U.S. Immigration: The Origins and Evolution of Contemporary Issues and the Architecture of Future Reform

In 1965, the United States Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, attempting to remove racial, religious, and cultural discrimination from the immigration system. However, the infamous act and subsequent legislation have caused unintended consequences. Illegal immigration has skyrocketed despite a massive increase in border enforcement; and Central Americans, particularly Mexicans, have become the target of racial and cultural discrimination, much like the Southern European immigrants of the early 1900s. The current immigration system still relies on the framework passed nearly 50 years ago, proving to be insufficient for contemporary United States. This thesis investigates the historical patterns in immigration legislation that have led to the contemporary issues that remain a subject of intense debate. The current system’s ineffective and increasingly expensive programs have created backlogs of family members, simultaneously preventing the inflow of immigrants in specific sectors the U.S. economy and workforce desperately need. The thesis investigates current reform bills and proposals, objective research done by the Congressional Budget Office and Congressional Research Service, and research provided by a host of nongovernmental policy institutes. There is an objective reform proposal presented by the thesis to demonstrate how political bias and the current gridlocked Congress have prevented necessary reform

Alien Registration- Beaule, Elmire (Auburn, Androscoggin County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/31136/thumbnail.jp

Alien Registration- Bilodeau, Alice (Lewiston, Androscoggin County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/30463/thumbnail.jp

Developing an Alignment Framework to Support General Education

Faculty have difficulty in clarifying how their assessments and instructional strategies are aligned with both course and General Education learning outcomes in the Instructor-Based designation process. The low number of clear proposals proves the need for the General Education Office to offer an alignment framework with guiding questions

Late Intermediate Period Political Economy and Household Organization at Jachakala, Bolivia

All households in prehistoric communities without well established sociopolitical hierarchies were concerned, first and foremost, with meeting their subsistence needs. Because the emergence of non-food producing elite households means that, at some point, they began to focus on other activities, the domestic economy is where complexity begins to develop. Participation in craft production and exchange activities can provide opportunities for some households to accumulate wealth and/or prestige; this is the basis for a model of political economy tested against data from a site in the Andean altiplano.One objective of this dissertation project was to reconstruct the local history of Jachakala, a small village in the central Bolivian highlands occupied from ca. AD 170-1200. Artifacts from house floors, middens, and other features are divided into three chronological periods and grouped into three zones. Comparative inter-zonal and diachronic analyses are conducted to test models of the domestic economy and political economy derived from Kenneth Hirth's work in Mesoamerica.The domestic economy model predicts a low degree of socioeconomic differentiation within a subsistence-oriented community. Patterns of staple and craft production, wealth inequalities, and supra-regional exchange are reconstructed to test this model against data from the first occupation, the Niñalupita Period.I also test the hypothesis that differential participation in exchange and craft production activities underwrote the emergence of socioeconomic stratification, the central tenet of the Hirth model of political economy. There are significant inter-zonal differences in exchange goods and craft production refuse from the Isahuara and Jachakala Periods, but participation in these activities did not cause a political economy to develop, because some wealth inequalities predate this diversity.Finally, I used Tiwanaku-style artifacts from Jachakala to assess relations with this pre-Inkan state. Results suggest that Tiwanaku's influence on local processes was minimal and indirect, and implications for models of inter-regional relationships are explored. Although this investigation focuses on one community in the central Bolivian altiplano, I hope that it will be of comparative value for archaeologists investigating domestic economy, household organization, the origins of complexity, and core-periphery relations in and beyond the Andes

Alien Registration- Boulet, Mary A. (Auburn, Androscoggin County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/30760/thumbnail.jp

GAIT DOES NOT RETURN TO NORMAL FOLLOWING TOTAL HIP ARTHROPLASTY: IMPLICATIONS FOR A RETURN TO ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of total hip arthroplasty (THA) on the biomechanics of the lower extremity during walking. Twenty THA patients and 20 healthy control participants performed several trials of level walking for which three-dimensional (3D) hip, knee and ankle angles, forces, moments and powers were recorded and calculated. Results revealed that the gait mechanics of THA patients do not return to normal following surgery, especially during the transition from double- to single-limb stance. These patients produced lower hip abduction moments that are perhaps a result of hip abductor weakness. Kinematic and kinetic adaptations at the distal joints were also found. Hip musculature deficiencies should be addressed in rehabilitation programs, especially if patients want to return to athletic activities

DO PEOPLE WITH UNILATERAL CAM FAI FAVOUR THEIR SYMPTOMATIC LEG DURING MAXIMAL DEPTH SQUATS?

Cam Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI) is caused by an abnormally convex femoral head-neck junction and can damage the peripheral acetabulum in activities requiring a large hip range of motion (ROM). This study analyzed the three-dimensional (3D) ground reaction forces (GRF) and moments (GRM) and the resultant GRF of the symptomatic and asymptomatic legs in participants with unilateral cam FAI during a maximal depth squat. Seventeen participants with unilateral cam FAI performed 5 maximal depth squats with each leg on a separate forceplate. No significant differences were found between the two legs. These results indicate that participants with cam FAI do not favour their affected leg during maximal depth squats

LOWER LIMB BIOMECHANICAL ADAPTATIONS TO TOTAL HIP ARTHROPLASTY EXIST DURING SITTING AND STANDING TASKS

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of total hip arthroplasty (THA) on lower limb mechanics during the tasks of sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit. Twenty THA patients and 20 control participants performed three trials of sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit. Three-dimensional (3D) hip, knee and ankle angles were calculated. Forces, moments and powers were obtained with an inverse dynamics approach. THA patients exhibited lower joint forces and moments, as well as lower hip flexion and higher abduction angles, near seat-on and seat-off. These results indicate that THA patients were able to adopt a strategy that allowed them to reduce loading at the operated lower limb joints. Although such a strategy may be desirable given that higher loads can increase friction and accelerate wear of the prosthesis, reduced loading may be an indication of inadequate muscle strength that needs to be addressed