THE UNIVERISTY OF ALABAMA - Graduate School - The University ...

Jonathan Lanctot, Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, andComputer-Based Honors ProgramFaculty Mentor: Dr. Robert Batson, Industrial Engineering ProgramTraffic Queuing at Highway Work Zones: Accuracy and Improvements Needed in SpreadsheetbasedPredictive ModelsTraffic slow-downs and waiting lines are commonly experienced on U.S. freeways, often due towork zones with lane closures. Several state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) havedeveloped spreadsheet-based tools to estimate when queues might form, how large the queuemight become, and associated costs to the public. ALDOT is sponsoring research at UA intothese questions for Alabama freeways, and the purpose of this CBH project is to investigate theinternal logic of the tool currently in use, its behavior as the inputs change, and its accuracy inpredicting the formation and dissipation of traffic queues using real-world data.Will Lankford, Computer-Based Honors ProgramFaculty Mentor: Mr. Stephen Black, Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility, and HonorsCollegeSave First Tax Preparation and Financial Literacy Initiative: Best Practices ReportThe goal of the SaveFirst initiative (a division of ImpactAlabama) is to train college, graduate,and law students to provide free tax preparation services, financial literacy information, andopportunities for savings and economic improvement to low-income, working families---especially targeting those eligible for an Earned Income Tax Credit refund. To keep SaveFirst onthe forefront of nonprofit projects dealing with financial literacy, research is being conducted tocompile a best practices report regarding community-based tax preparation and asset buildingefforts from around the country, including comparison of current loan programs versus fairmarket rebate loans present during the tax season.Jared Lauridsen, Department of Art, and Computer-Based Honors ProgramFaculty Mentors: Dr. IlhanTuzcu, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, and Dr.Phillip Bradford, Department of Computer ScienceOptimizing to a Professional Web SiteThis project’s goal is to take a basic web site and optimize it for a professional look and function.This goal is reached using techniques of visual software and direct line coding of html as well asCSS and JavaScript. Tools involved with professional optimization include knowledge ofAccessibility Standards, search engine inclusion, media support, and other user-friendly focus.This is a creative project due to its emphasis on development of a website that functions beyonda simple web page with text and links. It is submitted under engineering as it is a web site for anengineering research group.Christie Ledbetter, Department of Theatre and DanceFaculty Mentor: Professor Allison Hetzel, Department of Theatre and DanceActing: Hazardous to your Health? An Artistic and Psychological PerspectiveThe art form of being an actor is not the simple task of memorizing lines to deliver to anaudience. An actor must be psychologically prepared to tackle a role. Research involved willquestion: how psychologically involved should an actor be with his/her role, what psychologicallevel(s) the actor experiences in order to realistically transform into character, how actorsmanage to keep their personal and professional psyches separate, and when roles prove to50