Table of Contents
Schedule of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Douglas Alder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 3
Oral Presentation Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4-6
Abstracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 7-33
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Schedule of Events
Keynote Speaker
12–1:00 pm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Welcome Speech
President Nadauld
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Douglas Alder
Ballroom
1:15–2:15 pm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oral Session 1
Conference Rooms B, C (Cottam Room), and D
2:00–3:00 pm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Poster Session
Ballroom
2:30–3:30 pm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oral Session 2
Conference Rooms B and C (Cottam Room), and D
3:45–4:45 pm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oral Session 3
Conference Rooms B and C (Cottam Room)
5:00–5:30 pm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Farewell Speech
Dean Dr. Don Hinton, Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs
Awards Ceremony
Special thanks to the members of the Undergraduate Research
Committee, to the event sponsors, and the students’ mentors
without whom this conference would not have been possible:
Committee Members:
Theda Wrede (chair)
Stephen Armstrong
Bryan Bornholdt
Jennifer Ciaccio
Rico Del Sesto
Rebecca DiVerniero
Nancy Hauck
Virginia Hughes
Frank Klackle
Erin O’Brien
Vicky O’Neil
Olga Pilkington
Russ Ross
Curt Walker
Sponsors:
Dr. Don Hinton, Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs
Student Government
Mentors:
Stephen Armstrong
Sue Bennett
AmiJo Comeford
Cheri Crenshaw
Rico Del Sesto
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Carole Grady
Virginia Hughes
Randy Jasmine
John Jones
Hyrum LaTurner
Erin O’Brien
Eric Pedersen
Hanna Rahilly
Rick Rodrick
Nancy Ross
Don Warner
Theda Wrede
Brent Yergensen
Curt Walker
DSU Research Day
Dr. Douglas Alder
“The Excitement in Research”
Douglas D. Alder graduated from
University of Utah with a BA
and MA in History, German and
Political Science. He completed
his Ph.D. study at the University
of Oregon and doctoral research at
the University of Vienna. He taught
Modern European History at Utah
State University for 23 years before
coming to Dixie College in 1986 as
president and then teaching history
after 1993. He has been a member
and officer of several Historical
Societies and of the Utah Humanities
Council and Utah Arts Council.
He is currently working on three books, all about regional history in
southern Utah and neighboring areas. He serves as a book reviewer for
several journals and presses.
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DSC Research Day Schedule
DSU STUDENT RESEARCH DAY 2013 SCHEDULE
Poster Session:
Ballroom: 2:00-3:00pm
1:45-2:00
Scott Hoopes
Hybrid Social Enterprise Businesses as a Rising Business and Marketing Strategy
1.
Chantz Ramos, Anthony Rhoades, Burton Myers
Competition between a Native Shrub and an Invasive Grass
2.
Chancen Hall, Nick Hadley
Chytridiomycosis-Resistant Frog Populations in Southern Utah
3.
Mike Hinckley, Erin Horton
The Effect of Chloroquine Diphosphate on R1R1 and R2R2 Red
Blood Cells
4.
Chelsea Moody, Jingping Qiao
Temperature and Kinetin Effects on Chlorophyll in Cotyledons
1:30-1:45
Kimball Leavitt
Hell Hath No Fury: Emasculation in Literary Narratives and Contemporary American Society
5.
Daxton Pulham, Ryan Wallis, Nick Hadley
Antimicrobial Effectiveness of Silver Nanoparticles, Manuka Honey, and Bentonite Clay
1:45-2:00
Thomas Skousen
The Living Apostle: Paschal I and Concordia Apostolorum
6.
Stephanie Wilkinson
Agglutinating Ability of Two Species of Cacti on A1 Red Blood Cells
Oral Sessions:
*All presentations will be followed by a few minutes of questions and answers.
1:15-2:15pm: Session 1
Conference Room B: Sciences, the Outdoors, and Business
1:15-1:30
James Beams, Christopher Begay, Daniel Cluff,
Jordanne Davidson
Cheatgrass Reduction in Water Availability for Native Shrub
1:30-1:45
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James A. Seely, Chad L. Roberts, Neil C. Roberts, Shane York Zion National Park Slot Canyon Giardia Research
DSU Research Day
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Conference Room C/ Cottam Room: Social Commentary in Narrative and Art
1:15-1:30
Jesse Cook
Subverting the Narrative: Frame Narrative in Charles Chesnutt’s “Dave’s Neckliss”
Conference Room D: Teaching and Learning
1:15-1:30
Joshua Beal
Teaching the American Dream through the Eyes of Immigrants and Minorities: Why It is Important to High School Students and How It can be Taught Effectively
1:30-1:45
Camille Rowley
Combatting Boys’ Literacy Underachievement
1:45-2:00
Kaylee Litson
Levels of Self-Compassion Negatively Correlate with Levels
of Aggression
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Abstracts
2:30-3:30pm: Session 2
3:45-4:45pm: Session 3
Conference Room B: Rhetoric and Media
Conference Room B: Literature, Music, and Theater
2:30-2:45
Karla Seamons
Sustained Stigmas of Mental Illness through Popular Narratives
3:45-4:00
Garrett Faylor
Bob Dylan, Poet: Bringing It All Back Home
2:45-3:00
Sasha Trae
Trial by Ordeal: A Critical Analysis of Violence against Women in Twenty-First Century Public Discourse
4:00-4:15
Tamara Bostrom Lemmon
From “Tyger” to “Blackbird”—The Evolution of Individualism in a Post-Reformation World
4:15-4:30 Brook Owen
Theatre Uninhibited By Language
Conference Room C/ Cottam Room—Women and Men in Literature
2:30-2:45
Katie Patterson-Hulett
From the Perspective of Barbarians: Kingston’s The
Woman Warrior
2:45-3:00
April Jackson
A New Sort of Man: The Ideal Man in Kate Chopin’s
Collected Works
3:00-3:15
Melissa Lewis
The Nature of Fate: Determinism in Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native and George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss
Conference Room D: Rhetoric and Audience
2:30-2:45
Nathan Shapiro
The Crisis of Belief
2:45-3:00
Stephanie Millett
Answering Rhetorical Questions: Lincoln’s First
Inaugural Address
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Conference Room C/ Cottam Room: The Science of Bacteria
3:45-4:00
Aimee Newsham
Integration of Antimicrobial Agents in Textiles
4:00-4:15
Spencer Alexander, Eli Yates, Bailey Bundy
The Destruction of Biofilms by Ionic Liquid Application
4:15-4:30
Aaron Yearsley, Devin Daniels
How do the Antibacterial Effects of Triclosan Compare Against Fluoride Toothpastes in Biofilms and Nonbiofilms?
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Abstracts
Abstracts
The Destruction of Biofilms by Ionic Liquid Application
Authors: Spencer L. Alexander, Eli A. Yates, Bailey Bundy
Teaching the American Dream through the Eyes of Immigrants and
Minorities: Why it is Important to High School Students and How It
can be Taught Effectively
Mentor: Dr. Rico Del Sesto
Author: Joshua Beal
Department of Chemistry
Mentor: Dr. Theda Wrede
Biological surfaces provide necessary nutrients required for the sustainability
of the microorganisms. When the bacteria attach to a surface, they can
often be easily removed or neutralized. However, the attachment becomes
irreversible once the bacteria excrete an exopolymer that allows them to
adhere strongly to the surfaces. Attachment of these biofilm-encapsulated
microorganisms to biological surfaces can lead to infections. Ionic liquids
(IL) have been experimented with since the 1880s; however, they had not
been worked with extensively until the 1980s. IL can hypothetically be
used as an antiseptic to dispatch the biofilm-encapsulated microbes. The
IL can penetrate the biofilm by disrupting the polysaccharide structure
that protects the bacteria. We are testing various IL towards breaking down
the biofilms after they form to determine if the IL can be used to sterilize
contaminated equipment. To determine the effect of the IL on biofilms,
SEM (scanning electron microscopy) will be used to look at morphology
before and after exposure to the ionic liquids.
Department of English
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Over the past few decades, multicultural literature has found its place
in high school curricula throughout America. This work discusses how
focusing on the immigrant-and-ethnic-minority-American dream when
teaching high school students in Washington county can help students to
develop ethically and be more prepared to enter the professional world.
Furthermore, focusing on how immigrants and ethnic minorities see the
American dream in multicultural texts can help students to gain a better
understanding of the obstacles immigrants and ethnic minorities have
faced and still must face. In an effort to engender an understanding of how
immigrants and minorities experience life in America and, in particular,
see the American dream, I use several young adult texts such as The Circuit
by Francisco Jimenez, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie, Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, and ‘Tis: A
Memoir by Frank McCourt. I analyze these texts against Rebecca Harding
Davis’s Life in the Iron Mills. I draw on both psychology and educational
psychology to examine the art of effectively using the educational strategy
of perspective taking in the classroom and to discuss classroom strategies to
help students move beyond egocentrism. I demonstrate how, when using
contemporary teaching strategies such as strategic empathy and an ethical
approach to perspective taking, teaching the immigrant-and-minorityAmerican dream can help students to gain a better understanding of and
appreciation for what it means to be an immigrant or ethnic minority in
America.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
Cheatgrass Reduction in Water Availability for Native Shrub
Authors: James Beams, Christopher Begay, Daniel Cluff, Jordanne
Davidson
Subverting the Narrative: Frame Narrative in Charles Chesnutt’s “Dave’s
Neckliss”
Author: Jesse Cook
Mentor: Dr. Erin O’Brien
Mentor: Dr. Randy Jasmine
Department of Biology
Department of English
Bromus tectorum is an invasive grass species that infects all of the BLM land
in southwestern Utah and is thought to be the primary cause of wildfires
that have affected 30 percent of this land in recent years. This exotic grass
significantly impacts native desert plant species by reducing soil water
available down to 80 cm. Larrea tridentata is a dominant, native shrub
throughout the region and provides important microhabitats for other
native plants and animals. It has a single tap root that reaches a depth of
80 cm and shallow roots that are 20 to 35 cm deep. Unlike many other
annuals, B. tectorum often grows directly under the L. tridentata canopy.
L. tridentata often minimizes belowground competition by releasing
allelopathic chemicals that deter plants from establishing nearby. Since B.
tectorum can reduce water availability up to a depth of 80 cm, it is possible
that it reduces water available to L. tridentata at those depths. Comparing
pre-dawn xylem pressure potentials (indicators of water availability) of
L. tridentata individuals before and after B. tectorum begins growing
underneath them can indicate effects that the invasive grass has on the
native L. tridentata. Given the overlap in the roots of L. tridentata and the
area of the soil horizon altered by B. tectorum, the presence of B. tectorum
likely significantly reduces the water availability for L. tridentata after B.
tectorum germination. Determining the interaction between these two
species could help to explain the success of the B. tectorum in southwestern
Utah and surrounding areas.
Charles Chesnutt’s use of frame narrative in “Dave’s Neckliss” allows readers
to gain a wider exposure to realistic African-American storytelling. While
African-American literature was often intentionally watered down in the
years following the Civil War to avoid hostility from Euro-Americans,
Chesnutt published works depicting some of the true inequalities of
African- American life. His use of frame narrative—a local color narrative
technique that employs a Euro-American narrator to frame a story told
by an African-American character—allowed Chesnutt to publish his work
unbound by such restrictions. William L. Andrews states that Chesnutt’s
“understanding of literary tradition and his ability to use tradition as a
means of approaching his readers with untraditional themes” allowed him
to delve further into the “intensely human inner life of slavery.” While it
could be argued that Chesnutt’s technique undermines the authority of
the African-American storyteller, requiring a Euro-American narrator as a
catalyst for the African-American character to tell his story, this technique
allows Chesnutt to present a subversive narrative that imposes challenging
questions to a reluctant audience. I argue that while Chesnutt’s use of frame
narrative may appear to perpetuate existing racial stereotypes held by many,
the frame narrative style actually allowed him to pose thought-provoking
questions during a time of racial animosity.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
Chytridiomycosis-Resistant Hyla arenicolor Populations in Southern
Utah
Bob Dylan, Poet: Bringing It All Back Home
Author: Garrett Faylor
Authors: Chancen Hall, Nick Hadley
Mentor: Dr. Randy Jasmine
Mentor: Dr. Curt Walker
Department of English
Department of Biology
Bob Dylan has been called just about every name in the book: voice of a
generation, beatnik, icon, songwriter, protest singer, legend, even Judas. But
there is one name that people cannot seem to agree upon: poet. In “I Shall
Be Free No. 10,” Dylan jokingly says, “I’m a poet, and I know it / Hope I
don’t blow it.” Rather than take his word for it, one might suggest looking
backward to discern the verity of Dylan’s claim. Wordsworth, Shelley,
and T.S. Eliot all contributed greatly to the art and our understanding of
poetry. Each supplied definitions for what constitutes poetry and better
yet, what exactly a poet should be and do. In his Preface to Lyrical Ballads,
Wordsworth explains that “[the poet] is a man speaking to men.” This,
and other definitions given by some of poetry’s most notorious innovators,
decisively vindicates the claims of Dylan as poet. In this paper, I will argue
that not only does Bob Dylan fit into almost all literary definitions of a
“poet,” but he is also the quintessential American poet: a transcendent, folkrooted traverser and mouthpiece “for the searching ones, on their speechless,
seeking trail.”
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Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (chytrid fungus) is prevalent worldwide, and
the resulting chytridiomycosis has contributed to at least 168 amphibian
species extinctions. In 2010, B. dendrobatidis was discovered in the greater
Zion National Park area of southwestern Utah. Because few populations
have shown resistance to chytridiomycosis, we decided to explore the effects
of this disease on populations of Hyla arenicolor (canyon tree frog). We
tracked the spread of B. dendrobatidis by testing skin samples taken annually
from several different canyons and monitored population sizes. During
the three years of our study, infected populations did not show subsequent
population declines. This suggests that H. arenicolor population size in this
region is unaffected by B. dendrobatidis. In the future, testing hypothesized
explanations for surviving infection could help us identify populations not
at risk and thus allocate conservation resources more efficiently.
DSU Research Day
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Abstracts
Abstracts
The Effect of Chloroquine Diphosphate on R1R1 and R2R2 Red Blood
Cells
Hybrid Social Enterprise Businesses as a Rising Business and Marketing
Strategy
Authors: Mike Hinckley and Erin Horton
Author: Scott Hoopes
Mentor: Virginia Hughes
Mentor: Dr. Eric Pedersen
Department of Medical Lab Sciences
Department of Visual Technology
Blood bank students investigated the effect of chloroquine diphosphate
(CDP) on R1R1 (DCe/DCe) and R2R2 (DcE/DcE) reagent red blood
cells (RBCs). Persons with an autoantibody on their RBCs typically have
a positive Direct Antiglobulin Test (DAT). The DAT is a common blood
bank test performed when investigating patients with autoimmune disease.
CDP is used to remove autoantibody from RBCs so that valid antigen
typing can be performed. Basically patient RBCs with a positive DAT
caused by autoantibody are treated with CDP then retested to confirm the
DAT is negative and RBCs can be antigen typed accordingly. This study is
important because selection of what type of blood to transfuse is determined
by valid antigen typing. Previous reports have indicated the D antigen on
R1R1 and R2R2 RBCs is weakened after treatment with CDP. Sassetti and
Nicholls (1982) found decreased expression of Rh antigens D, C,and e after
CDP treatment for removal of autoantibody. Antigens other than those in
the Rh blood group system have shown absence or weakened expression
after CDP treatment. Mallory and Reid (1984) found weakened expression
of the Fyb, Yta, Lub, and JMH antigens. Bennett-Goodspeed antigens
have become undetectable on RBCs and platelets after CDP treatment
(Nordhagen and Flaathen, 2009). This study is different from previous
work in that the D antigen on R1R1 and R2R2 reagent RBCs is completely
saturated with CDP without the interference of autoantibody and/or
positive DAT. This helps to discern weakened expression of the D antigen
as it is related to autoantibody disassembly or exposure of the D antigen to
CDP independent of autoantibody. Testing ten samples, paired t-test results
indicated no significant difference in D antigen expression between pre and
post CDP treatment using R1R1 and R2R2 reagent RBCs. Differences in
the strength of reactivity were found when comparing R1R1 and R2R2 post
CDP treatment, but these results were not significant. Future studies should
focus on testing a larger number of samples and other blood group antigens.
Hybrid Social Enterprise Businesses as a rising Business and Marketing
Strategy By: Scott Hoopes Hybrid Social Enterprise Businesses are
companies that sell products and donate a portion of their proceeds to a
social cause. I submit that these types of businesses will become the patterns
of marketing and business organization of the future because they are able
to fund their social undertakings from the revenue of the products they
sell, and be sustained by sales rather than depending on donations to fund
their endeavors. The reason this model is successful is because many people
throughout the world want to make a difference but rarely take action to
put that change into effect. Hybrid Social Enterprise Businesses are able
to make a difference in the world through their donations yet they have
their revenue from product sales to run the day-to-day business. These
items such as TOMS shoes, People Water, and comparable companies are
becoming status symbols for socially conscious people worldwide. Not
only are these items “fashionable” or “stylish” they are giving consumers the
feeling that they have made a difference in somebody else’s life by making
a purchase. By comparing and analyzing data from a variety sources and
primary research I will be able to support my hypothesis that Hybrid Social
Enterprise Businesses are a growing trend of business organization and
marketing and will continue to grow into the future.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
From the Perspective of Barbarians: Kingston’s The Woman Warrior
A New Sort of Man: The Ideal Man in Kate Chopin’s Collected Works
Author: Katie Patterson Hulett
Author: April Jackson
Mentor: Dr. Theda Wrede
Mentor: Dr. AmiJo Comeford
Department of English
Department of English
In the last pages of her memoir, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood
among Ghosts, Maxine Hong Kingston tells the story of the Chinese poetess
Ts’ai Yen, a woman captured by a barbarian culture and expected to adapt to
their ways. But rather than adapting she resists, which causes her loneliness
and resentment toward the barbarians for many years. Yet over time, she
finds a way to connect her culture to theirs, which shifts her understanding
of a previously “barbaric” culture. Kingston concludes her memoir with
Ts’ai Yen’s story in order to emphasize the importance of questioning the
notion of barbarism, because of how the concept proved destructive in her
own life. She demonstrates the futility of labeling others as “barbaric” by
showing how Ts’ai Yen’s rejection of the barbarians widened the distance
between them, which not only increased their foreignness in her eyes,
but also increased her foreignness in theirs. In her own life, Kingston saw
tragedy result from the resistance to a new culture. Like Ts’ai Yen, Kingston’s
mother resisted understanding the realities in America. By fiercely holding
on to her Chinese heritage, she became barbarous in the eyes of Americans,
who, in turn, labeled her as barbarous for not assimilating. Kingston
herself was caught between both cultures, which made her childhood
tumultuous as she tried to sift through the “realities” each presented to her.
Only through a new understanding of reality—that it shifts depending on
individual perspective and personal experience—could Kingston understand
how to accept and finally love her dual cultures and see them both with
compassion. My research for this essay focuses on how the short story of
Ts’ai Yen and the barbarians embodies the central theme of Kingston’s
memoir, allowing her to translate her beloved Chinese culture, which was
previously indecipherable, to a Western audience.
With the publication of Kate Chopin’s complete works in 1969, proponents
fighting for a new paradigm regarding women’s choices in regard to
sexuality, marriage, and motherhood found much to consider in her work.
Often, critics will analyze Chopin’s works with a limited feminist lens,
focusing on themes of marriage, sexuality and sexual independence, and the
creation of self-identity through marriage and sexual awakenings. However,
Chopin’s works do not focus on women and the world they face to the
exclusion of men; in writing about women and their lives, she also draws
attention to the effects the attitudes of men have on women. Focusing on
Chopin’s male characters, who often serve as satellite figures, this paper will
analyze the way men in her texts can create an atmosphere in which women
can, without fear of societal rejection, shape their own lives. In her larger
body of works, two men exemplify this ideal man: Gouvernail, who appears
in “Athenaise” and “A Respectable Woman”; and Offdean, who appears in
“A No-Account Creole.” These two men represent a model of masculinity
that is most conducive for women to fully assert and create their sexual and
social independence and self-identity. With the study and analysis of these
satellite male characters, rather than limiting the analysis to just the women’s
experiences, deeper and newer readings of Chopin’s work will surface and
allow for additional themes to come forward in the broader area of Chopin
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Abstracts
Abstracts
Hell Hath No Fury: Emasculation in Literary Narratives and
Contemporary American Society
From “Tyger” to “Blackbird”—The Evolution of Individualism in a
Post-Reformation World
Author: Kimball Leavitt
Author: Tamara Bostrom Lemmon
Mentor: Dr. Stephen Armstrong
Mentor: Dr. Stephen Armstrong
Department of English
Department of English
If the penis is the preeminent symbol of masculine power, why do audiences
seem to be enamored by depictions of emasculation? The literal and
metaphorical dismemberment of men has been evident since at least ancient
Greece. In Euripides’s Medea, for example, the female protagonist exacts
revenge upon her husband, Jason, with his metaphorical emasculation by
murdering his new bride and father-in-law as well as the children she had
with him. In contemporary society, male mistreatment of females persists
and violent responses have not subsided. In the case of Lorena and John
Wayne Bobbit, Lorena severed her husband’s penis and disposed of it
after physical and emotional abuse. More recently, Katherine Kieu Becker
attacked her husband’s manhood after drugging his food. While the Bobbitt
and Becker stories drew international attention, other stories of male injury
have not. Consider the lack of attention given to soldiers overseas whose
genitals have been destroyed by improvised explosive devices. Why are these
tragic stories not told with the same frequency as we find in either literary
works or the tabloids? In this paper, I will explore the fascination that
arises around emasculation as a theme in certain narrative contexts and not
others. Focusing on literal and metaphorical emasculations that surface in
literature and real life, I claim that narrative depictions of emasculation tend
to capture our attention most when they target men’s fears of losing power
specifically over women.
This paper examines the rise of the individual as a protagonist in lyrical
expression by considering parallels between the works of the great
Romantic poets and the lyrics of The Beatles. The paper asserts that modern
conceptualizations of individualism could only develop once the bonds
of collective thinking, imposed on western thought by the dominance
of the Roman Catholic Church, had been loosened by the Protestant
Reformation, which, in turn, fostered the new assumption that a person is
no longer a fallen sinner useful only as a piece of the collective. Rather, to
the Romantics, and their pop music heirs, the individual is a transcendent,
beautiful being for whom the world exists. The Romantic poets verbalized
this radical shift in the view of individual worth and created a lasting
paradigm that continues to hold sway over contemporary pop culture. The
Beatles, specifically, owe much to the Romantic poets. Careful examination
of the song “Blackbird” reveals a deep belief in the worth of the individual
and the supremacy of the pursuit of personal fulfillment and enlightenment,
an outlook that in many ways resembles thoughts first uttered by Romantic
poet William Blake in his seminal work “The Tyger,” in which the individual
is presented as a worthy transmitter of unfiltered spiritual revelation.
Viewing the individualism of the Fab Four as a continuation of the thought
processes of the Romantic poets, with the Reformation as a catalyst only
three hundred years prior, provides valuable insight into current concepts of
the individual.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
The Nature of Fate: Determinism in Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the
Native and George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss
Levels of Self-Compassion Negatively Correlate With Levels of
Aggression
Author: Melissa Lewis
Author: Kaylee Litson
Mentor: Dr. Sue Bennett
Mentor: Dr. John Jones
Department of English
Department of Psychology
Both George Eliot and Thomas Hardy have been called determinists partly
as a result of their novels The Return of the Native and The Mill on the Floss.
The role of fate or destiny largely guides the plot of these works, regardless
of the decisions and merit of the characters. A comparison of the style of
determinism between the two authors reveals that George Eliot emphasizes
a moral force while Thomas Hardy focuses on a force associated with nature.
Eliot’s determinism suggests that the world is determined but that humans
still remained morally responsible for their actions, as Maggie is responsible
for not feeding Tom’s rabbits or for her lack of decision as she drifts down
the river with Stephen Guest in The Mill on the Floss. Hardy tends to be
more of a naturalist. The naturalist is a product of post-Darwinian theory
that humanity is controlled entirely by nature. For example, the fate of
Eustacia Vye in The Return of the Native seems to be controlled by the
hand of Egdon Heath. Both novels depict extraordinary characters in a
world bent to squash them. These novels reveal that the individual exists as
a solitary entity, and the relationship that used to exist between God and
individual is now between the individual and society. Both Eliot and Hardy
create novels where the world seems determined and cruel and characters
that don’t adhere or fit in this mold are eliminated or reduced.
The study of self-compassion has become very popular in the past decade.
As such, more and more research is finding that behaviors and emotions
originally associated with self-esteem (i.e., depression, negative affect, and
happiness) may also be associated with self-compassion (Neff & Vonk,
2009). Effects of high self-esteem were questioned by Baumeister, Boden,
and Smart (1996), and results suggest that there is a divide within the
construct of self-esteem, where high levels of self-esteem can either be
positive (leading to reduced levels of negative affect and behavior), or high
levels of self-esteem can be negative (leading to increased levels of violence
and aggression). Perhaps self-esteem is not the main factor that reduces
aggression; rather, self-compassion is more related to aggression. Thus,
the intention of the current research is to assess the relationship between
self-compassion and aggression while controlling the effects of self-esteem.
In this study, responses from self-report surveys (administered to Dixie
State College students during Fall 2012) were analyzed using a regression
analysis to determine the initial relationship between self-compassion and
aggression. Results suggest that self-compassion is negatively related to
aggression, yet no cause and effect relationship has been studied at this
point. Future research is needed to assess whether self-compassion can play a
mediating role between frustrating stimuli and aggressive behaviors. Overall,
an association between these two constructs seems to exist, but more
research is needed to fully develop the extent of this relationship.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
Answering Rhetorical Questions: Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
Temperature and Kinetin Effects on Chlorophyll in Cotyledons
Authors: Stephanie Millett
Authors: Chelsea Moody and Quinnie Qiao
Mentor: Dr. Cheri Crenshaw
Mentor: Dr. Erin O’Brien
Department of English
Department of Biology
During the Civil War, a time of unparalleled turmoil in American history,
a political leader emerged to guide the nation through the bloodshed:
Abraham Lincoln, who was known for his eloquence. This paper examines
Lincoln’s rhetorical methods, specifically his varied and masterful use of
rhetorical questions. In his First Inaugural Address, Lincoln posed 23
rhetorical questions. The very nature of a rhetorical question implies no
answer to be requisite because the question actually presents an assertion.
However, upon careful examination, several of these questions, while
not explicitly demanding a literal answer, opened a self-dialogue for each
member in the target audience, stimulating a quest for truth—the aim of
dialectic. In this paper, I introduce the concepts of the rhetorical question
and dialectic to analyze how Lincoln’s rhetorical questions were carefully
designed to generate a quest for truth in his listeners. I also examine the
power of rhetorical questions, derived by harnessing the syntactical structure
of a question versus presenting a statement. Employing this strategy, Lincoln
carefully crafted particular rhetorical questions to allow his conflicted
constituents to arrive at an anticipated shared truth as opposed to having it
thrust upon them in the form of a statement. The exploration of Lincoln’s
dialectic use of rhetorical questions is significant as it provides insight into
how one of the nation’s greatest political figures led the country
through crisis.
Applying cytokinin hormones, such as kinetin, to plant tissue is known to
delay chemical decomposition in the tissues in vitro, extending their “shelflife.” The response is so well studied that applying kinetin to harvested
cotyledons is a common lab used in educational settings. The effect of
applying kinetin to cotyledons while they are still attached to a plant is
less understood. Cotyledons play an important role in plant germination,
allowing for photosynthesis before the production of true leaves. The more
chlorophyll present in the cotyledon, the more efficient photosynthesis is.
In cut cotyledons, temperature and applied kinetin alter the persistence
of chlorophyll. Higher concentrations of exogenously applied kinetin
delay the degradation of chlorophyll. Increasing temperatures speed up
the degradation of chlorophyll. Thus, cotyledons with kinetin applied
externally on plants that are grown at a lower temperature will have the
highest amount of chlorophyll present if there is no difference between
harvested cotyledons and those on the plant. To test this, germinating
legumes were exposed to four different treatments: low temperature (20°C)
with or without externally applied kinetin (3mg/L) and high temperature
(25 °C) with or without externally applied kinetin (3mg/L). The amount
of chlorophyll was indirectly measured by the strength of the absorbency
each set of cotyledons contained. While cotyledons attached to a plant are
exposed to a much wider array of hormones produced by the parent plant,
we believe that the application of kinetin will still increase
chlorophyll amounts.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
Integration of Antimicrobial Agents in Textiles
Theatre Uninhibited by Language
Authors: Aimee Newsham and Eric Swenson
Author: Brook Owen
Mentor: Dr. Rico Del Sesto
Mentor: Dr. Hanna Rahilly
Department of Chemistry
Department of Theatre
Over 1.2 million people are yearly infected with pathogenic MRSA
(methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a biofilm-forming pathogen
that is often transferred to patients by a contaminated device. Additionally,
injury to military personnel in combat is not only inevitable at times, but
also the prime environment for biofilm growth due to the unavoidable
unsanitary conditions our military personnel endure. Therefore, new
methods to destroy biofilm-encapsulated pathogens or to prevent their
initial formation are required. Our research focus is to develop a safe
treatment against biofilms by incorporating anti-biofilm organic salts
(ionic liquids) into textiles. Microbes form biofilms that are comprised of
extracellular proteins and polysaccharides. Many bacteria make biofilms
around their colonies, and are able to survive long periods by sequestering
nutrition from the biofilm. The encapsulation also provides protection
from a multitude of threats, including antibacterial drugs. A possible way
to prevent formation of these biofilms is to incorporate ionic liquids into
textiles to inhibit their initial growth. Ionic liquids are organic salts that
contain a number of intermolecular interactions that can disrupt the biofilm
structure and kill the bacteria within. Our research focuses on integrating
ionic liquids into textiles to prevent and disrupt biofilm formation and on
the effect of the ionic liquids on the textile structure. This research could
impact the design of future antimicrobial textiles and new approaches to
defeat resistant biofilm-encapsulated pathogens.
My theory is that theatre can portray emotion and convey a story without
verbal communication. As an actor, I struggled to portray emotion while
using a memorized script. As I worked through my theatrical training, I was
introduced to exercises that took away language. I found artistic freedom
in these exercises and formulated a research project to understand what
would happen if actors were given freedom from language completely. This
research is founded in the works of artists such as mime John Weaver and
absurdist Samuel Beckett. One of the most prominent movement artists
of our time is Anne Bogart. Her movement technique, called Viewpoints,
focuses on the physical aspects of portraying emotion and kinesthetic
response. This is where my physical research started. In rehearsal, actors
experiment with Bogart’s viewpoints, while responding to different styles of
music. Then I begin to move away from Bogart’s research. While allowing
them to maintain their own organic choices, I give my actors more specific
acting objectives with which to work. For example, “Imagine that your
character wants to purpose.” Once completed, the actors talk to me about
how the exercise expanded their physical toolbox. One comment from an
actor symbolizes the heart of this research. “When the music starts, you
think of an emotion, and then you start responding to that emotion. That’s
when the character starts to form. And the next thing you know, you have a
little story around it.” Repetition of this process will culminate in a narrative
movement piece.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
Antimicrobial Effectiveness of Silver Nanoparticles, Manuka Honey, and
Bentonite Clay
Authors: Daxton Pulham, Ryan Wallis, Nick Hadley
Competition between a Native Shrub and an Invasive Grass
Mentor: Dr. Erin O’Brien
Mentor: Dr. Erin O’Brien
Department of Biology
Department of Biology
As bacteria develop resistance to antimicrobial agents, it is increasingly
important to develop new ones. There are several homeopathic remedies
rumored to be antimicrobial. However, they have not been compared
against each other in controlled experiments that demonstrate which
treatments are most effective. Published research indicates silver
nanoparticles, manuka honey, and bentonite clay poss antibacterial qualities.
Due to this, all three were expected to reduce the growth of Staphylococcus
aureus and Escherichia coli. While they have not been compared to each
other previously, based on other research that has been performed on these
treatments individually, we expect the silver nanoparticles to cause the
greatest amount of inhibition, followed by manuka honey, and bentonte
clay. Both species of bacteria were exposed to the substances using the
disc diffusion method in TSA agar. After the plates were incubated for 48
hours, the zones of inhibition were measured and averaged to compare the
topographical antimicrobial treatments. Following the initial incubation,
zones of inhibition were sampled, inoculated on fresh TSA agar plates,
incubated for an additional 48 hours and any present bacterial colonies
were counted and recorded. This experiment provides an alternative to
commonly prescribed antibacterial treatments.
Bromus tectorum is an invasive grass species that infects all of the BLM land
in southwestern Utah and is thought to be the primary cause of wildfires
that have affected 30 percent of this land in recent years. This exotic grass
significantly impacts native desert plant species by reducing soil water
available down to 80 cm. Larrea tridentata is a dominant, native shrub
throughout the region and provides important microhabitats for other
native plants and animals. It has a single tap root that reaches a depth of
80 cm and shallow roots that are 20 to 35 cm deep. Unlike many other
annuals, B. tectorum often grows directly under the L. tridentata canopy.
L. tridentata often minimizes belowground competition by releasing
allelopathic chemicals that deter plants from establishing nearby. Since B.
tectorum can reduce water availability up to a depth of 80 cm, it is possible
that it reduces water available to L. tridentata at those depths. Comparing
pre-dawn xylem pressure potentials (indicators of water availability) of
L. tridentata individuals before and after B. tectorum begins growing
underneath them can indicate effects that the invasive grass has on the
native L. tridentata. Given the overlap in the roots of L. tridentata and the
area of the soil horizon altered by B. tectorum, the presence of B. tectorum
likely significantly reduces the water availability for L. tridentata after B.
tectorum germination. Determining the interaction between these two
species could help to explain the success of the B. tectorum in southwestern
Utah and surrounding areas.
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Authors: Chantz Ramos, Anthony Rhoades, Burton Myers
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Abstracts
Abstracts
Combatting Boys’ Literacy Underachievement
Sustained Stigmas of Mental Illness through Popular Narratives
Author: Camille Rowley
Author: Karla Seamons
Mentor: Dr. AmiJo Comeford
Mentor: Dr. Stephen Armstrong
Department of English
Department of English
The past several decades in academic research have been highly focused on
meeting the educational needs of girls—and rightly so. The early 1990’s
produced many reforms that improved pedagogy, environment, and
curriculum to help adolescent girls achieve academic success. These reforms
have paved the way now for a discussion of the state of boys in secondary
education. Research over the past decade has revealed a decrease in boys’
literacy and academic achievement. In this paper I propose that English
teachers can combat boys’ literacy underachievement by using literature
that both engages adolescent boys and questions unhealthy definitions of
masculinity. I suggest the following pieces of literature be used for these
purposes: William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Gene Luen Yang’s American
Born Chinese, and Patrick Higgins’s “The After Hours Crowd.” These
novels and poetry engage adolescent boys by making connections to their
out-of-school lives and by providing an opportunity to discuss unhealthy
definitions of masculinity in society. Literature has proven to be a successful
format for addressing issues surrounding adolescent girls, through such
pieces as Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak,
and Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll.” Just as educators used such literature to
implement changes to help girls achieve success in school, they now have an
opportunity and a responsibility to do the same for boys.
Charlotte Perkins Gillman sharply criticizes the treatment of depressed
women in her 1892 story “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Since her writing,
medicine has made great strides in treating mental illnesses; however, the
popular stigma that mental disorders are weaknesses rather than diseases
remains. A 2002 episode of Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer titled
“Normal Again” illustrates this view. In this episode, Buffy must choose
between two alternate states of consciousness: her life in Sunnydale, which
represents delusion, or her existence as a patient in a mental hospital, which
represents reality. By having Buffy select Sunnydale over recovery, Whedon
indicates that Buffy can choose to overcome her mental illness or embrace
it. This assertion is comparable to the husband’s in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
as he tells his wife to “use her good sense to check the tendency” toward
her “excited fancies” that he believes contribute to her poor health. Both
narratives further imply that the illnesses correlate with the protagonists’
moral fabric rather than their physiology as the characters must hide actions
that others perceive as deviant. Studies show that such portrayals not only
reinforce a general distrust of the mentally ill, but also hinder sufferers
from obtaining or continuing treatment for fear of social consequences.
By looking at the issue of choice, patients’ moral attitudes, and the role of
secrecy in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Normal Again,” one can see that
popular opinions of mental illness have undergone little change over the
past century, leaving sufferers to continue to cope with both their illnesses
and social repercussions.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
Zion National Park Slot Canyon Giardia Research
The Crisis of Belief
Authors: James A. Seely, Chad L. Roberts, Neil C. Roberts, Shane York
Author: Nathan Shapiro
Mentor: Dr. Carole Grady
Mentor: Dr. Hyrum LaTurner
Department of Nursing
Department of Philosophy
Testing of ephemeral rock pools was conducted within the slot canyons of
Zion National Park to determine potential Giardia lamblia contamination
due to the presence of possibly infected wildlife within the park and
human canyoneering traffic within the canyons. Water samples from eight
different slot canyons with varying degrees of human and animal traffic
were collected over sequential intervals of time during the summer of 2012.
The samples were then analyzed using a Giardia-Glo-TM antibody kit
and viewed with flourescene microscopy. The presence of Giardia lamblia
was not detected. This finding suggests that there is a negative correlation
concerning Giardia lamblia’s presence and its impact in high-traffic vs. low
traffic canyons. Consequently, propensiating canyoneering regulation from
Giardia lamblia contamination is not necessary. The results also suggest that
further testing for the parasite within Zion National Park is unnecessary
due to no current reportings of Giardia lamblia within the park. Though
this is the first study of Giardia lamblia within the park, we conclude–and
biologists and hydrologists in the park agree with us—that future studies
looking for Giardia lamblia are unnecessary. Limitations of the study
include a small number of slot canyons sampled, the transitory nature of
ephemeral pools, lack of standardization concerning water source draw (due
to environmental elements), and the condensing of bio-matter and water
samples during scientific testing. Advantages of the study include the broad
scope of ephemeral pools, slot canyons, and watershed area tested, along
with the accuracy of testing provided by the TM antibody detection system.
This research analyzes the rhetorical strategies in Thomas Paine’s Common
Sense, using the philosophical theories of Charles Peirce and Martin
Heidegger. I argue Peirce’s concepts of doubt and belief and Heidegger’s
critique of equipment reveal how Paine’s text first generated significant
doubt in the minds of his audience, then resolved those doubts with a
powerful set of beliefs which served as tools for revolution. This paper
begins with a summary of the ideas of Peirce and Heidegger, then applies
these ideas to Common Sense. I show how Paine’s rhetorical strategies relate
to Peirce’s and Heidegger’s philosophical theories and suggest how these
ideas could be utilized in modern day media to indoctrinate the intended
audience.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
The Living Apostle: Paschal I and Concordia Apostolorum
Author: Thomas Skousen
Author: Sasha Trae
Mentor: Dr. Nancy Ross
Mentor: Dr. Rick Rodrick, Dr. Brent Yergensen
Department of Fine Arts
Concordia apostolorum, the union of apostles, is found in literature, art, and
even the topography of Rome. Rome is unique in the fact that it unites
Peter and Paul. Early Christians revered these saints and dedicated two of
the most important churches in the city to them. Their deaths in Rome were
a crucial factor in identifying Rome as the principal capital of Christendom.
As Christianity spread and was accepted throughout the empire, different
Christian centers arose, aside from Jerusalem and Rome. In order to
maintain its place at the top tier of the Christian hierarchy, the Roman
Popes used the idea of concordia apostolorum to not only speak to Roman
citizens, but also to pilgrims who visited the city. The use of concordia
apostolorum extended into the ninth century with Pope Paschal I’s (817824) mosaics at Santa Prassede. These have historically been categorized into
the Carolingian Renaissance. However, Paschal and earlier popes were trying
to create a uniquely Roman Renaissance, and Peter and Paul’s place in art
is crucial to their propaganda. The apse mosaic in Santa Prassede employs
concordia apostolorum to promote the primacy of Rome. Louis the Pious
inherited the empire from his father Charlemagne and surrounded himself
with bishops and scholars who questioned the authority of the pope, thus
igniting a struggle between the pope and the Carolingians. This paper will
show that Paschal I commissioned art that emphasized his role in carrying
out the ministerial work of Peter and Paul. In art and in life, Paschal sought
to become not only the principal figure in Christianity, a living apostle, but
also a chief player in Europe’s political structure.
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Trial By Ordeal: Violence Against Women In Twenty-First Century
Public Discourse
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Department of Communication
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This research critiques prevailing economic, political, and social discourses
that create or uphold disadvantage, inequity, and oppression against
women. Using multiple Critical Discourse Analysis tools, such as, lexical
suppression and absence and representational strategies, this researcher will
examine activist, political, and socio-cultural discourse, including Take Back
The Night, to expose underlying ideology. This paper analyzes ideological
functions of these and other constructions identified in the discourse.
This researcher will illustrate how the analyzed discourse shapes our reality
that the ownership of women’s equality and safety are in the hands of
men. Additionally, this researcher will unveil the ideological suppression
and absence of the perpetrator; consequently, twenty-first century public
discourse places the responsibility in the hands of women to prevent and
address violence against women, the victims. Further, this researcher will
demonstrate how the revealed ideologies indicate that violence against
women is random or unstoppable; thus, setting up women to continue
being integrated into a system that is hostile to them. Moreover, the breadth
of this ideology indicates that every society within the nations of our world
declare that women are a subset of humanity, and that it is men who get
to resist relinquishing this equality while women expend their efforts to
obtain it. This research concludes that violence against women is part of
an economic and political system that has been codified and written into
the laws of nations; therefore, creating and perpetuating the very structures
responsible for the violent climate that we fear and live in.
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Abstracts
Abstracts
Agglutinating Ability of Two Species of Cacti on A1 Red Blood Cells
Author: Stephanie Wilkinson
Authors: Aaron Yearsley and Devin Daniels
Mentor: Virginia Hughes
Mentor: Dr. Don Warner
Department of Medical Laboratory Science
Medical laboratory science students sought to investigate lectin properties
of Opuntia ficus indica (bulb) and Opuntia macrocentra (stem and bulb)
on type A1 red blood cells at three different temperatures. This phenomena
has not yet been examined. Lectins are useful in determination of blood
types by binding to carbohydrates on the surface of red blood cells. Samples
of cacti were collected in southwest Utah and tested against A1 red blood
cells at temperatures of 4°C, 22°C, and 37°C. A total of five samples were
tested. There was a significant difference between the cacti using ANOVA
statistics, P<.05. More agglutinates were found in the Opuntia ficus indica
samples than the samples of Opuntia macrocentra indicating it may have
a receptor or protein directed against N-acetyl galactosamine which is
the immunodominant sugar of type A red blood cells. More agglutinates
were found in the Opuntia ficus indica samples at 37°C and 4°C phases
compared to 22°C, however this finding was not significant. This study
represents the first experiment using the aforementioned cacti on type A1
red blood cells at different temperatures. Future studies should focus on
using a higher number of samples and testing different blood groups to
identify any immunodominant carbohydrate specificities associated with the
Opuntia ficus indica cactus.
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How Do the Antibacterial Effects of Triclosan Compare against Fluoride
Toothpastes in Bacteria Involved in Dental Caries?
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Department of Biology
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Dental caries are a common result of biofilms formed on the tooth.
Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus epidermidis are common bacteria
found in the mouth that readily form a biofilm and start to erode tooth
enamel. This study examines the different effects that fluoride and triclosan,
active ingredients in common toothpastes, have on S. mutans and S.
epidermidis. We hypothesize that a relationship formed between S. mutans
and S. epidermidis should be much more resistant to the inhibition of
a standard fluoride containing toothpaste but much less resistant when
triclosan is introduced. Fluoride has antibacterial properties, but is primarily
known to strengthen the enamel making it more difficult for bacteria to
erode it. Triclosan is a known bacteriocide that disrupts the formation of
biofilms. Brain Heart Infusion Agar (BHI) plates were used to grow S.
mutans, S. epidermidis, and a combination of the two. The different bacteria
were subject to fluoride, triclosan, and a control via disc diffusion methods.
Zones of inhibition were measured. Triclosan was found to have a greater
significant effect on inhibiting bacterial growth than fluoride. Although
a combination of the bacteria was expected to have a greater resistance to
antibacterial agents, not all of the results showed this resistance. Our results
showed that the combination of the two bacteria had more resistance to
bacterial growth when compared to S. epidermidis alone, but less resistance
when compared to S. mutans alone. We conclude that triclosan is in fact
the better bacterial inhibitor, but further studies of biofilms are necessary
to determine their susceptibility to triclosan. Further studies regarding
the effects of antibacterial agents on bacteria and biofilms may provide
substantial information for reducing the effects of biofilms in the mouth,
thus reducing dental caries.
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