Digital Commons Network^™

Macroeconomic Shock Effects On Beef Carcass Premiums, Scott W. Fausti, Hernan A. Tejeda, Matthew A. Diersen

College of Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

An overview of how macroeconomic shocks affect beef quality-grade premiums and discounts in the U.S. fed cattle market is discussed. We review the shock transmission linkages along the beef industry supply chain and determine the economic implications for the finished cattle market. The analysis provides insight into how the fed cattle market responds to macroeconomic shocks. The economic implications of financial risk associated with the behavior of beef carcass quality-grade premiums and discounts associated with the Great Recession and the COVID pandemic are contrasted and assessed.

Data analysis indicates that macroeconomic shocks affect the quality-grade premium pricing mechanism for finished …

A Comparative Analysis Of Openet For Evaluating Evapotranspiration In California Almond Orchards, Kyle Knipper, Martha Anderson, Nicolas Bambach, Forrest Melton, Zac Ellis, Yun Yang, John Volk, Andrew J. Mcelrone, William Kustas, Matthew Roby, Will Carrara, Sebastian Castro, Ayse Kilic, Joshua B. Fisher, Anderson Ruhoff, Gabriel B. Senay, Charles Morton, Sebastian Saa, Richard G. Allen

Biology and Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

The almond industry in California faces water management challenges that are being exacerbated by droughts, climate change, and groundwater sustainability legislation. The Tree-crop Remote sensing of Evapotranspiration eXperiment (T-REX) aims to explore opportunities to improve precision irrigation management for woody perennial cropping systems. Almond orchards in the California Central Valley were equipped with eddy covariance flux measurements to evaluate satellite remote sensing-based evapotranspiration (RSET) models. OpenET provides high-resolution (30-m spatial and daily temporal) RSET data, synthesizing decades of research for practical water management. This study provides an evaluation of OpenET performance at six almond sites covering a large range in …

Determining The Influence Of Environmental Factors On Amphibian Road Presence Near The Fort Ord National Monument In Monterey County, California, Joshua Beasley

AES Theses

Amphibian populations are declining globally and habitat fragmentation is a major cause. Roads fragment the landscape around the Fort Ord National Monument, representing a threat to amphibian populations through direct mortality from strikes, noise and light pollution, and runoff of chemicals. We surveyed roads surrounding the Fort Ord National Monument in Monterey County, California to assess the effect of habitat cover, traffic intensity, and wetland proximity on the location and magnitude of amphibian road kill. Our surveys turned up at least seven of nine local amphibian species alive on roads, six of which were also found dead on roads. These …

Spatial And Temporal Variability In Nutritional Physiology Of Pyropia Perforata, Matthew S. Elliott

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The red alga, Pyropia perforata, commonly referred to as nori, is ubiquitous in intertidal communities throughout coastal California and offers high nutritional value to marine herbivores. However, California rocky shores are dynamic ecosystems, with dramatic abiotic and biotic shifts resulting in environmental heterogeneity. Research has shown that seaweed nutrient physiology is impacted by environmental heterogeneity, yet there is sparse data on how internal nitrogen and total protein content change as a result of environmental heterogeneity. Here, I studied the impacts of seasonality, geography (spanning 4° of latitude from Northern to Southern California), and the onset of environmental heterogeneity on internal …

Examining Internesting Habitat Use Of Northwest Atlantic Leatherback Sea Turtles (Dermochelys Coriacea), Christina I. Mauney

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Understanding the spatial ecology of highly migratory marine animals is essential for effective conservation strategies, particularly in the face of climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures. This study investigates the nesting characteristics, habitat use, and behavior of leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the Northwest Atlantic population nesting at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge (SPNWR) in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.

Ten female leatherbacks were studied during the internesting interval of the 2020 and 2021 nesting seasons. The study’s objectives were to examine leatherback nesting characteristics, delineate critical internesting habitats, and characterize behaviors during the internesting interval. Data collection included …

Post‐Fire Sediment Yield From A Central California Watershed: Field Measurements And Validation Of The Wepp Model, Amy E. East, Joshua B. Logan, Helen W. Dow, Douglas P. Smith, Pat Iampietro, Jonathan A. Warrick, Thomas D. Lorenson, Leticia Hallas, Benjamin Kozlowicz

AES Faculty Publications and Presentations

In a warming climate, an intensifying fire regime and higher likelihood of extreme rain are expected to increase watershed sediment yield in many regions. Understanding regional variability in landscape response to fire and post‐fire rainfall is essential for managing water resources and infrastructure. We measured sediment yield resulting from sequential wildfire and extreme rain and flooding in the upper Carmel River watershed (116 km2), on the central California coast, USA, using changes in sediment volume mapped in a reservoir. We determined that the sediment yield after fire and post‐fire flooding was 854–1,100 t/km2/yr, a factor of 3.5–4.6 greater than the …

[2024 Honorable Mention] Hasta Que El Cuerpo Aguante, Brisa Rosiles

Ethnic Studies Research Paper Award

The focus of this project revolves around a critical examination of the alarming occurrences of heat stroke-related deaths among field workers in California, with a specific emphasis on cases documented in the Salinas Valley. The core of my artistic expression lies in a digital painting that captures the reality of a laborer enduring the devastating effects of heat stroke in the agricultural fields.

[2024 Honorable Mention] Diversifying Local Histories: Religion’S Erasure Of Indigeneity, Christina Fultz, Helene Marie Kristensen, Camille Herrera

Ethnic Studies Research Paper Award

Our podcast explores the nature in which the Carmel Mission has been projecting a false narrative of their religious origins. Hence, erasing the indigenous culture and communities while developing the Mission System. Our research unveils the historical discrepancies, the accurate portrayal of Junipero Serra. While acknowledging the traumatic experiences of Indigenous communities when facing religious indoctrination.

[2024 Winner] Dreaming Ourselves Out Of Settler Colonialism, Lesley Solano-Alonso, Deborah Williams, Isela Delgado

Ethnic Studies Research Paper Award

This podcast episode explores Decolonization through the concepts of Settler Colonialism, our positioning within settler colonialism in the U.S., and how we can move toward decolonization.

As Vietnam Scales The Global Value Chain, What Does It Mean For Its Workers?, Angie Ngọc Trần, Tu Nguyen

SSGS Faculty Publications and Presentations

Almost four decades since Vietnam abandoned Marxist central planning in favour of market socialism, Vietnam is now well integrated in the global supply chain and is an important manufacturing hub for labour-intensive industries like textiles, electronics, and even automobiles. The economic expansion -- powered by foreign investment and exports -- has reshaped Vietnam's labour market, creating higher-skilled jobs but also challenges like wage stagnation and worker abuse. For all the fanfare over investment dollars from the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Intel -- as well as a host of Chinese companies -- there are signs that the welfare of workers, …

John Xxiii Aids Ministries Christmas Party

Monterey County LGBTQ Histories Exhibit

No abstract provided.

Secrets Of The Medicine Cabinet: How Big Pharma's Information Monopoly Influences Federal Public Health Regulations, Kyle James

Culture, Society, and Praxis

Pharmaceutical companies are the largest industry contributor to political activities in the United States. Instead of pursuing traditional routes of political influence, these firms concentrate their efforts within federal public health agencies. By directly intervening in the regulatory process, Big Pharma assumes control of the drug approval process, dictating the means by which pharmaceutical products enter the marketplace. This scheme is designed to strip agencies of their public interest mandate. The resulting political phenomenon, known as regulatory capture, creates a symbiotic relationship where federal agencies and industry mutually benefit from the swift commercialization of drugs. This thesis examines "how" Big …

Climate Migration In The United States: The Influence Of Natural Disasters, Resource Scarcity, And Perceived Climate Inhospitality, Sam Minard

Culture, Society, and Praxis

Climate change poses an urgent threat that necessitates adaptive strategies, and migration is an increasingly common choice. “Climate migration,” or migration in response to climate change, has attracted considerable attention, both scholarly and popular, but has primarily been considered an issue of the Global South. Climate migration in wealthy, industrialized nations such as the United States has been overlooked despite the rising severity of climate change impacts there. This study used content analysis of Reddit posts and comments to examine how the impacts of climate change are influencing migration decisions in the United States. Results showed that individuals migrated or …

Gender And Social Media: Delving Into Young Adults’ Daily Participation On Facebook, Masa Tantawy

Culture, Society, and Praxis

With the prevalence of social networking platforms, it is crucial to study the role that gender plays in its use, for gender, which is continuously shaped by society, plays a critical role in our identities and daily lives. This paper explores how the social construction of gender affects and is affected by social media through discussing the usage of Facebook by young adults, especially Middle Eastern cisgender males and females, and women’s limited freedom on this social networking site in the Arab countries. It is argued that despite individuals having some freedom online compared to offline, their choices, specifically that …

Between Populism And Settler Colonialism: A Us Case Study, Megan A. Morrell

Culture, Society, and Praxis

United States political history is a uniquely populist and settler one. While there is plenty of scholarship on populism and on settler colonialism separately, there is a significant gap in understanding how the political phenomena are connected. To begin to remedy this gap, I argue that particularly in the US political context, populist and settler colonial sociopolitical logics are both historically and theoretically interconnected. Both political phenomena are central to understanding the foundations of American socio-political life. Working in a theoretical-historical mode, I identify five ways in which settler colonialism and populism have intersected, and in the process produce a …

Raising Middle School Students' Awareness Of Relationship Risks Associated With Technology, Reda Gerges

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Increasing middle school students' awareness of relationship risks associated with electronic technology is the main focus of this capstone project. With the prevalence of technology in teenagers' lives, many may not fully grasp the potential dangers of digital communication with friends and romantic partners. Although there are many advantages to using smartphones, tablets, and other technologies, there may also be drawbacks. Physical health concerns, eye strain Digital eye fatigue, eye strain, and pain can result from prolonged screen use. Overuse of tablets and smartphones can lead to bad posture, which can cause back and neck pain. Sleep disturbances by inhibiting …

The Importance Of Nutrition Education In Early Childhood, Alexi Larios

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project aimed to highlight the importance of nutrition education in early childhood. I chose this topic because studies have shown a steady increase over the years in children’s diet-related illnesses (Baker & Bjerregaard, 2023). Many factors have contributed to this increase such as media and marketing. Companies use their marketing strategies to target the interests of children and persuade them to desire their unhealthy products (Taillie et al., 2019). This strategy leads to children purchasing and consuming processed foods, high in sugar and empty calories. Another important component in childhood nutrition is socioeconomic status. People from lower socioeconomic …

The Forgotten Subject: Pe And The Power Of People, Shea Franklin

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This project focused on student engagement in PE at the middle school level. Student engagement is so meaningful because even though physical education is supposed to educate kids to be physically active while being active in practice, quite the opposite is happening. Middle school is the point at which students begin to lose interest in PE, viewing it as repetitive and pointless, which is why it is so essential to make this forgotten subject fun again. After survey and interviewing students and staff members participating in physical education at a local middle school in Marina, three themes emerged from the …

Bullying Prevention In A Preschool Setting, Audrey Garcia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project focuses on anti-bullying and bullying prevention in early childhood education settings. Bullying is something that plagues schools across America. However, bullying in an early education setting can be difficult to distinguish because it can be misinterpreted as children discovering how to express negative emotions. According to Saracho (2016), preventing bullying in a preschool setting is important because it is a child’s first social environment outside the home. Educating children on bullying and how to prevent it in an early education setting is important because this is their first experience with peers and potential conflicts amongst these peers. …

Increasing Protective Factors For Non-Violence At A Continuation High School, Kiely Combs

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project focuses on protective factors for non-violence among adolescent students at a continuation high school. The circumstances that have led students to be at this particular continuation school include things such as being suspended or on the path to suspension, behavioral issues, GPA or credit deficiencies (not on track to graduate in a traditional high school setting), and referrals from parents, teachers, counselors, etc. This workshop was intended to address the growing problem of violence between students. Several students at the continuation high school are involved in opposing gangs, which causes strife on campus and leads to physical …

Stronger Together: Uniting Parents, Educators, And Professionals For Enhanced Social-Emotional, Leslie Montiel

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This Capstone project addresses the crucial issue of inadequate social-emotional learning in elementary schools, focusing on improving access and quality for students. It is essential to tackle this issue because limited access hinders the development of students' social-emotional skills, potentially affecting their long-term success. It is argued that integrating higher-quality social-emotional learning into education is necessary to foster lifelong skills. Three key stakeholders—two parents and one principal—were interviewed to obtain their suggestions for improving social-emotional skills. Analysis of the data revealed three potential action options: hiring more professionals; providing additional professional development for educators; and enhancing parental involvement. Of these, …

Addressing Food Insecurity Among College Students, Serena Plares

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In this capstone project, the focal topic was food insecurity and food assistance with the target population being college students attending California State University Monterey Bay. This demographic includes a diverse group of young adults from various socioeconomic backgrounds and cultures. Food insecurity is rampant across our country, county, and college campuses. It impacts families and individuals of all backgrounds and there is a need for knowledge pertaining to this topic and affordable, nutritious food access and resources. One in three children and one in four adults are affected by food scarcity in Monterey County and thirty-four percent of county …

Supporting Preschoolers Social Emotional Development, Gladiola Peinado

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project focuses on the social-emotional regulation of preschoolers (3–5 years old). Many preschool children are struggling to develop social emotional skills when they first enter their preschool setting. Unfortunately, children with poor social emotional learning skills are more likely to have difficulties with peer relationships and with school adjustment, because they are not able to express or recognize emotions (Ferreira et al,. 2021). When children increase their ability to regulate behavior and emotion, they are better at recognizing their own and others’ emotions and intentions, cooperating with one another, and building relationships with peers. In order to address …

Helping Kindergarteners Understand Their Emotions And Their Peers, Marelin Guadalupe Cruz Garcia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The social-emotional development is described in this study. This study examines children who lack pro-social-emotional abilities and find it difficult to build meaningful interactions with others. In my work, I discuss how research and the lessons I taught my participants can help children gain greater social-emotional abilities and an understanding of different emotions. I work with kindergarteners who are five to six years old because I want to support them in developing deep connections with their peers and in learning about their feelings. The issue I will be bringing up is that kids struggle to build positive relationships with their …

Supporting Self-Regulation In Elementary School Students With Disabilities, Jessica Guerra

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This project focuses on increasing self-regulation in first and second-grade students with learning disabilities (LD) and emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). Classroom behavior problems such as disruptions, not staying on task or following directions, and inappropriate behaviors and language increase the teacher's and students' stress levels. Also, Outbursts and minimal understanding of how to redirect these types of behavior can disrupt the flow of classroom instruction and impede students’ learning (Parsonson, 2012). These issues relate to poor cognitive skills, so healthy self-regulation can not be developed properly. To improve these cognitive skills and support self-regulation of students with special needs, …

Benefits Of Speech Language Pathologists On Elementary School Students, Gisel Reynoso

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This senior capstone research project outlines a research endeavor aimed at exploring the multifaceted impact of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) on elementary school students, with a particular focus on developing educators, enhancing diversity, and fostering subject matter expertise. Motivated by firsthand experiences in service-learning and recognizing the significant challenges students face due to communication disorders, this study seeks to investigate how SLPs can effectively support students while contributing to educators' professional development and promoting inclusivity. Through a mixed-methods approach, including interviews, surveys, and data analysis, this senior capstone research project aims to provide valuable insights into the transformative role of SLPs …

Sonidos De Aztlán: A Historical Analysis Of Chicano Music, Alejandro Gomez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper analyzes music made primarily by Chicanos in the U.S. and social movements that the music was a part of. Case studies include the Zoot Suit Riots, the Delano Grape Strike, The Chicano Movement, Tejano/Conjunto and Tex-Mex, Narcocorridos, and the Chicanx Renaissance.

Transitioning Coordinated Family Support Services From The For-Profit To The Nonprofit Sector, Yesenia Zavala

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The demand for nonprofit family support services in Monterey County exceeds available resources, leaving many without access. Coordinated Family Support Services (CFSS) in Monterey County serves individuals and families referred through the San Andreas Regional Center, which is funded by Medi-Cal and state funds. Inadequate access to nonprofit family support services affects individuals and families in Monterey County. Contributing factors to this issue include limited resources and funding, not enough community engagement and partnerships, and insufficient staffing and expertise to provide these services. Transitioning CFSS from a for-profit to a nonprofit is impractical due to financial constraints and lack of …

Political Accountability And The Censure Or Rep. Tlaib, Mabel Cummings

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The tolerance the House of Representatives has with its own Members is resulting in more egregious acts receiving no consequences, and shows the lack of political accountability built into the structure of Congress. The Washington D.C. office of Congressman Tony Cárdenas represents the 29th district in California, and one of its main functions is listening to constituents' political concerns, and addressing them through legislation. The concerns called into the office during the censure of Rep. Tlaib resulted in the analysis of political accountability in the U.S. House of Representatives, the accountability systems in similar democracies, and how they related to …

Healthy Teen Dating Relationships, Thalia Hernandez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Teen dating violence has become a damaging issue in Salinas, California, which forces the community to find immediate solutions to prevent the devastating aftermath of this problem on adolescents. This paper provides ideas for solving this issue by designing the "That's Not Cool" social campaign that was created to maintain healthy relationships between teens. Coordinated with the STRYVE program of the County of Monterey Health Department, the plan was implemented in the Salinas City High School District, where the population is predominantly Hispanic or Latino. As a result of studies, poverty, cultural beliefs, and poor education have been identified as …