Drag me down

This thesis is a creative project titled Drag Me Down. Though labeled a poetry collection, the project is a hybrid of multiple genres. The bulk of the collection consists of prose poetry that follows a narrative of two romantic relationships beginning and ending, as well as a protagonist attempting to reclaim her self-esteem and confidence both internally as a woman and externally within a relationship. The rise and fall actions of these power struggles lead to the collection being divided into a three-arc narrative akin to a novel. Each arc is set off with microfictions and short stories that harken to the tradition of memoir writing. Along with each arc, a theme follows the protagonist's struggles, echoing the poetic heritage found within the prose poetry. Through the undefined quality of the collection's structure as well as the power struggles, Drag Me Down displays a familiarity in its subject matter that immerses the reader in something they nearly could have experienced themselves

The metaphysics of Wilbur M. Urban

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University1. PROBLEM AND METHOD This investigation is an attempt to organize and evaluate the metaphysical system contained in the writings of Wilbur M. Urban by an examination of his theory of knowledge, of value, and of reality. 2. SUMMARY OF THE INVESTIGATION For Urban the metaphysical task is the interpretation of the totality of experience and its co-implicates. All knowledge must include both the intuitive element of experience and "value intent" in order to be intelligible. Fact and value cannot be separated. Their union is the axiom of intelligibility, the criterion of truth and reality. In his early thought, Urban analyzed value psychologically. He defined values as funded affective-volitional meanings. But, later he concluded that psychological analyses of value presuppose the value of life. Furthermore, the truth-seeker presupposes the value of knowledge. These two value-presuppositions are a priori. Though he still held that value-qualities are known through emotions, Urban believed that the values themselves are known by intellectual intuition as objective validities, which, in turn, are ultimately conceive as norms in the mind of God. Since positivism and naturalism neglect the value component in meaning, Urban turned to idealism and realism for metaphysical guidance. At the core of all idealisms and realisms Urban found value-presuppositions-mind-dependence in idealisms and mind-independence in realisms. Since Urban believes there is no conflict between these presuppositions, he synthesizes idealism and realism into the view that subject and object are interconnected in knowing. This epistemological dualism leads Urban to think that mind and matter constitute a metaphysical dualism. Nevertheless, Urban believes that reality must be one; ens est unum, verum, bonum. Substance, as the principle of unity, is the basic category of being; causality is the basic category of value. As the mind seeks wider and wider unities it finally reaches God as its widest possible concept. Intelligibility demands the unity of being and value as its axiom. Intelligibility also ultimately demands the unity of matter and mind and of subject and object. But human reason reaches its limitation here and cannot gain the full unity of reality. At this point Urban moves beyond reason and gains the unity by "trenching on the mystical." In mystical experience all distinctions disappear, and God is intuited as a fusion of all reality in one great Eternal Now. 3. CONCLUSIONS 1. Urban's most important contribution is his emphasis on value as central to all knowledge, especially to metaphysics. 2. Urban's basic difficulty is his presuppositional method. If interpretation of experience is what is at stake his system might better have been constructed from the totality of all experience. However, the presuppositions method led Urban to de-temporalize experience at the level of its metaphysical interpretation. De-temporalization left his concept of God in the following serious confusion. 3. Urbsn was led to a divided notion of God. The first notion, based on experience, sees God as temporal, finite, personal, mutable. The second, based on the demand for unity, for de-temporalization, and for an absolute status for values, sees God as timeless, infinite, impersonal, unchanging. Urban escaped his "dilemma" only by a final appeal to mysticism in which incompatibles are somehow united. However, the divided concept of God and the abandonment of reason at a crucial point would not have been necessary if Urban could have seen that life and knowledge are experienced to be valuable. Then the presuppositions method would not have been necessary, and Urban would not have had to hold to the absolute status of values

Factors and potential barriers that influence educators' decisions to adopt and implement Web-based curriculum materials

This study examined the factors that influenced educators in their decisions to pursue the idea of designing WWW-based curriculum materials, as well as their perceptions of the potential barriers to their implementation of Web-based curriculum materials. These influential factors and potential barriers were identified by surveying the participants of a workshop on designing Web-based curriculum materials sponsored by the Iowa-US West Teacher Technology Project. Overall, the three most influential factors in the decision to implement Web-based curriculum materials were (a) integrating Web instruction into the curriculum or classroom, (b) creating positive effects on students and student learning, and (c) collaborating with other educators. The most likely barriers to implementing Web-based curriculum materials were (a) having time to complete the project, (b) the logistics of getting everyone together, (c) taking on too big a project, and possessing the skills, knowledge,experience, or creativity to complete the project. Results of this study should be considered in future attempts to diffuse the innovation of Web-based curriculum materials

Command Interface ASIC - Analog Interface ASIC Chip Set

A command interface application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and an analog interface ASIC have been developed as a chip set for remote actuation and monitoring of a collection of switches, which can be used to control generic loads, pyrotechnic devices, and valves in a high-radiation environment. The command interface ASIC (CIA) can be used alone or in combination with the analog interface ASIC (AIA). Designed primarily for incorporation into spacecraft control systems, they are also suitable for use in high-radiation terrestrial environments (e.g., in nuclear power plants and facilities that process radioactive materials). The primary role of the CIA within a spacecraft or other power system is to provide a reconfigurable means of regulating the power bus, actuating all valves, firing all pyrotechnic devices, and controlling the switching of power to all switchable loads. The CIA is a mixed-signal (analog and digital) ASIC that includes an embedded microcontroller with supporting fault-tolerant switch control and monitoring circuitry that is capable of connecting to a redundant set of interintegrated circuit (I(sup 2)C) buses. Commands and telemetry requests are communicated to the CIA. Adherence to the I(sup 2)C bus standard helps to reduce development costs by facilitating the use of previously developed, commercially available components. The AIA is a mixed-signal ASIC that includes the analog circuitry needed to connect the CIA to a custom higher powered version of the I(sup 2)C bus. The higher-powered version is designed to enable operation with bus cables longer than those contemplated in the I(sup 2)C standard. If there are multiple higher-power I(sup 2)C-like buses, then there must an AIA between the CIA and each such bus. The AIA includes two identical interface blocks: one for the side-A I(sup 2)C clock and data buses and the other for the side B buses. All the AIAs on each side are powered from a common power converter module (PCM). Sides A and B of the I(sup 2)C buses are electrically isolated from each other (see figure). They are also isolated from the CIA by use of transformer coupling of signals between the AIA blocks and the CIA

Peace Is Not the Absence of Conflict, but the Presence of Justice

An issue seldom, if ever, addressed regarding the conflict in Iraq is the role of the Iraqi criminal justice system in addressing acts of terrorism. The figures of "detainees" or "enemy combatants" held by the United States have been widely published, but little comment has been made regarding the challenges facing a small judicial system attempting to function in a war zone. Most of the judges assigned to the major crimes courts live in the same community where the court is located and have modest, if any, special security for their families. This short account details the conflict between the competing political interests grasping for power in post-Saddam Iraq and how the first "Traveling Judges Court," or Task Force Zorro, made an impact in northern Iraq. Once the citizens of Mosul learned of a truly independent court making rulings on the evidence, and not as the result of political or sectarian influence, confidence in the government rose dramatically and cooperation in the identification of terrorists and their "safe houses" became significant. There are no easy solutions to the problems in Iraq. This article addresses some of the "minority" populations living in Iraq, such as the Turkish Kurds and Iranian revolutionaries, whose future is directly dependent upon the role of the United States, and it explores the Rule of Law as a pivotal component in achieving a lasting peac

Interventions for Parental Misconduct in Hmong Culture

Color poster with text and tables.There Is very little research on Hmong parenting styles and child maltreatment; what is published is descriptive and not based on data. There is no research that assesses what action would be taken by Hmong parents if any abuse had occurred. The purpose of this study was to determine if child abuse was perceived in a parenting situation, what action would be taken.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Hmong Sexual Taboos : Hidden Secrets for the Preservation of Reputation

Color poster with text, images, and tables.The purpose of this study was to uncover Hmong parenting beliefs and perceptions of sexual taboos specifically towards sexual abuse.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs