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Collection Description
Collection of student theses and dissertations from as early as 1939, but mainly from 2010 to present.
Pages
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- Visualizing girlhood: Visibility and the power of the black girl gaze to understand adolescent girls’ identity
- Black feminist scholars have highlighted the various ways Black women and girls are rendered invisible throughout many U.S. institutions. In the past few years, advocates have called attention to the ways gendered-racialized biases contribute to the punitive and dehumanizing treatment of Black girls in school. This study will demonstrate how Black adolescent girls negotiate their identity at school through the creation of self-portraits. By using dual self-portraits, in which girls are able to express their own perspective and imagine the perspective of their teacher, Black adolescent girls are allowed the space to explore the relationship between power, culture and their identity development. Overwhelmingly, the visual and interview data in this study suggested two major ways girls are experienced in relation to their teachers. Their inner selves are rendered invisible (i.e. Girls believed their teachers did not know or see their inner selves) or fully visible (i.e. Girls believed their teachers knew and saw their complete selves). The findings of this research study provide information for teachers to understand how to engage Black girls in ways that support their multiple identities. This study contributes new knowledge to the field of teacher education and Black Girlhood Studies. Keywords: Black girlhood, adolescence, visual methodology, Claremont Graduate University; San Diego State University
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- Visualizing stress and strain: Using Visual Basic 6.0 to provide a dynamic learning environment
- Structural geology is a fundamental course in a geology students' academic career. Subsequent courses often require an intuitive understanding of the subject. I developed both a program and a web site for visualizing the key types of structures and concepts encountered in an introductory structural geology class. The resulting program is called Visualizing Structural Geology and will operate on any PC running Windows 95, 98, 2000, or NT 4. Visualizing Structural Geology was written in Microsoft Visual Basic Version 6.0 and is broken down into two separate programs and tutorials Visualizing Stress and Visualizing Strain. The resulting code includes over 6000 lines. The programs and tutorials provide step-by-step instruction on how to use Visualizing Structural Geology to solve basic problems in stress and strain analysis. Topics covered in the interactive tutorial for stress include (1) lithostatic stress, (2) a graphical approach to understanding the stress tensor and how it relates to the definition of the principal stresses, (3) the Mohr Circle of stress, and (4) pore pressure effects on stress. Topics covered in the tutorial for strain include: (1) a graphical approach to understanding the strain transformation matrix for pure and simple shear, (2) strain animations as a way of understanding vorticity and the principle strain directions, (3) incremental versus finite strains, (4) progressive simple and pure shear, (5) strain path dependencies, (6) tools for calculating the various strain parameters such as stretch, elongation, quadratic elonga6on, and natural strain. The programs and tutorials are available through a web site published on the World Wide Web free of charge (www.geology.sdsu.edu/visualstructure/), and were partially funded by a small grant from ExxonMobil Exploration Company, Houston, Texas., San Diego State University
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- Vitamin D and self-reported health status
- The purpose of this study was to determine if a link exists between serum vitamin D levels and self-reported health status. Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of vitamin D and self-reported health status independently on various morbidities and mortality, but they have not assessed these variables together. This study is the first to examine the association between vitamin D and self-reported health status. An association between vitamin D and self-reported health status will add to the growing body of evidence that suggests that vitamin D plays an important role in health. NHANES 2005-2006 data were used to explore the potential association between vitamin D (25-OH D) and self-reported health status before and after adjusting for potential confounders. Using logistic regression, vitamin D was significantly associated with self-reported health status both before and after adjusting for confounders. After adjusting for all the other variables in the model, the odds of poor self-reported health status was 2.037 (95% CI 1.408, 2.947) times higher in the vitamin D insufficient (plasma 25-OH D < 30 ng/ml) group compared to the vitamin D sufficient group. The major limitation of this study is that it was not possible to control for all confounders known to be associated with self-reported health status. In addition, although a link between vitamin D and self-reported health status was evident, more studies are needed to elucidate the nature of the relationship between the two. Regardless, with the high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in the United States population (and worldwide), and the relative ease with which it can be corrected, strong public health emphasis should be place on treating vitamin D insufficiency.
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- Viviendo con plomo: measuring levels of lead consumption and combating absorption with nutrition in Oaxaca, Mexico
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-48), Santa Maria Atzompa is a Oaxacan community well known for its production of green-glazed ceramic. Ceramic is the primary source of income in the community and also is the primary source of lead (Pb). This study determined the amount of Pb consumed by community members based on portion sizes of cooked beans, a main food staple, for both adults and children. After collecting bean samples, performing a LeadCheck® Swab on the pot that the beans were cooked and/or stored in, and conducting informal interviews with questions pertaining to the samples collected, the beans were chemically analyzed in the laboratory at San Diego State University. Pb levels in the beans ranged from 4.15-47.74 parts per million (ppm). The average consumption level for children, based on a mean portion size of 135.6 g, was 2,770 mg/Pb. The average consumption level for adults, based on a mean portion size of 283.8 g, was 5,470 mg/Pb. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) established a provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for Pb of 25 mg of Pb per kilogram of body weight (mg/Pb/kg) per week or 3.5 mg/Pb/kg per day. Based on a community average of bean consumption six times per week, the average child weighing 30 kg is ingesting 515 mg/Pb/kg per week or 74 mg/Pb/kg per day while the average adult weighing 75 kg is ingesting 431 mg/Pb/kg per week or 62 mg/Pb/kg per day. The results of this study emphasize the need for immediate behavior change as well as continued educational interventions in Santa Maria Atzompa.
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- Vocational adjustment following separation from military service : a qualitative investigation of work integration challenges for Gulf War-Era II vetrans with PTSD
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 102-112)., Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Gulf War-era II veterans has resulted in psychological wounds attributed to military duty in Afghanistan and Iraq warzones. In the U.S., PTSD is now in fifth place trailing in prevalence more common psychological disorders of depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, specific phobia, and social phobia as ranked in previous surveys, with social service and societal costs soaring into the billions of dollars. Many veterans returning from these wars are transitioning to civilian life after military separation without trauma stressor mitigation or jobs. Warzone-related stress disorders among veterans are sometimes responsible for struggles experienced with entering or reentering the workforce often requiring appropriate work adjustment and work integration. The conceptual framework for this study was derived from three three sequentially developing interactive specific subsystem components that comprise the model of work adjustment. The model was chosen to examine the work personalities, work competencies, and work goals of homeless and unemployed Gulf War-era II veterans with PTSD in relation to successful work adjustment and work integration. The purposes of the present investigation were to address the following questions (1) How do veterans with PTSD view their work competencies?, (2) What significant work integration and work adjustment challenges do veterans with PTSD experience?, and (3) To what extent have veteran' work goals changed from pre- to post-military service? Participants were 10 Gulf War-era veterans with PTSD, separated from military service at a minimum of one year preceding the investigation, and living in a southwestern city residential substance addiction treatment facility. The research consisted of 12 open-ended or semi-structured questions asked of the participants. Data revealed five emergent themes of: (a) veterans PTSD experiences; (b) overcoming homelessness; (c) motivation to change; (d) family support and quality of life; and (e) rehabilitation counseling, education, and career preparation strategies, resulting in 19 sub-themes. The sub-themes indicated congruence between each other and the participants' perceptions, thoughts, and beliefs. Also strongly indicated were the participants' employment capabilities after work adjustment, worth as viable assets in the workforce, ability to restore their work identities, re-establish self-sufficiency, and ability to attain an ample quality of life. Study results emphasize the significance of recognizing and treating the effects of PTSD on veterans seeking workforce inclusion. Future research should incorporate more sample population diversity and assess veteran PTSD barriers to employment from a longitudinal perspective.
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- Voices that carry: Women self-fashioning as artists and bringing a new discourse to MTV that foreshadowed third wave feminism
- Hairspray, tight pants, and rock and roll, but that was primarily the men on MTV during the 1980s. While men represented approximately 90% of the artists aired on MTV, women artists created a different dialogue on the channel that was both meaningful and visually appealing. Female artists used self-fashioning to create personas that enabled them to create new dialogues about gender through the misogynistic medium of MTV. The videos by men on MTV were primarily about sex with women being objectified. Women artists changed the dialogue on MTV from women being sexual objects to one where they were the subjects. They created videos using the female gaze that addressed female sexual agency, sexual diversity, and female empowerment that included dialogues about the strength to leave abusive relationships. These new messages about female agency foreshadowed third wave feminism. This thesis traces the rise and construction of glam metal music in Los Angeles in the 1980s and the effect it had upon MTV. Music videos by female artists or bands with female leads such as Berlin, 'Til Tuesday, Romeo Void, Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper, and Joan Jett illustrate competing dialogue that emerged by women artists on MTV from 1981-1988. Music videos, memoirs, and interviews from women and male artists of the 1980s were analyzed, using the methods of post-structuralism, psychoanalysis, visual analysis, and textual analysis. The 1980s were a hostile time in the United States for feminists; however, this group of female artists crafted personas that enabled them to visually interest viewers and to promote feminist issues on a misogynistic medium that was MTV., San Diego State University
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- Volatile organic compound emissions from composting
- This paper is a review of the aerobic composting process and the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from this process. To understand why and how emissions of VOCs occur, it is necessary to understand the composting process itself, including process parameters that can be monitored and controlled. A review of the literature was conducted in order to determine the source of VOC emissions within the confines of the composting process. This paper also explores the nature and magnitude of VOC emissions as reported in the literature. The advantages and disadvantages of composting and the need for composting are also considered