Democratization, Education Reform, and the Mexican Teachers' Union

This study examines the effect of democratization on a key education reform across three Mexican states. Previous scholarship has found a positive effect of electoral competition on social spending, as leaders seek to improve their reelection prospects by delivering services to voters. However, the evidence presented here indicates that more money has not meant better educational outcomes in Mexico. Rather, new and vulnerable elected leaders are especially susceptible to the demands of powerful interest groups at the expense of accountability to constituents. In this case, the dominant teachers' union has used its leverage to exact greater control over the country's resource-rich merit pay program for teachers. It has exploited this control to increase salaries and decrease standards for advancement up the remuneration ladder. The evidence suggests that increased electoral competition has led to the empowerment of entrenched interests rather than voters, with an overall negative effect on education.

Casualty, Causality and Chivalry: the Myth of Chivalry and Racial Violence in Southern Literature

This honors thesis project uses history and literature to analyze the role of the myth of chivalry in mystifying racial violence and oppression in the American South. The central claim is that the myth of chivalry¿ and particularly the exaltation of the white woman¿ is a myth system used to justify racial violence, oppress white womanhood, and allow white patriarchy to maintain political, social and economic dominance. This project traces the role of literature, especially Sir Walter Scott¿s historical romance, in developing the foundational myths of a southern society based in violence, racial hierarchy and gender inequality. It then follows the role of white womanhood in this myth¿ the restrictions on miscegenation, the exaltation of pure white femininity, and the violent actions performed in the name of southern women. With this historical baseline established, this study then explores three works of historical fiction that attempt to subvert this mythology by critiquing and demystifying the myth of chivalry, while also offering counter-narratives to popularized history. These works are Charles Chesnutt¿s 1901 novel The Marrow of Tradition¬, which analyzes the 1898 Wilmington N.C. race riot, Gwendolyn Brooks¿ 1960 poem ¿A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon¿ and Lewis Nordan¿s 1993 novel Wolf Whistle, two works about Emmett Till¿s tragic murder in 1955. This study, then, illuminates the intersection of literature and mythology, revealing how literature is useful for both creating and subverting myth¿and revealing how authors undertake this task.

Investigation of Human-Structure Interaction Through Experimental and Analytical Studies

Vibration serviceability is a widely recognized design criterion for assembly-type structures, such as stadiums, that are likely subjected to rhythmic human-induced excitation. Human-induced excitation of a structure occurs from the movement of the occupants such as walking, running, jumping, or dancing. Vibration serviceability is based on the level of comfort that people have with the vibrations of a structure. Current design guidance uses the natural frequency of the structure to assess vibration serviceability. However, a phenomenon known as human-structure interaction suggests that there is a dynamic interaction between the structure and passive occupants, altering the natural frequency of the system. Human-structure interaction is dependent on many factors, including the dynamic properties of the structure, posture of the occupants, and relative size of the crowd. It is unknown if the shift in natural frequency due to humanstructure interaction is significant enough to warrant consideration in the design process. This study explores the interface of both structural and crowd characteristics through experimental testing to determine if human-structure interaction should be considered because of its potential impact on serviceability assessment. An experimental test structure that represents the dynamic properties of a cantilevered stadium structure was designed and constructed. Experimental modal analysis was implemented to determine the dynamic properties of the empty test structure and when occupied with up to seven people arranged in different locations and postures. Comparisons of the dynamic properties were made between the empty and occupied testing configurations and analytical results from the use of a dynamic crowd model recommended from the Joint Working Group of Europe. Data trends lead to the development of a refined dynamic crowd model. This dynamic model can be used in conjunction with a finite element model of the test structure to estimate the dynamic influence due to human-structure interaction due to occupants standing with straight knees. In the future, the crowd model will be refined and can aid in assessing the dynamic properties of in-service stadium structures.