Below are theses and dissertations completed by graduates of the University of Nevada Greenspun College of Urban Affairs.
For the entire collection of UNLV theses and dissertations, visit UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
Theses/Dissertations from 2012
Troubled Youth: Girls in Gangs, Mark Manny Valentin
Defining Neighborhood: Social Disorganization Theory, Official Data, and Community Perceptions, Jeremy Waller
"CHOICES" Florida's Version of Obamacare, Jason Lamarr Wasden
The Uses and Gratifications of Dance Reality Television Shows, Heather M. Yuille
Theses/Dissertations from 2011
Independent living program evaluation for Rebuilding All Goals Efficiently, Patricia Armour, Debra Moulton, and Araceli Pruett
Identifying and reducing lead exposure associated with the use of cultural practices in southern Nevada Hispanic communities, Maria Castillo-Couch
HELP of Southern Nevada analysis project, Lauren Cella, Carly Dunlap, Jonathon Nunes, and Anna Vaillancourt
NevadaGIVES.org: Building website capacity for data collection, Snezhanka V. Christy and Lisa E. Stamanis
Relationships of exotic plant invasions with biological soil crust, desert pavement, and soil carbon in the eastern Mojave Desert, Adria DeCorte
A brief content analysis of attachment and sexual relationships in sex therapy and research journals, Kathryn Zambrano Devis
Public interest standard characteristics in hybrid digital multicasts of noncommercial educational radio, Michele Ann Gothard
Assessing a combined theories approach to climate change communication, Ted Greenhalgh
Climate and vegetation change in the Newberry mountains, Southern Clark County, Nevada, Ross Joseph Guida
Public Utilities Commission of Nevada: A research design for data collection, Mario Heresi, Jamie Stout, Brandy Davis, and Cheyenne Pasquale
Imagined interactions as a link to political talk, Megan Lambertz
After the fall: The post-apocalyptic frontier in The Road and 28 Days Later, Jeffrey J. Lavigne
Telework within the Bureau of Reclamation Lower Colorado Region office, Theresa Lee, Lynne Arnold, John Wagner, Elias Samorano, and Anita Morgan
The information battlefield: Al-Qaeda's use of advanced media technologies for framed messaging, Jessica Marie Martin
Evaluation of mentoring in southern Nevada, Andrew Merz and Glen Leavitt
Ready for Life — An evaluation: Factors relating to truancy and promising practices, Clayton Nichols, Shenita Harper, Maria Thomas, Mikaela Louve, and Christina Vela
Environmental impact of the Three Kids Mine tailings, Henderson, NV, Ji Hye Park
Gatekeeping in a TV news editorial conference: Shift of force, other media, personal experience and pack mentality, Kyril Daniel Plaskon
Child advocacy centers and child sexual abuse in Nevada, Chrystal Ruggieri
Evaluation of interim sessions in state legislatures, Laurie Erin Russell
“Change” in the 2008 presidential campaign: A study in rhetorical definition, Graciela Saez Kleriga
Climate change in rural Nevada: The influence of vulnerability on risk perception and environmental behavior, Ahmad Safi
Reintegrative shaming and juvenile delinquency in Japan, Mari Sakiyama
The pedagogy of pornography: What popular pornography on the Internet teaches us about aggression and consent, Anthony Springrt Jr.
Factors of adoption: Initiating relationships using online dating sites, Rachel Lee Toyer
Program evaluation: Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region business lines and focus areas “Water Drop” project, Adriana VanBuskirk, Marion Biron, Kris Kirby, and Theodore Anderson
Estimating wildfire potential on a Mojave Desert landscape using remote sensing and field sampling, Peter F. Van Linn III
Comparative and critical analysis: The roles of civic and traditional journalism, Kendle Walters
Theses/Dissertations from 2010
City of Las Vegas, Department of Building and Safety: Valuation based fee schedule analysis, Darcy Adelbai-Hurd, Vicki L. Brown, Josh Turley, and Mary Ann Weidner
Cascading simulation: A critical perspective on Barack Obama‘s foreign policy during the 2008 presidential election, Ian P. Beier
Factors influencing attitudes towards prostitution, Brian Robert Brehman
Centennial Hills Active Adult Center business plan, K. C. Brekken, Jeff Buchanan, David Gordon, and Doug Guild
Attitudes towards Megan's Law and juvenile sex offenders, Debra Lee Cochrane
Diabolical ventriloquism: A Case study in rhetorical transcendence with C. S. Lewis’s infamous imp Screwtape, Daniel J. Coyle
The Impact of individual decision making on campus sustainability initiatives, Aurali Ella Dade
Sex, drug courts, and recidivism, Doria Nour Dandan
Attachment theory as a predictor of communicative responses to infidelity, Sandra Donovan
An Examination of the relationship between the hypersexual environment of Las Vegas and forcible rape, Lisa Ann Dooley
The Case for increased cross-agency data sharing in the State of Nevada, Richard Entringer, Tina Jara, Alysia Peters, and Steve Price
Volunteer Management Analysis for the City of Las Vegas, Robert Fash, Jose Rodriguez, Bertral Washington, and Heather Whitesides
The Write moves: An autoethnographic examination of the media industry, Danielle Gomes
The Portrayal of schizophrenia in television: An experiment assessing how viewer attitudes are affected, Lindsey Jo Hand
Experienced clinician’s understanding and approach to treatment with male survivors of child sexual abuse, Blendine Perreire Hawkins
Perception of ecological risk to water environments and how it affects water consumption and water resource management in southern Nevada, Tanju Kiriscioglu
Commercial sex workers: Lives and practices, Sarah J. Knowles
Blameworthiness and dangerousness: An analysis of violent female capital offenders in the United States and China, Courtney Brooke LaHaie
Adaptive management of complex environmental problems – Comparison of national nuclear waste management policies, Carmel Letourneau
Adjustment to correctional confinement: Investigating the correlates of violence and disorder in a jail environment, Fred W. Meyer III
Therapist-initiated addiction assessment procedures of marriage and family therapists in the southwest United States, Emire Olmeztoprak
Assessing the impact of police order maintenance units on crime: An application of the Broken Windows Hypothesis, Steven Andrew Pace
Solace in St. Louis: A case study in heroic cultural nostalgia, Amanda J. Pinney
The Criminalization of homelessness, Sarah McKenzie Prather
Characteristics of adolescent females sexually exploited through prostitution, Alanna Robinson
A Rhetorical history of the Office of Legal Counsel, William O’Donnal Saas
Kairotic strategema: A rhetorical investigation of Barack Obama’s 2009 health care address, Serena M. Sánchez-Wilson
Assessing the effect of simulation models on systems learning in an introductory environmental science course, Heather J. Skaza
“You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge”: A content analysis of The Dr. Phil Show and implications for marriage and family therapists, Barbara Ann Spanjers
The Rhetorical Significance of Gojira, Shannon Victoria Stevens
Displacement or diffusion: A secondary analysis of the Las Vegas Safe Village Initiative, Daniel Duane Swanson
I am journalism (and so can you!): Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and the role of the journalist, Eugene Wagner
Theses/Dissertations from 2009
An Evaluation of group differences in mentoring programs' perceived outcomes, Jennifer Sue Anderson
Nonprofits in crisis: How to retain employees in the nonprofit sector, Liz Armstrong, Jocelyn Bluitt-Fisher, Lori Lopez-Newman, Diana R. Paul, and Keith R. Paul
The Use of policy analysis in southern Nevada planning and development departments, Dawn Barlow, Shane Dillon, Lynn Hunsinger, Ted Lendis, Neo Vidal, and Wendy Yada
An Assessment of proposed sex offender mobility and residency restrictions in Nevada, Samantha Dawn Beecher
City of Las Vegas Detention and Enforcement accreditation evaluation program, Daniel Bennett
Illegal immigration and worldview defense: Distaste for human migration in the context of TMT, John Matthew Bergen
Flowing Toward Sustainability: Two Stream Adjudications Analyzed Under the IAD Framework, Nancye Lou Bethurem
Getting on track: Consolidating and streamlining positions at Clark County, Elaina Bhattacharyya, Kevin Cerny, Craig Christiansen, and Elizabeth Muto
The Role of tuition in financing higher education, Jay Craddock, Amjad Kisswani, Krista Kurvers, Hillery Leslie, Kumiko Primm, and Abigal Sills
Program evaluation of help Las Vegas Genesis Apartments, Shauna Davis, Bristol Ellington, Alexis Mussi, and Jason LaMarr Wasden
The Curious case of Jim McGreevey, Justin Eckstein
HopeLink: A program evaluation, Cheryl Edwards, Telma Lopez, Bryan Osborne, and Erik Pappa
Notions of distance: Communication constraints in long-distance dating relationships, Jenny Marie Farrell
The Cuban Missile Crisis Speech: An analysis of text evolution, Ashlyn Gentry
A Church without walls: Finding community in Central Christian Church's online campus, Kayla Jo Gilmore
Internal communication in organizations and employee engagement, Lynn Kalani Terumi Hayase
Analyzing policy issues in presidential speeches and the media: An Agenda-setting study, Jessica L. Hughes
Communication technologies: Diffusion of online news use and credibility among young web users in the information age, Chee Youn Kang
A Validation study of Risk Management Systems, Bridget Kelly
City of Las Vegas Detention and Enforcement commission on accreditation of law enforcement accreditation program evaluation report, Karen Kelly, Cecelia McNeely, and Sandy Seda
Examining the impact of drug court participation for moderate and high risk offenders, Kara Kobus
Structural Attributes Associated with the Prevalence of Hate Groups: A State-Level Analysis, Paula Jean Kutneski
Parasocial relationships with celebrities: An illusion of intimacy with mediated friends, Amanda R. Laken
The Effectiveness and adoption of market-based state health care expansion programs, Nathan Gregory Myers
Desert varnish as an indicator of modern-day air pollution in southern Nevada, Piotr Nowinski
Brothers are better than sisters: A semiotic, feminist analysis of HBO's "Rome", Patricia Mamie Peers
Torturing terrorists for national security imperatives: Mediated violence on "24", Michael D. Sears
Women's health and fitness magazines: An accurate portrayal?, Jennifer M. Shymansky
Mental illness, co-occurring factors and aggression as examined in an American prison, Stephanie Leigh Sullivan
Analysis of Boys Hope Girls Hope of Nevada, Andrea Sundberg, Brad Giles, Cedric Pittman, Imelda DeLatorre, and Rebbeca Morris Fridley
Targeting youth—Hit or miss? Juvenile certification in Clark County, Nevada examined, Brittnie Turquoise Watkins
Decentralizing police detectives: Increasing efficiency of property crime investigations, Jon M. Zeh
Theses/Dissertations from 2008
The Environmental and economic benefits of highway access management: A multivariate analysis using system dynamics, Dan Andersen
Understanding the motivations of rock climbers: A social worlds study, Amy Miller Ansari