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Flight Of The Freshwater Fish, Michael H. Wilson

Capstones

Michael H. Wilson

Capstone Abstract

December 27, 2016

Flight of the Freshwater Fish

The Hudson River provides for millions of people as a path for commercial and private transportation, a source of food and energy, and perhaps most importantly for many living in the tri-state area as a destination for recreation and relaxation. The most overlooked feature of the river is how the wildlife shows clear signs of a changing climate and rapid environmental response to the impacts of global warming on the river.

Entire populations of fish species in the lower Hudson have been forced to leave the river …

Beyond The Cloth: Exploring How Women Are Represented In Human Rights Organizations Through Bangladesh's Garment Industry, Briawna Gillespie

Master's Theses

Understanding Beyond the Cloth

This thesis conducts a textual analysis of several human rights organizations. It looks at how human rights organizations represent women in the garment industry. I investigate a variety of organizations and look at how they utilize women’s voices to demonstrate how human rights organizations frame women’s narratives in a way that supports their own claims. When organizations representing women in this way, it only limits women’s voices from being heard and hinders them from being empowered and a leading force in the industry. On the one hand, we see organizations create spaces where women’s narratives are …

Sino Ako? (Who Am I?): Exploring Filipino American Identity In Philippine Studies Courses, Omega Loren Letana

Master's Theses

Filipinos make up the third largest immigrant population in the United States and are the largest Asian immigrant group in California (U.S. Census, 2010). Despite this and an American colonial past, the American education system has failed to depict Filipino and Filipino American history accurately in its textbooks and courses. In addition to this, studies have indicated that young Filipino Americans often have difficulties in defining their identities. It is imperative that we recognize how this issue of identity formation is being addressed in postsecondary institutions through Philippine Studies courses, which employ decolonizing pedagogies.

This thesis paper analyzes the role …

Loss Of Identity, Radicalization, And Terrorism, Magdalena Martinez

Master's Theses

France and Belgium are two of the top countries in Europe with an increasing number of root fighters. Over the last two years, both countries have been primary targets of terrorism. This thesis investigates the repeated pattern of events and analyzes from a birds-eye view the cycle leading to the rise of terrorism in France and Belgium. This research disputes that anxiety causes discrimination and lack of integration in France and Belgium, which contributes an identity crisis. In essence, these factors trigger radicalization and lead to terrorism. Analyzing the patterns of terrorist activity and the path of radicalization is essential …

State Failure In Venezuela, Marcus Littman

Master's Theses

The role of the state is to provide political goods such as security and an environment conducive to economic growth. The Venezuelan state is failing to provide both security and conditions capable of producing economic growth. The government has exacerbated both by enacting failed policies. I measure the economic crisis in Venezuela based on the rates of inflation, falling foreign currency reserves, the food and medical supply shortage, falling government spending, and negative GDP growth. I measure the security crisis based on the escalating rate of kidnapping, human trafficking, drug sales, smuggling, theft, gun distribution, and homicide. In this thesis, …

Challenges Associated With Improving The Nutritional Quality Of Foods Available In Schools: The Case Of San Francisco Unified School District, Marianne Hoeidal

Master's Theses

This thesis examines school meal programs as a governmental intervention to improve food security among children. Further, it will examine how the global nutrition transition is affecting school meal programs and what challenges schools have met in their attempts to improve the nutritional components in meals served in schools. This thesis uses the case of San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) located in California, United States of America, as an opportunity to investigate the key challenges in the process of improving the nutritional components of their meal plans, and how they overcame this challenges. The thesis begins with a historical …

Long Working Hours, Happiness, And Quality Of Democracy With The Case Studies Of Japan And Denmark, Yu Namie

Master's Theses

This thesis aims to reveal the hypothesis that long working hour reduce people’s happiness and undermine democracy. For achieving this goal, this study clarifies the relationship between long working hours, happiness, and political engagement. Moreover, in order to seek the way to increase social happiness, it tries to figure out how global free market economy relates the working hours. The research method mainly relies on the fieldwork in Japan and Denmark.

First, this study succeeded to reinforce the argument that long working hour negatively influenced people’s happiness. Also, if we define the quality of democracy as the society constituted with …

Notions Of Discontent And Distinction: Reflections Of Young Diasporic Taiwanese Americans, Andrew T. Chen

Master's Theses

In 1971, Taiwan lost its seat in the United Nations and has been vying for international validation ever since. The Kuomintang’s (KMT) loss and the development of Taiwan’s democracy has left millions with varying opinions pertaining to the status of Taiwan. It also brings up the importance of what it means to be Taiwanese and how Taiwanese people identify and distinguish themselves from China. For much of the Republic of China’s (ROC) existence in Taiwan the independence movement for the de facto nation-state has lived outside of its borders, making achievements and enduring hardships for Taiwan and Taiwanese Americans throughout …

Emigration, Repatriation And The Reality Of Returned Youth In El Salvador, Isabel C. Duarte Vasquez

Master's Theses

According to US Customs and Border Protection, over 59 thousand unaccompanied minors from the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) have been detained at the US border, of those 59 thousand, 17 thousand are from El Salvador. El Salvador is home to some of the most dangerous and ruthless gangs of the twenty-first century. Their ruthlessness comes from 1980s guerrilla warfare experience. In addition, El Salvador serves as a transshipment point for illicit substances from South America into Mexico. These dynamics fuel the homicide rate of the region as local gang members must protect their territory by any means …

“Mexico, Public Policy And Obesity In A Global Context”, Daniela Carina Bermudez

Master's Theses

Mexico has one of the most obese populations in the world. A country known for its diversity of rich flavorful food is drowning in low nutritional food products. This thesis examines Mexico’s obesity epidemic within the larger global context of international economic trade policies, public policies and Mexico’s health policies. The key research questions are 1) why is there an obesity epidemic in Mexico? and 2) what remedies should Mexico implement to control it? This thesis contributes to a viable policy strategy for the Mexican government to control and prevent the further increase of this obesity epidemic. Reviewing both the …

Islamophobia In The United States How American News Coverage And Social Media Perpetuate Fear & Hate Against Islam, Rida Kazmi

Master's Theses

In recent years, Islamophobia in the United States has risen to levels never seen before. While 2016 marks the 15-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, hatred and fear of Muslims and Islam has reached an all-time high instead of steadily decreasing. The rise in Islamophobia is due in large part to the news coverage that people are exposed to, with media stories on terrorist attacks often conflating Islam and violence in both subtle and other ways. Furthermore, we see that similar coverage of acts of violence committed by non-Muslims is often markedly different, both in tone and language. Through American …

A Political Ecology Of Copper Production And Environmental Degradation In Zambia, Chalwe C. Mwansa

Master's Theses

Zambia has been producing copper for more than a century. Over the past three decades, the country has attracted large scale investments within the mining sector making it one the formidable destination for investment in Africa. However, the relationship between copper production and environmental degradation is intrinsically linked and further hampered by socioeconomic, political and developmental factors.The case of Zambia is used to empirically validate and authenticate how environmental management resulting from copper production has adversely affected the country. The nation's copper production was initially under private ownership in the colonial era; Post Independence, nationalization of copper production was initiated …

Alternative Protein Sources In The Diet Modulate Microbiota And Functionality In The Distal Intestine Of Atlantic Salmon ( Salmo Salar ), Karina Gajardo, Alexander Jaramillo-Torres, Trond M. Kortner, Daniel L. Merrifield, John Tinsley, Anne Marie Bakke, Åshild Krogdahl

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

It’S Just Common Sense! Why Do Negative Perceptions Of Sociology Teaching In Medical Education Persist And Is There Any Change In Sight?, L Brooks, T Collett, S Forrest

Peninsula Medical School

Based on a review of the literature pertaining to sociology teaching in medical education, this paper asks why does the problem of relevance with regards to sociology teaching in medical education still persist? And is there any change in sight? The literature suggests that epistemological understandings of medicine as represented by the biomedical model are deeply entrenched with far reaching consequences for sociology teaching. Notions of the social components of medicine as ‘irrelevant’ or ‘common sense’ have over time been reinforced by students’ expectations of medicine on entering medical education; by the attitudes of clinical and biomedical staff members who …

The Role Of Ultrasound In The Diagnosis Of Carpal Tunnel Syndrom, Ali Taha Hassan Al-Azzawi

Muthanna Medical Journal

The aim of this study is to confirm the accuracy of sonography in the diagnosis of the carpal tunnel syndrome by measuring the cross-section area of the median nerve. A prospective study of 80 patients suspected of having carpal tunnel syndrome was underwent sonography at Al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in Samawa city from 1/1/2015 to 1/1/2016. The cross sectional area of the median nerve was measured at three levels, immediately proximal to carpal tunnel inlet, at carpal tunnel inlet and carpal tunnel outlet. The average value was measured. The flexor retinaculum was used as a landmark to margin of the carpal …

How Threat Assessment Could Become Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Case Of U.S.-China Relations, Muhamad Arif

Global: Jurnal Politik Internasional

This article tries to explain how misperception can trigger conflict between countries. The article would employ spiral model of conflict proposed by Robert Jervis as a theoretical framework to scrutinize contemporary US and Chinese contemporary competition. As a result, this paper shows how threat assessment could trigger a spiral of conflict through state’s tendency to overestimate threat level and its failure to perceive that defensive behavior can be interpreted as offensive by the belligerent. Based on this analysis, the probability of conflicts can be reduced as each country tries to comprehend motivations that drive other behavior, perceptions and reactions that …

If Only They Tried; The Complicated Crusade For Salvation In The Post-Katrina Education Reform Movement, Brooke Wanamaker

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Education reform is shifting the landscape of New Orleans public schools, where alternative certification programs are thriving and changing the demographics of core teachers. This study follows a Teach for America (TFA) Corps Member from 2007 (just after the historic flooding from Hurricane Katrina) who brought a promise of innovation through idealism and green wisdom. The teacher’s preparation and motivations are shown to be problematic. Examining the assumptions and privileges that underlie the import of inexperienced talent to urban education systems, this study considers the ways that community voices have been lost or undervalued in New Orleans schools. The thesis …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Micro-Level Poverty Interventions In The Highlands Of Guatemala, Jacqueline A. Castro

Master's Theses

Despite immense efforts of poverty alleviation in the Western highlands of Guatemala, poverty is intense and widespread. Amidst an abundant array of poverty interventions, existing evidence on those interventions are not sufficient. Highlighting basic knowledge regarding impact evaluations, this paper aims to determine the most effective poverty intervention for the Western highland areas of Guatemala. Focusing on impact evaluations, this paper reviews 17 Latin American interventions, paying close attention to what may be applicable to this region. Using only the highest quality data from Latin America, it is clear that cash transfers and graduation programs are the most impactful interventions …

Challenging Filipino Colonial Mentality With Philippine Art, Francesca V. Mateo

Master's Theses

For 350 years, the Philippines was colonized by Spain and the United States. The Philippines became a sovereign nation in 1946 yet, fifty years later, colonial teachings continue to oppress Filipinos due to their colonial mentality (CM.) CM is an internalized oppression among Filipinos in which they experience an automatic preference for anything Western—European or U.S. American—and rejection of anything Filipino. Although Filipinos show signs of a CM, there are Filipinos who are challenging CM by engaging in Philippine art. Philippine art is defined as Filipino-made visual art, literature, music, and dance intended to promote Philippine culture. This …

"Who Am I?": The Development Of A Male Palestinian Political Identity, Tala J. Dayyat

Master's Theses

The Palestinian people have lived under numerous imperial rulers; first, the Ottoman Empire, then later the British. Today they live under the military occupation of the state of Israel as second class citizen millions more living abroad as refugees. Young Palestinian men have become the leaders and the physical manifestation of the struggle against Israel, a political Goliath that has used tactics to repress the Palestinians such as, detentions, beatings, and land confiscation, which many outside of the Israeli state deem as illegal. Scholar Rashid Khalidi states that “the quintessential Palestinian experience, which illustrates some of the most basic issues …

Rape As A Weapon Of War In Darfur, Fardowsa Abdullahi

Master's Theses

In the Darfur conflict the Sudanese government forces and the Janjaweed have used rape as a weapon of war, in the ethnic cleansing of non-Arab tribes in the region. Rape as a weapon of war was also used to degrade, terrorize women and destroy families and communities. In Darfur women and girls were raped in front of their family members. Victims ranging as young as eight years were raped in Darfur. This research investigates rape as a weapon of war. I took a qualitative approach by examining how rape was used as a weapon of war in Darfur and by …

Search For Dark Matter In Proton-Proton Collisions At 8 Tev With Missing Transverse Momentum And Vector Boson Tagged Jets, M M. Baarmand, Vallary Bhopatkar, Stefano Colafranceschi, Marcus Hohlmann, D Noonan, Tuhin S. Roy, Francisco X. Yumiceva, Cms Collaboration

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

A search is presented for an excess of events with large missing transverse momentum in association with at least one highly energetic jet, in a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb−1 collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The results are interpreted using a set of simplified models for the production of dark matter via a scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, or axial vector mediator. Additional sensitivity is achieved by tagging events consistent with the jets originating from a hadronically decaying vector boson. This search …

Crossing Borders, Jarrett Lyons

Capstones

The United State Supreme Court declared the right to marry for LGBT people under “equal dignity in the eyes of the law,” on June 26th, 2015. The front pages of virtually every newspaper that day highlighted that proclamation. Exactly a week prior, another United States federal agency made an official declaration that didn’t make the front pages but also affected LGBTQ politics. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a Transgender Care Memorandum, detailing policies for treatment trans migrants in detention facilities. The facilities have a noted history of mistreatment of transgender detainees.

Ishalaa Ortega is a transgender woman who …

Breakdown: Treatment Gaps In New York City's Mental Health System, Christine Brink Kjeldgaard, Noah Caldwell, Mary Hanbury, Mike O'Brien, Joanna Purpich, Anthony Izaguirre

Capstones

Forty years after New York City began to "deinstitutionalize" its mental health system in hopes of building community-based care, the city is still falling short. This investigative project, undertaken by six reporters at CUNY's Graduate School of Journalism, uncovers the treatment gaps facing mentally ill New Yorkers, who are among the most vulnerable in the city. The project follows them to the actual places where they seek care: hospitals, clinics, homeless shelters, prisons and schools.

‘You’Re Nobody Till Somebody Kills You’: How Tupac Shakur Secured His Place In The Hall Of Fame, Joseph Devin Holt

Capstones

The piece is a critical essay about the work and life of Tupac Shakur, pegged to his recent nomination for the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, and the two movies about him planned for 2017. My multimedia elements are photos and an audio essay.

http://devinistyping.com/tupac/

The Psychology Of Single-Sex Classrooms, Jenna E. Bagcal

Capstones

Single-sex classrooms have been a hallmark of Catholic and private schools, but they are gaining popularity in American public schools. Proponents of single-sex classrooms believe that boys' and girls' brains are different and they therefore need specialized teaching methods and classroom conditions. For example, boys are competitive and are better at STEM subjects, while girls are cooperative and thrive in English and the arts. Detractors of single-sex classrooms in public schools like the ACLU say that these classrooms are based on pseudoscience and reinforce gender stereotypes. Follow the story of Jenna Bagcal through an all girls Catholic school and her …

Natural Burial: Being Green In Life, Now In Death Too, Brandon C. Shaik

Capstones

Nearly 80 million baby boomers are approaching the end of their lives. Being more environmentally conscious than previous generations, the environmentally minded individuals are increasingly choosing natural burial as the next progression of sustainability — reducing an individual impact even after death. A 2015 poll conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of the Funeral and Memorial Information Council found that 64 percent of adults over the age of 40 were interested in natural burial, up from 21 percent in 2010. Individuals who have chosen natural burial indicate the environmental benefit as a primary reason for their decision. There are currently …

Why The Business Of Love Is Bull$Hit, Deanne Gaston

Capstones

This is a narrative piece about the experience I had when I became a love guru/advice columnist.

Link: https://deannegaston.atavist.com/why-the-business-of-love-is-bullshit

The New Pornography: The Rise Of Fanfic, Kelly Caputo

Capstones

Fanfic has quickly become the new pornography, showing how in modern culture, everything becomes sexualized.

https://newpornography.wordpress.com

Homeless Hotels In New York: Who Benefits From The Industry’S Side Business?, Suman Bhattacharyya

Capstones

One in ten of New York City’s 60,000 homeless population lives in a commercial hotel. Commercial hotels are part of a parallel shelter system run by non-profits acting on behalf of the city’s homeless services department. The move to house homeless New Yorkers is a direct outgrowth of the city’s homeless crisis, the severity of which many say the city hasn’t seen the likes of in decades. Based on a review of publicly-available 990 filings, recent comptroller audits and interviews with key stakeholders, this study examines how the city runs the parallel commercial shelter system and which entities stand to …