Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Educational Games In Promoting Interest And Understanding Of Gravitational Wave Physics, Jonathan Wheeler

Honors Theses

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration Education and Public Outreach group seeks to ameliorate the lack of public understanding of gravitational wave physics. One such effort is Black Hole Pong, a remake of the 1972 arcade classic developed by researchers at University of Birmingham, UK. Black Hole Pong differs from other educational games in that it stretches the laws of physics to make the user experience more exciting. Another effort has been my own work in developing a game called Chickens in Space where players can create mass, which coalesces and eventually forms black holes, which serve as obstacles to the players. …

In Bad Taste - Art Show, Katherine Kolean

Honors Theses

A late night of margaritas contrived an innovative and possibly controversial idea that would incorporate sexual innuendos as part of a senior exhibition. It was the later sober conscious though that revealed the true birth of this idea, which was in fact my own personal sexual journey. In Bad Taste is a depiction of my own sexual awakening – a journey that began with my childhood in a conservative small town in western Michigan, and continues to evolve as a young adult in my final years of college. The title of the exhibition is a tongue-in-cheek response to its sexual …

Calibrating The Justice System, Ashley A. Ulferts

Honors Theses

By surveying a pool of judges in the State of Illinois, their rationale within a hypothetical situation is analyzed against the backdrop of recent contradicting court decisions and the history of law. It is through analyzing this rationale that the factors that tip the scales of justice can be identified, so that actions can be taken to correct our legal system to ultimately uphold the standards of truth and justice it claims to support.

The Ethics Of Environmentalism For The Individual Consumer, Molly Collins

Honors Theses

Climate change harms the well-being of humans. It is the poor choices of individual consumers that contribute to climate change. I argue that it is immoral to cause harm to others, thus climate change is an ethical dilemma for individual consumers. I begin with a pluralistic discussion of harm, before discussing the duties of individuals to make choices that will mitigate the current harms of climate change and the wrong moral assumptions that individuals make regarding their contribution to climate change. I discuss the principles of ethical consumerism, specifically in housing, food, and transportation. Lastly, I argue that climate change …

Berlin Opera Wars : Institutional And The Quest For German Identity, Rebecca Robinson

Honors Theses

In October 2000, Berlin’s Minister of Culture Christoph Stölzl proposed a merger of the city’s opera houses. In the midst of German reunification, Berlin was struggling financially and the cost of three separate opera houses was too much for the city to bear. This proposal to combine the former East-German Staatsoper Berlin and Komishe Oper with the former West-German Deutsche Oper under the administration of “The Opera Stages of Berlin” was met with public backlash. Newspapers all over the world reported daily as the directors of both the Staatsoper and Deutsche Oper—Daniel Barenboim and Christian Thielemans— fought bitterly for their …

The Effects Of The One-Child Policy On Household Financial Decisions, Sylvia M. Xu

Honors Theses

The Chinese One-Child Policy, enacted in 1979, was an attempt to decrease the population growth rate following a period of massive social and political confusion and uncertainty. While the policy was beneficial to curbing the population growth in China, it also introduced unintentional consequences, including sex imbalance, and other demographic differences. The goal of this paper is to examine the economic behavior and financial decisions of son-families and daughter-families across different provinces and regions of China, which have varying levels of sex imbalance, as a result of a cultural preference for sons. These financial decisions include the household saving rate, …

Defensive Ability And Salary Determination In Major League Baseball, Christopher B. Shorey

Honors Theses

The process of salary determination in Major League Baseball (MLB) includes multiple levels of bargaining power and performance determinants. Previous studies of MLB salary determination have used a variety of measures of player performance. This paper examines the effect defensive ability has on salary determination for arbitration eligible players and for free agent players. Specifically, it will analyze player salary/contract data negotiated during the 2012-2015 period along with performance data from past seasons to examine the extent to which fielding percentage, errors, and the more recently developed measures of defensive ability affect player salary. Particular attention is paid to matching …

Health Care Agency: Statewide Awareness Of Patient-Centered Care In Maine’S Mental Health Care Facilities, Holly Hogan A

Honors Theses

This research project focuses on patient-centered care (PCC) in the context of inpatient acute psychiatric units. Hospitals have been claiming their renewed outlooks on health-care via PCC. It has become an increasingly popular term to use on hospital websites and in presidential statements. The technologies and practices surrounding psychiatric care have evolved in such a way that patients are more welcomed to have an input in their care. This project discusses the discourse around PCC at Mental Health Care Facilities in Maine. There is no consensus on the definition; the meanings ascribed to it are derived from the individual institutions. …

A Failure To Cooperate: Why Canada, The United States, And Mexico Have Not Developed A Regional Energy Strategy, Timothy Dutton

Honors Theses

Given the push from the private sector, as well as the resource complementarities among the three countries of North America, it is somewhat surprising that North America has not developed an integrated energy strategy based on traditional, non-renewable energy (2000-2016). How should we understand this puzzle? The answer lies in domestic forces and the structure of national preferences. Using liberal international relations theory, this thesis presents a two-step argument: first, the election of pro-green political parties has in each country led to a convergence of preferences for climate action. Essentially, as each one came to power, the win-set for a …

Entering Into Dialogue With Pope Francis' Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home, Sarah Jeanne Shimer

Honors Theses

Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home brings together the spheres of science and religion. In this document, Francis puts forth a call for action towards religious and non-religious communities alike to address climate change. The strength of the document lies in the way Francis expresses his call. By drawing on scientific and religious tradition, he situates the encyclical in a broader conversation about the moral obligation for humans to care for the environment. This thesis explores the reception of Laudato Si by religious and environmental communities through political cartoons, written critiques, and personal interviews. …

Negotiating Order In State-Funded Care: Examining The Salience Of Sponsoring Agencies In Maine's School-Based Health Centers, Susan M. Fleurant

Honors Theses

The rising costs of healthcare and increasing awareness about poor health outcomes in the United States has brought the issue of access to primary and preventative care to the forefront of the national public health agenda in recent years. While still a relatively small part of the U.S. health care delivery system, the integral place of school-based health centers is becoming increasingly apparent, particularly in low-income, medically underserved communities. Previous scholarship that using quantitative measures demonstrates that school-based health centers are effective and address the stark racial and socioeconomic health disparities that persist. Yet, this work neglects many of the …

Campaigning On Youtube: Messaging And Online Communication In The 2016 Presidential Nomination Process, Abraham Krieger

Honors Theses

The Internet has become an important media environment in the context of political campaigns. This research examines YouTube, the most popular website for video content, in order to understand how the platform fits into the broader media landscape and analyzes the messaging content of leading candidates seeking the 2016 nomination. It tests several hypotheses about the YouTube content posted by the campaigns of Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton, during the period from the announcement of their candidacies through February 10, 2016. The research finds that campaigns upload varying amounts and types of content and that they …

Pharmaceutical And Personal Care Products Concentrations In The Belgrade Lakes: A Possible Threat To Aquatic Ecosystems And Human Health, Serena Haver

Honors Theses

Pharmaceuticals and active ingredients from personal care products (PPCPs) include prescription and over-the-counter drugs, sunscreen, fragrances, and soaps. Recently researchers have detected PPCPs in surface waters, posing a threat to aquatic biota and human health. These compounds can enter the environment through dumping, direct excretion, or sewage effluent streams. We tested 14 water samples from East Pond, Great Pond, and Long Pond in Maine for the presence of 23 different PPCPs. Of those, we only detected significant levels of caffeine, 1,7-dimethylxanthine, and amphetamine all below 1µg/L. There were no significant differences between any of the three lakes for any of …

Assessing Lakesmart: The Development And Effectiveness Of A Lake Protection Program, Alexa A. E. Junker

Honors Theses

Maine’s nearly 6,000 lakes are a vital resource for the state, generating $6 billion in annual economic activity and sustaining 52,000 jobs. Over the course of the last several decades, this resource has increasingly been threatened by development and related problems, especially nutrient runoff. LakeSmart is a lake protection program designed to stem the flow of nutrient runoff by promoting and rewarding the use lake-friendly landscaping practices.

For this project, I traced the history of LakeSmart from its roots in the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and, through stakeholder interviews and surveys, chronicled its development into the flagship program of …

Are The Brain And The Mind One? Neuromarketing And How Consumers Make Decisions, Emily Glaenzer

Honors Theses

Neuromarketing utilizes brain-imaging technology, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machines, to understand consumers’ neurological responses to marketing stimuli. In this paper, I demonstrate how neuromarketing connects to the history of subliminal messaging and our current neuro-obsessed culture (neuroculture). These factors affect how critics view neuromarketing and the implications involved for the future of this study. I hypothesize that, when used correctly, neuromarketing can initiate a new section of the marketing world that will serve as a useful component to more traditional marketing practices. By taking away social bias and inaccurate answers present in market research, …

The Historical Ecology Of Queensland’S Australian Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus Porosus), Emily M. Walker

Honors Theses

Human wildlife conflict is a critical aspect of many societies, as it often plays a large role in government decisions. The iconic saltwater Australian crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is one example of a species that has become the subject of human-wildlife conflict in Queensland, Australia. Decades of intensive hunting in Queensland, beginning at the time of the Second World War, drastically depleted crocodile populations, leading to a federal embargo on crocodile exports in 1972 and their protection in Queensland in 1974. Since protection, populations appear to be recovering with increasing densities in the north and increased sightings along the …

Park Politics: Political Influences On Frederick Law Olmsted & The Creation Of Central Park, Kathryn Chow

Honors Theses

Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. (1822-1903), renowned landscape architect and journalist, was also a political activist who saw urban parks as a way to facilitate social reform. This study focuses on Olmsted’s role as Superintendent of Central Park (1858-1861), evaluating the impacts of politics throughout his campaign for Superintendent and during the construction of Central Park. Politics, in this study, refers to both the interactions between Republican and Democratic parties, and the interactions between Olmsted and his constituents, in both the government and the intellectual sphere. This study will provide readers with a fuller understanding of how local political disputes, ideas …

The Voluntourism Encounter: Affect, Discomfort, And Transformation In Yaxunah, Caroline Tegeler

Honors Theses

Within the massive tourism and travel industry, the niche market of volunteer tourism has risen recently in both notoriety and popularity with its promises of a more conscious form of experiencing the world and its people. I explore in this thesis project the encounter between volunteer tourist and host community by examining the motivations, expectations, and imagined roles and identities of each side of the voluntourism encounter. The volunteer tourism industry frames voluntourism as a path towards a more personal, ethical and responsible tourism, but has created experiences filled with discomfort for tourists in their encounter with the communities in …

Shifting Baselines Of Iconic Marine Species In The Caribbean, Samantha Lovell

Honors Theses

As the degradation of Caribbean coral reefs occurs, memory of past states is lost so the degraded status is used as a standard in management, a phenomenon known as “shifting baselines.” To set restoration targets, marine historical ecology studies are helpful to document baselines of species and understand the past productivity of ecosystems. In this study, I examine the historical ecology of the islands Barbuda, Curaçao, and Montserrat. I analyzed archival materials, including historical maps and other documents from the islands to identify previously abundant or iconic species and understand historical changes. From the archival resources I identified 30 places …

The Effect Of Cyanobacterium Gloeotrichia Echinulata In The Belgrade Lakes, Maine, Harriet T. Rothschild

Honors Theses

Gloeotrichia echinulata is a cyanobacteria species that has been increasingly forming blooms in oligotrophic lakes in the Northeastern United States. The Belgrade Lakes in central Maine have experienced increasing blooms over the past decades. Long Pond and Great Pond in the Belgrade Lakes region are popular locations for summer tourism and year-round residents. Research into G. echinulata is important to the Belgrade community because of potential effects to water quality, public health, and recreation. Studying G. echinulata bloom density throughout the summer and how it may affect the phosphorous cycle, the nitrogen cycle, and the plankton community will help scientists …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns In Irruptive Fringillid Movements, Paul J. Dougherty

Honors Theses

Historic Christmas Bird Count and eBird data indicate that during winter invasions, North American irruptive fringillid species occur in relatively even numbers across latitudes east of the Rocky Mountains. Most boreal breeding species show large southward invasions every other winter, with this pattern typically being strongest across the northern and mid United States. eBird data confirms that many northern fringillids irrupt synchronously, and both datasets also show positive correlations between the winter movements of southern breeding species in many areas. Winter abundance records show negative correlations between northern breeding species and southern breeding species in nearly all monitored areas of …

Don't Know, Do Not Resuscitate: A Principle For The Creation Of The Kingdom Of Ends In The Icu, Griffen Isaac Allen

Honors Theses

In the United States today 20% of all Americans die in Intensive Care Units, or ICUs. These were developed in the 50s, 60s, and 70s to centralize medical resources to help treat critically ill patients with new technologies like ventilators, dialysis, and other tools that are now commonplace. This occurred simultaneously with the emergence of individualistic autonomy, understood as the patient's right to dictate their treatment, as the dominant force in medical ethics. Ostensibly both of these developments would seem beneficial for patients. However, the ultimate result is overly aggressive care that strips patients of their dignity and ensures that …

The Impact Of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals On Wildlife Conservation, Eda Reed

Honors Theses

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as those from plastics and pesticides, have been hypothesized to affect wildlife populations. According to the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, EDCs ‘are chemicals that may interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and wildlife.’ A growing number of studies suggest wildlife are being exposed to EDCs, but how EDCs affect wildlife health and wildlife conservation is less well-understood. Through scientific literature analysis and a survey of wildlife conservationists and practitioners, this study aims to determine the current state of knowledge and data …

Analyzing Tuberculosis Diagnosis And Treatment In Kasungu, Malawi, Andrew Currier

Honors Theses

Despite Tuberculosis (TB) being a highly curable disease, it continues to result in over 5% of deaths in the Sub-Saharan African country of Malawi. Coupled with HIV, the disease remains one of the leading causes of death in Malawi. In the summer of 2015, I joined a research team from Partners in Hope to conduct a survey evaluating the health centers that provide TB care in the Kasungu region of Malawi. After visiting 23 health centers, the results of the 47-question survey were compiled and analyzed to provide information on the capabilities and practices at each health center. The results …

Devising Performance & Queer Futurity, Brendan F. Leonard

Honors Theses

This project argues that devising performance is an inherently queer and utopian form. In response to recent political movements, such as Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, which seek to stage dissatisfaction with the systems of late capitalism, I turn to devising performance as a site. Informed by the queer and performance theories of Jose Esteban Munoz, Lee Edelman, and Jill Dolan, I argue that devised theater allows us to process disillusionment, rehearse collectivity, and stage futurity. In conversation with Munoz, I define futurity as an imaginative site that considers what will follow what some scholars suggest will be …

Arts And Elite Schooling: The Accumulation Of Advantaging Forms Of Cultural Capital, Hannah R. Macquarrie

Honors Theses

Very little attention has been given to how schools provide students with opportunities to accumulate advantaging forms of cultural capital through the arts. This project explores the arts as valuable forms of cultural capital and the role the arts play in the production of elites. Because it is widely acknowledged that when researching elites access may be limited, the research for this project was conducted online through publically accessible documents, like curricula, mission statements, facilities, extra-curricular offerings, and additional arts programming on school websites. The eight schools in this study reside in four different, elite towns, and there are both …

Are Tax Exemptions For "Churches" A Blessing Or A Curse For Taxpayers?, Hannah Bauman

Honors Theses

This paper focuses on the rules and requirements governing the participation of religious organizations as defined in IRC § 501(c)(3) in the political process. Included in this is a study of historical events and case law both for and against the participation of religious organizations in politics.

The Roles Of Introduced Eucalyptus In The Conservation And Expansion Of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Forests In The Northern Ethiopian Highlands, Janice Liang

Honors Theses

Species of the genus Eucalyptus (common name eucalyptus) are widely planted all across Ethiopia – including on large areas of land previously allocated to food production. In recent decades eucalyptus has also increasingly been planted on lands around and within “church forests,” sacred groves of old-aged Afromontane trees surrounding Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido churches. These revered holy sites have long been recognized for their cultural values and also for their ecosystem services – including their potential to support species conservation and restoration, as church forests are some of the only remaining sanctuaries for many of Ethiopia’s indigenous and endemic plant and …

Mount Vernon And Monticello : The Changing Representation At Two Presidents' Estates, Katherine J. Simmons

Honors Theses

Before 1980, complex and controversial topics were ignored and avoided at Mount Vernon and Monticello. Instead their curators favored the enshrinement of the presidents and their mansions, without any mention of the hundreds of people who built and managed these estates. In the 1980s, this began to change. This thesis discusses why and how the expansion of the interpretation of slavery happened over the course of the 1980s and 1990s. Additionally, it seeks to understand how Mount Vernon and Monticello experienced this expansion, and the internal and external reactions to the process. Specifically, it examines this trend as it relates …

Their Brothers' Keepers? Ethnicity, Rebel Diplomacy, And State Support For Insurgency, Connor Somgynari

Honors Theses

This thesis aims to contribute to the filling of a theoretical lacuna by asking: what role do ethnic ties play in rebel groups' efforts to lobby for state support? Researchers have examined many facets of state support for armed rebel groups. Most literature on this topic has been dedicated to decision calculi of states choosing to support rebel groups. However, comparatively little has been said about the other side of this relationship: the demand for these goods and services by rebel groups themselves. Salehyan, Gleditsch, and Cunningham (2011) introduce the concept of the demand side into the literature, maintaining that …