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Restoring School Librarians: Challenges And Strategies, Debrah E. Kachel

Learning Hub

The article examines efforts to restore school librarian positions across eleven urban U.S. school districts, despite significant financial and administrative obstacles. It documents strategies used by district library leaders to advocate for staffing, funding, and policy changes, emphasizing equity in access to certified school librarians. Through structured interviews and analysis, the report highlights key barriers, advocacy methods, and funding mechanisms that have influenced school library staffing. The study's findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on educational equity and policy reform in K-12 library services.

Spartan Daily, February 6, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 7

Sjsu Erfa Board Minutes, December 2, 2024, San Jose State University, Emeritus And Retired Faculty Association

SJSU ERFA Minutes

SJSU ERFA Executive Board Minutes

December 2, 2024

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

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 6

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

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 164, Issue 5

Feedbacks Between Fjord Circulation, Mélange Melt, And The Subglacial Discharge Plume At Kangerlussuaq Glacier, East Greenland, M. Wood, I. Fenty, A. Khazendar, J. K. Willis

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In recent decades, the Greenland ice sheet has been losing ice and contributing substantially to global sea level rise. Approximately half of this recent loss is due to glacier acceleration, increasing the calving of icebergs into the ocean. This process has been linked with increased ocean heat content on the continental shelf, yet the pathways delivering this heat into Greenland's fjords and its interactions with fjord-scale processes modulating glacier ice loss are still unclear. In this study, we use a series of numerical ocean model configurations to examine feedbacks between ocean circulation, subglacial discharge, submarine glacier melt, and ice mélange …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Global Marine Flyways Identified For Long-Distance Migrating Seabirds From Tracking Data, Joanne M. Morten, Ana P.B. Carneiro, Martin Beal, Anne Sophie Bonnet-Lebrun, Maria P. Dias, Marie Morgane Rouyer, Autumn Lynn Harrison, Jacob González-Solís, Victoria R. Jones, Virginia A. Garcia Alonso, Michelle Antolos, Javier A. Arata, Christophe Barbraud, Elizabeth A. Bell, Mike Bell, Samhita Bose, Scott Shaffer, For Full Author List, See Comments Below

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Aim: To identify the broad-scale oceanic migration routes (‘marine flyways’) used by multiple pelagic, long-distance migratory seabirds based on a global compilation of tracking data. Location: Global. Time Period: 1989–2023. Major Taxa Studied: Seabirds (Families: Phaethontidae, Hydrobatidae, Diomedeidae, Procellariidae, Laridae and Stercorariidae). Methods: We collated a comprehensive global tracking dataset that included the migratory routes of 48 pelagic and long-distance migrating seabird species across the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans. We grouped individuals that followed similar routes, independent of species or timings of migration, using a dynamic time warping clustering approach. We visualised the routes of each cluster using …

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 …

Biomechanical Risk Classification In Repetitive Lifting Using Multi-Sensor Electromyography Data, Revised National Institute For Occupational Safety And Health Lifting Equation, And Deep Learning, Fatemeh Davoudi Kakhki, Hardik Vora, Armin Moghadam

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Repetitive lifting tasks in occupational settings often result in shoulder injuries, impacting both health and productivity. Accurately assessing the biomechanical risk of these tasks remains a significant challenge in occupational ergonomics, particularly within manufacturing environments. Traditional assessment methods frequently rely on subjective reports and limited observations, which can introduce bias and yield incomplete evaluations. This study addresses these limitations by generating and utilizing a comprehensive dataset containing detailed time-series electromyography (EMG) data from 25 participants. Using high-precision wearable sensors, EMG data were collected from eight muscles as participants performed repetitive lifting tasks. For each task, the lifting index was calculated …

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 …

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 …

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 …

“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

Is Buddhist View Of Mental States In Consonance With The Foundational Tenets Of Their System?: Investigating Nyāya And Buddhist Debate On Perception In Jayanta Bhatta’S Nyāyamanjari, Ajay K. Verma

Comparative Philosophy

The first noble truth in Buddhism points toward a purely phenomenal experience. Though purely qualitative in nature, the experience of suffering has an existential aspect. As stated in the second noble truth, suffering has a cause that relates to our situatedness in the world. Notwithstanding, the cause of suffering has to be something external to the mental state of suffering itself. Some of the more recent studies on mental states suggest two different positions on the nature of mental states. One may view mental states as self-referential, reflexive and purely qualitative in nature; alternatively, one could view them as transitive …

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 …

Epistemic Injustices In Philosophical Practice: African And Western, Michael Omoge

Comparative Philosophy

Arguably, there is a Eurocentric problem in philosophical practice, which, among many other things, has unwarrantedly given Western analytic philosophy an identity power that governs our collective social imagination regarding the ideal philosophy. In this paper, I argue that in both the African and Western philosophical communities, this identity power makes it such that the African analytic philosopher is the victim of different forms of epistemic injustice. In the African community, he is a victim of epistemic withdrawal and epistemic meekness; in the Western community, he is a victim of epistemic gatekeeping. I characterize these forms of epistemic injustice, setting …

A Constructive Dialogue Between Confucianism And Transcendentalism Of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Yuedi Liu

Comparative Philosophy

Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American Transcendentalist, is known as “the American Confucius”. He is also deeply influenced by the Confucianism from Confucius to Mencius, moreover, there is a constructive dialogue and engagement between them. However, it can not be inferred that Confucianism is also transcendentalism. First, Confucianism is based on “One-worldness”. Second, Confucianism is a kind of Guanxi-ism (relationism), so it is not individualism. Third, Confucianism is not intuitionism, but has the“structure of emotion-reason”. Fourth, Confucianism is not focus on “Oversoul”, but towards a pan-aestheticism based on the integration of Rites and Music. However, there are many similarities between American …

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 …

Epicurus And The Buddha On Desire, Andrew Alwood

Comparative Philosophy

The philosophies of Epicurus and the Buddha aim to free us from suffering by helping us to recognize how ignorance and delusion lead us to pursue harmful desires. Since the problem lies in our attitudes, the solution is to change our attitudes. Like doctors healing the sick, they offer therapeutic practical advice, to remove the groundless opinions and the unhealthy desires that cause suffering. Although various misconceptions may lead us to conceive of these two thinkers as quite different with respect to values and ethics, there are remarkable similarities. Indeed, their practical advice for how to live has the same …

Vol 16 No 1 Content Page

Comparative Philosophy

No abstract provided.