Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Let The Church Rise: The Acceptance Of Government Funding By The Religious Community In New Orleans Post-Katrina, Jaime Collins Hilton

LSU Master's Theses

This research presents themes which generate insight about why religious organizations in New Orleans accept or decline government funding for disaster relief and rebuilding. A total of eight in-depth interviews were conducted with church representatives to explore opinions regarding churches’ stance on obtaining federal funding for emergency aid provided to survivors of Hurricane Katrina and also for rebuilding purposes. Furthermore, quantitative results were obtained in collaboration with the LSU Public Policy Research Lab as part of a cross-sectional, exploratory study. The Public Policy Research Lab contacted an additional total of 54 churches (N=62) in the New Orleans metropolitan area were …

Evidence Of Pulmonary Disease In The Poole-Rose Ossuary Population: An Analysis Of The Ribs, Lisa Elaine Baumer

LSU Master's Theses

This study reports on the demographics and evidence of pulmonary disease in the Poole-Rose Ossuary which was excavated in 1990 under the direction of Heather McKillop. The bones are being studied at the request of the Alderville First Nation. Radiocarbon dated to A.D. 1550 ± 50 years, the skeletal material is a co-mingled collection that is consistent with a mass secondary burial event known as the Feast of the Dead often associated with the Huron. The ribs were used in this study. The condition of the ribs was highly fragmented. The minimum number of individuals for this study was 49 …

Dress In The United States Of America As Depicted In Postmortem Photographs, 1840-1900, Ryan Jerel Aldridge

LSU Master's Theses

The results of a content and historical analysis of American postmortem photographs from 1840 to 1900 found in Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America and Sleeping Beauty II: Grief, Bereavement and The Family In Memorial Photography American & European Traditions by Stanley Burns (1990 and 2002) indicate that day dress was the most popular form of postmortem dress depicted in the photographs. A comparison of the findings from this examination of the dress of 89 deceased individuals depicted in 84 postmortem photographs with descriptions of dress based on nineteenth century archaeological burial remains and portraits of living individuals indicates that …

Association Of Breakfast Consumption Patterns With Weight Status, Nutrient Intake, And Dietary Adequacy In African American Children 1-12 Years Of Age And Adolescents 13-18 Years Of Age, Brandy Michele Williams

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of these studies was to determine whether weight status, nutrient intake, and dietary adequacy were associated with breakfast consumption patterns. A representative sample of African American (AA) children and adolescents who participated in 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used in a secondary data analysis. Participants were first grouped by age: 1-12 years of age (y) (n=1,389), 13-18 y (n = 988) and then by breakfast consumption category: breakfast skippers, ready-to-eat cereal (RTEC) consumers, and other breakfast consumers. A single multiple-pass 24-hour dietary recall was conducted using computer-assisted software to record dietary intake. To estimate …

Determining The Relative Efficacy Of Reciprocal And Non-Reciprocal Peer Tutoring For Students Identified As At-Risk For Academic Failure, Keri F. Menesses

LSU Master's Theses

The current study directly compared the academic and social gains of reciprocal peer tutoring, non-reciprocal peer tutoring, and traditional classroom instruction with elementary students. Participants included 59 students who performed below-average on class-wide screenings using curriculum-based measurement math probes. Students involved in peer tutoring were trained to tutor basic math facts using a constant time delay procedure. Both types of peer tutoring produced significantly larger academic gains than traditional classroom instruction; the two types of tutoring produced comparable academic and social results, although reciprocal tutoring resulted in marginally larger academic gains. Reciprocal peer tutoring is recommended based on the fact …

Conversations On Citizenship: Young People's Perceptions And Performances Of Democratic Citizenship, Katherine Rhodes Knobloch

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper is to illuminate how the practice of democratic citizenship compares to ideals of it. I hope to provide a clear view of what contemporary democratic citizenship means, how this conception has been formed, and how democratic citizenship can be effectively practiced to serve the ideals held by democratic citizens. To do this, this paper will be comprised in several parts. After an initial explanation of the theoretical perspective used, I will explore how democracy was understood and implemented in the formative stages of United States government. Next I review contemporary practices of citizenship before examining …

A Study Of Elementary School Children At Risk For Truancy: Exploring Gender Differences, Services Offered, And Other Factors Related To Truancy, Alice Joseph

LSU Master's Theses

This cross sectional, exploratory study examined the characteristics of elementary school children at risk for truancy. Furthermore, the study explored if there were any significant gender differences in the number of children referred to the TASC program. The current study also sought to answer if there were any gender differences in common problem areas reported to have an impact on truancy. Finally, any differences between children identified as low risk and high risk were also investigated. This study used secondary data analysis. Elementary school children (N = 23,459), grades Kindergarten through 4th grade who participated in the TASC program of …

Can We Estimate Stature From The Scapula? A Test Considering Sex And Ancestry, Rachel Marie Burke

LSU Master's Theses

The biological profile is one of the most important things that forensic anthropologists accomplish in their work. This includes the determination of age, race, sex, and stature. These four components of the biological profile aid in the identification of an individual in the forensic context. Since the beginning of the field of physical anthropology, osteologists and anatomists have studied human remains in order to provide new and more accurate ways of building the biological profile. Two published studies have attempted to estimate stature from measurements of the scapula. One previous study found that certain measurements of the scapula were highly …

An Exploratory Study Of Social Work Supervisors' Supervisory Styles, Motivations, And Evaluative Processes, Michelle Elise Chevallier

LSU Master's Theses

While many factors influence the quality of social work supervision, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore social work supervisors’ supervisory styles, motivations, and evaluative processes and its impact on the social work profession. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from 10 Board Approved Clinical Supervisors (BACSs) during a one-time session in which a questionnaire on supervisory styles was administered and an interview covering supervisory styles, motivations, and evaluative processes was conducted. This project was undertaken to better understand some of the perceptions, values, beliefs, and problems involved in the supervisory process and its impact on the profession. …

Grinding The Axe Body Spray: Linking Gamer Experience And Brand Recall In Guitar Hero Iii, Miranda Coy Lemon

LSU Master's Theses

The growth in popularity of social video games that appeal to a wide variety of audiences offers new opportunities for in-game advertisers to reach beyond the traditional gamer market. The current study aimed to test the effectiveness of in-game advertising placements in the popular video game, Guitar Hero III, based on the Limited Capacity Model of Mediated Motivated Message Processing (LC4MP). The Limited Capacity Model predicts that experienced gamers utilize fewer mental resources when playing video games because the repeated action of playing video games eventually becomes automatic. An experienced gamer would therefore have a greater capacity to remember in-game …

Institutional Influences Of State Legislators' Voting Behavior, Jessica Jordan Self

LSU Master's Theses

Representation of citizens by elected officials is a core principle of American democracy (Eulau et al. 1959; Key 1961). Assuming the delegate approach to representation (Pitkin 1967), state legislative districts give voters the opportunity to elect representatives that will act in accordance with their wishes in the state policy arena. The extent to which a legislator’s policy votes reflect his constituents’ preferences is often referred to as “policy responsiveness” (Eulau and Karps 1977). While the make-up of the constituency shapes legislators’ positions in policy areas, legislative voting behavior also is indirectly influenced by personal and institutional factors. Previous research has …

Function Based Interventions Versus Non-Function Based Interventions Within A General Education Setting, Michael J. Vance

LSU Master's Theses

Functional Behavioral Assessment is a multi-method set of strategies used to determine a particular behaviors purpose. This method, currently seen as the gold standard for creating behavioral interventions, has since 1997 been required by law for a number of special education concerns. While there is a great deal of data supporting the use of function based interventions for populations with low incidence disabilities, little has been done to analyze their effectiveness for more typically developing children. Given that functional behavioral assessment can be quite time consuming and requires prior training the purpose of this study is to compare function based …

The Culture Of Conservative Protestantism And Income Inequality: A Multilevel Analysis, Skylar Craig Gremillion

LSU Master's Theses

Despite major advances in equality of rights, women still earn less money than men. Social science researchers see sex-based income inequality as an issue of discrimination. While the problem has been identified, its causes are a matter of debate. In this study I offer one possible influence on this discrimination. I theorize that conservative Protestant culture has a strong effect on local norms and business practices. Those norms are a part of the institutional environment, and manifest themselves as allocative and valuative discrimination, keeping women out of high paying jobs or paying women in high skilled jobs less than men …

Increasing The Communicative Behaviors Of Children With Low Levels Of Communicative Initiations In An Inclusive Preschool Classroom, Susanna Melikyan

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to measure the current level of communicative initiations exhibited by children enrolled in the LSU preschool program. Child communication was categorized as specific, unclear, or negative. These descriptors referred to peers ability to interpret the target child’s communication. Additionally, peer responses were recorded as either positive or negative based on their reaction to the target child’s communication. Children identified with either low levels of communicative initiation or unclear/negative communications were targeted for the intervention. Single-subject research methods were used to record each child’s communicative behaviors. A least-to-most assistive prompting (Horner & Keilitz, 1975) intervention …

Factors Driving Turkish Foreign Policy, Betul Dicle

LSU Master's Theses

Evaluation of Turkish foreign policy events suggests that both external and domestic factors have affected its determination. While a consistent pattern in foreign policy has been observed since Ottoman times, the 20th century has led to substantial challenges. Long-established Turkish foreign policy, based exclusively on external factors, was reshaped to include domestic factors as well. With the new Republic in 1923, the process of reshaping foreign policy, based on Western values, has started. The end of the Cold War started a new era in which domestic factors gained predominance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the factors that …

Distance As A Barrier To Child And Adolescent Mental Health Service Access In Post-Katrina Orleans Parish, Rob Harrison

LSU Master's Theses

Socially vulnerable populations are more susceptible to the impacts of natural disasters than other groups. An aspect of social vulnerability is lack of access to resources following a disaster. Distance is one barrier that prevents socially vulnerable populations from accessing services. Using 2000 U.S. Census Bureau data and current outpatient child and adolescent mental health facilities in post-Katrina Orleans Parish, Louisiana, this thesis seek to understand if those facilities are located farther from block groups with higher percentages of demographically disadvantaged residents than from block groups with lower percentages of demographically disadvantaged residents. Block group demographic disadvantage is defined in …

Resistant Starch Is Effective In Lowering Body Fat In A Rat Model Of Human Endocrine Obesity, Julina Ann Robert

LSU Master's Theses

Two studies were performed to determine the effects of resistant starch (RS) on body weight and fat. A 2x2 factorial design was used in both studies, and results were considered significant when p<0.05 for both studies. The first study examined the effects of RS in a high fat diet (44.8% of energy) on weight, fat, peptide-YY (PYY) levels, and cecal pH in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were fed a low fat energy control diet for one week prior to diet treatment. On week two, rats were blocked by weight and fed one of the following diets for 12 weeks (n=10): low fat, energy control (LFEC); LF resistant starch (LFRS); high fat, energy control (HFEC); or high fat resistant starch (HFRS). RS did not lower weight or fat with either the HF or LF diets. RS consumption resulted in greater full and empty cecal weights, and a lower pH for the LFRS diet. This data indicate fermentation, even though weight and fat loss did not occur. This is contrary to previous reports with RS, which has been shown to decrease body fat compared to controls. The second study examined the effects of RS on the weight, fat, PYY levels, and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) levels in female Sprague-Dawley rats. Ovariectomized (OVX) rats were used to represent rats prone to gaining weight, and sham rats represented normal rats. Rats were assigned to one of four groups (n=10): OVEC, OVRS, SHEC, or SHRS. Rats were fed the EC diet for 6 weeks prior to diet treatment to gain weight after surgery, and then blocked by weight and fat into diet treatment groups, and spent 13 weeks on treatment diets. Energy intake, total gastrointestinal weight, large intestine/cecum weight, and small intestine weight were all higher in RS fed rats relative to EC fed rats. Mesenteric, ovarian, perirenal, retroperitoneal, and total fat pads were lower in RS rats relative to EC rats. Although RS was not effective in lowering body weight or body fat in the first study, the data indicates that resistant starch may lower body weight and fat in postmenopausal women.

An Investigation Of Decision-Making Style Of Chinese College Student Online Apparel Shoppers, Yao Zeng

LSU Master's Theses

Internet users in China increased to 210 million with an annual growth rate of 53.3 percent in 2007 (CNNIC, 2008). This dramatic increase of Internet usage in China provides numerous opportunities for online marketers. Thirty-eight percent of Chinese netizens are 18 to 24 years old, among whom college netizens account for a large proportion in China (CNNIC, 2008). Given the market potential of targeting this group, research is needed to understand Chinese college students’ online shopping behavior. The purpose of this research was to better understand Chinese college student online apparel shoppers by investigating their decision-making style and explore the …

Separate But Equal?: The Archaeology Of An Early Twentieth-Century African American School, Dena Lyn Struchtemeyer

LSU Master's Theses

The written and historical record is frequently flawed, as it most often written by a single dominant group. The history of Morganza Elementary, an early twentieth century African American school in Morganza, Louisiana, was both omitted from the historical record and as a result, was slowly being erased in the minds of the community. Archaeological excavations were undertaken in order to better understand the lifeways of both the community and the students as well as the daily practices of both. In conjunction with the archaeological excavations, oral histories were completed with former students. Through this combination, new light was shed …

Alcohol Use, Negative Consequences, And Readiness To Change In Mandated And Volunteer College Student Heavy Drinkers Before And After A Brief Alcohol Intervention, Meredith A. Terlecki

LSU Master's Theses

The current study tested the efficacy of a brief intervention designed to reduce alcohol use among high-risk college students who have been mandated to treatment for an alcohol policy violation relative to a brief wait-list control group and volunteer high-risk sample. Thirty-nine mandated students and forty high-risk student volunteers were randomly assigned to receive either a brief alcohol intervention or were assigned to a brief wait-list control (WLC) group. Participants were assessed at baseline and at a 4-week post-test on measures of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related problems, and readiness to change. Of the participants who had completed follow-up (N = 39), …

Saint Maló Remembered, Erin Elizabeth Voisin

LSU Master's Theses

This research explores the unique process of creolization that occurred in Southern Louisiana through the development of the figure of San Maló over time. His transformation from historic rebel to religious icon takes place through the devices of folklore, poetry, and song. This developmental process of a culture redefining its heroes through oral tradition represents the dynamism of creolization. The transformative process of San Maló serves as an exemplary representation of how a culture negotiates its own history with what is deemed necessary and beneficial to the culture’s survival. All information on this transformation was gathered through historic research and …

Creating A Blues Playground: A Comparison Of Beale Street In Memphis, Tennessee, And Farish Street In Jackson, Mississippi, Sandor Gulyas

LSU Master's Theses

Are tourists looking for something resembling the landscape described in the music they listen to or are the cities creating a false front to entice tourists to visualize what was (is?) described in folklore and myths of blues music? This paper will focus on the urban landscape of Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee and Fariah Street in Jackson, Mississippi. These cities are part of a trend called "new blues tourism" in which these cities, in the Mississippi Delta are promoting an authentic black heritage landscape. My paper critiques the authenticity of this urban heritage landscape. There have been many studies …

Roe V. Wade And Its Progency: The Impact Of State Legislative And Judicial Actions On Abortion Rates In Five States, Maria Klimash

LSU Master's Theses

By looking at the courts and legislatures as agents of social change, this study seeks to assess the impact of judicial decisions in a particularly contentious area, the right to bodily privacy. Specifically, I seek to understand the competing effects of state supreme court decisions and state statutes on the consumers of their public policy choices. Past studies have found conflicting results concerning the impact of court decisions. Literature assessing the effect of legislation finds that statutes, which are specific in nature, engender significant effects. For this study I focus specifically on court decisions and legislation that are concerned with …

It's Not Rocket Science: Nasa's Crisis Communication Efforts As A Public Sector Organization Following The Columbia Shuttle Disaster, Emily Ann Schult

LSU Master's Theses

Seventeen years after the Challenger accident, the space shuttle Columbia and its crew were only forty miles from Kennedy Space Center when the shuttle exploded during re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere. The explosion killed all seven astronauts onboard. NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations immediately jumped into action, declaring a contingency and following the Agency Contingency Action Plan for Space Flight Operations. As a public sector organization, one that must report to Congress and the American public, NASA is held to different standards than private organizations when it comes to releasing information. To understand how public sector organizations handle …

The Impact Of Self-Reported Physical Activity Levels On The Prediction Of Body Fatness From Bmi In White And Black College Students, Michael Zanovec

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that self-reported physical activity (PA) levels quantified from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) could be used to improve the prediction of percent body fat (%BF) measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) from body mass index (BMI), gender, and race in White and Black college students. A total of 278 students, aged 18 – 24 yr, volunteered to participate. There were 133 males (85 White and 48 Black) and 145 females (77 White and 68 Black). Total activity levels were quantified in MET-hours per week (MET-hrs•wk-1) using the IPAQ short …

Latino Representation In U.S. Legislatures: Interests, Behavior, And Influence, Stella M. Rouse

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the growth of Latinos in the general population and in legislatures, their impact on the political process has received little scholarly attention. In this project, I present a theoretical framework of Latino legislative behavior that draws upon two important concepts of representation- descriptive and substantive- to better understand how ethnicity influences legislative activity and whether it is dependent on such factors as institutional context, legislative composition, and constituency characteristics. The project is unique in its comprehensive analysis of the legislative process and in its mixed methodological approach which includes both quantitative and qualitative elements. The analysis involves five parts: …

A House Performs, Lisa Flanagan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study analyses and performs a series of histories about a semi-abandoned Victorian house located in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I engage Gregory Ulmer’s inter-discursive and inter-subjective process of historiography, the mystory, as a way of viewing and doing research. Mystory allows for research through diverse perspectives of professional, popular and personal discourses, which activates the pleasures and problems of knowledge production by urging invention and creative expression. Significance is discovered in less determined, more localized, ways of knowing that avoid fixing the house in terms of predetermined “historic” values. Material culture and archives like the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps …

Federal Grants, State Decisions, Brian Galle

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The authority to raise and spend money is one of the most expansive and fundamental of all Congress' enumerated powers, particularly when Congress chooses to impose conditions on those who wish to receive its cash. The consensus modern view of this conditional spending is that its unfettered use threatens the diversity and accountability goals of our federalism. As a result, nearly all commentators support either direct or indirect judge-made limits on conditional spending. These claims, I argue, rest on a set of largely unexamined assumptions about the political motivations, budgetary situation, and incentives of the state officials who must decide …

Can We Talk About Race? And Other Conversations In An Era Of School Resegregation [Book Review], Jacob K. Tingle

School of Business Faculty Research

Ten years after Beverly Daniel Tatum wrote, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? she again closely examines the world of American education. In her latest work, Dr. Tatum gives the reader a seat in the auditorium at 4 lectures delivered at Simmons College during 2006. These lectures, the first of the Race, Education, and Democracy series, challenge educational leaders to look for better ways to serve our student populations. Coupling the texts’ historical underpinnings and practical advice, Dr. Tatum has written a book that should be required for those who work closely with college students.

Are We Dead Yet? The Lies We Tell To Keep Moving Forward Without Feeling, Mari J. Matsuda

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Some days it seems easier to live with innocence, as though this afternoon's traffic and tonight's dinner were the big challenges of our lives, as if we could keep turning the key in the ignition and burning the incandescent bulb in the kitchen, magically removed from a grid that involves coal and oil, mercury poisoning, and pipelines, and colonialism and war.

Charles Lawrence wrote an article to prove to himself that he was not crazy. To tired colleagues who were saying, "There are no racists here," an adult variant of "Wasn't me," he chose a response that ruptured. In the …