Digital Commons Network^™

A Snapshot Of Living In The Syrian Civil War, Joshua Schipper

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

A History Of The Underground Comix Scene: The Seriousness Of An Unserious Genre, Harris Darcie Shugart

Master's Theses

The Underground Comix Scene of the 1960s and 1970s was born out of an age of censorship. The Comics Code Authority, a regulatory body created by the Comics Magazine Association of America in 1954, established guidelines requiring publishing houses to self-regulate following a recommendation from the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1953. Comix with an X, for their X-rated nature, represent an emerging counter-culture in the latter half of the 1960s and the 1970s, with an epicenter of San Francisco. These comix and their artists were not interested in obtaining the looming ‘Seal of Approval’ from the …

The Tragedy Of African Independence, Virginia Dussell

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

A Country In Hell, Madhukar Muralidhara

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

A Snapshot Of Living In The Syrian Civil War, Joshua Schipper

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

An Apple A Day, Madhavan Krishnan

Fresh Voices: Composition at Cal Poly

No abstract provided.

Star Wars: Andor – An Abolitionist Study Guide, Marcelo Garzo Montalvo, Isaac Ginsberg Miller

Feminist Pedagogy

This study guide provides a set of activities for teaching abolition through Season 1 of the speculative fiction TV series Star Wars: Andor (2022). Through the practice of critical literacy (viewing, reading, and analysis), we offer various ideas on how to engage Andor as a relevant pedagogical tool for studying and teaching abolitionist movement histories and methodologies. By guiding students through a critical analysis of this widely-circulated, mainstream cultural text, we seek to activate an abolitionist pedagogical lens that can be applied across various genres and media – making tangible connections between popular culture and political struggles writ large. These …

Cal Poly (Cp) Legged Robot, Sebastian Barboza, Jonathan Mchale, Isabella Sorensen, Isaac Golan

Mechanical Engineering

The Navy spends $60 billion annually on dangerous ship maintenance performed by sailors. To save lives and resources, the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) is looking for robots to replace sailors and navigate ships to perform various tasks. Robots with tracks and wheels have been most recently explored by NSWC, however they have encountered significant problems navigating the ships, especially through naval ship doorways with a significant ledge. By using a legged robot, our team hopes to solve these problems and have a robot that can navigate the ship with relative ease and stability.

Expeditionary Ocean Power Generator, Ethan Gossard, Julian Steele, Alex Gray, Hunter Herring-Alderete

Electrical Engineering

Point Absorber Wave Energy Converters are currently being explored as a new form of energy harvesting. The Naval Facilities' Expeditionary Ocean Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) has commissioned an interdisciplinary project for students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, to design a prototype Expeditionary Ocean Power Generator (ExOPG) for charging batteries in the ocean.

The Mechanical Engineering team is responsible for assembling the prototype chassis, which converts the vertical bobbing motion of a buoy into kinetic rotational energy that can be used to rotate a generator shaft. They are additionally tasked with isolating the electrical components from the harsh …

Digital Drone Arrays: Two-Tone Communication, Armin Behbahani, Alejandro Martin Cosper, Landon Leroy John Foster, Mont Ziadoon Murad

Electrical Engineering

Over the last few years, there has been great interest in distributed antenna arrays. These arrays require each element to be precisely located and synchronized with each other in time, phase, and frequency. To this end, a drone-mounted, two-tone communication system was developed. It uses a transmit-retransmit-receive architecture, which obtains all of the necessary data required to compute and correct the phase, frequency, and time differences between each element while estimating distance. When integrated into a distributed array of drones, this two-tone communication system will be essential for reliable operation.

The Chumash War Of 1824: Revolution And Counterrevolution In The California Missions Santa Inés, Santa Barbara, And La Purísima, Joseph V. Payne

Master's Theses

In 1824, the Indigenous Chumash of Missions Santa Inés, Santa Barbara, and La Purísima de Concepción went to war against the settler-colonial system that bonded them to the mission lands and forced labor regime demanded by the Spanish Franciscan missionaries and compelled by Mexican military force in Alta California. The conflict lasted months and included violent battles and skirmishes at all three missions, the militant occupation and reclamation of La Purísima, a mass exodus to the interior of the territory, and the subsequent counterrevolutionary collaboration of the Spanish missionaries and Mexican military to return many (but not all) of the …

A Pedagogy Of Peace & Prose: Helping Students Engage With And Articulate Perspectives On The Plight Of Palestine Through A Tripartite Textual Analysis, Sydney E. Brammer

Feminist Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Civility War, Jonathan Speirs

Graphic Communication

Civility War is a poster series that examines contemporary civil conflicts in contemporary world history and the precedent it sets for American political polarization. The early 2010s marked the beginning of America’s current ascent to historical highs for incidences of politically-fueled violence in the forms of hate crimes and domestic terrorism. With the documentation of the effects of similar circumstances available today in the digital age, spreading awareness for the human cost of using violence for political aims is highly topical. This project also attempts to address the aversion university students have to publicly discussing political opinions, as less than …

An Investigation Into Teaching Sports Analytics, Josh Havstad

Master's Theses

Sports analytics arrived in the mainstream media through the novel and film Moneyball. However, its origins date back to operations researchers following World War II. Often considered a subdiscipline of statistics, sports analytics draws from statistics but also includes concepts from data science, communication, and marketing. As a passionate fan of sports, I have pursued statistics in my undergraduate and graduate education with the dream of working in sports for my career. However, educational opportunities in sports analytics are limited nationwide, and more specifically, there is no educational opportunity at my university, California Polytechnic State University in San Luis …

High-Power Microwave Antenna Design, Luke C. Chase

Electrical Engineering

High-power microwave antennas are essential for defense industry radar systems, cyber warfare, and power transmission. The US Department of Defense a SBIR proposal specifying the need for a high-power phased-array microwave antenna for the US Air Force.

Vivaldi antennas, invented in 1978 by Peter Gibson, have been widely adopted for radar applications due to their high bandwidth and gain performance. Considerable amounts of research exists on designing Vivaldis for different applications ranging from radar to communications. Using antenna theory and past research, a new Vivaldi antenna was designed to meet the requirements mandated by the DoD research contract.

This project …

Robot Rodeo, Daniel Rickers, Tyler Vaughn, Vinayak Sharath, Berent Baysal, Promit Das Gupta

Mechanical Engineering

This document outlines the Final Design Review (FDR) for an autonomous robot developed in response to the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Ship Maintenance Robot Rodeo Challenge. Through extensive analysis, we selected a design concept, built a verification prototype, and tested the prototype in the NSWC Robot Rodeo Competition. The design overview portion of this report will present the details of our design while explaining how it will function. Next, is our implementation section, which provides evidence about our procurement, manufacturing, and assembly of our product. Our design verification follows and explains the tests that we conducted on the robot …

In Pipe Biofilm Removal System, Caroline White, Abe Muldrow, Jack Catalano, Brendan Thomas Palmer

Mechanical Engineering

In many drinking water systems, biological build-up can accumulate over time and create contamination resistant to traditional chemical flushing techniques, thus creating systems that must be flushed constantly to be considered safe. The team analyzed how this biological build up occurs, the current methods of removal, and thought about different ways to remove this ENGR 459-03 7 biological buildup without further damaging the health of the water system. To do this, we preformed extensive academic research about how biofilm builds up in water systems, examined any existing products that remove containments from water systems, and developed a solution capable of …

Jorge Ricardo Masetti: Journalist, Guerrilla, Cold Warrior, Brooks C. Martin Mr.

Master's Theses

The following thesis describes the life and activities of Jorge Ricardo Masetti, an Argentinian journalist who was assigned to interview Fidel Castro, leader of the Cuban Revolution against dictator Fulgencio Batista. Masetti was responsible for broadcasting interviews with Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara to the rest of Latin America for the first time, allowing people to understand what was happening in Cuba through the words of the Revolution’s leaders. Masetti returned to Cuba to found the first international Latin American news agency, Prensa Latina, which still exists today. However, ideological factionalism within Prensa Latina drove Masetti to resign in …

American Media And Memories: How Visual Media Tells The History Of The World Wars In The 21st Century, Julian A. Rispaud

History

This paper examines how fictional digital media–film, television, and digital games–have both mirrored and influenced the American popular memory of the World Wars, establishing how visual media in the last 25 years has disseminated distinct historical themes and narratives to American audiences. Examining both World Wars together allow us to witness historical narratives of WWI and WWII intersecting across many works of media, applying critical elements of one conflict's memory to the other. This is accomplished through the process of historical thematic dissemination, through with creators off all three types of visual media pay homage to or draw on historical …

Design And Scale Model Of Wave Generator For The Testing Of Wave Energy Conversion Devices, Amanda Olla

Master's Theses

As the climate crisis draws more concern, research and development in wave energy as a renewable energy source has increased. Devices such as wave energy converters (WECs) are being researched, tested, and implemented to make wave energy a competitive power source. Testing of these devices is limited due to environmental concerns such as weather, location, and other issues. WECs require testing in a marine environment, however, performing testing in the actual environment may be difficult due to weather, access, mounting, and other issues. To eliminate environmental unknowns from testing, a wave simulator device can mimic wave behavior without the need …

Vainuku, T., & Duffy, R. (Directors). (2022). Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’T Exist [Documentary]. Netflix., Ashley P. Ferrell

Feminist Pedagogy

Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist (2022) revisits the complicated fame and misfortune of former college football player Manti Te’o. The documentary traces the arc of Te’o’s athletic career at the University of Notre Dame alongside his relationship with his girlfriend that resulted in intense public scrutiny and gendered ridicule in 2013. Untold offers feminist pedagogues a catalyst for engaging students in critical discourse around the relationships between collegiate sport and race, gender, and sexuality. In this review, I provide a summary of the documentary’s main points and framing, and then discuss at least two ways in which this media …

Reconstructing Identity: Carlton Burgan, Patient Zero In The Development Of Plastic Surgery, Civil War Through World War I, Teresa M. George

Master's Theses

Plastic surgery has played an integral role in helping people achieve societal expectations of appropriate physical appearance since its inception. Through the story of Carlton Burgan, a Union soldier during the American Civil War, who suffered severe facial trauma by mercury poisoning, this thesis hopes to reconstruct the conversation around plastic surgery’s origins as it is influenced by societal standards of the day. Specifically, this thesis argues that the seminal moments leading to plastic surgery being seen as a worthwhile medical specialty was during the Civil War, not World War I as so many scholars have put forth. Violent acts …

Captured At The Cape: The Enslaved Africans Aboard Bom Caminho, Gracie L. Edler

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice Mapping In The U.S. Pacific Island Territory Of Guam, Ben Rocha

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Academics, regulators, and the public currently use geospatial analysis tools to identify locations that may be candidates for further environmental justice review in the continental United States (U.S.). However, current environmental justice geospatial analysis tools overlook a small but significant portion of the U.S. - the U.S. Pacific Islands. This study analyzes environmental justice within the U.S. Territory of Guam using existing geospatial analysis methods and publicly available environmental, climate, and socio-economic data to: (1) Spatially map relevant demographic and environmental data and (2) determine the correlation, if any, between the exposure to environmental hazards and the socio-economic status of …

Environmental Justice Mapping In The U.S. Pacific Island Territory Of Guam, Sina Schwenk-Mueller

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Academics, regulators, and the public currently use geospatial analysis tools to identify locations that may be candidates for further environmental justice review in the continental United States (U.S.). However, current environmental justice geospatial analysis tools overlook a small but significant portion of the U.S. - the U.S. Pacific Islands. This study analyzes environmental justice within the U.S. Territory of Guam using existing geospatial analysis methods and publicly available environmental, climate, and socio-economic data. This research aims to: (1) spatially map relevant demographic, environmental, and climate data and (2) determine the correlation, if any, between the exposure to environmental hazards, climate …

Non-Destructive Material Analysis Of Metals And Composites Via Thermography, Jonathan R. Doubt, James L. Chapman

Materials Engineering

The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, is interested in the development of non-destructive damage assessment of shipboard materials via drones at distance. Long Pulsed Thermography (LPT), a method of non-destructive evaluation, was investigated as a possible method for detecting damage in metals (5005h24 Al alloy and 1008 carbon steel) and composites (aramid fiber honeycomb sandwich structure) at distances from 0.5 m to 3.0 m. LPT was conducted using two 1000 W can lights to heat the samples, and a FLIR E8-XT thermal camera. The images were then analyzed using ImageJ software to determine if damage could be detected …

Considerations Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Advanced Structural Engineering Courses, Claire Leader, Faith Sharp, Anahid Behrouzi

Architectural Engineering

This paper presents various techniques investigated by the authors to bring discussion of societal impact into two advanced structural engineering courses taught at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo within the Architectural Engineering (ARCE) department during the 2020-21 academic year. The first was an undergraduate reinforced concrete design lecture/lab class where the instructor was able to convey the stories of the individuals and events that influence the ACI 318 code and ASTM standards used for concrete design. The second was a graduate nonlinear structural behavior lecture class that involves a weekly seminar by guest speakers who presented case studies with …

Seeing Through The Illusion: A Critical Look At The Iran-Contra Scandal, Andrew James Mitchell

History

This senior project examines the entanglement of the 1980s Drug War with the Cold War. The project looks at the media manipulation which occurred as part of the Drug War as well as breaks down the Iran-Contra Senate Hearings report. This project's goal is to further the research on the Iran-Contra scandal and the history of CIA interventionism.

Los Zetas, Neoliberalism, And Popular Opposition: A Study In Linkages, Gina R. Lyle

Master's Theses

Los Zetas are considered by security analysts to be a transformative force within transnational criminal organizations (TCO), exporting their unique model throughout Mexico. Los Zetas’ idiosyncratic interventions include their diversification of criminal operations, professionalization of TCO security, sophisticated use of media and technology, extreme forms of violent coercion, and decentralized command structure. This project aims to complicate the narrative that Los Zetas emerged because of top leaders’ sadistic tendencies or due to an inherently violent culture in Mexico by reframing the group’s evolution within historical processes. Moving beyond Los Zetas, this project examines how persons affected by Los Zetas’ indiscriminate …

Saver (Surface Autonomous Vehicle For Emergency Rescue), Tyler Jorgensen, Ethan Miller, Josephine Isaacson, Joshua Hoye

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves to introduce the design team and their competition challenge, as well as to detail the results of the project. The original design challenge was the NASA Micro-g NExT’s SAVER (Surface Autonomous Vehicle for Emergency Rescue) competition; we were tasked with developing a self-driving water vehicle capable of delivering supplies to Orion astronauts separated from the rest of their crew in the case of a maritime emergency. However, we were not selected to go forward in this competition and thus we decided to scale down the size of the SAVER device to shift the focus of the project …