http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 720 https://escholarship.org/uc/urcaj_2022/rss Recent eScholarship items from Volume 3 (2022) Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:08:53 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5871r1vz The Student Resource Building at UC Santa Barbara, finished in 2007, houses a multitude of departments in addition to the Cultural Resource Centers (CRCs). This paper focuses on the history behind student activism, a focus on Asian American student activism, for a resource center for Asian American students. Starting in the late 1980s to early 1990s, the small population of Asian American students and other students of color resulted in students organizing and working with student administrators, including more faculty of color, more focus on student retention, and support for first-generation college students. In March 1998, the Daily Nexus wrote an article that included a quote stating that missing dogs were due to the Vietnamese and Hmong population living in IV. What followed is a series of protests that would ultimately lead to the establishment of the Cultural Resource Centers, housed in the future Student Resource Building. Student activists, to this day, continue to fight... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5871r1vz Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Dong, Felix https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9s89v670 The current study had two goals: (1) to investigate how acute exercise can improve short-term mental health in an ecologically valid setting and (2) determine whether different forms of acute exercise (aerobic vs. anaerobic) affect mental health differently. To explore these questions, we recruited participants from various exercise classes at the UCSB Recreation Center and the Robertson Gym. Participants were given one survey before their exercise class and one after. Both surveys had indices that measured four aspects of mental health: perceived stress, anxiety, positive affect, and negative affect. To answer question one, we analyzed how these indices changed from pre- to post- exercise class across all participants. To answer question two, we analyzed whether or not there were greater improvements in the four indices depending on the exercise type (anaerobic or aerobic). Based on prior research, we predicted that perceived stress, anxiety, positive affect, and negative affect... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9s89v670 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Castle, Lucas https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9h83z8jq This paper explores the tragic story of African American O’Day H. Short and his family in 1945 Fontana, California. The piece is an excerpt from my March 2022 Senior Honors Thesis titled "The American Dream Denied: The Inland Empire and Southern California’s Legacy with Postwar, Anti-Black Racial Housing Discrimination." Alongside my complete thesis, this paper’s examination of O’Day H. Short’s background, hostility with local white neighbors in his new Fontana home, and eventual fatal conclusion will ultimately expose the hidden legacy of harmful housing discrimination in post-World War Two Southern California. Focusing on Short’s story further highlights the underappreciated stories of the Black Americans who migrated to Inland Empire cities – including Fontana and Riverside, between the 1940s and the 1960s. By tracing the explicit racial violence that fueled housing discrimination, I will show how and why the Postwar promise of guaranteed housing and greater socioeconomic stability... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9h83z8jq Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Chilaka, Akunna https://escholarship.org/uc/item/903171r2 This essay expands the boundaries of so-called “folk” perceptions or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of Latin American mycology through a review of fungi in ethnographic and scientific research. I focus on macrofungi, but also address the microscopic ambient yeasts and molds which have been essential to fermentation since the origins of agriculture (despite a lack of documentation in ancient societies). The research of cultural uses and perceptions of mushrooms and other fungi is called ethnomycology– a field that receives far too little attention. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/903171r2 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Child, Spencer https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8h5625bb Teenage depression has long been a significant yet underreported and therefore undertreated disease. In recent years depression-centric narratives like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Dear Evan Hansen, and All the Bright Places have garnered both attention and controversy in print, film, and even Broadway, bringing the conversation around teenage mental health into the spotlight. While some of these depictions have been praised for promoting empathy and understanding, others have been criticized for including graphic or even sensationalized representations of teen depression and suicide. These depictions, fictional as they may be, contribute to the larger societal discourse on teen mental health. This paper examines one of the most influential works concerning adolescent mental health in recent years: Netflix’s Thirteen Reasons Why, with the aim of exploring how its status of both an “activist” work of art and a product affect its depiction of depression and anxiety — and how... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8h5625bb Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Le, Luc https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8cx732nz The Klamath river—the second longest river in California, stretching 257 miles from South Crescent City to Oregon—has been an object of environmentalist and humanitarian concern since the 1970s. And it was long before the acknowledgement of the Klamath’s worsening state that climate change, along with anthropogenic factors such as dam implementation, agricultural runoff, commodified farming, and racist governmental policy, had begun to irreversibly damage the once flowing water supply and diverse flora and fauna that used to characterize the Klamath area. These long-standing issues have culminated in mass environmental degradation in the Klamath basin—drought, poisonous algae blooms, mass fish kills, pollution—that threaten the Klamath ecosystem at large. Indigenous tribes like the Yurok people, who have lived in the Klamath area for decades, have been disproportionately negatively affected by the environmental degradation of the Klamath. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8cx732nz Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 DeAmaral, Ella https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7zq4t6t1 Stroke recovery is a difficult process, so there are many forms of robot-assisted therapy (RAT) that seek to make it easier for patients and physical therapists. However, machines designed for this type of therapy are often expensive unitaskers that limit their therapy assistance to only one part of a limb. We have developed a series of prototypes that have the potential to aid in drawing therapy for stroke rehabilitation and assessment, as drawing can engage every muscle group in the arm and is often used as a method of estimating limb and neural pathway function. Our current focus is refining a system of surface electromyography (sEMG) and internal motion unit (IMU) sensors processed via machine learning to quantify limb function and location in order to assist the user in creating their drawings. We believe this robot has the potential to be incredibly useful to artists with unsteady hands, physical therapists, and physical therapy patients. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7zq4t6t1 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Crocker, Janna Stevens, Ryan Guo, Yinu Gurney, Hannah Lin, Rachel Yu, Thomas https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7444w2j3 The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on many of the inequalities people face because of their socioeconomic status. Some of these disparities include accessible health care, medicine, consistent income, and the everyday risk of exposure. However, this division between the upper and lower socioeconomic classes is not new. This can be seen time and time again throughout history, especially in the cases of past pandemics in early modern Europe. Diseases such as the Black Plague, leprosy, and cholera infiltrated and affected communities throughout Europe and Italy, the latter being the focus of this article. In it, we compare the ways that past pandemics affected people in cities like Rome and Venice, and who was affected most and why. Did the same disparities between socioeconomic classes exist as they do today with the current COVID-19 pandemic? Have we progressed much as a society? It is important to explore how these socioeconomic differences emphasize the inequalities within society... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7444w2j3 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Canchola, Stacy Deryawish, Georgina Setola, Giulia https://escholarship.org/uc/item/72n7161j Over 100 million people worldwide use oral hormonal contraception (OC), and yet there is still little knowledge surrounding the consequences of contraceptives on the human brain. In particular, the intersection of autobiographical memories, stress, and OC is important to study for real-world applicability. Previous research has shown that women on OC demonstrate a negativity bias when recalling an event by reporting more information for negative experiences compared to other emotional situations. This negativity bias could be an indication of the ease of recall which is defined by the speed, accuracy, and intensity of the memory search. The present study examined the reported ease of autobiographical recall of OC users compared to those who are naturally cycling (NC) for negative and neutral events. It was predicted that those on OC would report an easier time recalling a stressful event and report less difficulty for the neutral event compared to NC women. There were no significant... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/72n7161j Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Agrawal, Aarushi https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6bj6r851 <p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, inmates at USP Lompoc were subjected to increased exposure of the virus due to inaction from staff, guards, and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). This paper focuses on the history behind prisons and incarceration as a punishment, the timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to events happening in Lompoc, and includes interviews from two former inmates at USP Lompoc, Bernd Appleby and Ron Shehee. Looking at the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affected inmates at Lompoc, the conscious refusal by staff and guards to follow instructions given by the Attorney General, the absence of personal protective equipment, and the lack of structure and testing led to the death and health issues of inmates. Appleby and Shehee highlight the apathy, power imbalance, and inhumane conditions they faced during their time at USP Lompoc. They share specific details into accounts from other prisoners and the health and administrative problems that inmates... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6bj6r851 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Dong, Felix https://escholarship.org/uc/item/62r1n5zz We have been presented the properties of asset return by simulation within the empirical data. However, is it possible to illustrate properties by statistical analysis? Most currently existing models fail to reproduce all these statistical features. In this paper, we will elaborate the properties by applying different statistical models: Geometric Brownian Motion and Ehrenfest URN. We will focus on the following properties: distributional properties, tail properties and extreme fluctuations, path-wise regularity, linear and nonlinear dependence of returns in time and across stocks. In this project, I will use S&amp;P 500 index return as the data and apply it with the models to compare the results with empirical data. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/62r1n5zz Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Liu, Senyuan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5z86t0dx The acceleration and advancement of today’s technology has led to the growing use of machine learning algorithms in everyday life. Therefore, our collective trust in algorithmic decision making becomes increasingly important to consider. Current literature suggests that people may be skeptical of relying on algorithmic judgment rather than human judgment, regardless of performance quality or accuracy (Logg, 2018). However, conflicting results have arisen from previous studies regarding this algorithmic aversion or appreciation. An online experiment was conducted using a 2x2 design with 120 adult participants in order to examine how the control and risk environment of an algorithm’s decision making process affects human trust towards algorithmic decision making. Results indicate that humans are less trusting, or more averse, of automated systems in situations with higher perceived risk and lower human control. These findings shed light on the evolving relationship between humans... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5z86t0dx Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Nguyen, Elise https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5n91c5g4 Language is tied directly to identity formation, especially in the way individuals express themselves and are perceived by others. This extends to language being proven to have the ability to change an individual’s personality depending on the language they are speaking (Ramirez-Esparza et al. 2006; Pavlenko, 2006; Wedérus, 2017). This study expands on these findings by comparing these theories to the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse multilinguals. This study is particularly concerned with the experiences of bilingual immigrants in the US and how issues of acculturation and xenophobia may affect these phenomena. This project aims to help better understand how language shapes identity, as well as gain insight into the challenges of immigration and multilingualism. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5n91c5g4 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Paget, Aurora https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58m3f8t5 Given most people gain information about COVID-19 from news media, it is important to understand if news framing of COVID-19 can influence people’s intentions to take preventive behaviors and their actual behaviors, which may affect public health and many people’s life safety. Based on framing and functional emotion theory, this research examined how exposure to differently framed news (threat, positive future, or neutral news) influenced emotional reactions, intentions to take preventive action, and actual subsequent protective behaviors. 196 undergraduates participated in a two-part online experiment. First, they read two COVID-related news stories appropriate to their condition, and then reported their emotional reactions and behavioral intentions. Two days later, they reported their COVID-related protective behaviors. Results indicated that threat news in the frame of fear evoked fear as expected and positive future frames in the frame of hope evoked hope, as expected. Although... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58m3f8t5 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Zhu, Haoning https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4026c425 <p>Previous research examined the effect of familial conflict on college students and how this affects familial relationships and causes feelings of guilt. However, there has not yet been a study looking specifically at emotional burden stemming from not fulfilling familial expectations in regard to major choice at college. In this study, we examined the correlation between negative affective experiences and familial conflict over major choice. We focused on the experience of negative emotions when deviating from familial expectations, as well as the cultural differences and similarities between Asian and European Americans going through this experience. We assessed participants’ experience of familial expectations regarding major choice, their decision to fulfill or subvert those expectations, and their emotions as a result of their decision. Our findings showed that negative emotions such as sadness and guilt were stronger when subverting expectations while positive emotions... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4026c425 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Dang, Annabel https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3h9061vj A first-generation college student is the first of their family to enter higher education (RTI International, 2019). This study examined whether first-generation college students adopt avoidance goals (i.e., goals focused on avoiding negative outcomes) more often than continuing-generation college students, and how these goals may impact their campus resource utilization. We hypothesized that first-generation college students at UCSB would report less resource utilization compared to continuing-generation students, and that this association is mediated by the strength of their approach goal orientation. For first-generation college students, we expected higher endorsement of avoidance goals and lower endorsement of approach goals, compared to continuing-generation college students. Lastly, we hypothesized that for those with higher agreement towards avoidance goals and lower agreement towards approach goals, these students would utilize fewer campus resources. In our study, generational... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3h9061vj Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Tran, Miranda https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2f5561m7 Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as the “vinegar fly”, is a model organism for studying olfaction-induced behavioral activity. The behavior of positive chemotaxis or attraction from the activation of odorant receptors such as Or42a are well characterized through extensive prior research. However, the behavior from the activation of aversive odorant receptors like Or49a are not well understood. To characterize aversion and to test whether aversion and attraction have equal and opposite behaviors, I utilized the PiVR tracking system to simulate several odor conditions by applying light gradients on optogenetically modified third-instar larva. I have concluded that the characteristics of aversive behavior are not directly opposing the characteristics of attractive behavior through the analysis and comparison of turn rate modulation, trajectories, and preference indexes between Or42a and Or49a light-stimulated larva. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2f5561m7 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Chivi, Ethan Rollins, K. Louis, M. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2b97c5wm Oppression does not only occur in the physical space– it also dominates the literary realm. While the majority enjoys the fruits of narrative plentitude, minority groups– most often including Asian-American writers– experience the obstacle of narrative scarcity within dominant society. Due to this identity strung together by oppression and institutionalized colonialism in literary studies, minority writing is forced to assume a kind of antagonism, a prefab agony about being invariably misunderstood. Minority writers– specifically Asian-American writers– are forced to embrace their trauma placed upon them by institutional hardships as their only outlet of writing, as if their generational lesions are only embraced to provide literary entertainment. The value of their voice and their writing is therefore based upon how distressing and damaging their experience of growing up as Asian-American may be. As this issue of the paradox of the Asian-American identity is rooted within the... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2b97c5wm Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Chan, Hannah I https://escholarship.org/uc/item/06k43102 Recent advances in Deep Neural Networks (DNN's) over the last decade have allowed modern neural networks to be reliably deployed "on the edge" in countless applications ranging from computer vision to natural language processing. Existing hardware is capable of running complex models with low latency, but a problem occurs when applications are scaled to require cheaper hardware with shallower memory resources or minimal latency. The goal of model compression is to take popular pre-trained deep neural networks and reduce their size to allow them to be readily deployed in areas requiring "on-device" inference such as self-driving vehicles and A.I. assistants. This paper covers recent advances in the field of model compression that has allowed us to create a 100x smaller model in terms of memory storage, while maintaining stable F1, Precision and Recall scores. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/06k43102 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Murillo, Jorge Su, Lawrence https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0691c778 Approach and avoidance motivational orientations play a striking role within close relationships, with approach-oriented goals predicting increased positive affect and relationship satisfaction. As research suggests that motivational orientations influence individuals’ ability to regulate their own emotions (i.e., intrapersonally), we posit that these motives may also moderate individuals’ ability to regulate the emotions of others, thus affecting social outcomes. We hypothesize that individuals whose partners use more affect-bettering (versus affect-worsening) emotion regulation strategies will show improved relationship outcomes, with this link being strengthened in individuals high (rather than low) in approach motives. 37 romantic couples (74 participants) completed daily diary surveys for 10 days, with one partner reporting their use of affect-bettering and affect-worsening emotion regulation strategies and the other partner reporting their relationship outcomes. Preliminary... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0691c778 Tue, 4 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Ostrander, Katrina https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3gj386fr This study investigated bee forewing vein density as it relates to body size and taxonomic group. Within the entomological field of study, it is known anecdotally that wing venation is primarily conserved at the genus level more than any other taxonomic level. Using dorsal and slide-plated wing images, wing vein density (WVD) and intertegular span (ITS) was measured for bee species within different genera and families. A novel way of effectively measuring WVD was developed, a measurement that combines many previously used vein morphology characteristics. The study found that both taxonomic level and body size influence WVD, of which the taxonomic level of genus has the most significant effect, regardless of body size. Thus, this paper found that WVD can be useful for determining genus within a family and gives further insight into insect wing vein evolution. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3gj386fr Wed, 29 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Eisner de Eisenhof, Leonardo