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As the hashtag #MeToo spread from Alyssa Milano to her multitude of followers and beyond in October of 2017, it became not just a hashtag, but a movement fueled by hashtag activism. Through retweets and the sharing of stories of sexual assault and harassment, appearing one after another on feeds and timelines in a tragic litany of cultural failure, each individual participant contributed to a larger narrative. This paper argues that those stories, taken collectively, have narrative agency and form as defined by Campbell (2005) as “the capacity to act . . . in a way that will be recognized” (p. 3). Her work was adapted for digital activism by Yang (2016), who treats hashtag movements as a form of digital rhetoric. Campbell (2005) has five criteria: that agency is “communal and participatory,” its authors are “points of articulation” rather than the origins of ideas, it “emerges in artistry,” has specific “form,” and is “perverse,” in that agency can be reversed or malicious (p. 1). The Me Too movement was analyzed using these criteria for narrative agency, and like Yang’s (2016) analysis of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, identified the narrative form of the overall movement. This analysis further establishes the use and adaptation of traditional rhetorical methods of analysis for the study of digital rhetoric.
❐ PDFKeywords: Narrative agency, hashtag activism
Small, public liberal arts universities are faced with an issue many large universities have overcome: the gap between when students graduate and their first contribution to their university. This issue stems from the philanthropic nature of students while they are enrolled. This project addresses this issue by determining the factors that lead to current students not giving to their University and why that behavior persist as young alums. Using secondary research, this article evaluates initiatives used by universities to address this issue. Through primary research, this study will determine the factors that lead to an unengaged and non-philanthropic university culture specific to the University of Montevallo. Recommendations are made on how Montevallo – and other small, public liberal arts universities – can change the non-philanthropic culture. This research is significant because it addresses a relationship issue that drives alumni donation dismay as faced by many small, public universities.
❐ PDFKeywords: University, Student, Philanthropy, Engagement, Alumni
Vulcan is one of Birmingham, Alabama’s most iconic landmarks. In 1903, several businessmen commissioned Italian sculptor Giuseppe Moretti to bring the city’s likeness to fruition. Vulcan showcased the region’s metallurgical prowess on a global stage, as part of an exhibit at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Vulcan is more than a statue to the people of Birmingham. Yet, to grasp the full extent of the public’s affection for the structure, one must comprehend the significance of the soil on which he stands. Therefore, my research focused on the profound connection between Vulcan and a community that continually champions to promote and protect its heritage. I began with Birmingham’s founding in 1871, by examining the roles of coal, iron ore, and steel production in creating this metropolis. I studied the evolution of Vulcan, and the contemporary impact this had on Birmingham at the turn of the twentieth century.
❐ PDFKeywords: Vulcan; Birmingham; Iron; Coal; Industrial
As more low-income and minority students join the United States Armed Forces as a means of achieving job stability and supplementing income to pursue postsecondary education, an understanding of factors which influence persistence towards degree completion is increasingly important. The present study focuses on factors which impact a military students’ persistence towards graduation. Military students who value their service to the country reported better performance on their Annual Physical Fitness Test and less anxiety about their upcoming military duties than their peers. Military students who were less proud of their service were more involved in their campus and community, had higher Grade Point Averages, and reported more difficulties balancing social lives than their counterparts. Students who felt the military was uncompromising in understanding the rigorous time constraints which come along with being enrolled full-time at a university, expressed no desire to reenlist into the military once their contract expired.
❐ PDFKeywords: Military personnel, Motivation Theory, Persistence factors, Sociology, Student success.
Trouble arises over the variance of gender, meaning different ways of doing gender, in a widely accepted binary system which emphasizes the dichotomy of the masculine and the feminine. Institutionalized and policed, doing gender poses a challenge for any individual male body or female body that deviates from the expectations of masculinity associated with maleness and femininity associated with femaleness. Effeminacy, in particular, as exhibited by men, exemplifies this deviance from gendered expectations in its mingling of maleness with performed femininity. To feminize the male persona means to negate it, which, as a subversive undertaking, would mean the undoing of idealized maleness, specifically breaking the looking-glass central to gender hierarchy. Seldom crossed, the chasm between the masculine and the feminine, the same division which marks effeminacy as abnormal and normalizes male dominance and female submission, inspires continuous fear as long as it remains unquestioned.
❐ PDFKeywords: gender, effeminacy, masculinity, femininity, androgyny
Reelin is an extracellular matrix protein involved in brain development, synaptic plasticity, and long-term potentiation. The specific mechanisms by which Reelin regulates these processes is currently unclear. Previous strategies to upregulate Reln and other genes relied on genetic manipulations such as global overexpression or knockout. Here, we employ a CRISPR-dCas9 strategy to alter gene expression through recruitment of transcription activators to understand how manipulating the endogenous Reln locus will impact gene expression and neuronal function. Using a specific guide RNA targeting the promoter of Reln in cultured hippocampal neurons, we found that recruitment of the transcriptional activator VPR to the Reln promoter induced robust and selective upregulation of Reln mRNA. To explore whether Reln upregulation altered neuronal physiology, hippocampal neurons expressing CRISPR components were plated on multi-electrode arrays to record neuronal activity, bursting, and network synchrony. Hippocampal neurons overexpressing Reln appear to exhibit increased spontaneous activity, suggesting that Reln manipulation may globally alter neuronal excitability.
❐ PDFKeywords: Reelin, CRISPR, epigenetics, neuroscience, memory
This research was triggered by a report that was published by The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS), which showed a precipitous drop in female participation in physical activity between grades six and eight. This study will focus on uncovering the attitudes of female youth in rural settings towards physical activity and sport in an attempt to better understand their motivations for being active and/or potential barriers to physical activity. Five focus groups, each with 4-6 girls (n=28) in grades 6-8, were completed, each taking approximately 50 minutes. Participants were asked questions about physical activity and sport. Data was analyzed using poststructural feminist theory to identify discourses about physical activity and sport generated by girls. Based on the analysis, recommendations are made for rural communities about strategies to enhance the inclusion of girls in physical activity.
❐ PDFKeywords: physical activity, feminist theory, adolescent, girls, rural
Psychology and art are interdisciplinary fields that affect almost every aspect of daily life. The core development of both fields traces back thousands of years. In recent centuries, they have become more connected. This is most evident during the 20th century, when artists begin to interpret the theories in their works. The films in this study reflect two periods of research: developmental and applied. Despite the differences, both periods contain portions of psychoanalytic theory to connect them. This study analyzes symbols and theory elements in animated psychodramas such as Streets of Crocodiles and The Periwig Maker. It creates a dialogue between the two fields in a set context; showing that as psychological research changes, artists, specifically film makers, reflect the transition in their approach to style and narrative.
❐ PDFThis paper investigates how images have been used throughout the history of Western culture to construct violent and vacuous vision of black masculinity. In section one, I examine Victorian artists' renderings of the Anglo-Zulu war to highlight their associations of civilization with white masculinity and barbarity with black masculinity. I reference Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks in this section as a framework to show that these degrading images of Zulu warriors glorified white masculinity by depicting African men as inferior to European men. In section two, I bring these topics into contemporary relevance by referencing Patricia Hill-Collins’ Black Sexual Politics as a framework to examine American slave masters' creation of the image of the black buck which typified black men as wild beasts. These negative images of black slaves demonstrate that Western society has associated black masculinity with depravity even outside of colonial context.
❐ PDFKeywords: Colonialism, slavery, masculinity, race, images
Approximately 16% of children and adolescents who experience trauma will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Mounting evidence shows PTSD to have both acute and chronic effects on childhood development making treatment essential. Unfortunately, fear of stigma continues to prevent Canadians from reaching out for mental health care. The negative attitudes that lead to stigma develop in childhood and adolescence. Yet media available to children often reinforces negative stereotypes of mental illness. New evidence in the social sciences has shown that fiction can create empathy and prosocial behavior in the reader, thereby reducing stigma. Several recent fantasy-fiction series have chosen to portray PTSD. By encouraging Theory of Mind, these narratives have created ideal conditions for readers to feel empathy towards people living with PTSD, thus reducing stigma in the real world.
❐ PDFKeywords: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Theory of Mind, fantasy, empathy, stigma reduction
In part due to the dissolution of the halite- bearing Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation and sulfates associated with the Cretaceous Mancos Shale Formation, salinity issues in the Upper Colorado River water basin are known and well-studied. The Dolores River, in southwestern Colorado, is particularly well studied at Paradox Valley. Previous studies have usually only analyzed the hydrogeochemistry at one or two locations along the Dolores River. In this study, measurements of major ions and stable sulfur isotopes (δ34Sso4) of water samples from five locations along the Dolores River were used to investigate the water type. Shifts in water type and isotopic composition of sulfur indicate the source of sulfate changes at Big Gypsum Valley. This study adds more detail to the geochemical evolution of salinity sources along the Dolores River which provide insight to determining if increased precipitation, irrigation, or other natural and anthropogenic activities could impact Dolores River salinity.
❐ PDFKeywords: Dolores River, Geochemistry, Salinity
Terror Management Theory (TMT) postulates that humans use a variety of strategies in order to mollify and buffer our unconscious death anxiety (Burke, Martens, & Faucher, 2010). Food, specifically sweet items, have been proven to manage the terror of mortality salience, or at least blunt the usual behavioral responses following a reminder of one’s death. In this study, proximal (immediate) defenses of mortality salience were tested through the use of a writing prompt and tasting candy samples. Participants either wrote about the feelings that arise when they consider their own death or about their next stressful exam. Following this, they sampled three types of candy: gummy, chocolate, or sour candy. We found no significant difference between candy preference; however, certain subgroups (women and freshmen) showed different rates of first-choice candies following death reminders. This study can provide further groundwork for other studies like it, exploring proximal defenses of mortality salience more in depth.
KEYWORDS: death, terror management, candy, food, sweetness, social psychology
In part due to the dissolution of the halite- bearing Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation and sulfates associated with the Cretaceous Mancos Shale Formation, salinity issues in the Upper Colorado River water basin are known and well-studied. The Dolores River, in southwestern Colorado, is particularly well studied at Paradox Valley. Previous studies have usually only analyzed the hydrogeochemistry at one or two locations along the Dolores River. In this study, measurements of major ions and stable sulfur isotopes (δ34Sso4) of water samples from five locations along the Dolores River were used to investigate the water type. Shifts in water type and isotopic composition of sulfur indicate the source of sulfate changes at Big Gypsum Valley. This study adds more detail to the geochemical evolution of salinity sources along the Dolores River which provide insight to determining if increased precipitation, irrigation, or other natural and anthropogenic activities could impact Dolores River salinity.
❐ PDFKeywords: Dolores River, Geochemistry, Salinity
An emerging outdoor activity is sporting clays shooting. Many current ranges meet safety and noise level acceptable standards. However, the data does not meet professional standards. In January 2018 a request was made to test a sporting clays site. The purpose of this paper is to document noise levels, to use professional equipment, and to verify methodology. Shooting stations were examined on two days (sample size: 170 shots). Pairwise comparisons were made and verified. Mean noise level was μ = 60.9 dBA (σ = 6.40 dBA). The loudest group of 4 stations closest to the nearest home was significantly greater than the other 11 stations (μ = 63.7 dBA (σ = 6.66 dBA)). This group is well below OSHA and International Standards Organization (ISO). Recommendations were made to reduce noise levels in the interest of community relations.
❐ PDFKeywords: Sporting Clays, Methodology, and Noise Levels
The paper provides brief history of workhouses from the 1500s to the early 1900s with a particular focus on workhouses in both England and Kansas City, Missouri. Through a historical review of various scholarly sources and newspaper archives, the oppression of impoverished people in the English workhouses is explored. The series of Elizabethan laws concerning the operation of workhouses and treatment of destitute citizens are discussed in order to demonstrate how these changes impacted the workhouse paradigm and the lives of paupers. Selected accounts from former workhouse residents are also provided in order to further contextualize what life was like within a workhouse. In addition, two workhouses in Kansas City are discussed in comparison to the English models, with the second of the two workhouses serving as a more compassionate and humane example of how the government should treat indigent citizens.
❐ PDFKeywords: workhouse, poverty, England, Kansas City