Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Local Vulnerability In The Rio Grande Valley, Yajaira I. Ayala

Theses and Dissertations

Located on the Texas-Mexico border, the Rio Grande Valley is characterized by its geographical susceptibility to hurricanes and floods. With high poverty rates and a majority Hispanic and Latino population, “the Valley” faces multiple challenges; many residents of the area live below federal poverty rates, have low educational attainment, speak little to no English, or are migrants with low social capital. These prevailing conditions have established the Rio Grande Valley as a highly vulnerable region compared to other areas in the United States. This paper aims to bring awareness of these prevalent inequalities existing within the area, and to participate …

Local Disaster Planning And Preparedness Coordination In The Rio Grande Valley, Cristina L. Madrid

Theses and Dissertations

Hurricanes and flooding events yield complex social and environmental consequences to coastal communities. Disaster preparedness and recovery is a multidisciplinary and multi-jurisdictional effort that requires coordination and planning across many actors.

Existing research recognizes the link between social capital and a community’s ability to respond to and ‘bounce back’ to normalcy after such hazardous events. However, few studies have examined the institutional dimension of social capital among communities noted for high levels of poverty situated in disaster-prone areas along the U.S. Mexico border. We aim to fill this gap by using survey data collected from emergency management practitioners in the …

Peace Process Pathologies: A Comparative Analysis Of The Breakdown Of The Israeli-Palestinian And Turkish-Kurdish Peace Processes, Matthew Weiss

Public Affairs and Security Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the significant differences between the issues under contention, the Oslo peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and the “solution process” between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were plagued by common dysfunctions that militated against their success. A comparative investigation points to several salient common denominators that rendered both peace processes susceptible to collapse, including the inadequate identification of the end goals of negotiations by the conflicting parties, mistrust and societal polarization. Over-reaching security measures enacted by the stronger side in each conflict (Israel and Turkey) that stifled freedom of expression, conflated lawful dissent with criminality, tended …

Indigenous People’S Environmental Concerns: The Missing Piece In Ongoing Administrative And Political Decentralization In Africa, George Atisa, Aziza Zemrani, Matthew Weiss

Public Affairs and Security Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Decentralization is assumed to make national governments more accountable and enables local people to get involved in governance decisions. This study examines the relationships and whether decentralization activities, policies and regulations support indigenous concerns for the environment. Much of the pristine and local lands globally have already been degraded through overexploitation of natural resources leading to significant loss of environmental benefits to people, especially the marginalized and indigenous communities. Using citizen-over-state and state-over-citizen theory, the influence of national level policies on local policies and vice versa is examined. Two sets of data are analyzed: reports from conservation organizations and peer …

Who Will Stay, Who Will Leave: Decision-Making Of Residents Living In Potential Hurricane Impact Areas During A Hypothetical Hurricane Event In The Rio Grande Valley, Dean Kyne, Arlett Sophia Lomeli, William Donner, Erika Zuloaga

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) has been impacted by various hurricanes throughout history. While Hurricane evacuation has been studied extensively in other contexts, there is limited systematic research on the warning and response to a large-scale severe weather event in South Texas. This study attempts to understand the evacuation decision-making behavior of Southern residents in the event of a Hurricane making landfall over the Rio Grande Valley. The study uses an online survey questionnaire with 1060 participants: 275 students attending the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley and the remaining 785 are members of the community. Throughout the course of the …

An Expert System For Local Flood Response Coordination And Training, Xiaoyin Zhang, Gary Moynihan, Andrew Ernest, Joseph Gutenson

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Flood response is an essential component of flood management to rescue people, reduce property loss, and limit the impact to the environment. Effective flood response depends on a sound coordination structure with unified responsibilities, smooth communications, and scalable response plans. An efficient coordination system, including command and management structures, is built on a thorough understanding of the responsibilities and actions of each role for delivering the response core capabilities. Collecting, sharing, using, and handling the knowledge require great efforts in knowledge management. To further enhance such efforts, an expert system for local flood response coordination and training (LFRS) was developed …

Trafficking In Persons Along Mexico’S Eastern Migration Routes: The Role Of Transnational Criminal Organizations, Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera

Public Affairs and Security Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The aim of this research is to understand the role of transnational organized crime in human trafficking along Mexico’s eastern migration routes, from Central America to Mexico’s northeastern border.1 In this region, drug traffickers are smuggling and trafficking unauthorized migrants in order to diversify their revenue streams. This project analyzes the new role of Central American gangs and Mexican-origin drug trafficking organizations—now known as transnational criminal organizations (TCOs)2—in the trafficking of persons from Central America to Mexico’s northeastern border.

Citizen Journalism: From Thomas In Boston To Twitter In Tamaulipas, A Case Study, Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Maria Fernanda Machuca, Ruth Ann Ragland

Public Affairs and Security Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

As violence spiked in Mexico in clashes between drug trafficking organizations and law enforcement, news media were systematically silenced by cartels and cowed legitimate governments. Reliable information on street battles and their consequences ceased to flow through traditional channels to an anxious citizenry on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border 10 miles from McAllen, Texas. In Reynosa, Tamaulipas, a noted “plaza” territory contested by the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, ordinary citizens became journalists in 2010, reporting under the umbrella of the pioneer #ReynosaFollow hashtag on the Twitter social media platform. This gave frightened citizens a sense of anonymity …

Optimizing Border Security With Stochastic And Deterministic Strategies, Gabriel A. Rueda

Theses and Dissertations

International trade and border security have always been linked together, and so has the need to find ways to improve security decisions. The United States and bordering countries benefit from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but amongst the positive effects of NAFTA there is a looming drug threat that effects the bi-national supply chains. In 2015 Customs and Border Protections (CBP) processed over 72,000 trucks, rail, and sea containers a day. CBP also seized 3.4 million pounds of narcotics, the majority of them at the ports of entry. With unknown threats using commercial vehicles to transport their illicit …

Emerging Environmental Justice Issues In Nuclear Power And Radioactive Contamination, Dean Kyne, Bob Bolin

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nuclear hazards, linked to both U.S. weapons programs and civilian nuclear power, pose substantial environment justice issues. Nuclear power plant (NPP) reactors produce low-level ionizing radiation, high level nuclear waste, and are subject to catastrophic contamination events. Justice concerns include plant locations and the large potentially exposed populations, as well as issues in siting, nuclear safety, and barriers to public participation. Other justice issues relate to extensive contamination in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, and the mining and processing industries that have supported it. To approach the topic, first we discuss distributional justice issues of NPP sites in the U.S. …

Mexican Armed Forces And Security In Mexico, Tony Payan, Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera

Public Affairs and Security Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

For nearly 40 years, Mexico's armed forces have been engaged in tasks more closely aligned with public safety than national security. This issue brief examines the challenges of assigning internal security duties to the military and argues for a new law that governs the country's safety and security.

Security, The Rule Of Law, And Energy Reform In Mexico, Tony Payan, Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera

Public Affairs and Security Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mexico has taken a major step to further liberalize its economy. In a historical move, the country opened its energy sector to private and foreign investment in 2013—after more than seven decades of a tightly controlled oil industry. This major structural reform contains the promise of furthering Mexico’s development. There are, however, important issues that need to be resolved before this promise can be fulfilled. One of those challenges has to do with the rule of law. This essay explores three major issues with Mexico’s weak rule of law that threaten to foil the successful implementation of the new reforms …

A Longitudinal Study Of Human Exposure To Potential Nuclear Power Plant Risk, Dean Kyne, Jason T. Harris

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study constructs a potential risk index (PRI) for the 65 U.S.-based commercial nuclear power plant (NPP) sites in relation to their surrounding populations. Four risk levels are defined: low risk, moderate risk, high risk, and very high risk. Discrepancies that exist in the sociodemographic characteristics of the host communities’ populations are examined as sorted by risk-level category. It is found that a greater percentage of minority groups are exposed to the highest levels of risk. In addition, percent “Hispanic” and percent “Other,” a grouping that includes multiracial, mixed, interracial, as well as Hispanic and Latino groups (for example, Mexican, …

If You Can’T Take The Heat: Cultural Beliefs About Questionable Conduct, Stigma, Punishment, And Withdrawal Among Mexican Police Officers, Jorge A. Gonzalez, Lorena R. Pérez-Floriano

Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We introduce the concept of cultural beliefs about questionable conduct, and examine how these beliefs interact with stigma consciousness to influence punishment and two withdrawal behaviors: turnover and absenteeism. We used a sample of Mexican police officers in a border city and implemented a mixed method design, paying attention to the national, occupational, and organizational context of this setting. We conducted a qualitative phase to explore the prevalence and meaning of occupational stigma and four cultural beliefs about questionable conduct: greed, toughness, wariness, and savvy. The results of this phase helped us develop a context-relevant measure of cultural beliefs about …

Organizational Culture And Generation Cohorts: A Comparative Analysis Between A Public And Private Organization, David A. Morgan

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The relationship between organizational culture type and generation cohort values has potential implications for how we understand a workplace environment. The examination of an organization’s culture through the prism of generation cohorts and their corresponding values is the focal point of this research question. Utilizing the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) to measure the current and preferred culture type within an organization, and identifying the generational cohorts whom measure these cultures allow empirical data to establish the relationship between these two variables. By examining these results through a public sector and a private sector organization, the claim that the two …

Is Texas Measuring Up To Federal Expectations? An Examination Of The No Child Left Behind Legislation On Texas Region One Education Service Center District Schools, Maricela De Leon

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This research paper presented information on student performance results for school children in Texas Region One – Title I district schools. By using recent data on student performance from a seven year period, 2003 to 2010, between district schools in Region One, the findings of the results is reflected to answer the question on whether district schools in Texas Region One –Title I schools reflect the intended No Child Left Behind act performance indicators as identified in the 2002 legislation.

Predicting College Success: An Analysis Of Graduating Students At The University Of Texas-Pan American, Esther G. Herrera

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Using inferential statistics, this thesis examines whether college experiences, pre-college experiences, and the institutional factors affect college success at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas. Secondary data were used from the Graduating Student Survey administered by the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at the University of Texas-Pan American for the years 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011. The findings indicate that college experiences do have an effect on college success (significant at .05 p-value); job after graduation serves as a better predictor of college success than competency; institutional factors also have a significant effect on college success, especially in …

School Type And Student Achievement: Does School Type Affect Student Achievement In Hidalgo County, Texas?, Krystal Estarei Garcia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study concentrates on identifying whether school type affects student achievement. Throughout this thesis, school type is the independent variable and student achievement is the dependent variable. School type was measured according to whether the school was classified as either a public school or charter school. In addition, school type was further defined according to the following variables: total academic and administrative staff, number of principals, number of assistant principals, school size, number of teachers, student teacher ratio, and student type. School expenditures, time, and method of teacher certification are the control variables. For the purpose of this thesis, student …

The Culturally Adapted Public Administrator: How Accredited Mpa Programs Are Preparing Administrators With Cultural Competency, Nicholas Weimer

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the extent to which National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) accredited Public Administration terminal professional degree programs address cultural competency in their curriculum, the amount of institutional diversity of these programs, and the relations among these quantities. The sample includes 74 university self-study reports. Cultural competency is the dependent variable of this study and syllabi/abstracts of courses taught constitute the major explanatory variable. Descriptive analysis reveals that 15.4% of the total courses in the sample address elements of cultural competency. The use of frequency statistics further reveal that …

Turnover Intent, Organizational Commitment, And Job Satisfaction: An Assessment Of Municipal Police Departments Within Hidalgo County, Texas, Joel Rivera

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

There is a paucity of research on turnover intent among police officers, particularly municipal police officers. This study examines the importance of turnover intent as it relates to job satisfaction and organizational commitment for municipal police departments within Hidalgo County, Texas. This research is important because attrition costs are among the largest expenses that municipal police agencies incur, and mitigation of that loss may benefit the municipal police agencies during times of financial hardships. This study found organizational commitment to be a predictor of turnover intent.

The U.S.-Mexico Border Fence: An Exploration Of The Effectiveness Of This Immigration Policy, Froylan Garza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the effectiveness of the U.S./Mexico border fence for illegal immigration. This topic is important because the recent mandate by Congress in 2006 to construct fencing along the southwest border between the U.S. and Mexico was met with great resistance from the border communities Texas that are directly affected by its construction (Haddal, et al. CRS, 2009). Border communities of the southwest region of the United States are ethnically diverse and rich in history and culture. Many of them hold annual celebrations in which their Latin culture, traditions, and history are honored. The …

We Know Not The Worth Of Water Until The Well Runs Dry: Assessing Municipal Water Use For Fifteen Incorporated Cities In Hidalgo County, Texas For The Years 1984-2005, Rosario Adriana Wilson

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper studied municipal water use in fifteen incorporated cities of Hidalgo County, Texas using historical water use data provided by the Texas Water Development Board's Texas Water Use Survey for the years 1984 to 2005. The cities studied were Alamo, Alton, Donna, Edcouch, Edinburg, Elsa, Hidalgo, La Joya, La Villa, McAllen, Mission, Mercedes, Pharr, San Juan, and Weslaco. This paper examined five key areas that supported this study: population growth, city sales tax revenue, Gross Domestic Product, water demand, and water use. This research concludes with a set of recommendations to assist municipal leadership as they prepare for the …

Fluvial Geomorphologic And Hydrodynamic Assessment In The Tidal Portion Of The Lower Rio Grande River, Us-Mexico Borderland, Andrew Ernest, B. Bokhim, N. B. Chang, I. J. Huang

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

With fast population growth and economic development in the US-Mexico Borderland, water diversion and usages has reduced the flow substantially in the Low Rio Grande River (LRGR). Tidal portion of the LRGR has posed an environmental drought issue since 1993 and the channel clogged with the invasion of non-native plants also causes environmental problems. As a result of the intensity of these natural and manmade factors, the Rio Grande stopped flowing to the sea in February 2001. The flows were reduced to a point that they were unable to push out the sand deposited at the mouth. Geomorphologic evolution in …

Trying To Save The Garden: What If “Rat Choice” Hadn’T Invaded Public Policy And Public Administration? A Public Administration Satire, Terence Garrett

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The study of public administration is a huge garden of fruits and vegetables. There are a wide variety of different plant species that are beneficial to the public interest. Unfortunately, however, every garden also harbors pests, both of the plant and animal kind. In this essay, the “garden” represents the fruits enjoyed by a democratic public administration and the primary destructive force is the unchecked power of the rat.1 The rat represents the worst of capitalist behavior that undermines democracy and public service. First, we will make a simple salad comprised of fruit, nuts, and vegetables. Second, we will be …

A Study Of Education Reform In Texas: State Mandated Testing Results, Effects, And The University Of Texas-Pan American, Monica M. Trevino

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The study will use scores on TASP, and ACT as predictors of first year college success. First year college success will be measured by first-year year college grade point average and number of class hours dropped. We expect to find a high correlation between standardized test scores and college success. In order to continue yearly state test administration efforts, data needs to be found supporting that these efforts are sufficient. If this evidence is not present, then state mandated achievement testing needs to be reconsidered for use as a requirement for receipt of a high school diploma, school accountability, and …

Is The Maquila Industry A Factor Influencing Migration To Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico?, Maria Cristina Guzman

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter one starts with the historical background of the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico and has a brief definition of migration explaining the factors that push or pull someone to make the decision to move. Chapter two contains the thesis statement, methods, and scope. In chapter three, there is a summary of the findings and conclusions. Analysis of the data collected through a survey conducted in 1997 among maquila workers reveals that a total of 51.01% of both the men and women's moves were influenced by the maquila industry. A similar pattern was …

The Battle To Be Mayor: A Case Study Of Interethnic Conflict In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Adrian Cruz

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Mexican Americans and Anglos have lived in Texas for generations now. Historical data has shown that Anglos have dominated the political and economic structures in the state. A case study was conducted of the 1998 mayoral election that took place in a city located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The study investigated if there was evidence of Anglos supporting one candidate and Mexican Americans supporting the other.

Reducing Juvenile Graffiti Vandalism: A Study Of Community Policing Problem-Solving In San Benito, Texas, Yolanda Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In 1997, in the small rural community of San Benito in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, at the southern tip of Texas, graffiti vandalism was the target of a community-police partnership. Supported in part by the Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Offices, U.S. Department of Justice, the San Benito Police Department took action against graffiti and in doing so elicited the community's participation.

This thesis provides a brief overview of American policing with emphasis on an innovative and strategic management concept known as community-oriented policing and on problem-solving approaches. These efforts were undertaken by individual officers and community organizers to address …

The Summer Day Treatment Program, Luis Salanas Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Summer Day Treatment Proposal addresses the request for proposal from the Tropical Texas Center for MHMR and the Children's Mental Health Plan to provide services to “At Risk” youth within a local school district.

The proposal outlines the education, family empowerment, individual and group counseling and self esteem development made available to twenty at risk youth for four weeks at a cost of $10,106.00.

Correlation Between The Number Of Children A Woman Has In The Women, Infants, And Children Program And Their Ratings Of The Program, Elizabeth Trevino

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper tests the proposition that W.I.C. is satisfactorily meeting the educational, prenatal care and management needs of the W.I.C. clientele. Specifically, the difference of satisfaction between women who have all their children in the program and women who do not have all their children in the program will be determined. The women with more than one child in the program may have more experience with the program and as a result, rate it higher. From a political perspective, the findings of this study are important to the government and taxpayers that are concerned with how well W.I.C. actually serves …