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LSU Master's Theses

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Hurricane Induced Land And Vegetation Changes In The Breton Sound Estuary And Chandeleur Islands Using Landsat 5 Tm, Vandana Varshini Raghunathan Jan 2011

Hurricane Induced Land And Vegetation Changes In The Breton Sound Estuary And Chandeleur Islands Using Landsat 5 Tm, Vandana Varshini Raghunathan

LSU Master's Theses

This study focuses on hurricane-induced changes in land and vegetation primarily in two study areas, the Breton Sound Estuary and the Chandeleur Islands, southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana. Breton Sound Estuary consists of the Caernarvon Diversion, a fresh water diversion of the Mississippi River that supplies this region with managed pulses of fresh water and sediments. The Chandeleur Islands are a chain of barrier islands that are uninhabited and transgressive in nature. A sequence of hurricanes in the past two decades has greatly altered both areas significantly. Satellite data were analyzed for a period of 24 years (1987-2011) of Breton …

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Spectacle, Pageantry, And Parading, Whitney Whetstone Jan 2011

Spectacle, Pageantry, And Parading, Whitney Whetstone

LSU Master's Theses

We celebrate the arrival of spring with revelry in search of catharsis. Carnival’s roots trace from the ancient Greek and Roman pagan celebrations, to the pageant wagons of the Medieval theatre and the French masquerades, and on through the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans. Mardi Gras is part of Louisiana’s rich cultural history of parading and spectacle, as well as public art and performance, as a civic responsibility, and as an economic booster. Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World builds parade floats, large-scale sculptures, and props for Mardi Gras, theme parks, and casinos around the world. I interned with Kern …

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Houses Move, Houses Speak, Allison Regan Jan 2011

Houses Move, Houses Speak, Allison Regan

LSU Master's Theses

This body of text speaks about an installation that deals with feelings of displacement, and isolation. This work invites and encourages the viewer to view another family with new eyes, perhaps finding similarities between this family and their own.

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Integrated Weather Sensor Platform And Decision Support System For Improved Sweet Potato Production, Jose Pablo Rojas Jimenez Jan 2011

Integrated Weather Sensor Platform And Decision Support System For Improved Sweet Potato Production, Jose Pablo Rojas Jimenez

LSU Master's Theses

Water management represents an essential component in all agricultural activities, where significant improvements can be achieved through the implementation of field measuring devices and irrigation scheduling models. The methods that integrate these tools may be based on information regarding the soil, crop, and weather. Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the most important components of the soil water-balance used in modeling. A number of estimation methods have been developed to determine Reference Evapotranspiration (ETo) under various types of weather conditions. In this research, an analysis was conducted between different ETo estimation methods and ETo calculated from soil water content measurements and …

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"Are You Better Off"; Ronald Reagan, Louisiana, And The 1980 Presidential Election, Matthew David Caillet Jan 2011

"Are You Better Off"; Ronald Reagan, Louisiana, And The 1980 Presidential Election, Matthew David Caillet

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis describes how Ronald Reagan succeeded in carrying Louisiana in the 1980 Presidential election. Initially, pundits predicted the election, both statewide and nationwide, would be a “dead heat” between Reagan and President Jimmy Carter. Southern voters supported Carter, despite his many blunders; many American voters wondered if Reagan would be a competent leader. Reagan had a well-organized campaign and spent plenty of time in Louisiana, considered a pivotal “swing state.” His campaign team prepared speeches, explained issues, and received information and support from state Republican leaders, including Governor David Treen and Congressmen Robert Livingston and Henson Moore. Good local …

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Temporal Changes In Quality Of Life And Environment In New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina, Danielle Johanna Larock Jan 2011

Temporal Changes In Quality Of Life And Environment In New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina, Danielle Johanna Larock

LSU Master's Theses

Understanding and assessing the spatial and temporal changes of quality of life and environment of a community is critical to its sustainable development, especially after a disaster strikes. This study explores an approach that integrates remote sensing with socioeconomic data to assess the temporal changes in quality of life and environment (QOL) using Orleans Parish as an example. Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans in 2005, has had vast implications economically, socially, and environmentally for this city and the surrounding area. Empirically quantifying these concepts will help to rebuild the city more sustainably. This study investigated change in environmental quality …

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Waging Word Wars: A Discourse Analysis Of The Patterns Of Norse Masculinity Presented Through Mannjafnaor In The Icelandic Sagas, Jonathan Mark Broussard Jan 2010

Waging Word Wars: A Discourse Analysis Of The Patterns Of Norse Masculinity Presented Through Mannjafnaor In The Icelandic Sagas, Jonathan Mark Broussard

LSU Master's Theses

The mannjafnaðr is a verbal dueling competition containing boasts and insults through which Norse men compare their achievements and exploits against those of other men in bids to prove themselves more honorable in the eyes of the Norse community. This thesis examines the structure, content, and themes of the mannjafnaðr presented in the Morkinskinna, Magnussona, Brennu-Njals, and the Orvar-Oddr sagas as manifestations of the Norse conception of masculinity. My analysis reveals that these encounters are highly structured and provide interactants opportunities to evaluate adherence to culturally dictated strictures of honor – their own and their opponents’. Through a complex discourse …

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Mixed-Race Ancestry And Its Impact On The Facial Reconstruction Process, Jermaine Carl Robinson Jan 2010

Mixed-Race Ancestry And Its Impact On The Facial Reconstruction Process, Jermaine Carl Robinson

LSU Master's Theses

Various facial reconstruction techniques are used by forensic artists to assist in the identification of human remains. In establishing the biological profile for completion of a facial reconstruction, often the most difficult yet most important determination to make is that of race and/or ancestry of the decedent. By purposefully creating a facial reconstruction of an unidentified presumed mixed-race female decedent, staying true to the tissue depth information arrived at as a result of this researcher’s tests to determine her race, this author plans to investigate if any biases arise among any potential parties involved in the forensic identification process. This …

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Demography, Health Status, And Mortuary Rituals Of The Late Woodland Poole-Rose Ossuary, Ontario, Canada: A Study Of The Clavicles, Nicole Elizabeth Smith Jan 2010

Demography, Health Status, And Mortuary Rituals Of The Late Woodland Poole-Rose Ossuary, Ontario, Canada: A Study Of The Clavicles, Nicole Elizabeth Smith

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis is an analysis of the clavicles from a pre-contact (1550 A.D. ±50 years) native ossuary burial from Ontario, Canada. The Poole-Rose ossuary clavicles were analyzed for demography, pathological processes, trauma, and cultural modifications. Demographic markers on the clavicles are derived from the minimum number of individuals (MNI) estimation, medial epiphyseal age, and sex. Pathological processes are indicated by the presence of degenerative joint disease (DJD), periosteal reactions, and lytic lesions. Trauma includes healed fractures and cuts from defleshing of the clavicles. The presence of pre-burial cut marks is an indication of cultural modifications that were likely part of …

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Changing Perceptions Of Archaeology In Post-Katrina New Orleans: A Geographic Information Perspective, David Patrick Harlan Jan 2010

Changing Perceptions Of Archaeology In Post-Katrina New Orleans: A Geographic Information Perspective, David Patrick Harlan

LSU Master's Theses

Hurricane Katrina had a significant impact on the number and distribution of known archaeological sites in New Orleans, Louisiana. Due to government mandated investigation in heavily damaged areas, many archaeological sites were recorded in geographic locations where there were previously none recorded. This thesis examined the spatial distribution of sites in the context of archaeological predictive modeling to determine the impact of disaster recovery on site location. In addition, decision making processes that led to the discovery of sites were examined to determine how they contributed to spatial bias in the distribution of sites recognized by the Louisiana Division of …

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Robotics As A Means Of Increasing Student Achievement In Middle School Science, Ingrid Lorelei Jomento-Cruz Jan 2010

Robotics As A Means Of Increasing Student Achievement In Middle School Science, Ingrid Lorelei Jomento-Cruz

LSU Master's Theses

This study reports on the effectiveness of a Robotics engineering curriculum in increasing the middle school students‘ achievement in science and math. Specifically, it aimed to find out if the students taking the robotics class performed significantly higher in science and math than a control group. The research examined and compared the scores in a pre and posttest and the normalized learning gains of students taking robotics in addition to their regular science and math versus those who are taking science and math only. Although this study showed that there is no significant difference in the science achievement scores of …

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Ancestral Determination From Foramen Magnum, Stephanie Marie Crider Jan 2010

Ancestral Determination From Foramen Magnum, Stephanie Marie Crider

LSU Master's Theses

Ancestry estimation is a crucial part of the biological profile creation in forensic anthropology. Without proper classification of ancestry, other aspects of the biological profile, such as stature, can be affected. Several techniques are used by forensic anthropologists to determine ancestry of unidentified remains. Some anthropologists believe the cranium to be an excellent indicator of ancestry (Rhine 1990). The focus of this research was to determine the utility of the foramen magnum region on the cranial base as a positive indicator of ancestry. Previous studies have explored the effectiveness of using the cranial base’s occipital condyles for ancestry assignment of …

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Head Shaping Of The Ancient Maya At Wild Cane Cay And Moho Cay, Belize, Kellye Alyse French Jan 2010

Head Shaping Of The Ancient Maya At Wild Cane Cay And Moho Cay, Belize, Kellye Alyse French

LSU Master's Theses

As a sign of beauty or status, the ancient Maya shaped the skulls of their infants, resulting in what modern researchers see as several forms of cranial modification. My project consists of the study of cranial modification of the coastal Maya from two trading ports, including an Early Classic (A.D. 300-600) sample Moho Cay, Belize, and a Postclassic (A.D. 900-1300) sample from Wild Cane Cay, Belize. Using the classification set forth by Dembo and Imbelloni, I calculate the type of cranial modification found at each site. I then create gender, temporal, and spatial distributions and compare the results to other …

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In Sickness And In Health: Experiencing Medical Spaces In Mbarara (Uganda), Kara E. Miller Jan 2010

In Sickness And In Health: Experiencing Medical Spaces In Mbarara (Uganda), Kara E. Miller

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis is a contribution to cross-cultural studies on health and medicine explored through the material and symbolic facets of health care in a region of Southwest Uganda. Research conducted in the healing spaces of Mbarara reflects traditions in the anthropology of the body and brings a lived perspective to conditions of sickness and wellness. By tracing the biographies of treatment spaces, the medical landscape is evaluated in terms of participants’ perceptions, convictions, and knowledge sets. Phenomenological methodology is employed in this exploration of ill states and curative places, which braids concepts and academic work in the areas of medicine, …

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Identifying Historic Storm Surges And Calculating Storm Surge Return Periods For The Gulf Of Mexico Coast, Hal Needham Jan 2010

Identifying Historic Storm Surges And Calculating Storm Surge Return Periods For The Gulf Of Mexico Coast, Hal Needham

LSU Master's Theses

Tropical cyclone-generated storm surges inflict natural disasters that are among the most catastrophic globally. The surges observed along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are among the highest in the world, second only to the Bay of Bengal. Storm surge activity along the U.S. Gulf Coast remains poorly understood, however, in part, due to the absence of credible research that accurately depicts the maximum height and location of historic surge events. This research addresses this gap in the scientific literature by creating a database of storm surge observations along the Gulf Coast between the years 1880 to 2009. A total of …

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Understanding The Economic Factors That Impact The Financial Health Of Local Governments, John David Barreca Jan 2010

Understanding The Economic Factors That Impact The Financial Health Of Local Governments, John David Barreca

LSU Master's Theses

The state of Louisiana has been hit by several severe hurricanes in recent years, and these disaster events have placed a financial burden on parish budgets. As such, local governments have been compelled to bear various cleanup and recovery costs in the short and long term. Therefore, this research sought to evaluate the factors that drive the variation in the financial health of local governments in Louisiana. This research made two contributions. The first contribution sought to develop a comprehensive measure of economic activity at the county level, and the second contribution used econometric methods to estimate the effect of …

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Mapping The Digital Divide In Neighborhoods: Wi-Fi Access In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Luke Driskell Jan 2010

Mapping The Digital Divide In Neighborhoods: Wi-Fi Access In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Luke Driskell

LSU Master's Theses

The communication made possible by the Internet has leveled the global playing field in some ways, but helped maintain traditional inequalities as well. The “digital divide” refers to disparities in telecommunication access and use from global to local scales. This study uses access point mapping to quantify local Internet access in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A Wi-Fi access point (router) density was obtained and compared to various demographic and socioeconomic attributes in neighborhoods. Fieldwork confirmed the expectation that traditionally disadvantaged groups would have the lowest rates of Wi-Fi ownership, but median household income was unexpectedly less related than race, education, and …

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Finding The Originals: A Study Of The Roman Copies Of The Tyrannicides And The Amazon Group, Courtney Ann Rader Jan 2010

Finding The Originals: A Study Of The Roman Copies Of The Tyrannicides And The Amazon Group, Courtney Ann Rader

LSU Master's Theses

Very few bronze original Greek sculptures from the fifth-century BCE are extant today. It is through marble Roman copies that lost Greek originals are studied today. Along with the Roman copies, other media and ancient literary sources can be used to study Greek sculpture. My goal for this thesis is to study the previous scholarship and Roman copies of the Tyrannicides and the Amazon Group. When studying copies, scholars must first answer: Is it a copy? Of what is it a copy? If it is a copy, what can the copy tell about the Greek artist? To better answer these …

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Edmund Burke And His Impact On The British Political, Social And Moral Response During The French Revolution (1790-1797), Guy Brendan Gonzalez Jan 2010

Edmund Burke And His Impact On The British Political, Social And Moral Response During The French Revolution (1790-1797), Guy Brendan Gonzalez

LSU Master's Theses

Edmund Burke’s legacy has heretofore centered on his seminal work, The Reflections on the Revolution in France. However, Burke’s other contributions have been largely ignored. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to focus on Burke’s literary and political role in the British response to the French Revolution from 1790 until his death in 1797. This study is divided into four chapters. The first chapter contains a contextual background of Burke’s moral and political philosophy. It explains why Burke responded in the manner he did to the French Revolution. The remaining three chapters, in a chronological manner, trace Burke’s influence …

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Further Investigations Into The King George Island Mounds Site (16lv22), Harry Gene Brignac Jr Jan 2010

Further Investigations Into The King George Island Mounds Site (16lv22), Harry Gene Brignac Jr

LSU Master's Theses

Research at the King George Island Mounds site (16LV22) consisted of shovel testing the island on which the site is located and placing test units in two recently discovered mounds in Area B on the south side of the site (Mounds F and G). The shovel test pits were placed on the western half of the island in an attempt to locate habitational features related to the earthworks on the eastern half of the island. All shovel tests done on King George Island during this investigation were negative showing no signs of occupation near the site proper. Units were placed …

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Palynological Analysis Of Tiger And Trinity Shoals, Louisiana Continental Shelf, Russell Ryan Crouch Jan 2010

Palynological Analysis Of Tiger And Trinity Shoals, Louisiana Continental Shelf, Russell Ryan Crouch

LSU Master's Theses

Forty sediment samples taken from twenty-six vibracores collected from Holocene shoals (Tiger and Trinity) were processed for palynomorphs and analyzed to characterize the terrestrial and marine paleo-environments of southern Louisiana at the time of deposition of each shoal. Abundant and diverse pollen assemblages were recovered while marine microplankton were sparse (< 2% relative abundance). Pollen species were grouped by plants of similar environmental significances including arboreal, non-arboreal, aquatic, and shrub categories. Palynological signals were compared in detail between each core, as well as along strike and dip transects, to help determine whether or not these shoals were deposited coevally or in distinct depositional cycles. Evidence shows that Tiger and Trinity Shoals carry remarkably similar palynological profiles, indicating that sediments of these shoals areS from the same source, and that deposition extended over an interval of time such that climate change was not sufficient enough to alter the vegetation response (hence palynological signal). Pollen profiles show source sediments are predominantly from the lower Mississippi River drainage basin and exhibit species similar to those present in modern Louisiana coastal marshes and swamps (i.e., Taxodium distichum, Cyperaceae, Graminae, Chenopodiaceae, and Asteraceae), and coastal to upland hardwood forests of the Mississippi River alluvial valley (i.e., Pinus, Quercus, Carya, and Liquidambar styraciflua).

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Dry Event Trends And Frequencies In The South Central United States, Michael Roberts Jan 2010

Dry Event Trends And Frequencies In The South Central United States, Michael Roberts

LSU Master's Theses

In this study, dry spells in the southern United States are analyzed. Dry spells are defined as consecutive days with no recorded rainfall. Seventy (70) weather stations are researched in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Daily precipitation for each station identifies potential trends in consecutive dry days. Stations were selected for their completeness, longevity, and their proximity to one another. Only stations with five percent or less missing data were allowed. All 70 stations will be analyzed from 1950-2008. Twenty-four stations possess over 100 years of data and will be analyzed. The best geographical indicator for consecutive dry …

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Status Of Wintering Grassland Birds In A Post-Hurricane, Salvage-Logged Forest, Matthew Edward Brooks Jan 2010

Status Of Wintering Grassland Birds In A Post-Hurricane, Salvage-Logged Forest, Matthew Edward Brooks

LSU Master's Theses

North American grassland birds have been declining at an alarming rate. Winter habitat for grassland species in the southeastern U.S. generally occurs within forests subject to management. I studied wintering grassland bird communities in De Soto National Forest in southern Mississippi. My objectives were to: 1) Assess bird communities and vegetation structure in upland forest stands that were salvage-logged following Hurricane Katrina, in stands managed for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (Picoides borealis, RCW), and in stands containing bogs; and 2) Determine the extent of the association between vegetation and occurrence of the common wintering grassland birds. I conducted bird and vegetation surveys …

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Using Algae To Estimate Postmortem Submersion Interval In A Louisiana Bayou, Sophia Renke Jan 2010

Using Algae To Estimate Postmortem Submersion Interval In A Louisiana Bayou, Sophia Renke

LSU Master's Theses

While algae are often used in forensic science for the determination and confirmation of death by drowning, their utility for the estimation of postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) has been underutilized. Algae are present in all water systems and will grow upon decomposing matter; yet, very little published literature exists on their use in PMSI estimation. Because PMSI is difficult to predict due to the variable nature of water, the reaction of the submerged body within water, and the lack of truly sarcophagous aquatic insects, algae are a potentially invaluable tool for the forensic anthropologist. This research investigates the utility of …

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Synoptic Circulation Of The North American Monsoon System And Precipitation Within The Lower Colorado River Basin, Jessie Frances Mccann Jan 2010

Synoptic Circulation Of The North American Monsoon System And Precipitation Within The Lower Colorado River Basin, Jessie Frances Mccann

LSU Master's Theses

The North American Monsoon System (NAMS) is an important climate phenomenon that affects the southwestern United States during the warm season, most significantly in July and August. Climatic variability associated with the NAMS impacts a wide range of both physical and socio-economic systems in this region, with a broad range of stakeholders concentrated in the Lower Colorado River Basin (LCRB) that includes portions of five southwestern states. This study examines variations in synoptic circulation patterns associated with the NAMS with respect to the LCRB. Using a manual classification, daily 500-mb geopotential height patterns were classified for monsoon seasons (July 1-September …

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The Poisonous Wine From Catalonia: Rebellion In Spanish Louisiana During The Ulloa, O'Reilly, And Carondelet Administrations, Timothy Paul Achee Jan 2010

The Poisonous Wine From Catalonia: Rebellion In Spanish Louisiana During The Ulloa, O'Reilly, And Carondelet Administrations, Timothy Paul Achee

LSU Master's Theses

Spanish rule in Louisiana was bracketed by periods of unrest. Using the criteria for rebellion developed by political scientist Claude E. Welch Jr., in Anatomy of Rebellion to compare the 1768 rebellion under Governor Antonio de Ulloa, and demonstrations of discontent in the 1790’s under Baron Francisco Luis Carondelet, one is able to draw out similarities, contrasts, and continuities in factors causal to political unrest. The most powerful of these causal factors were the economic troubles, geographic marginality, ethnic tensions, weak authority, and unsuccessful attempts to reform the colony’s commercial system. Methods employed by the Spanish administrations to contain or …

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Prejudice And The New Latino Migration: The Geographic Locus Of Anti-Latino Sentiment, Angela Caraway Jan 2010

Prejudice And The New Latino Migration: The Geographic Locus Of Anti-Latino Sentiment, Angela Caraway

LSU Master's Theses

A large body of literature on the relationship between prejudice and discrimination and the size of minority populations suggests that as a minority population increases so will incidents of prejudice and/or discrimination. This school of thought is led by Hubert Blalock who contends that large minority populations generate prejudice among the majority, who view the minority as a threat to their economic and/or political standing. Minority population size has been tested and widely confirmed as a cause of anti-black prejudice and discrimination. But the corresponding research for Latinos has generally produced inconsistent and largely inconclusive findings. The reason for this …

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School Gardens: Effects On Low Socioeconomic First Grade Students, Margo Lynn Castro Jan 2010

School Gardens: Effects On Low Socioeconomic First Grade Students, Margo Lynn Castro

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine if there are any effects of school gardens on low socio-economic first grade classroom located in the Southern Region of the United States. It is crucial for students to understand food sources and where it originates. Data was gathered through interviews using qualitative research methods. Analysis consisted of examining data from themes and discriminate cases. Personal interviews were done with teachers and students involved in the garden project. Permission was received to interview the students at school. All participants will remain anonymous. The results of the study found that the garden project …

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The Effects Of Salinity On Nitrogen Cycling In Wetland Soils And Sediments Of The Breton Sound Estuary, La, Brett Whitfield Marks Jan 2010

The Effects Of Salinity On Nitrogen Cycling In Wetland Soils And Sediments Of The Breton Sound Estuary, La, Brett Whitfield Marks

LSU Master's Theses

Wetlands in the coastal zone are slowly becoming more saline under rising sea level over the long-term. However, there are a number of events in the coastal environment which lead to quick and temporary changes in the salinity of coastal marshes. Seawater driven inland from storm surge can significantly increase salinity in oligohaline wetlands over the short-term (weeks). Recent large-scale efforts to restore coastal wetlands in Louisiana have utilized Mississippi River surface water diversions to re-introduce freshwater into coastal marshes, decreasing the salinity of coastal marshes. We examined the effect of salinity changes on two important nitrogen cycling processes, potential …

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Moving Over Mountains: A Woman On The Appalachian Trail, Jessica Susan Matthews Jan 2009

Moving Over Mountains: A Woman On The Appalachian Trail, Jessica Susan Matthews

LSU Master's Theses

This project examines the experience of a woman on the Appalachian Trail. It is my aim in undertaking this project to evaluate my own personal experiences in order to explore the way the Appalachian Trail is conceptualized as a space, and then experienced as a place. My own experiences will be connected to and contrasted by experiences I have with other hikers. It is through my own experiences and those of others that I hope to highlight the ways that spaces and mobilities are gendered in our society and the ways that those expectations are usurped. The wilderness might be …

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