Painting the Dead

In the small town of Juan, Texas, eight residents struggle with tradition versus progress over the course of a story that begins and ends with murder. A few of them are Corine and Lola Espinosa--sisters who are abandon in Juan while their mother pursues love; Daniel Wilton--nearly an orphan, he resists the constricting traditions of Juan; Felipe Chavez, son of Mike Chavez, the sheriff, struggles with loving a woman who wants nothing more than to live somewhere else than Juan; Mike Chavez is a complicated man who carries the love of two women; and Grace, along with a few other business owners, are also a part of the power struggle with the respected Maria Espinosa, Corine\u27s and Lola\u27s grandmother, who wants to honor traditions above all else. This, in essence, is Juan

Wearable Architecture: Fashion to the Rescue

This dissertation, titled “Wearable Architecture: Fashion to the Rescue,” studies fashion and architecture in order to assess if the emerging urban nomad fashion trend can inform a new direction in temporary disaster relief for the families of Hawai‘i. The intention is to discover whether the clothes and accessories worn by survivors of natural disasters in bicoastal cities can provide shelter and relief to survivors between the event and the supply of government issued temporary housing. The methodologies used to prove the need for a wearable disaster relief kit are organized into three parts. The first topic researched is natural disasters. Analysis and observation of natural disasters support and demonstrate the need for a kit in times of a natural disaster. This section covers the various needs and problems of a disaster victim and thus reveals what design features should be incorporated into the proposed prototype. The second topic researched is minimalist shelters, which include indigenous shelters, low-income housing, and homeless shelters. This study is crucial as it explores the world of people who live with only the most basic and simple items that are necessary for survival. The resulting information is aimed at defining the basic essentials of everyday survival and how these necessities can be incorporated into a wearable disaster relief kit. The third topic researched is current related technologies. While the first two parts focus on the needs of people following a natural disaster as well as on a day-to-day basis, this part focuses on the tools and inventions that people have created to help address those needs. The information gathered concentrates on portable architecture, wearable architecture, survival kit tools, and materials. With this information, ideas for the prototype arise as the potential and constraints of each invention are examined, thus paving the way for design features that can be incorporated into the proposed prototype. Based on the information gathered, the design parameters were created and this list served as a guide for the wearable disaster relief kit prototype. By establishing the limitations and structure of the design, it paved the way for the design of The Compleat Retreat. The Compleat Retreat is an all-in-one shelter, jacket, floatation device and emergency kit

Robert Habersham (1783-1870)

Robert Habersham (1783-1870) was a Georgia planter and merchant who lived from the time of the Revolution until the days of Reconstruction. He was part of the Habersham clan which had so much to do with the founding and growth of Georgia. Robert\u27s grandfather, James, came to Georgia with George Whitfield. Robert\u27s father, Joseph, was active in the Revolution and the early Republic, serving in the Provisional Congress and as this country\u27s first Postmaster General. Robert Habersham added to the family honor during his own life in Savannah. He was a merchant for some sixty years, owned several well-known Savannah plantations (Causton\u27s Bluff, Deptford, etc.), and was a faithful, long-time vestryman for Christ Episcopal Church. Treasurer for Chatham County.He was also Robert Habersham was extremely successful in his business, leaving an estate valued at over $164,000 (despite his loses during and following the Civil War). He was also a family man, Marrying three times. He married Mary O\u27Brien of Beaufort, South Carolina; Elizabeth Neyle; and his first cousin, Mary Butler Habersham. He had several children. Robert lived a full life and died of old age. He is buried in the Habersham family section of Laurel Grove Cemetery.https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sav-bios-lane/1094/thumbnail.jp

Using Cultural Cognition for Learning English: A Mexican Immigrant Family\u27s Perspective

The research problem focused on the 11 million Mexican immigrant families in the United States who speak little or no English. Their stated needs for English literacy, socioeconomic and academic success, and the increasing calls for xenophobic legislation throughout the nation indicated a need to investigate alternative pedagogies to compel positive social change through language fluency. In this case study, Mexican immigrant second-language learners and their descendants were asked how they wanted to learn English and if using native culture as a learning tool would help in achieving their literacy goals. Prior researchers had not asked those questions. Three adults from a 3-generation Mexican immigrant family living in Florida gave interviews to address this gap. The participants, 2 of whom were native Spanish speakers, were recruited via a Facebook call for participation, and interviews were conducted by telephone. Cultural theory served as a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between culture and language, and for interpreting and respecting participants\u27 articulations of their experiences and opinions. Analyses of interviews and language background questionnaires were completed using pattern matching and SPSS, respectively. The key finding was that participants agreed a cultural pedagogy would be helpful in learning English. A recommendation is made to implement an experimental teaching study using cultural pedagogy as its framework. Achieving positive social change begins with removing the barriers of cultural language discrimination and allowing immigrants to reach their stated goals without loss of their cultural heritage

A comparison of maximal oxygen uptake achieved from a horizontal and inclined treadmill test

The purpose of this study was to compare two protocols and the resulting VO2 max obtained. In one protocol grade only was used to impose greater workloads; in the other protocol speed only was used to impose greater workloads. In addition, maximum heart rate, perceived general fatigue, leg fatigue and cardiorespiratory fatigue between the two protocols was compared. Thirty apparently healthy subjects, 15 men and 15 women, between 18 and 35 years of age participated; The statistical treatment showed that there was no significant difference in VO2 max between inclined and horizontal running. There was no significant difference in max heart rate, general fatigue, or cardiorespiratory fatigue between the two protocols. Additionally, male subjects perceived that they performed harder on the horizontal protocol and also preferred the horizontal protocol. The females perceived that they performed harder on the inclined protocol and preferred the inclined protocol

Intervention Implementation and Intervention Outcomes for Teenage Mothers in School -Based Treatment for Social and Academic Problems.

The effects of a strong treatment package, comprised of 2 types of performance feedback plus incentives, on the social behavior and academic progress of 9 minority teenage mothers attending an inner-city high school, was investigated. Treatment integrity of their teachers and parents was also evaluated. Research shows that academic deficits and conduct problems are strong correlates of early pregnancy, Many students experience academic failure and related disciplinary problems because no one monitors their behavior. In this study, a comprehensive treatment was developed to be used across settings (home, school and a school-based health clinic) and across treatment agents (parent, teacher, a therapist working within the school-based health clinic, and the teenage mother herself) to increase the monitoring, and self-management skills of these young mothers. Three triads of 3 participants each (teen mother, parent and teacher) were trained on specific treatment steps to be completed daily. Permanent products generated by the intervention were used to verify whether or not each treatment step was actually performed. From these outcome measures, a daily treatment integrity score was calculated for parents and teachers, while treatment compliance and academic performance were measured for teenage mothers. The results showed that all teen mothers improved their treatment compliance and their academic averages. Disciplinary referrals and absences from class were measured pre- and post-treatment for each teenage mother and it was determined that the rates of accumulation for both of these were reduced for most of the teen mothers. Treatment integrity improved for all parents of the teen mothers, and teachers maintained high levels of intervention usage throughout the study. This study contributes to the literature in that it provides a useful methodology for determining where treatment implementation is breaking down, whether with the teacher, the parent or with the student. It also provides a telephone parent-training format, via a daily telephone interview between the teenage mother and her parent/guardian, which may be used for the purpose of training the important parenting behavior of talking with a child in order to hold the child accountable for daily school progress and behavior

Cherri and Lisa Go to India

We spent 30 difficult days in the beautiful but impoverished country of India. Prior to the trip we made a small attempt to acquaint ourselves with the Indian culture and prepare for the shock of visiting a third-world country. Neither of us had traveled overseas before. We came to the conclusion (after the first day) that this was something that had to be experienced to comprehend, and reading a few books, watching documentaries on the Discovery Channel, or listening to others speak of their experiences while visiting the country did not do the job. Knowing a second language is always a plus while traveling, and we tried to learn a few phrases in Hindi (what we thought to be the national language) but discovered that each state had its own language. Impressively, many people were fluent in English and we always found someone to communicate with

Educate or Litigate? The Mindsets of Advancing Knowledge and Maintaining Financial Stability in Higher Education

The educational mindset for online higher degrees, specifically the master’s and doctoral journey, shifted from the refractive thinking perspective as transformational experiences, producing objective decision-making processes, to transactional business exchanges, and in some institutions, an exchange for investors and stakeholders. Nehrlich (2006) coined “transactional exchange” as an exchange of one thing for another involving some form of gain. This chapter presents the business of marketing higher education programs (i.e., master’s and doctoral degrees) and the front-line faculty positioned to achieve an institution’s profit margin derived from degree production. Our goal is to discuss the losses and gains when faculty, who previously focused on innovation, comparative thinking, and mentoring, add an institution’s financial stability to their responsibilities (Kaufman-Osborn, 2023). Stakeholder needs range from graduating learners with innovative ideas to meeting an institution’s financial needs (Ramadoss et al., 2022). While the profit margins of public institutions have dropped precipitously (Macrotrends, 2023), for-profit and not-for-profit institutions of higher education must leverage The Refractive Thinker® Volume XXIII 112 program efficacy with financial viability (Wally Boston, 2020). In the United States, private and increasingly public postsecondary institutions must consider political goals; thus, for-profit and not-for-profit institutions can experience increased demands for financial solvency. The profitability versus a learner’s goals then must undergo a balancing exercise. This chapter briefly explores the progression of academic faculty from traditional harbingers of innovative programs to increased profitability, a nuanced yet pervasive mindset (PEW, 2019; Schwartz, 2022)