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Honors Theses

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Trends In U.S. Tea Imports: 1991-2015, Evan Kennedy Apr 2017

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 …

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An Analysis Of The Educational Systems In Finland And The United States: A Case Study, Caroline Ann Goodill Apr 2017

An Analysis Of The Educational Systems In Finland And The United States: A Case Study, Caroline Ann Goodill

Honors Theses

International assessments have drawn attention to discrepancies in student achievement scores between countries. Due to the relatively new introduction of these tests, scholarly research on the subject has developed as the tests have produced more results. A shared goal of a majority of the research regarding international student achievement is to establish quality educational systems. As the United States continuously ranks at or slightly above or below average on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) over the past twelve years, Finland’s consistent success has drawn worldwide attention. For this reason, Finland is the educational system benchmark for this undergraduate …

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Devising From A Distance: A Study Of The Difference In Process, Composition, And Audience Response Between In-Person And Digitally-Mediated Choreographic Collaborations, Kathryn Butler Jan 2017

Devising From A Distance: A Study Of The Difference In Process, Composition, And Audience Response Between In-Person And Digitally-Mediated Choreographic Collaborations, Kathryn Butler

Honors Theses

This paper argues that dance devising shares a value system with that of the digital age, justifying the use of a virtual choreographic site to facilitate geographically distributed collaborations. The presence of technology in our social lives, working environments, and creative practices is steadily increasing. Before we passively let technology digitize and make virtual the choreographic process, or before we expedite this seemingly inevitable trajectory, we need to know what the consequences and opportunities might be. Through use of a controlled empirical investigation, this study analyzed the process experience, composition, and post-performance audience response between in-person and remote choreographic collaborations. …

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Visions For Waterville's Future: Perceptions Of Its Residents, Alex Wolansky Jan 2017

Visions For Waterville's Future: Perceptions Of Its Residents, Alex Wolansky

Honors Theses

Mills and factories in the United States have steadily been closing down as industry is outsourced in the globalized economy. Cities that were once prosperous face decay and often have no hopeful future outlook. Post-industrial towns face major unemployment and poverty and are not typically places for re-investment. But Rust Belt cities like Baltimore, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee and St. Louis are not the only post- industrial hubs that are struggling. Many small towns in rural areas once thrived from manufacturing and are becoming forgotten. Local governments, policy makers, urban planners, developers and scholars are working to figure …

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America's National Parks And The Anthropocene: Addressing The Present To Accommodate The Future In Acadia National Park, Sophie A. Swetz Jan 2017

America's National Parks And The Anthropocene: Addressing The Present To Accommodate The Future In Acadia National Park, Sophie A. Swetz

Honors Theses

In 2000, atmospheric chemist, Paul J. Crutzen, and limnologist, Eugene Stoermer, formally proposed the idea of “the Anthropocene,” a new geologic epoch in which humans are the dominant force shaping the Earth. To claim the Anthropocene's existence is to declare that human actions have altered the Earth in such a way that geologic indicators render it a distinct epoch in the stratification of geologic time. This new epoch emerges as a consequence of increased technological development employed to accommodate an anthropocentric human existence. That is, rapid advancements in technology have driven the transformation from a primarily naturally controlled planet to …

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Dewey's Democratic Economy: A Pragmatic Justification For Uber, Christopher Nard Jan 2017

Dewey's Democratic Economy: A Pragmatic Justification For Uber, Christopher Nard

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the changing regulatory environment around the ride-sharing platform, Uber. As Uber continues to expand, it poses a challenge for existing regulatory systems. This thesis offers a policy recommendation for regulatory agencies under the framework of a Deweyan Democratic Economy. Research was conducted in the three steps: a literature review; quantitative analysis of Uber's wage, demographic, and surge pricing data; and a series of interviews with Uber drivers, consumers, and policy experts. In the literature review, it was found that a company could move towards a more democratic economy by increasing public access to information and economic participation. …

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Mississippi Choctaw Women: Preservation And Adaptation From Post-Removal To The 1970s, Elisabeth H. Pepper Jan 2017

Mississippi Choctaw Women: Preservation And Adaptation From Post-Removal To The 1970s, Elisabeth H. Pepper

Honors Theses

This project analyzes the processes of adaptation and preservation utilized by Choctaw women in Mississippi from the post-Removal period to the end of the 1970s. It focuses specifically on the areas of women's lives concerning work, the domestic sphere, leadership roles, and recreational activities. To inform my research, I used a variety of primary and secondary sources concerning the Mississippi Choctaws, even covering the period before Removal. I studied archival documents, microfilm, newspapers, magazines and pamphlets, as well as secondary resource books concerning this topic. From my research, I concluded that women actively engaged in strategies to preserve their Choctaw …

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!Patagonia Sin Represas! Hydropower Development And The Competing Spheres Of Power In Argentine And Chilean Patagonia, Joseph Mac Bell Jan 2017

!Patagonia Sin Represas! Hydropower Development And The Competing Spheres Of Power In Argentine And Chilean Patagonia, Joseph Mac Bell

Honors Theses

The central question of this research thesis is: How have public-private partnerships to develop hydropower been shaped by competing forces in corporate, state, and civil society and how have these forces impacted the HidroAysén and the Represas Patagonias projects in Chile and Argentina, respectively? This thesis focuses on the competing discourses of the corporate, state, and civil society, along with their relative strengths, weaknesses, degrees of risk taking and risk sharing, and the level of public and private investment. As of December 2017, the HidroAysén project in Chilean Patagonia has been indefinitely halted, but on the other side of the …

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Beauty In The Eye Of The Producer: The Role Of Appearance In The Careers Of Hispanic Female Broadcasters, Rachel E. Anderson Jan 2017

Beauty In The Eye Of The Producer: The Role Of Appearance In The Careers Of Hispanic Female Broadcasters, Rachel E. Anderson

Honors Theses

This paper explores the pressures of beauty and appearance on a selected group of female Hispanic broadcast journalists. Ten broadcasters who identify as female and Hispanic were interviewed about their experiences in the industry. A careful analysis indicated that there are pressures for adopting ultra-feminine looks for hair and makeup and sexy clothing for on-air appearances based on consumer feedback. News stations also manage employees' appearances to maximize favor with audiences and to increase ratings.

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Biochemical Variation In Caribbean Sponges Of The Genus Aplysina, Sarah L. Criddle Jan 2017

Biochemical Variation In Caribbean Sponges Of The Genus Aplysina, Sarah L. Criddle

Honors Theses

Sponges are among the simplest multicellular organisms, consisting of groupings of cells with similar functions rather than true tissues. Nonetheless, sponges are ecologically significant in many marine environments, including coral reefs. They are sedentary organisms that feed by filtration from the water column, which contributes to the numerous roles they play on coral reefs, including upkeep of the reef, production of usable energy, and recycling of nutrients. Like all multicellular organisms, sponges are made up of biologically significant macromolecules. These macromolecules provide the energy for the sponge, and their relative concentrations determine how sponges can store and access the energy …

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Curriculum Bien Fait: The Quest For A Coherent High School Literature Curriculum, Shelby Reed Knighten Jan 2017

Curriculum Bien Fait: The Quest For A Coherent High School Literature Curriculum, Shelby Reed Knighten

Honors Theses

This literature review examines sources of incoherency——both macrocosmic and microcosmic——that impact the goal of establishing a coherent high school literature curriculum. Macrocosmic sources of incoherency involve the institutions through which standards and curriculum are constructed while microcosmic sources concern issues within the discipline of English. Among the macrocosmic/institutional sources of incoherency are an unclear division of power between federal and state government, the lack of a professional vocabulary in education, competing interpretations of standards and reforms, and a lack of educational infrastructure. Microcosmic/disciplinary sources include competing ideologies within English education as well as the weakening of the classical, ethical, and …

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Dynamic Testing Of Bovine Cortical Bone, Kenton Wong Jan 2017

Dynamic Testing Of Bovine Cortical Bone, Kenton Wong

Honors Theses

Bone is the primary structural element of mammalian animals. It plays a critical role in support, strength, and resilience, and has been the subject of many investigations into its material properties. The high strain rate behavior of bone has remained relatively unexplored, however, and its properties under dynamic loads perpendicular to the diaphysis of the bone are somewhat poorly understood. Bone is an anisotropic material and displays different properties depending on its orientation during testing. It is known that bone is weaker under a compressive load in the transverse direction, but the relationship has not been tested at high strain …

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Assessment Of Vadose-Zone Wells For Enhancing Groundwater Recharge In The Mississippi Delta, Luke Jenkins Jan 2017

Assessment Of Vadose-Zone Wells For Enhancing Groundwater Recharge In The Mississippi Delta, Luke Jenkins

Honors Theses

Current pumping rates in the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer in the Mississippi Delta are unsustainable as they are depleting the water level in the aquifer. The following thesis is a feasibility analysis on groundwater recharge to the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer using vadose zone wells. Two days were spent in the field at Sky Lake near Belzoni, Mississippi, collecting core soil samples, bag soil samples, and constant head hydraulic conductivity values. Numerous days were spent in the lab conducting sieve analyses, Atterberg limits, and falling head hydraulic conductivity tests. The Atterberg limit test and sieve analyses were used …

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All Things Loved And Unlovable: Discovering Southern Identity In Black Migration Novels, Michael Holman Jan 2017

All Things Loved And Unlovable: Discovering Southern Identity In Black Migration Novels, Michael Holman

Honors Theses

This thesis traces the development of the ways that the South figures in the imaginations of black writers by examining Southern identity in three novels centered around migratory protagonists. The thesis examines the ways in which folk identity, urban landscapes, remigration, and gender shape the migration experience in each novel. The novels discussed here are Nella Larsen's Quicksand, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. Quicksand posits the South as a place of unique danger, especially for black women, Invisible Man characterizes it as a place defined by oppressive memory that may be utilized as a resource …

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Market Competition And Individual Security In The Chilean Pension System, William Mahoney Jan 2017

Market Competition And Individual Security In The Chilean Pension System, William Mahoney

Honors Theses

In 1981, Chile was the first country in the world to implement a privatized elderly social security system: the Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP). The system's creators argued that the forces of market competition would improve pension amounts and that the AFP would promote nation-wide equality in the pension system—the former pension system was not one system, but a collection of pension systems that were highly stratified by class. In 2017, pension payouts have not met expectations, and the AFP is one of the most salient and contentious issues in Chilean politics. The overarching objective of this thesis is …

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The Financial Analysis And The Application Of U.S. Gaap Principles, Lauren Vonder Haar Jan 2017

The Financial Analysis And The Application Of U.S. Gaap Principles, Lauren Vonder Haar

Honors Theses

This thesis follows eleven case studies examining various accounts of U.S. GAAP financial statements. Each case study represents a specific area of the financial statements, and each case uses a different company to analyze the accounts. Through the cases, commonly misstated items are explored. The purpose of this thesis is to determine the proper U.S. GAAP treatment of these items. The thesis explores all areas of the financial statements including accounts from both the income statement and balance sheet. The thesis was written during the Honors Accy 420 class during the academic year 2015-2016. The class allowed me to gain …

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Educational Legislation In A Polarized Climate: A Look Into Mississippi Education Politics, Benjamin C. Logan Jan 2017

Educational Legislation In A Polarized Climate: A Look Into Mississippi Education Politics, Benjamin C. Logan

Honors Theses

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the political process related to educational legislation and initiatives. To accomplish this purpose, I conducted four interviews with educational experts who either have been active participants in the educational legislative process or been life-long educators. From these interviews, I organized their responses into four categories. These categories were Educational Issues in Mississippi, Passing Educational Legislation in Mississippi, Polarization of Politics, and Media Influence. With these categories, I did extensive research to bring in outside literature and documents to analyze the political process related to education legislation. In my qualitative study, I …

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Recruitment And Selection In A Mass Hiring Event Of A Sme, Emily Sutphin Jan 2017

Recruitment And Selection In A Mass Hiring Event Of A Sme, Emily Sutphin

Honors Theses

Using a qualitative approach, I examined the relationship between formal recruitment and selection practices and the success of a mass hiring event in a small and medium sized enterprise (SME). For the purpose of my study, I will use prominent research in order to examine small and medium enterprises recruitment and selection processes and translate these findings to a mass hiring event with recruitment and selection. My literature review will help guide findings based on the qualitative data I collected. Data was drawn from observation, formal and informal interviews with key individuals within the company, and document analysis. A case …

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A Correlative Study Of Epidemiological Mortality And Morbidity Rates: Appalachian Vs Non-Appalachian Counties Within Kentucky, Nicholas E. Vossenberg, Lindsay Calderon Dec 2016

A Correlative Study Of Epidemiological Mortality And Morbidity Rates: Appalachian Vs Non-Appalachian Counties Within Kentucky, Nicholas E. Vossenberg, Lindsay Calderon

Honors Theses

In this study, differences in mortality rates were statistically analyzed between Kentucky Appalachian County Populations (KACP) and Kentucky Non-Appalachian County Populations (KnACP) for 2013. Health – risk factors and socio – economic conditions were also assessed to determine if they put KACP at a higher risk of the five most common causes of death in Kentucky. Estill County, a KACP, was also specifically examined for its mortality and health – risk factor rates. By examining the 2013 database provided by the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was determined that …

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Calculating And Analyzing Night Sky Brightness For The Commerce/Greenville, Texas Area, Rebecca Bosmans Dec 2016

Calculating And Analyzing Night Sky Brightness For The Commerce/Greenville, Texas Area, Rebecca Bosmans

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

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Sedimentology Of A Small Estuarine Marsh Along East (Pensacola) Bay, Florida, Jesse Pfadenhauer Dec 2016

Sedimentology Of A Small Estuarine Marsh Along East (Pensacola) Bay, Florida, Jesse Pfadenhauer

Honors Theses

Sediment samples from a marsh along East (Pensacola) Bay were analyzed using various laboratory techniques. The color, magnetic susceptibility, organic content, carbonate content, and sediment size distribution of each sample was measured to attain an overall profile of the sedimentary characteristics of the area. Using the GPS coordinates of each collection site, samples were categorized into sub-environments based on their position within the marsh. The trends within the study area and sub-environments were evaluated and interpreted. The data indicate that this marsh is a siliciclastic, fining-inland area that is frequently inundated with tidal fluctuations and storm surges. These storm surges …

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Prisoner Resistance In The Auschwitz And Buchenwald Concentration Camps, Regina Coffey Dec 2016

Prisoner Resistance In The Auschwitz And Buchenwald Concentration Camps, Regina Coffey

Honors Theses

A great deal has been written about the Holocaust and about resistance organizations that formed in the concentration camps. Much of this literature, however, tends to focus on the contributions of a particular group of prisoners rather than on the many groups that came together to form these organizations. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine the resistance organizations in Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps using firsthand accounts and to come to a conclusion on how cooperation between different groups of prisoners affected the overall effectiveness of these resistance organizations.

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Curiosity Beyond The Classroom: Developing Engaging Education Programming At The Grand Rapids Public Museum, Sara Forman Nov 2016

Curiosity Beyond The Classroom: Developing Engaging Education Programming At The Grand Rapids Public Museum, Sara Forman

Honors Theses

This project was designed to examine the impact of museums as authentic learning environments for traditional students, and analyze the role of student-centered educational programming in such an environment has upon student’s growth and connection to social studies content. The aim of this project was to develop an education program for secondary students, implement the program in a museum setting, and assess its effectiveness in encouraging student growth. The education program was created and taught at the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) in relation to the exhibit, Whales: Giants of the Deep. The program was developed under the supervision of …

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Ireland Defined As Place, Halley Andrews Aug 2016

Ireland Defined As Place, Halley Andrews

Honors Theses

Ireland is a country filled both with rich land and rich culture. In this project, I undertook to better understand this beautiful country by examining it in terms of place and space, and also by studying and analyzing its literature. I discuss the complex relationship between space, a physical location, and place, the meaning given to a certain location and construct a “tablecloth model” that I then use to analyze the place and space seen in modern Irish literature, examining writers such as Seamus Heaney, William Butler Yeats, and Patrick Kavanagh. I compare the authors’ and poets’ sense of Irish …

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"Romantic Realities": Sherlock Holmes And Urban Imagination, Samantha Vaughn Gates May 2016

"Romantic Realities": Sherlock Holmes And Urban Imagination, Samantha Vaughn Gates

Honors Theses

My thesis explores excerpts of the Sherlock Holmes canon through literary and historical lenses, and relies on close readings to investigate the representation of urbanity in the stories. For my work, I rely on the term "urban imagination" as I discuss the way that Arthur Conan Doyle places representations of real London places adjacent to fantasy urban locations of his own creation, and the effect that this has on the narratives and on Sherlock himself. Doyle uses urban imagination in his romanticization of city life, and his manifestation of a London particularly suited to Sherlock's needs. The kind of London …

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A Noble Dream: The Inter-American Studies Program At Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (1958-1985), Colin T. White May 2016

A Noble Dream: The Inter-American Studies Program At Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (1958-1985), Colin T. White

Honors Theses

This essay explores the rise and fall of the Inter-American studies program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The Inter-American Studies Program attempted to bridge two distinctive bodies of academic literature when Dr. Albert Bork first envisioned it. Unlike other programs founded in the 1950s, SIU’s Inter-American Studies program was an academic experiment challenging that emerging trend. Regardless of its failure, the program’s original idea was innovative.

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Financial Literacy In High School Education, Chelsea N. Simmons May 2016

Financial Literacy In High School Education, Chelsea N. Simmons

Honors Theses

Personal finance has become increasingly complicated in the past thirty years due to globalization and financial engineering. Americans are faced with new financial products and decisions, and many do not have the knowledge or expertise to successfully manage their finances. Financial literacy is especially low among young adults. Individual states have responded by introducing a personal finance course into the high school curriculum. This course may be an elective or a requirement for graduation. This study begins to examine personal finance curriculum in high schools and the effect such coursework has on overall financial literacy when students reach college.

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Making Mississippi Cool: Craft Beer And The Creative Economy, Katherine E. Hogan May 2016

Making Mississippi Cool: Craft Beer And The Creative Economy, Katherine E. Hogan

Honors Theses

The goal of this research is to define and explore two main constructs within Mississippi: craft beer as a phenomenon and the creative economy. As the two play a large role in many aspects of Mississippi’s culture and economy, characteristics of the two have the capability of interconnecting and building off the other. In this study, both craft beer and the creative economy in Mississippi will examined. The findings of this study will answer the question: is there a relationship between the the craft beer phenomenon and the creative economy?

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Factors Of Political Party Competitiveness In Mississippi, Anna Kate Baygents May 2016

Factors Of Political Party Competitiveness In Mississippi, Anna Kate Baygents

Honors Theses

This research project examines the relationship between urbanization and political party competitiveness in Mississippi. Using elections results from the 2011 and the 2015 Mississippi House of Representatives races, this project seeks to find if there is a relationship between urbanization and competitiveness in Mississippi, and if not, which factors do affect competitiveness. Previous research indicates that as an area urbanizes, its elections become more competitive among different political parties. However, this study finds that there is no clear correlation between urbanization and party competitiveness in Mississippi elections, and that other factors, including race, education, and geographic location, may have more …

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The Manifestation Of Blight: Examining The Effects Of Inner City Decline On Populations In The Bronx, New York And New Orleans, Louisiana, Bianca R. Stewart May 2016

The Manifestation Of Blight: Examining The Effects Of Inner City Decline On Populations In The Bronx, New York And New Orleans, Louisiana, Bianca R. Stewart

Honors Theses

Urban decline, and the developments that trigger a collapse among formerly prosperous cities, is a phenomenon that is capable of leaving a lasting mark on any urban system. The collapse and disintegration of the urban landscape carries a variety of facilitators, and with that, this research sought to examine two distinct representations of urban decline and the populations that shifted in tandem with blight: the New York City fiscal crisis of the 1970s and post-Katrina conditions in New Orleans, Louisiana. Through New York City’s fiscal crisis and the act of condensing a city in hopes of rectifying urban decline, known …

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