David Kopel, adjunct professor of law, co-authored an article for the Yale Law Journal Online, “Bad News for Professor Koppelman: The Incidental Unconstitutionality of the Individual Mandate.” The article argues that the Affordable Care Act’s mandate to purchase congressionally designed health insurance cannot be justified under the original meaning of the Constitution’s “necessary and proper” clause. He testified on Nov. 15 before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism regarding S. 463, a bill sponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to greatly expand federal prohibitions on gun possession by individuals.
Shelly Smith-Acuna, associate dean in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology, authored a book, Systems Theory in Action: Applications to Individuals, Couples, and Family Therapy (Wiley, 2010).
Ellen Honeck, assistant director of the Ricks Center for Gifted Children, co-presented a session on the importance of play at the National Association of Gifted Children convention Nov. 3–6 in New Orleans. She also was part of a shared presentation with educators from three gifted schools, each focusing on the unique ways in which their school addresses the social and emotional needs of students. She and Ricks teacher Kelley Simpson presented the Ricks Center early childhood play-based assessment, a nationally-recognized method for the identification of gifted potential. At the same conference, Ricks Associate Director Shannon Jones presented research related to the importance of a school environment. Ricks Center teacher Becky Gallagher also presented at the conference.
Nancy Leong, assistant professor of law, authored an article, “Rethinking the Order of Battle in Constitutional Torts: A Reply to John Jeffries,” in the November 2011 Northwestern University Law Review.
KK DuVivier, professor of law, authored The Renewable Energy Reader (Carolina Academic Press, 2011), a sourcebook for U.S. renewable energy law.
Law Professor Eli Wald co-authored “The Obligation of Lawyers to Heal Civic Culture: Confronting the Ordeal of Incivility in the Practice of Law” in the November 2011 Arkansas Law Review. In October he presented “Legal Ethics in the Movies” at Holland & Hart LLP in Denver and “The Growth of a Modern Law Firm: A Case Study” at Fordham Law School in New York City.
Law Visiting Professor Stephen Daniels co-authored an article, “A Brief Moment of Opportunity: The Effects of the Economic Downturn on the Delivery of Legal Services to the Poor,” in the October 2011 University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review. He was one of 18 academics who filed a scholars’ amicus brief in the Supreme Court of Missouri in Deborah Watts v. Lester Cox Medical Centers et al. (Supreme Court No. 91867). The case is a challenge under the Missouri Constitution to the constitutionality of a Missouri statute capping non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases.
Laura Meyer, a clinical assistant professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology, co-authored “Predictor variables for six forms of suicidality in patients with acute and chronic pain” in the European Journal of Pain (in press). She also co-authored “Predictors of homicide-suicide affirmation in acute and chronic pain patients” in Pain Medicine (12, 127–137) and “Exploration of anger constructs in acute and chronic pain patients vs. community patients” in Pain Practice (11 (3), 240-251).
Education Associate Professor Kent Seidel (PI) and Assistant Professor Nicole Russell (co-PI) received an ESEA Title II Improving Teacher Quality grant. The $307,299 grant will be a collaborative effort between several faculty members in the division of Natural Sciences & Mathematics and the Morgridge College of Education.
Law Adjunct Professor Bill Berger contributed a chapter, “Employment Discrimination Litigation, Past, Present and Future,” to Inside the Minds: Strategies for Employment Discrimination Cases (Aspatore Books, 2011). He co-authored Investigations in the Workplace, Second Edition, slated for release on Jan. 1, 2012, (Auerbach Publications). The book guides readers through the execution of successful workplace investigations, whether conducted by professional licensed investigators or by employees assigned the task by employers.
Sean Shaheen, associate professor of physics and astronomy, received a $1.5 million, 3-year grant from the National Science Foundation for “Photonic Enhancement of Organic Photovoltaics to Enable Higher Efficiencies and Novel Mechanisms,” a collaborative project with co-PIs at CU Boulder and NREL. He co-authored three papers in 2011: “Photovoltaic manufacturing: Present status, future prospects, and research needs” in the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology (29, 030801); “Simultaneous measurement of carrier density and mobility of organic semiconductors using capacitance techniques” in Organic Electronics (12, 1879-1885); and “Dark Carriers, Trapping, and Activation Control of Carrier Recombination in Neat P3HT and P3HT:PCBM Blends” in the Journal of Physical Chemistry (115). He’s been invited to give a talk at the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, in April 2012.
Law Associate Professor Phoenix Cai presented “Hot Issues in International Mergers and Acquisitions” at the Associate of Corporate Council annual meeting in Denver on Oct. 25.
Laura Rovner, associate professor of law, in September was named co-chair of the Prison Litigation Reform Act subcommittee of the ABA Criminal Justice Section. She participated on a panel, “Conditions of Confinement,” at a conference on the Civil Rights Crisis in the Federal System Post-9/11, held Oct. 13 at Brooklyn College, N.Y.
Law Professor Roberto Corrada spoke about the affirmative action implications of the Ricci (New Haven firefighters) case at the Symposium on the Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, held in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Nov. 5. He co-authored the 2011 update for Labor Law in the Contemporary Workplace, published in August 2011. He also co-authored the 2011 update for Employment Discrimination Law: Cases and Materials on Equality in the Workplace, published in July 2011. On June 24 he presented “Fomenting Critical Thinking Skills in Law School through the Use of Simulation” at the Workshop on Critical Thinking Inside Law Schools held in Onati, Spain.
Deborah Zalesne, a visiting professor of law, presented “Racial Inequality in Contracting” at Columbia Law School on Nov. 4. An article of the same title has been accepted for publication in the April 2012 Columbia Journal of Race and Law. She co-presented “Contracting Rights of Non-Traditional Families” at the NEPOC Conference at Hofstra Law School Nov. 3–5.
Tom Leversee, an adjunct professor of social work, authored a chapter, “Understanding and Applying Typologies in the Context of a Holistic Model for the Treatment of Sexually Offending Juveniles,” in Contemporary Practice with Young People Who Sexually Abuse: Evidence-based Developments (NEARI Press, 2011).
Education Assistant Professor Nicole Russell authored a paper, “A Historiography of the Mathematics Education of Blacks Schooled in the United States,” accepted for publication by the 2012 American Education Research Association Annual Meeting. The paper was selected from among more than 11,000 submissions.
Scott Barbee, assistant professor of biology, was featured in an article, “Learning and memory from molecules,” in the September 2011 edition of the journal International Innovation.
University College Adjunct Professor Mark Merkow co-authored a new book, Secure and Resilient Software: Requirements, Test Cases, and Testing Methods (Auerbach Press, 2011).
David Montaño, associate professor in the Lamont School of Music, presented a paper — “Ethical Dimensions of Twenty-first-Century Challenges to the Philosophy of Music Education at the Tertiary Level” — and participated in three panel presentations at the 54th national conference of the College Music Society held October 19–22 in Richmond, Va. The panel presentations were “Music in Time of Economic Challenge: Learning to Engage a New World,” “Cultural Responses to Economic Challenges,” and “No Pianist Left Behind: Providing an Authentic Concerto Experience for Every Student.”
Lawrence Berliner, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was named a fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS) at the national meeting in Denver in August 2011. The award is given to fewer than 0.01 percent of the total ACS membership and only to highly recognized chemists and practitioners. Berliner is the only DU faculty member ever to receive this honor.
Education Adjunct Professor Christy Moroye and Ben Ingman, a doctoral student in the Morgridge College of Education, had a book review of Fields of Green: Restorying Culture, Environment and Education accepted to The Curriculum Journal, an international peer-reviewed journal out of the U.K. The review is in press and is scheduled for publication in December 2011.
Bethany Sewell, access services librarian in Penrose Library, authored an article, “Local-Distance Education Students: An academic library’s delivery services to students across the state of Colorado,” in Colorado Libraries Journal v. 3. no. 4 (2011). She co-authored “Open Stacks for Library Videos: A Case Study” in Reference & User Services Quarterly v. 51 no. 1 (2011).
Law Professor Ved Nanda authored a chapter, Conflict of Laws, in the Annual Survey of Colorado Law 2011 (Colorado Bar Association, 2011).
Bernard Chao, assistant professor of law, authored “The Case for Contribution in Patent Law” forthcoming in the University of Cincinnati Law Review Volume 80, Issue 1 (2011).