Category: ARC Session

Reducing Plastic Straw Use on the University of Oregon Campus

Presenter(s): Nozomi Yamada

Co Presenter(s): Alexandra Urrutia, Riley Roefaro

Faculty Mentor(s): Peg Boulay & Sarah Stoeckl

Poster 177

Session: Environmental Leaders ARC

In the U.S alone, approximately 500 million plastic straws are used everyday. Earlier studies estimate that about 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the beaches around the world (Gibbons). Most plastic debris end up in the ocean and in the bellies of wildlife creatures, compromising the welfare of marine ecosystems and organisms. Because plastic is not biodegradable, it remains in the ocean and the environment for years. Our mission is to create an environment for students to consider taking action to reduce plastic straw use. Our project works to try and minimize the use of plastic straws on campus so that less waste is produced and that students will rethink their lifestyle choices by considering what role plastic plays in their lives. Using the results of our recently conducted survey, we will make flyers about plastic straws and promote the issue of plastic pollution on campus. Our goal is to propose a policy change that will make plastic straws available on request only at all dining halls. In regards to our survey results, 75.2% of the 234 respondents are in favor of such a policy. By proposing a straw upon request only policy statement, we will be helping make the University of Oregon a more sustainable campus.

Immigration Customs Enforcement’s Deliberate Targeting of Undocumented Activists

Presenter(s): Giovanni Ricci

Faculty Mentor(s): Noah Glusman

Poster 170

Session: Social Activism ARC

In the nearly twenty years since September 11th attacks, the United States has seen, as a result of changed cultural values, a dramatic increase in aggressive immigration policy as a means of controlling the influx of both high risk individuals and various racial and ethnic groups. Paired with the refugee crisis from the Syrian Civil War, there has been an increase in the government’s pursuit of more aggressive immigration policy. Regardless of the effectiveness of such immigration policies, there has been increasing criminalization of South and Central American immigrants, a growing anti-Muslim sentiment, and a general increase in xenophobic rhetoric in the American political sphere. As such, the United States has seen intensifying public criticism of various administrations’ immigration policies, and perhaps most notably, the increasingly aggressive tactics utilized by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). Many argue that the aggressive nature of these policies infringes on the human rights of immigrants. However, due to the vulnerable nature of their immigration status, these immigrants often lack the ability to make their voices heard without risk of detainment, deportation, and family separation. This has since raised the question of whether or not ICE is actively targeting immigrant activists as a means of preventing immigration policy criticism in the public eye. Upon review of various first hand accounts and the work of investigative journalists, there is evidence that ICE is deliberately targeting immigrant activists. This is immensely problematic as it poses a number of potential human rights violations under both US constitutional law and various international human rights treaties of the United Nations. ICE’s policies infringe on the human rights of the especially vulnerable population of immigrant refugees, as such practices limit the right to speak out against the potential human rights violations caused by current immigration policies and practices.