Digital Commons Network^™

Group Housing And Social Stress In Side-Blotched Lizards (Uta Stansburiana), Marilize Van Der Walt

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Stress in regards to an animal's social housing environment is well studied in mammals; however there are few studies examining this in reptiles and the results are thus far unclear. For example, behavioral evidence shows adverse effects from individual housing in juvenile chameleons, however physiological measures in whiptail lizards show adverse effects from group housing. Because some reptiles appear to be affected negatively by their social housing environment while others are impacted positively, if we can discover the reason for these differences, we will be able to implement the most effective housing regimes for reptiles. In this study, we tested …

Meta-Analysis On Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Between Humans And Non-Human Primates, Madalyn R. Page

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Due to genetic similarity, non-human primates are often the focus of zoonotic infectious disease research. The objective of zoonotic disease research can vary depending upon whether the study is focusing on human health or the health of wild non-human primate populations. Research with non-human primates is often associated with their use in medical laboratories for the benefit of human health. However, other studies focus on both the health of wild non-human primate populations and human interactions. This study reviews zoonotic disease research published in three main primatology journals: American Journal of Primatology, International Journal of Primatology, and Primates. …

Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth: 2014 Farm Bill Insect And Disease Restoration Provision -- True Gift Or False Hope?, Jamilee E. Holmstead

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Provisions in the 2014 Farm Bill were meant to increase the speed within which natural resource managers could treat insect and disease issues on National Forests. In order to use this new authority, each state was required to nominate acre portions of each National Forest with insect and disease risks.

The 35 nominations that were submitted differed substantially, from the amount of acreage nominated to the amount of effort that went into developing the nomination. The purpose of the research was to understand why there was such variation in the nominations. Several of the states that submitted nominations were contacted …

Understanding Westerners' Relationship With Public Lands And Federal Land Managers Through Attachment To Public Lands, Chris Sisneros

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The western United States contain large amounts of federal public lands, and those lands play an important role in both those states’ economies and the daily
lives of their residents. This study set out to understand how individuals interact with those public lands, how they become attached on a deeper level to those lands,
and whether or not that attachment has an effect on how they feel about the federal agencies that manage those lands. The term attachment to public lands is used to
describe how individuals can develop a bond towards public lands through both the recreational and economic …

Site-Based And Nonsite Archaeological Survey: A Comparison Of Two Survey Methods In The City Of Rocks, Idaho, Patrick Reed Mcdonald

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Archaeology in the western United States frequently employs pedestrian survey of the ground surface to locate and identify archaeological sites. Proponents of alternative survey techniques suggest that site-based survey may be inherently flawed and will not accurately detect, document, or account for artifacts located outside of site boundaries. Site-based survey identifies artifacts, and then searches the area more intensively in an attempt to identify a spatial break in artifact presence. Nonsite approaches utilize point plotting of all discovered artifacts in order to quantitatively identify relationships between artifacts. Quantitative analysis removes a level of researcher bias from the interpretation of past …

Factors Influencing The Ecology Of Greater Sage-Grouse Inhabiting The Bear Lake Plateau And Valley, Idaho And Utah, Casey J. Cardinal

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) are a sagebrush obligate species and as such an indicator of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitat quality and quantity. Sage-grouse populations have declined across western North America. This decline has been attributed to habitat loss and degradation of the sagebrush ecosystem. To determine factors that may cause localized declines in sage-grouse populations, managers may need site-specific information on the ecology and habitat use patterns of meta-populations. This information is currently lacking for sage-grouse populations that inhabit the Bear Lake Plateau and Valley (BLPV), encompassing parts of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. I captured, radio-marked …

"It Is Not In The Stars To Hold Our Destiny But In Ourselves": Tales Of Saudi Muslim Women Maintaining Their Identities In U.S. Higher Education, Debi Sheridan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of these oral histories was to examine, explain and reveal the success of a small group of Saudia (female Saudis) whose studies at a mid-Western American university through the medium of English (their second or third language). Four students were randomly selected from a group of volunteers, based on their successful completion of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program, plus a year of other academic classes in the university. One student, who had not completed the ESL program, was admitted to the master of English program having passed the Test of English as a Foreign Language …

Spatial Patterns Of Rural And Exurban Residential Settlement And Agricultural Trends In The Intermountain West, Saleh Ahmed

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Population growth is often linked to negative impacts on agriculture. However, the effects of residential development likely depends on the spatial pattern of development, such as whether housing is clustered or dispersed, and whether it is located near or away from important farmland. For several decades, rural and urban planners have advocated policies to encourage consolidated forms of development as one strategy to protect agriculture and preserve open space. To date, relatively little empirical research has been conducted on the actual effects of different spatial patterns of residential settlement on agricultural. This study aims to fill that gap with a …

Propaganda Powers Social Reform: The Visual Rhetoric Of Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, And Norman Rockwell, Shelly Stock Halling

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The scope of this thesis is an examination of visual rhetoric and its societal impacts. The framework is an historical timeline from the end of the 19^th century to the middle of the 20^th century. The thesis is an interdisciplinary activity that embeds Art History in American Studies. It is beneficial to scholars in a variety of fields, including, but not limited to: English, American Studies, Art History, Photography, Sociology, Anthropology, and History. It braids together the theoretical perspectives of propaganda, visual rhetoric, and advocacy. The thesis is based on library research with no outside funding.

Successful Paths To Becoming A Lean Organization In The Construction Industry, Robert D. Warcup

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Lean construction is defined as the continuous process of eliminating waste, with the goal of increasing value on construction projects to the owner and to all stakeholders of a project. It has gained considerable momentum since the early 2000s because of its potential for problem-solving and increased productivity, especially as many construction firms still struggle to adapt to an ever-changing industry. This study was designed to assist construction companies, especially company executives and managers, to better understand the requirements of a lean transformation by describing the paths of three highly successful lean construction firms from the U.S.

Nine lean advocates, …

Who Cares? Developing A Pedagogy Of Caring In Higher Education, Andrew Shayne Larsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

When students are asked about their motivation to succeed in a course, about whether they enjoyed their instructor, and about their overall satisfaction with the class, answers can often be traced back to an educator who was perceived by the student as caring. Perceived caring occurs when a student feels that a teacher’s positive behaviors directed toward the student are motivated by good intentions and good will.

Research in the area of teacher care has almost exclusively focused on elementary and secondary classrooms, and has advanced the theory that caring teachers and caring classroom environments prompt many positive educational outcomes. …

Sources Of Authority For Leadership And Instructional Technology Coaches' Diffusion Of High Access Teaching And Learning, Gregory M. Proffit

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this qualitative study was to use a leadership theory to explore the professional work of three school-based instructional technology coaches. The leadership theory is drawn from Thomas Sergiovanni’s Moral Leadership: Getting to the Heart of School Improvement.

The study used typical qualitative data gathering techniques: participant observations, informal and formal interviews, and the collection of representative workplace professional documents. A single researcher spent two school years in district office meetings and in three secondary schools gathering qualitative data.

The data were analyzed for bureaucratic, psychological, technical rational, professional, and moral sources of authority for leadership. The data …

Welfare State Context And Individual Health: The Role Of Decommodification In Shaping Self-Perceived Health, Karin M. Abel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

What happens in the political arena has important implications for individual lives. But, the form these implications take is not always clear. Hence, conducting research to uncover the impacts of the passage and subsequent implementation of various social policies is crucial. Also, understanding what drives various health outcomes is extremely important, as people’s well-being is tied to success (or failure) in so many aspects of their lives. My research seeks to uncover the link between the happenings in the political world and the health of individuals. If they understand the intricacies of this link, individuals will be better equipped to …

Cultural Entropy: A Grounded Theory Study Of Early Childhood Experiences In Nature In The Arroyo Grande Creek Watershed, Nathaniel Miles Millard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Through support from a Quinney Fellowship and the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism in the Department of Environment and Society at Utah State University, the theory of cultural entropy emerged as an explanation for changing behavior across generations of people living in the Arroyo Grande Creek watershed. Through a trounded theory methodology data collection around early childhood experiences with nature leading towards positive civic engagement with the community, the theory of cultural entropy emerged along with a policy recommendation for reconnecting the community to the local watershed.

Lifelong residents participating in the research were found to have high levels …

Ecologically Sustainable But Unjust? Negotiating Equity And Authority In Common-Pool Marine Resource Management, Sarah Klain

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Under appropriate conditions, community-based fisheries management can support sound resource stewardship, with positive social and environmental outcomes. Evaluating indigenous peoples’ involvement in commercial sea cucumber and geoduck fisheries on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada, we found that the current social-ecological system configuration is relatively ecologically sustainable according to stock assessments. However, the current system also results in perceived inequities in decision-making processes, harvesting allocations, and socioeconomic benefits. As a result, local coastal resource managers envision a transformation of sea cucumber and geoduck fisheries governance and management institutions. We assessed the potential robustness of the proposed institutions using Elinor …

The Utah Statesman, April 25, 2015, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Utah Statesman, April 16, 2015, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Color-Coded Media: Portrayals Of Race In Newspaper Coverage Of National Hockey League Athletes, Camille E. Anderson

Student Research Symposium

Previous research reveals differences in the language used to describe minority and non-minority football,basketball,and baseball athletes.The purpose of this study is to address the dearth of research regarding media portrayals of minority and non-minority athletes in the National Hockey League (NHL). This study utilized both qualitative and quantitative analyses to determine whether media coverage of professional hockey players is different based on race. Comments (n=1,487) from 18 of the highest circulation newspaper publications in the United States and Canada reporting on regular and post-season play for the 2013-2014 NHL season were coded using a modified version of the Biased Coverage …

Stewards Or Owners? The Influence Of Mormonism On Public Perspectives About Renewable Energy, Climate Change, And The Environment, Shawn Olson, Richard Krannich, Peter Robertson

Student Research Symposium

This research investigates the influence of different religious traditions, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints (LDS), on public support for renewable energy development and other environmental issues. We situate our study within the literature on religion and environment, and provide a contribution to the relatively limited amount of research that has been done examining the association between Mormonism and environmental concern. While some studies have found that members of the Mormon Church are significantly less likely to support environmental policy and behaviors, others have found that Mormons display higher levels of environmental concern than general U.S. population. …

#Genderroles: Modeling Gender Among Lds Students, Erica Hawvermale, Essa Temple, Mckayla Montierth

Student Research Symposium

Cultural consensus has emerged as an important way of teaching mixed ethnographic methods to future generations of anthropologists. A major strength of cultural consensus as a pedagogical tool is its intuitive logic and straight forward procedure. This paper demonstrates the use of this method as an entry point into anthropological fieldwork about religious gender roles. The collaborative efforts of Utah State University student-researchers show how junior researchers can use this approach to document the consensus and contestation of ideal gender roles of Mormon college students. Research methods included both semi-structured "free-list" interviews and pile-sorts to determine this cultural consensus model …

Color Coded Media: Portrayals Of Race In Newspaper Coverage National Hockey League Athletes, Camille E. Anderson

Student Research Symposium

Media representation of athletes may inform broader racial stereotypes. Examining the differences in journalists’ when describing both minority and non­‐minority athletes within the NHL illustrates the ways in which this language contributes to readers’ constructions of race. The difference in the racial composition of the NHL presents a unique opportunity to examine how this difference affects the way in which minority athletes are portrayed in the mass media. Minority players are truly the minority in the NHL, whereas other professional sporting leagues could be considered minority-majority sports.

Faculty Senate Agenda, April 6, 2015, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Gun Survey
• PRPC Annual Report
• EPC Items for March
• FDDE Annual Report
• 405.2.2 (etc.) Code Change: Teaching Role Description for P&T(Second Reading)
• 402.9 Code Change: Scheduling of Faculty Forum (First Reading)
• 405.12.2 (1-3) Code Changes: PTR (First Reading)
• 405.6.5 Code Change: Remove term Quinquennial (First Reading)
• Mutual Agreement code change

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, April 2, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Course Approvals
• Program Proposals
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, April 2, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences

• Credit Hour Change
• New Course

Plant Soils and Climate

• Course No. Change, New Course, Dual List
• New Course, Grade Type

School of Applied Sciences, Technology and Education

• Title Change, Course Description Change
• Title Change
• New Course
• Course Description Change

School of Veterinary Medicine

• New Course, Grade Type

Art and Design

• Prerequisite Change
• Add Repeatable for Credit
• New Course, Dual List

Theatre Arts

• New Course

Economics and Finance

• Dual List Change
• Dual List Change, Grade Type

Management

• Course No. Change, Title Change
• Credit Hour Change
• Title Change, Credit Hour Change, Grade Type

Communicative Disorders and Deaf …

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, April 2, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Course Approvals
• Program Proposals
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, April 2, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences

• Credit Hour Change
• Course No. Change
• New Course

Plant Soils and Climate

• Course No. Change, New Course, Dual List
• New Course, Grade Type

School of Applied Sciences, Technology and Education

• Title Change, Course Description Change
• Title Change
• New Course
• Course Description Change

School of Veterinary Medicine

• New Course, Grade Type

Art and Design

• Prerequisite Change
• Add Repeatable for Credit
• New Course, Dual List

Theatre Arts

• New Course

Economics and Finance

• Dual List Change
• Dual List Change, Grade Type

Management

• Course No. Change
• Credit Hour Change
• Title Change, Credit Hour Change, Grade Type

Communicative Disorders and …

Imw Journal Of Religious Studies Volume 6 Number 1

Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies

No abstract provided.

The Utah Statesman, March 31, 2015, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Isaw: Integrating Structure, Actors, And Water To Study Socio-Hydro-Ecological Systems, Rebecca L. Hale, Andrea Armstrong, Michelle A. Baker, Sean Bedingfield, David Betts, Caleb Buahin, Martin Buchert, Todd Crowl, Ryan Dupont, James R. Ehleringer, Joanna Endter-Wada, Susannah S. French, Jacqualine Grant, Sarah Hinners, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Douglas Jackson-Smith, Amber S. Jones, Erica S. Limb, Sarah E. Null, Augustina Odame, Diane E. Pataki, David Rosenberg, Madyln Runburg, Philip Stoker, Courtenay Strong

Biology Faculty Publications

Urbanization, climate, and ecosystem change represent major challenges for managing water resources. Although water systems are complex, a need exists for a generalized representation of these systems to identify important components and linkages to guide scientific inquiry and aid water management. We developed an integrated Structure-Actor-Water framework (iSAW) to facilitate the understanding of and transitions to sustainable water systems. Our goal was to produce an interdisciplinary framework for water resources research that could address management challenges across scales (e.g., plot to region) and domains (e.g., water supply and quality, transitioning, and urban landscapes). The framework was designed to be generalizable …

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, March 5, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

• New Course

Plant Soils and Climate

• New Course, Pass/Fail

• New Course
• Inactivate Course
• Credit Hour Change, Repeatable
• New Course, Repeatable
• Delete Course
• Title Change, Description Change

• Course Description Change
• Course Number Change

Management Information Systems

• New Course

Civil and Environmental Engineering

• Dual List Change

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Prerequisite Change
• New Course, Dual-List

History

• New Course

Journalism and Communication

• New Course
• Prerequisite Change
• Title Change, Description Change, Prerequisite Change

Language, Philosophy and Communication Studies

• New Course
• Prerequisite Change
• Course Description Change
• Title Change

Military Science

• Inactivate

Political Science

• Prerequisite Change
• New …