Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

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How Can Companies "Go Green" with Their Software?

Meredith Richards

An increasing number of companies are setting stricter and more defined guidelines on their relationship between software and energy consumption in order to take greater responsibility for their impact on the environment. However, "going Green" can be easier said than done, and most certainly does not happen overnight. So, how can companies go Green with their software? What does that process look like, how much does it cost, and how long does it take? A three-part process articulated by a group of researchers suggest deploying the following actions is the best approach to "Going Green": 1. Review and refine the software development life cycle 2. Articulate a strategy that guides trade-offs and allows for flexibility 3. Make the cloud green
War and Death in the Works of Emily Dickinson

Alexis Roberts, Kenley Kofford, and Lexi Melmoth

In analyzing Emily Dickinson's work within Fascicle 23, her relationship with death and dying is highlighted through her ways of writing about it in peaceful, hopeful, and solemn ways. Death, through Dickinson, is not a macabre subject, or one of disturbing lonely fascination. Though one of Dickinson's most renown reputations is for being a gothic and dark writer, her poems about death represent emotions that were not usually felt when writing about death. These poems were not meant to scare her readers, but to provide hope, and mystery around the ambiguity of death. "Because I could not stop for Death -" represents a speaker that is being visited by death, not in a dark and scary way, but with a calm and sincere description. Death is not portrayed as a dark and shrouded figure, but one of human emotion, and depth. These emotions and events that death is present in each poem were symbolized representations of Dickinson's fascination and curiosity of death, while also differed from the traditional thought of death as macabre or inherently religious and sad. "Because I could not stop for death -" analyzes a woman's journey through life, knowing that death is approaching, but describes death as a gentleman, varying from the typical foreboding death image in other writings. This essence of varying human emotion presented within "Because I could not stop for death -" connects to the other poems within the fascicle, like those of “He fought like those,” and “Fame to Myself, to justify,”. These poems within Fascicle 23 are all connected through different emotions surrounding death, with "Because I could not stop for death -", being the focal point of remorse and peace. All three poems included in Sheet 1, Fascicle 23, are connected by human emotions, instead of the feelings of fear or anxiety around death.
Synthesizing Octahedral Polyomavirus Capsids for Cryogenic Electron Microscopy

Miles Robertson

Polyomavirus capsids are polymorphic under different chemical conditions. These capsids have been synthesized artificially using purified VP1, the primary building block of the capsid. Five VP1 proteins come together and form a highly stable structure called a pentamer, and these pentamers can form capsids (Figure 1). Depending on chemical conditions, the capsids can form three distinct sizes: T=7, octahedral and icosahedral (Figure 2). Only one form is found in infectious virions, and its structure has been well studied. However, no high-resolution structure of the octahedral capsid currently exists. The goal of this research is to solve the structure of the octahedral capsid by electron microscopy and image classification. A streamlined protein purification protocol will be used to isolate VP1 to provide many octahedral particles for successful electron microscopy.
Teaching Through a Screen: How USU English Instructors Approached Online Course Accessibility During COVID-19

Sabrina Satterthwaite

Although academia has been transitioning to more virtual instructional methods for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic has made switching to remote classrooms a necessity. As a result, many instructors have been required to convert their traditionally face-to-face courses into online courses for the Fall 2020 semester. This online instructional mode presents opportunities and challenges alike for creating class content that is accessible both to students with disabilities and students with situational barriers, such as stress, money, or technology resources. This study explores how Utah State University English instructors implemented accessibility strategies in the transition to more remote learning during the Fall 2020 semester. Research was conducted through a survey and interviews with English instructors along with content analysis of informational accessibility materials available to instructors during this conversion. Findings will help inform decisions about online course accessibility made by other teachers and universities both during the coronavirus pandemic and in virtual education at large.
There All Along: Emily Dickinson's Nimble Belief in the Face of Religious and Societal Convention

Anne Schill, Addy Kirkham, Miranda Cundick, and Callie Griffeth

At a time when religious fervor seemingly provided all answers for human life, Emily Dickinson entertains "nimble belief": the idea that never settling for one answer makes life more compelling. Our central question is the following: How does Dickinson's religious and societal nimble belief manifest in specific hand-bound manuscript booklets (fascicles) of her poetry? This research is important because its answer gives insight into societal norms during the Second Great Awakening by both establishing boundaries of acceptability and illuminating what an affected individual thinks of such boundaries. Dickinson's position as a woman brings significance to her work because women of the time were often the targets of constrictive societal norms. While exploring Dickinson's philosophical embrace of complication, this project will utilize several secondary sources to provide necessary context when examining Dickinson's work. These include James McIntosh's Nimble Believing, which explores Dickinson's personal philosophy in all aspects of her life. Additionally, because nature is so closely affiliated with belief, Christine Gerhardt's A Place for Humility: Whitman, Dickinson, and the Natural World is a helpful resource in decoding metaphors. Within Dickinson's work itself, this presentation will look at several poems throughout Fascicle Nine, including: "Make me a picture of the sun —,” “What is — Paradise—,” “You love me — you are sure —,” “I shall know why — when Time is over —,” “The Skies can’t keep their secret!,” “Musicians wrestle everywhere —,” “Dying, Dying in the night,” and “Some — keep the Sabbath — going to church —.” These poems contain specific moments in which Dickinson's nimble belief is on full display against religious and societal conventions. The reader can see how Dickinson struggles with what is expected versus what she feels to be personally true.
How Pop-Culture Shaped Momiji Inubashiri

Tanner Schulz

This presentation will talk about the effect of memes on the character Momiji Inubashiri. Momiji is a character from the video game Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith. She's the stage 4 mid boss and has minimal dialog throughout the series. The character has been mostly given life through memes. I thought that was absolutely fascinating, so I did a deep dive on the subject.
Emily Dickinson as a Spiritual Guide

Gabbi Shumway, Emma Carlsen, and Connor Coles

Emily Dickinson is known for her willingness to speak out about her beliefs even when they went against the social norm. In this presentation we will look at the poem "This World Is Not Conclusion" and the collection of poems surrounding it. The question that we will address with these poems is how does Emily Dickinson invite her audience to follow a religious journey? Dickinson's faith continually evolves undulating back and forth between faith and skepticism. In This World Is Not Conclusion, Dickinson shows what the religious pathway looks like, as the poem speaks of a desire for faith and then grows onto more questions and skepticism without end. This paper will look at how Dickinson shows the moments of faith and moments of skepticism. We will also address how Dickinson refused to conform to religious rhetoric and how that impacted her ability to help other people on their religious journey. During the 1800s, religious membership required one to publicly bear testimony to the public. Dickinson's attitudes of lack of conformity are evident through her decisions to forgo publication of her work. The culture of conformity in her society resulted in her private religious worship. The surrounding poems of one of Emily Dickinson's collections of poems lead to further understanding of the different steps and aspects in the journey of faith. Poem 1 tells of the beauty of faith. Poem 2 looks at the draw of temptation. Poem 3 mentions the hope that faith brings in times of fear. With all of these poems brought together individuals can look for specific insights to the journey of faith and how they interact together. People also learn just how valuable this journey is and that it is worth the cost of going down that road.
Cynophobia in Film

Taylor Smith

My research covered fear of dogs and how it's represented in film. What I found was that hostile, cinematic depictions of human-dog interactions were oftentimes a result of the dog's status as a carrier of disease (rabies), something that lead to cultural stigmas against dogs as well as symbolization of the spread of other diseases like AIDS and the flu. Films simply used this as a way to pander to the hysteria of a certain country or time period plagued by a disease outbreak.
The Worth of Citizenship

Rachel Sneddon

Currently there are roughly 9.2 million immigrants in the United States who have held lawful permanent residence long enough to gain U.S citizenship. Yet many do not pursue naturalization to become citizens. On average since the year 2000 about 700,000 residents naturalized per year. Some nonprofits or local governments run citizenship drives to encourage more people to become citizens. The purpose of this paper is (1) to review the research on what the relationship between naturalization and immigrants' economic outcomes is, (2) to evaluate if citizenship drives assisting immigrants in the naturalization process would be beneficial for the country as a whole, (3) to consider what barriers hinder immigrants from naturalizing, and (4) to lay out specific points of action and policy changes that are supported by the research on the effects of the naturalization process.

Our research review clearly shows that gaining citizenship increases immigrants earnings compared to immigrants who don't become citizens. Studies have shown that citizens have higher income and lower poverty rates than non citizens. Although there are reasons to think that this may be caused by endogeneity bias, research designs that include quasi-random citizenship assignment suggest there may be a causal relationship between improved economic outcomes and gaining citizenship. Overall, existing research suggests that citizenship drives can be effective tools for improving immigrants' economic outcomes in some circumstances. In determining if it is the right tool, local governments and nonprofits should evaluate the barriers between immigrants and citizenship before pushing forward with citizenship drives. It is unlikely that citizenship alone will solve the economic challenges facing immigrants, though citizenship drives can be an important and effective option.
The Impacts of SARS-CoV-2 on Student Mental Health and Academic Outcomes

Janice Snow

In the spring 2020 semester, colleges and universities throughout the country made sudden shifts to online instruction due to SARS-CoV-2. Many institutions had as little as 1 weeks' notice and 64% of instructors reported having no online teaching experience (Johnson, Veletsianos, & Seaman, 2020). These educational adjustments are not the only added stressors for students and instructors. Additional stressors during the pandemic included health concerns for self and family members, childcare responsibilities increasing for individuals with families, financial instability, and finding accommodations for persons with disabilities. We conducted two separate but related surveys of undergraduate students during the end of the spring 2020 semester; one a brief survey recruiting nationally, one a detailed survey recruiting USU students. National students were asked about mental health and academic outcomes between early and late in the spring semester. Not surprisingly, higher depression, anxiety, and academic distress scores predicted decreased grades during the spring semester in the national sample. Thirty-nine percent of students had elevated general anxiety and 44.7% of students had elevated academic distress scores. USU Students were asked about mental health and academic outcomes as well as teacher gender, and teacher support. In a cluster analysis of courses within students at USU, students reported fewer course and learning accommodations for life changes due to SARS-CoV-2 in courses with male instructors than students with female instructors. Students taking courses with male instructors reported that they felt less supported and reported larger grade drops between the pandemic than students with female instructors. This suggests that female faculty may have given extra time to their students at the expense of their own mental health, research productivity, and obligations to dependents.
What's the Difference Between Undergraduate Online Students and Face-to-Face Students?

Janice Snow

Online education has been growing at increasing rates. Online higher education students increased from 21.4% of students taking at least one online class in 2007, to 32.5% of students in 2012 (Kentnor, 2015). To date, there is no available research regarding differential resources relating to distance and traditional students in traditional university settings, however, logic dictates that online students may not receive the same resources as traditional students (e.g., in-person computer labs, counseling services, additional student support offices). Meaningful interactions with faculty and peers, honors societies, clubs, research and service-learning opportunities, academic and logistical support are not commonly available to online-only students to the same degree as traditional students. Given that distance-only students make up a differential demographic than traditional students, including higher rates of women, and those with families, higher rates veterans, higher rates of individuals with disabilities, higher rates of individuals from lower socio-economic classes, and higher rates of individuals who are more likely to work full-time, (Best Colleges, 2018; Ortagus, 2017; Seaman et al., 2018), these systematic differences in resources while in school might be promoting systems of inequality for those who are seeking educational opportunities. The present study aims to collect up-to-date information on student demographics, available resources, and goals of online and face-to-face undergraduate students. Online education has grown at a fast rate which means that the data on online education demographics needs to be re-assessed frequently. In addition, it is necessary to determine whether the logic follows: in the event that the demographics of distance students remain unchanged as accounting for underrepresented groups at a higher rate than traditional education, and it is found empirically true that distance students do have fewer resources but also similar goals, then it could be concluded that distance education may be a well-intended path to inequity.
Analyzing the Adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies

Lia Sorensen

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a business strategy via which a company aligns social and environmental concerns with both its business operations and its interactions with stakeholders. This paper examines how CSR creates value for companies that adopt CSR actions. It focuses on the CSR actions of six companies, five public and one private: Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Unilever (Ben & Jerry's), and Penzeys Spices. In the 2000s, many companies began to see value in CSR and to implement CSR infrastructure and actions. With CSR increasing in popularity, more robust analyses of these initiatives started to be done by publications and organizations, such as Business Ethics magazine and Global Reporting Initiative. The methods used for this analysis included (1) completing literature reviews on CSR and intersecting topics, (2) analyzing census data trends, and (3) examining the specific CSR actions of these companies, along with the impact of those actions. The value proposition for companies centers around two primary benefits.¬†First, image and brand can be significantly enhanced, thereby boosting sales and customer loyalty. Second, CSR has positive effects on employee morale and loyalty, thereby enhancing productivity. In addition, demographic trends, including the relative growth in minority and younger populations imply that CSR actions will be even more important to company brand and image in coming years. Research shows that both groups place great importance on social values and issues, including issues around race, the environment, social justice, and climate change, as examples. And they are more likely to use their purchasing power to support brands that reflect their values. While it is difficult to isolate specific cause and effect of CSR strategies, this analysis makes it clear that not only does society benefit from such actions, CSR strategies are also good for business.
A Profile on the Effects of a Worldwide Pandemic on Writing in the Workplace

Maigan Sorensen

In the midst of a worldwide pandemic, many social norms in society have changed. Social norms have changed as well as how businesses function. Many people spend more time at home than outside, and infection is still on the rise. Workers and their employers have turned to remote or tele-commuting solutions to avoid spread of COVID-19. Businesses and other establishments that employ considerable numbers of people had to develop communication plans or draw on existing emergency procedures to ensure that processes continued as normally as possible. This research project was designed to examine the changes that have been implemented in the workplace, particularly how they affect communication in the workplace. It is important to understand the effects of these new policies and procedures to understand how helpful or harmful they are to the workplace. It is also important to understand how coworkers are expected to communicate on a virtual platform. The philosophies behind the communication plan for employees is also being investigated. The study was set at the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), a Utah State University Research Foundation, which focuses on the engineering of parts used in satellites sent to space.
Power Ultrasonication Improves Tenderness and Proteolysis in Beef Steak During Aging

Chandler Stafford

Among the eating qualities attributed to cooked meat, tenderness is considered an essential factor in dictating consumers' overall satisfaction and future purchase. Tenderness can be influenced by several extrinsic and intrinsic factors; however, the extent of postmortem proteolysis that occurs during meat aging is the main contributor to end-product tenderness. The process involves enzymatic degradation of key cytoskeletal proteins and the signaling of cellular apoptosis, which ultimately leads to the breakdown of muscles structural integrity, resulting in tenderization. The calcium-dependent calpain system, specifically calpain-1, has been recognized as the main protease involved in postmortem tenderization. In the presence of calcium, calpain-1 undergoes autolysis and becomes proteolytically active. Early exposure to calcium has been shown to enhance calpain activity and improved meat tenderness. However, most methods introducing calcium into muscle involve injecting salt solutions, which runs the risk of microbial contamination and damage to the product. Thus, a more effective method of enhancing calpain activity is needed.

longissimus dorsi muscle was subjected to ultrasonication. Tenderness and proteolysis were evaluated over a 336 h aging period. Tenderness and proteolysis were enhanced (P < 0.05) in ultrasonicated steaks. Thus far, the results suggest ultrasonication improves meat tenderness during postmortem aging. Further evaluation of free calcium, calpain activity, and other biomarkers of tenderness is needed.
Why Are We Holding Immigrants Back?

Jaslyn Stevens

Why are we holding immigrants back? Occupational licensing laws are most often enacted to create standards that ensure public health and safety. These standards might require additional fees, education, hours in practice, or competency tests. There are nearly two million educated immigrants that are underutilized within the United States. For some of these immigrants, they have already worked to meet licensure requirements in their native country and in many cases they have already been practicing for years. For other immigrants, they may have come to the United States, received an education, and been prevented from obtaining licensure. This research analyzes multiple programs, policies, or organizations that have already made noteworthy adjustments to the licensure recognition process for foreign professionals. While there are still undoubtedly many questions to be answered regarding the recognition of foreign licenses, this research aims to discuss ways that we can reasonably reduce brain waste, overeducation, and the cost that licensed immigrants must pay to be able to practice within the United States.
Dogs in the Home Improve the Quality of Life of the People Living Inside

Tanner Stevenson

This poster explores how dogs improve the quality of life of the people they interact with. Regardless of underlying issues that the human faces, every dog helps to improve the situation of that human. From service animals helping to improve the quality of life of their owners in other ways than what meets the eye, to dogs improving the chance of allergy immunity for children, dogs impact the lives of humans for good. This project explores the way that studies have proven the worth of the dog in the home.
The Dog as a Trend in Art

Whitney Stewart

I have always believed that art is one of the biggest forms of communication and signs of cultural assimilation and it has been throughout history. I choose to explore the role that dogs play in this theme. From changes in the symbolism of the dog and the ethics of breeding, art reveals a lot about our furry friends. While I learn much about dogs by themselves, the way we represent them also says a lot about our society. Do we see animals as more than us in some way and less in others? Is a dog painting really about the dog or the human that created it? Does the way we represent dogs change with time or are there still aspects from the past that continue now? Each of these questions goes back to one main idea. Humans have represented dogs in different ways throughout history, essentially making the dog a vehicle for social, economic, and artistic trends. I [will mainly] focus[ed] on the role a dog plays in humanity's response to major events or continual occurrences. Most of the art I studied was European art from the late 1600s to the late 1800s, with a few outliers to explore the origins and effects of art from this time. In general, this time period is the foundation for the world as we know it. The French Revolution, the end of the Christian-Islamic Crusades, Colonialism, and the aftermath of the black death all changed the subject matter and meaning behind art. As the world around artists changed, so did the way they viewed and portrayed dogs. Overall, I have found that 1) dogs are present in art throughout the ages because they are the medium of humanity. What happens to humans must be projected onto animals because our lives are intertwined. 2) Everyone views the world differently, but we see through a limited scope based on what is "trending" in society. And 3) there are constants in art because there are constants on Earth. We create things on what is available to us: emotions, animals, nature, etc. What I have discovered from this research isn't necessarily groundbreaking or shockingly new, but it did help me better understand the world around me. As the world around us changes, knowledge is our one constant.
Formalized Curiosity: Outcomes of an Empirically-Based Research Methods Course for English Majors

Samantha Stringham

What are the outcomes of a course designed for English majors that teaches empirical research methods and uses quantitative and qualitative data collection? This question is of particular importance as students majoring in English typically do not engage in empirical research but are accustomed to humanistic inquiry or creative activity. Although there has been considerable research on assessment of outcomes of undergraduate research on STEM students (Lopatto; Seymour, et al), to date, no assessment of outcomes has been done on this population. We--all enrolled in just such a course--approached this research question through mixed methods:
- Content analysis of the syllabus;
- Content analysis of anonymized end-of-term reflections written by the students;
- Survey of students who have successfully completed the course (n=90);
- Interviews of the two instructors of the course.
Effects of Social Media on Young Adults: Self Efficacy, Body Image and Connection with Others

Sabrina Trimble

The current study tested the associations between self-efficacy, lack of connection to others, body image issues, and social media use. In previous studies, participants estimate social media use through self-evaluation likert scales (Salomon, Brown, 2019). In order to use a more accurate measure of time on social media, participants accessed time on social media from their personal cell phones.

Participants were 213 college students ages 18-49 (M = 20.47 years). They were approximately 63% women, 32% men, 1% other gender, and 93% White/non-hispanic/Latinx.

Perception of time on social media.

Neither self-efficacy (Œ≤ = .01, ns) nor lack of connection (.14, p = .06) significantly predicted perception of time on social media.Time on social media positively predicted body issues (Œ≤ = .18, p < .01).

Actual time on social media.

Neither self-efficacy (β = -.06, ns) nor lack of connection (.06, ns) significantly predicted actual time on social media. Actual time on social media positively predicted body issues (β = .17, p < .05).

Neither self-efficacy nor lack of connection significantly predicted actual time on social media. Actual time on social media positively predicted body issues.

The findings of this research concluded that although social media does affect the lives of many young adults. There was not a statistically significant correlation between young adults self-efficacy, connection to others, body image and their social media use.

One limitation of our study is not accounting for the time participants spend on social media on other devices. This may have resulted in an underestimation of actual hours on social media. An additional limitation is the inclusion of SONA participants which raises issues of generalizability.

Overall, the results suggest that although self-efficacy seems unrelated to time on social media, lack of belonging may be related to time on social media, and social media use may predict body image issues, but it depends on method of measuring time on social media.
Characters and Dogs: Relationships Between Dogs and Humans in Fictional Literature

Emily Van Wagoner

Works of fiction provide a new outlook on life without the constraints of society's expectations. Fiction provides the opportunity to explore relationship boundaries in a safe way that society might deem as improper or wrong. One way that fiction shows us this is the symbolism between the relation of humans and dogs, especially the similarities and how they can reflect one another. Using this as a basis, reflection upon real-life relationships can happen as well as viewing how they are discussed through fictional means.

Relationships are not simply how two beings interact with one another, rather it is also about how they represent and reflect on another. In this research, there will be a focus on several works of fiction that explore the relationship between humans and dogs. In particular, focusing on books where the dog is not the main character. Some of these works include Seeking Persephone, Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix, and Percy Jackson: Battle of the Labyrinth and Last Olympian. These works of literature will show how relationships in fiction reflect relationships in society along with the development of a deeper understanding of the general human-dog relationship.
Enabling Mars Farms Through Microbial Remediation of Wastewater

Tyler Wallentine

This research evaluates the capacity of photoheterotrophic purple non-sulfur bacteria to utilize wastewater organics to grow and produce nitrogen-rich biomass. Inhibitory components of wastewater are determined. A scaled up production system is designed and utilized to culture bacteria in wastewater. The application of this technology in the production of agriculturally viable amounts of nitrogen-rich biomass is evaluated in the context of a Mars mission and enabling agriculture in a barren environment.
Belief, Virtue, and Illness in Late-Nineteenth Century Domestic Manuals

Anneka Walton

The belief that one's health is a result of their behavior has persisted throughout much of history. At times, these beliefs were so direct as to blame any and all illness on the "sins" of the victim. In some ways, we still see these beliefs persist today. While we now understand many of the true causes of illness, we continue to believe that poor behaviors can result in poor health outcomes, and often treat people suffering from conditions they "brought on themselves" accordingly. The object of this research is to better understand how American societal beliefs of the causes of illness changed and adjusted to the rapid advances in medical knowledge that occurred during the late nineteenth century. While there is some research on the effects of germ theory on American society, most notably by Nancy Tomes in The Gospel of Germs (1998), there is little to no research exploring how existing perceptions of the causes of illness evolved with these changes. The research for this study was conducted using the "Cookery and Culture" collection from the Special Collections Archives of Utah State University. This selection of books relating to food, nutrition, and health ranges from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. The books were divided using the "eras" of germ theory defined by Tomes, keyword searches performed to find relevant material, and several books then selected that provided a strong representation of both the medical literature available to the average American household and the medical and scientific understanding of the era. Using this methodology, I discovered that whatever the common understanding of the cause of illness was, the conviction that immorality predisposed a person to illness persisted; yet also found an even stronger, more persistent belief that those who maintained healthy and virtuous habits could be spared from harm.
Isolation and Purification of Bacterial Species from Rhizosphere of Native Plant Ceanothus velutinus (Snowbrush)

Katherine Webb and Hayden Johns

Due to the ever-changing climate, plants face stressors that limit their growth. Therefore it is vital to find new ways to protect plants from biotic and abiotic stressors such as pathogen infection, drought, heavy metal poisoning, and salinity. With an increasing population, limiting the effects of stress on plant growth and development for agriculture is vital. One approach to this is focusing on beneficial plant-microbe interaction, such as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). These bacteria are found in the rhizosphere- the soil that is attached to the roots of a plant. Various PGPRs share a symbiotic relationship with plants and help plants cope with stresses. The purpose of this study is to isolate rhizospheric bacteria off Ceanothus velutinus (snowbrush), a plant native to the Intermountain West region of North America. This plant thrives in dry and harsh conditions. The rhizosphere soil of the snowbrush plant was collected from the Tony Grove Region of Logan, Utah. Samples were diluted and cultured using the spread plate method. Unique colonies were isolated and purified by streak plate technique. The isolated colonies were tested for Gram staining, catalase activity, and morphological characteristics. Ten randomly selected bacterial species were sequenced for 16s rRNA and identified by BLAST against the 16s rRNA database at NCBI. Many of the isolated colonies belonged to the genus Streptomyces, which aids in nutrient absorption, antibiotic production, and antioxidant activity. Other identified bacterial species included Terrabacter spp., aiding in nutrient mineralization. We are working on isolating more bacteria species from the rhizosphere of snowbrush, identifying and validating their functions.
Non Compete Agreements and Low Wage Workers

Ellie Willard

In the wake of the COVID-19 spurred pandemic and the resulting recession, finding a job can be difficult in the current economic environment. As a result, law-makers are debating the efficacy and legality of non-compete clauses in employee contracts. Non-compete agreements typically require an employee to agree not to work for a competitor for some amount of time after they end their current employment. Non-compete clauses are not a new idea and have been used internationally as a way to lower risks of hiring new employees for centuries. Recently, the scope of non compete agreements has extended past hiring and training new employees into careers dependent on trade secrets (such as high paid tech workers), to effect low wage and technical workers. It is estimated that roughly 30 million or one in five US workers are subject to non compete agreements and in 2018, 14 percent of workers without college degrees were subject to these clauses. There has been increasing pressure from unions and advocacy groups to ban non-compete clauses all together. Despite this public pressure, 47 of 50 states allow non compete clauses most with little to no limit of scope. This study will examine the effects non-compete laws have on opportunity for employment as well as the economic profitability of the employee in the low wage and technical work sectors. The goal of this research is to help guide policy makers toward solutions that allow businesses to remain risk averse without sacrificing the well-being of the employee.
The Body and the City: Re-Envisioning Hong Kong Through Protest Poetry

Kimberlie Young

In a time of civil unrest in Hong Kong starting summer of 2019, Hong Kong citizens have navigated a shift in identity and their political social climate. Beginning in early summer of 2019, protests broke out around Hong Kong in response to the Hong Kong government's proposal of an Extradition Bill, which ultimately would allow Hong Kong legal power to "extradite fugitives to territories where it doesn't have formal extradition deals, including mainland China, Taiwan and Macau" (Hollingsworth, 2019). The poems examined in this essay convey what it means to be a citizen of Hong Kong during a time of social and political unrest. Through close reading and analysis of recent poems published in 2019 to the present both in English and Chinese, this research demonstrates how indigenous progressive poets create new interpretations of bodily images through protest poetry, using personification of the city and concrete images of limbs, blood, and the youth to bespeak the disembodiment of political ideals that Hong Kong citizens are experiencing. Hong Kong poets' creative ramifications of body politics in protest poetry from 2019 to the present indicate not only a vision of themselves as constituting members of the city's political landscape, but also a perception of the body as a site of affective experience and change. Because the city is collectively experiencing the protests, the personification of Hong Kong as a single body proves to be an effective approach in demonstrating the cultural and political shifts. Against the backdrop of Hong Kong's rapidly changing political scene, these poems articulate disembodiment, frustration, and yearning for new ideals of identity and citizenship.