Federated Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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The TDL Federated ETD Collection contains records of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) submitted by participating member institutions, making these otherwise hard-to-find scholarly works available to a much wider audience.
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Item 1,000 miles : bridging the distance between Austin and Chicago(2013-05) Hinderaker, Andrew Dean; Dietz, Steven; Lynn, Kirk; Zeder, Suzan1,000 miles marks the culmination of my course of study at the University of Texas. As an MFA student in the playwriting program, I have juggled my responsibilities to the department with my role as a professional playwright, frequently splitting time between Austin and my hometown of Chicago, where I opened four world premieres from 2010-2012. In this thesis, I discuss the ways in which my work has been influenced by the aesthetics of both artistic communities. I focus on two of my plays in particular: Kingsville, which premiered in Chicago during my first semester at UT, and Colossal, which opened in Austin just weeks before graduation. Through the lens of these two plays, I outline my artistic evolution over the past three years, highlighting the ways in which my work has drawn from the very best of Chicago’s storefront theaters and Austin’s experimental scene.Item 1,1-bis(3-indolyl)-1-(p-substitutedphenyl) methanes induce apoptosis and inhibit renal cell carcinoma growth(2009-06-02) York, Melissa DawnRenal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 85% of kidney cancer incidence in the US. Since 1950 there has been a 126% increase in kidney cancer incidence in the US. Thirty percent of new patients present with a localized easily treatable carcinoma while 30% of patients present with a high-grade metastatic carcinoma. Five-year survival rates for metastatic RCC is 6-12 months (Lipworth et al, 2006). Current disease treatment options for metastasis include chemotherapy and radiation (8% response rate), immunotherapy (15-30% response rate) and newly developed angiogenesis inhibitors which are in phase III trials (Staehler et el, 2005). In RCC cells, it has been shown that PPAR? agonists inhibit cell proliferation, induce apoptosis, and induce anti-angiogenic effects in vitro. Unlike most tumor types, PPAR? is downregulated in tissue samples from 47 RCC patients. However, in cell culture studies PPAR? expression does not correlate with growth inhibitory or apoptotic effects of PPAR? agonists in renal cell lines indicating that PPAR? independent responses may play a large role in actions associated with the PPAR? agonists (Yuan et al, 2006). 1,1-Bis(3'-indolyl)-1-(p-substitutedphenyl)methanes containing p-trifluoromethyl, p-t-butyl and p-phenyl substituents activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) and inhibit growth of ACHN and 786-0 renal cell carcinoma cell lines. PPAR is overexpressed in ACHN cells and barely detectable in 786-0 cells, and treatment with the t-butyl analog (DIM-C-pPhtBu) induces cell cyle inhibition. DIM-C-pPhtBu also induced several common PPAR-independent proapoptotic responses in ACHN and 786-0 cells, including increased expression of nonsteroidal antiimflammatory drug-activated gene-1 (NAG-1) and endoplasmic reticulum stress which activates death receptor 5 and the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis. In addition, DIM-C-pPhtbu (40 mg/kg/d) also inhibited tumor growth in an orthotopic mouse model for renal carcinogenesis, and this was accompanied by induction of apoptosis in renal tumors treated with DIM-C-pPhtBu but not in tumors treated with the corn oil vehicle (control). Thus, DIM-C-pPhtBu and related compounds represent a novel class of mechanism-based drugs that have potential for treatment of renal adenocarcinoma for which there are currently limited options for successful chemotherapy.Item 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin Db3s gut receptor kinetics in Japanese quail and vitamin D metabolism in calcium-depleted rats(Texas Tech University, 1981-08) Abel de la Cruz, Luis AndresNot availableItem 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition of Electron-rich Alkynes and Optically Active Allenes in Asymmetric Catalysis(2009-09-04) Qi, Xiangbing; Ready, Joseph M.This dissertation includes two parts. The first part focuses on two 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of electron-rich alkynes. Chapter one describes a copper-promoted cycloaddition reaction of acetylides with diazocarbonyl compounds. This novel cycloaddition offers a direct and efficient approach to the synthesis of pyrazoles. The method is a rare example of an inverse-electron-demand cycloaddition, it represents a conceptually novel approach to this important class of heterocycles. Chapter two investigates a cycloaddition reaction between donor-acceptor cyclopropanes and silyl ynol ethers. Lewis acid promoted ring-opening of donor-acceptor cyclopropanes generates a 1,3-zwitterion; cycloaddition with a silyl ynol ether leads to a general synthesis of cyclopentenones. Substitution is tolerated on the ynol and on all positions of the cyclopropane to give tri-, tetra-, and penta-substituted cyclopentenones in high yield. methyl(methoxyl)aluminumchloride, which is generated from dimethylaluminumchloride by oxidation, appears strong reactivity towards ring-opening of donor-acceptorcyclopropanes and cycloaddition with silyl ynol ethers. This infrequently used species might be extended to other classes of cycloadditions or Lewis acid promoted reactions. The second part describes a new asymmetric catalysis design using optically active allenes as backbone and the application in an asymmetric meso-epoxides opening reaction. Allenes are inherently chiral and can be prepared in optically pure form. They have not been incorporated into ligands or catalysts for asymmetric reactions. Since allenes project functionality differently than either tetrahedral carbon or chiral biaryls, they may create complementary chiral environments. Chapter three demonstrates that optically active, C2-symmetric allene-containing bisphosphine oxides can catalyze the addition of silicon tetrachloride to meso-epoxides with high enantioselectivity. The fact that high asymmetric induction is observed suggests that allenes may represent a new platform for the development other classes of organic catalysts or ligands for asymmetris reactions.Item 1,400 years of biomass burning, climate variability, and environmental change on Ometepe Island, Lake Nicaragua(2007-05) Avnery, Shiri; Dull, RobertThis study examines the relationship between short-term climate variability, paleo-fires, and anthropogenic sources of environmental change over the past 1,400 years on Ometepe Island, located in the tropical dry forests of southwestern Nicaragua. Macroscopic charcoal, loss on ignition, and magnetic susceptibility records were reconstructed from a lake sediment core, and statistical wavelet analyses were performed to contextualize natural fire regimes in this under-investigated tropical biome. Results from this project suggest that fire regimes on Ometepe Island respond to high frequency (sub-centennial scale) climate variations potentially due to the 11- and 22-year sunspot cycles and/or the El Niño Southern Oscillation, with dominant periodicities of ~7, 14, and 24 years. Results additionally support regional paleoenvironmental analyses by providing evidence of anthropogenic environmental impacts between ~600 and 1500 A.D. with a drastic decline after European contact, as well as evidence of widespread drought conditions between 800 - 1000 A.D. and 1150 – 1300 A.D.Item A 1,500-year record of late Holocene temperature variability and recent warming from Laguna Chingaza, Colombia(2012-08) Bixler, Curtis William; Shanahan, Timothy M.Rapid tropical glacier retreat over the last 50 years has been well documented, and has received significant media attention. Many studies suggest these changes are due to rising global surface air temperatures, however disentangling the effects of temperature and precipitation has hampered scientific consensus. Furthermore, because of the shortness of the instrumental record, it is difficult to assess the larger significance of the climate changes associated with the decline of tropical glaciers. Here, we present a locally calibrated, independent temperature reconstruction for the past 1,500 years from Laguna Chingaza, Colombia based on distributions of branched Glycerol Dialkyl Glycerol Tetraethers (brGDGTs) in order to assess the controls on long term temperature variability in the tropical Andes, and their relationship with growth and demise of Andean glaciers. Comparison of reconstructed temperatures with the instrumental record suggests that our proxy record faithfully records decadal to century scale trends in temperature. The largest temperature decline over the last 1,500 years was a decrease of 2.5 ± 0.3 °C during the Little Ice Age (LIA), reaching lowest temperatures during the mid-17th century, and is broadly consistent with terrestrial temperature reconstructions throughout the tropics and the higher latitudes. The structure and timing of temperature changes at Laguna Chingaza are remarkably similar to recent terrestrial temperature reconstructions from elsewhere in the tropics, including sites in the tropical Pacific and equatorial Africa, suggesting that these changes are widespread in the tropics. Together, these records suggest that warming over the last few decades is unprecedented over the last 1,500 years, including the Medieval Climate Anomaly (800-1150 AD). Comparison of these temperature changes with records of Andean glacier limits suggests that temperature is the dominant driver of glacial retreat, particularly over the past few decades. Additionally, paleotemperatures inferred from LIA and recent glacial equilibrium line altitudes (ELAs) underestimate past changes in temperature when compared with brGDGTs reconstructions, suggesting that changes in precipitation complicate the use of glacier ELAs to reconstruct past temperatures. The coupling of temperature and ice extent in South America suggests that with projected future warming, the health of tropical glaciers could be in jeopardy, significantly impacting the communities and ecosystems that depend on them.Item 1-800 worlds : embodiment and experience in the Indian call center economy(2010-08) Krishnamurthy, Mathangi Kasi; Hartigan, John, 1964-; Visweswaran, Kamala; Brow, James; Stewart, Kathleen; Abraham, Itty; Flores, RichardThis dissertation is concerned with the everyday lives of transnational Indian call center workers when situated within the global politics of voice-based outsourcing. The call center economy gained impetus in early 2000-2001, when multinational corporations began to train young men and women in India to mask their spatial and temporal location, in order that they could serve customers in the US and the UK. Taking calls through the night to serve the work day of Western consumers, these customer service agents were asked to assume a different name, location, and cultural and language markers, as part of the requirements of work. I explore the ways in which these young, middle-class workers located themselves within practices, contentious representations, and material outcomes of this transnational outsourcing economy. Through ethnographic research in Pune, a prominent university town and call center hub in western India, I investigate (1) everyday life in and out of the call center, (2) labor management practices within call centers, and (3) the socio-economic and cultural transformations that accompanied and framed the development of the urban Indian call center economy. This research engages with the machinations of multinational corporations as they incorporate large number of labor forces worldwide into transnational work. It builds on three main bodies of theory - flexible or late capital and flexibility, the South Asian postcolonial nation-state, and affective labor. Through these, I provide a thick description of the history, construction, maintenance and disruption of this site, as also the ways in which this particular story of capital was stabilized. I engage with questions such as, what complex negotiations underlie the ostensible success of new service economies in India? What are its cultural, political and economic determinants and ramifications? What grounds are the claims of state, capital and culture being contested or reified upon, and what do such negotiations mean for service workers within the landscape of urban India? This dissertation shows how the practice of everyday life in this transnational milieu is best explained as the collusion and tension between the contested socio-economic spaces of the new Indian middle-classes and middle-class-ness, and an ungrounded discourse of mobile and flexible capital. The stories of call center workers in this analysis are the stories of particular subjects called upon and striving to be constantly flexible in order to successfully become middle-class and global in the same breath, one often seamlessly overlapping the other.Item 1/f Noise In Hafnium Based High-k Gate Dielectric MOSFETS And A Review Of Modeling(Electrical Engineering, 2008-04-22T02:41:11Z)For next generation MOSFETs, the constant field scaling rule dictates a reduction in the gate oxide thickness among other parameters. Consequently, gate leakage current becomes a serious issue with very thin SiO2 that is conventionally used as gate dielectric since it is the native oxide for Si substrate. This has driven an industry wide search for suitable alternate 'high-k' gate dielectric that has a high value of relative permittivity compared to SiO2 thereby presenting a physically thicker barrier for tunneling carriers while providing a high gate capacitance. Consequently, it is essential to study the properties of these novel materials and the interfaces that they form with the substrate, gate or other dielectrics in a multi-level stack. The main focus of this work is the 1/f noise that is specifically used as a characterization tool to evaluate the performance of high-k MOSFETs. Nevertheless, DC and split C-V characterization are done as well to obtain device performance parameters that are used in the noise analysis. At first, the room temperature 1/f noise characteristics are presented for n- and p-channel poly-Si gated MOSFETs with three different gate dielectrics- HfO2, Al2O3 (top layer)/HfO2 (bottom layer), HfAlOx. The devices had either 1 nm or 4 nm SiO2 interfacial layer, thus presenting an opportunity to understand the effects of interfacial layer thickness on noise and carrier mobility. In the initial study, the analysis of noise is done based on the Unified Flicker Noise Model. Next, a comparative study of 1/f noise behavior is presented for TaSiN (NMOS) and TiN (PMOS) gated MOSFETs with HfO2 gate dielectric and their poly-Si gated counterparts. Additionally, in TaSiN MOSFETs, the effect of the different deposition methods employed for interfacial layer formation on the overall device performance is studied. Finally, the 'Multi-Stack Unified Noise' model (MSUN) is proposed to better model/characterize the 1/f noise in multi-layered high-k MOSFETs. This model takes the non-uniform trap density profile and other physical properties of the constituent gate dielectrics into account. The MSUN model is shown to be in excellent agreement with the experimental data obtained on TaSiN/HfO2/SiO2 MOSFETs in the 78-350 K range. Additionally, the MSUN model is expressed in terms of surface potential based parameters for inclusion in to the circuit simulators.Item The (112) surface of group-IV semiconductors and properties of PtSi : a first principle study(2007-08) Bentmann, Hendrik; Demkov, Alexander A.First principle calculations on the (112) surface of the group-IV elements diamond, silicon, germanium and α-tin were carried out within the framework of Density Functional Theory (DFT). We report chemical trends in surface energies, reconstructions and work functions. In addition we investigate two models for the 7x1 indium induced reconstruction of the silicon (112) surface by means of adsorption energies and STM simulations. We find a substitutional model to be favorable compared to on-terrace adsorption in good agreement with LEED and STM experiments. A drop of 0.46 eV in the work function due to the adsorption is found. Furthermore, we investigate the electrical and optical properties of the two room temperature stable silicide phases PtSi and Pt2Si. Experimental data on optical constants is provided and found to be in good qualitative agreement with the theory. Among various orientations the (121) surface of PtSi has the lowest calculated surface energy. This orientation also produces the distinctively highest peak in an X-ray spectrum of a 300 Å film of PtSi. We demonstrate theoretically that PtSi surfaces can perform reconstructions with similar energy gains as known for semiconductor surfaces.Item 11th Grade Students' English Reading Motivation, Language Problems and Reading Achievement in Taiwan(2012-07-16) Su, Jung-HsuanMotivation has been viewed as a very influential factor to successful reading for English as foreign language learners. Learners can be motivated to read English by extrinsic or intrinsic motivation, and the motivational orientations could also influence their reading achievement. However, language problems that EFL learners encounter while reading can affect their willingness to read as well as their reading achievement. The purpose of this study was to investigate Taiwanese EFL students? English reading motivation and its relationship with perceived language problems and reading achievement. 302 11th grade students from an urban district in southern Taiwan participated in the study. Measures included an English reading comprehension test, an English reading motivation questionnaire, and a questionnaire regarding language problems in reading English. A factor analysis was used to determine the motivational orientations. Multiple regression and correlation analysis were performed to examine the relationship among reading motivation, language problems, and reading achievement. The results showed that: 1) Taiwanese senior high school students were largely motivated to read English by extrinsic motivation, specifically the importance and instrumental utility of reading English and the drive for recognition and competition, although they could also be motivated by intrinsic motivation to read English for knowledge and social purposes. Moreover, extrinsic motivation to read for compliance was significantly associated with their English reading scores. 2) While reading English, unknown idiomatic expressions and vocabulary were frequently reported language problems that influenced students? willingness to read. Nevertheless, lack of grammar knowledge was generally not considered a big language problem to most of the students while reading. 3) Language problems in reading English and reading motivation were correlated, and motivation to read for compliance, grammar knowledge, and overall reading comprehension were significant predictors of students? English reading scores. This study highlights the influential role of extrinsic motivation to EFL students in English reading and the importance of knowledge of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions in order to help understand the meaning of English texts. It provides implications for English teachers in designing appropriate curriculum that suits students? needs and interests, and also suggestions for choosing proper reading materials.Item A 12-bit, 10 Msps two stage SAR-based pipeline ADC(2012-12) Gandara, Miguel Francisco; Sun, Nan; Gharpurey, RanjitThe market for battery powered communications devices has grown significantly in recent years. These devices require a large number of analog to digital converters (ADCs) to transform wireless and other physical data into the digital signals required for digital signal processing elements and micro-processors. For these applications, power efficiency and accuracy are of the utmost importance. Successive approximation register (SAR) ADCs are frequently used in power constrained applications, but their main limitation is their low sampling rate. In this work, a two stage pipelined ADC is presented that attempts to mitigate some of the sampling rate limitations of a SAR while maintaining its power and resolution advantages. Special techniques are used to reduce the overall sampling capacitance required in both SAR stages and to increase the linearity of the multiplying digital to analog converter (MDAC) output. The SAR sampling network, control logic, and MDAC blocks are completely implemented. Ideal components were used for the clocking, comparators, and switches. At the end of this design, a figure of merit of 51 fJ/conversion-step was achieved.Item 12-hours Shifts(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 2007) Creamer, LeeItem 14 MeV neutron generator dose modeling(2013-12) McConnell, Kristen Alycia; Biegalski, Steven R.Modeling and understanding the doses around the neutron generator provides insightful data in regard to radiation safety and protection precautions. Published data can be used to predict doses, but realistic data for the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory’s Thermo MP 320 Neutron Generator helps health physicists more accurately predict dose rates and protect experimenters against exposure. The goal was to create a model inclusive of the entire setup and room where the neutron generator is housed. Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) Code reigns as the preferred method for modeling radiation transport and was utilized to model the transport of neutrons within the current configuration of the 14 MeV neutron generator facility. This model took into account all shielding materials and their respective dimensions and locations within the concrete room. By utilizing tallies and tally modifiers, the model predicts dose rates that can be used with experimental factors such as irradiation time and flux to predict a dose in millirem. Validation experiments were performed in the current setup using Landauer Luxel®+ with Neutrak dosimeters placed in strategic locations to record the neutron dose vi received as well as a Ludlum Model 42-41 PRESCILA neutron probe to predict dose rates. The dosimeters and PRESCILA measurement locations matched the positions of the point detector tallies in MCNP. After laboratory analysis, a comparison was performed between the model output and the dosimeter and PRESCILA values to successfully validate the accuracy of the model.Item 142pr glass seeds for the brachytherapy of prostate cancer(Texas A&M University, 2007-09-17) Jung, Jae WonA beta-emitting glass seed was proposed for the brachytherapy treatment of prostate cancer. Criteria for seed design were derived and several beta-emitting nuclides were examined for suitability. 142Pr was selected as the isotope of choice. Seeds 0.08 cm in diameter and 0.9 cm long were manufactured for testing. The seeds were activated in the Texas A&M University research reactor. The activity produced was as expected when considering the meta-stable state and epi-thermal neutron flux. The MCNP5 Monte Carlo code was used to calculate the quantitative dosimetric parameters suggested in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) TG-43/60. The Monte Carlo calculation results were compared with those from a dose point kernel code. The dose profiles agree well with each other. The gamma dose of 142Pr was evaluated. The gamma dose is 0.3 Gy at 1.0 cm with initial activity of 5.95 mCi and is insignificant to other organs. Measurements were performed to assess the 2-dimensional axial dose distributions using Gafchromic radiochromic film. The radiochromic film was calibrated using an X-ray machine calibrated against a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable ion chamber. A calibration curve was derived using a least squares fit of a second order polynomial. The measured dose distribution agrees well with results from the Monte Carlo simulation. The dose was 130.8 Gy at 6 mm from the seed center with initial activity of 5.95 mCi. AAPM TG-43/60 parameters were determined. The reference dose rate for 2 mm and 6 mm were 0.67 and 0.02 cGy/s/mCi, respectively. The geometry function, radial dose function and anisotropy function were generated.Item 16S rRNA-Based Tag Pyrosequencing of Complex Food and Wastewater Environments: Microbial Diversity and Dynamics(2012-02-14) McElhany, KatherineEnvironmental microbiology has traditionally been performed using culture-based methods. However, in the last few decades, the emergence of molecular methods has changed the field considerably. The latest development in this area has been the introduction of next-generation sequencing, including pyrosequencing. These technologies allow the massively parallel sequencing of millions of DNA strands and represent a major development in sequencing technologies. The purpose of this study was to use both pyrosequencing and traditional culture-based techniques to investigate the diversity and dynamics of bacterial populations within milk and untreated sewage sludge samples. Pasteurized and raw milk samples were collected from grocery stores and dairies within Texas. Milk samples were analyzed by plating, pyrosequencing, and an assay for the presence of cell-cell signaling molecules. Samples were processed, stored, and then evaluated again for spoilage microflora. The results of this study showed that raw milk had a considerably higher bacterial load, more diversity between samples, and a significantly higher concentration of pathogens than pasteurized milk. Additionally, this study provided evidence for varying spoilage microflora between raw and pasteurized milk, as well as evidence for the production of cell-cell signaling molecules by bacterial organisms involved in milk spoilage. Four samplings of untreated sewage sludge were collected from wastewater treatment plants in seven different municipalities across the United States. Samples were subjected to quantification of selected bacterial organisms by culture and a pyrosequencing analysis was performed on extracted community DNA. The results of this study showed that untreated sewage sludge is inhabited by a huge diversity of microorganisms and that certain municipalities may have distinct bacterial populations that are conserved over time. Additionally, this study provided some evidence for seasonal differences in several of the major bacterial phyla. Lastly, this study emphasized the challenges of comparing results obtained by culture and pyrosequencing. In conclusion, this study showed that both milk and sewage are highly diverse, dynamic environments that can contain organisms of public health concern. The use of both culture-based methods and pyrosequencing in this study proved a complementary approach, providing a more comprehensive picture of both microbial environments.Item 16th Century Cast-Bronze Ordnance at the Museu de Angra do Heroismo(Texas A&M University, 2004-09-30) Hoskins, Sara GraceWithin the collections of the Museu de Angra do Heroismo (Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal) are nine cast bronze guns from the 16th century. Most were raised from the seafloor between the 1960s and 1990s, but this study comprises the first in-depth research into their design and manufacture. The importance of this kind of study lies in the fact that ordnance is commonly found on shipwrecks of this time. A greater knowledge of guns will help provide information about the ships from which they came. Careful documentation and study of the Museu de Angra cannon will add greatly to their value as museum exhibits, by allowing museum patrons to better understand where the guns came from, how they were cast, and why they were important. This documentation adds to our knowledge of Western European gunfounding technology during the sixteenth century, as four different countries commissioned the guns: Portugal, Spain, France, and England. With detailed documentation and publication, the Museu de Angra bronze guns can be added to the bibliography of ordnance of this period, which will aid future researchers who encounter similar pieces. The Museu de Angra bronze guns, as symbols of the military and naval power of the countries that commissioned them, were sent aboard ships, into the field, and mounted on fortress walls. Bronze guns of this time period are particularly important, as bronze was an expensive commodity, and the demand for ordnance was increasing rapidly. Countries developed more effective ways to make use of iron for the founding of guns, and the use of bronze became more symbolic of wealth. The information that each gun contains includes both the cutting-edge military technology of the time and the artistic statement of the founder. Some of the finest metalwork of the period was displayed in cast bronze guns, and due to the founding techniques, no two are the same, making each an important piece of history.Item The 1941 Junior League docent training course conducted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art : an examination of museum education beliefs and convictions towards volunteer educators(2011-05) Roath, Elizabeth Grace Margaret; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda M.This thesis explored the 1941 docent-training course for members of the Junior League held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The research focused on understanding what place this philanthropic organization held in the American art museum at that time. This course at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was formed as an attempt to teach Junior League members to become trainers of docents and volunteers in their own communities. Additionally, I looked into the background of the museum staff members Francis Henry Taylor and Roberta Murray Fansler Alford Capers and the Junior League member Helen T. Findlay. Utilizing historical research methods, four augments were formed regarding why this docent-training course occurred; (a) the new leadership and structure in the museum facilitating those training, (b) the collaborative work of Helen T. Findlay and Francis Henry Taylor and their passion towards art education for all audiences, (c) the Junior League’s continued commitment to community involvement, and (d) the fundamental need women had for involvement outside the home. The research concludes with a reflection toward the difficulties and hardships that accompany conducting historical research into the women of art education including non-traditional forms of historical documentation.Item 1967: The year that created ‘68 media perspectives and student outcries(2011-05) Strong, Ryan R.; Wong, Aliza S.; D'Amico, Stefano; Fallwell, Lynne A.In 1967, Italian students developed the principles and practices that led to the monumental events of '68. Students occupied faculty buildings and demonstrated in the streets of major Italian cities. Following every events local, national and political newspapers reported to their readers a very well thought out perspective. The perspective given to the reader was the major way many Italians learned of the Italian student movement. Therefore, newspapers played a major role in the perceived memory of sessantotto in the minds of Italians.Item 1980 : Reagan, Carter, and the politics of religion in America.(2010-02-02T19:54:55Z) Hogue, Andrew P.; Medhurst, Martin J.; Political Science.; Baylor University. Dept. of Political Science.This dissertation examines the political uses of religion in the 1980 presidential election, doing so within the broader context of how and why those uses emerged, as well as how they functioned to usher in a new era, setting the parameters for future presidential candidates' uses of religion in presidential elections. I go about this by first examining several streams that converged in 1980, among them: the expansion of the American conservative movement upon its inclusion of religious conservatism as a major concern; the various historical factors that led to the engagement of religious conservatives in American politics; the surfacing of religious rhetoric in presidential politics during the 1976 election; and the disappointment experienced by religious conservatives during the Carter presidency. I then closely examine of the candidacies of Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and John B. Anderson in 1980, showing the ways in which these candidates constructed lasting discourses of political religion and signaled the emergence of a new religious era in presidential politics. Finally, I observe the legacy of the 1980 presidential election, offering lessons from it to inform what appears to be the present dawn of a new religious era in American politics.Item The 1995 Congressional debate over partial birth abortion: President Clinton’s veto and the aftermath.(2007-12-03T18:41:19Z) Gura, Corrina N.; Medhurst, Martin J.; Communication Studies.; Baylor University. Dept. of Communication Studies.In 1995 Congress voted to ban a late-term abortion method known as Partial Birth Abortion (PBA). The contentious debate saw many typically pro-choice representatives joining pro-life members of Congress to oppose PBA. Major components of the debates are expert testimonies and use of public moral argument. President Clinton vetoed this popular bill. In addition to sending a press release to Congress, Clinton staged an emotional press conference during which women told the media about their abortions. This strategy focused the media on these women and their stories, rather than the Congressional arguments. Since 1995 Congress has continued its efforts to chip away at the broad grant of abortion rights in Roe v. Wade; they discovered new ways to place federal restrictions upon abortion. Congress has continued to develop new legislation modeled after the 1995 PBA Ban and likely will continue to do so in the future.