Studying abroad during the collegiate experience is an idea sought by the many high school seniors and college freshmen alike. The social, intellectual, and cultural benefits received from participating makes it a seemingly easy decision. Yet, lack of action plagues the nation as there exists a miniscule number of students who follow through with their desire to study abroad. Prior research exemplifies that students rely on the perceptions of their peers and family when approaching an unfamiliar subject. These perceptions result in concocted barriers that dissuade the student from participating in study abroad before they seek concrete information. There are a limited number of studies completed at universities to identify these specific barriers. Thus, this research examines the student population at the University of Central Florida, the perceived barriers they possess concerning study abroad, and their sources of these perceptions. This is a qualitative and quantitative study that investigates the effects of perceived cost and graduation delay on the willingness of a student to study abroad. The unexpected ramifications of the marketing mix, utilized by the department of Study Abroad, will shed light upon the steps necessary to revise their position in order to transform student intent into action.

This thesis considers Central Florida's emerging local food movement from an anthropological perspective. Area farmers and organizations spearheading this movement and the benefits of purchasing and consuming locally grown food are ethnographically explored. Interviews with natural and organic farmers highlight the challenges affected farmers face in creating a sustainable local food movement in the greater Orlando region. Their motivations for farming organically and the counter-hegemonic tendencies inherent in this mode of cultivating are critically analyzed. Taken as a whole, this work addresses the limitations and opportunities afforded to farmers amid the popularity of local food consumption as a social movement. The farmers interviewed for this project are new to producing food for local consumption. They all share an interest in promoting financial and environmental sustainability for small farms. Key challenges they face include those grounded in access to arable land and agricultural policies that disproportionately favor large-scale producers. This research has significant implications for both those organizations and individuals building sustainable local food movements and those in local, state, and national government developing agricultural policy.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective tool for preventing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) acquisition in sexually active at-risk individuals such as men who have sex with men (MSM). The purpose of this study is to examine factors associated with intent to engage in risky sexual behavior among HIV-negative college aged (18-24) MSM who are currently adherent to PrEP or who have expressed interest in the future adoption of PrEP. A multiracial/ethnic sample of 31 men expressing interest in the adoption of PrEP and 6 men currently taking PrEP completed a quantitative survey identifying key themes regarding attitudes towards PrEP and potential behaviors associated with adherence. Themes associated with current adherence to PrEP included protection from HIV infection, the opportunity to engage in sexual activities with a non-condom HIV prevention method, and perceived protection from sexually transmitted infections. Themes associated with potential adoption of PrEP included protection from HIV infection, opportunity to engage in sexual activity with known HIV-positive partners, opportunity to engage in sexual activities with a non-condom HIV prevention method, and perceived protection from sexually transmitted infections. Review found that decreased condom use and increased sexual partners are key themes related to initiation of PrEP, and a decrease in frequency of condom use was indicated among the adherent sample. Other key themes identified include barriers to PrEP implementation and misinformation regarding sexually transmitted infections among the population.

The purpose of this study was to determine the compensation preferences of seniors at the University of Central Florida. The sample consisted of 86 females and 77 males currently registered as seniors at the university. Subjects were mailed a questionnaire and asked to rank order 11 compensation options and answer nine demographic questions. One-way and repeated measures analyses of variance were used to compute significant differences, 10 were found between groups in compensation preferences as related to the demographic variables. For example, those students with children had significant differences in preferences for four of the options. Significant differences in rankings were also found for all 11 options within the academic major categories. Three of the groups had no significant differences in preferences for the options including males and females.

The College of Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF) required a data set containing the Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) graduates from 1970 on, to be updated each semester. The data set was created in 1984, through the use of the Statistical Analysis System/Full-Screen Product (SAS/FSP), a computer system which allows for easy access to and editing of data values, and the use of SAS programming for statistical analysis of the data set. The data set presently (1985) contains 1483 observations each with 70 variables, such as personal information (age, social security number, ethnic origin), degree information (junior college attended, grade point average, honors), post-graduate information (master and doctorate degrees, first job after graduation), and test results (CLAST, SAT, GRE). The current data was obtained through the Department of institutional Research and transcripts. Because this data set will be in use a long time, a manual has been written that contains a detailed description of (a) the data set and all its variables, (b) the use of the full-screen product with a tutorial, (c) the use of the questionnaires, and (d) the method used to collect data. Five tests were performed on four semesters of graduates, equaling 301 observations. The math and overall grade point averages (GPAs) for transfer and time-shortened-degree (TSD) students were tested against the math and overall GPAs of the general UCF BSE population. It was discovered that the math and overall GPAs of the graduates who received Associate of Arts degrees from Florida community colleges before entering UCF lowered significantly at UCF. The tests also suggested a possible difference in academic approaches between the community college and UCF, and there should be more than just a recognition of the drop in math and overall GPA. The TSD graduates did not perform as well in the math and overall curriculum as might be expected. Recommendations for manual testing, updating of the data set, and further testing with SAS are included.

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This study is primarily about the theory of uneven geographical development. In an era when it is proclaimed that, through globalization, the world has become flat, the unevenness of economic and social development is often overlooked or suppressed. As the nexus between global and local processes, the urban space often becomes the site of conflict between those defining the hegemonic narrative of the space, from a global and flat perspective; and those experiencing heterogenous local narratives, whose uneven positions are reinforced by this hegemonic narrative. This study explores the conditions of uneven geographical development in the urban space of central Florida. Focusing primarily on the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), better known by much of the world as Walt Disney World, and on Celebration, the community developed by the Disney Corporation in the 1990s, the relationship between urban development and tourism, the defining economic sector in the region, are explored in the context of space-place, global-local narratives. This is done using the four conditions of David Harvey's Theory of Uneven Geographical Development. First, the history of sociopolitical processes within the urban space are explored as creating a framework upon which contemporary uneven geographical development could be built. Second, the development and continued power of the RCID in central Florida are examined within the context of accumulation by dispossession. Third, Celebration as a consumed company town is examined in the context of accumulation across space-time. Finally, the relationships between the RCID and Celebration, and the rest of the central Florida region, are developed in the context of struggles occurring simultaneously across multiple scales. This study shows that the theory of uneven geographical development applies well to a region that is heavily dependent upon the tourist sector for its economy, and thereby works to control the narrative of that space to continue attracting consumers. It also shows that, while the theory of uneven geographical development works well for a space that is a primary global tourist sink, it needs additional theoretical sophistication in order to better suit rapidly changing global processes.

A generalized non-dimensional mathematical expression has been developed to describe the rating relation of depth and discharge for intermediate and high streamflow of natural and controlled streams. The expressions have been tested against observations from forty-three stations in West-Central Florida. The intermediate-flow region model has also been validated using data from thirty additional stations in the study area. The proposed model for the intermediate flow is a log-linear equation with zero intercept and the proposed model for the high-flow region is a log-linear equation with a variable intercept. The models are normalized by the depth and discharge values at 10 percent exceedance using data published by the U.S. Geological Survey. For un-gauged applications, Q10 and d10 were derived from a relationship shown to be reasonably well correlated to the watershed drainage area with a correlation coefficient of 0.94 for Q10 and 0.86 for d10. The average relative error for this parameter set shows that, for the intermediate-flow range, better than 50% agreement with the USGS rating data can be expected for about 86% of the stations and for the high-flow range, better than 50% for 44% of the stations. Testing the model outside West Central Florida, in some stations at North Florida, and South Alabama and Georgia, show some reasonable relative errors but not as good as the results obtained for West Central Florida. Using a model with a different slope, developed specific for those particular stations improved the results significantly.