Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Pheluna Hatembo & Milton Hatembo V. Hakainde Hichilema (2020/Hp/1128), Muna B. Ndulo

SAIPAR Case Review

The case in question involved an application by the defendant to dismiss the matter as statute-barred, citing the Limitation Act of 1939. The High Court, in deciding the matter made reference to the Supreme Court's holding in the case of Daniel Mwale v. Njolomo Mtonga, which reiterated that, the limitation period begins when there is a party capable of suing and another capable of being sued, and all material facts have occurred. The court also emphasized that the statute of limitation can be raised at any stage of proceedings.

Chillerton Group Limited V Konkola Mineral Resources Limited And Konkola Copper Mines Plc Appeal No. 215/2023, Mwaba Chileya Mulenga

SAIPAR Case Review

This case highlights the legal complexity between surface rights holders and mining rights holders over the same land area. The Court of Appeal had an opportunity to address an important issue which is the relationship between these conflicting property rights, in a way that could clarify the interpretation of the Mines and Minerals Act with regards to surface rights law. However, it missed the chance to address the full scope of this tension, particularly the notion of ‘correlative rights’ between mining and surface rights holders. In this judgment, the Court maintained that surface rights disputes should be resolved under land …

Graduare Property Development Limited V A & J Interiors Limited Appeal No. 253/2023, Clement Ngoma

SAIPAR Case Review

This case underscores the importance of courts adhering to the well-established principle that issues not raised during the trial cannot be introduced as grounds of appeal. In this judgment, the Court of Appeal had an opportunity to clarify the legal implications of the non-registration of lease agreements, but it also highlighted the broader issue of raising legal points at any stage of proceedings, including on appeal. Despite the non-registration of the lease agreement, the Court of Appeal emphasized that such a legal issue could still be addressed during an appeal, reaffirming the flexibility of legal proceedings in protecting the rights …

Ai And Advocacy: Maximizing Potential, Minimizing Risk, Matthew Salzano, Nicholas Fung, Ada Lin, Sofia Marchetta, Faith Colombo, Kaylah Davis, John Flynn, Carlos Fuentes, Fion Li, Malar Paavi Muthukumaran, Angelica Paramoshin, Chrisanne Pearce, Vianney Ramos, Charles St. Hilaire, Xi Zheng, Wei Zhuang

School of Communication and Journalism Faculty Publications

New Generative AI tools are revolutionizing writing and communication. This report focuses on AI and advocacy, the act of influencing public policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. This report identifies three major opportunities and accompanying risks, plus one strong recommendation for advocates considering using AI. We argue that AI can be useful for advocates, but they must be careful to center human judgment and avoid risks that could distract from their important work or even contribute to societal harms.

Recovery Of Nuclear Dna From Skeletal Remains Decomposed In Freshwater, Zoe L. Sikon

Master's Theses

This research compared freshwater and dry decomposition environments and their impact on DNA recovery from Sus scrofa domesticus(domestic pig) femora over a 3-month period. Prior to decomposition, initial cuttings were taken from "fresh" bone samples. Cuttings were then collected at 3-week intervals from waterlogged and dry bone samples. All samples were extracted using the vendor recommended protocol for the Applied Biosystems PrepFiler BTA extraction kit and an updated version of the same protocol, that substitutes Proteinase K with additional Dithiothreitol (DTT) (Thermo Fisher Scientific, 2012.). DNA quantitation was performed using pig-specific custom primer sets, with the QuantStudio 5 Real-Time …

Body Image, Eating Disorders, And School Psychology, Zariah Jackson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There is an ongoing problem surrounding eating disorders and body dissatisfaction in school aged youth. School psychologists play a major role in ensuring the safety and success of students in the school. Despite the prevalence of these issues in children and adolescence, it is unknown how regularly the field of school psychology is publishing articles that examine eating disorders and body dissatisfaction. This project was a systematic review of school psychology journals to explore the trends in publications related to eating disorders. Specifically, articles published within school psychology journals with the search terms “eating disorder,” “body image,” “body dissatisfaction,” “anorexia,” …

Change In Academic Self-Efficacy Across Gender And Year In School For Undergraduate Sport Management Students, Jarid Morton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Academic self-efficacy (ASE) is a construct derived from social cognitive theory developed to assess an individuals perceived competence in academia. It has been found to significantly relate to academic achievement. Students scoring higher in ASE are more likely to obtain higher cumulative grade point averages and higher test scores. Studies assessing ASE have examined degree programs such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (i.e., STEM), business, and the humanities. Despite the wide scope of fields studied, sport management programs have yet to be assessed. This study aims to fill this gap. Part of the study aimed to construct a valid …

A Process Model Of Workplace Cyber Incivility Spillover, Cora Hurt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Cyber incivility is a pervasive problem, affecting individuals not only while at work but also at home. It has been found to spillover to the home domain in the form of aggression and withdrawal, affecting the target and their partner, but the mechanism behind this association has not been examined. This study examines work-related affective rumination as a spillover mechanism between experienced cyber incivility and aggressive and withdrawn behaviors at home. I hypothesized that daily experienced cyber incivility will be positively associated with both aggressive behavior and withdrawn behavior at home, and work-related affective rumination will mediate this relationship. Using …

Bidirectional Relationships Between Use Of Popular Social Media Platforms And Anxiety, Depression, And Social Support, Olivia Dick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The relationship between social media use and mental health outcomes among young populations has been a cause for increasing concern in research. However, the directionality of these relationships remains ambiguous due to existing literature being largely cross-sectional and having limited focus on individual platforms. This study aimed to explore the bidirectional relationship between social media use across prominent platforms and various mental healthrelated outcomes among young adults. A sample of 203 young adults, ages 18-29, completed baseline and 6-month follow-up assessments measuring social media use across Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, as well as measures of depression, anxiety, and perceived friend …

Meaning In Life And Metacognition: Application Of The Self-Validation Hypothesis, Liam Hill

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Meaning in Life is a robust predictor of various positive outcomes, and provides a buffer against a host of negative outcomes. Due to this fact, it becomes important to examine all the facets of a meaningful life. One consistent predictor of Meaning in Life (MIL) in the literature is one’s sense of positive affect. I tested the idea that it is possible to doubt (or have confidence in) one’s affect, such that under conditions of doubt, positive affect is less strongly related to MIL. It may be the case that positive affect predicts MIL because of what we think of …

Impact Of Framing Depression On Illness Perceptions And Coping Strategies, Abby Mcginnis

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study aimed to adopt an experimental design used by Schroder et al. (2023) to investigate how framing of depression (as a disease vs a functional signal) impacts illness perceptions and coping strategies. Participants were given the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-42) to assess depression severity and prime participants for the framing condition. Each condition had five videos describing depression and the corresponding frameworks. Perceived control, timeline, and causes of depression were measured using the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Participants were given the brief-COPE questionnaire to measure coping strategies, such as avoidant and problem-focused. There were no differences …

An Investigation Of The Effectiveness Of Student’S T-Test Under Heterogeneity Of Variance, Hayden Nelson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Within the field of psychology, few tests have been as thoroughly investigated as Student’s t-test. One area of criticism is the use of the test when the assumption for heterogeneity of variance between two samples is violated, such as when sample sizes and observed sample variances are unequal. The current study proposes a Monte Carlo analysis to observe a broad range of conditions in efforts to identify the resulting fluctuations in the proportion obtained significant results for two conditions: no mean difference (𝜇􀬵 = 𝜇􀬶) compared to the set level of alpha, and small-to-moderate mean differences (𝜇􀬵 ≠ 𝜇􀬶) compared …

The Effect Of Mindfulness Training On Muscular Endurance Exercise Performance, Mindfulness, And Mental Toughness, Donte Mcgee

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

INTRODUCTION: Mindfulness training is a method of mental training becoming increasingly popular and has been positively associated with mental toughness, which may be valuable in highly fatiguing and stressful activities, like endurance exercise. Mindfulness training has resulted in increased endurance performance, but limited literature exists on a similar modality, muscular endurance exercise. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of an acute bout of mindfulness meditation on muscular endurance performance, mindfulness, and mental toughness. METHODS: Participants (n=24) completed two sessions, a week apart, of three planks until fatigue, with one-minute rest intervals. Immediately following each plank, RPE …

Investigating The Association Between Incivility Variability And Burnout At Work, Tamia Eugene

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Incivility is a prevalent workplace stressor for many employees in the workplace. Over time, exposure to stressors may lead to increased burnout, which can be costly for organizations. However, variability in uncivil experiences may be more detrimental to employees than chronic exposure to incivility due to the uncertainty associated with it. Using previously collected data from a larger grant, I examined the direct effect of incivility variability on burnout. Specifically, I hypothesized that employees who experienced incivility frequently but sporadically will report more burnout. Furthermore, I hypothesized that a perceived organizational climate that supports civility will moderate the direct effect …

Building Bridges: An Improvement Science Approach To Fostering Cross-Group Connections And Friendships Among Elementary School Students, Cody Russelburg

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The persistent issue of limited cross-group connections and friendships among diverse elementary school students is addressed, specifically in a district with five elementary schools that converge into a single middle and high school. The tendency for students to maintain selfsegregated social circles from their zoned elementary schools into middle and high school highlights the need for an intervention designed to foster cross-group connections. Utilizing the Improvement Science framework, this research incorporates two intervention cycles to refine and enhance outcomes related to cross-group connections. Fifth-grade students from two distinct elementary schools had intentional and direct intergroup contact utilizing an adapted version …

Female Leaders In Occupational Safety And Health: Perceived Barriers And Potential Interventions, Jacqueline Basham

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Limited research exists about the challenges women face working as leaders within the occupational safety and health (OSH) industry. This study aimed to help fill this gap by utilizing key informant interviews to qualitatively analyze what the perceptions of female safety leaders were within OSH related to barriers and interventions to sustain or increase the number of female safety leaders. Both convenience sampling and snowball sampling methods were utilized to recruit female safety leaders to participate in key informant interviews. In order to be eligible for inclusion in the study, participants needed to identify as female, be safety leaders currently …

May 2024 Alumni Presentation, Sara Decaro

Faculty Submissions

No abstract provided.

Sunday In Bologna: Weekend In Bologna Part 3, Jean Lavigne

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Social Media Reliance And College Students' Tendency To Conform To Online Behaviors And Trends, Emily Grucello

Honors Theses

The importance of social media is undeniable among college students who frequently turn to online platforms as a form of recreation. While researchers have analyzed the influence of social media on emotional factors, fewer researchers have investigated if reliance on social media has an impact on public behavior and conformity habits. Therefore, the current study assesses if user reliance on two common platforms, TikTok and Instagram, are associated with conformity levels. Data collection came from a sample of 124 college-aged participants. Results found a significant correlation between conformity and Instagram reliance (r = .31, p < .001), as well as conformity and TikTok reliance (r = .32, p < .001), such that higher levels of conformity was associated with higher reliance on Instagram and TikTok. These findings highlight the importance of understanding how consumption of social media has the potential to alter the decisions and behaviors of young adults.

The Journey To Project Management: Navigating The Transition From A Nonproject Environment, Renate Lian Mascarenhas, Shagun Verma, Shrishti Rana

School of Professional Studies

To facilitate a seamless transition from a non-project management environment to a project management environment, Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) passionately dedicated to their missions and operating with limited resources can establish a Project Management Office (PMO) as a pivotal organizational function. This PMO will collaborate closely with senior executives to devise a comprehensive strategic plan for this transformation. An essential component of this plan is the identification of dedicated representatives within key departments, including IT, HR, Human Services Program, and Learning & Development. These departmental representatives will serve as proactive Project Management advocates, responsible for initiating and executing the transition strategies, …

Resource Wealth And Micro-Insurgency Duration, Michael Trevett

Dissertations

Why are some insurgencies small in scale but long-term in duration, particularly those involving natural resource wealth? This dissertation identifies and defines a specific type of intrastate conflict, the micro-insurgency. I then examine how and why micro-insurgencies fought over natural resources are almost always very long-term conflicts, often lasting decades. Two data sets from previous research, one by Michael Ross and the other by Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler, are refined and then analyzed and tested using Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA). Findings from the FsQCA testing and analysis reveal that ancestral lands and actual, or existing and exploitable, …

Impostor Phenomenon, Perfectionism, Psychological Distress, And Burnout In Pre-Health Undergraduate Students, Victoria Lee

Poster Presentations

Careers in the healthcare field are demanding, and each stage closer to attaining the career aspirations is filled with increasing amount of stress. Previous research highlighted impostor phenomenon, perfectionism, psychological distress, and burnout in graduate students; however, this study‘s primary focus was to investigate the relationships between these constructs in an undergraduate pre-health population. This study aimed to find whether or not impostor phenomenon, perfectionism, and psychological distress could be considered predictors of burnout and whether or not pre-health students differed from non-pre-health students in their levels of these constructs.

Intergroup Contact, Beliefs About Gender, And Trans Prejudice, Samantha Oyler

Poster Presentations

Gordon Allport first proposed the Intergroup Contact Theory in 1954. According to his theory, contact between ingroup and outgroup members, under certain conditions, would lead to positive effects, specifically the reduction of prejudice. Since then, this theory has been expanded to include members of other majority/minority groups. Research suggests intergroup contact has positive effects for reduction of anti-trans prejudice. To date, the focus has largely been on the mechanisms driving changes in attitudes and intentions towards trans individuals through intergroup contact interventions. It is unclear whether this intervention might also promote the acquisition of more nuanced sociocultural understanding about gender, …

Multicultural Organizational Development (Mcod) Scans Of Public Space In Milner Library, Fall 2023: External Report, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, And Access Committee, Milner Library

Milner Library Publications

In November 2023, Milner Library’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Committee conducted Multicultural Organizational Development (MCOD) scans of the library’s public spaces, wishing to follow up on a previous series of MCOD scans conducted in 2021.

Higher Education For The Digital Age: A Correlational Study Of Undergraduate Engagement And Digital Citizenship, Jenna Ladd

Education Doctorate Dissertations

The purpose of this non-experimental correlational study was to examine the extent to which there exists a relationship between undergraduate study and digital citizenship knowledge and skills as measured by the digital citizenship scale (DCS), a previously validated quantitative instrument. A web-based survey including the DCS, demographic questions, and a Higher Education Engagement questionnaire was distributed to all full-time undergraduate students at a public university in the Upper Midwestern United States. Data was collected from a sample of 349 undergraduate students who completed the entire DCS and the question about number of post-secondary credits earned. A bi-variate correlational analysis revealed …

A Little Loud And A Little Alone: A Phenomenology Of Leadership Identity Construction Among Women In Higher Education Technology, Amy Barry

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

This qualitative study is an exploration of how women in higher education information technology (IT) positions navigate constructing their leadership identities. This includes the messy, personal, internal identity work that occurs prior to claiming their leadership identities on the public stage, followed by an examination of what the experience of attempting to claim and negotiate a leadership identity is like in the social context of their organizations. This educational and sociological study employs an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach with a series of three interviews per participant that allowed the researcher to deeply explore the personal identity experiences of participants. Findings …

Arcade Reboot: Using Nostalgia Marketing To Fund A Passion Project, Jen Riemenschneider

Strategic Communication Master of Arts Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Close To Home, Closer To Fun: Bringing Local Customers Back To Metropolis Resort, Kate Burhop

Strategic Communication Master of Arts Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Addressing Data Limitations Of Commercial Waterways Via Machine Learning And Stochastic Optimization, Sanjeev Bhurtyal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Freight transportation is a crucial component of the US economy, with truck, rail, and water contributing significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, challenges arise in maintaining infrastructure capacity to accommodate the growing tonnage and value of freight transportation. Waterways offer high efficiency and environmental friendliness, with the capacity to transport substantial cargo volumes. Utilizing waterways can alleviate bottlenecks in landside transportation, accommodating the rising tonnage of commodity flow in the US. Despite the advantages of waterway transportation, the data limitations hinder informed decision-making regarding port operation and infrastructure investment. The lack of granularity and timeliness in available data …

5-Year Strategic Direction, 2024–2028: Institute Of Agriculture And Natural Resources, University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, Institute Of Agriculture And Natural Resources University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources: Institute Publications

IANR: Integrating Learning, Discovery, and Engagement for an Even Better Nebraska

Includes an introduction, description of the components of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the IANR pillars, stratgeic aims for 2024–2028, and a section on implementation.