Digital Commons Network^™

An Evaluation Of Potential Management Options For The Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Aduncus) Population In Kizimkazi, Zanzibar, Rebecca Hamilton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A short-term study was conducted between November 3rd and November 30th of 2013 in which dolphin area usage was assessed and interviews conducted in order to evaluate which actions should be considered in order to improve dolphin management in Kizimkazi, Zanzibar. GPS coordinates during dolphin sightings were recorded while on tourist and volunteer boat trips to assess dolphin movement and distribution. While on the tourist boats, observations were also made regarding boat operator, tour guide, and tourist knowledge and behavior in relation to tourism interaction guidelines. Interviews were conducted with locals involved in the dolphin tourism sector, tour company representatives, …

Traditional Boat Building: An Intersection Of Zanzibar’S Culture And Environment, Eric Levenson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examined traditional boat building on Uzi Island as a manifestation of Zanzibar’s relationship of environment and culture. Information was gathered about traditional boat building practices, the resource use and management pertaining to boats, the cultural reliance on boats, and local views on environment and conservation. This information showed that the people of Uzi Island were dependent on the use of traditional boats to maintain their livelihood, however the tree types used for boat building are being over-harvested. This tension of culture and environment exposed the need for conservation of Zanzibar’s natural resources in a manner that does not …

“The Gift Of Gab”: An Investigation Of Self Help Groups As Sources Of Women’S Empowerment In Udaipur, Rajasthan, Leigh Thomas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

India as a rising global superpower continues to be plagued by rampant poverty and gender inequality that has left it ranked 136th on the UNDP’s Human Development Index (UNDP). In its attempts to counter these trends, an assortment of development schemes have historically been employed to varying degrees of success. Recently, the grassroots model of the Self Help Group (SHG) has been widely adopted by government programs and NGOs alike as a community-based development model that can be especially utilized to address the status of women. SHGs are broadly defined as small informal associations formed so members can gain economic …

Transracial Foster Care And Adoption: Issues And Realities, Fern L. Johnson, Stacie Mickelson, Mariana Lopez Davila

New England Journal of Public Policy

The article places transracial foster care and adoption into a broader perspective that highlights social and cultural factors and the reasons for controversy about this adoption option. The first section describes the demographics of children in the foster care system. This is followed by an overview of requirements for approval as foster and adoptive parents in Massachusetts and information about the laws governing transracial adoption. The controversy over transracial adoption is laid out by explaining the race-blind and race-matching positions. Policy priorities are outlined that take into account the main points of controversy. The final section focuses on growth in …

A Study Of The Universities Of The Third Age In Hong Kong : An Evaluation Of Elder Academy Model For The Life Long Learning Of Older People, Ka Fai Wong

Lingnan Theses

Education aims at the development of knowledge and skills for its own sake and pleasure. People aged over 65 years currently comprise 11% of the Hong Kong population. Such aging population in Hong Kong constitutes a challenge to our society. To be adaptive to changes in the environment, especially in aging, more emphasis is placed on “lifelong learning” than on “lifelong education” for self-fulfillment Active aging is evidently supported as a solution to the impact of aging population. Lifelong learning is an important strategy for enhancing active aging. The provision and process of lifelong learning for older people can take …

Fashion Vs. Function In Cultural Evolution: The Case Of Dog Breed Popularity, Stefano Ghirlanda, Alberto Acerbi, Harold A. Herzog, James A. Serpell

Pets Collection

We investigate the relationship between characteristics of dog breeds and their popularity between years 1926 and 2005. We consider breed health, longevity, and behavioral qualities such as aggressiveness, trainability, and fearfulness. We show that a breed’s overall popularity, fluctuations in popularity, and rates of increase and decrease around popularity peaks show typically no correlation with these breed characteristics. One exception is the finding that more popular breeds tend to suffer from more inherited disorders. Our results support the hypothesis that dog breed popularity has been primarily determined by fashion rather than function.

Feeling The Heat? Substantial Variation In Temperatures Does Not Affect The Proportion Of Males Born In Australia, Barnaby J. Dixson, John Haywood, Philip J. Lester, Diane K. Ormsby

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

The global proportion of male births has been shown to vary with climate, with a higher proportion of male births documented in colder climates. Here we examined the hypothesis that ambient temperature predicts fluctuations in the proportion of male births in Australia and within seven Australian states using historical annual data spanning 1910-2009. We predicted that within states with tropical ambient temperatures the proportion of male births would decrease when ambient temperatures are higher. Considering the national composite births for the whole of Australia first, the proportion of males born ranged only from 0.510 to 0.517. We observed no relationship …

The Metaphors That Research Students Live By, Rod Pitcher

The Qualitative Report

In this paper I report a study of the ways in which research students think about their research. I took a unique approach by using metaphor analysis to study the students’ conceptions. The research students in this study were recruited for an on - line survey at an Australian research - intensive university in which they answered questions relating to their conceptions of research. Five categories of metaphors for research were arrived at which I have labelled metaphors of space, metaphors of travel, metaphors of action, metaphors of the body and metaphors of ordeal. These metaphors provide useful information about …

Dmitri Shalin Interview With Edward Tiryakian About Erving Goffman Entitled "Parsons Was About 5'6" Or 5'5" But When He Started To Speak, He Got To Be Six Feet Five", Edward Tiryakian

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

This interview with Edward Tiryakian, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Duke University, was recorded on August 23, 2011, at the Mediterranean Café in Las Vegas. Dmitri Shalin transcribed the interview, after which Dr. Tiryakian edited the transcript and approved posting the present version in the Goffman Archives. Breaks in the conversation flow are indicated by ellipses. Supplementary information and additional materials inserted during the editing process appear in square brackets. Undecipherable words and unclear passages are identified in the text as “[?]” The interviewer’s questions are shortened in places.

Integral Review Vol 9. No 3, September 2013 Full Issue, Bahman Shirazi

Founders Symposium

The articles included in this special issue of Integral Review represent a wide range of integral scholarship at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), founded in 1968 in San Francisco by Dr. Haridas and Bina Chaudhuri. Haridas Chaudhuri arrived in the United States in 1951 upon an invitation by professor Frederick Spiegelberg of Stanford University who was charged with directing a newly founded independent graduate school (American Academy of Asian Studies) devoted to introducing Asian studies to American higher education. Spiegelberg had traveled to India in the late 1940s to research the contemporary practices of the ancientspiritual traditions of …

Faculty Fellows 2013-2014, Place

PLACE Historical Documents

This document provides biographies of PLACE faculty fellows at Linfield College for 2013-2014.

Perceived Attitudes And Staff Roles Of Community Based Outpatient Clinics In Disaster Management, Pauline Antoinette Hodge-Hilton

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Objective: Natural and manmade disasters have claimed the lives of thousands of individuals in the US and caused billions of dollars in property damage. First responders carry the responsibility of disaster management, leaving other health care professionals such as medical clinic staff underutilized to support the clinic staff. We explored how medical and support staff in Community-based Outpatient VHA Clinics (CBOC) perceive their roles in disaster response, their attitudes about clinic readiness and continuity of care during disasters, and their ability to function in a post disaster environment.

Methods: A mixed method study was conducted to answer questions related to …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Socioenvironmental Impacts From Unconventional Natural Gas Development And Hydraulic Fracturing In The Haynesville Shale, Anthony E. Ladd

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Environmental controversy over unconventional natural gas development utilizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic “fracking” has been on the rise in recent years. While most of the media attention has been focused on the conflicts in states like Pennsylvania, New York, Texas, and Colorado, the discovery of huge natural gas reserves in the Haynesville Shale formation in 2008 set off a drilling rush that has resulted in differential benefits and risks for various residents. Drawing on current research and extensive interview data collected from a relevant cross-section of community stakeholders, this study offers a descriptive and comparative analysis of the types of …

Women Of The River: Grassroots Organizing And Natural Disaster, Larry G. Morton, Samuel R. Terrazas, Matthew G. Herriman

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This study, a sub-study of a larger project, the Missouri Mobile Home Estates Project, examines the grassroots efforts of three women in an impoverished Midwestern river community to improve the lives of the children living there. The women’s efforts included infrastructure improvements, a summer meal program for the children, a food bank, and a thrift shop. This community was devastated by floods in 1973, 1986, and 1993; at these times, crisis intervention services were provided to the residents. Yet, it appears little assistance was offered to the community between these floods, despite the community’s well-publicized crime and poverty. Using a …

Patterns Of Anti-Muslim Violence In Burma: A Call For Accountability And Prevention, Andrea Gittleman, Marissa Brodney, Holly G. Atkinson

Publications and Research

In this report, the authors documents how persecution of and violence against the Rohingya in Burma has spread to other Muslim communities throughout the country. Physicians for Human Rights conducted eight separate investigations in Burma and the surrounding region between 2004 and 2013. PHR’s most recent field research in early 2013 indicates a need for renewed attention to violence against minorities and impunity for such crimes. The findings presented in this report are based on investigations conducted in Burma over two separate visits for a combined 21-day period between March and May 2013.

Dose- And Time-Dependent Neuroprotective Effects Of Pycnogenol® Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Mubeen A. Ansari, Kelly N. Roberts, Stephen W. Scheff

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

After traumatic brain injury (TBI), both primary and secondary injury cascades are initiated, leading to neuronal death and cognitive dysfunction. We have previously shown that the combinational bioflavonoid, Pycnogenol® (PYC), alters some secondary injury cascades and protects synaptic proteins when administered immediately following trauma. The purpose of the present study was to explore further the beneficial effects of PYC and to test whether it can be used in a more clinically relevant fashion. Young adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a unilateral moderate/severe cortical contusion. Subjects received a single intravenous (i.v.) injection of PYC (1, 5, or 10 mg/kg) …

Using Participatory Action Research And Photo Methods To Explore Higher Education Administration As An Emotional Endeavor, Leslie D. Gonzales, Rodolfo Rincones

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we build on Wood’s (2010, 2012) recent call to consider higher education as a work place that conjures emotion among constituents, particularly positional leaders, like department chairs. Using a participatory action research and photo - enhanced methodological approach, we illustrate the emotional labor that was poured into the work of one department chair. Consequently, our work yields three contributions. First, we counter the overly rationalistic depiction of organizational leadership research and thinking. Second, our work suggests that if we conceptualize and understand emotion and emotional labor as a form of labor compelled by organizational norms, rule s, …

A Gateway For Everyone To Believe: Identity, Disaster, And Football In New Orleans, Brandon D. Haynes

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to analyze the dynamic processes of collective identity by examining the relationship between New Orleans and its professional football team, the Saints, after Hurricane Katrina. Much of the discourse written on American professional sports focuses on economic transactions between player and franchise or franchise and city. This study explores sports from a cultural perspective to understand the perceived social values provided to the host community. This case study spans the years from 2006 to 2013 and discusses several major events, including the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the reopening of the Superdome, the Saints winning a …

Overcoming Barriers To Local Food Access: A Case Study, Brittany Ryan

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis focuses on the idea that food insecurity and access are real issues in the lives of many Americans. Simply stated, food insecurity is when a person does not have enough food to eat or does now know where his/her next meal is coming from. More importantly when looking at food insecurity is the realization that healthy, local food access is even more prevalent an issue – with increasingly more under-resourced individuals and families being food insecure and unhealthy at the same time. This thesis includes a literature review on diet and nutrition in the United States, a chapter …

Plain & Simple: The Will To Live Sustainably In An Unsustainable World, Brandi Nichole Button

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sustainability is a buzzword covering a variety of fields and subjects. For the purposes of my research sustainability is “the ability to keep going over the long haul. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future as well as the present” (Gilman 1). The sustainability movement refers to activists, educators and researchers who are dedicated to finding high quality ways of living in the world that are environmentally benign for all who are now living as well future generations to come (Gilman 1). This research focuses on three women who engage in voluntary …

A Content Analysis Of A&E'S Hoarders, Samantha J. Redwine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The interest in hoarding has peaked since its first clinical definition in 1996 and is evident by six television shows centered on the topic. This thesis reports the results a content analysis of two seasons (21 episodes) of the popular T.V. series A&E’s Hoarders. People rationalize hoarding in ways that both differ and overlap. Doctors, professional organizers, hoarders and their loved ones collectively frame hoarding as a medical and mental health problem. The results suggest that Americans’ perceptions of hoarding behavior has shifted from one that is deviant behavior to one that is medicalized.

Neiman Marcus Chicken Coops: Exploring Class And Identity Through Backyard Chicken Keeping And The Contemporary Food Movement, Traci D. Joseph

Masters Theses

This paper is a case study of a proposed backyard chicken ordinance for Grand Rapids, Michigan. The study is viewed in light of social movement theory, specifically new social movement theory, to determine if events surrounding and leading up to the debate can be labeled as a social movement. A key finding is a culture of consumption as a common thread throughout the debate. The poultry industry pushed for continued consumption of its products with an agenda of fear regarding disease and improper handling. Proponents countered with a discussion on an ethic of care for the birds. Ultimately, this rejection …

Factors And Motivations Behind Volunteering At Domestic Violence Emergency Shelters, Amy Fowler

HIM 1990-2015

Volunteerism is a commonly researched topic however, much scarcer is research into the factors or motivations behind volunteering at domestic violence emergency shelters. Knowing the motivating factors that lead people to dedicate their time to different organizations is important because it gives us an understanding of what can be done in order to get other people involved in pro-social activities that benefit society as a whole. Just as there are different types of individuals who volunteer their time, there are different factors and motivators that compel those individuals to do so. Research to date has identified some common motivators. One …

Characteristics Of 4-H Participants And Their Psychosocial Development, Lauralee Lyons

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Volunteerism is an important component in the 4-H program. It was initially used as a method to help agents reach the many youth interested in participating in 4-H. Community service has since become a required component for every club project. Research shows that volunteering can impact youth in many different ways. Other research shows that 4-H youth are more likely to contribute or do some type of community service.

The present study uses the Modified Extended Version of the Object Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOMEIS), the Cognitive Autonomy and Self-Evaluation (CASE) inventory, and an instrument specifically designed to study …

Diagrammatic Elicitation: Defining The Use Of Diagrams In Data Collection, Muriah Umoquit, Peggy Tso, Tünde Varga-Atkins, Mark O'Brien, Johannes Wheeldon

The Qualitative Report

The use of graphic representations of experience and the social environment in the data collection process is an emerging approach. The terms diagramming, mapping and drawing are often used interchangeably, with no common interdisciplinary understanding of what they mean. The lack of a unifying terminology has resulted in simultaneous but separate developments undermining a more coherent approach to this emergent method. By defining what a diagram is and examining where diagramming fits amongst other data collection approaches, this paper proposes the term diagrammatic elicitation to refer to the use of diagrams in the data collection process. Two subcategories of this …

Studies On Religion And Recidivism: Focus On Roxbury, Dorchester, And Mattapan, George Walters-Sleyon

Trotter Review

This research article raises the question of whether religion can be considered a viable partner in the reduction of the high rate of recidivism associated with the increasing mass incarceration in the United States. Can sustainable transformation in the life of a prisoner or former prisoner as a result of religious conversion be subjected to evidenced-based practices to derive impartial conclusions about the value of religion in their lives? With a particular focus on three neighborhoods of Boston—Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan—this study examines the relevance of religion and faith-based organizations in lowering the high rate of recidivism associated with incarceration …

Legal Tails: Policing American Cities Through Animals, Irus Braverman

Contributions to Books

Published as Chapter 8 in Policing Cities: Urban Securitization and Regulation in a 21st Century World, Randy K. Lippert & Kevin Walby, eds.

“I don’t worry about the four-legged animals,” Officer Armatys tells me as I scramble to catch up when he enters a backyard with a fierce-looking dog. “It’s the two-legged animals I am concerned about.” I interviewed Officer Armatys twice, first in his office in the Erie County’s Society for the Protection of Animals (ESPCA) and, a few months later, on a ride-along during a routine workday. Based on these encounters and numerous others with members of the …

Summer Of Shrew, Part 2: Tamed? Really?, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

In the second of a four-part series on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner argues that Shakespeare’s play raises challenging questions about the way we define gender roles, and the answers aren’t as obvious as they might seem.

Preventative Care And Culture, Anna Wagman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the intersection between culture and health. The similarities and differences between methods for preventative medicine employed by traditional and allopathic systems are discussed. These ostensibly disparate systems, in reality, display many parallels in regards to their delivery. The effects of industrial progress, and therefore cultural change, on the health of the inhabitants of rapidly urbanizing African cities are examined. Historical information from studies of Great Britain, the first area to undergo a full industrial revolution is also drawn on. These analyses essentially predict the societal issues that come with urbanization, such as the amalgamation of preexisting pollutants …

Intentional Kayaking: Awakening To Intimacy Within The Natural World, Nancy M. Rowe

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This article explores the notion of intimacy within the natural world. The author blends personal quest with scholarship from transpersonal psychology, spirituality, nature writing, and philosophy. It highlights the results of a thematic content analysis of journal entries made during a week of kayaking with the conscious intention of being in better relationship with a specific lake community. A thematic analysis of the journal entries that followed this experience revealed that that certain actions, attitudes, and ways of being increased intimacy and contributed to a greater sense of spirituality. She posits that we can all achieve greater spiritual connection and …