The professionalisation of sports journalism, c1850 to 1939, with particular reference to the career of James Catton

There has been a considerable growth in research in recent years into the history of both journalism and sport, two hugely influential areas of popular culture. The two fields cover a wide spectrum of interests and there is much ground that is common to both. However, studies of journalism and the growth of the newspaper industry have largely ignored the role of the sports journalist and the place of sport within a developing press. Moreover, studies of the expansion of commercial sport and the games-playing habit, whilst touching on the place of the press in their development, and utilising newspapers as primary source material, have paid little or no attention to the place of the sports reporter in the promotion and recording of the sporting sub-culture. This thesis aims to address the shortcoming in current research with a study centring on the growth of the occupation of sports reporting from the mid-Victorian era to the inter-war years. The thesis notes the adoption of sport as a circulation aid by the popular press, considers the type of recruit attracted to sports reporting, the job's practical aspects, the position of the sports journalist within the editorial hierarchy, and the acceptance of sports reporting as a legitimate specialism within a widening editorial agenda. The career of journalist James Catton is introduced to the study to examine in detail the manner in which occupational trends impacted upon the individual reporter, and in order to trace the manner in which sports reporting could be said to have adopted a 'professional' outlook during the period of this study. The thesis reveals the uncertain standing of the sports journalist within the newspaper industry, the part-time nature of much sports reporting, with sport regarded as an occupational rite of passage for the young and the trainee, and the struggle to rid the occupation of a reputation sullied by a perception of hackneyed journalism. The biographical section of the thesis introduces a contemporary voice, that of James Catton, to let it speak to an experience that might otherwise prove difficult to capture. Catton's working life highlights the possibilities and the demands of a career in sports journalism, and the success that the adoption of a 'professional' approach to the work could secure

A Phenomenological Study Examining the Experiences of Female High School Career and Technical Education Completers Who Participated in a Technology-Based Program of Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate how female high school students who earned Career and Technical Education (CTE) completer status in a technology-based program of study (POS) in Virginia describe their experiences. CTE completer status is defined as having met the Virginia Department of Education’s CTE completer requirements in a technology-based POS. This study was guided by three theories: Self-efficacy theory was applied as it relates to the participants’ status as completers in a technology-based CTE POS; Role-congruity theory suggests that men and women occupy social roles with attendant stereotypes which contributed to how participants described their experience in a technology-based POS; Social cognitive career theory focuses on the factors influencing occupational choice-making. Using interviews, electronic discussion boards, and photo essays, the experiences of 12 participants who earned Virginia CTE completer status in a technology-based POS were examined to address the central research question: How do female high school students who earned CTE completer status in Virginia describe their experiences in a technology-based POS? Participants were selected through criterion sample. The data in this study was analyzed using the procedures of a transcendental phenomenology to gain a complete understanding of the participants\u27 shared experiences as females who earned completer status in a technology-based CTE POS. After thorough analysis of the data, three themes emerged: (a) instructor influence on program and participant goals; (b) the impact of collaboration; and (c) guidance and support focused on the individual

Virial Expansion Bounds

In the 1960s, the technique of using cluster expansion bounds in order to achieve bounds on the virial expansion was developed by Lebowitz and Penrose (1964) and Ruelle (1969). This technique is generalised to more recent cluster expansion bounds by Poghosyan and Ueltschi (2009), which are related to the work of Procacci (2007) and the tree-graph identity, detailed by Brydges (1986). The bounds achieved by Lebowitz and Penrose can also be sharpened by doing the actual optimisation and achieving expressions in terms of the Lambert W-function. The different bound from the cluster expansion shows some improvements for bounds on the convergence of the virial expansion in the case of positive potentials, which are allowed to have a hard core.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Mutations in Nop60B, the Drosophila homolog of human Dyskeratosis congenita 1, affect the maintenance of the germ-line stem cell lineage during spermatogenesis

AbstractSpermatogenesis in Drosophila is maintained by germ-line stem cells. These cells undergo self-renewing divisions and also generate daughter gonial cells, whose function is to amplify the germ cell pool. Gonial cells subsequently differentiate into spermatocytes that undergo meiosis and generate haploid gametes. To elucidate the circuitry that controls progression through spermatogenic stem cell lineages, we are identifying mutations that lead to either excess germ cells or germ cell loss. From a collection of male sterile mutants, we identified P-element-induced hypomorphic alleles of nop60B, a gene encoding a pseudouridine synthase. Although null mutations are lethal, our P element-induced alleles generate viable, but sterile flies, exhibiting severe testicular atrophy. Sterility is reversed by P-element excision, and the atrophy is rescued by a Nop60B transgene, confirming identity of the gene. Using cell-type-specific markers, we find that testicular atrophy is due to severe loss of germ cells, including stem cells, but much milder effects on the somatic cells, which are themselves maintained by a stem cell lineage. We show that Nop60B activity is required intrinsically for the maintenance of germ-line stem cells. The relationship of these phenotypes to the human syndrome Dyskeratosis congenita, caused by mutations in a Nop60B homolog, is discussed

Computer Science and Information Technology (CSIT) Identity: An Integrative Theory to Explain Gender Gap in IT

While women constitute 46.6 percent of the US workforce, only 20 percent of women hold Computer Science and Information Technology (CSIT) related jobs. In addition, although CSIT related job prospects are growing significantly according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is astounding to discover that fewer women are participating in this opportunity. The number of women majoring in computing related areas declined by 80% in the last decade and a 93% decrease since its peak in 1982. Identity-based theories in science and engineering show identity-related measures affect student’s education and career persistence. We propose an integrative approach to examine gender differences within the central notion of computer science and information technology (CSIT) identity formation by drawing upon social cognitive career theory, theory of planned behavior, and the theory of identity. Better understanding of identity issues could suggest interventions that would lead to more gender equity in the CSIT field