Montana State University Billings
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Item Mathematics for Social Justice(Montana State University Billings, 2021-04) Fisher, Elizabeth; Day, Corinne (Faculty Mentor)This research project shares findings from my study of Social Justice Mathematics (SJM), which is mathematics that focuses on promoting equity within the mathematics classroom, but also on empowering students to understand and confront inequities outside the classroom. As part of my project, I created my own SJM lesson featuring Indian Education for All. In this lesson, students will learn through math that there is something happening on the reservations that is causing them to have higher rates of COVID cases and subsequently more deaths. In this lesson, students will calculate the percentages of current COVID cases for each demographic population in Montana and analyze data and identify discrepancies in COVID rates among ethnic groups. This lesson helps students start conversations about why this is occurring, how federal policy affects life on American Indian Reservations, and discuss what they can do to try to help change this.Item "Idiots and Distracted Persons:" Shifting Views on Mental Health in Eighteenth Century Colonial America(Montana State University Billings, 2021-04) Tiry, Jessica; Arendt, EmilyWith research deriving from many historians, and the help of Dr. Arendt, this project explores the eighteenth-century colonial period’s shifting views of mental health. These views during this time period were not solely based on religious standpoints, but medical aspects as well, as there was a new growth of knowledge into the strange minds of human beings. This would eventually lead Americans to view mental illness as a result of actions made by the individual. There were several influences which led to the shifting views on mental health, and each influence was connected and opened the path for another influence. These major shifts encompass changes from religious, political, and medical influences which tracked along one another in the eighteenth century. A major influence on shifting perceptions of mental illness was Native American traditions and beliefs, and minor influences that contributed to major intellectual shifts on mental illness include Cotton Mather, the father to modern medicine Benjamin Rush, and the role of natural law in American Colonies. Although medical explanations and treatments have drastically changed over three centuries, stigma towards those affected by mental illness has not changed since the eighteenth century. Colonial America opened the gates for medicine to be an answer to problems with the human mind, but stigma and treatment of these people were never changed—maybe these people will always be viewed as “idiots and distracted persons.”Item Sustainability Perspectives Among Montana State University Billings Students(Montana State University Billings, 2021-04) Dilley, Shaylyn; Gilbertz, Susan (Faculty Mentor)The Honors Inquiry and Research class at Montana State University Billings set out to conduct a survey about sustainability amongst their fellow peers. The goal of this survey was to determine the knowledge and efficacy of students and to see if there were any trends or developments. Some of the trends examined were between political parties, knowledge and efficacy relationship, and gender. It was determined that Democrats were significantly more worried about climate change than Republicans and as an overall group they cared and knew more about sustainability. The hypothesis that higher knowledge means a higher efficacy was also proven correct. On average if respondents knew more about sustainability they also cared more. The next major category was gender trends between males and females. It was shown that not one gender knew more about sustainability. The gender-based knowledge data came out relatively evenly making it difficult to decipher if one gender was more knowledgeable. However, when it came to caring about sustainability there was a significant difference. Women cared much more about sustainability and sustainability issues than men. These trends provide a perspective about what the next generation feels about sustainability.Item A Crisis Like Never Before: The Economic and Ideological Divide of the Colonists and Britain, 1763-1769(Montana State University Billings, 2021-04) Tecca, Lauryn; Arendt, Emily (Faculty Mentor)This research seeks to prove that the debt crisis in Britain following the Seven Years’ War manifested itself as an economic and ideological crisis for colonial America. It seeks to examine the shockwaves that follow the first Acts passed by Britain in regards to taxation that left colonists angry and obstinate. It explores the idea of the Seven Years’ War as an economic anomaly for Britain and the colonists alike. Major themes include the impact of the economy on ideals, the nature of the economic issues following the Seven Years’ War, and rifts between colonists and Britain as a result of the Stamp Act of 1765. It will rely on primary sources, specifically newspapers and journals. Based on this primary evidence, it will seek to prove that the economic consequences of the Seven Years’ War became much more ideological in nature, forcing Britain to relinquish its hold on America.Item An Exploration into Social Media Sentiment(Montana State University Billings, 2020-04) Pratt, Ashley; McMullen, Matthew (Faculty Mentor)Background:International and United States-specific media outlets cover the same news, but do not always utilize the same language. The COVID-19 Outbreak is an opportunity to analyze the sentiments being utilized to convey information to the masses. Exploring the words used and in what context can lead to more in-depth knowledge of what is being covered and how it is being explained by the media. Aim:The goal of this project is to analyze tweets from ten major news organizations, both local and abroad, by sentiment. News organizations will then be assessed for their portrayal of the pandemic in a positive or negative light, what sentiments they are using and the frequency, and what words are being commonly written together. This project will also be able to assess the discrepancies between US coverage and that of the world. Approach:Data will be processed through RStudio, utilizing sentiment data found in the NRC Emotion Lexicon and Bing Sentiments. The results will be correlated and graphed to show the variance between news coverage and language in the United States versus coverage during the same time abroad. Custom bigrams will also be created to explore more specific word connections, i.e., “COVID,” “corona,” “pandemic,” etc., nationally and internationally. Results: Tweets will be divided into data frames and then analyzed by word by both sentiment programs. Results for each news organization will be appropriately represented. Additionally, bigrams will be run on any words of significance. Results of the analyzed data and any statistical significance will be released. Conclusion: From the results, conclusions will be drawn regarding the sentiments nation and international news outlets utilize day-to-day.Item Food Insecurity: Hunger Amongst Senior Citizens in Our Community(Montana State University Billings, 2020-04) Dawes, Alyssa; Kurkoski, Taylor; Mook, Kimber; Robertus, Sari; Mermel, Virginia (Faculty Mentor)The Honors Capstone course, Honors 499, has been taught approximately every other year for the past six years. The course focuses on ways to help fight food insecurity among people in our community. Each class chooses to address a specific aspect of food insecurity (see Table 1). The Spring 2020 class, in particular, chose to focus on food insecurity among senior citizens. After a decade of decline, hunger is a growing problem in specific sectors of America due to the increasing income gap between service sector jobs and skilled labor, higher birth rates among the lowest compared to the highest income groups and increasing proportion of the population age 55 and above. It can be seen in any community, including Billings, Montana. This paper examines the risk factors of senior food insecurity, the physical and economic consequences of inadequate food intake, and local and federal aid programs aimed at reducing food insecurity amongst older residents. It also includes our plans to fight food insecurity by partnering college students with local food security non-profits, spreading awareness, and sharing resources through advertising, healthy recipes, and a press conference.Item Comparing Influenza vaccination rates before and after the H1N1 pandemic(Montana State University Billings, 2020-04) Brandon, Connor; McMullen, Matthew (Faculty Mentor)Immunizations are an important public health concern in order to help control the spread of diseases. Influenza is a particularly important seasonal vaccine, as it is updated every year and recommended that all people receive the vaccination. Unfortunately, not everyone receives the vaccine, which can make others more susceptible to contracting the disease andspreading it to others. Using data from the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) National Immunization Survey (NIS), the number of child and teenage influenza vaccinations were compared before and after the H1N1 (Swine Flu) pandemic of 2009. It was hypothesized that the H1N1 outbreak would lead to an increased rate of vaccinations in both children and teenagers. The data was grouped by geographic region and socioeconomic status. The comparative results show that there was not an increased number of childhoodor teenage vaccinations relative to the total amount of influenza vaccinations that were administered, indicating that the H1N1 pandemic did not cause a greater number of influenza vaccinations in the following years.Item Studying and Teaching the Ethical Dilemma of Emily Dickinson(Montana State University Billings, 2020-04) Barron, Brienna; Nurmi, Thomas (Faculty Mentor)This essay focuses on the ethical dilemma of studying and teaching the work of American poet Emily Dickinson. Because her work was found and published after her death, studying Dickinson’s works can be viewed as an intrusion of privacy. This essay examines Dickinson’s Envelope Poems–lyrics written on envelopes, wrappers, and loose scraps of paper–to seehow Dickinson herself worked through many of the ethical issues that confront readers today. This essay also explores questions about power structures in our society, specifically within academia. Research for this essay consisted of close reading many ofDickinson’s poems, including her envelope poems and fascicles, and extensive discussion of the lyrics and the ethical questions the work raises. Due to the nature of the subject of this essay, the research process provoked ethical questions of its own. The aim of this essay is to make clear the importance of teaching Emily Dickinson’s work alongside her biography, and the importance of reading her work with the intention of studying the ethical dilemma that her work generates.