controlling managers who enjoy the private benefits of share pledging. Using a hand-collected dataset of share pledging by executives and directors of S&P 1500 firms from 2007-2020, I document three benefits-greater incentive alignment, reduced executive pay and lower voluntary executive turnover-while finding little evidence of increased crash risk. Interestingly, these benefits do not exist for firms with high managerial control. However ISS's 2012 policy denouncing share pledging did little to reduce share pledging among these firms. Instead the ISS policy increased negative shareholder votes at firms with both high and low managerial control with any share pledging, coinciding with a reduction in share pledging at firms with low managerial control, despite these firms enjoying benefits from share pledging. Overall my findings suggest that, for well-governed firms, managerial share pledging facilitates incentive alignment and lowers executive turnover and pay while not increasing stock price crash risk, calling into question efforts by ISS and others to curb the practice for all firms. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Accounting.

Pledging a share in a business corporation In my master thesis I focus on pledging a share of shareholder a limited liability company, which is a relatively common legal disposition with the share. Master thesis is based on valid and effective legal regulation that brought a number of innovations. In some chapters there is also mentioned the historical development of the institute for better orientation of the readers. The thesis examines legal literature, legal periodicals as well as attempts to capture also the applicability of existing case law on the new legislation. The main contribution of this work is to provide an interpretation of the provisions of which so far there is little consensus in the legal community, as well as pointing on problems and risks that regulation brings, especially from the perspective of the pledgee. The thesis is divided into four chapters, each chapter focuses on a different area of pledging a share of shareholder a limited liability company. The first chapter defines general issues of pledge and define the subject of a lien and includes a brief introduction of the legal nature of the share. In the second chapter, the reader is introduced into the mode of the establishment and creation of a pledge to a share, assumptions of its pledgebility and the process of...

Hazing in collegiate settings, both Greek and non-Greek, damages educational institutions’ reputations and creates liability as they seek to maintain the safety of their students. This study examines hazing activities that take place during the initiation process of Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). Utilizing qualitative research, it provides insight into the motivations of undergraduates who participate in BGLO hazing initiation rituals. Using National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and Pennsylvania State Law definition of hazing, this study focuses on an underexamined population generally overlooked by researchers in this field. Examining BGLO members’ familiarity with hazing prior to taking part revealed three levels of awareness: not aware, moderately aware, and very aware. Participants also indicated what kinds of dangers they were aware of, how they became aware of such dangers, and other facets of hazing they knew about prior to their participation in the activity. Members chose to join an organization where they believed hazing existed due to various factors: Confidence & Past Success, Intrapersonal Benefits, Societal Benefits, Perceptions of Hazing, Personal Relationships, Compatibility, Lack of Options, and Following Traditions. BGLO members’ willingness to undergo hazing sprang from the following factors: Long-term Benefits, Validation, The Bonds of Initiation, Personal Relationships, Acceptance, Perceptions of Hazing, Explanatory Justification. Finally, participants in this study indicated five roles that hazing plays in the initiation process of BGLO: Producing Better People, The Cycle of Re-Creation, Organizational Benefits, Validating Membership and Not Worth It. This project highlights the failure of higher educational institutions to play a key role in protecting students, specifically BGLO members, from the dangers of hazing and offers remedies for that oversight, including anti-hazing policies, hazing support services, membership intake processes, and fraternal organization advisement implications, as well as areas for future research on this topic. / Educational Leadership

Avant d’accorder un crédit, tout créancier entend naturellement s’assurer que la restitution des sommes prêtées sera effective quelle que soit la situation de l’emprunteur le jour de l’exigibilité du remboursement. C’est particulièrement l’hypothèse de l’ouverture d’une procédure collective à l’encontre du débiteur emprunteur qui concentre les craintes des créanciers. La socialisation croissante du droit des entreprises en difficulté a en effet sensiblement réduit l’efficacité des sûretés réelles traditionnelles en cas de faillite du débiteur. C’est dans ce contexte que les créanciers ont cherché ailleurs une sûreté réelle susceptible de satisfaire à leur exigence de sécurité. Le trust d’une part, la fiducie d’autre part, pouvaient apparaître comme des oasis de tranquillité en période de troubles financiers affectant le débiteur. Universitaires et praticiens ont alors redécouvert les vertus du transfert de propriété réalisé à des fins de garantie, et plus précisément la cession fiduciaire de créance. / Before granting a loan, any creditor naturally intends to ensure that the return of the money lent will be effective regardless of the situation of the borrower on the day of the repayment of the refund. This is particularly the case of the opening of insolvency proceedings against the debtor which concentrates the creditors fears. The increasing socialization of the insolvency law has indeed significantly reduced the effectiveness of traditional collateral in case of bankruptcy of the debtor. It is in this context that the creditors have also sought a security that would satisfy their security requirements. The trust one hand, the other hand trust, could appear as oasis of tranquility in times of financial turmoil affecting the debtor. Academics and practitioners then rediscovered the virtues of transfer of title made for guarantee purposes, specifically fiduciary assignment of receivables.