Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Contemporary Slavery: A Historical Perspective, Keilah Creedon

Honors Theses

While awareness is spreading about the 29 million people around the world who are currently enslaved, there is often a lack of understanding about what slavery is like today versus our common conception of slavery under the transatlantic slave trade. After exploring the connection between the abolition of slavery in the past and the introduction of coercive labor practices under colonial rule, I explain how slavery never truly ended and elaborate on the most common forms of contemporary slavery found today. This includes a case study focused on coercive labor in cocoa production. Using a solution oriented approach, I address …

Sex And The College Hookup: Gender Differences In Perceiving And Experiencing Sexual Interaction, Kelsey Fish

Honors Theses

While much literature exists on college students and casual sex, few studies provide an in-depth direct comparison of a male versus female perspective of a specific population. The purpose of this study was to examine the sexual culture and “hookup” scene among students at a small liberal arts college in the northeast United States and to distinguish the differences between men and women in perceiving and experiencing sexual interaction. An open-ended questionnaire was created using the online survey instrument, Google Forms. The survey was distributed to 500 random student e-mail addresses. While some responses were synonymous with previous studies and …

The Origins Of Wave Elections: Narrative Control Polarization And Turnout In New Hampshire Electoral Politics 2006-2012, Zachary Jonas

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the origin of wave elections in New Hampshire in 2006, 2010 and 2012. It finds that recent demographic shifts in the state laid the groundwork for these dramatic electoral results. This paper also examines the nationalization and polarization that have redefined New Hampshire’s political landscape and contributed to massive partisan shifts in state government. The combination of demographic changes and a polarized political culture have created an electoral environment for both Republicans and Democrats that favors turnout, increasing the importance of agenda setting and narrative control in order to produce high turnout among core constituencies. Chapter 1 …

Attachment Style And Its Role In Perceived Team-Efficacy And Individual Self-Efficacy In Sports, Meghan Kupiec

Honors Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between athletes’ attachment styles and their team- and self-efficacy after wins or losses in sporting contests. The study followed up on a theory proposed by Sam Carr (2012), which posits that attachment style plays an important role in athletic competition and can act as a buffer to negative outcomes in sport. In order to test this idea, a research study was conducted surveying Union College Varsity athletes during both the fall and winter sporting seasons. Across the course of the participants’ athletic seasons, four surveys were distributed. The first …

The Post Title Ix Portrayal Of Female Athletes In The Media, Kelsey Mcdonald

Honors Theses

This thesis looks to elaborate on recent studies done by Michael Messner, Cheryl Cooky, Robin H. Hextrum and other scholars regarding the exclusion and misrepresentation of female athletes and women’s sport in the media since the enactment of Title IX in 1972. This thesis provides an overview of the history of Title IX, a detailed analysis of the ways which female athletes are portrayed in the media and trends that have occurred based on the coverage women’s sports have received since 1972. The research included and data collected for this thesis are based on ESPN’s SportsCenter and the headlines on …

Effects Of The World Trade Center Attacks And Hurricane Sandy: Manhattan Commercial Real Estate Market, Michael Miceli

Honors Theses

Two rare and uncontrollable events that recently took place in Manhattan were the attacks on the World Trade Center and Hurricane Sandy. Both of these catastrophic events affected the commercial real estate market in Manhattan in several ways. Using quarterly time-series data between 1996 and 2013 collected from Brookfield Office Properties, this paper utilizes regression analysis to investigate the effects of these events on vacancy rate, absorption rate and rent in Manhattan. The regression analyses control for location and building type such as Midtown, Downtown and Classes A,B,C, as well as economic factors such as unemployment rate and the S&P …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Adult Attachment Style And Patterns Of Facebook Use And Facebook Behavior, Elizabeth Nailling

Honors Theses

Previous research suggests that various personality traits predict how individuals behave and portray themselves through internet-mediated communication and social media. In the current research, I examine the relationship between adult attachment style and the characteristics of Facebook use (e.g., frequency of "friending," "liking," and commenting). A pilot study conducted with Union College undergraduates who completed questionnaires measuring attachment style and Facebook use showed that higher attachment anxiety was associated with higher frequency and intensity of Facebook use as well as higher attention and reassurance-seeking Facebook behaviors, whereas higher attachment avoidance predicted less frequency and intensity of Facebook use as well …

Charleston Harbor Stone Fleets Research At The National Archives, James D. Spirek

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Volunteer Opportunities Now Available For Working In The Topper Lab, Albert C. Goodyear

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Provision Of Refugee Services In The United States: A Look At The Non-Profit Organizations That Facilitate The Resettlement Process, Venetia Varnett Alegria Gomez

Honors Theses

Throughout history conflicts have always had severe consequences on the people surrounding them. Regardless of the nature of the conflict, when it happened, or where, it always seems to leave behind vulnerable individuals with very little hope for the future. As a result, many people chose to immigrate elsewhere as an attempt to find a new home and avoid any future events that will disrupt their lives so drastically. The events of the 20th century were an important tool in illustrating the effects of war and more importantly, it provided a platform for countries to step-up and encouraged immigrants to …

Can The Performance Of High Self-Monitors Be Influenced By The Perceived Success Of Their Peers?, Malene Barlow-Hansen

Honors Theses

Prior research demonstrates that high self-monitors tend to alter their behavior based on social situations, and more generally, that certain cues can be given to people that can influence them to alter their performance on an exam. It has not, however, taken into account the introduction of motivation that could affect the performance of high self-monitors. Thus, the current research was conducted to establish a connection among performance, self-monitoring, and motivation via a social component. All participants completed a practice GRE exam as well as several personality questionnaires, including Snyder’s Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1975). About half of the participants …

The Effect Of Gross Profitability On Share Price Appreciation, Philip Barr

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between gross profitability and share price appreciation. Dimensional Fund Advisors, an investment firm managing $338 billion, builds portfolios based on a number of different metrics and added gross profitability as a factor in early 2013. Profitable firms may be systematically undervalued and, therefore, gross profitability should predict future share price appreciation. Gross profitability is a firm’s gross profit multiplied by its asset turnover. A high gross profitability may signal a firm’s pricing power or quality in comparison with other businesses. Investors may neglect profitable firms and overpay for “lottery stocks” …

Controllable Home Coffee Roaster From A Modified Popcorn Popper, Nicholas Brenn

Honors Theses

The goal of this project is to modify a home popcorn popper with computer aided logging of the roasting profile, supported by solid state switching of the heating coil and fan to control the temperature inside of the roasting chamber, and finally, automatic control of the roasting chamber temperature through a PID algorithm. With this control over the roast of the coffee bean, an experienced roaster user is able to identify the stages of the roast where control over the temperature inside the chamber is most critical. As compared to roasting green beans in an unmodified home popcorn popper, this …

Why Am I Buying Another Black Dress?: An Anthropological Perspective Into The World Of Fashion, Ava Carnevale

Honors Theses

This thesis explores how the world of fashion permeates all facets of human life, including social success, individual identity and self-acceptance. The fashion decisions we make each day are, indeed, personal decisions that we use to express ourselves and convey our story to society, however the cultures, people, and society that surround us are what intrinsically make these choices for us. Through extensive research in New York City and at Union College, evidence proves that persons are influenced by their surroundings, including media and friend groups, which ultimately establish his or her wardrobes and his or her level of social …

The Relationship Between Narcissism Attachment Styles And The Response To Social Media, Caitlyn Collins

Honors Theses

Previous research suggests that narcissism is correlated with higher social media use and that self-esteem motivates this use. Additionally, research suggests that individuals with anxious or avoidant attachment styles have “self object” needs that are fulfilled through interactions with others. In the current research, we examined the correlation between narcissism and social media use, as well as the correlation between attachment style and social media use. Participants were given questionnaires to measure narcissism, attachment style, social media use, and self-esteem. Participants were also assigned to one of three feedback conditions, positive, neutral, or negative, on a social media site. Results …

Soccer Violence: An Examination Of Hooliganism And Violence Against Referees In Latin America And Worldwide, Dean Constant

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

In Reckless Pursuit: Barry Goldwater A Team Of Amateurs And The Rise Of Conservatism, Nicholas D'Angelo

Honors Theses

Before 1964, Barry Goldwater had never lost an election. In fact, despite being the underdog in both of his U.S. Senate elections in Arizona, in 1952 and 1958, he defied the odds and won. His keen ability for organization, fundraising and strategy was so widely respected that his Republican colleagues appointed the freshman senator to chair their campaign committee in 1955, with conservatives and liberals alike requesting his aid during contentious elections. Goldwater himself adamantly believed that in politics, “organization is the whole secret.” For all of these reasons, 1964 seems to be an outlier in the senator’s expansive career. …

Explorations In The Domestic Space: How Hollywood Made A Home In Film Melodrama, Elana Katz

Honors Theses

This thesis utilizes the Hollywood domestic melodramas and sex comedies of the 1950s as a lens to discover the evolution of family and home from Eisenhower’s America to modern day. As a mode of expression with roots in nineteenth-century theater, melodrama serves as a primary genre for tracking historical and social shifts in twentieth-century American society. However, as the narrative form has evolved over time, what satisfies melodrama is difficult to define as its boundaries have been redrawn. Historians and film scholars examine melodrama through three overarching schools of thought: melodrama as a genre, a mode, or both. Film melodrama …

Effects Of Playing Surface And Shoe Type Of Acl Tears In Soccer Players, Melissa Mansfield

Honors Theses

Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries have become more common in athletes over the past decade which is believed to result from playing on more artificial turf surfaces. This study tested the playing surface theory by building upon a previous study conducted with Albany Medical Center which tested surface samples using an axial-torsion load frame located at Union College. The motion that causes most ACL noncontact injuries is replicated by the load frame which pushes and rotates a shoe against the playing surface and measures the torque it experiences. The foot position, normal load, degree of rotation and rate of rotation were …

Intra-Firm Trade From U.S. Multinational Enterprises To Emerging Market Economies: An Assessment Of The Impact Of The Global Recession And Intellectual Property Rights, Trang Nguyen

Honors Theses

The level of US intra-firm imports from Emerging Markets, EM, (i.e., imports of MNEs from their foreign affiliates) has increased from 149 billion USD in 2002 to 347 billion USD in 2012. A similar magnitude is observed for US arm’s length imports (i.e., imports of MNEs from third parties in foreign countries). This thesis estimates the responsiveness of US intra-firm and arm’s length imports to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection indicators, “Doing Business” indicators, and to the Global Recession. I use two panel data sets, one covering 332 industries (3-digit NAICS) and 43 emerging countries from 2002 to 2012, the …

An Analysis Of The Use Of Animal Models In Predicting Human Toxicology And Drug Safety, Jarrod Bailey, Michelle Thew, Michael Balls

Experimentation Collection

Animal use continues to be central to preclinical drug development, in spite of a lack of its demonstrable validity. The current nadir of new drug approvals and the drying-up of pipelines may be a direct consequence of this. To estimate the evidential weight given by animal data to the probability that a new drug may be toxic to humans, we have calculated Likelihood Ratios (LRs) for an extensive data set of 2,366 drugs, for which both animal and human data are available, including tissue-level effects and MedDRA Level 1–4 biomedical observations. This was done for three preclinical species (rat, mouse …

Deaf Apostolate Newsletter, Summer 2014

Deaf Apostolate Newsletter

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Boston, MA

Office Of Ministry With The Deaf Newsletter, June 2014

Office of Ministry with the Deaf Newsletter

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Springfield, MA

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Practice Makes Perfect: Updating Borrowing Policies And Procedures At A Small Academic Library, Crystal Boyce

Scholarly Publications

In 2011, staff from the undergraduate libraries at the College of William & Mary came together to evaluate circulation policies related to borrowing periods and billing. In an attempt to better align the policies across each unit, and with the intention of creating a more consistent user experience, new policies were proposed and implemented in the fall of 2012. These changes were found to dramatically decrease staff time necessary for billing, while improving user satisfaction with the borrowing policies. Significantly fewer books went into billing, suggesting no adverse effects on collection maintenance.

Vision, Summer 2014

Vision

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in USA

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Informal Institutions And Women’S Rights In Afghanistan, Mariam Amiri

Masters Theses

In political science a lot of attention is given to institutions and their role in shaping behaviors in a polity and society. In this thesis I examine the conflict between formal and informal institutions. I believe in many societies informal institutions play a major role in shaping political behavior. In Afghanistan these informal institutions can easily undermine formal institutions. Many of the studies that are conducted about informal institutions in Afghanistan have prized them for being capable of dealing with different problems. However, it is also important to find out whether the way they deal with different problems and solve …

Predictive Modeling In The Search For Vertebrate Fossils: Geographic Object Based Image Analysis (Geobia) In The Eocene Of Wyoming, Bryan Bommersbach

Masters Theses

The development and testing of predictive models for identifying productive fossil localities represents a promising interdisciplinary endeavor among geographic information scientists, paleoanthropologists, and vertebrate paleontologists. This thesis analyzed high resolution (2m spatial resolution) commercial satellite imagery from the Worldview-2 satellite of five areas of the Great Divide Basin using a GEographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) technique, which segments the image into spectrally homogeneous, multi-pixel image objects. In addition to allowing statistical analysis of the spectral characteristics of the image objects, GEOBIA techniques also let analysts incorporate expert knowledge and contextual information to improve classification accuracy. The spectral characteristics of the …

Owning Our Food System: Urban Community Gardening And Local Food Movements, Paige A. Edwards

Masters Theses

Food is a means of examining culture, including identity, autonomy and power. It creates relationships and memories between people via shared connections. Through food, I explore local food movements and urban community gardening.

We both ingest and produce garden-grown foods. This movement is often described as simple nostalgia. I suggest that it is a response against heavily processed foods within a system reliant on mass produced food. This desire for ownership pushes community gardens and other counter-hegemonic spaces forward in their goals of using social practice to challenge the established food industry and take control within their own lives.

Of Tribes, Wars, And Jungles: A Study Of U.S.College Students’ Perceptions Of Africa And Africans, Seseer P. Mou

Masters Theses

This study examined American college students’ perceptions of Africans. Knowledge Gap and Systems Theory were applied to creating and discussing the research questions. Systems Theory addresses processes and levels of information transfer (Westley & Maclean, 1965). It requires an understanding of the sources, channels, messages, and the people who receive information in a communication encounter. Knowledge Gap Theory, on the other hand, states that when information circulates in a system, gaps in knowledge are formed and these gaps increase as more information enters the system (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1970). The results showed that consumption of radio and newspaper news, …

Overtime Traffic Enforcement Evaluation: A Methodology For Selecting Agencies And Enforcement Periods, Dario Enrique Romero Santana

Masters Theses

Multiple studies have stated the advantages of police traffic enforcement on crash reduction (Zaidel, February 2002). It is very important to identify locations and time periods where police enforcement produces the greatest crash reductions. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine the impact of overtime traffic enforcement on crash occurrence; (2) develop procedures to identify police agencies with potential to reduce targeted crashes; and (3) develop procedures to identify additional time periods in which enforcement activities should be conducted. In order to accomplish these objectives, many methodologies were explored. The study used crash and enforcement data collected by …