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The Impact Of Caesar Augustus On Roman Trade, William Edwin Wilson Dec 2010

The Impact Of Caesar Augustus On Roman Trade, William Edwin Wilson

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper studies Gaius Julius Octavian Caesar (Augustus) who combined the military/political expertise of a Roman Patrician with the practical business sense of the upper middle class (Equites) and as a consequence, his administration revived Rome’s economic fortunes and launched a new period of economic prosperity for the Empire. It also explores the specific actions of Augustus and those near to him that led directly to the revival of Rome’s economic fortunes and the remodeling of Rome and its many celebrated monuments and essential buildings. It concludes with a final summation of the man and his contributions to Rome’s success …


Ecos De Barro De La Memoria A La Imagen De La Imagen Al Poema, Rossy Evelin Lima-Padilla Dec 2010

Ecos De Barro De La Memoria A La Imagen De La Imagen Al Poema, Rossy Evelin Lima-Padilla

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

En este trabajo se analizarán los factores que guían hacia la realización de mi escritura creativa. Se explorará el papel de la memoria como vehículo que reproduce las imágenes después de haber sido transformadas por los sentidos para representar las experiencias personales y el registro que se obtiene por medio de la observación. Se considerará también el aspecto de identidad inmigrante que se obtiene de la percepción que se va adquiriendo de sí mismo de acuerdo a la relación que se tiene con el entorno. Este trabajo resulta de suma importancia porque incorpora la idea de que el poeta escribe …


False Positive Rates In The Neuropsychological Assessment Of Neurologically Intact Bilingual Hispanic American Adults, Cassandra Dayanira Gonzalez Dec 2010

False Positive Rates In The Neuropsychological Assessment Of Neurologically Intact Bilingual Hispanic American Adults, Cassandra Dayanira Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Hispanic Americans perform more poorly than White Americans on neuropsychological tests, leading to a higher misclassification rate of brain injury (false positives) among Hispanics when using the 50th percentile of published norms as the estimate of preexisting neuropsychological skill. This study aimed to determine if using an individual comparison standard to estimate preexisting skill levels would reduce the number of false positives in a sample of 20 bilingual Hispanic American adults. Two individual comparison standards were used: (a) WMLS-R Picture Vocabulary scores, and (b) WMLS-R Picture Vocabulary scores and WAIS-III Matrix Reasoning scores combined. Both individual comparison standards were found …


Attitudinal Measures Of College Students' Punitiveness Toward Sex Offenders, Antonio Zamorano Dec 2010

Attitudinal Measures Of College Students' Punitiveness Toward Sex Offenders, Antonio Zamorano

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The following experiment investigates punitiveness toward sex offenders using a sample of one hundred sixty students from the University of Texas-Pan American student population recruited from undergraduate introductory psychology courses and compensated with extra course credit. Punitiveness toward sex offenders was measured with six-point bipolar Likert scales using two attitudinal research methodologies: a randomly assigned between group experiment using a manipulated hypothetical crime scenario, and a survey using a shortened version of the Community Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders Scale (CATSOS). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple comparison tests of attitudinal responses to the hypothetical crime scenario determined that …


Texas Rangers To Border Patrol The Shift In Border Security In The 1920'S: The Legacy Of Undemocratic And Often Violent Origins, Rodolfo Arriaga Aug 2010

Texas Rangers To Border Patrol The Shift In Border Security In The 1920'S: The Legacy Of Undemocratic And Often Violent Origins, Rodolfo Arriaga

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study will explore the history of the United States Border Patrol (USBP) along the U.S./Mexico Border of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Texas, its position as defender of the border between Anglo Saxon Americans and ethnic Mexicans, and the repression of that history by the legitimizing actors within Texas and the United States. The shift of border security from the Texas Rangers to the USBP in 1924 resulted in ethnic Mexicans in Texas viewing the USBP not only in a negative manner but with an ethnic cultural phobia. That the result of former Texas Rangers being employed by the …


Chief Lawyer Of The Nez Perce: Reassessing The Career Of A Cultural Broker, Daniel R. Gibbs Aug 2010

Chief Lawyer Of The Nez Perce: Reassessing The Career Of A Cultural Broker, Daniel R. Gibbs

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Chief Lawyer of the Nez Perce has been misunderstood for over 150 years. The purpose of this thesis is to dispel the myth of the good/bad dichotomy about a two-dimensional Chief Lawyer. A man lacking any deeper motives than to gain favor with the Whites and get what he could for himself before the offer at hand was removed from the negotiating table. By reexamining the literature with new eyes one might apply a different paradigm exposing another dimension to Lawyer’s character, one that has long been overlooked. This study will use the concept of the “working misunderstanding” as its …


Sociocultural Attitudes And Expectations As A Result Of Media Internalization: An Exploration Of Potential Cultural Resiliency Factors Among Mexican-American College Women, Natalie Marie Perez Aug 2010

Sociocultural Attitudes And Expectations As A Result Of Media Internalization: An Exploration Of Potential Cultural Resiliency Factors Among Mexican-American College Women, Natalie Marie Perez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study involved a final sample of 153 Mexican-American college women who viewed photos of models who exemplify the thin ideal and models who are considered average and overweight according to society’s standards of beauty. The order of the photos was manipulated to determine if subjection to the thin ideal would negatively affect body satisfaction and or affect how the participants judged the models who did not meet the thin ideal. Manipulation did not negatively affect how participants judged the average and overweight models. In addition, upon manipulation, both groups rated themselves as heavier despite group assignment. Finally, acculturation level …


The U.S.-Mexico Border Fence: An Exploration Of The Effectiveness Of This Immigration Policy, Froylan Garza Aug 2010

The U.S.-Mexico Border Fence: An Exploration Of The Effectiveness Of This Immigration Policy, Froylan Garza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the effectiveness of the U.S./Mexico border fence for illegal immigration. This topic is important because the recent mandate by Congress in 2006 to construct fencing along the southwest border between the U.S. and Mexico was met with great resistance from the border communities Texas that are directly affected by its construction (Haddal, et al. CRS, 2009). Border communities of the southwest region of the United States are ethnically diverse and rich in history and culture. Many of them hold annual celebrations in which their Latin culture, traditions, and history are honored. The …


Examining The Relationship Between Ethnic Identity And Spanish-Language Media Use Among Bilingual Hispanics, Using The Media Gratifications And Social Identity Theories, Arminda Munoz Aug 2010

Examining The Relationship Between Ethnic Identity And Spanish-Language Media Use Among Bilingual Hispanics, Using The Media Gratifications And Social Identity Theories, Arminda Munoz

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between Ethnic Identity and Spanish-language media use among bilingual Hispanics following the Media Uses and Gratifications Theory. Participants in survey included 83 undergraduate university students enrolled in entry-level communication courses. Relationships between participants’ bilingual skills, ethnic identity, Spanish-language media use and gratifications outcomes were examined. Research questions focused on participants’ use of English and Spanish media use. Hypotheses focused on testing relationships between ethnicity, bilingual skills and media use. Results of the study are discussed. Conclusions, limitations and topics for further research are addressed.


Social Networks And Beliefs Of Mexican-American Parents As Predictors Of Parent Involvement, Maria Filomena Leo Aug 2010

Social Networks And Beliefs Of Mexican-American Parents As Predictors Of Parent Involvement, Maria Filomena Leo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Parents interact with school officials as social actors, with the cultural and social capital they possess. The school as a social institution operates within given processes to deliver educational services. The needs of both the parent and the school system may not always be suited to a harmonious relationship: still, it is possible to build a system to close that gap. In such a system each can reach across to help one another. This happens when schools understand the social forces that motivate parents to become involved with schools for the sake of their children. This study surveyed Mexican-American parents …


‘Diversa De Mí Misma’: Silence As Performative Resistance In Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz, Marcia A. Caltabiano-Ponce Aug 2010

‘Diversa De Mí Misma’: Silence As Performative Resistance In Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz, Marcia A. Caltabiano-Ponce

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s silences, including her final and mysterious withdrawal from letters, were not empty spaces at all but highly loaded performative resistances to patriarchal control. My work is based on Judith Butler's poststructural theory on performance and subject construction, with support from postcolonial and feminist theories. The approach is a break from the historical and popular gendered discourses that surround her final years, one that explores the loaded gaps and borders that provide liminal spaces for the transcendence of her voice and gender over the ages. I address the research, speculation, and theories that have misread …


Meeting The Challenge Of Educational Leadership: A Historical And Biographical Examination Of Minority Women Who Have Made Major Contributions To The Education Of Students In The South Texas Rio Grande Valley, Kathleen Neal Carroll Aug 2010

Meeting The Challenge Of Educational Leadership: A Historical And Biographical Examination Of Minority Women Who Have Made Major Contributions To The Education Of Students In The South Texas Rio Grande Valley, Kathleen Neal Carroll

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper addresses the accomplishments of Melissa Dotson Betts, Emilia Schunior Ramírez, Estella Minerva Cuéllar, and Silvina Solís Hinojosa, in the field of education in the South Texas Rio Grande Valley. The paper reflects the difficulties encountered by women rising to challenges in education from the 1930s until the present day, and examines legislative actions that served as the impetus for allowing all of these women to excel in the area of educational leadership. The salary discrepancies Melissa Dotson Betts suffered in the Edinburg CISD because she was an African American were investigated, along with her mentoring of African American …


Two Essays On The Impact Of Rational And Irrational Investor Sentiments On Equity Market Return And Volatility: Evidence From The U.S. And Brazil, Pablo Javier Calafiore Aug 2010

Two Essays On The Impact Of Rational And Irrational Investor Sentiments On Equity Market Return And Volatility: Evidence From The U.S. And Brazil, Pablo Javier Calafiore

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This dissertation consists of two essays on how investor sentiments affect the returns and volatility of the Brazilian stock market. Both essays share a similar methodological approach. The first one analyzes the effect of investor sentiments on the returns and volatility of the Brazilian stock market using a model that accounts for fundamentals (rational) and noise components (irrational) of investor sentiments on the Sao Paulo leading index Bovespa. This research finds a statistically significant positive (negative) impact of rational (irrational) sentiments on market returns. Moreover, there are statistically significant impacts of irrational components of the sentiment indexes on Bovespa volatility …


The Occurrence Of Child Maltreatment And Revictimization Among Hispanic Women, Eleni Isis Escorza Aug 2010

The Occurrence Of Child Maltreatment And Revictimization Among Hispanic Women, Eleni Isis Escorza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The current study examines the prevalence rates of child multi-type maltreatment and adult revictimization among Hispanic women who have witnessed domestic violence and/or experienced sexual abuse or physical abuse as children. A sample of two hundred-forty-three undergraduate, Hispanic, female students completed measures of events occurring in childhood and adulthood, sexual experiences, substance use, acculturation status, and family characteristics. The results indicate that experiencing multiple forms of child abuse is fairly common, especially for women who report a history of child abuse. The results also suggest that experience of abuse as a child is significantly associated with experiencing physical or sexual …


Viviendo Sin Inglés: Los Efectos Sociales Del Dominio Limitado En Inglés Entre Residentes Mexicanos En El Condado De Hidalgo, Texas, Ericka Benavides May 2010

Viviendo Sin Inglés: Los Efectos Sociales Del Dominio Limitado En Inglés Entre Residentes Mexicanos En El Condado De Hidalgo, Texas, Ericka Benavides

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

El propósito de esta tesis es intentar describir las experiencias que una persona de aptitud limitada en el inglés vive y enfrenta en el condado Hidalgo, Texas. Las entrevistas y escritos brindaran testimonio de los conflictos y limitaciones que una persona de aptitud limitada en el inglés afronta para superarse académicamente, conseguir empleo y tener acceso a servicios médicos en los Estados Unidos. La siguiente información presentará una crítica basada en el análisis sociolingüístico de las condiciones que restringen el avance económico y social necesario para que estas personas logren superarse. Al final, se presentarán propuestas para una mejora estatal …


With His Guitar In His Hand: Representations Of U.S. - Mexico Border Masculinity In Robert Rodriguez's “El Mariachi”, Marlene Galvan May 2010

With His Guitar In His Hand: Representations Of U.S. - Mexico Border Masculinity In Robert Rodriguez's “El Mariachi”, Marlene Galvan

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis closely examines Robert Rodriguez’s film El Mariachi and its portrayal of border masculinity - the masculine identity which exists on the physical space between the U.S. and Mexico, but also the masculinity created by the melding of cultures. The film ignores this complexity and instead dichotomizes maleness along the traditionally Western lines of hard versus soft masculinity. Further, the film glorifies violence, the exploitation of female bodies, shows women as only useful agents of man, punishes transgressive women, and depicts men as only possessing or aspiring to possess individualistic, economic, phallocentric, and patriarchal power which reinforces a variation …


El Huisache Es Pocho, Pero Las Raíces No: Poems, Isaac Chavarria May 2010

El Huisache Es Pocho, Pero Las Raíces No: Poems, Isaac Chavarria

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This project is a collection of pocho poetry. The poems in my collection emphasize my identity as pocho. The term “pocho” is often used as a derogatory term describing a Mexican American who has lost the ability to speak Spanish. I recontextualize the border pocho as an occupant of two nationalities, as well as several social classes. Along with poets who identify themselves as Chicano/a, I am inspired by family and acquaintances who self identify as Chicano/a, Hispanic, Mexican American, or Mexican. I believe the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas is a unique enclave influenced by its people, landscape, …


Predictors Of Pap Smear Utilization Among Female Mexican American College Students, Sylvia M. Morales May 2010

Predictors Of Pap Smear Utilization Among Female Mexican American College Students, Sylvia M. Morales

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Pap smear is a diagnostic screening test that detects abnormal cell growth, which may lead to cervical cancer. Pap smears are performed at a consistently lower frequency among Hispanic than non-Hispanic American White women, potentially contributing to a 70% higher rate of cervical cancer in Hispanic Americans. This study examined possible predictors of Pap smear utilization among 165 Mexican American female college students aged 18 to 30 attending the University of Texas-Pan American situated near Texas’s United States – Mexico border. Significant predictors were: recommendation by a health care professional; sexual activity; mother’s educational level; and external locus of …


Hispanic Students' Voices In Writing, Regine Pellicer May 2010

Hispanic Students' Voices In Writing, Regine Pellicer

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study focuses on the voices expressed by Hispanic students enrolled in first-year composition classes at a Hispanic Serving Institution in South Texas. The present research highlights similarities with a study conducted in Tucson, Arizona among Hispanic households. Both studies emphasize the importance of women as active agents in the transmission of literacy practices and language ideologies, which also reflect the dilemma of families caught between tradition and modernity. Moreover, this study reveals that Hispanics tend to look for new frameworks for their lives in evangelical Christianity. This work also focuses on students' dissonances regarding the use of oral code-switching …


Sibling Stress In Families Of Children With Autism, Valerie N. Moreno May 2010

Sibling Stress In Families Of Children With Autism, Valerie N. Moreno

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Siblings of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have an increased chance of experiencing more stress than siblings of typically developing children. Stress experienced by siblings of children with an ASD may be dependent on the adaptive and maladaptive behavior of the child with autism. A total of 30 mothers were recruited in this study. Results indicated that the difference in stress levels in siblings of children with an ASD and siblings of typically developing children were not statistically significant. It was also found that the stress levels in siblings of children with an ASD were not dependent …