Digital Commons Network^™

Courting Controversy: How I Became An Opportunistic Improvisationalist, Joshua Adair

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Exiled From Main Street: Improvisational Teaching/Life, Paul Walker

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Censorship In The Library--The Dark Side Of Dystopia, Candace K. Vance

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Pat Conroy in My Reading Life stresses the importance of helping students “experience the inevitable transformation that occurs through reading…we must do everything we can to offer and then protect the book that just might change their lives.” An important role of libraries is ensuring every reader can find that life-changing book.

Unfortunately, sometimes that transformational book isn’t available because it was thought too difficult, dark, or challenging for a particular audience. Although “too dark” or “too challenging” are often heard, especially in regards to dystopian novels, the most sited reasons for a book to be challenged according to ALA’s …

Establishing Healthy Parental Attachments, Estrella Miller

Integrated Studies

The research will show that children who experience healthy attachments with their parents early in life are likely to be successful at coping with life skills in adulthood. Bowlby’s Attachment Theory describes deep emotional bonds between a parent and child, from the infancy stage on through adulthood. Establishing healthy parent-child attachment early in life is more likely to increase structured environments and manage coping skills as they mature into their adulthood. Identifying healthy parent and child attachment methods along with providing unhealthy parent and child attachment methods is the underlying purpose for this paper. Research and studies have been gathered …

Honors Day, 2016, Murray State University

Honors Day Programs

Honors Day Programs, Murray State University. (Digitization and metadata processed by Madison Erwin.)

Ready Librarian One, Christine Ferguson

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

The growth in academic programs devoted to the development of video games and the increased use of video gaming in education have led some academic libraries to build their own video game collections, as well as provide video game-related services, space, and equipment. This column outlines several examples of academic library video game collections and services, provides information on building and maintaining video game-related collections, and addresses a few of the challenges of providing services for this rapidly evolving industry.

Textbooks In Academic Libraries, Christine Ferguson

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

In response to the rising costs of course materials, some academic libraries are evaluating and adjusting the ways in which they provide access to textbooks in all formats. Some popular initiatives include cultivating and promoting print textbook reserve collections, the acquisition of ebooks and etextbooks as alternatives to print, and Open Educational Resources (OERs). This column highlights initiatives at a variety of academic libraries designed to help mitigate the cost of course materials for students. Incorporating interviews and studies from the literature, projects at institutions such as North Carolina State University, George Mason University, and East Carolina University are highlighted, …

Locus Of Control, Academic Achievement, And Discipline Referrals, Rachel Hill

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to determine the relationship among locus of control, academic functioning, and discipline problems in a sample of public high school seniors in the mid-West. Participants completed Rotter’s locus of control measure; their state-wide test scores and discipline records were obtained from archives. Contrary to expectations, there were no statistically significant associations between locus of control and discipline, although there was a statistically significant negative correlation between test scores and discipline referrals. The implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Secondhand Exposure To Problematic Drinking: The Lingering Effects Of Family Behaviors On Emotion, Lillie M. Holcomb

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Previous research regarding alcohol-related visual cues has focused on the effects of imagery on those affected by personal alcohol use and abuse. The viewing of such imagery among these individuals provokes a number of both emotional and physiological responses and provides important information about the multiple components of addiction. This area of research is important because alcohol use and abuse is a widespread problem. Personal users, however, are not the only people to experience the consequences of alcohol. Problematic drinking behaviors pose risk to both the users and those exposed to the users. More specifically, family members exposed to drinkers’ …

The Effects Of Mortality Salience And Team Identification On Sports Fans' Willingness To Consider Anonymous Acts Of Aggression, Sagan L. Ladd

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The current study sought to understand if mortality salience and identification with the University of Kentucky men’s varsity basketball team (UK) would interact in such a way as to influence participants’ willingness to engage in anonymous acts of aggression toward fans, coaches and players of rival sport teams. A research question was also evaluated which asked if mortality salience might be a potential mediator between participants’ identification and their likelihood to engage in anonymous acts of aggression. Results indicated that mortality salience was not a significant predictor and there was no significant interaction between identification and mortality salience. As a …

Evaluating The Impact Of Natural And Agricultural Ecosystems On Soil Properties In Western Kentucky., Cody Masterson

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The importance and capabilities of soil are often overlooked. It has an exceedingly complex ecosystem that is still not fully understood, but looking into soil properties can provide a clearer picture of what goes on below the surface. Understanding the influence of land covers and soil management allow for better understanding of how the soil ecosystem works which in return provides insight into how to create a more sustainable form of agriculture. Different ecosystems greatly impact soil properties. Soil physical properties are considered sensitive indicators of perturbation due to soil management practices and land covers. The four ecosystems that were …

Effects Of Stream Degradation On Ecosystem Function Are Mediated By Local Microbial And Macroinvertebrate Leaf Litter Processing, Carla Rothenbuecher

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Riparian areas are fundamental to aquatic ecosystems by regulating temperature and light regimes, and providing allochthonous subsidies critical to the survival of aquatic and terrestrial species. On a global scale, increased rates of anthropogenic disturbance from agricultural activities and urbanization have caused the degradation of aquatic habitats. As a result, billions of dollars have been spent on stream restoration projects to protect aquatic resources; however, fundamental ecosystem processes like litter decomposition are rarely addressed. We conducted a litterbag experiment in a degraded high desert stream proposed for large-scale restoration to test the effects of reach location, canopy cover, and temperature …

Synthesis And Properties Of Bisimidazolium And Poly(Ethylene Glycol)-Containing Michael Addition Polyester Networks, Joshua Allan Dippie

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) have been examined in recent years for applications in various technologies, including solid-state lithium ion batteries and gas separation membranes. In this work, a series of bisimidazolium-containing, Michael addition donors were synthesized and used to produce a series of covalently crosslinked PIL polyester networks containing bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide as the counteranion. Within the series, the length of alkyl spacer between the two imidazolium cations and the diacrylate to acetoacetate monomer ratio were varied in an attempt to correlate structural variations with the thermal, mechanical, and conductive properties of the PILs. Keeping the diacrylate to acetoacetate ratio constant, increasing the …

The Relationship Of Impulsivity To Eating Behaviors And Alcohol Consumption, Megan J. Newkirk

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Previous research has discovered a significant relationship between problematic eating disorder behaviors and alcohol consumption among women. Within this relationship, past studies have found that impulsivity significantly influences the correlation between these behaviors. The primary aim of the present study was to determine if impulsivity influences the relationship between bingeing behavior and alcohol consumption as well as the relationship between purging behavior and alcohol consumption while using a behavioral measure for impulsivity. Participants included 62 undergraduate females who were recruited from Murray State University. The results indicated that there was not a significant correlation between bingeing behavior and alcohol …

My Assumption Is This, Alex Blonder

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

My Assumption Is This. A collection of poems that explore moments of ordinary life in an effort to understand the pieces of human experience.

Let’S Play! A Study Examining The Acceptability Of Cross-Gender Play Of Children, Angela R. Youngs

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine parental preference regarding their children and gender-specific and gender-neutral toys. More specifically, to examine some factors that may impact parents’ preferences regarding the types of toys their child chooses. The factors of interest used in the present study include general demographics (e.g., gender, age, etc.), gender role perceptions, religiosity, and level of conservatism. Participants were gathered from a survey-taking website. The sample consisted of 88 parents (43 female, 43 male, and 2 who chose not to identify) whose ages ranged from 22 to 62 (M = 31.82, SD = 6.95). Each …

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 31, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 30, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 29, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 28, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 26-27, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 24, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 23, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 22, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 21, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 19-20, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 18, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 17, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 16, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 15, 2015, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.