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Poetry And The State: The Politics Of Nabat Tradition In Kuwait, Abdullah Alajmi

Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the relationship between the practice of an old tribal Bedouin oral tradition (Nabat poetry) and the politics of the nation-state in Kuwait. The historical context of this tradition, its development within modern state boundaries, and its current role in the politico-cultural exchange are all examined. Anthropological, ethnohistorical, and Arabic local printed resources are used. In addition, Bedouin oral traditions and personal observation are employed for final analysis. Unlike the pre-state Nabat, the current practice is institutionalized to become an essential aspect of state modern processes. A connection is suggested between the emphasis (in the current practice of …

Leaving The Nest: Why Fiscally-Sponsored Projects Seek Independence, Wendy Strickland

Master's Theses

Leaving the Nest: Why Fiscally-sponsored Projects Seek Independence takes a descriptive approach to the question of why fiscally-sponsored nonprofit organizations seek independence from their sponsors. Sampling projects from California's largest umbrella fiscal sponsors, this study found six factors to be the most common and most important reasons given by the leadership of the sponsored organizations for deciding to leave the sponsor. These six factors were: an economic equation that favored independent provision of essential services; the presence of a previously established plan to separate; a desire to brand the project's name separate from the fiscal sponsor's; a wish to avoid …

Aspects Of A Basic Training Course Comparatively Rated In Retrospective Evaluation By Girl Scout Leaders, Diana Jane Curtin

Master's Theses

One hundred and ninety-one volunteer Girl Scout leaders at a midsize northern California council participated in this study to determine the most and least valuable aspects of their new leader training, which was based on Kolb's experiential learning model (1984). The following were the top five aspects that leaders identified as most valuable: (a) trainer's knowledge; (b) using Safety-wise; (c) where to buy Girl Scout supplies; (d) Girl Scout Promise and Law; and (e) information on council events. The top five aspects which respondents identified as least valuable were: (a) troop government; (b) age-appropriate behavior; (c) performing ceremonies; (d) getting …

Factors Leading To Giving By Known Catholic Donors, Katherine A. King

Master's Theses

The much-publicized low-level giving of Catholic donors versus other denominations has been the source of much debate and a rich topic for many research studies and reports, especially within the last 10 years. The major focus of this current study was to show that Catholics are indeed generous and to seek factors that lead to their giving. The positive aspects of Catholic generosity were sought, rather than focusing on negative factors serving as barriers to giving.

A self-administered questionnaire was sent to 208 known Catholic donors of the Diocese of Oakland in California during its Annual Bishop's Appeal. Donors who …

Perceptions Of Personal Power And Organizationally-Mediated Empowerment Among Participants In Senior Central District Advisory Councils, Shireen Mcspadden

Master's Theses

The survey, conducted at District Advisory Council meetings in each of 10 neighborhood districts designated as "Senior Centrals" by the San Francisco Commission on the Aging, measured senior consumers' perceptions of their organizationally-mediated and personal empowerment as participants in the Senior Central process. The survey also examined differences in organizationally-mediated empowerment and perceptions of power according to gender, age group, and whether or not English was a respondent's primary language.

The main findings indicated a statistically significant correlation between organizationally-mediated empowerment and perception of power in the Senior Central process. However, no statistically significant differences were noted according to gender, …

The Struggle Of The Lippian State Church During The Third Reich, 1933-1936, Stefanie Glasel Gordinier

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the struggle (Kirchenkampf) of the Protestant state church of Lippe during the Third Reich, concentrating on the years 1933 to 1936. During this period, the Lippian church struggled to maintain its autonomy in the face of a concerted effort on the part of Nazi authorities to create a united - and Nazi-controlled - German Evangelical Church. This work addresses a number of important questions, such as how the Lippian church tried to confront the threat to its existence, how its pastors reacted to the Nazi regime as well as how they were influenced by various …

Going To Nowhere : Narratives Of Patagonian Exploration, Mark W. Bell

Master's Theses

Since its discovery on Magellan's circumnavigation, Patagonia has been treated differently than any other region in the world. Effectively, Patagonia has been left empty or vacated by the North. But this emptiness and blankness have compulsively attracted curious travel writers who have filled the emptiness of Patagonia with self-reflexive projections. From Charles Darwin and W.H. Hudson to Bruce Chatwin and Paul Theroux, Northern commentators have found in Patagonia a landscape that accommodates their desire for self-reflexivity and self-consciousness. Thus, Patagonia has been simultaneously filled and evacuated by the Northern mind. As a result, Patagonia has become increasingly about the self …

Graduate Programs In Nonprofit Administration: A Review Of The Roots Of Program Variability, Rebecca Murphy Marton

Master's Theses

Nonprofit management (NPM) education is a relatively new and dynamic academic field with the first programs established in the early 1980s. These programs have developed and multiplied with very little research in the field providing guidance in designing curricula or focusing on what skills are needed to manage a nonprofit organization.

Because degrees in nonprofit management (NPM) are granted by a variety of different schools, this paper attempted to assess the variability in curricular design that might occur as a result of this variability. The hypothesis tested was that the school of origin for a NPM program determines the content …

Group Polarization And Social Norms On Normative Body Weight Misperception And Eating Disordered Symptomology, Kelly Sears Cox

Master's Theses

Group polarization, social norms, and misperceptions of normative body weight were evaluated in sorority and non-sorority (comparison) undergraduate women at the University of Richmond. The participants completed the Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the Weight Locus of Control Scale, the Rosenburg Self-esteem Scale, the Multidimensional Body- Self Relations Questionnaire, and several self-report questions. Sorority and comparison participants significantly misperceived normative body weight. One sorority differed significantly from the other groups on misperception of normative body weight and the Eating Disorder Inventory-2. The comparison group had significantly lower scores than the three sororities on the Self-Esteem Scale. The four instruments did not significantly …

Factors Influencing Internalization Of Organizational Mission Among Frontline Staff Of The Ymca Of San Francisco, Robert Sindelar

Master's Theses

This research measured which workplace experiences are associated with the internalization of organizational mission by employees of the YMCA of San Francisco. Further, it also measured the association between employee internalization of organizational mission in the line staff of the YMCA of San Francisco and both job satisfaction and employee retention.

This study demonstrated that several workplace experiences are positively associated with employee internalization of mission among the line staff of the YMCA of San Francisco. These factors include attending a new-hire orientation, attending YMCA trainings, contact with YMCA members, donating money to the YMCA, volunteering in the YMCA, and …

Existential Freedom And Bad Faith : Exploring The "Infinite Possibilities" In Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man And Jean-Paul Sartre's Being And Nothingness, Robert Aubrey Mawyer

Master's Theses

J. Saunders Redding comments that "Existentialism is no philosophy to accommodate the reality of Negro life" (209). However, Ralph Ellison's concern in Invisible Man to explore his protagonist's freedom and the ways in which he deceives himself about his freedom invites a comparison with the ontological premises of Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness, particularly his concept of "bad faith," in which individuals accept the identities that existing power structures force upon them. Both writers articulate the nature of selfhood in the modern world, and how easily one's true identity is lost when faced with absolute existential freedom. While Ellison …

A Quantitative Histological Evaluation Of Articular Cartilage And Regenerated Tissue From A Stress-Shielded In Vivo Model, Jeremy Matthew Kupsco

Master's Theses

Cartilage does not normally repair lesions. Cartilage induced to regenerate experimentally degenerates quickly, perhaps because stresses of articulation do not allow normal extracellular matrix to develop. I examined normal cartilage from dogs, pigs, rabbits, and humans, and canine patellar tissue regenerated in a stress-shielded environment. SEM of canine cartilage after trypsin digestion revealed meshworks of fibrils oriented with a bias normal to the surface in the deep zone, random in the middle zone, and parallel to the surface in the superficial zone. SEM after freeze-fracture revealed tubules of fibrils within the deep zone. I found no evidence of collagen arcades. …

The Re-Emergenge Of A Tory-Court Party : Peers Of The Bloomsbury Gang And Founders Of Modern British Conservatism, Matthew Thomas Locy Corkern

Master's Theses

From October 1768 to April 1784, the "Bloomsbury Gang," a political faction of intermarried, aristocratic families dedicated to conservative principles and patriotic sentiments, led the re-emergence of a Tory-Court party that developed into the modern Conservative party in Great Britain. These leaders founded a party of "Conservative Whigs" that was not ruled by, but worked in cooperation with, the monarch and his allies for almost three decades. In so doing, political opportunists such as the Duke of Bedford and the Lords Gower, Sandwich, and Weymouth, restored the English two-party system through which they maintained their dominance of eighteenth-century British society …

Storm-Related Suspended Particulate Matter In Little Westham Creek, John R. Jordan

Master's Theses

Properties of a watershed regulate the amount of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in a stream. The present study examined relationships between storm-related SPM and impervious area and tree cover in the suburban watershed of Little Westham Creek, Richmond, Virginia during Summer and early Fall, 1999. SPM concentration, SPM discharge, and turbidity due to clay, silt and sand, and the areas of impervious surface and tree stand cover in the watershed were measured at three sites. SPM concentration, SPM discharge, and turbidity due to clay were greater upstream than downstream. The percentages of watershed area covered by impervious surfaces and tree …

The First Fifty Years Of Professional Baseball In Richmond, Virginia : 1883-1932, Scott P. Mayer

Master's Theses

A detailed history of Richmond, Virginia's relationship with professional baseball has never been chronicled, especially the turbulent, early years of its development. This study explores Richmond's relationship with baseball from 1883-1932. It includes information about the men who played on the field, the team owners, and also comments on the relationship shared by the team and the city.

The most reliable source of information regarding early baseball is the local newspaper. A detailed reading of the Richmond Daily Dispatch, and the successive Richmond Dispatch and Richmond Times-Dispatch, was undertaken for this project. While several newspapers have existed in Richmond's history, …

Financial Statement Ratio Standards For California Nonprofit Organizations, Margaret Ellen French

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to measure the central tendencies of selected financial ratio activity of nonprofit organizations in the state of California. It is a secondary analysis of data collected from the California Nonprofit Database Project using records provided by the IRS and California Registry of Charitable Trusts of IRS Form 990 tax information for year 1997. Only organizations that completed an audit were studied. The data sample for this study included 6031 organizations.

The following financial ratios were described: current assets, quick assets, debt ratio, fund balance reserve, unrestricted fund balance reserve, management and general expense, and …

The Effects Of Cognitive Strategy Instruction On Students' Reading Comprehension, Shira Lubliner

Master's Theses

Digitized thesis

Teachers' Perceived Effectiveness Of Their Evaluation Process At Selected School Districts, Heather Mcdougall

Master's Theses

Digitized thesis

Petrology Of Eocene Carbonates In The Wasatch Formation, Southwestern Wyoming, John Robert Hawk

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Frequent, Active Microbreaks During Computer Operation, Dan Kelso

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Recruiting In Silicon Valley, Faye J. Hickman

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

U.S. Foreign Policy And Coverage Of Georgia In The Washington Post (1990-2000), Lia Chakhunashvili

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Wounded Women: A Study Of Central Virginia's Civil War Pension Widows, Heather R. Racer

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the lives of Civil War widows who applied for pensions under the 1888 law in Virginia, concentrating on Albemarle, Buckingham, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, and Nelson Counties. The focus of the study centers on both their pre- and post-war lives to determine who these women were before and after the loss of their husbands. Using the Confederate Pension Applications, a group of 156 widows emerged from these counties. The Manuscript Census of 1860 presented a picture of pre-war life while the censuses of 1870, 1880, and 1900, along with the pension applications, helped reveal their lives after …

The Role Of Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 In Glioma Invasion, Nicole Danielle Sauers

Master's Theses

Overexpression of matrix metalloproteinase 2, MMP-2, is correlated with highgrade gliomas in vivo. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether MMP-2 overexpression in glioma cell lines leads to increased invasion of glioma cells in vitro. The entire MMP-2 gene was isolated from U87, a glioma cell line known to have high expression of wild-type MMP-2. This :tvIMP-2 gene was inserted in a sense and antisense orientation into pCR3 .1 vectors with a CMV promoter to ensure high levels of expression. Glioma cell lines were transfected with the sense and antisense constructs, as well as the pCR3.l vector alone …

Determination Of Selenium Leaching Using Batch Tests And Column Experiments, Evangelos Kakouros

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Rehabilitation Techniques For Shoulder Injuries From Repetitive Overhead Motions, Nicole K. Makris

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Mouse Wrist Supports During Computer Mouse Function, Lisa Voge-Levin

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Synthesis And Characterization Of Liquid Crystal Capillaries For Use In Cec, Anjali Katrekar

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Applicant Race And Job Type On Selection Decisions, Jocelyn P. Degance

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Being Moral : An Ontological Explanation Of Care Ethics, Sandra Garrison

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.