Category: 2022

Reopening wounds: Processing Korean Cultural Trauma in Park Chan-wook’s Revenge Trilogy

Presenter: Emma Koontz − Planning Public Policy and Management

Faculty Mentor(s): Ulrick Casimir

Session: (Virtual) Oral Panel—Read, Speak and Act, Poster Presentation

The democratic reforms of the 1987 June 29 Declaration opened the floodgates for Korean New Wave films. The repeal of censorship regulations gave Korean filmmakers the autonomy to actualize their creative vision for the first time since Japanese colonialism. The result were films that grappled with the trauma of eighty years of colonialism, war, and authoritarian dictatorship through biting political commentary. This study explores Park Chan-wook’s representation of 한 (han) Korean cultural trauma in his New Wave films Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. Literature on trauma, film, and Korean history was reviewed and combined with film analysis to explain Chan-wook’s critique of revenge fantasies and conscious and unconscious ignorance. His films demonstrate that the only way to heal한 is to acknowledge and accept all wrongdoing, even one’s own, and mourn the consequences of the atrocities. While 한 is specific to Koreans, cultural trauma is not. From the effects of Apartheid in South Africa, the Rwandan Genocide, the legacy of slavery and ongoing atrocities committed against BIPOC Americans, the ubiquity of cultural trauma makes the lessons in Chan-wook’s works of paramount importance. While resolution of trauma is never final, Chan-wook’s films are both a guideline and a performance on how cultures can begin to heal in the face of moral atrocities.

Does plant community diversity change with terrain steepness in southwestern Oregon?

Presenter: Delaney Kleiner − Biology, Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Lucas Silva, Brooke Hunter

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

Southwestern Oregon is characterized by complex patterns of plant communities across environmental gradients. Previous research has found the structure and composition of vegetation to be related to the complex geology of this region. In this study, we explore the relation between topography and plant communities by asking if and how vegetation changes across ridgelines of varying steepness. We selected six ridgelines with a gradient of slope steepness (steep to gentle) in Rabbit Mountain, Riddle, Oregon and used quadrat and line-point intercept techniques to quantify vegetation cover by species at each site. We assessed the differences and similarities between plant communities with NMDS (non-metric multidimensional scaling) analysis. We found plant communities on steep ridgelines are significantly different than communities on gentle ridgelines. Studying how landscapes exist in relation to vegetation deepens our understanding of the connectedness of Earth’s processes, emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of environmental science, and further informs forestry management practices in a time of increasing climate change.

Evaluating Sources of Zinc Contamination within Eugene-Springfield Waterways

Presenter: Charlotte Klein − Environmental Science, Spatial Data Science and Technology

Faculty Mentor(s): Matt Polizzotto

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

Stormwater runoff occurs when rainfall encounters impervious surfaces such as pavement and rooftops, instead of being absorbed into the ground. As runoff travels over these surfaces, pollutants are picked up and eventually make their way into natural waterways. In the Eugene-Springfield metro area, a specific stormwater pollutant of concern is zinc, which has been notably rising in local ambient water quality measurements taken by the city of Eugene over the past 20 years. As such, the causes and extent of elevated zinc levels within waterways in the Eugene-Springfield metro area are the focus of this study. Using 2019 as a case study year, data aggregation revealed similar zinc concentration patterns within the waterways of Springfield and Eugene. Literature review and spatial analysis identified zinc-based moss control products, tire and brake wear, and industrial discharges, as likely sources of zinc to the environment. This work adds to the understanding of municipal stormwater pollution in the Pacific Northwest and can lead to informed strategies for minimizing zinc loading to the environment.

The effects of ovariectomy and soy diet on vascular function in female C57BL6 mice

Presenter: Aleena Khurana − Human Physiology

Faculty Mentor(s): Ashley Walker, Mackenzie Kehmeier

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Stimuli and Response

As people begin to live longer, studying age-related disease becomes more important. Age is a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a prominent neurodegenerative disease, and other cardiovascular diseases; Females develop AD at much higher rates and all signs point to sex hormones. Estrogen drastically decreases post menopause, and it has been suggested that estrogen deficiency is a contributing factor to the sex differences seen in AD and other age-related diseases. The vascular system plays an important role in aging. A characteristic of aging in the vascular system is stiffening of larger arteries. Large artery stiffening is detrimental due to the increase in pulse pressure and stress associated with stiffening. Decreased estrogen activity results in increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), causing tissue damage and dysfunction. Elevated ROS and oxidative stress increase inflammation in the brain, further explaining the potential effects estrogen loss has in relation to such diseases. Soy also has been seen to be a protective factor against symptoms of age-related disease due to its role as a phytoestrogen, thus showing the potential importance of soy. This study aimed to explore the effects of estrogen depletion post menopause and the effects of a soy diet in relation with estrogen loss. We utilized a mouse model including ovariectomies to mimic estrogen loss post menopause and studied cognitive function, motor coordination, and vascular function.

The Effectiveness of MRI in Diagnosing Osteoarthritis as Compared to Evaluative Cadaveric Dissection

Presenter: Katherine Kennedy − Human Physiology

Faculty Mentor(s): Jon Runyeon

Session: (In-Person) ) Oral Panel—Neuron & Cognition

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the leading cause for chronic disability in the U.S, affecting over 32 million adults nationwide. Although there is no cure for the age-related disease, early detection and diagnosis is crucial in providing individuals with treatment that will improve joint function, health, and overall quality of life. With what is often said to be the gold standard of OA diagnosis, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), researchers have studied the tool’s methodological accuracy through comparing it to other widely used instruments, such as X-rays. However, all imaging methods offer indirect visualization of the pathological condition, whereas analysis of the joint cartilage itself would offer a direct way of evaluating the disease. The purpose of this study was to assess MRI effectiveness in the diagnosis of osteoarthritis through visualization of common pathological features in the knee both indirectly, using MRI, and directly through evaluative dissection of the cadaveric knee joint. It is hypothesized that the observations and measurements drawn from the direct dissection of the joints will convey clearer indications of OA and the true grade of its severity more so than MRI will through the minimal OA evidence picked up indirectly through magnetic signals. This will dismiss MRI as the gold standard for OA diagnosis and will pave the way for future research on discovering new, effective methods for early detection and accurate diagnosis of the common joint disease.

Legal Reasonability and The ‘Gay Panic’ Defense

Presenter: Kelly Keith − English

Faculty Mentor(s): Dr. José Cortez, Dr. Faith Barter

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—HURF

On May 13th, 2021, Senate Bill 704 was passed in Oregon. The bill banned the use of the ‘Gay Panic’ defense, an affirmative defense that could reduce a murder charge to manslaughter if the defendant was found to commit murder under “extreme emotional disturbance” onset by the victim’s perceived homosexuality. The Gay Panic defense reinforces anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric that those who identify as LGBTQ+ deserve less legal and social protection than those who identify as heterosexual. The defense is still permitted in 33 states.

In criminal proceedings, a defendant’s culpability is assessed by a legal fiction known as the Reasonable Person Standard (RPS) which establishes a supposedly objective standard of behavior based upon how a hypothetical person would exercise conduct in a given situation. Thus, if the RPS is founded on a fictive approach to reasonability, how does reasonability itself, as a discursive practice exemplified in the RPS, produce legal practices that affect LGBTQ+ in Oregon? I explore State v. Hayse through archival, ethnographic, and historiographic research methods in order to consider how the RPS functions within the case. I propose a full abolition of the ‘Gay Panic’ defense federally, a reassessment of the RPS through patterned jury instruction, and the necessity of revealing previously hidden narratives to provide the framework of how the law has historically understood the dignity, legal personhood, and liberty of People of Color, Women, and LGBTQ+ folk.

Nitrogen Fixing Symbionts: Legume Survival and Coexistence in Warming California Grasslands

Presenter: Natalie Kataoka − Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Carmen Ebel, Ashley Shaw Adams

Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Fuel, Fire, Grass and Compost

For the past 200 years, non-native species have been anthropogenically introduced in California grasslands, reducing native species abundance and diversity. Trifolium hirtum is a non-native legume commonly used for cattle fodder and cover cropping because of its ability to fix nitrogen via rhizobial symbionts. T. hirtum currently coexists with California native legume Trifolium willdenovii in established communities, however, T. hirtum has the potential to outcompete T. willdenovii under increased environmental stress, such as that caused by climate change. Considering how symbiotic rhizobia contribute to these Trifolium species’ ability to coexist or compete with other species, as well as how climate change alters these interactions, is essential for understanding potential impacts on native biodiversity and how important forage species react to changing climate conditions.

I tested 1) how rhizobial symbionts contributed to the ability of a native and a non-native legume to coexist with each other and other species in the community. And 2) how drought influences competitive relationships between the two legumes. For both non-native T. hirtum and native T. willdenovii, I measured rhizobia nodule mass, seeded background count, weed species counts, and weighed the aboveground biomass on individuals grown under drought and ambient precipitation treatments. On average, there were no differences in the mass of rhizobia nodules by species, however there was an observed correlation between the biomass and nodule mass of uninoculated background T. willdenovii. Drought positively impacted the biomass of background T. hirtum individuals, however drought treatments negatively affected focal T. hirtum biomass compared to ambient precipitation. Drought had no significant effect on focal T. willdenovii biomass.

Radiation Trapping in Alkali Atoms

Presenter: Samuel Karlson − Physics

Faculty Mentor(s): Brian Patterson

Session: (Virtual) Oral Panel—Inner Space and Internet

We used a Monte Carlo computer algorithm to simulate the effects of radiation trapping in a potassium vapor cell with nitrogen and helium buffer gases. Understanding the effects of radiation trapping is important in applications such as the creation of gas lasers or the validation of atomic models. For example, the impacts of radiation trapping are significant when scaling diode-pumped alkali lasers (DPAL) to high powers. Simulations were made for buffer gas pressures as high as 1000 torr and cell temperatures as high as 200°C. A variety of cell geometries was studied. We used experimental data to validate our simulations. In the experiment, a femtosecond laser pulse excited potassium atoms along the D2 absorption line and the resulting fluorescence was observed as a function of time. An exponential fit of these points determined the excited state lifetime. A comparison of the statistical model and experimental results will be discussed.

Development of new uroflowmetry techniques for pediatric patients

Presenter: Myrriah Jones − Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Molly Jud, Edouard Hay

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

Uroflowmetry measures data points like the max and average flow rate, volume, and duration of urination. Pediatric urologists use uroflowmetry to aid in diagnosing disorders of the urinary system like pediatric voiding dysfunction, a disorder that affects the sphincter control of the urethra.

Our purpose is to create a cost-effective tool for urologists to use to collect these data points more frequently and more accurately, in a more comfortable environment for patients. We used a combination of machine learning techniques and audio recordings of simulated urinations to train an algorithm to accurately predict the data points in people who urinate in a standing position. The data from the simulated urinations had similar trends in the data as the machine learning predictions and could reasonably work as a tool for urologists. By having a tool like this app, we can work towards increasing accessibility for necessary medical testing and improve both the accuracy and precision of uroflowmetry testing which helps provide better differential diagnoses and proper treatment to pediatric patients with similar symptoms yet distinct disorders.

How Cooler Temperatures Affect Scavenger Visitation and Decomposition of Sows

Presenter: Laila Johansson − Biology

Co-Presenter(s): Breanna Johnston

Faculty Mentor(s): Richard Glover

Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation

Taphonomy is the study of what happens to an organism’s remains after death, and it can provide information on many factors, including what facets affect decay, determining the post-mortem interval, organismal interactions with the remains, etc. Lane Community College has a “taphonomy lab” comprising of 7 hog carcasses placed at different times and locations. This study analyzed 3 out of the 7 hogs over 18 weeks, from October to February, to see how cooler temperatures and scavengers may affect the rate of decay. 2 of the 3 hogs were placed in July 2021, and 1 was placed in November 2021. Trail cameras monitored the subjects and were used to examine animal visitation and the progression of decay. Average daily temperatures were recorded via the Eugene Weather Station. We hypothesized that as the temperature decreased, scavenger prevalence would increase, and the hogs’ decomposition rates would fall. Data showed decreased average daily temperatures and increased animal visitation as the study progressed, with a correlation coefficient of -0.6 between them. This allowed us to acknowledge the hypothesis as fairly well supported. Comparison of the decay of the July 2021 hogs to the November 2021 hog showed that the November hog was less decomposed at the 2.5 post-mortem mark than the July hogs were at their 2.5 post-mortem mark. Because of this, we assume the lower temperatures influenced the decreased decomposition rate. Scavengers may have aided in aspects of the hogs’ decay.