Digital Commons Network^™

Illuminating A Space For Women And Rhetoric, Lindsey M. Fox

Honors Theses

My overarching concerns are for the place and power of women in rhetoric and democracy. This concern developed during my study of classical rhetoric, when I noticed an obvious absence of women in rhetoric. For example, John Poulakos and Takis Poulakos state that any "ordinary person" could play a role on the political stage in Athens (34). This reference to "ordinary people" is proof that women were made invisible because, as George A. Kennedy explains, in classical Athens, democracy was only for "an assembly of all adult male citizens" (16). Male citizens, then, were actually rather extra-ordinary. Because democracy …

A Case Study Of Events And Examples : History In Arundhati Roy's The God Of Small Things, Michell C. Smith

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

"Their Shoes Yet New" : The Immigrant Image In The Baltimore Riots Of 1812 And The Disagreement Over Nationality, John K. Dunn Jr

Honors Theses

This paper examines the ways in which immigrants were characterized in Baltimore immediately following that city's Riots in 1812. It finds that the "native" majority used the immigrant image in an attempt to determine the criteria of nationality. That image was not settled, however, and rather constituted a discussion between interested groups about the relative importance of ethnicity in the years before Jacksonian democracy. It also concludes that the peculiar conditions and social divisions of Baltimore directly contributed to the Baltimore Riots and that the riots provided an opportunity for prevalent stereotypes to surface.

Only In Story A World : Atheistic Metanarrative In Leguin, Pullman And Wolfe, Samuel N. Keyes

Honors Theses

Ursula K. Le Guin, Philip Pullman, and Gene Wolfe, despite their apparent ideological as well as stylistic differences, all profoundly question the way modernity has divided knowledge, posing serious challenges to contemporary distinctions between religion, science and magic. Moreover, they share a common concern for the power of narrative to accomplish this critique.

In each of their multivolume fantasies, the differences between the categories of science and religion become meaningless. After such a deconstruction, the possibility of nihilism looms unless a new system of meaning surfaces. The move away from discrete areas of science and religion, therefore, in these works …

Mushroom Marketing: A Case Study In Marketing At Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers Downtown Chattanooga, Jeffrey R. Rummer

Honors Theses

This paper and the research within was written to address the specific issue of understanding the college student market and its attitudes towards Mellow Mushroom of Chattanooga. The end use of this paper is to develop marketing communications for Mellow Mushroom that are factually based and best reach the college student market in Chattanooga. Four objectives were defined as critical: (1) to measure UTC student attitudes towards Mellow Mushroom, (2) to compare Mellow Mushroom with local competition, (3) identify ways to attract students, (4) describe the college market. These objectives were used to develop a 54-question survey that was administered …

A Cost Benefit Analysis Of The State Of Tennessee's Child Support Guidelines : How Can The Orders Be Better Encouraged And Enforced?, Jennifer B. Vanzant

Honors Theses

Due to a growing number of The State of Tennessee's parents who should be receiving child support instead receiving welfare, the State is reexamining the makeup of the guidelines. Tennessee's existing child support regulations are written in a language that most individuals can interpret, but issues of compensation for additional dependents, low and very low income families, and shared parenting are three key circumstances producing inequalities that need to be improved within the guidelines. Judicial review has already made several advances in the way child support is awarded. New law has recently developed from child support case decisions regarding moneys …

Surveillance Of The Balto-Finnic Speakers: A Geolinguistic Inquiry, Lindsay E. Gwyther

Honors Theses

The Balto-Finnic languages of northeast Europe are part of the larger Uralic language family. Today, there are seven Balto-Finnic speaking nations, two of which govern their own independent sovereignties (Finland and Estonia). The other five nations lie precariously within the territorial borders of Russia and Latvia for the most part. This paper examines the geographic expanse and status of these languages over time and through space and develops a series of maps to better illustrate these patterns. Historical research demonstrates that their distribution has decreased in area, but strengthened and centralized in certain regions, enabling their presence in a predominantly …

Potential Components Of Time Personality: A Literature Review, Jane Ackerson

Honors Theses

What is time? The simple yet puzzling question has been posed on numerous occasions generating various responses. Time can be described as quantifiable, structured, even having monetary value. Time can be viewed in a subjective or objective manner and can be influenced by internal and external factors. Time can create pressure, anxiety, or boredom. Time is what we perceive it to be. This perception is a potentially vital component involved in the makeup of time personality. Theoretically, time personality is shaped by many factors affecting the relationship an individual has with time. The objectives of the research were to identify …

Boundary Maintenance: An Examination Of Municipal Political Participation In Rural Bolivia, Spencer Fenniman

Honors Theses

On April 20, 1994, the Bolivian government promulgated Law 1551, the Ley de Participacion Popular (The Law of Popular Participation). This law was considered by policy-makers to be an innovative governance response to a history of rural exclusion from democratic procedures.Through the decentralization of many government functions to the level of the municipality, this new system of governance was heralded as the beginning to a new regime where there would be control social desde abajo-social control from below-and popular power in governance. The operating assumption was that through local control, rural populations would be able to effectively combat their own …

Creating A Video Device Application, Kevin Septor

Honors Theses

A video device, such as a webcam, has the capability to be used in many ways, including recording video and behaving like a security camera. A TV tuner card can also record video, and in addition be used for watching television. However, the video hardware and device driver the operating system uses to access it are only capable of delivering raw frames of video. A user space application is necessary for exploiting the capabilities of such a device beyond reading sequential frames of video. This research explores the desiderata in a powerful video device application, and introduces a program that …

Building Morocco Through Literacy: Women's Participation In Development, Elizabeth L. Holmes

Honors Theses

This thesis examines what factors are important for successful literacy provision in the case of urban Moroccan women. Literacy programs should teach participants not only to decipher symbols on paper, but should provide information relevant to the everyday context of learners' lives. As a result, newly literate individuals should perceive changes in their levels of self-esteem, empowerment, economic status, and health conditions. In Morocco, the government launched a large-scale literacy campaign in May 2003 to lower illiteracy, which currently affects about half of the population. In conjunction with this campaign, the Moroccan government is increasingly cooperating with NGOs, the principal …

Evaluations And Project Effectiveness : An Investigation Into The Evaluation Processes Of Development Projects In Bolivia, Kristin Saucier

Honors Theses

This study attempts to answer the question, do formalized evaluation procedures contribute to increased project effectiveness? Project effectiveness is defined as the successful attainment of project goals and objectives. According to the literature, evaluations have the potential to improve a project's success by raising awareness of problem areas and offering ways suggestions for improvement. To test this theory, the evaluation systems of seven international development organizations that are currently implementing projects in Bolivia are examined: Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), Peace Corps, Project Concern International (pCI), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Sates Agency for International Development (USAlD), …

Whipping Up A Region : How The North Taught The South To Cook "Southern", Erin D. Bartels

Honors Theses

I will trace this progression toward the essentialization of southern cooking and therein southern identity by exploring cookbooks dealing with all or part of the South and ranging in years from 1877 to 1941.

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind? : American Citizens And The Genocide In Rwanda, Colette T. Connor

Honors Theses

As citizens of the most powerful country in today's global world, Americans can no longer make the excuse, "out of sight, out of mind." Ten years ago Americans betrayed Rwandans. Their betrayal was mild yet widespread, but had repercussions of tremendous human cost. Each individual American most likely did not feel responsible for the genocide, but the collective outcome of their bystander behavior contributed to the world's inaction. This sad truth can serve as an inspiration: this does not have to happen next time, as American citizens have the agency to influence U.S. foreign policy decisions.

Valuing Servants Ends : A New Theory Of Ethical Service, Patricia Grace Devlin

Honors Theses

Many of today's universities encourage students to develop an ethic of service. Administrators, faculty, and staff members accompany students in campus-wide service activities; a number of collegiate honor societies reward students who engage in community service; and some academic programs require students to volunteer with local non-profit organizations. At its best, service learning inspires students to make a general commitment to service. The current emphasis placed on service learning in today's educational system reveals an emerging academic perspective not only on the value service has as an educational device but also on the significant role service plays in society. For …

Women Leaders Combining A Career In Higher Education With Raising A Family : A Study Of Leadership, Anne Simmons Williamson

Honors Theses

Much of the research within the field of Leadership Studies focuses on whether men and women lead differently and whether women can break "the glass ceiling." This study will examine women leaders in higher education administration who have children and have already broken the glass ceiling, focusing on their work-life challenges and analyzing the structural and attitudinal issues in their organization and society that impact their leadership.

Virginia Schein (1995) identified the larger challenge for society by asking,

How can we restructure work in a society in which work and family no longer are separate, but interface?...It is when this …

Development Of Common Law In Civil Law Socieites, Chasity Shea Davis

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Ignorance And Want In The Works Of Charles Dickens, Emily Katherine Ferris

Honors Theses

The process of writing this thesis to complete my requirements for the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College began with a Directed Reading of five novels by Charles Dickens-Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, Bleak House, Hard Times, and A Christmas Carol. My intent was to investigate poverty present in the Victorian Era of England through these works of Charles Dickens. Upon further investigation, I focused my intent on questioning the social injustice attacked in each novel and the subsequent power that Dickens uses to fight this injustice. To begin with, Oliver Twist instituted a harsh indictment on the workhouse system. Yet, the …

Magic Hour's Niche In The Marketplace: The Process Of Launching A Photography Magazine, Summer Anne Hill

Honors Theses

This thesis is the result of research completed in the Journalism 401 and Journalism 501 courses. In Journalism 401 I came up with my own magazine concept, researched its potential in the marketplace, and formulated a business plan. This plan includes information about my magazine concept, its potential competition, a wish list of advertisers, and a circulation plan. In 501,1 spent months designing a 68-page prototype of Magic Hour, my photography magazine. I created a logo, a cover page, a table of contents, ten departments, two columns, and four feature stories for the magazine. The goal of this project was …

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Comprehensive Understanding, Needs Assessment, And Development Of Intervention, Jacquelyn Jean Lee

Honors Theses

The portrait of the traditional American family is changing. The emergence of single parent households and families built on two careers instead of one mark the more typical reminders of the developing family sphere. However, another broad trend has taken shape over the past twenty years as the result of a wide realm of societal shifts. The role of the grandparent in many modem families has been transformed from distant relative to primary caregiver, from grandparent to parent. Intergenerational households more than the once thought temporary needs, but rather, more often speak of long term commitments. The following thesis investigates …

The Role Of The Declining Status And Increasing Pluralism Of The Catholic Church In The Formation Of Religious Generation Gaps In Spain, 1936-1990, Allison Rene Ellzey

Honors Theses

This thesis examines age-related differences in religious practice and opinion in Spain and the influence of the declining status and increasing pluralism of the Catholic Church in the formation of these differences. It argues that there are three distinct age groups with respect to external religious manifestations and that the socialization of these cohorts coincides with three distinct time periods of differing degrees of power and unity of the Church. The introduction lays a historical backdrop for the rest of the work, tracing the status of the Spanish Church from the Civil War through the 1980s. The second chapter defines …

Personality Effects On Perception Of Emotion From Audible Cues, Megan Diane French

Honors Theses

nil lcrences in personality traits lead to varied reactions to emotional judgments (Golim & CMorc. 2000). It was investigated whether higher levels of emotional clarity, intensity, and attention improve emotional reaction times and accuracy. Participants reacted to sounds by indicating the presence and description of emotions. Participants completed personality scales to determine individual levels of traits. It was found that higher ratings for any trait were related to accuracy. Faster participants were more accurate in their responses and increasingly so when possessing higher clarity. This group also had increased levels of intensity and attention. For those slower, attention was correlated …

Institutionalized Hypocrisy: Divorce And Politics In Chile, 1884-2004, Amanda Faye Mitchell

Honors Theses

Chile is a country of many contradictions, and these contradictions lead to a great chasm between the needs of the people and the way in which the government tries to provide for those needs. Many of the policies and laws are in line with the doctrines of the Catholic Church, and these policies play an interesting role in the social landscape of the country. They create an environment in which the general population does not live in a manner that corresponds to the way that the Church claims they do. Therefore, the law based on Catholic doctrine often creates a …

Antibiotic Resistance In Northern Mississippi Wetlands, Shama Moktan

Honors Theses

Bacterial resistance to antibacterial agents is a condition in which there is no susceptibility or decreased susceptibility to antibacterial agents that ordinarily cause cell death or inhibition of bacteria. Bacterial resistance to antibacterial agents is a quantitative measurement of the efficiency or concentration expressed in micrograms per milliliter or as inhibition zones in millimeters for the diffusion technique of an antibacterial agent against a specific bacterium. In vitro methods for measurement of antibacterial activity are available that are based on testing increased concentrationsof antibacterial agent against a bacterial isolate to identify at which concentration the growth of the bacterium is …

Spatial Variability Of Soil Electrical Conductivity And Its Response To Soil Physical Properties, Matthew David Sleep

Honors Theses

The Soil Moisture Observatory (SMO) at the University of Mississippi (UM) is a 5 acre tract of a former agricultural field at the UM Biological Field Station. Preliminary investigations of this site included 60 continuous soil cores using the Geoprobe sampling technique. These soil cores were taken to a depth of 1.5 meters to correspond to the approximate depth of penetration for a Geonics EM38. The Geonics EM38 uses electromagnetic induction to measure apparent electrical conductivity of the soil. After three weekly measurement episodes using the EM38, the soil samples were taken. These samples were analyzed for particle size distribution, …

The Emergence Of A Middle Class Among Turks In Germany: A Move Toward Cultural Pluralism, Eden Blythe Hegwood

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the recent development of a middle class among the current Turkish community in Gemiany. By following the generations of individuals of Turkish descent from the original guest-workers arriving in Germany in the early 1960s on to the third and fourth generations of German Turks, the process of middle class establishment over time becomes apparent. Paralleling the emergence of Turkish middle class, increased acculturation or cultural assimilation has occurred, which is also described herein in terms of generational accomplishment. Finally, this work seeks to determine the relationship between middle class status and integration among this migrant group in …

The Poetry Of A New Generation: An Investigation Of The Potential Use Of Hip-Hop And Modern Spoken Word In The Classroom, Aaron Lee Thompson

Honors Theses

AARON L. THOMPSON: The Poetry of a New Generation: An Investigation of the Potential Use of Hip-Hop and Modem Spoken Word in the Classroom (Under the direction of Adam Gussow)

This work will explore the connections between African American Literature and hip-hop culture. It will examine hip-hop music and modem spoken word performance as the newest forms of African American literature. Meanwhile, this thesis will emphasize issues such as the controversy surrounding the possibility of accepting hip-hop and urban spoken word performance as valuable forms of literature.

Chapter One will delve into the origins of both hip-hop music and modem …

Sedimentological And Geochemical Characterization Of East Pond, Belgrade Lakes Watershed, Central Maine, Robin H. Nesbeda

Honors Theses

The present study focuses on East Pond, the head of the lake-chain system. East Pond is roughly oval in shape with several coves along the margins; it has an average 3 depth of 4.5 m, a maximum depth of 7.3 m, and a total volume of 26.35 x 10 6 m . The lake is surrounded by North temperate hardwood forest and a marshy outlet to the other lakes exists in the northwest comer. East Pond has suffered severe yearly algal blooms during the late summer and into the fall since 1993. This project aims to develop a baseline for …

Estimating The Impact Of State Policy Incentives On Wind Power Development, Kellie K. Phelan

Honors Theses

Wind power has recently become a viable alternative to conventional fossil fuels for electricity generation because of decreasing costs and the presence of various supportive policy incentives. Pressing environmental issues and concerns about energy security have also prompted interest in wind power as an alternative fuel source. Though less than one percent of the United States electricity supply currently comes from wind power, state policy incentives have the potential to promote the development of the significant wind resources found throughout the United States (American Wind Energy Association 2003). Using a large data set that combines information on installed wind capacity …

Pyaguapy Ita: Silencing The Singing Stone: The Impact Of Modern Technology On Indigenous People In Brazil, Caitlin Cassis

Honors Theses

The name of the world's largest hydroelectric dam, Brazil's Itaipu Binacional, comes from an Ava-Guarani word meaning "singing stone." Before Itaipu became affiliated with dams it represented a smaller, but no less significant monument: a large rock formation in the middle of the Parana River that produced song when struck by water.₂ Today, neither the rock nor the Ava-Guarani tribe remain. In their place is a gargantuan hydroelectric dam that produces sounds more like a thunderous engine than song. When the Brazilian government, in conjunction with Itaipu Binacional officials, constructed the power plant, it not only silenced the singing stone, …