Digital Commons Network^™

Assessment: Looking For The Stories Behind The Numbers, Ellen Neuhaus

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Uni Grad Student News, V18n4, May 2020, University Of Northern Iowa. Graduate College.

UNI Grad Student News

Inside This Issue:
--Message from the Dean
--Tips for Successful Virtual Learning
--Graduate Student Chatter
--Faculty Profile
--Student Profile
--Alumni Profile
--Department of Social Work Award Winners
--Graduate Faculty and Student Award Winners
--UNLV Outstanding Teaching by Part-Time Faculty Award Recipient
--Graduate Assistant First Award Winners
--Congratulations Graduates!
--Research Resources
--Summer Activities

Library Connection, V7n2, Spring 2020, University Of Northern Iowa. Rod Library.

Library Connection

Contents:

--Theresa Westbrock Named New Dean of Library Services
--Responding to COVID-19 #unitogether
--Student Highlight: Sarah Fluegel

Uni Scholarworks Readership Snapshot, May 2020, Bepress

Library Documents & Reports (entire collection)

No abstract provided.

"Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses Yearning To Breathe Free": A Case Study Analysis Of U.S. Immigration Policy And Public Perceptions Of Latin American Immigrants, Erin Thomason

Honors Program Theses

Through this analysis, I hope to shed light on how public perceptions of Latin American immigrants can impact United States immigration policy, and likewise, how changes in United States immigration policy can alter how Americans view Latin American immigrants. My findings may provide some explanation for how we have arrived in the state we are in today, with a president who has pledged to build a wall between ourselves and our southern neighbor, even going so far as to declare a national emergency at the border; a deadlocked Congress unable to pass any sort of protections for Dreamers, despite bipartisan …

Meet Your Audience Where They Are: The Dissemination And Reception Of Political Messaging Among Young Voters [Paper], Bailey Marie Caskey

Honors Program Theses

In an ever-changing media environment and growing influence of young voters, creating and disseminating messages that will reach this intended audience is a complicated and difficult task for political campaigns. Social and new media changes with each election cycle, so following standards of the most previous campaign is following an outdated strategy which may not break through in the newest media environment. With an increasing interest in strategies to reach young voters in the electorate, political campaigns and their candidates are disseminating messages online and on social media, where an increasingly large number of the voting bloc is getting their …

On The Zeta Kirchhoff Index Of Several Graph Transformations, Danny Cheuk

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In this paper, we first derived the Ihara zeta function, complexity and zeta Kirchhoff index of the k-th semitotal point graph (of regular graphs), a construction by Cui and Hou [5], where we create triangles for every edge in the original graph. Then, we extend the construction to the creation of equilaterals and polygons.

We also derived the zeta Kirchhoff indices for numerous graph transformations on regular graphs, and some selected families of graphs.

At the end, a data summary is provided for enumeration computed on simple connected md2 graphs up to degree 10.

A Master's Recital In Conducting, Meredith Kay Tipping

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Meredith Tipping’s Master of Music Recital in conducting was scheduled for April 28th, 2020, at 7:30 pm in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Art Center’s Great Hall with the University of Northern Iowa Wind Ensemble. The recital was presented in partial fulfillment of a Master of Music in conducting. The program consisted of four contrasting pieces from the wind band repertoire: Novorossiisk Chimes by Dmitri Shostakovich, Pageant by Vincent Persichetti, Letter from Sado by Jodie Blackshaw, and Paris Sketches by Martin Ellerby.

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter, May 2020, University Of Northern Iowa. Iowa Waste Reduction Center.

Iowa Waste Reduction Center Newsletter

Contents:

--- Brewery Certification Program Highlighted in SevenFifty Daily Article
--- IWRC Student Recognized in "InsideUNI"
--- Iowa Strategic Goals Program Webinars for June
--- Minor Source Emissions Inventory Assistance - New Deadline
--- Industry News

Testing The Effects Of Mindfulness Meditation In Reducing Music Performance Anxiety As Measured By Cortisol And Self-Report, Anya E. Shorey

Honors Program Theses

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a debilitating and career-threatening phenomenon that occurs for many musicians in a public performance setting. As a hormonal measure of stress, cortisol has been shown to increase in musicians who are about to perform in front of an audience. It is important to study ways to keep stress within an optimal range before public performance to help musicians keep their cognitions, behaviors, and autonomic arousal at levels that help rather than hinder their performance. Mindfulness in the form of a brief guided meditation and as yoga has been shown to reduce self-reported anxiety in musicians. …

Literature Review: The Role Of Inflammatory Biomarkers In The Connections Between Sleep And Chronic Health Conditions, Madeline Walker

Honors Program Theses

Decades of research has shown that sleep plays a vital role in our health, and disruptions in sleep can have long term detrimental effects on our lives (Yoo, 2007). The recommended amount of sleep by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) for adults is between 7-9 hours each night (NSF, 2020). It is common knowledge that too few hours of sleep are unhealthy, but scientists are only beginning to understand the mechanisms that explain the connections between sleep patterns and health outcomes (CDC, 2011). Additionally, recent research has shown that excess sleep can be just as detrimental, if not more, to …

Perceptions Of Dementia In Faith-Based Organizations, Megan Elizabeth Kooker

Honors Program Theses

Dementia is a public health concern. The number of people who will have some form of dementia is expected to rise in the coming years (Brookmeyer, 2011). Around 50 million people have dementia worldwide. Every year, this number increases by about 10 million (World Health Organization, 2019). Because this is such a prevalent issue, each part of the community should be educated about dementia as well as how to best interact with people living with dementia (PLWD). In order to educate these individual community sectors, it is important to first research the existing perceptions about dementia among the community. Faith …

Role Of Guns In Child Mortality, Alexandria Bibbs

Honors Program Theses

Gun ownership is a topic which sparks controversy, regardless of what side a person is on. It is something that tends to elicit strong emotion from the public and is a prominent part of American society. But, with freedoms come responsibilities and that leaves room for risk. High levels of gun access and availability have resulted in a high level of gun-related incidents in the United States above other countries around the globe. Unfortunately, young children are a population included in the victims of gun mortality. This thesis analyzes all recorded gun-related deaths of children ages 0 -11 years old …

The Impact Of School-Based Mindfulness Programs On The Externalizing Behavior Of Students, Madison Ruhlmann

Honors Program Theses

Interventions involving mindfulness in schools are becoming increasingly commonplace. Mindfulness is a way of directing attention towards the present moment without passing judgement, and has been adapted as a psychological treatment over the past forty years. The goal of this review is to summarize how schools have used interventions featuring mindfulness; and particularly the impact on externalizing behavior in the classroom. Online database search techniques were utilized in the collection and analysis of these studies. The findings of this review show that mindfulness interventions may be valuable in the reduction of externalizing behavior in the classroom, but the current research …

The Presentation Of Race At Mark Twain Historical Sites In Hannibal, Missouri, Anthony Wayne Birch

Graduate Research Papers

Hannibal, Missouri may not be among the top five or even the top three places to visit, but it is surely getting its share of tourist and revenue. Each year an estimated 350,000 tourists from across the United States and many from around the world visit Hannibal, Missouri to pay homage at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum Annex. The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum is located on 206-208 Hill Street, and has been accessible to the public as a museum since 1912, and has been registered as a National Historic Landmark since December 29, 1962.¹ In …

Richard Walther Darré, National Socialism, And Bauernpolitik, Andrew P. Harnois

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Richard Walther Darré joined the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1930 at the behest of Adolf Hitler and was Germany’s Reichsminister of Agriculture from 1933 to 1942. Darré was recruited by Hitler because of his Blood and Soil ideology. This ideology was peasant-centric and argued that the German peasant embodied the ideal racial form and pushed for a rebirth of German agriculture.

This thesis examines the career of Richard Walther Darré and focuses on two questions: first, what role did Darré’s Blood and Soil ideology play in his rise and removal from power; and, second, does Darré’s fall from …

An Empirical Analysis On Major League Soccer Player Earnings, Aaron Michael Anderson Iehl

Honors Program Theses

Application of economic and statistical techniques to the sports world has been on the rise for some time. The major sports in the United States (football, basketball, baseball, and hockey) have been thoroughly studied. However, professional soccer in the United States has emerged as a strong sports market in the last 20 years. This paper applies a statistical technique used by Lucifora and Simmons (2003) on an Italian professional soccer league to examine determinants of professional soccer player wages and assess the overall value added. The model is applied to Major League Soccer to determine how the different league structure …

The Influence Of State Political Orientation On Firm Environmental Practices, Trisha Coberly

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the correlation between the political environment of the state where a company is headquartered and the implementation of environmentally sustainable practices. Additionally, I add firm specific factors as moderating variables to see if they will positively or negatively influence this relationship. Although there is an abundance of research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its effects on firm performance this paper will look more narrowly at the environmental aspect of CSR and use state political orientation as the independent variable with firm characteristics acting as the moderating variables. Our results conclude that …

Determinants Of Long-Term Care Insurance: Are Spouses Substitutes?, Jacob Harold-Matthew Haag

Honors Program Theses

As the U.S. population continues to age due to medical advancements and the aging of the largest generation in the history of the U.S. (baby boomers), the number of people in long-term care facilities has increased significantly; however, the percentage of people with long-term care insurance is small. Research conducted in the early 2000s focused on factors such as availability of children, risk aversion, health status, age, having Medicaid, and other variables that describe personal attributes to explain why the market is so small. This paper will use recent data from the Health and Retirement Study to determine whether or …

Frauds In K-12 School Districts, Cassandra Lorraine Zinnel

Honors Program Theses

When a child is dropped off at school, thinking a fraud could happen would be the farthest thing from one’s mind. This paper will be examining school frauds happening in five different states to see any trends within the data. The investigated trends included how the frauds were discovered, how the patterns of cases looked in the last 15 years, and which controls were defective that allowed the fraud to occur. The paper analyzes the state auditor reports from several states dealing with school frauds. This paper will demonstrate an understanding of why school frauds happen and why they happen …

Graduate Recital In Violin, Bethany Washington

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Bethany Washington scheduled her graduate violin recital for March 27, 2020 at 6PM with pianist Dr. Vakhtang Kodanashvili. Due to COVID-19 quarantine regulations, she met the alternative requirements provided by her graduate committee instead of presenting a live recital. The repertoire selected for her recital included Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BVW 1003 by Johann Sebastian Bach, Graceful Ghost Rag by William Bolcom, Sonata No 5 in F Major by Ludwig van Beethoven, and Resurrection Prelude and Rondo by Denzel Washington. These works were selected not only because they cover a wide range of musical genres and styles, but …

Prompted Reflective Thinking And Implications For Mathematics Teacher Efficacy In An Elementary Mathematics Methods Course, Brooke Krejci

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Although student-centered mathematics instruction, rooted in constructivism (NCTM, 2014), enhances students’ deep understanding of mathematics, many teachers fail to implement this approach, continuing to use more traditional, procedural instruction (Paolucci, 2015). One reason for these difficulties may be related to their teaching selfefficacy, or a person’s beliefs about their ability to complete a task. Wyatt’s (2016) expanded teacher self-efficacy model incorporates the reflective cycle and emphasizes the importance of reflection in the development of teacher self-efficacy.

This study explored whether encouraging reflection in pre-service teachers may indirectly increase their use of student-centered methods in mathematics by increasing their self-efficacy. The …

Vietnam: A Soldier's Story, Ryan Charles Villarreal

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Vietnam era was highly turbulent. Both in the United States and around the world. It was called the turbulent 60s for a reason. This is a story not about politics, military tactics, or the history of American involvement in Southeast Asia. This is a narrative that talks about the American soldier who went to Vietnam. It is important to understand who they were, why they went there, and what happened to them in Vietnam. It is duly important to comprehend their returns home. Therefore, this is a blend of social and cultural history that tells a story about Vietnam, …

Treatment Of Proximal Hamstring Tendinopathy With Active Release Technique In Collegiate Track Athletes: A Case Series, Madison Hagedorn

Honors Program Theses

It is imperative that healthcare professionals implement evidence-based practice into their professional practice to provide the best patient-centered care. Evidence-based practice is a systematic approach to making decisions about patient care that includes patients’ preferences and values, clinical expertise acquired through clinical experience and practice, and relevant research evidence in making decisions about patient care. A common challenging condition for clinicians to treat is a chronic injury. Proximal hamstring tendinopathy (PHT) is a common chronic condition among running athletes that is often characterized by pain in the upper hamstring or buttocks during repetitive activities. Proximal hamstring tendinopathy is typically treated …

Hi God: An Autoethnography Of Loneliness In Graduate School, Grace Elisabeth Mertz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

I may have started college too early. My fifteen-year-old homeschooled mind could not have predicted the identity shift that higher education would demand of me. I did not expect academia to be filled with people who shared my background and beliefs, but I was, in many ways, unprepared for the way my Christianity would be challenged in the classroom and in my professors’ offices. After seven years of education within the structures of academia, I certainly have not lost my faith, but the way I think about, talk about, and practice it has tangibly changed. The questions I ask of …

Effects Of A Sport Nutrition Education Intervention On Nutritional Knowledge, Dietary Behaviors, And Self-Efficacy In Ncaa Division I Softball Players, Kylie Wilson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Optimal nutrition is vital in sport. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a sport nutrition education intervention (SNEI) on nutritional knowledge, dietary behaviors, nutritional self-efficacy, body composition, and performance in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female softball players, and to measure retention and effects of this knowledge after the SNEI period. Seven participants were assessed using a Dietary Behaviors and Nutritional Knowledge questionnaire, Self-Efficacy questionnaire, BodPod measurement, exit velocity, and weekly intention surveys. Two-way mixed repeated ANOVAs were used to determine the impact of a five-week SNEI on an intervention group as compared to …

Indices Of Metabolic Stress Following Resistance Exercise, Steven Alexander Long

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was twofold: 1). to evaluate the metabolic responses to varying volume load (VL), manipulated through relative training intensity and 2). to evaluate the metabolic response to training via direct and indirect methods to assess the application potential of non-invasive methods. Recreationally trained male weight lifters (n = 11) volunteered to participate in this resistance training (RT) study. During three separate testing sessions, participants completed three sets of repetitions of the barbell bicep curl exercise to technical failure with short inter-set rest intervals (60 seconds). Participants were randomly assigned one of three training intensities immediately prior …

An Exploration In Ramsey Theory, Jake Weber

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

We present several introductory results in the realm of Ramsey Theory, a subfield of Combinatorics and Graph Theory. The proofs in this thesis revolve around identifying substructure amidst chaos. After showing the existence of Ramsey numbers of two types, we exhibit how these two numbers are related. Shifting our focus to one of the Ramsey number types, we provide an argument that establishes the exact Ramsey number for h(k, 3) for k ≥ 3; this result is the highlight of this thesis. We conclude with facts that begin to establish lower bounds on these types of Ramsey …

Pluralistic Ignorance Of Campus Norms, Evan Stilgenbauer

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Changes on college campuses and movements such as #MeToo have highlighted problem behaviors such as sexual assault. Many problems and behaviors related to and including sexual assault can be attributed to misperceptions of norms and peer beliefs, which can lead individuals to act in ways they would not normally condone. It is unclear whether #MeToo or other changes over time may have affected perceptions of norms and their relation to problematic behaviors that perpetuate sexual assault.

There were three goals for the current study. My first goal was to assess the difference among perceived norms and actual norms in a …

Challenging Social Systems Under The Threat Of Pollution: Replication And Extension Of Eadeh And Chang (2019), Dylan J. Pieper

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

I replicated and extended Eadeh and Chang (2019; Study 2) who found that reading a story about pollution harming a child increased self-reported liberalism and increased support for environmental regulation policies through greater negative affect (i.e., anger and disgust) (Hypothesis 1). Eadeh and Chang’s (2019) threat-affordance model posits that perceived threat can increase greater support for liberalism or greater support for conservatism, depending on the type of threat. In contrast, Jost and colleagues’ (2003) system justification theory posits that perceived threat asymmetrically predicts greater support for conservatism and greater systemsupporting collective action. This article advances a synthesis of these two …