Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Paradox Of Presidential Popularity, With An Emphasis On Rhetoric, Amanda Wiley

Honors Theses

This study considers how President Bill Clinton maintained consistently high levels of public support in the face of the incessant scandals that plagued his presidency. It is my assessment that it is the nature of the presidency, Clinton's political skill, the economic environment during his terms, Clinton's rhetoric, and his personality that made his survival possible. I will place special emphasis on the areas of Clinton's personality and rhetoric as the key components for this explanation, both because I feel these characteristics are most relevant to my study and the most unexplored.

Transitions From Isolation: An Ethnographic Study Of A Contemporary Ouachita Mountains Hillman Culture, Reyda L. Taylor

Honors Theses

[Excerpt] Among these American hillmen descendants is the MacCleod Family (pseudonym). In early 2001, I heard stories about a clan that lived in the Ouachita woods like "savages." Not originally from Arkansas, I had often heard scornful jokes about Arkansas being a backward state. This perpetuated stereotype enticed m to find out if these extreme MacCleod tales were true. What I found in the region from which the stories originated was a large extended family. I also found that the stories I initially heard were not the only inflated tales circulating the region regarding this particular group. As I become …

The Legitimacy Of The Modern Militia, Jonathan Huber

Honors Theses

On May 16, 2001, barring any last minute court appeals, Timothy c Veigh will be executed for his role in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He along with thousands of other Americans who have joined private armies, known as militia, to fight the American government share a common belief that the American government is corrupt at its core and actions such as this one are at the very least patriotic. To most Americans, however, acts such as the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building are not only terroristic, but demonstrate the need …

"I Have Lived Long And Variously In The World": The Politics And Rhetoric Of Edmund Burke, Amy M. Sandidge

Honors Theses

In the words of Woodrow Wilson, the works of Edmund Burke are "stamped in the colors of his extraordinary imagination. The movement takes your breath and quickens your pulses. The glow and power of the matter rejuvenates your faculties." One cannot help but react viscerally to Burke; the brilliant, blustering Irishman demands attention and response. Some regard him as "the first and most important exponent" of the "theoretical reaction against. .. the tenets of liberalism ... [which] came to be called conservatism." Coleridge called him "a great man;" Victorian liberals even considered him a fellow utilitarian and "the greatest thinker …

Radio's Influence On Music From 1919 To 1926, Aaron Hawley

Honors Theses

Advances in technology have dramatically changed the lives of Americans throughout the twentieth century. Many of these advancements have become commonplace. For instance, the words "airplane," "computer," "radio," and "television" were not common a hundred years ago. Today, even small children know the definitions of these words. In addition, as new technologies develop, methods of accomplishing tasks change. These changes are then incorporated into our normal way of life. This gradual development causes many people to fail to consider the true implications of the technology on their way of life. Aspects of American's lives that used to be considered luxuries …

Death In Children's Literature: A User's Guide, Jennifer M. Collier

Honors Theses

My love for children's books led me to begin exploring the subject of death within the literature. While searching for children's books that dealt with death as a primary of secondary theme, I realized how useful a guide to these books would be to parents, physicians, teachers and anyone working with a child facing some kind of death. It is hard for us to explain to children about death because it is hard to understand and accept, and we do not want to upset the children. Children's books that deal with death provide a means for opening the lines of …

Pictures Of The South: A Novella, Paul Brent Williams

Honors Theses

Definitions oftentimes are not definite enough. By their very nature, those little clips of what is what in our world fail to capture anything but trivia or insignificance in their attempt to label Creation. Simple definitions fail because they do not prescribe to us our concepts of environment but describe our general ideas of that stuff around us. And it' s a great big world.

Try to define God. You cannot. He's too much; he's too all-encompassing; he's too personal; he's too far removed. But still, mankind knows Him. We know Him through our holy texts that discuss God in …

Cameras Go To Court: A Study Of Television Cameras In State And Federal Courtrooms, Tonya Rochelle Beavert

Honors Theses

For several years there has been an ongoing dispute between members of the media and members of the legal community about television coverage of judicial proceedings. Members of the media tend to argue that they have a First Amendment right and responsibility to cover court proceedings as a representative of the people. Court officials tend to answer the media's assertion with the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees a defendant the right to a public trial by an impartial jury.

The problem that resulted from the dispute was whether the presence of cameras in the courtroom imposed on defendants' rights or whether …

The Paths To Democracy In The Czech Republic, Allison Allred

Honors Theses

All of Europe strains for unity, yet Czechoslovakia willingly and peacefully divided itself into two nations on January 1, 1993. Czech Republic and Slovakia share many common interests and a powerful kinship that promotes alliance even under separate flags. The following quote demonstrates the unique history of Czechoslovakia from the perspective of an 80 year-old Czech citizen:

"Look, I was born in Austro-Hungary. I grew up in Czechoslovakia, suffered from Germans, spent 50 years in a colony of Russia--without ever leaving Prague! Now, we're Czechs again, like we've been for a thousand years. What's so bad about that?"

In sociological, …

Voting Rights, Reapportionment, And Majority-Minority Districts, Christy Tosh

Honors Theses

The challenge is to navigate the untrodden area of reapportionment, in particular majority-minority districts. The Supreme Court has ruled in various reapportionment cases, yet these cases continue to plague the dockets of the United States Supreme Court. The focus of research is to evaluate the new phenomenon of majority-minority districts as it has progressed through constitutional amendments, civil and voting rights acts, and Supreme Court cases, all of which culminate in the 1992 elections. The 1990 Census and reapportionment were the birth of majority-minority districts. In creating these districts, one must look at the most effective percentage breakdowns in each …

Southern Baptist Convention Media Missions In Africa: Cross-Cultural Communications In A Pluralistic Environment, Ian Robert Cosh

Honors Theses

The purpose for research was to analyze and synthesize the accomplishments of the Southern Baptist Convention's media missions work in Africa and to document the essence, magnitude and complexity of the task facing media missionaries in Africa. Research conducted by the writer at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in June 1986 revealed that the formal study of media missions is comparatively new, and therefore not well documented. Much of the up-to-date information available is in the form of audio cassette tapes and video recordings. Research papers written by students at the seminary, within the past two years, frequently cite sources at …

The Paradoxical Relationship: Evangelical Christian Church-State Relations In The Soviet Union, Rhonda Clark

Honors Theses

Throughout the history of the Soviet state, its leaders have dealt with the question of Christian evangelical religion in varying manners utilizing anti-religious propaganda, legislation, and interpretation of this legislation. Dealing with religion in terms of balancing ideology versus practicality has always been a complex question for these leaders. Since the Stalin era, the state has utilized a system of registration to control the church. This registration produced a paradoxical leadership role for those in charge of the registered churches.

In the past thirty years, these recognized leaders of registered groups have been a liaison between church and state, a …

The Effects Of Noise And Music Upon Task Performance, Tina Johnson

Honors Theses

Forty-eight subjects from a university general psychology class took a series of four timed arithmetic tests of two differing complexities. Vocal music was played during half of the tests while instrumental music was played during the other half. Results were analyzed for the number of problems correct, number attempted and percentage of problems answered correctly. Results showed that subjects in the instrumental music condition had a significantly higher number of problems correct and attempted than the vocal condition, but the percentage correct was not significantly higher. Results for task complexity showed difficult problems had a significantly lower number correct and …

The Palestinian Right To Self-Determination And Statehood, Beth Holland

Honors Theses

Israel and the United States believe that the Israelis have the right to exist as a nation and that the Palestinians do not have this right. The Palestinians believe that Israel, with the help of the United States, has usurped their land, and that they, the Palestinians, have the right to self-determination and statehood.

Who, then, is right, and who is wrong? The writer of this paper believes that Israel's right to statehood has been used to justify the suffering of the Palestinians. When right is used to sanction another's misery, it becomes wrong. Therefore, hoping that she may strengthen …

Cockney Dialect And Slang, Jamie Fowler

Honors Theses

This paper is the capstone of a personal project which I began three years ago only as a matter of personal interest. While the information the project divulges is not difficult to understand, it should be noted that the details of this subject are virtually inaccessible to Americans or any other person who is not a part of the subculture of the Cockney people. Very little substantial information has been documented on the subject of Cockney dialect and slang. Therefore, most of my knowledge was gained through research and personal interviews with key sources in the London area.

Slavery In Hempstead County, Arkansas, Dena White

Honors Theses

A great number of general works on American Negro slavery have been published, but most are based upon records from the plantation belt. With the notable exception of Orville Taylor's Negro Slavery in Arkansas, these works almost entirely ignore Arkansas. Although slavery had certain uniformity throughout the South, the study of these previously untouched areas add to, and may eventually modify, our knowledge of the Old South's "peculiar institution."

A relatively new concept among historians is the study of slavery at the local, or county, level. Alfred North Whitehead has written, "We think in generalities, but we live in …

William Jennings Bryan: "Among Friends" In Arkansas, C. J. Hall

Honors Theses

Campaign style has changed dramatically since the turn of the century when William Jennings Bryan captured the political limelight. Bryan, a three time Democratic nominee for President, developed a new campaign tactic during the 1896 Presidential election; he continued to employ the new style for the remainder of his life. In 1896 Bryan's political organization could not compete with the well-financed Republican system, so the "Great Commoner" took his cause to the people. Presidential candidates were not supposed to actively campaign for the office, but Bryan broke the norm. After the 1896 election, Bryan continued to travel around the country …

Contemporary Soviet Life, Phyllis Theresa Faulkner

Honors Theses

In October of 1917, the Bolshevik Party, under the leadership of V.I. Lenin, led a revolution and took over the Provisional Government. Unlike others, who had failed before them, the Bolsheviks were successful in that they involved the peasants in the revolutionary effort. Theirs was a revolution for the people, for the workers. It was not directed as had been the others, toward the upper and middle classes. To get the support which they so desperately needed from the peasants they promised nationalization of the land. No longer would the peasants be exploited by their landlords. They were promised the …

Death In Children's Literature, Joyce Ann Kaufman

Honors Theses

Mr. Wordsworth posed an interesting question. What should a child know about death?

Often we try to protect children from death. Euphemisms are used regarding death. People and pets do not die, they "pass away," "go to sleep," or "go to live in heaven." When a death occurs in a family, the adults often say of a young child, "It doesn't seem to bother him. Maybe he doesn't realize what has happened." Other people may mention that "He has accepted it so well. Children adapt so easily."

Sexism In Children's Literature, Joyce Ann Kaufman

Honors Theses

The Little Miss Muffet syndrome, which depicts females as helpless, easily frightened, and dreadfully dull occurs repeatedly in children's literature.

Folklore: A Study And Tales From The Ozarks, Sharon Hibbard

Honors Theses

From its inception, folktale research has had a two-pronged aim: it has been interested, on the one hand, in the nature and origins of oral narration not fixed in writing; and it has been interested in folk culture as expressed in the content and form of the folktale. These two points of view have resulted in two different kinds of research methods. One has sprung essentially from comparative literature and has been established as a new branch of that discipline; the other has developed from the French sociological and the British anthropological schools, which consider of folk tradition--to which the …

Temperance In Pre-Civil War Arkansas, Janis Percefull

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Arkansas Politics And The Code Duello, Vincent C. Henderson Ii

Honors Theses

Many methods have been found by which two men may solve a dispute between them. The methods can be broadly divided as either violent or nonviolent. Among the violent methods, dueling was considered in the nineteenth century in Arkansas as a proper means of solving disputes concerning politics, honor, and family, as well as trivial matters.

Dueling was not common in Arkansas alone. People practiced it in many states. By 1819 dueling had become a Southern institution. As an institution, dueling had certain rules and regulations. Several books were published on the subject. Among these were An Essay on the …

Our Society: Sick But Salvageable, Sharon Lynne Wilson

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The U.S. Policy In Vietnam, As It Relates To The Geneva And S.E.A.T.O. Agreements, Bobby Shepherd

Honors Theses

Few chapters in American history have been filled with more importance and had more impact upon this nation politically, socially and morally than has the era of active involvement in the land war in Vietnam, during the mid 1960's. The war has taken almost 50,000 American lives, has contributed directly to the political end of one American President and had plunged the United States into an ordeal of examination and internal turmoil rarely seen in U.S. history.

As great as the impact of this war has been, it is remarkable that little is recalled by American citizens or acknowledged by …

A Study Of Little Rock School District 1966-1968 Elections And Their Effect On Public School Policy, Ray Earl Garner

OBU Graduate Theses

For many years, the school elections in Little Rock have followed a traditional pattern of meager voter turnout . School elections, prior to the 1967 election, were mentioned briefly in newspaper articles. The platforms were of the same general nature year after year. They included taxes, school expansion, better facilities, and higher teacher salaries. Candidates seldom, if ever, campaigned publicly and actively. Posters were usually placed throughout the city. A few days prior to the election, newspaper ads with the candidates' pictures would appear in the Arkansas Democrat and the Arkansas Gazette. The 1967 school election was significant, because that …

A Comparative Study Of The Intelligence Quotient Of The Negro, Patricia L. Greene

Honors Theses

Extending beyond health, white supremacists maintain that Negroes are innately less intelligent than Caucasians. In a statement remarkably comparable to those made two centuries ago by advocates of the theory of American degeneration, one modern-day racist phrases the claim in these words:

Any man with two eyes in his head can observe a Negro settlement in the Congo, can study the pure-blood African in his native habitat as he exists when left on his own resources, can compare this settlement with London or Paris, and can draw hos own conclusions regarding relative levels of character and intelligence.... Finally, he can …

A Study Of The Role Of Churches In The Enactment Of The Arkansas Prohibition Law Of 1917, Ralph Bradley Hoshaw

OBU Graduate Theses

Churches have been involved in the moral and ethical standards of the United States and its political subdivisions since the formation of the nation. Major questions about the churches' involvement as a social force in the nation or in the community concern: (1) the degree of involvement, (2) the methods employed and (3) the relative effectiveness of church influence upon the mores and laws of any society or state. To answer these questions, a historical study must be made of a particular moral problem in a specific locale and of the role that church influence or direct action played in …

Psychological Aspects Of Clothing, Marty Mcdonald

Honors Theses

This research was conducted with no established set of hypotheses as guidelines. It was done to point out certain attitudes about clothing and inadvertently, how consciously or unconsciously, ideas are formed about dress.

A questionnaire was prepared for the study. It required the subject to give his age, sex, and classification, but no name. The questions were designed to include some specific topics on female dress and some on male dress, with additional topics related to neither sex expressly. These questions were given to forty subjects, twenty males and twenty females.

Research In Semantical Development, Allen Eaton

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.