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December 20, 2009: Does A Hallowed Secularist Send Chanukah Gifts?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Does a Hallowed Secularist Send Chanukah Gifts?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Finance & Facilities Fy10 Budget Rescission, Office Of The President

President Schmidly's Administration

The Recent Past As most of you know by now, confirmation hearings were held last Monday in Santa Fe for Governor Richardsons three nominees for UNM's Board of Regents. The confirmation process was carried out according to the Constitution of the State of New Mexico and resulted in all three of these individuals — Gene Gallegos, Jamie Koch, and Cate Wisdom — being confirmed by the Senate. As part of the process, several faculty, students, and staff participated in the hearings. There was a lot of passionate discussion, both pro and con, and I want to commend and thank everyone …

Ecotourism As An Alternative To Fishing In Yucatan, Mexico, Abigail E. Bennett

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

Small-scale fisheries account for a vast majority of fisheries globally. Their overexploitation threatens coastal environments, including the people living there, throughout the world (Basurto, 2008). Finding productive alternatives to unsustainable levels of fishing is a necessary part of curbing this probl em. Ecotourism has offered such an alternative to coastal communities, and there are already some successful examples of community-managed ecotourism groups in Mexico. Beyond providing a source of income for community members, these programs also facilitate environmental education, thus fostering local community involvement in conservation goals. This study focuses on ecotourism programs that have been started in three towns …

Tattoos As Personal Narrative, Michelle Alcina

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the history of tattoos in the United States along with the role and significance of tattos today. The study's primary research question seeks to discover whether tattoos anchor an individual's personal narrative and help to solidify an individual's sense of self. The study considers both modernist and postmodernist concepts of identity, but ultimately supports a perspective which argues that identity is the result of an individual's ability to keep a consistent narrative going over time. This exploratory study uses a qualitatative approach to discern the meanings behind individuals' tattoos through their own words and conceptions. Eight individuals …

A "Spanish Element" In The New South: The Hispanic Press And Community In Nineteenth Century New Orleans , Rafael Delgadillo

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Although New Orleans culture has been a popular subject for historians due to its ethnic diversity and multiculturalism, certain groups have been ignored in the city's vast historiography. Such is the case of Hispanics, who have been present for most of the city's history. This study recovers a portion of that lost Hispanic history through analysis of Spanish-language newspapers published in New Orleans throughout the nineteenth century. One of these newspapers, El Moro de Paz, was published with the goal of encouraging the advancement of trade relationships between Louisiana and Latin America. A study of El Moro de Paz and …

The New Orleans Female Orphan Society: Labor, Education, And Americanization, 1817-1833, Mark Duvall

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the first few decades of the nineteenth century, Americans and immigrants moved to New Orleans hoping to take advantage of the opportunities the city offered. Many American citizens moved from cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Recognizing the lack of social welfare programs and assistance given to the poor, a group of women established the Female Orphan Society. From its creation, the Female Orphan Society worked in providing aid to indigent mothers and their children through providing religious, vocational, and educational training. In a short time, the FOS emerged as the only private, Protestant female refuge for immigrant …

Catholic Student Protest And Campus Change At Loyola University In New Orleans, 1964-1971, Robert Lorenz

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes the development of the student protest movement at Loyola University New Orleans from1964 to 1971. It focuses on student protests against racial discrimination and the Vietnam War, student agitation for greater freedom on campus, and battles that Loyola's faculty had with the university administration. This study argues that Loyola's student protesters were acting as Catholics against situations they believed were immoral and unjust. In this sense, they were ahead of the Jesuit clergy at Loyola, who took action only after student protest on those issues. Indeed, student protest filled a void of moral leadership that the Jesuit …

Hope Vi: A Racial Project For A Colorblind Society, Erin Patton

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Being a low-income person of color trying to survive in a society that subscribes to a colorblind ideology can be more than difficult, it can be impossible. This thesis seeks to examine the racial implications of the racial project of HOPE VI. To demonstrate that impact, I perform a Critical Discourse Analysis on the "The Final Report of the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing: A Report to the Congress and the Secretary of housing and Urban Development" and the United States Housing Act of 1937 as it was amended by the "Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of …

Carved, Amberly Fox

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The poems in Carved take the reader on a journey of self-discovery and explore the inequalities of human relationships: between being silent and the discovery of one's voice. The collection also addresses humanity's destructive imprint and the resiliency of nature in reclaiming what humanity sought to exploit and conquer. The poems expose the ironies in how we imagine things to be, compared to their reality. Some of the poems also draw parallels between the process of going underground and that of being reborn, as well as the spiritual experience of caving.

Spirituality As A Validating Factor And Intrinsic Motivator To Persistence: A Study Of Nontraditional Female Students In Community/Technical Colleges, Camille Laperouse Jarrell

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

While traditional theories are useful in the study of persistence in some nontraditional students, many nontraditional female students are at high risk of not successfully persisting towards their educational goals. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of spirituality, as a validating factor and an intrinsic motivator to persist, in nontraditional female students in community and technical colleges. A hermeneutic phenomenology research design was used with the "lived experiences" of these women articulated through their own voices. Although the study did not have a rigid set of fixed procedures, van Manens (1990) suggested activities for …

The Perspectives Of First-Year Principals Regarding Their Experiences With Mentors And The Mentoring Process Within The Louisiana Educational Leaders Induction (Leli) Program, Sabrah Helms Kingham

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Are new school administrators prepared for the surprises, obstacles, and opportunities they are likely to encounter during the first-year in their new role? Sadly enough, too many new leaders do not feel prepared to meet the challenges of their new role as an administrator. In 2006, the National Center for Education Statistics (2006) reported that there were 95,726 administrators in the U. S. Within this pool of administrators, approximately 127 were new hires in the state of Louisiana (LDE, 2006). In an effort to find ways to support, guide, and retain new principals, the Louisiana Educational Leaders Network, under the …

The Relationship Between Supervisors' Power Bases And Supervisory Styles, Hideyuki Tanaka

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Despite its critical role in counselor training, empirical research on clinical supervision is generally limited (Bernard & Goodyear, 2003; Ellis & Ladany, 2007). This is also applied to an area of power dynamics in supervision. This study tested the relationship between the two aspects of power dynamics; namely, supervisors' power bases (i.e., sources of influencing others) and supervisory styles (i.e., typical ways of shaping supervision), based on the system's approach to supervision model (Holloway, 1995). This research was a correlational design. Students in masters' and doctoral counseling programs were asked to respond to an online questionnaire packet via Survey MonkeyTM. …

Experiences Of Black Women Who Persist To Graduation At Predominantly White Schools Of Nursing, Francine Simms Thomas

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to explore the experiences of Black women who attended predominantly White nursing schools. A phenomenological design was used to investigate eight nurses who persisted through to graduation from their nursing programs in the 21st century. The study examined persistence through the lens of academic involvement, alienation, loneliness and isolation, culture, identity and fit, self-concept, and institutional climate and racism. In-depth interviews were conducted to answer the following questions: (1) What does it mean to be Black in a PWI? What are Black nurses' perceptions of the nursing school experience, (2) How did the Black culture fit …

What We Thought We Knew Poems, 2007-2009, Katherine Durham Oldmixon

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Moving Away From Home: A Map Of Classroom Burnout, Mary Marwitz

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In this series of essays about professional burnout, a veteran teacher seeks a way to continue her work and enthusiasm in it, for the sake of both her and her students. To that end, she explores her relationships with her father and mother, and how the practices of teaching and learning she brought from home have affected her present classroom experiences. A complicating factor is the presence of chronic illness and its demands both primary and secondary: her father's Alzheimer's, her mother's bi-polar disorder, and the demands of eldercare for her mother. She also explores her own habitual practice of …

Reproductive Freedom In The United States And Louisiana: An Assessment Of The Last Decade, A Review Of The Current Climate, And A Scenario For The Future, Amy Granger

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Government began legislating abortion in the mid nineteenth century and has controlled access to this service for women ever since. With the creation of hospital boards after WWII, state control over access became further entrenched. Regulations and restrictions since Roe v. Wade limit the availability of abortion services for women served by Medicaid and other social assistance programs. The existence of a class bias around access can be seen throughout the topic's history and legislation has unfairly targeted and therefore disproportionately affects poor women. The data show that these restrictions have no impact on the number of unintended pregnancies over …

Automation Of The Client Side Of Web Services Using Php, Menad Medjkane

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Web Services have been the dominant technology in business integration and implementation of service oriented architectures. PHP is a server-side language popular for development of applications. A significant advantage of PHP is its light weight development for feature-rich web applications. Typically, PHP is used for making good-looking front end user interfaces; Java or other programming languages are used to develop the back end application. A secure and robust way for PHP programs to call back-end services is by Web Services. However, when the Web Service operations have complex interfaces, writing PHP client code can be difficult and error-prone. This thesis …

Monitoring And Inverse Dispersion Modeling To Quantify Vocs From Msw Landfill, Sarit Kumar Das

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In USA, the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfills accumulate about 130 million tons of solid waste every year. A significant amount of biodegradable solid waste is converted to landfill gas due to anaerobic stabilization by bacteria. These biochemical reactions produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like methane and others. Due to heterogeneity in refuse composition, unpredictable distribution of favorable environmental conditions for bacterial actions and highly uncertain pathway of gases, estimation of landfill gas emission for a particular landfill is complex. However, it is important to quantify landfill gases for health risk assessment and energy recovery purposes. This research is based …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Implementation Of Reading First, Raenell Houston

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand teachers' experiences related to the implementation of Reading First in the classroom and more specifically, how Reading First has impacted curriculum, instruction, assessment, student achievement, and professional development. The participants for this study were five certified, kindergarten and first grade public school teachers. In depth interviews were conducted with each participant regarding her experiences with the implementation of Reading First. Once collected, the data was then analyzed according to a method advanced by Moustakas (1994) and reported. Findings and recommendations included, but were not limited to the following: 1. There are …

Examination Of Faculty Expectations Of Technical College Administrators As An Important Factor In High Performing Environments, Phyllis A. Dupuis

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Popular thought supports the notion that faculty expectations of technical college administrators appear to be linked to the success or failure of an institution at accomplishing its mission. These expectations provide the basis for the development of relationships that foster the growth of technical training and thus the growth of a skilled workforce. Faculty members in technical colleges are responsible for training individuals to meet business and industry needs. Administrators are responsible for efficiently achieving the institution's mission of workforce development. Unknown faculty expectations may inhibit the ability of administrators to achieve the institution's mission in an efficient manner. This …

Efficiency Of Internal Capital Allocation And The Success Of Acquisitions, Meng Ye

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Does efficient internal investment generally translate into successful external investment activities? In this research we use the internal capital allocation efficiency as a proxy for the efficiency of internal investment, and study whether firms that are internally efficient also make efficient external investment decisions. Our sample consists of multi-segment acquirers that announce acquisitions between 1986 and 2003 (only completed deals are included). We estimate short-term and long-term abnormal performance, excess value and operating performance around mergers in order to measure the success of acquisitions (external investment decisions). Our results indicate that internal capital allocation efficiency is indeed a significant factor …

December 19, 2009 (Pages 7086-7170), Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau

Volume 39 (2009)

No abstract provided.

Knox V. State Ex. Rel. Otter Clerk's Record V. 1 Dckt. 35787

Idaho Supreme Court Records & Briefs, All

No abstract provided.

Cardiac Markers In The Early Diagnosis And Management Of Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome, Hafidh A. Al-Hadi, Keith A. Fox

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Chest pain is a non-specific complaint and is the most frequent reason for patients seeking urgent medical attention. A small group of these patients will have acute coronary syndromes (ACS). The current diagnostic and triage systems based on clinical history and electrocardiograms are insufficient. They may result in some of these patients being misdiagnosed and being admitted to the wrong units or receiving inappropriate care, treatment and investigations. In some patients, the diagnosis is delayed resulting in the late administration (or no administration) of essential early treatment. A few patients with ACS may be inadvertently discharged from the emergency department …

Dopamine D2 Receptor Priming Enhances Dopaminergic Response To Amphetamine In The Nucleus Accumbens: Role Of The D1 And D2 Receptors., Kimberly Norris Huggins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In past work, we have shown neonatal quinpirole (dopamine D₂/D₃ agonist) treatment produces a significant increase in dopamine D₂ receptor sensitivity, a phenomenon known as D₂ receptor priming. Dopamine D₂ receptor priming is common in psychosis. Male and female rats were administered quinpirole (1mg/kg) or saline from postnatal days 1-11 and raised to adulthood (P60). As adults, rats were administered d-amphetamine sulfate (1mg/kg) or saline every other day for 14 days. Approximately 10 min before each amphetamine or saline injection, animals were administered the D1 antagonist SCH 23390 (0.1 mg/kg), the D2 antagonist eticlopride …

Comparison Of Ammonia And Particulate Matter Air Sample Concentrations At Task-Locations Within Swine Confinement Buildings., Earl Dan Bembry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: A task-associated analysis of ammonia and particulate matter concentrations was conducted on swine farms in breeding and gestation barns. The purpose of this study was to determine if specific tasks performed by workers increase concentrations of ammonia and particulate matter exposure.

Methods: An exploratory, descriptive design was used to determine if swine confinement workers have increased ammonia and particulate matter exposure when performing assigned tasks in breeding and gestation barns. A convenience sample of 8 workers volunteered from among all breeding and gestation workers (n=24). Data collection occurred in the morning at each of the 8 farms …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Natural Storytelling Strategies Used At The Nantahala School., Nancy J. Reeder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study identifies what 8 teachers naturally do with storytelling at a K-12 school in western North Carolina. Through observations, interviews, field notes, document reviews, and artifact reviews, I used the constant comparison analysis method to discover themes from their formal and informal storytelling strategies. From these themes, I created a framework of 7 suggestions to enhance storytelling awareness. They are: sharing personal stories, developing voice control and body expression, connecting story to school culture, modeling well-developed stories with beginnings, middles, and ends, introducing stories with a pause, expressing the word "imagine" often during instruction, and finally, making …

Vitis Seeds (Vitaceae) From The Late Neogene Gray Fossil Site, Northeastern Tennessee, Usa., Fade Gong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the morphometric and systematic studies of fossil vitaceous seeds recently recovered from the Gray Fossil Site (7-4.5 Ma, latest Miocene-earliest Pliocene) northeastern Tennessee. Morphologically, all fossil seeds correspond to the extant subgenus Vitis (genus Vitis) of the Vitaceae based on the smooth dorsal surface with a centrally positioned chalaza connected with a conspicuous chalaza-apex groove and short linear ventral infolds that are slightly diverged apically. A multivariate analysis based on 11 measured characters from 76 complete seeds identified three types of seeds, each representing a distinct morphotaxon. Based on comparison with modern and fossil vitaceous …

Predicting Flavonoid Ugt Regioselectivity With Graphical Residue Models And Machine Learning., Arthur Rhydon Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning is applied to a challenging and biologically significant protein classification problem: the prediction of flavonoid UGT acceptor regioselectivity from primary protein sequence. Novel indices characterizing graphical models of protein residues are introduced. The indices are compared with existing amino acid indices and found to cluster residues appropriately. A variety of models employing the indices are then investigated by examining their performance when analyzed using nearest neighbor, support vector machine, and Bayesian neural network classifiers. Improvements over nearest neighbor classifications relying on standard alignment similarity scores are reported.

A Variation Of The Carleman Embedding Method For Second Order Systems., Charles Nunya Dzacka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Carleman Embedding is a method that allows us to embed a finite dimensional system of nonlinear differential equations into a system of infinite dimensional linear differential equations. This technique works well when dealing with first-order nonlinear differential equations. However, for higher order nonlinear ordinary differential equations, it is difficult to use the Carleman Embedding method. This project will examine the Carleman Embedding and a variation of the method which is very convenient in applying to second order systems of nonlinear equations.