Digital Commons Network^™

The Future Of Community Banks And Their Role In The Changing Economy, Alisha R. Defatta

Honors Theses

This paper is a survey of the current literature concerning community banks, the current challenges faced by community banks, and the role community banks play in the economy. Currently technological and regulatory changes are creating challenges for community banks. To combat these issues many community banks are increasing their merger and acquisition activity to avoid closing. This objective of this paper is to discuss the reasons community banks are so important to our economy and to define the hardships they are currently facing. It is also important to identify the next steps we should take to ensure the stability of …

Economic Socialization Through Children’S Literature, Kate Maxwell

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Relation Between Parental Divorce And Adjustment In College Students, Breanna Connel

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Fine-Scale Monitoring Of Running Buffalo Clover (Trifolium Stoloniferum) Restoration Populations At Taylor Fork Ecological Area, Chelsea L. Perkins

Honors Theses

Running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum Muhl. ex A. Eaton) is a species of clover that is federally listed as endangered. Trifolium stoloniferum requires mesic habitats with partially filtered light and will be outcompeted without periodic disturbance, such as grazing, mowing, or trampling. The purpose of this study was to understand rates of flowering and clonal reproduction associated with different growth stages of T. stoloniferum. During this study I visited 6 restoration sites of T. stoloniferum once each week from April to October, marking new individuals with a unique numbered metal tag and assessing the growth stage of individuals. …

Perspectives On The Evolution Of Hip-Hop Music Through Themes Of Race, Crime, And Violence, Kelsey B. Basham

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the role or race, crime, and violence as major themes in hip-hop music through existing academic literature. Utilizing the three major themes, this paper discusses the inherent ties of race, crime, and violence to the production of hip-hop music which can reflect broader social issues existing in American society over the time period from 1970-present day. Furthermore, these themes will be assessed for their activist oriented ability to suggest change in society for the primary groups affected by the issues contained in hip-hop lyrics. Over time, hip-hop, much like any artistic form, has undergone an evolution, producing …

Perceptions Of Mental Health Among First Year College Students, Kelly N. Mcgowan

Honors Theses

College students are at risk for exposure to, exacerbation, and development of mental health issues. Exposure to and existence of historical stigmas and misconceptions is a portion of the hesitancy for this population to acknowledge symptoms and seek help. This hesitancy is often put in place by the media, in how they portray mental health Anxiety, mood, eating, psychotic, and substance abuse disorders are prevalent in this population. Colonel Campers are known for their involvement and retention at Eastern Kentucky University and are a representation for this at risk population. The participants were surveyed via a mixed quantitative and qualitative …

Osteopathic And Chiropractic: An Examination Of The Patient-Physician Relationship In Their Respective Practices, Cody L. Ward

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Culture Of Sustainability At Southern Miss, Amy J. Ball

Honors Theses

The sustainability movement has been studied in general before, but little research has been done on topic of the sustainability movement at universities. This study aims to contribute to the larger conversation on sustainability by looking at the ideas and motivations behind participation in the movement among students at the University of Southern Mississippi. This is done primarily through interviews performed by the researcher with a number of students in a club on campus dedicated to spreading knowledge of and participation in sustainable activities, known as the Sustainability Advocates. Background information about the sustainability movement on campus is provided by …

Performativity And Jazz In The Fiction Of James Baldwin And Ralph Ellison, Drako P. Wells

Honors Theses

Since slavery in the seventeenth century, African Americans have been politically and economically oppressed in the United States. Even in recent times, it seems as if simply being black is enough to have a person criticized by society, convicted of crimes, or even killed. However, the frustration that oppression causes has, in many ways, catalyzed the evolution of African American culture and the African American identity. In this study, I examine how two postwar African American authors, Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin, portray the African American struggle with racial injustice and the means of overcoming its negative effects. In this …

The Layers Of Memory At Sachsenhausen: From The Gdr To Contemporary Germany, Barry J. Bookheimer Jr.

Honors Theses

Sachsenhausen is the site of a traumatic and complex history in the twentieth century. Since 1933, Sachsenhausen has taken on many diverse forms: a Nazi concentration camp, a Soviet Special Camp, an East German National Memorial, and after German reunification, a memory site in contemporary Germany. This work examines the contrast between the centralized, nationalist narrative of the GDR, and the current “decentralized” concept at the site in post-communist Germany. Unlike many other memory sites where previous narratives are minimized, obscured, or even destroyed; Sachsenhausen exhibits relics from all eras of its history, conceptualized in this thesis as “layers of …

Presentation Of Bicultural Identity In Hispanic Children’S Literature, Elena B. Lofton

Honors Theses

Children of all backgrounds can use literature as a means to understand the world in which they live. Therefore, it is important that children’s books represent diverse cultures and experiences. This study analyzed Hispanic children’s literature published in the U.S. that contained child characters with bicultural Hispanic-American identities. The aim of this study was to determine how the linguistic and literary elements in five books, which contained bilingual Spanish-English interwoven text, combined to present a bicultural identity and lifestyle in the United States today. The literary elements analyzed included themes, character portrayal, the roles of family and the elderly, and …

Title Not Available, Tyler King

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Arigell, Shaylin Carlton

Honors Theses

In this fictional novella, a world is torn in half by a centuries-long war between the Dregmar and the Caimthu. However, the tear in the worlds wasn't as perfect as it seemed, and now a city is poking up through the ragged seams of both worlds. A city filled with neither caimthu nor dregmar, but something else entirely, something not of their world. And that's not the only thing that snuck through the cracks.

Arigell, a soldier in the caimthu army, confronts the edges of both worlds and her own past.

Bekah, a human in another world, comes face-to-face with …

Memories Bridal And Evening Wear Selection Process, Kaitlyn Riddell

Honors Theses

This paper proposes a structured and researched approach to review and edit Memories Bridal and Evening Wear’s Sales Consultant employee selection process in hopes of decreasing employee turnover and increasing new employee performance. Research suggests that hiring management and business professionals use six main steps to create the core components of job tasks and competencies to make up a job analysis. A realistic job preview should also be created to ensure a successful match between the candidate and the job position. In addition to creating new pieces, hiring management must edit the existing application to include only necessary information to …

The Difference Between The On Premise And Off Premise Craft Beer Experience: Implications For The Craft Beer Category, Karen Kalinski

Honors Theses

The differences between the on-premise and off-premise craft beer experience was researched in this study. The original research question was whether there is a relationship between on-premise and off-premise sales of craft beer. After initial research through semi- structured interviews the research questions were revised to three related questions: 1. What are the on-premise and off-premise craft beer experiences?, 2. Is there a significant difference?, and 3. Does the one behavior affect the other in purchasing behavior? Participants included 12 consumers of craft beer ranging from individuals with extensive craft beer experience to relative newcomers to the craft beer segment. …

Millennials In Southern Illinois, David C. Lynch

Honors Theses

In Spring 2014, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale sponsored a poll of Illinois’ Jackson and Williamson counties with the University of Illinois Springfield Survey Research Office. The objective of the project was to examine at length how residents of the area felt about life, the economy, and a variety of other topics. In an effort to take the data collected by this survey and provide results that can be used and interpreted by the local community, especially politicians and leaders, this project seeks to examine the differences between young, voting-age citizens and the rest …

Learning From The Past: A Comparative Analysis Of The Influences Of The Great Depression On The Recent Financial Crisis., Shirish Bade Shrestha

Honors Theses

The Great Depression and the recent financial crisis are events that have changed the lives of many American and global citizens. In hopes of preventing similar mistakes in the future, we should study, analyze, and learn from these past events. This investigation attempts to do just that through a rigorous study of the past Great Depression and recent financial crisis. We will explore the two events separately, analyze their similarities and differences and then discuss what we have learned from the Great Depression and see how that knowledge has been used to combat the recent financial crisis. The Great Depression …

"..." Modern Silence, Sarah Maher

Honors Theses

Silence is remarkable, both in concept and in reality. The human ear is outstanding at doing what it was made for. Not only can it withstand loud sound, but can also recognize the softest and most intricate whisperings, as well as everything in between. The ear can recognize all of these sounds and passes them on to our brains for interpretation. Our ears collect all sound but our brains determine what to focus on and what to ignore. But what if there are no “important” sounds? What if you are sitting alone in an empty room, making no unnecessary sounds? …

Optimization Of Indirubin And Indigo Production In E.Coli, Gisela Cairo

Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis is to determine the conditions that give the highest yield of indigo and indirubin in recombinant E.coli. This E.coli has been transformed with a P450 gene from woad, an indigo producing plant. The conditions investigated were the type of media, the amount of inducer, the presences of supplements, and the induction time. The techniques used during the experiments were liquid-liquid extraction using separatory funnels and centrifugation, rotary evaporation, UV-vis spectrophotometry, and thin layer chromatography. Thin layer chromatography showed that the products of the reaction are indigo and indirubin; UV-vis spectrophotometry was used to find …

Pre-Service Teacher Perspectives On Bullying By Middle School Girls, Nicole Lyn Stoodley

Honors Theses

The present study focuses on pre-service teacher perspectives of bullying in schools, specifically on the prevalence, characteristics, and interventions of bullying by middle school girls. Participants in the Teacher Education Program of Southern Illinois University Carbondale completed a questionnaire that asked them to estimate the prevalence of bullying by girls compared to that of boys and to identify the specific behaviors that characterize bullying by girls. They described their obligations to address bullying in school and provided identification and intervention strategies. The results show that female pre-service teachers overwhelmingly report that bullying by girls is more common or considered crueler. …

Unlikely Heroes In Despair: Existentialist Narrators In The Novels Of Albert Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, And Don Delillo, Courtney Mullis

Honors Theses

Existentialism is a field of philosophy concerned with questions about existence, death, God, and consciousness. It is "a doctrine that concentrates on the existence of the individual, who, being free and responsible, is held to be what he makes himself by the self-development of his essence through acts of the will" (OED Online). Writing by existentialist philosophers "often belongs more to literature than to philosophy" (Bigelow 173). Existentialist characters in literature are autonomous agents who tend to lack religious faith, constantly ask existentialist questions, and struggle with their own existence and relationship to the world around them. Additionally, existentialist characters …

Theoretical And Experimental Study Of The Biefeld Brown Effect, Bong Han Lee

Honors Theses

By applying high voltage to an asymmetric capacitor, a thrust is created in the direction from the cathode to anode electrodes of the capacitor. Because of the high voltages, the anode ionizes the dielectric medium (air) and creates an “ion wind” by repelling the positively charged ions toward the cathode. This thrust is a result of the law of conservation of momentum. The application to this thrust has been observed in popular media as a levitating device (craft) but its full applications are still unknown and limited to lightweight crafts. In order to uncover its potential applications, this Honors Thesis …

A Theatrical Approach To Raising Awareness Of Human Sex Trafficking Across The Globe, Gwenn Gideon

Honors Theses

As a culmination of my theatrical studies and other academic and personal interests developed over my four years at Bucknell University, I conducted a yearlong project that raised awareness of human sex trafficking in the 2014-2015 academic year. My project was composed of three distinct parts that included facilitating in-class workshops, public workshops, and directing a staged reading. The overall goal of this project was to raise awareness of human sex trafficking, get people interested and involved in the project, and give people the information they need to do more. This project was a THEA 319 Independent Study that was …

Beyond The Black Flag: Modernism, Ideology, And The Rise Of Isis, Justin Patrick Burnham Marinelli

Honors Theses

ISIS is not just the "new face" of Salafi jihadism. It is a new breed of extremism, with elements from previous fundamentalist movements but also with an infusion of both modernist and post-colonial influences that make it more properly understood as a "reactionary modernist" movement. The failure to properly conceptualize it as such is a retardant on our ability to properly understand this group. This attempt to correct this misunderstanding is thus of extraordinary necessity. Additionally, the implications of ISIS's rise run deeper that is commonly realized. The same factors that gave birth to ISIS are likely to manifest themselves …

You Can't Sit With Us: An Examination Of The Influence Of Forgiveness And Accountability On The Use Of Relational Aggression In College-Age Women, Katherine Frances Long

Honors Theses

The current study seeks to investigate the ways in which forgiveness and accountability influence the likelihood that a female perpetrator of relational aggression will continue this behavior, and/or reconcile with her victim. It is hypothesized that when a perpetrator of relational aggression is held accountable for her actions, and is also forgiven by her victim, she will experience the greatest level of guilt, will perpetrate the least number of similar instances in the future, and will be most inclined to seek reconciliation with her victim. Ninety female students attending Bucknell University (57 in the fall, 33 in the spring) were …

The Influence Of Network Effect On The Valuation Of Online Networking Companies, Yi Xu

Honors Theses

Online networks are having an enormous economic impact, both at the micro and the macro level. The growth of the online networks involves the participation of users, advertisers, and platform providers. This paper argues that the optimal revenue is directly proportional to user population, which is a key factor driving the online networking firms forward. Also, different companies are able to generate different value from each individual user. These arguments are supported by our empirical tests analyzing the current online networking giants. Empirical models further suggest that our theoretical model performs best when we look at the relationship between growth …

Random Matrix Theory And The Attraction Of Zeros Of L-Functions From The Central Point, Katherine Elizabeth Harris

Honors Theses

We explore the attraction of zeros near the central point of L-functions associated with elliptic curves and modular forms. Specifically, we consider families of twists of elliptic curves, the family of weight 2 modular forms, and the family of level 1 modular forms. We observe experimentally an attraction of the zeros near the central point, and that the attraction decreases with the rank r of the L-function. However, for each set of L-functions of rank r within a particular family we observe a statistically significant increase in the attraction as the conductors of the L-functions increase. This indicates a correspondence …

Geophysical Investigation Of Icy Debris Fans With Ground Penetrating Radar, Southern Alps, New Zealand, Erica May Rubino

Honors Theses

Degradation of ice caps has begun to alter alpine periglacial regions, resulting in the exposure of bedrock escarpments, and in the occurrences of mass-flow processes. These mass wasting processes include ice avalanches, rockfalls, slushflows, and icy debris flows, and can result in the development of poorly understood landforms known as icy debris fans. Icy debris fans are formed at the base of escarpments along the margins of valley glaciers. According to a 2013 study in New Zealand, fan surfaces are dominated by ice and lithic material derived from ice avalanches, which constitute >90% of mass flows annually. Depositional processes over …

Predicting Protein Contact Map By Bagging Decision Trees, Chuqiao Ren

Honors Theses

Proteins' function and structure are intrinsically related. In order to understand proteins' functionality, it is essential for medical and biological researchers to deter- mine proteins' three-dimensional structure. The traditional method using NMR spectroscopy or X-ray crystallography are inefficient compared to computational methods. Fortunately, substantial progress has been made in the prediction of protein structure in bioinformatics. Despite these achievements, the computational complexity of protein folding remains a challenge. Instead, many methods aim to predict a protein contact map from protein sequence using machine learning algorithms. In this thesis, we introduce a novel ensemble method for protein contact map prediction based …

The Ecstasy Of Economics: The Evolution Of Sergei Eisenstein's The Old And The New, William Hays Persing

Honors Theses

In my thesis, I analyze the development of the most often forgotten work by Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein ¿ The Old and the New. The production of the film from 1926 to 1929 was during a tumultuous period of economic transition during the Soviet Union when the socialist state moved from the mixed markets of the New Economic Policy (NEP) to the centralized planning of the First Five-Year Plan. The development of The Old and the New mirrors the economic period. I analyze how Eisenstein actively adapted his cinematic practice to accommodate the changing landscape of Soviet economic policy. Additionally, …