Digital Commons Network^™

Objectivity And Aesthetic Judgment, Glenn Poskocil

Honors Theses

Where do we draw the line between what is and is not a work of art? and, how are we to distinguish between so called "good" and "bad" works of art? There is a tendency to blur the distinction between these questions because they seem, in certain senses, to be inextricably bound to one another. It is not uncommon, for instance, to hear someone praise something by referring to it as a "work of art," yet most of us agree that not all works of art are "good," even in the aesthetic sense. Too often this distinction is muddled by …

A Survey Of Cellular Slime Molds At Selected Sites On The James River, Virginia, Nathaniel Lemaster Armistead

Master's Theses

The flood plain of the James River in Virginia supports a variety of deciduous forest associations and has not been examined previously for dictyostelids. This thesis is primarily concerned with the results of a survey of dictyostelids at selected sites in the James River basin. Some incidental observations concerning possible ecological relationships between dictyostelids are included.

Seven of the plant communities of Virginia described by Harvill, Stevens and Ware (1984) afe present in the areas surveyed and collection sites were established accordingly: (1) Mountain Pine-Oak Heath, (2) Pine-Oak Heath, (3) Oak-Hickory Forest, (4) Alluvial Hardwood Forest, (5) Beech-Maple-Tuliptree Forest, (6) …

A Survey Of Cellular Slime Molds At Selected Sites On The James River, Virginia, Nathaniel Lemaster Armistead Iii

Master's Theses

Forty-three sample sites representing seven plant associations were surveyed for cellular slime molds in the James River basin from the head-waters to the mouth of the James River. Dictyostelium mucoroides, Q. minutum, Q. purpureum, D. discoideum, Polysphondylium violaceum and P. pallidum were found in all associations. Dictyostelium lacteum was found in all but the Maple-Basswood association. The remaining species were unique to the Alluvial Hardwood association and the following respective forest types: D. polycephalum to Oak-Hickory, D. giganteum to Oak-Hickory and Mixed Mesophytic, and D. rosarium to Mixed Mesophytic. A percentage similarity test indicated that, with regards to the observed …

The Effects Of Levels Of Processing On Retention Of Word Meaning, Dorothy A. Flannagan

Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of the three encoding techniques of rote memory, semantic, and self-reference, on short-term and long-term retention levels of unfamiliar vocabulary words and their meanings. Seventy-two college students participated in the experiment, with 24 students in each encoding group. All participants viewed 20 target words and their definitions, and were exposed to each word for 30 seconds. Each group was given instructions designed to promote a type of encoding specific to their group. After a five-minute distractor task, subjects were given a list of the target words and were tested on …

A Genealogy Of The Will : A Comparison Of The Works Of Kant, Schopenhauer, And Nietzsche, Jane Elizabeth Edwards

Master's Theses

This study investigates the development of the notion of man's will upon which Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche based their theories. Although this topic had been virtually neglected in the great intellectual debates of the first to the eighteenth centuries, by the nineteenth century the question of man's will--its origin, function, and value--dominated such philosophical discussions. An exploration of the differences in the perception and role of the will in the works of these three men is attempted, from Kant's redefinition of the nature of will, to Schopenhauer's redirection of its position in philosophical matters, to Nietzsche's radical reinterpretation of the …

Apid Increase In Serum Calcium In Response To Stress In Pomoxis Nigromaculatus, Black Crappie, Severn Borden Churn

Master's Theses

Serum calcium levels were determined colorimetrically in Pomoxis nigromaculatus, the black crappie, subjected to rapid changes in temperature. Two experiments were conducted; in the first, fish were exposed to stress for 30 minutes before measuring serum calcium, and in the second, fish were exposed to stress for 5 minutes and returned to normal conditions for 25 minutes before measuring serum calcium. Condit ion (K-value) and sexual development were noted for the fish. Serum calcium increased in all stressed fish, regardless of sex, but higher serum calcium values were observed in stressed mature females than in stressed males or stressed immature …

United States Military Special Operations Forces: Why They Are Our Best Military Assets For Low-Intensity Conflicts, Stephen Leslie Robinson

Master's Theses

This thesis addresses the development of United States military assets for dealing with revolutionary warfare, terrorism, and other threats which could be identified under the rubric, "low-· intensity conflict." Elite military units, collectively identified as Special Operations Forces (SOF), are examined for the character- !sties and attributes which promote misunderstanding and mistrust about their capabilities. Some analytical distinctions are developed which may be useful in defining roles and missions for SOF elements. Cultural impediments which may inhibit SOF activities are considered as well. Research efforts included interviews and discussion with twenty Special Operations soldiers, both active and retired, a number …

Effectiveness Of Computer-Based, Modified Computer-Based And Workshop Training In The Learning/Application Of Leadership Skills, Karen E. Chappell

Master's Theses

This study examined the effectiveness of training methods in effective leadership principles. Forty-two male and female Introductory Psychology students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: computer-based training (CBT), computer-based training with videotaped vignettes (CBTV), or group-based workshop training with videotaped vignettes (GBW). Training effectiveness was assessed on two dependent variables, pretest/posttest scores in conceptual knowledge and pretest/posttest scores in applied knowledge. Only partial support was found for the hypothesis that there would be significant differences in mean pretest and mean posttest scores on both conceptual and applied knowledge as a result of training method. Method of training was …

Endurance And Affiliation : Traits As A Priori Self Schemata In Memory, Nancy Mackay Bruckner

Master's Theses

This study investigated the hypotheses that subjects' scores on the trait of endurance would have s. positive, significant correlation with their recall of endurance-related adjectives, and that subjects' scores on the trait of affiliation would have a positive, significant correlation with their recall of affiliation-related words. One hundred forty-five male and female undergraduates from the University of Richmond answered questions from the Affiliation and Endurance scales of the Personality Research Form (Jackson, 1967). As a separate task subjects decided whether or not each of fortyeight adjectives described themselves. Sixteen of these adjectives referred to endurance, sixteen to affiliation, and sixteen …

How To Organize A New Bank In The State Of Virginia, Andrew J. Callahan

Master's Theses

The purpos'E of comprehensive, this paper is to provide the user with a step-by-step procedures manual for the organization and opening of a state-chartered, Federal Reserve member community bank in the Commonwealth of Virginia 1 • This paper is written under the assumption that the organizers of a new bank have limited experience in the processes of organizing an effective Board of Directors, assembling a management team, selling stock in a new venture, gaining regulatory approval and opening the doors of a new commercial bank. This manual will attempt to address the strategic issues such as market analysis and financial …

Urban Economic Development And Small Business In Virginia, Muriel Johnson Murray

Master's Theses

This study explores, by a survey of available published materials, the role of city economies in the national economy, the role of entrepreneurial small business in the economy of the city in which it is located, and the means available for promotion of small business in urban economic development initiatives undertaken by government and private sector organizations. In addition to a survey of the literature, investigation included interviews with key personnel concerning efforts being made, both in the past and in the present, in the private sector and by various local, state, and federal government instrumentalities to foster the development …

Richard Brautigan : A Man In Search Of America, Elizabeth A. Howell

Honors Theses

Avant-garde writing tends to be an "iffy" thing these days, more a matter of cocktail chatter than execution. The resources for experiments seem used up, or ash John Barth put it, "exhausted" (Pinkser 75). Things and words increase in quantity but diminish in value and meaning, making the contemporary writer more and more unwilling to follow the old ways of arranging them. Though this is not a new predicament for an aspiring writer, it is one that seems threatening in an age of self-conscious art. Writers must look for new grammars and new semantics. Some writers turn this quest for …

Evil And The Role Of Evil In The Book Of Revelation, Elizabeth Alger Pugh

Honors Theses

The symbolism of evil as used in the Book of Revelation portrayed God's response through the personal revelation of the author to the wickedness of humanity. The purpose of this focus on evil was to instill obedience and faith of the early church community as it held to strong messianic expectations.

Kate Chopin : A Different Look, Kimberly Ann Francis

Honors Theses

Kate Chopin? Who is she? This is a common resonse of many people who are not familiar with this outstanding woman writer of the late 1800's and early 1900's. In fact, this same question would more likely have gone unanswered then than today. For the most part, many of her contemporaries are prominently discussed and read today because they enjoyed popularity while they were alive. They not only established literary voges; in many cases they gave the public what it wanted to read. Such writers include Mark Twain and Stephen Crane as well as Edith Wharton and Ellen Glasgow. Kate …

Toni Morrison's Approach To Understanding, Joyce Dorris

Honors Theses

Toni Morrison tackles the problems for which she does not have resolutions. In order to make an impact on readers and achieve a meaningful understanding, Morrison manipulates readers' emotions. She says, "My writing expects, demands participatory reading. The reader supplies the emotions. Then we (you, the reader, and I, the author) come together to make this book, to feel this experience" (Tate, 125). Morrison carefully positions her readers to see what her characters see and react as they would. Morrison feels if the readers can see the person experiencing the thing, they do not need an explanation. The illustration will …

Gerard Manley Hopkins: The Struggle For Poetic Vision, Kathryn M. Fessler

Honors Theses

In this study, I will trace the developmetn and history of Hopkins' struggle to realize and live by a vision of an immanent God, using as the gauge of his progress the poems, which are the celarest expressions of Hopkins' heart. I will illustrate the chronological progression of this vision in the poetry, and discuss specific poems in terms of their places in the history of Hopkins' life as a poet and a priest. I will also pay some degree of attention to linguistic innovations in the poetry, since these are manifestations of Hopkins' liberation from certain formal constraints made …

Truth Lifting Up Its Head Above Scandals : The New Law Of Righteousness Proposed By Gerrard Winstanley And The Diggers, John Cook

Honors Theses

In the beginning of 1649 a group of landless people began to build houses and plant crops on the common lands at George Hill in Surrey, England. However these were not ordinary squatters for the Diggers also had a program which declared "freedom to the creation, and that the earth must be set free of the entanglements of lords and landlords, and that it shall become a common treasury to all, as it was first made and given" to men by God. (p.128) Sometime just before this the Diggers' leading spokesman, Gerrard Winstanley, had begun to claim "that many things …

Alice Walker: An Interpretation Of Her Works, Niamh Walsh

Honors Theses

In summary, I feel as if Alice Walker has used her literature for far more than mere literary entertainment. I believe that she wrote with a very strong message for both blacks and women. To both minorities, of which she herself is proud to belong, she calls for acknowledgmetn of their attirubutes, their worth and their limitations: she calls for reclamation of the many positive attributes that have, for too long, been derided as insignificant: and she calls for a loud, joyous celebration of all the many defining aspects of womanhood and blackness. I see this evident in most, in …

A Justification For Implementing A Monetary Incentive Plan For All Salaried Employees, Peter N. Pastore Jr.

Master's Theses

The current organizational status of the hunan resource has undergone significant changes. Recent technological advances and increased global competition are causing a shift from labor intensive to capital intensive production in the industrialized nations, with an accompanying emphasis on product quality. Concomitantly, (1) the quality of the machinery depends on the hunan variable in the producing company; and (2) while machines can be sped up to increase the quantity produced, the calibration of that equipment, for example, is left up to the human factor. Since these technological advances are projected to continue, more and more emphasis will be placed on …

The Irish Community In Antebellum Richmond, 1840-1860, Kathryn Lynn Mahone

Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the Irish immigrants experienc e in antebellum Richmond, Virginia. Their journey to America and the various reasons for migrating south were also included in the study. The neighborhoods and occupations of the Irish were described as well as the immigrant's role in Richmond's antebellum society. The Catholic church, benevolent groups and militias were reviewed in order to understand how Irish helped fellow immigrants adjust and prosper in their new home.

The paper was based on information from the census records of 1850/1860, and from various city directories. Personal property and death records …

A Strategic Plan For Mis At James River Corporation Of Virginia, Kent C. Bowling

Master's Theses

The objectives of this paper are (1) to present a methodology for developing an M.I.S. strategic plan, and (2) to recommend a M.I.S. organizational structure for James River Corporation of Virginia. The paper begins by describing the five businesses of James River and then describes a process for developing a strategic plan for a M.I.S. function. The next two sections define a desired future state for M.I.S. in James River and present guidelines for implementing this future state. The fifth section defines a method of implementing the strategy across the five diverse businesses of the corporation.

Preliminary Urban Land Use Planning, Robert H. Harris Jr.

Master's Theses

The purpose of this report is to create a primer of basic real estate development principles and practices pertaining to preliminary urban land use planning. The report is directed toward the decision maker who is oftentimes not a sophisticated real estate professional. Normally, the decision maker is the owner of the property or a small developer who selects the land use based upon his limited experience.

A methodology is developed for performing a preliminary site plan analysis, and rules of thumb for development are embodied in a use compatibility analysis to aid the decision maker in seiecting the feasible alternatives …

Allocating And Recovering Jointly Used Local Loop Telephone Costs, Irby William

Master's Theses

There is $2.3 Billion riding on the answer to a very critical question in the Virginia Telephone Industry. The question concerns who should pay for the embedded investment in jointly used wire and equipment connecting telephone customers to switching offices. This plant, many argue, is needed for access to the local and long distance network regardless of whether a call is made. Answering this question is a two step process. First these, costs must be allocated to the proper jurisdiction (intrastate or interstate) and the proper class of service (toll or local) within the jurisdiction. Second the costs must be …

The Assessment And Application Of Patient Satisfaction Variables In Marketing A Psychiatric Practice, Donald E. Christensen

Master's Theses

As the health care industry becomes increasingly more competitive, marketing functions will take en increasingly more importance. At the core of the marketing concept is the pursuit of customer satisfaction, or, for medical services, patient satisfaction. This study reports en the administration of a 33- item patient satisfactien questionnaire to the consumers of services in four outpatient offices of a large, group private psychiatric practice. Data are analyzed descriptively and recommendations are made for improvements of service delivery based on the findings of the survey.

An Empirical Investigation Of The Perceptions Of The Successful Woman In Management, John P. Gavin

Master's Theses

This research paper is an empirical study of the perceptual differences of male management and the female professional employee population at Philip Morris U.S.A. Operations. The female professional employee population has been further categorized into two groups, "successful" (grade 10 and above) and all other exempt females (those who have yet to attain the stated level to be considered successful).

The perceptual differences between the three groups was determined by responses to a survey administered to a statistically valid representative sample of the male management and female populations (2).

The data from the survey was examined for significant differences from …

An Evaluation Of The Examination Process Of State Chartered Credit Unions In Virginia, George H. Latham

Master's Theses

State chartered credit unions in Virginia are by Statute incorporated and regulated by the State Corporation Commission of the Commonwealth. Part of the regulatory process is a periodic examination of the books and records of each credit union to determine compliance with applicable laws and regulations as well as the safety and soundness of depositors' funds. The quality and effectiveness of this examination process has never been measured, nor has it been empirically evaluated to determine its strengths and weaknesses. This study identifies areas of the examination report which can be improved in order to make it a more useful …

Principal's Leadership Style And Science Research Associates Test Scores, Kevin William Whirdy

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if the principal' s leadership style had a positive effect on students' Science Research Associates Composite Test scores. The correlational method of research was used on fifteen randomly selected public high schools with school populations between six hundred and nine hundred students in the State of Virginia. The Principal Leadership Style Questionnaire was used t o ascertain the leadership style of the principal. The Likert Profile of a School Questionnaire was used to measure the climate of the school.

The results showed a significant correlational coefficient between the principal' s leadership style …

Observational Investigation Of School-Aged Children's Peer Relations, Darcy Milhaven

Honors Theses

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of early peer relations in the social and emotional development of children (Hartup, 1983; Cowen, Pederson, Babagian, Izzo, & Trost, 1973; Roffl Sells, & Golden, 1972). The recognition of the contribution of peer relations to later adult adjustment has lead to a significant increase in the investigation of children's social relations. In particular, three general methodologies have been employed in these studies. First, informant reports with their origin in the sociometric tradition have utilized peer-, adult-, and self-reports to assess children's social reputations, behavioral characteristics, and self-perceptions (e.g., …

The Future Of Elderly Women : Psychosocial Factors Influencing The Aging Transition, Michelle Dever

Honors Theses

In the U.S. today there is an increasing number of elderly in the population. There are over twenty million persons who are 65 years of age and older. It is predicted that there will be over 32 million older Americans by the year 2000. There has been a greater increase in the number of older women compared to men with women having a greater life expectancy also. The effects of aging on individuals and their ability to adapt to society needs to examined in our society today. There is a special need to study elderly women and the difficulties they …

The Relationship Of Stress, Coping, And Social Support To Depression, Katherine B. Wissman

Honors Theses

The relationship of the sources, mediators, and manifestations of stress were examined in a review of the literature. Stress is comprised of microstressors and daily hassles in addition to negative life events and changes. Direct, problem-focused coping mechanisms were found to be more effective in reducing stress than emotion-focused strategies. Social support reduces stress through strong main effects, but the interaction of stress and support depends on the specific types of stress and support under study.