Digital Commons Network^™

Richard Rorty's Map Of Political Misreading, Shaun Kenan King

LSU Master's Theses

For more than a quarter century, Richard Rorty was one of the most controversial writers. Critics of Rorty have often clustered their remarks around distinct themes within Rorty’s body of literature. Is Rorty’s criticism of the correspondence theory of truth valid and what standard of validity could confirm that? Does Rorty’s treatment of pragmatists such as William James and John Dewey accurately reflect their writings? Is Rorty’s brand of liberalism defensible when it assumes no non-circular form of justification can be proffered? These are the questions most often addressed by Rorty’s critics. He responded to their objections for two decades. …

Predictors Of Social Support Provided To Smokers, Diana Williams Stewart

LSU Master's Theses

Over 20% of adults in the U.S. presently smoke cigarettes. The highest rates (28.5%) are among 18-24 year-olds. Therefore, cessation interventions targeting young adults are needed. Cessation efforts and maintained abstinence in smokers have been associated with positive social support from others (i.e., “support persons”) throughout the cessation process. Support persons' attributions about smokers may affect the consistency and amount of support they provide to a smoker during a cessation attempt. The present investigation addressed the relationship between support persons' attribution style and the quality and quantity of support they provided to smokers. College students (N=244) were asked to identify …

A Comparison Of The Moral Development Of Advertising And Journalism Students, Stephanie Marino

LSU Master's Theses

This study employed the Defining Issues Test (DIT) to complete the analysis and comparison of the moral development of mass communication students, specifically those who major in advertising and journalism. The DIT is an instrument based on Kohlberg’s moral development theory and is a device for assessing the extent to which a person has developed his or her moral schemas. Results indicate no statistically significant difference in levels of moral development between sampled students majoring in journalism and advertising; no difference in levels of moral development between students who have and have not completed a course in media ethics; and …

The Relationship Between Early Cumulative Caregiver Sensitivity And Children's Later Self-Perception Of Cognitive Competence And Cognitive Performance, Jenna Rae Watson

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between children’s experiences of caregiver sensitivity during the first three years of their life and their later self-perceptions of cognitive competence and cognitive performance. Caregiver sensitivity was measured using data that had been collected with the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS, Arnett, 1989) during an earlier longitudinal study, the Baton Rouge Early Care Study (BRECES; Pierce & Benedict, 2007). Measures of cognitive competence were derived using the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children (Harter & Pike, 1984) and measures of cognitive performance were derived using the …

The Effects Of Community Violence Exposure On Children Affected By Hurricane Katrina, Audrey Baumeister

LSU Master's Theses

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most disastrous natural occurrences to ever hit the United States. It is known that increased adjustment difficulties have been found among children following a disaster. Further, community violence exposure has been linked to several areas of negative psychological functioning including PTSD, depression, and anxiety. This study examines the predictive value of level of exposure to the hurricane, level of community violence exposure, and gender, in examining PTSD symptomatology following Hurricane Katrina. Participants were 230 mother-child dyads recruited from various public and private elementary and middle schools within Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, and East Baton …

Predicting Conduct Problems In Youth: The Moderating Effects Of Hurricane Katrina, Julia F. Vigna

LSU Master's Theses

This study explored the moderating effects of disaster exposure on the relationships between youth conduct problems and a variety of risk and protective factors in a low-income population. Specifically, the study tests the moderating roles of hurricane-related life-threatening events and loss/disruption on the relations between conduct problems and violence exposure, social support, parenting behaviors, and family routines, respectively. This study draws data from an existing dataset, comprised of 281 displaced mother-child dyads from New Orleans and 98 non-displaced mother-child dyads from Baton Rouge, a city approximately 85 miles west of New Orleans. It was predicted that heightened conduct problems would …

Neuropsychological Performance And Dementia Symptoms In A Hiv Positive Population, Kathleen E. Kendra

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an infectious disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which affects millions of individuals worldwide. This syndrome is associated with many medical complications. Fortunately, patients with HIV and AIDS have longer life expectancy than in past decades with HIV and AIDS; however, the risk of cognitive impairment is greater in this population. Identification of dementia due to HIV/AIDS by health care professionals is hampered by the unclear relationship between cognitive functioning and HIV-related health status in the HIV/AIDS research literature. For the current study, individuals with HIV/AIDS who are symptomatic with infection but do …

The Effects Of Food Deprivation On Caffeine And Food Reinforcement In Females, Lauren Baillie

LSU Master's Theses

This study examined the reinforcing value of caffeine and food in a sample of 14 normal-weight females who indicated some degree of dietary restraint, and consumed caffeine daily. Eligible individuals participated in two sessions, one of which required a 24-hour fast. During both sessions, participants completed measures assessing caffeine withdrawal symptoms, urge to drink caffeine, hunger, and a multiple-choice questionnaire (MCQ) requiring them to earn points towards either snack foods or caffeinated beverages. There were no significant differences between the fasting and non-fasting conditions on MCQ scores, though the means were in the predicted direction (i.e., participants appeared to work …

Message Framing And Interactivity In Direct-To-Consumer Internet Advertisements: Visual And Textual Cues On Web Sites For Prescription Medications, Brooke Alayne Harrington

LSU Master's Theses

Americans’ adoption of the Internet has spawned the increased usage of this medium for direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical manufacturers, despite the widespread controversy over the ethics of the practice, the educational value of direct-to-consumer advertising, and the ultimate cost of the practices to the public. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates the industry’s advertising within traditional media, the agency does not yet impose standards for direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medications on the Internet. This content analysis of the visual and textual cues of 100 direct-to-consumer Web sites for prescription medications identifies the unexpected strong presence of gain frames …

Comparisons Of Bacterial Community Within The Abdomens Of Formosan Subterranean Termites, Fresh- And Alcohol-Stored, From Their Native (China) And Introduced (U.S.) Range, Huei-Yang Ho

LSU Master's Theses

The Formosan subterranean termite (FST), a pest species native to China and introduced to the U.S., is obligatorily dependent on its gut microbiota. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the effects of long-term alcohol storage and geographic location on the bacteria composition of the FST colonies were investigated. Initial studies found the use of amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) to be unpractical due to its higher costs compared to the direct sequencing of 16S rRNA gene sequences. Using nine FST colonies consisting of fresh and alcohol-stored Lousiana FST colonies and alcohol-stored China FST colonies, 237 bacteria ribotypes were identified …

Hierarchical Linear Modeling Against The "Gold Standard" Of Visual Analysis In Single-Subject Design, Elizabeth S, Godbold

LSU Master's Theses

Visual analysis is the “Gold Standard” for single-subject data because of two assumptions: a low Type I error rate and consistency across raters. However, research has shown it less reliable and accurate than desired. Autocorrelation, variability, trend, lack of obvious mean shift, and differences in the physical presentation of graphs contribute to inconsistencies and higher error rates. Statistical analysis has been advocated as a judgmental aid to visual analysis, but an appropriate statistic has not been found. In the present study, the accuracy of Hierarchical Linear Modeling was compared to raters’ visual analysis of previously published data using Receiver Operating …

An Evaluation Of The Perceived Obstacles For Policy Officials Regulating The Post Harvest Treatment Of Raw Oysters To Control The Human Health Vibrio Vulnificus Problem, Amy Leah Oestringer

LSU Master's Theses

Vibrio vulnificus is the leading pathogen linked to seafood-associated deaths. This naturally occurring marine bacterium presents a human health risk when it is consumed in raw oysters. Hospitalization is necessary in 90 % Vibrio vulnificus illnesses and 40% end in death. (CDC) Several guidelines and regulations have been enacted to combat this human health issue, but have failed to reduce the steadily rising illness rate. Post-harvest processing requirements for raw oysters could be used to reduce illness rates. A survey was conducted to measure the perceived obstacles that regulators and industry representatives of the raw oyster industry face in policymaking …

All The President's Lawyers: How To Avoid Another "Torture Opinion" Debacle, Dawn E. Johnsen

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Hispanic Citizenship, Registration, And Voting Patterns: A Comparative Analysis Of The 2000 And 2004 Presidential Elections, Debora Upegui

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines citizenship, registration, and voting patterns among Latinos in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: There is no doubt that the Hispanic population in the United States has consistently grown in the last two decades and continues to be the largest growing minority group within the United States. According to the 2004 census, …

Locke On Consciousness, Angela M. Coventry, Uriah Kriegel

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Locke’s theory of consciousness is often appropriated as a forerunner of present-day Higher-Order Perception (HOP) theories, but not much is said about it beyond that. We offer an interpretation of Locke’s account of consciousness that portrays it as crucially different from current-day HOP theory, both in detail and in spirit. In this paper, it is argued that there are good historical and philosophical reasons to attribute to Locke the view not that conscious states are accompanied by higher-order perceptions, but rather that conscious states constitute perceptions of themselves.

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: Wim Wiewel takes the helm at Portland State University; faculty research is going from ideas to something the public can use; Dark Horse Comics’ full collection is on the shelves in the PSU Library; and more.

Language Endangerment In West Africa: Its Victims And Causes, George Tucker Childs

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper catalogues the forces at work threatening the Atlantic languages of Guinea and Sierra Leone. Compared to Mande, the other major language group in the area, and to figures for Africa in general (Sommer 1992), the Atlantic Group is beset by ominous forces. These include what could be considered ecological features (e.g., Mufwene 2001): the Mande Expansion (Niane 1989), colonialism, the spread of Islam, and globalization. There are other forces to be sure, such as the influence of Christian missions (Welmers 1971; cf. Mühlhäusler 1990), urbanization (a sub-category, perhaps, of globalization), and climatic changes (Brooks 1993, Fairhead and Leach …

Imagine 82nd, Jamison Kelleher, Sue Lewis, Daniel Pauly, Steven L. Szigethy, Kenya D. Williams

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Imagine 82nd is a corridor vision plan for NE 82nd Avenue of Roses between the Banfield Expressway and Sandy Boulevard. Based on a community-driven process, it describes and illustrates what the avenue can be, envisioned by those who live, work, and go to school there. This project was conducted under the supervision of Sy Adler and Ethan Seltzer.

A Conversation On Theodicy, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

The following is a dialog, published in The Global Spiral, January 9, 2008, about the idea of a systems-theoretic 'secular theodicy,' discussed in the author's "Towards an Ontology of Problems," "Understanding lmperfection," and (exemplified in a preliminary way in) "Incompleteness, Negation, and Hazard: On the Precariousness of Systems." The dialog was inspired by Susan Neiman's Evil in Modem Thought: An Alternative History of Philosophy, Princeton University Press, 2002.

Epistemological Pluralism: Reorganizing Interdisciplinary Research, Thaddeus R. Miller, Timothy D. Baird, Caitlin M. Littlefield, Gary Kofinas, F. Stuart Chapin Iii, Charles L. Redman

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite progress in interdisciplinary research, difficulties remain. In this paper, we argue that scholars, educators, and practitioners need to critically rethink the ways in which interdisciplinary research and training are conducted. We present epistemological pluralism as an approach for conducting innovative, collaborative research and study. Epistemological pluralism recognizes that, in any given research context, there may be several valuable ways of knowing, and that accommodating this plurality can lead to more successful integrated study. This approach is particularly useful in the study and management of social–ecological systems. Through resilience theory's adaptive cycle, we demonstrate how a focus on epistemological pluralism …

Psychological Detachment As A Moderator In Work-Family Conflict Relationships, Lauren Ann Murphy

Dissertations and Theses

Psychological detachment from work during off-job time has great significance in the field of Occupational Health Psychology because it affects the process of work recovery. Recovery from work helps people to achieve a work-life balance that leads to psychological health and general well-being.

Utilization Of Revoicing Based On Learners‘ Thinking In An Inquiry-Oriented Differential Equations Class, Oh Kwon Nam, Mi Kyung Ju, Chris Rasmussen, Karen A. Marrongelle, Jae Hee Park, Kyoung Hee Cho, Jung Sook Park, Jee Hyun Park

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Researchers of mathematics education are increasingly interested in a teacher's discursive moves, which refer to deliberate actions taken by a teacher to participate in or influence debate and discussion in the mathematics classroom. This study explored one teacher's discursive moves in an undergraduate inquiry-oriented mathematics class. The data for this study come from four class sessions in which students investigated initial value problems as represented by the phase portrait of a system of differential equations. Through the analysis and a review of the literature, we identified four categories of a teacher's discursive moves: revoicing, questioning/requesting, telling, and managing. This report …

Web 2.0, Synthetic Immersive Environments, And Mobile Resources For Language Education, Julie M. Sykes, Ana Oskoz, Steven L. Thorne

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

In light of the increasingly blurred line between mediated and nonmediated contexts for social, professional, and educational purposes, attention to the presence and use of innovative digital media is critical to the consideration of the future of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). This article reviews current trends in the use of mediated communication and offers a vision for near-future second and foreign language (L2) learning that utilizes emerging media as (a) meaningful contexts for L2 language development and (b) a means for adding real world relevance to in-class uses of internet-mediated communication tools. In this article, we first explore a sampling …

The Impact Of A Minority Orientation Program On First-Year African American Students, Matthew S. Brown

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a minority orientation program on the social adjustment and retention rates of first-year African American students at a predominantly European American university. A cluster sampling technique was used to identify two groups of students. One group participated in a supplemental orientation program for African American students while the other group did not participate. Students included in the study were asked to complete the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) which provided data on social adjustment. Enrollment information from the university registrar was utilized to provide data on credit hours. …

The Impact Of The Facilitated Individualizededucation Program Training On Case Conference Meetings, Marsha Anne Bialaszewski

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a program for improving facilitation skills of case conference coordinators during individualizedEducation program meetings throughout the state of Indiana. The population of the study included case conference coordinators within the state of Indiana who have been trained in the Facilitated IndividualizedEducation Program (FIEP) process, and case conference coordinators from the state of Indiana who have not been trained in the FIEP process. The case conference coordinators included administrators from all levels, specialEducation directors, and other educators who were determined to be case conference coordinators by their respective school districts. Research questions …

The Transcendental Dimension Of Phenomenology, Sebastian Luft

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

This short text to follow is an attempt at philosophizing "free-style"; an attempt, that is, which does not concern itself with much recourse to primary or secondary literature. Hence, references to texts by the philosophers mentioned here are kept to a minimum. The purpose of this text, instead, is to initiate a "fundamental reflection", as one could call it, on the nature of phenomenology. May the reader indulge me in this free-styling activity, and I would welcome equally unburdened responses.

Influences Of Maternal Corticosterone On Incubation Length And Hatchability Of Eggs Laid By Quail Hens Selected For Divergent Adrenocortical Stress Responsiveness, Jason Berante' Schmidt

LSU Master's Theses

Unstressed and stressed quail hens selected for exaggerated (HS, high stress) rather than reduced (LS, low stress) plasma corticosterone (B) response to brief restraint deposit more B into their eggs than do their LS hen counterparts. HS hens implanted with B also show reduced egg lay when compared to LS- and HS-control and LS-B-implanted hens. Herein, the effects of stress line on length of egg incubation (LEI) and chick body weight at emergence (BWTE) (Exp. 1) and the interactive influences of line with maternal B-treatment (sub-Q control, CON-, or B-implants) on LEI (Exp. 2) and on egg fertility (FERT), total …

Daily Record, Jacques Pierre Gasquet

LSU Master's Theses

The paintings in this master’s thesis exhibition represent my daily encounters over the past three years. The hurricanes of 2005 made me realize how nature can be ugly and destructive one day and peaceful and beautiful the next. My paintings are abstractions of imagery representing the disrupted landscapes and personal obstacles left behind by the storms, along with my optimistic vision of a harmonious world. I describe my experiences through the search for a delicate sense of balance that excites and then quiets the mind. The painting is created through an intense interaction between me, the materials and the surface, …

Examining The Effects Of Non-Intensive Therapy On Word Retrieval, Apraxic Errors And Quality Of Life Following Intensive Therapy, Erin Lofton Cain

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if given a period of intensive aphasia therapy a patient diagnosed with aphasia and an accompanying apraxia would maintain, gain, or lose skills during non-intensive therapy. A literature review revealed that intensive therapy has been shown to increase a patient's skill level in various areas. However, very little research was found that focused on how these patients' perform when reintroduced to typical aphasia therapy. This study proposed three specific questions: if the participant would retain her current level of word retrieval functioning evident after intensive therapy, if the participant would retain her …

Managing California's Fiscal Roller Coaster, David Gamage

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article analyzes the causes of California's budget crises and prescribes institutional mechanisms for improving California's budgetary management.