Is there a mismatch between urban farmers’ perceptions of their farm’s environmental sustainability and its actual environmental impact? Focusing on the use of water and nutrients on each farm as described by the farmers through interviews, it is evident that there is some level of disconnect between ideals and practices. This project may aid in bridging the gap between the two in regard to the farmers’ sustainability goals. This project will move forward by continuing interviews with farmers as well as collecting soil and water from the farms in order to more accurately quantify the sustainability of the farms’ practices. This project demonstrates that there is some degree of misalignment between perception and reality. Two farms claimed they were sustainable when their practices did not reflect that, while 2 farms said they were not sure if they were sustainable when their practices indicated otherwise. Samples from two farms showed high concentrations of nutrients and salts, supporting the idea that there may be a mismatch between perceived and actual sustainability.

This paper will cover topics regarding remote work. More specifically, remote work for the field of logistics. It will also dive into remote work platforms themselves e.g., Slack, Zoom, etc. Microsoft Teams, the specific software we used while I was at my internship, will be analyzed as well. I will, specifically, be analyzing the fundamental issues that occurred during my internship, developing a feasible solution with a laid-out process for each one. After the proper execution of these processes, I will discuss my results. I found that time is the most critical component of an optimal transition to remote work. Finally, I will conclude with reflections on my findings, insights from current working supply chain professionals, and prompt further research that could be done.

In the current race for technological innovation, companies are striving to be the best and most prominent in the industry. A major way companies are setting themselves apart is through personalized experiences for their customers, so they have a huge incentive to collect consumer information. Consumers have limited knowledge of how much information companies collect and what goes on behind the scenes. Therefore, it is becoming extremely important to ensure companies are held accountable for upholding consumers’ right to privacy. One way this can be done is through the implementation of privacy legislation. The United States has not yet enacted federal preemptive privacy legislation, so this thesis examines the feasibility of enacting such legislation using the European Union’s GDPR as a model. California’s current state-level privacy law, the CCPA, is compared to the GDPR to determine the elements of a successful privacy law and find that the CCPA has many problems, most of which are solved by the GDPR. Because of this, it is concluded that it is necessary for the United States to adopt federal privacy legislation which would be most successful if the GDPR was used as a foundation.

For my thesis/creative project, I created a prototype for a mental health app. Each section of the prototype has a purpose of instilling mindfulness and healthy habits that can promote and lead to sustainable mental health. Throughout the paper I explain my reasoning for starting this project, the science of mindfulness and how it can bring about positive mental and physical changes, and the design theory behind the prototype.

For our project, we explored the growth of the ASU BioDesign Clinical Testing Laboratory (ABCTL) from a standard university research lab to a COVID-19 testing facility through a business lens. The lab has pioneered the saliva-test in the Western United States. This thesis analyzes the laboratory from various business concepts and aspects. The business agility of the lab and it’s quickness to innovation has allowed the lab to enjoy great success. Looking into the future, the laboratory has a promising future and will need to answer many questions to remain the premier COVID-19 testing institution in Arizona.

The basis of social power which has expanded in the most dangerous way over the last few decades has been that of information control, and how that control is used. Misinformation and the intentional spread of misinformation referred to as disinformation, has become commonplace among various bodies of power to either expand their own influence or diminish opposing influence. The methods of disinformation utilized in the various spheres of politics, the commercial marketplace, and the media today are explored in depth to better contextualize and describe the problems that disinformation and its use pose in the world today.

As part of the Founders’ lab program, this thesis explores a social venture idea whose concept is to connect the philanthropic community with individuals and organizations in need of funding a project relating to (Sustainable Development Goals) SDG indicators through a peer-to-peer donation-based crowdfunding platform. Through this platform, the philanthropic community will have the possibility to easily access a wide range of projects to support as well as underserved individuals and communities seeking help, track their impact, donate in a complete transparent donation process, and automate donations through bank card round-ups. This social venture idea has been named PhilanthroGo.

This paper explores the well-known Atkins Diet, as it also places a strong regulation on macromolecule consumption, specifically carbohydrates, in order to assist with the weight loss process. A review of available literature will be used to investigate: the history of the diet, necessity of macromolecule consumption, the impact this has on the individual biochemical pathways (glycolysis/gluconeogenesis) and the microbiome as a whole, as well as overall success rates and long-term health complications/benefits. Additionally personal statements from various individuals who have experience with the diet, myself included, will be incorporated into a holistic analysis of the effectiveness and longevity of the Atkins weight-loss strategy.

COVID-19 has shocked the bedrock of society, impacting both human life and the economy. Accompanying this shock has been the psychological distress inflicted onto the general population as a result of the emotion strain stemming from isolation/quarantine policies, being sick with COVID-19, dealing with COVID-19 losses, and post-COVID syndrome and its effect on quality of life. The psychological distress has been experienced by the general population, but compared to middle age (30-50) and older adults (>50 years of age), it has been young adults (18-30 years old) who have been more psychologically affected (Glowacz & Schmits, 2020). Psychological distress, specifically anxiety and depression, has been exacerbated by feelings of uncertainty, fear of illness, losing loved ones, and fear of post-COVID syndrome. Post-COVID syndrome, as with other post-viral syndromes such as post viral SARS involve lingering symptoms such as myalgic encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and loss of motivation (Underhill, 2015). In addition to these symptoms, patients suffering from post-COVID syndrome have also presented brain inflammation and damaged brain blood vessels (Meinhardt et al., 2021), Endotheliitis (Varga et al., 2020), CV abnormalities and changes in glucose metabolism (Williams et al., 2020). CV abnormalities and changes in glucose metabolism are connected to chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease respectively. These chronic illnesses are then associated with higher risk for depression as a result of the stress induced by the symptoms and their impact on quality of life (NIMH, 2021). Further monitoring, and research will be important to gauge ultimate physiological and psychological impact of COVID-19.

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.