Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of A Mangrove Quality Index In Tampa Bay, Florida, Monetta S. Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mangroves are an important resource. They provide a breeding ground for commercially and recreationally important fish, protect shorelines from erosion and improve coastal water quality. Historically, mangroves were undervalued, leading to a loss of 35% of mangroves worldwide and 44% in Tampa Bay due to anthropogenic stressors. Efforts to protect and restore mangroves have led to a variety of management programs. In Tampa Bay the main management program is the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP). The program has identified the need for simple and easy to use assessment tools to track mangrove quality and aid in mangrove quality. There are …

Reel Images: Representations Of Adult Male Prisons By The Film Industry, Melissa E. Fenwick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research on the criminal justice system, punishment, and media continue to generate academic interest, particularly in the realm of social constructionism. The social construction perspective provides insight into the process through which media-controlled images are translated into social definitions of crime and justice. One new area of interest is the representations of prisons and penal culture by the entertainment media, namely the film industry. In this study, the author contributes to the area of social constructionist literature by administering a content analysis of eleven feature films on male prisons produced between 1979 and 2001. The author examines the frequency and …

Integrating Rural Cambodian Villagers’ Perspectives Into Monitoring And Evaluation Protocols For An Ngo’S Water And Sanitation Program, Elizabeth Churchill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bridges Across Borders (BAB), a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Cambodia, directs diverse and complementary projects to improve the lives of Cambodians living in poverty. The Hand In Hand project (HIH) is one of these projects, implemented in the rural community of Chamcar Bei. This project started in 2006 and is designed to be completely sustained by the villagers after 5 years. One of the four components of HIH is a health component, whose goal is to improve the health of the community. In 2007 and 2008, through these health initiatives, BAB provided the community with 280 ceramic water filters, 20 …

Cephalopods Of The Broad Caribbean: Distribution, Abundance, And Ecological Importance, Heather L. Judkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Broad Caribbean region is defined as the Gulf of Mexico, and the coastal and marine areas of the Caribbean Sea, including the chain of islands forming the Greater and Lesser Antilles, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, and the gulf coasts of the United States, Central and South America (Stanley, 1995). The cephalopods of the Broad Caribbean were examined in terms of distribution, abundance, and ecological importance. A suite of 5190 preserved cephalopod specimens were identified and catalogued to produce regional maps of cephalopod distribution within the Broad Caribbean. Eighteen range extensions were noted for known species. Regional species richness …

Public Service Television Policy And National Development In Morocco, Bouziane Zaid

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Like many developing countries, and for many years, Morocco has sought the help of television to disseminate development ideas to its citizens. The Moroccan government has recently given policy considerations to regulate the use of television and radio airwaves as important outside sources for promoting its development objectives. The newly assigned importance of television in Moroccan developmental policies makes a study on the relationship between television and development interesting and crucial. This study investigates the extent to which the Moroccan public service television meets the challenges of effectively contributing to the development objectives of the nation. It focuses on the …

A Greener Vertical Habitat: Creating A Naturally Cohesive Sense Of Community In A Vertical Multi-Family Housing Structure, Justin Onorati

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout multiple dense, tropical, urban contexts, high rise residential environments have created a sense of social detachment, where public and private green spaces do not often exist. It is through these varieties of green spaces that social interaction is encouraged, and without these social activities taking place, this vertical community becomes almost a meaningless entity within the urban realm. The issue being addressed within this thesis is the scarcity of public and private green spaces within our high density tropical urban fabrics that help to create a sense of community. The majority of dense urban settings that we inhabit today …

Green Local Governments In Florida: An Analysis Of Sustainability And Green Building Policies, Naimish S. Upadhyay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable development is increasingly being integrated within local government planning across United States. Many communities are attempting to translate this general principle into specific and measurable terms. The urban sustainability planning literature has mostly focused on descriptive case studies of pioneering cities that have been characterized as true innovators in their sustainability efforts. Noticeably absent from the literature, however, has been an examination of the sustainable development claims made by local governments undergoing 'green' certifications. This study evaluates the commitment and efforts of municipalities and counties of Florida within the framework of Florida Green Building Coalition's 'Green …

Constructing A New Nationalism From Below: The Dalit Movement, Politics And Transnational Networking, Lisa A. Daily

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines one potential route for sub-national social movements to alter preexisting contemporary nationalisms- the transnational social movement network. When social movements "go global" they move beyond the nation where they are typically excluded from the national project and instead, become members of an alternative and inclusive transnational project. What social movements do at this level is not under examination here, but rather how they go about returning to their respective nations and challenging the hegemonic national project. Does the transnational site impact the success of sub-national social movements? Is a movement more likely to achieve its goals and …

An Empirical Examination Of The Dark Side Of Relationship Marketing Within A Business To Business Context, Brent L. Baker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A large number of empirical studies have illustrated the benefits of adopting and implementing a relational or relationship marketing strategy. However, there is an emergent stream of literature that suggests that despite the recognized benefits associated with this strategy there may also be a dark side that manifests itself between firms as a result of adopting a relationship marketing strategy. However, though this stream of literature recognizes the presence of the dark side, causal antecedents mediating the dark side constructs, or consequences of the dark side have yet to be theoretically derived, explained or empirically tested.

This dissertation constructs theoretical …

Ethnomedical And Biomedical Health Care And Healing Practices Among The Rathwa Adivasi Of Kadipani Village, Gujarat State, India, Margaret A. Karnyski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Rathwa of Kadipani village are adivasi (original inhabitants, tribe) residing in a rural part of Gujarat State, India. Primarily farmers, the Rathwa live in an area where development-related projects, such as mineral mining and damming on the Narmada River, are increasingly impacting their livelihood, health status, and quality of life. The local economy is impacted by uncertainty regarding access to water from the Narmada River, concerns related to the extraction of minerals from a mine in Kadipani, and economic issues that arise when the primary wage earner of the household becomes ill.

This dissertation addresses Rathwa health care practices, …

Communicating Spirituality, Dying And A “Good Death” At The End-Of-Life: The Role Of Hospice Interdisciplinary Team Members, Jillian A. Tullis Owen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hospices use interdisciplinary teams to aid patients and families as they cope with the imminence of death while helping them achieve a death free of physical and spiritual pain, also known as a good death. This study investigated the communication between hospice team members and their patients regarding spirituality, dying, death and a good death. Through 300 hours of participant observation and interviews with hospice staff at one large not-for-profit hospice in the Southeastern United States this project shows that team members understand patient's spirituality through a religious frame potentially compromising spiritual care. Talk between patients and their care …

Air Toxics And Equity: A Geographic Analysis Of Environmental Health Risks In Florida, Angela Gilbert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A large number of quantitative studies have examined social inequities in the geographic distribution of air pollution. Although previous research has made strides towards understanding the nature and extent of inequities, they have been limited methodologically in three ways. First, the presence of pollutants have been rarely linked to their adverse health effects, with many studies using proximity to sources as a proxy for risk. Second, there has been a tendency to study a single pollution source instead of assessing multiple types of sources. Finally, conventional statistical methods such as multivariate regression have been limited by their inability to discern …

Gis Spatial Analysis Of Multiple Scenes In Criminal Homicides, Casey C. Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anthropological studies of community structures and human relationships of today's societies are becoming increasingly important for crime analysis. Law enforcement agencies are often challenged with the task of connecting multiple locations to persons involved in crimes to solve cases. Using the structures of the target communities and the social relationship between the victim and offender, spatial distributions of crimes can be reconstructed.

Data used in this analysis were collected from Hillsborough County, Florida (n=420) and Lancaster County, Nebraska (n=48) law enforcement agencies within the years 1997-2007. The hypothesis of this paper is: if the social relationship between the victim and …

An Assessment Of The Impacts Of Relocation On Public Housing Youth, Emily Zupo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper will explore the social and economic impacts of public housing revitalization on households with minor children. The research traces the relocations of families from two public housing complexes to other public housing complexes or market housing, using Housing Choice formerly Section 8 vouchers. We contrast and compare the socioeconomic characteristics of the original neighborhoods to the relocation sites from the census tract level, exploring changes in resources available to families.

Land –Based Sources Of Pollutants To Coastal Waters Of Southern Belize – Comparison Of Predictive Model With Empirical Data, Victor Eduardo Alegria

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A Level III fugacity-type model was applied to southern Belize (Stann Creek and Toledo Districts) to predict which of the pesticides most heavily used in banana and citrus farms are most likely to end up in streams and coastal waters via surface runoff. Concentrations of all target pesticides in coastal waters of southern Belize were then measured during two sampling campaigns (dry season and rainy season) in 2008. Several pesticides were measured in significant levels, including some as far out as waters overlying coral reefs. The presence of these pesticides in the coastal waters indicates that agricultural activities in southern …

Assessing The Performance Of Water Bodies In Hillsborough County, Florida Using Data Envelopment Analysis (Dea), Geoffrey George Fouad

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to describe the relationship between surface water quality and land use. Water management recommendations will be divulged based upon the interaction of lake water quality and land use. The methodology developed for this research applied Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a performance measurement tool, to evaluate lake water quality in relation to surrounding land use. Lake performance ratings were generated by DEA software that assessed multiple variables describing surface water nutrient loads and surrounding land use. Results from this analysis revealed a significant trend between lake water quality and land use within the study area. …

Perspectives On Reclaimed Water Among Urban Residents In Tampa, Florida, Jonathan Max Bloch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing urbanization coupled with increased domestic and industrial uses of water has made water conservation an important aspect of environmental management. Reclamation of wastewater is one way in which such conservation can proceed, and the aim of this thesis is to provide a case study about the perspectives of residents and officials involved in the use of reclaimed water in an urban development in Tampa, Florida. Using semi-structured interviews, it seeks to understand the range of opinions on the safety of reclaimed water, its potential prospects as an alternative drinking water supply, and its contribution to the sustainable use of …

Politics, Journalism And Web 2.0 In The 2008 U.S. Presidential Elections, Wayne Scott Garcia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The explosion of new political speech in digital formats in the 2008 elections, especially those involving social networking, offered new opportunities and challenges for political journalists, campaign participants and voters alike. This review of new political media in 2008 examines how these new methods of political organizing and communications work and provides insights to further understand how media can best cover and participate in them. The thesis details how 2008 was the first fully Web 2.0 election, exhibiting its characteristics of interactivity, use of databases and the "long tail" of microniche Internet websites. Three new media uses - online, database-driven …

Multimodal Text Designers: A Case Study Of Literacy Events In A Multicultural Context, Mary-Virginia Feger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The erasure of Latino/a adolescents' multiliteracies in school settings affects both their views of education and their entry into the community outside of school. Framed by literacy-as-social-practices perspectives and communities of practice theory, this case study explored what happened when a group of 13 Latino/a adolescents and their Latina teacher engaged in a six-week play production in an after-school program and performed the play for parents. It examined the relationship between the participants' discourse practices and their performance, and determined how they validated their performances. Data collected included observations, interviews, students' written reflective responses, a fieldwork journal, and a DVD …

The Modern Community Garden Movement In The United States: Its Roots, Its Current Condition And Its Prospects For The Future, Joshua Birky

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous researchers have shown that community gardens have the potential to eliminate social, communal, health, agricultural and economic problems that many in the United States and the rest of the world are facing. Yet, throughout history allotment and community gardens have been seen as improper elements of urban landscapes and used predominately for crisis mitigation and not as sustainable solutions. This thesis shows that the current U.S. community garden movement is inherently different than past unsustainable movements and may establish community gardens as sustainable features of many municipalities in the U.S. This is because the modern U.S. movement is supported …

At What Cost? : Spanish Neutrality In The First World War, Carolyn S. Lowry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While historians have gone to great efforts in studying the belligerent powers during the First World War, very little attention has been paid to such neutral powers as Spain. Several European nations declared neutrality in 1914, but many strayed from this course in favor of active belligerence. Spain, however, remained neutral for the war's duration; thus, this thesis examines and explores the nature of Spanish neutrality during the First World War. Spain's decision to adhere to a neutral policy required serious consideration as it had to weigh the consequences and advantages of intervention; however, military and economic weakness, as well …

Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution Management: Water Quality Impacts Of Balm Road Treatment Marsh, Hillsborough County, Florida, Sarah J. Malone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Balm Road Treatment Marsh is a 12 ha constructed wetland treatment system in south-central Hillsborough County, Florida created to improve water quality in Bullfrog Creek and ultimately Tampa Bay. The treatment system was designed to treat runoff from approximately 741 ha of upstream agricultural land prior to discharging into the creek, with the primary goals of reducing sediment and nutrient loads. Water quality data from four sites on Bullfrog Creek were analyzed to determine impacts to ambient water quality and pollutant load reductions downstream. Results were compared to the performance of other wetlands to treat both nonpoint and point source …

Architectural Chastity Belts: The Window Motif As Instrument Of Discipline In Fifteenth-Century Italian Conduct Manuals And Art, Jennifer Megan Orendorf

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the Italian thirst for excellence and knowledge burgeoned throughout the Quattrocento, the genre of instructional literature responded accordingly to social demands. Offering advice on a wide range of experience from the quotidian to the extraordinary, from superstition to scientific, conduct manuals appealed to readers of all Italian social classes. Investigating the relationship between this body of literature and the lives of contemporary women, this paper will focus specifically on those manuals which prescribe behaviors for women, and will investigate the reception of these precepts and the extent in which these notions informed and transformed women's lives.

In order to …

Maternal Knowledge, Attitudes And Practices And Health Outcomes Of Their Preschool-Age Children In Urban And Rural Karnataka, India, Angela Lloyd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional, community-based study was designed to compare the health outcomes of 2 - 5 year-old children in different types of preschools. The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), run by the government of India, created a system of preschools, called anganwadis, to combat malnutrition, provide health education for mothers, and preschool for children 2 - 6 years old in 1975. Many children attend their local anganwadis, while others attend private schools, and others do not attend school at all. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to interview 125 urban and 130 rural mothers regarding their knowledge, attitudes, and practices about acute …

“Desirable Images”: Sexual Mapping In William S. Burroughs’S Naked Lunch And Samuel R. Delany’S Dhalgren, Patrick Mcgowan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In "Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism," Fredric Jameson describes the disappearance, within postmodernism, of an objective framework for mapping the social totality. In order to illustrate this concept, Jameson draws upon the ideas of urban planner Kevin Lynch as formulated in his seminal work, The Image of the City. For Lynch, the design of the postwar alienated city results in varying and fragmentary "cognitive maps" used by its inhabitants to negotiate urban space, a problem that can be rectified by "good" urban planning, which aims to create mappable public space through the implementation of external orientation markers. …

Teaching Social Studies In An Age Of Globalization: A Case Study Of Secondary Social Studies Teachers’ Participation In The Una-Usa’S Global Classrooms Curriculum Program, Kelly R. Miliziano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The researcher found few studies that explore decisions of social studies teachers as they plan what and how to teach their classes. Over a century, social studies educators have adapted and responded to political, social, and economic changes. From educating immigrants a century earlier to addressing contemporary cross-border issues, social studies educators inherit unique challenges in today's increasingly globalized world. In addition to these external forces, constraints are placed on teachers which prescribe what content must be included in an already crowded curriculum. This qualitative approach using a case study provides a better understanding of the influence a globally oriented …

Living Behind Bars? An Investigation Of Gated Communities In New Tampa, Florida, Scott E. Nonnemaker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With protective gates and guard booths restricting access to their entrances, master-planned gated communities have become a dominant form of suburban development throughout much of the country. Many home builders, developers, and real estate companies promote gated communities as a developmental step towards the creation of a real-life utopia. However, many academics, like Karina Landman and Martin Schonteich (2002), argue that their existence simply marks a new chapter in the fragmentation and polarization of societies all across the world. This study used a mixed methods approach to analyze the demographic makeup of individuals living in gated communities in New Tampa, …

Experience + Evolution: Exploring Nature As A Constant In An Evolving Culture And Building Type, Robin Plotkowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout time, our natural environment has been one of the only constants in our evolution. While cultures change and evolve, nature's beauty and positive effects on humans have always been present. Unfortunately, our built environment has generated much attention for its profound impact on our natural environment. Buildings in the United States consume a third of our total energy use, raw material use, and waste output, not to mention the negative effects they can have on our well-being, economy, health and productivity. In an effort to protect our natural environment, our built environment must become more responsible to the environment …

Cultural Response To Totalitarianism In Select Movies Produced In Czechoslovakia, Hungary And Poland Between 1956 And 1989, Kazimierz Robak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines resistance against totalitarian propaganda in select movies produced in regions subjected to Soviet-imposed totalitarian system. From 1939 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Central-Eastern Europe has experienced two of the most devastating and genocidal political systems in the history of the humankind. Nazism was destroyed with the end of WWII, and met widespread condemnation. Sovietism, commonly known as Communism, survived WWII and the Soviet totalitarian empire rose to the position of the world's second superpower. Effective and organized Soviet propaganda generated a new convincing image of Sovietism as a harmless, friendly and progressive system. …

Proxy Records Of Climate Change In Subtropical And Tropical Karst Environments, Jason Samuel Polk

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the paleoclimate of a region is important, especially when trying to determine the extent of natural climate variability within the context of anthropogenic impacts. Recent anomalous periods of climate change in the Late Holocene, including the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period, could possibly repeat in the future, having significant worldwide consequences. This holds especially true for tropical and subtropical karst environments, where limited paleoclimate proxies provide minimal data regarding past climate change. An investigation into past climate change in Belize using fulvic acids from cave sediments shows periods of drought during the collapse of the Maya society …