Browsing by Department "Undergraduate Studies"
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Item The 2017 Arkema Plant Explosion following Hurricane Harvey in Crosby, Texas(2018) Kulhanek, Makenzie; Garza, Emily; Saad, JoeyIn August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey brought destruction to southeast Texas. With the hurricane came extremely high water levels that the Crosby plant was not prepared for. In addition to underestimating the floodwaters, Arkema had not anticipated a total power outage at the plant. The Crosby plant housed thousands of pounds of organic peroxides, a chemical that is highly reactive and instable at temperatures above freezing. As water surrounded the emergency refrigeration trailers where organic peroxides had been moved to, temperatures inside the trailers increased and the peroxides began to self-heat, decompose, and combust. The combustion of three trailers caused an explosion whose effects are still felt in the Crosby community. The purpose of this report is to examine the decisions made by Arkema Chemical, using the AIChE code of ethics. Their decisions in preparation for Hurricane Harvey, during the hurricane and explosion, and after the explosion will be analyzed. Arkema acted unethically by not having the right preparations for Hurricane Harvey and not dealing with any aftereffects on the community. If Arkema had reexamined their safety protocols after receiving ten OSHA violations, the result may have been different. Although Arkema employees acted ethically during their emergency response to Hurricane Harvey, they neither prepared sufficiently for intense flooding nor responded adequately to the aftereffects on the community. Today, the Crosby plant is still running, but the explosion has not only made Arkema review their plans for natural disasters and general safety, but has made the entire chemical industry more aware of the need to be prepared for disasters no matter how improbable they may seem.Item The Abolition of Slavery: A Myth and its Realities(2020) Ilangovan, SruthiItem American Belly Dance: Authentic or Appropriated?(2020-11) Moharram, EamanneItem Attitudes Towards Aeneas in Roman Asia Minor(2017) Layden, ChristopherItem Blackface: History and Implications on Black Health(2023) Adams, CourtneyThis paper follows the timeline of Blackface from Vaudeville theater to modern day. Through the media's use of negative stereotypes, Black Americans have been affected within the healthcare system both on the side of the patient and the healthcare proivder. This project won second place in the 2023 Signature Course Information Literacy Award (awarded for work completed in 2023). The award recognizes exemplary student work that achieves the learning outcomes of the Signature Course information literacy requirement, that students will be able to create and execute a research strategy, critically evaluate information, and navigate the scholarly conversation. Courtney Adams was nominated by Dr. Christy Erving for her paper ““Blackface: History and Implications on Black Health.” from UGS 302: Black Health Matters. Dr. Erving said of her paper " [her} topic was somewhat unconventional, as Courtney explored the linkages between historical blackface practices and their relevance for the health/health care experiences of Black American in contemporary U.S. society. Though I was initially concerned about her chosen topic and whether she would be able to 1) locate relevant academic sources, 2) integrate them together seamlessly, and 3) make a cogent argument, she exceeded expectation on all three dimensions."Item Blue Bell Listeria Outbreak from 2013-2015(2017) Shah, Shivani; Patel, HenykumariItem Breaking the Chains of Niceness(2020-12) Arriaga, DianaItem The Character of Eve and Interpretive Misconceptions(2017-12) McConley, IsabellaItem Children of Children: The Perverse Cycle of Poverty in African-American Society(2016) Murphy, JenniferItem Choosing Death: Suicide and the 18th-century English State(2016) Rickert, KatherineItem “Colorism as a Result of Colonization and Global Ramifications”(2023-11-14) Brod, TeresaThis paper overviews how colonization provided the foundation for ongoing white supremacy and discusses the numerous manifestations of colorism in several global regions. These include but are not limited to economic disparity, political injustice, and the vast and lucrative skin-lightening industry. By discussing how the culture of colonial hierarchy continues to influence beauty ideals, social stratification, and availability of opportunity worldwide, the permanence of white supremacy and the importance of reforming these standards is highlighted.Item The Conch Shell(2018) Ramachandran, AnjaliItem Connectivity and Community: A Study of Transit in Pflugerville(2017-05) Feghali, SylviaItem Constructing Truth in The Waste Land(2017) Sachdeva, PrernaItem Context Report on the Catalonia Living Lab(2018) Leonard, Caroline; Archer, Christina; Tian, GeoffreyItem Costa Del Mar Case Study(2018) Zucker, Alyssa; Huynh, Alexis; Whiteley, Angela; Ortega, Leslie; Tanoury, Ryan; Chen, Sam; Clark Ballard, SarahItem The Cultural Offensive Against ISIS(2016) Pauloski, James GregoryItem Dark Greens(2016) Turner, CynthiaItem Deck the Halls(2017) Buschang, MadelineItem Digital Dystopia: Analyzing Facebook Data Permissions and Regulations from 2014-2018(2018) Sathaye, Maanas; Saha, OishikThis investigation looks to analyze Facebook’s data privacy regulations from 2014-2018; the Cambridge Analytica scandal is used as a case study to show how Facebook acted unethically in ensuring the privacy of user data. Facebook’s inability to regulate whose data was being shared and how third parties were using this data was unethical and directly resulted in third-parties, like Cambridge Analytica, misusing the data. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - Computer Science and Association for Computing Machinery joint task force ethical code for software engineers is used to judge Facebook’s malpractice. This same code, and the knowledge of Facebook’s previous failure, is used to recommend an ethical solution to prevent user data from being compromised; the proposed solution is to explicitly ask users for permission for their data to be shared. The report concludes that Facebook was unable to control how data was being used once it was shared, compromising the privacy of millions of individuals. The report also concludes that users should be actively monitoring their online presence when using Facebook as an alternative to completely abandoning the platform.