Digital Commons Network^™

“Burned Through”: Performing Social Justice In The Academy, Matthew P. Bejar, Saemi Lee, Terilyn C. Shigeno, Leslie K. Larsen

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In this chapter, we discuss and interrogate our experiences of infusing social justice into our research, teaching, and service amidst sexism, racism, and other intersectional forms of oppression that are prevalent within the academy and how this tension has tended to elicit performative social justice. First, we situate this chapter by summarizing our individual journeys with social justice in sport and exercise psychology (SEP). Second, we describe our collective journey as former graduate students and early career professionals. Third, we discuss the challenges that we encountered with respect to our social justice work. Fourth, we share the ways that we …

Spartan Daily, February 5, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 6

Enhancing Care: Child Protective Service Workers’ Perspectives And Experiences Of Serving Children With Disabilities, Meekyung Han, Celia Rocio Murillo Lechuga, Gaby Solis

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Children with disabilities (CWD) are overrepresented in the child welfare system (CWS), yet limited research exists on how child protective service (CPS) workers respond. This exploratory qualitative study conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 12 CPS workers in Northern California to explore their experiences. Thematic analysis identified five key themes: contributors to maltreatment, challenges of working with CWD, the influence of personal/professional experience, collaboration with disability experts, and the need for training. Findings suggest that disability-focused training in the graduate Title IV-E program and ongoing professional training can enhance CPS workers’ competency and strengthen interactions with CWD, leading to better outcomes.

Spartan Daily, February 4, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 5

Insights For The Future Of Car Rental And Ridesharing: Driving Behavior Across Different Levels Of Automation, Pranav Meda, Aubrey Victoria Contreras, Wei-Hsiang Lo, Gaojian Huang, Yue Luo

Mineta Transportation Institute

Autonomous vehicles are reshaping the car rental and ridesharing industries, potentially leading to a unified model of on-demand transportation suitable for both uncommon (e.g., business trips) and daily commuting. An exploratory study of human behavior towards autonomous vehicles can uncover the challenges and opportunities inherent in different levels of vehicle automation. This study aims to (a) identify behavioral differences in drivers operating vehicles at various levels of automation and (b) explore how these behaviors vary with different assistance feature styles, specifically between risky and conservative modes. Human-subject experiments were conducted among twelve participants (aged 21 to 29, including four women) …

Understanding The Prevalence Of Mental Health And Behavioral Distress In Transit Assaults And Presenting Targeted Response And Mitigation Methods To Reduce Victimization Trends, Kathleen Moore, Emilie Ellenberg, Melissa Carlson, Jodi Godfrey, Lisa Staes

Mineta Transportation Institute

This research project was performed to better understand the prevalence of mental health and behavioral distress in transit assaults and present corresponding targeted response and mitigation methods to reduce victimization trends. It includes a literature review, a data presentation and overview of reported public transit assault-related events, an examination of the contributing factors to those events, and documentation of 10 transit agency case studies. The literature review discusses some of the misconceptions of mental illness and associated stigmas and discrimination that can occur in response to these misconceptions. It discusses various approaches and strategies that transit agencies have used to …

Smart Green Energy Management For Campus: An Integrated Machine Learning And Reinforcement Learning Model, Charan Teja Madabathula, Kunal Agrawal, Vijen Mehta, Swathi Kasarabada, Sai Srimai Kommamuri, Guannan Liu, Jerry Gao

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Highlights: What are the main findings? A smart green energy management system integrating machine-learning model and reinforcement learning is proposed in this work to optimize energy consumption and solar generation for a campus environment. The integrated model demonstrated superior prediction performance with an RMSE of 14.72 for energy consumption and 75.45 for solar generation. What is the implication of the main finding? An efficient solution for campuses is provided to reduce grid dependency and enhance energy sustainability. A benchmark is established for future green campus initiatives by integrating advanced machine learning and reinforcement learning techniques. The increasing demand for energy …

What Tackles Vehicle Ghg Emissions In California: Regional Plan Adoption Or Local Leadership?, Ahoura Zandiatashbar, Serena Alexander, Branka Tatarevic

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The California Senate Bill No. 375 (SB 375) serves as a model policy for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by integrating transportation and land-use planning through regional and local policies. The 18 California Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) are tasked with developing Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS) to guide emissions reductions, often implemented locally through Climate Action Plans (CAPs). However, CAPs are voluntary, and misalignment with SCS objectives can undermine their effectiveness. This study examined 25 California cities using content analysis and regression modeling to explore whether independent local actions, supported by community engagement, activist strategies, and leadership, are more effective than …

Intelligent Blind Crossings For Suburban And Rural Intersections, Shahab Tayeb

Mineta Transportation Institute

Blind intersections in suburban and rural areas pose significant safety challenges due to limited visibility and inadequate infrastructure. This project proposes an innovative solution leveraging the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) paradigm, utilizing connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) for seamless communication to enhance safety at these intersections. The research focuses on developing a specialized Road-Side Unit (RSU) system equipped with a Virtual Traffic Light Algorithm implemented on a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Key stakeholders, including transportation authorities, vehicle manufacturers, and local communities, stand to benefit from this initiative. The RSU system acts as a critical infrastructure component, facilitating efficient intersection management …

Use Of Generative Ai In Aiding Daily Professional Tasks: A Survey Of Librarians’ Experiences, Lili Luo

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study examines how librarians are using third-party generative AI (GAI) tools such as ChatGPT to aid their daily professional tasks. An online survey of 272 librarians found that text-generating AI tools were the most popular. The majority of respondents felt that GAI tools were effective in improving productivity. Key challenges included ensuring content accuracy and designing effective prompts. Top suggestions for better preparing librarians to use GAI include practical training on using GAI, establishing AI policies and guidelines, fostering collaboration and communities of practice, and providing access to useful GAI resources. The study highlights popular use cases that can …

Death And Disappearance: Measuring Racial Disparities In Mortality And Life Expectancy Among People In State Prisons, United States 2000-2014, Bryan L. Sykes, Ernest K. Chavez, Justin D. Strong

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background Research on carceral institutions and mortality finds that people in prisons and jails have a high risk of death immediately following release from custody and that while incarcerated, racial disparities in prisoner mortality counter observed death patterns among similarly situated non-incarcerated, demographic groups. Yet, many of these studies rely on data prior to the millennium, during the COVID-19 pandemic, or are relegated to a small number or select group of states. In this paper, we explore changes in mortality and life-expectancy among different demographic groups, before and after the Great Recession, across forty-four states that reported deaths in custody …

Signs Of 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Formation In Low-Surface-Brightness Globular-Cluster-Rich Dwarf Galaxies, A. Ferré-Mateu, J. Gannon, D. A. Forbes, A. J. Romanowsky, M. L. Buzzo, J. P. Brodie

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Context. Only two ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs) have spatially resolved stellar population properties, showing flat to rising metallicity profiles, indicative of a different formation pathway than most dwarf galaxies. The scarcity of other low-surface-brightness (LSB) dwarfs with a similar analysis prevents a deeper understanding of this behaviour. Aims. We investigated the radial profiles of the ages, metallicities, and star formation histories of four globular cluster (GC)-rich LSB dwarfs, newly observed as part of the 'Analysis of Galaxies At The Extremes'(AGATE) collaboration. DFX1 and DF07 are bona fide UDGs, while PUDG-R27 and VCC 1448 are 'nearly UDGs'. Comparing their and DF44's properties …

The Impact Of Vacations On Urban Women's Well-Being From The Perspective Of Feminist Urbanism, Jie Gao, Deborah Kerstetter, Tianfu Wang

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Vacations are known to foster well-being outcomes, yet few researchers have accounted for the influence of individual attributes such as gender, residential setting, or cultural context. As a result, there is a noticeable gap in the well-being literature concerning well-being outcomes for female travelers whose subjectivities have been shaped in as well as by their residential environment (urban) and culture. Using qualitative inquiry informed by the feminist urbanism perspective, this study uncovered urban Chinese women's cognitive representations of well-being outcomes from vacations. Findings revealed that vacations provide liberation from cultural constraints, boosting of social bonds and relationship building, enabling reflection …

The Potential For Fuel Reduction To Reduce Wildfire Intensity In A Warming California, Patrick T. Brown, Scott J. Strenfel, Richard B. Bagley, Craig B. Clements

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Increasing fuel aridity due to climate warming has and will continue to increase wildfire danger in California. In addition to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, one of the primary proposals for counteracting this increase in wildfire danger is a widespread expansion of hazardous fuel reductions. Here, we quantify the potential for fuel reduction to reduce wildfire intensity using empirical relationships derived from historical observations with a novel combination of spatiotemporal resolution (0.375 km, instantaneous) and extent (48 million acres, 9 years). We use machine learning to quantify relationships between sixteen environmental conditions (including ten fuel characteristics and four temperature-affected aridity …

“I Need This Person’S Support To Have A Career” The Material And Emotional Impacts Of Neoliberalism On Trans Collegians’ Classroom Experiences At A Public University, Justin A. Gutzwa, Robert A. Marx

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Neoliberal capitalism has undoubtedly impacted every sphere of public education in the United States. As faculty are pushed towards identity-neutral modalities of instruction, students who identify as transgender, non-binary, or other expansive gender identities (trans) are forced to reckon with implicit and explicit power dynamics in classrooms that prioritize White, cisheteropatriarchal modes of knowledge production in nuanced ways. This qualitative study explores the ways neoliberal capitalism impacts the curricular experiences of trans students by centering the power dynamics they encounter through interactions with their professors and their peers. Findings underscore the pernicious nature of the neoliberalization of higher education in …

Spartan Daily, January 30, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 4

Spartan Daily, January 29, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 3

Spartan Daily, January 28, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 2

Walking Through The Aristotelian Lane: Amartya Sen On Rational Choice, Barada Laxmi Panda

Comparative Philosophy

The term ‘rational choice’ has great impact on the life of a rational agent. Rational choice helps the agent to understand her capability of making choice and the intentional involvement for working on a particular aspect considering certain circumstances. At the same time, this creates a lot of dilemmas in terms of understanding the freewill of the agent while being committed for a work. Following this, Amartya Sen’s discussion on this subject seems relevant where Sen very prominently reflects on the point that rational choice involves freedom, rationality, and normativity. These three features are coherent with each other and with …

The Methodological Problems Of Incorporating Indigenous Philosophy In Collaborative Research, Luthonliu Gangmei, P. Milan Khangamcha

Comparative Philosophy

This paper addresses the methodological challenges inherent in collaborative research endeavours focused on the development of Indigenous philosophy. It argues that these challenges persist due to a lack of recognition of the autonomy and intrinsic philosophical value of ethno-philosophy or Indigenous philosophy. Despite the United Nations acknowledging the significance of indigenous worldviews and their philosophical underpinnings, they are still yet to be fully integrated into the global knowledge domain. The paper highlights the tendency to view indigenous philosophy solely as a cultural asset of indigenous peoples rather than recognizing its broader philosophical relevance. It identifies this as a critical interdisciplinary …

Vol 16 No 1 Information Page

Comparative Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Spartan Daily, January 23, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 1

Computing Education In African Countries: A Literature Review And Contextualised Learning Materials, Sally Hamouda, Linda Marshall, Kate Sanders, Ethel Tshukudu, Oluwatoyin Adelakun-Adeyemo, Brett A. Becker, Emma R. Dodoo, G. Ayorkor Korsah, Sandani Luvhengo, Oluwakemi Ola, Jack Parkinson, Ismaila Temitayo Sanusi

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This report begins with a literature review of computing education in Africa. We found a substantial body of work, scattered over more than 80 venues, which we have brought together here for the first time. Several important themes emerge in this dataset, including the need to contextualise computing education. In the second part of this report we investigate contextualisation further. We present a pilot study, grounded in the literature review, of the development of course materials, sample code, and programming assignments for introductory programming, contextualised for six African countries: Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia. We include the …

Dynamic Imprints Of Colliding-Wind Dust Formation From Wr 140, Emma P. Lieb, Ryan M. Lau, Jennifer L. Hoffman, Michael F. Corcoran, Macarena Garcia Marin, Theodore R. Gull, Kenji Hamaguchi, Yinuo Han, Matthew J. Hankins, Olivia C. Jones, Thomas I. Madura, Sergey V. Marchenko, Hideo Matsuhara, Florentin Millour, Anthony F.J. Moffat, Mark R. Morris, Patrick W. Morris, Takashi Onaka, For Full Author List, See Comments Below

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WR) binaries are a prominent source of carbonaceous dust that contribute to the dust budget of galaxies. The “textbook” example of an episodic dust-producing WR binary, WR 140 (HD 193793), provides us with an ideal laboratory for investigating the dust physics and kinematics in an extreme environment. This study is among the first to utilize two separate JWST observations, from Cycle 1 ERS (2022 July) and Cycle 2 (2023 September), to measure WR 140’s dust kinematics and confirm its morphology. To measure the proper motions and projected velocities of the dust shells, we performed a novel point-spread function …

To Be Or Not To Be Included In The S&P 500: Cost Of Debt Implications, Matthew Faulkner, Tracie Frost, Stoyu I. Ivanov

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Purpose: We examine the changes in a firm’s cost of debt after it is included in or removed from the S&P 500. The extant literature on index composition focuses on the cost of equity and lacks an understanding of the impacts on a firm’s cost of debt capital upon inclusion in or removal from a major stock market index. Therefore, we address the following question: Does a firm’s cost of debt change around its inclusion in or removal from the S&P 500? Design/methodology/approach: We develop two hypotheses based on the research question and use univariate and multivariate fixed-effects analyses to …

In Touch With Those In Need: How Touchscreen Devices Lead Consumers To Support Social Causes, Aekyoung Kim, Hyojin Lee, Saerom Lee

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

As consumers are increasingly using touchscreen devices (e.g., tablets or smartphones) when exposed to various marketing messages, this research explores how touchscreen devices alter consumer reactions to social cause marketing. This research shows that using touchscreen (vs. nontouchscreen) devices while viewing online charity ads featuring human victims increases consumers’ support for the advertised social causes. Four studies demonstrate this effect by examining consumers’ social media activities, donation intentions, and actual donations in field and lab settings. Mediation analysis reveals that using touchscreen (vs. nontouchscreen) devices enhances consumer support through increased empathy for the victims featured in charity ads. Together, this …

Action Research As A Pathway To Discovery In The School Library, David Vickers Loertscher, Michelle Young

Learning Hub

No abstract provided.

(Missed) Opportunities To Build Solidarity: A Critical Analysis Of Spanish-English Bilingual Children’S Books, Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica, Allison Briceño

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Two-way dual language (TWDL) programs have traditionally served white and non-Black Latinx students, with limited attention to other cultures and races. This limitation can result in the erasure of Afro-Latinx culture from bilingual programs. This study explores the ways Black characters are represented in bilingual picturebooks, which can serve to perpetuate or combat anti-blackness within bilingual education. We completed a critical content analysis of Spanish-English bilingual picturebooks that include Black or Afro-Latinx characters, employing LatCrit and BlackCrit theoretical frameworks to explore how Black characters are positioned. Findings show a significant dearth of bilingual books that include Black or Afro-Latinx characters. …

Tsao, H.-S. Jacob, San Jose State University

Emeritus and Retired Faculty Biographies

University of California, Berkeley, Operations Research, Ph.D. 1984

University of Texas at Dallas, Mathematical Statistics, MS, 1979

National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan, Applied Mathematics, BS, 1976

Self-Directed Learning In The Elementary Library, Maggie B. Doud

Learning Hub

This article examines the implementation of the "My Time" self-directed learning framework in elementary school libraries, focusing on its impact on student autonomy, critical thinking, and engagement. "My Time" integrates structured choices with flexible guidance, enabling students to take ownership of their learning. The author reflects on practical experiences and connects them to theoretical foundations, including Glasser’s Choice Theory, Knowles' self-directed learning model, and constructivist principles. Key findings demonstrate that "My Time" significantly improves student engagement, autonomy, and behavior through activities such as makerspaces, inquiry-based projects, and reflective goal-setting. The article emphasizes the program's potential to transform school libraries into …