Now showing items 11264-11283 of 11459

    • Under The Law (The Invention of Race and Contemporary Life Experiences)

      Crews, Gregory (2021)
      Six Hours of Separation and a Lawless Legal Legacy: A Tale of Two Men and the Atlanta Police June 2020 “I’m terrified at the moral apathy – the death of the heart which is happening in my country. These people have deluded themselves for so long, that they really don’t think I’m human. I base this on their conduct, not on what they say, and this means that they have become, in themselves, moral monsters.” James Baldwin The Wendy’s on University Avenue in Atlanta is closed. There is a vehicle parked in the drive-through. It is around 11 p.m. on June 23, 2020. A man is asleep in the vehicle. He is black. The up-scale hotel six miles away in downtown Atlanta closes its doors at 2 a.m. in compliance with the CDC’s protocol for dealing with COVID. Five professional black men maintain security. It is June 24, 2020, around 4 a.m. Outside at the entrance a man is drunk and demands entry. The security staff asks if he is a guest. He answers in the negative. The staff asks if he is visiting a guest in the hotel. He answers in the negative. He is irate. He wants to enter the hotel. The security staff explains the COVID policy of the hotel. They do not allow him to enter. He threatens to “beat the asses” of the security staff. He tries unsuccessfully to push past hotel guests entering the hotel. He is white. The police are summoned. A policeman arrives at Wendy’s. He is white. A policeman arrives at the hotel. He is black. The Wendy’s policeman awakens the sleeping black man. The policeman asks him to move his car to a parking space and calls for back-up help. The man quietly moves his car. The black policeman approaches the white man and speaks kindly to him. Another white policeman arrives at the Wendy’s. The white policemen ask the man how much alcohol he has consumed. He explains that he has just come from his four-year-old daughter’s birthday party. The black policeman at the hotel manages to calm the aggressive white man. The white policemen at Wendy’s ask the black man to get out of his car. He does what they ask. They administer a sobriety test. The black policeman at the hotel does not administer a sobriety test. The man at Wendy’s tells the white policemen that he has friends nearby and will walk there. The black policeman at the hotel informs the security team that the man lives close to the hotel. The white policemen at Wendy’s tell the man he cannot walk to his friend’s house. They take out their handcuffs. The black policeman at the hotel helps the white man into his patrol car and drives him home. The man at Wendy’s panics and runs. The police claim he grabbed the taser from one of them and shot at them. They shoot him twice in the back. They handcuff him. He is bleeding. The black man dies while the white policeman stands on his back. On October 23, 1705 at a General Assembly in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia a law was passed that reads as follow: And if any slave resist his master, or owner, or other person, by his or her order, correcting such slave, and shall happen to be killed in such correction, it shall not be accounted felony; but the master, owner and every such other person so giving correction, shall be free and acquit of all punishment and accusation for the same, as if such accident has never happened: And also, if any negro, mulatto, or Indian, he or she so offering, shall, for every such offense, proved by the oath of the party, receive on his or her bare back, thirty lashes, well laid on; cognizable by a justice of the peace for that count wherein such offence shall be committed. What does it feel like to be a man of color in our current society? It feels like the first three minutes on a roller coaster. It begins when you hear that deafening click of the safety belt that locks you into that uncomfortable, dense seat, and the trembling motor starts to hum. At that moment you understand something is about to happen, and you are no longer in control. The machine slowly begins to move forward and then creeps up the steep hill very slowly until it reaches a serene place almost at the top where it pauses for a slight moment. You instantly catch a view of the breathtaking skyline. Then all of a sudden, your stomach feels like it’s in the back of your throat and your breath escapes you. You realize your only option is to hold on for dear life and or just enjoy the ride. I realize that my fascinating dark brown skin is that uncomfortable seat, and fear is the motor that begins to hum. The fear in question is the inability to trust the people designated to protect you. Who would ever think that falling asleep in the common area on a college campus, falling asleep in your car, barbecuing in the local park, or walking around in your front yard could cause someone to call -the police on you? Men of color have to always be aware of these potentialities. My first encounter with the men in blue happened on a warm autumn evening when I was in my early twenties. The sun had begun to go down, but it wasn’t yet dark enough for the street lights to come on. My sister and I lived in an apartment in Forestville, Maryland, located in Prince George’s (P.G.) county. P. G. County’s law enforcement had a reputation for being very aggressive in their interactions with people of color. Across the street from our apartment complex was a Seven Eleven convenience store. It was a hot afternoon. Hoping to cool off, I walked to the Seven Eleven to get myself a cherry slushy. I grooved to the music on the radio en route to the store. About a hundred meters from the Seven Eleven, I watched a police car abruptly enter the apartment complex. The police cruiser quickly approached me and stopped. Uninterested in what the officer was doing, I continued to pursue the slushy. The young officer aggressively jumped out of the vehicle with his hand on his weapon and began yelling at me. I looked around and felt a little confused about why this officer had yelled and walked towards me in such a confrontational manner. He asked me where I was going. I told him, and then asked him why he had approached me. He shouted out, “Shut the Fuck up! I’m asking the questions.” I asked him if he wanted to see my ID. I reached in my pocket, pulled out my ID, and gave it to him. I placed my military ID on top of my driver’s license to see what his reaction would be. He snatched the ID cards out of my hand and held both up so that he could see them better. I watched his entire demeanor toward me change. His harsh, cold face softened to a warm, devilish grin. He said, “You know, my brother is in the Marine Corps.” I looked at him sternly and said, “Don’t patronize me. Why did you stop me?” He claimed he had received a call, and I fit the description of the person from the call. I asked him what was the person’s description--a black man? “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” James Baldwin
    • Under the Law: The Invention of Race and Contemporary Lived Experiences

      Collins, Laura (2021)
      An initial exploration and analysis of colonial laws uncovered a pattern of diction and legal consequences used by the legislative authorities of colonial America to create divisions that still exist today. This research presents a selection of these laws and a sample of the ways they contribute to the auto ethnographies of twenty-first century Americans.
    • Undergraduates' Retrospective Perceptions Of Academic Dishonesty As Gifted High School Students

      Jenrette, Don Edwin
      Research shows that gifted high school students engage in academically dishonest behavior. Likewise, research shows that individuals can use neutralization techniques offered by Sykes and Matza (1957) to rationalize academic dishonesty. This study was to investigate how undergraduates, who are former gifted high school students, can rationalize academically dishonest behavior by using neutralization techniques identified chronologically by Sykes and Mata (1957), Klockars (1974), Minor (1981), Benson (1985), Cromwell & Thurman (2003), and Coleman (2006) in a high school setting. Likewise, this investigation was conducted to uncover any novel neutralization techniques for cheating, issues that could lead to academic dishonesty and procedures, and instructions that could promote academic integrity in a high school setting. This mixed-methods study used a quantitative online survey and semi-structured interviews focusing on neutralization techniques to rationalize academic dishonesty. The participants were undergraduates reflecting on their experiences as gifted high school students. Ultimately, 127 undergraduates from a private university in Georgia provided their degree of agreement with 19 neutralization statements that correspond to neutralization techniques identified by Sykes and Matza’s (1957), Klockars (1974), and Minor (1981). Four respondents agreed to be interviewed. These qualitative interviews focused on all identified and any novel neutralization techniques used to rationalize academic dishonesty. This study revealed that gifted high school students could use all identified neutralization techniques to rationalize academic dishonesty. Three previously unidentified neutralization techniques to rationalize academic dishonesty were identified. Furthermore, issues that could lead to academic dishonesty and procedures and instructions could promote academic integrity were identified. The findings support the need for curriculum and instruction that promotes academic integrity among gifted high school students. Recommendations for further research include the extent of drift (Matza, 1964) experienced by gifted high school students, if non-gifted students use the newly identified neutralization techniques, when do students first use neutralization techniques to rationalize academic dishonesty, desensitization to academic dishonesty, moral development, investigating the relationship of one’s mindset and their tendencies to neutralize and/or engage in academically dishonest behavior, and a focus on more qualitative research to investigate multiple aspects of academic dishonesty at all levels.
    • Understanding Teachers-Researcher Collaboration: Designing a Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Aligned Curriculum

      Jenkins, Tynetta; Hochuli, Caitlin; Sharma, Meenakshi (2021)
      National curriculum framework for science education (NRC, 2012) makes various recommendations for increasing collaborations among various stakeholders to facilitate the implementation of NGSS. This ongoing study presents a case that exemplifies such a collaboration between two certified teachers (co-authors) and a science education researcher (primary author). The partnership was initiated for designing a K-8 STEM curriculum focused on 3D learning (core ideas, science & engineering practices and crosscutting concepts). This is a qualitative study that uses data from regular curriculum development meetings that involve planning, design, and feedback regarding the STEM curriculum. Teachers and researcher constantly reflect on their role, contributions, and biases during these meetings and by keeping individual written reflective journals to deeply understand the nature of the existing collaboration. The goal of the study is to understand the strengths, dilemmas, and challenges of this collaboration. Most importantly as participants, we strive to understand how we develop a shared vision, how the researcher recognizes teacher voice and how teachers develop a deeper understanding of the NGSS in the process. Initial findings reveal that this partnership is a dynamic process that involves constant negotiations and compels us to revisit and rethink our current roles, values and priorities as we transition to being joint curriculum developers. We are examining changes in teachers� understanding of NGSS as an outcome of this partnership. Also, researcher�s recognition of the school contexts and students� needs as seen through the eyes of teachers will also be examined. Such collaborations are being highly advocated by the NRC (2012) committee. Our research finding can provide useful insights and strategies to build productive learning communities among teachers and researchers to support the goals of K-12 science education. National Research Council. (2012). A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. National Academies Press.
    • Understanding The Faculty Experience Designing, Developing, And Delivering Massive Open Online Courses To Inform Academic Leaders Considering Mooc Initiatives

      Collins, Richard Bryan
      The work of academic faculty is what defines institutions of higher learning (Steward, 2013). Institutional leaders and decision-makers need valid, qualitative research information regarding faculty lived experiences in order to understand the opportunities and challenges of designing, developing, and delivering instruction on a massive scale. From 2008 to 2011 the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) went from an obscure experimental course to full-scale adoption by world-renowned institutions without consulting experts in the field of online learning, utilized older pedagogical frameworks, and still few have asked the academic faculty designing, developing, and delivering MOOCs if MOOCs are a viable learning experience or if MOOCs further institutional goals. The researcher chose to conduct a classical phenomenology by developing a 10 question semi-structured telephonic interview (Crotty, 1998; Husserl, 1931). Seven participants, four male, three female from the United States and Canada offered answers to the interview which resulted in rich data regarding their lived experiences. MOOCs can be extremely expensive and take an excessive amount of a professor’s time and energy to do well. Currently, MOOCs have not proved to be the educational panacea many had hoped however, MOOCs are likely here to stay for the foreseeable future as rapid changes become the new normal for higher education. Because of the emerging nature of this field of research numerous opportunities for future research are open. Institutional leaders need better understanding of costs and learning outcomes in MOOCs in order to evaluate the challenges and opportunities posed by MOOC initiatives in their respective institutions.
    • Understanding The Function Of Lmp1-ctar3 In Ebv-associated Lymphomas

      Ross, Tabithia
      Epstein-Barr virus, a ubiquitous virus infecting most of the world’s population, utilizes the traditional B-cell maturation pathway of the adaptive immune system to establish a life-long infection in the host due to the ability of the virus to immortalize B-cells. Latent EBV infection is associated with distinct lymphoid malignancies, and latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) has been identified as the primary oncoprotein associated with these lymphoid malignancies and the immortalization of naïve B-cells. The three C-terminal activating regions (CTARs) of LMP1 play a significant role in the transformation of a naïve B-cell by dysregulating the normal signaling pathways for cell maintenance and maturation thereby inducing the mature B-cell to continue proliferating without control, a classic hallmark of cancer. Our current research focuses on CTAR3, which resides between CTAR1 and CTAR2 and consists of an average of four and a half 11 amino acid repeats (11-aaR) and one-to-two proline-rich regions (PXXPXP). Previous research established an interaction between the CTAR3 and the JAK/STAT pathway via the proline-rich regions, but others have reported that CTAR3 was not necessary for the LMP1/JAK interaction or LMP1-mediated STAT activation. More recent work demonstrated a correlation between lower numbers of 11-aaR found in CTAR3 and increased pathogenesis; however, the exact role of the repetitive elements has not been elucidated. We hypothesized the repetitive elements found in LMP1 CTAR3 were necessary for the ability of CTAR3 to modulate the oncogenic nature of LMP1. Using GFP-tagged LMP1 expression constructs, we investigated the intracellular and extracellular trafficking of LMP1, cellular migration and protein solubility. While the number of 11-aaR found within LMP1 are variable in nature, we found that with the loss of the 11-aaR the normal biology of the oncoprotein was altered. We demonstrate that the repetitive elements of LMP1-CTAR3, specifically the 11-aaR, affect the biology of LMP1 including the stability and the intracellular and extracellular trafficking of LMP1, which can change the oncogenic potential of LMP1. We propose that targeting the functions of the CTAR3 repetitive elements may provide new advance therapeutic opportunities for patients with EBV-associated lymphomas.
    • Understanding The Nature Of Glycyrrhizic Acid In Breast Cancer Treatment

      Hall, Jessica S
      Breast cancer (BC) is the second most common cancer in women with 1 in 8 women in the United States developing BC within their lifetimes. Of the numerous types of breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) is the most common accounting for 80% of all breast cancers. The use of chemotherapeutic drugs such as doxorubicin (DOX) improves the prognosis and survival of patients diagnosed with BC. Yet, many BC cells form a drug resistance leading to relapse and worsening of prognosis for the patient. We hypothesize that the alternative medicine, glycyrrhizic acid (GA) will lead to the induction of apoptosis in BC cells while sensitizing the cells in combination with first-line chemotherapeutic, DOX. The effects of treatment on BC cell growth was assessed and measured using TACS MTT Cell Proliferation Assay, Trypan Blue Dye Exclusion, DeadEndTM Fluorometric TUNEL System, Annexin-V/PI-double staining, Western Blot, cellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the detection of mitochondrial membrane potential to determine mitochondrial function. In the current study, treatment with GA led to decreases in cell proliferation and viability in addition to the induction of apoptosis. Our results also show that exposure to GA leads to increased ROS generation. Furthermore, we demonstrated that GA may be effective when used as co- treatment with DOX for BC treatment. Recommendations for further study involves illustrating the role and mechanism of hyaluronic acid (HA) on each cell line, investigating the usefulness of co-treatment with GA and DOX, examine the effects of ROS inhibitors on ROS generation and transition studies to focus on 3-D BC cell models.
    • Understanding the Nature of Glycyrrhizic Acid in Breast Cancer Treatment

      Robert McKallip; Jessica Hall; Olga Uchakina
      Modulation of HA metabolisms, both production and cleavage, by BC provides for a protective environment preventing the cells from therapy induced cell death or apoptosis. We suggest that inhibition of HA degradation by HYAL may be key in limiting the migration and progression of breast cancer.
    • Union Formation Amongst College Undergraduate Students: A Study of Attitudes and Behaviors

      Laura Simon; Sydney Campbell; Emily Mixon
      This study examines attitudes and behaviors toward union formation among college students. This study analyzed how the following variables influence attitudes and behaviors toward union formation: (1) family structure, (2) religiosity, (3) political ideology, (4) future educational/career pursuits, (5) degree type, (6) relationship status, and (7) various demographic variables.
    • Universal Ankle Orthotic by GO Go Engineering

      Goldsberry, Alexander; Grose, Emma; Owens, Virgenal (2014-12-15)
    • Universal Back Brace for Pediatric Patients with Scoliosis

      Ha Van Vo; Scott Schultz; Lilian Morin; Jocelyn Pena
      Our team will introduce an alternative design for a scoliosis back brace that allows for an adjustable and mobile brace that will aid in the corrected gait and posture of the patient while alleviating pain.
    • Universal Prosthetic for Forefoot Amputations

      Ha Van Vo; Trung Le; Zach Brumbalow; Caleb Thompson
      In this project I designed and built a universal prosthetic for patients with forefoot amputations.
    • Universal Robotics Platform

      Arash Afshar; Anthony Choi; Andrew Robinson; Hunter Horde; Bradley Ford
      The Universal Robotics Platform is a Senior Design project with the goal of modifying a self-balancing scooter (aka hoverboard) into a robotics education platform.
    • Unlocking The Code : Matters Of Agency, Metalinguistic Skills, And Literacy Achievement For Speakers Of Non-mainstream American English / By Adrina O. Smith.

      Smith, Adrina O.
      This study examined the latent factors of dialect variation as they relate to reading achievement of second grade students. Sociocultural theory, identity theories, and critical theory used against a metaphorical backdrop of a bundle of locks were used to illustrate the complexity of language variation and its effect on reading achievement within minority populations. Current findings have established a negative correlation between reading achievement and use of Non-Mainstream American English (NMAE)—such that reading achievement decreases as use of NMAE increases. Although this relationship has been established, few researchers have utilized qualitative inquiry to explore the relationship between linguistic variance and reading. This study implemented an explanatory design of mixed methods. Quantitatively, the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation-Screening Test (DELV-S) measured the linguistic variation and the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement-Third Edition (WJ-III) measured the reading comprehension of four second-grade students. Qualitatively, the students participated in follow-up interviews, sharing their lived experiences of metalinguistic awareness, dialect variation, and literacy acquisition. Findings affirmed the inverse relationship between use of NMAE and reading achievement and linguistic awareness. Findings also indicated that semantic awareness shapes linguistic awareness and conscientiousness of linguistic style, and the ability to accommodate the speech styles of others by means of convergence increases as variation away from Mainstream American English (MAE) decreases. Recommendations for further study include interviews with older students, monolingual students, and students who code switch regularly.