Category: Poster Presentation

How does legislation of foot traffic in Machu Picchu affect the economic livelihood of indigenous groups in Peru?

Presenter(s): Emma Ziari—International Studies, Political Science

Co-Presenter(s): Edwin Guerrero, Eloise Navarro

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

How does the legislation of foot traffic in Machu Picchu affect the economic livelihood of indigenous groups in Peru? In January of 2020, Peru deported five tourists accused of damaging a temple in Machu Picchu, the famous ancient Incan ruins in the Andes . Our presentation discusses how tourism in Machu Picchu has disaffected indigenous culture, indigenous people, and the environment in the Peruvian Andes . We examine societal and economic pressures and argue that each has been magnified by tourism as our analyses of policy changes, environmental degradation in Machu Picchu, and indigenous narratives show . We contend that while tourism in Machu Picchu seems to have clear economic benefits, the societal and environmental costs have been steadily increasing . Culturally, tourism has led to the desecration of indigenous burial sites . Environmentally, because the number of tourists has been increasing, the erosion of the site has continued to increase . Our research of this issue wants to contribute to a better understanding of the effects of global tourism . This information will be useful in identifying key global issues in tourism and contribute to informed decision-making processes for the implementation of a more environmentally and culturally-conscious tourism industry .

Yakuza in Japan: Why are they still there?

Presenter(s): Caitlyn Yost—International Studies

Co-Presenter(s): Calvin Parker-Durost

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

For generations, Japan has been trying to control and contain their mafia organizations known as the yakuza . The yakuza groups have, since the Tokugawa era in the early 1800s, been an issue and to this day they continue to defy the Japanese government which has never been able to fully rid the country of these organizations . In our research, we examine why the Japanese government has such a hard time trying to deal with yakuza and why the yakuza have a big impact on Japanese society . For our research, we will be using sources such as historical documents, police reports, articles/newspapers, and first-hand accounts on dealing with yakuza . Taking a look at such sources has led us to finding out that the Japanese government is starting to crack down on yakuza more since 2011 with the support of the United States government though the yakuza still continue to hold roots in Japanese businesses and citizens still go to yakuza to deal with issues rather than deal with the Japanese legal process . We hope to bring awareness to this topic and teach people how the yakuza organizations have changed and adapted over the years, how they are currently being handled in Japan, and how they could be dealt with in the future .

The Cinema 7 History

Presenter(s): Katherine Wilson—English

Faculty Mentor(s): Peter Alilunas, Stephen Rust

Session 1: Flicks and Pics

Cinema 7 was a unique “art house” movie theater in Eugene, Oregon, 1974–87 . It was part of Oregon’s emerging film culture in the early 70s; showcasing the films of Poetic Cinema Filmmakers Ron Finne, Sharon Genasci and Don Cato, among others; and was partially funded and staffed by Oregon Film’s Pioneer Film Crew member Katherine Wilson, a professional Location Scout and Casting Director . The cinema boasted attendance by such notables as cast and crew from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Animal House, and Stand By Me; as well as local icon Ken Kesey .

Curious about what the venue looked like, U of O Cinema Studies Professor Alilunas discovered in 2020 that one of the students in his class, filmmaker Katherine Wilson, had worked there; and an opportunity arose to learn more about the theater’s special place in history .

Only a single photograph from the Eugene Register Guard Newspaper (of the hidden projector room) and one polaroid image of a corner of the lobby existed, so Katherine made the decision to make a diorama from the blueprints Dr . Alilunas had found at Eugene’s City Planning Department .

The interior design itself was inspired by the great former movie and opera houses of Eugene (the ornate theater seats were reused and recycled from the demolished Heilig Theater in 1973) as it mimicked The Egyptian Theater and The Bagdad Theater in the Art Deco/ Egyptian Revival style popular in the 1920s .

Therefore, it became more important than ever to somehow preserve the theater’s history for students who were studying how and why Art Houses were so important beginning in the early 70s; as these “underground” artistic filmmakers helped create Cinema as we know it today .

Additional photos were later found and printed from negatives by the Cinema’s Interior Designer and Graphic Artist Lynn Peterson, who also designed all the Cinema 7 posters starting 46 years ago . Lynn had donated many of them along with Katherine’s to the Katherine Wilson Special Collection at the Knight Library in 2016 . Video link: https://vimeo .com/401805694/0167ee0cc3

Human Trafficking in Haiti

Presenter(s): Sydnee Warren—Exploring

Co-Presenter(s): Sara Harvey

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

The State Department of the United States of America has in 2019 raised concerns about human and sex trafficking taking place in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti . Our research project examines the many factors contributing to human trafficking in the nation of Haiti, where thousands are affected by human trafficking every year . As a developing country, Haiti struggles to overcome this problem . We seek to expose the main developments and causes for the Haitian sex and labor trafficking market by reviewing and compiling government data, reports issued by international non-governmental organizations, and individual case studies over the past decade . We will show that the Haitian government has not taken sufficient action to hold traffickers accountable or to eradicate the “Restavek” system, a system that has delivered one quarter of Haitian children into domestic servitude and harsh labor . We contend that Haiti continues to be in a human rights struggle of devastating consequences for individual lives . Our project aims to bring to widespread public attention the violations of basic human rights in developing and often ignored countries like Haiti and we hope to shine a spotlight onto human trafficking in Haiti in an effort to try and gain support for the movement to overcome human trafficking .

Women Most Vulnerable: The Role Traditional Gender Roles Played in the Salem Witch Trials

Presenter(s): Maya Ward—Political Science

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

This project looks at what were the largest influences in the accusation of a person during the Salem Witch Trials . After preliminary research the main question of inquiry became, why were women more likely to be persecuted in the Salem witch trials and what factors further increased likelihood of accusation and conviction? This question was answered through both analysis of court documents, recorded sermons, and secondary scholarship on the lives of the people accused . It was concluded that the women of Salem, especially the poor and outcast, supposedly influenced by the Devil, became the primary justification for instability in the community . The largest factors that amplified the likelihood of being accused, especially for a woman, was her age, economic status, and outspokenness in the community . These conclusions can help to explain why the moral panic in Salem occurred, and help to demonstrate the danger of oppressive genderroles in a society that, when not strictly followed, can create an ambiguity manipulated by powerful figures that can hurt those most vulnerable .

The Role of Semantic Predictability in Adaptation to Nonnative-Accented Speech

Presenter(s): Kayla Walker—Linguistics

Faculty Mentor(s): Melissa Baese-Berk

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

Nonnative-accented speech is more difficult for native listeners to understand than native-accented speech . However, listeners can improve their abilities to understand nonnative- accented speech through exposure and training . The goal of this project is to explore whether exposing native listeners to different sentence types affects listeners’ adaptation to nonnative speech . Listeners will be trained on high predictability sentences (e .g ., “The color of a lemon is yellow”), low predictability sentences (e .g ., “Mom said that it is yellow”), or semantically anomalous sentences (e .g ., “The green week did the page”) . Previous research has demonstrated that semantic predictability impacts speech perception, but its influence on adaptation to nonnative speech is unknown . This research aimed to answer the following questions: Does training with low predictability or anomalous stimuli require listeners to focus more attention on the acoustic-phonetic properties of the accent and thus lead to greater adaptation and generalizable learning? Or will training with high predictability stimuli provide valuable semantic information that will allow listeners to create a better framework for improving perception? Overall, preliminary results indicate that training with low predictability sentences provides listeners with an advantage over training with high predictability sentences . Using higher effort in training with more challenging sentences allows listeners to construct generalizable knowledge about the speech rather than relying on semantic prediction during a transcription task .

Association between marital status and number of chronic health conditions among US Latinx adults

Presenter(s): Yessenia Villalobos—Family and Human Services

Faculty Mentor(s): Elizabeth Budd

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

Background: Being married versus single is associated with better health outcomes among non- Latinx White adults, especially for men . Although rates of chronic diseases are high among Latinx adults, the association between marital status and chronic diseases among US Latinx adults is unknown . Objectives: To examine the association of marital status and number of chronic health conditions among US Latinx adults and how this association varies by gender . Methods: 798 US Latinx adults (Mage = 39 .64 ± 15 .05y; 59% female; 46% married or in a civil union; 35 .6% single) answered a Qualtrics Panels survey . Marital status, current chronic health conditions, and gender were assessed using the Demographic and Health Data Questionnaire . One-way ANOVA stratified by gender was conducted . Results: Marital status was associated with the number of chronic health conditions (p< .001); respondents who were not married, but in a relationship had significantly fewer chronic health conditions than those married or in a civil union . Additionally, those widowed had significantly more chronic health conditions than those single and those not married, but in a relationship . Among women, those not married, but in a relationship had fewer chronic conditions than those married or in a civil union (p< .05) . Among men, those single and those not married, but in a relationship had fewer chronic health conditions than those married or in a civil union (p< .001) . Conclusions: Across genders among Latinx adults, not being married was associated with fewer chronic health conditions, inconsistent with literature on non-Latinx White adults . Health promotion efforts could target married Latinx adults .

Global Perspectives on Wide Scale Outbreaks

Presenter(s): Kira Veselka—Business Administration, International Studies, German

Co-Presenter(s): Meama Scott

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

With many modern viruses and bacteria becoming increasingly more deadly, how countries react to disease outbreaks becomes more crucial than ever . With the recent Coronavirus epidemic beginning in Wuhan, China, spreading across the globe, we are able to watch first-hand how modern industrialized societies react to massive viral outbreaks . In this research project, we examine how countries such as China, the United States of America, Germany, and Sweden react to a massive viral outbreak and how what they do to protect their citizens from these deadly diseases interacts with existing narratives of prejudice against certain countries or segments of their population . Examining and evaluating public news media in China, Germany, Sweden and the USA we find that large-scale outbreaks can affect the public’s perspective on the perceived ‘Other’ and push narratives of fear promoting confusion and misunderstanding . A country can take a number of precautions from only warning the public and suggesting enhanced hygiene practices to quarantining large segments of its population in an effort to prevent a more significant outbreak . Which measures are taken affects public opinion and could save or stifle the efforts to contain diseases . Our research ultimately promotes ongoing efforts of overcoming narratives of prejudice and fear which and contributes to progress in the prevention of disease .

Demographic Differences between Mothers with and without Substance Use Disorders

Presenter(s): Avery Turner—Psychology, Political Science

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

The present study investigates the demographic differences between mothers with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) (n=67) and mothers without (n=84) . The data was collected as part of a larger study that found significant differences in brain reward activation between the two groups when looking at happy and sad faces of their own and unknown infants . Age of the mother, ethnicity, mother’s education level, employment, annual family income, and marital status were collected from each participant in both groups via a self-report questionnaire . The two groups were compared on each of these measures using an independent samples t-test . The differences between the non-substance abusing and substance abusing groups on all of these variables, except for age, was statistically significant . This finding indicates that brain activation results need to be adjusted for these
factors, in order to determine differences solely related to drug use . Further, it may imply that these demographic variables are themselves risk factors for the development of SUDs . More research must be done with demographically similar control mothers in order to conclude that differences between the two groups are the result of SUD status and not confounded by significant demographic differences .

Vices in the Middle East: Censorship and Substance Control Laws in Dubai

Presenter(s): Gabriel Tsui—Journalism

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

Gambling, alcohol, and pornography are restricted in a variety of ways across the Middle East . The predominant religion within the region—Islam—forbids anything that can be considered “shameful, indecent, evil, rebellious, and oppressive” according to the Quran and, given Islam’s influence over the Middle Eastern sphere, has heavily influenced state laws governing activities seen as unethical . However, the growth of the tourism industry, particularly in countries like the United Arab Emirates, has contributed to greater tolerance of these culturally taboo activities . This project will show that tourism can be considered a significant factor contributing to the relaxation of laws governing censorship and the control of regulated substances through the examination of international news media such Al Jazeera, AP, Reuters, and reports and statistics on tourism in Dubai, as well as the United Arab Emirates’ most recent penal code to trace the most recent trends and establish a link between the tourism industry and drinking laws . Additionally, I will also conduct interviews with Arab exchange students at the University of Oregon to trace shifting public opinion on the issue . Ultimately, my research may help predict if the trend of liberalization and relaxation of laws could indicate a future of greater social freedom for the people of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates .