Interim Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature: House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock (open access)

Interim Report to the 83rd Texas Legislature: House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock

Report from the Texas House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock describing the group's goals, activities, accomplishments, and other information, for review by the 83rd Texas Legislature.
Date: December 7, 2012
Creator: Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. Committee on Agriculture and Livestock.
Object Type: Report
System: The Portal to Texas History
The North Texan, Volume 62, Number 4, Winter 2012 (open access)

The North Texan, Volume 62, Number 4, Winter 2012

The North Texan includes articles and notes about University of North Texas students, faculty, and alumni activities.
Date: December 2012
Creator: University of North Texas. Division of University Relations, Communications and Marketing.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparative Analysis of Web-based Machine Translation Quality: English to French and French to English (open access)

A Comparative Analysis of Web-based Machine Translation Quality: English to French and French to English

This study offers a partial reduplication of a 2006 study by Williams, which focused primarily on the analysis of the quality of translation produced by online software, namely Yahoo!® Babelfish, Freetranslation.com, and Google Translate. Since the data for the study by Williams were collected in 2004 and the data for present study in 2012, this gives a lapse of eight years for a diachronic analysis of the differences in quality of the translations provided by these online services. At the time of the 2006 study by Williams, all three services used a rule-based translation system, but, in October 2007, however, Google Translate switched to a system that is entirely statistical in nature. Thus, the present study is also able to examine the differences in quality between contemporary statistical and rule-based approaches to machine translation.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Barnhart, Zachary
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Rulemaking: Agencies Could Take Additional Steps to Respond to Public Comments (open access)

Federal Rulemaking: Agencies Could Take Additional Steps to Respond to Public Comments

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Agencies did not publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), enabling the public to comment on a proposed rule, for about 35 percent of major rules and about 44 percent of nonmajor rules published during 2003 through 2010. A major rule has significant economic impact and may, for example, have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more. Agencies published a total of 568 major rules from 2003 through 2010. Agencies also published about 30,000 nonmajor rules during this period, which have less economic significance and can involve routine administrative issues."
Date: December 20, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 50, Pages 9717-9830, December 14, 2012 (open access)

Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 50, Pages 9717-9830, December 14, 2012

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Texas. Secretary of State.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 51, Pages 9831-10058, December 21, 2012 (open access)

Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 51, Pages 9831-10058, December 21, 2012

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.
Date: December 21, 2012
Creator: Texas. Secretary of State.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 49, Pages 9553-9716, December 7, 2012 (open access)

Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 49, Pages 9553-9716, December 7, 2012

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.
Date: December 7, 2012
Creator: Texas. Secretary of State.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Teacher Perception of Project-Based Learning in a Technology-infused Secondary School Culture: a Critical Ciné-ethnographic Study (open access)

Teacher Perception of Project-Based Learning in a Technology-infused Secondary School Culture: a Critical Ciné-ethnographic Study

Project-based learning has long been used in the educational realm as it emphasis a student-centered strategy which promotes meaning, enriched learning that enhances inquiry and problem-solving skills in a rich, authentic environment. The relevance and authentic design of projects may further be enhanced by the use of technology in the classroom. Technology is rapidly changing the face of American education in ways that were barely thinkable as little as five years before and provides the possibility for student to collaborate and complete complex project-based tasks with further level of authenticity which connects to the students preferred method of learning and productivity outside the classroom. At New Tech high school in Coppell, Texas, the entire curriculum is based around this project-based learning in a technology-infused classroom. This qualitative, case-based study is designed to explore and examine the teachers' perceptions of the use of project-based learning, technology in this non-traditional environment. The study also investigates the teacher perceptions of students' response to project-based learning and the technology available to them in their project-based tasks. Finally the study discusses the finding and their possible implications for traditional educational environments.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Gratch, Jonathan
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 52, Pages 10059-10334, December 28, 2012 (open access)

Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 52, Pages 10059-10334, December 28, 2012

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.
Date: December 28, 2012
Creator: Texas. Secretary of State.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
A Meaningful Task: Investigating Into the Culture of Assessment in the Art Classroom of the Schools in Denton (open access)

A Meaningful Task: Investigating Into the Culture of Assessment in the Art Classroom of the Schools in Denton

This is an enterpretivist cultural study on how the lively idea of assessment is enacted by the art teachers, students and administrators in Denton school art education, North Texas, the United States. This ethnographic research aims to extend understanding on assessment as vivid cultural and social dynamics that both reflects and enlivens varied and interconnected values promoted and shared among the people involved. Through a perspective of the culture of assessment, this study is expected to facilitate insights on art education as lived, purposeful experience bearing suggestions on a certain social environment and historical implications. Such insights as sought further illuminate specific understandings on art education in different cultural societies, such as China. From a Chinese native viewpoint, the researcher broadens her horizons on connection and independence important for informative performance of art education in the discourses of modern nation and schooling, as well as globalization. It is hoped that this study will interest other art educators, teachers, and researchers to make multiple and continuous efforts in further exploring the culture of assessment with cultural and historical consciousness and knowledge.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Yang, Ya
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Developing Culturally Responsive Literacy Teachers: Analysis of Academic, Demographic, and Experiential Factors Related to Teacher Self-efficacy (open access)

Developing Culturally Responsive Literacy Teachers: Analysis of Academic, Demographic, and Experiential Factors Related to Teacher Self-efficacy

This mixed-methods study examined teachers' culturally responsive teaching (CRT) self-efficacy beliefs and the relationships among selected academic, demographic, and experiential factors. Guided by theoretical and empirical research on CRT, teacher dispositions, and assessment in teacher education (TE) programs for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students, this study utilized an extended version of Siwatu's 2007 Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy (CRTSE) Scale to conduct correlational and comparative statistical analyses. Data sources included surveys from 265 participants enrolled in TE classes in the spring 2012 in Texas (one private and one public university). Content analyses were also conducted on participants' descriptions of CRT activities using a priori and inductive coding methods to triangulate and elaborate the explanation of quantitative results. In this population, those with higher CRTSE were typically young (undergraduates), specializing in ESL and bilingual certification coursework, who felt their TE program prepared them well for working with CLD student populations. Regression analyses showed that certain certification areas (ESL, bilingual, elementary, and advanced) and perceptions of better quality in TE program preparation for working with CLD students emerged as significant predictors of increased CRTSE. Those with second language skills were more efficacious in delivering linguistically-responsive instruction, and those professing more experiences with …
Date: December 2012
Creator: Sarker, Amie
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
First Timers and Old Timers: the Texas Folklore Society Fire Burns On (open access)

First Timers and Old Timers: the Texas Folklore Society Fire Burns On

The Texas Folklore Society has been alive and kicking for over one hundred years now, and I don’t really think there’s any mystery as to what keeps the organization going strong. The secret to our longevity is simply the constant replenishment of our body of contributors. We are especially fortunate in recent years to have had papers given at our annual meetings by new members—young members, many of whom are college or even high school students. These presentations are oftentimes given during sessions right alongside some of our oldest members. We’ve also had long-time members who’ve been around for years but had never yet given papers; thankfully, they finally took the opportunity to present their research, fulfilling the mission of the TFS: to collect, preserve, and present the lore of Texas and the Southwest. You’ll find in this book some of the best articles from those presentations. The first fruits of our youngest or newest members include Acayla Haile on the folklore of plants. Familiar and well-respected names like J. Rhett Rushing and Kenneth W. Davis discuss folklore about monsters and the classic “widow’s revenge” tale. These works—and the people who produced them—represent the secret behind the history of the …
Date: December 15, 2012
Creator: Untiedt, Kenneth L.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
British Labour Government Policy in Iraq, 1945-1950 (open access)

British Labour Government Policy in Iraq, 1945-1950

Britain during the Labour government's administration took a major step toward developing Iraq primarily due to the decision of Ernest Bevin, the Foreign Minister, to start a new British policy toward the Iraqi regimes that would increase the British influence in the area. This led to Bevin's strategy of depending on guiding the Iraqi regime to make economic and political reforms that would lead to social justice.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Alburaas, Theyab
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Dolores Dyer: Women's Basketball and the American Dream (open access)

Dolores Dyer: Women's Basketball and the American Dream

Dolores Dyer played from 1952-1953 for the Texas Cowgirls, a barnstorming women's basketball team that provided a form of entertainment popular throughout the United States in that era. The story of Dyer's life demonstrates how a woman could attempt to achieve the American dream—a major theme in American history—through success in athletic competition. Dyer's participation with the Texas Cowgirls also provides a look into the circumstances that limited women's participation in professional sport during the mid-twentieth century. Women's sports studies, although some are very thorough, have gaps in the research, and women's barnstorming basketball is one of the areas often overlooked. In light of this gap, this thesis relies on a variety of sources, including primary documents from unpublished collections, archived materials, and original oral histories from several members of the Texas Cowgirls team. This thesis contains analysis of the socioeconomic factors that influenced Dolores Dyer's maturation into a professional basketball player, examines what the American dream meant to her, and evaluates the extent to which she achieved it. Overall, it constructs a social history that can serve as a foundational source for further study of women in sports during the twentieth century.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Roberts, Jackie
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The "Good" Mother: Ideology, Identity, and Performance (open access)

The "Good" Mother: Ideology, Identity, and Performance

The purpose of this study is to understand the power and influence of the institution of motherhood and how it is shaped by culture. More specifically this research explores the ideology that shapes our understanding of the good mother in the contemporary United States; how this ideology affects the way mothers view their identity; and how both the ideology and identity shape actions and performance. Twenty women were interviewed in North Texas and the results were: first, this group of mothers recognizes the ideology of the good mother, but does not accept all components of this ideology; next, the identity of mother is the primary identity for most of these women; and, last, performance is most greatly influenced by socio-economic status and the support system that mothers have in place.
Date: December 2012
Creator: Vigil, Jennifer M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Impacts of Postmodernity Factors on the Association Between Maternal Distress and Children's Delinquency Among Low-income Families (open access)

Impacts of Postmodernity Factors on the Association Between Maternal Distress and Children's Delinquency Among Low-income Families

This study investigates the effects of postmodern factors on the relationship between maternal distress and children's delinquency. It seeks to understand the factors associated with distress levels of mothers whose children exhibit delinquency in order to potentially decrease the cost associated with mental health problems especially in mothers. Another goal of this study is to contribute to the sociological analysis of mental health problems which seem to be the reserved domain of the discipline of psychology and related subfields. The data came from the third wave of the 3-city study with N = 1835. The ages of the children range from 5 to 18 years old. The analysis of the data using regression analysis suggests children's delinquency significantly affects maternal distress in mothers. The study also indicates postmodernity factors did not moderate the association between maternal distress and children's delinquency. However, postmodern factors have significant, separate, and direct effects on maternal distress. For example, employment and religion have positive influences on maternal distress. The research points toward weakness in the postmodern perspective. It also underlines the importance of a sociological approach to the assessment and treatment of distress problems among mothers with low-income. Agencies working with low-income families should integrate …
Date: December 2012
Creator: Bessa, Yawo
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Copperas Cove Leader-Press (Copperas Cove, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 16, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 4, 2012 (open access)

Copperas Cove Leader-Press (Copperas Cove, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 16, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Semi-weekly newspaper from Copperas Cove, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.
Date: December 4, 2012
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sustainable Environmental Identities for Environmental Sustainability: Remaking Environmental Identities with the Help of Indigenous Knowledge (open access)

Sustainable Environmental Identities for Environmental Sustainability: Remaking Environmental Identities with the Help of Indigenous Knowledge

Early literature in the field of environmental ethics suggests that environmental problems are not technological problems requiring technological solutions, but rather are problems deeply rooted in Western value systems calling for a reorientation of our values. This dissertation examines what resources are available to us in reorienting our values if this starting point is correct. Three positions can be observed in the environmental ethics literature on this issue: 1. We can go back and reinterpret our Western canonical texts and figures to determine if they can be useful in providing fresh insight on today's environmental challenges; 2. We abandon the traditional approaches, since these are what led to the crisis in the first place, and we seek to establish entirely new approaches and new environmental identities to face the environmental challenges of the 21st century; 3. We look outside of the Western tradition for guidance from other cultures to see how they inhabit and interact with the natural world. This dissertation presents and evaluates these three options and ultimately argues for an approach similar to the third option, suggesting that dialogue with indigenous cultures and traditions can help us to reorient our values and assist in developing more sustainable environmental …
Date: December 2012
Creator: Parker, Jonathan
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 20, 2012 (open access)

Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 20, 2012

Weekly Jewish newspaper from Houston, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: December 20, 2012
Creator: Samuels, Jeanne F.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Yorktown News-View (Yorktown, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 23, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 26, 2012 (open access)

Yorktown News-View (Yorktown, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 23, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Weekly newspaper from Yorktown, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.
Date: December 26, 2012
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mount Vernon Optic-Herald (Mount Vernon, Tex.), Vol. 139, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 6, 2012 (open access)

Mount Vernon Optic-Herald (Mount Vernon, Tex.), Vol. 139, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 6, 2012

Weekly newspaper from Mount Vernon, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.
Date: December 6, 2012
Creator: Bush-Reves, Lillie
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 139, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 19, 2012 (open access)

Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 139, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Daily newspaper from Denton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: December 19, 2012
Creator: Cobb, Dawn
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Outside Employment, “Moonlighting,” by Federal Executive Branch Employees (open access)

Outside Employment, “Moonlighting,” by Federal Executive Branch Employees

None
Date: December 12, 2012
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 142, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 22, 2012 (open access)

Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 109, No. 142, Ed. 1 Saturday, December 22, 2012

Daily newspaper from Denton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.
Date: December 22, 2012
Creator: Cobb, Dawn
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History