We are witnessing the rise of the data-driven science paradigm, in which massive amounts of data - much of it collected as a side-effect of ordinary human activity - can be analyzed to make sense of the data and to make useful predictions. To fully realize the promise of this...
The Toba Caldera Complex is the youngest resurgent caldera in the last 100 kyrs, formed from four overlapping eruptions starting 1.2 Myrs ago. The last caldera-forming eruption, the Youngest Toba Tuff eruption, occurred ~74 kyrs ago, emitting 2800 km3 of ash and pumice into the atmosphere and forming the caldera...
We believe concreteness, direct manipulation and responsiveness in a visual programming language increase its usefulness. However, these characteristics present a challenge in generalizing programs for reuse, especially when concrete examples are used as one way of achieving concreteness. In this thesis, we present a technique to solve this problem by...
This retrospective study investigated the incidence, characteristics, and
risk factors of bone fracture among a group of 518 adults with severe mental
retardation between 25 and 75 years old. Data were collected from a large state
developmental center in the Western United States between April 1, 1991 and
March 31,...
The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate Oregon public high school history teacher perspectives concerning standards-based reform initiatives springing from the No Child Left Behind legislation. The central question addressed in this study is: At what level has Standards-Based Education reform initiatives impacted Oregon high school history instruction and...
Health effects stemming from animal feeding operations pollution in the contiguous United States are analyzed using a 20-year, county-level data set. Several quasi-experimental, potential outcome models are used to estimate the impact of high concentrations of animal units on mortality rates and other health and economic outcomes over a 20-year...
It is important to avoid misallocation of resources for either
private or public production. Misallocation in public programs
can result from failure to employ resources in h:igh priority uses
or to eliminate programs that have become obsolete. This study
evaluates the benefits and costs of the continuing public program
aimed...
This dissertation explores the real world problem of rural youth out-migration and finds that the central problem is one of persistent class difference in this rural Oregon town. The research that informs this dissertation was conducted in a rural community of approximately 2300 residents in Eastern Oregon, here called Talltown....
In the United States, many of the thorniest natural resource conflicts occur on private lands. This is especially true in the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon where the hallmark habitat type, Oregon white oak woodland and savanna, is imperiled. Almost exclusively found on private land, Oregon white oak is threatened...
During the 19th century the United States Army was a military institution characterized by a hierarchical system of authoritative, social and economic inequality between members of its different military grades. Although necessary for insuring military discipline within the Army this system of inequality also influenced the non-military social lives of...