DEPARTMENT OF ART

Analytical Papers and Analyses

McKeighan, Rachel . PURGING THE IMMORAL .

James DeMonaco’s science fiction “purge” franchise explores a classist, authoritarian, dystopian America. The fiction film introduces a single political party, The New Founding Fathers, who organize an annual government sanctioned event, making all crime, including murder legal for 12 consecutive hours. This paper is an exploration analyzing the morality of the fourth movie, The First Purge, using standards from John Gardner and Socrates. The purge combines horror with a strong political message to create a thought-provoking film that calls the reader to action. The message reminds us to stay informed and stand up for political freedoms. The overall effect of the movie are investigated to determine if life is being affirmed or debased.
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM CHURCH

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY

Analytical Papers and Analyses

Boothe Josiah, Ziebarth Guthre, Whitman Isaac, Glore Caitlyn. PLANT PIGMENT DAMAGE CAUSED BY UV/STRONG LIGHT.

Test the effects of light absorption from being exposed to Ultraviolet light and strong light on chlorophyll A and B and carotenoids in a plant extract. From our experiment we discovered that long exposures to strong light damages the chlorophyll's ability to absorb light.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. C. BARTA

Bremer, Robert; Thorne, Chase; Hart, Ethan . INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE LAW.

This poster includes some of the main topics that come along with International Wildlife Law. In our poster we have some legislations that pertain to the concept of International Wildlife Law. We have also included in our display of the topic three law cases revolving around the idea of International Wildlife law and its laws and legislations.
Faculty Sponsor: DR.C

Empirical Projects

(Aguilera, Sofía) (Hanlan, Nick). OPTIMIZATION OF CELL FREE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS .

This preliminary report describes our efforts to invent a system for cell-free expression of genes encoding enzymes that control metabolic pathways for the production of desired metabolites. Because we acknowledge the difficulty of making rationale, data-based decisions about how best to express genes for production of metabolites, we want to develop a system that uses metabolite levels to select for optimal combinations of gene expression control elements. This report describes our efforts to produce lysates from E. coli for cell- free protein synthesis (CFPS). We also designed, constructed, and have begun testing a fitness module based on the expression of the restriction enzyme SmaI. We are working toward a proof-of-concept system in which combinations of DNA regulatory elements that enhance the production of caffeine demethylase are selected for their ability to produce theophylline. Theophylline production will turn on a riboswitch that leads to a burst of SmaI expression. Localized SmaI activity is expected to preferentially cleave successful control elements over unsuccessful ones, allowing purification and identification of previously unknown requirements for CFPS- controlled metabolism.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. TODD ECKDAHL

Atkins, Kaitlyn . PROFESSIONAL INTERNSHIP LEARNING EXPERIENCE WITH US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE.

This summer I worked for the US Fish and Wildlife \r\nService at Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife \r\nRefuge. Where I served on the invasive species \r\nplant crew. We went around to the different units \r\nand sprayed the invasive plants. There were times, \r\nwe got a break from the side by side, Kubotas and \r\ngot to go on the Missouri River and check out the \r\nman made channelization. We got to explore new \r\nplaces and some outreach and education \r\nopportunities as well. This summer internship has \r\nbeen filled with many learning opportunities, \r\nadventures and ways to control invasive plants.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CARY CHEVALIER

Atkins Kaitlyn, Isaac Whitman, Jackie Herron. ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT .

In the history of wildlife law there were many laws and legislation that arose issues. One of those issues was the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This looks at the events that had lead up to the decision and the history of how the endangered species Act became what it is today. We will also look at a few cases that were issues that dealt with endangered species. Along with a few animals that are listed as endangered for examples.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CARY CHEVALIER

Baker, Ethan . INTERNING AT THE ATLANTA CONSERVATION AREA .

This summer I have had the privilege of once again \r\n\\r\\nworking for the Missouri Department of \r\n\\r\\nConservation out of the Atlanta Conservation \r\nArea \\r\\nwhich is 4,089 acres and sits at the far \r\nNorth \\r\\nend of the Long Branch State park. The \r\nAtlanta \\r\\nConservation Area is primarily managed \r\nfor \\r\\nwhitetail deer and turkeys. The area also \r\nhas \\r\\nthree wetlands that are managed for \r\nseveral \\r\\ndifferent species including wood \r\nducks, teal, \\r\\nCanadian geese and several other \r\ntypes of \\r\\nwaterfowl. Along with the wetlands \r\nthe Atlanta \\r\\nConservation Area also has a \r\nremnant prairie, warm \\r\\nseason grasses, and \r\nhardwoods, all managed with \\r\\nthe help of fire. \r\n\\r\\n
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CHEVALIER

Barnett, Nathan. Hahn, Jade. McNett, Cody.. OBSERVING THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTS OF VARIABLE TONICITIES ON PLANT AND ANIMAL CELLS.

When the flow of solutes and solvents in and out of a cell are equal to eachother, the gradient is at equilibrium. The goal of the cell membrane in animal cells, and the cell wall in plant cells is to maintain this equilibrium. Plant and animal cells show slightly different behaviors in achieving this goal. Our goal is to attempt to give visuals of the activity of cells in their efforts of achieving equilibrium.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CSENGELE BARTA

Bashaw Benjamin, Lamey Lyndsay, Roy Tilottama. PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE NORTH AMERICAN FALSE FOXGLOVES .

The genus Agalinis, belonging to the family Orobanchaceae is native to the Western Hemisphere, with around 40 species distributed across temperate North America, and a large group native to Missouri and the Midwestern United states. About 21 species of this genus warrant conservation measures. We utilized molecular methods, and bioinformatics tools, to understand the evolutionary (phylogenetic) relationships among the different species, taxonomical sections, and subsections within this group. Our study corroborates to previous studies and indicates the North American Agalinis to be a strongly supported monophyletic group.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. TILOTTAMA ROY

Bilby, Steven; Butler, Hayley; Diaz, Mariela; Lewis, Savannah. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REVERSE GENETICS SYSTEM FOR INFLUENZA A.

Most of the laboratory systems used to carry out genetic experiments in influenza A virus are based on laboratory adapted strains of the virus. The goal of this project is to develop a system that can be used to carry out reverse genetics experiments in the context of a human clinical isolate of the virus. To date, experimental conditions for amplifying most of the segments of the influenza A genome have been worked out, and so far, two of the eight genome segments of the clinical isolate have been successfully cloned.
Faculty Sponsor: MICHAEL GRANTHAM

Kelsey Burkey, Zach Anderson, Justin Roberts, Ed’queshia Harris. THE EFFECT DIFFERENT BATHROOMS HAVE ON BACTERIAL GROWTH.

We tested the type of bacteria grown and the amount of growth based on sample’s taken in a men and women’s restroom. We found, that the type of bacteria grown was the same among both men and women’s restrooms. However, we found that samples from the men’s restroom yielded much more bacterial growth then the women’s.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CSENGELE BARTA

Gentry, Sophie; Hunter, Sondi; Rademann, Anthony. AN OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL WILDLIFE LAW: MARINE MAMMALS.

Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. C.D. CHEVALIER

Green, Kim; Kerns, Kristy; Armstrong, Cheyene; Johnson, Maggie. TEMPERATURE??S EFFECT ON AMYLASE ACTIVITY .

Enzymes like amylase are most effective under certain temperatures. The purpose of our experiment was to understand how temperatures affects enzyme activity. We specially tested amylase activity under high, low, and room temperature conditions.
Faculty Sponsor: MICHAEL GRANTHAM

Groner, Becki; Hart, Ethan; Huff, Kiefer; Thorne, Chase. THE EFFECT OF CAFFEINE ON BLOOD PRESSURE AND HEART RATE.

In a previous Bio 106 lab experiment we conducted an experiment that measured cardiovascular fitness based on the amount of sleep the subjects had received. We found that subjects that had more than 7 hours of sleep had a better cardiovascular fitness level than those who received less than 7 hours. So, for this experiment we wanted to test whether or not caffeine had an impact on blood pressure and heart rate. We found that caffeine consumption actually lowered the heart rate and blood pressure.
Faculty Sponsor: MICHAEL GRANTHAM

Lamey Lyndsay, Bashaw Benjamin, Roy Tilottama. HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE NORTH AMERICAN FALSE FOXGLOVES .

The genus Agalinis, belonging to the family Orobanchaceae, is native to the Western Hemisphere, with around 40 species distributed across temperate North America, and a large group native to Missouri and the midwestern United states. About 21 species of this genus warrant conservation measures. Our study is the first to investigate the biogeography of this genus in temperate North America. We utilized molecular methods, bioinformatics tools, and fossil calibrations, to understand the diversification timings and ancestral areas of this group. Our study points to south eastern United States as the place where the Agalinis clade had their center of diversity in temperate North America, from which they spread to the rest of the United States and even migrated to Canada, around the mid- Miocene period.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. TILOTTAMA ROY

Mills, Watson. MONITORING BIODIVERSITY AND HEALTH OF MISSOURI OZARK GLADES.

Missouri Ozark glades are threatened ecosystems with high levels of biodiversity. We obtained Community Health Index scores through the Missouri Department of Conservation for the glade ecosystems involved in our research. Our results indicate the requirement for frequent fires to promote high levels of biodiversity through imitating natural burn cycles, thus inhibiting foliage overgrowth and promoting natural levels and diversity of reptiles, birds, and amphibians in glade ecosystems. For future work, we will be publishing all new county records for vascular plants and plan to analyze the rest of the nematode data and look at community comparisons between other habitats in the United States.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. MILLS

Ong, Shi Qing , Wagner, Jacob. OPTIMIZATION OF CELL FREE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS: DEVELOPMENT OF A FUSION PROTEIN FITNESS STRATEGY.

Production of a protein via cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) can involve the use of high and low functioning combinations of promoters and ribosome binding sites (RBS) in a gene expression cassette. In order to differentiate between these high and low functioning DNA templates, a fitness module using a Gal4-GFP-Streptavidin fusion protein was developed in response to the production of theophylline. The carboxyl terminus of fusion protein, streptavidin, will bind to biotinylated magnetic beads for physical separation of selected DNA templates. Using this in vitro approach, we plan to pursue the optimization of CFPS for future metabolic pathway of interest.
Faculty Sponsor: TODD ECKDAHL

Jacob Oyler, Bryce Edwards, Hailee Fitzgerald, and Bre Eison. THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS ON ESCHERICHIA COLI.

The scope of this project was to test a variety of cleaning agents for their efficacy in preventing bacterial growth.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CSENGELE BARTA

Esther Par, Junaid Khan, Aspen Speiser, Kyle Richardson. THE EFFECT OF HEAT AND ECO R1 ON DNA.

The purpose of this work was to study the impact of heat treatment and restriction enzymes on animal and plant DNA.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CSENGELE BARTA

Sammy Roberts, Symmone Holland, Jordyn Galvin, Adam Lutz . PIGMENTS IN DIFFERENT PLANT SPECIES.

The scope of this work was to study the differences between the pigment composition of leaves with different properties.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CSENGELE BARTA

Internship/Practicum Experience

Bryant, William. INTERNSHIP AT MDC.

I did an internship with Missouri Deparartment of Conservation at Pony Express Conservation Area. This was with the fisheries department for three Months.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CHAVLIER

Lavelle, Katie. INTERNSHIP AT SMITHVILLE LAKE NATURE CENTER.

This poster is an overview of my experience this summer during my internship as a naturalist at the Smithville Lake Nature Center. This poster covers my experiences with outreach and education, maintenance, and species management.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CHEVALIER

Miller, Samuel. INTERNSHIP AT KELSEY SHORT NATURE CENTER WITH CLAY COUNTY PARKS.

I took part in an internship at Kelsey Short Nature Center in the summer of 2018. Things I was apart of included invasive species control, outreach and education, and sampling.
Faculty Sponsor: CARY D. CHEVALIER

Smith, Megan. WILDLIFE REHABILITATION .

Over the summer of 2018, I took part in an internship at the Hutchinson Zoo in Hutchinson, Kansas in the Cargill Wildcare Center. My responsibilities included the care and well-being of numerous animals. The daily tasks included feeding, cleaning, and sanitizing the animals’ quarters. Daily animal care included administering medications, creating diets, recording weights, and dressing any wounds. Numerous species of animals were treated and cared for, and at the proper time, released back into the wild.
Faculty Sponsor: MARK MILLS

Literature Reviews

Boothe Josiah, Ziebarth Guthre. OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL WILDLIFE LAW: MARINE FISH.

Our presentation is an overview of Marine Fish Law in the United States. Starting from the Magnuson-Stevens Act which started marine fish law to the MSA Re- authorization Act of 2007 which emphasized some points on the original act. We also talk about the Endangered Species Act and how it also applies to marine fish and their habitats.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CARY D. CHEVALIER

Gruetze, Marissa Swofford, James. WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ON PRIVATE LANDS.

Wildlife laws and regulations that focus on how wildlife conservation has evolved into modern times to work alongside the growing human populations. Also will touch on a few cases relating to those laws.
Faculty Sponsor: CARY CHEVALIER

(Kusilek, Jason) (Shorba, Jacob). AN OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL WILDLIFE LAW: THE EVOLUTION OF BIRD CONSERVATION .

At its beginning, bird conservation consisted of virtually no laws, with people having the ability to take any bird at any time. This caused massive population decline in birds due to sport, meat, and plume hunting, as well as habitat destruction. Laws and regulations were needed to preserve the remaining populations. This project covers four acts and five cases related to them that were instrumental in the progress of bird conservation, which were the Lacey Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Bald Eagle Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
Faculty Sponsor: CARY CHEVALIER

Sedlock, Stephanie , Briscoe, Aaron , Hersh, Lex. THE REGULATIONS AND PROCESS OF TAKE.

Our project covers the process and regulations of take. Take being the killing, collecting, etc. of animal or plant and making it property. We gave law case examples, how it works, and other wildlife items it relates to.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CARY CHEVALIER

Spear, Lauren; Lee,Brian. MINING AND WILDLIFE LAW.

The laws that govern wildlife has the ability to cross over into other areas of our lives and business. This is a look at how mining and wildlife conservation have done just that. The town of FairPlay, CO, has recently been in the news due to the mining operation starting back up and running at an aggressive rate. The citizens have concerns of the impact on the wildlife and environmental. We took a look into the few laws that governs mining and wildlife to see where hey intersects.
Faculty Sponsor: DR CARY CHEVALIER

Turner, Josh. Barnett, Nathan. Flowers, Tyler.. MULTIPLE LAND USE LAWS: NATIONAL FORESTS.

National Forests make up a large amount of the public lands in the western United States. Understanding how laws affect the use of these public lands is essential to government officials tasked with their management, and understanding what options are available is essential for the access of private citizens to resources. Our goal is to give an overview of the terms of use of National Forests.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CARY D. CHEVALIER

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

Analytical Papers and Analyses

EDLIN, MATTHEW. NEURAL NETWORK DESIGN FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF AN SRP40 ESE GENETIC SEQUENCE MOTIF.

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are “biologically-inspired” computational models that have been designed to mimic the sophisticated information processing and knowledge acquisition methods of the human brain, creating Artificial Intelligence (AI). With the Neural Network Toolbox™ in MATLAB®, we are in the process to design an ANN prototype that will be validated in order to test a set of genetic sequences to determine if they promote splicing activities by human SRp40. \r\nThe SRp40 belongs to the evolutionarily conserved family of SR proteins, playing a critical role as exonic splicing enhancers in regulating general splicing factors, alternative splicing, and mRNA nuclear export.\r\n
Faculty Sponsor: STAN SVOJANOVSKY

Empirical Projects

Phillips, Merle and Brown, Jeremy. CLONING, EXPRESSION, AND PURIFICATION OF A SERINE ENDOPROTEASE.

The High Temperature Requirement A (HtrA) family of enzymes are a diverse group of serine proteases, present in both prokarya and eukarya, and are generally responsible for the degradation of misfolded proteins. The dysregulation of HtrA3 in human somatic cells gives rise to various forms of cancer and preeclampsia. DegQ is a bacterial analog to HtrA3 found in the periplasm of E. coli and has the properties of an HtrA protease: it is a serine endopeptidase that works to protect the cell during high temperature by degrading specific damaged proteins. Currently, the interactions that dictate which specific substrates DegQ degrades are unknown. Insights into this interaction could lay the foundation for studying the interactions of the human HtrA3 protease. Our research challenge was to successfully replicate bacterial cells carrying the gene of the enzyme (degQ) of interest, express, and then purify the enzyme. With the enzyme isolated, the degradation pattern and further interactions between the enzyme and substrate are to be monitored with GCMS.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. NATALIE MIKITA

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES AND JOURNALISM

Empirical Projects

Hall, Kelsea; Blosser, Molly; Hansson, Isabelle. INVESTIGATING FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS' ASSIMILATION AND ADJUSTMENT TO COLLEGE.

This study compared first-generation students' and non-first-generation students' classroom assimilation, adjustment to college, and intent to persist in college. Overall, 146 students participated in the study. It was discovered that first-generation college students reported significantly less classroom assimilation than non-first-generation college students. First-generation students reported significantly less academic adjustment and personal-emotional adjustment than non-first-generation students. No differences were discovered in the social adjustment between the two groups. No significant differences were discovered between the two groups in students' intent to persist in college.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. JORDAN ATKINSON

Rounkles, Madison; Selby, Maria; Wallace, Taylor. USING THE LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE THEORY TO INVESTIGATE STUDENT CLASSROOM COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS.

This study investigated students' perceptions of their relationship with their instructor using the leader-member exchange perspective. Results indicated that students who perceive in-group relationships with their instructors report less expressive dissent than students who perceive out-group relationships. There were no significant differences in rhetorical dissent or vengeful dissent. Students who perceive in-group relationships with their instructors report more involvement citizenship behavior than students who perceive out-group relationships. There were no significant differences in the affiliation citizenship behavior or courtesy citizenship behavior. Students who perceive in-group relationships with their instructors engaged in more oral participation than students who perceive out-group relationships. Students who perceive in-group relationships with their instructors engaged in more out-of-class communication with their instructors than students who perceive out-group relationships.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. JORDAN ATKINSON

Smith, Elijah; Cornley II, Gannon C.. EXAMINING STUDENT BURNOUT AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH CLASSROOM COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS.

This paper examines burnout in undergraduate college students. It was discovered that burnout negatively affected students' emotional interest, cognitive interest, engagement in class, and oral in-class participation.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. JORDAN ATKINSON

Vonseggern, Bethany; Jenkins, Drew; Hidzir, Dianah. INVESTIGATING STUDENT TRUST IN INSTRUCTORS.

Instructor trust was related positively to the three dimensions of instructor credibility (i.e., competence, caring, and character). Instructor trust was related negatively to two of the three dimensions of instructional dissent (i.e., expressive dissent and vengeful dissent). Instructor trust was not significantly related to rhetorical dissent. Instructor trust was related positively to students' out-of-class communication with their instructor.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. JORDAN ATKINSON

Literature Reviews

Blosser, Molly . THE CHANGING ROLE OF TELE-UNDERWRITERS IN THE LIFE INSURANCE PROCESS .

Will technology replace the need for tele- underwriters in the life insurance process? Many of the articles cited take the same stance concerning the direction the insurance process is taking. These articles state that the tele- underwriting position will change due to advancements in technology. However, I work as an ExamOne tele-underwriter and I have not seen these drastic changes. Instead I have witnessed changes in the technology that underwriters use to perform their positions faster. This study is significant because technical communicators need to know if the tele-underwriting position is waning or just changing and to know if this is a legitimate career goal to have.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. KAYE ADKINS

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE MATH AND PHYSICS

Historical Papers

Estrada, Autumn. POWER SETS AND SIZES OF INFINITY.

Given a set A, the power set of A is the set of all subsets of A. In 1891, Georg Cantor provided a clever proof that for any set A (including infinite sets), the size of the power set of A is larger than the size of A. His proof is given here. As a consquence of this theorem, there are different sizes of infinity. Said differently, there is no such thing as a largest infinite set.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. POET

Helm, Daniel. EULER AND CONTINUED FRACTIONS.

Leonard Euler is the most prolific mathematician of all time. Among many other things, Euler used continued fractions to prove the irrationality of the square root of 2. His proof and, in true Euler form, its generalization of the result or given here.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. POET

Jelinek, Nathanial. CANTOR'S DISCOVERY FROM THE DENUMERABLE.

In the late 1800s, Georg Cantor introduced a set, now known as the Cantor Ternary Set, with many unusual properties. The set is created by beginning with the unit interval [0,1], removing the middle third, and and then interatively removing the middle third of each subinterval. The resulting set is contains no intervals and yet its number of elements is uncountably infinite. Through its iterations the set diminishes rapidly, resulting in what is known as Cantor's Dust.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. POET

Kessler, Brooke. THE GREAT THEOREM: HERON'S FORMULA FOR TRIANGULAR AREA.

In elementary school, it is learned that the area of a triangle is "one-half base times height". If the triangle is a right triangle or a base and height are given, it is straightforward to calculate its area. Around 75 A.D., Heron of Alexandria gave the world a formula for the area of any triangle based on knowing only the lengths of its three sides.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. POET

Marr, Maressa. THE UNDERAPPRECIATED PROOF.

The Pythagorean Theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. There are at least 367 different proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. Some are given here.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. POET

Rastorfer, Courtney. EULER'S AMICABLE NUMBERS.

Leonard Euler (1707-1783) contributed to many areas of mathematics. A pair m and n of positive integers are called amicable numbers if the sum of all proper divisors of m is n and the sum of all proper divisors of n is m. Before Euler, only three pairs of amicable numbers were known. Through clever insights, Euler was able to produce 58 more pairs of amicable numbers. His method is described here.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. POET

Schildknecht, Kaitlyn. LIMITATIONS OF NEWTON'S GENERALIZED BINOMIAL THEOREM.

Before Isaac Newton, it was known that the Binomial Theorem could be used to expand polynomials of the form (1+x)^n when n was a non- negative integer. Newton generalized this theorem to also apply to rational and negative integer values of n. Here, we consider applications of Newton's generalized method and demonstrate how to overcome some of the limitations of the basic method.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. POET

Shepherd, Mackenzie. ARCHIMEDES AND HIS CALCULATION OF PI.

By definition, pi is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. Archimedes (circa 225 B.C.) was the first person known to have a method for calculating better and better approximations of pi. Prior determinations were based on measurements. Given here is the approach of Archimedes in which the Pythagorean Theorem is used to find the perimeters of a sequence of inscribed polygons with more and more sides.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. POET

DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE/LEGAL STUDIES/SOCIAL WORK

Empirical Projects

Vega Torrelo, Ana. YOUNGER OFFENDER TRENDS AND SPECIFIC PROGRAMMES IN SPANISH PRISONS.

This poster examines the trends of the young Spanish prison population between 2007 and 2016. It will give a general idea of how the penitentiary system works with young offenders in Spain. During the analyzed years, these population has significantly decreased. This poster will study the specific characteristics of this population, the specific programs they have, and above all, the possible explanations of this trend.
Faculty Sponsor: GREGORY LINDSTEADT

Miller, LaDaisha . PRACTICUM AT COMMUNITY MISSIONS CORPORATION.

Applied learning practicum experience Fall 2018. This agency serves to house chronically homeless men with disabilities. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n
Faculty Sponsor: JANA FRYE

Internship/Practicum Experience

Chavez, Kinsley. PRACTICUM AT MOSAIC .

Applied learning practicum experience. This poster will describe what I did in Practicum. It will address the agency I was placed at. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Faculty Sponsor: JANA FRYE

Precious,. JEWISH VOCATIONAL SERVICES PRACTICUM.

Jewish Vocational Services applied practicum. This poster presentation will go over my applied practicum experience in the Kansas City, MO.
Faculty Sponsor: JANA FRYE

Thomson, Lindsey. PRACTICUM AT KVC KANSAS.

Practicum learning experience at KVC of Kansas.
Faculty Sponsor: FRYE, JANA

Tidwell, Ashley. JACKSON COUNTY CHILDREN\\\\\\\'S DIVISION.

Senior practicum at Jackson County Children\'s Division. Making sure families were doing well and helping with whatever was needed.
Faculty Sponsor: JANA FRYE

Literature Reviews

Burgos Rivera, Victoria. HISTORY OF THE DEATH PENALTY IN SPAIN, ARE WE GOING BACK?.

25.6% of the Spanish population declare themselves in favor of the death penalty. This percentage has been growing during the last 3 years due to some media cases. In this poster presentation a review of the history of the death penalty in Spain will be explain along with some actual cases to debate the future of this penalty in the country.
Faculty Sponsor: LINDSTEADT, GREGORY

de la Fuente Suárez, Valeria. ELDERLY PRISON POPULATION IN SPAIN: ANALYSIS OF MINISTRY OF INTERIOR DATA .

The elderly prison population in Spain has been progressively increasing in the recent years. This population age has special needs that tend to be forgotten. The purpose of this study is to analyze the trends of this age group, find possible explanations, understand what their needs are and how to accomplish them.
Faculty Sponsor: GREGORY LINDSTEADT

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH MODERN LANGUAGES

Analytical Papers and Analyses

Green, Kim. A PRICELESS ANALYSIS .

By using the standards of morality set by John Gardner and Mark Kingwell, the novel, Priceless, by Tom Davis will be analyzed and deemed moral or immoral. The novel will also be compared to the actual human trafficking situation in post-Soviet Russia to help explain the reasoning behind the immoral scenes in the novel. To further explain the reasoning for having immoral scenes in a moral book, an analysis of the author Nabokov, who is known for his morally ambiguous works, will be used as a comparison point.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CHURCH

Watson, Ian. EXPLORING THE MORALITY OF A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.

This project will explain why Anthony Burgess’ controversial, “A Clockwork Orange” is moral based upon John Gardner’s definition of Moral Fiction. Answers to this question are provided through the evaluation of the main character, Alex, and the change he undergoes through the story. Themes such as independence from society, evil in humanity, and most importantly, the coming of age in youth. Gardner’s principles will justify the book as fiction due to the overall message of the story and the effect this message has on the reader.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CHURCH

Empirical Projects

Grant, Savana . APPLYING COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORIES AND AN ANALYSIS OF CANVAS\\\\\\\' INSTRUCTOR GUIDE.

Study of cognition and learning are prominent in the fields of psychology and education. However, technical writers, especially those writing training materials, need to understand cognition and theories related to learning. This study includes a review of literature that includes cognition and five aspects of cognition that can be beneficial for technical writers to implement when writing training materials. These concepts include categorization, cognitive schemas, assessments/meta cognition, motivation, and self-efficacy. These concepts were then used to create a rubric to assess if training materials properly implemented these concepts. The rubric was then used to evaluate Canva\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s instructor guide. The rubric was able to determine aspects of the guide that implemented the concepts exceptionally, and showed where the guide could make improvements.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. ADKINS

Tate, Broderick. ANALYZING YOUTUBE AS A PLATFORM FOR INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA.

My research project takes a look at YouTube, the YouTube algorithm, and instructional videos hosted on the platform. YouTube's serves content that is both popular & similar to the viewer's interests via an algorithm. My question is whether YouTube's algorithm is capable of consistently delivering high quality instructional videos. Additionally, I ask whether or not a "popular" instructional video delivered through the algorithm is as high quality as a carefully searched for video that may not have a high engagement rate, but maintains a high quality. Videos are rated with a rubric based on best practices for instructional media.
Faculty Sponsor: KAYE ADKINS

Historical Papers

Fude, Jay. CREATION AND USE CASE SCENARIOS OF LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.

Learning management systems (LMS) are used in many primary and secondary schools, but are they truly a collaborative tool, and do they create a social space for effective collaboration? This paper will trace the history and lineage of the LMS, and show that LMS are proper collaborative tools, created from a collection of tools. These tools may be helpful in the scope that tools similar to these are being used to create social spaces for collaboration in the corporate sphere.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. KAYE ADKINS

Literature Reviews

Albertson, Damon. SEXISM IN TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION.

The goal of my research project is to better understand sexism in the context of my future career field: technical communication. My sources consist primarily of business, academic, and technical writers, each of whom seek to illuminate sexist language and/or behavior in their respective fields. To learn more about the extent to which technical communication faces the same or similar issues, I conducted interviews with three relatively-new technical communicators, as well as with three seasoned veterans: MWSU technical communication professors Dr. Kaye Adkins, Dr. Janice Cools-Stevens, and Dr. Michael Charlton.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. ADKINS

Copenharve, Kalynn. A REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON THE OVERLAP OF MARKETING AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION.

This literature review investigates the ways marketing and technical communication content overlaps. The four areas I look closer at are education, content marketing, white papers, and the communication umbrella. From the information that I have found, I determine what content both departments should be teaching in order to best prepare their students for the career field.
Faculty Sponsor: KAYE ADKINS

Personality Papers

McKeighan, Rachel . PURGING THE IMMORAL .

James DeMonaco’s science fiction “purge” franchise explores a classist, authoritarian, and dystopian America. The fiction film introduces a single political party, The New Founding Fathers, who organize an annual government sanctioned event making all crime, including murder, legal for 12 consecutive hours. This paper is an exploration analyzing the morality of the fourth movie, The First Purge, using standards from John Gardner and Leo Tolstoy. The purge combines horror with a strong political message to create a thought- provoking film that emphasizes the importance of political freedom and equality. The overall effect of the movie must be investigated to determine if life is being affirmed or debased.
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM CHURCH

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PE AND RECREATION

Empirical Projects

Losch, Rachel. A COMPARISON OF SPORT MOTIVATION AND BURNOUT OF YOUTH SPORT SPECIALIZERS AND SAMPLERS. .

Early youth sport specialization research has indicated specialization may negatively affect anxiety (Gould, 2010), later activity involvement (Russell & Limle, 2013), and burnout (Baker & Robertson-Wilson, 2003). In particular, concern exists that early specializers may be more extrinsically motivated and experience greater burnout and dropout (Isoard-Gauther et al., 2016). Research is lacking which examines the “sampling” and “early specialization” tracks in Côté’s Developmental Model of Sport Participation (DMSP; Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2007). Therefore, the purpose was to examine young adults’ recall of high school sport motivations and burnout by comparing former high school athletes who participated in multiple sports before high school (samplers) with former high school athletes who specialized in one sport from an early age. First-year MWSU students (N=156; samplers = 123; specializers = 33) were surveyed on their sport motivations (Sport Motivation Scale-II) and burnout (Athlete Burnout Questionnaire). Multiple independent t-tests comparing youth sport track on sport motivations were not significant (p >.05). In addition, independent t-tests comparing sport track on athlete burnout were also not significant (p>.05).
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM RUSSELL

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY PHILOSOPHY AND GEOGRAPHY

Empirical Projects

Hunt, Jessica. MAPPING IMPERIALISM: INTEGRATING GEOGRAPHY INTO HISTORY LESSONS.

As school districts across the Midwest, and the US as a whole, reduce the amount of instruction hours dedicated to social sciences, it becomes vital for teachers to integrate geography in innovative ways across the curriculum. A majority of states currently do not require secondary students to take a geography course. Given the interdisciplinary nature of geography, however, there are multiple opportunities for integration of the discipline during the school day. Teaching geography across the curriculum also allows for differentiated instruction, incorporating experiences for visual and tactile learners. One of the simplest integrations for geography is through the history curriculum. It reinforces the importance of spatial awareness coupled with temporal change. As this research will demonstrate through a history lesson covering the British Empire and imperialism, geography can be incorporated via the locations Britain explored and/or colonized. To facilitate the incorporation of geography, ArcGIS Online and Story Maps, a free online ESRI product, can be a convenient vehicle for educators, even those without extensive geospatial training.
Faculty Sponsor: DAWN DRAKE

Leach, Kimberly. USING GIS TO OVERCOME LANGUAGE BARRIERS IN HEALTHCARE.

Using GIS to Overcome Language Barriers in Healthcare Kim Leach, Department of History & Geography, Missouri Western State University Abstract: St. Joseph, Missouri is a typical Midwestern city struggling to find its identity in a post-industrial economy. Employers, such as Triumph Foods, tend to draw on an immigrant population, which has created a unique language barrier for Mosaic, the local healthcare system. Communication is key for providing quality healthcare, and to this end, Mosaic is searching for a solution to their struggles of finding interpreters to better serve the diverse population of the city. The ethnic composition of St. Joseph generally reflects the average Midwestern city. However, the third largest immigrant community in St. Joseph comes from a small Micronesian Island chain called the Chuuk Islands. This poster will explore the use of GIS technology to overcome language barriers in healthcare.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. DAWN M. DRAKE

DEPARTMENT OF HONORS

Analytical Papers and Analyses

Boss, Shawn. THE NUCLEAR SATIRE.

This paper is an exploration of whether Seth Rogen’s and Evan Goldberg’s movie The Interview can be considered a moral satire based on two criteria. First, the work must communicate the intended moral messages of the screenwriter, Dan Sterling, through satirical techniques. Next, the work should be believable and immersive fiction. Like a nuclear bomb, The Interview produced devastating consequences. The movie incited terrorist threats and was even declared as “an act of war” by the North Korean government. This investigation provides an objective analysis of whether this controversial film can be deemed a moral satire.
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM CHURCH

Castanedo, Baileigh. THIS IS AMERICA?.

This project will be arguing for the morality of the totality of visual, musical, and lyrical aspects of the song “This is America” by Childish Gambino. By examining all of these aspects, we will see that rather than promoting a sense of immorality, the song instead affirms life and bolsters morality. This argument will be based on the opinions of John Gardner and others.
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM CHURCH

Cutler, Logan ; Estes, Rylee. TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN THE 1920S.

Our presentation involves the important inventions and innovations that came about in the early 20th century. With the conclusion of World War 1 and the beginning of the 1920s, inventions such as the automobile, the band-aid and penicillin, the radio, and the discovery and use of electricity were being introduced into daily life and instrumental in spawning many others in their wake. Our presentation will talk about the inventors of these inventions, what lead to them to create these products, and how these inventions have affected how we live to this day.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. BENSYL

Donnohue, Paige. CARVING THE MARK OF MORALITY.

Abstract By Paige Donnohue Carve the Mark is a novel written by Veronica Roth which tells a tale of two characters from opposing nations at war. This paper is an examination of this work; I will determine Carve the Mark’s morality according to John Gardner’s criteria for what he considers “moral art,” and examine its value based on Matthew Kieran’s ideas on art and morality discussed in his article “Art, Imagination, and the Cultivation of Morals.” I observe the total effect of Roth’s work, examine character behavior and development, explore plot development, and determine whether Roth’s novel is life-affirming.
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM CHURCH

Drannan, Megan. TO THE BONE CRITICAL ANALYSIS.

My paper is an analysis to determine whether the controversial film To The Bone can be deemed as “moral” under the standards of critics such as John Gardner. The movie delves into the minds of those who suffer from severe eating disorders and focuses on a young woman that suffers from anorexia nervosa. I will explain why the film is life- affirming and not what Gardner would describe as “propaganda.” One could argue that the film glamorizes mental illnesses, but I will describe how it instead brings attention to the complex reality of what such illnesses do to one’s mind.
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM CHURCH

Drannan, Megan. TO THE BONE CRITICAL ANALYSIS.

My paper is an analysis to determine whether the controversial film To The Bone can be deemed as moral under the standards of critics such as John Gardner. The movie delves into the minds of those who suffer from severe eating disorders and focuses on a young woman that suffers from anorexia nervosa. I am going to examine whether the intention of this film is to glamorize eating disorders or rather show the complexity and explicit reality of what eating disorders can do to one’s mind in order to raise awareness of the seriousness of such mental illnesses.
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM CHURCH

Fitzgerald, Hailee. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF 13 REASONS WHY.

My critical analysis will be on whether the book, 13 Reasons Why, meets standards set for “morality” by critics such as John Gardner. The book dives into dicey topics, especially due to its high school setting, but draws attention to true problems amongst today’s youth. I will examine the piece overall, and determine if the immoral acts of its characters draw the entire series away from Gardner’s definition. I will evaluate the ability of the book to be life-affirming, and whether it draws the audience to understand the total effect of the message and make a change in their own lives.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. BILL CHURCH

Fitzgerald, Hailee. 13 REASONS WHY CRITICAL ANALYSIS.

My critical analysis will be on whether a recent hit Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why, meets John Gardner’s standards for his term “morality.” The series dives into dicey topics, especially due to its high school setting, but draws attention to true problems amongst today’s youth. I will examine the piece overall, and determine if the immoral acts of its characters draw the entire series away from Gardner’s definition. I will evaluate the ability of the series to be life- affirming, and whether it draws the audience to understand the total effect of the message and make a change in their own lives.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. BILL CHURCH

Frye, Seth. BONE AND THE EFFECT OF TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS VALUES ON MODERN FEMININITY AND SEXUAL FREEDOM.

This paper is an exploration of the morality found in Bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward. This exploration of morality finds its basis in the core tenets for morality set forth by On Moral Fiction by John Gardner, the exploration of cultural identity in “Two Approaches to Religion and Politics: Moral Cosmology and Subcultural Identity” by Brian Starks and Robert V. Robinson, an in-depth analysis of women and sexuality in modern literature in “Scandalous women: Gender and identity in top-notch smut” by Alyson Miller, and a critique of sexuality as it relates to religion in “Make Love and Lose Your Religion and Virtue: Recalling Sexual Experiences Undermines Spiritual Intentions and Moral Behavior” by Caroline Rigo, Vassilis Saroglou, and Filip Uzarevic. These topics are strikingly relevant because Bone seeks to find a deeper meaning in the human experience through an in-depth exploration of sexuality, freedom, and religion.
Faculty Sponsor: BILL CHURCH

Nichols, Caprice. THIRTEEN REASONS: MORALITY.

For this poster I will be discussing and researching whether the show and the characters of Thirteen Reasons Why are moral. This Netflix original covers controversial topics of suicide, rape, and mental illness; situations many teenagers face in their day to day lives. Many people across the world have watched this show, and most of them say it has changed their lives, while others say it’s too dark for developing youth to watch.
Faculty Sponsor: CHURCH

O'Connell, Madelyn. A PIG'S PURPOSE.

The objective of this project is to scrutinize the morality of Robert Newton Peck’s novel, A Day No Pigs Would Die, by using John Gardner’s On Moral Fiction as a reference point. I will bring up controversial themes, one of which includes an allusion to rape, found within A Day No Pigs Would Die and determine whether their placement in the book, in the words of Gardner: “...presents a goal for the human condition here in this world, a conceptual abstraction of our actual experience of moments of good in human life…” (Gardner 136).
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM CHURCH

Stokes, Abigail. IS SPIRITED AWAY MORAL ART?.

This paper is a commentary and analysis to \r\ndetermine whether Spirited Away, written by Hayao \r\nMiyazaki, meets John Gardner’s standards for what \r\nhe describes as “moral art.” According to Gardner, \r\nfor art to be considered moral it must be life-\r\naffirming, it should reveal eternal verities, and \r\nthe characters should be believable and likeable. \r\nSpirited Away is a movie about adventure lead by \r\nlove. It’s filled with strange and surreal \r\ncircumstances. I will examine whether this work is \r\njust mindlessly bizarre, or if it is rooted in a \r\ndeeper sense of morality.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. WILLIAM CHURCH

Empirical Projects

Blakely, Celeste/Eplett, Dana. IMMIGRATION IN ST. LOUIS IN THE 1920'S.

Our presentation is about how immigration affected the changing culture of St. Louis Missouri and its ongoing influence on the economy and politics. We will explore the different ethnic groups that migrated to St. Louis prior to the 1920's and were present throughout the decade, as well as the facilities that assisted the immigrant groups.
Faculty Sponsor: STACIA BENSYL

Fox, Tanner. Smith, Chad. SHOES OF THE 1920'S.

Our poster presentation will discuss the footwear of the decade of the 1920's. Rather than solely focusing on the footwear and styles of that decade, we will also include a brief history of footwear and how far it had already come once it reached the 1920's. The display will also focus on the cost analysis of shoes then and today, as well as the job opportunities that the footwear industry created in the 1920's.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. BENSYL

Lux, Kaitlyn. CRITIQUE OF "NEON GRAVESTONES".

This paper is an exploration to determine whether the band Twenty-One Pilot’s song, “Neon Gravestones”, meets John Gardner’s standards for his term “moral art”. I will examine the words within the song, and apply Gardner’s examples and criteria to the lyrics that Twenty-One Pilots sings. I will analyze the underlying meaning in the song, and its placement in the album it was released within, Trench, as well as how the song encourages good in the lives of its listeners. I will cover the story that Trench tells, and explain how “Neon Gravestones” actually tells a very different story than it appears to tell just on its surface. “Neon Gravestones” will be held to Gardner’s explanation of “moral art” and dissected against the terms and phrases Gardner uses to determine whether a work is considered “moral” or not. I will take the song and explain why it is considered “moral”, because it is life-affirming, as well as truthful. Someone could argue that if the lyrics of the song could be“immoral” based on literal interpretation, however, I will explain why this interpretation would be inaccurate as well as too quickly determined.
Faculty Sponsor: WILLIAM CHURCH

Moody, Alexis. IMPULSE VERSUS MORALITY: CAN IMPULSES BE MORAL?.

In this paper we see how the suicidal mind recovers or if it ever can. We explore different perspectives and morality challenges that are faced in Impulse. Readers are asked if you can you find morality in death. Hopkins dares us to ask if there is morality anywhere in suicide. She wants us to explore what matters more, what is happening or why it’s happening. Impulse by Ellen Hopkins goes into the mind of three different teenagers. Impulse is a verse novel so while taking in the words and characters also pay attention to the style of the poem. John Gardner is our base but not our final judge on morality.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. WILLIAM CHURCH

Historical Papers

Bobela, Matthew & Goerlitz, Carson. HOW TRUMAN LIVED TO TELL THE TALE.

This research analyzes the relationship between Kansas City mob boss Tom Pendergast and President Harry S. Truman. Pendergast, having much influence on politicians he helped get into office, did not have such influence on Truman. Yet Truman did not incur the typical consequence of Pendergast dissenters (i.e. "sleeping with the fishes). This research will examine how Pendergast initiated Truman's political career and Truman's rise up the political ladder; it will explore how Truman lived to tell the tale after not catering to the will of Tom Pendergast.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. STACIA BENSYL

Langford, Grace; Stigall, Sydney. THE KU KLUX KLAN THROUGHOUT KANSAS AND MISSOURI IN THE 1920S. .

The purpose of this research project is to identify a root of racial issues in American history, specifically in the 1920s. The Ku Klux Klan played a significant role in spreading racial and religious prejudice, as well as carrying out mass violence and intimidation. More specifically, in the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan monumentally impacted the areas in the Midwest known as Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. The Klan in the Midwest in the 1920s was not the generalized Klan many today believe it to be. With the knowledge of the actions and beliefs of the historical Klan, one is able to better approach the issues involving the Klan in America today, as well as racial and religious prejudice in general.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. BENSYL

Ray, Megan; Schmutzler, Dawson. THE EFFECTS OF PROHIBITION IN KANSAS CITY DURING THE !920'S.

The purpose of this presentation is to provide a comprehensive overview on the role that prohibition had on life in Kansas City during the 1920's. Specifically how the city reacted to the ban of alcohol, and what hardships the common citizens faced as a result. The livelihood of Kansas City was changed forever and we intend to uncover exactly how and why this transition occurred precisely the way it did.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. BENSYL

Thomson, Michael, Haggerty, Nathan. THE FIRST RED SCARE.

The Red Scare of the 1920's was brought about by onset fear of communism started from the First World War. There was a prominent fear of anarchy, socialism, and communism that moved across the United States. After World War I, America became a largely nationalistic and anti-immigrant state. Through research we will address the start, rise, and fall of the First Red Scare and talk about what and why it all happened.
Faculty Sponsor: STACIA BENSYL

Literature Reviews

Mutzbauer, Alexis. MORALITY OF ME BEFORE YOU.

This paper is an explanation and exploration to determine whether Jojo Moyes book turned into movie, Me Before You, meets John Gardner’s standards for his term “moral art”. I examine whether the work must be judged on the acts that could be deemed immoral by the flawed character William or if his cohort Louisa can serve as a focal point making the book moral. I will mainly follow william and his actions of self discovery and how he is influenced by Louisa.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. CHURCH

Wildhagen, Cole. THE ROAD TO MORALITY.

This poster will explore the moral integrity of Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 post-apocalyptic novel The Road. In it I will examine how McCarthy uses violence, suicide, and other controversial themes to present his ideas, whether the use of such themes is justified to assert the novel’s overall message, and if the work is life-affirming and a model of good behavior, traits considered by literature critic John Gardner to be crucial to a moral work. I will also use quotes from McCarthy to examine his exploration of The Road’s characters and their actions, and to decide whether the work is overall moral.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. WILLIAM CHURCH

DEPARTMENT OF NURSING

Empirical Projects

Allgaier, Rachel; Cordova, Megan; Miller, Jordan. THE INFLUENCE OF COPING STRATEGIES, USING ALCOHOL, AND HYMNS LISTENING ON OLDER ADULTS.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of coping strategies, using alcohol, and hymns listening on older adults’ psychological well-being and suicidal ideation. This was a cross sectional, descriptive research design. There were 90 older people were recruited from community. The following variables had significant relationships with older people’s Psychological Well-being and Suicidal Ideation: Problem Focused Engagement and Problem Focused Disengagement coping strategies, Emotion Focused Engagement, Emotion Focused Disengagement coping strategies, and using alcohol with negative emotion. Older people using Problem Focused Engagement and Problem Focused Disengagement coping strategies had lower score of Suicidal Ideation.
Faculty Sponsor: YEH, PI-MING

Baird, Brooke; Brown, Trevor; Kruse, Hannah; Martinez, Emma; Wilson, Suzanna . THE PHENOMENA OF SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING, PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING, AND SUICIDAL IDEATION.

The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of older adults’ spiritual well-being, psychological well-being, and suicidal ideation. This was a cross sectional, descriptive research design. There were 90 older people were recruited from community. The mean age was 72.23. \r\nIn this study, the older people had high level of spiritual well-being, faith/belief, life/self-responsibility, and life satisfaction/self-actualization. In this study, the older people had high level of Psychological Well-being, Autonomy, Environmental Mastery, Personal Growth, Positive relationship with others, Purpose in life and Self-acceptance. In this study, the older people had low level of Suicidal Ideation.\r\n\r\n
Faculty Sponsor: YEH, PI-MING

Bennett,Tristan Cook,Aubrie Protzman,Cayleigh . QUALITY PATIENT CENTERED CARE FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE.

The purpose of our study was to explore the factors contributing to Parkinson’s disease and the nursing care provided. Information about the disease and care was pulled from six articles. Many factors contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease, and patient centered care should be a priority. Our study is a quasi- experimental design with a questionnaire, which was handed out to registered nurses and nursing students. A notable result was the majority of those surveyed did not know which symptoms were most debilitating. This project explores what Parkinson’s disease is and how the care provided effects each patient.
Faculty Sponsor: STEPHANIE STEWART

Browm, Katherine; Hansen, Paige; Peebles, Kirsten. THE EXPERIENCES OF WOMEN WHO BED-SHARE WITH THEIR INFANTS.

The purpose of this study is to identify perceived \r\nbenefits of co-sleeping for mothers and their \r\ninfants throughout the first year of the child’s \r\nlife. Co-sleeping can be defined as a parent and \r\ntheir child sleeping in close proximity, but not \r\nalways on the same surface.This could refer to \r\nparents and their child who participate in room-\r\nsharing (sleeping in the same room) or those who \r\nbed-share (sleeping on the same surface). Current \r\nrecommendations are to not co-sleep with infants. \r\nHowever, many mothers disregard the recommendations \r\nand bed-share anyway. This study will explore \r\ntheir reasons and their experiences.A literature \r\nreview will be completed to identify similar \r\nstudies and their results.Topics of interview \r\nquestions will include sleep patterns,bonding, \r\nsecurity,and safety. To be included in the study \r\nparticipants will have a child currently under four \r\nyears of age, whom they shared a bed on a regular \r\nbasis with during the first year of the child’s \r\nlife.
Faculty Sponsor: KARMAN ROMERO

Cowell, Madeline ; Duvall, Kaylee; Frimpong, Edna; Haake, Sarah; Staats, Madison . FACTORS INFLUENCE OLDER PEOPLE??S PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AND SUICIDAL IDEATION.

The purpose of this study was to exam the factors influence older people’s psychological well-being and suicidal ideation. This was a cross sectional, descriptive design. There were 90 older people were recruited from community. The mean age was 72.23 (SD = 7.07), range (60-95). There were 36 Male (40%) and 54 Female (60%). The results of this study indicated that mental illness, lower education, divorced, not religious, low income, Anxiety, and Depression were factors decreasing psychological well-being and increasing suicidal ideation.
Faculty Sponsor: YEH, PI-MING

Clark, Baylee; Dunn, Darrylan; Holmes, Chase ; McNeal, Taylor; Whitmore, Lisa . THE INFLUENCES OF FAMILY INTERACTION AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING ON THE OLDER PEOPLE.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of family interaction and spiritual well-being on the older people’s psychological well-being and suicidal ideation. This was a cross sectional, descriptive research design. There were 90 older people recruited from community. The mean age was 72.23. The Stepwise Multiple Regression model variables accounted for 73.3% of the Psychological Well-being variance and 34.5 % for the Suicidal Ideation variance. Life Satisfaction/self-actualization, Life/self-responsibility, and Negative Family Interaction were the significant predictor of older people’s Psychological Well-being. Life Satisfaction/self-actualization and Harsh Discipline were the significant predictors of older people’s Suicidal Ideation.
Faculty Sponsor: YEH, PI-MING

Literature Reviews

Delikatna, Anna; Hall, Brittney; Snyder, Pamela; Williams, Ashley. NURSE BURNOUT SYNDROME: SUPPORTING THE EVIDENCE.

Herbert Freudenberger, the American psychologist defined burnout as the consequence of severe stress and high ideals experienced by healthcare specialists. Nurses who sacrifice themselves for their patients may become burned out or exhausted and unable to cope. Exhaustion is a normal reaction to stress, and not a sign of disease, but burnout symptoms are similar to the symptoms of depression. These symptoms may lead nurses to leave their positions and eventually the nursing profession. This project provides evidence-based recommendations for the prevention and recognition of nurse burnout syndrome. It gives ideas about implementation strategies and evaluation of these recommendations.
Faculty Sponsor: H. MACHELLE SKINNER, DNP, AGPCNP-BC

Arthur, Maeve DeLong, Amaris Dukelow, Samantha Escagne, Christina Flynn, Katie Miller, Machaela White, Lucy. ANIMAL ASSISTED THERAPY: EXPLORING THE EVIDENCE FOR USE IN VETERANS EXPERIENCING PTSD.

After experiencing a traumatic event some individuals may develop a condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One group that can be affected by PTSD is military veterans because of their exposure to the trauma associated with combat. There are widely accepted therapies utilized for treatment of PTSD, including medications and psychotherapy. A less established method for the treatment of PTSD is the use of trained therapy animals. The purpose of this project will be to utilize the ACE Star model of knowledge transformation to examine the existing research on animal assisted therapy for military veterans diagnosed with PTSD.
Faculty Sponsor: BALDWIN, JULIE

Brant, Ariana; Stevens, Christy; Webster, Kasey; Veale, Cassandra. ASPARTAME AND OXIDATIVE STRESS.

Aspartame is a widely used artificial sweetener that has been deemed safe by the FDA and is found in many products that are used daily. The appeal of aspartame is that it intensifies the sweetness factor while having a lower calorie count in comparison to sugar and other sweeteners. However, there is little conclusive evidence to support this. The use of aspartame, a nonnutritive sweetener, is deemed controversial. There have been studies that claim aspartame is linked to metabolic changes due to the oxidative stress from the methanol and phenylalanine. The metabolism of methanol to formaldehyde causes an imbalance of oxidants leading to oxidative stress. The imbalance can cause metabolic changes and affect the memory, mood, and depression. Some studies that we reviewed tested this logic and showed trends that related to these theories, while others showed conflicting discoveries. To determine the true effects of aspartame on the body, more research and trials are needed. 
Faculty Sponsor: CRISTI CAMPBELL

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Empirical Projects

Agbaji,Oganya; Beier, Julia; Koehn, Brittany; Lindsey, Michaela; Maenner, Megan; Rich, Zachary. MOTIVATIONS FOR OSTRACISM.

This study attempted to determine if counter- normative behavior and intellectual threat increase motivation to ostracize others.Thirty-six participants were recruited from Missouri Western State University psychology classes. Participants were subjected to a staged phone conversation with either socially acceptable or socially deviant content. Threat was manipulated using a pair of word searches. One word search was achievable and the other was impossible. Results found no main effect for either threat or norm violation, but a statistically significant interaction was found. This study expands on previous research by investigating motivations to exclude others rather than the effects of being excluded.
Faculty Sponsor: STACEY RIECK

Leggett, McCown. CRIMINOGENIC THINKING, DIFFERENTIAL IDENTIFICATION, MOTIVATION, & RISK-TAKING IN EMERGING ADULTS.

Young adults engage in a disproportionately high rate of problematic behaviors, including risky sexual behavior, academic dishonesty, and substance abuse. In this study, two theories were investigated to examine their relationship to risk-taking behavior: criminogenic thinking and differential identification, with motivation included as a possible moderator in these relationships. In total, 309 participants between the ages of 18-25 were recruited to complete an online survey. For the analyses, a hierarchical multiple linear regression was conducted. Results indicate a statistically significant moderation relationship between differential identification and risk-taking behavior. Additionally, a main effect was found between criminogenic thinking and risk-taking behavior.
Faculty Sponsor: DR. JON MANDRACCHIA

Muir, Lauryn; Hansen, Katie; Herrman, Mackenzie; Jackson, Taylor; Schrader, Lindsey. . THE EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SCREEN TIME ON SLEEP QUALITY IN COLLEGE STUDENTS..

We looked to determine whether or not physical activity and screen time affects sleep quality in college students. Our participants consisted of 11 males and 36 female college students ranging from 18 years of age to 34 years of age. They completed a two part online questionnaire that looked at participant’s level of physical activity, the amount of screen time they participated in and their sleep quality within a weeks’ time. In conclusion, we found that there is no significant correlation between physical activity and sleep quality. There was however a significant correlation between sleep quality and screen time
Faculty Sponsor: DR. TEDDI DEKA

Wyss, Sara. PARENTS' REPORT ON CHILD SCREEN INTERACTION.

We collected survey data from parents on their child's use of screen media. Sixty-seven parents reported on a total of 72 children with questions regarding the amount of screen time children at various ages have and the ways in which children are using screens.
Faculty Sponsor: ZIEMER