Digital Commons Network^™

Challenging Classification Bias With Linked Data, Juliya Borie, F. Tim Knight, Jordan Hale

Librarian Publications & Presentations

Can library classification systems find new ways to deal with charges of bias? Can linked data contribute a more inclusive representation of diverse voices and communities? This panel will discuss the inherent biases present in cataloguing and classification, and consider the potential for linked data to provide a space to highlight and explore the challenging political issues that can arise in our work. These include issues related to jurisdiction, territory, and community with examples drawn from legal classification and the classification of cartographic resources.

The Legacy Of Subalternity And Gramsci's National-Popular: Populist Discourse In The Case Of The Islamic Republic Of Iran, Shabnam J. Holliday

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Impacts Of Surface Conditions On Sea Breezes Over Coastal Connecticut, Eric Zachary Sinsky

Master's Theses

Sea breezes are mesoscale atmospheric coastal circulations that develop in response to diurnal variations in the land-sea thermal gradient resulting in cooler air temperatures in coastal regions. Accurate numerical model hindcasts and forecasts of sea breezes, used to study and predict these circulations, are important for a variety of communities beyond the atmospheric sciences. For example, sea breezes can influence marine processes such as oceanic upwelling, estuarine circulation, and air-sea fluxes, as well as impact the energy, aviation, and air quality industries. Representations of the coastline and sea surface temperature (SST) in the numerical model can influence simulated sea breezes. …

Three Relevant Principles In Edward Said’S Orientalism: A Balanced Critique Of Postcolonial Theory & International Politics Amidst The Current East Versus West Conflict, Thomas Maldonado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This honors thesis examines three core principles in Edward Said’s Orientalism to provide a balanced critique of postcolonial theory within the context of modern East-West conflicts. The author first outlines Said’s arguments regarding Orientalist discourse, which leverages knowledge to implement hegemonic power; Orientalist representation, which utilizes "imaginative geography" to construct artificial boundaries; and the Orientalist as an agent of these frameworks.

The study then addresses significant scholarly criticisms, highlighting methodological tensions between Said and figures like Marshall Hodgson and Bernard Lewis. A central contribution of the thesis is its exploration of a notable "lacuna" in Said’s work: the exclusion of …

A Peculiar Institution Within The Peculiar Institution: An Examination Of Affluent Free Black Slave Owners In The Third Caste, Colton Adams

Journal of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index For Monitoring Restoration Goals In The Shark River Slough, Everglades National Park, Juan Pedreno Ii

Open Access Theses

In 2000, the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). Its focus is aimed at realigning the current hydrologic patterns of the greater Everglades watershed to historical hydro-cycles. One component was the construction of a one-mile bridge in 2013 (the Limited Revaluation Report (“LRR”) Bridge) as part of the Tamiami Trail Modification Project (TTMP). The LRR Bridge is the first phase of a planned 6.5-miles of bridging of the Tamiami Trail. If successful, the LRR Bridge should result in increased photosynthetic activity, as a result of the increased penetration of water through the Shark River Slough. This …

Buzz Jones, Professor Of Music, Musselman Library, John William Jones

Next Page

In this new Next Page column Sunderman Conservatory of Music Professor and composer Buzz Jones explains how reading poetry and plays fires his creative instincts and tells us the last book that made him laugh out loud.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet May 2016, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The May 2016 Monthly packet includes the May agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held April 2016.

Examining Expectations: Inspecting The Experiences Of Student Teaching Interns In A Yearlong Paired-Placement At An Urban School, Evan J. Lambrecht

Honors College Theses

This paper examines the experiences of student teaching interns in paired-placements in an urban school setting, specifically how the pairs experience collaboration between themselves, mentor teachers, and university field instructors. In addition, the paper will examine how the paired teaching interns are able to perceive instruction that the students received. Using data from two participant surveys collected from student-teaching interns in paired-placements, results were compared with studies from academic literature and my own experience as a paired teaching intern. A thematic analysis was carried out with the data, in which was found evidence that the teaching interns enjoyed the extra …

Applying Gis Technology In Airport Management, Eleanor Clark

Honors Projects

This honors project involved applying two disciplines to aid in advancing the efficiency of airport management at the Toledo Express Airport. I utilized my geography and aviation knowledge and geographic information system (GIS) skills to create a GIS, a webmap, and a 3-in-1 map-based program that had the capabilities of executing Part 139 Self Inspections, asset management, and work orders. The GIS system and webmap were successfully created to aid in management, cohesiveness, and efficiency within the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, the managing entity of the Toledo Express Airport. For the 3-in-1 map-based program, I worked closely alongside a programmer …

Diploptene Δ13C Values From Contemporary Thermokarst Lake Sediments Show Complex Spatial Variation, Kl Davies, Rd Pancost, Me Edwards, Et Al

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Abstract. Cryospheric changes in northern high latitudes are linked to significant greenhouse gas flux to the atmosphere, for example, methane that originates from organic matter decomposition in thermokarst lakes. The set of pathways that link methane production in sediments, via oxidation in the lake system, to the flux of residual methane to the atmosphere is complex and exhibits temporal and spatial variation. The isotopic signal of bacterial biomarkers (hopanoids, e.g. diploptene) in sediments has been used to identify contemporary ocean-floor methane seeps and, in the geological record, periods of enhanced methane production (e.g. the PETM). The biomarker approach could potentially …

Architecture That Affects Human Behavior: Rethinking Memphis Transit Facilities, Gene Charles Burse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Many people living in the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area(MSA) rely on private passenger automobiles as the primary meansof transportation. Utilizing public transportation is viewed unfavorablyby Mid-Southerners, for reasons ranging from unreliable public transit(e.g., failure to maintain schedules and serve important employmentcenters) to the social perceptions of transit users (low income, minority,uneducated and dangerous).This thesis will explore how architecture can play a role inchanging the negative perception Memphians have of the masstransit system, and its riders, by enhancing the personal experienceof users and improving interaction among various groups of people.The foundation of this thesis is based on review of projects thatinvolve …

Impacts Of Environmental Quality On The Demographics Of Three Nations, Emily Hummel

Honors Projects

This study will examine how the correlation between air and water quality and the population demographics of India, South Africa, and the United States. India is a country with a growing population, increasing income inequality, and gender roles that reflect its status as a developing nation. South Africa is much smaller in area and the population is beginning to level off, but South Africa’s income inequality is growing much faster than India’s and gender inequality is less of an issue in South Africa. The population of the United States is decreasing and gender roles are fairly equal, despite income inequality …

Exploring Undocumented Immigration From Central America Through Art And Activism: A Fourth Grade Social Studies Curriculum, Carmen Romero

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This social studies curriculum strives to teach fourth grade students about undocumented immigration from Central America through the lens of art and activism.

Entrenchment Illusion: The Curious Case Of Egypt’S Constitutional Entrenchment Clause, Mohamed Abdelaal

Chicago-Kent Journal of International and Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Saudi Women Studying In The United States: Understanding Their Experiences, Trinidad Macias

Theses & Dissertations

The number of students from Saudi Arabia studying in the United States is increasing; this study focused on understanding Saudi women studying in the United States. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to address the main research question: What are the perceptions of Saudi women on their experiences as international college students in the United States? In an attempt to understand their experiences, eleven Saudi Arabian women were interviewed. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview format. Analysis of the data was conducted via a four-step process that consisted of transcribing the interviews, reduction, horizontalization, and imaginative variation (Merriam, 2002). …

Faculty Senate Minutes | 2015-2016, Jsu Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

“Bracketing” Foreign Policy From Domestic Affairs: A New Paradigm For International Negotiation And Decision-Making, Scott Gerschwer Ph.D.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

This paper argues that geo-political negotiators must separate domestic issues from their calculations and consider only strategic goals and international concerns when working through issues with other global leaders. The impetus for this paper is a recent poll that shows that 52% of Americans want to bomb Iran, apparently without considering the consequences. I will give some history, present some recent cases and attempt to create a mechanism for separating international and domestic issues to relieve a source of pressure on negotiators.

Maritime Paraphernalia: Weights, Bells, And Rings, Ali Morrow

Senior Honors Projects

At the Yavne-Yam site in Israel, a Bronze Age coastal industrial establishment, a variety of lead objects were found which appear to have some connection with fishing and maritime activities, including bells, weights, and rings of various sizes. At numerous other ancient coastal sites throughout the Mediterranean, similar objects have been documented but no systematic or typological study yet has been made of them. This study focuses primarily on the archaeological context and potential uses of the lead rings that have been found in maritime contexts, which range in size from small grommets to large, saucer-sized circlet.

The potential uses …

Lateral Violence Among New Graduate Nurses, Megan Russell

Nursing Theses and Capstone Projects

Lateral violence is an act of aggression that is committed against one nurse by another. There are many names for lateral violence, some of these include: horizontal violence, bullying, aggression, horizontal hostility, verbal abuse, or nurses eating their young. Lateral violence occurs when nurses covertly or overtly direct the dissatisfaction they are feeling inward toward each other. The effects of lateral violence on new graduate nurses and the organizations in which they work can be detrimental. An extensive literature review was undertaken to understand the significance and prevalence of lateral violence against new graduate nurses. The purpose of this study …

University Of Southern Maine Commencement Program 2016, University Of Southern Maine

Commencement Programs

University of Southern Maine Commencement 2016

Bayesian Estimation Of The Size Of A Street-Dwelling Homeless Population, Lawrence C. Mccandless, Michelle L. Patterson, Lauren B. Currie, Akm Moniruzzaman, Julian M. Somers

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A novel Bayesian technique is proposed to calculate 95% interval estimates for the size of the homeless population in the city of Edmonton using plant-capture data from Toronto, Canada. The probabilities of capture in Edmonton and Toronto are modeled as exchangeable in a hierarchical Bayesian model, and Markov chain Monte Carlo is used to sample from the posterior distribution. Guidelines are recommended for applying the method to assess the accuracy of homeless counts in other cities.

A Spatial Analytical Framework For Examining Road Traffic Crashes, Grace O. Korter

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

A number of different modeling techniques have been used to examine road traffic crashes for analytic and predictive purposes. Map-based spatial analysis is introduced. Applications are given which show the power in a combination of existing exploratory and statistical methods.

An Evaluation Of Pareto, Lognormal And Pps Distributions: The Size Distribution Of Cities In Kerala, India, Christopher A. Vallabados, Subbarayan A. Arumugam

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The Pareto-Positive Stable (PPS) distribution is introduced as a new model for describing city size data of a region in a country. The PPS distribution provides a flexible model for fitting the entire range of a set of city size data and the classical Pareto and Zipf distributions are included as a particular case.

Democratizing Startups, Seth C. Oranburg

Law Faculty Scholarship

President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (“JOBS Act”) of 2012 into law to “help entrepreneurs raise the capital they need to put Americans back to work and create an economy that’s built to last.” The goal is to “democratize startups” by making capital available to diverse entrepreneurs in new geographies. Yet the net effect of securities regulations and market conditions is the opposite. Startup companies are encouraged to stay private so capital is consolidating in large, mature firms instead of recycling into new startups. Evidence of consolidation is that once-rare “Unicorns” (billion-dollar startups) now number at least 170. …

New Metaphors For Networked Learning, Caroline A. Haythornthwaite

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

As networked learning leaves designed spaces and becomes diffused and re-infused through open, online information sharing and knowledge construction, what metaphors will frame our next steps, our next inquiries? In keeping with the conference theme of ‘Looking Back – Moving Forward’, this presentation will engage with where we are in the sea of change, and how our current understanding of networks, learning and knowledge will take us forward into new areas of inquiry. Elsewhere I have been advocating for a reclamation of the term ‘e-learning’ that takes us beyond the design and use of the closed LMS and VLE systems …

Earthquake Recovery Process In Nepal ( A Comparative Analysis With Haiti), Ramesh Kumar Dahal

Sustainability and Social Justice

ABSTRACT: This paper is a comparative analysis of earthquake recovery processes in Nepal and Haiti. The disaster preparedness plan of both countries is influenced by socioeconomic, political and geographical factors. Effective planning and smoother implementation of earthquake response/recovery and rehabilitation efforts could have saved many lives and properties. The study is undertaken to evaluate the hampering and counteracting factors in both countries in view of generating lessons for the government of Nepal, currently tasked with rebuilding the nation following the earthquake of April 25, 2015 and aftershock of May 12, 2015. Reviewing secondary data, this study has identified that both …

Economic Consequences Of Conflict, Displacement And Humanitarian Aid: Implications For Syria, Molly S. Burns

Sustainability and Social Justice

This report analyzes the complex relationships between conflict, displacement, aid, and economics. Providing a brief overview of the context of civil war in Syria and an analysis of development literature on micro- and macroeconomic consequences of conflict and displacement, it critically analyzes the role of emergency humanitarian aid in contribution to the persisting conflict in Syria. It then discusses relationships of humanitarian aid and conflict through past cases of war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Rwanda. These two case studies have been chosen in order to demonstrate how aid can inadvertently become contributive to funding war economies, and also how the …

Development Of A Decision Support System For Post Mining Land Use On Abandoned Surface Coal Mines In Appalachia, Matthew Zimmerman

Sustainability and Social Justice

Decision support systems are diverse and have been used to solve multiple problems ranging from the complex to the simple. With the complexity of environmental decisions today, these systems provide a logic based approach to evaluating and choosing environmental solutions. Abandoned mining lands (AML) are an issue for the environment in the Appalachian region. Given this a decision support system was designed using previously created frameworks and indices from other systems created. The system is comprised of two main sections, selecting the ideal post-mining land-use (PMLU), and maximizing the potential of land to be reclaimed under budgetary constraints. This system …

(Between The Streets) In Worcester : Redefining Professional Education In Community Development To Cultivate Empathy Through A Community Theatrical Framework, Chiu Yi Hannah Yukon

Sustainability and Social Justice

This research paper presents an alternative form of conducing Community Development Research. It highlights the gaps that currently exist in professional education with the community development and planning program at Clark University. The research paper employs a theatrical framework to encourage practitioners to ask more illuminating questions that informs the ‘human work’ that sometimes gets overlooked. In order to be authentic in the field of Community Development, practitioners need to be in touch with a less scientifically rational side of themselves, to truly embrace the complexities of the human condition. Drawing from my personal experiences, I wrote a play based …