Interview with Kristy DeWall, Class of 2001, 2003, and 2007

Oral history interview with Illinois State University alumnus Kristy DeWall, Class of 2001, 2003, and 2007. The interview was conducted on July 8, 2022, by Heather Paraday, at the time an undergraduate student at Illinois State University. They discuss how growing up in foster care led them to pursue a college education, serving in the Air National Guard under the Don\u27t Ask, Don\u27t Tell policy, their involvement with ISU Pride and Student Government Association, and ISU personnel who impacted their experience in positive ways.https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/aoh/1040/thumbnail.jp

Fissures and Fractures: An Investigation in Natural Breakdowns

Growing up in a mostly rural area in the Midwest, I spent great lengths outside as a child. Sure, I was born into the era of arcade games and Nintendo, but I remember preferring more active experiences rather than the stationary ones held within doors. Maybe it was hard to keep my focus; maybe I was a bit hyperactive. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t inside when I didn’t have to be. I recall escaping into the woods for hours when I was younger. I would take long bike rides or escape into the horse pasture deep behind our house. Not only did the woods and fields interest me, but I recall a deep fascination with water. A lot of childhood memories consisted of catching reptiles of all kinds, fishing for crayfish, or just spending large amounts of time near creeks, streams, and rivers. My close proximity to the Mississippi River is most likely an influence on my affection for the water. I relished the opportunity to venture within and explore my natural surroundings. These early experiences subconsciously and perhaps directly affect my creative responses and decisions as a maker. Unwittingly researching form and unknowingly studying pattern from the beginning has helped to shape me as person. It seemed that I had a pre-natural fascination with the non man-made. Humorously, I remember as child that my family used to go to a dinner club with my grandparents whenever we would visit them. I always ordered crab legs due to the rare opportunity to do so. Many times a week after the dinner my parent’s car would produce a foul odor produced by the crab legs that I had saved as toys. I used to do all sorts of quirky things like that, but I know it stemmed from a desire to understand. I have been a fortunate individual. With a father as a sales representative for a travel company, I have many times had the opportunity to travel and experience many different climates and geographical features within different regions of the United States, as well as a few other countries. It has been a privilege to be able to visit new places. With every travel opportunity I have witnessed different animals, plant life, and varieties of land formations. I relish this feeling of “Wow, I have never seen that in real life before”. The results of traveling and new experiences ultimately lead to new interests, ideas, and questions waiting to be answered. My youthful ideas and concerns have presently carried over into my daily life. I am still that boy filled with wonderment when I wander outdoors, always playing, looking, and speculating. The visual forms of our world are directly affected by physical and universal properties. Therein lies the obvious similarities within different materials and substances. It is this need of an understanding and insight that drives me. The forms and shapes within different natural substances seem to have common threads. A person must ask oneself, for instance, why do tree branches look like lighting which looks like river systems? It cannot be coincidental. The underlying formal themes of nature seem to be linked. The re-occurrences are all too common. Understanding this gives insight to how our world works and we exist

Neutron Activation Analysis for Trace Metal Content of Brookings Sludge for Land Application

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strongly favors land application of sludge as a disposal method and requires communities to consider the application of sewage wastes to land as one of their alternatives to advanced wastewater treatment in order to be eligible for federal funding to improve sewage wastewater treatment facilities. Although use of sewage sludge on the land has definite benefits, several potential problems may develop when applying this method of disposal. One main concern has been the possibility of toxic metal pollution occurring in the application soils. If high concentrations of zinc, copper, lead, cadmium, etc. are present in the sludge, they may be retained by the soil and accumulate to levels which pose a health risk to the environment. To minimize risks from sludge application on land it is necessary to impose certain regulations and restrictions on sludge application rates and management techniques. EPA is primarily responsible for most of the regulations and guidelines applied to sludge disposal. Included in these guidelines is the requirement to analyze the sludge for any harmful or potentially toxic contaminants it may contain. Application soils should also be analyzed to establish a base reference before the addition of sludge and to determine any unusually high concentrations of elements that would restrict loading rates. This study was conducted to determine the trace metal concentrations in sewage sludge for the city of Brookings. S.D. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) was used to determine the trace metal content since this methodology yields accurate, precise results for many elements at one time with a minimum of chemical and physical manipulation. Sludge samples were collected from the wastewater plant of Brookings as were soil samples from farming areas selected as potential sludge application sites. Standards and samples were irradiated in a TRIGA reactor at Washington State University. The gamma ray spectra were analyzed using a lithium drifted germanium crystal detector and a multichannel analyzer. Thirty-two different trace metals were identified and their concentrations determined for both sludge and soil

Does Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to the Prefrontal Cortex Affect Social Behavior? A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis (k = 48, N = 2196) examined the effect of transcranial direct current brain stimulation (tDCS) applied to the prefrontal cortex on a variety of social behaviors, including aggression, overeating, impulsivity, bias, honesty, and risk-taking. tDCS showed an overall significant effect on reducing undesirable behaviors, with an average effect size of d = −0.20. tDCS was most effective at reducing risk-taking behavior, bias, and overeating. tDCS did not affect aggression, impulsivity, or dishonesty. We examined moderators such as brain region of interest, online vs offline stimulation, within- vs between-subjects designs, dose, and duration, but none showed significant interactions. We also tested for potential publication bias using two different tools, which indicated signs of publication bias in the literature. After correcting for potential publication bias, the effect of tDCS was still significant, but the size was reduced (d = −0.10). These findings suggest the presence of tDCS studies with null findings outside of the published literature. Taken together, these results suggest that although tDCS can reduce undesirable behaviors, researchers should consider the types of behaviors they measure and use strategies to ensure sufficient power to detect a possible effect of tDCS on social behavior

Feeling entitled to more: Ostracism increases dishonest behavior

postprin

High Status Men (But Not Women) Capture the Eye of the Beholder

Two studies tested the hypothesis that people attend preferentially to high status men (but not women). Participants overestimated the frequency of high status men in rapidly presented arrays (Experiment 1) and fixated their visual attention on high status men in an eye-tracking study (Experiment 2). Neither study showed any evidence of preferential attention to high status women, but there was evidence that physically attractive women captured attention. The results from both studies support evolutionary theories regarding differential prioritization of social status and physical attractiveness in men versus women. These findings illustrate how examination of early-in-the-stream social cognition can provide useful insights into the adapted mind

Ex post evaluation of the MAP 2001-2005 initiative and suggestions for the CIP 2007-2013

In the EU25, some 23 million SMEs represent 99% of all enterprises, provide 75 million jobs and make a 55% contribution towards the creation of wealth: in addition, one third of employees and over two thirds of private-sector employees in Europe work in SMEs. Given their outstanding strategic importance, the European Commission has launched several policies to promote the development of SMEs, their access to finance and investment in R&D and innovation. A prominent role among EU programmes targeting SMEs is played by the Multi-Annual Programme for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship 2001-2005 (MAP), funded by Community budget and co-financing instruments. The MAP has been extended until the end of 2006 to create a bridge with the forthcoming Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP), a very ambitious project that will run from 2007 to 2013. Against this background, the Budgetary Committee of the European Parliament commissioned CEPS to evaluate the output of the MAP over the period 2000-2005 in terms of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and utility, by highlighting the value for money of the programmes and related actions, and emphasising whether the funds dedicated to their implementation have produced the expected quantitative and qualitative effects. In this report, CEPS was also asked to provide some orientations for future-generation programmes, namely the CIP. The authors focus in particular on the actions undertaken between 2001 and 2006, as they provide more relevant and consistent information on the output of the MAP initiative and, in turn, better orientation for the forthcoming CIP