Digital Commons Network^™

Do Heat Vulnerable Neighborhoods In New York City Experience Disproportionate Power Outages?, Gabrielle Alper

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the implications of power outages on environmental justice communities in New York City by comparing heat vulnerability index rankings and power outage complaints during summer months. This study is distinct in the identification of hotspots, discussions of air conditioning equity and implications for climate resiliency planning.

An Infinite Horizon: Space, Time, & Mind In The American Imaginary From Thomas Cole To Agnes Pelton, 1825-1961, Jason Friedman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how artists, intellectuals, spiritual seekers, and industrialists represented the American horizon across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The purpose of this inquiry is to show how art transmuted ideological and religious beliefs across time and to demonstrate the interdependence of esoteric self-perceptions and American hegemonic power.

Estimation Of The Planetary Boundary Layer Height: Part 1: Global Radar Wind Profiler Network Data; Part 2: A Comparison To Ceilometer Data, Holly Josephs

Theses and Dissertations

Two methods for estimating the planetary boundary layer, an algorithm to identify a maximum in the backscatter and a covariance wavelet transform method, are explored and applied to global radar wind profiler network data and ceilometer data respectively. The objective of the study is to establish that the data sources and algorithms can be used to estimate planetary boundary layer heights so that global studies can make use of these estimates. Data from the global network of wind profilers required significant restructuring and quality control in order to be used for the present study. The maximum backscatter identification algorithm was …

Digital Earth: The Impact Of Geographic Technology Through The Ages, Mishka Vance Huq

Theses and Dissertations

Geographic technology encompasses a wide range of geographic knowledge, concepts, processes, and artifacts. Because of its interdisciplinarity and integration with other technologies, the paper examines the diffuse impacts of geographic technology within the evolving relationship between technological and societal developments over time.

Yankee Go Home: Roci In Latin America, Vitoria Hadba

Theses and Dissertations

In 1984, at an event hosted by the United Nations, American artist Robert Rauschenberg announced his most ambitious and controversial project to date: the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange—or ROCI. Blending primary source documents with social art history, I retrace the artist’s steps—and missteps—during the first leg of his tour through Mexico, Chile, and Venezuela. This thesis investigates the convoluted political implications of ROCI in Latin America during the transitional period in which binary Cold War politics were ebbing amidst the rise of a global free-market economy.

Some (Im)Material Girls, Living In (Im)Material Worlds, With Seeds, Stars, And Shit, Matthew Weiderspon

Theses and Dissertations

This writing situates material and gestural vocabularies cultivated in my artwork in relation to my lived experience; primarily my rural upbringing in Colorado. Scattered floor dispersals, calling sounds, and bodily movements desire reconsiderations of hope in precarity through a disorientation of place, association, scale, and language.

Quiet: Art Set Between Utopia, Dystopia, And Atopia, Dana A. Notine

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the interactive art piece, Quiet: We Live in Public by Josh Harris, through the lenses of Utopia, Dystopia, and Atopia. This thesis considers the status of the little-known work outside of the art historical canon and renews attention to its prophetic and complex message regarding the internet and selfhood.

Life And Love In Young Adult Literature: A Critical Analysis Of Fragments, Lissette Monrroy

Theses and Dissertations

Fragments will be a series of short stories based on events that have occurred in my life and how they impacted me and my family. They will tell the stories passed down to me, beginning with my grandparents, their lives in Mexico, and their journey to the United States. It will go on to tell stories of my parents’ struggles with raising kids in a society that tries to suppress our Mexican culture, how other family members have struggled with their own families and identities, and how my life has been influenced by these stories.

Significance and Scope of Fragments …

Bach To Bassics - From A Student's Perspective, Samuel Robinson Pasqualetto

Theses and Dissertations

This paper adds the valuable perspective of a student to the research of J.S. Bach’s Suites for solo violoncello BWV 1107-1012 performed on the double bass. This study stands on two main premises: the individual study and performance of J.S. Bach suites for solo cello on the double bass and postulates that there are invaluable positive effects to be achieved through the extended exposure, studying, and performing of the aforementioned works as means to promote high-level critical thinking and better understanding of the phrasal, motivic and thematic structure of musical works of the Baroque period. This paper covers the journey …

Planning A Renewable Power System In Texas As An Introduction To Smart Power Grid, Ghaleb S. Al Duhni

Theses and Dissertations

Design electrical systems from six renewable energy sources: photovoltaic, wind energy, geothermal, concentrated solar energy, biomass energy, and hydropower in addition to a storage system in the state of Texas, This power system converts the electric system in Texas into a 100 % renewable energy power system. Optimization technique has applied to the results to make the system economical and reduce the wasting resources, this system is considered as decentralized as well which is a great advantage for achieving the smart grid technology compared with the conventional plants where the generation parts are deposed in a small part of the …

Optimality Of Delaunay Triangulations, Estefania A. Sierra

Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, we begin by defining and examining the properties of a Voronoi diagram and extend it to its dual, the Delaunay triangulations. We explore the algorithms that construct such structures. Furthermore, we define several optimal functionals and criterions on the set of all triangulations of points in Rd that achieve their minimum on the Delaunay triangulation. We found a new result and proved that Delaunay triangulation has lexicographically the least circumradii sequence. We discuss the CircumRadii-Area (CRA) conjecture that the circumradii raised to the power of alpha times the area of the triangulation holds true for all α …

Agency Of Mexican/Tejano Union Recruits During The United States Civil War: An Archival Case Study Of Private Pedro Garcia, Andy Najera

Theses and Dissertations

During the United States Civil War, a Mexican national, Pedro Garcia, and hundreds of others like him came to Brownsville, Texas, looking for ways to strengthen their positions by joining the Union army. Eventually, the Mexican/Tejano recruits deserted in droves while the Union forces executed Pedro Garcia. The purpose of this research is to provide insight into the cultural clash of worldviews between the United States Union army and Rio Grande Borderlanders. This research will also provide awareness of the various methods the Mexican/Tejano used to create agency. This study uses a mixed methodology, such as Border theory as described …

Effects Of Victim Gendering And Humanness On People’S Responses To The Physical Abuse Of Humanlike Agents, Hideki Garcia Goo

Theses and Dissertations

With the deployment of robots in public realms, researchers are seeing more cases of abusive disinhibition towards robots. Because robots embody gendered identities, poor navigation of antisocial dynamics may reinforce or exacerbate gender-based marginalization. Consequently, it is essential for robots to recognize and effectively head off abuse.

Given extensions of gendered biases to robotic agents, as well as associations between an agent's human likeness and the experiential capacity attributed to it, we quasi-manipulated the victim's humanness (human vs. robot) and gendering (via the inclusion of stereotypically masculine vs. feminine cues in their presentation) across four video-recorded reproductions of the interaction. …

Effective Classroom Management Strategies, Professional Development Needs, And Policy Recommendations For Reducing Discipline Infractions, Jennifer Annette Maness

Theses and Dissertations

Students across the country experience negative effects due to losses in classroom instruction time caused by exclusionary discipline. In Mississippi, 11.8% of students received 1 or more in-school suspensions and 9.7% of students received 1 or more out-of-school suspensions during the 2013-14 school year. This study sought to determine effective classroom management strategies for addressing discipline infractions, identify professional development needs of teachers and administrators focused on effective classroom management strategies, describe the role of the principal in promoting professional management strategies and reducing discipline infractions, and determine recommendations for related school policies. Mississippi public school districts serving students in …

Bridging Data Gaps For Strategic Conservation Of Gulf Of Mexico Coastal Region Landscapes, Andrew Challen Shamaskin

Theses and Dissertations

The Gulf Coast Region (GCR) of the United States holds immense ecological and cultural value. However, constant environmental changes, from sea-level rise and hurricanes to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, threaten many of the values that define the region. Additionally, recent financial settlements from civil and criminal penalties of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have created an unprecedented opportunity to fund conservation throughout the region. With such a large area of interest (over 700,000 km2) and so many conservation priorities throughout the GCR, there is a great need to strategize which lands are most efficacious for conservation to …

Assessing Effects Of Habitat Amount Vs. Configuration On Avian Diversity In Managed Pine Landscapes, Craig Sklarczyk

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how habitat amount and configuration affect species richness, occurrence or abundance has been one of the major foci of research in ecology and biogeography, given its central importance for conservation planning and landscape management. We conducted bird point counts within clearcuts and mature pine stands of different sizes and configuration in working pine forest in north-central Mississippi to determine species associations. Early-successional and mature pine focal species showed varying response to the proportion and proximity of vegetation conditions in the landscape. While elements of configuration exhibited a greater influence on predicted avian abundance in this landscape, meaning many species …

Assessing The Impact Of Regional Climate On The Sudd Wetland, Geno Salvatore Persico

Theses and Dissertations

The Sudd is the largest wetland system in Africa and one of the largest tropical wetlands in the world. Climate and human impact in this region potentially affect the influx to the Sudd and the wetland. The objective of this project was to understand the impact climate could have on the Sudd Wetland. Climate data, temperature and rainfall, were analyzed from regions upstream from the Sudd to observe how the wetland responds to variation in the climate. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data was used to project the changes in vegetation of the wetland to see its response to …

Total Suspended Sediment And Phosphorus Transport In Response To Storm Events In An Agriculturally Dominated Watershed, Elijah John William Schukow

Theses and Dissertations

Increased sediment introduction and transport in streams negatively impact water quality. Deleterious effects include reservoir filling, water pollution and ecological impairment. Sediment introduction and transport typically takes place during storm events. Phosphorus introduction, generally from loss of agricultural runoff and soil erosion also typically takes place during storm events. When phosphorus is applied for agricultural uses it is preferentially retained by smaller sediments. During storm events, these phosphorus rich sediments are more likely to enter the stream system. A small number of large storms can account for a large percentage of sediment and total phosphorus introduction, leading to elevated levels …

Redemption Through Representation: Grace Carpenter Hudson And Her Portraits Of American Indian Children, Meagan Camille Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

In his 1978 biography of Grace Carpenter Hudson, Searles R. Boynton refers to the artist as "the best in California," praising her life-long dedication to depicting the Pomo children of Northern California. During her lifetime (1865-1937), Hudson's work traveled to museums, world fairs, and expositions across the United States. The purpose of this research is to assert that Hudson's work is evidence of, and a response to, turn-of-the-twentieth-century Euro-Americans' hopes that the American Indian child could be "redeemed," or "saved," from their "savage" or "undomesticated" past. Additionally, this paper aims to convince the reader of the significance of Hudson’s art …

Isolating Locations Of Potential Episodes Of Cave Collapse And Their Relationship To Cave Level Development Through Major River System Incisions, Ethan William Conley

Theses and Dissertations

Karst landscapes, in which dissolution of bedrock is the dominant geomorphic process, make up 10%-20% of Earth’s land surfaces and supply between 20%-25% of the global population with drinking water. Dissolution dominates the genesis of karst systems, creating flow pathways, conduits, and caves. Cave patterns from dissolution can be influenced by regional factors, such as water table base-level fluctuations correlating to major river system incisions. During periods of negligible regional incisions, multiple cave levels may form. Despite the significant role dissolution plays in karstic genesis, physical erosional processes can enhance the formation of these karst systems and should not be …

Understanding Perceptions Of Campus Safety And Community College Student Development: A Mixed Methods Case Study, Tiffany J. Ruocco

Theses and Dissertations

Campus safety is an important aspect of a student's collegiate experience. Although statistics indicate campus crime has been decreasing, these statistics do not provide an understanding of a student's perception of crime and how they are responding to that perception. This points to campus safety being a complex construct that transcends often cited numerical statistics and warrants a closer examination of students' feelings, behaviors, and experiences that build these perceptions. This mixed methods sequential explanatory single case study sought to understand the perceptions that students have about the overall safety of their campuses and whether fear of crime and the …

The Practice Of Belonging: Can Learning Entrepreneurship Accelerate And Aid The Social Inclusion Of Refugees In The United States, Jabra F. Ghneim

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role that culinary entrepreneurship communities of practice, using Lave and Wenger's Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) model (Lave & Wenger, 1991), can lead to better social and economic inclusion for Middle Eastern Muslim refugee chefs in Utah. The life history approach was used to construct life histories for two Middle Eastern Muslim refugee chefs in Utah who joined the Spice Kitchen Incubator (SKI) program. SKI is a community of practice funded by the International Rescue Committee to assist refugee chefs in the resettlement process. This was an exploratory study, and given the limited number of cases reviewed, …

Microplastic Concentrations And Types In A Central Illinois Urban Stream, Caitlin Noseworthy

Theses and Dissertations

Microplastics are a persistent problem in many types of ecosystems across the world. The majority of microplastic studies have been conducted in the marine environments as well as larger freshwater lakes and rivers. We investigated microplastic concentrations in a small urban stream and its tributaries in Bloomington and Normal, Illinois. We also considered the relationship between watershed characteristics and microplastic concentrations as well as between seasonality and concentrations. Grab samples were collected in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021 from Sugar Creek and its respective tributaries. The samples were processed following a standardized method created by the NOAA. …

Optimization Of Solar-Coal Hybridization For Low Solar Augmentation, Aaron T. Bame

Theses and Dissertations

One approach to enabling a larger penetration of renewable sources of energy is the implementation of hybrid power plants. This work presents a process to determine the preliminary optimal configuration of a concentrating solar power-coal hybrid power plant with low solar augmentation, and is demonstrated on a coal power plant in Castle Dale, UT. A representative model is developed and validated against published data for a coal power plant of a different configuration than Hunter Unit 3. The simplifications within the representative model include combining multiple feedwater heaters, combining turbines that operate across the same boundary states, and the mass-average …

Spatial Resolution Of Quantitative Electroencephalography And Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging During Phoneme Discrimination Tasks: An Abbreviated Meta-Analysis, Emily Jean Jacobs

Theses and Dissertations

Phonological processing, the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of one's native language, is an essential linguistic skill. Deficits in this skill may lead to decreased social, educational, and financial success (Kraus & White-Schwoch, 2019). Additionally, phonological disorders have been shown to be highly variable and individualized (Bellon-Harn & Cradeur-Pampolina, 2016) and therefore difficult to treat effectively. A better understanding of the neural underpinnings of phonological processing, including the underlying skill of phonemic discrimination, could lead to the development of more individualized and effective intervention. Several studies, some using quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) and others using functional magnetic resonance imaging …

From Sea To Waterless Sea: Archipelagic Thought And Reorientation In When The Emperor Was Divine, Summer Weaver

Theses and Dissertations

Julie Otsuka's novel When the Emperor Was Divine (2002) retells the trauma of the Japanese American imprisonment through the lens of fictional characters taken from their "white house on the wide street in Berkeley not far from the sea" to "the scorched white earth of the desert" (74, 23). The Topaz Internment Camp in Utah's Sevier Desert, where these characters were forcibly relocated, sits on the site of an ancient inland sea, Lake Bonneville, which submerged that barren desert ground some ten thousand years ago. The paleolake serves as a displaced but active character in Otsuka's novel that shapes the …

Deploying And Analyzing Air Quality Sensors In Mongolian Gers, Lehi Sttenio Alcantara

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to develop best practices for deploying air quality sensors in a remote location such as Mongolia. I discussed the architecture and design constraints when collecting remote air quality sensors data, the challenges that emerge while implementing a sensor-based network in a remote location such as Mongolia. The tradeoffs of using different architectures are described. I observed the usage of electrical heaters in modified gers in remote locations and conclude how effective they are in reducing PM2.5 levels by analyzing air quality data and go through the process of cleaning up the data and removing …

Mapping The “Ungeographic” In Jesmyn Ward’S Where The Line Bleeds, Beth B. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This essay examines the ways in which author Jesmyn Ward guides her reader in reimagining a small Mississippi town in her novel Where the Line Bleeds (2008) by uncovering the antagonisms and ambivalences found in the Dirty South and reflecting on the physical and interior geography of her characters.

Politics Of Belonging: Identity, Integration, And Spatial Practices Of Algerian Immigrants And Their Descendants In Paris, France, Elizabeth Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Using a geographic framework, this dissertation explores how Algerian immigrants and their descendants perform identity and negotiate belonging in French society. Bringing together critical theorizations of race, identity, space, and place, this work investigates what it means to be a racialized minority in a postcolonial context and to learn and experience the boundaries of ‘Frenchness.’ It is based on the narratives of Algerian immigrants who have migrated to Paris, France, and their French-born children. The empirical evidence of the case studies highlights the myriad ways in which Algerian immigrants and their descendants encounter and structure their interactions with French society, …

Thinking Like An Historian: Improving Engagement Through Project-Based Learning In A United States History Classroom, George Gray

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study is to determine the efficacy of project-based learning activities for improving students’ critical thinking skills and engagement in the classroom. South Carolina’s creation of the United States History end-of-course assessment has led many social studies teachers to design ‘teach to the test’ lesson plans, which this researcher’s students seem to find mundane and uninspiring. Although these teaching methods have helped some students perform well on the end-of-course test, these tactics have sapped their interest in social studies and have not prepared them to be responsible citizens in an active democracy. The social studies …