Digital Commons Network^™

The Financial Literacy Of University Students: A Comparison Of Graduating Seniors‟ Financial Literacy And Debt Level, Vandeen M. Mckenzie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The level of university students' financial literacy has been discussed in Congress, opinion pieces in the media and the increasing level of student debt has been used to suggest their financial illiteracy. This study investigated the financial literacy of graduating university seniors by comparing their financial literacy level with their debt level. The difference in financial literacy levels of business majors, minors and non-business majors was assessed. The relationship between graduating university seniors' financial literacy level and their credit card and student loan debt was also reviewed. Gender, employment status, ethnicity, family income and college major were similarly examined to …

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 …

Data Acquisition For Modeling And Visualization Of Vascular Tree, William Lafayette Mondy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Data can be acquired from tissue's vascular structure and used for modeling and visualization. To acquire data from a vascular tree, we make its structure available for the gathering of data by separating it from the structures of surrounding tissues, which includes the capillary structure. The capillary structure contains important information, but, because of its size, is the most difficult to acquire data from. In this work, we look at methods for contrasting the vascular structure from surrounding tissues, and focus on the use of corrosion casting for this procedure. We collected image data using micro-computer tomography (micro-CT) and converted …

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, …

Devised Architecture: Revitalizing The Mundane, Jason Novisk

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In today's society, we view new as good, a universal standpoint that has become so commonly accepted as true, that to question it would be absurd. While many new items are an upgrade over their predecessor, it is important to understand that used items still retain a high amount of value and efficacy. Our landscape is filled with the mundane, industrial elements that surround us, yet due to our familiarity with them they are pushed to the background of our consciousness. However their commonplace should not mask their true potential value. By using what is already there before us, we …

Exploring Efficient Design Approaches For Display Of Multidimensional Data To Facilitate Interpretation Of Information, Chitra S. Pathiavadi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prescriptions for effective display of quantitative information involving more than two variables are not available. To explore the effectiveness of retinal variables in facilitating the interpretation of information and decision making when used in conjunction, a study with 135 participants was conducted. The study involved the use of color shape, color value, and value shape as retinal variables in interactive displays that required participants to answer nine questions in three levels of complexity (identification of data points, analyses of local comparisons and global trends). Time-on-task scores and performance scores were measured. In addition, a View Clamp eye tracker system was …

Prevalence And Influence On Quality Of Life Of Symptoms Caused By Inhaled Odors, Chemicals And Irritants: A Comparison Between Hispanics And Americans, Carmen Perez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Efforts to estimate the population prevalence of chemical sensitivities have been limited and have yielded different estimates of the prevalence of affected individuals. Researchers recognize that people differ in their biological susceptibility to environmental contaminants as well as the amount of contaminant to which they are potentially exposed. Lack of information on the population prevalence of people, who report sensitivity to a chemical or many chemicals, as well as variables associated, has been recognized in previous studies (Kreutzer et al., 1999). In a more recent report, Berg et al., in 2007 reported the prevalence and consequences related to inhalation of …

Digital Holography Applications In Ophthalmology, Biometry, And Optical Trapping Characterization, Mariana Camelia Potcoava

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation combines various holographic techniques with application on the two- and three-dimensional imaging of ophthalmic tissue, fingerprints, and microsphere samples with micrometer resolution. Digital interference holography (DIH) uses scanned wavelengths to synthesize short-coherence interference tomographic images. We used DIH for in vitro imaging of human optic nerve head and retina. Tomographic images were produced by superposition of holograms. Holograms were obtained with a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 50 dB. Optic nerve head characteristics (shape, diameter, cup depth, and cup width) were quantified with a few micron resolution (4.06 -4.8 microns). Multiple layers were distinguishable in cross-sectional images of the …

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 …

For Neither Love Nor Money: Gender, Sexuality, And Tourism In Costa Rica, Ellen Puccia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Costa Rica has been a popular tourist destination for decades, and is currently the second largest industry in the country. With so many tourists coming into the country, Costa Rica provides a rich environment within which to examine sex tourism. Costa Rica is a known destination for male sex tourists hoping to experience legal prostitution or child prostitution. Although it is lesser known, female sex tourism also occurs in Costa Rica. Female sex tourism occurs in the form of pseudo-romantic relationships between female tourists and Costa Rican men working in the tourist industry. These people spend a great deal of …

Cocrystals Of Nutraceuticals: Protocatechuic Acid And Quercetin, Twarita Anil Pujari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The cocrystallization of two or more pure compounds by crystal engineering to create a new functional material is of a great academic and industrial interest. Pharmaceutical cocrystallization has allured a lot of attention by means of altering the physicochemical properties of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) such as solubility, stability and bioavailability. Crystal engineering of nutraceuticals can produce novel compounds such as pharmaceutical cocrystals. To establish the importance of nutraceutical cocrystallization and its use; polyphenols, a major class of nutraceuticals and potential disease preventing agents, are the appropriate targets. The work herein focuses on two polyphenols, protocatechuic acid and quercetin, which …

The Mashup As Resistance? A Critique Of Marxist Framing In The Digital Age, Adam Rugg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis critiques contemporary scholarly approaches to the modern musical mashup that rely on outdated and over-generalized Marxist frameworks. These frameworks stem from an Adornian view of the culture industries that places consumers and producers in distinct and opposing roles. The mashup is therefore seen as little more than a subversive weapon for a resistant consumer class in its fight against the hegemonic structure of the mass media. A case study of the prominent mashup artist Girl Talk is presented to illustrate how the mashup can actually function as a celebratory form and how modern technological advances have destabilized traditional …

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. …

The Effects Of Processing Instruction, Structured Input, And Visual Input Enhancement On The Acquisition Of The Subjunctive In Adjectival Clauses By Intermediate-Level Distance Learners Of Spanish, Victoria Russell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of processing instruction (PI) on the acquisition of the subjunctive in adjectival clauses by 92 intermediate-level distance learners of Spanish. PI is a novel instructional technique that is based on VanPatten's principles of input processing (1993, 1996, 2002, 2004), and it has three key components: (a) an explicit explanation of grammar that is not paradigmatic, (b) information on processing strategies, and (c) structured input tasks and activities. Structured input activities were isolated and combined with computerized visual input enhancement (VIE) in an attempt to increase the salience of targeted grammatical forms for web based delivery. …

The Importance Of Benthic Habitats As Reservoirs Of Persistent Fecal Indicator Bacteria, Brian D. Badgley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Enterococci are fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) that are used worldwide for water

quality assessment. However, evidence of high densities and extended survival of

enterococci in sediments and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) has caused uncertainty

about their reliability in predicting human health risks from recreational activities in

environmental waters. To address the concern that sediments and SAV may harbor large

reservoirs of enterococci that can affect water column concentrations, aquatic mesocosms

and environmental sampling were employed to investigate patterns of enterococci

densities and population structure across the Tampa Bay watershed.

In mesocosm experiments and environmental samples, SAV harbored higher

densities of …

Immigrant-Established Resident Interactions In Miami, Florida, Alex Stepick, Carol Dutton Stepick

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article examines factors that affect interethnic relations in Miami, Florida. The theoretical framework, based on the ‘contact hypothesis’ argues that better interethnic relations stem from not only contact, but also contact in which individuals from opposing groups share equal status and a stake in outcomes, and when contact activities require cooperation. The contact hypothesis, however, does not address the factors that produce inequality in social relations. To address these factors ideas from international migration research are used to argue that those with power must create structures in which other groups feel welcome rather than rejected and that leaders must …

No Vacancy, Rebecca Dann, Beth Somerfield, Emily Rice, Briana Meier

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Vacant lots and buildings, whether in stages of redevelopment or decline, are spaces in flux. Left unused, these empty spaces can pose difficult challenges for their owners and surrounding neighborhoods; however, the uncertain futures of vacant sites also present unique opportunities for a variety of temporary uses. In partnership with the Central Eastside Industrial Council, LocusLab is exploring the potential to enliven the Central Eastside Industrial District by activating vacant spaces with temporary activities and developments. We've worked to: uncover potential benefits of temporary use; find ways to overcome barriers faced by temporary projects; initiate a conversation between property owners, …

Neighborhood Climate Action Planning Handbook, Hannah Dondy-Kaplan, Erica Timm, Beth Cohen, Dyami Valentine, Mariah Vanzerr, Devin Moller

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The City of Portland and Multnomah County are developing new plans and policies to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals of 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. To meet these new steep reduction targets, actions will be needed at every level of society. While neighborhoods have historically received little attention as a means of addressing climate change, they are ideally suited to bring people together to bridge the gap between individual actions and higher level government policies. To help neighborhoods develop strategies and actions to address climate change, C-Change Consultants worked with the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition to create a Neighborhood …

Three Times A Study: Business Students And The Library, Heidi Senior, Kerry Wu, Diane M. Martin, Margaret Mellinger

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

Revisiting a study performed 30 years ago, researchers at three institutions surveyed undergraduate and graduate students in marketing courses to determine their attitudes toward and knowledge of library services and collections. Results found that 21st-century students are more likely to believe in the importance of library research, to have had library instruction, and to use Web sites and Internet search engines to begin their research. However, they are less likely to read business periodicals. Faced with a list of information sources, they are generally able to pick out a useful resource, although not always the most efficient. Implications for library …

Focal Point, Volume 23 Number 01, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

Stigmatization can result in exclusion of and discrimination against the stigmatized individual. This issue of Focal Point provides state-of-the-art information about stigmatization, its causes and consequences, and strategies and programs for alleviating it.

Training New Outdoor Program Managers: Recommendations Based On An Exploration Of The Management Beliefs And Practices Of Outdoor Program Managers, Travis Southworth-Neumeyer

Leadership for Sustainability Education Comprehensive Papers

This comprehensive project synthesizes the existing literature related to leading and managing outdoor programs and explores the beliefs and experiences of outdoor program managers with survey research. It defines the training needs of new outdoor program managers and suggests a potential evaluation and training needs assessment tool for new outdoor program managers.

‘Community’, Semiotic Flows, And Mediated Contribution To Activity, Steven L. Thorne

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article begins with an overview and problematization of the term community through a brief assessment of its history, diverse uses, core attributes, heterogeneous elements, and collocational companions. Following this, I describe demographics and processes associated with collective engagement in digitally mediated environments. Utilizing select alternatives to the term ‘community’ and incorporating the cultural-historical notions of mediation and activity, I then present research describing exogenous influences affecting educational uses of technology in L2 settings, the use of instant messaging and blogging for out-of-class FL interaction at the secondary school level, and a pedagogically focused example of a remixing text posted …

Book Publishing In Western Australia: A World Elsewhere, Per Henningsgaard

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article examines the role of book publishing outside the cultural centres, where the lack of access to the gatekeepers of cultural production, such as literary agents, editors and publishers, has inhibited both the publishers’ and region’s reach into the public imagination. It takes Western Australia as a case study, analysing the impact of geographical regionalism on the processes of book production and publication. Western Australia is infrequently represented in the cultural record, much less in those aspects of the cultural record that are transmitted overseas. This imbalance in ‘cultural currency’ arises because regions are at least in part defined …

Right Directions, Wrong Maps: Understanding The Involvement Of Low-Ses African American Parents To Enlist Them As Partners In College Choice, Michael J. Smith

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

While research extols the benefits of parent involvement in college choice, low SES African American parents are increasingly less able to match the efforts of wealthier parents. A qualitative methodology is used to explore the lives 5 urban African American single parents whose low-SES parents encouraged education for postsecondary advancement. The study found that the high school diploma was the normative credential for upward mobility in their communities. Their parents used narratives of struggle to encourage their children while utilizing maps that helped navigate the road towards a high school diploma. It concludes that a high level of involvement already …

The Coffee House Classroom: The Difference Between Student And Faculty Perceptions Of Classroom Spatial Design In A Community College Environment, Katherine Kent

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the ever increasing need for employees who are capable of problem solving, working in team-based projects, and engaging in professional discourse, it is questionable whether these activities are, or can be, supported and promoted in the typical community college classroom environment containing traditional rows of desks and computers with a professor front and center. These traditional classroom arrangements discourage participatory activities and engagements with peers and faculty due to the very nature of the inflexible and impersonal alignment of side-by-side, row seating. This study investigated the impact of the physical furnishings and the spatial arrangement of a classroom environment …

What Indiana School Board Members Look For When Hiring A Superintendent, Leonard Orr

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether there are any differences in what school board members look for in the areas of personal characteristics and professional skills when hiring a superintendent. A sample population of school board members who were serving at a school that had an opening for a superintendent during the 2007–2008 school year was used. A survey with 24 questions was e-mailed to school board members. Results from this group indicated that there were no major differences between large school corporations and small school corporations when it came to personal characteristics and professional skills …

A Novel Synthesis And Characterization Of Fluorescein Isothiocyanate Labeled Poly(Styrenesulfonate Sodium Salt), Xiaowei Tong

LSU Master's Theses

The diffusion of polyelectrolytes in low-salt or salt-free aqueous solutions is a controversial question. It has been intensively discussed since it was discovered in 1978. Most previous experimental data were obtained from dynamic light scattering (DLS), whose precision, however, was reduced by stringent sample preparation and weak scattering of polyelectrolyte in low-salt solution. For the most commonly studied polyelectrolyte, poly(styrenesulfonate sodium salt) (NaPSS), the harsh polymerization condition and the manufacturing procedure lead to hydrophobic defects and aggregations, which also block a correct insight about the diffusion of polyelectrolyte. In contrast to DLS, fluorescence photobleaching recovery (FPR) directly looks on the …

Book Review Of Fighting For Political Freedom: Comparative Studies Of The Legal Complex And Political Liberalism, Robert Russo

All Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Foreign News Coverage In The Mercantile And Popular Press Of The 1830s, Virgil Ian Stanford

LSU Master's Theses

The rise of the American penny press in the 1830s is thought of as a crucial moment in journalism history that precipitated changes in newspapers that are still evident today. Yet, many specific characteristics of the transition from a predominantly elite mercantile and partisan press to the popular penny press remain unknown, including the changes that occurred in foreign news coverage. This study will examine four newspapers, two mercantile and two penny, printed in New York City from 1830 to 1842. It will use quantitative content analysis of five variables – frequency, length, prominence, content, and presentation style – to …

An Empirical Analysis Of Lateral Lawyer Trends From 2000 To 2007: The Emerging Equilibrium For Corporate Law Firms, William D. Henderson, Leonard Bierman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.