AcademiCast

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AcademiCast is a podcast series dedicated to telling Texas Tech University's academic story. The bi-monthly podcasts feature stories about faculty, staff, student and alumni accomplishments; on-going research across campus; and academic news related to Texas Tech. The series is produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing at Texas Tech and features a segment hosted by the Provost.

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Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 18 of 18
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    We are VALORANT! We are Fighters! Gender Discrimination in Online Gaming
    (2023-05) Ghazzawi, Michelle G.; Maloney, Patricia; Button-Schnick, Andrea; Lindquist, Carol S.
    The rise of personal computer (PC) gaming (and voice chatting) has resulted in gender discrimination in video games, which has been well-documented in other research. Voice chat matters because people can often determine someone's gender from their voice. This study examines women's perceived gender discrimination in a video game called VALORANT, developed in 2020 by Riot Games. This is a first-person shooter game that requires communication between teammates (five per side) to coordinate team activities. Therefore, it is a perfect situation in which to document perceived gender discrimination because i) teammates must talk because it is faster than text chat, and ii) it is a high-pressure situation that requires input from other teammates to win. Little previous research has explored whether in-game pressures to win and maintain one's in-game rank (such as in the competitive mode in VALORANT) have increased perceived gender discrimination. That is, does competitive pressure increase or decrease perceived gender discrimination? Thus, this inquiry focuses on the following: Do women who play VALORANT perceive gender discrimination, as found in other research? Furthermore, does the level of competition matter? Specifically, do women in VALORANT perceive that they experience more gender discrimination from men in unrated versus competitive modes? Using 17 online interviews with women who play VALORANT, I found that women unsurprisingly say that they experienced gender discrimination while playing. Regarding the second research question, the respondents perceived that gender discrimination was worse in unrated modes because players’ ranks were not at risk.
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    Women Representation and Party Institutionalization in Latin America
    (2023-08) Carcamo Vergara, Josefina del Carmen; Stoyan, Alissandra; Thames, Frank; Petrova, Bilyana
    Some scholars argue that party institutionalization favors women’s political representation. While some have studied this issue within countries, no research has explored it at the cross-national level. This study examines the relationship between the institutionalization of the party system at the country level and women's representation in Congress for 20 Latin American countries. The study discusses Wylie's theory of party institutionalization and its relationship with women's political representation in Brazil as a theoretical starting point. The study raises concerns about the generalizability of this theory. Institutionalization as an independent variable is measured based on a multidimensional index developed by the V-Dem database. Findings indicate that party system institutionalization does not enhance female representation. However, the institutionalization of party organization, one index dimension, has a negative relationship with representation. This study highlights the importance of improving data collection on individual parties and invites future research on female representation and party institutionalization in other regional contexts.
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    A Lidar-based Investigation of Entrainment Zone Processes over a Semiarid Region
    (2023-08) Clark, Nicholas; Pal, Sandip; Bruning, Eric; Dahl, Johannes
    Within this work, we examined the entrainment zone (EZ) processes between the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and free atmosphere (FA) over a semiarid region of West Texas. Semiarid areas are of interest due to their strong surface heat fluxes and intense turbulent mixing that often results in the formation of deep ABLs. Despite their importance to ABL growth, observations of EZ processes remain scarce in the existing literature. Due to the distinct aerosol characteristics of the ABL and FA, a layer of heightened aerosol variability often exists near the top of the ABL (zi). We use the newly developed Full-Width Half-Maxima method to determine the depth over which the EZ processes occur (i.e., EZ thickness; EZT) based on the aerosol variability near zi. Exploring newfound relationships among the aerosol variability and turbulent kinematics within the ABL and EZ is essential for developing new comprehensive frameworks for parameterizing the ABL evolution. We used Doppler lidar measurements of aerosol backscatter coefficients (β) and vertical velocity (w) at Reese Center, located west of Lubbock, TX, for three specific cases (17 Jul 2022, 02 Sep 2022, and 08 Sep 2022). The relationship between the variability in β (𝜎𝛽,𝑧𝑖) and turbulent mixing observed at zi (𝜎𝑤,𝑧𝑖) was deduced as it related to the EZ thickness (Δℎ/𝑧𝑖). Overall, our results demonstrated a strong correlation between the Δℎ/𝑧𝑖 and 𝜎𝛽,𝑧𝑖 was observed for each case (r ≈ 0.86, 0.89, and 0.93), while a weak-to-moderate correlation was seen between 𝜎𝛽,𝑧𝑖 and 𝜎𝑤,𝑧𝑖 (r ≈ 0.33, 0.77, and 0.62). These results suggest an inherent relationship between the turbulent kinematics and the associated aerosol distribution within the EZ. More specifically, we observed that as the EZ turbulence intensified, the aerosol variability at zi increased, suggesting enhanced exchange between the ABL and overlying FA.
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    AcademiCast (June 1, 2011)
    (Office of the Vice President for Research/Office of the Provost, 2011-06-01) Post, Sally; Butler, Kristina; Irlbeck, Scott; Allen, Katie; Smith, Bob
    Texas Tech researchers study the reasoning behind the rapid decline of frog and other amphibian populations; Provost Smith interview segment with Michael San Francisco, biological sciences; Texas Tech's chapter of Sigma Xi invites faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students to become members and collaborate on their research.
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    AcademiCast (May 18, 2011)
    (Office of the Vice President for Research/Office of the Provost, 2011-05-18) Butler, Kristina; Irlbeck, Scott; Allen, Katie; Smith, Bob
    The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) is helping fund cancer research projects at Texas Tech University and the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center; Provost Smith interview segment with Kitty Harris, College of Human Sciences; a new partnership allows for the use of new agricultural equipment on Texas Tech farms.
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    AcademiCast (May 4, 2011)
    (Office of the Vice President for Research/Office of the Provost, 2011-05-04) Dunn, Danielle; Allen, Katie; Irlbeck, Scott; Smith, Bob
    The new GroupWorks section in the Texas Tech Library is now available for students to use and makes working on group projects much easier; Tigga Kingston, an assistant professor of biological sciences, received a grant from the National Science Foundation to create a network for bat researchers in Southeast Asia; Provost Smith interview segment with Tara Stevens, College of Education; undergraduate researcher Heather Darnell studies Italian lullabies with her advisor, Thomas Cimarusti, assistant professor of musicology.
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    AcademiCast (April 20, 2011)
    (Office of the Vice President for Research/Office of the Provost, 2011-04-20) Dunn, Danielle; Allen, Katie; Irlbeck, Scott; Smith, Bob
    Texas Tech researchers talk about their findings from studying the effects of radiation at the exclusion zone in Chernobyl, Ukraine, as this month marks the 25th anniversary of the nuclear disaster; Provost Smith interview segment with Ron Mitchell, Rawls College of Business Administration; the online research magazine for Texas Tech, Discoveries, is launched this month.
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    AcademiCast (April 6, 2011)
    (Office of the Vice President for Research/Office of the Provost, 2011-04-06) Dunn, Danielle; Allen, Katie; Irlbeck, Scott; Smith, Bob
    "Tornado Alley," a recently released IMAX® movie, focuses on VORTEX2, the most ambitious effort ever made to understand tornado genesis, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Texas Tech researchers participated in the VORTEX2 project, and Christopher Weiss, associate professor of atmospheric science, talks about Texas Tech's role in and preliminary findings from VORTEX2; College of Mass Communications hosts the Global Film Initiatives Global Lens series; Provost Smith interview segment with Sindee Simon, Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering; Anthony Giordano, Texas Tech doctoral student and Fulbright award winner, talks about studying jaguars in Paraguay.
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    AcademiCast (March 23, 2011)
    (Office of the Vice President for Research/Office of the Provost, 2011-03-23) Dunn, Danielle; Allen, Katie; Irlbeck, Scott; Smith, Bob
    The Caprock Regional Public Defender Office, in coordination with Texas Tech's School of Law, will provide representation to defendants in underrepresented Northwest Texas Counties; the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Sciences has named an interim dean effective July 1, 2011; Provost Smith interview segment with Rob Glover, College of Visual and Performing Arts; Dr. Jorge Iber, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of history, talks about his new book.
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    AcademiCast (March 2, 2011)
    (Office of the Vice President for Research/Office of the Provost, 2011-03-02) Dunn, Danielle; Smith, Bob; Irlbeck, Scott; Allen, Katie
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    AcademiCast (February 16, 2011)
    (Office of Communications and Marketing, 2011-02) Dunn, Danielle; Irlbeck, Scott; Smith, Bob; Allen, Katie
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    AcademiCast (February 2, 2011)
    (Office of Communications and Marketing, 2011-02) Dunn, Danielle; Irlbeck, Scott; Smith, Bob; Allen, Katie
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    AcademiCast (January 5, 2011)
    (2011-03-04T22:36:31Z) Irlbeck, Scott; Smith, Bob; Allen, Katie
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    AcademiCast (December 15, 2010)
    (Office of Communications and Marketing, 2010-12-15) Irlbeck, Scott; Smith, Bob; Allen, Katie
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    AcademiCast (December 1, 2010)
    (Texas Tech University Office of Communications and Marketing, 2010-12-01) Irlbeck, Scott; Allen, Katie; Smith, Bob
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    AcademiCast (November 17, 2010)
    (Texas Tech University Office of Communications and Marketing, 2010-11-17) Irlbeck, Scott; Allen, Katie; Smith, Bob
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    AcademiCast (November 3, 2010)
    (Texas Tech University Office of Communications and Marketing, 2010-11-03) Smith, Bob; Irlbeck, Scott; Allen, Katie
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    AcademiCast (January 19, 2011)
    (Office of Communications and Marketing, 2011-01) Irlbeck, Scott; Smith, Bob; Allen, Katie