George Mason Review - 2019-2020

THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

EXEMPLARY UNDERGRADUATE WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM VOLUME 29 | 2019 – 2020

| VOLUME 29 | 2019 – 2020

EXEMPLARY UNDERGRADUATE WRITING ACROSS T H E C UR R I C U LUM VOLUME 29 | 2 01 9 – 2 02 0

M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T The mission of The George Mason Review is to capture Mason’s spirit, where “innovation is tradition,” through the publication of diverse works from across the curriculum.

The George Mason Review, a publication for undergraduates by undergraduates, seeks scholarship that demonstrates creativity and critical thought. In its print and virtual form, this cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary journal features exemplary academic work and welcomes submissions that challenge the boundaries of how scholarship has traditionally been defined.

H OW T O S U B M I T YO U R WO R K The George Mason Review accepts submissions year round. We accept research writing, literary critiques or analyses, creative nonfiction, and all other forms of scholarship.

Please submit your work electronically at gmreview.gmu.edu.

PEER REVIEW PROCESS Submissions undergo a two-tiered, double-blind peer review process. Initially, each paper is evaluated by four Peer Reviewers from different majors. Once all papers have been read, our Peer Reviewers vote on which papers should proceed to the second round of review. Papers included in the second round of review are assessed by the GMR editorial board, which consists of our Editor-in-Chief and Assistant Editor, and are subsequently voted on. Throughout the entire process, the identity of the author remains anonymous to the reviewer, and the identity of the reviewer remains anonymous to the author, constituting a double-blind review.

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BY

TUNG TRAN

This volume would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the following people: E X EC U T I V E B OA R D Ahmad Alach

Editor-In-Chief

Saahil Iyer

Assistant Editor

Minh Duc Vu

Graphic Designer

FA C U LT Y A D V I S O R Jason Hartsel PEER REVIEWERS Lisa Ferioli, Matthew Hoang, Michael Lamarche, Abdul Noor, Jasmine Okidi, Ashley Platenberg, Cameron Safi, Yun Zhao AC K N OW L E D G M E N TS Additional thanks to Richard Willing for help with copy editing.

Cover art submitted by Tung Tran.

TA B L E O F CONTENTS NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

7

Ahmad Alach

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

10

Anne Holton

GETTING A READ ON THE FUTURE: AN ETHNOGRAPHY AT HAYMARKET GAINESVILLE REGIONAL LIBRARY

16

Omar Dirie

TRANSFORMING THE BODY: ROBOTS IN THE TRANSFORMERS FRANCHISE AS VEHICLES FOR QUEER IDENTITIES

30

Madison Hoffman - Second Place Submission

AN ANALYSIS OF THE KKK THROUGH THREE THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

38

Sydney Kochan

LESSONS LEARNED FROM SMALLPOX AND THEIR APPLICATION TO MEASLES

50

Vi Nguyen, Shadi Mohammadabadi - First Place Submission

VISUAL INTERLUDE

65

BITCOIN: A DISRUPTION DEVISING DIGITIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION

70

Ritika Raju

HABITAT FRAGMENTATION OF ASIAN ELEPHANTS IN BANGLADESH

80

Serena Seiler

SOCIAL LEARNING FOR THE MASSES: AN ANALYSIS OF THE GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE

88

Neveen Shawish - Third Place Submission

DEVELOPMENT OF ARDUINO BASED PH TITRATION SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFICATION OF COMMONLY AVAILABLE PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS

102

Gautam Subramanian

SOURCES

121

FACULTY GUIDE: GMR IN THE CLASSROOM

132

NOTE FROM THE ADVISOR

133

Jason Hartsel

PREFACE

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR George Mason University is an institution dedicated to two things above all else: research and diversity, both intellectual diversity and diversity in their student body, faculty, and staff. The foundation that these two values lay allows GMU to be a truly exceptional educational institution.

In that spirit, we at the George Mason Review have made it a focus to disseminate student research happening in the Mason community that displays our campus’ intellectual diversity and prowess for interdisciplinary scholarly discussions. My time as Editor-in-Chief has been immensely gratifying, not only because of the privilege of carrying on the Office of Student Media’s dedication to exemplary student research, but also because I got to witness the efforts of my hard-working team and the aweinspiring people I have met during the past year.

Many people have made this year’s publication a success. I would like to acknowledge and thank Jason Hartsel, the Assistant Director of Student Media, for his continuous support, advice, and encouragement. I would also like to thank Saahil Iyer, GMR’s Assistant Editor, for his effort and contributions. He went above and beyond to ensure that this edition was a success. Although I am graduating this month and will not be a part of next year’s edition, I look forward to seeing what next year’s GMR publication looks like and I am certain that under Saahil’s leadership, the result will be nothing short of excellent. I would also like to thank Minh Vu, GMR’s Graphic Designer/ Webmaster. Minh is the architect of the publication and a valuable member of my team who showed, time and time again, how indispensable he is. A big thanks to Mr. Richard Willing, a valuable member of the copy-editing team and someone who did any and everything he could to help.

Thank you to those who submitted their work and to the authors who wrote the papers enclosed beyond this page. Without them, none of this is possible. Finally, thank you to our readers for supporting GMR and making sure that our dedication and hard work is appreciated and seen. I hope that you find the papers included in this year’s edition as insightful, inspiring, and informative as I did.

Sincerely, Ahmad Alach Editor-in-Chief

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G U E S T E S S AY

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT ANNE HOLTON George Mason University President 2019-2020

As George Mason University president, and as a Mason faculty member, I mentor undergraduate researchers. I know what an enriching experience these projects can be for students and faculty alike. Our shared quest for discovery and knowledge is the foundation of Mason’s stature as one of the nation’s premier research universities.

Undergraduate research experiences propel students to successfully launch careers or to pursue an advanced degree. (Some do both!)

These opportunities are ingrained in the academic ecosystem here at the largest and most diverse public research university in Virginia. In the past eight years, more than 20,000 students have worked on a research or creative project with a faculty member or have taken a research-intensive course. The Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research (OSCAR) provides opportunities for experiential and innovative learning that can define an academic career at Mason. My successor as Mason president, Dr. Gregory Washington, is known for his commitment to undergraduate research as well.

It is our faculty’s dedication to research, and the impact of their work, that resulted in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education naming Mason a 10 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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“Tier 1” research university in 2016 and again in its current classification cycle. The Council on Undergraduate Research in 2015 honored Mason with its Campus-Wide Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments, recognition of the depth and breadth of the university’s commitment to undergraduate research. The council noted that Mason has created “a national model for other institutions to emulate.”

Increasingly, that model is multidisciplinary. Leading public research universities must collaboratively solve society’s most vexing problems, and multidisciplinary challenges require multidisciplinary approaches to find innovative solutions. For example, Mason’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth draws on more than 500 faculty members from the natural sciences, communications, computational and data sciences, humanities, law, engineering and social sciences. Likewise, Mason’s Institute for Biohealth Innovation taps into the expertise of more than 200 researchers in cancer, infectious diseases, brain and behavior, injury and performance, policy, economics, reproductive and family health, and cardiovascular and metabolic studies.

Mason faculty members are incentivized to engage students in these multidisciplinary projects through competitive Summer Team Impact Project grants. These projects bring together students and faculty from different fields to work on a common research question or problem. You might work with other Mason students on water quality, social justice, or children’s health issues, to name a few.

If you are a student new to undergraduate research, or are considering it, here’s a piece of advice: Arrange to meet regularly with a faculty mentor to take advantage of their ideas, expertise and feedback. Don’t be shy. They’re here to educate, inspire and empower you. And the first step toward a rewarding undergraduate research experience is taking the initiative to show faculty that you are serious about your project and savvy enough to seek their counsel early in the process. As a budding researcher, you want to maximize all of your available resources, right? There’s no greater resource for you than our faculty. They will welcome your fresh perspective and help you define or refine your research idea or perhaps find a way to incorporate your work into a larger project.

Be ambitious, be receptive and be flexible.

As undergraduate researchers, you’ll develop skills in goalsetting, critical and analytical thinking, collaboration, applying knowledge across disciplines, and written and oral communication skills so you can explain your work to expert and lay audiences. In the process, you’ll develop professionalism, resilience and independence.

And maybe, just maybe, you’ll have to learn how to pivot from failure.

As Bethany Usher, Mason’s Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, said in a 2017 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education that highlighted Mason’s commitment to undergraduate education, “Doing research isn’t always about results but about the process and the problem-solving that goes along with it.”

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Mason also provides opportunities for undergraduate student researchers to present their work, with research meetings and exhibitions in each college, campus-wide events including the Annual Celebration of Student Scholarship & Impact in May, and at showcases such as the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). The George Mason Review is a valuable outlet for undergraduate research findings. So is the Students As Scholars blog.

When I attended the Fall Celebration at The MIX in December, I encountered a diverse array of undergraduate student researchers – including a student I mentored – sharing more than 90 projects spanning the humanities, sciences, and visual and performing arts. Their work involved early detection of Parkinson’s disease, assessing digital literacy skills, closing the gender gap in computer science, environmental security in Latin America and many other engaging subjects.

The OSCAR Mentoring Excellence Awards and OSCAR Student Excellence Awards honor undergraduate researchers and faculty members for their work. Nominations are generally due around early March and winners announced at the Celebration for Student Scholarship in May. Another advantage to consistently engaging a Mason faculty member in your undergraduate research? Students can ask their mentors to nominate them for the Student Excellence Award.

For a select few, these accolades are hard-earned recognition at the end of a long process. But ask any undergraduate scholar and they’ll tell you that the true reward for their efforts was what they learned along the way – about their area of research, and about themselves.

Sincerely, Anne Holton Interim President

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SUBMISSIONS

GETTING A READ ON THE FUTURE: AN ETHNOGRAPHY AT HAYMARKET GAINESVILLE REGIONAL LIBRARY OMAR DIRIE Major: English Class of 2020

ABOUT THE WORK We all owe our upbringings to the places and people we grow up with. In my thirteen years as a Northern Virginia resident, the local library has played as big a role in my life as any friend I have made. A tenminute drive is all I have needed to teleport to new worlds, real or fictional. Once I was presented with the opportunity to conduct an ethnography somewhere, I knew exactly where I wanted to apply my ever-expanding skillset. Over the course of the Spring 2019 semester, I challenged myself to re-imagine a building I thought I knew as well as my own home.

Choosing English 484 as my capstone proved to be one of the best decisions I have made here at Mason.

My professor helped me understand ethnography as an art, a craft that requires you to mold your approach like a ball of clay. I could not just sift through scholarly journals and newspaper articles like I had always done as an English major. My classmates and I were often told we had to sacrifice comfort if we wanted the research process to be fun, let alone successful. Weekly trips to the library meant taking note of furniture, lighting, and the ages and cultural backgrounds of visitors. Unbeknownst to my fellow patrons, I was an architect, anthropologist, and investigative journalist rolled into one.

Haymarket Gainesville Regional Library is a place that unites toddlers, teenagers, educators, and grandparents. The more I observed and conducted interviews, however, the easier it became to see the library as more than a hub. It represents the word that describes my biggest takeaway from this project: “rhizome.” People are not just drawn to the location’s physical and digital resources. They are always being exposed to different directions they may not otherwise consider. Flyers presented volunteering opportunities and health tips; TV screens promoted game nights and creative workshops; some shelves were re-arranged to highlight books related to certain holidays. My hands-on approach helped me realize that staff members serve as curators. They are constantly finding ways to turn a supposedly “dying” location into a springboard for new interests.

My ethnography took me on a journey to understand the logic behind a place that has gifted me with hours of leisure reading. Nearly a year after I submitted my project, I am still reflecting on the photos I took, the conversations I initiated. Settings are as valuable as the effort put into them. Haymarket Gainesville’s $11,000,000 price tag does not capture the investment Prince William County has made— and the culture that has sprung out of it.

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INTRODUCTION For generations, people have been turning to the library as a supplier of knowledge and research materials. Over time, this setting has become synonymous with comfort, escape, and accessibility. I conducted my ethnography at my local library, a place that serves as both an academic resource and social hub for hundreds of people. Haymarket Gainesville Regional Library opened in 2015, replacing a much smaller building that had existed for nearly 30 years. As a regular visitor, I have noticed how busy the library can get during the day. This does not surprise me, considering qualities like spaciousness, color, “quiet rooms,” and a large selection of print and electronic sources. I wished to explore the many dimensions of the recently opened facility to explain “library culture,” or the notion that library buildings double as springboards for inner peace, hobbies, and other interests. I also sought to better understand the people attracted to the building. By doing research on the amenities that I myself have taken advantage of, I gained a more concrete understanding of why contemporary libraries double as sanctuaries.

I began this project with the preliminary aim of realizing how “library culture” should be defined. As I gathered more field notes and research, I realized that “library culture” pertains to how the library acts as a hub for a variety of people. The library gains from its users, not just the other way around. There is a symbiosis, a rhizome-like relationship, going on between Haymarket Gainesville and the citizens of Prince William County.

This may be viewed as just one example that speaks to the role that the library has taken up in this technological age. I hope to highlight how the sights and conversations I recorded this semester pointed me in this direction.

BACKGROUND I have been a regular patron since the library’s opening. However, I mostly use the building as a source of books to read in my spare time. So one of the questions I had was why people spend as much time as they do on the site. Haymarket Gainesville, “replaced the old Gainesville Neighborhood Library, located at James S. Long Park, which opened in 1987” (Potomac Local). The old building, which I visited every summer for about ten years, was less than half the size of its successor. It had white brick walls, a few windows, and an underwhelming collection. There was little separation between types of resources, and no more than three computers. As a kid, I went to the Gainesville Neighborhood Library often during the summer. Looking back, the only people who seemed to be there for more than a quick visit were staff members and volunteers.

Haymarket Gainesville cost $11 million to build, and $1.5 million went towards materials like books and DVDs (Potomac Local). The building, “has 33 new computers, VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 17

three community rooms, a large meeting room, a quiet study, and WiFi access throughout the building” (Potomac Local). Over the past three years, I have seen people of all ages and backgrounds take advantage of such amenities. My research process helped me realize just how much the library staff curates the setup.

As I was gathering sources to help me approach this project, I came across an article written by Doug Suarez. Suarez, a librarian at Brock University in Canada, outlined both the methods and considerations he undertakes when exploring a site he is familiar with.

He opened his article with the notion that, “with the evolution of academic libraries into information commons, learning commons or similar configurations where libraries share and offer related academic support services with other units on campus, there is an even greater urgency to evaluate service mandates” (Suarez). There was a growing need to not just use certain services, but to measure the benefits of those services. Suarez went on to share his goal of producing quantitative and qualitative data by observing student behavior. This article served as a barometer of my own ethnography, as I recognized parallels between its many conclusions and my ever-growing list of observations.

Eric Klinenberg, a sociologist, is an outspoken figure in the public conversation that is happening. A Google search of his name will generate many articles in which he preaches just how instrumental libraries are to our collective futures. Among his writings on the topic of the library’s place was an op-ed he penned for The New York Times. He opened by explaining that libraries actually have too much going for them. He shared that, “in New York and many other cities, library circulation, program attendance and average hours spent visiting are up. The real problem that libraries face is that so many people are using them, and for such a wide variety of purposes, that library systems and their employees are overwhelmed” (Klinenberg). Throughout this entire process, I never really considered how taxing it is to work at Haymarket Gainesville. Miss Jessica Scalph (an employee I interviewed) discussed the daily challenge that comes with being in charge of a library: “communicating with many levels of staff, working to assist patrons when there are difficulties, assisting and working with the Friends of the Library, responding in a timely manner to library administration on many issues, making sure the building is safe and in good shape and in general being the ‘buck stops here’ person.” Klinenberg was telling us that such responsibilities are being compounded by the same innovations that allow librarians to help patrons. We must be aware of the difficulties that come with turning the library into a sanctuary.

EARLY OBSERVATIONS AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS Whereas I usually stopped by the library during weekends or while people are at school or work, I decided to collect field notes on weekday afternoons. The first thing 18 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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I noticed when I began my first set of notes was just how busy the building was. One recurring image was that of a father and daughter speaking with a woman. After a few weeks, I deduced that I was arriving at the end of tutoring sessions. The father, daughter, and woman would share a few laughs as they recapped what was accomplished over the course of the appointment. Whereas most visitors were dressed casually, the woman dressed the way one might for a job. This meeting was just one of a number of tutoring sessions I came across. Just about every visit featured a tutoring session, a one-on-one between a teenager and an adult in business casual attire, armed with a set of supplies.

I cannot say how often these kinds of meetings occurred at the old library. Likewise, I have no idea if students and teachers still meet at the Starbucks right down the street.

It is hard to imagine that a cramped space or a bustling coffee shop would be deemed more appropriate for personalized lessons than Haymarket Gainesville. Gainesville Neighborhood Library and Starbucks were alike in that they didn’t offer the “culture” of a modern day library as a place that fosters engagement beyond the occasional study session. The new library was engineered to not only help with homework, but also provide other outlets for people to take advantage of, regardless of age. This concept of “atmosphere” may be understood through deliberate measures—measures that are taken for the sake of encouraging education.

CONSIDERING THE LIBRARY’S PHYSICAL LAYOUT The notion that the library is an ideal setting for tutoring sessions pointed me in a number of directions. First, there was the fact that people do not have a physical need for the site. As I will discuss, “the enduring image of libraries has become one of characterless boxes filled with outdated books” (Jones). This sentiment was partly the reason why Haymarket Gainesville existed. The county—government and citizens alike—recognized an opportunity to build a learning environment. The layout and amenities in the new library reflect a “dramatic shift in what libraries do and how they do it. To remain relevant in the current academic climate, libraries must be centers of the knowledge economy, of collaborative learning, and of creative production” (Jones). It is easy to point at a building and call it obsolete. The challenge lies in figuring out what used to attract and hold visitors of a certain mold.

Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT), while discussing how it renovated a campus library, said “new amenities have crept into the library to not only support multiple modes of learning but also blur the distinction between formal academic learning and the social learning that occurs beyond the directed class curriculum” (Jones). Similar to how the institute made strides to make a “learning commons,” Prince William County sought to encourage patrons to work together and open up to different fields. Whether it is VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 19

modern furniture, natural lightning, or mere spaciousness, I have firsthand experience of what brings people out of their homes. As a matter of fact, Suarez and I had overlapping observations, but he focused on the elements that made the library effective. Among these are lighting, and how brighter areas were more conducive to alertness (Suarez). I continued to see parallels when I referred to a list of goals that Perkins & Will (the same firm working on Mason’s Core Campus Project) had when renovating WIT’s Alumni Library. These goals included fostering a sense of community, updated and integrated technology, a variety of study spaces, increased natural daylight, and improved access to librarians and printers (Jones). Haymarket Gainesville addressed all these desires, thanks in large part to how its designers implemented points made by WIT. Interviews conducted by Suarez cited distractions at home and access to staff and resources as reasons for staying at the library for hours at a time (Suarez). Unlike a campus library, however, students were far from the only patrons who came to the public library. That is why it is worth noting the multifaceted nature of the library’s maintenance. In addition to a calm and welcoming environment, patrons of all ages can expect opportunities to come together and explore new ideas. The next section will explain how the building is more than just a carefully prepared piece of architecture. Haymarket Gainesville is a dynamic setting, run by a group of people who recognize the importance of keeping perspectives fresh.

This section outlines a photo mapping exercise I conducted in mid-April. I did a “lap” through the library, attempting to emulate the path that a first-time visitor would follow. I wanted to see how different sections flowed into one another while having their own features. This exercise helped me notice that the librarians are curators, constantly tinkering with shelves and displays to fit certain objectives or times of the year. The appendix has photos of some of the elements described.

Before a visitor enters the building, they are greeted by a sign announcing the closing time. At the time of my visit, the front door also had a sign labeled “ABSENTEE VOTING.” Before I even stepped foot into the library, I saw a literal sign that the library serves a civic duty. Times and dates complemented Prince William County Library System’s contact info. These details invited readers to consider taking advantage of the absentee ballot, an opportunity that Haymarket Gainesville was finally offering.

Upon walking through the door, there was a small waiting room with a table and a bulletin board. This bulletin board hinted at the kinds of events hosted at this location.

These events included book sales, readings, and volunteer opportunities. As I explored the rest of the building, I came across many other promotions and invitations. As it turned out, the building was stocked with notices, providing patrons with ideas on how to reap the library’s benefits before they left for the day.

The small waiting room’s automatic doors take you to a vast space. The first thing I 20 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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noticed was a collection of brochures and other printouts. Child care, voter registration, and environmental education are some of the topics that might have interested visitors.

Patrons were probably coming to read books or study, but there were plenty of documents that might further enrich their personal lives. To the right was the “community room,” a naturally lit space meant to hold large groups. I saw three people preparing the space for absentee voting. Other uses of this room included workshops, adult education classes, and trivia nights. Community members of all ages have come to this room to collaborate and enjoy common interests.

Separating the community room from the main library was a lobby of sorts. Sights I would expect included a sign giving times for upcoming book club meetings, as well as self-checkout scanners. It made sense to use the lobby as a complement to the spaces in front of the automatic doors.

There were some other features that caught me by surprise. One was a quilt representing a local volunteer fire department. Like a restaurant, this library seemed to take pride in the neighborhood it serves, and this quilt was a small nod to those who stand ready for the community. Opposite the quilt was a cabinet filled with photographs and artifacts from the Civil War. Considering how geographically close the library is to the Manassas battlefields, I saw this as the library combining its duty to present history with its area’s connection to a national turning point. Civil War-related books implied a desire to draw passersby closer to the history of the area.

Other features of the lobby included more event posters, books and albums that are available for purchase, a large shelf with newly released books, and PWC Libraries merchandise. To round out this part of the building, there was a framed front page of the Bull Run Observer. The article is from the ribbon cutting of Haymarket Gainesville.

I usually took a glance at these elements when visiting, but this first part of the exercise made me consider just how much the library cares about representing its purpose, values, and community.

The main part of the library began with paths to the left and right. To the right was the front desk where librarians alternate shifts. To the left was the children’s section. Since one needs to walk in to have a proper view, I often forgot just how expansive this part of the library was. The space was circular, and at its center was a set of double rings. On the inside was a large “reading circle.” On the outside were small square cabinets that held picture books and children’s audiobooks. Surrounding the central ring were shelves stocked with many more picture books. The outermost part of the section had furniture, small tables to write or draw on, and a few computers that came with headsets. Other things I noticed included a farm-themed play area, as well as postings of things written or made by kids. Toddlers and elementary-school age visitors were treated with a library within the library, a colorful world that encouraged creativity and an early appreciation VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 21

for information.

The rest of the library was a cohesive group of sections. Long desks with computers and bookshelves were the first things I noticed. To my left was the teen section. This part of the library reminded me of Fenwick, as it had booth-like tables within a square made up of bookshelves. I had seen how calm yet sociable the gatherings in this section could be. Not far away was a section filled with DVDs, magazines, and albums. These alternate forms of media took up ground in the middle of the building. Opposite this section was the largest of the “quiet rooms.” Even though this was a library, there needed to be a place where people could be separate from socializing.

When I left the building, I saw the back of the greeting sign. Sometimes there was a quote, and sometimes there was a promotion for an upcoming event. The perspective of an ethnographer afforded me an opportunity to see just how multilayered and carefully organized Haymarket Gainesville is. Staff members were adaptable, constantly tinkering with small details to open people up to new ideas and tastes. A patron did not need a clear idea of what he or she wanted to borrow or achieve. There was a surplus of documents and other artifacts that remind us that we contribute to a hub. The public library was not just a place that fostered the hopes and pursuits of the diverse crowd it serves. It was fueled by those hopes and pursuits.

A GLIMPSE AT THE LIBRARY’S ONLINE PRESENCE Every month, the county published an online newsletter. At the top of the April 2019 entry, there was an invitation to a survey. This survey was meant to let the library system know how its services could be improved. Right below that was a description of the summer volunteer program. Should a reader be interested, they could click on a link that would have taken them to an application. The rest of the document contained promotions for upcoming events. These events included a book signing with author Leland Marvin, a maternity health fair, a tea party, a petting zoo, a grant-writing webinar, and an Easter egg hunt. In addition, there were readings about the Prince William County Library System’s origins, as well as the story of Ravensworth, “the largest colonial land grant in Fairfax County” (EXPLORE). At the bottom of the page are mentions of a gardening collection, local museums, and movies one can access with a library card. The sheer variety on this single page signaled the library’s role as a community hub. Since the library was a convention that stands for self-betterment, it makes sense to stand for events that transcend any kind of demographic.

The Prince William Public Library’s online presence blurred the line between professional and casual. It was rich in content and has a formal structure, but the design was a lot simpler than that of an academic library . As I have mentioned, the library 22 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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attracted people of virtually every background. Children, elders, and other patrons who might not have been “computer savvy” had no problem learning about the county system and getting answers to their questions. The design was nice to look at, but that’s not to say it was like Mason Libraries. What the site lacked in paragraphs or menus, it made up for with color and casual language. I believe that the county system’s site reflected the welcoming atmosphere I had seen during my visits to Haymarket Gainesville. Like any successful company, Prince William Public Library catered to a wide range of people and did not overwhelm the user with what they did not need. This exchange resulted in a symbiosis, as the library gained as much as it delivered to citizens of all walks of life.

INTERVIEWS On multiple occasions, a request for in-person interviews prompted a librarian to tell me that everyone on the staff was busy. I had to conduct interviews through email.

Whereas I missed out on physical reactions and opportunities for follow-up questions, this method did allow the librarians to contemplate and widen their responses.

Interview with Matt McClelland Q: When and how did you know you wanted to become a librarian?

A: I decided that I wanted to become a librarian after I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and Literature. I hadn’t previously considered it, but upon graduating, I was faced with the prospect of either becoming a teacher or a writer (with other smaller possibilities,) which actually didn’t appeal to me. I remember reading a magazine article that said that the librarian field was going to open up over the next few years because of the many current librarians who would be retiring with no one to fill their spots. I recognized that becoming a librarian made a ton of personal sense based on my interests and background, but just hadn’t occurred to me as a possibility. I then began the process of figuring out what I had to do to enter the field.

He did not study Library Sciences, but he recognized an opportunity to keep a field going. A magazine article helped him see that his skill set and interests would fit the needs of a “dying breed.”

Q: Do you have a fixed schedule, or do you come at different times?

A: My schedule is loosely fixed. What I mean by that is I have a pretty fixed schedule, but it does change based on the needs of the branch and the schedules VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 23

of other employees.

His schedule was not “flexible” in the conventional sense, but the role he plays within the system is. Adaptability is clearly a big part of the team effort.

Q: How has working at this library been unique to previous experiences?

A: It has actually been a really calm and easy transition, which has only reinforced that I made the right decision to become a librarian. I am used to working in high-pressure retail jobs that have been mostly negative and very stressful. These experiences have given me experience of working with the public, but in this case, I have found that I spend my time helping people instead of trying to sell them things. It has been a much more positive experience.

There was an unsurprising but telling contrast between Matt’s current career and the jobs he gained experience from. The environment was one that he was glad to be a part of.

Q: Do you help with extracurricular activities? Do you attend extracurricular activities?

A: Yes, as much and as often as I can. For example, I recently assisted with an outreach event at a senior center. I had never had one, but the library didn’t have anyone to fill in. Despite it being my day off, I volunteered to give a presentation for a group interested in the digital services that the library offers. I feel that volunteering and participating in activities like this only adds experience and makes me more comfortable in a variety of settings and situations.

I was curious to see how involved other librarians were. There seemed to be a lot more to the job than research and helping visitors. This was reflective of the modern library serving as a hub, rather than a mere source of books and other resources.

Q: What’s been the most rewarding experience you’ve had as a librarian?

A: I find it rewarding any time I am able to help someone who is having a difficult time solving a problem or finding what they are looking for. I can’t think of one particular time, but instead would answer this by saying that the job of a librarian can be extremely rewarding with the proper attitude, and that rewarding experiences happen all the time.

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responses. I wanted to hear about specific instances, but I thought Matt captured the essence of his other answers.

Q: If you could change one thing about the library, what would it be?

A: There’s not really anything that I would change about the library or my experience working as a librarian. I get to witness how the library provides a valuable and important service to the community, and everyone works to make sure that patrons and guests receive the best service possible. I love the mission of the library and don’t know of anything that I would change thus far.

This answer also reminded me of the Klinenberg article. I wondered what more experienced employees would have to say, seeing as how they had more time to see their environment change.

Q: Any challenging experiences you’d like to share?

A: It’s always challenging entering a new profession and trying to figure out the dynamics of how things are done. I have only been a librarian since October of last year, and so I am still learning and adjusting to this new world. The most challenging part is learning the specifics of things that were mostly theory in school. Figuring out how to practically apply my knowledge to the workplace setting has been the largest adjustment that I’ve had to make so far.

As I alluded to, this interviewee was a pretty recent hire. However, based on his other responses, he had brought a fresh perspective. Matt was injecting his twentiethcentury mindset into a staff that, from what I saw, was on the older side. He seemed to have made a seamless transition into the field.

The following is an interview with Jessica Scalph. She is the library administrator at Haymarket Gainesville, as well as the president of the Virginia Library Association.

Q: When and how did you know you wanted to become a librarian?

A: I decided to become a librarian in the mid-1980s. I had graduated a few years earlier with a bachelor’s in music and decided that librarianship sounded appealing. You can obtain a bachelor’s in any discipline and then get your masters in library science. I do appreciate helping people and I have always enjoyed the atmosphere of libraries (public and academic). And I would rather research a paper than write it!

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the advent of the twentieth-century library. I found it interesting that anyone with a bachelor’s degree can pursue library science. That spoke to the multidisciplinary world that the library represented. Visitors could pick brains from all areas of expertise, further lending credence to the idea that people stopped by for human resources.

Scalph had another response that could be chalked up to her experience.

Q: If you could change one thing about the library, what would it be?

A: Working within a county bureaucracy is often challenging and I feel they do not always understand our unique needs. At times I wish we were a separate entity just answerable to a library board.

I asked this question to gauge how the staff felt about a building they know better than anyone else. That being said, I was expecting something along the lines of the library’s collection or outreach. I was not expecting an answer pertaining to an outside force.

Interestingly enough, Alessia Zanin-Yost highlighted this issue as one that librarians faced despite their field’s progress. She shared that, “Libraries may have kept pace with many of the environmental and technological changes that have been necessary over the last twenty years, but the departmental structure and the autonomy of branch structures may remain relatively the same” (Zanin-Yost). I have been discussing the many ways in which the institution has adapted to this digital age. Scalph’s response connected with a response from a younger librarian named Aaren Cravartis, which I will share in order to open the conclusion.

BEING WARY OF PROGRESS From the interview with Aaren Cravartis Q: If you could change one thing about the library?

A: As with any public service, there is always a need for more funding. Our particular library does a lot with the funding we have but there is always room for more, to offer patrons as much as we can in our material collection, technology and programming.

As I mentioned earlier, the concept of the library has been deemed an outdated institution. Miss Scalph and Aaren both provided responses that implied an overarching concern: inaction could lead to tangible consequences. The construction of their workplace was just one small step in the ever-continuing path of innovation. These opinions may be tied into, “the elephant in the room in some library systems i.e. ‘a 26 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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difficult issue that is commonly known to exist in an organization or community but is not discussed openly’” (Zanin-Yost). My interviews not only hinted at the notion that libraries must “keep up with the times.” The community at large has a responsibility to provide the funds and support necessary to continue the upward trajectory.

Alongside Klinenberg’s piece, another op-ed offered a look into the kinds of problems that the twentieth century library must cope with. Amanda Oliver described her experiences in the Washington, D.C. system as traumatic. She noted the similarities between a recently released film, “The Public,” and the things that she had to witness at her workplace. The familiar sight of homeless people sleeping by the front door prompted an eye-opening assertion: “to work in a library today, one has to be a social worker, a first responder, an advocate for the underserved, and a human with very thick skin” (Oliver). Prince William County is an affluent community, but that’s not to say local librarians do not look out for fellow citizens. A box asking for spare eyeglasses and an invitation to a “Teen Dating Violence” program were two specific examples of how Haymarket Gainesville tries to reach out to those in need. I also came across many brochures related to self-help. Oliver’s firsthand account spoke to the traits that make these efforts possible. Klinenberg spent a lot of time explaining, “social infrastructure:” “the physical spaces and organizations that shape the way people interact. Libraries don’t just provide free access to books and other cultural materials, they also offer things like companionship for older adults, de facto childcare for busy parents, language instruction for immigrants and welcoming public spaces for the poor, the homeless and young people” (Klinenberg). He spent a year doing his own ethnographic research in the biggest city in the nation, which allowed him to understand how the library was an outlet for different age groups. Older people, particularly widows, could band together through movie nights, art classes, and other events that Haymarket Gainesville hosts (Klinenberg). Likewise, young people could help themselves and one another with becoming independent, studious, and proactive. It was widely held that we are the products of our environments. Local governments give a vote of confidence any time they enact construction or funding. The goals outlined in the ‘Observations and Impressions’ section—chiefly, comfort, the ability to learn, and a sense of belonging— apply to society as a whole as much as they apply to academia.

As I began to look towards concluding this paper, I noticed some overlapping sentiments between Klinenberg and Oliver’s pieces. The former gave some general remarks on the less peaceful scenes that have occurred at a library. I was caught off guard by one revelation in particular: “…drug clinics, homeless shelters and food banks routinely turn away — and often refer to the library! — those who most need help” (Klinenberg). If groups like those in New York City put the library on this pedestal, then it is easy to speculate that millions depended on the kind of librarian that Oliver VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 27

offered. The former librarian reminded readers that, “libraries are in this state because other systems failed. We have never remedied the mental health crisis that flowed from the closings of state psychiatric hospitals in the 1980s. Money for low income housing and social service programs has dwindled for decades” (Oliver). I had been viewing the modern-day library as the merger between the humanities and the digital revolution.

The library printed and sent out as many promotions as it did because it simply had to. . It needed to be available for someone who might not have the home or outside help to address their problems.

As he wraps up his op-ed, Klinenberg cites a Forbes article. I was surprised to read that, the “author, an economist, suggested that Amazon replace libraries with its own retail outlets, and claimed that most Americans would prefer a free-market option” (Klinenberg). Whereas I expected the note that the article was heavily criticized by people within and outside of the field, it was interesting to see how the other oped concluded. After mentioning how “The Public” ends by declaring the library “the nation’s last bastion of democracy,” Oliver stated that, “Libraries are great social equalizers. But we should be asking how other institutions can emulate their work as caring advocates and providers for society’s most vulnerable. Libraries can’t be the only ones” (Oliver). The library was not just irreplaceable. It was a benchmark for other types of institutions to aspire for. Klinenberg punctuated his own argument with a bold claim: “Libraries stand for and exemplify something that needs defending: the public institutions that — even in an age of atomization, polarization and inequality — serve as the bedrock of civil society” (Klinenberg). The sights, sounds, and insight I gathered over the course of the semester revealed a microcosm of an esteemed type of location. As Haymarket Gainesville continues to encourage visitors to lend their time and energy to its respectable mission, I will be much more aware of the manner in which it orchestrates betterment, and I hope you will too.

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APPENDIX (PHOTOS)

Children’s Section

Waiting Area

Lobby

Main Section

After Exiting the Building

Main Section (DVDs, Magazines, Albums)

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TRANSFORMING THE BODY: ROBOTS IN THE TRANSFORMERS FRANCHISE AS VEHICLES FOR QUEER IDENTITIES MADISON HOFFMAN Major: English Class of 2020

ABOUT THE WORK The genesis of this work comes from the course this assignment was written for, English 451: Science Fiction, as taught by Professor Jessica Hurley. Much of the underlying energy of the course came from disregarding preconceptions about genre in order to explore the intersection between science fiction media and a wide variety of literary theories. This essay incorporates multiple theories visited during the course, including feminist theory and, most prominently, queer theory. Many essays on these theories also served as models for Transforming the Body in how this essay draws not just on theory, but on a wide variety of central and related fictional texts to make its argument. Amanda Thibodeau’s “Alien Bodies and a Queer Future: Sexual Revision in Octavia Butler’s ‘Bloodchild’ and James Tiptree, Jr.’s ‘With Delicate Mad Hands” is probably the most direct example of this, and not coincidentally, is also one of the primary references in this essay.

For those not in the discipline of literary and media studies, I might explain this essay like so: the point of Transforming the Body is to take a big, mass-market franchise, apply a literary theory to it that, at times, literally runs counter to the themes of the text, and explain why the act of doing so is an important part of understanding how people relate to and understand depictions of ourselves in media. In my opinion, this essay re-visions scholarship not so much by using innovative methods, but by applying traditional analytical methods to a less-common intersection of media and theory that I feel deserves more exploration.

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INTRODUCTION Out of all the long-running media franchises that have arisen from children’s entertainment, the Transformers multimedia franchise distinguishes itself by being one of the most prolific and popular properties out there. After nearly forty years in existence, both the nature of the franchise and the nature of the Transformers themselves have changed a great deal. Along the way, as Transformers have transformed themselves, they also have made important statements about queer identity and formation and about the role of science fiction in both developing and simultaneously commenting on sexuality and sex roles in the greater society. The heart of my argument rests on the simultaneous nature of the Transformers as both an entertainment product and an alien species that manifests queerness in a distinct and intrinsic fashion. This duality is what makes the Transformers such a vital subject for examination under the lens of queer theory.

The Transformers multimedia franchise began as the result of a driving force that sparked many other classic franchises of the 1980s: capitalism. The heart of the original franchise was its transforming mecha toys, which shifted between a humanoid robot form and another alternate mode – usually a vehicle, but also other types of forms or objects are now well established. The story that eventually sprang up around the toys gave them a classic sci-fi flair: despite being robotic in nature, the Transformers were actually an alien species from the mechanical planet Cybertron, apparently driven to Earth by a long-lasting civil war. The toy line quickly spawned an animated TV show called The Transformers, which became the first of many as the franchise became a staple of American pop culture – and as such a staple, it is ripe for academic study. Like many science fiction stories centering on alien beings, the Transformers franchise is one that offers many possibilities for readings on topics like gender and sexuality, particularly when using the lens of queer theory. This is something both enhanced and complicated by the sheer breadth of the franchise, which covers dozens of properties including books, toys, television shows, and comics.

One of the larger branches of the franchise, the live action film series, has contributed a great deal to the public perception of gender, sexuality, and queerness. “Perhaps inevitably, the films grew to encompass their own themes and identity separate and apart from what had come before,” says Jim Sorenson, the author of Transformers: A Visual History. “The U.S. Military is always front and center. A sense of mildly transgressive humor permeates the films as well” (342). This focus on militarism and a particular brand of humor are some of the elements which contribute directly to this perception. The film series creates the overall impression that the Transformers’ identities are almost exclusively masculine in nature: specifically, a form of hypermasculinity which incorporates elements of misogyny and homophobia while excluding things like femininity, vulnerability, and queerness.

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Virtually every Transformer in the film franchise is coded male by virtue of their visual design and voice acting. The 2007 film was intended to include a female Transformer character, but she was dropped because “the idea of a female Transformer needs its own explanation, and there just wasn’t going to be enough time” (qtd. in Ellis, “The Problem of Lady Robots”). When Skids in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen jeers, “Why don’t you get a haircut with yo’ bitch-ass! Go whine to your boyfriend!” at Leo Spitz (1:10:04 -1:10:06) or Wheelie humps the leg of human heroine Mikaela while chanting “Say my name, say my name!” (1:25:03) it becomes difficult to ignore the films’ clear statement about what ideas of gender and sexuality the Transformers are intended to embody.

But again, this perception is diluted and complicated by the statements other properties in the franchise are making. “The recent trend in the [Transformers] IDW comics is to not only suggest that gender is a thing, but not offer an explanation for it.

“Thank God, because feeling compelled to explain why females might exist is tiresome,” says media critic Lindsay Ellis in her video essay “Queering Michael Bay.” “Why wouldn’t the Transformer pairs bond, and why would heteronormativity even be a thing for a race of asexual robots?” (13:53 - 14:13) Questions like these have been reified in adultaimed Transformers comic book series like “More Than Meets the Eye,” “Till All Are One,” and “Lost Light,” all of which directly engage with a vision of Cybertronian culture in which same gender romantic relationships are the social norm and the very concept of Cybertronian genders is thoroughly explored. The contrast between how these properties handle this topic seems to place the franchise on a sliding scale of the treatment of queerness, one that ranges from ‘recognized’ to ‘ridiculed.’ The nature of such a large franchise is to encourage such contradictions to coexist, with neither taking clear precedence.

However, this continuum isn’t necessarily correct when viewing the franchise from a theoretical perspective. By using ideas about aliens as representations of queer identity (as derived from a larger body of queer theory), we can see that the concept of Transformers as a species is one that contains an inherent sense of queerness, disrupting the seemingly binary nature currently displayed in the franchise. This is demonstrated in three main elements of the Transformers franchise: the concept of a personified machine that can adopt gendered and sexual identities, the concept of transforming bodies, and the concept of an alien society which exists free of the systematic confines that humans place on gender and sexuality.

PERSONIFYING MACHINES AS AN ACT OF QUEER TRANSGRESSION Despite their science fiction status as both aliens and robots, there’s no doubt that the 32 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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Transformers are in some ways very human. This can be seen not only in the humanoid aspects of their visual design, but in their behavior – across the franchise, Transformers consistently demonstrate that they have the capacity to communicate with others, express emotions, and use logic and reason, traits all closely associated with a commonly defined sense of humanity. It is for these reasons that author Robert Arp, in his Transformersfocused essay “Morally Responsible Machines,” concludes that “a being that has these traits…is a person, regardless of metallic innards, plasmatic innards, or natural, biological innards” (137). In this way, Transformers bear a close resemblance to Donna Haraway’s definition of a cyborg, being “an amalgam of human and machine, biological and mechanical” (456).

So what do you do with a bunch of alien Cybertronians who are also cyborgs? There is the distinct possibility that acknowledging Transformers as being both humans and machines is an act that distances them from traditional definitions of personhood just as much as it humanizes them, if not more so. In many theoretical contexts, the blending of two identities is an act of transgression against the typical boundaries of identity. Indeed, Haraway goes on to conclude that the very existence of cyborgs and their hybrid identities “make very problematic the statuses of man or woman, human, artifact , member of a race, individual entity, or body” (472). When a personified machine, already a hazard to boundaries, goes one step further and adopts a gender or expresses romantic attraction, it transgresses against normalized ideas of gender and sexuality – something which, in the eyes of humans, is often considered an act or demonstration of queerness.

The classic sci-fi short story “Fondly Fahrenheit” by Alfred Bester offers an example of how providing gender to machines is both personifying and transgressive. The story’s text constantly shifts the pronouns and point-of-view being used to blur the identity of the human protagonist Vandaleur and his android servant; both members of the pair are transgressors in society, the android for possessing a defect that makes it capable of murdering humans and Vandaleur for enabling and participating in the android’s crimes.

By the end of the story, even after the android’s destruction, “they” seem to have settled into acceptance of their dual nature and reject the idea that their interdependency is the result of socially diagnosed projection: “But we know one truth. We know they are wrong” (Bester 302). While Transformers don’t typically get involved in such murderous intrigues, there is an unmistakable similarity in the melding of man and machine to create a protagonist. Yet, the nature of Transformers as aliens solidifies their identity in a way that Vandaleur can’t quite manage. Rather than the man and the machine coming from separate origins, in Transformers they are fundamentally conjoined – a cyborg whose transgressions are part of its nature, not its choices.

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TRANSFORMING BODIES AS SYMBOLS OF REAFFIRMED AND FREED IDENTITIES There’s a lot to unpack with regards to how Transformers incorporate the fundamental act of transformation and the possession of a second ‘body’ as part of their physical being.

The non-diegetic reason for it, of course, is the perennial novelty of toys that can change shape. Yet despite that, the act of transformation is one that has diegetically taken on a great deal of significance. As a fundamental aspect of all Transformers-related media, the Transformers canon continuously represents it as a natural part of Cybertronian life, and the right to control and choose when/how to exercise it is often shown to be a contentious topic in that society. The 2005 IDW continuity, for example, depicts it as a source of social hierarchy: Cybertronians are divided into vocational classes depending on their alternate mode and its relative ‘usefulness’ to society (“Transformation”). There’s certainly a wealth of queer implications in the concept, particularly as it relates to social status, but the strongest ways that transformation is positioned as a queer act comes with how transformation relates to the individual.

In the universe of the Transformers, the named act of transformation generally refers to the change back and forth from a Cybertronian’s humanoid ‘root’ mode to its alternate mode (or ‘alt mode.’) In the ordinary course of Cybertronian culture, it’s a common act to upgrade or switch alt modes depending on current circumstances or personal desire.

This is common to the point that ‘mode attachment’ is regarded as an unusual oddity, and the act of assuming one permanent form is considered to be a drastic and unnerving choice (“Alternate mode”). Forms of Cybertronian social thought which dictate that alt modes are immutable, like the class system of Functionism described above, are primarily represented as being overly conservative to the point of fascism. Indeed, Functionists in the 2005 IDW continuity are depicted as forbidding changes in mode choice or career and “cultivat[ing] a stigma” against Cybertronians who sought such changes (“Alternate mode”). The desire to ‘change’ one’s body to better reflect internal identity is a common feature of queer identities, particularly with regards to the transgender community and other gender non-conformists. In her essay “Alien Bodies and a Queer Future”, queer theorist Amanda Thibodeau notes that, “More often than not, Jameson suggests, the alien body is a kind of Chimera, ‘an ingeniously cobbled together object in which secondary features of our own world are primary in the new one’” (qtd. in Thibodeau 264). If changing one’s body is a secondary feature of our human bodies, then it is certainly one that has been prioritized for in the bodies of the Transformers – prioritized, and normalized. To Transformers, the idea that the body is a personal territory which can and should be altered to express identity or purpose is an innate one, encompassed in their physiology, culture, and name.

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There are also implications to the fact that a majority of the Transformers’ alt modes take the form of some kind of transportation or vehicle. H.L.T. Quan posits that in marginalized communities – of which she includes the queer community as an example – the act of running away is one of survival and “literally making oneself unavailable for servitude and governing” (p. 186) The bodies of these aliens are ones that are literally enabled to distance themselves from the physical presence of centralized, prescriptive authority. Freedom, while not typically identified as a purely queer concept, is something that many of those in marginalized queer communities seek out: freedom of selfexpression, and freedom from forms of governance that look to control and limit that expression. To borrow a common quote from Optimus Prime, it can be accepted that among both queer humans and Transformers “[f ]reedom is the right of all sentient beings” (“Optimus Prime”).

ALIEN SOCIETIES AS QUEER COMMUNITIES Many pieces of Transformers media focus on the Transformers in relation to Earth and human society rather than their own, or focus on military-oriented action stories rather than ones embedded in Cybertronian culture. However, the franchise contains a truly fascinating expanse of back story about the native planet Cybertron and the societies formed there. There’s quite a lot of be learned from the places that Cybertronian society differentiates itself from human society; from a purely social perspective, it might constitute a form of “queer utopia” in how it reimagines a society free of human-centric interpersonal pressures on queer individuals and queer relationships. This is demonstrated most explicitly in how the franchise approaches issues of Cybertronian reproduction and romantic relationships.

Earlier in this essay, Transformers were described as ‘sexual,’ a term not necessarily intended to refer to sexual orientation (though it very well could) but rather to reproductive processes. While exact explanations for reproduction vary across continuities (including methods such as budding, harvesting immature bodies from the surface of the planet Cybertron, or literal, factory-style construction) Transformers are generally not considered to partake in sexual reproduction, meaning that the relationships they form are independent from it. According to the online Transformers Wiki, “Despite most continuities having male and female genders (gender being a mental and social classification, as opposed to “sexes”, a physical distinction) and a definite, strong history of transformer romance existing between these genders, there is little canonical evidence for Transformers reproducing sexually” (“Reproduction”). Not only does this validate the existence of Cybertronian gender as an identity independent of physical sex, but this sets the stage for queering reproduction by removing reproduction as a factor in VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 35

relationships. A commonly held tenet of anti-queer sentiment is that queer relationships are ‘anti-reproductive’ in one way or another, either by virtue of not generating offspring the way a heterosexual relationship (assumedly) would, or by raising offspring in an ‘unsuitable’ or otherwise nontraditional environment. Reframing reproduction as a queer act through alien methods is not a new feature in science fiction by any means. Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild”, for example, stands as a possible example of queering reproduction through role reversal and the inclusion of alien forms of procreation – in the story, the male human protagonist Gan is impregnated by the female alien T’Gatoi, creating what Thibodeau calls a “queer heteronormativity” through the complex negotiations of power and consent their partnership requires (Thibodeau 272). So too does the Transformers franchise incorporate queerness by not recognizing a reproductive imperative to form any sort of interpersonal relationship, let alone one formed in a specific configuration of genders.

Despite the franchise’s liberation of interpersonal relationships from the confines of reproductive imperativism, there still remains the ways that Transformers approach relationships in general. By and large, the franchise is not one that consistently concerns itself with relationship-building, particularly when it comes to romantic relationships.

However, in the places where those romantic relationships do exist and are placed within the context of a wider Cybertronian society, one key element about how these relationships factor into society becomes clear: they don’t factor into it. More precisely, relationships are depicted as being important to Transformers on a purely personal and emotional level, but Cybertronian society never demonstrates a broader social position on relationships the same way that, say, a human society might have a position on favoring certain kinds of relationships over others. In most of the franchise, romantic relationships lack a codified existence; when Transformers enter a romantic relationship, there are no clear expectations placed on them in regard to things like marriage, relationship roles, a shift in social status upon initiating a relationship, etc. The few places in the Transformers franchise where romantic relationships are codified by society still offer an interesting departure from human modes. In the IDW 2005 continuity, there exists the concept of a “Conjunx Endura,” a term which refers to a committed romantic partner (“Conjunx Endura”). However, it is also shown alongside a related concept called an ‘Amica Endura’– a committed platonic partner. The importance of both partnerships are shown to vary among Cybertronian subcultures, but both are formalized within society through the performance of rituals demonstrating mutual affection and appreciation (“Amica Endura”). Even then, the decision to enter such a partnership is purely personal, and generally has no wider social repercussions. The removal of relationships as a social factor almost seems to mimic modern efforts to equalize the treatment of queer and straight relationships, like the initiative to use ‘partner’ rather than ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend.’ In 36 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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the society of Transformers, such initiatives are a non-issue.

Thibodeau partially defines a utopia: …a rejection of present constructions for a future vision. Theories that articulate the deconstruction, the multiplication, or the eradication of systems of categorization embody utopian principles…The world Sedgwick imagines with its endless taxonomies and a never-ending capacity to alter, create, or destroy them, epitomizes the project of queer science fiction and utopia, signaling not a waning of quality within the genre but a deepening of implications and an expansion into realms hitherto unexplored (266).

As a human dream of an alien society, the Transformers and their society represent a queer utopia by doing just what Thibodeau describes: eliminating present constructions or obstructions in favor of a future with a freer, more equal ground, one that would allow queerness to flourish by never seeking to constrict it.

CONCLUSION The question remaining, at the end of the day, is why this matters. Why does it matter that Transformers may be an alien species that manifests queerness, when they exist in a franchise that can comfortably shrug off or put on such interpretations depending on the audience being aimed at? One reason, of course, is that we as academics and readers cannot allow the perception of authorial intent or statements to restrict ideas about a work’s theoretical potential. Even the Transformer live-action films, which declare themselves to be one of the most ‘no-homo’ properties to exist on a near-textual level, generate mass potential for queer readings, as author D. Harlan Wilson demonstrates in his article “Technomasculine Bodies and Vehicles of Desire,” which explores how Transformers in the 2007 film act as vehicles of human sexuality in both heterosexual and homosexual ways. In Wilson’s words, “I have argued that Transformers stand as polyvalent markers for masculine subjectivity and selfhood; like so much sf (science fiction), they serve as a window into our own diegetic present as much as the history and future of their own narrative diegesis, reflecting and commenting on the nature of contemporary reality” (360). This is why we continue to seek out and examine such classical franchises - they reflect our growth back onto us not just in how they create new material for us to consume, but in how we choose to perceive that material. In 1984, Transformers sold toys. In 2007, they fought for the fate of the Earth in spectacular screen battles. In 2019, they fight, fall in love, resist fascism, adopt new pronouns, and keep fighting. In the future, what will Transformers – aliens much like us in so many ways, aliens who demonstrate traits so many of us seek to cultivate and others seek to eliminate – show us about ourselves?

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AN ANALYSIS OF THE KKK THROUGH THREE THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES SYDNEY KOCHAN Major: Global Affairs Class of 2020

ABOUT THE WORK In my conflict course this semester, my professor tasked the class with an analysis of a currently active terrorist group of our choice while using theories we learned in class to make sense of the group. Living in America during a time of mass political conflict and upturns in racism, I decided to conduct my research on the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacy terrorist group operating in the United States since the late 1860s. Through my research, I learned that it is important to first understand the positioning and grievances of a terrorist group before we can try to mitigate, and eventually eliminate, its activity.

The three theories I used as lenses through which to analyze the KKK include McVeigh’s power devaluation model, Sprinzak’s split delegitimation theory, and Bandura’s theory of moral disengagement.

While these three theories work together to provide a relatively comprehensive examination of the KKK, it is important to recognize how important it is that we make personal efforts to recognize racially-driven narratives and combat them before they exacerbate.

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ABSTRACT The Ku Klux Klan, more commonly referred to as the KKK, is a right-wing domestic terrorist group that has been active within the United States for over two hundred years with the main focus of intimidating and terrorizing African Americans and other racial and religious minorities. Initially formed in the late 1860s in response to drastic reformation policies aiming to provide equal rights to previously freed blacks in America, this terrorist group acts in the interest of preserving/reinstating white Protestant superiority. Through the analysis of theoretical frameworks, this research paper will seek to explain how the concepts of power devaluation, split delegitimization, and moral disengagement have not only allowed for the formation and sustained activity of the KKK, but also explain why this group is such a danger to American society. Power devaluation reveals not only how group members perceive grievances and societal change, but also how these issues radicalized individuals. Split delegitimization can be applied to explain the internal perception of struggle that leads to action, and moral disengagement allows for members to rationalize their acts of terror and avoid inner guilt and remorse. This research is vital and important to understand activities of the KKK in recent decades, especially in the years since Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States.

INTRODUCTION The Ku Klux Klan is a domestic terrorist network with a long history in the United States whose focus is to reinstate white racial and societal superiority (History.com, 2018). Formed in 1866 by former Confederate soldiers, the KKK originally aimed at contesting the Republican Party’s platform of promoting political equality and integration for African Americans and newly-freed slaves (History.com, 2018). The KKK has suffered declines in influence in the past, with its most active periods occurring in the 1920s and the 1960s, in response to the immigration of religious minorities and the Civil Rights Movement, respectively (Clawson, 2014; History.com, 2018). Since these periods, the KKK’s rhetoric is most notably marked by “anti-immigrant, antiSemitic, anti-Catholic” sentiment, in addition to its founding feature of racism against American blacks (Clawson, 2014, p. 675). More recently, the KKK has been active along the east coast of the United States, and notable incidents include racially- and religiously- motivated violent incidents in cities such as Pittsburgh, Charleston, and more (Chow, 2018). In an interview with American Experience, David Cunningham explains that while there is an upturn of KKK groups and subsects in recent years, many are small and “lacking in meaningful political or social influence” (“Top 5 VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 39

Questions About the KKK” | American Experience | PBS, para. 4). Despite this, the KKK’s nature of fluctuation in influence and activity proves that a more violent time may be on the horizon, and that it is worth studying and understanding the group and its motives if moves are to be made to combat and eradicate it (“Top 5 Questions About the KKK” | American Experience | PBS).

The KKK’s most prominent grievances have changed over time in response to trends in American society; however, the underlying sentiments have remained relatively stable up until the present day (History.com, 2018; Newkirk, 2017; Van Dyke, 2010). When the US granted rights to African Americans in the late 1860s, members of the KKK- white Americans- felt that their economic, social, and political superiority could be usurped, and their “bargaining power” diminished (Van Dyke, 2010, p. 1959). During the 1920s, the grievances were almost identical, but they were in response to a broader subset of individuals: Jews, Catholics, Greeks, and virtually any immigrant (Newkirk, 2017).

The ideal social framework promoted by the KKK consists of a very right-wing conservative and Christian agenda (Cunningham & Madsen, 2015). In the 1860s when the group was first founded, the KKK wanted to challenge the Democratic ideal of “political and religious pluralism” (Cunningham & Madsen, 2015, p. 301). In other words, the KKK platform aims for a government ideologically led by concepts of racial superiority that emphasize electing white representatives for white issues (Cunningham & Madsen, 2015). The presence of a list of grievances combined with an absence of an ideal social framework and failed attempts at counterterrorism work together to maintain KKK activity.

The first attempts at counterterrorism by the Ku Klux Klan occurred in 1870 and 1871, respectively, with the presidentially-supported Enforcement Acts (Hobbs, 2017).

Despite their focus on promoting racial equality and President Grant’s condemnation of KKK activity, only a small proportion of KKK members were apprehended, leaving the rest to continue their terror tactics out on the population (“Grant, Reconstruction and the KKK” | American Experience | PBS). Since then, no formal laws have been made to combat racially driven terrorism in the US, and Clawson (2014) argues that the enforcement of policies is difficult and often not comprehensive; only the most sinister of crimes are tried and only the most awful terrorists are convicted without making an “effort to suppress the Klan’s broader culture of racial intimidation” (p.

676).

While the prior, more general elements of conflict do well to explain the KKK’s prolonged existence, some more specific and scholarly concepts allow us to further delve into the process of formation of the group, the reasoning behind the ability to heartlessly terrorize, and the radicalization of disillusioned individuals (Bandura, 2003; 40 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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McVeigh, 1999, 2009; Sprinzak, 2007). These concepts are McVeigh’s (1999; 2009) power devaluation model, Sprinzak’s (2007) sociology concept of split delegitimization, and Bandura’s (2003) social psychology theory of moral disengagement. These three theories work together to either explain how and why the KKK remains active, as well as why the group should remain a security concern for national security professionals.

POWER DEVALUATION MODEL In his power devaluation model, McVeigh explains that any “right-wing movement… acts on behalf of relatively advantaged groups with the goal of preserving, restoring, and expanding the rights and privileges of its members and constituents” (McVeigh, 2009, p. 32). This would mean that groups are encouraged to act on perceived grievances, which depend on personal and collective psychological responses to social triggers (McVeigh, 2009). The first major pillar of the power devaluation theory is the presence of radical structural changes to society (McVeigh, 1999). The presence of radical structural changes in society has been fairly obviously a determinant for upticks of Klan activity. At the time of its formation, there were quite a few changes in society, one of which being the conclusion of the civil war and the loss of the Confederacy (“Grant, Reconstruction and the KKK” | American Experience | PBS). The earliest known form of the KKK was exclusive only to Confederate soldiers who were angered by the recent loss as well as committed to thwarting the attempts of newly-elected President Grant at an inclusive democratic state (“Grant, Reconstruction and the KKK” | American Experience | PBS). The next ‘wave’ of Klan activity, the 1920s, was a response to the increasing number of immigrants infiltrating American towns (History.com, 2018). According to NBC, “since the 1890 census reflected higher numbers of northern Europeans, immigrants from those countries had greater opportunities to emigrate” (“1910s-1920s,” 2008, para. 1). The rhetoric of the time period presented these new immigrants as being far more uneducated, unadaptable, and more likely to cause “race mixing,” which was highly unacceptable in the eyes of the KKK (“1910s-1920s,” 2008, para. 1). This immigration trend not only caused a fear of a communist rebellion, but it also sparked the largest increase in membership of the KKK, which surpassed a whopping four million member count (History.com, 2018).

Lastly, the 1960s era of the KKK was in response to the Civil Rights Era, and saw the most brutal of attacks yet committed by the group, including bombs, assassinations, and beatings, which simply worked to fuel the fire behind the Civil Rights Movement and its principal constituents (History.com, 2018). The KKK remains a highly active terrorist group even during the present day, and according to intelligence officer Heidi Beirich, much of the recent activity surrounding the KKK- including white VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 41

nationalist riots- started to increase early into the presidency of Donald Trump, whose hard-hitting opinions and policies on immigration fueled the uptick in “hate group” activity (Stack, 2019, para. 4). She further explains that “before that…the number of hate groups had fallen for three straight years” (Stack, 2019, para. 4). McVeigh’s argument that right-wing movements, including the KKK, tend to follow a pattern should remain both a warning and a concern for scholars of conflict resolution and terrorism. Terrorist groups often run their course rather quickly, and with a long one hundred fifty-year history, we can continue to expect rises and falls in Klan activity.

Studying the motives and aspects of mobilization within this terrorist group serves to prepare us for and hopefully preemptively counter future attacks at times when social prompts may arise. In summary, according to McVeigh, “changes in the structure of society can provide structural strain,” therefore the presence of grievances depends on personal and collective responses to social triggers (McVeigh, 2009, p. 33).

Another major tenant of the power devaluation model is the devaluation of various important relationships (McVeigh, 2009). While discussed already in this paper, McVeigh’s (2009) theory further categorizes these grievances into three sections: economic, political, and status. Economic devaluation occurs when “actors’ purchasing power within an exchange market results from a decline in the demand for what an actor offers in the exchange, and from an increase in the supply of others who offer the same thing in exchange” (McVeigh, 2009, p. 40). McVeigh (2009) uses the example of labor, goods, and services to illustrate that, when an influx of able workers arises due to immigration or inclusion in the workplace, the value of any one individual’s capital (labor, goods, services) decreases, and their relationship and power within the economy suffers. For the KKK, the most devaluation within the economic sector occurred during the 1910s and 1920s, in which “industrialization, urbanization, and migration” as well as immigration and “organized labor” combined to devalue the labor of able-bodied white men and therefore decrease their economic status (History.com, 2018, para. 8; McVeigh, 1999, p. 1468). Within the political categorywhich McVeigh (2009) elucidates to be an almost comparable “exchange market” to that of the political sector, as “votes and monetary contributions are exchanged for representation and political patronage” (p. 40). In this “political market” of sorts, various factors related to population growth and decline as well as the economic status of the nation, alter the value of one individual’s vote (McVeigh, 2009, p. 40).

Moreover, as the proportion of voters among the population increases, the value of each vote decreases, thus placing those who previously held more influencing power with their voting choices into a status of devaluation (McVeigh, 2009). It is quite evident that this aspect of depreciation was most notably felt during the first wave of Klan activity. The KKK, which originated in 1866, outwardly spoke of its rejection 42 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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of the new Republican presidency, Reconstruction, and the newfound suffrage of African Americans (History.com, 2018). Not only were all black men guaranteed the protected right to vote, but they also became the focus of government-sponsored egalitarian policies (History.com, 2018). The last sector where devaluation occurs is within the status sector (McVeigh, 2009). McVeigh (2009) explains: Actors gain prestige and esteem by adhering to and displaying behaviors and traits that are simultaneously admired and relatively scarce. If these traits or behaviors become increasingly common, then the purchasing power of the actor displaying such behaviors or possessing such traits undergoes devaluation. (p. 41) To elucidate this a little, McVeigh (2009) provides an example through fashion: individuals of the wealthier class use fashion to illustrate their status and relative affluence within society. However, cheaper replicas of these fashion trends make their way to the lower classes, thus causing the fashion to lose its value as a signifier of high status (McVeigh, 2009). As certain behaviors that were previously displayed by a smaller portion of the population spread, whether it be due to black freedom and voting rights, or immigration, the value of these behaviors- having a steady job, raising successful families, voting, participating in society, culturally assimilating- face devaluation and threaten the status of those white men who previously thrived on them (McVeigh, 2009). Therefore, KKK members felt a devaluation in their economic and political power as well as social status, which were the main backbones of their list of grievances (McVeigh, 1999; Van Dyke, 2010).

Lastly, McVeigh (2009), drawing on scholar Erving Goffman explains how devaluation leads to the process of “frame alignment,” which “refers to an active and ongoing process of making interpretive orientations offered by social movement organizations congruent with those held by individuals whose support the socialmovement organization hopes to enlist” (p. 43). McVeigh (2009) writes that leaders of groups, in this case the KKK, need to present “collective action frames” that address a problem, propose a viable solution, and guarantee a situation where benefits outweigh the costs (p. 43). McVeigh (2009) explains that one way which frame alignment can be carried out is by drawing on collective cultural identity that shares a sense of power devaluation and wants a solution, and this is quite evidently present in the recruitment tactics of the KKK. For example, the KKK draws on white, employed, middle-class men and their families, and “by acting like a political party, it draws members from politics. By acting like a church, it drew people from churches- likewise with business, with charity…and so on” (Fox, 2011, p. 113-114). Once individuals became radicalized, they often started recruiting within families, as family ties and loyalty meant that if one family member joined, spouses, siblings, and children were encouraged- and even pressured- to follow suit (Fox, 2011).

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While McVeigh’s (1999; 2009) power devaluation theory presents a more personal perspective on the process in which individuals are radicalized through societal changes and devaluation, Sprinzak (2007) presents a broader, more collective outlook on how an entire group of people can simultaneously become disillusioned with the government.

SPLIT DELEGITIMIZATION Another leading theory or process that is imperative to understanding the formation of and radicalization of KKK members is Sprinzak’s (2007) theory of split delegitimization. According to Sprinzak (2007), split delegitimization is a process in which a group “is involved in a conflict with two opposing entities: a community (or class) of people who are considered illegitimate, and a regime, whose legitimacy is primarily not challenged, but which protects the ‘illegitimate’ community” (p. 52).

In the case of the KKK, quite obviously the two opponents are the new regime and the vast population of racial and religious minorities residing in the United States.

Split delegitimization, however, presents a contrasting process of radicalization and disillusionment that the other two forms differ from (Sprinzak, 2007).

Unlike the processes of transformational and extensional delegitimization, what makes split delegitimization unique is that the process does not undergo the “crisis of confidence,” through which the group loses its confidence in the regime’s ability to introduce and promote good policies and “involves an angry critique of the established authorities or rulers” (Sprinzak, 2007, p. 54). What classifies the KKK as not experiencing this process is that at the time of its formation, it was largely in response to the new presidential regime and its unprecedented proposed policies, rather than a reaction to a pre-existing administration.

In the case of split delegitimization, contrary to the other two forms of the process, the process starts with a conflict of legitimacy, in which there is a materialization of a new regime or system with a different set of ideological beliefs, that sets out to eradicate the past regime’s “code of social norms in the name of some better ones” (Sprinzak, 2007, p. 55). This description applies perfectly to the reactionary formation of the KKK in response to a new Republican presidency focusing on extending voting rights and social equality to African Americans and freed slaves, a very drastic and radical alteration of moral beliefs and system operations (“Grant, Reconstruction and the KKK” | American Experience | PBS.; History.com, 2018). This conflict of legitimacy is apparent in the fears of the KKK members of the times, who “knew that given the chance, the blacks in their communities would vote Republican” (“Grant, Reconstruction and the KKK” | American Experience | PBS, para. 6). This displays 44 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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a simultaneous rejection of both the new government regime, which worked hard to prevent their southern, Democratic opponents from holding political influence in their districts, as well as the African Americans- the “’illegitimate’ community” (“Grant, Reconstruction and the KKK” | American Experience | PBS; Sprinzak, 2007, p. 52).

Another essential aspect of Sprinzak’s (2007) split delegitimization concept includes the widespread “campaigns of intimidation” that eventually evolved into acts of terrorism (p. 65). According to Fox (2011), the KKK’s actions- in his example, in Michigan in the 1920s during its ‘second wave’- were “designed to incite local gossip and an excited anticipation of the exclusive world of fraternal mysteries that lay hidden inside” (p. 1). This description appears to be almost romantic, as it could be predicted by looking to the past what the actions of the group would escalate to.

In 1866, in response to the election, simple, but violent, brawls between whites and blacks intensified to murder, the burning of schools, and the beating of African Americans and Republicans, both black and white (“Grant, Reconstruction and the KKK” | American Experience | PBS). All of these acts of terror were carried out under the veil of the symbolic KKK white cloak and hoods, which were designed to “frighten black southerners with a ghostly image of terror” (“A Brief History of the Ku Klux Klan,” 2009, p. 49). The KKK’s present-day activities often range from these “campaigns of intimidation” to full-blown terrorism (Sprinzak, 2007, p. 65).

For example, in late 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, “white nationalists” took the street, and one video depicts them carrying torches and chanting various intimidating and exclusive phrases such as “one people, one nation, end immigration” (CNN, 2017, 0:01). This incident, while troubling to many, pales in comparison to the events that unfolded at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, in which white nationalist Robert Bowes attacked Tree of Life worshippers in a targeted anti-Semitic act of terrorism that left 11 Jews dead leaves a stain as “the deadliest attack ever on Jews in the United States” (Chavez, Grinberg, & McLaughlin, 2018, para. 1). The savagery of these acts of intimidation and terror begs the question of how white supremacists are able to commit to such heinous activities with no semblance of remorse. This lack of conscience can be explained by looking through the lens of Bandura’s (2003) theory of moral disengagement, which, although almost exclusively applied to international conflict, still remains applicable in intranational terrorism.

MORAL DISENGAGEMENT The simplest explanation to the sinister, atrocious, and unrestrained activity of the KKK, according to Bandura (2003), is that “self-regulating mechanisms do not VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 45

operate unless they are activated, and there are many psychological processes by which control reactions can be disengaged from inhumane conduct” (p. 122). Two of these psychological processes include moral justification and dehumanization (Bandura, 2003).

The process of moral justification occurs when violent and intimidating actions are redefined as morally just because they work towards a common, acceptable, and deserving goal (Bandura, 2003). In the case of the KKK, according to Cunningham and Madsen (2015), the KKK utilized their “emphasis on ‘moral superiority’ and ‘religious supremacy...as an apologetic for violence” (p. 302). Moreover, in an interview with PBS, KKK scholar Cunningham explains that the rhetoric of the KKK focused on re-establishing the pillars of white supremacy- a perceived moral act in response to perceived threat and unfairness- and often used Christian symbolism to validate their actions (“Top 5 Questions About the KKK” | American Experience | PBS). Brown explains that “the Klan wore white robes to symbolize ‘purity,’ burned crosses to signify ‘the Light of Christ’ and picked selective scriptures from the Bible to preach white supremacy” (Brown, 2018, para. 7). Moreover, according to a Southern Poverty Law Center report in 2017, the use of Christianity and religious texts to defend their actions is actually a quite common technique among white nationalist hate groups (Brown, 2018). No example of using religion to morally justify acts of terror, according to Brown (2018), is as prominent as the KKK, whose membership often even draws from members of churches and in some cases, ministers themselves.

Moral justification often worked in accordance with other components of moral disengagement, one of the most recognizable being dehumanization of the victim (Bandura, 2003).

In the process of dehumanization, radicals can make their own acts seem less vicious by “stripping people of human qualities” (Bandura, 2003, p. 136). Bandura’s (2003) main example of this concept is the use of degrading vocabulary, but the KKK more often used imagery to place African Americans in an ugly light. The use of embellished facial characteristics such as enormous lips, flat noses, and thick hair make African-Americas seem more animalistic and barbaric than human, and overall, African Americans during the Jim Crow era were “portrayed in popular culture as pitiable exotics, cannibalistic savages, hypersexual deviants, childlike buffoons, obedient servants, self-loathing victims, and menaces to society” (“Anti-Black Imagery,” para. 5). In fact, one of the most controversial yet current pillars of visual racism is blackface, in which items such as grease, dark polish, or cork are painted on the face to imitate the skin tone of African Americans (Clark, 2019). According to ethnicity professor David Leonard: “’[this imitation] allows a society to routinely and historically imagine African Americans as not fully human. It serves to rationalize 46 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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violence” (Clark, 2019, para. 2) When individuals are projected as dangerous or unhuman, it is effectively easier for the perpetrator of violence to believe that it is morally and evolutionally just to harm them, harass them, and in extreme cases, kill them (Bandura, 2003).

Another process that falls under the umbrella of moral disengagement is diffusion of responsibility, in which “group decision making” and “collective action” disconnect any one individual in a hate group from the crimes and acts of terror they are committing (Bandura, 2003, p. 132-133). In explanation, Bandura (2003) writes that “people act more cruelly under group responsibility than when they hold themselves personally accountable for their actions” (p. 133). The KKK often utilizes the ideas of collective action to create anonymity when committing crimes, the most recognizable being their trademarked white hoods and cloaks, which, according to one journal, serves a dual purpose: to appear as ghosts seeking vengeance and forcing dread upon their victims (“A Brief History of the Ku Klux Klan,” 2009). Moreover, similarity in clothing perhaps allows members of the group to act as a collective entity, as identities become obscured and a sense of collectivity arises (“A Brief History of the Ku Klux Klan,” 2009).

DRAWING CONNECTIONS While these three concepts offer various perspectives and different frameworks with which to analyze terrorist group formation and activity, the concept that links them together- specifically within the context of the KKK as a terrorist group- is narrative (Halverson et al., 2011). According to Halverson et al. (2011), a master narrative is “a transhistorical narrative that is deeply embedded in a particular culture,” in the case of the KKK, the culture being white nationalism (p. 14). It is possible to interpret a thorough narrative of the KKK through the three concepts previously discussed. This narrative allows all members of the KKK- as well as members of other terrorist groupsto understand the progression leading to their perceived threatened state, as well as create a “same basic pattern recognition” through generational repetition (Halverson et al., 2011, p. 14). It is possible to detect through analyzing McVeigh’s (1999; 2009) power devaluation model a ‘good versus evil’ narrative: as immigration and inclusion occur for racial and religious minorities, white men attribute their opponents to the devaluation of white power within the economic, political, and social sectors, and are driven to perceive their opponents as evil people who were the ultimate cause of the collapse of superiority (McVeigh, 1999; 2009). This explanation- while not accepted by the broad population of the US- is subscribed to by members of the KKK to understand their perception of relative deprivation and pose blame. Sprinzak’s VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 47

model of split delegitimization presents another major aspect of the narrative, in which the government, through association with, protection of, and promotion of assimilation for racial and religious minorities, itself becomes an evil that has caused disillusionment (Grant, Reconstruction and the KKK | American Experience | PBS, n.d.; Sprinzak, 2007). The process of moral disengagement- more specifically the act of dehumanizing the Other- allows KKK members to visually portray minorities as inhumane, barbaric, conniving, and evil and therefore twist the narrative to fit their assumption that they are ‘fighting the good fight’ against their opponents (Bandura, 2003). Through analyzing the concepts of power devaluation, split delegitimization, and moral disengagement, a connection can be drawn to show that they work together to constitute a master narrative for the KKK in order to effectively mobilize and ignite its constituencies (Bandura, 2003; Halverson et al., 2011; McVeigh, 1999, 2009; Sprinzak, 2007).

CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE The concepts of power devaluation, split delegitimization, and moral disengagement serve well in identifying the trends of radicalization and process of self-justification present in the actions and history of the Ku Klux Klan (Bandura, 2003; McVeigh, 1999, 2009; Sprinzak, 2007). While McVeigh’s (1999; 2009) power devaluation theory explains the presence of societal changes and perception of loss of power as motives for the existence of the KKK, Sprinzak’s (2007) theory of split delegitimization provides a model for understanding the importance of disillusion with two entities- the government and a smaller, “illegitimate community”- as a process leading to radicalization (Sprinzak, 2007, p. 52). Both offer lenses through which we can understand both the reasoning of the KKK’s creation and its power almost two centuries later (McVeigh, 1999, 2009; Sprinzak, 2007). Bandura’s (2003) model of moral disengagement, however, provides a perspective through which we can understand how the KKK, as well as its members, are able to justify their crimes, thus leading to a vicious feedback loop of terror activity. Moreover, the abilities of the KKK to frame actions to make themselves seem less sinister than they truly are through moral justification, dehumanization, and diffusion of responsibility, and to continue to terrorize populations with an absence of moral conscience, present the group as a security concern for years to come (Bandura, 2003). While these three theories offer a plethora of information with which to understand the KKK, many questions remain: why have counterterrorist measures failed to eradicate this group?

How can the media be used to recruit or even spread the word? How can we learn to predict upticks in Klan activity as responsive events?

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Of course, there is no simple solution to fully eradicate terrorism, whether it be domestic or international in scope. Especially in the case of the KKK, members are able to ‘rationalize’ terror activity and oppressive thoughts, making it extremely difficult to de-radicalize individuals once they have already been self-radicalized. In terms of ways of combatting KKK and other white supremacist terrorist activity and extremist belief, community dialogue may be an initial locally based effort; simply gathering individuals of different races, economic backgrounds, religious beliefs, etc. can be an exposure therapy of sorts. Placing individuals with starkly contrasting beliefs in a situation in which they must actively listen to other opinions that may contradict their own provides a route to reconsideration and, at best, de-radicalization. Such efforts have actually proven to be successful in the past. Perhaps the most notable case in which community dialogue led to de-radicalization occurred in 1971, when the desegregation of schools in Durham, North Carolina forced community members into a charrette, with local KKK leader C.P. Ellis and African American community development leader Ann Atwater placed at the head of the dialogue and in direct confrontation with each other (Thornton, n.d.). Through coordination over school matters, the two adversaries were able to overcome their difference, recognize their stereotypes of one another, and become partners and friends over the years to work toward common goals; in fact, C.P. Ellis withdrew from his local Ku Klux Klan once he realized his bigotry towards the African American community was unjust and unfounded (Thornton, n.d.). Though this is just one example, it highlights the possibility of dialogue, engagement, and community-building as both a pre-emptive measure and as a solution to white supremacy terrorism.

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FIRST P L ACE SUBMI SSI ON

LESSONS LEARNED FROM SMALLPOX AND THEIR APPLICATION TO MEASLES VI NGUYEN, SHADI MOHAMMADABADI Majors: Computational and Data Sciences, Bioinformatics Class of 2021

ABOUT THE WORK Infectious diseases demand immediate response and appropriate measures to control the spread and contain infected individuals. Smallpox is the first and only infectious disease that has ever been completely eradicated from human history. Measles, however, remains as a preventable disease that threatens millions of lives worldwide despite previous eradication efforts. A complete investigation into the Intensified Smallpox Eradication program has revealed that sufficient funding, global participation, vaccination above the herd immunity thresholds, and appropriate containment measures are the driving factors that determine the success of any eradication program such as measles.

We searched for smallpox data on the number of casualties and cases along with government funding collected from all parts of the world. There had been great efforts in eradicating smallpox since the eradication program was renewed. We collected the data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By looking at the Intensified Smallpox Program, we can draw a more vivid picture of the measures taken, the aftermath of the program, and lessons learned from the disease. We pulled information from digital libraries and used search terms such as “smallpox,” “eradication,” “measles,”... In addition to searching for journal articles, we also looked for popular articles that reported on the recent outbreaks of measles.

The success of smallpox eradication program in the late 20th century marked a milestone in eliminating a disease that had caused millions of deaths and a global program that had never been attempted before. With advancements in the medical field improving vaccine efficacy and healthcare in the 21st century, we are more equipped than ever to eradicate any infectious disease. Yet, the measles virus has remained with its hosts for over centuries. The disease has contracted 1261 people in 2019 in the United States alone where there is better access to healthcare and vaccination. Measles warrants more attention alongside with other infectious diseases like polio and malaria.

With the increasing proportion of the population who refuse to get immunized, it is more challenging than ever to contain and control the spread of measles. Measures need to be taken to counter vaccination hesitancy from parents and invite global participation to contribute both efforts and finances to the program. Studying the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program gained us a better understanding of how working together as a united force can end any eradicable disease.

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ABSTRACT Recently, historians have begun to study the American character in an effort to better understand American culture and how it has evolved over time. One acceptance that arguably began to take shape in the‘60s (Riffkin, 2014).

Further research is needed in order to more fully explore the dominate threat narratives posited by the mainstream media in 1960s America. It is important to not only understand those threats present in TIME but also those in other prominent media outlets during this turbulent decade. The significance of this research has farreaching effects within the fields of history, as well as the field of conflict analysis and resolution.

I. INTRODUCTION Although it is known as the most dangerous infectious disease ever known to human history, smallpox is also the very first and only disease that has ever been completely eradicated. Interestingly enough, the first vaccination was developed in response to this disease’s devastating outbreaks that led to millions of deaths worldwide. The terrors of smallpox prompted government officials to institute the Eradication Program that intensified over the course of the mid-1900’s and finally led to the complete destruction of variolas, the smallpox-causing virus, from human history.

Given such an aggressive disease, how were government officials, law makers, and medical professionals able to coordinate their efforts to put an end to smallpox?

Fast forward to 2019, a disease that has been responsible for over 200 million deaths has lingered onto mankind for more than three centuries: measles. Both diseases are considered eradicable by the WHO as they are spread by virus and only have human reservoirs. A complete examination of the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program is necessary to fully understand what was done right and to present an action plan for other infectious diseases such as measles.

II. METHODOLOGY We searched for smallpox data on the number of casualties and cases along with government funding collected from all parts of the world. There had been great efforts in eradicating smallpox since the eradication program was renewed. We collected the data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). By looking at the Intensified Smallpox Program, we VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 51

can draw a more vivid picture of the measures taken, the aftermath of the program, and lessons learned from the disease. We pulled information from digital libraries and used search terms such as “smallpox,” “eradication,” “measles,” etc. In addition to searching for journal articles, we also looked for popular articles that reported on the recent outbreaks of measles.

III. SMALLPOX AS THE FIRST ERADICATED DISEASE A. BACKGROUND Smallpox was known as one of the most dangerous and contagious diseases in the 20th century. Proximity to the diseased person and contact through body fluids helped spread the variola virus. It was believed that victims remain contagious even after they passed away as the scabs from their sores still exhibited traces of variola [1]. The disease claimed 300 millions of deaths within the span of the 20th century (Figure 1).

One of the earliest efforts to stop the spread of smallpox was the use of variolation in China. The United States, however, was hesitant to administer variolation for fears of further spreading the disease. George Washington was initially against the idea of injecting infectious variolas to healthy individuals. However, he later became a strong believer in the effectiveness of this method after he noticed the British soldiers were less susceptible to the disease [2].

B. EARLY METHODS OF ERADICATION The next innovative effort to smallpox eradication was pioneered by Dr. Edward Jenner in 1796 [2]. He developed and coined the term, “vaccination,” using cowpox.

This innovation sparked mixed reactions across the country as the method seemed unethical even though it salvaged thousands of lives from smallpox. The vaccination proved to be a success as England experienced a significant drop in the number of reported smallpox cases after the vaccination became widespread and available to the public [3] (Figure 2).

Figure 2 illustrates the trend in the number of deaths from smallpox recorded in London. A drastic decline in the number of smallpox incidents following the year in which vaccination was first introduced [4]. Regardless of the positive implications of the vaccination, the concept of injecting virus to stimulate the body’s immune response against it became immoral and soon abolished. Limited funding and political interference also impeded the process in 1850 [2].

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Smallpox persisted for another century until another wave of smallpox eradication movement was ignited. Leading the smallpox eradication movement, the World Health Organization (WHO) expanded their policy which led to the adoption of the global eradication program. The program was initially making slow progress as it lacked adequate funding and attention due to competitions of other infectious diseases at the time. The program also suffered from the urgent need for administrative structure and expertise. The lack of medical supplies and vaccinators was also an impeding factor to the program [5].

C. INTENSIFIED SMALLPOX ERADICATION PROGRAM

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In 1967, the program was renewed and renamed the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program. Equipped with sufficient government funding this time (Figure 3), the program showed significant improvements in mechanisms for reporting cases and increased availability and mass distribution of smallpox vaccines. The number of cases went up due to more accurate reporting systems (Figure 4). In 1987, the WHO revised the number of incidents in the past few years as people tended to underreport cases [2].

To maximize resources, people were vaccinated based on the notion of surveillancecontainment, that is investigating the outbreak sites to contain and vaccinate contacts and nearby neighborhoods within the proximity of the infected persons. Political affairs were put aside as international government officials coordinated efforts to a shared purpose. The United States and the Soviet Union collaborated to advance the healthcare systems in nations in systemic poverty. Countries that were resistant to foreign intervention moved towards acceptance of foreign aid. Vaccination covered a large proportion of the populations to ensure the herd immunity was met. The most important factor that contributed to the success of the program was the dedication and continued efforts of the staff as they were willing to come out at the site to check and record the progress. Smallpox eradication advisers were sent across borders to 54 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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hold training sessions to the native medical officials [5].

In 1980, the WHO declared the world free of smallpox.

IV. MEASLES AND ITS CHALLENGES A. WHAT IS MEASLES? Measles is a highly contagious virus that affects the respiratory system, immune system, and skin. Measles virus spreads by coughing and sneezing. Someone who is not immune against the virus has a 90% chance of becoming infected in case of coming in contact with the virus. The symptoms associated with the measles usually develop 7 to 14 days after a person is exposed to the virus. The initial symptoms consist of high fever, loss of appetite, red and watery eyes, runny nose, and cough.

Two to three days into the illness, small white spots appear inside the mouth that last for 3 to 5 days. Then a red and maculopapular rash follows which covers much of the body before the recovery from the disease begins [7].

Acute complications from measles include diarrhea, pneumonia, inflammation VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 55

of the middle ear, corneal ulceration, and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).

The latter could cause permanent brain damage. Severe illness and complications from the measles virus are mostly common in children under 5 years old, adults, malnourished, and immune compromised individuals [7].

B. MEASLES ELIMINATION

The first measles vaccine was developed in 1963. In developed countries, the first dose of measles vaccine is given to children by the age of 18 months, normally combined with mumps and rubella vaccines (MMR). A second dose is usually needed between the ages of four and five years old, to increase the immunity. As a result of improved healthcare systems, the mortality rate of measles has dropped from 30% of all infected individuals in the 1920s to less than 0.5% in the 2010s.

In countries struggling with malnutrition and inadequate healthcare, the death rate is still about 10%. Vaccination against the virus has dropped the measles death by 60-75%. Although the fatality rate is declining, many risk factors remain unsolved; such as (1) people traveling to areas with endemic measles, (2) immunodeficiency 56 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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in children because of HIV or AIDS, leukemia, or malnourishment, and (3) infants losing passive antibody before they receive immunization [7].

In 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the United States. WHO defines measles elimination as “the absence of endemic measles virus transmission in a defined geographic area for at least 12 months.� The lowest number of cases in a given year was 37 in 2004. However, the US has seen several measles outbreaks in recent years. In 2019, 1261 individual measles cases have been confirmed, which is the greatest number of cases since 1992. This significant increase in measles cases is a result of travelers bringing the virus to the country and spreading the disease among the people who are not vaccinated. The most recent outbreaks in New York City were associated with importations from Israel that caused an ongoing transmission in under-vaccinated Orthodox Jewish communities. In October, NY state announced the end of their measles outbreak, therefore, the US maintains its measles elimination status. This threat to the measles elimination status attracted substantial attention to the risks of the spread of this disease [8].

C. CHALLENGES Herd immunity against measles requires 95% of the entire population to receive two doses of the measles vaccine. In 2018, the first dose measles vaccine coverage was 86%, while the second dose vaccine coverage was only 69%. That is part of the reason why measles outbreaks happened in countries that had previously achieved an elimination status. Greece, the United Kingdom, Albania, and the Czech Republic

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lost their measles-free status as a result of continuous outbreaks [9]. It has proven difficult to achieve the herd immunity world-wide to eradicate the disease because of objection to vaccination based on religious reasons, fears of side-effects, difficulty in reaching all minority groups, or parents who simply forget to vaccinate their child for the first or second dose. In addition, some countries have not yet made vaccination mandatory in order to enter the school. Figure 7 shows some of the reasons that some parents still refuse vaccines [6].

In 1998, a British gastroenterologist, Andrew Wakefield, and his colleagues published a paper in The Lancet which claimed that MMR vaccine causes development of autism in children. This paper, which was fully retracted in 2010, started a wave of anti-vaccination movement. Further research proved this infamous article to be invalid because the sample size was not representative of the population and the samples were biased. An investigation also revealed a conflict of interest in publication of the article. However, the source has been cited about 4000 times [10].

This article rejuvenated a worldwide anti-vaccination movement especially in Western European and North American countries. The vaccination rate in the United Kingdom dropped from 92% in 1996 to 81% in 2004. Although the article was disproved, it was only in 2013 that the vaccination rate increased back to 93% which is closer to the rate needed to avoid an epidemic. In the United States, the

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vaccination rate dropped by about 2% in 1999 and 2000. As a result, multiple outbreaks of measles have happened throughout the Western countries. In the UK, the number of people who contracted measles increased from 56 in 1998 to 449 in 2006. In 2008, measles was announced endemic in the UK for the first time since 1994. The outbreaks were reported to be a direct result of the drop in vaccination rates following the Wakefield article [10][11] D. CURRENT EFFORTS

The Measles and Rubella Initiative (M&RI) is a global partnership that was launched in 2001 under the leadership of the American Red Cross, the United Nations Foundation, CDC, UNICEF, and WHO. The M&RI aims to eliminate measles in at least five of the six WHO regions by the end of 2020. However, WHO has yet to endorse a global eradication goal for this disease. The Initiative supports countries to increase the coverage of measles and rubella vaccination, fund, plan, execute, and monitor campaigns, investigate outbreaks and support effective response to outbreaks, and find solutions for facilitating vaccination delivery. Since 2001, VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 59

M&RI has raised global measles vaccination coverage to 85% and reduced deaths by 79%. So far, the partnering organizations have invested more than US $1.2 billion towards the measles and rubella elimination goal [12].

It only costs about $2 to vaccinate a child against measles. But many developing countries are facing limited funding. The recession in 2008 and 2009 led to funding shortfalls which caused widespread outbreaks in many countries. M&RI estimates a budget of approximately $215 million over the period 2018-2020 to continue their vaccination and surveillance activities. With the current funding and donations, they predict a shortfall of about $71 million for this three-year period. Without new donor investments, the Initiative has to scale down or cancel some of its major activities. The budget breakdown by strategic objectives of M&RI is shown in the figure below [13].

V. ACTION PLAN The failures of the first Smallpox Eradication Program and the Measles Initiative serve as reminders of every important element that factored into the success of the Intensified Smallpox Eradication. One of the main factors that contributed to the 60 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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decimation of the virus was sufficient government funding. Both the initial Smallpox Eradication and the M&RI suffered heavily from inadequate finances. As a result, these movements idled within the country’s border and fell short of supplies and equipment to properly contain the disease. Therefore, government and private funds and subsidies are necessary to support eradication movements and provide necessary supplies. Figure 10 shows a comparison in costs of continuous controlling the disease versus actually eradicating it [14]. Although eradicating the disease might require large amounts of funding upfront, the costs decline in the long run as the disease is controlled and eventually eliminated.

The notion of surveillance-containment requires global participation and coordination among country leaders to collaborate in efforts to contain the disease.

The Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program called together leaders of all developed countries to coordinate their resources to a shared purpose. Global involvement and continuous efforts are the driving components that could, together, put an end to measles. We were able to eradicate smallpox within the span of 10 years while measles is still an ongoing disease despite continuous efforts following 1982 when measles was deemed eradicable. We suggest surveillance of the travelers before traveling to high risk countries. CDC recommends a list of required and recommended vaccines for each country, but it does not enforce the requirements. For this purpose, travelling agencies and embassies should require record of immunization before approving travel documents or visas to individuals who are travelling to countries with endemic measles.

Families should be well informed about all the facts and the science behind

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vaccination to counter vaccine hesitancy. The belief that vaccines might be linked to autism in children usually arise from personal testimonies on the internet and is not supported by scientific evidence. Chairman Lamar Alexander from Society for Research in Child Development expressed concerns about the gullibility of parents and the “need to understand the role of social media and online misinformation to spread dangerous rumors and falsehoods [15].� A nation whose vaccinated population is below the herd immunity threshold not only puts its citizens at risk but also the rest of the world. As measles is a disease that can be entirely prevented by vaccination, an increase in the number of incidents in 2019 where vaccines are readily available suggests a drop in the vaccinated population who has refused to get vaccinated. This threatens world health security.

Countries need stricter rules regulating measles vaccination. Primarily, all countries should mandate measles vaccines to children. They can enforce that by fining parents who refuse vaccination. For example, the health minister of Germany has proposed a fine of 2500 euros for parents who do not vaccinate their children against measles [16]. Schools should have a strict surveillance and make sure all students are adequately immunized with two doses of measles vaccine.

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CONCLUSION The success of smallpox eradication program in the late 20th century marked a milestone in eliminating a disease that had caused millions of deaths and a global program that had never been attempted before. With advancements in the medical field improving vaccine efficacy and healthcare in the 21st century, we are more equipped than ever to eradicate any infectious disease. Yet, the measles virus has remained an issue for centuries. The disease has been contracted by 1261 people in 2019 in the United States alone, even though there is better access to healthcare and vaccination than ever before. Measles warrants more attention alongside with other infectious diseases like polio and malaria. With an increasing proportion of the population refusing to get immunized, it is more challenging than ever to contain and control the spread of measles. Measures need to be taken to counter vaccination hesitancy from parents and invite global participation to contribute both efforts and finances to the program. Studying the Intensified Smallpox Eradication Program gave a better understanding of how working together as a united force can end any eradicable disease.

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VISUAL INTERLUDE

3-FACE BY

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VISUAL INTERLUDE

SYNESTHESIA BY

CHRISTINA MOORE

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GEISHA BY

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LANTERN GEISHA BY

TUNG TRAN

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BITCOIN: A DISRUPTION DEVISING DIGITIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION RITIKA RAJU Major: Computer Science Class of 2022

ABOUT THE WORK This paper was written for an Honors College research course that focused more on analyzing perspectives and investigating disciplinary methods and evidence involved. As a Computer Science major with an additional interest in economics, I was looking for a topic that would be a blend of both disciplines.

When I read about the bitcoin bubble, I was intrigued to learn more about how such cryptocurrency systems function, the technicalities of their design and their perks over the existing monetary system.

This literature review critically analyzes sources, identifies different claims, methods and the evidence used to back them up. The main aim is to investigate the crucial factors underlying the success in the design space of bitcoin and analyze the challenges and uncertainties that exist in the design that could possibly hinder its widespread acceptance.

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I. INTRODUCTION Digital currency was first created in the 1980s. In 1982, David Chaum first developed blind signature cryptography that offered “improved auditability and control” compared to the payment systems existing at the time along with increased personal privacy through encryption [7]. Chaum’s idea led to the creation of the first digital currency named eCash, which set the stage for further innovation and research. In 1996, Adam Back envisioned the concept of Proof of Work through his creation named HashCash [8]. This ingenious algorithm was adopted by several digital currency approaches like B-Money, Karma, bit-gold, etc. None of these systems eliminated the need for a trusted third party like a central bank. That required a fully distributed ledger that would be able to solve the problem of double spending of money.

But why eliminate a trusted mediator? Mainly, corruption. Many instances of bank corruption have occurred because of banks’ control over people’s money.

Researchers, in the first quarter of 2018 registered more than 150 million rejected transactions, indicating a rise in online fraud, with a clear increase of 88% from the previous year [10]. Banks’ high degree of control allows the government to print money at will, often causing inflation. For example, in Venezuela, inflation rates skyrocketed in an attempt to cover the government’s massive trade deficits.

In addition, transferring money across countries remains a complication because of banking inefficiencies. International transfers are expensive, and they take days and sometimes even weeks for the transaction to occur.

A completely decentralized cryptocurrency system called Bitcoin was born in 2008 as a solution to these problems. A programmer under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published a nine-page white paper document proposing a digitized cash system. This was a brilliant compilation of decades’ worth of existing research.

In his white paper, Satoshi Nakamoto discussed how internet commerce that relies on trusted parties works well but suffers from the inherent weakness of a trust-based model. Instead, he proposed “an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party” through a peer-to-peer network [6]. Given the recent and sudden growth in the prevalence of Bitcoin as a monetary asset, many researchers have investigated its design.

They identified several uncertainties and areas of potential improvement that could hinder Bitcoin’s widespread acceptance. This paper aims to integrate their perspectives and ultimate findings, offering an in-depth look at the current debate in the cryptocurrency research community.

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II. THE BITCOIN FRAMEWORK A. DECENTRALIZATION One of Bitcoin’s most important attributes, perhaps its key foundational goal, is its decentralized structure. However, it is still a matter of debate if Bitcoin is truly decentralized and if this ‘decentralization’ proves to be beneficial to users. Bitcoin eliminates a trusted mediator using a technology called blockchain, which is a distributed public ledger accessible by every participant in the Bitcoin consensus.

This ledger reflects all the transactions and ownership records of every participant.

However, a public decentralized ledger could open prospects for participants to cheat in the network. One major problem that could not be solved for years was the problem of double spending. A double spend occurs when the same coin is used for two transactions to different users simultaneously. The banking model currently prevents double spending by using serial numbers that are issued and controlled by the bank, prohibiting concurrent processing of transactions [1].

Bitcoin, however, solves this problem by letting the entire network of users verify the legitimacy of transactions. A transaction is considered valid only if a majority of participants agree on its authenticity and fairness. But how can participants trust each other on this network to guarantee the legitimacy of their transactions? This is called the Byzantine General’s Problem (BGP), which occurs when several “generals [try] to … agree via messengers on a common battle plan where [a certain number] of the generals are traitors trying to thwart the agreement” [1]. In the Bitcoin network, a distributed system aims to reach consensus but is prone to malicious messages and attackers.

Bitcoin solves the BGP by using a consensus algorithm called Proof of Work (PoW).

The Bitcoin network has miners solve a cryptographic puzzle to confirm transactions through mining. Their identities are authenticated by their ability to solve the puzzle. The complexity of the cryptographic puzzle increases artificially over time. The miners’ ability to solve the puzzle depends on the computational power of their systems. As the complexity of cryptographic puzzles continues to increase artificially, malicious miners will not be able to solve the cryptographic puzzle. Thus, the BGP is solved by preventing malicious participants from completing transactions because they would not have enough computational power to solve the puzzle [1].

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and certifying other people’s transactions? Nakamoto incentivizes miners by rewarding the first participant who provides the proof of work with Bitcoins.

There are two sources for this reward: block rewards and transaction fees. Block rewards are Bitcoins earned by a miner on solving computation puzzles and are generated at a fixed rate. When miners verify other participants’ transactions, they are rewarded in the form of ‘transaction fees’, thus giving them clear incentives to verify and generate new Bitcoins [5].

Thus, Bitcoin achieves decentralization by solving double spending issues, implementing the proof of work consensus algorithm and offering incentives to miners. But does this decentralization prove to be beneficial? Cryptocurrency experts across the world seem to have antithetical ideological perspectives on this.

Barber et al. mention how this distributed architecture appeals to libertarians who wish for a freely traded currency not in control of any governments, banks, or authorities. A purely decentralized system guarantees that no single entity “can succumb to the temptation or be coerced by a government into subverting it for its own benefit” [5]. Another perspective supporting decentralization is that it prevents a central point of failure, promoting the availability and resiliency of systems [4]. In opposition, Böhme et al. argue that “the lack of a governance structure doesn’t impose an obligation for a financial institution, payment processor, or other intermediaries to verify a user’s identity or cross-check with watch-lists or embargoed countries, making it easier for criminals” [4]. They further bolster their argument using McCarthy’s views on the difficulty of a prohibition on sales of illegal items through a decentralized system. While centralization appears to be providing a legal market framework, crimes and illegal activities are never completely inevitable. While it is hard to claim if one is better than the other, the current market scenario seems to have the space and need for both the centralized and the decentralized approach.

B. IRREVERSIBLE TRANSACTIONS Irreversible transactions have been seen both as a boon and a bane by researchers.

As Satoshi Nakamoto writes in his paper, completely non-reversible transactions are difficult to implement since financial institutions cannot avoid mediating disputes. He claims that the need for trust spreads with the possibility of reversal [6]. Bonneau et al. support Nakamoto’s argument by claiming that Bitcoin transactions have attracted vendors concerned about chargebacks and credit card frauds [4]. They make this claim based on personal communication with a vendor selling specialty magazines. The claim made by the vendor is that it makes it “next VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 73

to impossible” for him to conduct business with countries where credit-card fraud prevails. The irreversibility of Bitcoin transactions would serve as a protection for them, making it possible for them to extend their businesses [5]. While irreversibility may seem beneficial for vendors, it might cause inconvenience to consumers. In opposition to Bonneau et al.’s argument, Böhme et al. offer their perspective on how irreversibility of transactions provides no scope for rectifying an accidental or unwanted purchase. This could make other payment platforms like credit cards more favorable for consumers [4].

C. FIXED SUPPLY OF COINS Bitcoin mining is the process of adding new blocks onto the blockchain.

Unlike the banking system, where a central bank or treasury can print money as per their demands, each block in a blockchain is scarce because successful puzzle solutions can be reached only once in ten minutes. This creates a value supported by real world computation resources required to mine [1]. The mining rewards started with 50 BTC and after every 210,000 blocks the block reward halves.

The “iterative halving continues until rewards drop below 10^-8 BTC”, an event predicted to happen around 2140 after which no new coins will be created [1].

One viewpoint on having a hard cap has been that “scarcity is a prerequisite for ascribing value to any form of money” [4]. Böhme et al. hypothesize how a cap in the Bitcoin system provides absolute scarcity of money supply, providing “bounds to the growth path of the monetary base and facilitating price stability” [4]. There have been several arguments against this. Barber et al. claim that having a cap could cause hoarding leading to a deflationary spiral as people would tend to save Bitcoins rather than spend them causing circulation to drop [5]. According to Barber et al.: “As hoarded Bitcoins vanish from circulation, transaction volume will dwindle and block creation will become less profitable (fewer fees to collect).If circulation drops too much, it can precipitate a loss of interest in the system, resulting in “bit rot” and verifier dearth, until such point that the system has become too weak to heal and defend itself ” [5].

They support their claims by showing how deflationary expectations negatively impact the long-term structural security of the system. This complex web of claims made by researchers shows how every good foundational feature of Bitcoin comes with an evil twin.

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III. LIMITATIONS IN STRUCTURE Bitcoin, being a digital currency with remarkable market value, has had several attackers attempting to compromise the system for profit. While several new cryptocurrency system solutions are currently being offered, it is still unclear how to modify the Bitcoin protocol without upsetting its current performance. Some of the limitations examined by the researchers are: A. LATENCY AND THROUGHPUT ISSUES As identified by Swan, the Bitcoin system can theoretically process up to 7 transactions per second, which seems like a small throughput when compared to a service like VISA (2000 transactions per second) [9]. The block size being limited to approximately 1 MB causes this limitation. An increase in the fixed limit of block size is one of the most debated proposed changes. Bonneau et al. claim that several “altcoins” raised this limit, but none of them used the maximum capacity.

This makes it uncertain how this change would affect the operation of the system [2]. The Bitcoin network also has a comparatively higher latency (approx. 10 minutes for a transaction to get approved) when compared to VISA that takes seconds, at most. It takes longer to approve transactions to prevent potential double spends. Researchers have identified how this slow processing power and transaction approval process could be major downsides to the system.

B. SECURITY ISSUES The Bitcoin network relies on cryptography rather than trust. Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm plays a crucial role in the proof of Bitcoin ownership and a Bitcoin transaction. That means the security of the Bitcoin network relies on the security of the cryptographic algorithm being used. Swan points out that these cryptographic algorithms are fixed. There are only a few hashing algorithms (for example, SHA256) and one signature algorithm (ECDSA). These algorithms have significant chances of being broken over the lifetime of Bitcoin. Rather than solely relying on a particular signature algorithm, the Bitcoin scripting language must be extended to support new cryptographic algorithms to make it more secure.

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computing power. The attacker would be able to gain control of the blockchain and double spend previously transacted coins into his own account [1]. Beikverdi et al. claim that the risk of a 51% attack is existent due to market-based centralization of mining power. When the majority of the mining power is concentrated in the hands of a mining pool, the mining pool has the opportunity to compromise the system through a 51% attack. Beikverdi et al. evidenced their claims using a study showing an increase in the centralization factor of Bitcoin from 0.26 in 2011 to 0.33 in 2014. They used the mathematical uniformity formula and calculated the ratio of uniformity to infer the centralization factor [11]. While several other researchers ([1], [2], and [4]) agree with the claim that a 51% attack is a real threat, Beikverdi et al. support their arguments with solid mathematical evidence showing the increase in centralization of mining power. Swan, on the other hand, points out that while the possibility of reaching the 51% threshold is real, the current scenario of the network encourages participants to be “honest” [9]. Tschorsch et al. support Swan’s claim with an example of a case where big mining pools such as GHash.io approached the critical threshold of 51% of the network’s hash rate yet did not misuse it. While technically, with 51% control of the Bitcoin network, GHash.io could have profited by gaining large amounts of Bitcoin, the economics of Bitcoin provided protection against such misuse [1].

The value of Bitcoins would be destroyed to such an extent that conducting a 51% would prove useless to the miner. Even though such an attack may prove to be unprofitable to the adversary, the possibility of a 51% attack makes the network insecure and needs to be addressed.

C. MANAGEMENT ISSUES A user in the Bitcoin network can spend a coin only if they possess an associated private key. Theft, loss of private keys, or signature forgeries thus equate to loss of money [5]. For example, there is the well-known case of Mt. Gox (a Bitcoin exchange in Tokyo). In the attack, Mt. Gox’s storage that included private keys of their customers was stolen [5]. This incident motivated some studies in strengthening authentication in Bitcoin. Bonneau et al. address this concern by providing various alternative solutions for key management including storing keys on devices, password-protected and password-derived digital wallets, offline storage, hosted wallets, etc. They present the strengths and flaws of each of these interfaces, appearing to conclude that most of them do not offer a practical or viable solution [2]. Barber et al. offer another solution to this problem called super wallets. The method they employ here to prevent key compromises is to 76 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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split the keys into random shares across multiple devices. To prevent causing inconvenience, a user would be able to carry a small sub-wallet on their mobile device. Small amounts of money could be periodically transferred from their main super-wallet to their sub-wallet. This would make it easier for them to conduct transactions as they would only need their smartphone. It ensures safety too, as they would lose only small amounts of money if their smartphone happens to be compromised by an adversary. In case they need to spend large amounts of money, they would always be able to use their super-wallet using a threshold of devices [5]. Barber et al. use threshold cryptographic concepts as a foundation for the super wallet idea. Although they claim that implementing this idea would require changes in the signature generation process, they neither discuss the feasibility of making those changes nor mention if the benefits outweigh the costs.

D. PRIVACY CONCERNS Another concern with the network is privacy. As all transactions are reflected on the public ledger, Bitcoin allows users to use multiple public keys and addresses to help them protect their privacy. However, once the address is linked to a realworld identity, Bitcoin’s privacy mechanism collapses. Some of the most notable ways of achieving a connection would be through methods like “KYC/AML policies at exchanges and blockchain analysis” [12]. To prevent this likability from affecting users’ privacy, third-party services called mixers emerged. Mixers are trusted entities that take multiple users’ coins in, mix them, and issue them back in coins of equal denomination [5]. This seems to upset Bitcoins’ aim of eliminating a trust-based model. Bonneau et al. propose a solution to this issue by demonstrating an approach called “fair exchange protocol”. One contribution of their paper is to demonstrate how to implement such a fair exchange protocol in Bitcoin in a backward compatible manner [5].

IV. CONCLUSION Despite the extensive research discussed above, there remain several research gaps that need to be addressed. Yli-Huumo et al. conducted a systematic mapping study of all the relevant papers on blockchain using methods like keywording and statistical analysis. What they gather from their study process is that not much research exists on topics like latency, throughput, size, multiple forks, etc. This needs to be conducted to ensure the scalability of Bitcoin. They also identify the lack of high-quality publications conducting primary research in journal level VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 77

publication channels. Another research gap identified by [2], [3], [4], [5] is the uncertainty that exists in the research community as to how dangerous the effects of subsidizing mining rewards could be.

While major areas of improvement and the research gaps have been identified, it is still unclear if an alternate cryptocurrency system can be designed to improve on Bitcoin. The short period for which this idea has existed and the lack of scientific models with predictive abilities make it difficult to assess the scope of Bitcoin’s future. This is an extremely dynamic field with a huge scope of improvement and many research gaps that remain to be filled.

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HABITAT FRAGMENTATION OF ASIAN ELEPHANTS IN BANGLADESH SERENA SEILER Major: Environmental and Sustainability Studies Class of 2020

ABOUT THE WORK Asian elephants are a critically endangered species whose population is suffering tremendously. These charismatic megafaunas are being threatened by the continuous expansion of human development.

If the elephants were to go extinct, then their entire ecosystem would be affected by the loss of the guaranteed ecosystem services that happen regularly. Through regulated monitoring and tracking, and more research in general, humans and elephants can live harmoniously in the same areas. This research project focused on the human-elephant conflict specifically in Bangladesh between Asian elephants and the Rohingya refugees by discussing the population decline of Asian elephants, their behavior during seasonal shifts, their importance in ecosystems as environmental engineers, and the continuous increase of human-elephant conflict. This research also proposes a potential solutions to the current crisis, that would help lower conflict while simultaneously restoring the natural ecosystem and bolstering elephant populations.

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ELEPHANT CRISIS IN ASIA Asian elephants are one of the most recognizable species in the world. While smaller than their African cousins, they still dwarf the average human, ranging from seven to twelve feet in height and weighing from three to seven tons. These megafaunas play a vital role in shaping their ecosystem and are often referred to as “ecosystem engineers.” A majority of the ecosystem services they provide, such as seed dispersal and brush management, would not occur without them. Now, however, they are threatened by habitat loss as the once vast forests of Bangladesh and Myanmar are deforested to support the growth of human populations that require increasingly extensive land cultivation. With conflicts between humans and elephants growing rapidly in number and intensity, active conservation efforts are essential for the preservation of the elephants and the unique ecosystem services they provide. These services cannot be replicated by humans or by any other species in the area.

ASIAN ELEPHANTS’ POPULATION DECLINE According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s red list, Asian elephants are a critically endangered species. Despite increased public awareness of their plight, there remains no accurate, updated counts of their numbers, according to Dr. Peter Leimgruber, Director of the Conservation Ecology Center located at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI).

This is largely due to an active effort by researchers and scientists to protect the elephants that remain by discouraging human contact, which could encourage poachers by alerting them to elephant locations. It is also very difficult to track them, as they are not easily seen in the thick forests in which they reside. Because of this, we do not even know specifically where they are. However, we know that their populations are declining because their habitat is literally collapsing around them (P. Leimgruber, phone interview, April 25, 2019).

Elephants are known to thrive in a wide array of ecosystems, inhabiting six to nine of the fourteen major terrestrial biomes on Earth (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., 2011). Asian elephants in particular are found in tropical moist and tropical dry broadleaf forests (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., 2011). Critically for the survival of Asian elephants, these are the habitats that are experiencing the continuous expansion of human development. In 2011, the range of Asian elephants was already highly fragmented, and with expanding human populations, their range is most likely going to decrease (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 81

2011). If the elephants were to go extinct, their entire ecosystem would be affected by the loss of ecosystem services including seed spreading through their travel patterns, brush and forest plant management, and other various physical actions that provide habitats for other species. In the region of Myanmar and Bangladesh, increased human population is the result of increased settlement by the Rohingya refugees. As elephants travel through large areas of habitat, the rising number of people has led to increased conflict between human and elephant populations due to the Rohingya clearing the once densely forested area to build temporary campsites, effectively destroying the home range of the elephants in the area. In this paper, I will propose the short-term strategy called “conservation corridors�, as well as a long-term approach of a reforestation project. I will also argue that there is a dire need for increased research on Asian elephants and their behavior in order to implement either of these solutions.

ELEPHANTS AS ECOSYSTEM ENGINEERS Asian elephants play an important role in their ecosystems and are often referred to as keystone species. They provide vital ecosystem services, such as seed dispersal and shrub maintenance. Although there is no one plant that is recorded as being solely dependent on the dispersal from Asian elephants, this is due more to the lack of understanding in their ecology then the specifics of this relationship (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., 2011). An adult Asian elephant can consume about 150 kilograms of food during the 18 hours a day they spend on eating, and are known to disperse 122 species from 92 genera in 39 families (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., 2011). This variety of seeds was observed through a collection of dung samples, where it was discovered that 21% of the dung piles found in Khao Yai (Thailand) contained seeds (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., 2011).

Some plants produce a defensive toxin, , but negative effects can be avoided by eating a high variety of plants, which can reduce the intake of these toxins (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., 2011). However, when there is a decrease in plant variety and the elephants are restricted as to the plant species available for their consumption, there is an increased chance that elephants can be affected by the toxins. Seed dispersal is heavily reliant on the travel paths of the elephants.

Because a majority of Asian elephant habitats are severely fragmented, seed dispersal has been heavily affected (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., 2011). As the elephant population decreases, fewer elephants will be eating and migrating, fewer plant species will be dispersed or scattered, or will only be spread over short distances (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., 2011).

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Another ecosystem service that Asian elephants provide is known as “ecosystem engineering.” An ecosystem engineer is an organism that can physically modify the environment to control the resources available to other organisms. For example, in the dry season of 2008, Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz from the University of Tokyo went to southeastern Sri Lanka to examine seeds in elephant dung piles. He inspected 290 dung piles and discovered six frogs of three different species in five piles of dung that all had some level of diarrhea and were still humid (Campos‐Arceiz, 2009). For one of the frog species, Microhyla ornata, the elephant dung may have provided a daytime refuge during the dry season, since their typical habitat of leaf litters are not as abundant (Campos‐Arceiz, 2009). Along with the frogs, there was also a variety of invertebrates discovered in the piles, suggesting that these dung piles possibly could form their own mini-ecosystem (Campos‐Arceiz, 2009).

Campos-Arceiz also examined 150 dung piles of domesticated bovines in the area only to find that there were no frogs present. The conclusion: these frogs were only able to survive in the Asian elephant’s dung, not the readily available dung of cows. This discovery points toward a need for more research on Asian elephants as ecosystem engineers for other mini-ecosystems, and the consequences for other organisms that would follow a rapid decline in their population.

SEASONAL SHIFTS OF ASIAN ELEPHANTS Asian elephants travel to follow food sources during the changeover from wet to dry seasons. While this is often referred to as a migration, Dr. Leimgruber explains that these movements are better described as seasonal shifts. Tracking projects have shown that, as crops ripen, elephants move across the borders from forest areas to agriculture areas in search of food. Dr. Leimgruber compared this attraction to putting a cookie jar next to a toddler. The home ranges of these pachyderms (large mammals with thick skin) tend to be larger in primary forests and smaller in secondary forests (Baskaran, Kanakasabai, & Desai, 2018). These elephants are largely unknown and are very difficult to study due to their wideranging behavior (Jathanna, Karanth, Kumar, Karanth, & Goswami, 2015).

Through estimations, direct observations, dung records, and other field methods, it is believed that the home range of Asian elephants continues to shrink due to human encroachment (Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S., 2011). However, even within the species, there is variation with home ranges between the sexes and among individuals (Baskaran, Kanakasabai, & Desai, 2018).

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HABITAT FRAGMENTATION IN BANGLADESH The geography of Bangladesh has changed throughout the passing years due to natural land changes and also from human expansion. This has resulted in a decrease in forest cover and increased competition for land use between Asian elephants and humans. In the satellite images below, you can see the change in the land cover from November 2009 to February 2018.

Lack of forest cover has introduced complications for elephant browsing, as plant growth has been reduced and some species of plants have been wiped out.

As mentioned earlier, some plants that elephants eat produce toxins. Without a variety of plants to balance out the toxicity, the elephants risk death or serious health problems. The loss of habitat has also increased human-elephant confrontations, as the elephants are forced to walk through the Cox’s Bazar area that is now inhabited by humans. The humans are unintentionally encouraging elephants to walk through by keeping food in their tents. If an elephant retrieves

Figure 1a: Rohingya Refugee Camp (11/11/2009)

Figure 1b: Rohingya Refugee Campsite (02/18/2018) 84 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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a papaya or any other type of food, for instance, there is a positive reinforcement for the animal, regardless of whether it has stepped on and crushed a human tent in the process. This dynamic has led to more than ten human deaths, and multiple elephant deaths from retaliation killings. Due to the lack of monitoring and research on these elephants, their home ranges are undocumented and there is no way to accurately know where their habitat begins and where it ends. If the elephants are to be saved, their habitat needs to be documented and understood so that it can be preserved.

HUMAN-ELEPHANT ENCOUNTERS LEAD TO CONFLICT Since there is a significant lack of systematic studies done on Asian elephants, a lot of Asian elephant research is based on guesswork. For example, due to the absence of research done on the home ranges of Asian elephants, the study of their travel paths must rely on physical observations and Geographic Information System (GIS) tracking. Human-elephant conflicts occur due to humans expanding into the travel paths of elephants, or elephants trampling through cultivated farmland.

These conflicts often result in death or injury for both parties involved. Especially in Asia, where human populations and land use needs are expected to increase, achieving a balance between human land use and the complex needs of the megaherbivores in the same area (Calabrese et al., 2017) is an ongoing challenge. It has been established that elephants and humans can live harmoniously and even thrive together in landscapes that maintain significant forest cover alongside humandeveloped agricultural activities, although good governance is needed to maintain this balance (Calabrese et al., 2017). For instance, committed and effective governments are needed to implement or enforce policies such as reducing logging and land conversion, combating poaching and retaliatory killings. This can work, but only in countries where the governments have the resources and capacity to encourage and enforce such policies (Calabrese et al., 2017). Currently, existing protected area networks are too small, failing to include the large number of humans whose behavior must be monitored to ensure that Asian elephants survive and thrive (Calabrese et al., 2017).

SOLUTIONS The first step is more research. It is necessary to study the behavior and travel paths of the elephants in this area to adapt proposed mitigation solutions accordingly. As research is completed and analyzed, strategies can be perfected VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 85

based on trial and error. The main way to study elephants is by using a tracking collar. However, this process can cost up to $10,000 just to collar one elephant (L. King, personal interview, April 30, 2019). This cost includes the collar itself, the individual trackers, the dart and anesthesia, the entire vet team, trucks, the satellite receiver, and any other costs that might occur. Behavioral studies can be supported by interviews from the Rohingya living in the area, who are experiencing the behavior of the elephants. This is useful, because elephants have individual and unique reactions to situations. They do not always act how in the way that their biology predicts. For example, if you have a group of eight elephants and suddenly it starts raining nearby, three of the elephants might walk towards the rain, two might walk in the opposite direction, and the last three will stay where they are with one of them walking in circles (L. King, personal interview, April 30, 2019). The variation of patterns can also change every time, depending on the individual elephant. Research may be costly, but it is imperative to understand the elephants in this area if this crisis is to be resolved.

The next step is constructing “conservation corridors.” These defensive corridors should be built around the camp as a protective barrier to keep the elephants from stampeding throughout the campsite. To discourage elephants from coming through specific areas, case studies suggest using fencing. However, since they are pachyderms, elephants have a thick skin, so barbed wire will not always work.

Electric fencing has been proven to be effective, though it risks being tampered with or short circuiting. Fences require constant maintenance and cannot go longer than a month without repairs. Elephants are extremely adaptable and are able to learn how to break the fences, so the people in charge of maintenance of the fence line would need to adapt as well. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) advertises that they have designed an “unshortable, human-proof ” electric fence that is working in Kenya (Buffalo, 2019). This fence stays live even when cut or tampered with and has been recorded successful for the DSWT (Buffalo, 2019).

Most electric fences only work about 80% of the time, however a study done by Dr. Lucy King, the director of Save the Elephants, has shown that the sound of bees will deter some elephants. She discovered that not only do the elephants run from the sound of bees, they actually employ an elevated vocalization to warn other elephants that bees are near. This alarm call is too low for humans to hear with the naked ear, but once recorded, it was also shown to be different from the warning call elephants make when humans are near (L. King, personal interview, April 30, 2019). Studies of this bee alarm phenomenon in 18 African countries demonstrate that it can work on African elephants. Dr. King is currently testing bee alarming on elephants in Sri Lanka to see if it is adaptable to Asian elephants.

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Bees would be a cheaper alternative to electric fence lines while also providing an economic boost to farmers by producing elephant-friendly honey and wax that could be sold to humans (L. King, personal interview, April 30, 2019).

The final step is replenishing the fragmented habitat of the Asian elephants.

This problem could be resolved through a long-term strategy of a planned reforestation project. This cannot begin until the Rohingya refugees have vacated most of the area as any new trees or similar plant resources brought or grown there would be destroyed quickly. The start of the reforestation should begin in the lower left area of the camp (see box in Figure 1b above). This is far enough away from the bulk of the camp that the reforestation process could start with little to no interference by the Rohingya. It can then grow back to its abundant, dense forest cover. Working with the fence lines to direct the elephants down and around the camp, this would encourage the elephants to go through the new forest and not the campsite. Obviously, this is not feasible within a year or two, but in partnership with humanitarian efforts, there could be a simultaneous resolution for the forest ecology along with the human-elephant conflict over a somewhat longer span of time.

Overall, there is room for more research to be done on the range of Asian elephants and their behaviors. There is still a chance to mitigate the human-elephant conflict, without increasing damages to humans or population loss of elephants in these areas. With monitored forest areas and carefully planned agricultural areas, a balance can be reached between the species, where both can survive and benefit from the services each provides. Seed dispersal is heavily reliant on a high population of Asian elephants, and there is new research revealing that there are species of frogs that use the dung piles from elephants as a mini ecosystem during the dry season. The interactions between humans and elephants can be monitored as well and recorded to observe changes in frequency of conflicts.

This is a multifaceted issue that can only be resolved with action. Research on the Asian elephants in Cox’s Bazar needs to begin quickly, so that their behaviors can be analyzed and mitigation strategies tailored to the particular needs of this vital, at risk population can be implemented.

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SOCIAL LEARNING FOR THE MASSES: AN ANALYSIS OF THE GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE NEVEEN SHAWISH Major: Communication, Public Relations Class of 2020

ABOUT THE WORK On September 20th, 2019, the Global Climate Strike organized the largest climate protest ever recorded in history. Because of the movement, 4 million young people across the world gained a common understanding and took to the streets of their cities to demonstrate against the lack of climate change action by policy makers. Observing the movement’s use of activists, a major organized protest, social media engagement, and a concise list of demands, the following research seeks to understand Albert Bandura’s social learning theory of communication as it relates to the effectiveness of the Global Climate Strike.

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ABSTRACT On September 20th, 2019, the Global Climate Strike organized the largest climate protest ever recorded in history. Because of the movement, 4 million young people across the world gained a common understanding and took to the streets of their cities to demonstrate against the lack of climate change action by policy makers. Observing the movement’s use of activists, a major organized protest, social media engagement, and a concise list of demands, the following research seeks to understand Albert Bandura’s social learning theory of communication as it relates to the effectiveness of the Global Climate Strike.

INTRODUCTION In the last 30 years, climate change has been discussed and debated in American politics. Since the First World Climate Conference in February 1979, the public’s opinion of the belief in climate change has increased massively. Yale’s program on Climate Change Communication, a partnered program with George Mason University, estimates that 73% of Americans believe that global warming is real, an increase of 10 points since March 2015 (Leiserowitz et al, 2018). Most Americans not only believe in climate change, but 72% say that the changing climate is important in their personal life. While most Americans also believe in funding renewable energy research, little has been done in American governmental policy to combat, adapt to, or even establish bipartisan ground about the idea of climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, known as the IPCC, is the United Nations board for climate change analysis. Their most well-known, and most recent research has found that the urgency to act on climate change is massively understated.

The IPCC describes the traitorous implications that an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius would cause to not only wildlife, but the lives of humans across the world. If the human population continues to live in the unsustainable ways that are currently in place, there is a likelihood that global warming will reach a minimum of 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030 to 2052, just 11 years from now. The implications of this increase include a lengthy list of scenarios that would all be devastating for human life. The most extreme cases that scientists describe are dangerous increases in temperatures and sea levels rise would make most countries unlivable, leading to an increase in displaced people. There are also potential impacts on a mass loss of biodiversity, poverty and health concerns, and breakouts of extreme diseases.

With the IPCC’s extensive report, a sudden surge of climate change activists in 2019 took over the media’s attention. Many groups have come up in recent years to VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 89

advocate for protecting the earth, but one in particular has become prominent across the world: The Global Climate Strike. The face of the advocacy group is 16-yearold Greta Thunberg. Greta, a Swedish born citizen, has advocated for climate change policy for almost two years now. At 15 years old, Thunberg began to skip school every Friday to protest outside of the Swedish parliament building. Thunberg often uses the IPCC’s report to cite her case on the need for climate policy. She has even attributed the report as the reason why she began school striking every Friday. Her lone strikes began to make waves across social media, finding the eyes and ears of other climate change activists that would soon join her.

Thunberg’s Fridays for Future efforts led to the Global Climate Strike on September 20th, 2019. While many other climate change groups are well-known in the activist community, like the efforts of the London based Extinction Rebellion, the climate change debate hasn’t seen a worldwide strike that has gotten mass attention quite like the Global Climate Strike. The group consists mostly of young adults, children, and teenagers, all motivated by the fear of uncertain futures and anger toward the negligence by those currently in power that have not taken a stand toward slowing down the effects of climate change. With the effort of these young activists, this worldwide strike has now been recorded as the largest climate change protest in recorded history. The week of September 20th, the Global Climate Strike describes that there were a record 7.6 million climate activists across the world that took to the streets in the name of climate change policy.

Climate change activists, especially those among Fridays for Future or the Global Climate Strike, have a concise, straightforward, and extreme list of demands. The Washington Post’s Jeremy Hodges describes that protestors among most climate activist groups are synonymously demanding governments to treat “climate change as an emergency,” (Hodges, 2019). Lowering carbon emissions, switching to renewable energy, and participating in the tenets of the Green New Deal are just the beginning.

Many also acknowledge that these demands would require a complete transitional shift in society’s culture. Not only would the energy already embedded in society need to get a complete renovation, but the economy, the agendas of those in public office, and the policies in place for big businesses would also need to shift.

Regardless of how to solve the issue of climate change, a spark has started among society, and the climate strike movement has grown immensely in the last year. Much of the movement’s growth can be attributed to aspects of the movement that can be explained using social learning theory. This research further explores the climate strike on the impact of the public by understanding the social learning theory. This analysis will specifically discuss the actions and aspects of the Global Climate Strike and its effectiveness through the lens of social learning.

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LITERATURE REVIEW BACKGROUND Developed by Albert Bandura, a researcher who is most commonly known for his famous Bobo Doll Experiment, the social learning theory was among the first to lay a framework by which a person’s ideas, motivations, and actions are thought to be developed by the influence of external stimuli. Social learning theory was the first of its kind to explain how an individual’s social and cultural exposure influences the way that one learns about their environment, thus influencing their thoughts and behaviors.

Described by Bandura himself, social learning theory describes the “important roles played by vicarious symbolic, and self-regulatory processes” which, he says, are often overlooked in other communication and psychology-based theories (Bandura, 1971, p. 2).

CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION The impact of individuals in a society, culture, or community can be influential in both positive and negative ways. This is seen throughout numerous studies among different disciplines, contexts, and situations that will be discussed further in this review.

Social learning theory describes many different aspects of learning, but all studies, regardless of discipline or subject, observe the four components of the theory in some way: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation. As shown among the studies analyzed, social learning theory is a broad perspective that can be used among many different disciplines. The studies that will be discussed further fall in one of the disciplines of communication, social work, medical, public policy, and criminology.

COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVE Among the communication perspective, researchers Cynthia DeMartino, Ronald Rice, and Robert Saltz’s study analyze social learning theory as a way to understand the motivation behind college drinking behavior. The researchers describe that understanding common drinking behavior among college students can create enforcement and deterrence approaches that will help minimize the unhealthy binge drinking culture on college campuses (DeMartino et al, p. 479). To combat the social normality of excessive college drinking, the researchers describe the importance of further research to develop and market the negative effects of binge drinking, rather than facilitating punishment. The researchers suggest that attempting “to decrease the VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 91

expected rewards associated with drinking” seen among the social settings on college campuses, could “decrease positive social norms” (p. 482).

DeMartino and her team describe that the only requirements of using social learning theory is that the action being demonstrated has “costs and benefits, and that it is a learned or socially influenced behavior” (p. 480), making college drinking and social learning a great combination for this study. The team collected data through a randomly selected, cross-sectional sample of undergraduate college students that were all administered a survey of 60 questions. Through this survey, the researchers found that college drinking is heavily influenced “by social norms and differential reinforcement” (p. 487).

In this case, social learning theory is used to explain the negative implications of binge drinking culture on college campuses, describing that social settings can elicit negative behavior by observation. In the next study, researcher Melody L. Bethards’ study observes this approach of learning through observation of a positive perspective.

Professor Bethards analyzes social learning at a community college that specializes in nursing programs to understand the positive implications of observable behavior to create a better learning opportunity for students. In the same way that college students are influenced by what they see their peers doing, the same idea can be successfully applied to nursing students in classrooms to gain a better understanding of the material they need to know.

CLASSROOM LEARNING Bethards describes that in nursing and medical courses, there is often a struggle among professors to figure out the best way to create meaningful class lessons (Bethards, p. 65). To combat a negative educational experience, professor Bethards describes the understanding and use of social learning theory in a way that supports the use of impactful, observational learning simulation experiences for nursing students. Using the four main ideas of social learning theory, attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation (p. 65), Bethards describes that observational learning in the case of simulations in classrooms has been proven to be effective, finding that all students, regardless of the role they are assigned in a simulation lesson, are able to equally learning the same information.

In studies that use an understanding of social learning theory, social influence is often described through face-to-face, or interpersonal, communication. A very similar idea as that of DeMartino and team’s study on college drinking culture, or Bethards’ ideas on face-to-face observer learning, researchers Brooke Miller and Robert G. Morris describes the implications of virtual peers; there is a valuable influence that internet 92 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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relationships may have on real life, and internet behavior. Little research has been done on the implications that new devices like smartphones and laptops have on behavior and learning, so the researchers describe their study as vital to knowledge of social learning theory in the present day context.

Miller and Morris’ study particularly analyze social learning theory of virtual relationships on the influence of minor criminal behaviors, a similar approach to DeMartino’s study of underage binge drinking culture. The researchers also analyze a part of social learning theory of positive and negative reinforcement that DeMartino also identifies, describing the pros and cons of using both in this context. Through their study, Miller and Morris prove that virtual relationships have a large impact on social learning.

Through the use of surveys administered to a sample size of undergraduate college students, the researchers found that virtual relationships held just as much weight on learning as interpersonal relationships. They found that the difference between the two types of relationships is a difference in an individual’s learning process (Miller and Morris, p. 1559). Specifics about a person like age or gender are affected differently, and likely have more influence on crime related behavior virtually rather than when learned in a real-life relationship. For example, a person who is younger may be more impacted by an internet relationship than by someone who is older. The researchers describe that their study examined how both virtual and interpersonal relationships have an impact on social learning, but Miller and Morris’ believe that further research on individual characteristics should be studied to continue to understand the impact of virtual peers (p. 1562).

SOCIAL CHANGE Discussing social learning theory and the impact that it has can go far beyond college campuses and undergraduate students. The same ideas of Bandura’s theory can be seen in real life examples, like in researcher Chavis McCullough’s study on social learning theory and behavioral therapy. McCullough describes Bandura’s theory as one that addresses “people in need” and applies “the theory to human problems within a social context” (McCullough, p. 471). Because of the popular ideas of social learning among academia, McCullough identifies that the amount of research around it is robust. The researcher describes that the theory gives a good starting place to deal “with a variety of behavioral concerns in many different disciplines and settings” (p. 478). An error that McCullough found among studies revolving around social learning theory is the lack of research around people of color, making it important for her to conduct this study.

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African American male. McCullough describes that Jamaal comes from a family with conservative Christian beliefs that impacts the communication among the family.

Jamaal is described as having difficulty accepting his sexual identity as it is not accepted in his own family. Because the communication in his community is influenced by the rules of their religion, it’s evident to McCullough that the main reasons behind her client’s lack of acceptance is a learned idea from those in his life. The researcher describes that one of the most influential ways of helping individuals like Jamaal would be the basis of social learning theory: “to change behaviors from a social and cultural context” (p. 478).

This similar approach of changing social and cultural contexts is identified in Professors Tao Fu and William A. Babcock in their study of entertainment-education, known as E-E throughout the article. Identified in this study, the main goal of entertainment-education is to promote social change among society, a similar theme in many of the other studies analyzed. Described by the researchers, Bandura’s social learning theory “provides the theoretical foundation for most E-E studies” (p. 84). The show being analyzed is The Jin Xing Show, a Chinese talk show aired weekly. The host, Jin Xing, is the “first transgender women in China to appear in the media” (p. 86), a widely controversial topic among the conservative society.

Researchers Fu and Babcock describe China as an authoritarian-capitalist government and society (p. 91) and argue that entertainment-education is the best way to educate the public on social change and equality using the comprehension of social learning theory. A similar outcome of McCullough’s study about the need to influence society on controversial issues, Fu and Babcock describe the host, Jin Xing’s thoughts on the need for free expression among the Chinese population. Xing describes this as society’s need for a voice “…in a real, direct, and frank way” that entertainment education provides (p. 91).

Throughout many studies, social learning theory is paired with some type of social activism. Whether it be as pronounced like in McCullough’s study or in Fu and Babcock’s article, or more subtle and among a smaller population like in Bethards’ or DeMartino’s, social learning theory is often used to describe ways in which new ideas or often taboo perspectives are spread with the intent to slowly create acceptance among society. This is further discussed in researcher Keith Fluegge’s article and his understanding of the theory as it pertains to public perception of GMOs. Fluegge describes the disparity among science and the general public’s understanding of GMOs, and how most scientists, or science based researchers, believe that this is due to the negative influences of activists against genetic modification. Fluegge denies this, arguing that researchers who do believe this are only identifying the cognitive inputs of individuals, rather than the understanding of social learning theory: “human behavior 94 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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manifests as a constant interaction between environmental, behavioral, and cognitive influence” (Fluegge, p. 2939). To combat the negative perception of the public’s ideas of GMOs, Fluegge describes a very similar solution to that of McCullough’s. Fluegge says that researchers who are looking to change the negative view that many people have about GMOs and diet need to start by changing the argument to fit modern day society as it pertains to genetic modification. This should include educating the public about the real, scientifically proven understanding of GMOs. Like McCullough’s conclusion, the way to fix a negative stereotype, or view of a particular issue among a specific group of people is to start by changing perceptions among society by using education to influence.

SOCIAL LEARNING AND ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY The conclusions of both studies are identified as the basis for professor Sarah Darby’s study of social learning and public policy. The study conducted analyzes an English town that won an “energy-conscious village competition” (Darby, p. 2929), and begins to understand how the use of competition could influence public opinion of energy sustainability, but alone cannot change the public’s long term behaviors.

Darby’s qualitative study used surveys and questionnaires, as well as interviews, to understand what those living in this town believe now about sustainability, and how the competition could have potentially changed those ideas. Darby describes that “social learning is a prerequisite for sustainable energy use,” (p. 2929). She notes that while there are many studies on the environment, as well as public opinion about sustainability, there is a lack of “adult learning about energy,” creating the need for her study (p. 2929). The researcher says that energy consumption is among human behavior, which part of social learning, is “open to change through learning” (p. 2938).

Through her study, Darby concludes that the competition did influence those in the town on their ideas of sustainability, but it is likely not the main way that education on energy was learned. The researcher suggests that awareness campaigns like this competition are likely not beneficial long term without more influence, knowledge, or governmental involvement (p. 2938). While the competition was a good starting placing that ignited influence and change, that same social change might only be temporary.

A similar approach to Darby’s conclusion, the findings of CGIAR’s (Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research) study are important in understanding social learning and issues about climate change. The organization describes similar ideas as Darby’s conclusion, addressing that “social learning brings multiple stakeholders together to provide their insights on a complex problem in order to arrive at shared VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 95

solutions” (CGIAR, 2017). Like any multidimensional issue, the use of multiple ideas and perspectives must be used to bring about real, long term, social change. When looking at an issue like the public’s opinion of energy sustainability, or a broader topic like climate change as a social issue, understanding the connection between social learning theory and social change, as Darby said, is a prerequisite to moving forward on understanding public opinion.

DISCUSSION The analysis will take the understanding of social learning and comprehend the theory in terms of the Global Climate Strike. Four sub-themes of the movement will be demonstrated: the use of activists, the September strike, the movement’s social media presence, and the movement’s cohesive list of demands.

THE USE OF ACTIVISTS Arguably the most prevalent activist in the Global Climate Strike is Greta Thunberg.

Many people that follow the movement have attributed her efforts and the start of the mainstream ideas of the strike to her actions. Thunberg has endlessly fought for climate change policy. When her Friday school strikes started to grow traction across social media, Thunberg quickly began appearing in the media. She has spoken at events like TEDx, been featured on a song called “The People” by the world famous band, the 1975, and even got a seat on the panel that opened the 2019 U.N. Climate Action Summit where she gave a compelling speech.

Thunberg’s efforts are widely seen throughout the world. Many of the young individuals that have protested often quote Thunberg, showing that she has sparked the interests of many to embrace the climate change movement. Without Thunberg’s drastic actions, it’s hard to tell if the strike would have been as big as it was, and continuously is.

In many of Thunberg’s speeches, she discusses the science behind climate change.

She often quotes the IPCC’s 1.5 Degree report when discussing the impacts of climate change. When Thunberg was invited to testify at the U.S. Congress in early September, she simply turned the IPCC report in, saying, “I am submitting this report as my testimony because I don’t want you to listen to me, I want you to listen to the scientists.” She has often spoken about the impacts and uncertain futures of the current, unsustainable state of the world. She has popularized the issue, and many people around the world hear her.

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Development, they describe that social learning theory “can provide a way to address complex socio-ecological … problems by integrating diverse knowledge and value systems at many different levels,” (Kristjanson et al, p. 2). This is an important aspect of social learning theory especially in terms of the Global Climate Strike. Throughout the world, many individuals have a different background, financially and educationally.

Thunberg’s descriptions of complex issues about climate change are available to individuals across the world. She quotes scientific evidence and allows for those in her audience to learn, think, and if they are compelled to, protest about the information now available to them. Making information accessible through the use of young activists like Thunberg is extremely effective by the movement and shows the theory of social learning prominently demonstrated by the Global Climate Strike.

THE SEPTEMBER STRIKE The most prominent aspect of the Global Climate Strike is the actual strike itself.

With the use of activists providing the public with free and accessible information on climate change, the movement was able to mobilize entire communities to strike on behalf of climate change policy.

The first official Global Climate Strike was on September 20th, 2019. Vox describes that the strike involved 4 million people across the world, making it the largest Climate protest in history. The New York Times describes the protestors were “anxious about their future on a hotter planet” and “angry at world leaders for failing to arrest the crisis.” A common idea shared among opinion leaders across communities was observed by those 4 million people that decided to act: this is a distinct, clear characteristic that social learning theory explains. The motivation of these individuals was learned in some way by those in their external realities. They were all taking a stand among the Global Climate Strike, so it’s extremely likely that they knew Thunberg and the other organizers. The protestors were there to express their disdain in a similar light, creating a cohesive space for those with common learned ideas to share and express them further.

Beyond those that were among the strike in September, the news media covered the protest extensively. Until now, articles are still being published about the strike by major newspaper outlets. This allows for more people to learn more about the issue and brings the topic of climate change and the movement into the conversations of mainstream society. The strike was an example of how social learning can successfully mobilize individuals to a specific event or situation, but the strike being discussed further in the media and among other individuals in society further expresses social learning theory.

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THE MOVEMENT’S SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE The social media presence of the movement has been extremely important to the movement’s success and continued efforts. The use of activists and the strike’s mobilization wouldn’t have been as impactful without the media’s strong use of social media. The movement was recognized by a majority of young people, from teenagers to college students, who were primarily people of color and/or girls. The Washington Post has reported that in a survey of 300 American climate strike organizers and participants, 68% of organizers and 58% of protesters were female. In a separate survey done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, also reported by the Post, over 57% of teenagers feel afraid or angry about climate change. The majority of the movement’s organizations are teenagers under the age of 18, which is also the most prominent group on social media.

The movement began because of social media. Thunberg’s Instagram account has documented her every climate strike move since the beginning of her protests. With those around the world identifying with her and being compelled by her efforts, the movement grew, along with the movement’s social media accounts. Advertising of the strike was done across social media on accounts like Thunberg’s and the official Global Climate Strike (Fridays for Future and/or School Strike for the Climate) social media pages, as well as the account of fellow climate change non-profit organizations that helped get the word out about the strike.

Social media is one of the most prominent uses of social learning in modern society.

Social media helps get messages out quickly to a huge audience. A person with a large platform has a lot of influence. Their perspectives, ideas, and opinions can be shared across accounts and gained by the public. Shared ideas and connections happen quickly on social media which is one reason why the movement’s social media has become so prominent, especially leading up to the September strike. Most participants found out about the strike through social media, and the strikes use of pop-culture references like memes to get information about the movement and climate change around social media. On the Global Climate Strike website, many of the ways for individuals to get involved is to get involved through different social media campaigns. Their website has a list of ways for individuals to share about the movement on their own social media accounts, allowing for more of the movement to get around by word of mouth. The strong social media presence that the movement has built has been extremely beneficial in educating and mobilizing younger generations.

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Present in the movement’s social media platforms, expressed by their activists, and articulated by the time of the first September strike, the movement’s demands are clear.

From the Global Climate Strike’s website, the demands include: the acceptance of the Green New Deal, respect for indigenous people, environmental justice, protection of biodiversity, and action toward sustainable agriculture. These demands, along with full descriptions and explanations of each are accessible to the public and have been widely shared among social media. They are concise, straight-forward, and easy to understand for the majority of people. Throughout the September strike, those that participated in the strike and were interviewed by news outlets often discussed things that were described by the movement, like one of the listed demands, the reasoning, and the importance. These demands, while on the website, were iterated by the media and by the popular activists (particularly Thunberg). Because of common wording, and the mass accessibility to the public of the demands, it’s easy for the public to get informed about the issues. The common repetition of the demands allowed for individuals to learn about the issues in an easy manner. Because of this, the public has more of an understanding of climate change, and it’s impacts on society.

The wording of the newsletter that describes the movement’s list of demands is communal; we is used whenever describing what needs to be accomplished. This isn’t solely just when the demands are being discussed, but it is most prominent here.

Throughout social media, or any other ways that are used to mobilize their public, the use of we can be observed. This allows for people to feel connected and inspired. It also creates a better likelihood that they will learn more and get involved.

CONCLUSION The social learning theory posits that a person’s ideas, motivations, and actions are often developed by the influence of external stimuli than anything else. The impact of individuals in a society, culture, or community can be influential in both positive and negative ways. When discussing persuasion, social learning is influential: countless communication researchers like Bandura have demonstrated the meaningful impact that social learning has on peers. People are social. They learn by observation, conversation of those around them, and the experiences that they are drawn to.

Using the lens given to us by the social learning theory, one can identify the impact of the public’s involvement on the success of the Global Climate Strike movement.

Climate change as a topic is the most popular that it has ever been, with the majority of people (73%) in America believing in the human caused crisis.

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people across the world. The millions that took to the streets shared common, learned ideas that were made accessible by the movement’s popular activists through a vast social media presence. Many aspects of the Global Climate Strike movement are exemplary of social learning, but possibly the most influential are the movement’s strategic use of social media, the influential activists, a clear list of demands and its ability to mobilize an organized, peaceful, and impactful strike. Analyzing these four themes of the movement, it’s evident that the movement’s effectiveness can be understood through the social learning theory. Though it is still unclear if the movement will produce change in the United States’ policy, the Global Climate Strike movement has created a platform for the climate crisis to be at the forefront of public debate.

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DEVELOPMENT OF ARDUINO BASED PH TITRATION SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFICATION OF COMMONLY AVAILABLE PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS GAUTAM SUBRAMANIAN Major: Bioengineering Class of 2020

ABOUT THE WORK This research focuses on creating an automated drug detection system using an Arduino Uno for common drugs (Advil, Aspirin, etc.). The main benefit of this system is that it is much cheaper than conventional detection systems (mass spectrometry, gas chromatography, etc.). A titration was carried out in which the drug in question was pumped with an acid or base with its pH being monitored throughout with an Arduino Uno and a pH probe. After the data is collected it was then filtered and processed with MATLAB and Excel. When the data was processed it showed unique patterns that can serve as identifiers for each drug. Future work could entail using machine learning or neural networks so that if an unknown drug is being titrated, the system will be able to identify it based on its pH data.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author is grateful for Dr. Abul Hussam for providing invaluable advice and help. The author would also like to acknowledge the substantial support given by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry along with the Department of Bioengineering at George Mason University.

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1. INTRODUCTION In analytical chemistry, there are several methods that can be used to identify unknown compounds. Some examples include mass spectroscopy, gas chromatography, and refractive index analysis. The main shortcoming of these methods is monetary cost since the necessary equipment to perform such techniques can be costly. Standard gas-liquid chromatography, mass-spectrometers and infrared spectrometers costs are prohibitively high for many institutions and small companies, High end instruments in this category by Agilent, Shimadzu, Varian, Perkin-Elmer, etc. are generally in the range of $40-200 K1.

Previous studies have shown that a potentiometric analysis is possible in an electrochemical cell with certain drugs as a means of identification. The drug, Paracetamol, has been uniquely identified through the construction of an electrochemical cell and by applying an electrode to the cell [1-3]; a similar concept can be applied for the titration system that is being proposed here since various drugs have acidic and basic groups so an acid-base reaction titration can be performed and modeled as follows2.

Common pharmaceutical preparations often contain several other inactive ingredients in the drug usually for dye, flavoring, and longer shelf life3. While the ingredients do not play any active role in the therapeutic effects of the drugs itself they can contribute various acidic and basic groups with different dissociation constants and can also serve as an additional marker for identifying the drug itself. A pharmaceutical preparation, therefore, can be regarded as a mixture of monoprotic acids or bases.

This is a fundamental assumption in this work. The normalized volumetric ratio of the dissociation for a mixture of monoprotic acids can be modeled with the following equation4: 1 Hzgc-1212 Transformer Gas Chromatograph / Mass Spectrometer For Sales - Buy Gas Chromatograph,Mass Spectrometer,Gas Chromatograph / Mass Spectrometer Product on Alibaba.com. (n.d.). Retrieved December 26, 2017, from https://www.alibaba. com/product-detail/HZGC-1212-transformer-gas-chromatograph-mass_60713914625.html?s=p 2 Titration of Aspirin Tablets. (n.d.). Retrieved December 28, 2017, from https://s.bellevuecollege.edu/wp/sites/140/2014/06/ aspirin_tablets_titration.pdf 3 Inactive Drug Ingredients (Excipients). (n.d.). Retrieved December 25, 2017, from https://www.drugs.com/inactive 4 Levie, R. D. (1995). General Expressions for Acid-Base Titrations of Arbitrary Mixtures. doi:10.21236/ada296181 VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 103

where VOH- is the volume of the base, VHA is the volume of the acid, with ∆ being the difference between free [OH] ions and free [H] ions (∆ = [H+] – [OH-] = [Hf ] – Kw/[H+]), α0 is the concentration fraction (α0 = Ka / [H] + Ka), CHA is the concentration of the acid and COH is the concentration of the base.

For a mixture of bases the equation is mathematically similar:

with VH+ being the volume of the acid and VB being the volume of the base. Using these equations, various drug titrations can be modeled and properly analyzed to serve as a basis for identification.

The components for the titration system include the Arduino Uno Microcontroller which controls both the pump and the probe which only costs around $22.005 and the most expensive component of the system of the pump costs approximately €235.81 or $283.106. The titration system will be fully automated as to reduce manual labor and will be simple and inexpensive to operate while providing a suitable means of identifying different pharmaceutical preparations.

2. METHODS 2.1 CHEMICALS All drugs that were titrated were generic store-bought drugs that are ubiquitous in most pharmacies. Approximately 80 mg Aspirin (Acetylsalicylic acid/ CH3COOC6H4COOH), 400 mg of Advil (2-(4-Isobutylphenyl) propanoic acid/ C13H18O2), 250 mg of Tylenol (N-Acetyl-p-aminophenol/CH3CONHC6H4OCH5) and 300 mg of Glucosamine (2-Amino-2-Deoxy-D-Glucose/C6H13NO5)7 were grinded up into a fine powder in a mortar and pestle before being mixed in a suspension with approximately 40.0 mL of distilled water. The drug Maalox (aluminum hydroxide 5 Arduino Uno REV3. (n.d.). Retrieved December 29, 2017, from https://store.arduino.cc/usa/arduino-uno-rev3 6 LP-T100/JY15-12 series. (n.d.). Retrieved December 29, 2017, from http://www.drifton.eu/product/lp-t100-jy15-12peristaltic-oem-pump-1502/ 7 Bennett, H. (1986). Concise chemical and technical dictionary (4th ed.). New York, NY: Chemical Pub. Co. 104 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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magnesium hydroxide – simethicone/AlH8MgO5)8 was in solution form so 2.00 mL of the solution was mixed with 40 ml of distilled water. Gabapentin (1-(Aminomethyl) cyclohexane acetic acid/C9H17NO2)9 was already in capsule form so grinding was not necessary, 20 mg of the drug was mixed into a suspension. The Lactobacillus Acidophilus (LA) was a live strain when the suspension was created, it was left overnight in 30.0 mL of distilled water before being titrated. The drugs were titrated with standard 0.1 M NaOH and 0.0667 M HCl (molarity of HCl was found with standard acid-base titration using a calibrated titration system). Different amounts of the drugs were mixed due to varying concentrations of active ingredients in each of the tablets and capsules.

2.2 INSTRUMENTATION The titration system consists of an Arduino Uno Microcontroller, a pH probe, and a T1000 two channel peristaltic pump (Drifton). The system can be modeled by the following diagram:

Figure 6: Diagram of automated titration system, the acid or base is pumped into the cell containing the suspension of drugs in which electrical signals are transmitted from the pH probe to the breadboard filtering out noise and amplifying the electrical signal before being sent to the Arduino board and to be processed on the computer.

the Arduino Uno Microcontroller was connected to a breadboard which contained a low pass resistor-capacitor (RC) filter which filters out electrical signals of lower frequencies. When a capacitor is in parallel with a resistor the impedance is low and higher frequencies are shorted out. The cutoff frequency can be determined by this 8 National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database; CID=6335494, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/compound/6335494 (accessed Dec 27, 2017).

9 National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database; CID=3446, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/compound/3446 (accessed Dec 27, 2017).

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equation10:

In the case of a 10ÎźF capacitor and a 10Kâ„Ś resistor, this equation gives a cutoff frequency of approximately 1.59 Hz. This was implemented to filter out high frequency noise (line noise) and spikes which can be frequently present in the electrical system, along with an operational amplifier to enhance the electrical readings from the pH probe and allow it to be better processed on the microcontroller and computer.

The functionality of the RC filter was determined by activating the pH probe and measuring the variation of the frequency with and without the filter.

Figure 7: Reading at every 255 milliseconds vs the electrical reading in millivolts, before the filter is applied (A0) and after the filter was applied (A1), when readings were taken the computer was plugged into the charger which can create additional noise so a reading was taken with the computer only plugged into the Arduino Microcontroller.

The filter was checked by measuring the signal from the circuit output and shorting the input to the ground. This is the electronic background signal. The standard deviation of background without the filter was approximately +-0.9 mV compared to +-0.3 mV when the filter was applied, which demonstrates the filter working successfully as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 also shows the output background level is shifted to 1564 mV due to op-amp level shifter (2nd op amp).

10 Low-pass Filters. (n.d.). Retrieved December 27, 2017, from https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/alternatingcurrent/ chpt-8/low-pass-filters/ 106 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

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Figure 8: Circuit diagram of titration system with the electrical readings from the pH probe being sent through the operational amplifier before being filtered out and sent to the Arduino and then to the computer (by Gautam Subramanian).

The Arduino Uno is a programmable microcontroller. It has an editor that can be used to control the various components of the system as well as control the data collection rate. An Arduino Uno Microcontroller has a digital to analog conversion factor of 10 so it allows a mapping from 0 to 5 V and will collect data at a rate of 10000 times per second which is ideal for collecting titration data. The controller was initially programmed to turn the pump on and collect data for approximately 150000 milliseconds and deliver the data to the Delphi collection software, however due to significant voltage drop issues with the pump and controller, the pump had to be operated manually.

The pH probe was calibrated by measuring the reading of standard testing reagents at pH 4, 7, and 10, using the Nernst equation at 25°C11:

11 Silberberg, M. S., & Amateis, P. (2015). Chemistry: the molecular nature of matter and change: CHEM212, George Mason University. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. pg 965 VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 107

Figure 9: Different electrical readings at pH 4, 7, and 10 in millivolts (by Gautam Subramanian).

The intercept and slope values were divided by -2.4 since the operational amplifier amplifies the signals by that factor, with (RT)/(nF) = 122.49/-2.4 = -51 and E’ = -835.6/-2.4 = 348.2 and log[H] = pH so E = 348.2 – 51 = 297.2 mV. E will be the offset voltage and was used to calibrate the pH meter. The pump was calibrated by monitoring the volume dispensed over 100 seconds per count.

Figure 10: The count/index vs the mL dispensed over 100 seconds (by Gautam Subramanian).

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The flow rate with the setting of choice on the pump (setting 3) was approximately 0.025 mL/s with an error of Âą0.006 mL. After calibration of the pump and the pH probe, a sample titration was performed with HCl and NaOH to ensure system reliability.

2.3 Method Development Since the voltage drop issues prevented the pump from controlling the pump from the Arduino the pump was operated manually at setting 3 with the calibrated flow rate 0.025 mL/s. Solid or liquid suspension of drugs was continuously stirred with a magnetic stirrer and the pH probe held in place with a clamp, which was wired to the Arduino Uno via a coax connector on the breadboard.

Figure 12: Titration setup with the Peristaltic pump connected (by Gautam Subramanian)

The base pH of the drugs was determined first without the use of the pump. When the drug was determined to be either acidic or basic the pump was primed with either NaOH or HCl depending on the initial pH readings. The pump was then turned on and the collection program running until a pH of around 10-12 was reached if NaOH was added or a pH of 1-2 was reached if HCl was added for acidic or basic drugs, respectively.

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2.4 Data Analysis and Reduction The pH data was compiled with a nine-point moving average and median filter were applied to the data by implementing a MATLAB program to further filter out unnecessary raw data. The general expression for a mixture of acids or bases was applied to get the experimental volumetric ratio and then compared to the theoretical values from the normalized volume which was obtained by dividing each index by the highest index value recorded with the purpose of eliminating redundant data.

3. RESULTS It is assumed that the commercial drugs are a mixture of six monoprotic acids or bases with six Ka and six Ca values. This assumption is because most drugs have at least five components of chemical species in addition to active ingredients. Generic Tylenol contains corn starch, croscarmellose, hypromellose, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, polyethylene glycol along with other inactive ingredients along with the drug itself. Therefore, twelve parameters extracted from nonlinear fitting are sufficient to completely describe the titration curve. The residual after the fitting should be random but uniquely distributed with a characteristic pattern for the sample. This pattern could then be used to further automate the titration system by identifying the residual pattern from a titration and using it to automatically identify the drug being titrated.

The data section contains tables with the normalized volume vs pH titration graphs, the excel solver value of Ca, pKa, and Ka obtained from the titration, and the residual patterns obtained from the solver. For the pH data the volume is normalized to 1 mL so it can be compared to other titrations using the acid base expression derived in De Levie’s paper while also helping in eliminating data redundancy.

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3.1 Normalized volume vs pH, Excel solver values, and Residual pattern tables

Table 1: Titration of Advil with pH versus the normalized volume with standard NaOH with residual Ca, pKa, and Ka values optimized with Excel Soler and the residual pattern for expected volumetric ratio of base to acid calculated with Robert De Levie’s dissociation equation and the experimental ratio obtained from the titration.

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Table 2: Titration of Glucosamine with pH versus the normalized volume with standard NaOH with Ca, pKa, and Ka values optimized with Excel Solver, and with the residual pattern for expected volumetric ratio of base to acid calculated with Robert De Levie’s dissociation equation and the experimental ratio obtained from the titration.

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Table 3: Titration of Aspirin with pH versus the normalized volume with standard NaOH with Ca, pKa, and Ka values optimized with Excel Solver and with the residual pattern for expected volumetric ratio of base to acid calculated with Robert De Levie’s dissociation equation and the experimental ratio obtained from the titration.

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Table 4: Titration of Maalox with pH versus the normalized volume with 0.0667 M HCl with Ca, pKa, and Ka values optimized with Excel Solver and with residual pattern for expected volumetric ratio of acid to base calculated with Robert De Levie’s dissociation equation and the experimental ratio obtained from the titration.

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Table 5: Titration of Gabapentin with pH versus the normalized volume with standard NaOH with Ca, pKa, and Ka values for titration of Aspirin optimized with Excel Solver and with the residual pattern for expected volumetric ratio of base to acid calculated with Robert De Levie’s dissociation equation and the experimental ratio obtained from the titration of Tylenol.

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Table 6: Titration of Gabapentin with pH versus the normalized volume with 0.0667 M HCl with Ca, pKa, and Ka values optimized with Excel Solver and with residual pattern for expected volumetric ratio of acid to base calculated with Robert De Levie’s dissociation equation and the experimental ratio obtained from the titration.

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Table 7: Titration of Tylenol with pH versus the normalized volume with standard NaOH with Ca, pKa, and Ka values for titration of Advil optimized with Excel Solver and with the residual pattern for expected volumetric ratio of base to acid calculated with Robert De Levie’s dissociation equation and the experimental ratio obtained from the titration.

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Table 8: Titration of LA with pH versus the normalized volume with 0.0667 M HCl with Ca, pKa, and Ka values optimized with Excel Solver and with residual pattern for expected volumetric ratio of acid to base calculated with Robert De Levie’s dissociation equation and the experimental ratio obtained from the titration of Tylenol.

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Table 9: Titration of LA with pH versus the normalized volume with standard NaOH with Ca, pKa, and Ka values optimized with Excel Solver and with the residual pattern for expected volumetric ratio of base to acid calculated with Robert De Levie’s dissociation equation and the experimental ratio obtained from the titration.

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Most of the drugs were titrated with NaOH given most of them were acidic or neutral to begin with. Ka, Ca, CaKa and pKa parameters with values less than 0 along with the same parameters that were greater than 10 were also omitted since these are most likely data anomalies that came as a result from the fitter. The drugs LA and Tylenol were titrated with both HCl and NaOH since the pH for both was close to neutral. The drugs each contain their own unique residual fingerprint with pH regions that were close and regions where the theoretical ratio deviated from the expected.

4. DISCUSSION Despite technical difficulties in automating the pump, the titration system was successfully constructed and titration data was obtained for each of the drugs. The residual patterns for each drug showed pH regions were the normalized (theoretical) volume ratio was close to the expected volume ratio which was derived from the expression of the right-hand side of the dissociation expression for a mixture of monoprotic acids or mono bases. For each drug, there are unique fingerprint regions where the residual difference is low (lower than 0.01). Pattern recognition techniques can be employed to analyze the regions of the drugs to serve as a basis for identification.

5. CONCLUSION Identification of unmarked pharmaceutical preparations is an analytical challenge.

Here we describe a titration system that can be implemented as a means of identifying common drugs. The titration system consists of an Arduino Uno Microcontroller, a pH electrode/probe, and a T1000 peristaltic pump. The system is automated as to reduce manual labor and with the residual data gathered from the different titrations, it is possible to construct key fingerprints for different pharmaceutical compounds. This can be used as a means for identification that is far more efficient than other methods, all while retaining the accuracy that comes with these alternative methods. Common drugs such as Aspirin and Advil were titrated with standard HCl and NaOH and based upon the pH data obtained from the titrations, unique residual patterns for the drugs were established. Further research can be done by applying pattern recognition algorithms such as neural networks to develop a fully automated means of using titration to identify different pharmaceutical preparations.

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AN ANALYSIS OF THE KKK THROUGH THREE THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES BY

SYDNEY KOCHAN

1910s-1920s: Immigration, defining whiteness. (2008, May 27). Msnbc.Com. http://www.nbcnews. com/id/24714378/ns/us_news-gut_check/t/s-s-immigration-defining-whiteness/ A Brief History of the Ku Klux Klan. (2009). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education; New York, 64, 49.

Anti-Black Imagery. (n.d.). Jim Crow Museum - Ferris State University. Retrieved March 23, 2019, from https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/antiblack/ Bandura, A. (2003). The role of selective moral disengagement in terrorism and counterterrorism.

In F. M. Moghaddam & A. J. Marsella (Eds.), Understanding terrorism: Psychological roots, consequences, and interventions (p. 121). https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2003-06477-006.pdf Brown, D. (2018, April 10). The preacher who used Christianity to revive the Ku Klux Klan. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/04/08/the-preacher-who-usedchristianity-to-revive-the-ku-klux-klan/ Chavez, N., Grinberg, E., & McLaughlin, E. (2018, October 31). Pittsburgh synagogue gunman said he wanted all Jews to die, criminal complaint says. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/28/us/ pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/index.html Chow, K. (2018, December 8). What The Ebbs And Flows Of The KKK Can Tell Us About White Supremacy Today. NPR.Org. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/12/08/671999530/ what-the-ebbs-and-flows-of-the-kkk-can-tell-us-about-white-supremacy-today Clark, A. (2019, February 15). How the History of Blackface Is Rooted in Racism. HISTORY. https:// www.history.com/news/blackface-history-racism-origins Clawson, M. A. (2014). Review of Klansville, U.S.A.: The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights-Era Ku Klux Klan [Review of Review of Klansville, U.S.A.: The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights-Era Ku Klux Klan, by D. Cunningham]. Contemporary Sociology, 43(5), 675–677. JSTOR. CNN. (2017, August 12). White nationalists march in Virginia—YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZN7vm9mIPBs Cunningham, D., & Madsen, R. S. (2015). What is the KKK a Case Of? Extreme Cases as Analytic Device. Sociology Compass, 9(4), 299–308. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12258 Fox, C. (2011). Everyday Klansfolk: White Protestant Life and the KKK in 1920s Michigan. Michigan State University Press. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/gmu/detail.action?docID=3338132 Grant, Reconstruction and the KKK | American Experience | PBS. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2019, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/grant-kkk/

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Halverson, J., Corman, S., & Goodall, H. (2011). Master Narratives of Islamist Extremism | J. Halverson | Palgrave Macmillan (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan US. https://www.palgrave.com/us/ book/9780230108967 History.com, H. com. (2018, August 29). Ku Klux Klan. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/ reconstruction/ku-klux-klan Hobbs, A. (2017, August 21). The US government destroyed the Ku Klux Klan once. It could do so again | Allyson Hobbs. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/21/ us-government-ku-klux-klan-charlottesville McVeigh, R. (1999). Structural Incentives for Conservative Mobilization: Power Devaluation and the Rise of the Ku Klux Klan, 1915-1925. Social Forces, 77(4), 1461–1496. JSTOR. https://doi. org/10.2307/3005883 McVeigh, R. (2009). The rise of the Ku Klux Klan right-wing movements and national politics.

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LESSONS LEARNED FROM SMALLPOX AND THEIR APPLICATION TO MEASLES BY

VI NGUYEN, SHADI MOHAMMADABADI

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[2] Koplow D. A. (2003).Smallpox: The fight to eradication a global scourge. California:University of California Press [3] Davenport R., Schwarz L., & Boulton J.. (2011). The decline of adult smallpox in eighteenthcentury London.The Economic History Review, 64(4), pp. 1289-1314. Retrieved from https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4373148/#b26.

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[10] Hussain, A., Ali, S., Ahmed, M., & Hussain, S. (2018). The Anti-vaccination Movement: A Regression in Modern Medicine. Cureus, 10(7), e2919. doi:10.7759/cureus.2919 [11] Digitale, E.. (2017). Small drops in measles vaccination have disproportionate effects, new study finds. Stanford Medicine. Retrieved from https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2017/07/24/small-dropsin-measles-vaccination-have-disproportionate-effects-new-study-finds/.

[12] The Measles & Rubella Initiative supports implementation of the Global Measles & Rubella Strategic Plan 2012-2020. (2018, May). Retrieved November 2019, from https://measlesrubellainitiative. org/learn/the-solution/the-strategy/.

[13] Measles & Rubella Initiative. (2019). The challenges. Measles & Rubella Initiative. Retrieved from https://measlesrubellainitiative.org/learn/the-challenges/.

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[16] Chadwick L.. (2019). How growing numbers of EU countries are making vaccines mandatory.

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BITCOIN: A DISRUPTION DEVISING DIGITIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION BY

RITIKA RAJU

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[5] S. Barber, X. Boyen, E. Shi, and E. Uzun, “Bitter to Better — How to Make Bitcoin a Better Currency,” Financial Cryptography and Data Security Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 399–414, 2012.

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HABITAT FRAGMENTATION OF ASIAN ELEPHANTS IN BANGLADESH BY

SERENA SEILER

Baskaran, N., Kanakasabai, R., & Desai, A. A. (2018). “Ranging and Spacing Behavior of Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus Linnaeus) in the Tropical Forests of Southern India.” In C. Sivaperuman & K. Venkataraman (Eds.), Indian Hotspots : Vertebrate Faunal Diversity, Conservation and Management Volume 1 (pp. 295–315). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6605-4_15 Buffalo, B. by. (2019). “Kenyan Habitat & amp; Environment Conservation.” Retrieved May 6, 2019, from Sheldrick Wildlife Trust website: Retrieved May 6, 2019, from Sheldrick Wildlife Trust website: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.orgprojects/saving-habitats Calabrese, A., Calabrese, J. M., Songer, M., Wegmann, M., Hedges, S., Rose, R., & Leimgruber, P. (2017).

“Conservation status of Asian elephants: the influence of habitat and governance.” Biodiversity & Conservation; Dordrecht, 26(9), 2067–2081. http://dx.doi.org.mutex.gmu.edu/10.1007/s10531017-1345-5 Campos‐Arceiz, A. (2009).” Shit Happens (to be Useful)! Use of Elephant Dung as Habitat by Amphibians.” Biotropica, 41(4), 406–407. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00525.x Campos-Arceiz, A., & Blake, S. (2011). “Megagardeners of the forest – the role of elephants in seed dispersal. “Acta Oecologica, 37(6), 542–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2011.01.014 Jathanna, D., Karanth, K. U., Kumar, N. S., Karanth, K. K., & Goswami, V. R. (2015). “Patterns and Determinants of Habitat Occupancy by the Asian Elephant in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India.” Plos One, 10(7), e0133233. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133233 King, L. (2019, April 30). Personal interview.

Liemgruber, P. (2019, April 25). Phone interview.

SOCIAL LEARNING FOR THE MASSES: AN ANALYSIS OF THE GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE BY

NEVEEN SHAWISH

Allen, M.R., O.P. Dube, W. Solecki, F. Aragón-Durand, W. Cramer, S. Humphreys, M. Kainuma, J. Kala, N. Mahowald, Y. Mulugetta, R. Perez, M. Wairiu, and K. Zickfeld, (2018). Global Warming of 1.5°C. Framing and Context.

Bandura, A. (1978). Social learning theory of aggression. Journal of Communication, 28(3), 12–29. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1978.tb01621.x Barclay, E., & Resnick, B. (2019, September 22). How big was the global climate strike? 4 million people, activists estimate. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/energy-andenvironment/2019/9/20/20876143/climate-strike-2019-september-20-crowd-estimate.

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Darby, S. (2006). Social learning and public policy: Lessons from an energy-conscious village. Energy Policy, 34(17), 2929–2940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2005.04.013 Demartino, C., Rice, R., & Saltz, R. (2015). An applied test of the social learning theory of deviance to college alcohol use. Journal of Health Communication, 20(4), 479–490. https://doi.org/10.10 80/10810730.2014.988384 Fluegge, K. (2016). Social learning theory and public perception of GMOs: What Blancke et al. (2015) and other plant biotechnologists are missing. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 96(9), 2939–2940. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.7634 Fu, T., Babcock, W, (2017). Implementing entertainment-education through TV talk shows in China.

China Media Research, 13(1), 83–94.

Hodges, J. (2019, October 21). How Street Protests Have Changed the Climate Debate. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com Kaplan, S., & Guskin, E. (2019, September 16). Most American teens are frightened by climate change, poll finds, and about 1 in 4 are taking action. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com Kaplan, S. (2019, September 24). Teen girls are leading the climate strikes and helping change the face of environmentalism. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com Kristjanson, P., Harvey, B., Epp, M. Van and Thornton, P. K. 2014. Social learning and sustainable development. Nature Climate Change 4: 5–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2080 Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Rosenthal, S., Kotcher, J., Ballew, M., Goldberg, M., & Gustafson, A. (2018). Climate change in the American mind: December 2018. Yale University and George Mason University. New Haven, CT: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

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Miller, B., & Morris, R. (2016). Virtual peer effects in social learning theory. Crime & Delinquency, 62(12), 1543–1569. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128714526499 Mindok, C. (2019, September 19). ‘Listen to the scientists’: Climate activist Greta Thunberg issues plea to US Congress. Independent . Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk Perloff, R. M. (2017). The dynamics of persuasion: communication and attitudes in the 21st century.

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Sengupta, S. (2019, September 20). Protesting Climate Change, Young People Take to Streets in a Global Strike. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com Global warming of 1.5 ºC The US Climate Strike Demands. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://globalclimatestrike.net/the-usclimate-strike-demands/.

DEVELOPMENT OF ARDUINO BASED PH TITRATION SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFICATION OF COMMONLY AVAILABLE PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS BY

GAUTAM SUBRAMANIAN

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Square-wave Voltammetric Determination of Propyphenazone, Paracetamol, and Caffeine: Comparative Study between Batch Injection Analysis and Conventional Electrochemical Systems.

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[11] Inverting Operational Amplifier. (n.d.). Retrieved December 27,2017, from http://www. electronics-tutorials.ws/opamp/opamp_2.html [12] Silberberg, M. S., & Amateis, P. (2015). Chemistry: the molecular nature of matter and change: CHEM212, George Mason University. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. pg 965 [13] Arduino Uno REV3. (n.d.). Retrieved December 29, 2017, from https://store.arduino.cc/usa/ arduino-uno-rev3 [14] LP-T100/JY15-12 series. (n.d.). Retrieved December 29, 2017, from http://www.drifton.eu/ product/lp-t100-jy15-12-peristaltic-oem-pump-1502/ [15] Low-pass Filters. (n.d.). Retrieved December 27, 2017, from https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/ textbook/alternatingcurrent/chpt-8/low-pass-filters/

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FACULTY GUIDE GMR IN THE CLASSROOM The George Mason Review (GMR) provides prime examples of undergraduate scholarship that can be used to teach students about the characteristics of good research writing, inspire them to explore new ideas, and provide a sense of personal confidence that results from publishing their work for a campus-wide audience of peers and professors.

Exposing students to the work of their counterparts can act as a mirror, reflecting undiscovered personal potential. Incorporating GMR into your classroom can take many forms: develop a lesson plan around analyzing one of our published works; utilize the concepts and ideas contained in these pages as a brainstorming tool for students unsure of what topic to explore; offer extra credit to students who submit their work for publication; or come up with your own innovative application.

MAKE GMR THE ASSIGNMENT Some professors have found success in raising student achievement by making submission to GMR a course requirement. Students who write with a wide and diverse potential audience in mind tend to put more thought into their work, leading to improved academic outcomes and higher levels of critical thinking. This is a valuable exercise in producing a paper that is accessible to those from varying backgrounds without comprising academic integrity. Knowledge that your work will be publicly available can be a powerful motivator, and publication in an academic journal is a great addition to any résumé or portfolio.

G E T T I N G S TA R T E D Mason’s INTO program, the English Department, and UNIV 100 classes already use GMR in a variety of ways. We would be happy to make a brief presentation to your class or meet with you one-on-one to create a tailored approach that complements your curriculum.

GMR is available electronically via www.gmreview.gmu.edu To request hard copies, email us at gmreveiw@gmu.edu

132 | THE GEORGE MASON REVIEW

FACULTY GUIDE

N OT E F R O M T H E A DV I S O R The George Mason Review (GMR) began life as “an annual collection of English 101 and undergraduate writing” in 1992, publishing under the name GMU Freshman Review. That first edition’s introduction reveals the motivations of its creators as they sought to “create a sense of community by publishing work that reflects the cultural and academic quality of GMU’s undergraduate population.” Their clear intent was to present “models of writing” that could serve as a “learning tool that crosses the curriculum” for both faculty and students: “We want this anthology to help undergraduate writers with what seems to be one of their biggest difficulties — generating ideas and just getting started… When students know their work is being taken seriously beyond the classroom, they may very well aspire to a whole new set of standards and, with purpose and focus, aim at the highest quality possible in their writing… Instructors can find in the collection a sense of what to prepare themselves for and what kind of standards they should set for themselves and their classes… We hope that the essays are useful — whether you are ‘stuck’ [on an assignment] or an instructor looking to show your students how a research paper ‘works.’”

Some 25 years later, our mission remains the same: seek out and publish exemplary undergraduate writing across the curriculum with the conviction that students grow as scholars by publishing their work for a campus-wide audience and faculty members gain a valuable classroom tool that can help improve academic outcomes.

Since those early days as a freshman English anthology, GMR has evolved into a modern, peer-reviewed, undergraduate research journal that accepts scholarly submissions from all years and all majors. By exploring and challenging the boundaries separating disciplines from one other — the humanities from the sciences, the academic from the creative — The George Mason Review exists as a unique platform where scholarship, creativity, and critical thought can co-exist.

Mason has experienced rapid evolution as an institution over the past several decades, but the lodestar that has guided us through each step (or leap) along the way is our shared commitment to academic excellence, meaningful innovation, and cuttingedge research. The George Mason Review embodies each of these noble pursuits while providing all Mason undergrads with opportunities and experiences that pave the way for greatness in the classroom and prepare them for successful careers in the VOLUME 29 / 2019-2020 | 133

future.

I am extremely proud to serve the Mason community as the faculty advisor for GMR and continue the rich traditions established by that first cohort of educators who recognized the need for this type of forum and made it a reality. Participation is vital to our continued growth as an academic journal, so I strongly encourage all students to submit original work for publication and all faculty members to consider integrating GMR into their curriculum.

Please feel free to reach out directly to me (jhartsel@gmu.edu) with any questions you may have, requests for extra copies of GMR, or with examples of how you have utilized our publication in the classroom.

Reflecting on the history and evolution of this journal has only strengthened my belief in its value and purpose; I look forward to collaborating with the outstanding students, faculty, and staff of George Mason University to share the amazing things we accomplish together with the world.

Sincerely, Jason Hartsel Faculty Advisor

LARGEST CLASSROOM ON CAMPUS THE

Student Media offers Mason students the opportunity to directly apply academic skills in a hands-on environment, and we believe that faculty collaboration is integral to our mission of student success.

Here are just a few of the ways faculty members can partner with Student Media: ü STUDIO RENTALS — Reserve one of our state-of-the-art radio studios for interviews or student projects (ISDN-equipped).

them to submit original work for credit. ü SAMPLE CONTENT — Use content from one of our scholarly or literary journals as source material for readings or critiques. ü CO-CURRICULAR COURSES — Refer students to one of our six 1-credit courses offered through Mason’s Communication Department: COMM COMM COMM COMM

347 (Cable TV) 346 (Yearbook) 148/348 (Radio I & II) 145/345 (Newspaper I & II)

ü RECOMMEND A STUDENT ü SERVE AS A CONTEST JUDGE

ü onMASON.COM — Utilize our free online blogging platform in the classroom for student portfolio projects or to post writing assignments for group discussion. ü CLASS VISITS — Schedule a class visit so your students can learn about exciting media opportunities available to them. ü FOR-CREDIT OPTIONS — Help students earn internship credit through one of our 12 unique media groups or encourage

CONTACT US TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN BECOME A STUDENT MEDIA PARTNER:

703.993.9745 stumedia@gmu.edu The Hub Suite 1201 MS 2C5 4400 University Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030

studentme di a .gm u .e du