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No full texthttps://digitalcommons.colby.edu/vl_published/1033/thumbnail.jp
Imagination in modern art: random notes on Whistler, Sargent and Besnard
No full texthttps://digitalcommons.colby.edu/vl_published/1011/thumbnail.jp
The Eternal Poetry Festival (61 minutes)
No full textAudio recording of collaborative spoken poetry by Bern Porter and Mark Melnicove. Date unknown (ca. 1980s-1990s).https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/porter_misc/1001/thumbnail.jp
Bern Porter Interviewed by Abby Shahn
No full textDigitized from audio cassette. Date of recording unknown. ×https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/porter_misc/1009/thumbnail.jp
Assessing Factors that Impact AI Response Trustworthiness
No full textBackground: Previous research into generative AI systems reveals widespread optimism in usefulness, despite high levels of distrust in the outputted con- tent. These findings are consistent across disciplines and motivate the search for ways to improve known points of distrust, such as explainability.
Objective: We aim to assess the impact of stylistic factors in the perceived trustworthiness of AI-generated responses. By specifically instructing the model to include or exclude a combination of references and writing style, we isolate the effects of these components in participant feedback.
Method: We conduct an eye tracking experiment with a series of controlled AI responses. Feedback is gathered via a trustworthiness, accuracy, and bias index after each stimulus is presented. This combination of data will be used to ascertain the individual weight each component of an answer has through eye tracking and data analysis.
Results: We found clear differences in perceived values of trustworthiness and bias between the reference and style groups. Participants found gener- ated responses with citations to be significantly more trustworthy and less biased. Professional style resulted in higher bias and higher trustworthiness, but not significantly so. Neither accuracy nor eye tracking metrics showed clear differences across groups
Off the Grid: Rural Identity, Environmentalism, and Renewable Energy Policy in Rural New England
No full textThis thesis investigates how rural identity, environmental values, and place-based resentment interact to shape support for land use regulation in rural New England. Despite their vulnerability to climate change, rural communities often resist renewable energy development—a pattern commonly attributed to economic concerns or NIMBYism. Using an original survey of over 1,400 New England residents, this study tests six hypotheses through multivariate regression and subgroup analysis. Findings confirm that environmental identity is a strong predictor of support for land use regulation; however, this effect diminishes significantly among rural respondents. Place identity alone is associated with greater policy support, but when combined with high levels of resentment, it predicts opposition, suggesting that attachment to place can become exclusionary. Rural identity itself emerges as a uniquely powerful force: even among high-environmentalism respondents, those identifying as rural residents consistently show lower support for regulation. Resentment toward perceived neglect or cultural displacement also consistently predicts lower support for regulation, particularly when paired with strong place attachment. These results demonstrate that opposition is not simply contextual or economic, but deeply symbolic—rooted in identity, belonging, and a desire for local autonomy. This study contributes to theories of political behavior and rural consciousness by showing how environmental policy is filtered through cultural meaning and community self-perception
Exploring the Role of optix Expression in Vanessa cardui through in situ HCR and qPCR and the Creation of a Developmental Atlas of Larval V. cardui Caterpillars
No full textoptix expression during the larval stages of a caterpillar’s life cycle has been unexplored, as findings of optix are limited to pupal and adult stage caterpillars. optix has a high conserved activator of wing color in the Nymphalidae family. Determining where and when optix is expressed will aid in establishing a comprehensive understanding of wing development and patterning. This thesis aims to observe the physical developments of these caterpillars from hatching until pupation and study optix expression in larval stage V. cardui caterpillars. The developmental atlas of V. cardui caterpillars throughout their larval stage was curated via the daily weights, lengths, molts, and physical descriptions of a sample cohort of ten caterpillars across ten days. A distinct relationship between a caterpillar’s length and molt is observed and identified. optix expression throughout the larval stage was studied using in situ Hybridization Chain Reaction (HCR) on third, fourth, and fifth instar imaginal wing discs to visualize spatially the location and presence of optix expression on larval wing discs. This technique indicated that there is optix expression in all three of these instars and spatially its location changed throughout the instars, therefore supporting the hypothesis that optix is expressed in the larval stages of V. cardui caterpillars. The presence of optix expression in fourth and fifth instar imaginal wing discs was confirmed by qPCR. spalt and decapentaplegic (dpp) were also examined since they are known to play a role in the activation and suppression of optix. in situ HCR showed that dpp overlapped with regions of optix and spalt expression while spalt expression location changed throughout the instars. qPCR results indicate the presence of both genes in fourth and fifth instar imaginal wing discs. The presence of optix at early larval stages and its location towards the distal margin of the wing disc suggests that this gene is important for pigmentation pattern and possibly wing development