Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Dancers, Mackenzie Weakland

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

COVID-19 impacted every person who experienced it. Dancers in particular, were a group of people that were not able to participate in their art form in the way that they were always able to. This project explores how COVID-19 impacted dancers and their ability to learn and grow.

An Exploration Into Public Art, Samantha Fazio

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project explores both the processes of designing and creating a mural and the community impact of public art. It aims to answer questions including: What goes into creating a mural? What is public art and why is it important? How does it socially and economically impact the community and its members? In doing this project, I aimed to gain a deeper understanding of how to create a mural and of the greater cultural context that public art projects exist in.

How Akron Affects The Water Quality Of The Cuyahoga River, Allyson Darst

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to analyze whether the city of Akron had negative effects on the Cuyahoga river, and determine if the Cuyahoga River was naturally able to remediate these effects downstream. The pollutants measured in this study include hardness, bromine, residual chlorine, iron, copper, lead, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium chloride, total chlorine, fluoride, carbonate, pH, total alkalinity and cyanuric acid. This study was done using water testing strips (JNW Direct) to test the water at four different locations along the Cuyahoga River downstream (North) of Akron. This study found that the city of Akron does have a negative …

Ecg Monitoring In Athletes, Jalal Jwayyed, Kelly Purgason, Joseph Linder, Annamarie Alfery, Silvia Furman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Athletes and medical personnel need reliable methods to monitor vital signs and detect potentially life-threatening issues before they occur. Electrocardiograph (ECG) monitors are currently the best method of detecting heart-related health issues. Current ECG monitors worn by athletes are difficult to use and lack the ability to track ECGs in real time. Through research and interviews with various clinicians, further problems have been identified that include poor electrode adhesion, and a lack of compatibility with the equipment worn by athletes. Our team proposes to develop solutions that will improve performance and comfort associated with ECG monitors for athletic applications. This …

Greener Synthesis Of Chlorophosphazenes, Andrew Mcgee

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will attempt to synthesize chlorophosphazene molecules in the absence of solvents by using mechanochemical techniques in order to create a more environmentally friendly synthesis route. In this pursuit, various parameters will be changed including the milling ball to reagent ratios, the molar ratios of the reactants, and the addition of different catalysts. The products of each reaction will be characterized in order to determine success. This work builds upon existing efforts to utilize mechanochemical techniques in main group chemistry. The output of this project will be a report in ACS style and a poster to be presented for …

The Effect Of The Clean Air Act And Subsequent Amendments On Air Pollution In Cleveland And Akron, Daniel Cundiff

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Clean Air Act, passed in 1970, is a major piece of U.S. legislation that governs ambient air pollution through National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) established by the Environmental Protection Agency. This piece of legislation became very effective after it was amended in 1990. This amendment allowed the Environmental Protection Agency greater power in enforcement of the Act as well as more responsibility in tracking air quality across the country. Locally, Akron and Cleveland did not attain NAAQS standards until shortly after the 1990 amendment was implemented. Why? Did the amendment cause Akron and Cleveland to lower emissions of …

Law Students' Perspectives On Interdisciplinary Education: A Qualitative Study, Kellie Lockemer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore law school students’ perspectives on interdisciplinary social work education. For this qualitative study, a purposive sample of current law students (n = 11) were invited to participate in a survey to give their perspectives on their current education and thoughts on interdisciplinary education. The results showed that, although the clinic work was helpful, most law students did not think traditional law classes helped prepare them for client interactions. The students also expressed an openness and desire for more trainings on client interactions. This study’s findings suggest a need for interdisciplinary trainings to …

Winter Maintenance Of Akron Roadways, Kayla Hillegass

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The city of Akron experiences several hundred crashes each winter season due to winter road and weather conditions. The winter maintenance practices of the city follow a guide by the Salt Institute that uses a combination of plowing and salting to clear the roads. This paper provides an understanding of winter maintenance from its beginnings to present day and will discuss how certain practices came to be. Looking at three other cities across the United States with similar characteristics in size or snowfall amount show many similarities with a few new concepts that Akron can consider (e.g., better communication via …

Varying Water Stress In Mimulus Ringens, Sara Stiles

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A wetland plant’s ability to tolerate flooding is important to determining where that plant can grow. Previous studies have shown the optimal flood tolerance of Mimulus ringens is between -2cm and -6cm (Fraser & Karnezis, 2005). This experiment expands on these previous experiments by testing variation in water levels instead of maintaining the water levels at one height throughout the experiment. The hypothesis of the experiment is that Mimulus ringens that have variation in water levels will show signs of better growth than plants with a constant water level. Contrary to predictions, the results showed the final height, number of …

System For Workout Information Management, Mark Archual, Ethan E. Schweinsberg

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Power racks are a weight machine used by swimmers to provide resistance while they swim away from a wall toward the center of the pool. The objective of this project is to build a modular data system that can be added to these machines to record and log quantitative information during their use. This information will be stored on a web server, and made available to the user for analysis and visualization through a web application. Workout data can also be downloaded and interpreted at a later time, independent of the web application. The data system should be water resistant, …

Application Of Lipid Styryl Dye For Staining Intracytoplasmic Membranes In Gram-Negative Bacteria, Theodore J. Hammer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Intracytoplasmic membranes are structures that form within cells which help facilitate a variety of different metabolic processes. This feature of intracellular membranes makes them particularly valuable for studying compartmentalization and cell dynamics in bacteria. In the past, transmission electron microscopy has been the primary method for imaging bacteria with intracytoplasmic membranes. Because transmission electron microscopy takes images of a cell in fixed slices, it’s impossible to follow a cell’s growth and development over time. Fluorescence microscopy is a particularly effective method of measurement that can combat these issues when evaluating live bacterial cells. Here, standard biochemical laboratory procedures were used …

Freshman 15: How The University Of Akron Is Affected Per Residence Hall, Daniel G. Mcquillen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Students entering their freshmen year of college face a variety of lifestyle changes. These changes often include increased caloric consumption, increased levels of stress, decreased physical activity, and increased alcohol consumption. Because of these lifestyle changes, it is commonly asserted that freshman gain weight throughout their first year in college. A common expression used to describe this weight gain is the “Freshman 15,” which asserts that the average student gains 15 pounds during their freshman year. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to gather data regarding the on-campus freshmen’s diet and exercise habits. The data gathered was used to …

Life Histories Of Refugees From Burma In Akron, Ohio, Megan Powley

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper examines the life histories of members of the Karen refugee community in Akron, Ohio. This research was done to better understand the difficulties the community faces as the Karen adjust to life in the United States. The larger historical context of ethnic conflict in Burma, the country they fled, is explored before a discussion of the anthropological work that was undertaken by the author. Life histories, collected through interviews, were analyzed thematically. Finally, suggestions are made for ways to aid in the transition of the Karen with a focus on the process to gain U.S. citizenship.

Student Voting Behavior At The University Of Akron, Turner G. Anderson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper explores the voting behavior of students at The University of Akron. The paper begins by looking at the body of research surrounding student voting behavior in the United States as a whole. Much of the research challenges traditional notions of how to predict voting behavior, and it is noted that many of the generational behavior research is outdated and may not describe today’s students well. Some of the some of the potential obstacles to student voting both in Akron and the country as a whole are also explored.

For the analysis, the voter turnout rate in 2010 through …

Community Identity, Rebecca F. Aronhalt

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Community Identity: Abstract

El propósito de esta investigación fue identificar la identidad de la comunidad latina alrededor del vecindario de ¨North Hill¨ en Akron, Ohio, según los ciudadanos latinos que viven allí. Tiene valor describir esta comunidad porque es un componente de la comunidad entero de Akron que es menos visible. Entendiendo cómo ellos se ven a si mismos me ayudó, como estudiante de español en la Universidad de Akron, a entender mejor la tela compleja de la ciudad. Para conseguir esta información, hice entrevistas en español con seis adultos latinos que viven en North Hill. Utilicé un método narrativo …