2004 Posters

Student: Miranda Alberhasky

Miranda Alberhasky

Faculty Advisor: Andrew Brothers, Ph.D.

Borderline Personality Disorder: An Emphasis on Nurture Over Nature

Over the past several decades, there has been increasing interest in the psychological literature regarding the etiology and course of personality disorders. This thesis will review the evidence regarding the etiology of one disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), and introduce a behavioral/interpersonal model to explain the causes and maintenance of the disorder while suggesting a fresh approach to efficacious intervention. BPD is briefly defined as: “A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationship, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts.” This thesis will argue that the predominant factor in the development of the disorder is one of nurture over nature. A merging of behavioral and interpersonal psychology will illustrate this argument. The evidence indicates that specific changes at the interpersonal and social levels might lead to alleviation of problems associated with Borderline Personality Disorder.

Student: Amanda Birdwhistle

Amanda Birdwhistle

Faculty Advisor: Michael Cairo, Ph.D.

The PATRIOT Act: A Review of Implications and the Debate of Security v. Liberty

In the critical days and weeks following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, protection of America’s homeland took immediate precedence in Washington DC. The primary piece of legislation proposed was the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT Act) of 2001. The PATRIOT Act was historical for many reasons, including the political climate surrounding its passage, the limited discussion of such significant changes in government, the vast powers it grants to intelligence agencies and law enforcement, the questions regarding the act’s constitutionality, and the potential outcome on America’s foreign and domestic policy. In this paper, a description is given of the political climate during which the Act was passed. Many significant and controversial sections of the PATRIOT Act are also examined for the changes they make and the potential consequences they can have and arguments for and against the PATRIOT Act are considered. Furthermore, a comparison is made to other events in American history in which the question of security verses civil liberty has been made, and current challenges to the Act are examined.

Student: Mary Burzlaff

Mary Burzlaff

Faculty Advisor: Rosemary Allen, Ph.D.

A Tri-Fold Vision: Blake and Doré’s Illustrations of Milton’s Paradise Lost

In my senior thesis I consider the levels of interpretation that are involved in William Blake and Gustav Doré’s illustration of Paradise Lost. First, I examine the interpretive decisions that Milton makes in his description of the biblical story. Then, I focus on the interpretations of each illustrator, considering the way in which they follow Milton’s descriptions and traditional biblical illustration iconography.

In the first section of my thesis I examine Blake and Doré’s illustrations of Adam and Eve in Eden before the fall. Blake depicts Adam and Eve’s prelapsarian relationship as being explicitly sexual. In Doré’s illustration, on the other hand, Adam and Eve’s relationship seems nearly platonic. In this respect, the interpretation that Blake makes in his illustration is much more closely aligned with Milton’s somewhat radical view that Adam and Eve did have a sexual relationship before The Fall.

The second section of my thesis I examine Blake and Doré’s illustrations of the Serpent’s temptation of Eve. Interestingly, both illustrators follow Milton’s lead in isolating Eve’s temptation (most biblical illustration of the temptation focuses on Eve as the temptress of Adam or at least depict Adam as being present during Eve’s temptation). However, whereas Blake gives a more thoughtful interpretation of Milton’s descriptions, Doré tends to rely more heavily on traditional biblical iconography in his illustration of this scene.

Finally, in the third section of my thesis I consider Blake and Doré’s illustrations of the last scene of Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden. Contrary to the tradition of the expulsion being a scene of despair and shame, Milton describes the expulsion as a scene of hope. Doré seems to follow Milton’s descriptions as his depiction of the expulsion scene is peaceful and suggests a calm sense of hope. Blake, on the other hand, rejects Milton’s interpretation of the expulsion. His illustration of this scene is full of symbols representing the wrath and judgment of God.

In conclusion, I found that neither illustrator followed Milton’s interpretation of the biblical story to the letter. Whereas Doré seems to interpret Milton’s views more accurately when they fall into a more conservative or orthodox pattern, Blake’s interpretations are at their best when following Milton’s more radical ideas

Student: Josh Fenner

Josh Fenner

Faculty Advisor: Tom Cooper, Ph.D.

A Statistical Survey of the Development of Latin America

This paper is a statistical analysis of the explanatory power of economic development theory. Economic development is by no means an unambiguous measure of progress. Economists are inclined to use a measure such as output per capita to show progress. This inclination is from an economist’s belief that in order for a country to develop, its economy must also develop. The easiest measure of economic progress is output and putting it in per capita terms makes for easy comparisons. Those who study foreign nations with a heavier cultural emphasis believe there is much more to progress than output. They can argue that a measure such as life expectancy can more accurately depict progress in a society. In an attempt to investigate how both cultural factors and economic factors are related in developing countries, I have run a cross-sectional regression of 5 variables using data from 1992 to 2002. These data were compiled for 18 countries in Central and South America, including the Caribbean. The following two regression equations (in simplified form) are the results:

GNP = ß₀ – ß₁AGR + ß₂FDI + ß₃LIFE – ß₄POPDENS + e₁

LIFE = ß₀ + ß₁GNP + ß₂AGR – ß₃POPDENS – ß₄FDI +e₁

Where GNP = Gross National Product per capita

AGR = Agriculture as a Percentage of Gross Domestic Product

FDI = Foreign Direct Investment

LIFE = Average Life Expectancy at Birth

POPDENS = Population Density

The equations are to test my hypothesis that both GNP and LIFE are measures of progress. I will take GNP to be the economic standard of development and LIFE to be the cultural standard of development. If economic development theory is correct, certain measures of the economy, such as AGR should be correlated in a way consistent with the particular theory. For example, a decline in AGR correlated with a rise in GNP agrees with economic theory. In order for a country’s economy to develop, it must create an agricultural surplus in order to facilitate alternative and more lucrative production possibilities. This diversification lowers the percentage of output that is dedicated to agriculture. I also intend to find that both GNP and LIFE are correlated with not only economic measures but also with the cultural measures. The correlation between a rise in life expectancy and a rise in GNP per capita is a good example.

This statistical research is only the tip of the iceberg. A more thorough statistical analysis would include many more variables over a greater period of time. It would also be helpful to compare and contrast the statistics with other developing areas of the world over every time period to see any consistent correlation between variables for all developing countries.

Student: Eric Holm

Eric Holm

Faculty Advisor: Rick Kopp, Ph.D.

Sustainable Human Development: Eliminating Gender Inequities to Control Population Growth in the Developing World

Eliminating gender inequities in the developing world is the key to curbing environmental and social problems that result from overpopulation. The earth has a finite amount of resources and can only provide for so many people. As populations in poor, developing nations explode, this puts a major stress on the natural resources of the area—farming is intensified, forests are cleared and water becomes scarce or unclean. In addition, jobs are limited, illicit activities increase and diseases are rampant. The solution to the problem must be reached by attacking the main cause of the population explosion.

In many of these developing nations, women are seen as being part of a lower status than men, and therefore they are often restricted to living and working in the household—a situation that often leads to large family sizes. For example, the average woman in Niger will have eight children in her life¹.

By eliminating gender inequities, a social and economic climate will be created in which families will want to have fewer children. This will take a comprehensive effort from the governments of developed and developing nations through the use of development projects, free and fair education, employment opportunities outside the home and increased availability of contraceptives.

Student: Neely McLaughlin

Neely McLaughlin

Faculty Advisor: Rosemary Allen, Ph.D.

Jane Austen’s Many Marriage

I have been interested in Jane Austen’s novels for some time and the senior thesis project provided me with the opportunity to focus on them. An important issue in critical dialogue on Austen revolves around whether Austen is more appropriately viewed as conservative or radical, and interpretation of her view of marriage is central to the debate. Austen’s novels are marriage-plot novels, and to some this very fact marks Austen as highly conservative. But though marriage is clearly an important underlying theme in the culture she portrays, Austen’s does not oversimplify marriage. I have explored Austen’s presentation of marriage in three ways.

In section one, I address the downright disastrous to less than ideal marriages in the novels, which reveal Austen’s recognition that the institution of marriage can be problematic.

In section two, I discuss what may be classified as Austen’s lover-mentor marriages, the most conservative element of Austen’s presentation of marriage, and note that she recognizes the limitations of marriages that so perfectly conform to patriarchal ideas.

Finally, I analyze Austen’s treatment of independent women in regard to marriage, exploring her presentation of three independent women (Elizabeth Bennet, Mary Crawford and Anne Elliot), which shows Austen’s interest in marriages tailored to the individuals involved.

Over all, Austen’s presentation of marriage reveals the complexity of her view: She recognizes problems associated with marriage, sees the potential in the conservative lover-mentor type of marriage, and has room in her conception of marriage for relationships based on equality and mutual respect. Thus I argue that Austen’s presentation of marriage reveals her to be neither an unqualified supporter of the status quo nor a radical feminist but a witty social critic hopeful or romantic enough to see potential for a variety of good marriages.

Student: Jenny Starnes

Jenny Starnes

Faculty Advisor: Chris Leverenz, Ph.D.

Optimization of Risk in Portfolio Allocation Using Linear Programming

Developed during WWII to efficiently allocate resources between the Pacific and European war fronts, linear programming is now heavily used in various areas of mathematics and business. It studies effective algorithms that optimize linear functions subject to linear constraints. Generally speaking, in the real world, linear programming problems maximize or minimize quantities such as profit, cost, and revenue. For my honors project, I have used linear programming to determine how Georgetown College’s Investment Team should invest $130,000 in thirty stocks in order to minimize the level of risk. I have followed Konno and Yamazaki’s variant of Markowitz’s model for portfolio optimization. Markowitz’s model minimizes the standard deviation of the expected risk, which involves minimizing a quadratic function in n variables. Konno and Yamazaki have replaced this with an approximation that can be converted to a linear program. Based on the monthly returns of the thirty stocks over a five year period, my linear programming model is constructed to illustrate the change in risk as a result of adjusting the minimal rate of return. As expected, the risk of investing increases as an investor requires a higher rate of return.

Student: Amy Walker

Amy Walker

Faculty Advisor: Harold Tallant, Ph.D.

“Who Was Margaret Garner?”

For her Honor’s Thesis, Amy Walker explored primary source historical documents to discover “Who Was Margaret Garner?” Her interest in Margaret Garner, a Kentucky slave, began in History of Slavery in America, a class taught by Dr. Tallant. An avid reader and English major, she was further intrigued by Margaret Garner because Toni Morrison used the Garner story as a loose basis for her award-winning novel, Beloved. Amy explored hundreds of pages in Kentucky and Cincinnati newspapers, and relied on the scholarship of Steve Weisenberger as she pieced together the biography of Margaret Garner, a slave mother from Boone County who attempted to escape with her family to Cincinnati, and murdered her child before they were recaptured. She discovered that the horror of the incident and following trial sparked a huge debate about the Fugitive Slave Law and the rights of runaway slaves. The murder became an issue concerning Southern honor, and created a miniature Civil War across the Ohio River in 1856. Amy hopes to continue her research by exploring the life of Margaret’s master, Archibald Gaines, and she would love to obtain more primary source documentation concerning the murder and trial.

Student: Tyler Scott

Tyler Scott

Faculty Advisor: Michael Cairo, Ph.D.

The Powell Doctrine

I will be examining the Powell Doctrine from its formation after lessons learned in Korea, Vietnam, and Lebanon and then its application in Panama and the Persian Gulf. I am also studying its impact on the Clinton Presidency and how Clinton used many of the major points in the Powell Doctrine as a guide in conducting foreign affairs. The major focus though will be to prove that the Powell Doctrine is universal enough to applied in future military operations including the war on terrorism.