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Honors Theses

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Smart Growth And New Urbanism: The Implementation Of Development Plans Eight Years After Hurricane Katrina On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Heather Nicholson Aug 2014

Smart Growth And New Urbanism: The Implementation Of Development Plans Eight Years After Hurricane Katrina On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Heather Nicholson

Honors Theses

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Coast, Master Concept Plans (MCPs) that emphasized smart growth and new urbanism were created to reduce sprawl on the coast. This study seeks to find the reality of these plans by examining what has actually been implemented from the MCPs eight years after Hurricane Katrina. This study was conducted in the Mississippi coastal cities of Long Beach and D’Iberville. The MCPs were georeferenced, digitized, and overlaid on top of current land use parcel data using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Parcels were selected and categorized based on each proposed plan and compared to current …

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Thwarted Belongingness In Relation To Face-To-Face And Online Interactions, Fallon B. Moberg Aug 2014

Thwarted Belongingness In Relation To Face-To-Face And Online Interactions, Fallon B. Moberg

Honors Theses

Suicide has become an increasing problem, and it is ranked as the tenth leading cause of death for all ages (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Joiner’s (2005) interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide states thwarted belongingness - the feeling of being alienated from others - and perceived burdensomeness - the feeling of being a liability to others – are the primary proximal factors leading to suicidal desire. The current study focuses on thwarted belongingness and examines its relationship to face-to-face interactions and online interactions. We hypothesized that negative face-to-face and online interactions would independently predict higher levels of thwarted belongingness. …

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Greening Non-Profit Residential Construction: An Analysis Of Habitat For Humanity In Mississippi, Brett Alexander Doleac Aug 2014

Greening Non-Profit Residential Construction: An Analysis Of Habitat For Humanity In Mississippi, Brett Alexander Doleac

Honors Theses

Poverty affects housing quality which in turn affects occupant health, and Mississippi (MS) has been identified as the state with one of the highest poverty rates. Voluntary support offered by Non-Profit Organization (NPO) serves to aid populations experiencing inadequate housing conditions. Given the need to create adequate housing for low-income families, it can be probable that green building strategies fall low on the list of NPO priorities. Thus, this research aims to identify the trends of a major NPO operating in MS, which also adopts green housing. The researcher also identified the aspects for NPO affiliates that set the adopters …

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Exploring The Perception Towards Enhancing Credentials By Certification Of Latent Fingerprint Examiners In The Southern United States, Christopher G. Brewer Aug 2014

Exploring The Perception Towards Enhancing Credentials By Certification Of Latent Fingerprint Examiners In The Southern United States, Christopher G. Brewer

Honors Theses

With several applications of forensic processes coming into question, becoming a reputable expert witness in a court of law can be dire. This pilot study explores the professional opinions of latent fingerprint examiners employed by state criminal investigation departments. Research was geared towards measuring the notion that gaining certification through institutions such as the International Association for Identification (IAI) aids in the perception of latent fingerprint examiners’ credibility and confidence as expert witnesses. The sample population of latent fingerprint examiners (LFPEs) was gathered using a digital survey issued to the forensic laboratories and divisions housed within state criminal investigation units. …

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Sexism Across Musical Genres: A Comparison, Sarah Neff Jun 2014

Sexism Across Musical Genres: A Comparison, Sarah Neff

Honors Theses

Music is a part of daily life for most people, leading the messages within music to permeate people’s consciousness. This is concerning when the messages in music follow discriminatory themes such as sexism or racism. Sexism in music is becoming well documented, but some genres are scrutinized more heavily than others. Rap and hip-hop get much more attention in popular media for being sexist than do genres such as country and rock. My goal was to show whether or not genres such as country and rock are as sexist as rap and hip-hop. In this project, I analyze the top …

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Correlating Periodontal Disease And Cardiovascular Disease: A Comparative Study Of Research Methodology, Alexandra Hensen Jun 2014

Correlating Periodontal Disease And Cardiovascular Disease: A Comparative Study Of Research Methodology, Alexandra Hensen

Honors Theses

This meta-analysis compares and contrasts three types of population-based research methodology currently used to analyze correlations between Periodontal disease and Cardiovascular disease, the most wide spread diseases in the Western industrialized world. The three studies that were analyzed in this thesis include: "Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Periodontal Disease, Tooth Loss, and Atherosclerosis," published in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases (2013), this was a cross-sectional population-based study; "Periodontal Disease and Mortality in Type 2 Diabetes" published in Diabetes Care (2005), this was a longitudinal population-based study; and "Identification of a Shared Genetic Susceptibility Locus for Coronary Heart …

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The Dynamics Of Business Communication: A Look At Social Media Use In The Workplace, Lindsey Munro Jun 2014

The Dynamics Of Business Communication: A Look At Social Media Use In The Workplace, Lindsey Munro

Honors Theses

This paper reviews the use of social media in a work place setting. Reviews on the history of social media and definitions are initially made to prepare the reader for the language of the paper. The main section of the paper covers the advantages and disadvantages of social media use in the work place from the perspective of inside an organization using a private social media platform. Private social media platforms are referred to as enterprise social media. Enterprise social media has advantages and disadvantages when used for communication in team settings, for individual communication and learning, and for knowledge …

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The Effects Of Trauma On Brain Development In Infancy, Sasha Kellogg Jun 2014

The Effects Of Trauma On Brain Development In Infancy, Sasha Kellogg

Honors Theses

This thesis explains how trauma, which can be defined for this study as traumatic experiences, affects brain development in infants. For the purpose of this report, infants are defined as being fifteen months or younger. As gathered from the book and articles researched, typical infant brain development, including the eight processes of neurodevelopment and the four main parts of the brain, will be explained in this report, along with how the brain grows and matures. This thesis shows how maturation of the brain in infancy is dependent upon the bonds and connections infants form with others and explains how trauma …

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The Nfl: Growing Into Its Death, Cole J. Molnar May 2014

The Nfl: Growing Into Its Death, Cole J. Molnar

Honors Theses

The following document is about concussions in the National Football League (NFL). This thesis explores a principal question; is the NFL doing enough to warn its players about the long-term effects of multiple concussions? I start by covering what a concussion is, how it can be diagnosed e.g., what the symptoms are, and some of the long-term effects on the human brain. Other topics that are discussed include the history of football (including how it was born), the history of professional football (early years up to present time), head injuries in football, litigation, and potential solutions. Most of my research …

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Applying The Poincaré Recurrence Theorem To Billiards, Aaron Smith May 2014

Applying The Poincaré Recurrence Theorem To Billiards, Aaron Smith

Honors Theses

The Poincaré recurrence theorem is one of the first and most fundamental theorems of ergodic theory. When applied to a dynamical system satisfying the theorem's hypothesis, it roughly states that the system will, within a finite amount of time, return to a state arbitrarily close to its initial state. This result is intriguing and controversial, providing a contradiction with the Second Law of Thermodynamics known as the recurrence paradox. Here, we treat a set of pool balls on a billiard table as a dynamical system that satisfies the hypotheses of the Poincaré recurrence theorem. We prove that time is a …

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The Relocation Of Laurel Hill Plantation Rice Barges In The Waccamaw River, Sc, Using Multibeam Echosounding, Nathalie Arnone May 2014

The Relocation Of Laurel Hill Plantation Rice Barges In The Waccamaw River, Sc, Using Multibeam Echosounding, Nathalie Arnone

Honors Theses

A study done in the lower Waccamaw River neck, inland of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, is done to relocate and bathymetrically map antebellum rice barge wrecks, last seen near the old Laurel Hill Plantation area. Sites investigated are Laurel Hill, Collins Creek, Cow House Creek, and the Wachesaw portion of the Waccamaw River. Magnetometer data contained multiple anomalies along the locations, mostly due to modern wrecks. Successful multibeam echosounding performed at the Laurel Hill site reveals two identifiable barges. Following archeological scuba diving provided that one barge was partially buried and upside-down, containing civil war era metal fastenings. Barges found …

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A Study Of Pet Bonding, Interpersonal Trust, And Helping Attitudes As A Function Of Gender And Pet Ownership, Alysha Mcgrath May 2014

A Study Of Pet Bonding, Interpersonal Trust, And Helping Attitudes As A Function Of Gender And Pet Ownership, Alysha Mcgrath

Honors Theses

Studies have shown that pet owners have better overall physical health than non-owners; however, little research has been done to examine the influence of pet ownership on an individual's psychological health. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect pet ownership has on interpersonal trust and helping attitudes, as well as to examine gender differences for these variables. It was hypothesized that pet owners would score higher for trust and helping attitudes than non-owners, and that women would score higher for trust and helping attitudes than men. It was also hypothesized that women would have stronger companion animal …

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The Ties That Bind: Candidate Appearance And Party Heuristics, Brandon D. Reilly May 2014

The Ties That Bind: Candidate Appearance And Party Heuristics, Brandon D. Reilly

Honors Theses

Studies on voting behavior have implications for academia and for real world applications. One of the main topics covered in studies of voting behavior is the use of heuristics to make voting decisions. A heuristic is a mental shortcut used to make a decision, and often times does not account for any careful consideration. According to the literature, an individual's party identification is the most commonly used heuristic in voting behavior. A voter will align with a political party based on preferences in policy (or perceived preferences) and vote for any candidate who bears the party's designation. There is also …

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How Does The Amount Of Spending On Coaches' Salaries And Recruiting Budgets Affect Win Percentage In College Football?, Ashleigh "Alex" Watson May 2014

How Does The Amount Of Spending On Coaches' Salaries And Recruiting Budgets Affect Win Percentage In College Football?, Ashleigh "Alex" Watson

Honors Theses

College football has become much more than a sport for the athletes who play it and entertainment for the fans who watch it. In college football, especially for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools, winning has become a way to make money. However, in order to make money, people must spend money. In a college football program money is spent on a multitude of things. This study focuses on two important factors, coaches' salaries and recruiting budgets. Specifically, this study looked to find out how the amount of spending on coaches' salaries and recruiting budgets affected win percentage in college football. …

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The Sound Of Shadows: A Telling, Marla A. Schulz May 2014

The Sound Of Shadows: A Telling, Marla A. Schulz

Honors Theses

This research paper looks at the process behind creating the movie musical "The Sound of Shadows." Marla Schulz journals her experience as writer and director of the film, as well as exploring thematic elements. The research looks to different sources, such as movie musicals, biblical texts, and books exploring the human mind.

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A Preliminary Investigation Of Fecal Contamination In The Silver Creek Watershed, Elizabeth Berger May 2014

A Preliminary Investigation Of Fecal Contamination In The Silver Creek Watershed, Elizabeth Berger

Honors Theses

This preliminary research strives to determine if a non-point source of contamination is contaminating a stream in Berea, Kentucky. The cattle feedlot is discharging runoff into the Silver Creek Watershed. I analyzed samples from Bogie Creek, John Ballard stream, and Silver Creek in order to determine the amount of phosphorus, nitrates, ammonia, and E. coli colony forming units present at each sample site. Precipitation and its effect on the samples was also considered. Bogie Creek and the other sample sites all exceeded EPA’s recreational Maximum Contaminant Levels in Phosphorus, Total Nitrogen, and E. coli colonies. Nitrate, ammonia, and precipitation were …

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Language Development Of Bilingual Russian/English Speaking Children Living In The United States: A Review Of The Literature, Jeanette D. Grosman May 2014

Language Development Of Bilingual Russian/English Speaking Children Living In The United States: A Review Of The Literature, Jeanette D. Grosman

Honors Theses

The number of bilingual speakers in the United States is increasing. Children in particular provide unique contributions and challenges to the English-speaking communities in which they live. Various aspects of the young bilingual population have been studied, including an emphasis on the communicative abilities and trends of such children. However, there is a paucity of research regarding communication of bilingual Russian/English-speaking children. The purpose of this project is to review the existing literature on the language development of bilingual Russian/English-speaking children as compared to that of monolingual English-speaking children to establish grounds for further research about this increasing population. The …

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Revisionist Economic Prebalancers And Status Quo Bandwagoners: Understanding The Behavior Of Great Powers In Unipolar Systems, Benjamin W. Campbell May 2014

Revisionist Economic Prebalancers And Status Quo Bandwagoners: Understanding The Behavior Of Great Powers In Unipolar Systems, Benjamin W. Campbell

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

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Effects Of Multiple Exemplar Instruction On The Emergence Of Derived Relations In Children With Developmental Disabilities, Bridget E. Munoz May 2014

Effects Of Multiple Exemplar Instruction On The Emergence Of Derived Relations In Children With Developmental Disabilities, Bridget E. Munoz

Honors Theses

Multiple Exemplar Instruction (MEI) was evaluated, as an instructional protocol, on its effectiveness of establishing derived tact relations (B-A) in three children with developmental disabilities. Educationally relevant stimuli in the form of constellations were used as stimuli in this study. Following assessment of current listener (A-B) and tact relations amongst participants, listener training was implemented in which participants were asked to “Point to” a dictated constellation out of four choices. Participants needed to respond with 88% accuracy in order to be tested on tact relations. In the event that participants failed tact test probes, Multiple Exemplar Instruction was introduced. Results …

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Central Progesterone Involvement In Estrogen-Induced Prolactin And Luteinizing Hormone Secretion Surges In Female Rats, Lauren L. Hilmes May 2014

Central Progesterone Involvement In Estrogen-Induced Prolactin And Luteinizing Hormone Secretion Surges In Female Rats, Lauren L. Hilmes

Honors Theses

In a cycling female rat, ovarian follicles produce steroid hormones under the influence of gonadotropin release from the pituitary gland. As the cycle of steroid synthesis and secretion increases, a spike in circulating estradiol drives an estrogen-positive feedback, which triggers luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin surges from the pituitary. As they circulate in the bloodstream, these hormones contribute to follicular steroidogenesis and luteolysis during the estrous cycle. Recent studies have supported the theory that estradiol circulating from ovarian origin also regulates the synthesis of neuroprogesterone in the hypothalamus, which is involved in the initiation of the LH surge. In order …

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Modern American Justice In Theater's Les Misérables, Elizabeth A. Nielsen May 2014

Modern American Justice In Theater's Les Misérables, Elizabeth A. Nielsen

Honors Theses

Extracted directly for performance from Victor Hugo's novel of the same name, the themes of justice and democracy found in the wildly popular musical Les Misérables are intentionally universal. As foundational philosophies of the United States, those motifs are especially powerful to Americans. The finale song Do You Hear the People Sing? particularly prescribes rule by the people – democracy – as a medicine for the disease of injustice. This paper will juxtapose the contemporary United States with the world of the play Les Mis, through a window of democracy. A deliberate director can tailor a production specifically for an …

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Marginal Return Of Infrastructure Investment On Bilateral Trade Performance, Xiaolong Li May 2014

Marginal Return Of Infrastructure Investment On Bilateral Trade Performance, Xiaolong Li

Honors Theses

Investing in transport infrastructures such as roadways, airports and seaports has proven to improve a country's trade performance through reduction of transportation costs and providing access to production and market. This research investigates the diminishing return of infrastructure investment and also the rate of return of two types of infrastructure investment strategies on trade. An augmented gravity model is used with econometric analysis methods in this study. The results have shown that as roadway and airport densities increase, the marginal returns on trade decrease. Empirical evidence from the United States and China with all their trading partners from the past …

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Ghostwhistle, Daniel Haney May 2014

Ghostwhistle, Daniel Haney

Honors Theses

This collection of poems draws from the landscape of rural Pennsylvania. Individual poems examine the economic, social, political, and familial struggles that this region entails.

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Design Simulation For Solar Energy Research And Education, Samuel J. Schlitzer May 2014

Design Simulation For Solar Energy Research And Education, Samuel J. Schlitzer

Honors Theses

Solar research is primarily conducted in regions with consistent sunlight, severely limiting research opportunities in many areas. Unfortunately, the unreliable weather in Lewisburg, PA, can prove difficult for such testing to be conducted. As such, a solar simulator was developed for educational purposes for the Mechanical Engineering department at Bucknell University. The objective of this work was to first develop a geometric model to evaluate a one sun solar simulator. This was intended to provide a simplified model that could be used without the necessity of expensive software. This model was originally intended to be validated experimentally, but instead was …

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Greek Life And God Attachment: The Interaction Of Sorority Influence And Religiosity On Women's Body Shame, Monica Burney May 2014

Greek Life And God Attachment: The Interaction Of Sorority Influence And Religiosity On Women's Body Shame, Monica Burney

Honors Theses

The present study investigated the relationships between sorority women’s internalization of Greek thin ideals and body image, and dimensions of sorority women’s religiosity and body image. A combined relationship among sorority women’s internalization of Greek thin ideals, body image, and religiosity was also examined. Based on previous research it was expected that women’s internalization of Greek thin ideals would be associated with worse body image (in terms of body shame, body esteem, and drive for thinness) and that women’s religiosity (in terms of secure attachment to God) would be associated with better body image. Combinations of Greek thin ideal internalization …

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Distress Disclosure And Personality In College Students, Elizabeth Rebecca Klunk May 2014

Distress Disclosure And Personality In College Students, Elizabeth Rebecca Klunk

Honors Theses

This study examined distress disclosure, the tendency to confide unpleasant feelings and experiences to others. Other factors under consideration were gender, personality factors (such as extraversion and one's general tendency to disclose), and the identity of the person to whom individuals were asked to disclose. The subject pool included 22 male and 34 female volunteers from Bucknell University. Participants were asked to complete a measure of basic demographics, the Distress Disclosure Index, and the NEO-FFI measure of personality. They were then asked to disclose about an aspect of their lives that they personally found stressful, as if they were confiding …

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"She Was Not Even Normal": Unreliable Narratives Of Female Insanity In Jane Eyre, Rebecca, And Wide Sargasso Sea, Carolyn Elizabeth Williams May 2014

"She Was Not Even Normal": Unreliable Narratives Of Female Insanity In Jane Eyre, Rebecca, And Wide Sargasso Sea, Carolyn Elizabeth Williams

Honors Theses

In my thesis, I interrogate narrative reliability related to depictions of female insanity in Jane Eyre, Rebecca, and Wide Sargasso Sea. By subjecting the trustworthiness of her storytelling to criticism, especially as regards the concealed madwoman, Bertha Mason, Jane's narration is revealed as unstable, offering problematic insight into a character long considered unflinchingly honest. In du Maurier's later literary adaptation of Jane Eyre, Bertha's parallel character, the eponymous Rebecca, comes to the fore, while the novel's unnamed narrator remains in the shadows, and bases much of her storytelling upon hearsay, rather than the "autobiography" of Jane Eyre. The most transparent …

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Using Micro-Gravity Techniques To Map Alluvium Thickness And Pleistocene Location Of The West Branch Of The Susquehanna River Near Muncy, Pennsylvania, Matthew Joseph Sirianni May 2014

Using Micro-Gravity Techniques To Map Alluvium Thickness And Pleistocene Location Of The West Branch Of The Susquehanna River Near Muncy, Pennsylvania, Matthew Joseph Sirianni

Honors Theses

Laurentide glaciation during the early Pleistocene (~970 ka) dammed the southeast-flowing West Branch of the Susquehanna River (WBSR), scouring bedrock and creating 100-km-long glacial Lake Lesley near the Great Bend at Muncy, Pennsylvania (Ramage et al., 1998). Local drill logs and well data indicate that subsequent paleo-outwash floods and modern fluvial processes have deposited as much as 30 meters of alluvium in this area, but little is known about the valley fill architecture and the bedrock-alluvium interface. By gaining a greater understanding of the bedrock-alluvium interface the project will not only supplement existing depth to bedrock information, but also provide …

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Evolution Of The Morphology Of Bottom Walking Turtles, Victor David Munteanu May 2014

Evolution Of The Morphology Of Bottom Walking Turtles, Victor David Munteanu

Honors Theses

Ecomorphology and functional morphology are two distinct disciplines within biology that are often conflated and erroneously used interchangeably. By investigating the morphological distinctiveness of bottom-walking turtles relative to aquatic swimmers and terrestrial walkers, we can disentangle the effects of ecology and performance. Shell morphology, tail length, digit length, webbing length, and integumental differences were examined using dry and wet preserved specimens. Bottom-walkers were hypothesized to be distinct in all measurements. Instead, bottom-walkers were typically distinct from terrestrial taxa but not aquatic taxa, although for integumentary structures, only bottom-walkers were found to have significantly more integumentary structures than terrestrial turtles. This …

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The Modified Direct Analysis Method: An Extension Of The Direct Analysis Method, May Thu Nwe Nwe May 2014

The Modified Direct Analysis Method: An Extension Of The Direct Analysis Method, May Thu Nwe Nwe

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research project is to study an innovative method for the stability assessment of structural steel systems, namely the Modified Direct Analysis Method (MDM). This method is intended to simplify an existing design method, the Direct Analysis Method (DM), by assuming a sophisticated second-order elastic structural analysis will be employed that can account for member and system instability, and thereby allow the design process to be reduced to confirming the capacity of member cross-sections. This last check can be easily completed by substituting an effective length of KL = 0 into existing member design equations. This simplification …

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