Undergraduate Journals

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Open Access
OpenAI's Fault Lines: Cracks in a Groundbreaking “Capped-Profit” Organization
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Collins-Burke, Drew
Influential artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI has a unique corporate structure featuring a non-profit/capped-profit (NP/CP) model. In the NP/CP model, a non-profit organization has control over a for-profit arm that offers financiers a fixed return based on their initial investment, as opposed to offering unlimited potential return. OpenAI’s NP/CP structure is intended to reduce the negative impacts of shareholder capitalism on high-stakes artificial general intelligence (AGI) development projects. This paper evaluates OpenAI’s organizational successes and failures, comparing its approach to the pitfalls many shareholder corporations fall into: excessive profit motives, lack of transparency, and negligence towards societal impacts. It also explores how OpenAI’s structural features, such as investor profit caps and non-profit authority over the for- profit arm, have aided the company in avoiding some common issues with shareholder corporations. However, CEO Sam Altman’s high-profile ousting and reinstatement, OpenAI’s lack of open-source practices, and Microsoft’s influence raise concerns about the overall efficacy of this structure. Through an analysis of OpenAI's structure, actions, and public statements, this paper investigates the hybrid NP/CP model’s potential for mitigating the negative impacts of shareholder capitalism on responsible AGI development, highlighting its successes and limitations. The paper concludes that OpenAI’s ability to develop AGI safely within this organization model is possible but uncertain.
Open Access
COINdinistas and Contradictions: US Adoption of Counterinsurgency in 2007
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Li, Alex
Multiple theories of politics—specifically, rational actor theory and organization theory—have been used to explain decision-making processes for military actions. Rational actor theory states that military actors base decisions on value calculations and incremental changes. Organization theory suggests that military organizations push a specific doctrine to preserve power in the face of civilian challenges or criticism. While organizations generally wish to appear rational, doctrinal decisions may betray irrationality. This paper aims to identify a clear history of US counterinsurgency (COIN) and test the existing literature on organization and rational actor theory against the US military’s readoption of the counterinsurgency doctrine in 2007. The US military COIN operations in Iraq that accompanied the Surge of 2007 followed a legacy of failed COIN experiments. Beginning in Vietnam with the strategic hamlet program, the continued use of COIN despite its empirical inefficacy throughout the 20th century demonstrates the military’s pattern of irrational action. This paper concludes that COIN existed quietly in the background of the Cold War before its implementation in 2007. Moreover, COIN’s doctrinal adoption in 2007 is better explained through organization theory as the military organization pushed COIN onto a desperate Bush administration. Finally, the history of COIN indicates that rational actor theory is insufficient to explain doctrine during low-intensity conflicts.
Open Access
Transitive Inference as an Intrinsic Process
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Murray, Austin; Chaloupka, Ben
The present study tests participants’ ability to infer implicit relationships between stimuli by building hierarchical—ranking by some value—relationships, a process known as transitive inference. For example, if you know person A is taller than person B and person B is taller than person C, you can infer that person A is taller than person C without directly comparing the two. The literature has provided contrasting results regarding whether prior knowledge of the hierarchy is needed for participants to infer the indirect relationships. This study aimed to resolve this discrepancy by investigating whether participants could learn an implicit hierarchy of six art stimuli (A > B > C > D > E > F) without prior knowledge using a transitive inference task (N = 78). After being trained on all pairs of adjacent stimuli in the hierarchy (e.g., A > B or D > E), participants were tested on all possible pairs of stimuli (e.g., A > C or B > F). Participants were able to infer relationships between untrained items two steps apart in the hierarchy (e.g., B > D) just as well as they remembered trained relationships. They were especially successful in judging untrained relationships three steps apart in the hierarchy (e.g., B > E). This suggests that participants were able to generalize across the trained pairs to form the hierarchy, even without prior knowledge of the underlying structure. Our results support the idea that humans possess an intrinsic ability to infer implicit relationships between stimuli.
Open Access
The Influence of Positive Maternal Involvement on the Relationship Between Maternal Emotion Dysregulation and Preschooler Internalizing and Externalizing Problems
(2025-02-20) Prunuske, Jin
Children of mothers with elevated emotion dysregulation (ED) may be at greater risk for developing internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) problems and, in turn, future psychopathology. While previous studies have investigated early risk pathways that may explain this association (e.g., unsupportive maternal responding), our understanding of factors that protect against the downstream effects of maternal ED on child outcomes is limited. To explore prospective protective factors, the current study examined the moderating role of positive maternal involvement on the relationship between maternal ED and preschoolers’ INT and EXT problems. This study included 178 mother-child dyads, where maternal ED was assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, positive maternal involvement was assessed using the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire – Preschool Revision, and preschoolers’ INT and EXT problems were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist. Maternal ED and positive maternal involvement had significant direct effects on preschoolers’ INT and EXT problems; however, the moderating effect of positive maternal involvement on the relationship between maternal ED and preschooler INT and EXT problems was nonsignificant. Further examination of factors that may mitigate risk among children of mothers with elevated ED is necessary to inform effective prevention and intervention efforts.
Open Access
Letter from the Editor
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Schmitt, Kyla
I am so excited to wrap up this Winter Term by sharing the latest edition of the Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal (OURJ)—Volume 23, Issue 1, Winter 2025. This issue—as is so often the case in the ‘turbulent’ world of undergraduate publishing—has been a long time coming. Three of the articles included in the pages that follow were accepted in the summer and fall of 2024, well before the previous year drew to a close. Is this publication late, or is it a carefully crafted retrospective: a year in academic research? The world may never know…
Open Access
Art Feature: “Body Fluidity”
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Betancourt, Gio
“Body Fluidity” deals with the complexities of the human body, especially in the case of genitalia. People are assigned a specific sex/gender based on the development of their genitalia before birth. Throughout puberty or even during birth, it may become apparent that someone is intersex due to external appearances or hormonal differences internally. In other cases, some individuals feel as though the sex/gender they were assigned by society does not align with their own sense of self and may transition to a different gender or deconstruct gender altogether in a way that subverts society's expected norms. In all of these instances, we see the body as fluid, not binary, not one gender or the other, but as the home of the soul, which inhabits a body unique to everyone else's. In this way, this piece is representative of undergraduate research; through research you may uncover new findings, some of which deconstruct old findings to represent a better understanding of a topic. My art piece is meant to do that—deconstructing the binary instilled into society for centuries and replacing it with a new understanding of the human body.
Open Access
Journal Editorial: “Research as Learning and Being”
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Zaman, Ahmar
Every developing child is learning to understand the world and their place in it. They do this through touching, experimenting, questioning, and watching the world around them; every question they have is their own research question to make sense of their world.
Open Access
Art Feature: “Heavy Under Pressure”
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Betancourt, Gio
Created during my study abroad trip to Greece, “Heavy Under Pressure” deals with the complexities of gravity underwater. As someone who had not swam in a body of water for a long period of time, being submerged in water felt heavier than usual, as if my body was made of stone. To illustrate this point, I rendered my hand with goggles wrapped around to signify swimming and the heaviness felt when trying to move your joints underwater. This piece captures the science of gravity underwater, and how complexly the human body adapts to different environments, even if impacted by different feelings.
Open Access
Meet the Editorial Board
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Schmitt, Kyla; Sechrist, Ava; Olds, Charlotte; Nguyen, Ethan; Tippetts, Keegan
2 pages
Open Access
Cover Art: “Beyond Fruition”
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Betancourt, Gio
“Beyond Fruition” describes navigating the unknown. Although planning is a great habit for all events, some situations are out of your control, and an individual must problem-solve to figure out solutions to unplanned occurrences. This piece was unplanned initially and became complete through navigating new ways to find answers to issues that I was confronted within the process. Likewise, undergraduate researchers are problem-solvers. Their entire task is to navigate the unknown planned or unplanned, they may navigate unplanned obstacles along the way.
Open Access
Cover Art: “aλλος”
(University of Oregon, 2024) Black, Olivia
aλλος is a part of the Greek root word for "allergy." aλλος, meaning "other," has held significant meaning for me growing up with a severe allergy to milk. This illustration depicts me as a child during allergy testing. I feel this drawing is representative of the spirit of undergraduate academic endeavors because it represents overcoming the challenges of our past and working them into our identities of the future.
Open Access
Meet the Editorial Board
(University of Oregon, 2024)
Open Access
Art Feature: "Portals for Everyday People"
(University of Oregon, 2024) Bisheimer, Elle
This photo series illustrates the power of captivating, freeform imagery that can spawn organically in our surroundings. The unique movement of black lines in the images result from the natural composition of the environment as it was; the branches hang above the water, the petals glide upon the pond's surface, the light reflects these forms as the water swirls. The images serve as a glimpse at mystical beauty of ordinary environmental conditions and cycles. Such otherworldly scenes will continue to create themselves without any spectators or interference. However, these portals remain unhidden, and their presence is abundant - we only need make a choice to search earnestly to experience the magic in full.
Open Access
Journal Editorial: "On Libraries Supporting Undergraduate Research"
(University of Oregon, 2024) Vieger, Rayne
In an unexpected way, the challenge of learning how to do undergraduate research is what led me to a career in libraries. As a freshman and first-generation college student, the imposter syndrome was strong; I lacked confidence in my writing and my voice. I was unsure if my ideas had value, and even if I finally talked myself into thinking I had something to say, I didn’t know how to go about finding the “right” sources or evaluating their veracity. Luckily, I had friends who worked in the library, and early on, it became part of my life on campus.
Open Access
Art Feature: "Autonomy in the Anthropocene"
(University of Oregon, 2024) Bisheimer, Elle
This drawing explores several of the complex relationships between human innovation, morality, and how progress is defined through time. Who defines progress, and who is truly capable of harnessing its successes? In our modern era of incessant technological advancement towards an algorithmic perfection, this rather timeless struggle for moral truth inescapably seeps into our interactions with Artificial Intelligence. Most programs seek to minimize capacity for human error in each new advancement, successfully reducing our own ability to hinder progress—and our ability to work within it as well. One could argue this is not far off from efforts towards minimizing human error throughout ancient history. Developments of secular sciences, philosophy, and social reform often incorporated similar goals to progress, yet they were all driven by humans attempting to improve their own kind. What happens if reach a point where we no longer hold agency in our own societal progression? Does erasing our potential for error diminish the value of the art we create? Can we discount the value that AI may provide to humans that were never truly given a stake in the playing field towards progress? It may be impossible to predict, yet it remains a necessity to be considered as lines between virtual worlds and reality blur.
Open Access
Letter from the Editors
(University of Oregon, 2024) Taylor, Jay; Schmitt, Kyla
It is our pleasure to present Volume 22, Issue 1 of the Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal (OURJ) this spring of 2024. This issue showcases the best undergraduate scholarship we have encountered during the 2023–2024 academic year. Strikingly, these articles share a common theme: a focus on the future. Fittingly, we OURJ staffers are now also looking towards the future—the future of our publications, involvement with scholars, and research at the University of Oregon.
Open Access
Predicting Explore-Exploit Behavior from Personality Traits
(University of Oregon, 2024) Nashawi, Lynn
The explore/exploit trade-off theorizes that individuals learn and make decisions in two different ways. Exploration entails trying new approaches that one is unsure about in order to gain new information. Exploration can be further divided into two subsections: random and directed exploration—choosing randomly when the total uncertainty is high, and choosing the most uncertain option, respectively. Exploitation involves utilizing what one already knows in order to achieve an expected result. Recent research (i.e., Gershman 2018) has demonstrated that different individuals might employ either exploration or exploitation in novel environments, but whether different personality traits influence the strategy that is used is a relatively unexplored area of inquiry. In the present study, we asked 67 participants to complete a choice-based, point-scoring computer task. We instructed participants to collect as many points (in the form of numerical value feedback) as they could by selecting among four options, some of which offered a steady stream of points, and others which were more randomized. Participants also completed an abridged form of the Big Five personality questionnaire. We hypothesized that negative emotionality would correlate negatively with directed exploration, that open-mindedness would correlate positively with both measures of exploration, and that impulsivity would correlate positively with random exploration. We did not find support for any of the three hypotheses; rather, the opposite occurred in negative emotionality and directed exploration (p = 0.018, r = 0.29). These findings can be applied in various fields of research, as they demonstrate variation in types of learning and decision-making styles across different settings.
Open Access
Being Bosnian: The Means and Ends of Territoriality and the Genocide of Bosniaks in the Fromer Yugoslavia
(University of Oregon, 2024) Petrik, Charles
The “Bosnian Civil War” (1992–1996) was a conflict that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of thousands of Bosnian Muslims, or Bosniaks. In the vacuum left by the fall of Communism, religious identification across space opened doors for various populist leaders to campaign for a newly defined Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the 1990 election results, which left a majority Bosniak coalition in power, led to the swift aggression of Orthodox Serbian and Croatian nationalists from the east and west, respectively. This research employs a spatial lens to deeply examine what fueled the genocidal campaigns that ensued, identifying how culture, religion, and history were symbolically challenged through the systematic redefinition of territory. Ultimately, nationalist influences from Croatian and Serbian political spheres played off fears of rising challenges to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s nationhood in the political vacuum post-Communism, resulting in violence and the systematic destruction of spatial identity. Though eventually thwarted by NATO intervention, the mark of this genocide scars the former Yugoslavia’s geopolitical landscape today, providing a brutal example of how redefinitions of space and place can begin and sustain a conflict—and how historical grievances, differences in religious and national identity, and a lack of individualism across territory can be exploited for personal geopolitical ambitions. There exists much scholarship on the Bosnian War, especially in the realm of international intervention; however, this article seeks to provide a novel historical analysis of the conflict by examining how conceptions of territory and those making place within it were reframed for geopolitical purposes before and during the genocide.
Open Access
Childcare in the Free Market Society of F. A. Hayek
(University of Oregon, 2024) Bernard, Myra
As free market structures increasingly dominate contemporary life, it is important to examine their influence on social structures as well as economic ones. Seeking to answer questions such as How do market forces interact with social functions like caretaking and interpersonal connection? and Are the values defining social and economic life compatible, or rather, at odds? this paper discusses the limitations of the prolific economic and political theorist F.A. Hayek's argument for a free market economy as the most effective tool in organizing and maintaining a functional society. In a case study of the act of childcare, I argue that a market framework fails to support key elements of social life necessary to a flourishing society, such as relationality and caretaking roles. In demonstrating the market's fundamental incompatibility with the role of childcare through (1) the market’s inability to appropriately evaluate the worth of childcare and (2) care labor's incongruity with market incentives, I argue that Hayek’s epistemological argument defending the free market as the most effective means of social and economic coordination is erred. Instead, a recognition of and deference towards the influence of social values within economic life is necessary in advancing an equitable society that recognizes and adequately supports the endeavor of childcare.
Open Access
Exploring the Role of Microbiota in the Development of Insulin-producing Cells in Drosophila melanogaster
(University of Oregon, 2024) Mullen, Nicole
Resident microbiota can influence many aspects of host health and disease. Research by the Guillemin lab demonstrates that gut microbiota induce the expansion of insulin-producing beta cells in zebrafish and mice via a bacterial protein, beta-cell expansion factor A (BefA). This study investigates microbiota, bacteria, and BefA protein roles in promoting insulin-producing cell (IPC) development in Drosophila melanogaster, where each brain lobe contains seven IPCs. The study evaluates the effect of germ-free (GF) rearing on IPC numbers in Drosophila and explores whether feeding flies BefA, utilizing transgenic BefA expression, or employing transgenic tsl, a known pore-forming protein, can restore IPC numbers in GF flies. The groups compared were GF, conventionally reared (CV), GF flies fed BefA, and GF flies with transgenic BefA or tsl expression. Tissue-specific Dilp3:GAL4/UAS:GFP and immunohistochemistry treatment enables IPC visualization post-dissection. Findings show fewer IPCs per brain lobe in GF flies compared to conventional, highlighting microbiota's role in IPC development. GF larvae fed BefA exhibit a slight but significant IPC increase per lobe versus conventional, suggesting BefA's potential to mitigate GF effects. Transgenic expression of BefA, using the GAL4/UAS system, demonstrates a trending IPC increase in GF flies, while transgenic tsl expression significantly increases IPCs. These results indicate microbiota's impact on Drosophila metabolic pathways and fundamental cell development, including cells in the gut-brain axis. These insights can be used to direct research and treatment for diseases like diabetes and have implications for microbiota's effect on the brain. Future experiments will explore BefA's properties, including its potential to induce insulin-producing cell expansion through membrane permeabilization.