Tag: Capstones

Flint Du Tell

Multiple Cluster of Ronald Reagan Speeches

Kenneth Burk invented Cluster criticism as a form of rhetorical criticism, where a speech is analized by identifying key terms such as, the God and Devil terms. This is done to determine just how the speaker views the world. This world view was named a terminist screen by Burk. Ronald Wilson Reagan is one of the most influential presidential speakers in modern history. Instead of applying the Cluster method of rhetorical criticism to just one of his speeches, like is standard practice, I applied it to multiple speeches of his. Included in my cluster, are his famous speeches, such as The Challenger disaster, Berlin Wall, Evil Empire,and his farewell speech after eight years of presidency. When I analyses these speeches and others, I was able to determine his terminist screen showed the most important thing to him was freedom. To counter this, the worst thing in the world to our fortieth President seemed to be communism, The soviet union, And the suppressive governmental and economic practices of the eastern bloc.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

L203

Noon – 12:30 PM

Madison Hoke

Interaction between intermediate missionaries’ and their host culture, and the missionaries perceived level of reverse culture shock.

The following research explored the relationship between intermediate missionaries and their immersion into a host culture and their level of perceived reverse culture shock upon their arrival back to their home culture. The participants of the study were 22 intermediate missionaries from the organizations of Village Schools International and the Navigators. Each participant had to of participated in a mission trip abroad that lasted from two months to five years. Researchers created the Immersion in the Host Culture Scale, which was a six-part open ended questionnaire to determine the amount of immersion a missionary took part in during their mission. Researchers also used the Reentry Shock Scale that consists of sixteen-point true false statements that help record a missionary’s perceived level of reverse culture shock. Researchers determined cultural immersion from decoding for six different themes: Curiosity, involvement, cooking, desire, contentment, and relational. The results of this study theorized that there is a positive relationship between the amount of cultural immersion and perceived re-entry shock with intermediate missionaries. Unfortunately, the limitations of the study prevent researchers from drawing definitive conclusions about a possible cause of re-entry shock.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

L203

12:30 – 1 PM

Payton Martin

Portfolio Management

In this presentation, we will explore vital concepts that are the building blocks of quantitative portfolio management. We will discuss the mathematical expression of expected return and risk on an investment and how they are used. We will examine weights within a portfolio and how risk is minimized while compromising as little as possible on expected return. Building blocks of the several-security model will direct us towards multiple interesting insights as well as lay the foundation for the beta factor and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM).

MATH 499, Senior Capstone

Connie Wilmarth

L203

10:30 – 11 AM

Nicholas Rodriguez

Fly High: A Fantasy Theme Criticism of Kendrick Lamar

Fantasy theme analysis explores how a specific artifact calls a group into existence. I analyzed four songs from Kendrick Lamar using this method and found that the group he is calling into existence are people who have experienced housing discrimination. By breaking down the setting, character, and action themes within the songs FEAR, Ronald Reagan Era, Black Boy Fly, and Cut You Off (to grow closer), I was able to outline how Kendrick connects with an audience of people that reaches beyond Compton.

COMM 499, Senior Capstone

Doyle Srader

L203

1 – 1:30 PM

Claire Salness

Can the Promotion of HSPs Enhance Performance and Recovery/Therapy in and of Exercise?

This presentation covers the role of heat shock proteins in the cytoprotection of the cell and discusses their ability to enhance efficiency in cellular processes when considering exercise specifically. It includes an analysis of the cellular stressors that are biproducts of exercise and how the heat shock response contributes to cellular survival and recovery from said insults. Research has shown that induction of the heat shock proteins has protected and prevented cell death or other damage from a lethal exposure to a stress. My research scope queries if we can induce the heat shock protein response in order to enhance the efficiency and extend the duration of exercise and if this family of proteins can have a role in exercise recovery and adaptation.

BIOL 499, Senior Capstone

Paul Allee

L203

11 – 11:30 AM

Join the Zoom meeting here.

Curtis Smith

The Military’s role on the Oregon Trail

In 1846, The United States Congress authorized funds for military posts along the Oregon Trail. The 1847 Whitman massacre showed the Army’s inability to handle complex matters. In 1849, the first military expedition set out and was plagued with problems including desertion. Attention from settling the West was further complicated by skirmishes with Indian tribes and later the Civil War.

HIST 499, Senior Capstone

Melisa Ortiz Berry

Bushnell History Symposium, P114

10 – 11:30 AM

Haley Voorhees

Free radicals, oxidative stress and antioxidants

For many years, there have been two main theories proposed for the process of aging: (1) The rate of living theory, which states that the lifespan of an individual is dependent on its rate of energy utilization and on a genetically determined amount of energy consumed during adult life, and (2) The oxidative stress theory of aging, based on the hypothesis that age-associated functional losses are due to the accumulation of free radical damages. The following research explores what causes humans to experience oxidative stress leading to aging, how antioxidants help to defend the body and prevent degenerative diseases, and the damages that may be caused by extensive free radical damage.

BIOL 499, Senior Capstone

Paul Allee

L203

11:30 AM – Noon

BUS 499 Capstone Presentation: Baldwin Company

Danielle Baker, Canyon Dwyre, Madeleine Rosebrook & Nicolas Schapochnik

In this capstone presentation, my teammates and I will discuss and analyze what we have learned while operating our virtual censor manufacturing company this semester. First, we will present our company mission statement and clearly define our business strategy. We will follow this with an explanation of the different products we created, their life cycles, positions in the market, and how this contributed to an increase or decrease in our success measures. After this, we will discuss our success measures, why we chose them, and how we did or did not achieve them. Finally, we will clearly project measurable results for our final round of competition. We will end our presentation with a short discussion on the experience we gained while running our own company and answer any questions the audience might have.

BUS 499, Business Strategy and Policy

Dave Quirk

Liam Bedford, Shanay Dotson, Jose Magana & Ana Paradones

Chester Inc.

In this presentation we will be discussing Chester Inc. performance in the Capsim simulation. We will discuss how we set up products, how we marketed products, organized the production of our products and managed the sales and finances of the company.

BUS 499, Business Strategy and Policy

Dave Quirk

Portrayals of Feminism Through the Novels of Jane Austen

Caitlin Bowen

Jane Austen is one of the most well-known British-English authors that lived the 18th century. While her novels and writings are often praised for their portrayal of day-to-day living in the English countryside, she also portrays the restrictions that were put on women during this time. In her novels Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion, Austen uses her female characters not only to illustrate the rigid expectations that society had for them but also to illustrate the different degrees of feminism available to these women while they still, for the most part, followed society’s rules. Her other novels, Emma, Mansfield Park, and Northanger Abbey provide other relevant examples of feminism in 18th century England; however, they do so in a different manner. This presentation will look at what feminism is and how it differed in the 18th century. It will also analyze the different women found in Austen’s novels and their situations in life, and try to understand what possible ideas, regarding feminism, Austen was trying to get her readers to comprehend.

ENG 499, Capstone

James Watson

1 – 1:30 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

Capstone Final Presentation Team Digby

Arthur Breidenbach, Logan Davis, Blake Doran, Zachary Drach & Luis Diaz Menendaz

For our presentation we will explain the mission statement and strategy we chose to use and why we chose them for our organization/simulation. We will also discuss our three products and how they fit into our strategy, their product life, and whether they were a successful product or not. We will also discuss the troubling times we went through and how we are going to reinvent our business to be more successful. In addition, we will cover the struggles we encountered in our business. For several weeks, unfortunately, we took out several emergency loans in order to stay open. Finally, we will discuss the measures we took in order to turn Digby into a profitable firm.

BUS 499, Business Strategy and Policy

Dave Quirk

Shawn Carson, Andres Martinez, Jane Taimalie & Alexis Westbrooks

Andrews Company

Our presentation will include all of our company’s decisions week by week illustrating the main highlights. At Andrews Company we sell radars with the goal of providing the public consumer with multiple options. We will be selling radars in the high tech, low tech, and in between categories in order to help our consumers find their preferred radar. Week 1 highlighs our all-out investment of our company and its products. You will see that in the following weeks we get ambitious by continuing our creation of a new product for the company. To keep up with our business strategy, we try our best to provide the best prices for consumers while still continuing to make a profit. We have found that through our low prices, we are able to draw in consumers from all over, providing our company with the upmost success.

BUS 499, Business Strategy and Policy

Dave Quirk

The Polysemy of “Political”: Shared Senses and Network as a Framework for Dealing with Lexical Ambiguity

Tanner Dean

Political discourse seems to be fraught with competing definitions for what is and is not “political.” These competing definitions can lead to people checking out from these conversations because there seems to be no overlap of these definitions. Polysemy allows for the examining of the shared network people use for creating these definitions. Etymology and the senses attached to these words are polysemous and connect to these shared networks. These shared networks then allow for people to understand that even though these definitions are different they can have an overarching overlap which can pull people back into conversations regarding “politics” and the “political” instead of leading to confusion over difference. Polysemy has the possibility to enrich our understanding of everyday political discourse.

COMM 499, Capstone

Doyle Srader

1 – 1:30 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

Exploring the formative nature of liturgical actions: Eucharist, Word, song, and prayer

Matthew Geronimo

We live in a world that is prideful, individualistic, and unjust. God calls all people, through the redemption of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, to participate with God through liturgical actions: Eucharist, Word, song, and prayer. Based on biblical, historical, and theological research, this paper will propose the aforementioned liturgical actions to form worshipers to be holy and living sacrifices.

CW 499, Capstone

Karen De Young

2:30 – 3 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

Capstone: Generosity Feeds

Maya Jenkins

In September of 2019, I chose to take part of an organization committed to addressing childhood food insecurity. I saw Generosity Feeds as a great way to practice what I had learned in my COMM 450 Persuasion class. I saw an opportunity to be a persuader and to practice organizing events. I created a strategic plan composed of persuasive strategies consisting of four conditions: potential donors, volunteers, broadcasting, and a one-on-one condition. In each of these conditions, persuasive strategies were implemented that would have ideally influenced the likelihood that people were to donate, volunteer, and buy into the message of Generosity Feeds. In this presentation, I will be reflecting on the work that I got to complete for this project before it was cancelled.

COMM 499, Capstone

Doyle Srader

2:30 – 3 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

Keeping Secrets and its Relation to Humanity and God

Bradley Keller

Secret keeping and topic avoidance is detrimental to a person’s mental and physical health. Through research that has shown that keeping secrets and avoiding topics reduces relational satisfaction and causes physiological stress, this capstone aimed to encourage a community to consider how they are living into that. This capstone was a service learning event that took place on March 11th at Northwest Christian University’s Night Chapel. This event wanted to take this idea of topic avoidance and secret keeping further and consider how this is affecting our relationship with God. From looking at scripture, and taking from theologians such as C.S. Lewis and Timothy Keller, this event explained how we can return to a glorifying relationship with God. This service learning event effectively encouraged a community to consider getting rid of the secrets they are keeping out of fear and guide their hearts towards Christ’s sacrifice as an invitation back into the God’s glorifying relationship.

COMM 499, Capstone

Doyle Srader

2 – 2:30 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

Multiple Sclerosis, and the role of T cells

Jasmine Pannu

This presentation reviews the autoimmune disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and its’ association with the role of T cells along with causes and possible treatments. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system which includes the brain and also spinal cord. Myelin specific T cells play a major role in this disease and there are other factors which can play a role in the risk of getting multiple sclerosis, such as vitamin D deficiency, gut bacteria dysbiosis and certain gene alterations. T cells are seen working throughout these causes and in the disease itself. Although there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, there are medications which can help those affected and are used to prevent frequent attacks. Further research is being done for treatment and cure of MS.

BIOL 499, Capstone

Paul Allee

10:30 – 11 AM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

Reading and Analysis of the Original Short Story: Black Whiskey

Alyssa Perovich

In this presentation, I will be sharing a selection from my short story, Black Whiskey, followed by an analysis of its themes and structure. The story follows Saphia Deering, a woman with a seemingly mundane life, as her past comes back to haunt her. As Saphia faces her demons, a series of new events and people lead her back to the church. In my analysis, I break the story down into categories to determine the influences behind it. The character of Saphia develops throughout the story and reaches a point of divine intervention before passing away. Supporting characters in the story are paired with different settings to help Saphia along the way, experiencing little development themselves. Themes include addiction, depression, sadness, faith, and healing. The plot is focused around a journey of spiritual development and includes multiple peaks and plateaus. Black Whiskey is influenced heavily by authors in the genre of literary fiction, such as Toni Morrison, Ayn Rand, and Ray Bradbury.

ENG 499, Capstone

James Watson

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

1:30 – 2 PM

A biblical analysis of the nature of sin

Elliott Rinehart

An investigation of sin in the Bible. The aim of the Christian life is righteousness contrasted by the sinful nature of humans. A Christian understanding of sin is seen through language and the Bible. Sin may be understood better through the words used for sin in the Bible. There are many different types of sin, and aspects to sin. Examining the sins shown in the book of Genesis provides an overview of how sin is represented in Christianity. Temptation may be categorized as sin part of the time. A proper understanding of sin in the Bible should ease the hearts and minds of Christians as well as provide a more accurate understanding of how to live a Christian life.

BTM 499, Capstone

AJ Swoboda

1:30 – 2 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

Kaylin Salladay

Gene Therapy

In September of 1990 Gene therapy was delivered to its first patient, a four-year old girl suffering from adenosine deaminase deficiency. Research on Gene therapy had begun in 1985 when trying to discover a new way to deliver a human gene via a retrovirus. Since its creation, Gene therapy has been met with major push back based on its ethical concerns. However, it has also been proven through clinical trials to be an effective way of treating diseases we have not had the methods to be able to treat. This presentation reviews the techniques associated with Gene therapy as well as a review of a few of the clinical trials. It also addresses some of the ethical concerns and the regulations in the United States. The further development of Gene therapy could change the course of people’s lives who currently live with untreatable diseases.

BIOL 499, Capstone

Paul Allee

11 – 11:30 AM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

Exploring the impact of Identity in the Role of Firefighting

Abby Spencer

Symbolic interactionism shapes an individual’s way of thinking and identity. Our self-concept is part of our own experience and also part of what we think others believe about us. Through this process, labels can become self-fulfilling prophecies. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the impact of identity regarding the role of firefighting.

COMM 499, Capstone

Doyle Srader

1:30 – 2 PM

Join the Zoom discussion afterward. The presenter and faculty advisor both have the password.

Kinkade Barreiro

Bushnell History Symposium: Stagnation of Minority Representation in Media

In the last two centuries, the status of minorities in the United States has improved dramatically. A survey of events where different racial groups have clashed during the struggle to improve the lives of minorities over the last century specifically shows that the way minority groups are perceived by the majority often contains dramatic biases. This survey attempts to show that the media’s representation of these events and the responses by majority populations to the events has not evolved with the urgency that other elements of American culture have.

HIST 499, Capstone

Melisa Ortiz Berry

P103

10 – 11 AM

Grayson Rose Carmack

Gender Roles in Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism

The researcher will present an original exploratory qualitative study investigating the intersection of adults with Asperger’s Syndrome/high-functioning autism and gender identity. The researcher gathered qualitative data through the use of interviews and related measures. Participants included four adults, ranging from young adult to middle-aged, with three males and one female. Further, the researcher administered the Autism Quotient (Baron-Cohen, 2001), interviews in two individual sessions, demographic survey, and a graphic measure designed by the researcher for the purpose of assessing internal sense of conformity to gender roles along the gender continuum. The researcher found that the participants expressed a history of negative experiences relating to gender roles, especially when they found they could not conform to those roles adequately. Also, upon being made aware of this difficulty, they made committed efforts to fit in with their peers, especially in adolescence. As they matured, they abandoned these efforts and prioritized their natural inclinations and values over pressure to conform to societal gender roles. Based on study findings, the researcher concluded that people with Asperger’s Syndrome/high-functioning autism may experience greater difficulty navigating binary societal gender roles in comparison to their neurotypical peers. Future directions will also be discussed, including the need for a replication of the present study focused on transgender adults with Asperger’s Syndrome/high-functioning autism.

PSY 490/499, Research Practicum & Capstone

Mary Ann Winter-Messiers

Banquet Room

10 – 11 AM

Avery Daniels

The Importance and Potential Benefits of Nanotechnology: Nanomedicine

This presentation is about the importance and potential benefits of nanotechnology used in medicine: Nanomedicine. Technology has been a vast growing field. But we always think of the technology that is in our hands or sitting in front of our face. Nanotechnology is a technology that we can put to the use of medicine. It can be used to prevent disease, new drug delivery, and may even extend our life span. It can also be used to treat cancer tumors by having Nanoparticles injected into our body, destroying only the tumor. Knowing about the benefits of Nanomedicine can open your mind about new ideas of medicine.

BIOL 499, Capstone

Paul Allee

P114

2:30 – 3 PM

Tanner Dean

There is no Guru, there is no Mountain: Beyond the “Ideal Other” and “Utopia” in To the Lighthouse and The Road

People often flock to “gurus”, or throw themselves into movements, that seem to offer an answer to life’s antagonisms and sufferings. In To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf and The Road by Cormac McCarthy there is a subversion that is being done to free the reader from the cycle that is moving from a guru, or movement, to another, in an intellectual sense. People tend to throw themselves to self-help book after self-help book in hope of an answer, but in these novels there is a way to escape the ferry wheel that is certainty and embrace the depth and density of life amidst our struggle. In To the Lighthouse a psychanalytic framework is helpful for braking free from the “ideal other”, or guru. The Road uses imagery of stillness, relationality, and embodiment to show that a utopia cannot ever be possible, yet we should continue into the gray unknown.

ENG 499, Capstone

James Watson

SPS 100

1 – 1:30 PM

Hannah Eddens

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and human biological effects

Pollution has created significant impacts in human life in the past. It has devastated life greatly in all aspects. Pollutant materials are found across the globe in the water we drink, the air we breath, and land we walk on. One of the biggest concerns within the topic of pollution discusses the harmful particles we are constantly exposed to through the air we breath and the everyday products we use. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are derivatives of partial combustion of fossil fuels, biomass and overheating of organic material.[8] Exposure to this particulate matter has been researched and linked to the synthesis of DNA adducts and tumorigenesis. There are a number of pathways that operate the metabolic activation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,

formation of dihydrodiol epoxides requiring 2 CYP-catalyzed oxidations and epoxide hydrolase
formation of phenols via radical cations by 1-electron oxidation
formation of o-quinones via catechols by involvement of aldo-keto reductases with formation of ROS

BIOL 499, Capstone

Paul Allee

P114

1 – 1:30 PM

Thomas Eicher

Crohn’s Disease Presentation

An overview and analysis of Crohn’s disease, its epidemiology, genetic and epigentic factors, and overview of treatments to combat the disease.

BIOL 499, Capstone

Paul Allee

P114

1:30 – 2 PM

Covita Rachelle Hughes

Post Sexual Assault Outcomes in Females

Sexual assault is one of the most complex issues in our society. It is one of the most injurious crimes that perpetrators can inflict on other individuals. Females are among the most vulnerable. Female survivors of sexual assault of any age may experience long-term adverse effects later in life. Thus, this presentation reviews four research trends in the long-term negative outcomes of sexual assault. First, female victims of sexual assault experience shame and low self-esteem. Second, there is a high risk for revictimization for female survivors of sexual assault. Third, female victims experience emotional and psychological challenges. Lastly, female survivors of sexual assault are at risk for mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation. Researchers have reported that once a female has experienced sexual assault, her risk of experiencing further sexual victimization is significantly elevated. Victims may experience high levels of shame and guilt and feel that they are to blame for the sexual assault and their inability to escape from their perpetrators. Future directions will also be discussed, including the need for research focused on strategies for improving accurate societal understanding of sexual assault and its long-term effects.

PSY 499, Capstone

Mary Ann Winter-Messiers

Banquet Room

11 – 11:30 AM

Kevin Kaelin

Alternative Power Sources: Electrifying Commercial Aircraft

In a world with an ever-increasing demand for transportation, solutions are needed to limit the amount of pollution generated by vehicles. One solution for limiting emissions from vehicles is to make them electric. This research seeks to answer this question: is an electrically powered jet engine feasible for commercial aircraft? This project takes a standard CFM56-7B24 turbofan jet engine that powers a Boeing 737-800 plane and explores the conceptual use of electric motors to drive the fan and compressor assembly. The overall weight of this concept is compared to the maximum operating weight of the Boeing 737-800. The total amount of kilowatt-hours required is calculated as well as the total weight of batteries needed to satisfy the energy requirements of this concept. Based on the findings of this research: current battery densities are too low to provide a weight-effective solution to petroleum-based jet fuel.

MATH 499, Capstone

Brian Carrigan

P103

2:30 – 3 PM

Garrison Lyman

Battling Juvenile Delinquency

Investigating what causes juveniles to be delinquent from poor school attendance, poor educational standards, violence in the home, violence in their social circles, peer pressure, socioeconomic factors, substance abuse, and gender bias. I want to explore these topics as a sense to understand the current situation children are put in that can cause them to lash out and become more hostile towards others. So, we need to look at not only the children but the parental influence as well. If their parents are frequent offenders of the law, the children would most likely follow down that path as well.

IDS 499, Capstone

Brian Mills

P103

1 – 1:30 PM

Kaitlin Martin

Common Threads: A Reflection on Six Short Works

I will be presenting a small selection of creative pieces from my writing portfolio. The six short works I have chosen are representative of the three schools I have attended and will be read in conversation with the reflective paper I have written about the wonderful – and often intense, insane, barely endurable – journey I have been on for the last ten years. I will begin with two poems that were well-received but, ultimately, not chosen for advancement in regional writing competitions through Lane Community College; I will proceed with one short story and one poem written during my time at the University of Oregon; and I will end with another short story and poem that were penned here at NCU. The pieces will, ultimately, speak for themselves. They will illustrate what it’s like to be both artist and Christian, craving both sin and freedom, torn between independence and redemption – in essence, they will expose some of the intricate threadwork that connects me to you through the one thing we all have in common: our humanity.

ENG 499, Capstone

James Watson

SPS 100

1:30 – 2 PM

Kaleb Miles

Treatment of Spinal Cord Injuries

The presentation will provide the basic anatomy of the human nervous system and explore the unfavorable events of spinal cord injury. Followed by the triggered cascades that lead to the lack of normal restorative and regenerative function of the spinal cord. Then the presentation will conclude with an explanation of the top strategies to promote neuroprotection, regeneration, and cell replacement for the spinal cord.

BIOL 499, Capstone

Paul Allee

P114

2 – 2:30 PM

Christy Seaton

Bushnell History Symposium: King Tut Exhibit and Exhibitation

Exhibits matter because they bring museums to life. There was a exhibit of the Tut exhibit that consists of remade artifacts. The way something is shown in a exhibit. By having these artifacts, we keep history alive Each artifact from Egyptian history matters in their cultures.

HIST 499, Capstone

Melisa Ortiz Berry

P103

10 – 11 AM