Digital Commons Network^™

Imagining Anti-Semitism : Artistic Representations Of The Dreyfus Affair, Alexa Stemmler

Honors Theses

The industrialization and large-scale urbanization of France in the nineteenth century drove many working-class people to Paris. With new disposable income and leisure time, they flocked to the boulevards, department stores and cafes of the capital to amuse themselves or simply to wander around the city. Though 1848 was to be France's last real political revolution, Paris remained the scene of cultural and social innovations due largely to this street culture; the mob was as powerful at the tum of the century as it had been in 1789. Vanessa Schwartz writes, "The crowd and the experience of belonging to an …

Narses And The Birth Of Byzantine Egypt : Imperial Policy In The Age Of Justinian, Marion W. Kruse Iii

Honors Theses

Late Antiquity has long been portrayed as a period of transition between the classical and medieval worlds. Its history, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, has been forced to fit the contours of a transitional model, and no figure has been as ill-treated by this interpretive schema as the Emperor Justinian (r. 527-565 AD).

Justinian is known both as the last Roman and first Byzantine emperor; in fact he was neither. It is true that he ruled an empire which was both physically and intellectually the heir of Augustus' Rome and that he introduced wide-ranging reforms which were maintained by …

"I Don't Think She's Like The Rest Of Us" : The Freedom In Disadvantage For Orphan Girls In Early 20th Century Literature, Giavanna Palermo

Honors Theses

Marianne Hirsch notes that often, in literature, the absence of the mother is the basis for the heroine’s development. On this foundation, there is nothing new in the observation that orphan girls in literature enjoy a kind of freedom that comes from being without parents and, specifically, without a mother. What this paper seeks to examine, however, through the textual analysis of Johanna Spyri’s Heidi, Eleanor H. Porter’s Pollyanna, Kate Douglas Wiggin’s Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Jean Webster’s Daddy Long Legs, is the way in which the figure …

Cooling Tunnel Optimization, Trisha Janicki, Jason Thomas

Honors Theses

The goal of this senior design project was to design an Excel spreadsheet which would model a cooling tunnel at the production facility for Kellogg. This model takes the inputs from the operator, the ambient conditions, and the product going through the model and shows exactly what is happening within the tunnel. Once the model was built, an economic analysis was done based on the normal operations versus the increased efficiency of the cooling tunnel. This economic comparison showed that if the throughput of the cooling tunnel was increased by 17.6%, the cost of running the chiller, which is the …

Exploring The Role Of Iscsua And Suf Operon In Shigella Flexneri Invasion And Resistance To Oxidative Stress, Benjamin R. Lloyd

Honors Theses

Shigella flexneri is a facultative intracellular pathogen capable of causing dysentery, a condition that afflicts many around the world, especially in developing countries. There are several aspects of Shigella pathogenesis that are not well understood, including a number of genetic and cellular changes that allow Shigella to adapt to stresses encountered while invading and replicating within the eukaryotic cytosol. It was the goal of this research to examine the roles of iscSUA and suf, gene systems predicted to encode for iron-sulfur cluster biosynthesis proteins, in Shigella surviving exposure to oxidative stress agents and during Shigella invasion and plaque formation …

Characterization Of Sox Family Members In Sponge Stem Cells And During Development, Karen E. Leeds

Honors Theses

Sponges are considered the oldest and most basal part of the metazoan lineage and therefore possess a unique set of gene families that are highly conserved among all animals. One of these gene families is known as Sox transcription factors. Sox genes are known to play important roles in complex animals such as the specification of the primary layers of the body, determination of sex, and most recently induction of induced pluirpotent stem cells (iPS cells) from both human and mouse fibroblasts with the help of three other transcription factors. We have found that two different demosponge species Halichondria bowerbanki …

Easy: An Integrated Marketing Communications Program For The City Of New Orleans, Brett Rogers

Honors Theses

The following is an integrated marketing communications program for the city of New Orleans entitled "Easy." The paper outlines the history of the marketing of New Orleans, as well as the city's current goals. A detailed summary of the current market is provided with detailed demographics and beliefs held, as well as the segmentation variables that will be used within the "Easy" campaign to define the targeted audiences. The PRIZM NE segmentation system is used to better define the target markets of the campaign. Broadly defined, the two targeted segments of the campaign are: 1. younger families with children who …

Use Of Phylogenetic Stains To Determine The Feeding Preferences Of Microbivorous Soil Nematodes, E. Harlan Michelle

Honors Theses

Due to their numerous and diverse roles in soil ecological processes – most notably decomposition and nutrient mineralization – nematodes have long been recognized as important biotic indicators of soil health (Ekschmitt et al., 2001; Ritz and Trudgill, 1999). The predominate means of assessing the information that these organisms might contain has been through nematode community analyses, a methodology that seeks to convert the vast amount of data regarding features such as diversity, maturity and richness into a series of indices which can be used to evaluate soil health and make comparisons across samples. Performance of these analyses typically involves …

Self-Righteous Beneficence : American Diplomats And Missionary Perceptions Of The Ottoman Empire, 1908-1914, Ella M. Frantantuono

Honors Theses

At first glance, President Taft's praise of the Ottoman Empire's transformation seems to reflect optimism about the state of the Turkish Empire and America's role in the world. Still, the very source of this optimism, Turkey's evolution from "retrograde" to "constitutional," reveals Taft's assumption that progress for Turkey was based on adopting the "modem policies" of what he believed to be a superior culture. Taft was not alone in thinking that the event he described, the inauguration of the second Constitutional era of the Ottoman Empire, signified a tremendous improvement in the world or in linking that change to the …

An Analysis Of Tuition And Enrollment In Higher Education : Measuring Price Elasticity, Adam C. Wright

Honors Theses

The hierarchical nature of higher education, in which schools compete in small enclaves for the best students, and competition for higher rankings among private, non-profit liberal arts colleges has prompted some schools to drastically increase their tuition in order to correspond with the price changes of rival institutions. Since top liberal arts schools operate with sizable excess demand for enrollment spots, significant tuition alterations generally do not affect the quantity of enrolled students at these schools. However, the extent to which increases in tuition affect the quality of enrolled students has not been thoroughly examined. This study directly analyzes the …

Forest Fires In Southern Europe : An Econometric Investigation Of The Existence Of Economic Incentives For Fire Arson, Radoslava Dogandjieva

Honors Theses

Devastating forest fires during the summer of 2007 resulted in an unprecedented level of destruction in the Mediterranean forests, prompting widespread speculation about profit-motivated arson as one of the principal causes of the fires. Forest protection laws essentially create a scarcity of land, making arson potentially profitable in several ways: the clearing of land for development and construction, expansion of farm size, and salvage logging (Economist 2007). This study seeks to evaluate the validity of these accusations by examining the relationship between land, wheat, and timber prices and incidence of forest fires in four countries: Spain, Greece, Italy, and Bulgaria. …

Nuclear Vs. Coal In Bulgaria, Peter B. Manchev

Honors Theses

In early 2005 the government of Bulgaria commissioned the construction of a new nuclear power plant (NPP) near the town of Belene on the Danube border with Romania. The € 4 billion project will be executed by a consortium appointed in October 2006 by the National Electric Company led by the Russian Atomstroyexport. The work will be overseen by the architect-engineer of the plant, the American company WorleyParsons. The endeavor received a “green light” in December 2006 when the Nuclear Regulatory Agency of Bulgaria approved the Belene site for the construction of a new nuclear power plant.

The need for …

Excitable Boys: Gender And Redemption In The South, Emily Denton

Honors Theses

Literary critic Leslie Fiedler argues in Love and Death in the American Novel that within classic American novels there is a reoccurring pattern of the pure female and the aggressive male. These texts give rise to the reoccurring scenario in which an innocent young woman brings about the salvation of the sinful, aggressive male. These men are saved through the good works and kindness of these women. Fiedler argues further that these women are an embarrassment to their literary tradition; he says that they "proved almost everywhere a blight, a universal influence which was also a universal calamity" (45). These …

Chloroplast Dna Analysis Of Putative Chestnut Chinquapin Hybrids, Sarah Emmalyne Kennedy

Honors Theses

The American chestnut tree (Castanea dentata) has been reduced from a key canopy hardwood to an understory shrub by the chestnut blight disease. C. dentata shares similar morphological characteristics with the Allegheny chinquapin (C.pumila variety pumila) and the Ozark chinquapin (C.pumila variety ozarkensis). Before the chestnut blight epidemic, the easiest and most obvious means of separating species of American chestnut and chinquapins was based on habit or flower morphology. C.dentata existed as a large tree, while varieties of C. pumila existed as shrubs or small trees; C. dentata contains three nuts per bur, while varieties of C. pumila contain one …

Comparing Sulfur Transformations In Surface Soils Of Chattanooga Wetlands With Different Land Use Histories, Michael Mentz

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess whether high sulfur inputs in a local wetland had an effect on the functions of this wetland, i.e. an increased sulfate reduction rate and an increased sulfate concentration compared to a control wetland. Sulfate reduction rates were compared in two wetlands in Chattanooga, Tennessee during July and December 2007.These wetlands were known to have bad different histories of sulfur input via sulfates in precipitation or runoff.Through use of a 35S tracer technique, overall sulfate reduction rates could be compared for the two wetlands.Replicated sediment cores were collected from each wetland on the …

Challenging The Plantation Myth: A Comparison Of The Economic Histories And Relative Success Of Three Georgia Plantations From 1820 To 1870, Rachel Devan

Honors Theses

Though popular culture often makes the assumption that showplace plantations were the norm in the antebellum South, plantation archaeologists and historians have observed that the data say otherwise. Many of the Southern plantations that they study fall far short of the showplace ideal. In fact, a key role for plantation historians and archaeologists is to clear up the Americans' misconceptions about antebellum plantations by studying a range of plantation types and sizes. One way to accomplish this goal is to classify plantations under archaeological or historical study as either working plantations or showplace plantations based on economic data and use …

The Death Of The Virtuous Heroine As Social Criticism In Clarissa And Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Carmel Rosanna Nunan

Honors Theses

While Samuel Richardson meticulously documents the slow decline of his heroine in the novel Clarissa, other characters in the novel struggle to understand a death that for them has no rational explanation. The novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos, also epistolary and published thirty-five years after Clarissa, allows for a similar interpretation. Contemporary French reactions to Madame de Tourvel’s death cannot compare to the English response elicited by Clarissa’s, but, like Richardson, Laclos also introduces certain social forces that seal his heroine’s fate from without while her own psychological experience of virtue works to destroy her …

Description And Analysis Of Bilingual Programs Implemented In Kalamazoo Public Schools, Jessica Glover

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to answer the question "How does Kalamazoo's bilingual education program align with the standards established by Intercultural Development Research Association?" In this study I list and researched the current bilingual programs implemented in Kalamazoo Public Schools, and then I analyze Kalamazoo Public Schools' overall bilingual program using a rubric designed by Montecel, Cortez, Cortez, and Villarreal (2002).

The Interaction Of Nuclear Fiction And Leadership Studies, Kathryn Elberson

Honors Theses

This project is not solely a commentary on leadership studies, nor is its significance exclusive to the field of English. Rather, it is an effort to unite the two fields in a way that offers valuable contributions to both areas of study while pointing out the necessity of further interaction between the topics of leadership and literature. The few works which are traditionally regarded as having something to contribute to leadership studies are those which are either included in the canon of English literature, or those which directly demonstrate a leader-follower relationship and have a particular lesson to teach about …

Integration Of The Stereotype Content Model And Implicit Theories : A Dynamic Understanding Of Stereotyping Against Obese Individuals, Jenna Sorge

Honors Theses

The current paper integrated Fiske and colleague’s (2002) Stereotype Content Model (SCM) with the implicit theoretical approach to investigate the stereotyping process against obese individuals. Two studies evaluated the proposition that implicit theories of weight, the belief that weight is fixed (entity theorist) versus malleable (incremental theorist), and implicit person theories, the belief that human attributes are fixed or malleable, will predict how people categorize and discriminate against obese individuals. A pilot study found that entity and incremental theorists of weight have equal knowledge of societal stereotypes against obese individuals. Study 1 revealed those whose endorse an entity theory of …

An Incumbent's Guide To Reelection: The States And Economic Voting In U.S. Presidential Elections, Kyle Smith

Honors Theses

This study has two chapters. The first uses Ray Fair 's national economic voting model of U.S. presidential elections to pose and answer specific questions about how voting theory works in practice. The results suggest that economic activity in the year of an election is the primary determinant of voters' perceptions of presidential performance on the economy, while earlier years in the administration's term are not important. Also, voters hold the incumbent party responsible for economic conditions whether or not that party controls Congress. Finally, the results suggest that economic voting generally operates symmetrically -a fall in growth affects the …

Demographic Differences In Household Expenditure For Low-Income Families: Evidence From The United States, Joerose Tharakan

Honors Theses

Despite being one of the world’s most prosperous countries, the United States of America was home to roughly 7.7 million households living in poverty in 2006. Of this figure, 53% percent of households were headed by a single mother. What is more disturbing is that a significant majority of these households were those of full time workers, unable to meet the basic needs of their families at federally mandated minimum wage rates. Researchers and activists from a multitude of disciplines have repeatedly called for an overhaul of the current method of estimating poverty in the United States` and further proposed …

The Penguins' Revolution: An Analysis Of Student Response To The Multi-Dimensional Chilean Educational Crisis, Abigail Hall

Honors Theses

Through exploration and analysis of economic, historical and political factors stemming from the authoritarian period (1973-1990) to the present day, this project offers an interdisciplinary explanation of the emergence of the "Penguin's Revolution" in Chile. In May-June 2006, 700,000 high school students paralyzed the Chilean education system by protesting in the streets, taking over schools and not attending classes. Students organized under the Coordinating Assembly of Secondary Students (ACES) demanded that the government take responsibility for providing universal high quality and equal education. The roots of student discontent lie in the multi-dimensional education crisis, generated by the semi-privatized, decentralized educational …

Cytotoxicity Of Diepoxybutane And Epichlorohydrin In Relation To Stages Of The Cell Cycle, Megan L. Watts

Honors Theses

Work conducted in the Millard Biochemistry Research Laboratory examines the dual nature of molecules as carcinogens and anti-tumor agents through the molecular mechanisms of duplex DNA damage by bifunctional alkylating agents. Diepoxybutane (DEB) and epichlorohydrin (ECH) are polar molecules that form covalent DNA interstrand lesions by cross-linking the N7 position of deoxyguanosine residues. A recent experiment indicated that ECH preferentially targets nuclear DNA over mitochondrial DNA, whereas DEB shows similar rates of lesion formation for both loci. It was concluded that preferential targeting of nuclear DNA results from relatively poor uptake of ECH across the mitochondrial membrane. The objective of …

Pressure Perturbation Calorimetry And Guest-Host Chemistry Of Ndmg And N-Map With P-Sulfonatocalix[6]Arene, Cassandra Newell

Honors Theses

The aim of this project is to provide an explanation for recently obtained binding constants for two similar guest molecules, NDMG and N-MAP, with a p-sulfonatocalix[6]arene host in ammonium acetate buffer. This work was done primarily using pressure perturbation calorimetry, which is a technique that determines the coefficient of thermal expansion, α, which is in turn related to the solute molecule's effect on the order of the surrounding water molecules. A series of experiments were designed to test the effects of suspected confounding variables on the validity of PPC data. PPC was then used to study NDMG and N-MAP in …

The Effect Of Orientation To Growing Season Sunlight On Stomatal Parameters Of Q. Rubra In The Belgrade Lakes Region, Central Maine, Rachel G. Daly

Honors Theses

Stomatal frequencies of fossil-plant species are used to estimate past pCO2 levels based on the physiological functions of living taxa. Numerous studies have shown that there is an inverse relationship between pCO2 and stomatal frequency parameters. As levels of pCO2 increase, the Stomatal Density (SD) and Stomatal Index (SI) decrease. However, pCO2 is not the only factor affecting SD and SI values, which are a product of leaf growth and expansion. Stomatal characteristics differ between genera, and studies also have shown that SD and light intensity have a positive correlation. The present study hypothesizes that SD and SI are not …

Search For Novel Molecular Species Formed By Cold Rydberg Atoms In A Magneto-Optical Trap, Alexander Gill

Honors Theses

This describes a search for novel ultra-long-range molecular resonances between rubidium Rydberg atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We use the technique of photoassociative spectroscopy by directly scanning the wavelength of our Rydberg excitation laser about a 5p3/2 - 90p3/2 transition in a weak electric field and by scanning mm-waves about a 39sl/2 - 39p3/2 transition. The results of both of these surveys are inconclusive.

Using Azahetercyclic Electrophiles To Synthesize Novel Bicyclooxacalixarenes And Oxacalix[2]N-Hexylnaphthalimide[2]Naphthyridines, Doug Rooke

Honors Theses

Various bicyclooxacalixarenes, tricyclooxacalixarenes and oxacalix[2]N-hexylnapthalimide[2]naphthyridines are synthesized via SnAr condensation. This research has involved synthesis optimization. The oxacalix[2]N-hexylnaphthalimide[2]naphthyridines have exhibited host-guest binding in fluorescence experiments. These compounds have been characterized by NMR spectroscopy as well as single crystal X-ray diffraction.

Stranger In A Strange Land: The Struggle For Cultural And Personal Identity In Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World, Laura E. Smith

Honors Theses

In order to explicate Murakami's version of the official culture, I have analyzed the novel with the works of several different theorists. Primarily, I drew my own understanding of the official culture from Raymond Williams's examination of culture in Marxism and Literature. His terminology became helpful in writing about the operation of the System and the Town, though it did not define that operation precisely. Williams's work also introduced me to the theory behind the official culture's manipulation and exclusion of historical aspects in order to create their "official" version of history, from which the official culture draws its identity. …

Diode Lasers For Use In Experiments On Cold Rydberg Atoms, Bill Whitledge

Honors Theses

This project was to measure the atomic density of (85)Rb atoms in a magneto optical trap using a low-intensity probe laser. Additionally, a dark spontaneous force optical trap was constructed in an attempt to boost the trap density. The dark spot failed to appreciably increase the overall trap density (which remained steady at - N = 10^10 atoms/cm^3) but it did increase the density of dark-state atoms in the trap by an order of magnitude. This is a useful result since many experiments on cold Rydberg atoms involve exciting atoms starting in the ground state rather than the first excited …