The Honors College

Beginning with the Mt. Wilson project, standards method for detecting and characterizing stellar magnetic activity has been the measurement of the chromospheric flux in the cores of the Ca II K & H lines. However, it is important to explore the use of other features in the stellar spectrum for the same purpose, especially those that will give insight into the manifestation of stellar activity in the photosphere. This thesis identifies and explores two such features – the Ca I resonance line at 4226 Å, and the hydrogen gamma (Hɣ) line in the Balmer series.

Sour Springs: A Story of Groundwater Contamination in the Blue Ridge Mountains tells the tale of a 77-year-old woman named Dot Rice and her discovery of chemical contamination in springs that her family used for drinking water. This long-form piece of journalism details Dot’s struggles and tells the stories of those who came to her rescue. By the end of the story, Dot transforms from an average south Asheville resident into a dedicated community leader.

Social media has quickly become a dominant part of many people’s lives. In recent years, Tumblr, a popular blogging site, has gained millions of followers from diverse backgrounds, including followers, who self-identify as having mental health issues. This study examines the patterns between more negative and more positive Tumblr blogs and the likelihood that these Tumblr blogs will reblog either more negative or more positive images.

In the 1850’s the dramatization of Uncle Tom’s Cabin initiated a decade of theatre that revolved around the question of slavery. As a result, the American theatre became another medium for the debate on slavery that was raging between Democrats and Republicans. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was used as abolitionist propaganda in the North. The success of Uncle Tom’s Cabin prompted a wave of pro-slavery plays in the South. None of these were very successful.

Achieving satisfaction with work-life balance can be challenging as a member of the medical profession. As a future medical student, I sought to gain knowledge on the variables that influence a physician’s satisfaction with work-life balance. PubMed, PsychINFO, and CINAHL were systematically searched for articles from the United States published in the last five years relevant to this topic. Articles were excluded if they studied physicians outside of the United States, studied a physician’s spouse, or if the participants were physician’s assistants or nurses.

This paper is an examination of the threat of global terrorism and the associated challenges and opportunities in determining the most viable risk management solutions. Terrorism risk poses unprecedented challenges - conceptual, technical, and operational - for the insurance industry. The effects of terrorist events can be enduring, incurring virtually limitless costs and consequences to the economy. Through analysis of the nature of terrorism risk, issues with insurability become apparent.

An African American neighborhood, known as Junaluska, formed in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina in the late 1800s. In 1918, a group of Krimmer Mennonite Brethren (KMB) missionaries established the Boone Mennonite Brethren Church (BMBC) there. This church would maintain prominent standing in the community, outlasting all other black churches in the town. While the BMBC stood as the center of the community, the music was the center of the church.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that a fluency disorders class utilizing teletherapy and experiential learning had on graduate student knowledge and skills in fluency disorders. The method involved creation and administration of a survey consisting of demographic information and thirty-four, five-point, Likert scale questions regarding comfort level when working with clients who stutter. The survey was administered on the first and last day of the semester.

This study explores the connection between plant chemistry, plant herbivores, and the environment in which plants are grown. Understanding interspecific, community-level interactions is an essential part of understanding ecosystems as a whole. As native ranges shift with climate change, understanding which spatial and environmental factors may impact host plants and their associated herbivores is essential in order to best prepare for and manage these changes.

The popularity of the local farmers’ market is on the rise. Historically, food, especially food specific markets, has rarely been the focus of sociological inquiry. This research aims to fill this gap and explore the functions that farmers’ markets play in communities, specifically in one market located in rural western North Carolina. Review of the literature identified five manifest, or intended market functions, and four latent, or unintended functions.