Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Stephanie A. Rolley / Much like designing golf courses, designing and building skateboard parks requires very specific knowledge. This knowledge is difficult to obtain without firsthand experience of the sport in question. An understanding of how design details such as alignment, layout, surface, proportion, and radii of the curved surfaces impact the skateboarder's experience is essential and, without it, a poor park will result. Skateboarding is the fastest growing sport in the US, and new skate parks are being finished at a rate of about three per day. Cities and even small towns all across North America are committing themselves to embracing this sport and giving both younger and older participants a positive environment in which to enjoy it. In the interest of both the skateboarders who use them and the people that pay to have them built, it is imperative that these skate parks are built correctly. Landscape architects will increasingly be called upon to help build these public parks in conjunction with skate park design/builders. At present, the relationship between landscape architects and skate park design/builders is often strained due to the gaps in knowledge between the two professions. This does not have to be the case. This thesis synthesizes information about skate parks into design guidelines for landscape architects. This information comes from: 1. A case study of the Kansas City Skate Plaza (a.k.a. Penn Valley Skate Park), involving skating of the park, video/photography, physical measurements, and site analysis. 2. Books, articles, movies, and websites concerning ethnography, landscape architecture, concrete construction methods, skate park and pool construction methods,landscape architecture for public spaces, and skateboarding/ skateboarding culture. 3. Interviews with landscape architects, skate park design/builders, and skateboarders. The intent of this thesis is to help landscape architects familiarize themselves in preparation for working with the skate park design/builders.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hotel, Restaurant, Institution Management and Dietetics / Ki-Joon Back / This study, based on customer-based brand equity (Keller, 1993), sought to identify key brand associations in brand knowledge and investigated attendees’ behaviors as evidenced in a comparison of a professional association’s major and regional conferences. The points of comparison were brand satisfaction, updated expectation of brand value (UEBV), brand trust, and attitudinal brand loyalty (ABL), especially the mediating effect of UEBV on brand trust-ABL link and the moderating effect of behavioral brand loyalty (BBL) within the brand trust-(UEBV)-brand loyalty link. To identify the proposed paths and differential effect of brand knowledge across I-CHRIE annual conference (IC) and regional CHRIE conferences (RC), this study sampled I-CHRIE members attending IC and/ or RC, using an online survey system. The response rate was 20.1% (213 out of 1,036) for IC and 19.4% (201 out of 1,036) for RC. Confirmatory factor analysis and/or structural equation modeling were used to test construct validity and hypotheses. Findings showed that professional education, staff service, site selection, and social networking are positively related to brand satisfaction, whereas brand awareness is negatively associated with it. Because brand satisfaction is a starting point in affecting UEBV, brand trust, and ABL, these four brand associations are presumed to be major sources of the differential effect of brand knowledge between IC and RC. Also, positive relationships existed on each path for brand satisfaction-UEBV, UEBV-brand trust, brand satisfaction-brand trust, and brand trust-ABL. It is especially important to look at the mediating effect of UEBV on brand satisfaction-brand trust path. UEBV was found to serve as a partial mediator on the brand satisfaction-brand trust path across the two groups. This result suggests that brand trust, the firm expectation that the brand will perform according to its promise, builds up through UEBV as well as through brand satisfaction. This study further extended the proposed theoretical model by dividing it into high and low BBL groups designed to unveil the differential characteristics or mechanisms between two groups. Except for the brand trust-ABL path, BBL was found to moderate the direct path (brand satisfaction to brand trust) and the indirect path (brand satisfaction to brand trust via UEBV). These findings support the notion that since high BBL attendees sustain longer relationships with a particular conference than low BBL attendees, high BBL attendees experience more cumulative satisfaction and update favorable expectations of brand value (through the perception of more [relational] benefits), thereby solidifying expectations about confidence in a brand (brand trust). Brand loyalty holds invaluable benefits for associations when associations in similar disciplines compete for potential attendees. Benefits from brand loyal customers lower marketing costs and increase market share and profitability. Thus, associations should build their conference marketing and management on brand loyalty by carefully designing brand associations attendees consider important. Persistent delivery of high-quality education programs, venue selection, and social networking enables associations to obtain cumulative satisfaction, UEBV, brand trust, and consequently brand loyalty. Retention of brand loyal attendees induces deep commitment to the conferences and great resistance to other conferences’ marketing strategies, thereby contributing to high revenue and market share.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Timothy D. Keane / Papago Park is an extraordinary urban space that has a rich history in the development of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The park was settled by pre-historic civilizations and has since been a significant recreation space for more recent generations. Although the park has been treasured among locals for ages, the development of large tourist attractions and other program elements have not been part of a cohesive park design. The park lacks a sense of unity and a strong local identity. Papago is unique in the fact that it is the only major urban park that showcases the native Sonoran Desert ecosystem. Conservation of these limited areas of native landscape is important. There is great potential for Papago to better respond to the environmental, educational, and recreational needs of the public. With this master plan, development of Papago Park is guided in order to unify park elements and strengthen its identity. It is intended that a cohesive park design which focuses on conservation of native landscape with an integrated social program will help Papago Park gain proper recognition on a regional and national scale.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Stephanie A. Rolley / Complex issues and exciting opportunities lie at the intersection of public health and park design. One component of the recently emerging field of design for active living explores the relationship between design and physical activity as part of a transdisciplinary area of study. This study provides the opportunity to view the design strategies that landscape architects have used to design parks through a lens of promoting physical activity. The purpose of this study is to understand design strategies incorporated in two fitness parks in Louisville, Kentucky assist in meeting public health goals for the citizens of Louisville. Two topical areas were explored: the physical design strategies used in the parks; and the collaborative efforts among stakeholders to further the public health agenda for promoting physical activity in the parks. A case study of two community scale fitness parks profiled the characteristics and design philosophies engaged in park development. The methodology, based on qualitative procedures incorporated three types of investigation: 1) collection of background data and documentation of Louisville’s parks and Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement; 2) interviews with key stakeholders from public agencies, private non-profit foundations, and selected consultants who have completed parks design work in Louisville; and 3) a case study analysis of two of the fitness parks in the city, based on the background data and input from subject interviews, and an identification of physical design strategies in each park. Identification of design strategies was based on a conceptual framework developed from the disciplines of public health promotion and landscape architecture, and input from local agency stakeholders. A physical activity design strategy inventory form was developed to aid in analysis. Anticipated results were two-fold: 1. Presentation of information to assist landscape architects in designing parks that intentionally provide engaging opportunities for physical activity; and 2. Contribution to the dialogue between landscape architects and public health professionals, informing collaboration on design projects and community programs. Findings revealed that the two parks studied incorporated several physical design strategies that promote physical activity, reflecting the mature park culture in Louisville, Kentucky, home to one of five designed Olmsted Parks and Parkways systems in the United States. The physical activity design strategy inventory form developed in this study as an audit tool warrants additional study as a potential audit and design tool to engage landscape architects designing for physical activity and informing others of ways that park design can play a role in physical activity.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Deborah D. Canter / SooCheong Jang / Senior casino gaming has been appearing as a leisure activity for the senior population as well as a research topic for many researchers from various academic disciplines. Finding out important reasons or motivations for older adults spending time in casino gaming will be the one of the fundamental ways to determine their future casino patronage intention. Accordingly, this study identifies a comprehensive inventory of senior casino gaming motivations by way of an exploratory approach. Followed Churchill’s (1979) scale development procedure, the study generated a to find five distinctive senior casino gaming motivation dimensions: winning and thrill, socialization, escape, enjoyment, and curiosity. Ultimately, confirmatory factor estimates supported that the finalized measure was unidimensional, reliable, and valid while the measurement scale was parsimonious and captured various dimensions of senior casino gaming motivation. The second part of this study investigated the applicability of an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) with motivation component attached in context of senior casino gaming behavior. Seniors’ past casino visit was also tested for a moderator effect between the major predictor variables (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and motivation) and seniors’ casino behavioral intention. The findings of a structural equation modeling suggested that all predictable variables of TPB had positive effects on seniors’ casino gaming intention. Among senior casino gaming motivation, ‘winning and thrill’ and ‘enjoyment’ had direct positive effects on behavioral intention. The results of metric invariance test for moderating role of past casino visit showed that there was no indication of seniors’ past casino visit having any influence on their intention to participate in casino gaming. The overall study results suggested that the proposed extended model is a useful tool to use in studying of senior casino gaming behavior. In conclusion, theoretical and practical implications of the study findings were discussed.