Digital Commons Network^™

Assessment Of First Year Experiences At Sjsu, Patricia Backer, Emily Allen, Janet Sundrud

Faculty Publications

With nearly 5,000 students, the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering (CoE) at San José State University (SJSU) is the largest provider of engineers to Silicon Valley companies and is ranked 12th among engineering programs for master’s-level institutions in the 2009 U.S. News &World Report's listing of "America’s Best Colleges. “Our overarching theoretical model for student retention is based on Tinto’s model. We adapted this model, based on additional research, to address the needs of students at SJSU. According to this model, effective and positive interactions in college should increase the student’s commitment and effort in college, and thereby, increase …

Service Learning In A Multi-Disciplinary Renewable Energy Engineering Course, Stacy Gleixner, Patricia Backer, Elena Klaw

Faculty Publications

One of the most significant challenges facing this coming generation of engineers is how to fight the complex issue of climate change. One aspect of this that is playing an increasingly important role is alternative and renewable energy technologies. Emerging applications such as solar cells, wind energy conversion devices, and fuel cells involve significant contributions across a range of traditional engineering disciplines. Therefore, for companies to be successful in researching, designing, and manufacturing these products, they must operate in a truly multi-disciplinary environment. To prepare graduates to be successful in this, engineering education must provide students with multi-disciplinary learning environments. …

Dealing With Barnard’S Regret: Accountability And The Zone Of Expectations, Melvin J. Dubnick, Justin P. O’Brien

Faculty Publications

This document discusses Barnard’s reflections on authority, responsibility, and organizational behavior, highlighting his regret over the limited focus on responsibility in his earlier work.

Simulated Reductions In Consumption Of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Improves Diet Quality In Lower Mississippi Delta Adults, Jessica L. Thomson, Lisa M. Tussing-Humphreys, Stephen J. Onufrak, Carol Connell, Jamie M. Zoellner, Margaret L. Bogle, Kathleen Yadrick

Faculty Publications

Background

Although the effects of replacing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) with water on energy intake and body weight have been reported, little is known about how these replacements affect diet quality.

Objective

To simulate the effects of replacing SSBs with tap water on diet quality and total energy intake of Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD) adults.

Design

Retrospective analysis of cross-sectional dietary intake data using a representative sample of LMD adults (n=1,689). Diet quality was measured using the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005) scores that were computed using the population ratio method. The effects of substituting SSBs with water on diet …

Mining The Meanings And Pulling Out The Processes From Psychology Of Religion’S Correlation Mountain, Loren D. Marks, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

The article illustrates how rigorous quantitative studies in three distinct and promising areas opened the door to additional related qualitative work. Using qualitative narratives from a landmark sample of 184 diverse religious families, the authors discuss and illustrate two research methods and that have been useful to them: triangulating data in the context of family, and seeking truth through progressive questioning. Next, consistent with the paper's primary purpose, the authors highlight three areas where the strong, correlation-based research foundation provided by quantitative social scientists of religion has created some prime, complementary opportunities for follow-up work by qualitative researchers. …

Finding The Key Players In Online Child Exploitation Networks, Bryce Westlake, Martin Bouchard, Richard Frank

Faculty Publications

The growth of the Internet has been paralleled with a similar growth in online child exploitation. Since completely shutting down child exploitation websites is difficult (or arguably impossible), the goal must be to find the most efficient way of identifying the key targets and then to apprehend them. Traditionally, online investigations have been manual and centered on images. However, we argue that target prioritization needs to take more than just images into consideration, and that the investigating process needs to become more systematic. Drawing from a web crawler we specifically designed for extracting child exploitation website networks, this study 1) …

Bmi Trajectories During The Transition To Older Adulthood: Persistent, Widening, Or Diminishing Disparities By Ethnicity And Education?, Katrina M. Walsemann, Jennifer A. Ailshire

Faculty Publications

Previous research has produced inconsistent results on whether education and ethnic disparities in BMI persist, widen, or diminish over time. We investigate how education and ethnicity, independently and conditionally, influence BMI trajectories during the transition to older adulthood. Employing random coefficient modeling, we analyzed 8 biennial waves of data (1992-2006) from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative longitudinal study of individuals born between 1931 and 1941. After adjusting for health behaviors and health status, education and ethnic disparities in BMI persisted for most groups, but narrowed between high-educated white men and both low-educated Hispanic men and high-educated black …

Every Parent’S Worst Nightmare: Myths Of Child Abductions In Us News, Spring-Serenity Duvall, Leigh Moscowitz

Faculty Publications

Through a content analysis, this study seeks to uncover the predominant narrative themes centered on gender and class that shaped mainstream U.S. newspaper coverage of child kidnappings from 2000-2003. The abductions that dominated news coverage were neither random nor representative cases; clear patterns emerged in the kidnappings that garnered the most media attention. Though statistically rare, the news media disproportionally covered stories of young Caucasian girls being snatched from their middle-to-upper class homes by male strangers, manufacturing a nationwide epidemic. Our analysis reveals how gender and class were used to construct vulnerable girl victims and predatory male perpetrators. News narratives …

Discrimination, Perceived Social Inequity, And Mental Health Among Rural-To-Urban Migrants In China, Danhua Li, Xiaoming Li, Bo Wang, Yan Hong, Xiaoyi Fang, Xiong Qin, Bonita Stanton

Faculty Publications

Status-based discrimination and inequity have been associated with the process of migration, especially with economics-driven internal migration. However, their association with mental health among economy-driven internal migrants in developing countries is rarely assessed. This study examines discriminatory experiences and perceived social inequity in relation to mental health status among rural-to-urban migrants in China. Cross-sectional data were collected from 1,006 rural-to-urban migrants in 2004-2005 in Beijing, China. Participants reported their perceptions and experiences of being discriminated in daily life in urban destination and perceived social inequity. Mental health was measured using the symptom checklist-90 (SCL-90). Multivariate analyses using general linear model …

Perceived Threat Mediates The Relationship Between Psychosis Proneness And Aggressive Behavior, Jennifer Renee Fanning, Mitchell Eric Berman, Richard Mohn, Michael Mccloskey

Faculty Publications

Psychotic symptoms are associated with aggressive tendencies, but this relationship is both complex and imperfect. In contrast to psychotic disorders, little is known about aggressive behavior and sub-clinical psychotic symptoms (e.g., "psychosis proneness"), which are relatively common in the general population. Threat/control-override (TCO), which is the propensity to overestimate the likelihood that an outside agent will (1) inflict harm (threat) or (2) control one's behaviors (control-override), has been associated with aggression in both psychiatric and community samples. The purpose of this study was to determine if psychosis proneness is related to aggression, and if one or both aspects of TCO …

Naming, Identity, And Trademark Law, Laura A. Heymann

Faculty Publications

As the process of creation in the age of digital media becomes more fluid, one pervasive theme has been the desire for attribution: from the creator’s perspective, to receive credit for what one does (and to have credit not falsely attributed) and from the audience’s perspective, to understand the source of material with which one engages. But our norms of attribution reflect some inconsistencies in defining the relationship among name, identity, and authenticity. A blog post by a writer identified only by a pseudonym may prove to be very influential in the court of public opinion, while the use of …

Behavioral Contexts, Food-Choice Coping Strategies, And Dietary Quality Of A Multiethnic Sample Of Employed Parents, Christine E. Blake, Elaine Wethington, Tracy J. Farrell, Carole A. Bisogni, Carol M. Devine

Faculty Publications

Employed parents' work and family conditions provide behavioral contexts for their food choices. Relationships between employed parents' food-choice coping strategies, behavioral contexts, and dietary quality were evaluated. Data on work and family conditions, sociodemographic characteristics, eating behavior, and dietary intake from two 24-hour dietary recalls were collected in a random sample cross-sectional pilot telephone survey in the fall of 2006. Black, white, and Latino employed mothers (n=25) and fathers (n=25) were recruited from a low/moderate income urban area in upstate New York. Hierarchical cluster analysis (Ward's method) identified three clusters of parents differing in use of food-choice coping strategies (ie, …

Circadian Rhythm Of Cortisol And Neighborhood Characteristics In A Population-Based Sample: The Multi-Ethnic Study Of Atherosclerosis, D. Phuong Do, Ana V. Diez Roux, Anjum Hajat, Amy Auchincloss, Sharon Merkin, Nalini Ranjit, Steven Shea, Teresa Seeman

Faculty Publications

Although stress is often hypothesized to contribute to the effects of neighborhoods on health, very few studies have investigated associations of neighborhood characteristics with stress biomarkers. This study helps address the gap in the literature by examining whether neighborhood characteristics are associated with cortisol profiles. Analyses were based on data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Stress study which collected multiple measures of salivary cortisol over three days on a population based sample of approximately 800 adults. Multilevel models with splines were used to examine associations of cortisol with neighborhood poverty, violence, disorder, and social cohesion. Neighborhood violence was significantly …

Education And Levels Of Salivary Cortisol Over The Day In Us Adults, Jennifer B. Dowd, Nalini Ranjit, D. Phuong Do, Elizabeth A. Young, James S. House, George A. Kaplan

Faculty Publications

Background - Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is hypothesized to be an important pathway linking socioeconomic position and chronic disease.

Purpose - This paper tests the association between education and the diurnal rhythm of salivary control.

Methods - Up to 8 measures of cortisol (mean of 5.38 per respondent) over two days were obtained from 311 respondents aged 18-70, drawn from 2001-2002 Chicago Community Adult Health Study. Multi-level models with linear splines were used to estimate waking level, rates of cortisol decline, and area-under-the-curve over the day, by categories of education.

Results - Lower education (0-11 years) was associated …

Choice Theory: An Effective Approach To Classroom Discipline And Management, Elvin Gabriel, Lionel Matthews

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Technology Type On The Adoption And Effectiveness Of Global Environmental Standards, Ben William Lewis, Glen W. S. Dowell

Faculty Publications

We describe the role of technological change and technology type in affecting environmental performance. We argue that one of the key constraints on a firm’s ability to improve its environmental performance is the technology in which it is embedded. We develop hypotheses regarding the influence of technology type on a firm’s global environmental strategy, and test these hypotheses using a panel of MNEs. We find that technology type does influence a firm’s global environmental strategy, and the financial return associated with using a global environmental standard.

Introduction, Mika Ishino, Gale Stam

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Nationalist Party Of America: Right-Wing Activism And Billy Roper's White Revolution [Abstract], Dianne Dentice

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Of Careers And Curricula Vitae: Losing Track Of Academic Professionalism, Kathleen F. Mcconnell

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Internationalization, Market Forces, And Domestic Sectoral Institutionalization, Ilan Alon, Demetris Vrontis, Murat Hakan Altintas, Hans Ruediger Kaufmann

Faculty Publications

This paper investigates the influence of micro environmental international entrepreneurship and the macro-environmental market forces on domestic institutionalization of the industrial sector. In doing so, the paper examines the moderating effect of the degree of internationalization on the relationship between domestic market forces and domestic sectoral institutionalization.

Factors That Impact Service Delivery To Individuals Living With Hiv/Aids In Rural Northeastern Texas, Wilma Cordova, H. Stephen Cooper, Freddie L. Avant

Faculty Publications

This study surveyed participants in focus groups to identify factors that affect individuals living with HIV/AIDS in rural northeastern Texas. The average age of the respondents was 45.44. Participants included a diverse group of American Europeans, Hispanics/Latinos, and African Americans. Although results are inconclusive, other studies have supported similar results regarding factors that impact treatment and services (Zuniga, Buchanan, & Chakravorty, 2005). Some of the factors include lack of financial resources for the consumer, stigma and discrimination, and lack of understanding on the part of the consumer and the community. More studies in rural areas serving people living with HIV/AIDS …

Absorptive Capacity At The Individual Level: Linking Creativity To Innovation In Academia, Ashley R. Davis, N. Da Silva

Faculty Publications

The absorptive capacity construct has been examined across various country, interorganization, and organizational level phenomena. This paper presents a framework that adopts the absorptive capacity framework to explain the relationship between creative and innovative performance at the individual level. The framework is illustrated by predicting research scholarship among university faculty.

Straight Is Better: Why Law And Society May Legitimately Prefer Heterosexuality, George W. Dent

Faculty Publications

America is embroiled in a culture war over homosexuality. The homosexual movement demands the end of “heteronormativity” - the social and legal preference for heterosexuality. It insists that “Gay Is Good” - just as good as heterosexuality. This article presents a defense of heteronormativity; it argues that straight is better. In particular, it argues that naturally conceiving, bearing and raising children is intrinsically good for parents; that it is both intrinsically and instrumentally good for children to be raised by their biological parents who are married to each other; and that traditional marriage is both intrinsically and instrumentally good for …

“Google Reigns Triumphant”?: Stemming The Tide Of Googlitis Via Collaborative, Situated Information Literacy Instruction, Carol A. Leibiger

Faculty Publications

Googlitis, the over-reliance on search engines for research and the resulting development of poor searching skills, is a recognized problem among today’s students. Google is not an effective research tool because, in addition to encouraging keyword searching at the expense of more powerful subject searching, it only accesses the Surface Web and is driven by advertising. American higher education unwittingly fosters the use of search engines in research by emphasizing results rather than process. Academic librarians emulate teaching faculty in their reliance on lectures, and their course-related instruction is limited in its effectiveness because it is constrained to one-shot, lecture-driven …

“Google Reigns Triumphant”?: Stemming The Tide Of Googlitis Via Collaborative, Situated Information Literacy Instruction, Carol A. Leibiger

Faculty Publications

Googlitis, the overreliance on search engines for research and the resulting development of poor searching skills, is a recognized problem among today’s students. Google is not an effective research tool because, in addition to encouraging keyword searching at the expense of more powerful subject searching, it only accesses the Surface Web and is driven by advertising. American higher education unwittingly fosters the use of search engines in research by emphasizing results rather than process. Academic librarians emulate teaching faculty in their reliance on lectures, and their course-related instruction is limited in its effectiveness because it is constrained to one-shot, lecture-driven …

The Turn To Legal Interpretation In Latin America, Jorge L. Esquirol

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of Beer And Revolution, By Tom Goyens, Carol A. Leibiger

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of Liquid Bread, Edited By Wulf Schiefenhövel And Helen Macbeth, Carol A. Leibiger

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

“We Need A Showing Of All Hands”: Technological Utopianism In Make Magazine, Susan Currie Sivek

Faculty Publications

Make magazine is a quarterly publication focused on do-it-yourself projects involving technology and innovation. The magazine also sponsors a biannual event, the Maker Faire, that brings “makers” together to share their knowledge. As a strategy for building audience loyalty and identification with the magazine, the Make products are skillfully crafted. However, they also invoke ideals such as environmentalism and nationalism in a potent mix that not only engages readers, but also represents an additional cultural demonstration of the phenomenon of technological utopianism.

Inward, Outward, Onward: Autoethnography Of A Dissertation In (Qualitative) Transitional Space, Genevieve Harris

Faculty Publications

This article presents the connection of a personal dissertation process to the wider world of qualitative research. Using the concept of transitional space as a metaphor, the author chronicles her theoretical transition from critical race theory to poststructural theory to emerging questions about material feminism. This transition is mapped to three major qualitative research moments within the field: modernist, crisis of representation, and the future. Autoethnography and found text are used to present the micro and macro telling of the dissertation process. White racial identity development among Christian teacher educators at a religious university was the original dissertation focus. Ethical …