Digital Commons Network^™

Matriarchal Monsters: Literary Villians Through The Lens Of Gender, Katherine Currie

Honors Theses

The exposure of American readers to the literary monster culminates at an incredibly young and impressionable age. The genre of children’s literature seems to rely heavily on the impact of the presence of villainous monster characters. From the “boogey man” to “Cruella de Vil” to “The Grinch,” children are presented at a very young age with the character of evil. As a result of our early experience with villains, we as readers accept the “bad guy” created in a novel to be classified under the category of “monster.” However, most readers have never even pondered or questioned the label of …

An Analysis Of Lithic Debitage From Mound C At The Winterville Mounds Archaeological Site (22ws500), Barbara Mcclendon

Honors Theses

The Winterville Mounds, located in Northwest Mississippi, was once home to one of the largest chiefdoms in the Southeast. It served as a both a religious and political center and housed the ruling class atop its twenty-three manmade mounds. Recent excavation on Mound C at Winterville has uncovered an unusually large quantity of lithic artifacts. In an effort to shed light on the presence of such utilitarian tools where elites resided, this study utilized individual flake analysis on 830 pieces of lithic debitage, including cores, flakes, shatter, and tools. After documenting significant evidence of early through late stage lithic reduction …

Molecular And Functional Characterization Of Tick Salivary Vti Protein Family, Ashley Villarreal

Honors Theses

Tick salivary glands serves as the organ of osmoregulation in ticks and are critical to the biological success of ticks both during extended period off the host and also during the feeding periods on the host. The salivary glands are the sites of pathogen development and saliva is the route of transmission. The importance of multifunctional salivary glands to tick survival and vector competency makes the glands a potential target for intervention. The complex process by which tick salivary gland proteins exit the glands and enter the host has been extensively studied, in what is called the SNARE hypothesis, soluble …

Stories Over Miles: Religious And Political Coping Among Tibetan Former Political Prisoners, Dylan Harris

Honors Theses

Tibetan former political prisoners suffer before, during, and after imprisonment; however, their distinct coping mechanisms, in this case, specifically Buddhist coping and political coping mechanisms, allow them to overcome suffering. By examining Tibetan culture and contemporary history and concepts of suffering and coping specific to Tibetan former political prisoners, this thesis will answer the question: to what extent do Buddhism and politics effectively aid coping in the lives of Tibetan former political prisoners exiled in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, India?

Human-Animal Relationships In Traditional Healing Methods: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, Ashley Long

Honors Theses

Limpiezas are a form of ritual used around the world for healing and diagnosis illness. In a lot of cases, rituals such as these are used with other objects such as bones, flowers, eggs, or animals. Within the Santeria and Andean cultures, limpiezas are performed using animals; it is the goal of this research paper to determine why certain animals are used and how they complement the healing process. Research included an exploration of contextual data and cross-cultural analysis of the different populations. It was found that the differences found in the cosmologies of the separate cultures can be referred …

Virtue For Commercial Purpose: A Look At Production Code Censorship In The 1930s, Jacob Key

Honors Theses

This paper is a study of the conservative political bias inherent to the Motion Picture Production Code as it applies to Great Depression cinema. Many films in this period attempted to explore progressive themes but were edited or prohibited outright under the Code’s authority. Father Daniel Lord, the Code’s author, greatly feared cinema’s cultural and moral influences, but may have been unaware of the political ramifications of his work. On the other hand, his boss, Will H. Hays, was an ambitious man fully in support of the Code’s ability to censor politics that differed from his own. The unlikely partnership …

“I Have Something To Say, If People Only Would Hear It”: The Voiceless Artist And The Idea Of Reform In The Work Of Rebecca Harding Davis, Kathryn Plunkett

Honors Theses

In her 1904 memoir, Bits of Gossip, American journalist and fiction writer Rebecca Harding Davis wrote that “nobody has sketched those uneasy, unsuccessful ghosts who haunt the gates and hedges of the scribbling world; always outside, yet always hoping to enter in” (142). In this remark, Davis reveals her desire to write about ordinary people in ordinary situations and to give her writings a sense of realism that had not been portrayed by the idealistic Romantic writers that preceded her. Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, American writers had emphasized emotion and imagination over reason, allowing them to …

“Critical Habitat” And Other Stories, Jon Michael Mitchell

Honors Theses

The nature of writing, that is, storytelling, is difficult to discuss in a technical manner. Often it is easier to demonstrate by example rather than theory how storytelling does and does not work. This thesis is a collection of short stories written to practice the art of writing and storytelling. They do not follow a central theme or motif; they are self-contained projects demonstrating the application of the theories discussed in the introduction. The point of this thesis is not to show the correct way to write or provide examples of perfect stories. It is to show the learning process …

An Investigation On The Interaction Of Various Natural Products With The Amyloid-Β Peptide; Betulinic Acid Causes Rapid Amyloid-Β Fibril Formation At The Expense Of Soluble Oligomers, Matthew Planchard

Honors Theses

In this report we investigate the interaction of the natural compounds asiatic acid (AA), asiaticoside (AS), umbelliferone (UM), and betulinic acid (BA) with the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide, the aggregation of which is implicated to be the major pathogenic event in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Screening of compounds for ability to affect Aβ aggregation was performed via ThT fluorescence. Only BA showed consistent deviation from controls, causing virtually instantaneous formation of large amounts of fibrils in a concentration-dependent fashion. Turbidity assays ensured the aggregation monitored via ThT was not experimental aberration. Kinetics utilizing ThT and turbidity indicated that BA causes immediate exponential …

“Double-Crossed, So To Speak": Black Female Resistance To Gendered Oppression In The South, Amolie Egloff

Honors Theses

Despite the vast amount of research focused on slavery and the American South, studies focusing solely on the black female’s experience during this time period are a fairly recent development. In the existing literature, these women have been painted a helpless victim caught in the wrath of white men, black men, and even white women. This study presents the stories of black women courageously resisting oppression both while enslaved and just after emancipation from 1830 to 1890. The analysis of a handful of slave narratives taken by the Worker’s Progress Administration in the 1930s and 1940s established that because black …

Libertarian Acceptance Among The Students Of The University Of Southern Mississippi, Joseph Lebeau

Honors Theses

How can a potential libertarian portion of USM students be differentiated from the conservative and liberal segments? The most obvious method is to classify students by their respective demographic factors. Demographic categories such as gender, race, age, religion, field of study, etc. could prove to be extremely useful when attempting to identify patterns in populations. The connections between these variables and political ideology are further examined in the literature review. The demographics of a potential libertarian faction have yet to be defined, specifically at the University of Southern Mississippi. Therefore, the goal of my research will be to first locate …

Parental Involvement In Speech-Language Intervention, Victoria Beech Finley

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how parents of children who are successful in therapy are involved, from the parent’s perspective. Literature on parental involvement in therapy is limited, especially findings from the parent’s perspective. This thesis follows a phenomenological qualitative design. The investigator interviewed three mothers regarding their participation. The investigator then transcribed the interviews and cyclically analyzed them to find salient themes across all three. There were two shared themes, acceptance and emotions. It is hoped that this study will provide insight for other parents so that they can contribute to their children’s success in speech-language intervention.

Relevant Jesus: A Study Of The Integration Of Popular Culture Into The Christian Church, Amie Guenard

Honors Theses

The Christian church today takes on the characteristics of many centuries past in style and ritual. Some churches are choosing to embrace the culture of our booming entertainment industry in order to gain the attention of a “sights and sounds” generation. This research contains a historical review of the relationship between the entertainment world and the Christian church as well as a case study of First Hattiesburg Baptist Church of Hattiesburg, MS. The results of this research show that the deliberate incorporation of secular communication and entertainment strategies into the regular functions First Hattiesburg Baptist Church has had more positive …

Flora Of The Gopher Farm Sandhill, Wayne County, Mississippi, Shira Brittany Nicholson

Honors Theses

This study documents the vascular plants and common lichens of the Gopher Farm sandhill, Wayne County, Mississippi. The Gopher Farm sandhill is located within the Chickasawhay Ranger District of the DeSoto National Forest and is one of the most northerly located sandhills in the Coastal Plain of Mississippi. The sandhill was surveyed 11 times from the spring of 2011 to the spring of 2012, primarily during the spring and fall. The survey resulted in 180 species, including 15 lichens, 1 fern, 2 gymnosperms, and 162 flowering plants. Collections included two rare species (Carex tenax and Rhynchospora megalocarpa) and …

"So God-Damned Far Away": Soldiers' Experiences In The Vietnam War, Tara M. Bell

Honors Theses

This paper is based off of a collection of Vietnam War letters that I processed at the Western Michigan University Archives and Regional History Collections. They are all written to a local woman, Carol, by five soldiers, named Mitch, Dennis, Ron, Willis, and Kenneth. Carol’s responses are not included in the collection.

Carol, Mitch, and Willis all graduated in the same class from Vicksburg High School. From using databases and yearbooks, I learned that Carol knew each of the soldiers from organizations they both belonged in. Although I could not exactly determine how Carol knew Ron and Kenneth, it seems …

Catalyst Studies With Implications On The Design And Fabrication Of Microreactors, Eric Snider

Honors Theses

Biodiesel, or fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), 'is a potential alternative, renewable fuel source to lessen foreign fuel dependency. Dr. Frank Jones' microreactor research group is investigating the use of microreactors to produce biodiesel. Microreactors can increase reaction rates, heat transfer, and lessen production costs due to their small size. The first generation of microreactors, coated with a nickel oxide (NiO) catalyst, has been developed and needs to be tested to determine their performance. Also, a catalyst study comparing NiO and platinum oxide (PtO2) will be performed to find the better catalyst for FAME production.

In The Garage, Christopher James Hart

Honors Theses

In the Garage is an audio podcast containing works by student writers at Western Michigan University who read their stories to be recorded. Coalescing stories, music, and connective segues, the three episode series seeks to explore the theme of nostalgia through the works of student writers. In doing so, a cohesive narrative arc is achieved through the use of theme and connection. Recorded on GarageBand, an apple sound editing product, the project endeavors to bring together disparate stories, poems, and essays together into a collective and cohesive whole accompanied by various musical interludes. The author of the project provides introduction …

Golden Rice: The Need, The Science, And Public Reception Of Gmos, Elizabeth A. Quemada

Honors Theses

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) affects people all over the world. The most severely affected individuals are those in countries where access to Vitamin A rich foods such as dark leafy greens and dark red or orange vegetables, along with liver, eggs, and cheeses are not readily available. Vitamin A deficiency most harmfully affects young children, where it is needed for correct development, and pregnant women, where Vitamin A stores are depleted. Several methods have been put into action over the years in severely affected countries to help combat VAD. There are programs to increase the availability of Vitamin A in …

Content Analysis Of Mathematical Concepts In Children’S Literature, Jessica John

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Using Tag To Increase Play Skills, Melissa A. Boggs

Honors Theses

TAG (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) involves using auditory stimuli as a reinforcer for correct behavior or correct components of a behavior chain. Theoretically, TAG is an effective reinforcer because a click (the auditory stimuli) is paired with back up reinforcers (tangible reinforcers and social praise) and consequently becomes a conditioned reinforcer. The current study assesses the effectiveness of TAG in structured playtime activities in a child diagnosed with autism. The behaviors measured include a receptive identification procedure, an imitative drawing procedure and a paperclip drop procedure. Each of these responses required multiple behaviors to be completed with the paperclip drop …

Using A Reinforcer Hierarchy To Increase Compliance And Skill Acquisition, Bertilde U. Kamana

Honors Theses

The purpose of this intervention is to increase compliant behavior and skill acquisition in a child who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with the use of a reinforcer hierarchy. This hierarchy will be determined by conducting preference assessments. These assessments are established by allowing the child to choose the most preferred object of at least two objects which are presented to him by his tutor—a preference assessment can also be conducted by observing which objects or toys the child chooses to interact with the most in his environment. When the preference assessment is established, a reinforcer matrix …

The Modernity Of La Mode: A History Of The French Revolution Through The Lens Of Fashion, Culture, And Identity, Bithy R. Goodman

Honors Theses

In my thesis, I explore the cultural history of the French Revolution and its relation to the modern era which ensued. Many historians have studied the French Revolution as it relates to culture, the rise of modernity, and fashion. I combine the unique histories of all three of these aspects to reach an understanding of the history of the French Revolution and fashion’s role in bringing about change. In the majority of literature of costume history, discussion of fashion surrounds its reflective properties. Many historians conclude fashion as a reflection of the broader cultural shifts that occurred during the Revolution. …

Witness For The Prosecution: Erasure Poetics, Samantha M. Schaefer

Honors Theses

My Honors Senior Thesis is centered around the art of Erasure poetics. My definition of Erasure is most concisely stated as: a process of simultaneous poetic addition and subtraction to preexisting text, which results in a product whose creation process ultimately echoes the same revision process that human beings undergo; a process by which a new and beautiful truth is both created and uncovered in a paradoxical manner. I initially endeavored to complete a simple erasure of a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie called Witnessfor the Prosecution; but was soon so inspired that I ended up creating four …

The Effects Of Prenatal Exposure To Altered Melatonin Levels On Hippocampal Gene Expression In The Male Rat, Anna Uehara

Honors Theses

The stability of the circadian rhythm for mammals depends on the levels of serotonin and melatonin, neurohormones that signal for lightness and darkness, respectively. Disruption in the stability of neurohormones has been shown to be a critical factor in psychopathological disorders in humans. For example, altering levels of melatonin in utero through administration of melatonin or the melatonin receptor antagonist, luzindole, has been shown to cause changes in developmental growth and adult behavior in the male rat. Analysis of relative adult hippocampal gene expression with RT-PCR revealed differences in ARNTL expression that suggested abnormality in clock gene expression of the …

Characterizing The Role Of Pax And Six In An Emerging Model System, The Freshwater Sponge, E. Muelleri, Ian P. Winters

Honors Theses

Sponges can be viewed as a remnant branch of the earliest successful experiments in metazoan multi-cellularity. As such, these organisms hold many clues into the genetic elements fundamental to the formation of complex animalian life. Two of these elements are the transcription factor encoding genes PaxB and Six1/2. Homologs of these genes in animals more complex than sponges have been shown to be members of a gene regulatory network involved in organ development. This is of particular intrigue since sponges do not possess such organ systems. Here, I discuss the putative function of PaxB and Six1/2 in sponges, and whether …

Elucidation Of The Pax/Six Gene Regulatory Network In Ephydatia Muelleri, Anna Rued

Honors Theses

The evolution of gene regulatory networks accounts for much of the diversity we observe in the animal kingdom. In particular, the Pax/Six/Eya/Dac gene network has been known to play critical roles in development of all bilaterians and cnidarians. However, this network has not been characterized in Porifera. These studies focus on tracing the evolutionary history of the PSED network back to the most basal organism in the metazoan phylogeny through demonstrating the presence of a direct gene regulatory network between PaxB and Six1/2 orthologs in sponges. To this end, putatitve Six1/2 cis- regulatory elements were identified while the PaxBprd transcription …

Alteration In 5ht1a Receptor Activity From A Prenatal Exposure To Dexamethasone In A Stressed And Non-Stressed Adult Male Rat, Darshan S. Shah

Honors Theses

Synthetic glucocorticoids (GC) are used as a clinical therapeutic to stimulate lung development in fetuses that present the risk of preterm delivery. Previous studies have shown that a prenatal exposure to Dexamethasone (DEX) causes a disturbance in normal GC mediation of neuritic outgrowth, cell signaling, and serotonergic systems. Our hypothesis is that a prenatal exposure to DEX during the third trimester of pregnancy alters 5HT1A receptor function. Pregnant dams were injected daily with 150μg/ml/kg of DEX from gestation day 14 through 19. Control dams were treated with and equal volume of saline. Swim stress followed by elevated plus maze testing …

Framing The College Debate : Insights On Obama's Rhetoric Through The Capabilities Approach, Caitlin M. Manak

Honors Theses

President Obama has proposed that the United States increase the number of college graduates by 8 million by 2020 in order to raise national educational standards and to engage in global competition. Obama’s policies and rhetoric frequently describe “education as a pathway to success” and “education as a pathway to jobs,” but fail to emphasize its comprehensive, intrinsic values. America’s national discussion on education needs to shift away from framing higher education merely as pathway to the workforce, and should focus instead on education as a vital part of a well-lived life. To fulfill social justice under the capabilities approach, …

Exploring The Role Of Sonic Hedgehog In The Lymph Heart Development Of Xenopus Laevis, Laura Barry

Honors Theses

Xenopus as a Model Organism in Evolutionary Developmental Biology

Xenopus laevis, the African clawed frog, is an important model organism in the field of evolutionary developmental biology research. These tongue-less aquatic frogs are basally branching anuran amphibians that display marked sexual dimorphism and have webbed hind feet that sport several small, sharp claws. This species is a useful model organism despite its long generation time and genomic complexity, for historical and practical reasons. The animal adapts well to housing in a laboratory setting, and its reproduction can be …

C'Est Ouf : L'ÉVolution De La Langue FrançAise Et Les ConséQuences Sociales, Hannah Kelley

Honors Theses

Cette dissertation vise à explorer le raisonnement complexe linguistique derrière la langue française officielle et le verlan, pour qu’on puisse mieux comprendre ce que le verlan est en train de faire socialement pour la communauté beur duquel il est venu. Pour nous situer d’abord un peu, on commence avec une histoire brève de l’immigration maghrébine (ou l’Afrique de Nord : l’Algérie, la Tunisie, et le Maroc) ainsi que les idéaux républicains de la France qui ont apporté la fierté légendaire en une langue française pure. Après, on examine la façon dont ses histoires interagissent aujourd’hui, ce qui laissent les identités …