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Plant Species Distribution Along Topographic Gradients In Tallgrass Prairies Of Eastern Nebraska., Ghanim A. S. Abbadi

Student Work

Plant species composition was evaluated along a slope gradient in two native tallgrass prairies of eastern Nebraska. Forb cover differed significantly (P<0.05) along the topographic gradient at both sites, however, grass covered differed only at one site (P<0.05). A site-by-site comparison by topographic location indicates significant differences between lower slopes for grass and between upper slopes for forbs. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) dominated all topographic locations at both sites (average cover = 64%) with no significant differences in the topographic distribution. Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), little bluestem (Andropogon scoparius Michx.), false boneset Kuhnia eupatorioides L.) prairie wild rose (Rosa arkansana Porter), prairie violet (Viola pedatifida G. Don), and sedge (Carex L. spp.) also show the no significant topographic preference at either site. Mid-slope locations contained the greatest number of species that differed significantly along the topographic gradient. Leadplant (Amorpha canescens Pursh) and indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash) were the two most common species showing high canopy cover values in mid-slope locations at both sites. Significant topographic distributions were also noted for scoring rush (Equisetum lawvigatum A. Br.) at both sites and for finger coreopsis (Coreopsis palmata Nutt.) found only at one site. Flowering spurge (Euphobia corollate L.) and sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr.) were significantly higher on the hilltop locations of one site.

The Relationship Between Gender, Ethnicity, Grade Level, Lunch Status And Self-Concept Scores Of Selected Elementary Students, Eatherine Jo Solomon

Student Work

The purpose for conducting this study was to examine the relationship between gender, ethnicity, grade level, lunch status, and self-concept. This study was designed to Investigate the self-concept of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in selected elementary schools within the Omaha (NE) Public School District. Self-concept of students was Indicated through the responses given to the 80 Items on the Plers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Grade level, ethnicity, gender, and lunch status were collected from the same student respondents who provided answers to the Plers-Harris. The sample popluation Included 562 students in eight elementary schools with counselors. Analysis of variance …

In Search Of Parity: Coverage Of News Events Portraying Blacks In The Omaha World Herald, From 1953 To 1988, Jeanette Weston

Student Work

Does the Omaha World Herald Provide an accurate and meaningful portrayal of blacks and black issues? In 1968, President Johnson’s task force on civil disorders (the Kerner Commission) published a landmark report on the United States’ race relations calling on news organizations to cover black communities and black problems with greater understanding and in greater depth. (Nelson, 1987)

Identification And Characterization Of Tdd-1 And Related Retrotransposons In Dictyostelium., Gail A. Henderson

Student Work

Previous studies in Dictyostelium discoideum on the transposable element Tdd-1, have identified two transcription units of opposite polarity. One is a major, developmentally regulated 4.5 kb transcript believed to encode proteins involved in the retrotransposition of this element, and the other, 1.4 kb in size, is a heat-shock inducible RNA. Based on the sequence of the 4.5 kb transcript and the encoded amino acid sequence, it has been proposed that Tdd-1 is a retrotransposon. This implies that the 4.5 kb mRNA is copied by reverse transcriptase, resulting in DNA copies that insert into new sites. The purpose of this study …

The Influence Of Race On Juvenile Justice Decision Making In Iowa: An Analysis Of Involvement In Diversionary Programs At The Intake Stage, Jayne M. Arneil

Student Work

This thesis was undertaken to assess the influence of race on juvenile justice decision making. More specifically, the research examines the extent to which race and other extralegal factors as well as legal factors influence the use of release, informal adjustment, and further court processing via the petition, at the intake stage in juvenile justice proceedings. More importantly, this thesis focuses on the factors related to the type of diversion engaged in by youth receiving an informal adjustment at the intake stage. An informal adjustment is one of the most important alternatives available at the intake stage. It is a …

The Effect Of Self-Generated Learning Vs Other-Generated Learning On The Writing Productivity Of Students At Risk, Mary Ruth Bresley

Student Work

At-risk students have failed to achieve under the traditional transmission-absorption teaching methods often used in classrooms. This study utilized two discovery learning methods, self-generated and other-generated, and compared their effects on the writing productivity of at-risk students. It was hypothesized that students in the self-generated learning group would write more than students in the other-generated learning groups. All students constructed box products in a prewriting math activity. Students in the self-generated learning group constructed individual products. Self-generated learning included such constructs as child-directed learning, individual learning and hands-on learning. Students in the other-generated learning group constructed a single group box …

Oxygen Cost Of Glideboarding At Selected Cadences And Distance, Randy Tolle

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to measure the oxygen cost, energy expenditure, and heart rate of glideboarding at selected cadences and distance. The subjects were healthy males (N=30), 19 to 32 years old. They glideboarded at the cadences of 42, 48, and 54 bpm and distance of 1.73 m until steady rate was achieved. Ten of the subjects repeated the protocol for test-retest reliability. The oxygen cost was 23.6, 26.7, and 31.8 ml/kg/min for the respective cadences of 42, 48, and 54 bpm. A one-way ANOVA for repeated measures and Tukey’s post-hoc tests indicated significant (p <0.05) differences among the cadences. Pearson correlation coefficients and correlated t tests were determined for test-retest data. There were strong correlations of r=0.83, 0.94, and 0.93 for the respective cadences and all t values were not significant (p> 0.05). The results …

Conflicting Partial Paradigms: An Analysis Of Stratification Articles, 1953-1990, Kaj E. Williams

Student Work

This thesis addresses the relevance of paradigms to the field of social stratification. Social stratification articles appearing in the American Sociological Review and the American Journal of Sociology from the years 1953-1990 are analyzed. The results provide evidence for a multiplicity of paradigms within the field. A life cycle model for paradigm development is proposed to account for the changes exhibited by the paradigms. I suggested that paradigms go through four stages and that movement through each stage is caused by interactions between the paradigms. Similarities and differences to Kuhn's original paradigm concept are emphasized, and suggestions are provided for …

Compilation Of An Anthology Of Concert Band Scores For Study By Conducting Students., David C. Monk

Student Work

The purpose of this project is to give a detailed description of the process involved in developing an anthology of excerpts from musical scores. The scope of the final project will encompass works for concert band and is intended for use as a study guide for advanced undergraduate and graduate conducting students. This. paper details the methods used for selecting compositions to be considered for inclusion, the final selection process for inclusion, relevant observations made during these processes, and the format of the completed anthology. The selection process took place in two parts. The first part involved soliciting suggestions for …

The Effects Of Gender Of Observers And Victims On Perceptions Of Fairness In Unjust Situations., Laura Leah Josoff

Student Work

The effects of gender of observers and victims on perceptions of fairness in unjust situations were investigated. Subjects participated in group sessions and were blocked by gender and then assigned to either the disadvantaged female (read a composition concerning a femal who received poor outcomes) or disadvantaged male (read a composition concerning a male who received poor outcomes) group. After reading the composition, subjects completed a questionnaire which was related to the composition. It was expected that the perception of fairness would depend upon the gender of the perceiver as well as the gender of the victim. Specifically, females would …

The Effects Of An Lntensive Reading Program On The Test Scores Of Middle Level Students Who Read Below Grade Level, Robin K. Hayhurst

Student Work

Some students enter the middle school each year reading below grade level. This researcher saw a need to study the effects of a special language arts based reading class on the reading skills of those students. Nineteen students took part in this study. Nine were in the experimental group which attended the special reading class in addition to their regular classes. Ten were in the control group who attended only their regular classes. Both groups of students were given the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test made up of a vocabulary and a comprehension section. The test was given to both groups …

An Analysis Of Omaha-Area Advertising Agency Executives' Perception And Practice Of Ethics In The Industry, Jill K. Bruckner Lynch

Student Work

This is an exploratory, descriptive study of Omaha-area advertising professionals1 perceptions of ethical problems in the industry for a range of situations. Unlike much research in advertising to date, this thesis focuses not on the advertisement itself, but on the intangible arena of ad practitioners' values, morals and mores. The goal of this study is to expand upon the 1987 research by Hunt and Chonko, where the "ethical problems of advertising agency executives" (Hunt & Chonko, 1987, p. 16) were investigated, and to further examine the ethical beliefs expressed by advertising professionals. Moreover, this research undertakes to divulge the most …

A Comparison Of The Extroversion-Introversion Scale Of The Mvers-Briggs Type Indicator To The Handwriting Traits Which Indicate Extroversion Or Introversion: A Graphology Validity Study, Steven G. Bode

Student Work

The primary purpose of this validation study was to determine whether there was a significant relationship between the extroversion-introversion scores on the Myers- Briggs inventory and the following graphometric characteristics: handwriting slant, midzone size, space between lines of writing, the space between words in writing, width of left margin, and width of right margin.

Subjects for the study were drawn from a course offered by the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) counseling service. This course was designed for students who were uncommitted to a major. Most students were freshman. A total of 49 subjects were studied. Data were collected …

The Inner Voice Of Aging, Erdice J. Yearley

Student Work

This study investigated what gives older persons meaning in their lives and the role of spirituality in that meaning. The study focused on the direction of their lives, the sense of purpose in life, both from a formal religious belief and from the sense of ideals held by the individual. The study utilized qualitative methods. The ten subjects were selected from referral by others interviewed and by people met during the course of the last two years. Those interviewed ranged in age from 65 to 92 years; two were male; nine were Caucasian, and most were middle class. Only three …

Vinton Street: Evolution Of An Ethnic Retail Ribbon, 1889-1989, Val J. Goodman

Student Work

Geographers and others have researched the structure, functional relationships and ethnicity along a retail ribbon for a moment in time. Very little, if any attention has been given to their complex relationships over a period of time. Thus, the primary objectives of the study were to examine and determine if Vinton Street in Omaha, Nebraska, is a historic and present-day ethnic retail ribbon, and, furthermore, should time or the evolutionary process be considered as a significant and integral dimension for understanding the city's overall urban retail structure. This study analyzed the historical development of Vinton Street and its adjacent, area, …

Peer Observation Is A Key Ingredient To Effectiveness In Staff Development, Linda Gentleman Boyer

Student Work

The relationship between peer observation and instructional improvement was investigated. Fifteen middle level teachers from a variety of disciplines participated in the study. Teachers were taped and assessed prior to the study as well as afterward. Teachers also responded to a questionnaire to determine their perceptions of the practicality and usefulness of peer observation. Participants were divided into two groups: an experimental group of eight teachers (four teams of two) and a control group of seven teachers. All fifteen teachers participated in a training review of instructional techniques. In addition those teachers in the experimental group attended three training sessions …

The Impact Of A Parent-Child Pre-Kindergarten Program On The Parent Involvement Perceptions, Attitudes And Practices Of Primary Teachers In The Omaha Public Schools., Virginia L. Gerhardt

Student Work

THE IMPACT OF A PARENT-CHILD PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM ON THE PARENT INVOLVEMENT PERCEPTIONS, AITITUDES AND PRACTICES OF PRIMARY TEACHERS IN THE OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS This study is a causal-comparative examination of the impact of a pre-kindergarten program with a mandatory parent involvement component on primary teachers' perceptions, practices and attitudes toward parent involvement in a public school district located in a metropolitan area. A 56 question survey, based upon one from the publication Hopkins Survey of Schools and Family Connections, Questionnaires for Teachers, Parents and Students, was sent to 285 primary teachers of kindergarten, first, second and third grades. The survey …

The Effects Of Child-Directed Speech Vs Adult-Directed Speech On Attention And Categorization In Prelinguistic Infants, Jean M. Schumacher

Student Work

The facilitative role of linguistic input on nonlinguistic categorization is frequently explained in terms of children's attention to uniquely linguistic forms such as words. In the three experiments reported here, 15-month-old infants were familiarized to visual stimuli in the context of hearing either adult-directed speech (ADS) or child-directed speech (CDS) during visual fixations. Categorization was successful with CDS and ADS input when accumulated attention was not constrained (Experiment 1). Moreover, there were no differences in accumulated attention as a function of input type. When attention was constrained to 90 seconds (Experiments 2 and 3), ADS input disrupted categorization more for …