Stander Symposium: College of Arts and Sciences

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The Effect of Parental Monitoring on Adolescent Substance Abuse

Luke Anthony Reiser, Zachary Peter Rocco

This study explores the impact of parental monitoring on adolescent substance abuse, which utilizes data from the Pathways to Desistance dataset. This dataset includes juveniles in the criminal justice system. This study, which included a sample of 1,354 male and female adolescents aged between 14 and 18 found guilty of offenses, aimed to seek out a relationship between parental monitoring, knowledge, and the prevalence of substance abuse among adolescents. Findings from our regression analysis show that while parental monitoring did not show a significant direct correlation with drug use, parental knowledge did show a consistent negative relationship with both drug and alcohol use among adolescents. Indicating that increased parental knowledge significantly reduced the likelihood of substance abuse among these adolescents. The study also highlights the roles of both mother warmth and hostility, excluding father warmth and hostility due to the high volume of missing data. The findings particularly noted that higher levels of mother hostility were significantly associated with an increased chance for drug use. Alternatively, the study found a negative association between parental monitoring and adolescent alcohol use, which suggests that more involved and knowledgeable parenting could reduce the likelihood of alcohol consumption.
The effects of prairie seed mix composition and soil amendments on Quercus macrocarpa seedling success during post-agricultural restoration

Lindsey Christine Dewey

In the last century, worldwide, there has been an increase in the amount of abandoned agricultural land. In eastern North America, restoration efforts often focus on trying to restore these post agricultural fields to native forest. The natural secondary succession of post-agricultural landscapes is hindered by many barriers including diminished carbon and nitrogen in the soil, herbivory, disruption of symbiotic mycorrhizal relationships, and invasive species. Restoration efforts such as applying seeding mixes to reduce invasive species, plant legumes to restore nitrogen to the soil, whole soil additions to help restore the microbial community, and the addition of mulch to add carbon into the soil are being used to mitigate these barriers. Abandoned fields represent a unique opportunity to help restore some of the eastern North American native forest; however, ensuring tree seedling success in the relatively inhospitable conditions of a post-agricultural field remains a significant challenge. Working with our community partners, Five Rivers Metroparks (Dayton, Ohio) we established a fully replicated restoration experiment on a 12 ha post agricultural field in the Spring Run Conservation Area. We established 20 plots and assigned one of four prairie plant seed mixes: high diversity + high legume content; high diversity + low legume content; low diversity + high legume content; low diversity + low legume content. Each plot was also split into four subplots that received one of four soil amendments: no amendment (control), whole soil transplant, mulch application, and whole soil and mulch. In each subplot, six bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) saplings were planted. The height and basal diameter of each surviving sapling was measured in the spring of 2022 directly after planting, after one growing season in the fall of 2022, and after a second growing season in the fall of 2023. One sample was collected from every subplot in the fall of 2022 and 2023 to measure sapling biomass and examine the ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) root colonization. After two growing seasons the seed mixes significantly affected the basal diameter of oak saplings and sapling root weight was higher in the high diversity plots. Additionally, increased EMF colonization was positively correlated with increased sapling height. However, in our study many treatments had no significant effect on the success of bur oak saplings. It is likely that microclimates and herbivory had the strongest influence on bur oak sapling success.
The Effects of Sodium Propionate on Developmental Stages in Drosophila melanogaster

Rihanna L. Domingos, Isabelle Mae Ellis

Propionate, or propionic acid, is a common food additive used to inhibit mold and some bacterial growth. Propionate has been recognized as a metabolic disruptor as it has been linked to an increase in obesity and other digestive changes. This experiment aims to explore the effects of sodium propionate on the developmental processes of Drosophila melanogaster. The experiment involved exposing drosophila larvae to varying concentrations of sodium propionate infused with their regular food and observing larval growth, pupation, adult emergence, adult physiology, and fitness. Preliminary results demonstrate notable alterations in development, physiology, and fitness. Future research will help establish D. melanogaster as an experimental model to investigate molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of propionate.
The Effects of Solar Panels on Precipitation Runoff

Destiny S. Cratsenberg, Lindsey Christine Dewey, Emily M. Sobolewski, Megan Starr Tierney

Solar power is one of the largest sources of renewable energy, and the most widely used form of solar energy is solar panels. Due to misinformation, solar panels are causing controversy regarding their leaching ability and the changing in ability to contaminate through the years. This misinformation is because solar panels are constructed with chemicals like silica, phosphorous and boron that negatively affect the environment when in high levels. A large concern regarding solar panels is their greater leaching potential when a solar panel is cracked. The goal of our study was to determine if installed solar panels introduced chemicals into precipitation runoff. We chose two study sites; our first site was Danial Curran place which had tilting panels and was established in 2018. Our second site was the Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC) which had fixed panels and was established in 2023. At these sites we tested our hypothesis that despite where water is collected in the several different locations at the solar farms, there will be no noticeable difference between the chemistry of water collected. To test this hypothesis, we placed twenty water collectors in varying locations around each of the solar farms. These locations are in the buffer zone (no overall interaction), in the aisle (no direct interaction) and under the panels drip line. At Daniel Curran Place, we placed an additional seven water collectors due to the presence of cracked panels in the farm. After placement, we allowed for one week worth of rain to accumulate in the water collectors. In the lab the amount of ammonia, nitrate, silica, and phosphate were tested using Lamotte kits. From these tests, we found that there was no significant difference between the water chemistry levels from the different locations, especially of the cracked panels. The only difference was less phosphorous in the drip line of the solar panels, but it wasn’t statistically significant enough to consider. These findings allowed us to conclude that solar panels do not have any negative effects on the water chemistry from precipitation runoff. There may be future implications for nutrient availability to the plants below the drip line but concerning the leaching abilities solar panels do not cause any.
The End of Writing as We Know It? A Descriptive Case Study ChatGPT Usage among College Students in Required Writing Seminars

Taylor Lee Baxter, Alexandra M. Dimarco, Grace Marie Pierucci, Toni Ann Selman, Skylar Barbara Sharkey, Patrick W. Thomas, Lucy Larkin Waskiewicz

Recent uptake of Generative AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, has had considerable impact on students’ experiences learning to write. Unlike more quotidian assistive writing technologies, such as Grammarly or Google’s Smart Compose feature, the rise of ChatGPT marked a far more significant shift in how people produce writing. Both the cultural attention and the technical efficiency to GenAI technologies have lured students into daily use of tools like ChatGPT, and regardless of instructor knowledge, …. or it’s linguistic limitations, student use of ChatGPT continues apace.This presentation reports on a semester-long research project investigating students’ use of ChatGPT for the purpose of completing academic writing assignments. Focusing, for the sake of depth, on a few case examples, this study examines students’ ChatGPT use within required first- and second-year writing courses: arguably the very courses in which students are expected to learn how to write for the university. We explore questions about when and how students prompt ChatGPT for assistance in writing academic essays, the types of prompts that students compose, and the outputs that students’ prompts generate. Drawing on data from a survey, in-depth interviews, and tstudents’ ChatGPT prompts and subsequent ChatGPT output, we highlight findings that identify moments within the writing process that students engage with ChatGPT, as well as the kind of assistance they seek and the ways that they incorporate ChatGPT outputs into their writing. In doing so, we highlight implications for students in using ChatGPT for academic essay writing, professors in evaluating student writing that makes use of ChatGPT outputs, and universities in the process of developing policies regarding student use of ChatGPT in writing courses.
The Environmental Activism of the Q’eqchi’ Tribe of Central America

Delany Baldinger, Makayla E. Cripe, Justine Smith, Sandra Todd

The Q’eqchi’ are a Mayan tribe of Central America who are collectively organizing to advocate for environmental protections in their regions. Multinational corporations, including mining industries, have engaged in practices that have contaminated land and water resources in Guatemala and other Central American countries. The Q’eqchi’s fishing industry is in danger of collapse. Cancers and other illnesses are on the rise. This poster session documents the efforts and results of the Q’eqchi’ as they organize against the negative health and economic impacts of these harmful practices. Their work sets an example for other, formerly disenfranchised, communities to organize a powerful voice against multinational corporations who exploit the environment and long-term well-being of the regions where they have chosen to harvest resources and manufacture.
The Foundations of The Freedom Rides of 1961 During The Civil Rights Movement

Lindsey Anne Cloos

What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.
The Gamma-Exponentiated Burr Type XII Distribution

Hannah R. Wabel

The Burr Type XII distribution has many applications in several fields including economics and finance. A new four-parameter distribution, called the Gamma-Exponentiated Burr Type XII distribution is presented. The new distribution can be applied to the same areas and should perform better in describing more complicated datasets. Some statistical properties of the new distribution including cumulative distribution function, probability density function, hazard function, moments, skewness and kurtosis are presented. Maximum likelihood estimation technique is used to estimate that model parameters. We provide an application to real data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed distribution. We also compare the distribution to other similar distributions to demonstrate its performance relative to those.
The Impact of Diagnosed Mental Illness on Criminal Behavior and Misconduct in Prison Environments

Carina M. Albrecht, Riley R. Patterson

This research investigates the association between diagnosed mental illness and its impact on criminal behavior and misconduct within prison settings. This project aims to address the misconceptions surrounding mental illness and examine patterns of prisoner misconduct among those diagnosed with mental disorders who committed violent crimes. This research seeks to provide valuable insights into mental health, crime, and the criminal justice system, and by contributing to the ongoing debate surrounding these issues.
The Impact of Gandhi’s Diet

Aidan Michael Burke

What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.
The Influence of Screen Time on Drug Abuse in Adolescents

Taylor M. Beebe, Luke M. Panek

Today, digital screens have become an integral part of adolescents' lives more than ever. This unprecedented exposure to screens has raised concern over the impact on adolescents' development and well-being. Using the YRBS database, this case study delves into the relationship between screen time and adolescent substance use. Our study utilized the results from an extensive 2021 survey completed by high school students to observe how screen time can affect teens' likelihood to use drugs. We expected the more screen time a student had, the more likely they were to abuse drugs. However, it was found that students who have more screen time were less likely to abuse drugs, and vice versa. From our sample, we noticed there was a low number of drug experimentation among students and more than three hours of screen time daily for a student was uncommon which implies that there is a negative correlation between screen time and drug use. Additionally, it was observed that females were more likely to experiment with drugs compared to males. While drug usage seems to be more normalized among adolescents, our study examines whether digital devices and screen time is an influencing factor or not.
The Issue with Asexual Representation in the TV Shows

Kailey Patricia Peppard

This THR/VAR 250 Diversity in the Creative and Performing Arts poster presentation project requires each student to research and present on a topic relevant to the interdisciplinary fields of visual and performing arts through a critical multicultural and social justice lens that foregrounds the appreciation of diversity and enables the expansion of personal cultural competencies.
The Jailing of Cesar Chavez in his Search for Justice

Peter John Grant

What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.
The Link Between Intensive Parenting and Adolescent Well-Being

Ella Simone Ben-Porath, Riley R. Ennenbach, Daniel Steven Georgesen, McKenna Francisca Hoefsmit, Kaitlyn R. Lancia, Quinn Ryan Willerton

The link between intensive/over-controlling parenting and adolescent well-being is well established, with research indicating that higher levels of intensive/overcontrolling parenting are associated with lower levels of adolescent well-being and criminal justice system involvement in children. However, the link between intensive/over-controlling parenting and adolescent well-being and criminal justice system involvement is not well understood, and findings from past research are mixed. The present study examined the link between parental control and child outcomes using a longitudinal design in an effort to better understand their relationship over time. Also, consistent with the goodness-of-fit framework, we also tested whether the association between parental control and criminal justice system involvement would vary depending on children’s characteristics and outcomes. These links were tested using data from the NLSY 97 study, which included 9,000 youths that were 12 to 18 when the study first started and now range in age from 30 to 40. Emotional and behavioral problems were measured concurrently with parenting style when participants were 12 to 18 years of age, and crime and drug abuse, work ethic, and mental wellbeing were measured when participants were older in adulthood. Analyses will be conducted using multiple regression, and gender and age ranges will be included as control variables to reduce confounding of the relationship between level of parental control and adolescent well-being. Findings will be discussed in terms of their relation to past research and their implications for children’s social development.
The March for Salt Satyagraha

Jacob H. Murphy

What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.
The March of Unity

Romeo Fabrice Yao

What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott and Gandhi

Peter Anthony Veith

What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.
The Necessary Reception of those with Disabilities in the Mass amid Liturgical Fragmentation

Jack H. Gorman

The Catholic Church is at a moment of receiving those with disabilities through catechetics, liturgical accommodations, and structured ecclesial guidelines; the Church realizes that the reception of Catholics with disabilities is necessary. Although, this ecclesial posture does not alter the fact that the Church is in liturgical fragmentation. The true form of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the novus ordo is being practiced and even exploited in many different ways and polarized into camps. Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has utilized the two poles of Neo-Pelagianism and Gnosticism to speak about this liturgical fragmentation, or “spiritual worldliness”. Working from this insight from the Holy Father, this paper applies these terms to the current reception of Catholics with disabilities in the Mass. In this paper, Neo-Pelagianism is characterized as the temptation to receive those with disabilities in the Mass solely through human means apart from the gift of Divine Grace. Docetism, which replaces Pope Francis’ Gnosticism for the sake of this paper, is characterized by an ignorant trust in the Liturgy that dismisses the embodiment of those with disabilities and neglects accommodations they may need. The presence of these temptations within disability ministry is objectively seen through ritually analyzing five separate Masses that were celebrated explicitly for accommodating those with disabilities. Although there are isolated signs of Docetism, the analysis shows that Neo-Pelagianism, as a temptation, is prevalent in disability ministry. The presence of Neo-Pelagianism is seen throughout the Liturgy as an abnormal amount of lay involvement, excessive and unscripted commentary, and invalid changes of liturgical rubrics or practice. The presence of Docetism, which was more isolated, is seen primarily through long and complex homilies. The paper will then end with some remedies to these temptations in the reception of those with disabilities within the Church.
The number of sudoku solutions

Trent Alexander Wood

Sudoku is a puzzle that has had a lot of popularity since 2005. A person needs to use logic and trial-and-error to solve a Sudoku puzzle. In this presentation, we describe counting valid Sudoku puzzles.
The Perception and Roles of Women in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam

Anna Katherine Mahoney, Kayden Grace Rothery, Jeslyn Mara Singson, Grace Marie Smolak

This study explores how Christianity, Judaism, and Islam create perceptions about and enforce roles for women in society. The purpose was to discover how women are traditionally viewed and how gender roles play a part in these religions. Our review of relevant articles in psychology, sociology, and anthropology, revealed a significant difference in the roles that men and women play. Women face a plethora of oppression, challenges, and disadvantages in comparison to men. We found that historical traditions and practices are a major influence in why women are treated this way. While there has been a lot of progression in women's roles in society in general, there is still much work to be done in religious contexts. The traditions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam limit the roles of women, and there needs to be more progression in these religions.
The Portrayal of the American Presidency in Film and Television

Adam D. Cardos, Katie N. Clark, Camryn J. Crum, Alejandro Miguel De Jesús, Kimberly F. Halwenge, Elly A. Hanna, Tucker J. Hoffmann, Jack C. McGranahan, Benjamin Paul Ruth, Taryn Elizabeth Smith, Alexander J. Stottner, Anastasia B. Stowers, Craig D. Wilson

How is the American Presidency portrayed in film and television? As part of the Political Science Senior Capstone students are engaged in a group project to assess how the presidency is portrayed based on the genre of the film, race/gender of the president, fictional vs. historical president as well as several other factors.
The Program': Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping

Hayden Parsons, Laila Griffin, Cate O’Brien

Rhetoric drawing on religious stories, ideals, concepts, and experiences surround us in our daily lives. These posters represent a sampling of the rhetorical analyses conducted by students from CMM 357 Religious Rhetoric throughout the Spring 2024 semester. Groups presented several themed reports prior to Stander and picked one to showcase at the symposium.
The Pussification of Man: Evangelical Pastor Mark Driscoll and The Construction of an Ideal Masculinity

Phillip E. Cicero

Scandals involving evangelical church leaders seem to appear daily. One might imagine that people would flee the churches where these leaders have served or continue to serve. But, in general, they do not. A good question to ask is why. Why do people continue to worship God in a church led by someone who has been proven through their words and deeds that they are aggressive, sexist, and violent? This project focuses on the rhetoric of Mark Driscoll that appeared in a series of blog posts published on the Mars Hill Church website in late 2001 to early 2002. In these posts, Driscoll exhibits an aggressive and misogynist rhetoric that goes against conventional neo-evangelical arguments for complementarianism to an intensely misogynistic and homophobic rhetoric. Drawing on the theoretical insights of Barbara Biesecker – that, in turn, draw on the theoretical insights of Judith Butler and Slavoj Zizek’—this paper argues that Driscoll’s rhetoric constructs a masculine Christian identity that appeals to a group of straight, white men who have felt marginalized by the dominant discourses of American culture for the past 100 years. More specifically, this paper argues that Driscoll gives these men an opportunity to reclaim the power and belonging that they feel they have lost. The paper also makes use of Stuart Hall’s concept of the floating signifier to explain how Driscoll’s rhetoric shapes a certain kind of toxic masculinity with his definition of “pussification”, which is, in simple terms, about the threat to men of a discourse that feminizes men. Driscoll seeks to draw these men into his vision of what it means to be a real man by presenting them with two simple options: adopt Driscoll’s’ brand of homophobia and misogyny and be a real man or admit that they have been “pussified” – that is, completely emasculated.
The regulation of the Drosophila melanogaster pale gene and its evolution during the origin of a dimorphic pigmentation trait

Devon Matthew Seibert, Ashley Violet Williams

The coordinated expressions of trait building, realizator, genes in the appropriate cell types and developmental stages are two impressive outcomes of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of morphological evolution. For each realizator gene, its pattern of expression is anticipated to result from the interaction of a combination of transcription factors to binding sites within one or more cis-regulatory element (CRE). A question that remains murky is to what extent these similar patterns of realizator expression require their CREs to be bound by similar combinations of transcription factors. One model trait that may shed light on this question is the sexually dimorphic pattern abdomen pigmentation that evolved in the lineage of Drosophila (D.) melanogaster fruit flies. This male-specific pattern of melanic pigmentation on the posterior abdomen results from the spatial-, temporal-, and sex-specific deployment of a pathway of metabolic genes. While the CREs for several of these pathway genes have been well-studied, the biochemically first acting gene, known as pale, has received little attention. Here, we will share insights from studies on the regulation of the D. melanogaster pale gene and how this regulation and pale expression evolved during the origin and diversification of this pigmentation trait.
The Rise of the Ultra- and Far-Right Movements in France

Julie Marie Pugh

The paper delves into the rise of right-wing nationalist and populist groups in France, examining recent trends like social media usage and political legitimization that fuel their growth. It clarifies the distinction between "far-right" and "ultra-right" groups, highlighting their ideological foundations and operational methods. Common themes of authoritarianism, ethnocentrism, and nationalism are explored, alongside the diverse landscape of far-right factions in France. The study underscores youth radicalization and the adept utilization of digital platforms by far-right leaders. It also analyzes the relationship between far-right movements and mainstream politics, citing figures like Marine Le Pen and the emergence of new parties like Reconquête. Critiquing the government's reactive stance, the paper calls for proactive measures including enhanced social media surveillance, targeted prevention programs, and political interventions to combat the normalization and expansion of far-right ideologies. In conclusion, it stresses the urgency of proactive measures to protect democracy and social cohesion against the escalating threat of far-right movements in France.