Digital Commons Network^™

Drinking Water Issues In The Pacific Northwest, Robert L. Mahler, Robert Simmons, Fred Sorensen

Journal of Extension

This article contains drinking water information from a region-wide survey designed to collect base line data about water issues in the Pacific Northwest. The major findings were: (1) over 90% of survey respondents feel that their home drinking water is safe for consumption, (2) minerals were the most often cited pollutants in drinking water supplies, (3) approximately 25% of residents have installed filters on their sink faucets to improve water quality, and (4) over 25% of residents use bottled water for drinking purposes. These survey results will be used to develop relevant drinking water educational programs for citizens of the …

Restoring The Chesapeake--A Watershed Education And Restoration Project For Virginia Youth, Jeffrey L. Kirwan, Mary Elizabeth Williams, Matthew L. Kirwan

Journal of Extension

A watershed education and restoration project was started in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in 2002. Over 37,000 hardwood seedlings were distributed to school groups and 4-H leaders in 19 counties. A geographic information system (GIS) identified subwatersheds in greatest need of riparian restoration. A Web site provided educational material and facilitated communication. Results indicate 3 years are needed to develop partnerships necessary for large-scale projects such as this one. Hands-on activities like planting trees result in large knowledge gains. Use of land-use maps and a Web site also result in knowledge gain about watersheds

The Pesticide Notification Network: An E-Source For Agriculture, Jane M. Thomas, Catherine Daniels

Journal of Extension

The Pesticide Notification Network (PNN) is WSU's unique way of distributing information about changes in pesticide registration to the agricultural community. The PNN uses a Web-based computer program to build a targeted distribution list for each notification and then distributes the notifications via e-mail. PNN users tailor their subscriptions by both crop and pesticide type. Using the PNN's capabilities, a tree fruit entomologist can elect to only receive notifications about insecticides for use on tree fruit, while the Washington Hop Commission receives every hop-related PNN notification. Using programming capabilities the PNN distributes the right information to the right people.

Intensity Weighted Ranking: A Methodology For Understanding What Clients Tell Us, Natalie Carroll, Stephen Lovejoy

Journal of Extension

Although rank ordering of issues for needs assessment provides some information, this method does not capture the intensity of respondents concerns. This article presents a method of going beyond rank ordering to study both the intensity of response and uncover priorities for more than a few aggregated issues. Results from a survey of attendees of the Indiana State fair are utilized to illustrate the methodology.

Polling Your Audience With Wireless Technology, Cole Gustafson, Laurence Crane

Journal of Extension

New audience response systems have number of unique qualities that are particularly well suited to Extension, especially economic and policy workshops. They preserve anonymity, can be used in a manner that is more comfortable for participants, and enable discussion of sensitive personal and policy information. This article provides an overview of the technology, discusses unique applications for Extension, and reviews its use in a recent farm business planning workshop. The technology enabled tailoring of the workshop to participants' interests and facilitated discussion of minority views.

Roads Scholar Tours: A Marketing Tool For Building Strong Campus/Community Relationships, Deborah J. Maddy, Jean A. Stilwell

Journal of Extension

Roads Scholar Tours are a marketing tool guaranteed to build strong campus/community relationships for any land-grant university. The tours give campus-bound colleagues an opportunity to actively engage with Extension faculty and staff, volunteers, learners, and community leaders. Over the years, the tours have earned prestige through the selective nature of the invitation and the high quality experience. Scholars report 1) increased understanding of Extension's vision, mission and values, and 2) incorporation of what they learned about Extension into their campus assignments.

Determinants Of Intra-Day Stock Price Change And Asymmetric Information, Christopher Hian Ann Ting

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper presents a synthesized model of asymmetric information. An empirical analysis of more than 1,400 NYSE common stocks shows that trade direction is more important than volume in revealing the asymmetry. There is also evidence to suggest that signed duration reflects informed trading activity. We use the proposed measure of information asymmetry to study daily changes in the level of informed trading and find that earnings announcements narrow the information gap between the informed and the uninformed. On average, information asymmetry is largest at the beginning of the trading day and it decreases monotonically toward the closing bell. More …

Using Community Service Projects To Teach Leadership And Team-Building: Theoretical Foundations, Students' Reactions And Practical Considerations, Gilbert Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper discusses the theoretical foundations of utilizing Community Service Project (CSP) or service-learning to teach Leadership and Team-Building. It examines the students’ reactions to this innovative method of instruction. This is done through conducting a content analysis of students’ learning journals, in which students reflect on their CSP learning experiences. Two themes emerged from the data: (a) variety of learning experiences, and (b) impact of CSP experience. The data suggested that students derived a variety of learning experiences from the CSP. In addition, there were attitudinal and learning impacts associated with the CSP experiences. The paper also outlines some …

Online Price Behavior And Ebay's Price Advantage, Justin M. Carriere

Theses and Dissertations

EBay is one of the world's most popular auction websites. Millions of buyers and sellers use eBay as a medium for e-commerce everyday. In this paper I will explain that one of the primary reasons for the success of this company is the perception that on average, eBay offers the best price between any two new like kind products. There are many factors that effect prices online and offline. Online purchasing and transaction behavior play a large roll in the actual prices that can be charged. Traditional retail establishments (retail establishments that have a physical location) have historically been the …

Mercury Oxidation By Chlorine-Containing Species And Scrubbing In A Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization System, Yongxin Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

This research is particularly related to mercury control technologies. The state of the art in mercury emission control is generally classified into two categories: Mercury Transformation and Mercury Capture. In this research, two chapters (3 & 4) are specifically related to mercury transformation and another two (5 & 6) are related to mercury capture.

Chapter 3 investigates the capabilities of HCI and CU on Hg° oxidation. The resulting data indicated that both were effective in the combustor. However, HCI was less effective in a quartz reactor. Subsequently, the inhibitory effects of NO and S02 were identified in the quartz reactor. …

The Impossibility Of Negation: Punk Rock, Christian Rock, And The Problem Of Negationist Subculture, Brian James Schill

Theses and Dissertations

Both the punk rock end Christian rock music subcultures have been the subject of analyses that cast them in “negationist” terms-as groups critically opposed to popular/secular culture. Despite their categorization of these music genres as antitheses, however, no analysis has gone so far as to read them specifically in the context of German philosopher GAV.F. Hegel whose dialectical model systematized the opposition of thesis and antithesis. Moreover, no analysis has juxtaposed the two suspiciously similar subcultures in dialectical terms, and theorized them in terms of their documented opposition to each other. Such is the goal of this thesis.

Therefore, beginning …

From “Separate But Equal,” To Tracking To “Choice”: Perceptions Of Different Stakeholders On The Impact Of Magnet Schools On High School Students, Minerva Medrano Villarreal

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this research was to examine and compare the impact of magnet-vocational high schools on the perceptions of seniors from the magnet schools and on those from the comprehensive/host schools. Additionally, the study examined the perceptions that several stakeholders of those schools and of the services and opportunities presented to the students were also investigated. Finally, the perceptions or parents were also investigated.

The Mixed-Methods Design study used several instruments as the primary sources of self-reported data: school district course listing guides, annual progress reports, official district Web sites and literature about district magnet schools. The second component …

Producing “The Diary Of Anne Frank” In The 21St Century, Nancy Camina

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis is a Creative Study involving the directing of The Diary of Anne Frank . Three basic areas are addressed: Preplanning, Production and Evaluation. The Preplanning chapter entails discovering every aspect of the play through an external an internal analysis of the script. The external analysis examines various historical events that preceded and are concurrent to the action of the play. The internal analysis looks at various elements within the play that may be unfamiliar to both the actors and the audience. The production chapter details every phase involved in producing the play. The last chapter, Evaluation, uses both …

Potential Effects Of Aggressive Videogames On Young Adult’S Behavior And Physiology, Kent David Smallwood

Masters Theses

Each year, interactive technology becomes more and more advanced, offering more lifelike environments, immersive experiences, and realistic situations. Additionally, the videogame industry has over doubled in size in less than ten years, now rivaling the box office industry. However, technological advances have quickly outpaced our understanding of the effects of certain types of adult content on the game player. To date, the majority of the research on the topic was conducted before the games themselves were technologically advanced enough to draw meaningful conclusions; the few studies conducted in the last few years, while offering promising methodological advancements from previous work, …

"Far, Fast, And Fashionable": American Women Swimmers And Their Swimwear In 1920s And 1930s Sport And Consumer Culture, Elizabeth A. Zanoni

Masters Theses

This thesis examines American aquatic stars of public acclaim as displayers of clothing, and how their changing swimwear shaped the debate over physical culture, femininity, modesty, and gender roles in sport and consumer culture during the 1920s and 1930s. Performing in shortened, functional athletic attire, leading swimmers and divers conveyed cultural messages about athleticism and femininity through their athletic accomplishments and their multiple representations of the female body clothed in swimming attire. It also considers how these female aquatic luminaries, in a sphere traditionally defined as male, shaped American culture by providing a public platform from which the entire sporting …

Perceptions Of Selected Public And Non-Public School Parents About School In Two North Dakota Cities, Thaines Arulandu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of public and non-public school parents about school choice in two North Dakota cities. Data were gathered through a survey questionnaire administered to randomly selected public and non-public school parents in Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota. Factor analysis reduced the perceptions of parents to four independent variables, income, education, ethnicity, and employment of parents. Perceptions of parents were studied on 16 issues related to school choice as dependent variables. The data analysis answered the following research questions: What are the perceptions of public and non-public school parents about school …

The Effects Of Feedback On Hourly Pay And Individual Monetary Incentives, Douglas A. Johnson

Masters Theses

The effects of performance feedback when individuals received fixed or individual incentive pay were examined. A 2 X 2 factorial design was used with approximately 30 college students in each group. Participants attended six experimental sessions. They entered the cash value of simulated bank checks presented on a computer screen. Monetary incentives increased the number of correctly completed checks (p = .000); however feedback had no effect (p = .825). Time spent working and rate of performance correlated strongly with the number of checks completed correctly, suggesting that both influenced the checks completed correctly. The results suggest that incentives increase …

The Journey Of A Social Movement: A Glimpse Into Hizb 'Allah And Its Integration Into The Lebanese Landscape, Lisa L. Peters

Masters Theses

Historically, research in Social Movement Theories has been limited to only certain aspects of a social movement, whether it was the impetus of the movement, explaining the reasons for its mobilization, how they recruit members and money, how social movements are able to function as an organization, or why groups suffer demise after flourishing for a period of time. This research attempts to build a framework of a particular social movement, Hizb'allah, a Shi'a Islamic movement based in Lebanon. This framework is built by extracting various elements from several social movement theories to explain and illustrate this movement's life course …

A Model Of The Natural Spread Of The Invasive Insect Species Emerald Ash Borer In The Lower Peninsula Of Michigan, Jennifer L. Weller

Masters Theses

More than 8 million ash trees in southeast Michigan have been killed by an infestation of the invasive insect species emerald ash borer (EAB). Since its identification in July 2002, EAB has been found in Ontario (Canada), Ohio, Indiana, and across Michigan. To date, EAB research has concentrated on the entomological classification and no systematic prediction of the pest's diffusion has been made.

This research presents a predictive model for the spread of EAB across the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Limited data on ash tree population distribution, ·. infestation distribution, and the dispersal rate of the emerald ash borer required …

Campus Chronicle (Vol. 8, No. 16), Valparaiso University

Campus Chronicle

No abstract provided.

A Cross-Cultural Study Of Hearing And Hearing-Impaired Children’S Human Figure Drawings, Chia-Liang Timothy Hu

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to further the research of human figure drawings as useful assessment tools and add to the understanding of children’s human figure drawings from a cross-cultural perspective.

In this quantitative study, 147 human figure drawings made by 59 hearing and 64 hearing-impaired Taiwanese children and 24 hearing-impaired American children were collected. In addition, 50 drawings done by hearing American children were randomly chosen from the children’s drawing database of Eastern Virginia Medical School Graduate Art Therapy Program. Five Formal Elements Art Therapy Scales (FEATS) scales were modified for use with human figure drawings and were …

Organic Poultry Production And Forage Digestibility, Nancy P. Buchanan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current experiments were conducted to evaluate organic poultry production and the digestibility of organic feeds and pasture forages. A performance study was conducted to determine the effect of exogenous non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) enzyme supplementation on the performance and carcass characteristics of organically-reared broiler chickens. The addition of an exogenous NSP enzyme cocktail improved the performance and carcass characteristics of organically-reared broilers given access to pasture only in spring months. Pasture forages may contribute digestible nutrients to poultry; however, this contribution has not been evaluated in past research. A digestibility study was conducted to determine the nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy …

Parents' Perceptions Of The Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet For Their Children With Autism, Annette Puglisi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examined the factors that affected parent's decision for putting their autistic children on a gluten free casein free diet (gfcf diet). Parents completed a fifteen question survey relating to multiple factors affecting their lives while having their children on a gfcf diet. In addition, parents were asked to fill out a three day diet history for their child for a nutrient analysis.;Fifty three surveys (21%) and ten diet histories were returned. The majority of parents first heard of the gfcf diet either on the Internet (28%) or from Parent Magazine (32%). Desperation (25%) was the main reason parents …

Culvert Inventory And Effects On Fish Assemblages In A Central Appalachian Watershed, Ira O. Poplar-Jeffers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

We surveyed 120 state-owned culverts within the upper Cheat River basin, West Virginia, and used a fish passage evaluation filter to quantify passage barriers. We quantified the length of stream and weighted potential brook trout recruitment area isolated by each culvert. We also sampled fish communities upstream and downstream of 24 culverts to quantify the impacts of culvert-related isolation on fish assemblages. We found 69% of culverts to be completely impassable. We determined that 17% of the stream length and 23% of weighted potential recruitment area in the study area were isolated by impassable culverts. We found that impassable culverts …

Psychosocial Moderators In The Relation Between Cd4 Count And Physical Symptoms Among African American Women With Hiv, Cara F. O'Connell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current study examined the link between immune functioning (CD4 count) and physical symptoms, as well as the moderating role of optimism and depressive symptoms, in a sample of 99 low income, inner city African American women with HIV. Although there was no main effect of CD4 count on physical symptoms, depressive symptoms moderated the association between CD4 count and physical symptoms. More compromised immune functioning (lower CD4 count) was associated with more physical symptoms under conditions of higher levels of depressive symptoms, but not lower levels of depressive symptoms. This finding was observed using both a self-report measure and …

Development Of A Vehicle Road Load Model For Ecu Broadcast Power Verification In On-Road Emissions Testing, Nathan A. Moynahan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

West Virginia University (WVU) has become an industry leader in heavy-duty emissions testing and is continuously improving and updating their testing goals, procedures, and quality. As emissions testing is conducted at WVU in a real-world, on-road environment, engine parameter values are read through the test vehicle's electronic control unit (ECU) and recorded for use in data reductions. One significant value that is recorded by the WVU emissions measurement system is the ECU engine power output. Theses values are recorded and used to report vehicle's brake specific emissions values over a prescribed open-road test route. Because of the fact that the …

Characterization Of Web Server Workload, Amit Sangle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Realistic and formal mathematical description of web-server workload forms a fundamental step in the design of synthetic workload generators, capacity planning and accurate predictions of performance measures. In this thesis we perform detailed empirical analysis of the web workload by analyzing access logs of nine web-servers. Unlike most previous work that focused on request-based workload characterization, we analyze both request and session characteristics. We perform rigorous statistical analysis to determine the self-similarity of web traffic and heavy-tailedness of the distribution of different session parameters. Our analysis shows that web traffic is self-similar and the degree of self-similarity is proportional to …

Software Tools For Real-Time Simulation And Control, Raghu Sankarayogi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objective of this thesis is to design and simulate a multi-agent based energy management system for a shipboard power system in hard real-time environment. The automatic reconfiguration of shipboard power systems is essential to improve survivability. Multi-agent technology is used in designing the reconfigurable energy management system using a self-stabilizing maximum flow algorithm. The agent based energy management system is designed in a Matlab/Simulink environment. Reconfiguration is performed for several situations including start-up, loss of an agent, limited available power, and distribution to priority ranked loads. The number of steps taken to reach the global solution and the time …

Tempest In A Teapot Or Tidal Wave - Cybersquatting Rights And Remedies Run Amok, H. Brian Holland

Faculty Scholarship

The conflict at the heart of cybersquatting is in many ways conceptual. To most of its early inhabitants, the Internet embodied a separate and distinct environment --a territory unto itself. As such, it was thought the online world would stand separate from existing governmental power structures premised on the idea of territorial sovereignty. This separateness placed online actors theoretically beyond the authority of established legal systems, whose validity appeared limited by territorial boundaries and the sovereign-subject relationships occurring in the off-line world. Indeed, what many envisioned was an opportunity to create a self-regulating community existing within the "territory" of the …

Exploring Career Satisfaction, Burnout, And Compassion Fatigue As Indicators Of The Quality Of Career Engagement Of Public School Educators, Beth Colleen Robinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study explored the experiences of career satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue in public school educators working with students in Primary/Kindergarten through grade 12 in schools in Nova Scotia and West Virginia. The research participants included 184 teachers, counselors, and administrators employed by the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board in Nova Scotia and Monongalia County Board of Education in West Virginia. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing the constructs of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue that have been conceptualized in this study as indicators of healthy career engagement, career disengagement, and career overengagement, respectively. Participants also responded to a demographic …