British and Indian Influences in the Identities and Literature of Mark Tully and Ruskin Bond (open access)

British and Indian Influences in the Identities and Literature of Mark Tully and Ruskin Bond

With globalization and modernization, increasingly people are influenced by multiple cultures. This paper examines the case of two authors, Mark Tully and Ruskin Bond, who were born in India shortly before India's Independence (1947). Both had British parents, but one considers himself Indian while the other has retained his British identity. The focus of this paper is how and why this difference has occurred and how it has influenced their writing. Both Tully and Bond write short stories about India and Indians, particularly the small towns and villages. Their reasons for writing, however, are very different. Tully writes to achieve social change, while Bond writes because he loves to write.
Date: August 2003
Creator: Lakhani, Brenda
System: The UNT Digital Library
Process environmental philosophy (open access)

Process environmental philosophy

A process-information approach is examined as a foundation for an environmental philosophy that is dynamic and elastic, with particular emphasis on value, beauty, integrity and stability supporting Aldo Leopold's vision. I challenge one of the basic assumptions of Western philosophy, namely the metaphysical primacy of substance. The classical, medieval and modern metaphysics of substance is presented with particular attention given the paradoxes of substance. Starting from the philosophy of Heraclitus, relatively ignored by the Western tradition of philosophy, a process philosophy is developed as an alternative to standard metaphysical attitudes in philosophy. A possible resolution of Zeno's paradoxes leads to consideration of other paradoxes of substance metaphysics. It is argued that substance metaphysics is incompatible with evidence found in the shifting paradigms of ecology and general science. Process philosophy is explored as a basis for an environmental philosophy, attempting to put the environment back into philosophy.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Corbeil, Marc J.V.
System: The UNT Digital Library

In Martha We Trust? The Cultural Significance of the Martha Stewart Phenomenon

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The thesis examines the relationship between Martha Stewart's rendition of domesticity and a broader cultural trend of the late 1990s U.S. domestic retreatism. It argues that the mode of construction and representation of the "domestic dream" in Stewart's programs cannot be examined outside of such concepts as class and ethnicity, whose understanding depends on the cultural, social, and political context of a given era, a context, in which they become transparent as aspects of the Western (white, patriarchal) status quo. Performing a deconstructive reading of these categories as employed by Stewart in the process of creation of her media persona, the thesis examines what the negative as well as positive reactions to "Martha Stewart" convey about the condition of American society of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Date: August 2003
Creator: Chmielewska, Katarzyna
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Descriptive Study of the Intelligence Community in the United States of America (open access)

A Descriptive Study of the Intelligence Community in the United States of America

This treatise represents a descriptive study of the intelligence community in the United States. It explores the ramifications of terrorism on the intelligence function, post September 11, 2001. In-depth discussions concerning the structure of the U.S. intelligence community are presented as well as a focus on the defined steps of the intelligence process: planning and directions, collection, analysis, production, and dissemination. The final aspect of this study poses questions and issues relating to the restructuring of the U.S. intelligence community in light of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Ucak, Hursit
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Workshop Training and Coaching on the Acquisition and Generalization of Teaching Skills (open access)

The Effects of Workshop Training and Coaching on the Acquisition and Generalization of Teaching Skills

The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to examine the separate effects of increased accuracy on multiple-choice/rank-order written tests and coaching on the teaching performance of participants; (b) to compare generalization across tasks produced by the workshop and coaching; and (c) to assess maintenance of teaching performance. Following baseline, two adults received a lecture on discrete trial teaching procedures. A written test measured verbal performance on workshop material periodically throughout this phase. During the next phase, each adult then experienced further training via in-situ coaching. A multiple baseline design across tasks was used during the coaching phase. Results of the workshop training package revealed an inverse relationship between the strongest verbal performance and strongest teaching performance skill areas. In addition, only with the introduction of the in-situ coaching package did teacher performance improve significantly across all behaviors. Child responding remained relatively constant throughout the study, regardless of teacher performance. Some generalization of teacher behavior was observed across tasks, but was extremely variable across both workshop and coaching conditions. After the cessation of coaching, teacher performance remained stable across maintenance phases and at a 6-week follow-up.
Date: December 2003
Creator: Almon, Holly C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Just $10 A Month: A Television Advertising Campaign (open access)

Just $10 A Month: A Television Advertising Campaign

This written thesis accompanies three television public service announcement spots. Two of the spots are 60 seconds and one of the spots is 45 seconds in length. I produced this public service television advertising campaign to highlight the issue of child illiteracy in Pakistan and to encourage expatriate and resident Pakistani's to donate to educational charities. A Website created by the filmmaker is promoted in the campaign. This Website provides information about various charities that educate children in Pakistan. Detailed accounts of pre-production, production and post-production of the campaign allow the viewer to comprehend the challenges in producing television campaigns for social causes. Theoretical issues are also discussed, including the causes of illiteracy, the importance and role of social campaigns, the history and uses of propaganda as well as the aesthetic concerns of a public service campaign producer. I discuss the importance of creating the culture of public service campaigns in a third world country like Pakistan, and states that the Pakistani community needs to look inwards to overcome the challenge of illiteracy.
Date: May 2003
Creator: Mumtaz, Danish Kasim
System: The UNT Digital Library

James Earl Rudder: A Lesson in Leadership

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This thesis is the about the life of Rudder. The emphasis of this work, however, is that Rudder was successful primarily because of his character and leadership style. Much of the study was drawn from primary sources. Secondary sources were also consulted. This thesis opens with a brief Introduction, which discusses the need for this work. Chapter 1 discusses Rudder's life prior to WW II, emphasizing particular characteristics that benefited his leadership ability. Chapter 2 examines the 2nd Ranger Battalion's transformation under Rudder's leadership and guidance. Chapter 3 chronicles the 2nd Ranger Battalion's assault on the Pointe du Hoc battery, ending in December 1944, when Col. Rudder was reassigned to the 109th Infantry Regiment. Moreover, the controversy surrounding the Ranger's mission is also examined in this chapter. Chapter 4 describes Col. Rudder's leadership with the 109th in the Battle of the Bulge. A chapter accounting Rudder's political career and leadership follows. Chapter 6 examines his term as chancellor and president of the Texas A&M University system, until his death in 1970, and the major institutional changes that he enacted during his tenure, which resulted in A&M becoming the respected research university it is today. This significance and recapitulation of Rudder's …
Date: December 2003
Creator: Bean, Christopher B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessing Measurement Equivalence of the English and Spanish Versions on an Employee Attitude Survey Using Multigroup Analysis in Structural Equation Modeling. (open access)

Assessing Measurement Equivalence of the English and Spanish Versions on an Employee Attitude Survey Using Multigroup Analysis in Structural Equation Modeling.

The study utilized the covariance structure comparison methodology - Multigroup Analysis in Structural Equation Modeling - evaluating measurement equivalence of English and Spanish versions of an employee opinion survey. The concept of measurement equivalence was defined as consisting of four components: sample equivalence, semantic equivalence, conceptual equivalence and scalar equivalence. The results revealed that the two language versions of the survey exhibited acceptable measurement equivalence across five survey dimensions Communications, Supervision, Leadership, Job Content & Satisfaction and Company Image & Commitment. Contrary to the study second hypothesis, there was no meaningful difference in opinion scores between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking respondents on the latent construct of Job Content & Satisfaction.
Date: August 2003
Creator: Koulikov, Mikhail
System: The UNT Digital Library