Matching Items (134)
Description
The page program at the state legislature has played an integral role in the daily operations of the legislative branch since the state's founding. This paper examines the demographics of the page program from statehood to now, the experiences that make the page program unique, and the outcomes it creates for public servants' careers. Additionally, a media component is included to observe the visual changes that the program has undergone in the last five decades. Participants include a handful of former pages from as far back as 1971 who sat for interviews regarding their time served as a page and are still public servants today. Beyond interviews, legislative journals, photos, and policies were referenced for research purposes. These former pages shared their experiences as a page and how it has helped them where they are in their career now. Furthermore, the paper explores the gender demographics from the turn of the century through 2012 of both page programs and legislators. It is evident that Arizona is a pioneer in women's representation in both the page staff and members, especially the page program. From this research into the various experiences as a page in the legislature it is clear that the program is an incredible networking opportunity unmatched by other entry-level jobs in government and that the passion it fuels will live on in public servants throughout their career. Moreover, without the page program the state legislature would not operate as smoothly and lack tradition in an environment that is ever-changing.
ContributorsGroves, Madison (Author) / Bowie, Sean (Thesis director) / Drake, Jim (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Over the last 30 years, the public has become somewhat less willing to accept the “feminist” label. However, most Americans indicate support for general feminist ideals. In fact, many of these ideals have become so prevalent in American culture that they are not considered feminist anymore. This thesis will examine the reason behind this disparity and analyze where public opinion began to shift. The disparity between the definition of feminism and the definition perceived by the public will be explored along with the idea that the American people still want and need a “feminist movement,” but that its current state is not resonating with the majority of the public.
ContributorsKasle, Lauren Jessica (Author) / Lennon, Tara (Thesis director) / Woodall, Gina (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Many studies have supported the "epidemic" of increasing narcissism with the current generation. However, the importance of accurately measuring narcissism has never been greater. Studies have measured the reliability and feasibility of the narcissistic personality inventory (NPI) at reporting narcissism and the Noldus FaceReader technology at detecting basic emotions, but the validity of these two measurement tools working together needs to be further researched. This study investigated how reliable the Noldus FaceReader technology was at detecting basic emotions of participants while they performed the NPI personality quiz and if the emotions generated from the facial analysis software can accurately represent an individual's narcissistic characteristics. Specifically, the study explored how the narcissistic personality quiz and the newest version of Noldus FaceReader can be used to detect narcissistic individuals within a team environment. An intervention was conducted in which participants, 16 female collegiate soccer players, engaged in the fall soccer season. Narcissism scores were measured before and after the intervention and then analyzed in correlation with the emotions through the facial analysis software. Results from the study showed that the 40-question narcissistic personality quiz could be condensed into a 14-question quiz in order to truly detect narcissism by generating corresponding emotions. Results also showed that narcissism is most significantly and consistently correlated to the emotions of scared, angry, and disgusted.
ContributorsRaybe, Jessica Rose (Author) / Chisum, Jack (Thesis director) / Marsit, Joseph (Committee member) / Carr, Natasha (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The aims of this project are: (i) to identify structural and molecular changes in the brains of 3xTg-AD mice and (ii) to determine whether decreasing S6K1 protects the brain from these changes. To achieve our goals, we decided to remove one copy of the S6K1 gene in 3xTg-AD mice by breeding them with S6K1 knockout mice (S6K1+/-). In previous studies, we have seen that reducing S6K1 levels in 3xTg-AD mice improved spatial memory and synaptic plasticity which was associated with reduced A and tau pathology. Here, we used a multiparametric MRI to assess volumetric and blood flow changes in the brain of 20-month-old 3xTg-AD mice. We found that 3xTg-AD/S6K1+/- mice had higher blood flow and cortical volume compared to 3xTg-AD mice. However, we saw no significant differences between 3xTg-AD mice and NonTg mice. We further found A levels and plaque numbers were significantly lower in 3xTg-AD/S6K1+/- mice compared to 3xTg-AD mice. This reduction in plaques could account for the improvement in blood flow in 3xTg-AD/S6K1+/- mice. To try to understand the reason behind the increase in cortical volume in the 3xTg-AD/S6K1+/- when compared to the 3xTg-AD, we measured markers of synaptic density, PSD95, and synaptophysin. We found that PSD95 levels were not different between the four groups. However, synaptophysin levels were significantly lower in 3xTg-AD mice compared to NonTg levels and returned to baseline levels in 3xTg-AD mice lacking one copy of the S6K1 gene. This difference in synaptophysin could explain, at least in part, the difference in volume between the four groups analyzed. Overall, this represents the first evidence showing that reducing mTOR signaling improves blood flow and cortical volume in a mouse model of AD.
ContributorsShukla, Prakriti (Author) / Oddo, Salvatore (Thesis director) / Caccamo, Antonella (Committee member) / Jankowsky, Joanna (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Although it has recently been demonstrated that source monitoring (SM) processes may mediate the relationship between working memory (WM) and false memories, little research has investigated whether the quality of monitoring processes can account for this reduction. In the current study, participants performed multiple false memory, WM, and SM tasks. Consistent with previous research, SM abilities mediated the relationship between WM and false memories (regardless of whether or not participants were warned of the illusions at encoding). High SM individuals were better able to recall contextual information from study to correctly reject lures, whereas low SM individuals were more likely to rely on the quality of retrieved details to reject lures. These results suggest that individuals low and high in SM abilities rely on qualitatively different monitoring processes to reduce errors, and that individual differences in diagnostic monitoring strategies may account for previous relationships found between WM and false memories.
ContributorsCoulson, Allison Rose (Author) / Brewer, Gene (Thesis director) / Ellis, Derek (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Over the last fifty years, education funding has been litigated and debated in the United States. In an effort to uncover more into the effects of state dollars on education, I used the guiding research question: did differences in state-level education funding trends in the 1990s affect crime rates? With the help of literature on changing education-funding trends, I selected the timeframe of 1990-1995 because some states and jurisdictions increased their funding while others decreased it. For my research, I outlined the independent variable of per pupil expenditures in order to focus directly on the dollars that impact the individual student, and the dependent variables of burglary, robbery, and motor vehicle theft crime rates because juveniles typically commit these crimes. Unemployment rates and household income served as confounding variables, as these economic factors have been proven to affect crime rates. Using the difference-in-difference method, I was able to test the effect of the implementation of a treatment, increased education funding, on my control and treatment group over the 1990-1995-time period. After running a regression on each of my selected juvenile-specific crime rates, I found my results to be inconclusive; however, by factoring in more confounding variables, I believe this quasi-experimental approach can be repeated to find more solid results.
ContributorsWilson, Kelsey Marie (Author) / Dorn, Sherman (Thesis director) / Carter, Heather (Committee member) / Tatto, Maria (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
An information influx and numerous modes of content delivery has resulted in local governments competing for the public's attention. A recent poll from the Public Technology Institute discovered that although 85% of Local Governments use social media to disseminate information to their constituents, only 37% have an enterprise-wide social media strategy (PTI, 2017). Without a clear approach towards social media, Local Governments are failing to maximize their voices and often ineffective when reaching out to their constituents. Research has suggested, charisma is a successful tool for capturing an audience's attention and conveying a memorable message. Charisma can also be taught and executed not only through spoken rhetoric but in online social media platforms. Within this study, 18 local government employees participated in an educational workshop on the use of nine non-verbal "Charismatic Leadership Tactics". Participants completed a pre-workshop assignment which was later compared to a post-workshop assignment. Results showed, participants on average, increased their use of Charismatic Leadership Tactics by a mean of 61%. Researchers collected social media analytics one month prior and one month following the workshop from the City's social media accounts in which participants managed. Collectively, of the thirteen social media accounts, the overall total engagement was greater the month after the educational workshop compared to the month before the workshop. These results suggest charisma can be taught, charisma can be conveyed through micro-blogosphere platforms such as Twitter, and the use of Charismatic Leadership Tactics could be responsible for increasing follower engagement with social media content.
ContributorsPrior, Thomas Cole (Author) / Jensen, Ulrich (Thesis director) / Lewis, Natalie (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Using the case of a children's home in Nepal, Ama Ghar, this study utilizes concepts of resiliency and community service to assess children's ability to react and recover from disaster. As earthquakes continues to strike rural and urban populations \u2014 from Mexico to Italy \u2014 learning the recovery stories of the 2015 Nepal Earthquake from the Ama Ghar family may further understanding on how to promote resiliency for youth in a post-disaster stage. Although community service in many respects has been supported as a successful youth development tool in Western contexts, researchers call for a more extensive look that compares variables of community service through a global lens. Because of the research backing the benefits that community involvement has on promoting civic responsibility, citizenship, and human and societal well-being, this study proposes that facilitating an active role through community service is a positive way to generate resilience among a child. After conducting in-depth interviews on Ama Ghar caretakers and alumni, it was ultimately concluded that there is a positive relationship between community service and overall resilience of a child. It was found that different forms of discussions of disaster, community service, and resilience shows the complex interconnectedness among these attributes and how this relationship accounts for the building up of resiliency among children who have faced disaster such as the earthquake in Nepal. Learning about the nurturing of children within the blended Ama Ghar family and their vivid first-hand experiences may be scalable however more in-depth research should be conducted to fully understand the complex factors that contribute to the rebuilding of well-being for disaster-affected youth.
ContributorsZapata, Lindsay (Author) / Chhetri, Nalini (Thesis director) / Legg, Eric (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This project is meant to measure and assess empathy through the Empathy Assessment Index (EAI) and Social Empathy Index (SEI) instruments. Researchers believe that empathy is an involuntary but dynamic aspect of people's affective and cognitive responses to emotional stimuli. This project used the EAI and SEI instruments to see whether a course taught at Arizona State University \u2014 PAF 300 \u2014increased empathy and its seven components within students. The results suggest that different modular interventions were effective in increasing four of the seven empathic components \u2014 affective response, perspective-taking, contextual understanding of systemic barriers, and macro self-other awareness/ perspective-taking \u2014 but that it was detrimental to two components, self-other awareness and affective mentalizing. Future studies are necessary to understand how aspects of a course curriculum can target and increase the seven components in individuals, as well as how these components relate to one another within the greater concept of empathy. Still, this research is important in the greater scheme of empathy as it seeks to understand and expand individuals' empathic levels in an increasingly bleak and desolate political climate.
ContributorsPirkl, Audrie Madison (Author) / Johnston, Erik W., 1977- (Thesis director) / Minrichs, Margaret (Committee member) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The first section of this thesis covers the welfare state and a brief history of private charity in the United States over the past century, both explaining and describing their growth and decline. The second section outlines the historical evolution of the Food Stamp Program since the John F. Kennedy presidency to SNAP under the Obama administration. The third and final section specifically discusses the current food assistance program called SNAP and the potential reforms that can be made to the governmental program as well as reforms made to encourage private charity.
ContributorsWitbeck, Boaz (Author) / Ackroyd, William (Thesis director) / Roberts, Nancy (Committee member) / McDowell, John (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05