Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

East Texas Council Of Governments: Gobus Fare Collection, Melissa Cure

Certified Public Manager® Applied Research

The purpose of this research paper is to provide the decision makers at the East Texas Council of Governments GoBus rural transit system with information as a basis for the future of how fares are collected, and to look for ways to resolve problems in our current fare collection method. The main issue involves accepting cash and checks because of the large service region GoBus Transit covers. GoBus depends on the bus operators to collect fares and make deposits, which becomes a major problem with accounting. As listed on the official website of SWARCO, an Austrian technology company, an “Automated …

An Occupational Therapy Approach To Education For Foster Parents, Alexandra E. Judd, Susan Macdermott, Becki Cohill

Spring 2020 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The focus of this project is to enhance current programming for foster parent pre-licensure education courses in San Diego, California. This capstone project focused on the preferred learning styles of foster parents and utilized adult learning theories to create suggestions to enhance the current pre-licensure class curriculum. Data collected during verbal interviews with foster parents helped guide the suggestions to enhance the current curriculum. Utilizing specific occupational therapy group strategies, occupational therapists can help enhance education for foster parents by increasing the saliency of the learning material. The increased saliency facilitates a deeper understanding of the material and increases the …

Reading A Literary Passage: Anticipation, Emotion, And Comprehension, Jacob Hurwitz

Honors Theses

Trigger warnings (TWs) are statements that provide students a caution that upcoming educational content may be emotionally disturbing. The idea is that TWs allow students to psychologically prepare themselves. However, recent studies suggest TWs may function as threat cues, rather than preparatory cues, eliciting anticipatory anxiety and avoidance. The present study examined the difference between presenting antecedent information to students in the form of a TW versus an alternative, a coping cue, introduced as a Content Notice. In a between-groups design, undergraduate students (N = 113) who received extra credit for study participation were randomized to receive a TW or …

Sustainability Trends In Higher Education: An Analysis Of The International Journal Of Sustainability In Higher Education, Jessica Poling

Honors Theses

Since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, human activities have substantially harmed the biosphere and, if continued, pose a substantial risk to life on Earth. Recognizing this, educated people have advocated widespread adoption of sustainable practices and, in particular, have increased the amount of sustainability efforts associated with higher education. The International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, established in 2000, is devoted to such practices. For my honors thesis, I examined articles published in the journal from 2010 through 2019 to determine the countries, and the institutions within those countries, that were the primary contributors to the journal. …

How Has The Implementation Of Body Worn Cameras Affected Law Enforcement In Texas?, John Brown

Certified Public Manager® Applied Research

Since 2011, when the first body worn camera program for police officers in the United States was introduced in Rialto, California, researchers have been interested in how such programs might influence U.S. law enforcement. Studies in the past several years have examined various aspects of the effects of body worn cameras, including their impact on public relations, police morale, and law enforcement budgets. Also of note is the importance of police compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and the unique challenges presented by body worn camera records with regard to FOIA. This article seeks to determine the effect …

Closing The 911 Funding Gap: Increasing Revenues For 911 Emergency Dispatch Centers, Randy Ross

Certified Public Manager® Applied Research

Since their introduction, 911 services have grown both in geographic scope and in the level of service provided. The revenue used to fund 911 services consists almost entirely of fees and surcharges on wireline, wireless, and Voice-over-Internet-Protocol telephone lines. These fees and surcharges generate billions of dollars each year, but 911 service revenues still fall short of estimated annual costs. Expenditures for personnel and for technology maintenance and upgrades have also increased over time. American consumers’ use of telephone lines has shifted from primarily wireline telephone lines to primarily wireless and Internet-based telephone lines with smaller fees and surcharges, contributing …

Public Improvement Districts: A Worthwhile Investment?, John Whitsell

Certified Public Manager® Applied Research

Public Improvement Districts (PIDs) are a financing mechanism used to fund new developments and infrastructure improvements. PIDs are relatively easy to create and can be done by the local municipality. A majority of property owners within the district may petition a local government to create the district. Bonds can then be issued to fund a development or infrastructure improvements. Through an industry analysis and view of the current political environment, PIDs are certainly a beneficial mechanism to fund projects otherwise not feasible due to constraints on city budgets. Local elected officials will want PIDs monitored and only used in proper …

Conceptualizing Perceived Parental Communicated Acceptance During Parent-Child Religious Difference, Toni Morgan

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Significant religious difference in the family has become increasingly prevalent in recent years (Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2008; Pew Research Center, 2015). While religious difference is challenging for families to negotiate, the manner in which they communicate about it seems to be helpful in promoting positive outcomes (e.g., Colaner, Soliz, & Nelson, 2014; Hughes & Dickson, 2005). The purpose of this study was to conceptualize parental communicated (non)acceptance in the context of significant parent-child religious difference. To that end, I conducted interviews with 44 adults who identified a significant religious difference with their parent. The interviews also …

Learning From Those Who Served: Application Of Regression-Based Body Mass Estimation Methods To The Uss Oklahoma Population, Maxwell Rooney

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Current methodologies in body mass estimation are lacking in accuracy when compared to the methods of sex, age, and ancestry estimation familiar to forensic anthropologists. For this reason, the practical application of body mass estimation remains underutilized, hindering the study of a potentially advantageous aspect of the biological profile.

This study highlights body mass estimation in a forensic context while taking the osteological paradox into account through the utilization of a unique population: the US military personnel killed on the USS Oklahoma during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1942. Because these individuals were similar in age (adults, age …

When Rationing Becomes Part Of Clinical Decision-Making, Christopher A. Hopper, Mitra Bahaee

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A clinical practice-based reflection on Noack DP, Newton G. Compared to maximal current management standards, oscillating positive expiratory pressure devices have not been shown to improve clinically relevant outcomes in COPD patients with acute exacerbation. Clin. Res. Prac. 2017;3(2):eP1516. doi: 10.22237/crp/149886732.

Who Supports Wealth Redistribution? Self-Interest, Symbolic Politics And American Exceptionalism Approaches Towards 1990 Public Opinion, Maggie Wood

Global Tides

Economic inequality has been significantly rising in the United States, making it the most unequal advanced industrialized democracy. Understanding factors that influence public attitudes towards inequality and potential remedies such as redistribution of wealth, gives a reference point for tracking subsequent preference-policy links. This research utilizes survey data from the 1990 General Social Survey to explore factors influencing preferences towards redistribution as gross wealth consolidation among the top 10% was only starting to remerge. Empirically applying theories of economic self-interest, symbolic politics and American exceptionalism to wealth redistribution preferences, the research finds economic self-interest as having the biggest role in …

Crude Awakening: The International Politics Of Oil, Hanna Price

Global Tides

Since its modern-day discovery in northwestern Pennsylvania in the 1850s, rock oil has revolutionized the modern international political economy. This natural resource quickly caught the attention of civilians and states the world over, as people began to realize the true potential of oil as a means to power the life changing industrial revolution and bring forth new technology and innovations. However, what began as a resource which brought life, fueling the operations of modern day cities, has transitioned into a resource which breeds death, as it fuels civil wars, greed, and corruption.

In the context of oil, this paper examines …

The Impact Of Social Influences On Msum Students' Decision To Go To College, Jenna Ellertson

Student Academic Conference

With a cultural image that portrays a “college for all” mantra, there are a variety of measures that may be impactful on one’s decision to go to college. This paper focuses on Minnesota State University Moorhead students’ narratives around social influences and pressure to continue their education through the means of a four-year degree. It was found that areas of social impact were based on the influences of family, friends, media, and the American dream in relation to one’s self-identity and future aspirations. In terms of individual decisions towards college, major choice and university location were almost exclusively made independently.

The Role Of The Prison-Industrial Complex In Demilitarization, Corporate Outsourcing, & Immigration Policy, Shellie Shimmel

History in the Making

The traditional system of justice in the United States, based on the goals of retribution, incapacitation, rehabilitation, deterrence, and restitution, has been replaced with a corporate model of mass punishment based on profits, expediency, and the exploitation of free labor. This corporation is known as the “Prison-Industrial Complex” (“PIC”), and is made up of an enormous, interweaving system of correctional institutions, profit-driven corporations, and politicians. Some question whether the builders of the Prison-Industrial Complex could have predicted the outcome of their actions, but in fact their actions were orchestrated to produce certain results. Corporate executives and politicians are well educated …

Racial Theory: José Martí, José Vasconelos, And The Beliefs That Shaped Latin America, Jose Renteria

History in the Making

This essay compares and contrasts the racial theories of José Martí and José Vasconcelos. It analyzes the social conditions each experienced in their respective time period and location, as well as explaining how such exposures led to their racial understandings and political agendas. The study primarily reveals how nationalistic movements developed due to their influential ideologies, and how both intellectuals influenced other prominent Latin American figures. Lastly, it sheds light on the elements of Martí’s and Vasconcelos’ ideals that continue to survive.

International Impact Of The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use Of Data (Cloud) Act And Suggested Amendments To Improve Foreign Relations, Jordan A. Klumpp

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Vegetarians Versus Vegans, Hannah Kaplan

Senior Honors Theses

There is a gap in literature related to studies that explicitly compare vegetarians to vegans, as existing studies typically group these diets together and examine carnivorous and omnivorous diets in order to identify similarities and differences. The purpose of this study is to look at vegetarian and vegan diets to see if differences in attitudes towards animals, perceptions of animal usage, consumption, and morality exist. Participants included vegetarian and vegan Liberty University students (graduate and undergraduate, online and residential) who were at least 18 years old. Overall, one hundred students took part in the study, 50 of them were vegetarian …

Mosaic Of China Through Animated Films Chn 560, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Fighting Waste And Feeding People: Exploring The Context Of Campus Food Waste And Student Recovery Efforts, Sarah Becker, Max Stout, Maddie Kuklentz, Savona Cerra

Environment and Sustainability Presentations

Wismer on Wheels is dedicated to our mission of not only reducing food waste on campus, but also reducing food insecurity in our wider community. The work of our team of over 35 student volunteers reflects that dedication. This past year we became the official Food Recovery Network chapter for Ursinus, broadened outreach efforts on- and off-campus, and boosted food waste education, all while recovering unprecedented quantities of food. In this presentation, we celebrate the accomplishments of our dedicated volunteers while exploring deeper questions about food waste on the Ursinus campus. Why are we seeing such massive food recovery numbers …

Job Embeddedness, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is job embeddedness?

Job embeddedness refers to the extent to which employees are connected to their jobs through a social web. It includes three aspects, each of which is considered in light of the job or organization (“on-the-job embeddedness”) and the community (“off-the job embeddedness”): (a) links—the extent to which people have links to other people or activities, (b) fit—the extent to which their job and community are similar to or fit with the other aspects in their life space, and (c) sacrifice—what they would give up if they left, especially if they had to move to another city …

Helping Bereaved Students: The Effects Of Early Traumatic Loss And The Role Of School Personnel And Supportive Services, Sarah Moss, Breanna Couts, Etienne Hopkinson, Emily Jobson, Oliviah Rachael, Abigail Danzig, Gabriella Demelfi, Taylor Pyle

Psychology Presentations

In 1998, Felitti et al. conducted a ground-breaking study that showed how ACES, or adverse childhood experiences, can have major psychological and physical effects not only in the early years, but throughout the lifespan. This study focused primarily on 10 ACES (see chart). Our studies have been investigating whether grief and loss are also ACEs with similar consequences. If so, school personnel and other educators may be in a unique position to support bereaved students.

Spartan Daily, April 22, 2020, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2020

Volume 154, Issue 36

Cash For Gold: An Economic Analysis Of The Olympic Games, Connor De Faber-Schumacher

Business and Economics Presentations

No abstract provided.

Residential Segregation By Caste In The Indian States Of Gujarat And Karnataka, Alicia Terrero

Global Studies Student Scholarship

Major: Global Studies and Political Science

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Trina Vithayathil, Global Studies

This project looks at the Indian states of Gujarat and Karnataka and tries to identify why Gujarat has a higher degree of residential segregation than Karnataka. One factor that could explain this is the difference in level of solidarity at the subnational level for both states. Based on social expenditure data and inequality data, we find that Karnataka has higher levels of support for policies that further the collective good of the subnational (i.e. Kannada within Karnataka) community. This higher level of subnationalism and unity across social …

The Vulnerability Of Chronic Stress: Implications For Feeling Like Giving Up, Miranda Jany

Theses

The feeling of learned helplessness has been associated with prolonged stress and trauma. Additionally, many previous studies have examined the relationship between stress and decreased feelings of control, such as self-efficacy and locus of control. However, these forms of control have been primarily self-reported. The present study aimed to investigate the relationships among learned helplessness, chronic stressors, and self-agency using a computer-based task. We also measured heart rate variability (HRV) during the self-agency task to assess psychophysiological correlates of these variables. Seventy-four participants completed a series of questionnaires that were used to assess lifelong stressors (e.g., exposure to natural disasters, …

Ua3/10/2 Covid-19 Update, Wku President's Office - Caboni

WKU Administration Documents

Email from WKU president Timothy Caboni to faculty & staff regarding Covid-19 pandemic.

Ua94/6/1 My Story: Wku Softball's Morgan Mcelroy, Morgan Mcelroy

Student/Alumni Personal Papers

My Story is a series of first-person feature articles written by WKU student-athletes. The student-athletes will be telling their own stories in their own words. This article written by softball senior Morgan McElroy, whose career came to a sudden end last month between the team’s midweek game and weekend series in Texas.

Influences Of Salvinorin A And Sex Differences On Depressive- And Anxiety-Like Behaviors In A Chronic Mild Stress Paradigm, Sarah Mitchell

Theses

Kappa opioid receptors are colocalized with dopamine receptors and are frequently associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and drug use and abuse. KOR antagonism has widely been considered anti-depressive and anxiolytic in animal models while agonism is pro-depressive and anxiogenic. However, recent findings suggest that SalvA, a natural kappa agonist derived from a plant in the mint family, can reduce depressive- and anxiety-like behavior in rats. The current study investigated the effects of chronic mild stress on behavior, attenuation by SalvA, and sex differences. 52 Long-Evans rats, 26 males and 26 females, were exposed to six weeks of CMS. Animals received …

Call For Nominations, Wku Staff Senate

Staff Council

Call for nominations for election.

The Responsiveness Of Household’S Charitable Donations To Income Changes Across Religious Groups, Mitch Grenier

Economics Department Student Scholarship

This study examines the motivations behind the higher level of charitable donations by the religious by measuring the income elasticity of charitable donations separately for different religious groups and different charitable causes, such as religious organizations, organizations serving the needy or combined purpose organizations.