Digital Commons Network^™

Familial Roles In Grief With A Focus On Eldest Daughters In Latinx Communities, Julianna Falcon

University Honors Theses

The way in which grief impacts an individual is something that varies from person to person. However how grief impacts eldest daughters within the Latinx community and their familial roles is a subject that has had little to no research done thus far. The four participants in this exploratory study describe their own experiences with the shift in familial roles and their experience navigating grief. They all shared their experiences through semi-structured interviews. Where the findings displayed key themes surrounding expectations, support, proximity, and academic impacts within each of the interviews. More detail is provided within this study on how …

Interrupted By Design: The Impact Of Push Notifications On Stress And Task Performance, Mia Hohmann

University Honors Theses

As digital communication becomes unavoidable at work, notifications have become one of the most common and overlooked sources of interruption. Drawing from current technostress literature, this study investigates how notifications impact acute and perceived stress as well as task speed and accuracy. In an experimental setting, employed university students (N = 35) completed a data-entry task while receiving either no notifications, task-relevant notifications or task-irrelevant notifications to examine how different types of digital interruptions influenced stress and performance. Stress was measured through a pre- and post-task survey and performance was assessed through both speed and accuracy. Although results showed significant …

The Dolor: How A Generation Of Women Quietly Lost Their Children, Alexis Mclean

University Honors Theses

This thesis is an exploration of the phenomenon of increased adoption rates between the years of 1945 and 1973 and attempts to establish a cohesive explanation for and image of the experience of these birth mothers. My research found that adoptions during this time period are generally characterized by the utilization of maternity homes, coercion, and secrecy. The typical birth mother during this time was white and middle class, emblematic of the motivations of their adoptions: to maintain an idealist image of their motherhood and maintain socioeconomic status. Despite this position framed by privilege, these women too often report having …

Birth Satisfaction, As Measured By The Birth Satisfaction Scale–Revised (Bss-R), And Its Role In Predicting Breastfeeding Duration, Maternal-Infant Attachment, And Postpartum Depression, Molly Parker

University Honors Theses

Birth satisfaction has been consistently associated with improved maternal outcomes such as reduced postpartum depression (PPD), stronger maternal-infant attachment, and longer breastfeeding duration. However, the extent to which birth satisfaction independently predicts these outcomes remains unclear. This study examined whether birth satisfaction, as measured by the Birth Satisfaction Scale–Revised (BSS-R), predicts postpartum depression, maternal-infant attachment, and breastfeeding duration in a longitudinal cohort.

Data were drawn from the Prenatal Environmental And Child Health (PEACH) study. Birth satisfaction was assessed at 12 months postpartum using the BSS-R. Postpartum depression was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), maternal-infant attachment using the …

Rarely Asked: The Systemic Failure To Support The Mental Health Of Caregivers Of Medically Complex Children, Morgan Motsinger

University Honors Theses

Approximately one in four households in the United States cares for a child with special healthcare needs, yet the mental health of the caregivers providing that care is rarely addressed by the medical, faith, community, and social systems around them. This thesis examines the systemic gaps in mental health support for caregivers of children with life-limiting or medically complex diagnoses through a review of existing literature and an original mixed-method survey of 58 caregivers. Findings indicate that 50% of caregivers received no mental health support from their child's medical team at any point. Every respondent reported at least one clinically …

Social Determinants As A Predictor For Heart Disease Mortality: Oregon Regional Study, Jewel Jones

University Honors Theses

The study examined the association between selected social determinants of health and heart disease mortality across geographic regions in Oregon. Using a regional analysis design, county-level population and mortality data were grouped into nine geographic regions to evaluate patterns of cardiovascular disease burden across the state. Social determinant variables were obtained from publicly available U.S. Census Bureau datasets and included poverty, crowding among households, single-parent households, lack of broadband internet subscription, housing cost burden, high school diploma attainment, and unemployment.

Heart disease mortality counts per 100,000 population were derived from official birth and death certificate records. Statistical analyses were conducted …

Developing A High-Resolution Off-Axis Common-Mode Digital Holographic Microscope, Lucy Cook

University Honors Theses

Off-axis digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is a powerful tool for 3D, non-invasive live-cell tracking without moving parts. However, traditional setups face an inherent dilemma: split-path interferometers offer high spatial resolution but poor temporal stability, while more stable common-mode configurations are historically limited to lower numerical aperture (NA) regimes. This thesis bridges that gap by scaling a common-mode DHM architecture into a high-resolution benchtop instrument featuring NA = 0.65 objectives, paired with a high-power 520 nm laser source to combat transmission losses and sustain imaging frame rates across an expanded optical footprint. We map the multi-variable design space required to satisfy …

Looking Upwards And Out: Comparing Buddhist And Humanist Frameworks For Enlightenment, Mason Mckinney-Best

University Honors Theses

During the Zen Boom of the 1950's, Psychologists, Philosophers, and other western thinkers were exposed to Zen Buddhism and began to harness some of the principles for use in Psychology. In the last 3 decades, Psychologists have renewed their interest in Buddhism, especially as "fourth wave" cultural competence has become an important part of Psychological practice. While work has been done in developing clinical applications of Buddhist practices, more could be found in Buddhism for the person who wishes to become more healthy.

Within Psychology, one figure had exactly that objective: Abraham Maslow. His work on Self-Actualization has been …

The Social Construction Of Risk: How Media Socially Constructs Risk Perceptions Surrounding School Shootings Among College Students, Natalie Jobe

University Honors Theses

Although school shootings are statistically rare events, public fear surrounding them has continuously increased across the United States. This thesis explored how college students perceive the risk of school shootings despite the relatively low probability of experiencing these violent events, with particular attention to the role of media framing, sensationalized reporting, and repeated exposure to violent social and digital media. In order to examine how media framing, social and digital media exposure, as well as ongoing encounters with violent content affect risk perception, this research conducted six interviews with traditionally aged college students from Portland State University regarding their experiences …

Grief, Silence, And Surveillance In Academic Settings, Rakhi Grey

University Honors Theses

This study examines how grief is silenced, monitored, and regulated within higher education settings. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students who experienced the death of someone significant, this study explores how institutional expectations surrounding productivity, professionalism, emotional control, and academic functioning shape grief disclosure, emotional expression, and help-seeking behaviors. Using a critical theoretical framework informed by concepts of disenfranchised grief, legitimacy hierarchies, and surveillance, findings suggest that grief within higher education is not simply individually experienced, but socially and institutionally regulated. Participants described academic environments that often left little space for ongoing grief, requiring students to compartmentalize emotional distress, …

Conello Vendor Marketplace Capstone: A Review On The Capstone Process And Computer Science Degree, Levi Hauck

University Honors Theses

This Capstone Review Thesis discusses the current structure of the Computer Science Degree path and Computer Science Capstone at PSU. This thesis reviews the Conello Vendor Marketplace Capstone, a project designed to help address the issue of teambuilding in the workplace. It points out ways in which teamwork and organization is an underdeveloped skill in Computer Science. During the Capstone project, the project management method of Agile development was recommended and used. However, it became clear that the team, leader included, had a gap in knowledge and skills to be successful, as well as a lack of experience in team …

The Cleansing Effect Of Technological Investment: An Empirical Analysis Of Episodic Labor Market Polarization (2000–2010), Adam Murphy

University Honors Theses

This paper investigates the episodic nature of labor market polarization in the United States between 2000 and 2010. While the Skill-Biased Technological Change (SBTC) framework may have successfully explained the rise of inequality in the 1980s, it struggled to account for the wage stagnation and hollowing out of the middle class that followed in the 1990s and 2000s. Utilizing Task-Biased Technological Change (TBTC) as a primary lens, this study examines how the codification of routine tasks allowed for the widespread substitution of middle-skill labor by technological capital. By synthesizing IPUMS-CPS occupational data with Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) investment statistics, …

Fundamentalist Disorientations For Queer Subjects: Narrative And Theory, Betty Canoso

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines disorientation experienced by queer people who were raised in high-cost fundamentalist Christianity–people like me. Disorientation is a philosophical concept useful for examining specific intersections of human experience, like queerness and fundamentalism. Philosophers such as Sara Ahmed (2006) and Ami Harbin (2016) have been exploring the intersection of queerness and disorientation. Psychologists, sociologists and researchers from other disciplines are analyzing the interrelatedness of queerness and religion, and disaffiliation and deconversion from high-cost or high-control religions is another ongoing area of interest. Yet, despite widespread interest in these concepts, few have looked at instances of disorientation as they pertain …

Who Keeps Us Safe? Youth Resistance And Security Regimes At The Neoliberal University, Arwen Hansell

University Honors Theses

In a political climate shaped by surveillance, labor precarity, policing, and immigration enforcement, questions of (in)security increasingly organize everyday life. Governments justify security measures through the language of public safety, even as many people experience insecurity surrounding housing, healthcare, employment, and the future itself. Although critical security studies have examined policing, militarism, and surveillance extensively, youth are often overlooked as political actors despite their central role in social movements. This study addresses that gap by focusing on student labor organizers and activists navigating (in)security. Using collaborative ethnography, I conducted fieldwork at protests, labor organizing meetings, workshops, and demonstrations connected to …

Reconfiguring Dependency: China's Belt And Road Initiative And Development In Ethiopia And Nigeria, Alexander Freund

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Africa through the frameworks of dependency theory, postcolonial theory, and neo-colonialism. As China's global economic influence has expanded throughout the twenty-first century, the BRI has emerged as a major source of infrastructure financing and development across the Global South, particularly in Africa. While critics frequently portray the initiative as a form of "debt-trap diplomacy," supporters argue that Chinese investment offers an alternative to the neoliberal conditionality historically associated with Western-led International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. This study addresses two central research questions: …

The Scars Of Renewal: How The Legacy Of Urban Renewal Informs Community Response To Gentrification In San Francisco's Fillmore District, Christopher Hayes

University Honors Theses

What is the disconnect between what the people living in the city say that they want, what the politicians say they're doing to address it, and where does that disconnect come from? Using a case study of San Francisco's Fillmore District, this study investigated discourses of gentrification in media coverage. As a historically Black neighborhood that was severely disrupted by post-World War II Urban Renewal programs, the Fillmore's story mirrors that of many other neighborhoods in the United States. Today, there are heated debates about how to move forward with development given this history and the declining numbers of African …

"I Still Care About Her": Ambiguous Loss And Social Death In Substance-Affected Relationships, Margaret M. King

University Honors Theses

Substance use creates a ripple effect, affecting the individual as well as their family members. The struggles associated with problematic substance use result in feelings of ambiguous loss towards the substance using individual, a type of loss in which a person is still living but either psychologically or physically unavailable. This research explores the experiences of ambiguous loss in college students with loved ones struggling with substance use, examining how they are thrust into caregiving roles, experience support, and find meaning within their loss. Seven semi-structured interviews were held with adult college students who identified as having a loved-one struggling …

The Power Of Perception: Latine Threat Narratives And Immigration Control In The United States, Nina Gallo

University Honors Theses

Despite America's rich history as a self-proclaimed "nation of immigrants," immigration policy in the United States has functioned as a tool of social control designed to systematically exclude and restrict groups of people that pose a perceived threat to national identity and safety. This perceived threat has effectively been communicated through harmful narratives that stratify immigrant communities from the rest of society. Through this framing, support for punitive immigration policies thrives. Currently, Latine immigrants and their families have been the target of discriminatory immigration policies and enforcement tactics. No work to date has synthesized the current state of the immigration …

Jazz V. Law: An Overview Of Copyright Law For Jazz Musicians, Trevor Thompson

University Honors Theses

The United States copyright system has become increasingly complicated and has developed a bias toward written, notated mediums over performance mediums. This bias can be traced from the Statute of Anne through the modern system under the Copyright Act of 1976, and it directly affects jazz musicians' ability to comply with copyright laws and properly receive royalties for their work. This study traces the evolution of copyright law from 1710 to the present, noting important cases such as White-Smith Music Pub. Co. v. Apollo Co., McIntyre v. Double-A Music Corporation, and Tempo Music, Inc. v. Famous Music Corp. …

Geographic And Systemic Disparities In Maternal Health: A Systems Analysis Of Prenatal Care Access Across Rural Oregon, Cecelia Petrik

University Honors Theses

Objectives: In Oregon, 51% of hospitals providing labor and delivery services are located in rural areas. Consolidation of these hospitals and provider shortages has created severe geographic and systemic disparities in maternal healthcare. This thesis explores how geographic isolation and inadequate prenatal care access contribute to widening disparities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) and mortality across Oregon's rural and frontier counties.

Methods: This study utilizes data from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Center for Health Statistics (2024) and analyzes spatial correlations across all 36 Oregon counties. A bivariate choropleth map was constructed to examine the structural intersection between health infrastructure …

Shallow-Marine Crinoid Genera May Have Been More Resilient Across Permian Extinction Events In Terms Of Richness Than Deep-Marine Crinoid Genera, Amelia C. Kolstad

University Honors Theses

Throughout the Phanerozoic, one of the most successful phyla of marine invertebrates has been Echinodermata. Echinodermata was particularly successful throughout the Paleozoic, with class Crinoidea making up a majority of occurrences. The proportion of echinoderm occurrences that are crinoids declined massively at the end of the Permian and continued to decrease into modern day, never fully recovering. One of the factors thought to have been so important for crinoid success in the Paleozoic and their decreasing success throughout geologic time has been their propensity for success in shallow-marine environments, though crinoids also exist within deep-marine environments. This study seeks to …

A Northwest Perspective: A Comprehensive Survey Of Sally Haley's Life And Career, Mary Timbrook

University Honors Theses

Sally Haley is a successful artist who built a long career in the second half of the 20th century as a painter in Portland, Oregon. Her work has been part of several solo and group exhibitions within museums and galleries across the country and she was awarded the Oregon Governor's Award for the Arts in 1989. She is best remembered for her unique still life paintings, frequently painted in egg tempera, which sold immensely well during her lifetime and after. Haley trained at the Yale School of Art in the late 1920s and early 30s, where she learned to paint …

Agile In The Age Of Ai: Considerations And Improvements For Streamlining Developer Workflows, Stephen Feng

University Honors Theses

This paper examines the integration of AI language models into Agile developer workflows during a six-month software development project. Using the development of SagacityWall, a mindfulness-based social media application built by a team of eight undergraduates, it identifies three key areas in Agile processes where AI provided meaningful leverage: translating business requirements into actionable developer work tickets, accelerating framework research and technology stack decisions, and reducing onboarding friction through AI-assisted code scaffolding and Behavior-Driven Development story formatting. The study finds that AI meaningfully boosted productivity across these stages – not by replacing developer judgment, but by reducing overhead at each …

The Magic Wand: The Transformation Of Literary Journals And The Middle Class In Early Nineteenth-Century Germany, Charlotte Bayer

University Honors Theses

Compared to other products of German Romanticism, scholarship has almost entirely overlooked the magazine Wünschelruthe (1818). No in-depth, original research has been made on the magazine since 1929. Investigations into the Wünschelruthe have only been within the frame of its connection to more influential works and authors within the German canon or as digression in biographies on its main contributors, and these writings usually neglect the actual content in the magazine. From a catalogue of dozens of literary magazines produced in Germany during the late Enlightenment and Romantic eras, the Wünschelruthe is also one of a select few (if not …

Bringing The Focus Of Curriculum Back To The Students And What Does This Look Like For Teachers, Gabriella Anaya

University Honors Theses

As a future ELA teacher, I was curious about how the books students read influence their learning. Specifically, I wondered: How does letting students choose their own books impact reading comprehension outcomes? Studies suggest that the reading materials were not necessarily what we should be focusing on, rather the teaching methodology and how it implements reading materials. The key methodology that contributed to reading comprehension improvement was instilling motivation in students by fostering student autonomy over their own learning in the classroom. This is the main idea in which my research concentrates on connecting research on reading comprehension with practical …

Moving Beyond Traditional Cost Containment For Glp-1 Coverage Within Oregon's Proposed Universal Health Plan, Manoj Rajesh

University Honors Theses

In 2022, Oregon voters passed Measure 111, constitutionally mandating access to affordable health care. As the Universal Health Plan Governance Board (UHPGB) designs the state's proposed single-payer system, it faces an unprecedented financial vulnerability: the clinical demand for GLP-1 receptor agonists. These high-cost, indefinite-use medications for obesity and metabolic syndrome threaten to overwhelm fixed public budgets. Historically, both the Oregon Health Plan's Medicaid framework and commercial private insurers have relied on static cost-containment models—categorical exclusions, step therapy, and aggressive utilization management—that achieve short-term fiscal solvency at the expense of comprehensive preventative care. This thesis argues that to fulfill the mandate …

The Ethics Of Cultural Safety: Amish Healthcare, Culture, And Faith, Ellen Keyser

Presentations

Despite representing a substantial and growing patient population in the American Midwest, practices and cultural frameworks within the Plain, Anabaptist and Pietist traditions are often unfamiliar to clinicians in the US, resulting in cultural friction and ethical challenges. This Brown Bag Workshop aims to familiarize participants with practices and cultural frameworks within these communities, dispel misconceptions and provide space for exploration of questions. We will discuss the languages, cultures and broad diversity of these communities in the Midwest, and the minority experience of Amish and Anabaptist culture and faith in the healthcare space. Participants will explore their own experiences and …

4‑H Efforts Toward Demographic Representation, 1980–2025: Next Directions (Part 2), Jeremy Elliott-Engel, Jeff Wayne Howard

Journal of Youth Development

This article builds on Part 1 of this study, a state-of-the-art review that synthesizes 45 years of scholarship (1980–2025) on 4-H’s efforts to equitably serve a demographically representative youth population (see Elliott-Engel & Howard, 2026). This article examines the findings that draw from the previously discussed 99 articles and provides the next directions for achieving a demographically representative 4-H program by synthesizing crosscutting themes from 45 years of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging scholarship. Despite meaningful progress, persistent gaps remain in participation, professional readiness, and systemlevel integration. Our review highlights the need for culturally responsive recruitment, familycentered engagement, and program …

Bridges: Youth Organizing In Memphis, Caitlin A. Caswell, Maddie Smith, Elizabeth Thomas

Journal of Youth Development

Youth organizing is a practice that enables young people and adults to work together towards individual thriving and community change. In youth organizing, young people identify and address social issues that affect their lives and lead change related to those issues. The objective of this case study is to illustrate one successful model for youth organizing grounded in positive youth development theory and youth-adult partnership, developed through the organization BRIDGES USA in Memphis, Tennessee. We discuss youth-adult partnerships and elaborate components and strengths of youth organizing. We then describe the history and context of BRIDGES, the cycle of work in …

Evaluation Of Laser Doppler Flowmetry And Transillumination Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging To Measure Blood Flow Change In Ischemia Mouse Hindlimb Models, Simon Park

Master's Theses

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), caused by plaque buildup and narrowing of the arteries, reduces blood flow to the extremities. Promoting collateral arteriogenesis can help redirect blood flow. However, simple growth of collaterals may not be enough to reverse PAD. Instead, the ability for the collaterals to vasodilate and control blood flow is important, meaning assessing collateral function is important for the arteriogenesis assesment. Although microscopy techniques can measure vasodilation, contrast limitations in larger vessels such as collaterals make blood flow measurements difficult. Techniques such as ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can measure blood flow but have limitations with cost …