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- All Subjects: Sustainability
Description
The 2010s have seen video games rise to prominence as platforms for game developers, entertainers and advertisers to broadcast their ideas. This paper looks at the major steps in gaming history that led to games as a global mass communication tool, the way the Internet has created an industry built around broadcasting games and the potential future ramifications competitive gaming, emerging technology and intellectual property law hold on the world of video games.
ContributorsChesler, Jayson Daniel (Author) / Hill, Retha (Thesis director) / Amresh, Ashish (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The globalized food system has caused detriments to the environment, to economic justice, and to social and health rights within the food system. Due to an increasing concern over these problems, there has been a popular turn back to a localized food system. Localization's main principle is reconnecting the producer and consumer while advocating for healthy, local, environmentally friendly, and socially just food. I give utilitarian reasons within a Kantian ethical framework to argue that while partaking in a local food system may be morally good, we cannot advocate for localization as a moral obligation. It is true from empirical research that localizing food could solve many of the environmental, economic, social, and health problems that exist today due to the food system. However, many other countries depend upon the import/export system to keep their own poverty rates low and economies thriving. Utilitarian Peter Singer argues that it would be irresponsible to stop our business with those other countries because we would be causing more harm than good. There are reasons to support food localization, and reasons to reject food localization. Food localization is a moral good in respect to the many benefits that it has, yet it is not a moral obligation due to some of the detriments it may itself cause.
ContributorsGulinson, Chelsea Leah (Author) / McGregor, Joan (Thesis director) / Watson, Jeff (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
While not officially recognized as an addictive activity by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, video game addiction has well-documented resources pointing to its effects on physiological and mental health for both addict and those close to the addict. With the rise of eSports, treating video game addiction has become trickier as a passionate and growing fan base begins to act as a culture not unlike traditional sporting. These concerns call for a better understanding of what constitutes a harmful addiction to video games as its heavy practice becomes more financially viable and accepted into mainstream culture.
ContributorsGohil, Abhishek Bhagirathsinh (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This paper goes through a two-pronged approach in the attempt to understand E-Sports, entertainment gaming, and the creation of the E-Sports bar/Barcade. The first portion aims to explain and quantify the growth of electronic sports (or E-sports). This new craze has been growing immensely in the past 5 years, by viewership and by monetary endorsements. With these changes and growth patterns, we then move on to explain one of the many niche markets that has been created from the growth of E-sports and entertainment gaming. Through our experience in the field, we have evaluated 8 E-sports bars and Barcades in order to confirm their viability in the marketplace. Through our worldwide research we have found that E-sports will continue to grow and that Barcades will not only be viable, but will be a competitive market in the next 10-20 years.
ContributorsNist, Nicholas (Co-author) / Hester, James (Co-author) / Brooks, Dan (Thesis director) / Forss, Brennan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to study the issue of animal agriculture and why people chose to consume sentient beings such as pigs, chickens, and cows yet house equally as sentient and intelligent beings such as dogs and cats. I want to understand people’s reasoning and logic behind discriminating who they love versus who they eat. This thesis intends to help readers become more aware of the cognitive dissonance behind the food choices that most Americans make up to three times a day. Data was collected through Google Form surveys for freshman living in the dorms at Barrett, The Honors College. The results showed that animal intelligence did not factor in people’s decision to consume their parts. Additionally, this study concluded that participants are more likely to feel less guilty when they are under the false belief that the meat they purchased was mislabeled with terms such as ‘humane slaughter.’
ContributorsMcAuliff, Jake Thomas (Author) / Barca, Lisa (Thesis director) / Schmidt, Lisa (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Social relationships are the single most factor that create joy in human lives. And yet, the ways we are building our cities and structuring our lives reduces our chances of interaction and increases isolation. Creating more public spaces may be a possible solution to this problem of declining social cohesion. Public spaces have been shown to improve rates of social cohesion and social interaction. They have also been show to have positive effects on physical health, local economies, the natural environment, reducing crime rates and psychological health. Creating public spaces in areas that are low-income or have limited amounts of space can be very challenging. This paper profiles options of community created spaces, space public spaces and temporary public spaces. All of which are options for low-income and limited space communities. The paper concludes with the summery of an active project to create a public space in such a community through a joint-use agreement.
ContributorsChampagne, Elizabeth Anne (Author) / Golub, Aaron (Thesis director) / Kelley, Jason (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
As consumers shift their values toward sustainability, environmentalism, and social issues, industries face increased pressure to engage with sustainability and make their sustainable practices transparent to consumers. While luxury fashion has shifted toward sustainable practices, little conclusive research exists to understand how consumers respond to such practices. This research explores whether the use of recycled materials affects a luxury brand more than a mainstream brand. My results indicate that the use of recycled materials is harmful for a luxury brand but has no impact on the mainstream brand.
ContributorsSangha, Pooja B (Author) / Lisjak, Monika (Thesis director) / Eaton, Kathryn Karnos (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Current literature on sustainability education and its core competencies (systems thinking, normative, interpersonal, strategic, and future thinking) has yet to acknowledge the K-12 level, concentrating instead on higher-level institutions. To initiate study at the critical K-12 level, a curriculum module composed of four lessons to address the wicked sustainability problem of drought in the Sonoran Desert was developed, piloted, and evaluated. The framework of each lesson combined the core competencies and the 5Es pedagogy (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate). Two lessons were successfully piloted in two seventh grade middle-school science classes in Phoenix, Arizona. Topics addressed were the water cycle, types of drought, water systems, and mitigation methods. Evaluation determined a high level of student engagement. Post-pilot teacher questionnaires revealed a high degree of support for inclusion of sustainability education and core competencies addressing drought in future opportunities. It is concluded that lessons in the future can adopt the core competences of sustainability with the support of educators in Arizona.
ContributorsComeaux, Victoria (Co-author) / Harding, Bridget (Co-author) / Larson, Kelli L. (Thesis director) / Frisk Redman, Erin (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
Brundtland’s definition of sustainability is the ability to “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” (IISD, 2021). But what if there are no future generations? Social sustainability, the sector of sustainability that foregrounds the well-being and livelihoods of people (and thereby continuation of humanity), is included in definitions within the sustainability field, but less developed in sustainability practice. In an effort to bridge this gap of knowledge, 14 U.S. cities and over 100 sustainability policies were analyzed for their social sustainability performance. An eight-item analytical framework that deals with differing areas of social equity guided the analysis. Results found that most cities’ sustainability departments fell short of truly addressing social sustainability concerns. Out of the eight items, the most frequently addressed were housing security and racial and gender equality whereas few, if any, cities addressed the more specific social concerns of immigration, technology and media, or arts/cultural preservation. Future research is recommended to gain a better understanding of the ways existing cities can improve in this area.
ContributorsTam, Joey (Co-author) / Weekes, Daniel (Co-author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Keeler, Lauren (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
As temperatures increase across the United States, some populations are more at risk for heat-related death and illness than others. One of these at-risk demographics is mobile home and trailer park inhabitants, who are disproportionately represented among indoor heat-related deaths (Solís, “Heat, Health”). In this paper, we outline a cost-benefit analysis that was used to calculate the net present economic value of projects related to reducing heat burden on mobile home owners and parks in Maricopa County. We use this model to assess solutions developed by student teams under the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience’s Summer Heat Resilience Challenge. We find that one of the seven solutions has a positive net present value (NPV) even in the lowest effectiveness (10%), while three more solutions have a positive NPV in the mid-level (50%) effectiveness scenario, showcasing their economic viability.
ContributorsRobinson, Jacob (Author) / Solís, Patricia (Thesis director) / Markolf, Samuel (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05