Degree Level

The Texas Music Educators Association: A Historical Study of Selected Landmark Events Between 1938 and 1980 and the Decisions Which Influenced Their Outcomes (open access)

The Texas Music Educators Association: A Historical Study of Selected Landmark Events Between 1938 and 1980 and the Decisions Which Influenced Their Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to investigate selected landmark events in the historical development of the Texas Music Educators Association, 1938-1980, and the decisions which influenced their outcomes. A polling of twenty former presidents of TMEA selected the following landmark events that helped to shape the history of TMEA: (1) the change from a band organization to a music educators organization in 1938, (2) the University Interscholastic League takeover of contests in 1947, and (3) TMEA's separation from the Music Educators National Conference in 1976. In addition to developing a historical chronology from documentary sources, in-depth interviews were conducted with actual participants in these landmark events. The interviews utilized comparable questions, in order to identify decision-making patterns, while also capturing the atmosphere and visceral context of TMEA history. Literature from the social science disciplines on organizational decision—making was explored for help in understanding what happened, how, and why. In all three events the final decision was strongly influenced by factors external to the TMEA. The strong power position held by school administrators was evident in both the first and second events, while reinforcement from actively lobbying choral directors was also a factor in the first event only. The strong …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Grant, Daniel Ross, 1955-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Validation of the Spanish Dallas Pain Questionnaire (open access)

Validation of the Spanish Dallas Pain Questionnaire

The purpose of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the Dallas Pain Questionnaire (DPQ). Not only does the DPQ offer the potential of statistical and clinical diagnostic value but also is easily interpretable across cultural lines. No such instrument has presently been validated for the Mexican-American population. A total of 81 Spanish speaking subjects participated in this study. Of these subjects, 56 were classified as chronic pain patients by nature of their medical diagnosis and duration of pain. The 25 normal subjects were family members of the chronic pain patients and members of the Northern New Mexico Hispanic community chosen at random. Hypothesis one predicted that reliability would be obtained on Spanish speaking populations based on test-retest with correlation coefficients of the items. The second hypothesis predicted that the Spanish DPQ would have content validity or consistent internal structure on those items that measure the trait or behavior of interest based upon factor analysis approaches and internal consistency measures. Hypothesis three predicted that the Spanish version of the DPQ would significantly correlate with the English version of the DPQ on all four factors. All four hypotheses were supported. The Spanish DPQ showed reliability over time based on …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Keeping, Barbara
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Beginnings of Music in the Boston Public Schools: Decisions of the Boston School Committee in 1837 and 1845 in Light of Religious and Moral Concerns of the Time (open access)

The Beginnings of Music in the Boston Public Schools: Decisions of the Boston School Committee in 1837 and 1845 in Light of Religious and Moral Concerns of the Time

The research problems of this dissertation were: 1) A description of the perceived value of music in light of political undercurrents in Boston prior to and during the years under investigation, and 2) the profile of the constituency of the Boston School Committee and Committee on Music in 1837 and 1845. Questions addressed the effect of religious and moral concerns of the day on the decision by the School Committee in 1837 to try music in the curriculum, and the possible effect of religious politics on Lowell Mason's dismissal from the schools in 1845. In the minds of mid-nineteenth century Bostonians, religious and moral values were intrinsic to the very nature of music. Key members on the School Committee portrayed music as being spiritual yet nonsectarian in its influence. Therefore, the findings suggest that music was believed to provide common ground between opposing and diverse religious sects. Reasons given for Mason's dismissal by John Sargent, a member of the Committee on Music, showed parallels to H. W. Day's accusations in the press a year earlier that Mason had managed his position in a sectarian manner. Sargent's background supports the theory that religious politics were at work in Mason's dismissal. Although …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Miller, David Michael, 1951-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interinstitutional Cooperation among Black Colleges in Texas (open access)

Interinstitutional Cooperation among Black Colleges in Texas

The persistent paucity of endowment monies and other funds and an attempt to minimize operating costs have led to a series of interinstitutional cooperative efforts between many historically black colleges in Texas and other institutions of higher learning. The Texas Association of Developing Colleges (TADC) is a multi-service consortium composed of Huston-Tillotson College, Jarvis Christian College, Paul Quinn College, Texas College, and Wiley College which are privately supported and church-related liberal arts colleges. The primary focus of the TADC is interinstitutional cooperation. Some general and specific problems and weaknesses endemic to many small private colleges, especially to small black private colleges, have been identified through analyses, interpretations, and inferences from a variety of data sources. The potential opportunity and success for strengthening these colleges and for solving some of their problems through self-effort, through additional support from external, nongovernmental sources, and through meaningful forms of interinstitutional cooperation are discussed and appear to be encouraging. Interinstitutional cooperation is already acceptable and functional among these five colleges through their participation in the Texas Association of Developing Colleges, and it is apparent that these five colleges, individually and collectively, have had commendable successes in meeting many of their goals and objectives through such …
Date: December 1989
Creator: Mofoye, Dafiotu M. Dennis (Dafiotu Mienyo Dennis)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medication Knowledge and Compliance among the Elderly: Comparison and Evaluation of Two Teaching Methods (open access)

Medication Knowledge and Compliance among the Elderly: Comparison and Evaluation of Two Teaching Methods

The problem of this study was to compare and evaluate two methods of teaching medication compliance to an elderly population with a variety of medical problems, cultural backgrounds, and educational levels. Eighty patients over 65 years old who were attending clinic at a county health care facility participated in the study and were randomly placed into two groups. The Medication Knowledge and Compliance Scale was used to assess the patients' medication knowledge and self—reported compliance. Group I (control) received only verbal teaching. Group II (experimental) received verbal teaching as well as a Picture Schedule designed to tailor the patients' medication schedule to their daily activities. Each patient was re—evaluated two to three weeks later. Medications were also counted at each visit and prescription refill records were examined. Knowledge and compliance did increase significantly among all 80 participants. Patients in Group II demonstrated a significantly greater increase in compliance than Group I but did not show a greater increase in knowledge. Patients in Group II also improved compliance as evidenced by their prescription refill records. This study demonstrates that even though significant barriers to learning exist, knowledge and compliance can be significantly improved when proper teaching techniques are utilized.
Date: August 1989
Creator: Hussey, Leslie C. Trischank (Leslie Corrine Trischank)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Self Cognitions of Depressed Adolescents: a Personal Construct Approach (open access)

Self Cognitions of Depressed Adolescents: a Personal Construct Approach

The primary purpose of the study was to quantify the characteristics of certain self cognitions that occur in depressed adolescents. A secondary purpose was to assess the change that occurs in these self cognitions during a depressive episode. The intervention, in the form of guided imagery about a previous drug-using episode, was used to induce a mood change. The REP, a Personal Construct Theory measure, and the Beck Depression Inventory were used in a repeated measures design.
Date: December 1989
Creator: Rasile, Karen D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Voice of the Composer: Theory and Practice in the Works of Pietro Pontio, Volume 1 (open access)

The Voice of the Composer: Theory and Practice in the Works of Pietro Pontio, Volume 1

The life, music, and theoretical writings of Pietro Pontio (1532-1596) yield considerable insight into questions of theory and practice in the late sixteenth century. The dissertation places Pontio within his musical and cultural milieu, and assesses his role as both theorist and composer. Volume Two presents an annotated works list for Pontio's compositions, transcriptions of archival documents used in the study, and transcriptions of representative musical compositions.
Date: December 1989
Creator: Murray, Russell Eugene
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Prediction of Homophobic Attitudes among College Students (open access)

The Prediction of Homophobic Attitudes among College Students

A review of the literature on homophobia indicates that negative attitudes toward homosexuals and homosexuality have been empirically related to numerous socio-demographic and attitudinal variables. Research to this date has focused on the relationship between individual variables and homophobia rather than examining multiple variables simultaneously. The purpose of the present investigation was to identify the factors which are predictive of homophobia. One hundred and ninety-four female and 115 male participants completed a biographical information questionnaire requesting socio-demographic information, self-proclaimed religiosity, frequency of church attendance, self-proclaimed political orientation, and political party identification. Participants also completed measures of attitudes toward male homosexuality, attitudes toward lesbianism, attitudes toward women, authoritarianism, sex anxiety, sexual attitudes, and socio-economic status. Statistical treatment of the data through principal components analysis indicated that homophobic attitudes are best predicted by a factor identified as "conservatism". Other factors were identified which predicted homophobia to a lesser extent. Male participant gender was determined to predict homophobia toward male homosexuals, but gender was not found to predict homophobic attitudes toward lesbians.
Date: August 1989
Creator: Schatman, Michael E. (Michael Edward)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Media Agenda-Building Effect: Analysis of American Public Apartheid Activities, Congressional and Presidential Policies on South Africa, 1976-1988 (open access)

Media Agenda-Building Effect: Analysis of American Public Apartheid Activities, Congressional and Presidential Policies on South Africa, 1976-1988

The mass media's role in informing the American public is critical to public support for government policies. The media are said to set the national agenda. This view is based on the assumption of selective coverage they give to news items. Media coverage also influences the salience the public attaches to issues. However, media agenda effect has been challenged by Lang and Lang (1983). These scholars, in their media agenda-building theory, argued that the success of media effect on national agenda is dependent on group support. In order to test this theory, time-related data on South Africa crises, media coverage"of South Africa, American public reactions, congressional, and presidential apartheid-related activities, between 1976 and 1988, were analyzed. Congressional anti-apartheid policies were the dependent and others, the independent variables. The theory made analysis of the data amenable to the additive adopted to test for the significance of the interactive variables, indicated that these variables were negatively related to congressional anti-apartheid policies. The additive model was subsequently analyzed. The time series multiple regression analysis was used in analyzing the relationships. Given autocorrelation and multicollinearity problems associated with time series analysis, the Arima (p, d, q) model was used to model the relationships. This …
Date: December 1989
Creator: Agboaye, Ehikioya
System: The UNT Digital Library
Family Environment. Lifestyle, and Control Factors of Depressed Adolescents and Their Parents (open access)

Family Environment. Lifestyle, and Control Factors of Depressed Adolescents and Their Parents

The problem of this study was to identify variables in the family environment that may describe depressed adolescents' families. This study was based on Adlerian theory. The Family Environment Scale (FES) was used to measure the family atmosphere. The Lifestyle Scale (LS) was used to examine the adolescent's unique system of beliefs, values, and attitudes. The Internal-External Locus of Control Scale (IE) was used to measure the extent of external control exhibited by the adolescents and their parents. The subjects of this study were 31 depressed adolescents from 2 suburban psychiatric hospitals and one of each of the adolescent's parents. The subjects were from a homogeneous socioeconomic population showing no significant variation in the demographic categories of sex, race, chronological birth order, or marital status of the parents. Scores were compared with normative data. Product moment correlations were calculated between the results of the subscales on the 3 instruments. A principal components factor analysis was performed to determine if any patterns existed.
Date: August 1989
Creator: Warlick, Jayne
System: The UNT Digital Library
Organizational Identity, Health Identity, and Motivation: a Symbolic Interactionist Approach to the Understanding of Heath Behaviors in Work Settings (open access)

Organizational Identity, Health Identity, and Motivation: a Symbolic Interactionist Approach to the Understanding of Heath Behaviors in Work Settings

Identity is an important determinant of behavior. This paper proposed an identity model as one way of understanding those factors related to the perceived probability or willingness of a worker to participate in health promotion programming at the worksite. Part of a larger study on employee wellness, this study took place in the municipal complex of a small city in the southeastern United States. A stratified cross sectional sample of 150 employees was selected utilizing a systematic random sampling methodology. Structured interviews were conducted with 129 participants resulting in a response rate of 92% after adjusting for those people no longer employed by the city. In order to test the identity model developed by this author, descriptive analysis, simple multiple regression analysis and path analysis were utilized. The dependent variable, perceived willingness to participate in health promotion programming, was examined in relationship to commitment to one's health identity, commitment to one's organizational identity, tendency to comply with health initiatives, and the forms of supervisory power utilized to enact employee compliance. The descriptive analysis revealed that subjective health status is moderately and positively associated with commitment to one's health identity, that individuals can be strongly committed to a negative/destructive health identity, …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Weber, Linda R. (Linda Roberta)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Interentions for the Treatment of Agoraphobia (open access)

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Interentions for the Treatment of Agoraphobia

The problem with which this investigation was concerned is that of treating agoraphobia with cognitive-behavioral group therapy and cognitive-behavioral group therapy combined with the drug alprazolam (Xanax). The purpose of the research was twofold. The first goal was to determine the relative effectiveness of the two treatment conditions on phobic behavior, anxiety, and depression. A second goal was to analyze the results and make recommendations concerning each of these modalities available to agoraphobics, their families, and to treatment specialists. The research design of this study was a randomized, pretest-posttest, experimental group design. The sample (N = 15) consisted of Group I (N = 7), who received behavioral-cognitive group therapy combined with the medication alprazolam, and Group II (N = 8), who received behavioral-cognitive group therapy only. The treatment included 15, 2-hour weekly group sessions, with the addition of a brief medication evaluation prior to each group meeting for Group I. During these sessions, the subjects received information about agoraphobia in the form of brief didactic segments, treatment materials, homework assignments, group interaction, and various forms of desensitization. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Multidimensional behavioral-cognitive group therapy can significantly reduce phobic avoidance, anxiety, …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Self, Carolyn
System: The UNT Digital Library
Schoenberg's Janus-Work Erwartung: Its Musico-Dramatic Structure and Relationship to the Melodrama and Lied Traditions (open access)

Schoenberg's Janus-Work Erwartung: Its Musico-Dramatic Structure and Relationship to the Melodrama and Lied Traditions

Arnold Schoenberg's atonal monodrama, Erwartune. Op. 17 (1909). has been viewed as an unanalyzable athematic aberration, without any discernible form. Recognizing Erwartune's forward-looking aspect, this dissertation also explores the melodrama and the Lied, a connection with the past which forges a new understanding of its form and structure.
Date: December 1989
Creator: Penney, Diane Holloway
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of the Laryngeal Activity of Trumpet Players During the Performance of Selected Exercises (open access)

An Investigation of the Laryngeal Activity of Trumpet Players During the Performance of Selected Exercises

The study's purpose was to describe selected laryngeal activity of brass-wind players during the performance of selected musical exercises. Research problems included the observation and description of three internal areas of activity of ten trumpeters as they performed each exercise. Specific areas of observation were 1) movement of the epiglottis during the performance of each exercise, 2) movement of the vocal folds/arytenoid cartilage which includes changes in the size of the glottis during the performance of each prescribed exercise, and 3) movement of the thyroid cartilage during the performance of each prescribed exercise. Musical exercises performed by each of the subjects included a sound volume change, use of vibrato, single-tonguing, step-wise descending and ascending slurs, descending and ascending lip slurs, register change, and a descending chromatic scale. In addition, each subject performed an excerpt from the second movement of the Haydn Trumpet Concerto. Data were collected through direct observation of subject performances and then described using three different means. Data analyses revealed a prominent amount of highly individual, non-patterned laryngeal activity which played an integral role in the performance of each subject. Individuals including Law (1960), Cramer (1955), Jacobs (Stewart, 1987), and Noble (1964) have advocated an unrestricted airway during …
Date: December 1989
Creator: Bailey, Robert E. (Robert Elwood), 1946-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Play Therapy with Low Achievers in Reading (open access)

Play Therapy with Low Achievers in Reading

Play therapy in a school setting was studied to determine its therapeutic effectiveness on students' reading achievement, self-concept, and locus of control. The sample consisted of 24 students in two first grade classes who had been retained because of low achievement in reading. Instruments used in the study were the Gates MacGinite Reading Test, the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, and the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire. Analysis of covariance, used to test the significance of the difference between the adjusted post-test means of the experimental and control groups, showed that participants in play therapy scored significantly higher in self-concept than did those who were not exposed to treatment. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in reading achievement or locus of control. Since research has shown that low achievers in reading tend to have low self-concepts, it seems reasonable to assume that improved self-concept would be related to improved reading scores. The nature of such a possible relationship needs further study. Recommendations were made for integrating affective components into academic remediation programs, and suggestions for further research were made.
Date: August 1989
Creator: Crow, Judy C. (Judy Carolyn)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Self-Monitoring and Health Locus of Control on Improvement in a Work Hardening Program (open access)

The Effects of Self-Monitoring and Health Locus of Control on Improvement in a Work Hardening Program

This study examined the effects of self-monitoring behavior and health locus of control on improvement in a work hardening program. The subjects included 22 male and 18 female outpatients in a hospital-based rehabilitation program. Subjects were classified as having an internal or external health locus of control, and were randomly assigned to either a self-monitoring or a non-self-monitoring group. Improvement was assessed via objective performance data and self-ratings of perceived improvement. The results indicated that individuals identified as having an internal health locus of control did not show greater gains in physical functioning or perceived improvement relative to externally oriented individuals. Additionally, those subjects participating in self-monitoring activities were no different from non-self-monitoring subjects in terms of improvement in exercise activities or perceived improvement. The results also indicated no interaction between health locus of control and the presence or absence of self-monitoring. It was suggested that other factors such as workman's compensation, pain patient characteristics, low self-concept, and severe stress may have proved more powerful influences on patient improvement than internal health locus of control or self-monitoring. It was also suggested that rehabilitation programs might benefit from creating structured environments in which patients receive frequent staff feedback and reinforcement for …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Liedtke-Hendrickson, Valette
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship between Personality Type and Marital Satisfaction Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (open access)

The Relationship between Personality Type and Marital Satisfaction Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory

The relationship between personality type as measured by the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and marital satisfaction as measured by the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI) was examined in this research. Subjects were 100 volunteer couples from a southwestern urban area who were given the MBTI and the MSI. These couples were divided into three groups: 40 were in marital therapy; 30 had satisfactory marriages and had been married seven years or less; 30 also had satisfactory marriages, but had been married more than seven years. The therapy group and the satisfactorily married groups were compared as to the number of MBTI preferences held in common, the strength of these preferences and the length of time married. The extraversion-introversion (E-I) scale and the sensing-judging (S-J) temperament of the MBTI were examined by comparing the spousal combinations in each of the groups. Chi square analysis and a Pearson correlation were used. A one-way analysis of variance was run between six of the scales of the MSI and each of the four MBTI dimensions. A MANOVA was attempted on the relationship between the spousal MBTI combinations and the six MSI scales, but the population was too small for this analysis to be conclusive. …
Date: December 1989
Creator: Hicks, Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Historical Study of the Impact of the Christian Development on the Contributions of Frank C. Laubach in Literacy Education (open access)

A Historical Study of the Impact of the Christian Development on the Contributions of Frank C. Laubach in Literacy Education

Frank C. Laubach made substantial contributions both to literacy education and the Christian life. There were between sixty and one hundred million people who learned to read through his literacy campaigns. He traveled to 130 countries developing literacy primers in 312 languages. At the same time, Laubach was a missionary mystic, spiritual experimenter and leader among Protestant Christians. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between two important parts of Laubach's life: his Christian development and literacy education. The study presents an overview of the family and social background of Frank C. Laubach from a chronological framework. Additional chapters examine: the importance of i-he Christian disciplines in Laubach's life, the impact of the missionary call and Laubach's concern for Christian social responsibility. The final chapter summarizes and evaluates the research. Both the Laubach collection, found in the George Arents Research Library at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, and the library at Laubach Literacy International in Syracuse, provided the resources for comprehensive research in the life of Frank C. Laubach.
Date: December 1989
Creator: Lawson, J. Gregory (James Gregory)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Rebecca West: a Worthy Legacy (open access)

Rebecca West: a Worthy Legacy

Given Rebecca West's fame during her lifetime, the amount of significant and successful writing she created, and the importance and relevance of the topics she took up, remarkably little has been done to examine her intellectual legacy. Writing in most genres, West has created a body of work that illuminates, to a large degree, the social, artistic, moral, and political evolution of the twentieth century. West, believing in the unity of human experience, explored such topics as Saint Augustine, Yugoslavian history, treason in World War II, and apartheid in South Africa with the purpose of finding what specific actions or events meant in the light of the whole of human experience. The two major archival sources for Rebecca West materials are located at the University of Tulsa's McFarlin Library, Special Collections, and at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Many of her works have been recently reprinted and those not easily available are found in the British Library or in the archival depositories noted above. Interviews with persons who knew West were also an important source of information. This dissertation explores chronologically West's numerous works of nonfiction, and uses her fiction where it is appropriate to …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Urie, Dale Marie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Participants and Nonparticipants in Nonformal Education in Thai Rural Areas: A Secondary- Analysis (open access)

Participants and Nonparticipants in Nonformal Education in Thai Rural Areas: A Secondary- Analysis

This study was a secondary analysis of survey data on participants and nonparticipants in Thai rural education programs. The original data were collected in 1987 by the Office of the National Educational Commission, Office of the Prime Minister, Bangkok Thailand. This study was conducted in order to examine the effect of selected demographic variables on participation and to determine why some rural villagers participate in nonformal educational programs and other villagers do not. The data were collected from a survey of nonformal education in Thai rural areas conducted as part of the evaluation of the Fifth Five-Year Plan. The population consisted of 590 participants in nonformal education programs and 860 nonparticipants. The statistical techniques employed to analyze data were logit analysis, z-test, tables of binomial distribution, and ranking by each of the groups (participants and nonparticipants). The evidence from this study indicates that the average nonformal education participant is an adult between the age of 36 and 50 years, who has completed four or less years of education, and who is married and works in farming (cultivating rice). The findings reveal that participants and nonparticipants in nonformal education programs were significantly different according to their needs for health knowledge, agricultural …
Date: December 1989
Creator: Puongrat Kesonpat
System: The UNT Digital Library
Siblings of Incest Victims: Sibling-Victim Relationships and Adjustment (open access)

Siblings of Incest Victims: Sibling-Victim Relationships and Adjustment

The non-victimized siblings in incestuous families have often been ignored in research, literature, and treatment. This study explored these siblings' 1) relationship to the victim, 2) attribution of blame, and 3) adjustment. Participants were 30 non-victimized siblings of incest victims, between the ages of 8 and 14. They completed the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire, the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Self-perception Profile for Children, the Children's Depression Inventory, and a questionnaire developed for this research. Participants' scores were compared with the normative sample scores on several measures. Siblings perceived little warmth and closeness in their relationships to their victimized sisters. Rivalry and conflict were within normal limits. Siblings blamed victims and other family members less than expected, with the greatest amount of blame attributed to perpetrators. Adjustment was impaired. Males demonstrated less athletic competence, less global self-worth, more worry and oversensitivity than normative samples. Females showed a tendency toward less global self-worth and heightened general anxiety. Siblings' overall level of emotional distress was higher than most of the normative samples.
Date: December 1989
Creator: Adler, Jeffrey Steven
System: The UNT Digital Library
Alcohol Use among the Elderly in Edmonton, Alberta: a Multivariate Analysis (open access)

Alcohol Use among the Elderly in Edmonton, Alberta: a Multivariate Analysis

A model of social stressor variables, social integration variables and demographic control variables was tested to assess their impact on alcohol use among the elderly. A secondary analysis of a survey on alcohol use among the elderly in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, was conducted to test the major hypotheses of the study. Contingency table analysis, using gamma and partial gamma as correlation coefficients, was utilized in the data analysis. The first hypothesis, in regard to the positive relationship of social stressors with alcohol use, was confirmed. The best predictors of alcohol use among the social stressor variables were usual occupation, length of retirement, annual income, and subjective health status. The second hypothesis, that the social integration variables would be negatively related to alcohol use, received only moderate support. The results of the analysis indicated that six of the ten social integration variables were negatively related to alcohol use. Only three of these variables, retirement status, religious participation, and marital status, were statistically significant. Hypothesis three also was not confirmed. The introduction of the social integration variables did not substantially decrease the strength of the relationship between social stressors and alcohol use. Gender and age were also introduced as control variables for …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Watson, Jack Borden
System: The UNT Digital Library
Systematics of Coccidian Parasites (Apicomplexa) from Amphibians and Reptiles in Northcentral Texas (open access)

Systematics of Coccidian Parasites (Apicomplexa) from Amphibians and Reptiles in Northcentral Texas

Between February 1986 and October 1988, 863 amphibians and reptiles were collected in northcentral Texas and examined for coccidial parasites. Thirteen percent of amphibians <26% salamanders, 11% frogs and toads) and 28% of reptiles (54% turtles, 25% snakes) harbored 20 previously described and 16 new species of coccidia; overall prevalence of infection was 176/863 < 20%). Sixteen Ambvstoma texanum were infected with Eimeria ambystomae which represents new host and geographic locality records for the coccidium. Forty anurans were found to be passing coccidia, including Pseudacris streckeri. Bufo valliceos and Gastrophryne olivacea. Four new species of coccidia were described from anurans and include Eimeria flexuosa. E. streckeri. Isospora dellcatus and I_. fraaosum. However, oocysts found in B. v.. valliceps were determined experimentally to represent pseudoparasites. Sixty-eight turtles were infected with coccidia, including Chelvdra serpentina, Kinoeternon flavescens. Pseudemvs texana. Terrapeng ornata and Trachemvs scripta eleoans. Fourteen eimerians (5 of which are described as new species) were found in turtles. The new species from turtles include Eimeria cooteri, E. ornata, E. Btvlosa. E. texana and E. trachemvdis. Interestingly, all 96 lizards examined were negative for coccidia. Fifty-three snakes including 11 colubrids and 1 viperld harbored coccidia of the genera Caryospora. Cryptosporidium. Eimeria and …
Date: December 1989
Creator: McAllister, Chris Thomas
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Descriptive Study of Personnel Decisions Appealed to the Texas State Commissioner of Education August 1981 - August 1986 (open access)

A Descriptive Study of Personnel Decisions Appealed to the Texas State Commissioner of Education August 1981 - August 1986

The problem. --The problem in this study was to describe the issues arising in employment decisions appealed to the Texas Commissioner of Education. Decisions made in courts are binding on school officials, and they are published in law reporters found in most libraries. The Commissioner's decisions are also binding on school officials, but they are not published or widely reported. Thus, this important body of information may not reach those who are responsible for its application. Methods. --The decisions of the Commissioner were examined to determine the issues and the underlying rationale used by the Commissioner in the process of deciding the appeals. A series of data reductions allowed a determination of patterns found in the outcomes of the decisions which favored the employee and those which favored the school districts. The analysis produced a set of data from which implications for decision making could be drawn.
Date: May 1989
Creator: Hughes, N. Sue Cothran
System: The UNT Digital Library