Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: Since the late 1800's women have significantly developed and expanded their place in sports. To this day, however, the female sports sphere and the male sports sphere have been kept segregated. Furthermore, male sports have been well established in American culture and embraced by the media as the only viable form. A feminine revolution has begun for publicity and validity in the male dominated sports realm. This paper analyzes the unconventional media portrayal of femininity in the sphere of sports. The discourse over the female emergence focuses on the inherent opposition to the established masculine conceptions of sports and their constitution as one of the most recognizable standards of the male gender. This study examines the cognitive dissonance that occurs when the female gender participates in male oriented sports. The initial and traditional argument opposing the female athlete in the male sports sphere is biological. This concept is highlighted by analyzing the media portrayal and discourse over the qualification of the female golfer, Annika Sorenstam, in a male GOLF (Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden) tournament. However, the biological argument is extraneous in some sports and the female revolution is strengthening. This paper argues that for fear of an emasculated man and in order for the culture to find cognitive balance, a rationalization occurs that invokes the de-feminization and overly masculinization of woman. The unconventional de-feminized representation of woman is portrayed with the utilization of the Amazonian/Warrior archetype. This representation is examined and affirmed using a content analysis of the media portrayal of roller derby. In sharp contrast, a secondary representation has emerged that rationalizes the female presence in sports when the de-feminization rationalization is not applicable. This rationalization is the overly sexualized portrayal of the female in the sport's sphere. This representation of woman is examined in the media portrayal of Danica Patrick in the Indy Racing League. Finally, the most interesting and unconventional concept is the coupling of both representations as seen in the portrayal of the female gladiators.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In all President George W. Bush made three nominations to the Supreme Court: John Roberts, Harriet Miers, and Samuel Alito. I suggest that a key factor in the selection of each of these nominees was their stance on the issue of executive authority. While evidence suggests that on a number of issues Miers was a very different nominee—or at least a potentially very different nominee—from Roberts and Alito, I submit that on the issue of executive authority all three were seen by the Bush administration as reliable votes for the New Paradigm or Unitary Executive theory of government. For example, in a November 2000 speech at a meeting of the conservative Federalist Society, Alito remarked that the Constitution “makes the president the head of the executive branch, but it does more than that… The president has not just some executive powers, but the executive power—the whole thing.” Did the Senate make the issue a priority during Alito’s confirmation hearings? Was the issue treated in a partisan fashion? Was the nominee forthcoming or evasive in his responses on the topic? In order to answer these queries, I employ a content analysis of the questioning behavior of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as Alito’s responses.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Out of classroom communication (OCC) in the form of email has increased considerably in the past few years. This study relies on Expectancy Violation Theory to examine the impact of using overly casual email messages with instructors. Study one used an experimental method to determine that message quality (casual vs. formal messages) accounted for between 40% and 60% of the variance explained in affect toward the student, student credibility, and message attitude. Message quality also significantly impacted an instructor’s willingness to comply with a simple request for a face-to-face meeting. Whether the instructor knew the student or not only influenced the affect outcome. Knowing the student accounted for 4.1% of the variance in affect, and female instructors were more willing to comply with requests. Study two further examined these findings using a survey of both instructors and students. Findings suggest that instructors are bothered more by casual email messages. The reasons why theses violations occur can be broken into two factors called the “cyberyouth” and “clueless” factors. The two components of email messages that bother instructors more than students are having no author name in the email message and including shortcuts like R U (are you).

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper suggests that legislative-executive relations at the national level may be a function of individual entrepreneurial actions. Through a secondary analysis of Mayhew's (2000) data on MC actions, I suggest that individual MC's are in fact entrepreneurial actors engaging in behaviors that have institutional consequences as to the "locus" of power between the Congress and the presidency. Furthermore, I found that this behavior is historically contingent relative to "eras" of congressional versus presidential government. There are statistically significant differences in the amount of intstitutional empowering behavior between the the congressional era (1867-1904) and the presidential era (1933-1976) wherein the MC's engage in higher levels of institutional entrepreneurialism in the era when they are the "out-group" regarding the level of "institutional power overall." Also, I found that institutional entrepreneurialism is on the whole a common activity regardless of the "era" of government suggesting that MC'a are rational actors in pursuit of power (e.g. Fenno 1973, Mayhew 1974, Dodd 1986). Finally, I found that such activity is consistent with periodization schemes that guage "institutional power" like the beforementioned eras of congressional and presidential government.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Activities, like child beauty pageants and enrichment learning classes, have attracted a great deal of media attention, usually depicted as examples of parental exploitation and self-fulfillment. What is not often portrayed is the self-sacrifice on the part of the parents and the discipline required of the children. This paper explores the question of why parents enroll their children in these activities, based on evidence from four years of fieldwork and in-depth interviews (n=68). The selection of these two groups of parents for study may seem surprising given the presumably vast differences between parents who enroll their children in beauty pageants and those who enroll their children in enrichment courses. But, as I will show, these parents are not entirely different, especially because their underlying motivations are the same, which are to teach their children how to succeed in an increasingly competitive, hierarchical, adult society. Most importantly though, I identify a parental worldview based on the socialization model of Melvin Kohn that stresses the importance of particular skills that parents believe children need to acquire in order to attain personal and professional success. In the end I suggest a typology of organized children’s activities to help guide further research.