Whether media plays a contributory or a conduit role in the policy process has been a salient focus among policy scholars. If media plays a contributory role in the policy process, it not only shares similar policy core beliefs with advocacy coalitions, but also drafts and disseminates stories including policy...
Interruptions and asking questions play a vital role in social communication and can exhibit status and power differences in regular conversation. Studies in gender communication describe the way men and women utilize their own linguistic register through the development of social subcultures. The different ways men and women report and...
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Andrew Valls, Committee Member, representing Poltical Science, School of Public Policy
Geological scientists have predicted an impending massive earthquake is likely to occur on the North Pacific Coast of the US. In response to the warnings of impending disaster, the State of Oregon has implemented several disaster preparedness measures, including the Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Project (SRGP), a grant dispersed to public...
To face large scale environmental challenges like climate change, the Obama administration has turned to renewable sources of energy to offset the carbon emissions that result from traditional energy sources like coal and natural gas. However, finding suitable locations for large-scale renewable energy developments has proven difficult due to strong...
This research explores and aligns a postmodern method in line with a theoretical lens of "strategic political queer/feminism" to understand the construction and positioning of the issue/ problem of same-sex marriage. The method takes shape through a theoretical framework that leads to a political maneuver opening access to the rights...
Housing is the single most important environmental factor associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity (United Nations, 2007). Most Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors, and an estimated two-thirds of that is spent in the home (Klepeis et al., 2001). Studies show a link between substandard housing...
This thesis analyzes the emerging technology of hydraulic fracturing and shale gas extraction process through a pluralistic philosophical approach. Rather than defending traditional values in nature, such as intrinsic value, I defend a metaphilosophical pragmatism centered on policy implications. I argue that different philosophical positions will, most of the time,...
The anthropogenic introduction of nutrients to water bodies has been shown to alter the structure and function of natural aquatic ecosystems, yet national EPA lake and reservoir nutrient criteria remain too broad for effective regional water quality management. This study uses a reference site approach to propose numeric nutrient criteria...
In this thesis I argue that in contemporary Oregon, the policies and design of group homes for individuals with developmental disabilities emphasizes an ineffective conception of autonomy, and this emphasis should be shifted to provide better opportunities for the growth of individuals both within the homes and in their communities....
This study investigated three questions: how, what kind of, and why were cross-border partnerships with non-US educational institutions developed at two public four-year US universities; how, what kind of, and why will cross-border partnerships with non-US educational institutions develop and/or change at US universities if nationalistic geo-political trends reflective of...
For good reason, suicide is of growing concern across the nation; rates continue to increase annually in the United States. Accurate assessment remains an obstacle to effective treatment for individuals who are suicidal. Without proper screening, a client cannot get a referral to see a specialist and therefore cannot receive...
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...
To evaluate the immunologic and metabolic effects of OmniGen-AF® (Phibro Animal Health corporation, Quincy, IL; OG) supplementation in growing beef cattle, we designed three studies using replacement beef heifers (8.5 and 10.5 months of age) and steers supplemented across backgrounding, transition, and finishing periods. In Study 1, the effect of...
Silvopasture is the planned and managed agroforestry system in which forage, livestock, and trees or shrubs are integrated in order to enhance individual components. Silvopasture has been identified as the most promising agroforestry system for the Pacific Northwest and Southeast United States. However, there have been few studies describing the...
Research examining disparity between baccalaureate completion among "native" and community college transfer students has gained attention in recent years. Current and prior research has identified important pre-college and demographic characteristics with a positive relationship to baccalaureate completion. Yet few studies have focused on the influence of nonacademic and academic environmental...
The results presented in this dissertation address a number of questions regarding late Pleistocene and Holocene ice-sheet and climate interactions, spanning disciplines involving paleoclimatology and atmospheric science. These studies use various techniques in geochemistry, climate modeling, and ice-sheet modeling to address ice- sheet response to climate and the attendant interactions...
Wind-driven coastal upwelling brings subsurface water onto the central-Oregon shelf after the spring transition each year. This cold and salty source water is oxygen-poor, yet above the hypoxic threshold, dissolved oxygen < 1.4 ml l⁻¹. Once on the shelf, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations of upwelled near-bottom waters are modified by...