Digital Commons Network^™

Media, Marketing, And More – How Social Technology Is Changing The Face Of Small Business, Lily Reynolds

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to identify the ways in which social media and marketing technology advances are affecting small retail businesses. A total of three interviews were conducted with working professionals in different areas along the fashion supply chain, and were contacted based on common acquaintances. Each interview was conducted over the phone, and lasted between ten minutes and half an hour, with guided and supplemental questions focusing on their experiences with technology in their fields. The results showed that each area was affected in numerous ways, from superficial business changes to advancements at the cores of their …

Measuring Food Consumption Within A Foodrx Program, Katie Howell

Honors Theses

This pilot study set out to assess food consumption measures within the Charleston FoodRx program. Assessments made through this investigation aim to improve the Charleston program as well as provide suggestions for future programs. Charleston FoodRx provides enrolled households with fruits and vegetables in a supply intended to last for two weeks. These goals combine social and pharmaceutical science, by addressing barriers in food environment and insecurity, nutritional health, and preventative treatment. Though the idea behind FoodRx has existed prior to recent pilot programs, research behind FoodRx and its possible integration within the healthcare system lack published and replicable research …

B'Ars And Catamounts: A Study Of Davy Crockett Through Genre And Medium, Jack Fieweger

Honors Theses

This project seeks to investigate and discuss the changes and variations that have occurred to the mythology of David Crockett over the course of time. Initially appearing as a literary character in 1833, the likeness of Crockett has appeared in a myriad of different texts including: biographies, almanacs, plays, dime novels, comics, television shows, and films. The project attempts to discern how these different iterations of medium and genre altered the mythology of David Crockett. In order to methodologically understand these changes, this project makes use of W.T. Lhamon’s concept known as the Lore Cycle. Lhamon identified that lore diffuses …

Primary And Secondary Interventions To Address Common Female Reproductive Health Issues On College Campuses, Alison Yelsma

Honors Theses

My public health capstone/honors thesis was about primary and secondary interventions for college students on the topic of, and surrounding, common female reproductive health issues. I requested current female college students to complete a questionnaire with questions that addressed their knowledge, attitudes and practices in this area. Responses from process and content questions were used to develop suggested peer support and educational sessions for college campuses surrounding endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

Prebiotic And Probiotic Knowledge And Consumption In Collegiate Athletes, Hannah Kahn

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate gastrointestinal disturbances in collegiate athletes and their knowledge of gastrointestinal health, or lack thereof, specifically pertaining to nutrition choices including prebiotic fiber and probiotic foods, sources, and supplements. Student-athletes at the division one level endure rigorous training for competition. Although one may have competent knowledge on the importance of fueling their body for their sport, there may be gaps in understanding the digestive mechanisms of their diet, importance of a diverse gut microbiome, and subsequent nutrient uptake. This study and questionnaire explored the relationship between gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances a student-athletes may experience …

Pain Response Of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation To Different Grades Of Knee Osteoarthritis, Emily Beer

Honors Theses

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is diagnosed worldwide and affects nearly 250 million people (Wallace et al., 2017, pg. 1). Additionally, people who are 45 years and over are prone to this degrative disease (Wallace et al., 2017, pg. 1). Knee OA can be graded into five categories (0-4) levels associated with the Kellgren-Lawrence grading scales (Kellgren & Lawrence, 1957, pg. 494). Symptoms will develop overtime; thus, it is important to find non-pharmacological ways to help alleviate pain for individuals affected. A non-pharmacological modality of interest is the transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) units, which can be tailored to a patient’s specific …

Xenophobia In The Covid-19 Era, Joanne Jeya

Honors Theses

COVID-19 has altered people's daily lives across the globe and heightened tensions in response to changing economic, social, and political conditions. In the United States, xenophobia has seemingly escalated in the COVID-19 era, particularly towards Asians and people of Asian descent. The assumed reasoning for this rise in anti-Asian sentiment is tied to the presumed origins of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome‐Coronavirus‐2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, first detected in Wuhan, China, prompting some to initially call the disease the Wuhan or Chinese virus, among other racialized terms like the "Kung-flu." It remains to be seen if xenophobic acts have increased throughout the …

Temperature Scale Influence On Perceptions Of Climate Risk, Chelsea Spaman

Honors Theses

This study explored how the use of the temperature scales Fahrenheit and Celsius in climate science communication affects climate change concern. The study specifically targeted Americans due to their familiarity with the Fahrenheit scale, which is not the primary temperature scale used in scientific communication. The study employed a survey, in which the anonymous participants read a short introduction about climate change and temperature rise and then answered a series of questions regarding levels of climate change concern. These questions covered concerns about climate change in general and its potential to harm individual survey participants, flora and fauna, future generations, …

The Impact Of Wine Nutrition And Ingredient Labeling On Consumers’ Attitudes And Purchase Intentions, Kara Tate

Honors Theses

Current TTB regulations do not require that US wine producers display nutrition and ingredient labeling on their wine labels. However, recent attempts at passing legislation to mandate that such information be provided on labels in the EU suggests that US policy makers will soon follow suit. Research on how this addition would impact consumers has been scarce and has been primarily conducted in Europe, but what is available suggests that consumers are unaware of the nutritional values in a glass of wine and many do not look at the back label when selecting a bottle to purchase. We conducted a …

On The Nature Of Collaboration, John Walker

Honors Theses

The senior recital is in and of itself a Capstone project in the Department of Music—a culmination of one’s undergraduate years. Preparation of such a program, especially a collaborative recital with a peer, demands much of a voice student’s attention. However, the nature of this preparation is a relative unknown among the non-musical spaces of academia. Presented with an opportunity to develop my senior recital with Brittany Parry, a student of the new Master of Music in Collaborative Piano, I chose to reflect upon our novelty recital experience in this Capstone paper. The energy we devoted to our rehearsals and …

Montessori Education: Teaching Self-Regulation Through Virtual Instruction, Brooke M. Myers, Catherine Scott

Honors Theses

One of the hallmarks of a Montessori education is the development of children’s social and emotional regulation skills. However, what happens when the Montessori curriculum is interrupted due to the onset of COVID-19? Does the transition to online learning impact student opportunities for social and emotional self-regulation? This case study attempts to examine the ways in which a school’s four lower and upper elementary Montessori teachers adjust their instruction to meet student needs online, and the benefits and challenges they experienced as a result. Findings are shared, as well as implications for those engaged in virtual instruction of K-6 students.

“Police Perceptions Amid The Black Lives Matter Movement”, Eadoin Grim

Honors Theses

In 2014, following the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, researchers focused their attention on the existence of a “Ferguson Effect,” such that rising homicide rates could be attributed to a reduction in proactive policing due to concerns over heightened public scrutiny. While UCR data would eventually refute the existence of such an Effect, previous research has found that there does appear to be evidence of a perceptual belief in the Ferguson Effect among municipal officers. To date, very little research concerning officer perceptions or experiences has been conducted with campus police departments, creating a substantial gap in …

Accounting And Sustainability: Cost And Benefit, Emma Smith

Honors Theses

In today’s busy, complex, and technically advanced world, it is too easy to get caught up in day to day activities that distract from what needs to be accomplished and conserved. Therefore, there is a needed emphasis on sustainability in all industries, more specifically in the realm of accounting with respect to protecting the environment and citizens. Whether it be material, information, or human capital sustainability, appropriate practices are important and require attention (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board). This thesis will (a) document information regarding the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, (b) discuss sustainability practices businesses can take to benefit the environment …

Projecting Effects Of Stress And Anxiety In Out-Of-State Students, Bryar Brooks

Honors Theses

This study investigated the effects of stress and anxiety on undergraduate in-state, out-of-state, and international students. The current statistics on stress and anxiety in college students in general is mind blowing. Almost 50% of college students say they have moderate levels of stress and 25% of college students say that they have high stress levels. In addition, 44% of students struggle with depression and 50% struggle with anxiety. These have a direct correlation with their sleep habits as well. With these statistics in mind, the goal of this study was to see the statistically significant difference in stress and anxiety …

Gis Based Analysis Of Neighborhood Transit Characteristics: A Case Study Of The Vine In Kalamazoo, Mi, Shealyn Lach

Honors Theses

This paper introduces an evaluative framework to analyze residential neighborhoods and draw conclusions regarding the safety and convenience of public transit options. Transit quality indicators included elevation, service areas, intersection crash statistics, and bus stop infrastructure. Within this research, a case study of Vine Neighborhood in Kalamazoo, MI was used to test the effectiveness of the framework; neighborhood data was retrieved, analyzed, and spatially modeled with ArcGIS Pro, then discussed to draw conclusions. Ultimately, it was determined that while neighborhood residents may be in close physical proximity to a stop, high elevation changes and pedestrian crash rates indicate Metro transit …

Racial Representation For Faculty In Higher Education, Joo Ning Lim

Honors Theses

Diversity and representation for faculty in higher education are crucial to cater to the needs of diverse student populations in the 21st century. A significant factor that contributes to faculty diversity is the retention and recruitment of underrepresented minority faculty members. This study aims to provide valuable insights into the current state of racial representation of faculty in higher education institutions and identify solutions to improve the retention of underrepresented faculty. Specifically, this study investigates faculty retention and welfare by comparing data across five public, research institutions in the Midwest. Findings revealed that the racial representation of faculty within the …

The Effects Of Virtual Feedback And Virtual Environment On Productivity, Sadie Martin

Honors Theses

Feedback is a procedure frequently used in organizational behavior management across a variety of settings, and it was the most commonly used independent variable within the first three decades of publication in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (1977-2009; Balcazar et al., 1989; Nolan et al., 1999; VanStelle et al., 2012). Despite the popularity of feedback in businesses, there has been little research analyzing the effects of virtual feedback and virtual environment on productivity. With technological advances in today’s society, more companies are opting for remote work, and this trend will likely increase with events such as the COVID-19 pandemic …

The Politics Of Taxation: An Economic Analysis Of Politically Motivated Tariffs Placed On French Wine By The United States, Katelyn Hutson

Honors Theses

In this paper, I research the economic distortions caused by a 25% retaliatory tariff placed on French wine by the United States in October 2019. This tariff was enacted as retaliation for airline subsidies provided by various European countries to Airbus and was approved by the WTO as a valid compensation for the loss these subsidies caused to the American company Boeing. In order to view the correlation between fluctuations in US import quantities of French wine and the retaliatory tariff, I estimated the effect of the tariff on the wine market using linear regression analysis. Through this regression, I …

Crisis And Catalonia: An Analysis On The Impact Of Crisis On The Public Opinion Of The Secessionist Movement In Catalonia, Rachel Ducker

Honors Theses

Catalonia, the autonomous region of Spain has seen an increase in secessionist sentiments in recent years. While the past inclination toward independence has been centered on economic autonomy and cultural identity, there has been a recent emphasis on political independence, particularly in the times of crisis. In this thesis. I analyze the relationship between the economic changes during the period of a crisis and the public opinion about the potential Catalan secession. Specifically, it investigates the relationships between the economic change and public sentiment during the financial crisis of 2008, the political crisis of 2017, and the pandemic crisis of …

Evaluation Of State-Of-The-Art Nlp Deep Learning Architectures On Commonsense Reasoning Task, Guo Rui (Justin) Lee

Honors Theses

The goal of this project was to explore modern neural network technology in the application of discerning and generating statements that are ‘reasonable’, in what is known as commonsense reasoning. We built off of the work of Saeedi et al. In their work on the 2020 SemEval task, Commonsense Validation and Explanation (ComVE). SemEval is a workshop that creates a variety of semantic evaluation tasks to examine the state of the art in the practical application of natural language processing. This particular task involved three sections: task A, Validation, in which a program tries to select which of two statements …

Installation Press For Heat Set Inserts, Maxwell Warren

Honors Theses

3D printing has evolved from a slow, laborious process in the 1980s’s to a cutting- edge technology that is being used in industries such as aerospace and medical. Though the technology is relatively new in comparison to CNC machines and other items found in a typical machine shop, additive manufacturing is growing towards a multibillion-dollar industry. For this reason, many industries are turning to 3D printing for research and development tasking as well as just using it to supplement for parts until they have been manufactured through more traditional means. The downside of 3D printing is that it is commonly …

Factors In Disaster Response In Mexico, Central America, And The Caribbean, Ashleigh Daugherty

Honors Theses

This research examines the impacts that existing factors can have on the outcome of natural disasters. In order to study this question more thoroughly than previous research, this paper conducts a small n study on the Middle America region through case studies in Mexico, El Salvador, and Haiti. Each of these case studies are evaluated by their outcomes of severe earthquakes and the conditions in which these earthquakes occurred. These conditions being: their economies, governances, and pre-existing natural disaster plans. The analysis of these indicators attempts to understand why certain countries perform better in natural disasters compared to others. In …

Medical Service Facility Site Development, Sabrina Carvajal

Honors Theses

This report provides a clear description of a site development design project for a future medical service facility. The site is approximately 46,818 square feet and is located at 203 E. Centre Avenue Portage, Michigan 49002 United States. This is in a high traffic area that is surrounded by different public and academic institutions including Portage Central High School and Portage Public Library. The commercial buildings surrounding this area are Comerica Bank, Dairy Queen and a new Senior Center currently under construction. Our team is proposing two different site-layout options for the future development of this building. This medical service …

Anti-Police Movement Survey, Julia Peisker

Honors Theses

Due to many highly publicized instances of excessive use of force by the police, namely those associated with George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, law enforcement agencies have recently come under much public watch and criticism. Although anti-police movements have existed since long ago, there has been a new wind of them since these events. This backlash and outrage that have come as a result from these instances of police excessive use of force have led to many changes within police departments across the country, which has likely had far-reaching effects on police officers. Through the use of an online, anonymous …

Velocity Electric Mobility Platform, Austin Gilbert

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to develop an IOT connected micro mobility platform to be used in electric personal transportation devices such as scooters and longboards. This initial platform will be used as a starting off point for Velocity Research to continue with future development.

The first main requirement of the design is that it must be able to control two independent three phase brushless DC motors using field oriented control. These motors must be controlled based on input from the user via a handheld remote control. The second main requirement is that the device must also send and …

The Importance Of Leaders In The Time Of Covid-19, Lindsay Pett

Honors Theses

This capstone examines if leaders mattered during the time of COVID-19. I analyzed this by examining the effect of the stringency of leaders’ policies on total cases and deaths per million from COVID-19. This initial analysis found that a decrease in the stringency index was associated with increases in both cases and deaths. Next, I ran additional statistical analyses examining if leaders had an effect on COVID-19 outcomes independent of the economic situation, health infrastructure, and cultural norms of their respective countries. It was found that the stringency of leaders’ policies still had an effect on cases and deaths independent …

The Politics Of Everyday Subversion: Crisis, Covid-19, And Coming-Of-Age In Córdoba, Argentina, Abby Flickinger

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to explore the impact of converging political, economic, and public health crises in Córdoba, Argentina in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on youth and practices of protest and resistance. Utilizing interviews, participant observations and ethnographic data in addition to economic and public health statistics, media coverage, and government statements I establish the basis and context for this triple crisis, as well as the tactics appropriated to criticize the government and expression disillusionment — protests and subversion. Despite modifications to public health concerns, the Argentine democratic tradition of protesting returned against government wishes, and …

A Baseline Documentation Report For The Delta Wind Birds Sky Lake Nature Reserve, Preston T. Perkins, J Hays Dubberly, Michael J. Thomas, Jensine Coggin

Honors Theses

The purpose of this baseline documentation is to conduct a report on our subject property and discuss the findings. A conservation easement is established by upholding a certain standard of a property’s current condition which makes a baseline documentation necessary for an easement to be enacted. Baseline documentation reports are used as a resource to monitor and enforce the legal agreements of the conservation easement. The subject property is currently owned by the Delta Wind Birds organization. In our scenario, this documentation report will serve to aid in the conversion of our subject property into a conservation easement in which …

Moving The Monument: The University Of Mississippi’S Decades-Long Journey To Relocate Its Confederate Monument, Hadley Hitson

Honors Theses

This thesis tells the story of how thousands of students, faculty, staff, alumni and other members of the university community banded together to relocate The University of Mississippi’s Confederate monument. The movement for relocation officially began in the spring of 2019 with the unanimous vote by the Associated Student Body Senate to move the monument to UM’s Confederate cemetery, but long before that, change happened at the university that paved the way.

This creative telling of recent history explains how national and local events — including pro-Confederate marches in Oxford and the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis — …

The Societal Impact Of Capital Punishment And Its Future Role In Modern Day America, Laurel Lee

Honors Theses

Capital punishment has been a well-established, although extremely controversial, practice throughout American history. It has been the subject of much criticism and debate both nationally and globally, dating back to ancient times. This study intends to research the historical, legal, and social changes of capital punishment in the United States that have occurred since the dawn of the practice in order to detect any trends, and if so, whether these trends allow a realistic prediction of the future of capital punishment. The chronology of capital punishment is first examined in this study in order to indicate that the controversy surrounding …