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- Creators: School of International Letters and Cultures
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Status: Published
Description
Inclusion of diverse talent in the field of public accounting has been highly prioritized by the profession since the late 1960s. In seeking to acquire racially/ethnically diverse talent in addition to an expanding set of identities (e.g. veterans, people with disabilities, LGTBQ+, and various backgrounds contributing to “diversity of thought”), Big Four Public Accounting firms have taken on more operational ownership of their Diversity and Inclusion programming. We conducted interviews with D&I program facilitators and surveyed Accounting and Finance students at Arizona State University to assess whether these programs align with students’ outlooks and are being properly presented to enhance awareness. The uniformity across the Big Four’s D&I program structures, the persistence in competition among them in relation to talent acquisition and retention, and students’ lack of awareness relating to program timing and existence lead us to conclude that efforts in improving diversity and inclusion in Big Four Public Accounting are most effective when the Big Four act collectively
ContributorsAlaniz, Leslie M (Co-author) / Quintana, Jacob (Co-author) / Samuels, Janet (Thesis director) / Dawson, Gregory (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This paper intends to parse out the differences between various types of nationalism. It will break down the current trend toward xenophobic rhetoric in modern democratic election campaigns. Then, it will discuss the effect of modern media coverage in the dissemination and sustenance of toxic nationalist rhetoric and cover the role of President Donald J. Trump in doing the same. Finally, it will outline what appears to be the root cause of this current uptick in toxic nationalism and recommend some methods by which the issue can be resolved in the current political atmosphere.
ContributorsMcCreary, Micah (Author) / Goggin, Maureen (Thesis director) / Chanley, Jesse (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
For my honors thesis, I decided to do a creative project in the form of an extended comedy act. With this performance, I wanted to make jokes about my identity and experiences in my life while synthesizing the skills I had acquired over my college career. I decided I wanted to do this project because it felt like the best way to combine my passion (comedy) with my major (communication) in the form of a comedic performance study. And while I thought the performance would be the most informative aspect of my project, the workshop process ended up being far more enlightening. Through the workshop process, I was able to better understand the challenges that come with developing a comedic autoethnographic performance, and to discover the true purpose behind the art I was creating.
ContributorsMale, Kathryn Margaret (Author) / de la Garza, Amira (Thesis director) / Reyes, Guillermo (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Personality is a relevant and applicable research topic now more than ever; because of the Internet, self-report measures of personality are becoming increasingly accessible. Although now widely available for personal application, personality inventories are not often examined in the context of their associations with other factors. Specifically, there exists a gap in the research on personality and its associations with philosophical belief. Based on a sample of 88 individuals, correlations between the Big Five and Philosophy Dichotomy Test were examined in order to investigate the associations between personality traits and philosophical belief. Agreeableness was found to be negatively associated with the sensuality, values, metaphysical, and societal axes, corresponding to higher levels of hedonism, rationalism, materialism, and egoism. These findings suggest that personality as measured by the Big Five and philosophical belief are somewhat associated. Limitations and future directions are presented.
ContributorsFitzgerald, Clare (Author) / Randall, Ashley K. (Thesis director) / Iida, Masumi (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Bipolar disorder will affect an estimated 4.4% of adults in the U.S (Bipolar Disorder, 2017). This study addresses the hypothesis that individuals endorsing mania symptoms also tend to show increased creativity. There has been some empirical support linking mania and creativity, as well as anecdotal evidence of highly creative individuals posthumously being diagnosed with some form of bipolar disorder. To our knowledge, however, no prior studies have sought to link specific symptoms of mania with creativity. Participants in this study completed two separate creativity tasks, measuring convergent and divergent thinking, respectively; the Remote Associates Test (RAT) and the Alternate Uses Test (AUT). Two questionnaires followed: The Behavioral Inhibition/Activation Scale (BIS/BAS; Carver & White, 1994) with subscales for Drive, Fun Seeking and Reward Responsiveness and the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS; Stanton, McArtor & Watson, 2017) with subscales for an individual’s level of Modesty, Charisma, Activation, Intellectual Confidence and Lability. Multiple regression analyses revealed that scores on Activation, Intellectual Confidence, and Modesty significantly predicted creative test scores. Future studies may seek to replicate the study with a different community or use different measures of creativity.
ContributorsBreiten, Riley (Co-author, Co-author) / Shiota, Michelle (Thesis director) / Presson, Clark (Committee member) / Gruber, June (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Background: Despite a multitude of health initiatives, obesity rates in America have continued to increase yearly, with obese or overweight people making up two-thirds of the population. Due to a lack of significant results from diet and weight-loss medication, new methods of weight-loss are increasingly considered. This paper looks beyond traditional Western treatments for weight loss and will analyze views and treatments for overweight and obesity in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Methods: Three databases were used to search for papers published after 2010 until October 2019 discussing obesity, overweight and TCM. No forms of Chinese medicine were excluded from the search. Studies were excluded if they did not meet the date criteria or if they overlapped with papers found in other databases.
Results: Six of the selected papers covered acupuncture (electro, balance or catgut embedding acupuncture methods) either jointly with other treatments or alone, one exclusively on moxibustion and three studies on three different types of TCM herbal medicine. Each study showed a statistically significant effect on body mass index (BMI) value decrease or total weight loss (TWL). The six acupuncture papers all showed statistical significance at the 95% CI against control groups (sham acupuncture or no acupuncture) and against before-treatment BMI values or TWL values.
Conclusion: Of the treatments reviewed, almost all acupuncture studies were shown to be consistently effective in treating overweight or obese individuals within this selection of studies, as well as in another meta-analysis. This may be due to acupuncture’s ties to a neuroendocrine mechanism. Future studies should further explore the neuroendocrine connection between acupuncture and weight loss. Herbal medication was also shown to have a significant effect in reducing weight in each study; however, two studies used mice or rats as subjects, therefore understanding the effects on human subjects is limited.
Methods: Three databases were used to search for papers published after 2010 until October 2019 discussing obesity, overweight and TCM. No forms of Chinese medicine were excluded from the search. Studies were excluded if they did not meet the date criteria or if they overlapped with papers found in other databases.
Results: Six of the selected papers covered acupuncture (electro, balance or catgut embedding acupuncture methods) either jointly with other treatments or alone, one exclusively on moxibustion and three studies on three different types of TCM herbal medicine. Each study showed a statistically significant effect on body mass index (BMI) value decrease or total weight loss (TWL). The six acupuncture papers all showed statistical significance at the 95% CI against control groups (sham acupuncture or no acupuncture) and against before-treatment BMI values or TWL values.
Conclusion: Of the treatments reviewed, almost all acupuncture studies were shown to be consistently effective in treating overweight or obese individuals within this selection of studies, as well as in another meta-analysis. This may be due to acupuncture’s ties to a neuroendocrine mechanism. Future studies should further explore the neuroendocrine connection between acupuncture and weight loss. Herbal medication was also shown to have a significant effect in reducing weight in each study; however, two studies used mice or rats as subjects, therefore understanding the effects on human subjects is limited.
ContributorsTung, Kiram Yeo (Author) / Lateef, Dalya (Thesis director) / Capco, David (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Abiotic stresses, such as heat, can drive protein misfolding and aggregation, leading to inhibition of cellular function and ultimately cell death. Unexpectedly, a thermotolerant Escherichia coli was identified from a pool of antibiotic resistant RNA polymerase β subunit (rpoB) mutants. This stress tolerant phenotype was characterized through exposure to high temperature and ethanol. After 30-minute exposure of cells to 55°C or 25% ethanol, the mutant displayed 100 times greater viability than the wild-type, indicating that the rpoB mutation may have broadly affected the cellular environment to reduce protein misfolding and/or prevent protein aggregation. To further test this hypothesis, we examined thermotolerance of cells lacking heat shock chaperone DnaJ (Hsp40), which is a cochaperone of one of the most abundant and conserved chaperones, DnaK (Hsp70). The deletion of dnaJ led to severe growth defects in the wild-type, namely a slower growth rate and extreme filamentation at 42°C. The severity of the growth defects increased after additionally deleting DnaJ analog, CbpA. However, these defects were significantly ameliorated by the rpoB mutation. Finally, the rpoB mutant was found to be minimally affected by the simultaneous depletion of DnaK and DnaJ compared to the wild-type, which failed to form single colonies at 37°C and 42°C. Based on these observations, it is proposed that the rpoB mutant’s robust thermotolerant phenotype results from a cellular environment protective against protein aggregation or improper folding. The folding environment of the rpoB mutants should be further examined to elucidate the mechanism by which both antibiotic resistance and thermotolerance can be conferred.
ContributorsYeh, Melody (Author) / Misra, Rajeev (Thesis director) / Wang, Xuan (Committee member) / Kelly, Keilen (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
At the onset of my honors thesis, I laid out three goals for myself. The first and most significant one was to record and produce a full length album incorporating as many of the musical influences in my life thus far as possible. Having studied many different styles of music at various stages of my musical development, from jazz to punk to classical to styles of folk music around the world, I wanted this album to be stylistically diverse. This broad range of influences led me to my second goal: to present all styles of music as equally valid and without a hierarchy. By presenting disparate styles of music fused together on the same album, I would place those styles on the same plane of existence without judgement. Another result of
this stylistic fusion would be to show the similarities between seemingly distinct genres and how those genres could complement each other. The final goal I laid out was to build community through the recording process. This community would link together the different departments of the School of Music and extend outside of the School of Music into other social groups I interact with. My hope with this goal was that musicians of all backgrounds would be joined together on one cohesive project, and those musicians would be able to either play music not commonly found in the School of Music, learn new styles of music they may be interested in, or express
themselves in a format that they do not commonly use. The result of these goals was a nine track album, approximately 40 minutes in length, titled Wherever That May Be. In the following pages, I will explain the process I went through in composing, recording, and producing the album, and I will give a track-by-track explanation of the album to add depth to my audience’s understanding of the music and how it met the goals described above.
this stylistic fusion would be to show the similarities between seemingly distinct genres and how those genres could complement each other. The final goal I laid out was to build community through the recording process. This community would link together the different departments of the School of Music and extend outside of the School of Music into other social groups I interact with. My hope with this goal was that musicians of all backgrounds would be joined together on one cohesive project, and those musicians would be able to either play music not commonly found in the School of Music, learn new styles of music they may be interested in, or express
themselves in a format that they do not commonly use. The result of these goals was a nine track album, approximately 40 minutes in length, titled Wherever That May Be. In the following pages, I will explain the process I went through in composing, recording, and producing the album, and I will give a track-by-track explanation of the album to add depth to my audience’s understanding of the music and how it met the goals described above.
ContributorsMancino, Alexander (Author) / Kocour, Michael (Thesis director) / Solís, Ted (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Humans are intrigued, drawn to, inspired by beautiful things. Various philosophers and
social commentators have contributed to this essential inquiry: what is Beauty? And
furthermore, are there objective patterns within what different people consider beautiful? I will
explore this through both the lenses of physical beauty and character beauty. In faces, there is the study of physical attractiveness - is it evolutionary, personal preference, or something more universal?
By using the four concepts of judgement of beauty laid out by Kant, supplemented with psychological research on humans' attractiveness ratings of faces, we will be able to get closer to the idea of a truly beautiful face. This face, striking in nature, is not simply attractive, but more. It is a face that is, using Kant's framework, disinterested, universal, purposive without purpose, and necessary.
social commentators have contributed to this essential inquiry: what is Beauty? And
furthermore, are there objective patterns within what different people consider beautiful? I will
explore this through both the lenses of physical beauty and character beauty. In faces, there is the study of physical attractiveness - is it evolutionary, personal preference, or something more universal?
By using the four concepts of judgement of beauty laid out by Kant, supplemented with psychological research on humans' attractiveness ratings of faces, we will be able to get closer to the idea of a truly beautiful face. This face, striking in nature, is not simply attractive, but more. It is a face that is, using Kant's framework, disinterested, universal, purposive without purpose, and necessary.
ContributorsGarland, Sabrina Michelle (Author) / de Alcantara, Christiane Fontinha (Thesis director) / Fette, Donald (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Objective: To provide insight into the World Health Organization SAGE Working Group Vaccine Hesitancy Survey by applying the tool to populations across Maricopa County, Arizona. Design: An online survey was conducted using the Qualtrics Survey Software, of individuals residing in Maricopa County, Arizona during the month of October 2019. Results: Of 209 respondents, the followed demonstrated to be the top 3 reasons for either having not received the flu shot yet or having not planned to receive the flu shot: “I’m healthy, I don’t need it”(20.1%); “Worried I might get the flu from it”(17.7%); “I don’t think it works”(17.7%) Statistical analysis demonstrated that vaccine hesitant and non-hesitant respondents are likely to respond differently to topics covering: safety of vaccines; self-perceived health status; importance of the flu shot among one’s peers; flu vaccine related knowledge Conclusions: The WHO VHS applied to the population of Maricopa County, Arizona reported little hesitancy towards the seasonal flu vaccine. Statistical analysis of Vaccine Hesitant respondents vs. Non-Hesitant respondents demonstrates that specified public health education focused on the immunological implications of vaccines may be needed for the hesitant population to gain confidence in vaccine efficacy. A more diverse respondent group that consists of residents beyond the county lines of Maricopa is needed to understand the full scope of vaccine hesitancy that exists in Arizona.
ContributorsMaroofi, Hanna (Co-author, Co-author) / Jehn, Megan (Thesis director) / Muabyi, Anuj (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05