Digital Commons Network^™

Matters Of Life And Death: A Comparative Analysis Of Content In Maori Traditional And Contemporary Art And Dance As A Reflection Of Fundamental Maori Cultural Issues And The Formation And Perpetuation Of Maori And Non-Maori Cultural Identity In New Zealan, Cynthia Louise Zaitz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Maori art forms are replete with symbolism entrenched in Maori cosmogony, as well as with political issues arising from the relationship of colonizer to colonized. This interdisciplinary project examined the core symbols, issues and stories present in Maori traditional and contemporary art and dance to determine the way in which the content present in these art forms acts as an active agent in the formation and perpetuation of Maori cultural identity in New Zealand. A secondary aim of the project was to examine the relationship of Maori to the greater Aotearoa/New Zealand culture thereby identifying common and contrasting themes and …

Paleopathology Of Human Remains From The Plaza San Marcos, Quito, Ecuador, Ronda R. Graves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Skeletal remains provide an exceptional opportunity to document the biological adaptations that a population undergoes in response to environmental, political and economic changes (Perry, 2007). For over 35 years, bioarchaeological analyses have documented such changes indigenous Ecuadorians. In 2007, Victoria Dominguez excavated remains at the Plaza San Marcos in Quito, Ecuador. I analyzed these remains, documented evidence of pathologic conditions and trauma, and compared this native population to other indigenous populations and to European cohorts. My analyses revealed increased violence and pathologic conditions in the Plaza San Marcos population when compared to populations occupying Quito prior to colonization and during …

Spam Jurisprudence, Air Law, And The Rank Anxiety Of Nothing Happening (A Report On The State Of The Art), Pierre Schlag

Publications

In 1969, I saw The Endless Summer. It was a surfer movie about two guys (Robert and Mike) who traveled the world in search of the perfect wave. High art -- it was not. Plus the plot was thin. And it's for sure, there weren't enough girls. But there was one line which, for my generation, will go down as one of the all-time great movie lines ever. And always it was a line delivered by some local to Robert and Mike, the surfer dudes, as they arrived on the scene of yet another dispiritingly becalmed ocean. And every …

Understanding Deviant Behaviors Through Coercion And Social Support Theory, Maria Nicte-Ha Uribe

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mark Colvin, Francis T. Cullen and Thomas Vander Ven (2002) developed an integrated theory of crime called "coercion, social support, and crime" which hypothesizes that coercion and social support are inversely related and that these variables have direct effects on criminal and deviant behavior as well as a combined effect. Specifically if an imbalance between coercion and social support exists, crime is more likely to occur because coercion induces weak social bonds and low self control thereby increasing crime. On the other hand, social support prevents criminal involvement through organized networks of human relations that assist people in meeting their …

Percy Grainger And Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Comparative Study Of English Folk-Song Settings For Wind Band, Shawna Meggan Holtz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This thesis provides a comparison and study of English folk music collected by composers Percy Grainger and Ralph Vaughan Williams in the early twentieth century. Individuals who played a key role in beginning the folk music collecting movement are discussed, as well as the Folk Song Society's position in regulating and organizing folk-song collecting. A brief biography on Grainger is provided, along with his methods of collecting and setting folk-songs, and his ideas and processes on "free music." Chapters on Ralph Vaughan Williams follow, exploring his folk-song collecting and settings for the church. Grainger and Vaughan Williams' most well-known band …

Geography Of Pestecide Exposure In The Lower Valley (El Paso County, Texas), Critina Solis Sanchez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Previous studies using GIS have been used to understand the demographics of particular areas of a city and the risks associated with living there. In the Lower Valley (Socorro, Clint, and San Elizario) area of El Paso County (TX), there has been a rapid growth in population. This increase in growth has led to this project about the types of pesticides used in farms and if they are creating possible health risks for people living in this area and which populations are most at risk. To determine population risk, I use existing GIS information, specifically a USDA aerial photograph taken …

"Why Do I Have Fifty Pairs Of Shoes?": Characterizing And Explaining Acquisitive Buying Behavior, Mousumi Bose Godbole

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Why do some of us have the fourteenth black shoe? Fifty pens? Thirty fishing rods? While some motivations relate to compulsive, impulsive or excessive buying, others relate to collecting, hoarding, fixated buying and stockpiling. However, there is a set of consumers who purchase recurrently, have an inventory far greater than that of a typical consumer and yet do not share the negative characteristics of the extreme buyers mentioned earlier. This set of consumers is termed ‘acquisitive buyers’ and little research exist to understand them. This dissertation establishes the significance of acquisitive buying as a new buying type in terms of …

Culture And Persuasion Online: Predicting Attitudes, Cognitions, And Behavioral Intentions In A Culturally Diverse Online Marketplace, Gennadi Gevorgyan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With an online experiment and a focus group, I examined the role of cultural appeals in online persuasive communication. The results of the study revealed that culturally oriented Web sites and online advertisements influence individual attitudes and behavioral intentions. These effects were particularly strong when cultural appeals were consistent across advertisements and their hosting Web sites. I observed the main effect of culture on persuasiveness of Web sites and advertisements both the American and the Chinese samples of participants. The results of the study did not, however, support the expectation that ethnic identity and need for cognition would interact with …

Strangers In The Postcolonial World, Thomas F. Halloran

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes American writing from and about the former British and French colonies in order to critique postcolonial theory and also to establish a new genre of expatriate literature. Focusing on the works of J. P. Donleavy, Edith Wharton, Paul Bowles, and Paul Theroux, I argue that reading these Americans disrupts the binary concepts encouraged by postcolonial theory. This project rethinks important dichotomies such as colonizer/colonized, center/margin, metropolis/margin, civilized/primitive, and white/non-white by examining the ambiguous American character in the postcolonial context. I argue that by categorizing the themes of American literature in the colonies, and analyzing the similarities and …

A Multi-Proxy Approach To Investigating The Latest Holocene (~4,500 Yrs. Bp) Vegetational History Of Catahoula Lake, Louisiana, Rebecca Ann Tedford

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A multi-proxy investigation of sediments examined from Catahoula Lake, Louisiana has provided a record of late-Holocene vegetational changes, related to both hydrology and climate. This study integrates data from phytoliths, pollen, stable isotopes, magnetic susceptibility, and core sediment analysis. A modern phytolith analog assessed the phytoliths production in local plants and their modern soil sample distribution within the established lake vegetation zones. Fifty of the 76 species produced both distinctive and redundant phytoliths. The modern soil sample database indicates that phytoliths produced from both monocotyledon and dicotlyledon plant groups prove useful in distinguishing between forest and grassland communities and identifying …

"It Takes A Lot Out Of You": Ethnography Of Secondary English Teachers' Writing Pedagogy, Lisa F. Morales

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study was conducted in two case-study teachers’ public middle school classrooms in south Louisiana and a survey in three public school districts. A qualitative research focus with the research design taken from work of Michael Patton’s (2002) Qualitative Research Evaluation Methods and James Spradley and David McCurdy’s (1975) Anthropology: The Cultural Perspective. The survey was developed from the work of Tourangeau, Rips, and Rasinski’s (2002) The Psychology of Survey Responses. The researcher assumed the role of participant observer for three months which resulted in two themes: first, traditional teaching methods in the teaching of writing, and secondly, teacher perceptions …

The Fourth Level Of Social Structure In A Multi-Level Society: Ecological & Social Functions Of Clans In Hamadryas Baboons, Amy Schreier, Larissa Swedell

Publications and Research

Hamadryas baboons are known for their complex, multi-level social structure consisting of troops, bands, and one-male units (OMUs) [Kummer, 1968]. Abegglen [1984] observed a 4^th level of social structure comprising several OMUs that rested near one another on sleeping cliffs, traveled most closely together during daily foraging, and sometimes traveled as subgroups independently from the rest of the band. Abegglen called these associations “clans” and suggested that they consisted of related males. Here we confirm the existence of clans in a second wild hamadryas population, a band of about 200 baboons at the Filoha site in lowland Ethiopia. During …

Male Aggression Towards Females In Hamadryas Baboons: Conditioning, Coercion And Control, Larissa Swedell, Amy Schreier

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

An Integrated Agent-Based Microsimulation Model For Hurricane Evacuation In New Orleans, Wei Liang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mass evacuation of urban areas due to hurricanes is a critical problem that requires extensive basic and applied research. Knowing the accurate evacuation time needed for the entire region in advance such that the evacuation order can be issued on a timely basis is crucial for the officials. Microsimulation modeling, which focuses on the characteristics of individual motorists and travel behavior, has been used widely in traffic simulation as it can lead to the most accurate result. However, because detailed driver response modeling and path processing must be incorporated, vehicle-based microscopic models have always been used only to simulate small …

People, Sheep, And Landscape Change In Colonial Mexico: The Sixteenth-Century Transformation Of The Valle Del Mezquital, Richard Hunter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The causes of central Mexico’s environmental degradation are poorly understood. Scholarly contention centers on the role of introduced livestock as agents of soil erosion. This dissertation explores New Spain’s sixteenth-century livestock ecology by drawing upon archival and field data to reconstruct the spatio-temporal characteristics of sheep ranches in a southeastern section of central Mexico’s Valle del Mezquital. The introductory chapter outlines a scholarly disagreement from the 1990s that underscored differences between historical and geographical approaches to studying historical landscape transformations. On one side of this debate, geographer Karl W. Butzer finds in the sixteenth-century Mexican Bajío little evidence for environmental …

Putting A Face On Prehistory: Reconstructing Late-Mississippian Faces, Alicia Canfield

LSU Master's Theses

This paper examines the results of artificial cranial deformation on the human skull in relation to the human face and the use of three-dimensional printing in the making of skull casts. Forensic facial reconstructions, following the American Method, were performed on three Native American skulls from the Late-Mississippian period, excavated from the Humber Site and on loan from the University of Southern Mississippi, in order to see whether or not the artificial deformation radically changed the faces of the individuals. Skull casts were made out of ABS plastic using rapid prototyping technology, as the original skulls were too fragile for …

Assessing The Accuracy Of Task Time Prediction Of An Emerging Human Performance Modeling Software - Cogtool, Oluwakemi Damilola Adio

LSU Master's Theses

There is a need for a human performance modeling tool which not only has the ability to accurately estimate skilled user task time for any interface design, but can be used by modelers with little or no programming knowledge and at a minimal cost. To fulfill this need, this research investigated the accuracy of task time prediction of a modeling tool – CogTool - on two versions of an interface design used extensively in the petrochemical industry – DeltaV. CogTool uses the KeyStroke Level Model (KLM) to calculate and generate time predictions based on specified operators. The data collected from …

Descriptive Study Of Korean E-Mail Discourse, Jaegu Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study is an examination of a corpus of computer mediated Korean discourse (i.e., e-mail), based on a folk-cultural category, nunch’i. Nunch’i is actively involved in linguistic feature use in terms of [+age] and [+distance] of human relationships. Many Koreans think that the world has an inherent hierarchy according to age. This idea has been reflected through nunch’i, a culture-specific system for maintaining harmonious social relationships especially between [+age] and [–age] people. Nunch’i has a function of foresight, in that it is part of the way that people read the situations and the faces of addressers and addressees. Like oral …

Structural Influences In Information Systems Projects: A Virtual Experiment In A Multi-Agent System, Pierce Hopkins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A virtual experiment (in silico) of a complex social system is conducted in order to investigate the effects of social structure and organizational culture on an information system development project’s outcome. This is performed within the context of user participation and project success. A 2x2 factorial design is employed with the social factor being measured as either low or high initial relationships between the customer and developer groups working on the project. The cultural factor is measured dichotomously with the two groups either having the same or different cultural beliefs. The project success outcome variable is measured as a percentage …

An Analysis Of The Social Networks Of Local Television Reporters, Lisa R. Honore

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study analyzed the personal and professional networks of four local television reporters using social network analysis methodology. Network analysis was carried out to the tertiary level allowing examination of demographic data for 773 individuals in the reporter networks. Analysis was conducted through the lens of media norms and routines and the sociological principle of homophily that states people are more likely to associate with people like themselves. Using as a guide, norms and routines and homophily literature as well as studies about the portrayal of minorities, the study examines how the social networks of reporters can determine how communities …

Why The Old Traditions Will Not Fail: Landscape, Legends, And The Construction Of Place At Dartmouth College, Charles H. Wade

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dartmouth College, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, is one of the nine Colonial Colleges and a member of the exclusive Ivy League. Congregationalist minister Eleazar Wheelock founded Dartmouth in 1769 on the premise of training missionaries to Christianize the Indians of the region and, over the years, Dartmouth developed into a premier college. Dartmouth is famous for its traditions, its ardently loyal alumni, and as a classic New England liberal arts college. But this image does not correspond with a closer, more critical look at the College. Through both archival and ethnographic research, this dissertation examines the cultural landscape, folklore, …

Atlantic Tropical Cyclone: Climatology And The Contribution To Monthly And Seasonal Rainfall In The Eastern U.S. 1960-2007, Ricardo Chabarria Nogueira

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are among the most devastating of natural disasters, producing high winds, heavy rainfall, and floods. When TC remnants are considered, these events have impacts nearly nationwide across the U.S. Tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic Basin experiences great variability on intra-annual, interannual, and interdecadal timescales. That variability is often associated with El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). George Cry (1967), in his pioneering study of tropical cyclone-induced rainfall found that TC rainfall presents an intraseasonal pattern over the eastern Unite States, contributing up to 40% of the monthly rainfall. This study replicates …

A Sense Of Community And Community Change: An Ethnographic Study Of A Contemporary Louisiana Juke Joint As It Compares To Historical Literature On The Subject, Kristopher Ian Debnam

LSU Master's Theses

The rural juke joint is a phenomenon that has been mentioned quite frequently in literature pertaining to blues music, but has not received the amount of scholarly attention that it deserves. This social institution is an integral part of the Mississippi Delta’s cultural landscape. Over time, it has developed a dual reputation as a fun place for weekend entertainment, and also a dangerous place for sin and vice. Using qualitative methods, this thesis explores a modern-day juke joint located in Waterproof, Louisiana, a small town in the northeast part of the state. It is the goal of this research to …

Public Opinion And The Katrina Disaster: Linking Support For Rebuilding And Perceptions Of Flood Victims In New Orleans, Vincenzo Pasquantonio

LSU Master's Theses

Public support for government assistance to the needy has long been the focus of scholarly attention. Some assert that the perceived race of recipients of such aid is the primary determinant influencing such support. Others cite that it is the degree of trust one has in government institutions while still others cite American notions of individualism and self-reliance versus collective responsibility. The present study analyzes public opinion regarding aid to the City of New Orleans and its inhabitants following Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of the city. Several important findings emerge from this analysis. First, it cannot be demonstrated …

Disestablishing Environmentalism, Andrew P. Morriss, Benjamin D. Cramer

Faculty Scholarship

The debate over environmental policy is increasingly conducted in language with strong religious overtones. Both proponents and opponents of various environmental policies appeal to religious doctrine to support their positions: Those who question human-caused global warming are labeled "heretics, " while appeals for environmental "stewardship" echo Biblical texts. Religious groups play an important role in defining environmental policy issues, and both supporters and critics of specific environmental policy views have labeled particular sets of beliefs about the environment a "religion." In this Article we engage in a thought experiment, arguing that there are valuable lessons to be learned from treating …

A Social Vulnerability-Based Genetic Algorithm To Locate-Allocate Transit Bus Stops For Disaster Evacuation In New Orleans, Louisiana, Xiaojun Qin

LSU Master's Theses

In the face of severe disasters, some or all of the endangered residents must be evacuated to a safe place. A portion of people, due to various reasons (e.g., no available vehicle, too old to drive), will need to take public transit buses to be evacuated. However, to optimize the operation efficiency, the location of these transit pick-up stops and the allocation of the available buses to these stops should be considered seriously by the decision-makers. In the case of a large number of alternative bus stops, it is sometimes impractical to use the exhaustive (brute-force) search to solve this …

Sediment Records Of Modern And Prehistoric Hurricane Strikes In Weeks Bay, Alabama, Yun Huang

LSU Master's Theses

This study aims to find modern and prehistoric hurricane records in sediment from marsh and swamp forest surrounding Weeks. Hurricane Ivan made landfall in this area at category 3 intensity in 2004. Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Frederic also seriously affected this region in 2005 and 1979, respectively. Seventy two cores were taken from marshes, swamps, and bay bottom. The cores, taken from baymouth marsh, contain a prominent Ivan sand layer, and possibly a prominent Frederic sand layer as well. For those cores taken from the marshes and swamps around the eastern, western, and northern Weeks Bay, there is no distinct …

Everyday, Jill Tucker Moore

LSU Master's Theses

In our everyday lives we are bombarded with thousands, even millions, of images. Suffering information overload, we filter out the vast majority of these impressions – the person we pass on the street or sitting in the car next to us at a stop light. We only ‘see’ those people, places and things that ‘matter’, all else becomes ‘noise’; filtered into the background of consciousness – vaguely familiar, yet simultaneously foreign, creating a ‘manageable paradigm’ or construct of the world we inhabit. I take photographic portraits every day. Not of the ‘important’ in my life, but the nondescript, often overlooked …

Crop Coefficients For Cotton In Northeastern Louisiana, Sean Allen Hribal

LSU Master's Theses

Daily crop coefficients (Kc) were determined for irrigated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) at the Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter Northeast Research Station near St. Joseph, Louisiana, in 2007. Kc values were calculated using daily crop evapotranspiration (ETc), which was measured using paired weighing lysimeters, and daily reference evapotranspiration (ETo), which was calculated using the Standardized Reference Evapotranspiration Equation (SREE) for a short crop. Meteorological data for input into the SREE were obtained from a nearby Louisiana Agriclimatic Information System (LAIS) weather station and an on-site portable weather station. Averaged Kc values were 0.15, 0.64, and 1.39 for the initial (day …

Turn-Taking And Gaze Behavior Among Cajun French And Cajun English Speakers In Avoyelles Parish, Andrew Mandell Riviere

LSU Master's Theses

Languages are the verbal and non-verbal codes of a culture. A culture houses a language(s) and is comprised of the gaze and distance/use of personal sphere. Linguists and anthropologists have long since argued over which takes priority: culture or language. French and Louisiana are synonymous: it is unimaginable to picture Louisiana without French because French constitutes the culture in Louisiana. Since linguists have debated the priority of language or culture, looking at Louisiana within the confines of this debate proves informative.

The language shift forced upon the residents of South Louisiana by the 1921 State Legislature made English the sole …