Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating Disparities In Behavior And Care Between Alaska Native And White Victims Of Sexual Violence: The Importance Of Culturally Competent Nursing Care, Elizabeth Danielle Koster

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Context: According to Alaska’s former governor the sexual violence issue in the state has become an epidemic. Four out of ten women in Alaska have been victims of sexual assault. The purpose of this research was to determine the existence of health care disparities in the treatment of Alaska Native women victims of sexual violence compared to white women victims and address the need for sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) to provide culturally competent nursing care. Objective: The specific research questions addressed in this study compared multiple variables between Alaska Native and white women victims of sexual violence: behaviors during …

‘Surprise, Surprise:’ The Tactical Response Of Alexander To Guerilla Warfare And Fighting In Difficult Terrain, Graham Wrightson

School of American and Global Studies Faculty Publications with a Focus on History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religion

Alexander the Great is most famous as the undefeated general who conquered the Persian Empire only to die suddenly in his mid-thirties. Most works on his leadership focus on his strategic brilliance or on his pitched battles and sieges. But perhaps the most striking part of Alexander’s generalship was his effective responses to irregular warfare throughout his campaigns. Alexander had to overcome numerous guerilla forces and battles in difficult terrain during his campaigns.1 Of most interest to military historians today is his solution to dealing with the problems of invading the Hindu Kush and the regions around what is now …

Research Is Relational: Exploring Researcher Identities And Colonial Echoes In Pacific And Indigenous Studies, Tui Nicola Clery, Acacia Dawn Cochise, Robin Metcalfe

Pacific Studies

This paper critiques the binary construction of researchers as either insiders or outsiders, arguing that such essentialist frameworks obscure the complex, intersectional identities many researchers embody. The paper proposes a more inclusive and reflexive model of research identity that acknowledges fluidity, hybridity, and relationality. It encourages researchers to reflect on their positionality, embrace imperfection in relational processes, and engage with communities in ways that are accountable and transformative. Ultimately, the paper advocates for a shift toward more relational and inclusive research methodologies that better reflect the realities of a globalized and interconnected world.

Books Noted: Recent Pacific Islands Publications: Selected Acquisitions, January 2014–December 2014, Zoia Falevai

Pacific Studies

This list of significant publications relating to the Pacific Islands was selected from new acquisitions lists recovered from Brigham Young University–Hawaii, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, University of Auckland, and Macmillan Brown Library at University of Canterbury. Other libraries are invited to send contributions to the Books Noted editor for future issues. Listings reflect the extent of information provided by each institution.

Vol. 38 No. 3 (2015): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 38, No 3-Dec 2015 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

State-Created Immigration Climates And Domestic Migration, Huyen Pham, Pham Hoang Van

Faculty Scholarship

With comprehensive immigration reform dead for the foreseeable future, immigration laws enacted at the subfederal level -- cities, counties, and states -- have become even more important. Arizona has dominated media coverage and become the popular representation of the states' response to immigration by enacting SB 1070 and other notoriously anti-immigrant laws. Illinois, by contrast, has received relatively little media coverage for enacting laws that benefit the immigrants within its jurisdiction. The reality on the ground is that subfederal jurisdictions in the United States have taken very divergent paths on the issue of immigration regulation.

Compiling city, county, and state …

“We Stick Out Like A Sore Thumb . . .”: Underground White Rappers’ Hegemonic Masculinity And Racial Evasion, Matthew Oware

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Employing the concept of racial evasion—a derivation of Bonilla-Silva’s colorblind ideology theory—the author analyzes 237 songs of underground white and nonwhite rappers from 2006 to 2010. Performing a content analysis on their lyrics, the author finds that white artists make fewer references to racially political and social themes (e.g., racial profiling, police brutality, racist policies) than nonwhite artists—what the author terms racial evasion. The author speculates that white rappers, understanding that they operate in a specifically racialized black and brown cultural art form, deemphasize or mask their racial identity in their lyrics. This tactic is achieved through lyrically referencing hypermasculine …

The Lonely Robin: A Children’S Book To Target Liquid Speech Sounds, Kelsey Meints

Honors Projects

The purpose of the project was to write and illustrate a children’s book for readers aged 8-10 years old. The plot was meant to engage children so that they can relate to the characters, and learn about significant real-life themes. Words were selected very carefully for the story. The book primarily focuses on words with the /l/ (e.g. lake) and /r/ (e.g. red) English phonemes. An appendix at the end of the book classifies target words according sound and syllable position. The author’s goal is that this book can be used as a tool for joint reading and independent practice …

Narrative Discourse In Bilingual English-Spanish Speakers: A Case Control Study, Sarah Young

Honors Projects

The study explored differences in storytelling between bilingual English and Spanish speakers and monolingual English Speakers, differences between Spanish and English storytelling in bilingual speakers, and the relation between language ability used in storytelling and language ability used on a structured measure of language ability. Ten second and third grade children were targeted for this study – five of whom were monolingual English speakers and the other five were bilingual English-Spanish speakers. Bilingual children completed two sessions – one in English and one in Spanish – while monolingual children completed one session in English. Each session contained a narrative retell, …

Representational Politics In Video Game Media – Gender In Pokémon, Glenn R. Miller

Senior Projects

The Pokémon franchise is a global powerhouse however it lacks representation that is necessary for the variety of races, sexualities, genders, and sexes that inhabit the countries where the games are released. These are fleshed out with the analysis of the works of Anne Fausto-Sterling, Jack Judith Halberstam, Judith Butler, and a critical analysis of the releases and features of the Pokémon games. An observance on representation is also conducted.

Analysis Of The Euro And The European Monetary System And Its Effect On Greece In The Light Of The European Financial Crisis, Mohamed Alinur

Applied Economics Theses

The ability to issue money used for transactions is a power usually reserved by a country’s central government, and it is often seen as a part of a nation’s sovereignty. A monetary union entails multiple countries ceding control over the supply of money to a common authority. The euro was introduced sixteen years ago and has since functioned well, with the European Central Bank keeping inflation low. However, the current Eurozone crisis provides a severe test of the euro’s ability to survive. The Eurozone crisis is plagued by fiscal crises, which have taken their biggest toll on Greece. A competitiveness …

Incomplete Conversions: Intentions Of Indigenous Idolatry In Early Colonial Latin America, Amanda Boos

History Theses

After the Spanish conquest of Latin America different religious groups set up missions to convert the Indians to Catholicism. In the 1530s and 1560s overzealous officials started punishing the indigenous people for idolatry because they saw it as a rejection of Catholic and Spanish rule. This thesis examines why indigenous people continued their religious practices after their supposed conversion to Catholicism. The author argues that indigenous traditions of incorporating new deities into their pantheon led them to believe that the Catholic god was another to be included in their worship, not one to replace their belief system. Additionally, the Spanish …

Essays In Response To Michael Waldman's The Second Amendment: A Biography: Introduction, Adam Riff

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Systematics Of Testudacarine Torrent Mites (Parasitengona: Torrenticolidae), Joseph Charles O'Neill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Thirteen new species of Testudacarus (Torrenticolidae: Testudacarinae) are described, four species are redescribed, and the status of previously problematic species are addressed. For Testudacarinae this represents the first published: 1) descriptions from multiple specimens (therefore providing ranges); 2) colored photographs; 3) explicit illustrations and discussion of sexual dimorphism within the subfamily; 4) genetic data. A comprehensive literature review is also included.

Wittgenstein's Liberating Word: A Meditation On Philosophy And God, Joshua Timothy Kenyon Daniel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project is an attempt to understand the nature of religious belief through the lens of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophical perspective. Chapter One outlines Wittgenstein’s approach to language and meaning and explores the tension that many contemporary analytic philosophers of religion find in Wittgensteinian approaches to religious belief. Chapter Two addresses concerns Wittgenstein had with Frege’s understanding of logic and the limits of thought and ties it to criticism from Wittgensteinian philosophers about the possibility of making any sense of religious belief. Chapter Three pulls together the concerns of the previous two chapters and attempts to reconcile them. A schematic outline …

Commencement Program 2015 December: College Of Liberal Arts, The University Of Texas At Arlington

Commencement Programs, Photos, and Video

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Sociocultural Impact Of Special Events In The Context Of Germanfest In Nebraska, Usa, Yanli Wang

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The present study examined the sociocultural impact of special events based on the cultural festival of GermanFest in Syracuse, Nebraska. A total of 143 (71.5%) local residents responded to the self-administered survey. The dimensions of the sociocultural impact, the important reasons for celebrating the festival, the relationship among festival stakeholders, the levels of community involvement, and the improvement of the quality of life in the community as impacts of the festival and demographic information were investigated separately.

The Festival Social Impact Attitude Scale (FSIAS) was utilized to identify the dimensions of the sociocultural impact of GermanFest. Three dimensions were identified …

Linguistic Relativity And Multilingualism, Nicholas M. Casorio

HIM 1990-2015

Over the last decade, linguistic relativity has seen a resurgence in research and discourse on thought, language, and culture. One particular facet of this research, multilingualism, has been relatively sparse in comparison to the wealth of research available focusing on individual languages and monolingual speakers. This study represents a preliminary investigation that enters this arena by focusing specifically on how speakers of English as a second language use English basic color terms in respect to monolingual speakers. This is done by using a modified methodology from the World Color Survey as a comparative model of a speaker’s division of colors. …

Assessment Of Ell Written Language Progress In Designated Esl Noncredit Courses At The Community College Level, Janet L. Daugherty

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Assessment of the effect of targeted instruction of functional language skills for English language learners (ELL) enrolled in community college basic skills classes is important as community colleges continue to offer noncredit courses for ELL students designed to improve English skills. The Foundations Skills Committee at a community college in a rural setting in Northern California received a State of California grant to provide basic skills instruction, specifically grammar and sentence structure, to ELL. The present study evaluates the effect of Supplemental Instruction (SI) on improving functional skills in writing.

A review of the literature reveals that community college instructors …

How Do Politicians Use Facebook? An Applied Social Observatory, Simon Caton, Margeret A. Hall, Christof Weinhardt

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Publications

In the age of the digital generation, written public data is ubiquitous and acts as an outlet for today’s society. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn have profoundly changed how we communicate and interact. They have enabled the establishment of and participation in digital communities as well as the representation, documentation and exploration of social behaviours, and had a disruptive effect on how we use the Internet. Such digital communications present scholars with a novel way to detect, observe, analyse and understand online communities over time. This article presents the formalization of a Social Observatory: a low latency method …

The Effects Of Explicit Code-Switching Instruction On Student Writing Performance For Students Who Speak Non-Standard Forms Of English, Jeffrey R. Allen

Education Masters

This research project began by asking how explicit code-switching instruction would impact the writing performance of non-standard English speaking students. Participants included twelve sixth grade students and twelve teachers. The data collected was teacher interviews, anecdotal notes, writing samples, teacher questionnaires, student work samples, and audio recorded code-switching practice sessions. Findings revealed that students were not able to translate their knowledge of and proficiency with oral code-switching and dialect variance to written code-switching. In addition, James Prep’s implementation of code-switching pedagogy is not adequate. The data implied that without valuing the home languages of students and building a culture of …

Implementing Literacy Strategies And Activities To Help Math Students In Geometry, Amanda Cappelli

Education Masters

This study examines how literacy strategies and activates help math students learn geometry concepts and solve problems. Three literacy activities were implemented in a 10^th grade geometry classroom, and three students of different math abilities were interviewed. Student work was also analyzed and presented as part of the findings. The data collected revealed the following three themes: the helpfulness of literacy strategies differs for high and low achieving students, using visual representations led to more successful problem solving, and content area vocabulary was essential to know for achievement. The results from this study suggest that math teachers need to …

Impact Of Children's Literature On Family Structures And Children's Perceptions Of Family, Lindsey M. White

Education Masters

This study asks, what is the impact of children’s literature on children’s perceptions of family structures? Literature teaches young children a great deal about the world in which they live; therefore, literature plays a large role in children’s perceptions of others. This study uses triangulation with three forms of qualitative data collected by children’s drawings of families, interviews, questionnaires, and discussions. The study found that young children can understand differences of others. Teachers hold a great deal of responsibility for shaping the minds of the future and literature has a large impact on how children learn about others and perceive …

Childbirth Experiences Among Southeast Asian Immigrant Wives In Taiwan: The Implication Of Cultural Competence To Medical Education, Chun-Yu Lin, Yen-Yuan Chen

Journal of Medical Education

Objectives: Southeast Asian immigrant wives face considerable challenges in their host countries. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the childbirth experiences and feelings of the Southeast Asian immigrant wives who were living in Taipei. Methods: Snowball sampling was employed in this study to recruit the Southeast Asian immigrant wives from several institutions which conducted literacy programs. An in-depth semi-structured interview was used to collect the data. Results: The majority of the research participants were living in three-generation or extended families. The immigrant wives' childbirth experiences included pressure not only from their Taiwanese family members, but also from …

Tone Deaf To The Past: More Qualms About Public Meaning Originalism, Jack Rakove

Fordham Law Review

    With some apologies for a vast degree of oversimplification, let us stipulate that there are two main forms of originalism. One is known as “semantic” or “public meaning” originalism. Its leading advocates include Lawrence Solum, Keith Whittington, and Randy Barnett (professional friends, all). The leading premise of semantic originalism is that the meaning of the constitutional text—or, more specifically, of its individual clauses—was fixed at the moment of its adoption. Under this view, the goal of constitutional interpretation is to recover that original meaning, and the best way to do that pivots on reconstructing how an informed reader, whether a …

Common Law Fundamentals Of The Right To Abortion, Anita Bernstein

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Communication Partner Experience In Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case Study, Pamela Charlie Marie Buckley

Dissertations

For the purpose of this dissertation, the term communication partner described any individual in a position to provide or support opportunities for communication. Communication partners have been discussed in current literature in the areas of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), severe disabilities, aphasia, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The role, characteristics, and responsibilities of a communication partner are most comprehensively described in the aphasia literature.

It is likely that individuals with ASD would have more opportunities for social interaction and engagement if supported by skilled and informed communication partners. The communicative success of individuals with ASD may depend on the …

Literacy And Social Justice: Understanding Student Perceptions And Conceptions About Literature, Jennifer Marie Crosthwaite

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Literacy and learning is a social process, one that is both transformative, empowering, and can often lead to social change. The following study is based on the idea that literacy can be used as a tool not only to teach the basic skills of reading, but the skills for individuals to learn to be compassionate towards others, understand their individuality, and envision how their self can alter their community for a more just world. The frameworks that support these concepts are socio-cultural theory, reader response theory, and critical literacy theory. The intersection of these three theories highlight the importance of …

Experiencing Parental Loss During Adolescence And Factors Influencing Hospital Involvement And The Grieving Process, Vaida Kazlauskaite

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Experiencing the death of a loved one can be traumatic and painful to anyone. Adolescents in particular experience death in a unique way, during a time in their lives when they are developing their own autonomy and independence. Experiencing the deteriorating conditions of a terminally ill parent may affect an adolescent in many ways. However, there is relatively little research on adolescent involvement in the medical setting during a parent’s terminal illness and how this may affect the adolescent’s bereavement. This qualitative study utilized heuristic inquiry and procedures of Grounded Theory to investigate factors influencing the involvement in the hospital …

Evaluating A Novel Approach For Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patient Education: Modified Team -~ Based Learning, Corine Belle Lazaro

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One of the world’s most serious health issues today is the increasing prevalence of diabetes (Chobev, Sotirovska, Mihajilov, 2011). Indeed, the growth of this widespread and pernicious disease has been categorized as epidemic. The antidote for the diabetes epidemic lies in prevention and the use of a chronic care model that focuses on improving diabetes self-management. For both diabetes prevention and self-management, a core component pertains to knowledge—and specifically to improved public health literacy, public health education, and patient education. For example, ongoing patient education is a critical factor in helping patients to manage their diabetes and prevent the micro- …