Digital Commons Network^™

Building Strength Through Collaboration: What Faith Community Nurses Need To Know, Marcia A. Potter

International Journal of Faith Community Nursing

This article is a practical guide and viewpoint narrative that offers definitions, justifications for, process steps, and a how-to checklist for Faith Community Nurses considering collaboration between multiple agencies outside of their own. The author offers simple guidelines and how-to advice on securing success, avoiding risks, and preventing costly misunderstandings between cooperating agencies when combining resources.

Creating Community In A Space Of Strangers: Sea Shanties In Theatre, Cassandra Merena

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Theatre is more than watching actors in the present. It can bring a magic into the room that connects us to a tangible ride of emotions. Sea shanties, a widely known variety of maritime singing, is purposely meant to bring its singers together. I wrote and directed an original one-act play structured around its repetitive beats, to create a communal feeling that will deem a sea of strangers a community for that day. The songs curated were specifically chosen to achieve that sense of community–songs that allow moments of reflection, toe-tapping, humming, and recognition. Phantom Pains is about a captain …

Technology For Faith Community Nursing Practice, Katrina Goodrich

International Journal of Faith Community Nursing

Technology is an ever-expanding tool that can be utilized by Faith Community Nurses to enhance their practice. Technology offers options for organizing and promoting services, collaborating with others on an international level, education of both the Faith Community Nurse and their clientele, and multiple instruments for tracking and managing wellness plans.

Does "Good" Mean White?: Understanding The Complexities Of Refugee Resettlement In Bowling Green, Kentucky, Molly Shaddix

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Bowling Green, Kentucky is a relatively small town comparable to its counterparts across the South. However, Bowling Green has a significant population of refugee inhabitants that have resettled in waves since the late 1970s. This paper describes the lived experience of refugees resettling by analyzing community action and troubles faced while working for independence in their new homes. Some factors explored are access to affordable housing, language barriers, and trouble in education. In addition, this paper contextualizes their lived experiences with other resettlement communities across the United States to understand how Bowling Green fits into patterns of societal xenophobia, racism, …

Farmers’ Markets & College Students: Shaping Our Shared Community And Bridging The Barrier With On-Campus Interaction, Emma Grace Vaughn

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This project studies the relationship between college students and farmers' markets, with the goal of overcoming known barriers of student participation. A survey conducted at an on-campus farmers' market, Market on the Avenue, details the impact of bringing these events to Western Kentucky University and looks towards the improvement of future markets. The purpose of this evaluation is to understand how effectively this event bridges the known barriers inhibiting WKU student participation in farmers’ markets, and to develop survey data into recommendations for improvement.

Wku Greeks Go Green: Mobilizing Community For A Cause, Claire Kaelin

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Sustainability, or meeting the needs of current generations without sacrificing the needs of future generations, has become an increasingly pressing issue as more and more people realize that humanity is living far beyond its means. Greeks Go Green was a new competition on campus seeking to address this issue, by harnessing the power of the Greek competitive spirit and pitting organizations against each other to have the most sustainable chapter. Its goal was to not only have a tangible impact as a community, but to also show members of the Greek community how easy it is to make a difference …

Transcendence: An Elegy To Transgenerational Systematic Adaptation, Nicholas Struck

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

When major tragedy occurs, it tends to strike grief in the minds and hearts of people throughout the world. When we engage in conversation about our individual vulnerabilities, we discover a realistic, but often beautiful mundaneness to life that is often lost. Channeling the mundane into art and community helps us to better understand the nuances of humanity. This gives the opportunity for us to connect through storytelling— using narrative as an outlet to express our feelings of grief, hope, and sacrifice. This project is a devised performance piece that explores how tragedy affects community, how people respond to major …

Sustainable Messaging In Film: A Survey Of A College Community, Chelsea Faught

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The concept of sustainability encompasses environmental, social, and economic issues. A sustainable approach encourages a balanced earth in both well-being and resource conservation for the sake of future generations. Unfortunately, awareness of and participation in various dimension of sustainability are currently inadequate given the current projections of the negative impact of climate change to humanity. Therefore, this project was designed to research if there was a relationship between viewing sustainably themed films and becoming more sustainably-conscious as a way to explore a potential avenue for mental and behavioral change. Furthermore, this project examines audience perception of sustainable messaging and content …

Shake Rag Clippings File, Kentucky Library Research Collections

Research Collections

The Shake Rag Historic District, located along the north end of State Street in Bowling Green, Kentucky, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in September 2000. It is Bowling Green’s first National Register District recognized for its significance to African American history. The Shake Rag Neighborhood developed around Lee Square, a parcel of land donated in 1802 for use as a public square. From https://www.visitbgky.com/shakerag/, see for more information.

The Harvest Is The Best Teacher, Gayle Mallinger, Molly Kerby

Faculty Publications

As the national climate and attitudes toward local organic food progressed in the United States, farmers markets, school and community gardens, and campaigns to increase vegetable consumption among children and adolescents skyrocketed. Unfortunately, many communities are beginning to realize disparities exist in poverty-stricken neighborhoods in term of access to fresh produce, education, and food programs This narrative follows a community garden project over three years at the Boys & Girls Club in a semi-rural city in Kentucky. Participants prepared the garden site, planted seeds, and harvested vegetables as part of a Junior Master Gardener program in the afterschool and summer …

The Effectiveness Of A Community Based High Intensity Interval Training Program On Markers Of Physical Health, Jose G. Pineda, Eric Sobolewski, Marc Lochbaum

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Community outreach programs targets at low Social Economic Status (SES) have been established to improve living conditions and educational programs in hopes of improving SES status. Despite community outreach programs targeting low SES, there has been no research looking at the efficacy of a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) exercise intervention program to improve wellbeing. The primary purpose of this study is to examine how 8 weeks of HIIT will affect markers of physical health. The secondary purpose of this study is to determine if HIIT is sufficient enough to benefit low SES or if other interventions are needed to …

Gather, Katie M. Meek

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Food is both basic and multifaceted. It nourishes satisfies, levels, defines and gathers us. Food unifies and brings people together as part of the human experience. When people embrace food and make it their own, it can shape and define their lives in big ways.

Food can cultivate a lifestyle, preserve cultural identity, foster a small business, nurture relationships and serve a community.

This project is a documentation of five different groups of people that experience food in uniquely different ways. Through photo essays and written stories I strive to capture what how food brings people together in specific ways …

Incorporating Democratic Pedagogy Into A Traditional Classroom And The University Experience: Benefitting The Community And Country, Phillip Pearson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This paper focuses on the importance of civic engagement in higher education and democratic pedagogy, in order to help students become active citizens, who know their rights as well as responsibilities, which ultimately benefits both the community and this nation. In addition, it also looks at a set of skills, called 21^st century skills, which are necessary for students to excel in the modern professional world, and which coincide with being an active citizen. This paper first looks into leading scholars’ views on the civic engagement in higher education, the current situation, and what the future holds. This paper …

Epiphytic Diatom Community Structure In A Karst Riverine System, Gregory John Barren

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The goal of this study was to assess the epiphytic diatom community structure of two host species along a karst gradient in the upper Green River, Kentucky to a gain a better understanding of the role of diatoms in the food web. The host species studied were Podostemum ceratophyllum and Cladophora. Percent cover of P. ceratophyllum and Cladophora were quantified in the four study reaches. The host species were sampled near-shore and mid-channel in each reach in September and October of 2013. After diatoms were extracted from the host and enumerated the density and diversity were quantified. Twelve genera were …

Using Art To Promote Peace In The Lives Of Elementary Aged Students, Megan Mcdonald

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Guernica was Pablo Picasso’s most controversial piece, created as a political statement to show the devastation of war in Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. It is the inspiration for the Kid’s Guernica Peace Mural Project, developed as a way for adolescents to visually express their ideas of peace as a global goal. With the completion of a peace workshop and a 3.5m × 7.8m moveable mural, Kentucky is now a participant in the project. The mural illustrates the creative collaboration of sixty fifth grade students, a local artist and myself. It will travel throughout the state of Kentucky during …

Measuring Empowerment: A Program Evaluation Of The Youth Organization Sal Y Luz In Medellin, Colombia, Ashley D. Fitzsimons

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The concept of empowerment is critical to the development of youths' ability to recognize themselves as stakeholders in their community and as participants in civic engagement (Kohlfeldt, 2011; Langhout, 2010). However, programs or groups with goals to foster ideals of empowerment face myriad challenges, such as the social and environmental context of the youth, and the status that the youth maintain in their communities (Kohlfeldt, 2011; Langhout, 2010; Zimmerman, 2004). To measure empowerment, the current study draws observations from a focus-group affiliated with a youth-centered community group known as Sal y Luz located in a disadvantaged comuna of Medellin, Colombia. …

Jesus, I Trust In You: St. Thomas Aquinas' Jubilee, John A. Sohl

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The concept of “Life Reporting” is a completely new idea, at least in terms of how I have experienced it. In today’s world of blogs and social networking, it is essential for broadcast journalists to embrace their own lives in the same world of professional and ethical reporting. As I describe my experience of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Jubilee, I have no choice but to provide the context and build-up of this intense passion toward my overarching point. Working through all the communities of which I have been a part, from attending St. Luke Catholic Church all the way to the …

Sports For Achieving Wellness, Paul Queen Jr.

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Title: SPORTS FOR ACHIEVING WELLNESS

Author: Paul Queen, Jr.

Affiliations: 1Wellness Coordinator, St. Johns Downtown United Methodist Church, 2Wellness Consultant, Houston Parks and Recreation Department (Soccer for Success and The First Tee FM Law Park), 3President/CEO, Quality Wellness.

Purpose: An age-old proverb reads, “It takes a community/village to raise a child”. The purpose of this project was to utilize sports as a vehicle to promote healthy community development. Method: Targeting the Southeast quadrant of Houston, Texas and using multiple community centers we initiated futsal (indoor soccer) team play for girls and boys ages 6 to 18. Each participant’s height, weight, …

Passing The Salt: How Eating Together Creates Community, Rebecca Katz

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Sharing a meal is a simple, yet sacred occasion. It is a universal act that is important to building relationships within people groups. Intentionally eating together creates time and space to engage in the spiritual and intellectual levels that are unique to human beings. Sharing food cultivates community because the implications of the meal extend beyond the time of eating together. While there are other places people meet, gathering around a meal is the most accessible because if nothing else, everyone must eat. Through participant observation and personal interviews, this CE/T project explores four meals to determine how eating together …

The Culture Of Skydiving, Steven Wade

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

ABSTRACT

The culture of skydiving is made up of a community of individuals who regularly jump at a given drop zone. This culture places a high value on individual achievement, self-reliance, and adherence to routine, and it promotes a strong sense of community among its members. The relationships formed between skydivers through the common experience of skydiving go beyond the activity itself. Skydive Kentucky in Elizabethtown supports its community through several unique rites of passage as an individual gradually becomes a member of the group. This drop zone also hosts cookouts and card games for its regular members. Throughout this …

Community Based Nutritition Education: A Model For Raising Awareness Of Childhood Obesity, Selina M. Ahmed

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Background: Since 2003, Texas Southern University has coordinated conferences to educate Houston’s Third Ward community about strategies to combat childhood obesity. Presenters included faculty and students as speakers and activity coordinators. Participants indicated that these conferences are helpful in increasing awareness of health problems and the availability of community health resources. Purpose: To address the high rate of childhood obesity in Houston’s Third Ward and its costs in terms of health and long-term productivity on that community, faculty at Texas Southern University (TSU) coordinated annual conferences to educate community members about strategies to combat childhood obesity. Methods: Seven conferences intended …

Web Page Design - Student-Community Collaborations, George Kontos

George Kontos, Ed.D.

A collaborative project is described. Students in a web design class were asked to contact local businesses and help them create their web site (collection of related and interconnected web pages). Two phases of the project are described, planning and implementation. Planning defines the purpose and the target audience and also includes a sketch of the website's organization. The project is suitable for both traditional and online classes. Ideally, session participants should have some experience or interest in teaching web design but anyone who wants to know how to help students work collaboratively with the community is welcome to attend.

Web Page Design - Student-Community Collaborations, George Kontos

Business Division Faculty Publications

A collaborative project is described. Students in a web design class were asked to contact local businesses and help them create their web site (collection of related and interconnected web pages). Two phases of the project are described, planning and implementation. Planning defines the purpose and the target audience and also includes a sketch of the website's organization. The project is suitable for both traditional and online classes. Ideally, session participants should have some experience or interest in teaching web design but anyone who wants to know how to help students work collaboratively with the community is welcome to attend.

Functional Family Therapy: An Interview With Dr. James Alexander, Dr. Jill D. Duba

Counseling & Student Affairs Faculty Publications

This article presents the functional family therapy of James Alexander, focusing on his work with high risk youth who are high risk, delinquent, and who abuse substances. The interview addresses evidence-based interventions, indivudalizing treatment, and prevention of violence. Training efforts and recent developments in functional family therapy are discussed.

Woodburn, Ky Telephone Directory, Kentucky Library Research Collection

Research Collections

No abstract provided.