The Brother Joseph W. Stander Symposium recognizes and celebrates academic excellence in undergraduate and graduate education. This annual event provides an opportunity for students from all disciplines to showcase their intellectual and artistic accomplishments. The Stander Symposium represents the Marianist tradition of education through community and is the principal campus-wide event in which faculty and students actualize our mission to be a "community of learners."
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Understanding Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among Victims of Intimate Partner Violence: The Roles of Perceived Social Support, Self-esteem, and Self-blame
Avery H. Ozimek, Rusty P. Schnellinger, Laura E. Stayton, Anne L. Steel
The relationship between the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been well established in the literature (Basile, Arias, Desai, & Thompson, 2004). However, researchers have called for more complex statistical models capable of identifying and analyzing the pathways potentially linking IPV and PTSD. Research indicates that IPV victims report lower levels of perceived social support than non-IPV victims (Bengtsson-Tops & Tops, 2007) and that as a result, victims are at greater risk of developing PTSD (Ozer, Best, Lipsey, & Weiss, 2008). The current study analyzed the moderating or âbufferingâ role of perceived social support in the relationship between IPV and PTSD. It was hypothesized that the relationship between IPV and PTSD would be stronger among individuals perceiving lower social support. In addition, it was hypothesized that the relationship between PTSD and the interaction of IPV and perceived social support would be accounted for by the mediating roles of characterological self-blame and self-esteem. The hypotheses were tested by distributing questionnaires to 132 adult female participants recruited at a substance abuse treatment facility and a private university. The results indicated that both IPV and perceived social support predicted PTSD, and perceived social support moderated the relationship between IPV and PTSD. At the extreme levels of perceived social support, the relationship between IPV and PTSD was weaker among individuals perceiving high levels of social support than among those perceiving low levels of social support. However, at the moderate levels of perceived social support, the relationship between IPV and PTSD was stronger among individuals perceiving high levels of social support than among those perceiving low levels of social support. Lastly, the results showed that self-esteem mediated the relationship between PTSD and the IPV x Perceived Social Support interaction variable.
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Upside/Downside Capture Ratios and S&P 500 Sector Returns in Volatile Markets
Chris P. Sammons, Jessica Thomas
The purpose of this study is to determine which S&P 500 sectors outperform in four types of markets. The first market is a long-term market that includes a series of upswings and downswings with an overall upward trend. We use the time period 2005-2011 to represent this type of market period. The second type of market, a downswing market, is represented by the time period 1/1/08-3/31/09. The third type of market, an upswing market, is represented by the time period 3/31/09-12/31/10. The fourth type of market is a trading range, or overall flat market, and is represented by the 12 months in 2011. Upside and downside capture ratios are calculated for all four market for all 10 S&P 500 sectors and compared for outperformance. Results are forthcoming.
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US Immigration: The Power Struggle Between the States and Federal Government
Sariana L. Garcia
With this thesis I will evaluate how the topic of immigration is handled in the political forums in the United States. Immigration is a topic of interest to many, which raises controversy in differing opinions regarding how it should be addressed. I look into the authority given to the states and the federal government regarding immigration. In order to prove the federal authority over immigration I did a close study of the US Constitution and the sections where it refers to topics relevant to immigration, such as the Fourteenth Amendment, where it hints at assigning the federal government the authority to deal with immigration issues. I evaluate well-known cases in which the US Supreme Court has deemed stateâs immigration laws unconstitutional, forwarding this task to national laws passed by Congress. With this thesis I aim to provide reasons why the topic of immigration should be handled by the federal government, given its constitutional authority. I will make a case for national unanimity when making policy decisions regarding immigration.
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Visual Distance Cues Used for Relative Distance Judgments in 2D Displays
Laura A. Janosko
Recent evidence suggests that the quality of graphics in a computer-generated virtual environment influences the accuracy of distance judgments made within the virtual environment. This experiment investigates the suggestion that missing or incomplete surface texture and shadow information in low quality computer graphics may account for inaccurate distance judgments. Participants will view a static, computer-generated desktop surface with between 5 to 8 everyday objects arranged on the virtual desktop. Each participant will complete two conditions: a high-quality condition, in which the virtual objects will include realistic texture and shadow information, and a low-quality condition, in which the objects have incorrect texture information and no shadows. On each trial, participants will make judgments about the distances between two objects in the display. We predict that distance judgments will be more accurate in the high-quality condition. An eye tracker will be used to determine which pictorial depth visual cues participants rely on when making distance judgments. We hypothesize that participants will use visible shadows, when available, to judge spatial layout and the distances between objects. Results will provide information about the influence of distance cues such as texture and shadows in the perception of spatial layout in 2 dimensional computer-generated images.
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What's in Your Neighborhood? The Progress of Public Neighborhood Center Schools in Dayton and Cincinnati
Danyell R. Lewis
The Cincinnati Public School (CPS) district has been the leading model for education in Ohio, with an overall Annual Report Card rating of âEffectiveâ. Part of this success can be attributed to CPS creating a district-wide initiative to improve schools. One program that seems promising is the Community Learning Centers (CLC) initiative, beginning in 2001. CLCs use schools not only as institutions of learning, but also as community âhubsâ. Partnerships between the district and local organizations help provide services including tutoring, mentoring, health/wellness, parent/family engagement and more. Resources are not only available to students and parents, but to the community at large. The current project makes use of Performance Index scores, Value Added measures, school building and district report card ratings, and other indicators to analyze the CPS Community Learning Centers program to draw comparisons to the Dayton Public Schools Neighborhood Center Schools initiative, which is modeled after the CPS program.
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Why We Attend School: A Qualitative Retention Study at a Proprietary Higher Education Institution
Jennifer K. Plumlee
Retention has become an important issue for colleges and universities throughout the United States. While current retention research has focused on traditional four-year universities and community colleges, little attention has been dedicated to retention efforts at for-profit colleges. Utilizing the personal experiences of for-profit students, the purpose of this research was to explore how a student's previous academic history, relationships with faculty and peers, personal responsibilities, and individual attitude affect a student's ability to be retained. Data was gathered from the for-profit institution: Lincoln College of Technology in Franklin, Ohio. Lincoln College of Technology grants associate's degrees in the medical, business, criminal justice and informational technology fields. Data consisted of personal interviews as well as the analysis of the college's retention documents. The methodology for the research was guided by the constructivist paradigm and grounded theory and the data generated assists a for-profit college's ability to explain, predict, and explore retention.
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X-band Miniaturized Coplanar Waveguide Band-pass filter with Coupled Resonator
Chenhao Zhang
Band-pass filter is the basic component in microwave/RF integrated circuit. It plays the extremelyimportant role in communication systems such as wireless, radar and GPS navigation systems. Thisproject develops a passive narrowband band-pass filter which works in X-band spectrum (8GHz-12GHz).The filter is fabricated on a 400 µm thickness sapphire substrate with a 0.25µm thickness BST thin filmdeposited using a large area pulsed laser deposition system. Compared with traditional microstripfilters, it has miniaturized dimensions and good frequency tunability. The filter is a grounded coplanarwaveguide structure which has 2.4mm by 2.4mm dimension with center frequency at 10GHz, thebandwidth is 0.4GHz, the insertion loss is 1.7dB and the quality factor is 25.
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You Are Never Too Old To Learn
Erich R. Beyer
The Sophomore Social Justice Learning and Living (SSJLLC) cohort has a twofold mission. The first is based on the Marianist principles of educating the person as a whole by integrating education with leadership and service. The program mission is to improve literacy in the Miami Valley and participating in activities that advance the cause of social justice. This year Project READ partnered with the SSJLLC and trained the sophomore cohort to tutor reading to students in grades K-8, young adults, and the not-so-young adults. I was assigned a 60-year old man who is studying to pass his GED. It was very interesting to tutor someone so much older than I and from such a different background than mine. Despite our age difference, we still connected and were able to relax around each other and learn from one another. The majority of the time I helped him with his reading comprehension, but I also helped him with his basic mathematics skills. This tutoring experience and our relationship has influenced my thinking on the importance of education in this country and how important and necessary it is to increase education opportunities for everyone regardless of geography, upbringing, or age. He showed me that no matter where we come from we all deserve the same amount of respect. Tutoring this man really heightened my awareness and importance of our Marianist values of lead, learn, and serve.
