Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Climate Change Vulnerabilities: Case Studies Of The Maldives And Kenya, Katherine A. Peinhardt

Honors Scholar Theses

This paper examines the political and social vulnerabilities of climate change, with the use of two salient case studies, the Republic of the Maldives and Kenya as exemplars of effects observed and projected. The susceptibilities for each nation are examined, with unique sensitivities highlighted and common themes synthesized between the two states. Examples of existing conflict, and implications of projected territorial conflict will be discussed. Policy outcomes will also be discussed for the situation of each nation, each with its own set of contextual sensitivities in the face of climatic shifts. Generalized policy options will be proposed for the common …

A Critical Evaluation Of Gender Studies In Archaeological Accounts Of Etruscans, Amelia Varteresian

Honors Scholar Theses

An evaluation of the past analysis of Etruscan archaeological discoveries, with a focus on the gender analysis of the artifacts. Several prominent analysis of artifacts and tombs are reevaluated in terms of potential context within the Etruscan society, as well as evaluated in terms of analysis bias primarily based in gender.

Chimes: May 2, 2014, Calvin College

Chimes

Calvin hosts Special Olympics event on Saturday by Emily Cole

Forum continues We Are Calvin [too] campaign by Kate Parsons

Annual 5k Spring Classic attracts 1,200 runners by Joe Mohan

Calvin spring sports entering postseason by Brian Exner

Calvin responds to Heartbleed bug by John Muyskens

Chaplain to spend administrative sabbatical in Lithuania by Bekah Coggin

Six seniors to start intentional community in Sacramento by Nathan Groenewold

Parental Perceptions And Experiences Of Physical And Emotional Violence Between Siblings: A Mixed-Methods, Comparative Case Study, Nathan Perkins

Theses and Dissertations

Sibling violence is a common occurrence for many children yet this form of family violence has received minimal attention in research compared to other forms of child maltreatment. With parents as an integral component in the lives of many children, parental perceptions and experiences of violence between siblings are important to understand. Furthermore, with the increased variation in family structures within society, inclusion of multiple types of families in research is necessary to encompass a broad understanding of sibling violence. This case study included seven parents from four different family structures to examine their perceptions and experiences of physical and …

Complex Challenges And New Opportunities: Building The Framework For Boundary Review. An Assessment Of Pps’S Organizational Readiness And Options For Citizen Engagement, Portland State University. Hatfield School Of Government, Shannon Grzybowski, Marcus Ingle, Phil Keisling, Doug Morgan, Tobias Read, Sarah Giles, Jim Jacks, Wendy Willis

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

On February 25, 2013, the PPS Board unanimously approved Resolution 4718, which directs staff “to develop and recommend a process for a comprehensive review of school boundaries district-wide and policies related to student assignment and transfer to better align with the Racial Educational Equity Policy and promote strong capture rates and academic programs at every grade level.”

To deal with the student assignment and transfer policy issues, Superintendent Carole Smith charged the “Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Enrollment and Transfer” (SACET) with recommending changes to student assignment and transfer policies to bring them into alignment with the district’s racial educational equity …

Learning By Giving: The Youth Homelessness Initiative, Camille Gross, Christina Mccourt, Molly Nash, Eleanor Powell

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

As part of the Colby Undergraduate Student Philanthropist (CUSP) foundation, funded by the Learning by Giving Foundation, we are collaborating with United Way of Mid-Maine to write a 10,000 grant allocated over a three-year period in support of United Way of Mid-Maines Youth Homelessness Initiative. This program would provide homeless or at-risk for homelessness youth ages in junior and high school (grades 5 through 12) in northern Kennebec, Somerset, and western Waldo counties with the basic needs they require in order to stay in school and ultimately earn a high school diploma.During the 2011-12 pilot project of the Youth Homelessness …

Single And Ready To Mingle: Factors Affecting Risky Sexual Behavior, Ines Castro, Jacqueline Charlton, Rebecca Stoutamyer, Katherine Kimball

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

College students today are having a lot of unprotected sex with multiple partners, making the risk of college students contracting an STI extremely high. Previous research has found that high self-esteem increase the likelihood that an individual will use a condom. It has also been found that extroversion leads to decreased condom use, perhaps due to the fact that extroverts are more likely to seek out risky situations. This study looked at how extroversion, gender, and sociosexual orientation moderated the relationship between self-esteem and condom use. We measured self-esteem, extroversion, SOI, condom use intentions and willingness and demographics using an …

Decentralization And Ethnic Violence, Joseph Long

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Analyzes the effects of three forms of decentralization on the incidence and intensity of ethnic violence in African states.

It’S Our Money And We Want It Now:Secession In Resource Rich Countries And The Role Of The International Community, Kiernan Somers

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Tensions between the right to self-determination and existing states have caused many conflicts around the globe. Resource rich regions such as Katanga, Biafra, South Sudan, East Timor, Cabinda, and Aceh all had to go through the international community to gain statehood and were either granted or declined the right to self-determination. Secessionist movements frequently challenge existing state borderlines; however, few reach the ultimate goal of statehood. Secession attempts in resource rich regions, whether carried out by unorganized rebels, or a fully functioning autonomous government, are dependent on the international community for success. Through textual analyses of academic journals, monographs, and …

A Learning By Giving Student Grant--Alfond Youth Center Rebound To Success Program: Opportunity, Prevention, Focus, Kayla Turner, Rebecca Forgrave, Thalia Giraldo, Amber Ramirez

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

The Alfond Youth Center in Waterville, Maine is the only combined Boys and Girls Club and YMCA in the country. This organization meets the needs of the central Maine community by providing an after school program on a sliding scale based of family income, pay-for-play recreational opportunities, and other services such as dental care and counseling when needed. Rebound to Success, another Alfond Youth Center-sponsored program, is a juvenile diversion program for first time offenders aged 11-18 in Kennebec and Somerset Counties. Most of the crimes the participants have committed are drug defined or related offenses (ie. possession or use, …

The Effect Of Choline Supplementation And The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (Bdnf) On Medial Temporal Lobe Volume Changes As A Measurement Of Depression, Leigh Mathieu

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Depression is a prevalent mood disorder categorized by a lowered mood state, social withdrawal, somatic symptoms, cognitive defects, and feelings of worthlessness or guilt. Prenatal supplementation of the essential nutrient choline increases adult hippocampal neurogenesis and can reduce the risk and improve prognosis of depression and other mood disorders. Characteristic in these disorders is dysfunction in neural plasticity as mediated through the growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Genetic variants and mutations in the genes that code for this and related proteins in humans and rats affect the brain in many ways, including how dopaminergic synapses in the reward pathway …

Watch What 'Whe-Eat' - A Cultural Analysis Of The Gluten-Free Diet, Monique Kelly

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Ten years ago, most people had never heard of celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, but awareness of these conditions have recently exploded, resulting in a craze to purchase gluten-free food items. Walk down the isles of Whole Foods or any other grocery store today and you will see labels for gluten free everywhere. These products were originally designed for people who have been diagnosed with a gluten digestive disorder. However, the gluten-free diet has expanded beyond those diagnosed with gluten sensitivity because millions of people are claiming it makes them feel better or helps them lose weight. In this paper, …

An Analysis Of Municipality-Level Election Results Of The 2012 Presidential Election In New York, Pennsylvania, And Ohio, And Comparison Of These Results To Those From The 2008 Presidential Election, Gregory Naigles

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

The 2008 and 2012 Presidential elections were both similar and different in many ways. On one hand, the Democratic candidate was the same in both elections, and similar strategies were employed by both sides in the two elections. On the other hand, the candidates formed slightly different coalitions, turnout rates were different, and there were some differences in which states the campaigns chose to focus on. I have analyzed the results of these two elections, particularly the 2012 presidential election, in the three states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, in order to try to determine where the election results …

Colby Undergraduate Student Philanthropists- Center For Crisis And Counseling, James O'Leary, Jasmine Phillips, Maria Zeta Valladolid, Amanda Carbonneau

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Students will present the Centers for Crisis and Counseling ,000 grant application. The students will demonstrate the necessity of funding the Center for Crisis and Counseling compared to other nonprofits and how this grant will improve the community. Moreover, the students will highlight the ways this organization and program will prevent the manifestation of mental illnesses for children in their adult life.

Bad Blood: Investigating The Ban On Msm Blood Donation, Lauren Lacy

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

In 1983, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), responding to the AIDS epidemic, adopted a policy of deferring men who have had sex with men (MSM) at anytime since 1977 from donating blood. The current policy, adopted in 1992, continues to defer this group indefinitely. This paper investigates the societal implications of the deferred status. I will first examine the unique relationship gay and bisexual men have with the AIDS epidemic in American history.I challenge the FDAs claim that the ban is solely rooted in behavioral practices, using data on rates of contraction, behavioral practices relevant to MSM (condom use, …

Winded: Evaluating Community And Operator Relations In Maine Community-Based Wind Energy Projects, Madeline Wilson

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Maines promising wind energy industry is growing and rural and island communities have begun pursuing wind turbine-generated electricity. The Fox Islands have, through the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative, successfully established a wind operation to provide the 1,500 island residents with electricity produced by three 1.5 megawatt turbines situated on Vinalhaven Island. However, shortly after the turbines began operation, a small but vocal group of Vinalhaven residents began to speak out against the noise issues they found as a product of living in the vicinity of the project. After numerous newspaper articles from both sides and formal complaints submitted to the …

Community Dental Center, Randall Person, Sarah Mann, Susan Fleurant, Lily Cabour

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

We are writing a grant in partnership with a local nonprofit, the Community Dental Center in Waterville. The Community Dental Center provides comprehensive dental care for low-income patients in Kennebec and Somerset counties. The grant money would fund two programs targeting specific, at-risk populations of women in Central Maine. One program focuses on dental health education for teenage mothers at the Maine Childrens Home. The second program is the provision of dental services for victims of domestic violence. Dental health has been shown to directly influence school and work attendance, overall health, and self-esteem. With proper care and education, dental …

Passing And Transcendence In Political Identities And Socioeconomic Status, Sophie Hamblett, Ginger Brooker, Samuel Poulin, Megan Mackenzie

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

This study will examine passing, a phenomenon that occurs when an individual tries to hide a part of their identity, or takes on a new false identity in order to fit in with a certain social context. Passing might be especially important in a college setting, where students are in a stage of emerging adulthood and exploring new identities. This process can occur with all sorts of identity, commonly one that makes the individual a minority.In our study, we will focus specifically on passing in the areas of race and socioeconomic status, which has, thus far, not been addressed by …

Russia's Unveiling; An Examination Of Political Construction Through Media Coverage, Sydney Hammond

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

On February 7, 2014, the day of Fisht Stadiums Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony, NBC ran an eight-hour tape-delay, releasing their idea of a more complete version of the 11:00 a.m. ET ceremony at 7:30 p.m. ET. The tape-delay allowed NBC to make edits to their film, which would include the exclusion of entire segments of the games. These abandoned segments, although no longer then five minutes each, depict a shifting image of Russia that gone unseen, can easily hinder American perceptions of Russia, allowing NBC to exploit dated notions of the countrys character. In the pages to follow, I will …

Municipal Recycling In Waterville: A Choice Experiment, Alexander Finigan, Katharine Eddy

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

The Waterville, Maine community has experienced many struggles with establishing an economically and socially beneficial method for collecting recyclables from residents. In 2006, the town made the choice to terminate its curbside recycling pickup and open the Skills facility, where residents were able to transport there recyclables and dispose of them at the facility. This proved to also not be economically beneficial and the town ended this option for residents in 2012. The motivation behind establishing a new recycling program in Waterville is making Waterville more environmentally friendly, the creation of jobs for residents in the trash collecting business, moral …

Pseudoephedrine Scheduling And Violent Crime, Alexander Morris, Quinn Ziegler, Lily Tilton

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

In this paper we seek to explore the relationship between methamphetamine usage and violent crime in the United States. As a drug produced from readily available ingredients, methamphetamines presence is felt across the country, and it is often anecdotally linked with both violent crime and property crime. Through the analysis of state-level data, we hope to determine whether or not methamphetamine availability is a useful predictor of crime. Methamphetamine usage is difficult to measure, as its production and consumption is not reliably tracked by virtue of its illicit nature. However, we can approximate methamphetamine usage by state using other metrics, …

It's Just A Number: Influences Of Body Image Pressures On Diii Female Athletes, Christina Mccourt

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

There are strong societal norms around what it means to be a woman and be an athlete. These norms get reinforced so much that female athletes internalize these ideas to the point that they begin to change their habits to better fit the demands of society. Being an athlete at a high level creates physical pressures for young women, but the extra mental pressures forced upon them can be detrimental both mentally and physically. The months I spent researching female athletes at Colby were intended to help answer several questions. The first was what pressures female athletes felt that they …

The Color And Value Of Art, Leilani S C Pao

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

There has been research in psychology, marketing and economics about the impact of color on peoples behavior, in particular peoples consumer behavior. My project examines the relationship between the value of art and color. I am interested to find out whether the solid background a painting is placed on, its environmental color, has an influence on the amount a person values the painting. My experimental survey to the Colby College community and visitors of the Colby College Museum of Art consists of two parts. In the first part of the survey, I ask the participants to come up with the …

Individuals Willingness To Pay For Health And Wellness Improvements Within The Built Environment, Max Pollinger

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Improving biological sustainability through health and wellness improvements in the built environment is currently being applied to high-end real estate development in both the residential and commercial environment in the United States. However, the market for health and wellness extends well beyond the top income bracket. This study adopts a choice experiment (CE) approach to investigate individuals willingness to pay for health and wellness improvements within their homes. The results suggest that individuals value health as an inelastic good independent of income, and they are willing to pay significant premiums to ensure biological sustainability within their homes. In addition, individuals …

Financial Crisis And Its Impact On Institutional College Financial Aid, Salome Giorgadze, Lillian Liang

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

The 2008 financial crisis impacted almost everyone in the world, particularly US households that have lost on average in income. A common problem that currently plagues the minds of college students is the cost of education. Households are still recovering from the monetary impacts of the financial crisis. We recognize that college grants and scholarships are important to students who wish to pursue higher education, and so do the colleges. Majority of the colleges have carefully designed institutional financial aid options, which usually consist of institutional grants, scholarships, work studies, and loans. Around 75% of full-time undergraduate students in the …

A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Grade Inflation V. Grade Compression At Colby College, Emma Murphy, Ilanna Fricks, Yana Mayayeva

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Grade point averages are supposed markers of our collegiate intellectual ability and drive for success. But as an "A" increasingly becomes a stand-in for "average," the credibility of our GPAs may be in question in the professional world. The goal of this paper is to assess whether grading at Colby College has fallen in line with the national trend toward inflation. Our regression analyses examine whether GPAs have risen at Colby over the past 15 years across a variety of disciplines and indicators such as gender, athlete status, and international student status. This study also considers whether grade compression, rather …

The Effects Of Marijuana Decriminalization On Alcohol Consumption: Compliments Or Substitutes?, Alex Sisto, Hib Schenck, Fabrice Charles, Zach Padula

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

What is the effect of decriminalization of marijuana on alcohol consumption in the United States? We hypothesize that consumption of alcohol and marijuana are substitute goods. More specifically, we hypothesize that decriminalization will be negatively correlated with alcohol consumption, meaning that demand for alcohol will fall in the years following decriminalization.

Do Public Libraries Reduce Crime Rate Among Juveniles?, Chen Li, Jingyan Guo, Jozef Moffat

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Juvenile arrest rates have been at their lowest since 1980 in the United States after peaking around 1994. There are many factors that affect the juvenile crime rate and our aim is to determine the impact of those factors on the crime rate. For example, the environment that the juveniles live in and the income of their parents could influence their behavioral patterns. Cities build libraries to provide recreational services to the public, especially the youth, where they can spend their spare time usefully, in hope that they could avoid delinquent activities.

Economic Analysis: Sustainable Seafood Choice Experiment, Dylan Cowley, Jesse Coulon

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

The sustainable seafood choice experiment is a co-discipline study run by Tierney Dodge (Environmental Studies), along with Jesse Coulon and Dylan Cowly (Economics). The purpose of the study is to better understand how sustainable seafood labeling is correlated with accepting higher prices at restaurants. Specifically, we are looking at how much people are willing to pay for dishes that have certified seafood labeling, such as Marine Stewardship Counsel Certified, compared to the simple label of sustainable seafood, which is a more arbitrary term with no outside body of regulation. We will then focus our study to see how these results …

Wind Energy Choice Experiment, William Scott, Carlton Reed

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Many surveys have shown that public acceptance of wind energy is high in general; however there always seems to be concerns at the local level during the siting and permitting process. This shows that people understand that clean wind energy is an essential need, however people do not normally want to have turbines in their own community. The goal of this choice experiment is to see which benefits people prefer and which trade-offs people are willing to make in order to host a wind farm in their community.We will analyze the effectiveness of several attributes, and their ability to rid …