Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Media Coverage Of Law Enforcement And Effects Of The Image Created, James Schultz

Senior Theses

This paper examines a number of case studies and articles concerning media’s depiction of law enforcement and its effects on the officers’ duties to the public. Recent stories of excessive use of force by police throughout the country began a new generation of activists for civil rights, exposed to a more advanced news media. Nationwide coverage displayed an image of law enforcement which was overly aggressive. For citizens who have little to no interaction with law enforcement, this image being depicted is the only basis for definition of what is a “police officer”. Combined with the history of civil rights …

Time To Attach: An Argument In Favour Of Ei Attachment Benefits, Carolyn Mcleod, Lorraine Davies, Nicole Fice, Leona Bruijns, Emily Cichocki, Hale Doguoglu, Heather Stewart, Austin Horn, Jaclyn Rekis, Tara Filipovich

Philosophy Publications

This report, produced for Ontario's Adoptive Parents Association and the Adoption Council of Canada, provides a general argument in favour of expanding parental leave benefits for adoptive parents and kinship and customary caregivers in Canada.

Simple Random-Interval Generation Reveals The Irresistibly Periodic Structure Of Perceived Time, Jessica A. Grahn, J. Eric Taylor

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Whole-integer ratios in musical rhythm are culturally universal. The reliable periodicity of rhythm inspired us to determine whether time perception, which is foundational to and inherently less structured than rhythm, is subject to similar biases. We created a random-interval generation task that exploits the nonrandom tendencies in perception and action in order to uncover the structural biases underlying temporal duration perception. Participants listened to and watched an audiovisual suprasecond temporal cue and were asked to subdivide it as randomly as possible in a prescribed number of responses. The results showed that the subdivision probability distributions were distinctly nonrandom, and closely …

Call Me Maybe: An Analysis Of The Effect Of The Celebrity Persona On The American Telethon, Kyra Meister

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This study examines the relationship between the celebrity persona and the American telethon. Today, it is rare to find a celebrity that is not connected to a specific, charitable or social cause, making apparent strides in the charity industry because of their ability to influence the general public. In the last 70 years, telethons have evolved in a myriad of ways because celebrities and charity are intertwined. Most significantly, the seriousness and sacredness of the American telethon has decreased because of how many telethons are currently in existence. Additionally, an increase in the number of celebrities involved in telethons has …

Altruism Or Self-Interest? Exploring The Motivations Of Open Access Authors, Robert Heaton, Dylan Burns, Becky Thoms

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

More than 250 authors at Utah State University published an Open Access (OA) article in 2016. Analysis of survey results and publication data from Scopus suggests that the following factors led authors to choose OA venues: ability to pay publishing charges, disciplinary colleagues’ positive attitudes toward OA, and personal feelings such as altruism and desire to reach a wide audience. Tenure status was not an apparent factor. This article adds to the body of literature on author motivations and can inform library outreach and marketing efforts, the creation of new publishing models, and the conversation about the larger scholarly publishing …

"Earth Mommas”: The Impact Of Mothers On The American Environmental Justice Movement, Marie Gabrielle Buendia

Environmental Studies

Since the movement’s roots in the mid-twentieth century, mothers have been at the forefront in the pursuit of environmental justice in the United States. Raising their voices while raising their children and the community, they present a strong, effective and formidable force in the landscape of activism and advocacy. A mismanaged environment, years of political disenfranchisement, and persistent gender stratification have interacted throughout the country’s history to specifically position women and mothers – sometimes through force and always out of necessity – as the foundation of the environmental justice movement. For better or for worse, with the skills acquired through …

Liable To Change, Jody Travis Thompson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Liable to Change is a body of paintings in which I explore diverse approaches to the representation of visual space. Depictions of space and movement change throughout the pictures by combining various artistic conventions, such as trompe l’oeil realism and non-objective, geometric abstraction. Oil paint, resin, beeswax, and other materials create built-up surfaces which contain the history of their making. Interaction between various finishes and light on these surfaces changes based on the viewers' proximity to the painting. Images of monkey bars, lattice, golden ratio and flower of life patterns provide a structure through which line, form, and space are …

Climate Change Governance And The Politics Of Scale: Evaluating Local Climate Protection Policies And Practices In The United States And Germany, Ayure-Inga Mark Anthony Agana

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When it became evident that the issue of climate change needed to be acted upon, it was projected as a global scale problem. To make this rhetoric concrete, the international relations logic that ‘regimes’ of cooperating nation-states are the most feasible approach to solving problems that are global in nature was adopted. While the national level has performed poorly in climate change mitigation action, as exemplified by the United States’ refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Canada’s subsequent withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol in 2011 after initial ratification and, more recently, the United States withdrawal from the Paris Accord, a …

Auto-Calibration Of Wim Using Traffic Stream Characteristics, Johnson Baker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project evaluates the performance of Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) auto-calibration methods used by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT). Typical auto-calibration algorithms compare the WIM measured weights of vehicles from the traffic stream to reference values, using five-axle tractor-trailer configured trucks for comparisons, e.g. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Class 9. Parameters of the existing algorithms including the Front Axle Weight (FAW) reference value, the sampling frequency required to update the calibration factor, and thresholds for Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) bins were evaluated. The primary metric used to estimate algorithm performance was Mean Absolute Percent Error (MAPE) between the WIM and static …

Environmental Insecurity: Another Case For Concept Change, Lee-Anne Broadhead

Peace and Conflict Studies

For decades, scholars and policy-makers have disputed whether environmental degradation caused by human-induced climate change needs to be addressed and reversed in order to prevent conflict, or whether the instabilities generated by such degradation (resource scarcity, reduction of arable land, mass migration of so-called environmental refugees, etc.) provides a compelling new rationale for preparing militarily to fight the "climate change conflicts" of the future. Exploring the tension between these perspectives, the paper argues that any effective practical response implies and requires a change in the conceptual climate of the debate sufficient to discredit a literally devastating circular argument: that environmental …

Application Of The Image Analysis For Archival Discovery Team’S First- Generation Methods And Software To The Burney Collection Of British Newspapers, Elizabeth Lorang, Leen-Kiat Soh, Chulwoo Pack, Yi Liu, Delaram Rahimighazikalayeh, John O'Brien

CDRH Grant Reports

The current study, “Application of the Image Analysis for Archival Discovery Team’s First- Generation Methods and Software to the Burney Collection of British Newspapers,” is the first test of our approaches—methods and software—to a different newspaper corpus, specifically the 17th and 18 Century Burney Newspapers Collection. This study stands as the first complete attempt at applying Aida’s software and methods to non-Chronicling America newspapers, as a step toward understanding the potential of our approaches across digitized historic newspapers. In taking this step, our goals were (1) to test how well the software and a classifier model developed on Chronicling America …

Uni Scholarworks Readership Snapshot, May 2019, Bepress

Library Documents & Reports (entire collection)

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of Acute Radiation-Induced Changes In Oxygenation In A Murine Breast Tumor Model, Alaa Abdelgawad

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Around 50-60% of all cancer patients undergo radiation therapy. Although some patients show complete response with no recurrence, a significant proportion of the population still develop radiation resistance. It is important to identify tumor resistance at early stages of therapy in order to adjust treatment protocol and avoid extra exposure to radiation. Current methods to assess treatment response are only limited to anatomical measurements of tumor volume after therapy. Novel approaches that shed the light on any functional information during the course of radiotherapy could significantly improve our ability to identify patients who do not respond to radiation therapy. Diffuse …

Spatial Decision Support Systems Use In Peacekeeping And Stability Operations Analysis: Spatial Analysis For U.S. Army Civil Affairs Civil Information Management, Earnest R. Lloyd

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

Becoming a core U.S. military mission in 2005, Stability Operations deals with the political, economic, social and structural resiliency of a county or region. It is conducted to support and develop a host nation’s government, or to initiate governmental services in a non-governed area until the host nation can do so itself. Inherent in this is the provision of public goods, whether the military is the principal provider or to understand the relative public good provision levels within a given area. This understanding is known as situational awareness of the operational environment (OE), a significant issue for any military commander …

The Impact Of A Veteran Identity Among Key Personnel On Successful Outcomes In Veteran Treatment Courts, Jason D. Flake

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

Bureaucrats routinely engage in discretionary decision-making that results in the distribution of values for society. Scholars across various domains are challenged with reconciling the ostensibly contradictory values of bureaucratic policy-making and democratic governance. The theory of representative bureaucracy introduces a measure of equity, legitimacy, and responsiveness into these processes. A bureaucracy that is representative of the public it serves across various sociodemographic characteristics is posited to increase equity, legitimacy, and responsiveness in policy processes and outcomes. Although research finds evidence supporting the relationship between bureaucrats and substantive outcomes for those with shared sociodemographic characteristics, the characteristics and settings under study …

Transit, Walkability, And Economic Development In The 21st Century: Explorations From The U.S. Specialized High-Tech Zones, Pivotal Industries, And Innovative Small Businesses, Ahoura Zandiatashbar

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

The economy in the 21st century has expanded the depth of creativity, speed, and flexibility in production, high-tech industry, and innovation. Hence, the new economic norm and high dependency on innovation and creativity require educated, talented, and specialized human capital, as well as proximity to research centers and universities. Furthermore, this new knowledge economy has also favored urban spaces that support spontaneous face-to-face encounters and knowledge exchange while appealing to the talented human capital. Besides these specific urban spaces, the transportation infrastructures could have a principle role in the new economy whether through fostering local, regional, or global accessibility to …

Decoding The Jolly Green Giant: An Analysis Of Green Gentrification In The Context Of Rails-To-Trails Policy, Lorin R. Carter

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

Recent urban public policies and planning initiatives have resulted in increased efforts to improve stewardship of our limited natural resources (sustainability), increase defenses against natural stressors (resiliency), while also seeking to prevent and remedy unequal environmental burdens placed on minority, elderly, and lower-income communities (environmental justice). This research seeks first to evaluate how the intersection of these policies combine to create the urban phenomenon of Green Gentrification, where the intended effect of these actions is to improve environmental characteristics and infrastructure, but they often result in the displacement of original citizens and culture the improvement sought to help (Gould & …

Developing A Creative Learning Format For Street Children, Shazina Masud

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Developing a Creative Learning Format for Street Children

As the number of street children grow globally, governments and UN agencies are looking at solutions to cater to their needs of shelter, health and safety. Efforts to provide formal education to street children are not always successful. This project hypothesizes that equipping these children with essential knowledge in an informal but creative learning environment will allow them to live safe and productive lives. The prototype of the creative learning format is based on approaches and tools that have worked with children in other settings and has been modified for street children. …

Proposing A Center For Leadership And Creativity, Jessica S. Murfin

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Leadership and creativity are vital skills for everyone to have in what is now a very competitive and dynamic world. Whether in business or in personal life, these skills can help individuals reach their highest potential. Employers, especially, are finding it increasingly difficult to find employees with these important skills. Academic institutions are simply not preparing students (i.e., future employees) well enough. This is an issue that needs to be remedied as soon as possible. In this project, I am proposing a Center for Leadership and Creativity to be housed on the Western Oregon University campus in Monmouth, Oregon, under …

Declutter, Organize, Optimize: A Thingless Path To Creativity, Caitlin J. Wingrove

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project explores the connection between material possessions, physical clutter and the optimization of one’s personal creativity in their creative environment. It first includes a review of the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering, by Marie Kondo by looking at her methods through the lens of the creative process. The project then documents my personal process of decluttering and optimizing my living space. The project includes some ideas from prior research in the field combined with personal reflections on how the optimization of a physical space can improve one’s creative productivity, creative thinking, …

Effect Of Prison Length Of Stay In Oregon, Mark Harmon, Christopher M. Campbell, Kris R. Henning, Brian Renauer

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Oregon’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), “is an approach to spending resources more effectively with the goals of reducing recidivism, decreasing prison use, protecting the public and holding offenders accountable (Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, 2019).” To maximize the effectiveness of Justice Reinvestment programs, policy makers need to understand the relationship between imprisonment, particularly length of stay (LOS), and recidivism. Subsequently, the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) sought to conduct a LOS study in Oregon similar to a study completed by Snodgrass et al (2011). The goal of Portland State University’s (PSU) analysis is to provide useful information for Oregon’s JRI effort …

Children With Autism In The Somali Population: Exploring The Inter-Relatedness Of The Somali Immigrant And Refugee Experience Navigating Speech-Language Pathology Resources, Rebecca Houston

Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCO) Grant Program

Approximately 15,711 Somali immigrants resettled in Minnesota in 2016 (Rush, 2016). According to the Rochester Post Bulletin, the Med City ranks fourth place in number of Somali immigrants, 333, behind Minneapolis at 3,450, St. Cloud at 1,393, and St. Paul at 960 (Post Bulletin, 2017). In a study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health in 2008, the most common services needed by Somali families was first housing, followed by speech therapy second (Minnesota Department of Health, 2014). In a study conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health in 2008, the most common family or individual challenges associated with late …

How Diet Choices And Weight Change Person Perception, Nicole Tibbits

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous studies have explored the negative perceptions of overweight targets along with the specific physical and psychological characteristics commonly used to describe them. The current study extends this literature by experimentally investigating the effect that both weight and diet choices have on the characteristics attributed to an individual. Participants were exposed to one of four scenarios that involved exposure to an image (overweight or average) and a short description of the target with the diet manipulation (healthy or unhealthy) embedded. As expected, overweight targets with unhealthy diets were rated lowest on perceptions of physical health and independent of weight, targets …

Best Training Practices For Probation Officers And Staff Toward Building A More Sophisticated, Fair, And Effective System Of Juvenile Justice In San Diego County, Carissa Carrasquillo

Ethnic Studies Senior Capstone Papers

This report illustrates how probation leadership, officers, and staff in San Diego County can adopt best training practices to address and alleviate incidents in juvenile detention facilities and build a sophisticated, fair, and effective system of juvenile justice. The goal of implementing best training practices for probation officers and staff is to build a knowledgeable workforce to better serve youth and families and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system. This report analyzes how innovations in management and the introduction of new programs has proven effective through research- and evidence-based practices and direct community involvement. In particular, …

Value Capture To Fund Public Transportation: The Impact Of Warm Springs Bart Station On The Value Of Neighboring Residential Properties In Fremont, Ca, Shishir Mathur

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study estimates households’ willingness to pay for single-family houses and condominiums/townhouses located within 2 miles of Warm Springs (WS) BART Station in Fremont, CA. The study finds that, compared to the houses sold in the referent category (2 to 5 miles away and sold during the pre-project-announcement period of 2000-2001), an average-priced single-family house within two miles of the WS BART Station was higher in price by 9% to 15%. The total property value increment for the single-family houses is large enough to fund the $802 million Warm Springs BART Extension Project cost five times over.

“Because I Care I Risk”: How Ceo Free Market Orientation Affects The Extent And Type Of Income Smoothing, Mirzokhidjon S. Abdurakhmonov

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The executive political ideology literature suffers from a lack of conceptual clarity because social and economic issues are conflated. This has created an inconsistency in empirical findings with the theoretical predictions of the political ideology construct. In this dissertation, I identify a distinct economic component, free market orientation, based on support for economic individualism, competition, and property rights to reconcile these inconsistencies. Specifically, I argue that these indicators of free market orientation will have a unique impact on the way executives run their organizations. I develop a novel scale that measures CEO economic values that I term free market orientation …

How And Where Should I Ride This Thing? “Rules Of The Road” For Personal Transportation Devices, Kevin Fang, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Ashley M. Hooper

Mineta Transportation Institute

In recent years, “Personal Transportation Devices” (PTDs) have exploded onto streets and sidewalks. These small devices transport individual persons at slow speeds and are either human-powered or motorized. Examples include electric (kick) scooters, skateboards, e-skateboards, roller blades, and Segways. One key to successfully integrating PTDs into community streets will be the implementation of consistent and suitable regulations over user behavior: “rules of the road” for PTD riders. To help local officials identify appropriate rules for rider behavior, this report documents and analyzes existing PTD regulations across 176 jurisdictions and then presents recommendations for a set of state-level “rules of the …

Expanding Outcomes In Educational Program Evaluation: Student Outcomes, Systemic Effects, And Policy Implications, Heidi Lauren Holmes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Education policy debates over the last twenty years have focused on the need to increase students’ test scores. The federal government and states have implemented and expanded a variety of test-based, school accountability policies. Accountability pressures have incentivized schools to narrow their curriculum, decrease time allocated to extracurricular activities, and focus on short-term student outcomes. This dissertation focuses on expanding outcomes in educational program evaluations and demonstrates the value of looking beyond the goal of increasing student test scores. The first chapter, using random assignment, estimates the causal effects of culturally enriching field trips on various student outcomes. Such field …

Silicone Tadpole: Research Into Soft Bodies, Danielle Fernandez

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this thesis, research is conducted in the area of soft robotics by building a soft tadpole that can deform with a specific air pressure. The goal is to mimic the motion of an organic tadpole in respect to its S-shaped tail movement. The angle of deformation, derived from material mechanic theories, ranges from 45 to 80 degrees for this type of movement. The design includes a head compartment which acts as a tank to transfer nitrogen pressure and a tail section that receives the said pressure and bends as a result. The tail section was designed with two rows …

Design Of Artificial Swarms Using Network Motifs: A Simulation Study, Khoinguyen Trinh

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The objective of this research is to develop a new approach in engineering complex swarm systems with desired characteristics based on the theory of network motifs – subgraphs that repeat themselves (patterns) among various networks. System engineering has traditionally followed a top-down methodology which creates a framework for the system and adds additional features to meet specific design requirements. Meanwhile, complex swarm systems, such as ant colonies and bird flocks, are formed via a bottom-up manner where the system-level structure directly emerges from the interactions and behaviors among individuals. The behaviors of these individuals cannot be directly controlled, which makes …