Communication Commons^™

Telling Tales: Enacting Family Relationships In Joint Storytelling About Difficult Family Experiences, April R. Trees, Jody Koenig Kellas

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Narratives help people make sense of difficult experiences. In addition, stories provide insight into people’s conceptualizations of the world, including their understanding of their family relationships. Given these two functions of storytelling, the ways in which family members tell stories about difficult experiences together should reveal or reflect relational qualities. This project focused on how the family relational context relates to jointly enacted sense-making behaviors as families tell stories of shared difficult experiences. Findings indicate that interactional sense-making behaviors, in particular coherence and perspective-taking, predict important family relational qualities. This suggests that family qualities affect and are reflected in the …

Family Legacies: Constructing Individual And Family Identity Through Intergenerational Storytelling, Blair Thompson, Jody Koenig Kellas, Jordan Soliz, Jason Thompson, Amber Epp, Paul Schrodt

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

The current study focused on discovering the ways in which the intergenerational transmission of family legacy stories both enables and constrains individual family members’ sense of their own identities. Using semistructured interviews, 17 third-generation family members identified a multitude of both positive and negative family legacies. Both positive and negative legacies were influenced by the storytelling context. Positive legacies portrayed families as hardworking, caring, and cohesive while negative legacies were more idiosyncratic. Individual family members typically responded to their family legacies by embracing the positive and rejecting the negative. However, individuals’ responses also pointed to additional complexities in accepting or …

Communicative And Relational Dimensions Of Shared Family Identity And Relational Intentions In Mother-In-Law/Daughter-In-Law Relationships: Developing A Conceptual Model For Mother-In-Law/Daughter-In-Law Research, Christine Rittenour, Jordan Soliz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

From the perspective of daughters-in-law (N = 190), this study examined communicative and relational factors associated with positive and negative mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships. A structural model tested perceptions of shared family identity as a mediator between communicative factors (supportive communication, nonaccommodation, self-disclosure), family-of-origin factors, and daughter-in-law intentions regarding caregiving and future contact with the mother-in-law. Further, open-ended responses were content analyzed to identify additional relational aspects associated with satisfying mother-in-law relationships. Results from both analyses were integrated into a conceptual model to guide future research on this relationship.

Follow The Maize, Mimi Abebe

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

From kernel to car fuel: the step-by-step stages of ethanol production.

Ethanol And The Elements, Melissa Drozda, Carolyn Johnsen

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Using ethanol in place of gasoline helps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but this solution may contribute to the problems.

Running On Empty: Food Vs. Fuel, Mimi Abebe

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

The recent boom in the ethanol industry has resulted in a greater demand for corn, which, in turn, has led to a strain on the supply, triggering higher prices.

History Of Ethanol, Mimi Abebe

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Ethanol has become a hot topic today, but its controversial history actually dates back to the 1800s.

Ethanol: Salvation Or Damnation?, Mimi Abebe, Melissa Drozda, Cassie Fleming, Lucas Jameson, Aaron E. Price, Kate Veik, Kosuke Koiwai, Alex Hauter, Penny Costello, Stephanie Jacobs, Amanda Soukup, Emily Anderson, Michaela Vander Weil, Shannon Smith, Scott Koperski, Mallory Wittstruck, Carolyn Johnsen, Joe Starita, Perry Stoner, Michael Farrell, Marilyn Hahn

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Contents:
Opening Essay BY JOE STARITA

Running on Empty: Food vs. Fuel BY MIMI ABEBE
The recent boom in the ethanol industry has resulted in a greater demand for corn, which, in turn, has led to a strain on the supply, triggering higher prices

Nightmares in the Ethanol Dream BY CASSIE FLEMING
Politicians are quick to endorse the benefits of ethanol production. Others say that view is an illusion.

Follow the Maize BY MIMI ABEBE
The step-by-step stages of ethanol production

History of Ethanol BY MIMI ABEBE
Ethanol’s controversial history dates back to the 1800s

Precise Portions BY CASSIE FLEMING …

Precise Portions, Cassie Fleming

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Precision farming assists farmers in meeting government mandates for increased corn-ethanol production.

Sweet Ideas: Alternative Biofuels, Lucas Jameson

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Scientists and farmers alike promote research of alternative energy crops, but without necessary funds the search to find a cost-effective method continues.

Infrastructure Impacts, Carolyn Johnsen

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

As federal pressure increases to meet ethanol mandates and as new ethanol plants are built across the country, how will all this ethanol be moved around — from factory to distributor to vehicle? Here’s a sampling of the infrastructure issues.

Corn Monoculture: No Friend Of Biodiversity, Aaron E. Price

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Federal mandates for corn ethanol, which encourage farmers to plant more corn, may threaten the biodiversity of grasslands.

Unlimited Resource Or Looming Roadblock?, Aaron E. Price

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Conflicting needs for water put pressure on state’s water supply.

Subsidies Support Ethanol, Aaron E. Price, Carolyn Johnsen

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

The ethanol industry receives subsidies from every level of government.

Increased Corn Production Can Pollute Water, Aaron E. Price

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

As farmers raise more corn for ethanol, they’re likely to use more nitrogen fertilizer and other chemicals that can pollute water.

Honing In On The Homeland, Cassie Fleming

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

In 2006, Americans consumed 20.7 million barrels of oil a day, making the United States the world’s top energy user.

Contributors To Ethanol: Salvation Or Damnation?

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Reporters, Photographers, Graphics, Documentary, Editors, Designers, Faculty

New Deal Or No Deal, Lucas Jameson

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Minden’s city officials hope their ethanol plant will spark long-term economic growth.

Introduction To Ethanol: Salvation Or Damnation?, Joe Starita

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

For nine months, a team of UNL student journalists — six print and four broadcasting — went looking for the answers to these questions. The students read hundreds of pages of background material, interviewed scores of scientists, researchers, professors and energy experts by phone and e-mail, grilled a number of ethanol advocates in person, participated in an energy symposium at Stanford University, traveled to Berkeley, Chicago and Kansas City, and visited ethanol plants, rural communities and cattle country to try to get to the bottom of this elusive, complex issue. The results of their months-long research can be found in …

Nightmares In The Ethanol Dream, Cassie Fleming

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Although President George W. Bush, Congress, and Midwest politicians all champion corn ethanol, some economists, scientists and even a few farmers benefiting from the grain-alcohol nudge say that view is an intoxicated, rose-tinted illusion.

Cinematic Jujitsu: Resisting White Hegemony Through The American Dream In Spike Lee’S Malcolm X, Kristen Hoerl

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Spike Lee’s film Malcolm X (1992) presented Malcolm X’s life story using the narrative framework of the American Dream myth central to liberal ideology. Working from Gramsci’s notion of common sense in the process of hegemony, I explain how Lee appealed to this mythic structure underlying American popular culture to give a platform to Malcolm X’s controversial ideas. By adopting a common sense narrative to tell Malcolm X’s life story, this movie functioned as a form of cinematic jujitsu that invited critical consciousness about the contradictions between liberal ideology and the life experiences of racially excluded groups. Other formal devices …

Degrees Should Serve Some Life Skills On The Side, Carla Kimbrough

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

I think college is much more than a time to gather career-related skills. I'd love to see a college course focusing on life management skills and creating life plans so students can live life to the fullest. My philosophy about this type of education extends beyond journalism. Life management includes skills such as setting goals, managing time, resources and money and making sohd decisions that affect the present and the future. Setting goals is critical to achieving any level of success — however one defines success — because goals provide direction in all aspects of life. In many of the …

Protecting Children Online, Deborah J. Weitzenkamp Dr.

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Faculty and Staff Publications

This publication explains potential Internet hazards and how to protect children from them.

In an age where children are using the Internet on a daily basis, parents need to be aware of how children use it, potential online hazards, how to recognize signs that their children might be at risk, and steps that they can take to safeguard their children. While it is important that parents be proactive regarding their children’s use of the Internet, it also is important that parents not overreact to potential threats. Instead, parents need to take a proactive approach toward protecting their children in a …

Introducing Learning Commons Functionality Into A Traditional Reference Setting, Jeffrey A. Franks

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

For the past decade the University Libraries at The University of Akron has been modifying and enhancing its services in response to changing technologies and user needs, as well as evolving campus strategies. Library efforts centered on service excellence and student success have played a leading role in the inclusion of a planned learning commons as one of the key strategic initiatives of the University. At this time the learning commons concept has been fully developed, while the proposed building renovation plan is underway. The Library, however, is utilizing key opportunities in the present to integrate learning commons functionality …

Library 2.0 And The Problem Of Hate Speech, Margaret Brown-Sica, Jeffrey Beall

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

[First paragraph]

Library 2.0 applications benefit library users by providing rich, peer-generated content that adds value to online library databases and systems. However, not all of this shared content is beneficial, for it’s possible for library users to abuse library 2.0 applications by uploading words, pictures, or other content that constitutes hate speech. Internet lawyer Christopher Wolf warns of, “ … the sudden and rapidly increasing deployment of Web 2.0 technologies to spread messages, sounds and images of hate across the Internet and around the world” [1]. As academic libraries make available Web 2.0 systems that allow user-generated content, they …

Employee Development Using Webct Vista, Jennifer Link Jones

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

In an effort to make required training easily available to academic library employees, the author used the campus course management system (CMS), WebCT Vista, to create online learning modules for the library. Also discussed are general benefits of online learning, the technology competencies that prompted the development of the learning modules, and the design and components of the learning modules.

Tallying The Chad Marks In The Ballot Box: A Survey Of Distance Learning Library Services In Florida’S State Universities, Sarah J. Hammill

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

As distance education continues to grow in Florida, libraries are developing the resources and services to meet the needs of faculty and students. This article identifies what distance learning library services the Florida’s State University System (SUS) Libraries are providing. It concludes with recommendations for additional and improved services and identifies areas for future research in the state of Florida.

An Assessment Of Local People’S Opinions Of Community Conservation Initiatives In Relation To Livelihood Strategies In Kenya, Jill Mechtenberg

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Abstract This paper analyzed the changing livelihood strategies in Kenya, and their cultural impacts via a literature review. I then combined this understanding with the data I collected while in Kenya to examine the opinions local people have of community conservation initiatives, based on their changing livelihood strategies. I expected to find that the following factors would have an affect on the opinions local community members have of community conservation initiatives: livelihood strategy, gender, ethnicity, whether or not they believe the distribution of benefits coming from wildlife conservation is equitable, what issues they would like to see improved within community …

A Social Relations Model Of Everyday Talk And Relational Satisfaction In Stepfamilies, Paul Schrodt, Jordan Soliz, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study examined the intrapersonal and interpersonal mechanisms underlying reported frequencies of everyday talk and relational satisfaction in stepfamilies. Participants included a parent, stepparent, and child from 114 stepfamilies (N = 342) from the Midwest and Southwest regions of the United States. Social relations model analyses revealed that everyday talk and relational satisfaction vary across stepfamily relationships as a function primarily of actor and relationship effects. Stepparents’ reports of everyday talk with the parent (i.e., their spouse) varied primarily as a function of actor effects, whereas reports of both children’s and parents’ satisfaction with the stepparent varied primarily as a …

A Good Attitude Goes Far, Carla Kimbrough

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

You could be one of the greatest talents in your newsroom, but if you have a lousy attitude, you may not go as far as you'd expect. A negative attitude will cause you to grumble about assignments, even the pretty good ones. Your superior talent may take you far, but colleagues celebrate your departure — and not because they're happy for you. A lousy attitude is not a forever sentence. Here are some tips to help you turn your attitude around.