Digital Commons Network^™

The Predatory Paradox: Evolutionary Neurobiology, Adhd, And The Developmental Impact Of Early Hunting Education, Madalie A. Kershner

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

The debate over whether children should be introduced to hunting is centered on ethical concerns regarding desensitized aggression. However, using the Hunter-Gatherer neurotype associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, this paper argues that early-onset hunting has significant neurocognitive benefits when conducted with proper education and a mentored framework.

Drawing on evolutionary psychiatry and neurobiology, this theoretical analysis first reviews relevant literature in both fields and then distinguishes between affective aggression (rage-based violence) and predatory aggression (a goal-oriented, cold-blooded cognitive state). I suggest that traits condemned as maladaptive in the four walls of the modern classroom (i.e. distractibility and hyperfocus) are …

The Risks And Benefits Of Spaying And Neutering Your Dog, Laci Bernosky

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Spaying and neutering dogs is one of the first decisions pet owners make after acquiring a dog. It is a large component of what is understood to be responsible pet ownership in the US over the past 60 years, due to its great elimination of unwanted animals, reducing how many are euthanized each year in shelters from overcrowding. However, there has been research, mostly in the past 20 years, re-evaluating the benefits and bringing to light the costs dogs can pay from being spayed or neutered. This paper examines the health and behavioral effects of spaying and neutering dogs. The …

The Importance Of Ph Dynamics In Neurodevelopment, Erin K. Santana

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger (Nhe) proteins are essential regulators of intracellular pH in the brain. The importance of these exchangers in brain development is evidenced by the fact that their dysfunction is associated with neural development disorders, including autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy. Our lab studies the role of Nhe proteins in brain development using the model system Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly). Flies have only 3 Nhe proteins (Nhe1-3) compared to 9 in humans, making them a more straightforward model to investigate Nhe functions. Previously, we investigated Nhe2, which maintains cytosolic pH. We found that nhe2 knockout flies exhibited …

From Couriers To City-Dwellers: The Changing Human–Pigeon Relationship Through Historic Pigeon Messaging, Urban Perceptions, And Training Practices, Mallory Peterson

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Their coos echo off the walls of skyscrapers and their wings beat faster than the cadence of footsteps. Whether dodging cars or pecking at food scraps, pigeons are a constant character of urban environments. Their unique history has allowed them to raise their young under bridges and on windowsills. Pigeons and humans are inextricably intertwined, to the joy and dismay of many. Once celebrated as couriers, pigeons carried messages of war, love, and survival across vast distances, shaping human connection and history. Today, they are more often dismissed as pests, their presence flattened into the city noise.

This narrative piece …

Ursine Transitions: An Analysis Of The Role Of The Bear Attack As A Transitionary Force In The Winter’S Tale And Beyond, Alison R. Liwosz

University of Montana Conference on Undergraduate Research (UMCUR)

Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale features a curiously specific bear among the pastoral romantic comedy, a bear that chases a character off stage and ends up eating him and another character. This bear’s symbolism and significance to the narrative will be the focus of this essay. This event occurs in the simple stage direction “Exit, pursued by bear” to close out the third act and court setting of the play. A description of the murders come from a character introduced from the pastoral latter half of the narrative, with the bear acting as the hinge between the two. The bear also …

Pengaruh Variasi Multimedia Presentasi Terhadap Hasil Belajar Bahasa Inggris Peserta Didik Yang Memiliki Gaya Belajar Berbeda, Ahmad Bahruddin

Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora

This study investigated the effects of multimedia presentation variety on English achievement among students with different learning styles.The main purposes of this study were to examine: (1) the difference of English achievement among students instructed with variety of multimedia presentation namely: Macromedia Flash, Power Point and Prezi; (2) the difference of English achievement of students with different learning styles namely: auditory, kineasthetic and visual visual; (3) the interaction among variety of multimedia presentation and learning styles on students English achievement. The findings of the study were: (1) there was a significant effect of the multimedia presentation variety on English achievement. …

A Profile Of Exemplary Teachers Of English For Young Learners At The Elementary School, Rahmad Husein

Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora

This study portrayed a profile of exemplary EYL teachers’ competence indicators of pedagogical and professional implementation and personal and social manifestation. The research involved seven subjects. The data were collected through interviews, observations, field-notes and documentary studies and they were analyzed by a snow-balling procedure. The study found out that the subjects performed professional competences which classified them as exemplary EYL teachers at the elementary school. The findings also revealed that professional development along with personal and social competences contributed much to the teachers’ pedagogical competences

Using Speed Reading And Extensive Reading Activities To Improve Students' Reading Fluency, Sri Wardani

Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora

This study examines the implementation of Speed Reading and Extensive Reading activities to improve students' reading fluency. Using a Classroom Action Research, it was applied in 2 cycles.

Correlation Between Lexical Richness And Overall Quality Of Argumentative Essays Written By English Department Students, Rizky Lutviana, A. Effendi Kadarisman, Ekaning Dewanti Laksmi

Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora

This study aims at revealing the contribution of diction to the overall quality of argumentative essays written by 42 EFL students. The researcher compared two sets of scores, the score of students’ lexical richness, measured with LFP (Lexical Frequency Profile), and the score of overall quality of EFL students’ argumentative essay, using analytical scoring rubric. The small and not significant correlation (ñ=.18, sig=.23) implied that diction had small contribution to the overall quality of the essay. There might be another factor related to the diction that supports the quality of written text. Thus, further research is needed to be conducted.

Developing English Supplementary Reading Cards (Esrcs) For Young Learners To Promote Free Voluntary Reading Program, Utari Praba Astuti

Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora

In English classes, young learners are mostly put into intensive reading sessions as the main menu where the focus of the session is on young learners’ academic achievement. As a result, it is far from promoting reading English for pleasure. Like other skills in life, young learners learn to read by reading. The more they read, the better their reading competence will be. The better they read, the more enjoyable they find the reading activity. These paradigms function as the basis of pro- viding young learners with various reading materials to read and enough time to spend for reading. This …

Implementing Drilling Technique By Using Wondershare Quiz Creator To Improve Students' Reading Ability, Muhammad Muchlisin

Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora

This research was designed to improve the students’ reading ability through drilling tech- nique by using Wondershare Quiz Creator to solve the students’ problems. The design of this re- search was classroom action research and was conducted in 1 cycle which comprised four meetings. The stages in implementing this technique were (1) explaining about the topic through introduction page, (2) drilling the quiz based on the topic in every meeting then confirming the result, and (3) giving the final test in the last meeting. The results show that the implementation of this technique can improve the students’ reading ability. It …

Books And Media

Appalachia

Reviews of: AMC Southern New Hampshire Trail Guide, 6th Edition; Long Trail Guide, 29th Edition; Letters from the Mountain, edited by Steve Chase and Brad Meiklejohn; In My Boots, by Amanda K. Jaros; White Pines, by Jane English

Research

Appalachia

Gabriella Gurney discusses fire in the ecosystems of the Northeast.

Skyline Sketches: The Encounter, Gordon Dubois

Appalachia

A bushwhacker meets a weasel on Vermont’s Ryegate Mountain.

Splinter Hill: Looking Into The Maws Of Pitcher Plants, Samantha Sapp

Appalachia

A young woman discusses the environmental, regional, historic, and personal importance of Sarracenia pitcher plants.

West Rim, Zion: Where Impulse Can Lead Down A Different Incline, Elissa Ely

Appalachia

A journey of the mind after the writer, trying to capture a spectacular vista above an exposed expanse of rock, drops her phone.

Chesuncook, Through The Life Of Addie: A Farm Village Evolves Into An Adventure Stopover, William Geller

Appalachia

The latest in a series about the early economies of the Maine Woods.

An Anthology Of Snake Stories: Close Encounters From New Hampshire To Laos, Todd Swain

Appalachia

Garter snakes, copperheads, rattlesnakes, a pursuit by a Moorish viper, and more.

The Toll Ticks Take: Strangest Reason Yet To Give Up Red Meat, James Mason

Appalachia

A strange allergic reaction leads an experienced mountain climber back to the bite of a lone star tick.

Appalachia Winter/Spring 2026: Complete Issue

Appalachia

Winter/Spring 2026 - Volume LXXVII, Number 1 - Issue #261. Healing and Hazards: Finding and Saving Health in Wild Places

Stateful System For Predictive Tracking Of Dynamic Road Hazards, Tom Spigland, Assaf Eisenberg, Ziv Tzor, Avishay Ram

Defensive Publications Series

Static hazard reporting methods may be inefficient for tracking dynamic, moving hazards, such as cyclists, potentially leading to obsolete alerts. A stateful system can treat a moving hazard as a persistent object with a unique identifier. The system can ingest multi-source kinematic data to periodically update an object's state, for example, its location and speed, as an alternative to repeatedly creating and deleting static pins. Such a system may employ a prediction engine to interpolate movement, a filtering engine to manage alert relevance based on context like speed or road type, and a clustering algorithm to consolidate groups of hazards. …

"A Politics Of Its Own": Reading Adelaide Procter's Poetry In The Context Of The English Woman's Journal, Rachel Diane Gouff

Theses and Dissertations

Victorian poet Adelaide Anne Procter, a devout Catholic and a nineteenth-century feminist and social activist, was hugely popular in her lifetime for her devotional and sentimental poetry. However, scholars who have looked closely at her work have recognized that her poetry contains moments of tension that suggest they may be more than they appear on the surface. Such tensions and ironies are often glossed over or misread by readers whose expectations of Christian devotional messaging and domestic sentiment overshadow the contradictions. In this paper, I propose that one of the most effective ways to more fully understand the nuance and …

Confidentiality Of Ai Conversations: Protecting Self-Represented Litigants Who Use Chatgpt For Legal Advice, Anoo D. Vyas

Duke Law & Technology Review

When a layperson uses ChatGPT to obtain feedback on a legal matter, attorney-client privilege may not apply, as ChatGPT is not a lawyer, much less a human. Further, while lawyers are entitled to protection for their opinion work-product, it is not clear whether self-represented litigants are entitled to the same protection. Additionally, the broader duty of confidentiality binds only attorneys, not AI systems like ChatGPT. The public increasingly uses AI tools such as ChatGPT. If a layperson employs ChatGPT for legal advice, particularly in a civil matter, such communications may be discoverable and potentially admissible. This presents an access to …

Diverse Directions - B.S. Senior Exhibition, Luca C. Schaefer-Knight

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

My art focuses on human connection, narratives, and emotions. I explore how people relate to themselves, to nature, and to each other, especially as they relate to shared experiences and mental health. My comic and zines detail the lives of teen characters and how they cope with trauma or mental illnesses. This is centered in how people seek to escape reality through reflection because of their fascination with stories and imagined characters that embody their struggles. The artist Lucy Kagan inspires my work for zines as well as characters, as she also uses zines to share about her characters and …

2025-2026 New Music Festival: Emerging Composers, Iank Sanguino, Ingryd Herrera, Omar Mata, Joseph Muhl, Miguelangel Garcia Marquez, Devin Foster, Sarah Conley, Aneliya Novikova, David Noon, Gabrielle Sienna, Aidan Quintana, Ziling Wang, Matthew Chou, Laura Gonzales, Li Yang Liu, Lillian Platte, Roey Dushi

New Music Festival

No abstract provided.

Volume Cxlv, Number 18, April 17, 2026, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

Post-Operative Delirium: A Neurocognitive Syndrome Expressed Through An Interactive Website Module Of Animations, Bailey Mikytuck

Theses

Post-operative delirium (POD) is a neurocognitive complication that can arise in patients who have undergone a surgical procedure. It is characterized by the onset of reduced attention or cognition, mood or personality disturbances, and hallucinations that occur between 10 minutes to multiple days after waking up from anesthesia. These symptoms may only be brief, but in some cases can lead to long-term cognitive impairment and dysfunction and have been associated with the development of dementias. It is estimated that rates of POD occurrence are between 13.2- 41.7% with major risk factors including being over the age of 65 and the …

The Story Game: Dissuading The Abolition Of Man With Narrative Intellectual Virtue & The Hunger Games, Camille Bewley

Harding Undergraduate Research Conference

Relativism in modern America is leading society toward the fruition of C.S. Lewis’ warning of the abolition of man. This nation once founded on freedom inches closer to the dystopia which Suzanne Collins depicts in her Hunger Games series. This paper recognizes the growing need for humanity to realign with truth and universal values, first by reorienting itself to narratives. Through intellectual virtues of understanding and prudence as defined by Aristotle, society can translate stories into their inherent purpose; seeing truth and reality within the bottle of imagination. Stories contain the answers, narratives are the way humanity subscribes to reality. …

Responsible Authorship, Ethical Publishing, Research Integrity, Susan Garfinkel

LEAP Conference Speaker Slides

No abstract provided.

Centering Ethics And Engineering In Research, Idalis Villanueva Alarcón

LEAP Conference Speaker Slides

No abstract provided.