Digital Commons Network^™

Kalamazoo Wings Student Participation Campaign, Kelly Hughes

Honors Theses

This public relations campaign is to increase participation of Western Michigan University students at Kalamazoo Wings hockey games. The *millennial audience represents 25-30% of many professional sports teams’ overall revenue base (Fisher 2015). Western Michigan University students have low participation at Kalamazoo Wings hockey games since they do not even make up 1% of the fans that attend Kalamazoo Wings games. The campaign goal is to increase participation of Western Michigan University students at Kalamazoo Wings hockey games by 25% by May 2018. *Millennial: A person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century.

My research has indicated that the …

Sensory Interfaces: Intelligent Surgical Box Trainer, Krystal York

Honors Theses

The Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) box trainer currently offers medical students the opportunity to practice their dexterity with laparoscopic surgical tools and accustom themselves to the disconnect between their actions and their visible frame of reference. However, at this stage the box trainer offers few ways to test, practice, or improve upon important factors in laparoscopic surgery including disturbance of and pressure applied to patient tissue. The purpose of this project was to add sensory interfaces to the FLS box trainer to offer more concrete feedback for medical students practicing the required tasks, consolidate the information gathered by the …

What Roles Does Food Sovereignty Play In Exposing The Consequences Of Globalization, And In Conveying Solutions To The Consequences Of Globalization Pertaining To Food Access In West Africa And U.S. Midwest?, Nia Evans

Honors Theses

The social problem being studied is food access in the U.S. Midwest in comparison to food access in Western Africa. In the Midwest U.S., there is a problem of food deserts. There are primarily urban areas where there is a lack of physical access to healthy foods because there is a lack of stores or vendors that sell it. An investigation exposed whether or not the same problem exists in Western Africa. The research question is the following: What role does food sovereignty play in exposing the consequences of globalization, and in conveying solutions to the consequences of globalization in …

Trends In U.S. Tea Imports: 1991-2015, Evan Kennedy

Honors Theses

Tea is the second most popular beverage in the world, and over the past two decades it has experienced a newfound popularity in the United States. Over this time period, ready-to-drink and loose-leaf tea has increased in popularity, whereas tea bags and instant tea declined in popularity. Since the United States produces almost no tea itself, an increase in consumption requires increased imports. Therefore, this paper examines U.S. import trends as a means to begin an examination of consumption. Ten countries (Argentina, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam) provide approximately 80% of the …

Western Michigan University’S Department Of Dance Marketing Plan, Cassandra Hartline

Honors Theses

The following report constitutes the formal marketing plan for the department of dance at Western Michigan University. This plan is intended to synthesize all of the marketing related information pertinent to Western’s dance department and provide easy one step access to this material at any time. The other purpose of this plan is to dictate the primary objectives the department is looking to accomplish through implementation of marketing tactics.

The first primary objective includes increasing visibility of the department of dance as a whole to both our primary and secondary target audiences; the second objective is to create innovative marketing …

Black Women As Scapegoats: The Mass Incarceration Of Black Men And The Social Stigma Of The Welfare Queen, Keiondra J. Grace, Olivia M. Mclaughlin

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

In popular and academic discourse, African American women are regarded as the source of all social ills within the inner-city. This has become increasingly true in the era of mass incarceration, resultant of the War on Drugs. While Black men are portrayed as violent criminals, Black women are portrayed as the drug addicted, welfare queens they left behind. This trend can be explained, in part, by the actions of politicians and researchers who appear to remain ignorant to the importance of recognizing social structures such as gender, race, and class. We argue that Black single mothers, some of the most …

Enhance A Deep Neural Network Model For Twitter Sentiment Analysis By Incorporating A User-Level Information, Ahmed Sulaiman M Alharbi

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Most existing sentiment classification methods for social media focus on document-level classification. They utilize local text information and ignore the crucial characteristic information of users. These methods usually suffer from high model complexity and only exhibit word-level preference.

Therefore, motivated by the successful utilization of deep neural networks in computer vision, speech recognition and natural language processing and their ability of learning in multi-prospective ways, a neural network based sentiment analysis model is proposed to incorporate user-level information into sentiment classification.

By user-level information we mean information extracted or inferred from the user that helps the proposed model to engage …

Western News, April 13, 2017, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Economist; labor expert is new WMU president, WMU; K College grant bolsters Asia-related classes, Theatre professor wins NEH grant, Counselor earns local NAACP award, Arbor Day to salute Dunns, Spring semester Make a Difference winners to be feted at April 17 reception, On Campus with Chris Hummel, Honorary degree to be awarded to Antonio Flores

Encore Dance Costume Rental: A Business Plan, Aubrey Utting

Honors Theses

Dance can be very expensive to participate in. One of the things making dance expensive is the high prices of dance costumes. Encore Dance Costume Rental helps solve the problem of expensive dance costumes by using a rental business model instead of traditional dance costume sales. This business plan details how this business will operate and create value for its customers.

Communicator, April 2017, Western Michigan University

Communicator: School of Communication Newsletter

• Sports Media students getting real-world experience with ESPN3
• J Gabriel Ware, a School of Communication undergraduate alum and current MA student, is one of the summer 2017 Chips Quinn Scholars
• WMU journalism students take over Encore

Connections, 04/2017, College Of Health And Human Services

College of Health and Human Services Newsletter

• Professor receives Society for Public Health Education Technology Award
• Occupational therapy students win prestigious awards
• BLVS faculty contribute to core text for their field
• College-wide scholarships awarded for 2017-18
• CHHS is 'Biggest Loser' in Michigan Battle of Buildings
• Western Regional AHEC and CHHS Immersion Days
• WMU to hold Foster Care Awareness Walk May 20

The Socializer-Spring 2017, Department Of Sociology

The Socializer

Spring 2017 Sociology departmental newsletter.

College Of Arts And Sciences: Spring 2017, College Of Arts And Sciences

College of Arts and Sciences news

• Collegiate Pathways program allows students to earn the full Chinese language minor offered by WMU while still enrolled in high school.
• With six Fulbright scholars, four of whom are Arts and Sciences faculty, WMU is hailed as a top producer among the nation's research universities.
• Dr. Jeffrey Angles, professor of Japanese, is one of only a handful of non-native speakers ever to win Japan's Yomiuri Prize for Literature.
• Sports media students are getting real-world experience with ESPN3.
• Alum featured in CBS show: Dr. Jim Olson (B.S. '84, Biomedical Sciences) "lights up" brain tumors so neurosurgeons can see cancer.

April 2017, Global News, Haenicke Institute

Global News

• Governor, honorary degree recipient highlight WMU commencement
• Screening, performance set for world premiere of 'Spirit Moves'
• WMU, K College grant to bolster Asian language and culture classes
• U.C.-Davis prof to focus on economic impact of immigration in Sichel talk
• Take advantage of global engagement opportunities in May
• Experience Chinese culture by taking a class this summer

The Unifying Power Of Education, Keagan Potts, Jenji Learn

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

• Without Expertise or Experience: Philosophizing When Your Students Know You Know Nothing
• Segregated Students — Segregated Society: The Primacy of Education in Ending Hate
• Combatting Emerging Resegregation: Teaching Those in Power to Empower

Good Looking In The Dark: A Narrative Across Three Mediums, Aimee J. Valentine

Dissertations

Good Looking in the Dark: A Narrative Across Three Mediums is a single story presented in three distinct formats: short story, stage drama, and graphic narrative. This project is an exploration of the creative process and its relation to medium, reader anticipation, participation and response. Reflecting my position that narrative meaning is made primarily in the dark space of the reader’s mind, the story selected for this project is one that takes place almost entirely in the dark. In Good Looking in the Dark, two strangers are locked in a closet and engage one another without seeing the other—just …

From Descendants Of Refugees To First-Generation College Students: The Untold Story Of Southeast Asian American College Students’ Lived Experience, Vunsin Hiew Doubblestein

Dissertations

Aggregate data on Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) may show APAs to have exceptionally high educational attainment and economic mobility compared to other racial groups (Museus & Buenavista, 2016). In reality, various APA sub-groups face significant obstacles to academic access and success and are found at both the highest and lowest levels of the achievement, as well as educational attainment and income spectrums. In spite of the growing awareness of and scholarship on the complexity of APA student experience in higher education, there is limited research on Southeast Asian Americans (SEAAs) who have come to the U.S. as refugees, the circumstances …

Justice Involved Veterans’ Post-Release Employment-Related Experiences, James L. Dawson

Dissertations

In 2010, the cost to U.S. taxpayers was $39 billion to incarcerate individuals in State and Federal Correctional facilities. A sub-population of these prisoners is those that have served in the U.S. military, or “Justice Involved Veterans” (JIVs). Many Veterans are eligible for federal and state funds for Career Tech. Education to assist them with obtaining employment, which research shows often contributes to keeping them from re-offending. However, recent studies of employment after prison have all been quantitative investigations that do not incorporate the voices of JIVs describing their experiences in depth. Bush’s (2011), and Bolman and Deal’s (2008) theories …

Western Michigan University Magazine, Spring 2017, Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University Magazine (1997-present)

• A Students’ Prez. A Big-idea Leader. A Dunn Deal. Because of President John M. Dunn, WMU moves into the future with an international reputation for student success, valuable partnerships, innovation and sustainability. His July retirement marks the culmination of a productive presidency.
• Welcome, Dr. Montgomery: Noted public policy expert is WMU’s ninth leader
• Degreed to Succeed: Our latest postgraduate success rate: 92 percent
• Can Biologists Cure What’s Ailing Bats?: A seemingly unstoppable fungus has killed millions
• Archaeological Aspirations: Unearthed Scholarship winner digs into her ambitions
• Foiling Fake News: Catch the untrue before it catches you
• Public Health Defenders: New public …

Timelines And Trade Chat: Comparing Contextual Self-Disclosure And Perceived Social Capital On Social Networking Sites And Massively Multiplayer Online Games, Ryan P. Castillo

Masters Theses

This study examines the associations between usage intensity, user motivations, and contextual self-disclosure, and social capital on two popular online mediums, Facebook and World of Warcraft. Contributing to the efforts of previous research, which has found both online gaming communities and social networking sites to positively affect access to informational and social support, this analysis shows that intimate self-disclosure in each online medium differs not only in context, but in its impact on dimensions of social capital, and that the various effects of self-disclosure on social capital can be attributed to differences in communicative affordances and community held standards of …

Women’S Role In Their Reproductive Process: The Effects Of Authoritative Knowledge And Biomedical Interventions On The American Birth Experience, Shannon Sheffey

Masters Theses

The primary focus of this study is to analyze the effects of authoritative knowledge and biomedical interventions on women’s role within their reproductive process as it occurs within the US.I explore the technological advances surrounding childbirth practices within the United States and how through this technology, biomedical forms of authoritative knowledge of birth practices have developed and how these changes have benefitted as well as hindered women. Through interviews and interactions with mothers and pregnant women I evaluate how medical interventions emotionally and physically affect women; evaluate the necessity of increasing technological interventions as opposed to low technology midwifery assisted …

Biosorption Of Pharmaceuticals And Noble Metals Nanoparticles By Algal Turf Communities, Haider Abid Faraj

Dissertations

Pharmaceuticals and nanoparticles are increasingly released into the aquatic ecosystem, while removing these contaminants from waters can be challenging. This study explores the use of periphytic algal turf communities to remove these contaminants. Initially algal turfs from different locations and aquatic systems were analyzed for pharmaceuticals commonly observed in wastewater outflows. Lab-grown turfs were exposed to a mixture of six representative pharmaceuticals of different functionality (acid, base, neutral and steroidal). Analysis of water column and the algal biomass showed pharmaceutical removal rates varied, specific to each pharmaceutical. Caffeine and estradiol had the highest removal rates while carbamazepine was not removed. …

Home Literacy Practices: A Focus On Dominican Families, Susan E. Pendleton

Masters Theses

The majority of the current research regarding the home literacies that families employ to help their children become literate are explored through North American family structures. For this reason, there is a lack of knowledge about what Dominican families, a subgroup within the Latino culture, do at home to assist their children in their literacy acquisition in the Dominican Republic. This qualitative research study provides insight as to what literacy practices take place within the Dominican household. I gathered pertinent information from 10 Dominican participants using a semi-structured interview so literacy practices could be revealed. Findings from this research indicate …

The Effects Of Feedback Modality On Performance, Garrett D. Warrilow

Masters Theses

Giving employees information about their performance is a common method for employers seeking to improve or change performance. With the popularity of the internet and computers feedback today is often provided through emails, text messages, and video meetings. While feedback has continued to evolve within and across organizations little has been done to assess the impact its delivery through various modalities has. This study explored and evaluated the relationship between the modality which objective feedback is delivered, and the differential effects it produced on performance of a check entering task. This experiment was a laboratory study employing a between-group repeated …

Alaska Native Artifacts; Eskimos And Aleuts Of The Bering Sea Rhythm Of The Sea Collection, Marcia Sue Taylor

Masters Theses

“Only his artifacts provide his earthly testimony” (Thiry 1977, p. 5). The purpose of the research is to catalogue Eskimo and Aleut artifacts that comprise an unprovenienced (anonymous) collection in the Anthropology Department at Western Michigan University, and provide a corresponding ethnography. This will be accomplished in two ways: (1) a museum curation project, and (2) an ethnographic study that will focus on cultural synthesis within the parameters of artistic styles of harpoon head artifacts and geography as these pertain to the artifacts and their distribution. Analysis of the collection’s harpoon heads will provide both artistic and inventive evidence of …

Anything But Race: Content Analysis Of Racial Discourse, Christopher Smith

Masters Theses

This research adds to previous scholarship on colorblind racism which investigates the ways in which students at Western Michigan University use new language compared to the Jim Crow past to defend or challenge the modern racial order in the United States. Using data collected from 15 voluntary participants I conducted a content analysis of participant’s responses to questions regarding race and racism with the purpose of demonstrating the use of colorblind racism or the challenge to the dominant racial order.

Evaluation Of Non-Ionic Surfactants With And Without Hydrogen Peroxide For The In-Situ Remediation Of Napl Contaminants, Charles E. Holada

Masters Theses

Laboratory studies were conducted on Quillaja saponins and nine other surfactants commonly used to remove non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) from soils and aquifers. The NAPL contaminant tested was diesel fuel. Static batch reactors containing an aged diesel-contaminated soil was treated with saponins and nine other commercially available surfactants to determine how much diesel fuel could be removed with the pore fluids after 1 day and 10 days of contact time. Of all the surfactants tested, saponins achieved the greatest removal of diesel fuel after 1 day and 10 days. There was large disparity in the diesel fuel removed by the …

Interpersonal Impressions Of Emoji Use In Computer-Mediated Decision Making, Austin Jonathan Beattie

Masters Theses

Text-messaging is among the most popular forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC). However, the lack of most nonverbal cues in text-messaging interaction limits communication in certain contexts. Some recent innovations, such as emoji, attempt to enhance nonverbal limitations in text messaging. However, despite ample scholarship in text messaging, nonverbal communication, and CMC, a smaller body of research explores their intersections. This study reviews literature in these areas and, through the lens of Media Richness Theory, offers several hypotheses regarding the effects of emoji on interpersonal impressions in a decision-making scenario. It then experimentally tests and quantitatively measures how emoji usage in …

Coming To The United States: An Exploration Of Third Culture Building Processes Emerging From University Sponsored International/Host-National Student Interactions, Margaret E. Baker

Masters Theses

International students studying in the United States encounter a number of challenges that affect their ability to achieve their academic and social goals. These changes and acculturative pressures often influence their psychosocial wellbeing and factor into their satisfaction in their experiences abroad. Forming relationships with host-national students aids international students in their adjustment to life in the U. S. and influences their satisfaction and success both in and out of the classroom. This qualitative study analyzes third culture relationships as well as the challenges to their formation and the negotiations necessary for the relationship’s continued survival. This project explores the …

Veterans’ Satisfaction With Veterans’ Administration Healthcare Systems, Dale Arnold

Masters Theses

There are currently over 600,000 veterans in the State of Michigan served by only five Veterans’ Administration Medical Centers. These medical centers are not evenly distributed throughout the state with the majority located in the southernmost portion of the state. There necessarily will be a number of veterans for which it is unreasonable to travel to these medical centers to receive care to which they are entitled. This research will investigate the number of veterans that are currently required to drive excessive distances to receive adequate care under the present system, and to possibly suggest solutions to the current situation.