Much attention has recently been given to K-12 educators and their use of social media. This quantitative study surveyed a targeted sample (n = 543) of known social media users to learn about K-12 educators’ use of social media, their legal knowledge of the First Amendment as it relates to free speech and education, and their dispositions toward the First Amendment. Survey respondents self-reported levels of social media use, completed a legal knowledge section, and responded to a series of items used to gauge their disposition toward the First Amendment. These were analyzed through various demographic and contextual factors in addition to analyses of variance, correlations, and a regression analysis. Findings identified a critical mass of K-12 educators are using social media, and some use social media to a great degree. This sample also reported an overall lack of legal knowledge of the First Amendment as it relates to free speech and education. Additionally, whether or not one had been questioned or chastised about his or her social media use, whether or not one worked for an administration that was “extremely supportive” of social media use, whether or not one had administrative responsibilities, and one’s disposition toward the First Amendment were significant predictors of social media use for the educators in this sample. Findings in this study suggest schools should train and use administrators to educate their K-12 employees about social media use, the First Amendment, and related school policies. Additionally, school policies should not focus on social media use; instead, they should address particular behaviors. Finally, schools intending to embrace social media should seek to employ administrators who are “extremely supportive” of social media use.

As the title suggests, this thesis is about the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and about development of its interpretation from its inception to present day. Over the years, the interpretation of the First Amendment has drastically changed, causing a shift from restrictive views on free expression towards almost absolute freedom. Today, freedom of expression and religious freedom, both of which are included in the First Amendment, play a significant role in preserving democracy while strengthening its core pillars not only in the United States, but in other modern nations as well. The inclusion of the First Amendment into the world's oldest written constitution has influenced the concept of free expression and religious freedom in the laws of many foreign countries. According to some scholars, the current level of constitutional protection guaranteed for free expression in United States is too high and does not correlate with what the framers of the constitution had intended on upon drafting the First Amendment. However, it comes as no surprise that higher standards of protection from governmental intervention regarding guaranteed freedom in the First Amendment consequently results in the betterment of society. Throughout the text, I will aim to answer every major question...

in English The First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the development of its interpretation The aim of the paper is to analyze the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The main reason for my research is my long-term personal interests in the fields of law which are covered by the First Amendment. The thesis is composed of an introduction, six chapters and a conclusion. The study begins with the introduction where it is discussed methodology, my motives for choosing this topic, importance of the topic and potential contribution of this thesis to the Czech legal science. Chapter One examines historical roots of the First Amendment's rights and freedoms. It focuses on their development both in the England and in its American colonies. It tries to find main tendencies contributing to reasons for adopting rights and freedoms embodied in the First Amendment. Chapter Two concentrates on the main political and legal events involving adopting the First Amendment, and then it attempts to find a proper interpretation of the First Amendment using both historical and teleological approach. The second chapter also discusses the scope of the First Amendment. The chapter ends with the examination how external factors (such as legal philosophy or politics) influenced the decision making...

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This thesis explores international and domestic factors that constitute continuities in U.S. foreign and security policy regarding trans-Atlantic relations. Since the founding of the Atlantic Alliance burden sharing has been one of the major sources of conflict between the United States and its European NATO allies. Despite the reluctance to spend more than minimal amounts on military capabilities in most European NATO countries the issue did not become a major concern in the U.S. Congress between 1951 and 1966. It was only in the late 1960s and early 1970s that proposals - including the Mansfield Resolutions and Amendments - were introduced in the Senate calling for a substantial reduction in the number of U.S. troops in Europe. The debates provoked by these proposals threw light on the various determinants of U.S. policy towards Europe. The contemporary relevance of the issue resides in the fact that most of the elements responsible for the emergence of the Mansfield Amendments are still influential in U.S. foreign and security policy. This circumstance might lead to comparable proposals and debates in the near future. / Civilian, Hungarian Ministry of Defense

Thesis advisor: Dale Herbeck / Websites counseling dangerous activity such as suicide represent uncharted legal territory. To date, most legal scholarship regarding these sites considers whether they incite imminent lawless action. As an alternative to incitement, this paper argues that these websites are more productively characterized as instruction manuals that aid and abet unlawful activity. In support of this approach, this paper proposes a three-tiered legal test for distinguishing between protected and unprotected instruction manuals under the First Amendment. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

Este trabalho avalia o impacto do processo legislativo no emendamento da Constituição brasileira de 1988, até 2010. O objetivo é melhor explicar o contínuo crescimento e detalhamento da Constituição. Para tanto, foram elaboradas hipóteses a partir da literatura sobre a interação entre Executivo e Legislativo no sistema político brasileiro. As duas principais hipóteses testadas são 1) dominância do Executivo no emendamento constitucional, a partir do funcionamento do presidencialismo de coalizão; e 2) influência do poder legislativo no emendamento constitucional, ilustrando os custos do processo decisório e a relação entre a heterogeneidade de uma base política parlamentar e seu impacto na produção legislativa. Para a construção do banco de dados, foi utilizada a Metodologia de Análise Constitucional (MAC). Aplicou-se a metodologia às propostas de emenda constitucional (PECs) que se tornaram emendas à Constituição, assim como a todos os substitutivos aprovados nas fases deliberativas internas ao Congresso Nacional. Dessa maneira, foi possível avaliar cada mudança realizada em cada dispositivo das PECs oferecidas e aprovadas ao longo do processo legislativo, assim como o quanto cada fase contribuiu para a definição do texto final das emendas e para o detalhamento e crescimento do texto constitucional. Os resultados permitiram a comprovação da preponderância da hipótese 2 em detrimento da 1, demonstrando a importância do Poder Legislativo na definição de matéria legislativa constitucional, em detrimento das propostas do Poder Executivo. Além disso, foi possível realizar uma crítica às teorias comparativas que relacionam o impacto da regra de emendamento nas taxas de emendamento das Constituições, demonstrando que, pelo menos no caso brasileiro, a combinação de maiorias qualificadas e heterogeneidade parlamentar levou a um aumento no emendamento da Constituição de 1988. / This work evaluates the impact of the legislative process on the brazilian constitution, from 1988 to 2010. Its objective is to better explain the continuous growth and growing specificity of the constitution. In order to do that, hypotheses were elaborated from the literature on the interaction between the Executive and Legislative branches of the brazilian political system. The two main hypotheses tested here are 1) Is the Executive dominant in the constitutional amendment process, through the mechanism of coalitional presidency; and 2) the influence of the Legislative on the constitutional amendment, illustrating the costs of the decision making process and the relation between an heterogeneous parliamentary base, and its impact on the legislation. To test these two hypotheses, a data set was gathered, using the Methodology of Constitutional Analysis (MCA). The MCA was applied to all the constitutional amendment proposals (CAPs) that eventually became constitutional amendments, as well as to all the substitute versions of the CAPs that were approved on the various deliberative forums inside the National Congress. By doing that, it was possible to evaluate each change made to the PECs that eventually became amendments to the constitution, as well as how each moment of the legislative process contributed to the growth of the constitutional text. The results proved the prevalence of the hypothesis 1 over the hypothesis 2, thus demonstrating the importance of the Legislative branch in defining the contents of the constitution. Furthermore, it was possible develop a criticism on the current comparative theories on constitutional amendment that relates formal procedures of amendment and constitutional rigidity to rate of constitutional amendment. At least in the brazilian case, we observed that the combination of qualified majorities and parliamentary heterogeneity further spurred, and didnt restrict, constitutional amendment

Este trabalho avalia o impacto do processo legislativo no emendamento da Constituição brasileira de 1988, até 2010. O objetivo é melhor explicar o contínuo crescimento e detalhamento da Constituição. Para tanto, foram elaboradas hipóteses a partir da literatura sobre a interação entre Executivo e Legislativo no sistema político brasileiro. As duas principais hipóteses testadas são 1) dominância do Executivo no emendamento constitucional, a partir do funcionamento do presidencialismo de coalizão; e 2) influência do poder legislativo no emendamento constitucional, ilustrando os custos do processo decisório e a relação entre a heterogeneidade de uma base política parlamentar e seu impacto na produção legislativa. Para a construção do banco de dados, foi utilizada a Metodologia de Análise Constitucional (MAC). Aplicou-se a metodologia às propostas de emenda constitucional (PECs) que se tornaram emendas à Constituição, assim como a todos os substitutivos aprovados nas fases deliberativas internas ao Congresso Nacional. Dessa maneira, foi possível avaliar cada mudança realizada em cada dispositivo das PECs oferecidas e aprovadas ao longo do processo legislativo, assim como o quanto cada fase contribuiu para a definição do texto final das emendas e para o detalhamento e crescimento do texto constitucional. Os resultados permitiram a comprovação da preponderância da hipótese 2 em detrimento da 1, demonstrando a importância do Poder Legislativo na definição de matéria legislativa constitucional, em detrimento das propostas do Poder Executivo. Além disso, foi possível realizar uma crítica às teorias comparativas que relacionam o impacto da regra de emendamento nas taxas de emendamento das Constituições, demonstrando que, pelo menos no caso brasileiro, a combinação de maiorias qualificadas e heterogeneidade parlamentar levou a um aumento no emendamento da Constituição de 1988. / This work evaluates the impact of the legislative process on the brazilian constitution, from 1988 to 2010. Its objective is to better explain the continuous growth and growing specificity of the constitution. In order to do that, hypotheses were elaborated from the literature on the interaction between the Executive and Legislative branches of the brazilian political system. The two main hypotheses tested here are 1) Is the Executive dominant in the constitutional amendment process, through the mechanism of coalitional presidency; and 2) the influence of the Legislative on the constitutional amendment, illustrating the costs of the decision making process and the relation between an heterogeneous parliamentary base, and its impact on the legislation. To test these two hypotheses, a data set was gathered, using the Methodology of Constitutional Analysis (MCA). The MCA was applied to all the constitutional amendment proposals (CAPs) that eventually became constitutional amendments, as well as to all the substitute versions of the CAPs that were approved on the various deliberative forums inside the National Congress. By doing that, it was possible to evaluate each change made to the PECs that eventually became amendments to the constitution, as well as how each moment of the legislative process contributed to the growth of the constitutional text. The results proved the prevalence of the hypothesis 1 over the hypothesis 2, thus demonstrating the importance of the Legislative branch in defining the contents of the constitution. Furthermore, it was possible develop a criticism on the current comparative theories on constitutional amendment that relates formal procedures of amendment and constitutional rigidity to rate of constitutional amendment. At least in the brazilian case, we observed that the combination of qualified majorities and parliamentary heterogeneity further spurred, and didnt restrict, constitutional amendment

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This field study examines the changes in primary schooling in New South Wales from 1904 to 1922 in an attempt to provide an historical perspective on contemporary schooling. Two distinct phases are identified. The first of these is a settlement (1904-1916) dominated by the eclectic concerns of the New Education movement. It is argued that this settlement was a fragile arrangement held together by the rhetoric of prominent educationists but that it did not operate effectively at the classroom level. The contradictions inherent in it, and the bureaucratic resistance to which it was subjected, as well as the practical difficulties faced by teachers, meant that the settlement disintegrated into crisis when teachers' frustrations were further aggravated by the effects of the Public Instruction (Amendment) Act of 1916 and popular perceptions of declining standards. The hardships caused by the First World War heightened the difficulties under which teachers were expected to work, adding to the turmoil. The crisis which began in 1916 and continued until Peter Board resigned, was characterized by a preoccupation with retardation and a growing interest in intelligence and achievement testing. The third and final chapter examines the wider social, economic and political concerns of the period and explores the connection between events in society and those in the schools.

Geohumus is a new, unique hybrid soil amendment made of polyacrylic acid, igneous rock flour, and quartz sand. It is biodegradable and is marketed to increase soil porosity, increase plant yield, and increase plant available water by up to 30%, all while using a low inclusion rate of only 1 - 2% volume/volume (v/v). The objective of this research was to evaluate uses of Geohumus in a turfgrass setting. Two field trials and one greenhouse trial were conducted between the summers of 2010, 2011, and 2012. For the field incorporation study, Geohumus was mixed with USGA (United States Golf Association) specified sand and incorporated at a 1% v/v ratio into an existing perennial ryegrass stand maintained at two heights of cut using various incorporation machinery. Treatments included incorporation of Geohumus via an aerator, dethatcher, Graden, or simulated drill-and-fill. Daily light box pictures were analyzed using SigmaScan Pro software to compare percent green cover among treatments and to establish which plots were to receive irrigation. The readings showed significant differences among treatments in irrigation applications required to keep the turf green. The aeration treatment by itself was as effective as any treatment with Geohumus incorporation. Aeration provided a 35% reduction in irrigation applications on the 61 mm height of cut in 2011 and a 24% reduction in irrigation applications on the same height in 2012. The second field trial evaluated various soil amendments for use in divot repair mixes under full sun and partial shade conditions. In addition to differing microclimates, divots were further evaluated by receiving either one or two irrigation applications per day. Uniform divots with dimensions of 10.16 x 7.62 cm were created using a spring-loaded catapult with a hula-hoe attachment. Treatments applied consisted of combinations of United States Golf Association (USGA) specified sand and perennial ryegrass seed but differed according to soil amendments which were incorporated into the divot mixes based on volume (v/v). Soil amendments tested included Geohumus (1% v/v), Zeba (1% v/v), Axis (10% v/v), Lassenite ATS (10% v/v), Dakota Peat (10% v/v), Scotts EZ Seed (10% v/v), and Wondersoil (10% v/v). Weekly ratings were taken using light box pictures in conjunction with digital analysis software to measure percent green cover. Results indicated that microclimate and irrigation frequency affected the establishment of divot repair mixes more than the presence of soil amendments. A third trial comparing perennial ryegrass root masses grown in rooting boxes in a greenhouse showed major differences as influenced by placement of Geohumus within the soil profile. Geohumus influenced root mass in the upper 7.6 cm of the soil profile but no significant differences were found at lower depths. Geohumus incorporated at a 7.6 - 12.7 cm depth appeared to be the most influential depth for increasing root mass in the upper 7.6 cm of the profile. / Graduation date: 2013