Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Constituent Women Of Violence Against Women, Wilmer Morales, Jocelyn Martinez, Samantha Amaro

Violence Against Women conference

The Violence against Women Initiative is a very important framework in a time in which women need a platform to be able to discuss the problems and inequality they face in society. Throughout history women have been demonized, abuse, and treated unfairly, which has affected the way women respond to acts of violence. However, recent events have allowed women to gain the courage to stand against acts including verbal, physical, emotional, and psychological abuse. Society, in general, has to be educated and be made aware of how to respond and meticulously act during events that violate the rights of women, …

“Political Correctness” – A Threat To Free Speech? Overcoming The Dilemma, Lothar Tschapka

UBT International Conference

The concept of Political Correctness (PC) arose in the United States in the 1970s. For the past 30 years, it has been subject to criticism as constituting a threat to the “liberty of speech”, as well as a contribution to media bias. The dilemma of PC lies in the fact that, although it aims to protect human and civic rights, it may also result in the exact opposite, namely the diminishing of such rights as the free utterance of thoughts. However, civilised societies are in need of strategies to deal with phenomena such as racism, sexism, hate speech, online firestorms …

Faith-Based Peacebuilding Challenges In The Republic Of Kosovo, Xhemail Çupi

UBT International Conference

In order to realize coexistence between conflicting communities, it must initially precede a participant, consensual, moralistic and even civic political culture that would end with a tolerant dialogue between them. Reopening negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia with the European Union involvement marks the beginning, but not the end, of a long-term process of normalizing relations among their citizens. Flooding inter-ethnic relations have usually had a negative impact on inter-religious relations, and in Kosovo, due to the close association of ethnicity and religion, this has been demonstrated with the destroying and damaging of sacred objects. Consequently, despite the fact that no …

Europeanization Of The Balkans Vs. Balkanization Of Europe: A Vision Limited By Realities, Abdullah Sencer Gözübenli, Nazli Tekeshanoska

UBT International Conference

By the time of the simultaneous collapses of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the European Union (EU) commenced an acute relationship with the post-communist Central and Eastern European Countries. The EU had fully supported transition to more democratic regimes and into capital market of these countries. Finally, 13 Central and Eastern European Countries became members of the EU in last two decades. The most-awaited new Enlargement Strategy for the remaining potential candidate and candidate countries in the Western Balkans, entitled “The Credible Enlargement Perspective for the Western Balkans” was presented earlier this …

School Segregation: A Modern Issue, Cassidy Foley

Celebration of Learning

This project examines modern day school segregation and the influence that this segregation has on society. School segregation is seen to be created and maintained by the intersection and mutual reinforcement of a number of factors. The four factors examined in this project are school secessions, funding, private school enrollment, and residential segregation. Each of these factors are seen to have heavy influence on school segregation in the modern day and are seen to reinforce one another creating a permanence of segregation within education.

Refugees Threats Of Terrorism: Securitization By Means Of Social Integration, Anna Tegge

Celebration of Learning

This research analyzes factors that affect the number of terrorist incidents in Europe with large numbers of refugees. My research intends to explore the correlation between refugees and terrorist incidents and to identify if social integration and immigration policies can have an effect on the volume of attacks. My independent variables of social policies in addition to immigration policies confirm my hypothesis that certain factors within these policies affect terrorism in Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany. The answer to this question will aid in the creation of stability, prosperity, and justice within Europe and provide a model for …

Maga, Memes And Magnificent Hair: How White Nationalism Become Rooted In American History, Gabriel A. Tucker

Celebration of Learning

This work seeks to analyze the history of white nationalist ideologies in American political history and compare them to the current political environment today. The primary analysis rests on the rhetoric used, clothing chosen and cultural artifacts that have been appropriated by white nationalists in attempts to further their cause.

The Electoral Value Of Executive Power In Mexico: 1994-2012, Enrique Quezada

Andrews Research Conference

Incumbency advantage, coattail effects, and reverse coattail effects refer to different ways in which a candidate’s chances of winning are tied to her party’s past and present electoral success. While incumbency advantage pertains to the likelihood of winning reelection and coattail effects are those present in concurrent races at different levels of government, this paper focuses on the electoral advantage a presidential candidate receives when his or her party controls the executive branch of a state or municipality. Focusing on the Mexican case, while partisanship may be a driving factors behind this party incumbency advantage, mayors and governors can employ …

The Pricing Impact Of The Decreasing Competitiveness Of The Health Insurance Market, Lauren N. Patterson

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

The Affordable Care Act created the national insurance exchanges of qualified health plans to encourage a higher insured rate, larger risk pools, and lower prices for quality health coverage. Consolidation of insurers can have opposing effects. The insurers’ risk pools will grow, allowing insurers to better hedge for risk. However, consolidation decreases the prevalence of competition in the market, and past research shows that insurer consolidation decreases market competition and increases prices.

I examine how the number of plans offered in a set market, pricing components, and county health variables impact the monthly premium pricing of plans sold on the …

Is Oil Nationalization For The Nation? The Causal Nature Of Institutional Impacts And Economic Hindrances Of The “Resource Curse”, Imani Sherrill

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

This thesis examines the theory of the “oil resource curse” and how structural, demographic, and economic variables presented by previous scholars and academics do not fully unpack the narrative and mechanisms of how the “resource curse” is developed. Different oil wealthy nations around the world have varying levels of development. Why? Adding to the existing literature of the Resource curse and Institutions, my hypothesis remains that through institutions that history has developed, mechanisms, such as oil nationalization lead to different varieties of the economic resource curse. Using a most-difference case scenario in a historical analysis, statistical and empirical data will …

Three Strikes Law: Penal Extremism And Draconian Rhetoric, Marcelo Swofford

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

In our modern political history, there has been a separation between the two main political parties, the Democrats and Republicans, on virtually every major issue that has surfaced in our society aside from incarceration, which was emphasized by Democrat Bill Clinton’s introduction of the Three Strikes Law at the beginning of his term in 1994. The logistics of the Three Strikes Law are that once a criminal has been convicted of two violent/serious crimes, once they are convicted of a third felony then they will be sentenced to anything between a 25 year sentence and life sentence; the Three Strikes …

Identifying Influentials In Directed Networks, Guillermo Gutierrez

Student Symposium

Research into the identification of influential nodes specifically with regards to weighted, directed networks has been lacking throughout the lifetime of Network Theory as a whole. This research project seeks to propel the field forward through by devising an algorithm aimed at identifying influential nodes through the use of probability propagation models of information transfer through various real-world networks. The networks discussed are a developed test-network using the Price Model of citation network growth, the neuronal connectivity network of the flatworm C. elegans, and Congressional co-sponsorship networks of the USA’s 110th House and Senate. Rankings of influence of each node, …

Educational Inequality - How We Systematically Fail Our Children, Paige Ross

Student Symposium

Poor urban youth of color are left behind every step of the way- beginning with education. We are failing these children by not providing them with the necessary tools to be successful today in America. Our social classes and neighborhoods are racially segregated, causing disparities in school funding, due to government legislature that further advances these forgotten children deeper into disparity.

Whites are 1.8-2.3 times more likely to graduate from college, and this push for higher education begins in pre-K programs unavailable to historically non-White impoverished neighborhoods. The issue of educational inequality always comes back to that of systematically oppressive …

Social Capital: Corporate Personality, Political Campaign Expenditures, And The First Amendment, Drew Driesen

Celebration of Research

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, then-President Obama declared in his 2010 State of the Union Address that the Court had “reversed a century of law” in overturning limitations on independent corporate expenditures. In one sense, this is clearly true. The Tillman Act, passed in 1907 at the urging of Theodore Roosevelt, marked the first legislative attempt to limit the influence of corporations in political elections.

In a larger sense, however, Citizens United served as the culmination of two hundred years of jurisprudence defining the rights of the corporate person. Starting …

The Importance Of Home Style To Congress Today, Stephen Ruppel

Student Scholar Showcase

In this research I will revisit Richard Fenno's 1970 analysis on the home style of members of the House of Representatives. In "Home Style" Fenno observes members of Congress and how they work in DC as well as in their district and with their constituents and he analyzes how important home style is to each member. In this analysis I will use electoral margin, terms served, distance from DC to district, amount of money spent on franking, and amount of money spent on travel to compare how each member deals with his or her home style. I will be using …

Roundtable: Supporting Professional Masters' Programs In Social Science And Policy Fields, Elisabeth Shields

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Professional masters programs in the social sciences and policy fields prepare participants for middle and senior positions in the private sector, government, non-profits, and international organizations. In addition to ensuring further disciplinary knowledge, programs often include components on managerial, organizational, communication, policy analysis, and similar skills. Institutions are adding programs in interdisciplinary and emerging areas to their existing professional programs in business, counseling psychology, social work, and public administration.

Librarians face distinctive challenges in supporting such programs. Faculty teaching in these programs may be adjuncts unfamiliar with their institution’s library offerings and services. Some students have just completed undergraduate programs, …

Entrepreneurship Education Empowers Youth To Change Their Lives, Marianna Brashear, Jason Riddle

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) aims at equipping Title 1 schools with free, hands-on, engaging materials that any teacher can facilitate either individually or in a classroom setting with no background in entrepreneurship necessary. These versatile lessons, courses, and workshops teach the entrepreneurial mindset optimizing opportunities for grades 8-12 students no matter which life/career path they choose.

Why Are European Countries Reluctant To Accept Syrian Refugees?, Halide Gorgun Kilinc

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The conflict in Syria has forcibly moved about 10 million people from their homes. About 5 million of these displaced people fled to four of Syria’s neighbor countries: Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. Resettlement of Syrian refugees has become a significant public policy debate not only in the neighboring countries of Syria but also in Europe and the United States. Despite the fact that European countries are champions of international law and human rights, there is a strong resistance to acceptance of Syrian refugees. This study analyzes and attempts to explain the reasons why European governments are reluctant to receive …