Public Affairs Commons^™

Closing The Gap In Higher Education: African American Male College Students Perceptions Of Advising At A Two Year College, Terry L. Aaron

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

The attrition of minority students is fast becoming a salient issue in higher education. Academic advising has long been viewed as a determinant of participation, persistence and success. Persistence focuses on retention. Participation and success are two objectives of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's initiative "Closing the Gap." This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to examine African American male college students' (AAMCSs) perceptions of advising center practices, advisor practices and affinity factors and their influence on participation and persistence. Data collected from a sample of 225 AAMCSs was analyzed to determine if academic advising was indeed a tool …

Law And Politics In Public-Private Partnerships: Transparency, Conflict Of Interest, And Renegotiation In Concession Arrangements, Samuel A. Roach

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

Many states and local governments have begun to use the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) vehicle as a policy tool in the area of highway transportation infrastructure development. A particular type of PPP, sometimes referred to as a "concession," can involve a state or local government's grant of concession rights, which typically includes the right to collect toll revenues on a roadway, to a private entity in exchange for the private entity's development and management of the roadway. As highway concession practice in the U.S. is a recent phenomenon, policymakers and other interested observers can benefit from a greater understanding of these …

Is Mine Risk Education (Mre) Having A Significant Effect And Long-Lasting Impact On Attitudes Towards Uxos At The Community Level?, Phounsy Phasavaeng

Capstone Collection

For over 30 years, UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) contamination in Laos has affected the ability of the population to maintain suitable livelihoods in a number of provinces. This constraint is a significant challenge to community development as well affecting National Social Economic Development. UXOs are the cause of many accidents in Laos, the casualties are often children and farmers who are involve in agricultural activities and scrap metal collection.

UXO-LAOS is the key UXO clearance agency in Laos. Other UXO clearance agencies have also tried to address the problem by providing the clearance work as well as Mine Risk Education (MRE) …

Nonvoters: Doing Nothing To Change The Government They Hate, Geoffrey N. Mciver

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The sporadic and often dismal voter turnout of the American public is often regarded as a hole in the democratic model. This research examines the influence of an individual‘s attitude about their government and how it affects their voting habits. Literature in the past has isolated demographic makeup as the reason for nonvoting, i.e. education or income. However, the nonvoter‘s state of mind in relation to their general feelings toward government and the social contract has been broadly overlooked. A new measure of an individual‘s attitude toward government was created using a collection of survey questions centered on a person‘s …

The Need For School-Based Drug Prevention Programs In The Curriculum, Theodore Waldeck

McNair Poster Presentations

Drugs are still a problem facing our children. Studies have proven that prevention programs are beneficial to our children. In fact, one study, states that for every $150 spent per child for a program, $840 is saved in crime and healthcare costs (Caulkins, Chiesa, Pacula, and Paddock, 2002). What would the savings be if we educated our children from kindergarten, all the way through high school, instead of one, or a couple of years? Therefore, this study is to explain the need for implementing school-based drug prevention programs from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Socioeconomic Background And Parental Values: An Examination Of Approaches To Bureaucratic Discretion At The Street-Level, Jesse R. Booher

Public Affairs Theses - Archive

Scholarly literature on policy implementation at the street-level generally focuses on how workers act in response to external pressures. Pressures can include policy rules, organizational culture, and the identities of the clients. Academia has produced scant work, however, examining how the identities and backgrounds of street-level bureaucrats influence their approach to the discretion inherent in their jobs. This study seeks to fill that literary gap. Using semi-structured interviews with street-level bureaucrats in North Texas, the study yields two strong relationships. First, a relationship exists between the participants' socioeconomic backgrounds as children and how they approach discretion inherent to street-level bureaucracy. …

Data Sharing Between Transportation Planning And Public Health: Issues And Opportunities Using A Regional Eco-Logical Framework, Michele Berry

Public Affairs Theses - Archive

Transportation planning has been shown to strongly impact public health yet collaboration and data or information sharing between the two communities is lacking. The Eco-Logical approach is a potential solution designed to advance transportation planning through an integrated planning process that includes other stakeholders. However, since the Eco-Logical approach provides no guidance on forming collaborations, network theory will be used to fill this hole. Both the Eco-Logical approach and network theory place heavy emphasis on information sharing and data exchange. This study will examine the current status of data sharing between transportation planning and public health through an analysis of …

High School Influences On College Enrollment And College Graduation Of Dallas Independent School District 2002 Graduates, Linda K. Johnson

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

The overarching goal for American education under President Barack Obama has been to increase college enrollment and completion rates. The pressure to achieve this goal has been keenly felt in the postsecondary community, especially as federal and state funding have become increasingly tied to achieving higher college completion rates. Yet the adequate preparation of students lies primarily in the secondary system, and the literature contains many statistics that support the view that few students are adequately prepared, especially those who are educated in urban public school systems. The challenge was to determine actions that can be implemented by school districts …

The Emergence Of Women City Managers In Texas In The Late 20th Century And The Early 21st Century, Helen Kay Godbey

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

The first generation of women city managers in the late 20th Century and early 21st Century have one thing in common: all were initially mentored and promoted by men. Like survivors of a Texas tornado that huddle in the closet and then peek out to see what is left of the world around them, these few women who became the first generation of assistant or city managers began to look around for other women who had also done so. Even though there were just a few, they began to mentor each other. I would propose that an enlightened public administration …

Hispanic/Latino Changes In Nebraska's Population: 1980-2010, David J. Drozd

Past Publications

The Hispanic/Latino population has risen dramatically in Nebraska. After totaling about 28,000 Nebraska residents in 1980, the Hispanic/Latino population increased by about 9,000 or 32 percent to about 37,000 in 1990. Then the Hispanic/Latino population more than doubled in the 1990s, to more than 94,000 persons, an increase of more than 57,000 or about 155 percent. The 2010 census showed continued growth and more than 167,000 Hispanic/Latino Nebraska residents, an increase of nearly 73,000 or 77 percent since 2000.

Analysis Of Median Incomes As Adjusted For The Costs Of Goods And Services In The 100 Most Populous Metro Areas, David J. Drozd

Past Publications

In 2007 the Center for Public Affairs Research (CPAR) released an analysis of 2006 American Community Survey (ACS) income data from the U. S. Census Bureau. These data were adjusted for the costs of goods as services (COGS) using indices released by the Council for Community and Economic Research. At that time the Omaha metro area ranked 2^nd best among the 100 most populous metros for which data were available regarding this “purchasing power”. The Omaha metro’s median income in 2006 dollars was $51,627, but when accounting for Omaha’s relatively low cost of goods and services, this income had …

Unmet Healthcare Needs Of Native American Populations In Douglas And Lancaster Counties, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Past Publications

In 2010 The UNO Center for Organizational Research and Evaluation (CORE) completed a comprehensive study of the problems and unmet healthcare needs of Native American populations (approximately 3,700 persons) in Nebraska’s Douglas and Lancaster counties for the Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition (NUIHC). The major findings of this analysis are in the four study areas: 1) healthcare insurance coverage, 2) healthcare services and usage, 3) satisfaction with services and 4) perceptions of personal and community health...

2000s-1990s Migration By Age And Race, David Drozd

Past Publications

The following pages show migration rates by age during by the 2000s decade.

Hispanic Population By County For Select States: 2000 And 2010, David J. Drozd

Past Publications

Hispanic Population by County for Select States (2000 and 2010)

Census Data For Nebraska Unicameral Senate Districts For Post 2000 Boundaries, David J. Drozd

Past Publications

Census Data for Nebraska Unicameral Senate Districts for Post 2000 boundaries

Ranking Of Black And Black Child Poverty Rates In The Most Populous 100 Metro Areas: 2010, David J. Drozd

Past Publications

Ranking of Black and Black Child Poverty Rates in the Most Populous 100 metro areas (2010)

State Rankings For The Percentage Change In Various Age Groups: 2000 To 2010, David J. Drozd

Past Publications

State Rankings for the Percentage Change in Various Age Groups (2000-2010)

2010 Nebraska Population Reports, David Drozd

Past Publications

This report compiles a selection of data analysis tables that were created throughout 2011 and 2012 by staff at the UNO Center for Public Affairs Research using data from the 2000 Census.

Comparing Nebraska Population Change Growth Tables, U.S. Census Bureau

Past Publications

Population Change by Race and Ethnicity for the 40 Nebraska Counties that Gained Population during the 1990s

Socioeconomic Background And Parental Values: An Examination Of Approaches To Bureaucratic Discretion At The Street-Level, Jesse R. Booher

Public Affairs Theses - Archive

Scholarly literature on policy implementation at the street-level generally focuses on how workers act in response to external pressures. Pressures can include policy rules, organizational culture, and the identities of the clients. Academia has produced scant work, however, examining how the identities and backgrounds of street-level bureaucrats influence their approach to the discretion inherent in their jobs. This study seeks to fill that literary gap. Using semi-structured interviews with street-level bureaucrats in North Texas, the study yields two strong relationships. First, a relationship exists between the participants' socioeconomic backgrounds as children and how they approach discretion inherent to street-level bureaucracy. …