Asleep in the Arms of God (open access)

Asleep in the Arms of God

A work of creative fiction in the form of a short novel, Asleep in the Arms of God is a limited-omniscient and omniscient narrative describing the experiences of a man named Wafer Roberts, born in Jack County, Texas, in 1900. The novel spans the years from 1900 to 1925, and moves from the Keechi Valley of North Texas, to Fort Worth and then France during World War One, and back again to the Keechi Valley. The dissertation opens with a preface, which examines the form of the novel, and regional and other aspects of this particular work, especially as they relate to the postmodern concern with fragmentation and conditional identity. Wafer confronts in the novel aspects of his own questionable history, which echo the larger concern with exploitative practices including racism, patriarchy, overplanting and overgrazing, and pollution, which contribute to and climax in the postmodern fragmentation. The novel attempts to make a critique of the exploitative rage of Western civilization.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Clay, Kevin M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Everything and Nothing at the Same Time (open access)

Everything and Nothing at the Same Time

This paradoxically titled collection of poems explores what the blues and blindness has come to mean to the author.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Ballenger, Hank D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cassette Systems for Creating Intergeneric Hybrid ATCases (open access)

Cassette Systems for Creating Intergeneric Hybrid ATCases

Cassette systems for creating intergeneric hybrid ATCases were constructed. An MluI restriction enzyme site was introduced at the carbamoylphosphate binding site within the pyrB genes of both Pseudomonas putida and Escherichia coli. Two hybrids, E. coli pyrB polar domain fused with P. putida pyrB equatorial domain and P. putida pyrB polar domain fused with E. coli pyrB equatorial domain, are possible. The intergeneric E. coli-P. putida hybrid pyrB gene was constructed and found to encode an active ATCase which complemented an E. coli Pyr- strain. These hybrids are useful for kinetic and expression studies of ATCase in E. coli.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Simpson, Luci N.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The North Texas Region and the Development of Water Resources in the Trinity River Basin of Texas, 1840-1998 (open access)

The North Texas Region and the Development of Water Resources in the Trinity River Basin of Texas, 1840-1998

This study focuses on the development of water resources in the Trinity River basin for navigation, flood control, water supply, recreation, and allied purposes. Special emphasis is given to the development of the upper Trinity River basin through the influence of community leaders in Dallas and Fort Worth. A desire harbored for generations by upper basin residents for creating a navigable waterway on the Trinity River coalesced in the twentieth century into a well organized movement for all facets of water resources development. Sources include correspondence, speeches, and promotional materials of civic leaders, politicians, and other citizens, as well as works by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Sparkman, Michael D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Role of Rainfed Farm Ponds in Sustaining Agriculture and Soil Conservation in the Dry High Valley Region of Cochabamba, Bolivia: Design Considerations and Post Impoundment Analysis (open access)

The Role of Rainfed Farm Ponds in Sustaining Agriculture and Soil Conservation in the Dry High Valley Region of Cochabamba, Bolivia: Design Considerations and Post Impoundment Analysis

Lack of sufficient water for irrigation is a major problem in and around the valleys surrounding the town of Aiquile, Cochabamba Bolivia. In addition, much of the region is undergoing desertification compounded by drought, deforestation, bad traditional agricultural practices, over grazing and a "torrential" rainfall pattern leading to severe soil erosion and low agricultural production. Between 1992 and 1994, the author constructed a network of 24 small, mostly rainfed farm ponds to increase agricultural production and alleviate soil erosion and land-use problems by improving cover conditions. A 5-year post-impoundment analysis was carried out in 1998. The analysis examined current pond conditions, design criteria, irrigation water / crop production increases and the alleviation of land-use problems. Current pond conditions fell into four distinct categories with only 25 percent of the ponds being deemed as "functioning well." The project increased irrigation in the region and improved cover conditions in 66 percent of the pond sites.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Kuiper, John R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Jane McManus Storm Cazneau (1807-1878): A Biography (open access)

Jane McManus Storm Cazneau (1807-1878): A Biography

Jane Maria Eliza McManus, born near Troy, New York, educated at Emma Willard's Troy Female Seminary, promoted the American maritime frontier and wrote on Mexican, Central American, and Caribbean affairs. Called a "terror with her pen," under the pen name of Cora Montgomery, she published 100 columns in 6 newspapers, 20 journal articles and book reviews, 15 books and pamphlets, and edited 5 newspapers and journals between 1839 and 1878.
Date: May 1999
Creator: Hudson, Linda Sybert
System: The UNT Digital Library
Tinstar and Redcoat: A Comparative Study of History, Literature and Motion Pictures Through the Dramatization of Violence in the Settlement of the Western Frontier Regions of the United States and Canada (open access)

Tinstar and Redcoat: A Comparative Study of History, Literature and Motion Pictures Through the Dramatization of Violence in the Settlement of the Western Frontier Regions of the United States and Canada

The Western settlement era is only one part of United States national history, but for many Americans it remains the most significant cultural influence. Conversely, the settlement of Canada's western territory is generally treated as a significant phase of national development, but not the defining phase. Because both nations view the frontier experience differently, they also have distinct perceptions of the role violence played in the settlement process, distinctions reflected in the historical record, literature, and films of each country. This study will look at the historical evidence and works of the imagination for both the American and Canadian frontier experience, focusing on the years between 1870 and 1930, and will examine the part that violence played in the development of each national character. The discussion will also illustrate the difference between the historical reality and the mythic version portrayed in popular literature and films by demonstrating the effects of the depiction of violence on the perception of American and Canadian history.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Lester, Carole N., 1946-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Genetics Lecture and Laboratory Syllabus for a Junior-Level Course (open access)

Genetics Lecture and Laboratory Syllabus for a Junior-Level Course

The following is a complete syllabus for a college level genetics course. The syllabus contains lecture outlines and notes for each chapter, along with a list of transparencies needed. The quizzes and exams are prepared and placed at the beginning of the syllabus. The beginning of the course will consist of a lecture to introduce the students to the basics of genetics, followed by many applications of genetics. The process of cell division will be mastered by the students, as well as Mendelian genetics, quantitative genetics, chromosome mapping, and inheritance. The replication, synthesis, and organization of DNA are also discussed within the lectures. The final topics that will be covered using this syllabus are genetics of cancer and immunology and population genetics. These topics are essential for a detailed genetics course. The syllabus is written in great detail, and will require a full semester to be completed. The book used in association with this syllabus is Essentials of Genetics by William S. Klug and Michael R. Cummings.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Harper, Kasey
System: The UNT Digital Library