Digital Commons Network^™

Inside Unlv, Gian Galassi, Nancy Syzdek, Erin O'Donnell, Carol C. Harter, Diane Russell, Cate Weeks

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Cooperative Conservation: Increasing Capacity Through Community Partnerships -- Interagency Volunteer Program & Cooperative Conservation Program: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending March 31, 2005, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• 800+ records now loaded into volunteer database

• Website launched – getoutdoorsnevada.org

• 50 new volunteers already recruited through website

• Program logo developed

• First interagency event held March 5 – Great American Clean-Up

• First event featured on national Take Pride In America website

• Program marketing, public relations, and promotion underway

• Additional 2005 interagency events identified: April 2 – Red Rock Day at Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area April 15 – Stewardship Saturday at Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge June 4 – National

Cooperative Conservation: Increasing Capacity Through Community Partnerships: Cultural Site Stewardship Program: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending March 31, 2005, Margaret N. Rees

Cultural Site Stewardship Program

• List of cultural resource sites and locations for monitoring is 100% complete
• Outline for recruiting and training site stewards is now complete
• Law enforcement protocol for response to site impact/destruction has been established
• Field manual has been completed and computerized
• Training manual 90% complete and awaiting team approval
• Database loaded with 122 site steward records, of whom 88 are active
• Site steward identification card designed and approved by Cultural Resources Team; NCA and NRA fee waivers for site stewards approved by BLM and NPS
• Open house held March 19, 2005, to introduce program to site stewards

Inside Unlv, Erin O'Donnell, Carol C. Harter, Cate Weeks, Nancy Syzdek

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Southern Nevada Interagency Partnership & Interagency Volunteer Program, Public Lands Institute

Get Outdoors Nevada

The Interagency Volunteer Program – with the coordination of a full-time project manager – expects to work collectively in recruiting, training, managing, supporting, recognizing, and promoting the long-term involvement of volunteers in Southern Nevada, which will result in increased conservation stewardship on these unique public lands.

Analysis Of One Structured Fitness Motivation Intervention On Self-Efficacy, Achievement Goal Orientations And Exercise Adherence In Sedentary And Moderately Active Adults, Matthew R Martin

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Currently, many Americans spend extended periods of time in sedentary activities, potentially contributing to a variety of health concerns such as obesity and the onset of many chronic diseases. Given this widespread societal challenge, and using intact university undergraduates as a study sample, this dissertation research first provided descriptive information concerning psychological characteristics of physical appearance self-efficacy and goal orientation as potentially correlated with exercise adherence behavior. A second purpose of this research examined how known effective behavior analytic interventions of instructor-set goals/modeling, public posting, and peer-feedback might affect the research sample's exercise adherence behavior, and might affect linked psychological …

Southern Nevada Interagency Volunteer Recognition, Public Lands Institute

Get Outdoors Nevada

Volunteer recognition awards

Southern Nevada Interagency Volunteer Program, Public Lands Institute

Get Outdoors Nevada

To encourage, support, and build volunteerism to conserve, protect, enhance, and foster an appreciation of the diverse natural, cultural, and recreational areas in Southern Nevada.

Stigma Cities: Birmingham, Alabama And Las Vegas, Nevada In The National Media, 1945-2000, Jonathan Foster

Psi Sigma Siren

Early in 1994 Time magazine proclaimed Las Vegas, Nevada “The New All American City,” a “city so freakishly democratic” that Americans just could not resist. Twenty-three years earlier, Look magazine had conferred the same title upon Birmingham, Alabama, stressing its progress in race relations. Such media castings of normality must have surprised the American public in both instances. By the time of each city’s designation as “All-American,” the public had long been subjected to stories of their seemingly abnormal internal actions and qualities. Both cities suffered from stigmatized identities in the wider American perception that were fully formed by the …

Inside Unlv, Erin O'Donnell

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of Consumer E-Loyalty To Online Travel Intermediaries, Gregory E Dunn

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Online travel intermediaries such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz have controlled the lion's share of the transactions over the Internet in terms of travel search and purchase by offering low prices, increased consumer choice, and enhanced shopping efficiency. Travel suppliers have been fighting harder than ever to keep up with the online travel intermediaries in terms of technology infrastructure and added-value content to re-capture the customers whose loyalty they spent so much time and money cultivating in the first place; The purpose of this research was to identify the antecedents of customer e-loyalty and examine the effects of these loyalty …

Psychological Well-Being And Relationship Changes In Women After Obesity Surgery, Lindsey Bocchieri Ricciardi

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The present study explored changes in patients' psychological well-being and relationship adjustment at three- and six-months after either Lap-Band or Gastric Bypass Surgery. Sixty-eight women completed the battery, which consisted of standardized questionnaires of self-esteem, body-image, psychological symptomatology, and assertiveness, as well as marital and sexual functioning, prior to surgery and then at the two follow-ups. Also included was the assessment of patient expectations of relationship change and the pilot Weight-Related Relationship Adjustment Questionnaires (WRRAQ's). Pilot WRRAQ's were designed for the purpose of the study, based on retrospective patient narratives, and assessed parenting, work, family, and friend relationship domains. Psychometric …

Responses To Transnational Non-Governmental Terrorism In Kenya And The United States: An Anthropological Analysis, Kennedy Geoffrey Ondieki

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Terrorism is an ancient human phenomenon. In contemporary societies, however, terrorist attacks affect every country in one form or another. Hardly can any continent, region, or community claim immunity from it. Its causes, characteristics, and controlling mechanisms are as diverse and complex as there are terrorist groups. The impacts of terrorism, on other hand, are lethal and far-reaching as are government responses against it. This study began as an attempt to examine governmental and survivor responses and reactions in regard to the attacks of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998. Then the horrific attacks against …

An Empirical Examination Of The Presence Of Minority Coaches In Minor League Baseball, Braden E Holcomb

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Three research questions concerning race and the coaching staff were addressed. The first question was to determine the ratio between the race of coaches (White, Black, or Latino) and the race of the players (White, Black, or Latino). The second question was to determine if a disproportionate amount of minorities would be found at any of the three coaching positions (Manager, Hitting Coach, and Pitching Coach). The final question was to determine the coaches defensive position during their playing career, whether it was a central or peripheral position, and their current coaching position (Manager or Hitting Coach) All pitching coaches …

Soul Shakedown: The Politics Of Soul Music, Melanie Catherine Young

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This thesis demonstrates the value of the 'hegemonic' theory of politics as a basis for the discussion of the importance of commercially popular music in the political socialization process. The theoretical foundations of popular music studies are considered, the existing literature on popular soul music is reviewed, and an analysis of the lyrics of primarily popular soul songs from 1965 to 1975 is presented. The content analysis suggests that the conception of the black man as described by the whites served a hegemonic function in the culture of African-Americans. However, popular soul music lyrics of the 1960s and 1970s vocalized …

Racial Disparities In The Federal Sentencing Of Drug Offenders, Jorge Adrian Castrejon

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Drawing upon a national sample of offenders from the U.S. Sentencing Commission through the ICPSR, the current study examines the extent of racial disparities in federal sentencing of drug offenders. After controlling for demographic characteristics of the defendants results from the analysis indicate that blacks and Hispanics convicted of drug offenses receive more prison sentences than white defendants. Black defendants receive longer prison sentences than whites and Hispanics for the same type of drug offenses. Although Hispanics receive more prison sentences than whites their prisons sentences are significantly shorter than prison sentences for black and white defendants. It is determined …

Policy Analysis: Evaluating Theories Of The Hermeneutic Critique, Cecilea Mun

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This thesis evaluates three theories representing the three perspectives identified by Goktug Morcol as perspectives of the hermeneutic critique in policy analysis, while explicating the revolutionary process that the science is currently undergoing. The evaluation is focused around the question as to whether the three theories are viable alternatives to positivist theories. First, a brief history of policy analysis is presented, highlighting the conditions that contributed to the rise of the general positivist paradigm as the ideal in policy analysis. This is followed by a summary and criticisms of the general positivist paradigm. Next, summaries of Dvora Yanow's interpretive theory, …

Hellfire And Damnation Through Crime Or Bliss Through Faith: A Look At Faith-Based Corrections, Gregory Paul Warren Wuthrich

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The latest movement in trying to combat the U.S. crime problem is through "faith-based" corrections. These programs are in the infancy stages and minimal data are present at this time to illustrate true effectiveness of such programs. This study is a theoretical evaluation of such programs and incorporates a framework from Gary LaFree (1988). Results indicate that "faith-based" programs tend to be one dimensional and in order for them to work properly they must be set up in conjunction with other institutional changes. Often other theories can incorporate the dimension of religion, yet religion alone, such as through "faith-based" programs, …

The Potential Impact Of The Medieval Climatic Anomaly On Human Populations In The Western Mojave Desert, Jill Kathleen Gardner

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, a model was proposed for changing settlement and subsistence patterns in the western Mojave Desert. The model posits that environmental fluctuations over the last 4,000 years were potential causal mechanisms for culture change in this region. One of these fluctuations was the environmental episode known as the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA), a series of droughts that took place between about 1,200 and 650 B.P. The intent of this study was to determine whether apparent culture changes that began about 1,200 years ago in the western Mojave Desert are associated with the MCA. To …

Identifying The Characteristics Of And Quality Indicators For Associate Degree Culinary Arts Programs: A Survey Of Educators And Industry, Jean Louise Hertzman

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Since 1981, the number of associate degree culinary arts programs in the United States increased from four to 261. Little academic literature exists about these programs and their diversity makes clear comparisons of culinary programs difficult. This study addresses the research question: What are the common characteristics of associate degree culinary arts programs and to what extent can each of these characteristics be used as indicators for evaluating the quality of the programs?;The researcher performed content analysis of 232 associate degree culinary arts program requirements worksheets to determine the typical curriculum. She analyzed information from guidebooks and websites to develop …

Estimating The Effects Of September 11 On Las Vegas Strip Gaming Volume, David Eisendrath

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This paper examines the decrease in gross gaming volume, specifically slot machine coin-in, on the Las Vegas Strip resulting from the events of September 11, 2001. An intervention analysis based on a seasonal ARIMA model was developed from Nevada Gaming Control Board slot machine coin-in data analyzed from January 1990 to November 2004. The findings revealed that the Strip experienced an abrupt decline in gaming volume lasting five months. Although a quick recovery ensued, residual effects lasted approximately two years. In spite of the uniqueness of the events of September 11, this study should help managers in their response to …

Understanding The Role Of Predicted Outcome Value In The Negotiation Of Condom Use, Shawna Gwynne Harris

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study is a quantitative analysis of influences on college students' willingness to persist with a request to use a condom. The participants consist of 129 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory and upper division courses at a large, southwestern university. The research design is a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial: prediction of cooperation (yes, no), prediction of future relationship (long-term, one-night stand), and gender (male, female). Four different instruments, each with a different hypothetical scenario manipulating the relationship status and cooperation independent variables, were randomly distributed to all participating students with request persistence and message directness as the dependent …

Residence Choices Of Hispanic Neighborhoods In Nevada, Qiong Li

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

A well-known characteristic of Hispanic in the U.S. is their tendency to concentrate their settlement area in distinct locations. This study merges aggregate data of localities with micro observations to estimate the joint decisions of residential location and homeownership choice for Hispanics. To address the possibility that the disturbances in the regression may be correlated within groups, we apply a bivarite probit framework clustered by localities (PUMAs), using the Public Use Micro Statistics of Census 2000 data for Nevada. The results suggests that Hispanics choose to live in Hispanic enclaves are characterized by lower income, less English fluency, lower educational …

The Buildings At The Center: Latter-Day Saint Tabernacles In The Mormon Culture Region, Aaron James Mcarthur

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Tabernacles are a largely overlooked feature of communities in the Mormon Culture Region. Though the tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City has world-wide recognition, very little has been written about the other 78 that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built between 1847 and 1953. This thesis discusses the religious, cultural, and social motivations behind the planning and construction of tabernacles, as evidenced by developments such as the Plat of the City of Zion and the Priesthood Reorganization of 1877, as well as the numerous uses of these buildings. The significance of the buildings in the …

Attitudinal And Behavioral Assessments Of Generations X And Y At The Palms Casino Resort, Ch-A Mosley

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Las Vegas area casino hotels have recently begun to vie for the attention and business of Generations X and Y. This is evidenced by the influx of night clubs, lounges, and party-like pool scenes in Strip properties. The purpose of the study is to utilize the Palms Casino Resort's young adult clientele to determine what attributes they find appealing about it. The data garnered through primary empirical research revealed implications for potential marketing initiatives and future research. This project was both quantitative and qualitative in nature.

Sociability And "Survivor", Shelley Elizabeth Wilkerson

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Reality television, and the program Survivor in particular, have quickly become a powerful social force in Europe and America. The author explored the possibility that Survivor audience members use and obtain gratifications from the program that increases, or enhances, their sociability. Uses and Gratifications Media Theory was used to determine why reality programs in general are watched; Results indicated that some viewers may use the program Survivor as a social tool, but these viewers were not necessarily non-social to begin with. Results also indicated that the reasons why viewers choose to watch reality programming are surprisingly similar across the genre.

An Analysis Of Factors Affecting Net-Migration To Clark County, Scott Charles Mitchell

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Clark County has experienced rapid population growth during the 1990s. The reasons for this rapid growth are a combination of proximity to other population centers, economics, quality of life, and demographic factors. Using OLS and GLS regression methods on pooled time-series county-level data between the years 1990 and 1997, several factors proved to be significantly correlated with the net-migration to Clark County. The most important factors affecting net-migration to Clark County are climate and demographics.

Education About The Environment Discover Mojave Programs, Public Lands Institute

Presentations (PLI Education)

Increases people’s knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges, and fosters attitudes, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible action” (UNESCO, Tbilisi Declaration, 1978)

Science In The Community: A Look At Informal Science Organizations In Clark County, Public Lands Institute

Presentations (PLI Education)

UNLV’s Public Lands Institute is partnering with area-wide Informal Science Organizations to provide experiences that can have significant and lasting impacts on student learning.

Integration Of Service-Learning Into Civil And Environmental Engineering Curriculum, T. C. Piechota, Shashi S. Nambisan

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Service-learning is defined as integrating the community service experience of students with their academic study so that learning is enhanced. The level of student participation in community service is at an all time high as students feel the need to confront today's technical and societal problems. However, service-learning is more than community service or volunteerism. Service-learning as defined above, integrates the community service experience with the student’s academic study (note the hyphen in "service-learning" means that both are considered equal). This enhances learning which is a fundamental goal of colleges and universities. Boyer highlights the need for service-learning stating that …