Digital Commons Network^™

Ethicality Of Advisor Motives In Academic Advising: Faculty, Staff, And Student Perspectives, Xiafei Xue

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Advising is an important aspect in academic settings. While the literature has emphasized better academic advising, including the personal qualities of good advisors, there has been little emphasis on ethical issues and ethical concerns related to advisors' roles or positions. The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) provides a set of core values to guide ethical behavior. The current study examined (in an experimental design) faculty, staff, and student perspectives regarding advisors' more ethical, neutral, or less ethical behaviors. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between faculty and staff. All groups could differentiate between ethical and unethical extremes, but …

“Frames” And Bias: How A Lack Of Context In Middle East News Coverage Can Impact U.S. Foreign Policy, Jennifer Lois Moore

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This thesis is a critical examination into how American mainstream news media outlets often neglect to incorporate religious, cultural and historical context into their coverage of the Middle East. I show through my research and analysis that the news coverage of the Middle East, even at the highest echelons of American journalism, is often lacking in sophistication in terms of cultural and religious context, sometimes to the point of affecting its fairness and accuracy. The danger of this is that it has the power to grossly simplify and reduce to an “us versus them” frame an entire contingent of the …

Commencement Program 2016 December: College Of Nursing And Health Innovation, The University Of Texas At Arlington

Commencement Programs, Photos, and Video

No abstract provided.

Garage Door Security System, Trevor Lehr, Austin Williams

Electrical Engineering

This project focuses on the design and build of a low cost system that monitors garage doors and transmits their state to a receiver unit placed at a convenient location inside the user’s house. This provides the user with the ability to monitor their garage doors from the comfort of inside their home without having to go outside and look at the garage. The receiver unit includes a screen to display system information and LEDs to make it easy to view the garage door’s status from a distance. The system has great enough range to place the receiver at any …

Governance By Proxy: Cyber Challenges To Civil Liberties, Niva Elkin-Koren, Eldar Haber

Brooklyn Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New York Pharmaceutical Cost Transparency Act: How A Narrow View Of The Prescription Drug Pricing Puzzle Renders A Well-Intentioned Bill Irrational, John G. Curran

Brooklyn Law Review

Pricing prescription pharmaceuticals is a complex process that entails the consideration of a multitude of factors, not the least of which is the research and development expenditure exhausted by drug makers to gain FDA approval. While public sentiment has increasingly turned against the pharmaceutical industry due to its perceived greed as manifested in the high cost of its drugs, the intricacies of pricing such unique products is rarely discussed. A recently proposed New York state bill, the Pharmaceutical Cost Transparency Act (the NYPCTA), continues this unfortunate trend, by requiring companies to disclose the R&D costs of newly approved drugs in …

Parasocial Relationships With Transgender Characters And Attitudes Toward Transgender Individuals, Lizhen Zhao

Dissertations - ALL

The transgender population lives in a condition of serious discrimination, poverty and violence (NCTE, 2014). Few studies, however, have been conducted to understand people’s attitudes toward this population and factors that affect the responses. Applying the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis (Schiappa, Gregg & Hewes, 2005), this thesis investigated the relationship between audiences’ positive and negative parasocial relationships with transgender characters in TV and their attitudes toward transgender people in real life. A survey method was employed to address research questions and test hypothesis. Results show a significant association between parasocial relationship (positive or negative) and attitudes toward trans people in real …

Achieving Public Long-Term Care Insurance Through Social Security Wealth: Microsimulation For The Us Case, Alexandre Genest

Dissertations - ALL

The risk of needing long-term care (LTC) at some point in one's life is non-negligible, and the cost of care–whether in formal or informal settings– can be prohibitive for many seniors. In fact LTC is sometimes labeled the last major uninsured expense for seniors in the United States. The majority of LTC costs are currently borne by Medicaid and out-of-pocket spending, while private insurance coverage remains minimal. The take-up of private insurance among American seniors has remained low, in part because of the large (and growing) cost of premiums, as well as the presence of Medicaid. As the payer of …

Biodegradable Thermoplastic Elastomers And Smart Composites, Erin Mcmullin

Dissertations - ALL

There is a need for biodegradable thermoplastic elastomers for a variety of medical applications. This dissertation aims at (i) developing and characterizing biodegradable elastomers and (ii) developing and characterizing biodegradable smart composites, both to be used as biomaterials. First, in Chapter 1, an overview was given of the literature of relevant background information on polymers, biomaterials, and previous biodegradable elastomers and responsive elastomeric systems.

The first biodegradable elastomer developed and investigated, as presented in Chapter 2, is a novel thermoplastic polyurethane that has a biodegradable soft segment and a crystalline hard segment (POSS). By varying the composition of the poly(caprolactone)-based …

Aftermarket Supermarket | A Speculative Retrospective, Alexander Kim

Architecture Senior Theses

In the preface to Delusive Spaces: Essays on Culture, Media and Technology, media theorist Eric Kluitenberg writes that “the delusion of the new”1 pollutes our theorizations of new media. This sort of technocratic fetishization of emergent technologies can only amount to a surfatial investigation of its effects or capabilities. Architectural investigations of virtual reality and other new media systems suffer from this tendency as well. Content-based experimentation and criticism obsess over the simultaneously exciting and daunting prospects of what we can now do or make with recent digital developments. There’s definite value in such endeavors, but frankly, in the grand …

Ramshackle Federalism: America’S Archaic And Dysfunctional Presidential Election System, Anthony J. Gaughan

Fordham Law Review

Accordingly, this Article proposes five sensible and achievable reforms to modernize the presidential election system. Each requires Congress and the federal government to play a much more proactive role in the presidential election system. The Constitution may be founded on federalist principles, but excessive decentralization is not serving us well in presidential election administration. In an age of tumultuous and accelerating change, the presidential election system must be modernized to meet the needs of twenty-first century America.

Now Is The Time!: Challenging Resegregation And Displacement In The Age Of Hypergentrification, Bethany Y. Li

Fordham Law Review

Gentrification is reaching a tipping point of resegregating urban space in global cities like New York and San Francisco, often spurred by seemingly neutral government policies. The displacement resulting from gentrification forces low-income people from their homes into areas of concentrated poverty. Low-income communities consequently lose space, place, social capital, and cultural wealth that residents and small businesses have spent decades building up. This Article argues that communities at this tipping point must integrate litigation strategies directly aimed at stemming the adverse impacts of gentrification. Community organizing is integral to antidisplacement efforts, but litigation—and its injunctive powers—should play a larger …

Consistently Inconsistent: What Is A Qualifying Investment Under Article 25 Of The Icsid Convention And Why The Debate Must End, Jeremy Marc Exelbert

Fordham Law Review

International investment has helped to pave the way for an increasingly globalized world community. Consequently, the International Centre for Settlement of Investor Disputes (ICSID)—existing under the mandate of the World Bank and with the stated purpose of increasing economic development abroad—has become the leading international arbitration mechanism currently available for settling disputes arising out of such investments. It is unsettling, therefore, that the interpretation of “investment” within article 25 of the ICSID Convention (the provision that determines whether an ICSID tribunal may exercise jurisdiction over a dispute) has given rise to a unique interpretive controversy because the ICSID Convention fails …

December 2016 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Heteroglossic Practices In A Multilingual Science Classroom, Lydiah Kananu Kiramba

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This paper uses sociocultural theories of language learning to investigate how teachers and students navigate between monolingual institutional policies and the multilingual realities encountered in a rural Kenyan fourth-grade classroom. The paper addresses not only how learners’ communicative repertoires are deployed to make meaning in a foreign language instruction context but also the sociocultural significance of these communicative practices. Results illustrate how the science teacher used heteroglossic practices to mediate students’ access to literacy, hence, supporting the content learning and language development of students. Both the science teacher and the students preferred a more flexible use of language to make …

Evaluating Language-Learning Mobile Apps For Second-Language Learners, Xiaojun Chen

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

As mobile technologies become more affordable and more advanced in function, researchers suggest that using mobile apps to assist English language learning are appropriate. This three-step evaluation study (designing a theory-driven rubric, selecting apps, and evaluating the apps) aims to investigate and evaluate the affordances of English language learning mobile apps for adult learners. The results of this evaluation study contribute to the literature of mobile learning targeting adult learners, and also broaden the knowledge body of integrating mobile learning into English Language Learning (ELL) classes.

Career Decision Self‐Efficacy Of Transgender People: Pre‐ And Posttransition, Lore M. Dickey, Daniel Walinsky, Crystal Rofkahr, Kara Richardson‐Cline, Cindy L. Juntunen

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Faculty Publications

Although the mental health needs of transgender and gender‐nonconforming (TGNC) people have recently been addressed more directly than in the past (Bockting, Miner, Swinburne Romine, Hamilton, & Coleman, 2013; dickey, Reisner, & Juntunen, 2015; Meier, Pardo, Labuski, & Babcock, 2013), there remains a dearth of information related to vocational development of this population. Some of the considerations in career counseling and vocational development among TGNC people include differences in developmental concerns related to gender transition, gender presentation, passing (e.g., being perceived by others in one's affirmed gender), and binary and fluid gender identities (Beemyn & Rankin, 2011; Harrison, Grant, & …

Attributes Of Police Vehicle Crashes, David Lambert

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

While overall on-duty law enforcement deaths has decreased moderately from over 160 in 1980 to a level under 120 per year in the late 2000s, fatalities by motor vehicle collisions have steadily increased. This descriptive analysis examines police vehicle crashes during specific conditions such as emergency response, road surface, lighting, and weather in a large statewide police agency. Police vehicle crashes are most likely to occur on dry roads, in daylight conditions, and in clear weather on weekdays as opposed to weekends. Weather and lighting conditions are not the most frequent factors associated with cruiser crashes in this examination.

Intimate Apparel

Theatre Programs

INTIMATE APPAREL by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Dr. Jaye Austin Williams

Drama: In this brilliantly crafted portrait of turn-of-the-last-century New York, Nottage gives us a story about desire and common sense, of pleasure and pain, of resilience and fragility, and above all the unlikely triumph of the human spirit. True to its title, Intimate Apparel presents a story that is both delicate and eloquent. Winner of the 2004 New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle Awards and Sternberg New Play Award.

Waltmar Theatre
7:30pm – Dec. 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, & 10
2:00pm – Dec. 3 & 10 …

Geosciences Newsletter - 2016, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 8, No. 2

• Greetings from the Chair
• Faculty & Staff
• Michigan Geological Survey
• MGRRE
• CoreKids
• Geosciences Advisory Council
• 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award
• Endowments and Donors
• Department Publications
• Student Scholarships & Awards
• Our Students
• Student Organizations

Diabetes, Depression And Syndemic Suffering Among African American Patients: The Intersectionality Of Race, Gender And Class, Pamela Lorraine Fox

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

This research study illustrates the overarching syndemic theory, which was used to explain the interconnections of type 2 diabetes, clinical depression, and human suffering among low-income African American outpatients in the southern sector of Dallas TX, USA. The intersections of race, gender, and class were additional variables that were included in this research. Furthermore, this research indicated how poverty, social relationships and other conditions stressed individuals and populations, weakened their natural defenses and caused exposure to disease clusters. I have coined the term D2 S2 to deconstruct the social/syndemic interconnections that interface with diabetes, depression and human suffering. The first …

Donald Trump And The Sex Industry, Robert Brannon

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Finding The Best Remaining Black Hills Montane Grasslands, The First Step In Conservation, Hollis Marriott, Don Faber-Langendoen, David J. Ode

The Prairie Naturalist

Black Hills Montane Grassland is a rare and endangered plant community endemic to the Black Hills of western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. It is restricted to higher elevations on the Limestone Plateau in the western part of the uplift. Early visitors to the Black Hills wrote glowing reports of flower-filled grasslands on the Limestone Plateau. Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and his soldiers reveled in lush grass, and decorated the headgear of their horses with flowers (Custer 1875). Expedition botanist A. B. Donaldson “estimated the number of flowers in bloom in Floral Valley at 50, while an equal number …

Qpot: An R Package For Stochastic Differential Equation Quasi-Potential Analysis, Christopher M. Moore, Christopher R. Stieha, Ben C. Nolting, Maria K. Cameron, Karen C. Abbott

The R Journal

QPot (pronounced ky oo + p¨ at) is an R package for analyzing two-dimensional systems of stochastic differential equations. It provides users with a wide range of tools to simulate, analyze, and visualize the dynamics of these systems. One of QPot’s key features is the computation of the quasi-potential, an important tool for studying stochastic systems. Quasi-potentials are particularly useful for comparing the relative stabilities of equilibria in systems with alternative stable states. This paper describes QPot’s primary functions, and explains how quasi-potentials can yield insights about the dynamics of stochastic systems. Three worked examples guide users through the application …

Ggfortify: Unified Interface To Visualize Statistical Results Of Popular R Packages, Yuan Yuan, Masaaki Horikoshi, Wenxuan Li

The R Journal

The ggfortify package provides a unified interface that enables users to use one line of code to visualize statistical results of many R packages using ggplot2 idioms. With the help of ggfortify, statisticians, data scientists, and researchers can avoid the sometimes repetitive work of using the ggplot2 syntax to achieve what they need.

Tigris: An R Package To Access And Work With Geographic Data From The Us Census Bureau, Kyle Walker

The R Journal

TIGER/Line shapefiles from the United States Census Bureau are commonly used for the mapping and analysis of US demographic trends. The tigris package provides a uniform interface for R users to download and work with these shapefiles. Functions in tigris allow R users to request Census geographic datasets using familiar geographic identifiers and return those datasets as objects of class "Spatial*DataFrame". In turn, tigris ensures consistent and high-quality spatial data for R users’ cartographic and spatial analysis projects that involve US Census data. This article provides an overview of the functionality of the tigris package, and concludes with an applied …

Development Of Psychometrically Equivalent Speech Recognition Threshold Materials For Native Cebuano Speakers, Melissa Dawn Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

While there is a clear and immediate need for reliable speech audiometry materials to evaluate the speech recognition threshold (SRT), these recorded materials are not available in Cebuano, a language of the Philippines with 15.8 million speakers. The purpose of this study was to develop, digitally record, evaluate, and psychometrically equate a set of Cebuano trisyllabic words for use in measuring the SRT. To create the SRT materials, common Cebuano trisyllabic words were digitally recorded by a male talker of Cebuano and presented for evaluation to 20 native speakers of Cebuano with normal hearing. Based on psychometric performance, a set …

Finnish Teacher Collaboration: The Behaviors, Learning, And Formality Of Teacher Collaboration, Bruce H. Eschler

Theses and Dissertations

Finnish teachers continue to receive significant attention among educators, educational leaders, and policy makers in the United States and around the globe. In addition, teacher collaboration continues to receive support as a meaningful part of teacher work and practice. Teacher collaboration is frequently described in various ways within different contexts. This study aims to: (a) better understand the nature of Finnish teacher collaboration by examining three teacher collaboration behaviors (sharing information and knowledge, planning, and problem-solving); (b) explore the extent to which Finnish teacher collaboration is formal (or school-required) collaboration and informal (or voluntary) collaboration; and (c) investigate …

How Do Designers Of The Built Environment Attempt To Make Ecological Sustainability Sensory Legible?, Carly L. Bartow

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper attempts to provide a theoretical framework for making ecosystem function and ecologically sustainable design more perceptible or sensible to people through architecture and the built environment. Design features of the Bertschi School Science Wing and the Bullitt Center in Seattle, Washington are incorporated to illustrate the sensory legibility of ecological sustainability criteria.The criteria are available to designers to help educate a building's occupants on environmentally sustainable design and motivate more sustainable behavior.

Campus Climate Task Force, Short-Term Suggestions, Campus Climate Task Force

Campus Climate Assessment

First report from the Campus Climate Task Force Steering Committee, with short-term suggestions.