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  Restorative Justice: The Alternative Outlet for Criminal Behavior

  Mary M. Cook, Tara E. Fritsch, Michele C. Palmer, Julianne T. Radish

  As members of the University of Dayton Social Justice Club, our group carried out a semester long project focused on Restorative Justice in conjunction with the Montgomery County Mentoring Collaborative. We were assigned to Belmont School and each given a young girl to work with. Each young girl we were paired with had a history with incriminating behavior. Our responsibility included talking with our partner and helping them claim responsibility for their actions. Additionally, we talked through previous decisions and their consequences to encourage the girls to start thinking about the impact of their actions.

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  Retained Earnings as a Determinant of the Cross Section of Returns

  Michael M. Raleigh

  The objective of this study is to find out if retained earnings is a determinant of portfolio returns in the cross section. Two hypotheses are tested. First, that value stocks with higher levels of retained earnings will out perform value stocks with lower levels of retained earnings. Second, that growth stocks operate differently in that stocks with low levels of retained earnings will outperform stocks with high levels of retained earnings. For the cross section analysis, the S&P 500 is divided into 10 groupings of 50 stocks each by firm size. using price to book, the top 50 and bottom 50 are further divided into portfolios of 25 stocks each and labeled as relative growth and value portfolios. Weighting the stocks by retained earnings per share, a performance comparison is made for the four portfolios relative to the S&P500 and the Russell 1000 value and growth indexes. The period of analysis is 2006-2004 which includes all phases of a market cycle.

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  Retrofitting Retiring Coal Fired Power Plants to Burn Rubber Tire Scraps

  Abijitth Guruprasad, Naga Bhavya Kancheti, Abhinandan Ravikumar

  New legislation passed by United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2011 requires fossil-fuel fired electric generation units to limit the amount of toxic emissions releases by combustion. Two most important measures, known as Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards, will effect roughly 1,100 coal-fired electric generation units. These facilities are forced to decide between investing in scrubbing technology to reduce their emission rates and retiring. The number of facilities retiring is unknown but many predictions expect severe electric generation capacity reductions in regions that rely heavily on coal-fired generation. The amount of planned electric capacity additions at this juncture do appear to be enough to replace the minimum projections of coal-fired capacity lost while also sustaining the steadily yearly growth of electric capacity that has occurred every year to meet increasing electricity consumption in the United States. In this study, the emergence of cleaner burning tire-derived fuels was examined as an alternative fuel source to help combat this loss in electric capacity. Tires produce almost the same energy as petroleum and approximately produces 25% more energy than coal. The pollutants emitted from the combustion of coal versus the combustion of scrap tires, and their environmental impacts are assessed. An actual power plant retiring in 2015 in central Ohio near both tire collection and tire shredding facilities was considered as a case study to test the feasibility of tire-derived electricity generation to replace the coal-fired capacity. In addition, the electricity generated from different grades of coal compared to rubber tires are examined.

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  Risk and Resilience: A Prospective Analysis of the Complex Effects of Internalizing Problems on Alcohol Use in Adolescence

  Lauren E. Hurd

  Previous research suggests that there exist both risk and protective mechanisms for the relationship between internalizing problems and alcohol use outcomes. The present study aims to determine whether deviant peer affiliations and risk aversion are two protective mediating mechanisms of this relationship. A risk mechanism of high negative emotionality, consistent with the tension reduction hypothesis, will also be investigated. For exploratory purposes, the mediators will be tested on three separate alcohol use outcomes: frequency of use, frequency of heavy use, and problematic use. Data from age cohorts 9, 12, and 15 (N=2,339) of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods’ (PHDCN) Longitudinal Cohort Study will be utilized. This study collected data in three waves, each occurring approximately two years apart. Internalizing disorders will be measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) from the first wave of data collection. The Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Impulsivity (EASI) Temperament Survey from wave one, and the Deviance of Peers questionnaire from wave two will be used to assess the mediators. Lastly, the participants’ alcohol use outcomes will be determined from substance use interviews conducted during wave three of data collection. To assess the hypothesized mechanisms, the bootstrapping procedure with multiple mediators will be utilized.

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  Root Cover Pebbling on Graphs

  Claire Antonia Sonneborn

  A graph is a mathematical object that can be described as a set of vertices and a set of edges. An edge joins one vertex to another. The existence or absence of an edge between two vertices can represent a relationship or absence of a relationship between two objects. Two vertices are said to be adjacent if there is an edge that joins them. Imagine placing pebbles on the vertices of a graph. We can move a pebble from one vertex to an adjacent vertex using certain pebbling moves in which two pebbles are removed from a vertex and one is placed on an adjacent vertex while one is removed from the graph entirely. We have defined a concept called root cover pebbling, a variation on cover pebbling which is a well documented concept. In root cover pebbling we begin with all pebbles on one vertex of a certain graph and attempt to place at least one pebble on every vertex of the graph by using pebbling moves. Thus the root cover pebbling number is the least number of pebbles needed to achieve a configuration with at least one pebble on each vertex of a graph when starting from a configuration with all pebbles on the root vertex. We construct an algorithm for calculating root cover pebbling numbers for certain graphs. We also examine graphs with a root vertex and paths attached to it. With these graphs, we explore the relationships between the number of paths in the graph and the root cover pebbling number of the graph.

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  Rotation, Scaling and Illumination Invariant Pattern Recognition Using Joint Transform Correlation for Object Detection and Tracking

  Sidike Paheding

  Challenges in pattern recognition mainly includes object rotation, scaling, and illumination variations. Joint Transform Correlation (JTC) based filtering techniques yield promising outputs in optical pattern recognition and they have been widely used for real-time pattern recognition applications such as object detection and tracking. However, objects in complex background brings difficulty to JTC based algorithms since the performance of the JTC is sensitive to object distortions such as changes due to rotation, scaling, and illumination. One of the solutions is to add or modify filters during JTC process. Synthetic discriminant function (SDF) can be integrated with fringe-adjusted filter to alleviate the problems of scale and rotation variations of the target. Fringe-adjusted JTC with monogenic signal representation can achieve illumination invariant pattern recognition. In the case of multiple target detection, the input-scene subtraction algorithm can be employed in JTC to efficiently detect multiple targets simultaneously with high correlation peak intensity with low false detection rate. While these techniques resolve specific problems of JTC, a full-fledged approach to equip the JTC with features that are robust to object rotation, scaling, and illumination variations is yet to be done. Therefore, our goal in this research is to reduce the sensitivity of the JTC to object distortions in the input image so that it can improve the detection efficiency in terms of sharper correlation peak intensity, narrow correlation width and higher pattern discriminability. In the proposed scheme, a local phase feature set is extracted prior to the JTC process, while the SDF is integrated with JTC during the correlation process. We evaluate our algorithm for face recognition and car tracking. Experimental results show that the proposed method yields better performance compared to alternate JTC based methods.

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  Rural Area Microgrid Implementation Repository (RAMIR): A tool for Integrating Economic, Environmental, and Societal Aspects of Microgrid Systems Implementation.

  Jada Williams

  Installing an efficient power generation infrastructure requires sensible selection strategies to consider significant variations of planning requirements for specific geographical regions. There has been a growing effort of research to provide a technically sounds and economically feasible source of electricity to underdeveloped regions through microgrid systems. However, there has been little effort to provide information through easily accessible web spaces or repositories to locate relevant research for rural area microgrid development. The main intention of this research project is to generate an open source web based tool named the Rural Area Microgrid Implementation Repository (RAMIR) to support microgrid implementation for rural cities and towns. RAMIR is intended to compile, track, and present relevant and useable information about the intended site for policymakers and student researchers in academia while aiming to facilitate decision making process on planning the implementation of the rural microgrid system. In order to show the efficacy of the tool, a case study of Sourou, Burkina Faso is presented. Energy demand of the city was calculated by interpolating values from a renewable energy installation project. HOMER software was used to select the size of the system and other inputs such as energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies. In order to evaluate impacts outside of the technical aspect of the optimized microgrid system, a decision making software (DMS) is used to compare the environmental and societal impacts of the candidate systems. This effort bridges the gaps where HOMER lacks in functionality and allow decision makers to consider the broader impacts of microgrid implementation projects within a community.

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  School-Books on Tape: The Tensile and Adhesive Strength of Duct Tape in a College Backpack

  Robin E. Ker

  Two general categories were used to assess the strength of duct tape constructions: adhesive strength and tensile strength. Previously made duct tape backpacks frequently suffered from adhesive failure around the narrowest portion of the shoulder straps, and where small cosmetic patches were applied. When a backpack is lifted, it experiences a force which is greater than the resting weight.The hypothesis states that there is an area of application between two pieces of duct tape such that they will behave as a uniform piece and experience tensile failure, that two sufficiently overlapped pieces can hold within 5% of the load carried by a single piece, and that there is a relationship between the resting weight of a loaded backpack and the load applied to the straps when lifted.Five types of tape underwent tensile and lap shear testing in an Instron 4486 load frame. The tension test specimens were of uniform length, the lap-shear specimens had lengths which varied with the areas of overlap. There were two types of lap shear specimens: with adhesive layers in contact (LSA), and with the adhesive layer of one half adhered to the backing layer of the other (LSN). Maximum load and extension data was collected.Three backpacks were tested to determine the apparent load carried by the shoulder straps and handles when various static loads were applied. The backpacks were lifted with a Desik analog push-pull gauge which recorded maximum load.The maximum loads for the lap shear specimens were within 5% of the tension test results for four types in LSA and three types in LSN. The results for static vs. apparent loading means that a 25 lb. backpack needs to withstand 40 lbs. when lifted. The type of duct tape which is recommended for future backpack construction is 3M 3900.

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  Sector Allocation and Stock Selection for the Flyer Fund: A Study In Propagation and Attribution Analysis for the Year 2014: Part 2

  Eric T. Flanigan, Allison I. Michel

  This Research Project extends the work of Eric Flanigan on Stock Selection and Attribution Analysis for the UD Flyer Fund. Flanigan used Bloomberg’s Propagation Analysis model to generate alternate stock selections for the Flyer Fund based on certain assumptions about the US macroeconomy. He assumed that oil prices would fall, interest rates would fall, and market volatility would fall with the continued steady growth for the US Economy. I build on his research by rebalancing his alternate portfolios of stocks at the end of each quarter. I also extended the analysis to include the first two months of 2015, which reflect rising volatility in the stock market due to geopolitical risks. Finally, I breakdown the attribution and stock selection analysis by S&P 500 Sector.

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  Should Syllabi and Course Materials be Faculty Intellectual Property?

  Reece E. Newman

  In order to teach students subjects, faculty create syllabi and course materials such as course notes, outlines, PowerPoint or other presentations, learning software, texts such as books and articles, images and video, test review and assessment materials, e-mail, and discussion group or forum written comments and suggestions. If property is a general term for the rules and policies that govern people’s access to, control over, and use of valuable resources, and syllabi and course materials are regarded as valuable intellectual resources in contrast to land on the one hand and ownership shares in artificial legal entities on the other, then what rules and policies, if any, should govern syllabi and course materials created by faculty in higher education? If intellectual property rules and policies should govern syllabi and course materials, should the intellectual property rules and policies be common in the sense that streets and parks are common property, collective in the sense that military bases and artillery pieces are collective property, or private in the sense that toothbrushes and bicycles are private property? Furthermore, if the intellectual property rules and policies should be private, should syllabi and course materials intellectual property initially be private to individual faculty members, private to individual higher education institutions, or private to some hybrid of individual faculty members and higher education institutions? This poster presentation is a conceptual exploration of proposed answers to these questions. Its aim is to promote a deeper understanding of the issues involved in answering the overall question that pertains directly to the professoriate, “Should syllabi and course materials be faculty intellectual property?”

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  Singularity Traces of Planar Linkages That Include Prismatic and Revolute Joints

  Saleh M. Almestiri

  The purpose of this research is to understand the motion characteristics of a linkage as a design parameter is altered. Understanding the motion characteristics of a mechanism is an important step in designing machinery. Kinematic analysis theory utilizing isotropic coordinates is implemented to construct mathematical models of planar linkages composed of rigid bodies, revolute joints, and prismatic joints. A graphical representation has been developed to represent the gross motion characteristics of a linkage called a singularity trace. The singularity trace provides a visual snapshot of the effects of altering a design parameter of the linkage by including the number of assembly circuits and the location of locked configurations. Bertini, software for solving large algebraic systems of equations, is used to determine the critical points of the singularity trace. MATLAB is then used to integrate from the Bertini solutions to plot the complete singularity trace.

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  Someone Call the Interpreter: Experiences of At-Risk International Students at a Mid-Western Catholic Institution

  Deanna L. Althammer

  This study offers insight into the benefits of academic and career coaching courses for academically at-risk international students at a Mid-Western religious affiliated four-year private institution. It also explored how they relate to the perceived future academic success of international students. This study informs how academic coaching services can be designed to meet their unique needs so that future international students can thrive and succeed in U.S. higher education systems. Data was collected through qualitative in person interviews with current or former international students who were asked to participate in an academic and career-coaching course. This study revealed that despite the overall positive outcomes from participating in the academic and career-coaching course there were persisting challenges unique to international student experiences that were not directly addressed in the course.

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  Statistics Content of Elementary Mathematics Textbooks

  Megan R. Brown

  This summer at Sam Houston State University, I, along with four coresearchers, investigated the nature and extent of the statistical content in U.S. textbooks for students in grades 1-5 by examining five textbook series. Using the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) Report, we systematically coded statistics tasks into four phases: Formulate a Question, Collect Data, Analyze Data, and Interpret Results. The Analyze Data phase was divided into four categories: Read a Display, Perform a Mathematical Calculation, Construct a Display, and Use Other Statistical Reasoning. We analyzed our results by looking at the location of the statistics tasks, the distribution of the phases, and the types of displays that appeared in each book. The textbooks were then checked to see which Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards were met. Our results suggest that the distribution of statistics tasks depended on the series, and we found that our sample of textbooks did not place equal emphasis on the different phases of the statistical process. Textbooks predominantly focus on analyzing data, which may inadvertently restrict opportunities for students to generate and interpret data. Our research was supervised by Dr. Dusty Jones (Sam Houston State University) and funded by NSF grant DMS-1262897.

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  Study Hard NOT Party Hard: Influence of High-risk Drinking on Academic Attendance and Participation

  Robert P. Hays

  This study examines the influence high-risk alcohol consumption has on academic, co/extracurricular student engagement. The effects of alcohol in relation to college students has been examined by researchers and leading academics. However, studies have not extensively examined the effects of high-risk alcohol consumption beyond its influence on student behavior or students’ interpretive “success” in college. This study focuses on attendance and participation as an essential attribute to academic success and completion. Ten student participants were selected based on initial survey responses from areas of Housing & Residence Life, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Office of Learning Resources, and Greek Life. The interviews focused on their observations and interpretations of high-risk alcohol consumption, college high-risk alcohol consumption culture, and corresponding attendance and participation in university directed sessions. The findings of this study showed a relationship between high-risk alcohol consumption and deterred attendance and participation rates; thus disproving the ability to “study hard, party hard” as made popular in the college culture. The implications of this study will assist administrators, faculty, and students alike to implement new policies, procedures, and strategies, to offset the influence of high-risk alcohol consumption’s influence on academic and co/extracurricular student attendance and participation.

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  Study on Graphene’s photovoltaic potential and its comparison with other conventional materials

  Ashish Gogia

  Graphene has unique optical properties that make it different from other materials that are used to turn light to electricity. Graphene when absorbs a photon, generates multiple electrons while materials like silicon and gallium arsenide, generate a single electron for each photon absorbed. This means that when these conventional materials are being replaced by Graphene, the efficiency of solar cells will be increased and it also reduces the light dissipation as heat. Graphene is one of the most diverse materials available and has a variety of other remarkable electrical and mechanical properties. It has applications in fields of biological engineering, optical electronics, ultra filtration, photovoltaic, sensors and devices, nanotechnology etc. Through this paper, we will study all such properties that make it different from all the materials available.

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  Synthesizing Coupler-Drivers as a Novel Method for Actuating Mechanical Systems

  Hameed Juma

  Abstract:The objective of the proposed work is to change the mechanical design of an automated manufacturing or assembly process by introducing coupler drivers. Currently, the design of a mechanism to be included in a manufacturing or assembly process requires one of the joints in the mechanism to be used for actuation. That is, the desired motion of the device and how it will be moved are coupled and this complicates its design. The proposed work looks at decoupling the kinematic synthesis of a mechanical system from the actuation synthesis of the system. This is accomplished via a mechanical chain called a coupler driver. This work develop the kinematic synthesis theory needed to design a coupler driver for any single degree of freedom mechanical system. The research will develop the mathematical representation of coupler drivers. A MATLAB code for solving the mathematical model will be developed to validate and verify proposed solutions.During the kinematic synthesis of a single degree of freedom mechanism for a given task, a challenge is finding a solution mechanism that is not hindered by branch singularities relative to any of its driving joints. Trying to achieve the motion characteristics while avoiding the branch singularities severely limits the design space. This work approaches the problem of avoiding branch singularities by actuating a mechanism via an additional chain (set of links) attached to it.The challenge is identifying end point locations that is mechanically feasible and, drive the mechanism monotonically through its task thereby avoiding the branch singularities. The goal of this proposal is to develop the mathematical framework for identifying all possible end points for a coupler-driver for a user-defined mechanism.

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  The Complexity of Untold Stories: Experiences, Perceptions, Behaviors, and Outcomes of Collegiate Black Student-Fathers

  Karlos L. Marshall

  With the increased enrollment of untraditional student populations, the plight of collegiate Black student-fathers has yet to be examined. They are – Black men, Black men in college, Black fathers, college student-parents, and even collegiate student-athletes in some cases. Through in-depth one-on-one phenomenological interviews, chilling details, accounts, and revelations surfaced with regard to Black masculinity; fatherhood; support systems; student and parental development; and institutional resources. Findings revealed valuable information about the experiences, perceptions, behaviors, and outcomes of collegiate Black student-fathers. Recommendations are provided for faculty and administrative personnel to better assist, understand, and serve this unique student population.

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  The Effect of Race in Juvenile Sentencing

  Sarah Anne Plassenthal

  This study seeks to explore the effects a juvenile's race will have on adjudication and dispositional sentencing. This study will be comprised of content analyses looking at case level data from southwestern Ohio. I will be comparing juvenile court cases across race by both gender and offense committed. This study will analyze how white juveniles and African American juveniles are sentenced when they come into contact with the juvenile justice system. I will account for previous offenses and compare juveniles with priors only to other juveniles with prior records. I plan to reach out to the justice systems in the counties of Butler, Clark, Clinton, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, and Warren.

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  The Effects of Music on Employee Affect

  Nolan J. Mcnulty

  My thesis is concerned with the effect of music on mood in the workplace. Mood, or affect, is an important attribute in the working environment. For example, positive affect is directly proportional to employee satisfaction, which leads to more productivity and more efficiency. On the other hand, negative affect is inversely proportional to employee satisfaction. Poor employee satisfaction leads to less productivity and less efficiency. The mood of employees at a student café at the University of Dayton was assessed with and without background music while they worked. Data was collected over a two-week period from 20 student employees. Data included background questionnaires asking for demographic information such as music preference, music experience, and hours spent listening to music. The Positive Affectivity, Negative Affectivity Scale (PANAS-X) was distributed before and after each work shift in order to assess changes in affectivity scores. Each participant was exposed to both music and no-music conditions. The hypotheses were that music would enhance satisfaction in this work environment and that the music background of the participants would also affect work satisfaction.

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  The Importance of Faculty Mentoring for Graduate Students’ Success

  Lindsay Elrod Maxam

  Faculty members can play an important role in the development of graduate students. Faculty typically serve as academic advisers for graduate students navigating what experiences students have brought into the program as well as trying to map the best curriculum to match students’ academic and personal goals. In this relationship, it can be transformative or transactional depending on the input of both student and faculty with having different experiences. While advising is part of the faculty and student relationship, it is paramount for the relationship to also include mentoring and professional socialization. Through the socialization process, students need to be prepared to not only be a student, but also to be a professional. In addition, deeper immersion into graduate programs and other functions create new support systems, responsibilities, and opportunities like assistantships, clinical experiences, and other experiences that aid in professional socialization with faculty and practitioners. Students who are granted these opportunities have the learning experience while still preparing to be a full-time professional in their field concurrently (Weidman, Twale, & Stein, 2001).This presentation will explore the importance of faculty mentoring, advising, and socializing their students. It will also include best practices to expand the mastery of these skills.

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  The Influence of Music on Psychological Power

  Benjamin J. Balke, Sean M. Raymond

  Music is commonly believed to give people a sense of power. The current research explored the notion of how music changes two aspects of psychological power: a person’s abstract thinking and sense of control. Past research has indicated that the frequency and the psychological power of the songs can evoke power in the participants. It is believed that music with lower frequencies should make participants feel more powerful than participants who listened to high frequency music. While listening to music participants completed a variety of tasks that look to single out aspects of power. Participants listened to either high or low psychological power which may have been shifted up two semitones, down two semitones, or up one semitone and down one semitone in frequency. Preliminary findings failed to indicate a significant relationship between the psychological power of the music and abstract thinking. The results revealed an effect of the psychological power of the music on control which occurred in the opposite direction of what was expected. Preliminary findings have failed to indicate a significant relationship between shifting the frequency of the music and abstract thinking or control. Preliminary results have shown that there is some influence of the music on psychological power. Research is still on going.

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  The Layered Look: Do Additional Layers of Clothing Influence Perceived Reach Ability?

  Michael J. Tymoski

  The Layered Look- How Many Sweatshirts Does It Take?Clothing plays a necessary role in exhibition of personal style, concealment of body parts that are deemed unacceptable to exhibit by cultural norms, and protection from adverse weather (Flügel, 1930). But anyone who has worn a heavy parka knows that there is a seeming loss of motion that comes with bulky or layered apparel. Does wearing bulky clothing actually change the way we perceive our bodies and our movement capabilities? Previous studies suggest that tools such as a reaching wand are incorporated into the body schema, the cognitive representation of one’s own body. These changes to the body schema likely influence affordance judgments, or perceived potential to act in an environment (Creem, et al. 2014). In a series of experiments, we intend to determine whether clothing changes the body schema by assessing the effect of clothing on perceived affordances in reaching tasks. Participants will wear a varying (and random) number of sweatshirts, look at an arbitrary scale on the wall, and verbally make an affordance judgment about the height to which they can reach, given their perceived body capabilities. These affordance judgments will be followed by actual reaching tasks. We predict that there will be a systematic underestimation of reachability with the application of the additional layers of clothing. As burdening or encumbering objects are added to the body schema, affordance judgments will become more conservative, despite actual action capabilities remaining largely unchanged with additional layers of clothing.

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  The Lived Experiences of Gay Male Students at a Catholic Institution

  Stephen P. Zubritzky

  This qualitative research looks into the lived experiences of gay male students at a Catholic higher education institution. The experience of these students has traditionally not been analyzed, and this study takes a close look at what it means to be gay and attend a Catholic university. These students have experienced varying degrees of acceptance and support from their peers, faculty, staff and the institution as a whole. While acknowledging that the institution does provide some support, students found them to be uncoordinated, insufficient, and not of value, when compared to supports offered to students who identify with other minority groups. These students provided their own insights on what they are looking for in terms of support from the institution as a whole. Students’ recommendations formed the basis of implications for improved practices to increase notions of acceptance and support for this student population.

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  The Performance of Concentrated Portfolios of High Quality Stocks in Highly Volatile Markets: The 2008 - 2013 Experience

  Christine A. Ferry

  The objective of this study is to determine how well concentrated portfolios of high quality stocks perform under highly volatile market conditions. Three different portfolios of 30 stocks each were established based on market cap: (1) mega cap (2) large cap and (3) mid cap. All of the stocks in each portfolio had Standard and Poors quality ranking of A-, A, and A+. One hypothesis tested was that concentrated portfolios of high quality stocks generate excess returns (alpha) when compared to a fully diversified portfolio of stocks such as the S&P ETF SPY. A second hypothesis tested was that portfolios of quality stocks generate better risk adjusted returns relative to the broad market. Quarterly and annual data are used for the performance comparisons.

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  The Relationship Between Executive Functioning Skills (EF) and Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity (SFON) in Preschoolers

  Kelsey A. Clayback

  Longitudinal data is currently being collected in order to examine the relationship between children’s Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity (SFON) and children’s cognitive control skills, or executive functioning (EF). SFON refers to a child’s tendency to focus on the characteristic of number in his/her environment without being explicitly instructed to do so. Previous research has shown that both SFON and EF are important predictors of children’s mathematical ability. However, literature has not yet examined what influences SFON or how it develops. This data, collected in fall of 2014 and currently in spring of 2015, includes a battery of assessments of children’s EF and SFON skills. I hypothesize that EF skills influence SFON and children with more developed EF skills will also have a higher level of SFON. Since evidence has shown that both EF and SFON influence mathematical ability, a relationship between the two predictors seems likely. Research is ongoing; however, a significant relationship between SFON and two EF skills, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, was observed in the data from fall 2014. This research will offer insight into the role EF plays in SFON of preschoolers.