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American Indian Music in Elementary School Music Programs of Oklahoma : Repertoire, Authenticity and Instruction (open access)

American Indian Music in Elementary School Music Programs of Oklahoma : Repertoire, Authenticity and Instruction

The purpose of this study was to determine the instructional methods of Oklahoma's elementary school music educators with respect to the inclusion of an authentic repertoire of American Indian music in the curriculum. The research was conducted through two methods. First, an analysis and review of adopted textbook series and pertinent supplemental resources on American Indian music was made. Second, a survey of K-6 grade elementary music specialists in Oklahoma during the 1997-1998 school year was conducted.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Damm, Robert J., 1964-
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of How Interest Groups Influence the Policy-making Process for the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (open access)

An Analysis of How Interest Groups Influence the Policy-making Process for the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 1997

This study examined the policy letters and verbal testimony transcripts submitted by interest groups to the United States Department of Education (USDE) in response to the proposed regulations pertaining to the implementation of the 1997 reauthorization of P. L. 105-17, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Specifically, this study analyzed the emerging themes in the area of discipline. Responses were received from the following interest groups: (a) school administrators, (b) parents, (c) teachers, (d) state educational agencies (SEAs), (e) national educational organizations, and (f) members of the United States Congress. In addition to analyzing the emerging themes, the study compared these themes to ones found in the current literature and court cases.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Price, Laura Black
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Assessment of College Students' Attitudes and Empathy toward Rape (open access)

An Assessment of College Students' Attitudes and Empathy toward Rape

The purpose of this study was to assess rape attitudes and empathy levels of students at a university in North Texas. The Attitudes Toward Rape questionnaire and the Rape Empathy Scale were administered to 387 undergraduate students. Dependent variables were attitudes and empathy and independent variables were prior knowledge or experience as a rape victim, having female siblings, gender, marital status, and age. Significance was found between rape-intolerant attitudes and both prior experience as a victim (p < .001), and gender (p < .001). Significance was also found between empathy and experience as a rape victim (p < .035) and gender (p < .032).
Date: December 1998
Creator: Burke, Sloane C. (Sloane Christine)
System: The UNT Digital Library
"The Best Stuff Which the State Affords": a Portrait of the Fourteenth Texas Infantry in the Civil War (open access)

"The Best Stuff Which the State Affords": a Portrait of the Fourteenth Texas Infantry in the Civil War

This study examines the social and economic characteristics of the men who joined the Confederate Fourteenth Texas Infantry Regiment during the Civil War and provides a narrative history of the regiment's wartime service. The men of the Fourteenth Infantry enlisted in 1862 and helped to turn back the Federal Red River Campaign in April 1864. In creating a portrait of these men, the author used traditional historical sources (letters, diaries, medical records, secondary narratives) as well as statistical data from the 1860 United States census, military service records, and state tax rolls. The thesis places the heretofore unknown story of the Fourteenth Texas Infantry within the overall body of Civil War historiography.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Parker, Scott Dennis
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparative Study of School District Expenditures in Texas Since the Enactment of Senate Bill 7 (open access)

A Comparative Study of School District Expenditures in Texas Since the Enactment of Senate Bill 7

The purposes of this study were to: (a) determine the effects of Senate Bill 7 on expenditures in Texas school districts, (b) compare similarities and differences in expenditures among property-poor, medium-wealth, and wealthy-districts, (c) analyze spending patterns in light of equalization efforts, and (d) provide useful data to researchers in the area of equalization and adequacy.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Odle, B. Neal (Barry Neal)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparative Study of the Impact of the Total Quality Management Program on Exit Level Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Scores (open access)

A Comparative Study of the Impact of the Total Quality Management Program on Exit Level Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Scores

The management style being used by school personnel in Texas and across the nation today is predominately that of a bureaucracy. This model was organized around the industrial revolution that was exercising authority at the turn of the century. Writers and researchers have pointed out that such a model is not capable of providing students the knowledge and skills they will need to enter an increasingly demanding society. One management style relatively new to the educational arena today is that of Total Quality Management. This study reports the results of the impact of the training in those principles by measurement of student test scores.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Maulding, Wanda Smith
System: The UNT Digital Library
Culture and Anxiety: a Cross-Cultural Study (open access)

Culture and Anxiety: a Cross-Cultural Study

By measuring interactions among and between anxiety and the independent variables of country of origin, gender, level of education, and age, this study attempted to gain insight into how students from different countries experience anxiety on a U.S. college campus. Results of the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and the univariate test(ANOVA) indicated that the gender and level of education of the subjects made no significant difference. However, when it came to country of origin, there were significant differences between two of the cultural groups and respective anxiety level. Findings also support a positive correlation between age and anxiety levels, with the youngest participants having the lowest anxiety levels.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Abbassi, Amir
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Determinants of Federal Spending for the Administration of Justice (open access)

The Determinants of Federal Spending for the Administration of Justice

This study develops and empirically tests a model of the determinants of federal spending for crime-fighting policies. An inter-disciplinary approach to building the model is utilized that merges ideas from budgeting, policy analysis and criminology. Four factors hypothesized to impact federal spending for the administration of justice are operationalized as eight variables and tested using ordinary least squares regression analysis on time series data. The factors hypothesized to impact federal spending in this area are economic constraints imposed on government spending, the ideological makeup of Congress and the president, the actual crime rate, and the public's attitude toward crime. Five of the eight variables demonstrated statistical significance at the.10 level or better.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Gabriano, Gina
System: The UNT Digital Library
Do American Adults Know How to Exercise for a Health Benefit? (open access)

Do American Adults Know How to Exercise for a Health Benefit?

Approximately 950,000 Americans die annually from cardiovascular disease. Physical activity is a major risk factor for the development of CVD and a risk factor for stroke. The purpose of this research was to determine whether American adults know how to exercise to achieve health benefits and whether this knowledge is a function of demographics. Items included knowledge of exercise guidelines and knowledge of traditional and non-traditional exercise activities. This information was obtained from 22 questions that were a part of a larger national survey of 2,002 American households. Statistical analyses of this sample, indicate American adults have knowledge which varies by demographic groups. Data revealed that overall the 61+, Less than High School, African-American, Hispanic-American, and Male groups have the least amount of knowledge about exercise. These data can provide health educators with important aspects of exercise knowledge for future health promotions/interventions.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Krzewinski-Malone, Jeanette A. (Jeanette Aileen)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ecological Association Between the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker and Southern Pine Beetle in the Homochitto National Forest: a Geographic Information System Approach (open access)

Ecological Association Between the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker and Southern Pine Beetle in the Homochitto National Forest: a Geographic Information System Approach

Since the introduction of management practices by the Forest Service to stabilize red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) populations, the number of cavity trees killed by southern pine beetles (SPB) has increased. A model of the landscape ecology of RCW and SPB in the Homochitto National Forest was created using data collected from the Forest Service and Global Atmospherics. The conclusions of the study were that the RCW and SPB utilize the same type of habitat and the stand hazard maps are an accurate means of determining the locations of SPB infestations. The functional heterogeneity maps created for the SPB and RCW would be useful predictors of future occurrences of either species if complete data were obtained.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Skordinski, Karen R. (Karen Renee)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Environmental Factors Influencing Chlorophyll-a Concentrations in Lake Texoma (open access)

Environmental Factors Influencing Chlorophyll-a Concentrations in Lake Texoma

An analysis of algal biomass measured by chlorophyll-a concentration in Lake Texoma was performed as a part of a monitoring program to develop baseline environmental data in order to detect the potential effects of engineered changes in chloride concentrations in the reservoir. This portion of the research project focused on two main research objectives. The first objective was evaluating the effect of sampling strategy on the ability to adequately reflect standing crop estimates and trends in algal biomass. Two sampling regimes utilizing replication of three versus ten samples were applied and then analyzed using a minimum detectable difference algorithm to determine the necessary magnitude of replication to represent the variation in the metric. Chlorophyll-a distribution was analyzed for zonation patterns expected in a river-run reservoir to establish the importance of representative sampling of river, transition and main lake zones of the reservoir for management decisions and trophic characterization.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Gibbs, Jennifer S. (Jennifer Sokolovic)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fluency Training as a Pedagogical Tool to Improve Performance of Undergraduate Students Enrolled in the First Financial Accounting Course at a Regional Oklahoma University (open access)

Fluency Training as a Pedagogical Tool to Improve Performance of Undergraduate Students Enrolled in the First Financial Accounting Course at a Regional Oklahoma University

This study contributes to the debate on accounting pedagogy in the basic financial accounting course by examining the pedagogical tool of fluency training as a way to improve student performance. Fluency training has been shown to improve performance of students in other academic disciplines.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Huffman, William E. (William Eugene)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Formal Education among the Siberian Yupik Eskimos on Sivuqaq, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska: an Ethno-Historical Study (open access)

Formal Education among the Siberian Yupik Eskimos on Sivuqaq, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska: an Ethno-Historical Study

The major focus of this study is the effect of formal education on individuals, communities, cultural traditions and values on Siberian Yupik Eskimos of Alaska. The first school on St. Lawrence Island (Sivuqaq), Alaska was founded in 1899 under the direction of Sheldon Jackson. The formal school curriculum for the next thirty years was secretarian. Upon the initial operation of formal schooling on the island, various other forms of schools have impacted the islanders of St. Lawrence. Chapter two is an overview of the background of education in Alaska from its beginning as a territory to its present status as the 49th state in the United States. Chapter three presents the history of formal schooling on St. Lawrence Island. Chapters two and three contain descriptions of various other forms of schooling within the state (i.e. Bureau of Indian Affairs, mission, state-owned) and when and how these forms either existed on the island or had an impact upon its villagers. Chapter four discusses the methodology utilized in conducting the research and fieldwork for this study. Research findings are discussed in chapter five and include verbatim transcriptions of interviews with villagers. These interviews are unedited in order for readers to draw their …
Date: December 1998
Creator: Powell, Pam, 1958-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Indicators of Persistence and Success of Community College Transfer Students Attending a Senior College (open access)

Indicators of Persistence and Success of Community College Transfer Students Attending a Senior College

The purpose of the study was to determine whether age, ethnicity, gender, full-time/ part-time status, and the community college academic variables of cumulative GPA, total transferable hours, and number of completed core courses predicted students' persistence or GPA at a four-year university.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Underwood, Mark E. (Mark Eads)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Life History and Case-building Behavior of Molanna Tryphena Betten (Trichoptera: Molannidae) in Two East Texas Spring-fed Streams (open access)

Life History and Case-building Behavior of Molanna Tryphena Betten (Trichoptera: Molannidae) in Two East Texas Spring-fed Streams

The life history and case-building behavior of Molanna tryphena from two spring-fed tributaries in East Texas were studied from January 1997 to May 1998.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Gupta, Tammi Spackman
System: The UNT Digital Library
Making a Good Soldier: a Historical and Quantitative Study of the 15th Texas Infantry, C. S. A. (open access)

Making a Good Soldier: a Historical and Quantitative Study of the 15th Texas Infantry, C. S. A.

In late 1861, the Confederate Texas government commissioned Joseph W. Speight to raise an infantry battalion. Speight's Battalion became the Fifteenth Texas Infantry in April 1862, and saw almost no action for the next year as it marched throughout Texas, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory. In May 1863 the regiment was ordered to Louisiana and for the next seven months took an active role against Federal troops in the bayou country. From March to May 1864 the unit helped turn away the Union Red River Campaign. The regiment remained in the trans-Mississippi region until it disbanded in May 1865. The final chapter quantifies age, family status, wealthholdings, and casualties among the regiment's members.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Hamaker, Blake Richard
System: The UNT Digital Library
Male Socialization Experience in Two Birth Cohorts (open access)

Male Socialization Experience in Two Birth Cohorts

The purpose of this research was twofold; a quantitative examination of male socialization patterns along with an assessment of change over time in male socialization experiences. Men born in the 1950s and men born in the 1970s were compared to obtain an understanding of male socialization processes and possible changes since feminist issues have become a prevalent source of discourse in society. A survey questionnaire was utilized with a modified snowball sampling technique to explore male socialization experience. One hundred and one men participated in the project. Socialization experience for the men in this sample was five dimensional and while certain dimensions revealed change over time, others remained static. Findings indicate that quantitative measures can be successfully employed to study socialization processes.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Minton, Tamara Warner
System: The UNT Digital Library
Musical Borrowing: Referential Treatment in American Popular Music (open access)

Musical Borrowing: Referential Treatment in American Popular Music

This thesis examines the relationships between popular contemporary musical styles and classic-era art music. Analysis of pop-rock songs, and their referential treatment in art rock, classical music, and society will be examined. Pop-rock musicians borrow from the masters of the past and from each other. Rock guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen employ a virtuosic technique suggestive of Liszt and Paganini. The group Rush borrowed freely from opera seria. Frank Zappa referenced contemporary musicians as well as classical techniques. Referential treatment in popular music and the recent advancements in technology, have challenged copyright law. How these treatments and technologies affect copyright legislators and musicians will be discussed.
Date: December 1998
Creator: DiGiallonardo, Richard L. (Richard Lee)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Predicting Small Business Executives' Intentions to Comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Using the Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior and the Concept of Offender Empathy (open access)

Predicting Small Business Executives' Intentions to Comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Using the Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior and the Concept of Offender Empathy

This study attempted to determine if the theories of reasoned action (TRA) and planned behavior (TPB), as well as a relatively new construct called offender empathy, could help to predict the intentions of small business executives (SBEs) to comply with the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Jones, Stephen C. (Stephen Clark)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Presidential Support and the Political Use of Presidential Capital (open access)

Presidential Support and the Political Use of Presidential Capital

This research incorporates a decision-making theory which defines the linkage between the public, the media, the president and the Congress. Specifically, I argue that the public holds widely shared domestic and international goals and responds to a number of external cues provided by the president and the media in its evaluation of presidential policies. Although most studies examine overall presidential popularity, there are important differences in the public's evaluations of the president's handling of foreign and domestic policies. Additionally, I am concerned with how the Congress responds to these specific policy evaluations, the president's public activities, and the electoral policy goals of its members when determining whether or not to support the president. Finally, I link together the theoretical assumptions, to examine the influence of varying levels of support among the Congress and the public, and the president's own personal power goals on the type, quantity, and the quality of activities the president will choose. Ultimately, the primary focus of this dissertation is on the sources and consequences of presidential support and the influence of such support on presidential decision-making.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Ault, Michael E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Pretreatment Optimization of Fiberglass Manufacturing Industrial Wastewater (open access)

Pretreatment Optimization of Fiberglass Manufacturing Industrial Wastewater

Wastewater effluent produced in the fiberglass manufacturing industry contains a significant amount of total suspended solids. Environmental regulations require pretreatment of effluent before it is discharged to the municipal wastewater treatment plant. Chemical precipitation by coagulation and flocculation is the method of pretreatment used at the Vetrotex CertainTeed Corporation (VCT). A treatability study was conducted to determine conditions at which the VCT Wastewater Pretreatment Plant could operate to consistently achieve a total suspended solids concentration ≤ 200-mg/L. Jar tests varied pH, polymer dosage, and ferric sulfate dosage. Total suspended solids and turbidity were measured to evaluate treatment performance. The data were used to determine an optimum set of conditions under project guidelines. Of twelve polymers screened, BPL 594 was selected as the most effective polymer. For cost efficiency in the wastewater pretreatment operation, recommendations suggested that treatment chemical injection be electronically controlled according to turbidity of the treated effluent.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Dragoo, Ron
System: The UNT Digital Library
Protection or Equality? : A Feminist Analysis of Protective Labor Legislation in UAW v. Johnson Controls, Inc. (open access)

Protection or Equality? : A Feminist Analysis of Protective Labor Legislation in UAW v. Johnson Controls, Inc.

This study provides a feminist analysis of protective labor legislation in the Supreme Court case of UAW v. Johnson Controls, Inc. History of protection rhetoric and precedented cases leading up to UAW are provided. Using a feminist analysis, this study argues that the victory for women's labor rights in UAW is short lived, and the cycle of protection rhetoric continues with new pro-business agendas replacing traditional justifications for "protecting" women in the work place. The implications of this and other findings are discussed.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Lowery, Christina
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of the Relationships among Teachers' Immediacy of Dress Factors and Affective Learning Factors: a Relational Communication Perspective (open access)

A Study of the Relationships among Teachers' Immediacy of Dress Factors and Affective Learning Factors: a Relational Communication Perspective

This thesis examined the relationships among immediacy of dress factors and affective learning factors as they pertain to relational communication. College students (N = 482) completed questionnaires indicating perceptions of selected nonverbal immediacy behaviors associated with their teacher's attire. The research predicted that there would be relationships between and among power and affinity of dress, dress immediacy and nonverbal immediacy. Further predictions were made concerning the associations among these variables, affective learning outcomes, and other teacher criteria. Analysis indicated that power of dress, affinity of dress and dress immediacy were viable nonverbal immediacy concepts which related to affective learning outcomes. Research findings indicated that certain instructor variables may also influence these relationships.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Burks, Mark
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biogeographic Relationships of Pocket Gophers (Geomys breviceps and Geomys bursarius) in the Southeastern Portion of Their Ranges (open access)

Biogeographic Relationships of Pocket Gophers (Geomys breviceps and Geomys bursarius) in the Southeastern Portion of Their Ranges

This research utilized population genetic analyses (protein starch-gel electrophoresis and DNA sequencing of the cytochrome b mtDNA gene), host-parasite specificity (lice coevolution), remote sensing of satellite data, and geographic information systems (GIS) to characterize newly discovered populations of pocket gophers (genus: Geomys) in Arkansas. These populations are isolated and occur in seemingly unsuitable habitat in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Analyses of electrophoretic and ectoparasite data suggested the populations in the Ozark Mountains represented isolates allied to Geomys bursarius, a species not known to occur in Arkansas. Comparison of mitochondrial DNA sequence data of the cytochrome b gene with that of other taxa and morphometric analyses confirmed that these populations are most closely allied to G. bursarius occurring to the north in Missouri. Moreover, these mtDNA sequence analyses indicated a degree of differentiation typical of that between other subspecies of pocket gophers. Therefore, these populations represent a distinct genetic entity in an intermediate stage of speciation and should be designated as a new subspecies, Geomys bursarius ozarkensis. Molecular clock analysis revealed a time of lineage divergence for this new subspecies as approximately 511,000 YBP. Due to the isolated nature and limited distribution of this subspecies, an evaluation of critical habitat …
Date: August 1998
Creator: Elrod, Douglas Allen
System: The UNT Digital Library