Digital Commons Network^™

Willingness To Protest Over Resource Extraction In Latin America, Moises Arce, Marc S. Polizzi, Bryce Reeder

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Protests over resource extraction have increased in Latin America in recent years. However, significant variation exists in the region in terms of citizen’s willingness to protest against resource extraction. We argue that this variation is based on the interaction of factors at both the individual and state levels. Individual-level characteristics, such as social engagement, influence the likelihood of protest activity. State-level characteristics, such as the quality of governance, also present opportunities for engaged individuals to challenge resource extraction. Following political mediation theory, we argue that collective action strategies are likely to be more productive in some political contexts than in …

Prosthetic Ontology Into Pedagogy: Applying Garoian’S Theory To The Performing Arts, Elise L. Kieffer Phd

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Prosthetic pedagogy, as developed by Charles Garoian, provides a framework for using artificial-real worlds created by the arts to influence and impact teaching practice. The prosthetic space is artificial, separate, from the artist and audience, yet it is felt authentically, as if it were part of their being. Garoian explored prosthetic pedagogy through visual arts and museum experiences. This research further examines prosthetic pedagogy by applying it the Theatre. The art of theatre builds worlds onstage and through performance that allow performers to be and exist apart from their physical selves in the realm of prosthetic reality. The artist and …

Building A Foundation: Lessons From Vygotsky Applied In Appalachia, Elise L. Kieffer Phd

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Before I knew anything about learning theories, I was a constructivist. I am not completely sure why my methods so perfectly followed this learning theory, but one sure reason, comes directly from my discipline. In my own study of musical theatre, I experienced constructivist instruction. This article follows an autoethnographic reflection of constructivism at work in and through me as I taught in a small community in the Appalachian region of Kentucky.

Entertainment Media Perceptions Of Minorities In Young Adult Adaptations, Kynnadie Bennett

Honors College Theses

This is an exploration of stereotypical and racist portrayals of minorities, specifically African-American, Latinx, and Native American communities, in film and television in the past and how that has affected representation in film adaptations of young adult literature. Young adult literature is one of the highest-selling genres in literature, purchased by both young adults and actual adults. In recent years, young adult literature has been adapted into film and television series and while representation has improved since the early years of entertainment history, there are still problems in the industry: many of the stereotypes remain, some minorities lack representation, and …

A Literature Review Examining The Effects Of Bilingualism In Individuals Who Stutter, Cheyenne Hofmann

Honors College Theses

This thesis will analyze the current research involving the impact of bilingualism in individuals who stutter through a literature review. There is currently no known etiology of stuttering, however, there are multiple theories regarding the onset of stutter. This thesis will explore the Cerebral Dominance theory of stuttering and its applicability to neuroimaging and bilingualism. Furthermore, this thesis will determine the presence and extent of the impact of bilingualism on people who stutter. The cultural, gender, language and neurological influences on stuttering for those who are bilingual will also be examined. Through this analysis, the positive and negative impact of …

How Ell And Mainstream Teachers Foster A Culturally Responsive Classroom Environment, Mariah G. Cox

Honors College Theses

This study explores the culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practices of mainstream and English language learner (ELL) teachers as well as how to foster such practices. The study was completed with surveys, interviews, and an observation used to determine the knowledge of and practices concerning CRT. Participants of the study included 20 ELL teachers and 11 mainstream teachers from 11 different public-school districts. Due to pandemic restrictions, there was only one observation participant. ELL teachers reported incorporating CRT through class discussions and activities on diverse cultures. Mainstream teachers gave varied answers, but most spoke about differentiation methods and appeared to lack …

Value-Aligned Behavior & Psychological Flexibility: Exploring Relationships Between Seeking Mental Health Services And Core Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Processes, Morgan Brewington

Scholars Week

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on acceptance, cognitive defusion, being present, the sense of self as context, committed action, and values (Hayes et al., 2006). Valued living, or acting in line with personal values, includes behaviors that are personally meaningful and intrinsically engaging (Smout, et al., 2014). Behavior aligning with values has been related to lower levels of anxiety and depression, as well as lower impairment for individuals experiencing posttraumatic stress symptoms, pain, or other psychological stressors (Fox et al., 2019). Psychological flexibility, particularly low experiential avoidance, aids in valued living (Fox et al., 2019). Approaches such as ACT …

Agency Design And State Administrators: Political Insulation And Managers’ Views Of Their Workplace, Jennifer Symonds Morrison, James C. Clinger

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

This paper examines the impact of agency design upon the perceived workplace conditions within state agencies. The research examines whether insulating features of agency structure such as independent commission status, removal of officers only for cause, and fixed terms for agency leaders are associated with perceptions by state agency managers that their work processes and environments are free of micromanagement and interference from political actors. Data are drawn from the National Administrative Studies Project III, with additional information collected from state agency web sites and statutes. We largely find that administrators working within agencies headed by officials with fixed terms …

Weight Loss And Healthiness: How Advertisements Target This Phenomenon, Madelyn Coleman

Scholars Week

With advertisements being all around us in the media and in magazines, messages flood into our everyday lives that can impact us both negatively and positively. Research prior to this involved how media has portrayed women and their weight loss as well as how they are looking at “skinniness” and body type. This as well as overall effects of the media in the food world were among many that have been studied. For my research, I wanted to look at the overall targeting of weight loss and health within magazines not as much as the idea of weight loss as …

Highlighting Recipes For Recognition And Social Reform In Soul Food Cookbooks., Jake Hicks

Scholars Week

This research explores the writings of African American chefs Edna Lewis and Todd Richards along with Nutritional activists Fabiola Demps Gaines and Roniece Weaver, who have used their published soul food cookbooks to challenge racial stereotypes while redefining America’s perceptions of the southern cuisine known as soul food. Existing scholarship has found that southern cuisine is branching out into more than just a regional food and has shifted into a social movement. This project offers a progressive view on how this social movement of southern cuisine is aiming to reshape the public’s understandings of what constitutes Soul food. Through in-depth …

The Evolution Of Mcdonald’S: As Seen On Tv., Jay Gibson

Scholars Week

When thinking of fast food, McDonald’s is often one of the first that comes to mind. However, we rarely think about how this industry giant has changed over the years. From this point the question is asked, how has McDonald’s advertisements changed to suit their ever-growing audience? What, if anything, has caused these changes? Many might simply say the changes come with the times, but research reveals that there could potentially be much more serious reasons, such as the anti-obesity movement and battles in the legal field. By analyzing numerous television advertisements from the 90s and recent years, I find …

Tasteful Cookie Lingo, Sheldon Baringer

Scholars Week

In stores today, several brands of cookies use selective word choices directed towards the consumer, for example, by using the words organic or natural. Prior research has analyzed in a similar fashion, but to my knowledge has not used this specific test group. In this research, I show how packaging for cookies affect buyer’s choice, as well as, price in comparison to health. Importantly, as claims on package towards a healthier product increase, so does price. I further examine how cost changes the focus of the product from healthy to delicious, or bulk size, in order to demonstrate how consumers …

2020-02-28, Board Of Regents, Murray State University

Board of Regents Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Prevalence Of Illicit And Prescribed Neuropsychiatric Drugs In Three Communities In Kentucky Using Wastewater-Based Epidemiology And Monte Carlo Simulation For The Estimation Of Associated Uncertainties, Tara Croft, Rhiannon Huffines, Manoj Pathak, Bikram Subedi

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

A cost-effective alternative approach capable of determining the prevalence of substance use in communities can complement the existing efforts of combating drug abuse and addiction. In this study, the prevalence of 10 illicit and 19 prescribed psychoactive drugs of potential abuse was determined utilizing wastewater-based epidemiology, and compared in two adjoined urban communities and a rural community. This is the first application of the Monte Carlo simulation method to account multiple uncertainties and propagation of errors associated with the individual parameter of wastewater based epidemiological estimations in the U.S. A significantly higher prevalence of cocaine [3830 (mean difference, MD: 2960) …

Visa Trial Of International Trade: Evidence From Support Vector Machines And Neural Networks, Engin Akman, Abdullah Karaman, Cemil Kuzey

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

International trade depends on networking, interaction and in-person meetings which stimulate cross-border travels. The countries are seeking policies to encourage inbound mobility to support bilateral trade, tourism, and foreign direct investments. Some nations have been implementing liberal visa regimes as an important part of facilitating policies in view of security concerns. Turkey has been among the nations introducing liberal visa policies to support trade in the last decade and recorded significant increases in the volumes of exports. In this paper, we employed machine learning methodologies, Support vector machines (SVM) and Neural networks (NN), to investigate the facilitating impact of liberal …

Sustainable Stock Market And Sustainability Reporting Propensity Of The Public Sector: Mediating Role Of The Private Sector, Ali Uyar, Cemil Kuzey, Merve Kilic

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

The objective of this article is to investigate the mediating role of the private sector between sustainable stock markets (i.e., the existence of a sustainability index) and the sustainability reporting level of the public sector through spillover theory. The sample of the study consists of 115 country records for 2015 and 2016. The results confirm that the private sector mediates the association between sustainable stock markets and the sustainability reporting level of the public sector. Hence, establishing sustainability indices in stock markets first helps the private sector achieve a higher level of transparency, and then they indirectly help public organizations …

Copyright, Fair Use, And Creative Commons: An Active-Learning Exercise For Studio Art Students, Arthur J. Boston

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

This article describes an active-learning exercise intended to help teach copyright, fair use, and Creative Commons licenses. In the exercise students use a worksheet to draw original pictures, create derivative pictures on tracing paper, select Creative Commons licenses, and explore commercial usage, fair use, and copyright infringement. Librarian-instructors may find the completed worksheets to be useful aids to supplement copyright lectures; student perspectives will be integral because they are generating the examples used in discussion. Although a scholarly communication librarian developed this exercise to help introduce some basic copyright information to an undergraduate studio art and design class, the exercise …

The Effects Of An Agricultural Migratory Lifestyle On Children, Deborah Bourland

Integrated Studies

The purpose of this paper to explore medical research journals and interviews with migratory farm workers and their families to explore the effect a migratory lifestyle has on the development of a child as they constantly move from place to place as they, or their parents, seek work following crop timelines in the United States. The articles and interviews used will inform the reader of factors these children face, such as social exclusion, poverty and food insecurities, and how these obstacles affect not only the development of their physical health and growth milestones, but also how they affect the child’s …

A Brief History Of The African Slave Trade In The United States South, Kacey Tubbs

Integrated Studies

The African slave trade in the Antebellum South will be the focus of this paper. First the Colonial time period and the shift from indentured servitude to slavery will be discussed. Next the slave trade practices, including where these people came from, what people were targeted when they were taking them to become slaves, what the journey from Africa to the United States was like, and what the slave sales were like will be examined. There will be information on the various jobs slaves did and what daily life was like as a slave. The paternalistic view on slavery will …

Life In Prison, Patsy Waldridge, Patsy Ann Waldridge

Integrated Studies

For my research topic, the focus will be life in prisons. it will look into not only the prisoner’s way of life, but also the guards or anyone who works within a prison and look at how it effects their lives. It will be broken up into 13 categories/ sub-topics, which are: Incarceration rates, Recidivism, Prisoner abuse, Rehabilitation, Prison conditions, Jailhouse lawyers/ legal help, Prison rebellions, Healthcare, Mental Health, Guards and staff, Education, Psychological effects, And Families.

the research topic was broken down like this because talking about prisons and life there is much more complicated than the average American …

An Analysis Of Hr Leadership Within The Public And Private Sectors, Stephanie Oakley

Integrated Studies

Abstract

Human Resource leadership has always been a very important role in any organized business. The services offered by HR are embedded within organizational structure, employee recruitment, employee development/training, compensation/benefits, employee performance/disciplinary management among many others. These essential functions of HR provide a foundation for any organization that wants to be successful.

Although HR leadership in public and private sectors have similar regulations, their needs and functions can look very different. This project will look into the differences between the management of human resources between the public and private sectors of business within the United States. HR policy and procedure …

Lean Management For Small Business, Jason Acree

Integrated Studies

Lean management can be utilized to grow small business by focusing on continuous improvement. Lean management and the tools associated with it will improve the efficiency of any business and that will lead to improved sales and overall growth. This innovative idea has become a significant form of performing every action as efficiently as possible in order to increase production and reduce waste throughout the world in many different types of industries. Lean management is synonymous with continuous improvement. This is the idea that no process can ever be entirely perfected so there is always room for improvement. By focusing …

The Role Of Transformational Leadership In Organizational Innovation And Sustainable Success, Andrea Ligon

Integrated Studies

Leadership is crucial to organizational development. The achievement of goals and objectives relies on the leader’s ability to set up the personnel in the right direction and orientation. A transformational leader masters the art of motivation towards the workforce. The leader acts as the support system for the employees who rely on inspiration and motivation. The utilization of different leadership styles acts as a communication platform for the frontrunner’s ideologies and principles. The transformative element in leadership is integral in the implementation of the right change as well as promoting engagement within the organization. The future success of an institution …

A Review Of The Impact Of The Top Ten Leading Causes Of Death Within The United States Of America, Shelby L. Moss

Integrated Studies

The purpose of this research paper explores the impact that the top 10 leading causes of death have on the United States of America. Within this exploration, statistics, causes, signs, symptoms, and the leading preventions are identified along with any other information seen as relevant. The top 10 leading causes of death that are discussed are: Heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease, and suicide. This information was obtained through research of primary studies, peer reviewed studies, meta-analysis, books, and position statements by accredited hospitals and health organizations. Throughout …

A Progressive Addiction Recovery Approach, Sara Meuth

Integrated Studies

Abstract

Addiction is a complex chronic disease that plagues our society today. Understanding addiction requires a deep understanding of the relationship between the brain, mind, body, soul and others; in turn, its solution requires the same. Current research has made much progress and replaced the previous biomedical model for health and well-being with a biopsychosocial model. This same multi-dimensional approach is beginning to be applied to addiction recovery; however, there is much opportunity for progressive treatments to incorporate new components into current intervention models. Although there have been some studies to research the effects of the psychological component to recovery, …

School Nurses Bloom Where They Are Planted, Nicole Bryan

Integrated Studies

Abstract

School nurses are an integral part of our education system. They play a critical role in the overall wellbeing and health of school-aged children across the country. The provide daily care for a wide range of health needs and utilize a vast array of nursing skills, planning skills, and homemade gumption based on their medical knowledge and experience. School nurses follow federal, state and district statutes, as well as adopt core values and ethical codes of their profession. Evidence based research affirms the value of a school nurse to the education process, through results regarding improved attendance, immunization compliance, …

Can Body-Worn Cameras And Policy Changes Assist Within Police Agencies?, William L. Propes

Integrated Studies

Police agencies across the globe are facing a crisis as it pertains to the diminishment of public trust within their communities, stemming from highly-publicized instances where police officers have had to use force on a citizen, which can sometimes be deadly. Because of many different factors such as social media, biased mainstream media outlets, and rapid information sharing, public opinion and trust for the police are at an all-time low, and use of force incidents are commonly questioned and critiqued by those with no police training or law enforcement knowledge.

It is not accurate to state that police agencies and …

Comparative Analysis Of Animal Welfare Laws Versus Kentucky’S Animal Welfare Laws, Tammala Stratton

Integrated Studies

State laws governing animal welfare vary between states. This paper will establish the differentiation in the terminology, the established punishments, and the resulting rates of euthanasia associated with these laws as well as examining local laws that have proven effective. Best practices that are a direct result of the institution of the laws in the states that have been deemed “top tier” by The Animal Legal Defense Fund, the American Veterinary Medical Association, and The United States Department of Agriculture will be examined and compared with the existing practices and laws of Kentucky. Kentucky currently ranks in the bottom tier …

How Does Pay For Performance Pay Incentives Affect Long-Term Care, Rebecca Steinmetz, Rebecca Steinmetz

Integrated Studies

Abstract

Quality of care is always an ever changing standard in healthcare including long-term care facilities. Assisted living facilities, short-term rehabilitation, and nursing home facilities can be classified under long-term care facilities. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will be on the impact of pay for performance pay incentives for nursing home facilities.

Research through previous, outside studies defines quality in regards to the different source standards. Residents and family members have different standards of quality care between themselves. States and federal regulations define their own definitions of quality care. A summary of quality standards is used to …

The Effect Of Coal Industry Of Southern Indiana: A Look At The Evolution Of Safety, Health, And Environmental Practices And Concerns, Alan H. Saltzman

Integrated Studies

Coal mining in the United States is currently and extremely hot topic and will continue to be for many years. For many years, this industry has been a way of life for many families. That truly represents the state of Indiana. Situated over one of the largest coal basin in the country, Indiana has been a top ten coal producing state for years. While this industry is relied on by millions, it doesn’t come without hazard. The health and safety of the individuals that work in these mines are two factors that have seen immense change since the ounce of …