Digital Commons Network^™

2016 Fall Commencement, Harding University

Commencement Programs

Program for the Harding University Commencement on December 17.

Commencement Speaker: Errica Rivera

Behold, Steve Bannon’S Hip-Hop Shakespeare Rewrite: 'Coriolanus', Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

In this opinion piece originally published in the New York Times, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner examines The Thing I Am (a contemporary rewrite of Coriolanus, as envisioned by Steve Bannon and Julia Jones) in the context of Shakespeare's original play. Pollack-Pelzner argues that Bannon's political playbook is evident in the script for The Thing I Am — namely, a violent macho conflict to purge corrupt leaders and pave the way for a new strongman to emerge.

Curricular Analytics In Higher Education, Ahmad Slim 3589498

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The dissertation addresses different aspects of student success in higher education. Numerous factors may impact a student's ability to succeed and ultimately graduate, including pre-university preparation, as well as the student support services provided by a university. However, even the best efforts to improve in these areas may fail if other institutional factors overwhelm their ability to facilitate student progress. This dissertation addresses this issue from the perspective of curriculum structure. The structural properties of individual curricula are studied, and the extent to which this structure impacts student progress is explored. The structure of curricula are studied using actual university …

On Frequency Variation Of Dynamic Resting-State Functional Brain Network Activation And Connectivity With Applications To Both Healthy And Clinical Populations, Maziar Yaesoubi

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

One of the earliest and fundamental observation in scientific study of the brain was discovering the relation between activities in different local regions of brain and some core functions of the brain. This was later followed by observing that not only local activities of regions but also synchronous activities between distributed brain regions play a key role in high-level brain functions. Synchronous activity related to the functions of the brain is commonly referred to as functional connectivity (FC) and is studied in the form of connectivity states of the brain which measure degree of interactions between distributed parts of the …

A Framework For Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Of Road Salt Used In Winter Maintenance Operations, Na Cui, Ning Xie, Xianming Shi

CESTiCC Project Reports

It is important to assess from a holistic perspective the sustainability of road salt widely used in winter road maintenance (WRM) operations. The importance becomes increasingly apparent in light of competing priorities faced by roadway agencies, the need for collaborative decision-making, and growing concerns over the risks that road salt poses for motor vehicles, transportation infrastructure, and the natural environment. This project introduces the concept of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), which combines Life Cycle Costing, Environmental Life Cycle Assessment, and Social Life Cycle Assessment. The combination captures the features of three pillars in sustainability: economic development, environmental preservation, and …

Russian Capacity To Develop Its Offshore Hydrocarbon Resources In The Kara Sea: Arctic And Global Implications, Jon A. Skinner

Interdisciplinary Studies

Increasing seasonal ice free Arctic waters and market demand to expand hydrocarbon extraction to previously undeveloped offshore regions has accelerated an Arctic priority in national strategies and international forums. It is proposed that geo-strategically, the sheer size of the Kara Sea hydrocarbon fields is of a predictive magnitude great enough to impact the progression or regression of the Russian economy; and thereby have a predictive value on the capacity for Russian unilateral foreign policy decisions. Rosneft has released figures of a potential 30 to 40 billion barrels of recoverable undiscovered oil reserves in the South Kara Sea basin and significantly …

Embodying Decolonization In A Settler Faith Community: The Living Justly In This Land Curriculum, John R. Henry

Education

The curriculum project Living Justly in this Land seeks to spark a conversation among primarily non-Indigenous adults who live in a country with a history of settler colonialism. This curriculum is based on theories from the place-based education model of Land education, which has been created primarily by Indigenous scholars. Inspired by teaching styles used by many different Indigenous peoples, as well as the research method of Participatory Action Research, this living curriculum was co-created during the process of the project. I authored the basic structure of the lessons, but allowed the participants, from a majority white settler faith community, …

The Strengths Perspective: Providing Opportunities For Teen Parents And Their Families To Succeed, Nila Ricks

Journal of Family Strengths

Majority of teen pregnancy literature and practice is deficit based, focusing on the consequences of teen pregnancy; significantly less research is devoted to the teens’ strengths. This article discusses the strengths-based perspective as a viable framework for clinicians and school social workers to implement to help teen parents and their families ameliorate some of the challenges they encounter. This article emphasizes the importance of clinicians, school social workers, and the community to adopt a strengths-based perspective when working with teen parents in order to cultivate strengths and opportunities for success. This article also provides specific strategies for practitioners to implement …

Essays On Risky Health Behavior, Bern Dealy

Economics ETDs

Risky health behaviors including substance abuse and risky sex are a significant contributor to chronic illness in the US. Efficient use of public resources to avert or mitigate the consequences of risky health behaviors requires a better understanding of the overall costs of risky health behavior to society. Additionally, a better understanding of the value and behavioral consequences of programs designed to mitigate the consequences of risky health behavior is needed. This dissertation utilizes a number of unique methodological and empirical tools to examine the consequences of risky sex and drug abuse and the value of policies which seek to …

African Dreams Of America: Diaspora Experience In The Writing Of Aidoo, Adichie And Cole, Gbenga Frederick Olorunsiwa

American Studies ETDs

This study explores four African diasporic texts against a backdrop of the African dream of America, diasporic experience, post-colonialism and racism in the U.S. as portrayed in the writings of Ama Ata Aidoo’s The Dilemma of a Ghost (1971), Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah (2014), and Teju Cole’s Open City (2012) and Every Day Is for the Thief (2014). I argue that the African dream of America is different but also exemplary of the American experience and therefore a privileged lens for understanding “America.” During the course of this research project, I found that while the writings of Adichie and Aidoo are …

The Fortuitous Impact Of A Cross-Cultural Tutoring Experience On Prospective Teachers' Development Toward Cultural Competency, Carrie Ann H. Kondor

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

In this study, I explored the possibility of prospective teachers’ development toward cultural competency, fortuitously or incidentally, as a result of intercultural experiences while tutoring diverse preK-12 students. I investigated 25 prospective teachers’ growth toward cultural competency as they participated in a ten-week cross-cultural tutoring program designed to help children from different ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds develop reading skills. These prospective teachers were composed of first year students in an undergraduate program prior to entering into teacher preparation coursework and pre-service teachers in the final year of teacher preparation program completing their teaching practice in K-12 schools. This …

December 17, 2016, Seattle University School Of Law

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Mitigating The Impacts Of Human Land-Use Change On Biodiversity: With A Focus On Large Migratory Herbivores, Kina Rebekah Murphy

Biology ETDs

Land-use change, commercial over-harvesting of species, and climate change are recognized as the main drivers of biodiversity loss. As a result, it is estimated that 30% of the planet’s biodiversity may go extinct by 2050. This dissertation focuses on how to mitigate the impacts of land-use change on biodiversity. I focus on large migratory herbivores because they are among the most heavily impacted by global change due to their large home range requirements. Habitat fragmentation, illegal hunting, and human-wildlife conflicts are among the biggest threats to large herbivores and result from land-use change. For this reason, my first chapter focuses …

Impacts Of Long-Term Precipitation Manipulation On Hydraulic Architecture, Xylem Function, And Canopy Status In A Piñon-Juniper Woodland, Patrick J. Hudson

Biology ETDs

The Southwestern US is predicted to become hotter and drier, as global climate change forces increasing temperatures and variability in timing and size of precipitation inputs. Drought stress has become more frequent in recent decades, and resulted in massive forest mortality in piñon-juniper woodlands. During recent severe droughts (2000-2003, 2009-2012), piñon pine (Pinus edulis Englem.) suffered disproportionately high mortality compared to co-occurring one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma [Engelm.] Sarg.). A large-scale precipitation manipulation experiment was established in a piñon-juniper woodland in central New Mexico to test hypotheses regarding tree survival and mortality with respect to altered water regimes. Our …

What Affects Parents’ Choice Of Milk? An Application Of Bayesian Model Averaging, Yingzhe Cheng

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

This study identifies the factors that influence parents’ choice of milk for their children, using data from a unique survey administered in 2013 in Hunan province, China. In this survey, we identified two brands of milk, which differ in their prices and safety claims by the producer. Data were collected on parents’ choice of milk between the two brands, demographics, attitude towards food safety and behaviors related to food. Stepwise model selection and Bayesian model averaging (BMA) are used to search for influential factors. The two approaches consistently select the same factors suggested by an economic theoretical model, including price …

Factors Influencing The Timing And Frequency Of Moose-Vehicle Collisions At Urban-Wildland Interfaces In Subarctic Alaska, Jacobus Cornelis Noordeloos

Natural Resources

Wildlife-vehicle collisions concern road engineers, wildlife biologists, and the motoring public. In Alaska, moose-vehicle collisions (MVCs) are the most commonly reported type of wildlife-vehicle collisions. Each year an average of 101 MVCs were reported in the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB), resulting in damages amounting to $3,000,000/yr. This thesis describes the spatial and temporal patterns of MVCs in the FNSB and uses these patterns to infer the interactions between human and moose behavior that cause them. The analytical approach used combined spatial and temporal records of MVCs collected by the Alaska Department of Transportation with spatially explicit data describing topography, …

Book Clubs In The Esl Classroom: A Microinteractional Analysis Of Literacy Development In Adult Esl Students, Sharon E. Johnson

English

This study uses conversation analysis to identify literacy development in adult ESL classroom book club discussions. The investigation focuses on the interactions of three university students participating in a six-week book club about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The longitudinal microethnographic analysis reveals the students' development of interactional routines for enacting topic transitions. Two student strategies are examined: (a) the development of a group routine for reading discussion questions aloud; and (b) the use of the transition markers okay and next. The students' establishment of these strategies during the six meetings provides evidence of literacy development during classroom book …

A New Affordability Indicator For Rural Alaskan Water Utilities, Barbara A. Johnson

Economics

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) administers funding for the construction of new water utilities in rural parts of the state. Funding allocation is partially based on whether the recipient community can cover the annual operation, maintenance, repair, equipment and capital replacement costs of the utility. Currently, the DEC deems a project affordable if the annual costs account for 5% or less of the community's median household income (MHI). In rural Alaska MHI is an inaccurate affordability indicator. This is partially because MHI fails to reflect the cost burden experienced by below median income households, it is a static …

Highlighting School Of Education Successes To Build Community, V. Janene Mcmahan

Education

The project is a WordPress site to showcase faculty and students. This site is a companion piece to the redesigned University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Education website. It is intended to provide a visual resource to be used by faculty and staff to promote the uniqueness of current and recent developments in the School o f Education. The site should serve as a space where staff and faculty may promote opportunities for current and recent graduates. It will also include graduate students’ experiences via research, projects, career stories and testimonials provided by students. These materials will be linked in …

Elementary Stem: Integrated Lessons, John Sassman

Education

The primary purpose of this project was to increase elementary students’ STEM literacy and interest in STEM-related fields. The secondary purpose of this project was to improve educator self-efficacy to teach STEM in their own classroom. To do this, I created, tested, and revised a series of STEM lessons and kits appropriate for Intermediate elementary students. Participants in this project included: eight through twelve year-old elementary students, three “Highly Qualified” certified elementary teachers from the FNSBSD, and other teacher collaborators from California and New Jersey. This project also enlisted the help of several expert students and faculty from the University …

Equitable Identification Of El Students For Special Education By All Teachers, Hanna Winkelman

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project is: How do teachers refer EL students for special education services and how can the process be more equitable for students? The motivating factor for this research was one teacher’s frustration in referring EL students for special education services at a large urban school. The teacher felt as though the process was disorganized, inequitable and did not support EL students with the highest needs. The author interviews ESL, special education teachers and a bilingual educational assistant at one urban school to identify their perspective of the process and frustrations that arise from it. …

Britain And The Anglo-Saxons In Late Antiquity, Todd Morrison

History ETDs

This thesis concerns the final century of Roman Britain, the continental origins of its medieval Germanic invaders, and the socio-political situation in sub-Roman Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries. Multiple issues are discussed in each of these three broad areas, including the effects of the Diocletian Reforms on Britain, fourth-century urban decay, the first-century origins of the Saxons among the piratical Chauci tribe, and the continued existence of Roman institutions in Britain into the early Middle Ages. Furthermore, the reasons the Anglo-Saxons did not assimilate into Roman culture like their counterparts on the continent, making medieval England an essentially …

Evaluation Of Crack Sealing Techniques In Alaska's Asphalt Concrete Pavements, Anthony P. Mullin

Engineering

Thermal cracking is one of the most prevalent asphalt concrete (AC) pavement distresses in northern states and countries. Every year in Alaska, a substantial amount of funding is spent on sealing cracks according to the practices of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) Maintenance and Operations (M&O) division. However, to date there are no specific guidelines available that clearly outline the best timing for crack sealing or even what conditions necessitate crack sealing in a consistent manner. There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness and best practices for using the crack sealing techniques on AC pavements …

An Examination Of The Keyboard Technique Of Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Scriabin And Prokofiev, Jonathan K. Hays

Music

In this research paper, I will explore the keyboard technique of each composer presented in my recital: J.S. Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn, Frederic Chopin, Alexander Scriabin and Sergei Prokofiev. I hope to elucidate the physical approach used by each composer, and show in turn how that same approach influenced the music of each composer by analyzing the pieces performed in my recital. To understand the distinct technique of the composers, it is important to know some context. The instrument each composer wrote for necessarily influenced their technique and resulting composition. However, the instrument cannot explain every facet of technique, and …

The Application Of Local And Traditional Knowledge For Disaster Mitigation In Flood-Prone Areas Of Rural Thailand, Lacey L. Shoemaker

Rural Development

This project focuses around the development of a workshop on disaster preparedness and response for a village in rural Thailand. The workshop goals were concentrated around the investigation of solutions to alleviate or lessen the vulnerability of the village toward reoccurring flood events. The objectives were completed through inclusion of stakeholders and outside experts and focused on bringing a conversation to community leaders in regard to their implementation of pre- and post-disaster strategies. The primary audience for this research project is those working within rural communities that are prone to annual or frequent natural disasters. The tools and knowledge gained …

Colonization Experiences Of Alaskan IñUpiat And Model For Decolonization, Ukallaysaaq Thomas Okleasik

Rural Development

This project explores a potential method for examining American, Alaskan and Iñupiaq colonization with a process for decolonization to help restore authentic community self governance that addresses modern socioeconomic challenges and opportunities on terms that will best work in indigenous villages sustainably and effectively. The focus is on Iñupiaq peoples; however, it can be adapted for use by other indigenous peoples. The six-step decolonization process begins with building awareness and understanding the many layers of colonization - both from the colonizer’s perspective and perspective of those subjected to colonization. The decolonization process continues by encompassing healing, revitalization, vision, strategy and …

Landscape-Scale Establishment And Population Spread Of Yellow-Cedar (Callitropsis Nootkatensis) At A Leading Northern Range Edge, John P. Krapek

Natural Resources

Yellow-cedar is a long-lived conifer of the North Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest region that is thought to be undergoing a continued natural range expansion in southeast Alaska. Yellow-cedar is locally rare in northeastern portions of the Alexander Archipelago, and the fairly homogenous climate and forest conditions across the region suggest that yellow-cedar's rarity could be due to its local migrational history rather than constraints on its growth. Yellow-cedar trees in northern range edge locations appear to be healthy, with few dead trees; additionally, yellow-cedar tend to be younger than co-dominant mountain and western hemlock trees, indicating recent establishment in existing …

Sagavanirktok River Spring Breakup Observations 2016, H. Toniolo, K.D. Tape, T. Tschetter, J.W. Homan, E.K. Youcha, D. Vas, R.E. Gieck, J. Keech, G. Upton

WERC Project Reports

In 2015, spring breakup on the Sagavanirktok River near Deadhorse was characterized by high flows that destroyed extensive sections of the Dalton Highway, closing the road for nearly 3 weeks. This unprecedented flood also damaged infrastructure that supports the trans-Alaska pipeline, though the pipeline itself was not damaged. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) and the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company made emergency repairs to their respective infrastructure. In December 2015, aufeis accumulation was observed by ADOT&PF personnel. In January 2016, a research team with the University of Alaska Fairbanks began monitoring and researching the aufeis and local …

An Ionization Chamber For High Resolution Fission Product Spectroscopy, James Cole

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

The fission process has played a vital role in the world’s search for effective sources of alternative energy. With almost 80 years of work with fissionable material there is still much that is unknown about the process. Fission fragment mass and atomic number distributions are still lacking in completeness and critical detail. Knowledge of this information is highly sought after in the effort to improve various fields of nuclear physics and engineering such as reactor design, predictive models, waste disposal methods, and an overall understanding of the fission process. In an effort to better understand this process, we have developed …

A Heartfelt Charge, Eric F. Spina

President's Blog: From the Heart

President Eric Spina delivered a special charge to the Class of 2016: Take your University of Dayton education and skills in community-building, empathy, civility and respect into a world that needs leaders who can bring people together across differences.