A research project turned creative project focusing on the narrative of the student's perspective in the Next Generation Service Corps scholarship program. Using survey results from the program members, narratives of their experiences were compiled to offer insight and direction for the growth of the program.<br/><br/>A video of the defense can be found at this link: https://youtu.be/O63NRz0z1Ys

Choropleth maps are a common form of online cartographic visualization. They reveal patterns in spatial distributions of a variable by associating colors with data values measured at areal units. Although this capability of pattern revelation has popularized the use of choropleth maps, existing methods for their online delivery are limited in supporting dynamic map generation from large areal data. This limitation has become increasingly problematic in online choropleth mapping as access to small area statistics, such as high-resolution census data and real-time aggregates of geospatial data streams, has never been easier due to advances in geospatial web technologies. The current literature shows that the challenge of large areal data can be mitigated through tiled maps where pre-processed map data are hierarchically partitioned into tiny rectangular images or map chunks for efficient data transmission. Various approaches have emerged lately to enable this tile-based choropleth mapping, yet little empirical evidence exists on their ability to handle spatial data with large numbers of areal units, thus complicating technical decision making in the development of online choropleth mapping applications. To fill this knowledge gap, this dissertation study conducts a scalability evaluation of three tile-based methods discussed in the literature: raster, scalable vector graphics (SVG), and HTML5 Canvas. For the evaluation, the study develops two test applications, generates map tiles from five different boundaries of the United States, and measures the response times of the applications under multiple test operations. While specific to the experimental setups of the study, the evaluation results show that the raster method scales better across various types of user interaction than the other methods. Empirical evidence also points to the superior scalability of Canvas to SVG in dynamic rendering of vector tiles, but not necessarily for partial updates of the tiles. These findings indicate that the raster method is better suited for dynamic choropleth rendering from large areal data, while Canvas would be more suitable than SVG when such rendering frequently involves complete updates of vector shapes.

This research study aims to find out the way how goodwill should be evaluated. This paper is about accounting for goodwill which will provide general information about goodwill value, especially of public companies. Additionally, I will discuss sources of goodwill, the importance of goodwill, why it is important to evaluate goodwill correctly, and what methods have been applied to evaluate goodwill. This thesis will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of both methods of accounting for goodwill which are the impairment testing method and the amortization method. This study is done by researching studies, journal articles, reviews, books, and websites about accounting. Lastly, this study will provide a suggestion for how goodwill should be evaluated effectively.