This work is dedicated:

To my mother and father, who begot and raised me with love;

To my sister and brother, who endured and supported me with love;

To my brothers in Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, who share with me a brotherly love that is full of purity, honor, kindness, charity, beauty, truth, courage, wisdom, and strength;

To Miss Lois M. Body and Miss Lorene E. Campbell of Springfield High School, Springfield, Illinois, who each in her own loving way taught me what it means to be a student, a teacher, and a scholar; and

To Stephanie P. Martin, who gave me the courage, strength, will, and support to begin it, and Hilary W. Frooman, who gave me the courage, strength, will, and support to finish it.