Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
In the quest to showcase this, it was necessary to document how baseball prospers from numbers and numbers prosper from baseball. The relationship between the two is mutualistic. Furthermore, an all-encompassing historical look at how data and statistics in baseball have matured was a critical portion of the paper. With a metric such as batting average going from a radical new measure that posed a threat to the status quo, to a fiercely cherished statistic that was suddenly being unseated by advanced analytics, it shows the creation of new and destruction of old has been incessant. Innovators like Pete Palmer, Dick Cramer and Bill James played a large role in this process in the 1980s. Computers aided their effort and when paired with the Internet, unleashed the ability to crunch data to an even larger sector of the population. The unveiling of Statcast at the commencement of the 2015 season showed just how much potential there is for measuring previously unquantifiable baseball acts.
Essentially, there will always be people who mourn the presence of data and statistics in baseball. Despite this, the evolution story indicates baseball and numbers will be intertwined into the future, likely to an even greater extent than ever before, as technology and new philosophies become increasingly integrated into front offices and clubhouses.
Mink Social is a startup aimed at providing podcasters with a suite of tools to help them edit and market their content on social media. The company aims to solve the niche problem and difficulties podcasters face when promoting their long-form audio content online. Mink Social's unique solution involves automating the backend work of editing and repurposing content into easy-to-market clips. The company's business model targets three distinct market segments: entry-level podcasters, established podcasters, and enterprise podcasting. Mink Social's competitive advantage is that it is the first social media promotion and editing platform exclusively for podcasts.
Through Founders Lab, our group designed an innovative new way for people to track their health and wellness. We created an app that uses a 4-part circle system where users track an everyday activity in the following areas: diet, exercise, development, and mental wellness. Users form small groups with friends and family members to provide support to one another. Through tracking their daily activities, users can earn tokens which are redeemable for relevant discounts with partnership brands. The app also hosts a variety of ways for users to be recognized for their healthy routines such as challenge trophies, activity history, and other social features. Overall, Circle Up aims to improve the daily routines of individuals to propel them into a healthier lifestyle, without the pressure of a curated social media feed.
Through Founders Lab, our group ideated an innovative new way for people to track their health and wellness. The app uses a 4-part circle system where users track their everyday progress in the following areas: diet, exercise, development, and mental wellness. Users can form groups with friends and family members to provide support to one another. Through tracking their daily activities, users can earn tokens which are redeemable for relevant discounts. The app also hosts a variety of ways for users to be recognized for their healthy routine such as challenge trophies, activity history, and other social features. Overall, Circle Up aims to improve the daily routines of individuals to propel them into a healthier lifestyle.
