Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of A Course On Statistical Literacy Upon Students' Challenges To Statistical Claims Made In The Media, Rose Martinez-Dawson

All Dissertations

Statistical literacy involves critically evaluating and questioning statistics encountered in everyday life. The purpose of this study was to evaluate students' questions (challenges) concerning statistics encountered in everyday life and how these challenges differed before and after taking an undergraduate statistics course, entitled Statistics in Everyday Life 200 (SIEL), which focused on statistical literacy. One hundred forty-four students were given three media articles to indicate questions they had concerning statistics cited in the articles and explain why these questions were important to ask. Students' responses were categorized based on the topic and were assessed using the Statistics Literacy Components Rubric …

Deadly Discourse: Negotiating Bureaucratic Consensus For The Final Solution Through Organizational And Technical Communication, Mark Ward Sr

All Dissertations

The Final Solution was largely accomplished in eleven months; its executors, the Nazi SS, faced the constant problem that as killing and plunder escalated so did internal competition and corruption; and the SS deliberately cultivated an intensely competitive and polycratic organizational culture that fit the Nazi worldview of life-as-struggle. By tying these three observations together—that the Final Solution was punctuated, entropic, and polycratic—the problem arises: How did SS organizational communications manage, just barely long enough, to create a temporary social reality that regulated the internal contradictions of its genocidal project and fragmented bureaucracy? This study contends that through its organizational …

Predictive Energy Management In Connected Vehicles: Utilizing Route Information Preview For Energy Saving, Chen Zhang

All Dissertations

This dissertation formulates algorithms that use preview information of road terrain and traffic flow for reducing energy use and emissions of modern vehicles with conventional or hybrid powertrains. Energy crisis, long term energy deficit, and more restrictive environmental protection policies require developing more efficient and cleaner vehicle powertrain systems. An alternative to making advanced technology engines or electrifying the vehicle powertrain is utilizing ambient terrain and traffic information in the energy management of vehicles, a topic which has not been emphasized in the past. Today's advances in vehicular telematics and advances in GIS (Geographic Information System), GPS (Global Positioning Systems), …

A Study Of African American Forest Landowners In South Carolina: Implications For Land Ethic And Forest Stewardship, Keenan Adams

All Dissertations

African Americans account for a significant proportion of South Carolina`s
population but reportedly own a disproportionally smaller amount of land. Research indicates that landowners who hold significant sources of sustainable wealth and power can dramatically increase their quality of life and ultimately that of their communities. Current land loss trends for African Americans are increasing at an alarming rate, which may have larger social implications for this traditionally underserved population. The remaining African American landowners are a rapidly declining group, due to an assortment of factors (e.g., age, heirs property). Understanding the experiences of the residual African American forest landowners …

The Impact Of University Housing Construction Type On Psychosocial Development Of First-Year Students, Justin Owens

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of university housing construction type on psychosocial development of first-year students. Data were collected at a large, four-year, public, research university in the Southeast using the Student Development Task and Lifestyle Assessment. The population considered for this study consisted of first-year, traditionally-aged students living on campus within university housing at the research site for the spring of 2010. The study only considered students within three residential living environments: (a) modified-traditional residence halls, (b) adjoining suite style residence halls, and (c) super-suite style residence halls.
Multivariate analysis of covariance and analysis …

A Study Of The Statistics Of The Air/Water Interfacial Temperature Field During Mixed Convection Heat Transfer, Jie Kou

All Dissertations

Heat transfer across an air/water interface is of particular importance to limnology, oceanography and some industrial applications. The relationship between the statistics of the air/water interfacial temperature field and the interfacial heat flux is poorly understood, particularly for the mixed convection condition, which is a common heat transfer mechanism for small inland lakes. The few studies that have been conducted under mixed convection conditions have been limited to an uncontrolled surfactant condition (tap water). Therefore, in this dissertation research two sets of experiments for wind speeds from 0 to 4 m/s were conducted: controlled surfactant contaminated conditions (with oleyl alcohol) …

Three Algorithms For Causal Learning, Roshan Ram Rammohan

Computer Science ETDs

The field of causal learning has grown in the past decade, establishing itself as a major focus in artificial intelligence research. Traditionally, approaches to causal learning are split into two areas. One area involves the learning of structures from observational data alone and the second, involves the methodologies of conducting and learning from experiments. In this dissertation, I investigate three different aspects of causal learning, all of which are based on the causal Bayesian network framework. Constraint based structure search algorithms that learn partially directed acyclic graphs as causal models from observational data rely on the faithfulness assumption, which is …

Simulating The Evolution Of Recruitment Behavior In Foraging Ants, Kenneth Letendre

Computer Science ETDs

Spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of food is an important determinant of species' optimal foraging strategies, and of the dynamics of populations and communities. In order to explore the interaction of food heterogeneity and colony size in their effects on the behavior of foraging ant colonies, we built agent-based models of the foraging and recruitment behavior of harvester ants of the genus Pogonomyrmex. We optimized the behavior of these models using genetic algorithms over a variety of food distributions and colony sizes, and validated their behavior by comparison with data collected on harvester ants foraging for seeds in the field. …

The Wrong Tool For The Job: The Ip Problem With Noncompetition Agreements, Viva R. Moffat

William & Mary Law Review

This Article argues that employee noncompetition agreements ought to be unenforceable. It begins by recognizing that there is momentum for change in the law of noncompetes: a number of states and the American Law Institute (ALI) are in the process of reconsidering noncompete doctrine, and recent empirical studies provide evidence as to the mostly negative effects of the agreements. Existing critiques have focused on the problematic nature of noncompetes within the employment relationship. This Article synthesizes those critiques, adding support from empirical studies, and then examines noncompetes from a new perspective.

Commentators have neither recognized nor evaluated the role noncompetes …

Rejecting Refugees: Homeland Security's Administration Of The One-Year Bar To Asylum, Philip G. Schrag, Andrew I. Schoenholtz, Jaya Ramji-Nogales, James P. Dombach

William & Mary Law Review

Since 1980, the Refugee Act has offered asylum to people who flee to the United States to escape persecution in their homeland. In 1996, however, Congress amended the law to bar asylum—regardless of the merits of the underlying claim—for any applicant who fails to apply within one year of entering the United States, unless the applicant qualifies for one of two exceptions to the rule.

In the years since the bar was established, anecdotal reports have suggested that genuine refugees, with strong claims to asylum, have been rejected solely because of the deadline. Many scholars and practitioners suspected that this …

A Question On My Mind: Robert Mccorkle's 1844 Letter To Joseph Smith, Hal R. Boyd, Susan E. Black

BYU Studies

Robert McCorkle (1807–1873) was one of many Americans curious about Mormonism. In 1844 he visited Nauvoo, Illinois, then headquarters of the Latter-day Saints. He hoped to obtain an audience with Joseph Smith but was able only to hear Smith speak at public meetings. When he returned to his home in Tennessee, he wrote to Smith, asking questions and describing his willingness to relocate to Nauvoo if Smith could prove that he was a true prophet. Interestingly, McCorkle wrote much of his letter in rhymed verse and hoped that Joseph Smith would reply in verse. It does not appear that Smith …

St. Louis Luminary: The Latter-Day Saint Experience At The Mississippi River, 1854–1855, Susan E. Black

BYU Studies

The St. Louis Luminary, a Latter-day Saint newspaper printed in St. Louis, was printed for only one year but chronicles the status of the LDS Church on the American frontier in 1854 and 1855. The 2010 book The Best of the St. Louis Luminary gives an in-depth history of the newspaper and its contents and includes a DVD of scans of the entire volume of the newspaper in a searchable format. This article is excerpted from that book. The newspaper played a significant role in the national discussion of polygamy, which had not been publicly announced until 1852. The …

A New Partial Skeleton Of A Cryptocleidoid Plesiosaur From The Upper Jurassic Sundance Formation Of Wyoming, Benjamin C. Wilhelm, F. Robin O’Keefe

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Cryptocleidoid plesiosaurs from the Upper Jurassic are well known from the Oxford Clay (Callovian) of the United Kingdom. The plesiosaurs of the nearly coeval Sundance Formation (Oxfordian) of North America are poorly known, but are thought to include two cryptocleidoid taxa:Pantosaurus striatus and Tatenectes laramiensis. Here we present two specimens recently recovered from the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming. The first specimen comprises three articulated adult cervical vertebrae and fragments of a fourth. This specimen preserves a posteriorly directed cervical neural spine, a character diagnostic of Pantosaurus striatus. It also resembles Pantosaurus in the morphology of its cervical …

The Effect Of The Involvement Within Career Academies By Elective Participation Of Eleventh And Twelfth Grade High School Students During The Implementation Year, Nancy A. Johnston

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of elective participation in one of three implementation year Career Academies, Education, Entrepreneurship, or Finance, on upper-class high school academic grades, Grade Point Average, and school academy participation measures. Significance of the junior and senior year of high school, the meaning of a high school diploma and graduation requirements, and the connection to preparation for postsecondary studies and the world of work, career readiness, have become a focus of high school improvement efforts throughout the country. The implementation of the Millard Public Schools Career Academies in August of 2009 was …

President Obama’S Policy Agenda In The Supreme Court: What We Know So Far From The Office Of The Solicitor General’S Service As Amicus Curiae, Karen Swenson

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

One window into the soul of a presidential administration is the work of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), the representative of the executive branch before the Supreme Court of the United States. This could be particularly true in the case of a president who is a lawyer with work experience as a law professor. This article examines the Obama administration’s OSG efforts in filing voluntary amicus curiae briefs before the Supreme Court. In performing this task, the OSG is at the height of its discretion vis-à-vis the demands, implicit or otherwise, of the Supreme Court and most free …

December 2010 Commencement Program, Bowling Green State University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

In Service Of Mission: Assessing Catholic School Guidance Counselors, Robert J. Murray, Kristy S. Kane

Journal of Catholic Education

Catholic schools are set apart from public schools in that Catholic schools aim to create for the school community an atmosphere enlivened by the Gospel spirit of freedom and charity. Those who serve in Catholic schools, therefore, need to understand their role as unique, that is, faith driven. The purpose of this study was to assess this uniqueness as understood and practiced by Catholic school counselors. The findings of this study note positive trends among Catholic school counselors, particularly in terms of academic preparation and training as well as some incorporation of Catholic identity and mission into their ministry with …

Spiritual Vs. Religious: Perspectives From Today's Undergraduate Catholics, Dawn V. Overstreet

Journal of Catholic Education

Contemporary American college students simultaneously express both increased interest in spirituality and declining interest in traditional religion. Recent research recognizes the trend of young adults separating spirituality from religion, but utilizes varied definitions of each term developed by the researchers. This study asks students directly whether and how they differentiate spirituality from religion. The purpose of this article is to examine how undergraduate Catholics attending a Catholic university conceive of themselves as spiritual or religious and the differences, if any, between the two descriptors. The perspectives of 20 young adults of various programs of study and self-described degrees of spirituality …

The Limits Of Social Capital: An Examination Of Immigrants' Housing Challenges In Calgary, Alina Tanasescu, Alan Smart

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A common explanation of immigrants' under-representation among the homeless population in Canada is that kinship and community networks act as a buffer to absolute homelessness. There are indications that immigrant homelessness is, however, increasing, suggesting that the buffering capacity of social networks reaches a limit. Further, evidence of precarious housing situations indicates that we should approach this form of housing provision with some caution. This paper draws on a larger study of housing difficulties among immigrants in Calgary to address the ways in which social capital serves a buffering role, and under what conditions it loses its ability to prevent …

A Study Of The Perceived Effects Of School Culture On Student Behaviors., Linda Cox Story

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has confirmed that the behaviors of human beings are influenced by their social environments. The school is the principal social environment of adolescents; thus, the school environment necessarily influences the behaviors of students to some degree.

This research project used the interview method to focus on perceptions of school personnel with regard to the elements of school culture that may negatively influence students' behaviors both inside and outside the school environment. The primary influences of school culture on students' behaviors were found to be peers, teachers, administrators, and parent involvlement. Governmental regulations, including those resulting from the Individuals with …

Mother And Daughter Communication About Sexual Health In Rural Kenya, Jessica Velcoff

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

The present study focused on young women, and the manner in which communication with their mothers may facilitate decreased sexual risk behaviors in rural Kenya. With regard to sexual behaviors, Hutchinson and Wood (2007) developed the parent-based expansion of the theory of planned behavior (PETPB). The PETPB is a theoretical framework that builds upon the theory of planned behavior, to include the influence of parents in understanding adolescent sexual risk behavior. The present study was guided by the PETPB and explored communication, knowledge of sexuality and sexual health, and preventative behaviors among rural secondary school aged Kenyan young women (15 …

A Review Of The Benefits And Applications Of The Thorium Fuel Cycle, Vincent Hall

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper aims to inform the reader of the benefits that can be achieved by using thorium as a fuel for nuclear power. Stages of the thorium cycle are directly compared against the current uranium based nuclear fuel cycle. These include mining, milling, fuel fabrication, use of various reactor designs, reprocessing, and disposal. Thorium power promises several key advantages over traditional nuclear power methods, namely a dramatic decrease in long lived radioactive waste, increased fuel efficiency, greater chemical stability during disposal, and higher adaptability for differing reactor designs across a wider range of the thermal neutron spectrum. Obstacles that face …

Coping Style And Blood Pressure In African Americans: The Jackson Heart Study, Sandra Henley Williams

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Objective: To explore the relationship between coping style and blood pressure in African American men and women.

Participants: This descriptive correlational study consisted of 4354 adult men (n = 1557) and women (n = 2797) enrolled in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) who completed the Coping Strategies Short-Form (CSI-SF).

Results: Coping style mean score comparisons showed that JHS participants used engagement coping styles more than disengagement coping styles. The PFE subscale had the highest mean score (15.10 ± 2.63) with 75% of the PFE scores under 17.00 and 75% of EFE scores were below 15.00. Comparatively, 75% of PFD scores …

Using A Community Of Practice To Develop Standards Of Practice And Education For Genetic Counsellors In Europe, H Skirton, C Patch, M-A Voelckel

School of Nursing and Midwifery

The profession of genetic counselling is developing in Europe in response to the increased need for genetic healthcare. Standards of education and professional practice are needed to ensure that patients are provided with genetic counselling of an appropriate quality. However, such standards need to be relevant to practitioners in many different national and healthcare settings. In order to develop appropriate standards and a code of practice to guide professionals in Europe, we formed a community of practice that includes genetic nurses and counsellors, plus other interested health professionals, from 23 European countries. With reference to the European core competences for …

"For Such Is A Friend Now": Reflection And Revision In Shakespeare's Comic Friendships, Leah Rainell Boudreaux

Master's Theses

In early modem England, "friendship" was a term both flexible and deeply fraught. It could apply to a wide range of relationships, including, for example, those between family members, lords and tenants, or male members of the aristocracy. The ideals associated with friendship at that time had a profound impact on the way that the relationship was represented both in a historical and literary sense. During that time, William Shakespeare crafted remarkable and resonating depictions of friendship which have endured the through the ages. The distinction between Shakespeare's work and the work of other early modem writers lies in the …

Static And Fatigue Failure Response Of Woven Carbon Fiber Specimens With Double Edge Notches, Ahmad J. Amini

Master's Theses

Carbon fiber composites are continually seeing increased use in aerospace applications. It is necessary to understand their failure modes in order to properly design and perform analysis on structures constructed primarily from them. This thesis studies woven carbon fiber composites with and without double-edge notches in a series of static and fatigue tests performed on an Instron 8801 servo-hydraulic testing system.

Specimens were constructed of Advanced Composites Group product # LTM45EL woven carbon fiber pre-preg/epoxy and were cut to approximately 9-inch in length and 1-inch in width. Notches were cut into some of the specimens using a slitting saw blade …

Disambiguating The Sublime And The Historicity Of The Concept, Vrasidas Karalis

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "Disambiguating the Sublime and the Historicity of the Concept" Vrasidas Karalis explores the notion of sublime or sublimity as the field of colliding signifiers and of experiential frameworks in conflict. Instead of treating the traditional notion as a structural element of style of ideology, he analyses it from the point of its contextual validation and its very historicity: what makes sublimity emerge is the extra-lingual unease, the existential dysphoria of the world outside the text, as refracted through specific works of art. Such dysphoria is expressed through ungrammatical language or/and through the attempt in specific moments in …

The Chi Complex And Ambiguities Of Meeting, Paul Carter

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "The Chi Complex and Ambiguities of Meeting" Paul Carter develops a discussion of interpersonal encounters by mobilizing an apparatus of references, ranging from Jean Genet to Lévinas, Derrida, Bachmann, Merleau-Ponty, and Arendt. The hypothesis is that meeting another person entails and subsumes a non-meeting; a resistance and a refusal. The article pursues the ambiguity at the heart of encountering the other through an investigation of the urban spaces that are allegedly designed to invite and facilitate meetings. The argument put forward is that these spaces are paradoxically designed to avert encounters. This is especially true in the …

Ambiguity, Children, Representation, And Sexuality, Catharine Lumby

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article "Ambiguity, Children, Representation, and Sexuality" Catharine Lumby considers current and historical scholarly and popular debates about the representation of children, including concerns about their sexualisation in such representations. The article begins by examining images taken by photographers in the Victorian era, including Charles Dodgson and Julia Cameron, and asks not only how the gaze of the photographer frames the child but how the child returns the adult gaze. Lumby seeks to problematize our understanding of the ways in which images "sexualize" children. Drawing on the work of James Kincaid, it examines discourses that frame children as, on …

On Ambidextrousness, Or, What Is An Innovative Action?, Brett Neilson

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "On the Ambiguity of Ambidextrousness, or, What is an Innovative Action?" Brett Neilson explores the significance of the fact that the technical equality of the hands is realized above all in the act of manual labor, revisiting an influential essay by Robert Hertz, a student of Emile Durkheim and associate of Marcel Mauss, published in 1909 and entitled "The Pre-Eminence of the Right Hand." In his text, Hertz argued that the basic spatial distinction between the left and right hand acquires the polarity of a social hierarchy owing not to the physiology or psychology of motor asymmetry …