Digital Commons Network^™

Grey/Yellow, C. Charles Bley

The Laureate

No abstract provided.

A Mosaic Of Creativity In Occupational Therapy, Molly Bathje

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Martha Branson-Banks, OT, provided the cover art for the summer 2014 issue of the Open Journal of Occupational Therapy. The piece is titled “Garden with thanks to Klimt” and is one of several mosaic art pieces in her collection of works. She created the piece with art glass and resin on an abandoned door. Her use of a repurposed door represents her belief in the capacity for transformation and beauty within each individual she has treated and taught throughout her career. Martha’s work as an occupational therapist, educator, and artist reminds us of the foundational beliefs of the occupational …

Impact Of International Collaborative Project On Cultural Competence Among Occupational Therapy Students, Divya Sood, Danila Cepa, Sebestina Anita Dsouza, Shovan Saha, Ruby Aikat, Alicia Tuuk

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy (OT) educators recognize a need to ensure that OT students are culturally competent. The researchers developed the International Collaborative Project on Cultural Competence (ICPCC) to help students understand the impact of cultural context on client care. Entry-level MOT students from a university in the US (N = 18) collaborated with BOT students (N = 4) and advanced MOT students (N = 9) from two universities in India using an online course management system WebCT. The study explored the impact of the ICPCC on OT students’ cultural competence and discusses students’ perceptions of culture on the OT process. The …

The Relationship Between Admission Criteria And Fieldwork Performance In A Masters-Level Ot Program: Implications For Admissions, Molly Bathje, Rebecca Ozelie, Elisabeth Deavila

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy (OT) graduate programs strive to produce an effective OT workforce with competent and engaged OT practitioners. Admission into OT graduate programs is an increasingly competitive process, with most programs having more applicants than spaces available. Programs need to select applicants that will be the most successful in meeting graduation requirements, including both academic and clinical components. This pilot study was designed to examine the relationship between admission criteria and fieldwork (FW) performance. The study utilized a retrospective analysis with a convenience sample of 108 students with complete data from a private university in the Midwest. Independent variables of …

Editor's Note, Caitlin Popa

The Laureate

No abstract provided.

The Laureate, 9th Edition (2010)

The Laureate

The Laureate’s mission is to provide undergraduate students at Western Michigan University a place in which to publish their works of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and other creative works. The Laureate strives to be a professional and engaging journal that appeals to all.

Fort St. Joseph Post - Summer 2014, Department Of Anthropology

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Vol 5, No. 1 Table of Contents:

• Letter from the Project Director
• Field Season Summary
• Public Outreach
• Ongoing Research
• Project History and Highlights
• Alumni Updates
• Recent Outcomes
• Connecting the Past to the Present
• Conference Information

Business Magazine (2014)

Haworth College of Business News

• Greetings from the Dean’s Office • Relationships Matter • Perspectives • In the Spotlight • Imagine the Possibilities • Valuable Partnerships • Focus on Faculty and Staff • Connectivity • Celebrating Alumni and Friends • Alumni and Businesses to Watch • Class Notes

Communicator Vol. 12, No. 1, Western Michigan University

Communicator: School of Communication Newsletter

In this issue:

• New Alumni Academy inductees announced

• Student collaborations in video media

• Faculty accomplishments and accolades

Cto Updates - July 2014, Office Of Information Technology

Tech Talk

• 24/7 Help Desk
• Banner upgrades
• D2L name change
• Degree Works upgrade
• Digital Badges
• GoWMU/Password security
• Media services business plan
• Web conferencing support
• Webmail Plus improvements

The Laureate, 3rd Edition (2004)

The Laureate

No abstract provided.

Sexism Across Musical Genres: A Comparison, Sarah Neff

Honors Theses

Music is a part of daily life for most people, leading the messages within music to permeate people’s consciousness. This is concerning when the messages in music follow discriminatory themes such as sexism or racism. Sexism in music is becoming well documented, but some genres are scrutinized more heavily than others. Rap and hip-hop get much more attention in popular media for being sexist than do genres such as country and rock. My goal was to show whether or not genres such as country and rock are as sexist as rap and hip-hop. In this project, I analyze the top …

Autism Funding News Conference With Representative Margaret O'Brien, John M. Dunn

WMU President John Dunn

No abstract provided.

The Dynamics Of Business Communication: A Look At Social Media Use In The Workplace, Lindsey Munro

Honors Theses

This paper reviews the use of social media in a work place setting. Reviews on the history of social media and definitions are initially made to prepare the reader for the language of the paper. The main section of the paper covers the advantages and disadvantages of social media use in the work place from the perspective of inside an organization using a private social media platform. Private social media platforms are referred to as enterprise social media. Enterprise social media has advantages and disadvantages when used for communication in team settings, for individual communication and learning, and for knowledge …

Cto Updates - June 2014, Office Of Information Technology

Tech Talk

• 24/7 Help Desk
• Banner and PeopleSoft
• Bronco NetID expirations
• Camtasia Relay (now called Techsmith Relay)
• Classroom technology
• Conference room technology
• EduCable upgrade
• GoWMU/Password security
• ImageNow and Banner Workflow support
• Labstats
• Networking and distributed services governance
• Novell
• Palo Alto Next Generation Firewall
• PaperCut
• Phishing website
• PRTG
• Remind101.com
• Research support
• Service alerts
• Web conferencing support

Starting A Charter School In Benton Harbor, Michigan, Donald W. Pearson

Masters Theses

This project investigates the process of starting a public school academy (i.e., charter school) in Benton Harbor, Michigan and completing the authorizing application. The dynamics of the project is documented in four phases. The first is the inquiry phase which is identifying, clarifying and documenting the problem. Phase two is designing a comprehension strategy in response to the problem. The third phase is implementing, creating and submitting a viable application for authorization to an educational institution and which is to be submitted to the Michigan State Department of Education for a charter school grant. The last phase of the project …

A Novel Silica-Based Nano Pigment As A Titanium Dioxide Replacement, Ryan Stoneburner

Masters Theses

This research focused on the evaluation of a new Silica-based pigment for the replacement of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) in paperboard coatings. The silica-based pigment has shown the ability to be a replacement in terms of functionality and runnability. TiO₂ is currently the highest opacifying pigment used in paper coatings, but it is also the most costly. Finding a less expensive pigment that doesn't reduce effectiveness is critical to reducing the cost of TiO₂ formulations. To evaluate the new pigment, coatings will be applied using a Cylindrical Laboratory Coater (CLC) with varying amounts of TiO₂ and …

Reassurance In Negative Space, Elizabyth A. Hiscox

Dissertations

This dissertation, Reassurance in Negative Space, is a poetry manuscript that deals with intersections of grief, gender, environment, and art in contemporary society. One of its guiding properties is an interest in the ekphrastic mode of composition: poetry in response to a work of visual art. American Hybrid poet-editor Cole Swensen discusses what has emerged as a new “hybrid” poetry that combines conventional approaches with more experimental forms; a stable first person narrator with fragmentation or juxtaposition, for example: “Hybrid poems often honor the avant-garde mandate to renew the forms and expand the boundaries of poetry—thereby increasing the expressive …

Like Oil And Water: How Federalism Muddies The Waters Of Interest Group Decision-Making, Melissa Shaffer-O’Connell

Dissertations

Federalism often creates additional decisions for interest groups in determining how best to advocate for their policy recommendations in the legislative process. Should they focus their advocacy at the local, state, or national level of government? What activities should they use at each level of government? This dissertation examines interest group behaviors in water quality policy in the Great Lakes region from 1940 to 2000, in oil policy in the Beaufort Sea region from 1970 to 2000, and in both policy areas in 2010-2013. I evaluate the reasons for interest group decisions in choice of tactics and targeted level of …

Biophysical Characterization Of The First Four Metal-Binding Domains Of Human Wilson Disease Protein, Alia V.H. Hinz

Dissertations

Wilson disease protein (WLNP) is a P_1b-type ATPase crucial for maintaining copper homeostasis in humans. Mutations in this protein result in the autosomal recessive disorder Wilson disease, a condition characterized by copper accumulation in the liver and brain. WLNP provides copper for incorporation into cuproproteins and exports excess copper into the bile for excretion. There are six metal-binding domains (MBDs) in WLNP, found within the first 650 amino acids of this 1,465 amino acid protein. Though each MBD has a different amino acid sequence, all MBDs possess a similar ferredoxin fold with a conserved hydrophobic core and a …

Wielding Eden: Early Modern Voices And The Appropriation Of Paradise, Adrienne Redding

Dissertations

This research considers images of gardens and the unavoidable connections such images have to the Garden of Eden. It investigates images of gardens in early modern England, as seen in three different categories of textual artifact: popular prose publications, dramatic texts, and the resurrected poetic epic. It investigates the construction of gender, observing how Edenic iconography functions both to support and to undermine the dominant ideology’s work to naturalize and universalize gender attributes and societal roles. This iconography, dependent upon a variety of interpretations of the first three books of Genesis, has been referenced (and continues to be referenced) by …

Connecting The Disciplinary Dots: Faculty Attitudes Toward The Professionalization Of Web Development, Kathleen Mary Kalata

Dissertations

Professionalization offers rewards such as prestige, financial benefits and autonomy. Fields such as nursing and social work have undergone the professionalization process. This exploratory study examined faculty attitudes regarding the professionalization of web development as defined by the Hall model of professionalism. The purpose of the study was to understand how faculty view web development as a profession. Based on the Hall’s Professionalism Scale (1968) and modified survey by Snizek (1972), the Web Development Professionalism Inventory (WDPI) was used to explore faculty attitudes toward professionalization.

This study surveyed faculty about their views on the structural and attitudinal components of web …

Of Tribes, Wars, And Jungles: A Study Of U.S.College Students’ Perceptions Of Africa And Africans, Seseer P. Mou

Masters Theses

This study examined American college students’ perceptions of Africans. Knowledge Gap and Systems Theory were applied to creating and discussing the research questions. Systems Theory addresses processes and levels of information transfer (Westley & Maclean, 1965). It requires an understanding of the sources, channels, messages, and the people who receive information in a communication encounter. Knowledge Gap Theory, on the other hand, states that when information circulates in a system, gaps in knowledge are formed and these gaps increase as more information enters the system (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1970). The results showed that consumption of radio and newspaper news, …

Informal Institutions And Women’S Rights In Afghanistan, Mariam Amiri

Masters Theses

In political science a lot of attention is given to institutions and their role in shaping behaviors in a polity and society. In this thesis I examine the conflict between formal and informal institutions. I believe in many societies informal institutions play a major role in shaping political behavior. In Afghanistan these informal institutions can easily undermine formal institutions. Many of the studies that are conducted about informal institutions in Afghanistan have prized them for being capable of dealing with different problems. However, it is also important to find out whether the way they deal with different problems and solve …

Owning Our Food System: Urban Community Gardening And Local Food Movements, Paige A. Edwards

Masters Theses

Food is a means of examining culture, including identity, autonomy and power. It creates relationships and memories between people via shared connections. Through food, I explore local food movements and urban community gardening.

We both ingest and produce garden-grown foods. This movement is often described as simple nostalgia. I suggest that it is a response against heavily processed foods within a system reliant on mass produced food. This desire for ownership pushes community gardens and other counter-hegemonic spaces forward in their goals of using social practice to challenge the established food industry and take control within their own lives.

The Nfl: Growing Into Its Death, Cole J. Molnar

Honors Theses

The following document is about concussions in the National Football League (NFL). This thesis explores a principal question; is the NFL doing enough to warn its players about the long-term effects of multiple concussions? I start by covering what a concussion is, how it can be diagnosed e.g., what the symptoms are, and some of the long-term effects on the human brain. Other topics that are discussed include the history of football (including how it was born), the history of professional football (early years up to present time), head injuries in football, litigation, and potential solutions. Most of my research …

Western News, May 22, 2014, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: WMU commits to climate change response; Celebration to highlight creativity, diversity, community; Teams of student-athletes make NCAA academic ‘honor roll’; WMU becomes part of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute network; On Campus with Norma Sylvester.

How The Axe Falls: A Retrospective On Thirty-Five Years Of Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Performance, Linda Marie Zaerr

Accessus

This retrospective represents a new approach to using historical performance as a tool for understanding medieval narrative performance. The core of the article traces how an individual performer’s interaction with a stable medieval text both indicates directions medieval performers may have taken and suggests the limitations imposed by modern performance conventions. The discussion touches on issues of adaptation and translation, variation in troupe composition and audience, expectations of modern audiences, impact of costume choices, and limitations of audio and video recordings as documentation of live performance. Juxtaposing eight performances of a single passage clarifies how performance can transform a text, …

Semper Venalis: Gower's Avaricious Lawyers, Robert Meindl

Accessus

The first three chapters of the sixth book of the Vox Clamantis (lines 1-248) comprise a harsh critique of the many avaricious lawyers who, in Gower’s opinion, have come to dominate their profession to the disadvantage of English society in the late fourteenth century. Driven exclusively by their appetite for possessions, they have forgotten the biblical model presented in Psalm 14 that specifies the obligation of the good man to assist without recompense his neighbor’s search for justice. Falsely claiming to be men of law and inheritors of the biblical model of the good man, the causidici (as Gower calls …

Preface, Georgiana Donavin, Eve Salisbury

Accessus

Co-editors Georgiana Donavin and Eve Salisbury thank the readers of Accessus for an enthusiastic reception of the first issue and summarize the contents of this second issue. The second issue showcases opportunities inherent in online publishing, such as the ability to produce extended commentaries and offer video streams. Robert J. Meindl's "Semper Venalis: Gower's Avaricious Lawyers" and Linda Marie Zaerr's "How the Axe Falls: A Retrospective on Thirty-five Years of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Performance," respectively, realize these possibilities in online publishing while adding substantially and insightfully to our knowledge of important fourteenth-century poems from England.