Since the late 1990's, "food deserts" have dominated the academic and policy literature on food access and food security. Food deserts are defined as areas that lack easy access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food, and are typically measured using Geographic Information Systems and spatial data sets. However, while food deserts may provide a useful measure for identifying food insecurity at a broad scale, they fail to account for individual definitions and perceptions of food access (Barnes et al. 2015; McEntee 2009). Furthermore, the food desert model assumes a lack of agency on the part of low-income populations (Alkon et al. 2013), and ignores other factors of food access, such as walkability, grocery store safety, customer service, and personal preference. In this research, I examine the food access perceptions of residents, non-profit employees, and business owners in the Lents neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Although Lents is classified as a food desert, there is also an abundance of ethnic grocers and specialty markets within the neighborhood. These grocers reflect the neighborhood's racial and cultural diversity, and are often overlooked by the spatial datasets typically used to measure food access. The research that I conducted in Lents revealed a disconnect between how the residents I interviewed perceive their food environment, and how government, non-profits employees, and business owners within the neighborhood view local food access. The findings underscore the importance of factors other than physical proximity when measuring food access, and also show the importance of ethnic and specialty markets in the landscape. These findings support the assertion that binary measures of food access often fail to capture the complexities of individual perceptions of food access (Alkon et al. 2013).

The Dinner Creek Tuff is a mid-Miocene rhyolitic to dacitic ignimbrite, consisting of four cooling units with 40Ar/39Ar ages 16--15 Ma. Previous geologists have suspected that the source of the tuff is located in northwestern Malheur County, eastern Oregon. This broad area is called the Dinner Creek Tuff Eruptive Center. This thesis summarizes field work, XRF/ICP-MS geochemistry, thin section petrography, and SEM feldspar analysis from the summers of 2015 and 2016. The main purpose of this study is to identify sources for the Dinner Creek Tuff units within the Dinner Creek Tuff Eruptive Center. The secondary purpose is to map lava flows that pre-date and post-date the Dinner Creek Tuff, and correlate them with regionally extensive volcanic units. Two volcanic centers related to the Dinner Creek Tuff were identified. The southern volcanic center, centered at Castle Rock, is a caldera and source of the Dinner Creek Tuff unit 1 (DIT1). Rheomorphic, densely welded DIT1 is over 300 m thick along the east side of Castle Rock. The northwestern margin of the caldera has been uplifted along faults, showing vertically foliated tuff dikes and associated mega-breccia deposits. Up to 200 m of incipiently welded tuffs, and fluvial volcanoclastic sediments were deposited on the caldera floor, which has been uplifted due to resurgence and regional extension, creating the complex structural relationships between the volcanic units. The northern volcanic center is located at Ironside Mountain, where densely welded rheomorphic Dinner Creek Tuff unit 2 (DIT2) is exposed in outcrops over 600 m thick. The top of the DIT2 consists of glassy, moderately welded tuff. Sources for the DIT2 are tuff dikes along the south and western flanks of Ironside Mountain. The thick deposits of DIT2 at Ironside Mountain indicate that the mountain is an uplifted caldera, herein named the Ironside Mountain caldera. Uplift may have been due to resurgence, but it is most likely due to normal faulting along the Border Fault, a major regional normal fault that strikes across the northern margin of the caldera. Pre-Dinner Creek Tuff lava flows occur throughout the study area, and can be correlated with the Strawberry Volcanics and the Basalt of Malheur Gorge. A distinct lava flow, herein called the Ring Butte trachy-basalt occurs within the center of the study area, and is distinct from regional lava flows. Following the eruptions of the Dinner Creek Tuff units 1 & 2, aphyric basaltic-andesite and icelandite intrude into, and overlie the intra-caldera tuffs and caldera floor sediments at both calderas. These aphyric lavas are similar in appearance and stratigraphic position with the regionally extensive Hunter Creek basalt. Porphyritic olivine basalt overlies the aphyric Hunter Creek basalt at the Castle Rock caldera. This porphyritic lava is similar in appearance and major/trace element geochemistry to the regional Tim's Peak basalt.

Forest Park, a 5,000 acre heavily-forested park within the city limits of Portland, Oregon was selected as the study area for performing a fire simulation analysis. A well-documented fire swept over a large area of the park in 1951, and provides both direct inputs, including the ignition point, and context for the present day fire simulations. The goal of the research was two fold. First, determine the difference between small area simulations using standard and custom surface fuel models. Second, determine if fire simulation can be an effective tool in assessing fire danger and behavior in a wildland-urban interface environment like Forest Park.

Throughout its eruptive history, Mount Hood has produced compositionally similar calc-alkaline andesite as lava flows and domes near the summit and basaltic andesitic flows from flank vents. Found within the andesite are slightly more mafic inclusions that are compositionally similar to the host andesite (or host lavas); no inclusions were found in the flank lavas. Host lavas and inclusions have the following mineral assemblage: plag + opx ± cpx ± amp + oxides. Flank lava mineralogy is similar to the inclusions and host lavas, but since they are more mafic they contain olivine instead of amphibole. Average silica content among samples analyzed ranges from 57.6 to 62.7 weight percent; however the incompatible trace element composition is more variable at lower silica contents and becomes less variable at higher silica contents. In terms of incompatible trace element composition, the host lavas and inclusions are either depleted (no amp) or enriched (amp± cpx).

This thesis evaluates the hydraulic relationship between the Blue Lake gravel aquifer, the Columbia River, and Blue Lake. Hydrogeology, water levels, and stable isotopes were used to establish these hydraulic relationships.

In my research I use qualitative content analysis to determine if and how the hegemony of the capitalist class in the United States influences the content of news texts on poverty. I analyze messages from two contrasting historical eras, the War on Poverty era and the post-Reagan era.

Over the past 6 years, the course retention rate for Marylhurst University's (MU) online courses was 91%, which is within four percentage points of its on-campus course retention rate (Schreck, 2002). This appears to contradict a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that stated, "Although there is significant variation among institutions with some reporting course-completion rates of more than 80% and others finding that fewer than 50% of distance-education students finish their courses, several administrators concur that course-completion rates are often 10-20 percentage points higher in traditional courses than in distance offerings" (Carr, 2000). Recent studies (Beatty-Gunter 2001; Crabtree, 2000; Cutler, 2000; Fox, 2000; Moore, Bartkovich, Fetzner, & Ison, 2002; Morrow, Woodyard, Mora, & Nather, 2001; Valdez, 2001) corroborate Carr's claim and were used to compare with MU results. This grounded theory, web-based, research study aims to explicate the reasons why MU online students complete courses at high rates and develop this understanding into an online student retention model. A grounded theory approach was used to conduct this study, which is described by Creswell (2002) as, "a systematic, qualitative procedure used to generate a theory that explains, at a broad conceptual level, a process, an action, or interaction about a substantive topic". The research process helped discover and shape the Online Course Retention Model (OCRM). The OCRM theorizes four major areas for inquiry into online course retention (Administration, Course, Student, and Teacher). Each major area of inquiry is divided into three variables of varying importance to online course retention. Perhaps the most profound discovery was not the major themes and supporting variables, but rather, the relationships between variables, and how these relationships explain the MU situation. The research concludes with an examination of possible "best practices" in online course retention, ideas for future research, and recommendations for implementation. Successful online course retention at Marylhurst University: Constructing a model for online course retention using grounded theory.

The Firebrand was an anarchist communist newspaper that was printed in Portland, Oregon from January 1895 to September 1897. The newspaper was a central catalyst behind the formation of the culturally American anarchist movement, a movement whose vital role in shaping radicalism in the United States during the Progressive Era has largely been ignored by historians. The central argument of this thesis is that the Firebrand publishers' experiences in Gilded Age Portland shaped the content and the format of the newspaper and led to the development of a new, uniquely American expression of anarchism. Anarchism was developed in response to the great transformations of the nineteenth century and the anxieties of a society that was being entirely restructured as industrialization and urbanization took hold across the globe. The anarchism of the Firebrand was a regional response to these same changes, an expression of radical discontent at the way in which life in Portland and the Pacific Northwest was rapidly changing. According to the Firebranders, the region had transformed from a place of economic opportunity and political freedom into a region driven by economic and political exploitation. Thus, the newspaper developed a uniquely western American perspective and expressed a formation of anarchist communism that was steeped in the history and culture of the United States. The newspaper was just as influenced by centuries of American libertarian activism as it was by outright anarchist philosophy. As a result, the newspaper frequently included articles about free love and women's rights, issues outside of the typical purview of anarchist communist political philosophy. This Americanized expression of anarchist communism allowed the newspaper to expand beyond the movement's core urban, immigrant audience and attract culturally American, English-speaking radicals to the cause. In the Fall of 1897, after two years and eight months in publication, three of the Firebrand publishers were arrested for the crime of sending obscene materials through the mail. The Firebrand's frank discussions of sexuality, women's rights, and free love offended the local censor and gave law enforcement an excuse to prosecute Portland's anarchists. The ensuing trial would result in the newspaper's closure. Nonetheless, a new intellectual movement had been established, and though the movement would remain small, it would play a disproportionately large role in shaping radical American politics and culture for the next two decades.

Geologists have indicated that the question is not if a catastrophic earthquake will occur in Oregon but when one will occur. Scientists estimate that there is close to 40 percent conditional probability that a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or above will strike Oregon in the next 50 years. In addition, the majority of Oregon's bridge inventory was built prior to the current understanding of bridge response and prior to current understanding of the expected earthquake demands. In order to minimize potential bridge damage in the case of an earthquake, one approach is to retrofit seismically deficient bridges. However, often times the decision maker is faced with the difficulty of selecting only a few bridges within the inadequate ones. Hence, the issue of prioritizing upgrading naturally arises. The goal of this study is to assess and refine bridge prioritization methodology to be utilized for ranking Oregon's bridge inventory. CFRP retrofit has been experimentally and analytically evaluated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique and was found to be an efficient and economical option. A vulnerability assessment estimates that close to 30 percent of Oregon's highway bridge inventory will sustain moderate damage to collapse. However, retrofitting two most common bridge types in the inventory will reduce the number of damaged bridges by about 70 percent. A cost-benefit assessment that takes into consideration direct and indirect costs associated with damaged bridges and retrofitting of bridges shows that the benefit is up to three times the cost to retrofit. The same principle was applied to rank twelve highway segments for seismic retrofit considered important by Oregon Department of Transportation. One selected segment was considered to be retrofitted and vulnerability assessed. The benefit to cost ratios for each assessment was compared and the highway segments were ranked accordingly. The top five segments in the ranking happen to be located in the East-West corridor connecting I-5 to US-101.

Determination of the vertical and horizontal groundwater hydraulic gradient within a landfill is the first step in determining the potential of groundwater contamination from the landfill leachate. The length of a study and the frequency at which measurements are recorded can greatly affect the description of the local groundwater environment. A more comprehensive analysis can be preformed for longer periods of study and greater measurement frequency. The intent of this study was to install a continuous groundwater level monitoring system around the st. Johns Landfill for a minimum study length of one year. This would allow a more thorough study of the seasonal character and behavior of the groundwater system beneath the landfill than in previous studies. Particular interest was paid to groundwater level changes resulting from seasonal weather changes. Additional attention was paid to other forcing mechanisms which could be perturbing groundwater levels, and variations in the geochemical groundwater constituents. Included throughout this report is a literature review of various studies pertinent to the analysis of groundwater level variations. Seasonal variations in vertical groundwater hydraulic gradients were reviewed and time averaged vertical seepage rates were estimated. Areal plots of groundwater levels were used to view expected horizontal groundwater hydraulic gradients during seasonal maximum and minimum groundwater levels. A computer model was developed to study the effects temporal variations in slough water levels had on groundwater seepage rates through the perimeter dike separating the landfill from the sloughs. The modeling provided an estimate of the average horizontal leachate seepage rate into the sloughs. Comparison plots of monitoring well groundwater levels were used to analyze potential swash zones beneath the landfill and potential effects of lowered water levels in Bybee Lake. Spectral analysis techniques were imployed to determine the dominant frequencies observed in the groundwater levels, allowing determination of the type of forcing mechanism driving the fluctuations. Geochemical groundwater constituents were statistically analyzed to determine the significance of observed trends in the data: areal plots of chloride concentrations and electrical conductivity were made to view constituent distributions within the underlying aquifers. Estimated vertical and horizontal groundwater seepage rates into the local waters showed that horizontal leachate seepage is insignificant compared to vertical leachate seepage. Groundwater level comparison plots indicated no significant swashing beneath the landfill occurred. The statistical studies on groundwater forcing mechanisms indicated that either the slough or the Columbia River water levels could be perturbing groundwater levels. Trend analyses on the geochemical groundwater constituents indicated significant, positive trends in chloride concentrations, and undeterminable trends in electrical conductivity.