Honors Transfer Council of California
Supporting honors education and helping California community college students transfer to colleges and universities nationwide.
Oral Presentations - Session 2
“A study of the history of opinion is a
necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind.”
— John Maynard Keynes, The End of Laissez-faire, 1926
Ryan Mendoza
Citrus
Psychopathology of Postpartum Psychosis: Complexities of a Challenging Psychiatric Disorder
Infanticide can be a devastating consequence of Postpartum Psychosis. The varying symptomology and development in those without prior psychiatric illness creates difficulty in etiological understanding.
Meijun Li
Rio Hondo
Maternity Leave and Mothers’ Wellbeing in the Workplace
The current process of maternity leave in the U.S negatively influences the self-esteem of working women, resulting in a range of hardships.
Edna Galaviz
San Bernardino
Maternal Mortality Increasingly Targets American Women
A literature review of the increasing maternal mortality rate in the United States addressing the causes, disparity based on the race of women, and prevention methods.
Jazmine MacDonald
Los Angeles Pierce
The Evolutionary Origin of Postpartum Depression as a Strategy to both
Directly and Indirectly Improve Maternal Reproductive Fitness and Increase Offspring Viability
Identifying the possible ancestral roots of PD in humans can guide our understanding of contemporary maternal reproductive fitness
Ferdaws Rashid
Anni Zeynalvand
Glendale
My Right to Die: Examining Euthanasia through the Lens of Metaphysics
Analyzing the relationship between metaphysics and ethics as argued by various paradigms, using euthanasia as a focus point.
Bridget Rivera
Riverside City
Humanity Put To the Test: Why the Best Response to Animal Testing is the Compassionate Response
This paper argues for establishment of personhood for chimpanzees and their exemption from animal testing.
Yasna Kalanaki
Irvine Valley
The Absurdist’s Answer in the Face of Death: Embrace the Inevitable
Works of Rilke and Camus explore our ontological dependence on the centrality of death in life, finding a reconciliation necessary to living a meaningful existence.
Samantha Villa
Chaffey
Social Anxiety and Family Support Effect on Neuroticism
Surveys assessed individuals' levels of social anxiety and family support as it pertains to neuroticism.
Jemina Tostado
Riverside City
The Need to Investigate Reactive Attachment Disorder
It is important to investigate Reactive Attachment Disorder to assist those who were maltreated during infancy and early childhood.
Alexandra Genissa Aligada Llamas
Irvine Valley
Immigrant Parent-Child Perceptions on Education Through the Generations
This research project measures both the immigrant parent and child's perception on education and compares them from 1st to 3rd Generation.
Hoi Kiu Chan
Mt. San Antonio
Impacts of Asian versus American Parenting Styles on Child Development
The purpose of this study is to examine the differences between Asian and American parenting styles and understand their effects on child development.
Gabby Kchozyan
Glendale
The Secrets of Your Ancestry: An Examination of the Rise in Popularity of Consumer Genetic Testing and Privacy Concerns
The 2017 surge in ancestry and genetic predisposition testing lacks research in factors facilitating the phenomenon and has intensified consumer concerns over DNA privacy laws.
Julia Catipon
El Camino
Unplanned Obsolescence: Older Generations' Struggle to Adapt to New Technology
While modern technology has benefited the younger generation, constant upgrades of new products and a lack of free training leave older generations behind.
Allen Terteryan
Glendale
Effects of Branding on Soda Taste
An update of The Pepsi Challenge, a study done on ten individuals to gauge the ability to effectively distinguish cola brands by taste.
Nguyen (Harley) Tran
Cypress
National Interest vs. Global Ethic: “Made in China 2025” at the Expense of the World Economy
Chinese government interventions in the economy, proposed in “Made in China 2025,” distort the global market and provoke trade conflicts, thus exacerbating the world economy.
Ainsley Chu
Irvine Valley
No True Justice in the American Criminal Justice System for People of Color: A Study of Racial Disparities in Mass Incarceration
In the American criminal justice system, there is evident bias against people of color, who are subjected to discrimination that leads to mass imprisonment.
Amber Lipsey
Pasadena City
The Effects of School Discipline and Philosophical Hermeneutics on the
School-to-Prison Pipeline
A non-Gadamerian natural sciences methodology to school disciplinary issues typifies students as objects, ignores individual ontology and places them in the school-to-prison pipeline.
EXEMPLARY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER
Mira Samir
Mt. San Antonio
Serial Killers: Naughty by Nature or Nurture?
This literature review takes a critical look at the evidence on both sides of the nature versus nurture debate as applied to serial killers.
David Getzen
Pasadena City
Cashing in the Clink: How Correctional Privatization Hinders Inmate Rehabilitation
Indicting contemporary opportunism, this project aims to investigate how the use of remunerative profit to define effectiveness in the United States' correctional sector engenders recidivism.
Allison Mack
Long Beach City
Outgrowing the Bed Trick: From the Bible’s Tamar to MeToo
Building on the theories of feminist biblical scholars and theologians, this study investigates connections between one of the Bible’s most powerful women and gender prejudice.
Emily Grisso
Mt. San Jacinto
Folklore and Femininity
We analyze several characters in different cultural narratives to examine gender roles and expectations that may exist within that particular society.
Sidney Galicia
Pasadena City
Duality of a Conventual Nun: A Philosophical Analysis of the Feminist Grassroots in Sor Juana’s Literary Works
The feminist undertones in Sor Juana’s ‘Primero Sueno’ can be interpreted through a philosophical persepective that places emphasis on a Descartian epistemolgocial analysis.
Emily Thompson
Yazmin Thompson
Long Beach City
Captive in the Belly of the Beast: An Examination of Female Voices in Storytelling
Women have used storytelling to unite; however, these tales were published by men—twisting stories of female empowerment and survival to submission and dependence.
Ryan Abolfazlian
Brittany Pakfar
Los Angeles Pierce
Discovery of Bacteriophages and the Future Use for Therapeutic Methods
Our goal is to discover the vast amount of bacteriophages, characterize, and document them for future scientists to use for therapeutic methods.
Ryan West
Santiago Canyon
Functional Studies of Lambda Phage Assembly
A phage model system to study DNA binding behavior as it relates to double-stranded DNA viruses may lead to a better understanding of viral assembly.
Zareen Ismail
Negin Hadjiabdolhamid
Saddleback
The Effect of Flower Color on Ladybug (Hippodamia convergens) Behavioral Response
This research focuses on the attractiveness of different flower colors to Hippodamia convergens, since these ladybugs act as natural pesticides benefiting the gardening industry.
Alina Shahin
Pasadena City
X-Inactivation and the PGC7 Gene
The PGC7 gene is isolated from a group of mice to discover whether it is directly involved with the essential X-chromosome inactivation process.
Viviana Escalante
El Camino
Peeling Back the Oceanic Layers: The Invisible Oceanic Battle against Surface Temperature Rise
Predicting climate change’s effects on the ocean without quantitative evidence--specifically, assuming heat induced oceanic stratification kills algae--leads to inaccurate assumptions on environmental problems.
OUTSTANDING ABSTRACT AWARD WINNER
Zeinab Arafa
Irvine Valley
Nuclear Power and the Search for Carbon Free Energy
This research examines the use of nuclear energy as a way to combat global warming in a faster and more efficient way, focusing on the Traveling Wave Reactor.
Antonio Jorgensen
Long Beach City
Severe Fire Conditions: A Brief Look Into What Natural and Human Factors Affect Wildfires
This project looks at the average temperature and rainfall in each state in the United States and its effects on forest fires.
Lauren Doan
College of the Canyons
The Reality of Fossil Fuels: Mass Environmental Devastation
The global energy economy’s reliance on fossil fuels prompts climate change, marine pollution, and groundwater contamination as renewable energy solutions mitigate this environmental devastation.
Christina Gurdzhyan
Mt. San Antonio
The Relationship Between Gratitude and Academic Satisfaction in College Students
This project analyzes the responses of 83 students at a California community college to explore the relationship between gratitude and academic satisfaction in college students.
Nico Castaneda
Riverside City
The Time to Break the Bully: A Dangerous Issue Facing the United States Education System and How We Can Reform It
School administrators must remove a bully, take bullying claims more seriously, and educate parents on bullying.
Giancarlo Fernandez
El Camino
A Second Home on Campus: Closing the Achievement Gap with Safe Spaces
Research shows that campus involvement improves academic achievement but are academic programs the only support students need?
Kyla Alberto
Orange Coast
Bridging the Gap: The Key to Saving for Your Future Self
This study aims to motivate young adults to begin saving for their future by bridging the empathy gap between their present and future selves.
Melissa Perez
Irvine Valley
Fitting In: The Importance of Cultural Congruity in Higher Education
Associations between academic culture and students’ varying cultural lifestyles encourage educational persistence amongst ethnic minorities.
KC Young
Pasadena City
College Rankings: Authentic Approach Beyond the Method
Evaluating natural sciences methods in college ranking systems that incentivize competition for prestigious status by means of a fallen framework and a will to power.
James Crawford
Mt. San Jacinto
Affirmative Action: The Exploration Towards “Equality for All”
Affirmative Action Programs attempt to allot race, gender, and queer minority groups equal rights, but lack the ability to uproot systemic discrimination in America.
Samantha Curiel
Los Angeles Pierce
Legacy Admission in Universities is Stifling Social Mobility
Legacy admission perpetuates an oppressive cycle that promotes an educational oligarchy disenfranchising first-generation suppressing social progress, and undermining diversity in academia.
Luke Kuo
Irvine Valley
Prototypical Leadership Traits: Honesty, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness
In an experiment where participants read descriptions of leaders, three personality traits, honesty, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, were found to be traits of a prototypical leader.
Lidia McCarter
Spencer Churchill
Stevie Formica
Gennavie Johnson
Isabella Polito
Regina Tahk
Nicholas Wolf
Irvine Valley
Program Evaluation of a Service-Learning Program
Applied research procedures are being used to evaluate effectiveness of a unique student-driven service learning program (Giving Away Psychology) at Irvine Valley College.
Isabella Polito
Lidia McCarter
Regina Tahk
Irvine Valley
A Validation Study of an Interpersonal Communication Skills Instrument
Three separate experimental procedures were designed and executed to assess the validity of the Interpersonal Communications Skills Inventory (ICSI), a new psychological measure.
Samantha Velasco
Riverside City
The Life and Marriage of Frida Kahlo: Shaping Her Artistry and Identity in Post-Revolutionary Mexico
Frida Kahlo’s life and marriage to Diego Rivera reveal intimate details into the motivation behind her most poignant works.
Sofia Ingegno
Long Beach City
Ticking Time Bomb: The Effects of Terrorism on Cultural Heritage Cites
Climate change has been the primary source of deterioration of cultural heritage cites. In recent years terrorism has played an equal role in their demise.
Steven Park
San Bernardino
Interpreting Culture Through Architecture
Using a symbolic approach in studying architecture allows anthropologists to understand culture and cultural events, demonstrated in this presentation by focusing on Notre Dame Cathedral.
Joshua Park
El Camino
Surgical Theatre: Thomas Eakins’ Exposition of Medical Practices in the Nineteenth Century
Thomas Eakins represents a realistic perception of the medical profession of the nineteenth century in The Gross Clinic and The Agnew Clinic.
Nicole Funes
East Los Angeles
Doing It for the ‘Gram: How Self-Presentation and Performance Theory Helps Understand Teenage Girls
Teenage girls take on certain personas and habits when performing online. Dramaturgy explains the societal pressures leading them to post promiscuous pictures of themselves online.
Gabriella Martinez
LA Harbor
Fanfiction in Shaping Writer and Reader: Inside a Community
Fanfiction, though contentious, has interpersonal significance in the literary world as a medium of self-exploration, mentorship, and representation through tight-knit communities and unyielding support.
Christy Lin
Mt. San Antonio
That’s What She Said: Analysis of the Cinematic Representation of
Women’s Repression
In an analysis of three female-centric films, I discuss how defense mechanisms of repression and denial ultimately lead to a woman’s dangerously unstable mindset.
Kaitlin Covington
Long Beach City
Deceptive Depictions in "Children's" Literature: the Paradox of Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market
Through feminist literary theory, this project addresses the tension that arises from characterizing and illustrating Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market as a work of children’s literature.
Harsha Antony
Norco
Their Finest: The Quakers’ Contributions to the Abolitionist Movement
The Quakers were crucial members of the Abolitionist movement, and without them, the liberation of the slaves would have been an ever harder battle to win.
Rameses Neale
San Diego Mesa
Ralph Ellison and the Authentic Self: Can an Invisible Being Live Authentically?
This paper considers how Ralph Ellison’s experience as a 20th century African- American alters his perspective on existentialism by exploring his novel Invisible Man.
Camille Marquez
Pasadena City
Person Perception: A Psychological Analysis on Racism
The concept of person perception explains the psychological origins of racism, and is exemplified through Langston Hughes’ The Big Sea with Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories.
Sarayna Gandhi
Saddleback
Slavery, Hermeneutics, Sin, and a Series of Letters
Richard Fuller used biblical literalism, claimed that slavery’s abolition was harmful to enslaved people, and displaced the responsibility for slavery onto England, to justify slavery.
Matthew Keasberry-Vnuk
Irvine Valley
The Opioid Epidemic: The U.S. is Off to Rehab Again
This presentation will discuss the recent history of the opioid epidemic and address current legislation being put into action at the state and national level.
Kimberly Arias
Sobhie Fdawi
El Camino
Effective Nursing As a Solution For Deficits in Doctor Care
Effective nursing compensates for deficits in doctors by providing patients with emotional support, thus resulting in successful care and experiences.
Christopher Kallah
College of the Canyons
The Land of the (Pain) Free
Discussing how America developed an opioid problem and display a solution that could make great impacts on our country.
Julja Hokanson
El Camino
War on Drug Shortages: Has the FDA Been Effective?
The FDA isn’t effective enough in ending drug shortages, for consumers are still in danger, to the point that outside involvement is needed.
Ario Azarhoush
Saddleback
Propaganda’s Usage in Supporting the U.S. War in the Philippines
President McKinley used propaganda techniques that appealed to Americans’ patriotism and degraded the Filipinos as inferior to bolster support for imperialism in the Philippines.
Nelly Nguyen
Santa Ana
Mining in Sápmi: Impacts and Solutions, a Potential Model for Other
Indigenous People
This paper discusses the detrimental impact of mining on Sami territory, as well as the potential solutions that can be followed to combat this issue.
Lorraine Mendez
Los Angeles City
“Shaking Off The Veil”: The Exploration of Clothing as a Tool of Transformation and Transient Experiences Throughout Various Binary Barriers Of Life In Medieval Spain
Exploration of clothing as a transformative tool, providing the ability to transcend various binaries in early modern Medieval Spain in Lieutenant Nun.
Alexander Hein
Saddleback
The American Anti-Imperialist League: Fighting Imperialism Through
Rhetorical Appeals
American Anti-Imperialists fought against imperialism at the turn of the 20th century through emotional, logical, and ethical appeals.
Taylor Skeie
Ella Martoccia
El Camino
The Jury’s Still Out: Exploring the Relationship Between Mass Media and Criminal Cases
We qualitatively examine the relationship between mass media and crime by focusing on investigations of criminal cases from the actual crimes to the courtroom.
Mark Ortega
Long Beach City
Amerige Heights: Examining Shopping Centers as an Intersection of Capital Driven, Culture Clash
In 2015, the Amerige Heights Hallmark was replaced by a local, Korean endeavor: California Tofu Grill. This paper examines the significance of this change.
Mustafa Ahmedani
Irvine Valley
Citizens United: Regulating the Deregulated Political Action Committees
A legal and social approach to Super PACs, offering solutions to remedy the presence of corporate influence caused by these organizations in American campaign finance.
Sebastian Flores
Pasadena City
Legal Hermeneutics in the State of Ohio Execution Process
Advocating for a hermeneutical interpretation of the execution procedure by lethal injections in the state of Ohio as opposed to a dogmatic natural science interpretation.
Juan Carlos (Kyle) Becerra
Los Angeles Pierce
How the News Media Frames Victims of Police Shootings
Digital news articles frame Hispanic victims of police shootings as perpetrators rather than victims, and frame White victims of police shootings as having ‘redeeming’ qualities.
Calvin Tran
Irvine Valley
Caged Animals: An Analysis of Solitary Confinement
While solitary confinement may exacerbate existing stress and generate psychological trauma in inmates, therapeutic counseling can educate prisoners about their wrong doings and mitigate stress.
Seth Nasr
College of the Canyons
Investigating the Causes and Solutions of the Bystander Effect
This presentation identifies ways to combat the “bystander effect,” in which individuals are less likely to help someone in need when others are present.
Zachary Sandoval
Riverside City
The Gendered Nature of Mass Shootings in the United States
Why are mass shootings committed predominantly by white males? Application of criminological theories analysis of data through a feminist lens can answer this question.
Victoria Mendez
Mt. San Jacinto
Temperature Preference of Drosophila S2 Embryonic Stem Cells
This paper follows an experiment that developed a protocol to continuously culture Drosophila S2 embryonic cells aseptically and determined their temperature preference.
EXEMPLARY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER
Kristen Tran
Ryan Chieng
Richard Luu
Pasadena City
The Behavioral Effects of Omitting the a1T gene in Drosophila
In exploring the role of the a1T gene in adult Drosophila, motor-associated activity is tested to see how regulating excitability affects olfactory nerves and memory.
Maria Rosa Cervantes
San Bernardino
Treating FcyR Gene Mutations Can Reduce Symptoms of Mast Cell Disorders
Treating gene mutations of FcyR gene receptors could decrease amounts of flares and symptoms in patients with Mast Cell Disorders.
Anna Vrska
Audrey Ison
Carlos Rubio
Saddleback
The Effects of Salinity in the Concentrations of Hemolymph and Hemocyanin in Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus)
It was hypothesized that blue crabs can osmoregulate in response to ambient water salinity. Additionally, correlation between HcC and osmolality was tested.
Jasmine Nunez
Pasadena City
A Tactical Approach at Restraining Redlining
Through the use of Gadamer’s philosophical concept of tact, this work aims to restrain redlining via a collaborative effort between banks and community-owned credit unions.
Jack Vallentine
Riverside City
Gentrification in the Wake of Natural Disaster
Gentrification is likely following natural disasters, and displaced people are not likely to return to their homes afterward.
Sofia Nguyen
Irvine Valley
Why Is the US Ranked Lower Than Switzerland in the Human Freedom Index?
A Comparison Between Two Democratic Countries
The U.S. is lower ranked than Switzerland in the Human Freedom Index due to their inhuman treatment of prisoners, less secure environment, voting requirements, and complex immigration regulations.
Bita Behpoor
Irvine Valley
Mind the Gap: How Wealth Work is Contributing to the Divide between Lower and Upper Classes
The concentration of wealth work occupations has oversaturated the U.S. labor market, contributing to growing wealth inequality and the shrinking of the middle class.
Sofia Abolfathi
Irvine Valley
Wise Words: An Analysis of Pan-Mediterranean Classical Wisdom Literature
Focus on classical Greek, Jewish, Christian, Egyptian, Roman and Persian wisdom literature allows a deeper understanding of the complex cultural relationships within the greater Mediterranean.
Rhiannon King
MiraCosta
Ravioli, Ravioli, Give Me the Ice Bridge-oli
An Analysis of the Cerutti Mastodon Site with Regards to Beringian-First Theories
Rebecca Wittman
Sacramento City
Redefining Electra and Medea: Euripides, Aristotle, and the Revolution of Hellenic Drama
Critical analysis of Aristotle’s Poetics and Euripides’ plays reveals important new ideas about Greek drama, its genres, and its effect on the history of literature.
Jayden Saldana
Citrus
The Role of the Mongols in the Development of Moscow’s National Hegemony
Mongol rule in Russia resulted in Moscow’s hegemony by eliminating political competition, maximizing Muscovite security, allowing for territorial expansion, and uniting Russia around Moscow’s prestige.
Saara Tayani
Nikhil Medukonduri
Saddleback
Beneficial Use of Digital Screen Time: Importance of Parental Control
As there are concerns surrounding the use of digital screens among young children, we offer parental guidance for its beneficial use.
Christian Beltran
Kiana Hada
Odette Khut
Lea Ann Kruse
Thomas Stea
Irvine Valley
Technology-Induced Inattentional Blindness
Although cell phones provide us with useful services, they adversely affect our attention and other perceptual abilities, even our ability to listen to conversations.
Taryn Kraus
Sacramento City
Burning, Entombment, and desecration: Futile Attempts to Destroy Forensic Evidence
While murderers burn, entomb, and desecrate their victims, often leaving only skeletal fragments, forensic anthropology shows these tactics are ineffective.
Daniel Tsentsiper
Irvine Valley
Gambling in Disguise: How Minors Are Exposed to Gamble Through Virtual Loot Boxes Within Popular Video Games
Loot Boxes in popular online video games are problematic for adolescent players because they share several parallels with traditional gambling mechanics.