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Breaking Point: Examining Secondary Traumatic Stress, Toxic Leadership, Coping Mechanisms, and Well-Being in Non-Uniformed Federal Law Enforcement Personnel
Get PDFThis quantitative correlational study examined the extent to which secondary traumatic stress and toxic leadership were experienced and these variables’ relationships with well-being among non-uniformed federal employees in law enforcement organizations. The research aimed to identify coping strategies beneficial to employee well-being. A sample of 73 federal employees from a U.S. government law enforcement organization was recruited using purposive sampling, excluding uniformed personnel. Measurement instruments included the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, Toxic Leadership Scale, Brief COPE, and World Health Organization 5-Item Well-being Index. Statistical analyses using SPSS version 29 revealed a significant, moderate negative correlation between secondary traumatic stress and well-being (r = -.677, p \u3c .001), accounting for 45.8% of the variance. The mean secondary traumatic stress score of 36.86 (SD = 12.70) was not significantly different from the clinical cutoff score of 38. Toxic Leadership demonstrated a weak negative correlation with well-being (r = -.494, p \u3c .001), explaining 24.4% of the variance. The mean toxic leadership score of 2.36 (SD = 1.27) was significantly lower than the known test value of 4, indicating that twenty-five percent of the sample had experienced exposure to toxic leadership in their workplaces. Coping strategy analysis identified significant negative correlations between maladaptive emotion-focused coping and well-being r(72) = -.434, p \u3c .001, and avoidant coping and well-being r(72) = -.465, p \u3c .001; and non-significant correlations between problem-focused coping and well-being rs(72) = .082, p = .245, and adaptive emotion-focused coping and well-being rs(72) = .118, p = .161. Religious coping showed a non-significant positive trend toward well-being. The findings highlighted complex adaptation in high-stress law enforcement environments, emphasizing the need for targeted organizational interventions and support systems. This study contributed new knowledge to understanding workplace stress, coping strategies, and well-being among federal employees in federal law enforcement organizations
Balthazar, the Good Dragon
Get PDFDragons have long been portrayed as symbols of greed and destruction in mythology and literature, reinforcing the idea that they represent evil. However, this sculpture challenges that perception by drawing inspiration from children\u27s literature such as Wings of Fire, The Fire Within, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Eragon, How to Train Your Dragon, and Pete’s Dragon. In these stories, dragons are often misunderstood, and feared due to human prejudice rather than their true nature
Painted Sky Jewelry
Get PDFI was inspired to create a Native American jewelry set because of my great-grandmother, who was Native American. I created a necklace and ring set with my newfound skills that I developed at Liberty University. Please see Research notes for more information
Digital Asset Regulation: Cryptocurrency Smart Contracts and Securities Law
Get PDFThe Securities and Exchange Commission has a long history of regulating interstate transactions. However, the meteoric rise of digital exchanges has presented the governmental organization with significant regulatory challenges. The SEC currently lacks an effective protocol for regulating commerce on digital exchanges. Notably, legislation classifying cryptocurrency as a security does not exist. This research project will first conduct a literature review of the current Supreme Court jurisprudence. Beginning with the review of SEC v. Howey (1946). This case is a seminal piece of precedent and is still used to determine the classification of assets. This landmark case involved the sale of orange grove units and a dispute about whether or not the sale constituted an “investment contract.” Upon examining the facts of the case, the Supreme Court determined that the sale of orange grove units did constitute an investment contract. The Court created a test to determine whether or not an asset is sold as an investment contract. First, there must be a payment of currency from one party to another. Second, the exchange must occur in a common enterprise. Finally, there must be an expectation of future profits for an investment contract to exist. This note will examine the factors of the Howey test, created by the Supreme Court, and apply the test to cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, this presentation will review recent judicial precedents about the XRP ledger. The New York Senate is currently considering legislation that will aid in limiting securities fraud. This legislation is effective because it defines different types of cryptocurrency fraud, including rug pulls. Thus, this presentation formally recommends adopting the New York statute’s definition of rug pull, securities token, and developer
Psalms-CCLI Comparison via Natural Language Processing
Get PDFBackground: The Psalms is a body of worship given to us by God, so comparing the Psalms to the CCLI top 100 will reveal differences between Psalms and how we worship nowadays. We hypothesize that the Psalms, as a divinely inspired collection, show greater lexical diversity, emotional depth, and complexity in worship compared to the more streamlined expressions in CCLI music. Methods: We focused on the texts’ linguistic and theological characteristics. We leveraged Stanford’s CoreNLP AI to process 150 Psalms and the CCLI Top 100 songs across six analytical dimensions: Lexical Analysis, Sentiment Analysis, Named Entity Recognition (NER), Parts-of-Speech (POS) Tagging, Repetitiveness (N-grams), and Coreference Resolution. All texts were lemmatized and cleansed of unwanted words. Metrics such as word count, type-token ratio (TTR), word frequency distributions, sentiment word clouds, dependency distance, and entity mentions were computed to enable a systematic comparison. Results: Although the Psalms contain over three times the words of the songs, they show higher lexical diversity and more frequent references to God. The Psalms express a wider range of sentiments—including lament, fear, and anger—while the songs lean toward personal, positive themes. Additionally, the Psalms offer a richer array of historical and geographical references, more complex syntax, and a formal depiction of God, as evidenced by n-gram and coreference analyses. Conclusions: The Psalms demonstrate a richer, more theologically varied mode of worship, while CCLI songs reflect a contemporary shift toward relational and simplified expressions. This research highlights significant linguistic and theological changes in worship across time
Finding Groundwater with Electricity: Research and Testing of an Electro-Resistive Ground-Surveying Device for Use in Well-Drilling Applications
Get PDFA custom-built electro-resistive water detection device is tested under various conditions to evaluate its overall performance and sensitivity to changing variables. The tests, designed to assess accuracy and precision, revealed that the prototype exhibits high reliability (~ 99%) for both Schlumberger and Wenner arrays across different electrode spacings and soil conditions. Moreover, the measured resistivity values from the soil tests aligned with established literature ranges for each soil type. The device also showed the ability to consistently detect changes in soil water content by producing measurable variations in resistivity. At a total cost of $181, this prototype can serve as a dependable and cost-effective electro-resistive field surveying device for well-drilling applications
Research Week 2025 Awards Ceremony Video
No full textThe 2025 Research Week Awards ceremony was held April 30, 2025 at 10:30 AM in the Jerry Falwell Library
Corporate Chicanery: Invalidating Corporate Bylaws That Create “Litigation Bridges to Nowhere”
Get PDFIn 2022 and 2023, two cases were litigated in the Seventh and Ninth Circuits, respectively. Each of those cases involved a corporate bylaw providing that a Delaware state court was the exclusive forum for derivative actions. Each case also included a claim that the corporation’s board of directors had made false or misleading proxy statements in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 78n. The Exchange Act, which provides for these proxy solicitation claims, states that federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over claims brought under the Act. Thus, if these forum selection bylaws were used as a basis for dismissal, the plaintiff would be unable to bring a derivative action alleging that a board of directors made false or misleading statements in proxy solicitation materials. This is because federal courts would refuse to hear the action based on the forum selection bylaw, and Delaware state courts would refuse to hear the action because of the federal courts’ exclusive jurisdiction over such actions.
The Ninth Circuit held that this was an acceptable outcome, and that the bylaw was valid and enforceable. Meanwhile, the Seventh Circuit held that the bylaw was invalid and that a federal court was an appropriate forum, despite the existence of the bylaw. If the Ninth Circuit’s view is correct, then these types of forum selection clauses will essentially become a complete bar to derivative actions based on the Exchange Act.
This Comment seeks to resolve the validity and enforceability of these types of corporate bylaws once and for all. Neither the Ninth nor the Seventh Circuit was wholly correct in its application of relevant law. The question of such a bylaw’s validity and enforceability turns on three issues: (1) whether the Exchange Act’s anti-waiver provision voids the bylaw; (2) whether the bylaw is authorized under Delaware General Corporation Law; and (3) if there is an unreasonableness exception that renders such a bylaw unenforceable.
In answering these questions, this Comment will show that these types of provisions in corporate bylaws are voided by the Exchange Act’s anti-waiver provision and are not authorized by Delaware General Corporation Law Sections 109(b) or 115. Further, while these provisions are rendered invalid by federal and Delaware law, there is no unreasonableness exception that would render these types of bylaws unenforceable. Therefore, corporations are unable to create a “litigation bridge[] to nowhere” for Exchange Act claims, and shareholders should be free to bring these claims in federal court without having them dismissed on the grounds of forum non conveniens
Read the Sign: The Equal Protection Clause Does Not Require Gender-Affirming Bathroom Access in Schools
Get PDFFor thousands of years, bathrooms have been separated by sex—male and female. In fact, for most of human history, there has been a universal understanding that only male and female sexes existed. It was not until the twentieth century that the notion that there could be more than two sexes was popularized and the term “transgender” was introduced to society. By the mid-2010s, the idea that bathrooms should be separated by male and female began to receive opposition. As explored throughout this Comment, children identifying as transgender have filed lawsuits against school boards that did not permit children to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity—what has become known as “gender-affirming bathroom access.” These children claim that school board policies denying gender-affirming bathroom access violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This issue has quickly turned into a circuit split and is one of the most hotly contested issues in America.
But why is the issue of gender-affirming bathroom access so contentious? The answer is simple—but not easy: this issue is divided along irreconcilable differences of worldview. There is one side of the issue that says people may be a different gender than the one corresponding to their biological sex. In turn, because the person is a different gender than the one that aligns with his or her biological sex, that individual should be able to use the bathroom that conforms with the person’s gender identity. On the flip side, there is the group of people who believe that one cannot change his or her gender, and whichever sex the person is born with is permanent. This group of people maintains the belief that everyone should use the bathroom that conforms to his or her biological sex. Most people in this latter group believe that there are only two genders because God created only male and female, His creation is inerrant, and every person is made in God’s image.
Because the author believes that God does not make any mistakes and that there are only two genders, this Comment will detail why the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not require genderaffirming bathroom access. This Comment then proposes two solutions for school board policies to enact that would align with both a biblical worldview and the Constitution of the United States. Ultimately, this Comment focuses on the value of all children, including those who identify as transgender. Every single man, woman, and child is fearfully and wonderfully made. Everyone is made in the image of God. The gender-affirming bathroom access issue is important, but being right is not more important than the soul of a fellow human being
A Written Dissertation of a History of the Ethnic Identity of the Irish Child Laborers in Saint Louis, Missouri: 1890-1930
Get PDFThe study of child labor helps us better understand the connection between labor, ethnicity, and crime within America. Throughout this dissertation, there will be a closer look into the influence that child labor has had on the growth of this nation. It also grants a look into the design of society within Progressive America and gives a voice to the story of the child laborer and his experiences. Currently, there is an ever-changing debate on the role child labor played within American history, specifically between the years 1910-1930. This period of years is critical as it signals when reform programs took place, and what effect that these reforms had on child labor by 1930. Child labor is an easily overlooked subject within history, one which has not been given a thorough enough inspection.
Throughout this research study, the Irish children is discussed in greater detail because they were one of the main groups of child laborers in Saint Louis that had criminal cases against them, throughout the history of the juvenile courts. The children who worked on the streets, and this directly led them to a life of criminal behavior. This study aims to balance the three approaches of study on the ethnic, environmental, and social aspects of these children’s lives. The study on ethnicity is based in the children’s Irish culture and ethnicity. The focus here will be their identity as Irish people living in America during the Progressive era and up until the early 1930s. Environment, as a term, signifies the physical environment that the Irish children grew up in. This physical environment encompasses Saint Louis, and the Irish neighborhoods in Saint Louis, known as the Kerry Patch and Dogtown. Social aspects describe the concept of the child’s involvement with gangs, their educational resources, the reformers, and the institutions that stepped in for the child’s wellbeing. These three themes will be balanced throughout this dissertation, and each serves a critical part to better detailing the Irish child’s experience during the reform period in America