Digital Commons Network^™

The Voting Rights Act In Winter: The Death Of A Superstatute, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, Guy-Uriel Charles

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The Voting Rights Act ("VRA "), the most successful civil rights statute in American history, is dying. In the recent Shelby County decision, the U.S. Supreme Court signaled that the anti-discrimination model, long understood as the basis for the VRA as originally enacted, is no longer the best way to understand today's voting rights questions. As a result, voting rights activists need to face up to the fact that voting rights law and policy are at a critical moment of transition. It is likely the case that the superstatute we once knew as the VRA is no more and is …

Facilitating Dialogue Through Design To Create Positive Social Change In Rural Communities, Lauren B. Schiefelbein

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Social Design is a progressive field that continues to gain momentum across the nation and the world. Its value and validity is especially noteworthy when design is used as a vehicle to create positive change in today's society. Many rural communities lack the necessary infrastructures or resources to remain relevant in a 21st century world, and face unique sets of barriers to progress and creative problem-solving.;Effective communication, for example, is one area that design thinking can efficiently address, often generating collaborative solutions. Facilitating dialogue in the rural community requires special attention and planning. A carefully-tailored strategy of design interaction while …

Perceptions Of Adult Learners' Readiness In Ghana For Online Instructions In Higher Education, Daniel Tetteh-Richter

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Online learning has become an integral component of higher education in the 21st century. Harnessing this potential has resulted in an increase in enrollment without the corresponding wear and tear on main campus infrastructure. Many institutions of higher education have incorporated online learning into their programs while recognizing that online learners are more likely to be adult students. As such, adult learners must have basic online skills that make them ready for online learning. Also, online programs should be guided by andragogy -- a unique approach to educating the adult learner. And the adult learner must want to stay in …

Variations In Selenium Concentrations By Photochemical And Temperature-Controlled Iron Cycles, Kendi L. Waltemyer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Selenium (Se) concentrations in natural waters may vary over a 24-hour (diel) period in response to temperature changes. Diel cycles of Se have not been reported in coal mine drainage (CMD) waters, and understanding the mechanisms of Se concentration variations in CMD is important for predicting Se fate and mobility. Iron (Fe) is often associated with CMD, and diel cycles of dissolved Fe species concentrations and/or the formation of Fe oxyhydroxide minerals may impact Se mobility. Experiments were conducted in a laboratory setting between July 2014 and April 2015 to determine if selenite (SeIV) concentration changes could be detected in …

Commercial Real Estate Investment And Economic Development In The Northeast Region Of The United States, Tizita Wasihun

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The U.S. commercial real estate (CRE, henceforth) market was pummeled during the great recession. As the economy sees gradual improvements, investment continues to forge ahead from its worst slump, with fresh opportunities as construction rebounds. The debate on the relationship between real estate investment and economic growth has a long history in the economic development literature. Frequently asked questions are, should real estate investment be part of economic development strategies? Does real estate investment have more economic benefits than other investments? Should real estate investment wait until economic growth is achieved? Does real estate investment spur economic growth or, vice …

Uneven Development And Peri-Urbanization In South Africa: Exploring Landscape Change In Polokwane, South Africa, Jennifer L. Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Changes in local landscapes of South Africa are tied to changing social and economic structures of the post-apartheid era. Though there have been significant shifts in land and labor laws, as well as economic policies, between the apartheid era and current times, significant inequalities between communities remain a defining characteristic of the post-apartheid landscape. This research contends that through a combination of social processes occurring between the local, national, and global scales, local landscape is produced unevenly as a manifestation of the coproduction of space. Using a structuralist approach, the research examines local change through the theoretical lenses of uneven …

Word Play: Modernist Women And Performative Writing, Kathryn Ridinger Smorul

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In Word Play: Modernist Women and Performative Writing I read modernist literary texts informed by theories about theatre, performance, and art. Exploring lesser-known works of Djuna Barnes, Gwendolyn Bennett, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Mina Loy, I combine literary analysis and performance studies to discover how modernist texts "talk back" to performance theories.;Performance studies, of course, is an inter-discipline that includes anthropology, sociology, performing arts, and literary theory. Modernist authors, influenced as they often are by art, performance, and ritual, incorporate these interdisciplinary interests into a writing practice, specifically performative writing. Performative writing is not so much a matter of …

Impacts Of Multiple Stressors On Dryland Vulnerability And Land Conflict Among Border Communities, Alvin Maingi Solomon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examines how individuals and groups respond to prevailing politico-economic and biophysical changes and how the adjustments they make influence and are influenced by their social relations and material condition in spatial and temporal terms. This dissertation comprises of three parts: The first part is a critique of the climate-conflict relationship debate and the problems associated with studies pushing for a causal relationship between climate variables and conflict. I argue that scholars lack of attention on varying institutional capacities and the focus solely on environmental factors as trigger mechanisms for conflict leads to misleading arguments about conflict distribution and …

Water, Bison, And Horses: Natural Resources And Their Impacts On Native Raids And Relations In Late, Spanish Colonial New Mexico, Dori L. Gorczyca

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

During the Spanish colonial period in New Mexico’s history, the area became a place where cultural, social, and economic mixing of various Native American groups and Spanish settlers frequently occurred. Certain peoples, such as the Pueblo, lived in an agrarian society and worked in close proximity to the Spanish. Other peoples, such as the Comanche, Apache, and Navajo, developed hostile relationships with these foreigners, and their raids on the Spanish, Pueblo, and each other changed the dynamic of their settlements. Sources from Spanish and Church officials, along with travel logs, discuss the effects of natural resources, such as water and …

3d Seismic Attribute-Assisted Analysis Of Microseismic Events In The Marcellus Shale, Ariel Kelton Hart

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Microseismic monitoring is often used during the process of oil and gas exploitation to monitor seismicity that may be triggered by hydraulic fracturing, a common practice in the Appalachian Basin. Anthropogenically-induced minor upward fracture growth is not uncommon in the Marcellus shale; however, in the area of study, significant microseismic activity was registered above the target zone. In order to ascertain whether out-of-zone growth might have been predictable and identify which areas are more likely to experience brittle failure first, 3D seismic and microseismic data were analyzed with a focus on better understanding variations in the acoustic properties associated with …

Sequence Stratigraphy And Reservoir Characterization Of The Middle Devonian Marcellus Formation For A Cored Well In Harrison County, West Virginia, Victoria L. Hilliard

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Middle Devonian Marcellus Formation is an important unconventional shale play in North America. It has an approximate aerial extent of 100,000 square-miles and has been estimated to contain upwards to 489 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. Through the advent of horizontal drilling, in combination with hydraulic fracture simulation, the Marcellus Formation has been exploited at exponential rates. In order to increase production and drill more profitable wells, the geology of the Marcellus is being studied in more detail. In particular, geologic parameters such as geomechanical properties, total organic carbon (TOC), porosity, and mineralogy could have a direct relationship …

Improving Community College Student Success Through Investment Of A Community Capitals Framework: A Multi-Case Study, Gregory T. Busch

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this dissertation is to understand how community colleges invest in a wide range of resources to achieve student success and how that investment can be better understood through the roles of the constructs found in the Community Capitals Framework. To address these questions, the top two Ohio community colleges demonstrating the greatest positive percent growth in overall student success from 2012 to 2015 were analyzed through case studies. From these inductive inquiries, success initiatives and college interventions to overcome barriers to student success were grouped into strands. The strands reflected a collection of similar themes helpful for …

Dimensions Of The Use Of Volunteered Geographic Information In Mass Crisis Events, Xiannian Chen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Recent studies have suggested that catastrophic events that trigger mass evacuation require surrounding communities to be well-prepared to act as ingress or pass-through areas for potential evacuees; however surrounding rural communities may have insufficient disaster-related logistical resources. In the response phase of disaster management, officials must be able to deploy resources to demand locations in types and quantities based on real-time requirements. Effective cross-jurisdictional disaster management needs real-time information, which is usually unavailable from official, authoritative sources. Conversely, VGI (volunteered geographic information) has the capability to provide real-time and local information in disaster management. This study investigates the possibility of …

Integrated Geochronology And Petrogenesis Of Volcanic Suites For Tectonic Sedimentary Studies: Karoo Basin, South Africa, Matthew P. Mckay

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

By integrating high-precision, U-Pb zircon geochronology with zircon and whole rock/ tuff geochemistry, the tectonic history of an active margin can be assessed independently from strata preserved in sedimentary basins. This approach is particularly useful in regions where subsequent active tectonism has resulted in extensive igneous intrusion, tectonic dissection, or structural deformation of crustal suites, obscuring the record of previous geologic events. In this work I present 603 U-Pb zircon age coupled with zircon geochemical analyses collected from Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) microanalyses, 15 U-Pb zircon Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS) ages, and 109 U-Pb Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled …

Constraints On The Pressure-Temperature Path For Belt-Purcell Supergroup Metapelites From Snow Peak, Northern Idaho, Sarah Elizabeth Johnson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Snow Peak area in northern Idaho experienced two distinct metamorphic episodes, M1 and M2. Garnets, especially those that experienced both episodes, are strongly zoned. The assemblages observed in metapelites from garnet to staurolite/kyanite zones were compared to computer generated assemblages calculated using Theriak-Domino (deCapitani and Petrakakis, 2010). The comparison and analysis of the assemblages, garnet zoning, and modal contours provides constraints on the path the rocks must have followed between metamorphic events called M1 and M2. The most useful constraints on the proposed P-T path are provided by comparing the content of Ca in garnet and the observed assemblage …

Changing Displays Of Assyrian Art In Nineteenth Century England, Clayton W. Kindred

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In 1846, the British polymath Austen Henry Layard began archaeological excavations in the mounds of ancient Assyria, approximately twenty miles south of the modern day city of Mosul, Iraq. Uncovering artifacts almost immediately, Layard's discoveries were sent to the British Museum, where they were first displayed in 1847. Academic research on this scenario has recently experienced a great resurgence, with works such as Frederick Bohrer's seminal, Orientalism and Visual Culture, and Shawn Malley's thorough, From Archaeology to Spectacle in Victorian Britain, exploring the vast social and political connections that existed between Layard, the British Museum and the British State. But, …

Impact Of Pore Size On Gas Condensate Critical Properties Confined In Marcellus Shale, Erfan Mustafa Allawe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Gas condensate reservoirs have become an important topic of research for reservoir engineers due to the drop in gas prices in the past few years. Because of this drop, the majority of gas producers have become more interested in condensate and wet gas resources. However, gas condensate reservoirs have a unique phase behavior system and they are considered the most complicated reservoirs to develop due to the continuous composition changes. Therefore, the effects of nanopores on the critical properties of the confined gas condensate in the Marcellus Shale will be investigated in this research in order to achieve the optimum …

Intimate Empire: Women's Travel Writing And U.S. Imperialism 1880-1920, Andrea Bebell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines how several turn-of-century U.S. women journalists and travel writers represent U.S. imperialism in a range of locales, trafficking in prevailing discourses of gender and race to represent colonized Others and as they engage in a comparative analysis to evaluate women's status in the U.S. In doing so, I suggest that these women, largely overlooked in critical discourses on U.S. imperialism, nonetheless contributed to the U.S. imperial imaginary. By recuperating the work of "newspaper ladies" Margherita Hamm, Nellie Bly, and Mary Krout, and through a reconsideration of Edith Wharton's travel writing, I consider the complex ways that white …

Imsa 2015 Profile, Office Of College And Academic Counseling

IMSA Profile

"The internationally recognized Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy ® (IMSA) develops creative, ethical leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As a teaching and learning laboratory created by the State of Illinois, IMSA enrolls academically talented Illinois students (grades 10-12) in its advanced, residential college preparatory program, and it serves thousands of educators and students in Illinois and beyond through innovative instructional programs that foster imagination and inquiry. IMSA also advances education through research, groundbreaking ventures and strategic partnerships."*

*Excerpt from the IMSA 2015 Profile

[Introduction To] Mapping The Cold War: Cartography And The Framing Of America's International Power, Timothy Barney

Bookshelf

In this fascinating history of Cold War cartography, Timothy Barney considers maps as central to the articulation of ideological tensions between American national interests and international aspirations. Barney argues that the borders, scales, projections, and other conventions of maps prescribed and constrained the means by which foreign policy elites, popular audiences, and social activists navigated conflicts between North and South, East and West. Maps also influenced how identities were formed in a world both shrunk by advancing technologies and marked by expanding and shifting geopolitical alliances and fissures. Pointing to the necessity of how politics and values were “spatialized” in …

Linking Trajectories: On-Line Learning And Intercultural Exchanges, Nanette Levinson, Kaitlin E. Davidson

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

There has been tremendous growth both in study abroad and intercultural exchange options in the United States and also in on-line learning options in higher education. Reviewing 91 cross-cultural experiences with at least one type of formal on-line component, this paper provides an overview and categorization of these offerings as well as a discussion of trends. It also offers recommendations to help strengthen and shape further offerings and related research.

Preservice Social Studies Teachers’ Conceptions Of And Experiences With Discussion As A Pedagogical Approach: A Case Study, Rory P. Tannebaum, Susan A. Cridland-Hughes

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

An extensive body of empirical data emphasizes the numerous benefits of incorporating discussion into the social studies classroom. Therefore, it is necessary to better understand how educators view discussion and what experiences they have with in throughout their college courses. The authors conducted a single-case study at a large southeastern university that sought to explore how 12 preservice social studies teachers experience discussion in their college-level coursework. The study also sought to discover the extent to which the participants valued discussion within their coursework and whether they considered discussion as a practical approach for their own classroom. Findings suggest that …

Danish Cedar Falls : The Immigrant Experience, Carrie L. Eilderts

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Danish were the largest immigrant group in Cedar Falls. They immigrated to Cedar Falls and the nearby rural village of Fredsville in large numbers between 1870 and 1900. There they formed an immigrant community. The lived near each other, worshipped together, spoke the same language, and carried on Danish traditions. They farmed, found jobs in Cedar Falls businesses, and opened businesses of their own. By the 1930s, as the first generation of Danish immigrants grew old, the younger generations began to identify more as Americans than as Danes. The elements that characterized the Danish immigrant community began to disappear. …

Spaces Of Disadvantage, Places Of Hope : Women Empowerment, Economic Emancipation And Ngos In Bogotá Slums, Ekaterina Korzh

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research is devoted to the gender issue in Colombian Slums with the specific focus on the social and economic place of women, challenges that women are facing within this extremely impoverished and criminalized areas and avenues to improve women empowerment and emancipation in the slums of Bogotá.

The goal of this research is to improve understanding of social and economic roles of women in the slums and identify NGO-supported coping strategies that allow improving women empowerment and emancipation in the slums of Bogotá. The first objective is to define “slums” and determine their extent, morphology and population characteristics using …

Correlation Analysis Of Climatic Variables, Migration And Dengue Cases In Southeast Florida, Brunilda Lugo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dengue fever is a debilitating, viral, mosquito-borne disease occurring in tropical and subtropical areas in the world. The majority of dengue cases in the United States were acquired in endemic areas by travelers or immigrants. However, in recent years, autochthonous (locally acquired) dengue cases have been diagnosed in Florida. The purpose of this study was to find an association between potential risk factors and the expansion of dengue fever in the United States. Guided by the eco-bio-social framework, which offers a broad assessment of risk factors for the illness, a retrospective design was used with archival data to correlate changes …

Of Constituents And Contributors, Richard Briffault

Faculty Scholarship

In the stirring conclusion to his plurality opinion in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, Chief Justice Roberts pointed to the close connection between campaign contributions and what he called the "political responsiveness at the heart of the democratic process." Quoting Edmund Burke's statement in his famous Speech to the Electors of Bristol that a representative's judgment should be informed by "the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents," the Chief Justice eloquently declaimed that "[c]onstituents have the right to support candidates who share their views and concerns. Representatives are not to follow constituent orders, but can …

Naylor's "Postcard's From The Middle East" (Book Review), Carrie Beth Lowe

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Social Network Correlates Of Hcv And Hiv Transmission Risk Behaviors Among Injecting Drug Users, Victor Emanuel Reyes-Ortiz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Drug injection is an increasingly important risk factor in the transmission of blood-borne pathogens, including the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of social network factors on HCV and HIV. The study was grounded in social network theory and sought to determine whether social network characteristics affect high-risk sexual and drug injection behavior as well as self-reported HIV and HCV status. The study design was a quantitative cross-sectional survey. A total of 181 participants in a needle exchange program completed a survey in Spanish assessing individual drug …

Admin, Elizabeth F. Emens

Faculty Scholarship

This Article concerns a relatively unseen form of labor that affects us all, but that disproportionately burdens women: admin. Admin is the office type work – both managerial and secretarial – that it takes to run a life or a household. Examples include completing paperwork, making grocery lists, coordinating schedules, mailing packages, and handling medical and benefits matters. Both equity and efficiency are at stake here. Admin raises distributional concerns about those people – often women – who do more than their share of this work on behalf of others. Even when different-sex partners who both work outside the home …

Collection Development Policy, Regionals, Cynthia Kisby

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.