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Illinois Wesleyan University

2014

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Articles 1 - 30 of 60

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Top Of The Order: Modeling The Optimal Locations Of Minor League Baseball Teams, W. Coleman Conley Nov 2014

Top Of The Order: Modeling The Optimal Locations Of Minor League Baseball Teams, W. Coleman Conley

Undergraduate Economic Review

Over the last twenty-five years, minor league baseball franchises have defined firm mobility. Revisiting the work of Michael C. Davis (2006), I construct a logistic regression model to predict which cities house minor league baseball teams. Six variables are tested for inclusion in the model, including population, income level, the number of major-league professional sports teams in a city, five-year population change, and distance from the closest professional team. Based on the model's predicted probabilities, cities are ranked in order of highest probability of having a team at each of the different levels from Class A to Class AAA.

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A Closer Look At The Impact Of Quantitative Easing On The Capital Markets: Garch Analysis Of The Exchange Traded Funds Market, Nicholas R. Duafala Nov 2014

A Closer Look At The Impact Of Quantitative Easing On The Capital Markets: Garch Analysis Of The Exchange Traded Funds Market, Nicholas R. Duafala

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper analyzes the effects of quantitative easing (QE) on the capital markets by modeling exchange traded funds (ETFs) returns using a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) methodology. The results show that the 10-Year Treasury yields are significant in the returns of some sectors of the economy more so than others, and the Federal Funds Futures trading volume is significant in all ETFs return volatility. The implications of these results not only provide information about the reaction of the ETF market and QE, but also provide insight for developing investment strategies.

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Harmonic Language Arts: Music Inclusion In The Secondary English Language Arts Classroom, Julieanne Sthay Nov 2014

Harmonic Language Arts: Music Inclusion In The Secondary English Language Arts Classroom, Julieanne Sthay

CrissCross

Students are required to take four years of high school English, and the mandatory nature of English coupled with a scripted curriculum negatively impact student interest and motivation. English teachers who incorporate music into their academic teaching are finding music can improve student engagement, motivation, and learning (Goering & Burenheide, 2010). In this qualitative self study of student teaching, I explored questions including whether the addition of music is worthwhile in the English classroom, how it can be done, and what the benefits and drawbacks of doing so are. Based upon field notes, lesson plans, student feedback and research, I …

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Experiencing The Ineffable, Joseph O'Brien Nov 2014

Experiencing The Ineffable, Joseph O'Brien

CrissCross

I can recall the first time I learned to take a fish off the hook after catching it. My grandfather and I were fishing in a river near my home in Connecticut, the sun shone off the yellow of a pumpkinseed sunfish's belly. After removing it from the hook, I put it in a five-gallon pail of water. Despite the clarity of the things I do recall, there are those elements of this memory that remain wholly inaccessible to me. I cannot remember whether it was late spring or early autumn, what color my rod was, or if there were …

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Carving The Perfect Citizen: The Adventures Of Soviet Pinocchio In Text And On Screen, Rachel Branson Nov 2014

Carving The Perfect Citizen: The Adventures Of Soviet Pinocchio In Text And On Screen, Rachel Branson

CrissCross

In 1936, Alexei Tolstoy’s The Golden Key, or The Adventures of Buratino was published, heralding the use of children’s literature and fairy tale structure as an ideological and transformative tool for children in the Soviet Union. The Adventures of Buratino, framed by Alexei Tolstoy’s alleged recreation from memory of Carlo Collodi’sThe Adventures of Pinocchio (1883), was a Soviet fairy tale, portraying Buratino as a hero for his fellow puppets in helping to free them from the corrupt and oppressive power of Karabas Barabas, the owner of the puppet theater. While Barabas serves as an embodiment of an exploiter …

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“…With Liberty And Justice Equitably And Efficiently Allocated For All”, Jake K. Bates Nov 2014

“…With Liberty And Justice Equitably And Efficiently Allocated For All”, Jake K. Bates

CrissCross

The American pledge of allegiance and Constitution indicate that liberty and justice are provided for all citizens and that we are guaranteed equal protection under the law. Understanding the state of nature as Thomas Hobbes did, it is clear that liberty and justice are not efficiently allocated and there is no protection under law. Therefore, these ethical concepts are provided in civil society tangibly through civil services including policing. This essay views local police resources as an economic good, limited in its supply, in need of both equitable and efficient allocation. The ethical implications of inequitable or inefficient policing are …

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Examining The Afqt As A Proxy For Human Capital, Jaret L. Kanarek Nov 2014

Examining The Afqt As A Proxy For Human Capital, Jaret L. Kanarek

Undergraduate Economic Review

I examine whether the Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT) is a suitable proxy for human capital skills by testing the hypothesis that those factors most germane to human capital skills acquisition will most affect AFQT score. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the Youth and OLS regression analysis, I find that strict and loose human capital factors are robust determinants of AFQT score, and thus the AFQT is a suitable proxy for human capital skills. However, its use as such requires specification that the AFQT is not a catchall for human capital factors, as it is significantly related …

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Should You Do A Doctorate? The Changing Returns To Postgraduate Qualifications, Sven Hoeling, Lewis Gudgeon, Felix Hagemeister Oct 2014

Should You Do A Doctorate? The Changing Returns To Postgraduate Qualifications, Sven Hoeling, Lewis Gudgeon, Felix Hagemeister

Undergraduate Economic Review

Higher education in the UK has experienced radical change over the last two decades. The change has been driven by a number of factors, not least New Labour’s policy to send 50% of school leavers to university. The increased supply of graduates has weakened a first degree’s ability to function as a signal to employers, resulting in many individuals pursuing postgraduate study to make themselves more competitive. This paper aims to show the changing returns to Bachelor, Master and Doctoral degrees for the period 1997 to 2013 and recognises the increasing importance of Ph.D. graduates in the upcoming years.

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Marina Balina, Charlie Schlenker Oct 2014

Marina Balina, Charlie Schlenker

Interviews for WGLT

IWU Professor Marina Balina spoke with Charlie Schlenker about the cultural changes that have occurred since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Balina, along with the International Studies Program at IWU, hosted a three day symposium, “The Freedom to Speak, Create, and Dream: 25 years of human experience after the fall of the Iron Curtain”, October 5-7, 2014.

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Reducing The Geographic Variance In Medical Expenditures: The Benefits Of A Primary-Care-Oriented Health System, Noah Bricker Sep 2014

Reducing The Geographic Variance In Medical Expenditures: The Benefits Of A Primary-Care-Oriented Health System, Noah Bricker

Undergraduate Economic Review

The Affordable Care Act states that a primary goal of health care reform should be to lower costs and promote fiscal responsibility. With these two goals in mind, the bill proposes a more primary-care-oriented health system by enacting a 5-year temporary Medicare fee increase for primary care physicians as a means to increase the number of physicians and incentivize more primary care services. Using county and regional level Medicare data, this paper finds that an increase in the number of primary care physicians per capita would reduce per beneficiary Medicare spending and as a consequence, lower national health expenditures substantially.

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An Economic Analysis Of Housing Market Instability And Affordability In China, You Wang Sep 2014

An Economic Analysis Of Housing Market Instability And Affordability In China, You Wang

Undergraduate Economic Review

Applying an intertemporal optimization model proposed by Aizenman and Marion (1991), this research quantifies instability in the Chinese housing market. Although the Chinese government established numerous real estate policies to ensure the stability of the housing market, the regression analyses indicate that housing policies had no significant impact on the stabilization of the Chinese housing market. Alternatively, macroeconomic factors are identified as significant explanatory variables to the instability of housing prices. In addition, this research computes the median multiple for major cities in China and provides an alternative means of investigating the abnormal housing price situation in China.

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The Unseen Cost Of Lowering Labor Market Flexibility On Higher Education Market: Evidence From Cross-Sectional Data From Oecd, Hansol Kim Sep 2014

The Unseen Cost Of Lowering Labor Market Flexibility On Higher Education Market: Evidence From Cross-Sectional Data From Oecd, Hansol Kim

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper attempts to determine the unseen consequences of lowering labor market flexibility and its impact on individuals’ demand for higher education by using standard OLS multiple regression analysis and cross-sectional data. I examine the independent variables that are theorized to increase the percentage of college diplomas attained in the market. Independent variables are chosen based on what has been studied in the prior literature. This study finds that labor market flexibility has a positive correlation with the percentage of adult population who have a higher education diploma. The results of this study suggest that individuals’ demand for higher education …

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Archives Annual Report, 2013-2014, Meg Miner Aug 2014

Archives Annual Report, 2013-2014, Meg Miner

Administrative Reports

No abstract provided.

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Stauch '15 Studies Dogs’ Reactions To Human Motives, Kim Hill Jul 2014

Stauch '15 Studies Dogs’ Reactions To Human Motives, Kim Hill

News and Events

No abstract provided.

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Kistner '15 Studying Polarization In State Government, Kim Hill Jul 2014

Kistner '15 Studying Polarization In State Government, Kim Hill

News and Events

No abstract provided.

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Inspired By Grandfather, Nelson'16 Studies Successful Aging, Kim Hill Jul 2014

Inspired By Grandfather, Nelson'16 Studies Successful Aging, Kim Hill

News and Events

No abstract provided.

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Greg Shaw, Charlie Schlenker Jul 2014

Greg Shaw, Charlie Schlenker

Interviews for WGLT

Illinois Wesleyan University Professor Greg Shaw talked to Charlie Schlenker about the federal appeals court ruling against several key parts of the new healthcare reform law. Shaw says the ruling is likely “only a bump in the road”, and the doubts the ruling will stand.

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Corruption, Income Inequality, And Subsequent Economic Growth, Josh Matti Jun 2014

Corruption, Income Inequality, And Subsequent Economic Growth, Josh Matti

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper attempts to untangle the link between corruption and income inequality with subsequent economic growth. It uses standard OLS multiple regression analysis and data from 134 countries over a ten year time frame to test the hypothesis that after controlling for corruption, income inequality will be less significant in explaining subsequent growth rates. Perhaps it is not income equality that fosters economic growth, but rather a decrease in corruption that causes both economic growth and greater equality. This study yields some expected findings in support of well-established variables and concludes that inequality harms growth even after controlling for corruption.

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A Backward Bending Supply Of Loanable Funds: An Examination Of The Interest Rate Elasticity Of Saving, Rachel M. Doehr Ms. Jun 2014

A Backward Bending Supply Of Loanable Funds: An Examination Of The Interest Rate Elasticity Of Saving, Rachel M. Doehr Ms.

Undergraduate Economic Review

The market for loanable funds is presented as either a market with an upward sloping supply curve, or as one with a perfectly inelastic supply. This paper relates the supply of loanable funds to the supply curve in the labor market: backward bending. Once interest rates are high enough, people start to save less, creating the "backward bend.” This explains the discrepancies in previous literature that attempted to put a single value on the interest rate elasticity saving. The reason for the variation in values could be because the elasticity actually depends on the point on the curve.

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Will The U.S. Velocity Of Money Step Up Again? New Evidence From The Random Walk Hypothesis, Anh Thu Tran Xuan Jun 2014

Will The U.S. Velocity Of Money Step Up Again? New Evidence From The Random Walk Hypothesis, Anh Thu Tran Xuan

Undergraduate Economic Review

The recent decrease in U.S. money velocity raises debates about its unit root behavior. This paper revisited the random walk hypothesis (RWH) of the U.S. money velocity in 1960-2010 and two sub-periods 1960-85 and 1986-2010 by applying the Variance Ratio methodologies, including new nonparametric tests by Wright (2000) and Belaire-Franch and Contreras (2004). The results suggested that the velocity would likely increase, and the U.S. monetary policy will soon stimulate GDP and employment. Furthermore, past velocity is important to predict the future outcomes, and changes in financial structural could alter the empirical characteristics of the velocity series.

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Practice Makes Perfect: Updating Borrowing Policies And Procedures At A Small Academic Library, Crystal Boyce Jun 2014

Practice Makes Perfect: Updating Borrowing Policies And Procedures At A Small Academic Library, Crystal Boyce

Scholarly Publications

In 2011, staff from the undergraduate libraries at the College of William & Mary came together to evaluate circulation policies related to borrowing periods and billing. In an attempt to better align the policies across each unit, and with the intention of creating a more consistent user experience, new policies were proposed and implemented in the fall of 2012. These changes were found to dramatically decrease staff time necessary for billing, while improving user satisfaction with the borrowing policies. Significantly fewer books went into billing, suggesting no adverse effects on collection maintenance.

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What’S In The Box? Introducing Research Environments To First-Year Students, Crystal Boyce Jun 2014

What’S In The Box? Introducing Research Environments To First-Year Students, Crystal Boyce

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

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The Spanish Export Led Recovery, David Wagner May 2014

The Spanish Export Led Recovery, David Wagner

Undergraduate Economic Review

I researched the export-led recovery currently taking place in Spain. My thesis revolved around Mariano Rajoy and the Popular Party coming into power in 2011 and instituting reforms in three distinct categories; financial market reforms, fiscal measures, and labor market reforms. These reforms have had a significant impact in restoring credibility in Spain's capital markets and decreasing unit labor costs. In turn, Spain has shown impressive export growth in the past two years, especially compared to its neighbors Italy and France.

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Asianetwork Honors Amoloza, Kim Hill Apr 2014

Asianetwork Honors Amoloza, Kim Hill

News and Events

No abstract provided.

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Dao Selected For Economics Research Fellowship, Hannah Dhue Apr 2014

Dao Selected For Economics Research Fellowship, Hannah Dhue

News and Events

No abstract provided.

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The Sustained Impact Of An Engaging Diversity Program On College Seniors’ Color-Blind Racial Attitudes, Josefina Banales Apr 2014

The Sustained Impact Of An Engaging Diversity Program On College Seniors’ Color-Blind Racial Attitudes, Josefina Banales

Honors Projects

This study utilizes a mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) approach to evaluate the long-term impact of Illinois Wesleyan University’s Engaging Diversity Program on white students’ color-blind racial attitudes. Survey data reveals that white students who participated in the program not only endorse fewer color-blind racial attitudes than they did immediately after completing the program, but that they also have a more critical awareness of race than the control sample of non-Engaging Diversity students. Individual interviews with Engaging Diversity participants also reveal a link between these students’ learned racial consciousness and their involvement as social justice leaders and advocates on campus. These …

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Self-Reported Experiences Of Dating Abuses Among College Students In Romantic Relationships, Melissa A. Kinsella Apr 2014

Self-Reported Experiences Of Dating Abuses Among College Students In Romantic Relationships, Melissa A. Kinsella

Honors Projects

Past researchers have examined the prevalence of dating violence among college-aged students in the United States. Using a self-reported survey of the experiences of current college students, this study analyzed some of the factors related to physical, emotional, and sexual abuses in their romantic relationships. From that analysis, comparisons were drawn with the research from other college-university samples, attempting to describe and explore the problem of violence in premarital relationships. In the sample, race, number of past serious romantic relationships, and frequency of experienced anger was associated with minor physical abuse. Non-involvement in Greek Life was associated with experiencing major …

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Iwu Researchers Hope Apps Teach Dogs New Tricks, Kim Hill Apr 2014

Iwu Researchers Hope Apps Teach Dogs New Tricks, Kim Hill

News and Events

No abstract provided.

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Swope, Lewis Named As 2014 Weir Fellows, Tia Patsavas Apr 2014

Swope, Lewis Named As 2014 Weir Fellows, Tia Patsavas

News and Events

No abstract provided.

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Henry '14 Selected For Moma Internship, Kim Hill Apr 2014

Henry '14 Selected For Moma Internship, Kim Hill

News and Events

No abstract provided.

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