This study combines the elements of a qualitative and philosophical approach to examine, analyze, and discuss the process currently used to identify students for special education services in a public school setting. By combining a qualitative and philosophical approach, the study is designed to bring theory and practice together. It strives to mark the limits of current practice in special education and enrich the understanding of its theoretical bases. The qualitative portion of this study utilized a multiple-case design for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and discussing data. The study research took place in an elementary school that serves approximately 670 students enrolled in preschool through fifth grade. The transcripts from seven special education eligibility meetings comprise the primary source of data for the qualitative analysis and discussion. Each meeting was considered a single case, or unit of analysis. The data were codified and analyzed using a process suggested by Strauss and Corbin (1990). Memos written in field notes are cited to augment the interpretation of data. The written reports presented during the meetings were also used in the iterative process. Additionally, references to administrative manuals are made to further support the analysis and discussion. Five general themes emerged as the data were analyzed across the seven cases. The data suggest a number of findings which are presented and discussed. Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish (1979) serves as a conceptual framework for extending the qualitative analysis and discussion. While Foucault's theory of power provides a valuable analytic tool for the critique of the special education process, it does not offer a viable alternative to current practices. For this reason, the final portion of the study explores the ethics of care movement and its viability for positive change in administering programs in special education. Six observations are made which are considered essential toward an ethic of care in the administration of special education. Recommendations for further study are provided in the final chapter. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to analyze 10 national corporations represented on the national business/industry advisory board of DECA, a national association of marketing education students. DECA's mission is to enhance the cocurricular education of students with interests in marketing, management, and entrepreneurship. DECA's National Advisory Board works directly with the association to influence its educational program that prepares students in career skills and job training. This study was designed to identify major factors, which contribute to successful business partnerships with this national association of marketing students. Upon conducting interviews with representatives of the 10 identified companies, the researcher found that the partnerships existed because each party received something. The companies gained present and future employees as a result of being able to recruit marketing students from DECA. Likewise, through the results of this study, it was determined by the researcher that DECA was able to link school and work through successful integrated education efforts nationwide. This undertaking resulted in building a responsive workforce preparation program. DECA also gained information about its National Advisory Board operations. / Ph. D.

The trail of the artifact is an anonymous line on a tourist map of Manhattan. It delimits the boundary, separates the inner and outer, and occupies space. This occupied space juxtaposing the edge of Greenwich Village is an invisible and a undetermined line in the city. Architecture is the result of thinking of object as act, as transformation, and as invention. The project searches, explores, and makes this line present. / Master of Architecture

There is a fine line between the "simple" and the "simplistic". The simple such as the plain, the pure, and the truthful holds a complexity within, which is extremely hard to obtain. It ultimately results in beauty. The simplistic embodies nothing more than obviousness and boredom. My aim is to strive for simple beauty. Concerning objects and architecture, to simplify means to reduce by eliminating the superficial and the superfluous, to unmask what is essential. Quality materials and craftsmanship are prerequisites. In combination with the accuracy of the design they help to attain the desired result which speaks of precision and clarity. / Master of Architecture

This thesis completes the process of making architecture. It is a small project designed and built full scale. The act of realizing this work of architecture offered opportunities and limitations that do not exist within the confines of a desk project but, I believe, ultimately produced a stronger project. This is a piece of micro-architecture. In order to create a project that is realizable for a thesis, I chose a small program: to design an exhibition structure that could be used outdoors to display and sell handmade items such as pottery. Since the use is temporary, the structure is designed to be portable, thus the assembly and disassembly of the building becomes a significant influence on the design. Beyond budget, weight and volume of the collapsed structure were significant design constraints. This thesis is not just an exploration of tectonics. A great deal of effort was spent to ensure that the inside of the structure is still perceived as an outside space even though it provides protection from the weather and the activities of the street. A membrane keeps the water out while letting the light in; it blocks vision while transmitting shadow, and, while screening large areas from view, it reveals glimpses of people, activities, and the sky beyond. The lightweight aluminum structural frame visually disappears. The fabric roof and side panels provide the main visual mass for the building and they are perceived mainly through the quality of light that they transmit and reflect. One looks at a structure but sees only its ephemerality. / Master of Architecture

A place is said to be meaningful when man feels "at home." Looking at industrial cities, one finds an immense density to them. This results from the communities surrounding the industry. These communities developed from the housing supplied by the factories for the workers, primarily immigrants. They generally formed communities based on their ethnic origins and/or religious beliefs. The craftsmanship, quality and conditions were not the best. Within this context some of the strongest communities developed. Industry supplied these families with minimal housing. These families created something greater - a place to live - a shelter they could return to and a community to grow. The workers and their families succeeded in making a place of their own. / Master of Architecture

The decision between selling corn at harvest or placing corn in storage is investigated. Six marketing strategies are identified and analyzed based on their ability to capture profits and avoid losses. The strategies are implemented when expected profits are positive. The strategies involve storing with no forward pricing and storing with forward pricing using futures, options and cash contracts. Three regression models are developed to forecast change in cash prices and basis. The regression models are incorporated into the strategies to help producers forecast profits and losses. Cash prices and basis are based on markets in the Northern Neck of Virginia for the 1974 to 1994 time period. The distribution of returns for each strategy are analyzed and compared using mean variance analysis and second degree stochastic dominance. The distribution of returns represent the risk associated with each strategy. The results indicate four of the six strategies are worth considering. The strategy with the highest average returns and the highest variance of returns involved storing com with no forward pricing. The strategy with no forward pricing exhibited some of the best returns, but exposed the producer to the most risk. A producer faced no risk if the strategy using cash contracts was implemented. The strategy that comprised hedging with a futures contract and the strategy that involved buying a put option and writing a call option exhibited similar returns and risk. Producers can implement the strategy that exhibits the level of risk he or she is willing to accept. A computer program is developed to assist the producer in analyzing the four strategies. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical properties of dental sealant resins under aging conditions to determine the critical factors controlling functional property loss with time. The effect of processing on the chemical and thermal properties of several different sealant formulations was evaluated. These processing parameters included the blue light exposure time for each light-curing system and time after illumination. The results indicate that the level of cure for each system was incomplete at the end of all processing procedures. Heating as well as further aging of the cured resin advanced the cure. Additionally, one of our goal was to model the curing characteristics of the sealant as a function of depth in the fissure to evaluate the thickness influence on the sealant mechanical properties. The strength and stiffness of the light-cured sealant varied as a function of depth in the fissure. This results in a gradient of deformation which could cause early fracture of the resin upon chewing. Incomplete resin conversion is important since dental adhesives have been shown to be leached by saliva and the elution products have been recently shown to be potentially estrogenic. Samples of differently processed commercial sealants were immersed in an ethanol/water solution and extractions were analyzed by HPLC. An inverse correlation between the degree of cure and the % of elution as well as high level of extraction was found. An <i>in vivo</i> study has been performed on fifteen pigs. The purpose of the experiment is to obtain data on <i>in vivo</i> sealing ability of the sealant. Low sealant retention rates have been found but interesting observations of sealed fissures were made and the pig can be considered like an acceptable model. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to describe nutritional screening practices in hospital settings in Virginia. A questionnaire was mailed to each of the chief clinical dietitians employed at 123 Virginia hospitals listed in the 1994 American Hospital Guide (22). Ninety-one (74%) responses were received. Twenty-five (27.5 %) of the hospitals included in the survey were considered large hospitals with more than 300 licensed beds and 66 (72.5 %) were small hospitals with 300 or fewer licensed beds. Re-screening of patients occurred in 40 (60.6 %) of the small hospitals while 8 (32 %) of the large hospitals had re-screening policies. Computers were used for nutritional screening in 17 (68 %) of the large hospitals and 13 (19.7 %) of the small hospitals. Dietetic technicians participated in screening in 10 (40 %) of the large hospitals and in 11 (16.9 %) of the small hospitals. Dietetic students participated in screening in 8 (32 %) of the large hospitals and they participated in 3 (4.5 %) of the small hospitals. Hemoglobin was used in 6 (24 %) of the large hospitals to determine a patients nutritional risk. It was used in 34 (51.5 %) of the small hospitals. Hematocrit was used in 36 (54.5 %) of the small hospitals and in 5 (20 %) of the large hospitals. All of these associations between large and small hospitals were significantly different (p < .05 ) as determined by Chi square analysis. Since there were no other significant associations between large and small hospitals, the reminder of the results were treated as one group of hospitals. Seventy-five (82.4 %) of the hospitals represented in the survey had written screening policies and a standard form was used in 59 (64.8 0/0) of them. Fifteen (16.50/0) of the hospitals surveyed had written screening policies for specialty units; 8 (8.8 %) also had specific forms. The three most common items included in the routine nutritional screening were weight, height, and lab results. Weight and height also were the items most often missing or not available when a routine screening was performed. Albumin was used as an abnormal finding to determine nutritional risk in 79 (86.8 %) of the hospitals; while weight loss was used in 82 (90.1 %) of the hospitals and weight for height was used in 69 (75.8 010) hospitals. / Master of Science

Data for Hispanic participants in the 1985 - 1988 California Adolescent Family Life (AFL) Program were examined to determine whether acculturation level and marital status have an effect on maternal educational outcomes and infant health outcomes. Following Becerra and de Anda (1984) language preference is used as an approximation of acculturation level. With respect to marital status, two models are constructed. In Model 1, marital status includes the values never married or ever married. In Model 2, married and cohabiting women are grouped together and compared with women who neither have married nor cohabited. Logistic regression was used to determine the effect of these independent variables on the dichotomized maternal education and infant health variables. The infant health measures examined in this study are birthweight (low or adequate birthweight) and neonatal intensive care unit admission. More acculturated women were found to be more likely to have babies admitted to the NICU than less acculturated women. More acculturated women were also more likely than less acculturated women to be enrolled or graduated from school at the time they exited the AFL Program. Bivariate analyses for marriage with both birthweight and NICU admission approached significance. The logistic regression analyses for these relationships were not significant. / Master of Science