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  Not a Family Tradition: First-generation College Student Success

  Alicia Adams

  According to previous research done, first-generation college students (FGS) are twice as likely to leave four-year institutions as non-FGS's. This population is under-prepared for the struggles they will face throughout the development in a college setting. This study provides insight into some of the risk factors plaguing FGS as well as how they affect their success, gives a voice to an otherwise marginalized population, and supplies beneficial information to higher education professionals. Through focus groups, FGS were able to share their stories and struggles with other students on campus to help the researcher better understand the hurdles that they face throughout their college experience. Through verifying themes, major risk factors were identified and recommendations for ways to support this population were made to higher education professionals.

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  Numerical solution of the KdV equation with periodic boundary conditions using the sinc-collocation method

  Nicholas D. Haynes

  We demonstrate numerically the eventual time-periodicity of the solutions of the Korteweg-de Vries equation with periodic forcing at the boundary using the sinc-collocation method. This method approximates the space dimension of the solution with a cardinal expansion of sinc functions, thus allowing the avoidance of a costly finite difference grid for a third-order boundary value problem. The first-order time derivative is approximated with a weighted finite difference method. The sinc-collocation method was found to be more robust and more efficient than other numerical schemes when applied to this problem.

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  Ovary Staging Analysis of the Female Adult Blow Fly, Lucilia sericata

  Allissa M. Blystone, Clare A. Kelly, Timothy J. Lee, Connor Ratycz

  The green bottle fly, Lucilia sericata, is a forensically important organism for the determination of post-mortem interval (PMI) of deceased individuals. Lucilia sericata plays an important role in the initiation and subsequent pattern of insect colonization, as well as species progression on decomposing organic matter since it is one of the primary colonizers. Adult female L. sericata are attracted to decaying organic material to fulfill a physiological need for a protein meal. Protein is required for completion of sexual development, vitellogenesis (egg production), and production of sex pheromones. Much is known regarding the life cycle of the species, however, the effects of diet quality and timing on ovary and egg development is not well understood. We hypothesize that the production of eggs, and thus ovary development in female Lucilia sericata, occurs four to five days after the initial consumption of a protein meal. Adult flies were separated into two groups: Group #1 included both males and females (1:1 ratio), and Group #2 included only females. Three females from Group #1 and Group #2 were removed at twelve hour intervals each day and preserved for dissection. Ovaries were staged using two methods. The first staged the organs using a more common 0-3 scale where 0=no egg development, and 3=full egg development. The second method staged the ovaries using length and width measurements to calculate the area. Data were averaged for each time point. Preliminary results indicate that ovaries begin to develop between three to five days post-ecclosion with the immediate introduction of a protein source, while full ovarian development occurred in the subsequent 24-36 hours.

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  Parental Support and Anxiety among College Students: Differences by Sex-Specific Dyads

  Hanna M. Burke, Jeannette M. Iskander

  The present study investigated the possibility that sons and daughters are differentially responsive to the effects of maternal versus paternal support on anxiety. Previous research suggests that parental support reduces a child's susceptibility to developing anxiety outcomes, and that, generally, differences exist among parent-child dyads (father-daughter; mother-daughter; father-son; and mother-son) such that both sons and daughters prefer mothers, but sons also look to fathers for support. However, it is unclear whether maternal and paternal support is differentially associated with offspring adjustment. Based on previous findings regarding differences in sons' and daughters' preferences for maternal versus paternal social support, it was hypothesized that maternal support would be negatively associated with offspring anxiety, regardless of offspring sex, and that paternal support would be more strongly negatively associated with anxiety for male than for female offspring. Data from 216 college students who completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire were analyzed. Moderating effects of participant sex on the association between parental support and anxiety levels were examined using path analysis. Results revealed an interaction of participant sex with paternal support, but not with maternal support. Specifically, a significant negative association between paternal communication and anxiety outcomes was found for males (Beta = -0.37, p < .0001), but not females (Beta = -0.03, p = .82). In contrast, a significant positive association was found between maternal communication and anxiety outcomes, regardless of participant sex (males, Beta = 0.23, p = 0.01; females, Beta = 0.24, p = 0.008). The current findings suggest that male and female offspring may vary in their responsiveness to paternal versus maternal support. However, longitudinal research is needed to determine the directionality of the association between parental support and offspring anxiety.

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  Partnering for Success: The Effects of Formal Mentoring on Graduation and Transfer Rates Among African American Students in an Urban Community College

  Ann B. Swartz

  Community colleges have become the gateway into college for many students due to their open access and reduced tuition rates. It has been estimated by Provasnik and Planty (2008) that in 2006, 35% of all post-secondary students were enrolled at community colleges and furthermore, community colleges serve a higher percentage of minority students and women. Graduation rates at community colleges are notoriously low at a time in Ohio's history when only 36% of adults have an associate degree or higher. Students who are underrepresented in post-secondary education are at greater risk of leaving school before earning a degree or certificate. In an effort to address the needs of African American students attending Sinclair Community College (SCC), the Urban African American Mentor Program (UAAMP) was started in 2009 with a core group of 32 students. The intent of this research was to engage in causal comparative research in comparing graduation and transfer rates among the UAAMP group with graduation and transfer rates among a randomly chosen group of SCC students with similar characteristics. Variables of gender and age were also examined to see if there were statistically significant differences among students. Through data analysis, an effect between participating in the formal mentoring group and graduation/transfer rates was established. An evaluation of the effectiveness of this formal mentoring program helps provide accountability for SCC and continue UAAMP's funding in the future.

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  Perception of Non-physical Abuse in Intimate Partner Relationships

  Jessica Peatee, Ellen I. Snyder

  The present studies will examine how college-aged students perceive non-physical abuse in intimate partner relationships. The Tip of the Iceberg theory hypothesizes that non-physical abuse varies by increasing degree of severity'verbal, emotional, and psychological'with psychological abuse being the most severe form of non-physical abuse. Study 1 will test for evidence that three degrees of severity are perceived by laypeople to exist within non-physical abuse, and that psychological abuse is perceived as the most severe degree. Participants will read vignettes illustrating non-physically abusive situations between dating couples, and then rate how abusive these situations seem on a Likert-type scale. It is predicted that severity of abusiveness ratings will vary based on the type of non-physical abuse (verbal, emotional, psychological). Study 2 will then use the vignettes from study 1 that were found to have differed in severity to examine if the relationship between the hypothesized degrees of severity and perceived severity ratings of abusiveness is moderated by the target of the non-physical abuse (one's self or an individual in another couple), and if this relationship is then further influenced by the individual's past experience with non-physical abuse. Study 1 data is currently being collected and results from all available data will be presented.

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  Peremptory Challenges: The History and its Effect on Legal Professionals in Montgomery County, Ohio

  Whitney M. Crim

  The jury system has been the center of our judicial system since the Bill of Rights guaranteed the right to a jury in 1791. An essential component of the jury system is the selection process of jurors. During jury selection, attorneys for each side can use both peremptory challenges and challenges for cause to remove jurors from the pool. Challenges for cause allow for jurors to be removed upon the establishment of a reason for the removal, such as inability to analyze the information due to mental defect. However, the peremptory challenge requires no stated legal reasoning for the removal. As times have changed it has become necessary for laws to be enacted to regulate the peremptory challenge. This prevents jurors from being removed solely for discriminatory or problematic reasons. This thesis project will explore those changes as well as explain how those changes affect attorneys and judges in Montgomery County, Ohio.

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  Perfectionism: Good, Bad, or Growth?

  Elissa A. Lauber

  Perfectionism has been predominantly studied from a clinical perspective, and has only more recently been studied from a normative perspective. Luyckx et al. (2008) studied how personality differences in two facets of perfectionism'adaptive (striving for improvement) and maladaptive (striving for perfect performance)'relate to identity formation and well-being. However, no research has tested adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism experimentally to show how these two facets of perfectionism effect task performance, task motivation, and the subjective experience of the task. In the current study, 150 University of Dayton participants were surveyed for personality characteristics relating to perfectionism and motivation and were then randomly assigned to two creativity-task conditions, one eliciting a motivation for adaptive perfectionism and another for maladaptive perfectionism. Results show how adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism influence performance, motivation, and experience'and then relative to personality differences in perfectionism and related forms of motivation.

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  Portfolio Investment and Weighting Strategies for High Quality Stocks 2008 to 2011: A Study in Portfolio Management

  Mary H. Viertel

  In highly volatile market periods, many investors tend to reduce their risk by purchasing higher quality stocks. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the returns of different portfolio weighting strategies on portfolios of high quality stocks over an observed volatile market period. In this study, I examine two overall investment strategies: (1) size: defined as market capitalization, and (2) growth vs. value: defined as price to book ratio during the period of 2008 to 2011. This time period includes the year 2008 as the model for a downswing period, 2009 for a rebound period, 2010 for an upswing period, and 2011 for a trading range period. I use mock portfolios of one million dollars to evaluate the performance of the portfolios over time. Within the two investment strategies, I weight the portfolios by several weighting mechanisms including size (market capitalization), valuation (price to book ratio), profitability (return on assets), and operating efficiency (operating margin). In essence, I want to determine which overall investment strategy has the best returns for the overall period, the downswing period, the rebound period, the upswing period, and the trading range period. Within those strategies, I want to see which portfolio weighting mechanism works best.

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  Pose Invariant Face Recognition and Tracking for Human Identification

  Chen Cui, Yakov Diskin, Binu M. Nair

  Real-time tracking and recognition of people in complex environments has been a widely researched area in computer vision as it has a huge potential in efficient security automation and surveillance. We propose a real time system for detection and recognition of individuals in a scene by detecting, recognizing and tracking faces. The system integrates the multi-view face detection algorithm, the multi-pose face recognition algorithm and the extended multi-pose Kalman face tracker. The multi-view face detection algorithm contains the frontal face and profile face detectors which extract the Haar-like features and detect faces at any pose by a cascade of boosted classifiers. The pose of the face is inherently determined from the face detection algorithm and is used in the multi-pose face recognition module where depending on the pose, the detected face is compared with a particular set of trained faces having the same pose range. The pose range of the trained faces is divided into bins onto which the faces are sorted and each bin is trained separately to have its own Eigenspace. The human faces are recognized by projecting them onto a suitable Eigenspace corresponding to the determined pose using Weighted Modular Principal Component Analysis (WMPCA) technique and then, are tracked using the proposed multiple face tracker. This tracker is implemented by extracting suitable face features which are represented by a variant of WMPCA and then tracking these features across the scene using the Kalman filter. This low-level system is created using the same face database of twenty unrelated people trained using WMPCA and classification is performed using a feature correlation metric. This system has the advantage of recognizing and tracking an individual in a cluttered environment with varying pose variations.

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  Preparing Pre-Service Teachers to work with English Language Learners

  Alexandra N. Hill

  English Language Learners (ELLs) can be mis-identified as students with special needs. Teachers often watch these students struggle in school and assume they have a cognitive delay, when in reality; they may just be struggling with their language delay. To be identified as needing special education services, these students undergo assessments to test their abilities. These assessments were created for students who speak English. Studies have shown that 'Familiarity with Standard English accounts for more than 50% of the total test variance on IQ and achievement test measures for fourth graders and 60% to 90% of the variance for seventh graders' (Abedi, 2002). Therefore, ELLs are put at a further disadvantage during the testing period. If placed in a special education program, the student rarely receives the language instruction needed. The current structure creates an environment where ELLs can easily be misplaced into special education programs where they will continue to fall further behind in their education. To prevent this problem, pre-service teachers need to gain experience with ELLs so that they can give them the instruction and support they need. Not all pre-service teachers have access to classroom with ELLs. In order to try to replicate this experience, instructors turn to video case studies that show pre-service teachers authentic footage, assessments, and class work of an ELL. The goal of this research is to determine the effects of video case studies on pre-service teachers, and what questions were generated as a result of the in class clinical experience. References: Abedi, J. (2002). Measuring instructional quality in accountability systems: Classroom assignments and student achievement. Educational Assessment, 8(3), 231-257.

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  Projecting Stock Price Movements with Fair Value Analysis

  Gianina E. Alagia, Jessica Thomas

  Financial analysts generally agree that the present value of a firm's future stream of discounted cash flows presents its intrinsic or fair value. If the actual price of a firm's common stock is above or below this intrinsic value, an efficient market will cause the mispricing to quickly disappear. In this study we use Morningstar's Fair Value Price, based on a three phase discounted cash flow model, as a proxy for the true intrinsic value of a firm. The hypothesis we plan to test is that mispricing causes a "revision to the mean" or a price movement toward fair value. Using the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average as our test sample we created a fair value index (FVI) for each stock. (FVIit=FVit/Pit) FVit is the Morningstar fair value price and Pit is the actual stock price for the ith stock at time t. If FVIit>1 we expected the actual price to move up. If FVIit<1 we expected the actual price to fall. Our testing consisted of evaluating the price movements for the Dow Jones Industrial stocks for the years 2009-2012. We evaluated the quarterly returns for each Dow Jones Industrial stock to determine whether the fair value index was an accurate indicator of future returns during the testing>period.

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  Put Your Money Where Your Mouth is: Feedback Reduces Overconfidence When Betting

  Adam Barnas, Megan K. Dailey, Kristen A. Kemp, Peter M. Sismour

  Previous research has shown that overconfidence, or the belief that one can perform better on a task than one actually can, is associated with risky behavior, or the willingness to place high bets on uncertain answers (Campbell, Goodie, & Foster, 2004). The present research evaluated the relationship between overconfidence, risky behavior, and narcissism, or excessive self-admiration that leads to an unrealistic view about one's physical and mental capabilities. Participants were given a series of questionnaires and completed assessments of overconfidence, risky behavior and narcissism. They were then assigned either to place bets using virtual money to express their confidence in the accuracy of their answer (betting condition) to a series of general knowledge questions (GKQs), or to rate their confidence in their ability to accurately answer (confidence condition) the same series of GKQs. To examine the effect of timing on reported confidence, participants either rated their confidence before or after responding to each GKQ. To examine the effect of feedback on confidence, participants either received or did not receive feedback after answering each GKQ. Preliminary analyses reveal that participants in the betting condition were less overconfident than participants in the confidence condition, and that there was no significant relationship between narcissism and overconfidence. Additional analyses are expected to indicate that participants receiving feedback after answering the GKQ will show a reduction in confidence over the course of responding to the GKQs. Consistent with other published research (Mamassian, 2008), results are expected to indicate that confidence will be greater before responding to the GKQ, an effect of anticipatory overconfidence, or inability to estimate the magnitude of subjective uncertainty in decision making.

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  Rates of Corrosion of Various Metals in a Modified B117 Chamber and Their Correlation to Field Data

  Philip T. Wille

  The standard equipment used for accelerated corrosion exposure testing is the ASTM B117 chamber. Exposure conditions consist of a 3.5% NaCl salt solution that is sprayed into the chamber with one or more atomizing nozzles. The exposure zone of the chamber is maintained at a temperature of 35'2 'C (95'3'F). Exposure time depends on specific experiments and/or material being tested. The problem with this method, however, is that it does not always accurately simulate typical conditions out in the field. Outdoor conditions contain various amounts of UV and ozone which are not present in a standard B117 exposure chamber test. The objective of this experiment is to compare how differing amounts of UV and ozone in a B117 chamber will affect the rate of corrosion of various metals. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve a reliable correlation between the rate of corrosion in the field and the modified B117 chamber. The performance of five different metals (6061Al, 2024Al, 7075Al, Cu, and 1010 steel) was evaluated. Two different levels of UV and ozone were used for each of four experiments: high UV/high ozone, low UV/low ozone, high UV/low ozone, and low UV/ high ozone. High and low UV had a radiative flux of 0.96W/m2 and 0.1 W/m2, respectively; ozone was adjusted from 800ppb to 100ppb for high and low, respectively. Mass loss data was taken for each metal at every 100 hour mark, up to 1000 hours. At high UV and high ozone levels, corrosion rate increased for all exposed metals. At low UV and high ozone levels the corrosion rate decreased for each metal except for steel, where the corrosion rate remained relatively equal. Since steel does not form a passive oxide layer, this suggests that UV may be disrupting the passive oxide layers of the copper and aluminum alloys.

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  Reconciling Autonomy and Self-Enhancement: Is Consistency the Key to Well-Being?

  Kaitlin E. Boyd, Michaela M. Eames, Katharine M. Ellis, Morgan A. Hale, Bridget Petersen Lynch

  This research explores the relation between self-enhancement motivation (i.e., the motive to have and maintain positive feelings about the self) and autonomy (i.e., the motive to feel in charge of one's own life). Extensive research shows that people are motivated to feel positively about the self. However, a small set of studies noted that people who feel in charge of their lives and decisions (i.e., high in autonomy) are not motivated to have a positive sense of self in the same way as their peers. In Study 1, 338 participants completed a series of self-report measures to assess recently identified self-enhancement strategies and levels of autonomy. Using multiple regression, Study 1 provided evidence that approach oriented self-enhancement is consistent with autonomy. Study 1 supports the universality of self-enhancement by identifying strategies used by autonomous individuals to self-enhance. Based on these results, Study 2 experimentally examined the association between self-enhancement and levels of autonomy. In Study 2, 105 participants completed an impossible maze task, were provided with false negative feedback, and were randomly assigned to one of three possible coping strategies (two manipulated to encourage self-enhancement or a control condition). After participating in the coping strategy (or control), participants completed a series of self-report well-being measures. Data from Study 2 will be analyzed using multiple regression. It is expected that people will have greater psychological well-being when they self-enhance in a way consistent with their levels of autonomy. Study 2 will provide evidence for the benefits of specific strategies of self-enhancement based on level of autonomy.

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  Relative Strength, Sector Weighting, and Sector Returns: A Portfolio Analysis for the Period 2008-2012

  Matt G. Putbrese, Joseph E. Skarbek

  The Flyer Fund uses a top down approach to determine which S&P sectors it should invest in. The general approach is to use macroeconomic indicators (e.g. expected GDP growth) to determine sector weighting. In this study we use measures of relative price movements (relative strength) to determine sector weights. Treating each S&P sector as if it were an individual stock, we create a 10 stock portfolio and compare its performance to the S&P 500 over the period 2008-2012. Our research design calls for the portfolio weighting to be based on the inverse of relative strength for each sector. The approach enables us to give higher weighting to the more undervalued sectors. Rebalancing of sector weights is done at the end of each year in the study.

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  Research exercise: A couple 20's for the night: an Analysis of "Renting Lacy"

  Shannon E. Breslin

  Before this spring semester, the idea of renting a little girl was incomprehensible to me. After spending weeks in POL 300 with Professor Talbott, I learned this was a common occurrence. The focus of my poster is to enlighten you to the horrors of sex trafficking with the help of Linda Smith, the author of Renting Lacy. The book is a call to action and I hope to inspire you the way Linda inspired me. She told a story of America's prostituted children. Children like our friends, younger siblings, and even us. Little girls who like to listen to Taylor Swift and still carry around a stuffed animal, little girls who are raped and paraded around to various men throughout the night. Renting Lacy has a happy and tragic ending. Although, I highly recommend reading this book, I plan to give an in depth summary and analysis of the entire book. I implore you to share your new found knowledge about the true horrors out there and join our blue heart campaign to stop putting humans up for sale.

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  Research exercise: Adjuncts: Part Time, Full Awareness

  Carrie L. Rogan Floom

  Adjunct faculty comprise the majority of faculty members at community colleges, yet there are many deficits in the research concerning them (Townsend & Twombly, 2007). It is difficult to get an accurate portrayal of who these instructors are not only for the benefit of researchers, administrators, and students but also for the adjuncts themselves. There are many professional and personal pathways that adjuncts can choose, thus it can be difficult for them to relate to one another given the diversity among the group. While many community colleges offer their adjuncts supports, less often are they offered an integrated resource that helps to situate their position within both the institution and the larger conversation of higher education. A new resource is in progress for one of Sinclair Community College's learning centers. Currently, Sinclair has many college supports: a handbook, orientation, professional development, a support person, and a community group web page for their adjuncts. The new resource will synthesize the available college resources and also provide opportunities for becoming involved and connected to the growing field of adjunct faculty. The resource can be given to new (or existing) adjuncts as an introduction to the college's resources and will present possibilities for sharing knowledge, discussion, and support. Townsend, B. & Twombly, S. (2007). Community college faculty: Overlooked and undervalued. ASHE Higher Education Report, 32(6). San Francisco, CA: Wiley.

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  Research exercise: Advocating for Vulnerable Children

  Elizabeth M. Caraher, Mary L. Mitchell, Bethany E. Stanko, Jacquelyn A. Tondo-Steele, Nora C. Violante, Laura M. Walsh

  Our presentation is about creating awareness of the abuse of children with disabilities. This type of abuse, especially in schools, is more common than people would expect. We discuss how children experience the effects of abuse in different areas of their everyday life. This includes bullying either by peers or teachers. We draw attention to the different kinds of abuse children with disabilities are subject to and also the methods of prevention. While children with disabilities are subject to the more obvious types of abuse such as verbal abuse, children with disabilities are also subject to emotional abuse, which is often overlooked. Teachers and other people in positions that work with children with disabilities often commit emotional abuse by ignoring the needs of special needs children. In conclusion, based upon our analysis we argue that there is a need for more support and funding so that teachers can fully address the needs of children with disabilities and help them succeed.

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  Research exercise: After the Abuse

  Alyx E. Ballenger, Lauren M. Clark, Margaret Q. Corrigan, Tyler J. Craport, Lucy M. Frey, Erin B. Hamlin

  Child abuse is a significant problem in the lives of many children today. Even after the abuse has taken place, these children have to live their lives with the long term effects that result from the abuse in which they were involved. The severity of these effects may differ depending on the type of abuse and the time span during which it occurred. Many types of child abuse are considered when looking at the long term effects for victims. For example, the long term effects of child abuse from a mother can differ from the long term effects from other abusers. Other focuses of this project will involve how long term effects of child abuse will affect future interpersonal relationships, as well as the long term effects of sexual abuse from both within and outside of the child's family. It will also focus on the positive and negative effects of the foster care system and how it can either support or fail to support children as they undergo the physical, psychological, and emotional transitions. Finally, this presentation aims to capture how the effects of child abuse in the United States parallels that of different countries, namely child soldiers in Africa. We have concluded that the long term effect of child abuse can be decreased by better training professionals and parents on the signs of child abuse to promote early detection as well as improving the supports to children in the foster care system to better serve the children's unique needs.

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  Research exercise: An empirical analysis of growth and value portfolio performance in the highly volatile market period 2008-2012; a study in portfolio management

  Michael L. Hermes

  The purpose of this study is to measure and evaluate the return performance of portfolios of growth and value stocks during the short term, highly volatile market period, 2008-2012. Several academic studies have concluded that value outperforms growth over long periods of time. To date, there are no empirical studies that evaluate growth and value strategies over short term, highly volatile market periods. In this study, I will look at the performance of growth and value portfolios for the overall period, 2008-2012, the downswing period from 12/31/2007-3/31/2009, the rebound period from 3/31/2009-12/31/2010, and the trading range period from 12/31/2010-12/31/2012. I will also divide growth and value stocks into ten portfolios, each with a gradient from aggressive growth to value trap. I use price to book to define growth and value; at the extreme a P/B ratio equal to or greater than seven will define aggressive growth and a P/B ratio less than one will define value trap. The portfolio will be rebalanced at the end of 2009, 2010, and 2011 to take into account changing price to book ratios over time.

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  Research exercise: An Inductive Approach toward Understanding the Legal Parameters of Student Speech Regarding Social Media Technology

  Curtis R. Nash

  The objective of this research is to explore and synthesize the seminal legal literature regarding student free speech within the context of social media technology in order to aid college administrators in the formation of student speech policy. There are numerous court decisions and legal casework regarding student free speech in schools. Additionally, many of these cases include student use of social media technology such as Facebook and Twitter. Further even, there are legal findings pertaining to free speech and social media technology within a higher education framework. This piece takes an inductive approach to understanding this legal phenomenon where specific examples and works of research are examined to form general knowledge of the legal parameters of student speech regarding social media technology. As college student use of social media technology becomes more prevalent on campuses, it is vital that the college administrators understand the legal boundaries of this emerging issue. This study will inform university administrators' understanding of the legal issues that they and their students face in order to create policy that protects those within the university and aids in the development of students.

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  Research exercise: An Introduction to Art, Culture and Spirituality: An Immersion Experience in Italy

  Cory Baker, Kaitlin E. Boyd, Nick T. Fry, Andrew D. Hentz, Benjamin R. Kasper, Eileen T. Klug, Elizabeth A. Morrison, Flor J. Ortega, Sarah Reynolds, Michael J. Ryan, Brittney N. Sanders, Rebecca E. Scheid, Jill M. Smith, Anthony M. Trifiletti, Rebecca E. Welch

  The Chaminade Scholar Exhibit is an integrated visual, audio and interactive experience sparking ones imagination for experiencing the wonder and beauty of Assisi and Rome, Italy. The exhibit represents elements of the Vocation and Arts class that explored art, culture and spirituality for deepening students appreciation for embracing ones vocation in life. The exhibit is a preliminary preparation for an immersion experience in Italy in May.

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  Research exercise: Assessing Appellate Courts' Definitions of Elements in Libel Law

  Daniel J. Cleveland, Sarah E. Devine, Meredith A. Whelchel

  How do appellate courts interpret the meaning of defamatory, harm and actual malice in libel cases involving the news media?

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  Research exercise: Bioassessment of Outfall Water of the Mad River as well as Its Effects Downriver Using Aquatic Insects As Indicators

  Kevin M. Sullivan

  There are several ways in which to determine the health of an aquatic ecosystem, and one of the ways is to gather and sample its insect population. Depending on the pollution tolerance an insect family has, its presence or lack thereof is an indication of healthy such an ecosystem is. Using this approach, we studied the health of outfall water approximately 1.5 miles from the Great Miami River. Over the course of the study, different habitats affected by the outfall water, as well as others up and downstream, were sampled on two different dates, and the samples were later identified by their family. The data indicated that the health of the outfall discharge was fairly poor, but that it did not affect the health of the Mad River downstream. Hypotheses for such findings may be due to the fact that the outfall is ephemeral in nature, impairing the ability for organisms to survive, and also lessening the output into the Mad River.