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Georgia State University

Theses/Dissertations

2008

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Consumer Adoption Of Bandwidth Intensive Applications And Its Impacts On Broadband Adoption, Peter Helekiah Oburu Dec 2008

Consumer Adoption Of Bandwidth Intensive Applications And Its Impacts On Broadband Adoption, Peter Helekiah Oburu

Economics Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the capacity required by an internet application in tandem with the network connection type (dial-up or broadband). An internet user’s experience in accessing various types of applications with either high bandwidth or low bandwidth is examined in a consumer choice model of broadband adoption. A consumer implicitly values the time-saving benefits derived from a higher speed internet connection used to access a particular internet application, and compares those utility benefits to the higher price of high speed connection services in making the decision to shift to broadband or remain with a dial-up connection. We find that using …

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Estimating The Firm’S Demand For Human Resource Management Practices, Benjamin Israel Miller Dec 2008

Estimating The Firm’S Demand For Human Resource Management Practices, Benjamin Israel Miller

Economics Dissertations

This dissertation investigates two related aspects of firms’ choice of HRM practices. The first is why some firms expend a great deal of resources on HRM practices for each employee while others spend very little; the second is the extent to which firms’ bundles of HRM practices sort into general discrete employment systems. In order to empirically address these issues, this dissertation uses an economics-based theoretical approach. The key theoretical link to economics is to treat HRM as a separate factor input in the production process, which allows me to derive an HRM input demand function. This function expresses the …

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Mental Health Impact Of Disasters, Saman Faisal Dec 2008

Mental Health Impact Of Disasters, Saman Faisal

Public Health Theses

It is very important to study the mental health impact of disasters to provide adequate mental health services when there is an increased demand of mental health services and a concurrent deterioration of mental healthcare capacity after disasters. This study examined the mental health impact of 9/11 attacks among the individuals living close to the disaster area and compared them to the individuals living farther from the disaster area. New York (NY) state and Washington DC were selected as the disaster areas and Illinois (IL) was selected to study individuals living farther from the disaster area. The study also assessed …

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Against Pyrrhonian Equipollence, John Everett Button Dec 2008

Against Pyrrhonian Equipollence, John Everett Button

Philosophy Theses

The production of equipollence is the most important part of the Pyrrhonian skeptic’s method for bringing about the suspension of judgment. The skeptic produces equipollence methodically, by opposing arguments, propositions, or appearances, in anyway whatsoever, until he produces an equality of “weightiness” on both sides of the conflicting views. Having no appropriate criterion to break the deadlock of equipollence, the skeptic (or his interlocutor) is left with no reason to accept either view. I have two main aims in this paper. My first aim is to distinguish between two different types of equipollence; that produced in the Pyrrhonist, called Psychological …

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The Interplay Among Prospective Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Affect, Metacognition, And Mathematical Cognition In A Problem-Solving Context, Belinda Pickett Edwards Dec 2008

The Interplay Among Prospective Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Affect, Metacognition, And Mathematical Cognition In A Problem-Solving Context, Belinda Pickett Edwards

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore the interplay of prospective secondary mathematics teachers’ affect, metacognition, and mathematical cognition in a problem-solving context. From a social constructivist epistemological paradigm and using a constructivist grounded theory approach, the main research question guiding the study was: What is the characterization of the interplay among prospective teachers’ mathematical beliefs, mathematical behavior, and mathematical knowledge in the context of solving mathematics problems? I conducted four interviews with four prospective secondary mathematics teachers enrolled in an undergraduate mathematics course. Participant artifacts, observations, and researcher reflections were regularly recorded and included as part …

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Disaster Management In India: Analysis Of Factors Impacting Capacity Building, Bala Prasad Erramilli Dec 2008

Disaster Management In India: Analysis Of Factors Impacting Capacity Building, Bala Prasad Erramilli

Political Science Dissertations

Governments are responsible for administrative arrangements dealing with disasters. Effective policies play a vital role in mitigating the impact of disasters and reducing likely losses of life and property. Yet, it had been noted that such losses were increasing, raising questions about efficacy of government policies and the factors that made them effective. This study adopted a comparative method, responding to a long-standing demand of disaster research, for examining the record in India. There were noticeable differences among its states, with some having undertaken comprehensive reform in an all-hazards approach, while others continued with old policies. This research studied four …

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Timing And Characterization Of The Change In The Redox State Of Uranium In Precambrian Surface Environments: A Proxy For The Oxidation State Of The Atmosphere, Gerald D. Pollack Dec 2008

Timing And Characterization Of The Change In The Redox State Of Uranium In Precambrian Surface Environments: A Proxy For The Oxidation State Of The Atmosphere, Gerald D. Pollack

Geosciences Dissertations

The redox-sensitive geochemical behavior of uranium permits the use of Th/U ratios as a geochemical proxy for the oxidation state of the atmosphere and oceans during sedimentary processes. Due to the effects of post-depositional uranium mobility on Th/U ratios during events involving oxygenated fluids, direct measurements of Th/U ratios are often misleading, but the whole rock Pb isotope composition may be used to determine a sample¡¦s apparent time-integrated Th/U ratio (ƒÛa) and the timing associated with the onset of the U-Th-Pb geochemistry. Rare earth element (REE) concentrations were determined by isotope dilution mass spectrometry to evaluate the influence of multiple …

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Examining Correlations With Frequency Of Walking Trips In Metropolitan Areas, Michelle J. Marcus Dec 2008

Examining Correlations With Frequency Of Walking Trips In Metropolitan Areas, Michelle J. Marcus

Public Health Theses

This research assessed correlations between funding for pedestrian facilities, presence of walkways, and daily and weekly walking trips in a sample of United States residents living in metropolitan areas. The purpose of the research was to identify factors at the policy and environmental level which are associated with a greater frequency of walking trips, and therefore may influence physical activity levels. Data from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s 2001 National Household Travel Survey and the Thunderhead Alliance’s 2007 Benchmarking Report: Bicycling and Walking in the U.S. were combined to provide variables for the number of daily and weekly walking trips, …

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Examining The Association Between Parental Smoking And Adolescent Age Of Smoking Initiation In Africa, Jessica Lauren Howell Dec 2008

Examining The Association Between Parental Smoking And Adolescent Age Of Smoking Initiation In Africa, Jessica Lauren Howell

Public Health Theses

Tobacco use is responsible for millions of preventable illnesses and deaths throughout the world. Nevertheless, multitudes of people begin smoking every day, most before reaching the age of 18. Previous research suggests that parental smoking status is a significant predictor of adolescent smoking. Furthermore, parental smoking status may also be associated with a younger age of smoking initiation, which increases a person’s risk of nicotine dependence, cancer, and death. This study examines the association between parental smoking and adolescent age of smoking initiation in 14 African countries. Data for this study was obtained from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey from …

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Mechanisms For Methylmercury Cell-To-Bath Transport By The Basolateral Membrane Of The Rabbit Proximal Tubule, Carol Ann Hoban Dec 2008

Mechanisms For Methylmercury Cell-To-Bath Transport By The Basolateral Membrane Of The Rabbit Proximal Tubule, Carol Ann Hoban

Biology Dissertations

The bath-to-cell transport, cytosolic concentration, and tubular content of methylmercury (Me203Hg+) and the sulfhydryl-amino acids and sulfhydryl-amino acid derivatives conjugated to Me203Hg+ were studied in the non-perfused S2 segments of the proximal tubule of the rabbit kidney. Active transport of Me203Hg+ was established by a temperature dependent (greater than 100% reduction in bath-to-cell transport, 99% decrease in cytosolic concentration, 63% decline in the tubular contents at 12°C when compared to 37°C). Conjugates of Me203Hg+ showed mixed results, with L-cysteine and L-taurine demonstrating the most significant increase in uptake. Transport of Me203Hg+-L-cysteine was also temperature dependent with a 77% reduction in …

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The Role Cranberry Proanthocyanidins Play In The Primary Attachment Of Bacteria To Surfaces: Bacillus Cereus Model, Anthony Robert Jones Nov 2008

The Role Cranberry Proanthocyanidins Play In The Primary Attachment Of Bacteria To Surfaces: Bacillus Cereus Model, Anthony Robert Jones

Biology Dissertations

The development of a proanthocyanidin (PAC) treatment, along with the understanding of its mechanism of action, would provide an alternative method of preventing attachment to and colonization of surfaces by microorganisms, as well as potentially disrupting preexisting biofilms. The purpose of this research is to examine the role a cranberry proanthocyanidin plays in the primary attachment of Bacillus cereus to an abiotic surface. This technology could be employed in food processing plants where a premium is placed on maintaining a sanitized work environment to prevent product contamination. A biofilm assay showed that a surface treated with proanthocyanidins actually promoted rather …

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The Effect Of S-Triazines And Nitrobenzene On The Degradation Of Toluene And Napthalene In Solid Phase Systems, Samandra Demons Nov 2008

The Effect Of S-Triazines And Nitrobenzene On The Degradation Of Toluene And Napthalene In Solid Phase Systems, Samandra Demons

Biology Dissertations

Nitrogen is known to be a limiting factor in polluted environments, however many studies overlook the potential role for nitrogen to significantly influence the removal rate and efficiency with which microorganisms can degrade aromatic hydrocarbons. In this study, inoculated and uninoculated aerated soil microcosms containing different s-triazines were examined for their ability to efficiently and rapidly treat contaminated soils containing naphthalene, nitrobenzene, and toluene (NNT), via a microbial consortium consisting of Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus, and Aeromonas. After an experimental period of 14 days, greater than 90% degradation of NNT supplemented with different s-triazines, at concentrations of 1000-3000 ppm was observed. A …

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Study Of Assembly And Function Of The Drrab Complex, Prajakta A. Pradhan Nov 2008

Study Of Assembly And Function Of The Drrab Complex, Prajakta A. Pradhan

Biology Dissertations

The DrrAB proteins of Streptomyces peucetius belong to the ABC family of ubiquitous membrane transporters. The DrrA and DrrB proteins together form a drug efflux pump that carries out the transport of the anticancer drug doxorubicin by carrying out ATP hydrolysis. The present study is the first where the intrinsic factors involved in the assembly of the DrrAB functional complex have been elucidated. The drrA and drrB genes in the wild type operon have overlapping stop and start codons (ATGA) which indicates translational coupling between the two genes. On insertion of a fortuitous stop codon in DrrA it was shown …

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The Effect Of Media Composition On Nitrile Hydratase Activity And Stability, And On Cell Envelope Components Of Rhodococcus Dap 96253, Trudy-Ann Marie Tucker Nov 2008

The Effect Of Media Composition On Nitrile Hydratase Activity And Stability, And On Cell Envelope Components Of Rhodococcus Dap 96253, Trudy-Ann Marie Tucker

Biology Dissertations

Rhodococcus is an important industrial organism that possesses diverse metabolic capabilities, it also has a unique cell envelope, composed of an outer layer of mycolic acids and glycolipids (free or bound lipids generally linked to the sugar trehalose). Rhodococcus is able to transform nitriles to the corresponding amide by the enzyme Nitrile Hydratase (NHase), therefore rhodococcal cells can be utilized as biocatalysts in the detoxification of nitrile waste water or in the production of industrially important amides such as acrylamide. However, the NHase within the native cells must be stable with high activity. This research examined how NHase activity and …

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Characterization Of The Structure, Function And Assembly Of The Drrab Antibiotic Efflux Pump In Streptomyces Peucetius, Divya Kishore Rao Nov 2008

Characterization Of The Structure, Function And Assembly Of The Drrab Antibiotic Efflux Pump In Streptomyces Peucetius, Divya Kishore Rao

Biology Dissertations

ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters constitute one of the largest families of transport proteins. The occurrence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in human cancer cells has been correlated with the over expression of human ABC, P-glycoprotein (Pgp). Streptomyces peucetius produces two anticancer agents, doxorubicin and daunorubicin, that belong to the anthracycline family of antibiotics. The organism is self-resistant to the potent effects of the antibiotics it produces due to the action of an efflux pump, DrrAB. Both Pgp and DrrAB carry out similar functions, but in two different cell types. An understanding of the bacterial drug transporter DrrAB is thus expected …

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Comparative Study Of Hpv 16 And Hpv 18 Antibody Detection In Serum, Cervical Mucus, And Oral Mucosal Transudate, Emily Lauren Blalock Nov 2008

Comparative Study Of Hpv 16 And Hpv 18 Antibody Detection In Serum, Cervical Mucus, And Oral Mucosal Transudate, Emily Lauren Blalock

Biology Theses

Measuring HPV exposure relies on detection of HPV type-specific antibodies, but methods are not standardized. Additionally, there is little information on the best sample type for HPV antibody detection. This study validated pseudovirion neutralization (PVN) assay for HPV antibody detection and compared it to IgG ELISA. Both assays were applied to paired serum and cervical mucus samples. Additionally, PVN assay was utilized to evaluate the feasibility of oral mucosal transudate (OMT) samples to monitor the HPV immune response. Serum was more likely to be positive on PVN assay than on IgG ELISA (p= 0.025). Both assays correlated with HPV-16 DNA …

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E-Health And The Internet: Factors That Influence Doctors' Mediation Behaviors With Patients, Erin Robinson Nov 2008

E-Health And The Internet: Factors That Influence Doctors' Mediation Behaviors With Patients, Erin Robinson

Communication Theses

The Internet’s popularity as a health resource (also referred to as e-health) for patients is impacting the doctor-patient relationship and health care overall. Many patients now tend to look on the Internet for the information they seek in order to avoid the hassle of going to the doctor. It is important to investigate how the doctors themselves feel about this impact and see what factors influence their behaviors toward patients with regards to e-health. This study used mediation behavior theory and the theory of reasoned action to assess the relationship between doctors’ beliefs/attitudes and their subjective norms about e-health and …

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Performing Passing: Theatricality In Zo‰ Wicomb's Playing In The Light And Nella Larsen's Passing, Jennifer L. Apgar Nov 2008

Performing Passing: Theatricality In Zo‰ Wicomb's Playing In The Light And Nella Larsen's Passing, Jennifer L. Apgar

English Theses

Acts of “passing” inform the plots of Zoë Wicomb’s Playing in the Light and Nella Larsen’s Passing. Examples of contemporary South African fiction and Harlem Renaissance fiction respectively, these texts explore racial passing and its correlative, social passing. Social passing includes enactment of social relationships, responds to class anxieties, and requires repression of emotions as participating characters attempt to fix their performed roles into permanent identities. At issue are the texts’ multiple enactments of passing with special interest paid to these acts’ constitutive theatricality. Characters perform within narrative settings, locations subsequently deconstructed exposing both implicit and explicit theatrical functions. Threshold …

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A Rhetorical Analysis Of An American University's Diversity Policy, Adam C. Faust Nov 2008

A Rhetorical Analysis Of An American University's Diversity Policy, Adam C. Faust

English Theses

This thesis focuses on the guidelines that university governing bodies have adopted in order to regulate the actions of its student population and the factors that influenced their decisions. The evaluation of these guidelines is not a judicial analysis, but an analysis of the rhetorical aspects associated with the guidelines. The thesis contends that the current rhetoric of diversity on American college campuses, while drafted with the best of intentions, fails due to the limitations that it places on its students, the morality argument in which it draws strength, and the increase in differences, not acceptance, that it creates. The …

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Underneath The Rainbow: Queer Identity And Community Building In Panama City And The Florida Panhandle 1950 - 1990, Jerry T. Watkins Iii Nov 2008

Underneath The Rainbow: Queer Identity And Community Building In Panama City And The Florida Panhandle 1950 - 1990, Jerry T. Watkins Iii

History Theses

The decades after World War II were a time of growth and change for queer people across the country. Many chose to move to major metropolitan centers in order to pursue a life of openness and be part of queer communities. However, those people only account for part of the story of queer history. Other queer people chose to stay in small towns and create their own queer spaces for socializing and community building. The Gulf Coast of Florida is a place where queer people chose to create queer community where they lived through such actions as private house parties …

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Transformation Groups And Duality In The Analysis Of Musical Structure, Janine Du Plessis Nov 2008

Transformation Groups And Duality In The Analysis Of Musical Structure, Janine Du Plessis

Mathematics Theses

One goal of music theory is to describe the resources of a pitch system. Traditionally, the study of pitch intervals was done using frequency ratios of the powers of small integers. Modern mathematical music theory offers an independent way of understanding the pitch system by considering intervals as transformations. This thesis takes advantage of the historical emergence of algebraic structures in musicology and, in the spirit of transformational theory, treats operations that form mathematical groups. Aspects of Neo-Riemannian theory are explored and developed, in particular the T/I and PLR groups as dual. Pitch class spaces, such as 12, can also …

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The Shrine Of Our Lady Of Ephesus: A Study Of The Personas Of Mary As Lived Religion, Heather Abraham Nov 2008

The Shrine Of Our Lady Of Ephesus: A Study Of The Personas Of Mary As Lived Religion, Heather Abraham

Religious Studies Theses

In Pure Lust, Mary Daly claims that the Virgin Mary is an “image of total subservience, the dethroned and sapped Goddess who was converted into a vessel.” Daly perceives Mary primarily through Christian scripture and other orthodox texts, ignoring her role as part of a religion lived and experienced outside of Church doctrine and dogma. This thesis explores how Mary is perceived and utilized by the laity, as opposed to the theological Mary, by specifically looking at how the Virgin Mary is imagined and experienced at the Our Lady of Ephesus Shrine in Western Turkey. Utilizing Robert Orsi’s lived religion …

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Dialectical Relationships In Pre 9/11 And Post 9/11 White Supremacist Discourse, Abigail Smith Williams Nov 2008

Dialectical Relationships In Pre 9/11 And Post 9/11 White Supremacist Discourse, Abigail Smith Williams

Communication Theses

My thesis argues that a shift has taken place in white supremacist rhetoric post September 11, 2001. I focus on the pre-9/11 rhetoric of Jared Taylor, the post 9/11 rhetoric of Patrick Buchanan, and identify the attacks of September 11th as a catalytic event in the history of white supremacist rhetoric. Through careful rhetorical analysis, I identify the 9/11 shift as a shift in placement vis-à-vis the political mainstream.

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Normative Violence? The Impact Of Gender-Neutral Language On Self-Reported Rates Of Sexual Violence Victimization And Perpetration, Elizabeth Ruth Anthony Nov 2008

Normative Violence? The Impact Of Gender-Neutral Language On Self-Reported Rates Of Sexual Violence Victimization And Perpetration, Elizabeth Ruth Anthony

Psychology Theses

The effect of gender-neutral language in a survey designed to measure unwanted sexual experiences was examined. Methodological issues pertaining to survey design and significant variability in prevalence estimates of sexual violence demonstrate that further refinement of self-report instruments is necessary. As a variety of macrolevel forces influence individual behavior, the current study contends that coercive tactics used to obtain sex in mixed-gender interactions are normalized by the traditional heterosex script and conveyed through gender-specific language. Reference to respondents’ sexual partners in gender-neutral, as opposed to gender-specific terms, was hypothesized to result in more disclosure of sexually coercive victimization and perpetration …

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Georgia Newspaper Coverage Discovering Conventional Practices Of The 'Cherokee Question': Prelude To The Removal, 1828-1832, James Hollister Hobgood, Jr. Nov 2008

Georgia Newspaper Coverage Discovering Conventional Practices Of The 'Cherokee Question': Prelude To The Removal, 1828-1832, James Hollister Hobgood, Jr.

Communication Theses

This thesis analyzes the specific journalistic conventional practices of newspapers in Georgia as they focused on the “Cherokee Question” in 1828-1832, the critical period during which the state considered the removal of the Cherokees from Georgia. The research compares news and opinion texts in five Georgia newspapers with news and opinion texts in the newspaper launched by the Cherokee nation in 1828,the Cherokee Phoenix. While the conventional practices in the white-owned press tended to legitimize removal, the Phoenix adopted some of the same conventions in order to defend and negotiate Cherokee culture and issues.

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Birth And Women In Mythology, Chanju Lee Nov 2008

Birth And Women In Mythology, Chanju Lee

Art and Design Theses

The Birth is a multi-media video installation inspired by my personal experiences of a miscarriage and the births of my two children. The work is influenced by the mythologies found in Korean culture that focus on the mother figure as a ¡°Great Mother¡±. She is an ¡°ideal woman¡±, a ¡°good mother¡± and a ¡°sincere wife¡±. Working abstractly across the media of painting, video, digital animation, and the paintings of my son, The Birth exploits metaphors and symbols, to tell the story of women, especially the stories of mothers. The work speaks to motherly love and my own identity as an …

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Examination Of Initialization Techniques For Nonnegative Matrix Factorization, John Frederic Nov 2008

Examination Of Initialization Techniques For Nonnegative Matrix Factorization, John Frederic

Mathematics Theses

While much research has been done regarding different Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) algorithms, less time has been spent looking at initialization techniques. In this thesis, four different initializations are considered. After a brief discussion of NMF, the four initializations are described and each one is independently examined, followed by a comparison of the techniques. Next, each initialization's performance is investigated with respect to the changes in the size of the data set. Finally, a method by which smaller data sets may be used to determine how to treat larger data sets is examined.

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Factorization Of Quasiseparable Matrices, Paul D. Johnson Nov 2008

Factorization Of Quasiseparable Matrices, Paul D. Johnson

Mathematics Theses

This paper investigates some of the ideas and algorithms developed for exploiting the structure of quasiseparable matrices. The case of purely scalar generators is considered initially. The process by which a quasiseparable matrix is represented as the product of matrices comprised of its generators is explained. This is done clearly in the scalar case, but may be extended to block generators. The complete factoring approach is then considered. This consists of two stages: inner-outer factorization followed by inner-coprime factorization. Finally, the stability of the algorithm is investigated. The algorithm is used to factor various quasiseparable matrices R created first using …

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Between You And Me, Thomas Micah Stansell Nov 2008

Between You And Me, Thomas Micah Stansell

Art and Design Theses

In an increasingly online world interpersonal interactions become a less integral part of our cultural make-up. The exploration of this phenomenon is the thematic concept that activates Between You and Me - a triptych-split-screen short film and video installation. This text is dedicated to exploring how theme, technique, and theory are considered in the context of the film, and how character and form (more than narrative) illuminate the thematic concept.

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For Earth's Sake: Closing The Chasm Between Theory And Practice In Sustainable Interior Design Education, Jesus Mangaoang Jimenez Nov 2008

For Earth's Sake: Closing The Chasm Between Theory And Practice In Sustainable Interior Design Education, Jesus Mangaoang Jimenez

Art and Design Theses

Making sustainable interior design education practical is critical to the survival of the planet. The essential of today's interior designer is to provide built enviornments that sustain the life of a building's occupants and the life in and around the built environment. Therefore, interior design departments are interweaving the principles and theories related to sustainable interior design into their pedagogical programs. However, there exists a void between the teachings of the theories and values related to sustainable design and putting them into practice. With the possibility of climante change looming over us, interior design students must reach a significant level …

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