Amblyomma americanum is a hard tick species found in southern Indiana. Once a notorious pest to humans and livestock, A. americanum has now taken on a role as vector to pathogenic organisms. This study aimed to detect and quantify three microbes in A. americanum: Rickettsia amblyommii, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Borrelia lonestari. A primary objective of this study was to determine microbial interaction within a single A. americanum tick through quantification of each microbe within a co-infected tick. A second objective was to determine the density of R. amblyommii within the salivary glands of A. americanum ticks. Infection rates were 44%, 1%, and 0% for R. amblyommii, E. chaffeensis, and B. lonestari respectively. This study found no co-infected ticks, therefore no microbial interaction was determined. This study also found multiple drawbacks with utilizing quantitative real-time PCR to determine the density of R. amblyommii within the salivary glands of A. americanum ticks. / Department of Biology

This thesis examined the content of sixteen Indiana newspapers, chosen at random, to calculate the topic classification of editorials. Because of concern for chained newspaper growth 'in America, this study attempted to draw conclusions as to the topics of editorials printed in both chained and unchained newspapers. Since "one-publisher" cities are also increasing, further aspects of this study, examined editorials in newspapers of varying circulation categories.Indiana has eighty-two daily newspapers - 30 chained, and 52 unchained. From the complete list, sixteen papers were randomly chosen - two chained and two unchained from each of the following four circulation categories: 1-10,000; 10-20,000; 20-50,000; and 50,000 up.Editorials from a ten-day sampling over two, two-month periods were examined and classified according to the defined topics of "local," "state," "national," and "international."The findings of the study showed that Indiana newspapers, whether chained or unchained, large or small, editorialized most heavily on national issues. However, comparatively, chained newspapers published more local and state editorials than did unchained papers. The unchained newspapers published approximately twice the number of national editorials as 'state and local editorials, combined. The newspapers with the largest circulations, also, published more local editorials than did small papers, but the small papers surpassed the large papers in printing state editorials. However, small papers did concentrate more heavily on national issues than large circulating dailies did. No classification of newspaper, consistently, printed many nternational editorials.The conclusions of the study show that chained newspapers and those with large circulations are doing a better job of localizing editorials than are the unchained newspapers anti small circulating dailies. However, this study was a quantitative account of editorial topics and it made no attempt to study the quality of the editorials.

The successful practice of organizational public relations requires the organization's administrator and public relations practitioner to "coorient" on public relations matters; that is, the two must be oriented toward each other and toward the concept of public relations. Few researchers, however, have used the coorientation method to study public relations situations, and no research has been done on the coorientational relationship between practitioners and administrators.This thesis proposed and executed a strategy for measuring coorientation between practitioners and administrators of Indiana state government agencies. Demographic questions revealed that agency public relations staffs were typically one-person operations.Most practitioners were female; most administrators were male. Nearly 90 percent of all respondents had some college experience, and most practitioners had majored in a journalism-related area. On average, practitioner respondents had served longer in their jobs than administrators. Respondents came from agencies ranging in size from thirteen employees to five thousand employees.The coorientation measures showed that most practitioner-administrator pairs from Indiana government agencies did not significantly agree on their agency's public relations objectives, activities or obstacles. In contrast, most practitioners and administrators did perceive that agreement existed. Practitioners and administrators alike were inaccurate in assessing the public relations views of their respective pair partners.Coorientation findings supported existing theory and previous coorientation research. Increased accuracy, rather than agreement or congruency, was the principal result of increased intra-pair communication.Practitioner accuracy, however, increased over time even when administrator accuracy did not, indicating that Indiana government agency practitioners are not full participants in the process of public relations decision-making.

Yellow perch, Perc4 flavescens (Mitchill), were sampled by bottom trawling and gillnetting in Indiana waters of Lake Michigan near Michigan City, Indiana during the months of June, July and August, 1988.Length-frequency analysis of trawl-caught fish revealed that fish older than age 1 were represented by a single large aggregate in monthly length frequency distributions. Opercular ages were validated by establishing that opercular bone annulus formation occurred from late spring to early summer and was completed by late July.Percent agreement of age determinations by age class between the methods ranged from 0X to 100X for males and OZ to 89X for 'Females for combined months. There was a tendency for percent agreement to decrease with increasing age in both males and females. The majority of the age discrepancies were a difference of plus or minus one year for both males and females.The body-scale length relationship was determined to be linear with data points close to the regression line for both sexes by month and for months combined. Coefficients of determination values ranged from 0.92 to 0.96 for male body-scale length regression by month with a value of 0.93 for months combined . Coefficients of determination values for females ranged from 0.92 to 0.94 by month with a value of 0.93 for months combined. Combining all data for months and sexes yielded a coefficient of determination value of 0.93 for body-scale length regression.The a-values determined for the body-scale length relationship were variable from June through August for both sexes. Male avalues ranged from 30.58 to * 44.15 monthly with a months combined value of 37.63. Female a-values ranged from 25.55 to 43.30 monthly with a combined months value of 34.83. Combining all data for months and sexes yielded an a-value of 35.78.The body-opercular length relationship was determined to be linear with data points close to the regression line. Coefficients of determination values for males ranged from 0.94 to 0.98 by month with a value of 0.96 for months combined. Coefficients of determination for females ranged from 0.97 to 0.98 by month with a value of 0.97 for months combined. The combined data for sexes and months resulted in a coefficient of determination value of 0.97.The a-values determined for the body-opercular length relationship demonstrated variability from month to month. Male a-values ranged from 9.19 to 14.47 monthly with a combined months value of 11.69. Female a-values ranged from 8.83 to 12.26 monthly with a combined value of 11.57. Combining the data for months and sexes yielded an a-value of 11.59.Growth determinations based on scale and opercular data for all aged fish demonstrated a high degree of agreement between the methods for both sexes and all age classes. No significant differences were found between 95X confidence intervals for mean length at formation of last annulus for any age class. The largest observed difference in length at formation of last annulus was 23 mm in the age 3+ females in June. Growth determined from opercular bones was found to be slightly greater than growth determined from scales in both sexes. Females grew faster than males after age 2 based both on scale and on opercular data. Monthly length increment determined from scale and opercular data was determined to be small or non-existent after age 2 for both sexes.Growth determined from scales and opercular bones for only those fish with agreed age between the methods demonstrated a high degree of agreement between methods by month for both sexes. No significant differences were found between 95X confidence intervals of mean length at last annulus in any age class. Data for months combined and sexes separate revealed that growth determinations were virtually identical between the methods. Females were shown to grow faster than males after age 2 for both methods. Monthly length increment was again found to be small or non-existent after age 2.Based on these results, it is concluded that the opercular bone method is an acceptable procedure for assessing age and growth of the yellow perch in Indiana waters of Lake Michigan. Since false annuli were more readily recognized in the opercular bone than in the scales and, since there was the decreasing agreement between the methods with increasing age of fish it is concluded the opercular method is probably a more accurate method for age and growth analysis in the yellow perch from Indiana waters of Lake Michigan. / Department of Biology

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between drug abuse and high school size. This thesis includes a survey which was conducted at Ball State University. The dependent variable was drug use; school size was the main independent variable and was positively related to drug use. Intervening variables were considered-parent/teacher relations, student/teacher interaction, participation in extracurricular activities, and peer acquaintanceship. Several control variables were also taken into consideration which were as follows: 1) size of city; 2) racial composition of high school; 3) per-capita income; 4) drug education programs; 5) religiosity of community; 6)educational aspirations; and finally 7) respondent's perceived class composition.Peer acquaintanceship had the opposite effect of what was originally hypothesized. Control variables which remained significant in the analyses were city size, income, and race. After including the significant control variables high school size was still significant at .05. According to these findings, future research on drug use and adolescents should take into consideration high school size. / Department of Sociology

The effects of phosphorus fertilization on the growth and survival of Liatris pycnostachya, Physostegia virginiana, and Sporobolus heterolepis seedlings were examined in a prairie restoration project. Treatment included fertilizing once at the time of planting. Plant responses were measured on two soil types, Bono (very high phosphorus levels, lower and flatter) and Morley (very low phosphorus levels, on a slight hill with some slope). P fertilization did not increase the growth of any species on either soil type, although results may have been limited by the effects of surrounding plant competition. Only one significant difference in plant growth was observed between fertilized and unfertilized plots; control Liatris pycnostachya and Physostegia virginiana in the Bono soils produced more shoots than fertilized plants of the same species. P- fertilized Liatris pycnostachya in Morley soil had significantly higher survivorship than unfertilized plants. In contrast, P-fertilized Physostegia virginiana in the Bono soil had the significantly lower survivorship than unfertilized plants. For the other species on either soil type, the survivorship was not significantly different. Because P-fertilization produced very limited benefit, and even adverse plant responses in some cases, the recommendation of this study is that P-fertilization should not be applied at the time of planting of prairie restoration projects. / Department of Biology

This study evaluates the relationship of the Civilian Conservation Corps' stonework in Indiana's state parks and the National Park Service's design guidelines for stone landscape features. The design guidelines were instrumental in establishing an overall design approach for many of the stone structures evaluated in this study. A general history of the Civilian Conservation Corp program provides the context for the program as well as the relationship to stonework in Indiana's state parks. Through a sampling of stone landscape features in six Indiana state parks it can be concluded that the Civilian Conservation Corps were impacted by the National Park Service's design guidelines. At the same time the Civilian Conservation Corps deviated from the guidelines and improvised with their own variation. / Department of Architecture

Conservation is recognized as one important was Americans can lower their energy use and save money. The purpose of this research was to determine the energy and economic savings which 50 low and moderate income level homeowners in Delaware Count could generate by implementing nine conservation measures. The conservation measures included:1. In the winter turn down the thermostat during the day and night if the present setting is greater than 68° F.2. Reduce the hot water heater setting to 100°-120°F.3. Caulk and weatherstrip where needed.4. Insulate the hot water pipes and the furnace heat ducts.5. Install shower flow controllers.6. Insulate and weatherstrip the attic recess.7. Turn off the furnace pilot light during the summer.8. Insulate the hot water heater if in an unheated basement or garage.9. Seal the chimney in the winter when not used.The nine conservation measures were recommended by the researcher on a house-by-house basis. The researcher found that the type of heating fuel used in the home, the presence or absence of certain appliances in the home, the past involvement (if any) of the homeowner in other conservation programs, and the lifestyle practices of the household determined which of the nine conservation measures could be implemented in the home. The researcher estimated the amount of energy (BTU’s) and money which could be saved by implementing the conservation measures which were recommended for each homeowner and supplied this information to the study group.This investigation revealed that all 50 homeowners would have payback periods of less than one year if the conservation measures were implemented with short-lived material requiring annual replacement with the average savings being approximately $97.00. When longer-lived materials which would last five years or more were employed, only 27 of the homeowners would have payback periods shorter than one year unless homeowners for whom a furnace thermostat setback had been recommended did so by more than one degree Fahrenheit. The investigation revealed that when the thermostat was turned down three degrees Fahrenheit 40 homeowners would have payback periods less than one year and that 43 would have payback period of shorter than one year if a six degree Fahrenheit setback was employed. / Department of Architecture

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Journalism

Over the past five decades, populations of the Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) have declined precipitously and the response of populations to silviculture has been identified as a high-priority research need. This species was studied in nine forest management units in Southern Indiana following a harvest that took place in 2008. Males were detected, territories were demarcated, and male age-class was determined to identify settlement patterns. Vegetation was measured in all territories and associated random non-use sites. Data analyzed in ArcMap (ArcGIS 10) show that Cerulean Warbler territory size was smallest and density was highest in even-aged units. Territories contained a greater number of small woody species than non-use sites but no vegetative differences existed between male age-classes. Instead, males appeared to select areas by relying on social cues from experienced neighbors. It is possible that “social attraction” management techniques could influence male Cerulean Warbler settlement patterns, providing a valuable tool for the conservation of this species. / Forest management effects on cerulean warbler territory size in southern Indiana -- Conspecific social cues strongly influence cerulean warbler male settlement patterns in a managed forest. / Department of Biology