Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Repressor Of The Sos Response Mechanism In Acinetobacter Baumannii Requires Helix-Formation And Dimerization For Its Dna-Binding Ability, Belinda Candra, Deborah Cook, Jenelle Hare

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

After DNA damage, the multi-drug resistant pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii activates its SOS response, possibly allowing mutagenesis to occur by inducing multiple errorprone polymerases. A. baumannii uses the non-canonical repressor protein UmuDAb to repress operons of these polymerases. It has an N-terminal domain (NTD) with 2 helices (HTH1 & HTH2) whose sequences are needed for repression1. Like other bacterial SOS repressors such as LexA, UmuDAb dimerizes. BACTH analyses2 showed that UmuDAb forms dimers via its LexA-like G124 residue and UmuD-like N100 residue (UmuD is a component of an error-prone polymerase). However, N100 is not needed if the C termini are free. …

A Brief History Of Environmental Policy Through Literature, Nathan Walden, Brady Lawson, Adam Abdel-Rahman, Mathew Delancey, Douglas Mock

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

Environmental policy is a relative newcomer on the scene of federal regulation, with cries for a unified federal environmental response ignited by the publication of Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson in 1962 which exposed the new field of environmental science and its effects to the American public. However, the tradition of literature driving public awareness and federal policymaking does not stop at its genesis with many seminal works such as Collapse, by Jared Diamond, The Diversity of Life, by Edward O. Wilson, and Love Canal, by Richard Newman, continuing to do the same. These books have continued to …

Identification Of Unknown Mold Sample From Lappin Hall, Devan Herald, Geoff Gearner

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The purpose of this undergraduate research project is to identify an unknown species of mold that was found growing in the B-wing of Lappin Hall, on Morehead State University Campus, after the summer holiday of 2022. A sample of the unknown mold was collected and isolated for identification.

Religious Beliefs & Marital Satisfaction: Examining The Impact Of Religious Beliefs On Marital Satisfaction, Trenton Rose, Monica Himes

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The focus of the study is to examine the relationship between religious beliefs and marital satisfaction. The goal was to look at how religion was being incorporated into marriages and how it impacted their satisfaction with the marriage.

Fundamental Or Negligible?: Kentucky P-12 Teacher Websites, Maddie Stamper, Lesia Lennix

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

How does a P-12 classroom teacher communicate at large with their students or their parents? There are countless ways for teachers to communicate with others. We determined that the more effective route in teacher communication would be an access-key-based Google Classroom, or an open-access teacher website linked directly to their respective school's website. An available, published teacher website allows anyone with internet access to view teacher-proffered information. This information could include their name, email, phone number, short biography, picture, or Google Classroom link. We found that the most effective information to include on a teacher's website would be their name, …

The Kentucky Ant Project: An Attempt To Catalogue The Ant Species Of Kentucky, Josiah Kilburn, Sean O'Keefe

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

There are 74 ant species in Kentucky and 55 ant species in West Virginia. In most of the surrounding states, ant species counts are nearly double, or at least 49 more ant species than either of these two states. This indicates that there have been minimal sampling efforts in Kentucky and West Virginia.

Impact Of Nurse- Patient Interactions On Patient Outcome: A Quality Improvement Project, Suzie White

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The purpose of this project is to address the benefits of care related to nurse and patient interactions. Throughout the project we have researched these benefits within different specialties of medicine. Some different specialties we studied include, communication in the ICU (intensive care unit), communication within the palliative/hospice setting, communication in the ED (emergency department), communication in the med surgical setting, patients’ perception of nurse/ patient interactions, nurse communication techniques and training, and lastly the costs of effective and ineffective communication.

Adverse Childhood Events, Safety, & Comfort: Associations With Adolescent Symptoms, C. Skaggs, M. Howard, T. Pangallo, Shari L. Kidwell

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

A PowerPoint that accompanied a oral presentation.

Leadership Initiatives International Public Health Internship Program, Brooklyn Adams, Mahathi Siripurapu, Jennifer Nguyen, Landon Pritchett, Josh Day, Jeremyah Cabrera, Rox Lockard, Rachel Rogers

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

In a nine-month internship for Leadership Initiatives, our team worked together to develop and implement an international public health campaign to address major health concerns prevalent in the region of Bauchi State, Nigeria. Our topic was the issue of selfmedication and its effects among the community. We launched a campaign to collect survey data and develop an educational workshop for the project.

The Impact Of Early Identification Of Declining Patients: A Quality Improvement Study, Courtlyn Salyers, Kyla Wilson, Cedric Meadows, Savannah Sizemore, Savannah Thompson, Gg Ferguson, Payton Mcglone, Leah Moore, Jordan Sims, Suzi White

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

This presentation focuses on the prevalence of failure to rescue in healthcare, that we have evidenced in the clinical setting. Proper identification of declining patient health plays a major role in early intervention, resulting in a positive patient outcome. Analyzing common themes in these issues provided a “bigger picture” of the need for proactive patient care.

Craft Academy Solar Electric Racing: The Building Of A Solar Car, Bray Paynter, Sophia Day, Casey Hovis, Hailey Castle, Hope Meyers, Landon Ray, Rachel Rogers, Joyce Stubbs, Steve Stubbs

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

The Solar Car Challenge is a nationwide program in which high school and college students design and build a car powered by solar panels, competing at Texas Motor Speedway or in a cross-country race. In the Spring of 2021, The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics founded a Solar Car Team called Craft Academy Solar Electric Racing (CASER).

First Examination Of Palynolgy Across The K-Pg Boundary In The Jackson Purchase Region Of Kentucky, Maeve Mccarty, Jarred Asselta, Gary Stinchcomb, William Lukens, Ingrid Romero, Matthew Pound, Jen O’Keefe

2023 Celebration of Student Scholarship - Poster Presentations

This study examines the Independence School section of the K-Pg Boundary, which is located in a creek cutbank exposure in Carlisle County, in the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky. This section has not otherwise been examined since 1980 and has not previously been palynologically studied in detail. Specifically, we are examining the Owl Creek and upper McNairy Formations, deposited as Maastrictian-age sediments and the Clayton Formation, deposited as Danian- age sediments, in a mosaic of onshore, nearshore, and coastal environments (Tschudy, 1970; Olive, 1980). The site was relocated by G. Stinchcomb and students from Murray State University in 2020 and …

April 2023, Volume 19, Number 1, Winthrop University Archives And Special Collections

Retrospect: News from the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University

No abstract provided.

A Historic Secondary City In Transition: How The Hafencity Urban Mega-Project Is Reshaping Hamburg And Its Position In The International Urban Order, Julius Benthin

Marcuss Fellows

This thesis aims to delve into the distinct intricacies of the HafenCity development as an urban mega project. Through three interconnected chapters, the thesis will explore the HafenCity's controversial genesis story, its alignment with aspirations to stimulate an (urban) renaissance, and its current and tangible impacts on the local scale. To navigate these complex dynamics, this study will draw upon a synthesis of relevant literature and apply it to the HafenCity case. Urban mega projects – particularly in the form of urban waterfront regeneration – are increasingly deployed on a global scale and have attracted considerable academic attention. However, largely …

Frankenpop, Elliott Windrope

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This presentation is about my work at Whatcom Health and Community Services where I analyzed and compared two population estimates. The presentation gives an overview of how population estimates work in the United States as well as applications for this data. My project focuses on two datasets both based on the 2020 census. It was unknown how these two datasets differed or if they differed at all. I found that the data is identical in the aggregate post-2020 but for the data based on the 2010 census, there were important disparities, especially in certain age and racial groups.

(A transcript …

Linguae Biologiae: Biomedical Terminology And Its Real World Applications, Sydney Wong

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Interdisciplinary studies between Linguistics and STEM are lacking in current educational institutions, leading to the preconception that they are separate, unrelated fields. Medical fields in particular, however, utilize extensive jargon and terminology based on Greek and Latin roots. Understanding these roots can provide a more widespread understanding of the human body and conditions affecting it, which is relevant to every person at some point in their life. Currently, biomedical terminology courses are advertised and reserved almost exclusively for students in biomedical fields. Therefore, despite its practical relevance, instruction of this topic is largely inaccessible for the general population, which encompasses …

Rethinking The American National Narratives: Finding A Way Forward With Our Past And With Hope, Emma Stiff

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

An essay contributing to the ongoing conversation about America's national narratives through an analysis of how stories shape our country and the steps we can take towards a more inclusive, hope-based narrative.

The Study Of Peace: Proposing And Designing A Peace Studies Class For Wwu, Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This proposed course explores the field of peace studies, examining the state of peace and conflict in the world from the perspective of international relations and comparative politics. Is peace simply the absence of conflict? Are humans naturally drawn towards war? How do we achieve peace? Where has peace worked and where has it failed? What institutions or processes lead to or inhibit the establishment of peace? The course dives into conflict prevention, the erosion of peace, methods of conflict resolution and management, the issue of peacekeeping, and the process of peace building. Through group presentations, in-depth reading, and individual …

The Silenced Migrants, Alisa Nguyen

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

I researched how the Ukrainian refugee crisis has highlighted cases of institutionalized racism all over the world and amplified the quiet part of many people's thinking. I focused on how BIPOC refugees were treated before this crisis, what has happened to them during this crisis, and how BIPOC refugees from Ukraine were treated by the world and Ukrainians.

[A supplementary file with slides is available below.)

Racism Within The Honors College, Zoe Pais

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Students of color have been advocating for a change within the Honors College for many years. Student leaders of the club Honors Students of Color Board or HSOCB collaborated with Faculty to release a climate survey in Spring of 2022. The purpose of the survey was to gather data on the differences in experiences of students within the honors program, primarily focusing on race. The results found that students of color are more likely to consider leaving Honors due to feeling isolated or unwelcome than white students. The results also found that students of color feel as though they need …

Beyond The Meeple: Ttrpg's Impact On Wwu Students, Nicolas Mendez

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The present study sought to develop a stronger understanding of the impact of Tabletop Roleplaying games (TTRPG’s) on college students. Data from 17 one-on-one interviews as well as 18 survey responses from students attending Western Washington University were used. The qualitative data was coded using first, second and third order coding with the use of digital coding software Atlas.ti. Of the 12 codes found from the interviews, the “Beyond Part” and the “Player versus Character” themes were examined. My analysis found that players experience the impacts of TTRPG’s beyond the table on both an individual level as well as on …

Liberalism And Its Trail, David Nessa

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The United States has a history of utilizing liberal ideology as a justification for the appropriation of native land and resources for the enrichment of the United States. After becoming the pre-eminent superpower of the world post-WW2, the United States continued to justify intervention across the globe with liberal notions of what is good for society. David Harvey, who is a Marxist geographer, constructs the US imperial project as one that is tied up in the uneven trade of resources and thus the uneven development of these regions under the US sphere. After constructing an index measuring uneven trade and …

1. On Adapting Local Food Systems, Nelson Lobo

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Local food systems are central to climate change adaptation. Without adequate systems of production, distribution, and consumption, cities and countries run the risk of food insecurity spreading across economic classes. Implementing urban food production complemented by restoration agriculture principles is a solution worthy of consideration for municipal governments. At the same time, institutions and the public need a reconceptualization of the fundamental worldview attached to the dichotomization of humans and nature. Indigenous cultures provide a significant blueprint for tending to and caring for nature that should be reflected in any urban land management strategies utilizing restoration agriculture.

Developing The *Ucker Carlson Effect: Creating Space For Collective, Personal, And Professional Work In Cognitive Psychology, Zoe Gadbow

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The media, i.e. Tucker Carlson, often asks leading questions that guide audiences to generate implied answers. This can suggest misleading answers and guide people to construct disinformation. This strategy/format utilizes the generation effect (Slamecka & Graf, 1978), which states that when people generate information, they remember it. The Applied Cognitive Psychology (ACOG) lab is interested in whether this will contribute to an illusory truth effect (Hasher et al., 1977), which states that repetition of a statement increases belief in the statement. In order to investigate this phenomenon and reflect on the process itself this project contained two components: (1) para-professional …

Perceptions Of Political Knowledge, Political Participation, And Political Efficacy Among Western Washington University Students, Bryndis Danke

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The way people view political knowledge, political participation, and political efficacy impacts their interactions with politics. But how exactly do people define political knowledge and participation? Political science scholars are in the midst of discussions on how to broaden these definitions to include traditional forms of both (knowledge of political facts and participation in activities such as voting, campaigning, and protesting) as well as non-traditional forms (experiential knowledge and community activities). This paper examines the results of a survey of 196 university students and 5 student interviews to determine if these broader definitions are held by the general public. Additional …

The Analysis Of Wartime Rape Using Postmodern Feminism In The Conflicts Of Sierra Leone 1991, Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992, Darfur 2003, Allyssa Sabelle Chua

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

This research examines how patriarchal institutions weaponize the act of rape in times of conflict. Rape is understood and conceptualized through the language of masculinity, especially the dominance of the masculine recognized and practiced in various cultures. Postmodern feminists argued that a woman or femininity is regulated, constructed, and defined by men through gender roles and symbols. As such, a woman does not exist as her own individual, but follows a constructed identity given by patriarchal institutions. In the theater of war, when a man rapes a woman, she is not only a victim of this violation, but further, the …

Earth Day 2023, Raquel Estrada, William Flores

Library Display Posters

Collection of posters created for Earth Day 2023. Poster topics include: Short Film Recommendations, Select Titles, Popular Titles, Streaming Films, Spotlight on Ila Fox Loetscher, and Research Resources. Book and video covers are hyperlinked.

The Role Of Story In The Creation And Life Of Man, Leah Ginion

Senior Honors Theses

Story was created by God as a vehicle for the revelation and glorification of Himself. Man, made in the image of God, was created as an innate storyteller. The world was created through story, and story is how it progresses and is sustained. As such, story is the foundation of all culture and the most natural and effective method of human communication. Research points to all of man’s stories being derivatives of the Great Story: the metanarrative of Scripture. Exploring man’s relationship with story reveals his place within the metanarrative and ultimately provides evidence for the existence and active presence …

Using Familial Stem Identity To Understand Identity Development Through Social Units, Remy Dou, Heidi Cian

Department of Teaching and Learning

Using case study data, we illustrate the need for a more comprehensive model of STEM identity development that accounts for the STEM affiliation of youths, their caregivers, and siblings–not as a collection of individuals but as a coherent and functional unit. We introduce the concept of familial STEM identity as a framework on which to expand STEM identity development theory, particularly as it relates to learners whose social identities are tightly embedded in family relationships, values, and culture. We emphasize the value of familial STEM identity in the context of diversification of STEM fields and formal and informal STEM programming …

Luck Egalitarianism And Non-Overlapping Generations, Elizabeth Finneron-Burns

Political Science Publications

This paper argues that there are good reasons to limit the scope of luck egalitarianism to co-existing people. First, I outline reasons to be sceptical about how “luck” works intergenerationally and therefore the very grounding of luck egalitarianism between non-overlapping generations. Second, I argue that what Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen calls the “core luck egalitarian claim” allows significant intergenerational inequality which is a problem for those who object to such inequality. Third, luck egalitarianism cannot accommodate the intuition that it might be required to leave future generations better off than we are, even if it would come at no cost to ourselves. …