The Honors College

Dependence on fossil fuels to meet energy demands has brought about concern for the effects of changing climate on natural systems as well as human well-being and health, as both are affected critically by increased carbon dioxide emissions. Finding an alternative to petroleum is one of the main concerns in the increased efforts to produce renewable forms of energy. Microalgae are of particular interest, as these microorganisms are able to efficiently and effectively convert C02 into triacylglycerols, or molecules ofbiofuel.

The making of my thesis documentary, Family, Fairness, Freedom, has been a true educational experience. I have not only learned the basics of documentary-making, but also some more advanced techniques of adding texture to a scene. Although I already knew quite a lot about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender politics, I discovered even more in the context of North Carolina as well as the United States and other countries.

Currently, 1.4 billion, 1 in 4 individuals around the world, live below the internationally defined poverty threshold, set by the World Bank, of $1.25 a day. Non-profit and philanthropic organizations around the world continue to struggle with the complexity and enormity of poverty as they attempt to eradicate it. Within the past thirty years, a movement led by one particular innovator, Muhammad Yunus, has made great strides towards a possible solution known as microfinance.

The Watauga County Farmers Market (WCFM) has been located in the Horn in the West lot for 34 years and its lease is ending in December, 2011. The market is now faced with finding a new location within the Town of Boone. The WCFM has created a new location search committee and has examined three proposed sites within the town. This thesis has developed an assessment tool based on important site factors to help identify a location for the WCFM through four processes of data collection and analysis.

Teen Court programs are utilized to divert first-time juvenile offenders from the formal juvenile justice system and present them with an alternative to a criminal record. The programs employ many techniques to reduce the recidivism rates of their participants, provide them with community and peer support, quickly deliver sanctions, and supply opportunities to make restitution to their communities. Recidivism rates, the rate at which defendants re-offend following the program, are the measure of effectiveness for teen courts.

The purpose of this project was to present an aesthetically pleasing recital for flute, piano and alto flute with extensive program notes. The music for the recital included J.J. Quantz's Concerto in G for flute, Jonathan Bayley's Music for Pan on alto flute, J.S. Bach's Sonata in A Major (BWV 1032), and Prokofiev's Flute Sonata in D Major, Op. 94. The program notes included biographical information about each composer, contextual and analytical background for each piece, and the author's personal connection to each piece. 

This honors thesis analyzes Jane Austen’s popular novel Pride and Prejudice in order to demonstrate how different aspects of business affected decisions about matrimony in Austen’s day. First, I examine economics in the sense of social class and ask how economic social hierarchies play a role in the marriage decision. Finance, which goes hand in hand with social economics, is also explored, along with how the characters’ personal financial situations influence the choice of a husband or wife.

This document is a reflection on my thesis project.  For my project, I acted as assistant  dramaturg for the Appalachian State Department of Theatre and Dance’s 2009 production of Lysistrata.

This review of the current literature and research of stem cells examines the potentials, both benefits and detriments, the new technology will have in the medical community. The benefits of stem cell therapy in the medical field are presented through research projecting future treatments and cures to disease, while the detriments of stem cell research arise from the side effects of cell-based therapy and ethical disconnection between people. The cost and benefits of stem cells are balanced to examine future actions in regard to medical application of stem cell therapy.

"Velocity of Time: Narrative Loops and Nonlinear Time in the World of Michael Gondry" examines disjointed time and cyclical structures in the music videos and the feature films of director Michael Gondry. The thesis argues that Gondry uses these devices in order to create a new sense of narrative time that has developed out of the tradition of postmodernism, but is unique to his body of work. Gondry's sense of time and willingness to leap through time and space reflect the history of motion picture technology.