Falling stars : an examination of star athlete sexual assault cases and the public relations crisis response strategies utilized by their teams

With the longstanding popularity of American team sports having now lead us to a point where athletes are multi‐million dollar investments capable of impacting culture beyond the playing field, the teams and leagues that provide a platform for these athletes to perform are more concerned with image and brand management now more than ever. Consequently, star athletes have become an increasingly vital part of building and sustaining league and team brands. The public relations methods utilized by these groups, especially the teams, when a star athlete has committed a PR blunder have varied over time. This content analysis uncovers whether the public relations tactics used by teams when a star athlete is accused of sexual assault has any impact on fan support. The study also seeks to find the public relations best practices that teams use in this situation, and whether or not there is any relationship in methods used by leagues and their corresponding teams and front offices. Newspaper articles pertaining to the sexual assault accusations of Kobe Bryant, Ben Roethlisberger and Johan Santana were used in this analysis, with two major news publications from each athlete’s home city providing the content.Department of JournalismThesis (M.A.

Global tropospheric chemistry: Chemical fluexes in the global atmosphere

In October 1987, NSF, NASA, and NOAA jointly sponsored a workshop at Columbia University to assess the experimental tools and analysis procedures in use and under development to measure and understand gas and particle fluxes across this critical air-surface boundary. Results are presented for that workshop. It is published to summarize the present understanding of the various measurement techniques that are available, identify promising new technological developments for improved measurements, and stimulate thinking about this important measurement challenge

Acetylene reduction associated with zostera novazelandica Setch. and Spartina alterniflora Loisel., in Whangateau harbour, North Island, New Zealand

Nitrogen fixation (acetylene reduction) was investigated in Zostera novazelandica Setch. and Spartina alterniflora Loisel., in the North Island of New Zealand. Moderate rates of acetylene reduction were found in sediments in which plants were growing (means ± 95% confidence limit: 15.2 ± 2.8 |jmol C2H4 nrr2 h~l for Zostera and 24.7 ± 4.6 |amol C2H4 m~2 h"1 for Spartina). Activity was closely correlated with the dry weight of root; (r2 = 0.65, N = 15 for Zostera, and r2 = 0.85, A' =10 for Spartina). Sediment close to the plant beds, but without plants, exhibited only low rates of acetylene reduction (2.9 ± 2.2 and 4.5 ± l.OjLtmol C2H4 m~2 h"1, respectively). Sediments associated with Z. novazelandica and S. alterniflora in New Zealand exhibit moderate rates of nitrogenase activity compared to rates found in other countries. N fixation may contribute significantly to the nutrition of these plants in New Zealand estuaries

Genetic design of unconstrained digital PID controllers

In previous genetic design procedures, the equations for the digital PID controllers were incorporated into the genetic algorithm in order to obtain optimally tuned values of various controller parameters for finite sampling frequencies. The performance of PID controllers constrained by such design equations may be sub-optimal and so this paper illustrates the use of genetic algorithms in selecting controller matrices for PID controllers without using controller design equations. This unconstrained genetic design methodology is illustrated in this paper by the design of model-following flight-control systems for the F-16 aircraft.published_or_final_versio

Nitric oxide formation in gas turbine engines: A theoretical and experimental study

A modified Zeldovich kinetic scheme was used to predict nitric oxide formation in the burned gases. Nonuniformities in fuel-air ratio in the primary zone were accounted for by a distribution of fuel-air ratios. This was followed by one or more dilution zones in which a Monte Carlo calculation was employed to follow the mixing and dilution processes. Predictions of NOX emissions were compared with various available experimental data, and satisfactory agreement was achieved. In particular, the model is applied to the NASA swirl-can modular combustor. The operating characteristics of this combustor which can be inferred from the modeling predictions are described. Parametric studies are presented which examine the influence of the modeling parameters on the NOX emission level. A series of flow visualization experiments demonstrates the fuel droplet breakup and turbulent recirculation processes. A tracer experiment quantitatively follows the jets from the swirler as they move downstream and entrain surrounding gases. Techniques were developed for calculating both fuel-air ratio and degree of nonuniformity from measurements of CO2, CO, O2, and hydrocarbons. A burning experiment made use of these techniques to map out the flow field in terms of local equivalence ratio and mixture nonuniformity

Land use, associated eel production, and abundance of fish and crayfish in streams in Waikato, New Zealand

The density and biomass of fish and crayfish, and the production of eels, was compared among streams in native forest, exotic forest, and pasture. Populations were estimated by multiple-pass electroshocking at 11 sites in hill-country streams in the Waikato region, North Island. Three sites were in native forest, four in exotic forest, and four in pasture. Length of stream sampled at each site was 46-94 m (41-246 m2 in area), and catchment areas up stream of the sites ranged from 0.44 to 2.01 km2. A total of 487 fish were caught. The species were longfinned and shortfinned eels, banded kokopu, Cran's and redfinned bullies, and common smelt. Eels were the most abundant fish in all three land-use types, and shortfinned eels were more abundant at pastoral sites (mean density 1.11 fish m-2) than longfinned eels (mean density 0.129 fish m-2). Banded kokopu were present only at forested sites. Mean fish densities were greater at pastoral sites (1.55 fish m-2) than under either native forest (0.130 fish m-2) or exotic forest (0.229 fish m-2). Mean fish biomass was also greater at pastoral sites (89.7 g m-2) than under native forest (12.8 g m-2) or exotic forest (19.3 g m-2). Longfinned eels made a greater contribution to the fish biomass at all sites than did shortfinned eels. Densities of crayfish were high (0.46-5.40 crayfish m-2), but were not significantly different between land-use types. Crayfish biomass ranged from 1.79 to 11.2 g m-2. Total eel production was greater at pastoral sites (mean 17.9 g m-2 year-1) than at forest sites (mean 2.39 g m-2 year-1)

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NMFS MARINE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES STATISTICS SURVEY WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ECONOMIC VALUATION

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Evaluating voices of youth: a violence prevention program

Faced with rising rates of youth violence in Philadelphia, the United States’ Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania developed a program designed to help youth tell their stories related to violence and to take a role in violence prevention. Youth from five different schools worked with two filmmakers over a three-month period and created films that discussed the impact violence had on their lives. The program provided an exploratory look into creative outlets for cathartic expression. Several lessons learned during the development and implementation of the program can be used for other organizations planning youth violence prevention programs

Genetic slow-mode/fast-mode optimisation of digital PID controllers

The optimal parameter settings for digital PID controllers incorporated in model-following systems are complicated, unknown functions of the underlying sampling frequency. In order to simplify the design process, genetic algorithms have previously been used to tune the restricted set of controller parameters affecting the fast modes of the closed-loop system. However, it is important to investigate the effects of both slow and fast modes on model-following behaviour by using an enlarged set of controller parameters in the genetic optimisation procedure. This use of genetic algorithms is illustrated in this paper by the design of model-following flight-control systems for the F-16 aircraft.published_or_final_versio