Digital Commons Network^™

Why Do People Donate? Motivation Of Major Donors In Higher Education, Karin Hsuan Chao-Bushoven

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Higher education has relied on private philanthropy since the establishment of the first universities in the U.S. This reliance has increased over the decades as a result of rising costs and decreased government investment. As such, it has become more critical to better understand what factors motivate philanthropists to increase their support of higher education; including direct support for teaching and research and increasing financial support for those students otherwise not able to pursue secondary education. However, much of the existing data focuses only on point-of-philanthropic-act, and neglects to examine motivational factors of long-term donors that have progressively increased their …

Functional Analysis Of Folate Biosynthesis Genes Of Rickettsia Monacensis Str. Humboldt Via Complementation Assay, Brandon James Hill

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Nutritive symbiosis between bacteria and ticks is observed across a range of microbes and hosts, however, little characterization on the molecular components responsible for these symbioses has been done. Previous studies in our lab demonstrated that Rickettsia monacensis str. Humboldt (RMSH) can synthesize folate de novo via folA, folC, folE, folKP, and ptpS pathway. In this study expression of RMSH folate genes within a folate gene mutant E. coli K-12 strain BW25113 was used to functionally characterize RMSH folate genes in vivo. RMSH folate genes were subcloned into TransBac vector and transformed into folA, …

The Effect Of Partner Gender On Bisexual’S Percieved Lgbt+ Belonging, Danielle Siegel

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Bisexual erasure is a phenomenon in which the existence of bisexuality is broadly omitted from history, media, and research. Bisexual erasure contributes to stereotypes that bisexuality is a strictly transitional identity, only used in the process of sexually-experimenting or coming out as gay. Although well-documented in qualitative research on bisexuality, the negative effects of bisexual erasure on bisexual women’s mental health and ability to access LGBT+ resources have not been shown in an experimental context. In a vignette study, participants (N= 276) were asked to review application materials for a potential recipient of an LGBT+ exclusive scholarship award. …

The Role Of Lawyers In Bridging The Gap Between The Robust Federal Rights To Education And Relatively Low Education Outcomes In Guatemala, Maryam Ahranjani

Scholarly Works

Relative to other countries in the world and in Central America, the Guatemalan Constitution and the federal education law include a robust and detailed right to education. However, literacy rates and secondary educational attainment, particularly for Indigenous people and young women living in rural communities, remain low. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated disparities. Once children return to schools after the pandemic, the gaps will be even larger. Lawyers can play a critical role in making the strong Constitutional right to education more meaningful.

Contracts On The Seabed, Christiana Ochoa

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Four million square kilometers of seabed within the sovereignty of Pacific Island nations are currently under contract for mineral exploration or exploitation. Over a million additional square kilometers of the non-sovereign seafloor are licensed for such use. Historically, these licenses have served to establish “squatters’ rights” in anticipation of a distant future when the industry would develop the machinery to exploit oceanic mineral wealth. That moment has arrived, with the first seafloor mining machines rolling off production lines in 2015-2016. Indeed, but for failed financing, the first seabed mine would now be operating in the territorial ocean waters of Papua …

Fintech's Role In Exacerbating Or Reducing The Wealth Gap, Pamela Foohey, Nathalie Martin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Research shows that Black, Latinx, and other minorities pay more for credit and banking services, and that wealth accumulation differs starkly between their households and white households. The link between debt in-equality and the wealth gap, however, remains less thoroughly explored, particularly in light of new credit products and debt-like banking services, such as early wage access and other fintech innovations. These innovations both hold the promise of reducing racial and ethnic disparities in lending and bring concerns that they may be exploited in ways that perpetuate inequality. They also come at a time when policy makers are considering how …

Law School Memories: Building Empathy By Connecting To One's Earlier Self, Drew Simshaw

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Bursting The Auto Loan Bubble In The Wake Of Covid-19, Pamela Foohey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, auto loans outstanding in the United States had soared to record highs. The boom in lending spanned new and used cars and traditional and subprime loans. With loan delinquencies also hitting new highs almost every quarter, predictions that the auto lending market could burst soon abounded. When the economy came to a grinding halt and unemployment skyrocketed in the wake of the pandemic, auto lenders knew they were facing a crisis. Throughout 2020, auto lenders granted more payment forbearances to consumers, while slashing interest rates on new loans. Auto manufacturers similarly made promises to buyers, such …

Judicial Independence At Twilight, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Judicial independence is a fixture of American government, but its structure has never been fully understood. As long as the federal judiciary has survived episodic attacks with its independence intact, there has been no pressing need to know how or why. But a confluence of cyclical, sustained, and sudden developments now threatens the federal judiciary’s autonomy in arguably unprecedented ways and demands a more comprehensive analysis of judicial independence and its vulnerabilities. This article begins by reconceptualizing the structure of judicial independence in three tiers. At the apex is an ancient, Rule of Law Paradigm, which proceeds from the premise …

Tangibility As Technology, João Marinotti

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Property law has traditionally relied on tangible boundaries to delineate legal thinghood and to inform the bounds of in rem rights and duties. Unfortunately, property doctrines have fossilized around tangibility, causing fragmentation in the legal treatment of digital assets. In the United States, for example, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may simultaneously be classified as commodities, securities, currencies, assets, or not property at all, depending on the jurisdiction, domain, or specific asset in question. This fragmented system of overlapping legal treatments increases the information cost of using digital assets, decreases efficiency, and ultimately hinders future innovation.

In this Article, I …

Entertainment-Education Behind The Scenes: Case Studies For Theory And Practice, Lauren B. Frank, Paul Falzone

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

This Open Access book tracks the latest trends in the theory, research, and practice of entertainment-education, the field of communication that incorporates social change messaging into entertaining media. Sometimes called edutainment, social impact television, narrative persuasion, or cultural strategy, this approach to social and behavior change communication offers new opportunities including transmedia and digital formats. However, making media can be a chaotic process. The realities of working in the field and the rigid structures of scholarly evaluation often act as barriers to honest accounts of entertainment-education practice. In this collection of essays, experienced practitioners offer unique insight into how entertainment-education …

The Biopolitics Of Maskless Police, India Thusi

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Despite the recent movement against police violence, police officers have been endangering their communities by engaging in a new form of violence— policing while refusing to wear facial coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many states advise people to wear masks and to socially distance when in public spaces. However, police officers have frequently failed to comply with these guidelines as they interact with the public to enforce these COVID-19 laws. Police enforcement of COVID-19 laws is problematic for two reasons: (1) it provides a method for pathologizing marginalized communities as biological threats; (2) it creates a racialized pathway …

Smart Cars, Telematics, And Repair, Leah Chan Grinvald, Ofer Tur-Sinai

Scholarly Works

Recent years have seen a surge in the use of automotive telematics. Telematics is the integration of telecommunications and informatics technologies. Using telematics in cars enables transmission of data communications between the car and other systems or devices. This opens up a wide range of possibilities, including the prospect of conducting remote diagnostics based on real-time access to the vehicle. Yet, as with any new technology, alongside its potential benefits, the use of automotive telematics could also have potential downsides. This Article explores the significant negative impact that the growing reliance on telematics systems could have on competition in the …

Separation Of Powers Versus Checks And Balances In The Criminal Justice System: A Response To Professor Epps, Carissa Byrne Hessick

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

Chancery Court Determines That Merger Partner Breached "Efforts Covenants" In Connection With "[S]Tar-[C]Rossed" Combination Of Health Insurance Giants, Robert S. Reder, Connor J. Breed

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

Chancery Court Considers Whether Either Party To Failed Multibillion Dollar Merger Was Entitled To Payment Of A Fixed Termination Fee, Robert S. Reder, Maryam Saad

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

Neutralizing The "800-[P]Ound [G]Orilla": Chancery Court Denies Motions To Dismiss Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Controlling Stockholder Engaged In Conflicted Transaction And Special Committee Members, Robert S. Reder, Lisa Orucevic

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Silent Treatment: Discovering Confidential Settlements In A Post-#Metoo World, Unlisted Unlisted

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

Remaking Carceral Policy: A Response To Littman, Keramet Reiter

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Distributive Impacts Of Nudnik-Based Activism, Meirav Furth-Matzkin

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protein-Functionalized Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Hydrogels As Scaffolds For Monolayer Organoid Culture, Reid L Wilson, Ganesh Swaminathan, Khalil Ettayebi, Carolyn Bomidi, Xi-Lei Zeng, Sarah E Blutt, Mary K Estes, K Jane Grande-Allen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Stem cell-derived, organotypic in vitro models, known as organoids, have emerged as superior alternatives to traditional cell culture models due to their unparalleled ability to recreate complex physiological and pathophysiological processes. For this reason, they are attractive targets of tissue-engineering efforts, as constructs that include organoid technology would be expected to better simulate the many functions of the desired tissue or organ. While the 3D spheroidal architecture that is the default architecture of most organoid models may be preferred for some applications, 2D monolayer arrangements remain the preferred organization for many applications in tissue engineering. Therefore, in this work, we …

Poised For Change: University Students Are Positively Disposed Toward Food Waste Diversion And Decrease Individual Food Waste After Programming, Manar Arica Alattar, Jennifer L. Morse

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Eaters (consumers of food) are responsible for 60% of waste along the food cycle in developed countries. Programs that target individual and household food waste behavior change are essential to addressing such waste. School cafeterias worldwide offer an opportune microcosm in which to educate on food and nutrition skills and change related behavior. No Scrap Left Behind, a cafeteria food waste diversion program, was developed, piloted, and assessed based on measures of both direct and indirect food waste behavior, and attitudes, knowledge, and emotions related to food waste. Participants had positive attitudes towards food waste reduction, engaged in food waste …

Safety And Efficacy Of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation To Treat And Prevent Recurrent Clostridioides Difficile In Cancer Patients, Hiba Ali, Shruti Khurana, Weijie Ma, Yuanzun Peng, Zhi-Dong Jiang, Herbert Dupont, Hao Chi Zhang, Anusha S Thomas, Pablo Okhuysen, Yinghong Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Cancer patients are at increased risk of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) due to malignancy itself, cancer therapy, and frequent antibiotic use and have a lower response rate to standard oral antibiotics. There are limited data on the safety and efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for treating rCDI in cancer patients. We aim to describe our experience of using FMT to treat rCDI at a tertiary cancer center.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of cancer patients who underwent FMT for rCDI at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from June 2017 through January 2020. Baseline …

The Uncanny Swipe Drive: The Return Of A Racist Mode Of Algorithmic Thought On Dating Apps, Gregory Narr

Publications and Research

As algorithmic media amplify longstanding social oppression, they also seek to colonize every last bit of sociality where that oppression could be resisted. Swipe apps constitute prototypical examples of this dynamic. By employing protocols that foster absent-minded engagement, they allow unconscious racial preferences to be expressed without troubling users’ perceptions of themselves as non-racist. These preferences are then measured by recommender systems that treat “attractiveness” as a zero-sum game, allocate affective flows according to the winners and losers of those games, and ultimately amplify the salience of race as a factor of success for finding intimacy. In thus priming users …

Sonic Femininity: The Ronettes' Transgressive Gender Performance, Hilarie Ashton

Publications and Research

Iconic sixties girl group the Ronettes are frequently (and justly) celebrated for anchoring the Wall of Sound and inspiring the Beatles, but in their own right, they transgressed social, gendered expectations in revolutionary ways. Framed by a notion I call the sonic feminine, a recuperative theoretical space for the revolutionarily transgressive work of female and femme artists, I argue that the Ronettes, and lead singer Ronnie Spector in particular, enacted a kind of cultural rebellion: they crafted their images to made-up heights that tease the boundaries of drag across the spaces of the stage, the recording studio, the bathroom, and …

The Use Of Land Management Practices To Reclaim Brine-Affected Cropland Soils And Restore Shrub Invaded Rangeland, Dylan John Bartels

Range Science

Land management techniques can enhance altered ecosystems on a variety of landscapes. In the Williston Basin of North Dakota, brine ponds created 50 years ago still cause problems today. We applied six treatments to reclaim the A-horizon of brine-affected soil on six legacy brine ponds and monitored soil nutrients until 23 months after treatment. We found that from 0-15 cm, all treatments were significantly better at reducing electrical conductivity than the control. In addition, sodium adsorption ratio was reduced at all depths over time. In Southcentral North Dakota, we monitored the effects of fire and grazing on colonies of western …

Hdm Model For Assessing The Readiness/Optimization Of Restaurant Delivery Systems, Moise Degand, Duane Murray, Yaya Sirimongkarakorn, Mohammed Thawab, Mohammed Zaid

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

This paper assesses the readiness and the optimization of restaurant delivery systems. The restaurant industry has suffered a lot economically during this past year. Several restaurants didn’t survive the pandemic and others still are still struggling to remain open due to local and federal laws preventing gathering in a restaurant. To survive during this pandemic, restaurants will need to pivot and change their day to day business operations. Two surveys research were conducted based on our initial Hierarchical Decision model’s category containing safety, quality, service, economics. One survey was sent to a few restaurant owners and the other was sent …

Strategic Analysis Of Mirror: The Gym, Neeti Verma

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The home gym equipment market has many local and global manufacturers competing for a higher market share. The market for gym equipment has traditionally been composed of commercial fitness facilities, hotels, and offices. The home equipment market has been rising amid COVID-19 pandemic. There have been a few new entrants with high technology in the home gym equipment market.

This paper looks at one such company and performs a strategic analysis of its product and would analyze the strategies used by the company to gain market share, performs external on the industry, and tries to propose a path forward for …

Strategic Management Of Digital Contact Tracing Technologies: Covid-19 And Singapore, Yaya Sirimongkarakorn

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The emergence of the COVID-19 virus and global health pandemic has sparked a rapid need for new digital solutions. Singapore took a strategic lead by paving the path towards innovating digital contact tracing (DCT) technologies to contain the spread of the virus. The nation’s expedited response and model for DCT has shown to be one that many countries can take example from, regardless of experiencing hurdles in gaining sufficient user uptake initially. The concerns surrounding data security and privacy has fueled the movement for DCT technologies. With the vast majority of the population being involved, many aspects need to be …

O Espaço E O Tempo Do Valor, David Harvey, Artur Renzo

Publications and Research

O artigo discute a lei do valor em Karl Marx como valor em movimento, que se faz valer no espaço e no tempo. Entende-se que o movimento não pode ocorrer no vácuo, sendo necessário abandonar a visão do valor que se move sem estar ancorado em nenhum lugar e passar a enxergá-lo criando geografias de cidades e redes de transportes; formando paisagens agrícolas para a produção de alimentos e matérias-primas; englobando fluxos de pessoas, bens e informações; determinando configurações territoriais de valores fundiários e habilidades de trabalho; organizando espaços de trabalho, estruturas de governo e administração. Conclui-se que há três …