The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were differences in the levels of awareness and perception concerning distance education among the leadership at the seven campuses of the Texas State Technical College (TSTC) System.

The dissertation includes a critical essay on Jorie Graham's "The Guardian Angel of the Little Utopia and a full-length collection of poetry entitled Moonlight in Quota. The essay is a critical examination which argues that Graham's poems question Western anthropocentric thought through her constant arrangement of particular images (flowers, yellow sky, leaves) and her subsequent questioning of such intellectual and linguistic arrangements. Graham grapples with ideas of perception, questions the historical concepts of truth and knowledge, and engages in linguistic play both musically and imagistically. Each section is tied together by some overriding theme or persistent image: 1.) forgetting, Mexican-American border scenes 2.) poverty and faith shown through images of marginalized characters 3.) Artistic creation as a means for the survival for the "other."

This controlled descriptive study was designed to investigate the psychological status of couples who are engaged in advanced fertility treatments. A battery of psychological test instruments, including the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory (MBHI), the Health Attribution Test (HAT), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS), was used to measure psychological variables that have been shown in the infertility research literature to be associated with the psychological experiences of infertility patients. The scores from the four assessment instruments were compared with those of pregnant couples in childbirth education classes to differentiate the impact of stress associated with fertility treatment from the stress experienced by third trimester pregnant couples. Eighty-five subjects (42 male and 43 female) volunteered for the study and completed packets of questionnaires. The groups were designated Treatment (infertile couples) and Control (pregnant couples). The resulting data were collected and analyzed on the basis of group mean scores on the test instruments.

The dissertation begins with an introductory chapter that examines the short story cycle as a specific genre, outlines tendencies found in minimalist fiction, and discusses proposed definitions of the short story genre. The introduction examines the problems that short story theorists encounter when they try to.define the short story genre in general. Part of the problem results from the lack of a definition of the short story in the Aristotelian sense of a definition. A looser, less traditional definition of literary genres helps solve some of the problem. Minimalist fiction and the short story cycle are discussed as particular forms of the short story. Sixteen short stories follow the introduction.

Heterosexual romance and marriage are institutionalized ideals in our society, set forth, in part, through the portrayal of stereotyped gender roles in fairy tales, such as Cinderella, and by the mainstream media. This thesis explores the cultural messages aimed at women, which impose the necessity of altering oneself to achieve marriage, and offers feminist viewpoints. Using the form of the personal essay, I discuss the ideals of Cinderella, Prince Charming, marriage, and Happily Ever After as unrealistic, though still prevalent, given the popularity of books like The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right, and Princess Diana as Cinderella icon. Essays on my own experience of marriage and divorce supplement the cultural issues, juxtaposing the personal and political toward a new paradigm for relationships.

Sanguinet was one of the most important early architects in Texas. His partnership with Arthur and Howard Messer was responsible for the development of Arlington Heights, a prominent resort community. With partner Carl Staats and later partner Wyatt Hedrick, Marshall Robert Sanguinet designed most of the early towers of the Fort Worth central business district. In addition, the firm also designed residences, churches, educational facilities, courthouses, and club buildings in Fort Worth as well as in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Wichita Falls, where branch offices are located.

By the early eighteenth century, French music was tangibly influenced by the Italian style which had already permeated much of Europe. The French Cantata is symptomatic of that often disparaged influx. The cantatas of Rameau are a significant contribution to an important form. Written almost entirely in the early years of the artist's career, they hold details of his stylistic development. In the present study of Rameau's cantatas several aspects of his style are discussed as they relate both to his theoretic writings and to the various influences of the time. Examples of those stylistic elements found in the cantatas are cited and discussed. There is, as well, a comparison of the works to the poetic form standardized by Rousseau.

Empowerment, which has been described as both a means of effecting higher and more efficient quality work outputs and a means of facilitating greater freedom in the workplace combines elements of philosophy, psychology, and management theory. The perceptions of the present empowerment level of 3500 employees of a division of a major corporation were analyzed using data from an empowerment survey. The results were examined using correlational and factorial measures to test the structure of the survey. ANOVA and pair-wise comparisons were used to examine group differences on five subscales of the survey based on employee level in the organization. Significant differences were found in almost all categories. Rank order for the three levels differed from previous findings, perhaps due to empowerment thrusts.

Many studies have been conducted in the area of job satisfaction. Its necessary attributes sor components have been studied, analyzed, validated, standardized, and normed, onpredominantly white male populations. Few of these studies have focused on people of color, specifically African-Americans, and fewer still on those African-Americans working in a high-tech, scientific and research environments. The researchers have defined what is necessary for the current dominent culture`s population, but are their findings applicable and valid for our nation`s other cultures and ethnic groups? Among the conclusions: the subjects felt that there was no real difference in job satisfiers from their white colleagues; however the subjects had the sense of community (African-American) and the need to give back to it. Frustrations included politics, funding, and lack of control.

This investigation evaluated the efficacy of relaxation training and cognitive therapy separately and in combination in enhancing the coping skills of patients during epidural steroid injections. Subjects consisted of 80 back pain patients. They were randomly assigned to four groups to receive either relaxation training, cognitive therapy, relaxation and cognitive therapy, or attention control treatment. All subjects were provided preparatory information describing the procedure for the epidural injection and typical physical sensations experienced by patients undergoing the procedure. Relaxation training consisted of Jacobsonian progressive relaxation instructions which were modelled by the trainer. Cognitive therapy consisted of instructions and a work sheet designed to assist subjects in designing positive (rational) self statements concerning the injection procedure. Attention control procedures involved instructions and written exercises of equal duration to the relaxation and cognitive treatments but containing no instructions for the control of anxiety and pain. The three experimental groups exhibited significantly fewer "ae1f-distress" verbalizations during the injection. On other dependent measures, namely, the remaining catagories of pain verbalizations, gross body movements, heart rate, and independent ratings of anxiety there were no significant differences among experimental and control groups. Results are discussed in terms of spontaneous use of coping skills, habituation, individual differences …

Sixty-two mothers of childhood cancer patients completed questionnaires on family demographics, parental stress, sense of parenting competence, self esteem, health locus of control, attitudes toward cancer, life events, social support, and psychological symptomatology. Correlation and regression procedures were used. Time since diagnosis and the severity rate of a child's illness did not predict the mother's sense of parenting competence, but a negative correlation at the $p<.01$ level between mothers' report of self esteem and their distress was revealed. Social support was negatively correlated at the $p<.01$ level with psychological distress, but life events were positively correlated at the $p<.01$ level. Internal locus of control was positively correlated with psychological distress, but attitudes toward cancer did not correlate with psychological distress.

A study was conducted at The University of Texas at Arlington to obtain measurements of non-traditional age undergraduate students using the Mattering Scales for Adult Students in Higher Education (MHE). The MHE is designed to assess the perceptions of adult students on how much they matter to the institution they are attending. The study also sought to determine if "mattering" and other selected nonacademic variables associated with the university environment are perceived by nontraditional age students to effect their likelihood of completing their baccalaureate degree. Of the five subscales surveyed by the MHE, significant statistical differences were found to exist in the Administration, Interaction With Peers, Multiple Roles, and Faculty subscales denoting an interaction between gender and minority status. Significant statistical differences were also found by gender on the Advising subscale and by minority status on the Faculty subscale.

This thesis examines Allen's development using Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) as landmarks. Three criteria (chapters) structure the analysis: comedy, narrative, and romance.

This thesis investigates, analyzes, and discusses Picasso's imagery in the cultural context of the nineteenth-century Spanish tradition of flamenco. Two published photographs featuring the elderly artist with the gypsy guitarist Manitas de Plata initiated the study, and led me to the conclusion that selected works by Picasso were influenced psychologically, thematically, and formally by his youth which was spent in the Andalusian province of Malaga and later in Barcelona. Picasso's early artistic education occurred at precisely the same time and place as The Golden Age of Flamenco in Spain, a cultural phenomenon that profoundly affected both his life and art.

Sleep, emotions and pain are intimately connected, physiologically, by their location and utilization of the same brain centers and neurotransmitters. Sleep disturbances have been clinically observed in chronic pain populations; yet, no treatment program has formally addressed this aspect of patient care. It is hypothesized that a pain population (PN) will differ significantly from a non-injured workforce (WF) when reviewing quantitative and qualitative sleep data. This study strongly supports that sleep disturbances and socioeconomic decrements exist in chronic pain patients. Forty-seven variables were surveyed and 13 were found to show significant differences between the groups and seven were found to discriminate between the PN and WF groups at less than the .0001 level. A discriminant analysis was performed to determine the smallest model which could efficiently classify cases, according to successive root variables. The major discriminators are pain levels, medication, amount of sleep obtained and number of awakenings.

Anatomy of Loss contains a foreword, which discusses the place of autobiography in fiction, and five original short stories.

In this collection of poems and essays, the author demonstrates two different methods for examining the same theme: the notion of "home"—how to get there, how to remain there and bear articulate witness to the forces which drive that author to write. The introduction sets forth an explanation for the use of the specific form chosen for expression, with an analysis of the intent behind that form. In these essays and poems, the author accounts for her years on the Texas Panhandle, in Montana, and a year spent teaching in Prague, Czechoslovakia. These locations furnish the moments and incidents of conflict and resolution that make up the dramatic incidents of the included material.

Research questions addressed whether (1) the instruction was effective, (2) performance on persuasive tasks differed by grade level following instruction, (3) performance on persuasive tasks differed by Piagetian developmental level following instruction, and (4) whether performance differed between monolingual and bilingual subjects. Students wrote four persuasive compositions for assessment, two before instruction was administered and two after instruction. Knudson's holistic scoring rubric was used to evaluate essays for overall quality. Other measures of writing were evaluated including the number of words students used in their writing, the number of reasons included in the essay, the number of reasons per hundred words, and whether the paper had a conclusion or not. Further, the number of elaborations used in the paper was determined, as well as the number of elaborations per hundred words, and the ratio of the number of words used in elaborations compared with the total number of words in the composition.

Caliban, the ultimate figure of linguistic and racial indeterminacy in The Tempest, became for African-American writers a symbol of colonial fears of rebellion against oppression and southern fears of black male sexual aggression. My dissertation thus explores what I call the "Calibanic Quadrangle" in essays and novels by Anna Julia Cooper, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins. The figure of Caliban allows these authors to inflect the sentimental structure of the novel, to elevate Calibanic utterance to what Cooper calls "crude grandeur and exalted poesy," and to reveal the undercurrent of anxiety in nineteenth-century American attempts to draw rigid racial boundaries. The Calibanic Quadrangle enables this thorough critique because it allows the black woman writer to depict the oppression of the "Other," southern fears of black sexuality, the division between early black and white women's issues, and the enduring innocence of the progressive, educated, black female hero ~ all within the legitimized boundaries of the Shakespearean text, which provides literary authority to the minority writer. I call the resulting Shakespearean intertextuality a Quadrangle because in each of these African-American works a Caliban figure, a black man or "tragic mulatto" who was once "petted" and educated, struggles within a …

The dissertation is a collection of eighteen short stories. These stories relate the life experiences of the first-person narrator and chronicle a period of twenty years. They are arranged in five thematic groups: Expectations, Questions, Lighter Moments, Answers, and Separation. The focus of each one represents the narrator's experiences with his father, as the narrator attempts to understand a man who exerts such control over his life. Expectations contains three stories, with the first depicting the narrator's earliest association with his father. The other two represent significant growth experiences. The five stories in the Questions portion focus on the youthful narrator as he tries to understand the reasons behind his father's values and moral lessons. In the section, Lighter Moments, there are four stories in which the narrator is in his late teens and recalls four incidents that lacked the usual serious undertones prevalent in most of his experiences with his father. Answers is composed of three stories in which the narrator, nearing manhood, struggles with feelings of disillusionment with the life his father has planned for him, as well as the realization that his father controls every aspect of his life. The final section of three stories, Separation, depicts …

This comic romantic novel engages the question of how the Christianity of the southern, fundamentalist world of the Texas bible belt, finding its primary cultural assumptions about human existence challenged by the more confusing elements of a modern sensibility, a sensibility over-laden with strange-attractors, mechanistic psychologies, relativistic physics and ethics, evolutionary premises, newly proclaimed rights and freedoms, a deterioration in cultural political naivete, and the advent of an increasingly incomprehensible set of technologies, can survive. The "central" character is a young, slightly deformed man raised by his ostensibly "Christian" grandparents who, through a rather odd set of legal circumstances and physical events, not only become wealthy, but somewhat powerful in their immediate community. He finds himself involved with a young woman, raised in an equally "Christian" household, but, as is true of any romantic plot, the relationship between the two is destined, by virtue of circumstance and the meddling of other characters, to struggle and mishap. In the end, the text, in its own fashion, asserts that the Christian impulse can survive the modern era by virtue of one of its central tenets: faith, in the Christian world, is very much the same as life itself, a process of waiting …

This study is an examination of Lino Brocka's development as a filmmaker of the New Cinema of the Philippines. It provides a close textual analysis of two recent Brocka films, Macho Dancer (1988) and Fight for Us (1989) using a sociocultural approach to the study of the representation of aspects of social reality and their relationship to contemporary Philippine society. The study is divided into six chapters: Chapter I contains the introduction to the study, Chapter II traces the development of Philippine cinema in relation to Philippine socio-political history, Chapter III describes the New Cinema film movement in the Philippines, Chapter IV provides a biographical sketch of Lino Brocka in which the development of his critical attitude, notions of social reality, and significant works are discussed, Chapter V contains the film analyses, and Chapter VI contains the conclusions to the study.

Ways of Pulling A Person Out of the Water contains a preface, which discusses the writing process as well as a discussion of the short story form, ten original short stories, and two chapters of a novel-in-progress. A number of the short stories explore issues such as eating disorders, sexual violence, and artistic choice in the specialized context of the dance community. The novel chapters further develop one of the short stories, "When You Are the Camera and the Camera Is You." The narrator, Diane, explores her life coping with agoraphobia and her family's car accident.

In "Discourse in the Novel," Mikhail Bakhtin tells us that "Every discourse presupposes a special conception of the listener, of his apperceptive background and the degree of his responsiveness." My study of Wallace Stevens's poetry examines Stevens's "conception of the listener"—in the form of his intratextual readers, their responsiveness, and the shapes that responsiveness takes—and attempts to formulate out of that examination Stevens's theory of reading embodied in his canon of poems.