Dirty Money: A Case Study of Unethical Business Practices

Dirty Money: A Case Study of Unethical Business Practices

Mentor(s): Charles Rarick

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

In December of 2004, the opening of Walmart de Mexico sparked a controversy that transcended borders. This Walmart de Mexico had opened upon a historical landsite near the ancient pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacan. Although a travesty towards the efforts of safeguarding local history, the location couldn’t be more perfect for the US-based Walmart corporation; the historical landsite is host to thousands of tourists a year. The location was perfect, and Walmart had made sure it did anything in its power to secure it. Walmart had bribed Mexican officials to reconstruct a zoning map of this historical district near Mexico’s ancient pyramids so that it would gain access to build upon the land. Thus, another Walmart was erected and another invaluable, historical area detrimentally degraded. Although this action caused an outpouring of investigations upon Walmart, the damage was done. Unfortunately, controversy within business is no anomaly. Corruption can occur in any business, stateside and beyond, and can cause international damage. The objective of this research is to case study unethical business practice, much like the Walmart example. In addition, as all cultures have differing viewpoints on morality and ethics, further analysis will be taken to access whether or not respective cultures play a role in “normalizing” the corruption.

HTML Processing

Mentor(s): Bin Chen

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

Our project was based on HTML processing using the programming language, C++. We incorporated the materials learned throughout the semester to accomplish the task of converting HTML code into plain text. While working on the project, we discovered an issue. We found out that the brackets (<,>) used in HTML code are not recognized by ASCII tables. To overcome this problem a program was created that converted the brackets and headers to some other parameter, then the file would simply be a plain text file with plain text identifiers. At first, the task of creating this program was very daunting to a student with less than a year of experience with the programming software. After doing research outside of class, we learned that we would have to utilize string functions to somehow create a function that would replace a string with another string. These string functions would help me create a function to replace HTML tags with plain text. The next step was to start trying to take our ideas and actually code this function in C++. At first, there were some struggles, no matter what we were trying we couldn’t get the function to work properly. But as time went on, we were slowly able to accomplish more and more of the project until it finally started to work for us. Once it all started falling together and running smoothly, we tried to make the program as clean as we could to make it easy to read. So once we accomplished the project presented to us, we tried to see if there was anything else that could be done until we ran out of time. Once time was up, we felt there was a lot more we could have done with the project, but for being exposed to the language for only a semester I feel we accomplished a lot.

Cline Avenue Bridge

Mentor(s): Robert Rescot

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

The Cline Avenue Bridge was recently torn down and now investors are looking to rebuild it as a toll bridge to try and make a profit. The project was compared to similar projects including the recently bankrupt Indians Toll Road as well as the Chicago Skyway. Then using various time value of money equations predictions were made on whether the project would be profitable at different toll rates. Finally, there was research into how the toll rates would effect the likely traffic flow.

Surviving in Silence

Mentor(s): Caroline Ward

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

The research topic to be explored is the experience of the deaf during the Holocaust. This is an aspect of deaf culture that will not be covered in class. While numerous publications exist on the topic, the deaf community is largely neglected when discussing the period of the Holocaust. The intention of this research is to raise awareness for the atrocities faced by the deaf community specifically, not just those deemed disabled as a whole. A brief history of how the deaf were treated prior to the Holocaust will be provided to set a tone for the paper. The paper will be divided up into two major sections. The first section discussed will be racial hygiene. This portion will cover the ideology that lead to the discrimination of the deaf, as well as the laws and policies set in place against the deaf. The second portion will cover the actual treatment of the deaf during this time. The key points of deaf treatment that will be discussed are sterilization of those deemed inferior, and the laws that discriminated against these people as well.

Dante's Eschatology of Hell and its Scholastic Christian Expression

Mentor(s): Dennis Barbour

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

Inherent in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno is the worldview that shaped the notion of sexuality as cosmic disorder, violence as denaturing, and the absence of intrinsic good in nature as evil. This research isolates the medieval thought behind the Inferno to show how its Christian aspects are built upon Aristotelian geocentricism and Scholasticism, the popular philosophy of the medieval period that preceded rationalism and empiricism. Both the later medieval philosophers and Dante sought to demonstrate their Christian faith by presenting the universe as a geocentric Creation. The pre-heliocentric medieval model held Earth to be the center of a morally behaved luminary (planetary) system of the moon, planets, and the immense spheres that rotated around the Earth in desire of God. Despite overwhelming evidence of Aristotle’s influence on Dante, past scholarship has put Aristotle’s critical influence on Dante’s literary design into question, claiming that Dante was “anti-Aristotle.” This research points out the copious similarities between Dante’s Divine Comedy and both Aristotle’s work and Pagan thought. Three settings escalate the Aristotelian and Pagan significance of climate, geography, and physics in Dante’s Inferno. The Aristotelian concept of wind and disorder of upper hell thrash the adulterous Francesca da Rimini. Sinners living in wrath and “blind Cupidity” of lower hell meet their destruction out of an Aristotelian concept that “seeing makes us know in the highest degree,” and Satan of the ninth circle is the universal chaos antagonizing the glory of an Uncaused Cause and Creation. Dante embraced the Aristotelian in his promotion of Christianity.

Dirty Harry: Cop vs Criminal

Mentor(s): Joseph Bigott

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

Dirty Harry (1971) directed by Don Siegel, is an undeniable thriller with its explicit violence and the film’s display of crime and sexuality in the city of San Francisco. The key to truly appreciating this film is to dive beyond the surface and to understand the underlying themes and complex issues Dirty Harry represents. “Dirty” Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), an extremely tough cop with an unbending personality, is assigned to stop the insane and sadistic killer of innocent victims, “Scorpio” (Andrew Robinson). At first glance, the film appears to depict a relatively simple concept; the display of good versus evil, or the hero against the villain. However, if one truly grasps the film, the latter statement proves to be more than overly simplified. As a result of my thorough analysis of Dirty Harry, the following thought provoking questions came to my mind. Is Harry justified in his actions? Did the film aim to persuade the audience that the law’s way of dealing with a crazed killer was weak, relaxed, and ineffective, and that there is a strong need for a vigilante, uncompromising character like Callahan? The film’s success in raising such issues forces the attentive viewer to consider the political stance of the film, to recognize the complex issue of the rights of both the criminal and society, and to understand the psychological components of why Callahan is the man best suited to deal with the case of a deadly psychopath.

A Legacy of Religious Patronage: The Countesses of Flanders and their foundation of Flemish Beguinages

Mentor(s): Tanya Stabler

Undergraduate

Oral Presentation

Over the course of the Middle Ages, women’s roles became increasingly relegated to the domestic sphere with fewer women entering positions of political power. Beliefs about men and women’s biological make-up and intellectual abilities fueled this gender gap. However, this case study of Countesses Jeanne and Marguerite of Flanders and Hainaut seeks to illustrate that a small number of elite women did find themselves wielding significant political power and authority due to a feudal society that placed a higher importance on status and bloodlines than gender. The Countesses Jeanne and Marguerite and other noblewomen like them found ways to secure their power in a violent world—chiefly through religious patronage. Religious institutions such as monasteries and convents offered sacred (prayers for salvation) and secular (economic profits and support of the Catholic Church) benefits to Flemish nobles during the twelfth and thirteen centuries. The countesses supported monasteries, convents, and especially beguine communities; their support for beguines and the construction of beguinages stemmed from an important role these beguines played in the community. The endowments for the beguinages provided by the Countesses not only increased their popularity amongst the townspeople but also provided an element of stability to Flemish towns because the beguines cared for the sick and gave alms to the poor. The Countesses helped found twenty six beguinages in Flanders during the course of their reigns and left behind an enduring legacy of religious patronage that future noblewomen like the famed French queen Blanche of Castile would seek to emulate. The sheer number of beguinages these women helped establish gives one an idea of the value placed on beguines by medieval society.

Engineering Drawings with Machining Applications

Mentor(s): Eric Roades

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

ME 11600 Engineering II is a required course for all students who wish to complete a degree in Either Mechanical Engineering or Civil Engineering here at Purdue University Calumet; with good reason. This course is extremely pertinent to the field of engineering but is also exceptionally well instructed. The course is centered on familiarizing students with the PTC Creo Parametric modeling software which is primarily used for three-dimensional part modeling. The associated project was an exercise not only in engineering and research but also on communication and cooperation. Through this project I was able to work with a Machinists’ apprentice through the design and manufacture of a miniature model engine. The engine in question followed the design of a single-cylinder, four-stroke gasoline internal combustion engine that is commonly referred to as a “Hit N’ Miss engine because of its irregularly controlled operation speed. What made this engine different from a lot of other engines of a similar design were its heavy reliance on machined (rather than cast) components. The final product involved more than 150 components, with over 65 unique parts and assemblies. While the project is still underway, the design stage is complete. The designs are currently in the process of being manufactured and it remains to be seen whether or not the final product will be functional. Regardless it is a refreshing glimpse into the real world of engineering, design and development.

Selling Salvation: Church Marketing Strategies of the 21st Century

Mentor(s): Claudia Mich

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

Most all people would recognize the phrases “Just Do It” or “I’m Lovin It” as the official marketing slogans for Nike Corporation and McDonalds fast food restaurant chain. Each month nearly every American consumes a product produced by one of these corporations. It comes as no surprise to see a commercial, billboard, or website ad for these companies, but what about something forty percent of Americans do weekly? A survey in the Huffington Post showed that forty percent of Americans claim to go to church weekly. This percentage is higher than the most popular of restaurants or clothing store. Would it be unusual to see a commercial, billboard, or website ad for a church? This research paper sets out to answer that question. The history of marketing in Christian churches in the 21st century will be examined to show several improvements that are needed in the marketing department of 21st century churches.

Maternal Child Simulation

Mentor(s): Cheryl Moredich

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

The use of high fidelity situations in the curriculum of a BSN nursing student provides students with the opportunity to combine their classroom knowledge and clinical experience in a controlled and safe learning environment. Students have the opportunity to think critically and make mistakes in order to grow as a clinical nurse. Much qualitative research has been conducted on the student’s perception of such experiences and the subsequent increase in knowledge and self-confidence that takes place. Literature also supports the use of these simulations in the acquisition of skills. Simulation models in the BSN program provide many other advantages as well. This includes: offering no direct risk to live patients, increasing the acquisition of critical thinking skills, allowing team building and delegation of interventions, providing an alternate learning experience for those who learn hands on, while also possibly decreasing the number of future errors that occur in the field. In conjunction with Professor Cheryl Moredich and Corinne Djuric, I created two maternal-child simulation models for our Maternity practicum. We focused on creating scenarios for late decelerations and postpartum hemorrhage. These are two high-risk scenarios that students will need to know the appropriate actions and interventions in case these situations arise in their future clinical practice. Knowing the appropriate interventions for these scenarios will also provide our students the knowledge to be more confident in answering Maternity questions in case they arise in their NCLEX exam. These scenarios are the first scenarios to be used for the maternity practicum and will hopefully open the door for the creation and use of more simulation scenarios in the BSN curriculum.

A Just Culture in Dealing with Medical Errors

Mentor(s): Kelly Herbert and Susan Minser

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation

People rely on healthcare. It is expected that everyone who works in the healthcare system knows exactly what they are doing and that the work is done to the best of one’s ability. Healthcare is supposed to be a place of trust and approached with confidence. As wonderful as this ideal goal may be, that is not quite the real situation- in healthcare or in any other field of expertise. Healthcare workers try to do their best, but not every single error can be prevented. For example, medical errors can range from different extremes, such as charting the wrong information to something as severe as a patient being on their deathbed because of a wrong medication. Healthcare professionals, including nurses, should report any error, but the culture in the workplace is not always conducive to compliance with this standard. In the medical field, having a “just culture” approach is a great way to ensure optimal procedures and plans because they are constantly being refined with each reported error. In a just culture, when errors are reported, the first action is to find out why or what caused this specific error. The healthcare professional may or may not be at fault, but it is not fair to punish the worker if he/she was not the root of the error. This atmosphere of fixing the root cause of each error is conducive to workers reporting more errors they see. It allows for a broader view on problems in the workplace is more available to analyze because health care professionals do not feel so frightened to report an error that occurred on their watch. This is especially true in a profession that is considered to be among the most trustworthy and helpful. Errors need to be kept at a minimum. This will be making a great impact in healthcare and other professional that adopt such a culture.

Infancy & Childhood: Symptoms and Interventions of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Mentor(s): Bridget Sanchez

Undergraduate

Poster Presentation