Digital Commons Network^™

Recovering Life In The Finger Lakes, Haywood Hawks

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Immortalizing The Spirit Of The Colonizer, Maximiliano Lombardi

Dissertations and Theses

"European colonial expansion has institutionalized and simultaneously normalized, at the global level, the supremacy of a class, of an ethno-racial group, of a particular type of state organization, spirituality, an epistemology, a particular kind of institutionalization, a production of knowledge, language, pedagogy, and an economy oriented toward the accumulation of global capital. To understand these processes we cannot separate them from each other. In fact, even the word ""capitalism"" is misleading because it leads us to think of an economic system, when in reality it is a hegemonic system that transcends economic relations and includes race, sex, gender, spiritual, linguistic, …

The Chicano Community Murals Of Chicago; 1968-2010, Carolyn Yates

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Economic Growth And Energy Consumption In Oecd Countries; A Causality Analysis, Daria Kostyannikova

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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 …

Finding The Past In The Present: Modeling Prehistoric Occupation And Use Of The Powder River Basin, Wyoming, Catherine Anne Clark

Dissertations and Theses

In the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, our nation's interest in protecting its cultural heritage collides with the high demand for carbon fuels. "Clinker" deposits dot the basin. These distinctive buttes, created by the underground combustion of coal, are underlain by coal veins; they also provided the main lithic resources for prehistoric hunter-gatherers. These deposits signify both a likelihood of extractable carbon and high archaeological site density. Federal law requires that energy developers must identify culturally significant sites before mining can begin. The research presented here explains the need for and describes a statistical tool with the potential to predict …

Street Art, Ideology, And Public Space, Tiffany Renée Conklin

Dissertations and Theses

The concept of the city has come to play a central role in the practices of a new generation of artists for whom the city is their canvas. Street art is a complex social issue. For decades, its presence has fueled intense debate among residents of modern cities. Street art is considered by some to be a natural expression that exercises a collective right to the city, and by others, it is seen as a destructive attack upon an otherwise clean and orderly society. This research focuses on various forms of street art from the perspective of the urban audience. …

Dynamics Of Channel Complexity And Nitrate Retention In Upper Fanno Creek, Oregon, Robert Allen Bean

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates the relationship between channel complexity and nutrient spiraling along 31 reaches of an urbanized watershed in Portland, Oregon. Much research shows that urbanization has an effect on watershed hydrology and nutrient loading at the watershed scale for various sized catchments. However, the flux of nutrients over short reaches within a stream channel has been less studied because of the effort and costs associated with fieldwork and subsequent laboratory analysis of the surface water samples. In this study I measure channel complexity and uptake velocity of nitrate to determine if this relationship is indicative of a healthy, functioning …

Agency, Consolidation, And Consequence: Evaluating Social And Political Change In New Orleans, 1868-1900, Christopher Joseph Cook

Dissertations and Theses

In the last twenty years, recent scholarship has opened up fresh inquiry into several aspects of New Orleans society during the late nineteenth century. Much work has been done to reassess the political and cultural involvement, as well as perspective of, the black Creoles of the city; the successful reordering of society under the direction of the Anglo-Protestant elite; and the evolution of New Orleans's social conditions and cultural institutions during the period initiating Jim Crow segregation. Further exploration, however, is necessary to make connections between each of these avenues of study. This thesis relies on a variety of secondary …

Climate Change Effects And Water Vulnerability In The Molalla Pudding River Basin, Oregon, Usa, Susan Amelia Wherry

Dissertations and Theses

Water management plans are typically developed using historical data records and historical return periods for extreme events, such as floods or droughts. Since these analyses of return periods typically assume a certain degree of stationarity (constant mean, standard deviation, distribution) in hydrologic variables, the potential future impacts of climate change are excluded. In developing water management plans, predicted changes to climate variables should be considered to evaluate the degree of non-stationarity that may exist in the future. In this way, regions most sensitive to climate change can be identified and managed appropriately. This study performed such a task by using …

Streamflow Analysis And A Comparison Of Hydrologic Metrics In Urban Streams, Matthew Lawton Wood

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates the hydrologic effects of urbanization in two Portland, Oregon streams through a comparison of three hydrologic metrics. Hydrologic metrics used in this study are the mean annual runoff ratio (Qa), mean seasonal runoff ratio (Qw and Qd), and the fraction of time that streamflow exceeds the mean streamflow during the year (TQmean). Additionally, the relative change in streamflow in response to storm events was examined for two watersheds. For this investigation urban development is represented by two urbanization metrics: percent impervious and road density. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to evaluate the relationship between the hydrologic …

Mining Culture In Roman Dacia: Empire, Community, And Identity At The Gold Mines Of Alburnus Maior Ca.107-270 C.E., Heather Ann Pundt

Dissertations and Theses

Trajan conquered Dacia in 106 CE and encouraged one of the largest colonization efforts in the history of the Roman Empire. The new province was rich in natural resources. Immigrants from Dalmatia, Moesia, Noricum, Pannonia, Greece, Syria, Bithynia, Italy, indigenous Dacians, and soldiers from Legio XIII Gemina participated in the extraction of gold from the Apuseni Mountains. The inhabitants of mining settlements around Alburnus Maior and the administrative center Ampelum coexisted under Roman governance but continued to mark their identities in multicultural communities. At Alburnus Maior the presence of wage laborers with access to outside materials and ideas created the …

Hydrogeology Of The Mckinney Butte Area: Sisters, Oregon, Joshua Andrew Hackett

Dissertations and Theses

McKinney Butte, a late Tertiary andesite vent and flow complex, is located near the town of Sisters, Oregon, in the upper Deschutes Basin, and is situated along the structural trend that forms the eastern margin of the High Cascades graben (Sisters fault zone and Green Ridge). Rapid development and over appropriated surface water resources in this area have led to an increased dependence upon groundwater resources. A primary concern of resource managers is the potential impact of expanding groundwater use on stream flows and spring discharge. Two sets of springs (McKinney Butte Springs and Camp Polk Springs) discharge to Whychus …

Identifying Regional Centers In Washington County, Oregon, Kevin Christopher Rancik

Dissertations and Theses

An increasing national focus on problems related to urban sprawl has fueled debate on the best way for urban areas to accommodate increasing populations. Portland, Oregon has attracted international attention for its growth policies, which are among the most stringent in the United States. Metro, the area's regional government in charge of long-range planning, has designated certain locations as regional centers where increased density and development are to occur. A logical question is whether or not these centers are developing as intended; do Metro's plans match reality on the ground? This study of Washington County, Oregon analyzes land value, building …

Designing And Using Virtual Field Environments To Enhance And Extend Field Experience In Professional Development Programs In Geology For K-12 Teachers, Frank Douglas Granshaw

Dissertations and Theses

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used to acquaint geoscience novices with some of the observation, data gathering, and problem solving done in actual field situations by geoscientists. VR environments in a variety of forms are used to prepare students for doing geologic fieldwork, as well as to provide proxies for such experience when venturing into the field is not possible. However, despite increased use of VR for these purposes, there is little research on how students learn using these environments, how using them impacts student field experience, or what constitutes effective design in light of emerging theories of geocognition.

To …

The Dynamics Of Change Among Community Development Corporations In Inner North/Northeast Portland, 1987-2006, Louisa Jenkins Brown

Dissertations and Theses

This project is a comparative case study of five Community Development Corporations (CDCs) that emerged in the seven central neighborhoods of Inner North/Northeast Portland, Oregon in the late 1980s. Of the five organizations that began at that time, only two exist currently. Analyzing how and why these organizations rose and fell, merged and failed, struggled and survived in a compressed time frame and geographic area will elucidate the different paths that each organization chose in a neighborhood that changed from derelict to gentrified. Drawing on the overlapping bodies of literature that cover low-income and affordable housing development, CDC structure and …

Using Geographically Structured Evaluations To Assess Performance And Transferability Of Ecological Niche Models For Species With Many Occurrence Records; A Test Using The Caribbean Spiny Pocket Mouse, Heteromys Anomauls, Aleksandar Radosavljevic

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Modernity And Otavalo Dress In Ecuador And Abroad, Daisy Dominguez

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Sexual Gender-Based Violence In The Democratic Republic Of Congo, James Aldworth

Dissertations and Theses

"This thesis explores the issue of Sexual Gender-Based Violence in the Democratic of Congo, focusing specifically on the Eastern region of the country. An analysis of the United Nations peacekeeping operation forms a large part the study because the operation remains the most significant multilateral attempt to protect Congolese civilians from sexual violence and other human rights abuses. The objective of the thesis is to highlight the issue of Sexual Gender-Based Violence, describe the background to the continued violence in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and offer an explanation of the causal factors behind the sexual crimes …

Evaluation Of Quikscat Data For Monitoring Vegetation Phenology, Doralee Pellot

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Legal And Political Foundations Of Kosovo's Independence, Mensur Deva

Dissertations and Theses

The case of Kosovo's independence raised concern regarding setting a precedence for other pro self-determination movements in the world. The critical question is if the Kosovo case actually sets a precedent for these movements or if it is a unique case due to its sui generis situation. This paper is an attempt to analyze the legality and the legitimate right of Kosovo to become an independent state. The study examines the phenomenon of the creation of new states in the world, looking at historical events such as decolonization and the dissolution of communist countries in Eastern Europe. In addition, I …

The Difficult Relationship Between Haiti And The Dominican Republic, Wilfred Morfa

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of The "Combined Method" On Spanish Language Vocabulary Acquisition In English Speaking Participants, Allan Alva

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Significance Of The Other: Stories, Mara Lee Grayson

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Haitian Diaspora Impact On Haitian Socio-Political And Economic Development, Sharleen Rigueur

Dissertations and Theses

"There is a new perspective developing within the international community on Diasporas and their potential to assist in the development process of their country of origin. The discussion began from the realization that transnational flows of remittances from sending countries (core) to receiving countries (periphery) increasingly surpass donor contributions to developing countries. The argument further discusses different socio-economic strategies to use when diasporic communities residing in developed countries (core) are assisting their homeland (periphery). This paper will look at the Haitian Diaspora in the United States and its active transnational link to Haiti. Since the days of post-Duvalierism, the Haitian …

The Cultural Barriers To Integration Of Second Generation Muslims In Northern Italy, Joseph Anthony Migliore

Dissertations and Theses

In this study, I examine the existing literature and carry out a qualitative exploration in order to formulate a better understanding of the dynamics that influence the lives of 2nd generation Italian Muslims. Although monumental social and political challenges remain in confronting integration of the Muslim population and for achieving greater acceptance of Islam within the Italian public sphere, the evidence suggests that the process for integration has slowly begun. Additionally, this study examines the intellectual framework of the existing literature which addresses the issues impacting Muslim integration in Northern Italy. This issue has induced new debates within Italy on …

The Effects Of Multiple Thematic Layers On Web Map Use By Middle School Students, Andrew Percy Freed

Dissertations and Theses

Access to the to the Internet and to a variety of interactive mapping tools has increased interest among middle school teachers to use interactive maps in conjunction with learning activities. There is very little research in the area of interactive mapping in educational situations, specifically with regards to layer maps that combine multiple thematic layers on a single map. This study evaluates the relationship between the number of layers present on a web-based map and middle-school students' accuracy and timeliness using the map to answer geographic questions. Additionally, this study examines the specific effect of a hill shade on student …

Opening Black Boxes And Following Traces: An Exploration Of The Coalition For A Livable Future's Regional Equity Atlas Actor-World, 2003-2007, Meg Merrick

Dissertations and Theses

Maps have longed been recognized as instruments of power and persuasion. With the recent proliferation of maps in the media and on the Internet has come an increasing desire among groups advocating for environmental and social change to have access to maps (the product) and mapping (the process) to more effectively promote their agendas. However, this is not as simple as it seems. Far from being neutral conduits of "truth," maps are constructed by a myriad of social interactions among heterogeneous actors (human and technical) that left unacknowledged can lead to an untapped potential of the power of maps. Adopting …

Toward A Richer Shade Of Blue: The Impact On Oregon Police Officer Perceptions Of Racial Minorities After Anti-Racial Profiling Training, David Andrew Kline

Dissertations and Theses

Four fatal shootings, during police interactions, of unarmed people-of-color occurred in the Portland, Oregon Metro Area from 2003 to 2010 calling into question from members of the community whether or not the officers involved and hence their representative police departments had been racially profiling. Of interest in this study is whether or not cutting edge anti-racial profiling police officer trainings have an impact on how officers in Oregon perceive members of racial minority groups. A review of literature found that previous inquiries into racial prejudice among police officers may be present and that previous efforts to address racial ethics in …

Poverty And Conflict: A Self-Perpetuating Cycle In The Somali Regional State (Region 5), Ethiopia: 1960-2010, Bisrat Teshome

Dissertations and Theses

Region 5 is one of the most impoverished and insecure regions of Ethiopia. For decades, the region has suffered from a multitude of armed conflicts involving state and non-state actors. Region 5 is also one of the most underserved states of Ethiopia with some of the lowest levels of human development indicators nationwide. Although the adversities of poverty and conflict are widely acknowledged in their own respect, there has been little or no inquest into why poverty and conflict have prevailed under the same space for decades. Poverty and conflict have often been seen as separate phenomena that are dealt …