17179 research outputs found
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Dead Presidents to Represent Me? Hip-Hop's Conflicted Legacy of Power and Protest
No full textHip-hop has long served as a voice for marginalized communities, addressing issues such as systemic racism, economic inequality, and political oppression. From its early days with artists like Public Enemy, 2Pac, and N.W.A. to its modern mainstream dominance, the genre has shaped and been shaped by political discourse. This project examines hip-hop’s evolving relationship with politics across three distinct presidential eras: the Bush administration’s antigovernment sentiment, the hope and skepticism surrounding Obama’s presidency, and the complex shifts in artist allegiances during the Trump era. By analyzing key songs, artist statements, and cultural moments, this research highlights the ways hip-hop has both challenged and conformed to political shifts, questioning whether the genre still upholds its activist roots or has succumbed to commercial and ideological shifts.Englis
Bridging the Gap: Enhancing LGBTQ+ Competency in Healthcare Social Work
No full textSocial workers in the healthcare system work with diverse populations, including LGBTQ+ individuals, and the social workers' code of ethics highlights the importance of cultural competence. However, many social workers report feeling unprepared to serve the LGBTQ+ community due to an educational gap in the Master of Social Work (MSW) programs and limited on-the-job training. Improving cultural competence could help decrease the marginalization of LGBTQ+ individuals in a healthcare setting. A systematic review examined relevant research methods and employed thematic analysis to identify individual, educational, and policy aspects of the issue. The analysis provides curriculum recommendations for MSW programs, for future research, and policy changes to strengthen LGBTQ+ competency within the social work profession.Family and Consumer Science
Orange Peel Playhouse
No full textWe are starting a non-profit theater company focused on serving the community, particularly in areas with limited access to the arts. We aspire to harness the power of theater as a force for positive social change. By prioritizing demographic outreach and educational outreach programs, we aim to bridge the gap in access to theater for underserved populations. Our company, the Orange Peel Playhouse, features a flexible business model that prioritizes demographic outreach over fixed geographic constraints.
We believe theater is a catalyst for social impact. We will specifically target segments of the community that lack artistic resources. In addition to producing 2-3 shows every season, our company’s growth will unfold in three distinct phases. Phase One is what will be presented as the capstone outcome in addition to a brief outline of Phase Two and Three. By developing programs that involve education in public school systems, outreach with womens centers and incarcerated individuals, we aim to apply our diverse expertise to effect meaningful change in the community.
Orange Peel prioritizes outreach to underserved populations to ensure equitable access to the arts, implementing a dynamic business model to allow continual adjustment to evolving community needs. Our core values are community engagement, social impact, accessibility, education, empowerment, flexibility and adaptability. Our phased strategy will create a continually growing social impact as ultimately, the Orange Peel Playhouse is designed to enrich the community through the arts.Theatre, Dance, and Fil
Expanding Safety Options: Understanding the Expectations for Non-Law Enforcement Security in Texas Schools
No full textAs defined in this proposal, guardians are non-law enforcement security personnel (i.e., not licensed peace officers) in Texas who work for school districts and are authorized to carry weapons on campus. Guardians can be individuals contracted by the district to solely serve as armed security officers, or guardians can simultaneously serve in other roles such as teachers, administrators, or staff. As the legislative guidelines for guardians are limited, this project aims to enhance understanding of the role guardians fulfill across Texas K-12 public school districts. Using insights collected from superintendents, researchers investigated the variations in guardian roles in Texas and considered these questions: To what extent do roles of guardians vary between school districts in Texas, and how do these roles compare to more defined security positions operating in schools? The purpose of the study is to increase understanding of how schools across Texas are using guardians and how schools in Texas and other parts of the United States (U.S.) with mandated armed security policies can refine and improve their policies and practices to enhance school safety.Texas School Safety Cente
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Maternal Communication Informing the Psychological Well-Being of Latinx Adolescent Mothers: Impacts of Self-Esteem and Age
No full textAdolescent motherhood presents unique challenges, including the potential for adverse impacts on psychological well-being including increased prevalence of worry and depression. Although maternal communication has been found to be protective for Latinx adolescent girls’ psychological well-being, no studies have examined the impact of positive maternal communication on self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and pathological worry for Latinx adolescent mothers in a single sample. The current study examined the links between positive maternal communication and Latinx adolescent mothers’ (N = 242, Mage = 16.70, SD = 1.19) depressive symptoms and pathological worry through self-esteem and moderated by age. Results found that positive maternal communication was linked to adolescent mothers’ depressive symptoms and pathological worry and that self-esteem fully mediated these relations. Adolescent age, however, did not serve as a significant moderator of these relationships. These findings emphasize the importance of promoting positive communication and self-esteem in adolescent mothers, with implications for interventions designed to enhance family relationships and youth well-being.Psycholog
The Puquios of Las Trancas: A GIS-Based Analysis of Irrigation, Settlement, Political Development, and Colonial Interaction on Peru's South Coast (AD 1-1450)
No full textThis thesis takes a geographic information system (GIS) based approach in landscape archeology to explore how different groups interacted with a network of underground aqueducts known as the puquios and the arable land they serve, from the beginning of the Early Intermediate period (EIP) (AD 1 – 650) through the end of the Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (AD 1000 – 1450) in the southernmost valley of the Nasca drainage, called Las Trancas. The project utilizes a combination of diverse geospatial and geostatistical methodological procedures to reconstruct the historical expression of irrigation infrastructure and its spatial relationship to ancient settlements in the valley, including georeferencing historical aerial photographs and satellite imagery, viewshed modeling, least cost path (LCP) analysis, Principle Component Analysis (PCA) of multispectral satellite datasets, and unsupervised machine learning (ML) classification. The processing of multispectral indices enabled the visualization and mapping of a previously undocumented puquio (LTV11), along with auxiliary branches of two others (puquios La Joya and Pampón), which had been reported, but unobserved prior to this work. The results from statistical analyses of viewshed and LCP metrics find that the first puquios in the Las Trancas Valley were likely constructed sometime prior to the 4th century, and a shift from the decentralized irrigation-based social organization shortly after consolidated control of agricultural resources, leading to a more territorial settlement strategy. These settlements were abandoned during the Middle Horizon (AD 500 – 750), as Wari expanded the valley’s irrigation infrastructure and absorbed the puquios into imperial economic networks. As central authority dissolved following the collapse of Wari, irrigation networks remained central to local autonomy and competition during the LIP. These patterns support broader theories of hydraulic management and circumscription, positioning the puquios as enduring instruments of technological innovation, political authority, and adaptive resilience.Anthropolog
Assessing the Use of NAIP Imagery for Remote Sensing Classification of Urban Trees in San Marcos, Texas
No full textUrban trees play a critical role in mitigating the urban heat island effect, but climate change is placing added pressure on urban trees populations. Rising temperatures and prolonged drought cycles increase physiological stress in trees, making them more susceptible to disease. At the same time, insect and fungal pathogens are expanding their ranges and becoming more resilient due to changing climate conditions. Together, these factors elevate the risk of widespread urban tree loss, making early detection and intervention more essential than ever. In Central Texas, two primary concerns are oak wilt, caused by the fungus Bretziella fagacearum, and the invasive Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis). Remote sensing offers an efficient approach to monitoring tree health and identifying early signs of disease at a city-wide scale where on-the-ground surveys may be limited. This study used object-based image analysis (OBIA) and NAIP imagery to classify trees across the city of San Marcos, Texas, and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The classification achieved an overall accuracy of 80.66%, though performance varied by class due to imbalanced training data. While individual class accuracies were lower, the results demonstrate the potential of NAIP imagery to support urban forest management and disease detection in urban environments.Geography and Environmental Studie
NUEVA (Nutrition for Underserved Elders Via Application (NUEVA): Insights from alpha and beta testing
No full textBackground: Older adults are more affected by food insecurity due to social and economic factors - limited income, mobility challenges, and social isolation - and biological processes related to aging.1 Senior Nutrition Programs (SNPs), funded through the Older Americans Act, provide critical meals and social opportunities to participating adults >60 years, but existing programs have limited reach. The Nutrition for Underserved Elders via Application (NUEVA) project is a technology-driven initiative designed to enhance the impact of SNP through a multi-functional and multi-platform app. Its goal is to improve food insecurity and social isolation among older adults, especially those living in low-income and rural areas of Central Texas.
Objective: Assess feasibility and acceptance of the NUEVA app among different groups of users: older adults participating in congregate and home-delivered meal programs and staff affiliated with a local non-profit organization participating in the SNP.Family and Consumer SciencesComputer Scienc
Environment emotion "vibe" recognition deep learning approach for children with autism spectrum disorder
Get PDFTraditional models only focus on facial expressions, body gestures, and speech recognition, ignoring environmental context, which plays a crucial role in emotion perception. This search aims to enhance emotion classification by leveraging deep learning models and synthetic data generation using a GAN.EngineeringCommunication DisordersTranslational Health Research Cente