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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Description
The Arizona Teachers Academy is a program that was first designed and implemented by Governor Doug Ducey in 2017 with a simple concept: to cover the tuition and fees of Arizona higher education students learning to teach in exchange for fulfilling a commitment to teach at an Arizona public school following graduation. The academy has evolved quite rapidly in its short history, going from an unfunded mandate that Arizona universities could not afford to be funded to a voter-approved tax, and seeing its student enrollment numbers increase by over tenfold. This paper seeks to be an overview and process evaluation of the program, as well as an outlook into the program’s future. As a process evaluation, the thesis includes examinations of the program’s presumed logic model, that model’s assumptions, and relevant stakeholders. I used a multi-method approach: statutory and financial data were collected from web research and agency archival collections, and a series of interviews were conducted to ask analytical questions to key stakeholders and program directors about the program’s internal operations and data findings. These stakeholders and program directors consist of staff at the Arizona Board of Regents, the Arizona Department of Education, all three major Arizona public universities (Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona), as well as multiple elected officials and political advocacy groups that have impacted the program through legislation and ballot initiative. This thesis finds that the Arizona Teachers Academy does not have a stated logic model, which in turn led to program assumptions that fail to meet the needs of Arizona public schools and did not allow for all key stakeholders to be involved in the process.
ContributorsLister, Blake (Author) / Lennon, Tara (Thesis director) / Broberg, Gregory (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
In the past year, Chile has experienced the largest civil uprising since the Pinochet dictatorship ending in 1990. This study was conducted in order to better understand the deep-seated motivations behind the mass protests. Due to the relatively recent nature of these demonstrations, little research has yet to be published. Scholarly literature indicates that Pinochet’s neoliberal policies—especially within the education, housing, and social security sectors—have prevented real progressive change and are structured to mainly benefit the business elites. Even 30 years after Pinochet’s authoritarian regime, left-leaning administrations attempted to improve the economic and social situations of the lower classes but could not due to the structural inequalities at the base of the Chilean economy and society. Foundationally, Pinochet’s neoliberal legacy has yet to be completely dismantled which is also echoed throughout the interview data.
Interviews were analyzed using content analysis in order to complement the literature and provide for new explanations. These interviews were collected through online news and firsthand reports of actual protesters and academics reflecting on the protests. Interviews from Chileans provide a window into the perspective of protesters in their own words. After coding the transcriptions of the first-hand reports, the primary findings of these sources show anger about human rights violations during the protests, frustration with the neoliberal economic structure, and current disconnection between the government and the people. This study found that Pinochet’s economic legacies implemented through his authoritarian dictatorship can help explain the 2019 civil uprising.
Interviews were analyzed using content analysis in order to complement the literature and provide for new explanations. These interviews were collected through online news and firsthand reports of actual protesters and academics reflecting on the protests. Interviews from Chileans provide a window into the perspective of protesters in their own words. After coding the transcriptions of the first-hand reports, the primary findings of these sources show anger about human rights violations during the protests, frustration with the neoliberal economic structure, and current disconnection between the government and the people. This study found that Pinochet’s economic legacies implemented through his authoritarian dictatorship can help explain the 2019 civil uprising.
ContributorsConnor, Riley J. (Author) / Haglun, LaDawn (Thesis director) / Bar, Eyal (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This particular study aims to investigate women’s involvement in the 2019 Hong Kong protests. One of this study’s main goals is to explore the existing suggestive evidence which could indicate the motivations behind women’s mobilization in Hong Kong. This suggestive evidence will be analyzed and put into perspective through the Lisa Baldez protest framework theory of tipping, framing and timing. This study asserts the 2019 Extradition Bill as a major point of ignition in Hong Kong, or the Tipping point of the protests, which gradually led to women’s participation in the protests. This study also cites the gendered legislation of the One-Child policy in Mainland China, its effects on the gender roles within Chinese and Hong Kong society, as well as the gendered censorship which resulted as suggestive evidence for women’s response to the protests in gendered terms, which is also termed as the framing of women’s participation the protests. Finally, this study investigates the political realignment of both the pro-Beijing and pro-democracy sides, or the timing, from which women emerged into insurgency with a sense of political opportunity through the restructuring of each side’s messaging and political objectives. Due to the timeline of the protests, another main goal for this study is to quantify the international reach of Hong Kong women’s protest movements and the extent in which women are being portrayed in local and international media, so as to further analyze the ways in which the Baldez framework is being played out in different levels of media coverage of the 2019 Hong Kong protests.
ContributorsRivera Garcia, Claudia (Author) / Hinojosa, Magda (Thesis director) / Fridkin, Kim (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The development of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the microbial production of high-value products has made this bacterium an industrial workhorse. This metabolically engineered microbe is capable of accumulating and secreting flavonoids, a class of high functioning compounds found in plants. In human health, flavonoids are known to have powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antiviral properties which has led the growing interest to produce these compounds commercially. Recent literature seeks to overcome potential pathway bottlenecks to optimize flavonoid production by regulating protein expression within the central carbon, shikimate, chorismate, and fatty acid synthesis pathways. This paper reviews engineering strategies performed to increase the precursor titers of malonyl-CoA, phenylalanine, and tyrosine for increased flavonoid production.
ContributorsBalbas, Elissa (Author) / Varman, Arul (Thesis director) / Nielsen, David (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
"The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened".
- John F Kennedy
For over a century now, the United States has publicly professed a commitment to upholding human rights around the world, yet to this day economically supports numerous dictatorships and undemocratic regimes that flout human rights on a daily basis. The rhetoric of American politicians would imply that human rights and democracy are a priority in America's foreign policy, yet given US support for autocracies, both of these principles seem forgotten. If not respect for democracy and human rights, what is truly influencing America's relationship with these countries? I hypothesize that a country's resource availability will be the best predictive factor for its economic relationship with the US, followed by its military involvement with the US, and finally, human rights records will be the least predictive factor. The study found that a country's military cooperation with the US is the best predictive factor regarding our economic relationship, resource availability comes with a weak correlation, and human rights abuses very rarely substantively impact our economic relationships.
- John F Kennedy
For over a century now, the United States has publicly professed a commitment to upholding human rights around the world, yet to this day economically supports numerous dictatorships and undemocratic regimes that flout human rights on a daily basis. The rhetoric of American politicians would imply that human rights and democracy are a priority in America's foreign policy, yet given US support for autocracies, both of these principles seem forgotten. If not respect for democracy and human rights, what is truly influencing America's relationship with these countries? I hypothesize that a country's resource availability will be the best predictive factor for its economic relationship with the US, followed by its military involvement with the US, and finally, human rights records will be the least predictive factor. The study found that a country's military cooperation with the US is the best predictive factor regarding our economic relationship, resource availability comes with a weak correlation, and human rights abuses very rarely substantively impact our economic relationships.
ContributorsPlummer, Gage (Author) / Hanson, Margaret (Thesis director) / Ripley, Charles (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Genocide studies have traditionally focused on the perpetrator’s intent to eradicate a particular identity-based group, using the Holocaust as their model and point of comparison. Although some aspects of the Holocaust were undoubtedly unique, recent scholars have sought to challenge the notion that it was a singular phenomenon. Instead, they draw attention to a recurring pattern of genocidal events throughout history by shifting the focus from intent to structure. One particular branch of scholars seeks to connect the ideology and tactics of imperialism with certain genocidal events. These anti-imperialist genocide scholars concede that their model cannot account for all genocides, but still claim that it creates meaningful connections between genocides committed by Western colonialist powers and those that have occurred in a neoimperialist world order shaped according to Western interests. The latter includes genocides in postcolonial states, which these scholars believe were shaped by the scars of their colonial past, as well as genocides in which imperial hegemons assisted local perpetrators. Imperialist and former colonial powers have contributed meaningfully to all of these kinds of genocides, yet their contributions have largely been ignored due to their own influence on the creation of the current international order. Incorporating the anti-imperialist perspective into the core doctrine of genocide studies may lead to breakthroughs in areas of related policy and practice, such as prevention and accountability.
ContributorsParker, Ashleigh Mae (Author) / Thies, Cameron (Thesis director) / Sivak, Henry (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Engineering is a multidisciplinary field with a variety of applications. However, since there are so many disciplines of engineering, it is often challenging to find the discipline that best suits an individual interested in engineering. Not knowing which area of engineering most aligns to one’s interests is challenging when deciding on a major and a career. With the development of the Engineering Interest Quiz (EIQ), the goal was to help individuals find the field of engineering that is most similar to their interests. Initially, an Engineering Faculty Survey (EFS) was created to gather information from engineering faculty at Arizona State University (ASU) and to determine keywords that describe each field of engineering. With this list of keywords, the EIQ was developed. Data from the EIQ compared the engineering students’ top three results for the best engineering discipline for them with their current engineering major of study. The data analysis showed that 70% of the respondents had their major listed as one of the top three results they were given and 30% of the respondents did not have their major listed. Of that 70%, 64% had their current major listed as the highest or tied for the highest percentage and 36% had their major listed as the second or third highest percentage. Furthermore, the EIQ data was compared between genders. Only 33% of the male students had their current major listed as their highest percentage, but 55% had their major as one of their top three results. Women had higher percentages with 63% listing their current major as their highest percentage and 81% listing it in the top three of their final results.
ContributorsWagner, Avery Rose (Co-author) / Lucca, Claudia (Co-author) / Taylor, David (Thesis director) / Miller, Cindy (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Political polarization is the coalescence of political parties -- and the individuals of which parties are composed -- around opposing ends of the ideological spectrum. Political parties in the United States have always been divided, however, in recent years this division has only intensified. Recently, polarization has also wound its way to the Supreme Court and the nomination processes of justices to the Court. This paper examines how prevalent polarization in the Supreme Court nomination process has become by looking specifically at the failed nomination of Judge Merrick Garland and the confirmations of now-Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. This is accomplished by comparing the ideologies and qualifications of the three most recent nominees to those of previous nominees, as well as analysing the ideological composition of the Senate at the times of the individual nominations.
ContributorsJoss, Jacob (Author) / Hoekstra, Valerie (Thesis director) / Critchlow, Donald (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The impact of physical/chemical properties of gray water on microbial inactivation in gray water using chlorine was investigated through creating artificial gray water in lab, varying specific components, and then measuring microbial inactivation. Gray water was made through taking autoclaved nanopure water, and increasing the concentration of surfacants, the turbidity, the concentration of organic content, and spiking E. coli grown in tryptic soy broth (TSB); chlorine was introduced using Clorox Disinfecting Bleach2. Bacteria was detected using tryptic soy agar (TSA), and E. coli was specifically detected using the selective media, brilliance. The log inactivation of bacteria detected using TSA was shown to be inversely related to the turbidity of the solution. Complete inactivation of E. coli concentrations between 104-105 CFU/100 ml in gray water with turbidities between 10-100 NTU, 0.1-0.5 mg/L of humic acid, and 0.1 ml of Dawn Ultra, was shown to occur, as detected by brilliance, at chlorine concentrations of 1-2 mg/L within 30 seconds. These result in concentration time (CT) values between 0.5-1 mg/L·min. Under the same gray water conditions, and an E. coli concentration of 104 CFU/100 ml and a chlorine concentration of 0.01 mg/L, complete inactivation was shown to occur in all trials within two minutes. These result in CT values ranging from 0.005 to 0.02. The turbidity and humic acid concentration were shown to be inversely related to the log inactivation and directly related to the CT value. This study shows that chlorination is a valid method of treatment of gray water for certain irrigation reuses.
ContributorsGreenberg, Samuel Gabe (Author) / Abbaszadegan, Morteza (Thesis director) / Schoepf, Jared (Committee member) / Alum, Absar (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Climate change, as it becomes more prevalent, is putting a much harsher strain on the resources of the world, specifically food, energy, and water. With this in mind, now is the time to make a change and begin working towards a more sustainable future for everyone. Arizona is an especially susceptible location that has the opportunity to be the leader of this change. In order to effectively manage this movement through governance, a food-energy-water nexus approach is required. This approach recognizes and accounts for the intricate relationships between these industries in order to promote more resilience and balance throughout the nexus. While the main focus in Arizona tends to be on water, and rightfully so, it is important to understand the intricacies of the food, energy, and water systems together. Right now, the system is fragile and needs a new, more complex approach. Ultimately, legislation that intertwines water rights with agriculture regulation and energy production goals, while also including equity and justice measures, have the capacity to work towards limiting the effects of climate change that Arizona will see. Arizona has the opportunity here to either provide a cautionary tale to other regions of how mismanagement can lead to destruction or can showcase the legislative success that the nexus governance approach can provide.
ContributorsKonopka, Violet (Author) / York, Abigail (Thesis director) / Richter, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05