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The aim of this study is to examine and explore factors that impact the successful growth of student diversity at colleges and universities in the United States of America. Special emphasis is placed on America's five decade struggle since the 1970s to increase college access and success for underserved youth. The paper reviews select federal policies and collaborative efforts by higher education institutions to diversify the population of college students, toward realizing the potential of untapped talent. In addition, the authors review and examine statistics and trends in graduation rates for undergraduate students from First-Generation (FG), Underrepresented Minority (URM) and/or Low-Income (LI) backgrounds, and highlight programs at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) that have demonstrated improvements in graduating URM undergraduate students. Likewise, the study describes initiatives that have attempted to address the graduation gap in higher education. Readers will have an opportunity to learn about the premier national program promoting diversity and academic achievement. The study closes with a discussion and evidence for continued national interest and attention to building successful academic enrichment, support, and achievement programs for students from diverse backgrounds.

This Article describes the day-to-day work of lawyers who advise startup companies. Drawing upon interviews with practicing attorneys in New York City and the Research Triangle of North Carolina, it distinguishes the practice of startup lawyers from the practice of other types of corporate lawyers. In so doing, the Article aspires to update and expand upon a sociological study published in 1996 that described the distinctive character of the work performed by startup lawyers in Silicon Valley. This earlier study provides an account of what we call 'Startup Lawyering 1.0.' In this Article, we describe the work of startup lawyers outside of Silicon Valley circa 2016. In so doing, we provide an account of what we call 'Startup Lawyering 2.0.' We first describe how startup lawyers serve as transaction cost engineers by preparing prepackaged documents, by utilizing standard forms, and by providing nonlegal advice to their clients. We then show that startup lawyers serve as reputational intermediaries by screening clients and by vouching for them with investors. We also show that startup lawyers serve as regulatory compliance experts, transmitters of norms, and designers of innovative billing schemes. We further argue that West Coast norms of startup lawyering have migrated to other startup ecosystems in the United States. The key distinction for lawyering practice in the startup space today, we argue, relies less on geography and more on whether a lawyer is what we call a 'startup law aficionado.' Startup law aficionados can be found in any geographical region, though they tend to be clustered in technology hubs. Silicon Valley is still such a center of gravity in the startup world that startup law aficionados outside the Bay Area will inevitably come into contact with Silicon Valley startup lawyers and venture investors. As this occurs, the lawyering practices of startup law aficionados outside of Silicon Valley increasingly reflect those of their counterparts in Silicon Valley--and repeated exposure only increases the effect., INTRODUCTION 1404 I. THE GEOGRAPHY OF VENTURE CAPITAL IN THE UNITED STATES 1407 II. COMMON THREADS IN STARTUP LAWYERING 1409 A. Startup Lawyers as Transaction Cost Engineers 1411 1. Prepackaged [...]

In the past, legal scholars have analogized the contract to a product, a social artifact, and a form of technology. In this Article, we suggest that contracts may also be usefully analogized to swag. The term "swag" refers to branded merchandise that is given away for free to people who attend or participate in an event. Companies and law firms increasingly give away contracts--and specific contract provisions--to contract users with the goal of enhancing their reputations. In so doing, they deploy their contracts in a manner that resembles a water bottle or tote bag emblazoned with the name of a law firm. There are a number of benefits that flow from conceptualizing contracts as a form of swag. First, the analogy helps to explain why lawyers would invest time and energy in developing contract innovations that are ineligible for formal intellectual property protections. Second, the analogy provides important insights into how and why some contractual innovations become widely known in the years after their creation while others languish in obscurity. Third, and finally, the analogy highlights the futility in attempting to develop an all-encompassing theory of contractual innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the innovations which took place in venture finance contracts in the U.S. Topics discussed include the role of technological advancement in reducing the cost of new technology companies, the role of cloud computing in regulating the issues of convertible note and convertible preferred stock, and the impact of the partnership with the end users of contracts on the process of contractual innovation.

Self-collection of dried blood samples (DBS) in the participant's home provides an alternative to university/hospital visits for research and has the potential to improve the representation of population heterogeneity in research. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of guardian and/or self-DBS collection in healthy youth in the lab and home. Guardians/youth [ N  = 140; females = 63; M age  = 8.73, SD age  = 3.56] who enrolled in a longitudinal study of typical development were asked during a lab visit to provide a DBS. Upon providing a sample, the participants were asked if they would be willing to self-collect in the home and return the sample via the post office. Of those asked to provide a sample in the lab, 82% consented and 18% declined, with a significant difference in age but no significant difference in sex, ethnicity, race, or family income. Of those who provided a sample in the lab, 75% were willing to self-collect DBS in the home, with no significant difference in demographic variables between them. We report a quality assessment and DNA extraction results from a subset of samples. The results demonstrate a high feasibility of DBS collection from healthy youth for research purposes both in the laboratory and in the home across different demographic variables. Developmental researchers should consider including this approach in their studies to increase population heterogeneity representation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Green, Barry, Burton, Beauchemin, Huentelman, Deoni and Lewis.)