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2017

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Beyond Shelby County, Anthony Gonzalez Jan 2017

Beyond Shelby County, Anthony Gonzalez

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

In the aftermath of the 2016 elections there is ample data to examine trends in voter turnout across the states. This election cycle also provided the first national election in fifty years without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Previously covered states and jurisdictions were no longer required to obtain preclearance in the enactment of voting legislation. This thesis will seek to answer which interest was being served by the new voting laws in several states and whether the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the U.S. Supreme Court had an impact on voter turnout. It …

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Applying Technology To Improve Student Learning Outcomes In Dynamics Course, Mileta Tomovic, Cynthia Tomovic, Vukica M. Jovanovic, Cheng Y. Lin, Nan Yao Jan 2017

Applying Technology To Improve Student Learning Outcomes In Dynamics Course, Mileta Tomovic, Cynthia Tomovic, Vukica M. Jovanovic, Cheng Y. Lin, Nan Yao

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Motivating and stimulating students to learn material in required core engineering courses is difficult and yet essential in assuring student success. Traditional methods of teaching and learning need to be reconsidered and modified to meet student expectations and their continuously evolving ways of interaction with technology and social networks. Numerous faculty have been experimenting with various approaches which are taking advantages of both technology and student interaction with technology, with various degrees of success. In this paper authors present another comprehensive method applied in teaching/learning of core engineering mechanics course. It has been observed over a long period of time …

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Existence As Economy And As Charity An Essay On The Essence Of Christianity (1916) By: Antonio Caso, Antonio Caso, Alexander V. Stehn, Jose G. Rodriguez Jr. Jan 2017

Existence As Economy And As Charity An Essay On The Essence Of Christianity (1916) By: Antonio Caso, Antonio Caso, Alexander V. Stehn, Jose G. Rodriguez Jr.

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Antonio Caso rejects the effort of biologists to reduce life to the organic world, a sphere of existence that is defined by economy and egoism, best summarized in the formula: Life = Minimum Effort x Maximum Gain. The problem is that this cannot explain what he calls “disinterested activity,” such as play, art, and self-sacrifice. His primary example of disinterested or selfless activity is the life of Jesus, which Caso also believes is the height of human dignity. In other words, Caso not only argues that there is more than one order of life or existence; he also argues …

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Spanish Speaking Institutions And Language Assimilation In The Rio Grande Valley, Alexandre Couture Gagnon, Carlos Gutierrez-Mannix Jan 2017

Spanish Speaking Institutions And Language Assimilation In The Rio Grande Valley, Alexandre Couture Gagnon, Carlos Gutierrez-Mannix

Political Science Faculty Publications

The Rio Grande Valley in Texas, situated on the US-Mexico border, has a population of more than one million, of which more than 90% is of Latino descent.1 However, no public institutions formally function in Spanish, thus inhibiting institutional completeness2 and challenging long-term preservation of the language. Why does this population of Latino descent not demand Spanish-language service? Contrary to traditional research on institutional completeness, we consider institutions as the dependent variable and argue that the absence of institutions reflects the perception, within the population, of inferior status ascribed to Spanish when compared to English.

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The Shade Of A Criminal Record: Colorism, Incarceration, And External Racial Classification, Steven L. Foy, Victor Ray, Ashley Hummel Jan 2017

The Shade Of A Criminal Record: Colorism, Incarceration, And External Racial Classification, Steven L. Foy, Victor Ray, Ashley Hummel

Sociology Faculty Publications

Recent high-profile research suggests that social indicators like incarceration influence racial categorization. Yet, this research has largely ignored colorism—intraracial differences in skin tone that matter for stratification outcomes. In two experiments, we address how skin tone interacts with criminal background to produce external racial classification and skin tone attributions. We find no evidence that criminal history affects external racial classification or skin tone attribution. However, we find that skin tone is a strong and consistent predictor of external racial classification and skin tone attribution.

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School Killers Speak: A Comprehensive Examination Of Traditional School Violence Perpetrators In K-12 American Schools, Gordon A. Crews Jan 2017

School Killers Speak: A Comprehensive Examination Of Traditional School Violence Perpetrators In K-12 American Schools, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Seth Holmes, Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers In The United States (Berkeley, Ca: University Of California Press, 2013), Rosalynn A. Vega Jan 2017

Seth Holmes, Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers In The United States (Berkeley, Ca: University Of California Press, 2013), Rosalynn A. Vega

Anthropology Faculty Publications

In Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies, Seth Holmes uses ethnographic detail to explain how social processes naturalize structural violence in the U.S./Mexico migrant labor system. In essence, the book serves as an “ethnographic witness” to how racism and the neoliberal global economy undergird the everyday suffering of Mexican migrants. Holmes’ book is the result of five years of ethnographic research among the Triqui people of Oaxaca, Mexico. During this time, Holmes lived with Triqui indigenous families in the mountains of Oaxaca, accompanied migrants during their illegal border crossing through the Arizona desert, and was jailed with his informants. In the United …

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Are Weevils Picky Eaters? Community Structure And Host Specificity Of Neotropical Saproxylic Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Jhunior A. Morillo Jan 2017

Are Weevils Picky Eaters? Community Structure And Host Specificity Of Neotropical Saproxylic Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Jhunior A. Morillo

Dissertations and Theses

Abstract Primary saproxylic beetles play a major role in forest nutrient cycling and making deadwood accessible to other decomposers. Understanding beetle host preferences and patterns of community assembly is critical for their conservation, and for predicting which species might become invasive. This project aims to investigate the ecological and host specificity, as well as the community composition of curculionids in a mosaic of old-growth (OG) and secondary forest on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. The subfamily Scolytinae was expected to be the most species-rich and abundant. Ambrosia beetles were expected to have more generalist species than other curculionids. Old growth …

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The Political Water Web Of The United States, Omar Hammad Jan 2017

The Political Water Web Of The United States, Omar Hammad

Dissertations and Theses

The United States’ water systems are interstate in their nature; these systems are governed by Congressional compact agreements. Water compacts have been influenced by common factors that have reverberated throughout the water-web of the country. These impacts varied in their scale, national level federal regulations, such as the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and recent concerns about climate change are macro-scale influences. Localized drivers such as regional economics and population change are localized impacts. While these concepts and issues influence water compacts as a whole, their impacts occur at different periods, albeit for the same reason. As such, we see …

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Europe’S Refugee Crisis: Right-Wing Populism And Mainstream Cooption In Germany And France, Jihan Abdalla Jan 2017

Europe’S Refugee Crisis: Right-Wing Populism And Mainstream Cooption In Germany And France, Jihan Abdalla

Dissertations and Theses

In Europe’s biggest wave of refugees since World War II, over 1 million people fleeing protracted conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan crossed the Mediterranean on unseaworthy boats in 2015 in a desperate bid to reach the continent. Rather than uniting to deal with the humanitarian situation, the European Union (EU), the world’s wealthiest and most integrated bloc, struggled to effectively manage the flow of refugees. Amid rising anti-immigration sentiment and nascent Euroscepticism, EU governments employed unilateral and security-driven responses aimed at limiting the number of refugees that would enter Europe. Europe’s Refugee Crisis, as it came to be known, …

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From Gorbachev To The Present: Russian Migration To The United States, Kate Slavashevich Jan 2017

From Gorbachev To The Present: Russian Migration To The United States, Kate Slavashevich

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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A Process Of No Return: Mediation In Civil Conflict, Carol Naranjo Jan 2017

A Process Of No Return: Mediation In Civil Conflict, Carol Naranjo

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis project focuses on mediation in the context of civil conflict. There are various possible solutions to civil conflict. The parties may resort to the use of violence through military victories but there are also other peaceful solutions such as mediation. Although several methods are available to solve civil conflict, mediation has shown to have its successes in this area. Mediation, where a third party acts as a facilitator, allows for both warring parties to work quietly with the mediator, present their complaints and use the third party to become a go-between towards finding an acceptable solution that benefits …

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The Origins Of Organized Crime, Danielle Hamilton Jan 2017

The Origins Of Organized Crime, Danielle Hamilton

Dissertations and Theses

This paper will illustrate the correlation between democratic and market economy transitions and the increase of organized crime. This correlation exists despite the differences in political system prior to the democratic transition. What matters the most is that these transitions either occur at the same time or within a short window of time. Organized criminal groups thrive in unstable and failed states because of the lack of government and law enforcement interference in their illegal activities. However, these groups can also make a home in countries that have relatively short periods of transition between political and economic systems, despite the …

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Quality Of Life And Depression Among Patients With Type I Diabetes: A Study Of Gender Differences, Eisha Gohil, Ruby Charak, Haroon Rashid, Priyanka Sharma Jan 2017

Quality Of Life And Depression Among Patients With Type I Diabetes: A Study Of Gender Differences, Eisha Gohil, Ruby Charak, Haroon Rashid, Priyanka Sharma

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Diabetes is a progressive chronic condition which places a significant burden of self management on the individual, such as daily monitoring and medications management, worry about the future and distress about the impact of diabetes on various aspects of life. It is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by elevated blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. The present study aimed to assess gender differences in quality of life and depression in patients suffering from type I diabetes. A sample of 70 participants (44 male and 26 female) in the age range of …

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The Frontiers Of Technology In Warhead Verification, Henrietta Toivanen Jan 2017

The Frontiers Of Technology In Warhead Verification, Henrietta Toivanen

CMC Senior Theses

How might new technical verification capabilities enhance the prospects of success in future nuclear arms control negotiations? Both theory and evidence suggest that verification technologies can influence the dynamics of arms control negotiations by shaping and constraining the arguments and strategies that are available to the involved stakeholders. In the future, new technologies may help transcend the specific verification challenge of high-security warhead authentication, which is a verification capability needed in future disarmament scenarios that address fewer warheads, limit new categories of warheads, and involve nuclear weapons states other than the United States and Russia. Under these circumstances, the core …

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Mission Barrio Adentro: Venezuela's Virus, Cara Cancelmo Jan 2017

Mission Barrio Adentro: Venezuela's Virus, Cara Cancelmo

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis uses the historical and structural characteristics of the Venezuelan-Cuban healthcare program, Mission Barrio Adentro, to identify areas of resource mismanagement and how such abuses of government capital has negatively affected the Venezuelan medical system as well as the Cuban healthcare professionals involved. Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro’s healthcare diplomacy under Mission Barrio Adentro, which trades Cuban doctors for oil, has failed to provide adequate medical services to the Venezuelan citizens. Despite the drop in oil prices, the Venezuelan government has continued to funnel money into Mission Barrio Adentro using PDVSA revenues. Such reliance on oil wealth and the …

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What Goes Up Must Come Down: The Relationship Between The Housing Market Boom And The Subsequent Economic Downturn: Evidence From The Msa Level, Bruce Dale Service Jan 2017

What Goes Up Must Come Down: The Relationship Between The Housing Market Boom And The Subsequent Economic Downturn: Evidence From The Msa Level, Bruce Dale Service

CMC Senior Theses

Using MSA level data, the paper shows, that geographic areas which experienced the largest housing bubble generally suffered a more serious subsequent economic downturn. More specifically, the paper establishes that MSAs with larger declines in housing permits had larger increases in unemployment. There also appears to be strong evidence of a correlation between the magnitude of a housing boom and the timing of the decline in housing permits. MSAs which experienced larger real housing inflation offered early indications of the subsequent Great Recession.

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The End Of The Three Percent Rule: How Structural Changes In The U.S. Economy Have Impacted Economic Growth, Maxwell J. Urman Jan 2017

The End Of The Three Percent Rule: How Structural Changes In The U.S. Economy Have Impacted Economic Growth, Maxwell J. Urman

CMC Senior Theses

Using data from government sources (FRED, BEA, BLS), the thesis explores the underlying reasons for declining U.S. economic growth. A long standing trend of annual 3% growth no longer seems to hold true for the economy. The paper summarizes current theory as to why the growth has slowed and finds new explanations by analyzing the various major industries which make up GDP. The results show that sectoral shifts in employment from high paying industries to low paying industries help to explain a significant portion of the decline in national growth rates. The decline in growth is primarily driven by about …

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Qué Tan Lejos Hemos Ido Y Qué Tan Lejos Nos Queda: Los Niños Trabajadores Y La Erradicación Del Trabajo Infantil En Ecuador, Alicia Serna Frausto Jan 2017

Qué Tan Lejos Hemos Ido Y Qué Tan Lejos Nos Queda: Los Niños Trabajadores Y La Erradicación Del Trabajo Infantil En Ecuador, Alicia Serna Frausto

CMC Senior Theses

Al investigar este problema en el caso específico de Ecuador podemos ver algunos patrones que otros investigadores y políticos podrían aplicar en otros contextos de abusos laborales y trabajo infantil. En un mundo más consciente de los derechos humanos, es necesario impedir el trabajo infantil donde se pueda o por lo menos asegurar que los niños que trabajan lo hagan en la forma más sana y segura. En esta investigación se analizan las leyes y regulaciones de las últimas dos décadas, la implementación, y los efectos en las vidas de los niños trabajadores. La implementación de las leyes y regulaciones …

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An Analysis Of Sports Markets: Franchise Relocation, League Expansion, And Fan Bases, Evan Opperman Jan 2017

An Analysis Of Sports Markets: Franchise Relocation, League Expansion, And Fan Bases, Evan Opperman

CMC Senior Theses

Through sports, cities can reach fans from all different walks of life to rally together and support a competitive cause. Each city’s fan base is distinct—with their individual personalities being reflective of the culture and environment of the home city. The intent of this paper is to study the effect of multiple on and off field factors as they relate to attendance across three major professional sports in city markets. This will determine which city markets have the strongest, or weakest, overall fan bases. Ultimately, this study will end with an educated recommendation for professional sports franchise relocation or a …

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The Politics Of Head Start, The Most Popular Survivor Of The War On Poverty, Grace Lee Jan 2017

The Politics Of Head Start, The Most Popular Survivor Of The War On Poverty, Grace Lee

CMC Senior Theses

Head Start began in 1965 as a part of the War on Poverty led by President Lyndon B. Johnson. After more than 50 years, it has remained as one of the most popular government social programs with support from across the political spectrum. However, there have been mixed results regarding the effectiveness of Head Start in participants' educational gains. Despite the mixed research, Head Start has continued to receive support by the public and both political parties throughout the decades. While there are disagreements on reforms to be made to Head Start, there has been increasing agreement around making providers …

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Degree Matters: The Impact Of A Leader’S Foreign Education On His Country’S Economic Development, Zhongyi Yu Jan 2017

Degree Matters: The Impact Of A Leader’S Foreign Education On His Country’S Economic Development, Zhongyi Yu

CMC Senior Theses

I analyze the correlation between a nation leader’s foreign education experience and their nation’s GDP growth and economic freedom in African, Asian, and South American countries. There is a statistically significant correlation between a leader’s foreign education and the country’s GDP growth rate, especially in Africa. Data also shows that a leader’s foreign education is positively correlated with his country’s economic freedom. Despite the fact that the regressions can only demonstrate correlation as opposed to causation relationships among variables, further analysis of the results concludes that a leader’s education and the country’s development are reciprocal. The findings of this paper …

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Disillusionment And Disaggregation: Why Did Asian Americans Vote For Trump?, Catalina Huamei Huang Jan 2017

Disillusionment And Disaggregation: Why Did Asian Americans Vote For Trump?, Catalina Huamei Huang

CMC Senior Theses

In one of the most controversial and interesting election cycles in American history, Republican nominee, Donald Trump prevailed over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. To many, his victory was shocking, if not completely unexpected, yet the circumstances that catalyzed such a defeat lie in the characteristics of his supporters, made up of several classes, races, and identities. Among them are the multifaceted Asian American population – diverse ethnically and politically. This thesis aims to unravel the reasons for which many Asian Americans gave their vote to Trump on November 8, 2016 through distinctions between their ethnic groups and demographics. It …

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The Efficacy Of Biofeedback And Its Use Towards Adhd, Darius Witold Bieganski Jan 2017

The Efficacy Of Biofeedback And Its Use Towards Adhd, Darius Witold Bieganski

CMC Senior Theses

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a psychopathology commonly characterized by general inattentiveness and/or a lack of impulse control resulting in hyperactive tendencies. ADHD is estimated to cost the United States roughly $266 billion every year. ADHD is currently treated via medications, cognitive behavioral therapy, or more recently, neurofeedback. Neurofeedback – and biofeedback in general – is the process of providing a patient with information about autonomic bodily functions so that they may control said autonomic function. In the case of ADHD, neurofeedback focuses on reinforcing the behaviors and sensations associated with attentiveness. Currently however, neurofeedback systems are large and …

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Determinants Of Organ Donor Registration Rates Among Young Americans, Syed Umar Farooq Jan 2017

Determinants Of Organ Donor Registration Rates Among Young Americans, Syed Umar Farooq

CMC Senior Theses

In this paper I examine the factors that affect the likelihood an individual is a registered organ donor. Unlike many studies which focus on subpopulations in specific regions, I utilize national data to get a broader assessment of individuals from around the country across a number of racial and religious classifications. Using a probit model and controlling for a variety of parameters, I find that some racial and religious variables are negatively and significantly associated with organ donor registration rates, while education and being female are positively associated with organ donor registration rates. I conclude by discussing the implications of …

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Are Oil Prices Important To U.S. Manufacturers?, Austin Perez Schoff Jan 2017

Are Oil Prices Important To U.S. Manufacturers?, Austin Perez Schoff

CMC Senior Theses

Very little has been written about the effect that oil prices have on manufacturing output in the United States. This paper aims to shed light about the effect of oil prices, oil imports, and GDP on U.S. manufacturing output through a four-variable vector autoregression and explain the timing of these shocks through impulse response functions. Empirical results find that oil prices are significant in determining manufacturing output, but manufacturing output is also significant in determining oil prices.

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The Interconnection Of The Great Recession, Income Disparity, Segregated Metropolitan Districts, And Their Significance To All In The U.S., Marcellus Demer Jan 2017

The Interconnection Of The Great Recession, Income Disparity, Segregated Metropolitan Districts, And Their Significance To All In The U.S., Marcellus Demer

CMC Senior Theses

In the United States, nobody can survive without depending on the income of oneself or of those that support them. Thus, economic opportunity and its skewed availability is pertinent to everyone. With income inequality in the United States measured in the early 2010s reaching some of the highest estimates among nations around the globe, people seek to investigate the forces behind this phenomenon and reverse it. This paper focuses on some of the many cycles and structures that exist to reinforce the challenges of achieving economic equality. Specifically, I extrapolate data to measure the correlations between the Great Recession and …

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Institutional Development: Interpreting The Russian Case, Joshua W. Rooney Jan 2017

Institutional Development: Interpreting The Russian Case, Joshua W. Rooney

CMC Senior Theses

A fundamental question to both historians and development economists is why countries today are able to reach and maintain such starkly different economic outcomes. Popular explanations include geographic and climatological features, short-term policy decisions, and economic institutions. This paper looks at the importance of violence and social pressure in the transformation and conservation of political and economic institutions in Russia. It finds that several major historical legacies including serfdom, Mongol dominance, Orthodoxy, and authoritarianism significantly influence both the past a present institutional setting. Furthermore, such legacies have proven to be major obstructions to the emergence of economic liberalism.

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An Evolution Of The Kurdish Issue In Turkey: Beyond A State-Centric Perspective, Jack Adolfson Jan 2017

An Evolution Of The Kurdish Issue In Turkey: Beyond A State-Centric Perspective, Jack Adolfson

CMC Senior Theses

The left-wing Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) began its violent insurgency campaign against the Turkish state in 1984, claiming that an independent Kurdistan should exist. However, the origins of this conflict can be traced back even further – to the inception of the Turkish Republic in 1923. This thesis begins by investigating the history of how the conflict between the Kurdish and Turkish political frameworks escalated, exploring the concept of “Turkishness” as an element of a homogeneous nation-state. The paper then assesses the effects of a range of exclusionary measures adopted by the Turkish state (beyond punitive military responses in southeastern …

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A Journey To New Narratives: How Sri Lankan Migrant Women Challenge Perceptions Through Resistance, Kimaya De Silva Jan 2017

A Journey To New Narratives: How Sri Lankan Migrant Women Challenge Perceptions Through Resistance, Kimaya De Silva

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis draws on ethnographic research carried out with a group of returned Sri Lankan migrant women who migrated for employment to the Middle East. This retrospective ethnography, based on their time working abroad, brings forth ideas of silent resistance and hidden weapons of women from developing countries, and intends to work against dominant discourses like the human trafficking framework which deems migrant women ‘victims’ of the system of migration, largely ignoring the agency that they exercise throughout the process. The ethnography argues that resistance and resilience are better frameworks with which to characterise the experiences of migrant women. The …

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