Digital Commons Network^™

Introducing The Historical Newspapers Of South Carolina Online Database, Kate F. Boyd

Faculty and Staff Publications

For ten years we have been scanning South Carolina newspaper from microfilm and making them available online. Most of this time we made them available through the Library of Congress' Chronicling America database with NEH funding. When that funding ended, we need to find another way to continue making small South Carolina newspapers searchable online. With support from the Library Information Technology department, we now scan microfilm and index the content completely in-house. This presentation introduces this new workflow that the Libraries' Digital Collections Department has adopted.

Three Essays On Special Donation Types (Dissertation Defense Slides), Jennifer Lehman

Faculty Publications - College of Business

Much research has been conducted on charitable giving where it is analyzed as a single, undifferentiated philanthropic transfer concept. Relatively less research has explored factors associated with special donation types such as

1) bequests,

2) lifetime donations to specific cause types, or

3) the intersection of bequests and lifetime donations to specific cause types.

This dissertation provides new information addressing all three of these areas.

Student Digital Research Showcase, Emilie Zickel, Chris Rennison

Digital CSU

The Digital CSU Working Group will host a showcase for digital projects created by CSU sudents and co-sponsored by the CSU Office of Research and the Michael Schwartz Library. The showcase will be held on Thursday, May 3, 2018 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm in the Student Center Atrium. Light refreshments will be served. Join us!

If you are interested in having your students present, contact the Digital CSU conveners: Christopher Rennison ([email protected]), Shelley Rose ([email protected]), or Emilie Zickel ([email protected]).

The Start Of The Week, Justin Holland

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The Week of Challenge was a student-led event that invited dozens of prominent speakers to a conference-styled discussion of broad topics. The students hoped to be inclusive of all thought and fields of study. The first wave of Week of Challenge occurred in the mid-1960s and lasted to about 1972. I focus my research on the reasons why the Week of Challenge stopped after over half a decade of success. I explore many hypotheses regarding why the event was discontinued: dissent from women on campus; organizational failures; pushback from STEM fields. Ultimately, I argue that the Week of Challenge was …

Solar Eclipse Radiosonde Launch Project, Kristen Axon, William Wight, Erika Goshorn, Aaron Mehner, Cole Evans, Seth Tacke, Adam Stepanek

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

On August 21, 2017, the United States experienced a total solar eclipse from coast to coast for the first time in 38 years. This event provided a unique opportunity to study the vertical profile of the atmosphere during the duration of a solar eclipse through the deployment of instrumented balloons capable of measuring temperature, wind speed and direction, and humidity. Six students and three faculty members from Valparaiso University worked in cooperation with the University of Montana in an effort to coordinate radiosonde launches across the path of totality in North America. Four launches were conducted in Coulterville, Illinois measuring …

Minimizing The Residual Field And Field Gradient In A Magnetically Shielded Room For Nedm At Lanl, Chamindu S. Amarasinghe

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The LANL neutron Electric Dipole Moment (nEDM) experiment is an effort to set a sensitivity limit of 3.2 × 10-27 e·cm on the electric dipole moment of the neutron, an order of magnitude smaller than the current upper limit. This measurement uses Ramsey’s method of oscillating magnetic fields. The magnetic field and field gradient have to be low enough to avoid the smearing of the Ramsey fringes and increase the neutron dephasing time respectively. The experiment is enclosed in a two layer Mu-metal magnetically shielded room (MSR) to null any external magnetic fields from the environment. The MSR is degaussed …

A Lantern Slide Through Time, Journey Joll

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Using lantern slides and various campus publications housed in the Valparaiso University Archives I explore campus life from 1925 to 1933. The standards for men and women at Valparaiso University differed drastically from what they are today. Particularly, there were rules that governed interactions between male and female students. I examine the rules and norms on campus at the time to highlight a contrast with modern campus life and to attempt to explain why the romance between a student, Lorena LaHayne, and an instructor, Myers Zimmerman, was not seen as scandalous at the time.

By investigating the specific case of …

Nazi Germany's Effects On The Modern German Language, Ariana Moore

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The way languages change is an interesting concept. Languages are strongly affected by the passage of time, which is present in the difference between how different generations speak, time is not the only thing that changes languages. Culture is also a significant factor. As politics shift and new discoveries like the printing press are made, the connotation of words and even their meanings shift as well. This essay focuses specifically on the German language during the Nazi era and how language was used by the Nazis in propaganda to control the population. An example of this idea is the German …

Addressing Citizen Concerns: Analysis Of Heavy Metal Contamination In East Chicago, Indiana, Zoe I. Henkes, Ashita Bhatnagar

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

In East Chicago, Indiana, decades of industrial work led to heavy metals contamination to the surrounding environment. One residential area was built on an abandoned lead processing site, and lead soil levels measured well above the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits in the 1990s. In 2009, the East Chicago site was added to the Federal Facilities National Priorities List (NPL), and the EPA designated it as a priority Superfund Site. While remediation measures have been underway by the EPA, the agency is not able to measure all possible places for metal contamination for all the residents. Therefore, we have investigated …

Solar And Rain Catching Canopy. Urban Oasis, Afolabi Ibitoye, Langston Clark, Elena Zimareva, Evan Banks, Alexander Aptekar

Publications and Research

The Urban Oasis is designed to work within existing “pocket parks” in New York City as a combined rainwater collector, personal electronics charging station and resting designation for New Yorkers. Intended to not only lessen the demand on the city power grid by using renewable energy to charge devices, the urban oasis is also intended to mitigate grey water overfill in New York’s combined sewer system and, in general, serve as a model for responsible environmental stewardship in urban areas.

The important technical aspects of the canopy specifically analyzed were:

a) how much rainwater could the canopy be expected to …

Faculty Assembly Agenda, 5-2-18, Salve Regina University

Faculty Assembly Documents

FA Agenda 5-2-18.docx

Opening Up: Why Are We Not Using More Open Educational Resources (Oer’S)?, Daniel A. Sabol

CSIS Technical Reports

Open Educational Resources (OER) have the ability to alleviate student drop out rate, make faculty course design easier, allow faculty to contribute and participate in the OER undertaking that is swiftly spreading through our nation. In addition we are able to save our students $2,000 - $3,000 dollars over the course of their education. This work looks at findings from a survey which was sent out to list serves and direct email to faculty. The survey posed questions to try to determine why faculty were having a difficult time accepting and using OER’s in their own classroom. It was discovered …

Comparative Study Of Qubits, Juliano A. Everett, Mubinjon Satymov, Zechariah Ilmot

Publications and Research

In quantum computing, a quantum bit ("qubit") is a unit of quantum information. A qubit is a two-level quantum system. The developing of qubits with optimal properties, related to quantum entanglement and possibilities of control the states of qubits, is very important for quantum computing applications. We analyzed various types of qubits. There are at least five major quantum computing approaches being explored worldwide: silicon spin qubits, ion traps, superconducting loops, diamond vacancies and topological qubits. We compared the advantages and disadvantages in the properties of all these qubits for applications for quantum computing. We analyzed possible strategies to improve …

Service Leadership: The First Year Student Experience, Connor Curtis

Senior Honors Projects

Servant leadership, in the words of Robert Greenleaf from the Greenleaf Center of Servant Leadership, is “a servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.” This has become one of the guiding theories of leadership within the Center for Student Leadership Development’s (CSLD) Leadership Studies minor at the University of Rhode Island. First-year students in the Leadership Studies minor have the opportunity to learn different leadership models and theories and apply them to their own life. My personal experience and the experiences of others who have participated in service projects locally, nationally, …

Effects Of Environmental Enrichment On Behavior In A Domestic Goat Herd, Stephanie Peramas

Senior Honors Projects

Animal welfare is one of the most important parts of animal management. Apart from other measures of good animal welfare, like being in good health, animal behavior can be indicative of the animal’s internal state and is often one of the first signs of improper welfare. Stereotypies, or stereotypic behavior, are commonly viewed as a symptom of improper animal welfare. Unenriched, or barren, environments associated with farmed livestock have long been associated with inducing stereotypic behavior. The addition of precise enrichment to the animals’ environment is a common remedy for stereotypic behavior. With respect to stereotypic goat behavior, few empirical …

Creating A Happy Ending For Socially Relevant Television, John Thomas Cunha

Senior Honors Projects

Television is accessible to millions from the comfort of their own homes and shapes the way we view the world. It has the power to bring people together, but often presents diversity with a strong emphasis on labels. Characters are defined by the one trait that, to the majority of viewers, is unrelatable. This maintains the separation of “us” and “them,” isolating those in the minority. Representation is essential for progress, but it’s more than just including diversity. Instead of dwelling on differences and indulging in stereotypes, characters should all treat each other equally.

The focal TV show of this …

Real Estate Development In Brooklyn Heights Before And After The Brooklyn Bridge, Ann Jean

Publications and Research

Technological advances drive societal change. Often technology leads to the development of new infrastructure which is at the core of urban development which in turn affects real estate values and demographics. The opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883 reshaped the socio-economic and architectural character of the two areas it connected, lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn waterfront (DUMBO) and Brooklyn Heights. By the 1830s, the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights emerged as a residential enclave even before the invention of steam power ferries which made commuting to lower Manhattan reliable and inexpensive (Furman 73). Today, its charming brownstone lined streets are …

Gut Microbiome Analyses Of Lone Star, Black-Legged And Dog Ticks, William Bennett, Jeremy Seto

Publications and Research

The focus of much tick research is often on the detrimental effects caused by the pathogens found inside the ticks. However, some focus has been shifted towards researching the natural microbiota already present and trying to determine if host-pathogen interactions are influenced by the gut microbiota. Lone Star, Deer / Black-Legged, and Dog ticks at each life stage (larval, nymph, adult) had their guts collected and analyzed. Larvae were unfed, nymphs had fed once, and the adults have fed at least twice. Three samples of each species adult male and female were collected along with three samples of their nymph …

Theatrical Scenic Design: Creating And Presenting A Professional Portfolio, Isabella Pellino

Senior Honors Projects

The Kennedy Center for the American College Theatre Festival is a regional and national conference where students can compete against other students with their Acting, Directing, Stage Management, and Design skills. Students present scenes, participate in workshops, and present their designs from shows their universities produced in that year. I attended this year’s “KCACTF Region 1:New England” festival from January 30th to February 4th (having been selected to present in the Design Technology Exhibition) and presented a scenic design I created for the URI Theatre production of Body Awareness in April of 2017.

Theatre is a fast-paced industry, and artists …

Mini Archivo Oral Del Habla Culta Dominicana, Orlando Alba

Faculty Publications

Esta presentación provee un mini corpus de 24 muestras orales generadas por profesionales de la República Dominicana. Cada grabación, de poco más de un minuto de duración, aparece con el correspondiente texto escrito en ortografía ordinaria. El objetivo es ofrecer un material, inexistente hasta este momento, que permita obtener un perfil general del habla culta de los dominicanos.

Modeling And Predicting Future Stock Prices Using Stock Options, Xuebin Zou, Julio C. Salazar, Jiehao Huang, Kevin Mei

Publications and Research

In this project, we studied stock option chains and their implied volatilities. We built custom probabilistic models, called Implied Probability Distribution, for stock prices in future. All of the analysis is done in R programming language, using several special libraries for financial analysis.

More concretely, we gathered the option data for various stocks from April 2, 2018 with a maturity date of April 20th. Based on this data, and using a method developed by Breeden and Litzenberger in 1978, we graphed the implied probability distributions of these stocks, and computed their expected value. On April 20th, we compared our expected …

The Relationship Between Science And Policy, Michaela Warren

Senior Honors Projects

Increased human development and its adverse effects on nature require that our society establish new environmental policies to address these. The implementation and/or modification of environmental policies and regulations comes with its challenges. Evidence-based scientific discoveries play a key part in making effective environmental policy. Without access to and transmission of scientific information, environmental mangers and politicians have no basis to support regulatory changes. Similarly, scientists that do not engage with environmental managers and politicians are restricted developing their scholarly findings into active reform. Growth of environmental protection relies on managers, policy makers, and scientists being aware of each other …

White Folks Has Everything They Need": Diversity And Inclusivity At The University Of Montana, Emily K. Gillispie

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Abstract:

The University of Montana has a diverse student body, consisting of individuals from a variety of different religious backgrounds, abilities, ethnic identities, gender identities and sexual orientations. Despite the diverse populations at the University, the value the school has placed on them is questionable. Providing proper support for members of marginalized communities not only helps individuals have access to resources, but it also is beneficial to the university itself. In this research, I combine interview data with analysis of websites and campus events to evaluate how the university has been both successful and unsuccessful in reflecting a specific stance …

Dreaming American Dreams: The American Dream As Related To Race And Ethnicity, Nikia S. Reynolds

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

This study examines the current meaning of the American Dream and how one’s racial identity is related to perceptions and definitions of this ideal. I argue that members of different racial and ethnic groups understand and define the American Dream in a different ways depending on societies impression of their race or ethnicity. Data was collected from the beginning of April 2017, through May 2017. Two focus groups, one made up of minority members, heavily Native American, and one of white members, were formed and asked questions related to the American Dream such as how they personally define the concept, …

Where There's A Will, There's A Way: Young People And Climate Change, Emma H. Kiefer

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Climate change is the defining issue of our time. It will disproportionately impact young people, less developed and impoverished nations, global agricultural systems, and vulnerable ecosystems across the globe. Current and future generations of students must be educated and empowered to tackle the problem. My research looks at the experience of students learning about climate change in an introductory climate change class, CCS 103X, at the University of Montana. I evaluate data from survey questionnaires taken at the beginning and the end of the class, and comments made during and after each class, to evaluate the relationship between the attitudes …

Waltrene Willis: A Montana Suffragist, Chloe F. Loeffelholz

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

I will investigate the club and suffrage work of Waltrene Willis, a resident of Thomson Falls, Glasgow and Garfield Montana between 1900 and 1920, who worked as the recording secretary for the Montana Equal Suffrage State Central Committee. I conducted research in federal census records, publications of the Glasgow Courier and The Suffrage Daily News, and the contemporary publication of the Montana Woman. My research on Waltrene Willis illustrates the range of activities that were conducted by Progressive-era women in Montana. Involved in everything from the Sunflower Art Club to Glasgow’s Political Equality League, Willis’s career serves as …

Does The Metabolic Cost Of Load Carriage Differ Between Males And Females?, Hannah E. Habighorst

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

DOES THE METABOLIC COST OF LOAD CARRIAGE DIFFER BETWEEN MALES AND FEMALES?

Habighorst HE, Baker RL, Berglund KM, Gutierrez SA, Dierman AR, Christman EE

Department of Health and Human Performance

PURPOSE: The scientific understanding of energy use during load carriage suggests that the additional metabolic increment necessary to support an external load is determined by the load’s percentage of the subject’s body weight. Accordingly, for comparison purposes experimental undertakings often adjust the mass of an external load to represent a constant fraction of each subject’s mass. However, in occupational and applied settings, individuals are frequently asked to support similar …

Generating Digital Seismic Traces From Paper Sign Bit Sections, Shevin M. Halvorson

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Improving the Accuracy of Digital Seismic Traces Generated from Images of Paper Sign Bit Seismic Sections.

A reflection seismic survey of Flathead Lake was recorded in August 1970. These data exist today in two media: analog magnetic tape recordings of full-waveform seismic traces (digitized to .wav) and redisplayed paper sections of the data using sign bit rendering. Sign bit rendering only indicated when the amplitude of the trace signal was above zero, which resulted in a considerable loss of dynamic range. Unfortunately, of the 200 km of data recorded, less than 60 km are preserved on magnetic tape. This project …

The Value Of Silence In Finland: A Geographic And Cultural Perspective, Meghan E. Kuhns

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Silence-based tourism, an emerging tourism sector in Finland, is relatively understudied. This research is focused around three specific areas: 1) the geographical and historical context of silence farms (developed and potential), 2) the value of silence to the Finnish culture and economy, and 3) the role and motivations’ of Finnish farmers as they expand into this area of silence tourism, to cultivate and preserve silence spaces, and their perceptions regarding the effects that silence farms and silence experiences have on tourists. In this context, silence is referred to as natural sounds such as the chirping of birds, the rustling of …

"'But Where Are The Factory Girls?'": New England's Textile Mill Women And Work In Published And Personal Memory, 1835-1860, Breann Watterson

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

No abstract provided.