Established in Waco in 1968, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum honors the iconic Texas Rangers, a service that has existed, in one form or another, since 1823. Thirty-one individuals—whose lives span more than two centuries—have been enshrined in the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. They have become legendary symbols of Texas and the American West. In The Ranger Ideal Volume 3, Darren L. Ivey presents capsule biographies of the twelve inductees who served Texas in the twentieth century. In the first portion of the book, Ivey describes the careers of the “Big Four” Ranger captains—Will L. Wright, Frank Hamer, Tom R. Hickman, and Manuel “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas—as well as those of Charles E. Miller and Marvin “Red” Burton. Ivey then moves into the mid-century and discusses Robert A. Crowder, John J. Klevenhagen, Clinton T. Peoples, and James E. Riddles. Ivey concludes with Bobby Paul Doherty and Stanley K. Guffey, both of whom gave their lives in the line of duty. Using primary records and reliable secondary sources, and rejecting apocryphal tales, The Ranger Ideal presents the true stories of these intrepid men who enforced the law with gallantry, grit, and guns. This Volume 3 is the finale …

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental toxicants found in anthropogenic mixtures such as crude oil, air pollution, vehicle exhaust, and in some natural combustion reactions. Single PAHs such as benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) also impact fish behavior when animals are exposed in early life stages and for short periods of time. Aquatic animals such as fish may encounter BaP through road runoff and oil spills, but few studies have examined the impact of aqueous exposure on adult fish, and fewer have examined the resulting fitness-relevant behavioral consequences of BaP and PAH mixtures and their long-term persistence. This dissertation targets this gap in the literature by examining how aqueous exposure to BaP influences anxiety-like behavior, learning, and memory in adult zebrafish, and how parental exposure to the PAH mixture, crude oil, combined with hypoxia affects social and exploratory behavior in unexposed larval zebrafish. We found that learning and memory were not affected by 24 hour exposure to BaP, that anxiety-like behavior was minimally affected, and that locomotor parameters such as distance moved and times spent in darting and immobile states were significantly altered by exposure to BaP. Additionally, we found that parental exposure to crude oil and hypoxia decreased larval velocity. Additionally, …

Supply chain transparency is principally focused on a company's efforts toward disclosing information about their products, and their supply chain operations to the public. Essay 1 is a conceptual paper that examines the risks of disclosing supply chain mapping information to consumers and proposes an approach to developing risk mitigation strategies. This essay also develops a set of supply chain mapping conventions that support the development of an agility-focused supply chain map. Essay 2 employs an experimental design methodology to examine the impact of disclosing the ethnicity of a supplier on consumers' behaviors, while also capturing the extent to which a consumers' ethnic identity and prosocial disposition influence their behaviors. Finally, also using an experimental design, Essay 3 analyzes consumer outcomes based on disclosing no, partial, and full supply chain transparency information, and accounts for heterogenous consumer traits such as the importance of information to a consumer and their perceived quality of information. Collectively, these essays advance the body of knowledge that seeks to understand the risks and benefits of supply chain transparency, by conceptually identifying risks and proposing an approach to minimize the risks associated with supply chain transparency, and by illuminating the conditions that prompt favorable consumer outcomes.

In the annals of American western history, few people have left behind such lasting and far-reaching fame as Billy the Kid. Some have suggested that his legend began with his death at the end of Pat Garrett’s revolver on the night of July 14, 1881, in Fort Sumner. Others believe that the legend began with his unforgettable jailbreak in Lincoln, New Mexico, several months prior on April 28, 1881. Others still insist his legend began with the publication in 1926 of Walter Noble Burns’s book, The Saga of Billy the Kid. James B. Mills has left no stone unturned in his twenty-year quest to tell the complete story of Billy the Kid. He explores the Kid’s disputable origins, his family’s migration from New York into the Southwest, and how he became an orphan, as well as his involvement in the Lincoln County War, his outlaw exploits, and his dealings with Governor Lew Wallace. Mills illuminates the Kid’s relationships with his enemies, lovers, and numerous friends to contextualize the man’s character beyond his death and legacy. Most importantly, Mills is the first historian to fully detail the Kid’s relations with New Mexicans of Spanish descent. So, the question remains, who really …

This thesis investigates the influence of organizational culture on customer experience through a comprehensive study of a global supplier of home repair products. By combining organizational analysis and consumer research, this research draws on anthropological principles to explore the nuances of family governance and their effects on behavior, customer experience, and product design. The results of this study present insightful information on product perception and actionable strategies to improve product design, branding, and messaging in order to enhance customer experience and drive sales. Drawing on organizational anthropology and the utilization of critical reflexivity, this thesis provides a deeper understanding of how family-owned businesses can leverage research to challenge their cultural assumptions about products, consumers, and their organization, in order to effectively implement customer-centric solutions and drive organizational behavior, customer experience, and product development.

Monthly newspaper produced for inmates in the Texas criminal justice system containing news stories, policy updates, opinion pieces, creative works, and other information.

Linguistic racism is faced by non-native customers due to their different language style when they go through the service exchange process. Despite its prevalence and importance, there is a dearth of research about linguistic racism in the marketing literature, especially from consumers' perspectives. This dissertation thus aims to address this gap by focusing on consumers' cognitive and affective responses as a result to their linguistic racism experiences when they interact with service employees (native speakers) from the host country. Toward this goal, first (Essay 1), a qualitative study is performed to anchor the dissertation in the customers' real-life experiences and to help identify key associated themes which are further empirically examined (Essay 2 & 3) in this three-essay format dissertation. Essay 2 empirically investigates if the identity assignment through ones' language style makes customers feel stigmatized and influence their psychological well-being. In addition, how these experiences subsequently influence their inclination to use technology-mediated interfaces. Similarly, the main objective of Essay 3 was to employ a sociological perspective to examine the impact of language-based chronic social exclusion on non-native customers' psychological and behavioral responses in the marketplace. Moreover, their intention to pay higher tip as a refocusing strategy when these customers …

Daily newspaper from Gainesville, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

This research study examined the implementation of an extended reality (XR) lab on a community college campus to facilitate student and faculty access to immersive learning resources. The study, conducted during one skills day, involved 46 students and was designed to understand if integrating immersive VR into emergency medical technician (EMT) education could enhance learner confidence and motivation, develop problem-solving and analytical thinking skills, and thus connecting the classroom learning with real-world application. The majority of participants reported increased motivation and engagement, alongside improvements in learning outcomes like knowledge retention and skill development. Applying the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model revealed performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions as key determinants of VR adoption in EMT education. While no significant overall performance enhancement was observed, VR training showed potential to boost motivation, confidence, and specific performance aspects. Furthermore, student perceptions towards VR in EMT education were largely positive, thereby suggesting its utility in immersive scenario training, skill acquisition in a risk-free environment, enhancing learner engagement, and real-world situational preparedness. VR demonstrated promise as a transformative tool in EMT education, necessitating further research to fully exploit its potential in diverse learning environments.

Weekly newspaper from Elgin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Ralls, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The age-cutoff regression discontinuity design (RDD) has emerged as one of the most rigorous quasi-experimental approaches to determining program effects of prekindergarten on literacy and numeracy outcomes for children at kindergarten entry. However, few pre-K meta-analyses have focused attention on validity threats. The current random-effects meta-regression tests the moderating effects of prominent threats to validity, selection bias and sensitivity, on impact estimates generated from age-cutoff regression discontinuity studies from large-scale programs. Results from averaging dependent standardized mean difference effects suggested small positive moderating effects of total attrition and robust 3-month bandwidths on reading effects, but not on math. However, these results were not statistically significant. In contrast, results generated from robust variance estimation yielded a small statistically significant association between total attrition and math effects. These mixed results may warrant further research on prekindergarten evaluation methodology, evaluation estimation methods, and the totality of evidence used to inform policy.

Monthly newspaper produced for inmates in the Texas criminal justice system containing news stories, policy updates, opinion pieces, creative works, and other information.

Monthly newsletter published by the 12th Armored Division Association, discussing news related to the activities of the U.S. Army unit and updates on previous members of the division.

Using queer and Afrofuturist frameworks, this Black feminist qualitative study explored queer Black pre-and in-service teachers' cultural and intersectional practices as they navigated traditional heteronormative educational spaces. This research study relied on counternarratives and storytelling and drew from Afrofuturism to understand the use of their lived experiences to counter monolithic queer narratives. The queer Black teachers in this study examined and negotiated how their Blackness and queerness showed up in teacher preparation programs (TPP) and K-12 classrooms. Moreover, they eventually refused to hide or censure their authentic selves. An analysis of the narratives and counternarratives showed that queer Black teachers drew from ancestral traditions to create queer Afrofuturist spaces in TPPs and educational places. Furthermore, due to their queer Black intersectional approaches, their classrooms, assignments, curriculum, and pedagogy disrupted normative teaching practices. Implications, recommendations, and future research are discussed.

Newsletter published by the Texas Department of Transportation for TxDOT employees including information about the organization, projects throughout the state, and other topics related to transportation in Texas.

Weekly newspaper from Elgin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Elgin, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Newsletter published by the Texas Department of Transportation for TxDOT employees including information about the organization, projects throughout the state, and other topics related to transportation in Texas.

Weekly newspaper from The Colony, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Altus, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Monthly magazine issued by the Texas Farm Bureau for farmers and ranchers discussing current news and issues in agriculture.

Logistics 4.0 suggests that increased automation can enhance performance, while Logistics 5.0 emphasizes the advantages of a modern workforce that combines humans and emerging technologies. However, the logistics industry needs a deeper understanding of human factors, an area that has been overlooked so far. To bridge this research gap, this dissertation investigated distracted driving behavior among individuals involved in transportation and logistics-based applications. This investigation employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Essay 1 focuses on a systematic literature review (SLR) that comprehensively analyzes published research on self-response studies regarding distracted driving behavior. The study identifies five overarching categories of distractions: (a) cell phone-related, (b) technology-related, (c) nontechnology-related, (d) psychological, and (e) personality. The findings underscore the substantial research conducted on self-reported distractions associated with cell phones and technology. Essay 2 employs the protection motivation theory (PMT) to develop hypotheses that predict the engagement of young drivers in texting while driving (TWD). In addition to TWD, the survey also included cognitive failure to examine the indirect effects of PMT on TWD within a mediation framework. The results, obtained through structural equation modeling with 674 respondents aged 18-25, indicate that several factors including response cost, threat vulnerability, cognitive failure, self-efficacy, and …

Demand for the skill of critical thinking is extensive in both higher education and in the workforce. The purpose of the current research is to examine the relationship between critical thinking educational efforts (e.g., programs incorporating high impact practices) and higher education student outcomes. For this study, student outcomes were defined as cumulative grade point average and student program retention. The study used existing data which were obtained from a large public research university in the southwest United States. The study found that higher critical thinking was significantly associated with higher overall GPA, and this relationship was stronger in males as compared to females. However, students' critical thinking was not significantly related to program retention. Findings from this study appear to confirm previous studies indicating a positive relationship between students' ability to think critically and GPA. The study also suggests that elements promoting critical thinking can be successfully embedded into undergraduate curricula through various means, including the use of high impact practices.