Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Diversifying Investment Portfolios With Collectible Sneakers: Expected Returns And Benefits Of Diversification, Samuel Soo

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis seeks to identify if collectible sneakers can provide diversification benefits to an investor’s portfolio. Using data from a global collectible sneaker marketplace, StockX, I constructed an index to compare it with other traditional assets, including the S&P 500 index and 5-year US Treasury Bills. By calculating key metrics including expected returns, volatility, and correlation, I analyzed the risk-return characteristics of the collectible sneaker asset class compared to other traditional asset classes. From the data analysis I performed, I found that collectible sneakers did not outperform returns significantly compared to traditional asset classes, but had low correlations, which provides …

Sleep Consistency And Its Relation To Inflammation: Identifying The Role Of Emotional Regulation, Caitlyn Louzado

CMC Senior Theses

Sleep duration, quality, and consistency are associated with well-being and productivity. College students struggle to achieve the right balance of sleep and research demonstrates how this has severe repercussions on their physical health academic performance. The effects of sleep consistency interact with emotional regulation (ER). This observational study investigates the relationship between all three sleep characteristics and inflammation, while exploring the mediating and moderating role of ER. Participants included 138 undergraduate students (Females= 81 Males= 57). ER and sleep quality were measured through self-reported questionnaires and inflammation through blood spot analysis. Sleep consistency and duration were assessed using an Acti-Watch. …

Agro-Environmental Approaches To The Moderation Of Outmigration From Northeast Thailand, Megan Perron

CMC Senior Theses

Thailand’s increasing migration rates out of the country’s poorest region over the past few decades have resulted in a range of issues for both migrants and relatives of the migrants who choose to remain at home. A combination of rapid urban growth in Bangkok and a declining agricultural sector in the Northeast, driven by climate change and unsustainable farming practices, is driving rural-to-urban migration that subjects them to harsh working conditions and social marginalization. To attract migration back to Isaan, the implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture in the near term and eventually, Regenerative Agriculture, will likely build climate resilience in the …

The Sri Lanka-China-India Triangle: A Regional Power Transition, Nandeeni Patel

CMC Senior Theses

In 2016, China became the largest importer of Sri Lanka goods and services, surpassing India. Since then, the Chinese government has signed significant trade, development, and security deals with the island nation. This thesis argues that Sri Lanka's domestic politics, centered around its decades-long civil war and consequent human rights concerns, have served as the crux of its triangular relations with two regional powers: India and China. The human rights issue, in tandem with Sri Lanka's agency as a small state, has drawn Sri Lanka to China. The China-Sri Lanka relationship and has now expanded to developing security and development …

Dropping The Ball: A Political And Economic Analysis Of Public Subsidization For Stadium Construction Projects, Max Fisher

CMC Senior Theses

The results generated by this research argue that the high cost of public subsidization does not outweigh the benefits associated with new stadiums. By using several cost-benefit analyses, my research adds to the current literature that these projects, while seemingly beneficial for communities, induces negligible or even negative outcomes. In particular, this study details the Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Yankees, explaining how these teams were able to achieve a new stadium. To understand why politicians continually support stadium construction despite extensive literature showing its harms, this research includes explanations based on the political theory from authors such …

Information Prioritization: A Comparison Between Utility Maximizers And Probability Matchers, Yusuf Ismaeel

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the differences between probability matchers and utility maximizers in their preferences for information sources in a lab environment. In this paper, we consider the best source of information to be the most connected one. We conducted several linear probability model type regressions along with logit regressions. Furthermore, we also attempted to control and fix any potential misclassifications in classifying the cognitive strategy by using instrumental variables. The results show that utility maximizers will almost always choose the most informed node. Probability matchers, on the other hand, do not exhibit such a behavior as the probability matching strategy …

Education Inequality In The United States: A Wicked Problem With A Wicked Solution, Lincoln Bernard

CMC Senior Theses

A problem wicked in its complexity and detriment; the United States has failed most of its students in its inability to address the unashamedly rampant inequality throughout its public education system. The inequality in American public schools appears evident and boundless, but the causes of that inequality, and especially its solutions, are not as obvious. It is easy to explain away the system’s failures as a product of the United States’ ultra-varied environment, but further investigation reveals much of the systems problems are self-caused, resulting from the United States’ uniquely local approach to supporting its schools. A misguided fear of …

A Proposal To Develop And Pilot-Test The Effects Of A Culturally Adapted Stigma Intervention For Latinos, Sandy Ahumada

CMC Senior Theses

The bulk of research examining barriers to mental health services (MHS) for Latinos focuses on financial obstacles such as socioeconomic status and insurance coverage. Unfortunately, less work has been done on cultural barriers such as stigma. The purpose of this proposed study is to develop and pilot-test a culturally adapted contact intervention for Latinos that reduces stigma and increases help-seeking intentions. This study will test the differential efficacy of utilizing psychoeducation with the newly developed interpersonal contact intervention (PIC) as opposed to psychoeducation (P) only. Participants (n=324) will fill out pre- (T1), post- (T2), and 1-week follow-up (T3) …

Ua1c11/106 Jerry Passafiume Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Digital images of Jerry Passafiume and 1950s football games and players.

Ua1c11/103 - Wku President's Office Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs removed from WKU President's Office papers.

“Time Is A-Wasting”: Making The Case For Cedaw Ratification By The United States, Rangita De Silva De Alwis, Melanne Verveer

All Faculty Scholarship

Since President Carter signed the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (the “CEDAW” or the “Convention”) on July 17, 1980, the United States has failed to ratify the Convention time and again. As one of only a handful of countries that has not ratified the CEDAW, the United States is in the same company as Sudan, Somalia, Iran, Tonga, and Palau. When CEDAW ratification stalled yet again in 2002, then-Senator Joseph Biden lamented that “[t]ime is a-wasting.”

Writing in 2002, Harold Koh, former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, bemoaned America’s …

Addressing Allyship In A Time Of A “Thousand Papercuts”, Rangita De Silva De Alwis

All Faculty Scholarship

In 2020, a team of students in the class on Women, Law and Leadership students interviewed 100 male law students on their philosophy on leadership and conducted several surveys on allyship and subtle bias. Complementing the allyship interviews, the class developed several survey instruments to examine emerging bias protocols and stereotype threats among a new generation of leaders at Penn Law from a diverse demographic. This exploration looked at individual patterns of conduct, institutional policies and organizational behavior that could combat a new generation of structural and systemic biases. Thirty years after the landmark study by Lani Guinier, we look …

Ua1c11/109 Linda Johnson Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs removed from athletic scrapbooks.

• 1987 WKU Athletics Scrapbook, D7003
• 1968-1985 WKU Athletics Scrapbook, D7004
• 1985-1987 WKU Athletics Scrapbook, D7005

Ua1c11/116 Shirley Risher Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs donated by Shirley Risher.

Ua1c11/104 Lowell Harrison Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs removed from Lowell Harrison's Faculty/Staff Papers.

Outcomes Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Latinx Youth: Considering The Role Of Adverse Childhood Events And Resilience, Stephanie D'Costa, Andrea Rodriguez, Stephanie Grant, Mayra Hernandez, Joaquin Alvarez Bautista, Quinn Houchin, Ashley Brown, Anthony Calcagno

Kalmanovitz School of Education Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Transformative Silence And Protest, Deborah J. Cantrell

Publications

Social movement protests have become common place in the last several years. Images come easily to mind of protestors marching down streets holding signs and chanting. Just as easily, images come to mind of counter-protestors yelling back, and law enforcement engaging protestors, often trying to control them with notable force. This Article recognizes that protestors often engage with speech, silence and the law in very pragmatic, but important ways. How does a locality handle permitting for protests? Are there noise restrictions to know about? How likely will it be that law enforcement will be present and making arrests? If there …

The Experiences And Perceptions Of Harassment And Discrimination Of Lgbtq Youth In South Carolina High Schools, Melissa Myers

Doctor of Education Dissertations

In public schools, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students face the negative consequences of homophobic harassment. This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to learn about previous LGBTQ high school student opinions and lived experiences and their encounters with school employees regarding fostering a safe and inclusive school climate. There is a lack of institutional support for LGBTQ students who self-identify or are believed to be LGBTQ in public schools. An open-ended, web-based survey of 17 high school LGBTQ graduates between the ages of 18 and 24 was used as part of this qualitative research. Perceptions and lived experiences of …

Change In Rainfall Patterns In The Hilly Region Of Uttarakhand Due To The Impact Of Climate Change, Dilip Kumar, Rajib K. Bhattacharjya

Applied Environmental Research

Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state of India, may experience an increase in temperature of 1.4°C to 5.8°C by 2100 due to global warming. The rise in temperature may melt the glaciers of the state and may have some significant impact on the rainfall. In this study, we have quantified the changes in the rainfall of the state. Also, an attempt has been made to evaluate the impact of climate change on rainfall. The future rainfall can be estimated by using a global circulation model (GCM). However, due to the very coarse spatial resolution of the different GCM, we cannot use them …

The Spatial Variability Of Soil Physical Properties Of Different Sized-Gap In A Subtropical Forest, China, Supaporn Buajan, Jinfu Liu, Zhongsheng He

Applied Environmental Research

Gap areas create heterogeneity in the spatial environment, which is important to plant regeneration and diversity. Soil physical properties (SPP) are factors that affect plant growth. This study aims to assess the spatial variability of SPP in different gap sizes and to determine the effect of gap size on SPP. We used geostatistical analysis to illustrate the spatial patterns of SPP variability within 9 gaps, classified into three sizes (small, medium, and large) and under the canopy at the Castanopsis kawakamii natural reserve forest, the soil samples were collected entire gap area at 20 cm depth with the grid system …

Tourism Density Effect On Environmental Performance Index: Evidence In Asean Countries, Jain Yassin, Sarma Aralas, Danie E.K. Basa

Applied Environmental Research

The purpose of this current study is to assess the effect of tourism density on the environmentalperformance index on 10 ASEAN countries from 2002 to 2017. This study adopted panel data regressions with the Driscoll and Kraay standard. This method accounts for cross-sectionaldependence, heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation, and the possible correlation between countries when observing the environmental performance index and tourism density. Empirical results found a statistically significant and negative relationship between the tourism density index and the environmental performance index in 10 ASEAN countries. This result implied that an increasein the tourism density index will deteriorate the environmental performance index. The …

Wait For It: An Eeg Exploration Of Excitement In Dance Music, Amelia Turrell, Andrea R. Halpern, Amir-Homayoun Javadi

Faculty Journal Articles

Previous brain-related studies on music evoked emotions have relied on listening to long music segments, which may reduce the precision of correlating emotional cues to specific brain areas. Break routines in electronic dance music (EDM) are emotive but short music moments containing three passages: breakdown, build-up, and drop. Within build-ups music features increase to peak moments prior to highly expected drop passages and peak pleasurable emotions when these expectations are fulfilled. The neural correlates of peak-pleasurable emotions (such as excitement) in the short seconds of build-up and drop passages in EDM break routines are therefore good candidates to study brain …

Human Capital Formation And Return Migration Within Mong Communities In Rural/Semi-Rural Northern California, Chong Yang

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This research uses computational grounded theory to explore the human capital formation and stay/return migration experiences of well-educated Mong adults living in various rural/semi-rural Northern California localities within Butte, Yuba, and Sutter Counties. Rural vitality is dependent on the return of these well-educated rural-raised adults. Out-migration of rurality’s best and brightest contributes towards a brain drain and the hallowing out of rurality’s human capital. Findings of this research is conveyed using two research articles examining two different points on the continuum of rural vitality. The first article examines 19 Mong adults’ educational experiences within their rural communities and college education. …

Searching For Tūpuna, Nicola Andrews

Gleeson Library Faculty and Staff Research and Scholarship

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture opened the “Pacific Voices” exhibition in 1997, a community-led exhibition of Indigenous cultures throughout the Pacific Rim, including Māori. Twenty years later, Nicola Andrews, a Ngāti Pāoa Māori student at the University of Washington, serendipitously visited the Burke and began collaborating with the museum to reframe taonga (treasure, anything prized) descriptions in its catalogue and physical spaces. The Burke collection also includes 962 Māori photographs spanning the 19^th century, which were removed from Aotearoa New Zealand and donated to the museum in 1953. These

photographs had been digitized but not published, …

The Effects Of Metacognitive Listening Strategy Instruction On Esl Learners’ Listening Motivation, Grant Eckstein, Corbin Kalanikiakahi Rivera, Benjamin L. Mcmurry, David Eddington

Faculty Publications

Prior studies examining the effects of listening strategy instruction on motivation have shown a positive correlation between the two. However, the participants of these studies all shared a first language (L1) and were not enrolled in an intensive English program (IEP). This study aims to investigate the correlation between listening strategy instruction and listening motivation in an IEP classroom for students from different L1s. Listening motivation was recorded utilizing the English Listening Comprehension Motivation Scale (ELCMS), and strategy use was tracked with the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ). Pre- and post-test scores of 56 participants (control group, n=30; experiment group, …

Futures Under Threat: Education Policy And Barriers To Access For Syrian Refugees In Jordan And Lebanon, Ann Monk

Global Islamic Studies Honors Papers

This study provides a nuanced analysis of some of the most pressing barriers to education for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, including: curriculum usage, language barriers, certification, accreditation, insufficient infrastructure, a lack of qualified teachers, child labor and early marriage. In addition, the study proposes a multitude of policy responses to reduce the barriers to access for Syrian refugee students. Several of the most important policy proposals include: standardizing curricula, certification and accreditation, developing remedial programs, enhancing teacher training, hiring Syrian teachers, reducing employment restrictions for Syrians, establishing family outreach initiatives and investing in transportation for students. Furthermore, case …

Not Angry But Angy: The Rhetorical Effects Of Non-Standard Language In Memes, Cailin Rhiannon Wile

Online Theses and Dissertations

The use of non-standard language on the internet has long been a topic of controversy, as some believe its prevalence indicates carelessness or a lack of intelligence in the (mostly) younger generations who use it. Non-standard language can refer to spelling or grammar that deviates from preferred language conventions, and is popular in what are called internet “memes.” Though the definition of a “meme” can vary, the term can be used to refer to pieces of culture that are remixed and disseminated by internet users. This thesis identifies patterns of non-standard language in memes to demonstrate that these changes are …

Career And Mentorship Experiences Of Women Educational Administrators In Rural Community Colleges, Diane Ashley Gibson

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the topic of current women administrators and their mentorship experiences. The purpose is to examine if these individuals had a mentor at all and how that relationship evolved. There is a universal graying of administration in Higher Education Leadership and many institutions lack a long-term plan to mentor and replace the administrators after retirement. Many of the current leaders in rural education are approaching retirement opening many opportunities for new leaders to come in. Not only that, but there is a large disparity in the number of women educational leaders. One study by Wallace & Marchant (2009) …

Absorbent Household Materials For The Collection Of Ignitable Liquid Residues From Surfaces Of Varying Porosity, Jessica Carlotti

Online Theses and Dissertations

Ignitable liquids (ILs) are used as accelerants to burn items at a faster rate and the presence of an IL indicates that arson has occurred. Upon arrival to an arson scene, fire investigators access the scene and collect substrates containing ILs. The substrates, such as concrete and wood, are removed from the scene by methods that are time consuming, and require heavy machinery and tools. The evidence is transported in air-tight containers to the laboratory where analysts identify the chemical classification of the IL using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In this work, readily available absorbent household materials such as …

Effect Of Digital Advertising On Website Traffic At A Kentucky Comprehensive Regional University, Brandon Lee Moore

Online Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to quantify differences in key performance indicators between paid and organic (not paid) website traffic over a one year period of time at a regional comprehensive university in Kentucky, which is located in the southeastern United States. Two distinct sources of website traffic can be measured: paid traffic and organic traffic. Using data from website traffic analytics, this study employed multiple linear regression analysis and time series methods to understand the similarities and differences between key performance indicators of paid traffic and organic traffic as they relate to key performance indicators. Data from Google …