Digital Commons Network^™

Gazing At Gawain: Reconsidering Tournaments, Courtly Love, And The Lady Who Looks, Elizabeth L'Estrange

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Whether Old Or Young, Readers Of This Column Have Interesting Insights, Diether Haenicke

WMU President Diether Haenicke

This column was published in the Kalamazoo Gazette mlive.com/kalamazoo

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project Annual Report, 2007-08, Michael S. Nassaney

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

This past year (September 1, 2007 through August 31, 2008) was arguably the most productive for the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project since the site was initially identified on the ground by Western Michigan University archaeologists in 1998. The project has become one of the premier public archaeology programs in the Midwest, guided by the philosophy of community service learning in which students provide a community service and learn through civic engagement. Investigations and interpretations have spawned a number of significant recent developments. First, the City of Niles and Western Michigan University entered into a 10-year collaborative agreement to ensure …

Wmu Board Of Trustees Formal Session November 7, 2008, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

• Personnel Report
• Gift Report
• Grant Report
• Lease Agreement - Clearwire, US LLC
• Lease Agreement - Spindler Hall, Office of Community Correction, County of Kalamazoo
• Faculty-Staff Indemnification Policy

Prism #34, November 2008, Office Of The Provost

Prism: Western Michigan University's Newsletter for Academic Affairs

No abstract provided.

Geosciences Newsletter - Fall 2008, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 3, No. 3

• Faculty Updates
• Publications
• Grants
• MGRRE
• New Courses
• Graduate News
• Awards
• Field Trips
• Alumni
• Development
• Advisory Board

Western News, Oct. 2, 2008, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Homecoming to rock campus, Kalamazoo; Fall influenza, meningitis vaccination clinics scheduled; Service anniversaries for October; On Campus with Jeff Alexander.

Black Holes And Gaseous Processes: Big Mistakes In Assessment, Susan Hatfield

Assessment Publications & Presentations

No abstract provided.

Footnotes, Issue 2, Fall 2008, Department Of English

Footnotes: Department of English Newsletter (2008-2012)

No abstract provided.

Reading Horizons Vol. 49 No. 1

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizons volume 49, issue 1.

Going Green: Books That Invite Wonder And Action About Earth’S Endangered Environment, Terrell A. Young, Barbara A. Ward

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Global warming is a complicated, hot button topic that needs to be explored in today’s classrooms. The following books are reviewed.

Grades K-3:
Alarcón, Francisco X. (2008). Animal poems of the Iguazu/Animalaria del Iguazu
Guiberson, Brenda. Z. (2008). Ice bears
Winter, Jeannette. (2008). Wangari’s trees of peace: A true story from Africa
Walsh, Melanie. (2008). 10 things I can do to help my world

Grades 4-6:
Burns, Loree Griffin. (2007). Tracking trash: Flotsam, jetsam, and the science of ocean motion
Cherry, Lynne and Braasch, Gary. (2008). How we know what we know about our changing climate: Scientists and kids explore …

Untapped Cultural Support: The Influence Of Culturally Bound Prior Knowledge On Comprehension Performance, Ruanda Garth-Mccullough

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

By analyzing the prior knowledge of African American students, this study explored the relationship between cultural orientation of literature and reading comprehension to determine its’ effect on low, mid, and high level readers. Over one hundred 8th grade students from four different public schools read short stories from three different cultural orientations. Their reading comprehension performance was analyzed to determine the role that culturally bound prior knowledge plays in the comprehension process for low, medium, and high performing students. To measure the effects of cultural orientation of texts, prior achievement, and prior knowledge on the students’ reading comprehension performance, the …

Western News, Sept. 18, 2008, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Overall enrollment increases; Campus United Way campaign begins; Service anniversaries for September; On Campus with Lynn Buthala-Plew.

Prism #32, September 2008, Office Of The Provost

Prism: Western Michigan University's Newsletter for Academic Affairs

No abstract provided.

Understanding Social Inequality. Tim Butler And Paul Watt.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Tim Butler & Paul Watt. Understanding Social Inequality. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007. $39.95 papercover.

Blame Welfare, Ignore Poverty And Inequality. Joel F. Handler And Yeheskel Hasenfeld.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Joel F. Handler & Yeheskel Hasenfeld. Blame Welfare, Ignore Poverty and Inequality. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. $80.00 hardcover, $29.99 papercover.

Women's Lives And Poverty: Developing A Framework Of Real Reform For Welfare, Mary Gatta, Luisa S. Deprez

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The historic 1996 welfare reform is typically regarded as a successful public policy. Using the limited success metric of "reducing welfare rolls," welfare evaluations and analysis have obscured the lived experiences of recipients, particularly among women, who are disproportionally represented among welfare recipients. While it is true that welfare numbers are down, those women who have been forced off or left behind are not doing well. In this paper we seek to explore and critically evaluate the lived experiences of women, to challenge mainstream understandings of women's "success" post-welfare, and propose a theoretical and methodological framework, based on an intersectional …

Dropped From The Rolls: Mexican Immigrants, Race, And Rights In The Era Of Welfare Reform, Alejandra Marchevsky, Jeanne Theoharis

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Welfare reform transferred considerable discretion over eligibility standards and benefits to individual caseworkers, contributing to a highly diffuse, yet system-wide, practice of discrimination against nonwhite and foreign-born families within the new TANF program. Based on a two-year ethnographic study of welfare reform's impact on Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles County, this article documents a pattern of heightened anti-immigrant sentiment and disentitlement within L.A. County's welfare system following the passage of PRWORA. The vast majority of eligible immigrant families in our study lost some or all of their cash and food stamp benefits, and were systematically denied access to the work …

The Untold Story Of Welfare Fraud, Richelle S. Swan, Linda L. Shaw, Sharon Cullity, Joni Halpern, Juliana Humphrey, Wendy M. Limbert, Mary Roche

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The experiences of women who have been charged with welfare fraud in the years following the passage of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act cast a shadow over the claim that welfare reform has been an unequivocal success. This article addresses this under-explored issue by considering the face of welfare fraud in San Diego, California after the change to federal welfare law. After a brief discussion of the socio-historical context of welfare fraud prosecution and a summary of the scholarly findings related to welfare fraud post-PRWORA, the aiticle details a new "poverty knowledge" about welfare fraud drawn …

"It's All One Big Circle": Welfare Discourse And The Everyday Lives Of Urban Adolescents, Staci T. Lowe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Welfare reform succeeded, in part, because of discourse that characterized the poverty problem as one of long-term dependency and personal irresponsibility. Adolescent pregnancy was targeted as both cause and manifestation of a welfare crisis. This study examined how welfare reform was perceived and experienced by lowincome, urban adolescents. Findings from interviews revealed that adolescents agreed with many of the basic tenets of welfare reform, largely because they had appropriated much of the discourse prevalent in wider society. However, their complex life stories contained a powerful subtext concerning structural determinants of poverty that ran counter to prevailing notions of "personal responsibility."

Tearing Down The Gates: Confronting The Class Divide In American Education. Peter Sacks.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Peter Sacks. Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007. $24.95 hardcover.

America Transformed: Globalization, Inequality And Power. Gary Hytrek And Kristine M. Zentgraf.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Gary Hytrek & Kristine M. Zentgraf. America Transformed: Globalization, Inequality and Power. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. $29.95 papercover.

Professions "Of All Professions, Begging Is The Best" A Paper By Michael Davis. Response By Joseph Ellin. Professor Davis' Reply, Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Michael Davis' original paper was presented to the Center of the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University on October 4, 2007.

Islamism, State Control Over Religion And Social Identity: Turkey And Egypt, Alper Y. Dede

Dissertations

In post Cold War politics, as a powerful alternative to the authoritarian "status-quo" regimes of the Muslim World, Islamism has become among the most critical political issues as various Islamist movements increasingly challenge governments for more political reforms, democratization, and greater participation and in the political process.

The current debates on Islamism, though useful, often emphasize the issues of security, democracy, or stability. However, they seem to overlook the importance of processes and the mechanisms of Islamism as well as how Islamists' concerns for preserving their Islamic social identity (Muslimness) and government control over religion contribute to their politicization. Thus, …

Zeolite-Based Nanosized Ti02 Photocatalytic Paper For Antimicrobial Barrier And Toxin Passivation In Packaging: Design, Synthesis And Characterization, Seonghyuk Ko

Dissertations

This dissertation describes comprehensive studies, including design, preparation, characterization and evaluation, to develop an innovative zeolite-based nanosized TiO2photocatalytic paper for disinfection and disintegration of organic toxins.

A novel paper with high photocatalytic performance was successfully prepared using natural zeolite (clinoptilolite)-based nanosized TiO2 photocatalyst in a microparticle retention papermaking system. Photocatalytic material, from its sol-gel derived TiO2 colloids to its anchoring onto zeolite, has been designed, prepared and characterized. Prior to photocatalytic papermaking, the characteristics of sol-gel synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles from colloidal to nanopowder were investigated with various initial sizes of colloidal nanoparticles synthesized in the range of 2.5±0.1 nm and …

A New Rough Wall Layer Modeling For Turbulent Flows Using The Brinkman Equation, Meng-Huang Lu

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Organizational Effectiveness, Wesley A. Martz

Dissertations

If organizations are to survive and achieve long-run viability, they must be effective. Yet organizational effectiveness evaluation has been limited by a variety of factors--especially the ambiguity surrounding the concept of organizational effectiveness itself. The long-established approaches used by organizational theorists to define organizational effectiveness have emphasized different perspectives with respect to the organization type and degrees of importance of the various constituency groups comprising the organization. Moreover, definitions of the organization and organizational effectiveness have focused primarily on the dissimilarities among organizations and their constituencies, conceding efforts to identify commonalities . This has led to increased fragmentation of the …

A Survey Of Elementary School Technology Needs: A Needs Assessment, Shaun Kellogg

Masters Theses

Given the potential of technology to enhance teaching and learning, there is little surprise that schools have been investing in technology. Unfortunately, technology has been and continues to be an expensive and ongoing investment. Recent federal mandates and public demand have led to increasing pressures on schools to show results and to justify such heavy expenses as technology. Sandy Grove Elementary has followed national trends in its recognition of technology's potential, its increasing investment, and its need to justify this expense with hard evidence. Sandy Grove is still in the early stages of its evaluation process and currently there is …

Representations Of Latin-American Immigration To Spain In The Late Twentieth And Early Twenty-First Century Narrative And Cinema, Alicia Arribas

Dissertations

As migration movements are becoming more common in our global community, Spain, traditionally an emigrant country, has attracted large numbers of immigrants. This dissertation explores the way in which late twentieth and early twenty-first century narrative and cinema construct discursive representations of Latin American immigration in Spain. The works studied include selections from three anthologies of short stories: Lavapiés, Inmenso estrecho and Inmigración, emigración e interculturalidad ; the novels Salsa by Clara Obligado, Madre mía, que estás en los infiernos by Carmen Jiménez, Las obras infames de Pancho Marambio by Alfredo Bryce Echenique and Nunca pasa nada by José Ovejero; …

Unwanted Sexual Experiences: Preliminary Development And Validation Of A Behavioral Analog Measure For Risk Perception, Response Appraisal, And Response, Robin M. Carter-Visscher

Dissertations

Based on research findings indicating that sexual victimization is a prevalent problem on college campuses and has significant consequences for victims, researchers have examined the effectiveness of sexual assault education programs on reducing incidents of sexual victimization and have found programs to be unsuccessful. Other researchers have begun to investigate behavioral factors associated with risk for sexual victimization in order to better understand mechanisms of sexual victimization and revictimization before developing and implementing interventions. One hypothesis that has received increased attention in recent years is that women with a sexual victimization history may have deficient risk perception and effective responding …