Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Under The Influence Of Parents: A Longitudinal Study Of Children’S Walking, Kyu Ri Kim, Jennifer Dill

Student Research Symposium

Researchers have studied children's active travel; however, they have mostly been cross-sectional studies dealing with commuting to school and parental attitudes. To find ways to promote children's active travel, this longitudinal study uses panel data (two time periods) to examine how parents' actual walking and safety perception correlated with children’s walking. Using data from 240 children aged 4-16 and their parents in Portland, Oregon, we estimated a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) to analyze the continuous relationships. We found that parents with more positive attitudes toward their walking walked more, and their children also walked more in both periods. In addition, …

Why People Pee In Public: Is A Lack Of Public Restrooms Keeping Portland Too Weird?, Cece Austin

Student Research Symposium

Why People Pee in Public: Is a Lack of Public Restrooms Keeping Portland Too Weird?

Cece Austin1, Shirley Jackson, PhD12

1University Honors Department, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA 2Department of Sociology, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA

Various factors, including gender, housing status, socioeconomic status, and disability, impact access to public restrooms in Portland, Oregon. A pilot program involving the implementation of public restrooms has caused a significant reduction in public defecation in San Francisco. This research demonstrates the efficacy of this existing working model, which could be similarly implemented in Portland with some adjustments. Portland has the Portland …

Green Ring Wayfinding Map, Lorena Nascimento, Adam Brunelle, Arlene Amaya

Student Research Symposium

Lents is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Portland, with a higher percentage of Latinos and Asians than the average city demographics. The neighbors are either long-term homeowners, people displaced from North Portland due to the gentrification, and new residents seeking economic development areas with an affordable price. The Green Ring Wayfinding Map is a community place-making project that improves neighborhood safety, accessibility, and enjoyment through conversations and collaboration across Lents diversity and geography. After three years of focus groups and surveys with the Lents residents, a Green Ring Wayfinding Map is being created to praise the values, branding, …

The Role Of Financial Literacy Among University Transfer Students And The Impact On Perceived Social Mobility, Melissa Pyle

Student Research Symposium

This study will examine financial literacy among university transfer students at Portland State University. The main objective is to assess the financial knowledge and behaviors of transfer students and how that impacts perceived social mobility. The goal is to provide conclusions and resource implications regarding the specific needs of university transfer students through a sociological lens. In partnership with The Financial Wellness Center (FCW) at Portland State University it is hypothesized the results of this study will better equip universities and transfer students to work together to ensure both educational success, upward mobility, and fiscal responsibility.

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, …

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, …

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 …

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 …

Container Houses, Tran Joseph, Anissa Rosbaugh, Sydne Scott, Hanan Yassin

PSU High School Innovation Challenge

We have noticed that there is an increasing number of homeless in our community. People who are homeless have a more difficult time getting jobs, making it harder to for them to get back on their feet.

Homeless is defined as a person without a stable place to live, in risk of being homeless. Homeless under Federal status, is defined as fleeing/attempting to escape domestic violence. Examples of homelessness include couch surfing, sleeping in shelters, and living in a car.

Our proposal was to build homeless shelters out of shipping containers.

Cleaning Up The Cities Of Tomorrow, Miguel Campos, Jack Chen, Alex Gaiovych, Fernando Lauer, Kaleb Swoverland, Anna Velikoretskikh, Jason Yu

PSU High School Innovation Challenge

A huge problem with current modernized and non modernized cities is the amount of trash being thrown away. There is a tremendous amount of recyclable material that is being thrown away with non recyclable waste into massive landfills. Even though we can not physically see the trash that we throw away on the street, it must still go somewhere. Some of that waste is toxic, other waste is made of non decomposable material. These massive waste disposal sites hurt animals, damage soil, and harm the health people living nearby.

In 2007, Americans threw out about 570 billion pounds of municipal …

Smarter Cycling, Cory Koehler, Richard Smith, Sarah St. Clair, Alex Taylor, Aubrey Masten, Konon Phillips

PSU High School Innovation Challenge

With the current trend of urbanization, the populations of major cities such as Portland are steadily increasing. This is causing a variety of problems, both within the city and in rural areas. In regards to the city, the major challenges facing city planners are the need for the expansion of residential neighborhoods and a rise in traffic throughout the city. One way to tackle the issue of an abundance of traffic, is to make alternate means of transportation more appealing to residents. We chose to focus on bicycling because of the bike‐friendly culture already in place in Portland. An increase …