Digital Commons Network^™

Counselor Educator Knowledge, Experience, Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Jennifer Mills Langeland

Dissertations

Following growing public interest and widespread use, many health professions have begun to explore the attitudes toward, knowledge of and experience with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) of the various stakeholders within their professions. This foundational information has enabled disciplines such as medicine, nursing, psychology, and marriage and family therapy to take a closer look at how students, patients, clients, and faculty think about and utilize CAM and its relevance to their professions. Surveying the practices and attitudes of stakeholders has been an important starting point for professions undertaking the task of integrating these practices into training programs.

This study …

How Schools Are Meeting State Legal Mandates To Provide Online Education, Mark Edward Deschaine

Dissertations

This study explores how public schools in Michigan are meeting the mandate to provide online learning opportunities as a condition of graduation. Michigan became the first state in the nation to mandate online learning opportunities as a condition for graduation with the passage of the Michigan Merit Curriculum. Although the mandate for compliance has been in effect since the 2010-2011 school year, there has been no systemic exploration as to how the mandate is affecting students, teachers, schools and systems.

This quantitative study surveyed administrators from all public traditional and charter high school programs across the state of Michigan. Using …

Across The Red Steppe: Exploring Mongolian Music In China And Exporting It From Within, Thalea C. Davis

Masters Theses

Mongolian music culture as it exists in China is a unique entity unto itself as it features a base of traditional Mongolian practice and also includes aspects of Chinese music and culture. As the world becomes more interconnected and as China continues to display a markedly Han society to the world at large, Mongolian musicians and Mongolian-music enthusiasts in China maintain and evolve their musical culture in a nebulous middle-ground between Mongolian and Han-Chinese culture. How Mongolian music culture in China came to be and its ultimate function in global society are the key questions being investigated in this thesis. …

Comic Book Fandom And Stigma Consciousness, Dennis R. Gagliardo

Masters Theses

This research project explores the concept of stigma consciousness as applied to the subculture of comic book fandom. Integrating the disciplines of social psychology and cultural studies, this study examines the dynamic and socially constructed nature of the stigma process as applied to the specific cultural form of the American comic book, while identifying and measuring several variables of potential influence on perceptions of the hierarchy of American cultural values. The purpose is to address an existing gap in the academic literature of fan studies in regards to the marginalization and stigmatization of fan cultures as experienced by the members …

Developing A Game-Theoritic Analysis Of Terrorism, Matthew A. Love

Masters Theses

My research demonstrates the applicability of game theory to analyzing terrorism through consideration of multiple examples. These examples provide a foundation upon which further research involving the application of game theory to terrorism can be explored.

My research contributes to a growing body of literature, especially since the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, in which it has been argued that terrorists are rational agents and, because of that, game theory can be usefully applied to an analysis of terrorism. My research further supports this conclusion.

Extended Color Gamut For Flexographic Printing, Gaurav Dinesh Sheth

Masters Theses

The advancement in technology and the necessity to satisfy the increasing quality requirements has aroused the need for use of extended color gamut in flexographic printing. The information about extended gamut inks and ink systems is not easily available therefore, it is essential to define ink sets and color sequences that will produce optimal results in the flexographic printing process. The results were produced by evaluating color gamut volumes obtained by printing with four color process inks, and additional ink sequences, as well as by evaluating other print parameters that provide evidence in support of the research work. Special focus …

Inquiry Based Curriculum In A Public School Art Room: Aesthetic Education And Lincoln Center Institute, Jacqueline Denaway

Masters Theses

This thesis takes an in-depth look at the history of the Lincoln Center Institute (LCI), specifically its aesthetic education philosophy and practices. Included is analysis of the origin of aesthetic education and important philosophical views related to it. Emphasis is placed on the ideas of Maxine Greene, whose philosophy is the core of Lincoln Center Institute, as well as the key skills that are acquired when learning through aesthetic means. Lincoln Center Institute has been a leader in arts education and aesthetic education for several decades. This paper will explore how LCI's philosophy of aesthetic education differs from other philosophies …

The Internet And Mass Society: Civic Engagement In The Digital Age, Simon J. Purdy

Masters Theses

In this study, the relationship between Internet use and civic engagement is examined. Building off of the work of previous researchers, which has found no clear relationship between Internet use and civic engagement, this analysis attempts to find differences between those who are civically engaged at different levels, in terms of Internet use, types of civic engagement and feelings of being able to affect change through civic engagement. Several hypotheses about this relationship are tested using data collected from undergraduate students at a medium sized Midwestern university with an online survey method. The statistical analysis entails building a series of …

Location And Competitive Strategy In Retail: The Case Of Gamestop In Michigan, Karl P. Schrantz

Masters Theses

The State of Michigan offers a unique retail environment that offers a diverse arena for firms to interact and compete in. The state has many cities of different size and a multitude of retail chains that operate within them. Over the past two decades this competition has become even stiffer with the rapid growth of big box retailers. In spite of this general notion there are often the less known stories of small retailers that have been able to compete and survive big box retailing. This research aims to assess how a smaller retail chain, GameStop in this case, is …

Missing The Mark: Why Modern Efforts To Better Schools Through Standardization Aren't Working, Richard Knowlton

Masters Theses

In the thirty years of school reform that began with A Nation at Risk, and continues today with A Race to the Top, the United States has rapidly increased its reliance on a standardized “one-size-fits-all” policy in regard to modern educational reform. This report provides a review of the empirical and statistical evidence to demonstrate that despite lofty and well-meaning intentions, modern reform has done nothing to significantly advance the quality of education in America, and in many cases have had a severe negative impact—blocking real reform. Many schools, especially those in low-income areas, have become glorified test-prep centers in …

Air Too Pure For Slavery And The Rights Of British Liberty: The Black Experience In London, 1772-1883, Tony A. Frazier

Dissertations

This dissertation presents abundant evidence that people of African descent were very present and visible in eighteenth-century London society. In the eighteenth century, London was one of the largest cities in the world with a population that reached almost 700,000 in 1750 and over a million in 1800. In addition, Great Britain was the leading slave trafficking nation in the world. Therefore, it was no surprise that the debate concerning black freedom and liberty was center stage in one of the most important regions in Europe and the Atlantic world. This question, much like the development of slavery in eighteenth-century …

Fashion Adoption Behaviors Of Women In Manhattan Related To Spring 2012 Apparel Fashion Trends, Nicole Powell

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to look at the spring trends for 2012 and then compare them that to what the women of Manhattan are actually wearing, during the same season. I wanted to understand how women were adopting the fashion trends from Spring 2012 and turning them into part of their own self-identified style. I went on a research trip to New York City from May 6th to May 12th and spent a great deal of time, on the streets, observing and taking pictures of what real Manhattan women are wearing. For this project, I focused on four …

Isolation Of A Dosage Dependent Suppressor Using Saccharomyces Cerevisiae As A Model System, Rachel Chimner

Masters Theses

Human pathogenic Yersinia use a type three secretion system to deliver various effector proteins into host cells. Once these effector proteins are within the cell, they elicit a cascade of events that disrupt the normal immune response. One of these effectors, YopT, is known to disrupt actin distribution but it is currently unknown what YopT targets within the host cell. To investigate the cellular targets of the YopT effector, we use a yeast model system and a dosage-dependent suppression screen. The dosage-dependent suppression screen isolated three plasmids able to suppress YopT induced lethality within yeast. One of them, 2T9, was …

Ethical Ambivalence In Local Television Weathercasting: A Rossian Analysis, Vernon Keith Thompson

Masters Theses

Today’s television weathercasters are being called upon increasingly to go beyond benign weather prognostications to become the “newsroom experts” for science topics. The expectation to act as both scientists and journalists can cause ethical ambivalence (EA), a sociological condition in which, faced with conflicting norms, the subject feels that he/she is being pulled psychologically in two different directions (Jansen & Von Glinow, 1985). This thesis presents a Rossian analysis of climate change in weathercasting, a topic that captures the most important ethical tensions arising from conflicting duties within the weathercaster role, specifically: a) how might the duties of the television …

Eeg Acquisition System On Mobile Platform, Veerendra Dasari

Masters Theses

The Electro-encephalogram [EEG] recording systems play a major role in the Brain Computer Interface machines where the brainwave signals are given as controls. There is a considerable development in transmission of these signals onto different platforms based on the necessity and portability of applications. With the advent of wireless signal transmission protocols for the medical devices, there is an increased research in the domain of offsite patient monitoring applications.

This document describes the evolution prototype of the portable EEG acquisition system developed to acquire the human scalp signals via electrodes and display them on the Android mobile phone after pre-conditioning …

Using Attachment Theory And The Hyperpersonal Model To Examine Relationship Maintenance, Satisfaction, And Affectionate Communication In Romantic Relationships, Christina J. Gentile

Masters Theses

In this study, individuals in long-distance and geographically close romantic relationships are surveyed to examine if there are differences in regards to one's relationship maintenance, affectionate communication, and relationship satisfaction via Facebook that is exhibited to a romantic partner. Attachment theory also is utilized to examine the same variables, but to assess if the results vary by attachment style. Both this theory as well as the hyperpersonal model (Walther, 1996) is used to guide this research. This model is typically used to explain why initial interactions among strangers can lead to heightened levels of communication and idealization, but limited research …

Development And Evaluation Of An Inquiry-Based Unit For Teaching About Paleoclimate And Climate Change, Steven Barone

Masters Theses

The purpose of this action research study is to develop and evaluate a sequence of four lessons for an introductory earth science course taken by future elementary teachers. Action research is a reflective process of data collection and analysis used by teachers to improve their classroom practice. This study’s goal is to produce a series of lessons that align with the course philosophy of student-driven learning through guided-inquiry and are effective at improving students’ understanding of climate change.

Three data sets were used to evaluate the lessons: 1) student knowledge gains on an objective pre- and post-test, 2) students’ self-reported …

Study Of The Insulin Mimetic Sodium Orthovanadate In Glucosamine Induced Insulin Resistnace In Primary Rat Hepatocytes, Kalan Mcpherson

Masters Theses

Insulin resistance and type II diabetes is a disease state characterized by a lack of sensitivity of insulin to provoke a proper response in insulin sensitive tissues. Currently, we utilize glucosamine to increase flux through the Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway (HBP) to induce an insulin resistance like state in primary rat hepatocytes. We tested the effectiveness of the insulin mimetic sodium orthovanadate to determine if it could elicit an insulin-like response under these conditions. Mixed results were obtained on the effectiveness of vanadate as an insulin mimetic in this insulin resistant model.

Liminal Losers: Breakdowns And Breakthroughs In Reality Television's Biggest Hit, Caitlin Rickert

Masters Theses

This study explores how The Biggest Loser, a popular television reality program that features a weight-loss competition, reflects and magnifies established stereotypes about obese individuals. The show, which encourages contestants to lose weight at a rapid pace, constructs a broken/fixed dichotomy that oversimplifies the complex issues of obesity and health.

My research is a semiotic analysis of the eleventh season of the program (2011), focusing on three pairs of contestants (or “couples” teams) that each represent a different level of commitment to the program’s values. Specifically, I focus on dramatic “breakdown” moments in which these contestants are disciplined by …

Western News, March 28, 2013, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: WMU reveling in its 'All-Steinway' status; Cousins, Hearit named to prestigious fellows program; Cumming named to lead Registrar’s Office; Semiannual Make a Difference award recipients to be honored at reception; On Campus with Kathy Gilbert.

Western News, March 14, 2013, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Carlson, Hettinger leading WMU trustees; Service-learning, community work wins national praise; National firm to take over operation of WMU Bookstore; On Campus with Shams Khan.

March 13, 2013: 2013 Frostic Creative Writing Awards, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Prism #70, March 2013, Office Of The Provost

Prism: Western Michigan University's Newsletter for Academic Affairs

No abstract provided.

Haworthnews (03/2013), Western Michigan University

Haworth College of Business News

• Director of WMU Business Connection office gives breakfast talk
• Beta Alpha Psi, Providing Local Students with Basic Financial Knowledge
• Annual conference will explore food trends
• Sean Baker, B.B.A.’11 – Building Strong Relationships
• Save the Date—Business and Government Institute
• WMU Students Win at Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge
• Business in China
• ISM students are top undergraduate team at case competition

Journey Of A Peace Journalist, Robert Koehler

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Presented October 15, 2012. 2012 Winnie Veenstra Peace Lecture.

Phenomenology And Hbse: Making The Connection, Phillip Dybicz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A number of postmodern practitioners have turned to theorists such as Foucault, Derrida, and Wittgenstein to inform their intervention efforts. Yet it may be difficult for the average practitioner, or educator teaching HBSE, to make the connection between these theorists and human behavior. Phenomenology, as a theory of ontology, serves as afundamental theory of the postmodern paradigm. As such, phenomenological concepts such as existence and essence, presence and absence, and distinctness and vagueness offer much in illustrating the link between postmodern theories of meaningmaking and intervention efforts seeking change in human behavior.

Perceived Discrimination And Subjective Well-Being Among Rural-To-Urban Migrants In China, Juan Chen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Using data from a 2009 national household survey (N = 2,866), this study investigates the differential experience of perceived institutional and interpersonal discrimination among rural-to-urban migrants in China, and the consequences of these two types of discrimination on measures of subjective well-being. The results indicate that rural-to-urban migrants perceive institutional discrimination more frequently than interpersonal discrimination. However, perceived interpersonal discrimination has a more detrimental effect than perceived institutional discrimination for rural-to-urban migrants, and this effect takes the form of self-rated physical health and depressive distress. The research calls for a more equitable social environment and equal distribution of resources and …

Review Of The Future Of The Welfare State: Social Policy Attitudes And Social Capital In Europe. Heikki Ervasti, Jorgen Goul Andersen, Torben Fridberg And Kristen Ringdal (Eds.). Reviewed By Larry Nackerud., Larry Nackerud

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Heikki Ervasti, Jorgen Goul Andersen, Torben Fridberg and Kristen Ringdal (Eds.). The Future of the Welfare State: Social Policy Attitudes and Social Capital in Europe. Edgar Elgar Publishing Limited (2012). $110.00 (hardcover).

Review Of The New Religious Intolerance. Martha C. Nussbaum. Reviewed By John Tropman., John Tropman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Martha C. Nussbaum, The New Religious Intolerance. Belknap/ Harvard (2012). $26.95 (hardcover).

Online Learning Of Safe Patient Transfers In Occupational Therapy Education, Cynthia L. Hayden

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Online higher education is steadily increasing. For programs in allied health to be offered effectively in an e-learning format, clinical psychomotor skills need to be addressed. The aim of this research was to design, implement, and evaluate an online safe patient transfers module for occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students. The efficacy of teaching safe patient transfers in an e-learning environment was appraised using both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The applied research project was completed at a Tennessee community college. A convenience sample of eighteen students participated in the pilot study. Twenty-five students participated in the subsequent study. The instructional design …