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2014

Honors Theses

University of Mississippi

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Plátano Power: Understanding The Rise Of Dominicans In Major League Baseball, Patrick Fields Jan 2014

Plátano Power: Understanding The Rise Of Dominicans In Major League Baseball, Patrick Fields

Honors Theses

Over the last decade, baseball players from the Dominican Republic have had an astounding presence in the top professional league in the U.S.: Major League Baseball. Just last season (2013), over 10% of MLB players hailed from this tiny, dusty, and poor Caribbean nation, and even the most casual baseball fan is sure to recognize some of the country's greats. This begs an often asked question: Why are so many Dominicans in MLB? Combining historical accounts, contemporary ethnographic material, and primary data, this study elucidates the reasons that are driving and sustaining the Dominicanization of MLB. These are the historic …


Public Arguments Concerning Women's Citizenship Rights In Jordan, Saadiah Naimat-Brennan Jan 2014

Public Arguments Concerning Women's Citizenship Rights In Jordan, Saadiah Naimat-Brennan

Honors Theses

While Jordanian women can be a ministers, congresswomen, Parliament representatives, ambassador, doctor, or lawyers, and the literacy rate for females is more than 92 percent, women are still not treated as full citizens. In 2012, Jordanian women, as most of the women in the Arab world, started publicly demanding their right to grant citizenship to their children from foreign fathers. The movement started with voice of those mothers during the Arab spring, but as of 2014 the government still resists providing equality to women. Interviews of more than a hundred people who either support, oppose, or are sympathetic to the …


A Yen Saved Is A Yen Earned: Deconstructing The Japanese Savings Rate, James Smith Jan 2014

A Yen Saved Is A Yen Earned: Deconstructing The Japanese Savings Rate, James Smith

Honors Theses

Since the 1990s, Japan's savings rate has been in decline. In this thesis, I posit two theories to explain this phenomenon. The first, the Demographics Theory, states that the savings rate is declining due to Japan's aging population, but that this effect is less than in countries with similar demographics. The second, the Employment Theory, states that the savings rate is declining due to a decrease in the number of permanent employees in the Japanese economy. To test these theories, multiple regressions are run using data obtained from governmental agencies and the World Bank. The results for the Demographics Theory …


Performance Enhancing Drugs In America's Pastime, William A. Hodges Jan 2014

Performance Enhancing Drugs In America's Pastime, William A. Hodges

Honors Theses

Over the last couple of decades, steroids use has been a part of baseball. The goal of steroid users is to gain a physical advantage over other players in the league by taking these drugs. The drugs have a variety of different effects to benefit baseball players. Along with the benefits, steroids have many health risks. The history of steroids in baseball, although relatively recent, is still vast and is still being written. The MLB has worked hard to determine the proper action to deal with steroids. The first part of the thesis is to look into what steroids are …


Explaining The Decline In Fertility Rates In Post-War Italy, Susanna Rychlak Jan 2014

Explaining The Decline In Fertility Rates In Post-War Italy, Susanna Rychlak

Honors Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine the decline in fertility rate in post-war Italy and identify its causes. Fertility rate in Italy dropped dramatically across 1970-2010 in a stark departure from the nation's previous reproductive patterns. This has led to an increasingly aging population, and holds important implications for Italy's future. This study demonstrates that there has been a meaningful shift in cultural values that has led to fertility decline in Italy since 1970. In order to provide historical context for the importance of this cultural shift, the thesis first presents the Italian culture and familial structure of …


The Specter Of Franco, Alexandra L. Jones Jan 2014

The Specter Of Franco, Alexandra L. Jones

Honors Theses

Human rights violations that occurred almost seventy years ago are still a social issue in Spain today. This project analyzed five post- Franco films that dealt with the issue of the Spanish Civil War or Franco regime to determine if they were a counter to official political discourse on the subject. In addition to analyzing the films themselves, research was also done on a variety of official discourse pertaining to the recovery of memory in Spain. Upon examination it became clear that the overarching discourse in Spain is a refusal to address the issues of the past. Films which resurrected …


Nostalgia And The Myth Of Old Russia: Russian Emigres In Interwar Paris And Their Legacy In Contemporary Russia, Brad Gordon Jan 2014

Nostalgia And The Myth Of Old Russia: Russian Emigres In Interwar Paris And Their Legacy In Contemporary Russia, Brad Gordon

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


What Is A Berber?: Characterizations Of Imazighen From Britain And Morocco, Byron Head Jan 2014

What Is A Berber?: Characterizations Of Imazighen From Britain And Morocco, Byron Head

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to investigate the similarities and differences in the characterization of Amazigh identity between nineteenth century British writings and contemporary (early twenty-first century) Moroccan news articles. The methods employed to do so included broad reading of both British and Moroccan writings, and analysis and sorting of the characterizations found therein. The results of this process showed that the British perspective, while nuanced, focused excessively on the Amazigh as violent and less civilized; contemporary Moroccan news sources portrayed the Amazigh as peaceful, organized, and seeking equal rights within Morocco. Conclusions of this study are thus: the British perspective, while …


How To Win Elections And Influence Parties: Party And Electoral System Development And Manipulation In The Republic Of China, James B. Cutchin Jan 2014

How To Win Elections And Influence Parties: Party And Electoral System Development And Manipulation In The Republic Of China, James B. Cutchin

Honors Theses

This work asserts that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been able to retain power in Taiwan's apparently competitive democratic system through manipulation of the political party and electoral systems. These systems have a close relationship in which the electoral system is a result of the party system. During Taiwan's transition to democracy the KMT was able to use their one party dominant position to establish an electoral system which favored them in elections. This electoral system in turn shaped the emerging political party system to the benefit of the KMT. Over time, as political conditions in Taiwan shifted, the …


Money And Fire: The Story Of The Men And Women Who Fight Fire And Those That Insure Against It., John Netherland Jan 2014

Money And Fire: The Story Of The Men And Women Who Fight Fire And Those That Insure Against It., John Netherland

Honors Theses

The work is a history that used both secondary and primary sources. The bulk of the historical information on national insurance and fire service history was based on secondary sources while the local perspective is almost solely based on interviews National agencies and departments faced problems in the 1800's that are still faced by rural Mississippi institutions; however these institutions are taking steps to try and prevent the catastrophes of the mid 1800's. In doing so the fire departments are answering some of the problems of the urban volunteers of the 19th century while the Insurance companies are creating a …


New Propaganda: Remnants Of Soviet Mass Media In Pro-Kremlin Popular Culture, Sylvia M. Stewart Jan 2014

New Propaganda: Remnants Of Soviet Mass Media In Pro-Kremlin Popular Culture, Sylvia M. Stewart

Honors Theses

Russia has had a long history of propaganda produced by governmental bodies. The Soviet Union controlled entire sectors of media and used it to try to control the ideology and actions of their populace. After the fall of the USSR in 1991, Russian society was thrust into the wild west of capitalism. Once state-controlled industries, such as television, were purchased by private players in the system who wanted a say in the formation of the new Russia. However, when Putin was elected in 2000, the landscape of Russian popular culture began to change. Para-governmental and non-governmentally affiliated groups took over …