Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The College Football Gambling Market An Empirical Approach, Brian Mcneil

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This study tests the efficiency of the college football gambling market and whether the market allows for profitable wagering. Operating upon the theoretical framework that, at any given time, prices fully reflect all information available in a particular market, I test for the existence of residual information that is not currently incorporated into the market, thus rendering it inefficient. This project expands upon several previous studies performed on sports betting – most notably that of Zuber, Gandar, and Bowers (1985), which examined the gambling market efficiency for National Football League games. The findings prove to be consistent with the conclusions …

Comparing Montessori Education And Conventional Education On Aspects Of Creativity, Tiffany Jones

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

My Honors Thesis compares creativity in children taught in a Montessori classroom with students taught in a conventional classroom. I tested 58 children at BelleValleyElementary Schoolin EriePennsylvania, half in the Montessori program, half in traditional classrooms. Their ages ranged from 5-9, from kindergarten to 3^rd grade. I hypothesized that the independence allowed in Montessori classrooms would help foster creativity in its students. The project uses two forms of evaluation to test the concept of creativity, the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking and consensual assessment to score a creative collage. Significant developmental differences were found; older children scored higher on …

An Exploration Of Self-Esteem And Racial Identity Among Children Placed In Transracial And Same-Race Foster Homes, Shanay Barrett-Hugan

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The number of children in foster care continues to grow. Unfortunately this increase in children is far greater than the number of foster families available. Children are being placed in homes in which the race of the foster parent is different from that of the foster child. Legislative policies have also been enacted to eliminate discrimination in foster care placement. This study is designed to explore the impact of transracial foster care on adolescent children’s racial identity and self-esteem. Three children ages 11-17, who were placed in transracial and same-race foster homes, were interviewed in order to explore whether children …

The American Democracy In The 21st Century, Richard A. Cocozza

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This paper puts forward a theory of democracy most suited for American politics given the plurality of ideological interests at play in the United States. This plurality, which I call the "fact of ideological diversity," dictates that in order for our government to be truly democratic, the political forum must foster opinions from all ideological considerations, not just the most dominant ones. I also demonstrate that given the nature of free institutions and our governmental structure, prior attemps by philosophers to reconcile a diversity of ideological interests using a procedural format is not sufficient to forming a wholly democratic political …

What Is Constitutional Democracy? A Comparative Analysis Between The United States And The European Union, Rebecca Tweed

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

It is difficult to imagine the concept of constitutionalism without the notion of deliberative democracy. Historically, written constitutions are the capstone of the ages-long struggle to limit arbitrary governmental action. James Madison said, “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government.”

We live in an era of constitution making. There are close to 200 national …

Communicating The Obesity Crisis: The Role Of Public Relations And The Media In Framing A National Health Issue, Kimberly Jaindl

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Communication of obesity as a public health issue has taken many forms and been framed in a variety of ways since early 2000. These communications often frame the public’s perception of the problem and of potential solutions. This study examines the current perceptions and actions according to several groups, including the government, the food industry, individuals, the media, and public relations professionals. It then attempts to assess the framing of the issue, including perceptions and actions, by the print media and public relations professionals. A census of newspaper articles and press releases from a one-month time period in late 2004 …

China’S Financial Institutions: Analysis Of The Dynamic Changes And Associated Inefficiencies Under A Hybrid Capitalistic Approach, Juan J. Zhou

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Chinahas risen to the forefront of international scrutiny because of its unique political and economic structure and evolution. The growth and development ofChinaas a world economic power has resulted from the political-economic reform efforts of Communist leaders withinChina. Under Mao Ze Dong, during the pre-socialistic modernization period,Chinabegan its reform of rehabilitation from war time and social-economic restructuring by instituting socialistic ideology. During the Dengist period under Deng Xiao Ping, there was a transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy. After Deng, socialist modernization reform has continued underChina’s hybrid capitalistic economic model, with particularly significant effects on the rapidly structured …

Russian Organized Crime And The National Security Of The United States, Jessica Nelson

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This thesis examines the impact of Russian organized crime on the national security of the United States. It begins by defining why Russian organized crime should be of concern to U.S. policymakers addressing the effects of Russian organized crime on the U.S. economy, national security, and domestic law enforcement. The thesis then analyzes the evolution of Russian organized crime from its emergence during the Soviet Union, through its growth during privatization, to its structural transformation in the modern era. This analysis establishes the fundamental principles of any potential U.S. policy on Russian organized crime and prompts several policy recommendations for …

The Relationship Between Psychopathology In Caregivers And Their Children With Asthma, Jaime L. Benson

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Asthma is the leading chronic illness among children, and children with asthma have an increased risk not only for physical problems, but also for social and emotional difficulties related to their asthma. These risks are compounded when children have a caregiver who is depressed. The effects of maternal depression for children are complex and have been shown to persist into adolescence and adulthood. This is especially important because children with asthma, who are already at risk for psychopathology, may have increased internalizing and externalizing problems when their primary caregivers have depression or display depressive symptoms. Because depression affects cognitive functioning …

A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis Of The Use Of Sex In Advertising In American And British Women’S Magazines, Kathleen Ruddy

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Sex and decency in advertising is an international issue, and different nations allow different degrees of sexually explicit material (Boddewyn, 1991). This study compares the use of sex in advertisements in American and British editions of Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, and Marie Claire. The degree of sexual content in the advertisements was analyzed using measures of nudity, sexual behavior, sexually attractive models, sexual referents, and sexual embeds. The variables of nudity and sexual behavior were examined in a content analysis, and the variables of sexual attractiveness, sexual referents, and sexual embeds were examined in a qualitative analysis. Analysis of variance between …

The Impact Of The No Child Left Behind Act On American Education, Eva Downing Rippeteau

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This paper explores the role and impact that the federal No Child Left Behind Act has had on public education since its legalization in 2002.

It begins with a history on the evolution of federal involvement in public education. Over time, mounting pressure for theUnited Statesto compete academically on an international level has created a need for all areas of education to become “accountable” for reaching high achievement standards, arriving at the overwhelming reliance on standardized tests we see in public education today. Next, this paper presents four areas of contention surrounding the debate over No Child Left Behind. The …

Maroon Societies In Brazil, Jamaica And Mexico, Amanda Moore

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

While many scholars concentrate their research on the enslavement of Africans, there are other stories to tell of Africans peoples in theWestern Hemisphere. The Maroons were fugitive slaves who developed their own communities throughout theAmericas. They were diverse peoples unified by their goal of freedom and self-determination.

This Honors Thesis Project explores the historical situation of the Brazilian, Jamaican and Mexican Maroons and elucidates the similarities and differences between them. The aspects of Maroon life explored here are: lifestyle, leadership and politics. These three countries were selected to illustrate the diversity within the experiences of enslaved Africans throughout the Americas. …

2005_05 Pca Administrative Coordinator Quarterly Report, Pennsylvania Counseling Association

PCA Board of Directors Meetings

No abstract provided.

St. Dominic Deaf Center, May-June 2005

Saint Dominic Deaf Center

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Houston, TX

Saint Dominic Deaf Center Finding Aid

Signs Of Faith, May 2005

Signs of Faith

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Paterson, NJ

Signs of Faith Finding Aid

How Diverse Librarians Increased Access To Electronic Journals, Developed A Print/Electronic Collection Development Policy And Preserved The Collection, Kathe Obrig, Patricia Wilson, Cynthia Swope, Laura E. Abate, Anne Linton

Himmelfarb Library Faculty Posters and Presentations

This poster reports on a project initiated to establish a framework for evaluating our serials collection in order to preserve the collection from a flat budget and ever increasing serial costs and to meet patron demand for expanded access to electronic resources. An additional outcome was the development of a combined print and electronic serials collection development policy. A Journals Committee was formed to assess the value and most appropriate format(s) of individual journal titles. Methods used included a mathematical formula calculating a title's relative value and a faculty survey soliciting most-used titles and preferred format. Faculty department heads were …

Reaching Out To All: Medical Informatics As Service To Diverse Populations In An Academic Medical Center, Patricia Wilson, Richard Billingsley

Himmelfarb Library Faculty Posters and Presentations

As an academic health sciences library in an urban area, the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library is challenged to provide outreach services to a diverse user population and to the surrounding community. To respond to this challenge the librarians provide outreach services and programs to accomplish the following goals: Provide additional education to user groups within the medical center; Provide focused services at the point of need within the curricula and the hospital; Reach out to the surrounding health care community, offering medical information and consumer education; Promote consumer resources to underserved populations.

Changing Space Needs And Electronic Resources Migration: Moving Towards A Library For The 21st Century, Anne Linton, Kathe Obrig, Patricia Wilson

Himmelfarb Library Faculty Posters and Presentations

Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library underwent a major space renovation during the summer of 2005. Administration and librarians felt the need to modernize the environment to better reflect the needs of the users. This poster describes the planning, changes, and results of the "21st century" version of the library.

Wynot's "Keeping The Faith: Russian Orthodox Monasticism In The Soviet Union, 1917-1939" - Book Review, Walter D. Ray

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Editor’S Reflections: Developing New Programs In Peace And Conflict Studies, Honggang Yang

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

The field of peace and conflict studies has grown remarkably around the globe over the past few decades. In this new millennium, there will be a greater number of educational offerings being considered or launched in various higher education institutions, for the community and the world are in need of such interdisciplinary inquiries and multi-professional applications. As a long-time academic facilitator and administrator, I would like to take this opportunity to share with the PCS readers some of my experiences and observations in this arena, from an administrative and financial perspective. My hope is to assist colleagues and students …

Boardroom And Bedroom: Consulting With Organizations And Family Systems, James Hibel, Neil Katz

Peace and Conflict Studies

Neil Katz is a loyal St. Louis Cardinals fan and a career organizational consultant. Jim Hibel is a loyal Florida Marlins fan and a career family therapist. Nova Southeastern University brought their professional disciplines under the same roof at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences and the Cardinals and Marlins now share the same Spring Training Facility. Over the past several years, Neil and Jim have met regularly for Cardinal and Marlins spring training games, shared their mutual love of the game, and found ways to appreciate their different teams. In between innings, and rain delays they often talked …

Selling Mediation: Mimetic, Distancing, And Appellating Practices In The Marketing Of An Emerging Profession, Andrew Woolford, R. S. Ratner

Peace and Conflict Studies

Individuals both within and outside the legal profession have been drawn by the ‘promise’ of mediation. In it they see a means for facilitating communicative exchanges between actors in conflict, which they view as a dramatic improvement on the adversarial practices of the formal legal system. However, despite the appeal of mediation to potential practitioners, there is not yet sufficient consumer demand to sustain the number of people who possess mediation skills. This has resulted in an overcrowded mediation market in which practitioners are forced to market themselves so as to compete for a limited clientele. In this context, the …

Intragroup Subgroup Attitude Clustering, External Intervention, And Intergroup Interaction Patterns: Toward A Dynamical Model Of Protracted Intergroup Conflict, Peter T. Coleman, Adam Schneider, Douglass S. Adams, Catherine James Everett, Timothy A. Gameros, Lee R. Hammons, Cecil C. Orji, Ralph M. Waugh, Richard F. Wicker Iii

Peace and Conflict Studies

Scholars and practitioners working with protracted conflicts in polarized communities have long recognized the complex dynamics between intragroup disputes and intergroup relations in these settings. In fact, the multitude of factors interacting within and between groups in these conflicts, and their tendency to change over time, largely contributes to their intractable natures. Unfortunately, the ability of scholars to conduct research on such dynamic phenomena has been largely constrained by the atomistic, linear approach of traditional research models and methods. However, recent advances in dynamical systems theory have provided a new set of tools for developing computer simulations that allow us …

Book Review: The Logic Of Political Survival, By Bruce Bueno De Mesquita, Alastair Smith, Randolph M. Siverson, And James D. Morrow, Harvey Starr

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Using Computer-Mediated Communication To Establish Social And Supportive Environments In Teacher Education, Nike Arnold, Lara Ducate, Lara Lomicka, Gillian Lord

Faculty Publications

This article examines social presence in virtual asynchronous learning communities among foreign language teachers. We present the findings of two studies investigating cross-institutional asynchronous forums created to engage participants in online dialogues regarding their foreign language teacher preparation experiences in and out of the classroom. Both studies took place during Fall 2003 and were conducted between first-time teacher/graduate students in four methodology courses at three large state universities. In the first study, students participated in weekly online exchanges in the form of dialogue journals for reflective teaching. In the second study, students were provided with specific topics to address using …

Continued Growth In Nebraska, Saeed Ahmad, John Austin, Tom Doering, Ernie Goss, Bruce Johnson, Donis Petersan, Franz Schwarz, Eric Thomson, Keith K. Turner

Economics Faculty Publications

National economic conditions will continue to favor growth over the next three years. Increased business investment will combine with rising industrial production, expanding exports, and moderate increases in consumer spending to grow the economy. The rate of inflation is expected to increase as well. The rate of real (inflation-adjusted) growth will moderate compared to strong economic growth during 2004. Real gross domestic product will grow 3 percent to 3.5 percent over the next three years. High oil prices will remain a drain on the economy, siphoning spending from domestically produced goods and services. Fuel prices are expected to remain at …

The Impact Of Participation In Service-Learning On High School Students' Civic Engagement, Shelley Billig, Susan Root, Dan Jesse

School K-12

Recent evidence suggests that there is a growing problem of civic disengagement among youth in the United States. Young people in high school report having little interest in civic and political affairs and little knowledge of or trust in the political system (Levine & Lopez, 2002; National Commission on Service-Learning, 2001; Rahm & Transue, 1998; Torney-Purta, 2002). Results from a recent poll indicate that many young people do not feel they can make a difference, solve problems in their communities, or have a meaningful impact on politics or government (Lake Snell Perry & Associates and The Tarrance Group, Inc, 2002). …

Consonant Cluster Simplification In Korean Codas: Language-Internal And Language-External Constraints Interface With Reference To Optimality Theory, Youn-Jeoung Choi

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations - Archive

In Korean, when a morpheme contains a coda cluster in its underlying form (such as /salm/‘life,’ /hulk/‘soil’), we observe two outcomes in its surface representation. In cases when the morpheme followed by either another consonant or by a word boundary, the cluster is simplified by deleting one consonant. However, if a vowel-initial morpheme follows the underlying cluster, the second member of the cluster assumes the role of a syllable onset. Contrary to prescriptive accounts in which both the deleted consonant and the results of resyllabification are claimed to be completely predictable, observation of contemporary Korean usage suggest that there is …

Singles Need Not Apply: Evangelical Church Responses Reveal Longer Response Latencies To Requests Of Single Adults, Michael Harmon

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

For single Christians over the age of twenty-five, finding support and acceptance within the church can be a very high hurdle to cross. While the church as a whole promotes itself as a place of acceptance, it is rare to find a church with activities focused toward single persons older than college age. Attempts by single persons to become involved in different facets of discipleship, service, and ministry are not always well received. In a preliminary uncontrolled study the results suggested that the church may have a bias against single adults. The present study considers whether the church operates with …

Jennie Lebl, Chronicler Of The Holocaust In The Balkans - Review Article, Paul Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.