Galveston in the Civil War

The material of this study concerns Galveston in the Civil War. The writer will attempt to show that the naval blockade of Galveston, Texas, was effective because it kept down the flow of supplies through that port. Galveston was one of the leading ports of the Confederacy, and after New Orleans was captured Galveston increasingly became more so. [...]History, Department o

It’s not teen TV, it’s HBO Max : revaluing and reconstituting teen audiences across different modes of media distribution

This thesis uses the alternative lens of a constructed teen audience to analyze tensions in branding, audience reconstitution, and audience (re)valuation during the formation and launch of HBO Max under WarnerMedia (2018-2022). Most of the existing scholarship on HBO Max narrows in on HBO and its associated audiences/properties to explore the ramifications of WarnerMedia’s shift to a streaming-first business model. By centering teen audiences, one of the so-called bad objects against which HBO was positioned, this thesis investigates how this economically and culturally desirable, yet elusive, audience was explicitly and implicitly courted despite efforts to maintain pre-existing quality branding. By using an industrial discourse analysis approach, I interrogate how the shift to a streaming-first business model necessitated that WarnerMedia’s teen brands and properties be repositioned for the launch of their new streaming service, and that their teen audience be reconstructed as users in contrast with subscribers. To this effect, I first survey the industrial landscape surrounding the launch of HBO Max, but specifically prioritize how WarnerMedia’s co-owned broadcast venture, The CW, was affected by the launch. Then, I employ two case studies to explore these issues further. First, I look at HBO Max’s attempt to revitalize Gossip Girl (The CW 2007-2012) through their 2021 reboot of the series, which underscores the tensions between The CW brand being conceptualized as low-brow and Gossip Girl as a franchise serving as a valuable transitional text for HBO Max. Second, I focus on HBO’s Euphoria (2019-present) shifting from pay cable linear distribution in its first season in 2019 to concurrent linear and nonlinear distribution during its second season on HBO Max in 2022. This shift in distribution, I argue, allowed the series to function beyond the user and subscriber distinction through a conflation of linear and nonlinear audiences. Ultimately, these case studies of how one service attempted to accommodate and reconfigure a wide breadth of teen-oriented content, in an effort to revalue the content’s associated constructed audiences, highlight broader implications of the challenges faced by legacy media companies as they repositioned themselves for streaming.Radio-Television-Fil

Seasonal Dynamics and Interannual Variability in Mercury Concentrations and Loads through a Three-Reservoir Complex.

The Hells Canyon Complex (HCC) along the Snake River (Idaho-Oregon border, U.S.A.) encompasses three successive reservoirs that seasonally stratify, creating anoxic conditions in the hypolimnion that promote methylmercury (MeHg) production. This study quantified seasonal dynamics and interannual variability in mercury concentrations (inorganic divalent mercury (IHg) and MeHg) and loads at four reservoir inflow and outflow locations through the HCC (2014-2017). We observed (1) that the HCC is a net sink for both IHg and MeHg, (2) interannual variability in IHg and MeHg loads largely reflecting streamflow conditions, and (3) seasonal variability in particulate IHg loading at the inflow (greatest from February to April) and MeHg export from the outflow (greatest from September to December) of the HCC. Seasonal export of MeHg was evidenced by increases in monthly mean concentrations of unfiltered MeHg (approximately 2-fold) and the percentage of total mercury (THg) as MeHg (≥4-fold) coincident with reservoir destratification. Despite evidence of seasonal export of MeHg from the HCC, annual loads indicate a 42% decrease in unfiltered MeHg from HCC inflow to outflow. Results from this study improve the understanding of seasonal variability in mercury transport through and transformation within a reservoir complex

Seasonal Dynamics and Interannual Variability in Mercury Concentrations and Loads through a Three-Reservoir Complex

The Hells Canyon Complex (HCC) along the Snake River (Idaho-Oregon border, U.S.A.) encompasses three successive reservoirs that seasonally stratify, creating anoxic conditions in the hypolimnion that promote methylmercury (MeHg) production. This study quantified seasonal dynamics and interannual variability in mercury concentrations (inorganic divalent mercury (IHg) and MeHg) and loads at four reservoir inflow and outflow locations through the HCC (2014-2017). We observed (1) that the HCC is a net sink for both IHg and MeHg, (2) interannual variability in IHg and MeHg loads largely reflecting streamflow conditions, and (3) seasonal variability in particulate IHg loading at the inflow (greatest from February to April) and MeHg export from the outflow (greatest from September to December) of the HCC. Seasonal export of MeHg was evidenced by increases in monthly mean concentrations of unfiltered MeHg (approximately 2-fold) and the percentage of total mercury (THg) as MeHg (≥4-fold) coincident with reservoir destratification. Despite evidence of seasonal export of MeHg from the HCC, annual loads indicate a 42% decrease in unfiltered MeHg from HCC inflow to outflow. Results from this study improve the understanding of seasonal variability in mercury transport through and transformation within a reservoir complex

In-Reservoir Physical Processes Modulate Aqueous and Biological Methylmercury Export from a Seasonally Anoxic Reservoir.

Anoxic conditions within reservoirs related to thermal stratification and oxygen depletion lead to methylmercury (MeHg) production, a key process governing the uptake of mercury in aquatic food webs. Once formed within a reservoir, the timing and magnitude of the biological uptake of MeHg and the relative importance of MeHg export in water versus biological compartments remain poorly understood. We examined the relations between the reservoir stratification state, anoxia, and the concentrations and export loads of MeHg in aqueous and biological compartments at the outflow locations of two reservoirs of the Hells Canyon Complex (Snake River, Idaho-Oregon). Results show that (1) MeHg concentrations in filter-passing water, zooplankton, suspended particles, and detritus increased in response to reservoir destratification; (2) zooplankton MeHg strongly correlated with MeHg in filter-passing water during destratification; (3) reservoir anoxia appeared to be a key control on MeHg export; and (4) biological MeHg, primarily in zooplankton, accounted for only 5% of total MeHg export from the reservoirs (the remainder being aqueous compartments). These results improve our understanding of the role of biological incorporation of MeHg and the subsequent downstream release from seasonally stratified reservoirs and demonstrate that in-reservoir physical processes strongly influence MeHg incorporation at the base of the aquatic food web