Given that Congressional hearings are established legislative and political information generating tools for committee members engaging in oversight, fact finding, and agenda setting, I examine whether or not hearings provide information to actors outside of government. More specifically, does testimony by corporate representatives provide new information to the stock market about the future profitability of certain firms? In this paper, I utilize a new dataset collected by Workman and Shafran (2009) that includes 3,300 witnesses (and their affiliations) who testified in business regulation hearings between 2000 and 2005. I identify 99 publicly traded firms with representatives testifying in 117 hearings, and utilize event study methodology to estimate the effects of testimony events on the daily stock returns of corresponding firms. I find that, even with the ‘expectedness’ of Congressional hearings, such events negatively impact stock returns both generally as well as with greater magnitude under certain conditions. This event effect is largest for politically sensitive firms and for hearings held in the Senate. When selecting a portfolio of firms that combines all significant conditions, I determine that the ‘upper bound’ of the effect is one-half a standard deviation in daily returns (or a change of -1.6% in prices). Congressional hearings with corporate testimony do, in fact, generate information for external actors. / text

The narrative itself is an ageless one, a fundamental Shakespearean tragedy in its progression. A young man is deemed invaluable and exalted by the public. The hero is cast into the spotlight and bestowed with insurmountable expectations. But the acclamations and pressures are burdensome and the invented savior fails to fulfill the prospects once imagined by the public. He is cast aside, disregarded as a symbol of failure or one deserving of pity. It’s the quintessential tragedy of a fallen hero. The protagonist of this report is Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who enjoyed a phenomenal rookie season before it ended abruptly due to a severe elbow injury. But from a broader perspective, this report considers the current state of baseball in American society. The immense anticipation of Strasburg’s debut in early June of 2010 was unprecedented and his success sparked the public’s interest. But the 21-year-old failed to seize our adoration and his injury left many disappointed and disengaged. During a time when the casual baseball fan was disinterested and even the devoted felt disenchanted, Strasburg provided a brief reprieve from the controversies and allegations. Americans could connect with their beleaguered National Pastime once more. Although Strasburg is the driving force, his role as “savior” could have been bestowed upon anyone. Nothing about his personality or looks or charisma garnered him such high esteem, but just his uncanny ability to throw a baseball. On the surface he is just a young prodigy in a long line of highly touted successes and failures – and he certainly won’t be the last. In essence, the star alone does not compose the story, but rather it’s the ideology surrounding him. Lastly, Strasburg’s narrative is still unfinished. As in any tragic tale comes the hope of redemption. This unknown conclusion is fitting for a baseball narrative where every year begins afresh and endless possibilities emerge. As essayist Alexander Pope once noted, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” The same is true in baseball. / text

This mixed-methods study examined the effectiveness of the Upward Bound TRIO program in preparing a low-income and first-generation population for the successful completion of high school and acceptance into postsecondary institutions of higher learning. Data collection methods for this study were comprised of teacher and student surveys and program director interviews. A comparison of two Upward Bound programs was conducted in the southern regions of Virginia and Georgia. The results were analyzed and queried as to whether the current program objectives were effective in meeting the needs of low-income, first-generation students and whether the program provided the necessary academic and technological skillsets and support needed to gain employment in knowledge capital economy. The goal of Upward Bound is to increase the rate at which participants complete secondary education and enroll in institutions of higher learning. The significance of this study is that it offers insight on the necessary support structures needed to assist low-income and first-generation students. The study was an in depth analysis of the Upward Bound TRIO program’s current objectives in meeting the needs of the 21st century learner. Information gathered from the literary sources as well as other sources provides additional insight for the researcher on program practice, evaluation, efficiency, and low-income first-generation students’ success.

Environmentally-concerned parents and educators today are asking, “How do we co-create learning environments that will foster environmental citizenry?” This reflects David Orr's claim: “More of the same kind of education that enabled us to industrialize the earth can only make things worse.” Using autoethnography to explore my decision to deschool my children, I'm placed in the position of a reflexive practitioner, as I serve as both the primary researcher and subject of that research. Upon arriving at the decision to forgo the compulsory education system I discovered the interconnectedness between deschooling, autoethnography, and 21st century theories of environmental education. I examine the rationales of environmental educators such as Orr, Weston and Jickling who call for new systems of environmental education. I expose underlying assumptions and beliefs that shape my decisions to deschool my daughters and create context for broader community discussion about how to educate for an environmentally engaged citizenry.

21st-century Neo-anticolonial Literature and the Struggle for a New Global Order explores the twenty-first-century fiction of five writers and investigates the ways in which their works engage the legacy and evolution of empire, and, in particular, the expansion of global capitalism to the detriment of already-subjugated communities. Taking up a recent call by Postcolonial scholars seeking to address the contemporary challenges of the postcolonial condition, this project traces out three distinct forms of engagement that function as a resistance in the texts. The dissertation introduces these concepts via a mode of analysis I have called Neo-anticolonialism, a counter-hegemonic approach which, I argue, is unique to the twenty-first century but rooted in the anticolonial work of Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon. Building on a foundation laid by those activist scholars, this project argues that Neo-anticolonialism necessitates the bridging of discourse and activism; thus, the dissertation delineates the utility of Neo-anticolonialism in both literary scholarship and practical application. Through a close analysis of the fiction of the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jamaican Michelle Cliff, Amitav Ghosh, a South Asian writer, African American writer Edward P. Jones, and Black British writer Caryl Phillips, the project offers a Neo-anticolonial reading of several twenty-first-century texts. In doing so, I explain the depiction of these instances of resistance as Neo-anticolonial Refractions, literary devices which function as prisms that cast images thus exposing the perpetuation of inequality in the twenty-first century and its direct link to the past epoch. Moreover, each chapter, through an explication of the refractions, reveals how resistance occurs in the face of the brutal reality of oppression and how this cadre of writers engages with the history of empire as well as with its contemporary permutations.

From 1981 to 2010 flooding claimed an average of 92 lives each year in the United States. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service, in 2010 the number of flood-related fatalities (103) was second only to heat (138). Flash flooding is especially dangerous as sudden, torrential downpours from thunderstorms can cause gullies, streams, and creeks to rise quickly and become an immediate risk to life and property. Across the southern Appalachian Mountains this threat is aggravated by steep terrain and the rapid accumulation of rainfall in narrow valleys and gorges. Severe storm reports were gathered from the National Climatic Data Center from 1996 to 2010. An emphasis was placed on flash flood events collected after the modernization of the National Weather Service in the mid-1990s when verification of storm reports became mandatory. Using a Geographic Information System, an abbreviated climatology of flash flood events was constructed to better understand the frequency and distribution of such events over the extent of the southern Appalachians. Additionally, forecasters and hydrologists provided insight on where flash floods occur most frequently across their County Warning Areas. In total, there were 4,938 flash flood reports across the southern Appalachian Mountains from 1996 to 2010. Of those reports there were 71 fatalities and 64 injuries, many of which occurred during the evening and overnight hours. Nearly 33 percent of all fatalities were associated with a vehicle and another 38 percent occurred when residents were swept away while traversing swollen creeks and streams. The information presented herein will assist meteorologists and hydrologists as well as those who would like to gain additional knowledge about flash flood climatology across the southern Appalachians. / Review of relevant literature -- Data and methodology -- Results, part I : an abbreviated climatology -- Results, part II : National Weather Service WFO discussions. / Department of Geography

The Indiana waters of Lake Michigan were sampled weekly from May until August in 2009, 2011, and 2012 to determine the extent of yellow perch reproduction and the role Indiana waters play in yellow perch life history. Experimental gill nets were used to collect fish before, during, and after the spawning season from randomly selected sites along the Indiana shoreline. Yellow perch were then taken to an onshore processing station where they were weighed, measured, and visually examined to determine sex and maturity. Maturity stages of adult yellow perch were used to estimate the timing and duration of yellow perch spawning. Yellow perch population demographics were also compared to determine if different groups of yellow perch were present before and after the spawn. My data suggests that yellow perch spawning is strongly influenced by temperature and that Indiana waters are seasonally used by adult yellow perch for feeding. / Department of Biology

Through exploratory qualitative research, Marion and Grant County, Indiana, were found to employ two avenues for attracting new businesses. It was determined that elected officials focused on the business side of things, and the non-elected officials focused on what the community had to offer its potential new companies. They work on two different avenues, but their paths do come together to form one cohesive approach. Through working as a team, they have been successful at attracting businesses. The team has been successful at responding to businesses looking to relocate as well as attracting businesses through contacts, travels, trade journals, and national conventions. / Department of Sociology

There is a growing call for more skilled workers-especially in the scarce skills of science, engineering and technology (SET). The current educational system is failing to address these issues, learners are being ill-prepared to cope with the demands of a society that has moved on; and learners are being prepared for a society that no longer exists in practice. In order to address this problem, this thesis calls for a greater emphasis on issues of digital inclusion, integration of whole communities, understanding of the dynamics of integrating ICTs into the classroom, exploring opportunities for the expansion of rapid-prototyping at school level and the promotion of digital literacy. Though this is not a definitive list, the researcher has developed working solutions to each of these issues, as presented in five journal articles. Investigations were conducted in the Tshwane area with male and female learners in both primary and secondary schools. The selection of the learners from both advantaged and disadvantaged institutions was left to the teachers. Design research was the main methodology adopted for this research. The investigations started in 200'1 and the bulk of the work was concluded between 2007-2010. Greater emphasis is placed on a qualitative approach with limited quantitative analysis. The findings of this research indicate the need to extend the scope of the investigation and to massify the different interventions. The pedagogical shift has been away from information transfer, towards using information communication technologies to promote creativity and innovation in a stimulating constructivist environment This has led to an opportunity to track learner involvement in SET events over their school careers and to identify talented individuals. In addition, the findings indicate that there is little difference between learners from advantaged and disadvantaged communities. Added to this is the development of a solution to address the digital divide through the creation of virtual interactive classrooms which can digitally include learners from geographically separated classrooms in remote communities. The strategic importance of ICTs, creativity and innovation are key components of a Human Capital Development strategy, especially at a time when there is a growing shortage of scarce skills in key areas. Post Grade 12 interventions are short term solutions that are not sustainable. This thesis calls for the establishment of a SET pipeline from grassroots level, in order to grow the feeder stock for a national system of innovation as a long-term investment in the future. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Despite 21st Century technology, our nation’s high schools deliver a print-centric curriculum driven by high-stakes tests. A majority of states have adopted Common Core State Standards that incorporate producing and consuming multiple media texts. Some teachers have begun to include multimodal activities but few are exploiting the affordances of multimodal composition specifically for the benefit of English learners. Public high school teachers hold deficit views of English learners and fail to offer them challenging, creative tasks. Framed by the complementary sociocultural theories of ecological linguistics (van Lier, 2004), multimodality (Kress, 2010), and identity (Gee, 2001; Norton, 2000), this qualitative case study examined the process and product of high school English learners composing multimodally with digital video. Four questions guided the study: 1) What can we learn from adolescent English learners engaged in composing with video? 2) What identities do adolescent ELs explore while engaging in multimodal communication? 3) What processes do ELs engage in as they compose multimodally? 4) How do their multimodal compositions contribute to our understanding of ELs? Participants were enrolled in an elective English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class at a public high school during Spring semester of 2012. Data included student generated lesson artifacts, audio/video recordings, researcher journal, and participants' video compositions. Data were analyzed through an ongoing, recursive cycle to determine themes, categories, and trends. Visual and video data were examined through visual discourse analysis (Albers, 2007b; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006) and multimodal interaction analysis (Norris, 2004). Addressing the process and product of learning to read and compose visual and video texts, this dissertation examines 3 pairs of student participants and their video compositions. It reveals English learners working collaboratively and creatively, exploring imagined identities, showing investment in learning, engaging in critical analysis, and effectively communicating through multiple modes. Multimodal analysis of three student videos revealed four patterns of multimodal design; less is less, layered modes, less is more, and overlapping modes. The study redefines English learners as multilingual, multimodal communicators. It illustrates the complexity and reveals the benefit of incorporating multimodal activities and provides a model for fostering multilingual, multimodal communicators.