An evaluation and comparison of the Horowhenua and Tararua Community Alcohol Action Programmes (CAAP) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

In New Zealand, Community Alcohol Action Programmes (CAAP) have emerged to address the high number of alcohol-related road injuries and fatalities. The present study is an evaluation and comparison of the Horowhenua and Tararua CAAP programmes. Subjects (n=175) from several different groups within these communities were interviewed and observational studies of licensed premises (n=36) were used to collect data. Statistical analysis (chi-square) was conducted to see whether one programme had been more successful in meeting its aims and objectives than the other. Few statistically significant differences were found indicating that the programmes were on the whole similar. However, prior to the commencement of this piece of research, a number of potential problems concerning the evaluations were identified. These relate mainly to the fact that the evaluation of the programmes had not been planned for before they were implemented. It was concluded that the citizens involved in community action programmes often have little awareness of research design and evaluation. This can limit the utility of such programmes and make it difficult to draw valid or reliable conclusions concerning their efficacy

Is it true that a Norbertine once served in Congress?

Abbot Pennings answers a question about Fr. Robert Cornell, archived from St. Norbert College

The Silurian strata of the Howgill Fells

[From the Introduction:]The Howgill Fells form a most distinct topographical feature extending from N.W.Yorkshire into Westmorland. In plan they occupy a broadly triangular area with the town of Sedbergh at the southern apex. Tebay forms the north western limit of the fells and Ravenstonedale village the north east. The broad, flat Ravenstonedale valley between the village of the same name and Tebay in the west, bounds the northern edge of the hills whilst the deep valley of the R.Lune between Tebay and Sedbergh effectively demarcates the western margin. The Cautley valley in the east, which forms the pass through to Ravenstonedale from Sedbergh, is at a somewhat higher level than the Lune valley and has a watershed east of Barter Fell. The fells themselves stand out in marked contrast to the Carboniferous country to the east and north, and consist of deeply dissected rounded hills rising to well over 1500 in most cases, whilst Great Dummacks and The Calf.exceed 2000'.The writer has mapped in detail an area in the eastern half of the fells some 6 miles long by 3-4 miles. wide and has carried out reconnaisance mapping in the rest of the fells. In the north the detailed map extends from the Cautley valley as far west as Bowderdale, and in the south almost as far west as the River Lune. The area is covered by the following Ordnance Survey 6" sheets:- SD69 NW,NE,SW,SE; SD79 NW,SW; NY60 NE,NW,SW,SE and NY70 SW. Text fig.1a illustrates the geographical and geological setting of the area. The Silurian rocks of the northern part of the Howgill Fells are overlain unconformably by Carboniferous conglomerates; limestones and shales, the actual unconformity being well exposed in several stream sections. To the east the Silurian and Ordovician are faulted against Carboniferous rocks along the line of the Dent Fault, whilst to the south the unconformable red conglomerate at the base of the Carboniferous forms a natural geological boundary. The Ordovician rocks are exposed in a series of complicated inliers in the Cautley valley and these are succeeded to the north and west by successively higher Silurian divisions until the Bannisdale Slates are seen in the region of the R.Lune, N.W. of Sedbergh and in the gentle slopes into Ravenstonedale. To the south of Sedbergh are the Barbon and Middleton Fells, again consisting predominantly of Silurian strata, and to the west the main Lake District outcrop of the Silurian

Counting intersection numbers of closed geodesics on Shimura curves

Let $\Gamma\backslash\mathbb{H}$ be a Shimura curve, where $\Gamma$ corresponds to the group of units of norm $1$ in an Eichler order $\mathrm{O}$ of an indefinite quaternion algebra over $\mathbb{Q}$. Closed geodesics on $\Gamma\backslash\mathbb{H}$ correspond to optimal embeddings of real quadratic orders into $\mathrm{O}$. The intersection numbers of pairs of these closed geodesics conjecturally relates to the work of Darmon and Vonk on a real quadratic analogue to $j(\tau_1)-j(\tau_2)$. In this paper, we study the total intersection number over all embeddings of a given pair of discriminants $D_1, D_2$. We precisely describe the arithmetic of each intersection, and produce a formula for the total intersection of $D_1, D_2$. This formula is a real quadratic analogue of the work of Gross and Zagier on factorizing $\text{nrd}(j(\tau_1)-j(\tau_2))$. The results are fairly general, allowing for a large class of non-maximal Eichler orders, and non-fundamental/non-coprime discriminants. The paper ends with some explicit examples illustrating the results of the paper.Comment: 43 pages, 1 figure, 11 table

A very British spectacle? : critical reception of the fantasy genre within contemporary British cinema

In the period since 2001, cinema has witnessed what David Butler refers to as a ‘golden age’ of fantasy film production. The majority of fantasy films released during this time have originated from British literature, and have to some extent been produced and located within Britain, showcasing a wealth of national characters, acting talent, and landscapes on screen. Yet, despite vital revisionist work conducted on British horror, science fiction and melodrama, there remains a hesitancy to embrace fantasy as a genre intrinsically connected with national cinema and domestic film production values. This thesis applies the contention that perceptions and understandings of British film and fantasy are influenced by the critical ‘writing machine’, which informs existing tensions between aesthetics, genre and film production, and also wider meanings attached to ideas around national identity and representation. However, this study argues that such discursive processes do not function as a homogenous entity and instead are prone to fluctuation across different critical sites and at different ‘moments’ in time. In order to determine how British cinema and fantasy genre are appropriated by the critical ‘writing machine’, this research adopts a historical reception studies approach to examine meanings and associations as generated by the contemporary British mainstream press in the subsequent decade since 2001 onwards. Building on work conducted by Barbara Klinger and Kate Egan, amongst others, this thesis examines a broad range of critical materials, including press reviews and film-related articles, which circulated across a national, regional and local spectrum of mainstream distribution. This research contributes to existing scholarship by investigating how the critical ‘writing machine’ operates to inform and influence cultural appropriations of British cinema and fantasy genre, and considers how these meanings can shift over time

What happened to the ropes course on campus?

Abbot Pennings answers a question about the Outdoor Leadership Center that once was on campus, archived from the SNC website

Near-Surface Shear-Wave Velocity Measurements in Unlithified Sediment

Shear-wave (S-wave) velocity can be directly correlated to material stiff¬ness making it a valuable physical property that has found uses in construction, engineering, and envi-ronmental projects. This study compares three different methods, Multi¬channel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW), S-wave tomography, and downhole seismic for measuring S-wave velocities, investigates and identi¬fies the differences among the methods' results, and pri¬oritizes the different methods for S-wave use at the U. S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds (YPG) north of Yuma, AZ. A large signal-to-noise ratio and a layered depositional architecture at the study site gives the MASW method much potential, but higher-mode energy resulting from velocity discontinuities reduces the effectiveness of the method shallower than 20 ft. First arrival analysis provides evidence of a velocity discontinuity within the first 10 feet of unconsolidated sediment. S-wave first arrivals were picked using impulsive sledgehammer data which were then used for both tomographic inversion and refraction analysis. Three-component downhole seismic data were collected by using a locking geophone coupled with the borehole casing to estimate seismic velocities directly. This study helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each of these methods at sites similar to YPG. MASW results show a low-velocity layer at a depth of about 50 feet that is verified by downhole seismic data and is undetectable through traditional refraction tomography. However S-wave refraction tomography provides more convincing results at shallow depths where the MASW method fails. Using both methods in an integrated fashion provide the most accurate depiction of S-wave velocity characteristics in the shallow unconsolidated sediments at YPG