Honors Graduates and Their Theses
The following students are graduates of The Honors College. Where available, there is a link to a student's honors thesis. Click on the title of the thesis to see the complete thesis.
Honors Class of 2008
Elizabeth Gray (Philosophy) Rawls on Civil Disobedience
Eric Koch (Biology) Activity-Dependent Sharpening of the Retinotectal Map in Zebrafish: The Role of GAP43 and the Par Complex
Catherine Kramer (Political Science) Females in Terrorist Organizations
Cory Maggio (Political Science) Supreme Court Decision-Making: How an Integrated Model can Prevent Inappropriate Judicial Behavior
Honors Class of 2009
Lana Bunning (Biology) Evolutionary Analysis of Host Proteins CD4, CXCR4, and CCR5, and HIV/SIV gp120
John Conway (Finance) Investigating the Persistence of Hedge Fund Returns Over the Period of 1998 to 2005
Margaret Daly (Biology) The Role of tRNA Modification Systems in the Cellular Stress
Nasiratu Larry (Biology) Effects of Carbachol and Vitamin C on Submandibular Salivary Gland Branching Morpogenesis
Leann Lu (Public Administration & Policy) Mortgage Lending Reform: Finding Innovative State Responses to the Foreclosure Crisis
Lauren Nye (English) Our Greatest Want: An Examination of the Rhetorical Tendencies Employed by African American Female Abolitionist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Katie Reed (Public Administration & Policy) The Effect of Teachers' Unions on Issues in School Reform
Joanna Smith (Art History) The Synagogue of Dura Europos: An Inclusive Narrative
Whitney Sperrazza (English) A Woman's Story at a Winter's Fire: Gender Performativity and the Intrinsic Power of the Feminine in Shakespeare's Macbeth
David Zahn (History) Assessing "Founders' Chic": An Examination of Recent Studies of Benjamin Franklin for Insights into the Resurgence of the Founders in American Historiography
Honors Class of 2010
Roopa Bhopale (Business Administration) Towards a Deeper Understanding of the Use and Effectiveness of Human Resource Dashboards
Amanda Boyd (English) The Dynamics of Male/Female Relationships in John Donne's Love Poetry
Catherine Callahan (Political Science) Explaining Variations in Response to the Threat of Climate Change
Vanessa Costanzo (Psychology) The Role of Progesterone Receptor in Development of Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Impulsive Behavior
Daniel daCosta (Biological Sciences) Formation of testosterone's 5 alpha-reduced, versus aromatized, products can have beneficial cognitive and anti-anxiety effects without negative effects on prostate or sexual behavior of male rats
Steven DeBraccio (Criminal Justice) Assessing the Legality of Solitary Confinement
Kristen Friedman (Anthropology) Cinderella Tales and their Significance
Ryan Gallagher (History) A Situation for Revolt: A Study of the Situationist International's Influence on French Students During the Revolt of 1968
Tali Gellert (Communication) Campaign Finance & Online Oversight
Alexa Grafmuller (Anthropology) Gamete Donation: Understanding Prospective Donors Motivations
Barbara Graham (Biological Sciences) Bioengineering Tissue Constructs Using Elastic Alginate Hydrogels
John Grogan (Business Administration) The Financial Crisis 2010: The Role of the Shadow Banking System
Fareed Haddad (Biological Sciences) The Anti-Epileptic Drugs phenytoin and valproate produce reproductive endocrine dysfunction among female rats through its effects on progesterone and its 5alpha-reduced metabolites
Christopher Hocker (Economics) Unemployment Insurance and the Role of Retained Earnings from Part-Time Work
Robert Jennings (Anthropology) The Hellenization of Cyprus in the Late Cypriot III and Beyond: Detecting Migrations in the Archaeological Record
Brittany Jolles (History) An American Tragedy: Theodore Dreiser's Fight against Intellectual Censorship and Early Hollywood
Amanda Jones (Communication) Celebrities and Causes: Where Does the Focus Lie in Print Media Coverage?
Joshua Kessler (Biological Sciences) In vitro Analysis of Microfluidic Neural Probes
Jeffrey Knaack (History) You Must Fight to Win: The Media, State Department and Vietnam 1967-1968
Jayson Kratoville (Political Science) To Fight or Not to Fight: Examining Violence as an Organizational Choice
Laura Mariconda (Biological Sciences) Activity-Dependent Sharpening of the Retinotectal Map in Zebrafish: The Role of the Par Complex
Cyndi Mellen (Political Science) Lessons from Nuclear Reversal: Why States Reverse Ballistic Missile Policy
Marissa Molina (Art) Untitled: A Life in Art work1 work2 work3
Kimberly Moonan (Social Welfare) The Impact of After-School Programming, Neighborhood Safety, and Neighborhood Support on Adolescent Alcohol Use
Steve Newton (Business Administration) Do hedged mutual funds hedge?
Danielle Parisi (Human Biology) The Mechanical Function of the Postorbital Bar in Eulemur fulvus: Analyzed Using Finite Element Analysis
Julita Patrosz (Biochemistry) Biophysical Investigation of the Cataract Associated Mutant, E107A of Human Gamma-D Crystalline
Lucy Place (Communication) Drug Users in Fall 2009 Television Dramas: Character Profiles
Daren Pon (Business Administration) Investigating Efficiencies of Long and Inverse ETF Pairs
Justin Ramcharitar (Psychology) The Effect of Recurrent Hypoglycemia on Mental Flexibility
Scott Sidoli (Mathematics) Certain Two-Parameter Representations of the Lie Algebra sl(2,C)
Michelle Stiles (Psychology) Neuropsychological Performance in Cannabis Users and Non-Users Following Motivation Manipulation
Ben Spear (Political Science) Bits and Bytes on the Front Lines: An Examination of Distributed Denial of Service Attacks as a Terrorist and/or State-Based Threat
Joseph Sturcken (English) Tragical History and Tragedy as Inquisitive Vehicles: Examining the Implications of Marlowe's Two Faustus Texts
Brendan van der Vossen (Business Administration) Bank Liquidity Management
Ann Weiner (Linguistics) Body Part Words in Copala Triqui and a Brief Spatial Sketch
Honors Class of 2011
Kate Bennett (Public Health) A Review of the Alteration of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Aquatic Environment with an Analysis of the PCB Contamination of the St. Lawrence River Fish.
Alicia Bentley (Atmospheric Sciences) A Preliminary Climatology of Tropical Moisture Exports in the Southern Hemisphere
Daksha Bhatia (Philosophy) Physician-Assisted Suicide Within a Kantian Framework
Matthew Boutin (Journalism) Selected Writings
Cherie Brown (Political Science) Who Does and Who Doesn’t: The Impetus for Terrorist Organization Involvement with Drug Trafficking Organizations
Jillian Caramanna (English) The Backwards Making of A Heroine: Mary Cowden Clarke’s Girlhood and Its Importance In the Shakespearean Conversation
Cyndel Carreau (Biological Sciences) Homocysteine: A potential molecular link between Alzheimer’s Disease and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Glenn Caulfield (Political Science) Player Two Has Entered the Game: The Role of Congress in the Formation of American Foreign Policy during the Presidency of George W. Bush
Sarah Clinkner (Human Biology) Post-operative Extraction of Oxycodone from Human Hair
Hillary Closs (Social Welfare) Adults with Developmental Disabilities as a Health Disparity in the Community
Andrew Colantani (Business Administration) Sarbanes Oxley: An Antidote To Executive Greed?
Meredith Dedopoulos (Criminal Justice) Incomplete Sentences: Predictors of Failure to Complete Court-Mandated Domestic Violence Counseling
Gabrielle DiBella (Economics) Maternal Smoking as a Predictor of Infant Health
Tania Dissanayake (Political Science) Sovereignty or Subjugation?: Explaining Muslim States’ Aversion to Full Ratification of CEDAW
Cristina Dubceac (Chemistry) Cu(I) Wires: Structural Polymorphism and Photoluminescence
Carolyn Franz (Forensic Chemistry) Forensic DNA Analysis and the Validation of Applied Biosystems 3730 DNA Analyzer and GeneMapperID-X Software for STR Analysis
Sara Ganetis (Atmospheric Sciences) Analysis of Banding in 26-27 December 2010 East Coast Blizzard
Matthew Hendrickson (Accounting) Revenue Recognition of Gift Cards: Complications of Breakage Income
Jonathan Janos (Business Administration) Is Portfolio Performance Related to Whether a Manager Has an Ivy League Education?
Janice Jin (Biological Sciences) The role of Rac1 signaling in tissue polarity and branching morphogenesis during salivary gland development. (thesis not available for posting at this time)
James Levy (Political Science) Funding Terrorism: A Closer Look at Organized Crime Activity and Lethality
Ashley Morpeau (Political Science) Twitter and political and civic engagement: Is there a relationship?
Meaghan Mulligan (Art) A New View photo1 photo2 photo3 photo4 photo5 photo6 photo7
Kathleen Mullins (History) Oprah Winfrey v. Texas Cattlemen, Food Libel Laws in the United States and the Constitutionality of the Texas False Disparagement of Perishable Food Products Act
Andrew Orayfig (Psychology) Cultivation of Mindfulness and Acceptance Processes in ACT and CBT: A Randomized Clinical Trial in a Pure Self Help Context
Uraina Owens (Criminal Justice) Do youths lacking proper adult role models, guidance, and supervision, respond to the stresses of their transition from adolescents to adulthood, with gang membership?
Mathew Parenti (Physics) Analysis of prominent decay modes for the Higgs boson at the LHC
Nicholas Scala (Business Administration) Performance Attribution: Are Sector Fund Managers Superior Stock Selectors?
Kelly Stange (Mathematics) Hermite Polynomials and Sylvester Type Determinants
Joseph Stepansky (English) Without a Place but Always Trying to be Placed: Between Hope and Impossibility in Samuel Beckett’s Molloy
Benjamin Stern (Biological Sciences) Characterization of RNA Aptamers to Drosophila Splicing Protein B52
Gabriel Susca-Lopata (Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences) Searching for Melting-Induced Cold-Pool Circulations in an Oklahoma Winter Storm
Rukayatu Tijani (Political Science) Justice Stephen Breyer: The Active Liberty Approach Applied
Audrey Tyszka (Social Welfare) Psychosocial Needs of Refugees from Burma: A Social Work Perspective
Cameron Waldman (Philosophy) Elements of a Self-Deconstructive Ethic
James Warycha (Political Science) A Click Away from Democracy: The Internet’s Effect on Civil Society Development & Democratization
Noelle Webster (English) Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: The Creature’s Attempt at Humanization
Maureen Whitcomb (Women's Studies) Bodies of Flesh, Bodies of Knowledge: Representations of Female Genital Cutting and Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery
Melinda White (Political Science) Gubernatorial Influence over New York State Appropriations: 1983-2009
Honors Class of 2012
Hannah Attard (Atmospheric Sciences) Large-Scale Precursors to Major Lake Effect Snowstorms Lee of Lake Erie
Richa Birla (Business Administration) Determinants of the Success of Active vs. Passive Investment Strategy
Troy Broderick (Physics) Techniques for Improving Parameter Estimation in ESR
Martin Cahill (English) The Role of Magic in Fantasy Literature: Exposing Reality through Fantasy
Ali Chaudry (Physics) Robust and Economical Autonomous Navigation via Advanced Bayesian Methods
Kelly Danielson (Anthropology) A comparative look at the energetic efficiency of bipedal locomotion in humans versus quadrupedal locomotion in primates: measurements of femoral and humeral proximal head articular surface
Zachary DesJardins (Political Science) China in Africa: Examining Chinese foreign aid in Africa and implications for US interests
Katelyn DiBenedetto (Anthropology) Analyzing Tophets: Did the Phoenicians Practice Child Sacrifice?
Amanda Faris (Biological Sciences) Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis of Pan troglodytes using Mitochondrial DNA Coding Region Sequences
Sam Frumkin (Africana Studies) The Power to Say Who’s Human: Politics of Dehumanization in the Four-Hundred-Year War between the White Supremacist Caste System and Afrocentrism
Maria Garguilo (East Asian Studies) The Existentialist World of Murakami Haruki: A Reflection of Postmodern Japanese Society
Grace Hobbs (English) Aeschylus’ Tragedy of Law: Kinship, the Oresteia, and the Violence of Democracy
Timothy Humphrey (Atmospheric Sciences) An Evaluation of CAPE Tendency in Tornado Outbreaks
Julia Forster (Business Administration) Student-Atheletes and Academic Success: A Comparison of the Graduation Rates, GPA and After College Success of Student-Athletes and Regular Students
Wai Ping Kan (Business Administration) Corporate Social Responsibility: A Profitable Alternative
Simeon Kawakami (Business Administration) The Structural Changes of the Hedge Fund Industry Over Time
Jason Keefer (Atmospheric Sciences) The Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Gustav (2008)
Jacqueline Kenitz (Anthropology) Sizes of joint articular surfaces in Homo sapiens and Pan paniscus and the relevance to locomotor differences
Ryan Kennedy (Business Administration) The Effectiveness of Sell Discipline Strategies in Institutional Portfolios
Sean Landriga (Business Administration) Stock Returns and the Franchise Value
Samantha Leuschner (Globalization Studies) To Build a Nation An assessment of post-development thought and the example of Bolivia
Rachel Luscombe (Anthropology) Transplanting Roots: Cultivating Community Amongst Brooklyn Mexican Immigrant Populations
Rebecca Matt (English) Back to the Future: The Mechanics of Temporality in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine
Daina Migdel (Business Administration) Qualcomm, Incorporated QCOM VS ViaSat, Incorporated VSAT
Nishtha Modi (Biological Sciences) Probing the T-box riboswitch: A novel, high-throughput transcription reporter assay using a fluorophore-binding aptamer
Neema Moghadam (Business Administration) Correlating Qualitative Performance with Qantitative Performance: Investigating the financial benefit of good corporate citizenship
Mathew O'Neil (Political Science) Defining a Movement: Ann Marie Buerkle, the 112th Congress, and the Meaning of the Tea Party
Annette Or (Accounting) Perspectives on Eventual IFRS Adoption
Brooke Pati (Biological Sciences) The Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP) and Redox-Dependent Invasion of Metastatic Cancer Cells”
Slava Rar (Business Administration) Terrorisk: The Impact of Terrorist Attacks on Sovereign Bond Yield Spreads of Targeted Countries
Scott Ruling (Business Administration) “In Their Defense...” Arguments in the Debate over the Use of Corporate Takeover Defenses and their Policy Implications
John Teevan III (French Studies) Âge d’or ou déclin avancé ? : Les succès et les échecs de la IIIe République en France, 1870-1940 (Golden Age or Rusted Decline?: The Successes and Failures of the Third Republic in France, 1870-1940)
Michelle Walton (Political Science) Can a Financial Crisis Occur Under the Rules of Islamic Finance?
Jackie Weiner (Accounting) Auditor Size vs. Audit Quality: An Analysis of Auditor Switches
Sean Whipple (Political Science) Homosexuality in Africa: The Causes of State Discrimination based on Orientation
Amy Wong (Accounting) The Debate Over the 150 Credit Requirement
Yingjie Zhang (Accounting) The Study on the Entry Mechanisms by Chinese Companies to the U.S. Market
