Digital Commons Network^™

Current Stormwater Practices And Future Implementation At Portland State University With The Uncertainty Of Climate Change, Evan Suemori, Alexandra Vargas Quiñones

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Stormwater runoff is one of the most critical environmental issues in urban areas and is only expected to worsen as climate change persists (EPA, 2016). When precipitation events occur, stormwater travels across impervious surfaces collecting soils and pollutants which can negatively impact water quality in receiving waters. Additionally, stormwater has human health impacts, specifically through flooding and the contamination of drinking water. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it has been determined that climate change will increase the frequency, intensity, and/or number of precipitation events in some regions, including the Pacific Northwest, and decrease in others (IPCC, …

Street Art: The Gallery Of The City, Mia Pinzelik

University Honors Theses

This project will look to better understand the culture and community of Portland street art, the unique aspects of the art form, the kinds of people participating in street art culture, the difficulties they face, and what defines this specific Portland subculture in 2020. The goal of this project is to compile this research into a board game illustrating a general overview of the process and experiences of street artists in Portland.

Introducing Critical Librarianship To Information Professionals: Using Critical Pedagogy And Critical Information Literacy In An Lis Graduate Course, Marcia Rapchak

Communications in Information Literacy

Critical librarianship, which critiques the role of libraries and information professionals in maintaining systems of oppression, has been growing in popularity in the profession, and instructors in Library and Information Science (LIS) have begun to address critical librarianship in their coursework. While critical pedagogy and critical librarianship have influenced approaches to LIS education, the intersection of these two has not been as thoroughly addressed. Additionally, the literature on critical information literacy focuses largely on library instruction. This case study explores a critical pedagogy approach in a critical librarianship class that prepares students for critical information literacy instruction. The instructor implemented …

Developing Social Work Skills In Online Environments: What Online Msw Graduates Tell Us, Samuel W. Gioia

Dissertations and Theses

Social work education is an academic discipline that prepares students to support individual, family, and community wellbeing, and to advance policies for social equity. Despite the increasing use of online education for social work, many social work faculty believe that online Master of Social Work (MSW) programs do not adequately prepare graduates for direct practice (engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation) with vulnerable populations. Students from an online MSW program at a midsized urban research university were interviewed to learn (a) how well an online MSW prepared these students for direct practice with individuals, families, and communities; and (b) what instructional …

On "Developing Information Literate Abilities": Uncovering Whiteness At The Center Of The Acrl Framework For Information Literacy, Anders Tobiason

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

What does it mean to be information literate? Who is the model information literate individual? Taking its cue from Critical Discourse Analysis and Antiracist Black Language Pedagogy, this presentation questions the foundational image of the information literate individual lying at the heart of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. Using critical race theory and an understanding of how whiteness functions as a presumed neutral background in our society, we begin to understand the whiteness of this individual. In this presentation, I briefly outline how whiteness functions and then move on to show how whiteness functions within the Framework more specifically. …

Connection, Compassion, And Honesty: Using Picture Books To Help Build A Healthier Relationship To Death In A Death-Denying Culture, Kami Sahalie Upshaw Gould

University Honors Theses

This paper explores the ways children are taught about death and dying and how children's picture books can be utilized in difficult conversations of this nature. I go into the historical advent of books specifically for children and research how different ways of explaining death can help or hurt a child. Through this research, I explore how our situationality in a death denying culture has shaped how we explain death to children and what steps can be taken to counter this denial.

Photoemission Electron Microscopy For Direct Observation Of Photonic And Plasmonic Phenomena, Theodore Stenmark

Dissertations and Theses

Photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) is a high-resolution microscopy technique that collects photoemitted electrons from the sample surface to form an image. PEEM offers a non-scanning imaging method with a spatial resolution in the range of 5-100nm by combining the advantages of light excitation and electron imaging. Our work looks at PEEM as an analysis tool for photonic and plasmonic phenomena. Photonic wave guiding structures exhibiting a strong dispersion relation have attracted considerable attention for applications in integrated optics, communications and sensing devices. Line defects in a photonic crystal (PC) slab offer a highly efficient way to create light with group …

What's Important To You? A Look Into The Historical And Social Significance Of Buttons, Hope Je Ferns

University Honors Theses

This project is an exploration into the social and historical significance of buttons and the culture surrounding buttons. Not only is it looked at from a graphic design context, but it is also looked at from the context of nonverbal communication, social change, and a piece of history that is tangible, accessible, and for all groups of people.

Session 2: Panel 3: Presenter 4 (Paper) -- Internment: The Legal Challenges And Effects Of Displacement On Japanese Americans, Arianna S. Sinlapasai-Okamura

Young Historians Conference

Although the history of Executive Order 9066 and the subsequent Japanese-American internment is well known, the legal struggles against the internment process and the consequences of that displacement are often overlooked. In an attempt to end policies that were primarily motivated by racial prejudice, four first-generation Japanese Americans took it upon themselves to appeal four different cases to the Supreme Court. However, it was not until the decision of the last of the four Supreme Court cases, Ex Parte Endo, that Japanese Americans received even a sliver of justice for the discrimination they had faced. Having lost their work, homes, …

Session 2: Panel 2: Presenter 1 (Paper) -- A Brief History Of Footwear, Tobias B. Boudreau

Young Historians Conference

The use of footwear as a unit of analysis will help historians re-evaluate the relationship between technological diffusion and culture. Shoes are a common item across the globe, regardless of geographical, cultural, and economic divisions, and have been for a long time. Footwear reflects the sociopolitical, economic, and cultural environment of its owner, as well as characteristics of the owner themself. Shoes have taken on significant symbolic roles in art, literature, and everyday life. Essay is divided into four sections; Prehistory, Ancient, Middle Ages, Modern. Various examples from each time period are explained, compared with one another, and connected together …

Session 2: Panel 3: Presenter 1 (Paper) -- Friend Or Foe?: The American Response To The Armenian Genocide, 1890-1920, Mete Bakircioglu

Young Historians Conference

This paper analyzes how the American response to the Armenian Genocide was riddled with neglect, false promises, and selfish intentions. Beginning in the early 20th century, the American public was galvanized in support of Armenians under the oppressive rule of the Ottoman Empire, but Congress prioritized relations with the Empire and passed no foreign policy to ameliorate the plight of Armenians. The United States’ posturing as an international arbiter of justice, especially during the Wilson Administration, was a façade to expand global influence.

Session 1: Panel 2: Presenter 1 (Paper) -- The Gay Rights Movement: A Reaction To The Lavender Scare, Brianna Michelle Anderson

Young Historians Conference

In the 1950s, the federal government began to systematically root out gay individuals from the civil service in what is known as the “Lavender Scare.” This eradication paralleled McCarthyism and was apart of the larger homophobic culture. A closer look at the media reveals how this panic was spread throughout the nation. Despite persecution in and out of the workplace, the voices of those oppressed were not irreversibly silenced. In fact, the Lavender Scare gave rise to pioneers of the gay rights movement, nearly a decade before the Stonewall Riots.

Session 1: Panel 1: Presenter 1 (Paper) -- “To Hell Or Connaught:” How British Colonizers Both Caused And Benefitted From The Irish Potato Famine, Ruby Lewis

Young Historians Conference

The Irish potato famine is well-known for the suffering and death it inflicted upon the masses of Irish peasantry between 1845 and 1848. The famine is often remembered and mourned as the tragic but unavoidable result of natural circumstances, and the blight that swept through the potato crop year after year is attributed as the sole cause of starvation. This misrepresentation of the famine’s history ignores the role of the British colonizer state in establishing conditions in Ireland that led to famine and exacerbating the suffering of the Irish through neglect. This paper explores the role of the British colonial …

31st Annual Young Historians Conference, Portland State University History Department, Portland State University Challenge Program

Young Historians Conference

This is the 2021 Young Historians Conference schedule and abstracts.

Welcome And Full Program With Abstracts, Jennifer Kerns, Karen Bjork

Young Historians Conference

Dr. Jennifer Kerns, Department of History, welcomes participants to the 31st Annual Young Historians Conference, held virtually on May 19, 2021.

Karen Bjork, Head of Digital Initiatives, PSU Library, provides an overview of PDXScholar, the campus repository for PSU, and the Young Historians Conference collection.

Preventing Sexual Violence Through Understanding Perceptions Of Sexual Offenders, Judith G. Zatkin

Dissertations and Theses

In this dissertation, I present three complete manuscripts. I utilize social and community psychological theory, as well as criminological theory to better understand those who perpetrate sexual violence in two domains: child sexual abuse and college campus sexual assault. All three studies are conducted with an eye toward the prevention of sexual violence. In the first study, I conduct a complete psychometric analysis of the Modus Operandi Questionnaire, a comprehensive quantitative tool that examines offending patterns and tactics of those who commit child sexual abuse (Chapter II). An updated factor structure for this tool is presented, as well as recommendations …

Urban Lakes: Ecosystem Services And Management, Laura Costadone

Dissertations and Theses

Lakes provide a variety of ecosystem services and benefits that greatly contribute to urban sustainability. Despite the growing interest in integrating freshwater systems into management and policy decisions, urban lakes are often overlooked in land-use planning. Nutrient and pollutant runoff from the surrounding urbanized watershed result in water quality deterioration that negatively impact the lake ecological functions and related ecosystem services. The vulnerability and degradation of these urban ecosystems should be a matter of concern, especially considering that, in rapidly growing metropolitan areas, the demand for aesthetic and recreational services provided by urban lakes is increasing. The overall goal of …

The Political Economy Equilibrium Of Environmental And Trade Policies In The U.S., Linda Allen

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

The U.S. has incorporated environmental policies into its all free trade agreements since it negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the early 1990s. The inclusion of environmental policies represented a major shift in trade policy but the environmental policies have not drastically changed in subsequent trade agreements over the past 25 years despite the continued involvement of environmental constituencies and policymakers. The punctuated equilibrium model provides the analytical framework for understanding the factors that gave rise to the drastic policy shift under NAFTA as well as the subsequent policy stasis, in order to inform future policymaking efforts. …

Violent Conflict And National Development In Nigeria, Adeleke Adegbami Dr, Julius Olaniyi Adeoye Dr

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

Conflict is inevitable in any organization, however, the dimension at which violent conflicts are being perpetrated in Nigeria is unprecedented. It is to this extent that this study examines the causes, the perpetrators, and the effects of violent conflict on the people and national development in Nigeria. This is with a view to establishing development challenges in Nigeria and proffer pragmatic solutions. The data for the study were gathered from primary and secondary sources. The study revealed that violent conflict in Nigeria could not be dissociated from bad governance manifesting in inequality, injustice, unemployment, and poverty among others. Furthermore, the …

Engaging Conversations: Foregrounding Twitter Feeds In Library Guides As A Way To Critically Promote Discussions Of Social Justice, Anders Tobiason

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

Academic librarians have often been hesitant to foreground real time engagement with social justice in our public facing library guides. The guides, more often than not, serve merely to provide access points to “academic” materials and traditional news sources. Perhaps there is a different path. Driven by the events of the past year (though these issues are not new), I have been working on ways to point patrons towards the real conversations happening outside (and sometimes inside) academia that are missed when we rely on traditional news sources. The real critical engagement with social justice issues such as race and …

Book Readers Who Are Buccaneers And Buyers, Rachel Noorda, Kathi Inman Berens, Chris Kenneally

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

These readers buy, subscribe to, and borrow books at higher rates than the general population. They engage at higher rates in fan fiction and discover new authors across multiple media, including streaming movies and television. These readers are also pirates.

Immersive Media and Books 2020 is the first study to capture data expressly about how people engage with books, video games, film, and TV. The final report focuses sharply on reader behavior across a wide range of demographic groups, based on surveys conducted before and during the pandemic.

Co-authors Dr. Rachel Noorda and Dr. Kathi Inman Berens probe especially for …

Men And Oral Health: A Review Of Sex And Gender Differences, Martin S. Lipsky, Sharon Su, Carlos J. Crespo, Man Hung

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Sex and gender related health disparities in oral health remain an underappreciated and often over looked aspect of well-being. The goal of this narrative review is to identify sex and gender related oral health disparities by summarizing the current literature related to differences in oral health between men and women. The review identified that men are more likely to: ignore their oral health, have poorer oral hygiene habits, and experience higher rates of periodontal disease, oral cancer, and dental trauma. Men also visit dentists less frequently and compared to women seek oral treatment more often for an acute problem and …

Envisioning Open Pedagogy In Graduate Book Marketing, Corinne Gould

Open Educational Resources Symposium

This short presentation will outline an assignment for adoption in the Fall 2021 graduate-level Book Marketing course at Portland State University. Students will collaboratively develop an OER best practices guide to empower and support OER creators in marketing, advertising, amplifying, and making more discoverable their OER to an audience of faculty, librarians, and other stakeholders who influence OER adoption. Sample marketing plans and case studies will be designed in partnership with Open Oregon and PDXOPEN. The idea for this assignment comes from Amy Hofer (Statewide Open Education Library Services) with support from Karen Bjork (Digital Initiatives and Scholarly Publishing at …

Steady-State Transmembrane Water Exchange In Proliferating Cultures Of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Joseph O'Malley Armstrong

Dissertations and Theses

Cellular water exchange is often considered in terms of a change in volume, where a net flux of water moves across the cell membrane due to a change in osmotic pressure. Osmotic pressure can cause a cell to shrink or swell, however, rapid water exchange persists across the membrane even when the volume of the cell is constant. Steady-state transmembrane water exchange describes the exchange of water across the cell membranes which results in no net change in cell volume. This exchange is astonishingly rapid; the entire pool of intracellular water of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell may exchange 2-5 times …

Technology Management Maturity Assessment Model In Healthcare, Amir Shaygan

Dissertations and Theses

Significant gaps in the practical transformation of clinical knowledge into practices, increasing healthcare costs, costly medical errors, healthcare institutions' obligations towards improving safety, clinical outcomes, and efficacy of care from one side; and the rise of disruptive innovations, the adoption of electronic health records and novel diagnostic tools, and the plethora of data from the other side has made the need for a new approach in managing the U.S healthcare systems an imperative. Continuous learning has been utilized to mitigate some of these issues have been in healthcare organizations. Continuous learning is especially important in the research centers that act …

Webinar: Eliminating Cash Options For Public Transit Fares: Costs, Benefits And Equity Impacts, Aaron Golub

TREC Webinar Series

Many transit agencies plan to automate their fare collection and limit the use of cash, with the goals of improving boarding and data collection while lowering operating costs. Yet about 10% of adults in the United States lack a bank account or credit card, and many either rely on restrictive cell-phone data plans or don’t have access to internet or a smartphone. This webinar will present part of a larger research project exploring these issues in the cities of Denver, Colorado, and Eugene and Portland–Gresham, Oregon. In this part, we explore the tradeoffs between reducing cash acceptance, ridership and the …

Mutual Aid As Spiritual Tacit Knowledge Within Doukhobor Epistemology, Rachel L. Neubuhr Torres

University Honors Theses

The relationship between Michael Polanyi’s concept of tacit knowledge and religion is a topic that is rarely explored. Applying tacit knowledge to the study of religion and spirituality allows us to think about how we connect with the world and how we address the concern of what one feels to be true of their existence, or existential intuition. In the latter half of the 1800s the Russian prince turned anarchist, Peter Kropotkin, wrote extensively on the theory of mutually beneficial cooperation, or mutual aid, as being one of the most important factors of evolution. As Kropotkin began writing his series …

A Literature Review Of Understanding And Supporting Students With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder In The Classroom, Kerilyn Creelman

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

The effects of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has on academic performance are evident. This mini-literature review aims to gain insight into which parts of ADHD affects a student’s academic achievement and to provide suggestions to use to assist closing the academic gap between students with ADHD and neurotypical students. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is increasing in diagnosis within children. ADHD affects a child’s academic performance, creating a deficit measured in years, and grows as children continue into their high school careers. ADHD-Inattentive affects academic performance the most out of the three subtypes of ADHD. Medication has shown …

Storing Intermediate Results In Space And Time: Sql Graphs And Block Referencing, Basem Ibrahim Elazzabi

Dissertations and Theses

With the advancement of data-collection technology and with more data being available for data analysts for data-intensive decision making, many data analysts use client-based data-analysis environments to analyze that data. Client-based environments where only a personal computer or a laptop is used to perform data analysis tasks are common. In such client-based environments, multiple tools and systems are typically needed to accomplish data-analysis tasks. Stand-alone systems such as spreadsheets, R, Matlab, and Tableau are usually easy to use, and they are designed for the typical, non-technical data analyst. However, these systems are limited in their data-analysis capabilities. More complex data …

Facilitators And Barriers To Healthy Eating Among American Indian And Alaska Native Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: Stakeholder Perspectives, Sarah Stotz, Nertila Bregaj, Kelly Gonzales, Luciana E. Hebert, Kelly R. Moore

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults have a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and related complications than non-AI/AN adults. As healthy eating is a cornerstone of diabetes self-management, nutrition education plays an important role in diabetes self-management education.

Objective: To understand stakeholder perspectives on facilitators and barriers to healthy eating for AI/AN adults with T2D in order to inform the cultural adaptation of an existing diabetes nutrition education curriculum.

Methods: Individual interviews were conducted with 9 national content experts in diabetes nutrition education (e.g. registered dietitians, diabetes educators, experts on AI/AN food insecurity) and 10 community-based …