Digital Commons Network^™

Building Strength Versus Getting Lean: An Analysis Of The Gendered Nature Of Fitness In Crossfit, Barre, And Personal Training, Margaret M. Jones

Master's Theses

Like many industries in contemporary society, the fitness sector is heavily gendered, andthus needs to be examined as a sector that both creates and reinforces gendered bodies. Building on previous single-method studies, I utilized a multi-methods approach of ethnography and interviews to analyze organizational and individual experiences with gender and fitness. Using West and Zimmerman’s concept of “doing gender,” I analyzed fitness organizations as a setting where gender and inequality are actively reproduced. By analyzing three fitness organizations with different gendered audiences (a barre studio, a CrossFit gym, and a personal training facility) I looked at how gender and fitness …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Ells By Racial Identity: A Pilot Study, Ha Tran

Master's Theses

ABSTRACTAs racial and political tensions grow within the United States, it is not uncommon for negative teacher perceptions of English Language Learners (ELLs) to be documented in educational research. This observed phenomenon is especially worrisome for three reasons: (1) teachers’ perceptions of their students are known to affect their pedagogy, (2) teacher perception and pedagogy influences student outcomes, and (3) the ELL population continues to be the quickest growing subset within the American public-school student body. While extensive, previous research has not attempted to compare teacher perceptions of ELLs across varying racial identity groups of ELLs. Thus, this pilot study …

Changing Vaccine Hesitant Attitudes Of Parents Using Moral Persuasion, Max Vitro

Master's Theses

In the fight against Covid-19, overt, science-based messaging is not enough to persuade everyone to get vaccinated no matter how encouraging the data. Recent studies on attitudes toward vaccines and other health-promoting measures have provided clues as to why so many are still opposed, suggesting many who were resistant had reasons that were rooted along moral grounds. This process of moralization occurs when a belief becomes a moral matter of ‘right and wrong’ rather than a means to an end. Because moral beliefs are more entrenched, they’ve proven much more difficult to change. There is one approach that could increase …

The U.S. Invasion Of The Dominican Republic: From Cooperation To Conquest, Andrew Defabio

Master's Theses

This paper explores the political and military relationship between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic from the Eisenhower administration to the Johnson administration’s invasion in 1965. The U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic was a military operation that had been planned and prepared for by administrations prior and not simply a reactive decision to prevent a Communist takeover. Analysis of multiple administrations places the invasion of the Dominican Republic in a larger context of U.S. – Dominican relations. The U.S.’s desire to dominate military and political aspects of the Dominican Republic is consistent with U.S. Cold War Latin American policy.

The Debate On Nil: Progress For Female Collegiate Sports?, Stephanie Andrada

Master's Theses

In this study, seven female collegiate athletes from three different women’s sports teams (basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball) from a mid-major, Division-I college were interviewed. The study analyzed the lived experiences that NIL has on these specific female athletes in these particular women’s sports using a qualitative methodology. Three research questions were posed:

1. In what ways does the commercialization of college sports influence the NIL opportunities for these female athletes?
2. Could NIL perpetuate an uneven playing field for these female athletes in competition for limited resources?
3. To what degree do these female college athletes feel that NIL presents opportunities for equitable …

The Moderating Effects Of Sleep Quantity And Quality On The Relationship Between Job Stressors And Job Satisfaction, Olga A. Baryshnikova

Master's Theses

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study was the first to investigate the moderating effects of sleep quantity and sleep quality on the relationships between role overload, role ambiguity, role conflict, and interpersonal conflict with job satisfaction. In doing so, it addressed a gap in the literature on organizations and provided a new direction for future research in this sphere. Leveraging the Job Demands-Resources model as a theoretical foundation, this study looked at sleep quantity and quality as personal resources capable of counteracting the negative impacts of the aforementioned job stressors on job satisfaction. Underscoring their known detrimental …

Habitat Value Of Stormwater Retention Basins For Avian Species In The South San Francisco Bay, Maya D. Briones

Master's Theses

Shorebird populations are declining worldwide due to habitat fragmentation, degradation, and loss. A potential, understudied set of resources that might be used to benefit waterfowl, especially breeding shorebirds, are artificial wetlands such as stormwater retention basins. This study evaluated the habitat value of stormwater retention basins in the San Francisco Bay Area by measuring species abundance, richness, and behavior. Seston, or biota and other suspended material, was collected and tested for mercury contents. Additionally, the habitat features within each basin were recorded and tracked for changes over a year. The stormwater retention basins supported a higher diversity of bird species …

Thinking Styles, Conspiracist Belief, And The Mediating Role Of The Dunning-Kruger Effect In Modeling Belief Change, Lucas C. Cusano

Master's Theses

Why can a person believe something for which there is no evidence and yet also fail to believe something for which there is overwhelming evidence? This study develops a structural model of belief change using the latent constructs of thinking styles and conspiracist belief while accounting for the Dunning-Kruger effect (i.e., overconfidence in one’s knowledge the less one knows about a topic) as a mediator. A combined two-hundred and twenty-six participants from both Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and the introductory psychology SONA subject pool were given two knowledge measures on topics of genetic modification and vaccination before and after reading refutational …

Examining The Role Of Echo-Chambers Within Online Incel Communities Using Sentiment Analysis And Group Based Trajectory Modeling, Francesca Florine Fanucchi

Master's Theses

Technological advancements within the last decade have created new opportunities for social movements to meet and communicate online with like-minded individuals. Under this notion, these online communities generate an echo-chamber of information, to which certain individuals only surround themselves with people sharing similar values and opinions. As a result, online platforms (e.g., forums, blogs, websites) form as safe spaces for members to express their views seen as unacceptable offline. Research examining the role of echo-chambers in facilitating extremist rhetoric within online incel communities is limited, despite real-world acts of violence perpetrated by self-proclaimed incels. Therefore, the objective of this thesis …

Quantum Mechanics And Dynamical Models For Finite Unlabeled Simple Graphs, Nathan M. Lewis

Master's Theses

This thesis constructs quantum mechanical theories of finite simple graphs for both labeled and unlabeled graphs.These theories may provide a description for discrete spacetime in a quantum gravity theory. Finite simple graphs and their properties are introduced. The first and second quantization of the standard quantum mechanics of particle systems are reviewed. A quantum mechanical theory of graphs similar to first quantization of standard quantum mechanics is developed via a correspondence of graph edges to particles in particle systems. An algorithm for constructing quantum states of graphs which is independent of graph vertex labeling is developed. It builds antisymmetric graphstates …

Queen Academy, Hantian Zhnag

Master's Theses

As an upmarket novel exploring immigration and racial dynamics, Queen Academy lies at the intersection of Kathryn Ma’s The Chinese Groove, Timothy Wang’s Slant, and Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye in style and subject. The protagonist Kang comes to the US from China to study statistics, but finds himself becoming a “potato queen”—an Asian gay man interested in dating white men only—and locked in self-loathing. It will take a heartbreak and treading the line of illegality to see himself again. Overall, by engaging with themes of immigration, belonging, and racialized desire, the novel takes the stance that the …

Militant Maids: Domestic Workers’ Participation In Bus Boycotts, Voter Registration, And Head Start Programs In The Deep South, Brittany Ann Carey

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the participation of domestic workers in the Civil Rights Movement, specifically in Gulf South bus boycotts in Baton Rouge, Montgomery, and Tallahassee; voter registration efforts in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida; and Head Start work in those same Deep South states. Domestic workers engaged in activism by joining unions, women's movements, and the Communist Party to improve their treatment in Northern and Southern cities. Modern historians have expanded their research to explore the participation of domestic workers in the Civil Rights Movement, especially in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In some cases, researchers also have explored the complicated …

Post Pandemic Cyberbiosecurity Threats From Terrorist Groups, Haley D. Dodge

Master's Theses

The research in this thesis explored the research question: Are United States (US) health systems accessible to cyber-bio terrorist attacks post-pandemic, within the context of the emerging discipline of cyberbiosecurity? Key findings of the analysis demonstrated how US health systems are more accessible to cyber-bio terrorist attacks specifically from cyber hacking groups based on the increasing sophistication of their cyber capabilities and the lack of cyber protection for biological systems. The concept of cyberbiosecurity was first introduced in 2018 by researchers exploring the converging threat landscape of the cyber and biology domains. As biology is growing more dependent upon vulnerable …

Dietary Protein Intakes, Distribution Patterns, And Quality In Ncaa Divsion 1 Soccer Players, Jun H. Kwon

Master's Theses

Dietary protein is required to support recovery and adaptation following exercise training. While prior research demonstrates that many athletes meet total daily protein needs, intake seems to be predominantly skewed toward the evening meal. An even distribution of protein doses throughout the course of a day is theorized to confer greater skeletal muscle anabolism compared to a skewed pattern of intake. Protein quality is also an important dietary consideration for athletes, with the amino acid leucine being the primary driver of the postprandial anabolic response. The present thesis investigates the protein consumption characteristics among a selected cohort of NCAA Division …

Biodegradation Of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether And Tert-Butyl Alcohol Using Bioaugmentation With Biowish® Aqua, Elizabeth Villanueva

Master's Theses

Aqua, a commercial product manufactured by BiOWiSH® Technologies, was utilized in this research to study its effectiveness to biodegrade methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA). Microcosms containing varying concentrations of MTBE and TBA as well as a growth media and mineral salt solution were examined. Analytical instrumentation used in this study included the use of a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC/MS) to determine concentrations of MTBE and TBA and a spectrophotometer to extrapolate approximate active biomass concentrations in each experiment. Four different environmental conditions were tested for both MTBE and TBA. The environmental conditions tested for each contaminant included: …

Make Up! An Exploration Of Choreographic Methods: Transforming Sailor Moon Into Concert Dance, Nathaniel Drake Parrott

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the effectiveness of certain choreographic tools for the task of translating visual and literary material into concert dance, specifically through translating the source material Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. The research sought to determine which choreographic tools used in the study were more effective than others and more preferred than others in terms of participant responses. This was achieved through translating the animated series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon into a series of virtuosic dance solos for public performance through the use of various choreographic tools, including abstract translation, literal translation, Forsythe …

Crisis Communication In The Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Use Of Facebook By Un Humanitarian Organizations, Rubaiya Zannat

Master's Theses

The proliferation of social media has made it incredibly simple to quickly disseminate valuable information to a large audience. Thus, numerous organizations are now heavily leveraging these social networking platforms as a means for managing their crisis responses. Through a content analysis of 355 posts concerning the Ukraine-Russia conflict made by five large UN humanitarian organizations between February and May, 2022, on their official Facebook pages, this study investigated organizational crisis communication patterns. Findings suggest that UN humanitarian organizations extensively used "threat" and "need for change" as crisis characteristics to delineate the Ukraine-Russia situation, whereas “protection of safety and security,” …

Switching “Leader” And “Follower” Roles: The Wedding First Dance As A Representation Of A Modern Relationship, Anna Magidson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine whether introducing switch dancing as an alternative to the traditional “leader” and “follower” role dynamic in a wedding first dance could be an effective tool of empowerment for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations. It was particularly important to understand whether this could have a positive impact on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other (LGBTQIA+) community. To the researcher’s knowledge, no other academic research paper has ever examined the intersectionality between the wedding industry, the LGBTQIA+ community, and switch partner dancing. This study was developed …

Who’S Teaching Whom? A Dance Concert Exploring Teacher-Led, Student-Led, And Collaborative Choreographic Methods, Robin Suing

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to create a positive learning environment where students with a range of dance backgrounds can flourish. The goal was to discover the feeling responses of college students to teacher-led, student-led, and collaborative choreography to determine the importance of a balance between teacher-led and student-centered instruction. Information from this project will be used to inform curriculum planning in future dance courses. The following essential questions were used as a guide when assessing the qualitative and quantitative answers to the surveys and interview questions given to the participating students: Q1 What similarities and differences are found …

Are Competition Trained Dancers Ready For A College Dance Program?, Alison Durham

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to explore the opinions of competition trained dancers and college dance professors to see if dancers in college dance programs were prepared for all the aspects of dance that college offered. The research instrument used was an electronic survey that utilized qualitative and quantitative questions for gathering data. Participants in this study were located throughout the United States and included thirty college dance students and eight college dance professors. The data showed that some students believed they were prepared for a college dance program, while others felt they had holes in their training. The …

From Mesoamerica To Aleppo And Transylvania: The Global Migration Of The Chile Pepper, Arianne M. Peterson, Arianne Peterson

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the migration of the chile pepper, or capsicum anuum, from Mesoamerica into the Old World after 1500, focusing on two case studies of the Aleppo pepper in Syria and paprika in what was once Hungarian Nagyvarad, and which is now Romanian Oradea. Using foodways as a historical lens, and considering the movement of food as historical, it can be seen that the chile pepper, despite its low profit value, illustrates a globalization that existed well before modern times, and it came to cement itself within many different cultures as a symbol of identity. Despite its far-away …

How Chicago Public Schools Engaged African American Parents In The Closing Of Austin Career Academy High School, Shani Blackwell

Master's Theses

The role of African American parents in education reform initiatives in Chicago is not clearly defined. Local School Councils (LSC) allow parents to make school related decisions in Chicago. But LSCs are removed from decisions about whether or not to place school on or off probation, and whether or not to close schools based on performance or building utilization. In 2013, African American and Latinx parents expressed outrage over the decision by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to close 49 schools with protests, including a hunger strike by a group of parents, and pleas to the Chicago Board of Education (BOE). …

A Comparative Study Of The Impact Of Regimes In Latin America’S Education Systems: The Cases Of Mercosur, Alba-Tcp, And Pa, Victoria Desimoni

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a comparative study of the regional education policies and programs in three Latin American (LA) regional entities (hereafter ‘regimes’ and ‘regionalisms’): The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), and Pacific Alliance (PA). Each of these represents different regionalisms coexisting in LA (hegemonic, post-hegemonic, and counter-hegemonic regionalisms), which makes them ideal for comparative analysis. This project aims to compare these very diverse regimes to interrogate the similarities and dissimilarities, as well as discover who (the regional or the global) is shaping education systems in this area …

Constructing Planetary Citizens Through Ecopedagogy In U.S. Social Studies Standards, Madeline Anne Rainey

Master's Theses

The world is in the age of the Anthropocene, where humans are impacting the environment to disastrous effects. The capitalist economy, promoting neoliberal policies of mass consumption, has exacerbated the world's environmental deterioration and social inequity. The rights and responsibilities people hold have been rapidly changing with the fourth industrial revolution. Globalization and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) have further expanded notions of citizenship. While there have been numerous attempts to bring the environment into schools, it has not emphasized what this crisis deserves. Ecopedagogy, as a critical theory, explicitly examines the interplay between environmental and social problems and challenges …

An Integrated Approach For Controlling Verticillium Wilt Of Strawberry, Jack T. Koster

Master's Theses

Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa, Duch.) is an important crop in California, with more than 35,000 acres planted in 2018 resulting in a farm gate value of $3.1 billion. In 2020, California strawberry production accounted for more than 85% of national strawberry production and faces serious threats to production due to various soil-borne diseases. One such disease, Verticillium wilt, is caused by the fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae and is commonly found in temperate zones around the world where strawberries are grown. Due to the phase-out of efficacious fumigants like methyl bromide, alternative disease management methods have become necessary to …

Mechanisms Of Substrate Selectivity And Transport By Escherichia Coli Atp- Binding Cassette (Abc) Transporter Metni, Yuchun Chen

Master's Theses

ABC transporters are central in many cellular functions including nutrient uptake, signal transduction membrane assembly, and cellular detoxification. Both structural and functional studies have revealed insights into the high-affinity uptake mechanism of the MetNI methionine ABC transporter. Using the energy from ATP binding and hydrolysis, the MetNI-Q system can import L-Met, D-Met, and other methionine derivatives against concentration gradients. Many mechanistic studies of ABC transporter propose a model in which cognate binding proteins sequester substrates in the periplasm and deliver them to the transporter. In contrast, recent in vivo and crystallographic studies of MetNI-Q suggest that some substrates may be …

Alt-Right Of The_Donald And Authoritarian Communists On Reddit: Internet Memes To Build Community, Joshua Hendricks

Master's Theses

This project infuses Lacanian psychoanalysis further into the rhetorical study by exploring authoritarian discourses on Reddit. I analyze the alt-right community that found a home on the subreddit r/The_Donald and chart their discourse as it shaped from the quarantine to the establishment of an independent forum called TheDonald.win. I selected memes and the comments around them to build the analysis. The second aspect of this thesis examines authoritarian communist discourse on Reddit. The leftist community splintered when r/socialism banned a community member because the person made catgirl art. The ban sent shockwaves through the leftist community on Reddit and generated …

Topo-Climatic Effects Of Fuel Loading In Ponderosa Pine (Pinus Ponderosa) Forests Of The Colorado Rocky Mountains, Justin Yow

Master's Theses

A key restoration focus is the mitigation and prevention of intense wildfires. This is done using a regularly prescribed fire regime and forest thinning practices to reduce surface fuel loads. Prediction of fuel loads at the forest floor is pivotal when assessing the hazard level a forest fire may present. Scientists already have much data correlating fuel characteristics to fire effects and behavior. However, links between montane climate variability and relative effects on fuel load characteristics have not been extensively explored in the Front Range and southwestern Colorado. This study system was uniquely located along a North-South monsoonal gradient and …

Understanding Species Boundaries Between Penstemon Acaulis And Penstemon Yampaensis: Implications For Conservation And Management, Juliet Simpson

Master's Theses

Effective conservation management relies upon accurate taxonomic information and an understanding of the genetic health and population structure for each species. Penstemon acaulis and P. yampaensis are endemic species to Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, and have been considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). There is little biological data published about either and there remains taxonomic uncertainty surrounding the two. Phylogenetic analyses showed P. acaulis and P. yampaensis to be distinct, monophyletic lineages and morphological data further supported taxonomic recognition of both species, however these results did not support the previous species boundaries. Eastern populations of P. acaulis …

Population Genetics Of Cownose Rays, Rhinoptera Spp. In The Western Atlantic, Helen Weber

Master's Theses

Using molecular tools (e.g., the NADH subunit II mitochondrial gene), this study was the first to document the Brazilian cownose ray, Rhinoptera brasiliensis, within the northwestern Atlantic (NWA), and was the first study to examine population structure in R. brasiliensis within the NWA or northern Gulf of Mexico (GMX), revealing novel insights into the population biology of the animal and extending its range by nearly 1,500 km. This study also examined the sympatrically occurring American cownose ray, R. bonasus, and found population structure between the NWA and the GMX and the NWA and the southwestern Atlantic (SWA). High …