Stander Symposium: All projects - 2024

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  Exploring Accessibility in Education: Are we creating Equal Learning Opportunities for Students with Disabilities?

  Grace Marie Van Atta

  It was only in 1959 that laws requiring education for children with disabilities started to appear. Since then, numerous laws have been put into effect to provide these students the adequate instruction and skills support needed to succeed in school. The accessibility of schools vary between rural, suburban, and urban schools. Different access to professional development for teachers, funding for students with disabilities, and the effects of Covid have impacted accessibility in education. This review aims to look at these factors and their effects on accessibility in education and thus the education that students with disabilities are receiving.

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  Exploring Influencing Factors of Body Image and their Impact on Mental Well-being

  Lauren Marina Santiago

  Body Image has been described as the mental picture an individual has of themselves. How an individual perceives their shape and size can be directly related to their self-esteem. Those who experience body dissatisfaction have also been found to experience symptoms of depression or anxiety. The goal of this research project is to explore the underlying factors that can influence body image, and how experiencing distorted body image can impact mental well-being.

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  Exploring Neural Circuitry and Purkinje Cell Changes Underlying Cerebellum-Dependent Motor Abnormalities in Down Syndrome

  Amelia Rhyne Moore

  Down syndrome (DS) is a commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder and is caused by the triplication of human chromosome 21 (Trisomy 21). Individuals with DS have a broad range of behavioral deficits in cognitive and motor domains. From previous studies, it has been found that the cerebellum- a region of the brain that is critical for locomotor learning and coordination- has altered developmental trajectory in DS. This includes atypical development of purkinje cells (PCs) which are the sole output neurons for the cerebellar cortex that impacts locomotor behavior. We will use the Ts65Dn model to look at the abnormal brain development and compare the results to euploid mouse brains as the control. Previous studies have shown that these inputs are important for proper motor learning. However, it is unknown if the motor deficits in DS are caused by altered synaptic input in the PCs. The aims of my research include- 1.) define potential changes of PCs in a mouse model of DS by using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and 2.) define gait abnormalities using locomotor learning tasks- ErasmusLadder and RotaWheel. Future experiments will be targeted towards continuing to make connections between the circuitry and behavioral tests to advance the understanding of DS.

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  Exploring Rhetoric: Insights from Bacon & Nichols

  Zack Rocco, Emma Sawchuk, Jessica Schad

  Rhetoric drawing on religious stories, ideals, concepts, and experiences surround us in our daily lives. These posters represent a sampling of the rhetorical analyses conducted by students from CMM 357 Religious Rhetoric throughout the Spring 2024 semester. Groups presented several themed reports prior to Stander and picked one to showcase at the symposium.

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  Exploring the effects of anaerobic propionate exposure on the cell wall of Listeria monocytogenes

  Elizabeth K. Herr, Angela J. Murrin, Troy D. Reisner, Jeanne Paula Escalante Sering

  Listeria monocytogenes is a food borne pathogen that causes serious infection, especially in immunocompromised, elderly, and infant populations. The gram-positive facultative anaerobe is exposed to many different conditions during its path of infection, and studying its ability to survive in these conditions can be helpful in learning how to prevent its spread. Anaerobic propionate exposure is frequent during Listeria transmission and infection but little is known about the ways in which Listeria fitness is impacted. To investigate Listeria fitness, we first measured cell morphology by comparing cell length to width ratio between bacteria grown with or without propionate. To further look into cell wall homeostasis, we also tested lysozyme susceptibility, peptidoglycan synthesis, and cell surface charge. We found that exposure to propionate changes the length to width ratio of Listeria cells in both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Further research discovered that propionate exposure protects Listeria from degradation by lysozyme under anaerobic but not aerobic conditions. Tests for peptidoglycan synthesis and cell surface charge can provide further insight into reasons for the change in cell morphology. Overall, the impact of anaerobic propionate exposure on Listeria indicates changes in its cell wall but further research is necessary to understand the full implications.

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  Exploring the Impact of Parenting Styles on Juvenile Interpersonal Violence

  Kassandra L. Correa, Odyssey Marie Oehme

  1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced physical violence from an intimate partner. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men (NCADV, 2023). The root of this problem can be found in different ways. Depending on who the offender is, who the victim is, the individual's background, and mental issues all influence this kind of behavior. Although it might be difficult for some to understand how one can physically abuse another and claim that they love them, this presentation specifically offers a different view into interpersonal violence and the relation between the different parenting styles. That is, if there is any role of parenting styles in influencing children to become future offenders involved in dating violence. Starting from a young age, what experiences and trauma led one to become future offenders? The objective is to discover if there is a connection. It is important to study the data, using the Pathways to Desistance, in order to come to a conclusion as to what triggers this kind of behavior and stop it before it happens and not after it has already occurred. This presentation will review the previous literature on theories, studies, and data about interpersonal violence to uncover what, if anything, is missing.

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  Exploring the Role of Social Support in Juvenile Recidivism.

  Jose Yeriel Antonio Urena, Caroline E. Majors

  There is existing research that supports the idea of social supports acting as a criminal deterrent. Therefore, the current research project took a sample from the Pathways to Desistance research study of 1354 juvenile offenders, ages 14-18, and created a negative binomial regression to study the participants’ self-reported offending as they are associated with other factors. The current research in Model 1 is studying whether familial or non-familial social support, and the depth of those supports, has an impact on the frequency of offending in the past year. Furthermore, the research in Model 2 is looking at the models of social support in addition to demographic factors and peer influence to see if there was an impact on frequency of offending. Models 1 and 2 were both included in separate tables for each dependent variable, one for the frequency of offending including drug offenses, and one for frequency of offending excluding drug offenses. The results of Model 1 show that more non-familial social support was associated with higher amounts of offending. The results also showed that depth of social support exhibited a significant negative correlation, indicating that greater support depth, or the depth of support a caring adult gave to the participant, was associated with lower offending frequency. In Model 2, antisocial behavior from peers demonstrated a highly significant positive correlation with offending. Antisocial influence from peers showed a positive correlation associated with offending including drug crimes, and a negative correlation with offending excluding drug crimes, but both without statistical significance. Demographically, higher ages were associated with higher offending frequency, the female gender was associated with lower offending frequency, and ethnicity was found statistically insignificant. These findings suggest nuanced relationships between social support, demographic factors, peer delinquency, and offending behavior, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of this phenomenon.

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  Exposure to Violence and Abuse: The Impacts of Juvenile Trauma on Mental Health

  Flordeliz Lapso, Jayden A. Lewis

  Increasing focus on juvenile mental health creates a need for explanatory methods over the causes, to better inform treatments. Two populations of interest are those with childhood exposure to violence and those in contact with the criminal justice system. This research study examines how exposure to violence and trauma affects mental health and life satisfaction in juveniles. We employed the Pathways to Desistance dataset to evaluate hypotheses informed by literature across multiple disciplines. We gathered dependent and independent variables that follow logically from findings in our literature review. Two forms of regression analysis test the association between the dependent and independent variables. The results demonstrate correlations between specific subject characteristics and the likelihood of victimization, severity of mental illness, and the cumulative impact on future success and satisfaction with life. More specifically we found that if you are a female or you have been exposed to higher levels of victimization you are more likely to have a high severity of illness and be more depressed. This work presents our findings in two contextual studies from distinct perspectives. The two different perspectives allow for the discussions of how we can tackle issues that are mentioned above. If we understand what is happening in the criminal justice system, specifically the jails, and how individuals are impacted by the environments they live in will allow the necessary changes to happen.

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  Facility Data Business Operations Improvement

  Matthew Gordon Adkins, Glenn Malvin Koranteng, Emilee H. Pham

  MIS and OPS Senior Capstone Projects include small teams of 3 or 4 senior students working weekly with a company/organization to solve a real business problem. These projects extend for the complete undergrad senior year including both Fall and Spring semesters. Students act as Project Consultants and Managers to guide the project from inception until conclusion by delivering solutions and deliverables to the client. Students produce project documentation and formal presentations at multiple stages of the project and conclude with presentations to the supporting Client's Leadership Team.

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  Factors That Create Positive Outcomes for Encounters with Frontline Workers

  Leonard Patrick Zaleski III

  Frontline public service workers (street-level bureaucrats) provide the most critical services to our most vulnerable populations. Residents of various communities may only interact with frontline workers instead of upper-level public servants throughout their lives, meaning that these public servants are crucial to the positive perception of their agencies, departments, and entire government. This creates a need to understand what factors can produce a positive outcome, both for the frontline workers and the residents they interact with. To understand what creates positive experiences, a comprehensive literature review of recent research from two of the top journals in public administration will be examined to determine what creates positive encounters with frontline workers for local residents.

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  Failure modes of silver versus gallium-alloy conductive traces at flex-to-stretch interfaces

  Josafat Jimenez

  Traces made from a conductive liquid-metal ink are blade coated onto a Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) substrate for flexible and stretchable applications. The same process is used for a silver flake composite ink to compare with liquid-metal samples. Uniaxial strain is applied to the samples to test resistance response of 2 mm-wide traces for both inks to investigate electrical loss and failure modes. Results show 10x increase from initial resistance at strains of 15% for silver composite inks and 140% for liquid-metal inks on average. The failure mode of the silver composite is attributed to intrinsic material loss under strain while failure for liquid-metal inks is due to localized strain at the interface between TPU and polyimide. Bilayer traces with both inks exhibit both positive ink qualities, showing silver-like initial resistance and liquid-metal-like strain tolerance. Finally, using a softer substrate of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) demonstrates higher straintolerance than TPU, without plastic deformation and lower resting state resistance creep after cycling.

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  Fatigue Limiting Behavior of LPBF Parts (AM Process Improvement)

  Luke Lowell Weston

  This study investigates the fatigue limiting behavior in aerospace alloys, focusing on the role of Critical Resolved Shear Stress (CRSS) in determining fatigue limits. Initially targeting Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64) for four-point bending fatigue bars using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), challenges with contaminated Ti64 powder led to a shift to martensitic 17-4PH stainless steel (17-4 stainless). The research explores the impact of CRSS on fatigue limits, emphasizing its importance over slip systems per Mlikota's findings. Surface roughness analysis of the 17-4 stainless bars revealed a consistently higher average roughness, sharpness of peaks and valleys, and most importantly depth of valleys on the as-built side compared to the cut side. xCT scanning showed a 99.02% density obtained from the “high quality” parameter set, which would be suitable for many structural applications. However, the ordered networks of pores along the hatching suggest that material from this parameter set could never be considered airworthy due to the high surface area to volume ratio/surface energy. The manufacturers "normal" parameter set yielded 99.99% dense bars as measured by xCT, which is better than most castings.This research contributes to the understanding of the importance of CRSS in aerospace structural design and the fatigue limiting behavior of aerospace-relevant alloys. The findings emphasize the need for further investigation into the relationship between CRSS, slip systems, and the design of materials with infinite fatigue lives. With a proper understanding of the influence of CRSS on fatigue limiting behavior, it may be possible to develop aerospace alloys with infinite fatigue lives, greatly lowering maintenance costs.

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  Feature Selection in Reinforcement Learning

  Shruti Ajay Singh

  Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed today’s world with endless possibilities. We’ve reached a point where self-driving cars, and talking robots aren't science fiction anymore. Reinforcement learning (RL), a subset of AI, plays a crucial role in these advancements. However, as the lines between humans and machines blur, a question looms : “Can we trust AI to keep us safe and secure?”. RL unlocks the ability to learn on its own, but its learning can be manipulated making them vulnerable to adversarial attacks. Consider a self-driving car navigating a busy city street. Every lane change, signal interpretation, pedestrian interaction demands an instant decision in real-time. In an ideal world, the car receives noise-free sensory data, allowing the car to make safe decisions. However in a real-world scenario, the car is an easy target for malicious actors to manipulate the navigation system potentially leading to accidents. A threat that has severe consequences in other domains of RL applications : healthcare, transportation, finance. Therefore, achieving robustness against adversarial attacks requires a defensive framework tailored to the system’s characteristics. In this research, we address adversarial attacks on the observation state space in reinforcement learning. And we propose an entropy-based framework that detects and removes imposters by feature selection.

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  Financial sector stock returns in a rising Interest Rate Environment: An Empirical Analysis 1999-2023

  Michael James Kondritz, Ronald Joseph Marciano

  Financial economists have long assumed that a rising interest rate environment is favorable to financial institutions because they can lend out at interest rates greater than their cost of capital. In turn, this should result in higher financial sector stock returns. To test this hypothesis I look at four different time periods between 1999 and 2023 where the key Fed Funds rate has risen. I use the top 20 stocks by market cap in the financial sector to evaluate the relationship between rising Fed Fund rates and sector stock returns. A secondary objective is to see how non-bank entities faired, return wise, compared to the banks during these rising interest rate periods.

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  “Fitspirational” or Overhyped? How the Physical Persona of Fitness Influencers Affects Following Intentions

  Justin Daniel Palmer

  The social media landscape is filled with a variety of fitness influencers — experienced health and wellness proponents who post exercise-related advice and content for general audiences. Many of these influencers appear charismatic, inspirational, and well-intentioned. Yet, recent research suggests that fitness influencers may drive poor mental health outcomes by fueling negative comparisons and body shame. In turn, our research investigates what kind of fitness influencer is most appealing to consumers. Altogether, we find that relatability matters — and this is driven by the perceived attractiveness of the influencer.

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  Fixed Wavelength Interferometer Sensors for Low-Cost Chem-Bio Sensing Applications

  Jianhao Shen

  We experimentally demonstrated slow wave enhanced phase and spectral sensitivity in asymmetric Michelson interferometer sensors with a phase sensitivity of 277,750 rad/RIU-cm and theoretical phase sensitivity as high as 461,810 rad/RIU-cm. In the context of low-cost chip integrated photonic packaged sensors, in this paper we will experimentally demonstrate a method for active tuning of interferometer fringes using phase change materials that will potentially overcome fabrication-induced variation of interference fringe wavelengths, thus allowing sensor chip packaging with a fixed wavelength laser and available integrated photodetectors.

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  Flight Test Validation of Tandem Propeller Performance with Vertical and Horizontal Offset

  Jessica Caitlyn DeMoor, Michael Ryan Foster

  Tandem propellers in forward flight experience an increase in power consumption when compared to the combined output of two standalone propellers. The increment in power is a function of horizontal and vertical displacement between the propellers (including overlap), the advance ratio based on the front rotor, and the inclination angle of the rotors. This functional relationship was quantified in our previous study through experimental investigations in the University of Dayton Low Speed Wind Tunnel using two KDE propellers. All tests were conducted under trim conditions, where the pitching moment of the two propellers was balanced by increasing the RPM of the rear rotor. To validate some of the functional dependencies identified from the wind tunnel investigations, a custom quad-rotor platform was designed and fabricated to conduct a series of flight tests with various propeller configurations that replicate the parameter space explored in the earlier experimental campaign. The quad-rotor platform will utilize an 8-inch propeller to assess the flight performance at three different horizontal and vertical distances between the propellers. For each test-flight, global positioning data, motor rpm, and motor power consumption will be recorded and compared against each propeller configuration. Comparisons between the flight test data and the wind tunnel experiment results will be made.

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  Floating Constructed Wetlands keep Cyanobacteria Levels at bay

  Jacquelyn K. Amaya

  This research addresses the issue of eutrophication at the University of Dayton’s Old River Park (ORP) and measures the efficacy of the current management method, compared to an alternative management method implementing Floating Constructed Wetlands (FCWs). Our primary objective was to measure water quality of the ORP oxbow under current bimonthly copper sulfate algaecide treatment and compare it to the water quality of the oxbow water under an alternative treatment method, the FCW. To do this we sampled water quality parameters which included pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, ammonium, phosphorus, specific conductivity, total dissolved solids, and temperature in the oxbow and the treatment tanks containing oxbow water during the months of June, July and August 2023. Our treatment tanks (n=5) included tanks with just oxbow water, tanks with oxbow water plus a FCW, tanks with oxbow water with added phosphorus, and tanks with oxbow water, added phosphorus, and a FCW. We also collected plant tissue samples from plants in the oxbow as well as in treatment tanks and determined individual nutrient contents of each plant. Finally, we took samples of algae from the oxbow and from each treatment tank to identify what species of algae were present in various treatment groups. We found that across all treatments the tanks with FCWs had the lowest levels of nitrogen, which were similar to the levels of nitrate in the oxbow being treated with copper sulfate. The plant tissue samples revealed plants in the oxbow are absorbing high amounts of copper, nitrogen, and phosphorus, presumably as a result from the copper sulfate treatments. Lastly, the oxbow and treatment tanks which lacked FCWs had more harmful kinds of algae present than treatment tanks with the FCWs. These results show that FCWs would be a sustainable alternative method for treating eutrophication at ORP.

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  Flyer Enterprises Executive Team Presentation

  Macy Ellis Buck, Lauren T. Crum, Emma Louise Devine, Max Dieter Garbsch, Michael John Harsar, Connor Patrick Keefe, Blaise Patrick Knoll, Shelby Ann LaMattina, Joseph Daniel Marshall, Wyatt Timothy Winters

  Flyer Enterprises is one of the nation's largest student run businesses, located on UD's campus. Join us, while the Executive Team discusses what Flyer Enterprises is all about, the opportunities we offer, how to apply, and when FE accepts the most applicants.

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  Flyer PR Client Case Studies

  Stacy Allen, Mary K. Kelty, Caterina A. McNamara, Haley Nicole Reid

  The Flyer PR Agency is a student PR agency working with clients both on and off campus. Student account executives will present case studies from public relations campaigns completed in the past year.

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  Food Equity through Regenerative Urban Farming with Eden’s Harvest

  Tamara Tatyana Carter, Aysha M. Choudhury, Caroline Anne Cochran, Grace Marie Hungerford, Mercy M. John, Julia R. Lindenschmidt, Madeline A. McEldowney, Landry M. McVicker, Erin H. Mcgraw, Allison C. O'Gorman, Kathryn E. Riddle, Skylar Barbara Sharkey, Anastasia B. Stowers, Katelyn Monet Woodruff

  Dayton Civic Scholars (DCS) is a co-curricular program that is centered around engaging with the Greater-Dayton area and creating lasting community change. Organized through the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community, each cohort starts their sophomore year and spends time learning about the Dayton area, community activism, and civic engagement. During their senior year, the cohorts plan and execute a capstone project to work with a community partner and implement sustainable transformation in the area. The 2024 DCS cohort is working alongside Eden’s Harvest, a newly created urban farm in Dayton, to launch their organization and promote food justice around Miami Valley. Eden’s Harvest is a Black woman owned organization, started by Anita Armstead, to empower the community and focus on food sovereignty and regenerative farming in her local community. She works to grow a variety of culturally appropriate produce to distribute to minority communities. We have decided to focus on retaining volunteer support, raising money for the cause, and sustainably distributing produce. We hope to successfully support Eden’s Harvest in their newfound organization and advocate for food justice and food emancipation. Stop by our presentation to learn more about the details of our project and how you can support the mission of Eden’s Harvest!

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  Forced Abortions of the Mentally Disabled: A Case Analysis

  Maeve Clare Chawk

  Abortion is a highly contentious topic due to the mother’s health, her financial situation, and opinions from family and other loved ones. This becomes even more difficult when the fetus is diagnosed with birth defects due to social norms and hardships that are specific to taking care of a child with disabilities. However, others are committed to defending the lives of the unborn no matter the circumstances. In 2019, there was a case that arose in the United Kingdom where the mother was ruled unfit to have her child due to her child-like mental capacity and was forced to have an abortion. Yet, she was able to voice her opinion along with her family members. This case analysis will explore the perspectives of all parties involved and apply the moral principles and theories of virtue ethics, autonomy, and Natural Law Theory to argue what the correct ruling would be. Compassion and fairness should have been offered to the patient as she and her family members were willing to raise the child. This illustrates the moral principle of virtue ethics along with her own autonomy. In addition, the Natural Law Theory can be utilized to demonstrate how we have a natural inclination to support good and relieve suffering in human beings, therefore not causing a bad effect to achieve the good effect. This case poses the question whether a fetus is considered to be a person and how this impacts the ruling in this case and its future implications. In this particular case, my objection to the judge’s decision comes from the determination of who would be considered mentally unstable as this could vary tremendously. For this reason, I will argue that the wishes of the patient and her family should have been respected and the judge’s decision overruled.

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  From Blue-Gray to Blue-Green: Facilitating the Transition to Non-Plastic, Natural Material Use within the Coastal Zone Economy

  David Albrecht, Caleb Luke Frank, Adin Allen Stoller

  Funded by NOAA and in collaboration with the Baruch Marine Field Institute, this project addresses the environmental impact of non-biodegradable plastics in coastal South Carolina. It explores the mechanical and economic viability of natural materials like coir, jute, and hemp to replace plastics in critical coastal sectors that experience harsh environmental conditions. The first class of products studied was natural fiber geotextiles due to their current prominence in coastal environments. Before studying the impacts of weathering on mechanical properties, the virgin, unweathered properties must be measured and the impact of water absorption on the mechanical properties must be understood. An Instron 3365 in the UD BAMS laboratory was utilized to perform tensile testing on virgin samples according to ASTM 6818 to assess key properties including strain, Young's modulus, and tensile strength, to determine how these materials will initially behave in harsh coastal environments. Additionally, qualitative observations of the materials’ mechanical response and failure were recorded to discuss and assess material viability with environmental engineering stakeholders in South Carolina. In conjunction with this testing, samples with different relative water absorption levels were tested to understand the impact of water content on the materials’ mechanical properties. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the effects of water content on mechanical properties. Future studies will examine how coastal weathering affects mechanical, chemical, and structural properties of these materials to qualify them for use in coastal sectors. This project, merging traditional ecological knowledge and modern engineering techniques, underscores the potential for a significant paradigm shift towards sustainable material usage in coastal ecosystems, aligning with broader objectives of environmental stewardship and culturalpreservation.

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  From Pulpit to Podium: King's Leadership and Non-Violent Strategies at the March on Washington

  Andrew Thomas Casey

  What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.

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  From Tiny Tots to Wise Old Turtles: Sustaining Health and Happiness in Pet Turtles

  Victoria Scachitti

  Before bringing an aquatic turtle into one's home as a pet, it's crucial to understand the basics of proper care. There's a lot to consider, from managing expenses and setting up the right lighting to providing the correct diet, adequate space, ideal temperatures, enrichment activities, and maintaining water quality and humidity levels. All of these factors play a role in the turtle's health and how long it lives. One of the most popular pet turtle species in the USA is the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), an aquatic turtle native to the southern US known to live up to 40 years in captivity if properly cared for. However, without the right care, these turtles can face a range of health issues, such as deformed shells and bacterial and fungal infections. One common oversight among prospective turtle owners is underestimating the growth potential of their pet and failing to anticipate the need for larger living space as the turtle ages. Many start with a small tank or enclosure, not realizing that the turtle will outgrow it, leading to cramped and stressful living conditions. This oversight can have serious implications for the turtle's well-being, affecting its growth, mobility, and overall quality of life. Therefore, creating a habitat that meets all their needs and keeping up with maintenance is essential for ensuring a happy, healthy turtle that can enjoy a long life as part of the family.