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A Study Of Differences Between Social/Hmo And Other Medicare Beneficiaries Enrolled In Kaiser Permanente Under Capitation Contracts Regarding Intermediate Care Facility Use Rates And Expenditures, Lynn Allen Boose

Dissertations and Theses

The Social/HMO Demonstration evaluates the feasibility of expanding Medicare Supplemental Insurance benefits to cover a limited amount of ICF and community based long-term care (LTC) services provided under a comprehensive HMO benefit package for capitated Medicare beneficiaries. The policy research question addressed by this study is whether adding an Expanded Care Benefit (ECB) to the capitated HMO benefit package offered by Kaiser Permanente (KP) changes utilization patterns and costs of ICF services, and the probability of becoming Medicaid eligible. This study provides descriptive information regarding this policy research question. The research goal of this study is to measure the extent …

Lexicography In West Africa: Preparing A Bilingual Kisi-English Dictionary, George Tucker Childs

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents some of the issues involved in preparing a bilingual dictionary for Kisi, an underdocumented language spoken in West Africa. Because the language possesses little in the way of literacy materials, fundamental issues as to orthography, word division, etc., had to be considered. In addition, no grammar of the language (or its closest congeners) was available and thus basic grammatical analysis had to be performed simultaneously. I briefly consider some of these problems, discussing the use of the lexical data base programs known as LEXWARE. I then focus on the specific problems raised by the expressive word class …

Towards Comprehensive Migration Modeling: A Meta-Analytic Approach, Wamukota Francis Wambalaba

Dissertations and Theses

In view of theoretical proliferations in migration studies, there is a need for a more comprehensive approach to migration modeling. A central problem identified in this study was the multitude of potential variables for migration research and the lack of established procedures for selecting among them. Several studies on migration have attempted to answer cornmon migration questions, but with differing variables and therefore divergent conclusions. There is thus a strong potential for misinterpretation by researchers and policy makers. Partial theories of migration have been developed rather than a unified one. This study offers an objective process through which variables may …

Perceived Administrative Support For Teachers Of Urban At-Risk Students, Betsy Bennet-Costi

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate effective administrative support for successful teachers of urban at-risk students. The main difficulty in studying administrative support is that it comes in so many ways. Johnson’s (1990) theory of workplace variables and Butterworth's (1981) social exchange theory were the basis for this study. Failures of at-risk students threaten the well being of public schools and have become a generally recognized social problem of national priority. This study explores how principals act to influence the success of teachers as they work with at-risk students. It is grounded in the following four assumptions: 1. …

A Case Study Of The Acceptance Of The Tacoma-Pierce County Needle Exchange Program By Three Diverse Groups: Law Enforcement Personnel, Health Department Officials, And Program Clients (I.E., Intravenous Drug Users), Lauren Sue Ibrahim

Dissertations and Theses

Legitimate and underground needle exchange programs, specifically targeted for intravenous drug users (IVDUs) (i.e., currently the second largest risk group in the AIDS epidemic), have emerged in various locales in a desperate attempt to change their drug use practices and behaviors associated with the transmission of HIV-1/AIDS. This study focuses on one such program, the Tacoma-Pierce County Needle Exchange Program, in which the pioneering efforts of a private individual are provided, the manifestations of public entrepreneurism are examined, and in which various attributes of program acceptance are identified and explored. An introductory and exploratory case study approach is the research …

Rapists And Their Parental Relationships, Yaeko Steidel

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation attempts to find out what associations exist between dysfunctional parental relationships in the childhood of rapists and the rapists' violent acts. It also briefly examines the sociocultural effects which nurture such relationships.

Rape, a crime very prevalent in our society today, is now perceived as an acute expression of men's contempt for and anger against women. The former interpretation of rape as primarily a sexually motivated crime is no longer popular. This dissertation attempts to trace the origin of the rapist's psyche from his dysfunctional parental relationships.

Rare data on rapist's family relations from a recent FBI survey …

Urbanization In A Peripheral Capitalist State: A Guyana Case Study, Wazir Ahmad Ishmael

Dissertations and Theses

This research proposes to examine the process of urbanization in Guyana, South America. In particular, the objectives of this research are threefold. The first is to identify, describe, and evaluate some of the historic and current causes of urban growth and urbanization which have taken place in a peripheral capitalist state that was under the plantation mode and that illustrates a legacy of "uneven development." The second objective is to attempt to assess planning responses, through attempts by the state to formulate policies to deal more effectively with urbanization. And the third objective is to contribute to a dialogue between …

The Vocational Interests Of Prisoners: A Preliminary Validation Study Of The Lustig Color Vector Test, Hanoch Livneh, Robert E. Pullo, Paul Lustig

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to provide empirical evidence for the validity of the Lustig Color Vector Test (LCVT) as a vocational interest measure. The LCVT, a nonverbal instrument, is a schematic attempt to represent the Vector Theory of Behavior which describes human behavior in terms of motion and the laws of physics. A sample of 92 participants was chosen to represent the literate male population of incarcerated offenders in the Wisconsin state prison system.-Participants were administered the LCVT as well as Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and a demographic questionnaire. The results offered tentative support to the notion …

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: The Pacific Northwest is ripe for a major quake in the not-so-distant future; layoffs and job cutbacks will persist in the new administration, but this may not be the best way for companies to go; does the Metropolitan Service District represent a loss of local control or a boon for delivery of regional services?; a PSU alumna has helped organize diaries from the Oregon Trail as a volunteer for the Oregon Historical Society; and more.

Lents: A Neighborhood Issues Analysis, Portland State University

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

This document was prepared by graduate students at Portland State University in partial fulfillment of the Master of Urban and Regional Planning Degree. A comprehensive planning workshop was held during the Fall and Winter quarters of the 1992-1993 academic year. Workshop topics included an issues analysis during fall quarter and alternatives analysis during winter quarter. The alternatives analysis is still in progress and only this draft of the issues analysis is available at this time.

The purpose of this document is to assist in defining critical issues for the Lents neighborhood. In November of 1992, local citizens participated in a …

Space, Consciousness, And Gender In Colette, William A. Parnell

Dissertations and Theses

Colette's desire, to reveal the different levels of difficulties in relationships, results in the creation of three masterpieces, L e Ble en Herbe, La Chatte, and La Vagabonde. Through her characters in these novels, the author exposes the spatial boundaries set by each couple. Also, she concentrates on the maturation of the protagonists. The woman's function in society transforms as she gains personal power, and she becomes self-reliant. Finally, Colette evades sexual stereotyping by introducing the reader to the issues of gender and androgyny. She helps to dispel the sexual myths around the. idea of normal stereotyping. Themes such as …

Viking 1993, Portland State University

The Viking (Yearbooks)

Portland State University 1993 yearbook

When Will A Genetic Algorithm Outperform Hill-Climbing?, Melanie Mitchell, John H. Holland

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper we review some previously published experimental results in which a simple hillclimbing algorithm-Random Mutation Hill-Climbing (RMHC)-significantly outperforms a genetic algorithm on a simple "Royal Road" function. vVe present an analysis of RMHC followed by an analysis of an "idealized" genetic algorithm (IGA) that is in turn significantly faster than RMHC. We isolate the features of the IGA that allow for this speedup, and discuss how these features can be incorporated into a real GA and a fitness landscape, making the GA better approximate the IGA. We use these features to design a modified version of the previously …

Speaker Preferences Of Listening Behaviors That Lead To Perceived Listening : A Pre-Condition Of Perceived Understanding, Christine M. Carpenter

Dissertations and Theses

When attempting to communicate with another person, the success or failure that a communicator perceives, he or she interprets as understanding or misunderstanding. Research has shown that "perceived understanding" or the "feeling of being understood" is important in self-concept development. However, for some time researchers have focused on the listener's needs and the speaker's needs have been given less attention. Yet, the listener's role in meeting the speaker's needs, particularly in providing feedback to the speaker, is of utmost importance if the speaker is to have the "feeling of being understood." This research examined the concept of the "feeling of …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet December 1992, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The December 1992 Monthly packet includes the December agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held November 1992.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet November 1992, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The November 1992 Monthly packet includes the November agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held October 1992.

Psychological Models And The Stock Of Knowledge, David L. Sones

Dissertations and Theses

The research sought to ascertain whether or not psychological ideas and notions ("psychological models") are used to explain human behavior and human characteristics in everyday life, and if so, are these psychological models similar to the schools of thought within the field of psychology? Also of interest was whether or not "statistical categories" use psychological models as a "style of thought," and if so, are psychological models part of the current American Weltanschauungen? The convenience sample consisted of 34 respondents who were taking an introductory sociology course, and 39 respondents from non-college settings. An open-ended questionnaire containing 13 questions asking …

Effective Middle School Teaching: Factors That Promote And Maintain It, Judith Ann Smith

Dissertations and Theses

The past thirty years has seen the middle school as an organization come of age and with it a renewed emphasis on meeting the needs of the early adolescent student. Although many current studies have addressed middle school issues, one of the most significant was the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development's Turning Points: Preparing Youth for the 21st Century (1989). It claimed that the middle school is the "last best chance" to turn young lives toward a meaningful future and, in order to do so, schools must be staffed with "expert" teachers.

Once one knows what an "expert" teacher is, …

Early-Return-To-Work Programs: An Exploratory Study Of The Effects Of Program Policies And Practices On Organizational Outcomes, Lorrie L. Riat

Dissertations and Theses

Early-return-to-work (ERTW) programs for injured workers are a relatively new development. While it is widely believed that such programs are the primary means of controlling workers' compensation costs after an injury has occurred, little research has been done on how these programs accomplish that end. This thesis is an exploratory examination of the factors involved in ERTW programs and the relationship between components of ERTW programs for injured workers and organizational outcomes, specifically the cost of medical care and wage reimbursement associated with workers' compensation claims.

The Practical Relevance Of Deep Ecology, David Johns

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

As proponents of Deep Ecology and Biocentrism have begun to define both a vision for the future and a critique of the existing human relationship with the rest of nature, they have often been the subject of criticism from the Third World and from leftists in the developed world concerned with Third World issues. They are commonly charged with failing to adequately take into account the complexity of the human social dynamic involved in destruction of the environment; ignoring that human societies are under the control of elites who benefit from the degradation of nature while most people suffer; failing …

Attitude Functions And Political Behavior: The Issue Of Gay Civil Rights, Josephine Young

Dissertations and Theses

This study explored the relationship between voters' political behavior regarding the issue of gay rights and the underlying psychological needs served by their attitudes on this issue. A telephone survey of 100 randomly selected local voters was conducted, during which Herek's (1987) Attitude Functions Inventory (AFI) was administered. Three of the four attitude function subscales (Experiential- Schematic, Social-Expressive and Ego-Defensive) were confirmed using a LISREL confirmatory factor analysis. The Value-Expressive subscale was not confirmed and showed poor reliability. Pro- and anti-gay rights behavior was measured using a Political Behavior Index (PBI) developed for this study. Regression analyses and MANOVAs were …

1992 Commencement Program, Alcena Boozer

Commencement Archives 1990-99

The program for the Portland State University Spring Commencement ceremony on June 6, 1992.

Alcena Boozer, M.S., principal of Jefferson High School in Portland, delivered the commencement address.

Oikos And Polis In The Medea: Patterns Of The Heart And Mind, Debra Blankenship

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

In Euripides’s The Medea, the dichotomy of traditional values associated with oikos and polis serves as a means by which to comment on the issues of fifth century Athenian life. This paper shows how oikos the private domain) and polis (the public domain) come to be separate and conflicting concepts in the democracy of Athens. Euripides shaped The Medea around the idea of Medea throwing off the bonds of oikos as a result of her desire for revenge on Jason. Medea knowingly denies the bonds of oikos in order to assert her power. This paper finishes with a nod towards …

Alzheimer's Disease Caregivers: The Transition From Home Care To Formal Care, Marie Theresa Duncan

Dissertations and Theses

Elderly people with irreversible cognitive declines such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD) make many demands on those who must care for them, whether those caregivers are family members or the paid staff of nursing homes. When family members no longer have the capacity to meet these demands, a move to a nursing home or other formal care facility becomes the only solution. Such a shift does not, however, mean the end of family caregiving. Instead, the family's caregiving activities must be integrated with the ongoing efforts of the formal care staff. Currently, relatively little is known about 1) what families experience …

Perceiving And Coping With Exclusion: The Socialization Experiences Of Ethnic Minority Nursing Students, Sarah Porter-Tibbetts

Dissertations and Theses

This study focused on the experiences of ethnic minority nursing students at a predominately white institution, the Health Sciences University School of Nursing in an attempt to learn more about the stress, appraisal, and coping of this group of individuals. The University School of Nursing was selected as a comparison site as it offered a setting with no predominate ethnic group. Faculty•s perceptions of students stress, appraisal and coping were sought to provide a context for the students• experience. A review of the literature indicated that ethnic minority students in predominately white universities experience alienation. At some universities white and …

The Development Of A Predictive Model Of Pretrial Misconduct, Donald R. Trapp

Dissertations and Theses

The problem of jail overcrowding has forced corrections officials and jail administrators to examine ways in which to better manage available jail space. Pretrial release and detention policies have been a target of this examination as pretrial defendants typically account for 50% of a jail's population. Standards for pretrial release exist, but their administration varies by jurisdiction. The impact of jail overcrowding on pretrial release policies has been to decrease the time available to render a decision. Recent efforts to standardize pretrial release standards in Oregon have not addressed the issue of expediency. The current study examines pretrial misconduct (failure …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet May 1992, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The May 1992 Monthly packet includes the May agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held April 1992.

Identifying Quality Function Deployment's Variables, Outcomes, Their Relationships, And Guidelines For Practitioners In The American Automotive Industry, Geoffrey Paul Gilmore

Dissertations and Theses

American industry is about nine to 12 years behind in utilizing a new product development and introduction process known as Quality Function Deployment (Q.F.D.). American industry must learn to compete internationally; the American automotive industry alone directly and indirectly employs millions of workers and has billions of dollars in annual sales and profits at stake.

With the cooperation of one American automotive company research has been conducted on Q.F.D. The research objectives were to identify: what variables affect Q.F.D., what are the outcomes from Q.F.D., what relationships exist between Q.F.D. variables and outcomes, and what guidelines may be offered to …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet March 1992, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The March 1992 Monthly packet includes the March agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held February 1992.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet February 1992, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The February 1992 Monthly packet includes the February agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held January 1992.