Theses are the culmination of honor students independent research under the guidance of faculty members and are representative of Union College's commitment to giving students the tools necessary for life-long learning.
Theses/Dissertations from 2011
Characterization of Green Roofs and their Potential Effects on the Union College Campus, Cybil Tribie
Rediscovering Prigg v. Pennsylvania, Andrew J. Trochanowski
Democratization and Social Movements: An Analysis of Elites and Masses in Democratic Transitions, Caroline M. Tulp
Evolution of Flow in Games, Paul J. Tunison
r-Process Nucleosynthesis in Supernova Simulation, Lyda P. Urresta
The History and Mathematics Behind the Construction of the Islamic Astrolabe, Lyda P. Urresta
Lyndon Johnson: A Psychological Character Study, Stephanie L. Vacchio
Do Medical Technology and Healthcare Spending Affect Health Outcomes?, Chandni V. Vaid
Effects of Arginine on the Kinetics of Bovine Insulin Aggregation Studied by Dynamic Light Scattering, Michael M. Varughese
Hijos, muerte y la histeria femenina: La historia de La Malinche a través de dos representaciones de la Llorona en el cine mexicano, Aria D. Walfrand
Tragically Hip: Hipsters Psychological Development Irony and the Negative Backlash, Aria D. Walfrand
Neuropsychological and Neurophysiological Effects of Low-Intensity Strengthening Exercise on Cognition, Vadim V. Yerokhin
Regional Variation in the Length of Hospital Stay and Insurance Coverage: A State-wide Variation in Length of Stay and Insurance Types, Samuel S. Yoon
Glitter Paintings, Hilary R. Zelson
Attributing Mind to Others: The underlying mechanism of the timescale bias effect, Kseniya Zhuzha
The Lunar Society of Birmingham and the Practice of Science in 18th Century Great Britain, Scott H. Zurawel
Theses/Dissertations from 2010
The Greek experience in World War Two, Harry A. Aaron
The lost fat paycheck : the effect of obesity on hourly wages over time in the U.S., Anil Akoon
Detrital zircon fission track ages of the Paleogene Kootznahoo formation, Kupreanof and Admiralty Islands, southeast Alaska, Leonard Ancuta
New methods for preparing and testing libraries of Pyrrolidine-triazole organocatalysts, Valerie L. Angell
Religion and identity : secular Judaism at Union College, Natalie L. Azzoli
The politics of foster care, Rebecca Bardach
Wavenumber spectral analysis from free-surface MHD experiments, Brandon L. Bartell
Out with the old, in with the new : the community college model of the future, Gillian G. Bland
La sexualité dans le film Francophone : la femme, l'homosexuel et le individu « transgenre » dans les films après les années cinquante, Erin K. Bligh
Roots & wisdom : growing communities in Schenectady, New York, Erin K. Bligh
Design of a curveball pitching machine with an arm-like throwing mechanism, Andrew D. Brown
Evolutionary signal processing : financial time series predictions, David D. Brown
Oscillations, Emily A. Burgess
Visual elements of the poetic : re-representing identities of the Harlem renaissance, Emily A. Burgess
The influence of advertisements on childhood obesity : content analysis of television commercials during prime-time cartoons, Lori I. Cassorla
Can performing arts thrive in Shenzhen, China?, Yu Chen
The comparison of performing arts companies in the U.S. and China, Yu Chen
Senior piano recitial : Sunday, May 30, 2010, Heidi Ching
An assessment of the state of modern Congress, Briana M. Cincotta
Literary bridges to confronting the problem of evil : using fiction for education in philosophy, Ian M. Clemente
An introduction to the Hurricane of '38" and its impact on disaster relief policy in the United States, Connor A. Cohn
Trojan horse policy : the intermediary goals of contemporary U.S. aid packages combating Colombian narcoterrorism, Lindsay R. Colvin
New media technology and the American campaign : a case study of the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, Timothy W. Cook
The effect of government subsidies and tax credits on the economic viability of wind energy development in the United States, Jeffrey J. Coombs
A constitutional defense of same-sex marriage, Benjamin X. Cote
Meeting financial and familial responsibilities : an analysis of messages in Ladies' Home Journal about women's economic citizenship in the 1930s and 1970s, Lisa A. Crawford
The illusions of our perceptions", Elizabeth C. Culp
Inequalities in the health care system : does the racial disparity still exist?, Pooja R. Dave
Taking responsibility : the effect of high self‐accountable emotions on risky drinking behavior, Katharine M. Davis
Neuropsychological effects of exergaming on cognition in older adults : role of physical and mental components, Lyndsay A. De Matteo
The world’s best" religion : a cross-country study on how religion affects economic growth, Neeja V. Desai
The environmental model : a recipe for rising obesity in the United States, Michael T. Dolinger
Status in the Homeric world, Andrew D. Donnelly
The role of the media in influencing presidential elections, Sarah A. Doucett
Characterization of a putative caveolin binding motif in the human follicle stimulating hormone receptor, Maria Dzialo
United States Healthcare Reform 2010 : understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status and attitudes about reform, Stephanie Egizi
A dialogue across generations : the search for identity in contemporary Irish writing, Thomas B. Fagin
Chutes and ladders : an analysis of factors affecting women’s career commitment, Emily Feld
Blue lupine growing conditions affect leaf nutritional quality for an endangered butterfly, Rivka B. Fidel
Mutation and proliferation of the grotesque in the works of Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop, and Great Expectations), Courtney A. Foster
La presencia de lo invisible : imágenes del fantasma en el teatro de la frontera Mexicana-Americana, Allison B. Frederick
Predicting community college tuition and enrollments and simulating the initial effects of President Obama’s American graduation initiative, Allison B. Frederick
La complexité de l'immigration clandestine en France, Marissa S. Gaines
Amount of time in day care, temperament, and the development of theory of mind, Ashley C. Gilman
By choice or by chance : communicative technology use in sustaining long distance friendships, Lindsey B. Goldberg
Executive rrders and the modern presidency, Dana R. Goldsmith
The effect of optimism and imagined or physical practice on learning, Diana S. Goodman
Quantifying capital overhang in the United States housing market and its impact on future housing investment, Sean M. Gorski
Ascaniad, Rachel J. Gray
Neural basis of visually evoked head and electrically evoked wing movements in dragonflies, Natalie M. Grome
Design and manufacture of an external bone fixator for a mouse tibia, Alexandra E. Guernon
Do community health centers improve health status?, Sheena Gupta
Adolescent cigarette access : smoking prevention through development of a parental production function, Moosa N. Haider
Creating an experimental setup for laser induced breakdown spectroscopy, Alex M. Handin
Effects of exercise on neural plasticity in older adults, Elliot D. Harmon
A novel fluorescence model for studying the binding of medium- to long-chain per uoroalkyl acids to human serum albumin, Paul C. Hebert
From the school yard to the internet : does cyberbullying cause suicide?, Patricia E. Henderson-Adams
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 : a comparison study between Niskayuna and Schenectady High Schools, Nicole R. Hennings
You can't have one without the other : a closer look at supererogation and its implications, Lativa M. Holder
Self-perception as a function of objective self-awareness and role-playing, Megan K. Hyndman
Status, race, education, and music : addressing segregation at Albany High School, Max Z. Jack
China’s birth planning policy, son preference and its contribution to the missing girl population, Sara K. Jacobson
Ideology in political children‘s literature : informing and socializing America‘s youth, Bridget N. Jameson
The mean girl phenomenon : the use of indirect aggression among college women, Amanda E. Judson
Differentiable manifolds, Foyroj Kabir
The viewpoints involved in the construction of ethics, Hyma Kavuri
Differences in stress and cortisol between student athletes and student non-athletes, Ann K. Keller
The design and production of the row board, George L. Kershaw
Incipient weathering in silicic rocks indicated by enrichment of ree and trace element concentrations : the High Cascades, Oregon, Matthew T. Kissane
How green is the harvest? : effects of forest biofuel management on soil resources, Natalie G. Koncki
The roots of dissent: : an examination of the Readjuster Movement in Virginia, Adam N. Koslin
Progress towards the construction of a “knockout-ready” strain of the mushroom fungus Schizophyllum commune, Nikhil A. Kothari
Unraveling the secrets of the hook up culture : a biological and cultural analysis of casual sex among college students, Kathryn A. Krakowka
You and me, and the space in between, Stella Kyung
Bootstrap : a series of collected thoughts on the universe & everything else, Steven Leung
The social effects of a single-sex high school education, Allison R. Levy
Development of sun-tracking system for solar modules, Gareth W. Lewis
Carlos Fuentes y Rosina Conde : la representación de la mujer como comodidad en los cuentos cortos de la frontera, Cristina E. Liquori
Woolf, Le Guin and Winterson : androgyny as a literary strategy in twentieth century women's writing, Cristina E. Liquori
The elephant in the room : a critical analysis of the Republican party’s road to recovery, Nicole D. Litvack
Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe : case study and analysis of money velocity, Kenrick L. Liu
Self-propelling bislugs, Jessica M. Lord