Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Deep Learning Reveals Extent Of Archaic Native American Shell-Ring Building Practices, Dylan Davis, Gino Capsari, Carl P. Lipo, Matthew Sanger

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

In the mid-Holocene (5000 - 3000 cal B.P.), Native American groups constructed shell rings, a type of circular midden, in coastal areas of the American Southeast. These deposits provide important insights into Native American socioeconomic organization but are also quite rare: only about 50 such rings have been documented to date. Recent work using automated LiDAR analysis demonstrates that many more shell rings likely exist than are currently recorded in state archaeological databases. Here, we use deep learning, a form of machine intelligence, to detect shell ring deposits and identify their geographic range in LiDAR data from South Carolina. We …

The Impact Of Socioeconomic Status (Ses) On Cognitive Outcomes Following Radiotherapy For Pediatric Brain Tumors: A Prospective, Longitudinal Trial, Victoria A. Torres, Jason M. Ashford, Evelyn Wright, Jiahui Xu, Hui Zhang, Thomas E. Merchant, Heather M. Conklin

Faculty and Student Publications

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) is a determinant of cognitive and academic functioning among healthy and ill children; however, few pediatric oncology studies examine SES and long-Term cognitive functioning. The current study systematically investigated SES as a predictor of cognitive outcomes among children treated for localized brain tumors (BT) with photon radiation therapy (RT). Methods: 248 children treated on a prospective, longitudinal, phase II trial of conformal RT (54-59.4 Gy) for ependymoma, low-grade glioma, or craniopharyngioma were monitored serially with cognitive assessments (intelligence quotient [IQ], reading, math, attention, adaptive function) for 10 years (2209 observations, median age at RT = 6.6 …

Ua52/1 Out Of The Box, Wku Archives

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by and about WKU Archives and the records management program.

Support For Me Assessment Of Substance Use Treatment And Recovery Services Current Infrastructure And Future Needs: Summary Of Feedback From The Support For Me Community Focus Groups (Condensed), Katie Rosingana Ba, Mary Lindsey Smith Phd, Evelyn Ali Bs, Karen Pearson Mlos, Ma, Tyler Egeland Ba, Mark Richards Bs

Substance Use Research & Evaluation

In 2019, Maine’s Department of Health & Human Services received a $2.1 million grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) SUPPORT Act, establishing the SUPPORT for ME initiative within the Office of MaineCare Services. The primary goal of this planning grant is to increase MaineCare providers’ capacity to deliver Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services for Medicaid beneficiaries. In collaboration with Maine DHHS, the Cutler Institute conducted a series of virtual focus groups in Maine as part of a needs assessment for the SUPPORT for ME initative. These focus groups were conducted regionally by Public …

An Analysis Of A Canadian Framework Of Police Response’S On Sexual Assaults: Victim Advocate Case Review Program, Ardiana Berisha

MPA Major Research Papers

One in five sexual assault cases reported to police are deemed to be baseless by investigating officers and are therefore coded as “unfounded”. High rates of unfounded sexual assault cases have revealed significant flaws within the justice system as women’s stories are disbelieved by the police. Coding sexual assault cases as unfounded has become common practice amongst police services across Canada as police officers continue to dismiss sexual violence against women. Police officers play a crucial role as they are the first point of contact within the justice system that determine whether an offence has been committed. Police services across …

Recruiting Gen Z Workers To Ontario Municipalities: A Study Of How Ontario Municipalities Can Improve Recruitment Strategies To Attract Gen Z Workers, Kaitlin Bos

MPA Major Research Papers

The generational shift from Millennials to Generation Z (Gen Z) is perhaps the most critical generational shift for modern day municipalities. While Generation Y, Millennials, and the generations before them continue to play a key role in the direction and success of local government organizations. It is important to analyze the trends of the incoming generation of workers to ensure long-term success and prosperity. This research report revolves around the research question, “How can Ontario municipalities improve their recruitment strategies to attract Generation Z workers?” Ontario municipalities must recognize the values of Gen Z’s and reconfigure their external recruitment practices …

Maximizing Electoral Participation: How Accessibility And Outreach Factors Impact Electoral Participation In Online Elections, Christopher Casale

MPA Major Research Papers

Online voting in Canadian municipalities has proven to result in at least some moderate increase in the number of individuals participating in a given election. What is less apparent is how the implementation of these voting solutions affects voter turnout. This paper seeks to answer the question, what accessibility and outreach factors maximize voter turnout in online elections. This text will analyze six Ontario municipalities who have implemented internet voting for the first time in 2018. Assessing the effectiveness of their voter engagement strategies for that election period.

What Is The Best Leadership Style To Confront Anti-Black Racism And Advance Racial Equity In Transit Organizations?, André Darmanin

MPA Major Research Papers

The author conducts the research question explaining their curiosity on which leadership style is the most appropriate to tackle anti-Black racism and advance racial equity. The preliminary investigation will utilize existing research, including Gooden’s (2014) theory of nervousness within public administrators and organizations, combined with transformational and adaptive leadership styles. Looking at the organizational structure and challenges of operating a large organization like the Toronto Transit Commission is the example used for this research. The research will show that using an adaptive leadership style is the most effective in eradicating Anti-Black racism and advancing racial equity in transit organizations. The …

The Financial And Environmental Viability Of Municipally Operated Hybrid Ambulance Fleets In Ontario: Calculating The Return-On-Investment Of Hybrid Ambulance Assets In Oxford County From 2017-2021, Stephen Edwards

MPA Major Research Papers

On October 26, 2017 Oxford County became the first municipality in Canada to deploy gasoline-electric hybrid ambulances as part of their Community Sustainability Plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting low-carbon transportation. The Oxford solution utilizes aftermarket hybrid electric-gasoline propulsion systems that leverage two primary technologies: regenerative braking, which uses the inertia of the vehicle to store energy in a battery cell during deceleration; and acceleration assist, which uses this stored energy to assist propulsion of the vehicle during acceleration events and thereby reduces gasoline consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Due to high demand for aftermarket hybrid propulsion …

Strategic Management In Ontario Regional Government: Evaluating The Factors For Successful Policy Implementation For Intensification And Infrastructure Investment, Valerie Hendry

MPA Major Research Papers

In this study, I identify the strategic management factors for successful policy implementation for intensification and infrastructure investment in regional governments. These factors include organizational capacities, administrative leadership within government, and administrative governance. To examine these themes, I employed a qualitative case study analysis to evaluate how certain strategic management factors and processes influence regional government decisions and outcomes related to the prioritization of water and sewer infrastructure investment in intensification areas to comply with the provincial 2006 Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The case study uses strategic management theory to help to analyze and explain observed data …

Accountability: Understanding The Effect Of Governance Structures On Land Ambulance Services In Ontario, Connected By Consolidated Municipal Services Management (Cmsm) Agreements, Michael Longeway

MPA Major Research Papers

Ontario has seen significant changes across the municipal landscape, including the realignment of service responsibilities. One of the products of this realignment was the introduction of the CMSM program in 1998, which saw local municipalities take on the responsibilities for many services, including land ambulance. Land ambulance is an important life-saving service (Aringhieri et al. 2017). Decision-makers must ensure that such services must be delivered with optimal performance. As a public service in Ontario, this includes democratic performance. Crucial to the anchorage of democratic performance is accountability. Accountability is a transaction of information, dialogue, and rewards/sanctions (Brandsma and Schillemans 2012). …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Library Board Governance: An Analysis Of Public Library Board Meeting Processes And Participation In Canada In 2020, Sarah Macintyre

MPA Major Research Papers

In March 2020, provincial and municipal governments in Canada implemented measures to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, municipalities had to quickly transition to holding their public meetings in new ways. Some organizations moved to teleconference meetings, while others used videoconferencing software. Public libraries were no exception to this, and library boards began holding their public board meetings electronically. The aims of this study are threefold: First, to identify what methods were used to hold electronic public library board meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, second, to determine whether such methods resulted in a change in public …

Monitoring & Evaluation Content In Municipal Official Plans: An Assessment Of Plan Quality & Implementation Actions, Owen Mccabe

MPA Major Research Papers

Municipal official plans are important tools in the Province of Ontario’s land use planning system. As documents that guide how communities manage change, they are a central element of planning practice and important objects of research. Official plans are not static – they are updated regularly as part of a plan-making cycle that includes issue identification, policy development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. This research paper is focussed on the monitoring and evaluation aspect of the plan-making cycle, and specifically, the content in municipal official plans that addresses and guides these practices. It builds on the existing plan quality and …

Political Practice: The Career Mobility And Ambitions Of Local Councillors, Rachel Nauta

MPA Major Research Papers

This research project explores the career ambitions of local politicians to seek office at higher levels of government. Testing theories from existing political ambition research in other jurisdictions, the paper explores factors of political ambition in Ontario through a survey of first-time local councillors and an archival study of past multi-level political careers. Success in politics can follow many paths, but results from the survey indicate that councillors who were younger, male, extraverted, and involved in partisan political activities were more likely to have ambitions for higher office. Further, while American political careers tend to move upward from local to …

Watching But Unseen? An Evaluation Of The Transparency Of The Online Presence Of Integrity Commissioners In Ontario, Kirby Oudekerk

MPA Major Research Papers

The expected benefits of transparency in government, such as increased public engagement and trust, are well established. Transparency also enables a better accounting of elected officials by the public, but this accounting depends on having rules in place and someone responsible for enforcing those rules. The Ontario government took steps to provide this for local governments in Ontario when it permitted municipalities to create codes of conduct and to hire a municipal Integrity Commissioner to enforce those codes. However, the ultimate accountability is delivered by the voting public during municipal elections and, in order for this political accountability regime to …

Does Long Term Strategic Planning Lead To Improved Financial Performance? A Case Study In Ontario Municipalities, Renato Pullia

MPA Major Research Papers

This research looks at nine municipalities in Ontario that either have or have not adopted a strategic plan of 10+ years and a long-term financial plan of 5+ years, and assesses their financial change based on a set of financial criteria at two different points in time, 2000 and 2019. Using statistical analysis and longitudinal comparison, the research aims to test the hypothesis that strategic planning with a 10+ years’ time horizon provides a framework for longer-term financial decision-making, including strategies and key actions to facilitate multi-year, integrated, strategic decision-making, and provides more financially sound municipal entities than those municipalities …

Examining Connected And Automated Vehicle (Cav) Policy In Ontario: A Modified Multiple Streams Framework Analysis, James Scott

MPA Major Research Papers

This research paper utilizes Kingdon’s (1984) Multiple Streams Framework to systematically analyze influential agenda-setting variables in the policy domain of connected and automated vehicles (CAV) in Ontario, Canada. The paper also leverages the Five Stream Confluence Model, a model which builds on the Multiple Streams Framework and is designed by Howlett et al. (2015) to analyze policy formation. The two foundational research questions that will guide the overall direction of this paper are: (1) What influenced Ontario to be the first province in Canada to legislate connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) in 2015? (2) Have influential agenda-setting variables translated through …

Determinants Of Success: The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority, Michaela Sferrazza

MPA Major Research Papers

Water security and access within First Nations communities entails a complex set of issues. However, this does not excuse government authorities’ inadequacies to address the inequity among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada regarding access to safe water. The Human Rights Watch describes access to safe drinking water “as a fundamental human right easily enjoyed by most Canadians” (Human Rights Watch 2016), and one that is integral to health and wellbeing. Many Indigenous communities have long been lacking access to clean, potable water which has many socio-economic implications. In a 2012 article written by White et al., they articulate that …

Alternative Revenue Generation In Ontario Municipalities: The Utilization Of Municipal Accommodation Tax (Mat), Hayley Watts

MPA Major Research Papers

In recent years the Province of Ontario has enabled municipalities to adopt accommodation taxes as a revenue generating tool. There is an absence of data in Canada as to what this revenue is being utilized for. Most of the literature on the topic comes out of the United States and Europe, where hotel and accommodation taxes have been commonplace for many years, although a lot of the research focuses on the impacts of accommodation taxes on tourism. Hypothesising that the accommodation tax in Ontario is being utilized as a revenue-generating tool to offset other line items in municipal budgets, this …

Aging In Place In Rural Canada: A Policy Analysis Of Aging In Place Across Canada, Aleah Whalen

MPA Major Research Papers

This research paper attempts to answer the question of: how rural municipalities are preparing for an aging population across Canada? A random sample of one hundred rural municipalities were selected and analyzed for their availability of an aging policy. The aging policies adopted by municipalities are measured to demonstrate aging community planning preparedness from the Age-Friendly Rural and Remote Communities: A Guide. Realizing the impact of an aging population, demonstrates a need for addressing specific senior care at the local level. The findings of this study suggest that small rural municipalities are not preparing equally to meet the identified needs …

The Truth(S) Behind “True Crime”: Examining The Role Of Narrative In The Retellings Of The Rafay Family Murders, Samantha L. Richard

FIMS Major Projects and Creative Projects

In April of 1995, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) launched their second ever “Mr. Big” operation: one that involves an intricate interrogation technique designed to elicit a confession from suspected criminals in cases where physical evidence cannot link the accused to the crime. The targets of this operation were suspected murderers Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay. The highly publicized case was discussed extensively through traditional news coverage, as well as in various stories of the true crime genre. Through the use of narrative theory, this paper examines the role of narrative in the retelling of the Rafay family murders. …

A Novel Three-Choice Touchscreen Task To Examine Spatial Attention And Orienting Responses In Rodents, Faraj L. Haddad, Maryam Ghahremani, Cleusa De Oliveira, Ella E. Doornaert, Kevin D. Johnston, Stefan Everling, Susanne Schmid

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Mammalian orienting behavior consists of coordinated movements of the eyes, head, pinnae, vibrissae, or body to attend to an external stimulus. The present study aimed to develop a novel operant task using a touch-screen system to measure spatial attention. In this task, rats were trained to nose-poke a light stimulus presented in one of three locations. The stimulus was presented more frequently in the center location to develop spatial attention bias toward the center stimulus. Changes in orienting responses were detected by measuring the animals’ response accuracy and latency to stimuli at the lateral locations, following reversible unilateral chemogenetic inactivation …

Emerging Unconventionally; The Mavericks: An Analysis On The Development Of Western Canadian Political Parties Through Canada’S Newest Federal Party – The Maverick Party Of Canada, David Carlson

MA Major Research Papers

Born in 2020 Alberta, the Maverick Party is a new regionally focused federal party that

advocates for constitutional change that will "benefit the west." This party is being studied to

understand better the role it will have in Canadian politics.

Killer Robots On Trial: Autonomous Weapons Systems In The Context Of International Law, Mikaela Heck

MA Major Research Papers

Killer robots are no longer a facet of science fiction, but rather an imminent reality. The development of autonomous weapons systems (AWS) has been something states and military operations have been working towards to build their arsenal and change the landscape of conflict. With this changing landscape, these AWS fit within public international law in a unique way, existing somewhere in between a weapon and a combatant. With increased autonomy and diminished human control over their behaviour, AWS present an interesting dilemma to existing international legal structures, as they are typically written in a fashion designed to be adhered by …

Through The Lens Of The Eaat Facility Manager: Benefits Of Equine-Assisted Activities And Therapies To College-Aged Students, Annalee Parker

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study aimed to explore and gather information on the benefits of equine assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) to college-aged students so that the information may be given to college students as an educational source and a mental health relief resource. This study strived to explore, through the lens of managers of EAAT organizations and their coworkers, how EAAT has positively affected college-aged students, including those with PTSD, behavioral problems, communication obstacles, Down syndrome, family differences, abusive relationships, depression, anxiety, and/or physical ailments. As a whole, EAAT is viewed as more of a recreational activity rather than a method of …

Local Matters! Community-Based Organizations, Changemaking, And The Food System, Tessa Lance

Capstone Projects – Politics and Government

This paper begins by discussing and distinguishing the various food movements: food security, food justice, and food sovereignty. Utilizing social capital theory and the principles of food sovereignty, this paper brings attention to the power of community-based organizations (CBOs) and highlights their unique positioning within the food system. This paper analyzes a sample of community-based organizations working within the food system in the United States of America. Drawing upon original data collected through interviews with nine individuals associated with different CBOs working within the food system, this research finds that CBOs are uniquely suited to make change in their local …

Inexperienced Or Anti-Establishment? Voter Preferences For Outsider Congressional Candidates, Eric Hansen, Sarah Treul

Political Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Do US voters prefer inexperienced candidates? Candidates who have never held elected office before have had greater success in recent presidential and congressional elections. However, it could be that voters prefer the type of anti-establishment rhetoric that such candidates use more than the lack of experience itself. We conduct a 2x2 factorial experiment that manipulates a fictitious congressional candidate’s experience and rhetoric toward the political system. Results from a nationally representative Qualtrics sample and two follow-up studies from Mechanical Turk show that respondents evaluate the candidate more positively when he uses anti-establishment rhetoric instead of pro-establishment rhetoric. Though the findings …

Priorities For Jei Committee, Kelleen Maluski

Project Planning Documentation

No abstract provided.

The Intentionality Of Confronting Racism, Systemic Oppression, And Cyclical Trauma In Counselor Education: A Self-Study, Kara Ieva, Michael D. Hannon, Linwood G. Vereen

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

Using self-study methodology, the researchers sought to understand their practices in developing school counselors and counselor educators who acknowledge and resist anti-Black racism and marginalization to prevent harm through complacency. Given counselor education’s existence as overwhelmingly White and Eurocentric, the authors investigate disrupting the heteronormative structures inherent in counseling and the academy with the prioritizing of race, systemic inequities, and cyclical trauma in their faculty roles (e.g., teaching, supervising, and service) in efforts to shift a profession slow to address society’s ever-changing mental health needs. The team of counselor educators from different states in the northeast use a thematic analysis …

Systematics Of Eastern North American Podothrombium (Parasitengona: Podothrombiidae), Kelsey Lynn Cline

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Velvet mites of the genus Podothrombium Berlese, 1910 are found worldwide with only two described species known from North America, both occurring on the west coast. The present study describes five new species occurring in the east, from both larval and post-larval stages. Species hypotheses are supported with morphology and analysis of mitochondrial (barcoding region of COI) and nuclear genes (D2-3 expansion regions of 28S rDNA). Specimens are incorporated from the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD), allowing our dataset to span most of North America. Therefore, we were able to raise the number of Podothrombium in North America from …