2005 MU theses - Access restricted to UM
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Item Blast resistant forced entrty [sic] steel stud wall design(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2005) Jobe, Jeffrey M.; Salim, Hani A., 1966-[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Due to the threat of terrorist attacks, a series of tests has been conducted, on different forced entry wall configurations, to determine the static resistant function of outboard steel stud walls. Outboard walls are composed of steel studs which are covered externally by steel plates and a veneer. The interior portion of the wall will be covered by sureguard, a material composed of 20 gage steel sheathing and drywall. The wall connections are idealized as a pin on top and a roller on bottom. This thesis will discuss the experimental setup, static test results and dynamic field verification. The experimental results will be compared to an analytical model and also input into the Steel Stud Wall Analysis Code (SSWAC) computer program. The results of the experimental testing used in the development of SSWAC have shown great promise in predicting the behavior of an outboard wall systems subjected to blast loads.Item Analytical and experimental evaluation of steel sheets for blast retrofit design(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2005) Kennedy, John Anthony; Salim, Hani A., 1966-[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Blast resistant design has come to the forefront of engineering concerns in the wake of recent terrorist threats to the United States. The focus of this research is to evaluate the use of thin steel sheets as a suitable retrofit material that will assist a wall system in mitigating the applied loads during a blast event. The static resistance of the wall system can be analytically predicted and experimentally verified. Additionally, an efficient means of connecting the steel sheets to the wall system can be experimentally determined. The analytical model will ultimately be implemented into a single degree of freedom dynamic model, which will provide the basis for a user-friendly blast design code. The research shows that a steel sheet retrofit system can effectively increase the strength and ductility of a wall, which allows the wall system to adequately resist the energy imparted from certain blast threats.Item Spatial, temporal, and petrogenetic relationships of basaltic and lamprophyric dikes and sills of the Raton Basin, southern Colorado and northern New Mexico(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2005) Lee, Paula M.; Whittington, Alan G.[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Alkali basalts and lamprophyres commonly occur as sheet intrusions along the flanks of continental rifts. The Raton Basin, on the eastern shoulder of the Rio Grande rift, is host to numerous basaltic and lamprophyric dikes and sills. Structural analysis of petrofabrics indicates a dominantly westward flow of magma in the basaltic and lamprophyric E-W trending dikes. Elevated light rare earth element concentrations (LREE) suggests that both of these magmas were sourced from an enriched portion of the mantle, most likely the sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). New 40Ar/39Ar ages show significant overlap in the emplacement of basalts and lamprophyres between 2̃7-20 Ma. These observations are interpreted to reflect a similar source and storage history in a crustal level magma chamber to the east of the basin. It is proposed that the magma chamber in which the basalts and lamprophyres evolved is located near the present exposure of the Raton-Clayton volcanic field.Item Everybody loves "Sideways": patterns of consensus (and lack thereof) among movie critics in 2004(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2005) Constant, Mary Beth; Craft, Stephanie[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Research on pack journalism tends to focus on the seeming homogeneity in much reporting of hard news. This study examines similar tendencies among film critics, who often seem to achieve a high degree of consensus in a short period of time. Qualitative textual analyses of ten critics' reviews of multiple films suggest that those endorsing a much-praised film feel comfortable diverging from commonly held assessments of some aspects of that movie; some diversity of opinion exists within consensus. However, those critics who are lauding a work dismissed by their peers often temper their initial, contrary opinions in later articles to better fit within the mainstream. This indicates that critics in the minority often allow those in the majority to set the parameters by which a film is judged. These findings have implications for the study of how a "master narrative" may be created and defined in opinion writing as well as more traditional journalism.Item A study of evaluation research in two public relations firms(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2005) Riddle, Lori A.; Wilkins, Lee[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] As more organizations employ public relations practitioners, evaluation research is needed to help practitioners prove their worth. Too often the evaluation step is skipped completely or only feeble attempts are made to prove program effectiveness. In this study, respondents from two public relations firms were interviewed to better understand how the barriers to evaluation research operate, and how one firm is able to overcome those barriers while the other has been less successful in overcoming those barriers. Firm 1 does not conduct formal evaluation research. Firm 2 does conduct formal research and employs a research director. The goal of this study was to develop further understanding of how barriers to public relations evaluation research can be overcome. Twelve total interviews were conducted with six respondents from each of the two public relations firms. Ethnography was used to examine firm award entries and planning guides at each firm to develop further understanding of the firm's research experience and philosophy. Time and budget barriers were the most prominent barriers to evaluation research, however, workplace culture and fear of the results both played an important role in the amount of evaluation research conducted. Workplace culture also operates as a key to overcoming other barriers to evaluation research. The size of the firm also appeared to impact the amount of evaluation research conducted. Determining how and why one public relations firm is able to overcome barriers to evaluation research will help other practitioners better understand how barriers to evaluation research may be overcome.