Volume 4

Dr. Yang Luo-Branch* I.      INTRODUCTION Many Little Rock residents perceive the area around the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (“UALR”) campus as decayed, dangerous, and threatening to the long-term growth of UALR and the surrounding area of Little Rock. While validating the civic perception, this paper examines the actual crime rate in the area … Becoming an In-Town Destination: Urban Planning and Placemaking Approaches for Improving Urban Safety around the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Campus

By Michael S. Yoder, Ph.D* Abstract. Small cities in Arkansas overall exhibit a lower density of commercial and residential land uses than the norm for American Sunbelt metropolitan areas. The results include highly inefficient traffic patterns that prioritize lengthy high-velocity roads over compact grids, linear real estate development along such thoroughfares, and an amplification of … The Sprawling of Small Cities of Arkansas: The Case for Sustainable Urban Planning

By Abigail Niehaus* “’Re-homing is not regulated; there’s no legal framework to address it. It’s mostly an underground affair.’”[1] “Re-homing” is when adoptive parents post an advertisement on the internet (usually on a message board or group site) to give away their adopted child to a stranger. Re-homing is just one of the major problems … The Underground Market of Internationally Adopted Children: Re-homing and Questioning the Practice of International Adoption

by Westley Ashley At a very young age, I knew I was adopted. My parents felt it was important to be honest with me about that fact, but at the same time, it was obvious. My parents are “black” Americans; they have darker skin tones and their hair is kinkier than my own; I am … Reconsidering the Presumption: A Proposal to Provide Arkansas’s Adult Adoptees Open Access to their Original Birth Records

by Destiny Logan-McHughes I.  Introduction This paper explores the racial disparities in the school discipline system, which lead to racial disparities in the juvenile justice system and in turn furthers the racial disparities in the adult prison population.[1] This process is known as the school-to-prison pipeline. Specifically, the paper (i) discusses the racial disparities in … A Comparative Analysis of Racial Disparities in the Arkansas School Discipline System, the Racial Disparities in the Arkansas Juvenile Justice System and the Effects of Such Disparities.

Our latest publication centers on Arkansas’s children and their intersection with Arkansas’s legal system. Specifically, these articles analyze aspects of the state’s juvenile justice system and its approach to providing information to adopted children about their biological history. As you’ll see, Ms. McHughes argues that race plays a role in the state’s juvenile justice system … A Letter from the Editors

By Mara D’Amico and Sara Chapman   One in three women around the world will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. With seven billion people on this planet, that equals more than one billion women who will become victims of violence. Playwright and activist Eve Ensler wrote The Vagina Monologues after interviewing a diverse … “The Vagina Monologues”: Turning Inspiration Into Action

By Kendall Shortway[1] I. Introduction Swaziland, Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, and the United States of America. These four countries seemingly have nothing in common. Swaziland and Lesotho are located in Africa, Papua New Guinea is in a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia and obviously, the United States is located in North … The United States and Swaziland; The Case for Paid Maternity Leave and Protection against Pregnancy Discrimination

by Robert Steinbuch [1] Freedom of press, expression, and thought means that government actors cannot prohibit such action.  But some governmental officials and academics seem not to understand the basic elements of this formula. The common and thoughtful refrain amongst free-speech experts is that the best check on offensive public speech is more speech, to … I AM CHARLIE

by Dylan A. Estes[1] The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and its associated disease, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, have profoundly affected medical, social, and political aspects of society since they first came to national prominence in the 1980s. Few medical syndromes have impacted the American psyche as much as HIV. The HIV virus was generally equated only with … The Evolution of Public Discourse and Treatments of HIV/AIDS, 1982-2011