Creative Writing Commons^™

The Impact Of The R-Word, Jocelyn Mckelvey, Jocelyn Mckelvey

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Racism cuts deep. In a recent study by Shardae McNeil, 87 and 94% of African Americans reported experiencing at least one discriminatory event by the time they reached adolescence. Her research indicates that those that experience racial discrimination during adolescence are vulnerable to a greater risk of lower psychological functioning, internalized symptoms, and elevated levels of depressive symptomology. McNeil introduces the component of family support. Family support is an important coping method for incidents such as racial discrimination and can bring a positive mental health outcome in adolescents.

Cancel The Behavior, Not The Person, Mckenna M. Wychunas

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

A wicked problem is one that is here to stay, no matter how many solutions are thought of. No matter the solution, it will always interfere with another wicked problem, leaving it in an endless cycle. Cancel culture will always exist, even if it becomes less intense, it will still be here. Though there are differing opinions on the topic of cancel culture, I have researched the negative side to canceling, and I have provided examples of real-life people that have been affected by it. Along with that, I have also given a variety of feasible solutions that could help …

Drug Addiction & Mental Health, Tyler Burkholder

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Drugs have a serious effect on our mental health, and mental health has a major effect on drug abuse and addiction. There is a reason so many drug users usually need to keep going back to rehab. It is because drugs affect mental health to a point where you aren’t the same person during and even after drug addiction. Poor mental health also can be a major cause influencing people to start doing drugs. People with depression, anxiety disorders, mood disorders are more prone to drug use. That is why we need to make it a public policy to screen …

Guns And Their Place In The Us, Jacob Garibaldi

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Creating this paper was a wicked problem due to how deep of an issue the gun debate is in the United States. In the discussion of guns, there is a side that wants to abolish them, a side that believes in the right of the second amendment, and a middle ground where we can have guns in society with added in legal measures. Surely enough, those that are in opposition to firearms are persuaded due to the acts of violence and crime committed with them. Then there are those that use them in a way of self-defense. Through this paper, …

College Students And Burnout, Alexandra Malc

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

This article covers the topic such as burnout in an academic environment. Burnout is a common experience many students face throughout their four plus years in college, and it has serious ramifications. This is a serious issue that affects a student’s social life, academic life, and personal life. There is a severe lack of resources on campus, and the goal of this paper is to bring awareness to this. Students deserve to be heard and seen on their issues, and burnout is a huge one. This article also gives suggestions on how to heal from burnout, along with preventing it …

Impact Of Whitetail Deer Overpopulation With Hunting On The Decline, Matthew J. Lamprinos

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The whitetail deer is a key species for Pennsylvania’s forests, but their ecological balance has been disturbed by unregulated growth and urban sprawl. The deer population in Pennsylvania has exploded since the 1880’s causing a wide range of damage on the ecosystem, and humans. To reduce deer populations to sustainable levels, the Pennsylvania Game Commission relies heavily on hunters to dedicate time in the fall to go out and fill the tags the they issue. Hunter participation all around the world is decreasing for a variety of reasons. Fewer hunters out in the field causes revenue losses for the Game …

The Struggle Of Mental Health Within College Students, Skyler R. West

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

One in five college students have thoughts of committing suicide daily. We often wonder what may lead to thoughts like this. This essay uses a subjective approach to broaden the knowledge of readers regarding mental health problems within college students. In this essay, readers discover the statistical findings of factors like alcohol, nicotine, schoolwork and athletics factoring into a student's psychological destressed mental state. Without having available and anonymous resources accessible to them, students are not able to get the help they need.

Physician Burnout: Stress Within The Health Care System, Aidan Hauser

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

As our nation’s healthcare system expands, more stress and responsibility are placed on our physicians and frontline healthcare workers. The pressures of the daily job often prove extremely damaging to the employee’s mental and physical health. Physician and worker burnout is a growing epidemic that is damaging our care providers more and more every day. Burnout effects not only workers, but all of those surrounding them as well. This plague is not going to be repaired by one single change, but it is clear that many adjustments must be made to reform our healthcare system.

Police Body Cams Reducing Police Brutality, Shane M. Secrest

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

This paper shows 3 main reasons of how police worn body cameras being equipped on every single police officer in the country will be effective in reducing police brutality issues. The research is based of 3 sub points being officer, suspect and community safety, the educational value that can be gained from police worn body cameras, and how police worn body cameras can benefit the US court system. Each subpoint is broken down with how and why police worn body cameras would benefit each area.

Tuition Prices Are Through The Roof, Zara Zerman

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Tuition prices have increased at a rate that is making it difficult and impossible for students to not accumulate debt. Education is a necessity for society because it gives students opportunities to pursue any career they have interest or desire in. There are many discussions and conversations about the higher education system being too expensive but there have not been any changes or solutions to make college more affordable for students. Loans, federal aid, and other scholarships that help students with the cost of college will never be enough to help with the overwhelmingness of tuition prices and student debt. …

Lower Tuition, Eliminate Debts, And Enjoy Your Education, Damon Dejesus

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

College students live in a world where financial struggles and hardships take away from a lot of their freedoms after graduation. The ongoing student debt issues have crippled many of their freedoms and put limitations on the various luxuries they should be able to enjoy after completing the long journey of getting a degree. Through a few simple yet effective methods I think that there are ways to combat this wicked problem, things such as lowering the price of tuition, distributing more financial aid to students, and reducing the rate of interest attached to loans that some students may be …

Bridging The Gap, Jerenita Sokan

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Relationships are very important in our everyday life, especially in the medical field. Doctors tend to be the determining factor for many patients when it comes to life or death, and the patient requires a positive doctor patient relationship for many reasons. A good relationship is very important to foster trust thus creating a welcoming environment leading to more people taking steps to get help. However, when the doctor patient relationship is broken negative results are yield. Today the relationship between African American women and doctors is one that is broken and drifting further away from what is viewed as …

United States Judicial System Failures And Solutions, Braden P. Barker

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

For years, the American judicial system has unfairly punished the American people. These actions have led to serious societal consequences. We have prisons that sentence people to harsh punishment for nonviolent offenses, an overfunded and militarized police force, and racial biases that lead to the tragic killings of black people at the hands of the police that are intended to protect and serve us. This essay looks to diagnose the United States judicial system’s woes. More importantly, we take a look at what steps can be taken immediately to begin reversing the negative impact of these issues.

Student Debt Crisis, Celia Diloretto

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Student debt has been dated back to 1965 when the federal government began guaranteeing student loans. Today in 2021 student debt is now a crisis. Solutions have been trialed and errored when trying to forgive student debt, but no one solution seems to work right for students with outstanding debt today. Here are some of the effects student debt can cause and why debt needs to be prevented for future students.

The Ultimate Struggles Of A Classroom, Jackson R. Luneburg L

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Abstract: In a time where classrooms need more development as a whole to be more sustainable for kids that might have learning disabilities, We will look into universal design techniques that teachers could use to help children succeed in their environment. Having some sort of adaptability in the classroom is important for all students. By changing the ways we teach some tools teachers can use will be more comforting for the student with a learning disability to learn at quicker and faster paces. Design and having structure is very effective to student learning efficiency. Looking at new ways to innovate …

U.S. Prisons And System Reform, Darian Reimels

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Prison systems, specifically in the U.S., are a wicked problem. For years prisoners have been treated inhumanely inside and outside of prison, with everyone looking at them with a judgmental eye. This essay aims to point out and bring light to these issues within the prison system. Specifically, it focuses on how inmates are treated during and after serving their sentence, and solitary confinement. To better understand and explain the problems to you, extensive research was done. Articles were read, organizations were researched, and a documentary was watched to gather the information needed to write this essay. The results showed …

Erasing Student Debt: Slowly But Surely, Roberta Harris

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Furthering your education intends to be the golden ticket when forming the basis of a successful life. Investing in college can have both positive and negative effects regarding where it leads a student in life. Positive aspects include increased job opportunities, higher salaries and wages, as well as a better quality of living. However, rising college costs bring debatable questions as to how students can become better equipped to face this path in life. In order to resolve the student debt crisis, there is need for educators to develop a better system in communicating financial literacy and life skills their …

An Interdisciplinary Approach: Schizophrenia Derails Heteronormative Expectations In Psychological Narratives 2021, Bobbie Jo Weaver

Master's Theses

Required introductory psychology courses teach students a general and oversimplified version of the immense number of subfields within Psychology studies, much like introductory literature classes compress different genera throughout history into a miniscule number of “representative” texts. Nevertheless, these footholds generate an entryway into a whole new world of (specialized) exploration. Reading a text such as The Quiet Room: A Journey out of the Torment of Madness by Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennett provides a window for many students to crawl into one of Psychology’s darkest shadows, the field of abnormal psychology. Schiller’s non-fictional memoir, The Quiet Room, tells readers …

Found Media: Interactivity And Community In Online Horror Media 2021, Jax Mello

Master's Theses

Being isolated is a common fear. The fear can take many forms, from the fear of being the last one alive in a horrific situation to being completely deserted by everyone you love. This is a fear that has been showcased many different times in movies, novels, and every other piece of media imaginable. Although not always tied to the horror genre, the fear of being isolated is tightly intertwined with many horror stories. Therefore, it is interesting when a horror production goes out of their way to encourage interactivity within its audience. This goes beyond an artist’s desire for …

Amjambo Africa! (April 2021), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In this Issue

COVID-19 denial in Burundi and Tanzania.....................2

Cameroonian deportations..3

In Her Presence .................4/5

Health care

Vaccine Q&A

Amjambo’s 3rd birthday.......6

MEBIC..................................10

Dr. Shah on vaccine safety.11

Magufuli of Tanzania..........12

World Market Basket..........14

Farming

African donuts

Soil safety..............................15

Baking Academy.................18

Bikes for all Mainers...........19

Childcare..............................20

Finance................................21

Columns & letters..............................24/25/26/27

Bangor/DEI..........................28

Novruz Festival....................29

Gisele Mukundwa...............31

Musical diversity.................31

Translations

French..................................7

Swahili.................................8

Somali..................................9

Kinyarwanda.....................22

Portuguese.........................23

Ivy Leaves, Volume 96, Ivy Leaves Editorial Staff

Ivy Leaves

The 2021 edition of the Anderson University journal of art and literature, Ivy Leaves.

The names of the known editors for this issue of Ivy Leaves were Larisa Crowder, Samantha Windham, Lily McNamara, Samantha Brooks, Kristopher Sutherland, Salvatore Fontana, Gabrielle Morgan, Emma McKay, Carson Long, David Stancil, Hannah Brown, Sara Pepper, Brookelyn Taylor Harrison, Alexis Bussey, Abigail Timms, Dakota Riemer, Taylor Smith, Shelby Parker, Samantha Windham, Morgan Broom, Teresa Jones, and Tim Speaker.

Uprooting Medievalism: Ya And The Future Of Fantasy, Zoe Phillips

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

This thesis looks at the development of the young adult neo-medieval fantasy genre, measuring famous works from the Medieval period against works such as Tolkien's, to examine the impact of female protagonists and female authors on the genre and readers alike as neo-medieval fantasy continues to gain in popularity. Works examined include: Beowulf, Lanval, Le Roman de Silence, The Hobbit, Uprooted, and The Hero and the Crown.

For [Redacted], Lalini Shanela Ranaraja

Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award

This poem was written following the attempts of a close friend and myself to create awareness for the ongoing genocide in Tigray, Ethiopia in particular, and in reaction to activism in the age of social media in general. The digital age and related phenomena, such as hashtag activism and cancel culture, has enabled certain social justice movements to gain rapid traction while other equally worthy movements struggle to find a foothold. Simultaneously, standards of accountability and ethics continue to decline among global news media, with non-Western countries such as Ethiopia and my own home country of Sri Lanka bearing the …

مقاربةٌ أسلوبيّةٌ لِمعلّقة عنترة بن شدّاد آلْعَبْسِيّ, محمد العز جعفورة

Dirassat

Title : A stylistic approach to the Moallaca of Antarah ibn Shaddad al-Absi

Stylistics is said to be dead in the year sixty-nine nine hundred despite the attempts keep it alive. However, its openness to multiple disciplines such as psychology and phonetics enabled it to trespass the boundaries. Our selection of the Moaallaca of Antarah ibn Shaddad was deliberate so as to show the the ability of the poet to grab the reader's attention and And introduce him into a unique and wonderful world. One of the most important features of this Moaallaca is displaying the rhetorical, linguistic and cultural …

The Writing For Healing And Transformation Project, Heather Elizabeth Osborn

Education Doctorate Dissertations

As a qualitative action research study, the purpose of The Writing for Healing and Transformation Project was to facilitate more inclusive writing strategies and to promote individual and collective healing on issues of social suffering and oppression (Kleinman, Das, & Lock, 1997; Pennebaker & Smyth, 2016) for diverse students at a community college located in the northeastern United States. The 18 participants in the study included students in my English II literature and composition course. The theoretical framework encompassed Pennebaker’s (2016) “writing for healing” paradigm, advocating the use of expressivist writing and “social suffering theory,” examining how power structures affect …

Amjambo Africa! (March 2021), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

In this Issue

Museveni of Uganda..........2/3

College applications andscholarships ........................4/5

Publisher’s Editorial/BetterDays Ahead? ..........................6

Translations

French ............................7/24

Swahili............................8/24

Somali ............................9/24

Kinyarwanda...............20/24

Portuguese ...................21/24

Influential Black leaders .....10

Community masks fromTracey Sesselberg.................11

World Market Basket ..........12

Fishermen feed MainersHealthy cooking with Yvonne ElingaOrganization updates .........13

Burundi Star.........................14

Messan Jordan Benissan inCamden ................................15

Photo essay/Onyx Emelo ...16

Helping kids in Angola.......17

News from Africa................18

Avoiding scams & fraud .....19

Biden proposes immigration changes .................................27

Blackstone Communion, Anne-Catherine Schaaf

Office of Sustainability

This short story describes a spiritual connection with nature experienced by the author when walking along a trail in Blackstone Gateway Park. Blackstone Gateway Park is an urban, riverfront park in Worcester, Massachusetts. Features of the park include walking paths and an elevated boardwalk which crosses the Middle River and the surrounding wetlands.

Shannon Soundscape, Satrina-Mae Shannon

Bryant University Undergraduate Journal

As a commuter student who does not live on campus, I elected to sit on my back patio for this listening exercise. While I had initially thought that staying relatively close to my house would be somewhat redundant in terms of what I would hear, I was pleasantly shocked to hear just how many sounds, be it human or nonhuman, ring out on my street in a given moment. Looking back, I think I had just never taken the time to actually listen to them.

I live near many trees, so the sound of birds chirping, or squirrels climbing is …

Leszczynski Soundscape, Joseph Leszczynski

Bryant University Undergraduate Journal

Sitting outside of the Fisher Student Center, on black lacquered chairs, was the location of my soundscape experience. Being outside and an epicenter of activity, the amount of noise there was abundant. I was still outdoors, thus explaining the neutral noise of the environment. Some of the natural, non-human sounds I heard were from insects. A distinct, crescendo buzz came from above in the trees. The timbre was brash, like a trumpet that hit a high pitch note with vibrato. In addition, there were occasions where dried leaves would hit the ground from falling off a branch. This noise was …

Donlan Soundscape, Christopher Donlan

Bryant University Undergraduate Journal

To capture the soundscape, I spent some time on the patio behind my apartment building and was able to identify a number of sounds, both natural and manmade. The location I was at sits right along the Blackstone River however, so the sound of the running water generates lots of white noise. While not changing in rhythm or pitch, the water produced a smooth and subtle tone that slightly masks the other sounds.

The most prominent sound I heard was the chirping from crickets. Their sound has a very fast paced rhythm that occurs in a steady pattern, however the …