th
14 Annual
Undergraduate
Symposium
April 7, 2008
1
Undergraduate Symposium
La Maison Francaise
Foyer, Auditorium, and Salon
Program Schedule
8:00 a.m.
Opening reception (Foyer)
8:15 a.m
Welcome Address – Dr. Mary Beadle, Provost
8:30 a.m.
Presentation session I (Auditorium)
10:00 a.m.
Poster session/Creative work display I (Salon)
11:30 a.m.
Keynote Address: “The Joys of Undergraduate
Research”, Dr. Mary Allen, Wellesley College
(Auditorium)
12:30 p.m.
Luncheon for student presenters and mentors
(Hagan Hall)
1:30 p.m.
Presentation session II (Auditorium)
3:00 p.m.
Poster session/Creative work display II (Salon)
4:30 p.m.
Presentation session III (Auditorium)
2
Dr. Mary Mennes Allen, Wellesley College
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Mary Mennes Allen, Jean Glasscock Professor of Biological
Sciences at Wellesley College, is a specialist in microbiology. She
received both her B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of
Wisconsin and her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of
California, Berkeley. Dr. Allen, a past president and one of the first two
Fellows of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), carries out
research on the effects of environmental changes on cyanobacteria with
her undergraduate colleagues. Dr. Allen has been department chair and
serves currently as Director of Biological Chemistry, an
interdepartmental major, and Chair of Chairs of the Science Center at
Wellesley. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science and she has received Wellesley's Pinanski
Prize for Excellence in Teaching and the Carski Award for Excellence in
Undergraduate Teaching from the American Society for Microbiology.
3
PRESENTATION SESSION I
La Maison Auditorium
8:30 AM
COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO NEW ENGLAND
ARCHAEOLOGY: HOW ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND NATIVE
AMERICAN COMMUNITIES CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE
KNOWLEDGE OF OUR HISTORY, Nicole Johnson, Sociology and
Anthropology Department
8:50 AM
TEXT MESSAGES AND THE SPOKEN WORD, Caitlin Lahey,
Lynsey Sicksch, Art, Music and Theater Department
9:10 AM
COULD ESTROGEN DECREASE COLON CANCER RISK BY
AFFECTING C-MYB EXPRESSION?, Victoria E. Duke, Natural
Sciences Department
9:30 AM
BREAK
9:40 AM
THE RELIGIOUS ART OF ANDY WARHOL, Allison Sherlock,
Art, Music and Theater Department
10:00 AM GENOME SCALE DELETION SYSTEM FOR YERSINIA PESTIS,
Chris Doyle, Natural Sciences Department
10:20 AM WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE TREES, Julianne Lavallee, English
Department
POSTER SESSION/CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY I
La Maison Salon
10:00 – 11:30 AM
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
La Maison Auditorium
11:30 AM THE JOYS OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH, Dr. Mary Allen,
Wellesley College
4
PRESENTATION SESSION II
La Maison Auditorium
1:30 PM
AMBULANCE, Vincent Barilla, English Department
1:50 PM
‘MEN AND WOMEN LYING UNDER TREES’: A FEMINIST
READING OF FEMALE SEXUALITY IN VIRGINIA WOOLF’S
‘KEW GARDENS’, Jessica M. Hautsch, English Department
2:10 PM
DISTRIBUTION OF MOSS ACCORDING TO NUTRIENT
SUPPLY, SOIL MOISTURE, AND SUNLIGHT, Richard Sheehan,
Erica Brunelle, Jenny Spencer, Natural Sciences Department
2:30 PM
BREAK
2:40 PM
CAPTAIN BENJAMIN CHURCH AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF
RADICALLY NEW FIGHTING METHODS DURING KING
PHILIP’S WAR (1675-1676), Spencer Kennard, History Department
3:00 PM
THE QUESTION OF JUDEO-CHRISTIAN NATION-STATE:
EXAMINING THE IMPLICATIONS OF PIERRE MANENT’S
POLITICAL THEOLOGY, Chris Kessing, Theology Department
3:20 PM
"TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FATHER": FREUDIAN THEORY AND
PATERNAL AUTHORITY IN THE EARLY WORK OF
SALVADOR DALÍ, Kristina Fox, Art, Music and Theater
Department
POSTER SESSION/CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY II
La Maison Salon
3:00 – 4:30 PM
5
PRESENTATION SESSION III
La Maison Auditorium
4:30 PM
CHARACTER OF EMINENCE: HOW PERSONALITY
AFFECTED THE COLD WAR, Ryan McNeill, History Department
4:50 PM
GOD AS UNDECIDABLE: A MEDITATION ON DERRIDA'S
CONCEPT OF THE EVENT WITHIN A CHRISTIAN CONTEXT,
Jarrod Abbott, Theology Department
5:10 PM
THE LOSS OF A BROTHER, Jessica M. Hautsch, English
Department
5:30 PM
BREAK
5:40 PM
THE POSTMODERN REALITY, James Murphy, English
Department
6:00 PM
D’ALZON CHRONICLES: “PUN INTENDED”: A LIBRARY
GRANT INSTRUCTED INFOMERCIAL, Bridget Carr, Thomas
Sleeper, Lisa Keeney, Brittany Ford, Michael O’Connor, Art, Music
and Theater Department
6:20 PM
CASE STUDY IN EXOTIC VETERINARY MEDICINE:
BACKGROUND, DIAGNOSTIC WORKUP, SURGICAL AND
MEDICAL MANAGEMENT OF A DISEASE CONSTELLATION
IN AN ELDERLY FEMALE FERRET, April Beth Armstrong
Campbell, Natural Sciences Department
6
ABSTRACTS
PRESENTATION SESSION I
COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO NEW ENGLAND ARCHAEOLOGY:
HOW ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR HISTORY
Nicole Johnson, Sociology and Anthropology Department
An involvement of the Eastern Pequot Native American Tribe and the
archaeologists from the University of Boston (as well as anthropology students
from all over the Unties States) showed that a collaborative approach to an
archaeological excavation is the best way to analyze and understand the history of
the indigenous cultures of both New England and the United States. The
excavation, located on the Eastern Pequot land in Southern Connecticut, is only
one of three other archaeological field schools that utilize a collaborative approach
to archaeology in this way. It is extremely important to understand that the wealth
of information available to us by the Native American Communities is not being
utilized by most anthropologists help analyze the history of American indigenous
people.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Amy Gazin-Schwartz
TEXT MESSAGES AND THE SPOKEN WORD
Caitlin Lahey, Lynsey Sicksch, Art, Music and Theater Department
This presentation will involve readings of original works inspired from studies of
established and experimental poetic works. Reading will feature one shared
performance piece. These poems reflect the culmination of work done within our
Independent Study course.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. John Hodgen
7
PRESENTATION SESSION I
COULD ESTROGEN DECREASE COLON CANCER RISK BY
AFFECTING C-MYB EXPRESSION?
Victoria E. Duke, Natural Sciences Department
Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, has an important role in balancing the large
amount of cell division found within the intestine. Current colon cancer statistics
illustrate the need for a better understanding of how the complex pathways to cell
death function, so that we can strive for a cure for cancer. Estradiol, which is a
common hormone found in Hormone Replacement Therapy, has been found to
increase the amount of cell death of cancerous cells in the colon. We hypothesized
that estrogen treatment has this effect on colon cancer cells because it affects the
expression of the transcription factor c-myb, as well as the protein bcl-2. In some
lymphomas, the oncogene c-myb has been shown to act as a transcription factor by
binding to the promoter regions of genes such as bcl-2. A decrease in bcl-2 is
associated with increased apoptosis, and therefore, decreased cancer risk. We
tested the current hypothesis through the culturing of the colon cancer cell line
COLO 205. Cell death detection methods, including acridine orange propidium
iodide staining and gel electrophoresis to detect DNA fragmentation, demonstrated
that estrogen treatment increased apoptosis. Using SDS-PAGE and Western
Blotting, we examined the amount of c-myb expression found in the cells treated
with estrogen. We found that estrogen treatment decreased the amount of c-myb
expression in the COLO 205 cells. This research could provide a more clear
understanding of how the balance of cell division and apoptosis is interrupted in
colon cancer.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Heather Wilkins
THE RELIGIOUS ART OF ANDY WARHOL
Allison Sherlock, Art, Music and Theater Department
Andy Warhol is known across the globe for his striking pop art and radical ideas
about what art can be. Many people can recognize his works of Campbell’s soup
cans and Marilyn Monroe. Born in 1928, Andrew Warhola, he was raised in a
family where practicing their Byzantine Catholic faith was very important. He
lived surrounded by icons. He had a close bond with his mother and loved to draw
and collect magazine cutouts as a child. In the final years of his life, Andy Warhol
did a series of works inspired by Leonardo DaVinci’s The Last Supper. By looking
at his previous religious artwork and this final series, we can understand more
about this controversial pop art icon.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Toby Norris
8
PRESENTATION SESSION I
GENOME SCALE DELETION SYSTEM FOR YERSINIA PESTIS
Chris Doyle, Natural Sciences Department
Designated as a Category A bioterrorism agent, Yersinia pestis is the pathogenic
bacterium etiologically responsible for plague. In this small scale pilot study, a
large-scale genomic deletion system was used to generate specific gene deletions
in Y. pestis. The system is a highly efficient, PCR based deletion system aimed at
creating a bank of Y. pestis mutant suicide vectors for the CO92 strain. Deletion
constructs are first generated by performing inverse PCR on Gateway Entry
Clones. These are then transferred into E. coli, and incorporated into the Y. pestis
genome via conjugation. By generating specific deletions in Y. pestis Gateway
Entry Clones in E. coli and moving the deletions to Y. pestis via conjugation, we
were able to verify the efficiency of the deletion system and begin construction of
a bank of Y. pestis mutants to be distributed as necessary for future research.
Additionally, the use of selectable markers incorporated into the deletion
constructs allows for the preliminary determination of the essentiality of
hypothetical Y. pestis genes, providing researchers with potential genes to be
targeted in future work.
Faculty Mentors: Dr. David Crowley and Dr. Brian Akerley,
University of Massachusetts Medical Center
WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE TREES
Julianne Lavallee, English Department
This compilation presents my reflections in the transcendental tradition on what
nature reveals to us about our humanity. What I learned from the trees is a study of
hope; the congruity between the internal climate and our own perceptions of the
world around us are exposed through my self-conscious use of pathetic fallacy. I
have found in empathizing with life around me I am more in touch with the
dynamics of the human condition. The order of the pieces is meant to emulate the
awakening of the spring, the time of hope and rebirth. This progression through the
cold toward the flowering season is meant to create movement toward love.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Becky DiBiasio
9
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY I
I-A— FORCED BUSING IN THE 1970s
Kristen Berry, History Department
This presentation discusses the issue of forced busing in Boston during the 1970s.
Within this research are two interviews, one from a parent of a student who went
through the forced busing and the other from an individual who was a teacher in
Boston during that time, but witnessed the forced busing through newspapers and
so forth. This presentation continues to discuss the repercussions it had on the
Boston Community.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Anita Danker
I-B—MORE THAN TRANSPORTATION: OLDER ADULTS' DRIVING
BELIEFS
Laura Marie Cancro & Katherine Lovett, Sociology and Anthropology
Department
The purpose of this research project is to explore healthy older adults’ decision
making regarding driving in later life. Although literature exists regarding the need
for driving cessation, little research has specifically looked at older adults’ feelings
about the decision to stop driving. This study adds to the body of existing literature
on late life decision making by allowing older adults’ own words to be heard. Data
from forty-seven in-person qualitative interviews of older adults in Worcester,
Massachusetts were analyzed to investigate the symbolic meaning of driving in
older people’s lives; fears of isolation resulting from driving cessation; perceptions
about alternatives to driving and; modifications to personal automobiles which
may extend driving time. Our findings suggest that many older adults equate
driving with independence and that while most respondents reported that driving is
an important part of their lives, many felt that the Department of Motor Vehicles
should play a larger role in re-testing older driving. Our findings show that driving
cessation may mean more than simply a loss of transportation. Recommended
programs that encourage independence for seniors who no longer drive will be
presented.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Heather Connors
10
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY I
I-C—CONTROVERSIAL THEATRE
Heidi Lukas, English Department and Art, Music and Theatre Department
Why are so many offended by what is on stage? What makes a piece of art
controversial? How does theatre affect society and the viewer? These were
questions that went through my head when I decided to study Controversial
Theatre in the fall semester of 2007. I have a series of banned and risqué plays that
somehow have raised controversy: The Three Theban Plays (Sophocles), Waiting
for Godot (Samuel Beckett), Playboy of the Western World (John Millington
Synge), A Streetcar Named Desire (Tennessee Williams), The Children’s Hour
(Lillian Hellman), The Merchant of Venice (William Shakespeare), and I observed
Spring’s Awakening (2006 musical and Wedkid’s original script.) I studied how
the plays reflected society in a historical, sociological, literal, and symbolic sense. I
have found that deep moral meanings can be found in every piece of controversial
work.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Paul Shields
I-D— IMPROVING CAMPUS RECYCLING
Michela Paolucci, Natural Sciences Department
480 cartons of paper, ten reams per carton, 500 sheets per ream, that equals to
2,400,000 sheets of paper, also known as a $12,451 check. This is how much paper
Assumption College orders in a year. This number does not count the thousands of
paper pages from the multiple notebooks of the 2,200 students that attend this
college. Recycling even just a fraction of this amount of paper can help make new
products, reduce the amount of raw materials needed and reduce the amount of
trash that ends up in land fills. Last year recycling was implemented in residence
halls and classrooms. Since it started with a narrow aim at the freshmen class and
quickly changed to the entire student body, implementation was rushed. Even
though every classroom is supplied with recycling bins, little recycling is
happening. In fact, due to contamination, recycling collections from classrooms is
at an unfortunate zero percent. My independent study focuses on changing the bins
in the classrooms to improve recycling. Currently there are three same sized bins,
one blue, two gray and their similarities lead to contamination. I am working on
finding distinct bins to make recycling a clear and easy task.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Owen Sholes
11
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY I
I-E— ATTACHMENT TO COMFORT OBJECTS RELATES TO TACTILE
STIMULATION
Shannon Murphy, Colleen Walls, Tiffany Shakro, Psychology Department
Attachment to special objects offers comfort during stressful times and seems to be
unrelated to security of maternal attachment, psychopathology, or temperament of
the child. Comfort objects function as soothing mechanisms through tactile
stimulation. Because there are individual differences in sensory responses and
preferences we expected that such differences explain attachment to comfort
objects. Thirty two undergraduate college students with a childhood comfort object
answered questions about sensory preferences and responses to sensory stimulation
currently and retrospectively and described their relationship with their comfort
object. Sensory threshold was assessed using the Touch-Test Sensory Evaluator.
Intensity of attachment was positively correlated with seeking out tactile
stimulation as an adult and as a child. Those with strong attachment reported
higher threshold and, therefore, lower sensitivity to touch. These findings suggest
that children who develop an attachment to a special object seek out more sensory
stimulation through touch. The relationship between attachment to comfort objects
and sensory stimulation was also indirectly supported by the presence of several
sensory habits and by the correlation between intensity of attachment to comfort
objects and thumb sucking. Future research should replicate the findings in
children and include participants without a comfort object to investigate sensory
differences between groups.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maria Kalpidou
12
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY I
I-F— THE CYCLOID
Samuel Gifford, Mathematics and Computer Sciences Department
The cycloid is the unique mathematical shape formed by tracing the path of a
single point on the rim of a circle rolling on a straight path. The cycloid was named
by Galileo Galilei in 1599. This shape, when inverted, is the solution to two
separate problems that were studied in the 1600's by mathematicians who were
instrumental in the early development of Calculus. The Tautochrone problem asks:
what curve has the property, that no matter where a bead is placed on the curve it
will fall to the bottom in the same time as if placed anywhere else along the curve.
The Brachistochrone problems asks: what curve has the property, that it connects
two given points in such a way that if a bead is placed on the higher point, it will
fall to the lower point in the shortest amount of time. My presentation will explain
how the solution to each of these problems is the cycloid. I will also show
applications of the cycloid, e.g. Christiaan Huygens, the first to solve the
Tautochrone problem in 1659, applied the cycloid to one of his inventions: the
pendulum clock.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joe Alfano
I-G—WETLANDS: REGULATIONS AND MITIGATION
Christine Thurber, Natural Sciences Department
Wetlands play a crucial role by providing important environmental, economic and
wildlife habitat functions, including pollution and flood control. The protection of
wetlands under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and
various other federal, state and local regulations requires the procurement of proper
permits in order to develop any properties containing wetlands. Permits may be
obtained if the developer agrees to carry out mitigation. Mitigation is referred to as
any work undertaken to avoid or minimize damage to wetlands, and can include
the restoration, enhancement and creation of wetlands. Several case studies will be
examined to study how mitigation works and its long term effects. The focus will
be on replacement wetlands, such as whether they are truly successful from an
environmental perspective, having the same or increased values, or whether they
have resulted in the increase of invasive species, prompting the need for alternative
solutions to wetlands preservation.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Owen Sholes
13
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY I
I-H— ORIENTING CARBON NANOTUBES FOR ELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICES
Mark Cronin, Chris Rocheleau, Brian Mulkern, Natural Sciences Department
Carbon Nanotubes are the centerpiece of the most important technological
revolution after the industrialization of our society – the Nanotechnology. They are
small cylinders of carbon atoms, millions of times thinner than a human hair. On
the other hand they are the strongest thing known in nature. Because of their size
the carbon nanotubes are extremely difficult to handle. Usually scientists use
enormous atomic force microscopes at a cost of millions of dollars just to move a
single nanotube. We are looking for ways to make the manipulation of carbon
nanotubes more efficient by moving them in large numbers with electric field.
Liquid crystals can be rotated with electric fields and also can connect to carbon
nanotubes. This makes them our instrument of choice to introduce any desired
orientation in a large number of nanotubes. The liquid crystals also allow us to use
the method of transmission ellipsometry, developed by us at Assumption College,
to measure the exact orientation of the carbon nanotubes inside the liquid crystal.
We observe that the carbon nanotubes affect the properties of the liquid crystal
itself, making it easier to rotate its molecules. Our aim is to explain what
interaction leads to this change.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Georgi Georgiev
I-I—THE POLITICS OF VEGANISM
Jaclyn Sargent, Sociology and Anthropology Department
A series of interviews examined the extent to which veganism, a lifestyle that
excludes the use of animal products for food, clothing, or otherwise, is a political
statement. A number of factors were considered, including its relationship to other
movements (the environment, social justice, animal rights). Additional observation
explored volunteer interaction with abandoned and abused farmed animals at
Maple Farm Sanctuary and volunteers' perceived connection to the animals.
Results suggest that for vegans, veganism is both a way of change and an extension
of personal values, politics, and ethics. Furthermore, the minimization of suffering
of others through personal action was a common theme throughout the research.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Susan Melia
14
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY I
I-J— CHARACTERIZATION OF AN ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT
HYPERSENSITIVE HALOBACTERIUM MUTANT
Andrew Buckley, Natural Sciences Department
Past research with the ultraviolet light (UV) resistant and extremely halophilic
archaeon Halobacterium salinarium has yielded information about this organism’s
ability to repair UV damage. One method of repair is nucleotide excision repair
(NER), encoded by the genes uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC. A strain of interest, DJC508,
was constructed to be a uvrA knockout strain and thus NER deficient but exhibited
UV sensitivity greater than other uvr knockout strains made. This suggested that it
carries a second defect in a non-NER related pathway. We have set out to identify
the unknown gene mutated in DJC508 by genomic library complementation.
Genomic library transformants are subjected to a dose of UV that kills DJC508 but
not a typical uvrA knockout strain. We will sequence the plasmids of those
transformants showing complementation to identify the unknown gene. Additional
investigations show DJC508 is also ultra-sensitive to alkylators BNNG and
MNNG, as well as nitrofurazone, which has many deleterious effects. However,
hydrogen-peroxide and gamma irradiation have little to no additional effect on
DJC508 relative to wildtype and other uvr knockout strains. This data suggests that
the unknown gene is likely involved in some general mechanism for repairing
bulky lesions that is distinct from NER. This novel repair mechanism will certainly
help us understand the high UV resistance observed in the halophilic archaea.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Crowley
15
PRESENTATION SESSION II
AMBULANCE
Vincent Barilla, English Department
I am writing a full-length (60-80 page) play entitled “Ambulance”. The play
focuses on two young men traveling together through Europe, following them as
they begin their stay in a youth hostel. Over the course of the play, I examine what
sorts of relationships develop in this setting: As all the of people at the hostel, all
strangers on their individual travels, meet one another, friendships and romances
emerge with unnatural quickness. However, as people exit the hostel, these
relationships dissemble just as abruptly as they are made. In this play, I am
considering a couple of themes. First, I am examining the limitations modern
society puts on relationships, namely the way in which it encourages individuals to
pursue professional paths which lead them to move frequently, abandoning old
relationships out of necessity. Also, I will consider the idea of masculinity in
modern society, exploring the two young men's relationship to question what is and
is not acceptable as “masculine.”
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jim Lang
‘MEN AND WOMEN LYING UNDER TREES’: A FEMINIST READING
OF FEMALE SEXUALITY IN VIRGINIA WOOLF’S ‘KEW GARDENS’
Jessica M. Hautsch, Department of English
This presentation will examine natural images, dialogue and characterization, and
motifs in “Kew Gardens” from a Freudian perspective and develops an
understanding of female sexuality. The piece presents Woolf’s view of female
sexuality, as represented by her images of flora and fauna, as natural and beautiful
but oppressed by the internalized ideology of the patriarchy, reified by the human
conversations in the garden. This analysis determines that Woolf optimistically
represents female sexuality, and that although currently repressed by a patriarchal
social structure, the persistence of the natural world suggests an eventual
understanding and acceptance of the female libido.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Thoreen
16
PRESENTATION SESSION II
DISTRIBUTION OF MOSS ACCORDING TO NUTRIENT SUPPLY, SOIL
MOISTURE, AND SUNLIGHT
Richard Sheehan, Erica Brunelle, Jenny Spencer, Natural Sciences Department
We examined the factors that could affect the distribution of moss. We
hypothesized that water, sunlight, and nutrients were the main factors affecting
moss distribution. A size plot with 0.5m2 quadrants was established near a
residence hall at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. Sunlight
intensity was recorded using a light meter. Soil moisture was recorded by drying
soil to a constant weight. Soil samples were sent out to UMass Soil Testing
Laboratory to determine the soil nutrient content. We found a negative relationship
between the percentage of moss coverage and sunlight, and a positive correlation
between moss coverage and soil moisture. Increasing amounts of soil nitrate
negatively affected the percent of moss coverage. Since distribution of plants can
be caused by so many different factors, it is significant to know that the main
factors affecting moss distribution are soil moisture, sunlight exposure, and nitrate
concentration.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Owen Sholes
17
PRESENTATION SESSION II
CAPTAIN BENJAMIN CHURCH AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF
RADICALLY NEW FIGHTING METHODS DURING KING PHILIP’S
WAR (1675-1676)
Spencer Kennard, History Department
Today, King Philip’s War is a largely forgotten conflict, even though it represented
perhaps the most serious threat to the New England colonies in the seventeenth
century. This paper explores Benjamin Church’s role in the war, and how he
created a new way that America fought. He did this by adapting English military
tactics to Indian fighting tactics. His use of scouts, camouflage, and cover, and his
willingness to use Indians on a massive scale were all revolutionary innovations.
Primarily, Church was able to incorporate native Americans because he thought
very differently from the other English—he had great compassion, respect, and
care for the indigenous peoples. Indian tactics and methods were useful for many
reasons: they were better fighters in the forest, they were more physically fit than
the English, but most importantly, they had a clear understanding of firearms. The
successful adaptation and compatibility of English and Indians tactics could also be
observed in the manner the Indians exploited English tactics during the war. By
looking at the follies of English war tactics in the forest, it became apparent that
something needed to be changed, including the garrison house, and its vulnerability
to ambushes, which caused much bloodshed and destruction. Although Church
may not have caused an immediate end to the war, he certainly helped speed it up.
By looking at the modern Cavalry Scout (my brother is one) employed by the US
Army, Church’s influence and legacy remains just as apparent in 2008 as it did
during King Philips War in the 17th Century.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lance Lazar
18
PRESENTATION SESSION II
THE QUESTION OF JUDEO-CHRISTIAN NATION-STATE: EXAMINING
THE IMPLICATIONS OF PIERRE MANENT’S POLITICAL THEOLOGY
Chris Kessing, Theology Department
In striving for a spiritual oneness with the Kingdom of God through the Mystical
Body of Christ present in the Eucharist, the Christian transcends politics’ temporal
pragmatism. What, then, is the Christian’s relationship to politics? What are the
characteristics of the modern nation state which denature Christianity? How does
the Christian of conscience react to political pragmatism, post-modern science, and
post-Enlightenment liberty? I will use the work of Political Scientist Pierre Manent
to illustrate the spiritual deviations away from discipleship arising from the
misnomer of “Christian nation.” I will claim the impossibility of defending the
Judeo-Christian nation-state after adequate treatment of Christology or
hermeneutical theology. Such defense misrepresents and denatures Christian Social
Ethic and falsifies fundamental characteristics of Christian identity. My goal is to
refocus Christianity on the Mystical Body of Christ; a spiritual oneness of creation
with creator and explore the vast implications of such an undertaking.
Faculty Mentor: Fr. Barry Bercier
19
PRESENTATION SESSION II
"TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FATHER": FREUDIAN THEORY AND
PATERNAL AUTHORITY IN THE EARLY WORK OF SALVADOR DALÍ
Kristina Fox, Art, Music and Theater Department
The diary of Salvador Dalí, celebrated artist and universally proclaimed madman,
begins with the words of Sigmund Freud, venerated psychoanalyst and vastly
influential thinker, "A hero is a man who revolts against paternal authority and
conquers it". Like all things Freudian, such an opening cannot be considered
unintentional. Indeed, for the artist such a statement carries an intense personal
meaning, representing the profound internal struggle against his oppressive father
figure, the man who engendered within his son an overwhelming fear of sex and
sexuality. One has only to study Dalí's early paintings, canvases rife with phallic
symbols, snarling lion heads, and terrifying female figures, to see how much his
personal psychosexual history manifests itself within his work. Yet, the
employment of Freudian symbolism and imagery appears to function as a means of
self-therapy for Dalí. Eventually the lion heads disappear, the long crutches
shorten, the naked woman’s flesh remains whole and pure. Dalí becomes the hero
revolting against paternal authority, conquering it through art. Three such
paintings, (The Great Masturbator-1929, The Specter of Sex Appeal-1932,
Meditation on the Harp-1934), illustrate Dalí's process of manifestation,
confrontation and eradication, as comprehensive analysis shall reveal.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Toby Norris
20
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY II
II-A— DISTRIBUTION OF FERNS NEAR A STREAM
Elizabeth Fortino, Teresa Kuehhas, Jennifer McCarry, Natural Sciences
Department
Three different types of ferns, Osmunda cinnamomea, Dryopteris carthusiana, and
Thelypteris noveboracensis, were abundant near a stream located on the
Assumption College campus. We proposed that more nutrients as well as moisture
in soil closer to the stream caused ferns to be more abundant, their fronds to be
larger, and more fronds per fern. Distribution of fern abundance, frond length,
number of fronds and fern species were recorded in relation to proximity to the
stream within the plot area. Soil nutrient and moisture content were measured at
the University of Massachusetts Amherst Soil and Plant Tissue Testing Lab. The
largest fronds were in the plots with high soil moisture and nutrient content.
However, the area with the highest number of fronds was located approximately 5
meters from the stream. Other future studies on sunlight, temperature, competition,
and gametophyte conditions can be done to further the knowledge of fern
distribution in this area.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Owen Sholes
II-B— OPTIMIZATION OF AIn2P2 (A= Ca, Sr, Ba) CRYSTAL GROWTH
FOR THERMOELECTRIC APPLICATIONS
Tanya Breault, Natural Sciences Department
Thermoelectric materials provide a key solution to energy problems through the
conversion of heat into electrical energy. Practical applications range from use in
pace makers to use in powering space probes. I present the work of my summer
research conducted at the University of California, Davis through a National
Science Foundation sponsored program, which focused on synthesis of crystal
growth to be used for thermoelectric applications, specifically powering deep space
probes. Working with graduate students, we optimized crystal growth for several
1-2-2 indium phosphide compounds through a variety of different heating schemes.
Analysis included single and powder x-ray diffraction, as well as preliminary
resistivity measurements. Additional analysis was needed before scaling up
samples and sending them to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech, where
further measurements regarding the figure of merit would be calculated.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kimberly Schandel
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POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY II
II-C—ASSUMPTION’S CARBON FOOTPRINT
Elizabeth Fortino, Natural Sciences Department
All human activities affect the environment, but some have a global impact. The
most widely discussed idea right now is climate change, caused by the release of
carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. A carbon footprint
calculates that amount of carbon dioxide that is placed into the atmosphere by
human activities. At any college, massive amounts of electricity, natural gas, oil,
diesel, and gasoline is used to run the campus. At Assumption a compilation of the
amounts of each of these resources used on campus for the 2007 fiscal year was
obtained. The amount of carbon dioxide being placed into our atmosphere by the
actions of the Assumption Campus was calculated. These calculations were
compared with what could be done to offset these emissions as well as how the
college could reduce these emissions. This will include what Assumption currently
does to reduce the amount of resources consumed as well as suggesting change that
would be both cost effective and efficient.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Owen Sholes
II-D—HALLEY’S COMET
Kate Basque, Christina Phillips, Kerrin Viveiros, Mathematics and Computer
Sciences Department
Halley's comet appears every 75-76 years. Its last appearance was in 1986 and it is
predicted to appear again in 2061. Throughout history it has been recorded by
many people all over the world, including Ancient China, Mesopotamia, and the
Native American cultures. Often times Halley's comet has been seen as an omen, a
victory or defeat in battle, or by some people, artistic inspiration. Our research will
focus on the historical significance and the mathematics of the path of Halley's
comet. Johannes Keplar was the first to notice that Halley's comet travels in an
elliptical path. A formal proof of Kepler's law was later discovered by Sir Issac
Newton. In our research we will present an explanation of Kepler's law and show
examples of conic sections that appear in everyday life: the circle, parabola, and
hyperbola.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joe Alfano
22
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY II
II-E—TRANSCRIPTION-COUPLED REPAIR IN HALOPHILIC
ARCHAEA
Kathryn Pietrosimone, Natural Sciences Department
Organisms in all three domains, Eukaryotes, Bacteria and Archaea, possess
mechanisms to repair DNA damage. The Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER)
mechanism removes lesions from DNA and replaces the damaged nucleotides.
NER uses two subpathways to remove lesions: global repair, and transcriptioncoupled repair (TCR). TCR targets lesions in the DNA of the transcribed strand of
an active gene. If DNA damage exists in an actively transcribing gene, a proteinmediated repair system will remove the lesion and restore the proper nucleotides to
the DNA strand. Since only one DNA strand is a template for transcription, TCR
only repairs the transcribed strand. The NER mechanisms of Eukaryotes and
Bacteria include global and transcription-coupled repair, but the repair mechanisms
of archaea are not as well known. The ability of Haloferax volcanii to perform
TCR has yet to be determined. We use the trpDFEG operon, which codes for the
biosynthesis of the amino acid tryptophan, to study TCR in Haloferax. If TCR is
demonstrated in Haloferax, this will be the first documentation of TCR in archaea.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Crowley
II-F—HOW DOES FACEBOOK AFFECT PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING?
Daniel Costin, Psychology Department
We investigated the relationship between use of the popular social networking
website Facebook and psychological well-being. We hypothesized that moderate
Facebook (no more than a half hour/day) would positively affect adjustment to
college, while higher levels of Facebook use would hinder college adjustment.
Forty-five undergraduate students filled out questionnaires about their behavior
patterns associated with Facebook as well as questions measuring self-esteem and
different aspects of college adjustment. We divided the sample into two groups,
first-year students and upper-classmen. The data indicate that first-year students
were more emotionally attached to Facebook, spend more time on Facebook, and
were more likely to put personal information in their profile. The analysis of the
data indicated no correlation between time spent on Facebook and overall college
adjustment. Further analysis showed a positive correlation between the number of
Facebook friends and social adjustment in upper-classmen. We also discovered a
negative correlation between the number of Facebook friends and academic
adjustment.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maria Kalpidou
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POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY II
II-G— NEW FIBRILLAR CRYSTALS IN POLYMER-CARBON
NANOTUBE COMPOSITES
Mark Cronin, Andrew Buckley, Zarnab Iftikhar, Natural Sciences Department
Polymer crystals form in a spherical manner. They nucleate and crystallize in all
directions and the resulting crystal ball is called a spherulite. By changing the
temperature at which those crystals form we were able to change the way the
atoms are ordered inside them (the crystal lattice) and measure it with our optical
system. There are small tubes composed only from carbon atoms, called carbon
nanotubes (CNTs), because they are wide a billionth of a meter. They are
extremely important from scientific and technological point of view, promising a
lot of until recently fantastic applications. We asked the question: if carbon
nanotubes are introduced in the polymer, will they change the way the crystals are
formed and the atoms arranged inside them. The answer to this question is that
indeed the crystal structure of the polymer changed from spherulitic to fibrillar,
which means that the crystals instead of growing in all directions from the center
of their formation, as in pure polymer, started growing parallel to each other in
long bundles originating at the sides of the carbon nanotubes, similar to fibers.
Ours is the first study of PNCs using transmission ellipsometric technique, which
we have developed at Assumption.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Georgi Georgiev
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POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY II
II-H—DEVELOPING A TOOL FOR IDENTIFYING ANTIBODYPRODUCING CELLS
Jackie St. Louis, Natural Sciences Department
Antibody is one of the most important components of the body that protect us
against infection. Antibody is produced by B lymphocytes following their
interaction with "helper" T lymphocytes. Each B cell expresses on its surface
antibodies specific for only one antigen (foreign molecule of an infectious agent).
When stimulated by its specific antigen, a B cell divides and differentiates to
produce either: antibodies in large amounts for immediate protection, or
alternatively, a non-antibody secreting memory B cell that quickly responds if it
reencounters the same antigen. However, detecting B cells that do not secrete
antibody for a particular antigen is difficult as such specific B cells are rare in the
total B cell population. To identify and quantify these specific B cells a fluorescenttagged form of antigen was created which consisted of four antigen molecules bound
together with a fluorescent linker to generate a tetramer. Using this tetramer and an
instrument that detects and counts fluorescently tagged B cells we could accurately
determine the number of B cells specific for the antigen although they represented
only a portion of the total B cell population. The ability to quantitate and isolate
antigen-specific B cells will allow us to amplify these rare cells and study the
changes that accompany their differentiation into the antibody-secreting or memory
cell pathways.
Faculty Mentors: Dr. Kimberly Schandel and Dr. Robert Woodgate, University of
Massachusetts Medical Center
25
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY II
II-I— ARCHIMEDES
Maria Nahme, Meghan Bouthillette,
Mathematics and Computer Sciences Department
Archimedes was a creative scientist and mathematician who lived in ancient
Greece. He is legendary for discovering original solutions to problems of
engineering: finding the purity of the gold in a crown, raising quantities of water
above sea level, finding how many grains of sand would take to fill the universe,
and setting enemy ships on fire from a distance. More importantly, for this project
we will focus on Archimedes technique which he used for finding areas and
volumes of regions. For example, we will illustrate the methods used, and needed
to calculate the area under a parabola, and the volume of a sphere and a cylinder.
To prove these techniques we will use the Method of Exhaustion. When using the
Method of Exhaustion, the region is viewed as a union of "slices" whose area or
volume can be estimated by a known formula. Summing these quantities gives an
approximation of the area or volume of the entire region. And by carefully letting
the number of slices increase, the error of our approximation can be made
arbitrarily small. This method is closely related to the definition of the definite
integral that is fundamental to Calculus. Our presentation will also demonstrate the
method Archimedes used to estimate the value of pie. In fact, during our
presentation we hope to prove how many grains of sand it would take to fill the
universe, while incorporating the importance of the area and volume of a cube,
rectangle, and cylinder.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joe Alfano
26
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY II
II-J—ST BRIGID, ST RADEGUND AND THE VALUE OF HAGIOGRAPHY
IN UNDERSTANDING EARLY MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY
Eve Broffman, Theology Department
Hagiography constituted an important literary genre in the early millennia of the
Christian church. The lives of saints provided informational history as well as
inspirational stories and legends. In my research, I will examine whether the role of
saints functioned differently in early medieval Ireland than on the European
mainland, specifically in regards to the types of miracles depicted. In particular, I
will look at the lives of St Brigid and St Radegund, two women who both
established their own monastic communities and served as abbesses. I anticipate
discovering that the role of a saint in his or her respective community is
representative and highly indicative of the valued aspects of that community’s
ideology.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kathleen Fisher
II-K— IS JUSTICE BEING SERVED?
Kathleen Mattei, Sociology and Anthropology Department
Victimizing the victim. That is the issue at hand every time a woman walks into
court to tell her story of abuse. For years, the criminal justice system failed to see
the domination of males over their female partners. This began to change with the
framework of feminism as a social movement. By the 20th century, while most
states had laws, which restricted the amount of force a husband could exert on his
wife, these laws did not expressly prohibit domestic violence. The laws proved to
be difficult to enforce and had minimal penalties for violations. While we have
made great strides in recognizing and responding to acts of violence perpetrated by
men against women, our society still has far to go. While there are many
opportunities to seek safety from abuse, women give up so much in order to feel
this safety. Is this the way in which justice is served in our society? Daybreak of
the YWCA in Worcester has developed a program that encompasses a service
system that delivers a response to victims of domestic violence effectively. The
components are intended to address specific areas in the continuum of domestic
violence services ranging from emergency shelter for women and children fleeing
imminent serious danger to non-residential advocacy and support, court advocacy,
intervention and prevention education. The hope is to address domestic violence
from each of these stages simultaneously. After having the opportunity to work
through Daybreak as a SAFEPLAN advocate in the court, I have been able to look
more closely at the process of the 209A restraining order and its effectiveness.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Susan Melia
27
POSTER SESSION AND CREATIVE WORK DISPLAY II
II-L - EXISTENCE OF STEREOTYPES CONCERNING EXTROVERSION
IN REGARDS TO VARIOUS PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS
Amy Krager, Jennifer Maloney, Kristyn Perron & Mindy Wills, Psychology
Department
Extroversion is a personality trait characterized by a tendency to be more
concerned with the outside world and social relationships than with one’s inner
thoughts and feelings. There are two mechanisms that can explain a link between
extroversion and high social status. These include the proactive mechanism and the
evocative mechanism. Due to the lack of research on the evocative mechanism of
extroversion, this study examined the perception of extroversion at zero
acquaintance and its effects on stereotyping. We predicted that when images of
individuals were paired with an artificial rating of extroversion, which we
previously created, the participants would assign a higher rating in the categories
of social status, leadership ability, friendliness, intelligence, assertiveness,
openness, and self-esteem. Thirty three Assumption College Undergraduate
students participated in this study. A questionnaire formulated by the researchers
was given to the participants. This questionnaire had the participant’s rate twelve
photographs on the seven different attributes. The results were consistent with our
predictions, in general, people on the photographs labeled as high in extroversion
were perceived significantly more positively than those labeled neutral and low in
extroversion.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Fang Zhang
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PRESENTATION SESSION III
CHARACTER OF EMINENCE: HOW PERSONALITY AFFECTED THE
COLD WAR
Ryan McNeill, History Department
My paper examines the link between abstract personality and tangible foreign
policy during the early years of the Cold War. For example, Truman’s insular
world view and susceptibility to Roosevelt’s former aides seemed to force him into
an unnecessarily antagonistic approach towards the Soviet Union. Likewise,
Stalin’s introverted and paranoid nature, inferiority complex, and a desire to prove
the legitimacy of his empire, laid the foundation for the strained relationship
between the United States and Soviet Union. External forces also shaped how
leader’s reacted to world events; the imperialistic character of each nation, public
opinion within the country, ideology, and susceptibility to influence from other
government officials all played roles in the Cold War. However, the distinct
manner in which each leader reacted to these factors reveals the prominent role
personality played during the course of their political careers. An examination of
early Cold War history is incomplete without the analysis of how individual
character shaped by both external and internal characteristics sculpted the contours
of the Cold War.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lance Lazar
GOD AS UNDECIDABLE: A MEDITATION ON DERRIDA'S CONCEPT
OF THE EVENT WITHIN A CHRISTIAN CONTEXT
Jarrod Abbott, Theology Department
Working from Jacques Derrida’s literary theory, which understands language to be
an indefinite interplay of signs, always susceptible to re-interpretation and new
definitions, this essay inquires into the nature of God. Derrida's theory, known as
deconstruction, shows all positions that tether the concept of God to a single,
immutable definition to be fundamentally untenable, given the protean nature of
language and meaning. The Genesis account of creation lends a concrete example
of this ambiguity, offering a portrait of God who is at once active and passive,
strong and weak, commanding and importunate. Derrida’s concept of the event
allows for a reinterpretation of God, no longer the infallible monarch deigning unto
humanity the final Word, period, amen, but that consummate beggar whose power
lies in opening the human person to the possibility of a response.
Faculty Mentor: Fr. Barry Bercier
29
PRESENTATION SESSION III
THE LOSS OF A BROTHER
Jessica M. Hautsch, English Department
“The Loss of a Brother” is a collection of two short creative non-fiction pieces
reflecting on the death of my brother, Ryan, January 7, 2007. The first selection,
“Numbers”, meditates on my experiences as I sat with my brother in the ICU of
Stony Brook University Hospital. The essay explores the tendency of family
members to fixate on the technological measures of metabolic activity, instead of
the individual. I look at my own movement away from the machines to focus on
Ryan. This piece appears in Progress in Transplantation, September 2007, and
Residential Nurse, October 2007. “The Forgotten Ones” discusses my struggle as a
surviving sibling, the “forgotten mourner.” I describe the concerns of the sibling,
the impact on my life, and possible reasons why friends and neighbors neglect the
grieving sibling. This piece will be published in the Summer 2008 issue of Living
With Loss.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Thoreen
THE POSTMODERN REALITY
James Murphy, English Department
With the advent of the postmodern world, we have come into contact with vast
amounts of information that should, theoretically, change the way we live. Instead
of becoming more precise, the world has become more diffuse.
Based on an examination of representative novels by three postmodern authors, it
becomes clear that there is no unified solution to the problem. In The Crying of Lot
49, Thomas Pynchon asserts that objective reality is unknowable, and that our
efforts to uncover transcendent "Truth" are purely in vain. We will never "know"
anything with certainty. Don DeLillo's White Noise is thematically similar, but
frames the problem in context to academic pursuits. With the quantity of
information, specialization in any one discipline becomes impossible and
eventually to be intellectually relevant, we must create niche or "hyper"
specializations. Intellectual confusion and doubt are not isolated experiences, they
drive the narrative focus behind E. L. Doctorow's The Book of Daniel. Doctorow
uses the abundance of information as a way to find and give voice to an alternate,
repressed voice. In this way he rewrites history as well as re-interprets it according
to a different set of facts. For the authors concerned, objective reality is all but
nonexistent. Postmodern texts become alternative truths that give voice to the
historically disenfranchised.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. David Thoreen
30
PRESENTATION SESSION III
D’ALZON CHRONICLES: “PUN INTENDED”: A LIBRARY GRANT
INSTRUCTED INFOMERCIAL.
Bridget Carr, Thomas Sleeper, Lisa Keeney, Brittany Ford, Michael O’Connor,
Art, Music and Theater Department
Students directed and produced a creative three part series to instruct students
about the library services and proper research methods. The Assumption
Emmanuel D’Alzon Library was given a federal grant to help improve their
facility. John Hoover and the librarians collaborated to put together an independent
study for students to utilize their production skills for a practical project.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. John Hoover
CASE STUDY IN EXOTIC VETERINARY MEDICINE: BACKGROUND,
DIAGNOSTIC WORKUP, SURGICAL AND MEDICAL MANAGEMENT
OF A DISEASE CONSTELLATION IN AN ELDERLY FEMALE FERRET
April Beth Armstrong Campbell, Natural Sciences Department
A case study involving a spayed, elderly female domestic ferret, Mustela furo, is
being developed. The case study will include background information on all
diseases determined to be afflicting the patient; specific workup of the patient and
the medical record; diagnostic approaches and methods; surgical interventions;
medical management; possible additional or alternative treatment courses;
response to therapeutic interventions; and possible comparisons to other cases.
Primary diseases noted in this patient include adrenal disease, insulinoma, renal
disease, mast cell tumors. Secondary disease and complications in response to
therapy include biliary duct obstruction, liver disease, ileus, and transient diabetes.
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steven Theroux
31
Undergraduate Symposium Planning Committee
Dr. Joseph Alfano, Mathematics and Computer Science
Dr. David Crowley, Natural Sciences
Dr. Paula Fitzpatrick, Psychology
Dr. Landy Johnson, Director of Grant Development
Dr. Heather Wilkins, Natural Sciences
Dr. Mary Beadle, Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs
Special thanks to Lorrie McCarty, Office of the Provost, for her assistance in
planning and organizing Symposium events.
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