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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- Great Ape Bushmeat in the Congo Basin: The Ecological, Political, Social, and Environmental Implications
- The bushmeat trade in the Congo basin is one of the foremost threats to the great apes of Africa today. Chimpanzees, bonobos, eastern, western, cross river and mountain gorillas are all highly endangered species who are looking at extinction as a definite possibility. However, many different factors are contributing to this. Many people would say that hunting these animals is just wrong, and immoral. In the end though there are many different factors to consider in order to truly understand this situation because it is not only a environmental problem, but a human problem as well.
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- Great Plains Farming and the Depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer
- The Ogallala aquifer is the largest source of groundwater in the U.S and one of the largest in the world. It covers more than 450,000 square kilometers and spans across eight states including Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The aquifer is situated under the Great Plains, also known as the breadbasket of the United States. Irrigation from the Ogallala supplies 20 billion U.S dollars worth of food and fiber annually. The aquifer is currently depleted every year at the water equivalent of 18 Colorado Rivers. Since this aquifer is non-renewable on a human time-scale, the vast reliance on it for feeding the world is a cause for concern and must be addressed. The land above the Ogallala aquifer has a rich history of land use from various settlers in the area. Currently, the majority of water from the Ogallala aquifer is being used for agriculture. There exists a multitude of alternative land practices that, if applied, could help to reduce depletion and use of the Ogallala aquifer. These alternatives include government programs such as the Soil Conservation Service and the Conservation Reserve Program, more efficient water usage through dry land farming and improve irrigation, and the Buffalo Commons proposal. All of these alternatives have different implications for the environment and for the populations which live on the land above the Ogallala.
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- Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Community Diversity in Populus Tremuloides Stands Affected by Sudden Aspen Decline in Southwestern Colorado, USA
- Sudden aspen decline (SAD) has become a recognizable issue among aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands on the Colorado Plateau and throughout the Western US, and Canada. Increasing temperatures coupled with drought in the early twenty-first century predisposed aspens to SAD and caused a loss of aspen overstory cover and inhibited aspen regeneration. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts global temperatures to continue to increase 0.2°C per decade, which will continue to perpetuate SAD. Recent studies have shown that as the intensity of SAD increases the composition of the understory changes as well, usually with an increase in grass abundance. To our knowledge, how SAD affects ground-dwelling arthropod communities has not been previously studied. Research in other habitats shows ground-dwelling arthropod diversity is most affected by disturbance and understory plant diversity. We conducted a study investigating the effects of three levels of SAD (healthy, moderate, and high) and a coppice harvest treatment (N=7/SAD level or treatment) on ground-dwelling arthropod diversity in the San Juan National Forest, southwestern Colorado. We established two pitfall traps every ten meters along a 50m transect (N=12 Traps/site x7 sites/SAD level or treatment). Collecting occurred twice during the peak growing season, once in mid-June and once in mid-July. In addition, we quantified overstory aspen stand characteristics and understory vegetation biomass by functional groups to correlate with ground-dwelling arthropod richness and abundance. We found that the ground-dwelling arthropod community was directly affected by the variable stand structure created by SAD. We found significant differences between the four aspen categories in the mid-summer collection (F=5.41, P=0.0004) and in the late summer collection (F=2.56, P=0.0076). Arthropod family diversity decreased and abundance of individuals increased as the SAD level increased. Multiple indicator families were found and could be explained by niches they fill and how the SAD has impacted the environment. It is important for land managers to understand the ecological impacts of SAD and coppice harvesting of SAD on ground-dwelling arthropods as this group constitutes a large proportion of biodiversity in aspen stands and thus the uniqueness of this vegetation type.
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- Haiku History, 1870
- Poem by Courtland Hopkins from Fall 2013 - Winter 2014 issue of Images.
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- Hand-crafted Banjo
- Photograph from the Fall 2010-Winter 2011 issue of Images.
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- Hansink - Consent Form
- Consent form for "Small Scale Retrograde Reaction Textures: Implications for Pressure and Temperature Evolution Northeastern Vermont | USA" by Seth Hansink
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- Health Discrimination and Perception of Individuals with Medical and Mental Needs
- Health discrimination, or the process of disadvantaging an individual based on a medical diagnosis and its associated stereotypes, is an increasing global problem. Like most forms of prejudice, this form of discrimination originates through the innate ability to make quick assumptions about other people. However, this process exacerbates stereotypes which hinder individuals' attempts to function independently. Prejudice from health is especially complex to study because each condition has different assumptions associated with it and each person is impacted differently by a diagnosis. While there is a significant amount of research about the retrogressive impacts on health discrimination, literature examining the origins of personal bias that triggers the phenomena is not as comprehensive. We decided to see if individuals displayed stereotypes after viewing media clips which portrayed negative perceptions of individuals with medical and mental needs. We tested this concept using three lower division psychology courses from a small liberal arts college. Each class saw a media clip which corresponded with three different health conditions: physical need, mental need, and a combination of physical and mental need. Data were obtained through surveys designed for each media a clip and analyzed to see if negative perceptions existed in participants.
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- Health Disparities Between Latinos and Non-Latinos in the United States and La Plata County; How Migration Changes Risk Factor Behaviors, Stressors, and Access to Healthcare
- The health of the Latino migrant population in the United States is necessary to understand and address because it affects not only migrant health but also the non-migrant population. This paper both discusses the health and health disparities of Latino migrants in the U.S as well as the issues in La Plata County. As well as examines the explanatory models behind these disparities, including discussions of issues of access to healthcare in terms of monetary barriers, structural barriers, and cultural barriers. It is important to understand the disparities for this demographic and the explanatory models that offer explanations to these disparities to contextualize personal research. Personal research explored: how migration changes certain risk factor behaviors and stressors as well as access that can contribute to the health disparities between Latinos and non-Latinos. The hypothesis for this study: there will be significant differences within the Latino population in Durango before and after their migration to the United States. Differences in behavior, stressors and access to healthcare are the result of high risk factors and significant healthcare disparities between Latinos and non-Latinos. Through a mixed methods survey of 25 participants, data shows that certain risk factor behaviors and stressors increase after migration, such as a decrease in fruit and vegetable consumption and less of a social and emotional support. The survey also explored issues of access by seeing if barriers to accessing healthcare changed after migrating. After migrating, participants reported fewer issues with institutional barriers but a huge increase in cultural barriers to healthcare, while monetary barriers were an issue both before and after migrating. With this information, we now have a basic needs assessment for Latino migrants in our community. To lessen these health disparities we must work from a community and personal level to provide information on nutrition as well as create support systems for Latino Migrants in our community. By discussing health disparities and identifying behaviors, stressors, and issues of access that perpetuate these disparities, it is possible to increase the health of Latino migrants in our community.
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- High Intensity Interval Training as a Means to Reduce Symptoms of Metabolic Syndrome
- Background: In 2006, 34% of adults in America met the criteria for Metabolic Syndrome (MetSyn), with men and women 40-59 years of age having triple the chance of meeting the criteria than younger adults (Ervin, 2009). Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on the symptoms of MetSyn in women 40-65 years of age. Methods: Volunteers were solicited from Durango and surrounding communities for participation in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to a study group (SG)(n=11) or control (CG)(n=11). All participants were measured for waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoproteins (HDL), and fasting glucose (FG). The SG exercised with body weight only four times a week for six weeks. Each session included three sets, each using the same exercises but with intensity increasing by speed of execution. The CG maintained their lifestyle and attended measuring sessions. Results: Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure did not statistically improve (p=0.089 and p=0.822 respectively); however there was a trend in improving SBP. FG (p=0.621), TG (p=0.313) and HDL (p=0.134) measures did not improve. Waist circumference did not significantly improve (p=0.141) yet there was improvement in the SG means. Conclusion: In this six-week study, HIIT did not significantly reduce the symptoms of MetSyn in women 40-65 years of age.
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- High or Low Risk? Sexual Health Knowledge, Risk Perception & Behavior Among College Students
- Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have a high rate of transmission by means of sexual contact or exchange of bodily fluids (American College Health Association, 2007). According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2008), 26% of women 14 to 19 in the U.S. are infected with one or more STIs. This study was conducted in partnership with the Fort Lewis College (FLC) Health Center, evaluating sexual health knowledge, risk perception, and behavior in a sample of 63 FLC students to discover whether sexual health knowledge predicts accuracy of risk perception, and any effect relationship context has on risk perception. More than one-third of participants lacked accurate knowledge, and participants generally did not accurately predict their risk for STIs. The study included a survey and personal interviews concerning use of clinic services, sexual health knowledge, sexual risk perception, high-risk sexual behavior, and interest in opportunities for education. Attitudes regarding contraceptives and communication with sexual partners about STIs were assessed. Independent t-tests examined differences between females and males for sexual health knowledge, sexual risk perception, and high risk sexual behavior. A two-way ANOVA was used to look at the interaction of gender and relationship type with condom use. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to assess factors related to risk perception, knowledge, and behaviors. Group differences by gender revealed a higher level of sexual health knowledge among females t(58) = 2.34, p = .02; similar levels of risk perception t(56) = .09, p = .93; and no statistically significant difference in behavioral risk t(57) = 1.45, p = .15. The difference in condom use within open relationships as compared with use in exclusive ones approached significance F(1,30) = 4.01, p = .07; both females and males were slightly more likely to use condoms in open relationships. Results did not support the hypothesis that knowledge would influence accuracy of risk perception. Although about two-thirds of participants had accurate knowledge, more knowledge did not correlate with more accurate risk perception. Neither was the hypothesis that relationship context would affect risk perception supported. These results suggest a need for both sexes to adopt action plans for safer sex.
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- Highway to Hell: How La Mappa dell'Inferno Brought Dante to a New Audience
- "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate:" Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. This poignant phrase is but one small sample of the vivid imagination that comprises Inferno, the first of three poems by Dante Alighieri collectively titled La Divina Commedia. Written during Dante's exile from Florence in 1308, it became a literary sensation (Quinones). The readership was hugely expanded by the invention of the printing press in 1439, when books became affordable and readily available to the new middle class (Assassin's). Shortly afterwards, in 1445, Sandro Botticelli is born in Florence (Lightbown). His talent rapidly earned him a widespread following, including the formidable Medici family, famous patrons of the arts (Medici). Despite their pressing commissions, Botticelli took the time to rerelease a commentary edition of Inferno, complete with his own illustrations (Lightbown). One of these, the Map of Inferno, or Mappa dell'Inferno, brings incredible detail to the viewer. Considering rhetoric, Botticelli's map brought the meaning of Dante's Inferno to a new audience.