Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Phenomenon Of Political Voluntarism In General Elections: Between Democracy, Political Participation, And Political Parties, Arlan Siddha, Dadan Kurnia, Lukman Munawar Fauzi

Jurnal Wacana Politik

This study examines the phenomenon of political voluntarism in the 2024 General Elections in Indonesia, focusing on its role in shaping voter engagement, democratic participation, and political mobilization. The presence of political voluntarism is considered crucial in advocating ideas, values, aspirations, and has an impact on vote acquisition due to its broader nature in reaching various voter segments. There are three pairs of candidates in the 2024 General Elections, each with political volunteers engaging in various activities to support the candidates, such as “Desak Anies,” “Slepet Imin,” “Joget Gemoy,” “Demok(e)asi,” and “Tabrak Prof!”. The research methodology employs a descriptive qualitative …

Private Military Contractors: Assessing Their Impact On U.S. Military Effectiveness And Ethical Standards, Otabek Akromov

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Background & Objectives:

• Scale of outsourcing: >180,000.00 troops
• Major providers: Blackwater and DynCorp •
• Research focus: magnitude of impact

Unseen And Underserved: A Narrative Review Of Binge Eating And Binge-Eating Disorder In Black Women, Vidhani Goel, Roberto Sagaribay, Kavya Gururaj, Laksh Ghai, Akriti Kapoor

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Prevalence & Health Disparities:

Black women engage in binge eating at similar or higher rates than White women. Lower diagnosis and treatment in black women.

Barriers to Treatment:

Limited access to mental health resources. Implicit bias in clinical settings. Lack of culturally tailored interventions.

Future Directions & Solutions:

Need for inclusive clinical research. Culturally responsive treatment models. Policy reforms to improve healthcare accessibility.

Contributing Factors:

Racial stress, trauma, and socioeconomic constraints. Food insecurity, stigma, and healthcare disparities.

Banking On Black: Black Banking And Financial Institutions In Historic Westside, Las Vegas, Drewmel Darby

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Guiding Questions and Topic Interest:

• What happened to the attempts to establish a black-owned bank on the Westside? Why did they fail?

• In what ways did the black community engage with financial institutions?

• How did black Las Vegans view their fiscal autonomy post-integration of Las Vegas in the 1960s?

• How does understanding the community’s history with banking better our understanding of it’s condition in the present?

Impact Of Remote Work On Wages In Nevada’S Labor Force, Lauren Tomlinson, Sean Atias, Renato Salazar, Ezrah Tayag

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Remote Work Evolution and COVID-19

• In 2019, 7% of full paid workdays were done remotely. During the pandemic, that number substantially grew to 60%, and by 2023 it shrunk down to 28%. Elements of remote work have even spread to multiple industries such as healthcare, finance, and education (Barrero et al., 2023).
• Direct relationship between self-perceived job performance and remote work productivity. However, living with children under 18 negatively impacts remote work engagement and productivity (Toscano & Zappalá, 2021).
• Remote work can be associated with increases in Total Factor Productivity (TFP). Between 2019 and 2021, a 1% increase in the …

High Stakes & High Heels: The Economic Potential Of Merging Gambling With Gentlemens Clubs, Anthony Hernandez, Tony Nohmy

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Purpose:

• Vegas used to be “Vegas”
• Gambling Hotspot
• Lost the “magic”
• On Property Gentlemen’s Clubs
• Similar to property exclusive restaurants or nightclubs

Analyzing Healthcare As A Right, Instead Of A Privilege, Saidt Gutierrez

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Healthcare is a fundamental necessity, yet in many countries including the United States, it remains a privilege rather than a right. This research examines the benefits of universal healthcare by analyzing its impact in countries that have successfully implemented healthcare such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany. This study evaluates the healthcare accessibility, cost efficiency, and health outcomes in these countries against the U.S. This finding will suggest that universal health care leads to lower overall healthcare costs, improve public health, and reduce financial burdens on individuals. By ensuring healthcare as a right, rather than a privilege, the U.S …

Costing Care: Unpacking The Drivers Of Medicaid Spending For Nicu Admissions In Nevada, Vidhani Goel, Ana L. Reyes, Bertille Assoumou, Dodds P. Simangan, Farooq Abdulla, Deborah A. Kuhls

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Overview This study examines how maternal and neonatal factors influence Medicaid spending for NICU admissions in Nevada, with an emphasis on identifying cost-driving health disparities. Approach: A retrospective analysis was conducted using linked data from Nevada’s Birth Registry and Medicaid claims (2015–2021). Infant records were analyzed using univariate and bivariate statistics, and logistic regression models identified associations between maternal/neonatal characteristics and above-median Medicaid spending. Cost trends were assessed using NICU case costs, annual growth rates, and year-to-year fluctuations. Key Objectives: Analyze trends in NICU-related Medicaid spending over a seven-year period. Identify maternal and neonatal characteristics linked to higher NICU costs. …

The Role Of Money In Elections, Brandon Nabbefeld

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

What if your vote mattered less than a millionaire’s donation? In every election cycle, billions of dollars flow into campaign war chests but what does that mean? Let’s follow the money and see who is truly influencing our elections. Money plays a powerful role in shaping electoral outcomes and public policy in democratic systems. In the United States, campaign funding has become increasingly dominated by large donations. This is because in 2010, Citizens United v. FEC decision opened the doors for unlimited independent political spending, sparking widespread concerns about fairness, transparency, and the influence of wealthy donors in politics.

The Development Of Liking And Familiarity Responses To A Novel Musical Scale, Maya Velazquez, Dan H. Berkowitz, Nicholas Kathios, Psyche Loui

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Musical preference is shaped by listening experience

Listeners tend to like music they’ve heard before familiarity correlates with liking (1).

As listeners acquire knowledge of how music is structured, they make better predictions about events as they unfold.

Familiarity and prediction are key drivers of musical pleasure (2,3).

Present study aims to characterize the relationship between listening experience/exposure and preferences during childhood

Perception Of Emotions In Autism With Controlled Elicitation, Austin Gillespie, Rachel Dewald

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Recognizing emotions play a crucial role in effective communication.(1)

Previous research has rated autistic expression as awkward.(2)

These studies captured unnaturally elicited emotions by having participants imitate emotions from scripted prompts and pictures

The Coso Paradox: An Additional Perspective Of Indigenous Identity, Leeanna Sueno

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

The Coso Mountain Range in Inyo County, California is an archaeological site rich with evidence of human interactions throughout prehistory. One of the most striking features is Coso’s abundance of rock art, estimated at over 100,000 etchings, with over half depicting Ovis canadensis (Bighorn Sheep). Coso’s rock art has been long-debated as a site of “shamanistic” prevalence, including vision quests, rain god worship , and interpretations of fertility. While spirituality is an integral part of many Indigenous cultures, it is highly unlikely that such a mass creation spanning hundreds of years and multiple cultural groups would be solely spiritual.

Leukemia And Thyroid Cancer In Relation To Reca Boundaries, Cora Marinos

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

A total of 1,054 test were conducted by the United States between 1945 and 1992. This is more Atomic tests than all other countries combined. Of those tests 928 were conducted at the Nevada Test Site located 65 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada.

These tests spread nuclear fallout throughout the United States causing the people in nearby communities to become sick. The public outcry spurred the passing of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in 1990 (RECA) It’s scope of coverage was broaded in 2000. Despite many groups fighting for further expansion, the Act expired in June of 2024.

Of the …

Live Entertainment Tax, Khalea Demesma

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

The Live Entertainment Taxis a 9% tax that is exclusively for casinos, nightclubs, and venues that have a minimum occupancy of 200. The Live Entertainment Tax is managed by both the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which oversees events that are held at gaming establishments, and the department of Taxation, which handles events held at all other venues. Clark County is home to the Las Vegas Strip, which is where the majority of the revenue from this tax is collected.

Relationship Closeness And Eating Disorder Pathology In Undergraduate Female Friends Dyads, Jessica Nguyen, Maegan Nation

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Eating disorders (ED) are one of the leading mental health concerns among undergraduate students

Rates nearly doubled from 15% in 2013 to 28% in 2020 and 2021

Relationship closeness may play a crucial role in both development and recovery from EDs.

Limited research on platonic relationships and ED pathology, specifically relationship closeness.

Researcher Risks: A Typology For Qualitative Risks To Researchers In Communication Studies, Rebecca M. Rice, Kristie Mcallum

Communication Studies Faculty Research

Discussions of risk in qualitative research tend to focus on risks to research participants. However, qualitative researchers also face risks—or uncertainties with potential for harm—because they serve as the research instrument. Communication researchers are uniquely suited to problematize the meaning of risk and extend theory about what risk is by noting that risk is subjective and communicatively constructed, both in qualitative methods and in research contexts. We create a typology of five risk contexts that pose a danger to researchers: crisis, disruptive, vulnerable, emotionally risky, and ethically fraught contexts. For each context, we define the risk, propose representative examples, and …

Ability, Advocacy, And Access: Pre-Law Students And The Americans With Disabilities Act, Ella Rose Branham

Honors Thesis

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990 with the intention to help disabled people integrate into workplaces and public spaces. Despite the importance of the ADA to make the United States more accessible, it has been met with controversy ever since. This is especially true of Title 3, which focuses on making public spaces accessible and allows for injunctive lawsuits when the legal standards are not met. The controversy of this law revolves around the news coverage of these suits, depicting the suits as unnecessary and the people filing them as greedy. This misunderstanding of the ADA …

Sounds Of Hidden Agents: The Development Of Causal Reasoning About Musical Sounds, Minju Kim, Adena Schachner

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Listening to music activates representations of movement and social agents. Why? We test whether causal reasoning plays a role, and find that from childhood, people can intuitively reason about how musical sounds were generated, inferring the events and agents that caused the sounds. In Experiment 1 (N = 120, pre-registered), 6-year-old children and adults inferred the presence of an unobserved animate agent from hearing musical sounds, by integrating information from the sounds’ timing with knowledge of the visual context. Thus, children inferred that an agent was present when the sounds would require self-propelled movement to produce, given the current …

Effects Of Surprisal And Prediction Uncertainty On Detailed And Gist Aspects Of Memory, Thanh Tan Nguyen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Schemas guide comprehension and memory of everyday activities, yet theories differ on how schema‐unexpected or schema‐expected events affect memory. In this study, we compared predictions from the Schema‐Linked Interactions between Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Medial Temporal Lobe (SLIMM) model, which proposes a U‐shaped function for gist memory (both highly expected and highly unexpected events are well remembered) and a linear function for detailed memory, with those of the Schema Copy Plus Tag (SC+T) theory, which proposes a linear function for both gist and detailed memory. Participants read everyday activity narratives with events varying in surprisal, prediction uncertainty, and relevance to …

Dying Young, Brianne L. Overton

Dissertations

Death, often perceived as a disruption to daily life, is an inevitable part of the human experience. While older adults may develop familiarity with mortality through the collective experience of personal and familial losses, young adults generally have limited exposure to death. Despite this, young adults, defined as individuals aged 20 to 34, represent approximately 20% of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020), and the mortality rate within this age group has been rising over the past decade (Woolf & Schoomaker, 2019). Death among young adults is often overlooked in societal narratives and medical research, which primarily focus on …

A Tobacco Treatment Training Program Expands The Number Of Healthcare Providers Trained To Use Evidence-Based Practices And Methods, Alex Hurst, Maher Karam-Hage, Jennifer Cofer, Mehwish Javaid, Diane Beneventi, Janice Blalock, Tiffany Winter, Paul M. Cinciripini, Ernest Hawk

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Tobacco-use disorder remains a global health challenge, despite declining rates, and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, especially among special populations that disproportionally do not have access to comprehensive treatment services. The lack of trained providers and slow dissemination of new tobacco treatment knowledge are obstacles to accessing comprehensive evidence-based treatments. Less is known about the impact of specialized training programs on healthcare professionals' ability to effectively treat tobacco use. This paper reports on the evaluation of the tobacco treatment training program, training methodology, and the demographics of the specialists trained.

MD Anderson’s Tobacco Treatment Training Program (TTTP) …

Revitalizing Night Hours: Building Community Through Interactive Events And Gatherings, Susan R. Myers

South Carolina Libraries

Libraries are evolving into vibrant community hubs through innovative programming. This article highlights the efforts of a library evening assistant at Spartanburg Methodist College library, who revitalized night hours by introducing engaging activities such as gaming tournaments, trivia nights, and community meals. These programs increased student attendance and fostered a sense of community, demonstrating the library's role as both a social and learning environment.

Cultivate Community With Bilingual Programs And Services, Aliza Peryea, Cassie Welch

South Carolina Libraries

Patrons of all backgrounds feel welcome in the library when bilingual programs and services are prioritized. By providing programs and services in multiple languages, libraries bridge the language barrier and create more opportunities for the community. The Charleston County Public Library centers equity, diversity, and inclusion in its practices by prioritizing bilingual programs and services; creating and maintaining local partnerships; and sustainably enhancing library services for all.

Successful Subject Headings For Moving Image Resources, Jen M. Jones, Charlotte G. Grubbs, Scott M. Dutkiewicz

South Carolina Libraries

Based on an SCLA conference presentation, this article explores principles for assigning subject headings to moving images. Using a digital metadata-inspired graphic organizer, authors discuss case studies illustrating the Library of Congress’ Subject Headings (LCSH) Manual, instruction sheet H 2230, noting commonly omitted facets and misinterpretations of subject and subdivision usage. Emphasis is on LCSH and instructions in LCSH authority records.

Impact Wv: Adapting Patient Navigation Models Of Care To Improve Services To Caregivers Of Infants Exposed To Substances In Utero, Charlotte S. Workman Bsms, Ccrp, Lesley Cottrell, Mawyah Bashatah, Aisha Hashmi, Kayla Richard, Poornima Murthy, Susan Harrison, Ashleigh Mckinsey, Amy Bott, Sydney Leary, Cody Smith, Melina Danko

Journal of Appalachian Health

Patient navigation (PN) is a healthcare service delivery model designed to partner clients with service providers to reduce challenges to health care, as well as to improve access to care by identifying opportunities to coordinate services for clients. The IMPACT WV project at the West Virginia University Center for Excellence in Disabilities (WVU CED) implemented PN models of care for caregivers of infants exposed to substances in utero. The purpose of this program was to reduce burden for potentially at-risk families and improve caregiver and infant outcomes as a result. To understand the processes that influence the implementation of PN …

Drive Time Analysis Of New Gynecologic Oncology Patients At West Virginia University, Kassandra Whitfield, Ariel Cohen, Krista Pfaendler, Kristy Ward

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: West Virginia is a rural mountain state; access to medical care, especially specialty care, can be difficult for patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the geographic status and transportation times of new gynecologic oncology patients.

Methods: Home zip codes for new patient gynecologic oncology patients were analyzed for drive times to the cancer center. Zip codes of oncology providers in the state were compared to the location of patients.

Results: A total of 1,097 new gynecologic oncology patients lived within a 240-minute drive of MBRCC; nearly half (48.9%) of them drove greater than 60 minutes. …

Patient-Clinician Communication In The Appalachian Region: A Scoping Review, Kawther Al Ksir, Hadii M. Mamudu, Chidiebube J. Ugwu, Emily K. Flores, Tracy Fasolino, Holly Wei, Rick L. Wallace, Florence M. Weierbach

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Effective communication between patients and clinicians is a critical component of quality health care, influencing disease prevention, management, and outcomes. In regions with unique socioeconomic and geographic challenges, communication barriers can further exacerbate health disparities. Understanding the factors that facilitate or hinder patient-clinician communication is essential for developing targeted interventions that improve health care delivery.

Purpose: This review explores the existing literature on patient-clinician communication concerning cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the Appalachian Region with the aim to understand existing gaps and interventions.

Methods: PubMed and Web of Science databases were utilized to conduct a systematic search. The Population, Concept, …

Using Photovoice To Define The Experiences, Needs, Strengths, And Priorities Of Gay Men In South Central Appalachia, Ana D. Sucaldito, Lilli Mann-Jackson, Jorge Alonzo, John W. Chaffin, Scott D. Rhodes

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Gay, bisexual, queer, and other men who have sex with men and transgender and nonbinary persons living in rural Appalachia experience profound health disparities. Limited research, however, has focused on the needs, strengths, and priorities of these communities.

Purpose: This study sought to better understand the lived experiences of the vulnerable, underrepresented, and underserved Appalachian gay male community by working with a small group of self-identified gay Appalachian men.

Methods: As part of a larger community-based participatory research study (the Appalachian Access Project), four self-identified gay men participated in a photovoice project. Participants took photos based on …

Determinants Of Willingness To Share Wearable Health Data With Health Care Providers In Appalachian Populations: An Exploratory Study, Gilbert Munoz Cornejo, Joonghee Lee

Journal of Appalachian Health

Background: Wearable health devices capture metrics (e.g., physical activity, ECG, sleep) that can enhance care when shared with providers. Yet, willingness to share wearable data may differ in Appalachia, where chronic disease burdens, mistrust, and limited infrastructure pose unique challenges.

Objective: This study explored (1) which sociodemographic, health, and digital behaviors correlate with willingness to share wearable data and (2) how these insights can guide region-specific interventions in Appalachia.

Methods: We analyzed 320 Appalachian respondents from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 6). Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models examined willingness to share wearable data. Because of small cell …

Heartache In The Heartland: Unraveling The Social Roots Of Deaths Of Despair In Kentucky, Lyndsey K. Blair, Madeline M. Tomlinson, Michele Abee-Biskis, Jessica Hume, Gabri Warren

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Deaths of despair (DoD), encompassing suicides, drug overdoses, and alcohol-related liver diseases, have emerged as a critical public health crisis in the United States, with their rise particularly pronounced from 1995 to 2013 and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kentucky, grappling with high rates of substance use disorder, poor mental health, and economic hardship, is at the forefront of this issue, particularly in its rural and Appalachian regions.

Purpose: This study explores the social determinants contributing to DoD in Kentucky, focusing on economic and social factors that influence rising rates of suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol-related liver disease. The …