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A conceptual model for event development through sport
No full textThe Redbird Rumble is a dynamic and engaging sport administration event concept
designed to serve as a hands-on learning experience and fundraising initiative for students in the
Ball State University Sport Administration Program. Centered around the growing popularity of
pickleball, this tournament provides undergraduate and graduate students with a practical
opportunity to apply sport event planning, marketing, sponsorship, operations, and community
engagement skills in a real-world setting.
Designed with scalability and accessibility in mind, the Redbird Rumble offers a multidivision
tournament structure accommodating players of varying skill levels, including students,
faculty, alumni, and local community members. The event promotes inclusivity, healthy
competition, and campus-community connections, while providing a meaningful platform for
students to take ownership of event planning responsibilities from start to finish.
Key components of the Redbird Rumble include: Event Planning & Logistics - students
lead venue selection, scheduling, equipment coordination, and risk management planning;
Marketing & Promotions - promotional strategies include digital campaigns, campus media, and
community outreach to drive participation and visibility; Sponsorship & Fundraising - students
solicit local business sponsorships and explore creative fundraising avenues to support academic
programs, scholarships, or nonprofit causes; Volunteer & Staff Management - students recruit,
train, and manage volunteers and event-day staff, cultivating leadership and communication
skills; and Evaluation & Reflection - post-event assessments measure outcomes, identify areas
for improvement, and encourage reflective learning.
As a student-centered initiative, the Redbird Rumble aligns with academic goals while
enhancing experiential learning, career readiness, and university visibility. It serves not only as a
capstone-style project but also as a potential annual tradition that strengthens program identity
and alumni engagement.M. A
emBODYed
No full textemBODYed explores the physical and mental impressions of how emotions are stored within the body. Drawing from influences such as Mark Rothko, Henri Matisse, and the Expressionist movement, this body of work is informed equally by personal experience and academic research. Color, texture, and form are used to show how complex feelings can be seen and felt. My approach is grounded in somatic research, specifically Nummenmaa’s “Bodily Maps of Emotions,” which shows how different emotions are associated with different parts of the body. Each piece in the collection aims to nurture a greater awareness of the ways we carry, suppress, or express our emotions, challenging black and white thinking about how feelings work, and encouraging deeper reflection. emBODYed is a way of intersecting art and psychology to express what words sometimes fail to do.B. A.School of Ar
Save as: an interactive web tool for games media
No full textIt has become unstable to work or publish mainstream games journalism. Most traditional games journalists maintain that lack of time and heavy focus on content optimized for search engines, such as guides or walkthroughs, are daily challenges to their editorial process (“Passion Under Pressure: 2024 Game Journalist Survey,” 2024). Furthermore, secure employment is a vanishing dream in the industry, with many in games media forced to either work precarious casual or freelance jobs for established companies or risk it all and attempt to strike out as an independent creator (Stanton & Johnson, 2024). Currently, there are a few online solutions for signal boosting emerging examples focused on games writing and critique (Antra, 2024; Lawrence, 2021). However, there is no central source of curated outlets that include multimedia such as YouTube channels or podcasts sources that cater to a single user's preferences. Through an applied research process involving a competitive analysis, user surveys, and semi-structured interviews, data was sourced for a prototype. Through several rounds of iterative design, I fashioned a prototype to bring independent sources closer to potential audiences through a scalable and interactive web tool.M. A
Blending naratives: exploring design strategies that reflect the evolving role of buildings in contemporary landscapes
No full textWhen buildings are first constructed, they have an intended purpose for which
they are designed. Over time, however, needs change and the building must
evolve to serve a new purpose. This cycle repeats itself until the building
reaches the end of its life. With each new purpose, a dialogue is built between
the old and the new, weaving a palimpsest of the building’s story. As the building
changes, physical traces are left behind of its former uses, creating a unique
blend of history and contemporary design.
Blending Narratives focuses on exploring how a building’s story, the dialogue
between a series of old uses and a new condition, can be the focus of a
design agenda. This project uses Madison State Hospital and Madison
Women’s Correctional Facility to examine how the building’s past narrative
can interact with present use and future narratives to create a cohesive design
experience. This building originally served to treat people considered insane,
later transforming into a correctional institution that confined people for similar
reasons. In contrast, this design aims to support an agenda of rehabilitation
by providing spaces for support and healing, intentionally creating a counternarrative
to a domineering past.Thesis (B. Arch.)College of Architecture and Plannin
Sustain the ability
No full textArchitecture has existed before humans and will continue to exist after they are
gone. The future of architecture lies in living machines which perpetually add to
their numbers. Each living machine is made up of varying amounts of individual
units which perform their own separate functions. When connected, however,
they together comprise the living machine(s) that will create ever-changing
spatial conditions and forms in their surrounding contexts. These too will change
as the living machines move across the Earth, fulfilling their ultimate goal to
sustain their existence and produce more living machines in a new altering
architectural landscape.Thesis (B. Arch.)College of Architecture and Plannin
Transgender veterans' experiences with culture and care: a qualitative study
No full textThis study utilizes a phenomenological framework to better understand the experiences of
transgender veterans with military culture and VA healthcare. Geertz’s (1973) definitions of
culture and social systems was utilized to identify aspects of military culture. Additionally, the
minority stress model (Meyer, 2015) is used to understand how gender-related stressors influence
perceptions on military culture and accessing VA healthcare services. After completion of semistructured
interviews with eight transgender veterans across the country, five clusters and 27
themes were identified through the coding process. Implications for practice, limitations, and
implications for future research are discussed within.Ph. D
Proposition for understanding the seroprevalence of hantavirus in wild mouse populations through anitbody testing and species genotype identification in Eastern Indiana
No full textThe presence of epizootic viruses has become a priority for wildlife management and public health especially due to human development increasing interactions with wildlife. Understanding and monitoring hantaviruses is important due to the current 37% mortality rate among humans. Hantaviruses are quickly becoming an issue throughout Midwestern United States. The main reservoir for the spread of the virus are wild mice (Peromyscus sp.) through the aerosolization of their saliva or excreta. Sin Nombre virus, a type of hantavirus, has been documented on the western side of the state of Indiana since 1994, but it is unclear if the presence is statewide or localized. Determining the presence of hantaviruses on the eastern side of the state will give a better understanding of where the viruses can be found. The presence of the viruses may have implications in changing protocols for how biologists interact with wild mice and may change how the public approaches areas that have large populations of wild mice on the urban landscape. When determining the presence of hantaviruses, blood and tissue samples should be collected from captured individuals to test antibodies for hantaviruses via ELISA and to genetically identify Peromyscus to their species via PCR, due to prior studies showing that P. maniculatus has higher hantavirus prevalence rates than P. leucopus.M. A
The relationship between resting arterial stiffness and autonomic nervous system recovery from maximal exertion
No full textPURPOSE: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the leading cause of on-duty death among firefighters. It is theorized that an inability of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) to recover following maximal exertion, such as a fire-suppression task, contributes to the elevated risk of SCD within the firefighter population. Accordingly, methods of assessing the relative state of the ANS (i.e. pulse wave velocity and heart rate variability) may provide insight into ANS dysfunction following maximal exertion. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to (a) examine the relationship between carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and ANS recovery, as measured via heart rate variability (HRV), following maximal exertion and (b) identify if body composition and/or aerobic capacity influence the potential relationship between cfPWV and recovery of HRV post-maximal exertion. We hypothesized that arterial stiffness (cfPWV) will be inversely associated with HRV at rest and throughout recovery following a maximal exercise test. Additionally, it is theorized that controlling for body composition and aerobic capacity independently will weaken the relationship between resting PWV and HRV recovery following a maximal exercise test.
METHODS: Twelve (n = 12) apparently healthy firefighters (age 37.3 + 5.2 years, 10 male 2 female) were fitted with Zephyr Bioharness (Medtronic, Annapolis, MD) hear rate (HR) monitor and completed a 10-minute seated rest. Participants’ body fat percentages (%BF) were assessed using skinfolds prior to lying supine for five minutes before carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV, SphygmoCor Xcel, ACor Medical) was assessed. Participants then completed a maximal treadmill test with gas exchange measures (COSMED K5, Rome, Italy) followed by a 10-minute seated recovery. R-to-R interval data was analyzed using a heart rate variability (HRV) software (Kubios Oy, Kuopio, Finland) during the middle five minutes of the rest period (REST) and for 30-second epochs immediately (REC-30SEC) and 10-minutes (REC-10MIN) post-exercise. The square root of the mean sum of the differences (RMSSD) between the R-to-R intervals was calculated and natural log transformation of the RMSSD was performed (lnRMSSD). A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) examined for differences in HRV over TIME. If a significant HRV x TIME interaction effect was identified, separate paired t-tests were conducted to examine for significant simple effects. Bivariate Pearson correlations (r) examined for all possible relationships between PWV, BF%, VO2PEAK, HRVREST, HRVREC-30SEC, and HRVREC-10MIN. If any significant relationships were identified between PWV and BF% or VO2PEAK, follow-up partial correlations (rp) were utilized to examine those relationships while controlling for the significant health and/or fitness variable. RESULTS: Post-hoc contrasts demonstrated that HRVREST was significantly greater than HRVREC-30SEC (t = 4.549, p < 0.001) and HRVREC-10MIN (t = 6.958, p<.001), but HRVREC-30SEC and HRVREC-10MIN were non-significantly different (t = -0.532, p = 0.606). A significant, negative correlation was identified between PWV and HRVREST (r = -0.697, p = 0.012). Additionally, PWV demonstrated a non-significant, moderate correlation (r = 0.333, p = 0.290) with HRVREC-30SEC and a non-significant, negative correlation (r = -0.225, p = 0.482) with HRVREC-10MIN. No significant relationships were identified between BF% and VO2PEAK and PWV or any of the HRV metrics. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with previous research, HRV was suppressed following maximal exercise compared to rest and remained suppressed across a 10-minute recovery. Further, resting arterial stiffness was significantly negatively associated with HRV at rest, yet non-significantly associated with HRV 30-seconds post-exercise and HRV 10-minutes post-exercise. This study represents a novel examination of the relationship between cfPWV and HRV from rest through recovery from maximal exercise in the fire service, and demonstrates novel, though non-significant, directional findings between cfPWV and HRV recovery following maximal exercise. This examination indicates that arterial stiffness and HRV are associated, and firefighters with higher arterial stiffness may exhibit an exaggerated PNS response at 30-seconds post-maximal exercise and inability of the SNS to withdraw at 10-minutes post-maximal exercise. Arterial stiffness in firefighters may be related to expected HRV recovery patterns post-maximal exertion, such as that following fire suppression emergencies on-duty.M. S
Beyond the human pen: a comparative study of AI and human-created film narratives
No full textArtificial intelligence continues to grow and change the film industry landscape with its application in scriptwriting and visual effects. This raises the question about the future of creativity and how AI will impact that further. This project aims to explore these dynamics through a comparative experiment involving two short films: one written by a human and the other AI-generated. The AI will be fed a loose breakdown of the human-written script, allowing it to create its version of the same narrative. Both films will be produced with identical casts, crews, locations, and production methods, allowing for a reflection after its conclusion. While self-reflecting about the differing processes, I valued the human-written script for its depth, clarity, and I found it to be relatable. In terms of the AI written script, I felt that what was created was surface-level and lacked human depth. Though at first glance, there appeared to be more detail, the proceeding plot felt more obvious and faintly familiar to many stories I’ve seen before. These findings show AI's unique contributions and limitations in film storytelling, alluding that AI’s role may best serve as a tool to help in humans' creative process. The films are available as Supplementary files named Film A and Film B. The scripts are available as Supplementary files named Bar Nite (Human-written Script) and A.I. Script (full version).M. A
If not with greater success
No full textAs culture has progressed with the movement of time, the understanding of what
constitutes pictorial art has evolved as well. At the same time, there has been a great change in
the societal understanding of what is considered an individual’s sense or concept of self. In this
thesis I investigate the link between the artist’s self, process, and resulting imagery across three
four-foot by seven-foot stretched canvases. This paper will elucidate on this investigation via
discussion of influences, significance, process and future goals.B.F.A.School of Ar