Digital Commons Network^™

Policy Considerations From A Nationwide It-In-Education Initiative: Macedonia Connects, Laura Hosman

Political Science

Though information technology (IT) is increasingly touted as an effective tool through which governments may enhance their development efforts, to date, many IT-related deployments have remained in a pilot stage, which does little to aid governments in understanding macro-level IT policy approaches to confronting development challenges. To address this shortcoming, this article presents a unique nationwide initiative: Macedonia Connects, a multipartner, scaled IT-for-education project wherein every school in the country was equipped with both computers and wireless Internet connections and through which the Internet was made available to citizens across the entire country. A number of policy-related aspects of the …

Mustang Daily, September 18, 2010

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Design Of A Low-Cost Underwater Acoustic Modem, Bridget Benson, Ying Li, Brian Faunce, Kenneth Domond, Don Kimball, Curt Schurgers, Ryan Kastner

Electrical Engineering

There has been an increasing interest in creating short-range, low data rate, underwater wireless sensor networks for scientific marine exploration and monitoring. However, the lack of an inexpensive, underwater acoustic modem is preventing the proliferation of these sensor networks. Thus, we are building an underwater acoustic modem starting with the most critical component from a cost perspective-the transducer. The design substitutes a commercial transducer with a homemade transducer using cheap piezoceramic material and builds the rest of the modem's components around the properties of the transducer to extract as much performance as possible. This letter describes the high level design, …

Development Of A Small And Inexpensive Terrain Avoidance System For An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Via Potential Function Guidance Algorithm, Shane Alan Wallace

Master's Theses

Despite the first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mission being flown on Aug 22 1849 to bomb Venice UAVs have only recently began to modernize into sophisticated tools beyond simple aerial vehicles. With an increasing number of potential applications, such as cargo delivery, communications, search and rescue, law enforcement, and homeland security, the need for appropriate UAV technology advancement also arose. Here, the development of a low-cost collision avoidance system is described. Hardware was tested and selected based on predetermined constraints and goals. Additionally, a variety of potential functions were explored and assessed at their effectiveness in preventing a collision of …

Preconference Proceedings On Advances In Adaptive Planning Capabilities, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

No abstract provided.

Solving The Data Deluge Problem, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

The paper postulates that the information technology revolution that is commonly referred to as the Information Age is currently in a transition stage between data-processing and knowledge management that should be more aptly referred to as the Data Age. Symptoms of this transition stage are a data deluge problem that is evidenced by the inability of human computer-users to effectively analyze and draw useful conclusions from the overwhelming volume of data that is being collected, the increasing complexity of networked systems, and the acknowledged vulnerability of virtually all existing digital systems to cyber security threats.

The author suggests that the …

Book Review: Adam N. Mckeown. Soldier Poets In The Age Of Shakespeare, Steven Marx

English

No abstract provided.

Mustang Daily, June 3, 2010

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Rhode Island's Wars: Imperial Conflicts And Provincial Self-Interests In The Ocean Colony, 1739–48, Greg Rogers

Master's Theses

Whether in terms of political and military threats or economic and demographic growth, this thesis argues that Rhode Island’s involvement in this period of imperial warfare was characterized by self-interest on a variety of levels. The government’s military plans, the expansion of provincial power, attempts to raise expeditionary forces, the use of privateers, and the indirect participation of non-combatants all depict a colonial society very interested in its own local political and economic interests. Although literally “provincial,” these interests exhibit the Atlantic and global networks that the smallest of the New England colonies was situated in. These two different sets …

Platform Effects On Optical Variability And Prediction Of Underwater Visibility, Grace Chang, Michael S. Twardowski, Yu You, Mark A. Moline, Peng-Wang Zhai, Scott Freeman, Matthew Slivkoff, Francesco Nencioli, George W. Kattawar

Biological Sciences

We present hydrographic and optical data collected concurrently from two different platforms, the R/P FLoating Instrument Platform and the R/V Kilo Moana, located about 2km apart in the Santa Barbara Channel in California. We show that optical variability between the two platforms was due primarily to platform effects, specifically the breakdown of stratification from mixing by the hull of R/P FLIP. Modeled underwater radiance distribution differed by as much as 50% between the two platforms during stratified conditions. We determine that the observed optical variability resulted in up to 57% differences in predicted horizontal visibility of a black target.

Alone At The Top: A Revisionist History To Determine The True Measure Of Presidential Success, Christopher Spiers

History

No abstract provided.

Mere Christianity: The Lasting Work Of C.S. Lewis, Stephanie Jeanne Johnson

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Mustang Daily, April 28, 2010

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Mustang Daily, April 26, 2010

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Mustang Daily, April 14, 2010

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Engineering Advantage, Spring 2010, College Of Engineering

Engineering Advantage

No abstract provided.

Crises Of Whiteness And Empire In Colonial Indochina: The Removal Of Abandoned Eurasian Children From The Vietnamese Milieu, 1890–1956, Christina Firpo

History

From 1890–1956, non-governmental welfare agencies worked with the French colonial government in Indochina to remove Eurasian children, who had been abandoned by their French fathers, from their Vietnamese mothers and the Vietnamese cultural environment. In an era marked by historical exigencies, perceived threats to white prestige, and inherent challenges to the colonial patriarchy, such children were believed to be a threat to colonial security and white prestige. The racial formations of abandoned Eurasian children in colonial Indochina changed repeatedly in response to these threats. Drawing from the rhetoric of racial sciences and led by anxieties over changes colonial security, French …

The Cyber Security Threat, Jens Pohl

Architecture

There is justified concern that the Information Technology (IT) infrastructures of the United States (US) and probably all countries in the world are not secure. Our digital national security infrastructure is routinely penetrated. Some of these attacks have compromised critical systems supporting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Defense contractor networks that store information vital to our national security are being attacked with increasing frequency (Harbiger 2010). In 2007 some unknown adversary broke into the Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of Commerce networks, and probably the Department of Energy and NASA as well (CBS 2009). In April …

Thoroughbreds: European Roots, Jennifer Elaine Skidmore

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

"In Memory Of W. B. Yeats": Elegy For A Man And An Ideal, Travis Mcdonald

English

Travis McDonald: “‘In Memory of W. B. Yeats’: Elegy for a Man and an Ideal” W. H. Auden’s 1939 elegy for W. B. Yeats recognizes the passing of his contemporary as well his own belief in the social efficacy of poetry. The form of the elegy serves the traditional commemorative purpose while simultaneously enabling Auden to critique both Yeats and politically intentioned art.

'The Father Of Us All': The Cold War Liberalism Of Reinhold Niebuhr And The Paradox Of America's Moral Insecurity, Kendall S. Eyster

History

145 years after Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, there has been a flood of interest in theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and his awareness of the potential hubris in waging a struggle against extremism. His constantly shifting positions on liberalism and America’s global stature has led to disagreement between historians and politicians who claim his legacy on both ends of the political spectrum. What is indisputable, however, is Niebuhr’s belief in liberalism’s epistemological debt to the ideals of Christianity and the repudiation of America’s history as merely a blueprint for democracy that should be repeated, sui generis, elsewhere.

California As Music To American Ears: Migration, Technology, And Rock And Roll In The Golden State, 1946–2000, Toby T. Willett

Master's Theses

Migrations and technological advances in California following World War II, spurred radical changes in the production and development of popular music, most notably rock and roll. California largely lacked the entrenched traditions of the American Northeast, and in many ways its exploding population translated into the growth of a culture built around embracing newer methodologies, whether technological innovations or radical artistic departures. In large part owing to its increasing ethnic diversity during the economic expansion, California was uniquely poised to become a center of incredible postwar dynamism, especially when seen in the production, consumption, and stylistic development of music. Nevertheless, …

Mustang Daily, February 19, 2010

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Cal Poly Society Of Women Engineers Honors Five Outstanding Members, Public Affairs Office

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Mustang Daily, January 7, 2010

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Design And Performance Of Circulation Control Flap Systems, Rory M. Golden, David D. Marshall

Aerospace Engineering

The design of circulation control (CC) dual radius flap systems were investigated to characterize the parameters that make up the flap surface to offer further knowledge into the CC field of study. Multiple dual radius flap geometries, along with variants, were developed by varying specific flap parameters from a baseline configuration that had previously developed. The aerodynamics of the different flap geometries were analyzed using two-dimensional CFD. This research will explore the design of CC pneumatic flap systems to improve the performance of existing CC flap configurations, and provide insight into the characteristics of the CC flap geometry.

Yersinia Pestis Proteomics And Vaccine Development, Rebecca Paddack, Lindsey Evans, Jr-Shiuan Lin, Stephen Smiley, Brett Chromy

STAR Program Research Presentations

Pneumonic plague, caused by the gram-negative bacteria Yersinia pestis, has led to millions of human causalities during several major pandemics and has the potential to be employed as a deadly biological warfare agent. For this reason, it is vital that an effective vaccine against Y. pestis be created. Currently, a subunit vaccine exists which works by stimulating B-cells (humoral immunity), but it has failed to protect primates in aerosolized bacterial challenges. In an effort to complement the existing vaccine, an alternative vaccine strategy can use both B-cell stimulation and the targeting of T cells (cell-mediated immunity) with an antigenic peptide …

Expanding Opportunity Structures: Parental Investments In Education, Migration, And Extrinsic Risk Reduction Among Indo-Fijians, Dawn B. Neill

Social Sciences

Parental investment strategies are contingent on parental capacities and ecology. Parental embodied capital may be important in aspiration construction and investments in children’s human capital, which is especially important in urban environments where skills are directly tied to wage income. For Indo-Fijians, rural ecology strongly limits opportunities. Here this limitation is conceptualized as extrinsic risk and immune to reduction through enhanced parental investment. Urban migration is interpreted as a risk reduction strategy, given an expanded urban opportunity structure (lower extrinsic risk). Qualitative and quantitative data from 678 Indo-Fijian children suggest that, contingent on parental capacities, parents migrate in response to …

Ethics Of Human Enhancement: 25 Questions & Answers, Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, James Moor, John Weckert

Philosophy

This paper presents the principal findings from a three-year research project funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) on ethics of human enhancement technologies. To help untangle this ongoing debate, we have organized the discussion as a list of questions and answers, starting with background issues and moving to specific concerns, including: freedom & autonomy, health & safety, fairness & equity, societal disruption, and human dignity. Each question-and answer pair is largely self-contained, allowing the reader to skip to those issues of interest without affecting continuity.

Unifying America: The Use Of American Propaganda During World War I, Maxwell Riley Woodcock

Communication Studies

This project offers a historical look at the Committee on Public Information (CPI), its leader George Creel, and the uses of propaganda in America during the First World War. The paper discusses Creel's role in creating a propaganda machine that influenced the beliefs of millions of Americans. The last section analyzes what critics thought of the American government after they propagandized the American people.