This dissertation intervenes in a long-simmering debate about whether literature belongs in composition classes. Using a combination of empirical and textual methods, my scholarship proceeds inductively from analyzing artifacts of teaching, providing a better sense of what is happening in writing classrooms rather than simply speculating about it. In doing so, I revisit arguments made against using literature in composition and argue that the 21st century English department provides a different context within which literature and composition co-exist. One of the charges leveled against using literature to teach writing is that it is a "humanist" practice and therefore elitist. I trace the genealogy of this term and demonstrate the wide range of meanings this term has carried within the last century alone, arguing that those who raise the alarm against humanism need to clarify what they mean. Taking off from the humanistic concern with style, I analyze composition anthologies to see how the questions following the literary selections deal with stylistic concerns. By and large, I find that the literary selections reinforce the themes of the primarily nonfiction chapters, but are not presented as prose from which students can derive stylistic lesson. I then turn to analyzing syllabi, testing the accusation that those coming from literature backgrounds will teach literature in their composition classes at the expense of working on student writing. I find that literature specialists do not necessarily spend an excessive number of class days on literature, but do spend more class days on readings generally, with fewer days devoted to student writing than rhetoric specialists. Finally, I argue that the validity of student evaluations of teaching needs to be assessed by composition scholars because concerns specific to our courses--the small sizes, the frequent feedback teachers give students, the difficulty of assessing student work, and the fact that ours is a female dominated field--mean that research conducted by educational psychologists may not apply to composition. My research reinforces the idea that our course readings, assignments, pedagogy, and assessment methods should align purposively with each other. / text

Long-term, high protein diets at 35% of energy may have implications in bone biology. The objective of this study was to comprehensively examine whether a high mixed protein diet at the 35% energy level can be deemed safe with respect to long-term bone health. Eighty female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to receive 4, 8, 12, or 17 months of a control (15% of energy as protein) or the high protein diet (35% of energy). Statistical analyses of biochemical, biomechanical, morphological, microarchitectural, and densitometric examinations using a 2-way factorial ANOVA with interaction revealed that elevated protein consumption had no negative consequences to bone health. High protein fed rats had increased lean body mass and decreased body weight and body fat. Thus preliminary results suggest that protein consumption at 35% of energy has a positive effect on body weight and does not hinder the mechanical abilities of bone.

This study explores compositional abstraction in architecture. The act of squinting adopts propositions from Christopher Alexander and structuralist Marcel Mauss. An analytical method based upon element density and regularity is tested through residential facade studies. Observed limitations prompt the introduction of a third axis of exceptionality. Generative possibilities are investigated through a series of facade games. Focus turns to the facades of parking garages as a neutral background for the examination of compositional qualities. Notable garages are examined, and local design guidelines are critiqued. Finally, a garage in Halifax, Nova Scotia is redesigned. Compositional ambiguities inherent in the existing confi guration prompt the introduction of an alternative, associatively rich diaphragm system based upon the compositional and structural logic of trees. A review of the associative method notes its value as an explicit decision-making tool, but suggests that key formal moves remain beyond the generative scope of organizational modelling.

An original composition in one movement for a chamber octet comprised of a string quartet and a jazz piano quartet with tenor saxophone. The work develops an idée fixe, introduced in the opening bars, through a wide variety of transformations, textures, and styles. The two quartets begin in antiphonal alteration, united in thematic material, yet separated by style. A modern art music style contrasts with an improvisational jazz style. Gradually, the two quartets, and their concomitant musics, bleed into one another, breaking down stylistic boundaries. In the conclusion of the work, the idée fixe, the supplementary themes, and the two quartets coalesce into an organic sonic whole.

The Silence is the story of William Rose, a man who, while searching the world for his missing wife and daughter, is kidnapped and held in a secret Iranian prison. After many years of torture, abuse and a slow descent into insanity, secrets about his family manifest as mysterious and magical occurrences, creating a dangerous tension between the prisoners and guards. Questions begin to arise: Who is actually in charge of this prison? Why haven’t the guards ever met the warden? Why is the prison haunted by mysterious voices? And what exactly would it take to crumble the walls of this corrupt institution? Act II scene iii, The Hour of Angels – William sits alone in his cell, carving the images of his wife and daughter into the wall. As he begs his family to come back to him, the image of his wife slowly comes to life. Intermezzo and Act II scene i, Danger in the Meadow – Flashback. The prison guards spy on Christina and Madelyn Rose as they play in a meadow not far from the secret prison. Christina sees them hiding and in a panic sends her daughter to a distant building to hide and look for help.

The purpose of this research study was to test the validity of three diet analysis programs — Food Processor, Diet Analysis Plus 7.0 Online, and NutritionData.com — by comparing results of each program to the nutrient data from an independent food science lab for menu items served at Pizza King, Inc. restaurants.NutritionData.com had a slightly higher positive correlation, as well as more nutrient values within 10% of the chemical analyses, than ESHAs Food Processor. However, due to several ancillary factors (e.g., limited data base, inability to save laboratory-obtained data into a permanent database, and the minimal cost for the program for a company the size of Pizza King), this researcher has recommended ESHA Food Processor to Pizza King for the current and future analyses of their menu items. Diet Analysis Plus 7.0 Online could not be tested because the program did not generate analyzable results. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Laptop performance---performance on a standard computer system without novel controllers, usually by a solo musician---is an increasingly common mode of live computer music. Its novelty is diminishing, however, and it is frequently described as being uninteresting. Laptop performance often lacks the sense of effort and active creation that we typically expect from live music, and exhibits little perceivable connection between the performer's actions and the resulting sound. Performance software designs tend to constrict the flow of control between the performer and the music, often leading artists to rely on prepared control sequences. Laptop performers become "pilots" of largely computerized processes, detracting from the live experience. / This thesis project presents an alternative software interface that aims to bring a sense of active creation to laptop performance. The system prevents the use of prepared control sequences and allows the live assembly of generative musical processes. The software resembles a freehand drawing interface where strokes are interactively assembled to create looping and cascading animated figures. The on-screen animation is mapped to sound, creating corresponding audio patterns. Networks of strokes are assembled and manipulated to perform music. The system's use of freehand input infuses the music with natural human variability, and its graphical interface establishes a visible connection between the user's actions and the resulting audio. / The thesis document explores the above issues in laptop performance, which motivated this research. Typical examples of performance software are presented, illustrating the interface design patterns that contribute to this situation. The thesis software project is presented, describing its goals, design and implementation. The properties of the interface are discussed in light of the project's initial objectives. It is concluded that the system is a solid step toward a novel approach to laptop performance software.

Doctor of Philosophy / The aim of this compositional research project is to find new paradigms of expression and representation of musical information, supported by technology. This may further our understanding of how artistic intention materialises during the production of a musical work. A further aim is to create a software device, which will allow the user to generate, analyse and manipulate abstract musical information within a multi-dimensional environment. The main intent of this software and composition portfolio is to examine the process involved during the development of a compositional tool to verify how transformations applied to the conceptualisation of musical abstraction will affect musical outcome, and demonstrate how this transformational process would be useful in a creative context. This thesis suggests a reflection upon various technological and conceptual aspects within a dynamic multimedia framework. The discussion situates the artistic work of a composer within the technological sphere, and investigates the role of technology and its influences during the creative process. Notions of space are relocated in the scope of a personal compositional direction in order to develop a new framework for musical creation. The author establishes theoretical ramifications and suggests a definition for micro-composition. The main aspect focuses on the ability to establish a direct conceptual link between visual elements and their correlated musical output, ultimately leading to the design of a software called 3D-Composer, a tool for the visualisation of musical information as a means to assist composers to create works within a new methodological and conceptual realm. Of particular importance is the ability to transform musical structures in three-dimensional space, based on the geometric properties of micro-composition. The compositions Six Electroacoustic Studies and Dada 2009 display the use of the software. The formalisation process was derived from a transposition of influences of the early twentieth century avant-garde period, to a contemporary digital studio environment utilising new media and computer technologies for musical expression.

Copies of author's previously published works inserted. / Bibliography: leaves 260-299. / xxii, 299 leaves, [7] leaves of plates : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This thesis describes the concept of organic matter turnover and various methods to measure the decay rates of organic materials in the soil. Methods are developed to separate SOM from different locations within the soil matrix. Free particulate organic matter (POM), located between or outside the soil aggregates is isolated. Occluded POM is disaggregeted by sonification. The compositional differences noted among the three components of SOM are used to describe the changes that OM undergoes during decomposition. The process is followed as organic matter enters the soil, is enveloped in aggregates and is eventually incorporated into the microbial biomass and metabolites then becoming associated with clay minerals. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Soil Science, 1997

Since it arose in the 1960s, the minimalist aesthetic has increasingly influenced composers of art and popular music around the world and, in turn, minimalist composers have drawn on the compositional ideas of Western popular music and several non-Western musics. Educationally, minimal music offers much potential for music in the classroom as it embodies a number of musical characteristics known to, and preferred by, students aged 9-18 years at primary, secondary and first year tertiary level. Socially, it offers teachers an opportunity to engage students, through composing activities, with contemporary society. The study aims, firstly, to analyse compositions by students aged 9, 12, 15 and 18 years and their teachers, seeking pastiche development of, and compositional expansion beyond, the musical concepts presented in a resource booklet of projects, The Pulse Music Album. Secondly, this study aims to investigate how nineteen participating teachers in three countries engage their students with minimalist composing activities stimulated through the resource booklet. The study attempts to determine why teachers adopt their particular roles and strategies by examining music qualifications, preferences and experience, teaching perspectives and teaching environments. It also seeks to identify reasons why one group of teachers submitted pieces which were pastiches of those presented in the projects and another group submitted compositions which moved well beyond pastiche into an expansion of these same musical concepts and argues for this as evidence of dialogue with contemporary society. Conclusions drawn from the findings note that while there are many commonalities between the backgrounds and approaches of both groups of teachers, there are clearly observed differences. These differences suggest approaches to classroom composition for consideration by practising classroom teachers, in-service instructors and teacher training institutions.