Digital Commons Network^™

Ua11/1 Public Affairs Publications, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Publications created by and about WKU by the Public Affairs Department.

A Positive Deviance Inquiry Of Communicative Behaviors That Influence The Prevention Of Hispanic Teenage Pregnancy, Alejandra Margarita Diaz Salamanca

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Teenage pregnancy is a highly complex problem and the arrival of a baby affects multiple lives - directly and indirectly - in a rippling chain reaction. The odds of finishing school or college are highly stacked against teenage parents, and the future of the children who are born to teen parents is fraught with challenges. Rates of teenage pregnancy are especially high among Hispanics, and even higher among those who live in the border city of El Paso, This research project was an exploration of what communicative behaviors keep some young Hispanic women in the city of El Paso free …

Exploring Science Through Media: The Omaha Science Media Project 2009–2010, Belita Kalala, Scott Barry, Rebecca Aiken, Soo Hui-Lee, Mary Claire Rice, Elizabeth Gamez, Nkem Kalu, Amy Struthers, Adam Wagler, Bruce Mitchell, Julie Nichols

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

The Omaha Science Media Project represents the efforts of more than a hundred people across eight organizations. Working together, these individuals explored innovations in teaching and learning science that challenged and contributed to Omaha’s learning community. This program owes tremendous gratitude to Katie Weitz White and the Sherwood Foundation for their vision, support, and enthusiasm. The Sherwood Foundation’s work has been critical to inspiring students, energizing teachers, and building strong programs for all. We also thank the Omaha Schools Foundation for its guidance and support. The project’s principal investigator is Judy Diamond, Ph.D., Professor and Curator of Informal Science Education …

Automated Isolation Of Translational Efficiency Bias That Resists The Confounding Effect Of Gc(At)-Content, Douglas W. Raiford, Dan E. Krane, Travis E. Doom, Michael L. Raymer

Kno.e.sis Publications

Genomic sequencing projects are an abundant source of information for biological studies ranging from the molecular to the ecological in scale; however, much of the information present may yet be hidden from casual analysis. One such information domain, trends in codon usage, can provide a wealth of information about an organism's genes and their expression. Degeneracy in the genetic code allows more than one triplet codon to code for the same amino acid, and usage of these codons is often biased such that one or more of these synonymous codons is preferred. Detection of this bias is an important tool …

Discovery: The Student Journal Of Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences - Volume 11 2010, Several Authors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Experience And Expression Of Emotion Within Stepsibling Relationships: Politeness Of Expression And Stepfamily Functioning, Emily Lamb Normand

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While scholars agree there are emotional challenges associated with the divorce and remarriage process, little is known about how stepsiblings interact and manage the experience and expression of emotion within their stepfamily. The current investigation examined the frequency of experience, intensity, and expression of positive, strong negative, and weak negative emotion within stepsibling relationships over time. Using Politeness Theory as a framework, the study also investigated if an association existed between stepsiblings’ use of politeness strategies during the expression of emotion and stepsiblings’ perception of the quality of their relationship and their perception of the entire stepfamily. Participants were 187 …

Deceptive Cultural Practices That Sabotage Hiv/Aids Education In Tanzania And Kenya, Mary Oluga, Susan Kiragu, Mussa K. Mohamed, Shelina Walli

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

In spite of numerous HIV/AIDS‐prevention education efforts, the HIV infection rates in Sub‐Saharan Africa remain high. Exploring and understanding the reasons behind these infection rates is imperative in a bid to offer life skills and moral education that address the root causes of the pandemic. In a recent study concerning effective HIV/AIDS‐prevention education, conducted in Tanzania and Kenya among teacher trainees and their tutors, the notion of mila potofu (defined by educators as ‘deceptive’ cultural practices) emerged as a key reason for educators’ difficulties in teaching HIV/AIDS prevention education in schools and for high HIV infection rates. Since these cultural …

Reality Hackers: The Next Wave Of Media Revolutionaries, Aaron A. Delwiche, Evan Barnett, Andrew Coe, Patrick Crim, Kendra Doshier, Christopher Dudley, Ender Ergun, Ashley Funkhouser, Cole Gray, Sarah Hellman, John Key, Christopher Kradle, Patrick Lynch, Shepherd Mcallister, Mark Mccullough, Justin Michaelson, Alyson Miller, Robin Murdoch, Aaron Passer, Maricela Rios, Laura Schluckebier, Raelle Smiley, Andrew Truelove, Richard Bartle, Annalee Newitz, Ekaterina Sedia, Steven Shaviro, R.U. Sirius

Faculty Authored and Edited Books & CDs

Just as the printing press gave rise to the nation-state, emerging technologies are reshaping collective identities and challenging our understanding of what it means to be human.

Should citizens have the right to be truly anonymous on-line? Should we be concerned about the fact that so many people are choosing to migrate to virtual worlds? Are injectible microscopic radio-frequency ID chips a blessing or a curse? Is the use of cognitive enhancing nootropics a human right or an unforgivable transgression? Should genomic data about human beings be hidden away with commercial patents or open-sourced like software? Should hobbyists known as …

Index Of Titles And Authors, Volumes 1-21

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Competent Public Speaking: Assessing Skill Development In The Basic Course, Judy C. Pearson, Jeffrey T. Child, Liliana L. Herakova, Julie L. Semlak, Jessica Angelos

Basic Communication Course Annual

Effective public speaking skills are essential for a successful life. The authors provide an overall assessment of the basic public speaking course by examining fifteen student attributes divided into three categories (course engagement characteristics, dispositions, and demographics) hypothesized to affect learning and public speaking skill development in the basic course. A four-step hierarchical multiple regression tested two research questions (N = 709). Course engagement characteristics improved students’ public-speaking grade averages, but dispositions did not. The effects of demographic characteristics, particularly biological sex, were not eliminated after controlling for course engagement and dispositional factors (twelve variables). Implications and limitations of the …

Acceptance, Communication Mode And Use Of Audio Computer- Assisted Self Interview Using Touchscreen To Identify Risk Factors Among Pregnant Minority Women, Jutta S. Thornberry, Kennan B. Murray, M. Nabil El-Khorazaty, Michele Kiely

Publications and Research

This paper evaluates the acceptability, communication mode and use of audio computer-assisted self-interview (A-CASI) among minority pregnant women receiving prenatal care in six Washington, DC sites. A total of 2,913 women were screened for demographic eligibility (18+ years old,gestation, Black/African-American or Hispanic) and risk (smoking, environmental tobacco smoke exposure, depression, intimate partner violence). Questions were displayed on touch screen laptop monitors and heard through earphones. The mean length of time to complete the screener was almost 6 minutes.

A-CASI experience, which included difficulty in using the computer, acceptability (enjoyment), and preferred communication mode, was compared across sites, the eligibility and …

A Qualitative Study Of The Nascent Entrepreneurial Process Of An Immigrant Within An Irish Context Of A Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Lucia Walsh

Doctoral

This thesis intersects the theoretical fields of nascent entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation. The key research question that guides this research is: What is the nascent entrepreneurial journey of an immigrant within an Irish context of cross cultural adaptation? The study explores the notion that the nascent entrepreneurial and cross-cultural adaptation journeys of immigrants in this study are intertwined and dynamically interact with each other.

Despite much academic interest in nascent entrepreneurship, there is a lack of qualitative studies that focus on understanding the nascent entrepreneurial process of immigrants on a longitudinal basis. Additionally, the immigrant/ethnic specific entrepreneurship theories frequently overlook …

Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facilty 2009 Annual Report, Issue 8, Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facility

Biomechanics Annual Report

April 2009 - March 2010

This issue features Announcements, Featured News, Projects, Collaborations, Visitors, Awards, Publications, and Support.

Contents And Abstracts

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Basic Communication Course Annual Vol. 22

Basic Communication Course Annual

Full issue (241 pages, 8.6 MB)

Commencing The Rationale For War: George W. Bush’S Address At West Point, June 1, 2002, Steven R. Goldzwig

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Mr. Monk And The Emotion-Reason Dilemma, E. Deidre Pribram Ph.D.

Communications: Faculty Publications

Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) belongs to a tradition of brilliant but personally flawed detectives. Like others in this tradition, including his television colleague, Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), Monk’s genius resides in his exceptional, even excessive, rationality. Both Monk and House embody near-perfect detection or diagnostic skills. And, in both cases, the cause of their damaged personalities is excessive emotionality, represented by their respective emotional disorders. In their internal dynamics, emotion is almost always the ‘problem,’ and both shows suggest that troubled emotionality is the price Monk and House must pay for their intense brilliance.

Relational Maintenance Behaviors In The Grandchild–Grandparent Relationship, Daniel H. Mansson, Scott A. Myers, Lynn H. Turner

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This study examined grandchildren's use of relational maintenance behaviors when interacting with their grandparents and how these behaviors are associated with grandchildren's perceived communication satisfaction with their grandparents and grandparent provision of communication-based emotional support. Undergraduate students (N = 238) reported on their relationships with the grandparent with whom they had the most recent interaction. Results indicate that grandchildren use (in descending order) the positivity, conflict management, tasks, assurances, networks, advice, and openness relational maintenance behaviors. Perceived grandparent provision of communication-based emotional support and grandchildren communication satisfaction with grandparents were directly and positively related to grandchildren's use of relational …

Distributed Cinema: Interactive, Networked Spectatorship In The Age Of Digital Media, Erik Wayne Marshall

Wayne State University Dissertations

Digital media has changed much of how people watch, consume and interact with digital media. The loss of indexicality, or the potential infidelity between an image and its source, contributes to a distrust of images. The ubiquity of interactive media changes aesthetics of images, as viewers begin to expect interactivity. Networked media changes not only the ways in which viewers access media, but also how they communicate with each other about this media. The Tulse Luper Suitcases encapsulates all of these phenomena.

Advocates, Agendas, And Nay-Sayers: Science And Technology In The Public Arena, Arthur Greenberg

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

A Content Analysis Of Elite U.S. Newspapers' Coverage Of Iran, 1979 And 2005, Melissa Kamal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a quantitative content analysis of the New York Times and Washington Post coverage of Iran during the period surrounding the Ayatollah Khomeini's ascension to power in 1979 as well as the period surrounding Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election in 2005. The results showed that coverage of Iran in the elite American print media as it related to terror was higher in the period after Khomeini came to power and also in the period after Ahmadinejad's election than it was in the period immediately preceding their respective ascensions. The results also showed that there was more coverage of Iran as …

The Communication Implications And Related Experiences Associated With Transracially Adopting A Child From Vietnam, Lan Marie Malin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the communication experiences of adoptive parents of children transracially adopted from Vietnam. Though adoption has been extensively studied in communication research, transracial adoptions involving children from Vietnam has not. Thus, this study examined adoptive parent communication experiences using dialectic theory and relational dialectics. By examining adoptive parents’ communication with their adopted child and others, we can determine tensions that occur in different communication experiences. Data were collected through eight qualitative in-depth interviews conducted with adoptive parents of children from Vietnam. Openness with both strangers and the adopted child(ren) and preservation of key aspects of the adopted children’s …

Moustachioed Men And Marathon Moms: The Marketing Of Cancer Philanthropy, Jenna Leigh Jacobson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis is a theoretically based feminist critical analysis of the politics, problems, and differences around the philanthropy related to breast cancer in comparison to prostate cancer with a focus on the Canadian reality. It is an analysis of the leading national volunteer-based organization dedicated to breast cancer philanthropy: The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and the only national foundation dedicated to the fight against prostate cancer: Prostate Cancer Canada. The concrete grounding is an in-depth analysis of the primary fundraising event for each charity: the CIBC Run for the Cure and Movember Canada. Breast cancer and prostate cancer attack a …

Participatory Planning For A Promised Land: Citizen-Led, Comprehensive Land Use Planning In New York’S Adirondack Park, Ann Hope Ruzow Holland

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

New York’s Adirondack Park is internationally recognized for its biological diversity. Greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined, the Adirondacks are the largest protected area within the Northern Appalachian/Acadian Eco-Region and within the contiguous United States. Ecologists, residents of the Park, and others are concerned about rapid land use change occurring within the borders of the Park. Almost half of the six million acres encompassed by the Park boundary is privately-owned, where 80% of land use decisions fall within the jurisdiction of local governments. The comprehensive planning process of one such local government, the …

A Study Of Japanese Women Today: Changing Gender Roles And Attitudes Toward Marriage, Shiho Hosokawa

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Japanese women and men are getting married later in life than before and the number of Japanese choosing to live a single person's lifestyle has increased since the 1980's. In the 1970's, the number of women working outside the home was lower than now and most of those who did work, did so only to supplement their husband's income. Today, many Japanese women obtain college degrees and have a paid job, the same as men do. Yet, based on my personal experience and those of others I know, Japanese women often remain the primary caretakers in the home. They are …

The Administration Of Community College Blogs: Considering Control And Adaptability In Loosely Coupled Systems, Troy A. Swanson

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study using a multiple case study method is (1) to further the understanding of how community college administrators and blog authors strike a balance between organizational control and adaptability when implementing and using blog technologies and (2) to create a model that will help administrators better strike this balance within a loosely coupled system of college units and individuals. The rise of Web 2.0 technologies, which allows for direct publication to the Internet, presents two conundrums for community colleges: the conundrum of control and the conundrum of adaptability. As the oldest implementation of Web 2.0 technologies, …

Rare's Implementation Strategies Of Environmental Conservation In Indonesia, Alvaro Arvizo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Like most developing nations, Indonesia is at a crucial stage in its modern political and economic history. Opposing forces are constantly at work, a government struggling to make Indonesia a modern nation and the economic demands of a growing population. This presents the country with a multitude of problems. One of several is that nature's resources are exploited for personal economic gain with no regard for the long-term effects. This is a major concern for environmental conservation and non-profit government organizations (NGOs) worldwide. The American NGO Rare is at the forefront of this issue. Its aim is to meet community …

Protean Storytellers: Journalists' Identities In An Uncertain Future, Lourdes Miriam Cueva Chacón

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Journalism is undergoing a crisis period and, even though publishers, journalists and scholars do not agree about the future of news media industries, certainly they agree that what was once the dominant model of journalism is now changing drastically. Journalists are facing dynamic and changing environments that demand from them to develop new skills and to perform new roles. This is the environment where the new generation of journalists is forming, forcing them to rethink their future careers. For this research students' narratives where collected to determine the rhetorical ways in which students articulate their identity as journalists, what were …

The Use Of Social Marketing As A Means Of Promoting Enviornmental Conservation: A Case Study Of Indonesian Biodiversity Campaigns, Alesia Za Gara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As a means of preserving Indonesia's natural allure and resources it is evident that there must be a conscious shift made wherein environmental conservation becomes top priority among the people of Indonesia and the world. Traditionally dealt with through a country's governmental facets, a new tread of social marketing is now being employed ENGOs in various countries such as Indonesia as a way to promote biodiversity conservation. For example, one such ENGO is Rare Conservation, an international organization that teaches social marketing tools to classes or cohorts of individuals around the world as a means of improving a variety of …

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.