Digital Commons Network^™

The Relevance Of Caste In Contemporary India: Reexamining The Affirmative Action Debate, Shambhavi Sahai, Shambhavi Sahai

CMC Senior Theses

With the changing significance of caste and caste identity, this thesis explores the role of affirmative action or "reservations" in Indian higher education. Specifically, it aims to reopen the debate on the dominance of a "creamy layer" among the OBCs in an increasingly nationalist India. Viewing caste through the lens of ethnic identity, this thesis draws comparisons between the identity of OBCs and Scheduled Castes and Tribes, OBCs of the "Hindi Belt" and OBCs of the South, followed by an analysis of the politicization of caste identity today. The thesis concludes with an evaluation of affirmative action today and possible …

The Effect Of International Ngos On Influencing Domestic Policy And Law, Ashley Macarchuk

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis attempts to understand the impact of international human rights and environmental NGOs on affecting domestic policy and law. In particular, it looks at how State-NGO relations, civil society, and accountability affect the success of international NGOs in enacting change in domestic policy. The focus is on four countries with some of the largest human rights and environmental abuses: Argentina, China, India, and Russia. Through these countries, this thesis shows that NGOs have the most influence when State-NGO relations are strong, civil society is active, and NGOs are accountable to both the State and citizens. A key component to …

The Impact Of Security Crises On Political Development: An Analysis Of CôTe D’Ivoire, Guinea, And Senegal, Zoe King

CMC Senior Theses

This paper explores the relationship between security concerns and political development in three case studies: Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Senegal. It first analyzes the foundations of political institutions within the three states by exploring the creation of nationalist leaders in the pre-independence era, and how their personal development within these years affected their governance style after independence. Afterwards, the discussion separates into the three distinct case studies. The purpose of this analysis is to first outline the major developments within each country in the political field, highlight the major security concerns within the country, and then analyze how these two …

Generalization Of Ipad®-Learned Skills In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Claire Klein

CMC Senior Theses

The present study investigated the effects of learning from an iPad® to real-world skills for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research has demonstrated that for some children with ASD, electronic media such as an iPad® is highly motivating, highly preferred, and increasing in popularity in homes and in classrooms (Chen & Bernard-Opitz, 1993; Rideout, 2017; Shane & Albert, 2008). Because academic skills are often difficult for children with ASD due to problems with motivation, the current study used the motivating features of iPad® apps to teach real-world academic skills to children with ASD, with the hypothesis that skills would …

Reaching The Unreached: The Role Of Information Communication Technologies On Agency Of Women In India, Suvena Yerneni

CMC Senior Theses

In this paper, I analyze the impact of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) on female empowerment in India. In defining female empowerment, I consider the three dimensions of agency: social autonomy, economic autonomy, and mobility. Using nationally-representative data of 2012 from the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS), I find that these information communication technologies, measured by ownership and use, have positive and significant impacts on female agency and decision-making abilities. I extend my analysis to two types of media: computers and mobile phones. These results persist even after accounting for the effects of education, income, and age of women.

The Two Conversions Of John Newton: Politics & Christianity In The British Abolitionist Movement, Megan Keller

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis interrogated the relationship between abolition and the evangelical revival in Britain through the life of John Newton. Newton, though not representative of every abolitionist, was a vital figure in the movement. His influence on Hannah More and William Wilberforce along with his contributions to the Parliamentary hearings made him a key aspect of its success. How he came to fulfill that role was a long and complex journey, both in terms of his religion and his understanding of slavery. He began his life under the spiritual direction of his pious, Dissenting mother, became an atheist by nineteen, and …

Rehumanize The Terrorist: Comparing The Depiction Of Terrorists In Academic Theory And Contemporary Fiction, Isabel Lilles

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis aims to respond to the following question: How does the depiction of terrorists in popular fiction novels compare to the explanations in academia as to why individuals become terrorists and join terrorist organizations? Is this fictional depiction a reflection or distortion of reality, and what insights can we take away from this comparison? The argument of this thesis is that fiction’s depiction of terrorists is both a reflection and distortion of reality, as it presents a unique creative, emotionally resonant narrative that humanizes the terrorists. By giving a voice to their motivations and experiences, readers are able to …

Stressed Out And Fed Up: The Effect Of Stress On Maternal Feeding Behaviors And The Moderating Role Of Executive Functioning, Isabel Mendiola

CMC Senior Theses

Stress is associated with a range of unhealthy eating habits. However, no previous studies have used experimental design to take an intergenerational perspective in the examination of how stress may influence parental feeding behavior, nor have they examined potential protective factors. The current study tests the effects of stress on maternal feeding behaviors and explores the potential protective role of maternal executive functioning (EF). We manipulated maternal stress with the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) in a community sample mothers (N = 61, Mage = 33.45 years). We measured maternal EF with a series of computerized tasks. Maternal …

Institutional Ownership In Relation To The Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation Rule And Its Effect On Audit Quality, Latisha Shah

CMC Senior Theses

Previous studies have concluded that mandatory audit firm rotation (MAFR) has not been successful in controlling the outcomes of the auditor-client relationship. Additionally, the literature concludes that high institutional ownership enhances audit quality through monitoring the management-auditor relationship. This paper hypothesizes that better corporate governance in terms of high institutional ownership percentage will enhance audit quality during a MAFR regime. Since countries that have implemented MAFR in the past have their data in their local languages, I use the special case of Arthur Andersen clients based in the US as my treatment group. I carry out a descriptive statistical analysis …

Learning To Live And Love Virtuously, Henry Deruff

CMC Senior Theses

John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant authored two of the most famous pieces of work in ethical theory (Utilitarianism and Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, respectively), yet both fail for various reasons to give us direction by way of living good lives. This thesis begins by outlining those shortcomings, before offering Aristotelian virtue ethics as the solution. Virtue ethics, as conceived by Aristotle, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Julia Annas, delineates a process – grounded in our real lives – by which we may improve as people and therefore flourish, or live good, moral lives: the habituation of the …

Applying Psychological Theories Of Personality, Identity, And Intergroup Conflict To Radical Violence: A Case Study Of Extremist Behavior, Sydney Flynn

CMC Senior Theses

This paper aims to address possible psychoanalytical explanations for the heinous acts in which terrorists, particularly ISIS, engage. It focuses on Harold D. Lasswell’s principles of the id, ego, and superego as well as Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory. Within the framework of these two theories, relevant psychological and social psychological theories are discussed in order to explore a possible connection between the psyche of violent perpetrators and their actions. By exploring these connections, I find that there may be more nuanced psychological explanations for these violent acts, which could lead to new methods of weakening perceived biases, intergroup …

The Changing Nature Of Death Qualification And Its Interaction With Attitude Salience, Brendan Busch

CMC Senior Theses

Death qualification is a problematic aspect of capital trials, as death qualified jurors have higher conviction rates than non-death qualified jurors. The current study examines whether the death qualification process itself affects juror decision-making via attitude salience effects.

Participants (n=90) recruited from the venire juror pool at the Santa Ana Superior Court were asked to read a trial transcript and decide guilt or innocence and whether they would sentence the defendant to death. Half of the participants were given a survey determining death qualification before they read the trial (making death qualification salient), while the other half were given the …

The Economic Implications Of Nba Player Achievements On Athletic Apparel Companies, Paul Andrew Maddock Ii

CMC Senior Theses

This paper aims to measure the economic impact of different NBA player achievements on the athletic apparel companies, Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. It looks at players affiliated with the brands who participated in three different events in the NBA from from 2007 to 2017: the All-Star game, the All-NBA awards, and starting lineups in the Finals. Monthly stock returns for each company were calculated for the months the events took place: January, February, May, and June. The return of each company was then regressed on total number of players each company had in the events. Four total regressions were …

Adapting To The Changing Tide: An Evaluation Of California’S Drought Policies And Future Mitigation Strategies, Lauren Dorsey

CMC Senior Theses

California endured an extreme and prolonged drought from 2012 until the winter of 2017, offering a fascinating yet tragic example of how drought impacts lives. Despite this recent and stark phenomenon, there is surprisingly little information about its effects and implications. This thesis aims to lessen this knowledge gap by asking how severe the drought was, how well the state responded, and what policies would increase California’s water security. It answers these questions by exploring the Golden State’s long and complicated water management history, which is necessary to understand the current drought policy framework; then, it collects the emerging literature …

Substantive Due Process And The Politicization Of The Supreme Court, Eric Millman

CMC Senior Theses

Substantive due process is one of the most cherished and elusive doctrines in American constitutional jurisprudence. The understanding that the Constitution of the United States protects not only specifically enumerated rights, but also broad concepts such as “liberty,” “property,” and “privacy,” forms the foundation for some of the Supreme Court’s most impactful—and controversial—decisions.

This thesis explores the constitutional merits and politicizing history of natural rights jurisprudence from its application in Dred Scott v. Sandford to its recent evocation in Obergefell v. Hodges. Indeed, from slavery to same-same sex marriage, substantive due process has played a pivotal role in shaping …

Foreign Policy By Fiat: An Examination Of The United States Decision Making Process On Iraq From 1990-1998, Shawn Mcfall

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores how the United States identified Iraq as a threat to its national interest from 1990 to 1998. The international relations literature is heavily skewed toward exploring the question of why states engage in conflict and neglecting how a country identifies a threat. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the threat identification policy process. This thesis examines two security moves – the Gulf War and the Iraq Liberation Act – and uses primary documents to reveal how the foreign policy apparatus concluded that Iraq was a threat. Through the two cases, I found that foreign policy decisions were made …

The Boundedness Of The Hardy-Littlewood Maximal Function And The Strong Maximal Function On The Space Bmo, Wenhao Zhang

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, we present the space BMO, the one-parameter Hardy-Littlewood maximal function, and the two-parameter strong maximal function. We use the John-Nirenberg inequality, the relation between Muckenhoupt weights and BMO, and the Coifman-Rochberg proposition on constructing A₁ weights with the Hardy- Littlewood maximal function to show the boundedness of the Hardy-Littlewood maximal function on BMO. The analogous statement for the strong maximal function is not yet understood. We begin our exploration of this problem by discussing an equivalence between the boundedness of the strong maximal function on rectangular BMO and the fact that the strong maximal function maps …

U.S. Interagency Coordination On Countering Violent Extremism Abroad, Jason Gush

CMC Senior Theses

CVE is complex. It requires combatting the narratives and ideology of many extremist groups around the globe, constructing environments with appealing alternatives to extremism, and most importantly, sensitivity to the variety of circumstances in which CVE takes place to effectively battle the root causes of extremism. Constructing a complete CVE effort thus requires a great variety of skills, coordinated to efficient implementation. Despite notional commitment, U.S. CVE abroad lacks interagency coordination. JIATF-S offers a strong model of interagency coordination, from which lessons may be applied to the formation of an interagency CVE effort. Interagency coordination would bring extensive expertise and …

21st Century Film Criticism: The Evolution Of Film Criticism From Professional Intellectual Analysis To A Democratic Phenomenon, Asher Weiss

CMC Senior Theses

Film criticism has changed since its inception and will continue to change moving forward. The evolution of film criticism has largely been a story of the shift from an elite field of intellectual exploration by a few knowledgeable experts to a democratic phenomenon where expert analysis is aggregated and averaged, and the lines are blurred between true expertise and the random opinions of the masses. This paper will address the transition from the birth of film criticism to its popularization through the 90s, to what it has become today. By exploring the nature of film criticism historically and reviewing the …

The Effect Of The Change In Call Loan Rates And Volatility On Stock Returns In 1929: An Empirical Study Into A Determinant Of The Great Depression, Amberish Chitre

CMC Senior Theses

I investigate the effect of the change in call loan rates on stock returns during 1929. Call loan rates are the interest rates on borrowed funds to trade equity on a given exchange. It is estimated that 40% of stocks during this period were bought on margin. After a price decline comes a margin call, followed by a forced sales of securities, which leads to additional margin calls and future price declines. I regress daily excess returns on the change in daily call loan rates during 1929. In addition, I estimate volatility using an ARCH model and observe the previously …

Effects Of Learned Exercises On Gross Motor Coordination In Children With Asd, Garrett Myers

CMC Senior Theses

The effectiveness of a teaching progression to teach three “Olympic” exercises and improve gross motor coordination was evaluated with four children (3 boys, 1 girl) diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A multiple baseline design across children and within children across activities was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching progression used to teach the physical exercise program, which consisted of three “Olympic” events (long jump, 50 foot dash, and a relay race). Results showed all four participants learned the three “Olympic” exercises, with all four participants mastering at least one of the three exercises. Two participants mastered all …

Analysis Of Consumer Demand For American Sports Leagues, Sam Healy

CMC Senior Theses

Long before the first pitch is thrown, the first snap is taken or the first puck is dropped, organizations in the professional sports industry set their ticket prices. The secondary ticket market, on the other hand, has grown into a billion dollar industry and gages the consumer’s true willingness to pay. This study examines the myriad of factors that influence the secondary market ticket price of a professional sports game across the MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL during the 2013-2014 regular season. Using median ticket prices from a secondary market ticket aggregator, the results indicate that weekend games and the …

Fifa World Cup: Factors That Explain The Performances Of National Football Teams, Shivaan Seth

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the determinants of FIFA World Cup performances of nations. The study incorporates socioeconomic, cultural, demographic and football-specific factors to investigate how World Cup results can be explained. A linear regression is used to study the last five tournaments, and the model finds that being seeded for the draw, and the host country effect are statistically significant variables. Additionally, I discover two new variables – namely, having a star player and having become a member of FIFA before 1924, as being statistically significant in my analysis.

Perceived Social Support And Suicide-Related Depression Symptom Clusters Among Queer College Students, John Kellerman, Daniel Krauss

CMC Senior Theses

LGBTQ+ individuals report disproportionately high rates of depression and suicidal behaviors compared to the general populations, particularly among queer youth. Certain depressive symptoms and symptom clusters, namely hopelessness and self-blame, are predictive of suicidal behavior and outcomes. In contrast, perceived social support may act as a buffer against suicide ideation. The disparity in the rate of queer suicidality may be predicted by higher rates of hopelessness and self-blame, as well as lower rates of perceived social support among depressed queer youth in comparison to depressed non-queer youth. The current study will test this hypothesis using a sample of depressed queer …

Climate And Crime: Examining The Relationship Between Extreme Weather Events And Crime Rates In The United States, Erin Tully

CMC Senior Theses

This study attempts to determine whether there is a relationship between extreme weather events and crime rates. Due to the increasing effects of climate change, it is critical we understand the societal effects of extreme weather. Here, a panel data fixed effects regression was used to analyze state and year level data. It was hypothesized that there would be a relationship between crime and extreme events, but the results did not show a statistically significant relationship. Further research with increased geographic and temporal controls is encouraged.

Disparities Between American And Chinese Perceptions On Chinese Foreign Policy, Zijia He

CMC Senior Theses

There has been a dangerous gap between American and Chinese perceptions of Chinese foreign policy, a gap contributing to acceptance of the Thucydides Trap. With the help of a theoretical framework and empirical evidence, this paper aims to summarize and understand the differences, in an effort to help overcome them and prevent a self-fulfilling prophecy. The author identifies five variables that shape perceptions and then categorizes Chinese foreign policy along several dimensions. Using the South China Sea and the Belt and Road Initiative as case studies, the author finds that US and Chinese interpretations of Chinese behavior along these dimensions …

Using Renewable Energy To Increase Tribal Sovereignty: A Feasibility Study For A Biomass Energy Plant On The Cocopah Reservation, Lauren Katrina D'Souza

CMC Senior Theses

Native American reservations in the United States are often located on mineral-rich lands, making them a target for fossil fuel development in already socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. As environmentally damaging as they are, coal and oil industries can bring invaluable jobs and money to isolated reservations, causing tribes to rely on fossil fuels for mere economic survival. In these instances of corporations or the federal government exploiting Native American labor and land, tribes lose the most fundamental principle of tribal governance: tribal sovereignty. Replacing fossil fuels and securing energy independence with a stable, renewable energy source is key to reclaiming that …

Art Of The Weimar Republic And The Premonitions Of Fascism, Leshan Xiao

CMC Senior Theses

Founded in 1918 following the carnage of World War One until the Nazi takeover of 1933, the Weimar Republic is widely renowned as a bastion of freedom and democracy that existed only briefly between the reigns of two authoritarian regimes. The Weimar period witnessed an unprecedented prosperity of art and culture, with tremendous advancements in the fields of literature, the visual arts, and film. However, the remnants of the old Empire persisted within the new Republic, and new fascist factions rose to prominence within German society. Artists that lived through the era, both liberal and conservative, observed and provided their …

Nonperforming Loans: Asset Pricing And Determinants Of Profitability, Tyler Wheetley Amaya

CMC Senior Theses

I formally analyze the role of nonperforming loan (NPL) characteristics in explaining NPL profit outcomes compared to the current pricing model for NPLs. I expected that factors included in the current NPL model would not be statistically significant in determining profit outcomes as those factors were considered in determining the purchase price of the asset. Surprisingly, I find that interest rates are statistically significant and negatively correlated with IRR. This is surprising because interest rates are considered in the current NPL pricing model. The results suggest that greater weight should be given to interest rates in determining the purchase price …

Step-Selection Functions For Modeling Animal Movement -- Case Study: African Buffalo, Maia Adar

CMC Senior Theses

Understanding what factors influence wildlife movement allows landscape planners to make informed decisions that benefit both animals and humans. New quantitative methods, such as step-selection functions, provide valuable objective analyses of wildlife connectivity. This paper provides a framework for creating a step-selection function and demonstrates its use in a case study. The first section provides a general introduction about wildlife connectivity research. The second section explains the math behind the step-selection function using a simple example. The last section gives the results of a step-selection model for African buffalo in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. Buffalo were found to …