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2024 Heights Yearbook
No full textContains images and information about Assumption College students, faculty, athletic teams, and other student clubs or activities
Why Didn\u27t the Republican Majority Repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017?
Get PDFThe provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were originally designed to be funded through an individual mandate. Thus, after the repeal of the mandate penalty in 2017, most supporters believed the entire ACA would collapse. However, despite a Republican Congressional majority, it has not. How come? While Republicans have generally opposed government involvement in healthcare, today’s Republican party has taken a populist turn. A study of American populism suggests that populism is compatible with government involvement in healthcare. America’s original right populist, the Nebraskan William Jennings Bryan, began a movement that produced electoral success as it moved north, even into Canada. These governments, most notably that of Saskatchewan, introduced single-payer healthcare. Bryan’s populism also spread southwest into Arizona, home of John McCain, who cast the deciding vote to save the ACA. Therefore, the Republican turn to populism helps to explain the modern Republican lack to repeal the benefits of the ACA
Modeling and Predicting Self-Organization in Dynamic Systems out of Thermodynamic Equilibrium: Part 1: Attractor, Mechanism, and Power Law Scaling
Get PDFSelf-organization in complex systems is a process associated with reduced internal entropy and the emergence of structures that may enable the system to function more effectively and robustly in its environment and in a more competitive way with other states of the system or with other systems. This phenomenon typically occurs in the presence of energy gradients, facilitating energy transfer and entropy production. As a dynamic process, self-organization is best studied using dynamic measures and principles. The principles of minimizing unit action, entropy, and information while maximizing their total values are proposed as some of the dynamic variational principles guiding self-organization. The least action principle (LAP) is the proposed driver for self-organization; however, it cannot operate in isolation; it requires the mechanism of feedback loops with the rest of the system’s characteristics to drive the process. Average action efficiency (AAE) is introduced as a potential quantitative measure of self-organization, reflecting the system’s efficiency as the ratio of events to total action per unit of time. Positive feedback loops link AAE to other system characteristics, potentially explaining power–law relationships, quantity–AAE transitions, and exponential growth patterns observed in complex systems. To explore this framework, we apply it to agent-based simulations of ants navigating between two locations on a 2D grid. The principles align with observed self-organization dynamics, and the results and comparisons with real-world data appear to support the model. By analyzing AAE, this study seeks to address fundamental questions about the nature of self-organization and system organization, such as “Why and how do complex systems self-organize? What is organization and how organized is a system?”. We present AAE for the discussed simulation and whenever no external forces act on the system. Given so many specific cases in nature, the method will need to be adapted to reflect their specific interactions. These findings suggest that the proposed models offer a useful perspective for understanding and potentially improving the design of complex systems
The Integrity of Women: The Anthropological Vision of \u3cem\u3eHumanae vitae\u3c/em\u3e
Get PDFThe Catholic Church has expressed its opposition to contraception from the beginning. Use of the Pill is not coincident with the Church’s vision of the human person, and I will explore the anthropological grounds upon which the Church informs her stance. Modernity has a different anthropology than that of the Church; I seek to unearth and understand the difference between these two views by synthesizing the philosophy and theology behind Humanae vitae, taking its predictions seriously, and analyzing how they have come to fruition in the modern world. My focus is on man’s attempt to overcome his own limits and transcend the boundaries of his body by examining how medical advancements and technology have magnified this issue. I will make a case in favor of fertility awareness methods of family planning and health monitoring purposes as a better alternative to preventing pregnancy that respects the female body
Social and Emotional Learning in the High School Classroom
Get PDFThe focus of my project was to answer the following question: How can social-emotional learning strategies be implemented for all students at the high school level to assist students in developing social-emotional competencies? To answer this question, I used two main sources of information: (1) a review of literature that is relevant to this topic, and (2) interviews with high school teachers who interact directly with students daily. The end goal of this project was to create a resource for teachers using information collected from both sources to make SEL accessible to students in the high school classroom
The Use of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Ligament and Tendon Repair
Get PDFThe studies in this review have shown that VEGF increases tensile strength, decreases inflammation, and increases vascularization. In studies using exogenous VEGF, it was found that VEGF increases collagen type III fibers, which increases biomechanical strength, and improves graft revascularization. From the research, it can be concluded that endogenous injection of VEGF is more beneficial than exogenous due to endogenous not causing laxity of the connective tissue. VEGF is beneficial when compared to normal post-operative results due to it decreasing the duration of symptoms and decreasing healing time. Using VEGF injection treatments, patients can return to pre-injury activity at a higher rate than those not using VEGF treatment. Together, these studies show that the use of VEGF in tendon and ligament healing should be further utilized in future therapies
Clearing Up Counterfactuals: The Decades-Long Historiographical Debate
Get PDFDo some historians truly know what is best when staying away from counterfactuals, or are other historians right in using them with confidence? I will be uncovering the origin of this disagreement, exploring both sides of the debate, and explaining historians’ approaches and attitudes toward counterfactuals in order to reveal the pitfalls and potentials of the technique
Academic Cheating and Stressors at the University Level
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine why academic cheating occurs. Prior studies have investigated students’ reasons for their academic cheating, and this study aimed to further this research by trying to determine variables that might influence the behavior. A total of 56 Assumption University undergraduate students participated. Self-report measures included the Survey on Academic Dishonesty (SAD) (McCabe & Trevino, 1997), the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al., 1983), and a measure of self-control (Tangney et al., 2004). In addition, a novel probability discounting task was created as a second measure of academic cheating. This task assessed participants’ likelihood of cheating across various probabilities of getting caught, in both a classroom and an online setting. The results showed a significant positive correlation between academic cheating and stress and a significant negative correlation between stress and self-control. There was also a significant correlation between the classroom probability discounting task and academic dishonesty, self-control, and the online probability discounting task. These results suggest that stress is an important factor in academic dishonesty. The data also support use of the novel probability discounting task as a measure of academic cheating in university settings
Telling a Story Through Posters: A Comparison of Nazi and Soviet Propaganda Posters during World War II
Get PDFThe time around World War II saw an increase of countries using propaganda to spread their message, the result of which can be seen even today with modern advertising. During the war these countries had to convince their populations to support their militaries in both victories and defeats. Despite the differences between the fascism in Nazi Germany and the communism in the Soviet Union, many of these propaganda posters have some overarching similarities that can be connected. Some of which can be seen in their depictions of the enemy and with their call back to nationalism. To gain a better understanding of the importance of propaganda usage during World War II, this thesis will be discussing the said similarities and differences in propaganda posters from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union
A Content Analysis Examining the NFL\u27s Social Media Communications in a Global Market
Get PDFTo better connect with the potential fan base in the United Kingdom, the NFL created another Instagram account, separate from their main “NFL” account, with the username “NFLUK”. In this thesis, I conducted a content analysis comparing a selection of posts made during the 2021 NFL season for each account, “NFL” and “NFLUK” to examine how the NFL modified their posts and communication for their new target audience. The posts were examined through the perspective of two different communication theories: The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion and the Adaptation versus Standardization Model of International Marketing. The goal was to determine if the UK social media posts used more peripheral cues than the US posts, and that the U.K., given its cultural differences with the U.S., used more calmer tones and less excitement than the US posts. It was found that that the UK account did use more peripheral cues and that some of the posts were adapted to meet the standards of the UK market