Speaking Out Despite White Noise: Examining the Leadership of African American Female Technical College Presidents and Vice Presidents

The purpose of this phenomenological, qualitative study was to explore the experiences of African American female leaders in higher education. More specifically, this study examined the experiences of these leaders who assume the role of presidents and vice presidents at Georgia technical colleges. The study contextualized the experiences of these leaders and illustrated how those experiences influence their leadership methods and the establishment of their leadership presence. The results of this study form a context for understanding the leadership methods of African American female leaders

Globalization of Higher Education in Senegal

This paper marks the changes that have taken place in the Senegalese higher education system. As Senegalese citizens and leaders have worked diligently to improve their economy and society as a whole, they have experienced a great deal of obstacles in moving forward. Throughout this process, education has been an important aspect to improving the economic and social development of the country. Included in this economic, social, and educational overhaul, higher education was a component that required a great deal of work. In order to contend in the global society, the higher education system needed to be reformed. This paper, included a discussion of the reformation process of Senegal’s higher education from the French model at the heart of its inception to the adoption of the Bologna process. This process has allowed higher education in Senegal to become better with time and grow in its success

BENCH-SCALE, MULTIFILAMENT SPINNING CONDITIONS EFFECT ON THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF POLYACRYLONITRILE PRECURSOR FIBER

Due to its unique characteristics, carbon fiber is one of the leading materials for light weight, high strength and stiffness applications in composite materials. The development of carbon fibers approaching theoretical strengths and stiffness is a continuing process which has led to improved mechanical and physical properties over the recent years. Improvements in carbon fiber properties are directly dependent on the quality of the precursor fiber. Research and development of PAN precursor fiber requires extensive experimentation to determine how processing conditions affect the structure and properties of the precursor fibers. Therefore, it is the goal of this thesis to analyze the results of varying coagulation rates on fiber shape, density and porosity, to determine the effect of cross-sectional shape, density, and fiber diameter on the tensile strength of the fiber, and to investigate the most effective method for the reduction of fiber diameter. Results indicate a low temperature, high solvent concentration coagulating bath leads to a rounder cross section with lower void content. Reduction in fiber diameter was found to increase tensile strength while increased molecular orientation experienced during high draw down ratios led to an increase in fiber modulus

Blindspotting and COVID: The Gentrification of Racism

The novel Coronavirus is not only exposing old patterns of racism and systemic inequalities, but deepening them as well. The notion of blindspotting, as described in the film by the same name, is used to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the “spiritual emergency” or crisis of racism in America. Blindspotting is an image or situation that can be interpreted in two ways but is understood by some in only one way, thereby producing a blind spot. In 2020 and 2021, we see segments of American society, from politics to white Christian nationalism, upholding a sacred canopy of exceptionalism by blindspotting, equivocating, or denying two uniquely collocated issues disproportionately impacting communities of color: firstly, racism and police brutality, emblematized in 2020 by George Floyd and Breonna Taylor; and secondly, COVID-19 - not only the very nature of the virus but also its effects on people of color. Just as Blindspotting depicts the oppressive architectures of police violence and gentrification’s effects on a community, the denial of these two separate yet related crises can be seen as a type of sacrifice and “gentrification” of both the reality and the narrative of communities of color

Development Roots of Mindfulness: An Attachment Based Perspective on the Origins of Mindfulness and Reflective Functioning through the Parent-Child Relationship, a Mixed-Methods Analysis

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Ashley N. Morris July 11, 2016

The Development of Structural Hollow Carbon Fibers from a Multifilament Segmented Arc Spinneret: Precursors, Oxidation, and Carbonization

Carbon fiber is an ideal material for structural applications requiring high strength and stiffness and low weight. Yet it has seen only incremental improvements in properties over the last few decades. Carbon fibers remain limited in attaining their theoretical tensile strength and modulus, largely due to defects in their structure, some of which stem from the fiber production process itself. Through the mitigation of defect formation as well as approaches to decrease fiber linear density, it is hypothesized that carbon fiber with enhanced specific properties, including specific strength and modulus, could be produced which would significantly propel its unique capabilities. One approach to produce high specific property carbon fibers is the development of hollow carbon fibers. The development of hollow carbon fibers for use in structural applications has not been widely explored. The most successful methods to date rely on multicomponent spinning with sacrificial polymers and complex spinneret geometries. A more simplistic, scalable, and economical approach is the use of a segmented arc - shaped spinneret. Traditionally, segmented arc spinnerets have been used for melt or dry spinning hollow fibers. To the author’s knowledge, only three references exist describing its use in a solution spinning process for the production of hollow fiber precursors from polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The development of structural hollow carbon fibers from such precursors represents a new technology requiring extensive research in the development of the hollow fiber precursors, as well as their subsequent oxidation and carbonization. In this work, a method for the multifilament spinning of hollow PAN fibers using a segmented arc spinneret is described. This includes the coagulation, washing, drawing, and spooling of PAN hollow fiber and the effect of each on hollow fiber formation, structure, and properties. In particular, the impact of the coagulation bath composition is explored. Here, the resultant hollow fibers approached the specific tensile performance of traditional solid precursors. Utilizing these continuous tows of multifilament PAN hollow fibers, oxidation studies were undertaken to determine the capability of the hollow filaments, aided by oxidation from the interior, to oxidize at an increased rate compared to traditional solid fibers. The impact of open interior volume as a percent of the total fiber volume on oxidation was studied. In addition, the mechanisms behind the development of a skin-core structure in the hollow fiber wall are explored and mitigation methods proposed. The final part of the work focuses on the carbonization of oxidized hollow fibers. The structural parameters of hollow carbon fibers are compared to commercially available solid carbon fibers, with their resulting specific tensile properties compared. A direct comparison is made between hollow fibers and solid fibers with similar outer diameter with regard to their oxidation, carbonization, and resulting morphology and tensile performance. Finally, recommendations are made for continued improvement of the precursor, oxidized, and carbonized hollow filaments to achieve smaller precursor dimensions, faster oxidation rates, less skin-core formation, and higher specific tensile properties

Case Study of an Art Intervention for Older Foster Youth

Fostering Art is a photography intervention for adolescent foster youth. Participants in the evaluation study completed a pretest at the start and a posttest upon completion of the one-year program. Seven participants completed both the pre and posttest in their first year of the program. Data about demographics, general feelings, and expression of feelings, as well as standardized measures of self-esteem and stress were collected.,. Results suggest that alternatives to traditional mental health treatment for older foster youth, such as a photography class, may be an effective method of providing stability and continuity for these vulnerable youth

Within and among population genetic variation in Fagus grandifolia within Great Smoky Mountains National Park

In this study I use ISSR markers to assess levels of genetic variation within and among populations of Fagus grandifolia in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). I specifically test the following questions: 1) Do high elevation populations of F. grandifolia in GSMNP reproduce more frequently by root sprouting than by seed, resulting in fewer genets than ramets within a population? 2) Do low elevation populations of F. grandifolia in GSMNP reproduce more fi^equently by seed than by root sprouting, resulting in a relatively equal number of ramets and genets within a population? 3) Are high elevation populations of F. grandifolia in GSMNP genetically distinct from low elevation populations? and 4) Is an absence of beech scale (Cryptococcus fagisuga) infection on an individual tree in an otherwise infected stand correlated with genotype as a result of genetic resistance? The data collected in this research suggest that there is more genetic differentiation among high and low elevations than within high or low elevations sites, clonal reproduction is not limited to high elevation sites, and there is little evidence for genetic resistance in the trees sampled

Using Culture to Enhance Foreign Language Learning

The thesis is concerned with the contribution and incorporation of the teaching of culture into the foreign language classroom. More specifically, some consideration will be given to the why and how of teaching culture. It will be demonstrated that teaching a foreign language is not tantamount to giving a homily on syntactic structures or learning new vocabulary and expressions, but mainly incorporates, or should incorporate, some cultural elements, which are intertwined with language itself. Furthermore, we will show how teachers incorporate culture into the classroom using current techniques and methods The main premise of the paper is that effective communication is more than a matter of language proficiency and that, apart from enhancing and enriching communicative competence, cultural competence can also lead to empathy and respect toward different culturesas well as promote objectivity and cultural discernment