What is a Viola?

A viola is a string instrument similar to a violin but larger in size, producing a deeper sound to compliment the arrangement. Two curled holes, allowing some light inside the hallowed body, just delicate enough to float, perched under the chin of its commander. [excerpt

The Effect of Cheese on the pH Levels in the Oral Cavity

In the Fall of 2014, research was conducted with 20 participants on the campus of Western Kentucky University. Participants were given two ounces of Coca Cola® to drink and the pH level in their mouth was tested one minute later. After waiting a minute, the participants were given a one ounce square of mild cheddar cheese to eat and the pH level was tested again one minute later. For further study, this project will be expanded to include more subjects as well as an increased exposure time to Coca Cola®. This research is conducted to help support that cheese can help increase the pH level in the oral cavity by reducing bacteria which in the long term could reduce decay. The cheese helps to provide a protective shield around the teeth that fights the release of acids. Cheese also increases the flow of saliva, which helps to keep the teeth cleansed, preventing bacteria from adhering to tooth surfaces. Also, the consumption of cheese also increases calcium and phosphorus levels, which helps reduce the acidity of dental biofilm

In Search of a Standard for Judicial Review of Legal Error in Commercial Arbitration Awards

This paper surveys cases under California law in which commercial arbitration awards have been reviewed for errors of law and proposes a coherent approach to judicial review of alleged errors of law in commercial arbitration awards. Both of the following issues will be addressed: 1. When and how courts should decide whether parties to an arbitration agreement have reserved arbitrator decisions on points of law for judicial review. 2. Whether and, if so, when and by what standard courts should review arbitrator decisions on points of law when the parties have not agreed to reserve such issues for review

Film Women Violence

As a condensed version of social reality, film has become a more common object of modern sociological and criminological investigation. As such, we can explore film to understand taken-for-granted as well as innovative constructions of social phenomena. Among these are gendered violence. We can use film to dig deep into its logics, elaborated in visual and narrative representations. Prior literature has analyzed crime films and the behavioral constructions within them, outlining the representations of serial homicide, rape, mass shootings and revenge. However, few studies have outlined films that do meaningful, non-voyeuristic representational work on the issue of violence against women. The purpose of this thesis, then, is to fill the gap by conducting a thematic analysis of four films that convey women resisting violence: Precious (2009), Room (2015), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and Promising Young Woman (2020). While resistance to violence against women and other feminized subjects is usually the province of men or the masculine state, these four films cast women as the main protagonists and furthermore characterize them as active and powerful in their negotiation of violence

What is Marriage For?

Before we can properly answer the question “What is marriage?,” we must first be able to answer the question “What is marriage for?” Defining what marriage is, before fully understanding what marriage is for, presumes we already know what marriage is for, when in fact we do not. In a moral sense, marriage is for love. And in a legal sense, marriage is for everyone (regardless of sexuality or race). In this paper I discuss how, regardless of whether you view marriage in a purely moral or in a purely legal light, marriage equality should be afforded to all citizens

Slavery, Civil War, and Contemporary Public Opinion in the South

This paper is an empirical extension of Avidit Acharya, Matthew Blackwell, and Maya Sen’s piece (forthcoming), “A Culture of Disenfranchisement: How American Slavery Continues to Affect Voting Behavior.” In their project, Acharya, Blackwell and Sen (forthcoming) show that the counties that had more slaves versus free population in the nineteenth century are more likely to exhibit conservative attitudes in contemporary elections. I am extending this argument by measuring potential influence of Civil War battlegrounds on recent voting patterns and political predispositions. My project finds further support for Acharya, Blackwell and Sen’s study on the predictive power of Southern historical forces over current-day voting behavior, concluding that Southern counties with higher levels of free population as opposed to slaves in 1860, and the ones with Civil War battlegrounds are more likely than other Southern counties to vote for the Republican candidate in the 2012 presidential election