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A Cultural Analysis of Twenty One Pilots
Get PDFTwenty One Pilots, a popular band in the United States, has become a subject of intrigue in popular culture, since it challenges lyrical and musical themes through genre variation and themes of internal complexities requiring intricate listening among consumers.Through close analysis of photos, songs, music videos, and media interviews, this three-part paper and website project sought to uncover messages the band has promoted and perhaps, unintentionally advertised to its listeners. Semiotic analysis showed that the band positions itself as unusual by placing popular symbols within alternative symbol systems. Discourse analysis of the band’s song “Neon Gravestones” showed that the band explores suicide and depression openly yet cautiously, in contrast with the misrepresentation or absence of discussion of these issues in other mainstream media. Identity deconstruction, using an intersectional approach, revealed that despite Twenty One Pilots’ calls for inclusivity, they have incorrectly generalized their audience and glossed over their own positionality, and thus, contradicted their stated messages. The band would do well to acknowledge the social inequalities that exist based upon identities like class and race, and listeners would benefit from awareness about the silences within Twenty One Pilots’ music
The Urban/Rural Divide
Get PDFThe past several decades have revealed a dividing trend between the voting behavior of urban and rural areas within and among states. This project seeks to identify and explain factors that are causing urban areas to affiliate with the Democratic party and rural areas to affiliate with the Republican party. This trend of division, based on geography, has significant implications for the U.S. electoral system as it will greatly impact how, when, and where candidates campaign as well as the outcomes of elections. Such division amongst cities, towns, and even neighborhoods is creating communities isolated from the lifestyles, concerns, and ideologies of those in different communities. The greater implication of this is a highly polarized and incompatible electorate. From this research design, it is expected that higher levels of globalization in urban areas create a disconnect between urban and rural constituents due to a sharp contrast in lifestyles. Urban constituents are expected to be more involved at the global level and rural constituents more involved in traditional democratic activities that promote their sense of nationalism. In addition, social pressure created by cultural trend setters in urban areas is expected to facilitate the division of party affiliation between areas and decrease variability within areas
The Effect of a Changing Marriage Age on Marriage Continuity
Get PDFMarriage stability has a wide range of determinants, such as education, marital history, and demographic characteristics. Age at marriage, however, has repeatedly been cited as one of the most important influences. Since the 1950s, divorce rates and the mean age at marriage for both men and women have seen a great deal of change. Past studies suggest that an early age at marriage is associated with a higher risk of divorce. Studies also propose that this relationship only holds up to a certain point. Changes to marriage age and divorce rates can have unforeseen interactions with cohabitation, fertility, educational attainment, and labor force participation. This research examines the significance of the relationship between the changing age at marriage and the changing rates of divorce. The data come from the American Community Survey from 2008 to 2017. A multivariate regression approach is implemented to estimate the probability of divorce within the past year for a given age at marriage. The analysis concludes that age at marriage does have a statistically significant effect on the probability of divorce. Older age at marriage is associated with an increase in the probability that an individual was divorced within the past year
Voting Behavior in the U.S. House of Representatives: What Factors Influence How Elected Officials Vote?
Get PDFWhat is the relationship between demographic characteristics (age, number of terms or tenure in office, marital status, urban/rural residence, previous military service, education, etc.) and other factors, such as related economic activities of the state from which the representative comes, immigrant populations in their state, etc., of elected U.S. Congressional representatives and the voting decision a representative makes? With sampling from California, Wisconsin and Texas, we will assess why their members of the House of Representatives voted as they did on S. 1252: Global Food Security Act of 2016
Understanding the Impact of Chronic Low-Dose, Low Energy, Proton Radiation on Systemic Inflammation and Anxiety-Like Behaviors in Mice
Get PDFA major component of NASA’s 2018 strategic plan was to send astronauts to and beyond our lunar orbit within the next couple of decades. A risk to mission success is an astronauts’ exposure to galactic cosmic radiation (GCR), a mixture of chronic low dose, high energy, high charge ion particles (HZE). Previous high energy radiation proton studies show lasting inflammation in the eye in humans treated for uveal melanomas. In mice, HZE particles also showed deficits in cardiac physiology, brain electrophysiology, and memory. Of particular interest to long term mission success are low dose, low energy protons due to their high abundance in the space environment. Given the detrimental physiological and cognitive impact on humans and rodents after high energy proton studies and a lack of low energy proton studies on skin and inflammation, knowledge of how inflammation might respond to chronic low dose, low energy proton radiation is warranted. In our experiment, mice were put into a 50mL conical tube; half were irradiated using the Hope College Pelletron accelerator at a low dose (~2 mGy/wk) of protons. After 10 weeks, half the irradiated mice and half the non irradiated mice were euthanized for molecular studies. Levels of inflammatory cytokines like tumor necrosis factor, which are associated with increased depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia were assessed. The other half underwent behavioral tests that looked at stress behaviors. Therefore, the proposed study aimed to test the hypothesis that chronic low dose, low energy proton radiation negatively impacts mental health due to lasting systemic inflammation. Future directions are to examine HZE particles (e.g. Fe, Si, and C) at Brookhaven National Laboratories in Long Island, NY, to compare chronic low energy low dose particles and high energy low dose protons which will help future NASA missions to and beyond lunar orbit
The Anchor, Volume 132.17: February 20, 2019
Get PDFThe Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor\u27s history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). In recent years The Anchor moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. The Anchor is now published in print twice per academic semester. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular
Cross-linked Poly(4-vinylpyridine-N-oxide) as a Polymer-supported Oxygen Atom Transfer Reagent
Get PDFOxygen atom transfer (OAT) reagents are common in biological and industrial oxidation reactions. While many heterogeneous catalysts have been utilized in OAT reactions, heterogeneous OAT reagents have not been explored. Here, cross-linked poly(4-vinylpyridine-N-oxide), called x-PVP-N-oxide, was tested as a heterogeneous OAT reagent and its oxidation chemistry compared to its molecular counterpart, pyridine-N-oxide. The insoluble oxidant x-PVP-N-oxide demonstrated comparable reactivity to pyridine-N-oxide in direct oxidation reactions of phosphines and phosphites in acetonitrile, but x-PVP-N-oxide did not react in other solvents. The polymer backbone of x-PVP-N-oxide, however, allowed for easy filtering and recycling in sequential oxidation reactions. In addition, x-PVP-N-oxide was tested as the stoichiometric oxidant in a copper-catalyzed OAT reaction to α-diazo-benzeneacetic acid methyl ester. The heterogeneous oxidant was much less reactive than pyridine-N-oxide, indicating that interaction with the metal catalyst was challenging. These results demonstrated a proof-of-concept that recyclable, polymer-supported OAT reagents could be a viable OAT reagents in direct oxidation reactions without metal catalysts
Tuned Photomechanical Switching of Laterally Constrained Arches
Get PDFLaterally constrained arches driven between stable states by light, represent a unique space for compliant mechanism design. Exploiting mechanical multistability can overcome limitations of functional photomechanical actuators, which include limited repeatability, actuation speed, and positioning characteristics. Here, the addition of lateral constraints to an elastic bistable arch system is proposed as a method for toggling between bifurcated states by controlling the location of actinic irradiation. This approach expands the design space for photomechanical, mutistable structures and actuators. Arch behavior as a function of system parameters is simulated, including conditions leading to multistability. An experimental demonstration and exploration of a constrained photomechanical arch is also presented. It is expected that the concepts presented here could lead to innovations in areas such as energy harvesting, soft robotics, and multistable architected materials
Spera: 2019
Get PDFYearly publication that serves as a spotlight on faculty research and scholarly work .https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/spera/1001/thumbnail.jp
The Anchor, Volume 133.03: November 22, 2019
Get PDFThe Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor\u27s history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). In recent years The Anchor moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. The Anchor is now published in print twice per academic semester. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular