Hofstra horizons of undergraduate research fall 2014

HORIZONS OF

Undergraduate Research

Peer Into Your Future

with Undergraduate Research FALL 2014

provost’s COLUMN HOFSTRA

The outstanding students profiled in the fall 2014 issue of Hofstra Horizons of Undergraduate Research demonstrate clearly the benefits of an enriched, more personalized, more involved interaction with their faculty mentors. From civil conflict, Sigmund Freud and Austrian playwright Arthur Schnitzler, and language development in internationally adopted children, to quantum theory, Japanese Butoh dance forms, and vocal fry in female speakers, research experiences are helping our undergraduate students advance in their disciplines, enhance their education, and prepare for successful futures.

Hofstra takes great pride in the quality of education we provide.

Small classes (50 percent of our undergraduate classes have 14 students or fewer) taught by faculty – not teaching assistants – provide the foundation for all students. And undergraduate research builds upon that foundation. With the help of their faculty mentors, our undergraduate research students are sure to be leaders in their fields.

We invite you to read the feature article on this year’s Mentor from Hofstra’s History, Dr. Herbert Rosenbaum.

Dr. Rosenbaum was a campus leader and an outstanding role model when I arrived at Hofstra. His 40 years on our campus exemplify teaching excellence and student mentoring at its best.

We continue to ensure that teaching is our No. 1 priority, and undergraduate research at Hofstra is a natural outgrowth of that teaching-focused emphasis.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue of Hofstra Horizons of Undergraduate Research. Our students’ research is a source of pride for them and for us, and it is a sure indicator of great things to come.

Herman A. Berliner, PhD Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Lawrence Herbert Distinguished Professor

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HORIZONS OF

Undergraduate Research

table of contents 4 What Is Undergraduate Research?

6 STEM at Hofstra 8 Student Profiles 18 Performing Arts as Research 20 Undergraduate Research Day 22 SURF’s UP at Hofstra!

28 Undergraduate Library Research Award

29 Colonial Academic Alliance 30 Mentor from Hofstra’s History 33 Mentor of the Year 34 Undergraduate Research Fund Front cover credit: Image of Nickolas Boroda in the Laboratory for Cell and Tissue Engineering, superimposed upon a photo by Johan Elbers of the dance “Night Sky” (choreographer Karla Wolfangle) at the Fall 2012 Faculty Dance Concert.

editor’s NOTE

Welcome to the second issue of Hofstra Horizons of Undergraduate Research!

Though guided research has always been a part of teaching in any discipline, this new magazine, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Office for Research and Sponsored Programs, Office for Development and Alumni Affairs, Office of Admission and Hofstra University Honors College, focuses attention directly on the supervised research performance and productivity of our undergraduate students, which are constantly gaining scope and variety. Happily, this second issue highlights many new developments in the support of undergraduate research at Hofstra – from new laboratories to free or discounted summer housing to Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURFs) in different disciplines.

It’s an exciting time for undergraduate research at Hofstra!

Neil H. Donahue, PhD Editor Hofstra Horizons of Undergraduate Research Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Senior Associate Dean Hofstra University Honors College Professor of German and Comparative Literature

Dr. Neil H. Donahue has taught at Hofstra University since 1988. In addition to six books, he has published numerous articles and reviews. Dr. Donahue’s full biography and curriculum vitae can be found at people.hofstra.edu/Neil_H_Donahue.

This second issue presents the main events during the year for undergraduate research across the curriculum, along with profiles of individual students and their accomplishments, and the resources they use and enjoy at Hofstra. With each issue I try to increase the number of student profiles in order to provide a more detailed sense of the tremendous range of the fascinating and far-reaching work of our advanced undergraduates, which far exceeds what I manage to present here. This year instead of departmental profiles, I have tried to highlight the STEM areas (science, technology, engineering and math) alongside the performing arts in order to underscore by juxtaposition that students in the performing arts also perform research, albeit differently than students in the sciences, while those in the sciences also perform creatively and with imagination, though differently than those in the arts. Each issue highlights the recipient of the Mentor of the Year Award, which honors an outstanding individual who represents that aspect of what faculty do throughout the University; likewise, for historical perspective, each issue honors a mentor from Hofstra’s history, based on alumni nominations. This issue celebrates the legacy of Dr. Herbert Rosenbaum – longtime Hofstra professor of political science – as a scholar and mentor and, as his former students observe, as Mensch.

Faculty Mentors From Hofstra’s History The second issue of Hofstra Horizons of Undergraduate Research is dedicated to Professor of Political Science Herbert D. Rosenbaum, who was a member of the Hofstra faculty from 1952 to 1991 and a founding member of the Political Science Department, which he twice served as chairman. Dr. Rosenbaum taught and inspired generations of student to perform research and enter the field of political science either as scholars, lawyers or politicians on many levels. See page 30.

Herbert Rosenbaum in 1961 [with John Cranford Adams, president of Hofstra University, 1944-1964].

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What Is Undergraduate Research?

The University is a place of both teaching and research. Research by faculty informs and enriches the classroom experience and allows students to progress from the fundamentals in a field to its advanced, more specific and nuanced branches of inquiry, and on toward the production of new knowledge. Faculty members instruct students not only in the content of an area but also in its methods of independent inquiry that will lead to new insights and discoveries. Undergraduates engage increasingly in guided research as they move from foundational courses to more advanced courses and more closely defined topics. Advanced students in a major can then engage in independent, supervised research sometimes as juniors, usually as seniors, and possibly for departmental honors, as a way of demonstrating their mastery of both content and methods in the field, and their ability to formulate and pursue their own line of inquiry, which may lead to exciting discoveries and new knowledge.

Undergraduate research thus serves as a capstone to a student’s work and development in an undergraduate major and can lead to graduate study or directly into professional life. The term undergraduate research refers to such pursuits in all fields as advanced work in the discipline, whether that work, that research, takes place in the laboratory or the library, in the studio, on stage, or in the field. Each student’s advanced research – after months of hard work, reflection, uncertainty and frustration, but also happy discovery, enthusiasm, relief and revision – culminates in the public presentation of the results, either in the department, in a public performance (on stage, in an exhibit or in a recital or concert), at a professional conference or on Undergraduate Research Day for the Hofstra community in general.

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The purpose of this magazine is to present an overarching perspective on undergraduate research at Hofstra University across the disciplines and to highlight individual achievements, past and present, along with notable events and awards. The presentation of research, the sharing of knowledge, reflects the commitment to free inquiry and teaching that is central to the mission of the University and that constitutes the lifeblood of the academic enterprise, and we all benefit from and thrill at learning what our hardestworking, most advanced students have accomplished.

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Disciplines

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MATHEMATICS

ENGINEERING

TECHNOLOGY

SCIENCE

S T E M

STEM at Hofstra Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

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n national discussions of education at all levels, STEM is the current acronym for a broad range of disciplines that includes laboratory and field work with practical applications and that is considered to be of vital long-term national economic and strategic interest. The term encompasses major fields usually represented at the University by their own department, such as engineering, geology, physics, biology, chemistry and computer science, along with a very wide array of more specific subfields, such as forensic science, nanotechnology, astronomy, sustainability, biomedical engineering and urban ecology.

In addition, Hofstra even has a major concentration in STEM studies, linking those various fields with the School of Education, which has its own STEM Studio or teaching and learning lab. In fact, Professor of Engineering M. David Burghardt co-directs (with Michael Hacker) the Center for STEM Research (aka technological literacy) at Hofstra, for which he has received numerous federal and state grants (for details, see hofstra.edu/Academics/Colleges/SEAS/CTL/ index.html). STEM has long occupied a central place in the University’s educational mission as well as its relation to both primary and secondary education and to business development in New York and beyond. In recent years, however, STEM areas have experienced great expansion in terms of faculty development and research (with the addition of numerous new faculty members), a new School of Engineering and Applied

Science, increases in students as majors and minors, new programs and majors or minors (such as the interdisciplinary minor linking computer science and fine arts in computer applications and digital media design, or entrepreneurship for computer science), and expanded research opportunities, along with new infrastructure for research, that is, newly renovated (chemistry and biology) or newly built labs (for example, in biomedical engineering; in big data; gaming and graphics; research and innovation; and robotics, among others), with sophisticated new equipment (see hofstra.edu/academics/colleges/seas/ engineering/engineering-facilities.html).

With all of these opportunities, students and faculty have developed new student clubs or raised the level of participation in national societies and professional organizations, including student presentations at national meetings (for example, the Hofstra Chapter of the Student Members of the American Chemical Society won an award, presented at its national meeting in Dallas, Texas, for its many student-run activities).

Across the board, students in STEM areas have been a big and still increasing presence at Hofstra’s twiceyearly Undergraduate Research Day where they present their research to the Hofstra community. Their work on campus, especially in all the new labs, will continue to receive funding in the form of Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF’s up at Hofstra! See page 22).

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Student PROFILES Thesis title: To End a Civil Conflict: The Determinants of Success

William Schenkel

by Jessica Molinari

In April 2014 William Schenkel presented his senior honors thesis in political science as a lecture at the Colonial Academic Alliance conference, which was held at Towson University in Towson, Maryland. Back in his department, his thesis and presentation (under Professor Paul Fritz) earned departmental high honors.

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Will began his pursuit of a career in international relations with a major in political science and a minor in psychology, but after returning from the European Odyssey, Hofstra’s semester-long study abroad program that travels across Europe through 15 countries, Will declared a second major in global studies and a second minor in international affairs. On this trip he and the other participants studied the effects of globalization on questions of identity, human rights, and interactions among European nations.

That trip only intensified his sense of purpose and direction toward the study of international relations.

With dreams of working in the United States State Department in Europe or the Middle East or serving on the ranks of

the United Nations staff, Will seized many opportunities that have given him direct experience with work at the U.N. He participated in a field study at the United Nations in New York in January 2012 that allowed him to interact with officials from various international missions and U.N. institutions. In addition to working directly at the United Nations, Will assisted in the hosting and coordination of the Model United Nations conference for high school students at Hofstra University. In the summer of 2012, he worked as an intern at the District Office of Congressman Bill Pascrell where he assisted staff members during the re-election campaign by serving as an office liaison to constituents. In his junior year he was chosen as Hofstra’s delegate at the Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference in Annapolis, Maryland, where he attended lectures focused on the changing nature of the Middle East and Asia, analyzed the feasibility of attaining human security around the world, researched the present state of global human security, and engaged in intense open discussion with students and diplomatic professionals from around the world.

In September 2014 Will began the MA Program in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University.

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As civil wars increase in frequency and intensity, it is more important than ever to understand how these complex conflicts are resolved successfully.

The international community has a mixed history of success in resolving these wars; with this past in mind, scholars have isolated an array of variables that are important to ending civil conflicts and establishing lasting peace. This work attempts to isolate the most important of these variables in an effort to frame an ideal third-party involvement in a civil war. To do so, the international community’s involvement in the Liberian and Bosnian civil wars is examined to determine the effects of nine independent variables relating to military and diplomatic interventions.

By observing the effects of battlefield conditions, rebel capabilities, international commitment and balance, this paper attempts to understand the conditions necessary for reaching negotiations. From there, it looks at the effects of the parties present at negotiations, duration and intensity of the conflict, the belligerents’ trust relationship and the commitment of an outside guarantor, and perceptions of victory on the establishment of a negotiated settlement. The findings from the cases of Liberia and Bosnia suggest that more cohesive and stable peace agreements commonly result from a multitude of related variables. The findings of this study speak to the ongoing crisis in Syria and suggest that effective involvement in the conflict could begin with the establishment of parity between the belligerents and end with the commitment of a credible third-party guarantor of the peace.

Student PROFILES Inae Rurup

Inae Rurup complemented her major in fine arts (concentration in painting) with minors in geography and Japanese. Her senior research project, working with Professor Laurie Fendrich, earned her departmental high honors; titled Unsent Letters, the work constituted a large grid of separate rearrangeable canvases, each of which she made herself, before painting in bold colors, to suggest (to this viewer at least) an abstract, almost pixelated, reduction of painting as an art form into its fundamental elements of color on canvas.

The exhibit stands in relation to her earlier exhibit of Warholesque portraits of celebrities in a quasi-commercial pop-realist style to show Inae’s range from a sort of lavishly modeled close-up realism to formal, minimalist abstraction.

Endri Mani

by Jessica Molinari

Only a very ambitious student would move from his home country of Albania to the United States to attend college: that’s what Endri Mani did.

His conscientiousness and drive were always evident in a rigorous course load at Hofstra. With majors in physics and math, Endri still found time to be treasurer of the Society of Physics Students, though that’s not all. He also started his own small startup technology company, HSC sh.p.k, based in Tirana, Albania, to provide IT solutions to Albanian brands. His startup has had a couple of large contracts and is looking to expand.

At Hofstra, Endri worked with Dr. Rohana Garuthara, professor of physics and astronomy, to find a way to produce cheaper, equally efficient solar cells using thin films of a very specific copper oxide material. Endri would like to engage in projects that will have long-lasting benefits to the environment.

As a tutor in Hofstra’s Physics Department, he discovered his love for collaborative work and teaching. Instead of flocking to Silicon Valley like many aspiring engineers, Endri plans to stay in New York where he already feels there are plenty of opportunities to work in teaching and technology.

In fall 2014 Endri began his doctoral studies at Columbia University as a student in the PhD Program in Material Science (with full funding), and he would like to become a professor and continue to perform research in physics and engineering.

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As a former member of the Hofstra Chess Club, he is reputed to be an awesome chess player.”

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Student PROFILES Eric Leonardis

by Jessica Molinari

in his own research: namely, the question “Was Freud scientific?” Early psychologists, specifically sexual psychologists, followed a much different scientific method than we use today. Eric explains: “Scientists are people, [...] whatever their biases are will show up in their science.”

Scientists would find evidence to support their theory rather than try to prove it false, which is how science functions today. Freud, though, went about science in a much different way than his Eric Leonardis explaining his research on Undergraduate peers of the time. Eric found that Freud’s Research Day in May 2014, which he participated in work was not accepted by his peers as being two years in a row. He performed research in both history scientific, and he made many logical leaps and psychology. that his peers did not make.

The first things one notices about Eric Leonardis are his captivating personality, sense of humor, and passion for research and education. The Garden City, New York, native was encouraged to attend Hofstra by his father and aunt who told him of the multitude of opportunities available to him at the school. He certainly took advantage of those opportunities during his time here by conducting multiple research projects on very different subjects. His research led to many opportunities outside of Hofstra, including a recent trip to San Diego, California, to present his research at a professional conference (of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality). His three majors of psychology, history and Chinese studies seem somewhat unrelated, but Eric has managed to create a synergy among them that emerges in his research.

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Eric’s interest in pursuing cognitive neuroscience did not come about until he took several different courses in psychology and history in his first two years at Hofstra. Eric thought that he wanted to pursue clinical psychology; he was drawn toward understanding human behavior in society and gravitated toward the history of scientific fields, including biology and psychology. Eventually, in an Honors College seminar called Exploring Love’s Body with Professor Lou Kern, he gladly read the “thousands of books” assigned to him and became fascinated by the history of sexuality in America and Europe, especially the work of Sigmund Freud. That seminar, followed by a course in the History of Psychology with the same professor, gave birth to the ideas that he would later explore

In addition to his work on Freud, Eric worked on multiple other projects relating to his interest in neuroscience, such as (with Professor Oskar Pineño) testing psychological ideas using physical computation and robots, and (with Professor Keith Shafritz) exploring the neuroscience of moral decision making. In his honors thesis, Eric studied the history of the American eugenics movement and the psychological testing that was used to systematically sterilize and alienate individuals with mental illnesses.

Eric’s passion is cognitive neuroscience. In the fall of 2014 he entered the PhD program at University of California-San Diego (with full funding). He hopes to one day become a professor of cognitive neuroscience and perform research in that field. His key interest is studying the way humans perceive human movement, and his work with robots has also inspired him to want to use neuroscience to build better ones. Eric says he will miss the relationships he created with the professors in several different departments. From talking to professors, it seems as if they will miss him too: “Eric is not just one of the best students I have encountered in my six years at Hofstra, he is also a good friend,” says Dr. Pineño. “I am very proud that I got to be his mentor during his senior year at Hofstra.” Professor Emeritus Louis Kern worked very closely with Eric on his research of the American eugenics movement and adds: “His work is characterized by a restless curiosity and a creative and imaginative intelligence. He is not afraid to follow his instincts on the implications and significance of materials he has researched and thereby reaches truly original conclusions.”

His three majors of psychology, history and Chinese studies seem somewhat unrelated, but Eric has managed to create a synergy among them that emerges in his research.

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Student PROFILES Though it is common for Nigerian parents to encourage their children to become engineers or doctors, Tami took advice from her cousin to major in geology, because it was different and appealed to her interests.

Tamunoisoala Longjohn

by Jessica Molinari

With a major in geology and a triple minor in chemistry, physics and math, it seems almost impossible that Tamunoisoala (Tami) Longjohn would have time to conduct research. But the Nigeria native performed quite a few research projects during her four years at Hofstra. Tami grew up in Nigeria and lived there until she came to Hofstra. She was not originally planning to come to the United States for college, but after taking the SAT at her high school and being contacted by Hofstra, she made the move to Long Island.

Though it is common for Nigerian parents to encourage their children to become engineers or doctors, Tami took advice from her cousin to major in geology, because it Tamunoisoala Longjohn (pictured was different and center) with Professor Emma Farmer appealed to her (left) and Nika Chery (right). interests.

In addition to her heavy course load, Tami was deeply involved in campus life. She was a resident assistant, served in the Student Government Association, volunteered at the California Avenue Elementary School through Hofstra University Honors College, was the vice president of the Geology Club and public relations chair for the International Students Club as well as a tutor for chemistry and geology. She is a proud member of the American Chemistry Society and both Phi Eta Sigma and the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor societies, and she also loved to dedicate time to her campus ministry.

Tami’s research in geology allowed her to get out of the lab and into the field. In the summer of 2013 she traveled to California to work with Stanford SURGE, or Summer of Undergraduate Research in Geoscience and Engineering.

During her time there, she studied the subsurface of geysers and created a velocity model of a geyser to portray the subsurface.

Tami also spent summers at Hofstra working on research with the Chemistry, Physics and Geology departments. With the Chemistry and Physics departments, she performed mathematical modeling of an oscillating chemical reaction that is similar to many biological processes. This oscillating reaction helps explain biological processes such as how the heart beats or how insulin is released; with the Geology Department, she performed climate research by studying marshes in different parts of Long Island: the crosssection modeling of the marshes allowed Tami and her team to create a timeline of the climate history of Long Island and determine the hurricane cycle.

Specifically, they used grains of sand from nearby beaches to study the impact Hurricane Sandy had on the environment. She continued this carbon dating project throughout this last year and used the data in her senior thesis, which is a deconvolution project involving both chemistry and math to test the absorption of chemicals such as copper and glycine at different wavelengths. This type of research allows her to create many models to display her data.

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Her senior research was awarded departmental honors, and in the fall of 2014 she began the PhD Program in Energy Resources (with a full scholarship) at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

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Student PROFILES

Kathryn Rebholz Kathryn (Katy) Rebholz graduated from Hofstra with a BA in drama and a BA in psychology, along with a minor in German, as a Hofstra University Honors College Graduate with Distinction, with departmental high honors and summa cum laude for her 3.94/4.00 GPA. A composite follows of her speeches at Hofstra’s 2014 Scholarship Luncheon and to a crowd at Admitted Student Day with details about her experiences at Hofstra in her majors and in Honors College, including her semester abroad in Vienna, where she took courses in German on art and literature and did student teaching at a primary school; her group performance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland; her research for her departmental honors thesis; her work in theater at Hofstra and as an a cappella singer in Hofbeats. In fall 2014 she began a master’s program at Emerson College in Boston.

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Good afternoon President Rabinowitz, members of the Board of Trustees, donors, faculty, administration, and fellow student scholarship recipients / Good morning admitted students and parents! I am incredibly honored to be asked to speak at this luncheon today.

My name is Katy Rebholz. I am a senior here at Hofstra, originally from Rochester, New York, graduating in May with a double major in drama and psychology and a minor in German.

Looking back on my four years at Hofstra, I know that this school has given me some of the most amazing opportunities. I am thankful for these experiences, and am glad to be able to share some of them with you today.

I grew up in a family with four sisters, no brothers. The first thing most people say when they hear this is, “Your poor father.” But a second thing that I think must be on most people minds is, how do you afford to send five kids to college, especially when they are so close in age, as my sisters and I are?

When I was looking at schools as a senior in high school, Hofstra University was my first choice. I was drawn to it because of its proximity to New York City, its excellent drama and psychology programs, and most importantly, the welcoming community I found upon visiting the school, especially in the Department of Drama and Dance and Honors College. To find out that I received such wonderful scholarships to Hofstra was one of the most amazing days of my life, as they allowed me to attend my top choice school.

On student life, study and research at Hofstra: reflections by Kathryn Rebholz from her remarks as student speaker at the 2014 Scholarship Luncheon and at the 2014 Admitted Student Day:

During my time at Hofstra I have had so many amazing opportunities and experiences. During my sophomore year I joined the Hofbeats a cappella

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group, and have performed with them at many on-campus events. I have been very involved with the Drama Department as an actress and stage manager, and my work allowed me to gain acceptance into the Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society.

Last spring (2013), I was able to study abroad in Vienna, Austria, for the semester. Before I left for my semester abroad, I received a great deal of support from Professor Neil Donahue, professor of German and associate dean of Honors College, who created an advanced German class for me and three other students in order to help us accelerate our acquisition of German language skills. This year I have also been working in depth with both Professor Donahue and Professor Peter Sander (Drama) on my departmental honors thesis in drama on Austrian playwright Arthur Schnitzler, for which I also translated a short play of his from German to English.

In addition, I participated in a studentdirected adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, performed first in the theater club Spectrum Players’ “Night of Experimental Works,” after which we discussed the possibility of taking the show further, and with both University and Honors College [providing financial support for our initiative as a form of undergraduate research] along with our [own] fundraising efforts, we were able to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in August 2013.

These experiences and more, in addition to the connections I have made with friends, professors and administrators, are the reasons that I know I made the right decision four years ago to come here and that I have been able to achieve so much. I will forever be thankful to my scholarship donor, Ann Mallouk; to Honors College; the Drama Department; and to Hofstra University as a whole for their support of me, and of all of us, in pursuing our dreams and achieving our goals.

Student PROFILES Kathleen Toomey is from Cleveland, Ohio, and recently graduated from Hofstra University with a BS in forensic science. After four amazing years studying chemistry and forensics (and hanging out in Honors College!), she landed a job and began working right after graduation with the Indiana State Department of Toxicology in June 2014. As a part of her Hofstra-supported internship, Kathleen had the opportunity to work on two research projects: A Hydrogen Sulfide Suicide: First Fatality in Cleveland, Ohio, and Comparison of Drug Concentrations in Postmortem Blood and Skeletal Tissue (Bone). The first was a case study and first responder alert to a new suicide method; the second

Cynthia Cheng

Cynthia Cheng graduated with a BS in computer science and mathematics (2014), with high departmental honors and the Graduate with Distinction designation from Hofstra University Honors College. Her departmental honors thesis (with Professor Gretchen Ostheimer) was titled “Proving the

was a cursory look at the ability to extract and detect drug compounds from bone and bone marrow, and began to lay the groundwork for determining ratios between bone drug concentrations and blood drug concentrations.

The bone study taught her how to apply her chemical knowledge, and let her flex her problem-solving skills in answering questions such as how to crush bones for optimal extraction.

Her specific practical training made a great impression during job interviews, providing a clear set of examples of how to develop methodologies on the spot, which is always very important in the ever-fluctuating world of science, and showcased her willingness to try

Validity of the RSA Cryptosystem Algorithm.” Cryptography is used to protect email messages, credit card information, banking information, and corporate data. Before sending confidential information through a network vulnerable to attack by adversaries, encryption should be used to keep information secure. Cynthia’s research focused on a specific public-key cryptosystem called the RSA algorithm, including a description of how it works and its validity as a cryptosystem. The proof of validity marked the culmination of her mathematics and computer science course work. Using group theory tactics, she proved that decrypting an RSAencrypted message returns the original message. Her thesis, along with her multiple other research projects in computer science, prepared her

Kathleen Toomey

Kathleen (center) with Cynthia Cheng (see below) and Dean Neil H. Donahue.

new things and work independently.

These skills will also come into play when she begins a PhD program in toxicology in a few years after she has gained abundant professional experience in her new job.

for her new position as Programmer Analyst II in Geico’s Technology Development Program, where she will rotate each year over three years into different technology divisions of the company.

In addition to many academic honors in math and computer science, Cynthia gained distinction as a golfer as a member of the 2014 Colonial Athletic Association Golf All-Academic Team; as a National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar each year from 2010 to 2014; and at Hofstra as recipient of the Nick Colleluori Unsung Hero Award and the Women’s Golf Most Outstanding Senior Award.

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GRADUATE DESTINATIONS Hofstra students regularly decide to continue their studies in pursuit of an advanced degree. Undergraduate research often plays a key role in their gaining admission to top graduate programs and professional schools, or entry into careers using research skills. To see a listing of where our 2014 graduates have gone on to graduate and professional school or directly onto a research track, please visit hofstra.edu/Research/research-graduate-destinations.html.

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Student PROFILES

Brianna Rogers

by Marisa M. Higgins

Brianna Rogers graduated with a double major in speechlanguage-hearing sciences and dance. Determined to finish up both degrees in four years, she worked with her faculty advisor, Dr. Kathleen Scott, to construct a plan of study that would include both fields.

She describes her experience as a speech major as “fabulous,” and believes that what makes the Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences program stand out is its talented and devoted faculty.

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Bassir Caravan

In July 2014 Bassir Caravan, a physics major from Malverne, New York, was invited to the White House for a dinner celebrating the end of Ramadan with President Obama, and, as it turns out, he was even seated at the table with the In May 2014 Brianna’s research with Dr. Jennifer president! See: http://news.hofstra.edu/2014/07/22/ Roberts was awarded departmental high honors. physics-major-bassir-caravan-dines-at-the-white-house/.

She focused on language development in internationally That opportunity came about as the result of a letter he had adopted children and the development of narratives written to the president based on his family’s experience as specifically using a scheme developed by Applebee immigrants to the United States from Afghanistan. However, (Applebee, A. The child’s concept of a story: Ages 2 to 17. that was actually his second visit to the White House, as he Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1978), who had already been invited to participate in a round-table proposed that children go through six stages of narrative discussion of Pashtun-American relations. At Hofstra, by development where stories start as simple declarations that do coincidence, he had entered the theoretical realm of not relate to one another and then progress to true narratives politics in his work (in physics) with Dr. Gregory Levine on election modeling and the value of electoral votes that have a cohesive plot and theme. Her sample included a by state, but Bassir also stood out for his two other variable group of 34 adopted children from China, ages 7-8, research projects – one with another student on and a control group of 21 U.S.-born children, ages 6-8. quantum charge fluctuations in disordered systems Each child was given the same picture and had 15 minutes and a second on quantum field theory and gravity. to write a story based on it. Brianna looked for the Indeed, Bassir is the first author, with Dr. Levine, on children’s various levels of narrative development in order a publication titled “Scaling of Entanglement to compare the control group to the group of students born in Entropy in Point Contact Free Fermion Systems,” China. There is very little research on second language in Physical Review A, the premier international development (what the adopted children experience when physics journal. “An undergraduate first author coming to the United States), so Brianna’s goal was to see how is a very significant achievement,” Dr. Levine said. the adopted children’s language development compared to those of Bassir plans to attend medical school after the U.S.-born children. Her findings may contribute to how school graduation, though as Dr. Levine notes: “I have districts provide services at an earlier age to these children. always had a feeling that Bassir might be able to change the world.” In 2012 Bassir was Brianna was a member of the speech departmental honor society, Sigma awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Pi, and Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, and was treasurer of the (HHMI) Undergraduate Fellowship and chose National Honor Society for Dance Arts. She was also the secretary for to work with Dr. Levine from then on, working the Hofstra Dance Committee (formerly MOVOM) and a member of collaboratively on advanced physics projects DanceWorks, a dance club on campus. Brianna was inducted into as well as on his own initiatives. Dr. Levine Hofstra’s chapter of The Phi Beta Kappa Society. She hopes to pursue sums up his impression of Bassir as a dance for a couple of years before going on to graduate school, but plans to researcher: “His performance so far in his return to speech-language pathology and is especially interested in working research efforts has been spectacular, with children either in early intervention or in a school setting. especially given the advanced nature of this subfield of physics.”

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Student PROFILES

From Baldwin, New York, Jessica Spinelli graduated as a major in biochemistry with departmental high honors. In fall 2014 she entered the PhD Program in Chemical Biology at Harvard University (with full funding).

From San Francisco, California, Emma Kast graduated as a double major in chemistry and physics and in fall 2014 entered the PhD Program in Geosciences at Princeton University (with full funding).

(L-to-R) Jessica Spinelli and Emma Kast receiving awards

From Grayslake, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, Caitlin Sheppard graduated in spring 2014 with a major in dance and a minor in management. At Hofstra she performed works

by Seán Curran, Amy Marshall, Maxine Steinman, Doug Varone, and many other choreographers from the New York area, and also participated in many dance intensives in New York City and Chicago, including Giordano Dance Chicago, Parsons Dance, Keigwin+Company, Amy Marshall Dance Company, and Inaside Chicago Dance. As a sophomore, Caitlin’s choreography “Catch and Release” was chosen by Hofstra dance faculty for performance at the 2012 American College Dance Festival, where the judges there also chose it for performance at the final gala. Her choreography “Tunnel” premiered at Florence Dance Festival in summer 2012. In 2013 her choreography “under cover [of darkness]” was also performed at the gala of the American College Dance Festival. In spring 2013 she received the Lance Westergard annual scholarship for her outstanding participation in the Hofstra Dance program, and she also performed at the Florence Dance Festival and American College Dance Festival, and in Giada Ferrone’s “The Nutcracker: A Contemporary Ballet.” After graduation, Caitlin moved to New York City to work with American Ballet Theatre as a summer intensive counselor for the New York City and Orange County programs. She is also dancing with “The Moveshop” and working on other modern and contemporary dance productions in the New York City area.

Caitlin Sheppard Caitlin’s “Works by Caitlin Sheppard,” presented at the Hofstra Black Box Theater in the New Academic Building, with lighting by Juan Juarez, soundboard operations by Jordan Chiolis, and stage managing by Emily Lenguadoro, consisted of eight different pieces from 2011 to 2014. Her research for the performance/production centered on how to bring together music and movement in a given performance space: Caitlin explored how choreographed movement changes the perception of space. The stage or dance studio is a blank canvas for choreographers and performers; the possibilities are endless. Caitlin wanted to explore how dancers create an atmosphere around them and how they can change the feeling of the entire room. When a dancer exits the stage, he or she is not just going off stage into the wing; rather, the stage continues infinitely. The lighting and music help a dancer and choreographer establish that atmosphere and narrative, which cannot take place, take space, literally, without the dancer’s connection to the audience.

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Student PROFILES Hannah Cohen From Northridge, California, Hannah Cohen graduated in spring 2014 as a double major in film studies and production (in The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication) and in dance (in Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences); both areas addressed, albeit differently, her interests in performance, expression and movement. Our English word cinema derives after all, like kinetics, from the Greek word kinema for movement: Hannah is all about movement, the idea thereof and the physical fact. In her senior dance project, Hannah explored Japanese Butoh dance forms in relation to Zen philosophy and quantum theory in physics, while situating Butoh in relation to traditions of modern dance in the West from Wigman to Martha Graham, as well as various contemporaries, in order to explore the underlying beliefs in connectedness in dance performance. She also choreographed for the senior practicum and introduced her new dance company, Neshamah.

She plans to pursue an MFA. For the permission to use the photographs of Hannah Cohen’s choreography (on this page and in the half-moon inserts on each page), thanks go to Hannah Cohen herself, Victoria Espinoza (photographer), Ricky Wenthen (dancer) and Brianna Dixon (dancer).

To see Hannah’s choreography and the dancers in action, just flip the pages in either direction!

Alyssa Legnetti

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by Marisa M. Higgins

Alyssa Legnetti became interested in speech-language pathology after her grandfather suffered a stroke. He couldn’t speak or swallow, and speech therapy helped him regain those abilities. Alyssa began her studies at Hofstra as a speechlanguage-hearing sciences major, but a course on phonetics really got her hooked.

As a senior, her research with Dr. Carole Ferrand was awarded departmental high honors. She examined the use of vocal fry, or the lowest vocal register, in female speakers. When women speak today, their voices become very low at the end of the utterance. Pop culture and reality TV may play a part in this phenomenon. Alyssa compared two age groups – 20-25 year-olds and 50-55 year-olds – and measured the differences in how they speak. There were five participants in each group. Alyssa recorded their voices with the Snowflake brand microphone and used PRAAT analysis software. She analyzed the voices in the Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences Department laboratory for the fundamental frequency of the participants’ voices. In older generations of women, vocal fry does not seem apparent. Vocal fry appears to be a more accepted way of speaking in younger generations of women than in older generations.

Alyssa was a member of Hofstra’s chapter of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences Association, the rules chair of the Student Government Association, and co-chair for Relay For Life.

She was also a recipient of Hofstra’s Presidential Scholarship and a member of Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society. Alyssa has decided to continue at Hofstra in the MA in Speech-Language Pathology program and hopes eventually to work in a hospital setting with the geriatric population.

Her specific interest is in working with neurogenic disorders, such as aphasia and dysphasia.

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Student PROFILES Sean M. Kelly From Windham, New Hampshire, Sean M. Kelly graduated in spring 2014 with a dual degree (BS in music performance and BA in classics), and he combined those two fields in a co-directed departmental honors thesis titled “‘They Mirror True’: A Study in the Reception and Effects of Classical Myth in Select Vocal Works,” which explored the influence of ancient Greco-Roman mythology in 19th- and 20th-century operatic compositions [see poster below], which he then also performed as vocalist in his senior recital (see photo at piano). But Sean’s interest in performance was not at all limited to the studio: he performed regularly with the Hofstra Chorale (see photo with tux and in performance) and with the Hofbeats, a campus a cappella group, turning to current pop “classics” (see photo of rockin’ Sean without tux) and also acted in productions of Three Penny Opera, Rent, Princess Ida, Gypsy, and The Reformed Drunk, among others.

Though a versatile performer, Sean did not neglect his books and learned Latin and ancient Greek while at Hofstra completing the classics major. In examining ancient texts in light of performance, Sean also wrote an essay titled “The Same Old Song and Dance: Euripides’ Electra,” which he presented at two different national classics conferences, one at the University of Tennessee and one at Miami University in Ohio, with Hofstra support. In fall 2014 he enters the MA Program in Classics at Notre Dame (with full funding).

Music Performance Awards All Hofstra music students are required to take private lessons and participate in a variety of performing venues while completing their degrees. Private lessons require that students perform a “jury” at the end of each semester. Jury performances are evaluated on a variety of criteria by a minimum of three (3) Music Department faculty members. During the public performances and juries, music faculty begin to identify students as having exceptional performing abilities.

At the conclusion of each academic year, the entire Music Department faculty (full time and adjunct) meet, nominate, discuss and vote to select students for the annual Music Performance Awards. These awards carry with them very prestigious opportunities to plan and perform a public recital. Many music faculty and students attend these performances in recognition of the students‘ outstanding accomplishments.

The following students received the Music Performance Awards for the 2013/2014 academic year.

WILLIAM ROSENCRANS AWARD Chelsea Laggan (solo vocal performance)

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RHODA PINSLEY LEVIN AWARD Daniel Rivera (senior instrumentalist) WILLIAM LAWRENCE AWARD Richard Blake (bassoon), Christine Flannery (flute), Alexis Minogue (voice), and Brittney Sanders (clarinet) DOROTHY B. HOAG AWARD Ryan Hayward (tuba), Taryn Sandkuhl (voice), and Gilliam Sobocinski (flute) Hofstra HORIZONS of Undergraduate Research t FALL 2014

PERFORMING ARTS

Idiomatically speaking, in English, we often say that a scientist or scholar performs research, but that is not to say that they act it out or sing their results (though that might be fun to imagine), but rather, the expression suggests that the scholar-scientist works through a methodology (a set of tests or experiments or calculations or designs or critical readings, etc.) with extremely conscious, careful deliberation, controlling variables, observing details and isolating specific results. But the use of that word in that expression might also raise, conversely, the question: Does performance in the arts require research? Does the term apply to the arts?

Unlike the sciences, the arts aim to convey in performance or execution an impression of powerful immediacy, of sensuous or material presence, whether in music and dance, drama and opera, poetry and fiction, or even in painting and sculpture, photography and film, where the performative act has already happened and is brought back to life. Such acts can be recorded and collected, but not reduced and quantified as data for analysis: each act lives in the moment, in the performance. One has to attend, be there, to listen or watch and engage with presence of mind and senses. Yet such performances, such acts in the moment, also require long preparation of highly conscious and careful deliberation, experimentation or rehearsal in order to refine techniques and study possibilities and isolate specific results in new combinations, while also controlling variables. Both the arts and sciences require a mastery of technique and a foundation of basic knowledge, including the history of the medium and its best practitioners, in order to advance beyond into one’s own original investigation or interpretation or composition, and both the arts and sciences also require, beyond individual intelligence and imagination, the ability to work with a group to achieve best results.

Performing Arts as Research 18

As the images and student profiles here suggest, advanced students in the arts, as in the sciences, spend long hours at labor in their own laboratories, whether that be a theater or studio for dance, music, drama or painting. Often they need to work with the latest technology of their medium to control the dimensions and instruments of sound and light or color and space, the infrastructure of their performance. I hope that the images here will allow you to imagine the intensity of the moment in each medium, and ponder the different forms of research that preceded it and the continuing possibilities that open up with each student’s accomplishments.

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“One has to attend, be there, to listen or watch and engage with presence of mind and senses.“

Research in the Performing Arts 19

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Undergraduate Research Day May 2014

ach student’s presentation E marks the culmination of intense individual or team research, in the library or in the lab, in the field or studio or on stage, often with moments of anguish, uncertainty, and frustration, but also with happy discovery, satisfaction, enthusiasm, relief and – revision, revision, revision.

There’s a reason it’s called a discipline!

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Advanced student research continues throughout the year in all disciplines and, after months of hard work, merits the opportunity for presentation, recognition and applause!

The presentation of research, the sharing of knowledge, is the life-blood of the academic enterprise, and we all benefit from knowing what our hardest working, most advanced students have accomplished.

Undergraduate Research Day makes visible to the University community in general the outstanding work of highly motivated student researchers under the guidance of experienced and engaged faculty members.

The culmination of an undergraduate student’s work in a particular discipline reflects the mastery of both methods and foundational knowledge, and a transition to graduate school or professional life.

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Hofstra University is committing more resources to Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURFs) in different fields, especially the STEM areas, while individual donors are also coming forward to support student research during the academic year and during the summer, so that Hofstra students can pursue their research in the many established and new lab spaces on campus. Here are some of the SURFs and other research on campus in summer 2014.

Watch for announcements for summer 2015!

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CATCH the WAVE

Research in the Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory with a Donation from Paul Sauracker

With financial support from the Dean’s Discretionary Fund (in the School of Engineering and Applied Science), using a donation made by Mr. Paul Sauracker, a talented group of students from varied age groups and educational backgrounds, was able to work with Dr. Sina Rabbany, Hofstra’s Jean Nerken Professor of Engineering and director of the Bioengineering Program, on research examining the role of biomechanical forces on endothelial cells (ECs) – the cells that make up the structure of blood vessels. The hope is that by creating cell culture conditions that maintain the cells in a more physiologic condition, the ECs may be more accurately characterized. Two of the Saueracker Scholars are rising juniors and bioengineering majors, Nickolas Boroda from Massapequa, New York, and Pierre Llanos, from Oceanside, New York. The third beneficiary of the research fund is Andrew Wong, from Manhasset, New York, a graduate of Tulane University who is serving as a design engineer for the devices created to study the ECs. Joining Nick, Pierre, Andrew and Dr. Rabbany in the Cell and Tissue Engineering Lab this past summer were Hofstra senior Ryan Farley, from Tampa, Florida, whose senior design project is related to the other students’ research; Andrew Constenoble, a high school student from Port Washington, New York, interning in the lab and working on a submission for the Intel Science Competition; and Dr. Nick Merna, a postdoctoral research associate who came to Hofstra from the University of California, Irvine.

According to Dr. Rabbany, Nick, Pierre and Andrew Wong are studying EC response to varying microenvironmental conditions, in the hopes of presenting a more complete picture of the cell’s behavior. Nick, who outside the lab is an resident assistant at Hofstra and president of AEPi fraternity, is conducting research focused on “conformational changes in EC in controlled microenvironments.” Pierre, a mentor and tutor for younger students in Hofstra’s CSTEP (Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program), is working on “characterization of shear induced ECs using atomic force microscopy.” Andrew’s research is on design of a bioreactor to expose cells to laminar shear stress.

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Ryan is studying how human cells’ cytoskeleton allows cells to interpret and react to forces of pressure and blood shear (flow). He hopes to gain a better understanding of the role played by the cell architecture in these responses by inhibiting different cell elements like actin and microtubules. Dr. Rabbany is encouraged that with the assistance of his new postdoc, Dr. Nick Merna, his group will be able to elucidate the role of biomechanical forces imparted on ECs by blood flow on signal transduction and gene expression.

This will provide insights into the molecular mechanisms by which hemodynamic factors regulate the vascular system during health and disease.

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CATCH the WAVE Lister Chemistry Fellows Dive Into Summer Research Projects

by Ginny Greenberg The text below was extracted from http://news.hofstra.edu/2014/08/05/lister-chemistry-fellows-dive-into-summer-research-projects/.

Through the newly established Lister Summer Fellowships, three Hofstra University chemistry majors were given the opportunity to stay on campus to work on individual research projects June-August under the mentorship of a Hofstra chemistry professor.

The inaugural Lister Fellows are Faith Fowler of Issaquah, WA; Amanda Stashin of Massapequa, NY; and Edward Zhou of Poughkeepsie, NY.

Faith Fowler and Dr. Ling Huang Senior Faith Fowler is pursuing a BS in forensic science and working with Professor Ling Huang on research geared toward law enforcement and its ability to quickly analyze emerging synthetic designer drugs. For her work, Faith has access to a state-of-the-art nuclear magnetic resonance (pictured above). In her proposal, Faith wrote, “The availability and use of designer drugs in America has increased greatly over the past several years. When drugs are very new, and when a crime lab is charged with identifying and quantifying substances, they are often unprepared and may have difficulty in their analyses.” Faith and Dr. Huang are also developing methods using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis (which is what most crime labs are currently using) and high-performance liquid chromatography.

Amanda Stashin and Dr. Bisceglia

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Senior chemistry major Amanda Stashin is working to characterize the metal composition of residential street sediment and its potential to make its way into Long Island’s natural waters. She is working under the guidance of Professor Kevin Bisceglia and developing protocols to measure levels of lead, mercury, arsenic, and heavy metal carcinogens. There is a tendency, indicates Dr. Bisceglia, to think that street sediment across local municipalities would be the same, but factors such as frequency of street cleaning, land use, density, and traffic patterns can lead to vastly different measurements and impact on the environment. State-of-the-art instrumentation for analyzing specimens has just recently arrived in the Chemistry Department, and this will allow Amanda to continue her research through the fall semester and possibly spring 2015. Amanda and Dr. Bisceglia are working in cooperation with Hofstra’s Sustainability Studies Program and School of Engineering and Applied Science.

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Edward Zhou and Dr. Mundorff Senior biochemistry major Edward Zhou, who has been working with Professor Emily Mundorff since his freshman year, is studying a family of enzymes, haloalkane dehalogenases (HLD), which have properties that may be used to clean environmental pollution, decontaminate chemical welfare agents and manufacture other chemicals. Edward’s research involves identifying members of the HLD family and expanding understanding of HLD enzymes. Edward is president of the student chapter of the American Chemical Society on campus. He is in the 4+4 Program (BS-BA/MD), which will allow him to enter Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine after he completes his undergraduate studies.

The Lister Fellowships were made possible by a $250,000 gift from Dr. Bruce Lister and his spouse, Doris Lister, in 2013. “Science majors often cite cost and the need to obtain summer employment as a reason they cannot spend more time on research work in their field of study,” said Dr. Lister, who wants to help alleviate that burden for promising young scientists. The selected students received a $3,500 stipend and a grant to cover 50 percent of their on-campus housing costs.

Students in a program in the Department of Chemistry are selected as Lister Summer Fellows on the basis of academic achievement, research potential and demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in science research.

The three fellowship recipients will write a report about their research and participate in a public presentation of their work at Undergraduate Research Day in December 2015.

CATCH the WAVE Carissa Lackey and Allyson Loy are BIO-SURF students, whose summer fellowships were sponsored by EMD Serono, Inc. EMD Serono has a longstanding commitment to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

As a company with more than 40 years of dedication to the life sciences community, EMD Serono works to ensure that students are educated and enthusiastic about science-based career opportunities. EMD Serono believes it is essential to continue to nurture our future scientific leaders, ultimately contributing to future scientific discoveries on behalf of patients. Allyson Loy worked with Professor Nathan Rigel, and Carissa Lackey worked with Professor Nicholas Santangelo.

Carissa Lackey Carissa Lackey provides the following narrative of her research interests: Neuroscience has been an interest of mine since high school. At the age of 15, I had a life-saving brain surgery, and that experience left me fascinated with the inner workings of the brain, and led to my pursuit of a degree in biology with a pre-med concentration. I will graduate in December 2014 and I plan to enter medical school in fall 2015. As I look forward to a career in the medical field, neurology still stands out to me as my primary field of interest. Thus, my involvement in a research project exploring neurohormone mechanisms and their effect on behavior has been both exciting and integral in my training.

The goal of my project is to expand on current comparative research efforts in exploring the evolution of neurohormone pathways that enable pair bonding and biparental care in monogamous species. While we know much about the neurohormonal pathways involved in monogamy and parental care in more recently evolved taxa like birds and mammals, we know little about the corresponding pathways in more ancestral taxa such as fish. The species of focus for this project is the convict cichlid, a popular aquarium fish native to Central America that exhibits a specific division of labor within parental pairs. This species provides a unique opportunity for this research because monogamy and biparental care in fish is rare. Of the 465 families of teleost fish, biparental care has only been observed in about 13 percent of them. In this species, males mainly defend territories while females mainly provide direct care of the offspring. Both sexes also engage in each other’s activities making their pair bond dynamic in which there is a continual coordination between them of each other’s duties. So, despite an ancestral neural architecture, this species exhibits complex behaviors typically associated with higher order taxa, making it an ideal species with which to assess the evolution of the role of known neural hormones involved in monogamy.

Specifically, I am exploring vasotocin, the fish homologue of mammalian vasopressin, which has been linked to monogamy and parental care. Immunocytochemistry techniques will be utilized to assess the neuronal patterns of vasotocin and the associated changes in patterns as each sex transitions through various parental states. For example, males and females who are single nonparental, paired nonparental, paired parental, and single parental (i.e., individual whose mate has been removed after spawning) will be assessed and compared. By establishing which populations of vasotocin neurons in the brain are active during these various behavioral states, this project not only will add to our understanding of the evolution of this important social behavior hormone, but also will shed light on the ancestral neural regions and mechanisms involved in biparental care. This will help expand our understanding of the evolution of pair bonding and parental care from a functional neuroanatomical perspective.

Allyson Loy Allyson Loy, from Ledyard, Connecticut, is a rising senior majoring in biology. She is the secretary of Beta Beta Beta, the National Biology Honor Society; a member of Hofstra’s women’s ultimate Frisbee team; a tutor for precalculus and introductory biology courses; and a teaching assistant for the BIO 011 lab. Her interest in research led her to Dr. Rigel’s lab to study bacterial protein export pathways. After graduation, Allyson plans to pursue a PhD in biomedical science. In her present research project, Allyson is investigating the twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathways found in the bacterium Acinetobacter baylyi. The Tat pathway is used to transport fully folded proteins across the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane. Tat substrates are important for biogenesis of the bacterial cell envelope and may even contribute toward virulence of bacterial pathogens. To better understand the Tat pathway, Allyson used a bioinformatic approach to predict all the potential Tat substrates in A. baylyi. She is now testing her predictions by constructing mutants in the predicted substrates and tracking their export.

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CATCH the WAVE NEW!

Dean Bernard J. Firestone Fellowship in the Liberal Arts Mr. Donald Schaefer, a member of the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board, and his wife, Joan, have endowed the Dean Bernard J. Firestone Fellowship in the Liberal Arts to support summer research for undergraduates in the humanities and social sciences. The Firestone Fellowship will be awarded yearly to several students in the humanities or social sciences to conduct research during the summer with members of the faculty in an area of mutual interest. The intent is to allow students to pursue research without having to hold a summer job at the same time.

Firestone Fellows 2014 Marissa Espinoza, Economics Ms. Marissa Espinoza will study the institutional and historical origins of the new policy regime that the Federal Reserve launched in response to the economic crisis of 2008. In particular, her interest is in the role played by the larger macroeconomic policy debates within the profession, and in pressures internal to the Federal Reserve’s committee structure.

The reviewers were impressed with her proposal’s analytical scope and precision.

Ms. Espinoza is an economics major and is advised by Dr. Laurence Krause.

Julie Rafatpanah, Global Studies Ms. Julie Rafatpanah’s project focuses on the political, economic and human rights aspects of the diamond trade. Her question is whether the recent break-up of the De Beers monopoly will have a salutary effect on workers and on wider development efforts. The reviewers found it to be “well written, thoughtful, and an ambitious but focused project.” Ms. Rafatpanah is majoring in global studies and is advised by the department chair, Dr. Grant Saff.

NEW!

Housing for Summer Research at Hofstra

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Last year the University announced a special opportunity for on-campus summer housing for students engaged in summer undergraduate research at Hofstra in the fields of engineering and applied science (engineering and computer science) or in the natural sciences (biology, biochemistry, chemistry, environmental resources, forensic science, geology, physics, sustainability studies, urban ecology). Other fields may be eligible based on the nature of the research and use of Hofstra resources.

Students engaged in summer research at Hofstra with Hofstra faculty in any of the above listed programs are eligible for either 1) a 75 percent summer room grant, if they are not taking a Hofstra course for credit during that time; or 2) a 100 percent room grant if they are registered for any natural science or engineering course work during that time.

The grant does not cover a dining plan or other expenses; some summer fellowships (SURFs, see pages 22-26) are available for living expenses.

Students can submit a brief letter of intent (with a short description of the planned research, the research supervisor’s name, and an indication of the intended course work, if applicable). Submit materials to the departmental chairperson.

Deadline: March 31, 2015.

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CATCH the WAVE Student conference travel for research presentations

Erin Reagan, representing the Hofstra chapter of Student Members of the American Chemical Society, receives the chapter award at the yearly conference in Dallas, March 2014.

Hofstra’s undergraduate researchers increasingly present their research at local, regional, national or even international conferences or professional meetings, with funding from the University. Such presentation takes a great deal of preparation and poise, beyond the research itself, and represents an opportunity to test one’s ideas or research results with a general, highly trained audience and constitutes a big step toward professional success in that field. Such exposure also demonstrates a student’s potential for future research productivity to graduate and professional schools, and employers.

Jayni Shumila waving her poster like a bullfighter outside the conference in downtown Dallas.

Hofstra undergraduate chemistry researchers at the Chemistry and Materials for Energy conference in Dallas, Texas.

Chika Okuyama presenting her research on “Francis Ford Coppola and Japanese Culture” at the Second Annual Society of Cinema and Media Studies Undergraduate Conference at the University of Oklahoma City in Norman, OK, in April 2014, and in poster format at Hofstra Undergraduate Research Day in May 2014.

Sean Kelly presented his paper “The Same Old Song and Dance: Euripides’ Electra” at Miami University in Ohio at the 13th Annual Undergraduate Classics Conference, and at the University of Tennessee at the Third Annual Undergraduate Classics Conference.

Erin Reagan, Tami Longjohn, Jayni Shumila, and Kristen Brown at the American Chemical Society conference.

Carla Pozo Insualito presenting her paper at the Latin American Studies Conference at SUNY-Binghamton in March 2014.

27 Melissa Pagnotta at the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing in Tampa, FL (at the Berkeley Preparatory School).

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Undergraduate Library Research Award Established in 1997 by the Hofstra University Library faculty, the Undergraduate Library Research Award (ULRA) recognizes excellence in academic research by a graduating senior. Each year, two awards of $500 are given by the Provost’s Office and the Library. Past winners have come from the departments of Fine Arts, Design, Art History; History; Music; Political Science; Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences; Global Studies and Geography; and Psychology.

In addition to the $500 prize, winning papers are published on the ULRA website during the academic year following the granting of the award, and winning authors are featured in Hofstra Horizons of Undergraduate Research magazine.

PATRICK TIERNEY: “Practical Skepticism, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love to Doubt”

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Patrick Tierney spent the summer after graduation in May 2014 interning at the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities before going on in the fall to George Washington University Law School, where he has received a full scholarship. As a dual philosophy and political science major, Patrick brings a depth of reflection to current events. Indeed, the topic of his departmental honors essay in philosophy (under the direction of Professor Mark McEvoy) prepares him almost too well for life in Washington, DC; the title, with Strangelovian overtones, is “Practical Skepticism, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love to Doubt.” There he takes an in-depth look at a fundamental problem in epistemology (of how we know what we know) of skepticism, or the claim that people are unable to obtain any sort of absolute knowledge. His thesis argues two major points, one general and the other, a specific claim by Keith Lehrer in his essay “Why Not Skepticism?” The first is that skepticism is unavoidable and argues that there is no way to have knowledge in an absolute, objective sense. Patrick defends this assertion by criticizing many types of beliefs that many claim to constitute knowledge, as well as several epistemologies that attempt to provide criteria for the attainment of knowledge, but he also refutes several objections made in direct response to Lehrer’s “Why Not Skepticism?” The second point is that, although unavoidable, skepticism is not unproblematic, an issue raised in Lehrer’s essay, and the solution presented in his paper and supported in Patrick’s proposes the replacement of knowledge with subjective probabilities. For his honors essay, Patrick won the Undergraduate Library Research Award. He calls his thesis “the most intense but also most rewarding project” he undertook at Hofstra. In addition to the library research award, Patrick was inducted into The Phi Beta Kappa Society.

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KATHERINE PACHNOS: “G’day, Gothic!

The British Gothic, Cloudstreet, and Contemporary Australian Consciousness” During her semester abroad, Katherine (Katie) Pachnos noticed Australians’ strange aversion to their history. In her senior thesis in English under the advisement of Dr. Scott Harshbarger, Katie decided to explore the Gothic tradition in British literature and how it ends in present-day Australian consciousness, reflected in the Australian novel Cloudstreet (1991), in order to frame the idea of the “Great Australian Silence” about its peculiar history as a convict colony.

In addition to her research, Katie has held multiple internships in publishing while at Hofstra. She graduated in May 2014 with a double major in global studies and English (with a concentration in publishing) and a minor in music. She worked as an editorial intern at St. Martin’s Press and had also done freelance copyediting work; immediately after graduation, she was offered and has accepted a position with Bedford, Freeman, & Worth Publishing Group in Manhattan. In addition, Katie is a harpist and has played in nearly every musical ensemble at Hofstra. She was the first harpist to play in a Sikh ensemble. Katie always thought her dream career would be “editor by day, harpist by night,” which has already become a reality.

2014 HONORABLE MENTIONS ELIZABETH L. DRISCOLL • “Here to Stay: Guidelines for a Legal and Balanced Compromise on the Use of Drones,” for Dr. Kari Jensen, Honors Essay, GS100: Global Studies and Geography.

ROSS NIKIDES • “The Summit Series, Wayne Gretzky, and the Globalization of Hockey: From National Culture to a Global Business,” for Dr. Brenda J. Elsey, Honors Essay, HIST100: History.

BENJAMIN SCHAEFER • “Mostar: Building Bridges between Ethnic Tensions,” for Dr. Sally D. Charnow, Honors Essay, HIST100: History.

Colonial Academic Alliance The Colonial Academic Alliance (CAA) is the parallel organization to the Colonial Athletic Association. In 2002 the provosts of the member schools decided that their association should focus not only on athletic competition, but also on student academic achievement. The Colonial Academic Alliance was founded in order to develop, promote and facilitate collaborative programs and resourcesharing to enhance academic quality and institutional effectiveness among the member institutions: College of Charleston, University of Delaware, Drexel University, Elon University, Hofstra University, James Madison University, University of North Carolina – Wilmington, Northeastern University, Towson University, and The College of William & Mary.

Each year the CAA sponsors an Undergraduate Research Conference in the spring semester hosted by a member school. Up to 10 students from each member school present their research either as a poster or as a short lecture; students travel together with faculty or staff to represent their institution. The host school displays its resources with tours and lectures by outstanding faculty.

The conferences generally also offer meetings on diverse topics of interest and use to students, such as a session on prestigious scholarships (and how to apply), on graduate school, on ethics and honor codes, and on environmental best practices. In such ways, CAA member schools learn from one another and share ideas at all levels.

In the 2013-14 year, the CAA welcomed a new executive director, Dr. John Bader, with vast experience in university administration, undergraduate research and fellowship advisement. Dr. Bader has begun to bring the dialogue among member schools and coordination of initiatives to a new level.

Hofstra University has hosted the event twice (in 2005 and 2011), the second time in order to coincide with the University’s yearlong 75th anniversary celebration (which began in September 2010). In 2014 Towson University also very graciously hosted for the second time, and Hofstra students were delighted to participate in events there and spend time on their beautiful campus outside of Baltimore.

Dr. Donahue escorted the group and drove the van.

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For images from past conferences, visit hofstra.edu/Research/research_ undergraduate_photos_caa.html.

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Mentor From Hofstra’s History Hofstra alumni are invited to nominate a full-time faculty member who supervised their advanced undergraduate research and guided them in both professional and intellectual ways toward developing their own ideas, pursuing their research, drawing conclusions and presenting those ideas in public through presentation or publication. Mentors from Hofstra’s history will be profiled in each issue of Hofstra Horizons of Undergraduate Research. The chosen faculty mentor will have had a great impact on undergraduate research at the advanced level of any discipline (in terms of the number of students or the degree of impact on an individual, i.e., the breadth or depth of influence and engagement). A historical perspective will be most welcome: How has the nominating student developed professionally since then? Looking back, did that undergraduate research experience have an impact and shape the future?

To nominate a faculty mentor, alumni should visit hofstra.edu/Research/research_mentor_history.html.

Letters of nomination with a description of the nominee’s mentoring activities should not exceed 500 words and should emphasize the most salient qualities of the faculty mentor’s influence and engagement with background information and anecdotal illustrations, if possible, to show how that mentor made a substantial difference toward enabling the success of a particular student or group of students.

With questions, please contact the editor of Hofstra Horizons of Undergraduate Research, Neil H. Donahue, at neil.h.donahue@hofstra.edu.

2014 RECIPIENT HERBERT D. ROSENBAUM, Political Science, Hofstra Editor’s comment: Professor of Political Science Herbert D. Rosenbaum was a member of the Hofstra faculty from 1952 to 1991 and a founding member of the Political Science Department, for which he twice served as chairman. After emigrating from Germany in 1937 and serving in the U.S. Army in World War II in the South Pacific from 1943 to 1946, he graduated from New York University in 1949, earned an MA from Columbia University in 1951 and PhD from Columbia in 1967.

He specializes then and now in state and local politics, especially of suburbia. He and his wife, Nikki, live in Rockville Centre, New York.

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In a recent meeting over lunch, Herb recounted his beginnings as a teacher, once he had returned from the war (World War II) and still needed to finish high school. In Germany before emigrating to the United States, Herb had trained and apprenticed as a machinist and was not university-bound in that educational track system, but he was able to use his skills as a machinist in the Army on his base in New Zealand. Once back in New York, his still-new home, and at the advice of the Veterans Administration, he enrolled at the Rhodes School in midtown (recently relocated) to earn his high school diploma and then

Mentor From Hofstra’s History moved on to New York University’s School Corey Bearak, Class of 1977, government and public of Education. There he was asked one day affairs counsel, comments succinctly: “Herb Rosenbaum out of the blue to teach a class on basic exemplifies the best in teaching at Hofstra; he’s an economics at a high school in Long Island intellectual giant who never makes you feel ill at ease in his City – and the class would be observed. presence. He encourages you.”

Herb responded with enthusiasm, worked up some material and at the appointed his birth as a teacher was time went to the class. It clicked, and he simply “Do not lean on the felt then and there, after all his travels, “like he radiator.” We do not know had come home” and he knew that he wanted the extent to which Herb to teach: it was a transformative moment. That leaned on radiators in his later day sitting there with Herb I felt that I had arrived at the ‘primal scene,’ the point of origin, career, but he went on to the revelatory moment and beginning of Herb’s enter the Graduate School at Columbia University where lifelong journey as a teacher and mentor. But he studied political science he then added a note: the observer from the and one day heard about a school had slipped out midway through the job at Hofstra College on session and left a note in a sealed envelope Long Island, a small school only 17 years old that was passed to Herb after the class.

Enthralled by the momentousness of the scene, at the time he began teaching in 1952. He completed his PhD years later while at Hofstra, I anticipated the contents: “A born teacher!” and in his teaching and advice inspired many or “You’re a natural” or at least, “Off to a great generations of Hofstra students to complete start!” Instead, as a nugget of pedagogical their degrees, to study political science and, advice, the observing professional’s sole often enough, to go on in politics and public comment on the moment Herb considered (continued on page 32)

Dr. Shelah Gilbert Leader, Class of 1965, health policy analyst and consultant, comments that Herb “has been a towering figure in my life and the lives of most poli sci majors for decades. He demonstrated an intellectual curiosity and rigor and a passionate commitment to his students, and inspired me to combine public service with research ... His commitment to Hofstra, his students, and the democratic process has been unfailing. He embodies the best of academia.”

In his book A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1997), Lt. Col. Charles W. Dryden, Class of 1955, describes in general his experience in World War II and upon returning from the war in terms of the racism and segregation that characterized American society, united against fascism abroad, but still racially divided at home. He came to Hofstra in the late ’50s to get his degree and worked with Professor Rosenbaum. When recalling his experiences of racism abroad, and in the armed forces and in the United States in general, he sums up: “First of all, in spite of the many ‘ugly Americans’ I have encountered who savaged my spirit by their bigotry, there have been a number of ‘lovely Americans’ who salvaged my self-esteem by their decency [including] college professors Mario Carbone and Herbert Rosenbaum” (393). Earlier in the work he had already introduced his mentor: “Professor Herbert Rosenbaum, a Jew, had been a teenager in Germany during Hitler’s Third Reich, enduring the horrors of Nazi brutality. Herb was a superb teacher, a brilliant scholar who knew how to get his students to focus on the essential essence of a course of study” (341), and he describes one of his exams: “From that experience I learned how to study and to prepare for examinations in any subject by designing ‘heart-ofthe-matter’ questions and then answering them fully ... Professor Rosenbaum and I became good friends ...” (341).

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Mentor From Hofstra’s History (continued from page 31)

service with his example at the back of their minds as a model of comportment, probity and intellectual curiosity as well as wit, sympathetic understanding and human warmth. In alignment with his early training as a machinist, though at a distance, Herb spent his career at Hofstra explaining to generations of students how things work (in the machinery of politics)

and making things work better (in faculty governance and collegiality).

Just a few of the many comments about Herb Rosenbaum submitted to the Mentor from Hofstra’s History nomination page (hofstra.edu/ Research/research_mentor_history.html) appear in this segment.

Professor Iva Ellen Deutchmann, Class of 1974: “Herb and I are still in touch with each other after my graduation 40 years ago! Does that tell you anything? He was my advisor in college, but much more than a mere advisor, he was a role model and a friend. Given that I am now myself a professor of political science (thank you, Herb, for inspiring a good career for me and the wonderful letter of recommendation that got me into University of Pennsylvania for my PhD!), I can tell you I have modeled myself after Herb. In other words, I have tried to be a mentor and friend to many of my students; when some of them are in touch with me 20 years later, I know I have succeeded. They thank me; they should thank Herb. One story illustrates what he’s meant to me. In 2004 I was a visiting scholar in Australia and I was doing a class on the 2004 election. And, of course, everyone wanted to know who was going to win. And I said, “when I was in college, and there was an election going on, we asked the same question. And my dearest professor, who we would ask this of, always said POLITICAL SCIENCE is not fortune telling! So, from Herb to me to you: Political science is not fortune telling! I have no idea who will win.” And the students all laughed ... of course. But it’s true. Thirty years later, then, I was still quoting Herb Rosenbaum. What a great man and an inspiring professor and a terrific friend.”

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Professor Cheryl Block, Class of 1976, professor at Washington University School of Law: “By way of background, I graduated from Hofstra (BA, 1976), majoring in political science. After Hofstra, I attended law school, clerked for a federal district court judge, worked briefly with a New York City law firm, and ultimately became a law professor, now at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Rosenbaum has had a major impact on my professional and personal life. Though I teach law, my ‘political science roots’ are never far behind me. Dr. Rosenbaum continues to be my role model for rigorous thinking and for engaging with students. To this day, I send him draft manuscripts and always appreciate his feedback and astute observations. During my years at Hofstra (1971-1976), I took numerous classes with Dr. Rosenbaum, and he supervised my senior honors thesis. With his encouragement, I also participated in the semester in Washington program, a truly life-changing semester working in Congressman Charles Rangel’s office. To my mind, Dr. Rosenbaum singularly combines three special qualities: 1) high academic standards; 2) a strong sense of social justice; and 3) compassion. Regarding the first, Dr. Rosenbaum demanded intellectual rigor, and top-quality research and writing from his students. His courses were not for the light-hearted. He stressed the value of empirical research, but also the importance of developing a critical eye before drawing conclusions from the data. On a personal note, Dr. Rosenbaum inspired me to dig deep for unusual research sources and to do my very best work for my senior honors thesis. I continue to be proud of the results, and keep a copy on my office shelves. [highlights by editor] My years at Hofstra coincided with dramatic political events, the most significant of which were the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation. I remember many enlightening group and individual conversations with Dr. Rosenbaum as these and other events unfolded. While his remarks were academic and balanced, they also reflected his deep and genuine concern for ‘the American polity’ and for society. Quite simply, he cares. Most important for purposes of this nomination, Dr. Rosenbaum really cared about his students’ education and development. Even after retirement, he continued to actively participate in the department’s annual trip to Washington, D.C. Because I lived in Washington for many years, these trips provided the opportunity to truly keep in touch – a personal treat for me. Finally, Dr. Rosenbaum took a deep personal interest – providing students with personal and professional advice, and treating them with respect and compassion. My most visual memory of him is playing the harmonica on the grass outside the Political Science Department surrounded by students. (It was graduation weekend, I think.) As he watched another cohort of students getting ready to move on, his mood was simultaneously melancholy and proud. I can’t imagine a professor more deserving of this honor.”

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Mentor of the Year Both students and faculty are invited to nominate a full-time faculty member who has supervised advanced undergraduate research and guided students, in both professional and intellectual ways, toward developing their own ideas and pursuing their research and careers. In this context, research refers to advanced work in any field, whether in the laboratory or the library, in the field or on stage, in the studio or in the clinic, and marks the transition of the student into graduate and professional life and on to continued independent and original work. The award will go to a faculty mentor who has had a great impact on undergraduate research at the advanced level in any discipline (in terms of either the number of students or the degree of impact on an individual, i.e., the breadth or depth of influence and engagement).

In the name of one faculty member each year, the Mentor of the Year award also honors all faculty who have supervised and supported undergraduate research with their time, energy and expertise, as an important capstone achievement in the student’s work in a discipline.

2014 RECIPIENT KARI B. JENSEN, Global Studies and Geography, Hofstra Kari B. Jensen, PhD, associate professor of geography in the Department of Global Studies and Geography, has been named this year’s Mentor of the Year, an award now in its third year that honors outstanding faculty supervision of advanced undergraduate research. Dr. Jensen teaches courses in human geography, child labor, cultural globalization, geographic methodology, and the geography of South Asia, and her current research focuses on child labor issues in Bangladesh as well as multicultural youth in the United States and Norway. She also supervises students’ departmental honors projects and internships in both geography and global studies. “There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all model in advisement, so I try to take the time to get to know my students and adjust my involvement according to their needs and interests,” said Dr. Jensen. “I see this award as a great honor, and it’s humbling to get such recognition. It’s fulfilling to work with students on their research and observe how much they are able to develop their thinking and writing.”

Students who nominated Dr. Jensen all mentioned her unwavering commitment: “Dr. Jensen is the most dedicated professor I have ever had the honor of working with. Not only is she brilliant in her field, but she is also highly encouraging and immeasurably helpful,” said one. “She motivated me to go beyond what I thought I was capable of,

and taught me concepts and skills that I will use for a lifetime.” “In the midst of teaching multiple courses, serving as faculty advisor to the Get Global club, acting as advisor on three different honors theses, and conducting her own research work, her devotion to her students’ research is inexhaustible,” added another. “I have never encountered a professor so committed to helping her students excel academically.” The prize is given to a fulltime faculty member who has guided students toward developing original ideas for research in any discipline – from the laboratory or clinic to the library, field, or stage – which marks the transition of the undergraduate student into graduate studies and professional life. In addition to overseeing honors theses, she also works closely with the department’s student club, Get Global, and the Geography Honors Society, and has been a frequent speaker for Center for Civic Engagement events such as Globalization Day and Earth Day. “Dr. Jensen is an extremely talented and well-regarded teacher and academic who has inspired many students to further their studies in geography,” noted department chair, Dr. Grant Saff.

The award reaffirms Hofstra’s recognition of advanced undergraduate research and dedicated faculty supervision as part of its commitment to teaching excellence. Dr. Jensen was presented with the Mentor of the Year award at the Latin Honors Recognition Convocation on Sunday, May 18, 2014.

Previous winners of the award were Mary Ann Allison, associate professor of journalism, media studies, and public relations, and Justin DiAngelo, assistant professor of biology.

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SUPPORT UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Make a gift today to the Undergraduate Research Fund!

The Undergraduate Research Fund will provide Hofstra University undergraduates with the resources to purchase supplies and equipment necessary for their research or performance; or to travel to research or performance sites, such as archives, archaeological digs, or performance venues; or to present research at academic and professional events or conferences. The fund will support students in all disciplines.

Undergraduate research translates theoretical knowledge in any field of study into action ... and into new knowledge! Help Hofstra students engage in supervised research and presentation in their field as a step toward later success in graduate or professional school, and their careers.

Undergraduate research supports student recruitment, engagement and motivation, learning, retention, advanced achievement and postgraduate success, as our many alumni can attest!

A little support goes a long way in helping students realize their ambitions by pursuing their research and presenting their findings.

Your gift will enable current Hofstra students to perform and present at the highest levels in their disciplines, which, in turn, helps the University attract the best and brightest undergraduates. Your gift is fully tax-deductible and will help ensure that Hofstra graduates have the skills and knowledge to rise to the top of their field, and beyond.

To make an easy and secure contribution online, please visit hofstra.edu/gur.

For questions about giving to the Undergraduate Research Fund, please contact: Dawne M. Alvarado Office for Development, 101B Hofstra Hall, 101 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549-1010 Email: Dawne.Alvarado@hofstra.edu • Phone: 516-463-5821

Thank you for your support!

Special thanks go to the following individuals for their donations to the Undergraduate Research Fund, without which this magazine and the undergraduate research activities it describes would not be possible to the same degree.

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Mr. John and Professor Barbara Bohannon Professor Jacqueline Grennon Brooks Professor Russell Burke Professor Neil H. Donahue Professor Scott B. Harshbarger Mr. Michael LaFemina, Class of 2007

Mrs. Mary K. Milana Professor Maureen O. Murphy Dr. Sharon Oster, Class of 1970 Professor Sina Rabbany Dr. Elliott Sclar, Class of 1963 Professor Sabrina G. Sobel 54571:10/14

I also wish to thank Dawne Alvarado, Herman Berliner, Russell Burke, Rita Corbett, Jessica Eads, Ginny Greenberg, Marisa Higgins, Rachel List, Phil Marino, Jessica Molinari, Rosanna Perotti, Sina Rabbany, Herb Rosenbaum, Neena Samuel, Sabrina Sobel, Geri Solomon, and of course, Vicki Dwyer, Kelvin Fonville, Linda Merklin, and Denise Sarian (layout and design), along with all others who have taken an interest and provided helpful thoughts or photographs, for their assistance with this issue. — NHD Hofstra HORIZONS of Undergraduate Research t FALL 2014

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