Digital Commons Network^™

The Transformative North Atlantic Treaty Organization: An Alliance's Out-Of-Area Policy And Journey To Afghanistan, Laura Kash

Master's Theses and Capstones

NATO was formed in 1949 to safeguard and promote stability for its members throughout the North Atlantic. Since its formation its members have sought to uphold its mission and objectives while expanding its agenda and engaging in a broad range of activities. These activities have included engagements that lay outside the traditional European boundaries of the Alliance. Historically, the member nations were unable to carry out an out-of-area policy due to disagreements between interests, ideologies, and viewpoints. The end of the Cold War signaled a shift in member nations' attitudes and policy regarding out-of-area operations. Throughout the 1990s and early …

The Sewanee Football Narrative: Christianity, Southern Honor, And Intercollegiate Football At The University Of The South, 1890--1899, J W. Bozzi

Master's Theses and Capstones

By the turn of the twentieth century, intercollegiate football had developed a loyal following throughout the United States; however, since the game originated and rose to prominence in New England, national attention generally remained focused on the Northeast. As a consequence, historians of early collegiate sport have almost exclusively focused upon Yale, Harvard, and a handful of Northeastern colleges, and have promulgated the idea that football in the nineteenth century supported the ideals of northern industrialism. This limited view fails to recognize the fact that as a cultural text, football told a story that was interpreted by many different groups, …

Neo-Conservatism And Foreign Policy, Ted Boettner

Master's Theses and Capstones

Since the 1960s, neo-conservatives advanced their agenda through journals, think tanks, coalitions, and by serving as high-level government officials. While scholars have noted this influence, there's little written on how neo-conservative ideas have evolved and influenced foreign policy under these changing historical circumstances. Moreover, very little scholarship foils neo-conservatism against the two dominant approaches to foreign policy in the 20th century---realism and liberalism---to discover how they are held together as a group. This thesis finds that neo-conservatism is a political ideology of American foreign policy that has developed several common tendencies over the last forty years. These include an ardent …

Explaining Partition: Reconsidering The Role Of The Security Dilemma In The Cyprus Crisis Of 1974, Michael Todd Smith

Master's Theses and Capstones

In this thesis the proposed link between a security dilemma at the domestic-level of analysis and partition following ethnic conflict is examined in the context of the Cyprus crisis of 1974. The original framework of the argument being examined was offered by Chaim Kaufmann and is analyzed here by comparing and contrasting the history of Cyprus with the components of the framework. The thesis suggests that the framework does not adequately explain the partition in the case of Cyprus, as the history of that conflict does not reflect the components observable in the proposed linkage between the security dilemma and …

John Robinson: The Man They Would Not Let Us Forget, Kathleen C. Beliveau

Master's Theses and Capstones

Very little is known of John Robinson. This paper endeavors to partially remedy this problem. In order to attempt such a significant project a variety of works were consulted.

While there is very little information about Robinson's first eighteen years, we can piece together insight from the times in which he lived. Further clues come from his own writings while the reminiscences of those who knew him offer additional insight.

Secondary writings include authors such as the late O.S. Davis, William Wallace Fenn, and Perry Miller. Contemporary authors encompass Stephen Brachlow, Timothy George, and Keith Sprunger. A few pictures have …

Journalism Of Affirmation?, Ben Carder

Master's Theses and Capstones

Polls and studies suggest news outlets appeal to specific "niche" audiences; where news broadcasts seemingly "give the people what they want," through their reporting. Does the broadcast news media manipulate news content in a manner that is consistent with their "niche" audience?

Because Democrats and Republicans have differing views on the economy's vitality, this study analyzes how the media frame unemployment data: what elements of an unemployment report are emphasized; how much time is devoted to a certain aspect of it across networks? This study believes news networks "spin" unemployment reports positively or negatively, depending on their "niche" audience and …

Role Stress, Role Resources, And Mental Health Outcomes Among Recreational Runners, Leslie Dillon

Master's Theses and Capstones

Research on the impact of multiple role management on mental health outcomes has yet to consider the implications of a recreational athlete role. Role Conflict theory predicts that incorporating this additional role would increase potential for stress manifested as a mental health problem. Role Expansion theory predicts the social qualities of this additional role can be helpful in buffering against stress. In an exploratory study, a sample of recreational runners from New England were recruited by email to complete an online survey that evaluated role resources, role stress, depression, and alcohol problems. Results show no significant relationships between role stress, …

Persuasion By Design: World War I, The Committee On Public Information, And The Effectiveness Of Good Poster Design, Kelly Labrecque

Master's Theses and Capstones

World War I propaganda posters were examined for design effectiveness. The Wilson Administration's policy of neutrality lead to the need for the creation of the Committee on Public Information (CPI) with a Department of Pictorial Publicity (DPP) when the United States entered the war in April, 1917. Illiteracy and foreign speaking Americans made the poster the most effective way of communicating messages of food conservation, support for the troops and Allies, and hatred of the enemy. By applying modern graphic design theory to the posters created by the CPI it is possible to evaluate which posters may have had the …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Service Quality On Satisfaction, Value, And Future Intentions Within Campus Recreation Using Performance-Based Measures, Matthew Ott

Master's Theses and Capstones

The problem of the study was to examine the relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction, value and future intentions within campus recreation using only the performance section of the Centre for Environmental and Recreation Management-Customer Service Quality (CERM-CSQ) instrument (Howat, Absher, Crilley, & Miline, 1996) and additional questions consistent with the results of a study conducted by Murray and Howat (2002). A total of 248 usable surveys were collected from student users of campus recreation services at a university in the Northeastern region of the United States.

Results of the study indicated that of the three service quality dimensions measured …

Economic And Environmental Considerations For Construction And Demolition (C&D) Debris Management And Policy, Andria Vachon

Master's Theses and Capstones

Construction and demolition (C&D) debris is a significant part of the waste stream in the United States. Recycling is increasingly becoming a more popular method of disposal due to both market and regulatory forces; however, most of the debris is still landfilled. C&D debris facilities handle materials with low value and have few market opportunities. Limited recycling opportunities may be available for hazardous materials. A survey of mixed material C&D recyclers in the United States is analyzed in this paper. Some topics of interest covered in the survey included: end uses and markets for recycled materials; technological processes utilized by …

Climate Change Policy: Why Germany Leads And The United States Lags, Kristin Kesling

Master's Theses and Capstones

Why is climate change a top priority on the political agenda in Germany and not a top priority on the political agenda in the United States? This study seeks to answer this question by examining the evolution of climate change policy in both countries. Analyzing Germany's and America's environmental movement, the thesis points to several theories which include the European Union and cultural values. However, it is the nations' political structures/institutions and their post WWII foreign policy views that most determine where climate change policy stands on each country's political agenda. The analysis concludes with a possible outlook on America's …

Northeast Asian Regional Economic Integration: Sino-Korean Bilateral Trade, 1992--2007, Rina Lee

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis examines northeast Asian regional economic integration with a case study of Sino-Korean trade. Since the Cold War, there has been an increase in regional bilateral economic cooperation. South Korea began to open its market to foreign direct investors in the 1990s. This study asks what contributes to the rise of bilateral trade and tests the following hypothesis using both qualitative and quantitative methods: If a national leader perceives growing pressure of globalization, then there is strong promotion of an integrated trade policy.

The study of Sino-Korean trade reveals that Kim Dae Jung's view on a globalized economy, which …

Recovery Policy, The Endangered Species Act And The Yellowstone Grizzly Bear (Ursus Arctos Horribilis): A Case Study Analysis Of The Role And Function Of Environmental Organizations, Rachel A. Platt

Master's Theses and Capstones

This Thesis explores the question, "what are the politics of de-listing an endangered species?" The Yellowstone grizzly de-listing process offered environmental organizations a platform to provide the general public with a genuine opportunity to engage with the comments and positions, to the federal government. It contends that a symbolic consensus has been constructed about the American West, Yellowstone National Park and the grizzly bear and these constructed were strong enough to generate the majority of edited responses to the Fish and Wildlife Service during the de-listing process. This thesis looks at the manner in which environmental organizations employ this natural …

Post-Cold War Russian Foreign Military Assistance To Iran: Advancing The National Interest, Or The Special Interest?, Matthew York

Master's Theses and Capstones

Since 1989, Russia has armed and assisted Iran and other anti-Western states despite improved relations with the West, non-proliferation agreements, and United Nations sanctions. Such behavior apparently contradicts Russia's commitments to arms control and international security and stability. Thus, this study seeks to clarify this contradiction by conducting a crucial case-study of Russian military assistance to Iran from 2000 through 2007. It applies interest-group theory and hypothesizes that from late-2000 to present day, interest groups successfully lobbied to increase defense-exports to Iran. It also applies interest-group theory to Stephen J. Blank's 2007 analysis of Russia's defense-export industry. Though insightful, Blank's …

Oil Vs Democracy: Oil Rent, Social Groups, And Democratization In Middle East Monarchies, Garrett Arwa

Master's Theses and Capstones

Considerable research in political science has been done concerning democracy and the effects of oil rent. Prevailing literature suggests that dependence on oil and rentier behavior by states can heighten the dependence of social groups on the state through political and economic effects. Yet in the case of Kuwait, we find that oil rent has helped build human capital, institutional capacity, and autonomy for social groups. This autonomy allows social groups to better bargain with the state and advance democratization. This will be contrasted to the case of Morocco, where social groups remain dependent on the state despite cycles of …

Hospice Nurses, Spiritual Development And A Changing Health Care Paradigm, Amy L. Barr

Master's Theses and Capstones

Recently researchers have become increasingly interested in how we are going to care for our growing elderly population. Little, however, has been done to examine the personal attitudes toward death, dying and spirituality of the professionals who care for the terminally ill. The purpose of this study is to examine spiritual development among hospice nurses who work in palliative care. Data were obtained using qualitative, in-depth interviews with 20 hospice nurses (4 males, 16 females) from ages 36 to 61. The interviews were conducted at three different hospice organizations located in the northwest, northeast and New England regions of the …

Transcending The Body: The Role Of Divine Mind In The Practice Of Christian Science Healing, Sarah L. Gibb

Master's Theses and Capstones

Christian Science has been largely ignored in sociological inquiries of modern religious institutions. This research project aims to uncover how Christian Science practitioners understand their world in terms of the origins of illness, the gender division of labor, and their role as healers within the Christian Science community and the world. I distributed questionnaires to practitioners in California and the New England region, analyzing the responses using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The practitioners in this sample (N = 33) are overwhelmingly white, middle-aged to older women with higher-than-average levels of educational attainment and income. Thematic analyses reveal that in …

Independent Or Undeclared? The Role Of The Undeclared Voter In The New Hampshire Presidential Primary, Jennifer E S Gupta

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis examines whether New Hampshire's undeclared voters vote in a similar manner to registered partisans or whether New Hampshire's voting laws allow undeclared voters to act more independently. Two main hypotheses focus on how New Hampshire's undeclared voters act and whether they are more volatile than partisans. Data from pre-primary tracking polls and Election Day exit polls were used to assess actions and volatility. Two variable cross-tabulation was the primary means of data analysis.

The author concludes that New Hampshire's undeclared voters are more independent but as involved and interested in politics as their partisan counterparts. Additionally, while undeclared …

An Examination Of The Nursing Home Industry, Craig Labore

Master's Theses and Capstones

Quality of care remains an issue plaguing the nursing home industry. Over the next twenty years, nursing homes will become inundated with members of the "baby boomer" generation. The goal of this research project was to examine approaches to improving the quality of care in nursing homes in The United States. Three reforms were identified. First, there needs to be improved communication between CMS, regional offices and state agencies. Second, create a training program which trains surveyors and nursing home administrators in a nursing home setting. Finally; there must be collaboration between CMS and nursing home industry leaders in policy-making …

A Case Study In Natural Resource Policy: Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus Clarki Bouvieri) In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Brad Johnson

Master's Theses and Capstones

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is hailed as one of the most intact temperate ecosystems in the world. Within the ecosystem the Yellowstone cutthroat trout has been noted as both a keystone species and an indicator of ecosystem health. As anthropogenic induced stress and its effects on natural systems have become more readily apparent, a call has risen for a new holistic form of natural resource policy development and implementation. The Ecosystem Approach, based on the principles of sustainability, is a multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral policy paradigm, which serves that function for this study.

This research analyzed the extent to which natural resource …

The Family In Tocqueville's "Democracy In America": Understanding Difference In The Age Of Equality, Nicholas R. Noloboff

Master's Theses and Capstones

The American family in Tocqueville's Democracy in America presents a novel association to humankind; at its heart are natural bonds between generations, spouses and siblings that offer, through public recognition, new opportunities for both individual and civic improvement. Through an exposition of Democracy's American family, this paper addresses how the association helps remediate the greatest dangers of the age of equality: a tyrannical majority, materialism, individualism and ultimately, democratic despotism. It finds that the chief virtue of the American family comes from the natural, complementary gender differences that define marriage in American public opinion; in particular, the social recognition that …

Talking About Abortion: A Qualitative Examination Of Women's Abortion Experiences, Diana L. Dumais

Master's Theses and Capstones

The sociological literature on women's responses to the experience of abortion is remarkably sparse. This thesis seeks to contribute to redressing that research gap. I use semi-structured, in-depth interviews with twenty women from relatively diverse social backgrounds who have had abortions to explore the range of factors that they saw as being influential in their abortion decision and experience. Although the ages and the family circumstances of the women interviewed varied, and although some had more than one abortion, nevertheless, common themes emerged in their accounts of their abortion experiences. Among the most salient influences on my interviewees' experiences was …

Can Less Mean More In International Aid: Public Opinion Of International Assistance In Ghana, Michael Bena

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study examines public opinion of international aid in Ghana with a focus on a multivariate ordinary least squares regression model. It first examines the country of Ghana and the events that led to involvement with the International Monetary Fund under the Economic Recovery Program. After analyzing existing literature on satisfaction with government and economic programs, the study goes on to suggest what might drive citizen satisfaction with these programs. Using information from the Afrobarometer survey, this thesis proposes that public opinion of international aid programs is related to the tangible benefits they provide and the publics' perceptions of inequality …

Media, Race, And Attitudes Toward People On Welfare, Stephanie Bramlett

Master's Theses and Capstones

This research gives insight to why some Americans have negative attitudes toward people on welfare. This study begins by exploring how the construct of race has manifested itself throughout televised news broadcasts and the welfare system in the United States.

This research uses a combination of content analysis, secondary research and American National Election Survey Data analysis to explain the relationship between the media and support for welfare programs. The study investigates three main hypotheses: H1: Blacks are overrepresented as perpetrators of crime in televised news broadcasts compared to the actual number of crimes committed by Blacks, H2: As trust …

Incidence Of Ticket Taxes And Fees In United States Domestic Air Travel, Joakim Karlsson

Master's Theses and Capstones

The United States is currently witnessing a vigorous debate on public funding of air transportation and the role of taxes and fees levied on airline tickets. Yet, there is remarkably little economic literature on taxation in the U.S. airline industry. Analysis of a large sample of tickets for travel in the continental United States shows that the effective tax rate has increased from 11% in 1993 to 16% in 2005. While the tax structure and levels have changed over time, this increase is largely due to a historical decline.

The theory of tax incidence asserts that economic incidence is a …

Elite Perceptions And The Adoption Of An Extremist Policy Of Genocide: A Comparative Case Study Of Armenia And Rwanda, Nicole Powell

Master's Theses and Capstones

The events leading up to the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994 are similar to the events that led to the genocide that occurred in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Economic and political crises plagued both states, international pressures to democratize weighed on both states, and both states were subject to ethnic polarization. This project examines those common factors preceding the Rwandan and Armenian genocides; and looks at elite's perception of a threat to their power because of the existence of those factors. Furthermore, the paper examines the relationship between the perception of a threat to elite power and …

Television Exposure, Feelings Of Fear And Confidence In The United States Government: Is The Government Using Media To Create A Culture Of Fear?, Janine Marie Soule

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study examines the relation between television media and fear as it pertains to the trust or confidence in the United States government. Using the fundamental hypothesis of cultivation theory (i.e., heavy viewers of television are more likely to believe that the world is a "mean and scary" place), the relation between the amount of television one watches, one's corresponding level of fear, and one's level of confidence in each branch of the United States federal government is examined. It is hypothesized that fear will have a mediating effect on the relation between heavy television consumption and respondents' confidence in …

Swing Voters? Roman Catholics From 1992 To 2004, Lori Gula Wright

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis evaluates whether Catholics are swing voters, how their voting behavior has changed from 1992 to 2004, and what issues are influencing their voting behavior. National Election Survey datasets from 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 are used. Two models are evaluated, the ethnoreligious model and the culture wars thesis. In addition, this thesis looks at whether Catholics tend to be single-issue voters.

The research and analysis of this thesis support the conclusion that Catholics are not swing voters and that their voting patterns are more similar to the general electorate than ever before. Although religious, class and cultural issues …

Cape Wind: Public Values And Perceptions Application Of Contingent Valuation Method, Eric Steltzer

Master's Theses and Capstones

The Cape Wind proposal to build 130 turbines in Nantucket sound has been a central figure in development of renewable energy in New England. The aim of this study was two fold. First, the contingent valuation method was used to estimate an economic value the public has on policy for the preservation of Nantucket sound, within the scopes of the project. The second goal was to identify lessons that could be learned from the Cape Wind proposal and applied to future renewable energy projects in New England.

Results revealed that the public has a positive economic value for a policy …