Digital Commons Network^™

Law Enforcement Attitudes Toward The 1989 Oregon Firearms Law And Gun Control, Andrew Schneiderman

Dissertations and Theses

The US Supreme Court decision Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services cited; "the police or other government agents are under 'no general duty' to provide services, such as protection, to any particular citizen. But rather, duty to provide public services owed only to the public at large, and absent special relationships between police and individuals"(09 S.Ct. 998/1989). At the same time of this decision, the public was undergoing a trend of proliferating millions of personally owned firearms for self-defense and sport. In addition, citizens are now carrying concealed handguns in the 31 states that allow such a behavior. …

El Español En El Condado De Multnomah, La Interpretación Médica Contextual, Y Las Funciones Del Intérprete Médico Profesional (The Spanish Language In Multnomah County, Contextual Medical Interpreting, And The Role Of The Professional Interpreter), Marco Polo Hernández Cuevas

Dissertations and Theses

El objeto de este trabajo es detectar el español hablado en el condado de Multnomah, Oregón, estudiar el significado de contextualidad en el ejercicio de la interpretación médica de español-inglés e inglés-español, y proponer una descripción de funciones para el intérprete basada en el perfil del cliente que solicita servicios en las clínicas públicas de la entidad.

El autor a través de un micro-enfoque coloca al lector en el centro del debate nacional actual acerca del significado de la interpretación contextual y las funciones del intérprete médico profesional; basándose en los censos estadounidenses de 1990 y en reportajes y estudios--tanto …

A Study Of The Level Of Knowledge Of Adult Foster Care Home Providers In Multnomah County In The State Of Oregon About Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids And Communication Strategies, Marsha Peters Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

The level of knowledge about hearing aid use, function, and maintenance of caregivers of the elderly persons who are hearing impaired and residing in adult foster care homes in Multnomah County in the state of Oregon was assessed via a 1 7 question survey. Twenty subjects participated in the study. Subjects' responses demonstrated poor knowledge about this subject and indicated that residents' needs are unmet. The results clearly demonstrate the subjects' limited knowledge of the operation of hearing aids, poor grasp of the basic troubleshooting methods for repair, and inaccurate perceptions of hearing aid adjustment. Access to professional audiologic care …

Combining The Historical And The Personal In Painting, Christopher A. Shotola-Hardt

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis project consists of five large scale, abstract paintings executed on Masonite panels. A major component of these paintings is the heavily built-up surface texture. In order to achieve this heavy, sculptural surface, plaster and acrylic media have been applied in an aggressive, spontaneous manner using variously-sized masonry knives. The paintings are largely action-oriented. They are non-neutral, and they bespeak a great deal of intensity on the part of the artist.

The five paintings contain emotional content based upon personal experiences and family history. In some cases, I began a painting with the subject matter clearly in mind. In …

Settlements Due To Arid Collapsible Soils, Heather L. Devine

Dissertations and Theses

The arid alluvial deposits common to the western United States frequently undergo moderate to severe collapse when wetted that can threaten or destroy the stability of structures that are founded on such soils. Additionally, in some areas collapse has been known to occur due to overburden stresses alone. As development expands in these areas a method to estimate the degree of this collapse is essential.

Current settlement methods are reviewed and evaluated as they apply to collapsible soils, providing a basis for the development of a proposed settlement method for determining collapse. To aid in the determining the basis for …

Geochemistry, Stratigraphy And Provenance Of The Portland Hills Silt In The Tualatin Mountains, Portland, Oregon, John L. Lawes Iii

Dissertations and Theses

Soil morphology and geochemistry of loess were investigated at nine sites in the Tualatin Mountains west of Portland and at additional sites in The Dalles, eastern Washington and Puget Sound. A total of forty samples were examined using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA).

Stratigraphic relationships and soil development suggest that the PHS ages of Lentz (1977) be revised. The age of the Portland Hills Silt (PHS) ranges from 12,000 to at least 960,000 years before present.

The geochemistry of the PHS supports the Lentz (1977) hypothesis of the PHS as a loess of continental origin. Thorium/scandium ratios in the PHS …

Comparison Of Intelligibility Estimation And Orthographic Transcription Methods By Preprofessional Speech-Language Pathologists, Kristi M. Mowe

Dissertations and Theses

When the fundamental means of communications is speech, the main component for successful communication is intelligibility. The speech of children with disordered phonologies is often unintelligible; therefore, accurate and reliable methods of measuring intelligibility are essential when determining eligibility, and in selecting and providing appropriate treatment.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the percentage estimation method and the orthographic transcription method when measuring speech intelligibility by preprofessional listeners. For this study, the standard measurement of intelligibility was defined as the percentage of words understood in a continuous speech sample derived from orthographic transcription of the …

The Controversy Over The Portland Public Schools' African-American Baseline Essays, 1983-1992, Thomas Damian Rand-Luby

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis chronicles the controversy surrounding the implementation of the multicultural education curriculum in the public schools of Portland, Oregon between 1983 and 1992. It surveys and discusses the germane events, processes, procedures, and perceptions which led up to, accompanied, and emerged from the city's adoption of the African-American Baseline Essays. This work seeks to place the Portland experiment in an historical context by revealing its contribution to the study of United States social/cultural history and race relations. This story of community empowerment is tied to long-standing conflicts and questions surrounding the nature of multicultural education, the role of public …

Temporal Characteristics Of Fluent Speech In The Stuttered Utterances Of Children, Dixon Ira Kirsch

Dissertations and Theses

Studies investigating the stuttered speech of children are fewer in number as compared to those exploring adult dysfluency. This is notable as the features that characterize child stuttering are generally thought to be significantly different from those that describe advanced stuttering. Clinical intervention programs currently use timing-based interventions as one means of treating stuttering. As such, acoustic data describing the timing disorder is critical to determining the efficacy of these programs for both children and adults. The present study investigated the difference in duration (in msec) between words of stuttered and nonstuttered utterances of children. The words immediately before and …

The Poetics Of John Keats In "The Fall Of Hyperion, A Dream", Amy A. Zenger

Dissertations and Theses

The Hyperion poems are Keats's epics. Like Wordsworth in The Excursion, in these poems Keats attempts to write an epic of the unexplored regions of the human mind. Unlike Wordsworth, however, Keats uses the narrative vocabulary of Hellenic myth--a vocabulary already at hand--but alters it to suit his own purposes. As they are concerned with the mind, these poems deal with the same issues that characterize contemporary debates about the relation of mind to language, issues that illuminate what these poems are about as much as they illuminate Keats's own use of language and theory of poetry.

This essay …

Molecular Fluorescence At A Rough Surface: The Orientation Effects, William Lee Blacke

Dissertations and Theses

The interaction between an emitting molecular dipole and a conducting substrate with a periodic surface roughness is looked at with particular interest in the different orientations of the dipole with respect to the substrate surface. A previous dynamical, perturbative theory for the effects of perpendicular dipole is extended to treat a dipole oriented parallel to the surface of the substrate. The results are then applied to study the modified fluorescence characteristics of the emitting dipoles. Numerical results demonstrate that some fluorescence characteristics are extremely sensitive to the molecular orientation with the dipole oriented along the grating (x direction) exhibiting unique …

Ethnography Of Communication As On Organizational Communication Assessment Tool: A Test Of The Method, Francisca Inez Trujillo-Dalbey

Dissertations and Theses

Professional organizational consultants and researchers performing organizational communication assessments with non-profit boards of directors have few tools available to them and many of these tools under emphasize the centrality of communication and overlook the power-asdomination (Mumby, 1994) issues present in organizations. This study tested the ethnography of communication (Hymes, 1972) as an organizational communication assessment tool with a board of directors of a non-profit organization in Oregon and examined the results by employing Mumby's (1994) construct, thereby conducting a critical ethnography of communication.

This study offers important insights into boards of directors of nonprofit organizations and has important implications for …

Wealth For Everybody - Semantics And Structure Of The Capitalist Metanarrative, Sylvia Hendel

Dissertations and Theses

In 1979 Jean-Fran~ois Lyotard defined postmodemism as "incredulity toward metanarratives." One of six narratives Lyotard saw in decline was the capitalist one, which promised wealth for everybody. According to Lyotard this narrative was refuted by recurrent economic crises in the 20th century. This thesis examines Lyotard's statement about the decline of the capitalist metanarrative by taking the approach of the sociology of knowledge, a branch of sociology that attempts to relate ideas to the socio-historical settings in which they are produced and received. The idea of general abundance, or the semantics, is described in othodox economic theory. Four distinct, successive …

The Impact Of Theories Of Dialogic Epistemology On Composition Theory And Pedagogy, Kandy Sue Robertson

Dissertations and Theses

Dialogic epistemological theory dramatically changes traditional concepts of composition theory and pedagogy in several ways. First, it changes our understanding of the ways in which human beings acquire knowledge. By suggesting that the cognitive environment is dialogic, a product of consensus, rather than isolated within the individual, we come to understand knowledge as a product of experience and interpretation rather than a fixed quantity waiting to be discovered.

Second, dialogic epistemology had changed our concept of the way in which classrooms are configured as well as the ways in which they function. The notion of learning through dialogue facilitates collaboration …

Early To Middle Pleistocene Catastrophic Flood Deposits, The Dalles, Oregon, David Irving Cordero

Dissertations and Theses

A roadcut on Highway 197, three kilometers southeast of The Dalles, Oregon, exposes a sequence of Quaternary sediments and five buried paleosols. The sediments, paleosols, and associated tephras at this site provide evidence of a Quaternary history of catastrophic flooding in the Columbia Basin extending back at least 700 ka and of an early eruption (ca. 600 ka) of Mount Adams. Four sedimentary units are exposed in this cut: Holocene loess, late Wisconsin Missoula Flood slackwater deposits, five pre-late Wisconsin catastrophic flood slackwater deposits bearing well developed paleosols, and late Tertiary Dalles Formation volcaniclastics. All but the oldest are predominantly …

The Persistence Of Elites And The Legacy Of I.G. Farben, A.G., Robert Arthur Reinert

Dissertations and Theses

On a massive scale, German business elites linked their professional ambitions to the affairs of the Nazi State. By 1937, the chemical giant, l.G. Farben, became completely "Nazified" and provided Hitler with materials which were essential to conduct war. With its monopoly over the manufacture of critical wartime products and global business interests, LG. Farben became one of the most powerful companies in the world during World War II, and an integral part of the Third Reich power structure. The conglomerate also provoked hostile mergers within the conquered "territories" of the German Reich, and constructed one of the largest privately-owned …

Japanese Intelligibility And Comprehensibility Assessments Of Different English Accents, David Michael Levin

Dissertations and Theses

As the result of historical events and the adaptive nature of the language itself, English is generally accepted today as the world's international language. While various countries have adapted the English language to serve their own specific needs, the question of whether or not the changes made to English in these countries, for example phonological, will still enable the language to be intelligible in the international arena. If English is to be the de facto world language, then international intelligibility should be an important goal.

For this research, 211 Japanese university students were asked to assess the intelligibility and comprehensibility …

A Lay Theory Of Relational Satisfaction With Best Friends In Japan, Eriko Maeda

Dissertations and Theses

Using a total of 529 Japanese college students (275 females, 254 males) living in Japan, the present study employed five sequential stages. First, it explored Japanese people's beliefs about relational satisfaction with best friends and the organization of these beliefs. In order to explore these beliefs and their organization, this study replicated Cole and Bradac's (1994) study of a lay theory of relational satisfaction with best friends, which focused on people from the United States. The study then examined similarities and differences of Japanese beliefs and organization of the beliefs with those of the U.S. Lastly, the study investigated Japanese …

The Generalization Of Stridency From Treated To Untreated Misarticulated Phonemes, Kathleen Ann Ozanich

Dissertations and Theses

This single-subject study was developed to investigate the potential of treating one misarticulated strident phoneme to induce generalization to other misarticulated strident phonemes. One male, age 4 years 4 months, was trained on /s/ in words. A training program, modified from the Hodson and Paden (1991) phonological cycling approach, was used. Two untreated phonemes from separate and distinct sound classes were monitored as control sounds for across-feature class change. A total of 24 treatment sessions of 50 minutes each were provided. The results from the pretest and posttest showed an increase of 51% correct stridency production for all untreated stridents …

Analysis Of Rhetorical Organization And Style Patterns In Korean And American Business Fax Letters Of Complaint In English, Mi Young Park

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to find out if Korean and American business people use different rhetorical patterns in business writing, and if so, how these patterns differ. Specifically, this study examined rhetorical organization and style patterns of Korean and American business letter writing in English to determine differences.

The data used in this study consisted exclusively of fax transmitted business letters of complaint written in English obtained from seven companies in Korea. The sample consisted of seven letters written by American business people and fourteen by Korean business people. They were analyzed according to a predetermined set of …

Training Strategies For Critic And Action Neural Networks In Dual Heuristic Programming Method, Christian Peter Paintz

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis discusses strategies for and details of training procedures for the Dual Heuristic Programming (DHP) methodology. This and other approximate dynamic programming approaches (HDP, DHP, GDHP) have been discussed in some detail in the literature, all being members of the Adaptive Critic Design (ACD) family. The example applications used here are the inverted pendulum problem and a fully nonlinear constant velocity bicycle steering model. The inverted pendulum has been successfully controlled using DHP, as reported in the literature. This thesis suggests and investigates several alternative D HP training procedures and compares their performance with respect to convergence speed and …

Ethnic Conflict In Southern Kyrgyzstan, Jennifer Jane O'Donnell

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis focuses on the interethnic relations between ethnic groups in Southern Kyrgyzstan using survey data collected from 500 students at Osh State University. This study examines the nature of attitudes of students and faculty regarding homogeneity, exclusionary attitudes, satisfaction with current living situation, and interethnic relations.

Research on interethnic conflict suggests that interethnic relations will depend on several variables, including the size and strength of the various ethnic groups, their political opportunities, their economic situation, and their communal ties. This line of research would suggest that the Kyrgyz would be in the strongest position among the ethnic groups in …

Post-Middle Miocene Geologic History Of The Tualatin Basin, Oregon With Hydrogeologic Implications, Doyle Coley Wilson

Dissertations and Theses

The geologic history and sedimentary till of the Tualatin Basin after Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) emplacement is assessed and related to groundwater characteristics. The 334 m deep HBD-1 core from the Hillsboro Airport, provides the primary information for sediment characterization and is supported by over 2400 well logs and cores, and four seismic lines. The sedimentary section above the 26 m thick paleosol on the CRBG in HBD-I is divided into two main groups: a 25 m thick section of Missoula flood sediments called the Willamette Silt overlies a 263 m thick finegrained sequence of fluvial Neogene sediments.

Pollen, …

Geochemical Characteristics And Correlations Within The Triassic-Jurassic Age Gabbs And Sunrise Formations Of West Central Nevada, Karen Elizabeth Boelling

Dissertations and Theses

Trace and minor element geochemistry was determined using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis for ninety-six (96) limestone and calcareous siltstone samples from four stratigraphic sections in the Triassic-Jurassic age Gabbs and Sunrise formations of west central Nevada. Geochemical data support lithologic and faunal interpretations of relative basin positions of the Sunrise Formation stratigraphic sections, as well as basin development (including transgressive­-regressive sequences) during deposition of the Gabbs and Sunrise formations at New York Canyon (Gabbs Valley Range). All sections show characteristics of both oceanic and continental island arc sources. Rare positive Eu anomalies relative to chondrites suggest that the Gabbs Formation …

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: President Judith Ramaley’s legacy for PSU is one of innovation through teamwork and a renewed sense of pride; four alums had what it takes to start high-tech companies and become members of the digital elite; novelist Molly Gloss ’66 has turned her richly crafter writing to the mysteries of utopia; outstanding productions and virtuoso grads make the Opera Program a starred attraction; and more.

Habitats, Sydney Jean Thompson

Dissertations and Theses

A collection of original poetry exploring the theme of landscape as metaphor for human experience. The collection explores the regions of Oregon in three sections entitled, "Pacific," "Skeleton Caves," and "Cascades." Landscape is interwoven with human emotion and personal experiences. Nature becomes an objective participant and teacher in the struggle to understand the nature of grief, loss, love, and life.

The poems included in "Pacific" primarily pertain to relationships. The primary image is water, whereas the the poems in "Cascades" are mountainous, relating to trial, the possibility of volcanic activity, and the promise of unseen vistas. "Skeleton Caves" is named …

The Redemptive Role Of Chivalry In Old French Arthurian Romance (12th And 13th Centuries), Nora Jane Peacock

Dissertations and Theses

Many medieval authors used religious imagery to influence their religious-minded audiences. Old French Arthurian romances are laden with religious images and allegoric undertones drawn from contemporary religious beliefs. The purpose of the present study is to examine the changes in redemptive imagery as represented through certain characters in the romances studied and to demonstrate how the religious views of the Middle Ages were assimilated into this body of Arthurian literature. Two main themes arise from this study: the dynamic quality of the religious images and the functions and purpose of redemption in regards to the final spiritual quest in the …

Images Of Women In Abdelhak Serhane's Le Soliel Des Obscurs, Wendy Grace Cook

Dissertations and Theses

Current trends in North African francophone literature include a movement towards the exploration of alienation and exile, most often in the form of novels written about Maghrebian immigrants in Europe. Yet this alienation exists within the North African context as well, and it is possible to feel alienated and exiled, as well as marginalized, within one's homeland. This question is explored by Moroccan francophone author Abdelhak Serhane in his novel, Le Soleil des obscurs, which is the focus of this study.

The purpose of the research is to examine the four principle female characters in the novel and relate …

Evaluating Modernization And Dependency Explanations Of The Unequal Distribution Of Income In Developing Countries, Paul Timothy Shattuck

Dissertations and Theses

This paper tests two different theoretical explanations of the causes of the unequal distribution of income in less developed countries using data from circa 1990. There are several reasons for examining this much-studied topic. First, as described in the previous research findings chapter below, there is no consensus in the literature regarding the relative effects of modernization and dependency variables on income inequality. Determining the independent effects of the two models is still an open ended question. Second, the availability of more recent data provides us with an opportunity to check the possibility that previous findings were partly due to …

Enter-Action, Pencils, Nandei Mcanally

Dissertations and Theses

Enter-Action: Pencils is a site-specific sculptural installation m Gallery 299, Neuberger Hall, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon April 8 through April 30, 1997. This installation continues the theme of a larger body of work concerned with audience participation in art. All are concerned with the psychology of sentimentality, notions of memory and the spatial qualities of multiple objects.