Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Opportunity Youth Through A Developmental Lens, Will Hodges, Chanler Hilley, Giselle Vazquez, Amari Cody, Briana Rivera

Symposium of Student Scholars

Opportunity youth (OY) are adolescents and young adults 16 to 24 years old who are not in employment, education or training (OECD, 2023). In the U.S., an estimated 16.4% of youth are OY (OECD, 2023). Prior studies have established OY are at higher risk for behavioral health problems (Hilley et al., 2019) and socioeconomic disadvantages (Belfield et al., 2012). However, the majority of research on OY is conducted through a social epidemiological lens, with limited attention to their psychosocial development. The objective of this qualitative study is to examine the experiences of disengagement during the transition to adulthood, contributing to …

Promoting Future Orientation Among Youth Exposed To Violence, Amari Cody, Giselle Vazquez, Paige Giddens, Chanler Hilley

Symposium of Student Scholars

Despite declining rates of community violence in the United States, violence remains a pervasive public health problem that disproportionately affects children. Violence exposure has been linked to a multitude of negative consequences on children’s academics, behavior, mental and physical health, some of which have lasting implications. Future orientation is one of several positive “developmental assets” that may help to mitigate the risk of negative consequences associated with violence exposure. Although future orientation has been described in research in several different ways, studies typically find that youth who have higher general future orientation are better able to guide their current actions …

Octoprint Server At Kennesaw State University, Blair Dilbeck, Natalie Ajemian, Shota Yasuda, Rushana Rakhman, Beau Wilkins, Rohit Gibson

Symposium of Student Scholars

Students and faculty belonging to the Kennesaw State Department of Information Systems and Security are creating Octoprint Server as open-source software for web-based 3D print farm and ecosystem management. Building upon the robust existing Octoprint open-source project, which provides a common interface to individual 3D printers, the project aims to help schools, libraries, and universities who wish to scale up and manage learning activities using 3D printing. Volunteers taking part in the project will do this by creating an accessible application that is easy to configure, provides key functionality they need, and works with typical conditions non-technical administrators must navigate …

Smoke But No Fire: Convicting The Innocent Of Crimes That Never Happened, Autumn Huber

Symposium of Student Scholars

“Smoke but no Fire” published by Jessica Henry provides various discussions of no-crime wrongful convictions of those who are innocent. Throughout this novel, the evaluation of forensic error, police roles, judiciary roles, and misdemeanors bring to light the phantom crimes that occur within our criminal justice system. The criminal justice system brings the injustice of those wrongfully convicted to the eyes of readers worldwide. Part of this research provided throughout her novel includes the National Registry of Exonerations, short for NRE, which assesses evidence of exonerations of those who were innocent and those who remain inside the four walls of …

Guano Among Bat Species From Two Regions Shows Influence Of Geography And Diet On Bacterial Community, Rahma Ahmed, Thomas Mcelroy, Shannon Whitney, Lydia Moore

Symposium of Student Scholars

Studies of bat guano have shown that the diversity and structure of associated microbial communities can be related to factors such as host phylogeny, life history and reproductive stage, geography, and diet. Many insectivorous bat species in the southeastern U.S. have generalist diets that may shift seasonally to take advantage of abundant prey species or maximize caloric intake. Seasonal shifts in prey availability or consumption should be reflected in a guano microbiome change. We also expected to detect distinct guano microbiomes within species. Within species, distinct microbial communities related to geography, and finally life history and reproductive stage. We compared …

“It’S Getting Hot In Here”: Climate Change And Tensions Surrounding Environmental Injustice For Minority And Low-Income Communities, Symone Gaskin

Symposium of Student Scholars

Our current climate crisis presents the perfect opportunity to address other social ills that reflect environmental injustice. The purpose of this research was to explore if, when, and how climate change disproportionately impacts minority communities. A thematic analysis was developed through the creation of a literature review matrix comprised of twenty academic and practitioner articles. This thematic analysis uncovered four key themes: implications in the workplace, the housing market, the economy, and the standard of health. Consequently, confirming the disenfranchisement of marginalized groups in relation to the environment, this research uncovered the long-lasting effects of systemic racism as an important …

Examining The Experiences Of Black, White, And Other Student Groups On Campus, Christopher Pauyo, Reanna Tran, Kaelyn Ireland

Symposium of Student Scholars

The climate of a university can be critical to the experiences and mental health of students on a university’s campus (Budge et al., 2020), as such it is necessary to examine the experiences that perpetuate a university’s racial climate. Past psychological research has aimed to reduce negative emotional reactions born of race-related experiences in targeted and marginalized groups (Carter & Forsyth, 2020; Kim, 2016). Although the focus of prior research was essential in improving the experiences of people of color, other directions such as, analyzing the similarities and differences between experiences and emotional reactions of different racial groups, exist as …

How Do Cultural Similarities With Providers And Caregivers Shape The Management Of Chronic Conditions?, Maygui Jean

Symposium of Student Scholars

Previous research has outlined evident disparities in the development of chronic health conditions among African Americans compared to other groups, with African American men disproportionately affected by almost every disorder investigated. Examinations into chronic health conditions revealed that social determinants of health stemming from structural racism combined with cultural elements, compounded by the fact that African American men are much less likely to have access to health insurance, are highly related to the health burdens of African American men. Yet, much literature exploring the experiences, expectations, and effects of chronic health conditions rarely focuses specifically on African American men. The …

The Value And Impact Of Internships, Maitland Gilbert

Symposium of Student Scholars

The purpose of this research is to examine how students perceive the value and impact of completing an internship. This project is analyzing the data in context with the Criminal Justice department interns.

This presentation will share the work of a project to assess the perceived value and impact of Criminal Justice internships through a content analysis of student reflections about their experiences while enrolled in an internship course. The research is governed by an IRB research protocol working with faculty internship coordinators. The methodology will allow for reoccurring themes to become evident and shed light on what the interns …

Sample Holiday Cards: Examples To Help Visualize Your Families Holiday Card Or A Reinforcement Of Racism And Heteronormativity In America., Chasidy Harris

Symposium of Student Scholars

The United States is considered a "melting pot" with a diverse population of citizens. Each year, thousands of Americans send out holiday cards, and increasingly these cards are ordered online in bulk and are decorated with photos for family and friends. However, evidence shows that current advertising does not typically reflect the diversity present in the United States population. This research aims to show how the advertisement of photo holiday cards through sample cards posted on the retailer's website includes mostly white heterosexual couples and families and fewer same-sex couples (with and without children), racial-ethnically diverse families. This research will …

Effects Of Healthcare Providers Personal Life On Low-Income African American Men, Allison Oglesby

Symposium of Student Scholars

Previous research has outlined evident disparities in the development of chronic health conditions among African Americans compared to other groups, with African American men disproportionately affected by almost every disorder investigated. Examinations into health conditions such as Chronic Heart Disease (CHD) revealed that social determinants of health stemming from structural racism combined with cultural elements such as diet and risk-taking behaviors were highly related to the health burdens of African American men. Compounded by the fact that African American men are less likely to have access to adequate health insurance, a disturbing picture of healthcare emerges for many African American …

Microbial Diversity And Community Structure In Sediments Associated With The Seagrass (Thallassia Testudinum) In Apalachicola Bay, Florida, Rahma Ahmed, Thomas Mcelroy, Troy Mutchler

Symposium of Student Scholars

Seagrass is an angiosperm which provides many ecosystem services in coastal areas, such as providing food, shelter and nurseries for many species, and decreasing the impact of waves on shorelines. A global assessment reported that 29% of known seagrass meadows are in a state of decline due to the effects of human activity. Seagrass is commonly found in shallow marine waters where they form meadows containing a microbiome that plays an important role in providing nutrients for seagrass growth, though little is known about the microorganisms within the seagrass meadow sediments. Our project collected sediments from seagrass meadows and adjacent …

Why Does An Ex-Offender Reoffend?, Jacob Rybak

Symposium of Student Scholars

What leads to an offender to go back to prison? Iowa has collected data tracking recidivism to evaluate the effectiveness of its programs for released offenders. This data set includes the following for all of the offenders: age groups, type of release (parole vs being discharged at the end of their sentence), race, sex, year of release, supervising district, original offense, and whether they recidivated. For the offenders who return to prison, the data set includes measures on days to return, type of recidivism (technicality or new crime), and what the specific offense was that caused their return.

In the …

Marijuana Arrests In Toronto Canada: A Look Into The Canadian Criminal Justice System, Steven Tully

Symposium of Student Scholars

Marijuana related drug offenses made up fifty-eight percent of all Controlled Drugs and Substances Act offenses in Canada in 2016. On October 17, 2018, Canada legalized marijuana. As part of the efforts to legalize marijuana, descriptive statistics of single variables, like the age of the arrestees and the number of people arrested per year, were reported by the Toronto Star newspaper. The dataset analyzed in this research predates the legalization of marijuana and was collected from 1997 to 2002 on 5,226 individuals arrested in Toronto, Canada for simple possession of small quantities of marijuana. When an offender was arrested for …

Negative Emotions Connected To Racial Experiences, Alondra Guerrero, Avery Britt, Isabella Layton

Symposium of Student Scholars

Negative Emotions Connected to Racial Experiences

For many students, college is the first environment in which they experience racial diversity. Because of this, university campuses become microcosms for the working world including the negative interracial interactions. Harwood and colleagues (2012) found that students of color lack a sense of belonging on predominately white college campuses. They experience microaggressions, racial jokes and comments, and uncomfortable interpersonal interactions (Harwood, 2012). Racially charged experiences influence emotions and those emotions, in turn, influence future racial experiences (Kim, 2016). It follows that students, faculty, and staff who endure a negative racial climate on campus experience …

Why Does An Ex-Offender Reoffend?, Jacob Rybak

Symposium of Student Scholars

What leads an offender to go back to prison? This researcher has lived in the Georgia State prison system for 3.5 years. Using personal insights as well as analytics, this researcher analyzes Iowa state’s six-year data set tracking recidivism of released offenders and recommends changes to the prison system to address the analytical findings.

The Iowa recidivism data set includes the following information for all offenders: age group, type of release (parole vs different discharges), release year, original offense, and whether they recidivated. For the recidivating offenders, the data set includes the days to return to prison, the type of …

Uncovering The Changing Needs Of Older Adults: An Exploratory Qualitative Research Study, Gayle Kruger, Henriette N'Kodia, Rosa King, Brandon Mccollum

Symposium of Student Scholars

Atlanta, like the rest of the U.S., is experiencing a dramatic increase in its older adult population; by 2030, one in five residents will be over the age of 60. Recognized as a leading county-based senior service agency in metropolitan Atlanta, Cobb County Senior Services provides an array of aging services including multipurpose centers, volunteer and advocacy opportunities, resource development, and innovative partnerships. Due to the many challenges presented by the growth of the older adult population, Cobb County Senior Services is currently embarking on the development of a strategic plan to best meet the changing needs of older adults …

The Jjie Virtual World Journalism Project: Experimenting With Virtual Worlds As An Emerging Journalism Platform, Claire M. Bohrer

Symposium of Student Scholars

Although immersive journalism in the virtual world was pioneered by journalist and documentary filmmaker Nonny de la Peña years ago, traditional journalists are just now discovering its potential as an alternative platform to report the news. This study explores the singularities of immersive journalism in virtual worlds using the "Marginalized Youth Voices Amplified on Virtual Worlds" project, which a journalism professor at a southern public university received a grant to develop. The grant came from an Online News Association Challenge Fund for Innovation in Journalism Education, and has been involved in efforts to produce 3D-scenario machinimas (action videos inside virtual …