Older, Wiser, Novice: Nontraditional Students and Collegiate Forensics

There is a growing trend in nontraditional college student enrollments in the United States. Due to the constraints on nontraditional students’ time, they are often unable to spend as much time on campus as traditional students and to fully partake in campus life. Co-curricular activities, such as forensics, can be time consuming activities which may seem like an impossible fit for their already busy schedules. Because there are a growing number of nontraditional students, it is worth researching how much of what we do in the forensic community assumes that our students are only part of a traditional student body. This study uses ethnography and participant interviews to explore the experiences of nontraditional students in forensics

You\u27ve Got Mail: Identity Perceptions based on Email Usernames

This study explores the idea that email recipients use the email username of the sender as a mediated cue to make basic assumptions of the identity of the sender. For this study 215 participants completed self-report surveys asking their perceptions of a fictional work group member including sex, age, race, and work productivity. Most participants were able to create a basic identity of their fictitious group member based solely on their email username

Selling Gender: Gender Role Portrayals in Contemporary Magazine Advertisements

This study presents a content analysis of gender role portrayals and male and female objectification in contemporary magazine advertisements. A total of fifteen magazines were analyzed from a two month period to determine if gender role portrayals have changed or remained the same as earlier studies. The first analysis looks at product categories most and least often advertised by male or female models. The second analysis looks at the sexual portrayals in magazine advertisements and the rate of objectification of male and female models

Older, Wiser, Novice: An Autoethnographic Study of Nontraditional Students\u27 Participation in Collegiate Forensics

There is a growing trend in nontraditional college student enrollments in the United States. Older, nontraditional students are currently the majority on many college campuses. Due to the constraints on nontraditional students\u27 time, they are often unable to spend as much time on campus as traditional students and are unable to fully partake in campus life and socialization. Cocurricular activities, such as collegiate forensics, can be time consuming activities which for nontraditional students, especially those who have children, may seem like an impossible fit for their already busy schedules. Because college demographics continue to change and there are a growing number of nontraditional students as part of the student body, it is worth researching how much of what we do in the forensic community assumes that our students are only part of a traditional student body. In order to accomplish this, I used an autoethnographic approach along with participant interviews to obtain data concerning nontraditional students\u27 participation in forensics. Four major themes emerged from the analyzed data: reasons for forensic involvement; assimilation and initial feelings; conflicting emotions concerning participation; and the nontraditional experience. From this data, I was able to offer conclusions, recommendations, and areas for future research

Sensitivity of the regional ocean acidification and carbonate system in Puget Sound to ocean and freshwater inputs

While ocean acidification was first investigated as a global phenomenon, coastal acidification has received significant attention in recent years, as its impacts have been felt by different socio-economic sectors (e.g., high mortality of shellfish larvae in aquaculture farms). As a region that connects land and ocean, the Salish Sea (consisting of Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Georgia) receives inputs from many different sources (rivers, wastewater treatment plants, industrial waste treatment facilities, etc.), making these coastal waters vulnerable to acidification. Moreover, the lowering of pH in the Northeast Pacific Ocean also affects the Salish Sea, as more acidic waters get transported into the bottom waters of the straits and estuaries. Here, we use a numerical ocean model of the Salish Sea to improve our understanding of the carbonate system in Puget Sound; in particular, we studied the sensitivity of carbonate variables (e.g., dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, pH, saturation state of aragonite) to ocean and freshwater inputs. The model is the updated version of our FVCOM-ICM framework (Finite Volume Community Ocean Model coupled to the water-quality model CE-QUAL-ICM), now with carbonate-system and sediment modules. Sensitivity experiments altering concentrations at the open boundaries and freshwater sources indicate that not only ocean conditions entering the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but also the dilution of carbonate variables by freshwater sources, are key drivers of the carbonate system in Puget Sound. This work is an update from our presentation in the Salish Sea Conference 2016, showing the final results from our model experiments

Salish Sea model: ocean acidification module and the response to regional anthropogenic nutrient sources

Several monitoring programs indicate the presence of lower pH and related changes in carbonate system variables in the Salish Sea. This project expands the existing Salish Sea Model to evaluate carbonate system variables. This project quantifies the influences of regional nutrient sources on acidification. The model accounts for Pacific Ocean upwelled water, regional human nutrient contributions, and air emissions around the Salish Sea. This effort also identifies geographical areas and seasons experiencing greater influence from regional sources of nutrients to Salish Sea waters. Results from this effort indicate that increased dissolved inorganic nitrogen, phytoplankton biomass, and non-algal organic carbon caused by regional anthropogenic nutrient sources can constitute significant contributors to acidification in the Salish Sea

An overview of the Salish Sea model: existence of reflux mixing and recurring hypoxia

An improved version of a diagnostic hydrodynamic and biogeochemical model (nutrients, phytoplankton, carbon, dissolved oxygen, pH) of the Salish Sea has been developed with the ability to simulate characteristic circulation and water quality features. Notable improvements include expansion of the model domain beyond the Salish Sea, encompassing Vancouver Island and out to the continental shelf boundary. In this talk we present an overview of the model setup describing the model domain coverage, modeling framework, development of boundary conditions, and tidal, riverine, wastewater, and meteorological inputs. Ability of the model to reproduce known circulation features within the Salish Sea is highlighted. The existence of a strong circulation cell between Admiralty Inlet and Tacoma Narrows sills is discussed reflecting on the implications of reflux flow back into Central Puget Sound. Simulation of sediment diagenesis processes and coupling to the water column provides improved model performance that is responsive to land based and oceanic nutrient loads. This coupling is also credited with the improvements in simulation of hypoxia in selected sub-basins within the Salish Sea such as Hood Canal, Penn Cove, and East Sound. Using tidally averaged velocity profiles from the Salish Sea Model, we demonstrate that Hood Canal sub-basin, with a sill near the mouth, a deep channel configuration, and a freshwater source at its landward end, behaves like a classic-fjord. The dominant and notable feature is that circulation and exchange in the inner basin of Hood Canal occurs in the upper 40% of the water column while the lower 60% remains poorly mixed and relatively isolated from the exchange. This results in conditions well suited for the settling of organic matter and long residence times \u3e230 days, and causes recurring hypoxia in the inner regions of Hood Canal in late fall

Atypical Retinal Phenotype in a Patient With Alström Syndrome and Biallelic Novel Pathogenic Variants in ALMS1, Including a de novo Variation

Alström syndrome (ALMS) is a rare autosomal recessive multi-organ syndrome considered to date as a ciliopathy and caused by variations in ALMS1. Phenotypic variability is well-documented, particularly for the systemic disease manifestations; however, early-onset progressive retinal degeneration affecting both cones and rods (cone-rod type) is universal, leading to blindness by the teenage years. Other features include cardiomyopathy, kidney dysfunction, sensorineural deafness, and childhood obesity associated with hyperinsulinemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Here, we present an unusual and delayed retinal dystrophy phenotype associated with ALMS in a 14-year-old female, with affected cone function and surprising complete preservation of rod function on serial electroretinograms (ERGs). High-throughput sequencing of the affected proband revealed compound heterozygosity with two novel nonsense variations in the ALMS1 gene, including one variant of de novo inheritance, an unusual finding in autosomal recessive diseases. To confirm the diagnosis in the context of an unusually mild phenotype and identification of novel variations, we demonstrated the biallelic status of the compound heterozygous variations (c.[286C > T];[1211C > G], p.[(Gln96*)];[(Ser404*)]). This unique case extends our knowledge of the phenotypic variability and the pathogenic variation spectrum in ALMS patients