Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Tele-Reference Model: Adopting Virtual Tools To Enhance Reference Services During Covid-19 And Beyond, Sandy Avila, Sarah A. Norris, Rebecca M. Murphey, Min Tong, Richard Harrison

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

At the University of Central Florida Libraries, a new alternative to traditional reference service was adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic as a remote solution for safely staffing the Research and Information Desk (RAID) at the John C. Hitt Library. Due to the challenges of a partial library reopening at the height of COVID-19 variant infection rates in Florida, a safe alternative to physically staffing RAID was conceived and coined “Tele-Reference.” Utilizing a Zoom institutional license and readily available work equipment with audio and video capabilities, the Tele-Reference service model was developed by our research and information services librarians. The implementation, …

Agricultural Adaptation To Climate Change: How Montana Farmers Make Proactive Changes Despite Unpredictable Conditions, Austin Schuver

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In Montana, climate change is projected to increase interannual variability and the severity of weather events like drought. To sustain agricultural production, farmers must adapt to climate change within a complex decision-making process responsive to a range of climate and non-climate stressors. This study explores how Montana farmers approach proactive and long-term adaptation, two types of adaptation which are not well studied, but are expected to be increasingly important for adapting to the impacts of climate change. To understand Montana farmers’ approaches to adaptation, I conducted 30 in-depth interviews with farmers across the state. Farmers explained how unpredictability in weather …

African Americans' Perceptions Of Nutrition Interventions: A Scoping Review, Matthew Greene, Bailey Houghtaling, Claire Sadeghzadeh, Molly De Marco, De'jerra Bryant, Randa Morgan, Denise Holston

Faculty Publications

Nutrition education and policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change interventions may be able to address food insecurity and obesity, conditions which are disproportionately experienced by African Americans. Work that seeks to address these disparities and advance social justice should uplift and learn from participant voices, particularly from marginalized groups. This scoping review aimed to summarize the available literature describing African Americans' perceptions of and experiences participating in nutrition interventions. We conducted an electronic literature search with the assistance of a research librarian which encompassed 6 databases (MEDLINE, PyscINFO, Agricola, ERIC, SocINDEX, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses) and identified 35 sources …

Fostering Evidence-Grounded Dialogue In A Multi-Institutional Digital Library, Leah Duncan, Elizabeth Joan Kelly, Sophia Ziegler

Faculty Publications

This report presents the findings of a survey of Louisiana-based librarians, archivists, and museum professionals’ processes for digitization selection and digital collection outreach and assessment. Survey participants were administrators at cultural heritage institutions that contribute to the Louisiana Digital Library (LDL), a state-wide resource for sharing digital heritage content.

The Virtue Of Solidarity: A Profile And Intervention, Marshal P. George

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The lack of communal warmth and increased polarization across the globe add urgency to the call for renewed efforts to develop relationally-focused persons and communities. Solidarity, understood as a virtue, is conceptualized to cultivate group-minded individuals able to embody values, motivations, and behaviors inherent to developing social harmony and equity. After conceptualizing solidarity as a virtue, this study implemented an intervention to increase the solidarity virtue trait. The intervention was a 5-day educational and reflective exercise. Analysis of results assessed the relationship between individuals pursuing community flourishing and the intervention via multiple regression. Results were consistent with the theory of …

Safety In The Woods: Studying The Effectiveness Of The Kentucky Master Logger Program, Austin Winn Leake

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Logging is a dangerous field; in this study the researcher looks to see the knowledge both before and after professional loggers participate in the Kentucky Master Logger Program. This information was used to see the overall effectiveness of the Kentucky Master Logger Program. The researcher found an overall improvement in logging professionals’ perceptions and understanding of logging safety. The researcher recommends creating an emphasis on a safe work culture through safety incentives and a greater focus on less used personal protective equipment such as insecticide

The Resiliency And Thriving Of Underrepresented Agricultural Educators: A National Mixed Methods Study, Caleb Michael Hickman

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Gay men in agricultural education do not have comprehensive support within the agricultural education profession. When gay men decide to become agriculture educators, they often keep their identity private. This national mixed methods study aims to seek if gay agriculture educators are resilient and thrive in rural communities. The thriving elements of spiritual influence, personal competence, peer support, and family cohesion were surveyed and analyzed using a resiliency lens. Findings include gay male agricultural educators thriving in a heteronormative profession. Recommendations include ensuring LGBTQIA+ teachers have a voice in agricultural education.

Exploring The Relationship Between Place Attachment And Attitudes Toward Tourism Development In Powell County, Lindsay Vance

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

This study explores the relationship between Powell County, Kentucky residents’ place attachment, and the perceived sociocultural, environmental, and financial benefits of the future Warrior’s Path development. A survey consisting primarily of five-point Likert scale questions was shared with several local organizations to distribute to their members. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Chi-square test of independence tests were used to discover any correlation between place attachment and perceived sociocultural, environmental, and financial benefits of tourism development. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r=.465) determined a moderate positive correlation between place attachment and perceived sociocultural benefits of the Warrior’s Path and tourism development. Of …

Outdoor Recreation Benefits And Promotion Through A Youth-Focused Program In State Parks, Kiley Foss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A family’s participation in outdoor recreation activities can provide numerous benefits to each individual. Children’s participation is influenced from various factors, but parents have one of the greatest influences on their child’s outdoor recreation behavior. The purpose of this study is to assess the outcomes of a statewide outdoor recreation program in relation to using state parks as outdoor wellness centers, as well as investigate the relationship between parents’ outdoor recreation participation and perception and their children’s outdoor recreation involvement. A total of 104 parents or guardians recalled their family’s participation in the Go Forth program. Those responses were analyzed …

Pathways Forward For Onshore Wind Energy In The State Of Maryland: A Gis Multi-Criteria Analysis, George Pisano

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This study examines pathways forward for onshore wind energy in the State of Maryland. To meet its decarbonization goals, Maryland needs to quickly transition its electric grid away from fossil fuels. The state is currently in the process of developing offshore wind farms that have the potential to represent a significant source of renewable energy. However little progress has been made in expanding Maryland’s onshore wind energy production capacity. Using a multi-criteria GIS analysis, this study found that there is a limited but not inconsiderable area in the state that could be suitable for wind farms of varying scales that …

Comments On Proposed Rules For Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, Shell Companies, And Projections, Andrew F. Tuch

Scholarship@WashULaw

In March 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission released proposed rules for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), shell companies, and projections. In this comment letter, filed with the SEC, I provide a critical assessment of this proposal.

The SEC proposed far-reaching changes intended to enhance investor protections and align disclosure and liability rules in de-SPACs more closely with those in traditional IPOs. An under-appreciated feature of the proposed reforms is that they would subject de-SPACs to provisions closely modeled on Rule 13e-3 of the Exchange Act, which applies to going-private transactions, including management buyouts. Intended to tackle potential conflicts of …

Race-Aware Algorithms: Fairness, Nondiscrimination And Affirmative Action, Pauline T. Kim

Scholarship@WashULaw

The growing use of predictive algorithms is increasing concerns that they may discriminate, but mitigating or removing bias requires designers to be aware of protected characteristics and take them into account. If they do so, however, will those efforts be considered a form of discrimination? Put concretely, if model-builders take race into account to prevent racial bias against Black people, have they then engaged in discrimination against white people? Some scholars assume so and seek to justify those practices under existing affirmative action doctrine. By invoking the Court’s affirmative action jurisprudence, however, they implicitly assume that these practices entail discrimination …

Little Progress In The Sixth Committee On Crimes Against Humanity, Leila Nadya Sadat

Scholarship@WashULaw

This essay takes up the work of the UN Sixth Committee to date on crimes against humanity. It offers the first comprehensive tabulation of States’ positions, an analysis of the work accomplished thus far, and suggests a potential roadmap for advancing the adoption of a new global treaty on crimes against humanity. The essay notes the substantial progress made by the International Law Commission in the development and shaping of the proposed draft treaty as well as the substantial support the ILC’s work has attracted from States. At the same time, it underscores the disappointing outcome of this year’s negotiations, …

Deregulated Redistricting, Travis Crum

Scholarship@WashULaw

From the civil rights movement through the Obama administration, each successive redistricting cycle involved ever-greater regulation of the mapmaking process. But in the past decade, the Supreme Court has re-written the ground rules for redistricting. For the first time in fifty years, Southern States will redistrict free of the preclearance process that long protected minorities from having their political power diminished. Political parties can now openly engage in egregious partisan gerrymandering.

The Court has withdrawn from the political thicket on every front except race. In so doing, the Court has engaged in decision-making that is both activist and restrained, but …

Understanding Urban Renewal: History Forgotten, Daniel R. Mandelker

Scholarship@WashULaw

Urban renewal is an important feature of urban life, but judicial, statutory, and constitutional backlash followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision that held constitutional the use of eminent domain to acquire land for redevelopment in an urban renewal project. Urban renewal got its start in the federal urban renewal program, which influenced state legislation but had a weak planning requirement and did not include blight as a requirement for urban renewal. This weakness was a factor in the problems that occurred in urban renewal and that created the backlash to the Supreme Court decision.

The Further Erosion Of Investor Protection: Expanded Exemptions, Spac Mergers, And Direct Listings, Andrew F. Tuch, Joel Seligman

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Article examines the decades-long decline of investor protections enshrined in the Securities Act of 1933, most notably Section 11, which imposes near strict liability on corporate insiders and certain secondary actors, primarily underwriters. The provision, the most potent in the federal securities regulatory arsenal, popularized the concept of outside gatekeepers and transformed practices in securities offerings, making due diligence a byword for careful investigation of facts whether required by legal process or otherwise. The measures required by Section 11 restored confidence in US capital markets in the wake of the Great Depression and have been instrumental in these markets’ …

Political Ideology And Judicial Administration: Evidence From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kyle Rozema, Adam Chilton, Christopher Anthony Cotropia, David L. Schwartz

Scholarship@WashULaw

We study the effect of political ideology on the administration of the judiciary by investigating how the chief judges of federal district courts set courthouse policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, we use novel data on the geographic boundaries of federal courts and on the contents of pandemic orders. We account for state and local conditions and policies by leveraging district courts in states that have multiple judicial districts and that have courthouses in multiple counties, and we isolate the effect of chief ideology by using simulations that difference out unobserved district-level effects. We find no …

Assessing Affirmative Action's Diversity Rationale, Kyle Rozema, Adam Chilton, Justin Driver, Jonathan S. Masur

Scholarship@WashULaw

Ever since Justice Lewis Powell’s opinion in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke made diversity in higher education a constitutionally acceptable rationale for affirmative action programs, the diversity rationale has received vehement criticism from across the ideological spectrum. Critics on the right argue that diversity efforts lead to “less meritorious” applicants being selected. Critics on the left charge that diversity is mere “subterfuge.” On the diversity rationale’s legitimacy, then, there is precious little diversity of thought. In particular, prominent scholars and jurists have cast doubt on the diversity rationale’s empirical foundations, claiming that it rests on an implausible …

The Informed Jury, Daniel Epps, William Ortman

Scholarship@WashULaw

The right to a criminal jury trial is a constitutional disappointment. Cases almost never make it to a jury because of plea bargaining. In the few cases that do, the jury is relegated to a narrow factfinding role that denies it normative voice or the ability to serve as a meaningful check on excessive punishment.

One simple change could situate the jury where it belongs, at the center of the criminal process. The most important thing juries do in criminal cases is authorize state punishment. But today, when a jury returns a guilty verdict, it authorizes punishment without any idea …

Circling The Drain: The Extinction Crisis And The Future Of Humanity, Rodolfo Dirzo, Gerardo Ceballos, Paul R. Ehrlich

Harold W. Manter Laboratory: Library Materials

Humanity has triggered the sixth mass extinction episode since the beginning of the Phanerozoic. The complexity of this extinction crisis is centered on the intersection of two complex adaptive systems: human culture and ecosystem functioning, although the significance of this intersection is not properly appreciated. Human beings are part of biodiversity and elements in a global ecosystem. Civilization, and perhaps even the fate of our species, is utterly dependent on that ecosystem’s proper functioning, which society is increasingly degrading. The crisis seems rooted in three factors. First, relatively few people globally are aware of its existence. Second, most people who …

Appalachians’ Intentions To Use Online And In-Person Counseling, Jade Hollan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Appalachians face higher rates of mental health concerns, yet they are less likely to have access to quality treatment. Online counseling, counseling using videoconferencing technology, may provide a viable solution to narrow this gap. However, little is known about Appalachians’ intention to use in-person or online counseling. This study examined Appalachians’ (N = 490) intentions to use online and in-person counseling using the theoretical framework of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). Results from structural equation modeling supported the indirect model for online and in-person counseling, where the associations between distal help-seeking factors (i.e., self-stigma, perceived stigma of …

“Don’T Feel Like You Have To Do This All On Your Own”: Exploring Perceived Partner Support Of Breastfeeding Among Black Women In Kentucky, Jardin Dogan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Background: Partner support improves breastfeeding initiation and continuation among mothers. However, few studies have explored partner support for breastfeeding among Black women living in the southeastern U.S., who report the lowest rates nationally of breastfeeding compared to women of other racial groups. Ways to increase support of Black women’s breastfeeding may be best understood from an Afrocentric perspective.

Research Aim: This qualitative study aimed to explore perceptions of partner support among Black mothers to abductively develop a culturally relevant framework of partner support to improve their rates of breastfeeding. Our research question was, “What partner support behaviors do Black …

Cognitive Distortions, Partisan Strength, And Authoritarianism: Exploring Potential Factors Contributing To The Current Partisan Divide, Brooke C. Singer

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Over the past two decades, the number of Americans on the extremes of the political spectrum has more than doubled, and politically motivated aggression has increased. In addition, an unprecedented division has emerged between the left and right on fundamental political values and animosity continues to rise. The purpose of this study was to explore factors that potentially contribute to political polarization and animosity in the United States, including authoritarianism, strength of partisan commitment, and distorted thinking. The participants for this study comprised 513 individuals from the general population of the United States recruited from online platforms. Participants completed an …

Characterizing The Relationship Between Executive Functioning And Social-Emotional Behaviors Following A Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, Lakia Kearson

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common acquired neurological conditions in children and adolescents. A TBI sustained in childhood can lead to an increased likelihood of executive functioning (EF) problems with possible short-term and long-term effects. Research has suggested that problems in EF can also lead to longstanding impairments in social skills and behavioral regulation. This study examined the relationship between EF and social-emotional functioning in children with TBI based on parent report using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) domain and subdomain scores. Quantitative data was retrieved from the …

Exploring The Association Between Female Infertility Stigma, Women’S Cognitions, And Coping Responses, Spencer Paige Brown

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Infertility is becoming a significant problem for many women around the globe. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infertility impacts 186 million individuals worldwide. Women who experience infertility may be exposed to increased pressure from family and friends to get pregnant, feelings of isolation, and inadequacy. Both cultural and societal views that promote the connection between womanhood and motherhood may increase a woman’s negative view about herself due to her inability to conceive a child. The purpose of this study was to bring awareness about the impact that social stigma of infertility has on a woman’s cognitions and ability …

African American Women’S Perspectives On Mental Health, Kristine Smalls

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

African American women endure multiple stressors from such forms of social oppression as racism and sexism that impact their lives in many ways. Despite those stressors, several barriers impede African American women from seeking the professional mental health they need to cope. Instead, they rely on cultural and historical methods for managing stress, such as religious beliefs and the support of the church community, or they create their own. In this study, 25 women were interviewed to explore the barriers interfering with African American women seeking professional mental health treatment. This study specifically identified and examined three potential barriers: the …

How May Executive Coaches Advance Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Organizations?, Anne Mccafferty

Full-Text Theses & Dissertations

Following the increased domestic focus on systemic racism throughout the United States due to various events in 2020, there has been a strong shift towards organizations focusing on how to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The purpose of the current study was to address the how coaches may ameliorate the lack of focus on DEI initiatives within the corporate world. The overarching research question for this study was, How may executive coaches advance the development of diversity, equity, and inclusion in organizations? I utilized the theory of generative interactions to support the current research as well as a …

Introduction: Climate Change And Planned Retreat, Idowu Jola Ajibade, A. R. Siders

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Chapter 1.

This edited volume advances our understanding of climate relocation (or planned retreat), an emerging topic in the fields of climate adaptation and hazard risk, and provides a platform for alternative voices and views on the subject. As the effects of climate change become more severe and widespread, there is a growing conversation about when, where and how people will move. Climate relocation is a controversial adaptation strategy, yet the process can also offer opportunity and hope. This collection grapples with the environmental and social justice dimensions from multiple perspectives, with cases drawn from Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania, South …

Earthquakes And Home Prices: The Napa And Ridgecrest Quakes, Gary Smith, James H. Jung

Pomona Economics

A comparison of residential home sales six months before and after the 2014 South Napa and 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequences shows that prices dropped substantially, and that the effects on individual home prices were directly related to the intensity with which the earthquakes were felt at the location of each home.

The Athletic Identity And Cognitive Emotional Responses Of Regis University Student Athletes In The Face Of Covid-19, Madison Flores

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

COVID-19 impacted the entire world. One specific population of individuals who suffered from implications of the novel coronavirus was athletes. As the virus spread around the globe and quarantine regulations were being established, athletes across various competition levels experienced cancellations of their sport seasons. This event led many athletes to lose their athletic identity; the degree to which one identifies with the athletic role. Individuals who develop a stronger, more exclusive athletic identity are likely to experience more difficulties when sport related transitions like injury or retirement occur. In the present study, I predicted that athletes who have a higher …