Most migration literature shows that skilled professionals have upward social mobility. But all of this literature is mostly about men. Plus, it focuses on individuals who are already on the job market. How immigrant women fare in the labor market and what about women who are still not incorporated into the high wage sector are seldom discussed. This research shows that professional migrant women face downward mobility. With limited job opportunities, as a result of having both visible barriers (legal constraints) and invisible barriers (culture, language, social network, credential and so on), the high-achieving migrant women become more "traditional" in the United States. Their roles as wives, mothers, part-time workers, volunteers take on a bigger aspect of their lives than their professional lives. In Taiwan they were far more active in the sphere of the economy, earning an independent income, but in the U.S. that is reversed. The experiences of these educated migrant women demonstrate that immigration does not uniformly empower migrants nor does it imply upward economic and social mobility. The study hopes to be the basis for further investigations of upper middle class migrant women in other areas in the America, and hopes to be the basis for future development to understand migrants’ downwards mobility in general. / text

The following report documents the inspiration, themes, preparation, and challenges faced in writing the feature length screenplay Horse Latitudes. This is the story of a young woman who works as a spam writer for an advertising agency. In hopes of moving up in the company, Cairo begins working undercover for her boss, writing erotica blog entries for his personal website. She begins using the people closest to her for material, thus betraying her own morals. As she descends deeper into debt to her boss, she becomes physically ill until she can no longer survive in the world she has created. This is a story based on the author’s own experiences of working for a spam company and being committed to a hospital. This report also includes supplemental planning documents used in the final draft. / text

This study analyzes the under-representation of women in engineering occupations and investigates different types of discrimination that drive women from engineering careers. A male/female interaction continuum created by New Dynamics Consulting is introduced to provide a visual representation of the range of behaviors exhibited by both men and women. The continuum shows a progressive path that describes a range of non-collaborative to collaborative behaviors which begin with dominant and subordinate stereotypes and transitions to mutual colleagueship between the genders. By understanding how an organization falls on the continuum, corrective actions may be established for individuals and groups in an effort to modify and eliminate the behaviors that do not support colleagueship and that contribute to the attrition of women engineers. The national gender wage gap between men and women is analyzed and further broken down into its main contributors and is offered as a metric to be used to determine the success of eliminating inherent gender discrimination. A root cause is then presented based on men’s core beliefs and attitudes towards women in the technical workplace. Suggested corrective actions are itemized to prevent extensive litigation such as the nation’s largest class action gender discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart. / text

Tracking the phases of Cenozoic deformation in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia has proven to be a challenging task. Clear disagreements remain in interpretations of the timing of uplift of the Eastern Cordillera, possibly based on difficulties in distinguishing first-cycle Central Cordillera grains from recycled Eastern Cordillera clasts. This thesis focuses on the Eocene-Pliocene sedimentary record of the eastern foothills of the Eastern Cordillera at a latitude of 6°N, integrating basin analysis with several provenance techniques in order to date the activation of several thrust systems. Based on assessments of depositional environments and sediment dispersal patterns together with mineralogical and geochronological provenance, the onset of uplift in the axial zone of the Eastern Cordillera is constrained to be Oligocene. Prior to uplift, deposition in the eastern foothills was sourced from the eastern craton. Following the Oligocene episode, a continuous eastward advance of deformation is documented. An early Miocene episode probably reactivated the easternmost Cretaceous rift boundary along the eastern side of the Eastern Cordillera. Subsequent footwall shortcuts of those faults initiated activity in the middle to late Miocene, creating an intermontane (piggyback) basin in the eastern foothills at that time. In the preferred interpretation, this in-sequence history of thrust activation represents the main phases of deformation in the Eastern Cordillera from Eocene to Pliocene time, with neotectonic activity recording continued shortening. / text

The phenomenon of Terrorism has perplexed and fascinated policy makers and scholars. While there has been significant amount of research on Terrorism, the dynamics or Pathologies of Terrorist Target Selection have received less attention, with few comprehensive treatises on the subject. In this paper, I review and critique existing literature on the subject, while offering a different perspective and model for this dynamic. First, I introduce a contemporary definition of terrorism and establish a framework for the analysis of Terrorist Target Selection. In Chapter 2, I posit that accurate Target Selection Forecasting Techniques need to account for the Adaptive Learning Mechanisms that Terrorist Groups adopt and existing case studies on the subject. Chapter 3 undertakes a critical literature review of Target Selection Case Studies. In Chapter 4, I suggest new research proposals that adopt this theme. In conclusion, I offer what we believe is a novel approach to understanding Terrorist Target Selection and argue that such a model should be flexible enough to work across the various Ideological Silos that Terrorist movements are bracketed into in the current Geo-Political Environment. / text

The following report documents the evolution of the script The Other Side of Shadow and the effects that extensive rewriting, character work, and story restructuring have had on the author. / text

This report offers a comparative valuation of two bitumen production technologies, using real options analysis (ROA) techniques to incorporate strategic flexibility into the investment scenario. By integrating a probabilistic cost model into a real options framework, the value of an oil recovery facility is modeled to reflect the realistic alternatives available to decision-makers, where the course of the investment can be altered as new information becomes available. This approach represents a distinct advantage to traditional discounted cash flow (DCF) estimation, which is unable to capture operational adaptability, including the ability to expand, delay, or abandon a project. The analysis focuses on the energy inputs required for the recovery of heavy oil bitumen from Alberta, Canada, and examines both natural gas and nuclear steam plants as heat sources. The ACR-1000 reactor is highlighted as a substitute for conventional natural gas-fueled means of production, in light of the recent volatility of natural gas prices and the potential for emissions compliance charges. The methodology includes a levelized cost assessment per barrel of bitumen and estimation of cost ranges for each component. A mean-reversion stochastic price model was also derived for the both natural gas and oil price. By incorporating cost ranges into a ROA framework, the benefit of retaining project flexibility is included in its valuation. Formulated as a decision tree, built-in options include the initial selection to pursue nuclear or natural gas, site selection and licensing, the ability to switch heat source in the planning stage, and the final commitment to construct. Each decision is influenced by uncertainties, including the course of bitumen and natural gas price, as well as emissions policy. By structuring the investment scenario to include these options, the overall value of the project increases by over $150 million. The ability to switch technology type allows for an assessment of the viability of nuclear steam, which becomes economically favorable given high natural gas prices or high emissions taxes. Given an initial selection of natural gas SAGD, there is a 25% probability that a switch to nuclear steam will occur, as evolving financial conditions make nuclear the optimal technology. / text

This report documents the making of the short film Post-Racial, through the eyes of its filmmaker. Post-Racial was produced as my third year thesis film, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. / text

This paper investigates the role of end-effects in superhydrophobic microchannels for frictional reduction through COMSOL based modeling. Two precursor derivations, the Kim & Hidrovo and Enright model are discussed and expanded upon through analytical and numerical simulations. The author performed numerical models on superhydrophobic microchannels with planar, stationary and finite separation distance of surface roughness element with perfect Cassie-Baxter air-layers. The simulations indicate an asymptotic limit for the flow-rate, indicating an optimum air-layer thickness. Numerical post processing reveals that this phenomenon is due to the recirculation end-effects that are relevant when the surface roughness separation distance is on order of magnitude of the channel width. These results are the first that identify end-effects as inducing a plateauing flow-rate and can serve as a benchmark for future studies. / text

June 22, 1918, Alonzo Sergent fell asleep while conducting a train that plowed into another train killing 86 passengers and injuring another 187. 17 days later, July 9, 1918, two passenger trains collided head on in what became known as The Great Train Wreck of 1918, killing 101 people and injuring 171 people. The investigations and analysis of failure in both accidents can be attributed to a single person. During this month, the single person failed to operate the company’s train properly, which lead to a colossal disaster which affected numerous lives, loss of business revenue, loss of credibility, and had a huge social impact. Similar to an analysis of a colossal train wreck, this report focuses on the complexities behind colossal business failures, analyzes the reasons for failure and the role of the CEO, and proposes recommendations that can be used to guard future businesses against colossal failure. / text