Spring 2007 Undergraduate Research Symposium

Undergraduate Research Symposium Emory Undergraduate Researchers Oral Presentations W e d n e s d a y , 1 :00pm–5:00 pm DUC Alumni Room DUC Trustee Room DUC 362

Research Partner Panel Discussion W e d n e s d a y , 4 :00pm

DUC Alumni Room

Woodruff Library U nd ergraduate Research Awards W e d n e s d a y , 3:00pm

DUC Alumni Room

Poster Presenta tions W e d n e s d a y , 3:00pm-5:00pm

Coca-Cola Commons

Linguistics Program Poster Presentation W e d n e s d a y , 4 : 3 0 p m –5:30pm Coca-Cola Commons

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Dobbs University Center sponsored by

SCHOLARLY INQUIRY

AT EMORY Emory College Office for Undergraduate Education &

RESEARCH

Oral Presentations W e d n e s d a y , 1 :00pm–5:00 pm

Alumni Room Farrington, Jane Reinstein, Zachary Barish, Daniel Winchester, Sterling Horowitz, Adam Plocher, Ryan Koenig, Nata l ie

Aurelio, Michael Golgotiu, Vlad Bradford, Sam & Waryck, Nata lie

Arabic Language Education in Contemporary Senegal Linguistic Security in the Southwest 'Joint' Rescue: The Efforts and Perceptions of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Sh angha i, 1938-1943 Spirit in Sound: Formal Intersections in Sofia Gubaidulina's Passion-Easter Diptych Religious Identity Formation Among Children of InterReligious Couples Exploring the Archive: Mina Loy and Langston Hughes Effects of Attachment Sty le and Perceived Socia l Support on Job Satisfaction Woodruff Library Undergraduate Research Awards Human Rights and the Market for Socia l Contracts Representations of Race and Ethnicity in the Lower Houses of U.S. Sta te Governments Creating Audio and Visual Media for Guides to SocioRhetorical Interpretation of Early Christian Discourse Research Partner Panel

1:00pm 1:15pm 1:30pm 1:45pm 2:00pm 2:15pm 2:30pm 3:00pm 3:15pm 3:30pm 3:45pm 4:00pm

Trustee Room Kwon, Mike

Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Quantif ication in the K idneys

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1:00pm

Gonzalez, Vanessa Lee, Heyne Wi lcox, Lisette S h irazi, Katayun

Langoussis, Kira Webster, Leigh K inkel, Hannah & Wi l liams, Kendra Song, Joseph West, Allison Xiao, Wenjie Kamins, Alexandra

Limerick, Nicholas

of Mutant Mice Measuring Trust in Hispanic Immigrants Dendritic spine density loss in the striatum of MPTP-treated monkeys The Effect of Nonverbal Accuracy and Locus of Control on Likeability in the Formation of Men's Friendships The Influence of Herbs on Medication: A Study of the Affect of Panax quinquefolius, Hydrastis canadensis and Ephedra viridis on the Effectiveness of Lidocaine in Daphnia magna Counterterrorism Policy Wit h in the EU: Convergent or Divergent?

Legal Institutions & Women's Rights A test of prospection in rhesus macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) Oxidative Damage in Yeast Cancer Quest Development and Evaluation of a New Technology for Measuring Mouse Locomotor Activity in a Home Cage Setting The Power of Thermophile Bacteria: A study on the effectiveness of the thymidyla te kinase from 'Therma toga maritima' on AZT. Ethnic Boundaries and Latinos in Atlanta

1:15pm 1:30pm 1:45pm 2:00pm

2:15pm 2:30pm 3:00pm 3:15pm 3:30pm 3:45pm 4:00pm

4:15pm

DUC 362 Cohen, Elizabeth Ka hn, Marissa & S inger, Michael Addington, Andrew Ch iu, Samanth a & Wu, Phylicia

Media, Citizenship, and Politica l Engagement in the Lives of Young American Adults

3:15pm

Young John Allen

3:30pm

LeVine, Matthew Gordon, Karen

Thar She Blows! A Wh a l ing Cantata Literary Censorship and Backlash in Twentieth-Century Ireland Jewish Acceptance and Assimila tion in Eighteenth-Century Savannah Segregated Cinema in a Southern City: Atlanta, 1895-1962

4:00pm 4:15pm

Greenfield, Heather Messer, Nata lie

4:30pm 4:45pm

Research Partner Panel Discussion W e d n e s d a y , 4 :00–5:00 pm DUC Alumni Room Th is undergraduate research program selects students who indicate a strong interest in academic research and who are likely to be reliable and engaged research assistants. Students who participate will h ave the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member. Such relationships

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can help students when they are making academic and career plans, and provide the basis for strong and personal letters of reference. The opportunity to be involved in scholarly inquiry and research early on enhances the educational training and experience you receive at Emory. This may prepare you to undertake an independent research project or to go on after graduation to a demanding graduate program. Students will be paid an hourly wage for the work th a t they do.

2007 Research Partners Panel: Jonath an Beam (Beth Reingold), Eden Chen (David Davis), Monique Dorsainvil (Leslie Harris) , Alex El-Ali (Tracy Yandle), Cristina Fernandez (Cate Nickerson), Jonath an Lim (Kristin Wendland), Dev Patel (Mar Sanchez), Jenny Zhou (Jan-Michae l A Klapproth)

Woodruff Library Undergraduate Research Awards W e d n e s d a y , 3 :00–3:15 pm DUC Alumni Room The Woodruff Library Undergraduate Research Award recognizes the original scholarsh ip of three Emory University students. Their research, completed in a credit course during the previous year, shows superior critical analysis and extensive use of library resources and Collections. Each winner receives a $500 prize, provided by the Elizabeth Long Atwood Fund, Woodruff Library.

2007 Recipients: Andrew Fleming, "London's Financia l Markets, South Africa's Gold, and Rural Poverty Connected: A Study of the Causes and Consequences of Brita in's Reliance upon the Gold of the Witwatersrand" Ryan Plocher, "The Myth ic Method, Censorship and Bad Reviews: Editing Mina Loy's 'Love Songs'" Katherine Russett, "Working for Race and Gender: Descriptive and Substantive Representations of Black Women in the Georgia General Assembly "

Poster Presentations Wednesday, 3:00pm-5:30pm Coca-Cola Commons Boroda, Konstantin Chen, Lingling Cook, Allison Coughlin, Jeffrey Debeuckelaer, Miek Dunning, Casey

The Effect of Resource Quality on Spermatophore Size of Bean Beetles The Effects of Exogenous Oxidative Stress on the Genome Stability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Exploring the Influence of Sound Symbolism on Second Language Learning.

Five New Low-Mass Eclipsing Binary Systems Effects of Legitimacy and Procedural Justice on Reactions to Injustice From Contention to Cooperation: Influences on Party Strategy in Northern Ireland

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Easton, Wh itney Elk h atib, Stacey Ha, Quynh-Ch au Henderson, Joy Jones, Jacey Lake, Jessica Laur, Olga Meyer, Katherine Middleton, Ha ley Mishra, S hreela Raees, Madih a Seitz, Scot Spiegel, Lauren Thomas, Katherine Town, Maria Weldon, Stephanie Zelikovich, Diana

Black Populations on St. Catherine's Island, Georgia, 1760-1930 Regulation of endothelia l function by PPARa Testing an Engineered Truncation in the Drosophila CG17836 Protein for Effects on Notch Pathway Function County and City Responses to Latin American Immigra tion to the Metropolitan Atlanta Area Do rhesus monkeys prefer socia l information or high activity in videos of human interactions?

Morph Differences in GnRH of the Wh ite-Throated Sparrow Creating antibodies against LPA2 receptor Investigating Developmental Trends in Gesture Learning Early postnata l stress alters morphine solution intake in rat offspring "Ch aracterization of a plant gene conferring antibiotic resistance through site-directed mutagenesis" The effects of testosterone on the behavioral response of white-throated male sparrows with respect to morph Surviva l of Norwalk Virus in Groundwater Vasopressin is critica l for pair bond formation and expression in prairie voles Depressed Writing: Cognitive Distortions in the Works of Depressed and Non-Depressed Poets and Writers Effects of Legitimacy and Procedural Justice on Reactions to Injustice Leptopoline boulardi and L. heterotoma: Competing strategies for parasitizing drosophila Socia l Topics in Economics: A Study of Affirmative Action and Illegal Immigration

Addington, Andrew (Ph ilosophy and Asian Studies)

Ora l presentation DUC 362 , 3:15pm

Young John Allen Faculty Mentor: Dr. Eric Reinders, Religion Co-Authors: Phylicia S. Wu, Samanth a Ch iu Young John Allen was a famous Protestant missionary, who graduated from Emory University and traveled to China to spread the gospel. One of the most revered missionaries of h is time, Allen produced countless works in English and Chinese, edited a newspaper, and began severa l Western curriculum based schools during the turbulent times of la te Qing China. Our project's goal was to sift through the articles in the Young John Allen collection, in hopes of being able to draw materia ls to produce an exh ibition. The exhibition will take place in the coming semester. The other division of the project was to digitize some of Allen's works, in order to be able to put it on the World Wide Web, which would make it ava ilable to everyone who would need it.

Aurelio, Michael (Economics/Applied Mathematics)

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Ora l presentation DUC Alumni Room, 3:15pm

Human Rights and the Market for Socia l Contracts Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Francis, Economics Human rights h ave been defined in most conventional theories as essential. From Plato and Cicero to Locke and Nozick, most traditional human rights theorists contend th at there is a distinct set of rights to wh ich each human being is inherently entitled. The market theory of human righ ts a ttempts to cha llenge th is convention by cla iming tha t rights are endogenous. According to the ir preferences, citizens demand certa in bundles of righ ts, and states (governments) choose wh ich rights they would like to supply. Thus, the social contract becomes a market good, and the forces of the market dicta te an equilibrium pairing of citizens and states. Th is “idea l” market for rights can be modeled using hedonic pricing and standard economic analysis (i.e. profit and utili ty maximization). However, in its purest form, the market theory of rights conta ins severa l assumptions, such as free transaction costs, no barriers to entry, etc. Many of these assumptions seem unfeasible in rea l world applications. The goals of th is project are (i.) to improve upon the market theory of human rights and (ii.) to locate specif ic examples of assumption violations in the rea l world in order to address the most effective ways in which international policy can ensure eff iciency in the market for social contracts.

Barish, Daniel (Ch inese Language and Literature)

Ora l presentation DUC Alumni Room, 1:30pm

'Joint' Rescue: The Efforts and Perceptions of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in S h angha i, 1938-1943 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joachim Kurtz, Russian and East Asian Langueges and Cultures The ' hell hole of the world,' a city where 'only crooks go,' and where, 'my god, they kill wh i te people,' S h angha i, in the imagination of early 20th century European Jewry, was no place for a civilized person to live. Yet, when the Western world turned its back, approximately 20,000 Jews were forced to seek refuge in a part of the world they only knew 'as a dot on a map.' Nearly a l l refugees entered S h angha i without money or economic prospects, and most relied on aid and assistance from the JDC. Because it played such a significant role in the lives of Jewish refugees in S h angha i, and because th a t role has not been adequately discussed, th is study aims to accomplish the following: first, to contextualize the circumstances th at the JDC was operating in by describing the situation in Shangha i from 1938-1943. Secondly, to chronicle the efforts of the JDC in S h angha i as seen through reports, memos, telegraphs, and letters from the JDC arch ives. Finally , the study will examine the way in which refugees perceived the work of the JDC. Boroda, Konstantin (Biology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

The Effect of Resource Quality on Spermatophore Size of Bean Beetles Faculty Mentor: Dr. Chris Beck, Biology Bean beetles, Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), are agricultural pest insects of Africa and Asia th a t presently range throughout the tropical and subtropica l world. The larvae of th is species feed and develop exclusively on the seed of legumes (Fabaceae), hence the name bean beetle. I hypothesized th at the type of bean from wh ich a male emerges will affect size of t he spermatophore produced by the male. Other factors th a t presumably depend on the type of bean used for reproduction include the following: the actual size of the beetles, the number of eggs la id by the female, and the time it takes for the beetles to emerge. To examine the effect of bean type on spermatophore size, I a llowed females to lay eggs on both mung and adzuki beans. When males emerged, they were mated to virgin females to determine spermatophore size. To date, males ha ve

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emerged only from mung beans. Therefore, I will examine the relationship between male size and spermatophore size, as well as the effect of spermatophore size on female lifespan and offspring production.

Bradford, Sam (English, Chemistry)

Ora l presentation DUC Alumni Room, 3:45pm

Creating Audio and Visual Media for Guides to Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation of Early Christian Discourse Faculty Mentor: Dr.Vernon K. Robbins, Religion Co-Authors: Nata lie Waryck The earliest Christians used at least six primary modes, or rhetorolects (rhetorica l dia lects), to present the ir stories and beliefs: pre-creation, wisdom, prophetic, apocalyptic, priestly, and miracle. These modes blend and weave together, like a tapestry, in early Christian texts. Many PowerPoint presentations were created last year, with the he lp of a SIRE student, to provide a tool th a t, via the internet, could be ava ilable to scholars and students anywhere in the world.

Th is is part of an international research project th a t includes scholars primarily in Nort h America, Europe, and South Africa. During Fall semester 2006, a different translation of the Bible was entered into many of the presentations to overcome a copyright issue for publication on the internet. Now some new presentations are being created th a t embed audio files into PowerPoints, and all the items are being entered and indexed on the Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation web site.

Chen, Lingling (Biology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

The Effects of Exogenous Oxidative Stress on the Genome Stability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paul Doetsch, Biochemistry Co-Authors: Natash a Degtyareva To repair DNA damage, cells initia te severa l repa ir pathways. Base excision repair (BER) and nucleotide excision repair (NER) are two of these repair mechanisms used by cells. Past studies h ave shown tha t Saccharomyces cerevisiae stra ins defective in both BER and NER repa ir pathways have phenotypic characteristics similar to those of cancer cells, such as increases in mutation and recombination rates. In addition, BER-/NER- cells exh ibit h igher th an norma l intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Elevated levels of ROS are a lso one of t he features of aging cells. The objective of th is experiment is to understand the rela tionships among increased levels of genome destabilization, aging, and elevated levels of ROS. CHEF (Contourclamped Homogenous Electric Fie ld) gel analysis was used to compare the rates of chromosoma l aberrations experienced by senescent BER-/NER- isola tes and the ir isogenic tsa1 mutants during chronic exposure to exogenous H2O2. For senescent BER-, BER-/NER- and tsa1 strains, CHEF gel analysis revea led large-scale chromosome aberrations of different chromosomes as compared wit h those of their non-senescent counterparts and wild type cells. When comparing TSA1 and tsa1 cells exposed to low concentrations of H2O2 and those without, exposure to H2O2 did not increase t he number of chromosome aberrations. The h igh levels of chromosome aberrations found in senescent BER-, BER-/NER- and tsa1 strains may indicate th a t elevated levels of oxidative damage causes increased genome instability. In order to further investigate th is, h igher H2O2 concentrations will be tested to address the hypothesis th a t ROS-media ted genome destabilization accompanies senescence in S. cerevisiae.

Ch iu, Yen Chin (Comparative Literature)

Ora l Presentation DUC 362, 3:15pm

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Young John Allen Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joachim Kurtz, Asian Studies Co-Authors: Andrew Addington, Phylicia S. Wu Young John Allen was a famous Protestant missionary, who graduated from Emory University and traveled to China to spread the gospel. One of the most revered missionaries of h is time, Allen produced countless works in English and Chinese, edited a newspaper, and began severa l Western curriculum based schools during the turbulent times of la te Qing China. Our project's goal was to sift through the articles in the Young John Allen collection, in hopes of being able to draw materia ls to produce an exh ibition. The exhibition will take place in the coming semester. The other division of the project was to digitize some of Allen's works, in order to be able to put it on the World Wide Web, which would make it ava ilable to everyone who would need it.

Cohen, Elizabeth (Comparative Literature)

Ora l Presentation DUC 362, 3:00pm

Media, Citizenship and Political Engagement in the Lives of Young American Adults Faculty Mentor: Dr. Debra Spitulnik, Anthropology Co-Authors: Marissa Ka hn, Michea l Singer Th is past year in the SIRE Program our team worked with Professor Debra Spitulnik on an anthropological investigation of the rela tionship between media and politics in the lives of our peers and classmates. Drawing from cultural anth ropology, cultural studies, critica l theory, discourse analysis, and media studies th is project examines politica l engagement and disengagement among young adults in the United Sta tes today, in rela tion to their patterns of media use and concepts of citizenship. The project’s central question is: how are media use and politica l engagement (or disengagement) interconnected in young adults’ lives? It addresses t he va lue of media, the meanings of politica l engagement, the experience of young adulthood, and t he nature of the political sphere. In our presentation we will discuss the experience of focus group leadership and transcription. We will a lso provide a preliminary analysis of the ways in which young adults ta lk about media bombardment, political engagement, responsibility, agency, apathy, and idea l citizenship.

Cook, Allison (Psychology, English)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Exploring the Potentia l Role of Sound Symbolism in Second Language Learning Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lynne Nygaard, Psychology Recurring instances of phonetic sound symbolism challenge traditional assumptions of arbitrary rela tionships between words and their referents in linguistics, forcing the question of why these non-arbitrary rela tionships exist and are preserved in the human linguistic structure. To explore a potentia l function of sound symbolism in enabling language learning, adult native English speakers engaged in three different second-language vocabulary learning tasks. Despite varied performance in the most basic paradigm, participants ultimately learned to exploit sound symbolic mappings in order to store and reference information about novel words in conditions in which t he working memory demands of the task were reduced. The discrepancy in results indicates t h a t sound symbolism may function through a low-level, implicit process. Theoretica l implications for the role of arbitrariness in language, the possible mech anisms of sound symbolism in the brain, and relevance to literary studies of sound symbolism are discussed.

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Coughlin, Jeffrey (B.S. Physics\Astronomy)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Five New Low-Mass Eclipsing Binary Systems Faculty Mentor: Dr. Richard Will iamon, Physics Co-Authors: Mercedes López-Morales, J. Scott Sh aw We present the discovery of five new low-mass eclipsing binaries, their V, R, and I light curves, and preliminary models. Their masses, effective temperatures, and periods range from 0.54 0.95Msun, 3731 - 5145K, and 0.383 - 2.265 days. Th is is a significant addition to the ava ilable data, with only nine systems previously known. Once radia l-velocity curves are completed, physica l parameters will be determined with errors of less th an 2-3%, thus allowing for a rigorous examination of stellar models in the lower-main sequence. Our initia l analysis supports previous findings tha t low-mass stars have greater radii th an models predict, most likely due to the presence of strong magnetic fields.

Debeuckelaer, Miek (Psychology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Effects of Legitimacy and Procedural Justice on Reactions to Injustice Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hegtvedt and Dr. Johnson, Sociology Co-Authors: Maria Town Th is study examines how people react to unjust situa tions. Previous literature has neglected to focus on the collective aspect of justice processes by focusing instead only on individual perceptions.

The research addresses two general questions: 1) how does the legitimacy of an outcome distribution affect an individual's emotional and behaviora l reactions to perceived injustice? And 2) how does the legitimacy of an allocator and his or her use of fair or unfair procedures affect an individuals emotional and behaviora l responses to the perceived injustice? The experimenta l method to study these questions involves task groups. Two computerized experiments have been run, with Experiment One addressing the effects of legitimacy of the outcome distribution and Experiment Two addressing the effects of legitimacy of the allocator and his or her procedures.

Th is past year has been spent recruiting and scheduling participants in groups of four to participate in the computerized experiment, and running the experiments. Wh ile these experiments focus on the consequences of legitimacy for reactions to injustice, the project is expanding to consider antecedents of legitimacy, including power use by authorities and procedura l justice. We are in the beginning stages of the development of a vignette study to address these antecedents.

Dunning, Casey (International Studies)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Creating Politica l Stability: Influences on Party Strategy in Northern Ireland Faculty Mentor: Dr. Thomas Remington, Political Science Politica l stability h as proved elusive in Northern Ireland since its partition in 1920. In an a ttempt to engender ethno-national cooperation and peace, the Good Friday Agreement was implemented in 1998 to facilita te executive power-sharing between opposing factions; th is Agreement, however, has failed in its attempts to unite unionists and nationalists in a stable government. My research explores the behavior of party elites in response to factors th a t migh t induce parties to choose strategies of cooperation as opposed to intransigence, such as exogenous pressures, national public opinion, party constituency support in elections, and institutiona l

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incentives found through the Good Friday Agreement. In a case study of Northern Ireland from 1992-2007, party manifestoes were analyzed and coded to discover changes in party attitude toward cooperation across the four main parties. For the case of Northern Ireland, externa l pressure and public opinion have no appreciable effect on party strategy wh ile an institutiona l change or constituency support cause radical parties to become more cooperative and moderate parties to become increasingly radica l. These findings indicate th a t institutional incentives and a party’s electora l base play a key role in promoting politica l stability in the face of party intransigence in ethnica lly divided nations.

Easton, Wh itney (Anthropology, Classical Civil izati on)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Black Populations on St. Catherine's Island, Georgia, 1760-1930 Faculty Mentor: Dr. George Armelagos, Anthropology St. Catherines Island is a 14,000 acre tract of land in Liberty County off the Georgia coast, fif ty miles South of Savannah. The island has a long h istory of occupation by enslaved African populations and the ir descendents. As early as 1765, Button Gwinnett borrowed funds to buy seven individuals. Jacob Wa ldburg began gaining control of the island in the early 1800's. Bot h immediate ly before and after the Civil War, St. Catherines experienced an influx of freed blacks.

Under Sherman's Specia l Fie ld Order 15, the Georgia Sea Islands was made a reservation for freed blacks. The island became the capita l of the freed black nation with 369 settlers. After t he reversal of S herman's directive by Congress, there was a decline in the population numbers. The Island was bought in 1876 by Jacob Rauers and used as a hunting preserve and country estate. In 1920, Augustus Oemler, Rauers's son-in-law, started an oyster factory on the island. Census da ta from 1850, 1860, 1880, and 1920 reflect three very distinct phases of black population's use of t he island. Population pyramids from these three periods show interesting changes in the dependency ratios (number age 0-14.9 + number age 65 and over / number age 15-64.9 x 100).

Elk h atib, Stacey (Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Regulation of endothelia l function by PPARa Faculty Mentor: Dr. Roy L. Sutliff, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, Department of Medicine Obesity h as become an increasingly preva lent precursor for the most common form of diabetes, Type II, in all age populations with in the United Sta tes. Cardiovascular disease, marked by endothelia l dysfunction, remains as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Type II diabetes patients. Using peroxisome proliferators-activa ted receptor gamma (PPARa) ligands, our group has established th a t the PPARa receptor found in vascular endothelia l cells is vascular protective. In order to further test the significance of PPARa in vascular wall hea lt h, a mouse model was created th at lacks endothe lia l PPARa expression and vascular function was examined.

Aortas were removed from wild type and PPARa knockout mice and isometrically mounted. Aorta contraction was studied using potassium chloride (KCl; 0-80 mM) and phenylephrine (PE; 0.1 nM10 M). Endothelium-dependent relaxation was examined by contracting aortas with PE, then constructing concentration-relaxation curves for acetylcholine (ACh; 0.1 nM-10 M) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP; 0.1 nM-300nM). The sensitivity and maximum contractile response of aortas to KCl and PE were unaffected by endothelia l PPARa gene ablation. The maximum relaxation to ACh, however, was reduced in aortas from PPARa knockout mice. In wild type and PPARa knockout mice, SNP relaxed the aortas similarly. These results suggest th at PPARa regulates endothelia l function and may be a target for cardiovascular disease treatment.

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Farrington, Jane (IDS)

Ora l Presentation DUC Alumni Room, 1:00pm

Arabic Language Education in Contemporary Senegal Faculty Mentor: Dr. Edna Bay, ILA Islamic education was the first type of schooling introduced in Senegal, h aving been institutionalized by the middle ages. However, Senegalese Qur'anic schools have traditional ly only required th at students memorize the Qur'an, often without learning the meaning of the words in Arabic. Since Senegal gained its independence in the 1960s, the system of Islamic education h as undergone a process of modernization incited by pupils who completed h igher education in Arab countries and returned to Senegal to spark a reform movement with in Islamic education, creating schools th a t strive to teach students fluency in Arabic as well as a broad general knowledge.

Currently, both Arab states and the Senegalese government offer scholarsh ips to complete h igher education in Arab countries, and many Arab donors finance Senegalese educational institutions.

Th is research project, based on a month of fieldwork in Arabic primary and h igh schools in Senegal, will address the questions of whether the Islamic education reform movement carries with it Arab cultural influence, and whether or not th ese modern Islamic schools have succeeded in presenting Arabic as a living language th a t is useful in the modern world.

Golgotiu, Vlad (Ph ilosophy)

Ora l Presentation DUC Alumni Room, 3:30pm

Representations of Race and Ethnicity in the Lower Houses of U.S. Sta te Governments Faculty Mentor: Dr. Beth Reingold, Politica l Science Despite the extensive amount of research focused on gender and race in the politica l sphere, rela tively little work has concerned itself with the intersection of these two categories, especia lly among individual state governments. To facilita te more comprehensive and intersectional research, severa l politica l scientists from various institutions are collecting data about legislators in twenty-f ive representative state governments from 1981 to 2005. Working under Dr. Beth Reingold, I have collected data on legisla tors from Ohio and Uta h over a span of these years. For each legisla tor, various information was collected and coded, including: ethnic background, gender, standing committee involvement, and years served previous to the term involved. Data collection was problematized by the varying amounts of information ava ilable for different states under different time periods and the personal burden of assessing race and ethnicity in a rigid coding structure. Nevertheless, it is hoped th a t these data, once compiled into a large database, will be able to steer future research using multiple variables to analyze trends between racia l and gendered lines, such as the impact of African American women and Latina legisla tors.

Gonzalez, Vanessa (Economics, Spanish)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 1:15pm

Measuring Trust in Hispanic Immigrants

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Faculty Mentor: Dr. C. Monica Capra, Economics Trust has become a variable of interest in the economics literature since the publication of papers reporting cross-country positive relationships between generalized trust and economic growth .

Generalized trust measures behavior towards strangers, and involves an expectation th a t strangers will cooperate instead of acting opportunistica lly. The standardized form of measuring trust is t he use of the question, 'Generally speak ing, would you say th a t most people can be trusted, or th at you can never be too careful when dealing with others?' The determinants of trust include both individual and group level characteristics, many of wh ich are rela ted to institutional context.

However, what is the effect of a move to a new context on an individual's level of trust? Th is study compares data on trust levels among Hispanic immigrants in the Atlanta area to trust among residents of their home countries. The la tter is provided by Latinobar¢metro, an annual survey conducted in Latin America; data on trust among immigrants is collected using a survey modeled after the Latinobar¢metro survey. The comparative study a ims to indicate the possibility th a t trust can change at an individual level through the influence of institutional context, and introduce a method for investigating how such change can be measured.

Gordon, Karen (English)

Ora l Presentation DUC Alumni Room, 2:00pm

Literary Censorship and Backlash in Twentieth-Century Ireland Faculty Mentor: Dr. Geraldine Higgins, English Ireland's h istoric tension between religion and government manifests itself in many forms. Th is tension resulted in a clash between literary expression and religious constra ints with the passing of the Censorship Act of 1929, wh ich called for an officia l committee to censor any "indecent" work.

Wh i le I went to Ireland expecting to find arch iva l materia ls such as journals and newspaper articles, I was also able to gain access to correspondence among the original members of t he censorship committee, a llowing me to h ave an intimate look at the foundations of the controversy.

I approached the documents with the intent to discover why censorship was such a priority as well as to analyze the subsequent backlash. Groups such as the Irish Vigilance Association and the Catholic Truth Society believed the act was too lenient, while prominent members of t he literati, including Sean O’Faola in and Liam O’Fla h erty, denounced it repeatedly as a cause of intellectual and social stagnation. The different reactions to censorship indicate a sch ism in Irish society wh ich was preva lent throughout the twentieth century; while members of the church tried to preserve so-called traditional nationalism by suppressing new ideas, true intellectuals accused such activists of hiding behind their puritanica l, out-dated idea ls.

Greenfield, Heather (History, Art History)

Ora l Presentation DUC 362, 4:30pm

Jewish Acceptance and Assimila tion in Eighteenth-Century Savannah Faculty Mentor: Dr. Eric Goldstein, History For my honors thesis, I will analyze the degrees to which the Savannah community accepted, included and tolerated Jews. I will a lso examine how the Jews in eighteenth-century Savanna h integrated into society and gradually began an acculturation process th a t would continue into the Revolutionary Era. . Unlike traditional portraits th a t delineate the genealogy and mere presence of Savannah Jewry, my thesis will attempt to uncover why Jews were successful in achieving

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acceptance and inclusion in Savannah. My research will encompass the Georgia economy, t he government under Oglethorpe and the Trustees, the integration of the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews, and the presence of Jews in politica l and socia l positions. The thesis itself will cover Christian acceptance of Jews, Jewish attempts to integrate into Savannah society, and the Jewish adoption of Southern va lues and cultural traditions. My a im is to delineate the factors th a t fostered degrees of Jewish acceptance: How and why were Jews able to forge a life of acceptance in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Savannah?

Ha, Quynh-Ch au (Anthropology and Human Biology)

Poster Presentation

Testing an Engineered Truncation in the Drosophila CG17836 Protein for Effects on Notch Pathway Function Faculty Mentor: Dr. Barry Yedvobnick The process of la tera l inhibition and induction in the Notch signaling pathway regulates t he formation of multiple tissues during metazoan development, as exemplif ied by its role in nervous system formation in Drosophila (fruit flies). To look for new pathway components, genetic screens were run previously by members of the Yedvobnick lab. The screen used a combination of parti a l loss of function for Notch activity and Enhancer-promoter (EP)-induced over expression of random loci across the dorsoventral wing margin. This process identified the gene CG17836 as a new potentia l Notch pathway component involved in DNA binding. To study the phenotypes and genetic interactions of CG17836 in the Notch pathway, a w + transgene (Trunc4) was generated which removes the CG17836 DNA binding domain. Copies of the Trunc4 w+ transgene were crossed with UAS-GAL4 lines in an attempt to produce muta tion effects by over expression of Trunc4 in eyes, wings, and notum. Although no effects were observed from crosses between UAS-GAL4 lines and the single transgene, we hope to eventually produce mutation effects by generating stra ins with multiple copies of the transgene through recombination.

Henderson, Joy (Anthropology and Spanish)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

County and City Responses to Latin American Immigra tion to the Metropolitan Atlanta Area Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mary Odem, History/Women's Studies Atlanta h as recently become one of the fastest growing Latin American immigrant gateways in the United States. The rapid growth of the Latino population, and especia lly the unauthorized immigrant Latino population, has led to growing demands on educational, hea lth care, and lega l systems in the area. Much of th is burden has fa llen to local governmenta l organizations, wh ich h ave responded in a variety of ways. The purpose of th is study is to look at the different accommodating and exclusionary policies and programs adopted by suburban counties and municipa lities with in the Metropolitan Atlanta area in response to Latino immigration, with a focus on school systems and housing ordinances.

Horowitz, Adam (Sociology, Jewish Studies)

Ora l Presentation DUC 362, 4:15pm

Religious Identity Formation Among Children of Inter-Religious Couples Faculty Mentor: Dr. Cathryn Johnson, Sociology The goal of th is study is to discern how children of inter-religious couples form religious identities.

By interviewing sixteen participants of ha lf-Jewish, h a lf-non-Jewish couples between the ages of 18-22 years old, the research discusses which factors are most significant in determining whether

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and to wha t extent a multi-religious individual will feel an aff ilia t ion with and/or commitment to one or more religion(s). Key factors studied include cultural exposure to one or more religious communities, involvement of a parent in h is or her spouse’s religious community, felt belonging to a minority group, stated preference for an individual’s upbringing by extended family members, and felt ability to choose one’s own religious aff ilia tion. I examine how these factors are experienced throughout the lives of the participants and how th ey affect the development of the ir religious outlook. I then discuss the weight of each of these factors in affecting religious identity formation, the implications for how religious affil ia tion and commitment are experienced (e.g. single v. multiple v. no aff ilia tion/commitment), and the possibility for practical use of the research.

Jones, Jacey (Neuroscience & Be h avioral Biology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Do rhesus monkeys prefer socia l information or high activity in videos of human interactions?

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robert R. Hampton, Psychology Co-Authors: Benjamin Basile, Regina Paxton The social bra in hypothesis states th a t the brains of animals in complex societies have evolved to process socia l information (Wh iten & Byrne 1988). Previous research demonstrated th a t rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) preferred videos of conspecifics th at contained social interactions, but did not rule out the confounding effect of activity level. The present study was designed to discriminate preference for social information from preference for activity level using videos of human interactions. Six juvenile male rhesus monkeys used a computer touch screen to choose among 12 videos, 3 in each of 4 categories: socia l/h igh-activity, non-socia l/h igh-activity, socia l/lowactivity, or non-social/low-activity. Selection of videos will be analyzed to determine the effect of socia l content and activity on preference. Preference for socia l content would support the socia l brain hypothesis, wh ile a preference for h igh activity may reflect processes unrelated to socia l cognition.

Ka hn, Marissa (Sociology)

Ora l Presentation DUC 362, 3:00pm

Media, Citizenship and Political Engagement in the Lives of Young American Adults Faculty Mentor: Dr. Debra Spitulnik, Anthropology Co-Authors: Elizabeth Cohen, Michea l Singer Th is past year in the SIRE Program our team worked with Professor Debra Spitulnik on an anthropological investigation of the rela tionship between media and politics in the lives of our peers and classmates. Drawing from cultural anth ropology, cultural studies, critica l theory, discourse analysis, and media studies th is project examines politica l engagement and disengagement among young adults in the United Sta tes today, in rela tion to their patterns of media use and concepts of citizenship. The project’s central question is: how are media use and politica l engagement (or disengagement) interconnected in young adults’ lives? It addresses t he va lue of media, the meanings of politica l engagement, the experience of young adulthood, and t he nature of the political sphere. In our presentation we will discuss the experience of focus group leadership and transcription. We will a lso provide a preliminary analysis of the ways in which young adults ta lk about media bombardment, political engagement, responsibility, agency, apathy, and idea l citizenship.

Kamins, Alexandra (Biology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 4:00pm

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The Power of Thermophile Bacteria: A study on the effectiveness of the thymidyla te kinase from 'Thermatoga maritima' on AZT. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Stefan Lutz, Biochemistry Azidothymidine (AZT) is a potent antivira l prodrug, terminating retrovirus replication by mimicking natural nucleosides. The prodrug requires activa tion by cellular kinases to its nucleoside triphosphate form in three consecutive phosphoryla tion steps. In the case of AZT, the second step, which converts AZT monophospha te to its dip hospha te, was found to be rate- limiting. The reaction is cata lyzed by human thymidyla te kinase (TMPK). Improved cata lytic efficiency for th a t step could significantly enhance the prodrug’s biologica l potency and reduce side effects in patients.

Improvements in TMPK activity for AZT by directed enzyme evolution is considered a promising strategy. Mutagenesis, one of the main methods to produce variance during these evolution experiments, tends to destabilize the target protein. We therefore isola ted the TMPK from the hyperthermophilic eubacterium Thermatoga maritima, hypothesizing th at the enzyme’s stabili ty a t elevated temperatures could tolerate multiple mutations without loss of activity at 37˚C. Following isola tion of the Thermotoga gene and its heterologous overexpression in E. coli, I successfully purif ied the enzyme and characterized its kinetics with natural TMP and AZT-MP substrates. The results will form the foundation for future laboratory evolution experiments.

K inkel, Hannah (Neuroscience and Behaviora l Biology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 3:00pm

A test of prospection in rhesus macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robert Hampton, Psychology Co-Authors: Kendra Wil liams Prospection is the ability to anticipate future events and states. There is currently much debate about whether th is is a uniquely human ability or is sh ared by other primates and animals. Our experiment tests whether or not nonhuman primates are stuck in an "eternal present" or if they can anticipate the future. We specif ica lly test the Bischof-Koh ler hypothesis which states th a t nonhuman animals cannot anticipate a future state and therefore cannot take appropriate action to prepare for a future need. We presented monkeys with a cognitive test to see whether they could anticipate future th irst. Monkeys normally prefer the larger of two simultaneously presented amounts of food. We are assessing whether th is preference can be shifted to the smaller amount when choice of the larger amount leads to a comparati vely long period without access to water.

S ix rhesus macaque monkeys are being tra ined in four experimental phases: 1) In baseline tria ls there were no water consequences and we established the ir natural preference for the larger amount of dates; 2) In forced choice tria ls monkeys were introduced to the different water consequences (2 hours without water for choosing the large amount, 15 minutes without water for choosing the smaller amount); 3) the experimenta l tria ls are aimed at discovering if the monkeys will reverse the ir natural preference for the larger amount; 4) a final baseline phase to reestablish the monkeys’ original preferences. We test the hypothesis th a t they will learn to choose the small amount of dates over the large amount when faced with the differentia l water control contingencies. If th is is the case it will support the idea th a t monkeys are capable of prospection because even though the ir th irsts are satia ted at the time they make the ir choice, they anticipate being th irsty la ter and select the smaller amount. If the subjects continue to choose the

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large amount regardless of the water consequences tha t will support the notion tha t prospection is a cognitive characteristic th a t is absent in rhesus macaques.

Koenig, Nata l ie (Psychology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Alumni Room, 2:30pm

Effects of Attachment Sty le and Percieved Socia l Support on Job Satisfaction Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nancy Bliwise, Psychology Th is study examined the rela tionship between attachment, perceived socia l support and job satisfaction. . Fifty employees at a family restaurant in San Antonio, TX and fifty employees of Emory University completed questionnaires th a t measured attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance as well the number and perceived quality of socia l supports and job satisfaction.

Preliminary analyses revea led a significant nega tive correlation between avoidance and satisfaction with social support, suggesting th at those who are not comfortable depending on others are unhappy with support provided. Furth er, results indicate th a t secure individua ls perceive and are more satisfied with the level of socia l support. Th is indicates th a t securely a ttached individuals are will ing to trust others and seek out help and support in times of need.

Although fearful individuals do show some satisfaction with the number of people who support them th is comfort is not received from coworkers. My research a lso indicates a positive correla tion between preoccupied individuals, work cha llenges and resource adequacy.

Preoccupied individuals are more anxious, thus may seek out cha ll enges in order to gain the approval of others.

In addition, th is anxiety may a lso lead them to want to be perfect at everyth ing they do, thus resources adequacy makes a big difference in their level of job satisfaction.

Kwon, Mike (biology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 1:00pm

Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Quantif ication in the K idneys of Mutant Mice Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sebastien Fuchs, Pathology The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays a signif icant role in the regulation of blood pressure and electrolyte homeostasis in mammals. The principa l peptide of the RAS is the active octapeptide angiotensin II, wh ich is involved in increasing the blood pressure through vasoconstriction (smooth muscle cells) and the control of a ldosterone release (adrenal). In the kidney, angiotensin II is responsible for efferent arteriolar vasoconstriction, renin repression, and sodium and water retention. Complete knock-out mice, lacking all ACE expression, have a complex phenotype including a marked reduction of systolic blood pressure and profound alteration of the kidney structure and function. To understand the physiologica l significance of ACE expression in the kidney, we engineered a mouse in which the ACE gene was mutated to express ACE selectively in the kidney. The initia l characterization of our new mouse consists in measuring the production of ACE in the kidney and other organs.

Lake, Jessica (Neuroscience and Behaviora l Biology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Morph Differences in GnRH of the Wh ite-Throated Sparrow Faculty Mentor: Dr. Donna Maney, Psychology It is well documented th at the two morphs of the white-throated sparrow (wh ite-striped and tanstriped), differ with respect to both aggression and parental behavior. Many neuroendocrine differences between the two have a lso been described. For example, tan-striped females exh ibit

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h igher levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) th an the ir wh ite-striped counterparts. Because gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is known to control the release of LH, I counted the number of GnRH neurons in photostimulated female sparrows of both morphs. Females of the tanstriped morph h ad more GnRH neurons th an the wh ite-striped morph in the caudalmost region of the media l preoptic area. This varia tion may th erefore be correla ted with the behaviora l polymorphism already well established in th is species.

Langoussis, Kira (International Studies)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 2:15pm

Counterterrorism Policy Wit h in the EU: Convergent or Divergent?

Faculty Mentor: Dr. J.L. Taulbee, Politica l Science Policy preferences in many areas have been changed by a united Europe. Whether nation-states are declining in importance as international institutions gain sovereignty has been hotly debated in the literature, and many scholars have tried to determine how much of Europe national and supranational bodies each control as integration continues. Through a close qualita tive analysis of the United Kingdom, long regarded as the most 'Euroskeptic' country, legisla tion on both t he national and the European level is examined to determine whether counterterrorism policy with in states is converging or diverging with European-level efforts to combat terrorism. Now th a t t he international terrorist threat h as shif ted from regiona l groups to foreign organizations, th is paper a ttempts to determine whether prevention policies such as increased police and border cooperation h ave adequately changed in Europe so as to constitute an effort at 'collective security.'

Laur, Olga (Biology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Creating antibodies against LPA2 receptor Faculty Mentor: Dr. Chris Yun, Medicine Co-Authors: Dong Sheng Wang Lysophospha tidic acid (LPA) plays an important role in mediating different cellular responses.

Its signaling is mediated through G protein - coupled LPA receptors: LPA1 – LPA5. Over expression of a LPA2 receptor was observed in several types of cancer, including colorectal cancer. Previous studies have shown th at LPA2 receptor mediates mitogenic signals in human colon cancer cells.

The goal of th is project is to create monoclonal antibodies against LPA2 receptor. First, we created a construct conta ining a signal sequence, mouse IgG Fc region, and either N or C terminus part of t he human LPA2 receptor. Th is will a llow generation of a recombinant LPA2 protein, which can be used as an antigen to generate monoclonal antibodies in mouse. Th is monoclonal antibody will be a useful tool in studying roles and functions of the LPA2 receptor in the future.

Lee, Heyne (Neuroscience and Beh aviora l Biology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 1:30pm

Dendritic spine density loss in the striatum of MPTP-treated monkeys Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yoland Smith, Department of Neurology (Emory School of Medicine) and Yerkes National Primate Center The major neuropathological feature of Parkinson­_s disease (PD) is the slow, progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). These nigrostria ta l dopaminergic neurons synapse mainly on the shaft of dendritic spines of medium spiny neurons in the stria tum. Previous studies with rodent PD models and postmortem brain tissues from human PD patients suggest th a t dopamine depletion in the striatum result in significant

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reduction in dendritic spine density (Day et a l., 1990; Stephens et a l., 2005; Zaja-Mila tovic et al., 2005). Moreover, a recent study with reserpine-treated mice demonstrated th at dopamine depletion causes a reduction in spine density of a specific population of stria ta l neurons, those t h a t express D2 dopamine receptors, but doest not affect medium spiny neurons th a t express D1 dopamine receptors (Day et a l., 2006). The objective of the present study was to examine spine density change in the stria tum of MPTP-treated monkeys. The morphology of Golgi- impregnated medium spiny neurons was examined quantita tively. A significant reduction of dendritic spine density was observed in MPTP-treated monkeys compared with control monkeys. Furthermore, immunocytochemistry was carried out to examine change in dendritic spines of the two types of medium spiny neurons; D1-expressing neurons and D2-expressing neurons. Our results indicate th a t dopamine depletion in the stria tum causes a reduction in D1-immunolabled spines, suggesting th a t loss of spines are not limited to D2-expressing medium spiny neurons.

LeVine, Matthew (Music)

Ora l Presentation DUC 362, 4:00pm

Thar She Blows! A Wh a l ing Cantata Faculty Mentor: Dr. John A. Lennon, Music Department At Mystic Seaport I was fortunate enough to witness a demonstration on the songs and musica l instruments of the wha ling culture of placeNew England. The final part of the demonstration involved severa l of the Mystic Seaport crew instructing the crowd about the process of lowering the smaller wha leboats from the larger sh ip. As th ey did th is, the senior chanteyman, a burly bass named Don Sineti belted a chantey. The workers synchronized the ir movements to the beat of h is chantey, and he continued singing until they h ad finished the task. Th is interdependency of work and song and the intricacies of the wha li ng culture, inspired th is composition and performance.

The content of the program combines the oral tradition of these existing chanteys with some of my own original materia l. The idea of call- and-response style singing to coordinate efforts seems to be a universal technique, but the chanteymen often included complaints about the ir situations, memories of beautiful women, and folkloristic stories in their songs. In th is way, the chantey was va luable not only for its rhythmic qualities, but for its ability to divert the crew and allow them to perform strenuous tasks mechanically without focusing too much on the difficulty of the labor.

Limerick, Nicholas (Anthropology, Linguistics)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 4;15pm

Ethnic Boundaries and Latinos in Atlanta Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Nugent, Anthropology According to the United States census, Atlanta h as th e largest Hispanic population growth rate of a ll metropolitan cities in the country. As a result, the study of Latinos in Atlanta is especia l ly important, and my research examines how concepts of ethnic boundaries, space, and power affect Latinos in th is city. Fieldwork was performed for seven months for th is project at prominent English as a second language center. By far the most common ethnicity at the center is Latino.

Through informal interviews with Latino students and semi-structured interviews with teachers and administrators, as well as participant observation in the classroom, I analyze how ethnic boundaries are manifested in Latinos in Atlanta, and specifica lly how Latinos identify ethnica l ly with in the Latino community. I also examine how language is used by society in Atlanta as a means of mainta ining ethnic boundaries. The center serves as a case study for th is examination.

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Messer, Nata lie (Film Studies and Political Science)

Ora l Presentation DUC 362, 3:30pm

Segregated Cinema in a Southern City: Atlanta, 1895-1962 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dana Wh ite, Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts Th is project dea ls with the h istory of film culture in Atlanta, specifica lly the rela tionship between segregation and film reception, business history, censorship, and exh ibition in the city. In my role as research assistant my smaller project consists of search ing the three city newspapers of the 1930s to 1950s, the Atlanta Journal, the Atlanta Constitution, and the Atlanta Daily World, for press coverage and advertisements for various films: films th a t h ave particular relevance to the South, or th a t dea l with racia l issues in a significant way. For th is research symposium, I wil l narrow th is focus to present my research on two films: John Sta h l's Imitation of Life (1934) and its remake in 1959. Each tells the story of two women-one wh ite and one black-as they dea l with t he trouble of rearing their daughters. Though the basic stories are the same, the portraya l of t he racia l issues in the f ilms, and the reception of each film differ in significant ways. I will show how the black and white newspapers chose to advertise and present each f ilm, and discuss possible reasons for the contrasts between both black and white, and between 1934 and 1959.

Meyer, Katherine (Psychology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Investigating Developmental Trends in Gesture Learning Faculty Mentor: Dr. Laura Namy, Psychology Young children interpret both words and symbolic gestures as object labels. However, ch ildren's willingness to interpret gestures symbolica lly declines with age. Th is study investigated whether th is developmenta l decline was due to a fa ilure to associate gestures with objects or an interpretative decision not to regard gestures as symbols. I employed an eye-tracking measure of associative processes and a forced choice measure of interpretive processes during a gesturelearning task with 27-month-olds. Ch ildren learned either a word or gesture as an object name and were subsequently tested on whether they implicitly associated the label and object during a looking phase. There were a lso tested on their interpreta tion of the label as an object name when asked to find the target object associated with the la bel during a choice phase. Wh ile ch ildren in the word condition chose the target object more reliably th an children in the gesture condition, looking time measures fa iled to differentia te between conditions (word v. gesture) or tria l types (target v. control tria ls). These preliminary findings begin to build a foundation for the use of th is approach to studying word and gesture learning in young children and suggest th a t the decline in gesture is due to changing expectations about what constitutes a symbol.

Middleton, Ha ley (Neuroscience and Behaviora l Biology)

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Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Early postnata l stress alters morphine solution intake in rat offspring Faculty Mentor: Dr. Keith Easterling, Neuroscience and Behaviora l Biology and Department of Pharmacology, Emory University School of Medicine Co-Authors: Clifford C. Michaels, Stephen G. Holtzman Rationale: Previous data indicate th at stress during the postnata l time period is a risk factor for the future development of a multitude of disorders, including substance abuse. We eva luated the effects of maternal separation on consumption of morph ine solution in male Long-Evans rat offspring. Method: Following birth, pups were cross-fostered, placed in mixed-sex litters, and separated from their dams (stressed) during the first 12 postnata l days. After postnata l day 90 (as adults), maternally separated or nonhandled offspring were water-deprived and given only morphine solution for 8 days. The morphine solution concentration was gradually increased from 0.1 mg/ml to 0.25 mg/ml during th is acclimation period. Next, the animals were given two bottles, one containing 0.25 mg/ml morphine solution and the other containing water, and the amount of each fluid consumed was recorded every 24h over 8 consecutive days. Results: During the acclimation period, the maternally separated group and the nonhandled group avoided the morphine solution equally, possibly due to a strong taste aversion. Maternally separated animals appeared to consume more morphine solution th an nonh andled animals during the la ter 2 bottle test, but no differences in water intake were observed. Future directions include giving maternally separated or nonhandled animals -opioid agonist etorpine, which could be used at much lower and more palatable doses.

Mishra, S hreela (Neuroscience and Behaviora l Biology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

"Ch aracterization of a plant gene conferring antibiotic resistance through site-directed mutagenesis" Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mentewab Aya lew, Biology One of the largest families of membrane transporters th a t is found in almost a ll organisms is t he ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter family. These proteins function in the movement of substrates across membranes. Some ABC transporters h ave been shown to move severa l different substrates, as is the case with those involved in human chemotherapy drug resistance. The study of an ABC transporter, Atwbc19, in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana has shown th at overexpression confers kanamycin resistance to transgenic plants. However, the specif ic localization and mechanism of antibiotic resistance is still unknown. Atwbc19 has 8 closely rela ted homologs in Arabidopsis thaliana, and 4 homologs in rice. All of th ese genes contain the same conserved region th a t I am studying. In th is project, I use site-directed mutagenesis and cloning techniques to generate single amino-acid mutations in high ly conserved regions of the Atwbc19 protein. These mutated versions of the gene will be used to create transgenic plants, which will be screened for their resistance to kanamycin, in comparison to the wild-type plants. The study of these regions may give insight into how these genes function and their evolutionary signif icance.

Plocher, Ryan (English and German Studies)

Exploring the Archive: Mina Loy and Langston Hughes Faculty Mentor: Dr. Wa lter Kala idjian, English

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Ora l Presentation DUC Alumni Room, 2:15pm

The papers of the poets Mina Loy (1882-1966) and Langston Hughes (1902-1967) are housed in the Be inecke Rare Book Library of Yale University. In December 2006, I traveled to New Haven to examine correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, journals and other ancillary documents. In both cases, I examined not only their collections, but also those of friends and colleagues. The research offers two very different examples on the formation and use of the arch ive. Loy's arch ive is accidenta l. Donated by her daughter Joella after Loy's death , it contains extensive notes and unpublished works, none of which were selected for arch iving by Loy. More significant to Loy scholarsh ip, however, are the letters and manuscripts she sent to others. Some of these items have since become essentia l to understanding Loy's early work, a lthough much of it was never published. By contrast, Hughes built h is massive arch ive (643 boxes) h imself; h is exemplif ies a constructed arch ive. Noth ing but Hughes' public persona can be found there, but th is act of construction creates deafening silences about his personal rela tionships, h is composition process and h is artistic va lues. Loy's arch ive, though small, offers an enlightening private Loy; Hughes' arch ive h igh lights the unanswered questions of his very public life.

Raees, Madih a (NBB)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

The effects of testosterone on the behavioral response of white-throated male sparrows with respect to morph Faculty Mentor: Dr. Donna Maney, Psychology The white-throated sparrow occurs in two morphs: wh ite and tan striped, both of which have distinct behaviora l characteristics – the wh ite striped are more aggressive, possibly due to higher amounts of endogenous testosterone as compared to the tan. We examined whether morph differences persist in the face of equalized testosterone levels; in other words, our study tried to determine what the cause of higher aggression is in these birds – morph or testosterone. Males with regressed testes and low endogenous testosterone were implanted with either testosteronefil led or empty capsules, where treatment with testosterone led to equal levels in both morphs. In order to measure aggression, we isolated each male in a sound-attenuated booth, played audio recordings of song, and quantif ied the number of aggressive vocalizations given in response to the playback. As a control, some birds heard synthetic tones instead of song. Because th is was a pilot study, the number of birds in each group was low; however there was a compelling trend with in the testosterone treated group: white males responded much more to song playback th an the tan males, imply ing from our results th a t the aggressive response to social stimuli is h igher in the white th an the tan despite the fact th a t testosterone levels were equal, indicating tha t aggression is controlled by morph.

Reinstein, Zachary (History; International Studies)

Ora l Presentation DUC Alumni Room, 1:15pm

Linguistic Security in the Southwest Faculty Mentor: Dr. Susan Tamasi, Linguistics My research examines Linguistic Security in the Southwest, Linguistic Security essentia lly being the confidence in the way people speak. No one has ever studied th is topic in the Southwestern United Sta tes, and with the recent shif t in popula tion demograph ics, English, Spanish, and Na tive American are a ll being spoken in close proximity to one another. Does th is linguistic mixing have any affect on the way people feel about the ir language? Through my surveys of students in Arizona and New Mexico, I hope to find tha t out.

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Seitz, Scot (Biology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Surviva l of Norwalk Virus in Groundwater Faculty Mentor: Dr. Christine Moe, Ph.D., Hubert Department of Global Hea lth Co-Authors: Dr. Juan Leon, Melissa Dowd, Hui-Mien Hsiao, Adam Kipp, Erin Floyd, Marissa McDaniels, Dr. Christine Moe. Noroviruses are the leading cause of epidemic non-bacteria l acute gastroenteritis in the world.

These viruses are transmitted through the feca l-oral route and are often associated wit h waterborne outbreaks. Thus, it is important to understand how long noroviruses can survive in groundwater and remain infectious. We investigated how long Norwalk virus, a prototype norovirus, can survive in groundwater and still cause infection. Water th a t met EPA drinking water standards and th a t h ad been seeded with a safety tested Norwalk virus inoculum and then stored for 0, 7, 21, 27, or 61 days was administered to 1-2 of 13 volunteers. Serum, saliva, emesis, and stool samples were collected from each volunteer before inoculation, during their 5 day inpatient stay a t the Emory University General Clinica l Research Center, and at 5 follow-up outpatient visits (7, 14, 21, 28, 35 days post infection). Infection was determined by vira l shedding, as detected by RTPCR, or seroconversion. Our data suggests th a t the Norwalk virus can survive in groundwater for a t least 61 days and still remain infectious. We a lso found th at one volunteer shed virus in their stool for up to 33 days post-cha llenge. These results may he lp expla in the h igh transmissibility and preva lence of noroviruses.

S h irazi , Katayun (Biology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 2:00pm

The Influence of Herbs on Medication: A Study of the Affect of Panax quinquefolius, Hydrastis canadensis and Ephedra viridis on the Effectiveness of Lidocaine in Daphnia magna Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steve Baker, Biology In the past decade the use of herbs and herbal therapies in the U.S. h as escala ted. Herbs are used not only to enhance the flavor of foods, but are also being used to treat hypertension, asthma , digestive problems and a huge diversity of diseases and aff lictions. Many of these herba l remedies may interact with prescription medication. The present experiment examines the herbdrug interaction between Lidocaine and the herbs ephedra (Ephedra viridis), ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), and goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) on the heart rate of Daphnia magna. The results of the experiment indicated th a t these herbs interacted with Lidocaine in a pharmacodynamic interaction, counteracting the effectiveness of Lidocaine in decreasing the heart rate of Daphnia magna.

S inger, Michael (International Rela tions)

Ora l Presentation DUC 362, 3:00pm

Media, Citizenship and Political Engagement in the Lives of Young American Adults Faculty Mentor: Dr. Debra Spitulnik, Anthropology Co-Authors: Elizabeth Cohen, Marissa Ka hn Th is past year in the SIRE Program our team worked with Professor Debra Spitulnik on an anthropological investigation of the rela tionship between media and politics in the lives of our peers and classmates. Drawing from cultural anth ropology, cultural studies, critica l theory, discourse analysis, and media studies th is project examines politica l engagement and disengagement among young adults in the United Sta tes today, in rela tion to their patterns of

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media use and concepts of citizenship. The project’s central question is: how are media use and politica l engagement (or disengagement) interconnected in young adults’ lives? It addresses t he va lue of media, the meanings of politica l engagement, the experience of young adulthood, and t he nature of the political sphere. In our presentation we will discuss the experience of focus group leadership and transcription. We will a lso provide a preliminary analysis of the ways in which young adults ta lk about media bombardment, political engagement, responsibility, agency, apathy, and idea l citizenship.

Song, Joseph (Biology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 3:15pm

Oxidative Damage in Yeast Faculty Mentor: Dr. Gray Crouse, Biology Although cells are subject to many mutagenic agents, perhaps the most ubiquitous of these are reactive oxygen species. Created as by-products of many reactions, including aerobic respiration, these agents are a potentia l danger to the genome due to the ease in which they react with DNA nucleotides and their precursors. Therefore, it is very important for a cell to be able to defend against these mutation inducing agents. Wh i le it h a s found th a t severa l genes in E. coli code for proteins which can neutra lize oxidatevely damaged nucleotides before their incorporation into the genome, no such genes have been conclusively identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast).

However, there are a several potentia l homologues which might play a role. In our study, we demonstrate th a t two of these potentia l genes, Ysa1 and Pcd1, have a negligible role in regulating the incorporation of oxidatively damaged, mutation-inducing nucleotides in our tested stra ins.

Spiegel, Lauren (Neuroscience and Behaviora l Biology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Vasopressin is critica l for pair bond formation and expression in prairie voles Faculty Mentor: Dr. Larry Young, Psych iatry Co-Authors: Zoe R. Donaldson The monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), provides a unique rodent model for studying social bonding. Pra irie voles form a selective bond with the ir mate, known as a pair bond. With in males, the neuropeptide, vasopressin, is required for pair bond formation, a form of social memory.

W h ile previous research h as shown th at vasopressin acts centrally via vasopressin receptor 1a (V1aR) to facilita te bond formation, nothing is known about vasopressin's role in pair bond expression. However, work in other rodent models suggests th a t vasopressin affects many aspects of socia l memory, including both memory formation and expression. To test the hypothesis th a t vasopressin acts via V1aR to modulate not only pair bond formation, but also its recall, we injected V1aR antagonists (aVPA) centra lly into male voles at one of the three time points. AVPA blocked pair bond formation as expected. In addition, it blocked expression of the pa ir bond when administered prior to partner preference testing. This study shows th a t vasopressin is important for long term bonding rela ted memory formation and is required for both bond formation and its

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expression. We are currently investigating which centra l V1aR-conta ining regions are important for vasopressin mediated bond formation and expression.

Thomas, Katherine (Psychology)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Depressed Writing: Cognitive Distortions in the Works of Depressed and Non-Depressed Poets and Writers Faculty Mentor: Dr. Marsha l l Duke, Psychology Previous research h as consistently found th a t poets and writers suffer from higher rates of psychologica l disturbance th an the general population; what is lacking in the research is analyses of the works themselves. Th is study examined cognitive distortions, a known indicator of depression, in writing samples of 36 eminent depressed authors and 36 eminent non-depressed authors. Wh i le depressed authors did have more cognitive distortions th an non-depressed authors, greater signif icance was found between poets and prose writers, with poets h aving substantia lly more cognitive distortions in their works. As follows from these preliminary findings, non-depressed prose writers had signif icantly fewer cognitive distortions th an nondepressed poets, depressed poets, and depressed writers. Differences in gender and time period are explored as well. These findings suggest an acceptance of depressive th inking and writing in poetry th at is not present for prose writing. Implications for the effectiveness of writing as a form of psychotherapy are also discussed.

Town, Maria (Comp. Lit. & IDS)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Effects of Legitimacy and Procedural Justice on Reactions to Injustice Faculty Mentor: Dr. Karen Hegtvedt, Sociology Co-Authors: Miek J. Debeuckelaer Th is study examines how people react to unjust situa tions. Previous literature has neglected to focus on the collective aspect of justice processes by focusing instead only on individual perceptions.

The research addresses two general questions: 1) how does the legitimacy of an outcome distribution affect an individual's emotional and behaviora l reactions to perceived injustice? And 2) how does the legitimacy of an allocator and his or her use of fair or unfair procedures affect an individuals emotional and behaviora l responses to the perceived injustice? The experimenta l method to study these questions involves task groups. Two computerized experiments have been run, with Experiment One addressing the effects of legitimacy of the outcome distribution and Experiment Two addressing the effects of legitimacy of the allocator and his or her procedures.

Th is past year has been spent recruiting and scheduling participants in groups of four to participate in the computerized experiment, and running the experiments. Wh ile these experiments focus on the consequences of legitimacy for reactions to injustice, the project is expanding to consider antecedents of legitimacy, including power use by authorities and procedura l justice. We are in the beginning stages of the development of a vignette study to address these antecedents.

Waryck, Nata lie

Ora l Presentation DUC Alumni Room, 3:45pm

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Creating Audio and Visual Media for Guides to Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation of Early Christian Discourse Faculty Mentor: Dr. Vernon K Robbins, Religion Co-Authors: William S Bradford The earliest Christians used at least six primary modes, or rhetorolects (rhetorica l dia lects), to present the ir stories and beliefs: pre-creation, wisdom, prophetic, apocalyptic, priestly, and miracle. These modes blend and weave together, like a tapestry, in early Christian texts. Many PowerPoint presentations were created last year, with the he lp of a SIRE student, to provide a tool th a t, via the internet, could be ava ilable to scholars and students anywhere in the world.

Th is is part of an international research project th a t includes scholars primarily in Nort h America, Europe, and South Africa. During Fall semester 2006, a different translation of the Bible was entered into many of the presentations to overcome a copyright issue for publication on the internet. Now some new presentations are being created th a t embed audio files into PowerPoints, and all the items are being entered and indexed on the Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation web site.

Webster, Leigh (Political Science & English)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 2:30pm

Legal Institutions & Women's Rights Faculty Mentor: Dr. David R. Davis, Politica l Science Does the law, as established in constitutions and international treaties, matter for women's rights? Th is project answers th is question. By determining the presence of women's righ ts provisions in constitutions and whether states have ratif ied international treaties, such as t he Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), I found th a t t he law, contrary to much of the current women's rights literature, can actually be an effective tool for protecting rights. Because an independent judiciary seems necessary to ensure th a t constitutiona l protections for women's rights are realized, I also tested to see if th is rela tionship existed.

Although an independent judiciary is not required for women's rights provisions to be effective, it does seem th a t certa in aspects of an independent judiciary are important tools for protecting women's rights. Thus, despite the seeming bias towards legal institutions as protectors of women's rights, I have found quite the opposite: legal institutions can be very important in the quest for gender equality.

Weldon, Stephanie (Biology and Chemistry)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Leptopoline boulardi and L. heterotoma: Competing strategies for parasitizing drosophila Faculty Mentor: Dr. TA Sch lenke, Population biology, ecology and evolution Two closely rela ted wasp species, Leptopilina boulardi and L. heterotoma, are both reproductive parasites th a t lay the ir eggs into second-instar Drosoph ila larvae. L. boulardi can lay its larvae into D. melanogaster without triggering an immune response from the fly, but generally fa ils to successfully parasitize other closely-rela ted drosophil ids (e.g. the fly mounts a successful immune response against the invading parasite). L. heterotoma however, succeeds in parasitizing both D.

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melanogaster and other closely rela ted species. However, when D. melanogaster is exposed to both L. boulardi and L. heterotoma, only L. boulardi larvae mature. One possible reason for L. boulardi outcompeting L. heterotoma in the specif ic case of D. melanogaster is a faster developmental time. To test th is D. melanogaster was exposed to each wasp individually, and the relative times of eclosion for each wasp was found through dissecting D. melanogaster a t various stages. The results show th at L. boulardi h as a time of eclosion significantly earlier th an L. heterotoma.

West, Allison (Biology, French)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 3:30pm

Cancer Quest Faculty Mentor: Dr.Gregg Orloff, Biology CancerQuest is an educational website targeted at students, patients, friend and family interested in learning more about the disease. Website content includes topics such as cancer by type, risk factors for cancer and cancer chemoprevention. As a member of the SIRE program, the researcher contributed information on lymphoma, skin cancer and melanoma, cancer treatment and electromagnetic radiation and chemotherapy and cancer prevention.

Wi lcox, Lisette (Psychology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 1:45pm

The Effect of Nonverbal Accuracy and Locus of Control on Likeability in the Formation of Men's Friendships Faculty Mentor: Dr. Stephen Nowicki, Psychology The purpose of th is study was to examine the impact of nonverbal decoding ability and locus of control on the formation of men’s rela tionships. Prior research h as found associations among nonverbal decoding ability, locus of control, and popularity, but few studies have examined the impact of these two factors on attraction in the early stages of rela tionships especia lly in men. To assess whether nonverbal receptive ability and locus of control predicted rela tionship outcomes, undergraduate men (n=40) were organized into small groups who met for three sessions. In each session, participants engaged in group activities and then rated each group member’s degree of a ttraction using the Interpersonal Judgment Scale (IJS, Byrne, 1961). IJS ratings were found to be significantly correla ted with nonverbal decoding ability as measured by the Diagnostic Assessment of Nonverbal Accuracy Sca le (DANVA-2; Nowicki & Duke, 1994). Decoding ability , particularly facia l decoding, was significantly rela ted to likeability in sessions one and two.

These results support the theory th a t nonverbal decoding ability is an important skill in beginning rela tionships. Contrary to predictions, likeability was not significantly correla ted with locus of control as measured by the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Sca le (ANSIE; Nowick i & Duke, 1974). The results are discussed in terms of Nowicki and Duke’s (2002) rela tionship model.

Wi l liams, Kendra (Psychology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 3;00pm

A test of prospection in rhesus macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) Faculty Mentor: Dr. Robert Hampton, Psychology Co-Authors: Hannah Kinkel Prospection is the ability to anticipate future events and states. There is currently much debate about whether th is is a uniquely human ability or is sh ared by other primates and animals. Our

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experiment tests whether or not nonhuman primates are stuck in an "eternal present" or if they can anticipate the future. We specif ica lly test the Bischof-Koh ler hypothesis which states th a t nonhuman animals cannot anticipate a future state and therefore cannot take appropriate action to prepare for a future need. We presented monkeys with a cognitive test to see whether they could anticipate future th irst. Monkeys normally prefer the larger of two simultaneously presented amounts of food. We are assessing whether th is preference can be shifted to the smaller amount when choice of the larger amount leads to a comparati vely long period without access to water.

S ix rhesus macaque monkeys are being tra ined in four experimental phases: 1) In baseline tria ls there were no water consequences and we established the ir natural preference for the larger amount of dates; 2) In forced choice tria ls monkeys were introduced to the different water consequences (2 hours without water for choosing the large amount, 15 minutes without water for choosing the smaller amount); 3) the experimenta l tria ls are aimed at discovering if the monkeys will reverse the ir natural preference for the larger amount; 4) a final baseline phase to reestablish the monkeys’ original preferences. We test the hypothesis th a t they will learn to choose the small amount of dates over the large amount when faced with the differentia l water control contingencies. If th is is the case it will support the idea th a t monkeys are capable of prospection because even though the ir th irsts are satia ted at the time they make the ir choice, they anticipate being th irsty la ter and select the smaller amount. If the subjects continue to choose the large amount regardless of the water consequences tha t will support the notion tha t prospection is a cognitive characteristic th a t is absent in rhesus macaques.

Winchester, Sterling (Music and Russian Studies)

Ora l Presentation DUC Alumni Room, 1:45pm

Spirit in Sound: Formal Intersections in Sofia Gubaidulina's Passion-Easter Diptych Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lynn W. Bertrand, Music Th is project examines intersections at various levels and to different degrees in the music of contemporary Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina, arguably one of the leading and most powerful figures in Post-Soviet Music. Specif ically, the study looks at wha t the composer herself calls her 'magnum opus' - a large-scale work entitled St. John Passion-Easter th a t sets the story of Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection to music. Completed in 2001 as part of the 250th commemoration of J.S. Bach's death, the work is based on traditional Russian Orthodox Liturgy, drawing on Russian text from the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation. As such, the principles of the liturgy govern the mysticism of the rhythms, melodies, and orchestration. Beyond the symbolism of the overa ll form and structure of the St. John Passion-Easter, th is project included a face-to-face interview with the composer in order to make further considerations about her composition process.

Wu, Phylicia (Business & Ch inese)

Ora l presentation DUC 362, 3:15pm

Young John Allen Exhibition and Digitization Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joachim Kurtz, REALC Co-Authors: Andrew Addington, Samanth a Chiu Young John Allen was a famous Protestant missionary, who graduated from Emory University and traveled to China to spread the gospel. One of the most revered missionaries of h is time, Allen produced countless works in English and Chinese, edited a newspaper, and began severa l Western curriculum based schools during the turbulent times of la te Qing China. Our project's goal was to sift through the articles in the Young John Allen collection, in hopes of being able to draw materia ls to produce an exh ibition. The exhibition will take place in the coming semester. The other division of the project was to digitize some of Allen's works, in order to be able to put it on the World Wide Web, which would make it ava ilable to everyone who would need it.

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Xiao, Wenjie (Neuroscience and Behaviora l Biology, Human Behaviora l Biology)

Ora l Presentation DUC Trustee Room, 3:45pm

Development and Evaluation of a New Technology for Measuring Mouse Locomotor Activity in a Home Cage Setting Faculty Mentor: Dr. Bil l Fantegrossi, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Division of Neuroscience We h ave developed a new economical technology to quantify locomotor behavior in mice using implantable h igh-f ield magnets and Ha ll effect switches. Platforms were built to fit standard laboratory mouse cages, embedded with an array of Ha l l effect switches and supporting curcuitry, and connected to a computer interface and power source. Ha ll effect switches are thus triggered as the mouse inside the cage carries about a magnet subcutaneously implanted in its abdomen, a llowing the computer program to record position with in the cage and locomotor activity as a function of time. The ability to monitor home cage activity with these devices is especia l ly advantageous in quantify ing circadian rhythmicity and its a lteration by various drugs, since these experiments require continuous data sampling over many consecutive days. Here we present locomotor data recorded from mice illustrating circadian rhythmicity according to a light-dark cycle. We also demonstrate the utility of these devices in quantify ing the acute locomotor stimulant effects of drugs with long or short durations of action, exemplif ied by 3,4methy lenedioxymeth amphetamine (MDMA, or 'ecstasy') and l-benzylpiperazine (BZP) , respectively. S imilarly, we demonstrate different patterns of locomotor behavior induced spontaneously, or by the injection of these psychostimulants. These data valida te the present technology and support its further use in behaviora l pharmacology applications, some of which will be discussed.

Zelikovich, Diana (Economics)

Poster Presentation Coca Cola Commons

Socia l Topics in Economics: A Study of Affirmative Action and Illegal Immigration Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Francis, Economics The two major research projects in studying socia l topics in economics have been in the areas of aff irmative action and labor markets. To determine the effects of affirmative action in regards to its economic benefits and costs, and to contrast those effects with benefits and costs without aff irmative action, an analysis of Brazilian implementation is being undertaken. Pre-affirmative action cohorts as well as post-affirmative action cohorts are being surveyed regarding their educational experiences and subsequent or simultaneous employment opportunities. Specif ically, we will analyze the effect of the university quota system on the enrollment, academic ach ievement, graduation rates, and employment status of black students admitted under the quota system, as well as non-black and black students admitted under the standard (non-quota) system.

The labor market study addresses the impact th a t ill egal immigrants have on wages. Data is being collected on wages and unemployment rates th a t will be regressed against a variable th a t

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will measure illegal immigration in order to determine the effects of illega l immigration on the labor market in metropolitan areas as well as Border States. Specif ically, the link between 9/11 and the flow of illegal immigration and, subsequently, the link between illegal immigration and wages/unemployment will be explored.

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