Letter from Mrs. Susan Campbell

Letter concerning application for a position in the dormitory at Utah Agricultural College

A student right of audience? Implications of law students appearing in court

This article examines the policy considerations underlying the common law limitation of the right of audience in the courts to professionally qualified and regulated advocates. It discusses the program conducted by Monash University in Australia whereby law students regularly represent their clients in court and analyses the safeguards built into this program in an attempt to meet those policy considerations. Finally the article looks briefly at the intriguing question of whether student advocates might be immune from liability for negligence, since that immunity still applies in Australia

Users' spatial abilities affect interface usability outcomes

The usability of a system depends both on inherent characteristics of the system and on its users. This paper argues that a major source of differences among users is variations in spatial ability, but that variations in different types of spatial ability affect components of usability differently. In two experiments, I investigated a simple model of the relationships of spatial visualization ability, spatial orientation ability, and spatial working memory with the usability constructs of efficiency and effectiveness. Both experiments used Wikipedia search as a representative information search task. The first experiment used a desktop computer interface, and the second experiment used a pair of mobile devices with widely different screen sizes. Better spatial orientation ability corresponded to faster performance on efficiency across devices. Better spatial visualization ability corresponded to slower performance on larger screens, but faster performance on smaller screens. Better spatial visualization ability also predicted better effectiveness in both experiments. These results suggest that spatial ability is a useful way to characterize users and to improve usability testing, and that its effects vary in systematic ways depending on characteristics of the tested interface and on which metrics are chosen

A Phenomenological Qualitative Study of Low Teacher Retention and Morale in a Rural Poverty-Stricken School

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to understand the factors that are related to low morale and retention as described by teachers who work in a rural, poverty-stricken school in Middle Georgia. The problem addressed in this study was high teacher attrition in rural, poverty-stricken schools. The theories guiding this study were Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene, two-factor theory, and Maslow’s theory of motivation. A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit 10 teachers who are employed at a rural, low-income school for three or more years. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted individually. The data were analyzed using open coding to identify themes or patterns based on recurring words or phrases from each interview transcript that related to the research questions and thus identified themes in the data that showed similarities and/or differences from the participants. Each theme or pattern was coded by names that described issues as related by the participants. The codes were then compared for consistencies, and the following themes emerged: lack of administrative support, school environment, lack of collaboration with colleagues, accountability, heavy workload, increasing violence among students, and discipline issues

Pharmaceutical polymorphism: An investigation using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The study of two pharmaceutically active systems that each display polymorphism has provided a platform upon which to develop and apply solid-state NMR techniques in order to increase the understanding of the solid-state structure of small organic molecules. The multidisciplinary approach adopted has highlighted the advantages of solid-state NMR as a non-invasive probe of molecular conformation and crystallographic packing.Carbon-13 CP/MAS spectra of the two polymorphs of BRL55834 - a fluorinated benzopyran derivative - immediately suggest the presence of one and three molecules in the asymmetric unit. A lack of crystals suitable for single-crystal XRD has catalysed the application of high-power powder X-ray diffraction studies. Subsequent attempts at structure solution using Genetic Algorithm techniques are showing preliminary results that reinforce predictions made from solid-state NMR. Novel triple-channel techniques have aided assignment and resolution of die complex (^13)C CP/MAS spectra. Enrichment of the (^15)N site appears to have resulted in the formation of a new polymorph. Techniques for the analysis of detection Units have been developed using solid-state Raman spectroscopy and chemometric analysis. The aminoxanthine derivative, BRL61063, provides interesting inter-form variations in molecular disorder, solid-state packing, and hydrogen bonding. A previously basic understanding of the single-crystal XRD data has been further evaluated through the course of this Ph.D. and solid-state NMR spectral editing techniques have been developed and applied to identify these phenomena. Recrystallisation studies have produced two samples that appear to exist in an intermediate state between the rigid and mobile structural limits. Temperature variation causes interesting changes in the relaxation characteristics and natural abundance (^15)N and (^13)C CP/MAS spectra. Residual dipolar coupling effects vary in their manifestation within the (^13)C CP/MAS spectra of the polymorphic systems studied and comparison with the literature yields important information regarding molecular conformation. Nitrogen-15 enrichment and operation at higher magnetic field have been applied to reduce these second order effects. Finally, some distance has been travelled along the path towards decoupling (^14)N. Future development of this technique holds potential for resolution enhancement in the solid state spectra of most naturally occurring, nitrogen-containing molecules

The differential effects of confrontations by high- and low-functioning therapists on client depth of self-exploration.

PsychologyDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.