Selected Projects in Costume Design

In his play Picnic, William Inge has created a study in male and female roles--or rather, the roles and types which society forces on them, and which they more frequently force on themselves. The people in this play are not conscious of their roles as roles. There is no free spirit portrayed in the attempt to throw off his or her classification. Even Madge, with her dreams of escape from the confines of small-town life, is acting in accordance with the behavior patterns of her particular genus. This play does not attack the male and female character typing which it portrays, but merely examines it through several personal interactions. As must be expected when seeking to deal with characters as types, Inge at times comes close to stereotyping his people

Follow the Leader: Edward R. Murrow’s See It Now and Contemporary Influencer Marketing

This paper explores the historical connection between influencer marketing and Edward R. Murrow. Influencer marketing is the use of an individual that has significant influence over their marketplace’s decision-making. The academic literature positions influencer marketing as an entirely new marketing practice. I argue that journalist Edward R. Murrow, the most widely known and revered news anchor of the 1950s, and his show See It Now used similar “influencer” strategies. I explore the categories of social ranking, trust, and peer-to-peer connection. For instance, during the 1950s, television programming had sponsorships from companies in exchange of promotion in the programming, and these sponsorships used Murrow’s celebrity to target specific audiences, much like modern-day influencers. Seeing the historical thread in See It Now helps us understand the origin of contemporary marketing practices as well as the ways in which new media technologies have changed influencer marketing practices

#25 - Comparing Plant Diversity on Animal Associations

Comparing Plant Diversity on Animal Associations Sean Eagan, Evan Lampert, Tom Diggs It is known that climate change has an impact on community interactions and structure. Understanding the associations between plants and animals is pivotal to begin comprehending how future communities will be impacted. Competing hypothesis, with mixed results, have been previously tested on plant diversity and their associated herbivores. Oconee State Park located in South Carolina provides a range of ecosystems for comparison and understanding the community interactions between plants and their possible herbivores. Data collected using line transects and 16 quadrants respectively from four different ecosystems occurred in July, 2019. All plant taxon was recorded along with the type of herbivory found on each plant, identification of seen arthropods and collection of ants. Statistical and comparative analysis is being done post field collection on the dynamics of the each ecosystem. The results of the analyses will either suggest that the differences in ecosystems correlate with differing community structures and associated interactions or that no difference can be detected. The outcome will look to eliminate bad hypotheses on plant diversity and associated herbivores as well as provide a comprehensive understanding of community interactions. Future data collected will be added to continue this study and turn it into long-term ecological research. These findings will contribute to further the understanding of community interactions and the structure of shifting ecosystems being altered by climate change or other anthropomorphic reasons

Shallow- water hardbottom communities support the separation of biogeographic provinces on the west- central Florida Gulf Coast

Several studies have found separation of biogeographic provinces on the West Florida Shelf (WFS), but the location of this separation differs depending on different organisms with faunal boundaries proposed at Apalachicola, Cedar Key, Anclote Key. Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Cape Romano, or Cape Sable. Biogeographic boundaries can be gradual over a given space and are often species-specific. Analyses of marine benthic mapping and community characterization of Florida’s West-central coast shallow water (depth) hardbottom habitats indicate a major shift in the benthos across Tampa Bay. Quantitative benthic surveys of 29 sites yielded a total of 4,079 individuals of nine stony coral species and 1,918 soft coral colonies. Populations were dominated by four species of corals: Siderastrea radians, Oculina robusta, Solenastrea hyades, and Cladacora arbuscula. Most corals were less than 10 cm in diameter. Cluster analyses of coral density and major functional group percent cover showed distinct differences in hard and soft coral densities and species demographics from south to north with clear spatial patterns between regions. These benthic hardbottom coral communities change over a relatively small spatial scale (10’s of km), indicating a biogeographical province or ecosystem region boundary in marine benthic communities at, or very near, the mouth of Tampa Bay. Broader studies are needed to identify the shifts in benthic community biogeography along the West Florida Shelf

The California Faculty Association: Keeping Racial and Economic Justice at the Forefront

Remarks made at the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions California Conference at California State University, Long Beach, CA on December 6, 2019

Association between wild bee communities and floral resources in the Conservation Reserve Program

Due to the significance of the plant-pollinator relationship, the loss of pollinators may impose widespread effects on plant communities. Pollinator declines raise questions for the future of agricultural productivity, food security, and human health. Due to the large diversity of the wild bee population and their essential role as pollinators of natural land and agricultural crops, implementing conservation practices are necessary to preserve decreasing populations. Previous conservation efforts have been limited to planting native flowering forbs in unused fields or hedgerows bordering farms and roadsides in order to establish sufficient floral resources. However, restored prairies have the ability to support bee richness and abundance to the level a remnant prairie can. Therefore, small patches of restored prairies may be a sanctuary and offer refuge to the diminishing bee population. Large scale habitat restoration, such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Pollinator Initiative, could increase not only the quantity of habitat for wild bees, but also the quality of the resources the bees have access to