UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal

The Black Panther Party’s (BPP) 10 point program aimed to empower Black communities, more specifically, point five of their program addressed the inequalities within educational institutions. This study focuses on the Black Panther Party’s creation of liberation schools and investigates how the Party’s alternative curriculum challenged the persistent censorship in conventional school systems of the 1960s and 1970s. Specifically, I analyze how these schools provided students with an education that was inclusive of Black experiences in the midst of educational suppression, fostering self-determination and political consciousness. Additionally, this paper probes how the party’s cultural and political beliefs were embedded in their pedagogy. Ultimately, I highlight important takeaways from the Panther’s pedagogy for modern educators to consider in their classrooms to ensure that every student’s basic right to a satisfactory education is met. This project explores the question: How did the Black Panther Party’s liberation school challenge persistent censorship and white supremacy in conventional school systems? Analyzing archival documents, I assess the impact of their educational strategies on students and explore whether these approaches can inform ongoing debates about educational equity and curriculum reform.

Asthma remains a major driver of preventable morbidity and emergency department (ED) utilization in the United States, with a disproportionate burden in underserved communities. This review examines why preventable asthma exacerbations and ED reliance persist despite established management guidelines, and it interprets the evidence through a regional lens focused on California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV), where structural barriers to preventive care and elevated pediatric acute care use have been documented. I frame ED reliance as the downstream consequence of cumulative failures across the asthma care cascade, in which gaps in diagnosis and risk assessment, controller initiation, inhaler technique, medication adherence, trigger mitigation, written action planning, and timely follow-up allow unstable disease to progress to exacerbation and emergency care. In underserved settings, these cascade failures are amplified by access constraints, affordability pressures, housing and environmental exposures, competing school and family demands, and weak transitions from ED care back to longitudinal management, which together reinforce a cycle of episodic rescue care. Across the literature, the strongest evidence favors multicomponent approaches that improve self management support, extend care beyond the clinic into homes and schools, and strengthen follow-up after acute events. Applying these findings to the SJV, I argue that reducing ED reliance is most likely to come from improving the reliability and coordination of guideline-based care delivery rather than from novel pharmacologic advances. Future research should prioritize implementation-focused, place-sensitive evaluation of scalable models in semi-rural underserved communities.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a persistent communicable disease and an ongoing public health concern in California despite being preventable and treatable. Certain populations continue to experience a disproportionate burden of disease due to structural and social determinants of health, including poverty, housing instability, limited healthcare access, and barriers related to language and immigration status. This report examines TB trends and disparities across Santa Clara, Alameda, and Merced Counties using secondary epidemiological data and a key informant interview with a public health professional involved in TB prevention and control. The counties were selected to highlight differences between highly urbanized Bay Area regions and a Central Valley county with higher poverty levels and a mixed rural-urban population.

Comparative analysis of TB incidence rates shows that Alameda County (7.8 per 100,000) and Santa Clara County (7.4 per 100,000) reported higher TB rates in 2024 than Merced County (3.8 per 100,000), though Merced experiences structural barriers that may influence disease risk and access to care. Demographic and socioeconomic differences, including educational attainment, income levels, and healthcare access, provide important context for understanding these patterns. Findings from the key informant interview further highlight challenges related to continuity of care, treatment adherence, and barriers faced by uninsured populations and migrant agricultural workers. Overall, the analysis demonstrates that TB patterns vary across counties and underscores the importance of tailored, community-based strategies that address social determinants of health and improve early detection, linkage to care, and treatment completion.

This paper argues that migration was a key part of how the legacy of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl spread across Mesoamerica. Instead of viewing his departure from Tollan as exile or failure, this study reframes it as a form of political migration. The movement of Toltec elites was not random or by chance, but structured, as they carried systems of authority, legitimacy, and belief into new regions. Using sources such as the Florentine Codex and Nicholson, this paper shows how this legacy appears in figures like Kukulkan and Nacxit. Ultimately, migration functioned as a powerful political and cultural process that sustained and reshaped Quetzalcoatl’s legacy over time.

Human trafficking in the United States has seen an increase in prevalence every year for the past ten years since 2025. Still, not much research has been conducted in rural communities and the specific needs of these communities. Individuals residing in regions that are less developed have greater barriers to seeking help and education regarding human trafficking, such as longer distances compared to urban areas, a lack of community resources, and preexisting social stigmas surrounding smaller and rural communities. In this report, data have been collected from internet searches, non-profit organizations, and resources through the University of California databases to determine the disparities between the prevalence of human trafficking in the San Joaquin Valley and more developed, urban regions. Contrary to what a majority of community members assume, human trafficking is a major issue in the San Joaquin Valley; a majority of which are much higher than state and national averages. Implications from this research have also denoted a lack of funding and professional development for community members to combat human trafficking. Findings from this research suggest that the San Joaquin Valley has a lack of community- and education-based resources in addition to a lack of adequate identification and reporting for victims of human trafficking in all settings.

AI, or LLM, development and role in our daily lives is growing at a rapid pace. While most fields of research have been around for centuries, AI has only really taken off in the span of a century. This breakneck development speed is already starting to show problems. While AI does show possible future benefits, the AI of today falls short. From educational work in high school and college, to relationship advice, and the assistance or takeover of certain job positions, it would seem that something has to change. While not many people can make an AI, anyone can use the internet to find out about AI. This paper attempts to go over many aspects of AI at once. From the history of AI, to possible scenarios of the future with it. In-between these two points in time, current applications and impacts of AI use will be mentioned. In addition, the more recent issue of AI Induced Psychosis will be introduced, and show how the digital world can draw in people from reality. But most of all, this paper was made in the hopes of stimulating curiosity in others to find out more about this new part of our lives.

All throughout history, humanity was always fascinated with the sky, and this fascination reached far beyond cultural barriers. Societies all across the globe held some kind of significance in the sky above their heads. That significance would manifest in different ways. Some would look towards the sky for direction, while others based their cultural practices off of what they saw up in the sky. Following this pattern, Mesoamerican societies also held a lot of significance within the sky. This interest was reflected in the calendars that they used. While Mesoamerican societies used both the 365-day calendar and the 260-day calendar, the 365-day calendar was used for things like agriculture and predicting harvest, while the 260-day calendar was used for more ritualistic means. The combination of their fascination with the sky and the Tonalpohualli or the 260-day calendar culminated in the divination practices within Mesoamerica. Within Mesoamerica, the use of astrology and the 260-day calendar was used to predict the fates and temperaments of the people who are born in their society, and this divination practice and those who practice it are at the center of their society and cultural practices.

Surveillance has taken many forms over the course of its history; human operatives, listening devices (bugs), and more recently, observation over electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers. Surveillance is justified by its proponents with a variety of reasons; preventing terrorism, ensuring national security, tracking down criminals, etc. With the increase of the ease of surveillance, it would be easy to assume that society has advanced from previous states of law enforcement and benefitted accordingly. However, the advancements made in electronic surveillance technology have in fact caused society to regress. Society has normalized and complied to the authority of surveillance technology, entirely at the mercy of those who watch.