Digital Commons Network^™

A Decade Of Indecision: The Effects Of Federal Student Financial Aid Policy From 1987 To 1996 On Within-Year Persistence Of Four-Year Undergraduate Students, James Erwin Cofer, Sr.

Theses and Dissertations

Almost from the inception of the student loan program in the 1960's, there has been speculation about the impact of debtload on student decisions about attending college, persisting in college, and life decisions after graduation. However, little research has been done on this area. As Congress debates funding higher education, the question arises once more of the impact of loans on college student attendance. This study examines the influence of student debtload on college persistence, for the time periods 1986-87 and 1995-96, almost an entire decade. Using the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) of 1986-87 and the National Postsecondary …

Administrative Behavior And Student Referral To Special Education, Diann Chase

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between the leadership behaviors of school administrators and the number of student referrals for special education. The study also sought to determine if selected demographic characteristics of the administrators were related to the number of referrals for special education. The sample consisted of sixty-one elementary school principals and their schools. The number of students referred for special education during the 1995/96 and 1996/97 school terms was calculated for each school and collapsed to determine the rate of referrals. Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated for each variable and the rate of …

A Study Of The Attitudes Of Junior-High And Middle-Level Principals Toward Parent Involvement In Arkansas, Marian G. Lacey

Theses and Dissertations

The study is a replication of a study by Brittle (1994) that researched attitudes of elementary principals toward parent involvement in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The 1997 Arkansas study identified and analyzed the attitudes of middle-level and junior-high principals toward parental involvement. The population for the study consisted of all middle-level and junior-high principals in the state of Arkansas. Data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational statistics to answer the research questions. The study revealed how strongly Arkansas middle-level or junior-high principals believe in parent involvement. Information concerning the principals' perceived role in implementing and fostering parent involvement in their …

A Study Of Organizational Health In The Context Of Court-Ordered Desegregation, Alicia I. Finch

Theses and Dissertations

The study of organizational health in the context of court-ordered desegregation focused on the three school districts in Pulaski County, Arkansas: Little Rock School District, North Little Rock School District, and Pulaski County Special School District. The purpose of the study was to determine the existence of a relationship between organizational health and the desegregation process. The organizational health of each school district was measured on the theoretical concept of schools as social systems. The organizational health of the school districts was measured using a revised version of the Organizational Health Inventory developed by Hoy and Feldman (1987). Seven constructs …

Nonprescription Drug Use Among Community-Residing Elderly, Roberta Joan Montgomery

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Determining Capture Zones For Three-Dimensional, Heterogeneous, Anisotropic Aquifers By Monte Carlo Analysis, Jon Paul Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Most methods of delineating capture zones for pump-and-treat remedial design and wellhead protection assume a two-dimensional, homogeneous aquifer. Aquifers, however, are three-dimensional and heterogeneous, thereby introducing uncertainty in capture zone analysis. This study used a Monte Carlo analysis of three sets of statistical parameters defining aquifer heterogeneity. Each set had a different variance for the mean natural log hydraulic conductivity, which varied among the sets by a factor of four. The ensemble means of the capture zones for each set were estimated from 10 randomly generated fields with 12 layers each which were superimposed on each other for a total …

Effects Of Physical And Chemical Properties Of Bright And Dull Coal Lithotypes On The Formation Of Char Particles, Chad G. Tomforde

Theses and Dissertations

The Energy and Environmental Research Center is working with EPRI and a consortium of companies in partnership with DOE to determine factors causing sticky ash to blind or bridge hot-gas cleanup filters. In this study, bright and dull lithotypes were separated from bituminous, subbituminous and lignitic coals to determine physical and chemical properties that may lead to the formation of different charforms, and consequently, fine and sticky ash that is problematic in coal-fired combustion systems.

Proximate and ultimate, maceral, and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analyses were used to characterize each lithotype. A bench-scale pressurized fluidized-bed reactor (PFBR) was used …

Paleosols As Holocene Proxy Climate Indicators, Mclean County, North Dakota, Deborah L. Beck

Theses and Dissertations

An exposure with 15 buried A-horizons near Douglas Creek, Lake Sakakawea, central North Dakota, has provided an excellent opportunity for paleoclimate reconstruction. Analyses included texture, stable carbon, radiocarbon, pollen, and phytoliths. The variations in these properties between individual soil horizons served to reconstruct the former environments of each soil horizon.

The paleosols were developed in a sequence of deposits in a mile-long tributary to the Missouri River. The soils are in a shallow valley fill exposed by wave action along the north shore of Lake Sakakawea. The 1996 exposure was up to 4m high and 51.5m wide. There were up …

A Methodology For Studying Denitrification By Recently Formed Sulfides, Bethany A. Bolles

Theses and Dissertations

Nitrate (N03) contamination due to anthropogenic sources is a serious and widespread health problem. In many groundwater systems, N03-can be reduced to a harmless gas, N2, through the bacterially mediated process of denitrification. During this process, bacteria gain energy by transferring electrons from an "electron donor" to nitrate, the "electron acceptor". It is typically believed that organic carbon is the most important electron donor in the denitrification process; however, increasing amounts of research suggest the importance of inorganic electron donors. The most extensive studies involving the reduction ofN03- by inorganic species have focused on pyrite (FeS2) and Fe(II). Few studies …

Characteristics Of Students Who Seek Admission And Registration After The Beginning Of The Academic Term, Janet Vaughan Danley

Theses and Dissertations

Colleges and universities which permit students to apply for admission and/or register for classes after the beginning of the academic term may be adhering to an institutional policy which encourages unrestricted access to all qualified applicants. However, by permitting such students late entry, the late enrolling students, the students who were admitted and registered in a timely manner, the faculty, and the institution may suffer as a result. This study explored one institution's experience with late enrolling students. The students themselves were the primary focus of the study. Faculty and academic advisors who came into contact with the late enrolling …

The Study Of Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa) Production In The Community Of El Troje, Juan Leopoldo Penafiel Alvarado

Theses and Dissertations

The alfalfa harvest in Ecuador constitutes one of the most important activities, especially as a primary product for animal feeding. The crop is widely distributed in the mountain region of the country. It is important to have studies on the production systems, which facilitate a real and compete vision of those characteristics that interact among them in the agricultural production. With this knowledge it will be possible to look for the most adequate solutions to the conditions of the area where alfalfa is produced. The objectives of the study reported herein were: 1. To make an agricultural, social and economical …

Development And Biological Assessment Of Fortified Foods With Andean Tubercles In The Candelaria Area, María Lourdes Ovando Sejas

Theses and Dissertations

Development and Biological Assessment of Fortified Foods with Andean Tubercles and other products in the Candelaria Area. An alimentation survey was carried out in the Rodeo Alto-Candelaria zone, a producing region of tubercle andinos, and a list was made of available products and other products which are a part of the local diet. With the list as the basis, 12 mixes were formed, combining tubercle (potato, goose, papalisa), cereals (quinoa, corn, and wheat) and legumes (tarhui, bean, and peanut). These mixes were submitted to a chemical and biological analysis, which indicated an increase in weight, PER, digestibility of the protein …

Technological Processing Of The Tomato (Lycopersicum Esculentum) And The Project Of Industrial Viability, Luis Alberto Rico Aranibar

Theses and Dissertations

Technological Processing of the Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) and the Project of Industrial Viability by Luis Alberto Rico Arabinar. The present investigation was carried out to determine the aptitude of two varieties of tomatoes in the process of manufacturing concentrations, as well as quantify its loses and performance and evaluate the acceptance and the quality of the product through organoleptic and microbiological analysis. This consists of two parts: First- The laboratory investigation consisted in the elaboration of tomato concentrations. This was done with two varieties, Rio Fuego and Santa Clara, three soluble solid concentrations (10, 20, and 30º brix), and two …

The Impact Of The Physical And Cultural Geography Of Southeastern Utah On Latter-Day Settlement, Sally Timmins Mandurino

Theses and Dissertations

The Latter-day Saint settlements in southeastern Utah, namely Bluff, Monticello and Blanding, were impacted by the physical and cultural geography of the area. These geographic elements hindered, and in some cases prevented, the Latter-day Saint colonizers from fulfilling the seven basic principles of Latter-day Saint expansion and colonization in the Great Basin. The impacts of physical geography were the geology, the climate, the soil and the rivers and streams. The impacts of cultural geography were the Navajo Indian Tribe, the Paiute Indian Tribe, and the criminal element. This thesis discusses the geographic elements of the area, how they impacted the …

Cross-Cultural Conversion Narratives: An American Missionary In Taichung, Taiwan, Amy Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

I was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was eight years old. You could say I was sort of born into it, as my father, mother, seven other siblings, and both sets of grandparents are all members as well. I grew up in a small, rural town in Southern Idaho where vegetation is almost as sparse as non-LDS families. As children we were never quite sure which denomination these families belonged to: that they were not Mormon was the only distinction we made. As I was growing up my parents saw to …

The Construct Validity Of The Principles Of Edification As Measures Of Edifying Teaching In The Lds Church Educational System, Robert F. Elzey

Theses and Dissertations

The degree of validity of various teacher evaluation systems in the Church Educational System (CES) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been questioned. Despite several administrative and scholarly attempts, there has been an absence of an accepted set of dimensions for such measurement. In an effort to specify the desirable attributes and practices of religious educators, CES administrators have defined six CES values and seven principles of edification. One of these values is identified as Edifying Teaching. By CES definition, edification occurs when a student is built up spiritually. The seven principles of edification are …

Dear Father, Rochelle A. Fankhauser

Theses and Dissertations

Dear Father is a memoir of one year of the life of Shelly Fankhauser. Experiencing the death of her grandfather and husband, she is forced to reexamine her basic belief system as a New Zealand Maori LDS woman. Through her losses and the process of her grief, she discovers the identity that she was struggling to find did not come from her culture or her religion as she had once thought, but from within herself.

Dear Father is an autobiographical account of finding inner strength and discovering hope.

Parental Divorce And Lds Young Adult Attitudes Toward Marriage And Family Life, Sarah D. Finney

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the influence of parental divorce on the attitudes of young adult members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) toward marriage and family life. A sample of 180 students from three universities completed self-report questionnaires measuring various attitudes toward aspects of marriage and family life. The results indicated that parental divorce alone was not a significant predictor (p.≤.05) of young adults' attitudes toward marriage and family life. The one difference found was that young adults' coming from divorced families-of-origin were less attracted to the idea of commitment and sacrifice involved in a marriage …

President Mrs. Kimball: A Rhetoric Of Words And Works, Janelle M. Higbee

Theses and Dissertations

Scholars of rhetoric and speech communications have suggested that the study of a women's rhetoric should focus on the "distinctly female modes of leadership" that may be found among women in "out-groups" that challenge established political authority. Such leaders must be especially inventive to be effective, and are thus likely to be talented rhetoricians. In looking for such leaders, the religious and political rhetoric of early Latter-day Saint women provides a noteworthy, unique study. Nineteenth-century Mormon women not only battled discriminatory political norms—arguing fervently for both universal woman's suffrage and for the freedom to practice polygamy—they did so from their …

Mormon Mortuary Patterns At The Block 49 And Seccombe Lake Cemeteries, Howard S. Irvine

Theses and Dissertations

Death customs perform a socially restorative function among cultures and are a meaningful expression of the value system of any particular culture. Death studies allow the examination of the values considered most significant by the studied culture. This thesis will examine and interpret the material culture recovered at two small cemeteries: Block 49, Utah, and Seccombe Lake, California. One result will show the material manifestation of Mormon religious beliefs in their mortuary practices. The final goal is to suggest that a more thorough examination of a religious sect's beliefs can create a general model of mortuary practices for that religious …

Utopian Marriage In Nineteenth-Century America: Public And Private Discourse, Brenda Olsen Andrus

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a rhetorical analysis of utopian discourse about marriage in mid-nineteenth-century America. Although utopian communities are usually approached within the fields of history and sociology, a rhetorical analysis adds to the discussion by uncovering the discursive complexity of marriage beliefs within a rapidly changing culture. Discursive features of the Shaker, Oneida Community and Latter-day Saint texts are outlined and compared according to the following format:

Chapter One examines the textures of conflict within the dominant culture's views of marriage and gender roles in nineteenth-century America, with a brief overview of reform efforts of the day. This chapter provides …

Patterns Of Continuing Professional Development (Cpd) Activities Of Social Workers In Local Departments Of Social Services Or Welfare In Virginia, Anita H. Prince

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals employed as social workers in local public welfare agencies in Virginia are not required to have a social work degree or mandated to participate in continuing professional development activities as a condition of their employment. The study employed survey research to investigate Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities of Social Workers employed in local Departments of Social Services or Welfare in Virginia. Two social work-related focus groups and an expert panel of adult educators helped identify CPD activities used to construct the survey. The resulting twenty (20) CPD activities, used as the dependent variables for the study, were: formal education, …

Determination Of Rates And Patterns Of Recombination At The Maize Red Color (R1) Locus, William R. Dietrich

Theses and Dissertations

Homologous recombination has been studied in many plant and animal systems. In maize, most recombination occurs intragenically. The current study assessed the frequency and location of meiotic recombination at the maize red color (r1) gene. Three independent mutant (colorless seed) alleles derived from the colored seed allele, R-sc:124, were made heterozygous with the colored plant allele, r-r:n142. Each mutant resulted from the insertion of a Dissociation (Ds) transposable element into the 3' end of R-sc:124. In the presence of Activator (Ac), each Ds insertion allele (r-sc:mutables) produced spotted seeds and germinal reversion to fully colored seeds due to the vi …

Immunocytochemical Study Of Apoptosis Signaling In Nb2 Lymphoma Cells, Angelo P. Guanzon

Theses and Dissertations

In the absence of mitogen, administration of Dexamethasone (Dex) induces apoptosis, or programmed-cell death in the Nb2 lymphoma cell. Addition of prolactin (Prl), on the other hand, blocks this effect. As a model for apoptosis, we were able to investigate this Dex-Prl interaction by means of a morphological approach: one that could be visualized under a light microscope. This approach allowed us to achieve several aims. First, we were able to develop a method of cell quantification befitting a morphological study based upon the hemacytometer. Second, with Trypan Blue exclusion, we were able to verify Dex/Prl-responsiveness in the Nb2 cells. …

The Relationship Between Employers' Perceived Organizational Context And Their Impressions Of The Employability Of Job Applicants With Either A Severe Psychiatric Or Physical Disability, John Constantine Bricout

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between favorable employability ratings of hypothetical job applicants with a severe disability and two aspects of employers' perceived organizational context: organizational climate and negotiation latitude, using a cross-sectional, correlational design. A survey including a hypothetical job applicant vignette in one of three conditions: non-disabled, severe physical disability (acquired brain injury), severe psychiatric disability (schizophrenia) was mailed out to a random sample of 1,000 employers selected from a national human resource membership list. Responses were received from 248 employers. The chief purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between employers' perceived organizational context and …

A Raster-Based Gis Analysis Of The Cumulative Impacts Of Humans And Beaver On Wetland Area And Types In The Chickahominy River Watershed (Virginia, Usa) From 1953 To 1994, Alexandra Dunya Syphard

Theses and Dissertations

Despite increased recognition of wetland functions and values, wetland loss and degradation continues in the United States. Digital wetlands and uplands coverages were analyzed to compare the cumulative impacts of humans and beaver (Castor canadensis) on wetland types in the Chickahominy River watershed (Virginia, USA) from 1953 to 1994. A vector-based approach was used for data manipulation, and a raster-based approach was chosen to analyze geographic change over time. Study findings indicated that anthropogenic activities were responsible for both wetland loss and gain in the watershed, and beavers substantially influenced shifting between wetland types. Wetland area increased 4% over 41 …

Gene Expression Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Rajiv Malhotra

Theses and Dissertations

The pathology which results from traumatic brain injury (TBI) have long been believed to be immediate and irreversible. However, recently it has been shown that, although the primary effects are virtually unavoidable, the secondary effects manifest themselves through biochemical processes set in motion at the time of the injury. These events are frequently mediated through the process of excitotoxicity, which results from a widespread release of excitatory neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters go on to activate both ionotropic and metabotropic receptors. The signal transduction initiated through these receptor populations gives rise to changes in gene expression.

One result of this release of …

A Comparison Of The Viability Of Thistle Weevils From Fire Ant Suppressed Site To Weevils From A Site Where Fire Ants Were Not Suppressed, Mary T. Hodge

Theses and Dissertations

The thistle weevil, Rhinocyllus conicus, was introduced to the United States as an agent of biological control for another non-native species, the musk thistle, Carduus nutans. Musk thistle are noxious weeds of pastures which reduce forage for grazing livestock. A high weevil population is necessary to achieve control of musk thistle. The study site is situated at the southernmost boundary of the invading thistle, the thistle weevil, and another invasive non-native, the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. The research compared the viability of R. conicus from a S. invicta suppressed site to the viability from a …

Determinants Of Participation In The Ad Hoc Computer-Supported Workgroup, Nancy A. Floyd

Theses and Dissertations

The increase of end-user computing, including the use of computer-mediated communication systems (CMCS), is one of the most significant changes to occur in business information systems in recent years. Researchers suggest that changes in technology lead to changes in the way individuals think about work and how they perform it. An important question is how the use of CMCS is changing work and work relationships. This study considers a portion of this question; it asks "What makes individuals willing to participate in a computer-supported workgroup (CSWG)."

This study considered the relationship between three variables (sex, anonymity, and token status) and …

Changes In Gabaa̳ Receptor Expression And Alterations In Ca⁺⁺/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Ii Activity In A Hippocampal Neuronal Culture Model Of Epilepsy, Robert Eagan Blair

Theses and Dissertations

Expression levels of GABAA receptor subunits and activity of the Ca++ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II) enzyme system were evaluated in an in vitro hippocampal neuronal culture model of epilepsy. Treatment of hippocampal neuronal cultures with Mg++-free media for 3 hours results in the induction of an enduring "epileptic" state as evidenced by the expression of spontaneous recurrent seizure (SRS) discharge. The induction of the SRS activity was shown to be a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, Ca++-dependent mechanism (Sombati and DeLorenzo, J Neurophys., 73 (4), 1995). Significant and long-lasting decreases in mRNA expression for the GABAA α2 and α5 …