2017 Honors Theses (Spring)

Alzheimer's disease is a devastating disease that is estimated to affect more than million Americans currently. It is estimated to effect approximately 47 million people worldwide, only to have this number continue to increase to 76 million by 2030. Alzheimer's disease is most common in Western Europe, with North America falling close behind, and is least common in Africa. In this thesis study, I will be examining various genetic risk factors associated with Alzheimer's disease and their prevalence in different populations.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Louise Nicholson.

The aim of this thesis is to create an educational program to inform hearing individuals about deaf culture. There will be a brief explanation of what stereotypes and misconceptions are currently seen by society of deaf culture and American Sign Language (ASL). Corrections of these misconceptions supported by research will then follow. There are two educational programs proposed in this paper; An educational program for middle school and high schoolers, and An educational program for undergraduates and professionals. The two programs are broken down into sections and explained how the data will be collected and information instructed. The hope of proposing these two seminar type programs is to educate students and professionals about the truths of deaf culture and explain why it is important to be educated on this culture.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Ralph Belsterling.

This research seeks to determine the changes that occur in bone during the Alkaline Hydrolysis Cremation (AHC) process. AHC is a form of cremation which is considered by many to be an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional fire cremation. AHC is typically performed in a strongly basic solution under increased pressure and temperature to accelerate the natural decomposition a body typically undergoes. This process results in human or animal remains being completely decomposed with only bone ash remaining, which can be returned to the family. The AHC process was performed using pig femur bones in a pressure cooker with a potassium hydroxide solution to mimic the commercial process. Bone structure was analyzed qualitatively by visual inspection of the bones and quantitatively by monitoring the concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and iron ions during the AHC process. Metal ion analysis was performed using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The concentration of calcium fell within the range of 30.3 ppm to 125.0 ppm, the iron concentration ranged from 17.5 ppm to 68.0 ppm, and the magnesium concentration ranged from 7.65 ppm to 24.3 ppm.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Kimberly Woznack.

Honors Thesis Advisor : Greg Davis.

This thesis focuses on applying two major models of the hero's journey to a singular contemporary fantasy novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemison, where the novel is a contemporary vehicle for analysis of antiquated theories. The first part of the thesis focuses on applying Joseph Campbell's monomyth to the protagonist (Yeine Darr) and her journey, while criticizing gendered aspects of the monomyth. The second part of the thesis applies Susan Lichtman's Great Goddess model to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and also identifies complications with using a female-focused hero's journey model. The third part of the thesis suggests a resolution called Monomyth+ to create a ubiquitous monomyth while maintaining the foundation of Campbell's original theory.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Sarah Downey.

Phylogenetic trees are fundamental to teaching evolution and are defined as, "a graphic representation of the evolutionary relations among living and extinct organisms" (Cela-Conde & Ayala, 2007, p. 374). Their place in the classroom is unquestionable. However, the classroom is only one of many settings in which evolution can be taught. Other non-school public education forums, such as museums, often use phylogenetic trees to illustrate complex evolutionary relationships that are not nearly as simple as they seem. These visual tools often oversimplify evolutionary relationships to the point that they can create misconceptions. This paper seeks to understand the common misunderstandings inherent in phylogenetic trees when used in various public forums. Additionally, the main goal of this paper is to discover which method of visual representations (phylogenetic tree, cladogram, chronologies, etc.) can be used to minimize confusion. This will be accomplished through an extensive review of the literature surrounding the creation of phylogenetic trees, as well as the literature studying the way these trees are interpreted. Ideally, this research will provide guidance on methods of creating and presenting phylogenetic trees and cladograms that avoid bias, and can prevent misconception.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Cassandra Kuba.

Even today, despite efforts by the former president to push for other sources of cleaner energy, the United States still heavily depends on the markets for fossil fuel imports that are dominated by OPEC nations like Saudi Arabia. To reduce our use of fossil fuels, this paper examines many of the advantages of hydrogen fuel cells. They are then examined to decide if they area worthy candidate for a future energy source for America as compared to alternative sources of power such as natural gas, wind energy, and solar power. It is important to analyze all energy alternatives as they may not offer the most efficient methods of generating electricity and are not as safe for the surrounding environment. Another main issue that I address in the paper is America's current dependence on foreign oil, where our country is losing money to nations that can easily drive us out of the market because of their low oil prices. Then, it is discussed how the United States will be able to become energy independent by adopting hydrogen fuel cell technology rather than just transferring its reliance from one country to another to meet future energy demand. The United States will need to open more rare-earth mines that are required to produce fuel cells to reduce its reliance on various countries. One primary country is China, where they can limit the supply of rare-earths to any country at their discretion, or intentionally lower their prices to drive out emerging competitors. This issue is also evaluated using game theory, where it is explained why the U.S. should begin mining rare-earths again. If the United States does not attempt to mine the necessary resources for fuel cells, then our country will once again be in the backseat while other countries take control of the world's supply of rare earth metals.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Edmund Matecki.

Serving as a representative for California University of Pennsylvania's Honors Program as a work study student during the school year as well as in the summer, I became curious as to the best marketing tools that our program has to offer. Attending conferences for the Honors Program such as NCHC, the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference, helped to provide resources and information about practices used at other University Honors Programs and I wondered specifically how our program measured up in terms of diversity, demographics, academics, and other relevant information. My sample population would be University Honors Program students that are comprised of 146 students including 46 Freshmen(completed 1-29 credits), 28 Sophomores (completed 30-59 credits), 35 Juniors (completed 60-89 credits), and 55 Seniors (completed 90 or more credits). After reading information from Roy Wilson, the President of Wayne State University, "Maybe it is best to think about honors not in terms of an end result but as an ongoing conversation about value added and all the ways that this institution and our students, faculty, and staff work to achieve excellence to benefit our whole community" (Wilson, 2015, p. 174), I decided that I wanted to survey all students within our program to compare each classes' views on the different aspects of the program , in order to provide useful information that may grow the program even further.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Leandro Junes.

Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Holiday Adair.

In 2008, the financial system came to a complete standstill when The Great Recession hit the United States. During the late 2000s, corruption, greed, and stupidity almost caused one of the largest financial crises in United States history due to deregulation and unethical behavior. The event itself is pretty clear, but the details leading up to it can be pretty murky to sift through. As a capstone to my studies at California University of Pennsylvania, I am going to explain the 2008 financial crisis as the events unfolded, but told from three different perspectives: an accounting, a finance, and an economics perspective. Hopefully, a clear explanation of the events leading to the Great Recession will keep others well informed and to be on the lookout for future possible financial catastrophes.,Honors Thesis Advisor, Dr. Paul Hettler.