Digital Commons Network^™

The Perils And Promise Of Midwestern Studies, Frederick E. Witzig

Studies in Midwestern History

As I reflect on the eight-year history of Midwest Studies (renamed the Midwest Initiative, then Midwest Matters; here I will use the term MSI, for Midwest Studies Initiative) at Monmouth College in west-central Illinois, two relevant news pieces from the community of small, private, liberal arts colleges circulate around me. The first, that of Iowa Wesleyan College throwing overboard faculty, staff, and academic programs in an effort to stay afloat, is actually more than a year old, but it was refreshed on our campus by a recent IWC visitor who explained its painful repercussions. The second, the startling announcement of …

The Effects Of Video Games On Human Intelligence, Lifeng Yuan, Wenxiang Hu

ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies

With the help of rapidly growing electronics industry offering more affordable electronic gaming devices, an increasing number of people have stepped into the realm of video games and as a result, playing video games has become part of life for many to some extent. While the majority of people are embracing the fun and the thrill that video games have brought about, a handful of people are still holding relatively negative opinions on video games, thinking that playing video game is just a waste of time and money. In fact, the truth is quite the opposite. It has proved that …

Paranormal Beliefs And Their Effect On American Fears And Political Identification, Tyler James Ferrari

Political Science Student Papers and Posters

Urban legends and conspiracy theories have been a cornerstone of American culture for many years, and these stories and theories have permeated into many aspects of society, from tourism to pop culture, but how have these stories and theories affected politics? Conspiracy theories and urban legends all revolve around the distrust of institutions, ranging from governments to the media, but there is very little research to indicate how beliefs in these types of phenomena affect political self-identification, and fear in real-world disasters. This paper seeks to answer the following: How do paranormal and abnormal beliefs influence political identification? And how …

Use And Awareness Of Library Services Among Faculty At Two Armenian Universities, D. Aram Donabedian, John Carey, Arshak Balayan

Publications and Research

This study surveyed instructional faculty at two Armenian universities to determine use and awareness of academic library services or resources including reference, interlibrary loan, subscription databases, subject liaisons, and more. A minority of respondents reported making frequent use of the services investigated, with usage varying according to such factors as academic rank, length of employment, and full- or part-time status. Many participants also had suggestions for services not available at their libraries. These results help illuminate user preferences among faculty at these universities and could help librarians at similar institutions identify underutilized resources to promote or new services to offer.

Why They Do It: Inside The Mind Of The White-Collar Criminal, By Eugene Soltes, Larissa Lucas

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Sociologist Edwin Sutherland first coined the term “white-collar crime” on December 27, 1939 during his presidential address at the fifty-second annual meeting of the American Sociological Society. Sutherland began his speech by arguing that much of what his colleagues understood about crime—namely, that it was restricted to the streets and largely committed by individuals in the lower social classes—was “misleading and incorrect.” According to Sutherland, the most serious criminal offences were not being committed by the poor or the “delinquent,” but rather by society’s most “respected business and professional men."

Victimology: A Canadian Perspective, By Jo-Anne M. Wemmers, Jake Babad

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The Canadian legal community finds itself in the midst of a debate about whether victims of crime deserve greater rights in its justice system. A stunning report, for example, from The Globe and Mail in 2017 that details the high rate of sexual assault reports dismissed by police forces across the country was met with calls for investigators to pursue justice on behalf of victims more forcefully. Parliament, meanwhile, enacted legislation designed to better prepare sexual assault survivors who may face credibility-impeaching evidence on the witness stand. Dubbed “the Ghomeshi law” by legal commentators (as it arrived not long after …

Non-Equilibrium Phase Transitions In Interacting Diffusions, Wael Al-Sawai

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The theory of thermodynamic phase transitions has played a central role both in theoretical physics and in dynamical systems for several decades. One of its fundamental results is the classification of various physical models into equivalence classes with respect to the scaling behavior of solutions near the critical manifold. From that point of view, systems characterized by the same set of critical exponents are equivalent, regardless of how different the original physical models might be. For non-equilibrium phase transitions, the current theoretical framework is much less developed. In particular, an equivalent classification criterion is not available, thus requiring a specific …

Spectator 2018-05-16, Editors Of The Spectator

The Spectator

No abstract provided.

Child Malnutrition In The Philippines: Using Experimental Design To Understand Nutritional Supplement Adoption, Marissa Miller, Dr. Scott Sanders

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Liahona Children’s Foundation (LCF) is a faith-based community organization that seeks to “nurture the potential of children to lead healthy and productive lives by eliminating malnutrition and providing educational opportunities among LDS (Latter-day Saint) children and their friends”. They do this by providing health initiatives include growth monitoring and nutritional supplementation. They are piloting the use health education lessons. In this field study, I evaluated the LCF program and initiated a randomized control trial to test the effectiveness of the health education lessons. The purpose of the project is to assess the effects of nutritional supplementation and basic nutritional education …

Impact: How Law Affects Behavior, By Lawrence M. Friedman, Ariel Zuckerbrot

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

H.L.A. Hart opens his seminal work The Concept of Law with the observation that “[f]ew questions concerning human society have been asked with such persistence and answered by serious thinkers in so many diverse, strange, and even paradoxical ways as the question ‘What is law?’” Many of these serious thinkers have sought to determine what law is by answering the question: “Where does law come from?” Aristotle’s view of natural law holds that law originates in its connection to an eternal concept of supreme justice. John Austin, on the other hand, sought to distinguish the law from other types of …

India's Economic Growth: Role Of Political Performance And Gender Wage Gap, Rajeev Indira Nagaraju

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation will explore how gender wage gap and political capacity represented by relative political extraction affect change in economic growth rate of a country. The main argument of the study is that gender wage gap is affecting the labor market by discouraging productive female labor force from entering the labor market. This in turn affects the efficiency and productivity of the labor market reflected in negative economic growth or economic growth potential being compromised. Here the case of Indian economy is examined. The important policy implication of this study is that it could account for the wage differential between …

Identifying An Epistemology Of Hope Through Researching Woman-To-Woman Rape And Sexual Assault, R Twinley

School of Health Professions

This auto/biographical account details my experience of generating what I would term an “Epistemology of Hope” through researching the traumatic experience of woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault. I focus on the recommendations (i.e., what we would hope to have happen) of myself and my respondents, as an outcome of engaging in my doctoral research. I suggest that woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault victim/survivors must be regarded as the owners and creators of knowledge regarding how best to respond to their needs and to the very reality of woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault.

Use Of Assistive Technology In Blind Schools Of West Bengal: A Comparative Study, Sudipta Pradhan, Mahadev Samanta

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present study compares use of assistive technology for the visually challenged students provided by the special schools in the Medinipur division under the Districts of Bankura, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram and Purba Medinipur and that of the special schools in the Burdwan division under the districts of Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman and Hooghly for providing services to the visually challenged students of secondary and higher secondary level. The study reveals that the institutes meant for the visually challenged should increase access, availability and funding for assistive technology through efforts and initiatives. Only one institute in Medinipur division i.e. …

Self-Empowerment Of Minorities Focusing On Trans-Border Communities, Lizbet Carrillo

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

The purpose of this research is to study how migrants could experience self-empowerment having no representation as they are segregated by the communities they live in. Examining current literature regrading empowerment and how to reach self-empowerment, belongingness and the importance of it in everyone’s’ life including minorities focusing on trans-border communities and migrants. Is it possible for unrepresented minorities to reach self-empowerment? How to successfully cross established boundaries, expectations and stereotypes?

Reshaping What Emerges: Empowering Student Employees To Be Authentic, Amber Williams

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of my study was to understand who my students are authentically and discover what keeps them from being authentic within the workplace. I focused on culturally minoritized students in the context of professional expectations and intersecting identities. The research questions that guided my study are: How do I help students be authentic in their role as culturally minoritized employees at a multicultural center? What does authenticity look like for the students I work with, and where do they find it most difficult to express their most authentic selves within the United Front Multicultural Center? What interventions and/or practices …

The Loss Of Spoken Word, Barbara Sampley

Theses and Dissertations from 2018

The rapid emergence of social media has the potential to negatively affect young people moving into the job market. In this paper, I examine whether there has been a loss of communication and soft skills, interpersonal skills, and how this has an impact on workforce readiness. Numerous studies have explored the social interactions and the effects technology has had on human behavior. Based on the insights from sociologists, psychologists, educators, and researchers, it appears that interpersonal skills (soft skills) are critical to being successful in the workforce. Research indicates that social media can hamper verbal communication in young people. Additionally, …

Hotspot Homes: An Analysis Of The Situational/Contextual Factors, Windows Of Opportunity, And Attempted Burglaries On Repeatedly Burglarized Residential Homes, Joshua W. Donnelly

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research study designed to inform the reader on the phenomenon of repeat burglary victimization as it applies to single residential family homes. This research used Henderson Police Department data to examine the prevalence of repeat victimization, and the situational factors that accompany this phenomenon. The main concept that is being examined in this paper is the time period in which most repeats happen, the analysis will be conducted using a 6-year time frame divided into equal time blocks. Repeat attempted burglaries are also analyzed to identify any similar patterns amongst these crimes. The study is composed of approximately 3,700 …

Boys To Men: Masculinity, Victimization, And Offending, Shon Michael Reed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Male victims are an underrepresented group within society as research within victimology primarily focuses on female victims and services available typically cater to female populations. This study focuses on male victims and draws attention to the role that victimization may play in criminal offending. Prior research has found that male victims may feel a diminished sense of their own masculinity. While other studies have noted that masculinity plays a role in some men’s decisions to engage in criminal behavior (Messerschmidt, 1993, 2016). It seems logical that these two concepts (masculinity and victimization) would be related. Utilizing self-reported data from 135 …

Service Learning, Emyli Augustine

Second-Year Seminar Posters (COE 202)

Every student should have access to the recourses they need to achieve their goals.

Reaching Out With Project 150, Kevin Gonzalez

Second-Year Seminar Posters (COE 202)

Project 150 assist young people experiencing homelessness by supplying clothes in order to create high graduation rates

At-Risk Youth, Jeremy Hall

Second-Year Seminar Posters (COE 202)

By creating more upstanding citizens through youth programs, as well as increasing the amount of youth programs, the culture of crime can be reversed in Las Vegas.

Executive Committee - Agenda, 5/15/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Intersections Between Gender, Race, And Justice-Involvement: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Women's Experiences In The Oregon Criminal Justice System, Breanna Lynne Boppre

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the 1970s, the rate of female incarceration in the United States skyrocketed, with highest imprisonment rates among Black and Latina women. Nonetheless, few studies examined disparities in female imprisonment and the distinct experiences of women of Color within the justice system. To fill this gap in the literature, this dissertation utilized conflict and intersectional perspectives to assess the differential treatment of women in the Oregon justice system. Using a convergent mixed methods design, this dissertation examined disparities in female imprisonment using state-level prison admissions and population data from 1983-2014 in conjunction with qualitative interview and focus group responses among …

Is It Still Impossible To Be Black And American?, Darrian Carroll

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis engages Bill Clinton’s presidential rhetoric to investigate how liberal rhetorical practices can be used to extend and sustain the oppression of Black Americans. By adopting Du Bois’ concepts of the color-line and double-consciousness this thesis examines how Bill Clinton was able to recreate the color-line in the Mason Temple speech and benefit from and recreate a world devoid of consciousness in other selected speeches from his corpus. This project takes up three separate speeches by Bill Clinton as texts. The second chapter focuses on Bill Clinton’s “Remarks to the Rainbow Coalition” and “Remarks announcing the initiative” to make …

Police Interventions, Public Perceptions, And The Rdfc Interaction Model, Stacey L. Clouse

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Procedural justice and police legitimacy research suggests that perceptions of legitimacy are based on the credibility of police (Sunshine & Tyler, 2003). However, highly publicized incidents of police use of force serve to threaten that credibility. High profile incidents between police and citizens in Black communities have contributed to national protests and, as some data suggest, increased violence toward the police (FBI.gov, 2016). Extensive media coverage of these incidents has contributed to an increased sensitivity toward police- citizen interactions leading to incidents of civil unrest (Weitzer, 2002). The incidents of civil unrest suggest that we should more closely examine factors …

A Quantitative Study Of Mitigating Resistance To Change Through A Neuro Linguistic Approach: With The Use Of Narratives And A Neuro Linguistic Pattern, Mary J. Sanders

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Resistance to organizational change by employees and management delays implementation, creates emotional stress for both, and reduces the potential savings from rapid change implementation. The delay comes from organizational members’ beliefs stuck in the status quo thus reducing the change’s potential improvement in productivity and effectiveness. If beliefs about the change could be embraced creating organizational readiness, these negative effects could be mitigated and improvements in productivity could be realized sooner.

Reducing the resistance to organizational change through the use of metaphors and a specific neuro linguistic programming pattern (NLP) is the focus of this research study. NLP was originally …

Office Of Career Advancement Services: A Quantitative Study On Career Confidence As It Relates To Career Readiness, Tara Lynn Wiese

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the roles of self-efficacy, attitudes towards the services offered; strategies and guidance, and career planning play a part in how the student views their career knowledge base. The primary focus of the study is on the students who used the services of the Career Advancement Center located on the 2nd Floor in Savitz Hall. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of utilizing the career services, which are provided to the students on campus, and how it could help improve their career readiness. By studying students career confidence, the hope is to see if …

Ready To Fly, Susan Dumais

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Catholic Charities Of Southern Nevada, Ye Eun Nam

Second-Year Seminar Posters (COE 202)

The social issue addressed by CCSN is the prevalence of hunger for homeless, families, and elderly.

Tinh Do Tu Vien Temple, Brandon Lu

Second-Year Seminar Posters (COE 202)

The purpose of Tinh Do Tu Vien Temple is not just to help around the community but to help other communities as well.