Digital Commons Network^™

#Representasian, Shin Kim

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

As an Asian American, I am always dealing with racism. The racism worsened during COVID-19, not only for me but for the AAPI community as a whole. There was an increase in hate crimes because we were considered the cause of the pandemic. There were attacks, harassments, and threats made against Asian Americans. People tried to help on social media with the #stopasianhate movement. However, like other trends, this one soon disappeared. The unsettling nature of social media that allows people to apathetically scroll onto the next post and the acceptance from both communities fuel my show. My works discuss …

Unique Perspectives, Emma Salger

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

The jewelry I build is intended to empower the wearer. Each piece of jewelry in this exhibition is inspired by my own personal experiences as a woman, but the attempt is to develop a piece that can empower anyone connecting to the message. Choosing to make wearable and empowering jewelry is an act of defiance because wearing my work gives me strength to push against existing societal gender barriers. Growing up as the youngest girl in a male dominated household and being taught a lot of gender expectations, there is an existing struggle to feel strong. Wanting to find a …

Unique Perspectives, Paige Small

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

Artist Statement: Paige Small

A community is a place that helps one grow and feel supported through vital interactions, which helps one become who they are meant to be. Being embraced in a society that exemplifies all these things is essential. These connections most often become the ones that mean the most and have the biggest impact on someone. Examining the relationships and community surrounding me has inspired this work.

My prints show the physical embrace of being held, loved, and comforted. Hands are chosen as symbols of community and the human interaction of support and togetherness. Flowers are another …

Bread & Butter, Katlyn Indalecio

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

Katie Indalecio | Bread & Butter

A dash of joy and a pinch of whimsy. Ingredients of my ever-evolving design approach. As if instinctual, I find my thoughts wandering to food for subject matter. Food and Design parallel one another in many ways, through bold colors, interesting textures, and unique flavors; they are both subjects that are consumed on a massive scale daily. What better way to represent my interest in food, and also display my versatility in illustration, layout, and typography than in the form of a magazine?

Bread & Butter is a simple, forthright title for both the …

Returning A Borrowed Tongue, Kerrie Pullen

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

Exploring and embracing my Filipino heritage has not only inspired the work I create, but changed my perception of cultural identity and traditional art. Being bicultural, half white and half Filipino, and learning about the migration that my mother and others experienced has allowed me to connect to my identity. I encountered a new space as an outsider and began to realize how much my identity was impacted through an adjustment process. Questions like, “Am I Filipino enough to be this? Who am I to know anything about what it means to be Filipino?” constantly arises. The consequences of displacement …

Pick Your Plate: A Nutrition Education Study, Emmalyn Tucker

Honors College Theses

Childhood obesity has become a cause for concern among many nutrition experts. Childhood obesity can contribute to several health problems such as type 2 diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure. The large percentage of children affected with childhood obesity suggests a lack of essential nutrition education in our country. Junk food consumption and inadequate intake of the USDA’s MyPlate food groups have become essential areas for intervention. Multiple school-based nutrition education interventions have been explored to improve both children’s nutrition knowledge and improve healthy eating behaviors. “Pick Your Plate” is a nutrition education study designed to improve nutrition knowledge regarding junk …

Personality Traits In The Workplace: Examining The Light Triad And Its Relationship With Job Satisfaction, Sarah Overton

Scholars Week

The expanding psychological research into several “dark traits” of one’s personality (Moshagen et al., 2018) has presented a void in examining more positive characteristics. In recent years, Kaufman and colleagues (2019) developed the “Light Triad” to provide a more holistic perspective on humankind. The Light Triad is a construct encompassing benevolent personality traits, including humanism, faith in humanity, and Kantianism. Most relevant to the current study, Kaufman and colleagues (2019) found a significant relationship between the Light Triad and life satisfaction. Furthermore, life satisfaction is also positively correlated with job satisfaction (Rice et al., 1980). Given these relationships, it was …

Cougars In The Eastern United States, Justina Raleva, Kenneth Rieche

Scholars Week

Since the 1900s, cougars have been extirpated from nearly everywhere except the western United States parks and wilderness areas. In recent years, cougars have been starting to spread their range outside of the Rocky Mountains, towards eastern states like Illinois, Missouri, and Louisiana. The purpose of this project is to conduct outreach and education through a brochure that would educate locals in Kentucky and Tennessee regarding cougar safety and conservation importance.

Retrieve, Race, Release, Karamello Young, Paige Mccord, Madison Morrison, Emily Fitzgerald

Scholars Week

Title: Retrieve, Race, Release

by: Paige McCord, Karamello Young, Madison Morrison, Emily Fitzgerald

Abstract: This poster represents a service-learning project that was done for our conservation biology class. Our main goal is to educate the public about the negative impacts of turtle derbies. We did this by using educational materials to raise awareness about turtle races and the impact of painting them with toxic substances before releasing them into a habitat that is not their natural one. We did not seek out to prohibit or stop the races as that would cause people to shut down and not listen as …

Foliar Application Of Acetic Acid And Effectiveness Against Drought At Different Time Points In Soybean Development, Miranda Rudolph

Scholars Week

Abstract

Drought is arguably the most serious environmental factor affecting crop production today. A plants response to drought stress is extremely complex, affecting numerous metabolic pathways that are all interconnected in their responses. Due to this complex nature, scientists do not fully understand the implications of different treatments and how they affect these processes. Acetic acid has been shown to improve plant growth and resistance to drought stress, but exactly how it accomplishes this is also unknown. Soybeans (Glycine max) are one of the most important crops worldwide and can suffer significant yield loss due to drought stress. As climate …

Soil Properties And Potassium Availability In Pullen Farm (Kentucky), Ava Isaacs, Gracey Moffitt, Whitney Sides

Scholars Week

To compare and examine results from disturbed and undisturbed soil samples to determine various soil properties and nutrient availability throughout various locations in Kentucky soils.

Foot Traffic's Impact On Corn Maze Compaction And Soil Organic Matter, Jessie Lewis, Brad Peiffer, Zach Phelps

Scholars Week

Soil samples and compaction readings were taken from a corn maze site at Murray State University Pullen Farm. The scope of this project was compare the years of overlap with the different designs in the corn maze. This foot traffic compaction can be relayed back to the affect of livestock in fields.

Research Proposal To Measure Student Attitudes Toward Social Media As A Learning Mechanism In College Courses, Mersadies Starks-Lopez

Scholars Week

In this day and age, social media is a part of most everyone’s day to day life. For many, this includes social media being used in their learning process. This exploratory experimental design is aimed to discover what attitudes students have toward social media being used as a tool in the classroom, by using specific objectives and proposed tactics. A group of juniors and seniors from the College of Business at Murray State University will be tested to measure attitudes toward social media and its place in their college courses. The proposed hypothesis is that students will react positively to …

Using Music As A Messaging Strategy For Conservation Education, Frances Hincks

Scholars Week

Given the frequently negative effects each person imposes on their environment (e.g., resource

consumption, use of private and public land, and waste production), the public needs to be

included in conservation messaging to sustain a healthy, functioning planet. However, there is a

disconnect between conservation research and presenting such information to the public in a

coherent, accessible format. People are generally not informed about conservation topics, which

creates difficulties in creating a conservation mindset. Thus, conservation education messaging

strategies need to be evaluated to determine what is most effective in conveying important

topics. The objective of this research is to …

The Benefits Of Animal-Assisted Therapy In A Nursing Care Facility, Cheydan Crump

Scholars Week

±Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a goal directed therapy in which animals, specifically dogs, are utilized in order to reach a variety of patient-oriented goals and outcomes. Research has shown that AAT is beneficial in aiding a patient in achieving both their emotional and physical goals or needs. Thus, evidence has shown that AAT is useful in the achievement of optimal patient outcomes. However, while evidence supports the notion that AAT would be beneficial if regularly implemented within a patient’s care, few facilities utilize this therapy on a semi-regular basis. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to further acknowledge the …

Implementing The Practice Of Rns And Uaps Receiving "Hand-Off" Report Conjointly, Gabby Pack, Cora Moll

Scholars Week

This is an informational presentation about ineffective communication within the nursing practice. This presentation outlines the benefits of RNs and UAPs giving/receiving "hand-off" report together.

Implementation Of Simulation Training For Newly Graduated Nurses, Lauren Hancock, Kurstin Martin

Scholars Week

Regardless of educational opportunities it is impossible to see every possible clinical situation necessary to develop adequate clinical judgment, before graduation. For this reason, we believe that simulation trainings should be implemented for newly graduated nurses upon their hiring.

Implementing The Option For 8-Hour Shifts Compared To 12-Hour Shifts To Protect The Well-Being Of Nurses And Patients, Savannah G. Bison, Madison R. Harden

Scholars Week

This project addresses the negative aspects of twelve hour shifts within the nursing profession and how a change to eight hour shifts leads to decreased burnout, increased job satisfaction, and a more positive work-life balance. The term ‘nursing shortage’ is often improperly used to imply only a deficit in registered nurses across the country; however, it is instead due to practicing nurses leaving the profession before retirement, especially in bedside positions. Nurses are searching for different paths for multiple reasons, but a common factor among all of them is burnout caused by the current system in place. This project addresses …

Subepidermal Moisture Measurement: Preventing Pressure Injury In Acute Clinical Settings, Allen Neese, Natalie Embry

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.

“You Can Be Anything You Want": An Analysis Of Gender Roles In Early Childhood Literature, Emily Marshall

Scholars Week

The theme of gender roles is something that shows up in every work of literature. In early children’s literature, the vast majority of these stories portray the most common gender stereotypes, such as girls wearing pink and playing with dolls, while boys are wearing blue and playing with cars and trucks. The families’ roles are also seen in these books. For example, the mother figure is usually seen staying at home with the children and working in the kitchen or outside in the garden, while the father is often portrayed coming home from a long day of work in a …

Fallen Kingdom: A Novella, Sarah Black

Scholars Week

Fallen Kingdom is a work of fiction that falls into the category of fantasy/romance. Exploring themes of PTSD and loss of self, we begin in a world on the brink of ruin. After The Fall, Scarlett finds herself in an unknown land, hunted, injured, and alone. She has few memories of her arrival or the time before--memories that become ever more frequent as a world of magic takes shape around her. Fallen Kingdom is a fast-paced, striking adventure that documents her struggle with responsibility, friendship, and love.

Silver Carp Hypopthalmichthys Molitrix Movements In The Lower Tennessee And Lower Cumberland River, Miranda Belanger, Timothy Spier

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix are an invasive species making up a large portion of the fish biomass in the lower portions of the Tennessee River and the Cumberland River. This species is expanding its range throughout the upper portions of these rivers, beginning with Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Silver Carp rarely spawn in Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, but they can enter these reservoirs through the lock chamber. Thus, the bottleneck created by lock chambers can be used to control expansion of invasive Silver Carp. Although Silver Carp movement patterns have been studied in other portions of the Tennessee …

Evaluating Gizzard Shad Dorosoma Cepedianum Populations In Two Kentucky Reservoirs Recently Invaded By Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix, Nathan Klein, Timothy Spier

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Gizzard Shad Dorosoma cepedianum are an ecologically important fish species found in many reservoirs throughout the southeastern United States such as Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. One current challenge that Gizzard Shad may face in these two reservoirs is competition with the invasive Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix. However, quantifying the impacts of this competition may be difficult because of limited baseline population data for Gizzard Shad in these two reservoirs. The objective of this study is to describe size structure, condition, age, growth, mortality, and spawning potential of these two populations. Gizzard Shad were collected by boat electrofishing and …

83 On The Brink The Dangers Of Rhetoric In A Nuclear Armed World, Andrew Dubois

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The early 1980s, as described by Mikhail Gorbachev, were marked by escalating tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. Ronald Reagan's declaration of the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" in 1983 intensified geopolitical tension, notably followed by the Soviet Airforce mistakenly shooting down a civilian airliner. The release of "The Day After" highlighted the horrors of nuclear war, coinciding with a war scare during the Able Archer military exercise. These events underscored the dangers of Cold War paranoia and Reagan's foreign policy shortcomings, emphasizing the need for diplomacy to thaw relations and mitigate the threat of nuclear …

The Inaudacity Of Hope, Paul Walker

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Kay Yount Art399 Portfolio, Kay Yount, Kay Yount

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Eden is a show based around the concept of love. Love can be clean, messy, warm, cold, good, bad,it can be conditional or unrequited. Love is enigmatic— no one understands or experiences it exactly the same. I wanted to find a way to capture a part of this thing that I crave, something that is so close and yet so far out of reach. This exhibition is my way of giving to others my conception of Love in my own way.

Eden is a garden occupied by the two lovers, a cyclops and a blind prince. In secret, the two …

Christine Cox Art399 Portfolio, Christine Cox

Professional Practices (ART 399)

I work with multiple medias to achieve the desired effect of the artwork; however, the majority of my pieces consist of charcoal, both loose and pencils. I find that my concepts are most accurately represented in muted, grayscale coloring with the occasional bold singular color to add juxtaposition. I regularly find myself pushing my scale of artwork and creating pieces that are largescale and often become 3D installations or experiences. The content of my artwork is most frequently surrealist depictions of myself or other human figures, distorted in a way that emphasizes how a mental struggle may manifest itself physically; …

Molly Ramsey Art399 Portfolio, Molly Ramsey

Professional Practices (ART 399)

As I have grown as an artist and learned increasingly more difficult technical skills I have been able to continue to find what inspires me to create. My main focus as a medium has been split between metalsmithing and printmaking through the last few months of my academic career. I enjoy the contrast between what each material can convey to the viewing audience. The theme of my work specifically has been heavily focused on aquatic life, more specifically aquatic life that seems to be in a difficult situation. With much reflection I've come to the conclusion that in most situations …

Generation Onlyfans: Examining The Effects Of "Raunch Culture" On Depression Via Social Media Use And Social Comparisons, Grace Sinclair, Duncan Jordan

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

"Raunch culture" is a term describing the promotion of overtly sexual representations of women. This concept may provide people opportunities to engage in positive social comparisons, but also negative social comparisons. As such, this concept could also relate to the phenomenology of depression in women. In an attempt to further investigate the effects of raunch culture, this study examined relationships between raunch culture, depression, and social media use in undergraduate students. Participants (N = 199) from a moderately-sized university in the Midwest completed measures of raunch culture, depression, social comparison, and social media use via an online platform. Primary hypotheses …

Marital Satisfaction And Dissatisfaction Among Ghanaians, Esther Malm, Mabel Oti-Boadi, Nana Ama Adom-Boakye Kanyi, Aba Andah

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

This study examined factors associated with marital satisfaction/dissatisfaction among Ghanaian couples living in Ghana and abroad. Using a correlational design, data from a convenience sample of 231 married participants from Ghana and abroad were collected via an online survey. Results from regression analyses revealed that four positive behaviors - affection, companionship, commitment to the family, financial support - and one negative behavior, beatings/slaps, were significantly associated with marital satisfaction. Three negative behaviors - annoying habits, selfishness, and disrespect - were significantly associated with marital dissatisfaction. Participants in Ghana reported significantly higher rates of beatings in marriage compared to those abroad. …