Copyright (c) 2009 University of Pennsylvania All rights reserved. http://repository.upenn.edu Recent documents in ScholarlyCommons en-us Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:48:28 PST 3600 http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/146 http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/146 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:34:25 PST During the past decade a number of bloody conflicts have focused international attention on the strategic role of the media in promoting war and perpetuating chaos. The challenges posed by systematic manipulation of the media have been particularly acute in Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, East Timor - wherever the international community intervened to prevent atrocities, or stop them, or help rebuild society in their aftermath.Written against this backdrop, Forging Peace brings together case studies and legal analysis of the steps that the United Nations, NATO and other organisations, both governmental and non-governmental, have taken to build pluralist and independent media in the wake of massive human rights violations.Forging Peace maps an important aspect of contemporary peacemaking. It examines current thinking on the legality of unilateral humanitarian intervention, then analyses in graphic detail the pioneering use of information intervention techniques in conflict zones, ranging from full-scale bombardment and confiscation of transmitters to the establishment of new laws and regulatory regimes.As the social and economic role of the media expands and information technology spreads, driving governments in the world's trouble spots to seek more sophisticated ways of controlling public opinion, Forging Peace looks set to influence policy and debate for years to come. Peter Krug http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/145 http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/145 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:30:36 PST THE EXTENSIVE REFORMS of the International Telecommunication Union, the result of extraordinary efforts over the last decade to redefine the future of international regulation, have not reduced the call for even stronger global jurisdiction over the booming growth and cascading transnational impact of telecoms and media organisations. In this essay, I examine the underlying tensions that make international agreement on a Global Communications Commission, with tough law-making and regulatory authority, so hard to achieve. My method is to project from the national experience to the transnational. I argue that media law and regulation, in the national context, enacts what I call a market for loyalties. Law serves to mediate among groups competing to affect or control national identity. Only if there is consensus among the major competitors in this market (which, as we shall see, is different from the market for goods), does law come effectively into play. Media law and regulation, with important, but irrelevant exceptions, exists, generally, for the convenience of those whom it is designed to serve. Monroe E. Price http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/144 http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/144 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:08:29 PST Achieving pubilc service pluralism in the Unites States context is so idiosyncratic, so much a product of particular historic and governmental developments, that it is diffi cult to draw lessons that are useful for the United Kingdom. The differences are rooted in the distinct (1) role of federally licensed commercial stations; (2) expectations about the contributions of public broadcasting to pluralism in program offerings; and (3) structures of public broadcasting. In this brief essay, we try to show what aspects of pluralism and diversity are valued in the very special case of US media policy and how the idea of public service plays out at a time when an increasingly fractionated society faces a fractionated array of media offerings. Ellen P. Goodman http://repository.upenn.edu/ese_papers/518 http://repository.upenn.edu/ese_papers/518 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:43:53 PST We measured the electronic properties and gas sensing responses of template-grown poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS)-based nanowires. The nanowires had a 'striped' structure (gold-PEDOT/PSS-gold), and were typically 8 µm long (1 µm-6 µm-1 µm for the sections, respectively) and 220 nm in diameter. Single-nanowire devices were contacted with pre-fabricated gold electrodes using dielectrophoretic assembly. A polymer conductivity of 11.5 ± 0.7 S cm−1 and a contact resistance of 27.6 ± 4 kΩ were inferred from measurements on nanowires of varying length and diameter. The nanowire sensors detected a variety of odors, with rapid response and recovery (seconds). The response (ΔR/R) varied as a power law with analyte concentration. The power law exponent was found to increase with the molecular weight of the analyte and as a function of temperature. The detection limits are set by noise intrinsic to the device and are at the ppm level even for very volatile analytes. Yaping Dan http://repository.upenn.edu/ese_papers/519 http://repository.upenn.edu/ese_papers/519 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:34:52 PST Graphene is a two-dimensional material with extremely favorable chemical sensor properties. Conventional nanolithography typically leaves a resist residue on the graphene surface, whose impact on the sensor characteristics has not yet been determined. Here we show that the contamination layer chemically dopes the graphene, enhances carrier scattering, and acts as an absorbent layer that concentrates analyte molecules at the graphene surface, thereby enhancing the sensor response. We demonstrate a cleaning process that verifiably removes the contamination on the device structure and allows the intrinsic chemical responses of the graphene monolayer to be measured. These intrinsic responses are surprisingly small, even upon exposure to strong analytes such as ammonia vapor. Yaping Dan http://repository.upenn.edu/ese_papers/517 http://repository.upenn.edu/ese_papers/517 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:32:13 PST We measured the electronic properties and gas sensing response of nanowires containing segments of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS) that were synthesized using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes. The nanowires have a "striped" structure of gold-PEDOT/PSS-gold and are typically 8 μm long (1 μm-6 μm-1 μm for each section, respectively) and 220 nm in diameter. Dielectrophoretic assembly was used to position single nanowires on pre-fabricated gold electrodes. A polymer conductivity of 11.5 ± 0.7 S/cm and a contact resistance of 27.6 ± 4 kΩ were inferred from resistance measurements of nanowires of varying length and diameter. When used as gas sensors, the wires showed a resistance change of 10.5%, 9%, and 4% at the saturation vapor pressure of acetone, methanol and ethanol, respectively. Sensor response and recovery were rapid (seconds) with excellent reproducibility in time and across devices. "Striped" template-grown nanowires are thus intriguing candidates for use in electronic nose vapor sensing systems. Yaping Dan http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/33 http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/33 Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:16:04 PST Language shift is the process by which a speech community in a contact situation (i.e. consisting of bilingual speakers) gradually stops using one of its two languages in favor of the other. The causal factors of language shift are generally considered to be social, and researchers have focused on speakers' attitudes (both explicit and unstated) toward a language and domains of language use in the community, as well as other macro social factors. Additional research has focused on the effects of language shift, generally on the (changing) structure of the language itself. The goal of this thesis is to examine the relationship between social and linguistic factors in considering the causes and effects of language shift, focusing on age-based variation in the speech community. This dissertation examines the linguistic and social correlates of early language shift in a Garifuna community in Belize. An apparent time analysis shows an externally-motivated change in the status of the sociolinguistic variable (ch) that is evidence for a shift in the dominant language in the community. A second change in progress, variable deletion of intervocalic r, is described for the first time as an internally-motivated change, albeit progressing alongside contact-induced changes. Evidence is also presented to propose that the behavior of the transitional generation (speakers aged 30-49) shows interesting characteristics with regard to these two variables as a result of shifting language ideologies in the village. These ideological shifts are examined along with changing attitudes in the community toward English, Belizean Creole, and Garifuna. Maya Ravindranath http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/143 http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/143 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:28:44 PDT Monroe Price, of the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania, and Peter Krug of the University of Oklahoma College of Law discuss the interaction of formal law, administrative process and the broader enabling conditions for the effective functioning of healthy media systems. Bad law is not the greatest threat to media freedoms, rather administrative acts which apply the law arbitrarily or beyond its proper legal boundaries. Moreover, audiences need 'a special kind of literacy..that encompasses a desire to acquire, interpret and apply information as part of civil society'. This is essential for the broader enabling media environment. However, more research is required to decode how the many elements of the enabling environment for independent media can be linked to phases of national political transitions. Monroe E. Price http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/142 http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/142 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:19:41 PDT Monroe E. Price http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/141 http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/141 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:13:20 PDT Monroe E. Price