SOURCE Program

SOURCE

SYMPOSIUM ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH & CREATIVE EXPRESSION

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

LIGHTNING TALKS

RELATED ROUNDTABLES

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Each student has 15 minutes to present, followed by the remaining time for q&a with all the presenters at once.

Each student presentation has 20 slides that auto-advance every 20 seconds (4mins 40secs per presenter), followed by the remaining time for q&a with all the presenters at once.

Each student has 5 minutes to talk about their work then with the remaining time they will break out to separate tables to sit with attendees discussing prepared questions.

Students will be standing next to their research display/poster/ computer/tablet/artifact to chat with attendees.

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Table of Contents 4–5 Letter from Co-Chairs 6–9 SOURCE Schedule 10–38 Abstracts 3:30pm – 4pm Harald Becker High Tea Mabee C

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April 13, 2018 Dear SOURCE Participants & Guests, Welcome to the 17th Annual Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). It is a pleasure to join with faculty, staff, students, and guests to celebrate the work of our undergraduate scholars. Since its inception in 2002, SOURCE has become a forum for cross-disciplinary discussion and an opportunity for students to actively fulfill the University’s mission to “make graduates competent in a chosen discipline and to help them understand and appreciate the contributions of other disciplines.” The research and creative projects presented at SOURCE reflect “training in critical and creative thinking as well as moral reasoning, to analyze problems, propose solutions and make responsible decisions” (St. Edward’s University Mission Statement). SOURCE presentations also reflect our faculty’s commitment to work collaboratively with students in research and creative expression and / or as mentor for students undertaking independent projects. During SOURCE we see these characteristics shine through as students tackle tough issues, think deeply about complex questions in their chosen fields, and eloquently present their ideas to the St. Edward’s community. Further, SOURCE provides an opportunity for the community to participate in this scholarly discourse, and to celebrate student achievement and excellence in learning and research.

For the ancient Greeks, the symposium was a medium for debate and discussion, a key arena for the exchange of scholarly ideas. Often food and drink was served. We hope that today’s symposium offers a similar forum, and as you gather in the hallways over coffee between lightning round, roundtable, oral presentations, or linger over lunch at the poster session, that the ideas and discussions raised in these formal presentations will continue, and will inspire new ideas for future research and creative expression. For presenters and their mentors, SOURCE culminates in celebration at a High Tea. Here we will continue the good discussions that have begun and take the time to formally recognize the work of the participants at an award ceremony.

SOURCE 2017 represents the efforts of many talented students and their faculty mentors, and we honor them for their accomplishments. In addition, the symposium would not be possible without the excellent work of the faculty and staff that volunteered for SOURCE. We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the time and energy expended by the many people whose work makes the symposium a reality.

We extend a great appreciation to, Sr. Donna Jurick, Executive Vice President, and Dr. Lori Peterson, Associate Vice President for Faculty Development and Academic Programs, for their continued support. With the effort of editors Dr. Peter Austin and Dr. Victoria Hill, the SOURCE journal, J Source, introduced

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in 2008, continues to grow. This is another excellent scholarly forum in which our students can present their ideas and research. The 2017 edition, featuring papers presented at SOURCE 2017, is available now.

Additionally, would like to thank the Ragsdale Center staff for facilitating arrangements in Ragsdale, as well as providing audio, visual and technological assistance. From the Graphic Design program, we are very thankful to Professor Tuan Phan, M.F.A., as well as graphic design student, Logan Stallings who designed all the materials both print and digital for this year’s SOURCE. We look forward to the new and unique designs each year and our continued collaboration. Finally, as we proceed in our second decade of SOURCE, we would like to recognize the tireless efforts of past committee members, Chairs and administrative staff. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to serve with dedicated and talented individuals from across the St. Edward’s University campus. We also recognize the students and their faculty mentors who participated in SOURCE; your labors have ensured that SOURCE remains a highlight of the academic year at St. Edward’s. As the University increasingly encourages student research in the Strategic Plan, we are confident that SOURCE will continue to provide a forum for highlighting our students’ achievements.

As Co-Chairs it has been our pleasure to work with so many outstanding members of the St. Edward’s community. We look forward to a wonderful day of dialogue, inquiry, and conversation as we celebrate our students’ accomplishments.

With regards, Tammie Rubin, M.F.A. Casie Parish Fisher, Ph.D. SOURCE Steering Committee Co-Chairs

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9am to 10am Oral Presentations

JONES AUD Lexi Brown

Predetermined by Preschool: How Austin’s Segregated Past Affects Our

Youth’s Academic Potential

Chloe Curiel

Feed Me the Remedy: The Evolution of a Naive Aritst

Nikki Sheffield, Colin De Guzman, Shawntia Dunna, & Haley Rhodes

MABEE A

Therapeutic Mitigation of Nocebo-induced Peripheral Pain

Nubia Briones

Gender, Ethnicity, and Ethnocultural Empathy

Laura Irwin

The Popularity Contest: An Analysis of Digital Ethos

Zaira Villa

Exploration of the Effects of Bicoid Dosage on Larval Phenotypes in Drosophila Melanogster

10am to 11am Oral Presentations

JONES AUD Bailey Allegro

eeting at the Watering Hole: Exploring the Relationship of Mesopotamian M and Indian Flood Myths to the Biblical Flood Narrative in Genesis

Alicia Torres

The Role of Mindful Coloring on Anxiety

Gavin Quinn

MABEE A

Sarahi Enriquez

Maria Mota

Negative Space: Mapping Parental Absence to Identity

Preliminary Utilization of Rapid DNA Analysis on Mock Fire Scene Samples

Solving 2-by-2 Scramble Squares Puzzles with Repetitions

Karolyn Newton Psychological and Infrastructural Barriers to Pro-Environmental Behavior

Lightning Round

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Andy Barnes

Kendra Hills

Laura Irwin

Rebecca Darling

Trends in Houston Surface Ozone from 1980 – 2016

“The Black Woman’s Burden,” Examining the Multifaceted Roles of African America Women Faculty at Predominately White Institutions Capturing the Monster and Setting it Lose in Writing: An Analysis of Personification And Its Rhetorical Effects

Period Perceptions

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11am to 12pm Oral Presentations

JONES AUD Shelby Bennett

Contradictions in Fin-de-Siècle Montmartre

Patrick Kelleher

Justin Stewart

MABEE A

Rachel Katz

Sarah Whalen

Neal Whetstone

Is Roman Philosophy Predominantly Greek or Uniquely Roman?

Microbial Community Structure, Function, and Soil Characteristics at Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

Microbiome Innovations in Psoriasis Treatment The Malicious Machiavellian

The Socialist and Communal Foundations and Aspects of Black Capitalism

12pm to 1pm Poster Sessions

MABEE B

Christopher Azaldegui

Katelynn Badour

Olivia Cason, Riley Henegar, and Gabriel Monticure

Madison Cotton

Amanda Cramer

Joshua Crow

Clarissa Mae de Leon

Sarahi Enriquez, Guadalupe Aguilar, and Chris Madonna

Kasey Liehr and Lisbeth Chavira

Magaly Arredondo Lopez

Amira Mahler

Delaney McDaniel

RGB Image Analysis for Colorimetric Real-time Reaction Monitoring Raised in the Digital Age: How Online Media Shapes Self-Perception A Comparative Analysis of Plastic Bag Use in Austin and Surrounding Areas

World Building

How Women’s Perceptions of Their Romantic Relationships Affect Body Image and Eating Habits The Influence of Religion on the Development of an Atheist Identity

Curanderismo: Healing of the Mind and Soul

Development of One-step Cyanoacrylate Fuming for Latent Print Visualization Tawny Crazy Ants (Nylanderia fulva) and their Impact on Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve The Intersection of the Coming Out Process and Language for LGBTQIA+ Individuals

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American Roulette: How Boldly Can You Play?

Mental Health Rates in Austin Entrepreneurs

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David Menchaca

Chantal Neutzler

Elizabeth Nguyen

Cherese Perez

Ashley Samples

Kourtney Tams, Melissa Grocki, and Victoria Edwards

Tiffany Williams

An Analysis to How the History of Mexico Dating Back to the Colonial Era Set the Course for the Peasant’s Revolution in Chiapas Assessing the Effects of Rapamycin-enhanced Autophagy on the Symptoms and Pathology of Alzheimer’s Disease in Caenorhabditis Elegans Effect of Volatile Organic Compounds on Growth Inhibition and Protein Synthesis in Neolentinus Lepideus

Memes as Political Rhetoric: A Gap in Current Research

Educational Attainment of Foster Youth

Investigating the Relationship Between Undergraduate Students’ Environmental Knowledge and Composting Behaviors

Misrepresentation in Gifted and Talented Programs

1pm to 2pm Roundtable Discussions

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Golie Dunn

Lilli Hime

Ana Lucia Martinez

Jamaal Tribune

Controversial Business Practices in Gaming The Inside Out Masks Project

Attitudes towards dequísmo among Spanish Speakers in Austin

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Oral Presentations

JONES AUD Jennifer Gray

Imagination is the Name of the Game: Effects of Competitive Mental Imagery on Mood and Testosterone

Sabri Zooper

Kizil Yusoof

MABEE A

Veronica Carleton

Kathryn Cornish

Marcos Ramirez

The Influence of Women’s Testosterone on Perception of Male Age, Masculinity, and Attractiveness Environmental Drivers Affecting Soil Microbial Activity in the Riparian Zone

Marx & Rand: Products of Failed Systems

From Black Nationalism to Black Capitalism: Charting Hip Hop at the Turn of the Century

Linguistic Differences Between Spanish Speaking Immigrants and First-Generation Spanish Speakers: A Lexical, Morphological, and Phonological Analysis

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2pm to 3pm Oral Presentations

JONES AUD Rachel Bono

Strengthening Social Support Networks Among Youth in Foster Care: How Child Welfare Officials and Foster Parents Can Help

Amarie Gipson

Jasmine Connor

MABEE A

Ciara Crochet and Maria Alfaro

Rachel Leader

Rhiannon Vargas

Language &: Dialogues on Blackness and Contemporary Art

Analyzing the Relationship Between Political Polarization and Gerrymandering

What Do You Do When They’re Not Looking?

Racial Civil Rights: Comparing Participation in the Civil Rights Movement to Contemporary Austin, Texas Rooting for Growth: The Effects of Pseudomonas and Drought on Schizachyrium Scoparium (Little Bluestem)

Roundtable Discussions

MABEE C

Martha Jamail

Christian Notte

Lauren Perry

The Illimitable Ocean: Chaos’s Allegiance in Paradise Lost

Erasmus: Builder of Sentences, Builder of the Church, Builder of Bridges

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Storytelling to End Sex Trafficking

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Bailey Allegro

JONES AUD mentor: Kelley Coblentz-Bautch Meeting at the Watering Hole: Exploring the Relationship of Mesopotamian and Indian Flood Myths to the Biblical Flood Narrative in Genesis Ancient flood myths exist across several different traditions. These varying flood myths can be interpreted in many different ways depending on the community and context. Some communities hold several retellings of the same flood myth, implying that the myths were important enough to be retained and revised over thousands of years. Three Mesopotamian flood stories remain in existence: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Atrahasis Epic, and the Sumerian flood story. The flood stories contained in these three epics hold very similar qualities. Each follows a very similar plot of humankind being destroyed by a flood sent by the gods, with one lone hero escaping with his life and having the responsibility of restarting creation. Another flood myth outside of the Mesopotamian accounts that follows a similar narrative is found in Indian Vedic and Puranic scripture.

Within the Vedas it is found in the Yajurveda in the Shatapatha Brahmana, and in the Puranas it is found in the Matsya Purana. The similarities between the Mesopotamian accounts and the Matsya Purana warrant special comparison in regards to their relationship to the most commonly known Noachic flood narrative found in Genesis. In this paper, I will be analyzing the Genesis account of the flood and the similarities found between the Mesopotamian flood myths, more specifically The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Atrahasis Epic, and the Indian Satapatha Brahmana and Matsya Purana, to examine how these myths add to the succession of the Genesis narrative. The story of the flood is relevant to our world in regards to the question of humanity’s existence and the origin of creation, but more importantly, these flood myths provide insight into the world of the past. They simultaneously bridge both the gap between our ancestors and us, and the gap between the human and the divine.

10am to 11am

Christopher Azaldegui 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Raychelle Burks RGB Image Analysis for Colorimetric Real-Time Reaction Monitoring Real-time reaction monitoring offers users the ability to control a process, observe chemical and physical phenomena, and possibly elucidate a reaction mechanism. Presented here is the use of colorimetry via image analysis for real-time reaction monitoring of a model system. The selected model system was an acetic acid – sodium hydroxide titration with phenolphthalein as an indicator, which was monitored in situ using time-lapse photography (one frame per second) and red-green-blue (RGB) image analysis using in-house written Python code. Concurrent reaction monitoring of the model system using a pH meter was conducted, with time vs. RGB data and time vs. pH data showing good agreement. Statistical analysis of titration reaction trials showed that reproducible real-time monitoring was achieved.

Katelynn Badour 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Sara Villanueva Raised in the Digital Age: How Online Media Shapes Self-Perception In recent years, increased accessibility of the Internet has allowed for contemporary young adults to spend more time online than previous

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generations. Previous studies called for future research to examine the ways in which interactive forms of online media can lead to bodily dissatisfaction, and whether this link is attributed to individual differences or a fixed amount of exposure. Identifying these various risk factors can be useful in the detection of disordered eating habits and negative body image in young adults. The aim of the present investigation is to assess online behaviors and evaluations about the self found within a college-aged population. A sample of undergraduate college-aged participants completed an online survey examining factors such as time spent online, age of onset, types of websites accessed, and evaluation of body image.

Andy Barnes

MABEE C mentor: Paul Walter Trends in Houston Surface Ozone from 1980 – 2016 We investigate trends in Houston surface ozone using data sets taken from 8 continuous air monitoring stations (CAMS) in the Houston metropolitan area from 1980 – 2016. We find the diurnal ozone cycle of surface ozone in Houston has changed over time, showing a decreasing amplitude during the spring and summer ozone seasons. We also see a decrease over time of maximum 8-hour ozone averages as well as the number of events that exceed the limits in place by the Environmental Protection Agency.

10am to 11am

Shelby Bennett 11am to 12pm JONES AUD mentor: Mary Brantl Contradictions in Fin-de-Siècle Montmartre Montmartre is Paris’ northernmost and eighteenth arrondissement and arguably the most famous artists’ colony of the late 19th and early 20th century. The neighborhood was once home to some of early modernism’s most important artists; Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque are just a few among many groundbreaking artists who lived and worked in Montmartre. The Montmartre of these artists was well-known for its clubs and cabarets, which flourished in fin-de-siècle Paris. The Moulin Rouge is decidedly the most famous, but many other café concerts attracted the attention of Parisians from Montmartre and from the more respectable city center. The “indigenous” of Montmartre, however, were mostly working-class tradesmen, entertainers, petty criminals, prostitutes, and, of course, artists. Artists were attracted to Montmartre by cheap rents, tax-free wine, pastoral surroundings, and a sense of camaraderie with the vibrant locals.

The work and eventual fame of these artists have caused Montmartre’s legacy to live on in films, books, and other accounts that describe the glamorous yet gritty bohemian lifestyle that used to define Montmartre.

However, because of much higher rents and a century of continued development, Montmartre today is much more of a “tourist theme park” than a bohemian artists’ colony. A walk down Montmartre’s narrow medieval streets today isn’t full of windmills, open fields, grazing goats, and thatched cottages, turn of the century accounts describe, but of tourist shops selling Eiffel Tower key chains and mass-produced Toulouse-Lautrec posters. On a recent visit to Montmartre I became curious about how the neighborhood in which some of modernism’s most avant-garde art was created has become so kitschy. I started

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this project to explore Montmartre’s golden age, 1880-1910, and begin to identify some of the pressures that were building in the neighborhood. Through an analysis of both fin-de-siècle accounts written by artists and writers living in Montmartre at the time and current art historical scholarship, my research investigates some “contradictions” that contributed to tensions then and, perhaps, eventual gentrification in Montmartre.

Rachel Bono 2pm to 3pm JONES AUD mentor: Adam McMormick Strengthening Social Support Networks Among Youth in Foster Care: How Child Welfare Officials and Foster Parents Can Help Aging out of foster care, or exiting care without being reunited with one’s primary caregivers or adopted, is a difficult and often abrupt transition into adulthood that many youth struggle with. Many former foster youth fare worse across several life dimensions (such as mental health, employment, and housing stability) than youth without a history in care. Social support is a protective factor that can help ease the transition into independent living. However, many aspects of foster care prevent youth from developing strong social networks.

Nearly 70% of foster youth experience four or more placement changes. These placement changes can prevent youth from forming attachments to their foster families; additionally, because they often require changing schools, they can also make friendships difficult to form. Previous studies have found that some foster care alumni feel as if they have no social support network, or people on whom they can rely on in hard times, while youth who did identify a social support network sometimes report feeling unable to ask for help. This lack of social support and reluctance to ask for help is especially concerning in the context of emerging adulthood, a developmental stage occurring between 18 to mid-20s characterized by feeling in-between adolescence and adulthood and self-exploration; a key assumption is that youth have a primary caregiver on whom they can rely for support (primarily financial) during this time. Therefore, understanding how to help youth develop social support networks while in care, as well as teaching them the tools to be comfortable asking for assistance, is an important step that must be taken in order to help ease this transition out of care. This case study interviewed a foster care alumnus in order to identify when and from whom youth with experience in foster care are willing or unwilling to seek assistance. The foster alumnus also described the ideal way they believe child welfare officials and foster parents can help youth strengthen their social support systems while in care. Through this interview, this case study seeks to determine how best to establish the social support network foster youth will need upon aging out of care.

Nubia Briones 9am to 10am MABEE A mentor: Moira Martin Gender, Ethnicity, and Ethnocultural Empathy Ethnocultural empathy is a multifaceted concept that describes an individual’s ability to understand and empathize with a person of a different ethnic or racial background than one’s own. Research suggests gender markedly influences a person’s ability and motivation to empathize (Klein & Hodges, 2001). No research has investigated the relationship between ethnic identity, gender and

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empathetic ability using advanced cognitive processes such as perspective taking, for heterogeneous, non-Caucasian populations towards individuals of different race/ethnicity. This study investigates ethnocultural empathy and predictors of empathetic response amongst ethnically diverse populations.

Eighty-one participants were presented with a vignette describing a woman’s difficult day and randomly assigned to one of two conditions: The Objective Reading (OR) condition which simply read the vignette whereas the Perspective Taking (PT) condition group were instructed to “imagine” the experience of the character. Empathic perspective responses were then measured using the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE; Wang et al., 2003). The hypotheses were partially supported: Hispanic-females scored higher over-all on the SEE than white(non-Hispanic) females. The results may have implications regarding intergroup attitudes and suggests ethnicity as pertinent in the expression of awareness and acceptance of cultural differences. Future studies should consider relationality between ethnic identity commitment and cross-ethnocultural empathy.

Lexi Brown

JONES AUD mentor: Kim Garza Predetermined by Preschool: How Austin’s Segregated Past Affects Our Youth’s Academic Potential Last semester, I took part in a class researching issues facing Austin’s East Cesar Chavez neighborhood. In the first decades of the 20th century, Austin adopted segregation laws intended to separate white inhabitants from Black and Latino individuals. The law separated Austinites along highway 35, effectively splitting the demographics of the city in two. Whites-only businesses were located west of I-35, while minorities were forced to move east to survive. As a result, the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood has historically been home to primarily Black and Latino communities, as it largely remains today.

As the daughter of an elementary school teacher, educational equality has long been an important issue for me personally. After learning of Austin’s history, I decided to channel this passion into my research. I chose to investigate the educational gap between the districts east and west of I-35. In doing so, I discovered that there is a gross difference in both resources and academic output between east schools and west schools. In fact, from as early as kindergarten, students in the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood have poorer literacy rates than students west of 35. And this is simply due to the fact that they were born on the disadvantaged side of the highway. By middle school, STAAR scores are 20% lower for students living in the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood. In 2016, only 33% of east Austin high school seniors had taken college entrance exams, in comparison to 89% of seniors on the west side.

This research culminated in an infographic-driven book that highlights the differences in educational opportunities for students in Austin and raises social awareness of how the effects of segregation still devastate the Austin community. It is my hope that this book can help to elevate the status of east Austin students by bringing awareness to our local leaders about how we need to level the playing field for all of Austin’s youth, not just the preschoolers born on the west side of the highway.

9am to 10am

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Veronica Carleton 1pm to 2pm MABEE A mentor: Jennifer Greene Marx & Rand: Products of Failed Systems Karl Marx and Ayn Rand are both icons in their own right. They symbolize two political ideologies that are diametrically opposed. Ayn Rand’s emphasis on self-sufficiency often borders on ruthlessness, while the weight of social responsibility suggested by Marx can cause government inefficiency. However, an in depth comparison of their works demonstrates relatively similar objectives, their main disagreement is in the execution of these goals. Additionally, both stances present major concerns in terms of sustainability. Considering how polarizing and often unproductive political discussions can be, this paper takes on the challenge of finding common ground between these two heroes of opposing political camps in order to demonstrate that fruitful conversations are possible even when dealing with extreme ends of the spectrum. It highlights the commonalities in their views on work and freedom as well as an idealistic nature. This paper analyzes the factors in their upbringing that shaped their values to better understand exactly what these parties believed. Once common goals have been established, it is then possible to take them into our political discourse in order to have more constructive conversations.

Olivia Cason, Riley Henegar, and Gabriel Monticure 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Peter Beck A Comparative Analysis of Plastic Bag Use in Austin and Surrounding Areas The City of Austin is known to advocate for, and enact greener policies, while compared to other cities in Texas, but are their efforts really working? In March of 2013, The City of Austin Bag Ban went into effect and states no person may provide single-use carryout bags at any city facility, city sponsored event, or any event held on city property in addition to the prohibition of single-use carryout bags in businesses that are in the city limits. There is little knowledge on the effectiveness of the ban, and the only study produced by the city indicates more possible environmental drawbacks from the HEB reusable plastic bag than the single-use bag. Research conducted in 2017 explored the effectiveness of the Austin Plastic Bag Ban at encouraging customers to use reusable canvas bags at HEB grocery stores in Austin. This study directly observed and surveyed HEB customers to estimate the percentage of customers who left HEB with their own reusable canvas bags to determine if customers in stores within the city limits were more likely to use reusable canvas bags than customers at stores outside the city limits where the ban is not in effect, while understanding if attitudes on plastic influence customer behavior. Researchers found that the number of canvas bags used at HEB’s inside the Austin City Limits was significantly higher than canvas bags used at HEB’s outside the city. A separate t-test showed the amount of single use plastic bags used at HEB’s outside the city is greater than the amount of HEB reusable plastic bags used in the city. Customers are still actively purchasing HEB reusable plastic bags for reasons that vary from choice, convenience, or forgetfulness. The bag ban was created to stop plastic pollution, but If the production of HEB reusable plastic is still occurring, then so is plastic pollution.

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Jasmine Connor 2pm to 3pm JONES AUD mentor: Brian Smith Analyzing the Relationship Between Political Polarization and Gerrymandering Over the last 50 years Americans have been growing farther and farther apart on the political spectrum. The data shows that political polarization is intensifying, as Democrats are becoming more and more liberal, while Republicans are becoming more and more conservative. Research shows (McCarty, Poole, Rosenthal 2009) gerrymandering is not directly related to the increasing level of polarization in the U.S. Yet, there is an undeniable relationship between redistricting and constituent activity and increased partisanship in Congress, both of which have harmful effect on the American democratic process. In this paper, I lay out the trends of polarization in the U.S., detail a brief history of gerrymandering, analyze the relationship between the two and examine potential solutions for fixing the American redistricting process.

Kathryn Cornish 1pm to 2pm MABEE A mentor: Amy Wright From Black Nationalism to Black Capitalism: Charting Hip Hop at the Turn of the Century Determined to have their voices heard, Afro Diasporic youth founded Hip Hop in the heart of the Bronx during the early 1970s. Although MCing was initially seen as a way to find solace, have fun, or be creative, by 1979 rap had become a commercial success, and lyrical content and styles shifted. From its inception, up until the early 1990s, predominantly independent black owned labels produced rap music that communicated tales of life in black communities and Black nationalism, and that encouraged its community to come together and understand the socio-economic oppression it faced. As the nature of production labels began to change and buyouts of smaller labels increased, there came a noticeable shift in the lyrical content of rap to reflect more of a Black capitalist nature. The ascension of hop hop into the upper echelons of the music industry led to a new definition of liberation through individual success within commercially successful rap music, and there was little to no mainstream discussion of black liberation. Does Black Capitalism really sell better than Black Nationalism, or is it just what gets funded? A closer look at the numbers and lyrics will tell all. This project will investigate this question through both a quantitative and quantitative analysis of rap music at the turn of the century.

Madison Cotton 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Elizabeth Eakman World Building Writing plays a larger role in the gaming industry than you might think. It takes both creative and professional writers to come up with compelling story plots and side quests that companies can use for games and that players would be interested in. Especially nowadays with virtual reality becoming more advanced, there is a larger push to be creative and build a world as intricate and believable as real life. World builders, also known as content designers, technical designers, game writers and creative writers, can do anything from creating characters to designing boss battles to writing side quests. Game writing allows for writers who might be great at world building but struggle with writing short stories to

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use their skills to the fullest and see their worlds come to life. I would like to shine a light on the large role creative writers play in the gaming industry at the SOURCE poster session.

Amanda Cramer 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Tomas Yufik How Women’s Perceptions of Their Romantic Relationships Affect Body Image and Eating Habits The etiology of eating disorders remains somewhat mysterious and not much is known about protective factors that can help prevent the development of problematic eating behaviors. This study used a survey to acquire data about the interplay between women’s perceptions of the health of their romantic relationships, body image, and eating habits. Undergraduate women at St. Edward’s University who were in relationships at the time of the study were the participants. The data collected suggests that supportive partners can increase body image and decrease problematic relationships with food, or at least that partners can protect the women they are in a relationship with from developing disordered eating patterns or poor body image.

Ciara Crochet and Maria Alfaro 2pm to 3pm MABEE A mentor: Jessica Boyette-Davis What Do You Do When They’re Not Looking?

Approximately 95% of human relationships are monogamous, with both parties expecting their partner to remain faithful. Violations of those expectations, termed infidelity, can produce significant negative personal and societal consequences. Various factors have been found to influence commitment in a monogamous relationship, including higher reported promiscuity (such that the more promiscuous an individual has previously been, the less likely they are to be faithful), relationship dissatisfaction, and perceptions of partner infidelity.

The present study aimed to investigate additional factors that could be related to infidelity via a correlational study. Participants (N = 305; 101 men and 204 women) completed measures of personality (The Big 5; including extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), sociosexuality (a scale that quantifies a person’s attitudes towards casual sex), jealousy (The Chronic Jealousy Scale), and attitudes toward infidelity. Correlation analyses revealed that those who hold more favorable views about infidelity (e.g. Agreed strongly with a statement such as, “Being unfaithful never hurt anyone”) scored highly in sociosexuality and extraversion, reported more previous sexual partners, and reported lower levels of jealousy. T tests further showed that men had higher levels of sociosexuality and more favorable attitudes towards infidelity than women. This study is significant because understanding how infidelity manifests in interpersonal and sexual relationships could help improve the relationship quality experienced by individuals and avoid the negative consequences of this behavior.

Joshua Crow

MABEE B mentor: Michelle Robertson The Influence of Religion on the Development of an Atheist Identity Religion has been one of the most influencing factors in the development 12pm to 1pm

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of the human race. With that being said, there has been a decline recently in the number of people affiliated with religion, while the number of people registered as unaffiliated with religion increases. According to the Pew Research Center, this decline has been especially pronounced in American young adults, although it is occurring among peoples of all ages, racial and ethnic identities, & education levels. My study explores the influence of religion on people who were raised in religious households but now identify as atheist. My research is conducted qualitatively through oral history interviews. While this study does not seek to provide a specific cause/reasoning for a person’s atheistic beliefs, it does shed light on the impact that traditional religiosity can have on the upbringing of a person. This is significant to the overall sociological research literature because it provides information on the shifting religious paradigm that has been traditionally ingrained in our society, while also shining light on a notably underrepresented group.

Chloe Curiel 9am to 10am JONES AUD mentor: Alex Robinson Feed Me the Remedy: The Evolution of a Naive Aritst My experience as a Fine Arts major at St. Edward’s has been one long, untraditional, and extremely intimate research project. The fact that research is both broad and personal affects and influences students in every discipline, as we come to conclusions through our synthesis of sources, conversations, and personal learning experiences. My presentation uncovers some of the evolutionary processes students experience by highlighting a few of my major courses at St. Edward’s over the years. I will show how my current body of work is influenced by curiosity, which has been fueled by encouragement and challenges from these courses. By focusing on the shifts in my critical and artistic thinking over time, I will share the often painful, beneficial, and identity-revealing process that allows me to reach conclusions about my own art practice. This process includes stages of fear, reservation, acceptance, and experimentation.

My hope is that, through a glimpse of my own work within my major, I will be able to highlight the transformative quality of higher education, which has led me to believe that our evolution as students is personal and often driven by frustration, passion, and a willingness to wonder.

Rebecca Darling 10am to 11am MABEE C mentor: Michelle Robertson Period Perceptions Women and girls are exposed to advertisements about menstruation that have the potential to shape the way they think about this natural process.

Historically there have been scientific angles taken in these advertisements as well as themes of shame/secrecy or the need to protect oneself. To discover if new themes are appearing in feminine hygiene advertisements, a content analysis is used to examine advertisements from 1998-2018. Advertisements are in the form of print in Seventeen magazines accessed online, and on social media, when the years allow. To assess how women are portrayed in these advertisements, body parts/characteristics that are highlighted are noted and activities the women are involved in is coded. Race of the model is also assessed. Is the woman overly sexualized? What is she wearing? What

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is she doing- work, sports, etc.? Additionally, there seems to have been a trend towards natural or earth friendly products in recent years; to test this, advertisements are coded for words like organic, natural, sustainable, etc.

The coding objectives included: genders shown, race of models, body parts/ characteristics highlighted, activities happening, products shown, and if the product is considered natural, sustainable or organic. Themes of secrecy, shame, fear, freedom, improvement, peace of mind comfort and protection were assessed to examine the messages sent to consumers. This study will contribute to our understanding of societal perceptions of menstruation and messages sent to women and girls through advertisements as well as how feminine hygiene products have changed in recent decades.

Clarissa Mae de Leon 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Kelly Coblentz Bautch Curanderismo: Healing of the Mind and Soul “En el nobre del padre, y el hijo, y el espirito santo, Amen.” The eucalyptus branches swept over my face, a cold egg ran down the side of my body. A fever of a hundred and one degrees had taken over my body several weeks after an intensive antibiotic treatment. Waiting 20 minutes in the emergency room feels like an eternity when your head is spinning, and the white noise does not seem to end. My grandmother, tired of watching, asked my mother to take me home, and to have just a little bit of faith. walking into the cold dark house gave me the slightest bit of comfort, knowing the noise was over, however my fever had not broken. I laid on my grandmother’s bed as she prepared for a special kind of prayer. One branch of eucalypts, one bunch of lemon grass, alcohol (that had been prepared with herbs and spices), a rosary, and finally one cold egg. my mother waited in the living room as my grandmother prayed over me with plants and other items, for an hour and a half she massaged and swept then repeated Psalm 23, “the lord is my shepherd and I shall not want”. When the second hour hit, my headache was gone, and my fever faded. As a child I found it quite difficult to understand why my grandmother’s methods worked far better than modern medicine. Her works went beyond fevers, they extended to stomach aches, migraines, and even heartbreak, and if she could not fix the situation, she knew someone who did. How was it then, that my grandmother, a woman of 78 years, could fix problems that modern medicine had down to a science with some sage, an egg, and a prayer? could it have been witchcraft or a higher power? While some outside of the tradition might consider Curanderismo as the practice of the bruja / “witches,” this paper examines how these traditional healers root their practices in their faith (Roman Catholicism) by way of Latino hermeneutics.

Golie Dunn

MABEE C mentor: Elizabeth Eakman Controversial Business Practices in Gaming The budget for ”triple A” video game development has increased drastically over the last decade; often rivaling the expenses of some Hollywood blockbusters. As a result, game publishers have turned to ”microtransactions” or ”lootbox” add-on content within their games to turn more of a profit. This often has adverse effects such as introducing ”Pay-to-win” or gambling elements 1pm to 2pm

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within the game, much to the consumer’s expense. I would like to present a round-table for SOURCE to both educate others on this issue within the industry, as well as present possible solutions for both publishers and players.

Sarahi Enriquez 10am to 11am MABEE A mentor: Casie Parish-Fisher Preliminary Utilization of Rapid DNA Analysis on Mock Fire Scene Samples Creating an STR profile from biological evidence can be a time-consuming process for forensic scientists. There have been recent developments into rapid DNA analysis technology. With this new technology STR profiles can be obtained in less than two hours. The ANDE™ instrument is not just a quicker way to obtain STR profiles but it is portable, user friendly, and can analyze various kinds of swabs. In this experiment, three semen samples were placed in a mock fire crime scene in order to replicate a real-world scenario.

Temperatures inside the mock fire scene reached approximately 1300 degrees Celsius. The samples were then collected using Puritan swabs and stored until further processing. The ANDE™ machine was then used to generate the DNA profiles from each of the samples, as well as two positive controls. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if ANDE™ is a viable source to process compromised biological samples during a fire investigation. An additional set of swabs were prepared that were exposed to fire and soot, to replicate an arson crime scene scenario. In order to investigate differences between the samples, statistical analysis was done on peak heights (RFU) of each of the samples.

Calculation of averages and standard deviation (s.d.) were carried out using Excel 2010. MiniTab v17 was used to perform statistical analysis such as one-way ANOVA with α=0.05. The investigation demonstrated that several factors, such as collection technique, contribute to the success of the ANDE™ instrument to provide a STR profile.

Sarahi Enriquez, Chris Madonna, and Guadalupe Aguilar 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Raychelle Burks Development of One-step Cyanoacrylate Fuming for Latent Print Visualization Latent fingerprints can be a vital piece of evidence in a criminal investigation.

As latent fingerprints are formed with natural secretions from fingertips, they are often colorless and hard to see. A number of latent print visualization techniques have been developed, including cyanoacrylate fuming (CA), suitable for processing non-porous surfaces for latent prints. The resulting visualized latent prints are white, with a second step of powdering or staining often required to better highlight a latent print on the surface it resides upon - such as a white iPhone. In in effort to develop a time saving single-step fuming process, we studied a carefully selected set of visualization agents for co-use in CA fuming. Each agent was selected for their fluorescence and/or colorimetric properties, low-cost, and relatively safe use. The selected agents were vitamin B12, gentian violet, quinine, thymol blue, alizarin red, salicylic acid, sudan III, p-toluene sulfonic acid, and anthranilic acid. In addition to studying each agent’s co-use with CA, we developed a standard operating procedure for continued exploration of new visualization agents.

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Amarie Gipson 2pm to 3pm JONES AUD mentor: Tammie Rubin Language &: Dialogues on Blackness and Contemporary Art In a post-Obama era, the resurgence of white supremacist ideals has sent a sense of urgency pulsating through the nation. Through social media and other digital platforms, more people are paying attention to the inequality that has plagued the collective advancement of American citizens. The black vernacular term “woke,” a common phrase seen across these conversations, is now frequently being used to describe one who possesses an awareness of social justice issues. This changing of collective consciousness has created the need for cultural institutions to take on a more vocal role in shaping social perception.

As a second-year fellow in the Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), my research explores how the history and struggle of African-American people has been considered in contemporary art. Although progress is being reflected in museums, through hiring practices, exhibitions and acquisitions, many American art institutions continue to proceed cautiously around politics. It is becoming increasingly important for curators to facilitate dialogues surrounding the most controversial issues that continue to hold back social progress. With consideration to the potency of text and written words in American culture, this Google Art Project explores the legacy of protest through works on paper. It creates a thematic frame in which a selection of work by African-American artists in the MFAH’s collection are viewed in dialogue with artists of varied racial and national backgrounds.

The Google Art Project will launch in May 2018. The exhibition will come to life through a series of public programs taking place at the MFAH from June-August 2018. Bringing together a diverse range of artists including Kim Rugg, Glenn Ligon, Nick Cave and Vincent Valdez, this selection of works on paper presents a relationship between language and humanity, mapping, strangeness, and elements of the everyday.

Jennifer Gray 1pm to 2pm JONES AUD mentor: Katherine Goldey Imagination is the Name of the Game: Effects of Competitive Mental Imagery on Mood and Testosterone The purpose of our research study is to investigate the “winner effect,” a biopsychological phenomenon where physically taking part in—and winning—a competition increases testosterone levels in relation to a defeat. Inspired by previous studies suggesting that subtle changes in power or status can influence testosterone, our research investigated whether cognitions alone could stimulate changes in testosterone levels in women. Our unique research approach combined influences from the fields of neuroendocrinology, social psychology, and feminist neuroscience, ultimately investigating how the “winner effect” influences mood and testosterone in women during imagined competitive scenarios. In addition, we analyzed whether investment in a competition could impact any resulting endocrinological and mood changes. Participants (n=62) were randomly assigned to imagine a scenario varying in outcome (victory or defeat) and investment (contest of high personal importance versus luck), and they provided saliva samples for testosterone before and after imagining the scenario. Our results showed that, in accordance with our first hypothesis,

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the outcomes of imagined scenarios induced significant mood changes in our participants. Specifically, those who imagined a victory experienced significant increases in positive mood and self-assurance from pre-to-post manipulation compared to participants who imagined a defeat. We also recorded significant changes in mood in response to the level of investment in the competition; participants who were in the high-investment victory condition exhibited higher levels of positive mood and self-assurance. However, we were not able to attain statistically significant changes in testosterone in responses to imagined competition, perhaps due to a relatively small sample size and high levels of variation. Our research could help further explain how our cognition and emotions influence how women respond behaviorally and biologically during stressful competitive situations. Future research could investigate whether variation in reactions to imagined competition, such as the extent of motivation to compete again, is linked with testosterone.

Kendra Hills

MABEE C mentor: Michelle Robertson “The Black Woman’s Burden,” Examining the Multifaceted Roles of African America Women Faculty at Predominately White Institutions We’d like to think that we live in a “post racial” society where the barriers created by our fore fathers are no longer legitimized or seen as ethical, justifiable, or valid. Unfortunately, this societal illusion has created the disillusion of diversity and inclusivity in our political and educational system. Social programs and initiatives have been implemented to uphold diversity and inclusion such as Affirmative Action, and diversity quotas that hold universities and companies accountable for hiring and accepting more people of color.

However, this system has created a plethora of new issues, especially for predominately white institutions (PWI) of higher education. Black populations are still notoriously low in numbers compared to their white counterparts, especially when it comes to faculty (Blacks are 6% of faculty, NCES 2015). This study explores the societal pressures that African American women faculty experience at predominately white universities, and the multifaceted roles they are sometimes forced and/or obligated to execute. Drawing on oral history interviews with eight African American female faculty from a variety of PWI, I explore the experiences of these women in their academic positions. As African American women enter faculty positions (10.3% of doctoral degrees awarded in 2014-2015, NCES), questions are being raised as to their lack of job mobility, wage gap, and over extension and underappreciation in academia as faculty members. Black women faculty are often deemed tokens for all things diversity, especially around gender and race. Yet little improvement is seen in their social status or job status. This clear disparity for Black female faculty can manifest in detrimental ways through the depletion of their mental health, racial fatigue, and burnout. This study will make a valuable contribution to the research literature on Black female faculty members by continuing the difficult conversation of race, gender and inclusivity in America, and furthering the knowledge and advancement of women of color in academia.

10am to 11am

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Lilli Hime

MABEE C mentor: Beth Eakman The Inside Out Masks Project Inspired by an art therapy for service members dealing with PTSD, the Inside Out Masks Project is a community art project that seeks to portray the commonality of internal struggle in order to inspire more empathy and kindness.

By engaging students through art and creative expression, this project hopes to change the taboo about feelings by embracing and expressing them. The ultimate goal is to evoke a greater connection throughout the St. Edward’s through the vulnerability of art.

The prompt asks students to consider whatever deep-seated issues they are dealing with, project them anonymously onto the mask, and write a short paragraph explaining their mask. Given free range to use a variety of materials, students can creatively express emotions that they may otherwise disregard. The aspect of anonymity creates a safe space within their art to allow full disclosure, honesty, and vulnerability.

1pm to 2pm

Laura Irwin 9am to 10am MABEE A mentor: Drew Loewe The Popularity Contest: An Analysis of Digital Ethos Rhetorical studies has always foregrounded the concept of ethos – the ways in which a rhetor (speaker or writer) establishes her personal credibility and shared values to appeal to an audience. For Aristotle, ethos had three components: phronesis (proof that the rhetor was knowledgeable/well-versed in the subject they discuss), arête (proof that the rhetor was virtuous or had a fine-tuned moral compass), and eunoia (proof that the rhetor had her audience’s best interests at heart). An effective rhetor, under this view, must prove their worth and ability to speak on a subject while also demonstrating their personal virtue and awareness of audience expectations, assumptions, and beliefs---all at the same time. Ethos has historically been defined and measured based on this Aristotelian foundation; however, contemporary social media environments have redefined ethos and audiences’ standards for their rhetors.

My research analyzes this redefined ethos online, identifying the new interpretation of ethos and the ways in which digital rhetors such as vloggers (video-bloggers), social media celebrities, and YouTubers establish ethos. This project applies and extends scholarship in rhetorical studies and brings it into conversation with the rhetorics of popular online rhetors (such as YouTuber Liza Koshy and the Instagram celebrity who goes by the moniker “Breadface”) and how they establish ethos through their particular content, delivery, and style.

Contemporary online rhetors have renegotiated Aristotle’s original criteria of arête. Social media celebrities’ credibility depends heavily on indicia of popularity (e.g., how many hits, likes, or subscribers they receive). My project examines the implications of this renegotiation of arête, both for the types of discourse that circulate online and for their uptake in the culture at large.

I turned my project into a video essay in order to exemplify the ways in which rhetoric is applied and used creatively through new media. I practice what I preach by demonstrating how contemporary rhetors can establish an ethos using my model. My talk itself is a practice in new media, driving a conversation through demonstration and revealing the practical applicability of my arguments.

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Laura Irwin

MABEE C mentor: Beth Eakmen Capturing the Monster and Setting it Lose in Writing: An Analysis of Personification and Its Rhetorical Effects When faced with the mysterious or incomprehensible, humans rationalize in a way that simplifies or explains the abstruse to make it seem more relatable. For instance, God is described as having hands and feet, the earth is described as a “mother,” and hurricanes are gendered and given names. This phenomenon is known in the literary world as personification. It is a way of making the universe more comprehensible and controllable. Especially in the wake of natural disasters, personification provides comfort in chaos, assigns blame in the face of loss, and creates a tangible villain that humans can fight against. Without personification, humans would feel continuously helpless against the mysterious and powerful foe that is nature.

My research analyzes Justin Heckert’s usage of personification in a feature he wrote for Garden & Gun magazine titled “Fire on the Mountain.” Heckert describes the devastating fire that ravaged the town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee in November 2016, personifying the fire in order to emphasize the destruction and fear. On first glance, the affluent and propertied Garden & Gun readership wouldn’t be immediately attracted to a devastating story of loss and destruction.

The magazine is mostly dedicated to glorifying Southern lifestyles, heritage, and “living well.” The attraction lies largely in the individual stories and accounts that Heckert describes; it’s the way that the fire consumes heritage and history that these Southerners hold dear, engaging his audience with the phenomenon of the consuming monster that is fire.

Observing the dichotomous relationship between Heckert’s article and the standard type of article found in the Garden & Gun magazine, I show how stylistic techniques that evoke pathos (emotional) responses can bridge the gap between audience and text. Such analysis is significant because it reveals the power of figurative language and the way it can be used to elicit specific emotions – terror, grief, hope, loss, pain, and solidarity – among a vast audience.

My project dives into this relationship, serving as a bridge of understanding and drawing connections between nature, humans, and the way the written word creates an environment for solidarity through emotion.

10am to 11am

Martha Jamail 2pm to 3pm MABEE C mentor: Brian Sheerin The Illimitable Ocean: Chaos’s Allegiance in Paradise Lost

By John Milton’s account, creation arises out of Chaos, a dark and ancient realm of unordered elements. It is from the unspecified elements of Chaos that God gathers his materials for creation. The elements in this realm are limitless, their ambiguity therefore making this first matter subject to various interpretations. Is Chaos a vile thing that stands in opposition to God’s creation, or a vast field of potential resting in the unformed and anarchic?

My study fits into a dialogue with Milton scholars, particularly Regina Schwartz and John Rumrich, who offer two opposing interpretations towards “Chaos.”

Schwartz presents Chaos as an evil force, a profane trespasser that shares Satan’s resistance against boundaries. Rumrich, however, believes that the use of Chaos’s materials contribute to the good of God’s creation as its elements

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posses purity and freedom in their lack of definition; Chaos therefore represents the power of God as being unconfined and limitless.

In short, then, Paradise Lost presents conflicts between constraints and defiance.

Satan’s rebellion against God and humankind’s expulsion from the garden of Eden indicate this disregard for boundaries and sanctity. However, I wish to claim that each instance in which the creation defies God can be understood as a motivation, or temptation, to be limited or defined. Satan, Adam, and Eve all experience an anxiety towards their being created from the elements of a directionless mass, and defy the nature of their creation by seeking boundaries in the devices of purpose, directive, and narrative. In this way, a tyranny of the ordered and determined corrupts the pure potential of the created.

Rachel Katz

MABEE A mentor: Teresa Bilinski Microbiome Innovations in Psoriasis Treatment Psoriasis affects 2-3% of the world’s population. This corresponds to at least 100 million individuals around the globe and seven million Americans. It is thought that psoriasis is caused by overactive immune responses to unknown stimuli. Research to date suggests that the disease has a genetic linkage, but there are environmental factors that exacerbate the condition including infections, medications individuals are taking, smoking, stress, sunshine, alcohol, and trauma. The human microbiome field is generating data suggesting the overactive immune repose could be linked to species of bacteria like Streptococcus pyogenes. It has also been suggested that psoriasis outbreaks could be caused by the change of relative abundances in two bacterial taxa.

Psoriasis vulgaris, or plaque psoriasis, is the most common subtype of the disease. Plaque psoriasis causes skin to break out into inflamed, scaly and dry patches. Psoriasis has a severe impact on the quality of life of individuals suffering from it. Studies have shown that psoriasis negatively impacts both physical and psychological health. So far, the treatments for psoriasis are in chemical formats like topical creams, phototherapy treatments, and biologics. These treatments are not effective or economically feasible for all patients. New, more effective and affordable therapies need to be developed in order to increase the quality of life of psoriasis patients. Microbial treatment methods could help modulate the immune response and decrease the number of plaques patients form and help relieve plaques. While researchers have not developed microbial treatments yet, it could be a possibility in the near future. The goal of this study is to explore the feasibility of a new personalized psoriasis treatment method focused on the human microbiome. The product will identify the bacterial species on individual’s plaques using 16S rRNA identification methods, and then a unique product will be created to reestablish health skin microbial flora. This product could lessen the economic impact of psoriasis and could possibly lead to long term health skin flora instead of only treating plaques as they arise.

11am to 12pm

Patrick Kelleher 11am to 12pm JONES AUD mentor: Jennifer Greene Is Roman Philosophy Predominantly Greek or Uniquely Roman?

The label, “Greco-Roman”, implies the connectedness of the cultures and patterns of thought specific to the inhabitants of ancient Greece and Rome,

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and may sometimes leave out the particular differences and developments that each of these societies have contributed to their understanding of ideas that permeated this Greco-Roman world. The influence of Greek philosophy on Roman thinkers can be seen throughout the literature of ancient Rome, and often leaves one questioning how much of Roman philosophy was uniquely Roman, and how much was a direct line of thought from the famous philosophers of ancient Greece. This presentation will focus on the influence of Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno, on some famous thinkers and writers of ancient Rome, such as Cicero, Seneca, Apuleius, and Marcus Aurelius.

The presentation will contextualize philosophies that were more popular in Roman society, namely, stoicism and epicureanism. Finally, Roman society and its reaction to these ideas and philosophers will be addressed, particularly with regard to the divisive view of philosophy in ancient Rome.

Rachel Leader 2pm to 3pm MABEE A mentor: Rachael Neal Racial Civil Rights: Comparing Participation in the Civil Rights Movement to Contemporary Austin, Texas Individuals engaged in activism, organizing, and participation in a social movement have provided momentum for the racial civil rights movement. There were several motivations and strategies used in African American participants during the Civil Rights Movement, such as violence, gender, and age. The purpose of this study is to understand the activists, organizers, and participants in social movements for African-American communities in the Civil Rights Movement and compare these participants to current participants in Austin, Texas. The goal of this study is to illuminate who, why, and how individuals have engaged and currently participate in racial civil rights movements. This study examines participants’ (1) demographic characteristics, (2) motivations and (3) forms of participation. The data gathered about the motivations and strategies of participants during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s was used to construct an interview instrument. This instrument was used to collect data from individuals who are activists, organizers and/or participants in movements focused on racial civil rights in Austin, Texas. Participants in Austin were selected through purposive sampling. The interviewees were assigned pseudonyms, and their interviews were coded for shared themes. Several themes emerged in the data, including the importance of racial inequality, education, family and violence in influencing participants’ motivations and strategies. These findings provide a greater understanding of why certain individuals engage in racial civil rights social movements, and how these motivations and strategies have evolved since the Civil Rights Movement.

Kasey Liehr and Lisbeth Chavira 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Peter Beck Tawny Crazy Ants (Nylanderia fulva) and their Impact on Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve Invasive species have a major impact to the new environments they inhabit.

Tawny Crazy ants (Nylanderia fulva) are an invasive species in the United States and have appeared in multiple states and are causing changes in ecosystems.

This study focused on identifying invasive and native ants in Wild Basin Preserve,

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recognizing which had the largest population and potentially largest impact on the ecosystem. Invasive Fire ants were the most present in the preserve with Tawny Crazy ants being present but not in a large majority.

Magaly Arredondo Lopez 12pm to 1pm MABEE B

mentor: Michelle Robertson

The Intersection of the Coming Out Process & Language for LGBTQIA+ Individuals

Despite the progress and positive shift in attitudes towards the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or other) community, being LGBTQIA+ is still in the process of becoming normalized. Therefore, the disclosing of one’s sexual identity (or coming out) is often a significant aspect of an LGBTQIA+ individual’s life. Though LGBTQIA+ individuals tend to come out on an ongoing basis, the act of coming out to family and friends specifically, is of importance to many. So what does it look like when an individual comes out to their family and friends? What does it sound like? This research study, using the oral history research method, will explore this topic by listening to LGBTQIA+ individuals recount their coming out stories or discuss their future plans to come out to their family and friends. Further, this research study also aims to explore how language and word-choice shape the coming out experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals and the way that they see themselves.

Amira Mahler

MABEE B mentor: Jason Callahan American Roulette: How Boldly Can You Play?

American Roulette is a game of chance in which players place various types of bets on subsets of 38 numbers yielding different probabilities of winning each round. A small ball is then rolled around a wheel and stops on the winning number for that round. Players who bet on this number win their bet amount plus a payout multiplier specific to each type of bet; players who did not bet on this number lose their bet amount. Previous research uses Markov chains to compute probabilities of players reaching a desired amount of money (“success”) or losing all their money (“ruin”) for each bet type. We use Markov chains to compute the probabilities of success and ruin for new betting strategies based on bold gambling and find that these strategies yield higher probabilities of success.

12pm to 1pm

Ana Lucia Martinez 1pm to 2pm MABEE C mentor: Emily Bernate Attitudes Towards Dequísmo Among Spanish Speakers in Austin In linguistics, people’s beliefs about language can fall into one of two different categories—prescriptivism and descriptivism. A prescriptivist believes that there is only one correct way to use a language which can be seen through writing, because it allows perfection and precision. Meanwhile, a descriptivist understands and accepts that language can vary in its usage and does not look at the rules but at the tendencies and practices in a language. I will be studying dequeísmo and queísmo, which is the nonstandard use of the preposition de in sentences in Spanish. It is more common to hear dequeísmo in an everyday conversation rather than seeing it in writing. Furthermore, dequeísmo is often perceived as incorrect or a marker of lower social status.

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I will be testing the use of dequeísmo through an acceptability test to see how acceptable Spanish speakers view different instances of dequeísmo, and if it is a normality in the use of the language. The acceptability test will include 8 uses of queísmo and 8 uses of dequeísmo as well as 8 distractor sentences. The test will be administered to a total of 20 Spanish speakers ages 18-24. Based on how acceptable they find dequeísmo in certain sentences, I will determine whether speakers of Spanish in Austin tend towards prescriptivism or descriptivism with respect to this phenomenon. By researching Austin Spanish speakers and their attitudes towards dequeísmo, this investigation will shed light on the way this population views nonstandard varieties of Spanish. By understanding the attitudes speakers have towards dequeísmo, this investigation can help us to understand what kinds of linguistic prejudices exist among Spanish speakers in Austin with respect to nonstandard Spanish.

Delaney McDaniel 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Tomas Yufik Mental Health Rates in Austin Entrepreneurs Austin’s start-up business sector is displaying continued growth throughout the past decade. During 2001–2003, the tech-industry grew 41.4% (Montgomery 2015). Previous research has found a correlation between entrepreneurship and psychosomatic health problems (Muhammad, 2009). Some studies have identified personality traits of successful entrepreneurs (Baum & Locke, 2004).

However, little is known of the mental health characteristics of entrepreneurs and startup employees, although some research suggests that rates of psychological distress may be higher in this group than the general population (Freeman, Johnson, Staudenmaier, & Zisser, 2005). Our study examined the mental health rates in Entrepreneurs of start-up companies and employees in Austin, TX and the greater central Texas region, with a focus on rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) in participants. We identified slightly elevated rates in entrepreneurs and start-up employees. This study has implications for a broader understanding of how mental health concerns develop in this demographic and for identifying important moderating factors of psychological symptoms.

David Menchaca 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Christie Wilson An Analysis to How the History of Mexico Dating Back to the Colonial Era Set the Course for the Peasant’s Revolution in Chiapas The Zapatista conflict in Chiapas during 1994 is one which shook Mexico, which had just agreed to the NAFTA agreement on the same day. What has culminated from decades of frustration from the indigenous people of the region had finally surfaced, as Zapatistas asked for not only recognition of their own people, but also respect. The NAFTA agreement, while seeming beneficial to the state, would have pushed more people, especially the indigenous population, more and more into poverty. As stated though, while this conflict may have a direct cause so to speak of the Chiapas uprising, that does not suggest that there isn’t a much deeper reasoning towards this. In fact, one could argue that these struggles and conflicts were the culmination of hundreds of years of oppression by not only the Mexican state, but the Spanish Empire as well, pushing towards

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this future for what would become Mexico. While the Zapatistas didn’t fully want revolution, they still wanted autonomy away from the government that treats the indigenous people like ghosts and won’t allow basic land rights for the workers.

For them this is their type of revolution, as they wish to dismantle from their region all the inequalities that are present within the system. This paper will look at the historical context behind the Spanish imperialism, the Mexican civil war and how it culminated into the events which led to the Zapatista Uprising.

Maria Mota

MABEE A mentor: Jason Callahan Solving 2-by-2 Scramble Squares Puzzles with Repetitions A Scramble Squares puzzle consists of nine square pieces with half of an image on each side. To solve the puzzle the pieces are arranged in a 3-by-3 grid so that sides of adjacent pieces form complete images. A repetition is a half-image that appears more than once on a piece. Previous research uses a graph-theoretical approach to establish necessary and sufficient conditions for solutions without repetitions to 2-by-2 Scramble Squares puzzles. We use a similar approach to establish necessary and sufficient conditions for solutions with repetitions to 2-by-2 Scramble Squares puzzles.

10am to 11am

Chantal Neutzler 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Fidelma O’Leary Assessing the Effects of Rapamycin-enhanced Autophagy on the Symptoms and Pathology of Alzheimer’s Disease in Caenorhabditis Elegans Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects more than five million people in the United States. As a form of dementia found primarily in elderly adults, AD is the deterioration of the brain that causes loss of memory, critical thinking, and communication skills. Belonging to the proteopathy class of diseases, AD originates with the formation of neurotoxic clumps or amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary in the interneuronal spaces. These plaques are composed of insoluble deposits of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides.

During cleavage folding of amyloid precursor protein (APP), possible error leads to the release of Aβ extracellularly and forms oligomers of 2-10 peptide fragments that attract additional components to shape the insoluble plaques.

Error is commonly due to system failure in the lysosomal degradation and elimination process, autophagy. This homeostatic procedure has shown to be a vital clearance mechanism in neurodegenerative diseases; therefore, if you were to enhance autophagy, you could potentially reduce pathology and symptoms of AD. The TOR inhibitor rapamycin has shown to be a viable treatment option to enhance rapamycin-induced autophagy. Experimental treatments are performed on transgenic strain Caenorhabditis elegans and assays including chemotaxis and hypoxia will be assessed to address this question.

Karolyn Newton 10am to 11am MABEE A mentor: Peter Beck Psychological and Infrastructural Barriers to Pro-Environmental Behavior Despite growing levels of awareness and environmental concern around the world, major shifts in behavior towards environmental sustainability are yet to be seen, and a demonstrated gap exists between people’s concern about

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the environment and their willingness to act in alignment with these concerns.

A review of the literature confirms numerous intrapersonal and contextual (infrastructural) barriers to pro-environmental behavior (PEB). These include psychological biases that downplay and discount future risks and conditions — a common aspect of environmental issues is their long-term scope, rather than immediate personal risks — and economic policies that favor existing, environmentally harmful, systems of behavior such as subsidizing fossil fuel industries and neglecting public transportation. Particularly, materialistic values were found to be a negative predictor of PEB. Materialism is reinforced through social norms and political-economic systems that contribute to the troubling and increasingly global aspiration to achieve high-consumption lifestyles that rely on environmental degradation.

As seen in studies of the successful implementation and adoption of recycling programs, powerful indicators of likelihood to engage in PEBs include social pressure to conform to perceived “normal” behaviors, convenience of performing the action (within existing infrastructure), and a sense of selfefficacy—that one’s actions can make a difference. Thus, policies that focus on changing infrastructure to facilitate sustainable behavior by increasing their convenience and visibility (perceived normality) have the potential to increase engagement of PEBs, regardless of the environmental values people hold, at the same time capitalizing on demonstrated widespread environmental concern.

Elizabeth Nguyen 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Mary Kopecki-Fjetland Effect of Volatile Organic Compounds on Growth Inhibition and Protein Synthesis in Neolentinus Lepideus Studying wood-decay fungi has importance in the market of wood, as it is a resource used worldwide for various purposes. Past research has shown Trichoderma species to have inhibitory effects on wood-decay fungi, such as Neolentinus lepideus, via production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This interaction has the potential to serve as an alternative to chemical treatment of fungal wood infections. Literature also has reported that fungal VOCs can cause a decrease in the synthesis of specific proteins. This study focuses on further elucidating the impact of VOCs on N. lepideus growth inhibition and protein synthesis thus enhancing our understanding of their potential biocontrol nature.

In order to test the degree of inhibition by specific VOCs, N. lepideus was grown in the presence of various concentrations of either octanal, 2-methyl-1butanol, or heptanal. Interestingly, preliminary results indicate greatest inhibition of N. lepideus occurred at the highest concentrations of octanal and heptanal but at the lowest concentrations of 2-methyl-1-butanol. Future work includes identifying the specific proteins that were upregulated or downregulated in the organisms exposed to VOCs and further examination of the impact of additional individual VOCs on fungal growth.

Christian Notte 2pm to 3pm MABEE C mentor: Gary Slater Erasmus: Builder of Sentences, Builder of the Church, Builder of Bridges During my sophomore year as part of my Religious and Theological Studies major, I took History of Christian Theology II, a course which focuses on the

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development of the practice and thought of Christianity throughout the Middle Ages. For our major research project, I chose to study the impact of famed scholar Desiderius Erasmus on the world in which he was living. At the crossroads of the end of Renaissance and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, Europe was experiencing enormous change, which resulted in much chaos in the intellectual realm inside philosophical debate circles as well as the physical realm on the battlefield.

From my research, I concluded that Erasmus instrumentally (and perhaps solely) helped forge a “middle way” or via media between warring Catholic and Protestant sentiments. In the crucible of societal unrest that ensued, he vouched for compromise between the two sides. Through Erasmus’ literary works, vast travels, and correspondence throughout Europe, the Christian humanist expounded his idea of ecclesiology—how the Church should be structured and function in society—through convincing wit. Remaining a Catholic, he upheld the hierarchical structure and universal mission of the Church, but desired to reform its excessive worldliness emphasized through its wealth and rituals, which he believed strayed from the true center of the faith, Jesus Christ.

His ideas, I suggest, have immense resonance in our own time, still facing much social turmoil. Although a way of openness, dialogue, tolerance, and compromise paved 500 years ago, Erasmus’ via media can even today be walked in search of peace between religions, nations, and even individual people.

Cherese Perez 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Elizabeth Eakman Memes as Political Rhetoric: A Gap in Current Research While modern audiences think of memes as primarily internet images and text, the concept predates the internet. According to Merriam-Webster, a meme is “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.” Fashion trends, slang, and even ways of thinking can be categorized as memes. Since internet memes have become popular, they have played an important role in communicating the public’s opinion. Due to historic presidential elections, in recent years, political memes have become very popular on the web. Various articles have stated that memes are a form of political opinion but have not specified how. This research report explores how memes function as a form of communication while describing the gap in knowledge of how memes can be used. Through several articles and rhetorical analyses, memes are a way to deliver unspoken messages, produce conversation online, and demonize or glorify political figures.

Lauren Perry 2pm to 3pm MABEE C mentor: Kathleen Helal Storytelling to End Sex Trafficking My research examines how American society’s understanding of trafficking has been shaped by the entertainment industry and explains how narrative works may improve the perceptions of trafficking that film and T.V. are creating.

Emphasizing the importance of recovery for victims of trafficking, I draw on my continued research—in the field of literary studies—that explores the selfperception individuals create through shared narratives. The sense-of-self that

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is constructed as we communicate experiences of pain and suffering, aids in our ability to survive and cope with the struggles of existence. In the context of trafficking, there is a gap between victims’ abilities to express these experiences after rescue.

I am calling on the general public’s greater understanding of this gap as we move towards ending trafficking through the telling of stories. My research is divided in three parts. First, I plan to inform on the prevalence of human trafficking within the United States and explain the implications of it on modern society. Second, I plan to explain how the entertainment industry enables the modes of thought surrounding human trafficking—and therefore slavery— to exist. Finally, I will connect the human desire to be seen and valued to storytelling and relate this to the recovery of trafficked people.

The abuse these survivors have endured deserves to be heard, for the sake of recognition and vindication of victims, but furthermore, for a social and cultural understanding of slavery within the United States. I am suggesting that these stories can better reach a multitude of audiences and more accurately inform them through film and T.V. adaptations.

Gavin Quinn

JONES AUD mentor: Sasha West Negative Space: Mapping Parental Absence to Identity What change does the lack of a father figure enact in a child? How does this absence, which the individual youth cannot control, shape their identity and relationships? Does it create a long-term desire to be validated by men? A longing to be traditionally “masculine?” How does it influence their relationship with the remaining parent? This presentation contains three works of creative writing from various genres that investigate these questions, observing what the negative space of a parent creates. “His Fingertips Named Me” and “My Life as a Footnote in Disappointment” scrutinize the desires a boy feels to be validated by men and to be seen as traditionally “masculine.” The other piece, “The Things the Father Left,” explores the relationship with the sole mother figure through nonfiction storytelling. By inquiring into these questions through the metaphoric language of poetry and the concrete prose of nonfiction, this presentation observes the long-term ramifications of parental absence both on a child and within a family.”

10am to 11am

Marcos Ramirez 1pm to 2pm MABEE A mentor: Emily Bernate Linguistic Differences Between Spanish Speaking Immigrants & First-Generation Spanish Speakers: A Lexical, Morphological, & Phonological Analysis Spanish speaking immigrants make up one of the largest demographics of immigrants living in and moving to the United States. While some of these immigrants may learn to speak English and others may not, their children often learn to speak both English and Spanish with the same level of fluency. In this study, I will investigate the lexical, phonological and morphological differences in Spanish of Spanish-speaking immigrants and first-generation Spanish speakers. Through this, I will identify specific ways in which language contact with English affects Spanish, and the ways in which language contact affects immigrant and first-generation Spanish speakers differently.

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Through recorded interviews with four Spanish-speaking immigrants and four first-generation bilinguals, I will collect and contrast oral data provided by both of these populations. The results will be used to demonstrate specific instances of the ways in which contact between English and Spanish influences bilinguals’ language usage. I will also compare these findings with previous research on English-Spanish bilinguals. The presentation will conclude with comments regarding the power relations between English and Spanish and how these affect a speaker’s language usage. Given its social prestige, English exerts an influence on lexical, phonological and morphological structures in Spanish, while similar structures in Spanish seem to exert little effect on a bilingual’s language usage in English.

Ashley Samples 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Michelle Robertson Educational Attainment of Foster Youth In the United States of America, around 430,000 children reside in the foster care system, and experience multiple adverse events throughout their childhood. Obstacles such as residential mobility, strained relationships, and trauma make it difficult for foster youth to obtain future goals and experience the same opportunities as children who were in stable homes. This secondary data analysis will examine the factors that influence educational attainment for children who have experienced the foster care system. Risk and resiliency theory will outline this study to examine data collected through the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Education, and Department of Family and Protective Services. Previous scholarly research suggests foster youth are capable of withstanding extreme external pressures, but may internalize abuses that influence their self-identity. The study will advance our understanding of the relationship between adverse experiences of foster youth, protective factors, and their educational attainment.

Nikki Sheffield, Colin De Guzman, Shawntia Dunna, and Haley Rhodes 9am to 10am JONES AUD mentor: Jessica Boyette-Davis Therapeutic Mitigation of Nocebo-induced Peripheral Pain The nocebo effect, an enhancement in pain perception following a negative expectation about future pain, is a burdensome event that can unfortunately harm clinical outcomes. Those anticipating a potentially painful procedure may perceive the pain as more intense than it truly is, leading to poorer physical and mental health outcomes following the procedure. It is important to investigate ways to mitigate this effect. One potential avenue of study in this area is the application of meditation just prior to the experience of pain. As this has not been previously investigated, the current study sought to decrease enhanced pain experienced in the lab as a result of suggestion by having participants engage in meditation. It was expected that participants who were exposed to meditation would have lower autonomic nervous system activation than those in a control condition. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a “nocebo statement” which suggested pain would be “really painful” followed by a meditation session, a nocebo statement followed by a chance to read a magazine, or a control group (no nocebo statement). Participants provided two self-report pain surveys and several blood pressure readings throughout their

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session. Pain was induced using the Cold Pressor Test, which required each participant to submerge their hand into an ice bath of 4°C. During the test, each participant was asked to rate the amount of pain felt at their initial threshold level (when it first hurt) and their final tolerance level (when they wanted to end the test). Separate analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests did not reveal significant effects for blood pressure (p = .26), pain threshold (p = .39), or pain tolerance (p = .20). While not a significant finding, there was a surprising trend for those in the meditation group to actually report more, not less, pain. Specifically, at threshold, those in the mediation group reported an average pain score of 7.7 out of 10 compared to a 6.6 for those in the magazine condition. This finding has implications for future studies investigating clinical mitigation of pain.

Further, the addition of a physiological measurement to verify nocebo-induced changes would be beneficial.

Justin Stewart

JONES AUD mentor: Teresa Bilinski Microbial Community Structure, Function, and Soil Characteristics at Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve Microbial communities provide many critical ecosystem functions to soils, including organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling.

Microorganisms use a variety of metabolic processes to break down the complex macromolecules in plant leaf litter into more labile constituents such as sugars, amino acids and organic acids. The goal of this research is to evaluate the importance of edaphic factors on microbial community structure and composition at the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve in Austin, TX. We hypothesized that soil characteristics would influence the structure of microbial communities due to varying environmental requirements. In order to test our hypothesis, we collected triplicate soil samples at 17 sites May 2016 through June 2017. Soil pH, moisture, and percent organic matter were measured in house while soil chemistry was measured at Texas A&M . Bulk sample microbial metabolism was measured through carbon substrate utilization of 32 different carbon compounds with BIOLOG EcoPlates. Substrate utilization diversity at individual sites was calculated based off the different types of carbon and the extent to which microbes metabolize specific compounds. A Mantel test suggests that edaphic factors influence carbon substrate microbial utilization.

As soil composition alters so does the microbial communities utilization of specific carbon compounds. Future research objectives include the taxonomic characterization of soil microbial communities using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

11am to 12pm

Kourtney Tams, Victoria Edwards, and Melissa Grocki

MABEE B mentor: Peter Beck Investigating the Relationship Between Undergraduate Students’ Environmental Knowledge and Composting Behavior Many universities have implemented composting education programs in an effort to reduce the large amounts of food waste generated in campus dining halls, provide savings on waste hauling, and even generate profits from selling usable compost. The purpose of this study is to identify whether there is a relationship between environmental knowledge and composting behavior of undergraduate students at St. Edward’s University. Indicators of environmental 12pm to 1pm

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knowledge and composting behavior of students were quantified through online survey questions designed to test knowledge of materials that can be composted on campus, as well as through a direct observation to gauge how often students utilize the composting facilities in dining halls. Resulting analysis found that students with a higher level of environmental knowledge are more likely to compost than students with low knowledge, while the primary reason students do not compost is a lack of accessibility. This indicates the need for increased environmental education opportunities and improvements to St. Edward’s University’s current composting program.

Alicia Torres

10am to 11am

JONES AUD

mentor: Jessica Boyette-Davis

The Role of Mindful Coloring on Anxiety Anxiety is an atypical worry state of mind that conflicts with how the affected individual functions. Pharmacological treatments can take 4-6 weeks to reduce anxiety and typically produce side effects. Medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and benzodiazepines are not only expensive but can create a physiological dependence and produce side effects. Patients may avoid non-pharmacological interventions like therapy due to the cost and time commitment. Other behavioral interventions, such as mindfulness meditation and coloring, have been shown to significantly reduce anxiety levels.

However, no research has been conducted to determine whether there are enhanced benefits of combining these interventions. Rsearchers hypothesized that mindful coloring would be the most effective intervention for reducing state anxiety. Researchers induced anxiety in participants by having them write about a past fearful scenario for 4 minutes. Afterwards, anxiety levels were measured using Spielberger’s (1983) State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and then measured again after completing a mindfulness meditation (MM), mindful coloring (MC), or coloring only (CO) activity for 20 minutes. Results for this study were analyzed using an ANOVA and correlation statistical analysis via SPSS. MM, MC, and CO all reduced state anxiety in participants. In addition, correlations were found between pre-anxiety and pre-test state anxiety, pre-anxiety and pre-test trait anxiety, and pre-anxiety and post-test trait anxiety. It was determined that emotional disclosure of a fear-inducing event lessened state anxiety.

Jamaal Tribune 1pm to 2pm MABEE C mentor: Kim Garza FOR SALE: 787XX Throughout the course of my primary education, I often heard that we must learn history so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. However, even as societies mature and begin to recant unprincipled ideologies, they may continue to carry remnants of those traditions by the virtue of sociocultural evolution. Although we may attempt to emancipate ourselves from the traditions of a troubled past, those traditions continue to inform how our society will evolve. This work attempts to give a brief overview of how the feudalistic and imperialistic traditions of western Europe have evolved and embedded themselves into the American economic system. As Austin continues to develop, the indications of these traditions become more apparent as disenfranchised African-American and Latino communities, native to East Austin, continue to be

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driven out by the process of gentrification—revealing the underhand traditions of a supremacist culture.

Rhiannon Vargas 2pm to 3pm MABEE A mentor: Teresa Bilinski Rooting for Growth: The Effects of Pseudomonas and Drought on Schizachyrium Scoparium (Little Bluestem) Currently, there is significant interest in understanding the role of growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in the Pseudomonas genus in alleviating different type of plant stress, especially drought. Schizachyrium scoparium (Common Name: Little Bluestem) is a common, drought-tolerant, perennial bunchgrass. The goal of this experiment was to evaluate how S. scoparium responds to drought stress when inoculated with high concentrations of a Pseudomonas isolate. It was hypothesized that the root lengths and shoot lengths of S. scoparium would be significantly different between plants inoculated with Pseudomonas bacteria and plants that were not inoculated, and that plants inoculated with Pseudomonas bacteria would be less affected by drought. Native field samples of S. scoparium were collected at Blunn Creek Preserve in Austin, Texas. Two different Pseudomonas bacteria were isolated from the roots of these plants, and the identity and growth characteristics of the Pseudomonas isolated were performed. Four treatment groups were made with factors of drought/no drought and bacteria/no bacteria with 15 plants each over a two week period in May 2016, February 2017, and a 4 week period in May 2017, with 14 day old, 70 day old, and 28 day old plants respectively.

One-way ANOVA tests were conducted to evaluate whether treatment had a statistically significant effect on growth. There was not a statistically significant effect of treatment on the shoot length for any of the three trials. However, there was a statistically significant difference in the root lengths of plants between the treatment groups in 28 day-old plants (p = 0.012) It appears that treatment also had an effect on the total biomass of the plants for 70 day-old plants and marginally for 14 day-old plants (p = 0.044, p = 0.094). Results from a hierarchical cluster analysis and permutational multivariate ANOVA (permutational MANOVA) indicate that the addition of bacteria had a significant positive effect on the growth of 28 day-old plants and 70 day-old plants overall, even when the plants were subjected to drought stress. This research suggests that the addition of PGPR at a certain plant age could change the way that S. scoparium responds to drought stress.

Zaira Villa 9am to 10am MABEE A mentor: Lisa Goering Exploration of the Effects of Bicoid Dosage on Larval Phenotypes in Drosophila Melanogster Variation in morphological phenotypes is associated with genetic variation in developmental regulatory pathways like the anterior-posterior (AP) patterning system in Drosophila melanogaster. bicoid mRNA is maternally provided to the oocyte; after fertilization, the protein product acts as a morphogen, having concentration-dependent effects on AP pattern. Previous studies demonstrated that bicoid is dosage sensitive; variation in the number of maternal copies produces a corresponding change to the embryonic AP pattern. Variation

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in patterning along the AP axis can be detected in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Interestingly, these embryos develop into ‘normal’, viable, adults, although the sizes and proportions of various segments have not been examined. In this study, the phenotypic effects of altered bcd dosage on larval morphology were investigated to determine later stage effects on AP patterning. Our hypothesis is that increased bicoid dosage will enlarge the size of the anterior larval segment thus decreasing the size of the posterior larval segments. Using four lines of D. melanogaster with varying bicoid dosages, we measured the size of the anterior segment in first instar larvae using landmark analysis; larval size was controlled using two point registration. Preliminary results suggest that there is no significant difference between the size of the anterior segment of larvae born to mothers with double the bicoid dose, however our sample size is small. If these results hold, it suggests that variation in bicoid dosage might be buffered out during embryogenesis to maintain a uniform body pattern.

Sarah Whalen

MABEE A mentor: Brian Sheerin The Malicious Machiavellian Almost all discussions of Satan in Milton’s Paradise Lost tend to emphasize the devil’s power-hungry schemes in relation to Machiavellian philosophy. To many, Satan has seemed to be a textbook case of Machiavelli’s ideology: the character possesses conniving sensibilities, a ruthless demeanor, and an abundance of pride, all hallmarks of what is seen as Machiavellian. However, this portrayal only represents the surface definitions of the philosophy. Machiavelli also champions objectivity, productiveness, and flexibility, qualities that Satan shows not to have through his unwillingness to accept the consequences of his actions, the unproductive nature of his congregants, and the delusional manner in which he believes he can defeat an all-knowing God. Drawing on the connections found between Satan’s use of Machiavellian methods compared to God’s own methods, I intend to discuss how Milton separates good and malicious Machiavellian rule. Ultimately, I will claim that God himself is the only entity capable of successfully ruling in such a manner, an idea counter-intuitive to how most might view Milton’s deity.

11am to 12pm

Neal Whetstone 11am to 12pm MABEE A mentor: Amy Wright The Socialist and Communal Foundations and Aspects of Black Capitalism Black Capitalism, a consistent practice and phenomena with many sometimes contradictory expressions, was well established in the Black American community since slavery, but blossomed in the 20th century into an ideological doctrine that both Black leaders and white politicians alike championed.

Numerous scholars have noted the practical and philosophical flaws of Black Capitalism, yet little research has explored its various definitions and tenets. This study will show that Black activists and intellectuals have buttressed multiple definitions of Black Capitalism, specifically through socialism and communalism, and will denote significant communal economic practices Black people used in the American Diaspora.

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Tiffany Williams 12pm to 1pm MABEE B mentor: Michelle Robertson Misrepresentation in Gifted and Talented Programs Gifted and Talented programs are typical in the American Education system, and although they may have been originated with good intent, there have been problematic and systemic issues with these programs. Gifted and Talented programs were created to give “gifted� students a chance to excel and be challenged where general education may not fully accomplish those learning objectives, but they fail to accommodate those they leave behind. What makes these Gifted and Talented programs controversial is not what they include, but who they do not include. Data has shown that there is a significant amount of inequality in these education programs, while also often misrepresenting the actual student body population in regard to race, gender, and economic status.

Often, the majority of the Gifted and Talented program populations include white students, even when the student body majority is of another ethnicity. I am conducting research on this topic through analyzing existing data on Gifted and Talented programs and their student populations. Specifically, I will be looking at descriptive statistics that show the demographics of students in these programs and testing relationships between key explanatory variables that are noted in the existing scholarly literature, with participation in the program. My motivation for this research is to focus on how these programs may provide more consequences, than they provide benefits for a small, non-diverse, population. Are Gifted and Talented programs another form of social divide?

Kizil Yusoof

JONES AUD mentor: Teresa Bilinski Environmental Drivers Affecting Soil Microbial Activity in the Riparian Zone Soils harbor diverse microbial communities that facilitate many important ecosystem services such as decomposition, nutrient cycling, promotion of plant growth, and carbon sequestration. Previous research has demonstrated that the structure and function of soil bacterial communities are affected by soil characteristics such as pH, soil texture, soil moisture, organic matter content, and dominant plant species. The goal of this research was to understand the factors that influence soil microbial activity in the riparian zone. To this end, this research project was designed to evaluate the relative importance of distance from a stream, soil characteristics and dominant plant type on microbial growth rates at Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve and Blunn Creek Nature Preserve in Austin, TX. Blunn Creek Nature Preserve has more influence from human activity, a greater abundance of invasive plant species (i.e., Ligustrum), and more pathiness in vegetation cover compared to Wild Basin. In this study, 9 soil samples were collected from Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve in October and 6 samples were collected from Blunn Creek Preserve in February. The time of collection is critical considering that precipitation may affect soil moisture, which could in turn affect growth rates of soil microorganisms. The samples were collected 1m, 10m, and 20m from the creek at each site. Samples were diluted using a saline solution and growth rates were measured for 72 hours using a 96 well plate assay under low nutrient (10% tryptic soy broth (TSB) growth media) and intermediate nutrient (50% TSB growth media) conditions. Preliminary results have not demonstrated a difference in growth rates dependent on 1pm to 2pm

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proximity to the creek or dominant plant type, although there is a strong a positive relationship between soil moisture and soil organic matter. Future work will include the addition of sites at Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve in order to understand whether there are seasonal differences in microbial growth rates due to differences in soil moisture.

Sabri Zooper 1pm to 2pm JONES AUD mentor: Raelynn Haynes The Influence of Women’s Testosterone on Perception of Male Age, Masculinity, and Attractiveness Older women who prefer to date younger men, often referred to as ‘cougars’, are becoming more prevalent in today’s society. In the US and other Western cultures, age gaps in romantic relationships between women and men are increasing, and it is becoming less unusual for a woman to be at least ten years her male partner’s senior. Evolutionarily, younger men should not prefer older women that are past their reproductive prime. However, as lifespans become longer and medical technology improves, many women are having children later in life and are choosing younger men as their long-term partners. To our knowledge, there is limited research investigating whether older women who prefer younger men differ in hormone profiles. Testosterone has previously been linked to behaviors such as low risk aversion, sexual arousal and masculinity preferences. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether women who prefer to date younger men exhibit different testosterone levels than women who prefer men their own age or older. We hypothesize that older women who prefer younger, more masculine male faces will have higher testosterone compared to older women who prefer men of their same-age or older; also, women who date younger men will have lower levels of risk aversion, compared to a similar-aged comparison group of women who prefer same-age or older partners.

In preparation for testing associations between testosterone and mate preferences in women, we conducted a preliminary online survey to investigate women’s perceptions of male masculinity and attractiveness based on male age. We found a significant effect of male age on female ratings of male attractiveness, such that all female age groups rated younger men (ages 24-36) significantly more attractive than older male age groups, though this effect was slightly less pronounced in older women. This suggests that there is a link between male age and perceived attractiveness. Although we have tested 15 participants for the hormonal study, we are currently collecting more data in order to accurately measure the various testosterone levels among women over 35 dating younger men.

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SOURCE 2018 DESIGN Lead Designer Logan Stallings GDES ’19 + Assistant Designer Tuan Phan

printed at St. Edward’s University

@risographlab

@SEUsource