b'Beauty Behind BarsAlexis D. SmithSponsor: Dr. James LaPlant, Department of Political ScienceThis quantitative study investigates the research question What are the factors that explain the female incarceration rate in the United States? The independent variables used in this study are violent crime rate, poverty rate, unemployment rate, percent with a bachelors degree or higher, population density, percent white, percent African American, percent of the state that voted for Donald Trump in 2016, and region. The dependent variable for this study is the female incarceration rate per state.A correlation analysis, an ANOVA and five scatterplot analyses examine the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables. The correlation analysis found that five of the independent variables were statistically significant. The correlation and regression analyses revealed that percent with a bachelors degree or higher and population density were both statistically significant negative predictors of the female incarceration rate while the violent crime rate, poverty rate, and percent of the state that voted for Trump in 2016 were positive indicators.How Visas affect Health CareValencia J. HolcombSponsor: Dr. Bernard Tamas, Department of Political ScienceHealth care is one of the most controversial issues all around the world. Health care is an issue that will affect every citizen and it is a deciding factor on the death rate in a country. Much of the current debate on health care focuses on universal coverage. People view this issue in the light that if there is a better health care system in place health care will be evenly distributed and the death rates will decrease. In this study I analyze the health care systems across the 201 countries. Based on this analysis, I conclude that the critical factor is not the type of health care system, but the number of skilled health care professionals. Moreover, the number of health care professionals is highly influenced by the number of visas the government issues. Specifically, the more visas provided the fewer health care professionals the country has. These findings lead to the conclusion that countries that issue more visas have a major effect on the countrys health index due to the lack of skilled health care professionals and it correlates with a countrys, food security and sanitation. This paper suggests how statistically driven the data is relevant to initiate change.82'