Yes

Investigated in this study was whether a university education course that covers the topics of diversity and cultural responsiveness would change teacher candidates\' existing prejudicial attitudes.  The major variables reported in this study were exposure to diversity coursework which served as the independent variable and teacher candidates\' prejudicial attitudes, which served as the dependent variable. Using the Yoder-Hartman Survey of Beliefs Scale, three research questions were addressed: (a) Are there differences in prejudice level between preservice teachers who have taken a diversity course and those who have not taken a diversity course? (b) Are there differences in prejudice level in preservice teachers before and after taking a diversity course? and (c) Do preservice teachers who have taken a diversity course and those who have not taken a diversity course display different pre/post levels of assessed prejudice? No differences were found between students who had taken a diversity course and those who had not. The current study suggests that one diversity course is not sufficient to have a significant effect on prejudice reduction among preservice teachers. Analyses of the current study results suggest that the coursework designed to reduce prejudicial attitudes was ineffective. Continued investigation will be required to: (1) refine and develop a program that will reduce prejudicial attitudes among teacher candidates and (2) refine and develop measures of prejudice reduction. / Ph. D.

Leafy greens such as spinach have been the object of several recent food-borne pathogen outbreaks. The purpose of this study was to isolate bacteria spinach epiphytic bacteria that inhibit growth of E. coli O157:H7, which we describe as antagonism. The mechanism of antagonism was investigated and we attempted to improve the antagonistic potential in vitro and on spinach leaves when cellobiose, a carbon source utilized by the antagonists but not E. coli O157:H7, was added. There were larger culturable populations of bacteria on the leaves of savoyed cultivars compared to flat. From the isolated colonies, 47 displayed antagonism towards E.coli O157:H7, and were identified as members of 11 different genera and sixteen species. A representative isolate from each species was evaluated for three possible mechanisms of antagonism: acid production, secretion of an inhibitory compounds or secreted protease. The majority (14/16) produced at least a moderate level of acid. Two of these strains, Paenibacillus polymyxa and Pseudomonas espejiana, were found to secrete a non- protease antagonistic compound. These antagonists varied in their reduction of E.coli O157:H7 numbers in vitro, but all significantly reduced numbers in 48 hours of co-culturing in nutrient rich media. Five antagonists resulted in a significant reduction in E.coli O157:H7 populations when co-cultured on spinach leaves. Application of cellobiose did not improve the amount of antagonism in vitro or on the leaf surface after 24 hours. / Master of Science

As invasive species are so prominent, the influence of wildfire intensity on fuel loading, invasives, species richness, diversity, and evenness were studied at Shenandoah National Park. Most National Parks identify invasive species as the biggest threat to their goal of maintaining native ecosystems. Eight study sites were stratified into three burn classes (high intensity, low intensity, and control), and three transects were randomly located so that nested plots and fuel transects were measured at a distance of 50 ft (15 m), 150 ft (45 m), and 250 ft (75 m) from a road or trail. Field sampling was conducted between May 15, 2004 and June 30, 2004. A subsample of these plots were used to determine specific gravity and quadratic mean diameter for each size class of fuel and to determine the bulk density of the duff and litter layers. High intensity wildfires initially reduced species diversity and evenness in the tree and herbaceous strata, but after 14 years tree species diversity and evenness returned to levels found in unburned areas, while herbaceous strata diversity was not associated with time since burn. Low intensity wildfires resulted in the greatest impacts in the shrub stratum. Presence of invasive species was associated with more even and diverse vegetation in all strata, perhaps because invasive species were relatively sparse. Fuel loadings were reduced initially by high intensity wildfires, but quickly returned to the same level as unburned areas. Although these initial findings indicate that invasive species will not persist after wildfire disturbance, continual monitoring by National Parks would be prudent. / Master of Science

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It is projected that the majority population will become the minority population by 2050. In order to serve the needs of an ethnically diverse U.S. population, corporate agribusinesses are encouraged to employ an ethnically diverse workforce. The purpose of this research was to understand how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control in the workplace affects the intent of underrepresented groups to remain in working for their current corporate agribusiness. In current agriculture research, there are very few studies that focus on the experiences of underrepresented groups in corporate agribusinesses. There is also very little research and public information that provides the number of underrepresented students who are recruited and retained in corporate agribusinesses from year to year. For this reason the author sought to explore the experiences of underrepresented groups who work for agricultural organizations and gain an understanding of factors that impact their intentions to maintain a career in the field. Using a phenomenological qualitative research study design, individual interviews were conducted with underrepresented employees from various corporate agribusinesses from across the United States. A review of the findings indicate that underrepresented groups who work for corporate agribusinesses are satisfied with their jobs in terms of compensation, work/life balance, and the opportunities for advancement. Yet, they are sometimes faced with micro-aggressions, at times feel they are treated differently because of their race, and often work in cultural climates that lack inclusion and/or cultural intelligence. As a result the majority of the participants who participated in the study felt that they would remain with their corporate agribusiness employer until they found a new company to work for, started their own business, or a better opportunity presented itself. The findings from this study also show that anyone seeking employment in corporate agribusinesses need to have effective communication skills, cultural and emotional intelligence, agricultural competency, and a true passion for their field of agriculture in order to be successful in the industry. Other findings show that underrepresented groups and their White counterparts need to be educated on the contributions that underrepresented groups have made to the agricultural field in efforts to change the negative perceptions that underrepresented groups have about agriculture. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

This dissertation examines how leaders explain the way shifts in leaders responsibilities, shifts in institutional pressures, and minority representation at the Senior Executive Service level influence how they integrate equity and diversity programs in federal agencies. When federal agencies address the issue of minority representation in Senior Executive Service (SES), the degree to which leaders institutionalize diversity and equity programs varies. Leaders at different levels have their own motivation for how they respond to institutional pressures. There have been shifts in responsibilities and pressures over time. Using semi-structured interviews, 18 leaders explain how these shifts influence them. This research, which also includes supporting documents, seeks to contribute to neoinstitutional theory, equity and diversity literature, and representative bureaucracy, extending the perspective of how institutional pressures impact organizations to how pressures influence leaders in federal agencies. / PHD / This dissertation examines how leaders explain the way shifts in leaders’ responsibilities, shifts in institutional pressures, and minority representation at the Senior Executive Service level influence how they integrate equity and diversity programs in federal agencies. When federal agencies address the issue of minority representation in Senior Executive Service (SES), the degree to which leaders institutionalize diversity and equity programs varies. Leaders at different levels have their own motivation for how they respond to institutional pressures. There have been shifts in responsibilities and pressures over time. Using semi-structured interviews, 18 leaders explain how these shifts influence them. This research, which also includes supporting documents, seeks to contribute to neoinstitutional theory, equity and diversity literature, and representative bureaucracy, extending the perspective of how institutional pressures impact organizations to how pressures influence leaders in federal agencies.

Ad hoc networking research has received considerable attention in recent years as it represents the next phase of networking evolution. Efficient and reliable routing of data from the source to destination with minimal power consumption remains the crux of the research problem. Fading mechanisms inherent in wireless communications can impact the packet routing mechanisms in these types of networks. In this thesis, we develop a mathematical framework for evaluating several network diversity schemes that take advantage of the random nature of fading to provide/ enhance the network performance. The efficacy of these different network diversity mechanisms are examined in slow-fading, frequency non-selective Rice and Nakagami-m multipath fading channels. Performance metrics such as the end-to-end outage probability and the end-to-end average symbol error rate are studied in the analysis of these types of networks with the proposed network diversity schemes. Numerical results reveal that the proposed schemes can offer significant power efficiency improvement in a variety of operating scenarios of practical interest. / Master of Science