Digital Commons Network^™

Geography Of Gender And The Gender Of Geography In The Roman Imagination, Austin Howard

Student Research Symposium

This paper argues for a profound link between gendered stereotypes and geography in the Graeco-Roman imagination focusing on the early Roman Empire. Hitherto, this link has been mentioned, sometimes assumed, and almost never treated as a venture worthy or deeper study or unifying themes, apart from questions of “proto-racism.” Notwithstanding, the links can be drawn comparing how the peoples living in different parts of the empire are described and how stereotypes of gender also appear in historical and literary texts. By careful examination (including cross-examination) of Strabo, Tacitus, Livy, Julius Caesar, and others, I seek the argue for a strong …

The Sensorimotor Approach To Color Perception And The Necessity Of Socio-Cultural Considerations For Color Naming, Matthew Watts

Student Research Symposium

In this paper I argue against Kevin O’Regan’s claim that the “biological reflectance function” and its notion of “simple” colors naturally lead to a biologically consistent standard for species wide color naming. Although the simplicity of these colors may allow for easier apprehension, the notion that color simplicity will naturally lead to a consistent standard for the naming of basic color hues across a species is inconsistent with the idea of objective colors in the way that he portrays it. While it fixes many of the traditional explanatory issues surrounding color perception, it opens up new explanatory issues surrounding color. …

Math And Sudoku: Exploring Sudoku Boards Through Graph Theory, Group Theory, And Combinatorics, Kyle Oddson

Student Research Symposium

Encoding Sudoku puzzles as partially colored graphs, we state and prove Akman’s theorem [1] regarding the associated partial chromatic polynomial [5]; we count the 4x4 sudoku boards, in total and fundamentally distinct; we count the diagonally distinct 4x4 sudoku boards; and we classify and enumerate the different structure types of 4x4 boards.

Thiophene Based Molecular Sensors Towards Mercury Detection, Austin K. Shigemoto, Carolyn N. Virca, Sam Underwood, Lauren Shetterly, Theresa M. Mccormick

Student Research Symposium

Toxic heavy metals such as mercury have increased in concentration in the environment due to pollution. Inorganic mercury in the environment can be later converted to a more toxic form: methylmercury. Regular consumption of fish containing methylmercury can lead to several cognitive and motor disorders as well as Minamata disease. The current methods used to detect both methylmercury and inorganic mercury in sea life and drinking water involve long sample preparation and cost. In order to more efficiently track this toxic metal in the environment and identify contaminated food and water sources, a cheaper and faster method of detection is …

Comparing Mode Shares For Non-Residential Destinations In Urban And Suburban Environments, Tasnia Subrin

Student Research Symposium

To ensure facility for multimodal transportation is one of the most important concerns in today’s transportation sector, with initiatives being taken to make multimodal transportation popular. The built environment variables have a strong relationship with transportation mode choice, but whether that relationship holds true in urban and suburban neighborhoods in the same manner has not been considered. Using data for three non-residential land uses, this research explores whether the built environment variables in suburban areas influences mode share like it does in urban areas. We used survey data conducted at the establishments regarding respondents’ travel characteristics from a previous study, …

Then And Now: Vegetative Change Detection On Mount St. Helens 2000-2015, Douglas S. Thalacker, Andrés Holz

Student Research Symposium

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (MSH) proved a dramatic event with many important socio-economic consequences. In addition, this eruption resulted in an array of ecological consequences with subsequent studies and profound theoretical ramifications. The eruption created a complex gradient in disturbance severity on the northern aspect of MSH3, promoting successional processes from varying starting points and change rates. This study uses a landscape-scale approach to quantify spatio-temporal trends in vegetative responses to the eruption from 2000-2015, relying on Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery focusing on the primary and (i.e. no biological legacies) secondary (i.e. with biological legacies) succession …

From Street To Home: Using Photovoice To Better Understand Homelessness In Portland, Maximilian West, Greg Townley Phd, Nicole Cerra Mph, Ted Amann Rn, Mph

Student Research Symposium

Homelessness remains a pressing concern in Portland. The homeless-to-housed transition requires more than access to shelter: some individuals have trouble adapting to the change in social contact that accompanies solitary living (indoors); others may face difficulty setting boundaries associated with property (e.g., endangering their lease by having too many guests) or other community-living norms. This study used photovoice, a community-based participatory research method, to explore the dynamics experienced by homelessness survivors.

A total of 13 participants were recruited through HEARTH, a research collaborative including researchers from OHSU, PSU, and NCNM along with staff, consumers, and volunteers at Central City Concern, …

Listening To Lasers: Photoacoustic Gas Sensing, Michael Hopkins

Student Research Symposium

Herein lies the makings of a sensor for gaseous materials due to the technique known as photo-acoustic spectroscopy. Whereby a gas filled metallic tube of known resonance has an impingement to its open aspect a beam of photons of known colour and at a specified rate such that the rate of incoming light corpuscles matches the natural standing wave frequency for the column of gas within said tube, to wit resonance. Through foresight of the molecular orbital theory and historic datums on the subject of infrared spectroscopy one naturally comes to the employment of absorbance transfiguring energy to kinetic motions …

How Calculus Students At Successful Programs Talk About Their Instructors, Annie Bergman, Dana Kirin, Ben Wallek

Student Research Symposium

Over the past decade, numerous reports point to the need for national efforts to increase the number of students pursuing and professionals with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields (see for example NSB, 2007; PCAST, 2012; Thomasian, 2011). According to the PCAST report (2012) increasing the retention rate of the students who enter college intending to major in a STEM field has the potential to significantly decrease the gap between the number of STEM degrees produced and the projected number of STEM degrees needed to sustain the United States position in the global market. While there are …

Analytic Thinking Predicts Vaccine Endorsement: Cognitive Style As An Antecedent Of Vaccine Attitudes, Daniel A. Anderson

Student Research Symposium

Relationships between cognitive style (CS) and affective orientation toward childhood vaccines (AO) were tested in a sample of US adults, controlling for known covariates. Findings suggest an analytic cognitive style predicts greater likelihood of endorsing childhood vaccination (higher AO). Results highlight relationships between individual cognition and cultural influences upon vaccine-beliefs.

Curriculum Impact On Educational Philosophy Identification, Rebecca Tuttle

Student Research Symposium

An educator’s teaching philosophy represents their personal beliefs regarding the purpose of classroom instruction and the methods used to facilitate learning. While an individual’s educational philosophy often transforms over time, more research is needed to characterize influences on evolving theory and practice. This survey-based study was conducted to determine if the curricular content has an impact on teaching methodology despite a teacher’s philosophical identification. The study population comprised of adult learner-educators enrolled in a graduate educational philosophy class. The subjects were surveyed after completing a term examining the main tenets of five main educational philosophies (Liberal, Behavioral, Progressive, Humanist, Radical). …

Advocacy Campaign For Women's Reproductive Health And Access On Social Media, Rachel Crist, Jules Montes, Lauren Frank

Student Research Symposium

Advocacy organizations increasingly rely on social media (e.g. Twitter hashtags) to foster issue awareness. Social media platforms can be promising communication channels to reach diverse audiences; however, it is unclear how effective these campaigns are at reaching audience members whose views do not align with the campaign. Using diffusion of innovations as a theoretical framework, this study examines the #BirthControlHelpedMe campaign to better understand the response to an advocacy campaign promoted via Twitter. Focus groups were conducted separately for men and women. The moderator led participants in a semi-structured discussion of perceptions of birth control. Participants were then shown example …

How 5-Day Weather Patterns And Buoyancy Regulation Impact Algal Community Assemblage, Roberta Brunkalla

Student Research Symposium

The purpose of this study is to model how 5-day weather patterns and algal buoyancy regulation influence the competition between two bloom forming cyanobacteria species in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. Sudden changes in weather patterns can quickly impact lake thermal structure, which can rapidly influence the competition between buoyancy regulating cyanobacteria. By modeling competition, I hope to address how altered climate would shift the competitive advantage to toxin forming cyanobacteria. I plan on accomplishing this by coupling a one-dimensional hydrodynamic and algal competition model, with lake specific physiological parameters. A sensitivity test of the model could reveal dramatic shifts in …

Barriers To Transitional Housing Access Among Homeless Male Adults In The City Of Portland, Alexander T. Raines

Student Research Symposium

From 2011 to 2014, there were 191 confirmed deaths among homeless persons living in Multnomah County, approximately 88% of which were among adult men (over the age of 18). This alarming statistic in no way-shape-or-form represents the demographic makeup of Multnomah County’s homeless population, with a 2015 point-in-time count finding males over the age of 24 comprising just 52% of Multnomah’s homeless. Among these individuals the average age of death was just 43.3 years old; for comparison, the standard life expectancy for a man born in Multnomah County is 76.6 years old. This pattern of vulnerability among homeless men may …

Combat Experiences, Personality, Iso-Strain, And Sleep Quality Affect Posttraumatic Stress Among Working Post-9/11 Veterans, Gilbert Patrick Brady Jr., Leslie B. Hammer, Olivia C. Preston, Anna K. Nishen

Student Research Symposium

We investigated the effects of combat experiences (CES), personality traits, sleep quality and iso-strain on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among a sample (N=382) of working, post-9/11 Veterans. As prior occupational stress research has neglected the role of personality traits, we sought to examine how two of the Big Five traits (i.e., Neuroticism and Conscientiousness) affected PTSS. Greater scientific understanding of how personality contributes to the post-deployment etiology of PTSD may help customize interventions aimed at reintegrating Veterans. Baseline data were drawn from the five-year, randomized control, Department of Defense-funded “Study for Employment Retention of Veterans” (SERVe). After controlling …

The Dc Algorithm & The Constrained Fermat-Torricelli Problem, Nathan Peron Lawrence, George Blikas

Student Research Symposium

The theory of functions expressible as the Difference of Convex (DC) functions has led to the development of a rich field in applied mathematics known as DC Programming.We survey the work of Pham Dinh Tao and Le Thi Hoai An in order to understand the DC Algorithm (DCA) and its use in solving clustering problems. Further, we present several other methods that generalize the DCA for any norm. These powerful tools enable researchers to reformulate objective functions, not necessarily convex, into DC Programs.

The Fermat-Torricelli problem is visited in light of convex analysis and various norms. Pierre de Fermat proposed …

Aquifer Vulnerability Modeling In New Jersey Through The Use Of Modified Drastic Methodology, Clement Uduk, Tanja Hopmans

Student Research Symposium

Due to the global average increase in temperature over the last 50 years, sea levels have been rising and making coastal aquifers more susceptible to saltwater intrusion. The average rate of sea level rise has increased from 2 mm/year to 3.5 mm/year during the twentieth century. The state of New Jersey is not only densely populated but the development along coastlines makes inundation a potential serious threat. New Jersey is diverse in aquifer types, in addition to the types of water bodies surrounding New Jersey, and makes for an interesting case study for groundwater vulnerability. The EPA has a universal …

After Houselessness: Queer Youth Of Color Severed From Cultural And Spiritual Community, Carrie Fuentes, Miriam Abelson

Student Research Symposium

Within the Portland Oregon Houseless Youth Continuum, to what extent are the particular needs of Queer Youth of Color being served by existing programs? There is a gap between the nature of houseless youth services and the need for Queer Youth of Color to rebuild the missing connections resulting from cultural or spiritual rupture that creates a disconnection from their ancestry and community estrangement. Programs exist that offer assistance to QYOC in crisis but these programs lack in a positive connection to spiritual and cultural legacy that will support long term self-efficacy.

The proposed research goal is to examine these …

Culturally Specific Bilingual Arts Integration, Danielle L. Malan

Student Research Symposium

Today's young people are a source of growing social and academic concern. Combined with economic, cultural and linguistic barriers, Latino students are an even greater concern. Studies have demonstrated qualitative improved learning with either arts integration or with bilingual education. After a literature review, there was no conclusive quantitative evidence done prior to this study in 2015, for the benefits of combining the two to use bilingual arts integration as a method for improved learning. Could bilingual arts education improve learning? The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of bilingual arts integration on learning, and the positive …

How Lust Was Lost: Genre, Identity And The Neglect Of A Pioneering Comics Publication, Robert Hulshof-Schmidt

Student Research Symposium

In 1950, St. John Publications published what is arguably the first graphic novel. It Rhymes With Lust was illustrated by Matt Baker, one of the first and most prolific African Americans in the comics industry. It was written by Arnold Drake – a long-time comics creator – and Leslie Waller – a respected novelist. Despite the talent arrayed and the historical significance of its timing, the novel has been largely ignored by comics scholars, historians, fans, and collectors. This paper carefully lays out the historical context for the publication of this “picture novel,” reviewing the state of the comics industry, …

Collecting Image Cropping Dataset: A Hybrid System Of Machine And Human Intelligence, Uyen T. Mai, Feng Liu

Student Research Symposium

Image cropping is a common tool that exists in almost any image editor, yet automatic cropping is still a difficult problem in Computer Vision. Since images nowadays can be easily collected through the web, machine learning is a promising approach to solve this problem. However, an image cropping dataset is not yet available and gathering such a large-scale dataset is a non-trivial task. Although a crowdsourcing website such as Mechanical Turk seems to be a solution to this task, image cropping is a sophisticated task that is vulnerable to unreliable annotation; furthermore, collecting a large-scale high-quality dataset through crowdsourcing is …

The Dispute Over Seeds: Indigenous And Peasant Struggles For Food Sovereignty In Chiapas, Mexico., Carol Hernandez-Rodriguez

Student Research Symposium

This research project explores the implications of these developments for indigenous and peasant communities in Chiapas, Mexico, whose food sovereignty depends on the conservation and reproduction of native seeds.

The research project focuses on the following questions:

1. How do neoliberal policies in the agrarian system impact the food sovereignty of indigenous and peasant communities in the Global South?

2. How are indigenous and peasant communities in Chiapas contesting neoliberal policies and strengthening their food sovereignty?

Factors Affecting Big Data Technology Adoption, Nayem Rahman

Student Research Symposium

With the advancement of computer science, hardware and software engineering, and computing power, and later with the advent of the internet, social networking tools and other sources such as sensors data growth has increased significantly. These data are called big data which are mostly unstructured, generated in large volumes, data need to be captured in near real-time. To handle big data a completely new set of tools and technologies are being emerged. I have studied big data literature to identify the factors that might influence big data adoption. I was able to list quite a few factors or attributes that …

Cross-Cultural Understanding, Sajjad Haider

Student Research Symposium

This case-study is about the cross-cultural management and how it affects the employee relations and ultimately impacts their performance, if not handled properly. The case delves into different situations where understanding of the other cultural values, norms, work practices and human behavior is critical for foreign managers to succeed.

The case entails how a foreign FMCG company faced with the difficult and challenging situation in China. In order to fix the problems, the corporate headquarter sent three of their bright personnel; Janet, Peter and William to China. They were tasked to improve the HR, marketing & sales and distributions channels. …