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Treading Lightly, Megan Rankin

Masters Theses

A creative thesis of poetry in four chapters that illustrates the inspiration of Taoist texts, Chinese poets such as Li Bai and Wang Wei, Japanese haiku by Issa, Basho, and Chiyo-ni, and American poets such as Lorine Niedecker, Denise Levertov. W.S. Merwin, and Louise Gluck. The fourth chapter focuses more on myself as poet and on my pregnancy at the time of writing with all chapters looking at the intricacies of nature and human interaction therein.

Boundary-Crossers: Observation, Chance, And Change In The Fiction Of Thomas Hardy, D. Levi Woolen-Danner

Masters Theses

Thomas Hardy creates in his fiction a world that demands love lead to failure. His hero and heroine are tragic nearly without exception, as if desire were not just a burden, but a catalyst for disaster. Perhaps this is due to the period in which Hardy was living, and his need to reconcile his memories of an idyllic past with the dramatic social and econonomic changes contemporary to his period of novel-writing. Perhaps he is trying to discover a new model of living-one that will not be trapped by human desires. He has created a figure, one I refer to …

The Semantics Of Color In Anna Akhmatova's Early Poetry, Alsu Shakirova

Masters Theses

Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966), a Russian post-Symbolist poet, published a variety of poems in the Russian language, which were later translated into English. Her works include the collections Evening (1912), Rosary (1914), White Flock (1917), Plantain (1921), Anno Domini (1922), From Six Books (1940), Seventh Book (1936- 1964), Poems (1958), Requiem (1963), and Poem Without a Hero (1940-1966). This work focuses on her early poetry collections Evening, Rosary, White Flock, and Anno Domini and analyzes the semantic relationship between color and concrete objects in order to discover how Akhmatova conveys the image, mood, and state of the persona's transforming self through …

The Rhetorical Negotiation Of Thomas Jefferson In Secondary U.S. History Textbooks, Josh Robison

Masters Theses

The malleability of history is an intellectual condition that should be acknowledged and understood fully to formulate and to comprehend our knowledge of the past. As history is a very human interpretation of past events, and language is a human invention, it is useful to analyze the language used to design our underst anding of these events. This thesis focuses on the rhetoric used by secondary U.S. history textbooks in their presentation of Thomas Jefferson in order to initiate a larger iscussion about how the use of specific rhetorical assumptions and strategies significantly influences our comprehension of the past.

James …

The Importance Of The Conductor As Editor And Arranger: A Practical Guide, Matthew F. Walicke

Masters Theses

Musicians and audiences will benefit significantly if conductors take on the role of editor and arranger. Though one might consider the process daunting, writing quality, professional arrangements is made easier if the conductor employs modern technological tools in the creation of new derivative works. By becoming editor and arranger, the conductor can tailor editions and arrangements to fit the needs of his or her ensembles for little more than the cost of paper. Further, by distributing these works, all conductors have the opportunity to enrich their ensembles with new arrangements and editions.

This thesis presents this case and outlines in …

Role Modeling Attitudes And Physical Activity Behavior Of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Professionals, Emily Dufrene

Masters Theses

Role models are individuals whose behavior, example or success can be observed and learned from. Health professionals are responsible for the motivation and production of goal directed behavior (Wilson & Petruska, 1984). Modeling behaviors that encourage physical performance, fitness, health, and quality of life should be the foundation for all individuals certified by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM Credentialed Professionals, 2005) as exercise specialists, fitness instructors, or program directors. Physicians, exercise physiologists and nurses working in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation programs are expected to model healthy behaviors for their own health benefit and to encourage their patients.

An Issue Of Extraordinary Circumstances: The House Of Representatives And The Riddle Of Drug Policy, Richard D. Caldwell

Masters Theses

In 1988, Congress introduced H.R. 4462 which proclaimed it a goal to make the U.S. drug-free by 1995 (Nadelmann, 1998:111). This goal of Congress to make the U.S. drug- free has proven to fail miserably in application, as evidenced by the fact that many in America continue to use and abuse drugs on a regular basis. Furthermore, the issue of medical marijuana has grown in popularity throughout the country within the last ten years, which has led many states through referendum, or the legislative process to proactively change drug policy, sometimes with retaliation by the Federal Government. This paper seeks …

Interest Groups Power And Politics In Decatur, Illinois, Melissa Trueblood

Masters Theses

The thesis investigates perceptions of local interest groups concerning policy-making in Decatur, Illinois. Local interest group studies focus on economic groups such as the Chamber of Commerce. Literature indicates that these groups are influential in policymaking because of their important political resources. The literature lacks studies of noneconomic group involvement in policy-making. Furthermore, the literature lacks studies of local interest group processes in medium-sized cities. The thesis looks at noneconomic interest group perceptions of policy-making in a medium-sized city. To investigate perceptions, three hypotheses are explored using nineteen semi-structured interviews with group officials and document analysis. The thesis hypothesizes that …

Student Evaluations Of Teaching: The Role Of Empathy And Instructions To Students, Shana L. Cunningham

Masters Theses

The current study examined the effects of instructions given to college students before evaluating their professors. The results of a previous study by Addison and Tabb (2004) indicated that an effect could be produced when student participants were given explicit instructions for evaluating videotaped student lectures. The present study was designed to examine these effects in a situation more generalizeable to actual student evaluations of teaching. Specifically, this study investigated student evaluations of a guest lecturer in a classroom environment. Results indicated significant differences among the instructional groups on specific rating scale items. The current study also yielded a significant …

The Changing Landscape Of Teaching And Teachers' Stress: A Revisit And Update, Mike Devillez

Masters Theses

During the late 70s and into the 80s, there was a considerable amount of research devoted to the study of stress and teaching. During that time, it was well established that teaching can be a stressful profession. Since then, studies that examine stress and burnout in the profession of teaching have become more infrequent, although teaching has undergone rapid change. For example, new educational legislation, No Child Left Behind that has recently been passed directly impacts teachers and their approaches toward teaching. This study seeks to understand the current educational environment and the possible contribution to teacher stress. Results of …

The Individualized Education Plan: Involvement And Satisfaction Of The Regular Education Teacher, Alison Dirksmeyer

Masters Theses

A total of 376 general education teachers in grades kindergarten through high school completed a questionnaire about their involvement and satisfaction with the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) process. The results from the current study suggest that many regular education teachers are not actively involved or satisfied with the IEP process. For example, less than half of the teachers surveyed indicated that they were completely or actively involved in determining IEP goals and less than one-fifth reported that they felt a major responsibility for helping students in their classroom achieve IEP goals. Many areas of dissatisfaction were also noted in teachers' …

Oral Reading Fluency, Fluency Training, And Reading Comprehension In Sixth Graders, Lindsay B. Eck

Masters Theses

This study examined the relationships among a measure of oral reading fluency and two measures of reading comprehension in sixth grade students at two urban schools in the Midwest. In one of the schools, fluency training was added to the usual curriculum. Participants, all sixth grade students in the two schools, were administered the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) indicator and two district-assigned reading comprehension measures during the third and fourth quarters of the school year. Results indicated that ORF scores were significantly correlated with comprehension scores, although to a lesser degree than typical for earlier grades. Fluency training had …

A Comparison Of Two Phonological Awareness Interventions Between Samples Of Head Start Children, Kevin D. Farrell

Masters Theses

Phonological processing skills are an accurate predictor of pre-readers' reading performance years later. Historically, children have not been required to demonstrate phonological processing skills until kindergarten. Due to the importance of these early reading skills, it is critical that deficits within this area are remediated utilizing research based interventions. Recent research has demonstrated that preschool age children could be taught some early reading skills through direct instruction techniques known as Picture Sorts and Sound Boxes. However, little research exists on the efficacy of such methods with a Head Start population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects …

Explicit Timing As An Intervention For Children With Adhd, Monica Fischer Girten

Masters Theses

Explicit timing is a procedure that alerts students of their time limits when completing academic tasks. Research on this procedure first emerged in the mid 1970's, and has focused on the effectiveness of this technique for increasing academic response rate. Empirical studies have demonstrated that the explicit timing procedure can increase response rate for a variety of academic skills including mathematics performance, writing composition and reading. However, few studies have focused on the effectiveness of this procedure on special populations, such as students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The purpose of the current study was to determine whether explicit …

Using Social Stories To Correct Social Skills Deficits In A Student With A Learning Disability, April Larson-Evangelista

Masters Theses

Social stories have been deemed an effective intervention for people with autism (e.g., Richard, 2000). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the use of social stories with a participant not diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The participant was an 8 year-old second-grade girl of average intelligence who was diagnosed with a learning disability in mathematics. Upon consulting with her classroom teacher, two social skills were identified as the target behaviors to be addressed in the present study. The first prominent behavioral concern was violation of others' personal space or standing too close to others. The second …

The Correlation Between Date Violence And Disordered Eating In College Aged Women, Kenzia N. Hartman

Masters Theses

Objective: Research has shown a correlation between date violence and disordered eating behaviors in adolescent females. Those who have experienced verbal, physical, or sexual date violence report an increased incidence in the use of unhealthy weight control practices such as fasting,g diet pills, laxatives, vomiting, and binge eating. In addition to unhealthy eating practices, lowered body image has also been associated with date violence. This study was designed to determine if there is a correlation between date violence, disordered eating behaviors, and lowered body image in college age women. Method: Questionnaire data were gathered from 150 college-aged female students at …

Perceptions Of Violence Among High School Students, Beth Sanner

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of violence among high school students. The researcher analyzed the differences in the perceptions of the severity of violence among high school students in the following demographic characteristics: ethnicity, gender, academic achievement, regional location and family e-up. In addition, the differences in the severity of physical, verbal and social violence was found and also compared among the above mentioned demographic characteristics. The sample included 145 high school students in Illinois. A quantitative causal comparative design was used to compare perceptions of violence among existing groups of high school students. Additionally, …

Analysis Of Suicidal Ideations And Attempts Among University Freshmen, Emily A. Johnston

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore freshmen Midwestern university students' (a) suicidal ideations and attempts, (b) help-seeking resources, and (c) relationships between suicide ideations/attempts and academic focus. Surveys were collected from 126 male and female university freshmen (n = 43 male; n = 83 female). A 15-question survey was designed to explore suicide attempts, ideations, academic majors, and help-seeking resources utilized by freshmen university students. The participants were a convenience sample from 8 freshmen introductory orientation classes. Results indicate: (a) a relationship between suicide ideations/attempts and academic college; (b) freshmen females rely on friends as a help-seeking resource; …

Diabetes Awareness Among Children: A Comparison Study Of Diabetes Knowledge In School-Age Children Between U.S. And Kuwait, Nayef Y. Bu-Maryoum

Masters Theses

The literature shows that people of all ages, in all socio-economic groups and in many countries, are not well educated about nutrition. Teachers in public elementary schools both the United States and Kuwait administered an eight-item questionnaire developed by the researcher. The questionnaire was delivered orally to insure comprehension by non-readers. Results indicated that young children in both the United States and Kuwait have an awareness of and a desire to learn more about diabetes. Generally speaking, Kuwaiti children are more knowledgeable about diabetes than their American counterparts as seen in questions four, five, six, and eleven. On the other …

Dietetic Students' Attitudes Toward Overweight/Obese People, Suzanne R. Stluka

Masters Theses

Health professionals are often the main line of obesity defense and targeted as possessing antifat bias; therefore, in an effort to address this issue, the depth of antifat bias among undergraduate dietetic students was analyzed. Student participation in this study was requested from across the United States, with 1099 students participating in the study and completing a web-based, self-administered questionnaire. The data indicated that a lower antifat attitude endorsement is present among current undergraduate dietetic students; however, five statements related specifically to the dietetics profession came close to showing strong antifat attitude endorsement. The majority of students classified their perceived …

Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs In Illinois Schools, Mary Ann Seaton

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to complete an in depth exploration of programs designed to teach children the skills necessary to keep them safe from sexual abuse. Educational programs have been utilized to aid in the prevention and acknowledgement of childhood sexual abuse for many years. While sexual abuse programs for children are used across the United States, little contemporary research exists related to the use of these programs.

Child sexual abuse prevention programs in central Illinois schools are provided through the public schools by various non-profit community organizations. The sample of this study consisted of five organizations, each …

Psi Hitting And Missing: The Effects Of Belief, Order Of Run, And Previous Experience, Jaymes Parker

Masters Theses

The current study examined several variables to determine their effects on telepathy performance. Part I used groups of participants who attempted to telepathically send the location oftargets to a receiver selected randomly from the group. Fifteen sessions were conducted during which 9 receivers each completed 16 trials. It was hypothesized that an order effect would be present with increased missing during the first and last run of each session. It was also hypothesized that belief in mental telepathy would influence telepathy scores. Results indicated significant differences when comparing positions 1 and 9 with positions 2-8. Scores, while not significant, tended …

The Relationship Between Maximizing, Perfectionism, And Relationship Satisfaction, Tara Lynn Riddle

Masters Theses

The relationship between maximization and perfectionism to relationship choices was explored. Ninety-seven undergraduate introductory psychology students were administered the Maximization Scale (Schwartz, et al., 2002), Hendrick Relationship Assessment Scale (Hendrick, 1991), Revised Almost Perfect Scale (Slaney, et al., 2001) and a brief demographic questionnaire. Results indicated that there is no significant relationship between maximization and relationship satisfaction, romantic relationship durations, or initiating relationship termination. In addition, perfectionism was not found to be related to choices in dating relationships. However, analyses did replicate prior research indicating a significant positive relationship between maximization and perfectionism (Schwartz, et al., 2002).

A Correlation Study Between Employee Perception And Customer Satisfaction In An Automotive Manufacturing Corporation, Jason Travis Felton

Masters Theses

Organizations may be able to utilize internal measures of customer and employee satisfaction in order to get a head start on potential customer satisfaction issues. Correlation analysis is employed to determine significance between measures of employee perception and the pulse of customer satisfaction. Employee perceptions and external customer satisfaction metrics are quantified across 3 manufacturing sites to determine relationships between key indicators. Validated survey questions are compiled statistically in composite groups in order to evaluate employee perceptions of customer satisfaction efforts and employee satisfaction efforts. Results are evaluated using Pearson product moment "r". Results indicate a positive correlation exists between …

A Study Of Knowledge Management Used For Managing Quality Systems In Selected Manufacturing Organizations In Coles And Effingham Counties, Merlin Haryati

Masters Theses

The globalization and information revolutions increase the complexity and competition resulting in a business environment that is no longer stable and static. Executives of all organizations face the challenge of adopting new management practices to keep their organizations vibrant in a rapidly changing technological business world. Knowledge management is one of the emerging fields that promise workplace improvements by putting the tacit knowledge of the company into use.

The emergence of knowledge management in the year 2000 caused organizations to realize that their intellectual assets are central to their survival. Managing and harvesting these assets is the focus of knowledge …

Characterization Of Putative In Vitro Hybrids Within The Genus Flammulina, Sean C. Jones

Masters Theses

The genus Flammulina (Basidiomycetes, Agaricales, Tricholomataceae) includes a group of saprobic mushrooms that grow in the wild and are also cultivated and sold commercially throughout the world under the name "enoki" or "enoki-take". Until the 1960s, the genus Flammulina was believed to consist of a single species with a pan-Northern Hemisphere distribution. Flammulina velutipes (Curt.: Fr.) Singer was more or less applied to all collections in the genus whether naturally or commercially produced (Buchanan 1993) until the mid 1960s. In the interim, 14 additional taxa have been described in Flammulina. Knowledge of hybridization within the Flammulina velutipes group is crucial …

Changes In The Diet Of Lake Trout (Salvelinus Namaycush) In Near-Shore Lake Michigan With The Invasion Of The Round Goby (Neogobius Melanostomus): 1995-2005, Marybeth Kathryn Brey

Masters Theses

The predator-prey base of the Great Lakes has been altered since the early 1900's, with the majority of these changes occurring due to invasive species such as the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), alewife (Alosa pseudoharangus), and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax). These changes have forced large piscivorous fish to find alternate prey species. One predator, the lake trout (Salvelinus namaychush) has experienced a series of diet shifts in the last century, due to a changing prey base. In recent years the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Michigan has experience a new invader, the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), which has colonized the …

Comparison Of Combustion Sources And Measurement Techniques For Particulates Emitted From Engines And A Power Plant, Matthew F. Chandler

Masters Theses

"Sub-micron particulates emitted from various combustion sources have serious negative impacts on human health and the environment. It is essential to accurately characterize the physical properties of these particulates including size, shape, structure, and chemical composition in order to monitor, regulate, and model the various transport, toxic, optical, chemical, and deposition properties which dictate their harmful effects. This study consists of two related investigations involving the application of diagnostics methods to characterization and comparison of combustion generated particulate emissions from various sources. The first investigation includes the measurement of particulates emitted from a compression-ignition (diesel) engine using two independent measurement …

Paleocene To Early Eocene Dinoflagellate Cyst Biostratigraphy In Southeast Nigeria And The Cote D'Ivoire-Ghana Transform Margin (Odp Site 959), Hernan Antolinez-Delgado

Masters Theses

"This study represents a contribution to Early Paleogene biostratigraphy in the tropics where published studies are sparse in comparison with mid and high latitude regions. Data were derived from a comprehensive analysis of dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) in 45 samples from the Early Paleocene to Early Eocene interval at two localities in West Africa, namely Alo-1 well in the Anambra Basin, southeastern Nigeria, and Ocean Drilling Program Hole 959D (ODP Leg 159) in the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana Transform Margin. Dinocyst recovery varied from very good to poor, and the specimens were commonly well preserved. The dinocyst data were calibrated with existing calcareous …

Low Back Pain In Police Officers, Jennifer Gwyn Arts

Masters Theses

Low back pain (LBP) is something that police officers deal with on a daily basis. The purpose of this research was to explore whether police officers have a higher incidence of LBP than the general population and to explore what factors officers believe contribute to the LBP they experience. Surveys were made available to all police departments in Kent County and all sworn officers were asked to participate. The difference between LBP experienced by police officers (60.2%) and that experienced by the general population (60-90%) was not found to be significant. The top two answers given by officers as to …