Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Probabilistic Morphological Analyzer For Syriac, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Peter J. Mcclanahan, George Busby, Robbie A. Haertel, Kristian Heal, Kevin Seppi, Eric K. Ringger

Faculty Publications

We define a probabilistic morphological analyzer using a data-driven approach for Syriac in order to facilitate the creation of an annotated corpus. Syriac is an under-resourced Semitic language for which there are no available language tools such as morphological analyzers. We introduce novel probabilistic models for segmentation, dictionary linkage, and morphological tagging and connect them in a pipeline to create a probabilistic morphological analyzer requiring only labeled data. We explore the performance of models with varying amounts of training data and find that with about 34,500 labeled tokens, we can outperform a reasonable baseline trained on over 99,000 tokens and …

Estimating The Prevalence And Frequency Of The Adolescent Drug Use: Do The Models Fit The Measures?, John P. Hoffmann, Stephen J. Bahr

Faculty Publications

We critically review recent studies to examine the measurement schemes and empirical models used to examine adolescent drug use, with a particular eye toward determining whether differences between the prevalence and frequency of use have been addressed. Several theoretical models suggest that there are differences but we find relatively few studies that have considered prevalence versus frequency, even though selection effects that dictations these processes affect conclusions about predictors of drug use. Using data from the 2004 U.S. National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), (n=16,235), we provide an empirical example of why distinguishing prevalence and frequency of use …

2010 Federal Estate Tax Issues, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Estate planning is a very important topic for farm families. In 2001, President Bush signed legislation that reduced the Federal Estate Taxes until 2010, when it was reduced to zero. However, in 2011 the Federal Estate Tax will be reinstated, as indicated in the table on the next page. President Obama has proposed a permanent Federal Estate Tax exemption at the 2009 level, but that has not been acted upon by Congress. Other proposals range from a $2 million exemption with a 55 percent top estate tax rate, to a $5 million exemption with a 35 percent top rate.

A Thin Real Estate Market Becomes Even Leaner, Bruce B. Johnson

Cornhusker Economics

The market for agricultural real estate has historically been what observers call a “thin market,” in that very little is marketed and changes ownership at any given point in time. In fact, even when there is spirited buying interest and willingness to bid aggressively, the supply side of the market for agricultural land tends to be inelastic - in that the percentage change in quantity put on the market is much less that the percentage increase in bid prices.

Of course, this partially explains upward value trends to agricultural real estate over time. If potential buyers realize there is only …

If Irrigation Needs To Be Reduced, How Should We Do It?, Raymond J. Supalla

Cornhusker Economics

Nebraska’s obligations under the terms of the Republican Basin Compact and the Cooperative Agreement for the Platte River, as well as our continuing commitment to future generations, require reductions in the consumptive use of water in irrigation. Reducing irrigation in a cost effective and equitable way is perhaps the most important water policy challenge which Nebraska must address. Determining how to meet this challenge involves the following questions: how will irrigators be affected by irrigation reduction programs such as allocation or forced reductions in irrigated acres; how will the Nebraska economy and local communities be affected; what is the least …

Status Of U.S. Initiatives To Limit Ghg Emissions, Diego R. Alvarez, Federico Trindade

Cornhusker Economics

The status of the United States initiatives to limit green house gas (GHG) emissions is the topic of this article. Although there are uncertainties associated with the science of climate change, some aspects of the science are known with virtual certainty (they have a greater than 99% chance of being true). Scientists know with virtual certainty that levels of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have been increasing since pre-industrial times; that the atmospheric buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is largely the result of human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels; and that increasing …

The Demand For Citizen Leadership In Non-Metropolitan Nebraska, Randolph L. Cantrell

Cornhusker Economics

Those who work with rural communities know this issue well: Population losses have left many rural communities with a shortage of residents willing and able to take on the public and volunteer leadership roles required to keep their communities running smoothly. As a result, individuals are often asked not just to participate in local government and voluntary organizations, but also to accept positions of authority and responsibility in their operation. The outcome, according to conventional wisdom, is that capable and involved citizens can be “burned out” by the demands made on their time, with local leadership often being left in …

“The E-Harmony Of Farm Succession”, David J. Goeller

Cornhusker Economics

The age of Nebraska’s farm and ranch operators continues to trend older. Statistics from the National Census of Agriculture indicates that in 1982 there were 13,436 operators of Nebraska farms or ranches under the age of 35. In the most recent Census of Agriculture taken in 2007, those Nebraska operators under age 35 have declined to 3,353. The 1982 Census indicated the number of operators age 65 and over was 8,777, while in 2007 the Nebraska operators age 65 and over increased to 13,062. Nebraska currently has only 25 percent as many operators under 35 years of age as it …

Cloning In Young Adult Fiction, Jennifer L. Kehoe

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to discover the issues raised about human cloning in young adult fiction. This study determined the themes found in the young adult fiction selected and if those themes reflected issues about human cloning. The questions asked in the study were: 1. Does young adult fiction confront the complexity of ethical issues about human cloning? 2. Do the plots and characters in young adult fiction about cloning provide substance to provoke reader response to the ethical controversies that surround cloning? A thematic analysis was conducted. The researcher read each book and recorded themes that were …

Contemporary Contradictions And Challenges Facing Married Fathers And Mothers, Erin K. Holmes, Jennifer Baumgartner, Loren Marks, Rob Palkovitz, Olena Nesteruk

Faculty Publications

Part one of this review chapter provides a brief historical overview of the fathering role. Following this overview, some cultural contradictions and challenges facing fathers, particularly married fathers, are outlined and discussed. Key issues of focus in this section include married fathers balancing economic provision, household work, and involvement in child rearing. Part two of the chapter will overview cultural challenges and contradictions facing mothers, particularly married mothers. The contradictory challenges often inherent in marriage-based mothering include the pressures too simultaneously provide "intensive mothering" and to be extensively involved in a career. In sum, the chapter will illustrate how married …

Invocations And Intoxication: Does Prayer Decrease Alcohol Consumption?, Nathaniel M. Lambert, Frank D. Fincham, Loren D. Marks, Tyler F. Stillman

Faculty Publications

Four methodologically diverse studies (N = 1,758) show that prayer frequency and alcohol consumption are negatively related. In Study 1 (n = 824), we used a cross-sectional design and found that higher prayer frequency was related to lower alcohol consumption and problematic drinking behavior. Study 2 (n = 702) used a longitudinal design and found that more frequent prayer at Time 1 predicted less alcohol consumption and problematic drinking behavior at Time 2, and this relationship held when controlling for baseline levels oof drinking and prayer. In Study 3 (n = 117), we used an experimental …

School Library Facilities, Meeting The Needs Of Individuals With Disabilities, Nicole Willard

Graduate Research Papers

The problem identified by the research is that schools may not be meeting the needs of all students in typical school library environments. This research used a mixed methods approach to investigate newly constructed or remodeled school library facilities in eastern Iowa to assess accessibility to the library facility for individuals with disabilities.

Ten librarians within one regional center that had newly built or remodeled libraries were asked to participate in the study along with one special education teacher within each building. Out of ten librarians asked to participate in the study, eight agreed to participate along with four special …

Designing A Library Program To Increase The Number Of Fourth Grade Reading Goals, Jodonna Carlson

Graduate Research Papers

The problem identified by this research was at School C, 37% of the fourth grade students were not meeting their reading goal. The library at School C may not have been designed to meet the needs of these students. Action research using both quantitative and qualitative methods to gather data was used in this study. Parental permission was given for four fourth grade students to participate in this study. Two fourth grade teachers also agreed to participate in this study. Field notes were used to gather data during observations of book checkout for each class. Open-ended questions were asked each …

Educating A School Community Implementing A One-To-One Laptop Learning Initiative, Shannon Mcclintock Miller

Graduate Research Papers

As a major technological change is implemented into a school community, such as a one-to-one laptop learning initiative, it is essential to educate everyone involved in order for it to be successful. In this research project, the Van Meter 1:1 Laptop Learning Initiative Google Site was developed to provide the resources and continued support needed for the change. The digital tools created to be used through the Google site brought knowledge, collaboration, creativity, and connections to the students, teachers, parents, and community at Van Meter. The tools also served as a way for Van Meter to connect to the world …

Self-Censorship In Iowa Elementary Libraries, Lacey Fliger

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether or not Iowa elementary school children had access to fiction and non-fiction titles containing potentially controversial topics. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Iowa elementary schools with professionally certified school librarians hold a greater number of recommended books from ALA Notable Children's Books list from 2002-2009 in which reviews do not indicate potentially controversial topics as compared with those ALA Notable Children's Books from the same years in which reviews indicate potentially controversial topics. The methodology used for this study was quantitative research. The researcher randomly chose 45 …

Sheldon Community History Traveling Trunk Project, Jan M. Kinderknecht

Graduate Research Papers

National, state, and local standards guide education in what is taught in the classrooms today. A lack of resources is often a problem in teaching these standards, especially at the local level. The Sheldon third grade teachers needed resources to fulfill the teaching expectations about their local community. The purpose of this project was to develop a traveling trunk filled with primary and secondary resources to be used in the teaching of a social studies unit on the community of Sheldon. Deciding what people, places, and events to include in these resources is often a concern. Another concern was what …

Climate Control Of Terrestrial Carbon Exchange Across Biomes And Continents, Chuixiang Yi, Runze Li, John Wolbeck, Xiyan Xu, Mats Nilsson, Luis Aires, John D. Albertson, Christof Ammann, M. Altaf Arain, Alessandro C. De Araujo, Marc Aubinet, Mika Aurela, Zoltán Barcza, Alan Barr, Paul Berbigier, Jason Beringer, Christian Bernhofer, Andrew T. Black, Paul V. Bolstad, Fred C. Bosveld, Mark S.J. Broadmeadow, Nina Buchmann, Sean P. Burns, Pierre Cellier, Jingming Chen, Jiquan Chen, Philippe Ciais, Robert Clement, Bruce D. Cook, Peter S. Curtis, D. Bryan Dail, Ebba Dellwik, Christopher A. Williams

Geography

Understanding the relationships between climate and carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems is critical to predict future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide because of the potential accelerating effects of positive climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. However, directly observed relationships between climate and terrestrial CO2exchange with the atmosphere across biomes and continents are lacking. Here we present data describing the relationships between net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) and climate factors as measured using the eddy covariance method at 125 unique sites in various ecosystems over six continents with a total of 559 site-years. We find that NEE observed at eddy covariance sites is …

Language Exclusionary Behavior And Attitudes Toward Immigrants, Christine L. Bennett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Immigrants often speak languages that natives do not understand, leading to intentional or inadvertent ostracism, which in turn may increase perceptions of threat. For example, English language participants excluded from a conversation in Spanish report more negative reactions than participants excluded in English (Hitlan, Kelly, & Zarate, 2010). Integrated threat theory (ITT) suggests that there are four threats that lead to prejudice toward outgroups such as immigrants: realistic threat, symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes (Stephan, Ybarra, & Bachman, 1999). The current study expanded upon prior research by ostracizing participants in English, Spanish, or Arabic and then measuring participants' …

Helping Adolescents Forgive: The Use Of Forgiveness Education At An Inpatient Mental Health Facility, Tiffany R. Everding

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Understanding the concept of forgiveness has demonstrated to be a complex process (Walker & Gorsuch, 2004; McCullough & vanOyen Witvliet, 2002). Enright and the Human Development Study Group (1991) developed a process model of forgiveness as a way for people to constructively deal with their anger and improve overall psychological well-being after experiencing a deep hurt. Due to the reported benefits illustrated by forgiveness intervention studies, future research is needed to examine the effectiveness of forgiveness education with adolescents in a clinical setting. The current study implemented a forgiveness education intervention with adolescents at local inpatient mental health facility examining …

Performance-Based Assessment Of School Psychology Interns : Analysis Of Problem-Solving Skills As Demonstrated In Comprehensive Case Examinations, Kimberly Suzanne Hansen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

School psychologists are integral partners in the facilitation of the problem solving process, especially when the process is embedded within a tiered service delivery system incorporating response to intervention philosophies. Therefore, it is important that new school psychologists entering the field be competent in the skill areas needed to produce positive student outcomes. It is important for school psychology training programs to assess these competencies to improve individual student competencies as well as to improve the training provided by the program in the future. Comprehensive case studies are performance-based assessments that can be utilized to evaluate individuals, as well as …

Functional Behavioral Assessment : School Based Practice And Perception, Clint Henning

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a process that attempts to uncover specific causes and reinforcement of inappropriate behavior in order to design and implement interventions that more accurately address these behaviors. According to the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, functional assessments are now required in working with students struggling with inappropriate behavior. Despite these requirements there is still ambiguity about how these assessments are carried out in school settings (Gartin and Murdick, 2001). This study consisted of a survey of school psychologists in the state of Iowa to understand how the process looks currently, ten years …

Sticks And Stones: Fracture Analysis Of The University Of Iowa-Stanford Collection, Diane Eddie

Honors Program Theses

Bones are an integral part to the human body. They support the entire system, help produce blood, and serve as places for muscles to attach. The condition of bones can say something about the conditions a person lived in. When and how bones warp and fail can also reflect upon the living conditions of a person. Fractures in bones prior to death can show the types of stressors the person had to put up with in life or if there was a particular type of stressor for a certain population. The number of individuals in the University of Iowa-Stanford Collection …

The Experience Of Upward Mobility, Lacey Jae Ritter

Honors Program Theses

Upward mobility is an interesting and highly valued phenomenon within American society. Due to American beliefs that hard work is the only requirement for success, individuals feel that moving up a social class from that of their class of origin is not impossible. Past research, however, shows that upward mobility is extremely difficult and quite unlikely. When individuals do achieve upward mobility, there are many consequences for doing so, including changes in relationships with family and friends. Most individuals receive emotional support from family and friends in their quest for mobility, yet the path to upward mobility is often begun …

Cost, Quality And Access: An Analysis Of Health Care In The United States, Canada And The United Kingdom, Katherine Elizabeth Reidy

Honors Program Theses

Comparing international health care systems assists in identifying effective reforms to address three constant problems within health care around the globe: cost, quality and access. Until recently, the United States health care scheme has been administered through private enterprise while Canada and the United Kingdom have implemented national forms of health care. In order to determine which system more effectively deals issues related to cost, quality, and access, statistical information was gathered to compare each system based on cost, quality and access. Such statistics include but are not limited to waiting times for specialized care, financial expenditures for each country …

Home Movies, Taylor Scott

Honors Program Theses

As an electronic media major I wanted to create a thesis that exemplified all of the video editing and creative skills and also the media theories I have learned at the University of Northern Iowa. To me, one of the most interesting topics in the electronic media field is the strong influence amateurs have on mass media, starting at the advent of the radio and through today on the internet. This is what inspired me to create Home Movies. I wanted to combine my interest in amateurism with the skills and knowledge I have learned as an electronic media student. …

Sex And Setting: A Look At Operational And Organizational Stress In Policing, Laura Anne Lundell

Honors Program Theses

Several studies have looked at how the sex of an officer may or may not influence stress levels within the setting of municipal departments but very little research regarding gender and stress can be found for officers on university or college campuses (Burke, Richardsen & Martinussen, 2006; He, Zhao & Archbold, 2002; Lilly, Pole, Best, Metzler & Marmar 2009; Morash, Haarr & Kwak, 2006; Norvell, Hills & Murrin 1993). Similarly, when sex is looked at as it relates to stress, research is lacking in whether men and women officers experience or are affected differently from operational and organizational stress.

For …

Factors Affecting Religious Beliefs At A Public Midwestern University, Dana Catherine Shook

Honors Program Theses

There is general disagreement in the literature on religion regarding its consequences, and whether they are positive or negative. Theorists such as Freud and Marx argue that religion is detrimental to the individual and society, while some, such as Sorokin and Jung, have found beneficial effects of religion (Ferraro & Albercht-Jensen 1991). This thesis also explored my assumption that doubting and/or critically thinking about religion is useful in creating the global citizens the world may benefit from. Global citizens, in my estimation, are individuals who have respect for individual or cultural differences, regardless of nationality, race, gender, religion, or creed. …

The Value-Added Tax: Effects On Tax Revenue, U.S. Corporations, And Individual Taxpayers, Joseph Raymond Pudenz

Honors Program Theses

The importance of understanding how a value-added tax would affect the United States is imperative. Many economists have long stated that a value-added tax system would benefit the United States (Hooper & Smith, 1997), and politicians have periodically brought up the value-added tax since the 1960s as a solution to tax revenue needs (Comptroller General of the United States, 1981). Given these facts, it is likely that the value-added tax will continue to be considered as a possible tax system. An adequate level of understanding regarding how a value-added tax is applied and its effects is essential.

Burnout In Scholarship And Non-Scholarship Female College Swimmers, Kelly Mateas

Honors Program Theses

An emerging concern in the world of sports is burnout among amateur athletes. It is a major issue that must be addressed because some of the world’s best athletes are becoming victims to it. Not only is burnout affecting athletics, it is effecting the lives of those individuals who burn out and leave sports all together. Athletics help build a foundation of life skills such as communication, teamwork, leadership, and problem solving that athletes rely on daily. Sports provide a safe environment that can help keep the majority of participants out of trouble. It is important to have a better …

Recession, Unemployment, And Attendance At Major League Baseball Games, Bradley Joseph Shatek

Honors Program Theses

When a country experiences an economic downturn, as the United States has since late 2007, the negative effects are widespread. Workers are laid off, and households and firms spend less due to decreased income. In most industries, revenues and profits decline during recessions, and professional sports franchises may be no different. In a period of high unemployment, one would expect that consumers first cut back on recreation and entertainment. This study was designed to determine the impact of unemployment on one such entertainment activity, Major League Baseball games.