Digital Commons Network^™

Playing The Game: Exploring Dialectical Tensions And Co-Cultural Communication Strategies Of Black Males In Predominantly White Organizational Structures, Mark C. Hopson

Masters Theses

As non-dominant group members enter and attempt to succeed within the United States' organizational structures, there continues to be a need for scholarly examination concerning how their communication is impacted by culture and power. This thesis focuses specifically on how discourse is influenced by these factors. It is an exploration of the dialectical tensions that beset the communication of African American males whose interactive success or failure in academic and professional organizations is often associated with the historical differences of culture and power. A review of existing literature addresses the communication dilemmas and co-cultural strategies that "outsiders within" (Collins, 1986), …

Parties And Realignment: The President’S Role In Political Party Realignment, Kevin B. Dockerty

Masters Theses

Using "The Youth-Parent Socialization Panel Study" that covers 1965-1982, the role of individual presidential candidates in bringing about changes in mass partisanship and party realignment is studied. Previous research has ignored the role of popular, prestigious, charismatic presidential candidates shaping and changing citizens' partisanship. Historical political party realignments guide my research in showing the strong influence of the chief executive in realignment periods.

Following the work of Niemi and Jennings (1991) I expand on their issue model explaining partisan choice by creating a candidate-issues model to provide a more complete explanation of party identification. I specifically look at the presidential …

Home-Care Nurses' Knowledge And Perceived Preparedness To Counsel Patients On Advance Directives, Mary Moran Barr

Masters Theses

This study examined home-care nurses’ knowledge and perceived preparedness to counsel patients on advance directives (ADs). Joyce Fitzpatrick’s “life perspective rhythm” model provided the framework for the thesis. Sixty-two registered nurses actively practicing in home-care in West Michigan were surveyed over a 4-week period. Each nurse completed a 16-question survey, which included an 11-question true-false test of knowledge of ADs. Survey results indicated that nurses who feel prepared to counsel patients are more knowledgeable than those who do not feel prepared to counsel (t=2.89, df=57, p=<0.05). Overall knowledge was high (87.4%) but only 40 nurses (64%) felt prepared to counsel patients on ADs. The study implies that factors other than knowledge may have an impact on preparedness to counsel. Possibilities for further study include more research on education of healthcare providers about ADs, patient education, and the need for mutual discussions on end-of-life care issues in relationship to completing ADs.

Rheology Of Silica Based Inkjet Coatings And Their Filterability, Peeyush Tripathi

Masters Theses

Coating rheology has long been understood to be a key factor in the smooth operation and performance of a coater. As coaters run faster and formulations become more complex, the demands on a coating's rheology grow more stringent.

Silica based coating formulations present unique rheological challenges, thus providing the opportunity for coating formulators to improve their performance through rheological studies under various conditions of shear. Due to rheological restrictions (gelling), silica based coatings are generally applied at 25-26% solids which is very low as compared to calcium carbonate or clay based coating, at 68-70% solids. Consequently, any improvement in coatings …

Women Hunters And Modernity: A Nietzschean Analysis, Deborah S. Wilson

Masters Theses

Patriarchy and false consciousness are two concepts that scholars use to explain why women hunt. I attempt to understand this activity through a perspective that focuses on experience and meaning. Based on interviews with women who hunt, I contend that their accounts correspond with Nietzsche's characterization of Greek tragedy, reflecting a conscious opposition to certain aspects of modernity.

Determining Flow Type In A Carbonate Bedrock Aquifer, Presque Isle County, Michigan, Bonny Armstrong

Masters Theses

Presque Isle County, Michigan, has a long history of ground water quality problems. Aquifer contamination is most likely the result of large fractures in the bedrock allowing surface water to rapidly reach ground water. The purpose of the study is to l) perform a geochemical investigation of ground water in the bedrock aquifer, 2) suggest the type of ground water flow system present in the study area and characterize the aquifer type, and 3) suggest how the flow system might affect the behavior and transport of contaminants.

Water samples were collected from sixteen wells in the Genshaw Formation, three wells …

Electrical Resistivity Tomography And Induced Polarization Techniques With Paired Vertical Resistivity Probes, Adrian Ezeagu

Masters Theses

The aim of this research is to use electrical resistivity and induced polarization (IP) techniques to image in detail the vertical and lateral distribution of resistivity and chargeability in the subsurface region between two or more boreholes. The method involves installing electrodes mounted on PVC pipes in the boreholes. The distribution of resistivity and chargeability around the boreholes is then calculated. The large number of measurements taken is then inverted to produce tomographs or images showing subsurface distribution of resistivity and chargeability. Four cross-hole measurement arrays (pole-pole, dipole-pole dipole-dipole and pole-dipole) were employed in acquiring tomographic data. The tomographs produced …

“Drop And Give Me Twenty!”: The Social Production Of A Marine, Martha E. Frohlich

Masters Theses

This study is an attempt to understand the transformation of an individual that takes place during Marine Corps basic training. Primarily, it is an inquiry into how United States Marines talk about how they became Marines.

To assist in this inquiry, I turn to the field of military sociology, general role socialization literature and the notion of social identity. I conclude that while themes do emerge in the transformation of individual to Marine, it is still quite a personal experience -- one that could only be understood by positioning myself close to the experience via those who have lived it. …

The Role Of Glutathione In The Defense Pathway Response Of Arabidopsis Thaliana To The Pathogen Pseudomonas Syringae Pathovar Tomato Dc3000 Avrb, Allison Patrice Mckenna

Masters Theses

Inoculation of Arabidopsis thaliana with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 AvrB (Pst) results in a series of biochemical changes, including an oxidative burst, accumulation of salicylic acid, (de)phosphorylation of proteins, localization of transcription factors to the nucleus and ultimately expression of pathogenesis-related genes. The redox status within plant cells, which is maintained by a cycle of antioxidants that are largely dependent on the reduced form of glutathione (GSH), because of its ability to donate electrons that are necessary to quench reactive oxygen species (ROS). This study focuses on the role of glutathione in the early defense responses of Arabidopsis to …

John Irving, Female Sexuality, And The Victorian Feminine Ideal, Tara Coburn

Masters Theses

In an interview about The Cider House Rules, John Irving states, "It is never the social or political message that interests me in a novel" (qtd. in Herel, para. 18). However, in book reviews, jacket blurbs, literary criticism, and Irving's own writing, readers and critics and Irving often assert that he is a neo-Victorian novelist, and the Victorians were a notoriously political bunch. Though Irving does not admit to the political nature of his writing, the way he treats feminist politics in his fiction has drawn particular notice by the media, who often label him as a feminist writer. …

Anger: In Black & White: A Meta Analysis, James Hazlewood

Masters Theses

The following research investigates whether black and white populations have divergent perceptions of anger and anger expressions in black and white males. A great deal of the research to follow concerns itself with exploring what anger is and how it is delineated. What becomes readily apparent is that anger is a complex component of human experience. There is general agreement that culture and environment are important components in anger expression. The purpose of this research is three fold: 1. Investigate the definition of anger. 2. Investigate whether black and white populations view anger differently and if so how, and 3. …

The Internet And Traditional Media Displacement, Jessica Cartledge

Masters Theses

This study consists of a survey that measures how much of the Internet college students are using and why they are using it. Using the uses and gratifications perspective and an adapted version of Rubin's 1984 Television Motives Scale this study analyzes what gratifications media consumers are actively seeking to satisfy their communication needs. 217 students were surveyed and results showed that high Internet users were using traditional media less. The study also concluded that high and low Internet users have similar reasons for using the Internet.

A Web Content Management And Personalization Model Using One-To-One Strategy For Higher Educational Institutions, Yee Pong Ng

Masters Theses

This research explored a Web content management and personalization model for higher educational institutions. Through a review of literature and data collected from users, it formulated a conceptual model for Web content management and personalization. The study used the Web site of School of Technology at Eastern Illinois University as a typical case from which to develop the model for higher educational institutions. Understanding the factors influencing user attitudes about the adoption of new Web technologies is extremely important. Such an understanding can help Web developers develop a theoretical framework for a Web model as well as identify its components. …

Alcohol Use And Perceptions Of Alcohol Use Among Biology, Criminal Justice, Health Science, And Psychology Capstone Students At Grand Valley State University, Rebecca Postma

Masters Theses

This study brought the widely used Rutgers PRSP survey to upper level students in biology, criminal justice, health science and psychology capstone classes in the academic year of 2000/2001. The survey explores student perceptions of their own alcohol use, of their friends’ use, and that of other students. Data from 291 participants reveals gender differences in perception, differences in self-reported drinking habits among the four capstone groups, and differences between this group of participants and their expectations of other students’ drinking. These areas of information along with other interesting findings give important insight into the upper level students of Grand …

Home Health Care Nurses' Knowledge Of Advance Directives, Jennifer L. Zoeteman

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe home health care nurses' knowledge of advance directives. Dorothea Orem's Theory of Self-Care guided this descriptive correlational study which investigated the relationship between knowledge of advance directives and the variables of nursing educational preparation and years of nursing experience. A convenience sample of 40 subjects employed by a Michigan home care agency completed a 39 item questionnaire adapted from Crego and Lipp (1998). The mean knowledge score was 84.68%. Analysis of the demographic profile showed no significant difference in knowledge levels by educational preparation. Years of nursing experience was found to have …

Examination Of Therapeutic Alliance And Dependent-Care Agency In The Context Of Complementary And Alternative Therapy Utilization By Mothers For Their Children With Asthma, Mary C. Vanderwal

Masters Theses

Complementary and alternative therapies (CAT) are being used by increasing numbers of individuals as both self-care and dependent-care strategies. Nursing leadership is needed to provide guidance and support to individuals using CAT Nurse-client relationships that center on therapeutic alliance may be a vehicle for supporting appropriate use of CAT as self-care and dependent care modalities. Eighty-seven mothers whose asthmatic children were involved in a 6-month glyconutritional supplementation trial were surveyed to evaluate their perceptions of therapeutic alliance using the Kim Alliance Scale (KAS). Greater that 90% of the sample perceived therapeutic alliance most of the time in relationship with the …

Birth Of A Paradigm: Digital Technology And Its Effect On Literary Studies, Chad Michael Verbais

Masters Theses

Digital technology is changing the landscape of literary studies. In essence, the proliferation of computer technology and hypertext is forcing literary scholars to look at how the expanded role of the visual in our society is influencing the way we read and disseminate texts, especially hypertexts, while they also come to a better understanding of the role of the reader in a digital environment and the overall value of electronic literature. Literary studies is witnessing the birth of a new paradigm through digital technology in textual production and dissemination that will not only raise new questions, but further examine age-old …

Searching For The Hero's Code: Questioning (White) Hero Formation In Contemporary American Film, Amanda D. Mckay

Masters Theses

The desire for heroism never wavers in the imaginations of the movie-going public. When we go to the movies, we long to see a strong character, poised to save the world (tights and cape optional, of course). However, we rarely question what the hero looks like. Hollywood perpetuates an archaic form of heroism because that is what the audience has formed long ago in their collective imagination. Much of American culture is generated by the desire to see self-starters making it in the direst of conditions.

With such a narrow construction of heroism, Hollywood has become void of equal representation …

Calvin Klein: Semiotic Phenomenology, Stephanie L. Crase-Moritz

Masters Theses

This study examined print advertising as a visual communication method by focusing on five of Calvin Klein's jeans advertisements and the themes that are expressed to determine what realities or social meanings Calvin Klein's jeans advertisements constructed and/or reflected. To uncover the themes within Klein's advertisements, the following three-methods were applied: Content Analysis, Informal Focus Group and Semiotic Phenomenology. Together the three-methods, based upon data collected from fourteen males and females aged 13-18, 19-21, 22-24 and 28 years old or above, identified fifteen underlying themes containing stereotypes, potentially dangerous realities and evidence showing our desensitization to controversy and shocking images …

American Kitsch: Dreams Of Vegas And Apollo Beyond Aporias, Daniel Gerling

Masters Theses

Aside from a recently published compendium of happy stories by Dan Rather and a few real estate agencies in Florida, the American Dream has been considered dead. The most common poison deemed responsible for this death has been, not the lack of success, but, the "kitschiness" of the reward. Postwar novels such as Henry Miller's The Air-Conditioned Nightmare and Edward Albee's play The American Dream declared that the Dream was no longer genuine and, therefore, no longer functional or valid.

Horatio Alger's blueprint for American prosperity began to lose its momentum to a generation of skeptics who rejected the idea …

The Rural Public Television System: The Paradox Of Identity And Role, James C. Jones Jr.

Masters Theses

The American television broadcasting system is preparing for it's greatest upgrade since color television. This change will not only effect commercial television it will also effect our community public television stations.

Since it's inception in 1967 the public television system has been the innovation leader in the broadcast industry for using new technologies to benefit education and servicing the public. Public television was the leader in satellite programming distribution, descriptive television services and closed captioning. Public television has defined and demonstrated its role as a technology leader. This research study was undertaken to define from the public's perspective what it …

Framing The War: Government Strategies Used During The Kosovo Conflict, Jocelyn Tipton

Masters Theses

NATO's success in Kosovo ultimately depended upon each member's ability to carefully balance national interest and opposing viewpoints against international pressures from the Alliance. In reconciling these factors, each country created framing strategies designed to garner public support for its involvement in the military operations. Indigenous public support was integral to each country's participation in these efforts and in NATO's ability to maintain a sustained campaign.

This thesis focuses specifically on the strategies used by the government leaders in the United States, Italy and Germany, to influence public opinion and gain national support for military involvement during NATO's operations in …

Lateral Migration Of A Solid Particle In Shear Flow, Wutthapong Jiraporncharoen

Masters Theses

Lateral migration of solid particles in shear flow is observed in various industrial applications. Suspensions in a blade coater, a device used to apply coating pigment to a base paper to improve paper properties, is an example. Particle hydrodynamics will affect the quality of coated paper and runnability of the coater especially when the speed of the coating machine is very high or the pigment concentration is increased.

Many factors will affect the particle migration. The wall repulsion or lubrication effect forces the particle away from a wall to the channel center. The inertial effects are increased by increasing the …

Enzymatic Deinking Of Flexographic Water-Based Inks, Somporn Chaiarrekij

Masters Theses

Introduction

In recent times, environmental concerns have led to the development of water-based flexographic and rotogravure inks. One of the major concerns for water-based inks is their deinkability. Wash deinking of flexographic water-based ink is much more effective than flotation deinking; however, it has two major disadvantages. It consumes large amounts of water and gives a lower yield than flotation due to the loss of fines and fillers in the effluent (1).

First And Second Generations Of Urban Black Mayors: Atlanta, Detroit, And St. Louis, Harold Eugene Core

Masters Theses

This research attempts to create an understanding of generationality as it applies to successive black mayors in the urban setting. At a glance, the first black mayors of Atlanta, Detroit, and St. Louis received criticism for being anti-white and using racial conflict to accomplish their goals of diversifying the decision-making elites in each city. The black mayors immediately following in each city were criticized in the black community as being too accommodating to white interests as they attempted to find racial balance in the decision-making elite.

This research uses literature to establish the nature of early black mayors as believing …

Football Yobbery: The Social Organization Of European Soccer, Pakky M. Gerkin

Masters Theses

This study is an investigation of European football fans, known as hooligans. For this research, I went to the European Football Championships in the summer of 2000. During a two-month field research project, I observed the soccer games and the many fans who gathered for the tournament. In the course of the research, I spoke with several individuals and explored the existing literature in the sociology of sport. This work has been created through a combination of my own ethnographic work, and an extensive literature review. I have attempted to interweave both my own experiences and those of others to …

Attitudes Of Male Athletes In Their Last Year Of Eligibility In Division Ii College Athletics And The Relation To Their Academic Success, Brian Paul Bauer

Masters Theses

This study examined male college student athletes in their final year of eligibility and the relation to their academic success. The purpose was to find out if student athletes who plan on participating in professional athletics are relinquishing their academic responsibilities in college. Three male student athletes, who were finished with their last year of eligibility at a Division II institution, were interviewed. The cumulative grade point averages of each of the participants were viewed and compared to the statements given during the interviews. Results of the study were compared to the literature found.

“Welcome To Prime-Time, Bitch”: The Nightmare On Elm Street Film Series And The Social Problematic Of Mediated Quasi-Interaction, Jason Rapelje

Masters Theses

This thesis explores how scenes of conflict within the "Nightmare on Elm Street" film series articulate four problematic characteristics of mediated quasi-interaction. The exploration is achieved partly by turning these four problematic characteristics into four "metaphorical anxiety themes," the occurrence of which is kept track of as they appear within the conflict scenes. Afterward, select scenes of conflict are reinterpreted based around the concept of "pseudo-ontology," which is used to uncover the ideological significance of the main characters' actions. Overall, the findings display that the films' articulation of the four metaphorical anxiety themes, alone and in combination, decrease …

Reefer Madness: How Voters Responded To Medicinal Marijuana Initiatives In The 1998 State Elections, Ryan E. Wood

Masters Theses

In recent years, a growing number of states have witnessed the passage of state initiatives that have authorized the medicinal use of marijuana. The medicinal marijuana movement has circumvented elected state legislatures by relying on an increasingly popular form of direct democracy - the direct initiative. This paper briefly examines the history and continuing legacy of illicit drugs and the initiative process in the context of the movement for medicinal marijuana. However, the primary focus of this study is to uncover the voter characteristics that influenced attitudes toward medicinal marijuana in the 1998 state elections. This paper uses Voter News …

Development And Characterization Of Monoclonal Antibodies Directed Against Yaba-Like Disease Virus, Scott Haller

Masters Theses

The hybridoma technique has been used for the production of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) directed against yaba-like disease virus (YLDV). Spleen cells, obtained from female BALB/c mice immunized with YLDV, were fused with P3x63.Ag8.653 myeloma cells and hybrids were selected. Hybridoma clones were screened for production of anti-YLDV antibodies by Indirect Immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy. Positive hybridoma clones were recloned via limiting dilution and characterized. A single clone (H12) has been selected that specifically reacted with YLDV infected cells and not uninfected cells. Immunodiffusion technique determined H12 monoclonal antibody as an IgG1 isoptype immunoglobulin. H12 antibodies recognized a late YLDV protein, and …