BY LINDSAY WEAVER
[email protected]
Undergraduates will take command of the floor while professors look on during today’s Undergraduate Research Day at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
The free and public event starts at noon with 15-minute presentations until 6 p.m. Fourteen presentations are scheduled along with several posters that will be on display. Participants are awarded $500. From Greek mythology to cloning to analyzing T.S. Eliot, there’s something for everyone. Here’s what attendees can expect:
Enrollment and retention at UTPB, 1 p.m. by Stephanie Wyman, Katie Eichenlaub and Robbie Bratcher; mentor is Anshu Saran, marketing. “Although enrollment continues to increase, retention does not. In this report are the notes from six focus groups conducted at two major high schools in the Midland/Odessa area as well as notes from three depth interviews from senior student’s high school counselors. … We’ve come up with several conclusions as to how to increase enrollment at the university as well as increase retention.”
Folk etymology: Bacronyms and cultural taboos, 1:15 p.m. by Kari Andrews; mentor is Rebecca Babcock, English. “As people try to explain the actual origins and definitions of words such as swag or posh, it falls into a pattern of being a real term, then transforms into a bacronym, then continues to carry both real and folk etymologies. The results from this student find that because these words deal with socially taboo ideas, the bacronyms and folk etymology help to make the term appear less taboo or dilute the effect of the word.”
Improved quantative determination of carbon-13 by NMR, 1:30 p.m. by Roy Williams; mentor is Mike Robinson, chemistry. “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy is the most powerful, widely used method for determination of the structure of organic chemicals and of increasingly larger molecules of biological importance. However, quantitative detection of carbon atoms by NMR is a notoriously slow and therefore impractical process. …We have developed a novel approach to quantitate the carbon atoms in a molecule by developing a specialized computer program.”
Cloning CG32302 and Muc68D, 1:45 p.m. by Jessica Stone; mentor is Gae Kovalick, biology. “This project has been focused on various attempts to discover what went wrong in cloning the latter two. The conditions for PCR (temperature and cycle number) were optimized for both genes; the concentration of the target gene and vector plasmid during ligation were adjusted and all enzymes were tested. The project is ongoing and cloning has not yet been successful.”
Knowledge of developmental milestones, 2 p.m. by Nessa Villalobos; mentor is Spencer Thompson, psychology. “A sample of 124 students at UTPB was surveyed on their knowledge of 16 specific developmental milestones adopted from the Denver II Developmental Screening Test. Overall, participants demonstrated poor knowledge of developmental milestones in the sample.”
The evolution of Greek mythology in art, 2:15 p.m. by Cassie Baker; mentor is Sophia Andres, English. “A comparison of conventional and modern images will reveal if society has changed its view of men and women represented in Greek mythology.”
Eating mentality of the female age 18-25, athlete vs. non-athlete, 2:30 p.m. by Hannah Hamilton; mentor is Jeff Dennis, social sciences. “From these results, I was able to compare and contrast the eating mentalities and views o health between the groups of females.”
T.S. Eliot’s quest for faith: From “The Waste Land” to “Little Giddling,” 2:45 p.m. by Robyn Skinner; mentor is Jason Lagapa, English. “By analyzing two of his works … which were published 20 years apart, my analysis shows changes in his faith from one time period to another.”
Graphic novels: A current way to teach literature, 3 p.m., 5 p.m. by Avery McWilliams; mentor is Rebecca Babcock, English. “This research was completed to see what schools offer graphic novels in their courses, as well as provide research on why these types of literature are so important, and how they may be beneficial to the community of UTPB.”
Authenticity: The struggle, 3:45 p.m. by Chris Bartlett; mentor is Jason Lagapa, English. “Charles Taylor proposed an argument that in order to attain true authenticity, one must go against the grain. … By using Joe Strummer of The Clash and the fictional character Bennie Salazar from ‘A Visit From the Goon Squad’ by Jennifer Egan, evidence is collected from lyrics and actions of the two men to support the argument that Taylor initially made.”
Political instability, economic development and foreign direct investment in developed democracies, 4 p.m. by Joshua Keel; mentor is Taylor McMichael, political science. “Using a time-series cross-sectional econometric models, I find that developed nations that undergo a debt crisis often find themselves longing for elevated levels of FDI.”
Pressure, politics and economic stimulus in Japan in post-9/11 world, 4:15 p.m. by Daniel Frost; mentor is Taylor McMichael, political science. “The research asks two questions: first, have political developments reduced the effectiveness of economic pressure? Secondly, as the United States’ proportion of worldwide economic activity has declined, has economic pressure being less effective? To address these questions, event history modeling is utilized.”
Everlasting contradictions, 4:30 p.m. by Brittany Thomas; mentor is Sohia Andres, English. “This research project explores the idea that contradictions and double standards of ancient Greek and Roman mythology have continued throughout the ages into today’s time by connection actual myths to dramatic films of America.”
Lensing of high energy cosmic ray muons with a Van de Graaff Generator, 4:45 p.m. by Jonathan Holden; mentor is Steve Nelson, Physics. “The aim of this project was to analyze the effect that a rough electrostatic lens would have on high energy cosmic ray muon absorption in a detector array of Nal scintillators.”
