Theresa Henthorne Brown in a Senior Voice Recital

This is the program for the senior voice recital of Theresa Henthorne Brown. Pianist Polly Nation accompanied the performance. This recital took place on April 25, 1960, in Mitchell Hall

The Effects of an Intervention to Foster a Caring and Task-Involving Climate at a University Recreation Center

Specific links between social contexts, physical activity motivation and psychological outcomes have received minimal attention in the exercise domain, yet might help explain individuals' decisions whether to engage in exercise. Two theoretical frameworks that may further an understanding of exercise behavior are Achievement Goal Perspective Theory (AGPT; Nicholls, 1984; 1989) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991); however little research has combined the theoretical tenants of each to explore how they influence each other. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to combine AGPT and SDT by examining participants' experiences while exercising at a campus recreation center both before and after an intervention with the recreation center staff .The intervention was designed to enhance members' perceptions of a caring and task-involving environment at the recreation center. The pre/post questionnaires completed by members (N= 779, M = 20.33, sd = 3.31) included measures of the following: a) climate (e.g. perceptions of the caring, task-, and ego-involving climates), b) psychological needs (e.g. autonomy, competence, and relatedness), c) motivational responses (e.g. extrinsic and intrinsic motivation), d) commitment to exercise and e) psychological well-being (e.g. satisfaction with life, positive and negative mood states and satisfaction-dissatisfaction with body image). The research questions and hypotheses were presented in three different papers, each targeting a different aspect of the overall study design. The purpose of Study 1 was to validate the psychometric properties of a newly created instrument, known as the Perceived Motivational Climate in Exercise Settings (PMCEQ; Huddleston, Fry & Brown, 2011), designed to assess motivational climates in exercise settings. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the factor structure of the PMCEQ was established. In addition, both the caring climate and positive and negative mood states were used to establish concurrent validity with the instrument. Results revealed support for a 27-item version of the PMCEQ. The purpose of Study 2 was to (a) test a model examining whether psychological needs mediated the relationship between exercise participants perceptions of the climate to their self-determined motivation and (b) test whether self-determined motivation for exercise predicted the basic psychological needs and commitment to exercise, body image and satisfaction with life. Results revealed support for the model, with the change in climate predicting the basic psychological needs, the change in basic psychological needs predicting self-determined motivation and finally the change in self-determined motivation predicting the well-being measures. The final structural model demonstrated a tenable fit (χ2 (1928, n = 779) =6205.722, p <.001, RMSEA = .053, SRMR = .061, TLI = 0.876, CFI = 0.888). Results suggest that theoretical tenants of AGPT might be an antecedent to SDT and provide insight into the mechanisms by which well-being is influenced by exercise climates. The purpose of Study 3 was to assess the relationship between perceptions of staff behaviors and members' behaviors in a recreation center facility. Perceptions of a caring, task-involving climate were examined as the mediator between staffs' and members' behaviors. The staff and members' behaviors were considered from the members' perspective. Results revealed that the intervention did increase perceptions of the caring and task-involving climate while reducing perceptions of the ego-involving climate. The final model demonstrated acceptable fit (χ2 (378, n = 779)= 1462.277, p = <.001, RMSEA = .061, SRMR=.045, TLI = 0.948, CFI = 0.955), and indicated that staff behaviors predicted perceptions of the task-involving (β = .32, p = .00), ego-involving (β = .19, p = .00) and caring climates (β= .30, p = .00). Likewise, perceptions of the ego-involving climate negatively predicted members behaviors (β= -1.01, p = .00). Neither perceptions of the task-involving, caring climate nor staff behaviors significantly predicted members' post-intervention behaviors. Results offer suggestions for recreation center staff behaviors to influence members' exercise experiences

Taking Apart the Time Machine: Investigating Space-for-Time Substitution Modeling in the Florida Everglades

Space-for-Time substitution modeling has been used with increasing frequency to identify functional relationships between environmental drivers and ecological responses. I investigated the use of space-for-time substitution as a null model and beta diversity as a validity test for this null model in the Greater Everglades aquatic metacommunity. I began by conducting a literature review and analysis to investigate the suitability of the space-for-time substitution method as a null model. I then analyzed beta diversity of the Greater Everglades aquatic metacommunity through a sums-of-squares approach. Finally, I tested for correlation between the beta diversity analysis and the space-for-time models. Results indicate that while beta diversity is correlated with space-for-time model success for some species, the relationship is not consistently significant and therefore not suited for validity testing. Space-for-Time substitution is suitable for use as a null model but cannot be used reliably in predictive models for management purposes

Hydrogeologic Analyses for an Earthen Dam Proposal at the University Field Station

In response to a request for a new dam at the University of Mississippi Field Station (UMFS), BTJM Engineering prepared an initial feasibility assessment and continued investigations until a full construction plan was completed. This report details the hydrogeologic analyses involed in this process. Initial site investigations included mapping surficial geology, creating a generalized stratigraphic column, mapping the potentiometric surface, and developing a conceptual and quantitative understanding of the local hydrolgic budget. This data informed decisions regarding the location of a new dam, which was finally designed with full considerations of the local hydrogeology. After the dam was designed, analysis of the seepage, water level response to storm events, water supply, and inundation potential were performed

California Adolescents Increasingly Inactive

Explores the health benefits of regular exercise; the extent to which adolescents in California are getting adequate levels of physical activity; and factors that affect high rates of inactivity. Provides policy recommendations

Low-Income Adolescents Face More Barriers to Healthy Weight

Examines the causes behind the higher prevalence of obesity among low-income adolescents, including unhealthy food environments, few opportunities for physical activity, and irregular family meals. Makes policy recommendations to address such disparities

Americas Demographic Challenge: Understanding the Role of Immigration

With numerous charts and graphs, this paper outlines the projected growth of various age segments of the U.S. population, showing that the native-born, working-age population will grow much more slowly than the foreign-born working-age population. The relative growth of the 65-and-over population will present economic challenges. In particular, the Social Security trust fund is projected to be depleted by 2034, assuming that current levels of immigration remain relatively constant. Policy changes will ultimately be needed to save the fund from depletion, including expanding the labor force by increasing immigration. In an aging population, there is a decline in workforce participation, which depresses economic growth. The arrival of working-age immigrants can counter, to some extent, the slowdown in economic activity as older workers retire. The relative demographic structure of immigrants vs. natives-with immigrants being more likely to be of working-age and to participate in the workforce-also impacts the federal budget. Modeling of a 2013 immigration reform bill found that the bill's legalization program and increase in legal immigration would reduce the federal deficit by $180 billion over 10 years. In general, though, current levels of immigration cannot entirely offset the economic and fiscal drag of our aging population. Liberalizing immigration will help, but other policy changes will be needed to reduce the federal deficit and stave off Social Security insolvency

Corporate Fitness Members' Perceptions of the Environment and Their Intrinsic Motivation

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of employees' perceptions of the motivational climate in their corporate fitness center to their intrinsic motivation toward exercise, and their perceptions of their employer's concern for their health behaviors. Members of corporate fitness centers (N = 143) in the Midsouthern region of the US were invited to complete a survey with the following measures: 1) the Perceived Motivational Climate in Exercise Questionnaire (i.e., task- and ego-involving scales), 2) Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (four subscales), and 3) Valued by Employer Scale. Regression analysis revealed that perceptions of a task-involving climate were positively related to employees' interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, effort/importance with regard to exercise, and their sense of feeling valued by their employer. The PMCEQ can be a valuable tool in the exercise psychology literature to measure employees' perceptions of their fitness center environment

Overwintering Locations, Migrations, and Fidelity of Radio-Tagged Dolly Varden in the Hulahula River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 2007–09

Essential overwintering habitats for anadromous Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma on Alaska’s North Slope appear to be limited to a small number of perennial springs, primarily in eastern Brooks Range drainages. Because future petrochemical development in the region continues to be a possibility, and development would require large quantities of freshwater, we sought to identify and document the overwintering areas used by Dolly Varden in the Hulahula River, eastern Brooks Range. In August 2007, we implanted 52 Dolly Varden with multi-year radio transmitters at a known overwintering area in the lower Hulahula River. Other wintering areas were located during 11 aerial surveys conducted over the next 2.5 years. A stationary receiver located in the lower Hulahula River provided migration timing information. Radio-tagged Dolly Varden used four discrete areas with perennial springs for overwintering in the Hulahula River drainage. The springs, totaling approximately 12 km in stream length, were located between river km 40 and 105. Radio-tagged Dolly Varden migrated downstream on their way to the Beaufort Sea in early June. Most tagged fish known to have survived the summer at sea returned to the Hulahula River during late July and August, but seven fish overwintered in other North Slope drainages. Within the Hulahula River drainage, 15 fish overwintered in more than one area during the three winters of the project, but only the four identified perennial spring areas were used. These data clearly indicate that the perennial springs in the Hulahula River are essential overwintering habitats for Dolly Varden.Les aires de concentration hivernales essentielles du Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma anadrome sur la North Slope de l’Alaska semblent limitées à un petit nombre de sources pérennes, principalement dans les bassins hydrographiques de l’est de la chaîne de Brooks. Puisqu’il est toujours possible qu’il y ait des aménagements pétrochimiques dans la région et que ceux-ci demanderaient de grandes quantités d’eau douce, nous avons tâché de déterminer les aires de concentration hivernales du Dolly Varden dans la rivière Hulahula faisant partie de l’est de la chaîne de Brooks, et nous les avons répertoriées. En août 2007, nous avons installé des émetteurs radio pluriannuels sur 52 poissons Dolly Varden dans une aire de concentration hivernale connue faisant partie de la rivière Hulahula inférieure. D’autres aires de concentration hivernales ont été repérées grâce à 11 levés aériens effectués au cours des 2,5 années qui ont suivi. Un récepteur fixe situé dans la rivière Hulahula inférieure nous a permis de relever des données sur le moment de la migration. Les Dolly Varden dotés d’émetteurs radio ont utilisé quatre sources discrètes où se trouvent des sources pérennes pour passer l’hiver, dans le bassin versant de la rivière Hulahula. Les sources, qui s’étendent sur une douzaine de kilomètres de longueur, étaient situées entre les kilomètres 40 et 105 de la rivière. Les Dolly Varden munis d’émetteurs radio ont migré en aval, en route vers la mer de Beaufort au début juin. La plupart des poissons avec émetteur ont survécu l’été à la mer et ont regagné la rivière Hulahula vers la fin de juillet et en août, mais sept poissons ont passé l’hiver dans d’autres bassins versants de la North Slope. Dans le bassin versant de la rivière Hulahula, 15 poissons ont passé l’hiver dans plus d’une aire au cours des trois hivers visés par le projet, mais seules les quatre sources pérennes déterminées ont été utilisées. Ces données indiquent clairement que les sources pérennes de la rivière Hulahula sont des aires de concentration hivernales essentielles pour le Dolly Varden