Digital Commons Network^™

Nine Months, Esther Lim

Dissertations and Theses

This is a collection of short stories that traces a chronological movement through one family's experience of the mother's illness. Each piece in the collection is meant to be an independent, free-standing short story. Each story is different, told from distinctive points-of-view, angles, and voices. However, every story covers a span of time within the nine months of the family's experience, in the presented order, as part of a collective movement toward the core. All together, the pieces hope to reflect a mosaic of sorts--one that tells a story that cannot otherwise be told.

Perceived Isolation, Social Integration, And Health Behavior: A Daily Process Examination Of Responses To Loneliness, Sarah Noel Arpin

Dissertations and Theses

Researchers have examined social relationships as a basic need, showing that being well integrated in a network of social ties is related to various positive health outcomes including reduced mortality and risk behavior (e.g. reduced alcohol consumption). Conversely, a lack of strong social ties is related to negative outcomes including depression, suicide, and substance use (Berkman & Syme, 1979; Durkheim, 1951; Sarason, Sarason, & Gurung, 2001). Loneliness, a negative affective experience resulting from relationship deficits, is related to similar health outcomes as social isolation including depression and problematic alcohol use (Cacioppo, Hawkley, Crawford et al., 2002). However, research to date …

Understanding The Experience Of Air Force Single Parents: A Phenomenological Study, Samantha Everhart Blanchard

Dissertations and Theses

Today, raising children under the best of circumstances represents a daunting endeavor as any parent and a growing body of research confirm. When a single parent is on active duty in one of the U.S. armed forces, there are additional challenges involved that may not exist among civilian counterparts. The phenomenon of single parents on active duty with its unique difficulties associated both with single parenting and with military service was the basis of this study. The purpose of the research was twofold: to describe the experiences of Air Force single parents as related to social support and work-life theory …

Lay Versus Medical Analysis: A Conflict Centered On The Disciplinary And Professional Identity Of Psychoanalysis, Sam Yoder

University Honors Theses

The psychoanalytic conflict surrounding lay and medical analysis was a prominent conflict within both the European and American psychoanalytic communities. This thesis is an analysis of that conflict from the time period of 1900-1940. I argue that this conflict is an expression of two conflicting ideas for the disciplinary identity of psychoanalysis. Lay analysts believed that psychoanalysis should be a distinct discipline and be used in a multidisciplinary context. Medical analysts believed that through aligning psychoanalysis with medicine it would obtain professional legitimacy. This thesis also covers concepts of professionalization in disciplines.

Growing Cities Depend On Ecosystem Services, David E. Ervin, Darrell Brown, Heejun Chang, Veronica Dujon, Elise F. Granek, Vivek Shandas, J. Alan Yeakley

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many studies have documented the growing fragility of a majority of the globe's ecosystems. Policymakers and resource managers often frame such ecosystem challenges as primarily about protecting natural systems in rural areas. However, that conception misses a key part of the story: the rapid growth of urbanizing areas. Home to more than 50 percent of the world's human population for the first time in modern history, urbanizing regions concentrate pressure on ecosystem services, which are necessary to sustain healthy urban living conditions and vibrant commerce. This dramatic urbanization presents both challenges and opportunities for novel ecosystem services management. A transdisciplinary …

Myths And Measures: The Cultural Performance Of Portland’S Strip Club Identity, Wayne Coffey

Geography Masters Research Papers

Identities of place develop through a multitude of perceptions. Place myths guide much of this perception. Portland, Oregon’s identity has evolved in particular around a much quoted but unchallenged statistic regarding the volume of nude dancing venues. This paper focuses on the literature specific to both nude dance venues and place identity; Portland’s legal history that contributed to this phenomenon; and some of the cultural and spatial variables pertinent to this issue. Two initiatives, aimed at restructuring the state constitution specifically to deal with nude dance venues and other adult entertainment, are analyzed.

The Implications Of Migration Theory For Distributive Justice, Alexander Sager

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper explores the implications of empirical theories of migration for normative accounts of migration and distributive justice. It examines neo-classical economics, world-systems theory, dual labor market theory, and feminist approaches to migration and contends that neo-classical economic theory in isolation provides an inadequate understanding of migration. Other theories provide a fuller account of how national and global economic, political, and social institutions cause and shape migration flows by actively affecting people's opportunity sets in source countries and by admitting people according to social categories such as class and gender. These empirical theories reveal the causal impact of institutions regulating …

Past Tense, 2012, Retired Association Of Portland State

Past Tense columns of the RAPS Sheet

January, 2012 "Judith Ramaley: Portland State's First Female President"

February, 2012 "The Regional Research Institute: A Pioneer and a Survivor"

March, 2012 "The Beginning: Teacher Education at Portland State"

April, 2012 "The Beginning: History at Portland State"

May, 2012 "Snapshots of Diversity at PSU"

June, 2012 "Making Music: The Music Department's Beginnings"

September, 2012 "Gordon Dodds: the Savior of Portland State's History"

October, 2012 "The Early Years: Engineering at PSU"

November, 2012 ""Can PSU help?" Special Education Leadership in Autism Research"

December, 2012 "A History of Holiday Giving"

Building A Sustainable And Desirable Economy-In-Society-In-Nature, Robert Costanza, Gar Alperovitz, Herman E. Daly, Joshua C. Farley, Carol Franco, Tim Jackson, Ida Kubiszewski, Juliet Schor, Peter A. Victor

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This report is a synthesis of ideas about what this new economy-in-society-innature could look like and how we might get there. Most of the ideas presented here are not new. The coauthors of this report have published them in various forms over the last several decades, and many others have expressed similar ideas in venues too numerous to mention. What is new is the timing and the situation. The time has come when we must make a transition. We have no choice. Our present path is clearly unsustainable. As Paul Raskin has said, "Contrary to the conventional wisdom, it is …

Constructivism In Practice: The Potential Of Ubiquitous, “Low-Tech” Audio Devices For Literacy Development In The 21st Century, Dennis Jablonski

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this study, four graduate level preservice teachers used inexpensive, MP3 players preloaded with audiobooks with the objective of increasing the reading fluency and digital literacy of elementary school children. The data collected included preintervention surveys, pre/post oral reading fluency scores, a log of daily listening experiences, and preservice teacher journals. The findings indicated that student-participants‘ oral reading fluency scores improved along with the students‘ confidence in reading. Additionally, both the preservice teachers, and the student-participants reported an increased awareness of how technology can be used for literacy development and enjoyment, suggesting an enhancement of digital knowledge and skills.

Collaborating To Teach Research Methods In Education, Todd Milford, Catherine Etmanski

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

The purpose of this paper is to describe a pedagogical collaboration between two research methods instructors in a Faculty of Education in Canada. Both instructors represent different paradigms in the classic quantitative vs. qualitative dichotomy in that they were trained in vastly different ways and have tended to approach their research along these same lines. However, despite these differences the paper explores how they each viewed this as a potential limitation in their methods teaching and how through crossing over to each other’s classrooms were able to both expand their own understanding as well as offer a more balanced and …

Subreption And Institutional Inquiry: Theoretical Philosophy And Evolutionary Thinking, John B. Hall, Alexander Dunlap

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

With this inquiry we respond to William Dugger‘s assertion that ―[s]ubreption is one of the least studied social phenomena of the twentieth century.‖ Our research seeks to fill a gap in the literature by clarifying subreption, and its origins in Philosophy to its importance in social science, and, especially, Institutional Inquiry. We conjecture that Thorstein Veblen borrows form Immanuel Kant‘s understanding of Erschleichung. In this respect, Veblen‘s understanding and use of subreption serves as conduit between its use in Roman law, through Kant‘s understanding, and on to what Veblen later introduces as an approach creatively relied upon by three other, …

Apprenticeship Needs Assessment In Heavy Highway Construction Workforce, Maura Kelly, Lindsey Wilkinson

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

To gain an understanding of the reasons that women and men of color are not retained in apprenticeships relevant to the heavy highway trades at the same rate as are white men. Particular attention shall be focused on the reasons that apprentices refuse job assignments/dispatches, leave assignments before the contractor’s job is finished, and retention in the third period of apprenticeships. Differences in motivations, the nature of obstacles faced and the type and effectiveness of particular supports to affect retention rates shall be considered, with attention to the potentially different experience of people in different trades and regions, as well …

Beyond The Shadow Of White Privilege?: The Socioeconomic Attainments Of Second Generation South Asian Americans, Hyeyoung Woo, Arthur Sakamoto, Isao Takei

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite numerous studies of second generation minorities in recent years, South Asian Americans have been largely ignored. Using the most recent data available from the US Census Bureau, we investigate the socioeconomic attainments of second generation South Asian Americans. We find that their average levels of education, wages, and occupational attainment exceed those of non-Hispanic whites. Contrary to the “model minority myth” view, second generation South Asian Americans remain slightly advantaged relative to non-Hispanic whites in terms of labor market success net of age, education, and region of residence. These results are also inconsistent with discussions of white privilege that …

An Empirical Test Of Alternative Theories Of Educational Inequality, Arthur Sakamoto, Changhwan Kim, Hyeyoung Woo

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A classic issue in education centers on the nature of the relationship between schooling and labor market outcomes. Three general theories of this relationship are the human capital view, the market signal view, and the credentialist view. All three approaches predict a positive association between education and wages, but they differ in regard to its underlying causes. We argue that these theories may be fundamentally differentiated in terms of their implications for productivity, and we provide some relevant findings using productivity data for US manufacturing industries from 1976 to 1996. The results most strongly support the market signal view which …

Suicide Mortality Risk In The United States By Sex And Age Groups, Hyeyoung Woo, Jarron M. Saint Onge, Daniel Standridge

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Overall individual health has been critically improved over the last century in the United States. However, among the leading causes of death, only suicide rates show a significant increase in recent decades and the increases have been even greater among females. This study is designed to better understand adult suicide mortality risk by sex and age groups using data from the National Health Interview Surveys linked to mortality information from the National Death Index (1986-2006). Our results from Cox proportional hazard models confirm that the social patterns in suicide mortality differ by sex: strong associations of education, marriage and bed …

Consensus Decision-Making And Its Possibilities In Libraries, Emily Ford

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

The article focuses on the author's view on the consensus of decision making and its effect in libraries. She notes that the concept of consensus decision-making has been permeated to American psyche due to the Occupy Wall Street movement. She mentions that she has inquired on what really is consensus decision-making in relation to its intelligibility and democratic process.

The Influence Of Parental Gender On The Type Of Communication Between Incarcerated Parents And Their Children, Sarah Renee Lazzari

Dissertations and Theses

The number of children in the United States with an incarcerated parent continues to rise. Currently, more than 1.7 million children have at least one incarcerated parent. In addition, research has found that children with criminally involved parents are at a higher risk of also becoming offenders (Glaze & Maruschak, 2010). Research has shown that incarcerated parents' abilities to maintain communication with their children may decrease negative behaviors while incarcerated and may decrease the negative effects of being removed from their families. The current study utilizes secondary data to explore the types of communication incarcerated parents use in order to …

Are We Cool Yet?: A Longitudinal Content Analysis Of Nerd And Geek Representations In Popular Television, Christopher Louis Cardiel

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the representation of nerds and geeks in popular broadcast television programs over the course of the past twenty years. A content analysis of the five most popular scripted broadcast television programs for each year was conducted in order to assess the frequency of nerd characters, as well as the social competence, physical attractiveness, and demographic information of each such character. In addition, a supplemental survey design study was employed in order to collect public opinion data regarding perceptions of nerds in general and on television. The results of these studies indicated that while the per-year frequency of …

The Crossover Effects Of Supervisor Work-Family Positive Spillover On Employee Sleep Deficiency: Moderating Effects Of Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (Fssb), Tori Laurelle Crain

Dissertations and Theses

The majority of literature on the work-family interface has focused on, and provided evidence of, the conflict associated with engagement in both work and family roles (Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley, 2005). Research examining the positive aspects of work and family participation remains limited. The current study investigated how work-family positive spillover is transferred between members of the supervisor-employee dyad and subsequently how this affects employee sleep outcomes. It was hypothesized that work-to-family affective positive spillover experienced by supervisors would crossover to employees and increase their experiences of work-to-family affective positive spillover. In turn, this would allow for better …

"I Didn't Do It The Right Way": Women's Careers As Faculty In Higher Education Administration, Karen J. Haley

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article explores the career paths of women faculty in Higher Education Administration graduate programs based on the results of a qualitative study of 18 faculty members at 14 different institutions. The majority of faculty members made their career choice during their undergraduate program, however, most participants in this study made their decision to follow a faculty career after entering a doctoral program or after completing their doctoral degree. Adding the post-doctoral decision point to Bowen and Schuster's (1997) process of career choice acknowledges the contribution of seasoned professionals to the field of Higher Education Administration and reflects the flexibility …

The Schools Ain’T What They Used To Be And Never Was – 21st Century Schools, Learners, And Teachers, Colleen Kawalilak, Jim Paul

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This writing presents our views, as university teacher educators and scholars, concerning some issues pertaining to the readiness of contemporary Canadian education to move forward, well, with confidence and competence, into the mid-21st Century. We posit that all which is possible, educationally, lives in the give and take between Canadian education‘s geo-political, economic and linguistic past, the current functioning of contemporary schools as contested learning and teaching sites, and the increasing impacts of globalisation. We draw from guiding adult education principles in support of an enriched and expanded commitment to teacher professional development as a pathway to sustainable education reform.

“Community Building Makes It Nice For Everybody”?: Elementary Teachers’Understandings And Practices Of Classroom Management, Hillary Merk

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

This qualitative research study explored elementary teachers’ understandings and practices of classroom management, particularly in regard to their own and students’ power, race, gender, and social class. In the first theme, the community building framework “makes it nice for everybody”, I work to understand how these white, middleclass teachers embrace this approach due to their race, gender, and class, which engender their desire for pleasantry. The second theme, “hard kids are hard kids”: a common sense ideology of difference, emerged from these teachers’ understandings of how race, gender, social class, and power influence student behavior and their classroom management practices.

The Perils And Promise Of Personalized Learning, Allyson Fleming

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this article I explore the concept of personalized learning, a relatively new concept being promoted by the British Columbia (BC) Ministry of Education as the “new” approach to effective learning through the lens of a practicing professional. I begin by tracing my own emerging understanding of personalized learning as a discourse in BC education and then follow this with a discussion about the dominance of neoliberalism as an ideological frame for thinking about education and schooling. In particular, I consider how the role of the teacher shifts from professional to functionary, and how this shift is reified through two …

A Qualitative Study Of Language Beliefs And Linguistic Knowledge In Preservice Teachers Using The Intercultural Communicative Competence Framework, Kimberly K. Ilosvay

Dissertations and Theses

Since 1980, the number of people in the United States who speak a language other than English at home has increased by 140% (United States Census Bureau, 2010). Therefore a greater percentage of students now are multilingual. Throughout the world, multilingualism is considered the norm and monolingualism is the exception (Auer & Wei, 2008). In the United States, however, policies regarding instruction in schools are still influenced by monolingual ideology that carries expectations and assumptions of assimilation, loss of mother tongues, and defined hierarchical structures. As classroom populations become socially, ethnically, racially, and linguistically more diverse, it is increasingly important …

Fostering Hope And Closing The Academic Gap: An Examination Of College Retention For African-American And Latino Students Who Participate In The Louis Stokes Alliance Minority Participation Program (Learning Community) While Enrolled In A Predominately White Institution, Aisha La'chae Hollands

Dissertations and Theses

Colleges are struggling to retain students of color at four-year academic institutions (Kuh, 2005). The result is that while African-American and Latino students are entering college, fewer successfully complete their programs of study and obtain an undergraduate degree (ACE, 2006). For this reason, institutions are establishing supportive learning communities to not only recruit, but to retain this population.Learning communities have become welcoming places in the academy, and are designed to help students succeed in college by providing a formative, integrated academic experience that builds strength, perspective, and commitment. Employing Vincent Tinto`s (1975) student integration theory as a conceptual framework, this …

Examining Health Information Technology Implementations: Case Of The Patient-Centered Medical Home, Nima A. Behkami

Dissertations and Theses

It has been shown that the use of Health Information Technology (HIT) is associated with reduced cost and increased quality of care. This dissertation examined the use of registries in Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) practices. A survey questionnaire was sent to a nationwide group of clinics certified for being a PCMH. They were asked to provide information about their payer mix, implementation barriers, registry implementation, registry use, and clinic satisfaction. The survey instrument was validated by an expert panel which included practitioners and researchers. Statistical methods including Structural Equation Modeling were used for analysis and to test the research …

Cultural Hybridization, Glocalization And American Soccer Supporters: The Case Of The Timbers Army, Jesse Harold Wagner

Dissertations and Theses

Soccer has a global reach and is entrenched in the lives of millions of people throughout the world, but the culture surrounding it is not as strong and never has been in the United States. Nonetheless, there is a recent emergence of American supporters groups that exhibit characteristics similar to those outside of the US. This ethnographic study focuses on one such group, the Timbers Army, to explore how they construct their own unique supporter identity and to understand how participants come to see the group relative to their understanding of the world at local and global levels. To explore …

Engaging Global Service: Organizational Motivations For And Perceived Benefits Of Hosting International Volunteers, Erin Leslie Barnhart

Dissertations and Theses

An increasingly popular way for global citizens to contribute to communities around the world is through international volunteering. In tandem with this growing trend, academic research in the field has increased to explore the goals, motivations, and impacts of international service on volunteers, host communities, and volunteer-sending organizations. One of the larger gaps in our understanding of global civic engagement though is the specifics of how and why, as well as the overall impact of international service on, host organizations that seek and/or accept international volunteers. Using an exploratory research design to collect and analyze survey data and open-ended email …

Public Participation In Emergency Management, Jason Alexander Rood

Dissertations and Theses

With disasters increasing in frequency and costs each year, this study seeks to explore ways greater public participation can assist emergency managers in their mission to keep communities safe. Specifically this study examines the policy process and administrative functions of emergency management to illuminated the benefits and hindrances involved in greater participation. This study conducted a qualitative analysis of governmental documents, disaster case studies, international research, as well as political science and administrative doctrines, to arrive at its conclusions. The results of this study reveal that the public is a largely untapped resource in the emergency management field. Engaging the …