Digital Commons Network^™

Prevalence And Correlates Of Overweight And Obesity Among Preschool-Aged Children In San Luis Obispo County, 2006-2014, Kristine Z. Jankovitz, Alison K. Ventura, Trevor M. Curry, Victoria B. Howarth, Caitlin C. Moran, Robin M. Mertens, Leland A. Bailey, Kristen Thompson, Karen Mcgaughey

Kinesiology and Public Health

Background and Purpose: National prevalence of overweight and obesity (OW/OB) among children remains high; surveillance of OW/OB at state- and local-levels is needed. This study determines the prevalence and sociodemographic predictors of OW/OB among preschool-age children in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County.

Methods: Cross-sectional convenience samples of Head Start, California State, and private preschools were surveyed in 2006 (n=482), 2009/10 (n=559), and 2014 (n=442). At all waves, preschool children aged 3-5 years were measured for height and weight using standardized stadiometer and digital scale protocols. In 2014, parents completed a demographics questionnaire.

Results: Children assessed in 2009/10 and 2014 were …

Pink And Dude Chefs: Effectiveness Of An After-School Nutrition Knowledge And Culinary Skills Program For Middle School Students To Increase Fruit And Vegetable Consumption, Alyssa S. Vaziri

Master's Theses

The rate of overweight and obesity among adolescents aged 12-19 years has more than tripled since 1980, and disproportionately impacts low-income and marginalized populations. Reduction in adolescent obesity rates may result in decreased health risks, decrease healthcare costs, and increased quality of life. Effective intervention methods for adolescent participants have incorporated nutrition knowledge and culinary skill building into afterschool programs. This study examines whether building knowledge, skills, and confidence through a culinary intervention can improve adolescent participants’ choices of healthful foods through increased fruit and vegetable intake.

Pink and Dude Chefs (PDC) is an afterschool nutrition education and culinary skills …

Influencing Exploration In Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning Algorithms, Andrew R. Gough

Master's Theses

Reinforcement Learning (RL) is a subset of machine learning primarily concerned with goal-directed learning and optimal decision making. RL agents learn based on a reward signal discovered from trial and error in complex, uncertain environments with the goal of maximizing positive reward signals. RL approaches need to scale up as they are applied to more complex environments with extremely large state spaces. Inefficient exploration methods cannot sufficiently explore complex environments in a reasonable amount of time, and optimal policies will be unrealized resulting in RL agents failing to solve an environment.

This thesis proposes a novel variant of the Actor-Advantage …

Academic Senate - Agenda, 5/29/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Meeting Minutes, 5/22/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Agenda, 5/22/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Agenda, 5/15/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Graduate Internship Report: San Jacinto High School, Lindsey Stiff

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

Created and submitted courses for the creation of pathways within the ag department. Also built a six nest chicken coop to start a laying hen project. Students built the coop and take care of the laying hens. We will start using the chickens in our other courses.

The Well Building Standard: Assessment Of Effectiveness, Zachary Richardson

Construction Management

This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the WELL Building standard. The WELL Building standard is a certification very similar in nature to that of LEED, where there are criteria that must be met in order for a building to be certified. The International WELL Building Institute claims that by adhering to their standards, building owners will be able to improve many health aspects in the lives of the occupants, as well as creating more effective workplaces for business. Through a careful analysis of the physical and mental health aspects WELL claims to improve, as well as surveying building …

Academic Senate - Agenda, 5/1/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Completion Of Hope's Village Tiny Homes, Jimmy P. Fewell

Construction Management

In Fall, 2018 the Cal Poly Construction Management Department teamed up with the non-profit, Hope’s Village, to create two tiny homes that are to be used for homeless shelters. The Residential Construction class built the structures, and I finish the siding for this plan. In finishing the siding I was incharge of the designing, planning and execution of the project.

Academic Senate - Agenda, 4/17/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Reproduction As A Crime: State Intervention During Pregnancy, Emily Spacek

Paideia

This paper briefly examines the actions by states that criminalize substance use during pregnancy through a critical lens that grants attention to the reasons for and implications of punishing pregnant women for specific actions taken during pregnancy. It first embarks on a case study into a particular Alabama law that has warranted the arrests of hundreds of women since its implementation in 2006. Then, using qualitative research, this paper investigates broader state intervention into the lives of pregnant, substance using women via criminal prosecution and the termination of parental rights. Results indicate that current punitive policies have often developed without …

Promoting Healthy Food Preferences From The Start: A Narrative Review Of Food Preference Learning From The Prenatal Period Through Early Childhood, S. Anzman-Frasca, Alison K. Ventura, S. Ehrenberg, K. P. Myers

Kinesiology and Public Health

The palatable, energy-dense foods that characterize modern environments can promote unhealthy eating habits, along with humans’ predispositions to accept sweet tastes and reject those that are sour or bitter. Yet food preferences are malleable, and examining food preference learning during early life can highlight ways to promote acceptance of healthier foods. This narrative review describes research from the past 10 years focused on food preference learning from the prenatal period through early childhood (ages 2–5 years). Exposure to a variety of healthy foods from the start, including during the prenatal period, early milk-feeding and the introduction to complementary foods and …

Academic Senate - Agenda, 3/6/2018, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Wisehart Cutting Horses Business And Customer Portfolio, Tawni Brook Stoneburner

Agricultural Education and Communication

The cutting horse industry has been around for many years with the first competition being held in 1898, as a way for people to prove their own horses’ ranch talents and has now grown to an industry based on trainers and clients (NCHA, 2018). The main goal of the trainer is to get a horse prepared to show at its best ability and to win the most earnings (Wisehart, E., 2017). According to the American Quarter Horse Handbook, “Judges score the horses on their ability to keep the cow from returning to the herd, cow sense, attentiveness and courage.” (AQHA …

Converting Agricultural Lesson Plans To Be Common Core Compliant For Grades 3-5, Hattie Kaymarie Jameson, Brittany Rose Withnell

Agricultural Education and Communication

There are few Common Core approved lesson plans for teachers to incorporate into traditional science programs in California. The Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom (AITC) program provides K-12 educators lesson plans with an agricultural focus. Only 13 out of 45 of the lesson plans that the California AITC website offers are Common Core approved (Learn About Ag, 2017).

Agricultural literacy is valuable to consumers, can lead to careers in agriculture, and can create a greater understanding of the world and of science for students. The agricultural lessons give students a real life relationship with what they are learning and …

Cal Poly Farmers Picnic, Emily Anne Dale, Riley Nilsen, Jack Gavron

Agricultural Education and Communication

Agriculture can be seen as the world’s most essential industry. Many products people use daily come directly from agriculture, including the food placed on people’s tables. Knowing where that food comes from, and the overall importance of agricultural education is vital in the United States and the world. This message needs to be shared beyond the classroom: we need agriculture to survive.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “in 2012, there were 3.2 million farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers and an estimated 757,900 agricultural workers legally employed in the U.S.” (USDA, 2012). These findings concluded that less …

To Be The Golden Girl: Disordered Eating Within Figure Skating, Giulia Christine Thomas

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

San Luis Ranch - Design Vision, Maddie Pritchard, Mackenzie Wrage

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

Egg Awareness, Hailee J. French

Agricultural Education and Communication

In 2008, Proposition 2 passed, forcing all egg producers in California to provide more room inside of cages to their laying hens. The Humane Society of the United States [HSUS] initiated this battle and won but, less than a decade later decided that still wasn’t enough room for the birds. HSUS is now pushing to have a new measure on the ballot in November 2018 forcing all egg producers in California to produce their eggs cage free.

This project will survey the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo campus to gauge the campus’s understanding of egg production in California. …

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) …

Moraga Commons Skatepark - Phase 2: Enhancing The Experience, Jeffrey Phunmongkol

Construction Management

Moraga Commons Skatepark is located in the East Bay Area, of Northern California. An affluent small town, the skatepark serves as a great outdoor space where kids can exercise and enjoy. Originally built in 2003, Moraga Skatepark has been my second home ever since I started skateboarding. Myself, along with others, have noticed specific aspects of the skatepark that are poorly designed. In addition, the park has experienced general wear and depreciation from years of use. I wanted to create a potential improvement plan that would include slight skatepark design changes and ultimately addition of park amenities to improve the …

Effect Of The Specific Carbohydrate Diet On The Microbiome Of A Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis And Ulcerative Colitis Patient, Alanna Dubrovsky, Christopher Kitts

Biological Sciences

A 20-year-old female was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) at age 14 and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) at age 16. The PSC was successfully treated with high doses of oral vancomycin; however, the UC was more difficult to manage. After many drug treatments failed to treat the UC, the patient began following the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD). This report documents fecal microbiome changes resulting from following the SCD for two weeks. The DNA extracted from fecal samples was subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing to quantify bacterial species abundance. Not only were substantial changes in the fecal bacterial composition detectable …

As-845-18 Resolution On Academic Program Review, Program Review Task Force

Academic Senate Resolutions

That the Provost, in consultation with the college dean, the program administrator, and the Chair of the Academic Senate (or designee) detennine whether the accreditation process covers the essential elements of academic program review in accordance with any CSU or Cal Poly mandated requirements; and, be it further RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate accept and adopt the academic program review process proposed in the "Report on Institutional Accountability: Academic Program Review."

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 …

State Of The Art Resilient Design Symposium, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Resilience Symposium

What is resilient design? How does it work? What are emergent ways to apply resilient thinking?

These questions formed the basis for the College of Architecture and Environmental Design’s symposium Resilient Design: State of the Art and Emerging Issues for the Built Environment. Twelve distinguished professionals made clear that the built and natural environments are inextricably intertwined, and we urgently need a more nuanced and interdisciplinary approach to resilient design. The presenters reminded us that the problems we face are complex and that we have the agency to act through design. They insisted that we need to act now and …

Assessment Of Maternal And Infant Outcomes Of Moderately Malnourished Pregnant Adolescents In Malawi, Alyssa Marie Friebert

Master's Theses

Background: Adolescent childbearing and maternal malnutrition are common in low- and middle-income countries and are associated with increased risk for poor maternal and infant outcomes. Adolescent pregnancy compounded with moderate malnutrition exacerbates outcomes common to both individually. Supplementary foods may be a way to improve outcomes in malnourished adolescent pregnant women.

Objective: To retrospectively assess maternal and infant outcomes in moderately malnourished pregnant young adolescents (16-17 YO), older adolescents (18-19 YO), and adults (≥20 YO) in response to one of three nutritional interventions and in a pooled treatment group analysis, and to assess differences in infant outcomes by infant gender. …

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.