Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Comparing Tax Structures In Washington And Oregon: Tax Burden Impacts On Grocery Consumption, Devin Bales, Colin Gibson

Student Research Symposium

Washington and Oregon states rely on different tax systems. Washington collects sales tax but no personal income tax, while Oregon collects a personal income tax but no sales tax. These differences create an opportunity to measure the effects of tax policy on consumer spending. Previous literature has estimated the effect of border tax differences on aggregate spending patterns. This paper uses a hierarchical model to measure the effect of individual sales tax burden on individual-level spending. First, using data from the Consumer Expenditure survey, we estimate individual sales tax burden. Then, using these estimates in a second-stage regression simulation model, …

Sahrawi Self-Determination Within Existing Borders: Adapting The Right To Self Determination To Modern International Norms, Alma Ruedas

Student Research Symposium

This paper provides an overview of the attitudes towards the Sahrawi people and the POLISARIO Front in Algeria and Morocco, with a more specific focus on how these latter have impacted their endeavour to establish the former’s own sovereign state. The paper provides background on the political, social, and economic, atmospheres in both countries, to contextualise the modern state of democratic institutions and voter engagement. With this information in mind, several potential pathways forward are presented for Sahrawi self-determination, weighing the pros and cons of seeking political representation within existing states, or through secession.

Evaluating The Educational Impact Of Ballot Measure 11 Workshops & Youths’ Perceptions Of Justice, Ginger Ruddell

Student Research Symposium

In 1994 the State of Oregon passed Ballot Measure 11, which allows for the mandatory minimum sentencing for several types of felonies. This measure also allows for juveniles as young as 15 to be subjected to this mandatory sentencing. Due to the severity of this measure, several youth agencies throughout the state of Oregon became concerned about the consequences of mandatory sentencing on youth, and decided to create educational workshops to allow more awareness of Ballot Measure 11 sentencing. Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center (POIC), is the front runner for this workshop. Their goals are to educate/raise awareness, prevent contact with …

Socialsibs: The Effects Of A Hybrid Intervention On The Core Social Communicative Behaviors Of Children With Asd, Marissa Montejano

Student Research Symposium

Purpose/Introduction
Social communication challenges are a central feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD; APA, 2013). Social communication skills are often a key focus of intervention; however, generalization of skills to natural contexts, particularly peer relationships is a challenge for many children on the spectrum (Ferraioli & Harris, 2011; Schreiber, 2011; Wang & Spillane, 2009).

Socialsibs is a hybrid intervention that targets social interaction, communication, and reciprocity using a combination of video modeling and sibling-mediation within a naturalistic behavioral framework. The intervention was examined within a waitlist control design study with children with ASD and their neurotypical siblings. The current poster …

From Refugee To Citizen: Rhizomes And Roots In The Digital Age, Julia Nett, Michele Ruth Gamburd

Student Research Symposium

This study examines digital media as platforms for current and former refugees to reaffirm and create themselves and to learn to be American. To think of refugees as “uprooted” with “roots that threaten to wither” (Malkki 1992, 32) is misguided. This study utilizes Deleuze and Guattari’s idea of the rhizome (1987) to rethink current and former refugee experiences postresettlement in the US. With the rising ubiquity of digital media and digital technologies, increasing numbers of refugees resettle with smartphones and other technologies. These technologies provide current and former refugees opportunities to maintain hybridized self-conceptions and to feel they are both …

Glacial Meltwater Modeling To Simulate Streamflow And Lake Levels In Taylor Valley, Antarctica, Julian M. Cross, Andrew G. Fountain

Student Research Symposium

The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) are the largest ice-free region (4,500 km²) in Antarctica. The MDV are a polar desert with an average annual temperature of -18˚C and minimal precipitation, < 50 mm w.e. a^-1. In Taylor Valley (77°35’ S, 163°00’ E), a closed-basin, perennially ice-covered lakes occupy the valley floor. Ephemeral streams transfer glacier meltwater for ~10 weeks each summer. Glacial meltwater accounts for nearly the total inflow to these streams and lakes, groundwater is essentially non-existent. A microbially-dominated ecosystem in Taylor Valley depends on glacier runoff and thus is highly sensitive to changes to the hydroclimatic regime. A model …

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, …

A Community-Based Approach To Archaeological Site Preservation In A Changing Climate: A Proposed Risk Assessment Along The Lower Columbia, Phillip Daily, Virginia L. Butler

Student Research Symposium

Global climate change is an increasing threat to cultural resources, especially in coastal areas. Archaeologists have responded with risk assessments that gauge these threats and create preservation priorities for land managers. However, most assessments do not include input from descendant communities, which limits their potential value and relevance to archaeologists and tribal partners. We are in the initial stages of developing a risk assessment model for the Lower Columbia that includes a process for collaborating with tribes. In addition to incorporating the existing archaeological and ethnohistorical data typically used in risk assessments, our project will also incorporate indigenous stakeholder priorities …

Use Of Mdma & Psilocybin In The Treatment Of Ptsd, Camden Grant-Howard, Joel Steele

Student Research Symposium

For years, the promise of psychedelics in therapeutic settings has been deterred by their general illegality. However, present day research shows promise in treating varying mental disorders. Amongst these disorders is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the organization, PTSD United, PTSD presently effects about eight percent of Americans. Many of the current treatments only offer symptomatic relief and do not work for every case of PTSD. Psychedelics presently offer an alternative method of healing that focuses on treatment of the core issue with an emphasis on human connection and guided confrontation of emotions and/or trauma. Currently, it is …

A Society That Can Heal: An Autoethnography Of A Feminist Framework About Shame And How We Can Recover. A Women’S And Queer Identified Outlook To Social Emotion, Jenna L. Williams

Student Research Symposium

The purpose of this study is to investigate the ways an individual resists dehumanization and/or disempowerment in the face of marginalizing societal forces, and it theorizes about the relationship among vulnerability, shame, and resiliency for women and queer-identified persons resisting dehumanization/disempowerment. Using autoethnography and other qualitative research methods (i.e., surveys and interviews), the author explores the lived experiences of shame and vulnerability in herself and others. The author applies resiliency theory and an intersectional lens to illuminate vulnerability, shame, and the ways they play themselves out in individual lives and in institutional systems. The author offers the reader insights for …

Restoring Eden: The Role Of Christianity On Environmental Conservation, A Case Of Karatu District, Arusha, Tanzania, Taylor Allen

Student Research Symposium

In order for environmental conservation to be effective among citizens, it must have a method of relating to their everyday values. Developing countries account for the majority of bio-diversity hotspot areas and thus are important to maintain sustainable development. Due to most of these countries following an organized religion, predominantly Christian, an alternative method of conservation may be successful to motivate citizens to participate in conservation efforts. In order for this method to be successful, members of the congregation must agree that there is a religious obligation to care for the environment. For Christianity this obligation is discussed by the …

Emergency Management Appropriations In Non-Event Municipalities, Andrew Russo

Student Research Symposium

This study was conducted to discern if emergency management department appropriations in non-event municipalities increase after a major natural disaster. The literature written and research performed over the last decade suggested that a new emphasis on mitigation had resulted in increased collaboration and public support for disaster mitigation programmatically and financially. Conducting this research project entailed investigating if these non-event communities react by increasing their emergency management department (EMD) appropriations to prepare for future disasters. In exploring this question, it is important to convey how research has evolved on the subject of disaster funding, the importance of collaboration in disaster …

Pollution, Prisons, And The Power Of Women: Does Women's Leadership In Government Decrease Emissions Caused By The Prison Industrial Complex?, Chanel Ison, Julius Mcgee

Student Research Symposium

Pollution caused by large corporations is the primary reason for environmental degradation and the prison industrial complex is no exception. The purpose of this study is to contextualize the carceral system and its relationship to climate change from a critical ecofeminist perspective. Critical ecofeminism contends that the patriarchal nature of capitalism forces women to generate forms of resistance against essentialist systems--which attributes to their broader understanding of environmental degradation and the oppression of marginalized identities. Using the Fact Sheet Archive on Women in State Legislatures (1997-2016) which reports the percentage of women-identified legislators and governors in the US, this study …