Digital Commons Network^™

Resolving The Structural Paradox Of Retail Transnational Corporations: A Case Study Of Walmart In Latin America, Arlissa Nicole Whisenant

Honors Theses

This research focuses on the structural paradox of retail transnational corporations through a case study of Walmart in Latin America. The structural paradox is defined as the struggle to find a successful balance between localization and standardization efforts. Through the analysis of the failures and successes of Walmart in Latin America and supplemental examples of Walmart in other markets, I argue that intense localization efforts in areas with direct customer contact (front-end operations), as well as in areas without direct customer contact, like management and planning (back-end operations), are necessary in order to be successful in international markets.

Welcome To The "Backstage" Of Musical Theatre, Emily Erin Wicks

Honors Theses

Unlike most fields, performing is an occupation that does not require formal education. However, most performers need training to perfect their craft in order to be successful. Higher education is one training outlet that is used by some performers, but not many. In a performance degree program at an institution of higher education. performers are not just trained in the art, but they are also taught about the business of the theatre industry. Although, often, what is taught is not enough knowledge for performers to truly succeed and make theatre a lifetime career. This thesis is directed towards an audience …

Nuove Esplorazioni In Ognina, Sicily, Gabrielle Dianne Coggin

Honors Theses

My thesis was built around my excavations in Sicily during the summer of 2012. I researched a church on a small islet, and some of its findings over the years. Not only did I use my excavation notes, but I also used the notes from the earlier excavation of the same site in the 1960s. I needed expert advice on the building and the lamp that was found, so I contacted a Byzantine architecture specialist, and an ancient lamp specialist to obtain their opinions on the site. In order to understand the findings from 2012,1 researched the basic history of …

Containing The Dragon: The Rise Of Chinese Military Power And Its Effect On Us Foreign Policy, Robert William Eberhart

Honors Theses

In 2001, John Mearsheimer made a prediction that according to his theory of offensive realism, if Chinese military power continued to grow, the US would increase its military presence in East Asia in order to contain growth of Chinese power. Now in 2013, US military presence is slowly rising, appearing to prove Mearsheimer’s prediction. Therefore the question that needs to be asked is can offensive realism explain the current status of US-Chinese relations. By examining the changes in Chinese military developments by comparing unit sizes and amounts to the changes in military weapons developments, an integration rate can be formed …

The Refuge Of Fools, Merrill Lee Girardeau

Honors Theses

The main character of The Refitge of Fools, Mar>’ Canon Israel, resembles H.L. Mencken's iconoclast. Mencken v\Tites that an iconoclast uses an instinct that supersedes the logic of religion, a logic he calls "the refuge of fools." Known as M.C., Mar\- Canon attends a private Christian high school in the South. Instinct acute, however, she regards the "God concept" with extreme suspicion. The Refuge of Fools visits her junior year of high school, each chapter taken from a month of that year. Her lifelong friend Palmer wants to change the nature of their friendship but cannot decide whether to …

Theorizing Factors Influencing Missile Transfers: A Case Study If Sino-Iranian Missile Transfers And Implications For Regional Security, Paul Alexander Kynerd

Honors Theses

Scholars suggest missiles have become the weapon of choice in modem warfare. Missiles are effective against a variety of targets, can travel long distances, and can decrease the need for troops to be engaged in conflict. Nations unable to mobilize large amounts of troops may depend on missiles to equalize military capabilities. Missile stockpiling also serves as a conflict deterrent. What factors influence missile sales between nations and what are the implications of those sales on regional security? This research broadly analyzes the effects of political, socioeconomic, conflict, temporal, and regional factors on global missile sales between 1980 and 2009, …

Economic Emancipation In The Plantation South: Women In William Faulkner, Margaret Mitchell, Ernest Gaines, And Sherley Anne Williams, Rosemary Moak

Honors Theses

This thesis is intended to investigate women’s plantation economies from the varying perspectives of Margaret Mitchell, William Faulkner, Sherley Anne Williams, and Ernest Gaines. The materials used for research were primary texts: Gone With the Wind, The Unvanquished, Dessa Rose, and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman^ along with multiple secondary sources. Faulkner and Mitchell show white plantation mistresses take advantage of their newfound independence and economic opportunities due to the absence of the patriarch during the Civil War. While these plantation mistresses prove to be economic powers, their slaves remain in traditional roles. They are depicted to be content …

Plunging Into Endless Difficulties: Medicaid And Coercion In National Federation Of Independent Business V. Sebelius, Nicole Huberfeld, Elizabeth Weeks Leonard, Kevin Outterson

Faculty Scholarship

Of the four discrete questions before the Court in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the Medicaid expansion held the greatest potential for destabilization from both a statutory and a constitutional perspective. As authors of an amicus brief supporting the Medicaid expansion, and scholars with expertise in health law who have been cited by the Court, we show in this article why NFIB is likely to fulfill that promise.

For the first time in its history, the Court held federal legislation based upon the spending power to be unconstitutionally coercive. Chief Justice Roberts’ plurality (joined for future voting purposes …

When Cultures Collide: A Comparative Study Of The Culinary Cultures Of Uruguay And The Lebanese Community In The Mississippi Delta, Claire Nicola Reid

Honors Theses

Every world culture defines itself differently through the application of similar qualifying processes. Gastronomy is an important one of these processes. This thesis aims to explain how food both aids in and exists as a reflection of cultural identity by asking these questions: What are the specifics of how gastronomical processes are applied in Uruguay and the Mississippi Delta? Do the two regions share similar cultural identification structures? If so, in what ways are they similar, and what do these similarities mean in the context of identity construction? In doing this, | aim to explain why culinary practices, more so …

Players: Gender And Sexuality In The Universe Of Don Delillo, Alexandria Nicole Tidwell

Honors Theses

This project considers Don DeLillo’s body of work (specifically the texts Cosmopolis, Players, White Noise and Libra) in terms of gender and sexuality, two areas often overlooked by the current body of scholarship on the writer. My analysis is informed by contemporary queer theory — that is to say, an assumption of the constructed nature of gender and sexual difference runs through the work. I begin by defining two intertextual systems at work within (My first chapter deals with the capitalist system of Cosmopolis and Players, a closed network serving to mirror and critique modernist assumptions; and my second chapter …

Self Vs. Society: The Essential Antagonism Between Society And The Individual In Adam Bede, The Mill On The Floss, And Daniel Deronda, Meredith Leigh Wilson

Honors Theses

This study focuses on the conflicts between society and the individual in three of George Eliot’s works: Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, and Daniel Deronda. This work analyzes the relationship between the individual and his or her society within these novels and uses its findings to illustrate the mechanism and goal of social evolution as it is depicted in these three works. Research was conducted by reading several primary and secondary texts. The primary texts included the three novels discussed, as well as many of Eliot’s non-fiction essays and Herbert Spencer’s essay The Social Organism, in order to …

Snakes And Their Holograms, Benjamin James Zuerlein

Honors Theses

To join the individual among the infinite. In as much as a reader experiences fiction personally and solitarily. In as much as fiction is novelty and imagination is boundless. V

Jewish Identity And Judging: Seymour Simon Of Illinois, Jack M. Beermann

Faculty Scholarship

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Seymour F. Simon (1915-2006) would have filled the stereotype of the righteous man in Jewish lore. He was a man of principle, communicated those principles in an insistent tone to anyone who would listen, worked hard to further the cause of justice and earned a reputation as a committed public servant. Justice Simon served as Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court from 1980-1988 after having served on the Illinois Appellate Court from 1974-1980. Before winning election to the courts, Justice Simon was a politician, serving, inter alia, as an alderman in the City of Chicago and …

Greensboro And Beyond: Remediating The Structural Sexism In Truth And Reconciliation Processes And Determining The Potential Impact And Benefits Of Truth Processes In The United States, Peggy Maisel

Faculty Scholarship

Over the last 35 years approximately forty truth commissions have investigated human rights violations and abuses in a wide range of countries and communities. Each of these forty commissions provides different lessons on how investigating and testifying about past abuse can lead to healing and change. I have participated in two of the more remarkable Truth and Reconciliation processes, the first as an observer, the other as an advisor. The former is perhaps the most widely known and discussed TRC process, the one which took place in South Africa from 1996 to 1998 that examined the entire apartheid era in …

Ensemble Forecasting Of Coronal Mass Ejections Using The Wsa-Enlil With Coned Model, D. Emmons, Ariel O. Acebal, A. Pulkkinen, A. Taktakishvili, Peter Macneice, D. Odstrcil

Faculty Publications

The combination of the Wang‐Sheeley‐Arge (WSA) coronal model, ENLIL heliospherical model version 2.7, and CONED Model version 1.3 (WSA‐ENLIL with CONED Model) was employed to form ensemble forecasts for 15 halo coronal mass ejections (halo CMEs). The input parameter distributions were formed from 100 sets of CME cone parameters derived from the CONED Model. The CONED Model used image processing along with the bootstrap approach to automatically calculate cone parameter distributions from SOHO/LASCO imagery based on techniques described by Pulkkinen et al. (2010). The input parameter distributions were used as input to WSA‐ENLIL to calculate the temporal evolution of the …

Tax Credits In The Film Industry: Friend Or Foe? An Analysis Of The Cost-Benefit Relationship Between Tax Incentives And The States That Provide Them, Virginia Anne Gamble

Honors Theses

Today, tax incentives play a major role in the film industry. The primary research question of the thesis is the cost-benefit relationship between these incentives and the states that provide them. A further research question is how states can remain competitive amongst one another while maintaining this cost-benefit relationship. A review of scholarly articles, from economists and film office officials, reveals arguments for and against the incentive programs. Researching the history of these tax incentives in the United States also provides a basis for an opinion on the potential future incentives may have in the film industry. Many economists believe …

A God Up Above, The Land Down Under, Jacob Nathaniel Hickman

Honors Theses

Manning Clark once very famously described Australians’ view of religion a shy hope in the heart.” This simple quotation is the most succinct way of illustrating their religious views in a way that accounts for the strong cultural influence that surrounds those beliefs. This characteristic of shyness takes precedence over eloquent announcements of religion and manifests itself through the “vaguely respectful recognition of an important if largely indistinct force, slightly shaped by the imagery of Christianity."^ Australia is a distinctive nation, as are its people and cultural idioms. Being a former British colony, Australia’s heritage in the English tradition of …

The Effect Of Whole Body Low Frequency Vibration On Absolute And Relative Peak-Z Forces In Vertical Jump Performance, Morgan Shields Hilton

Honors Theses

Coaches, trainers, and performers depend on sports conditioning to take an athletes performance to the next level. Because the mechanisms used during conditioning are so important for sports, research has been collected over many years to determine the on best way to efficiently progress towards a better performance. A recently studied performance enhancing technique is whole body low frequency vibration (WBLFV). The purpose of this study was to show whether whole body vibration enhanced athletic performance with an increase in the absolute and relative peak-z forces and to determine an optimal rest interval between vibration and performance. Sixteen healthy female …

The Effect Of Whole Body Vibration On Rate Of Force Development And Vertical Jump Performence In College Aged Females, Marco Antonio Italia

Honors Theses

Whole-body vibration (WBV) may potentiate vertical jump (VJ) performance via augmented muscular strength and motor function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different rest intervals after WBV on VJ performance. Eight collegiately trained athletes (age 20.75 ± 1.16yr, mass 61.35 ±9.68kg, height 168.19±7.73cm) and eight recreationally active (age 22.25 ±1.83yr, mass 64.35 ±4.64kg, height 162.53 ± 2.6cm) individuals volunteered to participate in 4 testing visits separated by 24 hours. Visit 1 acted as a familiarization visit where subjects were introduced to the VJ and WBV protocols. Visits 2-4 contained 2 randomized conditions per visit with …

Perceptions Of Mississippi As A Tourist Destination, Kathleen Diane Kaiser

Honors Theses

Mississippi offers an array of tourism, but what do people who visit the state consider Mississippi has the best of? What are Mississippi’s less known tourism offerings? This study hints that those who are experienced with Mississippi more positively perceive the state as a tourist destination, whereas those who are not familiar with Mississippi’s offerings do not see the state as positively. A Qualtrics survey was conducted for students attending the University of Mississippi in the Lafayette/Oxford asking demographic questions and a survey that measured 16 tourism criteria on a 5 point Likert scale. SPSS 17.0 Independent sample t-tests were …

Polycationic Perylenebisimides For G-Quadruplex Binding, Andrew Jacob Matrick

Honors Theses

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) can exist in a quadruplex arrangement that requires an abundance of guanine residues [2]. The structures of various quadruplexes have been revealed, in vitro, and, more recently, in vivo [4,5]. Guanine quadruplexes are thermo dynamically stable. It is postulated that quadruplex destabilization facilitates a conformational change in the structure that could serve as a switch for gene expression [5]. This principle is the basis for targeting quadruplexes with organic, small-molecule binding and stabilizing agents. Quadruplexes may play an important role in regulating the expression of many genes, including those implicated in cancer. Stabilization of the quadruplex contained …

A Level Playing Field: The Big Business Of College Sports And Recommendations For Reform, Orry Stephen Thomas Mcdonald

Honors Theses

"A Le\-el Playing Field: The Big Business of College Sports" was inspired b} the controversies that e.xist \\'ithin collegiate sport. B>' using both primaiy and secondar}- sources, information v\’as gathered to help shed light on the true nature of college athletics. This infonuation was primarily of a historical or financial nature. .Ufter close examination, it appears nearly impossible to detemiine whether or not most college athletic programs generate substemtial revenues, although man\- uni\’ersities seem to benefit from the indirect benefits of fielding "big-time” sports teams (increased enrollment, increased alumni donations, economic stimulation, etc.). However, the college athletes are left …

And Myrrh, Cassia, And Frankincense Rode On The Wind A Detailed Look At The Aromatic And Spice Trade Of The Classical Mediterranean, Forrest Colby Roberts

Honors Theses

This Thesis studies the trade in spices and aromatics in the Mediterranean during the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. It will examine in particular frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, cassia, and silphium. Through a the use of ancient authors, modem scholarship, and archaeological data this thesis will seek to show that although evidence for this trade in the Classical period is less plentiful than in other times, a Classical trade did exist. This work will also argue that spices were a part of the Classical period Greek market, and that these products were being consumed as luxury goods in order to showcase …

Is Legal Pragmatism Normative?, Garrett Lane Roberts

Honors Theses

Through the centuries people have been asking pivotal questions regarding law and legality. What is law? How should we interpret it? Who gets to decide? In what follows I will explore these questions in hope of gaining a greater understanding of the American legal system. Specifically, I will argue that legal pragmatism is in fact a normative theory that provides a good method of adjudication. This work will require that I investigate the jurisprudence of Oliver W. Holmes Jr. and modem legal pragmatism. Also, I will highlight some theories of legal realism and natural law theory.

Developing A Durable Right To Health Care, Erin C. Fuse Brown

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Dios Mio - The Kiss Principle Of The Ethical Approach To Copyright And Right Of Publicity Law, Michael D. Murray

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Trademark Unraveled: The U.S. Olympic Committee Versus Knitters Of The World, Marcella David

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Can An Inference Of Intent To Induce Infringement Of A Patent Be Drawn Where Other Reasonable Inferences Exist? An Examination Of The Use Of Circumstantial Evidence To Prove Inducement Of Infringement, Roy D. Gross

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Shifting Local Ecologies: Biocultural Interactions And Ecuadorian Public Health, Sabrina Bradford

Honors Theses

Though biology is considered universal, this thesis argues against the assumption of the universal applications of biomedicine in favor of a biocultural approach, emphasizing shifting local ecologies in an increasingly globalized world. This research investigated Ecuadorian health within an ecological context in coordination with an international public health internship that was completed through the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and the Ecuadorian Ministerio de Salud Pública. Throughout this thesis, examples are provided demonstrating that globalization, though appearing as a homogenous process on the international level, creates heterogeneous effects on the local scale. To explain the mechanisms and implications of these …

The Extension Process Of National Panhellenic Conference Sororities On Southeastern Conference College Campuses, Stevie Farrar

Honors Theses

The definition of a sorority has evolved significantly from its origins in the mid-1800s. From their beginnings as secret literary societies to their current standing as corporate networks of sisterhood, sororities have grown from groups of a handful of women to chapters of over three hundred members. The National Panhellenic Conference's outline of the formal extension process has helped structure this growth, enabling the process to meet the needs of growing collegiate Panhellenic communities and allow NPC member sororities to continue to expand the reaches of their sisterhood. The process can be highly competitive, characterized by applications, interviews, and presentations, …