Digital Commons Network^™

Impacts Of Methods And Pose On Performance Of Two Modern American Football Helmets, Ta’Quoris Newsome

Honors Theses

The standardization of American football helmets began with the development of the National Operating Committee for Safety in Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE). The organization successfully developed a certification that quantifies a helmet’s ability to mitigate blunt force to prevent skull fractures; however, the ability to assure the same level of protection against concussion has been elusive. Regardless, The National Football League (NFL) and Virginia Tech University (VT) have developed blunt and rotational impact testing methodologies that aim to provide consumers with the effectiveness and safety of American football helmets through their respective ranking system. These ranking systems are intended to aid …

Mississippi Crime And Corrections: The Effects Of House Bill 585 On Crime And Incarceration Rates, Madisyn Flammia

Honors Theses

The state of Mississippi’s historically high incarceration rate peaked in the year 2013, when it was the second highest nationwide. To combat this problem, House Bill 585 was passed into law in 2014. The law consisted of multiple reforms, which were part of an effort to toughen sentencing for violent offenders and reduce severity of punishment for non-violent criminals, with the aim of reducing incarceration and refocusing prison space for violent crimes. I employed difference in differences and synthetic control methododologies to examine the effects of House Bill 585 on crime and imprisonment rates. My results revealed that House Bill …

Transgender And Nonbinary Attitudes Toward The Choral Music Education Major Experience, Bailee Green

Honors Theses

Transgender and nonbinary individuals face unique challenges in the choral community because of their gender identity. The foundation of the choral ensemble and its methods are rooted in the gender binary, making it hard for gender-expansive singers to feel a sense of belonging.

The purpose of this thesis project was to gauge the experiences and opinions of transgender and nonbinary choral music education majors who participate in at least one choral ensemble. Data was obtained through a voluntary survey that asked participants how their gender affected aspects of their experience as a choral music education major. Survey results led to …

The Interplay Between Personal Responsibility And Social Determinants Of Health On Attributions Related To Covid-19 Infections, Emma Cox

Honors Theses

While health campaigns often convey that health-related behaviors are the primary causes of preventable illnesses, they ignore the strong relationship between social determinants of health (SDH) and health outcomes (Braveman & Gottlieb, 2014). Ignoring non-behavioral factors in health communication poses both practical and ethical concerns for people with negative health outcomes, as health is linked to many “uncontrollable” factors, including income, education, and employment (Guttman & Ressler, 2001). Several social and environmental factors are linked to covid-19 exposure risk, including neighborhood environment, housing conditions, and occupation (CDC, 2022). Given the associations between causal beliefs about health and policy support, experts …

Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Examining The Relationship Between Perceptions Of Covid-19 Vaccine Safety And Intention To Receive It Among African Americans In Mississippi, Tija L. Johnson

Honors Theses

In March of 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic due to the ongoing spread of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19 disease. While scientific developers were seeking to understand the biochemical mechanism of SARS-CoV-2, political and public health leaders implemented non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as social distancing measures, to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. As the world began to adjust to the new realities, the race to create an effective vaccine was on. With the later development of the COVID-19 vaccine, receptiveness to the vaccine across the world varied, and in the United States, vaccine hesitancy was an …

Self-Efficacy Development In Elementary-Aged Learners Through Dance As An Algorithmic Thinking Tool, Niva Shrestha

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a transdisciplinary approach in teaching computational thinking through dance to elementary-aged learners, with primary attention to females. With limited literature available on how pre-adolescents begin to construct conceptions of computer science and other engineering domains, including potential career pathways, the incentive of this project was to leverage a day camp for about 20 rising 3rd - 5th-grade learners to assess their identity development in computer science. Modules that teach computational thinking through dance paired with Unruly splats (block-based programmable electronic gadgets) were implemented. By conducting pre-and post-surveys and a …

Speech-Language Pathologists’ Perceptions Regarding Augmentative And Alternative Communication Implementation And Assessment In The Adult Population, Emilee Mcgahee

Honors Theses

The goal of this research project is to bring awareness to a part of the population that is severely lacking in both representation and research in regard to the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), bringing attention to the scarcity of studies centered around AAC use in adults. This study hopes to increase the number of SLPs who are comfortable in assessing and implemeneting AAC systems with adults. The survey included questions pertaining to how long SLPs had been practicing, what populations they are most familiar with, their comfort levels regarding both AAC implementation and assessment, and memorable experiences …

“Though She Be But Little She Is Fierce”: Playing Hermia On The Virtual Stage, Taylor Alleman

Honors Theses

This thesis displays an undergraduate theatre performance student’s process for portraying the character Hermia in the University of Southern Mississippi’s Spring 2021 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The student completed a detailed script and character analysis, practiced specific vocal and movement techniques, and explored various choices in rehearsals in order to create a profound character that best fit the production.

Keywords: Theatre, Analysis, Vocal, Movement, Performing, Shakespeare

Generation Of Baiap3 Expression Construct For Subcellular Localization And Phenotypic Rescue, Ireland Ann Little

Honors Theses

Mast cells secrete a variety of biological mediators crucial for innate and adaptive immunity. One such mediator is Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF). TNF released from mast cells and other immune cells has been shown to elicit complex signaling pathways in target cells, resulting in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and/or immune cell recruitment. At the molecular level, TNF secretion/exocytosis is mediated by soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) and other regulatory proteins that work together to promote the fusion between secretory granules and the plasma membrane. One regulatory protein, Munc13-4, which facilitates the priming of secretory granules, was recently …

Layered Epoxide-Amine/Boron Nitride/Graphene Nanocomposites For Enhanced Multifunctional Shielding, Alyssa J. Necaise

Honors Theses

The development of high-power electromagnetic wave sources in the modern era has the ability to interfere with aircraft electronics and cause localized heating – necessitating advanced materials for electromagnetic interference (EMI) and thermal shielding. Multifunctional nanoparticles dispersed within polymer matrices can combat these issues; however, the best way to combine thermally and electrically conductive species to maximize electromagnetic interference shielding and thermal shielding is undetermined. Multifunctional layered epoxide/amine nanocomposites were prepared from tetra and octafunctional epoxide monomers (TGDDM and SU-8), 4,4-DDS tetrafunctional amine curative, and 1 wt.% hexagonal boron nitride nanoplatelets and/or 1 wt.% graphene nanoplatelets to form monolayer and …

The Acm/Ais Is2020 Competency Model For Undergraduate Programs In Information Systems: A Joint Acm/Ais Task Force Report, Paul Leidig, Hannu Salmela

College of Computing Peer-Reviewed Articles

The Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Association of Information Systems (AIS) along with the ISCAP EDSIG, recently released a joint taskforce report IS2020: A Competency Model for Undergraduate Programs in Information Systems. In this paper, the co-chairs of IS2020, the latest Information Systems curriculum guidelines, provide their insight on the problems presented with existing guidelines, illustrate the issue, and share their opinions that led to the release of these latest guidelines.

H. Brian Holland, H. Brian Holland

Faculty CVs

No abstract provided.

Franklin G. Snyder, Franklin G. Snyder

Faculty CVs

No abstract provided.

Are Lonely Salespeople Costing You Customers?, Valerie Good, Lisa Earle Mcleod

Other Faculty Publications

As customer interactions have shifted to Zoom, sales jobs have become increasingly transactional and lonely. Recent research suggests this is a costly problem that goes beyond a hit to morale: It’s actually causing three problematic behaviors — social awkwardness, impaired memory, and conspicuous overspending on customers — that could damage business performance. The authors offer eight strategies managers can implement to help salespeople feel less lonely and ensure your team is approaching customers with confidence.

Practicing Organizational Care: Using Human-Centered Approaches To Facilitate Change In Your Library, Meghan Musolff, Annie Bélanger

Presentations

Most traditional change management practices seek to mitigate risk. They focus on process and implementation over listening, compassion, and healing. By using human-centered change methodologies and approaches, we will explore ways to tailor change efforts in ways that honor the individuals and the organization. We will consider how to engage in a change that harnesses the strengths of the team, making space for voices to be heard.

A Cold War On The Dark Knight: Batman And American Culture 1939-1975, Angelica Cantrell

Honors Theses

In 1930, Batman fought the prevailing fears of urban America. With the addition of Robin in 1940, the comics changed to appeal to children and continued to follow the cultural trends of America during World War II and into the Cold War. Fear and paranoia during the Cold War influenced American culture and domestic policy. Anticommunism was ingrained in American social structure and initiated efforts at social containment in the 1950s. American culture shifted to emphasize morality and domesticity, and many Americans actively sought to protect traditional Christian values in their society.

Among the rising concerns, Americans became increasingly worried …

The Effect Of 100 Percent Population Testing On The Perception Of Cpa Firms With Limited Liability Exposure, Brock Revels

Honors Theses

The present study investigates whether retail investors believe that a CPA firm’s liability exposure or the type of evidence collected by the firm impacts their ability to remain unbiased during the audit. This study is inspired by calls for further research pertaining to the benefits and effectiveness that big data can provide to the audit industry or whether it could lead to more regulation. After receiving approval for the study by the Institutional Review Board, retail investors responded to an experiment in order to gather information for the study. The results indicate that retail investors believe that a CPA firm’s …

Habitat Preference Of F. Notatus And F. Olivaceus From A Reversed Hybrid Zone, Elizabeth Hart Williams

Honors Theses

Understanding the mechanisms driving habitat preference throughout an organism’s life opens doors to the further understanding of the origins of diversity. Two species of minnow, Fundulus notatus and Fundulus olivaceus, are ideal for ecological research on habitat preference. Ordinarily, F. notatus and F. olivaceus display habitat preferences of downstream and upstream, respectively, with minimal coexistence at confluences. However, in some drainages, these preferences are flipped, like those in the Tombigbee River basin. Members of both species were collected from the Tombigbee River, tagged with species and sex specific colored elastomer marks, and placed in either a homogeneous control or …

Song Lyrics In The Hobbit: What They Tell Us, Thalia Mcinnis-Trussell

Honors Theses

Tolkien is argued by many to be the author of the century, a legend, and the kickstart to the fantasy genre. Despite these claims, there is very little research done about the song lyrics in his works, especially not in The Hobbit. I have analyzed how the song lyrics show the relationship with time and history of each race—dwarves, elves, hobbits, and goblins—and how their values are shown through their lyrics.

Keywords: Tolkien, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Songs, Music, Hobbits, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Values

Movement As A Way Of Knowing Earth: An Ecosomatic Approach To Developing Movement Choices, Brittany Tolbert

Honors Theses

The senior choreographic project The Spirit of Gaia aims to not only build awareness for individuals about the impact humans have on the climate crisis but also to inspire change in the way in which humans utilize movement practices for the benefit of Earth. As a creative process based in somatic exploration and a performance contingent on a live audience, The Spirit of Gaia exists as a living moment of dance. Acknowledging the power movement has to be the progenitor of a larger environmental consciousness and an eco-friendly change on the individual level, the dance acts as a means of …

Yoga And Brahmavihārā: Expanding The Concept Of Self To Include Others”, John Paul Gauer

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

Yoga is a method that practitioners use to expand their sense of self. According to Stuart Ray Sarbacker, yoga has been used to attempt two types of goals: the numinous which bestows special powers upon the practitioner, and the cessative which brings the process of saṃsāra, the endless cycle of rebirth, to an end. Both of these are goals that are focused on an individual self. In modern American yoga, a commodified practice has served to solidify the sense of individualized self by focusing solely on the body-based practices such as āsana. But yoga has a history of …

The Protoevangelium Of James: Mary, Purity, And Womanhood, Sophia Gilmour

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

Despite its somewhat misleading title, The Protoevangelium of James is an unofficial gospel about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Although many contemporary Christians may not know it, this text is where we find many ideas surrounding Mary. Like many early Christian writings, the identity of the author is unclear, but based upon the writing, it would seem the author had firsthand knowledge of the events recorded. The Protoevangelium of James, also known as The Infancy Gospel of James, outlines the divine circumstances surrounding Mary’s birth and upbringing and reports that she lived a very holy childhood. In this paper, I …

The Parable Of The Workers In The Vineyard In Matthew (20:1-16) – Who Are The Workers In The Lord’S Vineyard In The American Church?, Leonardo D. Mendoza

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

The parable of the workers in the Lord’s vineyard in the Gospel of Matthew (20:1-16) provides an insight into the work of God in relation to building the Kingdom of God in our midst. This biblical story provides communities of faith, students of the bible, and people of goodwill with a witness to how God calls people to labor in God’s vineyard and who some of those laborers truly are. Thus, this paper will question who the laborers in the vineyard are in the context of the Church in the United States. Questions posed will challenge the kinds of persons …

How Should Members Of The Lgbtq+ Community Be Allowed In Positions Of Ministry In The Catholic Church, Federico Guillermo (Memo) Rodriguez Hernandez

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

The Catholic Church has had an inconsistent approach to the LGBTQ+ community. The Church speaks of respect, compassion, and sensitivity, while at the same time terminates the employment of workers who openly identify themselves as LGBTQ+, without any other cause for termination. The Church also frequently hinders opportunities for ministry for members of the LGBTQ+. This article calls for a consistent application of Catholic doctrine, so that the respect, compassion, and sensitivity the Church teaches we are to show to members of the LGBTQ+ community is not obscured with unjust discrimination. Based on solid Catholic doctrine, I will establish the …

Esg Activities, Political Contributions, And Firm Performance, Ahmed W. Alam

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of two distinct empirical papers which I document in two separate chapters. In the first chapter, I empirically examine the impact of banks’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices on banking efficiency. Using a sample of 578 international banks over the years 2011-2019, I employ a data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to estimate banks’ technical efficiency scores. My baseline Tobit regressions reveal that high ESG performance significantly reduces banks’ efficiency. Further, I find that this relationship is non-linear at very high levels of ESG scores. These findings are consistent across the social (S) and governance (G) …

Rituals Of Belonging, Trecha G. Jheneall

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This ensemble is a (geo)autobiographical affirmation of the activities of water bodies, fiberboard drum barrel containers, and sound as well as their attendant rituals of belonging amongst People of Sub-Saharan African descent, particularly those belonging to the Caribbean diaspora.

Water as an ever-present life source serves as a dynamic metaphor for Caribbean people’s instinctive travel in and outside of the region’s soluble boundaries. The barrel container, often in transit analogizes the apprehension of displacement, congregation, arrival, or destination towards the desired feeling of security or place.

Elements of ritualistic practices located in migratory movement, music and labor are means of …

The Impact Of Shoreline Stabilization On Sediment Supply And Ecogeomorphology: Assessing Marsh Response To Altered Wave Energies, Lake Borgne, Louisiana, Jessica J. Villers

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Shoreline protection structures are a common response to lateral erosion in marshes, but limited studies exist on how they influence sediment supply and the resulting ecogeomorphology. This study investigates the impacts of marine mattresses, geotextile cages filled with riprap, in Lake Borgne, LA. A field study was conducted during cold front passages at a site with marine mattresses and a proximal control site without, collecting measurements of water depth, wave energy, lateral erosion, sediment accumulation, vegetation, and sediment characteristics. Wetlands with marine mattresses attenuated waves more than their natural marsh edge counterparts, which have limited conditions favorable for sedimentation. However, …

Additive Manufacturing Of Variable Contrast Computed Tomography Anatomical Phantoms Using A Single Feedstock In Fused Filament Fabrication, Cory J. Darling

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Anatomical phantoms used in biomedical education and training benefit greatly from Fused filament fabrication’s (FFF) ability to rapidly produce complex and unique models. Current materials and methods used in FFF have limited ability to accurately produce phantoms that can mimic the radiological properties of multiple biological tissues. This research demonstrates that the CT contrast of FFF produced models can be modified by varying the concentration of bismuth oxide in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filaments and a tunable CT contrast that mimics the CT contrast ranging from fatty tissue to cortical bone using a single composite filament without introducing artificial image …

Effects Of Organic Matter On Settling Velocity Of Coastal Sediments Used In Coastal Restoration And Marsh Creation Projects, Brittany Roberts

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Coastal wetland loss is a critical environmental problem across the United States. These ecosystems provide vital services to people and the environment including erosion control, flood protection, carbon sequestration, and maintenance of water quality. The natural flood protection has already been greatly weakened by coastal land loss in Louisiana and similar deltaic areas throughout the world. If this trend continues, many communities are at severe risk of physical and infrastructural damage. One of the proposed methods to reverse the erosion of the coastal wetlands is marsh creation. Comprehensive characterization of the dredged sediments is crucial in successfully constructing a marsh …

Preparation Of Concrete Specimen For Internal Sulfate Attack Analysis Using Electron Backscatter Diffraction, R. Sharon Uwanyuze, Lucas Enright, Jiyao Zhang, Stefan Schafföner

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Concrete cores were obtained from houses in eastern Connecticut, USA, that had varying degrees of crumbling foundations and wall cracking. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used simultaneously with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to investigate the degradation of these samples. This combination allowed the precise correlation of elemental composition with mineral crystallography phase mapping. EBSD examination showed the presence of pyrrhotite, pyrite, and marcasite phases in some of the samples, whereas internal sulfate attack (ISA) is triggered by the release of sulfates through the oxidation of such iron sulfides. Secondary expansion products from ISA are associated with foundation cracking, wall bulging, …