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.
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The process of producing enormous amounts of ephemeral clothing at accelerated rates, known as fast fashion, creates significant environmental and societal issues. The phenomenon of fast fashion rose due to globalization, economic factors, lack of legislation, and the advancement of technology. Governments, companies, and consumers must work together to create more sustainable retail supply chains. I have gathered information from interviews with individuals in the sustainable fashion industry, books, case studies, online reports, and newspaper articles. Based on my research, I recommend that companies should target wealthier consumers, develop a common language concerning sustainability, invest in sustainable fibers, and listen to factory employees for solutions to improve their working conditions. I also advise that the U.S governments should revise fashion copyright laws and international governments should emphasize regulations concerning the fashion industry. Lastly, consumers should adopt a price-per-wear mindset and utilize resale options. Overall, while perfect sustainability is improbable, consumers, governments, and companies should not use this as an excuse to avoid responsibility.
The opioid crisis was inflamed by multiple sources, from which Purdue Pharma and other pharmaceutical companies benefited. The first is the Revolving Door, where government workers go to work for the companies they were once in charge of regulating. Existing loopholes allow former officials to immediately become lobbyists and perform consulting work. The Food and Drug Administration has close ties with lobbyists and pharmaceutical companies, which casts doubt and suspicion on its policies. Tightening and expanding current Revolving Door regulations would begin to stem this problem. Extending the cooling-off period to a minimum of five years would prevent former government workers from immediately influencing government policies. Furthermore, the laws need to be modified to include more specific language to eliminate loopholes. Banning former government employees from any counseling services or lobbying any government branch, agency, or office will make it much more difficult to circumvent the rules.
The second are “pill mills,” whereby physicians, clinics, or pharmacies prescribe prescription drugs inappropriately. There exists a web of regulation and reporting laws from federal and state governments, but pill mills still established themselves. Florida enacted laws that created stricter requirements for dispensing drugs, medical examinations, and follow-ups before and after prescribing opioids for chronic pain. These laws had positive results in stopping pill mills. Similar laws should be enacted nationally. Existing laws focusing on the pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies should be expanded to improve reporting between those agencies and the DEA and the DEA and other government agencies.
The last one is the American drug addiction rehab system. It is fraught with stigma, lax insurance information, inconsistent treatments, and poorly utilized information. The system often fails to provide care for those who need it. Increasing the scope of treatments would boost its effectiveness. States need to require insurance companies to cover mental health treatment to the same extent and degree as physical health issues and use a uniform, standardized tool to decide the necessary level of care addiction patients need. Public report cards for treatment centers would improve their long-term level of care and ease patients in finding a treatment center that fits them.
Addressing these problems has already begun at the both federal and state level. As these causes are identified and attacked, it will become easier to pass the laws needed to repair the system that allowed the opioid crisis to occur.
