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This dissertation pursues a study of independent film, from 1980 to 1999, as an emergent system of representation. Independent American and non- American films distributed in the United States have evolved into a distinct cultural site, formulated as points of intersection between principles of mainstream popular film and the traditions of the avant-garde. Contemporary independent film's identity as a commodity stresses its differences from Hollywood's output; the independent industry is not ruled by the same economic, political, aesthetic and historical imperatives as Hollywood cinema. Arguably, this creates an autonomous filmic enterprise able to represent alternative political views and aesthetic perspectives. But simultaneously, the independent industry is driven by familiar marketplace demands and competition for consumers. My study focuses on films released theatrically in the U.S. by nonstudio distributors, such as Miramax, Fine Line, Goldwyn, October, and so on. The films considered will have received some measure of widespread play, permitting an analysis of how these specific texts, their distribution, and their reception conform to and diverge from the institutional and discursive practices of a dominant Hollywood industry. The dissertation analyses both the material, concrete aspects and the discursive dimensions of independent film. For instance, under the purview of the independent industry a division exists between 'art films' and 'political films'. A frequent attribute of work in the art category is formal experimentation. Political films tend to be those made by representatives of subcultural groups and marketed as such to their 'specialised audiences'. They may or may not exhibit formal experimentation. On the one hand, in a kind of tyranny of the formal, art films continue to be defined by their aesthetic variations without a corollary questioning of whether they are indeed 'alternative' at the level of narrative signification. On the other hand, political films are promoted as an acknowledgment to underrepresented communities --- what the industry should be providing --- and as a marketing strategy for product-starved audiences to whom these films often sell well. In other words, political films may be chosen for their subject matter or for the audiences they specifically address, but they remain specialised, without the 'universal' appeal of films accorded the label of art. This investigation traces the extent to which and how independent films represent the stories, perspectives, and experiences of a pluralistic, multicultural society. This research project develops a discursively-based methodology in which films are analysed as the functions of multiple, simultaneous, layered, and interacting discourses: representational, institutional, interpretive, and cultural/historical. The study offers a contribution to the field in its exploration of contemporary independent film as a distinct cultural formation, in its expansion of theoretical work on narrativity and the representation of subcultural groups, in its development of discursive analytical procedures, and in its integrated approach towards cultural theory, cultural politics, and cultural production.

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Science at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2011. / This study aims to provide clarity in respect of the readers and advertisers preference between mainstream and community newspapers. As a result of the unprecedented success of community newspaper, mainstream newspapers have found themselves a new rival in the face of technological developments such as the Internet. Central to both these genres of newspapers stand the readers and advertisers'. These readers form an integral part of the existence of the newspapers and a key component in advertising. For advertisers, the community newspapers provided the perfect reach as they were aimed at a specific audience. Mainstream newspapers have been placed under duress with the proliferation of community newspapers as circulation expanded dramatically. This study provides an insight into readers' preferences using the Uses and Gratifications theory as a departure point. The results of this study will also show that in spite of both readers' and advertisers' preference, the mainstream newspaper will not be made obsolete, instead it will have to continue to reinvent itself to keep abreast of the changes in the environment.

Thesis advisor: Suzanne Conway / This paper looks at the ways in which pornography influences American society. It explores the rise of porn culture with an emphasis on Internet porn and the impact it has had on the distribution and availability of pornography. As a result, advertising companies and other producers of mainstream media have looked to the porn industry for ways to increase their profit margins. As sexual imagery has become a standard aspect of everyday life, it has impacted younger generations in terms of clothing and how they develop relationships. The popularity of social media applications has also helped to perpetuate the pornification of mainstream culture by focusing on physical appearance. The college hookup culture illustrates the lack of satisfaction that can result from the strictly sexual relationships highlighted in pornography. Acknowledging the effects of pornography can help to reduce the many problems that result from a hyper-sexualized society. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

The purpose of this case study is to gain the perspectives of four non-Maori beginning teacher on meeting the needs of Maori children in the mainstream classroom. The participants all graduated from the Christchurch College of Education Rotorua regional primary programme that I work within. Specific practices, strategies and professional development opportunities found effective in meeting the needs of their Maori learners by these beginning teachers are sought and discussed. The findings of this study confirm the importance of building relationships and getting to know each Maori child as an individual. Establishing and maintaining routines appropriate for Maori children and their learning became evident as did the power of the arts curriculum to engage Maori in their learning. The quality of teacher training in New Zealand to prepare beginning teachers to teach Maori has been questioned over the past decade. Within this case study the impact of pre-service wananga on these non-Maori beginning teachers to empower themselves to teach Maori children in the mainstream classroom was clearly expressed. It is hoped that the findings of this study could contribute, even in a very small way, to New Zealand's goal to improve the quality of teaching for Maori in the mainstream classroom.

The study was designed to identify and get a better understanding of the determinants of Smallholder farmers' participation in cattle markets in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District of North West Province, A hundred and nine smallholder cattle farmers were randomly selected using the simple random sample method. The list of smallholder cattle farmers was obtained from the North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ngaka Modiri Molema District). Data was collected through the use of structured questionnaire that consisted of demographic characteristics market-related constraints encountered by smallholder cattle farmers, availability of infrastructure, access to market information, cattle production, cattle nutrition, cattle health, cattle husbandry, and reasons far keeping cattle and markets participated in by smallholder cattle farmers. The data was coded, captured and analysed using the statistical package for social science (SPSS) for frequencies, percentage and profit regression analysis. The results of the study show that the majority of the respondents in this research were male (72%): married (68%); Christians (74%); not formally educated 45°o; and having less than 10 years in farming (61%). The results highlighted that majority of the smallholder cattle farmers used informal markets to market their cattle (83%); mainly used auctions (58%) as a formal marketing channel and were mostly familiar with informal (62%) marketing channels. The farmers received higher prices (65%) from the cattle markets they regularly use and were nearer. The majority of smallholder farmers (55%) do not participate in the most rewarding channels. Majority of the smallholder cattle farmers were affected by, lack of support from government (96%); limited market information (95%); financial constraints (79%); (distance to mainstream markets (60%); and bureaucracy (62%). The results of probit regression model show that out of 15 independent variables considered, the coefficients for 5 variables' were statistical/v significant, These were the number of heifers (Z= 2, 742: P<P0. 05), smallholder cattle farmers keeping of farm records (Z=2. 611: P<0. 05), the number of years in farming (Z=2,45] P<0.01), level of education Z=-1. 745,' P<0.01) and smallholder farmers slaughtering of cattle and selling as carcass (Z- 1,899: P<0, 01). / Thesis (M.Sc.(Agric Economics) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2013

The overall purpose of this study is to analyze how students talk and write about writing to understand why mainstream students struggle with writing when they are neither economically nor culturally marginalized. Composition scholars' literacy narratives have identified problems in education and literacy encountered by marginalized students, but they fall short in identifying and accounting for problems that mainstream students face. After examining literacy narratives by composition scholars, this study assesses interviews, questionnaires, and literacy narratives from 77 college students, ranging in ages from 18 to 26. These accounts indicate that mainstream students have had few opportunities to examine their literacy skills within the context of their developing sense of self. Because literacy narratives are stories about writers developing a voice to share with their community, ethos is central to this examination. Building upon classical and contemporary models, two aspects of ethos are developed in my analysis: ethos as it relates to students' character, identity, and self-awareness, and ethos as students' sense of their relationship to the communities that shape their character and form their audience as writers. My assessment of student accounts develops four conclusions. First, standardized testing and formulaic writing have done little to foster students' confidence or self-awareness. Second, as a result, exigence becomes a necessary addition to writing assignments to encourage students to learn from their writing and see themselves as writers. Third, having students write their own literacy narrative is a valuable exercise so that they may become aware of how literacy affects their identity. Fourth, students' self-assessments reveal that their perceptions of writing bear little resemblance to issues defined in recent debates in composition studies, particularly the rift between personal and academic writing and the debate concerning expressivist and social-epistemic pedagogies. I define an alternative, an ethos-based pedagogy, placed within the post-process theory paradigm as defined by Thomas Kent. An ethical pedagogy focuses on developing students' character and confidence and on moving students to examine the relationship between interior and exterior spaces they inhabit and on considering how these spaces influence them on a personal and a social level. An ethical pedagogy can move students to form stronger relationships with language and their literacy practices.

The labyrinth seal is widely used in turbomachinery to minimize or control leakage between areas of different pressure. The present investigation numerically explored the effect of damage and wear of the labyrinth seal on the turbomachinery flow and temperature fields. Specifically, this work investigated: (1) the effect of rubgroove downstream wall angle on seal leakage, (2) the effect of tooth bending damage on the leakage, (3) the effect of tooth "€œmushrooming"€ damage on seal leakage, and (4) the effect of rub-groove axial position and wall angle on gas turbine ingress heating. To facilitate grid generation, an unstructured grid generator named OpenCFD was also developed. The grid generator is written in C++ and generates hybrid grids consisting primarily of Cartesian cells. This investigation of labyrinth seal damage and wear was conducted using the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) to simulate the flows. The high- Reynolds k - Model and the standard wall function were used to model the turbulence. STAR-CD was used to solve the equations, and the grids were generated using the new code OpenCFD. It was found that the damage and wear of the labyrinth seal have a significant effect on the leakage and temperature field, as well as on the flow pattern. The leakage increases significantly faster than the operating clearance increase from the wear. Further, the specific seal configuration resulting from the damage and wear was found to be important. For example, for pure-bending cases, it was found that the bending curvature and the percentage of tooth length that is bent are important, and that the mushroom radius and tooth bending are important for the mushrooming damage cases. When an abradable labyrinth seal was applied to a very large gas turbine wheelspace cavity, it was found that the rub-groove axial position, and to a smaller degree, rub-groove wall angle, alter the magnitude and distribution of the fluid temperature.

To date only a limited number of studies have focused on teacher-led functional assessments in the mainstream classroom. This purpose of this study was to observe what happens when a general education teacher attempts to individualise parts of her programme to meet the unique teaching needs of certain children. The participating teacher identified eight children with behavioural and/or learning needs in her classroom. For each of the children with learning difficulties the teacher was able to formulate a function-based hypotheses and design an effective intervention after being provided with some written support. The teacher did not form a function based hypothesis for a child with behavioural difficulties. The subsequent intervention was not function based and failed to decrease the problem behaviour. In each of the eight remaining case studies the teacher required support from the researcher in order to implement, supervise, and maintain an individualised intervention.

The overall aim of this research is to explore my interest in the influences on teachers’ attitudes towards behaviours which challenge them and to illuminate my experiences and perspectives through those of others. It sets out to explore and to gain understanding about what affects how teachers feel about supporting pupils in mainstream classrooms with behavioural difficulties. As a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) in a secondary school, I saw the difference a teacher’s style of classroom leadership could have on children’s engagement with school and learning. I became extremely frustrated with the way that some teachers appeared to have little inclination to meet the needs of some of the pupils in their classes, particularly those with special educational needs. Comments such as “S/he’s one of yours! YOU deal with it,” because the children were on the Special Educational Needs Register, summarised this. Here, I attempt to scrutinise what may affect teachers’ understanding of their responsibility towards the specific special need of challenging behaviour. For the research, fifteen in-depth interviews were carried out with a variety of professionals whose roles involved supporting the needs of pupils whose behaviour can challenge teachers. All the participants were asked the same questions and a hierarchical questioning structure was used (Tomlinson 1989). The responses indicated a diverse range of factors influencing teachers’ tolerance towards challenging behaviours and these were used to construct a framework which gathers these together. The research has implications in two main areas; the links between school ethos and teachers feeling supported and able to manage challenging behaviours and the development of opportunities to share good practice.