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Student Activism in Context: A Comparative Study of Student Movements in Higher Education
Get PDFStudent activism has long functioned as a driving force for transformative change withininstitutions of higher education, yet the success of student-led movements in institutionalizingproposed reforms varies significantly. Understanding social movements led by young adultswithin the highly specific and unique environment of colleges and universities begs the question:why do some efforts achieve great success while others falter? Using a comparative case study ofthe Chicano1 Movement and Civil Rights Movement at four California public higher educationinstitutions–UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, San Francisco State University, and CSUNorthridge–I develop and test a theory through the Most Similar Systems Design and processtracing. My inductive research on the Chicano Movement at UCSB and UCSD suggests thatmovement success is shaped by factors rooted in the campus’s location and institutionalcharacteristics. I then test this theory deductively in a second comparative case study on the CivilRights Movement at SFSU and CSUN. This explanation considers the multifaceted nature ofuniversity and college campuses by considering how the interactions between these institutionsand their surrounding environments shape the movement outcomes. Drawing on extensivearchival research, this study reveals how institutional governance, pre-existing structures, campuscultures, alliances, and broader social conditions converge to determine the ability of studentactivists to institutionalize their goals successfully. These findings underscore the importance ofinstitutional context and movement strategy in determining whether student demands are viable inbecoming lasting reforms.</p
Tolerated Not Treated: The Enduring Legacy of Medical Racism for Black Women
Get PDFBlack women in the United States face systemic healthcare inequities lying in theintersection of racism and sexism, yet the mechanisms linking these forms of discrimination tomedical mistrust and health outcomes remains underexplored. This study investigated how racialand gender discrimination, both in everyday life and clinical settings, shape trust in physiciansand adherence to medical advice, while evaluating the role of physician allyship in mitigatingharm. The final sample (N=235) revealed that racial discrimination in healthcare settingssignificantly eroded trust (B = -0.22, p = .003) and adherence (B = -0.17, p < .0010).Interestingly, while race-conscious allyship (B = 0.06, p = .037) via acknowledgement ofsystemic racism strengthened trust, only gender allyship (B = 0.09, p = .002) significantlypredicted adherence to medical advice. Notably, trust was measured prior to allyshipassessments, confirming that systemic accountability, not performative gestures, drivesengagement. The findings underscore racism, not sexism, as the primary axis of harm,demanding a redefinition of “concordant care” to prioritize race-conscious practices that addressstructural inequities. By centering Black women’s lived experiences, this work challengeshealthcare systems to move beyond demographic matching and gendered narratives, advocatinginstead for clinician trainings that confront historical legacies of medical exploitation andempower intersectional, equity-driven care.</p
Influence of Early Snowmelt and Microclimate Variability on Alpine Arthropod Diversity and Community Structure
Get PDFAlpine ecosystems are one of the most vulnerable and fastest changing environments on the planet. They are characterized by harsh conditions and short growing seasons. Increased temperatures due to climate change are leading to earlier snowmelt, which alters plant phenology and seasonal growth cycles. Arthropods play crucial roles in pollination, decomposition, and food web dynamics. This study investigates how early snowmelt and variations in microclimate, including soil moisture, soil temperature, and plant NDVI (a measure of vegetation health and density) influence alpine arthropod richness and diversity patterns. We also examined how responses vary across taxonomic groups and among rare versus common morphospecies. Data was collected at five sites along Niwot Ridge with distinct topographic and vegetative characteristics. Early snowmelt was artificially induced each spring by applying black sand to the snowpack to reduce albedo (reflectivity) and accelerate melting. Arthropods were visually sampled across three growing seasons. We found that arthropod richness and Shannon’s Diversity Index (H) were significantly higher in early snowmelt plots, with richness increasing by 20% compared to control plots. Higher NDVI increased overall arthropod diversity metrics, particularly influencing herbivorous taxa including Hemiptera and Orthoptera. Increased soil moisture reduced diversity and abundance across all taxa, and soil temperature had no effect. Common and rare morphospecies exhibited similar responses to early snowmelt, though common species were more sensitive to changes in NDVI and soil moisture. The results indicate that alpine arthropods are sensitive to snowmelt timing and variations in microclimate, but responses vary significantly between taxonomic groups. Warming scenarios and shifting snowmelt patterns may have potential implications for ecosystem processes such as herbivory, pollination, and predator-prey interactions, which could have cascading effects on trophic levels. These findings have important implications in understanding how our alpine environments are responding to climate change, which can inform land managers and policymakers in conserving biodiversity in mountain ecosystems. </p
Reactions of Breast Cancer Survivors to an Online Positive Affect Based Training Program to Support Anti-Hormonal Medication Adherence
Get PDFOne in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime in the United States. A majority of breast cancer cases are hormonal breast cancers, leading them to be treated with anti-hormonal medications. Among breast cancer survivors, adherence to anti-hormonal medications is low and depression symptoms are common. To address this, 34 breast cancer survivors were recruited to participate in an online positive affect based program to assess its feasibility, acceptability, and potential to help breast cancer survivors adhere to their anti-hormonal medications. This study was a mixed methods design that sought to evaluate participants' reactions and responses to the program to see how it could be improved. Medication adherence, positive affect, and depression scores all improved over the course of the study. Additionally, qualitative data revealed two broad parent themes of “Helpful” and “Unhelpful” and multiple corresponding sub themes. The most common themes indicated that the program was easy and convenient. Participants generally liked both modules and the design of the program, but wished for more education on how to specifically manage side effects. Limitations of this study are mainly that it was a small, non-randomized trial in a homogenous sample. Future studies should seek to pilot a longer, randomized, more in depth program in more diverse samples of breast cancer survivors and include suggestions generated from this study, while retaining the aspects that were widely appreciated. </p
The Effect of Sleep Disruption on Subclinical Alzheimer's Disease
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Prior studies have shown that there is an overlap of neuroinflammatory signals produced in amyloid precursor protein (APP)-overexpressing mice and in sleep disrupted mice, specifically in relation to microglia activation. Moreover, studies have demonstrated that sleep is essential for the clearance of amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques. Taken together, these suggest that Aβ might be an inflammatory mediator, contributing to neuroinflammation in mice subjected to sleep disruption. This study examines the effect of sleep disruption in subclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) mice. Neuroinflammation is hypothesized to be a mediator between sleep disruption and AD. Western blotting was used to assess the expression of various proteins. Overall, at the molecular level, this study, although underpowered, concluded that sleep disruption had no significant effect on expression of the markers of AD pathology assayed. This may be due to flaws in the study design that may be addressed by using various other techniques to stimulate sleep disruption.
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The Puer In the Roman Imagination
Get PDFThis thesis examines the role of the puer in Roman homosexuality and Roman culture at large. Roman homosexuality had unique gendered dynamics, where it was acceptable to be the penetrating partner, but not the penetrated. Roman men were not meant to be penetrated, that was a role for Roman woman or a puer. The term puer translates to boy, and can often be assumed to simply mean an adolescent. However, the term puer can specifically mean a boy or slave who is a sexual figure, specifically for older men. Recent queer scholarship has begun to push the idea of the puer as a gendered category that is separate from other forms of Roman masculinity. Through examining both written and visual sources, I argue the puer is not a descriptive term that applies to any boy, but an abstract idea with its own mode of gender performance. Pueri in sources have distinct beauty standards, behavioral ideals, and cultural norms that fail to map onto the Roman ideals for both men and women, making them a unique aspect of Roman gender and sexuality. The puer is often depicted and mentioned in surviving sources, but the puer that was described was highly idealized and incompatible with reality. </p
Hawking radiation inside cosmological black holes
Get PDFThe famous instability of the Cauchy horizon in charged and (or) rotating black holes manifests as an infinite divergence in the outgoing Hawking modes as they approach this inner horizon. In the effective temperature formalism, which generalizes the Hawking effect to observers at arbitrary positions, this instability corresponds to an observer perceiving an infinite blueshift in the Hawking modes as they approach the inner horizon. This thesis studies this divergence and attempts to subdue it by the inclusion of a cosmological factor. Largely, we gain insight into the semi-classical effects on the perceived thermal spectrum due to the cosmological horizon, and realize that the redshift that the cosmological factor contributes can only counteract the infinite blueshift at the inner horizon in extremal or super-extremal black holes.</p
Examining the Effectiveness of Financial Incentives for New and Used Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs)
Get PDFThis paper determines the effectiveness of state-level financial incentives for new and used battery electric vehicles (BEVs). This is done through two different panel fixed-effects models which annually capture BEV registrations per capita from 2016 to 2023 for all 50 U.S. States. This paper finds that annual BEV registrations per capita decrease by 5.98% when states with pre existing financial incentives for new BEVs introduce financial incentives for used BEVs. In addition, when states increase the maximum amount offered on financial incentives for used BEVs by $1,000, annual BEV registrations per capita decrease by 2.37%. Nevertheless, these effects and updated policy effects for new BEVs are found to be statistically insignificant meaning, that it cannot be said with absolute certainty that these factors influence BEV registrations. </p
Modification and Characterization of a Pulsed Molecular Beam Valve for a CH+ NH Reaction in a Coulomb Crystal
Get PDFCH is an important molecule believed to be fundamental to the formation mechanism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the interstellar medium and dark molecular clouds. Recent studies have found that CH does not tend to react with small organic molecules and diatomics, prompting exploration of the interaction of CH with another astrochemically relevant molecule-- ammonia. To create conditions similar to those present in the interstellar medium, this reaction takes place in an ultrahigh vacuum using a Coulomb Crystal. Past efforts to properly introduce ammonia to a vacuum chamber have failed, creating a need for a new pulsed molecular beam source. This study follows the development and characterization of a pulsed molecular beam valve, based on the Nijmegen Pulsed valve, to evaluate if such a valve sufficiently introduces ammonia to a vacuum chamber and operates within other behavioral parameters required for a cold-ion molecule reaction.</p
Between the Mystic and the Politician: Unifying St. Catherine of Siena
Get PDF Catherine of Siena (1348-1380) was an Italian mystic and saint. She is best known through the biography written by her confessor, Raymond of Capua, and best known for her extreme fasting. She was also a geopolitical player in the papal captivity at Avignon and the subsequent Papal Schism, as evidenced by a corpus of 382 letters she wrote between 1374 and 1380. In general, academic work on Catherine falls into two historiographical trends: work that treats Catherine as a mystic and focuses on her private life, and work that treats Catherine as a politician and focuses on her public life. This thesis seeks to explain Catherine’s use of gendered languages in her letters by joining these two historiographical trends. Specifically, I argue that the way Catherine constructed her own gender was intrinsically related to the way that she wrote to both men and women. Catherine preferred masculine traits to feminine ones as a means of building her own power. The supremacy of masculinity to femininity is present in Catherine’s rhetoric, symbols, and metaphors. In letters to both men and women, Catherine encouraged her recipients to be more masculine, wherever possible. In letters to women, Catherine used femininity as a tool to denigrate her recipients. These dynamics are but one way that Catherine’s private life impacted her public one, and they make a compelling for unifying Catherine from the mystic and the politician into one woman. </p
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