Explaining the Revolution: Vernacular Discourse and the Tipping Point in America’s 2006 Midterm Election

The 2006 midterm election marked perhaps the first time that the American public held the Bush administration accountable for its controversial actions. Various explanations have been offered for the backlash, ranging from public concern about the war to disgust over sex scandals involving prominent conservatives. In this essay, through analysis of vernacular discourse appearing in letters to the editor from USA Today, I argue that the election results stemmed from Bush’s weakening credibility – in respect to the dimensions of honesty, competence, and moderation – which limited the effectiveness of his rhetoric that was so powerful since September 11th

Deeds Done in Different Words: A Genre-Based Approach to Third Party Presidential Campaign Discourse

Theories about political campaign communication have been based primarily on an understanding of the two-party system. Consequently, the rhetoric of third party presidential candidates has been seen as ineffective or unimportant because it violates the norms of political discourse. I maintain that this leads to a critical misunderstanding and under-appreciation for third party campaign rhetoric, since scholars too often ignore the situational barriers and perceived strategic constraints that these candidates routinely encounter. In the first two chapters of this project, I identify the purposes of third party campaigns and argue that the rhetorical style of serious minor party candidates is fundamentally different than the style of traditional incumbents and challengers. Functioning as agitators for change, third party presidential candidates use a rhetorical style that is polarizing, populist, rich in markers of authenticity, and aimed at producing public spectacle. In three additional chapters, I argue that the constraints, purposes, and rhetorical style that make third party candidates distinct from their major party counterparts means that even the most significant rhetorical moments of their campaign - the announcement statement, nomination acceptance speech, and concession - will violate the traditional norms of each genre. These differences suggest the existence of norms that are unique to third party discourse. As such, variants for each genre as they pertain to minor party candidates are described in detail, and applied to several case studies

When Water Works: A Case Study of Campaign Tears and the 2008 Presidential Election

Since the fall of Senator Ed Muskie in the 1972 Democratic primary there has been an unwritten rule that political candidates should avoid crying. However, four presidential candidates cried in ten separate incidents during the 2008 election cycle, with only three episodes receiving negative attention. Addressing this inconsistency in the “Muskie rule,” in this essay I argue the effect of crying on a political candidate’s image is not well understood. As such, this essay develops and applies a framework for comprehending when crying will likely trigger a public relations crisis, and when it might actually benefit a candidate

Utility of Phylloplanins as Antibiotics, Selective Fungicides and for Enhancing Microbial Resistance in Crop Plants

The invention is directed to methods and compositions that inhibit pathogen proliferation. More particularly, these methods and compositions involve the use of phylloplane proteins as antibiotics against human and animal pathogens

Method Utilizing the Tobacco Phylloplanin Promoter for Expression of Nucleic Acids as Gene Products Directed to Aerial Surfaces of Plants

A method and system is provided for generating excreted gene products in a plant which includes generating a nucleic acid fusion construct comprising a phylloplanin promoter and a selected non-phylloplanin nucleic acid sequence whose transcription product is to be expressed and delivered to an aerial surface of a plant. The method includes transfecting plant cells with the nucleic acid fusion construct and allowing the plant cells to express the non-phylloplanin nucleic acid sequence transcription product which is then excreted from the plant cells to the aerial surfaces

Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Captive Northern Galagos (Otolemur garnettii) Fed Experimental “Frugivorous� and “Invertebrate� Diets

Otolemur garnettii are small (~ 770g), semi-solitary, omnivorous primates and although there have been studies examining the behavioral ecology of the species very little is known about its diet. This is due in part to the species cryptic nature, fast and sporadic movements, and nocturnal activity patterns. To address this gap in the literature this study employs stable isotope analysis (SIA) on a captive population (n=11) of O. garnettii that resided at the University of Southern Mississippi to examine dietary patterns and establish feces-diet isotopic fractionation. Over a six-week period, the population was fed experimental diets that mimic the seasonal availability of food resources, these diets have been traditionally referred to as ‘frugivory’ and ‘insectivory.’ As part of a larger galago digestibility project examining the nutritional properties of these foods and feces, this study used isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) to additionally record the stable carbon (�13C) and stable nitrogen (�15N) values of these samples. I hypothesize that the �13C and �15N values of the feces will track the dietary changes presented to the galagos and that each diet will be isotopically distinct from one another. This study revealed that inter-individual variation in the digestibility of the diets can be identified but may not lead to an overall significant degree of difference among a large captive colony, isotopically speaking. This study demonstrated that even short-term dietary changes can be tracked accurately using SIA which is an important result for field primatologists studying free-ranging galagos and other small, nocturnal strepsirrhine primates. The implementation of these methods in field settings may prove useful to researchers attempting to understand nonhuman primate dietary patterns across time which has become increasingly more difficult to observe as primate populations decline globally

Genetic Evidence for Two New Species of Salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus complex)

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Phylogeography and Cryptic Diversity of Slimy Salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus complex) in the Interior Highlands

Cameron W. Robicheaux, Ryan A. Philobos, and Pedro Simoncini are undergraduate students in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University. Donald B. Shepard is and Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University

Historical Biogeography of the Western Slimy Salamander (Plethodon albagula)

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Demographic Responses to Pleistocene Climate Change in Interior Highlands Woodland Salamanders (Genus Plethodon)

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