JBC Commons (New College of Florida)
Not a member yet
9773 research outputs found
Sort by
THE ART OF BEING HIDDEN
No full textThe Art of Being Hidden is the Thesis project of Rachel Roeder in pursuit of her dual major in Creative Writing and Humanities. The project is a collection of short stories written over the course of the last two years. The aim of this project is to show the potential of Rachel’s writing as well as show what they have learned during their time as a student at New College of Florida. The stories included here are not necessarily in their finished forms, however they reflect where Rachel’s work is at the end of her four years of study. There are a total of 5 works in this collection: Little Black Dress, a mother-daughter exploration of identity; Wealthy House Rules, a meditation on Florida’s elite; What Are You Doing Here?, an introspection of a complicated relationship with faith; Graven Images, a piece about finding God in strange places; and Overlooked, a fable-esque look into invisible disability. Though each follows different characters and plots, all of them share similar themes of isolation, otherness, and outside perception. Together, they are meant to offer a varied and thought-provoking look into what it means to be simultaneously seen and unseen
Otto von Bismarck: Foundation and Downfall of the German Empire
No full textIn this thesis I will present the achievements of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. However, I am also presenting the faults in Bismarck\u27s domestic and foreign policy. Through my research, I will display how the chancellor influenced German politics starting from his appointment to power in 1862 up until his removal from power in 1890. In the final section of this paper, I will analyze the legacy of Bismarck\u27s strategies and the impact those have on German leadership throughout the Wilhelmine period. Overall I am portraying how the tactics Otto von Bismarck used had allowed him to create Germany but had also caused the decline of the Empire
A STUDY OF THE FORECASTING POWER OF THE YIELD CURVE
No full textThis thesis is an investigation of the United States Treasury yield curve, focusing on its ability to predict economic growth in the 21st century. Academic studies done in the late 20th century brought the yield curve into the spotlight as one of the most accurate indicators of future economic growth available. It has been used as a tool by government and private sector actors to guide decision making since the publishing of those studies. However, it has exhibited odd behavior in recent years, inverting for record periods of time without producing the recession that was forecasted by the inversion. This behavior exhibited by the yield curve, along with fundamental changes in how institutions related to the yield curve act, have raised questions about its predictive powers. This study sets out to address the yield curve’s behavior over the last 20 years to determine if it has held its historical predictive abilities despite its recent behavior. The yield curve will be tested using a commonly cited interest rate spread, against a variety of key economic variables via Granger-Causality tests, to determine if it still deserves its place as a respected indicator leading the US economy in the 21st century
Beyond Box Scores: Statcast’s Impact on Predicting Pitcher Performance in Baseball
No full textPredicting the ERA of Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers remains a complex problem, with these evaluations holding significant financial and competitive implications for MLB organizations, if their decisions do not pan out. Traditional evaluation metrics often fail to isolate a pitcher’s underlying skill from the influence of luck, team defense, and other external variables that make this a noisy problem. This thesis explores whether the inclusion of newly tracked Statcast metrics and metrics derived from them can meaningfully improve predictions of next season Earned Run Average (ERA), surpassing what can be achieved through conventional box score statistics and run estimators alone. To address this question, the research employs an out-of-sample validation process, leveraging data from four distinct feature sets Box Score, Run Estimators, Raw Statcast, and Enhanced Statcast, which then applies a collection of machine learning models, including Linear Regression, Support Vector Regression (SVR), and XGBoost. The strongest results were obtained from a hybrid SVR model, which combines five critical features: sp-stuff, strikeouts at pitcher averages per 9 innings pitched (K-per-9), pitch-type diversity, Hard% (Hard hit percentage), and innings pitched per appearance (IPA). This approach yielded a test set R squared value of approximately 0.27, substantially exceeding the performance of any single-domain or traditional baseline model I observed within my own research. Overall, the results indicate that strategically combining select Statcast measurements, especially those reflecting the physical quality of pitches and their ability to control contact, with established measures of strikeout proficiency and pitcher workload leads to a significant improvement in forecasting ERA. By uniting these modern and traditional elements, the study presents a more sophisticated picture of pitcher ability, demonstrating that a blended analytical approach can more effectively capture the underlying dynamics of pitcher performance
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: GENETIC AND SOCIO DEMOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES -A LITERATURE REVIEW
No full textAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the leading cause of dementia worldwide. Its prevalence is rapidly rising with population aging – an estimated 50 million people globally have dementia, a number projected to triple by 2050. AD is characterized pathologically by extracellular amyloid-β plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein in the brain, leading to synaptic and neuronal loss; ultimately cognitive and functional decline. This literature review examines how genetic factors and sociodemographic variables contribute to AD risk, with a focus on gene–environment interactions. A central genetic factor in late-onset AD is the apolipoprotein E (APOE) 4 allele, which confers a dose-dependent increase in risk. Rare, familial early-onset AD is caused by autosomal dominant mutations in genes like APP and PSEN1/2. Key socio demographic influences on AD include age, gender, and lifestyle factors such as physical activity, diet, education, and other aspects of cognitive maintenance. Notably, about one-third to two-fifths of AD cases worldwide may be attributable to modifiable risk factors across the person’s lifespan. Many researchers have synthesized findings from epidemiology, neuroscience, and public health literature to understand how factors like gender, age, athleticism (physical fitness), and lifestyle behaviors influence AD risk and progression. Evidence shows that a healthy lifestyle – including regular exercise, a balanced diet (e.g. Mediterranean diet), and robust cognitive and social engagement – correlates with lower AD rates and may even reduce the elevated risk presented by high-risk genotypes such as APOE E4. On the other hand, vascular and metabolic comorbidities (e.g. hypertension, diabetes, obesity), low educational attainment, and physical inactivity are associated with higher AD risk. This review finds that genetic and lifestyle factors are not independent; rather, they interact in complex ways. For example, APOE E4 carriers who maintain an active lifestyle show slower cognitive decline and less amyloid accumulation than sedentary E4 carriers. At the same time, some lifestyle interventions may have differential effects by genotype, highlighting the need for personalized prevention strategies. All in all, while age and genetics strongly influence who develops Alzheimer’s, genetic predisposition is not deterministic and engaging in protective lifestyles can enhance cognitive resilience even in at-risk populations, although important gaps remain in understanding the precise mechanisms and in translating this knowledge into effective prevention of Alzheimer’s disease
Creating through Adversity: Comics and Self-Imposed Limits
No full textMy thesis showcases two original comics that I created during my time at New College. In addition, I reflect on my inspirations as well as my personal relationship with creating art. “Burial Nine” illustrates the inherent compassion present in humanity through an example of Neandertals caring for one of their own despite it putting them at a detriment. In contrast, “Dr. Adam’s Last Laugh” explores the relationship between a hero and villain duo, Dr. Adam and The Impossible Snowman, in an extended, long-form comic detailing a turning point in their lives. This process has allowed me to reflect on my self and my creative endeavors that have led to this point
A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF THE POLICY PRODUCTION PROCESS WITH REGARD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILD AGRICULTURAL LABOR POLICY IN TWO US STATES
No full textIn 2023, following investigations by the Department of Labor about violations of child labor law by Packers Sanitation Services Inc. found numerous violations involving children working in hazardous conditions at meat packing plants in multiple states. Further media coverage about the rise in child labor violations across the country accompanied by several states moving to deregulate many aspects of child labor law surprised, and at times sparked fierce debate, among the American public. In the wake of this renewed interest, this thesis seeks to understand the development of child labor policy within the agricultural sphere using a case study analysis of two states - Texas & California. By examining the historical developments of public policy with regard to child agricultural labor this thesis will explore the motivations for and interaction between federal and state-level policy development within the context of a relatively underexplored aspect of labor policy in the United States
A SIMPLE GAME
No full textWe create two simple board games that follow the same rules, the player moves with the roll of a 5-sided dice and the player wins by being the first to reach the last space. One model is a straight path and the other has a bridge that takes the player directly to the last space. We analyze both models to find the average amount of rolls it would take to win a game. We find there are recursive equations to find the average number of rolls for both types of game
SPECTRAL DISCRETE ORDINATES METHOD WITH LAGUERRE POLYNOMIAL TRUNCATION OF ORDER N (SPECTRAL-LTSN) SOLUTIONS TO THE GENERALIZED LINEAR BOLTZMANN EQUATION
No full textThis thesis presents a deterministic numerical solver for the Generalized Linear Boltzmann Equation (GLBE), a model that describes nonclassical neutral particle transport in heterogeneous media with spatially correlated structures [6, 10]. In such media, the classical assumption of exponentially distributed free paths fails, necessitating a formulation that explicitly accounts for the distance s traveled since the last collision. The proposed method approximates the angular flux using a spectral expansion in generalized Laguerre polynomials over the free-path variable s, discretizes the angular domain using the discrete ordinates (SN) method [8], and applies a diamonddifference scheme for spatial discretization. The resulting system of coupled spectral moment equations is lower-triangular and is efficiently solved via Gauss–Seidel iteration, which preserves angular causality. Benchmark comparisons with reference solutions from Moraes et al. [9] demonstrate accurate scalar flux predictions with spectral convergence. The method exhibits numerical stability and is extensible to multidimensional domains, anisotropic scattering, and energy-dependent transport models
THE ART OF ADAPTATION: TRANSLATING SHORT STORIES TO FILM
No full textThis thesis addresses the process of adapting a short story into a feature-length film and what techniques that filmmakers use to translate a written work in a visual format. The adaptation essay features two case studies of short stories “The Sentinel” by Arthur C. Clarke and “Why Don’t You Dance?” By Raymond Carver and what directors Stanley Kubrick and Dan Rush are trying to accomplish with their adaptations of these stories into 2001: A Space Odyssey and Everything Must Go, going through what each director does with their adaptations and each of their approaches to them. The short story collection showcases three examples of short stories that I’ve worked on over the last year in three different genres. The screenplay adaptation takes one of my short stories in The Gator and is adapted into a short scene in a screenplay format to establish the conflict of the story as well as the setting through descriptions. The script treatment showcases what a theoretical film adaptation of The Gator could look like with a full breakdown of the plot and what the characters go through in the story