CAN\u27T BE BROKEN: THE SURVIVAL OF BLACK GIRLS IN A BROKEN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

CAN\u27T BE BROKEN: THE SURVIVAL OF BLACK GIRLS IN A BROKEN EDUCATIONAL SYSTE

What role we, as Negro youth of America, could play : a new history of the Louisville NAACP youth, 1937-1955.

Utilizing the archival Papers of the NAACP, The Louisville Leader, and The Crisis, this thesis narrates the history of the youth arm of the NAACP in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1937 until 1955, previously undocumented in the written record. First organized in September 1937, the Louisville NAACP Youth Council, alongside the college chapter at Louisville Municipal College, sponsored an anti-lynching campaign in 1938. The Youth Council also attended the 29th annual NAACP conference in 1938, and sent a delegate to the National Anti-War Youth Congress in 1939. These activities were situated in a historical moment that saw the proliferation of interracial coalitions, and were reflective of a youth activist trend in the 1930s that centered on protesting racism at home and fascism abroad. During the first half of the 1940s, war and migration influenced the Louisville NAACP youth arm’s political activity. Divided into a West End Youth Council and an East End Youth Council, the groups centered their work on protesting educational inequities and agitating for increased political rights for African Americans. In the postwar period, with the emergence of an interracial college chapter, the youth continued to campaign for racial equality, but their activities would curtail, and ultimately end, by the Red Scare that swept the country from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. One of the first studies of a local NAACP youth group, this thesis offers a contribution to the literature on black youth activism during the early period of the Civil Rights Movement and the role of the NAACP in the black freedom struggle. The findings highlight the significance of social location in research on social movements

Poverty Deconcentration Priorities in Low-Income Housing Policy: A Content Analysis of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Qualified Allocation Plans

Structural inequalities within the social and economic environment have wide reaching impacts on the housing conditions of the poor. These households are marginalized by swelling housing cost burdens, shelter insufficiency, and sociospatial restriction to the lowest income communities. Housing research has examined the correlation between policy and the social location of low-income individuals. However, very little research analyzes the intersection of low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) policy design and sociospatial trends among low-income households. Using content analysis, the purpose of this dissertation is to determine whether the policy documents that guide allocation of the LIHTC encourage poverty deconcentration. The research questions are (a) How have states represented sociospatial themes in their low-income housing tax credit allocation plans and do these sociospatial themes emphasize poverty deconcentration? (b) How have these priorities changed over time? and (c) Are there correlations between changes in poverty concentration and emphasis of poverty deconcentration within state low-income housing qualified allocation plan designs? The findings of this study suggest that: (1) The social constructs embedded into the QAP policy instrument design confines understanding of the LIHTC program to advantaged and contender social groups; (2) Sociospatial themes have evolved between 2000 and 2010. There was a significant shift from 2000 to 2010 with the inclusion of priorities related to the accessibility of transportation and the quality of services within targeted communities; (3) Poverty deconcentration themes represented approximately 27 percent of the sociospatial themes in 2000 and 2010. There was a marginal change in the weight of these themes over time. (4) There were correlations between changes in MSA poverty concentration and poverty deconcentration priorities within QAP. The direction and the degree of these changes were correlated with region and political ideology. This study shows that opportunities exist to enhance outcomes within the documents that guide allocation of LIHTC. Doing so could serve as an important step toward improving the well-being of low-income households

Can Fear Be Effectively Assessed in Swine? A Study Measuring Fear Levels during a Human Approach Test

This study evaluated the effect of experience and social companionship on the degree of fearfulness in pigs during a human approach test. Experience had no significant effect on fearfulness of pigs while social companionship significantly decreased number of vocalizations (156 (unpaired) vs. 54 sec (paired) P \u3c 0.05), latency to enter within 1 meter (97 (unpaired) vs. 50 sec (paired) P \u3c0.05), and 0.5 meter (133 (unpaired) vs. 70 sec (paired) P \u3c 0.05), as well as significantly increased number of contact bouts (5.7 (unpaired) vs. 7.75 (paired) P \u3c 0.05). These results suggest that experience with a novel environment and novel human will not necessarily decrease fear, but the social environment does play a large role in decreasing fearfulness in pigs. Producers can use the human approach test to evaluate levels of fear and implement positive management strategies to decrease fearfulness in the herd

Examining the Relationship Between Multicultural Training and Cultural Humility Development in CACREP-Accredited Counselor Education Programs

To account for and adjust to the diversifying communities in the United States, CACREP, the ACA, and AMCD are making strides to increase counselor competence. Their efforts have involved incorporating standards that govern counselor training and practice to ensure counselors’ development of multicultural competence. In recent literature, researchers have proposed cultural humility development to further enhance the development of counselor cultural awareness and sensitivity, however there are minimal studies exploring the relationship between current multicultural training practices and the development of cultural humility characteristics of counselor trainees’ in CACREP-accredited counselor education programs. The current study has two primary aims: (1) to review the literature on multicultural practices that specifically focus on developing counselor trainees’ cultural humility, (2) to explore the relationship between multicultural training, broaching behaviors, and development of counselor trainees’ cultural humility using a survey design study, and (3) to explore the relationship between experiencing culturally missed opportunities and cultural humility development in counselor education programs. A correlational research design using latent variable modeling will explore relationships between cultural humility development and the current training practices of counselor trainees within counselor education. Anticipated findings of this study are (1) there will be a positive relationship between current multicultural training practices and counselor trainees’ development of cultural humility; (2) there will be a positive association between broaching behaviors and counselor trainees’ development of cultural humility and (3) culturally missed opportunities will have a mediating effect on multicultural training practices, broaching behaviors, and cultural humility development. Lastly, implications of these anticipated findings within CACREP-accredited counselor education programs and the counseling profession will be highlighted

More comfortable online? Alexithymia and social media use

poster abstractAbstract: Alexithymia includes difficulty identifying and describing emotions, limited imaginative ability, and a tendency to focus attention on external reality versus inner experience (Taylor, Bagby, & Parker, 1991, 1997). Alexithymia is one feature of low emotional intelligence (Bar-on, 1996, 1997; Parker, Taylor, & Bagby, 2001). There has been limited, conflicting research on the topic of emotional intelligence and social media usage. For example, emotionally intelligent people tend to use Facebook more overall (Bektas, Toros, & Miman, 2014), but tend to use MySpace less for communicating with romantic partners (Dong, Urista, & Gundrum, 2008). Thus, we tentatively hypothesize that alexithymia may be associated with more social media usage because it may be more difficult for these individuals to form strong in-person relationships (Kauhanen, Kaplan, Julkunen, Wilson & Salonen, 1993). 938 online adults (72% female, Mean age=28.10, 84.8% Caucasian) completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20; Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1993) and self-report measures of social media use as part of a larger study. The mean score on the TAS-20 was 44.88 (SD=10.55), with 82 (8.7%) participants having alexithymia (score >=61). Overall, total alexithymia was positively associated with total social media use, β=.06, p=.05. In terms of type of social media, total alexithymia was marginally associated with Facebook use and Instagram use, βs=.06, ps=.06, but was not associated with Twitter use, β=.03, p=.43. When examining active (posting) verse passive use (checking) of social media, total alexithymia was positively associated with active social media use (posting), β=.06, p=.04, but was not associated with passive social media use (checking), β=.05, p=.14. Alexithymia is associated with higher levels of certain types of social media. Future research should directly measure social media usage, rather than rely on self-report. But to our knowledge, this is the first study to examine question of how alexithymic people use social media

Development of magnetostrictive active members for control of space structures

The goal of this Phase 2 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) project was to determine the technical feasibility of developing magnetostrictive active members for use as truss elements in space structures. Active members control elastic vibrations of truss-based space structures and integrate the functions of truss structure element, actively controlled actuator, and sensor. The active members must control structural motion to the sub-micron level and, for many proposed space applications, work at cryogenic temperatures. Under this program both room temperature and cryogenic temperature magnetostrictive active members were designed, fabricated, and tested. The results of these performance tests indicated that room temperature magnetostrictive actuators feature higher strain, stiffness, and force capability with lower amplifier requirements than similarly sized piezoelectric or electrostrictive active members, at the cost of higher mass. Two different cryogenic temperature magnetostrictive materials were tested at liquid nitrogen temperatures, both with larger strain capability than the room temperature magnetostrictive materials. The cryogenic active member development included the design and fabrication of a cryostat that allows operation of the cryogenic active member in a space structure testbed

A Comparative Content Analysis of Marriage Equality in Television News

Here remains a major vehicle for Americans to obtain news content. By using a massive platform, this medium has shaped policy and debate around controversial issues throughout its inception. Mainstream news consumption influences opinion and perception in contentious topics. Throughout the early Twenty-first century, television news has sustained existing attention to civil rights issues. However, news content has shifted from demographic civil rights claims to same-sex constitutional rights claims, termed marriage equality. In 2014, these issues gathered much attention as a result of the Supreme Court’s non-ruling on five states’ federal appellate court rulings on gay marriage--Indiana, Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin. Moreover, analytical researchers have charged television news organizations with inaccurate framing and depiction of same-sex civil rights issues; and diminished dialogue between editors and reporters in the newsroom who report on the topic (Aarons, Murphy, The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists, Annenberg School for Communication, 2000). Researchers assert television news organizations' coverage of marriage equality, and related issues, highlight a one-two dimensional conflict between official speaking sources that relegate alternative perspectives by relying on standard historic sources (Moscowitz, 2009). For instance, it is widely recognized that legal, medical, religious and political authorities are sought out field-defined official sources by reporters who can provide an authoritative perspective (Alwood, 1996; Bennet, 2000, Gross, 2001). News coverage often reported conflict among these sources in legal and political developments on marriage equality leaving minimal space for the voices of gay and lesbian citizens most impacted by the controversial debate. Additionally, historically reported events depicted members of the gay and lesbian community as sexually deviant and a threat to social order. The purpose of this research study is to build upon previous claims in the depiction of marriage equality and those portrayed in news coverage related to the issue. Drawing from results and recommendations for further analysis produced by previous researchers, this comparative quantitative content analytical study examined the change of attention, news' voice narratives, sourcing initiatives and distinctive claims. The study examined the following national networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and owned and operated local television stations in Philadelphia, PA, as well as one American 24 hours news channel: CNN. The study examined the networks throughout January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2014. Variations existed between participating networks in the presentation of news coverage centrally concerned with the topic. However, the results revealed an alteration in packaging and presentation. Emphasis of attention was employed by all networks, albeit, fewer stories did suggest news coverage as a separate or distinctive claim. Coverage centered in the U.S. relied less on the historical depiction of gays and lesbians as a threat to social order, whereas, international coverage remained resonant in this characteristic. Those fighting for constitutional rights were framed as heteronormative. Heteronormative is strictly defined as the portrayal of gays and lesbians from the perspective of a male-heterosexual prism or the depiction of gays and lesbians as more palatable to a heterosexual society in news coverage. Furthermore, the results indicated official speakers were more likely to present their perspectives in news coverage. However, among the official speaker sources, those in support of marriage-equality were more likely to obtain speaking roles. Lastly, coverage heavily reported ‘cultural and societal shifts’ on the subject and not a ‘cultural divide.’M.S., Television Management -- Drexel University, 201

Iris pigmentation as a quantitative trait: variation in populations of European, East Asian and South Asian ancestry and association with candidate gene polymorphisms

In this study, we present a new quantitative method to measure iris colour based on high‐resolution photographs. We applied this method to analyse iris colour variation in a sample of individuals of East Asian, European and South Asian ancestry. We show that measuring iris colour using the coordinates of the CIELAB colour space uncovers a significant amount of variation that is not captured using conventional categorical classifications, such as ‘brown’, ‘blue’ or ‘green’. We tested the association of a selected panel of polymorphisms with iris colour in each population group. Six markers showed significant associations with iris colour in the European sample, three in the South Asian sample and two in the East Asian sample. We also observed that the marker HERC 2 rs12913832, which is the main determinant of ‘blue’ versus ‘brown’ iris colour in European populations, is also significantly associated with central heterochromia in the European sample