Digital Commons Network^™

Can Community Design Build Trust? A Comparative Study Of Design Factors In Boise, Idaho Neighborhoods, Susan G. Mason

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Finding ways to increase trust may be one mechanism to overcome the alleged negative consequences of urban sprawl for neighborhoods. This study explores two relationships with community design and trust. First, is one benefit of some of the underlying concepts of New Urbanism design that they build trust? Second, can these design concepts overcome one undesirable feature of cities: the deleterious effect of income inequality on trust? This study uses survey data collected from 34 city of Boise neighborhoods and 2000 US census data aggregated to the neighborhood level to examine the effects of street design, sidewalks and open space …

Using Environmental And Site-Specific Variables To Model Current And Future Distribution Of Red Spruce (Picea Rubens Sarg.) Forest Habitat In West Virginia, Nathan R. Beane

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Red spruce forests are a remnant ecosystem from the interglacial period of the Wisconsin glaciation and today are considered one of the most threatened forest ecosystems in the eastern United States. The extent of red spruce forests in West Virginia prior to exploitative logging which occurred from 1880--1920 is estimated at 190,000 ha, but today, these forests are estimated to occupy no more than 24,000 ha, resulting primarily from intense anthropogenic disturbances. With the extensive loss of presettlement habitat for red spruce in West Virginia, this species is a high priority for restoration, as these forests offer the unique habitat …

Imperfect Alternatives: Networks, Salience, And Institutional Design In Financial Crises, Robert B. Ahdieh

Faculty Scholarship

With the benefit of hindsight — and some aspiration to foresight — it is useful to consider the type of regulatory regime that might best address financial crises. What could policymakers have done to prevent the recent crisis? And once the crisis started, what interventions might have alleviated it? These questions have been widely debated, with an eye to both substantive policy and the design of effective regulatory institutions. This Article speaks to the latter project — one of comparative institutional analysis — though with a framework that implicates our substantive policy choices as well. It begins with an account …

Creatures Of Habit, Jennifer Miller

All Theses

My work reflects my interests in drawing, illustration, science, and culture. Being born and raised in desert suburbia, my environment consisted of small middle class homes in a grid of roads and sidewalks, punctuated by small pockets of natural landscape. However, as I watched then, and as I still see now, many of the things I have come to love and appreciate about this environment are disappearing before my eyes. As people's values change, so does the natural and unnatural landscape. The natural things are replaced with our own excess, everything needing to be larger, louder and flashier, all so …

Characterization Of Watersheds On Fort Benning Military Reservation: Comparison Of Field Data To Watershed Parameters, Melinda Rosetta Stahl

Theses and Dissertations

Sixteen watersheds located on Fort Benning Military Installation in Georgia were analyzed using both physically collected data and computer modeling data. Physical data collected included total suspended solids (TSS) and grain size analysis using the Wolman Pebble Count method. Computer modeling analyzed the watersheds using ArcGIS 9.3 for comparison to physical data. Land use, slope, and soil data were used in a modified revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) to create a soil erodibility index map. Wolman Pebble Count data showed that in half of the watersheds, 84% of the sampled grains were less than half a millimeter in size. …

Assessing Linkages Among Landscape Characteristics, Stream Habitat, And Macroinvertebrate Communities In The Idaho Batholith Ecoregion, Andrew C. Hill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Understanding the composition of lotic communities and the landscape processes and habitat characteristics that shape them is one of the main challenges confronting stream ecologists. In order to better understand the linkages among landscape processes, stream habitat, and biological communities and to understand how accurately our measurements represent important factors influencing biological communities, it is important to test explicit hypotheses regarding these linkages. Increasing our understanding of aquatic communities in a hierarchical context and recognizing how well our measurements represent factors structuring aquatic communities will help managers better evaluate the influence of land management practices on aquatic ecosystems, direct conservation …

Advertising In Online Social Networks: A Comprehensive Overview, Silvia Stockman

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper examines characteristics of online social networking sites and their implications on advertising. The application of well known interpersonal and mass communication theories to the field allows for an in-depth look at behavioral cues and responses. The interactivity inherent in sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and in other forums encourages advertisers to tap into engaging their consumers. Types of targeting and the success of word of mouth referrals are examined, as are many of the common stumbling blocks. To better understand the potential versus the problems, we conclude with an analysis of return on investment.

The Interaction Of Fire And Grazing In Oklahoma Artemisia Filifolia Shrubland, Stephen L. Winter

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

I. FIRE-RESILIENCY OF A NORTH AMERICAN ARTEMISIA (ASTERACEAE) SHRUB: IMPLICATIONS FOR RESTORATION OF A CRITICAL ECOSYSTEM PROCESS. Conclusions: Unlike most North American Artemisia shrub species, our research suggests that A. filifolia is highly resilient to the effects of fire. Therefore, use of prescribed fires for the restoration and maintenance of ecosystem processes and properties is appropriate in A. filifolia shrublands of the southern Great Plains in North America.

II. RESTORATION OF THE FIRE-GRAZING INTERACTION IN ARTEMISIA FILIFOLIA SHRUBLAND OF THE SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS, NORTH AMERICA. Synthesis and applications. Vegetation structure in Artemisia filifolia shrublands of our study were readily altered …

The Multilevel, Multicultural, And Multi-Temporal Ecosocial Framework Of Population Health : How Neighborhoods, Culture, And History Impact Health Outcomes And Produce Health Disparities, Lawrence Tarves Brown

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

According to findings in the field of genetics, it has now been established that the impact of race on health is mostly a function of a people's lived experience, not their genetic make-up. Due to this, the role of race in the study of health outcomes and health disparities has traditionally been specified improperly in statistical models due to confounding with ethnicity. Additionally, the role of geography or the impact of neighborhoods on health is often not specified properly.

Thus, the author proposes a multilevel, multicultural, and multi-temporal ecosocial framework that explains the impact of neighborhoods on health and the …

Technology Capacity Development Through Oss Implementation: The Case Of Public Higher Education Institutions In Ethiopia, Nigussie Tadesse Mengesha

The African Journal of Information Systems

The Open Source Software (OSS) literature gives little attention to the study and practice of domain specific end-user OSS implementation in general and in the public sector of developing countries (DCs) in particular. This paper, however, investigates the trajectories of two OSS-based information systems (IS) implementation projects in a developing country (DC) context with the aim to uncover the practice-based learning and resource sharing evident among locally situated and globally dispersed developers and users. The result of the interpretative case study research shows that the OSS philosophy and practice of software development, implementation and ownership, facilitates for the emergence of …

Administrative Law, Martin M. Wilson, Jennifer A. Blackburn

Mercer Law Review

Even in tough economic times, the work of administrative agencies seems to continue with particularly robust growth at the state level. The number of contested agency cases seems to be rising, even those involving the most trivial details. Although the idea of more government is not fashionable in most corridors, higher levels of activity by existing governmental agencies will be the norm until the state's economic picture achieves measurable improvement.

This Article is a survey of cases from the Georgia Supreme Court and Georgia Court of Appeals from June 1, 2009 through May 31, 2010. The cases chosen for review …

Tracing Water Sources Of Terrestrial Animal Populations With Stable Isotopes: Laboratory Tests With Crickets And Spiders, Kevin E. Mccluney, John L. Sabo

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Fluxes of carbon, nitrogen, and water between ecosystem components and organisms have great impacts across levels of biological organization. Although much progress has been made in tracing carbon and nitrogen, difficulty remains in tracing water sources from the ecosystem to animals and among animals (the ‘‘water web’’). Naturally occurring, nonradioactive isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in water provide a potential method for tracing water sources. However, using this approach for terrestrial animals is complicated by a change in water isotopes within the body due to differences in activity of heavy and light isotopes during cuticular and transpiratory water losses. Here …

The Decline Of Black Catholicism: What’S Racial Slavery To Do With It?, Kwame Assenyoh S.V.D.

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

This essay links the current decline of black Catholicism to the racial slavery practiced in Roman Catholicism at its settlement in the USA. Employing missiological anthropological analysis, Assenyoh, S.V.D., argues that the racism that characterized the beginning of New World slavery remains in the Church and accounts for the decline of black Catholicism. Assenyoh calls for persistent critiques of racial slavery in the Church’s history if there must be transformation rather than reformation.

Quality Of Life As Perceived By Rural Dwellers With A Serious Mental Illness, Deborah G. Townsend

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study is to develop a theoretical model that describes perceptions about quality or life (QOL) and maintenance of mental wellness as held by rural dwellers with serious mental illness (SMI). The National Institute of Mental Health (2006), approximately 1 in 4 adults will have a diagnosable mental illness in any given year and within this population, 6 percent will have SMI. Furthermore, mental bealth providers are scarce in rural areas and isolation and poverty decrease the likelihood of individuals with SMI obtaining services. Significant gaps in knowledge exist related to evidence-based psychiatric treatments and services …

Fincen Mortgage Loan Update April 1 - June 30, 2010, United States: Department Of The Treasury: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (Fincen)

Documents

No abstract provided.

The Write Moves: An Autoethnographic Examination Of The Media Industry, Danielle Gomes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines the current media environment through the use of adaptation theory, political economy theory, and media ecology theory. More specifically, this thesis is an autoethnography of this author‟s attempts to release content into the mass-media.

This thesis expects to find that in the current conglomerate controlled media environment content that has multi-media potential is preferred. Vertical integration is the standard in these massive media corporations. Consequently, the adaptation of content into multiple media is no longer an afterthought to creation, it is forethought.

Understanding American Customer Perceptions On Japanese Food And Services In The U.S, Hoon Lim

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to provide an appropriate approach for Japanese restaurant operators to identify the wants and needs of their American customers, and thereby assist restaurateurs in developing strategies that would best attract this market. There are many important attributes of Japanese food and services that affect the satisfaction and behavioral intentions of American customers. Japanese restaurant operators should recognize the perceptions of their American customers and monitor the factors affecting customer satisfaction and revisit intention. This effort will lead Japanese restaurants in the U.S. to improve their operational and marketing efficiency, and thereby increase profitability.

The Early American Table: Food And Society In The New World, Andrew P. Haley

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Healthcare Reform In Two States: A Comparative Analysis Of Georgia And Massachusetts, Jason Stansberry

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Healthcare has been an ongoing conversation throughout the formation of America's sense of values and rights based on its Constitution. The role that the state plays in ensuring access to care based on legislation passed by the United States Congress is crucial for the public administrator to understand. This paper attempts to review the nature of the relationship between two states, Georgia and Massachusetts, and the federal government since the passage of the Healthcare Reconciliation Act of 2010 and the politics surrounding the controversy that has since ensued since the Act’s enactment.

Access to healthcare is an important part of …

Number 14, 2010, Palara Editors

PALARA: Publication of the Afro-Latin/American Research Association

Complete Issue

What Employees Value In Company Wellness Programs And Their Perceptions Of The Incentives Offered To Them To Participate, Shadi Wageeh Sifain

Education Doctoral

Employer-sponsored wellness programs have emerged as programs which seek to improve overall employee health and to reduce health care costs. Integrating benefit delivery and providing employee benefits can be directly correlated to the effectiveness of a wellness program, as measured by the total return on investment for shareholders (Wolff, 2008). Additionally, effectiveness is positively impacted when the incentives provided to the population are both meaningful to them and offered immediately instead of offered to them in a delayed fashion (Wyatt, Morrato, O’Hill, Ghushchyan, & Sullivan, 2007). The purpose of this study is to understand the following: (a) How employees perceive …

The University Symphony Orchestra, Department Of Music, University Of Richmond

Music Department Concert Programs

No abstract provided.

Survey Analysis Of Wine Label Preferences, Holly Mcginty

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.

Using The Hazus-Mh Flood Model To Assess The Physical And Economic Damages At The City Of Minnewaukan, North Dakota, Due To The Expansion Of Devils Lake, Christina A. Cummings

Theses and Dissertations

Flood hazards in the U.S. cause billions of dollars in property damage and disrupt the lives of thousands of people each year. Increased numbers of people continue to move into hazardous zones and the associated increase in capital investment in these zones lead to an escalation in flood losses over time (Cutter and Emrich 2005). Despite local efforts to mitigate flood hazards and federal mandates to regulate development in flood-prone areas, flood damages continue to increase nationally. Terminal lakes have surface water sources such as from rivers and streams, but have no surface water outlets (Newton 2003). Devils Lake, a …

Barelas Rail Yard Redevelopment: A Stakeholder Assessment, Michael W. Furze

Architecture and Planning ETDs

Community-based redevelopment of Albuquerque, New Mexicos twenty-seven acre Barelas Rail Yard site represents one possible outcome of the ongoing redevelopment process. This thesis uses semistructured interviews with neighborhood residents and community activists to reveal visions and concerns about the future of the site from beyond the profit-driven approach of typical contemporary projects. Through interviews and the case studies, I provide recommendations for discussion and capacity-building that allows neighborhood residents to better navigate a complex political landscape and influence the redevelopment of the site through a community-based process that brings together multiple visions of renewed activity on the site that respects …

Jewish Landscapes Rooted, Embedded, Enshrined, And Transcendent: Metaphor As Communicated In Jewish Museums In New York, Jerusalem, And San Francisco, Judith Stauber

Communication ETDs

As public places, museums negotiate authenticity and re-presentation, fact and ideology, memory and the present confronting a basic question for museums directors, curators, and visitors alike: what is the truth here? In this dissertation, the content and form of four Jewish museums are examined rhetorically: The Jewish Museum, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, both in New York City; the Holocaust History Museum at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem; and the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Four metaphors--rootedness, embeddedness, enshrinement, and transcendence--capture the ways each of these museums conceptualizes and presents Jewish culture.

Ambiguous Environments, Peter Riviere

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

Facilitators And Obstacles Of Intercultural Business Communication For American Companies In China: Lessons Learned From The Ups Case, Hongmei Gao, Penelope Prime

Global Business Languages

This article analyzes how the execution of business strategy for global enterprises is shaped by the dual challenges of communicating in a different national culture and working in a changing economic environment. The article develops a framework from the UPS case in China to illustrate the key components of strategy for US companies operating businesses in China. The article proposes that Chinese-American communication effectiveness can be achieved through overcoming fi ve obstacles: cultural multiplicity, relationship/task orientation, time concept, business style difference, and language use, while utilizing fi ve facilitators: pragmatism, gender equality, English, American pop culture, and a “big country …

Internships At Consular Offices: A Gateway To International Communication And Careers, Margrit V. Zinggeler, Coral López-Gómez

Global Business Languages

Besides embassies and general consulates, honorary consulates play a very important role in helping citizens and businesses. The Consular Corps of Detroit (CCD; soon to be the Consular Corps of Michigan) is an organization that is made up of 37 consular offi ces. Through a collaboration project with the CCD and Eastern Michigan University (EMU), students at EMU have the opportunity to intern at consular offi ces, thus obtaining a unique glance at international communication and affairs. This article describes the system of consular offices in the United States, particularly in Michigan, looks at internship opportunities for students in consular …

Full Issue: Vol. 64, No. 4

Sci-Tech News

No abstract provided.