Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Climate Science Literacy And Cultural Polarization Around Climate Change Risk Perception, Gabriel R. Young, Helen R. Neill

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Science communicators have struggled to provide meaningful information about climate change due to the complex nature of the problem and the polarized political and media landscapes, and yet, a well informed public is a crucial element to both public acceptance and policy initiatives aimed at climate change mitigation. Current literature suggests that scientific literacy actually increases cultural polarization around the issue of climate change (Kahan, 2012). This study adds to the literature by testing the hypothesis that climate change risk perception is more heavily tied to climate science literacy than general science literacy when controlling for cultural worldviews. We use …

Investigating Perspectives Of Rural Nevadans On Climate Change Solutions, Tricia Dutcher

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Rural perspectives are important for the issue of climate change. Rural areas are high concentrations of active voters who deny the problem of anthropogenic climate change. Rural residents also face decisions about inviting large, utility scale renewable energy developments in their areas. This research examines rural Nevadan’s perspectives on climate change to offer insights about the relationship between climate change perceptions and communication strategies. The research offers policy implications that address context specific issues, solution-oriented dialogue, and interest matching to mitigate anthropogenic climate change.

In Search Of Professional Dispositions That Yield Cultural Relevance In Primary Grade Pedagogy: A Cautionary Tale Of One Kindergarten Teacher, Patricia L. Marshall Ed.D., Jessica T. Decuir-Gunby Ph.D., Allison W. Mcculloch Ph.D.

Journal of Praxis in Multicultural Education

Primary grade teachers are challenged to establish firm learning foundations for all children, yet for many teachers cultural diversity makes this a complex pedagogical challenge. It is widely assumed that the success with which teachers meet this challenge is reflected in their dispositions toward diversity, and ultimately toward culturally relevant pedagogy as a professional orientation. This article describes a multi-year study of cultural relevance in early mathematics teaching. Using the case of one kindergarten teacher who exhibited positive dispositions toward cultural relevance, the authors examine factors that seemed to work against its adoption in her pedagogy.

Visual Metaphor In Games Of Chance: What You See Is What You Play, Stephen Andrade

Occasional Papers

Visual images have been a key element in the development of wager-based games. The legacy of visual metaphor in gaming can be traced through paper ephemera such as playing cards and lottery tickets. Both paper and printing technology ushered the age of wide spread playing opportunities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Modern play behaviors have given way to Postmodern gaming norms in digital space. The digital age has presented a new set of challenges for gaming architecture in wager-based play. Action research in prototyping games is beginning to reveal a new and different set of game characteristics.

Word~River Literary Review (2013), Ross Talarico, Anne Stark, Susan Evans, Gary Pullman, Andrew Madigan, Christin Taylor, Jerome Melancon, Jennie Evenson, Judith Mansour, Mary Didomenico, Annie Lampman, Maureen Foster, M. V. Montgomery, Rowan Johnson, James Hanley, Michael K. Brantley, Brooks P. Rexroat, Deborah Stark, Rachel Rinehart Johnson, Joan Crooks, Jefferson Navicky, Ed Higgins, Mike Bezemek, Leatha Fields-Carey, Maria Winfield

word~river Literary Journal

wordriver is a literary journal dedicated to the poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction of adjunct, part-time and fulltime instructors teaching under a semester or yearly contract in our universities, colleges, and community colleges worldwide. Graduate student teachers who have used up their teaching assistant time and are teaching with adjunct contracts for the remainder of their graduate program are also eligible.

We’re looking for work that demonstrates the creativity and craft of adjunct/part-time instructors in English and other disciplines. We reserve first publication rights and onetime anthology publication rights for all work published. We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

At The Nexus Of Scholarly Communication And Information Literacy, Marianne A. Buehler, Anne E. Zald

Library Faculty Research

Introduction

Graduate students embarking upon a new phase in their educational careers may not realize the range of expectations, particularly the cocurricular or extracurricular expectation to participate in the scholarly communication process. Unforeseen faculty expectations may include a requirement to publish or copublish an article in order to pass a graduate course or to engage in grant-funded research that will result in conference presentations or publications. Learning about the publication process provides a key transitional experience between the independent intellectual endeavor of conducting research for course assignments and the social dynamics of being a professional researcher or scholar, interacting with …

Changing Policy Without Changing Law: Addressing Climate Change Under The Clean Air Act, Philip Wallach

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The evolution of our national climate change policy at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from the 1990s-2000s, is marked by a backdrop of congressional inaction. In 2007, litigation (Massachusetts v. EPA) required the EPA to re-interpret the Clean Air Act to also apply to greenhouse gases. This presentation will include a summary of the legal arguments in that case, and the narrow Supreme Court decision that supported the petitioners; a review of the legal and practical challenges emanating from this ruling; and consideration of the EPA's impact on continuing legislative debates. The speaker will explore the impact of this decision …

Nevada's English Language Learner Population: A Review Of Enrollment, Outcomes, And Opportunities, Sonya D. Horsford, Christina Mokhtar, Carrie Sampson

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

The purpose of this report is to provide the public with an easy‐to‐understand review of the status of education for Nevada’s English Language Learner (ELL) population with a focus on Clark County. Nevada is ranked first in the U.S. for having the highest growth rate of Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals and fifth in the nation for having the largest share of LEP residents, only behind California, Texas, New York, and New Jersey (Migration Policy Institute, 2011). In the case of public education, student enrollment patterns over the last two decades reflect dramatic increases in ELL students in Nevada and …

Nextet, Virko Baley, Tom Johnson

Chamber Music Programs

Program listing performers and works performed.

“Seeing” The Elephant: Assessing The Impact Of Library-Composition Program Collaboration On First-Year Student Learning, Erin E. Rinto

Library Faculty Presentations

Though university libraries and composition programs have historically collaborative relationships, these partnerships can take a variety of formats, including single course period library sessions, teaching-the-teachers, and librarian-driven assignment models. A hybrid of these collaborative approaches was implemented Fall 2012 at UNLV in an effort to provide first-year composition students with a more systematic information literacy experience in the required ENG 102 course. A two-pronged assessment method was used to evaluate the impact of the collaboration for both first-year student learning as well as to implement programmatic change.

2012 Southern Nevada Existing Conditions Report, Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coaltion, Lincy Institute, Unlv Urban Sustainability Initiative, Unlv School Of Community Health Sciences, Jennifer Pharr Phd, Courtney Coughenour

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

No abstract provided.

Take Pride In America Phase Iii - Further Development Of A Local Litter And Desert Dumping Cleanup Program: Project Compendium, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

The Take Pride in America in Southern Nevada project began as a collaboration of four federal agencies committed to working together to combat the litter and desert dumping problem on the nearly seven million acres of public lands in Southern Nevada. In 2005, with funding from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA), SNAP created an interagency anti-litter and desert dumping team and developed a partnership with the Public Lands Institute (PLI) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. SNAP and PLI managed the Take Pride in America in Southern Nevada project and launched the Don’t Trash Nevada messaging …

Transparent Actuator Made With Few Layer Graphene Electrode And Dielectric Elastomer, For Variable Focus Lens, Taeseon Hwang, Hyeok-Yong Kwon, Joon-Suk Oh, Jung-Pyo Hong, Seung-Chul Hong, Youngkwan Lee, Hyouk Ryeo Choi, Kwang J. Kim, Mainul Hossain Bhuiya, Jae Do Nam

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

A transparent dielectric elastomer actuator driven by few-layer-graphene (FLG) electrode was experimentally investigated. The electrodes were made of graphene, which was dispersed inN-methyl-pyrrolidone. The transparent actuator was fabricated from developed FLG electrodes.The FLG electrode with its sheet resistance of 0.45 kΩ/sq (80 nm thick) was implemented to mask silicone elastomer. The developed FLG-driven actuator exhibited an optical transparency of over 57% at a wavenumber of 600 nm and produced bending displacement performance ranging from 29 to 946 μm as functions of frequency and voltage. The focus variation was clearly demonstrated under actuation to study its application-feasibility in …

Nevada Children’S Policy Update Bill And Bill Draft Requests - 2013 Nv Legislative Session, The Nevada Institute For Children’S Research And Policy, Children’S Advocacy Alliance

Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy Reports

Bill and Bill Draft Requests for 2013 NV Legislative Session for Nevada Children’s Policy Update.

Solar Energy: A Media Analysis Of Las Vegas, Nv And Phoenix, Az, Jennifer Liese

Brookings Mountain West Publications

In recent years, large government-funded solar energy projects across the nation have received increasing media attention—especially with government funded solar projects going bankrupt. This study examines the evolution of media coverage on solar energy issues, including an analysis of political differences and the role they play within two western cities that sit at the epicenter of solar energy resources in the United States, Las Vegas and Phoenix. These cities are poised to compete for and collaborate on projects for millions of dollars in federal research funds and economic development incentives dedicated to the development of solar energy.

This study conducted …

2013 National Science Foundation (Nsf) Rankings By Total R&D Expenditures, Brookings Mountain West And The Lincy Institute

Brookings Mountain West Publications

This Fact Sheet provides data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that compares UNLV and UNR (combined) research funding to individual research universities across the nation.

Estimation Of Performance Indices For The Planning Of Sustainable Transportation Systems, Alexander Paz, Pankaj Maheshwari, Pushkin Kachroo, Sajjad Ahmad

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

In the context of sustainable transportation systems, previous studies have either focused only on the transportation system or have not used a methodology that enables the treatment of incomplete, vague, and qualitative information associated with the available data. This study proposes a system of systems (SOS) and a fuzzy logic modeling approach. The SOS includes the Transportation, Activity, and Environment systems. The fuzzy logic modeling approach enables the treatment of the vagueness associated with some of the relevant data. Performance Indices (PIs) are computed for each system using a number of performance measures. The PIs illustrate the aggregated performance of …

Estimation Of Performance Indices For The Planning Of Sustainable Transportation Systems, Alexander Paz, Pankaj Maheshwari

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

In the context of sustainable transportation systems, previous studies have either focused only on the transportation systemor have not used a methodology that enables the treatment of incomplete, vague, and qualitative information associated with the available data. This study proposes a system of systems (SOS) and a fuzzy logic modeling approach. The SOS includes the Transportation, Activity, and Environment systems. The fuzzy logic modeling approach enables the treatment of the vagueness associated with some of the relevant data. Performance Indices (PIs) are computed for each system using a number of performance measures. The PIs illustrate the aggregated performance of each …

Nevada Interagency Volunteer Program: Helping Hands Across Public Lands—Phase Ii: Final Project Report, December 31, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• Maintained a central clearinghouse created for Southern Nevada public lands volunteers, including: ─ an online volunteer data-management application (Volgistics) adopted and customized for the program and populated with 8,500 active and 961 mailing list volunteer records ─ a community outreach Web site that currently averages 8,230 pages viewed per month since July 2007 and has aided in the recruitment of 11,943 volunteers ─ updated website to word press for sustainability ─ branding development and marketing and outreach tool creation
• Updated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all areas of Interagency Volunteer Program Management—recruitment, training, recognition, retention of volunteers, event planning, and …

Sndo Hector's Helpers Youth Engaging The Community Through Social Media: Annual Progress Report, Period Covering June 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

The Hector’s Helpers Youth Engaging the Community through Social Media project was designed to develop civic and environmental stewardship skills as students receive training in administering social media accounts (e.g., Facebook, twitter, Youtube). The project is an extension of the Hector’s Helpers program developed through a cooperative agreement and run under the branding of Don’t Trash Nevada. Participants in the project are known as the Social Media Squad (SMS). The following activities were completed:

• Supervision of youth completing the pilot program initiated in an earlier cooperative agreement
• Recruitment of youth to apply for the Social Media Squad
• Training of Social …

Composite Ordinal Forecasting In Horse Racing - An Optimization Approach, Alan Tse, Chan-Ieong Chan

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Using horse racing data in Hong Kong as an example, this paper looks into the properties of an optimization model for making composite ordinal forecasts based on minimization of the absolute error of the joint distribution of the errors of twelve forecasters of race outcomes. It was found that the optimization model is not only sound theoretically, but it is also robust, and can handle situations when data are sparse.

A Mathematical Approach For Optimizing The Casino Slot Floor: A Linear Programming Application, Kasra C. Ghaharian, Ashok K. Singh

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The gaming literature has identified a number of factors that have driven the growth of Macau's casino industry. At the same time, however, questions remain as to future prospects for the growth of the enclave's gaming revenue- and specifically, whether this type of growth can be sustained. A forecast of Macau gaming revenue and an examination of its seasonality can assist scholars and practitioners alike in developing a better understanding of seasonal variation (a significant consideration in the volatile world of gaming) and the future outlook of the world gambling capital. The objective of this article is to investigate these …

Review Of The 14th International Conference On Gambling & Risk Taking, Sally Monaghan, Brett L.L. Abarbanel, Toni Repetti, Ashlee M. Kalina, Bo Bernhard

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews, Betty Mcneal

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

No abstract provided.

Toward Legalization Of Poker: The Skill Vs. Chance Debate, Robert C. Hannum, Anthony N. Cabot

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This paper sheds light on the age-old argument as to whether poker is a game in which skill predominates over chance or vice versa. Recent work addressing the issue of skill vs. chance is reviewed. This current study considers two different scenarios to address the issue: 1) a mathematical analysis supported by computer simulations of one random player and one skilled player in Texas Hold'Em, and 2) full-table simulation games of Texas Hold'Em and Seven Card Stud. Findings for scenario 1 showed the skilled player winning 97 percent of the hands. Findings for scenario 2 further reinforced that highly skilled …

Applicability Of The Duplication Of Purchase Law To Gaming, Desmond Lam

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

In a bid to explore the use of an empirical-based model to explain regular gaming purchases, this study applies the Duplication of Purchase Law to gaming. Developed from empirical-based marketing theory and observed in many consumer brands, the Duplication of Purchase Law states that the dominant factor of purchase duplication between two brands is their market share. Using data obtained from the U.S. Gambling Impact Study, this study found that the duplication of games played was highly correlated to their penetration rates and hence, market share. In addition, the number of sole gamblers in each game was also related to …

Assessing Discount Policies And Practices In The Casino Industry, Jordan Salmon, Anthony F. Lucas, Jim Kilby, Michael C. Dalbor

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

No abstract provided.

Improving Competitiveness Through Cooperation: Assessing The Benefits Of Cooperative Education Partnerships In Gaming Management, Helen Breen, Nerilee Hing

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Cooperative education partnerships between industries and universities are becoming increasingly common in response to fundamental challenges facing both sectors. Theoretically, many benefits for both partners are espoused. This paper explores these benefits and then assesses whether and how these have occurred in a leading gaming management course in Australia. It was found that benefits for industry comprised enhanced industry professionalism and legitimacy; increased professional status; better public image; control of abstract knowledge and improved industry competitiveness. For the university, key benefits have included improved educational offerings; enhanced university reputation in the discipline and for cooperative education partnerships; additional student fees …

Using Benchmarking Techniques In Academia: Building A Gaming Education Program, Susan H. Lvancevich, Daniel M. Lvancevich, Bernard N. Fried

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

This paper discusses the use of benchmarking techniques in building a gaming education program. Four general categories of benchmarking techniques and their applicability to gaming education are presented. A template for building a gaming education program is explained, as well as the key success factors to consider when implementing benchmarking in academia. A summary of schools currently offering gaming courses, a list of gaming topics in various functional areas that can easily be integrated into existing courses, and a list of gaming-related resources are also provided.

The Gaming Industry And The Millennium Bug, Michael L . Kasavana, Kathleen P. Brewer

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

While much has been written about the Y2K bug in general, the gaming industry is among those slow to address the issue. As we quickly face the dawn of the new millennium, there are urgent issues to be addressed. This article examines the problem, major issues, potential solutions, and the impact of time constraints on the casino industry.