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- Creators: Brahms, Johannes, 1833-1897
Description
This project explores a variety of ways of framing the problem of obesity, beginning with a multidisciplinary assessment of genetic, environmental, cultural, nutritional, and socioeconomic factors involved in the structure and the consequences of each frame. How obesity is framed as a problem has a profound impact on the kinds of solutions that may be deemed scientifically appropriate. But frames are not entirely evidence-based, inasmuch as political and moral values infuse debates about the nature of obesity. Drawing on interdisciplinary resources from bioethics and the philosophy of science, I strive to offer strategic insight in to how to navigate the complexity of these issues.
ContributorsYanamandra, Meghana (Author) / Robert, Jason (Thesis director) / Wharton, Christopher (Committee member) / Drago, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Now dry and broken, the Salt River once supplied a great legacy of Riparian vegetation through the Sonoran desert. This verdant landscape flourished from perennial flows of a river fed by high mountain snowmelt. However, multiple dams within those mountain canyons and channelization for the purpose of flood protection have nearly dried up the Salt. Through the process of design I examined the potential to repair, restore, and redevelop the river, choosing a site within the reach of the Salt River that currently includes an artificial retention area called Tempe Town Lake. Since 1999 a two mile portion of the river channel has contained the reservoir for the purpose of recreation and development within the city of Tempe. As I investigated the viability of restoring an urban desert river to a more natural riparian condition, I developed a master plan that merges ecological river restoration with sustainable urban development. Research into the vegetative communities historically occurring along the river's edge guided me to create a project based in ecological principles. Expanding the concrete channel to a wider river presence followed examples set by case studies and the historic character of the Salt River. A new braided low flow channel, allowed to meander with the natural currents of the river, is terraced upwards in a gentle slope that maintains current 500-year flow plains. The vegetation communities I propose to establish along the new terraced elevations are adapted from Charles H. Lowe's profile of a foothill canyon and archival research specific to this portion of the Salt River. As a way to support the reintroduction of Arizona's lost riparian plant communities, the master plan incorporates the use of greywater and A/C condensate collection from proposed developments along the river's edge. These new water systems would be substantial enough to sustain riparian vegetation creation and in addition, provide for ground water recharge. Additional developments continue the City of Tempe's goal to expand development along the river and adjacent to the downtown core. Providing for increased recreational opportunity in a river setting improves the quality of life in Tempe and sets the community apart from surrounding desert cities. By applying ecological and sustainable design and planning principles, the Salt River Diaries master plan repairs the river's flow, restores the riparian vegetation, and redevelops the edge between the city and river.
ContributorsBruckner, Coby Ryan (Author) / Fish Ewan, Rebecca (Thesis director) / Cook, Edward (Committee member) / Sykes, Astrid (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Design focuses on the ability to change one's emotion, wellness, and an over all sense of self. Designers strive for a positive space that ensures ones safety while at the same time, making sure the environment is pleasing to the eye. Beyond the design aesthetics, animal assisted therapy is utilized in many scenarios/environments in order to receive the utmost positive outcome in patients and ultimately, creating a peaceful state of mind.
ContributorsTsai, Cindy Chen (Author) / Brandt, Beverly (Thesis director) / Shraiky, James (Committee member) / Steffes, Scott (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
As Arizona enters its fifteenth year of drought and Lake Mead hits historic lows, water management and policy planning will become increasingly important to ensure future water security in the Southwestern region of the United States. This thesis compares water demand trends and policies at the municipal level in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona over the time period from 1980-2010. By analyzing gallons per capita per day (GPCD) trends for each city in the context of population growth, drought, and major state and local policies over the twenty year period, reasons for declines in per capita water demand were explored. Despite differences in their available water sources and political cultures, both the City of Phoenix and the City of Tucson have successfully reduced their per capita water consumption levels between 1980 and 2010. However, this study suggests that each city's measured success at reducing GPCD has been more a result of external events (supply augmentation, drought, and differing development trends) rather than conservation and demand reduction regulations adopted under the auspices of the Groundwater Management Act.
ContributorsSnyder, Rachel Claire (Author) / Larson, Kelli (Thesis director) / Hirt, Paul (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The Art of Extraction: ABSTRACT
Anthropocentric society faces a multiplicity of environmental challenges, catalyzed and perpetuated by urban-industrial culture. Many of today’s perspectives and sustainable strategies cannot accommodate the challenges’ inherent complexity. Because urban-industrial society is only projected to grow, both in enormity and influence, the only viable option is to elucidate the complexity and employ it.
A potential setting in which to frame this exploration is the intersection of urbanism, landscape, and ecology –an overlap first introduced by the theories of Landscape Urbanism and Ecological Urbanism. Here, urbanization is not just discussed as an isolated phenomenon but one that is embedded within and responding to a variety of systems and scales. The methodologies of Landscape Urbanism and Ecological Urbanism also acknowledge artists and the visual arts as invaluable tools for realizing, communicating, and inspiring the new perspectives and modes of intervention needed to address the aforementioned urban complexity. Such artists who operate within this realm include Sissel Tolaas, Maya Lin, Katrin Sigurdardottir, David Maisel, Olafur Eliason, Mierle Ukeles, Suzanne Lacy, Steve Rowell, Mel Chin, and the Center for Land Use Interpretation. Case study analyses reveal many of these artists begin their investigations with provocative, searching questions situated within the realms of urbanism, landscape, and ecology. This is proceeded by relative scientific research and/or community involvement or outreach. Furthermore, the artists work within and extrapolate from a variety of other disciplines —increasing the scope and applicability of their work. The information they collect via this multidisciplinary approach is then metaphorically translated to the visual arts, where the public can not only physically or sensorially experience it, but understand and deduce its meaning and significance: public awareness being one of the more essential aspects of a sustainable society and at the root of our current struggle.
As a designer and architect, I will engage the artist’s mindset to explore the current and complex issue of resource extraction within Superior, Arizona: a topic at the core of urbanism, landscape, and ecology. While the town is not considered "urban" by standard definition, it and its surrounding landscapes are indirectly sculpted by the needs of urban society —rendering it the setting for this application. Within a group, we will begin with a searching question. We will conduct relative scientific research, engage the community of Superior, and call upon a variety of other disciplines to aid and inform our work. Through metaphor, the research and resulting discoveries will be artistically represented and composed within a designed exhibition of hopeful “things” (See Bruno Latour, “From Realpolitik to Dingpolitik”). This exhibition will theoretically take place on Superior’s currently dilapidated Main Street, amid a more accessible sphere. The eventual goal of the project is to illuminate and understand the complexities of resource extraction, specifically within Superior, while also enabling public awareness and empowerment through lucidity and comprehension.
Anthropocentric society faces a multiplicity of environmental challenges, catalyzed and perpetuated by urban-industrial culture. Many of today’s perspectives and sustainable strategies cannot accommodate the challenges’ inherent complexity. Because urban-industrial society is only projected to grow, both in enormity and influence, the only viable option is to elucidate the complexity and employ it.
A potential setting in which to frame this exploration is the intersection of urbanism, landscape, and ecology –an overlap first introduced by the theories of Landscape Urbanism and Ecological Urbanism. Here, urbanization is not just discussed as an isolated phenomenon but one that is embedded within and responding to a variety of systems and scales. The methodologies of Landscape Urbanism and Ecological Urbanism also acknowledge artists and the visual arts as invaluable tools for realizing, communicating, and inspiring the new perspectives and modes of intervention needed to address the aforementioned urban complexity. Such artists who operate within this realm include Sissel Tolaas, Maya Lin, Katrin Sigurdardottir, David Maisel, Olafur Eliason, Mierle Ukeles, Suzanne Lacy, Steve Rowell, Mel Chin, and the Center for Land Use Interpretation. Case study analyses reveal many of these artists begin their investigations with provocative, searching questions situated within the realms of urbanism, landscape, and ecology. This is proceeded by relative scientific research and/or community involvement or outreach. Furthermore, the artists work within and extrapolate from a variety of other disciplines —increasing the scope and applicability of their work. The information they collect via this multidisciplinary approach is then metaphorically translated to the visual arts, where the public can not only physically or sensorially experience it, but understand and deduce its meaning and significance: public awareness being one of the more essential aspects of a sustainable society and at the root of our current struggle.
As a designer and architect, I will engage the artist’s mindset to explore the current and complex issue of resource extraction within Superior, Arizona: a topic at the core of urbanism, landscape, and ecology. While the town is not considered "urban" by standard definition, it and its surrounding landscapes are indirectly sculpted by the needs of urban society —rendering it the setting for this application. Within a group, we will begin with a searching question. We will conduct relative scientific research, engage the community of Superior, and call upon a variety of other disciplines to aid and inform our work. Through metaphor, the research and resulting discoveries will be artistically represented and composed within a designed exhibition of hopeful “things” (See Bruno Latour, “From Realpolitik to Dingpolitik”). This exhibition will theoretically take place on Superior’s currently dilapidated Main Street, amid a more accessible sphere. The eventual goal of the project is to illuminate and understand the complexities of resource extraction, specifically within Superior, while also enabling public awareness and empowerment through lucidity and comprehension.
ContributorsTwilling, Emilie Marie (Author) / Stayner, Christian (Thesis director) / Harris, Catherine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
After researching pediatric cancer experiences, an opportunity emerged creating a less intimidating environment for children undergoing chemotherapy. By means of adding a creative component to their IV pole and disguising machinery, children will be a part of an Imagination Voyage adventure. Creative themes allow for a journey on a pirate ship, or being in a fantasy castle by captivating children in playtime. The design allows for a frightening experience to become a positive one.
ContributorsHerold, Brittany Ann (Author) / Shin, Dosun (Thesis director) / McDermott, Lauren (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
I set out to better understand the issues, perceptions & solutions surrounding drought. The question that compelled my project was "What might be all the ways that we can improve the experience of conserving, reusing & educating on the topic of water." Through the process of design research I developed a system of products that improves the user experiences surrounding water. The result is IOW, an intelligent 3-product system that aims to make your water needs & wants smarter & less wasteful.
ContributorsShappee, Christian Kyle (Author) / Shin, Dosun (Thesis director) / McDermott, Lauren (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Capnography is the monitoring of concentrations of carbon dioxide in exhaled breath. It allows reliable insight into patients' metabolism, ventilation, and blood circulation. Capnography has become an integral part of anesthesiology monitoring in operating rooms. However, its used is limited in other contexts due to deeply engrained protocols, size of capnographs, and the complexity of its interpretation. Intensive care units and in-home use could greatly benefit by a widespread usage of capnographs. Measuring methods include infrared spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, and chemical colorimetric analysis. Infrared technology is currently the most widely used and cost-effective method for measuring carbon dioxide. However, this device can be bulky and costly. A novel portable breath CO2 analyzer was developed for this purpose. The analyzer features an accurate colorimetric CO2 sensor that can analyze ETCO2 in real time. Many advancements have been in made in the sensor fabrication process. Nevertheless, research on optimal packaging conditions and accelerated aging times have been limited. In this experiment, carbon dioxide sensors were packaged at four different environmental conditions to test their long-term stability. This was done to determine if these conditions had an effect on sensor degradation. In the second part of the experiment, a separate batch of sensors was placed inside an oven at 48 oC to investigate the effect of stabilization temperature dependence and accelerated aging. In conclusion, the data obtained from the sensors packaged at different conditions could not be concluded to be statistically different. Sensors packaged at ambient conditions had the highest average value at 0.45030 V and the ones at controlled 33% humidity had the lowest at 0.39348 V. The sensors packaged at 8.25% CO2 had the smallest variance in their voltage measurements. From these data, it can be concluded that environmental testing conditions had the greatest effect on the measured signal. The oven experiment showed that sensors rapidly stabilize at high temperature and these stay constant after reaching this stabilization. For future work, the signal difference at different environmental conditions should be done. Control of environmental conditions can be achieved by building a glove box to control temperature and humidity.
ContributorsCorral Clayton, Javier Alfonso (Author) / Forzani, Erica (Thesis director) / Tsow, Tsing (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Abstract The intent of this research is to understand what it means to be a journalist in the 21st century. As technology continues to advance at an accelerated pace, industries must adapt in order to sustain business and keep people employed. Journalism is a field that has struggled to find a way to monetize the services it provides with the overwhelming abundance of information that is now accessible for anyone on the Internet. As a result, journalism has expanded to become more than a source for news and information; it is an area of interest, topic of discussion, and connector for both consumers and producers to create, interact with, share, and engage in. The goals for this study are focused around three main research questions that aim to uncover differences in the journalism field today compared to 10-20 years ago, what skills and traits are required for students to become journalists in the 21st century, and how this data and information should affect journalism education. 1. How does the change from tradition mediums to digital change journalism jobs? 2. What skills and traits are required for students to become successful journalists? 3. How should this data affect journalism education? The research for this thesis was collected using a variety of methods including observation, interviews, and surveys from a sample data population of journalism students, recent journalism graduates, journalism professors and professionals from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. While there are many ways to interpret and analyze why and how the journalism field has changed, most of the research uncovers what young journalists moving forward in the field can do to prepare for the changes they will face in the future. While striving to uncover what the most important traits for young journalists to have entering the journalism field today, the data showed the answer varied depending on the individual. Across all three categories of the data sample of students, graduates, and professionals/professors, honesty, curiosity, and hardworking were important traits needed to be successful in the journalism field. According to the sample of data recorded in the survey, writing was the number one skill journalists need to be successful in the 21st century. This study also revealed how the evolution of the journalism field allows opportunities for new ideas and innovation for journalism education. According to interviews with professors and professionals, journalism education should focus on a hands-on learning approach that spans across multiple disciplines like business, design, communication, technology, science, etc. Because it is important for journalists to be multi-disciplinary in their field, journalism schools must teach multi-disciplinary skills and allow for new ideas and creativity in media innovation.
ContributorsWong, Lauren Alaine (Author) / Silcock, Bill (Thesis director) / Gilger, Kristin (Committee member) / Blatt, Rebecca (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This paper explores two areas of study: Colony Collapse Disorder and urban apiculture--the practice of keeping bees in urban areas. Additionally, this paper discusses the ways in which Colony Collapse Disorder has encouraged an increase in urban beekeeping, and the possible role of urban apiculture as a means of combatting the negative effects of Colony Collapse Disorder. The symptoms, history, and possible causes of Colony Collapse Disorder are presented, as well as the important role that honey bees play in human agriculture. Following the discussion of Colony Collapse Disorder is a description of my urban beekeeping apprenticeship at Desert Marigold School where I kept bees, researched various hives, attended a beekeeping workshop in Tucson, and eventually built a hive and established a colony with my mentor. This paper includes a guide to beekeeping basics, as well as a guide to starting a hive based upon the lessons learned during my apprenticeship.
ContributorsRomero, Madelyn Rattan (Author) / Schoon, Michael (Thesis director) / Silcox, Holly (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor)
Created2015-05