Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Do Children's Hospitals Have Lower Mortality Rates? Evidence From The 2003 Kids' Inpatient Database, Christiane Labonte

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Objective: To compare mortality rates at children’s hospitals and non-children’s hospitals.

Data Source: I used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID) released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2003. Thirty-six states participated in the HCUP in 2003, which included 3,438 hospitals, and 2,984,129 pediatric discharges.

Study Design: I hypothesized that mortality rates at children’s hospitals would be lower than mortality rates at non-children’s hospital because children’s hospitals have more specialized inputs, from the clinical training of sub-specialists and nurses to advanced machines and diagnostic tools, and may use these inputs more productively. To …

Upward Bound's Success In Interest Group Politics, Jessica Yusaitis

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

I examine how interest groups can gain and maintain federal funding by following one successful case study – Upward Bound.

Upward Bound is a federal program, headed by the Department of Education, which assists low-income high school students with finishing high school and with entering and succeeding in higher education. In 2005, President Bush proposed to cut finding for Upward Bound in order to further fund his No Child Left Behind initiative. However, UB managed to conduct a rewarding venture into interest group politics, and the program was reauthorized.

I plan for this project to serve as a handbook for …

Managed Democracy, Market Economy Or The Dichotomy Of Russia’S Political Economy, Evgenia A. Ustinova

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This thesis examines the present day nature of Russian political and economic developments. The argument put forward is that President Putin has deliberately chosen a course of market economy, managed democracy – whereby an through an increasingly potent state and executive branch, Putin ensures sustainable growth for the Russian economy. Good economic performance ensures that the President is popular with the voters, no matter that his policies are designed to curtail democracy. The author concludes that current political and economic dichotomy will result in further development of the economy and eventual movement towards democratic ideals.

Risk Factors And Their Effects On The Comorbidity Of Asthma And Anxiety Disorders In School Aged Children, Stephanie P. Seigel

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood disease, characterized by attacks that make a child or adult feel like they are unable to breathe (Shohat, Graif, & Garty, 2005). Currently, nearly 6.3 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are afflicted with asthma (EPA, 2006)

Children with asthma are also more prone to developing other disorders especially, anxiety. The prevalence of child patients with asthma suffering from anxiety disorders is found to be as high as 4.7% (Katon, Richardson, Lozano & McCauley, 2004). The current study aims to examine the risk factors that contribute to the comorbidity of …

Bosnia And The Failure Of The New World Order, David Robbie

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

2 Abstract This paper attempts to prove that the United States failed to fulfill its international legislative obligations – namely the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – in the conflicts that occurred in the disintegrating state of Yugoslavia during the early 1990s. By doing this, the paper also attempts to discredit the idea promulgated by the first Bush administration that following the Gulf War and the end of the Cold War in 1991 there had emerged a “New World Order” which would combat the dark side of human nature and ensure that human rights …

Kidnapping Terrorists: Extraterritorial Forcible Abductions In The Global War On Terrorism, Matthew R. Mcnabb

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

For those who have an interest in targeting, neutralizing, detaining, and adjudicating terrorists amidst the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), few tools are more poorly understood than the acquisition and subsequent movement of the alleged terrorists. Rendition is that process by which the body of an individual is taken from State A to State B. It may occur in either a “regular” or an “irregular” form. Regular rendition occurs when the individual is moved pursuant to the express terms and procedures of a given extradition treaty. Irregular rendition, on the other hand, is principally comprised of the rare instances in …

Nationalism, Law, Gender And Sexuality: An Anthropological Study Of U.S. Military Culture Among Veterans, Elizabeth R. Gwin

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This study looks at the ways that sexual and gender identities are constructed through the translation of military experience into the veteran culture of a VA hospital, taking into account the influences of US nationalism in both military and civilian culture. Through life-history interviews, formal vocabulary association exercises, and informal participant observation carried out over the course of three months in 2006, questions about how the VA culture encourages or discourages certain displays of gender and sexual identity through its policies as well as its unofficial customs and traditions are identified and explored. The emergence of a new, unofficial “uniform” …

A Comparison Of Oral Reading Fluency Interventions: Group-Based Fluency Trials Versus Individualized Repeated Readings, Lynne Gertz

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Reading is a critical skill needed to achieve success in nearly every aspect of life. Students who have difficulty reading in the early grades have a greater chance of high school dropout, a negative attitude toward reading, and even a decreased likelihood of adequate employment. Unfortunately, well over half of all elementary school students read at or below a basic level. Although many factors are involved in becoming a proficient reader, research shows that fluency is one of the most important factors for reading at a mastery level. Oral reading fluency, the speed and accuracy with which a student reads …

The Food Fight Between The United States And Europe: Why Gmos Divide The West, Sarah A. Delude

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have quickly become an abundant source of food, especially in the United States. But as GMOs have grown, Europeans have raised major concerns over health and environment issues posed by GMOs. In 1998 the European Union imposed a moratorium restricting the approval of any new GMOs in Europe. But the United States saw this as a block to free and fair trade and has taken a case up with the World Trade Organization to resolve the matter. The final decision is past due, but the EU has already lifted the moratorium. Instead, it has imposed rules …

Understanding Al-Qaeda: History, Ideology And Infrastructure, Sarah Dickens

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Understanding al-Qaeda: History, Ideology, and Infrastructure is a critical analysis of the formation and evolution of the global terrorist organization commonly referred to as al-Qaeda. The work provides a foundation for understanding al-Qaeda’s operations and organizational strategies by detailing its historical origins, ideological framework, and infrastructural installations.

The thesis is divided into three segments, each containing two chapters. The first segment is devoted to a discussion of al-Qaeda’s historical formation. The initial chapter relies on the investigation of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the hunt for terrorist Ramzi Yousef as a point of departure in understanding al-Qaeda. This …

Incarceration Of African-American Males: Impact On African-American Families, Terri Barnes

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Abstract not Included

Players The First Magazine Dedicated To Young Female Athletes And Women’S College Sports Fans., Stephanie Plotino

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The involvement of women in athletics has exploded over the last 10 years. This project capitalizes on this changing dynamic by creating a prototype of a women’s college sports magazine called Players. No such magazine currently exists in the United States, but I believe there is a market for it among teenage female athletes who are interested in women’s college sports. Without Players, females have only male-dominated publications like Sports Illustrated or ESPN for general sports coverage, or they can read more female-friendly publications such as Shape and Fitness, which cater to an active lifestyle but do …

Education Finance Reform And Property Tax Relief, John Yinger

Center for Policy Research

It’s Elementary is a series of essays on topics in education and education policy. The main focus is on education finance in New York State, but general research findings in education and education policy issues in several other states are also discussed. John Yinger, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University is the author of most of these essays, although a few are written by or co-authored with other scholars.

County Characteristics And Poverty Spell Length, Andrew Grodner, John A. Bishop, Thomas J. Kniesner

Center for Policy Research

*In this paper we ask, how do individual and community factors influence the average length of poverty spells? We measure local economic conditions by the county unemployment rate and neighborhood spillover effects by the racial makeup and poverty rate of the county. We find that moving an individual from one standard deviation below the mean poverty rate to one standard deviation above the mean poverty rate (from the inner city to the suburbs) lowers the average poverty spell by 20 to 25 percent. This effect is equal in magnitude to the effect of changing the household head from female to …

St. Dominic Deaf Center, May-June 2006

Saint Dominic Deaf Center

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Houston, TX

Saint Dominic Deaf Center Finding Aid

Newsletter Catholic Deaf Of Detroit, May 2006

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Detroit, MI

Newsletter Catholic Deaf of Detroit Finding Aid

Promoting Equity In Health Information: Partners For Health Information And Health Information Partners (Hips), Richard Billingsley, Betsy Gardiner, Karyn L. Pomerantz, Eduardo Pezo, Patricia Wilson

Himmelfarb Library Faculty Posters and Presentations

In 2004, a community health outreach partnership, funded by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), was launched. HIPS, Health Information Partners, promoted health literacy and health advocacy for residents of Washington, D.C., who frequented the area community health centers. This poster explores the goals, strategies, and results of the HIPS program.

Job Descriptions In Perpetual Evolution: A Result Of "Going Electronic", Kathe Obrig, Anne Linton, Cynthia Swope

Himmelfarb Library Faculty Posters and Presentations

As the demand for electronic journals increased, the Himmelfarb Health Services Library transformed the job descriptions of the library's technical services staff. This poster describes how the library accommodated both entities, print and electronic, by modifying the staff's duties.

Changing Space Needs: A First Floor Renovation And Assessing Its Impact On Designing The Electronic Library Of The 21st Century, Anne Linton, Kathe Obrig, Patricia Wilson

Himmelfarb Library Faculty Posters and Presentations

An increase in electronic resources, modification in both usersʼ and staffʼs working space, and an internal initiative to create a single Service Desk, all resulted in the redesign of the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library's first floor. This poster demonstrates how completion of that project has affected usersʼ perception of the library.

Running Out Of Library Space: Sharing Remote Storage To Increase Cost-Savings And Conserve Space, Kathe Obrig, Vani K. Murthy, Tracie E. Frederic, George P. Paul, Leah Pellegrino

Himmelfarb Library Faculty Posters and Presentations

A cooperative project between two urban academic medical libraries, the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library (George Washington University Medical Center) and the Dahlgren Medical Library (Georgetown Medical Center), was designed to relocate all pre-1980 bound journal volumes to a remote-storage facility. This poster explores the goals, process, and results, both financially and physically, of the collaborative initiative.

Transforming Nursing Practice For Today's World: Teaching Information Literacy Skills To Nurses As Preparation For Evidence-Based Nursing Practice, Richard Billingsley

Himmelfarb Library Faculty Posters and Presentations

This poster presentation summarizes how combined entities of the George Washington University Medical Center planned, developed, and disseminated instructional programs promoting information literacy skills among professional nurses. The programs served as a precursor for research utilization and the promotion of evidence-based nursing practices (EBNP).

The Politics Of Indigenization: A Case Study Of Development Of Social Work In China, Miu Chung Yan, Kwok Wah Cheung

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Internationalization and indigenization are dialectical processes of knowledge transfer. However, social work literature has paid scant attention to the process of indigenization, which can best be understood as one of recontextualization. This paper introduces Basil Bernstein's theory, which contends that recontextualization is a political process, as an analytical tool for us to understand the politics of indigenization. To demonstrate the usefulness of this tool, this paper analyzes how, in China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and social work academics interactively compete for this control.

Acculturative Stress And Social Support Among Korean And Indian Immigrant Adolescents In The United States, Madhavappallil Thomas, Jong Baek Choi

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study examined acculturative stress and its relationship with social support among Korean and Indian immigrant adolescents. The data were collected from 165 Korean and Indian adolescents using the Acculturation Scale for Asian American Adolescents and Social Support Scale. Findings show that respondents experience low to moderate level of acculturative stress. Social support activities reduce the level of acculturative stress. Social support from parents is the most important predictive factor in determining the level of acculturative stress. These findings not only contribute to social work education and practice but also increase cultural sensitivity and awareness in working with these populations.

Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage. Kathryn Edin And Maria Kefalas., Allison C. De Marco

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas, Promises I can Keep: Why Poor Women put Motherhood before Marriage. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005. $24.95 hardcover, $15.95 papercover.

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Shane Bevell, Carol C. Harter, Lori Bachand, Cate Weeks, Mamie Peers

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Increasing Creative Thinking At The Theatre Of Youth (Toy) Through Use Of The Torrance Incubation Model, Tara L. Zubrzycki

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project contains information on the Torrance Incubation Model (TIM) and the creativity skills needed in order to use it in developing creativity skills in children who attend plays performed by the Theatre of Youth at the Allendale Theatre in Buffalo, New York. This project also contains a program, “Creative T.O.Y. Adventures”, that allows teachers to use more deliberate creative thinking in their classrooms. The program is designed around attending a play that was adapted from a book students read within their classroom.

Developing A Draft Book Proposal For The Book Imagination Improvisation: The Creativity-Improvisation Link, Scott L. O'Dell

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project contains a description of the process used to develop a draft proposal for a book idea that would be high enough quality for submission to a book publisher. The book is entitled Imagination Improvisation, and it is a culmination of my thinking about the link between creativity studies and musical improvisation. The text of the project includes the background research and incubation that I did to produce the draft proposal. It also includes pertinent literature for improvisation and creativity, the process plan that I followed in constructing the draft proposal, the outcomes of the entire project, and key …

A Journey In Transforming My Passion Into Reality: Creating A Business Based On Artwork, Christine Wirth

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project was about creating a business in which I would create and sell my artwork. I developed the materials necessary for a legitimate business, which included a website, a three-dimensional flyer, a business card, a portfolio, and obtained a tax number. In addition, I created many pieces of artwork; some were created to sell and some were created out of the need for personal expression. This included jewelry, photography, paintings and sculptures. I was able to place my artwork in two stores. This project was a journey in risk taking and self-actualization. I was able to transform my dreams, …

Mugshot Exposure Effects: Retroactive Interference, Mugshot Commitment, Source Confusion, And Unconscious Transference, Kenneth A. Deffenbacher, Brian H. Bornstein, Steven D. Penrod

Psychology Faculty Publications

More than 25 years of research has accumulated concerning the possible biasing effects of mugshot exposure to eyewitnesses. Two separate metaanalyses were conducted on 32 independent tests of the hypothesis that prior mugshot exposure decreases witness accuracy at a subsequent lineup. Mugshot exposure both significantly decreased proportion correct and increased the false alarm rate, the effect being greater on false alarms. A mugshot commitment effect, arising from the identification of someone in a mugshot, was a substantial moderator of both these effects. Simple retroactive interference, where the target person is not included among mugshots and no one in a mugshot …

Gender And Performance: Evidence From School Assignment By Randomized Lottery, Justine S. Hastings, Thomas J. Kane, Douglas O. Staiger

Dartmouth Scholarship

No abstract provided.