Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

City Of Kennedale Compensation Analysis, Prisca Anuolam, Kirstyn Arnwine, Breanna Colvin, Christopher Webb

Public Administration Capstone Reports - Archive

The City of Kennedale has tasked our project team with developing a compensation plan that will act as a compliment to the organizational philosophies. Additionally through fact-finding research we will provide the sentiments regarding the organization and the compensation gathered by way of an employee survey and an executive team focus group. Lastly we perform a market comparative analysis to provide a comprehensive scope of the information needed to develop a compensation structure that is responsive to the market.

Faculty Perceptions Of Campus Diversity, Meghan K. Purdy

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The primary purpose of this study was to assess faculty perceptions of campus diversity at Western Kentucky University. A Diversity Survey was developed and administered to faculty at Western Kentucky University. Responses from the 378 fulltime faculty members who completed the survey were used in this study. Composites including campus diversity climate, satisfaction with diversity effects, race, gender, and religion were formed from the survey items for use in the analyses. Results indicated that minority and women faculty perceive campus diversity less favorably than do majority and men faculty.

Haunts Of The Hill: Western Kentucky University Ghostlore, Arthur Gordon Van Ness Iv

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, like all colleges and universities, has some interesting history. In this case, for my thesis project, I looked at specific tales regarding several buildings on campus that one hears upon arrival to campus. The buildings I included are Potter Hall, Barnes Campbell, Rodes- Harlin, Van Meter, Florence Schneider, McLean Hall, and Pearce-Ford Tower. I explored the details of the traditional oral narratives and compared those details from personal or close to personal experience. Next, I analyzed the details that have stayed the same over time or changed.

To accomplish my project I went …

Review Of Getting Started With Cloud Computing: A Lita Guide, Rebecca Tolley

ETSU Faculty Works

Review of Getting Started with Cloud Computing: A LITA Guide. Eds. Edward M. Corrado and Heather Lea Moulaison. New York: Neal-Schuman Publisher, Inc., 2011. 214p. alk. paper, $65 (ISBN 9781555707491).

Ambushed At Dawn: An Archeological Analysis Of The Catastrophic Defeat Of The 1720 Villasur Expedition, Benjamin J. Bilgri

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

In August of 1720, a Spanish expedition of more than one hundred soldiers, settlers, and Native American allies was destroyed by a group of Pawnee Native Americans at the confluence of two rivers in Nebraska. The precise location of the battlefield has been the subject of debate over the past century, and a systematic archeological investigation to attempt to locate and study the remains of the battle had never been conducted. In order to determine the most likely engagement location and allow an archeological survey of the battlefield site, the author conducted a multifaceted study of the campaign. This included …

Cheating Cheatgrass: New Research To Combat A Wily Invasive Weed, Gail Wells

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Cheatgrass and its cousin, red brome, are exotic annual grasses that have invaded and altered ecosystem dynamics in more than 41 million acres of desert shrublands between the Rockies and the Cascade-Sierra chain. A fungus naturally associated with these Bromus species has been found lethal to the plants’ soil-banked dormant seeds. Supported by the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP), researchers Susan Meyer, Phil Allen, and Julie Beckstead cultured this fungus, Pyrenophora semeniperda, in the laboratory and developed an experimental field application that, in some trials, killed all the dormant soil-banked Bromus seeds, leaving none to germinate the following year. The …

Visual Thinking: Sketching My Future As A Visual Practitioner, Melinda Walker

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

John Berger states in his classic book, Ways of Seeing (1972), “We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice…We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.” (p. 8-9) This project looks at the field of visual thinking and the relations to creativity. Extensive practice of the visual and graphic synthesis of information is a key component of this exploration. When appropriate, graphic visuals are used throughout this paper to further emphasize and illustrate the impact of visuals in comprehension and communication. Various references are …

Creating Self: A Theatrical Exploration Of Identity, Beth D. Templeton

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project explores the relationship between creativity and identity, specifically as they interact through artistic practice. Using research into theater, gender, identity, and creative impulse a performance piece was developed for the stage. The piece used text, improvisational and written music as well as scripted and improvised speech to explore five major area of the human experience. The first iteration of the project culminated in an invitation to stage workshop performances at a local theater and work continues on the development of the piece. While the research focused on questioning the creative impulse of others, the art making revealed that …

Everyday Creativity Without Group Brainstorming, Erik Op Ten Berg

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This Master’s project focuses on different ways to nurture everyday creativity at the work place apart from the well-known “scheduled” brainstorm sessions. The project covers an extensive literature review and the description of three concrete products as an outcome. The finished project includes the design of a two-hour workshop, a one-day training course, and a ten-step coaching program, all about “everyday creativity at work”. Workshops and coaching program are based on the Torrance Incubation Model (Torrance & Safter, 1990). They will assist companies and individuals in applying their creative potential with more impact on a daily basis, to ultimately improve …

Designing An "Information-Experience" Using Creativity Science Theory And Tools, Stephanie Belhomme

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

An “information-experience” encapsulated by a technological/digital audio-visual tool presents data and potentially meaningful information to prompt actionable knowledge concerning: “unspoken creative process elements;” their profound impacts on both how well our “physiology of creativity” functions; but also on how well foundational creative thinking and behavioral prerequisites (energy, motivation, imagination, and ownership) are leveraged.

The product: 1) introduces the user to one component of the CPS (Creative Problem Solving) Facilitation Process - Exploring the Challenge; 2) features a content specific component which prompts exploration of the many correlations between societal, organizational / community, human physiological / behavioral data, and the direct …

Delivery Of A Pilot Training While On The Road To Becoming A Holistic Creativity Practitioner, Virginia E. Santos

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project was an effort to design, promote and offer a one-day pilot training in creativity from a holistic perspective. The approach to teaching creativity was holistic in the sense that it incorporated emotional intelligence, and introduced participants to cognitive skills, affective skills, and intuition. This project also served as a stepping stone to becoming a holistic creativity professional by giving me the opportunity to test my potential and incorporate holistic training into the array of skills and services that I can offer.

Bullying And Creativity: Potential Uses For Creativity To Combat Bullying, Ted Mallwitz

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project will serve as a prototype for future work towards promoting creativity and anti-bullying in education in a virtual space. The goal of this project is to examine the bullying epidemic, search for ways to apply Creative Problem Solving (CPS) and creativity concepts to design anti-bullying programs, and to express the final product in the virtual platform of Qube. The Safe Space program in Qube will assist students, educators, and administrators to gain a deeper understanding of bullying. This program will illustrate how the CPS model can be applied in the development of anti-bullying programs to address the specific …

Altered States Of Consciousness & The Creative Individual: Breaking The Affective Thinking Skills Paradigm, Dana M. Calanan

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project focuses on the affective side of creative thinking and creating a bridge to the cognitive side. It presents the personal transformation of the author using non-drug induced altered states of consciousness. The finished project includes the beginnings of a holistic creative problem solving model and a workshop which will assist those wishing to become more creatively productive or are looking for a way to creatively self-heal.

Keywords: Creative healing, shamanism, psychedelia, holistic creativity, creative problem solving, Thinking Skills Model, altered states of consciousness, affective thinking skills.

Avatar Training - A Humanistic And Creativity Driven Approach, Nicole M.T. Charest

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Avatar Training

A Humanistic and Creativity Driven Approach

This project is about the development of a program prototype for a humanistic and creativity driven approach to avatar training to be delivered in Second Life™ (SL). Specifically, the program aims at developing the skills necessary to make a presentation in, and to safely explore, SL. It was proposed to create a unique learning framework that takes into account the targeted clientele, adult professionals with no or limited experience with SL, the sensibilities of 3D immersive social virtual environment, the avatar training needs, and the possibility to weave in creativity skills practice. …

Sole Power: Pedal Phone Charger Final Report, Nicole Hensley, Anthony Ruh, Krista Schmidt, Joseph Garcia

Mechanical Engineering

The device design was conceived to meet the energy needs of rural populations in India. These communities have cell phones but lack access to reliable grid power, especially during monsoon season. The charger is designed to be affordable, durable, and easily repairable for each owner family. It uses off-the-shelf components and is intended to be replicated by backyard manufacturing startups in developing countries.

Its purpose is to efficiently transfer human foot motion via a treadle, four-bar-linkage, and sprocket-chain step-up to drive a rotor & stator generator from a common gas scooter. The single-phase alternating current from the generator is passed …

Real Estate Law The American Dream Transfigured Into The American Mortgage Crisis, Maricruz Aguiar

HIM 1990-2015

Real Estate law is the body of rules and regulations with legal codes that concern ownership, development and transactions. Real Estate has grown to be one of the main contributors to the nation's financial system. For decades, the housing market has been such an integral part of the economy. Unfortunately, in the beginning of the twenty-first century lax regulatory oversight led the nation to an economic collapse. Indeed, federal, state and local governments have become heavily involved in solving the downward spiral in the economy. This research focuses on the mortgage crisis in order to show how Real Estate law …

Social Work Students And Competent Practice With Lgbtq Clients, Drionne Arney

HIM 1990-2015

Research suggests that social work students' attitudes towards the LGBTQ populations fail to mirror the expectations of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), and its code of ethics. In this cross-sectional research study, a survey distributed to undergraduate and post-graduate part-time and full-time social work students conducted by two students of a post-graduate social work program, is an assessment of social work students' attitudes and knowledge of competent practice with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning clients. This researcher used the findings of the study used to analyze: the relationship between social work students' age and knowledge of competent …

Propaganda Exposed A Glimpse Into The Truth Of Hidden Agendas, Carolyn Park

HIM 1990-2015

Government propaganda has been a topic of interest since America was founded, and today is no exception. Every recent Presidential Administration has been accused of using taxpayer dollars to fund propaganda. Although the funding of propaganda has been prohibited by the Consolidated Appropriations Act since 1951, it still occurs frequently. There is no entity that reviews government correspondence before it is released to the public, so government agencies are free to produce what they feel is appropriate even if it is prohibited by the Act. Furthermore, there is no law that specifically forbids government propaganda, and the current punishments amount …

Tribes, States, And Landscapes: The Ecological Impacts Of Changing Land Use During The Islamic Period In Southern Portugal, F. Scott Worman

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation concerns human-environment interactions in southeastern Portugal during the centuries following the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire. In contrast to the feudal systems that developed across Western Europe outside Iberia, the Islamic polities that controlled the study area from 711 to 1248 C.E. allowed agrarian producers a great deal of political and economic independence. As a result, rural areas were more densely populated and the residents were wealthier than in earlier or later periods or contemporary feudal Christian kingdoms. The archaeological, geological, and historical investigations reported in this volume illuminate the timing, nature, and causes of past ecological …

Crimes Against Caring: Compassion Fatigue, Burnout And Self-Care Practices Among Professionals Working With Crimes Against Children, Patrick Quinn Brady

Criminal Justice Graduate Projects and Theses

Working with cases involving crimes against children requires individuals to be directly and indirectly exposed to graphic material including images, videos, and statements made by child victims. Exposure to traumatic events can have a profound and lasting effect on everyone who is directly and indirectly involved. Because of this, helping professionals who have extended exposure to traumatized populations are more susceptible to psychological distress. Through an exhaustive review of the literature, this paper identifies the prevalence of compassion fatigue, burnout, compassion satisfaction among forensic interviewers and professionals working with cases involving crimes against children. The utilization of self-care methods from …

2012 Yellow Springs Cost Of Living Report, Center For Urban And Public Affairs, Wright State University

Economic Development

Many issues our community has faced in recent years reflect an underlying concern about our economic circumstances, particularly the cost of living in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The absence of reliable, accurate and objective information has contributed to conjecture and debate among residents. Early in this year, the James A. McKee Association resolved to try to help address this gap by sponsoring a study of the cost of living in the village. The availability of current Census data made this a particularly appropriate time to undertake this study. The hope is that this project will form a foundation for better understanding …

Bridging The Gap Through Collaboration:, Rebecca Arliss, Carlos Arguelles, Rodolfo Hernandez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Art Of The Distinguished: How Fashion Magazines Influence The Definition And Understanding Of Modern Glamour., Hayley Black

All Theses

While the fashion world, including its influential print publications, is no stranger to inquiries about social status, aesthetics, and self worth, there is currently room for the examination of what type of appeals create and sustain the concept of 'glamour' in modern society. This study investigates how fashion magazines construct the idea of glamour to influence readers' understanding and definition of this term as well as its own placement on the social spectrum of sophistication through a visual analysis of the fashion spreads of four contemporary fashion magazines. Using Bourdieu's understanding of taste and distinction, John Berger's understanding of visual …

Coalition For Prisoners' Rights Newsletter, Vol 36-P, No. 5, Coalition For Prisoners' Rights

Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletters

¡Unions Help Occupy the 1%!

The Other Death Penalty Project Reluctantly Supports the S.A.F.E. California Act

More Life Without Parole Law

Ordenes de Sujecíon de ICE

Himmelfarb Headlines - May/June 2012, George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Headlines (2009 - present)

News and information about Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library of interest to users. Includes articles on data management plans for research, multi-search service, and profiles of Brenda Helen Sheingold, Phd, RN, and Paul Levett.

Using Geographic Information Systems To Analyze Accessibility In The West Bank, Jacob Elliott

All Theses

With the recent failure of another highly publicized peace talks, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a polarizing and contentious geopolitical crisis. Following the Israeli victory in the Six Day War of 1967, the West Bank and its substantial Palestinian population have lived under Israeli occupation. In response to the First Palestinian Intifada (uprising), lasting from1987 to 1993, the Israeli military imposed varying degrees of regulations to limit Palestinian mobility within the West Bank. The mobility constraints, most notably in the form of checkpoints, roadblocks, and physical obstructions, dramatically increased in volume and scale during the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005. …

An Exploratory Study Of Communicatively-Restricted Organizational Stress (Cros) Ii: Associations With Organizational Stress And Elevated Cholesterol, Justin P. Boren, Alice E. Veksler

Communication

This study expands on prior research on Communicatively-Restricted Organizational Stress (CROS), which includes those stressors that individuals do not have a socially-supportive outlet inside or outside of their organizations. First, by using a sample of 405 organizational members, we explore the prevalence of the CROS by identifying the existence of the nature of this concept. After that, we explore the way that the CROS acts on an individual both physiologically and psychologically by evaluating its associations with organizational-level variables (stress, support, and commitment) along with markers of stress (LDL and Total Cholesterol). Results were generally inconclusive. Discussion focused on significant …

Is Fiscal Stimulus A Good Idea?, Ray C. Fair

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

The results in this paper, using a structural multi-country macroeconometric model, suggest that there is at most a small gain from fiscal stimulus in the form of increased transfer payments or increased tax deductions if the increased debt generated must eventually be paid back. The gain in output and employment on the way up is roughly offset by the loss in output and employment on the way down as the debt from the initial stimulus is paid off. This conclusion is robust to different assumptions about monetary policy. To the extent that there is a gain, the longer one waits …

Deregulation Of Indian Telecommunication: An Analysis Of Customer Benefit, Jordan Johnson

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study investigates whether mobile customers were made better off following the deregulation of the Indian telecommunications industry. It will establish a link between industry deregulation and affordability and accessibility for customers. Results indicate that as a result of deregulation and increased FDI, customers saw decreased usage charges and greater cellphone coverage and accessibility. Also covered is a case study of the Brazilian telecommunications industry.

The Sounds Of Anxiety: A Quantitative Study Of Music Therapy And Anxiety, Rebecca Zarate

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Anxiety can be a minor and brief experience for some; for others it can be a life long debilitating struggle. In the United States, many people are not treated for anxiety but experience it on a daily basis. Current theory suggests that anxiety is an emotional and affective response to perceived danger that can lead to isolative, erratic, and avoidant behaviors. Anxiety is also recognized as a unique individual set of experiences that are difficult to explain and treat. This study explored individual responses to music therapy clinical improvisation and anxiety symptoms. The researcher determined if co-created improvised music between …