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Utah State University Commencement, 2023 – Southwest Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2023 Commencement Ceremony for the Southwest campus of Utah State University.

Missing The Warning Signs? The Case Of "Yellow Air Day" Advisories In Northern Utah, Arthur J. Caplan

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

Using a dataset consisting of daily vehicle trips, PM_2.5 concentrations, and a host of climactic control variables, we test the hypothesis that “yellow air day advisories” issued by the Utah Division of Air Quality resulted in subsequent reductions in vehicle trips taken during northern Utah’s winter-inversion seasons in the early 2000 s. Winter inversions occur in northern Utah when PM_2.5 concentrations (derived mainly from vehicle emissions) become trapped in the lower atmosphere, leading to unhealthy air quality over a span of time known colloquially as “red air day episodes”. When concentrations rise above 15 μg/m³ toward the …

A Deep Dive Into User's Preferences And Behavior Around Mobile Phone Sharing, Rizu Paudel, Prakriti Dumaru, Ankit Shrestha, Huzeyfe M. Kocabas, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

Users share their personal devices with different entities in various circumstances. While prior research shed light on the broad reasons behind the sharing of mobile phones, there is a dearth of systematic study to understand the user's decision-making process and the underlying preferences and concerns in the context of phone sharing. To address these gaps, we designed a prototype that we leveraged to investigate the interplay between a user's relationship with sharees, preferences of sharing a subset of apps with a certain entity, perceived sensitivity of the apps being shared, and how these factors relate to their authentication behavior. We …

Investigation Of Different Equations Of State (Eos) To Calculate Thermodynamic Properties Of Methanol In Sub-Critical And Supercritical Regions, Md Sajedul Islam Sakir

Student Research Symposium

The Equation of State (EOS) is a relationship between pressure, volume, and temperature that describes the properties of fluids under different conditions. Fluids can exist in various phases, including gaseous, liquid, critical, and supercritical states, each with different properties. The characteristics of critical and supercritical fluids are notably different from those of sub-critical fluids, and their properties change abruptly. To determine fluid properties in different regimes, various equations of state (EOS) are utilized.This research project aims to examine the different equations of state used for specifying fluid properties in various fluid regimes. Methanol has been selected as a working fluid …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, April 17, 2023, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• 3:30 Call to Order, Approval of Minutes – March 20, 2023
• 3:35 University Business
• 3:50 Faculty Senate Presidency Business
• 4:00 Information, Educational Policies Committee – April 6, 2023
• 4:05 Reports, Committee on Committees Annual Report, Calendar Committee Annual Report, Recruitment and Retention Annual Report
• 4:20 Old Business
• 4:25 New Business, Faculty Code 405 original | track changes | final (1st Reading). Faculty Senate President Elect, Format and Responsibilities for 2023-2024 Faculty Senate Meetings, Faculty Senate Executive Committee Membership.
• 5:00 Adjourn

Níksókowaawák As Axiom: The Indispensability Of Comprehensive Relational Animacy In Blackfoot Ways Of Knowing, Being, And Doing, Sandra Bartlett Atwood, Ninna Piiksii (Chief Bird) Mike Bruised Head, Mark W. Brunson, Aahsaopi (State Of Being) Laverne First Rider, Tim Frandy, James Maffie, Aakaomo'tsstaki (Many Victories) Michelle Provost, Miiniipokaa (Berry Child) Peter Weasel Moccasin, Itsiipootsikimskai

Environment and Society Student Research

This paper outlines a proposal, based on Blackfoot worldview, for a collective method to stand alongside Western qualitative and quantitative methods and highlights the value of collective methods in collaborative social-ecological research. Neither qualitative nor quantitative methods are adequate to disclose a world where all things are alive, where “objects” are subjects—agentive beings in their own right. Most Indigenous cultures understand and experience the world as a network of living beings, a collective, with whom they are interrelated/connected and therefore, any efforts to collaborate with Indigenous peoples must acknowledge comprehensive relational animacy. Applying coproduction principles in concert with Blackfoot ways …

Genetic Markers And Tree Properties Predicting Wood Biorefining Potential In Aspen (Populus Tremula) Bioenergy Feedstock, Sacha Escamez, Kathryn M. Robinson, Mikko Luomaranta, Madhavi Latha Gandla, Niklas Mähler, Zakiya Yassin, Thomas Grahn, Gerhard Scheepers, Lars-Göran Stener, Stefan Jansson, Leif J. Jönsson, Nathaniel R. Street, Hannele Tuominen

Aspen Bibliography

Background Wood represents the majority of the biomass on land and constitutes a renewable source of biofuels and other bioproducts. However, wood is recalcitrant to bioconversion, raising a need for feedstock improvement in production of, for instance, biofuels. We investigated the properties of wood that affect bioconversion, as well as the underlying genetics, to help identify superior tree feedstocks for biorefining.

Results We recorded 65 wood-related and growth traits in a population of 113 natural aspen genotypes from Sweden (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76hrd). These traits included three growth and field performance traits, 20 traits for wood chemical composition, 17 traits for wood anatomy …

Review Of Managing Business Archives, Erin M. Louthen

Journal of Western Archives

Business archivists need to be flexible, adaptable, and creative so that they can easily pivots to meet their companies' changing priorities and needs. With insightful examples and practical discussions, Managing Business Archives provides direction for archivists making decisions in a dynamic business climate, as well as archivists in all fields.

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, April 6, 2023, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes – March 2, 2023
• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee (Chad Simon)
• Academic Standards Subcommittee (Renee Galliher)
• General Education Subcommittee (Matt Sanders)
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 3:00 pm

Regeneration Strategies And Forest Resilience To Changing Fire Regimes: Insights From A Goldilocks Model, Tanjona Ramiadantsoa, Zak Ratajczak, Monica G. Turner

Aspen Bibliography

Disturbances are ubiquitous in ecological systems, and species have evolved a range of strategies to resist or rebound following disturbance. Understanding how the presence and complementarity of regeneration traits will affect community responses to disturbance is increasingly urgent as disturbance regimes shift beyond their historical ranges of variability. We define "disturbance niche" as a species' fitness across a range of disturbance sizes and frequencies that can reflect the fundamental or realized niche, that is, whether the species occurs alone or with other species. We developed a model of intermediate complexity (i.e., a Goldilocks model) to infer the disturbance niche. We …

An Examination Of Stimulus Technology Level And Preference Displacement During Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement Preference Assessments, Audrey N. Hoffmann, Ryan T. Paskins, Anna M. Brady-Ruehs, Tyra P. Sellers

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

Researchers have observed that preference for edible items may displace preference for leisure items when items from the stimulus classes are assessed together within multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessments. The current study extends previous research by examining patterns of preference and displacement when assessing preference for high-tech and low-tech leisure items. We conducted three separate MSWO preference assessments; one assessing low-tech items, another assessing high-tech items, and a combined assessment (using the top four high- and low-tech items from the previous assessments) to test for displacement. Preference for high-tech items fully or partially displaced preference for low-tech items …

Microscale Modelling Of Lightning Damage In Fibre-Reinforced Composites, Scott L. J. Millen, Juhyeong Lee

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

In this work, three-dimensional (3D) finite element simulations were undertaken to study the effects of lightning strikes on the microscale behaviour of continuous fibre-reinforced composite materials and to predict and understand complex lightning damage mechanisms. This approach is different from the conventional mesoscale or macroscale level of analysis, that predicts the overall lightning damage in composite laminates, thus providing better understanding of lightning-induced thermo-mechanical damage at a fundamental level. Micromechanical representative volume element (RVE) models of a UD composite laminate were created with circular carbon fibres randomly distributed in an epoxy matrix. The effects of various grounding conditions (one-, two-, …

Addressing Barriers To Proactive Restoration Of At-Risk Sagebrush Communities: A Causal Layered Analysis, Carmen Calzado-Martinez, Mark W. Brunson, Sofia Koutzoukis, Jacobo Baggio, Kari E. Veblen

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Restoration success in degraded rangelands often depends on a site's resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive plants. Because it is more difficult to restore plant communities after they are dominated by invasive species, a potential approach is proactive restoration in sites at risk of crossing degradation thresholds (e.g. initiating restoration prior to invasive grass dominance). When developing a new restoration approach, it is important to consider operational feasibility, including social, budgetary, and environmental factors. Accordingly, we studied influences within land management agencies on the adoption of a specific proactive restoration approach: out-planting native grass and forb seedlings into sagebrush …

Testing The Affect Of Modified Sense Of Place, Conservation Ethic, And Good Farmer Identity Measures On Predicting The Adoption Of Cover Crops In Working Landscapes In Iowa, Elizabeth A. Bennett, Morey Burnham, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad, J. Gordon Arbuckle, Weston M. Eaton, Sarah P. Church, Francis R. Eanes, Jennifer Eileen Cross, Matthew A. Williamson

Sociology and Anthropology Student Research

While sense of place (SOP) has been used in amenity landscapes to understand pro-environmental behavior, in working landscapes, SOP has not been a valid or reliable predictor for explaining conservation behavior. In this paper, we advance theory on SOP in working landscapes by assessing the relationship between several new and modified sense of place measures and farmer adoption of cover crops in Iowa. We used data from a 2018 survey of Iowa farmers and a Bayesian logistic regression, finding that physical dependence and economic dependence are distinct dimensions of SOP in working landscapes and the addition of a measure beyond …

Plagiarism Deterrence In Cs1 Through Keystroke Data, Kaden Hart, Chad Mano, John M. Edwards

Computer Science Student Research

Recent work in computing education has explored the idea of analyzing and grading using the process of writing a computer program rather than just the final submitted code. We build on this idea by investigating the effect on plagiarism when the process of coding, in the form of keystroke logs, is submitted for grading in addition to the final code. We report results from two terms of a university CS1 course in which students submitted keystroke logs. We find that when students are required to submit a log of keystrokes together with their written code they are less likely to …

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, March 2, 2023, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes - February 2, 2023
• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee (Chad Simon)
• Academic Standards Subcommittee (Renee Galliher)
• Minutes - February 9, 2023
• General Education Subcommittee (Matt Sanders)
• Minutes - February 21, 2023
• Other Business
• Adjourn

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, March 2, 2023, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes - February 2, 2023
• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 3:00 pm

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Women And Work: Career Advancement Challenges, Sara Mcphee Lafkas, Marin Christensen, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic upended countless lives all over the world. Considerable research has shown that women’s career progression has been more negatively impacted by the pandemic than men’s, especially in the wake of school closures and increased childcare responsibilities. In order to understand more deeply the impact of the pandemic on women’s careers, a large mixed-method survey was conducted in Idaho, a western state in the United States. This article reports on the responses of 2564 respondents to one of three open-ended questions taken from the overall survey, namely: “How has the pandemic impacted your career advancement experiences and opportunities …

Disability Decolonized: Indigenous Peoples Enacting Self-Determination, Nathan J. Rabang, Amy E. West, Eric Kurtz, Jim Warne, Vanessa Y. Hiratsuka

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Populations researched often have little if any input in the means of data collection, analysis, or authorship of the findings published. They are excluded from participating in the scientific methods even though they are the subject of the content that is being produced. This is true for Indigenous populations and the disability community around the globe. Researchers usually use colonial methodology that does not encompass the values of these communities or have their well-being in mind. This paper examines the history of colonization and how it has infiltrated science and inhibits self-determination of Indigenous peoples. Indigenous communities need to have …

The Promising Practice Of Cultural Brokering Support With Culturally Diverse Families Of Children With Developmental Disabilities: Perspectives From Families, Yali Pang, Dana V. Yarbrough

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Background and Purpose: The Parent to Parent model of support has been found to be effective with supporting families of children with DD in navigating complex systems, gaining emotional support, building positive resilience, sharing ideas and learning problem solving skills. Parent to Parent ties can be particularly strong when cultural capital is involved. This study presents a cultural brokering initiative embedded in the evidence-informed Parent to Parent support model that could be a promising practice to support culturally diverse families of children with DD.

Methods: This study used a mixed methods approach to examine the practice and outcomes of a …

The Utah Statesman, February 20, 2023, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Age-Dependent Differences In Frequent Mental Distress (Fmd) Of Us Older Adults Living In Multigenerational Families Versus Living Alone, Debasree Das Gupta, David W.S. Wong

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

Frequent mental distress (FMD) is prevalent among older Americans, but less is known about the disparities in the FMD of older adults living in multigenerational families versus living alone. We pooled cross-sectional data (unweighted, n = 126,144) from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) between 2016 and 2020 and compared the FMD (≥14 poor mental health days in the past 30 days = 1; 0 otherwise) of older adults (≥65 years) living in multigenerational families versus living alone in 36 states. After controlling for covariates, the findings indicate 23% lower odds of FMD among older adults living in multigenerational …

Academic Standards Subcommittee Minutes February 9, 2023, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of minutes - January 12, 2023
• Agenda:
• Follow-up on Academic Grievance discussion
• Minutes:

1. Clearly define the three forms of grievance that students might initiate.
2. Begin to articulate process
3. Necessary steps

• Adjourn: 3:57 pm

"There Is No Room For Me, For A Hawaiian, In Science": Rightful Presence In Community Science, Colby Tofel-Grehl

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This paper shares the experiences, engagement, and struggle of one young Indigenous Hawaiian woman as she grapples with her sense of disconnect with STEM while serving as a land protector on the Mauna Kea, the home of the Thirty Meter Telescope being built over the objection of the local Indigenous community. I examine her changing perspectives and connections to STEM through her engagement during a summer school enrichment class focused on science and technology learning in service of community goals. Findings indicate that her sense of agency and autonomy were greatly improved by engaging in a space where science and …

Turtle Island: Working With Indigenous Grandparents And Their Grandchildren In Group Counseling, Cian L. Brown, Delini Fernando, Rockey Robbins

Journal of Indigenous Research

Turtle Island is a culturally grounded psycho-educational group program for Indigenous early adolescents and their grandparents. It is designed to increase the inter-personal connection between Indigenous grandparents and grandchildren, facilitate the transmission of tribal/cultural values to future generations, improve a historically significant support system for Indigenous youth, and enhance greater awareness and feelings of connections with Nature. The authors present activities and processes to support clinicians and their consideration for working with Indigenous clients. All phases of implementation, from participant and facilitator recruitment to the concluding honoring feast, as well as group activities, process questions, and accompanying projects, are described …

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, February 2, 2023, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes
• Subcommittee Reports
  • Curriculum Subcommittee
    • Course Approvals
  • Academic Standards Subcommittee
    • Minutes
  • General Education Subcommittee
    • Minutes
• Other Business
  • New English Prefix TCR
  • Research, Scholarship and Creative Inquiry (RSCI) Designation
• Adjourn

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, February 2, 2023, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes - January 5, 2023
• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 3:00 pm

Age-Race-Ethnicity Segregation In The United States: Where Do Minority Older Adults Stand?, David W. S. Wong, Debasree Das Gupta

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

A recent study shows that among the three age groups of youth, adult and older adult, youth-older adult has the highest age segregation while youth-adult has the lowest. Similar to many previous age segregation studies, racial-ethnic differences, an important population axis in segregation studies, were not considered. Prior studies are also limited to using two-group measures, failing to compare multiple groups together. We explore the complexity in measuring intersectional segregation focusing on the two axes of age and race-ethnicity and propose a conditional approach to measure age segregation by racial-ethnic groups, and racial-ethnic segregation by age groups. Using this approach, …

Exploring The Impact Of Coaches’ Emotional Abuse On Intercollegiate Student-Athletes’ Experiences, Katherine N. Alexander, Kat V. Adams, Travis E. Dorsch

Human Development and Family Studies Student Research

Despite widespread anecdotal accounts of coaches’ emotional abuse in intercollegiate sports, empirical literature is lacking. To address this gap, the present exploratory study was designed to explore how former intercollegiate student-athletes interpreted experiences of emotionally abusive coaching. Former female NCAA and NJCAA student-athletes (N = 14; M_age = 25.3 years) took part in semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Data were interpreted using a constructivist grounded theory approach. The final product of the research was a three-stage grounded theory explaining how former student-athletes interpret their experiences of emotional abuse over time organized into sections on antecedents to abuse, experiences and actions …

Hemispheric Reconstructions: Post-Emancipation Social Movements And Capitalist Reaction In Colombia And The United States, James E. Sanders

History Faculty Publications

As historians have begun to conceptualize the U.S. Civil War as a global event, so too must they consider Reconstruction as a political process that transcended national boundaries. The United States and Colombia both abolished slavery during civil wars; ex-slaves in both societies struggled for full citizenship and landholding, partially succeeding for a time; in both societies, a harsh reaction ripped full citizenship from the freedpeople and denied their claims to the land. These events, usually studied only as part of a national story in either the United States or Colombia, can also be understood, and perhaps be better understood, …