Digital Commons Network^™

One Significant Step: How Reforms To Prison Districts Begin To Address Political Inequality, Erika L. Wood

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Skyrocketing rates of incarceration over the last three decades have had profound and lasting effects on the political power and engagement of local communities throughout the United States. Aggressive enforcement practices and mandatory sentencing laws have an impact beyond the individuals who are arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. These policies have wide-ranging and enduring ripple effects throughout the communities that are most heavily impacted by criminal laws, predominantly urban and minority neighborhoods. Criminal justice policies broadly impact everything from voter turnout and engagement, to serving on juries, participating in popular protests, census data, and the way officials draw legislative districts. The …

The Transformative Experiences Of Female Educators As A Catalyst For Social Change In The World, April D. Jordan

Dissertations

As social justice issues become known, one may be moved to act in the hopes of alleviating the conditions that burden marginalized and oppressed people. What is sometimes missing from the discourse when discussing oppressive issues is the role women play in counteracting such subjugation. Also essential, yet missing from the research, are studies that underscore the importance of educators fostering social action change outside of and apart from institutions of learning and curriculum planning. This qualitative study examined the lives of six, nontraditional, female educator intellectuals whose perceptions of self (identity) and the world were transformed by engaging in …

Implementing Authentic Practice Through Capstone Projects At Selected Terminal Grades: A Policy Advocacy Document, Carla L. Sparks Dr.

Dissertations

American educational and political communities have become focused on assessment of students and accountability of teachers and administrators. Consequently, educators are focused largely on preparing students for high stakes tests, oftentimes at the expense of authentic instructional practice. The educational, economic, social, political, moral, and ethical needs of students and American society demand a policy that provides student experiences that are action-oriented, promote character development, provoke reflective thinking, and develop skills and knowledge that prepare students for life and ultimately transform society. Therefore, I recommend through this Policy Advocacy Document that the school district under study require capstone projects of …

First Critical Performing Edition Of The Zarzuela Maria La O, By Ernesto Lecuona, Orchestrated By Felix Guerrero, Ivan A. Del Prado

Dissertations

The First Critical Performing Edition of the Zarzuela Maria la O by Ernesto Lecuona (as orchestrated by Felix Guerrero), is the rescue of the complete score of one of the most important works by a Cuban composer. The complete but still unpublished original score to Maria la O will finally have a clear and accurate performing edition. This will serve, both expert performers in Cuban popular music and anyone else interested in the subject. In this new score, indigenous rhythms and other traditional performance practice issues have been fully written out.

This document will also include a brief history and …

To Be Or Not To Be Satisfied: Examining Job Satisfaction Of Entry-Level Residence Life Professionals At Historically Black Colleges And Universities, Evingerlean D. Blakney

Dissertations

Research on historically Black college and universities (HBCUs) as institutions of higher education is limited. There is even less scholarship that brings forth an understanding of student affairs at these institutions. A gap in the higher education, student affairs, residence life, and job satisfaction literature suggested a need for research on residence life professionals at HBCUs. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine job satisfaction of entry-level residence life professionals at HBCUs. For this study, the researcher looked for factors that contributed to overall job satisfaction and further examined the roles of both gender and public or private …

Use Of Personality Profile Assessments In The Construction Industry, Brian Richard Childs

Theses and Dissertations

Various industries are using personality profile assessments as tools to help reduce employee turnover. Employee turnover is a continuing challenge in the construction industry that has negative effects on construction companies. Research found that it was difficult to know if companies in the construction industry are using personality profile assessments as a tool to help reduce employee turnover. After understanding that other industries were using personality profile assessments in their hiring, promoting, team building and leadership development to reduce turnover, it was desired to understand if the construction industry was doing the same. This research performed a survey among the …

A Space For The Contemplation Of A Sacred Subject, Katie West

Theses and Dissertations

This paper discusses a Fine Art Master thesis exhibition. The show was on the topic of the Latter-day Saint doctrine of a Mother in Heaven. It contains a project statement detailing the theological meanings and reasons, an overview of the visual elements of the exhibition, and a section contextualizing the exhibition within the art world.

Picrolite And The Cypriot Neolithic: An Experimental Study, Forrest Dayton Jarvi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Picrolite, a fibrous green stone originating in the Troodos mountains on the island of Cyprus, appears in the archaeological record almost from the very earliest sites on the island. Thus far, few publications have addressed the material from anything but a descriptive perspective. Research at the Aceramic Neolithic site of Kritou Marottou Ais Giorkis has uncovered a wide variety of picrolite artifacts since excavations began in 1997. Preliminary experimental studies have begun to explore the ease of both obtaining and manipulating the material using only local materials and unassisted manpower. This thesis presents a three-part investigation into the place of …

Tennessee Birth Defects Registry Report 2008-2012, Tennessee. Department Of Health.

Tennessee Birth Defects

No abstract provided.

Agroecological, Climatic, Land Elevation And Socio-Economic Determinants Of Pesticide Use At The Farm Level In Bangladesh, S Rahman

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This study examines the influence of agroecology, climate, land elevation and socio-economic factors on pesticide use at the farm level using a large survey data of 2083 farms from 17 districts covering 10 agroecological zones in Bangladesh by applying a Tobit model. Overall, 75.4% of farmers used pesticides in any one crop. Within the pesticide users, pesticide use rate is highest in oilseed production estimated at BDT 2508.6ha−1 (3.74% of gross output value) followed by jute at BDT 1976.1ha−1 (1.88% of gross output value). Pesticide use is significantly lower in floodplain agroecologies, high rainfall areas, high land and low land …

After More Than A Decade Of Soil Moisture Deficit, Tropical Rainforest Trees Maintain Photosynthetic Capacity, Despite Increased Leaf Respiration, Lucy Rowland, Raquel L. Lobo-Do-Vale, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Eliane A. Melém, Bart Kruijt, Steel S. Vasconcelos, Tomas Domingues, Oliver J. Binks, Alex A. R. Oliveira, Daniel Metcalfe

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Determining climate change feedbacks from tropical rainforests requires an understanding of how carbon gain through photosynthesis and loss through respiration will be altered. One of the key changes that tropical rainforests may experience under future climate change scenarios is reduced soil moisture availability. In this study we examine if and how both leaf photosynthesis and leaf dark respiration acclimate following more than 12 years of experimental soil moisture deficit, via a through-fall exclusion experiment (TFE) in an eastern Amazonian rainforest. We find that experimentally drought-stressed trees and taxa maintain the same maximum leaf photosynthetic capacity as trees in corresponding control …

A Palaeoclimatic Reconstruction Of The Cadair Idris Area Of Snowdonia, Using Geomorphological Evidence From Younger Dryas Cirque Glaciers, Bethany Radbourne

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The importance of glacier reconstruction lies in the empirical relationship between glacier mass balance and climate. Small glaciers are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation, thus the reconstruction of small palaeoglaciers can provide an understanding of past climatic changes in an area. This study conducts glacier and palaeoclimatic reconstructions for four potential palaeoglaciers at Cadair Idris, southern Snowdonia. Three of these are assigned a Younger Dryas age by referring to published literature, and the fourth is assumed to have existed during an earlier glaciation, possibly reflecting deglaciation from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Schmidt Hammer relative age dating …

The Association Of Microstructural Connectivity In The Brain And Auditory Modulation Of Representational Momentum, Emma Theobald

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Perceived displacement from an object’s forward trajectory results in a representational momentum (RM) effect. In a behavioural task, participants watched a video of an actor reaching for/withdrawing from an object after hearing ‘I’ll take it’ or ‘I’ll leave it’, which was either congruent or incongruent with the subsequent action witnessed. The knowledge of other people’s intentions through auditory cues and then the predictions of their actions have been found to create an effect on the strength of RM experienced. The degree to which this auditory information affects the RM effect differs for each individual. This variation could, at least partially, …

Modifying A Cow-Calf Biophysical Simulation Model For Analyses Of Alternative Enterprises, Jennifer L. Lutes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cow-calf producers in the United States, tasked with providing beef calves for the beef industry, have had a multitude of difficulties to overcome in recent years. Producers in northwest Arkansas were negatively impacted by high hay prices coupled with low beef cattle market prices due to severe drought experienced in portions of 2010, 2011, and 2012. During this time they also faced high grain prices, due to a record low harvest, combined with portions of the corn harvest diverted from human and animal feed to ethanol production. Tight lending policies of this time, reminiscent of the housing market crash in …

The Human Terrain System: Operationally Relevant Social Science Research In Iraq And Afghanistan, Christopher Sims Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The Human Terrain System embedded civilians primarily in brigade combat teams (BCTs) in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2007 and 2014 to act as a collection and dispersal mechanism for sociocultural comprehension. Set against the backdrop of the program’s evolution, the experiences of these social scientists clarifies the U.S. Army’s decision to integrate social scientists at the tactical level in conflict. Based on interviews, program documents, material from Freedom of Information Act requests, and secondary sources, this book finds a series of limiting factors inhibiting social science research at the tactical level, common to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Complexity in integrating …

Alaska: North To The Future Of Federal Marijuana Regulation, Angela Macdonald

Alaska Law Review

The personal freedom Alaskans not only expect, but rely upon, exposes a significant need for federal cooperation in the reformation of marijuana laws, including the removal or reclassification of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act. This Comment summarizes this issue in light of Alaska’s recent recreational marijuana legalization. In doing so, elements unique to Alaska and their likely influence on the state's upcoming marijuana legislation; the history and evolution of Alaska marijuana laws; and the scholarly literature on Alaska marijuana law regarding the tensions between federal and state marijuana regulation are discussed. This Comment proposes that marijuana be removed from …

National Performance Network/Visual Artists Network: An Internship Academic Report, Monica Tyran

Arts Administration Master's Reports (1984-2016)

This comprehensive report was written upon the culmination of an internship with the National Performance Network/Visual Artist Network (NPN/VAN) at which the author worked 20 hours for 38 weeks (September 2014-May 2015). This report describes NPN/VAN, including its mission, structure, and operations. It also includes a SWOT analysis, review of best practices, and recommendations on how NPN/VAN can improve its current operations and programs in order to grow and prepare for the future.

Trying Times: Disability, Activism, And Education In Samoa, 1970-1980, Juliann Anesi

Dissertations - ALL

In the 1970s and 1980s, Samoan women organizers established Aoga Fiamalamalama and Loto Taumafai, which were educational institutions in Samoa, an island in the Pacific. Establishing these schools for students with intellectual and physical disabilities, excluded from attending formal schools based on the misconception that they were "uneducable". In this project, I seek to understand how parent advocates, allies, teachers, women organizers, women with disabilities, and former students of these schools understood disability, illness, inclusive education, and community organizing. Through interviews and analysis of archival documents, stories, cultural myths, legends related to people with disabilities, pamphlets, and newspaper media, I …

Monitoring And Analysis Of Erosion And Deposition In The Desert Knolls Wash, Samson Rajan Lamech

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The goal of this Project was to monitor and measure ongoing changes in the geomorphology of one reach of The Desert Knolls Wash (DKW), an unstable ephemeral stream channel in Apple Valley, California. The DKW flows into the Mojave River just upstream of the Upper Mojave Narrows, a historic site that has been the focus of recorded human activity in the region since 1776.

Two surveyed cross-sections were established for three periods of time between November 2012 and November 2014 which were to be re-measured after significant flows. However, owing to the persistent drought in the location, there were no …

Enabling Others To Win In A Complex World: Maximizing Security Force Assistance Potential In The Regionally Aligned Brigade Combat Team, Liam P. Walsh Cpt (P)

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Beginning in 2013, the U.S. Army began an effort to “engage regionally and respond globally.” A central tenant of this strategy, building upon National strategic guidance, is the necessity to build partner capacity. Army units, through the regionally aligned forces concept, may find themselves conducting security force assistance (SFA) missions across the globe as a means to achieve these ways. However, after examining the Army’s SFA mission in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM from 2003-10, it becomes apparent that institutional and organizational shortcomings plagued the Army’s initial efforts in this critical aspect of the campaign. Many of these shortcomings remain in the …

Liberty, Equality, Indebtedness: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams And The Problem Of Debt In A Revolutionary Age, Martha Salazar Cantu

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I examine how the issue of debt contributed to the political tensions between the New England region and the Chesapeake region during the Revolutionary Age. The merging of the two regions’ economies into one federal union caused political divisions, which remained beyond the period of the Early Republic. Examining the cultural attitudes of each region towards debt provides a better understanding of the political problems between these two regions. The integration of the consignment culture of the Southern states with the Puritan ethic of the New England states caused economic difficulties for the young Republic. The research …

Human Capital In The Human Resource Function: The Positioning And Impact Of The Chief Human Resource Officer, Richard Raymond Smith

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, interest in human capital as a strategic resource of the firm has created new streams of research oriented on the value of strategic human resource management, high performance work systems, and human capital as resource of the firm for competitive advantage. The Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) serves as the steward of human capital of the firm, yet little is known about the nature and impact of this critical role that is charged with building strategic advantage with the human capital resources of the firm. Over the past decade the CHRO has risen to take a prominent …

The Vascular Flora Of Wayne County, Mississippi, Daniel M. Mcnair

Master's Theses

The vascular flora of Wayne County, Mississippi, was surveyed from 2013–2015, and the species of native and naturalized plants are listed. In total, 1,135 species were identified from field collections, previously collected herbarium specimens, and field observations. These belong to 556 genera and 165 families. Four of these species represent first recorded occurrences in the state of Mississippi: Blyxa aubertii Rich., Gomphrena serrata Pav. ex Moq., Isoetes valida (Engelm.) Clute, and Polypogon interruptus Kunth. GPS coordinates are given for important collection sites representing the diversity of plant communities in the county. All voucher specimens from the survey are deposited in …

Landpower And American Credibility, Michael Allen Hunzeker, Alexander Lanoszka

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

An Integrated Drought Index (Idi) Incorporating Physical And Social Aspects, Rebecca L. Lanier

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to determine significant bio-physical (physical and environmental) and social variables that can be integrated into a drought index to predict areas susceptible to drought. Severe drought events are capable of causing millions of dollars in damage. The 1988 drought caused the United States approximately $40 billion in damage. Drought forecasting, modeling, and detection have, therefore, become imperative to understand the social, economic and environmental impacts of droughts, and also to explore how these impacts play a role in the occurrence of a drought. A number of drought indices widely used in the U.S. rely …

Feeding The South: An Assessment Of Food Availability In Rural Mississippi, Nicole Baiza Lawrence

Master's Theses

The overall goal of this project is to investigate Mississippi’s rural food environment by assessing the food resources available to rural Mississippians. The primary objectives were to identify sample locations in each of the four cultural regions of Mississippi and determine the food resources available to residents of those counties. The intellectual merit of this research lies in its in-depth exploration of food accessibility in rural areas. Though there is a wealth of literature on the topics of urban food access and food deserts, very little research has been done in rural areas. Most studies focus on urban environments which …

Burial Chronological Sequencing Of The Colonial Maya Cemetery At Tipu, Belize Using Fluoride Ion Analysis, Nicole Musselwhite

Master's Theses

This thesis ascertains the sequence of burials using fluoride ion electrode analysis at the colonial cemetery at Tipu, Belize in order to explore demographic and other cultural effects associated with European contact. The cemetery at Tipu in west central Belize, dating from within the first century of Spanish contact, has provided one of the largest and best preserved Maya skeletal series, with over 500 burials recovered. While this series has undergone vast amounts of analysis, there has yet been an analysis conducted to view how patterns changed over time. This is of interest given the rapid culture change associated with …

Recreation Ecology Of Colorado Fourteeners: An Assessment Of Trail Usage And Impacts, James C. Ewing

Master's Theses

The popularity of climbing Colorado’s 14,000 ft. peaks, or “Fourteeners”, has risen dramatically in recent years, raising important sustainability and management questions. Moreover, groups managing the peaks operate with major capital constraints so their efforts need to be informed, prioritized, and efficient. This paper gauges the dynamics of trail usage, explanatory variables, and recreational impacts across all 58 Fourteeners, and details evaluation adjustments that minimize error and produce results in-step with the resource management framework. Relative to a baseline study completed in 2005, substantial changes occurred in trail usage and impact dynamics. The greatest changes were concentrated on peaks previously …

The Spike In Number Of Unaccompanied Children Entering The United States From El Salvador, Genesis Bautista

Washington Semester Program

No abstract provided.

Trash Talk, Brendan Mahoney

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.