This paper explores the technological systems used by Arizona State University’s Housing department during the course of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic which struck the state of Arizona. The COVID-19 epidemic is the largest pandemic in recent memory. It has affected all walks of life, from social economic damages, widespread panic and the rise of civil unrest. One of the most profound effects from this generation of students is the impact it has had in all levels of education from kindergarten to graduate school. The American education system has been heavily affected since the pandemic first started. Due to the lockdowns, traditional education practices such as in-person classrooms, class labs, and even the psychological impact of physical distancing has affected students’ educational experiences. This disruption has also greatly affected our college system. In response to problems such as the lockdowns, slow rate of infections per student, many colleges have made extensive use of technological aids, substitutes, and systems to combat the damage done to the education system. This resulted in switching of in-person course work to online based assignments and tests. The colleges response to the pandemic has not only been online, but in-person as well. ASU has adopted a variety of systems to track its students’ and employees’ health statuses. This is done via the use of the Daily Heath Check System (an application used by ASU to track the health of both students and faculty), and the use of randomized testing. This enabled the tracking and monitoring of the rate of infections within the ASU community. ASU has also installed hand sanitizer machines in every building as well as providing a supply of health and safety equipment to necessary staff. These systems, products, and preventative practices have been put into place for the protection of not only the students but employees of ASU. However, one key consideration about the adoption of these measures, is whether or not they are truly effective. One of the areas explored are the problems with the adoption of these systems and how they were implemented. Meaning that these systems adopted resulted in either less then successful outcomes or causing student displeasure towards the systems that were implemented.

On March 11th, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The ensuing months saw an extensive allocation of resources toward combating the virus and the development of a vaccine. Despite extensive research on SARS-CoV-2, there remains little information regarding the implications of SARS-CoV-2 gastrointestinal shedding on COVID-19 disease. It is hypothesized that SARS-CoV-2 RNA is shed in the stool for up to several weeks and that viral protein persists in the GI tract. This study also explored calprotectin and zonulin levels, markers of inflammation, and intestinal permeability, respectively, to assess if increased viral shedding is associated with elevated levels of either. This study utilized RT-qPCR assays to confirm the presence of viral RNA. Subsequently, RT-qPCR positive samples were heat-inactivated and SARS-CoV-2 spike detection enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to ascertain viral protein shedding. Additional ELISA was performed to assess zonulin and calprotectin levels. Results indicated that 30 of the 758 unique samples were confirmed SARS-CoV-2 positive by RT-qPCR. Spike protein was ultimately not detected by ELISA. Additionally, no significant increase in zonulin was observed in patient samples when comparing RT-qPCR positive and negative Samples. A notable upwards trend approaching significance in calprotectin levels existed for patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-qPCR, though, it was found that no correlation existed between SARS-CoV-2 copy number and calprotectin levels. Understanding the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and the GI tract may therefore have significant clinical implications and this study demonstrates the need for additional studies to garner a more comprehensive understanding.

The emergence of COVID-19 has ravaged through the United States generally and prison facilities in particular. By reducing prison populations and protecting a facility's most vulnerable members, compassionate release is a means of mitigating the consequences of COVID-19 facing prison facilities across the country. This thesis will examine compassionate release requests for the months of March 2020 through May 2020 from minimum and low-security prison facilities within the Bureau of Prisons. By examining this data, the goal of this thesis will be to determine whether the Bureau’s use of compassionate release was conducted in a manner that would protect the well-being of incarcerated individuals in response to the emergence of COVID-19. Similarly, the data will be examined in order to identify any significant differences between prison facilities in their use of compassionate release and subsequent outcomes from COVID-19 infections and deaths. Lastly, this thesis will examine this data to determine whether the Bureau’s use of compassionate release was consistent with the general objective of reducing prison populations and overcrowding in response to COVID-19.

Habitual Health is a holistic health firm meant to provide the Arizona State University students with awareness of healthy practices. Our Founders Ava Bobbs, Mario DiVenere, and Jack Hammond have found that students have a severe lack of knowledge involving healthy practices including diet, fitness, and cooking. The combination of our strengths and complements to weaknesses puts the firm in a strong position to garner market share and provide value to our company. Throughout on-campus research, the team found that the average Arizona State University student does not feel that they have the sufficient means to be healthy, which is a huge misalignment that prevents the average ASU student from living a healthy lifestyle. This is where Habitual Health comes in, we are going to bridge the gap between the lack of information about healthy initiatives and the implication that living a healthy lifestyle is too expensive, difficult, and time consuming. Habitual Health is a paid platform where ASU students can go to access fitness plans, recipes, topical discussions and analysis, and other health related resources. The product we have established is an interactive, user-friendly website that includes various healthy recipes, nutritional tips and habits, and physical exercise routines. Our data is based on running the website from 01/20/2023 - 03/01/2023. Our company's value proposition is that students’ health would benefit long-term from our platform's resources. We have targeted the ASU Greek Community, which includes roughly 6% of the ASU population.1 We tested our product within the Greek community because of the tight knit nature of the community, as well as the communal kitchen system in the Greek Leadership Village making it harder for those individuals to cook for themselves. We expect to see a revamped community within the GLV, causing a positive impact across the entire campus.

Chutneys are a form of Indian condiment that can be made in many different flavors and paired with various foods. However, the availability of chutneys in the United States is very limited and many people have not tried them before. With this observation in mind, we founded A2Z Chutneys, which is a business that aims to distribute a variety of organic and locally produced chutneys. Through the Founders Lab program, A2Z Chutneys was created and research was conducted to justify the viability of our business. We were able to gather and interpret data from potential customers, which allowed us to identify a target market. Additionally, time was spent identifying and creating a variety of authentic and unique chutneys that have proven to be desired. This report demonstrates and outlines the feasibility of A2Z Chutneys in providing unique and desirable flavors to the population.

Chutneys are a form of Indian condiment that can be made in many different flavors and paired with various foods. However, the availability of chutneys in the United States is very limited and many people have not tried them before. With this observation in mind, we founded A2Z Chutneys, which is a business that aims to distribute a variety of organic and locally produced chutneys. Through the Founders Lab program, A2Z Chutneys was created and research was conducted to justify the viability of our business. We were able to gather and interpret data from potential customers, which allowed us to identify a target market. Additionally, time was spent identifying and creating a variety of authentic and unique chutneys that have proven to be desired. This report demonstrates and outlines the feasibility of A2Z Chutneys in providing unique and desirable flavors to the population.

Habitual Health is a holistic health firm meant to provide the Arizona State University students with awareness of healthy practices. Our Founders Ava Bobbs, Mario DiVenere, and Jack Hammond have found that students have a severe lack of knowledge involving healthy practices including diet, fitness, and cooking. The combination of our strengths and complements to weaknesses puts the firm in a strong position to garner market share and provide value to our company. Throughout on-campus research, the team found that the average Arizona State University student does not feel that they have the sufficient means to be healthy, which is a huge misalignment that prevents the average ASU student from living a healthy lifestyle. This is where Habitual Health comes in, we are going to bridge the gap between the lack of information about healthy initiatives and the implication that living a healthy lifestyle is too expensive, difficult, and time consuming. Habitual Health is a paid platform where ASU students can go to access fitness plans, recipes, topical discussions and analysis, and other health related resources. The product we have established is an interactive, user-friendly website that includes various healthy recipes, nutritional tips and habits, and physical exercise routines. Our data is based on running the website from 01/20/2023 - 03/01/2023. Our company's value proposition is that students’ health would benefit long-term from our platform's resources. We have targeted the ASU Greek Community, which includes roughly 6% of the ASU population.1 We tested our product within the Greek community because of the tight knit nature of the community, as well as the communal kitchen system in the Greek Leadership Village making it harder for those individuals to cook for themselves. We expect to see a revamped community within the GLV, causing a positive impact across the entire campus.

Many corporations have experienced an increase in fraud since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and expect the level of fraud impacting their organization to continue to increase. As everyday activities moved from physical to online environments, many jobs shifted from being in an office to working from home. This lack of oversight and support system from their peers during these difficult times may have spurred unethical conduct from employees. Since many college students will end up in positions where they will have access to commit and conceal financial crime, I surveyed Arizona State University students who have experienced remote education and asked them questions regarding academic dishonesty and unethical business practices. Based on their responses to statements about online education since the pandemic and their likelihood to cheat in certain academic situations because of it, I found that students feel more comfortable cheating and committing academic dishonesty than before the pandemic. Since past research shows that the consequences of academic dishonesty are not confined to the university environment, educators and employers need to be aware of these implications arising from the pandemic to prevent individuals from developing a cheating mentality and committing unethical workplace behavior. By looking at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on academic dishonesty among Arizona State University students, this study contributes to emerging research on the lasting effects of the pandemic and the consequences of shifting to remote activities in many aspects of life.

Due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, communities were forced to isolate themselves in their homes and take many safety precautions. Through this isolation, people experienced a lack of social interactions on a daily basis and increased boredom. Due to the new feelings of the pandemic experience, many found themselves to be engaging significantly more with technology and social media. Doing so helped many to interact with others or spend their extra time. Since people were engaging so much more with technology, there were distinct positive and negative outcomes. Some social media use helped cope with experiencing feelings of isolation by the COVID-19 pandemic, while it may have caused feelings of anxiety for others. Engaging with others helped humanize the experience of relying on social media as a replacement for receiving human interaction on a daily basis (Zhen, 2021). College students were specifically impacted by isolation in a social manner, but were also affected in other areas such as in their academic life. Social media became a critical tool for college students in coping with the challenges of the pandemic (Zhao, 2020). This paper will explore some of the ways in which social media has helped college students cope during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it may have had more negative effects on others. This will be explored through reviewing current literature and research. Research findings will be compared to interviews conducted for the purpose of this project. Three different college students were interviewed and asked a series of questions regarding their personal experience with COVID-19, mental health, and social media. The interview responses will be reviewed according to current research to spot any similarities in findings.

The occurrence of tragedies throughout history, whether it be natural disasters, pandemics, or wars, is inevitable. The way that humans have chosen to respond to destruction and disagreements has also changed. However, something that remains the same is that those with less monetary resources and political power are at a higher disadvantage whenever the world is under duress or hardship. This propensity (tendency) can be seen through the comparison of two very different yet very profound events in recent history, the COVID-19 pandemic and World War II. The two events are distinct in their time periods, the nature of the disaster that they caused, and the problems that were created by their existence. Although they are very dissimilar, those in the US who had less monetarily were still disadvantaged much more than those who were more affluent. This pattern of disparity is revealed through the use and failure of the supply chain during both events. A supply chain is the sequence of processes involved in the production and distribution of a commodity or service (Supply Chain Definition & Meaning, n.d.). Although the supply chains used in World War II were not as fine-tuned as the ones required to distribute goods around the world today, World War II was instrumental in the refinement and use of the supply chain due to the high demand for goods and personnel across the world. During COVID-19 the quick shift in demand for unprecedented goods and services exposed the inflexibility of the world's largest supply chains, which in turn caused shortages around the world. For the United States government or large global corporations to fix the problems caused by these events, they both turned to the people who bear the majority of the burden of working overtime to account for the loss of goods; those who are most susceptible to the shortages of goods and services: those in lower-income communities.