Digital Commons Network^™

Policy Implications Of Managing Biodiversity And Natural Resources Across International Boundaries, Dillon Brown

Dissertations

Fisheries Management under the best of scenarios is a complex action. It requires thoughtful consideration of resources that tend to be out of sight, widely distributed, highly variable both spatially and temporally, and present dramatic variation in life history and ecology. No one management approach has been developed which can effectively incorporate all these variables. Add to this the issue of transnational boundary movements of these resources, and one discovers that this complex issue needs to be addressed by multiple entities, agencies, and nations to have any chance of success.

This research set out to discover ways in which fisheries …

Food Insecurity And Depression Among Us Adults: Nhanes 2005–2016, Nicole Reeder, Terezie Tolar-Peterson, R. Hartford Bailey, Wen-Hsing Cheng, Marion W. Evans Jr.

Faculty Publications

A growing body of evidence suggests that food insecurity is associated with adverse mental health outcomes such as depression and anxiety. In this study, the relationship between food insecurity and depression was examined using data from the 2005–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Food insecurity was assessed with the 18-item United States Food Security Survey Module with zero affirmative responses indicating high food security, 1 or 2 affirmative responses indicating marginal food security, and ≥3 affirmative responses indicating food insecurity. Depression was assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 with scores ≥10 indicating depression. Data were analyzed from 28,448 …

When You Play The Game Of Drones, You Win Or You Die: Examining The Role Of U.S. Drone Strikes In U.S. And English Language Allies Newspapers From 2008-2019, Melissa Aho

Dissertations

In the years following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States ramped up its usage of drones and drone strikes around the world. Spanning three United States’ presidents, drone strikes became a regular feature in the US military arsenal. While American newspaper media and citizens have been very pro-drone, global citizens view drones in a far more negative light. This study examines US military drone strikes and English-speaking allied newspapers in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and evaluates if coverage remains positive or negative depending on the newspaper’s conservative or liberal leanings from 2008–2019. …

Refugee Resettlement And Perceptions Of Insecurity: A Comparative Study Of The United States And Canada, Erik Amundson

Dissertations

In the United States and Canada, refugee resettlement has been the subject of extensive scrutiny and political debate, particularly since the November 2015 terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) against targets in Paris. While public opinion polls have shown increasingly negative attitudes toward refugees, existing survey questionnaires only provide a limited understanding of what shapes these views. As such, this study focuses on two important factors that influence attitude formation toward refugees, pre-existing levels of knowledge and contact with minority groups. Using a comparative case study approach, this research examines how refugee resettlement …

Human Trafficking: Flying Under The Radar, Amber L. Hulsey

Dissertations

The global hegemon, the United States encompasses roughly 57,000 to 63,000 of the roughly 45.8 million slaves present across the world today (Walk Free Foundation 2016a). This dissertation research uses the theoretical lens of Human Security as a unique approach in that it is people-centered, focusing on the individual, rather than the more traditional theories in international relations that emphasize the state as the central actor. This dissertation focuses on the understudied area of human trafficking into and within the United States. More specifically, the objective of this research examines the movement of trafficked persons via air and details actions …

“Patriotism Is Not Enough”: Edith Cavell’S Life And Death In Anglo-American Context, Erin B. Blackledge

Honors Theses

In October 1915, British nurse Edith Cavell was killed by the Germans for aiding in the illegal liberation of Allied soldiers. In the wake of her death, the British government created a propaganda firestorm to garner both domestic and foreign support for the war. In particular, the propaganda featuring Cavell was highly gendered and over the course of multiple generations has generated a diverse, and often polarized series of social and political responses in both Britain and the United States. Through the examination of government documents, newspapers, and popular culture, such as film and children’s novels, this thesis examines the …

Forward Myth: Military Public Relations And The Domestic Base Newspaper 1941-1981, Willie R. Tubbs

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the evolution of domestic military base newspapers from 1941-1981, a timeframe that encapsulates the Second World War, Korean War, and Vietnam War, as well as interwar and postwar years. While called “newspapers,” the United States military designed these publications to be a hybrid of traditional news and public relations. This dissertation focuses on three primary aspects of these newspapers: the evolution of the format, style, and function of these papers; the messages editors and writers crafted for and about the “common” soldier and American; and the messages for and about members of the non-majority group.

Sometimes printed …

A Settlement Geography Of Three Ports On The Northern Gulf Of Mexico: The Role Of Rivers, Railroads, And Hurricanes: 1830-1930, Zachary Evan Kalina

Master's Theses

The settlement geography of the Gulf Coast of the United States possesses and shares unique cultural and historical characteristics. The thesis analyzes three selected towns along the coast: Indianola, Texas; Pascagoula, Mississippi; and Apalachicola, Florida. The thesis focuses on describing each town’s historical background and early efforts at permanent settlement, the expansion of the settlement using various modes of transportation such as shipping and railroads, the economic and agricultural base that was used to improve the settlement’s reputation, the characteristics of the settlement’s concept of folk housing, and the impact and recovery of the settlement from disasters such as fire …

The Role Of Social Media In U.S. County Governments: The Strategic Value Of Operational Aimlessness, Barry A. Cumbie, Bandana Kar

Faculty Publications

This study investigates the influence of citizens' socio-economic characteristics on the presence of social media in county-level government. E-government is ostensibly citizen-driven and therefore variation in an area's demographics would likely impact a government's utilization of emerging technology, such as social media. Despite its transformative potential and widespread adoption, e-government development beyond basic stages has been sluggish. Social media is transforming the nature of interaction among individuals and organizations and has the potential to overcome some of the restrictive challenges of e-government. Understanding if, how, and to what end governments are harnessing social media will help make e-government a citizen-driven, …

Differences In Race And/Or Gender In Attitudes And Beliefs Towards Obesity Among Students At The University Of Southern Mississippi, Erick Brown

Honors Theses

Overweight and obesity have been described by various experts as critical problems in populations around the world, especially in the United States. These issues are so characterized because they affect numerous facets of life in this society. Researchers in the medical community have repeatedly described the health-related risks associated with obesity rates, asserting that higher risks of debilitating or fatal disease are tied to one’s level of obesity. They also say that obesity rates of populations are related to other disease rates, and many imply or clearly state that obesity is the cause and therefore the problem to be contested. …

A Comparison Of Institutional Climates In Higher Education In The United States And South Africa, Juanyce Deanna Taylor

Dissertations

Increasing opportunities and access of historically underrepresented populations to higher education in both the United States and South Africa have proved challenging due to institutional climates that are perceived as unwelcoming and unsupportive. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors relating to institutional climates to uncover social constructs that positively and negatively impact the institutional environment. Transformational leadership serves as the theoretical framework for this study.

Data results from institutional climate studies administered higher education institutions in the United States and South Africa were analyzed and compared. Collegiality and collaboration; communication; diversity and equity; governance and strategy; harassment …

Outsiders Within: A Framing Analysis Of Eight Black And White U.S. Newspapers' Coverage Of The Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1964, Yolanda Denise Campbell

Dissertations

This study offers an important contribution to communication research about how Black and White Newspapers covered one of the most significant periods of racial unrest in the history of the U.S. besides slavery—the Civil Rights Movement. Specifically, this paper examined the unique combination of eight U.S. newspapers—The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Pittsburgh Courier, The Birmingham News, The Birmingham World, The Clarion Ledger, The Jackson Advocate, The Chicago Tribune, and The Chicago Defender from 1954-1964, the beginning and end of the Civil Rights Movement. Through a qualitative framing analysis of the eight newspapers exploring the …

Outsourcing The American Dream: An Analysis Of The Re-Employment Potential Of U.S.-Based Call Center Workers Within The Context Of Globalization, Wendell Allen Robbins Iii

Dissertations

This study examines call center workers in order to determine the effects of globalization on this class of service sector workers and to determine their reemployment potential. A major component of globalization is free trade, which enables offshore outsourcing (offshoring). Outsourcing often has the “Robin Hood” effect of taking jobs from rich countries and sending them abroad in a cost-saving effort, further, the competition of the global market has the capability of upsetting the current social and economic stability and prosperity. While this improves the quality of life for those in the poor country whose economy has developed as a …

China And The United States: A Balance Of Power, William Jeffery Stephens

Dissertations

Throughout world history states have banded together to form coalitions, alliances, and economic agreements with each other to protect and secure their borders, develop their economic prosperity, and grow their political relationships. Alliances, economic agreements, and political relationships have come and gone, decreased or increased, and continue to be at times as fluid as water. During the Cold War the international system had a bipolar structure, with the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies balancing against the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies. What makes countries align themselves with other countries economically, politically and militarily? There …

Devotion To Tibetan Lamas, Self Psychology, And Healing In The United States, Daniel S. Capper

Faculty Publications

This essay offers an alternative, self psychological model for understanding the possible healing dynamics of the guru-disciple relationship. Previous psychological studies often have interpreted the devotion of Americans to Eastern gurus as inherently enriching pathology for the disciple, yet this understanding does not helpfully explicate much data derived from more than two years of ethnographic fieldwork at a Tibetan Buddhist center in the United States. Instead, re-exploration of the dynamics of the transference and the vicissitudes of Buddhist practice for disciples reveals positive healing processes for some disciples as a result of guru devotion practice.

New Sandhoppers (Crustacea: Amphipoda) From The Gulf Coast Of The United States, E.L. Bousfield

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Three species of sand-burrowing semi-terrestrial amphipod crustaceans are newly described from sandy beaches of the North American coast of the Gulf of Mexico. They (and two related species from the open Atlantic coast of North America) are removed from the genus Talorchestia Dana 1853, and placed in a new genus, Americorchestia. Americorchestia salomani, new species, and A. heardi, new species, occur from northwestern Florida to the Mississippi Delta. They are morphological counterparts of the well-known sandhoppers from the open Atlantic coast, A. megalophthalma (Bate) and A. longicornis (Say) respectively. Americorchestia barbarae, new species, related to A. …

A Range Extension For Manayunkia Aestuarina (Bourne, 1883) (Polychaeta: Sabellidae) To The Gulf Coast Of The United States With A Review Of Previous Habitat Information, T. Dale Bishop

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The sabellid polychaete Manayunkia aestuarina (Bourne, 1883) is reported for the first time from the Gulf coast of the United States and from a Juncus roemerianus marsh. Individuals were collected from a brackish J. roemerianus marsh in St. Louis Bay, Mississippi, (30^o22'N, 89^o15'W) during the period of June 1979 to May 1980. Adults with eggs were first noted in early January and increased in number through May. Brooded young were observed from late January through May. Habitat comparisons are made between this and other North American and European populations. The present population is associated with lower …

Observations On The Food And Food Habits Of Clapper Rails (Rallus Longirostris Boddaert) From Tidal Marshes Along The East And Gulf Coasts Of The United States, Richard W. Heard

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The feeding habits of five nominal subspecies of clapper rails (Rallus longirostris Boddaert) collected in tidal marshes along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the United States are compared. Data on the food from the stomachs of 183 rails were analyzed and the earlier literature critically reviewed. During the warmer months (May through early fall), crabs, predominantly Uca spp., comprised the major part of the food items found. Limited data on a few rails collected during late fall and winter, when Uca spp. are not usually available, indicate that snails then become a major part of the clapper rail’s …