Digital Commons Network^™

The Taiko Connection: Reclaiming History, Activating Equality, Tamiko Cavey

History

Taiko drumming has been a Japanese cultural art form from as early as the fifth century. A taiko "boom" in which ensemble groups gained popularity took off in Japan post-WWII, and in the United States during the late 1960s-early 1970s amid the Asian American Civil Rights Movement. In discussing the historical experiences of the burakumin outcastes of Japan and Japanese Americans, this paper explores how taiko has been used as a form of social activism for these marginalized groups, and how this cultural reclamation facilitates the process of developing self-identity.

Enhancements To The Microbial Source Tracking Process Through The Utilization Of Clustering And K-Nearest Clusters Algorithm, Tram B. Lai

Master's Theses

Bacterial contamination in water sources is a serious health risk and the sources of the bacterial strains must be identified to keep people safe. This project is the result of a collaboration effort at Cal Poly to develop a new library-dependent Microbial Source Tracking method for determining sources of fecal contamination in the environment. The library used in this study is called Cal Poly Library of Pyroprints (CPLOP). The process of building CPLOP requires students to collect fecal samples from a multitude of sources in the San Luis Obispo area. A novel method developed by the biologists at Cal Poly …

Improvement Of Chilling Efficiency And Product Quality Of Broiler Carcasses Using Sub-Zero Saline Solutions For Chilling, Morgan Metheny

Master's Theses

Sub-zero saline solutions were evaluated for the improvement of chilling efficiency and product quality of broiler carcasses. In this study, four experiments were conducted to chill broiler carcasses using different saline solutions and chilling temperatures in the Meat Processing Center at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA) or in the processing plant at Foster Farms (Livingston, CA). In Experiment I, three salt concentrations and solution temperatures (0% NaCl/0.5°C, 4% NaCl/-2.41°C, and 8% NaCl/-5.08°C) were used to chill carcasses. The fillets in brine chilling at sub-zero temperatures showed lower shear forces than the fillets in 0% NaCl …

Evaluating Recruitment Seasonality Of Red Abalone (Haliotis Rufescens) To Inform Fisheries Management And Conservation Policy, Leslie Christine Hart

Master's Theses

Recruitment, the addition of new individuals to a population, must be understood to make predictions about population growth of marine invertebrates. Red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) represent a former important commercial fishery in California, and until recently, supported a major recreational fishery. However, there have been statewide declines since the 1960s due to overfishing, disease, and climatic factors. Thus, understanding population dynamics to inform management and population restoration is critical. Recruitment dynamics of red abalone are poorly understood, with no prior knowledge of seasonal trends. To address this knowledge gap, I assessed monthly (July 2016-June 2017) and annual (2012-2016) …

Comparative Proteomics: Assessing The Variation In Molecular Physiology Within The Adductor Muscle Between Mytilus Galloprovincialis And Mytilus Trossulus In Response To Acute Heat Stress, Joshua Scott Mier

Master's Theses

Increases in seawater temperatures have imposed physiological constraints which are partially thought to contribute to recently observed shifts in biogeographic distribution among closely related intertidal ectotherms. For instance, Mytilus galloprovincialis an introduced warm-adapted species from the Mediterranean, has displaced the native cold-adapted congener, M. trossulus, over large latitudinal expanses off the California coast. Several comparative physiological studies have revealed interspecific differences in thermal tolerance, including variation in aerobic metabolism and gape behavior, which suggest the invasive congener is better adapted to acclimate to increasing seawater conditions as predicted due to climate change. However, current analyses seek to discover the …

Interspecies Political Agency In The Total Liberation Movement, Michael P. Allen, Erica Von Essen

Between the Species

In this paper, we examine the possibility of interspecies political agency at the level of social movements. We ask to what extent animals and humans can be co-participants in one another’s liberation from oppression. To do so, we assess arguments for and against including animals in the ‘total liberation package’, taken as the liberation from oppressive societal structures. These are not pragmatic-political arguments, but conceptual-philosophical arguments that have been put before animal liberationists attempting to ‘piggy-back’ on human liberation movements. In discrediting these philosophical arguments, we argue that animals have capacities for self-liberation that humans can facilitate and that animals, …

Heganism, Thomas E. Randall

Between the Species

An emblematic association exists between meat consumption and the gender identity hegemonic masculinity. This association is so strong that men who pursue meatless diets (especially vegans) are likely to be socially ostracized. Heganism is a diet/gender identity that aims to reconstruct hegemonic masculinity with the goal of removing these stigmas attached to male veganism. Yet heganism fails to do this, and, in fact, worsens the marginalization of male vegans. Therefore, heganism ought to be rejected. Instead, an alternative option for reducing the marginalization of male vegans could be found in the emergent literature on non-hegemonic masculinities. By rejecting hegemonic …

Social Class, Jean Williams

Diversity and Inclusion Resource Modules

Social class affects social opportunities and arrangements, economic and political issues, and public policies; it is fundamentally connected to power differentials across all these areas. This module proposes to provide an overview of social class as an analytical concept and social location, to assist faculty with key articles and books to attain a solid background in the topic, and to provide sample activities to teach students about social class. The module will theorize and define class intersectionally, in order to demonstrate the ways that it is constructed in concert with race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and other aspects of identity. The …

Semantic Document Clustering Using Information From Wordnet And Dbpedia, Lubomir Stanchev

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Semantic document clustering is a type of unsupervised learning in which documents are grouped together based on their meaning. Unlike traditional approaches that cluster documents based on common keywords, this technique can group documents that share no words in common as long as they are on the same subject. We compute the similarity between two documents as a function of the semantic similarity between the words and phrases in the documents. We model information from WordNet and DBPedia as a probabilistic graph that can be used to compute the similarity between two terms. We experimentally validate our algorithm on the …

Francis Wolff’S Flawed Philosophical Defense Of Bullfighting, Gabriel Andrade

Between the Species

As a result of Catalonia’s ban of bullfighting in 2011, in Spain there has been a renowned interest in the ethical debate about bullfighting. Most defenders of bullfighting are Spaniards, but the most systematic is French philosopher Francis Wolff. In this article, I review Wolff’s most persistent arguments in favor of bullfighting, and I offer my own refutations. Wolff argues bullfighting is not torture, bulls do not suffer, bulls must die, and bullfighting tradition must be preserved. All of these claims are dubious, as they are based on shaky assumptions and fallacious reasoning.

Review Of Louis Komjathy’S Taming The Wild Horse: An Annotated Translation And Study Of The Daoist Horse Taming Pictures, Regina Swanson

Between the Species

Abstract: This review of Louis Komjathy’s translation and interpretation of a 13^th century set of illustrated poems places the work squarely within the emerging field of animal studies. Though essentially a map for Daoist monastic training, Komjathy notes that the Horse Taming Pictures, as he names them, are also about horses at some level. He therefore engages these pictures not as relics of a medieval eremitic order, but as works of art and poetry incorporating horses as timeless symbols and living creatures. While not strictly a work of ethics, Taming the Wild Horse takes time to consider human …

Full Issue

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Seventeenth-Century Foundations Of The Moral Economy Of The English Crowd, Ryan Hund

The Forum: Journal of History

The historian E.P Thompson famously described English peasant bread riots in the 18th century as based off of a shared ideal of an economy that obeyed moral rules. But where did this idea originate? I argue that conflicts over land enclosure in the seventeenth century led to peasants viewing the old nobility as defending them according to even older moral principles, a view which carried over into the later economic conflicts about which Thompson writes.

"Captain America Must Die": How A Super Soldier Became A Patriot, Mackenna Johnson

The Forum: Journal of History

This paper analyzes the character of Captain America in the midst of the Cold War, and particularly asks how and to what extent the character reflects his contemporary sociopolitical atmosphere. To achieve this end, I first establish the vital role of popular culture, especially comic books, in modern historical research. I then discuss the history of Captain America, the sociopolitical situation of the 1970s, and, finally, introduce the Secret Empire and Nomad storylines of the 1970s, which form the basis of my argument. The most valuable primary source in this paper is not the comic books themselves, but an interview …

Rick, Morty, And Absurdism: The Millennial Allure Of Dark Humor, Kim Koltun

The Forum: Journal of History

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the millennial generation’s appeal to dark and absurdist forms of humor, using the show Rick and Morty as a primary example. I first establish my definition of Absurdism—based on Nagel and Camus—and how Rick and Morty qualifies as an Absurdist work. I then go on to outline the popularity of the show among millennial audiences and explore its allure. There are three important sociological contexts to this explanation: the contrast between upbringing and reality, expedited modernity, and rapidly changing information structures. These set the stage for a distinctive style of humor that …

Frans Floris And The Poetics Of Mythological Painting In Antwerp, Giancarlo Fiorenza

Art and Design

No abstract provided.

The Potential Effects Of Exercise-Induced Cortisol Release On Executive Functioning In Preadolescents, Kory Matthew Bettencourt

Master's Theses

Purpose: Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (MAE) has been shown to elicit improvements in cognition and subsequent academic performance among preadolescents. Aerobic exercise has also shown to increase cortisol release in response to increasing exercise intensity. However, it is unknown if increased cortisol levels following exercise are related to acute improvements in executive function following a bout of MAE in preadolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential effects of increased cortisol release after acute MAE on attention and working memory among preadolescents. Methods: Eleven preadolescents [6 males, 5 females] volunteered to participate in this study (age=9.45±1.03). …

Dialogues On Ethical Vegetarianism, Michael Huemer

Between the Species

Two philosophy students, M and V, discuss the ethics of meat consumption. Standard arguments on both sides are reviewed, with emphasis on the argument that meat-consumption is wrong because it supports extreme cruelty. M and V also address such questions as how conflicting intuitions ought to be weighed, whether meat-eating is comparable to participating in a holocaust, why ethical arguments often fail to change our behavior even when they change our beliefs, and how an ethical vegetarian morally ought to interact with non-vegetarians.

A Piece Of Me:Annierose Seifert And The Slo Cowparade, Annie Rose M. Seifert

Agricultural Education and Communication

CowParade is an international art movement brought to sunny San Luis Obispo, California during the summer of 2016. CowParade SLO showcased 101 painted fiberglass cows. Each cow has a different sponsor and artist. This event was created to give back to local charities, attract tourism and notoriety to hosting communities, and give local artists the chance to be on a global stage. CowParade is an international event hosted in more than 70 cities around the globe including Paris, France, Perth, Australia, China and Brazil. The event began in 1999 with the first parade being hosted in Chicago, Illinois.

Teacher Internship Program: Righetti High School Agriculture Department, Amy Athena Guerra

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This Graduate Internship Report includes an evaluation of the Twelve Quality Criteria used by the Agricultural Education Program at Righetti High School. The criteria is used for agriculture programs to obtain funding through the Agricultural Incentive Grant (A.I.G.). In addition to an evaluation of the twelve criteria, a Chapter FFA Website was developed to increase program promotion for the Righetti Agriculture Department.

Graduate Internship Report - Joseph A. Gregori High School, Kyle L. Beeman

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The documents are concurrently used for the Agriculture Incentive Grant review process at Joseph A Gregori High School conducted by representatives of the California Department of Education. The internship includes the development of 16 steel raised garden beds for the Agriculture Department through a USDA farm to school grant. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Gregori agriculture program and community

Bridging The Gap Between Technology Usage In The Construction Industry And In The Classroom, Marco Maffioli

Construction Management

As construction begins to advance more and more every day, technology is one of the most volatile aspects due to its ever changing nature. Technology, and all the software’s that encompass it, is the future of this industry and if we want to keep improving and growing as an industry we need to better align our future new hires with the most prevalent technology and that starts in the classroom. Specifically, the Construction Management Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, one of the most advanced in Nation, still struggles to align with the expectations and reality of the CM …

Sex Differences In Collateral Remodeling Following Hindlimb Arterial Occlusion, Laura Burckhardt

Master's Theses

Clinical evidence indicates a higher incidence of peripheral arterial occlusive disease and associated likelihood of critical limb ischemia in women, as well as worse prognosis and decreased survival post myocardial infarction. Therefore, understanding the possible differences in underlying vascular compensation mechanisms is crucial. With arterial occlusions, necrosis and tissue injury can be naturally mitigated by the collateral circulation, improving patient prognosis. Previous sex-comparison studies describing differences in vascular remodeling are inconsistent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the effect of arterial occlusion on collateral remodeling in healthy male and healthy reproductive-stage female mice. At 7 days following …

Influences Of Anthropogenic Noise On Flight Initiation Distance, Foraging Behavior, And Feeder Community Structure Of Wild Birds, Alissa R. Petrelli

Master's Theses

Throughout the world, birds represent the primary type of wildlife that people experience on a daily basis. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that alterations to the acoustic environment can negatively affect birds as well as humans in a variety of ways, and altered acoustics from noise pollution has the potential to influence human interactions with wild birds. In this thesis, I investigated how anthropogenic noise impacts daily behavior as well as community structure of wild birds. In the first component of this thesis, I assessed the distance at which a bird initiates flight or escape behavior (i.e., flight …

Improving Companion Ai Behavior In Mimica, Daniel Toy

Master's Theses

Companion characters are an important aspect of video games and appear in many different genres. Their role is typically to support the player as they progress through the game by helping to complete tasks or assisting in combat. However, oftentimes, these companion characters are limited in their ability to dynamically react to new situations and fail to properly assist the player.

In this paper, we present a solution by improving upon the MimicA framework, which allows companion characters to emulate the human player. The framework takes a learn by observation approach by storing the game state when the player performs …

Agricultural Communications Lesson Plans For High School Agriculture Programs, Caitlin Anne Stanton

Agricultural Education and Communication

In today’s workforce, individuals are expected to be able to communicate effectively through all means of communication. This includes video, graphics, emails, social media, and in person. In the agriculture industry, these means of communication have become crucial to promoting agricultural literacy throughout the world. It is important for young people to have a grasp on professionally utilizing these communication methods so that they can use them in future careers as well as advocating for the agriculture industry. The role of technology and social media is rapidly increasing in everyday life and becoming a key learning tool in secondary education. …

A High Quality, Eulerian 3d Fluid Solver In C++, Lejon Anthony Mcgowan

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Fluids are a part of everyday life, yet are one of the hardest elements to properly render in computer graphics. Water is the most obvious entity when thinking of what a fluid simulation can achieve (and it is indeed the focus of this project), but many other aspects of nature, like fog, clouds, and particle effects. Real-time graphics like video games employ many heuristics to approximate these effects, but large-scale renderers aim to simulate these effects as closely as possible.

In this project, I wish to achieve effects of the latter nature. Using the Eulerian technique of discrete grids, I …

Animated Otto-Langen Atmospheric Engine, Keiran M. Hansen, Lance Hodgson, Rachel A. Jakob, Chris J. Splees

Mechanical Engineering

Based on an existing relationship between Dr. Owen and the Deutsches Museum, Otto-Mated was given the opportunity to collaborate with the two in a year-long senior design project. Otto-Mated was tasked with modeling and simulating the Otto-Langen Atmospheric Engine as a form of preservation and education. The model was created in SolidWorks and animated in Blender, effectively providing the museum with accurate and educational videos demonstrating the engine’s function. Within this document are the plans, decisions, and processes used to create our final product for Deutsches Museum.

Executive Committee - Agenda, 10/31/2017, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Why Do We Care?: A Natural History Of Noddings’ Ethical Theory, Walter Jason Niedermeyer

Between the Species

Noddings’ theory of caring, which is nearing its 35^th anniversary, has failed to garner the attention of the more classical theories of ethics. This slight may be due to its relative youth, or the historical support for other constructs, but if examined through the lens of evolutionary biology, the validity of Noddings might be tested. Using recent discoveries from the emerging fields of cognitive ethology and neuroscience, I have evaluated whether there exists evolutionary underpinnings for her theory. My analysis makes it apparent that the empathy and altruism required for the practice of caring are as much a product …