Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Extending Ab-1825 Training At Santa Clara Valley Water District, Heather Reiss

Master's Projects

In 2004 the California legislature passed AB-1825, Sexual Harassment Training and Education, Government Code 12950, which mandates that employers train all supervisors in the identification of sexual harassment, and ways to ensure that it does not occur in the workplace (Legislative Counsel, 2004). The Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) is a mission driven organization that is committed to providing excellent water services to the community. According to the Valley Water website (2018) “The mission of the District is to provide Silicon Valley with safe, clean water for a healthy life, environment, and economy” (Valley Water, 2018, web). As a …

The Correlation Between Enrollment Status And Graduation Rates Of Master Of Public Administration Programs, Jasmine Lorraine Ferrer

Master's Projects

Statement of the Problem

The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) is an international association of universities and colleges that grant professional master’s degrees in public policy, affairs and administration. In the academic year 2017-18 there were 301 member schools (NASPAA, 2017). NASPAA’s mission is to advocate for quality education in the field of public service (Kellough, 2014). NASPAA promotes the global standard in public service education by ensuring the quality of master’s degree programs in policy, administration, and public affairs of their member schools. This is evidenced by the association incorporating standards in their mission-based …

An Analysis Of Democracy’S Effect On E-Government Development Globally., Frank Bencomo

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This study looks to examine E-government’s relationship with Democracy on a global scale to assess the impact of how democratic a state is on how much it invests in E-government. I use the Economist’s democracy index and compare that to the United Nations E-government index in the years between 2008 to 2016 to find a pattern between the two factors. Once I identify the pattern, I use GDP per capita as a control variable to ensure that the relationship holds when how much capital a state has for each of its residents is taken into account. After that, I analyze …

Sports And Foreign Policy : President Jimmy Carter And The 1980 Moscow Olympics Boycott., Deserae Lane

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the efficacy of sporting boycotts as a foreign-policy tool. Government officials use sporting boycotts, a nontraditional form of a sanction, in contemporary politics. Using the Carter administration’s boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a case study, this thesis elucidates why President Carter chose to implement a sporting boycott, and whether the boycott was effective in achieving its intended goals. President Carter chose to boycott the Olympics because of the failure of past sanctions to force the Soviet Union from Afghanistan, the influence of his National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, and the …

Who Gets “Saved?” : Making Sense Of Racially Disparate Disciplinary Practices In Urban School Systems., Kala Brown

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The “racial discipline gap” describes the phenomenon in which black and brown youth disproportionately face exclusionary punishments in schools for instances of misbehavior. Despite the declining trends in youth violence, decades of research still show that this process ultimately leads to minority youth being processed through the courts for mostly non-violent offenses as part of the school-to-prison pipeline. This paper examines minority youth perspectives on disciplinary practices in secondary schools as responses to, and embedded within, bureaucratic practices in school disciplinary systems. Using a review of qualitative research studies and labeling theory as the primary framework for this investigation, I …

Child Labor : An Adaptive Strategy Among Syrian Refugees., Tasneem Karim

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This thesis investigates child labor as an adaptive strategy among Syrian refugees living in urban host communities in the Middle East. While research has shown an increasing prevalence of child labor in these communities, an anthropological investigation into how it manifests and why it persists is valuable in elucidating the implications of systemic barriers to socioeconomic success and the dissonances in discourse regarding child labor between families and aid workers. Accordingly, this research is based on transnational, multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork conducted in an urban host community in Irbid, Jordan, humanitarian/government offices in Irbid and Amman, Jordan, and the resettled Syrian …

Library Publishing Curriculum Sustainability Module: Self-Evaluation Rubric, Brian W. Keith, Laurie N. Taylor

Library Publishing Curriculum

This rubric can be used to assess the learner's knowledge and preparedness before and after their engagement with the Sustainability unit.

Library Publishing Curriculum Sustainability Module: Financial Basics (Unit 2), Instructor's Guide, Brian W. Keith, Laurie N. Taylor

Library Publishing Curriculum

Financial Basics provides an overview of budgeting and reporting in relation to projecting, predicting, and planning. This unit also addresses considerations for accounting for non-monetary goals, including intangible assets (goodwill) and diversity.

Library Publishing Curriculum Sustainability Module: Business Basics (Unit 1), Instructor's Guide, Brian W. Keith, Laurie N. Taylor

Library Publishing Curriculum

The Business Basics unit differentiates projects and programs, and introduces concepts and considerations around costs, funding, profit, and economies of scale and scope. This unit also connects ethical and business considerations for library publishing, and it discusses how to plan for the longevity of published materials. By covering these important building blocks for the management and assessment of operations, this unit will support a shared vocabulary for communicating with other non-library stakeholders regarding business operations.

Library Publishing Curriculum Sustainability Module: Staffing And Governance (Unit 3), Instructor's Guide, Brian W. Keith, Laurie N. Taylor

Library Publishing Curriculum

The Staffing unit provides an overview of position types, services and activities involved with staffing for library publishing, and types of staffing including external, outsourcing, contract workers, and employees. This unit addresses staffing along with considerations for staffing practices including diversity and ethical practices.

Choose Your Own Adventure: An Analysis Of Gender Inequality In Higher Education, Topaz Szewczok, Bethany Parslow

Senior Honors Projects

This project explores how gender inequality in contemporary society impacts the individual’s experiences in their career path, especially in regards to higher education. We document experiences that gender minorities have in their academic disciplines and gain insight on how individuals overcome or do not overcome being the gender minority. Our data come from in-depth interviews with college professors and survey responses from college students in gender segregated fields such as nursing, STEM, early education, and family studies. For this study, according to information gathered and published by the university, a “gendered field” at URI is determined by two thirds or …

Nutraceutrical Snack Prepared From Sprouted Rough Rice And Green Gram And Its Physichocemical Properties, In Vitro Glycemic Index, And Sensory Attributes, Rachel Browder

Food Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Snacks make up a large portion of the U.S. daily meals, but unhealthy snacks may be causing consumers to become overweight or obese. A healthy alternatives are germinated cereals and legumes, which undergo chemical compositional changes producing smaller size molecules for easier digestion and generate bioactives. Therefore, the objective of this research was to develop a healthy and nutritional snack chip from germinated, Arkansas produced rough rice and germinated green gram that will be easier for the body to digest, provide much higher protein than conventional chips or crackers with low on the glycemic index, and still meet consumer demands …

Evaluating “Discovery Bible Study” In An Evangelism Program At African Christian College, Floyd Vidler

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

The problem addressed in this project emerges from my understanding of evangelism. For me evangelism must include proclamation, discipleship, a reliance on the Holy Spirit, and the utilization of small groups. I see DBS as accomplishing these goals, and the problem of this work was to demonstrate whether this is true in the context of African Christian College and the surrounding area.

I used a method called participatory action research. I made it my goal to learn all that I could about DBS and then share this material in a classroom setting with my students at ACC. We then participated …

911: The First First-Responders And America's Unsung Heroes, Lyla Rose-Barwick

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The 911 Dispatch Center of Onondaga County is a vital link to emergency response personel and the public. These unsung heroes are often unacknowledged as they operate behind the scenes of every emergency situation. The 911 Dispatch Center spends a great deal of money on their recruitment process due to the psychological screening portion of the process. In the past, many of their applicants have gone through the process only to discover that they are not cut out for this kind of work. My production crew and I volunteered to help create a new recruitment film for the 911 Dispatch …

Proximate Environment, Prominent Impact, Stephanie Portmann

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Proximate Environment, Prominent Impact looks closely at the history and development of learning environments, and, more specifically, early childhood classrooms. While there is much debate around teacher versus child centered learning and pedagogies that have developed in the past century, this capstone focuses on the immediate environments of classroom spaces. I use history, architectural case studies, and scientific research to discuss the ways the physical environment of early childhood education classrooms can impact learning, well-being, and behavior.

All My Friends: A Short Film, Derrick Owens

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The film that I chose to make as my capstone project is a slice-of-life comedy entitled, All My Friends. The idea for the film was originally conceived back in the summer of 2017, and the process towards creating a final production has gone through numerous script revisions, a two-week long casting session, the assembly of a large crew and extras, and an intricate editing process. The film was shot digitally and the style was meant to emulate some of the most filmmakers I admire most including Richard Linklater, Alexander Payne, and Alfonso Cuarón. Like any collaborative creative work, the …

King For A Day, Joshua Feinblatt

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

King for a Day is a feature film script written by Joshua Feinblatt that follows a high school senior named Brian Fuller around as he becomes Principal for a day. Brian does not become Principal for a day because he wins a competition, rather, Brian takes over the office of his nemesis in the William Henry Harrison High School’s administration, Principal Valley. The script aims to be funny, clever, and playful, just like the main character. Brian is manipulative, cunning, and always one step ahead, but Principal Valley runs a tight ship and hasn’t missed a day in 30 years. …

Examining The Potential Of The “Csi Effect” To Create False Expectations In Jurors In Regard To Expert Testimony, Sarah Stewart

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The “CSI Effect” has been generally defined as the effect that watching forensic shows, such as the wildly popular, 15-season long television show CSI, has on the general public’s perception of forensic evidence presented at criminal trials. A major concern expert witnesses have is that the existence of the “CSI Effect” can affect the outcomes of the trials, over the strength of the case itself. Whether or not the defendant is guilty should not rest on how well the forensic evidence presented lived up to the jury’s expectations, and as such, the potential existence of this effect has been a …

The Influence Of Dispositional Greed On Creativity: A Conservation Of Resources Perspective, Allyson Tiriolo

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Although historical literatures view greed as an important factor affecting work effort and innovation, scholarly research examining such influences remain scant. Drawing from the principles of conservation of resources theory (COR), I predict dispositional greed will be negatively associated with individual creativity. In addition, I examine the potential for creative identity to weaken this negative relationship. The proposed model was tested among 161 matriculated students at a large Northeastern University. My results indicate no direct relationship between greed and creativity. Rather, my results indicate that the negative relationship between greed and creativity exists only when creative identity is low and …

Assessing Pre-Sleep Experiences In A Population Of Depressed And Non-Depressed College Students, Lawrencia Teris

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

A common symptom of depression is insomnia – yet it remains unclear why those with depression report difficulty sleeping and little is known about the pre-sleep experiences of those who are depressed. The aim of this paper is to compare pre-sleep experiences in people with and without depression on eight different types of sleep-disturbing experiences that people often have when they lie awake during the night. Eighty-seven undergraduate college participants including 34 with depression and 53 without depression completed daily surveys for 14 days on these pre-sleep experiences. Results indicated that those with depression reported significantly higher scores on thinking …

Understanding Obama's Rhetoric On Race: A Critical Analysis Of Key Speeches, Jennifer Sweet

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Throughout his time as President, Obama was criticized for not speaking more openly on race relations or issues of systemic racism. This paper offers an extensive rhetorical analysis of four speeches, the 2004 DNC Speech, the A More Perfect Union Speech, the 2008 Victory Speech, and the Selma 50th Anniversary Speech, that collectively provide insight into Obama’s rhetoric on race. Analyzing these speeches, and assessing their overall impact, I determine what motivated him to speak out when he did, and why he chose to frame racial issues in the way that he did. The major finding of this study is …

In What Areas And With What Successes The Participation In International Trade Agreements Affect Socio-Economic And Political Development In Brazil?, Alisa Sokolova

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This paper examines the effects of international trade agreements on Brazil’s socio-economic and political development. It specifically analyzes multilateral trade agreements such as Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), the World Trade Organization (WTO), bilateral agreement with the European Union and multilateral agreement with China, Russia, India and South-Africa (BRICS). This research uses Brazil as a case study because of its rapid growth, young democracy and important economic role it plays in the region and the world. The relatively recent date of Brazil’s trade liberalization, the 1991, allows comparing data on Brazil before and after it. The purpose of the research is …

What Does It Mean To Be A Man? The Social Construction Of Manhood, Sam Sinykin

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This Capstone project focuses upon the central theme of masculine expression in American society. It is a rhetorical analysis exploring the question of what it means to be a man in American society. The investigation provides evidence that dismantles the preconceived notions that masculinity can only be exhibited in conventional ways. Through the dissection of stereotypical masculine activities like playing football, joining the military, and pledging fraternities, and a study of the evolution of American film characters, the project suggests that the hegemonic masculine superiority complex is beginning to be challenged and reconfigured in present-day American society. The significance of …

Consumer-Brand Relationships: How And Why We Form Them, Kristian Perez

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Humans are inherently social creatures. For this reason, it is important to understand the role of social psychology in all other disciplines. This study focuses on the role of social psychology in marketing and brand management. The goal of any brand manager is to develop and foster a mutually beneficial relationship between brand and consumer. The nature of human relationships has been studied in the past and significant results have been found. The purpose of this study is to test if those results still occur when the relationship involves a brand rather than another person. Studies such as this one …

Amsterdam’S Red Light District And The Body Autonomy Of Sex Workers, Kathryn Pataki

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Can one’s sale of their own body ever be consensual? Is sex work inherently an act of violence against the body of which one buys? Feminists have puzzled over the politics of selling sex for as long as sex has been sold. While the selling of sex has been a polarizing feminist concern for decades, how are there so many mixed views that all are considered feminist in perspective? In analyzing the autonomy of sex workers, this paper focuses on the city of Amsterdam and its infamous Red Light District. Of importance in this inquiry is the examination of the …

Federal Circuit Courts’ Impact On Immigration Reform: An Analysis Of Judicial Ideology And Immigration Policy, Evanna Ojeda

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Regulation of immigration policy is an expressed power granted to the federal government in the Constitution; however, state and local governments often pass immigration policy legislation to address gaps in federal legislation. This research project seeks to understand the role of federal circuit courts ruling powers in determining the legal standing and substitute holding of merits for immigration policy regulation. By analyzing the political ideology of presiding judges and understanding the relationship between political ideology and judicial decision support for federal or state regulated policy, this project seeks to recognize the role of federal circuit courts in enhancing and shaping …

Accuracy Of Target Detection In Two Rsvp Tasks, Shealyn O'Halloran

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) is an experimental method in which participants are asked to detect a target within a sequence of stimuli, such as letters or numbers, in order to test the abilities of our visual systems. In previous RSVP studies, participants were above chance at recognizing a target at a very rapid rate of 13ms per item, even when given the target after presentation of the scene (Potter, Wyble, Hagmann, and McCourt, 2014). Researchers have also found that participants are more accurate in a single feature search condition than in a twofeature, or conjunction, condition in the spatial …

Fundraising Tools For Community-Based Housing Organizations In Syracuse, Ny: Collaboration With A Tiny Home For Good, Michelle Kincaid

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This Capstone is a two-part project that seeks to better understand the impediments to affordable housing development in Syracuse, New York and take action to ameliorate the problem with a local community-based housing organization. A Tiny Home for Good is a Syracuse-based nonprofit agency dedicated to ending the cycle of chronic homelessness. They do this by managing tiny homes and rent them to individuals who are facing or have faced homelessness. Their long-term goal is to build 50 homes by 2020. One problem facing their work is that they do not have enough money to achieve their long-term goals. Further, …

“When Are We Going Home?”: Home Attachment In The Bosnian Community Of Central New York, Amela Hrustic

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Following the Bosnian War, over 100,000 Bosnians were resettled in the United States and over 6,000 of these refugees were resettled in the Central New York cities of Syracuse and Utica. Since their resettlement, these Bosnians have managed to transform the cities into places they can now call “home”. This was partly done through the phenomenon of place attachment which is the affective link that individuals establish with places. Literature from the fields of anthropology, environmental psychology, and refugee studies was reviewed in order to build the background of this study and an ethnographic study was conducted from Fall 2017 …

Shame And Guilt Proneness Pre-Diagnostic Scale For Depression, Ptsd, And Suicidal Ideation In Active Duty Veterans, Elizabeth Fantini

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

PTSD was discovered in 1980 (Friedman, J. M., 2007), since then an increasing number of veterans and active duty soldiers have been affected by it. Not only have our soldiers been affected by PTSD but depression and suicidal ideation, the repercussions of war, combat zones or any type of severe stress felt while they were active duty. There are two key emotions linked to the diagnosis of PTSD, depression or suicidal ideation; guilt and shame. It has been concluded that guilt and shame both have effects of the diagnosis of PTSD, depression and suicidal ideation. There have been multiple studies …