Recent Submissions

  • Massachusetts Residents’ Proximity To Bridges

    Luna, Marcos; Elbeleidy, Hallah (2022-06-13)
    The state of infrastructure across the United States has received increasing scrutiny over the past decade. Bridges are of considerable concern because of their critical role in supporting our reliance on vehicular transportation for moving people and goods across short and long distances. As the nation’s stock of bridges ages, a systematic program for preservation and investment is needed. Periodic bridge inspections are conducted to identify and prioritize the rehabilitation of bridges in poor condition; these bridges are referred to as structurally deficient. “While structurally deficient bridges are not inherently unsafe, they require substantial investment in the form of replacement or significant rehabilitation, and they present higher risk for future closure or weight restrictions” (2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure for bridges). The following report offers a deeper understanding of the state of bridges, with a focus on structurally deficient bridges, and their connection to the residents of Massachusetts. It presents an equity analysis to determine if certain populations of people reside closer to bridges with structural deficiency. We consider how minority, low-income, and English-isolated populations fare in comparison to the general population regarding proximity to five different categories of bridges—three structural conditions and two operational conditions.
  • Aversion To Vaccination

    Gordon, Ethel; Scott, Kay; Brino, Franshesca; Tufts, Sam (2021-01-01)
  • Disease Eliminated By Vaccines

    Gordon, Ethel; Chambers, Tianna; Garcia, Jarelle; Palumbo, Jodi (2021-01-01)
  • Importance Of Vaccines

    Gordon, Ethel; Guerrero, Amanda; Pokharel, Rejina (2021-01-01)
  • The People Here: Interrogating Indigenous Dispossession Of The Land Occupied By Salem State University

    Valens, Keja; Cook, Jessica; Drew, Hannah (2021-01-01)
    The People Here is a digital exhibit (http://di.salemstate.edu/trespassers/exhibits/show/thepeoplehere/introduction) about the Indigenous people of the land currently occupied by Salem State University. Born from a desire to create a meaningful, nuanced land acknowledgment for our university community, this project examines the varied and complex narratives told by both Native and nonnative historians, scholars, storytellers, and community members about the colonization and subsequent Indigenous dispossession of the people of Naumkeag, or, as the land is known today, Salem, Massachusetts. We present some of these narratives in our timeline, which offers a glimpse into the lives of the original people of Dawnland, beginning at the end of the last ice age, some twenty thousand years ago. As the timeline moves toward the 16th and 17th centuries, when the European colonists arrived on Turtle Island, our scope narrows to the people of Naumkeag and their kin as they are affected by colonial encroachment. Because The People Here is modeled on the Indigenous theory of survivance—resisting extinction narratives by contributing to an active sense of Native presence—the timeline continues to the present day. By telescoping into the present and future, our timelines also underscores that colonization is ongoing and its effects are ever-present.
  • Why Are Some Vaccines More Effective?

    Gordon, Ethel; Joseph, Lodtz; Ploeun, Wendy; Pappas, Alexandra (2021-01-01)