The Research Paper (TRP), Spring 2009 by The Research Paper

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Feature Articles

Vol VIII Issue 2

Cornell’s Undergraduate Research Magazine

Smile! It Can Help You Remember... Human Ecology

Molecular Dynamics in Organic Semiconductor Thin Films Engineering

Filling the Bread Basket: Sustainable Bread Production Agriculture and Life Sciences

Agriculture and Life Sciences Feature

Cerebrospinal Fluid Purification: A Potential Emergency Helper? By Jessica Kendra ’10

Arts and Sciences Feature

The Politics of Pop Culture

8 10 1 0

The Weight Loss Product Advertising Industry Human Ecology Potential Cure For HIV?: Exploring “Roadblocks” for the RSV Chicken Arts and Sciences

By Reeva Makhijani ’10

Faculty Feature The Integrity Dividend By Daniel Kaufman ’09

Politics of Pop Culture 11 1 1 The Arts and Sciences

Engineering Feature

Union Views on Immigration 13 1 3 Exploring Industrial and Labor Relations

Avipox Virus Reaches Ithaca Crows

Brains, Babies and the Basics of Infant Cognition Human Ecology

Surfing the slo Channels of the Lobster Nervous System Agriculture and Life Sciences

12 12

By Abubakar Jalloh ‘10

Human Ecology Feature

1 6 16

“I’m So Over You!” By Jamie Feigenbaum ’11

“The Research Paper, an independent student organization located at Cornell University, produced and is responsible for the content of this publication. This publication was not reviewed or approved by, nor does it necesarily express or reflect the policies or opinions of, Cornell University or its designated representatives.”

~Check Us Out on the Web~ http://www.research.cornell.edu/TRP/default.htm Cover Photo by Raihan Faroqui

The Research Paper Spring 2009

The People Behind The Research Paper The Research Paper is an independent student publication about undergraduate research, created by and for undergraduates.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MANAGING EDITORS EXECUTIVE EDITOR TREASURER DESIGN EDITOR ASST. DESIGN EDITORS

ADVISOR

Kevin Coughlin Evan Bander Jamie Feigenbaum Steven Sachs Jason Bierig Raihan Faroqui David Byun Sophia Lu Reeva Makhijani Natalie Masis David DeVries

COPY EDITORS

ASST. COPY EDITORS

WEBMASTER

Daniel Kaufman Andrew McReynolds Paul Valle Paul Weiner Grace Chen Haixin Dang Deirdre Dulak Andrzej Ejsmont Abubakar Jalloh Daniel Szmirmak Lesley Yorke

THE VISION STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PAPER Our vision as the founders of The Research Paper is to create a magazine that humanizes research on all levels. We believe that research is as much about self-discovery as it is about achievement. In addition to showing the outstanding research that is done here at Cornell, we also aim to show the uniqueness, creativity, and personality of each researcher to all of our readers. We do this by focusing our articles on who the researcher is, what they are involved in both at Cornell and in their local communities, and what their future visions and aspirations are.

Acknowledgements The Research Paper is funded in part by:

Dr. Michele Moody-Adams Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education

Dr. Robert A. Buhrman Senior Vice Provost for Research

ILR Dean Harry Katz Student Assembly Finance Commission

The Research Paper would like to thank the following people and groups for supporting the success of the magazine: Krisin Ramsay of CPRS Michele M. Moody-Adams Isaac Kramnick Robert Richardson Dean David DeVries Linda Grace Kobas CURA

Janet McCue Jim Morris-Knower Emily Posner Jack Cognetta Brandon Goldberg Lesley Yorke Mann Library

And all those who have supported our hard-working staff.

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Cerebrospinal Fluid Purification: A Potential Emergency Helper? College of Agriculture and Life Sciences By Jessica Kendra ’10

injuries more effectively. Shah is no stranger to the lab: he has been involved in For four years undergraduate pre-medical students sit in laboratory science since his freshman year of high school. He classrooms facing challenging organic chemistry exams and enrolled in a high school research lab course during his freshcounting flies under a microscope. Keeping the endgame of a man year and soon found himself in Columbia University’s career in medicine in mind can sometimes be a struggle. For summer research series for molecular biology and genetics. The summer after his junior year those with a desire to help people, in high school, Shah worked on his the long road can be frustrating. But Neil Shah has found a way to make The CSF-detecting kit, however, first project at Stony Brook under Dr. James Dilger, designing a theothe long journey worthwhile; he has embraced research as a means of would allow medical personnel to retical muscle relaxant to increase efficiency of anesthetics at a improving the lives of others while quickly recognize whether they are the lower dosage. Shah succeeded in preparing for a medical education. his design, but was surprised to find During summers at Stony Brook hitting a sack pre-insertion it wasn’t a feasible solution. He was Medical Center, under Dr. Srinivas grateful for the experience, since it Pentyala’s guidance, Shah worked with a team to purify the “Cerebrospinal Fluid” (CSF) protein, gave him firsthand experience of the limitations and challenges a critical step in his lab team’s overall neurobiological research researchers often face. Though he worked briefly with parasites and worms at project. Many chromatography columns, gel electrophoreses, Cornell, Shah’s passion lays in the more medically-related and western blots later, his team was able to purify the CSF protein, an integral macromolecule that circulates through the clinical and translational research. He further pursued his central nervous system. Dr. Pentyala, Director of Translational interest in medicine during a summer undergraduate research Research at Stony Brook University, has continued with this program at New York University, where he worked on a joint project aiming to develop a kit that enables medical use of the replacement registry project. The project involved tracking patients’ conditions and responses CSF protein. Shah was also exto operations and treatments from posed to Pentyala’s business-like pre-surgery through post-surgery. attitude with regards to research, a Shah participated in walking novel and interesting perspective. patients through the pre-surgery Occasionally, when doctors questionnaire, obtaining medical administer epidurals during childhistories, and performing physical birth, they miss the spine and range-of-motion examinations. instead puncture the pregnant This direct interaction with pamother’s cerebrospinal sack. tients reaffirmed his desire to be Because cerebrospinal fluid circuinvolved with patient care. lates throughout the entire central Shah has had a long-standing nervous system, the insertion of interest in science and improving the needle results in complete temthe lives of others. He sees the porary paralysis and the patient is value of the work he does, which forced to undergo an avoidable motivates him. Even when his C-section. The CSF-detecting kit, however, would allow medical Courtesy Neil Shah assignment is not one he relishes, Shah keeps the end product in personnel to quickly recognize whether they are hitting a sack pre-insertion, thus avoiding mind and puts forth his best effort. A senior this year, Shah potential complications. Additionally, paramedics may use spends his limited free time dancing on the Cornell Raas team. Shah plans to attend medical school and is interested the kit to examine trauma patients; they can test for leakage of cerebrospinal fluid from the nose, which determines the sever- in surgery because it is very precise and hands-on. He has ity of possible head injuries. Because this leaked cerebrospinal embraced researching alongside the practice of medicine, fluid is often misdiagnosed as a cold or sinus infection, with the and recognizes that a career in medicine requires a lifetime of aid of this kit, paramedics and physicians would treat patient learning. Ultimately, Shah is most excited by the prospect of entering into a profession in which he can improve people’s Jessica Kendra ‘10 is a student in the College of Agriculture and lives. Life Sciences. She can be reached at jkk67@cornell.edu

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Smile! It Can Help You Remember... College of Arts and Sciences By Simin Zhang ’11 Jamie Feigenbaum is all about the people. A senior Biology & Society major in the College of Human Ecology, Feigenbaum works in Professor Joseph Mikels’s Emotion & Cognition Laboratory. Their research concentrates on gerontology, the study of the social, psychological, and biological aspects of aging. As Feigenbaum emphasizes, the baby boom generation is graying, and it is more imperative than ever to study the cognitive processes of the older generation in order to better develop public policy and healthcare. More specifically, Feigenbaum’s work concentrates on how older adults’ emotional abilities can help improve their memory. Although cognitive abilities tend to decline with age, emotional abilities actually seem to improve. Older individuals are less easily upset, find their lives more fulfilling, and have fewer regrets about the past than younger people do. Whereas young adults pay more attention to negative events (negativity bias), older people pay more attention to positive events (positivity bias). Feigenbaum examines what kinds of information older adults remember best and whether that is correlated with the way they process memories emotionally. In other words, she is comparing emotional processing in memory between older and younger adults. Even as early as high school, Feigenbaum has been fascinated with people. She worked in an infancy studies lab, investigating the development of infants at risk for learning disabilities based on the personal histories of their parents and older siblings. Since she enjoyed this work, she decided to seek similar research in college. With the help of Ms. Brenda Brecker, who took a personal interest in Feigenbaum’s potential, Feigenbaum identified a laboratory that perfectly matched her interests: Dr. Joseph Mikels’s Emotion & Cognition Laboratory. “It was the lab environment I wanted to work in,” Feigenbaum explained, “I love the people I work with.” During the summer, the research team gathers data from senior centers in Ithaca and New York City to develop a representative sample of participants who are 65 and older. Simin Zhang ‘10 is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at sz84@cornell.edu

Normally, the lab has participants perform a few mental and emotional tasks, such as playing a gambling game, or shopping for a hypothetical car, vacation, or apartment. Sometimes when making a decision, participants are asked to think about all the detailed information they are given about their options, but other times they are asked to just go with their gut feeling. Depending on the study, they might also be asked to complete a survey with detailed follow-up questions. The researchers found that having older adults go with what they feel is their best option really makes them happier. On a daily basis, Feigenbaum does everything from running participants, planning new research, and gathering data for her own project. Her project, supervised by both Mikels and Dr. Charles Brainerd, involves a complicated memory test for older adults, examining if older adults can remember information as well as younger adults if the content of the memory is emotional. It is a project she has worked on tirelessly two years. On average, each project takes about a semester, but sometimes a subject can participate in Courtesy Jamie Feigenbaum three different projects at once, so the lab produces multiple experiments a term. The team of over a dozen undergraduates and the two stellar graduate students work together with Mikels to keep the research running smoothly. Since each project requires about 80 to 160 people for a good statistical sample, there are numerous of people participating in lab activities every week. For Feigenbaum, her favorite aspect is seeing the fruits of her labors: “After you’ve worked on everything: the planning, the protocol, the experiment, the data, and then you run the results and it just makes a beautiful graph…it’s just so NICE!” Despite the elegant simplicity of the experiments, these results “have huge implications economically,” Feigenbaum stated pointedly. Their results show that framing the way information is presented can possibly have an effect on how older adults retain new information. So, rewording the way information is presented can make older adults both more comfortable and help them remember. One relevant example is in healthcare. Doctors can use framing to reword instructions in such a way that the patients associate the information with positive emotions, and thus retain it better. Like Feigenbaum says, “Sometimes you just have to go with your gut decision.”

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Molecular Dynamics in Organic Semiconductor Thin Films College of Engineering By Sakul Ratanalert ’11 Modern day computers get smaller and smaller each passing year, and are able to squeeze more information into tinier spaces. What if that space were able to bend and fold like paper? Current everyday transistors, the basic components of computers, are made from inorganic semiconducting materials, such as silicon and gallium. However, these are materials are fragile and brittle, and not useful for flexible computers. In contrast, organic semiconductors can serve the same purpose but at a lower cost and without the brittleness drawback. When senior Eric First isn’t playing chess or managing the Cornell AIChE website as webmaster, he’s in Olin Hall deciphering the science behind making this dream a reality. Chemical engineering and computer science are First’s primary fields of choice. Because of this combination of majors, First initially found it difficult to find research that complemented both of his interests. In his sophomore year, however, he was directed to Dr. Paulette Clancy, whose research concerned modeling molecular dynamic systems, a computational approach to chemical engineering topics. At her suggestion, he started work the summer before his junior year. According to First, “Molecular dynamics is a deterministic computational approach for studying the thermodynamic, kinetic, and structural properties of a system of molecules by modeling it as a collection of atoms obeying Newton’s Laws of Motion.” Essentially, for each atom there is a set of values for its position, velocity, and acceleration, as per the inputted forces that obey Newton’s Laws. The computer then evaluates the progress of the system for very small time-steps (on the order of a femtosecond, or one quadrillionth of a second), and the end result is a computer simulation of the molecular system. First, with the help of graduate student Joseph Goose, ran these simulations with his own code to help understand the formation of organic semiconductors at a molecular level. Organic semiconductors not only provide a means for flexible computers, but also are cheaper to manufacture. In particular, the molecule pentacene is able to form thin films and behave like a semiconductor. First aimed to analyze the mechanisms that create these films; the smoother the film, the more effective the electronic device. Sakul Ratanalert ‘11 is a student in the College of Engineering. He can be reached at sr486@cornell.edu

But his work had obstacles to overcome: there exists an energy barrier at step edges in chemisty, where an incomplete layer lies on top of a more completed one, known as the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier. This barrier impedes the motion of pentacene molecules trying to slide from atop the upper layer to the lower layer. Thus, instead of forming uniformly smooth thin films, the pentacene stacks vertically. This barrier is due to intermolecular bonds between the pentacene molecules. As a pentacene molecule glides over the edge, it is in contact with fewer pentacene molecules creating obstacles. With the interactions reduced, the energy of the system increases, creating an energy gradient that increases as the pentacene molecule protrudes further over the edge. If the pentacene molecule did not have enough initial energy to overcome this barrier, it then turns around and retreats to a position behind the step edge. The main problem with determining the value of the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier is that it is impossible to determine experimentally, and varies with the substance in question. First worked to create the first quantification of the EhrlichSchwoebel barrier for pentacene films, using the computational techniques he honed in the lab, to produce real values. In the simulation, First specified all the atoms, modeled as spheres, and their parameters, creating a model of two pentacene layers, an incomplete layer on top of a complete one, and a lone pentacene molecule atop them both, with various possible initial orientations (relative to the edge). Then, he forced some parameters to remain constant as he let others change in order to run energy minimization experiments, in which the model would be allowed to behave like a real-life Courtesy Eric First system and reach its lowest, most stable, state. With the energies of these lowest states recorded for various changes in parameters, First was able to construct a plot of potential energy, from which he could extract the peak energy of the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier. Working on this type of research required First to be very organized. While some simulations take minutes to run, others take months due to the enormity of the variables. Currently, First’s group is repeating this method for a form of pure carbon known as a “buckyball”, a soccer ball-shaped formation of sixty carbon atoms. A key difference between pentacene and buckyballs is the orientation; while the energy barrier varies with the orientation of pentacene relative to the edge, buckyballs are perfect spheres and thus do not have any discernible orientation to speak of.

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Principles vs. Compassion: What Determines Our Vote? College of Arts and Sciences By Daniel Szirmak ’11 Even before the historic election that captivated the American population this past fall, Lauren McHugh set out to deter-

[Lauren] wanted to find out whether people voted on topics because of their level of controversy or because the topics appeared more important in the people’s value systems

from the University’s directory. Respondents were asked to compare two fictional candidates, wherein candidate A stated he would vote for a bill that supports the respondent’s stance on a particular issue. Candidate B, on the other hand, stated he would only vote for a bill supporting one of multiple less controversial issues, including malaria nets and homeless refugees. As she hypothesized, the results concluded that while a respondent may vote for a candidate based on a single specific issue, on average the voter does not view that issue as the most tragic.

McHugh’s work strongly suggests that people’s views on what issue is most important is inconsistent with what they view as most tragic

mine what really determines our vote for a politician’s agenda. A junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a Psychology In other words, when people voted based on the contromajor, McHugh had speculated that one’s compassion for an issue may outweigh one’s principle towards it in deciding versy of an issue they actually voted the less controversial issue to be more tragic. As such, between candidates’ platforms. As McHugh proved that principle was such, she wanted to find out whether more important than the compassion a people voted on topics because of voter associated with the issue. While their level of controversy or because there were notable exceptions in her the topics appeared more important study such as the issue of abortion in the people’s value systems. vs. malaria, McHugh’s work strongly As she noted in her paper, if an suggests that people’s views on what issue one bases his or her vote on is issue is most important is inconsistent also assessed as the most tragic iswith what they view as most tragic. sue, there is a harmony between that To politicians and the general voter’s prioritization of the various public alike, McHugh’s process gives issues at hand and a rating of the important insight. As she noted, “For primary issue’s level of tragedy. If 2008’s election and beyond, it brings the converse is true, she asserted, up the issue that a lot of important democracy is not genuine because issues can be overshadowed because voters do not vote on the changes they’re not as fun to argue.” Such they truly want to happen, assuming a conclusion may readily influence of course that people vote to improve today’s politicians to prioritize their conditions they believe are the most agendas in terms of the perceived tragic. controversy of issues. In order to produce relevant It also may prompt the voting findings, McHugh brought up issues Courtesy Lauren McHugh population to take a closer look at of hot topics and pitted them against what really influences their voting, equally important issues which were not as controversial. For example, McHugh compared separa- if personal compassion and the tragedy one associates with tion of church and state with hunger. She selected 620 students certain issues are undermined by hot-button issues. In any case, McHugh’s work sheds unique light on an intriguing aspect of Daniel Szirmak ‘11 is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences. modern politics. He can be reached at dgs88@cornell.edu

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Filling the Bread Basket: Sustainable Bread Production College of Agriculture and Life Sciences By Gary Lam ’09 Lean times call for sustainable, green measures. Even before the economic recession materialized, students at Cornell University were investigating methods to cut costs and bolster environmentally sound initiatives including areas such as food production. On campus, food processing innovation promises to bring forth new future technologies. One leading example of this type of work is exemplified by senior Melvany Kasih, who researches the “Innovative Application of Supercritical Fluid Extrusion (SCFX) in Yeast-free Bread Production.” Since the fall of 2008, Kasih has been meticulously studying this method of bread production with Syed Rizvi, professor at Cornell University’s Institute of Food Science. Kasih’s research passion stemmed from her profound interest in food processing and engineering, especially in extrusion technology. In her project Kasih combined both extrusion and supercritical fluid technology to replace the use of yeast in bread production. Conventional bread production using yeast requires lengthy fermentation time and large proofing areas. In addition, yeast releases substantial amounts of volatile organic compounds such as alcohol. Due to the alcohol emissions, approximately 2500 bakeries in the United States have compliance issues with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPAs) Clean Air Act. In her senior project, Kasih aimed to produce bread rolls using supercritical carbon dioxide extrusion with characteristics similar to that of commercial rolls. Extrusion is a high pressure processing that shapes homogeneous paste through a slit, whereas supercritical CO2¬ is a fluid CO2 that is above its critical point (72.9 atm, 31oC) and contains the characteristics of both liquid and gas states. This duality composes a novel

Due to carbon emissions, approximately 2,500 bakeries in the United States have compliance issues with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Air Act technology that permits continuous production of ready-tobake leavened dough, using extruder to knead the dough and SC-CO¬2 to leaven it. Owing to the absence of yeast fermentation, the processing time is significantly reduced from 4 to Gary Lam ‘09 is a student in the College of Engineering. He can be reached at gl86@cornell.edu

5 hours to 4 to 5 minutes. Moreover, this method of bread processing also eliminates the pollution caused from alcohol emissions while simultaneously reduces costs by decreasing processing time and eliminating proofing areas. Kasih focused her study on obtaining bread rolls with a density comparable to that of commercial products. In doing so, she investigated the effect of extruder configurations, dough formulations, and baking conditions. First, she increased dough

Courtesy Melvany Kasih mixing in the extruder by attaching additional mixer after the injection of supercritical carbon dioxide. She then added several different ingredients to improve dough-handling characteristics such as guar gum and shortening. Finally, she optimized dough expansion during baking by covering the surface of the dough with steam or oil. When combining the three parts of the study together, the synergistic effect on dough density was observed. The study has promising results of applying supercritical fluid extrusion in industrial bread processing. Hailing from her native Indonesia, Kasih is pursuing her B.S. in Food Science and a minor in Business Management. Last summer she completed an internship with PepsiCo studying the performance of preservatives in beverages. On campus she is involved with a handful of local and national organizations. Currently, she is the Chair of Institute of Food Technologists’ Fun Run Committee, which raises money for student scholarships. She is also co-leading Cornell’s Developing Solutions for Developing Countries team, which has been selected as one of the top three U.S./Canada finalists in an international competition. She serves as Vice President of the Ho-Nun-De-Kah Honor Society and as the Treasurer of the Cornell Indonesian Association. In her free time she enjoys hanging out with friends, traveling, and perfecting her cooking skills. Kasih is also a big fan of bubble tea, bread, and Asian foods. In the future Kasih views herself working in the food industry as a product developer, advancing the field of food science through creative innovations.

The Research Paper Spring 2009

The Weight Loss Product Advertising Industry College of Human Ecology By Deirde Dulak ’11

characteristics, health related behaviors, and how often and at what times they watched certain TV shows. With this large One only has to briefly peruse a few tabloid magazines, amount of information, Eisenberg and his fellow researchers newspapers, or television channels before concluding what attempted to link which people saw certain OTC weight loss many consider to be a bona fide fact: Americans are obsessed advertisements. Then they used econometric analysis techwith weight. Whether it is an article about the shockingly niques to analyze the effects that these advertisements had on waif-thin models on the runways sporting the latest designer behavior. After controlling for demographics and television shows trends, a television special documenting the obesity epidemic in America, an episode of The Biggest Loser, or a gossip watched, Eisenberg and his team ran tests separately by column criticizing the recent weight gain of a celebrity “it” gender and uncovered a striking difference between males girl, American society is saturated with weight issues. No and females. On average, women who are exposed to the matter how you spin it, people glorify thinness. Therefore, advertisements are much more likely than men to actually the multitude of advertisements promoting over-the-counter use the OTC weight loss drugs. However, men and women are equally likely to engage in a new (OTC) weight loss products comes as diet and exercise regiment as a result of no surprise—there is clearly a large seeing the advertisements. Thus, while market of potential consumers out there. the ads may spur both men and women Every day, people are bombarded by to alter their diet and exercise habits, the latest promotions from the weight when it comes to actually selling the loss industry that promise to help them OTC weight loss product, they appear lose weight with “insider secrets” and to be much more effective on women. “miracle products.” Many of these Eisenberg hopes the findings of products actually provide consumers this research will help educate policy with little weight loss, if any at all, and makers about the positive and negative some are just downright harmful. effects of the OTC weight loss industry. However, if people know this, then This industry is far from perfect and why do they still buy these products? needs to be modified in the near future. After all, if you ask any doctor the most effective way to lose weight, he or she Courtesy Matthew Eisenberg Unlike the prescription drug ad industry, which is very tightly regulated, the OTC will respond with “eat less and exercise more.” So, are these purchases all due to the advertising? And weight loss advertising industry has no pre-approval process. even if they choose not to buy them, how are people influenced All government regulation of these advertisements is purely by the advertisements? This is what Matthew Eisenberg, a reactive, and there are so many ads in the media that it can Cornell alumnus and recent graduate of the College of Human be very difficult to distinguish the law-abiding ones from the Ecology, has devoted a large portion of his Cornell career to law-breaking ones. However, Eisenberg is optimistic that policy makers will reform the industry without sacrificing researching. Eisenberg, a Rawlings Cornell Presidential Research the advantages of the current system. In a best-case scenario, Scholar who graduated a semester early with honors in Decem- dangerous products would be removed from shelves without ber 2008, devoted his entire thesis to the effects of advertising losing the positive spillover effects of the advertisements in the OTC weight loss product industry. Working under the identified in his research, namely the influence on men and guidance of Professor Rosemary Avery and Professor John women to improve their diet and exercise rituals. While he hopes that his work will have a positive impact Cawley, Eisenberg has taken part in a lengthy econometric analysis to determine the effects of the advertisements on on the regulation of the over-the-counter weight loss ad inconsumer behaviors. In order to study this, his research team dustry, Eisenberg himself has also been greatly influenced by purchased an extensive parcel of information that contained his work. He has really come to appreciate the “depth and a list of all the pharmaceutical advertisements in the United detail aspects of research” and has largely improved his skills States from 1996 to 2006. This included data about where in econometric analysis. Furthermore, he has confirmed that and when each advertisement aired, along with a video-file he wants to pursue research as a career. Eisenberg is curof the ad. They also purchased a Simmons Survey that col- rently involved in many different research projects, including lected raw data on a large number of people’s demographic studies on the effects of smoking, cholesterol, and depression advertisements. He plans on attending graduate school and Deirde Dulak ‘11 is a student in the College of Agriculture and Life pursuing a Ph.D. Sciences. She can be reached at dad265@cornell.edu

The Research Paper Spring 2009

The Integrity Dividend School of Hotel Administration By Daniel Kaufman ’09 Beyond compensation and benefits, what motivates employees to put forth their very best effort? According to Dr. Tony Simons, associate professor in the School of Hotel Administration, employer integrity seems to be a major driver in employee performance. The integrity Simons speaks of refers not to an adherence to moral or ethical principles, but rather an adherence to one’s promises. Simply put, it’s a matter of trust. The basis of Simons’s work lays in the long-held social maxim that people respect those who live by their word. Within the business world, he coined the term behavioral integrity to describe this phenomenon. The concept of behavioral integrity, contrary to its apparent definition, is completely stripped of morality. Essentially, Simons believes that employees are more likely to work hard if they perceive their bosses to “live by their work and their word.” It stands to reason that employees will put forth maximal effort if they believe their superiors are also doing so. However, being motivated by the prospect of employers abiding by their word is an innovative concept in

all levels of employment. After averaging the scores from each hotel, Simons lined up this data against guest satisfaction, employee turnover, and bottom-line profit. He found that higher scores on the survey corresponded to higher guest satisfaction and lower employee turnover. Furthermore, Simons found that one quarter of a point on the ten point employee climate survey scale translated to one quarter of a million dollars in profit. Simons was unsurprised by these startling results, contending that the disparity exists because “managers undermine the power of their words.” Whether it becomes an issue of making promises that can’t be kept, setting unrealistic and unreason-

The basis of Simons’s work lays in the long-held social maxim that people respect those who live by their word. Within the business world, he coined the term behavioral integrity to describe this phenomenon the business world. Simons strongly believes that trust in business relationships is a central component to employee performance, and ultimately, profit. The trust to which he refers is not based in mutual values or ideals. Rather, it is based in the belief that being forthright with regards to intentions and motivations engenders confidence in business relationships, regardless of any inherent morality or lack thereof. The notion that these ideas have bottom-line business impact, although interesting conceptually, has never really been explored empirically. Simons set out to explore the relationship between behavioral integrity in the context of trust in business relationships and employee performance, as well as profit. He conducted employee climate surveys in seventy-six branded hotels across Daniel Kaufman ‘09 is a student in the College of Human Ecology. He can be reached at dgk9@cornell.edu

Courtesy Dr. Tony Simons able goals, or simply deviating from what one has said, it is difficult for managers to live by their word. In the wake of his eye-opening research, Simons recently published a book titled The Integrity Dividend: Learning by the Power of Your Word. The book provides an invaluable resource for managers, offering practical tools for performance appraisal, personal tips for communication patterns, and simple suggestions for making promises in a more realistic manner. Professor Simons presently teaches Organizational Behavior & Interpersonal Skills as well as Negotiations in the Hospitality Industry in the School of Hotel Administration. More information can be found on Simons’ website, www. integritydividend.com.

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Potential Cure for HIV?: Exploring “Roadblocks” for the RSV Chicken College of Arts and Sciences Sciences By Xiaohong Liu ’11 The symptoms of the common cold virus are commonly known—the scratchy throat, runny nose, and pulsing headache. However, the cold eventually dissipates after about a week. However, retroviruses such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are not so feeble. There is no cure for HIV infection; however, labs around the world are currently developing novel treatment methods to stem these viral diseases. At Cornell’s Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, in Professor Volker Vogt’s virology lab, Deepti Mathur, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, and her fellow lab members are searching for a potential solution for the RSV (Rous sarcoma virus), a chicken retrovirus, and potentially even a cure for HIV. A retrovirus such as RSV infects the host mammalian cell, and then employs an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to reverse transcribe its RNA genome into DNA. The DNA then enters the host cell’s nucleus and inserts itself randomly into the host’s DNA genome, thus replicating itself along with the host cell. The viruses then burst out from their original host cell, via the host cell’s membrane, eventually infecting other cells. The goal for Mathur’s research is to limit the damage that the virus inflicts and containing the virus inside the host cell. How is that possible? Mammalian cells have a pathway named ESCRT, which regulates endocytosis in the cell membrane. RSV hijacks this regulatory system and uses it to bud out of the cell membrane. Messenger RNA encodes two deubiquitinating enzymes, UVBY and AMSH, which enable the virus to proliferate. Mathur has designed siRNAs (small interfering RNA), short RNA sequences, which recruit enzymes to cut and degrade the mRNAs that encode for the two proteins (UVBY and AMSH), so that translation is halted. Just as its name dictates, the interfering RNA will prevent the mRNA from encoding its deadly proteins. If the proteins are absent, it is hypothesized that the RSV escort system used to bud out of the cell will not work (the ESCRT function is blocked) or the GAG protein, which encodes the viral capsid that leads to the budding of the VLPs (virus-like particles from the plasma membrane), will Xiaohong Liu ‘11 is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at xl226@cornell.edu

not function properly. After a certain amount of time, the cell will naturally deteriorate and the viruses, trapped inside the cell, will be unable to cause the host further harm. Mathur found promising results last semester: there was a notable decrease in the budding out of the RSV when one protein was knocked down (blocked) and there was a significant decrease when both proteins were knocked out of the protein synthesis process. Presently, Mathur is trying to improve the transfection efficiency of the prototype RSV into HEK293 human embryonic kidney cells. Although previous data showed positive results, there are still many factors that need to be worked out, so the results of her current research are presently inconclusive. If Mathur achieves further significant results, she plans to apply her research findings to HIV. Working with HIV would be an exciting, even intimidating, research experience, she claims. With no prior research experience before coming to Cornell, Mathur now wishes to obtain a Ph.D. in medical research. She enjoys the lab dynamic—the effort that everyone dedicates—and being in an environment where she is constantly learning and gaining scientific intuition. In the future she wishes to collaborate with doctors because Courtesy Deepti Mathur there is a blurry line between the two fields—“The doctor asks ‘how’ while the researcher asks ‘why,’”—and together, Mathur will be able to expand her own knowledge and abilities. In research, “You are making a difference,” she affirms. When she is not exploring in the lab, Mathur dances with the Cornell Raas dance team. She has been involved in classical dance since she was 11 years old. She also serves as president of CU SOAR, a club that invites speakers from different research fields to talk and interact with students. Mathur enjoys the company of her family and friends, and loves reading a good book with a cup of hot chocolate in hand. When she is not experimenting in the lab, she likes to “experiment” in the kitchen, an excellent extension of her scientific skills. Just as in a slow-paced dance, Mathur’s research is a gradual and painstaking process—a dance of intuition and lab techniques—which requires constant analysis and exploration. As Mathur stated, “Every major discovery comes from a series of small steps.”

The Research Paper Spring 2009

The Politics of Pop Culture College of Arts and Sciences By Reeva Makhijani ’10 Asad Haider makes one thing clear: his work is different from typical academic research. Contrary to popular belief, Haider asserts that research can be done without any use of quantitative analysis. A senior in the College of Arts and Sciences studying comparative literature, Haider is also part of the College Scholar Program, which allows him to design his own curriculum. His research focuses on the impact of modern popular culture on the political and social life of every American. Furthermore, Haider takes on the arduous task of translating his scholarly ideas into ordinary language, such that individuals who lack the basic understanding of his area of study can easily access and comprehend the results of his findings. At the outset of his college career, Haider thought that he would be become involved only in theoretical research. However, he soon became interested in the integral role of

Courtesy Asad Haider the media as a channel for information exchange and the significant ways by which media representations affect the social and political life of Americans. As an avid consumer of Reeva Makhijani ‘10 is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at rbm32@cornell.edu

popular films, music, and television programs and an attentive student of 20th century Marxist philosophy, Haider strove to bring together his scholarly and personal interests to analyze

If truth be told, today’s America is no different from Shakespeare’s 16th and 17th-century Britain, he argues, even though people may complain that today’s media and entertainment industry lacks creativity the impacts of popular culture on politics and information exchange. He focuses primarily on comedy, horror films, hiphop music, and electronic dissemination of songs. When Haider noted that the use of jargon polarized political theorists from other members of the society, he sought to crack down on this exclusivity barrier by deliberately phrasing his research findings to suit the qualifications of the untrained listeners—subscribers to popular culture. With that, he hoped to tear down the walls of discrimination against those who lack a thorough liberal arts education; in return, he hopes to attract a wider audience and elicit a fruitful public discourse. Haider contends that it is important to question the world around us, to pay attention to our own lives, and to appreciate the creativity of our own era. He also points out that we need not resort to classical works and texts in order to study “serious art” or “serious literature.” If truth be told, today’s America is no different from Shakespeare’s 16th and 17thcentury Britain, he argues, even though people may complain that today’s media and entertainment industry lacks creativity. Even Shakespeare had commercial intentions, and he wrote to meet public demands and to appeal to large audiences of his time. Why then stigmatize today’s entertainment industry for running a business? Haider advises prospective and current undergraduate humanities researchers to make a concerted effort to convince the general public that their work should be taken more seriously; while it lacks quantitative analysis, research in the humanities should by no means be disrespected. To natural scientists, Haider recommends adopting a more interdisciplinary approach to their work, whether it be studying the history of the life sciences, the scientific method, or the norms of science communication.

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Avipox Virus Reaches Ithaca Crows College of Engineering By Abubakar Jalloh ’10

cloning and transforming the genes in E. coli, experimenting with different primers, and altering the respective temperature “My research is something that I don’t have to do, [but and magnesium gradients. But not all that glitters is gold, and not all bumps are something] I want to do,” Hasini Ediriweera, a senior in the College of Engineering, said about her Cornell-found passion avipox scars. With that in mind, Ediriweera analyzed the pox to study the crow pox virus of the Ithaca area. “The things that lesions just like a trained histologist or histopathologist. This you have to do will always be there but you have to make time technique, she said, helped her distinguish virulent lesions from unrelated gunshot wounds. Ultimately, she for [those] things you want to do,” she added. hopes to compare and contrast the sequenced Ediriweera, a Biological Engineering genome of a crow pox virus to that of the major, began testing the waters of research canaries and the Galapagos finches. during her freshman year. By the second Having a lot of patience does matter, semester of her sophomore year, she was especially when conducting a genomic study. part of two research laboratories: Dr. Valerie Some experiments hardly work the first, Reyna’s laboratory in the College of Human second or even the tenth time, Ediriweera Ecology, where she studies medical decision said. Luckily, she never travelled on this road making and Dr. Elizabeth Buckles’ laboraalone. She talks with her advisor at weekly tory at the veterinary school, where she exlaboratory meetings and meets one-on-one amines dead avipox virus-infected crows. To with her for help regarding new research get her foot in the door, Ediriweera worked ideas, completing her senior thesis, and as a laboratory assistant at Dr. Buckles’ Lab putting together her research presentation. for a semester, cleaning experimental appa“I feel pressured when I don’t get results or ratus and observing others at work. The following semester, she inherited a study from Courtesy Hasini Ediriweera when [the results] come out negative, but Dr. Buckles is always saying ‘that’s why a Ph.D. student who had just completed her rotation. Ediriweera picked up where the Ph.D. student had left they call it research, [and] you have to redo it a million times. off and began a momentous journey offered by an institution Keep on going and trying,’” she recounted. It sounds clichéd to say that Ediriweera is passionate about “conducive for anyone who wants to do any type of research.” At the Buckles Lab, Ediriweera attempts to answer the her work, but she is. Overtime, she has developed excellent question: are crows in the Ithaca area dying due to an avipox time management skills, juggling two research projects at once viral infection? If so, which dark spots entail avipox infection while taking loads of course credits. Meanwhile, she claims and which do not? To answer these questions, Ediriweera col- that getting involved in research has undeniably impressed lected dead crows, scraped off the purulent skin ruptures and a positive effect on her future. More so, she believes that pockmarks that are characteristics of the virus and inoculated it undergraduates can make a difference by merely conducting onto a chicken embryo (i.e. in ovo), hoping that the virus would research. “Getting involved in a research study like [the crow perpetuate itself in the living tissues—an excellent avenue pox study] shows that you can have a large-scale impact even for studying microbial interactions. She noted that the avipox as an undergrad,” she said. Already accepted to the M.D. program of the University virus is present almost everywhere and that it infects over 60 different species of 20 different families. This observation led of Miami School of Medicine, Ediriweera looks forward her to ask yet another question: Is the crow pox virus different to living close to home in warm weather—a condition she enough to be categorized as a separate species of viruses? Or prioritized when applying to medical schools—and building is it just a different strain of the same species of avipox viruses on her previous experience examining chest pain to conduct that blotched the hundred-year-old museum samples of the cardiovascular engineering research. “Any lab technique you learn can carry over,” she said, adding that no undergraduate Galapagos finches, and continues to infect canaries today? Ediriweera looked towards biochemical approaches for research experience is wasted. Apart from working day-in and day-out on the sixth floor answers to these puzzles. She recruited primers to amplify segments of the genome suspected to code for the pathoge- of the Veterinary Research Tower and fulfilling other academic nicity of the virus. However, many times, she reaped low curiosities, Ediriweera is also an active member of various concentrations of her gene of interest. After a few unsuccess- campus organizations. She is president of the Sri Lankan ful attempts to amplify the pathogenic genes, Ediriweera tried Student Association, a brother of the coed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, an avid dancer, and a former Resident Abubakar Jalloh ‘10 is a student in the College of Agriculture and Community Advisor. Life Sciences. He can be reached at aj245@cornell.edu

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Exploring Union Views on Immigration School of Industrial and Labor Relations By Laura Janka ’09

eye of the political storm, Sam discovered the unions were not considering long term changes and goals, and instead sought Research fosters the ability to ask probing, sometimes to protect current members. After this internship, Sam spent difficult questions and to consider his Fall 2007 semester abroad. and answer those questions from a myriad of perspectives. This With the direct input from union Upon his return to campus that January he recalled the passions attitude towards problem solvmembers, and from being in the and attitudes he uncovered with iming extends beyond the academic and unions, and decided realm to the issues encountered in eye of the political storm, Sam migration to pursue research in the field with professional and personal life. Sam Morgante, who graduated from the discovered the unions were not Professor Gold. While performing literature searches, focusing esSchool of Industrial Labor Relations in 2008 learned this lesson considering long term changes pecially on primary sources, Sam learned the unions’ attitudes and the while performing undergraduate research and has applied it to his and goals, and instead sought to general immigration debate were more nuanced and layered. current career on Capitol Hill. He reviewed many press reSam was accepted into the protect current members leases produced by unions and was Cornell Presidential Research Scholars Program, and so began his research projects as a able to better realize the complexity in their involvement with immigration policies. The union freshman. His first two years at press releases also served as docuCornell were spent examining ments to track the organizations’ different issues in international progression as political forces. relations, before he shifted his Although Sam did not publish a research focus to ILR. formal paper of his findings he While interning on Capitol continued researching primary Hill during the summer of 200, source documents and other pubSam became more intimately lications throughout the spring acquainted with how various of 2008. interest groups, both political and Following graduation, Sam social, worked to influence and returned to Capitol Hill and is curaffect the debate on immigration. rently working as a correspondent Specifically, Sam was surprised for Michael McMahon, a New by the seemingly narrow views York Democratic Congressman espoused by unions concerning from the 13th District in Staten immigration policies. Island. He applies the all-encomSam’s responsibilities inpassing, investigate every side cluded fielding high opinionate of an issue approach to analysis, phone calls from union memwhich he learned from his underbers. Many of these members, graduate research, to the problems who called on their own accord and debates he encounters in his and often against the wishes of career. Sam hopes to remain in the unions, divulged that some Washington, D.C. for the next groups wanted more liberal imcouple of years. migration bills to be shut down. While still a student, Sam was The unions hoped to keep their an active member of the Cornell original membership and not be Democrats throughout his time required to extend admission to Courtesy Sam Morgante on campus, and during the fall of new employee populations. With the direct input from union members, and from being in the 2008 he promoted presidential campaign efforts encouraging voter registration and organized two campaign trips into PennLaura Janka ‘09 is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences. sylvania. Sam is an alumnus of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. She can be reached at lmj23@cornell.edu

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Brains, Babies and the Basics of Infant Cognition College of Human Ecology By Sean Lawless ’11 For many college students, the development of the human brain and its subsequent behavior is a salient interest. Majors such as Psychology, Neurobiology and Behavior attempt to understand not only how the brain operates, but also how it is responsible for the amazing feats humans have accomplished. For students of these disciplines, much attention is focused on the adult brain and how it operates on a daily basis. However, for those who choose to study Human Development, the focus is instead on how the brain matures from birth into its final days. One such student who has decided that he would rather explore the mysteries of the younger mind is David Shapiro ’09, a senior in the College of Human Ecology, who works on mental development in infants. Shapiro’s current research is in the Cornell Infant Studies Lab with Dr. Marienella Casasola, where he runs carefully controlled trials with infants in order to better understand their conception and development of emotional and linguistic queues. To study the role of emotion in infant learning, Shapiro monitors infants’ interest in videos of actions that were earlier modeled with or without praise. In general, young infants tend to show greater interest in actions that they have seen performed before. Shapiro tests whether the children also show greater learning when the action is associated with positive praising emotion and for what age this effect shows the greatest influence. He accomplishes this by using test subjects between the ages of 16.5 and 19.5 months, the period during which children begin to pick up on the subtext of linguistics (i.e. emotions) and not as much on the actual content of speech. In addition, Shapiro measures infant responses to praise that is directed towards either the infant or towards the experimenter himself, thereby monitoring the understanding of the praise’s content in the infants through this phase of development. The goal of the project is to better understand infant learning during this critical phase and possibly better educate and advise teachers and parents on how to optimally facilitate learning for children. Shapiro’s responsibility in the lab is to set up and run these trials on the infants. It is his job to help design and schedule the experiments, to inform the parents of the subjects about the parameters and nature of the trials, and to ensure control of the numerous potential variables. For example, Shapiro is one of the researchers who works directly with the children, showing them how to perform the reaction and initiating the praise for the child afterwards. Such a task requires strict control of the emotional response by the experimenter in order to remain objective and controlled, thus requiring a thespian effort of sorts from Shapiro. Currently, this project is just starting to Sean Lawless ‘11 is a student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He can be reached at sml252@cornell.edu

get underway, and the jury is still out regarding the nature of the results. However, Shapiro believes that it is likely that the younger infants will tend to associate more with the emotional response than the older ones, and possibly the older infants more with the object of the praise. Regardless, Shapiro enjoys his work immensely and relishes in the opportunity to work

Courtesy David Shapiro with parents and young children, a group he claims the average Cornell student is unfortunately separated from during their undergraduate years. Furthermore, Shapiro feels that this research experience has provided him with a better work ethic and the important ability to design and create a study from a wide range of research. Raised in Long Island, Shapiro had no research experience prior to college. His interest in the topic of infant development began when he took the Human Development 115 class early in his undergraduate career. Fascinated by the concept of infant cognition and how children learn through the assistance of their parents (in a manner known as scaffolding), Shapiro decided to seek out a research position where he could work with this specific age group. Ultimately, he found a perfect fit in Casasola’s lab, where her research and team immediately clicked with Shapiro. Shaprio says Casasola has motivated him to become a better researcher and scientist, as well as to always become interested in what one is studying and to always ask questions, keeping a healthy scientific skepticism. Presently, Shapiro plans to attend medical school and hopefully become a physician in the near future. However, just because he is pursuing medicine does not mean he will abandon research; Shapiro hopes that in the future he can continue research as a physician since he feels that it is essential to understanding the field of medicine and how to care for others.

The Research Paper Spring 2009

Surfing the slo Channels of the Lobster Nervous System College of Agriculture and Life Sciences By Grace Chen ’10

the role of the potassium channels. Patel and Dr. Qing Ouyang, a post-doctoral candidate, When Vinay Patel arrived at Cornell, he did not hesitate to are currently working on characterizing the channels with the immerse himself in the research opportunities Cornell had to use of voltage clamping. By using the two-electrode voltage offer. During the latter half of his freshman year, he decided to clamp to control voltage and modify the concentrations of different ions, Patel and Ouyang will work with Professor Ronald Harrishopefully be able to correlate the Warrick in the Department of Neucharacter of each channel with funcrobiology and Behavior, and he has tional aspects involved in regulating remained in the lab ever since. Patel more complex neural networks. In was no stranger to research when the future, the work of Patel and he began as a freshman, though. his colleagues could aid those with In high school, Patel conducted disabling spinal cord injuries. neurophysiology research at Mount Professor Harris-Warrick has Sinai, which led, ultimately, to his served as “the ideal mentor and participation in the Intel Science adviser in terms of research. He Talent Search. has provided me with the guidance As a junior, Patel continues to necessary to pursue the project, stay involved with research related while still letting me take the reins to neuroscience. These days, Patel and pursue it independently, and works on cloning and expressing thus allowing me to develop skills potassium channels from lobster both in terms of thinking through nervous tissue using biochemistry, the scientific method, as well as microbiology and neurophysiology learning the relevant techniques. I techniques. These channels are quite couldn’t think of anyone else who I significant as they have been seen to would have wanted to serve as my regulate rhythmically active neuroprincipal investigator,” adds Patel. nal patterns, such as those in central The discovery and creativity pattern generation (CPG)—a type Courtesy Vinay Patel of research greatly appeal to Patel of pattern elicited in neurons that and fuel his desire to continue with does not require any external input. Thus, cloning and expressing these channels could potentially research. He derives most of his motivation for research from lead to a deeper understanding of CPG. This active, repeated his wish to show that science and medicine are not mutually exclusive. “Science and medicine firing of neurons during CPG has are my main driving forces,” says immense relevance for walking and locomotion in general. “Our This active, repeated firing of Patel. In the future, Patel hopes to brains,” Patel explains, “have no conscious control of walking.” neurons during CPG has immense earn an M.D. and pursue a fellowship in order to expand his research In Professor Harris-Warrick’s lab, Patel works with lobsters be- relevance for walking and locomo- capabilities. He looks forward to mixing the aspects of the medical cause they serve as useful model tion in general world with research in a collaborasystems. The main ganglion from tive manner. He intends to stay ineach lobster used by the lab, the volved with neuroscience research; stomatogastric ganglion, regulates digestive patterns within the lobster. More importantly, though, more specifically, he hopes to work on neurodegenerative these ganglia provide simplified, well-studied models that can diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Patel, who hails from New York City, also has a varied relate the characteristics of CPG in lobsters to those of CPG in humans undergoing locomotion. Furthermore, these ganglia, array of interests outside of neurobiology. When he is not in with six different cell types, are easy to isolate and characterize, the lab, students at Cornell can find the multi-talented Patel which allows for special control and is useful when implicating dancing with Raas. In addition, after graduating from Cornell a semester early, Patel hopes to spend time traveling before Grace Chen ‘10 is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences. going to medical school. She can be reached at gmc28@cornell.edu

The Research Paper Spring 2009

“I’m So Over You!” College of Human Ecology By Jamie Feigenbaum ’09 Most people aspire to be relationship experts, but not Daphna Ram. Daphna would rather be a master of breakups—literally. As a graduate student in the Human Development Department of the College of Human Ecology, Daphna received her master’s degree for her study, “Changes in Cognition, Emotion, and Behavior following Romantic Relationship Dissolution,” which followed recently single persons over a 28 day period to determine the “reorganization” process an individual goes through to no longer rely emotionally on his or her ex. She found that a person’s emotional attachment to his or her former partner greatly impacts the amount of time and the severity of his or her negative feelings. Daphna cites a troublesome break-up in her years as an undergraduate psychology major at University of California at Berkley as the motivating factor for getting her into this line of study. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend and was having a difficult time getting over him. “Intellectually, I kept thinking to myself that this guy was a jerk,” Daphna admitted, “but I kept feeling an overwhelming sense of loss over him, like I had lost a family member.” Other people kept telling her to “Just get over it,” as if grieving a breakup was not a legitimate form of sadness. However, Daphna knew that such circumstances affect many people every day. Daphna then learned about attachment theory, which emphasizes differences in individual styles of recovering from a relationship loss, in her Introduction to Psychology class. Her professor taught the class that “loss responses are similar in parent-child losses as they are in mate losses,” since losing someone important to you hurts regardless of a genetic connection. At that point, Daphna realized, “It all made sense: attachment is a great framework for studying loss!” Daphna knew she wanted to learn more about attachment relationships, but it was not until she happened upon an extra credit research survey that she found an opportunity to get involved in attachment research. The survey had been about Jamie Feigenbaum ‘09 is a student in the College of Human Ecology. She can be reached at jsf38@cornell.edu

attachment to someone you had lost in life, so when Daphna received the debriefing form after the experiment, she inquired as to whose research it was and contacted the researchers. All it took was a little bit of interest and initiative, and Daphna was on her way to studying something she cared about. When asked why she decided to pursue her Ph.D. from Cornell, she replied, “The people here do a lot of great work in attachment, and since that was my primary interest it seemed like a good fit.” Daphna’s doctoral review committee is made up of Dr. Vivian Zayas, who studies behavior in close relationships, Dr. Cindy Hazan, the head of Cornell’s Love Lab and the professor the Human Bonding course, and Dr. Joseph Mikels, who studies the interactions of emotion and cognition. Currently, Daphna is working on her A Exams and preparing for a study to address the perceptions of breakups. Some people might think it is morbid to study breakups so extensively, but when it comes to Daphna, it is clear that her passion for this topic does not come from loneliness or a distrust of relationships; far from disliking relationships, Daphna’s passion for this topic stems from her care and love of others. In Courtesy Daphna Ram fact, Daphna has lived as a Graduate Residential Fellow in Carl Becker House on West Campus for three years, living with undergraduates as a mentor and social organizer. “When I was an undergraduate,” Daphna is eager to share, “there was a graduate student who worked in my lab, and she played an enormous role in helping me figure out what to devote myself to in the future.” Since most undergraduates face overwhelming life choices, “I figured I could ‘pay it forward’ by being the person to provide that support to others.” Daphna encourages undergraduates to find a topic that interests them and not to hesitate to contact professors if their work is of interest. The research she does in attachment theory is applicable to everyone, even if we do not all go through painful breakups very often. This article started by insinuating that Daphna was not a certified expert in relationships, but that is far from the truth; Daphna’s work gets at the heart of what really happens when we share our emotional selves with others. Indeed, the world would probably be a better place if people put as much care into ending relationships as they do into starting them.