STRATA
STRATA, the STudent Research, Academic, and Talent Archive, is a collection of selected Fort Lewis College student work, including undergraduate research, senior seminar papers, published works, conference presentations, and other creative and artistic projects. Search by name, subject, title, or academic department.
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- Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South: Breaking from Althusser's System
- For centuries, humans have had a desire to classify everything, including themselves. Society is organized into a system of classes, rules, and conventions. But, how true is this system? Elizabeth Gaskell, a social novelist, seems to address this in her novel North and South. Reviewing the novel, looking at characters and class relations within it, and finding whether or not it fits into a Marxist system and theory like Louis Althusser's reveals Gaskell's statement. Where does the system hold true? Where does it become problematized? Arguably, the system holds true for characters who are dedicated to their class. Then, it becomes problematized with other characters--such as the protagonist, Margaret--who are not fully dedicated to their class. They move, or are moving, between classes and interact, affecting their relationships. Althusser does not account for this movement. In fact, the system he creates is too ambiguous, not allowing for such complex relations. Therefore, this society that Gaskell presents propagandizes and undermines his system. In doing so, she highlights that society is more complicated and complex than thought.
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- Emergency
- Poem by Jesse Maloney, published in the Fall 2010/Winter 2011 edition of Images.
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- Environmental History of River Restoration in Grand Canyon National Park
- Before the Colorado River was controlled by several dams, it carried large sediment loads to the Sea of Corte, roared with unpredictable seasonal floods, and supported a dynamic ecosystem and the riparian zones were diverse. Since human impact has changed the Colorado River's system entirely, there have been various complex river restoration attempts in Grand Canyon National Park to restore it to its natural state. Because multiple jurisdictions control management of the Colorado River since the Grand Canyon turned into a National Park in 1919, river restoration has been difficult. The Colorado River Compact of 1922 makes every drop of the river accounted for from mass allocation. Demand for hydroelectricity is high and operators of Glen Canyon Dam must keep the turbines turning to power major cities in the Southwest. The Hoover Dam was completed in 1936 and began the desert civilization that is still booming today. In 1963, Glen Canyon Dam was completed by the Bureau of Reclamation at Lees Ferry at the start of Grand Canyon National Park. This dam turned the water clear and cold, directly affecting the Colorado River inside of the Grand Canyon. Now the predictable water is destroying beaches, allowing the establishment of invasive plant species, and killing the native fish, bird and mammal species. Monitoring projects commenced in the 1970s which triggered management plans and legislation to protect the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Starting in 1974, the Colorado Research Program began monitoring projects set up by Science and Resource Management division which lead to the Colorado River Management Plan. Following the monitoring projects, a preliminary report was conducted on expanding vegetation by the Museum of Northern Arizona in 1975. A foot-step induced sediment displacement report was piloted in 1979 after observations were made that the river no longer was replacing lost sediment on beaches from campers' erosion. In 1982 Glen Canyon Environmental Studies formed to conduct research on the Colorado River and its changing riparian environment. They also helped complete a Draft Environmental Impact Statement that led to the Grand Canyon Protection Act in 1992. Along with protective legislation, scientific investigation of morphing plant species in the Colorado River's riparian zone was also a focus. The invasive deciduous plant most commonly observed beginning in the late 1970s along the bank of the Colorado River is the Tamarisk (Tamarix ramosissima). The Colorado River no longer has surging floods which allows for the Tamarisk to flourish and dominate the riparian habitat. Tamarisk also increases fire frequency in the Grand Canyon where it had previously not played a significant role. The interim flows released from Glen Canyon dam beginning in 1991 have helped eliminate some of the invasion of tamarisk. From 2000 to 2004, The Arizona Water Protection Fund (AWPF) awarded a grant to the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council to conduct a multi-phase riparian restoration project focusing on tamarisk removal. In recent years, there has been effort to expend or remove nonnative fish in the Colorado River, especially the brown and rainbow trout, to help benefit the native fish populations such as the Humpback Chub. From January 2003 through August 2006, field trips were taken to mechanically remove the nonnative fish serial depletion passes by using boat-mounted electrofishing within the Little Colorado River inflow reach. Since the results of the study were proven successful, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls for continuation of mechanical removal of nonnative fish in critical humpback chub habitat.
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- Environmental Stressors: The Effects of Ambient Noise on Child Development in Rural and Urban Areas
- People typically characterize environmental issues as physical health or technological problems, but the physical environment can also have adverse psychological, physiological, and developmental impacts. This is especially evident in regards to the effects of ambient noise on developing children. Chronic exposure to environmental noise is considered a stressor because it decreases expectancies for control and increases susceptibility to helplessness, behavioral problems, cognitive issues, and other developmental concerns. Although there has been much research on the effects of noise on child development in both urban and rural environments, it is unclear whether the impacts on children are similar in the two environments. I evaluated a series of case studies from environmental psychology journals to determine if there is sufficient evidence to support the theory that children from urban areas are negatively impacted by surrounding environmental stressors, mainly ambient noise, in terms of their educational development. I found there to be some discrepancy between the case studies, indicating that there are more factors than just ambient noise caused by air and road traffic that play into child development issues. Understanding what factors in the environment play into child development is vital in providing children with the ideal atmosphere to enjoy a life with limited environmental stress while allowing the child to succeed academically.
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- Equations Describing Betweenness Values in Tree Graphs
- I have developed equations for calculating betweenness values of particular vertices in different types of tree graphs. Starting with particular vertices in simple tree graphs I was able to expand to more complex tree graphs and generalize. The methods used to develop betweenness equations in tree graphs can be extended and applied to other types of graphs with minor modifications.
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- Equine Motor Dominance and Eye Preference in Response to a Novel Stimulus
- Prior research has shown that horses and other mammals, including humans, use the right hemisphere of the brain to process negatively associated stimuli and the left hemisphere to process positive or neutral stimuli. This study tested the link among motor dominance, a horse's preference for their right or left foreleg, and their eye preference for viewing a novel stimulus. This study will provide information on the hemispheric organization of horses, how this compares to humans and other mammals, and how this influences temperament. Motor dominance was tested using pedometers attached to the forelegs of each horse participant. Horses were then grouped into left and right dominant experimental groups. Each horse was then individually exposed to a novel stimulus (i.e. a pinwheel) placed at the end of a barn aisle, with a barrier dividing the barn aisle at the center, directly in front of the stimulus. In order to investigate the stimulus, horses either walked on the left or the right side of the barrier, or they chose not to approach. Due to their monocular fields of vision, with eyes placed on the sides of their heads, horses that walked on the left side of the barrier initially viewed the stimulus with their right eye as they approached, whereas horses that walked on the right side initially viewed the stimulus with their left eye. Horses were timed during their approach to the pinwheel, and due to their similar hemispheric organization to other mammals, horses that approached using their left eye may be more inhibited, taking more time to approach. Horses that use their left eye to view the pinwheel may also have a higher increase in heart rate, due to the stress induced by the novelty of the stimulus. Results for heart rate and latency to approach were not statistically significant, but the trend in the means for the experimental groups supports the predictions of the researchers. Results for motor dominance in regard to eye preference did not reach statistical significance, however, the means in heart rate do show a difference between left and right dominant horses in response to the pinwheel.
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- Erosion
- Poem by Benjamin Meckley from Fall 2008 - Winter 2009 issue of Images.
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- Estimation of South Cascade Glacier Summer Mass Balance Derived from High-Resolution Satellite Imagery in 2004 and 2008, Washington
- A technique to estimate the South Cascade Glacier summer mass balance derived from remote sensing and GIS is evaluated by comparison to a traditional field-calculated mass balance measurement. The process of transforming surficial snow into glacial ice occurs at various rates throughout the glacier surface, creating zones of accumulation (firn) and ablation (ice), visibly appearing on the glacier as the firn line. Glacial firn and ice have a unique spectral signature that can be discriminated from IKONOS and WorldView-1 satellite imagery and used to estimate an accumulation area ratio (AAR). This technique was evaluated using an established relationship between the South Cascade Glacier AAR in 2004 and a known field-calculated mass balance of the same year. The mass balance in a subsequent year (2008) was then estimated from the satellite image. Results for the summer mass balance in 2008 estimated from satellite imagery were -3.81 mWE; results from field-calculated measurement were -3.51 mWE. The resulting error of 8.66% was predominantly due to shadows cast on to the glacier surface from adjacent outcrops and rocks on the surface of the glacier. This method produced a measurement that estimates mass balance using a ratio between pixels of glacial firn and ice more efficient relative to field-calculated data. In order for the proposed technique to be effective, high temporal and spatial resolution satellite images are needed to supplement preliminary data. The proposed technique will minimize the need for volume, density, and stream discharge field measurements and provide a more efficient technique to estimate changing glacier dynamics.
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- Evaluating the Potential for Culture Change After a Disaster: An Anthropological Perspective
- Disaster and the long term affects that societies experience are imperative to the understanding of how cultures operate and change. Disaster research can be analyzed using historical and contemporary examples. By adopting the work of Susanna M. Hoffman and using her five factor set of criteria, researchers on the ground and in academia can analyze how cultures will change due to (1) the magnitude of the disaster, (2) the amount of the population affected, (3) the amount of the infrastructure affected, (4) the impact on the deep structure of the society, and (5) how long these areas have been studied, to understand how culture has changed over time. By applying these five factors to historical examples, such as the Black Plague of medieval Europe, and the Potato Famine of Ireland, along with the more recent example of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, we can evaluate post-disaster culture change. Through my research I have found that the magnitude of the disaster is directly correlated to the amount of social change that will occur in a society that is affected by disaster. By applying these five factors to the recent disaster in Haiti, researchers can use Hoffman's five factors to better understand the situation there, which will in turn help with the distribution of aid and enable rebuilding.
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- Evaluation of "Steps To Surgical Success:" An Integrative Medicine Program to Manage Pain and Anxiety Related to Surgery
- Integrative medicine is a unique approach to health care that is growing within public health care settings. This study examined the effects of an integrative care surgical program, which uses non-pharmacological tools and techniques (e.g., guided imagery, cognitive strategies), on patients' self-reported physical pain and anxiety. A six-item State Anxiety Scale (Marteau & Bekker, 1992; Tluczek, Henriques, & Brown, 2009), adapted from the longer State Anxiety Scale (SAI; Spielberger, 1983) was used to determine patients' anxiety and a standard 10-point Likert scale was used to determine patients' pain levels before and after the 1-hr session. As predicted, paired samples t-tests revealed that patients reported statistically significant reductions in state anxiety and pain (Anxiety pre M =3.09, SD = 0.86; post M= 2.06 SD = 0.61; t(107) = 13.08, p = .001; Pain pre M =3.82, SD = 2.52; post M= 2.64 SD = 2.25; t(94) = 7.15, p = .001). These findings support integrative care programs as a promising component of medical care. Future studies should examine the effective components and underlying mechanisms (e.g., cortisol changes) for this program.
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- Evening Comes Early
- Poem by Ian William Colson, published in the Fall 2010/Winter 2011 edition of Images.
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- Events that Never Took Place (excerpt)
- Excerpt of a story by Keith Jim, published in the Fall 2010-Winter 2011 issue of Images.