Digital Commons Network^™

A Critical Examination Of Green Economic Development As A Post-Disaster Recovery Approach: The Case Of Greensburg, Kansas 2007-2012, David Edgardo Leiva

Master's Theses

In May 2007, an EF-5 tornado ripped through and annihilated 95% of Greensburg, Kansas, a town of about 1,500 people in the southwestern portion of the state. On the heels of the disastrous Hurricane Katrina federal response and with the promise of two sitting presidents to use all of the federal support available, the town vowed not only to "survive, but thrive." Months later, Greensburg civic, business and elected leaders - with a host of external expertise - unveiled a recovery plan that not only set in motion the rebuilding of the two-square mile town but also offered the opportunity …

Renewable Ocean Energy Site Selection Using A Gis: Gulf Coast Potential, Thomas Paul Wissing

Master's Theses

Development of offshore renewable wind energy for coastal states, counties and federally owned regions must account for numerous constraints and factors. In the northern Gulf of Mexico, decisions on developing sites for renewable wind energy have traditionally stemmed from environmental, socioeconomic, and political bases. Environmentally, new renewable off-shore projects cannot infringe on wetlands, marine sanctuaries, and fragile ecosystems (EFH). Placement of an offshore wind turbine should not significantly impact the surrounding environment. Taking into account maritime concerns, shipping lanes must not be impeded, and active military fly zones must be avoided.

Offshore projects must be financially self-sustaining for states and …

Legislated Landscape: A Comparison Of New Deal Farm Communities In Hattiesburg, Mccomb, And Tupelo, Mississippi, Joy Delaine Rhoads

Master's Theses

Government New Deal farm policies of the 1930s changed the realities of farming and the landscape in Mississippi. This research endeavors to compare three farm communities created by New Deal legislation in the state: Hattiesburg, McComb, and Tupelo. The economic crisis that was the Great Depression created a highly politicized environment as citizens looked to the government for economic relief. A crisis this severe would require an exceptional effort to mitigate the economic hardships it created, in varying degrees, for millions of Americans. The actions of the federal government during the Great Depression were an interesting mix of paternalism, desperation, …

State Bred Event Days Effect On Attendance And On-Track Wagering In Comparison To Open Race Day Counterparts, Cynthia C. Gumber

Master's Theses

Since 1978 casino and gaming facilities in the United States have grown substantially. Drawing outside customers has helped to improve the local communities surrounding the gaming facilities. In a similar fashion, United States horse racing aims at increasing traffic and wagering at race tracks throughout the United States (but unlike casinos little expansion). Along with the fiscal impact to the United States, the horse racing industry has created thousands of jobs, and the industry is experiencing continual growth in nominal gross wagering. Many state’s have breeder programs that enhance purses and horses bred and raced in- state. The goal of …

Women And The Second Estate In 16th Century Zambezia: Gendered Powers, A 'Puppet' African Queen And Succession In Vakaranga Society, 1500–1700, George G. Levin

Master's Theses

Women in vaKaranga society of the 15th to 17th centuries have been portrayed as oppressed by an "extremely patriarchal" system, but the reality, while still fitting the simple classification of a 'patriarchal' monarchy, indicates quite a bit more negotiation of gendered powers than women, as a class, experienced in the Mediterranean or East Asia. The vaKaranga were the architects of Great Zimbabwe, the capital of a growing state, colonizing their cousins of the Zambezi river, which their Kusi-Mashariki Bantu forefathers had traversed southward a millennium before. Civil war had (apparently) split one nation into two states, Mutapa (Monomotapa) and Khami …

The Forgotten Space: Between Discourse, Document, And The Deck Of A Ship, Talia B. Shabtay

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Equity Of Transit Supply Distribution In Metropolitan Areas Using Lorenz Curves And Gini Coefficients, Kelly L. Bertolaccini

Master's Theses

The equitable distribution of transit services is a major concern of transportation planners and policymakers worldwide. In the US, planners are required by law to consider equity concerns when investing in new transportation infrastructure and services. However, equity can be difficult to assess in a consistent, objective, and quantitative way. Australian researchers recently developed a single, system wide measure which reflects the horizontal (or spatial) equity of transit service distribution in a metropolitan area. This measure, a variation of the Gini coefficient, specifically measures how well transit supply meets transit demand. While using a single measure to assess the equity …

Determining Hydrocarbon Distribution Using Resistivity, Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, Southwestern Mississippi, John Edward Allen Jr.

Master's Theses

High energy prices created by increased global demand and ongoing international disputes have once again sparked a new wave of exploration within the United States. The need for local production is strong and the onshore shale reservoirs of the United States appear to be a prime target. The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale is one such shale reservoir that has been rapidly gaining interest throughout the petroleum industry and the availability of published data concerning the reservoir is insufficient to meet industry needs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reservoir within southwestern Mississippi to document its structure, stratigraphy, and …

Analysis Of Post-Cranial Traits For The Assessment Of Biological Distance Among Temporally Distinct New World Populations Of African Descent, Claire Marie Dansereau

Master's Theses

This investigation examines change in post-cranial osteometric markers in temporally distinct New World populations of African ancestry: Newton Plantation series (17th-19th century Barbados; N = 16); two subsamples from the Hamann-Todd (HT) series (U.S.) based on birth year, 1865-1900 (N = 66) and 1901-1915 (N = 62); and the Forensic Databank Collection (FDB) (20th century U.S.; N = 137). It was anticipated that individuals from Newton would exhibit less admixture than those from H-T or FDB. They were also predicted to demonstrate greater skeletal robusticity due to mechanical loading. Additionally, it was expected that stature would increase over time due …

From Servitude To Freedom: Gender, Labor, And Domestic Relations, Elizabeth Michelle Talbot

Master's Theses

In the sugar parishes of Louisiana, enslaved people endured high mortality rates and declining populations at the height of the harsh slave regime in the mid-twentieth century. This resulted from regional disease, brutal working conditions, and a skewed sex ratio where enslaved men consistently outnumbered enslaved women. Following emancipation, freedwomen attempted to rebuild their families and community amid the tumultuous environment that defined the sugar parishes. This thesis utilizes Freedmen's Bureau records, American Missionary Association correspondence, census data, and local newspapers to argue that freedwomen sought to gain control over their labor, bodies, relationships, and children in the postbellum era …

Sandcastles In The Sand: Liminality At The Seashore In Carolyn Wells's Marjorie At Seacote, Olivia Jeanne Bushardt

Master's Theses

The American beach at the turn of the twentieth century became a popular site for middle-class families to escape the urban squalor of the cities and play during the summer months. Although relatively unknown today, Carolyn Wells's 1912 novel Marjorie at Seacote depicts how the beach as a liminal space destabilizes the traditional adult and child roles and creates discomfon and ambivalence over these new roles. I first discuss Carolyn Wells and Marjorie at Seacote in terms of historical context and within the framework of girls' series fiction published at the turn of the century. I then explain how the …

A Spatial Analysis Of West Nile Virus In Texas, 2012, Allison G. Bradshaw

Master's Theses

The outbreak of West Nile Virus (WNV) in 2012 included over 1,880 reported cases in the state of Texas, and was a dramatic increase from the disease prevalence of previous years. Based on the framework of human ecology triangle, this investigation sought to test the validity of previously identified factors of West Nile Virus to this year’s outbreak and investigate the broad range of incidence rates across zip codes in Texas. A selection of demographic, environmental, and weather-related risk factors was included in the analysis in order to examine areas of high and low incidence across a varied landscape.

A …

Spatial Patterns Of Mobile Regolith Thickness And Meteoric 10be In Gordon Gulch, Front Range, Co, Neil Shea

Master's Theses

The Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory (BcCZO) aims to understand the history, architecture, and evolution of hillslopes found within the diverse topography and climate regimes of the Colorado Front Range. Here, I present the results of a systematic study that documents spatial patterns of mobile regolith thickness and uses concentrations of meteoric ¹⁰Be to assess the mechanisms and time scales of sediment transport and storage in Gordon Gulch, a mid-elevation watershed representative of topography throughout the region. Gordon Gulch lies within the unglaciated portion of the Front Range and is hypothesized to be in long-term steady state evolution. This …

Effects Of Transit-Oriented Development On Affordable Housing, Job Accessibility, And Affordability Of Transportation In The Metro Green Line Corridor Of Los Angeles (Ca), Audrey M. Desmuke

Master's Theses

The premise of this study is that an understanding of catalysts and impacts of social and economic change in the Los Angeles Metro Green Line study corridor and an analysis of current planning policies can help identify how future planning policies may generate more ideal and positive outcomes for the study corridor. This study evaluated the conditions within the transit corridor with four selected station areas defined by a one-mile radius from each station. The stations that make up the transit corridor are along the Los Angeles Metro Green Line that runs east west between Redondo Beach and Norwalk. A …

A Stand-Alone Methodology For Data Exploration In Support Of Data Mining And Analytics, Michael Gage

Master's Theses

With the emergence of Big Data, data high in volume, variety, and velocity, new analysis techniques need to be developed to effectively use the data that is being collected. Knowledge discovery from databases is a larger methodology encompassing a process for gathering knowledge from that data. Analytics pair the knowledge with decision making to improve overall outcomes. Organizations have conclusive evidence that analytics provide competitive advantages and improve overall performance. This paper proposes a stand-alone methodology for data exploration. Data exploration is one part of the data mining process, used in knowledge discovery from databases and analytics. The goal of …

Applying Sustainability From A Systems Perspective:, Timothy Brophy

Master's Theses

Becoming sustainable is no longer an option. Current industry methods will not be able to support the necessary changes our growing society demands. In order to keep up with ever increasing demands industry will be aimed toward making major system changes toward a fully sustainable model. As of right now only basic sustainability actions have been put in place. Industry needs to make a strategic change toward resilient systems with an end goal of evolving into fully biomimic systems. This thesis covers a brief history of production leading to the Industrial Revolution which created a need for increased sustainability efforts. …

The Development Of An Electronic Data Collection Tool And Comparison Of The Electronic And Manual Methods Of Land Use Inventory, Wesley M. Catanzaro

Master's Theses

An important component of Planning Information Systems for municipal planning agencies is a comprehensive land use inventory that provides information on the location, distribution, and intensity of land uses throughout a community. This data is a necessary prerequisite for the informed creation of planning documents such as General Plans, Specific Plans, Housing Inventories, and Climate Action Plans. Beyond location, distribution and intensity of land uses, planners may also wish to incorporate additional information at the parcel level, such as the number of housing or commercial units, building condition, and/or access and connectivity to adjacent streets. Because some of this information …

The City Of Morro Bay, California Sign Ordinance Update And Tourism-Oriented Directional Sign Plan, Erik Berg-Johansen

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

The City of Morro Bay, California – Sign Ordinance Update and Embarcadero District

Tourism-Oriented Directional Sign Plan

Erik Berg-Johansen

This report includes a Draft Sign Ordinance, a Tourism-Oriented Directional Sign Plan, and a background report for each product. The final products were created thought a process involving extensive research, community outreach, and detailed discussions among City of Morro Bay staff.

The Sign Ordinance

It was discovered that signs are important to business owners and residents due to their effect on both economic and aesthetic issues in communities. This report documents research of scholarly articles, case studies, and community outreach …

What Comes After The Boom? Baby Boomers In Santa Maria, California A Market Study For People's Self Help Housing, Elizabeth Anne Brighton

Master's Theses

This Master’s Project is separated into two parts: the introduction and background informing an affordable senior housing market study, and a market study prepared for People’s Self Help Housing (PSHH). The introduction begins by providing current and future trends for seniors at the national and state levels. This includes discussion of the “Baby Boomer” age cohort and their rapid growth and potential impact to the housing market. The introduction then describes challenges facing developers of affordable senior housing. These challenges include the type, location, and funding sources for future senior housing projects. All federal funding sources for affordable senior housing …

Advanced Techniques In Emergency Preparedness And Geoprocessing, Dean P. Chauvin Jr

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Understanding Hiv-Related Risk Behaviors Among Returnee Male Migrant Workers In Nepal, Roman Shrestha

Master's Theses

Background: Migration of Nepali workers to India is a longstanding phenomenon. Studies have indicated that migrant workers are at higher-risk of HIV infection due to their engagement in unsafe sexual and substance use behaviors, while abroad. This study aims to evaluate the possible association between migration and increased prevalence of HIV-risk behaviors among Nepali migrant workers and their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among male migrant workers (n=40) in Dhanusha district of Nepal - a neighboring region to India with high levels of male-out-migration. The interview questionnaires assessed participants’ socio-demographics, migration characteristics, loneliness, HIV/AIDS …

The Status Of Economic And Social Rights In Appalachia, Logan Thomas

Master's Theses

This research examines the status of economic and social rights (ESR) in Appalachia by examining county-level data for both the region and entire United States. Individual rights and total ESR fulfillment are examined based upon indices utilized in the research. Effort to fulfill ESR is also examined based upon available resources, as measured by per capita income in the counties. Findings indicate that the northern part of the region experiences both high fulfillment and effort, the central part of the region experiences low fulfillment and average effort, and the southern part of the region experiences average fulfillment and low effort.

Waves Of Change: Tourism And Vulnerability In San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, Matthew Lee Fahrenbruch

Master's Theses

Tourism is increasingly viewed and promoted as a viable and sustainable option for economic growth in developing countries. However, despite the rise of tourism and the growing popularity of hazard-prone destinations, little research has been done to assess the vulnerability of many tourism communities. What work has been done has focused primarily on post-shock management and planning without identifying underlying factors of vulnerability such plans would ideally mitigate. The goal of this thesis is to develop a methodology for assessing vulnerability in tourism communities in the developing world by assessing the vulnerability of the Nicaraguan community of San Juan del …

Drive-By Geography: Perceptions Of Urban Growth And Land Use In Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Courtney Shea Norville

Master's Theses

One of the most important mechanisms in which human societies have transformed the earth is through urbanization. Land use changes such as from cropland to businesses are important ways in which urban growth transforms landscapes. This study uses qualitative and quantitative methods in order to visualize where urban growth and landscape changes are occurring between Hattiesburg and Columbia, Mississippi within the first decade of the 21st century. The methods I used involved conducting transects and creating hand-drawn maps, conversion of hand-drawn maps into ArcGIS shapefiles for interpretation and analysis, and lastly juxtaposition of shapefiles onto Landsat imagery. To analyze the …

The Effects Of Snowmelt Percolation On Stratified Pollen Records: A Cooler Study, Michael Edward Ewing

Master's Theses

Temperate valley glaciers may contain unique paleoecological records with the possibility of very high-resolution pollen analysis. However, little is known about the effects of meltwater percolation on pollen found in snow and glacial ice. Previous studies have suggested that pollen is relatively impervious to meltwater percolation due to grain size and, thus, resists transport. However, investigations on McCall Glacier in the Brooks Range of northeast Alaska reveal a disparity between the large amounts of pollen in the surface snow and firn, and dearth of pollen in the glacial ice core samples. The purpose of this study is to investigate if …

Sedimentary Characteristics Of An Estuarine Marsh System And The Roles Of Storm Overwash, Micro-Tidal Currents, And Organic Production: Big Branch Marsh, Louisiana, John Andrew Sebastian Fleming

Master's Theses

The goal of this thesis is to document sediment composition in Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, located on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, to discern the relative influences of fluvial, tidal, and storm overwash transport dynamics of a micro-tidal estuarine marsh system. Collected sediment samples from tidal channel beds, pond bottoms, and marsh surfaces were analyzed for organic content and particle-size distribution. Parameters of sub-environment groups were compared to find differences representing changes in relative transport energy and depositional processes. Whereas some results adhered to the model of fining patterns with increasing distance …

Settlement, Mobility, And The Organization Of Technology At The Clark Lake Site (22sh535): A Small-Scale Woodland Settlement, Michelle Renee Hammond

Master's Theses

Research conducted on the Woodland period in the Lower Mississippi Valley has largely focused on ceramic analysis of assemblages from large-scale settlements. Very little research has been conducted on lithic technology, particularly debitage from small sites. The Clark Lake site in the Lower Yazoo Basin is a small-scale settlement with components dating from the Tchula Phase to the Lake George I phase (circa 500 B.C. - 1500 A.D.). This thesis focuses on the lithic assemblage recovered from the MiddleLate Woodland occupation of Clark Lake. Analysis of lithic debitage provides evidence concerning site function at this small-scale Woodland settlement.

Financing Public Solar Projects: California Public Jurisdictions' Experiences In Acquiring And Financing Solar Photovoltaic Installations, Dana M.C. Hoffman

Master's Theses

More efficient technologies, state laws as well as environmental, social, and political pressures have all contributed to placing solar acquisition on the agenda for California’s public entities over the last half decade. But a key question for these frequently cash-strapped jurisdictions is how to utilize public dollars and lands, and how to leverage incentives to obtain solar PVs. As an alternative to outright purchase, a promising financing option made available to jurisdictions in recent years is ownership by a third party, usually the solar company, including various forms of Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s) and leasing. Due in part to state …

Cretaceous And Paelogene Stratigraphy Of Forrest County, Mississippi, Joel Kenneth Loeffler

Master's Theses

Extensive investigation has been done on the subsurface geology and structure of Maxie and Pistol Ridge fields of Forrest and Pearl River Counties, Mississippi. However, a comprehensive study has not been done on the whole of Forrest County as, aside from two minor fields, oil and gas plays do not exist elsewhere in the county. This thesis expands on the work done Vellora Foster (1941) to describe the subsurface geology of the county. Electrical logs from 289 wells drilled in Covington, Forrest, Jones, Lamar, Pearl River, Perry, and Stone counties were used to correlate stratigraphic horizons. Detailed Stratigraphic descriptions of …

Reactions To English Language Learning In Chile As A Means For Personal And National Development, Kortnee Byrd

Master's Theses

In our globalized world today, English has developed into the worldwide

language. Chilean leaders, in connection to their development goals to reach a developed

country status by 2020, have highlighted the need for Chilean citizens to become

bilingual in order to attract foreign investment and further integrate into the world

market. Leaders also highlight how English education will serve as an equalizing

measure to combat the socioeconomic inequality that has plagued this country since

Spanish colonization. While the economic benefits are clear, questions remain as to what

the social and cultural costs will be. This research project presents how a …