Preservation of log-concavity on summation

We extend Hoggar's theorem that the sum of two independent discrete-valued log-concave random variables is itself log-concave. We introduce conditions under which the result still holds for dependent variables. We argue that these conditions are natural by giving some applications. Firstly, we use our main theorem to give simple proofs of the log-concavity of the Stirling numbers of the second kind and of the Eulerian numbers. Secondly, we prove results concerning the log-concavity of the sum of independent (not necessarily log-concave) random variables

Tattoos? No Problem! Tattoo Coverage for Performers

This is a collection of experimentation with various makeup products and their tattoo coverage abilities. The coverage options are compared by price, water resistance, and durability of coverage under performance conditions. This also provides information about tattoo history and the effects of having a tattoo in the professional job market

Networked: New York City’s Charter Schools and the New Profiteers

This dissertation examines the extent to which corporate players and interests are represented on New York City charter school boards by collecting and analyzing board member data for all approved charters as of January 2013. The affiliations of individuals sitting on charter school and charter management organization boards are identified. The implications of those affiliations as well as their potential to affect school governance are explored within a modern educational landscape in which policy-making favors market-based approaches and provides new entry points for profiteering. The empirical analysis and conceptual framework for this study are informed by research on interlocking directorates as well as on more contemporary forms of power, or “flex-nets,” situated within social networks. The results show that individuals tied to corporations – particularly hedge funds and other financial organizations – fill a significant number of charter school board seats, especially in comparison to parents, teachers and community members without those ties. Many of these board members have explicit ties to each other as well as affiliations with charter advocacy organizations, political action committees, and niche markets working behind the scenes to shore up pro-market education reforms. The study explores the potential ramifications of their dominance over charter schools, and proposes that financiers and their networks may stand to benefit more from charter school proliferation than schoolchildren and local communities. Findings suggest that students in many of the charter schools across New York City are being trained for lives of relegation and regulation by the keepers of power, rather than its skeptics

Unveiled pandemonium

Unveiled Pandemonium is a body of work that acknowledges my struggles, as a woman, with skewed self-perception and how frayed, decayed bits of self-love affect interaction with daily life: the public sphere versus the private. Using both large-scale graphite drawings and intimately sized, full-color digital narrative sequences, I portray movement, as a state of freedom, while capturing each character in a position of physical or emotional constraint. To increase the tension each figure interacts with another visually and in narrative; a war with the self begins. Within the engagement of internal and external tensions, each character’s body becomes a battlefield as she strives to find self-fulfillment through uninhibited freedom from constraint. This thesis briefly examines the perceived ancient ideal of womanhood and explores how capitalism has had a hand in the construction of the modern ideal of womanhood based upon the writings of John Berger, Carolyn Knapp and Jena Pincott. Lastly, this paper contextualizes Unveiled Pandemonium within the current art and ideas of Jenny Saville, Lisa Yuskavage, Katerina Jebb and Nan Goldin among others

Awareness of Clery Act Reporting Requirements Across Institutional Strata in West Virginia Community and Technical Colleges

More than 25 years after its enactment, colleges are still finding themselves failing to comply with Clery Act reporting mandates. With each amendment to the Clery Act and its associated policies, the trend has been to add to the list of reportable items, which only increases the difficulty of institutional compliance. The purpose of this non-experimental, descriptive study was to evaluate employee awareness of the Clery Act and its current Clery Act reporting requirements at varying employment strata within West Virginia’s nine community and technical colleges. Using a web-based survey, data showed that approximately one-fourth of survey participants had never heard of the Clery Act. Mean Clery Act Reporting Awareness Scores were calculated for each institutional stratum and levels of awareness were ranked using a researcher defined point scale. Awareness score data suggests that the overall level of awareness for Clery Act reporting requirements fell within the Very Low Awareness score range. West Virginia community college administrators may have cause for concern. With Clery Act compliance violation fines set at an all-time high of $54,789 per violation, understanding where potential breaches in compliance may be found should be a matter of primary concern for all higher education administrators whose colleges participate in Title IV federal funding programs. While many community and technical colleges, like their four-year counterparts, participate in Title IV funding programs, less is known about their compliance practices. To determine if community college employees are aware of the Clery Act and its reporting requirements, administrators need to evaluate employee awareness of reporting requirements across all institutional strata. Identifying potential Clery Act reporting breaches could save institutions thousands of dollars in noncompliance fines

The Interplay of Racial Identity Attitude and Religious Orientation on the Social Integration Experiences of Black African College Students and African American College Students Attending Predominantly White Institutions in the United States

Problem Not much attention has been devoted to the academic experiences of Black African college students, the latter being typically categorized with those of African Americans (Kim, 2014). While research has effectively documented the social challenges that African American college students experience at (Predominantly White Institutions (PWI). much less research has been conducted on the social experiences of subcategories within the Black population, specifically, Black Africans. Though researchers have speculated on the potential differences between the social integration experiences of Black Africans and African American college students as these relate to religious orientation and racial identity attitude, no empirical studies exist on the proposed connection. Method The sample for this study consisted of 174 African American and 170 Black African college students attending PWIs within the U.S. Participants completed the BRIAS, I/E-R and IIS to provide input on one’s racial identity attitude, religious orientation, and peer-group interactions. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the joint and independent impact of racial identity attitude and religious orientation on the social integration experiences of Black African and African American college students attending PWIs . Results The initial research design was a poor fit for the data, so it was revised on the basis of theory and modification indices. The research design for the collective sample, the Black African sample, and the African American sample respectively resulted in similar fit indices and path relationships. All three models illustrated a weak direct effect between religious orientation and social integration. Also, all three designs illustrated a moderate direct relationship between racial identity attitude and social integration. Conclusion It can be contended that within the college milieu the status of one’s racial identity attitude has the potential to influence interpersonal relationships with peers in the boarder social context (Sanchez & Gilbert, 2016). The results also illustrate similarities in racial scores between groups. Lastly, it should be noted that in spite of the comparable racial identity scores, in this study Black African college students have distinctive cultural contexts and identities that have been retained and resulted in much less assimilation to mainstream social norms of the US society (Portes & Fernandez-Kelly, 2008). These distinctive identities should not be discounted since they may have a significant impact on individual and social functioning within the academic setting

Survey of the Great Kanawha River, West Virginia, for Virulence Related Gene Markers stx1, stx2, and eaeA

Microbial surveying using antibiotic resistant bacteria, fecal coliforms, and virulence genes is an approach not previously tested on the Great Kanawha River. Research objectives were to test antibiotic resistant and fecal coliform bacteria as bioindicators of water quality, and develop a multiplex- polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) system for identification of stx1, stx2, and eaeA DNA sequences in isolated fecal coliforms (FC). Fecal indicator populations and antibiotic resistant populations were demonstrated to be independent. Bacterial populations were assigned impact score(s) (IS) values for each sample site based on data set percent ranks. Population scores were summed per sample site to generate Relative IS, used to visualize water variability. Relative IS95 for both seasons were at about zero between river miles (RM) 95-60 (toward origin), reach highest levels at RM 55-45 and return to levels similar to those toward the origin for RM 35-00 (toward mouth). Trends appear to be occurring in approximately the same locations although not with the same level of impact. Spring versus summer Relative IS95 comparisons show no significant correlations (P ≥ 0.05). A total of 13 (12.0%) of 108 mPCR assayed FC isolates were positive for at least one target gene sequence. Two of the 13 were carriers of multiple target genes. No isolates were carriers of all three target genes. Similar IS seasonal patterns show the use of this impact score index to identify areas of poor water quality is independent of sampling season tested as long as samples are collected during similar flow regimes

Matching Made in Heaven: Collections and Metadata Collaboration for Print Preservation

Following the trend of repurposing library space to meet modern user needs, Western University is undergoing a planned revitalization and renovation of its largest library on campus. As a result, 500,000 items will need to be shifted to other locations or off-site storage. In this session we will outline the impact of metadata work in shifting this large collection of material to a shared print preservation storage facility, in coordination with Western University’s Keep@Downsview partnership (https://downsviewkeep.org/). Keep@Downsview is a partnership of five universities to preserve the scholarly record in Ontario in a shared, high-density storage and preservation facility. We will demonstrate the importance of collaboration and communication between Collections Librarians and Metadata Librarians to improve identification of materials for shared print preservation. While past Charleston conference presentations have discussed weeding legacy print collections, this session will focus on the importance of metadata matching processes. Speaking from experience at Western University, we will identify the types of tools and skills that we use to facilitate this work (such as MarcEdit, Excel, Python, OpenRefine, Google Sheets, and regular expressions). In highlighting the value of metadata for collections based projects, attendees will walk away with talking points to advocate for quality metadata at their institution and with vendors

COMPARING ANALYSES OF UNBALANCED SPLIT-PLOT EXPERIMENTS

Several procedures for constructing confidence intervals and testing hypotheses about fixed effects in unbalanced split-plot experiments have previously been presented and discussed by Remmenga and Johnson. They recommended a few of the procedures they considered as useful and reliable procedures. Since the advent of the SAS® MIXED procedure, mixed model analyses with REML estimates of the variance components are easily accessible to researchers. This paper compares the analysis of unbalanced split-plot experiments using mixed model procedures with REML estimates of the variance components to the previously established procedures by means of additional simulation studies