Digital Commons Network^™

Descriptive Statistic Characteristics Study For Level 4 Frontier High Schools In Montana, Jacqueline May Gorshe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Frontier high schools in Montana have a degree of isolation that presents unique challenges setting them apart from their rural, and especially their urban, counterparts. Unfortunately, a one-size-fits-all approach hinders their voices being heard in professional development and policy decision making. This dissertation provides a profile of these high schools and their communities using four social determinants of health: education, access to health care, economics, and behavioral risk factors through mixed methods approach with descriptive statistics and high school principal survey responses. The results of this approach revealed frontier high schools have small class sizes and low teacher-student ratios, but …

Modeling Twitter Sentiment As A Function Of Particulate Matter 2.5 For Communities Impacted By Wildfire Across Montana And Idaho, Matthew Kelly

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a known pollutant with clinically detrimental physiological and behavioral effects. We consider Twitter sentiment as a potential indicator for well-being in communities impacted by wildfire-associated PM2.5 across Montana and Idaho spanning 5 years (2014-2018). From these geospatial air quality data and geo-tagged tweets, we trained county level models to examine the power of Twitter sentiment as a function of PM2.5. For all 24 counties sampled, we found between 1 and 8 affective dimensions where a positive �� 2 was detected with a significant F-statistic (�� < 0.05). Specifically, we show that sentiment for anticipation in the wildfire-prone county of Missoula, MT yielded respective training/test set �� 2 of 0.0958 and 0.0686 with a p-value for the F-statistic of 3.09E-07. These analyses support social media sentiment as a potential public health metric by showing one of the first observations of a relationship between PM2.5 and Twitter sentiment.

Toward The Democratic Regulation Of Ai Systems: A Prolegomenon, Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Aziz Z. Huq

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Illiberalism And Islam, Aziz Z. Huq

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

This chapter analyzes the role of anti-Islam and anti-Muslim discourse in North American and European ‘illiberal’ parties, movements, and ideologies. Its first aim is to situate those deployments in a longer history. Occidental engagements with Islam and Muslims, including anti-Islamic tropes, long predate the emergence of liberalism, let along illiberalism. It should not be a surprise that liberalism as it emerged in the nineteenth century partook of such ideas. Contra some theorists, however, I argue that there is no strong evidence that anti-Islam was constitutive of liberal theory or early practice. Rather, it was in the second half of the …

Drugs, Patents, And Well-Being, Christopher Buccafusco, Jonathan S. Masur

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

The ultimate end of patent law must be to spur innovations that improve human welfare—innovations that make people better off. But firms will only invest resources in developing patentable inventions that will allow them to make money—that is, inventions that people will want to use and buy. This can gravely distort the types of incentives that firms face and the types of inventions they pursue. Nowhere is this truer than in the pharmaceutical field. There is by now substantial evidence that treatments for diseases that primarily afflict poorer people—including the citizens of developing nations—are dramatically under-produced, compared with drugs that …

Assessments Of Fit And Usability Of Work-Life Supports In The Context Of Diversity And Perceptions Of Fairness, Cal J. Halvorsen, Indrani Saran, Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

There is a robust literature that examines outcomes associated with work-life supports. Scholars have considered the “fit” between employee needs and the supports available while others have examined the “usability”—or the potential consequences of using—work-life supports. In this article, we suggest that “fit” and “usability” could be related to both employees’ own demographic, social, and cultural identities, as well as perceptions of fairness at the workplace. While scholars have focused on organizational justice and workplace fairness for quite some time, the context of diversity—in its many forms—has rarely been included in this conversation or has simply been added as a …

Older Workers In The Time Of Covid-19: The Senior Community Service Employment Program And Implications For Social Work, Cal J. Halvorsen, Olga Yulikova

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

It has long been the goal of many gerontological social work scholars to increase the ability and opportunity for people to be engaged in paid and unpaid work throughout the life course. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing and exacerbating the financial insecurity of many older adults. In this paper, we review information related to older workers and how they might be affected by this pandemic and its aftermath, paying particular attention to the most socioeconomically and physically vulnerable older workers. We also offer first-hand experiences from our careers working with and conducting scholarship on older workers, paying particular attention …

How Self-Employed Older Adults Differ By Age: Evidence And Implications From The Health And Retirement Study, Cal J. Halvorsen

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

Background and Objectives

There has been increased attention in recent years on self-employment in later life, with about 1 in 5 workers past of the age of 50 working for themselves. This study aims to build upon previous documentation of the characteristics of self-employed older adults by estimating how these characteristics vary by age.

Research Design and Methods

Using 7 waves of the Health and Retirement Study with a sample of more than 16,000 working older adults, this study considers how the association between self-employment and sociodemographic characteristics; indicators of human, social, and financial capital; and risk tolerance differ between …

Collection Weeding: Innovative Processes And Tools To Ease The Burden, Gregory M. Nelson, Michael C. Goates, David S. Pixton, Megan Frost, Dan Broadbent

Faculty Publications

Evaluating collections and ultimately removing content poses a variety of difficult issues, including choosing appropriate deselection criteria, communicating with stakeholders, providing accountability, and managing the overall timetable to finish projects on time. The Science and Engineering librarians at Brigham Young University evaluated their entire print collection of over 350,000 items within one year, significantly reducing the number of items kept on the open shelves and the physical collection footprint. Keys to accomplishing this project were extensive preparation, tracking progress and accountability facilitated by Google Sheets and an interactive GIS stacks map, and stakeholder feedback facilitated by a novel web-based tool. …

Leisure As Immediate Conscious Experience: Foundations, Evaluation, And Extension Of The Theory Of Structured Experiences, Gary D. Ellis, Jingxian Jiang, Patti A. Freeman, Andrew Lacanienta, Tazim Jamal

Faculty Publications

The nature, causes, and effects of immediate conscious leisure experiences have long been central interests of scholars. Significant contributions to the field include Abraham Maslow’s studies of ecstasy and peak experience, Sigmund Koch’s descriptions of two forms of consciousness, John Neulinger’s classification of immediate conscious experiences based on their motivational contexts, Michael J. Ellis’ application of arousal theory to play, Howard and Diane Tinsley’s theory of the leisure experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s career of inquiry into the “flow” phenomenon, and recently, the theory of structured experience (TSE). This paper reviews research on leisure as immediate conscious experience relating to development of …

Exploring Antecedents And Consequences Of Managerial Moral Stress, Justin B. Ames, James Gaskin, Bradley D. Goronson

Faculty Publications

The legitimacy of moral stress as a distinct form of general stress has long been debated in previous research. Moreover, individual-level antecedents of moral stress are yet to be tested among executives. This study investigates role identity saliency (by calculating the total saliency of roles and competition between roles) as an individual- level antecedent of managerial moral stress and turnover intent as a consequence of managerial moral stress among high-level strategic decision makers in organisations. We also analyse the moderating effect of moral attentiveness in these relationships. Survey data were collected from 264 strategic decision makers from small to large …

Ethnic Identity And Stress Appraisal As Acculturative Stress Processes Among Armenian Americans, Tsolak Michael Kirakosyan

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The current study examined the role of ethnic identity and stress appraisal as buffers of the relationship between acculturative stress and wellbeing in a national sample of Armenian American adults between eighteen and thirty-nine years old (N = 159; 62.89% women, 32.08% men; mean age = 25.59, SD = 5.30). Acculturative stress positively correlated with depressive symptoms, and negatively with self-esteem and positive stress appraisal. Stronger ethnic identity affirmation and belonging was related to less depressive symptoms, more positive stress appraisal, and greater self-esteem and life satisfaction. In hierarchical linear regression analyses, acculturative stress significantly predicted more depressive symptoms, …

Changing Seasons Of Resistance: Impacts Of Settler Colonialism And Climate Change In Indigenous Worlds, Elizabeth Jackson

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This paper looks at the relationship between neoliberal capitalism, genocide, the biopolitics of settler colonialism and the impacts of climate change on the cultures and traditional lifeways of Indigenous communities. It also explores Indigenous modes and methods of adaptation and resilience. Climate Change is almost certainly the most urgent social problem in the history of human life on planet Earth. Many Indigenous people are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to marginalization and their commitment to land-based practices. Using in depth interviews with Indigenous Peoples, primarily from the Pacific Northwest, and the analysis of existing literature, this …

Phylogenetic And Population Genetic Analysis Of The Humboldt's Flying Squirrel Using High-Throughput Sequencing Data, Stella Chi Yuan

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The intraspecific genetic variation and diversity within the Humboldt’s flying squirrel (Glaucomys oregonensis) has not yet been characterized despite its elevation to full species in 2017. The San Bernardino flying squirrel (G. o. californicus) is thought to be the southernmost population of G. oregonensis and is restricted to the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains in California, but recent surveys indicate they have been extirpated from the latter locality. In order to provide baseline genetic data across the geographic range of G. oregonensis, I had the following objectives: 1) investigate the intraspecific molecular variation in …

Trauma Informed Practices At The Middle School Level, Forrest Ray Cord

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

TRAUMA INFORMED PRACTICES AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL

Forrest Cord

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and childhood trauma have been found to affect almost two thirds of the American population, including students enrolled in our public schools. This project was designed to create and implement a professional development workshop that provided a clear and concise description of ACEs, how exposure to ACEs and trauma affects the development of the brain, and how this exposure can impact a student’s behavior in and outside the classroom. The second focus of the presentation discussed trauma-informed classroom strategies to mitigate these behaviors.

This project began …

How The Change To Online Learning Affected Chinese Language Teaching In California Schools Due To The 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic, Jing Ren

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research study investigates how Chinese language teachers in California made the change from in-person learning to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they set up and taught virtual classes and what their reactions were to the online transitions. Teachers utilized various interactive tools and strategies to teach students in their virtual classrooms. Parental involvement with the child’s education at home increased. Some public school district polices caused greater reductions in student participation than others. Teachers applied various communication strategies to engage students in creative ways while teaching online. This together with curriculum development and assessment design required that …

Constructing Commonmentalities: Toward Collaborative Governance, Knowledge And Subjectivity, Imil Ferrara

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Western society’s intractable social and environmental problems arise outside the bounds of classical liberal ideation, challenging the utilitarian rationality, decision-making faculty, and popular legitimacy of our liberal institutions. Through a qualitative analysis of three collaborative, community-based institutions, this study aims to identify and illuminate alternative conceptions and organizational relationships, which transcend liberal shortcomings and succeed precisely where liberal institutions have failed. It draws on Michel Foucault’s account of liberal governance, discourse and subject formation, but employs a complex-systems lens to move from critical deconstruction to intentional normative construction, from radical subjectivism to a collaborative pragmatic realism, and from the critique …

Is Inclusion The Answer?, Jacqueline M. Hewins

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Inclusion is the method by which many school districts meet the requirement of educating students with disabilities in the “least restrictive environment”. While it is an established practice, supported by the educational community and most families alike, there is a gap in the literature regarding how students feel about being in inclusion classes. In order to learn more about the student experience, five students with special education needs from a rural high school were interviewed about their involvement in inclusion. Students were asked about whether they felt included, if they socialized with peers from the inclusion class, and if they …

Holistic Student Development In Higher Education: Perspectives And Practices Of Holistic Student Development At A Public California University, Francisca Ann Crutchfield

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Within traditional American public colleges and universities, there is an emphasis on academic student success within the structures and values of educational programs, and the lack of a holistic approach to higher education may be negatively impacting college student development and well-being. By balancing academic knowledge with other areas of knowledge, including a heightened sense of community and mental and emotional well-being, higher education can cultivate students who apply their skills with reduced stress, a sense of belonging, and freedom of expression. This qualitative phenomenological study seeks to identify characteristics, educational priorities, and programming approaches of university student service programs …

Collective Efficacy: Gaining The Perspective Of Teachers, Ashley R. Lankila

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers' view of collective efficacy at their schools, the key events teachers cite when discussing their views, and their views on how collective efficacy can be built at their schools. Certificated personnel from three rural schools in Northern California participated in this study. Key findings indicate teachers view communication, collaboration and accountability as key factors to justify their views of collective efficacy at their schools.

Collective Healing Within Queer Paradoxes: Deconstructing Emotional Abuse In Lgbtq2sia* Communities To Cultivate More Accountable And Compassionate Worlds, Alexia Siebuhr

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Emotional abuses within LGBTQ2SIA* communities are rarely acknowledged as existing or often normalized. Through care and anti-oppression works, transformative justice models such as community and self-accountability have helped carve out ways of addressing harm directly and breaking cycles of violence. The research in this thesis has been through mixed qualitative methodologies including semi-structured interviews and surveys. The participants' along with other authors, artists, activists and scholars’ narratives draws upon the experiences of emotional abuse lived within structural and social surveillance. The settler colonial state sanctioned projects have responded to harm by perpetuating violence upon those most marginalized. Deconstructing emotional abuse …

Cuteness As A Prime To Enhance Emotional Recognition, Andrew Diaz

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The ability to recognize emotional expressions has important implications for survival and cooperation. Failing to recognize emotions indicative of some form of threat (anger, fear, disgust) may be particularly costly given these emotional expressions communicate a potential source of danger in the environment. Previous studies have shown that people tend to recognize threatening emotions faster and more accurately than non-threatening emotions. Infantile characteristics (kindchenschema) readily capture the attention of adults and have been shown to influence a variety of behaviors associated with caretaking; viewing cute stimuli increases behavioral carefulness on various visual and motor tasks. The current study …

Feeling Activated And Acting Unethically: The Influence Of Activated Mood On Unethical Behavior To Benefit A Teammate, Elizabeth E. Umphress, Richard G. Gardner, Adam C. Stoverink, Keith Leavitt

Faculty Publications

Research on the effects of mood in organizations tends to focus on the valence dimension of mood (positive vs. negative), overlooking the activation dimension (activated vs. deactivated).We suggest that activation level prompts unethical behavior. Based on the affective infusion model (AIM; Forgas, 1995), we predict that positive activated and negative activated moods facilitate unethical behavior to benefit a teammate, via the mediating mechanism of a creative mindset. We test our fullmodel using an experience sampling method over 2 weeks, in which mood and creative mindset were assessed in the morning and unethical behavior conducted that day was assessed in the …

Consciousness And Criminality, Paula Baniotaite

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019

To what extent are we responsible for the actions performed in our dreams? If I hurt someone while I’m sleepwalking, should my behavior be excused? In cases of multiple personalities, if one identity commits a crime, should the main identity be accountable? We can raise such questions in courts today due to early psychological research in consciousness and awareness. I will begin by reviewing the early notions that have been explored in psychology, such as sleep, repression and even hypnosis that all tie back to theories of consciousness. I will then review various disorders that involve irregularities in consciousness: sleep …

A Fairy Without Wings, Mckenzie King

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019

The Fae have become targets for hunters in search of profit, due to various media sources quickly spreading false rumors to the population. A Fairy Without Wings is an Urban Fantasy novel-in-progress that follows the active kidnapping of two female Fae: Melli and Bridge. Melli and Bridge, unlike many others, make no attempts to hide their Fae features. This made the girls easy targets for poachers. The novel-in-progress uses the theory of evolution in relation to the fantasy race known as Fae in an urban setting to demonstrate the impact of misinformation from the media on social climate. This demonstration …

Synesthesia And Thin Boundaries Of The Mind, Samantha M. Mayernik

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019

Synesthesia is a phenomenon in which the lines between senses are blurred, suggesting permeable boundaries in the mind. This notion of boundary permeability is inherently linked with Openness to Experience, one of the Big Five personality traits. Conversely, some people are characterized by heavy boundaries and thus a lack of Openness. Since the 1930s, the relationship between Openness and boundaries has been important in political psychology, as previous research has established that conservatives tend to be low in Openness, while the opposite is true for liberals. Authoritarianism can be seen as the embodiment of a mind with thick boundaries, while …

Defining Relatedness While Crossing State Lines: Changes In The American Cultural Construction Of Incest, Elizabeth May

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019

Incest is known in Anthropology as a social construct that is defined as the prohibition of sex or marriage between certain genetic or affinal relatives. It was once believed that incest was an instinctually avoided behavior in humans, but that hypothesis is no longer supported. Because incest is a culturally constructed idea, the specific nature of its defining boundaries changes across cultures. To build upon the idea that incest is a cultural construction, I investigated the notion that not only do laws defining incest vary between cultures, but they also show variance within the same society. I showed this by …

Personality And Geographical Psychology, Marina N. Perez

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019

This exploratory analysis aims to examine personality in relation to geographical location. As opposed to grouping participants by state, participants are grouped based on cultural regions outlined by Colin Woodard in American Nations (2012). By taking into account the sub-nations that exist in the United States and the history of their settlements, we can illustrate a more comprehensive and complete picture of the people who live there. In order to examine geographical regions according to personality scores, Colin Woodard’s American Nations data was used in conjunction with William Revelle’s and Lorien Elleman’s SAPA data and corresponding code. Participants were divided …

Understanding America’S Modern Political Polarization Through Media History, Frank Sauro

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019

Political polarization in the United States has rapidly developed into a key source of division within the country’s electorate. Though the clashing of contentious political ideologies has historically served as the catalyst for beneficial political, social, and economic change in America, modern political discourse is threatening to propel the country towards regression. Academics, politicians, and commentators have accused the media of perpetuating division through incendiary rhetoric and biased reporting. This project seeks to evaluate the validity of such accusations through the analysis of America’s media history and its impact on the country’s electorate. Following an overview of media’s developmental timeline, …

The Death Positive Community And Change In American Mortuary Ritual, Taylor Sharrard

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019

American mortuary ritual, including either embalming and burial or cremation, has largely gone unchanged since the Civil War. The growing movement of “death positivity” started by mortician Caitlin Doughty has been educating the American public about funeral alternatives that advocates believe are better for survivors of the deceased as well as the environment. I analyze past criticisms that have influenced Doughty to craft the death positive movement’s ideals and discuss these in terms of capitalistic greed as well as death denial culture. I describe the downfalls of the current embalming and cremation practices that the death positive movement opposes. Furthermore, …