Through packaging design, designers visually communicate the personality, feel, and quality of a product to potential consumers. When analyzing packaging in the cereal industry, there is a clear line drawn between the playful visual style of cereal targeted at children, and the mature visual style of cereal targeted at adults. Although children’s cereal products are being advertised successfully, the majority of products themselves are often high in sugar, contain artificial flavoring, and include other non-beneficial ingredients. Healthy children’s cereal products rarely receive the same level of engaging and story driven branding that competing unhealthy brands receive. Thus, unethical design standards are used to capitalize off of young children who are unable to fully comprehend advertising efforts. Rather than using design to persuade children into becoming consumers of unhealthy cereal products, the author explored the effects of these tactics when applied to a healthier alternative. She hypothesized that if influential design tactics from unhealthy cereal brands were applied to the packaging of a healthier cereal product, then children may feel visually influenced to try better-for-you options. The author gathered research related to children’s marketing tactics, used her findings to redesign a healthy cereal product, and conducted in person mini-interviews with elementary aged children to test her design against competing brands. Her primary hypothesis was supported, suggesting that children find healthier options with engaging packaging more appetizing and interesting that traditional healthy options. As a result of her study, the author hopes to highlight the importance of ethical design application, and in doing so, encourage positive change within the graphic design and children’s consumer goods industries.

This research investigates the attitudes of college-aged students towards the COVID-19 vaccine. The prediction is that vaccine hesitancy towards the COVID-19 vaccines that exists in the college-aged population is due to misinformation, distrust in vaccines, and being uninformed. To test this hypothesis, a survey was conducted collecting information regarding vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic from Salem State University students. The results could not confirm the hypothesis since no significant relationships were found due to limitations of the study. Although the hypothesis of this research could not be confirmed, this research provides a foundation for future research that may provide further insight into vaccine hesitancy in the college- aged student population.

The purpose of this research is to examine the role culturally responsive teaching (CRT) plays in providing equitable education for students. CRT has been defined by various scholars in the field, and the overlapping purpose is that the experience in the classroom must be reflective of the lived experiences outside the classroom with the goal of equity at the forefront. This research paints a clear picture of what CRT is and explores the position policy and law have on the ability to implement a culturally responsive practice. Many people ask the questions of why CRT and why now? The current student enrollment demographics in the United States does not reflect a White majority anymore; our student enrollment reflects a more diverse population of students that is composed of more students of color, including African American and Latinx students, which have historically been viewed as minority groups. District wide curriculum, school wide practice, and school environments should be in alignment and reflective of diverse groups of students and no longer just apply to White students. This review of current literature further supports CRT providing student-centered education while using cultural differences as leverage for all students to reach a high standard of success. Implications are provided for educators in K-12, policy makers or curriculum designers, and higher education teacher licensure program.

There is a dire need for new antibiotics to treat antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. With the assistance of the course-based research experience Tiny Earth, isolates of antibiotic-producing bacteria discovered in BIO 304 Microbiology & Its Applications during Spring 2021 at Salem State University will be further characterized. This characterization may include performing 16S rDNA PCR identification of soil isolates, characterization of the secondary metabolites from these isolates by chemical extraction and testing the metabolites on ESKAPE safe relatives to confirm growth inhibitory activity, and testing the chemical extracts on eukaryotic systems, namely cultured mammalian cells for cytotoxic effects. The ultimate goal of this analysis is to contribute potentially novel antibiotic-producing soil bacterial species to the Tiny Earth database to help in the discovery of new antibiotics.

Violence in schools and in public settings is an unfortunately growing problem in modern society, and understanding why and how these crimes happen is an integral part to preventing future occurrences. This thesis is a case study of Charles Whitman, the person recognized as perpetrating the first mass shooting on a college campus. This case study examines multiple causation theory using Charles Whitman’s case as an examine and guide for discussion. Areas of discussion include childhood abuse, drug use, self esteem, brain chemistry, social learning, locus of control, limbic system dysfunction, and cancer. It is argued through the case study that multiple causation theory provides the strongest, most encompassing explanation for why a person may end up committing a violent crime. Connections between sections, relation to the Whitman case, and discussion about how multiple causation theory is applicable to preventing similar cases are discussed.

Out of the many theories as to why and how humans choose their long-term mates, two different models are explored in the present study. Evolutionary models examine the mating strategies used by the two sexes, focusing on the resources each sex can provide to their mate and any subsequent offspring. Alternatively, cognitive models explore the reasons behind a human’s thought processes and potential emotions that contribute to mate choice. Evolutionary models cannot explain all human mating, especially those who cannot reproduce heterosexually. Specifically, the LGBTQ+ community have been historically overlooked regarding these theories. The present study investigated whether human mate preference is most accurately described using a cognitive versus an evolutionary model. It was hypothesized that the mating preference for those who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community will be best explained by a cognitive model, while the mating preference of heterosexual participants will be best explained by an evolutionary model. Participants (N=97) were asked to rate certain traits, first for themselves and then for a potential future partner. Results showed that a cognitive model could explain mate preference for both LGBTQ+ and heterosexual individuals [linear regression: df = 1, F = 983.528, p < .0001, R2 = .912] Someone who rated a characteristic in themselves highly would rate that characteristic important in a partner highly as well. Those who recreate this study should try a random sampling method, and further, explore how people’s expression of their sexuality impacts their long-term mate preference.

The United States, like many countries in the West today, is experiencing a wave of populism. While the populist left in the United States has certainly attracted thousands through the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, the populist right, or more accurately the influence of the populist right, has grown amazingly to the point where two-thirds of self-identified Republicans want Donald Trump to retain political power. More astonishingly, forty four percent of self-identified Republicans want Trump (who will be around seventy-eight) to run for president in 2024. Right-wing populism has been dominating the American political discussion since at least 2016, though the precursors to this movement go back further. This paper will discuss the underlying causes of the recent surge in right wing populism and the intentional strategies that right wing political actors use to both gain and retain support for the populist right in the United States. The rise of right wing populism cannot be attributed to a single person, movement, or event but rather a series of (1) a number of underlying economic plights caused by policies which favor the desires of the billionaire class and corporations (to pursue maximum profit) over working class and middle class people, (2) the economic and political manipulation at the hands of bourgeois political actors (such as the Koch family), and (3) a series of intentional political strategies used by right wing political actors to inspire outrage, garner support, and manipulate the political narrative with a particular interest in undermining traditional sources of authority and promoting nativist rhetoric. Mainly, many people in the United States are unable to live basic lives because of a constraining economic system and legislation which favor imminent and permanent indebtment, disinvestment from public goods, tremendous income inequality through financialization and wage theft, and corporate interests. This inability to live comfortably has caused disillusionment with the government for most Americans and is particularly salient with white men who are feeling the heat of unfettered capitalism in ways that contradict their view of the American exceptionalist framework. This disillusionment coupled with the infiltration of right wing views in the political and cultural views by presenting new sources of legitimate discourse and authority is capitalized on by right wing political actors through scare tactics and nativist/white nationalist rhetoric in order to achieve the political, cultural, and economic power to drive their movement.

Según el National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), la brecha de rendimiento se refiere a cuando "one group of students outperforms another group and the difference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant." Los datos del NCES miden únicamente el desempeño de los estudiantes identificando brechas y mostrando tendencias a lo largo del tiempo, "however, a relationship that exists between achievement and another variable does not reveal its underlying cause, which may be influenced by a number of other variables" (NCES). En este estudio, los datos del NCES junto con el contexto histórico ayudan a comprender cómo el sistema de escuelas públicas de Estados Unidos ha llegado a donde está. Las encuestas desde la perspectiva de los maestros actuales que trabajan con estudiantes latinx muestran una imagen de la situación actual en las escuelas y ayudan a comprender hacia dónde deben ir las escuelas a partir de aquí. Esta investigación cierra la brecha entre el tamaño de estas brechas y los sistemas de racismo que las han creado. Esta investigación pone la brecha en el rendimiento académico en un contexto histórico en un intento por comprender la verdad detrás de por qué los estudiantes de minorías, específicamente los estudiantes latinos, se quedan atrás estadísticamente en la escuela. Luego, el estudio sugiere formas de comenzar a cerrar la brecha de una manera significativa que restaure la comunidad dentro de las escuelas y permita a todos los estudiantes la igualdad de oportunidades para aprender y tener éxito.

This paper will explore the evolving purpose of museums in the sphere of international relations. Reflecting on the intrinsic political potential of museums, a case will be made that they are valuable assets for international relations and, more specifically, cultural diplomacy. Contrasting their potential, the development of universal museums will highlight the current obstacles facing museums on their journey to becoming political actors. With the British Museum and AfricaMuseum as specific examples, the controversies facing museums are acknowledged through the lens of changing museological standards; these museums’ approaches to museology further exemplify which museums are currently equipped for diplomatic use. By the end of this paper, readers will be able to recognize that museums are evolving in the direction of further involvement in international relations and that the current obstacles to this development are enveloped in the issues of unsustainable relationship-making, traditional museology, and lack of museum ethics.

This paper addresses three methods of reform to the United States criminal justice system. It discusses mandatory minimum sentences, sentencing disparities, racial bias, drug courts, and the Defund the Police movement, analyzes the issues and benefits associated with each of these areas, and specifies the disproportionate impact many of the system’s flaws have had on people of color and poor communities. It argues that a combination of adjustments relative to mandatory minimum sentences, drug courts, and the Defund the Police movement would provide the best outcome for improving many of the issues within the system.