Summer Research Projects, Summer 2004

Anthropology

The mechanics of Japanese identity and the alacrity of trends among youth
Robert Koch (Adviser: Dr. Mullin)

'Positive Peer Culture' in practice: ethnography of the Starr Commonwealth Treatment Program for sexual offenders
Whitney McCleneghan (Adviser: Dr. Mullin)

Art and Art History

Research for public sculpture
Camille Hamilton (Adviser: Prof. Chytilo)

Reproductions and inflections: a studio/art historical analysis
Amy Weinmeister (Adviser: Dr. Wickre)

Biology

Environmental and climatological effects on nurse shark reproductive behavior
Amy Hupp (Adviser: Dr. Carrier)

Developing of a FISH (fluorescence in-situ hybridization) – based method to detect fecal coliform bacteria in Rice Creek
Sarah Carver (Adviser: Dr. Erbežnik)

Isolation of xylose regulator in Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus
Marián Novak (Adviser: Dr. Erbežnik)

Comparing levels of DNA extracted from feathers and blood from nestling House Wrens
David Goodyear (Adviser: Dr. Kennedy)

A comparison of sex ratios in nestling House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) and Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) in the Whitehouse Nature Center
Dan Harris (Adviser: Dr. Kennedy)

An experimental examination of responses to song complexity of the House Wrens
Brad Hauch (Adviser: Dr. Kennedy)

Characterization of sex-ratio distorting microsporidia infecting the intertidal amphipod Corophium volutator
Michael Kopec (Adviser: Dr. McCurdy)

Tranmission of microsporidian parasites infecting the amphipod Corophium volutator
Diana Lancaster (Adviser: Dr. McCurdy)

Assessment of invasive plant species at the Whitehouse Nature Center using geographical information systems (GIS) technology
Valorie White (Adviser: Dr. McCurdy)

The analysis of DNA damage and repair following excision of a transposable element in Drosophila melanogaster
Brad Cavinder (Adviser: Dr. Saville)

The development of a screen for proteasome inhibitors using a mutant Drosophila strain
Todd Hoffman (Adviser: Dr. Saville)

The cloning of Parhyale hawaiensis netrin-2
Stephanie Clark (Adviser: Dr. Scheel)

Bringing genomics to Albion : learning the principles and mechanics of microarray technology
Katherine Dixon (Advisers: Dr. Scheel and Dr. Ronald Duman, Yale University Medical School)

Cloning netrin genes from Artemia franciscana
Eric Grunow (Adviser: Dr. Scheel)

Determination of algal species in three Whitehouse Nature Center ponds
Erin Walsh (Adviser: Dr. Schmitter)

A molecular phylogeny of green plants for EEB lab
Wendy Simanton (Adviser: Dr. Skean)

Breeding habitat of secondary cavity-nesting birds
Kapil Mandrekar (Adviser: Dr. White)

Chemistry

Spectroscopy and dynamics of molecules isolated in liquid helium droplets
Benjamin Olbricht (Adviser: Dr. Bieler)

New green organoborane oxidations
Virginia Cangelosi and Christopher Smith (Adviser: Dr. Harris)

New green organoborane oxidations: discovering new solvent effects
Scott Kortlandt (Adviser: Dr. Harris)

Decomposition of marijuana as a function of time
Emily Carvill (Adviser: Dr. Lewis)

Structural analysis of PI-P2 domain of the Anabaena group I intron
Brianna Granlund (Adviser: Dr. Rohlman)

Structural analysis of P456 domains of the Anabaena group I intron
Dana Sauter (Adviser: Dr. Rohlman)

Education

Perceptions of teachers and administrators about their interactions
Tara Hufnagel (Adviser: Dr. Henke)

English

A comprehensive survey of the works and the literary criticism of Don
DeLillo
James Rider (Adviser: Dr. Collar)

Embracing, understanding, and working with African-American vernacular English in the elementary classroom
Lauren Henderson (Adviser: Dr. Hendrix)

Impacts of racial and ethnic dialects on classroom success
Jennifer Poole (Adviser: Dr. Hendrix)

Dreaming of Europe: development of creative writing skills and preparation for a trip abroad
Natalie Corbin (Adviser: Dr. Mesa)

A culture and community of creation: establishing an artist cooperative through the 'Albion Model'
Carrie Howland and Nick Mourning (Adviser: Prof. Murphy)

Environmental Institute

Environmentally-sustainable 'living-learning' center assessment and feasibility study
Lacey Doucet (Adviser: Dr. White)

Non-native plant species control in Whitehouse Nature Center land restoration study plots
Leeanne Jagusch (Adviser: Dir. Crupi)

Demand and cost-benefit analysis of an ecological living-learning center for Albion College
Eric Mackres (Adviser: Dir. Dyer)

Foreign Languages

The acquisition of a second language with the help of comic books and cartoons
Stephanie Oosterhouse (Advisers: Dr. Guenin-Lelle and Dr. Yewah)

Geology

Daily cycles in stream stage and turbidity in Rice Creek
John Adams and Paul O'Berry (Advisers: Dr. Wilch and Dr. White)

History

Environmental politics and practices of the former Soviet Union
Zachary Dagneau (Adviser: Dr. Cocks)

Finding an alternate history: African immigration in the 20th century
Sarah Orao (Adviser: Dr. Sacks)

Sex, motherhood, and the cult of domesticity: constructions of race and gender in the Southern Antebellum household
Jayne Ptolemy (Adviser: Dr. Sacks)

International Studies

Health care in Romania
Ligia Paina (Adviser: Dr. Terstriep)

NCUR/Lancy

Barriers for success among Albion youth
Karolina Maluga (Adviser: Dr. Ariza)

The academic and vocational horizons of Albion's youth: examining elements of recovery
Andrew Groggel (Adviser: Dr. Berkey)

The Malleable factory: a history of race, ethnicity, and socio-economics in Albion
Brett Braun (Adviser: Dr. Dick)

Growing up in Albion: what does the future hold?
Jessie Longhurst (Adviser: Dr. Dick)

Albion during the boom years: the 1950s
Joe Zessin (Adviser: Dr. Dick)

Environmental lead in Albion
Jacqueline Fillinger (Adviser: Dr. Green)

Boom, Bust, Recovery: exploration of Albion, MI – the last half century from an education perspective
Jennifer Bunde (Adviser: Dr. Meloth)

What now? An investigative documentary of the Albion, MI community over the last five decades to see what the future holds
Jason Hinchey (Adviser: Dr. Swieringa)

Philosophy

Ethical analysis of TV news reporting on terrorism
David Pierce (Adviser: Dr. Madhok)

Physical Education

A study examining the effects of the Frappier Acceleration Training Program on physiological markers of fitness in adolescent athletes
Adam Stoyanoff and Nicolas Vanbogelen (Adviser: Dr. Jayaraman)

Political Science

Examining voting patterns in Michigan: do we name our candidates democratically?
Lindsay Elliott (Adviser: Dr. Rose)

Bookchin, Fotopoulous, and Fromm: providing a reconstructive vision for our time
Atlee McFellin (Adviser: Dr. Rose)

Psychology

Salivary measures of testosterone in association with cerebral lateralization
Stephen Fritz (Adviser: Dr. Anes)

Bilateral redundancy gain for affective stimuli
Daniel Hartner (Adviser: Dr. Anes)

Simulated hallucinations: their impact on cognitive processing in normal research participants
Heather Holleman (Adviser: Dr. Anes)

Maximizing output of work teams by offering appropriate incentives
Emily Darnbrook (Adviser: Dr. Christopher)

The influence of money attitudes and materialism on personality types and economic attitudes
Jordan Troisi (Adviser: Dr. Christopher)

Self-presentation perceptions on dental anxiety
Katherine Vojtko (Adviser: Dr. Christopher)

Comparative methods of studying children's stereotypes based on skin color
Crystal DuBois (Adviser: Dr. Keyes)

The effect of attending a summer sports camp on racial stereotyping in children
Sarah Gebhardt (Adviser: Dr. Keyes)

Three concurrent studies regarding acute back pain
Laura Krasean (Advisers: Dr. Keyes and Dr. Michele Sciamanna, Borgess Research Institute)

Parents who murder their children
Courtney Rocho (Advisers: Dr. Keyes and Dr. Craig Lemmen, Center for Forensic Psychiatry)

Magical thinking: typical and atypical thought processes in children
Kathryn Fraser (Adviser: Dr. Mull)

Factors predicting child custody decisions in substance abuse cases
Brittany Harte (Adviser: Dr. Mull)

Gender differences in the competitive strategy behaviors of preschoolers
Maria Pintar (Adviser: Dr. Jamie Walter)

Effect of shyness on helping behavior
Lori Karakashian (Adviser: Dr. Mark Walter)

Protection from extinction: a fine-grained temporal analysis
Christine Spliedt (Adviser: Dr. Wilson)

Protection from extinction: analysis of conditioned locomotor approach response on a runway
Jonathan Zombeck (Adviser: Dr. Wilson)

Sociology

Education matters: the cultural, academic, and social implications of migration on Latino youth and college students
Kristina Jelinek (Adviser: Dr. Berkey)

Gender performance in a Midwestern performing arts boarding school
Lindsey Paskvan (Adviser: Dr. Berkey)

The role of sadomasochistic practices in reinterpreting romantic narratives
Ken Powell (Adviser: Dr. Berkey)

Speech Communication

Body image over time: what we looked like in film and television, 1950-2000
Amy Feder (Adviser: Dr. Young)

Gender roles in the media: 1950 to the present
Karen Green (Adviser: Dr. Young)

The evolution of advertising
Stephanie Pierce (Adviser: Dr. Young)

Theatre

Patriarchal acting or acting patriarchal: women in revisionist Greek theatre
Audrey Coleman (Adviser: Dr. Chapman)

Women's and Gender Studies

Surviving: an examination of the social networks and determination of domestic violence victims
Caroline Reinhart (Adviser: Dr. Franzen)

Out-group/out-group perceptions: African-American views on homosexuality
Ryan Sebolt (Adviser: Dr. Franzen)

Institutions of international development: an infrastructure of inequality
Devon Warman (Adviser: Dr. Franzen)