Digital Commons Network^™

Differences In Social Media Profile Picture Selection Motivation: A Comparison Between Chinese And U.S. Users, Ruochen Jiang

Theses - ALL

The goal of this research is to explore the differences in the motivation of profile picture selection on social media using survey methodology. Prior research regarding profile pictures has focused on the reception of users, but the motivations behind choosing profile pictures remain unanswered. The study focuses on the profile pictures selecting process, which is the process behind users’ choice of pictures that appear with their name and biography on social media accounts. The study will compare social media users in China and the United States to explore whether users from different cultural backgrounds (i.e., independence or interdependence) report different …

The Role Of Public Relations Messaging In Reflecting The Syracuse City School District’S Mission, Values, And Goals, Holly Zahn

Theses - ALL

This study evaluates the role of messaging in the Syracuse City School District (SCSD) public relations approach. Effective public relations impacts attitudes and behaviors of publics. In the case of SCSD, effective messaging can impact student and community action as well as achievement including student attendance, graduation rates, test scores, and parent participation. This study seeks to evaluate how SCSD’s messages reflect its stated goals in terms of its publics. Through a content analysis methodology, the study examines the strategic messaging produced by SCSD in order to understand the role it plays in reinforcing the organization’s overall mission.

An Investigation Of Civilian Implicit Attitudes Toward Police Officers, Rikki Hope Sargent

Theses - ALL

This research investigated implicit attitudes toward police among civilians. Two preliminary studies served as an empirical foundation for the current study, as both assessed the implicit construct activation of safety and fear when participants were primed with police using a modified version of the Word Fragment Completion Task (e.g., Johnson & Lord, 2010). The findings were counter-intuitive, such that in a college sample safety construct activation increased and fear decreased when primed with police, whereas in an online sample safety and fear construct activation increased. The current study sought to clarify these trends by utilizing four modified versions of the …

Gender Differences In Co-Rumination Processes In The Friendships Of Late Adolescents: Relations To Depression Vulnerability, Helen J. Day

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in problem content and dyadic problem talk duration as potential contributors to previously documented depressogenic effects of co-rumination in late adolescence. Participants (N = 176 undergraduate students) included pairs of same-gender female (n = 37), same-gender male (n = 15), and cross-gender (n = 36) friends who completed self-report measures assessing individual depressive symptom severity, as well as within-dyad co-rumination habits and friendship quality. Dyads also participated in an observational problem talk task, which asked each dyad member to identify a current personal problem and discuss it with …

Turkish Male Viewers’ Perceptions Of Female Sportscasters: A Chair Reserved For Men?, Hamide Demet Akat

Theses - ALL

This research explored perceptions of female sportscasters. More specifically, this study aimed to better understand how Turkish male television viewers perceive female sportscasters. Male hegemony established the theoretical basis to understand male domination that is prevalent in sports, media and also heavily in Turkish culture. Sexual objectification of women was also helpful to better understand the status of women working in the media industry. Semi-structured, qualitative in-depth interviews were used to gather data. Twenty-one interviews were done, transcribed, and analyzed. The findings of this research indicated the male hegemonic environment of sports and also sports media, in the eyes of …

State’S Obligation For The Human Right To Adequate (Safe) Food And Global Trade: A Case Study Of Indonesian National-Level Inequalities In Food Safety Standards For Imported Foods, Irma Nurliawati

Theses - ALL

States have the obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill the right of their people to adequate food, including safe and nutritious food. The obligation to fulfil (facilitate) means states must proactively engage in activities intended to strengthen people’s access to safe food. A lack of resources and capacities can hamper a state’s capacity to develop a proper scientific justification as the basis to establish food safety regulations as mandated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and thus can create inequality in public health protection between developed and developing countries. This thesis aims to present a case study of inequalities in …

Constructions Of Masculinity In Bollywood Promotional Content, Alyssa Grace Lobo

Theses - ALL

Following a growing public discussion on violence against women in India, some commentators have turned their eye upon Bollywood. The film industry’s role in perpetuating models of courtship based on the stalking and harassment of women has drawn criticism from several quarters. While there has been much said about the depiction of women in Bollywood film, there has been relatively less said on portrayals of masculinity. The research that does exist focuses on textual analyses of films, or looks at masculinity through the lens of global capital flows. This thesis instead, analyzes trailers, posters, promotional pictures and social media for …

Camp Geronimo: Evaluating The Influence Of An Animal Assisted Intervention Based Summer Camp On Social Participation In Children With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Joelle Ruggeri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research regarding animal assisted intervention (AAI) has found that it can be an effective intervention towards promoting positive social participation in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). A quality improvement project was implemented at The Barn at Spring Brook Farm, where children ages 2-12 with IDD are able to participate in AAI activities. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the Barn’s Camp Geronimo, a six-week long summer camp program, and its impact on the social participation of participants using the Home & Community Social Behavior Scales (HCSBS). The study findings showed positive results, with statistically significant change …

Entwined Threads Of Red And Black: The Hidden History Of Indigenous Enslavement In Louisiana, 1699-1824, Leila K. Blackbird

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Contrary to nationalist teleologies, the enslavement of Native Americans was not a small and isolated practice in the territories that now comprise the United States. This thesis is a case study of its history in Louisiana from European contact through the Early American Period, utilizing French Superior Council and Spanish judicial records, Louisiana Supreme Court case files, statistical analysis of slave records, and the synthesis and reinterpretation of existing scholarship. This paper primarily argues that it was through anti-Blackness and anti-Indigeneity and with the utilization of socially constructed racial designations that “Indianness” was controlled and exploited, and that Native Americans …

Sacred Dictators: A Wholly Unholy Relationship Between Dictatorships And Religious Leaders, Thomas Mcquaid

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

How a single party and personal dictatorship survive has been a question of much debate among scholars. Geddes (1999, 2003) creates a model to determine which survives the longest. Within her model, she finds that a single party dictatorship – one with a party apparatus – survives longer than a personal dictatorship – one where a single person has sole policymaking ability. She argues that the fundamental difference between the two is how each treats the opposition. The party apparatus allows a single party dictatorship the means to silence the opposition by coopting it into the party structure whereas a …

A Sociopolitical View Of Mental Health: An Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Policymakers Regarding Their Perspectives Surrounding Mental Health Policy Construction, Katie C. Fetzer

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A substantial gap exists between those who are considered experts on mental health (e.g., academics, mental health professionals) and those in charge of constructing mental health policies (e.g., legislators, Senators). This gap is in areas of both knowledge and professional relations. Mental health professionals are not adequately trained to engage in policy advocacy and reform efforts and have little to no policy advocacy training (Smith, Reynolds, & Rovnak, 2009). Policymakers lack necessary knowledge related to mental health for effective mental health policy construction (Corrigan, Druss, & Perlick, 2014; Lee, Smith, & Henry, 2013). As a result of this gap, mental …

Seeing Red: Immigration And Asymmetrical Partisan Polarization In The United States, Robert M. Worth

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Since the mid-1970s, partisan polarization has been increasing in Congress and the Presidency, and, although most voters lack a stable, consistent ideology, non-ideological forms of partisan polarization have emerged in the mass public in recent decades. Moreover, ideological polarization among elites is highly asymmetrical, with increased Republican conservatism accounting for most of the increased ideological distance between the parties. Here, I develop a racial-threat backlash theory and argue that increased rates of immigration are associated with increased asymmetrical ideological polarization among elites and in the mass public. Tests of this theory on voters, the mass public in the states, state …

Creating An Adult Learner Entry Achievement Program, Gloria Riopelle

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

ABSTRACT

This proposal is to implement an Adult Learner Entry Achievement Program (ALEAP) within higher education institutions. The purpose of the ALEAP program is to support and serve the needs of adult learners who want to return to or begin college to earn their degree or certificate and pursue their personal or career goals. In turn, their achievements will also increase the higher education attainment rates in the State of Minnesota. This program could exist as a stand-alone program or be housed within support systems, such as, Continuing Education or an Academic Support Center.

Current research indicates that there is …

Gaze Patterns Of Social And Nonsocial Stimuli: A Possible Early Marker For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Ashley Rose Doll

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The push for early identification and diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has led to new developments in this area of research. Eye tracking is a promising behavioral screening measure that has been heavily investigated for over a decade. Differences in eye gaze between typically developing (TD) children and children with ASD when viewing social and nonsocial videos have been observed, but only within videos of children playing as social stimuli and with geometric shapes as nonsocial stimuli (Pierce et al., 2016; Shaffer et al., 2017). In addition to social stimuli and geometric shapes, the current study expanded on previous …

New Australia, Un Nuevo Mundo, Elizabeth Christensen

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

I focus on the diaspora of the Australian immigration to the South American colony known as New Australia. My project addresses the question of identity. I address questions such as: how much do the surviving descendants of the New Australia colony identify with the homeland of Australia or the hostland of South America? How has their identities influenced the way they raise their children

How To Maximize Your Small Business's Impact On Social Media, Brianna J. Arnaud

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is meant to be a learning tool to help small businesses use free social media accounts as business marketing tools. The manual is broken down into chapters highlighting the importance of “Knowing your Audience,” “Branding,” “Constructing a Post,” “Using Visual Rhetoric,” and “Expanding your Audience.”. This thesis is inspired by scholars of English, internet linguistics, journalism, gender theory, professional writing, and rhetoric. It is also inspired by a survey of 18 small businesses in the Lafayette, Louisiana area. The survey helped to focus my research on the social media issues of small businesses in the southern region of …

Essays On Capital Structure Of Nations, Giovanni Perez

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Optimizing A Method For Dna Recovery While Preserving Latent Prints On Paper, Niti Dalal

Student Theses

Paper evidence is commonly encountered in cases of kidnapping, threatening letters, extortion, and bank robbery, and the optimal workflow between latent print processing and DNA collection is of interest to the forensic community. The overall aim of this project was to achieve optimal amounts of DNA for typing without destroying the fingerprint. The first study compared two collection techniques—tape-lifting by Scotch Removable Poster Tape and dry swabbing with FLOQSwabs— using prints deposited in defined locations. Samples were processed for DNA and developed with 1,2-indanedione. The second aim was to determine if visualizing print locations with fingerprint powder prior to DNA …

A Data-Driven Analysis Of Video Game Culture And The Role Of Let's Plays In Youtube, Ana Ruiz Segarra

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Video games have become an important part of the global popular cultures that are connecting broader audiences of all ages around the world. A recent phenomenon that has lasted almost ten years is the creation and upload of gaming-related videos on YouTube, where Let’s Plays have a considerable presence. Let’s Plays are videos of people playing video games, usually including the game footage and narrated by the players themselves. In this work I use the metadata, of popular channels and their videos to analyze the current state of video game culture in YouTube and what is the role of Let's …

An Evaluation Of The Impact Of Medication On Behavioral Intervention Effectiveness For Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury, Sulay Martinez

Capstone Projects

A systematic search of the literature was conducted to identify articles implementing both pharmacological and behavioral interventions with subjects with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Limitations of pharmacological interventions were evaluated and compared to the implications for behavioral interventions for adults with TBI. Results of this study indicate further research is necessary to adequately evaluate the effects of medication on behavioral intervention effectiveness for adults with TBI.

Mindful Practices To Interrupt White Supremacy In Higher Education: Opportunities For Educators In Service Learning And Community Engagement, Jennifer F. Steinfeld

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This thesis proposes reflective practices for educators to interrupt white supremacy in higher education service learning programs. It is relevant today as higher education institutions look more closely at their history, often upholding or benefiting from slavery, racism, indigenous removal, and other forms of race-based exploitation. Other work on this topic demonstrates the power of reflectivity and mindfulness practices in reducing the impact of racial biases. The heart of this creative thesis is a research-based curriculum for a learning community of educators to develop capacity to incorporate reflectivity, meditation, and liberatory pedagogies into their classrooms. This curriculum is designed for …

Being Black And Depressed Double Sucks, Stephanie C. Jones

Student Theses and Dissertations

This paper investigates the ways race and racism mediate perceptions and experiences of depression among young Black Americans living in the New York metropolitan area. Based on 25 in-depth interviews with Black Americans between the ages of 18-28, the research shows that the Black identity exacerbates suffering for participants because it fundamentally changes how depression is lived, felt, and navigated. This study extends research about the lack of cultural competence among American health professionals, stigma surrounding mental illnesses among the Black American community, and the effects of the systematic dehumanization of Black bodies in American society.

Long-Term Variation Of Summer Phytoplankton Communities In An Urban Lake In Relation To Lake Management And Climate Conditions, Yuan Xiao Grund

Dissertations and Theses

Eutrophication is one of the primary factors causing harmful cyanobacteria blooms in freshwater lakes; climate change such as warmer temperature can potentially further increase both frequency and intensity of blooms. This study investigated the long-term changes in water quality and summer phytoplankton assemblages in Oswego Lake, OR, in relation to lake management practices (e.g., hypolimnetic aeration and alum treatments), as well as climatic and regional meteorological conditions. Both water quality and phytoplankton assemblages were sampled biweekly during summer seasons between 2001 and 2013. The concentrations of total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and total nitrogen (TN) decreased 66%, 93% …

Essays On Energy Economics And Environmental Policies, Janak R. Joshi

Economics ETDs

This dissertation contains three distinct empirical chapters in applied energy and environmental economics. Each chapter focuses on a unique set of research questions, methods, and data. The unifying motivation therein concerns the development of renewable or alternative low-carbon energy sources as a policy response to the challenges of climate change mitigation, local and regional environmental quality issues, and energy security concerns. Economic and environmental evaluation of the energy policies coupled with understanding energy use patterns is of paramount importance. Together, the empirical chapters focus on demand, supply, and policy aspects of energy markets in the United States (US).

First, Chapter …

Representing Outside The Box: Identity-Based Constituencies And Surrogate Representation In U.S. State Legislatures, Julia Hellwege

Political Science ETDs

This project asks: whom do representatives seek to represent and how do they do it? Specifically, I seek to understand how marginalized state legislators define the concept of “constituency” and the implications for their legislative behavior. I argue that marginalization affects legislators through two avenues: socially through their identity, and institutionally through the proportion their identity group holds in the state legislature. I argue that when legislators are marginalized their awareness of identity and identity-based issue needs are prioritized and they will come to define group members as a salient identity constituency. Furthermore, they will seek to represent this salient …

Reimagining Essex Street Market, Madeleine M. Crenshaw

Capstones

Reimagining Essex Street Market is a multimedia story highlighting a historic 78-year-old market on the Lower East Side that is moving to a massive mixed-used development. Using, GIFS, text, social video and photo, this project illustrates the historical and cultural significance of the market that has been a staple to the neighborhood and the immigrant communities of the Lower East Side for decades.

https://medium.com/@madeleinecrenshaw/reimagining-essex-street-market-6ebcbb704b25

“I Felt Scared, Like I Was Nobody”: Native American Athletes And Fans Face Widespread Racism At Sport Events, Kalen Goodluck

Capstones

Rural towns in the midwest are often highly supportive of their high school basketball teams and Indian reservation teams are no exception. The trouble is Native American players and fans face racism when facing high school teams from outside reservations.

Over the last decade, from 2008-2018, there have been at least 45 reported incidences all over the U.S. of racial incidents against Native Americans at sporting events like high school games and non-Native teams with pseudo-Indian names and mascots. This data was compiled from news reports by the NYC New Service.

These reported incidences range from making “whooping,” streaking in …

Suicide Watch: How Netflix Landed On A Cultural Landmine, Shabnaj Chowdhury

Capstones

Following the premiere of the television series “13 Reasons Why” in 2017, Netflix stepped squarely on a cultural landmine, stirring controversy over its graphic depiction of teen suicide.

According to media experts, showing a teenager kill themselves on television was completely unprecedented. Mental health experts say the act has significant consequences for “at risk” audience members, or people who were already experiencing suicidal thoughts before watching the show. It is proven that entertainment, and television specifically, can strongly influence audience behaviors and thoughts.

Suicide is one of the only causes of deaths that’s on the rise in the United States, …

Trade Rout: As Trade Tensions Built Between U.S. And Canada, This American Border Town Felt The Freeze, Matt Cutler, Isaac Carey

Capstones

A close business relationship with Canada has allowed Plattsburgh to thrive as a manufacturing town. Over 100 Quebec-based companies operate there, and 15 percent of the workforce in the county gets its paycheck from a Canadian company. Even more impressive, this comes at a time when manufacturing jobs are declining nationwide. While factories are shutting down across the rust belt, in Plattsburgh they are opening up.

There is just one problem.

All of this was made possible by the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. And just this April, the Trump administration abruptly threatened to pull out of the …

Democracy Later, Dave A. Gentile Mr

Capstones

My idea was to investigate what happened during the Queens County Committee debacle over the summer. If you aren't familiar, the NYTimes covered it a bit, but basically a whole bunch of candidates associated with the New Queens Dems, myself included, running for Queens County Committee got screwed and forced off the ballots in favor of candidates who did not even know they were running.

I have access to virtually every one of the candidates who was forced off the ballot, as well access to some of the candidates who replaced us unknowingly and unwillfully. I also have total access …