Category: 2015

Comparison of Measures of Inter-individual Affiliation among Ring-Tailed Lemurs (Lemur catta)

Presenter: Leslie Gotuaco

Mentors: Stephen Frost and Frances White, Anthropology

Poster: 25

Major: Environmental Science 

Primatologists use a number of behavioral measures to assess patterns of affiliation and aggressions in groups of primates. These patterns can, however, vary greatly within a species with behavioral context. Lemurs, for example, are well known for the importance of context in the variation of aggression in feeding and non-feeding contexts as seen in both female dominance and female feeding priority. This study examined whether there are also variations in affiliation between feeding and non-feeding contexts. One of these measures, grooming, is widely accepted as a mechanism for social bonding, but it is not an appropriate measure for affiliation during feeding. We therefore used co-feeding as a measure of affiliation during feeding. We then used a non-parametric multivariate statistical comparison to see if the patterns of affiliation are consistent between these two contexts. We studied a group of semi-free-ranging ring-tailed lemurs on St. Catherine’s Island, Georgia and collected 188 hours of behavioral data. Observations used focal animal sampling and all occurrence sampling of social behavior. We calculated indices for grooming and co-feeding for all possible pairs of individuals. A Mantel test was used to determine the correlation between the two affiliative measures. We found a significant correlation between our measures (r = 0.7509, t = 8.635, p < 0.0001). These results demonstrate that affiliation patterns seen in non-feeding contexts are consistent with affiliation during feeding.

Unilateral Climate Change Action: A Comparison of Three South African Cities through the Lens of the Tragedy of the Commons

Presenter: Miles Gordon

Mentor: Ronald Mitchell, Political Science

Oral Presentation

Majors: Political Science and Philosophy

This paper seeks to examine unilateral action taken by individual cities on climate change. I do this through the lens of the Tragedy of the Commons, which is an excellent description of the problem of climate change. I test the following hypotheses as to the cause of this action: local and formalized knowledge of the problem, a strong civil society that can apply pressure, transmunicipal network ties that help disseminate effective ideas, and the realization of co- benefits to action on the part of the local government. The cities I compare are in South Africa, a nation in the Global South that has relatively meager resources and is hence subject to the economic logic of a developing country. I compare Durban (a city that has taken substantive action) to Khara Hais and George (two cities that have not taken substantive action). Information on these cities and their respective actions was culled from case studies, policy briefs from the respective municipalities, and reports of NGOs on the ground. Using this information, I find that motivation for climate change action is based in part on all four of these, but that ultimately the most effective motivator is the realization of co-benefits. This is because when confronted with issues of incapacity, environmental protection alone is often not strong enough a factor to provoke action. These results, while not wholly generalizable due to the fact that they were obtained within a single nation, are significant to the issue of climate change action because they provide a rough blueprint for how best to pressure local governments (particularly those in the third world) to take their own action, thus creating an opening for a movement on climate change that is truly “from the ground up”.

Pristine Nature and “Painted Forgeries”: Ecocriticism in The Faerie Queene

Presenter: Alison Goodwin

Mentors: Jessie Nance and Corbett Upton, English

Oral Presentation

Majors: English and Political Science

Under Elizabethan rule, Edmund Spenser wrote literature that both praised the queen and reflected the colonization of the New World (he himself took part in the colonization of Ireland in the 1580s and onward). Initially published in 1590, Spenser’s The Faerie Queene constructs unexplored, fantastical, and often dangerous lands. As a sprawling moral allegory, The Faerie Queene: Book Two depicts the overcoming of intemperance and idleness, particularly through the vehicle of nature. Scholars Amy Tigner and Arlene Okerlund have explored the function of nature and horticulture in early Renaissance writings. As Tigner detailed the constructedness of horticulture, Okerlund complicated this botanical purpose and additionally has argued that Spenser’s audience consumes both the art of the Bower and the art of Spenser’s language. Viewing Spenser’s poem through an ecocritical lens, I follow this scholarly tradition by reading representation of gardens and of the Bower of Bliss as commentaries on the distinct separation between the corruption of man and the authenticity of natural landscapes. While these scholars agree that the ecocritical approach illuminates the Bower’s dangerous veneer, I additionally argue that, by including a colonial perspective, my analysis carries with it an English fear of idleness and lack of labor that percolates from Spenser’s experience with colonialization. In The Faerie Queene: Book Two, the pristine essence of the natural, uninhibited land serves as both aesthetically pleasing as well as wild and tempting. Spenser juxtaposes pristine nature with constructed landscapes to distinguish the purity of the land from the danger of man-made contamination and idleness. Thus he illustrates English anxieties of idleness that stem from a built environment and stresses the necessity of utility over empty aesthetics in colonial expansion.

Captive Female Bonobos (Pan paniscus) Tend to Be More Social during Tool Use than Males

Presenter: Daniel Goodkin-Gold

Mentors: Stephen Frost and Frances White, Anthropology

Poster: 24

Major: Anthropology 

Tool use occurs in several non-human species. Within the genus Pan, chimpanzees (P. troglodytes) exhibit tool use in both the wild and captivity. Tool use in bonobos (P. pansiscus) has been documented in captivity and suggested to occur in the wild. Recent comparative studies of chimpanzees and gorillas propose that social tolerance may facilitate the acquisition of tool use behavior. We previously reported that captive bonobos use tools in smaller social groups than gorillas and chimpanzees, which suggests that the number of neighbors does not play an integral role in tool use acquisition in bonobos. Here we investigate sex and age differences in these small social groups. Data were collected between June and August 2011. Subjects were 16 bonobos housed at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, where an artificial termite mound was placed in their outdoor exhibit and baited daily. All occurrences of tool use at the mound and of the individuals present were videotaped and coded. Party size and composition were later determined for each fishing bout. Females fished in larger groups (avg.=1.8 individuals) than males (avg.=1.3 individuals) (n=9, F=4.38, p<0.05). While there was no difference between adult and subadult males, adult females fished in significantly larger groups than subadult females (n=5, F=26.03, p < 0.0001). These results support previous knowledge of bonobo sociality in that females are more socially cohesive and males tend to be more solitary.

Accounting in the Middle Ages: More Modern than Medieval

Presenter: Amanda Gonzales

Mentors: Michael Peixoto, Honors College History; Monique Balbuena, Honors College Literature

Oral Presentation

Major: Business

Common accounting practices have evolved greatly over time, beginning with simple inventory records and progressing to complex forms of standardized accounting methods. The practice of managerial accounting, which entails analyzing financial data to assist internal decision-making, became standardized during the industrial revolution. As new corporate-style businesses expanded, owners began to maximize profits and increase their wealth by using new methods that allowed them to standardize costs and quantify human capital. Human labor became a cost that needed to be cut in order to maximize profits, which in turn exacerbated the stratification of wealth in society. The origins of this dehumanization of the working class and increase in wealth disparity between owners and workers are identifiable in pre-modern history. My research analyzes medieval methods of administering the production of peasant labor. I examine sources including the Domesday Book, notarial registers, and landed charters, to provide insight into the management techniques used by landowners from the perspective of managerial accounting methods. Although such methods were not standardized during the Middle Ages, the techniques that landowners used in the management of peasant labor show that the evolution of managerial accounting began long before the industrial revolution. The economy in the Middle Ages is often viewed as a compilation of rural agricultural work, however the studied management techniques utilized by lords over peasant labor reveals characteristics of a capitalistic society in a time that capitalism is not believed to have existed.

We’re Not Just a Team; We’re Also a Community: UO Poetry Slam Team

Presenter: Hannah Golden

Co-presenters: Alex Dang, Sarah Hovet, Sarah Menard, Dante Douglas

Mentor: Corbett Upton, English

Creative Work Presentation: C4 (Maple Room)

Majors: Journalism and Spanish 

The UO Poetry Slam (UOPS) was founded by Hannah Golden and Alexander Dang to build a community and audience for poetry on campus that embodies the inclusiveness and excitement of slam poetry. Poetry and language belong to all of us, not just a select few, and by foregrounding the form’s communal aspects, slam challenges hierarchical notions of what forms and experiences constitute art, specifically when it comes to poetry, and seeks to make poetry accessible to, and inclusive of, all voices, experiences, subjectivities. In this presentation, we will explain the origins of slam poetry and show how the form is distinguished from traditional poetry readings in both its ethics and its format, most obviously by the fact that poets’ work is limited to a 3-minute original poem scored on a 10-point scale by five judges randomly selected from the audience, and will conclude with performances by each slam team member. Additionally, we will detail the team’s journey to competing at the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI), the top competition for college slam poets. In fall 2014, we held auditions, attracting a wide range of students, who competed in six bouts. After the dust settled, we had our team. Some of us had never performed or even written poetry before these tryouts. Throughout the process of recruiting and building a team that can be competitive anywhere in the state, we have held to our ideal of an inclusive, democratic community with an insistence on high-quality work and an atmosphere of mutual encouragement. We began the slam community here at UO to create a forum where all can express themselves – anyone can be a poet, and anyone can appreciate poetry. We are excited to show you our work now.

Comparing Morphometric Methods in Macaca mulatta crania

Presenter: Rachel Glenzer

Mentors: Stephen Frost and Frances White, Anthropology

Poster: 23

Major: Biological Anthropology 

We compared the precision of a relatively new method for collecting three-dimensional landmarks, 3D photogrammetry with Agisoft Photoscan, to that of two other well-known methods: Microscribe 3DX and Nextengine Laser Scanner. Landmark editor was used to place landmarks on laser and photoscans. Two crania (one male, one female) of Macaca mulatta from the University of Oregon Comparative Primate Collection were digitized by two users, (RG) and (KC), who each collected 10 replications with all three methods using a well-established 45 landmark protocol. The 120 replications were then analyzed with generalized Procrustes analysis (GPA) in Morpheus with scale restored. An external scale factor was applied to the photoscans to make them consistent. To assess the overall magnitude and patterning of the three different methods, the Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and scores were compared. PC 1 (46 % variance) separated the two specimens. PC 2 (16 % variance) separated the two specimens by user. PC 3 (6 % variance) sorted the Microscribe from the other methods. There is some significant separation within user based on method (P < .0001), but this was much smaller in magnitude than the other factors. Among the three methods, the laser scans had the best precision (0.42 mm), followed by photoscans (0.67 mm), and least precise was microscribe (0.62 mm). Our results indicate that photoscan is as precise as well-known methods.

Money, Power, and Race: The US State’s Involvement in the Reproductive Lives of African American Women

Presenter: Dana Glasscock

Mentors: Jamie Bufalino, History; Corbett Upton, English

Oral Presentation

Majors: History and English

Within the United States, the relationship between the state and African American women’s reproductive roles has been complicated and contentious. In the brutal control of reproduction for profit within slavery the role of the state was to justify slave owners’ use of black women’s bodies without regard for the women’s choice. Contrasting this systemized reproduction for economic gain is the condemning attitude of the state toward African American women’s reproduction past reconstruction and into the 20th century through financially punitive and manipulative means including Welfare reforms, Social Services policies, and sterilization policies that disproportionally affected African American women as a result of lingering biases. In the context of the second half of the 20th century this role of the state was still economically motivated as an effort to avoid spending on mothers or children deemed less deserving. Legal and social historians including Linda Kerber and Dorothy Roberts have noted how the paternal and pejorative elements of state legislation and public efforts resemble the methods of manipulation found under slavery. Though the specifics of the state’s actions differ, examining the similarity in root justifications and their connections to legal and economic motivations of the state allows for clearer understanding of the tense relationship between the state and African American women’s reproduction. My work seeks to explore specific legal and political tactics, motivations, and implications of the role of the state in the lives and reproductive experiences of African American women, focusing on two periods of the US: slavery and the second half of the 20th century.

From Favela to Community: Afro-Brazilian Women Activists Transforming Urban Space

Presenter: Niria Garcia

Mentors: Lynn Stephens and Ana Lara, Anthropology

Oral Presentation

Majors: Environmental Studies and Latin American Studies 

There’s much work that goes into the formation, maintenance, and continuance of a movement. Many narratives of those involved in the movements however, don’t appear in the pages of history and remain dormant waiting to be uncovered. This is a brief ethnographic account that explores the crucial role Afro-Brazilian women have played in the struggle for permanence and improvement of the historically marginalized community of Calabar in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil[L1] . I focus specifically on the ways in which the social resources women control such as kin networks and the urban material resources such as land and markets women dominate have been crucial in their ability to hold their ground, organize others, and create improvements in their community. In addition, I explore how the specific gender roles women occupy in relation to kin networks, land, and markets have been leveraged by women strategically in their organizing efforts. My analysis will be based on a series of interviews I conducted with six women and secondary sources. After I analyze their ability to organize successfully and why, I will discuss the ways in which the coming of the World Cup competition to Brazil has influenced/impacted their continuing struggle for land titles, internal social and urban improvements. Along with my findings it is made clear that a significant dimension of their organizing success, personal transformation and empowerment has been through dignifying and making visible the history and contemporary contributions of Afro-Brazilians.

Examining and Identifying Effective Rhetorical Strategies, Messaging, and Themes in Climate Change Books for a General Audience

Presenter: Hannah Fuller

Mentors: Stephanie LeMenager, English; Shane Hall, Environmental Studies

Oral Presentation

Major: Environmental Studies

Of all the messages we receive about climate change, the most common is perhaps “10 simple things YOU can do to save the Earth.” While these lifestyle tips can be useful to individuals, the contributions to climate change mitigation are often negligible. More pressing, though, is the fact that none of these ideas target the larger underlying problems that contribute on a larger scale to greenhouse gas emissions. Since global warming came to the international stage in the 1980s, mass media, scientists, and politicians have been scared to advocate for fear of losing credibility. Instead, notable authors like Bill McKibben, Thomas Friedman, and Naomi Klein have taken it to task to identify and offer targeted solutions for global climate change as more than just a problem of atmospheric chemistry. These authors seek to interpret climate science and inspire lay readers by offering their solutions, which focus more changing institutions, worldviews, and norms than individual behavior. By reading and comparing these popular science books I have identified their most salient arguments and strategies in order to create a rubric for more effective climate change communication. These books and others like them are an archive for “best ideas” that should be popularized and carried out in activist contexts. By synthesizing a short op-ed using the best and most effective ideas, I hope to provide a context that will empower individuals and communities to take action and to demand action from higher levels of government.