Digital Commons Network^™

Where Did All These Books Come From? The Publishing Industry And American Intellectual Life, Maro N. Asadoorian

Honors Theses

The American book publishing industry shapes the character of American intellectual life. While the newspaper and television industries have been accused of and investigated for bias and lowering America’s intellectual standards, book publishing has gone largely unexamined by scholars. The existing studies of the publishing industry have focused on finance, procedure and history. “There are few ‘theories’ of publishing – efforts to understand the ‘whys’ as well as the ‘hows.’ Few scholarly scientists have devoted significant scholarly attention to publishing” (Altbach and Hoshino, xiii). There are many possible reasons for this lacuna. First, there is a perception that books have …

Dynamics Of Transcriptional Repression By Λ Cro Repressor In Vivo, Dustin Land Markle

Honors Theses

Cro is a regulatory protein that participates in the life cycle switch of bacteriophage lambda (X). While wild-type Cro is produced as a single domain polypeptide monomer, two monomers must assemble to form a dimer before Cro can act as a functional transcriptional repressor. We suspect that dimerization of Cro monomers determines, in part, the dynamics of the activity of the protein in vivo. Rate and equilibrium constants for dimerization of several Cro variants have already been determined in vitro,, and dimerization of Cro monomers is slow relative to other similar proteins. This study is concerned with exploring the in …

The Interplay Between History And Religious Ambivalence In John Updike's Rabbit Tetralogy, Kathryn Sewell Gillen

Honors Theses

The protagonist of John Updike’s Rabbit Tetralogy, Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, is examined and explained in terms of his ambivalence and spiritual concerns. Rabbit is commonly accepted as a socio-historical symbol - an “American Everyman” - but this explanation alone fails to account for his inclination towards the unknown. Combining Rabbit the symbol with Rabbit the individual allows for a more complete understanding of Updike’s intent to make a statement that is both political and theological. Rabbit’s continual movement between extremes (his ambivalence) is considered foremost. Rabbit’s indecision is a constant throughout the four novels, his most defining characteristic. Once this …

Huka Entertainment: Creating A Full-Service Concert Event Company Focusing On Concert Promotion, Talent Buying, And Ticketing, Bennett Alexander Drago

Honors Theses

For my thesis I took an in-depth look at HUKA Entertainment, which is the company I co-founded in January 2006. The paper is divided into two major sections. The first section of the paper covers our largest event to date: The 92 ZEW Late Night Concert Series. This section of the paper also covers the many business opportunities in the music industry, the history of HUKA Entertainment, and all the elements it takes to produce a live event. The second section of the paper covers a detailed marketing plan for HUKA’s current status and its future plans. After HUKA Entertainment …

Cruciform Extrusion In Methylation-State Variants Of Pbr322 Plasmid, Lucas Morgan Mcelwain

Honors Theses

The presence of DNA secondary structures in genomic DNA has been observed in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Specifically, sections of ssDNA may melt out and form cruciform/hairpin structures within palindromic sequences or areas of high purine content. Negative supercoiling of the DNA is necessary for energetic favorability of such an event. These noncanonical structures may serve as molecular switches, providing additional regulation of DNA transactions such as transcription and perhaps replication and recombination. Secondary structures associated with regulatory regions are of particular interest as potential sites for the binding of small molecules, which could alter the expression of genes. The …

Bailey Junior High And The Desegregation Of Jackson Public Schools, Marcial Davidson Forester Iii

Honors Theses

This thesis details the history of Jackson, Mississippi through the eyes of education, specifically through the public schools, and in particular Bailey Junior High (present day Bailey Magnet School). Newspaper articles from Jackson’s primary media suppliers, along with personal interviews and academic essays, were used to gather information on the subject. Chapter One explores the early years of segregated public education in Jackson, as well as the beginning of Bailey Junior High and the community investment in Jackson Public Schools in the 1930s and 1940s. After World War II, the city’s growing population brought greater demands for classroom space, and …

To Vote Or Not To Vote: The New Challenge To Mexican Democracy, Elizabeth Thea Harrington

Honors Theses

Mexico is country which has successfully transitioned from authoritarianism to a functioning young democracy. Yet the democratic stability of Mexico is already at risk due to a trend of declining voter turnout. Despite the most competitive elections in modem Mexican history, voter participation in 2006 was only 58%, down nearly 20% from 1994. Though a variety of reasons contribute to decreasing voter turnout, the predominant factor in Mexico is disillusionment, which manifests itself in the Mexican population because of four principal causes: widespread cormption, government inefficiency, election fraud, and a lack of change in the daily lives of the people. …

The Usa Patriot Act: A Constitutional Analysis, Dean Sterling Kidd

Honors Theses

This thesis is an examination of various arguments for and against the constitutionality of the USA Patriot Act in regard to the First and Fourth Amendments. The arguments are generally in a framework of competing interests: national security and civil liberties. Specifically, Sections 203, 206, 213, 215, 216, 218, and 505 of the Act are discussed. The analysis of these sections includes their actual language, and commentary from law journal articles. Relevant Supreme Court and lower court cases that relate to national security are also incorporated. The thesis also has a general commentary about the teiTor attacks which led to …

A Comparative Analysis Of Institutions, Policies, And Vehicle Emissions Between The United States And The European Union, William Lee Ramsey Iii

Honors Theses

The following thesis undertakes a comparative analysis of the United States and European Union’s institutions in place for the decision making process concerning environmental policy, as well as certain policies that have come out of this process (most specifically those concerning vehicle emissions). Several concerns over the environment have come about in the last few years, and the problem of pollution is one that must be addressed. I will examine how the EU and US are dealing with these concerns about the state of the environment, as well as the processes that are involved in creating legislation to tackle the …

An Analysis Of Hip-Hop Theatre: From Roots To Performance, Jessica Dee Bocade

Honors Theses

Hip Hop theatre has the potential to be an extremely useful art form with the ability to bring younger audiences back to the realm of live theatre. However, several challenges have prevented it from becoming such a powerful influence in the theatrical world. These problems continue to stifle the potential power of hip-hop theatre to reach a greater audience, as well as the ability to be seen in the theatrical world as a legitimate, effective, and stable genre of theatre - not just a "fad."

Database Creation And Implementation Using Open Source Software, Shelby Patru

Honors Theses

This project is designed to investigate the use of open source software and utilize this software to create a database for GNP Acoustical. This honors thesis will focus on the history of open source software, the pros and cons of using this software, a brief look at open source vs. proprietary software, the open source maturity model and the specifics of major software packages in the open source field that could be used to complete this project. Open source software was chosen as the subject for this project because of its increasing popularity among worldwide corporations.

This project was going …

The Role Of Professional Women In Pakistani Society, Sarah Husain

Honors Theses

This paper attempts to outline key factors that negatively affect women in Pakistan, including poverty, lack of education, and gender discrimination. First, I will use data that shows the underlying economic problems prevalent there. I will also use information gathered from the interviews that describes how professional women are advocating for positive change in the social structure of the country. Thirdly, I will discuss the role of NGO's in assisting the plight of Pakistani women. Lastly, I will examine the role of religion and how it affects the values of the general public in regard to women.

Complicating "Female Suicide Bombers" : Violence, Agency And Gender In The Rhetoric Of Shahida, Chelsea Rock

Honors Theses

Since 2002, popular Western news media has become fixated with the "advent" of the Palestinian female suicide bomber when a woman named Wafa Idris detonated herself on a busy Jaffa Road in Israel. Questions about gender, domesticity, violence, subjectivity, and technology arise as researchers, journalists and others confront culturally conceived notions about women and their roles in both Islamic and Western societies. Proposing a broader concept of violence that is cognizant of women's violent histories and struggles over agency, this essay suggests that analyses of women and violence are incomplete without critically thinking about the "female suicide bomber"--or shahida--within their …

Determining The Level Of Network Security Awareness Of Utc Students Living On Campus, Alma Cemerlic

Honors Theses

While information technology divisions in various schools often conduct surveys on general computer use, almost no studies have been done that directly targeted the level of Internet security awareness among college students. The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a not-for-profit, public-private partnership focused on increasing online security awareness, in collaboration with the Government and the Internet industry, organized a number of different projects designed to promote "safe online practices" among college students. However, since research has not been done to investigate the relationship between students' demographics and their Internet security awareness, it is not possible to tell how effective these …

Notes, Notas: A "Trilingual" Education In Words And Pictures, Whitney Dykhouse

Honors Theses

No abstract available.

A Broad-Spectrum Mer Operon In A Multi-Drug Resistant Strain Of The Fish Pathogen, Aeromonas Salmonicida, Erin Parry

Honors Theses

Aeromonas salmonicida AS03, a potential fish pathogen, was isolated from Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in 2003. This strain was found to be resistant to ≥1000 mM HgCl2 and ≥32 mM phenylmercuric acetate as well as multiple antimicrobials. Mercury (Hg) and antibiotic resistance genes are often located on the same mobile genetic elements, so the genetic determinants of both resistances and the possibility of horizontal gene transfer were examined. Specific PCR primers were used to amplify and sequence distinctive regions of the mer operon. A. salmonicida AS03 was found to have a pDU1358-like broad-spectrum mer operon, containing merB as well as …

Investigating The Mechanisms Of A Novel Ribosomal Rna Degradation System, Daniel Fowler

Honors Theses

Nonfunctional ribosomal RNA decay (NRD) is a novel quality control system that eliminates defective ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) from yeast cells. Plasmid-encoded rRNAs containing single nucleotide substitutions in the peptidyl transferase center of 25S rRNA or the decoding center of 18S rRNA are co-expressed with endogenous rRNAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Quantitative northern blots reveal the steady-state levels of the resulting nonfunctional rRNAs are markedly decreased compared to wild-type rRNAs . Furthermore, the decreased expression is not the result ofdefects in rRNA transcription or processing, but instead is due to decreased stability ofthe mature, nonfunctional rRNAs. Mutations in other functionally important rRNA …

Non-Adherence: A Symptom Of The Current Health Care Model, Margaret Duggan

Honors Theses

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the discourse surrounding patient adherence in an effort to illustrate the extent of the problem, how it is framed, and how intervention is currently approached. The paper begins with a general review of adherence, to ground the reader in the current discourse. The next section of the paper will focus specifically on adherence through the lens of HIV/AIDS. Since HIV/AIDS treatment and adherence to antiretroviral drugs is pertinent to adherence issues due to the complexity and lifelong duration of treatment. Furthermore, adherence with HIV/AIDS medications is particularly important due to the …

Modernist Success In A Postmodern Failure: Jackson Pollock And Abstract Expressionism, The Avant-Garde And The Ascension Of Late Capitalism, Art After 1945, Russell Gullette

Honors Theses

It is hard to imagine the magnitude of the events at the end of World War II. The thought produced in the face of a myriad of deaths is almost unfeasible sixty years after the fact, but the energy was integral to the changing social landscape. Because of the country's prominence in and fortitude after the war, the U.S. was left responsible for reshaping and rejuvenating the international landscape that was destroyed by the years of brutal fighting and vile contestation. The American establishment was granted a major opportunity to establish itself amongst the global leaders. Such a grand responsibility …

The Presence, Prevalence And Antibiotic Resistance Of Microbes In The Pamunkey River Basin, Christina Mcdowell

Honors Theses

This project examined the presence, prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Coliforms (mainly Escherichia coli), Staph/occocus aureus, fecal Streptococcus, andEnterobacteriacae found in the water samples taken from three selected sites on the North Anna, South Anna, and Little Rivers of the Pamunkey River Basin. The diversity and concentration of the microbes isolated from these sites was evaluated in late January and late March allowing for a comparison of the occurrence of microbes at different times and between the different sites. Over the course of two months the concentration of colonies increased based on colony counts from Nutrient agar. The rate of …

The Effects Of P53 Status And Egf On Timp-2 And Other Proteins Related To Migration In Human Glioblastoma Cell Cultures, Lisa M. Lint

Honors Theses

The effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on proteins that have been implicated in the migration of the Grade IV brain tumor, glioblastoma multiforme, were investigated in this study. Differential expression levels of TIMP-2, MMP-2, and MT1-MMP in response to EGF treatment were compared by immunoprecipitation, and immunoblotting. This study involved two different cultured glioma cell lines, U87, which expresses wild-type p53, and T98, which has a mutation in the p53 gene, in order to determine if the status of the p53 tumor suppression gene is a factor in the regulation of proteins involved in this migration pathway. It was …

The Effect Of Tgf-B And Egf On Mmp-2 Activation And Mt1-Mmp Phosphorylation In U87mg And T98g Human Glioma Cells, Jacquelyn B. Knupp

Honors Theses

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a high-grade, malignant brain tumor of astrocyte origin, invades normal brain tissue and most often results in death ofthe patient withinayearofdiagnosis. In order to invade the surrounding tissue and thereby metastasize, these tumor cells must migrate through the extracellular matrix. The pmpose ofthis research project is to investigate the family ofmatrix metalloproteinases responsible for extracellular degradation. Specifically, this investigation looks at MMP-2 activation via MT 1-MMP and the possible importance of phosphorylation of the tyrosine residue on the cytoplasmic tail of MTl-MMP. U87wildtypegliomacellsaswellasT98 p53 mutant glioma cells were treated with transforming growth factor beta (TGF-P). Preliminary results …

Pilgrimage Of Dignity : Pope John Paul Ii's June 1979 Visit To Poland, Przemyslaw P. Polaski

Honors Theses

Pope John Paul II's first visit to Poland took place in June of 1979. The pilgrimage was arguably one of the most important trips of his pontificate. Within a matter of days the Pope was able to transform Polish society, inspire hope, and ignite a sense of collective dignity. Through a series of rhetorically powerful speeches the pilgrim awakened the oppressed nation and questioned the foundations of Communist authority to rule. Talking about the inalienable rights of man, the Pope stirred up a longing for freedom that matured with the birth of the Solidarity Movement in 1980. His epical journey …

Kichi Mondai (The Military Base Problem) : A Study Of How American Bases In Okinawa Are Presented To The American People, Mark Carney

Honors Theses

Media representations play a role in how one perceives a particular space. The American media presented the American military bases in Okinawa during the period of American civil administration (1945-1972) as necessary and beneficial for the Okinawan people . Because the media linked the bases and the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR) as dependent upon one another, the media considered the benefits brought to Okinawa by the existence ofUSCAR a result of the bases as well. Despite Okinawan resistance to both USCAR and the military bases, the press presented the Okinawan people as actually wanting the …

Development Of Proliferation Assays To Explore The Role Of Calcium Activated Potassium Channels In Cell Proliferation, Sean Foster

Honors Theses

Due to the large variety of K^† channel families implicated in cancer cell proliferation, it is desirable to develop techniques capable of quickly and reliably screening a variety of potential channels for a role in proliferation. While there are many established cell counting procedures, the time-consuming nature of such protocols limits their usefulness in broadly identifying particular channels in uncharacterized cell lines. For this reason, a primary goal of the present research was the development of techniques capable of implicating particular ion channels in proliferation with both qualitative and quantitative data. Once this goal was accomplished, the project sought …

Political Differentiation In Consumer Preferences For Underdog Businesses : Does Everybody Love A Winner?, Kelly O'Connor

Honors Theses

In an exploratory study of the intersection between the worlds of social behavior and personal economics, this experiment will examine the links between political ideology and consumer preference for an ''underdog" business. The stereotypical image of the Mom and Pop comer store is romantic, but when we juxtapose this sentiment with the convenience and predictability of shopping at a giant retailer, it is unclear which store consumers will prefer, and why. This study tested the hypothesis that individuals with more liberal political orientations will be more likely to exhibit a preference for underdog businesses than individuals with conservative political leanings, …

The Effects Of Heart Rate Variability, Measures Of Impulsivity, And Activity Level In College Students, Laura Katie Laird

Honors Theses

The objectives of this study were to assess the relationships of breathingassociated heart rate variability and measures of impulsivity using EKG-derived heart rate, the BaiTatt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11), and the Conners’ Continuous Performance Test (CPT-II). To measure activity level as a proxy for fitness. activity monitors were worn by most participants and all participants completed the International Physical Activity Questiomiaire (IPAQ). Fifty-two college students (23 male and 29 female, ages 18-22) participated in the study. Auscultatory blood pressure, EKG-derived heart rate, and mean successive difference of interbeat intervals were collected during 2 ten-minute rest periods and during the CPT-II. Participants …

Media & Literature: American Cinema And C.S. Lewis's The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, Laura B. Rigby

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the characters and Christian spiritual themes in C. S. Lewis’s work The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and examines the disparity between Lewis’s original work and the 2005 Walt Disney Productions film adaptation of the text. Through the examination of the differences between the two works, this study assesses the degree of theme shift and provides possible explanations for the changes.

The French Non: The Socialist Party, Relocations, Economic Concerns, Christine Erin Day

Honors Theses

A study that covers the factors which contributed to the French Rejection of the Treaty on the Constitution of the European Union. Using results from polling, the study looks at why the French named relocations, unemployment, and liberal policies as justification for the No vote.

Advice’S Effect: The Role Of Western Advisors On Russian Privatization Policy, Nicholas James Greene

Honors Theses

This paper seeks to investigate the role that western advisors played in Russia’s transition to a market economy during the 1990s. In order to answer this question a wide variety of sources were consulted. Scholarly papers, books on the subject, and works by the participants themselves all played. Through my investigation it became clear that advisors played little, if any, role in influencing policy. A host of domestic ideas and political factors were far more important in determining what strategy was pursued.