Mechanical properties of neat polymer matrix materials and their unidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced composites

The mechanical properties of two neat resin systems for use in carbon fiber epoxy composites were characterized. This included tensile and shear stiffness and strengths, coefficients of thermal and moisture expansion, and fracture toughness. Tests were conducted on specimens in the dry and moisture-saturated states, at temperatures of 23, 82 and 121 C. The neat resins tested were American Cyanamid 1806 and Union Carbide ERX-4901B(MPDA). Results were compared to previously tested neat resins. Four unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced composites were mechanically characterized. Axial and transverse tension and in-plane shear strengths and stiffness were measured, as well as transverse coefficients of thermal and moisture expansion. Tests were conducted on dry specimens only at 23 and 100 C. The materials tested were AS4/3502, AS6/5245-C, T300/BP907, and C6000/1806 unidirectional composites. Scanning electron microscopic examination of fracture surfaces was performed to permit the correlation of observed failure modes with the environmental test conditions

Collateral damage: anti-communism & U.S. cultural policy

Title from PDF of title page, viewed on July 28, 2014Thesis advisor: Max J. SkidmoreVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 389-406)Thesis (M. A.)--Dept. of Political Science. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2014The United States of America has never formally declared a cultural policy nor established a Cabinet-level department of cultural affairs, as many other nations have in the post-World War II era--depriving the American people a foundation and context for transparent, open deliberation over the nature and priorities of public cultural policy. The values that constitute our de facto policy must be discerned through the aggregate of specialized policymaking and action taken by federal, state, and local governments. Our reluctance to declare formal policy is partly due to the nation's stance in conducting the Cold War--focused around an exaggerated Soviet threat--and its associated domestic anti-communist campaigning. In examining the historic record, "Collateral Damage" tells the story of anti-communism through much of the twentieth century, focusing on its cultural impact. The historical narrative follows from the first mass expression of anti-communist sentiment nationally, in the Red Scare of 1919, through its later expression in the "McCarthy era" of the Fifties, and its legacy since. Various approaches to cultural policy emerge throughout; but I focus especially on the contrasting federal cultural programs of the New Deal and those of domestic cultural agencies established in the 1960's. This story reveals how politicians and policymakers relied upon religious values were for Cold War purposes, rather than crafting secular statements of national cultural values. The study identifies six other significant impacts of anti-communism on U.S. cultural policy since the Sixties: the primacy of the private sector; Euro-centric bias in defining the cultural field; an approach to cultural diversity that marginalizes voices from outside traditional fine-arts contexts; a proscription against engagement with social issues in the arts and humanities; the replacement of democracy with "free enterprise" as the driving spirit in cultural policy; and a U.S. stance in international cultural-policy deliberations that tends to interpret transnational cultural issues in terms of commerce and national security. The study concludes with a suggestion of what a secular statement of national cultural policy might resemble, using First Lady Michelle Obama's address to the Democratic National Convention in 2012 as an exampleAbstract -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Introduction -- Cultural policy: bringing culture in -- The birth of American communism -- The red scare of 1919: "No Compromise!" -- Entr'acte: cultural policy in the roaring twenties -- A New deal in federal cultural policy -- Entr'acte: World War II & the postwar order -- Domestic anti-communism in postwar America -- Globalizing anti-communism -- Domesticating cultural policy -- Conclusion: Healing our collateral damage - Reference lis

Leadership Attitudes and Beliefs of Incoming First Year College Students

Due to limited resources available for leadership development programming at colleges and universities, there is a need to better understand the leadership attitudes and beliefs of incoming first-year students in order to most efficiently develop effective leadership. The purpose of this study was to examine the leadership attitudes and beliefs of incoming first-year college students within the context of ecological leadership in order to determine if gender or ethnic differences in the leadership attitudes and beliefs exist. Implications for leadership development programs are discussed