2022 Honors Theses (Spring)

Wiest, Natalie H.

The Asian community has recently become victim to hate crimes considering the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this is not the first time the Asian population in America has experienced this type of crime. Dating back to the 1800s, Asian people have historically been the targets of oppression and discrimination. This thesis will analyze the similarit...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Bonnie Laing, D.S.W.

Asian Hate Crime: An Analysis of Past and Present and a Glimpse Into the Lives of Those Affected

Meyer, Courtney E.

Childhood trauma effects nearly half of children in the United States. And with that, the effects-of this trauma impact school performance and success. While schools are becoming more involved with trauma informed practices and perspectives, minimal studies exist to prove the overall effectiveness at improving students' symptoms and experiences ...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Azadeh Block, PhD.

Childhood Trauma and School Based Interventions

Brommer, Brittany Rene

The rising phenomenon of mass shootings within schools in the United States has been a prevalent topic in news media and social media outlets. In response to what seems to be an increase in violence within schools, safety plans and procedures have been put in place to protect students from the seemingly inevitability of school shootings. The int...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Christopher Wydra, PhD.

College Student Perceptions of Safety and School Shooting Events

Kleck, Maria L.

Consumerism is a key variable in many global issues. This is what I discovered when I tracked consumerism from the 1920's to modem day. At the rate we are consuming goods we are using all our limited natural resources, contaminating our water, causing conflicts in third world countries, and causing many other devastating consequences. Our societ...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Sean Madden, DA

Consumerism is a Short-Term Fix That Causes Many Long-Term Issues: 100-year Overview of the Evolution of American Mass Conspicuous Consumption

Augustine, Shaylie F.

The Donora smog is an infamous event caused by Donora Zinc Works, which operated for thirty-three long years prior to the disaster which resulted in a foggy haze mixed with atmospheric pollutants to smother the proximal areas. The Donora smog occurred over the Donora and Webster areas on October 29th, 1948. Soil samples were collected, in tripli...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Michelle Valkanas, PhD.

The Deep-Rooted Damage of the Donora Smog Disaster

King, Abigale L.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become increasingly popular over these past few years. At this point these heroes are shown doing more than just fighting villains and catching bad guys, you are able to see them as normal humans with everyday problems. Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch), who I will be analyzing, has a lot of grief and trauma from l...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Mark G. Aune, PhD.

The Different Forms of Power Represented in a Marvel Cinematic Universe Character: Wanda Maximoff

Kling, McKayla I.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the cognition of an individual. There is currently no cure, but potential treatments, preventions, and risk factors have been identified regarding both genetic and environmental factors. The main objective of the thesis was to identify if a lifetime of mental stimulation...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Brian Paulson, PhD.

The Effect of Mental Stimulation on the Onset of Alzheimer's Later in Life

Oplinger, Stephanie A.

Contemporary female artists have wrestled with female body image and society's dictation, criticism, and fetishism of the female form. My body of artwork, titled Evolving Bodies, seeks to expand into the commentary that these artists have already begun by creating paintings and sculptures that express and discuss societal criticism of the female...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Cynthia Persinger, PhD.

Evolving Bodies: Female Self Image and Body Shame in Contemporary Art

Davis, Savannah L.

Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide composed of the two chemicals 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-d) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-t). During the mass production of the herbicide at the height of the Vietnam War over 12 million gallons of contaminated Agent Orange was sprayed on the affected area. Agent orange produces a high...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Louise Nicholson, PhD.

Examining the Transgenerational Effect of TCDD on Bone Degradation in Zebrafish

Moran, Caden J.

With the changing nature of the mortgage market from corporate banks and other standard lending institutions to nonbank mortgage lenders, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released in 2020 a Request For Information (RFI) for changing Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) membership. The main issue concerns whether or not nonbank mortgage lenders...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Joseph Heim, PhD.

Federal Home Loan Bank: Adapting Membership to the Changing Mortgage Market

Galik, Britney M.

Gender gap in the workplace has always been a challenging topic of discussion. There are a handful of reasons as to why this is a challenging topic especially in the technology field. One of the main reasons is that this field is mainly a male dominated field. The gender pay difference began in the 1980’s and have persisted in both the lower and...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Pratibha Menon, PhD.

History of Gender in the STEM Workplace: Focused on Technology Fields

McSurdy, Emma A.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had adverse effects on almost everyone, of all ages, races, genders, etc. It has been linked to an increase in mental health issues across the globe. This study aims to look at the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on stress and anxiety levels in male and female college students and compare the two genders. It ...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Michael Baranski, PhD.

How COVID-19 Has Impacted Stress and Anxiety Levels in Male and Female College Students

Clevenger, Kendall M.

The rise of social media influencers as a vehicle to reach consumers is a developing addition to the marketing mix. The purpose of this honors thesis is to determine if boutique hotel brands can benefit from the use of micro-influencer marketing to reach more potential guests than through their own social media accounts. The research methodology...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Susan Ryan, PhD.

Influencer Marketing and its Effectiveness in the Lodging Sector

Roberts, Brittney M.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that does not have any specific cause but can have a profound impact on one’s life. Symptoms can include delusions, paranoia, and inappropriate actions. Many individuals with Schizophrenia can live their lives with proper treatment and care. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for ...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Justin Hackett, PhD.

A Literature Review of Previous Research on Schizophrenia: CBT, Ecotherapy, and Others as Treatment

Tubbs, Michaela G.

The growing concerns regarding the overpopulation of feral felines in local communities and the need for more involvement to control the situation was the reason for writing this research paper. Arguments to members of the community were given as to why more people should get involved, a few reasons being it will improve the welfare and health o...
Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Jessica Swords, DVM

The Responsibility of Communities: Caring for Feral Felines

Klopcic, Jack.

Honors Thesis Advisor : Dr. Sarah Downey, PhD.

A Timeline of Sound Symbolism