Sororities play an important role in the process by which sorority women become gendered by influencing members' ideas about what it means to be a woman. Women and men become gendered through regular social interaction with other women and men, and sororities have a particularly strong impact on their members because sorority women spend nearly all of their time with other Greeks. Gender is one of the major ways that we organize our lives and gender is the texture and foundation of our social, political, and economic worlds. This is why we must consider the consequences of gender negotiation in all arenas, including sororities. For the most part, the sorority women who participated in this study negotiated traditional gender arrangements and constructed conservative identities. Sororities on this Pacific Northwestern university created and perpetuated conformity, dependence and political apathy in their members. These organizations developed an environment in which gender stereotyping and victimization was learned and then legitimized. Within these organizations, however, are pockets of resistance, non-compliance, empowerment, and what could be called "potentially feminist" gender negotiation. / Graduation date: 2003

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (February 21, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Sammanfattning Letter of intent, vilket torde kunna översättas till avsiktsförklaring på svenska, är ett vanligt förekommande element vid avtalsförhandlingar. I doktrinen har det skett en uppdelning mellan ”rena” och ”orena” letter of intent. Med ”orena” letter of intent avses de dokument som innehåller juridiska förpliktelser, exempelvis i form av skilje-, ersättnings- och sekretessklausuler. I motsats till detta återfinns inte några juridiska förpliktelser i ”rena” letter of intent. Typiskt sett uttrycks i ett letter of intent en avsikt att i framtiden ingå avtal. Emellertid innebär denna avsikt vanligen ingen skyldighet att ingå förevarande avtal. Den första frågeställningen som ligger till grund för detta arbete är om ”rena” letter of intent, utan bindande klausuler, kan medföra rättsverkningar? Vidare följer frågan – om ett ”rent” letter of intent anses kunna medföra rättsverkningar – under vilka förutsättningar är detta möjligt? Det finns vare sig lagregler eller förarbeten att tillgå inom svensk rätt beträffande rättsinstitutet letter of intent. Emellertid har letter of intent behandlats i såväl rättsfall som doktrin. I dessa rättskällor råder det delade meningar om ”rena” letter of intent kan medföra rättsverkningar. De som anser att rättsverkningar av ”rena” letter of intent är uteslutet argumenterar för att de i grund och botten endast är avsiktsförklaringar och inget annat. De anser således att affärsmännen genom letter of intent skapat ett icke bindande dynamiskt instrument som kan överbrygga de statiska reglerna i AvtL. Omvänt anser de som är förespråkare för att ”rena” letter of intent kan medföra rättsverkningar att man inte kan begränsa sig till detta synsätt. Juridiska förpliktelser av ”rena” letter of intent torde enligt dessa förespråkare kunna utgå på grund av exempelvis konkludent handlande, lojalitetsplikten och principen om culpa in contrahendo. Sedan allt relevant material på området studerats och analyserats torde man kunna dra den slutsatsen att ”rena” letter of intent, utan bindande klausuler, kan medföra rättsverkningar. På vilka grunder kan då detta ske? Den allmänna uppfattningen synes vara att det inte kan uppstå några juridiska förpliktelser av ”rena” letter of intent i sig. Emellertid torde ”rena” letter of intent i kombination med andra omständigheter kunna medföra rättsverkningar. De omständigheter som åsyftas är konkludent handlande, åsidosättande av lojalitetsplikten samt klandervärt beteende vid avtals ingående (culpa in contrahendo). Några övriga omständigheter, förutom de nyss nämnda, förefaller dock inte kunna medföra rättsverkningar av ”rena” letter of intent.

The purposes of this study were first to determine if there were significant differences in living environment press, i.e., the pressure on an individual to behave in a certain way, between those fraternity chapters that had the highest freshman pledge retention rates and those that had the lowest. If significant differences were determined to exist, the second purpose was to investigate how those differences related to differences in the retention rates for freshman fraternity pledges. The data were obtained from the records of all freshman pledges in the Oregon State University fraternity system for a four-year period. From these data the high pledge retention and low pledge retention fraternities were determined. The sample for the remainder of this study was two of the three highest and two of the three lowest pledge retention fraternities. The highest and lowest pledge retention fraternities were eliminated. Analyses included: Pearson Correlation Coefficients to determine if there were significant correlations between retention of pledges in the fraternity system and six factors involving grades and the number of members and pledges living in the fraternities; two-way, fixed analyses of variance to determine if there were significant differences between the high retention fraternities (HRFs) and the low retention fraternities (LRFs) with respect to pledge high school grade point averages and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores; chi square contingencies to determine if there were significant differences between the HRFs and the LRFs with respect to 14 different characteristic, background, and satisfaction variables; and F-test analyses to determine if there were significant living environment differences between the HRFs and the LRFs on each of the subscales of the University Residence Environment Scale, Form R. The conclusions of the study were: 1. Neither high school nor college grades, SAT scores, nor individual characteristics, background, and satisfaction levels can be used to define differences in pledge retention between the HRF and LRF houses. 2. The differences within the living environment, and primarily the relationship dimension of that environment, of the two groups offer the best explanation of the pledge retention differences between the two groups. 3. The overt pressure exerted by the LRFs on their pledges to study and achieve academic success did not result in greater academic success than in HRFs, but did tend to limit the degree of social integration achieved by their pledges. 4. Social integration has a significant positive impact on pledge retention, while overt pressure toward academic integration has a probable negative impact on pledge retention. 5. Successful social integration, while having a positive impact on pledge retention, does not have a negative impact on academic performance. In fact, the impact on academic performance may be positive. 6. A crucial element in the Tinto (1987) model should be a relationship building block within the peer group interactin portion of the social system. Recommendations for further study were made. / Graduation date: 1991

Thesis (M.A.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-123).

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-51).

This essay seeks to explore the various representations of fatherhood in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Although The Scarlet Letter is Hawthorne’s most-studied text, very little critical attention has been paid to Hawthorne’s rendering of paternity in the story. This essay attempts to fill that void by examining the roles of the many father figures in the novel. I argue that Hawthorne’s anxiety about fatherhood, made manifest by his constant doubling and expunging of father figures, dominates the narratives of both The Scarlet Letter and “The Custom-House,” binding the texts together and providing the framework of the novel. The structure of The Scarlet Letter relies on Hawthorne’s continual introduction of potential fathers for Pearl, auditioning and discarding various paternal models – a process that carries implications both for Pearl, and for American fatherhood. I further contend that the figure of the absent father is a key thematic component of the American Renaissance as a whole, reflecting not only the authors’ personal fears, but also their anxieties about England’s paternal relationship to America – a concern that pervades the text of The Scarlet Letter. / text

Focusing on the ‘second reign’ of Queen Elizabeth I (1588-1603), this thesis constitutes the first significant socio-political examination of Elizabethan Devon – a geographically peripheral county, yet strategically central in matters pertaining to national defence and security. A complex web of personal associations and informal alliances underpinned politics and governance in Tudor England; but whereas a great deal is now understood about relations between both the political elite and the organs of government at the centre of affairs, many questions still remain unanswered about how networks of political actors functioned at a provincial and neighbourhood level, and how these networks kept in touch with one another, central government and the court. Consequently, this study is primarily concerned with power and communication. In particular, it investigates and models the interconnected networks of government within late-Elizabethan Devon and explains precisely how the county’s officials (at every level) shared information with the Crown and each other. The raison d’être of this study is, therefore, to probe the character and articulation of the power geometries at the south-western fringe of Elizabethan England. The closing years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I represent a decisive phase in the evolution of the English nation state, one that saw the appointment of lord lieutenants on a more widespread and long-standing basis, the consistent training of certain sections of the county militias, the expansion of the pre-existing government post-stage service, a heightened degree of dealings between every echelon of administration and an obvious increase in the amount of information that flowed from the localities into the capital. The primary causes of each of these developments were the Elizabethan war with Spain (1585-1604) and the rebellion in Ireland (1594-1603), and it is demonstrated throughout this thesis that Devon, a strategically essential county during this period of political turmoil, provides an excellent case study for evaluating the impact that each had on the Crown’s ability to control the periphery whilst being spatially anchored at the court. Furthermore, by examining each of these developments the thesis fundamentally undercuts the tenacious assertion that geographically marginal regions of Tudor territory were inward-looking, remote and disconnected from events that were unfolding on a national and international level.

Letter position plays an important role in lexical access. But are some positions more important than the others? Findings from numerous studies support the notion that in lexical access, initial letters produce strongest activation, which weakens towards the end of the word. In order to create a metric for computing the activation produced by each letter position in a correctly spelled word versus a word in which some or all letters are transposed, the formula for calculating a word's orthographic match coefficient (OMC) was developed and tested. Utilizing the masked priming paradigm and a lexical decision task, Experiments 1-5 test the accuracy and reliability of the OMC predictions, and look at neighborhood density in conjunction with different types of letter movement. Results from these experiments provide empirical support for the OMC as a reliable predictor of priming that involves transposed letters, and offer insight into possible mechanisms of word recognition.

Correspondence is written forms of communications, for example, SMS, E-mail, or letters, and when something is written, it may constitute a literary work protected by copyright. As there is no formal procedure for acquiring copyright, it is not always easy to determine when it exists and therefore know how to impose common rules. In Sweden, the moment of publication of a literary work is when an author makes his work available to the public. This occurs when a work is presented publicly, displayed publicly, or when copies are distributed to the public. This moment is imperative due to the legal effects that enter into force when a work is published. Until the point in time when a work is published, an author has absolute rights to his work, meaning that it is not possible to use a work legally without the author’s consent. As correspondence is a mean of communication, it is inherent in its nature to be transferred to someone else in order to fulfil its purpose. This means that an author has technically published his work the moment he sends it to someone else. However, arguments are raised in case law that a work cannot be published unless the author has intended it to be. This thesis concludes that both assessments of when a work is published are in fact correct. The important aspect that has to be considered when assessing if a work is published or not, is the intended usage of the protected work. Consequently, one may use the results of this thesis either as an argument to apply unbiased provisions of law, in accordance to their wording, or to apply subjective assessments on a case-to-case basis, in order to find an optimal solution.