Esports is a rapidly growing virtual competitive space that is projected to surpass physical sports in the near future. Given that Esports is considered to be in its infancy, it has only been recently introduced at the high school level. Our group connected with local high school Esports teams in order to evaluate its efficiency. We found that players at this level are lacking a connection to other competitive teams and consistent practice. In the Esports world, practice with another team of equal level is called a “scrim”. In an effort to combat this issue, we created a platform named Clear Scrims to connect high school and collegiate Esport teams across the country with other teams of equivalent level. This platform will allow individuals to sign up, register with their competitive team, and provide available times to scrim. The platform then would be able to use their self-reported ingame rank to match them with worthy opponents for the most quality scrim experience. Teams playing into the growing sector of Esports need a structure like Clear Scrims to increase skill level and communication. In addition, our platform has a review component where teams and individuals score their opponent to see if they played as advertised. This component will help specify our matchmaking program but also work to dismantle the culture of bad manners or toxicity in Esports. Our site, Clear Scrims, will engender more competition and thus more opportunities for players to practice and hone in their skills.

The privatization of prisons within Arizona has been a hot button issue and needs to be further analyzed to determine their benefits and expenses. To begin this investigation into the effectiveness of private prisons within Arizona and possible steps that need to be taken for its rehabilitation certain definitions and prior research need to be understood. Following this explanation, areas such as costs analysis across different types of prisons, liability rates across differing types of prison guards, and the differing psychology of different types of prisons can be examined to gain an overall assessment of the current performance of privatized prisons within Arizona. After this in-depth analysis of the current private prison system within Arizona, the flaws of the system will become abundantly clear and the solutions that should be implemented to alleviate these problems will be discussed.

Music streaming services have affected the music industry from both a financial and legal standpoint. Their current business model affects stakeholders such as artists, users, and investors. These services have been scrutinized recently for their imperfect royalty distribution model. Covid-19 has made these discussions even more relevant as touring income has come to a halt for musicians and the live entertainment industry. <br/>Under the current per-stream model, it is becoming exceedingly hard for artists to make a living off of streams. This forces artists to tour heavily as well as cut corners to create what is essentially “disposable art”. Rapidly releasing multiple projects a year has become the norm for many modern artists. This paper will examine the licensing framework, royalty payout issues, and propose a solution.

As the world becomes increasingly globally connected, more people than ever live away from their birth country. This means that more and more people will need to learn to adapt and integrate with new cultures and experiences. This can be a difficult process, because in their efforts to adapt, they might try to forget or abandon their previous culture in order to better assimilate to their new home. In this Creative Project, I examine my own transnational journey as a Russian living in America. I wanted to see how my identity as a person linked by two very different places has shaped who I am and what I want to be. Now that I am finishing college, how will my Russianness shape my possibilities in the future? In order to start this reflective process, I read 10 transitional novels to gain a sense of how other Russians processed their lives in America. I then used the insights I gained from these texts to design a set of questions that I asked myself and two other people, both with backgrounds that were similar to my own. Based on these discussions, I gained a greater appreciation for how my Russianness could be a real strength as I chart my future path in life.

Oscillatory perturbations with varying amplitudes and frequencies have been found to significantly affect human standing balance. However, previous studies have only applied perturbation in either the anterior-posterior (AP) or the medio-lateral (ML) directions. Little is currently known about the impacts of 2D oscillatory perturbations on postural stability, which are more commonly seen in daily life (i.e., while traveling on trains, ships, etc.). This study investigated the effects of applying 2D perturbations vs 1D perturbations on standing stability, and how increasing the frequency and amplitude of perturbation impacts postural stability. A dual-axis robotic platform was utilized to simulate various oscillatory perturbations and evaluate standing postural stability. Fifteen young healthy subjects were recruited to perform quiet stance on the platform. Impacts of perturbation direction (i.e., 1D versus 2D), amplitude, and frequency on postural stability were investigated by analyzing different stability measures, specifically AP/ML/2D Center-of-Pressure (COP) path length, AP/ML/2D Time-to-Boundary (TtB), and sway area. Standing postural stability was compromised more by 2D perturbations than 1D perturbations, evidenced by a significant increase in COP path length and sway area and decrease in TtB. Further, the stability decreased as 2D perturbation amplitude and frequency increased. A significant increase in COP path length and decrease in TtB were consistently observed as the 2D perturbation amplitude and frequency increased. However, sway area showed a considerable increase only with increasing perturbation amplitude but not with increasing frequency.

With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the health system in the United States is now being further challenged. There is bipartisan debate on how it can be reconstructed: one party states that the government plays too big of a role, while the other believes it plays too little. Regardless, Americans want change. Reconstruction is not a new topic by any means, and other countries have been forced to do so due to political violence. This paper explores the history and current healthcare organizations of Japan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. These countries have all encountered major political turmoil, which has led to the rebuilding of their respective healthcare systems. Though the United States is not facing political violence that will necessitate reorganization, the examination of nations that have been forced to do so offers lessons applicable to the healthcare system in the US.

Every year, nearly 1.5 shelter animals are euthanized.(1) By the end of 2020, California was reported to be responsible for the second most dog euthanasia’s in the United States, behind Texas by nearly 15,000 dogs. Sadly, these numbers do not include the euthanizing of cats which is generally a fraction larger. Additionally, a majority of numbers tallied by euthanasia centers do not include animals that younger than 1 month old and under 2 pounds. These animals are referred to as “neonate,” which is essentially unsavable newborns. In fact, the New York Times writes, “Many of the shelters do not track outcomes uniformly or make historical data readily available online. Until recently, there has not been a concerted national effort to standardize and compile shelter records.”(2) If these numbers were to be included, we would see a large spike for shelter euthanasia’s in every state. <br/>Traveling Paws is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization that was created to help reduce the number of shelter and stray animals euthanized in California. Our mission is to rehome animals from dangerous environments and kill shelters into their “forever homes,” or shelter facilities where they then can further be adopted and live out the rest of their lives happily. In addition to animal relocation, our team has begun programs such as sheltering, fostering, and put an emphasis on a trap, neuter, and return program to help increase the health and safety, while reducing reproduction rates of stray cats in the Southern California region. While we have been able to substantially help animals located in areas of Southern California, our work is nowhere near complete. <br/>Through this write up, I will tell you the story of my journey, creating and managing our nonprofit organization, along with our successes, problems faced, business plans to help guide us toward our future goals and success, and what I have learned throughout the process.