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The Meaning Of Pain In Cormac Mccarthy's Border Trilogy, Glenn Alton Jackson (Iii)

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While the majority of McCarthy’s work graphically depicts brutal violence, it often avoids portrayals of subjective pain. Although his first four novels incorporate descriptions of subjective pain at crucial points in the narrative, in the Border Trilogy, McCarthy overtly elucidates the myriad ways we make meaning from pain. An analysis of the depictions of subjective pain in the Border Trilogy, this paper suggests, can aid in a more complete understanding of McCarthy’s entire oeuvre. This study approaches the problem of pain in McCarthy’s work from a perspective that joins medical science and the humanities to show how this nearly universal …

Taming The Wild: On Womanhood, Nation And Nature In Ann-Marie Macdonald's Fall On Your Knees And The Way The Crow Flies, Yvonne Michelle Hammond

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This project evaluates the work of Canadian author and playwright Ann-Marie Macdonald in the context of links between ecocritical, feminist and post-colonial perspectives; it seeks to understand how broader definitions for gender provide an alternative to the patriarchal binaries that limit both individual and national identities. Part of the Canadian conscious is an anxiety that questions not only the way difference impacts their culture, but also how these differences speak to a lack of a homogenized national identity. This study focuses on Macdonald�s novels Fall on Your Knees (1996) and The Way the Crow Flies (2003) , in order to …

The Skinny On Weight Watchers: A Critical Analysis Of Weight Watcher's Use Of Metaphors, Ashlynn Laura Reynolds-Dyk

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Founded in 1961, with 1.5 million people from around the world attending meetings every week today, Weight Watchers has become a socially and economically significant weight loss organization with the potential to affect the lives of many people. With that in mind, this study describes and analyzes the rhetorical strategies of Weight Watchers. More specifically, this study depicts the metaphors used by Weight Watchers to describe its 2009 program, the Momentum Program. Which metaphors are used, how those metaphors function to create a reality for dieters, how those metaphors produce and filter meaning, and the actions those metaphors encourage and …

Stewardship In West African Vodun: A Case Study Of Ouidah, Benin, Hayden Thomas Janssen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Indigenous, animistic religions inherently convey a close relationship and stewardship for the environment. This stewardship is very apparent in the region of southern Benin, Africa. The Fon peoples of this region practice a traditional religion termed Vodun, which manifested from the 17th century slave trade, and subsequently migrated to the Caribbean and Americas where it transmuted into Voodoo, among other religions. The migration of pre-colonial religious canon to the Western Hemisphere has garnered ample study; however, the pioneering religion, Vodun, has received far less scholastic attention, despite Benin’s recognition of Vodun as a national religion. In this thesis, I contend …

Subjective Experience And Psychological Effects Of Participating In Adventure Experiences: An Exploratory Study, Abby Marie Kiklevich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Adventure Experiences (AE) are used in many different types of treatment for adolescents. Two different models have been proposed to understand the different types of experiences individuals might have while participating in these activities: the Orthogonal Model of Flow (Csikszentmihalyi & Rathunde 1993) and the Adventure Experience Paradigm (Priest, 1992). This study combined these two models to assess the use of the psychological constructs of mindfulness and emotion regulation during the AE for individuals at different stages of the combined model. Participants were offered the opportunity to complete an AE consisting of a beginner–rated rock climb. Those who elected to …

Establishment Of Physical Assessment Percentile Ranks For Junior Alpine Ski Competitors, Jennifer Anne Stielow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

ABSTRACT Stielow, Jennifer A., M.S., May 2010 Health and Human Performance Establishment of Physical Assessment Percentile Ranks for Junior Alpine Ski Competitors Chairperson: Dr. Steven Gaskill STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: While there is adequate literature on elite alpine skiers there is limited reporting relating to fitness in junior alpine skiers or the validity of testing related to performance in junior alpine skiers. PURPOSE: To investigate the physiological and anatomical characteristics in junior alpine skiers in order to establish performance standards and percentile ranks using the current USSA Physical Assessment protocol. METHODS: 1319 junior alpine skiers (761 males and 558 females) aged …

The Discipline Of Happiness, Courtney Leigh Christopher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A deeply personal Journey, “The Discipline of Happiness” blends fundamental philosophy with the power of visual art. In a 42‐year quest for purpose certain theories have been tried, championed, discredited, and discarded. The distillation of these ideas into my current theory provides, more saliently than the theory itself, a venue for discussion of the creative process. My creativity often manifests itself in visual terms. Through the medium of an extended artist statement I reflect on the virtues of thinking in both a linguistic and spatial manner. Orchestrating the dual modes of inquiry, semantic and visual, into a single narrative highlights …

Fatigue Risk Management: Modeling The Sleep/Wake-Based Dynamics Of Performance, Peter J. Mccauley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Several biomathematical models have been developed to predict cognitive performance impairment due to sleep loss and/or circadian misalignment. In essence, these models are all based on the Two-Process Model (TPM) which contains a homeostatic process for the build-up and decline of sleep pressure across days, and a circadian process to keep track of time of day. The TPM has been used successfully to predict performance under conditions of total sleep deprivation. However, for conditions of chronic sleep restriction, the TPM predicts a rapid stabilization of performance impairment (within a day or two)---which is not in agreement with experimental observations. This …

Socio-Spatial Dimensions Of Migrant Women’S Lives In Tbilisi, Georgia, Laura S. E. Cahill

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis provides an exploration into the experiences and perspectives of Georgian rural women who have migrated to Tbilisi, Georgia. The aim of this paper is to understand the affects of this mobility and migration on Georgian women’s socio-spatial dimensions and what this means for the economic and cultural survival of women in post- Soviet Georgia. Specifically, the research focuses on the spatial availability of family and rural contacts and the use of social safety nets as a coping strategy to aid women in the transition to urban life in Tbilisi. In addition, this paper addresses the role of women …

An Analysis Of Identity, Gender, Religion And Spirituality, And Current Endorsement Of Depressive Symptoms By American Indians Living Off-Reservation, Georgie Victoria Ferguson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Depression is diagnosed at high rates among American Indians (AIs). This study’s goal was to explore possible protective factors against depression. This study investigated the impact of: cultural identity, cultural identity and gender, gender, importance of spirituality, and importance of religion, on endorsement of depressive symptoms. This study also investigated whether participants’ distinguished between religion and spirituality. Participants in this study were AIs 18 years or older (N = 220, females = 132, males = 88). The data was procured from an archival data set, collected at an urban Indian center in 2004. The study data included a demographic questionnaire; …

Coping With The Death Of A Family Member: An Exploration Of American Indian People's Experience, William Henry Shunkamolah

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Most studies exploring bereavement/grief have focused upon the US’s majority culture. These study findings have contributed to the existing bereavement theories regarding grief and coping by providing broad and general information to researchers and clinicians. Previous research has found that an individual’s experience of grief and ability to cope with death is affected by a combination of situational factors (e.g., anticipated death vs. sudden death), personal factors (e.g., age), and interpersonal factors (e.g., availability of social support). The literature suggests that understanding cultural differences among bereaved clients should be considered by clinicians. Despite such cautions few studies without theoretical preconception …

A Social Marketing Intervention To Improve Asbestos Inspection Compliance For Missoula Public Buildings And The Role Of Upstream Approaches, Holly N. Truitt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality Asbestos Control Program reported in a 2002 study that it had determined that 99 percent of public building demolitions and renovations in Missoula were noncompliant with asbestos inspection regulations required by both Montana and federal law. The Program characterized noncompliance as an occupational and public health threat with multiple causations including willful noncompliance and ignorance of the law. Missoula is not alone in its noncompliance; Great Falls, MT, Boston, MA, Austin, TX and Livingston MT, and other cities have struggled to address noncompliance with asbestos inspections. My action based research project explores the role …

Age Estimation Of Fetal Skeletal Remains From The Forensic Context, Jennifer Ellen Sanders

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study tested the efficacy of the traditional method (Fazekas and Kosa, 1978) of aging fetal remains from the forensic context against ultrasound (Chevernak et al., 1998)and radiographic (Sherwood et al., 2000) methods to determine which was most accurate. Two data sets were used in this study. The first consisted of measurements from historic (1902-1917) fetal remains of known age. The second consisted of measurements from modern fetal remains of known age from the forensic context. Using these samples in the different prediction models for aging fetal remains, the accuracy of each was determined.

Exploring A Definition Of Leadership And The Biography Of Dr. Frank B. Wynn, David Clyde Walters

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Frank B. Wynn was a leader in the first decades of the 20th Century. In the process of establishing timeless leadership standards for reconstructing his biography, it became apparent that no such standard existed, owing to more than 300 definitions of leadership at the end of the 20th century. The central research question asked what elements of leadership are historically and logically independent of context, and if those elements can be illuminated in a specific example of a leader examined from holistic criteria? The study consisted of an etymology of leadership terms, an exploration of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, and …

Impact Of Aids Education On Adolescent Risky Sexual Behaviors, Anna Mackenzie Iverson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Modern sex education recognizes that adolescents need formal guidance and information regarding sexuality and sexual behaviors. From an economic policy perspective, sex education is seen as an important tool in preventing costly social outcomes such as teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Previous literature has shown that sex education was associated with earlier initiation into sexual activity but not necessarily with increased pregnancy rates (Marsiglio and Mott 1984). The evidence has also shown that the relationship may not be causal (Sabia 2006). In order to better understand these conclusions, this thesis uses data from the Center for Disease Control’s …

A Comparison Study Of Montana's Intermediate And K-8 Schools With Regard To Student Performance On A Criterion Referenced Test, Incidence Of At-Risk Behaviors, And Perceptions Of Educators From Both Grade Configurations, Robert Jeffrey Watson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Within the last ten years, middle schools have been criticized for focusing too much on social development while ignoring academics. Several large school districts around the country are transforming their middle schools into K-8 schools. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to compare K-8 schools with intermediate schools in the State of Montana. Quantitative research examined the relationship between school grade configuration and student performance on a criterion referenced test. Descriptive analysis examined the relationship between school grade configuration and incidence of at-risk behavior among students. Additional data was collected through 1-1 comparison interviews with educators from both …

The Enigma Of The Everyday, Christina Murdoch Mills

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The articulation of happenstance and of the enigmatic nature of everyday things is one way concepts in my work have been filtered through and informed by memory, emotion and the experience of life that is both lived as a process and inhabited as a space. My current work attempts to embody as much resolved chaos as possible while emphasizing a quality of paradox. During my graduate studies in studio art, I have worked in a variety of fine art media including, graphite pencil and ink drawing, collage, watercolor, acrylic, egg tempera, oil paint, digital photographic prints, aluminum and iron casting, …

Effects Of A Yeast Β-Glucan Supplement On Symptoms Of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection In Free-Living College-Aged Males, Casey E. Gorham

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The focus of previous research has demonstrated that both oat and yeast ß-glucan benefits immunosuppressed populations. However, previous research has not, to our knowledge, investigated the effects of a yeast ß-glucan on the ummune functioning of healthy, free-living human populations. PURPOSE: The goal of this research was to evaluate the effects of a yeast ß-glucan on symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection in healthy, free-living, college-aged males. METHODOLOGY: The WURSS-44, a reliable, validated survey used for determining symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection was filled out online daily by 79 male subjects between the ages of 18 and 40. Subjects …

Enhancing Motivation To Change In Clients With Alcohol Use Disorders: Video Feedback As A Brief Intervention, Wendy M. Rothman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research examined whether videotaped self-observation of drinking behavior combined with a one-session motivationally-based interview resulted in higher levels of motivation to change drinking behavior, lower levels of quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption, decreases in alcohol-related problem behaviors, and expectations of the positive effects of alcohol for individuals mandated to treatment for alcohol-use disorders. DUI offenders (n = 8) and heavy drinking college students (n = 13) mandated to treatment were randomly assigned to receive treatment as usual at their respective agencies or an experimental video intervention in addition to their regular treatment requirements. Participants were assessed at baseline …

Injury Rates, Severity Of Injury, And Access To Specialty Health Care Of American Indian High School Athletes In Montana, Drew Anthony Babcock

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Introduction: Athletics are an integral part of American Indian (AI) life and culture. However, with participation there is a risk of receiving an injury. Sustaining an injury can be devastating to AI athletes that live on or near a reservation due to the rural location and disparities in health care. Objective: To determine Montana’s AI high school athletes’ injury rates, severity of injury, the current level of medical supervision, and type of health care they seek/receive. Methods: The procedure for collecting data consisted of sending out surveys to head coaches at 11 high schools that met the inclusion criteria. Analysis: …

Youth Harvest: Exploring An Employment-Based, Service-Oriented, Therapeutic Program For “At-Risk Youth”, Rachel Christine O'Brien

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the mid-1990s, juvenile courts began establishing youth drug courts that blended the principles of restorative justice and the philosophy of therapeutic jurisprudence in an attempt to process juvenile drug offenders in a way that emphasizes rehabilitation of the offenders and restoration to the community. Over recent decades, wilderness therapy programs and horticultural therapy programs have become popular as alternative approaches for treating adjudicated and/or “at-risk” youth. The Youth Harvest program, which operates in conjunction with the Missoula Youth Drug Court, is a unique, therapeutic program that blends the goals of National Drug Courts and the principles of restorative justice …

Tobacco Use Among Alaska Native And American Indian College Students, Sarah Angstman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The prevalence of tobacco use is disproportionately high among American Indian and Alaska Native people, with rates and patterns of use varying greatly by tribe, community and geographical region. Targeted interventions are needed to reduce this troubling disparity between non-Native and Native rates of use. Among non-Native individuals, the college years are being investigated as a time when lifelong tobacco use patterns may be established, and interventions are being tested to help college students to stop using tobacco. Currently, no interventions have been developed for American Indian or Alaska Native college students. Data obtained from Alaska Native college students at …

Recreation Allocations On National Forests: The Claims And Frames Of Recreationists, John C. Adams

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While demand for outdoor recreation experiences on national forests is increasing, many existing recreation allocations on national forests are outdated or jeopardize the environment. Accordingly, the U.S. Forest Service is revisiting recreation allocations on many national forests. The Forest Service is not guided by any clear policy regarding the appropriate method or rationale for making allocations between incompatible experience opportunities, or what criteria should be considered in allocating particular trails and areas. Instead individual decisionmakers must make judgments between competing claims advanced by different types of recreationists.

This project was designed to facilitate understanding of the claims that recreationists make …

School-Based Gay-Straight Alliances As A Protective Factor For Sexual Minority Youth, Nicholas Christopher Heck

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sexual minority youth have been found to be at-risk for engaging in negative health behaviors and for experiencing at-school victimization (Bontempo & D’Augelli, 2002). Specific benefits of attending a high school with a gay-straight alliance (GSA) have recently been published (e.g., fewer suicide attempts; Goodenow, Szalacha, & Westheimer, 2006). However, it is unclear whether GSAs have any impact on substance use behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of attending a school with a GSA on sexual minority youths’ high school experiences, mental health, and substance use behaviors. A total of 103 heterosexual and 145 sexual …

Materiality As The Basis For The Aesthetic Experience In Contemporary Art, Christina Murdoch Mills

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A number of historical philosophical theories relate to materiality in contemporary art and the role of art objects as an extension of ontology, or the study of the nature of being. The Kantian idea of the “aesthetic experience” is the point of departure, tracing philosophical discourse of how art functions via its materiality through the writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Maritain to the post-modern considerations of David Hickey and Arthur Danto. The research for this thesis focuses on how contemporary art, in all its various forms, functions via art’s material qualities or materiality. The objective …

Curriculum Improvement: The Teacher Perspective On Change In The Classroom, Heather C. Davis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study explored the curriculum change experiences of five social studies teachers, from three high schools within one school district located in a western Montana city, integrating an economics curriculum in their eleventh grade U.S. history classrooms for the first time. A review of the related literature on this topic revealed several areas of consideration regarding teachers' curriculum change experiences which guided the data collection and analysis process: commitment, workload, capacity, collaboration, and perception of the teaching profession. This qualitative, within case study was designed to add to the body of quantitative research on curriculum change. Data collection sources include: …

Ren Leadership: An Interpretive Biography Of Bai Fangli, Jin Zhou

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive biographical study was to enhance our understanding of leadership by exploring the life of Bai Fangli through the lens of Confucian virtues. This study followed Denzin's (1989a) qualitative design of interpretive biography by exploring Bai's epiphanies to offer multiple perspectives on the significance of the epiphanies and their impact on Bai's life and his influence as a modern Chinese leader. This study was guided by the central question: What is the essence of the life and leadership of Bai Fangli as explored through the lens of Confucian virtues? In order to answer this study's …

Palestinian-Levantine Dialect Diaspora:Exploring Its Role In Maintaining Palestinian Cultural Heritage & Identity, Samir Ibrahim Bitar

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Cultural Geographers have written extensively on Diaspora, heritage, identity and their contributions greatly discuss how these theories integrate. The majority of what is available does not address the Palestinians specifically, hence my study fills a void in that it empirically addresses the Palestinian people and the role of their dialect and how it ties to Palestinian Diaspora, heritage and identity. Most of the literature has not viewed Diaspora, heritage, and identity thru the lens of language or language as a major player, an important one or perhaps vital. To produce these findings will contribute to the knowledge base on the …

Perception & Role Of 3-D Visualizations In Planning: A Case Study Of The Northwest Passage Scenic Byway's Viewshed Protection & Visualization Project, Kyle Balke

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The use of sophisticated visualization tools and methods, in particular 3-D modeling, has seen a considerable rise in planning throughout the last decade due to continued advancements in 3-D technology, computer hardware, and the internet. The rapid increase in the use of 3-D visualization is supported by the belief that visualizations which imitate human experience help relieve many of the communication problems that exist between experts and lay persons during the planning process and help engage a broader cross-section of the public. However, little understanding exists to support these claims. This research provides a comprehensive investigation of stakeholder perceptions concerning …

Because We Have The Power To Choose: A Critical Analysis Of The Rhetorical Strategies Used In Merck's Gardasil Campaign, Brittney Lee Buttweiler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In June of 2006, Merck gained FDA approval for Gardasil, a human papillomavirus vaccine. Shortly before, Merck also launched a large campaign to advertise the vaccine, which has continued through today. Because of the vast number of women the vaccine has the potential to affect, the product has become socially significant. Therefore, this study examines the Gardasil campaign and how it is persuasive. More specifically, this paper studies the rhetorical appeals Merck uses and explores the ethical strengths and limitations of the advertisements. The study explores how the Gardasil campaign blends elements of an informative Campaign with an advertising campaign, …