The linguistic features of bias in the news

This dissertation aims to determine what linguistic characteristics can reveal about bias in news and whether variation in linguistic characteristics, namely grammatical and lexical features, happen systematically across clines of political leaning and extent (i.e., severity of bias). Through an examination of key features and keywords in news texts divided into groups of political leanings of left and right and divided into groups by extent (extreme bias and no bias), this aim is accomplished. This study demonstrates that media bias, namely gatekeeping, coverage, and presentation bias can be examined via corpus linguistic methods and suggests that lexical and grammatical information are contributing to perceptions of direction and extent of bias. Importantly, it also demonstrates ways in which a researcher can avoid making subjective decisions about bias by relying on exploratory methods of register variation. The research in this study is conducted through six major steps: (1) compilation of a corpus of newspaper publications for which topic and time are closely controlled, (2) the collection of reader perceptions on the extent and direction of bias of each collected newspaper text, (3) a nuanced examination of key grammatical features and a comparison of their functions across biased and unbiased texts, (4) an analysis and comparison of the keywords that occur in both biased and unbiased texts (5) a comparison of key features across texts perceived as right (a.k.a. conservative) to those perceived as left (a.k.a liberal) (6) and an analysis and comparison of keywords that occur in texts perceived as conservative to those perceived as liberal. Results suggest systematic linguistic differences in the following ways: key features of left leaning texts show that this group maintains a formal tone, involvement at the group level, and covertly reveals stance via non-finite clauses while the keywords reveal a concern for social issues (particularly those related to equality), a sentiment of aggression and political unrest, and a more frequent on Trump. Conversely, right leaning texts are colloquial in tone, involved at the individual level, and covertly reveal stance via reported speech. The keywords for the right leaning group demonstrate a concern for political issues (particularly illegal immigration and a loss of constitutional freedoms), the actions of former presidents, and a negative evaluation of the liberal left. Texts perceived as extreme in their bias include features marked for epistemic and attitudinal stance, clausal and phrasal elaboration, description, emphasis, and evaluation and the keywords reveal a concern for both political and social issues, political actors, and opposing negative evaluations of both democrats and republicans. Key features and keywords for texts rated as no bias include features related to reporting what happened (who, what, when, and where). The differences are, for the most part, attributable to a functional or evaluative difference related to direction or extent of bias

The effect of attitude and speaking tasks on heritage Spanish speakers' production of rhythm, lexical stress and speech rate

This dissertation examines heritage language learners of Spanish enrolled in university Spanish courses, focusing on their strategic use of suprasegmental speech features in two speaking tasks. The research investigates attitudes' influence on heritage language learners’ speech production in different task types. Participants engaged in two Spanish spoken registers, completing attitude surveys alongside speech tasks. The analysis of heritage language learners' attitudes and speech patterns across different speaking tasks reveals pivotal implications. Firstly, task types significantly influence attitudes, with private, conversational settings eliciting higher confidence and more positive language attitudes compared to public, monologic tasks. This suggests a need for diversified pedagogical approaches, emphasizing personalized conversational tasks while integrating scaffolded monologic tasks to build up learners' confidence in public speaking situations. Additionally, the study highlights the complex relationship between language use and attitude stability, indicating that less frequent engagement with the heritage language may lead to more varied attitudes among learners. This research underscores the influence of task types on speech patterns, emphasizing the adaptability of heritage speakers in addressing linguistic demands based on situational characteristics like familiarity and anxiety. It also highlights the importance of task diversity in shaping positive language attitudes among heritage language learners. Based on these findings, it is proposed here that there is a need for pedagogical strategies that accommodate varying task types to enhance language proficiency while acknowledging the influence of language background on attitude stability. Finally, this project sheds light on the intricate relationship between attitudes, speech patterns, and task types, and subsequently calls for the inclusion of task effect in evaluating proficiency and designing effective language instruction for heritage language learners

Poop to Prosperity: Advancing Human Excrement Composting Research Through Microbiome Science and Educational Innovations

Exponential population growth and climate change have intensified the need for sustainable waste management solutions, particularly in treating human excrement. While traditional wastewater treatment systems offer benefits such as disease reduction and community sanitation, they are resource intensive, requiring substantial water, energy, and financial investments, and fail to address the sanitation needs of over 2 billion people, exacerbating environmental and public health challenges. This dissertation evaluates composting human excrement using composting toilets as a sustainable alternative, supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to ensure equitable sanitation for all. Using molecular biology techniques including 16S rRNA gene sequencing and qPCR, along with more traditional culture-based methods, this dissertation investigates microbial dynamics and pathogen reduction in mesophilic composting processes. The primary study provides valuable insights into microbial succession patterns and pathogen management, revealing opportunities to enhance composting methods for increased safety and efficiency. Despite the growing adoption of composting toilets and their critical role in achieving Goal 6, further research into their microbial dynamics is an essential step for broader acceptance and efficacy. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and multi-omics tools are highlighted as promising avenues for advancing composting research. These technologies offer potential for bioprospecting, bioengineering, and optimizing composting processes to improve efficiency and pathogen control. This work also emphasizes the significance of educational initiatives, particularly model-based inquiry (MBI) curricula in higher education, in addressing waste management challenges and fostering acceptance of composting human excrement. An implementation strategy for a proposed “living laboratory” aims to unite and advance both research and education, establishing it as a central hub for sustainable human excrement management. By integrating research findings with educational efforts, this dissertation contributes to the development of innovative waste treatment practices that support global sanitation goals and promote environmental sustainability. This work advocates for a "browner revolution" in waste management, emphasizing the need for transformative approaches to tackle global sanitation and environmental challenges by advancing the use of excrement composting technologies

Geomorphic change detection on the upper Verde river using historical plots and terrestrial lidar

The Upper Verde River in northern Arizona, one of the last free-flowing perennial rivers in Arizona, is a vital resource for the wildlife and humans that rely on it. This study combines historical United States Forest Service (USFS) single-line transect cross-section data with high resolution terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) data to quantify geomorphic changes along the Upper Verde River between 2009 and 2021-2022. Seventeen plots along the Upper Verde River were surveyed with the TLS and the data were registered together with a Root Mean Square Error of <0.03m among scan positions within individual plots. Digital Elevation Models (DEM) were derived for each plot from the TLS data at 10cm resolution and compared to the 2009 USFS cross-section data to quantify elevation changes. Empirical Cumulative Distribution Function (ECDF) analysis was used to determine the probability of true changes versus changes that could be attributed to errors in the datasets. All elevation changes with a p-value <= 0.05 were retained as true changes. The observed mean absolute change was +0.30m with a maximum erosion of -0.37m and maximum deposition of +0.97m. While deposition and erosion were documented at different locations in the study area, the results indicate deposition predominated within the flood-prone areas outside of the river channel over the last 13 years. Furthermore, greater deposition occurred in the lower reach of the river compared to the upper reach of the river. This study also demonstrates development of a new method that integrates historical single-line cross-section data with contemporary lidar data to quantify geomorphic change over time. This approach integrates traditional field-based survey methods and with newly available technology, which can be broadly implemented across a wide range of natural resource management applications

Impact of Covid-19 related changes in employment status, depression, and alcohol use in a sample of unionized leisure & hospitality industry workers

COVID-19 devastated the US economy in March and April of 2020, decimating the workforce in the leisure and hospitality industries. Change in employment status, such as loss of employment, has previously been found to be associated with negative outcomes such as depression and hazardous alcohol use. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationship between current employment status (e.g., currently employed, or unemployed), current depression, and current hazardous alcohol use in a sample of employees from the leisure and hospitality industries. Participants included 1,106 individuals (58.8% female, Mage 49.58, SD = 10.96) with complete data on depression, binge drinking, heavy drinking, employment status, and gender. The prevalence of current major depression (29.2%) and binge drinking (26%) were substantial. As hypothesized, a significantly greater proportion of individuals who were currently unemployed (51.7%) were currently depressed compared to their employed counterparts (28%), z = 3.87, p < 0.001, (95% CI: [0.12, 0.36]). However, there were no differences between unemployed and employed participants on heavy drinking (p = 0.62) or binge drinking, z = 1.57, p = 0.74, (95% CI: [-0.21, 0.02]). Results are discussed, including limitations of the employment cell size for hazardous drinking analyses, which appears to be a function of the high rate of employment in the sample at the time of data collection in 2022. Ongoing survey research on mental health outcomes in hospitality industry employees, especially given high proportion of underrepresented and unempowered individuals, appears warranted. Keywords: Leisure, hospitality, COVID-19, labor union, depression, alcohol, duration of unemploymen

Gender and reentry: investigating co-educational practices in a jail-based residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT) setting

This thesis investigates men’s and women’s experiences within a co-educational, jail-based, residential substance abuse treatment (RSAT) program. Using a qualitative research design, this research examined secondary, semi-structured interviews with individuals experiencing incarceration from a Colorado residential substance abuse treatment program to understand how gender impacts participants’ experiences in the program. This research aims to explain how heteronormative views reinforced by the jail determine the experiences of individuals within an RSAT program. Through this approach, this study explores themes such as the benefits of the co-educational environment, the replication of a community-based treatment environment within a jail, as well as participants’ experiences of gender segregation and gender inequality. Participants expressed having positive experiences when they could replicate their lives prior to incarceration in environments that include a work program outside of the jail, having positive interactions with their fellow participants regardless of gender, and having positive experiences with the program staff. Participants expressed having negative experiences when they experienced gender segregation and gender inequality which included issues surrounding the division of genders, unequal privileges, lack of co-gender environments, and issues surrounding feminine hygiene. Overall, these findings reveal that participants feel dehumanized within the program and that there is a need to identify and adjust the program in a way that would create more engaging experiences for individuals within the program

The role of detention officers at recreation time among women incarcerated in a southwest county jail

There are about a quarter million women incarcerated in the U.S. While incarcerated, many women deal with mental and physical health issues and inadequate access to healthcare services. One well-being program offered in most jail and prison settings is recreation time, a time for people incarcerated to exercise. Exercise and time outdoors can contribute to positive health outcomes, including alleviating depression. Women incarcerated value recreation time for fresh air, natural light, mental health benefits, and opportunity to exercise. However, a large portion do not attend recreation time and often face a variety of barriers to their attendance. Among the factors that influence women’s rec-time attendance are detention officers (DOs). Further research is needed to explore DOs’ role at recreation time. Using two cross-sectional questionnaires at the Coconino County Detention Facility, this study explored and compared women’s and DOs’perspectives on DO-related factors influencing recreation time among women incarcerated. The results indicated that the DOs have a limited role at recreation time, which was primarily as a neutral and impersonal facilitator. While DOs and women shared similar views on the women’s attendance of recreation time and the DOs’ role as a recreation time facilitator, they had differing views about whether DOs could impact whether women attended recreation time and the barriers that women face in accessing it. Women incarcerated indicated the various types of roles DOs have at recreation time and offered recommendations for the jail and DOs about how to improve the program

Embodying earth: dance culture, ecology, and the entanglement of wellbeing

The Anthropocene geological epoch, where lasting impacts made by humans on the environment negatively affect the health and survival of all species, prompts artists, scientists, and educators to address the most complex problems facing Earth. Global spread of the COVID-19 virus, officially declared a pandemic in 2020, further reaffirms the delicate balance among life forms on the planet. From my dance perspective, the primacy of motion to unite the human body with its terrestrial home is key to coexistence. These ideas motivated research in which I investigated human-nonhuman experience through the lens of dance culture. By understanding the anthropological concept of culture as a social phenomenon, this study explored how dancers socially relate with nonhuman ways of being and what that experience looks like. To unpack those questions, I conducted case studies involving in-depth interviews with twelve contemporary movement-based artists recognized by the dance community for their work relating to the natural world. Analyses of pedagogical, performative, and creative processes revealed the capacity of movement to open possibilities for encountering different points of view in which nonhierarchical alliances could form, potentially disrupting anthropocentric discourse. Data also demonstrated the function of dance culture as a relational strategy to practice navigating precariousness. My inquiry contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship that strengthens the anthropology of dance. It also advances phenomenological ecochoreology—a uniquely envisioned methodology focused on researching human-nonhuman experience innate to dance culture, which may inspire environmental awareness initiatives as well as models for wellbeing that support a more sustainable future

Pollinator species distributions and interaction networks across local environmental gradients to continental scales

Insect pollinator species are critical for angiosperm reproduction and maintenance of human food crop populations. Insect pollination networks are complex webs of overlapping links, and mutualistic associations between these pollinators and their host plants are imperative for network stability and robustness in the face of ecosystem perturbation. Even slight changes in the structure of mutualistic associations can affect the underlying topological features of pollination systems. While pollinator and plant species richness, abundance, or overall composition of plant-pollinator interactions may shift organically over time (seasons, months) and space (environmental gradients), warming temperatures are already causing unanticipated changes in plant-pollinator communities on local scales. My dissertation focuses on the local pollination networks of the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona. In Chapter Two, I evaluate how species richness, abundance, and critical network properties change across three life zones (vegetation zones) of this unique elevational gradient. I also determine the critical generalist pollinator species responsible for community stability in the highest elevation life zone. In Chapter Three, I evaluate the impacts of short-term drought on the plant-pollinator communities of the San Francisco Peaks. Specifically, in the 2017-2018 winter and spring seasons, Flagstaff experienced especially dry conditions, with very minimal precipitation and a significant 43-day period in spring with no rainfall. This allowed for a unique opportunity to compare year-to-year differences in species richness, abundance, and timing of flowering/foraging periods across seasons. I also examine the potential shift in pollinator species generalization (diet breadth) in the dry year and how this may vary across life zones. However, to predict the impacts of global change on insect pollinator species diversity and distribution, studies must also be conducted at regional and global scales. In Chapter Four, I perform large-scale analyses of current USA bee data completeness using 1.923 million occurrence records for the contiguous United States. I determine clear sampling biases for certain taxa and geographic locations as well as identify undersampled areas that are likely hotspots for bee diversity. Additionally, I show that even if we were to digitize the remaining ~6 million collected-yet-undigitized bee specimens in institutions, this would not be sufficient to fill gaps, underscoring the need for more strategic sampling and monitoring programs. I conclude this dissertation by highlighting how understanding insect pollinator species distributions and their mutualistic associations is fundamental for pollinator conservation, and that this holds true across local, regional, and global scales

An investigation of the minimum web reinforcement requirements for slender and non-slender beams

Prescriptive shear requirements from ACI 318 (2019), AASHTO LRFD (2020), and the fib Model Code (2010) stipulate that both slender and non-slender beams must satisfy a minimum web reinforcement requirement. At the very minimum, slender beams require an area of web reinforcement equal to 0.08% of the cross-section placed in the vertical direction, while non-slender beams require up to 0.3% in both the vertical and horizontal directions. This investigation aims to evaluate these minimum web reinforcement requirements in terms of the strength and serviceability behavior of beams based on the results of experimental test data. Databases of shear tests on slender and non-slender beams with web reinforcement is compiled from existing, validated and peer-reviewed datasets. The aim of this study is accomplished through an analysis of these databases. Given the context of this investigation and available data, the results show that a minimum web reinforcement of at least: 0.08% for beams with a f′c 4,000-psi for ACI 318 (2019) is an adequate amount to ensure that the predicted shear strength will be greater than or equal to the experimental shear strength of slender beams, consistent with the recommendations of MacGregor and Hanson (1969) and Roller and Russell (1990); √(f_c^' )⁄f_v for the shear strength of slender beams for AASHTO LRFD (2020) and the fib Model Code (2010), consistent with the results of Shahrooz et al. (2011); 0.12% for the strength of non-slender beams; and 0.25% to restrain cracks widths to less than or equal to 0.016-inches for ACI 318 (2019), AASHTO LRFD (2020), and the fib Model Code (2010) for slender and non-slender beams. Based on these findings, the minimum web reinforcement for strength is consistent with that of the code for slender beams but not deep beams, and the minimum web reinforcement for serviceability is consistent with that of the code for neither slender nor non-slender beams. The prescriptive web reinforcement requirements for slender and non-slender beams do not appear to be derived from the same criteria—at least in the American building and bridge codes. The minimum web reinforcement requirement for slender beams is likely derived based on these members achieving their predicted strength, while the requirement for non-slender beams is likely derived based on these members exhibiting crack widths less than or equal to 0.016-inches while in service