Digital Commons Network^™

Religiosity, Role Theory, And Self-Esteem, Melissa R. Mccarthy

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between religion, religiosity, archetypal roles and self-esteem. The sample consisted of 61 students at a Midwestern university. The participants completed a series of surveys including two measures of religiosity, a self-esteem measure, and a Female Archetype Scale. The findings indicated that religions differ on levels of religiosity and female archetypes. In addition, there were correlations between religiosity and archetype, and self-esteem and religiosity. The significant correlations for the feminine archetypes were that were that Sekhmet was positively correlated with intrinsic religiosity, and negatively correlated with extrinsic religiosity and Connectedness; Demeter …

Land-Use Changes And Stream Productivity: Effects On Stream Communities And Food-Chain Length, Christopher A. North

Masters Theses

In recent years stream ecologists have come to realize that in order to better understand the processes that occur within streams it is important to incorporate some knowledge of the surrounding landscape into their studies. Previous work on Hurricane Creek indicated that agricultural activities and the proportion of cropland has an impact on stream water chemistry and community metabolism within Hurricane Creek, Illinois. Thus, this study examined stream community composition and food-chain length to ascertain the effects of water quality differences resulting from agricultural land-use practices. The four sites chosen for this study on Hurricane Creek were sampled four times …

An Assessment Of Speech-Language Pathologists, ' Special Educators, ' And Elementary Teachers' Language Knowledge Related To Reading Instruction, Jessica Catto

Masters Theses

An assessment was designed from Louisa Cook Moats' (1996, 2000) research and questions to assess the knowledge of elementary education teachers (grades 1-3), special education teachers, and speech language pathologists in regard to several areas of reading instruction including phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary/morphology.

Subjects consisted of a total of 57 educational professionals, 19 subjects in each group. Results revealed that speech-language pathologists scored significantly higher on the phonemic awareness portion of the assessment as well as total test score, when compared with elementary and special education teachers. Mean scores on the total test ranged from 78-89% accuracy. Mean scores …

The Effectiveness Of The Alcohol Response-Ability Judicial Sanction At A Mid-Sized Comprehensive University, Nancy Ann Betzel Mathewson

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the Alcohol ResponseAbility Program (ARP) that is currently used by the Health Education Resource Center at a mid-sized comprehensive university of 11,500 students. A review of literature revealed that individualized feedback and motivational interviewing seem to be more effective than other alcohol prevention methods. Literature also suggested that challenging students' perceptions of campus drinking norms could effectively reduce binge drinking rates on campus. The Alcohol Response-Ability Program, a combination of motivational interviewing and an online educational program including online feedback, incorporates a challenge to students perceptions of campus drinking …

On Campus Non-Traditional Student Use Of And Satisfaction With Support Services At Eastern Illinois University, Nancy J. Crone

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of student support services by the on-campus non-traditional student population at Eastern Illinois University and to determine the students' satisfaction with the services they received. This study attempted to increase university awareness of the needs of this particular student population.

Participants responded to an online survey that asked about their use of and satisfaction with student support services. The survey also provided the respondents an opportunity to make suggestions regarding current services and recommendations for new services.

The overall findings of this study suggest that the on-campus non-traditional student population …

A Formative Evaluation Of The Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority's National Recruitment Program In Its Inaugural Year, Colleen Elizabeth Coffey

Masters Theses

This study was conducted as a formative evaluation of the Alpha Sigma Tau sorority's national recruitment program. The researcher sought to determine the effectiveness of all aspects of the program over the course of the last year, to discover any perceived needs among undergraduate members and chapters that were not met over the course of the last year, and to create recommendations for the program to be implemented during the 2006-2008 biennial term. Through a mixed method design the study evaluated the program using qualitative and quantitative survey data, focus groups, and existing data on membership intake from the National …

Condom Use And College Students: The Relationship Of Condom Use Between Condom Club Members And Non-Condom Club Members At A Comprehensive Midwestern University, Jerilyn Jean Reed

Masters Theses

Risky sexual behavior is prevalent on campuses across the nation. Due to an increase in sexually transmitted infections among individuals 25 and under, unsafe sex puts the college population at great risk. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether Condom Club Members demonstrated more knowledge regarding condoms, had been tested more for STIs, used condoms more frequently when engaging in sexual activity than Non-Condom Club Members, and whether Condom Club Members selfreported more, the same, or fewer sexual partners or sexual relations than did NonCondom Club Members at a comprehensive state university in the Midwest.

A posttest-only …

Perceptions Of Governance In Higher Education: Comparing Two-Year College Full-Time And Part-Time Faculty, Karissa Kay Patefield

Masters Theses

Community colleges in the United States serve many student populations and purposes. In order to be successful, these institutions of higher education have hired both full-time and part-time faculty members. Between 1970 and 1993, the number of parttime faculty members hired increased by 355 percent (Morphew, 1999). The present study examined the differences in perceptions between full-time and part-time faculty members in regards to their view on shared governance. In order to study these differential perceptions, faculty members at a Midwestern community college were surveyed. A total of 225 full-time faculty members and 395 part-time faculty members were surveyed via …

Crime, Punishment, And Prevention: An Economic Approach, Jeff Arthur

Masters Theses

Gary Becker's seminal paper laid the foundation for the economic analysis of crime. Using this framework, the government has attempted to increase the costs of crime to a level that effectively deters individuals from criminal activity. Despite the relative lack of discussion in economics, Becker's model suggests alternatives to deterrence. Instead of focusing exclusively on increasing the costs of crime, society can increase the benefits of lawful behavior. Rather than punish the crook, reward the citizen. The purpose of this research is to compare the relative effectiveness of prison and police expansion with prevention programs. Prevention programs aimed at increasing …

Poverty And Income Distribution In The Transition Economies Of Central And Eastern Europe And Central Asia, Andreea Chiritescu

Masters Theses

For the transition economies of Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia, this study reveals that poverty and income distribution move in the same direction. Following a low income inequality and a target of zero poverty before 1989, the transition caused a worsening of distribution of income and wealth, and an increase in absolute poverty.

Using simple trend analysis, some factors that have a positive influence on poverty in these transition economies are the external debt ratio and the population growth rate, and some factors that have a negative influence on poverty are foreign aid, external debt, foreign direct investment, …

Trends Of Employment-Based Health Insurance: Why Did The Coverage For Private-Sector Workers Decrease During Economic Boom, Yan Ni

Masters Theses

After a decade of erosion of employment-based health insurance coverage in the American population, the overall employment-based health insurance coverage increased beginning in the mid-1990s when the strong economy occurred. According to the previous studies, the labor market and health insurance premium are primary determinants of the coverage rate. However, in spite of the tight labor market and non-existent health care cost inflation (the growth of health insurance premiums is close to the growth of wages), the health insurance coverage of private-sector workers continued to decline. Since the private sector workers are the bulk of the population who benefit from …

Effects Of The State Minimum Wages On Youth: Evidence From The States Of Washington And Connecticut, Zhi Su

Masters Theses

Youth aged from 16 to 24 is the group that is most likely to hold minimum wage jobs. A concern of economists and policy makers is: 1) whether the employment opportunities to youth are discouraged by the minimum wage and 2) how the minimum wage influences their choice over work or study. This study advances and combines some ideas from previous studies to examine the effects of the state minimum wages upon youth employment and behavior patterns over school and work. The study concentrates on conditions in the states of Washington and Connecticut during the period of 1998 to 2003, …

The Fool, Jonathan M. Cook

Masters Theses

The Fool is a detective story written in the vein of the crime fiction of the thirties, forties, and fifties. It is a work that simultaneously pays homage to its influences while giving a postmodern update to the genre conventions in an attempt to bring validity to an all-too-often disregarded form of fiction. The story has been written in a minimalist style so that the reader might engage the story on a much more primal level than traditional genre fiction.

This thesis includes the first two chapters of The Fool, along with an outline for the final chapter. A critical …

A Focused Study Of The Social Outcast In Literature: A Healing For America's Youth, Darcey A. Voyles

Masters Theses

Adolescence can be a difficult time in life, and today's teenagers face even more difficult situations in the high school atmosphere. A frequent element in the high school social scene is alienation of the "uncool" kids. This social isolation can have devastating effects on the outcasts and school community as a whole. Within this thesis, I reveal my plan for alleviating the emotional trauma of social isolation by bringing the discussion of social outcasts into the literature classroom. Literature reflects society, thereby giving young readers a lens through which to view the alienation in our global world that they may …

Don't Forget About The Me In Afscme: An Analysis Of Collective Bargaining In Municipalities, Michael L. Woods Jr.

Masters Theses

Collective bargaining in the public sector is inherently political. Public unions negotiate either directly or indirectly with elected public officials. This thesis explores the political bargaining strategies adopted by municipal public unions and the inherent factors that surround the collective bargaining process (e.g. trust, state of the economy, community interest groups, and media). The intentions of this study were to see if these variables influenced negotiated wage increases and the likelihood of experiencing bargaining impasses. The findings suggest that public union political bargaining strategies positively affect negotiated wage increases. Trust, however, seems to evolve as the most important variable. Building …

Comparison Of The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test-Second Edition And The Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children-Fourth Edition, Ryan L. Mitchell

Masters Theses

Past research on the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT; Kaufman & Kaufman, 1990) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; Wechsler, 1991) have shown good reliability and validity between the scales. However, recently, the KBIT-2 and the WISC-IV have been published. The purpose of the current study was to independently evaluate the construct validity of the KBIT-2 with the WISC-IV. The participants in this study consisted of 48 students enrolled in kindergarten through ninth grade from school districts in central Illinois, who were referred for initial or triennial multidisciplinary evaluation. The results were as hypothesized, with high statistically …

Implementation Of An Open Source Enterprise Resource Planning (Erp) System, Jing Shao

Masters Theses

Characterized with free access, free distribution and high adaptability, open source ERP system provides an alternative to the high cost of adopting an ERP system in small and medium-sized business (SMB). This research explored the possibility of adopting open source ERP system in SMB, with Compiere -- a typical open source ERP system. The ERP system was designed and customized for a fictitious computer manufacturing company. Major processes including partner relations, quote to invoice, requisition to invoice, material management, and project management were implemented.

Through this research, it was realized that necessary procedures of implementing an open source ERP system …

Burnout And Job Dissatisfaction Among Practicing Illinois School Psychologists: A 1994 To 2004 Comparison, Nikolaus J. Hoffman

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify the primary variables associated with burnout among practicing Illinois school psychologists. More specifically, the purpose was to determine if the same variables that correlated highly with Illinois school psychologists burnout levels in a 1994 study by Niebrugge have held constant over the last decade. Survey materials used in the 1994 study, including the Maslach Burnout Inventory, a School Psychologists Stress Inventory, and a specially designed job satisfaction questionnaire were completed by a random sample of members of the Illinois School Psychologists Association (N = 52). As in the 1994 study, results suggested …

Size And Reproductive Activity Of A Geographically-Isolated Population Of Ambystoma Jeffersonianum In East-Central Illinois, Sarabeth Klueh

Masters Theses

When utilizing small isolated wetlands, amphibian populations are often small in size, susceptible to stochastic extinction processes, and have little to no contact with other populations. The persistence of such populations can be ascertained only by obtaining data that allow the prediction of the population’s growth, trajectory, and propensity to achieve a sustainable size. The success of a salamander population can be determined by the number of metamorphosing larvae leaving a pond, and thus, the number recruited into the terrestrial adult population. The Jefferson salamander, Ambystoma jeffersonianum, is a state-threatened species, occurring at fewer than 15 ponds within Illinois. In …

Review Of The Book Gender In Applied Communication Contexts, Anjali Ram

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

The best scholarship on gender is one that translates readily into advocacy, action, and intervention without blunting its theoretical teeth. The repertoire of 14 articles and four commentaries included in the book “Gender in Applied Communication Con-texts,” edited by Patrice M. Buzzanell, Helen Sterk,and Lynn H. Turner, clearly demonstrate a commitment to feminist praxis, while retaining a focus on theoretical engagement. Topics range from sexual harassment and breast cancer to telecommuting,mothering, and feminist pedagogy, as the authors in this collection attempt to address directly how gender is constructed and implicated in varied communication contexts.

A Pilot Randomized, Controlled Trial Of An In-Home Drinking Water Intervention Among Hiv + Persons, John M. Colford, Sona R. Saha, Timothy J. Wade, Catherine C. Wright, Mai Vu, Sandra Charles, Peter Jensen, Alan Hubbard, Deborah A. Levy, Joseph N. S. Eisenberg

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Although immunocompromised persons may be at increased risk for gastrointestinal illnesses, no trials investigating drinking water treatment and gastrointestinal illness in such patients have been published. Earlier results from San Francisco suggested an association (OR 6.76) between tap water and cryptosporidiosis among HIV + persons. The authors conducted a randomized, triple-blinded intervention trial of home water treatment in San Francisco, California, from April 2000 to May 2001. Fifty HIV-positive patients were randomized to externally identical active (N = 24) or sham (N = 26) treatment devices. The active device contained a filter and UV light; the sham provided no treatment. …

Mississippi Coalition Responds To Poverty, Justice Issues Raised In Katrina's Aftermath, Edwin Smith

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. - The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi continues to seek faith-based and nonprofit organizations to join a statewide coalition that is addressing issues raised in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.

Is The Crisis In The Civil Justice System Real Or Imagined, Steven B. Hantler, Mark A. Behrens, Leah Lorber

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Are We Turning Judges Into Politicians, James Michael Scheppele

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sentinel Node Biopsy Versus Conventional Axillary Dissection In Clinically Node-Negative Breast Cancer Patients, Harry D. Bear

Surgery Publications

No abstract provided.

Correcting The Empirical Foundations Of Ipo-Pricing Regulation, Royce De R. Barondes

Faculty Publications

Recent events are replete with stories of fraudulent or opportunistic behavior in the initial public offering (IPO) process - behavior that extended to the highest-reputation investment banks. Curiously, notwithstanding this evidence, recent financial economics literature asserts investment bank conflicts of interest certify IPO issuers. This Article develops new empirical evidence that casts doubt on this certification hypothesis by examining the pre-IPO price adjustment of IPOs involving qualified independent underwriters (QIUs), particularly IPOs in which more than ten percent of the net proceeds are being directed to participating investment banks (e.g., to repay a prior extension of credit). These offerings have …

Examining Compliance With Fiduciary Duties: A Study Of Real Estate Agents (With V. Carlos Slawson Jr.), Royce De R. Barondes, Carlos V. Slawson Jr.

Faculty Publications

The traditional default rule in the United States has been that, where two brokerage firms participate in the sale of a piece residential real estate, both firms are fiduciaries of the seller. This article provides original empirical evidence showing to be erroneous a common assumption - that, in conflicts between their principals and third parties, real estate agents promote their principals' interests - underlying revisions made in a number of jurisdictions to those principles in the last twenty years. This article examines whether agents act in accordance with their duties along two dimensions: First, we hypothesize that selling agents may …

Should Antitrust Education Be Mandatory (For Law School Administrators)?, Thom Lambert, Royce De R. Barondes

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this essay is merely to examine the pertinent antitrust issues. The essay proceeds on the assumption that the AALS policy, whose terms are precatory, speaks to what is in fact an agreement among law schools. As noted below, the policy itself contemplates that law school deans will seek waivers, in individual cases, extending the time periods for up to two months. Were the policy to be litigated, law schools might dispute the existence of an agreement. We believe, though, that the nature of the policy strongly suggests that it represents an agreement among law schools and that …

Mobile Home Mania? Protecting Procedurally Fair Arbitration In A Consumer Microcosm, Amy J. Schmitz

Faculty Publications

Consumers' lack of warranty remedies prompted Congress to enact the 2000 Manufactured Housing Improvement Act (MHIA). Under the Act, the Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must develop a program for resolving MH warranty disputes by the end of 2005. This article provides input regarding that program. It also calls for broader protection of procedural fairness in arbitration of disputes regarding warranties for mobile or manufactured homes (referred to in the article as MHs for ease of reference). Although HUD's program aims to create a process for resolving warranty disputes among manufacturers, dealers and installers, this article proposes that …

State Sentencing Policy And New Prison Admissions, Ben L. Trachtenberg

Faculty Publications

As the academy's focus has turned to sentencing in the wake of Blakely v. Washington and United States v. Booker, most commentators have continued their benign neglect of actual sentencing practices as they occur in state courts, not to mention whether and how such policies are effective in achieving the goals of criminal justice.This note examines trends in state sentencing policies and prison populations from the perspective of a would-be state reformer hoping to decrease her state's prison budget. Economic pressures, efficiency arguments, and social justice claims have combined to cause some states to desire lower prison populations, but few …