Digital Commons Network^™

An Evaluation Of Visitor Decisions Regarding Alternative Transportation In Glacier National Park, Melissa Lynn Baker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2007, Glacier National Park implemented a free, voluntary shuttle bus system along the Going to the Sun Road. The first year of implementation of the transit system at Glacier National Park presented a unique opportunity to evaluate visitor behavior in national parks. One way that transportation mode choice has been understood is through the theory of planned behavior, which characterizes social behavior as the result of conscious, deliberate thought processes directly related to the behavior in question. This study examined the intersection of national park visitors' recreation experience preference and their decisions toward shuttle use in a national park. …

Agricultural Certifications And Beekeeping: Lessons From An Apicultural Cooperative In Northeastern El Salvador, Central America, Jason Andrew Seagle

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Beekeeping, and especially the production and sale of honey, is an on-farm diversification strategy that has significance to rural livelihoods in some of the most economically and environmentally marginalized regions of the world. Beekeeping also supports sustainable agriculture since it requires that vegetation and forest cover remain intact. However, the limited resources of beekeepers, including marketing constraints, make it difficult for them to realize the full value of their beekeeping enterprises. This professional paper focuses on the Eco-Morazán Cooperative in El Salvador as a case study to examine the costs, benefits and market potential of three types of certification schemes: …

Social Capital And Vanua: Challenges To Governance Development In A Community-Based Natural Resource Management Project In Cuvu Tikina, Fiji Islands, Paul David Clark

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Indigenous Fijians believe that survival of their culture is inextricably linked to their position as land and resource owners. This is summed up in the dual meaning of the term ‘vanua’, which literally means land but also symbolizes the cultural and socio-political traditions of the people. These traditions form the basis of Fiji’s natural resource management system and the production of social capital in Fijian villages. Due to legally recognized resource tenure and the communal nature of village living, Fiji has been a popular site for community-based natural resource management projects (CBNRM). The aim of these projects is to empower …

Residential Development Patterns In Flathead County, Montana, Louis Anthony Jarvis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Population growth in the Non-Metropolitan West has increased over the last two decades. Many researchers have argued that natural amenity concerns, the quality and diversity of the environment, and the rural nature of the non-metropolitan West are the chief factors influencing individuals’ decisions to settle. This research examines a single high-amenity county in Western Montana, Flathead County, and analyzes the factors affecting land values and the probability of residential development at the parcel level. This research develops spatial variables thought to affect land values in an ArcGIS 9.2 environment and develops a regression model that estimates land values based on …

An Outcomes Assessment Of Two Therapeutic Group Homes Serving Children With Reactive Attachment Disorder In A Rural Community, Brooke Rose Spangler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Archival data collected on 35 4-12-year-old children, each of whom completed treatment for reactive attachment disorder (RAD), was used to evaluate a treatment program in a rural northwestern community. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1991) and Youth Outcomes Questionnaire (Y-OQ) (Burlingame, Wells, & Lambert, 1996) were completed by coding behaviors early in treatment and late in treatment from behavioral records. A correlational design was used, and t-test, repeated measures and fixed factor analyses of variance were conducted. Results showed that there was an overall decrease in the amount of maladaptive behaviors at the conclusion of residential treatment for attachment …

"Words Are No Good": The Curse Of Signification And The Curse Of Faulkner's South, Michael Joseph St. Thomas

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this study I examine three of Faulkner’s novels that concern his fictional Yoknapatawpha County: As I Lay Dying (1930), Absalom, Absalom! (1936), and Go Down, Moses (1942). These novels, I argue, indicate a development in Faulkner’s relationship to the formalist hierarchy of art over real life. To show this development I will investigate the topic of language as an inadequate medium in characters’ relationships to nature and the past. In As I Lay Dying Faulkner presents words as something unable to achieve the transcendence his characters desire. In Absalom, Absalom! and Go Down, Moses the author extends this suspicion …

Traps: Stories And A One-Act Play, James Blanks

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A collection of five short stories and a one-act play.

Spectral Preserver Problems In Uniform Algebras, Scott Alan Lambert

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There has been much interest in characterizing maps between Banach algebras that preserve a certain equation or family of elements. There is a rich history in such problems that assume the map to be linear, so called linear preserver problems. More recently, there has been an interest in not assuming the map is linear a priori and instead to assume it preserves some equation involving the spectrum, a portion of the spectrum, or the norm.

After a brief introduction to uniform algebras, we give a rigorous development of the theory of boundaries. This includes a new alternative proof of the …

On The Edge, Hak Kyun Kim

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

My work is based on my continual fascination with the vessel. Stemming from its literal and conceptual uses: vessels serve, they preserve, they beautify, offer, invite, hold, hide, reveal, and present. With this concept, my work attempts to create new forms which are the vessels themselves and a myriad of possible relationships through different arrangements. To achieve these literal and conceptual uses of vessels, I paid special attention to placement and composition. I made tableware forms such as plates, cups, and mugs, setting them up into two metaphorical categories: “Before Serving” and “After Serving.” In the introduction, I will talk …

The Relationship Among Washington State County Commissioners Knowledge And Perceptions Of Washington State University Extension And Their Willingness To Fund Wsu Extension, James Hilmer Lindstrom

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The study determined the relationship between perceptions that the Washington State county commissioners' hold of WSU Extension and their knowledge of WSU Extension. In addition, the study determined whether their perceptions, knowledge, and/or understanding of Extension are related to and thereby may have predictability to their willingness to provide the essential local funding to continue the educational programs Extension delivers. The study addressed the interest Washington State county commissioners/county council members have in funding WSU Extension, which directly affects the critical element of maximizing Extension's impact on society. As a publicly funded educational organization, WSU Extension faces an uncertain fiscal …

Second Language Instruction With Phonological Knowledge: Teaching Arabic To Speakers Of English, Khalid Y. Huthaily

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examined whether explicit instruction in phonetics and the phonologies of English and Arabic improved the sound production and recognition skills of adult native speakers of English learning Arabic as a foreign language. The study utilized an intervention strategy that introduced the letters and sounds of Arabic to two groups of adult English-speaking learners of Arabic.

Forty-six students of Arabic 101 at The University of Montana participated in the study as the control and experimental groups. The experimental group received instruction on the letters and sounds of Arabic with an introduction to phonetics and the phonologies of English and …

Perceptions Of Borough Incorporation Held By Community Leaders In Delta Junction, Alaska, Michelle Albus Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Regional governments exist in an overwhelming majority of the United States and are often considered a necessary and natural progression of a developing region. Alaska offers a unique opportunity to explore perceptions of regional incorporation, as it is the only remaining state in the Union to have unincorporated area. Thus, after a rural region of Alaska petitioned the state legislature to politically incorporate, I conducted qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with local community leaders to explore their perceptions of the proposed incorporation. Existing literature often refers to leaders as either elite, self-interested individuals or as functional, community-interested individuals. This study explored …

Place-Based Conservation Legislation And National Forest Management: The Case Of The Beaverhead-Deerlodge Partnership, Michael Thomas Fiebig

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper investigates the use of place-based conservation legislation as a tool for conflict resolution, wilderness designation and unit-level administrative planning reform on national forests by analyzing the case of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Partnership in Southwestern Montana. The codification of place-based negotiated compromises over forest management is a significant departure from the administrative planning approach used to resolve multiple-use conflicts by the U.S. Forest Service. The goals of this paper were to develop a place-based legislation typology for natural resources policy, to determine the motivations for seeking this approach, and to analyze its use. Preliminary research for this project was begun …

A Clean Slate: The Archaeology Of The Donner Party's Writing Slate Fragments, Molly Elizabeth Swords

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Archaeological investigations into the whereabouts of the Alder Creek Donner family campsite yielded a number of artifacts. One type of artifact collected was writing slate fragments, the topic of this thesis. Why were writing slate fragments found at the Alder Creek camp? An investigation into writing slate in the historical record had to be conducted to address this question. The lack of pertinent research associated with writing slate posed a major obstacle, as it has been disregarded as a diagnostic artifact in historical archaeological literature. This paper addresses this problem by a history of writing slate and its uses, as …

Causes And Consequences Of Displacement Decision-Making In Banhine National Park, Mozambique, Chad Edward Dear

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Decision-making is looming regarding the displacement of people resident in and reliant on resources in strict protected areas around the world. This research investigated the causes and consequences of displacement decision-making in Banhine National Park (BNP), Mozambique. I investigated causes using political-economic, actor-centered, and post-structural perspectives on power. I investigated consequences using the Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction (IRR) framework. Methods included interviews, focus groups, and observations involving BNP-area residents; park staff; district, provincial, and national-level government employees from various sectors; NGO and World Bank staff; and private consultants. I also analyzed numerous government and donor policies, plans, reports, and legal …

Exploring The Benefits Of An Outdoor Adventure Program For Improving Self-Esteem And Self-Efficacy And Reducing Problem Behaviors In Adolescent Girls, Kristen O'Shea

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The study assessed change in self-efficacy, self-esteem, and problem behaviors from pre-treatment to post-treatment and at 6-month follow-up for adolescent girls enrolled in an outdoor adventure program. Family security and previous program experience were also considered. Participants included 62 girls (ages 10 - 18) from diverse ethnic and SES backgrounds (the majority were Euro American from middle class backgrounds). As expected, problem behaviors were negatively correlated with self-esteem throughout the trip; they were negatively correlated with self-efficacy at 6-month follow-up. Girls from "higher security" families reported significantly higher levels of self-esteem (p < .05) and fewer problem behaviors (p < .01) than girls from "lower security" families. A principal components analysis (PCA) was run to review test properties of one of the study measures, the modified General Self-Efficacy Scales. Limitations of the study, including low power and few statistically significant results, are discussed.

Fire In My Backyard: Place Meanings And Landowner Views On Fire And Fuels Management On The Kootenai National Forest, Mt, Michael Anthony Cacciapaglia

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Federal land management agencies are currently striving to become more democratic and open to citizen participation in decision-making. Recently, the build-up of hazardous forest fuels and ensuing increase in high-intensity wildland fire events across the western U.S. has led to growing interest in integrating local communities and their views and interests into the planning process for fuel reductions projects. One way to investigate local perspectives and make them available to local fire management officers is through qualitative research into relationship to place and preferences for proposed management actions using in-depth interviews with landowners residing in the wildland-urban interface. This study …

Images As A Layer Of Positive Rhetoric: A Values-Based Case Study Exploring The Interaction Between Visual And Verbal Elements Found On A Rural Natural Resources Non-Profit Organization Website, Vailferree Stilwell Brechtel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No Abstract.

Interpretive Technology In Parks: A Study Of Visitor Experience With Portable Multimedia Devices, Lee Gregory Rademaker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The GPS Ranger is a new portable technology that provides visitors to Cedar Breaks National Monument (CBNM) with interpretive information specific to a location. The GPS Ranger uses a built in global positioning system to trigger video, audio, or slideshows that are displayed on a 4 inch display. The GPS Ranger is new to natural area parks like CBNM. Technological advancements have enabled devices like the GPS Ranger to be used in many new places. Researchers have a history of investigating and publishing literature on park visitor experiences with interpretive media. However, no exploration of the experiences visitors have with …

Testing Xuml: A Study Of Implementing And Testing Model Driven Architecture, Dylan O. Flaherty

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Model Driven Architecture (MDA) is a relatively new and completely different approach to developing software in which diagrams and formal specifications are written and then translated into executable programs. Development using this approach takes longer than using traditional software engineering approaches, but results in products that more correctly meet user requirements and take less maintenance effort. While there is considerable information available regarding development using MDA, the implications for testing have not been fully explored or measured. In order to investigate this facet of MDA, a traditional C++ program which had previously been tested was rebuilt as an MDA model. …

Debating Identity: Urban Indians In The Healthcare System, Erin J. Klahn

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In recent years, the public health sector has recommended that healthcare practitioners become culturally competent in order to reduce health disparities in minority groups. It was reported later in the Surgeon General's Report (1999) on mental health, that culture shapes the healthcare experience for minority groups and in turn may influence the treatment course. Cultural competence models have been proposed in conjunction with the development of ethnic-specific mental health clinics, where practitioners and patients are ethnically similar, and programs are designed with the groups’ unique cultural needs in mind. This poses a particularly unique dilemma for urban Indians as their …

Development Of An Environmental Law Curriculum For Kosovo Universities, Nebojsa Vlajic

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper aims to improve environmental problem solving in Kosovo by introducing an environmental law course to the Kosovo university system. No school in Kosovo currently teaches environmental law and lawyers practicing environmental litigation are nonexistent. There are not many experts who can be consulted or who can help draft the environmental laws Kosovo must enact in order to harmonize its laws with those of the European Union. Lawyers having proper and formal training for doing the Environmental Impact Assessment are also extremely limited in number. The first part explains the rationale for proposing an environmental law course at law …

My Brother The Buffalo: An Ethnohistorical Documentation Of The 1999 Buffalo Walk And The Cultural Significance Of Yellowstone Buffalo To The Lakota Sioux And Nez Perce Peoples, Sarah Anne Tarka

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study was prepared for the National Park Service to serve as documentation of the cultural significance of Yellowstone buffalo to two American Indian cultural groups, the Nez Perce and the Lakota Sioux, and of the 1999 Buffalo Walk and accompanying ceremony that took place within the boundary of the park. Both Lakota Sioux and Nez Perce peoples had leadership roles in the Buffalo Walk, which was a benchmark event in the history of the park and of Yellowstone buffalo management. Participants in the Buffalo Walk walked and rode more than 500 miles from Rapid City, South Dakota to the …

The Creation Of Cargo Scanner Software To Improve The Container Packing Process, Jonathan Adams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dr. Joel Henry was tasked under a research and development contract with the DPRA to create a computer program that, when given a list of cargo items and a list of containers, would approximate the number of containers required to pack the items and determine a packing order for the cargo items. When commercially used, a computer trained employee runs the program and prints off the resulting packing list. This list is then given to another employee, who works in a different location and performs the physical packing. This is a tedious and time consuming process. This project will examine …

Resiliency And Risk In Native American Communities: A Culturally Informed Investigation, Annjeanette Elise Belcourt-Dittloff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper reviews recent research findings and empirically investigates resiliency and vulnerability factors within two Native American communities. The primary factors under consideration are related to American Indian psychosocial factors. This project is an exploratory investigation of pathology and wellness for understudied American Indians, and it examines the nature of resiliency and risk for American Indians. The factors under investigation include adversarial growth, spirituality, ethnic identity, communal identity, social support, historical trauma, stressors experienced, hope, quality of life, and general psychological status for American Indians sampled. Numerous statistically significant relationships emerged, providing empirical support for culturally embedded aspects of resiliency …

Sex And Diversity In The Invasive Plant Hieracium Aurantiacum, Eli Stuart Loomis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sexual reproduction is generally thought to provide long-term fitness advantages over asexual reproduction in the form of increased genetic diversity. Some work, however, suggests that asexual reproduction can also be advantageous. One situation when asexual reproduction provides an advantage is when colonizing a new range (Baker’s law), as in plant invasions. This study investigated the population structure of the invasive plant Hieracium aurantiacum. H. aurantiacum is an apomict – producing much of its seed asexually – and has become a common invasive in North America and New Zealand. The genetic diversity of H. aurantiacum was assessed over its invasive ranges …

Silent Cowboys And Verbose Detectives: Masculinity As Rhetoric In Wister, Hammett, And Chandler, Maria Carla Nissi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the early part of the twentieth century, popular fiction and film in the form of Westerns and the noir detective story cultivated brands of masculinity through archetypal male characters. This project aims to propose and investigate the existence of a countervailing tradition between the language-resistant cowboy figure and his more verbally-inclined successor, the detective fiction hero. Chapter One deconstructs the Virginian’s silence in the original film version of Owen Wister’s novel The Virginian, and demonstrates a male aversion to language as a tool for guarding masculinity against the modernization and feminization of the West. The onslaught of modernization that …

The Structure Function Relationship Of Silica Polyamine Composites, Mark Anthony Hughes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The goals of this thesis were to improve the performance of silica polyamine composites by manipulating the surface structure and to understand the relationship between, polymer structure and ligand modification of the grafted polyamine. Improvements in silica polyamine composite performance resulted from modifying silica gel with methyltrichlorosilane (MTCS) substituted for a molar fraction of reagent chloropropyltrichlorosilane (CPTCS), which has been traditionally employed. MTCS does not possess a terminal chloride group thus preventing the subsequent attachment of a polyamine to this moiety. MTCS has a smaller molecular volume than CPTCS and as a consequence greater coverage of the silica gel surface …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of A Place-Based Conservation Education Program By Applying Utilization-Focused Evaluation, Alice B. Flowers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Lack of personal connection to the natural world by most American youth builds reason for assessing effectiveness of conservation education programs. Place-based learning is important in helping youth understand how their personal and societal well-being are linked and dependent upon their local habitats. Across Montana 2277 students in grades 3 - 10 participate in an interactive year long fishing education program with their teachers called Hooked on Fishing (HOF).

The purpose of my study was to assess the effectiveness of HOF, a place-based conservation education program established in 1996, and modeled after the national Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs …

The Diaspora Of Korean Children: A Cross-Cultural Study Of The Educational Crisis In Contemporary South Korea, Young-Ee Cho

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The diaspora of Korean children first started after the Korean War in the 1950s. Abandoned by their impoverished mothers and shunned by society, many orphan children were sent abroad for adoption, which was the best, if not the only, available solution at the time. Half a century later, South Korea today is no longer a desperately poor country, and yet an increasing number of young children are still being sent abroad. The exodus of children, termed as the diaspora of Korean children in this study, is an out-of-country solution chosen by both students and parents in response to an educational …