Category: Oral Presentation

Uneven Citizenship: Post-September 11th Immigration Enforcement and Separation of Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim Families

Presenter(s): Raimy Khalife-Hamdan—International Relations, Romance Languages

Faculty Mentor(s): Tobin Hansen

Session 1: Global Views—We vs. Them

The shocking September 11th terrorist attacks prompted an immediate and drastic response from the US government . More than 1,200 Middle Eastern, Arab, or Muslim noncitizen adults were immediately detained and deported within two months . What were the social effects on their US citizen children? And what do these impacts reveal about the unevenness of US citizenship? Drawing from anthropological research on Latinx family separation in the US, this research examines the harmful impacts on children’s physiological, developmental, and psychological health associated with family disruption and speculates about the fallout of family separation immediately following 9/11 . These US citizen children, now adults, were active agents within their transforming family structures while also being subject to the racialization and criminalization inherent in the violent mechanisms of immigration enforcement . Since citizen children of mixed status families are implicated and indirectly punished for their families’ precarious legal statuses, citizenship is not a determinative assurance of protection, but one mediator of experience along with other social factors and identities . Most importantly, the harmful impacts of family separation on both citizen and non-citizen children alike suggest the need for the US government to adopt more humane immigration enforcement practices and valorize family units as well as all children’s health, development, and wellbeing .

Lebanon, the European Neighborhood Policy, and the Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Lebanese equation for EU national security?

Presenter(s): Raimy Khalife-Hamdan—International Relations, Romance Languages

Session 1: Global Views—We vs. Them

Formerly considered the Paris of the Middle East, Beirut once displayed her millennium-old ties to Europe through architectural glory, refined cuisine, and French schools, which were commodified proof of the 1923–46 French Mandate’s influence on Lebanese society . Now, Europe reclaims its leverage over Lebanon through EU institutions, particularly the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) . Evident in European Commission documents and social scientists’ research, the EU-Lebanese relationship is asymmetric, especially as Lebanon struggles to absorb over one-and-a-half million Syrian refugees in a population of six million Lebanese . While glamorizing the ENP as a development- inducing instrument that provides aid to the Lebanese community in exchange for economic liberalization and state democratization, the EU utilizes the ENP as a facade of benevolence in order to promote reforms that nurture Europe’s own regional security agenda .

Furthermore, just as the implementation of the ENP is politically-serving, the EU treats the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis as an opportunity to advance its own interests in Lebanon by enforcing refugee containment mechanisms to avoid Europe’s destabilization . As the Syrian refugee crisis worsens, Lebanese debt accrues, and Lebanese civilians are frantic over increasing unemployment, Lebanon has become dangerously reliant upon the ENP . The more Lebanon relies on EU aid, the more likely it will be to submit to reform and lose its political autonomy . Unfortunately, Lebanon seems to lack any other choice .

The Impact of Tuition Increases on the Enrollment of Low-income Students

Presenter(s): Neila Kerkebane—Economics

Faculty Mentor(s): Jonathan Davis

Session 5.5: McNair Scholars Presentations

The United States has experienced an increase in inequality, especially since the 1980s . One question that has been asked repeatedly by researchers and policy makers is how can we promote equality of opportunity? In this thesis, I study the impact of increases in college and university tuition on the enrollment of low-income students . Since higher education has been identified by the literature as a main path for intergenerational socioeconomic mobility, it is important to encourage low-income students to attend colleges and universities . Yet their participation at the moment is lower than their counterparts in higher income classes . We need to identify what is influencing low participation of low-income students in higher education in order to provide solutions to make higher education more accessible for this segment of the population . This study estimates the elasticity of college enrollment to posted tuition rates using administrative data on 2,462 colleges and universities . The aim of the paper is to understand whether a lack of information about posted and actual tuition rates is a barrier to the enrollment of low-income students . For this analysis, I am using a fixed effect model to control for all time-invariant characteristics about the college and specific characteristics .

The influence of prenatal inflammation on postnatal maternal and infant behavior

Presenter(s): Nora Kearns—Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Elinor Sullivan

Session 2: Cells R Us

A growing body of research suggests that prenatal nutrition and adiposity influence postnatal mental health outcomes for both mother and child . Inflammation, heavily influenced by maternal adiposity, has been identified as a potential biomarker for maternal depression and child behavioral dysfunction . The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that maternal gestational inflammatory state predicts postnatal maternal and infant behavior, an effect moderated by pro- inflammatory cytokines and both pro and anti-inflammatory fatty acids . Maternal BMI was obtained from medical records, and maternal inflammatory state was assessed using plasma fatty acid and cytokine levels from 2nd and 3rd trimester blood draws . Maternal and infant behavior at 6 months postpartum was observed in a ten-minute videotaped free play interaction, which was evaluated using a well-validated coding scheme . Maternal BMI was positively correlated with a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and negatively correlated with anti-inflammatory omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids . Although no significant correlations were found between pro-inflammatory cytokines and negative maternal behaviors, Interleuken-10, an inflammation-regulating cytokine, was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity and positively associated with infant negative mood . Significant positive correlations were found between n-3 fatty acids and positive maternal behaviors such as sensitivity, positive regard for child, and animation . The beneficial effects of n-3 fatty acids did not translate to modifications in child behavior during free-play, although one inflammatory n-6 fatty acid was negatively correlated with child activity, as was the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-a, which was elevated in mothers with higher BMIs and mothers with ADHD . These results suggest that n-3 fatty acid consumption during pregnancy may attenuate the potential effects of inflammation and contribute to more optimal maternal mental health .

‘All Surface and No Soul’: John Singer Sargent’s Portraits of Modern Mannequins

Presenter(s): Katelyn Jones—Art History

Faculty Mentor(s): Nina Amstutz

Session 1: Oh, the Humanities!

This research analyzes the popular late nineteenth century society portraitist, John Singer Sargent, and his portraits of women, primarily those of which critics have noted a unique postural tension
in the sitters . This nervous tension has been up to this point considered by art historians to be a visual tactic deployed by the artist to create a dynamic and attractive composition . I argue that this tension goes beyond just clever compositional structure and rather can be contextualized through
an understanding of changes in the contemporary fashion industry . From the memoirs of sitters to critical reviews, Sargent’s women are often compared to inanimate objects . One object in particular that is repeated often is that of the mannequin, whose commercial use emerges alongside the need of department stores at the end of the nineteenth century .Through formal analysis of key portraits in Sargent’s oeuvre and contemporary document analysis, I draw connections between the visual presentation of female sitters and their dummy counterparts, as well as how the two worked similarly within their respective sales environments; the gallery and the store . Ultimately, this research seeks to understand the shifting role of art in the beginnings of mass international consumerism, providing a background to how viewers of the 21st century understand the industries of commercial design, art, and fashion .

Procedural Barriers to Health Care: Applying for Coverage through the Oregon Health Plan

Presenter(s): Harrison Jensen—Planning, Public Policy and Management Faculty

Mentor(s): Nicole Ngo, José Meléndez

Session 3: To Care and How Not to Care, that is the Question…

For low-income and disabled Americans, Medicaid, a joint federal-state program that provides health insurance coverage at low-or-no cost, is a lifeline . And yet, even as the benefits that Medicaid provides are in greater and greater need, nearly 6 million Medicaid-eligible adults aren’t covered . Studies on Medicaid participation rates frequently cite the complexity of the application process as being one of the main reasons why so many don’t enroll . However, relatively little research has been done on how applicants for Medicaid actually navigate through the application process . This study aims to address this gap in the existing body of research by asking individuals who applied for the Oregon Health Plan, Oregon’s state Medicaid program, about their experience applying . Preliminary interview data shows that applying for Medicaid can, in fact, be burdensome for applicants that are working and/or don’t receive any outside help during the application process .

The Media and Social Action Academic Residential Community

Presenter(s): Devyn Jacobson—Psychology, Family and Human Services

Co-Presenter(s): Maxwell Ely, Nick Lamora, Makenzie Elliott, Alan Torres, Isabel Kristensen

Faculty Mentor(s): Charlie Butler, Emily Henkelman

Session 2: Media and Social Action ARC Panel

In the fall of 2019, 29 first-year students from across the nation with different backgrounds but, with the same passion for journalism had met for the first time as The Media and Social Action ARC . Eager to get to work, these students very quickly understood that their power was not in numbers but in being passionate young adults in America . This role in society is one that allows us to work towards meaningful changes and know that we can achieve this by elevating voices and spreading awareness .

This group has worked throughout the year to learn more about journalism, communication, and social justice . For example, by joining clubs like UOJPEG, writing stories for the Daily Emerald and Ethos Magazine, they had classes based on learning about journalism from UO faculty from the SOJC, and had off-campus opportunities such as volunteering for Food for Lane County .

The students of this ARC used their learning throughout the year to create a platform in which they could truly elevate their voices and spread awareness . This platform is now known as Amplify, their online publication . The focus of Amplify this year is sustainability in the city of Eugene and

on The University of Oregon campus . Thus far, the ARC has produced five stories on this topic and are currently working in stories about COVID-19 and its affects in communities nationwide . Moving forward this group of students will continuing to spread awareness about social justice and motivate others to do the same .

Note to the judges: Attached below is a link to our 2019–20 online publication, Amplify . https://maxwelle7 .wixsite .com/amplify

Augemented Reality Effects on Mood, Stress & Cognition

Presenter(s): Ray Jackson—Psychology

Faculty Mentor(s): Dasa Zeithamova-Demircan, Lea Frank

Session 6: Cerebal Matters

Research with Virtual Reality has shown that a brief meditation experience is effective in reducing feelings of stress and anxiety (Keller, Bunnell, Kim & Rothbaum 2017) . When combined with interactive biometric feedback (for example: one’s heart rate) these same interventions have a stronger effect on both subjective feeling states as well as physiological changes associated with a relaxation response (Jester, Rozek, & McKelley 2019) . While it has been previously shown that reductions in stress can facilitate improved performance on cognitive tasks (Wu & Yan 2019), no research to date has specifically examined the ability of a brief Augmented Reality based meditation experience to boost cognitive performance . Our aim was to investigate if an AR-based meditation experience can stimulate a temporary boost in cognition by way of lowering stress, and to examine any additional effects of an addition of biometric feedback .

Electrophysiological Patterns of Skilled Motor Movements

Presenter(s): Vanessa Hufnagel—Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Nicole Swann, Alexander Rockhill

Session 5: The Wonders of the Brain

Proposed future missions to send humans to Mars for long term exploration require the development of improved waste management technology in space and increased reliable energy for running necessary systems . In this study, the potential of methanogenic bacteria from wastewater sludge
to be a source of biomethane in the atmospheric composition of Mars was explored . Bottles of wastewater containing methanogens were prepared anaerobically and sparged with either nitrogen or a martian gas mixture and their biogas production was tracked and compared over time . Research findings proving high survivalbiltiy rates of the bacteria and high metabolic function under these extreme conditions suggest anaerobic digestion of mission waste to be a viable solution for recycling human waste and producing biomethane for the production of energy .

Linking mycorrhizal fungal diversity with pathogen abundances in a vineyard agroecosystem.

Presenter(s): Emily Hill—Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Krista McGuire

Soil microbes are becoming increasingly recognized as significant contributors to agroecosystem processes due to their functions as decomposers, mutualists and pathogens . Monoculture cropping systems are known to harbor high abundances of microbial pathogens specific to the species of plants or animals in cultivation; for this reason, pesticides and fungicides are widely applied across all farming systems, including those that practice sustainable management techniques . However, application of fungicides also negatively affects mutualists such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which provide beneficial ecosystem services such as soil stability, nutrient cycling and amelioration of biotic and abiotic stressors . Despite the ecological and economic stress caused

by the widespread application of pesticides and fungicides, the effects of these agricultural management practices on soil microbial communities remain largely uncharacterized . Here, we aim to understand how various ecological and environmental factors influence shifts in soil microbial community composition and pathogen abundance in vineyard agroecosystems across Oregon . Viticulture is a perennial crop system in which Vitis vinifera is cultivated for wine production . In Oregon, there is a long history of different viticultural practices implemented across distinct growing regions delineated by climate, soils and topography . Vitis plants are highly reliant on AM fungi, which provide both nutritional and nonnutritional benefits to their hosts including uptake and transfer of limiting nutrients and increased resistance to pathogens . Ecological patterns are thus expected to emerge between AM fungal composition and diversity, and the abundances of soilborne pathogens specific to Vitis plants . This project will elucidate these ecological relationships across growing regions and management practices by comparing the AM fungal composition with the abundances of microbial pathogens .