Showing papers by "Parkland College published in 2014"

Center of Mass

Abstract: CENTER OF MASS The motion of a system may appear to be quite difficult to describe because different particles making up the system will have different position, velocity, and acceleration. However, as we will see, it is not difficult to describe the motion of a system if we consider the motion of a special point called the center of mass. Two questions immediately arise: (1) What do we mean by the center of mass? and (2) How do we find the center of mass for a system?. The answer to the first question is given below. We will prove it later by applying N2L to the system

A Profile of Rural African American Lesbian Elders: Meeting Their Needs

Abstract: Elderly African American lesbians in rural society represent diversity across numerous demographic characteristic and social positions that require specific responses to their needs. The population must address issues related to age, race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. In this chapter a trans-disciplinary examination of issues relevant to this population is examined. In order to do so, a profile of elderly African American lesbians is presented. Additional information is presented on the concepts of feminism and womanism, the construct of positive marginality, characteristics of rural society and how African American women and lesbians exist in such a context, cultural homophobia in the black community, and racism in the white gay community. Psychosocial adjustment considers the intersection of sexual orientation, age, and race statuses. Finally, healthcare, education, and public policy issues are examined with respect to elder African American lesbians.

On a 20th Century Codex: The Flight into Egypt

Abstract: As we examine an illustrated modern book, a number of phenomena featuring the interrelation of script-like and pictorial elements draw the attention. The inventive art of Timothy C. Ely strikes even an untrained eye with his great and fantastic explorations of real and out-of-this-world sceneries, largely saturated with cryptic symbols, atlas-related features and marks of constructed scripts. The Elyan scripts, unrestricted to a cast of scribes, convert T. C. Ely into the only known scribe, creator and cognizant of these asemic expressions. This contemporary illuminator has created highly personal books, similar to the codices of early and later Middle Ages, reviving and popularizing the tradition. In terms of cognition, analysis is deemed appealing as shared and different aspects between genuine scripts and invented ones are identified. We can also hypothesize on The Flight into Egypt (FiE) as an indication of the to-come future, where written, visual, and aural platforms cross boundaries by merg...

Factors that Affect Daily Tiredness and Stress and How to Improve General Sleep Quality

Abstract: Today’s college students suffer from sleep deprivation, which is affected by many factors such as academics and work. Research has shown that sleep deprivation has contributed to poorer academic ability and job performance. I have performed a case study on myself in a 17-day span to discover what factors affect my daytime tiredness and stress as a college student and hypothesized that academics and hours worked had a strong relation to my daytime tiredness and my level of stress. Results showed that rather the quality of my sleep impacted my level of tiredness and stress. More research indicated that there are several factors that affect a student’s quality of sleep and that there were many ways to improve their quality of sleep including decreasing riskier behaviors like drinking and partying. At the end of my study, I found my hypothesis to be incorrect. The quality of sleep was the major factor that affected my daytime tiredness and stress level. Further research and studies to discover what could help my quality of sleep would be beneficial in helping me reduce my daytime tiredness and overall level of stress. Tiredness and Stress 3 Factors that Affect Daily Tiredness and Stress and How to Improve General Sleep Quality Of the many psychological disorders examined in today’s world, one of the most overlooked is sleep deprivation. This especially impacts college students. With the combination of academic work, employment, and social activities, many college students find little time to sleep on a regular schedule. This can lead to a series of outcomes for college students. I hypothesize that there is a relation between the number of hours worked, tests due, and papers due to one’s level of daily tiredness and stress level. I predict that there will be a positive correlation between the hours worked, tests due, and papers due and the level of one’s daily tiredness. I also predict that there will be a negative correlation between the hours worked, tests due, and papers due and one’s own stress level. Research has shown that sleep deprivation has had effects on a college students’ academic and job performance. To further discover if this hypothesis stands correct, I performed a case study on myself to see if these factors affect my daily tiredness and overall level of stress. The Relationship between Work, Academics, and Stress Researchers have studied the effects of sleep on work. One of the major factors that contribute to this sleep disturbance is being employed in shift work. In an article by Yu-Chih-Chiang, Susan Arendt, Tianshu Zheng, and Kathy Hanisch (2014), “The Effects of Sleep on Academic Performance and Job Performance”, it is stated that shift work impacts one’s circadian rhythms and students exhibit lower GPAs, especially if they work more hours. In their study, they found that more students who were employed in the hospitality industry had more difficulty falling asleep at night and staying awake in Tiredness and Stress 4 class than those who did not work in this industry. More people who were employed woke up more at night than those who were unemployed. Their statistics showed that over 57% of their participants sampled worked between 11 and 20 hours a week, 36% went to bed between 12 and 1 AM, almost 38% got up between 7 and 8AM on weekdays, and over 56% got up between 9 and 11AM on weekends. Based on their statistics, students had a harder time being on time at work, showing up to work, feeling motivated, and working with less accidents when sleep deprived. These results showed that college students did struggle at work and this is partly due to their sleep deprivation. It is also stated that sleep loss had an effect on daytime sleepiness and this was correlated with poor academic performance. And while many students indicated little trouble falling asleep, about a quarter of the sampled students took between 30 and 60 minutes to fall asleep. This was correlated with lower GPAs as well (Chiang et al., 2014). Based on this research, I expect there to be a relation between my academics and jobs and my daily tiredness and stress level. Factors That Affect Sleep Quality Among College Students While some have said that the amount of schoolwork and job hours affects sleep, others have said sleep quality does. All college students in some way or another experience sleep deprivation during their school years and there are an incredible amount of factors that affect this, but there are few that are the most common. The article “Relationship between Sleep Quality and Health Risk Behaviors in Undergraduate Students” by Karen Vail-Smith, Michael Felts, and Craig Becker (2009), conducted a survey on 859 undergraduate college students. The survey confirmed that 6.3% reported great sleep quality, 76.6% said they had sleep problems every once in a while, and 11.8% Tiredness and Stress 5 indicated poor sleep quality. Other statistics that they found are: 18% took more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, 28% had experienced insomnia within the last 3 months, 11% had trouble falling asleep 3 or more days a week, 11% indicated they had disturbed sleep 3 or more days a week, 13% woke up in the middle of the night 3 or more days a week, 11% woke up too early 3 or more days a week, 82% experienced general morning tiredness, and 2% used sleep medication at least once a week for the past 3 weeks. It is evident that sleep deprivation is a significant issue the American population faces. The article stated that one tenth of the United States suffers from insufficient sleep and over 25% did not get enough sleep often. Such sleep deprivation can cause severe effects such as traffic accidents and occupational problems (Vail-Smith et al., 2009). Factors that have contributed to this, especially in the college population, include parties, living arrangements, stress, drinking, sexual encounters, and other extracurricular activities. From the data collected in this article, the authors concluded that sleep quality was associated with several health risk behaviors including suicidal thoughts, physical aggression, smoking, drinking, and marijuana use. 74 students of the 859 said they had experienced a physical conflict, 60 students had considered suicide, 180 smoked daily, and the non-drinkers experienced a significantly better sleep quality than the drinkers. This article provides sufficient reasons to these students’ poor sleep quality. Students who engaged in riskier behaviors tend to be victims of poorer sleep quality, further leading them to daytime tiredness. As a college student, I am faced with an incredible amount of responsibilities. The extent of my coursework, holding two jobs, deciding what career path to take, and balancing free time with family and friends all are immense stressors on my daily life and Tiredness and Stress 6 as a result I have noticed an increase in daytime tiredness throughout the past year. I have therefore decided to perform a case study on myself to understand what factors are associated with this. Whether this daytime tiredness is related directly to one or more of these factors remains questionable, but I predict it is related to the number of tests and papers due and the number of hours I work at my jobs. There have been several studies done on the effects of sleep hygiene among college students. Students across the world struggle with daytime tiredness, which may be linked to hours of sleep, anxiety, alcohol, stress, and hours of work and nature of work students are employed in. Several articles focus on how sleep deprivation can affect a student’s performance in the work place and in the classroom. Through the research of articles and experiments and collecting my own data over a 17-day span, I have been able to identify the major factors in my life that contribute to me being tired and stressed throughout the day.