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Mountaineer Undergraduate Research Review

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I Pressed Flowers In My Diary On The Chapter About You, Reeya Gandhi

Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine

Reeya Gandhi is a junior at the University of Arkansas double majoring in Social Work and Creative Writing. She one day hopes to open her own private practice in narrative therapy for mental health. She enjoys reading, writing, and baking. Her current favorite poets are Olivia Gatwood and Zaina Alsous, and her favorite novel authors are J. D. Salinger and Agatha Christie.

A Study In The Societal Shift Towards Ethically Conscious Consumption, Anna Rose Morel

Academic Festival

For my Capstone project I explored the concept of conscious consumerism. Through analysis of the trends of society, I determined that the ethicality of a brand and the processes by which its products and services are produced are determinants of the purchase behavior of today’s consumer. Due to heightened awareness of ethical dilemmas in businesses such as climate change and inequality in the workplace, consumer behavior will continue to shift to making more conscious purchase decisions. This essay explains the basic concepts of business ethics and consumer behavior, and define the importance of information availability and the role of advocacy …

The Economic And Environmental Impact Of Food Waste, Joe Rice

Academic Festival

Food waste is becoming a bigger and bigger issue. Food waste mainly occurs at two separate stages in the food supply chain. These distinct points in the cycle are called food loss and food waste. It will be important to define these terms going forward. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), food loss refers to unused product from the agricultural sector. Meanwhile, food waste refers to food that has been served but not eaten, spoiled food, or inedible byproducts of food processing. When looking at the food supply chain, food loss occurs in the beginning of the …

Is Online Learning Effective To All?, Kaitlyn Kennedy

Academic Festival

Technological advances in virtual learning have made the option of remote learning accessible to most student as an alternative, however, is it effective to all learners? Due to recent pandemic of COVID-19 the option for online learning was the only option for a close alternative to in-person learning for all grade levels. Nonetheless, some school districts were unable to provide proper tools to conduct virtual learning through the abrupt transition at the start of the outbreak. When schools were responding to the pandemic of COVID-19, the first consideration was to ensure the safety and health for all (The Education Trust, …

The Ethics And Economics Of The World's Energy Consumption, Drew Dedomenico

Academic Festival

For over 150 years, fossil fuels have helped build the world economy to the success that it boasts today. Fossil fuels are formed from the fossilized, buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago (National Resources Defense Council, 2018). This includes coal, natural gas, and crude oil. What this resource has enabled our world to achieve is remarkable. While the efficiency of burning fossil fuels has allowed for notable industrial prosperity over a relatively short period of time, our planet’s constant economic growth has led these fossil fuels to become primary contributors towards air pollution and …

A Look Inside The Educational Curriculum: Why Is Dance Cast Out?, Kaitlin Broyles

Academic Festival

Joy. Anger. Sadness. Fear. Disgust. The movie Inside Out shows personified versions of these emotions and how they mature inside the brain of a young girl as she grows. Although the actual human brain is devoid of these emotion characters, people’s brains and emotions still develop and learn to cooperate with one another as they mature. Children and teenagers are sent to school to learn and to progress their development, but the traditional educational curriculum is missing a key component in helping children discover themselves and their potential.

Dance could be this missing piece. There is much more to the …

Fast Fashion And Its Impact On The Environment, Emily Moore

Academic Festival

The fashion industry is influential all around the world. Fashion is a way that people can express themselves, be creative, and connect with people. Many people also rely on fashion to make a living, whether it be working in a retail store, a corporate office, or a factory. Everyone across the supply chain is affected by fashion, from cotton farmers to everyday shoppers. In an industry full of positives, it can be difficult to spot flaws at the surface level. Like most industries, fashion is a business, focused primarily on making money. While this is good for corporations, it is …

Why College Athletes Deserve Pay, Max Lionetti

Academic Festival

In this paper I will discuss the issues surrounding the payment of college athletes. College athletes provide a source of revenue for their universities and in doing so deserve compensation for their hard work and dedication. It is important to understand the history of the NCAA and how it has grown into the athletics conglomerate it is today. Universities are able to make such large profits off of their athletic programs due to the massive television broadcasting deals they have been able to sign. The funds that these broadcasting deals demand are mainly due to the attraction revenue generating sports’ …

Postpartum Preeclampsia: Parameters And Treatment, Tara Hagerman, Molly Carr

Academic Festival

Greenwich Hospital has a high incidence of maternity patients diagnosed with preeclampsia, even after delivery. Postpartum preeclampsia is a condition concerning high blood pressure, which can lead to multi-system organ involvement (Redman et al., 2019, p. 998). Although it is a condition most identified during pregnancy, it can still appear within six weeks of giving birth. On the postpartum unit at Greenwich Hospital, there are discrepancies among the healthcare team on when to initiate treatment for preeclampsia, which can lead to impaired patient safety and confusion among the staff.

Hashtag Suicide: Social Media Correlates To American Adolescent Suicide Deaths, Tinamarie Dadic

Academic Festival

As the second leading cause of death for young adults, suicide rates are on the rise in the United States and strike many as a cause for concern. With the ever-increasing amount of social media present in today’s society – especially among the young adult population, there are correlations between the negative aspects of social media and the overall well-being and mental health decline of U.S. adolescents. However, the discrepancy is that many teenagers use social media as a coping mechanism or as a means to seek support from their community, potentially through an anonymous state. Yet, the link between …

Racial Discrimination Against Cisgender African American Women In Sexual And Reproductive Health, Rachel John

Academic Festival

Loretta Ross, also referred to as the founding mother of reproductive justice, once said “Our ability to control what happens to our bodies is constantly challenged by poverty, racism, environmental degradation, sexism, homophobia, and injustice in the United States” (Taylor, 2021). Injustices in the United States have perpetuated inadequate medical care of African American women for many years. From past to present, cisgender African American women have experienced injustice in sexual and reproductive healthcare. The pattern of mistreatment must be acknowledged to create health system-wide changes to ensure health equity. Involuntary experimentation of enslaved women, forced sterilization, discriminatory-related stress-induced disorders, …

Addressing Period Poverty: The Cost Of Menstruating In America And The Ethical Responsibility To Provide Free Menstrual Care, Jayden Tabor, Olivia Delgado

Academic Festival

UNICEF estimates that every month, some 1.8 billion people across the world menstruate (UNICEF, 2020). Menstruation is a natural, healthy, and uncontrollable part of life for anyone with the female reproductive system. Me, you, your friends, your family, and everyone else on Earth would not be born if it weren’t for this routine part of life. Why, then, does society wince at the thought of periods? The effect of menstrual stigma has plagued billions of menstruators for centuries and continues to have massive negative ramifications on the wellness and livelihood of people simply trying to cope with a biological process. …

Relationship Between Social Media, Body Dissatisfaction, And The Development Of Eating Disorders In Adolescents, Carlee Swanson

Academic Festival

Since its creation in the late nineties, social media has only grown and evolved into the societal influence it is today. In addition to the rise in social media, society has seen an increase in eating disorders and body image issues. The goal of this research paper is to explore the connection between social media and body image as it pertains to the development of eating disorders. While the presence of eating disorders has been around much longer than the internet and social media, it is possible that social media could become another factor contributing to their development in adolescents. …

Global Stratification: What It Is, Why Does It Happen, And What Does It Affect, Sarah Clift

Academic Festival

What is global stratification? Global stratification “refers to the unequal distribution of wealth, power, prestige, resources, and influence among the world’s nations. Put more simply, there is an extreme difference between the richest and poorest nations” (University of Minnesota, 2010). According to the United Nations, 40% of the world’s population -or about two billion people- live on less than $2 per day (United Nations Development Programme, 2005). If the world were one nation, its median annual income would only be about $1,700; the richest fifth of the world’s population would have three-fourths of the world’s entire income while the poorest …

Health And Humanity, Nikolas Falco

Academic Festival

My paper attempts to tackle the ethical implications of healthy behavior based on the impacts which our health-related behaviors have on ourselves and the world around us. This portion of the paper touches on several different topics, which leads the paper to discuss a variety of fields. Additionally, I discuss some strategies that might better enable individuals to adhere to health-related behavior changes.

Discourse Community Of Elementary Vs. High School Educators, Julia Paskale

Academic Festival

Alongside profound aspiration for perusal, prospective educators decipher what level of academia to administer. In the United States, “the system is broken down into three stages: elementary school (Grades K–5), middle school (Grades 6–8), and high school (Grades 9–12).” (Relocate) Definition and subsequent comprehension for elementary and secondary education division prompt prospective teachers. Undergraduate students select elementary or secondary education based on preference in-class audience, desired subject matter of demonstration, and teaching style. A wide array of differences diverges elementary and secondary educators. “In the U.S. teaching, elementary school usually involves one teacher teaching the entire curriculum to the entire …

The Failure Of Medical Insurance To Cover Psychiatric Service Dogs, Elise Jolie

Academic Festival

Countless therapy sessions, numerous medications, and lengthy stays at psychiatric hospitals. These are all things individuals dealing with serious trauma turn to, and all of them are covered by medical insurance. Yet many still cannot function normally even after trying these different options. Imagine you are one of these people. You have tried everything your insurance will cover, and then your therapist suggests you get a psychiatric service dog. You are willing to try anything, so why not get a service dog? Well, many choose not to because medical insurance does not cover the costs.

Future Research Of Xenotransplantation To Improve Human Health, Kayla Kruk

Academic Festival

The organ shortage has become a prominent problem for public health as thousands of patients die per year because of the limited availability. Research has found that xenotransplantation could be the solution to this deathly public health issue. By using animal organs to transplant into humans, there would be a significant increase in availability thus saving countless lives of those in need of organs. In this article research has been done to show the barriers of xenotransplantation that cause organ failure and solutions that have been successful in overcoming those barriers. Barriers that cause organ rejection include immune rejection, inflammation, …

The Business Of Amazon’S Ethics, Devon Pope

Academic Festival

How much should be sacrificed in the pursuit of convenience? Is a company justified in working thousands of people to the bone if that means that millions of customers benefit? Amazon is the largest online storefront in the world. With this title comes the massive responsibility of fulfilling billions of orders, with each order being shipped to a certain place in a very limited time window. Amazingly enough, Amazon has been able to fulfill this promise, as it is what sets them apart from their competition. Unfortunately, that promise comes at the expense of their work force. The employees of …

Validity Of An Inertial Measurement Unit On Performance Readiness In Long Distance Runners, Tara Keating, Emma Patterson

Academic Festival

Lower extremity stiffness in the ankle can be a good indication of readiness of a long-distance athlete based on the amount of energy stored and released2. This study tested the validity of the Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) versus the criterion reference force plates for validity of lower extremity stiffness in multiple ankle hops.

Underexplored: Perfectionism In Sexual Minorities, Victoria M. Federico

Academic Festival

Perfectionism is an aspect of one’s personality. Specifically, the trait of perfectionism is exemplified in a pursuit of flawlessness. Perfectionists set excessively high standards for their own performance and are overly critical of evaluations of the behavior of others (Smith et. al 2016). There are three individualized subtypes of perfectionism measured using the Big 3 Perfectionism Scale-Short Form (Feher et al., 2020). The first subtype of perfectionism is rigid perfectionism which is orientated around an individual’s sense of self-worth. The second subtype of perfectionism is self-critical perfectionism which is oriented around social expectations. Lastly, the third subtype of perfectionism is …

Patient Reported Health Status And The Risk Of Subsequent Hospitalizations In Pad Patients With Intermittent Claudication, Brooklyn Bradley

Academic Festival

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) involves atherosclerotic occlusion of arteries in the lower extremities affecting over 230 million people worldwide¹. Patients with PAD have the highest rates of hospitalizations among atherothrombotic conditions².Health status plays an important role in outcome for patients with PAD. Poor health status has been shown to be associated with ~3 times increased risk rehospitalization in patients with coronary artery disease³, but this has not been studied in PAD. We used a large, multicenter registry of patients with symptomatic PAD (the PORTRAIT Registry) to investigate the relationship between health status and rehospitalization.

Integration Of Mindfulness Meditation Into Nursing Curriculum, Halle Boucher

Academic Festival

Environmental demands long hours, physical demands and emotional content are commonly cited as reasons for increased stress, anxiety and depression for nursing professionals (Alsaraireh & Aloush, 2017; Chen et al., 2013; Foley & Lanzillotta-Rangeley, 2021; Karaca & Şişman, 2019). This has never been more evident than the in the context of the recent pandemic (Serrano et al., 2021). Stress can impact physical health, mental health and overall well-being in the nursing population (Van der Riet et al., 2018). Preparing undergraduate nursing students for practice and management of these realities has become a focal point of individual institutional curriculum. In 2021 …

The Effects Of Social Media On The Development Of Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia Nervosa In Adolescent Females, Jennifer Garcia

Academic Festival

Most people are reliant on social media- that is a known fact. While there are some positive aspects to it, social media has unfortunately become a dark hole of comparison and body dysmorphia. This paper outlines the unfortunate connection between social media and the prevalence of eating disorders in adolescent females, specifically anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Closing The Gender Gap In Leadership Today, Chloe Meenan

Academic Festival

In this paper, I argue that the workplace must be reinvented to be equitable for women. There are many contributing factors to the gender gap in leadership, but there are some critical areas where increased support can help to elevate workplace equity for women, allowing them to succeed in their roles and have access to equal opportunities of advancement. First, I define the gender gap in leadership and address the impact of Covid-19 and the disruption of progress for women in the workforce. I focus on the new opportunity for companies to make investments into building more flexible and empathetic …

Supporting The Inclusion Of Transgender Athletes In Sports, Megan Matullo

Academic Festival

This paper will discuss the importance of the participation of transgender athletes in sports.

Student/Faculty Roles In Nursing Curriculum Vaping Research, Alanna K. Mcdonald, Lisa R. Jacobsen

Academic Festival

Student research helps foster creativity and innovation beyond the classroom. When joined by faculty, who enrich instruction, students are introduced to the specific research process and respective skills needed to effectively complete their assigned tasks. In recent times, research has not been performed regarding the levels of knowledge one has surrounding the topic of vape devices. In 2018, a national epidemic was declared regarding vaping among youths (Huey et al., 2020). Nurses play a vital role in educating all individuals on the effects of vaping and implications to their health. Nurses can only advocate for and educate their patients when …

Impact Of Socioeconomic Status And Autism On Language Development, Marina Fletcher

Academic Festival

ASD affects the language skills of individuals of all backgrounds that can be treated with intervention; however, higher economic status is seen to hold a better outcome for language development in children of all neuro-abilities.

Assessing A Clinical Test Of Ankle Joint Range Of Motion: Influence Of Variations In Foot And Tibia Length, Abbey Cirrone

Academic Festival

The weight-bearing lunge test (WBLT) is a simple, reliable, and clinically-useful method for measuring of ankle dorsiflexion range of motion.¹ During the test, the patient stands with the big toe of one foot 10 cm from a wall and then attempts to push their knee forward to contact the wall.² Patients with inadequate ankle dorsiflexion range of motion will not be able to touch their knee to the wall, suggesting a bony, ligamentous, or muscular restriction at the ankle. The final goal of the test is to find the maximum distance from the wall in which a patient …